Baras' had to explain how he could kill level 65 monsters at level 22.
He learned to lie like a professional asshole during his first relationship. His first wife didn't like men who played video games, and he practically had an affair with MMORPG's.
[Grand Fantasy Online], [Convict Online], [Royal Grounds]... All video games he had an affair with while his wife spent his money on pretty things to entertain her fanciful imagination.
She then found someone rich and he found the young spritely Linda. She married him because she had a thing for wise men in messed up packages. Either that, or she married him for the modicum of wealth he possessed. He got a pretty good pension compared to the poor that begged to live a day longer on crowded streets. He at least had food on the table, right?
Baras smiled, and took out his [Great Sword of Rebirth]. He decided to explain it as a hidden quest he got lucky enough to encounter.
"This sword… I found this sword when I entered the island����� It's terrifying edge is second only to the qualities it possesses…"
"I can't see it's stats," Hilly complained as she reached for the blade. "Can you kill the [Oasis Recreants] with that weapon?
[Oasis Recreant]
[Level 65]
[Health: 1800 / 1800]
[Danger Level: High]
[Type: Fire]
Baras saw the creature and nodded his head. He couldn't use his Moba skills any longer and had to walk towards the Recreant.
The monster had a black cloth around its head and looked like a mercenary. It had three sabers spinning around its head like dancing stars and an armor that looked sharp enough to cut the weeds growing in the distance.
It saw Baras and laughed, jumping towards him with great speed. The timber calves looked innocent, and this looked like a ravenous monster hungry for bloodshed.
Its hand twinkled with a white light as the three sabers took turns slashing at Baras.
Baras nimbly dodged, and spun, before his body seemed to disappear and reappear behind the floating recreant's back. It spun, it's eyes shooting open, as Baras slashed three times.
The monster could've cut up everyone else on the beach, but against Baras it took a barage of damage.
[- 400 health]
[- 900 health]
[- 600 health]
[Oasis Recreant has been slain!]
[+ 1000 experience]
It died quicker than it imagined. A level 22 human normally would get destroyed faster than a bug against a man, yet it's body turned into dust as it screamed and perished.
'Shit the screams again.' Baras rolled onto the floor, and smiled at Hilly.
"Give me that weapon! I want to try!"
"It's bound to me," Baras noticed a blue box appear above the Oasis Recreant. "You want it, fight me for it."
"Put down that sword and I'll fight you," Hilly smiled as she sent him a request.
[Hilly has asked to join your party. Would you like to accept?]
"You insult me and you want to join my party?" Baras accepted the invite. "Sure, what about you? You want to join the party as well?"
The other girl shook her head as her body wilted to pick up a glowing item in the sand. She smiled, and then realized all the eyes had turned to her.
"Oh, did you say something? Sure, I'd like to join your party."
"You found a gold uncommon weapon. Never seen one before…"
[Retrieve item, great oasis armor?]
"Yes," Baras proudly took the item.
[Great Oasis Armor]
[Level 62]
[Type: Gold Uncommon]
[Defense: 1000]
[Durability: 180 / 180]
[Skills: Mark of Defense]
[Mark of Defense: Increases defense by 200% for 10 seconds.]
"You just took it from me?" The girl pouted as she got up and crossed her arms. "I bet that item could sell for at least 50 dollars."
"Let's go. Kill more monsters Great Baras," Hilly pulled his arm and stuck her tongue out at the other girl. "He's mine. I found him first."
"I'm coming. Stop teasing me you two!" The girl revealed her screen name.
[Tangled Reed]
[Level 40]
[Health: 2000 / 2000]
-------
Strength: 1500
Speed: 1000
Stamina: 1800 (+300)
--------
Class: Great Blade
--------
Skills: Hidden
"What's the deal? You both surprised I'm level 40?" Reed said proudly, "You never seen a girl that can keep up with men before?"
"Can I invite you to the party after I'm level 40?" Baras would lose experience if he partied with her. She'd be like a vacuum that would suck up all the nutrient rich experience. "Is that okay?"
"I'd have a problem if you weren't the one with the best weapon in the island. Must be a hidden game event, that blade." Reed had heard the artificial intelligence doing weird things to make the game exciting.
Things like people gaining wings and going to fight in the clouds were common. The gaming market had gotten competitive and it was these kind of games that kept players on their toes made the most money.
Her father owned a partial share in Omen Online. She knew they didn't know anything about the artificial intelligence they created. They just rolled in the proceeds from the game and tried to keep it hidden from the players.
Some players actually enjoyed the thrill of not being able to log out sometimes. The excitement created a cult following of rich nigh immortal brats that created clans to explore the unknown world of Omen Online.
