Vladis ran through the crowd weaving and pivoting on his toes at the last second. He now had an excuse to train openly. The timer on the quest. If anyone stopped him of course. Even the Game Help can't say anything about it.
He shot right past the alley where the thieves were waiting.
"Our target just ran past." The middle thief said. They stared at their sister who stood mouth agape. It was her job after all to make the first move. "You can get him another time."
"What rush is he in?" The eldest thief asked.
Vladis wrapped his feet in telekinetic energy. He was using them as push platforms while running along the side of the building. Seeing a few others doing slides with water and ice it was safe to do so already.
He was just better at it than some. He couldn't beat the speed of the person on ice, but he didn't have to worry about someone breaking his footholds.
'Need to get my control up faster. My own body weight is a pain to push off from!' Landing back on the ground to allow his mana to replenish, he shot off back into a sprint. 'But this lets me get used to being weaker. And to this different class.'
"Hey, it's you." The shopkeeper said. "You look tired."
"Just a bit of Arena trouble." Vladis gave a forced smile. He picked up the other packages and placed them in inventory. "I will be back for the last one later."
Shooting off in a sprint, a few people kept an eye on him. They saw the way he moved and weaved around people. Several of them getting ideas on how to adapt that type of movement.
"Eh, a training quest!" A Beastfolk cheetah exclaimed. He looked to the shopkeeper wanting to do the same. It was not long before a few others did to. "I want to do what he is doing!"
"Yeah, me to." A little Merfolk person asked. His red gills spreading open in excitement.
"It is just a little delivery." The shopkeeper put the packages on the table. He kept one for Vlad as an afterthought. With all the people available, the quest changed as well. "Deliver these by noon."
.
-Back With Vladis-
.
"Eh, you are finally training. That is nice." Noin said.
"Yeah... the crowds are a natural help. Just have to focus to not hit anyone. That would be really rude. Speaking of which.." Vladis jumped up and hit against a few telekinetic platforms. Barely missing a person.
"Watch it yah crazy fool!" A man pushing a melon cart yelled. Seeing as Vladis completely cleared over him, he said nothing else. "Haaa, it is going to be a busy day. Need to tell the others to be careful of these blasted Wanderers."
"It is not that bad. At least he missed." The little bird said from his shoulder. It was a domesticated monster. "He keeps moving before something bad happens."
The melon cart moved just in time. As an odd group of Users came running by. The force generated as they passed caused the cart to rock a little.
"Aaahhh!" A few men wearing kilts screamed in a panic. They were not modest per se, but the indecent exposure fine was nothing to laugh at.
"Ehem, fix yourself." A city Enforcer said. He looked the other way considering what was going on at the time.
"Tch, out of mana and I am tired." Vladis walked the rest of the way into the Arena. By the alley, the trio of thieves prepared for when he would come out. "Oh?"
(Through continued effort, the User has the option for Sprint or Running.)
(Strength +1 in Toes and Endurance. )
(Flexibility + 1 in Fingers, Toes, and Muscle Fibers)
'Running!' Vladis chose happily. Sprint was something exclusive for Warriors, Rogues and was not good really to the final stages. As a former User of the skill, he knew its shortcomings. While Running had a broader application. It also would help him branch out faster. 'Paydirt! I just need to get to a mountain area for Base Running. I can really boost my strength in fingers and toes there. One step down for my movement technique.'
(Running: User takes longer to become winded. Sub Stat Endurance & Mental Resistance allows for further limit-pushing.)
'Woah. That will work great for me even more then.' Vladis stepped inside and spotted the Merfolk again. Grateful for his regen moving a little bit faster after entering the building. The natural Battle Mana inside helping speed things up. "Hey, here is the next batch. I will get the others here shortly." Dropping the one in his hands down, he pulled the others from inventory.
"Ah wait!" Botti called. "Are you delivering all of it or not?"
"I am delivering a total of 15. If more are available, I do not see why not. But something tells me most likely others are coming." Vladis caught sight of several people running over. 'Guess more Users decided to take the quest finally. Oh well.'
