by A P Gore
As a replica, it can be used by all races.
Do you want to learn the blueprint of the temple of Atrizi? Yes/No.
Jon selected yes, but a question sprouted in his mind. What was a demon goddess temple blueprint doing in the emperor’s tomb?
God only knew.
White light shot from the book and entered Jon’s body between his brows.
That was it.
Checking his Town Management menu, he found the Temple of Atrizi had been added to the menu.
Temple of Atrizi
Building Class: Rare
A place to offer your prayers. Increases the morale of the villagers.
Special bonus: 5% increased effect of faith collected for darkness-affiliated gods.
Provides +1 to all faith spells cast inside the town.
HP: 1000. Cost: 1000 wooden blocks, 500 stone blocks. BP: 500. Worker Required: Novice builder.
There was no instant build cost, but he had an option to complete any building in his village instantly. However, he would need to wait three days to attain the 500 BP requirement.
Thank God, he hadn’t accumulated 500 BP yet, otherwise the free TM skill would have been randomly allocated, and he might have gotten the defense tree instead of the production tree. There was a 50/50 chance of that disaster happening.
Grimish knocked on the wall. “Master...”
Jon twisted to face the door.
Grimish glanced around, his eyes shining with a strange light. “The upgraded village looks great. That Kron fella dashed away in fear when the golden light fell on his hut.” He had a mischievous smile on his old, wrinkled face.
Seeing him, Jon’s current worry floated to the forefront of his mind. “I have to make a trip to town in four days. Do you have any way to achieve that?”
Grimish scratched his crotch in a disgusting manner. He smelled like a pig that hadn’t bathed for ten days.
Pinching his nose between his fingers, Jon groaned. “Man, you’ve got to take a bath, or stay away from me.”
“I know a way, Master fella.” Grimish’s mischievous expression changed into a serious one. “It’s dangerous. But with you by my side, I think we can do it.”
Jon stretched his neck. “What kind of danger?”
“A wing spider. Excellent mount for players below level 25. But taming one is not an easy job. At least, it’s not possible without a controlling spell for a bunch of classless people like us.”
Jon’s face broke out in a wide grin. “Control skill? We have that.” His formation Lock was made for that exact purpose. “Let’s try it this evening. By that time, I will have planted one batch of crop on farm #45.” After his own farm’s soil reduced in quality, he’d taken over an empty farm.
Grimish vanished from his hut, and Jon began his preparations. First, he planted 2000 weed seeds using Mold Earth and Land Heal at farm #45. He even used Purify on few seeds to make them grow to the highest quality possible. For the last few days, he had been collecting some super good weed plants to use for his own brewery—not that he had a brewery or any knowledge of brewing beer or wine, but he would get there. Six hundred years was a long time, and he would have chances to learn new things.
As his Spirit refilled like a balloon attached to an open water tap, he thanked the Water of Darkness. Because of the water, he had 320 Spirit. Otherwise, casting these spells back-to-back wouldn’t have been possible.
When he was done with his menial planting and spell casting, he took a nice refreshing bath and adjusted his mind for the next task: Formation Painting.
Pulling four sets of blank flags out of his bag, he placed them at the corner of the table. Then he pulled a ream of one hundred blank pages out. In his last run, Grimish had gotten him all sorts of useful materials.
Practice makes a man perfect, and he believed in hard work.
As he flipped through his formation master’s journal, he accessed the two remaining formations he could draw.
Formation of Amplification and Formation of Hurricane. Though these two wouldn’t be useful in the near future, he wanted to get the flags ready. Who knew what situation he would face in the future?
Slowly, he started drawing the weird circle patterns for the Formation of Amplification. There were three circles and one animal in the intersection. Point by point, he drew it on the paper. The first one it took him ten minutes, and it looked nothing like the one in the journal. Heck, it didn’t even look like a kid’s doodle.
Jon rubbed his forehead and he started the second one.
