Name: Fargil
Race: Human
Class: Forest Druid
Level: 3369
Buffs/Ailments: N/A
Status Rank: Neophyte
- Strength: 50
- Intelligence: 174
- Wisdom: 211
- Dexterity: 50
- Defense: 30
- Health: 5
»»————- ★ ————-««
Trash. Weak. Meatshield. Noob.
Just a few slurs Fargil always hear on a daily basis despite the fact he's doing his best to support his teammates. In the world of ACO, there was nothing that accompanied him except griefing and harsh treatment that his party members always stab either by his face or by his back.
It was supposed to be that way. He would take their negative camaraderie and let them shun him so that one day he can prove he's better than anyone else even though he's a support.
It was supposed to be his facade, but Maqirelle had already figured out under his visage that he's more than what he lets his squad sees; far bigger than the surface of the iceberg he concealed under his feet.
"So, we're alone here together. Might as well show your true form, Celestial Reaper." Maqirelle insinuated, winking her right eye at Fargil. She gripped her legendary sword and shield, her intentions ringing out clear to weed out Fargil's mask.
"What might you be talking about?" Fargil's eyebrows met. His elusive instinct tells him that Maqirelle was there not to bring harm, but she was there to crack the identity he's been hiding all this time.
Wandering around the dungeon Maqirelle created was already a blunder. And to make things worst, Fargil stumbled upon a room that he thought could contain a passage fastest to his group, though, he instead was cornered by Maqirelle somewhere isolated.
She locked the room and now, Fargil's stuck with her. He can't find any secret escape route other than speaking with the perpetrator herself.
"Don't play dumb, Fargil. You're the Celestial Reaper the rumors are talking about." Maqirelle was confident. No lies can cut through her iron will.
"And what if I am?" He's conceiving a backup plan and a diversion. He can't let himself be outdone by a woman in the art of shrewd mastership he perfected while cultivating his support skills.
"Shut your lies. The Raid Boss I have prepared down level 70 is nothing compared to you, Fargil. But it should kill at least, let's say, 97% of the joint party your stupid party captain leads. So knowing you'd rekt the party I started myself, I've instead prepared something for you alone..."
Maqirelle finally showed her true colors and her machinations. She's no longer keeping her slate clean, professing her intentions as clear as the stalactites under the cave's glowing ceiling.
"Something else...?" Fargil had taken up his assertion stance, stepping his right foot forward and leaning his left foot with his shoulders reclined which he uses as his body weight's foundation.
It was then Maqirelle pulled something out from his inventory, her guard reinforced to the highest form of defense; going-all out just so she can witness what Fargil is capable of during real no-hold-barred combat.
"I've crafted this Sovereign-ranked artifact to uncover your truest ability, Fargil! The next upcoming war competition will be held next week so I'm seeking a companion that can fight side by side with me!"
Maqirelle declared her purpose of why she devised her scheme for that day. She pulled a rounded hand mirror from her inventory and faced it towards Fargil.
The artifact reflected a strange light that does no damage, penetrating Fargil's avatar which then uncovers who he really is behind his fake mirage.
"What in the world..."
"Ha! My artifact, Truth Seeker, is a mirror that bypasses complex manipulation magic and discloses your character sheet!"
And just as Maqirelle claimed, the initial character information about Fargil avatar's status that he tampered with using his Ring of Deception was lifted, displaying what he's really made of regardless if he wanted to or not.
»»————- ★ ————-««
Name: Fargil
Race: Ancient
Class: Astral Guardian
Level: 3012
Buffs/Ailments: Five Silver Rings(Buff)
Status Rank: Sovereign
- Strength: 1428
- Intelligence: 4140
- Wisdom: 9242
- Dexterity: 222
- Defense: 125
- Health: 103
»»————- ★ ————-««
There was no mistake nor any chasm; Fargil gritted his teeth as he looks above his head, his data shown and Maqirelle was standing there feasting upon the glory he's holding to himself.