She could tell that sword had to be another item derived from Artificial Intelligence to once again excite and anger the players. The fact that a level 22 novice got it and now could 'murder' anyone two times his level perfectly matched its MO.
"Three more down." Baras killed three more Oasis Recreants
[+ 15000 experience]
[Gained Two Recreant Metal Pelts, Two Recreant Scarfs]
[You leveled up to level 23!]
[Strength + 50]
[Speed + 80]
[Stamina + 50]
[Hilly has leveled up to 17!]
"Not bad… I'm sure someone behind us would pay you 15,000 dollars to use that weapon."
"I'd consider the offer," Baras laughed as a box appeared in front of him.
[4 / 10 Oasis Recreants killed]
[Kill 6 more to advance to the next area]
"That's a default quest." Hilly said as she picked up the loot. "Looks like I'll be picking up the treasure. Where'd you learn to use a sword like that?"
"I served in the military. Swords and daggers were taught to me. Then I taught it to recruits and they taught it to their recruits."
"How old are you?" Reed blurted out, smiling. "I'd pay you to teach me. My family just got a lot of money. You look like you'd give my teacher a run for his money."
"Can't. Got five years left," Baras cut through another three [Oasis Recreants]. He got 4000 more experience.
"Five-five years? You're how old then?"
"Age is just a number. I had enough money to keep my mind young," Baras sighed and picked up another item.
[Oasis Boots]
[Level 59]
[Type: Silver Uncommon]
[Defense: 500]
[+ 200 stamina]
He put the item in his inventory as Hilly grabbed his hands. She smiled at him as she stared into his eyes.
"Wait, my father needs someone to experiment on! You can participate!" Hilly gleefully said. "There is a high chance of it failing, but you could gain an extra 250 years."
"Let's just focus," Baras used [greater teleport] to appear in the center of three [Oasis Recreants].
Nine swords shot towards him as he once again slipped off his foot. Baras lost his balance as he tried to dodge, and watched a sword crash into his body.
Blood shot out of his chest as he coughed with pain.
It felt so real. He nearly panicked as Reed slammed into one of the Oasis Recreants. It's black body fell towards Baras as he instinctively slashed.
An instinct took over and he screamed and killed the other two.
[10 / 10 Oasis Recreants Killed]
[You've gained 40,000 experience]
[You've leveled up to level 25!]
[+ 100 strength]
[+ 100 speed]
[+ 200 vitality]
[+3 class points]
[You've learned the new skill Rebirth Barrage Slash]
[Rebirth Barrage Slash - fire one hundred slashes in random directions. All targets that are hit will receive 30% of your maximum damage.]
[Reminder, class points can be used to upgrade and purchase skills. You must choose a class to use class points. Find classes at a place like [King's Road].
"Well, what happened? Your feet on right?" Reed helped him up. "I swear. You shouldn't teleport into a circle of enemies. You're not a tank."
"I got it," Baras got up.
A few more items dropped that flew into his inventory. One caught his eye.
[Gold Oasis Dagger]
[Level 50]
[Type: Gold Rare]
[Damage: 800]
[Durability: 500 / 500]
Baras scoffed at the level requirements. He had to reach level 60 by the end of the day and couldn't bolster his stats.
[New Quest unlocked: Slay the Oasis Castle]
[Reward: 800,000 experience, level 45 bracers, become owner of the castle]
[Accepted by default…]
"I got a new quest," Baras grabbed Reed's hand. "You guys want to come? Something about killing a castle."
"You got a kingdom quest? Dude, that quest is worth 30,000 dollars." Hilly smiled as dazzling rays emitted from her body. Specks of dust from the beach trailed after her. "You keep getting this lucky. Those five years will turn to twenty."
"Let's go up there," Baras pointed. "It's a castle. No worries. Can't be that hard."
----
Baras didn't run into too many enemies on the way to the castle.
A few level 64 [Iron Oasis Birds] attacked him, but they were slaughtered in packs of four. A negative level weapon really seemed an inadequate description of this sword. It basically made him invincibile to anyone 50 levels higher than him.
He still felt afraid.
The Fire Oasis mirrored his days walking along the path of the dead in the Last War. The monsters got more real every time the level increased.
He sighed and looked at a dazzling castle shooting into the clouds. It had dozens of cannons turning and pointing at them. It seemed alive. Its smile and contempt displayed by the opening doorways.
They named such structures [Living Castles]. Other similar structures were [Moving Fences], [Floating Cannons], and [Runaway Towers]. All structures that provided defense to anyone trying to build a kingdom.
