SINCE THE SYSTEM WAS TRIGGERED, ANTONIO WAS TOO CAREFUL ABOUT EVERYTHING, EVEN THE SLIGHTEST CHANGE IN HIS SURROUNDINGS.
Antonio and Hector sat down under the shade of an old birch tree near the entrance to WildWood Forest. It has been an hour since Hector mailed one of his clan members to join them but still, there was no sign of anyone. Antonio's patience was running out with each passing second, he was aware that the place they chose to rest wasn't safe but rather dangerous as other players might pay a visit to the forest for grinding exp.
Suddenly, both of them saw a silhouette rushing in their direction. They immediately stood up and unsheathed their weapons as a precaution. The areas within the virtual world were categorized into several zones which included: Safe Zones, Neutral Zones, PvP Zones, War Zones, Danger Zones, and Desolated Zones. WildWood Forest came under the Danger Zones as it was populated by the different races of monsters ranging from Giants to Wild Boars. Also, it was a PvP enabled zone which meant that any and every player can engage in undesired combats and kill each other to gain handsome loot.
The silhouette cleared as it came nearer. It was of a female who looked around as same age as Antonio and Hector. She was wearing a white robe that came all the way down to her knees and gave off a faint purple glow. She had blonde hair that was drawn into a bun and was put in place with a long pin. Her almond-shaped eyes were affixed at the two male players standing in front of her with weapons in their hands.
"Who are you, a player killer?" Antonio inquired while glaring at the female.
"You better retreat if you are one, or I will send you to hell," Antonio warned her in a serious tone.
"Antonio, relax dude! she is from my clan, her name's Natalie." Hector immediately interrupted Antonio to calm him.
"Accept my apologies, I was just trying to..."
"Don't sweat it, I know one must not put one's guard down in a zone like this one." Natalie interrupted to assure Antonio that everything was okay.
"By the way, I haven't introduced myself. I am Natalie Chase and I am a Sage by profession. I mainly excel at using water type and healing magic. I look forward to working with you in the future."
"My name is Antonio Weiss and I am a Dragon Knight by profession. I excel at close combat and by far I am at level 5. I also look forward to working with you in the future."
"Guys, are we done with introductions, we should head into the forest to level up a bit before exploring the fiery volcano cave to complete the quest," suggested Hector.
"That's a great idea. Let's head in then." Antonio agreed as he walked into the WildWood Forest.
"Watch and learn," Hector whispered to Natalie as they followed Antonio into the forest.
WildWood Forest, Kingdom of Kalvar
Antonio immediately hid behind the lush green bushes as soon as the party spotted a forest giant. He signaled Hector to pull the aggro by continuously attacking the giant. Natalie on the other hand cast a healing spell on Hector to heal the damage caused by the stomps and fists of the giant. Antonio silently laid in wait for the perfect moment to strike the giant with a critical hit which Hector clearly understood.
Antonio unsheathed his scythe, activated the skills, Sprint, and High Jump, and propelled himself into the perfect position with the help of the large oak tree behind him. He lunged forward in the direction of the forest giant who was facing Hector and made a clean cut on the nape of the giant that immediately resulted in its demise.
"That was smooth, is he a prodigy or what?" Natalie thought after she saw Antonio in action.
"I know what you are thinking. He indeed is a prodigy but, I know something you don't and for that, he must be eliminated. He is a threat to our clan." Hector commented after seeing Natalie frozen in her place as if reading her thoughts.
Natalie turned towards Hector but after seeing the nasty expression on Hector's face, she immediately turned ahead and started following the two silently. After half an hour of grinding, Antonio reached level 12 while Hector was level 37 and Natalie was level 25.
After venturing deeper into the northern part of the forest, Antonio's party successfully reached near the mouth of the Fiery Volcano Caves. Before heading inside, all three of them activated the skill 'Stealth' to avoid any unwanted attention from other creatures dwelling in the cave. The monsters within the Fiery Volcano Caves ranged from level 12 to level 24. So, it was highly recommended to have a stealth skill if traveling with party members who are lower than level 28.
The general stealth skill which the three were using had a cast time of ten minutes and a cooldown of half an hour. But, the cooldown usually depended on how much time was consumed while in the stealth state. It was a lifesaver skill that came in pretty handy but if not carefully used can become one's reason for death.
"Watch out! The Giant is about to use his [Burning Fist] attack." Hector cried as he saw that the huge and strong fists were about to hit Antonio.
To his surprise, Antonio rolled aside successfully dodging the burning fists of the Fire Giant. Antonio and his party had wandered to the inner region of the Fiery Volcano Caves, it was the region where the rocks and boulders were all in a shade of crimson red, and hot lava was flowing through the cracks in between them creating a pool of lava. They had already encountered a Fire Giant which they easily defeated as it was one of the lowballs but, the Fire Giant which they were fighting at the moment was a high level as it came straight out of the pool of lava.
The temperature of the place shoot up as soon as the giant landed on the ground. It had fiery red eyes and its body was made up of molten lava rocks with lava flowing through the cracks. Antonio activated the skill 'Silent Step' which assisted him to maintain his running speed while avoiding the areas with a low footing. Antonio knew that his skill arsenal consisted of fewer skills in comparison with Hector and Natalie who were higher in level. But, one thing that separated him from others was his observant nature which enabled him to keep a watch over his surroundings.
"Natalie, You are a Sage and you have a command over water-type spells and healing spells. Hector, you are a Berserker and a Half-Giant too whose race bonus is battle prowess and increased Attack Speed and Attack against enemies with low agility. And, I am a Dragon Knight whose Rage-mode could increase all the stats of the whole party for a certain time." Antonio commented while his gaze was affixed to the movements of the giant.
