Azalon

Chapter 1: Wake up Call

"Yes mum... no you don’t need to worry... yes everything is alright... I love you too mum, alright I gotta go. Bye."

Makoto's fake smile disappeared right after he ended the call.

God, what an annoying woman, could she not just leave him alone for about one week before calling him again?

Mumbling curses under his breath he turned his attention back to the monitor.

Surfing the net for something to catch his interest, Makoto leaned back in his chair and enjoyed a sip of cooled fizzy juice.

Shortly after turning 18 he had moved into a flat of his own, paid by his parents true, but it was his own place and close to the College he went to.

Naturally he did not hate his mother or both his parents in general but he had grown quite spoiled over the years, too accustomed to not having to work for the things he owned.

His phone started vibrating and a quick look confirmed that it was once again his mother.

She probably forgot to tell him something before but after talking with her for two full minutes earlier he really didn’t feel like answering and instead decided to ignore the call.

Maybe in one or two days he would call her back, maybe he wouldn't.

Listening to the fast drumming beat of music, Makoto scrolled down gaming sites and typed in other web addresses, adding new tabs to the few hundred he had already open.

Remembering something he took a quick look to the bottom right corner of his screen and confirmed the time.

His favorite website should be updated at this point.

Typing in the address, a blog popped up and to his delight he was right as the newest post of the day was already written.

Right after reading the bold title his jaw dropped in disbelief.

'FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME RELEASING NEXT MONTH!!!'

Clicking "read more", one paragraph after the other popped up and Makoto glanced over the information in nearly record time.

After finishing and digesting it he stared blankly at the screen for a moment before an ugly smile formed on his face.

Makoto knew what his next move should be so he picked up the phone that was pushed away before and searched through his contacts.

It only took a few seconds for the person on the other end to answer.

"Heyo, sorry I missed your call before mum, I was on the toilet.

Listen, I need to ask you a favor..."

.....

[Scanning for user...]

[New user detected...]

[Create new account?]

"Yes"

[Creating Avatar...]

[Please select a Race.]

Bodies of all the races started to appear before Makoto where there had before only been darkness.

Every single one of them had his general build and features but there were slight differences as no one was like the other.

Without even thinking about it he made his choice to stick with what he knew and was used to.

"Human"

[Select your appearance. ]

After selecting the Human version of himself a whole bunch of sliders appeared beside the body in a window.

Unwilling to waste any time and eager to play the game he didn't even bother as he had no real desire to change anything to begin with, it was not confidence that brought this decision but more the lack of it.

As someone who had been a loner for years now he didn't need to worry about other people possibly recognizing him Ingame, as he had been invisible in Real Life for most anyways.

"Leave as is"

[Select a Name. ]

"...Makoto"

Thinking that it didn't matter much as he had also chosen his real appearance, he decided to stick with his own name too.

Who would be stupid enough to use their real name as Ingame ID anyways...no one would find out it was his actual name...right?

[Congratulations on creating your Avatar! ]

[You are the 25, 531st player to join the game. ]

Great... competition...

[Choose your starting area.]

That was the only thing he was still unsure about as he pondered over the floating map before him.

It showed the Continent, currently the only place in Azalon that you could play in as other areas of the world had yet to be explored by players.

4 small circles marked possible starting locations for the race he chose while red X's and smaller black X's sprinkled the whole map.

Makoto's guess was that the X's showed cities, apparently there was hundreds of them, and the red ones probably symbolized the main capitals of each country as there were only a dozen or so present on the entire map.

Still unsure of what location to pick from, Makoto took his time until he finally selected the southwest area.

It was close to the ocean so he would at least be able to view the boundless sea when he 'pwned' some 'noobs'.

Eager to kill a few mobs and finally get a taste of virtual reality he confirmed his choice.

[Beginner Village Salem selected!]

A sudden bright light pierced through the map, dissolving it slowly while also blinding Makoto in an unpleasant way.

Once again a voice resounded in his ears and this time it was as if he could also hear the smile that followed with it.

[Welcome to Azalon, Makoto.]

.....

Blinking away the white dots in his vision, Makoto suddenly had a feel for his body again.

As he moved his hands before his eyes to block out the sunlight that was currently blinding him, he looked around and was stunned from what he saw.

The starting Village was really just that, about 3 or 4 dozen wooden houses that had definitely seen better days with an old man standing at the exit of the Village accompanied by a mob of new players swarming around him, shouting to be heard by the NPC while asking for quests and monsters to kill.

It looked so real that Makoto needed a good moment to take it all in, the breeze that tickled his cheek, the sunlight that blinded his eyes and the smell of ocean in the air, it was truly mesmerizing.

He could sadly only enjoy this moment of awe for a short period of time as another player arrived in a ray of light next to him and nearly ran Makoto over while sprinting towards the NPC at the entrance of the village.

