Labyrinth Guardians were one of the most troublesome monsters to deal with in Zeryann. They all had six arms, on which every end laid three extremely sharp claws. Their legs were large, as big as two meters, but as they were usually folded, their stature was not over two meters. The scariest thing about them was their jumps. Since their legs were that powerful, it would take a fraction of a second to jump a distance of a hundred meters. They were said to be the bane of all the magician classes.
Also, since labyrinths were very rare, not many players were experienced in dealing with the guardians. Specially in an instance as this, where all the monsters were at least rank 12, meaning they had a level between 120 and 129. Of course, that was just the general rule. As always, there were bound to be some exceptions. A really skilled player, a sneaky thief that could evade them, or, in this case, a rank 21 summoner that could just force his way through.
As Randwen kept walking, he quickly found the exit of the labyrinth. Three summoned Heroic Knights followed at his sides and at his back. They were Ultimate Elementals, which meant a summon that could only be achieved by combining all of the other element classes. They were one of the most fearsome summons. Another special feature that they had, was their level.
The Ultimate Elementals did not have a fixed level. It was calculated from the level of the summoner. To be specific, it was the max level of the rank lower to that of the summoner. If a level 150 summoner was using them, they would have the same level as a player with a level of 159, and that would be level 149. Since Randwen was level 213, his three Heroic Knights were level 209. All three of them.
This was a game breaking summon that ran rampant in the beginning of the game, since it made the summoner class very overpowered. Fortunately, it did not las for too long. To fix it, the summon was made so that each one of them would take one fourth of the caster's mana. So only four of them could be active at any given time.
After that, summoners could no longer have their personal unbeatable armies, but they could have very powerful bodyguards. This was what Randwen was doing. With the mana he had left, he summoned three Shadow Assassins to lure the monsters around near to the Heroic Knights. This was why his efficiency was so dramatic, finishing the labyrinth in less than ten minutes.
After exiting it, what he found in front of him was worthy of a gasp. It was a completely white palace. It was buried inside a mountain, but there were some gaps that let the sunshine through, making all the area well lit. The palace was glowing. And though in ruins, it gave a feeling of grandeur.
Randwen took out a map and started walking towards the palace accompanied by his guards. This was the first mission his master had gave him in a long, long time. Now, he was powerful. Almost in the pinnacle of the world, but it had not always been like this. No, he still remembered.
When he was still a kid, his parents were everything to him. His father worked eighteen hours a day in a stable and his mother tended to a fruit stall just outside the slums. They had very little money, but he was still happy. Happy of his worry-free life, happy of his parents, happy of his happiness. That was until his parents were killed.
It was his 14th birthday, and they were out to eat in a not-so-luxurious inn. But still, when compared to his usual meals, in felt like a royal banquet. His parents had saved for over 2 years in order to have this meal. It was the day that a youth was considered of age in Zeryann, 14 years old. After happily celebrating, they left for their tattered wooden house in the slums. His parents were killed by robbers in the middle of the night.
He, to be able to eat, then joined a gang. It was a terrible place that almost broke him. The people around him were the scum of the scum of the city. Stealing, killing, extorting, raping. More often than not, young Randwen was forced to see these things happen, with no way to stop it.
Three months after that, he could not take it anymore and fled. But whenever he tried to enter the wealthy districts of the city he was stopped by guards and the slums were only so big, so it didn't take long for the gang to find him.
He was finally cornered in an alley with 5 men surrounding him. He knew the punishment for leaving the gang, death. He thought everything would be over, so he closed his eyes hoping it wouldn't hurt. Then the screams came. But the weird thing was, he was not in pain. Hell, he didn't even remember screaming, so he opened his eyes.
In front of him was a twentysomething youth. He wore luxurious robes and had a staff in his hand. At his feet were the bodies of the gang members. He didn't understand at that moment, but he knew he had been saved.
After that, that youth took him to his home, a place called the Thunder Tower. He said it was the base of his organization, the 21 Thunders Guild. And that it was one of the top powers in Zeryann.
In there, he was taken care of. Clothed, fed, and even taught. He, under the lead of the youth that saved him, became a powerful magician. One of the bests in the world. He would never forget that debt of gratitude towards his saviour and master, Jadar of the Thunder Tower.
That was why now that his master was weak and he was strong, he would do anything to protect him. That was his debt. That was his conviction. Even if it meant death, he would still be happy to serve and be of use to the one that had saved his life. He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve even more. He started walking once again towards the palace.