The Castle would not take kind to being raided, and would open the floodgates to all the monsters it had inside. Three sheds on the left and the right were a gateway to [Oasis Fiends], [Oasis Snipers], and [Oasis Magic Wielders].
He just had to destroy the castle.
[Oasis Castle]
[Level: 60]
[Health: 100,000]
Once he destroyed the castle, he'd own the castle. He'd then get experience even when not online. Any players who raided his castle and died would be sucked up into his account even when he ate with his wife.
Fifty hours in the game equaled to one hour in the real world.
He could do this. With [Greater Teleport], he could approach the tower easily.
"There is no way you can drop that castle." Hilly felt the anger coming from the large tower peaking into the sky like a large deadly needle. "If you destroy that, I'll be extremely surprised."
"Watch what happens when you get too close," Reed said as she stepped a few feet further.
The sound of dozens of salvos from the cannons burst towards her and created a line of dust that stopped her movements.
She smiled and turned around. A few large [Oasis Magic Dealers] came out of sheds and started to cast fire magic. "Why don't we get you to level 70. Then we can come back."
"Let me try out this skill this sword came with first." Baras activated [Greater Stealth]. It had a day usage, so why would sharing information about the skills matter.
He disappeared, turning into a gust of wind that rushed towards the Castle. A green arrow appeared over his head, showing Hilly his every movement against the blades of grass.
"He just disappeared?!" Reed exclaimed, "That sword is incredible! I'll buy it off you! I'll skip my date if you let me use it!"
"Not funny," Baras slashed at the [Oasis Magic Dealers] with [Rebirth Barrage Slash].
One hundred blades at close distance did enough AOE damage to completely decimate his enemies.
He lost his stealth.
The cannons turned to him and fired as the Oasis Magic Dealers were killed.
[+20,000 experience]
[+20,000 experience]
[+20,000 experience]
[You've leveled up to level 28]
[+150 strength]
[+200 speed]
[+100 stamina]
He felt a surge of strength spread down his body as he used [Greater Teleport]. He tried to aim better this time, falling in the grass in front of Hilly as a cooldown started next to [Greater Stealth].
Cooldown: 54 seconds.
He crashed and spindled as a surge of energy from the two girls welcomed him. Hilly had leveled up to level 20. He landed in front of Reed as she tried to grab the weapon.
Streaks of fire welcomed her that burned the ground and scorched a circle in the wavering grass. Bavas reached to grab the sword, and got to his feet as he smiled like a happy little kid.
'Geez, I haven't smiled like this since I found Linda. Once I found out how much time i had left that all changed,' Bavas patted Reed on the shoulder, her hand dancing in the air as she tried to avoid checking if the burns she felt had sunk into her skin.
"That-that weapon is not normal! It burned me!"
"It's bound to me. Forgot to mention a warning." Bavas looked at his cooldown. Just 15 seconds left. "Don't worry, it's just a game. It shouldn't have hurt that bad, right?"
"My pain threshold must have increased. Ow! Blow on my hand! It hurts!"
[Please use this opportunity to kill them. Murder them in the most gruesome way possible, so they may be reborn out of the watch of the Nothingness.]
"I'm ignoring that," Bavas ignored Kala's voice as he patted Reed on the shoulder. "You two are too nice to have any real combat experience right?"
"I'm seriously in pain, and you're inquiring about that," Reed didn't notice the flame spreading up her back,and slowly breaking through her armor. "It hurts so much! Help me! Use a [ice potion].
"I'll stop it," Bavas grabbed her hand, and took out a basic [bandage]. He wrapped it around her hand before he noticed the fire that started to consume her.
He sighed, and screamed in his head, 'Stop burning her! I'll find someone better! Setting a girl on fire is a little too gruesome Kala! Stop it!"
[If you aren't going to choose people, I will. The Nothingness will not be nice to your wife. I need people that can help you! She's a great candidate!]
'I want soldiers! Stop burning a kid!" Bavas watched Reed fall down onto her knees, blowing at her hand. She looked scared, afraid,and her legs quivered like two drums trying to plead for help.
"Damn it! I have an [ice potion!]" Hilly tossed it on Reeds' back. She needed that for a quest. A cold breeze spread onto the flames before it seemed to ignite it more. A large flame burst off her back and traveled to the front of her body.
She spun and screamed and ran off as Bavas finally couldn't take it.
He rushed towards her and stabbed her in the heart. A need to stop the screams overwhelmed him as he spun his blade through her body to try and get the pain to stop.
She fell in pieces in the air, smiling as her health reached zero. The flame stopped charring her body as she passed out on the floor.