What a bunch of losers...

With a smirk he walked past the horde of new players as he exited the village straight away, not even bothering in trying to reach the poor old man that had his hands full.

After thinking for a moment he said "Open Inventory" aloud and a small transparent box appeared before him, showing him that he started with a small dagger, 10 copper coins and two loaves of stale bread to regenerate health presumably.

Equipping the dagger he swung it around clumsily until he got a feel for it and continued down the dirt path, away from the village.

While they all swarmed one NPC and probably had to wait 30 minutes until it was their turn to even talk to him he was already outside and on his way to grind some levels by simply going hunting.

The early bird gets the worm after all.

Grinning about this absolutely genius idea, Makoto decided to take a detour through the forest as the sun was burning down on him.

Even though it was not real it felt real enough and as a gamer he generally disliked sunlight so even Ingame it was like a natural instinct to avoid it.

Oblivious to the dangers lurking all around him he went deeper and deeper into the woods.

Visibility for the surrounding area had started to diminish and it was quite the challenge to see what was up ahead as Makoto tripped more than once over a hidden root or bush.

The realism in this game is annoyingly incredible...

After about 15 minutes of not encountering any monster or animal whatsoever, Makoto was starting to grow impatient as he was simply wasting time now and just wanted to experience combat.

Luckily he could see a deep and dark opening not far away to his right as it turned out to be a cave of sorts.

Without thinking about it too much and eager to fight his first enemy he went inside and accompanied by a ding in his ears, a system message floated in front of his eyes for the first time.

[-You have discovered the hidden Dungeon: Green Forest Cave!-

As the first player to enter this unknown cave you are rewarded for your bravery and courage.

+5 Fame

+100 Experience

Warning! You have entered a dungeon for the first time, caution is advised as certain game mechanics work differently inside dungeons.]

Happy about the unexpected gain, Makoto checked his experience bar and was delighted to see that it had already filled up nearly half way.

Without any fear he went deeper into the cave, the temperature started dropping drastically after only a few steps and a slight shiver ran down his spine.

He was soon enough surrounded by complete darkness, to the point that the had trouble seeing even his own hands before his eyes.

After a couple more minutes of slowly progressing forward while staying close to the wall his eyes finally started to adjust, funny enough even that was implemented into the game.

Turning around a corner he could see a slight shuffle before him and two blinking red dots in the darkness.

That was the only warning he got before another system window appeared before him, together with a jolt of pain.

[Critical hit!

You have received 102 damage!

You have been killed!]

...wait what?!

Unable to even scream or protest, Makoto collapsed lifelessly onto the floor as his already poor vision dimmed further and soon enough all he could see was a single system window.

[Do you wish to revive?]

Sighing mentally he selected 'Yes'

Well that’s what he got for being cocky...

With another ray of light Makoto revived and was about to turn towards the old man at the gate to also ask for his first quest like all the other sheep before him when he started to notice that it was still pitch black around him.

He could move around again but everything was dark as if he was still...

...as if he was still stuck inside that damned cave...

A cold shiver ran down his back as he quickly opened up the game menu and clicked on the 'help' icon.

"System, why did I not revive inside the starting village?"

[Specify your problem please.]

Grinding his teeth, Makoto complied.

"I went inside an undiscovered Dungeon and was killed but didn't revive back in the village."

[If you die inside a Dungeon you will respawn inside it in an area that is generally called a 'safe' area with no enemies.

Going into a dungeon without a party is not advised as some of these 'safe' areas can be deep inside the dungeon itself, making it nigh impossible to flee without someone else helping]

Makoto started to go pale as he read the message.

With slightly shaking hands he closed the Interface and looked around inside the deep and endless dark as the cold crept into his virtual bones.

"Fuck..."

Chapter 2: Combat Struggles

Makoto was not someone who feared the dark but being trapped in this cave together with enemies that could very well one-shot him put a lot of strain on his mind.

The only thing he could really do was staying close to the wall and going alongside it while trusting his sense of touch, which was not impended in the dark.

After a few minutes of quietly shuffling alongside the wall he reached a corner again, unsure if there was another way to go or not he stuck close to the wall and the sudden shine of a daggers blade made him stop dead in his tracks.

This time he saw the thing that killed him even when it was only the letters above its head that marked it as something else except wall and stone.

[Goblin: lvl 3]

In just 3 quick stabs Makoto's body fell, again he had been killed unable to do anything at all...

Frustrated he revived and was back where he started.

Trying to calm himself and go about this logically, Makoto went through what had happened.

These monsters were goblins, considering it showed 'lvl 3' they should be above his level, right? Unsure what his level or overall stats were, he opened his character tab.

[Status Window

Name: Makoto Level: 1

Alignment: Neutral Class: None

Race: Human Gender: Male

Titles

None

Health: 100/100 Mana: 100/100

Strength: 10 Agility: 10

Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10

Intelligence: 10 Fame: 5]

So he started with level 1 and 10 in all his stats except fame.

