....
Exhaling and regaining an adequate control of his emotions; recovering a sharp glint with a demeanor ready for battle, Kaiden stomped the ground. Shooting forward, he sprinted toward the monster in his proximity.
「Monster: Brass Stone Golem
Level: 3
Rank: Normal
Health: 250 (100%)」
Initiating the battle with a basic slash dealing 10 damage, Kaiden was dumbfounded at the sensation he felt in his wrist upon damaging the golem. However, what came after left him appalled. Lifting his sword to defend against the Golem's smash attack, his eyes widened in shock as he gritted his teeth.
"Fuck! What the hell is this? Don't tell me that this is one of the circumstances of Liberation mode, or does the game just feel this damn real?!" uttered Kaiden with an extremely pained look.
-20 «Unsheathed Health: 120/140»
«You have been stunned for 1 second.»
Meanwhile, the Golem's health sat comfortably at 240/250. Luckily, it was an extremely slow monster so being stunned for 1 second didn't allow for it to attack again. Realizing he could only take 5 more hits before needing to evacuate, Kaiden started adopting an evasive battle style rather than defensive.
Following up with a Charge followed by a backhanded upward slash he let go of the blade at the top of the swing when its momentum halted for an imperceptible 0.1, switching to a forward grip completing an excellent downward slash while gritting his teeth, ending the combo with a clean Thrust backing away from the recovering Golem.
-21, -9, -10, -19
A series of red numbers appeared over the Golem while Kaiden lunged back in for another optimal damage window, starting the combo with a basic stab. However, due to rushing, he mistimed the strike allowing the Golem to pummel him with another smash.
'Oh…fuck not this again.' thought Kaiden with a wry smile as the conjoined Golem hands came smashing down on his sword held in a defensive posture.
-24 «Unsheathed's Health: 96/140»
Gritting his teeth but then struck by a sudden revelation. Kaiden then mentally scorned himself, 'Damn! I can't believe I was this absentminded, I have an extra skill; why the hell didn't I use it already?'
Using a backstep, Kaiden created a suitable distance which provided the space to use «Charging Slash» properly. Lowering his stance, he executed «Charging Slash». Exploding with extreme momentum, he executed a heavy slash. A slightly higher damage value appearing over the Golem's head.
-39 «Target stunned for 2 seconds.»
'How could I have overlooked this skill? That was a silly mistake! Nevertheless, looks like I have found my new star, awesome!' thought Kaiden, following with a switch grip upward-downward slash combo again. Following which he dropped his stance lower, rushing in executing two directionally opposed diagonal slashes, ending with a horizontal slash.
-10, -11, -10, -10, -12.
Noticing the Golem starting to recover. His «Thrust» icon lit up again returning from cooldown. And so, Kaiden used it dealing decent damage before retreating under the Golem's smash.
-20 «Brass Stone Golem's Health: 59/250»
"Hmm, about 70% percent shaven off in approximately 5 seconds. Meaning, in this time frame I can only use «Charge» a maximum of 2 times, With only 3 skills, most of my attacks will end up being basic ones. Looks like I'll need to find more,' inwardly calculated Kaiden.
Calming his mind slightly, Kaiden mentally assessed his battle errors as well as what he did properly. 'Despite my damage output being good, my moves don't flow together as well as my real body due to stats and slight lag in the synchronization rate. Fortunately, I can always build this body and master my control with repetition."
Until I am fast enough, don't react…try to anticipate,'
Rushing in Kaiden executed a triple-slash combo, each succeeding slash picking up speed. Shifting his body to side directly after, the Golem's smash came but missed him hitting the ground. Shards of stone grazed Kaiden's face dealing slight damage when compared to its actual smash.
-7 «Unsheathed's Health: 89/140»
-10, -9, -10.
At this point, a mere 30 Health was left on the Golem. After a dash, Kaiden executed a downward slash followed by a timely explosive «Thrust». In the next moment, the Golem. Releasing a sigh of relief after concentrating intently, he read his system notification.
