Another of Fantasy Lyfe's attractive features was the ability to select any settlement, within your race's homeland, as your starting location.
Even though monsters had levels, they weren't segregated by level and location. You could theoretically run into any level monster at any location, although there were some mitigating factors that kept this from being practically true at all times. Because of this, there were usually no lack of lower level monsters or people, regardless of where you decided to start.
John had chosen as his starting location the city of Velkyria, which was a smaller city in the eastern region of Wyther, the homeland and country ruled by the Avian race. Wythet was located just west of Erondea, the Forest Elve's homeland, and south of Manvalus, homeland of the Arcana Elves.
As he opened his eyes, he noticed the familiar town square, with seemingly unbreakable Sand Castles built around a modest sized wading pool with crystal clear waters. He was always impressed with how much effort these smaller towns put into these town square type areas.
There were usually benches that ran along the outside of the area and you could often find people gathering here for various purposes. The ones in larger towns were, of course, even more extravagant but these little mini-park type areas were usually pretty peaceful and pleasant places to be.
Of course, John hadn't come here for peace and pleasantries. Now that he had forged a path towards the Class Titles that he was after, he simply needed to run through those motions, in order to get there.
'The first order of business is obviously my pathetic stats. Once I've gotten them up to the levels I need, I can start honing my skills.'
In the game forums, a certain Min-Maxing strategy had arisen to achieve extremely OP stats early on. It revolved entirely around unlocking the Mad Man Accolade and training all of your stats to at least seven before leveling. John knew that this strategy would be his go to whenever he started on his primary and so his first task would be to survive and unlock this absurd Accolade.
[Mad Man]
Once unlocked, all of the character's primary stats will be permanently doubled.
Because this Accolade gave such a ridiculous benefit and because it could only be obtained by those who put all of their stats into one attribute, it was basically thought of as a resource doubler. Any player, going up against someone who had put all of their starting stats into their primary resource and had unlocked this Accolade, would be at a severe disadvantage in terms of attrition.
Another thing about this Accolade was that it would disappear after the first twenty four hours of gameplay, if not inspected, and attributes couldn't be trained while the countdown was active or else you would fail the challenge. If you wanted it, it had to be your first and top priority. As such, John ran immediately to the edge of town, sat down just inside the city walls, and recovered his stamina.
Once he was topped off, he drew upon all of the knowledge and experience he had obtained through his various experiments and set out on his week long challenge.
-----
*Character Status*
Name: Lezypher Nightwind
Level: 1
Race: Avian [Bloodlines-0]
Class Titles: Caster
Professional Titles: None
HP: 20/20
MP: 1720/1720
SP: 40/40
Strength-2
Endurance-2
Vitality-2
Dexterity-2
Perception-2
Intelligence-86
Willpower-2
Recovery-20
*Accolades*
[Mad Man]
*Active Abilities*
Arcane:
[Conjure Lightning] Lvl 1
Utility:
[Collect Loot] Lvl 1
*Active Skills*
Arcane:
[Conjure Lightning] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Cast Lightning] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Mana Sensing] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Mana Manipulation] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
*Passive Abilities*
Arcane:
[Arcane Grace] Lvl 1
John had spent the past week following adventurers outside the city and then using them as scapegoats, should he run into a disadvantageous situation. Most adventurers traveled in parties and were not only not afraid of most of the monsters he would run from but also more than happy to kill another monster for its resources.
Of course, by the time they killed the beast, he would be long gone. Nearly out of stamina and dead tired but long gone, nonetheless. He only needed two materials to sell to two different Craftsmen and he would be able to clear the daily missions. This came easily enough and he usually had more he needed.
As of yet, no one had been able to discover any other way to unlock this particular Accolade, because the absence of the other attributes was simply too much of an obstacle. 'Honestly, it rarely feels like an obstacle. It mostly just feels like a law of the Universe. Without Perception you will always be caught off guard. Without Endurance you will always tire out before your enemy. Without Wisdom or Strength your attacks will rarely be effective and so on and so forth.'
Killing a monster higher than his level almost went without saying given his level was one and most monsters were not. Staying away from town was dangerous certainly but not undoable. Thus, by the end of the seven day countdown he had cleared all of the requirements and was ready to start training his stats and acquiring his Class Titles.
After renting a room at the Starlight Tavern, he spent the next four ingame days training his Strength, Endurance, and Vitality up to four. He took on odd jobs, like running errands and doing old people's chores, for the next in game week.