Pretty normal in that regard.

Next he examined his weapon.

[Used Dagger:

A used dagger that has been neglected by its previous owner, if one examines it carefully, little signs of rust can be found.

Damage: 1-3 Durability: Infinite

Requirments: None]

… so in other words a shitty dagger...

Now the next step was to find out how to fight that goblin and to get out of this cave.

Glancing at his dagger he pulled it out of its sheath and stabbed as well as slashed with it a couple of times.

Still unsure and not feeling up to the task Makoto went back to the Goblin.

As always the little bastard was hiding behind a corners bend so he could easier ambush unknowing players. Grinding his teeth Makoto ran around the corner and in an act of anger and frustration, kicked the little creature right in its face.

[7 Damage dealt! ]

Grinning he stepped forward, wanting to stab the goblin but surprisingly the 3 foot tall thing was quite agile and jumped out of his reach.

Before he could do anything else another window appeared and a sluggish feeling creeped into his body.

[Warning! Because your enemy (Goblin lvl 3) has more than double your level, after entering combat against it the battle-effect 'oppression' activates.

Oppression: If you have double your enemies level, applies 30% stat reduction (Also works against player).]

Shocked Makoto read the effect again.

So because he was level 1 and the Goblin level 3, effectively having over double his own level he was burdened even more by cutting all of his stats by 3 each?!

"Are you goddamn kidding me?!"

Unable to hold back his rage Makoto rushed the little critter, wanting to end its life.

Unfortunately he ran right into the Goblins own dagger.

[You have received 45 Damage! ]

With a sudden pain radiating from his stomach Makoto jumped back and held his free hand against the bleeding wound.

It did not hurt nearly as much as it would have in real life because pain was the only thing dulled in a players sense of realism.

The reduction was quite big with only 10% of the actual pain being simulated but having been stabbed right in the lower intestines still hurt like hell even with that.

Breathing heavily he tried to gauge the Goblins next move but it was difficult to even make out an arm in this darkness.

With stomping sounds the Goblin ran forward and a hand shot towards Makoto.

Leaning back as far as possible another box appeared above the Goblins head.

[Miss!]

This time it was his own turn and Makoto rammed his weapon right beneath its armpit.

[Critical hit!

21 Damage dealt!]

Happy about the lucky critical he checked the Goblins health, only to notice that maybe one fifth of its overall HP was missing.

Horrified Makoto was unable to dodge yet another attack and the Goblins dagger was rammed right into his own throat.

[Critical hit!

You received 92 Damage!

You have been killed!]

…..

"Goddamnit!"

Shouting angrily Makoto hit a wall after reviving yet again.

The punching fit went on for a good while until he finally calmed down and went over what he learned.

Because his level was not high enough he got punished in a fight.

Two good hits from the Goblin would kill him at this point.

He was able to dodge an attack if he put his mind to it.

Generally the thing had an easy attack pattern that even someone without battle experience like Makoto could follow.

His own Damage paled compared to the Goblins.

A quick look at his experience bar confirmed that he had lost all the exp he had gotten from discovering this dungeon already.

Sighing, Makoto sat down for a few minutes to calm his mind and form a strategy.

First things first he knew he had to get used to battles inside Azalon.

His inexperience in a fight and now pitted against a stronger and more experienced enemy could only work against him.

He couldn’t change the Goblins level or his own without gaining exp but he could gain a different kind of experience, it might be crude but dying a few times to get used to fighting against an enemy and gaining battle experience was definitely the only option here.

This time Makoto took his time and practiced with his dagger for one hour.

In his mind he went over the past fight over and over again and swung his dagger, imagining ways to counter attack or handle a situation differently.

After that he went and fought the Goblin again, this time he was able to dodge three attacks and lower its health by half before tripping over a piece of stone and dying a fourth time.

Practicing, fighting, dying, repeat.

That became his mantra for the next few hours until now.

Gripping his dagger tightly, Makoto ran around the corner and jumped, hitting the Goblin with both feet square in its chest.

[15 Damage dealt! ]

While he stood up, the 3 foot tall thing was still stunned on the ground, he used that timeframe to get a good few hits in before an angry growl and a dagger swinging for his face made him back off again.

Right away the message informing him about 'oppression' appeared again and he dismissed it, not wanting to get distracted.

He could feel the stat reduction in his bones, making his movements slower and attacks weaker but after fighting so many times he had gotten used to the effect.

Evading a huge swing from his opponent Makoto punished it in return with ramming his own blade deep into the Goblins throat and twisting it in an ugly way while backing off again.

He had learned a few nasty tricks after fighting so many times in life and death situation, only confirmed by the next system message.

[Critical hit!