[System: Over-leveled kill with a level difference: 3. 50(+5)% applied. Lv.3 Brass Stone Golem slain. You have received 47 Experience .]
Looking through the battle log as he organized the loot dropped total, 1 Copper, 2 «Stone» & 1 «Hardened Stone». No equipment dropped but that was to be expected.
«Thrust Completion Rate (74%): 100% percent damage dealt. You have gained6 Skill Proficiency.»
'Skill Completion Rate? I didn't read that on the World's Destiny page, must be a concept attached to Liberation also,' concluded Kaiden.
After the message, Kaiden noticed a small question mark and pressed it. Instantly, information regarding Completion Rate and Proficiency appeared:
「 59% and lower is 75% skill damage, 1 SP gained, and ½ the skill effect. 60-80% is 100% skill damage, 2 SP gained, and full skill effect. Every 1% above 80 gets a 2% damage increase, and 5% effect increase. Additionally, above 80%, every following 10% increase results in 1 extra SP gained.」
'Interesting,' thought Kaiden while he began examining his experience bar, 'It looks like it'll take about 10 more of these Golems to level up.'
When Kaiden's health and stamina recovered to full, he rushed off into battle. 10 minutes later, following the kill of his 11th Golem, a golden luster emanated from Kaiden's character.
[System: You have reached Level 1 (0/1,000). You have received 8 Attribute Points and 1 Mastery Point.]
Right now, he desired Agility and Dexterity over Strength. Hence, he used the remaining point and allocated 4, 3, and 2 points to Dexterity, Agility, and Strength, respectively; raising them to 11, 10, and 10.
At this point, Kaiden had accumulated 21 Limestone and 11 Quartz along with 18 Copper in his inventory.
Moving deeper into the plains, he spotted a group of slightly stronger looking monsters as well a fellow Lv.1 Warrior battling one far off to the side.
'From his stature, he doesn't seem to be a Human Race player,' mused Kaiden as he stood in the distance observing the battle unfold.
Doing so, Kaiden noted a few things, 'Pretty good movements, they all seem to be defensive. His low attack is compensated by his shifting movements. It seems to me that the Shield Warrior class would best fit this person.'
In due time, the battle finished. As such, Kaiden approached the Warrior with an amicable aura, "Hey there. I must say, those were nice movements."
Startled, the Warrior turned abruptly with slight apprehension, "Oh! When... when did you get here?" he questioned.
"Probably when you began your battle with that Brass Stone Golem," answered Kaiden.
"Ah... well, thank you for not interrupting. After all, certain people are famous for doing that in these types of games," stated the Warrior as he sighed in relief.
'I like his abrupt personality, seems rather leisurely. It kind of reminds me of someone I know', thought Kaiden rubbing his chin.
"Say... do you want to party? I know the experience will be halved, but I don't really think it'll hinder our leveling speed. Regarding items, we will split them 50/50, deal?" offered Kaiden.
"Hmm, seeing as you're also Lv.1 and my image of you isn't bad—sounds good to me! Truth be told, I was getting tired of this extensive fighting as I favor Vitality and Endurance with Strength coming in last. By the way, the name's Hollow Stance, you can also call me Hollow," responded Hollow Stance.
"Unsheathed., nice to meet you. By the way... I get this odd feeling that you seem kind of familiar though but I'm not yet sure why," disclosed Kaiden while sending Hollow a friend request and party invite with a curious yet contemplative gaze.
[System: Player Hollow Stance has accepted your friend request. Player Hollow Stance has joined your party.]
"Wait…Arthur?" asked Kaiden feeling unsure after contemplating for a while.
"Yes? How do you know my name?" questioned Hollow with a weirded out gaze. He didn't know if he liked the fact of some random person instantly guessing his name.