One page. Two pages... after the thirteenth page, he had drawn something that looked like the Formation of Amplification.
System: Congratulations, you have made the first passable copy of the source drawing. +1 Copying.
“F-k you, developers! It’s drawing, not copying,” Jon shouted, staring at the ceiling.
When no reply came, he continued practicing the same diagram. After 40 more tries, he got the gist of it and each new drawing turned successful, gaining him another +1 Copying. When he was satisfied with his results, he drew it on the set of blank flags.
The drawing appeared on the blank flags, and when the fourth one succeeded, a notification popped in his vision.
System: Congratulations, you have successfully created Formation of Amplification. Effect: 71%. +1 to Formation Painter.
Congratulations, you have achieved a small mastery in Formation Painting. You have learned the Formation Enhancer sub-skill of the Formationist Class.
Formation Enhancer: Every formation enhancer has a 1% chance to embed a gem slot in the formation set he has drawn. It only works with the formation flags/formation crystals/formation runes. Not applicable for formations created using static things.
Seeing that notification, Jon almost fell back on his butt. His hands froze, and his mind went dizzy for a moment. Formation Enhancer. There was a skill like this as well, and it could create gem slots in his formation flag set? Next time he died, he would have to learn more about these support gems from the wiki, or ask Maggie when he had the chance.
Jon went on with the second formation and drew a Formation of Hurricane.
After 30 tries he drew a passable diagram of the Formation of Hurricane, and then he drew one on a blank set of flags.
System: Congratulations, you have created a Formation of Hurricane. As a Formation Enhancer, this set of formations has received a gem slot. A gem slot can be used to socket support gems in the set of formation flags. +1000 EXP.
Jon threw a punch in the air. Though he knew squat about these gem slots, he’d gotten one. For free!
Two new formation skills had made their way to his character sheet.
Formation of Amplification: A utility formation that improves the speed of the living/non-living things inside the formation area. Time: 30 mins. Cost: 300 Spirit.
Formation of Hurricane: Once set up, the area inside the formation transforms into a small hurricane, repeatedly dealing 100 wind damage to 25% of the area of the formation. The damage area shifts every five seconds. Time: 5 minutes. Cost: 200 Spirit.
Grimish knocked again. “Master, are you ready?”
Still grinning, Jon turned back after hiding the formation master’s journal in his bag. “Grimish, how much Mana do you have?”
Grimish’s face darkened. “50, but I’m working on it. All my points next level will go to intelligence. I can’t miss out on the Lock formations you gifted to those jerk fellas. They don’t even have a use for them, and yet they walk around with proud smiles on their asses.”
Jon chuckled. This fella could get funny sometimes. Smiles on asses. Funny!
“Anyway, where are we heading?” Jon asked.
“Abomination Marsh.”
Chapter 5
Jon stopped to take a breath when Grimish once again vanished. That old man was too fast, and with his reduced stats it was like running behind a bullet train.
Squatting, Jon placed his hands on his knees to recover his stam
ina. Damn that divine punishment. It’d totally ruined his character.
Inhaling the damp air, Jon wiped the sweat from his neck with a patch of cloth. His black leather shoes had turned into mud-colored ones, and his shirt had received various holes, evidence of the sharp branches and thorns he had faced in the last hour of walking along the Abomination Forest's outer rim.
A thick, sticky substance dropped on his head, and he almost jumped away. He touched it and brought it to his nose. It smelled like goo out of a dead body.
Shit! Intense nausea overcame him. He was about to throw up his afternoon porridge when Grimish hurried over and wiped the substance off his hand with a large thick leaf.
“Master, that's dragon shit. Don't smell it, or you will die by vomiting.”
Jon grasped. “A dragon?”
Grimish chuckled. “That dragon, fella.” He pointed toward the top of the nearest pine-like tree. On the topmost branch, a bird that resembled a dragon sat with its gray butt pointed at Jon. It was leaking a dark grey substance.
