After giving him, the meat from the shop, Shadow stayed there with Merlin and Quiet Fire, there so that they could also check to see if there were any interesting skills they would like. Apart from the 1500 meats they got from the shop, the team themselves also collected meat which was left with Merlin and Quiet Fire.
Quiet Fire and Merlin had about 300 meat and Merlin had a 50 cooked meat too. Shadow still had more meat on him which they got from the auction house. Balthazar decided to only use the meat from the shop for Rudra and the guild.
Receiving the meat, Rudra immediately contacted Arius. A list of skill was displayed before him again. Though there were a few high-level skills, with the amount he had, the most he could get was one of them. Though the skills didn't show exact description, they could see information whether it was an *AOE/single target, physical or magical skills. The skill names also made a few things apparent.
Rudra finally chose Earth Shattering Strike for 800 meats, Whirlwind Strike and Harpoon Tackle for 300 meats each. All the three skill he chose inflicted AOE damage and were rare skills not easily found in games in general.
Earth Shattering Strike was a skill which required him to jump up and strike towards the ground with force. The strike would cause stun and bleed effects if it hits the target. The higher the distance he falls from, the higher would be the damage and range of the attack. It had a 5 min cooldown.
Even if it fails to hit a target, it would cause slight AOE damage to the players and monster in his range. But its main advantage is the disorient effect it causes on those are in range. It could be used to attack and also as a control skill.
Whirlwind Strike is a skill that allows the player to rotate and strike the enemies around him. It is a very powerful AOE skill of berserkers, that is available in almost all games. It is a rare skill that couldn't be found before level 15. It had a cooldown of 1 minute.
Harpoon Tackle is a skill that allows the player to dash in the direction his weapon is pointed for a distance of 2 metres. It dealt damage to all monsters and players in its path depending on the user's strength. But it is not an unstoppable skill. If a higher strength monster or obstacle is in the path, the user would get bounced off. So, it must be used with care. It had a cooldown of 1 minute.
With him done with choosing the skills he wanted, he suggested that the Quiet Fire and Merlin choose something and sent them a few images. Merlin was excited by all the skills that the NPC provided, but looking at their costs, he calmed down to determine which would be useful.
They had 300 meat left with them along with 50 cooked meat patties. Apart from that Rudra had 100 meat and Rudra managed to catch about 20 fish.
They need control skills more than anything right now. The kind that would also help them in hunting more meat. With much deliberation between Merlin, Quiet Fire and Shadow, they decided on the skill, chaos wave. This skill was a warlock skill and cost 450 meat.
The skill was also a rare skill with an effect over area. It was something that had varied effects in different cases which couldn't be predicted. The skill can cause either disorientation, slow, sleep, stun or fear effects. The player never had control over it. It was always a gamble to use this skill.
When used a grey mist from the Warlock spreads into the area of effect and induces one of the effects. It is very useful in situation where players need to escape mobs. Merlin who had a reputation of fighting against guilds for resources and items obviously loved to have the skill.
With that done, Shadow, Merlin and Quiet Fire joined their team who were already working with Slaine, Roll, Brick and Light. Shadow gave Merlin the sprinkler and explained how to use it with control skills on docile monsters.
Thus, Shadow and Merlin were responsible for getting hold of beasts while the remaining attacked to kill them quickly. Roll would also lure in boars which they helped to kill fast. But soon they realized that however hard they tried they would get enough meat for one more skill but not more than that.
By the end of the two hours of the quest they managed to get hold of near 200 meats with three people able to subdue the beasts and met back with Rudra. They all also managed to get to level 7. Apart from that Rudra also managed to capture a bit above 100 fish.
"Ah! I thought I would get no more meat from you. I hope you got some fish to sell me after all this time. Make it quick, I need to go," said Arius as he saw Rudra come to him.
"Check what you want. I don't have anything else I am interested in right now," said Rudra as he allowed Merlin and Quiet Fire to use the meat for skills. He also knew about Merlin's fame and wanted to deepen their friendship.
They both already had thought from the previous time they looked at the list. They immediately selected Lightning Ring for Quiet Fire which cost 200 meat and 50 fish. The lightning ring made an electric ring around the player which can be used for defence or even to kick thieves from stealth. It was a common anti-stealth, short-range AOE skills used by elementalists which had a cooldown of 2 minutes. It also causes high amount of damage.
They were left with another 50 fish which Merlin used to buy a manual for alchemy. It was the costliest trade profession book in the list. "It was better to use it for some manual than waste it," said Merlin and passed it on to Shadow. "This is best used by you. You can develop that sleeping potion and I guess you will improve your skill level as Crimson Power had a level up for fishing," said Merlin.
He believed that the increase in materials at the town auction house would soon subside as the players slowly leveled up and the red moss would get scarce. So, he thought it best for him to improve his skill level to improve his success rate in alchemy.
"Thanks," said Shadow as he took the manual. It read, alchemical experiments by Battlemage Arius Wright on its cover. He quickly opened it and checked about the author to find out that Arius was an Intermediate Alchemist. This implied that he would have many things about various potions up till the difficulty of Basic Alchemist and most of them can be trusted.
