Marcus' skills and spells were lacking but that would change once the first patch was released, as it corrected one of the worst parts of the game and the biggest critique: the lack of means to learn skills.
He had a large list of skills and spells that he wanted to learn but the choices were extremely limited at this time as one had to complete class quests from their mentor.
Thanks to reaching level 15, his [Boost] had leveled up once more providing yet another 10% boost to his stats. Rush was stagnant as he had no use for it at the moment.
Marcus sat down and observed all the runes he had received after the time he spent grinding:
Scholar Rune (x9)
Experience +10%
Mauler Rune (x15)
Damage dealt +10%
Guardian Rune (x16)
Damage taken -10%
Expeditionary Rune (x12)
Movement Speed +1%
Bonus Rune (x14)
HP/STA/MP +1%
Catalyst Rune (x34)
Used as catalyst to embed runes
Even though he had no shoulder pauldrons, earrings, bracelets, or an additional ring equipped, he still didn't have enough slots for all of his equipment… he had 9 of runes for the 12 slots he had equipped.
He had sent a message to Mawu and Lisa "Hey guys I'm level 15, what level are you again? I'm gonna catch up and then we can begin farming Contracts."
Mawu replied "I just reached 18…"
Lisa sent "I'm a kill away from 18, we'll wait for you to catch up!"
Marcus did the calculations and had to kill an another 3,650 fairies to hit 18… I should get the remaining runes I need to create an experience set, maybe I should just hit 20 and make the set from that Marcus pondered.
"I'll catch up with you guys, meet me at Vhul later, I'm gonna see if I can't get a friend to tag along with us to the capital where we can make a guild if you two would like to join."
"We'll be ready and waiting!" Mawu said and Lisa replied "We would love to join your guild!"
Marcus sighed in relief, now to entice one of the best players… Artox. He wasn't a top ranker but his skills allowed him to beat the top rankers. He just didn't close the gap in their levels until they had long quit. Artox and AverageJoe were one of the few people who played the entire life of The World from his past and as they stuck around they developed quite the camaraderie.
Marcus figured he'd lure him in the same way he did last time. Thankfully Nobody was a popular character already and Artox had accepted his friend request during his death penalty.
"Hey wanna see something crazy?" He sent to Artox.
"Depends, you're not gonna flash me are you?" Artox mocked him back, hook line and sinker, Marcus laughed to himself, the same question got the exact same response.
"Nah can't do that, you'd faint from jealousy!" Marcus teased back.
Artox just sent a bunch of lols and asked where they were meeting. Marcus sent him a party request and located him on the map. Artox was already at 19 and was currently about 12 levels behind the top rankers.
Artox was on the far eastern side of the region so by the time he approached Marcus, he had already gained the runes he needed and was 18.
"Status" Marcus called out while waiting.
Name: Nobody
Faction: Order of Balance
Guild:
Title:
Class: Squire
Level: 18
EXP: 35/3669
Sub-Class:
HP: 320+96
STA: 210+63
MP: 210+63
STR: 20+9
AGI: 20+10
DEX: 16+6
END: 16+6
VIT: 16+6
FCS: 16+6
INT: 16+6
LCK: 6
Piety: 0
Fame: 30
Infamy: 0
Skills: Rush Lv 2 {51%}
Profession: Basic Butchery Lv 9 {03%}, Basic First Aid Lv 1 {0%}, Basic Herbalism Lv 1 Lv 1 {0%}, Basic Fishing Lv 1 {0%}, Basic Mining Lv 1 {0%}, Basic Woodcutting Lv 1 {0%}
Spells:
Abilities: Boost Lv3 {60%}
Pet:
Mount:
Companion:
Partner:
***
Marcus greeted Artox "Nice to meet you man, I have something I wanna give you, this should help with your explosive power, but I need you to swear to not tell a soul and never let anyone know about this! I'd also like you to join my guild when I make one after getting level 20. You don't have to, and it won't affect what I'm about to show you, neither…"
Artox placed his hands on his hips and began tapping his foot as Nobody was just rambling away. "Hey it's cool I don't care, I won't tell nobody, I don't really plan on joining a guild but maybe depending on what you show me I may, everyone knows of the super genius Nobody…"
Marcus was taken aback, 'super genius' who??? "Who is calling me a super genius???" He asked in exasperation.
"After your guides were released, that's what everyone has been calling you. The rankers aren't particularly fond of you as all of their hunting grounds have been swarming with competition but it didn't affect me none." Artox explained.
Marcus believed Artox more than anyone in game and even though they didn't have the history they had, he felt he could still trust him.
Marcus sent the trade to Artox and gave him, 1 [White Daisy],16 [Basic Mauler Rune], and 24 [Basic Catalyst Rune].
"What are these?" Artox scratched his head as he pulled one of the mauler runes out of his inventory and inspected it.
"These runes can be slotted into equipment with the catalyst runes. Follow me and we can visit the only NPC available to embed them in our gear." Marcus replied.
"What kind of runes are there?" Artox asked his follow-up question.
Marcus explained the different runes and what they did as they went through the forest. Marcus was carrying a flower with him and had advised Artox to do the same.
As they went through the forest they had a large following of fairies floating behind them. The sunlight had trouble piercing through the thick canopy above them giving off a mystical forest vibe. Marcus had always appreciated the ambiance of insects, birds, and critters making noise as they tended to their daily routines.
After about half an hour it seemed as if they would have traversed through to the other side when Artox noticed they hadn't been moving on the world map. "Why aren't we moving on the map?" He asked Marcus.
"We're in a special section, there's quite a few places such as these in the game, and there's no other indication that you found one until you look at the map." Marcus replied. "Don't worry we're almost at our destination."