19 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Bleed: - 5 hp every 2 seconds for 10 seconds ]

Putting a hand on his blood gushing throat the Goblin stared at him with eyes squinted in hatred and roared out his anger.

Again Makoto saw the attack coming from a mile away and kicked its knee, he was rewarded with another system message and a satisfying scream from the disgusting thing.

[You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Cripple: - 15% movement and attack speed until the fight is finished.]

Smiling wickedly Makoto started his barrage of stabs and slashes on the limping Goblin, not letting up in the slightest or giving it a chance to retaliate.

After nearly five minutes of fighting he lunged forward and rammed his blood soaked dagger into the Goblins heart.

[Critical hit!

24 Damage dealt!]

With another satisfying scream the Goblin fell on its knees, waving its arm one last time in a miserable attempt to hit Makoto.

A sudden rush went through Makoto and grinning from one ear to another he watched his experience bar jump.

"Not bad, not bad"

He said after looking at the few copper coins that had been left behind after the Goblins body disappeared.

Oddly enough the blood that his own clothes had been soaked in had not disappeared.

If someone else had seen him at this moment, giving a wicked smile and a loving look to his sleeve after bathing it in the goblins blood they would have surely been creeped out and only moments away from calling the police, thankfully this all happened in a game.

.....

After successfully defeating his first Goblin Makoto was careful to not let this small victory get to his head, being cocky here right now only 2 good hits away from death was definitely not smart.

He had been taught the hard way that currently he was far from well equipped, without any proper gear and being only level 1 inside this frightening dungeon.

Going deeper and deeper he encountered many more Goblins, most of the time they wandered the cave alone but a few times there was a group of them and after barely surviving against two he started avoided groups of three or more.

Thankfully he was able to lure each one of them away from their respective group by simply throwing stones at them...

Goblins must have a very poor intelligence stat...

His Journey deeper into the cave was uneventful except for fighting the Goblins from time to time, surprisingly there were no other monsters or traps, even the level range did not change.

After his 9th or so Goblin he got his first level-up with 10 stat points available and distributed 5 points each to Strength and Agility.

More Damage and Speed was dearly needed right now, without any armor protecting him, being able to tank was out of the question and upping his intelligence or wisdom didn’t seem like a good idea.

For now at least he would focus on Strength and Agility.

The next time he fought the difference was visible right away, first of all the battle effect 'oppression' did not activate because the Goblins were only level 3 and not 4.

Secondly, his own level-up made it so that his Strength and Agility stat more than doubled from one fight to another.

After hitting a critical hit for nearly 40 points of damage he himself was speechless about the devastating thing he was doing to the Goblin and it took him only a minute to dispose of the creature.

With newfound vigor Makoto engaged in slaughter, even daring to fight 3 or 4 Goblins at the same time.

His battle sense had improved to the point that even 4 Goblins hacking away at him with their swords were unable to even leave a scratch on him.

The only real reason why he was able to fight so many opponents at the same time was his increased speed and damage, making it possible to focus on one Goblin at a time while evading the others.

After killing an especially nasty group of Goblins with two of them wielding spears and nearly skewing him alive a couple of times, a new system window popped up.

[After dodging your opponents many times and being able to read their movements you have become a quick footed tempest in battle, able to kill without being touched even once.

For evading attacks 50 times in succession you have been rewarded with a new stat.

Evasiveness:

For every point in Evasiveness a 0.1% chance to evade Damage even when hit is added.]

Smiling, Makoto checked his stats.

[Status Window

Name: Makoto Level: 2

Alignment: Neutral Class: None

Race: Human Gender: Male

Titles

None

Health: 110/110 Mana: 100/100

Strength: 15 Agility: 15

Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10

Intelligence: 10 Fame: 5

Evasiveness: 5]

So he had a 0.5% Chance to neglect damage when hit.

True, right now the stat was pretty pointless but later on when it was maybe 5% or even 10% that could be a big life saver, especially when fighting against bosses or other players.

Happy about this randomly gained stat he couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to gain other stats in a different way.

Considering someone had to dodge 50 times in succession against an opponent and if you got hit once the counter for it was reset, that was a pretty high requirement, on top of not knowing one would get a stat for being able to do said thing to begin with.

Makoto didn’t know how to get other stats or even a skill at the moment so pondering about it didn’t help him either with getting out of this damn cave.

.....

He fought his way passed many more Goblins until he reached another bend in the normally linear path.

The light that was emanating from behind this bend was clearly visible to his strained eyes and with the hope of finally exiting this dark and goblin infested cave Makoto rushed past the bend only to find himself in a big and circular room with torches lighting the walls.

Before he could examine his surroundings more or even get used to the light a sudden movement in the corner of his eye made him jump forward, evading a spear that flew passed his head.

Turning around he saw two Goblins in full armor and both wielding two long spears standing left and right to the dark corridor he had just exited.