----------
Outside the cave, though, the mood was not as tense. In fact, it was kind of gloomy.
"God damned god. You and your stupid system. What else is there? Do we also share diseases?" Dane was muttering to himself over and over. He was a mess.
"I mean, it's not like you couldn't give me a freaking manual or something on how to use this crap. Am I right? God, you sure are useless." Dane once again fell to the ground.
[Beep! The player can access the "System Guide for Dummies" if he so wishes. But some parts may be excluded as you don't have enough authority yet.]
As Dane heard those words, he was sullen. He didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. It was common sense, he thought. The manual should always be read first. But it didn't matter, he was just a little bit too late.
"Show the guide."
[The system has no record of "The Guide".]
"The guide you just mentioned, show it to me." Dane frowned, as he was starting to get an idea."
[The player needs to give the proper command]
"Stupid system…" Dane was muttering, extremely angry. "Show the System Guide for Dummies." As he finished to say that, a lot of information started to be displayed in front of his eyes.
"No wonder…"
"So that's how it is…"
"God damn, that doesn't look good…"
It took a good five minutes for Dane to finish reading. All in all, it could be separated in three main categories. Exp and Classes. Quests and Rewards. Skills and Training.
The exp and classes section stated that, as confirmed, your followers could gain exp and finish quests for you. And you would be able to obtain the rewards of said quest, be it exp or quest points. The main difference from the game was that Dane needed to use the exp gathered to level himself, Randwen, the unlocked servants and all of his future followers. That would slow or fasten his progress, depending on how it was used.
The level up was the same as it was in Zeryann and so was the class System. At level 5 he had to choose a class and commit to it at level 10. At that moment, he would become a rank 1 being and would enter the low rank ladder. At level 40, he could choose an advanced class and would enter the mid ranks. At level 70 he would choose a class specialization and enter the high ranks. At level 100 though, things change.
Once a player reaches rank 10, he becomes a transcendent. That means upgrading his class, advanced class, or specialization. For example, a summoner could become a transcendent summoner, a beastmaster a transcendent beastmaster and so on. And there still was the Legendary transcendence, which meant upgrading or fusing a specialization. Of course, this was very hard to do. After that, the leveling was quite straightforward. 101-109 was the newly advanced, 110-139 the low rank transcendent, 140-169 was the mid rank, 170-199 was the high rank and at level 200 onwards was the celestial period. That was Dane's goal. At the very least.
The quest and reward section was pretty straightforward. Completion of one quest would sometimes unlock one or more follow-up quests. Sometimes quests could be triggered by a certain event or a certain date. Even a certain phrase could trigger them. There were hundreds of thousands of them, and most of them could be found on the log. Of course, it also had filters for difficulty, reward, keywords and so on. Rewards would be awarded depending on the quest and the completion ratio of it. If they were special rewards, a system notification would constantly pop up. The other things would be awarded automatically and items would be stored for thirty days before deletion.
Now, the skills and training section was the most troublesome. In every class, every jump of 10 levels would usually grant a skill. Or at least it was that way in the game. On Zeryann, it would only enable the option to learn the skill, which was a bit more realistic. Of course, if the person in question already knew how to use the skill before the option to learn it was enabled, he just had to perform it once and it would be naturally learned. That was a breath of fresh air to Dane, but not for his future followers.
The spells didn't count as a skill, though. They had to be learned individually. Of course, there was an exception. A Trait that enabled a person to learn all of the rank x spells. And there were quite a few traits like that.
The training of followers could be done with the system exp, but it needed a teacher in order to fully use it. If not, you would be a rank 9 warrior that didn't know how to use a sword. Quite tragic, actually.
The way to be recognized as a rank x profession was to register at the corresponding guild or organization. For example, Magicians needed to do this at an academy, a Magician's Association, or at the army. Rogues had more options depending on the subclass. They could do it at the Ranger's Guild, any underworld organization, or at the army. Warriors could do it at the Fighter's Guild, any mercenary company, and the army. And all of these three could register at an Adventurer's Guild.
After Dane read all of the information, he was a little more clear on the ways this world differs from Zeryann and his future plan. He knew where he was, what he was doing, where he was going, and what he needed to do next. The only thing that he had not decided yet was on Randwen. He was too much of a cheat in this world at this day an age, so much that it would attract unwanted attention.
As he was pondering about the future of his subordinate, suddenly, the man lying with the back against a rock wall suddenly opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" Arthur had woken up.
Dane had a headache, as he was not certain on how he would explain everything to him. But he still took a deep breath and started to walk towards him.