“Damn.” Jon jumped out from under the thing.
Grabbing his stomach, Grimish laughed like a fanatic. His white beard swung with his head.
Jon had the urge to punch the bastard's nose.
“Master, that bird is a nasty piece of work. It's feared for its naughtiness and the tendency to target any moving thing.”
“That damn son of a dragon bitch,” Jon mumbled and moved away from the spot while his eyes fixed on the nasty bird. “Let's go. It's already evening. Why did we come here in the evening?” The sun had almost vanished in the east, and darkness had started spreading its wings. The sound of thousands of night insects humming had started around half an hour back.
“We can't catch a winged spider in the daytime. Those fellas are weakened at night.”
Jon's forehead broke in thousand creases. “And how are we going to fight it in the night? We can't see in the dark.”
Grimish pulled two bottles out of his bag, handing him one. “Master, this is a dark vision potion. It allows one to see in the night for 12 hours.”
Jon grabbed the bottle and eyed it cautiously. So, there was such a potion? Good. “How much farther?” he asked after putting the potion inside his bag.
“Two miles. If it wasn't for your speed, I'd have run back and forth at least three times.”
Jon snorted. “Shut up and lead the way. Once I get that winged spider, we’ll see who's fast.”
Grimish stared at him with contempt leaking through his eyes. Sensing his feelings, Jon understood he sulked because Jon would use his preparation to capture a mount.
Smirking, Jon pointed forward to indicate keep moving. Being a master wasn't a bad thing.
“Master. As we walk, let me tell you about the winged spider species. The Abomination Marsh is a wide area, around a hundred miles, next to the Abomination Forest, and there are thousands of winged spiders living there. They all protect a special part of the Ruins of Shenron.”
“Ruins of Shenron?”
Grimish nodded. “I have little information about it, but I've seen hundreds of players’ parties getting wiped out in this marshland. They say the ruins contain a special treasure chest that provides a Mythical-level object.”
Jon felt like somebody had tried to push terabytes of data into his brain. “What's a Mystical object?”
A mocking smile spread over Grimish's face. “Master, you don't even know that?”
Jon shook his head. “Tell me.” This was a good opportunity for him to gather more knowledge.
Grimish took a deep breath as he walked silently between the bushes in his leather shoes. “Every item has a class attached to it, like the quality of the crop you produce. It starts with Simple, then Uncommon, Magic, Rare, Unique, Legendary, and Epic. Then we have set items which work only when you have two or more items that belong to the same set. Then there are scaling items which has properties that increase as you level up. Above all of these, there's one more tier: Mythical tier, or you can call it Mythical class. I haven't seen one, but the word is that wars break out for scaling, or Mythical tier objects.”
“Then why hasn’t anyone captured this one?”
Grimish sighed. “There are many reasons. First the Hurricane Empire is the end of the human continents, and Chinari is the end of Hurricane Empire. And resources here are scarce, so not a single super-guild has a presence here. Plus, the core parts of the ruins are protected by a mystical transparent shield that no one can penetrate. I heard not even level 100+ players can penetrate it. Only forest races can travel beyond that barrier, and they are all NPCs. So, no one has claimed the object yet.”
“Is the Abomination Forest covered in the same barrier?” Jon remembered the feeling of crossing such a thing when he’d received the Arch Druid class.
“Yes. No one can reach the middle of the forest.”
Then how did he pass that barrier?
Grimish continued, “The other side of the forest was called Abomination Continent, and is now open. Of course...” He smirked. “Thanks to my master.”
Jon scratched his few-days-old beard. He was neither pleased with himself for doing that nor knew what had triggered the expansion pack in first place. Only that his name had flashed in front of billions of players around the game world.
Maybe he was just too handsome, and the game couldn't deny it.
A wicked smile popped on his face.
“Don't laugh, Master. Soon we will be swarmed by the players, and you have to save our village.”