As Shadow was checking the book, Arius Wright moved on his wheelchair which flew up into the air toward the barracks. With Arius gone, they had nothing left to do here. Though they were level 7, this was one of the good farming spots and also a decent place for fishing.
So, the team decided to farm there for a few hours before it became known to other. Once, they were level 8 they could attempt to do the quest of clearing the path.
Even though there were unexplored places, the quest tempted everyone as it is bound to give them reputation for White Heart City for being the first to clear the path. This was a competition not only between the players in the Blackrock Town region but also all the players in beginner towns and villages situated in the White Heart city region. Popularity in the capital city of the kingdom was a very enticing thing.
Everyone in the team wanted to do that with the exception of Shadow. Balthazar knew the quest wouldn't be so easy and didn't want to try. But is impossible to explain that to them. So, he decided to go on his own way and let them realize it for themselves.
Though he had the advantage of reincarnation, he could hardly help his friends in some manners. The only thing he could do was to make himself strong and help them in their time of need. The nature of the society didn't leave him any choice. If he kept suggesting things that would happen, he would be either marked as a thief or a crazy person.
He left them behind and made his way to the lake. The lake was bound to have something new and underwater treasure chests were always something that had valuable stuff. Along the way, he killed a few beasts. He also came across a new kind of beasts, the grassland leopards.
[Grassland Leopard] (Common monsters)
Level 8;
HP: 2000/2000;
These were very dangerous and intelligent beasts. Though they had less health for a level 8 beast. They were small, nimble and extremely fast. There are also other kind of leopards at higher levels. In the tall grass of the plains, these beasts are completely invisible and can easily ambush player and other monsters. Luckily, they are beasts which are alone and don't travel or hunt in packs.
These beasts can easily climb trees and attack from top of trees too. They usually jump onto the players maul them causing severe bleed effect and run away into hiding as soon as someone else attacks it. These were the assassins in the family of cats. They mostly ambush, hide and wait for their next chance.
But the irony about them is that they are most vulnerable against assassin players. With the stealth features and perception, the hiding leopards were most commonly surprised by assassin players with cheap shot. After that, their comparitively lower HP would be pulled down to zero by the team. A good assassin would be able to farm these beasts with ease.
Shadow was probably the best one in the game right now. He always moved in stealth and had enhanced perception and stealth from the mask of shadows. A quick cheap shot followed by strangulation using garrote was his favorite style and he continued to use to kill these beasts in the same way.
The best part about killing these leopards, wasn't the experience but that they dropped one of the first armor set pieces in the game. This would be the reason that many players would try to hunt leopards. Moreover, the leopard skin set was a leather armor set he could use. The armor set had total of four pieces, the helm, the gloves, the chest armor and the boots.
[Leopard skin helm] (BlackIron head gear)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance: 15;
Agility +3; Strength +5;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Agility +10%;
4 piece set effect: Ambush +1 level;
Durability: 25/25;
[Leopard skin gloves] (BlackIron gloves)
Level 8;
Requirement: Agility: 15;
Strength +3; Endurance +3;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Agility +10%;
4 piece set effect: Ambush +1 level;
Durability: 25/25;
[Leopard skin boots] (BlackIron boots)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance: 15;
Agility +5; Strength +2;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Agility +10%;
4 piece set effect: Ambush +1 level;
Durability: 25/25;
[Leopard skin armor] (BlackIron armor)
Level 8;
Requirement: Strength: 20;
Agility +2; Vitality +5;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Agility +20%;
4 piece set effect: Ambush +1 level;
Durability: 25/25;
Set equipment were considered very useful as the set effects they provided were usually very powerful. A four-piece set was the kind of set equipment with least number of pieces.
The leopard skin set was an armor set that is available at the lowest levels. It provided high agility and was very famous among assassins. The only thing that could be a bit of problem was its color scheme.
As the name suggested, it had the leopard pattern on it. Most male players had issues with it, but it was quite famous among female players. Even the ones who didn't play assassin profession were tempted to buy it. Even Balthazar himself wouldn't be caught dead wearing it but it definitely was a useful set. He could sell it tomorrow after getting a better set.
After he got the first piece, he was awfully tempted to collect the remaining pieces of the set. He decided to hunt actively for leopards instead of going towards the lake. He soon killed over 15 leopards managing to get 6 pieces of the leopard skin set. When he finally got all four pieces without a repeat, he resumed his original plan to explore the area by the lake.
By the time he was done with the leopard skin set, he was already level 8 and equipped the set. As he reached the lake, he noticed that something was peculiar about it. It usually is expected to see more number of beasts by a lake. But it was completely different from what he expected.
For starters, there were no beasts such as antelopes, deer and leopards visible along the lake. There was a large wooden stockade separating the lake from the rest of the plains. It had a few masked bandits guarding the door and other places. Moreover, the guards were all at level 10.
It also had a couple of watchtowers. It seemed like they had a camp set up at the lake and were digging near the lake in search for something. Though he couldn't kill any of them, due the passive enhanced stealth from his mask, he could easily check it out in stealth.
Note:
*AOE - Area of effect (or AoE) is a term used in many role-playing and strategy games to describe attacks or spells that can affect multiple targets within a specified area*