Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  “Kyaaaak!”

  Melina shrieked. Luckily Milan and Hegel were still in the Silver Star. They were able to centre the Silver Star and stop it from spinning but…..

  “Oh no! Melina-nim is gone!”

  “Oh my god! She must’ve fallen from the shock just now!”

  Slayer and Leon screamed as they looked up at the rope. Melina’s form couldn’t be seen at all.

  “D-don’t tell me she is dead?”

  “Dammit! Ark, you should’ve bought a proper descent device!”

  “No! Melina-nim had also descended. She won’t die even if she fell from that height. It is highly likely that she is somewhere on this mountain!”

  “S-save me!”

  Then they heard Melina’s voice. As expected, Melina had slid from the rope and fell to the rocky mountain above them. But the situation became worse before they could sigh with relief. The Halrosu Ark’s group was fighting all turned as they heard Melina’s scream. The distinctive forms of the wolves then started jumping up the rock wall.

  “No, those guys are flocking to Melina-nim!”

  “No! Melina-nim won’t be able to defeat them alone!”

  “Dammit, how can we climb those rocks? And there are a lot of protruding rocks so it will be difficult to climb from this angle! We have to intercept those bastards!”

  Slayer had fallen into a state of panic.

  “Royal Guards, rescue Melina!”

  Ark shouted as he looked at the Royal Guards.

  “Hey, do you think it is possible just because you gave a command? For these guys to climb the rocks…..”

  Slayer suddenly shut his mouth with a flinch. Berad, Kalliben, Cupa and Hedro had put away their guns at Ark’s command and jumped on the rocks. And leap! They steadily climbed the almost vertical rock wall without a hitch.

  “U-unbelievable! How did they…..?”

  Slayer stuttered with incredulous eyes as he stared at the Royal Guards. But it was natural. Ark had left a training program with the Silver Hand. One of the tasks was to climb a cliff. Thanks to the Silver Hand, the Royal Guards had to climb a cliff if they wanted to eat a meal. The height of the cliffs exceeded dozens of kilometres! It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Royal Guards had already mastered rock climbing. The 90 degrees rock wall couldn’t be considered an obstacle to the Royal Guards.

  There was even more.

  Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!

  Kalliben was a sniper while Cupa and Hedro used guns. They showed the effects of this marksmanship while dangling from the rock wall with one hand. The Helrosu jumping off the cliff fell at the Royal Guards’ barrage. Meanwhile Berad was steadily climbing and swinging his huge hammer every time he caught up with a Halrosu.

  ‘…..NPCs can also be useful.’

  Ark looked at the scene with warm eyes. Once again, NPCs were generally weaker than users. The Silver Hand’s train converted the stat points into the desired ones but they still couldn’t grow like users. That’s why Ark came up with specialization! It was hard for NPCs to keep up with users in a fight. But it was different when the NPC specialized in a specific combat ability. It was why Ark created his awful training program. Moving through a cave infested with bees, swimming through a swamp, climbing cliffs, they were all exercises designed to increase their capacity by 100%. Now this was the results.

  ‘But it’s still not there yet. The hell training needs to raise stats that complement their skills. I need to find a way to steadily raise the Royal Guards like users. If I have a chance then I need to make the Royal Guards grow further!’

  Ark made a promise to himself. But right now the Royal Guards were enough to shock Slayer.

  “Who are they? Was a NPC that helpful in battle?”

  “N-no.”

  “Then what the hell? What is that?”

  Slayer muttered with outrage as he kept on staring at the Royal Guards. Anyway, the situation was recovered thanks to the Royal Guards. The firing of bullets from the members on the rock wall! And the Halrosu who fell from every swing of Berad’s hammer! After 20 minutes Melina could re-join the group with Berad’s help.

  “Sob! That was so scary! Unbelievably scary!”

  Melina sniffled while facing Ark, who received Leon and Slayer’s glares. Meanwhile Milan and Hegel had climbed down the rope from the Silver Star and joined the party.

