A dark alley, a common merchant, and an eccentric Mage. Merrick knew that they looked like easy targets. After all, most would assume there was not much that a magic-user and a merchant could do against a well-timed ambush. During his first jump into Dungeons Below, Merrick learned quickly that magic was something that must be prepared ahead of time.
During the last two years of in-game time, Merrick had done more than simply reclaim all of his skills, spells, and abilities that he lost when Alex DC'd him from the server. His slight experience with crafting in the Elemental Cage had opened up a lot of possibilities. Then when he met other Adventurers and started to work with the Faction, he came up with some truly unique items.
Most of them were one-offs, consumable items that only helped in incredibly specific instances. However, this was one of those instances. Just after the PvP-zone was created, a blue sea glass brooch on Merrick's robe burst into shards. The item granted high heightened awareness, a momentary boost in speed, but those were the passive side effects that came with the intended purpose. The brooch shattered when Merrick was directly targeted by an attack from an unknown assailant.
He had intended for it to help out in dungeons but it was not like he was about to complain. The brooch identified the type of attack by what damage it would cause. In this case, it was untyped physical. Since there was no one within melee distance, Merrick could assume that it was either an arrow, bolt or some kind of thrown weapon.
The heightened awareness led him to believe the attack was coming from behind. The increase in speed let him summon Crudle to his side. Just as the arrow was about to strike into Merrick's back, Crudle formed a shield of brittle dirt that was just strong enough to knock the attack off course. Three arrows clattered powerlessly to the ground at the information broker's feet.
Merrick returned fire by letting off a lightning bolt. He had learned to control the speed and flow of magic so that it no longer burned his hand like the first time but it still crackled outward with destructive powers. He had loosed the bolt on instinct alone, relying on the PvP-zone to keep it from carrying off into the distance to strike an innocent bystander.
The bolt missed the ambusher, but it struck the ledge they were hiding on. A tumble of dark cloth fell to the alley and the ambusher was revealed to be a Ranger. Beneath their cloak, Merrick could see the hilts of a pair of swords and when they threw back their hood Merrick recognized them immediately.
The Ranger's name was Kobalk and they were the Vice-Leader of the last Faction that the Curious Glades defeated. It was too much of a coincidence, Merrick realized that the information broker was not the target of the ambush.
Rather than charging and drawing their swords, Kobalk steadied their stance and summoned a spectral bow into their hands. "There is no way you saw that attack coming. Just like the War, you cheated, didn't you?"
Merrick shook his head, "In a game of endless possibilities, that is what you chose to tell yourself because you lost?"
"You're just a Mage, there is no way you beat my Stealth."
Merrick nodded, "You're right. That's because I did not beat your Stealth. I circumvented it."
Kobalk shouted and drew back his spectral bow, "You admit to cheating!"
Merrick sighed. There was no point in arguing. Instead, he channeled his own energy. It was, unfortunately, not much of a fight. Now that Merrick knew that Kobalk was his opponent, he defeated the Ranger's attacks in the same way that he had during the Faction War. The arrows were real but the bow was not.
Crudle blocked the second volley of three arrows and Merrick used a blast of energy to destabilize Kobalk's hold on the ethereal weapon. The downfall of ethereal and spectral weapons was that once they left their summoner's hand, they returned to nothingness. The bow vanished, Crudle set up a block of earth behind Kobalk, and Merrick knocked the Ranger over the block with a stronger blast of energy.
Dusty and embarrassed after a failed ambush, Kobalk fled after getting up. Merrick had readied a lightning bolt to strike his ambusher down but as soon as he noticed that Kobalk had lost the will to fight he let the energy dissipate. Once Kobalk had left the alley, the PvP-zone ended and Merrick was able to breathe a little easier.
He turned back to the information broker who was staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and wonder. The information broker cleared their throat, "That was your fault."
Merrick nodded, "I am aware."
The information broker continued, "If you keep absolutely embarrassing other Factions, they are going to keep coming after you."
Merrick sighed and stretched his arms, "I am aware."
"Everyone knows that you are carrying your Faction."
Merrick did not bother correcting the information broker. Technically, it was not just Merrick carrying the Faction but Thom had taken a back seat recently so the focus was more on Merrick in the Wars. He had better things to do so rather than continue the conversation, Merrick started to leave the alley.
The information broker called after Merrick, "The Curious Glades are a sick joke. You dropped fifteen swordsmen in that last war and when your counterpart tried to PvP you just now, you embarrassed him and let him run off. What are you going to do when they just nuke you with spells from the distance?"
Merrick sighed and looked back from the alley's exit, "Probably die and respawn. Then spend another two years reclaiming what was taken from me."
The information broker was left in silence in the alley. Merrick had bigger problems. The last few Faction Wars had all been medium to large scale battles where they chased after grand objectives as a group. The upcoming one was a one on one contest of speed, strength, and experience. In an Item Hunt, Merrick had to rely on luck for his number to come up. The only solace he had was that Thom seemed to know that Merrick's number would in fact come up.