Deflecting the fist of the giant, Hector said in a teasing tone, "What do you have in your mind, Genius. It's the correct time to reveal it or we might all die."
Antonio immediately signaled them to hide behind the boulder and started explaining, "What I am saying is, First Natalie would attack the Fire Giant with her Water Spell, pulling the aggro. Then, we both would use our skills to confront the Giant from the back and if we get hurt, We have Natalie who would heal us."
"Wait! My healing spell's cooldown is 60 seconds and my strongest Water Spell is Typhoon whose cooldown is 120 seconds."
"My strongest skill is Berserker's Blade and Sweep Slash, both with a cooldown of 20 seconds," said Hector.
"I am new, so, My strongest skills are Horizontal Slash and Avalanche and both are basic skills so, their cooldown is 10 seconds."
The three of them stood up from behind the boulder and Natalie immediately pulled the aggro by using her Magic Skill, Typhoon. The Staff she was holding started to glow in a shade of Ocean Blue and a wave of strong wind mixed with ocean waters appeared out of nowhere and enveloped the Fire Giant, reducing his Hit Points by 20 percent. As soon as, the skill's effect wore off, Both Hector and Antonio lunged at the Fire Giant.
Antonio took a few steps back, initial command to activate the skill Avalanche, and then immediately dashed forward creating an airborne effect and drawn into a vertical strike creating a red mark on the virtual body of the Giant. His Hit Points dropped to 528 when Hector used his Sweep, Slash. All this time, Natalie used two Heal spells and her Typhoon skill's cooldown reached Zero.
"Time to end this with our Trio skill combo. Natalie, Typhoon, Hector, Berserker's Blade, and I would use Avalanche," ordered Antonio.
The three of them Activated their strongest skills and attacked the Fire Giant with the combo. First Natalie used Typhoon which dropped his Hit Points to 333. After which Hector landed upon the Giant with Berserker's Blade dealing the damage of 238. And the final attack was placed by Antonio who used Avalanche to finally kill the Giant. Antonio got a teleport scroll and experience points which took him a level up. Antonio also completed his quest to Kill two Fire Giants. As for Hector and Natalie, both got equal experience points and some Kalvs, the currency used in the Kingdom of Kalvar.
"Well done guys, we might become a fine team with a healer and mage like Natalie and a Berserker like Hector," complimented Antonio.
Hector immediately took the tide of the conversation and came forward to propose, "We can be more than a fine team, if you agree to join our clan, we can very well be the most powerful of the clans in all of the Asterium. We need you as I know you are a great tactician and a fine military advisor."
Antonio scratched his head in hesitation and then after thinking for some time, he announced, "I must decline your proposal, Hector. I can come to your aid when you ask me to because I am very grateful for all the help that you offered me by far. But, I won't become a part of any clans, not now but maybe in the future. I hope you can forgive me and understand my condition right now."
Hector immediately forced a smile and reassured Antonio, "It's okay my friend, I am glad that I could be of help to you and that you can come to our aid. And there is nothing wrong in going solo so, you mustn't apologize like this."
"Well then guys, Let's get out of this place. It is giving me creeps and I am too tired to fight another giant."
"Yeah, let's leave. I too have to go to the town hall to receive the quest rewards. Again, thank you both for your assistance."
As soon as Antonio turned around to leave, he felt a sharp pain through his spine. He turned around to see that Hector was holding the hilt of the sword and he swiftly stabbed his stomach and squeezed the sword inside his stomach. The area became blood red and Antonio's vision faltered as he saw his Hit Points were decreasing slowly but, steadily. Drops of tears fell on the ground shattering into small shards. Antonio's gaze was fixed at his friend Hector who had a devilish smile on his face.
Antonio tried to stand up while he stuttered, "Why did you do it?"
The smile on Hector's face faltered as he started explaining, "Antonio, sorry, I have to do this. I cannot take the risk of letting lose a Dragon Knight like that. I know your secret and there are nine others whom I must hunt down. The class you chose is cursed and it is your bad luck that you selected that class. At first, I thought that if you joined my clan I would help you to get free of it but, now when you declined my offer, I have no other choice but to finish you right here."
"But, You know right, I would be revived and would come back at you," said Antonio between the breaths.
"You would come back to me. But, I just need to kill you every time you come at me and you would lose every item in your inventory. So, I would suggest you stay low and do not cause any trouble," agreed Hector.
"I will surely survive this and come to get you. The others won't wait for their deaths, they will hunt you down if they get to know what you did to me."
"Oh, you mean the Dragon Knights? Sure, I will hunt them first in Gelion... I know you already met with two of them." assured Hector.
"You... you... you" Antonio struggled to speak as anger filled his mind.
"It will be fun, you trying to inform the other Dragon Knights about my plan while I try to slaughter all of them at once. Let's see who wins this race against time."
"I will defeat you and your pride. I will find the remaining Dragon Knights and make them my comrades and then, I would come," yelled Antonio as his body shattered into several small shards.
Author's Note:
Aggro (Hate): It is a mechanism used in many MMORPGs, as well as in some RPGs, by which mobs (enemies controlled by the system) prioritize which characters to attack. The player who generates the most hate on a mob will be preferentially attacked by that mob.
Lowball: Here, it means a giant who is lower in level than the usual ones.
Cast Time: here, it refers to the maximum length of time an ability/skill would be in effect.
Cooldown Time: The minimum length of time that the player needs to wait after using an ability before they can use it again.