  “Now just in case……”

  Ark manipulated his Nymphe.

  -The Silver Star has entered remote control mode.

  “Enter stealth mode.”

  He hit a button on the Nymphe and the Silver Star disappeared. This was the 3rd equipment added to the Silver Star! The remote control mode and stealth capabilities cost 2,000 gold. Ark changed the Silver Star and sent it outside the atmosphere. He didn’t want to risk it being hit by the lightning strikes on Impeltus.

  ‘Now…..’

  Ark mentally summarized the situation as he looked around. He spent 900 gold hiring mercenaries. The Optical Scanner loaded on the Silver Star was 1,000 gold. The remote control and stealth device cost 2,000 gold. He spent 4,100 gold to prepare for this mission. He only received 3,000 gold deposit so he was already losing money. Ark had one reason for investing that type of money!

  ‘Isn’t this an investment?’

  He did this because he had confidence in himself.

  Space 7

  Secret Laboratory

  Kaekang!

  The Halrosu screamed and collapsed. Then a small crystal golem waddled up to the corpse.

  -Huhuhuhu! You lowly bastard!

  He placed his foot on the wolf and laughed.

  –You dare mess with this body. You’re 100 years too early. Blame your ancestors for not evolving beyond dogs. Indeed, you should be honoured that you died by my hands.

  “Does that mean anything?”

  –How rude! I am the Elim’s Divine Artefact!

  “I guess little stones don’t have that much common sense, eh? I am the Elim. And you are the tool that I can use. It’s just like how a stone was used as a hammer in the stone ages.

  -I’m not a stone! Crystal!

  “Crystal is also a mineral you bonehead.”

  Ark declared sharply as he looked at the golem. It was the Baius golem. He had gone through a lot of trouble on Rakunka and finally found the first Divine Artefact. His first impression after finding the Divine Artefact…..well, it was a scam. He had met a huge, strong golem in the pyramid. Ark had to devise an irregular attack consisting of mixing Freezing and Flame bullets! Yet the golem that Ark obtained was different. It was half of the original size. The ability had fallen by 100 times. Ark hadn’t just played one or two games. It was like the RPG games in the 80s where a strong enemy would appear as a colleague with diminished strength. Fortunately there was room for improvement. Usually these NPCs were provided with the character’s experience to gain levels. It was the same for Baius. The effort might require him to shave the flesh from his bones but that guy could grow. The golem’s growth was also connected with improved performance of the Baius shield.

  ‘For the moment he isn’t useful when summoned but…..’

  It was good to gain a level 1 pet when he was high levelled. The golem absorbed 50% of Ark’s experience. And the Halrosu on Impeltus were level 80. Ark was level 120 so the experience didn’t have a visible impact but it was a huge value for the golem. Since arriving on Impeltus, the golem lapped up the experience and reached level 12 in a few hours.

  Baius Golem

  Type Defense Level 12

  Health 220 Defense 44

  Attack 22 Special Ability X

  His golem’s stats had grown! When compared to level 1, it had increased by more than 2 times but……it was still shabby. The level wasn’t enough to attract the Halrosu’s attention even when the golem hit it. However there was no need to be disappointed. Ark recalled the days in New World when he was just raising a bat, a skull and a snake. They had steadily grown under Ark’s care until he became
an aristocratic vampire, a skeleton knight and a dragon. The golem was just stone now but one day it would grow to the giant golem seen in the pyramid. No, he would grow into a stronger golem. And that wasn’t the end of its growth.

  -Baius Shield Lv. 2 (Artefact)

  Item Type: Energy Shield Wearer Restriction: Elim’s Heir

  Defense: 250 Durability: ∞

  Shield Quantity: 5,500/5,500

  The Baius Shield grew along with the golem. The Baius shield’s rating had ascended one step when the golem reached level 10. It changed by defense +50 and shield quantity +500! The golem was still useless at level 12 but the shield showed a notable performance just be improving 1 stage. Thanks to that he was satisfied but……

  ‘That rude personality isn’t fixed even when his level goes up.’

