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"Man, the way we killed all of those skeletons!" Meliadol exclaimed for what felt like the millionth time as the pair walked the crowded streets of Arendall.
"Indeed. I think, if we really pushed it, we could have done twelve!" Bast agreed.
"Yeah! You still had a bit of health that last pull!"
Bast didn't disagree, chuckling at Meliadol's enthusiasm. "We also finished all your quests."
Opening up his journal just revealed quest after quest with the words "Ready to Turn In!". To think he finished them all in just a few hours. He'd get so much experience! More than enough to push him past level four. Bast had warned him that leveling would slow down the higher level he got, but for now, he enjoyed the benefits of partying with the berserker. Not to mention that his mind swam with the possibilities Bast had revealed to him.
His perspective on how to play the game had certainly changed.
"By the way, Bast. What was that blood thing you did back there?" Meliadol finally had a chance to pick the knowledgeable man's brain.
"The thing with the sword?"
"Ya."
"It's one of our abilities we can choose to spec into. There's three routes a berserker can go: heavy melee with a conventional weapon, bloodzerker, or grappling. Of course, we can use a bit from the other talent trees, but they're not very effective due to skill points being spent in the focus abilities."
"Ah, I see." Meliadol wasn't high enough to get skill points yet. Like a lot of things, it started at level ten, coinciding with the first job change. "So what does it do?"
"It's called Crimson Moon. Basically, by inflicting a damage-over-time effect on yourself, you make a sword that bypasses a portion of the enemies armor and drains health. It's something you use during opportunities, since if you can't damage your opponent, the DoT you put on yourself can lead to an early death. But if you can do damage with your sword, it can maintain itself and the damage you can do is a bit scary!"
"So you're a bloodzerker?"
"Yep! It's not a very popular spec since its so risky, but I'm stubborn enough to keep at it! Most people like the playstyle of a weapon berserker."
"What about grappling?"
"Even less like that spec, since it overlaps with the Grappler class, but with a focus on crowd control rather than damage and displacement. You have to be a very technical player to be a berserker grappl–."
"Bast! I've been looking for you! You forgot to turn off 'Do Not Disturb' again. How the hell am I supposed to message you when you use that shit? I swear, you're so fucking blinders on when you got a new pet project!" The pair was interrupted by the familiar voice of Darlia as she weaved her way through the crowd.
"Darlia! Oh, woops, yeah, you're right." Bast's eyes glowed blue as he checked his UI, "I left DnD on. My bad!"
The redheaded blade dancer sighed, hands on hips. "What am I gonna do with you?" Her red eyes flicked over to Meliadol, who was practically aglow with excitement over his success, "Hey, noob, I'm guessing you finally managed to beat those skeletons?"
Meliadol was in far too great a mood to be irritated at the blade dancer's choice of words. "Yep! After that, I grouped with Bast and killed like ten at a time! I'm heading over to the observatory to turn in my completed quests!"
Darlia raised an eyebrow, "Oh? You actually swallowed your pride and grouped with someone?"
Again Meliadol looked over the crass woman's confrontational statement, "It was surprisingly fun. I'm gonna get level ten in no time."
Bast laughed, stepping between the two, "Hey now, what was it that you were looking to talk to me about?"
"You're needed back in the guild hall. We got visitors that need to talk to you about…things."
"Visitors? About what?" Bast rubbed the back of his head, confusion furling his brow.
Darlia said nothing at first, glancing at Meliadol, before her eyes began to glow blue. Bast eyes soon mirrored the woman's. Meliadol understood what was going on; the two were speaking to each other in whispers, deliberately leaving him out, but he didn't mind. It was their business and it'd be rude to be expected to be included in it, so he just waited patiently, taking great interest in the cobblestone pathway in which they stood.
Bast's eyes were the first to return to normal. "Oh, I see." he said, seemingly subdued by whatever Darlia had said. The berserker turned to Meliadol, "I'm going to go to handle some business. I'm sure you can handle soloing for now?"
"Of course. I didn't need you anyway. You just looked so lonely that I took pity on you."
"Hah!" Bast gave him a thumbs up. "That's the spirit! I'll check in on you after I'm done, if you're on."
The two groups made as if to separate, but a loud voice rang out from the crowd. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Two shit stain bounty hunters? Lot of balls showing yourselves knowing that I'm online."
Meliadol looked around, a frown on his face. Who was speaking? If ever there was a voice that belonged to an asshole, this was it. Sure enough, the owner stepped out, pushing through the crowd rudely. He was huge, bigger than even Bast; his skin a dull grey and clothed in leather with gaudy fur lining. A massive sword was strapped to his back. But it was his ugly expression, narrow angry eyes and a sneer which left streaks, that made Meliadol recoil in distaste.
Both Bast and Darlia stood their ground, the latter with a heavy roll of her eyes. Meliadol pulled up his UI, and the stranger's status appeared upon inspection:
Dethgargar, level 60 Berserker.