Hilly's eyes widened with disbelief.
"What the hell just happened? She isn't your enemy! If you were going to kill her, you could have used a technique! Slashing her with a blade when her pain tolerance… That's so cruel!"
"I just wanted the screaming to stop. She needed to stop feeling pain." Bavas felt bad, but confident he made the right decision.
A few allies had once begged and pleaded for a last shot of alcohol before a twist of a trigger ended their woes. He took a deep breath, looking at Hilly as she laughed.
"You-you're crazy. I can't believe I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere."
A dazzling light appeared behind Baras as Reed reappeared. She came down in a white set of armor.
She cried as she reappeared and felt her body.
Her knees wobbled as she fell onto the floor.
[Reed is no longer able to be detected by the Nothingness.] Kala's voice sounded somewhat sad as the girl cried. [You did the right thing. She'd have suffered for longer if the flame kept spreading across her body.]
[The castle needs to be destroyed soon. You're falling behind on time.]
"Are-are you okay?" Bavas offered Reed a hand as she glanced and accepted it. "Sorry… I didn't know how to stop the pain without cutting you down."
"I really believed that was real…" Reed said, "It felt real. The fire. The blade. I even got a stupid stats boost with an apology!"
"The damn AI gifted me with this armor! What kind of a joke is this? My father will hear about this tonight!"
"It's probably one of the AIs new ideas to make the game exciting," Hilly sighed and pointed at the castle. "Well, destroy that so we can get a place to log out. Reed… You okay?"
"My mother… My mother died in flames," Reed cried out, wiping the droplets of tears into the air as they splashed in all directions. "This game! It's omens are getting too good. Let me show you guys my stats…"
[Tangled Reed]
[Level 41]
[Health: 4000 / 4000]
-------
Strength: 2500 (-100)
Speed: 1700 (+50)
Stamina: 1700 (+300)
--------
Class: Great Blade (reborn)
--------
Skills: Hidden
"I… I don't believe it. I saw the stats of a level 45 Great Blade. My stats are nearly double my old stats and his."
"I did get a message that the stats won't work around other players. Is the AI choosing favorites now? Unbelievable!"
Bavas hadn't checked hsi stats in a while. His stats were definitely broken as well.
There were at least ten classes, [Great Sword], [Dual Dagger], [Magic Dealer], [Shadow Riser], [Mark Punderer], [Stealth Artist], [Life Tank], [Forest Walker], [Wandering Spell], [Myriad Channeler].
The rebirth increased his stats as well as Reeds stats, which seemed to break them away from the balance of the game's classes. Most classes were perfectly balanced, time consumingly calculated by thousands of hours of simulation by the AI.
The rebirth broke the game it had spent years trying to balance perfectly. But why would it? It seemed like the paramount question.
"It's probably this event," Hilly smiled, and pointed at the tower. "I'm guessing there are more swords on this island like Baras'. I'm going over to take a look before I burst in flames."
"Wait, don't go." Baras grabbed her hand. "I-I don't think that's true. Stay with me or bad things might happen to you."
"You crushing on her?" Reed seemed to have pulled herself together. 'It's just a game Reed. It's just a game.'
"She's hot, but I got a wife," Baras said honestly. Being a soldier made him more honest than most men. If he hadn't been so honest, Linda would probably still be unshackled with men constantly pleading for her attention.
"I-I'll stay around you two for a while, but only if you unhand me." Hilly blushed. Her smile and eyes looked like those of an innocent girl. "This is creeping me out."
"Be right back." Baras activated [Greater Stealth].
His shadow trailed through the grass as the cannons turned towards him and began to fire.
Pounds of dirt spread into the air revealing something pushing through it towards the castle. A dozen [Oasis Magic Dealers] shot out dazzling shots of flames towards the approaching enemy.
Baras gulped, and activated [Greater Teleport], arriving right in front of the tower.
He laughed and slashed into the walls, causing sparks to fly into the air.
[-1000 Health]
He slashed again and again as the [Oasis Magic Dealers] rushed towards the castle.
The cannons tried to pound down and fire at him before a few floated into the air. He looked back and said 'shit' as he noticed his hands had reappeared.
His trenchant piercing of the enemies defenses had left him surrounded on all sides. He slashed again and again, realizing he had two cooldowns activated.
[Greater Stealth: Cooldown 45 seconds]
[Greater Teleportation: Cooldown 20 seconds.]
Just because he had a powerful weapon didn't mean this had gotten easy. He jumped to dodge three massive streaks of flames that followed him like approaching beasts.
He jumped and spun, stepping on the building before a skill activated.