Once he had acquired enough money, he bought a cheap pair of daggers and went to the local Adventurer's Guild to hire a trainer. After this one week training, he had acquired two new skills.
*Character Skills*
[Dagger Mastery] Lvl 1
[Point Puncture] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
With these two abilities under his belt, he only needed to increase his Dexterity and Perception, in order to obtain the Class Title Blade.
Of course, he wasn't yet finished with his training and spent another four in game weeks creeping and stalking around the city and increasing his stats.
-----
John had spent almost two whole months of in game time (about a week in real time), going through all of the motions and training needed to acquire his desired Class Titles.
*Character Status*
Name: Lezypher Nightwind
Level: 1
Race: Avian [Bloodlines-0]
Class Titles: Arcane Stealth Blade
Professional Titles: None
HP: 60/60
MP: 1720/1720
SP: 120/120
Strength-6
Endurance-6
Vitality-6
Dexterity-10
Perception-11
Intelligence-86
Willpower-7
Recovery-28
*Accolades*
[Mad Man]
*Active Abilities*
Arcane:
[Conjure Lightning] Lvl 1
Utility:
[Collect Loot] Lvl 1
*Active Skills*
Arcane:
[Conjure Lightning] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Cast Lightning] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Mana Sensing] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
[Mana Manipulation] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
Dagger:
[Point Puncture] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
Stealth:
[Shadow Point] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
*Passive Abilities*
Arcane:
[Arcane Grace] Lvl 1
Blade:
[Dagger Mastery] Lvl 1
Stealth:
[Shadow Blur] Lvl 1
John's new stats were a cut above what most players were willing to go through to maximize their character's potential. It wasn't the most impressive either but few players would bother trying to train any of their attributes past seven. Seven itself was difficult to hit and past that...well it didn't get any easier.
At least this much was required, however, in order for John's predetermined playstyle to be possible. He needed high Perception and Dexterity and would always need to keep his Perception just a tad higher than his Dexterity.
This was mostly due to his usage of Throwing Needles which were considered Perception weapons by the game. Their physical damage was so low they were next to useless unless you targeted and struck a vital or critical area. This kind of precision targeting required high Perception and the act of actually being able to throw them effectively required high Dexterity and moderate Strength.
As an Accessory Weapon, however, the game didn't figure them into the Class Titles requirements but the act of using them made use of the relevant attributes and so could alter the given Class Title in that way. The Throwing Needles also caused ranged piercing attacks to register as part of John's playstyle thus providing the game further reason to deny him the Dagger Class Title and move him one tier higher in resolution to the Blade Class Title.
'Damn, all of this progress took so freaking long! It was all worth it, though! I've got all of the Class Titles I wanted, the Mad Man Accolade, and now I'm finally ready to chase down the other Accolades I discovered!'
John, finally free from his weak body status and his lack of appropriate Class Titles, was walking through the city gates preparing to hone his skills in the wilds. Now that he actually had stats that could let him go toe to toe with these creatures, he was brimming with confidence and anticipation of his first battle.
As he was making his way towards the forest, which was a little over a kilometer outside the city, he checked his newly acquired skills.
*Active Abilities*
Dagger:
[Point Puncture] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
Successfully landing a strike, with this skill, on an opponent's critical or vital points will cause a one second stun and bleeding.
Cost 40 SP
Stealth:
[Shadow Point] (Scrub Tier) Lvl 1
Targeting an unaware opponent will cause their most vulnerable points to be made known to you, by the appearance of red dots upon their bodies. Strike the red dots in order to deal double damage.
Cost 60 MP
*Passive Abilities*
Dagger:
[Dagger Mastery] Lvl 1
Increase the damage dealt by daggers, by 1%.
Stealth:
[Shadow Blur] Lvl 1
Whenever attacking an unaware opponent, your attack speed is doubled from the initiation of your first attack, until one second after landing the attack.
Note: If the enemy becomes aware of the attack, before it lands, the ability's effects will be cancelled.
All of these abilities were, in John's mind, perfectly synchronous. Having these abilities would make him a force to be reckoned with and who knows what kind of sick ass abilities he might acquire in the future.
After seeing how much damage could be dealt with only one point into Wisdom and Strength, he knew from then that his primary character would focus on dealing critical and vital damage. Vital damage simply being a higher tier of critical damage that was, obviously, more damaging. It was usually only triggered whenever an opponent's vital points were struck.