[Goblin Guard: lvl 5 ]

Luckily for Makoto the many Goblins inside the cave had allowed him to level-up again to 3 or he would have been under the effect of 'oppression' once more.

"Stinking human, why you inside our den?!"

One of the creatures asked him with a lisp to his voice.

This was actually the first time he saw a Goblin properly.

The only thing he was able to make out before was their overall height and posture, sometimes also a glint from their eyes or a spark from their weapons but never had he seen faces or color in the dark.

Simply put Goblins where small creatures, their eyes too small, noses too big and whenever they opened their mouths a row of thin and misplaced yellow teeth was visible.

Even their green skin color had been unknown to Makoto but the hatred in their eyes and their postures was something that had been etched into his mind.

"If you don’t answer you die, filthy human!"

The Goblin to his right had lost patience after Makoto stared at them for a few seconds and ran forward with his spear.

Without even having to look he stepped to the side, letting the little creatures run past him screaming and kicked the Goblin into his behind, sending him sprawling on the floor.

After stabbing the grounded Goblin 3 times a gust of wind made Makoto aware of the other and only after jumping to the side and rolling on the floor was he able to escape the scarily accurate penetration of his own behind.

If that was planned from the Goblin or not was unclear but the thought alone spooked Makoto to the point were he heightened his concentration even more.

After circling the two for a few second and letting the first Goblin Guard stand up he decided to test them a little and kicked off towards them.

Right before reaching the nearest Goblin and getting his chest penetrated by a spear, Makoto let himself fall to the ground, sliding now he was able to kick the Goblins ankles away and made him fall to the ground a second time, this time with a system message following his actions.

[You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Cripple: - 15% movement and attack speed until the fight is finished.]

After dodging the spear thrust of the nearby Goblin and exchanging a few blows he saw the other stand up slowly, favoring one leg more than the other.

Smiling about the lucky status effect he was able to pull off, he started a barrage of attacks on the other armored Goblin, looking for a gap and stabbing every opening he found.

It took Makoto many minutes and after receiving a glancing blow that took away 30 of his HP he was finally able to kill one of the Goblins.

They possessed nearly two times the health of lesser Goblins and their armor and weapons made it difficult to get close as well as land a good blow.

Panting, Makoto hacked away at the remaining one and after only 20 more seconds another body hit the floor.

They left behind a few more copper coins and luckily for Makoto he finally was able to acquire a piece of equipment.

[Plated Gloves:

A Pair of iron plated gloves, giving the wearer decent defense while not hindering their movement at all.

Defense: 4 Vitality: 2

Durability: 18/20

Requirements: None]

Smiling happily he examined the gloves that reached to his elbows and noticed that his health had gained a good chunk after equipping them.

2 Vitality did help a lot if you only had 10 to begin with.

After finally not having to worry so much about getting his head crushed by a spear thrust, Makoto had time to examine the room. To his surprise he found big metal cages on one side, holding a bunch of children and women prison.

After approaching the cages one of the women noticed and called out to him.

"Oh the Divines be blessed, Adventurer please help us!

We are from the Village of Salem, it has been many nights since we last saw daylight and our children are starving, please safe us from this place!"

A new system window appeared this time.

[Rescue of many Damsels!: (Quest)

The Women and Children of Salem have been imprisoned by vile Goblins.

To Goblins, humans, especially children, are a fine delicacy and all of them are doomed to be eaten alive if you don’t rescue them!

The men of Salem will reward you generously if you bring all of them back alive and in one piece.

Rewards: Unknown

Penalty: If Quest is refused, Alignment changes from Neutral to Evil and Villagers in the whole continent will detest you, making it impossible to gain intimacy and trade with them.

On top of that the villagers of Salem will set a bounty on your head for allowing such a cruel thing to happen and will chase you till the ends of the world to avenge their loved ones.]

Makoto stared at the window with a blank face for a few seconds, finally, without any emotion in his voice he replied.

"Oh what great joy it brings me to be forc- I mean help you in achieving freedom Miss, what can I do to free you of this vile prison you have been put in?"

[Quest accepted! ]

Damn right I did, what other choice do I have...

The woman smiled after hearing his words and continued.

"To free us you must get the key from the Goblin Chief that ordered our capture, he has it with him at all times and is an especially disgusting creature but quick witted so beware of his tricks, Adventurer."

Nodding Makoto stepped a bit closer and continued the conversation.

"And this Goblin Chief can be found where exactly if I ma-"

"HUMAAAAN FIILLTTHHH!!!"

A sudden thunderous roar echoed through the room interrupting Makoto mid-sentence.

Turning around quickly to another entrance of the room, Makoto saw a six foot tall, pot bellied and fat Goblin hobble into the room with a double bladed war-axe in each hand and wearing heavy armor from head to toe.

[Goblin Chief: Elite Monster lvl 7 ]

...oh for gods sake...