[Ascent has activated. You may now run up the walls.]
'That's a useful skill,' Baras watched the world shift 90 degrees as he ran up the sides of the tower.
The flames sauteed him and caused his health to slowly wither away.
[-150 health]
[-300 health]
He made it to the top of the tower and smiled as the floating cannons hesitated to shoot at their master - the Oasis Tower. He began to slash into the foundation.
[-1000 health]
[-2000 health]
He felt certain of his victory before the door shot open. Three gilded soldiers rushed out and screamed.
He sighed as one slashed. He ducked, spun him off the edge, as the other two took turns spinning with their double daggers.
Baras sighed and laughed.
They would be the equivalent of untrained soldiers. With a turn, the two flew off the building like birds, but crashed like bricks.
[+3000 experience]
[+3000 experience]
A few women even ran out of the doorway and began to curse at him. There were NPCs in the castle.
One beautiful NPC with blonde hair got down and pleaded for him not to wreck the castle. She pleaded like a young girl trying to stop a large man a dozen times her strength.
Bricks flew into the air, flying into the sky as the building started to wilt.
[-5000 health]
In a minute, the building's health bar had disappeared. It's proud cannons fired a few more times and one hit Baras as he used his last slash.
[Oasis Castle has been defeated!]
Baras flew into the air, off the side of the building, as he sighed and fell towards the ground.
If he died, again, would he lose his sword?
He activated [Greater Teleport], rolling in front of Hilly as she gasped at him falling from the sky.
"That's it! I'm out of here! You're too good!" Hilly helped him up as the building's soldiers all rushed to his side.
They were angry, and wanted to attack him.
Now that he'd defeated the castle, they were no longer welcome. A few stormed towards the beach still rife with dozens of scared players.
The cannons on the building turned to them and fired. All that approached Baras were slaughtered while the rest raced towards the other players.
[Oasis Castle is now in your possession]
[Quest has been completed]
[You received 800,000 experience + 200,000 experience. Two items have been added to your inventory]
[You've leveled up to level 38]
[+ 500 strength]
[+ 525 vitality]
[+600 speed]
[+ 8 class points!]
[You've learned the new technique [Seven Floating Daggers]. (Rebirth Skill)]
[Seven Floating Daggers - Seven daggers will appear around you for the duration of two minutes and deal 15% your max damage to anything in range. They will auto attack anything that gets close to you.]
[Hilly has leveled up to level 30!]
���That's… that's insane. You beat it." Hilly looked at the tower as it opened its door and a few NPCs rushed out and ran across the hills. "This town will make you money. You happy?"
"Did you-did you run up a wall?" Reed said as she smiled and smacked her lips. "Wow, that's impressive. What a useful skill. I thought you were a goner!"
[Reed has asked to join your party. Accept?]
[Reed has been accepted into the party.]
"We still got more to do," Baras got off the ground, pushing the dirt off his face. "You guys ready to check out the castle?"
"Yup, consider it a date!" Hilly helped Baras up. "One that you're paying for now that you made it big! Wow, I can't believe I'm with someone who owns a city! Only under a hundred are actually owned by players!"
"I can't date you. My wife would kill me." Baras coughed as he touched against the soft hand coated with the youth of Hilly's beautiful skin. "Geez, you're worrying me. My wife might watch the feed later."
Baras walked towards the castle and watched the door open in front of him. A new window appeared at the bottom of his screen.
[Two new buildings have been added to your city.]
[You can now build fences and build three homes!]
[Oasis Castle]
[0 gold]
[1000 wood]
[500 grain]
[Population 3 / 100]
"Seems like a nice place. It's a shame I can't stay for long." Baras opened the door to the castle. One tall scraggy NPC polished the banister and jumped as Baras entered into the castle. Next to him, a old maid sat on a chair with her legs crossed, smiling as Baras walked in.
"Welcome home!" She smiled as him and the two girls walked in. "It's all yours now. If you want an old hag like me to do something, please don't ask!"
"Just some NPCs that didn't decide to leave." Reed walked into the castle and gazed at the beautiful decor. Thousands of paintings were on the walls of beautiful landscapes. One full of a blurry site of a snowscape while others of maddeningly beautiful summer days.
"This…. This sucks… We still can't log out!"
"It's this island. You must stop the great ruler of the Oasis to regain control… It's by something called the Nothingness. Would you like to listen to a story."
The old lady smiled and pointed to the table. A lady named Kala has come here to tell it to you. She's so beautiful that no words can desribe her body.
"Don't get too hot. Let's listen to the damn lady, and then get the hell out of here," Hilly pinched Baras' cheeks.