Using either his Daggers or his Throwing Needles combined with both Point Puncture, Channel Lightning, and Shadow Point…'Is it possible for me to one hit kill some enemies? It should be right? I mean, the last time I attacked a monster two levels higher than me I did 18 Damage! I only had two points in Wisdom, at the time! With my current stats, how could I not be an absolute killing machine? Well, the forest is just up ahead, so I guess I'll find out soon enough.'
Stepping into the forest, John used his Perception to the fullest, in order to detect the slightest sound or sight of nearby animals. After walking for a few more moments and then climbing up a tree, he looked off into the distance and could just barely make out the sight of three Direwolves chowing down on their latest meal. The back ends of two of them were sticking out from behind the tree and their tails were wagging ever so slightly.
Keeping himself as quiet and hidden as possible he slowly made his way towards the dining wolves. After coming within a dozen yards of their feast, he activated [Shadow Point.] Soon the Direwolf on the left was speckled with red spots here and there. Although one location in particular location almost made him laugh, because this particular wolf and the wolf beside him were turned away from him and there was a bright red spot just beneath his upturned tail.
'Well, it isn't what I had in mind but all is fair in love and leveling, as they say.' An evil grin spread across his face as he grabbed two Throwing Needles, one in each hand. Activating Channel Lightning and targeting both the assholes in front of him, he unleashed the two Throwing Needles and they lodged themselves firmly into the two exposed stinkers.
The two Direwolves yelped in pain as their sphincters contracted to the maximum, which didn't help their situation at all. The third Direwolf, presumably the look out, had noticed John's presence almost immediately after he unleashed his attack.
John, however, was ready for him and drew two more lightning charged Throwing Needles and launched them directly at the wolf's eyes. The third Direwolf, noticed the attack too late but still tried to dodge. One needle missed him but the other gouged out the side of his face starting at the edge of his right eye. The Lightning damage seemed to have spread to his actual eye as it appeared to be damaged as well.
John noticed that the two twitching and whimpering Direwolves clearly weren't dead and so cast [Cast Lightning] directly at the needles still sticking out of their no-blow holes. This seemed to have completely fried their internals and finished them off for good.
Now, it was only him and the last remaining Direwolf, who was watching John's every move and snarling at him. It had managed to survive his attack, which John took as an opportunity. "Alright then, Wolfy! You'll be my first practice dummy. Quit your snarling and come at me!"
The Direwolf seemed to understand that John was taunting him and instinctively charged. Using his Perception to its utmost, John took in every movement that the Direwolf made. Although the Direwolf was fast, John was just barely able to track it and waited for the perfect opportunity.
The wolf quickly arrived within striking distance and attempted to take a swipe at John with its right paw. Using the dagger in his left hand, he attempted to stab it into the oncoming paw but he was just a second too late. The dagger missed and the Direwolf's claws dug out deep gashes across his torso and sent him staggering backwards.
John had experienced many such attacks, during his many tests and was used to the pain simulated as a result. Ignoring the pain the best he could, John saw the wolf coming at him again this time with jaws open wide.
John quickly brought his right hand dagger up to intercept the attack and it slid cleanly through the Direwolf's lower jaw and into his upper jaw. The moment he felt the blow connect he channeled lightning into both his daggers and brought his left hand dagger up into the Direwolf's jaw.
Keeping his left dagger planted firmly in its jaw, he pulled out the right dagger and plunged it directly into its left eye, after channeling lightning into both daggers.
After pulling both daggers out of the wolf's face, the once vigorous wolf then fell limply onto the ground.
John smiled through the pain he was experiencing and felt quite satisfied at the scene before him. The first monster he had killed was distracted and vulnerable. It wasn't much of a fight. The second monster he had fought was a Direwolf in a pack of three. During his first ever actual battle he was completely wrecked, before he could even think about retaliating.
Because he had spent so much time testing and training, there were, of course, loads of players who were well ahead of him and so he knew he had a long way to go. However, the fact that he had killed these three Direwolves all by himself and probably could have performed better if he weren't still training, made him quite satisfied with his progress so far.
After drinking the only healing potion he had purchased with his meager funds and watching his wound slowly close up, he knelt before the Direwolf and started cutting away his flesh. Since he was finally able to legitimately fight for himself, this was as good a time as any to pick up the [Collect Loot] skill.
Once the Direwolf's pelt had been removed and placed inside his storage, he then used his [Collect Loot] ability on all three corpses. Before continuing his training, he began heading back to Velkyria to learn at least one healing spell. Something he realized he should've done, before dashing out here like a mad man.
"Although, I guess I am a [Mad Man], aren't I? Hahaha"