Once MashaMura had dropped the proverbial bomb of his "enlightenment", everything became much easier.
MashaMura was able to explain things in a way that I understood.
The sword had leveled up to 4, which was very lucky according to him. From level 3 to 4 was the most difficult time for him when he first wielded the corrupted sword. You must maintain sanity while the sword seeks to overwhelm you. At level 4 you unlock Minor Purify.
Minor Purify-Cost 10% XP(from the current level) will purify the corruption for 24 hours, reduces damage by 50%, enters " Sated" state where no experience is required.
As soon as Masha was done with his monologue, he showed me how to use this ability to purify the sword.
It reduced the damage by a lot, but it worked. My mind was my own again. It was a huge relief. I couldn't imagine what Masha had to endure during his time with the blade.
Leeroy and Jenkins could see that MashaMura and Kale were different than other NPC's. Mysterious, knowledgeable, and powerful. They had an aura about them that drew us towards them. I was worried the other players would run, but instead, they opened up and began to try to fulfill their roles.
The Ninja, Samurai, Monk, and Mystic classes all use Maki to control their magic. A normal caster would use an incantation or series of hand moments to activate a particular spell.
We use our Maki to create the spell. Unlike the other classes, the Ninja creates complex magic-using Maki, which is essentially 'imaginative power'.
For example, I had learned the 'Shadow jump spell' from a skill book. Once I was able to see Maki I realized the details of this spell. It created a perfect shadow copy of myself where I envisioned that was tethered by a thin line of Maki. Activating the spell would switch places with this copy. This was why creating an afterimage of myself was so easy.
Since Maki requires this imaginative power, both Keto and MashaMura still had all of their 'spells'. This meant that they could teach us pretty much anything that we were strong enough to use.
We had moved down the mountain path for a few miles before MashaMura led us down a hidden path. This led us to a secret dungeon, which he claimed we would use to level up before going further.
MashaMura had used the games 'training' mechanic to teach many students in the past. His level of understanding was so high that he could teach samurai and mystic spells to the others until at least level 40.
Before entering MashaMura tested each of our elemental affinities, and taught us a spell that befitted our strength. He used the training mechanic to temporarily grant us the knowledge of the spell.
I had a high affinity for the water element, so he taught me a new attack that would work well against our upcoming enemies.
Training complete! You have permanently learned the spell [Pressure blade]Coats the surface of the blade with the power of pressure, a strong attribute of the water element. This increases penetration and sharpness by 100%. Costs 1 mana per second.
The samurai learned a similar spell, [Wind Blade], which had a huge penetration and sharpness increase as well.
The Mystic Jenkins learned an earth spell, [Earth Shield] which creates a protective shield that would act as a buffer while healing.
The main purpose in completing the dungeon would be to learn to work together.
Ding!
You have entered an instance dungeon[Corrupted Elemental Cave]
Each room of the cave had a level 10 boulder elemental that would require a precise amount of group tactics to take down.
"Remember what I told you." MashaMura began, " Let Keto get a good amount of aggro before you start attacking. You have to keep an eye on how much damage you deal, if you do too much you will pull the attention of the monster. If this happens the elemental will explode and regenerate its health to full. No pressure. Everyone ready?"
We all nodded or agreed in some form or fashion.
Keto ran into the center of the room and began pummeling the boulder elemental with his fists. Damage numbers began to appear as the elemental assembled itself from the pile of rubble in the center of the room.
The elemental smashed down on Keto and the rest of us moved into our positions behind the boulder creature.
Keto took the hit with his arms crossed in a block. He lost 10% health heath and Jenkins quickly healed him, bringing his health up by 5%.
Each of Keto's attacks took chunks out of the boulders exterior. Keto was level 10 while the rest of us were only level 5, so his damage was quite high.
The elemental continued to smash its body into Keto relentlessly.
Each attack would drop the monk's health by 10%, and Jenkins could only heal back 5% before another attack came.
Once Keto got to 80% health MashaMura signaled us to start attacking and spoke to Jenkins. "Use the Earth Shield now."
Jenkins used his new earth shield on Keto, which formed a rocklike barrier between the elemental and the monk.
The samurai and I attacked from our flanking positions behind our enemy.
Hit!
You have dealt 20 damage!
The blade seemed to slice through the rock with ease, an effect granted with the pressure blade.
Leeroy's attack critically hit, doing triple the damage of my own.
This spurred me to attack faster, but Mashamura held up his hand. "Stop attacking for a minute and let him build more aggro."
The earth shield had protected Keto long enough that Jenkins was able to get his health back to full.
I grumbled to myself, but stayed my hand and waited for my turn.
The elemental dropped to 80%...
Then 70%...
60%....
Each time Leeroy and I would attack we would bring down its life by at least 10%. Though most of the damage was being done by the samurai.
50%...
40%...
30%...20...10....5....
Ding!
You have slain Level 10 boulder elemental!
You have gained 1000 experience!
(5)(3500/5000)
The boulder shattered apart and turned to dust with the final blow, leaving behind an elemental core.