This was true. Even Maggie had told him the same.
An invisible pressure settled on his chest. He had to protect his village. No way would he allow Baltazar to have his way and take Jon’s freedom away from him..
Grimish sighed. “It's inevitable, but until the Greater Teleportation Arrays in Chinari open for the world, only a few thousand nearby players will attempt the search. So, for a few more months we are safe.”
“Hmm. Coming back to our mission, why are we trying to hunt a winged spider when there're thousands of them. Isn't it dangerous?”
Grimish stopped and raised his hand.
Jon halted and looked in the direction Grimish was staring. A lion-like animal was moving about a hundred yards away from them. Its back shone with a blue aura. Magic. The animal had magic in it.
“Shhh. Master, that's a striped lion. A level 12 magical beast, and it's very strong. We shouldn't pull its aggro on us,” Grimish whispered.
Jon nodded and cast perception on the animal.
Striped Lion
Level 12
Class: Magic
HP 1000/1000
Mana 150/150
Soul Damage: 36%
Imbued with darkness attack.
“Let's take a detour.” Grimish walked around a large tree with silent steps. If Jon hadn't been looking at him, he wouldn't have known he’d moved at all. Was it because of his high dexterity?
As Jon turned to follow him, he stepped on a dry stick, making a cracking sound.
Roaring, the striped lion turned his head, staring at their direction. His dark red eyes locked on them, and then he leaped toward them.
Crap!
Chapter 6
When the last grain of sand sifted down into the bottom of the hourglass, Deadeye ended his meditation and opened his eyes. Sweat poured from his neck, and a maid stood close to him, waving a fan. He had been practicing Mana Manipulation for years, but the process always made him sweat profoundly.
Another maid walked in and put a glass of orange juice on the table in front of him. The fragrance of the juice, mixed with various herbs, eased his heated body. Glancing at the huge main hall of his house, he picked up the glass and swallowed its contents down in one big gulp.
“The orange flavors. Aha,” he muttered to himself. The game had everything in digits, but somehow it felt real to his brain, and he enjoyed all the delicacies he couldn't on planet F34. It had been four years in real life, and he had
n't logged out even once. Why would he? What was there to see in real life? His ruined planet? Weak people, unable to go out in the day because of ultraviolet radiation? There was nothing on his planet that interested him anymore. The game cabin was much better. He had hooked it up with a 10-year supply of nutritional liquids, so he wouldn’t have to go out and refill it.
“Honey, are you done with your meditation?” A woman with a voluptuous figure, dressed in a dark red dress, stepped in front of him, flashing her white teeth in an arousing grin. Her low-necked dress hid nothing about her huge twin peaks.
He shook his head in disappointment. “Agatha, is this a dress you wear in the house?” She was his wife, and he disliked her wearing anything like that.
“Honey, what's wrong with this?” Her lips curled in a disappointing smile.
Slapping the table next to him, he commanded her full attention. Her deep green eyes fully focused on him, and a killing intent radiated from her body.
“Where are our preparations on the Abomination Continent?”
Agatha's face hardened, and her posture straightened. Besides being his in-game wife, she was the vice leader of the Death Hounds, an assassin branch of the Death March guild.
“Guild Leader Kurush is out on an expedition to the Mountains of Zariath, so we can’t contact him. But we have gathered three hundred level 25-30 guild members in the vicinity to head to Chinari in a week's time.”
Deadeye put the juice glass down and rose from his sofa, the faint taste of orange juice still lingering on his tongue. “Contact Zeolite and see if we can get the Elite players from his guild to join us in this expedition. The Ruins of Shenron are open, and we can't miss out on this opportunity. Tell him if he can't join us, then he would only face his death after three months when the Greater Teleportation Arrays open.”
Silver Wolf led a small guild called Zeolite. They only had six or seven hundred players, but all were top class masters in their area. Every player was at least level 25, while the guild leader was level 29.