Vladis walked off till his mana reached a calculated level he was comfortable with. Then he shot off like a bullet again. Several users tried to get a good luck but failed. He did hear the Merfolk Botti yell.
"Most of these are damaged!" He was so loud, Vladis could have mistaken the boy for a Siren. From the pained look on the others faces, they thought the same. "Look, if the quality is like this, we are going to cancel the contract."
"Hahaha.. hah sorry. We ran into some trouble along the way." A Hyena Beastfolk said. His was the worse and almost crushed at first glance. He fell while avoiding hitting an Elephant Beastfolk. For good reason. The impact mixed with the speed would have killed him. "I will do better next time."
The people behind nodding the same.
'Streets are more packed. Guess time to kick it up more!' Instead of running on the buildings, Vladis stuck to the ground to help conserve his mana for the last minute. 'I still have a bunch of time left.'
(3:21 minutes remaining)
'But it might change for me when I visit him. I started before the others after all. If my rewards become lower... I might get angry.' Vladis slid underneath a melon cart instead of going around. On the other side was a Rhino beastfolk. 'Shift!'
*Glow!* Dense mana formed around Vladis and forced his body around the man. From the amount of effort he put in, Vladis could feel his bones and muscles tear.
"Sorry!" the Rhino beastfolk said. He looked at his belly and was expecting to see a crushed Vladis. "We didn't collide!?" With a swivel, he spotted Vladis already running away. "Well.. that was something else."
As the large beastfolk turned back, he was met with a bunch of others sliding underneath the cart. few were not fast enough and had various parts of their bodies ran over. One unlucky Elf female smashed into his knee cap.
*Crack!* An audible sickening sound rang throughout the area. This did not stop the others from continuing on their way.
"Oh dear." The melon cart in the back stopped completely to let the others get through. A few people sliding and jumping by cast low level heals on the elf. This saved her from respawning and dropping anything. "Are you .. ok.."
The Elf shook herself, and shot back into a sprint with the others. This left the people dumbfounded but also amused.
"Is there some kind of course going on?" A merchant asked an Enforcer. At that time, the game went through a glitch. The Enforcer gave a nod and a name appeared over his head. "Any merchant's doing bets yet?"
"No. Would you like to start." The Enforcer Coreg asked. He and the merchant went over a few things and it was in motion.
(Event: Delivery Obstacle Course has started. Wanderers must find the correct Quest to participate. Once it ends, another merchant will be selected. This will continue for the next 12 hours.)
Every Wanderer whether it was a User or Nuc felt their palms sweat. Vladis just picked up the last shipment and was on his way back when he looked at his Quest log gained an amendment to it. He was part of the Event. Also in the lead. He would finish it and let the people go to the next one.
'Works in my favor. I get the chance to skip ahead in the training area! If people leave for this event of course. I wonder what the reward will be?' Vladis passed by the stopped melon cart on instinct. The blood from the elf on the ground was really rich. "Someone should clean that up!"
*Bloop!* Wrapping it in telekinesis he wrapped it up and placed it into his inventory. It was not that strange considering there is a daily clean up quest. But to get anything worthwhile, an individual would have to clean up mountains of stuff.
"Out of mana." Walking along, Vladis spotted a Female beastfolk looking around. She looked a little lost. 'That face looks really familiar.' Pretending to not see the female he kept walking till he was called.
"Excuse me, can you please help me?" The beastfolk asked. She used a spell on Vladis naturally. Her Charm Spell hit right against Vladis Mental Resistance. If she was not so young looking it would have worked. But a person's personal taste helped with warding off certain interest educing effects. "Uh oh.."
(Charm resisted!)
With the fail, she was considered an enemy. Before she could react, Vladis kicked her in the stomach. He did not want to drop the package. If someone stole it, he would receive a drop in his reputation.
"Kuff!" Vladis saw the name Persia appear. He was not furious. This Nuc turns into one of the biggest Thief types in the entire game. Along with her brothers. "I.. am .."
*Wham!* Vladis delivered a kick to her head next. The force sending her into the wall where she hit it before slumping down. Right as the two brothers ran over, Vladis delivered a knee strike to the throat.