  The golem’s personality was the problem.

  –I’m a person as well! You have to treat me with courtesy!

  A stone was suddenly claiming it wasn’t a stone.

  –You lowly bastards! I am the Elim’s Divine Artefact! Our standings are on a completely different level!

  He didn’t care when it came to himself but he couldn’t easily ignore the personalities of other people.

  –You aren’t a formal Elim yet. Your existence is sustaining me so I have to obey your commands. But you can only have my body. This doesn’t mean you have my heart!

  He kept on insisting that his master could only have his body (?). He remembered the Elim’s Memories’ explanation for the golem’s behaviour.

  –The golem takes after the Master’s personality!

  The shocking declaration from the light sphere!

  ‘This personality resembles me? No way! How is he similar to me? He is arrogant and impertinent! He also has no manners!’

  Of course Ark couldn’t admit it. However Ark was unaware of something. Everybody who met Ark in New World thought of him as arrogant with no manners. Anyway, the golem’s nature annoyed Ark tremendously. But he was more difficult to handle than the pets in New World. At that time Ark had used terror to deal with them! If they did something wrong then Ark would educate them by beating them up! This simple method had the best effect. But there was a problem when using this method with the golem. The golem was chunks of stone. His nerves couldn’t feel pain at all. It was inefficient so he was forced to use words.

  “How do you think you’re able to grow like this? It is all due to me. I’m giving you half my experience despite you not helping out in combat. Yet where did you learn to act smugger than everyone else? You should be laying down flat on the ground to thank me!”

  -No one ever asked.

  Naturally it replied with a rude answer. But Ark wasn’t in a position to say anything. Ark had once again turned into a Myutal shortly after arriving on Impeltus. It had been some time but the side effect of Mix-up still remained. And he couldn’t grasp his sword when he was a Myutal. Therefore Ark just got free experience from his team for 1 hour. He shouldn’t be talking about topics like sharing experience. The golem was just eating the free experience that Ark obtained. He couldn’t make a fuss about the golem taking his experience. Ark hated to admit it but the golem was similar to him. Maybe that’s why Ark really disliked the golem’s character. There was a saying that the same people would hate each other.

  ‘I need to find some way to fix his bad manners or my head might pop.’

  But right now he had no time to waste on the golem.

  ‘By the way……’

  “Messenger-nim, everything has been taken care of.”

  Ark’s forehead wrinkled as he looked around. Ellain spoke from behind him. However he maintained a certain distance.

  “What? Am I a contagious person?”

  “I’m sorry. I thought I might strike if I inadvertently got close to Messenger-nim……”

  Ellain still hadn’t adapted to the Myutal Ark. But he had somewhat adapted to the environment on Impeltus thanks to the life support equipment. The proof was that Ellain had turned 3 Halrosu attacking Ark into mincemeat.

  “What? This guy, he isn’t just someone who vomits?”

  “This guy is pretty strong. Where on earth did he find all these NPCs?”

  Fortunately Ellain managed to reform his impression in the team members’ eyes. He was promoted from a ‘vomit man’ to someone who could be counted on.

  “Hey Ark!”

  “This area is also clear.”

  Slayer and the others who had been on the opposite side of the valley came back.

  “Yes, there wasn’t anything strange. I didn’t see anything like a cave or a machine.”

  “I checked it precisely. This is just an ordinary mountain.”

  “What about you guys, Hegel and Milan?”

  “Nothing apparent……”

  Milan and Hegel also shook their heads. This was why Ark couldn’t afford to pay regard to the golem. Right now they were exploring the area where the optical scanner sensed the energy distortion. According to Hegel’s readings, the probability of an artificial facility being hidden here was high. But they’ve been searching and fighting the Halrosu for 3 hours and couldn’t find anything.

  “I couldn’t see anything facility when looking down from the Silver Star so I thought it might be hidden……”

  He thought it might be easily found in a cave. However they couldn’t find any caves within this range. But it wasn’t like Charem’s stealth capabilities. Before descending, he had switched the optical scanner to detect stealth but it didn’t find anything. So they had to run around on foot to search for it but couldn’t find any clue.