Chapter 3: First Weapon

Looking at this new enemy that was more than double his level and had the wonderful words 'Elite Monster' to it, a bad premonition hit Makoto and his face paled.

Sure enough a few seconds later the battle-effect 'oppression' was applied again and his Strength and Agility where cut down to 14.

The Goblin Chief was approaching with heavy steps and his tiny red eyes where fixated on Makoto.

With another roar he swung his war-axe and Makoto had to jump to the side and even roll on the ground to be able to escape the enormous weapon.

Without even being able to counter-attack he got chased around the whole room by the Goblin Chief, unsure how to deal with the current situation yet another system window appeared.

[

+1 Evasiveness!

]

"That is really not helping!"

He couldn’t help but scream while dodging another wide swing.

The pattern of the Goblin Chief was completely different than its other kin.

While they would attack and pause from time to time he was in a constant rush, swinging his axes from one side to the other.

It took Makoto a good 5 minutes to find a gap in the pattern during which he was hit by one of the axes and a terrifying message as well as pain appeared.

[

You have received 92 Damage!

]

Surviving barely with a hurting side he evaded the next strike and finally was able to understand.

Every 3 swings the Goblin Chief's Momentum from swinging his war-axes made him lose balance and he needed a moment to adjust before he could attack again.

After waiting another 3 swings he jumped close to the Goblins body and rammed his dagger twice into its side before having to back off again.

[

16 Damage dealt!

12 Damage dealt!

]

On his second hit the Goblin chief's armor had protected him a bit so the Damage was lower but happy to finally see his opponents health take a hit, Makoto kept to his tactic while his own health slowly went up again during this long fight.

After getting down the pattern it got a lot easier and he was able to get to full health again by also quickly eating some bread, while the Goblins dropped to 30% at which his pattern changed again.

The name Elite was not for show it seemed.

After dipping below 30% health the Goblin Chief's skin turned fire red and a window informed Makoto that his enemy was now in an 'enraged' state.

While trying to back off and analyzing the new pattern Makoto had a few close calls during which he got grazed twice, losing nearly all of his health again.

The pattern had changed from 3 to 5 swings until balance was lost but this time the duration in which the goblin Chief was open had nearly doubled, allowing Makoto to inflict a few quick stabs before having to lean and jump back.

Luckily he was able to pull off one more bleed attack at the end and could watch the Goblins Health slowly decline.

With a loud bang the huge and fat body fell to the floor causing a slight rumble in the room.

Exhaling his relieve Makoto watched the monster's body disappear.

That was a very close fight...

One look at his own health confirmed that only 12 HP remained, he was one step away from death.

Sadly no loot except copper coins and a key was dropped from the Goblin Chief.

It seems the appearance of the monster was a scripted event which would explain why he hadn't shown up before Makoto accepted the Quest.

After opening the prison cells, women and children swarmed around him happily, laughing and hugging him many times while expressing their gratitude.

Makoto couldn’t help but give a small smile even when he knew they were only programs and not real.

Next on the Agenda it was time to leave this awful cave.

"Stay behind me while I clear us a path, is that clear? I don’t want anyone getting hurt here if possible"

If they got hurt he would fail the Quest and have a mob of villagers hunt him down...

The group of women and children all nodded and Makoto lead them slowly through the only other route.

It was the same way the Elite Goblin Chief had entered the room and after only 2 more Goblins that put Makoto to level 4 they finally stood next to trees and beneath sunlight again.

Children ran around happily while the women tried putting them back in order but the overall mood was good and with a smile on his face Makoto brought the villagers back home.

.....

The sight of a player leading a big group of women and children back to Salem was something else for sure.

Many other players backed off and glanced at Makoto confused.

They had all gotten small quests to hunt a few stray dogs or chickens while Makoto brought a bunch of NPC's back to the Village, it sure was a strange sight.

The Village Chief that had been standing at the gate before and instructed the many players with quests couldn’t believe his eyes. Seeing him grasp Makoto's hands with tears of joy flowing down his face stunned many users.

"Oh what a great deed you have done young Adventurer, how can I ever thank you enough in saving our loved ones and future, you truly deserve a reward."

Before Makoto could reply, the old man was already searching through the folds of his clothes, bringing forth a short-sword with its sharp blade shining beautifully in the sunlight.

"Here take this, it was my own blade when I was a young fellow but it should still be in good condition.

Know also this, that whenever you are in trouble and need help, the Village of Salem will always come to your aid.

That is the least that we can do!"

[

Quest completed!

Iron Short-Sword received!

Intimacy with the Village of Salem has increased to maximum!

]

Makoto also gained enough experience to level-up yet again, bringing him to level 5 and making it so that he could finally leave Salem without worrying too much.

After being thanked again by every single Villager, Makoto opened his map.

It showed his surroundings and what he had explored, right now it was only showing a small portion of the sea, the Village of Salem and a tiny bit of forest where the Goblin Dungeon had been.