"Ughh!" Persia dropped a few items and disappeared into essence. She would reform at her Home, Hideout, or the Crypt. If she was lucky, the Enforcrer's wouldn't bar her from the city.
*Schup!* The raw essences entered Vladis almost pushing him up a level.
"Sister!" The Eldest Snuffles called out. Since he was in the party with the others, his name was revealed. Grabbing his bladed tonfa, he charged at Vladis with hatred. "You will pay for that!"
Vladis dodged and delivered a kick to the side of the leg. It was not enough due to the difference in armor. Persia died mostly due to the attacks on the unguarded area. And the blow to the wall. He was level 4 but in the Gathering Realm Rank V. The increased mana made it more difficult to take him down.
'Where is the other brother?' Vladis remembered just in time. Seeing the shadow behind lunge at him, he ducked and slid back. "Hup!" The two brothers hit each other. Noin pulled Vladis's hair to guide his head. She was turning his gaze toward the needle. 'Just enough mana!'
*Ting!* The needle was picked up with ease and sent directly into the older brother's eye.
"Ahhhh!" The Beastfolk grabbed at his eye and reeled back in pain. Vladis jumped onto the other brother letting his weight push him back down. "Ahhhhh!" Snuffles cried as his other eye was gouged out by Vladis.
An Enforcer finally made it over. Seeing what was going on he tried to act. Before he could intervene, his blood ran cold. Vladis's disposition was quite murderous.
*Pop!* Vladis snapped Snuffles neck as soon as his health was in the red zone. Essences poured into Vladis unabated.
(Level Up, Gathering Realm I achieved.)
"Brother!" The final brother Paws cried. Vladis did not stop attacking. With the restored mana he received, he pushed his mental powers to the limit. "Ugh!" The Thief was to preoccupied with what happened to his brother to put up a good defense.
*Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!* He continuously slammed the man's head into the ground with Telekinetic slams. His regular strength would not cut it at all.
"Mer..cy.." Paws gurgled out. Vladis slammed his head once more into the ground. His mana depleted again. "Kuff!"
"Stop!" The Enforcer found his voice finally. Vladis stood up and slammed his foot into Paws' side. Enough to puncture a lung. But only barely. The man was still alive. "What are you doing!?" The Enforcer had his Greatsword drawn as he inched closer.
Despite Vladis not attacking him, the murderous intent caused the coding to pick him up as a possible hostile. An effect of the Rp server working its magic on social ticks a person has...
"Taking out some thieves that attacked me." Vladis answered coldly. He thought about how close he was to the Arena and how an Event that never started last time, started this time. 'This enforcer might not be a good one. He might even be in on it.'
.
-Above the buildings-
.
Vladis was right about the change in the Event. Several members of the Thieves Party started to appear all over town. They were enticing the participants to rob them. New quests started generating to apprehend them for those not part of the Event already.
A Theif Leader was watching and marking those who caused problems. Someone that was not supposed to be introduced until the Second wave was already made. Nowhere near as complex or powerful. But here nonetheless already.
It was tacked on to the previous one and caused a lot of Users to become excited. The Help Unit received several tickets on how to join the Event. They were refused to prevent any cheating. Another Reply went out telling them to think about things better.
The User's who used the fairies Vladis ran into before were just finishing their shifts. Checking how it all came to be, some no longer waited to join the game with their personal character. But only half went to the same server as Vladis after final thoughts.
"See you all later." Red Fairy said. She and Green were heading to the same beginner village as Vladis.
The odd thing, Red choose the same sub race as Vladis. But she was a Sun Knight for her class. Something that was exclusive to those who worked for the company.
Green choose to be part of the Demonfolk. But she went with a healer class. The Dominator Priest. A class that was both helpful and... strange.
"Do a little questing to help provide feedback then fun time." Green said to Red. "You heading to Vladis?"
"I will quest first! Then if I run into him, I will go from there. Need to grind some thieves into the dirt first!" She closed her pod and Logged in. The others looking at each other before doing the same.