"Ah! It is me, Kaiden. I haven't seen you since graduation. This is awesome!" exclaimed Kaiden while releasing a hearty laugh.
"Oh! Kaiden... Kaiden! Sports guy! How've you been? Enjoyed your break?" responded Hollow Stance with a surprised expression followed by a hearty laugh of his own.
'Sports guy... he still has that same nickname...' mentally groaned Kaiden while forming a wry smile.
"It was ok. But back to the monsters, we have no AoE skills so let's steamroll them 1 by 1. I'll begin the damage then take cover behind you, letting you hold aggro," instructed Kaiden as he formulated the battle plan.
"Got it," replied Hollow.
....
It wasn't long before they found their targets. Initiating battle, Kaiden kicked off his back foot, executing «Charging Slash» on the nearest Golem, putting it in a stunned state.
「Monster: Brass Stone Golem
Level: 4
Rank: Normal
Health: 305 (87%)」
"In 2 seconds follow up with your Charge," directed Kaiden as he executed a sharp switch grip double slash. Afterward, he moved his feet, shifting his position behind the Golem leaving only Hollow in aggro range.
-15, -13.
Adding in his own basic slash and «Thrust», a moment later. Hollow then used «Charge» dealing a total 37 damage, keeping the Golem stunned locked. Using this window, Kaiden executed his signature triple-slash combo. Following up, he used both «Charge» and «Thrust» to continue his stream of damage.
-13, -15, -15, -36, -21 «Brass Stone Golem Remaining Health: 140/350»
"We're out of status skills. Tank as much as possible while I purely damage," advised Kaiden while attacking the Golem's back as the stun duration ended.
Smashing Hollow, the Golem dealt 16 damage. Merely 8% of his health shocking Kaiden, 'Hollow must've had 5 Endurance from the beginning his defense is a lot better than mine.'
5 seconds later, under the constant attacks of Hollow and Kaiden, the golem fell dropping loot as well as giving a system notification.
[System: Over-leveled kill with a level difference: 3. 50(+5)% applied. Lv.4 Brass Stone Golem slain. 39 Experience gained.]
"Alright, seeing as your defense is your strong suit; defensive skills that drop are automatically yours, and offensive skills are mine unless they are duplicates. By the way, what mode are you playing in?" inquired Kaiden.
"I'm playing Liberation, it's named just sounded so cool, so I chose it. But, it's actually turned out to be pretty fun; feels like I'm actually the character to a certain extent," chuckled Hollow.
'Ah, he's in the same mode as I am. No wonder, he should've received some type of reward also. Not to mention, just like in school, his reaction is good,' thought Kaiden.
"Alright, let us pick up the pace. Our damage is good, but the teamwork is brand new resulting in us needing to waste time uttering our intentions. Let's refine it until we start to understand the flow of things," voiced Kaiden.
"Perfect, I'll practice the luring and aggro control then," uttered Hollow as he dashed up to the next target.
As the two fought together, their teamwork smoothened becoming more fluid and in return building the leveling momentum. During the fall of their 16th Golem, they finally experienced a boon of loot. A Skill Book and a piece of Uncommon equipment.
「Skill Name: Double Slash
Rank: Normal
Type: Active
Level: 1/10. (Skill Proficiency: 0/200)
Information: Delivers 2 horizontal slashes rapidly in opposing directions. Deals 120% of Attack Power twice.
Cooldown: 6 seconds.
Requirement: Sword, Lv.1 」
「Item Name: Square Shield
Level: 1
Rank: Uncommon
Defense: 6
Bonus: Endurance +2, Vitality +1
Information: Harshly made shield. Basically, it looks as if someone attached an arm strap to a slab of stone.
Durability 30/30
Requirement: Warrior Class, 3 Strength.」
"Oh, this skill will improve our leveling speed even further. Also, this goes without saying, the shield is yours," exclaimed Kaiden while learning Double Slash and passing the shield off to Hollow.