After closing the map, unsure of where to go now, for the second time the Village Chief was standing in front of him, smiling.

"I see that you are already strong enough now to leave the boundaries of Salem, young Adventurer.

Your next stop in your Journey is the Marine City of Talis on the beach north of here.

Farewell and may the Divines bless your step!"

"I see, you have my thanks Village Chief."

Makoto curtly replied, after having reached such high intimacy that the Village Chief himself informed him where to find his next destination he did not want to anger him in any way.

As one could see high Intimacy paid off, now he knew where to go and a short time later after repairing his Plated gloves, with his sword in hand he left the Village of Salem.

.....

[Battle-hardened Short-Sword: :

An Iron Short-Sword kept in optimal condition, gifted from the Village Chief of Salem for a great deed.

It has seen many battles and clashed with many foes, a sword that truly carries its own story.

Damage: 9-11 Durability: 30/30

Special Option: + 3 Strength

Requirements: Must be gifted willingly from the Village Chief of Salem

]

No matter how many times he saw it, it was a really good sword.

Smiling while petting his precious sword, Makoto traveled along a dirt path that lead north.

He was currently going through the fields of Salem.

A smell of the sea was charming his nose and every few second a gust of wind comfortably went through his hair.

A house on the beach would be a nice thing.

Daydreaming about swimming every day in the ocean, his gaze naturally went to his left admiring the snow white beach in the distance.

After watching the waves for a few seconds, Makoto saw something odd.

A middle sized rock was scuttling along the beach.

And it was not the only rock.

Surprised Makoto stopped walking and watched this weird spectacle of rocks running around the beach, stopping from time to time and then kicking off again.

"What the hell..."

Unable to withstand his curiosity he walked towards the beach until he was close enough to see letters appear above every rock that ran around the beach.

[

Rock crab: lvl 4

]

"So that is a crab? Well, makes sense I guess."

Makoto sat down at one side of the beach and watched these strange creature run around, presumably looking for food.

After a few minutes one of the crabs noticed him and gave off a weird clacking sound in his direction and started to slowly approach with opened pincers.

"I guess you aren't coming here to shake hands are you?"

Makoto jokingly said while readying his sword.

Rock crabs generally moved slow, only when they got close their pincers shot forth, trying to grab you.

Makoto blocked the attempts to squeeze his arm off with his own sword and took a step forward for a sword thrust only to find his trusted blade bounce off the hard shell.

[

7 Damage dealt!

]

"Damn, such high defense."

Cursing under his breath he tried different angles and sides while evading the rock crab but to no avail.

All he could mostly do was inflict 10 Damage which was a lot less even when compared to a level 7 Elite Monster.

The fight took quite a while and after killing the dog sized crab all he got was a broken pincer which was junk loot...

Frustrated Makoto engaged into combat again and tried to kick the rock crabs legs in an attempt to maybe break it, unfortunately that backfired terribly.

[

You have sprained your ankle!

-20% movement speed until the fight is finished!

]

"Fuck!"

Calling the crab every known curse word in the book, Makoto hacked and slashed away at it while limping around, now unable to even dodge properly and nearly dying a few times.

After waiting for his health to refill again and the status effect to disappear he decided to study the creatures a bit, he had nothing else to do anyways.

As far as he could tell they had an incredibly hard shell, their joints where well protected unlike most humanoid creatures and there was no obvious weak-point for Makoto because he did not understand their anatomy well enough.

After watching one crab eat a mouse an idea formed in his head.

Logically speaking their hard shell was protecting a weaker inside right?

With that idea in mind he got another crabs attention, luring it away from its friends and after it got close enough Makoto took a quick step forward and thrust his sword right down the crabs throat.

[

Critical hit!

84 Damage dealt!

]

Right away more than half of the Rock crabs health disappeared and with a moan it fell to the floor while Makoto twisted his sword on the way out, inflicting an additional 'bleed' status on it.

After killing the crab in seconds, he wiped the nasty goop off his sword and looked smiling to the surrounding Rock crabs that all took a fearful step back.

Afterwards he discovered a few other weak-points, their shell was not completely sealed, if one was able to turn them over, generally their belly was another spot easy to Damage.

He killed around 20 of them while heading north along the beach before another blinding light descended from the sky signaling a level-up.

This time he put 4 points into Strength and Agility while 2 in Vitality, to finally boost his health a little more.

Apparently Vitality seemed to boost his armor rating a slight bit because his defense numbers rose after putting those two points into it.

One thing he had to do was check online what each individual stat actually did after logging out.

He was still a long way from the Marine city of Talis, even when standing on the beach and straining his eyes, all he was able to see was the endless ocean.

Makoto lost count how many crabs he actually killed but being the only player visible for miles allowed for a free farming range.