He almost snorted. What kind of name is 'Dethgargar'? It sounded like something a child or meatheaded jock would think up. Unfortunately, Meliadol's pain must have shown on his face, because Dethgargar turned his angry gaze directly on him, as if sizing him up.
"Who's this? Did you two pick up a pet from the store?" The berserker's eyes glowed, "Awww, and look at this, he's only level three. What a baby boy!"
Surprisingly, it was Darlia that stepped between the two. "Piss off, Deth. Leave him alone. No sense bringing a newbie into this, just 'cause you're mad that Bast and I bent you over for your bounty a few times."
Bounties? Meliadol had heard about them from NPCs. Endless Nevergarden didn't have factions, like some MMOs. Outside of arenas, which was either 1v1, 3v3, or 6v6, Player vs Player (PvP) was open, anyone could attack anyone, as long as it wasn't in a safe zone, which were generally cities or spawn points. But there was also specialized PvP incentives available to those who wished to use them to spice up their play.
There were three groups one could join. If you flagged yourself as a criminal, you got access to some unique vendors, and you could underhanded things like steal small amounts of gold and certain materials from players, even in safe zones. It made things like crafting recipes dangerous to transport. In addition, you had a higher likelihood of gear dropping off a person when you killed them out in the wilderness. It was because of these things that it was quite alluring to unsavory types.
But if someone noticed your crimes, or if they escaped your attack without dying, they could place a bounty on you, enabling those who flagged themselves as bounty hunters to "enact justice" on you, even in safe zones.
There was a lengthy cooldown on bounty placing, to stop abuse of the system, and one had to have committed an action defined as a "crime" by the game system.
Justice was almost always in the form of a one-way trip to the graveyard. It was basically getting a quest to legally kill another player. Not even a safe zone like the hub city would provide you safe haven if you had a bounty on your head. You'd get gold and currency that could be used with the bounty hunter guild in Arendall for useful items.
Everyone else was designated as a mercenary, allowing them to play for either side for a short time as long as they were hired to do so. Not everyone used these functions in game, Meliadol had read, but it was now apparent that Darlia, Bast, and this ugly idiot all did.
"What did you say, bitch?" Dethgargar had gotten face to face with the stone faced blade dancer.
"Shit, your hearing must be just as bad as your face is ugly." Darlia didn't back down; the two were almost nose to nose, though Dethgargar had to hunch over to do so. Lightning seemed to jump between the two.
Bast had slowly edged over to Meliadol, "Oooooo, this should be interesting. I really shouldn't since I need to get to the guild hall, but you wanna make a little trouble?" Bast whispered into his ear.
Meliadol grinned at the thought. "Oh? What kind of trouble?"
"Watch a master at work."
Bast strode up to Darlia and Dethgargar with an air of innocence. It was if the tension between the two and the forming crowd didn't matter at all to Bast. If Meliadol didn't know better, he would have thought the berserker was an idiot, unable to grasp the mood of a situation.
"Come on, you two." Bast said, smiling broadly, putting his hands on both of their shoulders. "Can't we both get along?"
Dethgargar made a face, as if he had smelled something particularly displeasing, and even Darlia looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow.
"What are yo–" she began, but Bast moved too quickly.
"There's no sense in fighting." The entire time, Bast's eyes never left Darlia's. Meliadol applauded how deadpan and serious he looked., "Dethgargar has paid for his crimes already. If you check your UI, you'll see that he's neutral to us. No bounty, no fight."
Then Bast took a now confused Dethgargar to the side, as if imparting some secret knowledge. The stunned man had no choice but to follow his fellow berserker. "Now look here. We've had our differences in the past." Bast explained slowly in a stage whisper that most of the crowd could hear easily, "But let's let bygones be bygones, eh? Do you wanna bury the hatchet and just be friends? Or at least a truce? She's getting bored of seeing you face down and ass up."
Meliadol couldn't believe the berserker's words, and it took every modicum of willpower that he had to keep a straight face while Bast was talking. The rest of the crowd wasn't as gentle, immediately bursting out with laughter and jeers. It was an amazing sight, really, watching Dethgargar's face transition through an entire gamut of emotions: confused, to more confused, comprehension, and then all consuming rage.
"Bored, huh?" He roared, spittle flying as he stomped toward the unmoving blade dancer. Darlia, to her credit, didn't seem shaken at all at the sight of this grey-skinned hulking man bearing down on her. For a second, Meliadol thought that perhaps Dethgargar would strike the aloof woman.
That would be a mistake. Safe zones were protected by NPC guards that were far more powerful than any player. They'd come and kill an aggressor in seconds. There's no way someone would be dumb enough to attack someone without a bounty on their head in the heart of the city…right?
It'd be suicide.
But Dethgargar must not have gotten the memo because he unsheathed his massive great sword in a single smooth motion. The entire crowd immediately quieted down. But the giant sword didn't come swinging in; instead the berserker pointed at the blade dancer with it.
"I challenge you to a duel!" Dethgargar declared.
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