"Marvelous...! You're a Sovereign?! So you're the second Sovereign-ranked in the Alfahim Kingdom, of course, I'm number one... But to think a great player like you is hiding in broad daylight... What a shame that the Alfahim Kingdom ranked the lowest among nations when we have someone like you on par with me."
In Arkmeria Conquer Online, not only do players and items have rankings of their own, each nation players represent, the six kingdoms and empires across the two continents are ranked by a hierarchy system based on the total cultivation they had attained as a whole.
Arkmeria is the spitting image of the world and reality so the system runs on the same mechanic of merit and culture enrichment.
The first aspects that add up to a nation's level are economizing and trade, the most common factor for ranking.
There are things, materials, and monsters that can only be found in a specific kingdom, and players tend to monopolize their assets and bring demand to countries that needed the said yield so their financial system can propagate a better scaling of their economy.
Amongst the factors that should push a realm towards the top; a player's ranking holds so much power that thrift fails in comparison to contributing to the system's ranking algorithm.
The six levels of rank, Neophyte, Apprentice, Master, Lord, Legend, and Sovereign are influential levels. The higher ranking players a nation hold, the more they can spring forth to the top, which could then turn their market on a higher threshold and the spiral of progress will begin to move.
In the end, a player's merit and rank decide a nation or kingdom's capital. That's why the Alfahim Kingdom had stayed the lowest among the six other nations because they only had Maqirelle, the first and only Sovereign-ranked player that represents Alfahim.
Farasia Empire had always been on the top retaining at least more than a hundred Sovereign-ranked players. And the rest had a Sovereign count that could at least rival the Farasia in terms of strategy and military prowess.
Even during war competitions, the higher ranking kingdom had to send the equivalent Sovereign count of the lower ranking kingdom also had. They implemented the balance treaty system so players won't abandon the country they are fighting for if they see their nation isn't prospering as the opposing ones.
In this way, players can cultivate without the fear of imbalance because the hundred Sovereign-ranked players Farasia Empire can potentially sweep most countries on Alfura and Ceresia Continent.
Nevertheless, the only reason why Fargil had kept his rank all this time was to avoid publicity, after all, Arkmeria Conquer Online is the finest, most played, and most-streamed VRMMORPG of all time, replacing the known metaverses on the same market.
Attaining the rank of a Sovereign pretty is challenging by itself, but a player who claimed to top pretty much means they become a celebrity and talk of the town. They become renowned not just in ACO, but in real life as well.
"You're the first to discover the real me, Maqirelle. I was planning on debuting when I'm mentally ready, though not like this..."
Fargil was pissed at Maqirelle's prying nose. He flicked his ringers and chains of cosmic flare burst forth from his wrists wrapping around his arms and shoulders. And at the edge is a crescent-moon hook burning brighter and hotter than the manifestation of the sun itself.
"The Celestial Reaper... I take that you accept my challenge then? Come! Let us dance and–huh?!"
Maqirelle was caught off-guard hearing a loud clanging noise that came somewhere near her.
She inspect the surroundings and found not a single projectile that Fargil shot at her, except, she looks on her reinforced chest plate finding something strange and odd she had never seen coming in spite of her accumulated experience in one-versus-one combat for years.
"A hook...?
Maqirelle notices a hook attached over her right breastplate out of nowhere. Its pointed tip had penetrated her shoulder blade up her pouldron. She wasn't affected by physical damage or injury yet she knew she was a step behind.
"Huh? The Top Player of Alfahim Kingdom couldn't see my first strike? We'll surely dance in this battle, just the two of us."
Fargil gripped his hands and the intangible chains had manifested. The invisible shackles ringing sharp metallic fibers echoed loud throughout the cave, to which he performed his signature move and pulled Maqirelle with the hook he attached to her in the millisecond she blinked twice.
"You are amazing, Fargil! As the Top Player of Alfahim, I, Maqirelle, will reciprocate your iron resolve!"