  ‘Slayer, Leon and Sadain are high level users with lots of experience. They wouldn’t just walk past a clue. That is also true for the Royal Guards. If Milan and Hegel worked together then they should’ve found something.’

  There was a reason for him to believe that. The Royal Guards were under the influence of the agent buff. The name of this buff was joint business!

  -Joint Business I-

  This effect is applied to all NPCs bound by the same agent. When employees belonging to the same agent work together on a task, Joint Business creates a synergy between the members’ professional skills.

  For example, if there is a researcher with no combat skills in the party then their intelligence will spread to the other members. These stats applied to the members could be helpful in battle. However, this effect can only be given and received by NPCs.

  500 Adventure Points were originally needed to raise the rating of the agent. But if he paid more Adventure Points then he could select an agent profession skill. This was the reason why Ark paid 1,000 Adventure Points to raise the agent’s rating! Joint Business was a system created to compensate for the NPCs’ ability being slightly lower than users. It meant various occupational skills could be used more aggressively. All of his staff except for Kurakan were NPCs so it was an essential skill for Dark Eden!

  -Current Joint Business effects applied to the NPC staff of Dark Eden

  Milan (Treasure Hunter): The party’s probability of finding hidden clues increased by 20%

  Hegel (Scavenger): The probability of any monster that the party hunts dropping items has increased by 15%

  Ellain (Rapid Sword): Party’s attack speed increased by 5%

  Berad (Power Type): Party’s damage increased by 5%

  Kalliben (Sniper): Party’s Hit Rate increased by 10%

  Cupa (Rifle): Party’s ranged damage increased by 5%

  Hedro (Rifle): Party’s ranged damage increased by 5%

  These were the current buffs shared by the Royal Guards. Most of the NPCs in Dark Eden received a body coating so they had the basic tendencies but they didn’t have a professional career. But Milan and Hegel had professional jobs. So their shared effects had more of an effect compared to the other staff. Hegel was a Scavenger so he increased the probability that monsters would drop items by 15%. Ark could already see the effect. They had been hunting for the same time but th
ey obtained much more loot than Slayer’s group. Well it was just japtem but…..

  Anyway, Milan’s Joint Business effect increased the probability of finding hidden clues by 20%! That’s why Ark had Milan accompany them. He increased the odds of finding something hidden. There was no other skill more appropriate for an investigation mission. Nevertheless! Slayer’s group and the Royal Guards hadn’t found any clues.

  ‘If only this was a gentle ridge but the mountains here are dense and sharp like awls. Moreover, the range determined by the optical scanner is 5 kilometres. If won’t be any use even if Milan and I use dowsing. It would take a few days to explore and there is no guarantee we can find anything. The range needs to be narrower in order to use dowsing.’

  Ark scratched his head with the Myutal’s sharp legs. Sadain opened up with a pensive expression.

  “Isn’t it in a cave?”

  “But we didn’t see anything that looked like a cave.”

  “No, to be exact we didn’t find the entrance. If the cave is underground then there is no guarantee the entrance would be here. The entrance to the cave might be somewhere else.”

  This was something Ark hadn’t considered.

  “Yes, that is a likely possibility. But that means the search scope has increased indefinitely. There is a time limit so searching the surrounding area is impossible.”

  “Then should we look through this area again?”

  “That’s the only way but……”

  Kurung! Kurung! Ku kwa kwa kwa!

  While Ark was muttering with a distracted expression. Lightning bolts struck over and over again from the purple clouds. The lightning had fallen from the purple clouds like a boiling cauldron while they were searching but he still hadn’t adjusted to it. Slayer spoke with an uncomfortable expression.

  “This planet is really weird.”

  “It keeps on making my body cower.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous? Don’t you remember the scene where the Silver Star was hit by the lightning a while ago? The ship wobbled so what would happen if a person was hit by that? We might be struck by lightning.”