After killing a crab and actually piercing its shell with his sword, a new system window popped up.

[

Through your continues efforts on breaking your opponents defenses, you have acquired the skill 'Penetration'!

]

[Penetration:

Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.

Skill Type: passive Skill Level 1 (0%)

Skill Effect: + 5% Armor Penetration

]

It was a simple skill but Makoto was happy, even when he had no idea how he had gotten it.

"My first skill seems pretty effective when dealing with tank classes."

As far as he understood it he was able to level skills up after using them for a long time and considering his 'Penetration' skill was passive and not active its usefulness only increased.

"So it pretty much means I don’t have to worry too much when fighting heavily armored players or bosses, sweet!"

Grinning like a little boy that had just been gifted his first bike, Makoto ran towards a group of Rock crabs, slicing apart their hard shell while laughing like a maniac.

Man, this is going to be fun!

Chapter 4: The Marine City

Strength:

A basic stat that increases damage for melee, slightly increases health points and allows for superhuman strength ingame if pushed over a certain limit.

Agility:

A basic stat that increases Damage for ranged as well as accuracy, slightly increases movement speed, attack speed and critical hit chance, allows for superhuman speed if pushed beyond a certain limit.

Vitality:

A basic stat that increases overall health tremendously, slightly increases armor rating and overall regeneration, makes potions more effective if pushed over a certain point.

Wisdom:

A basic stat that increases overall mana tremendously, slightly increases mana regeneration and if pushed beyond a certain limit resistance to curses, taunts, hexes and illusions increases.

Intelligence:

A basic stat that increases damage for magic, slightly increases mana and if pushed beyond a certain point allows for superhuman intuition and perception.

That was all Makoto was able to dig up about the stats in Azalon.

Surprisingly there was no mention of the Fame stat.

Truth be told what else did he expect, the game's servers had only been online since this morning, that was a little more than 12 hours.

Many players in the online forums even vowed to spend 99% of the weekend ingame so not many posts had been made yet.

Sighing and rubbing his eyes he stood up from his chair and stretched.

If he didn’t have to get up early tomorrow morning to go on the promised shopping spree with his mum he would also not log out till Monday, but that was one of the requirements for getting the game and the Capsule in the first place.

After getting a drink Makoto went back to the forums, the excitement of actually being inside Azalon didn’t let go of him so he decided to maybe find a few more pieces of valuable information.

His search continued for a while until he noticed a video that was posted a few minutes ago.

Interested he clicked play and waited for the thing to load while putting it on full-screen.

The actual footage was from a player's own perspective, it was possible to record ingame footage and transfer the video to a computer or hard-drive, Makoto knew that much as well.

The video showed a party of players storm inside a large room with sparkling stones all over the wall, in the middle of the room was a gigantic lizard, the thing must have been at least 10 feet tall when standing, right now it was supposedly asleep.

Letters appeared above its head after the player from the footage got closer with his party.

[

Gemstone Lizard: Boss Monster lvl 10

]

"Oh wow.."

Makoto watched as an epic battle unfolded before his eyes.

Somehow one of the players in the video had already changed his class to a Mage, shooting flames from both hands again and again.

Another player was showering the Giant Lizard with arrow after arrow and the rest used a common hit and run tactic as to not get under any sharp talons.

The video lasted nearly 10 minutes with a few players dying but overall the party managed to slay the Lizard, with a fade away black screen, sudden letters appeared at the end of the video.

[

-Join now! Yggdrasil, the one guild to conquer Azalon!-

]

Not interested at all, Makoto closed his browser and sat back in his chair.

The guild might not have piqued his interest but the fight sure did.

Again his heart began racing thinking about going back inside, the urge to fight even scarier monsters than the Goblin Chief blossomed inside Makoto's mind while he went to bed.

The Urge to fight and slaughter.

Smiling while thinking about blood, guts and glory, Makoto fell asleep.

.....

"What do you think of this one?"

His mother held in her hands a yellow dress, short in length and cut deep at the front to show cleavage.

"I'm sure it would suit you well mum."

Makoto said, she didn’t notice the lie within what he said so with a little smile she folded the piece of clothing over her arm and went to the front to pay for it.

Bored out of his mind he stared out of the display window, watching a few girls pass by and grading them in his mind, face and body both taken into account naturally.

"Are you coming honey?"

His Mother asked and after a short "Coming!" while keeping an especially attractive girl in the corner of his eye, he left the shop.

"We haven't done something like this in ages, I barely even see you these days, how are your studies going at the moment?"

She asked looking at him with a smile, Makoto didn’t say he had not touched any of the books yet, instead he lied again as to not worry her and the bigger reason behind it, to not be nagged at.

"Everything is going great, we had a little test the other day and I nearly had full marks."

"That’s good, it would be terrible if this new game was affecting your future College work."

A menacing glare from her made him swallow but he smiled reassuringly while a little sweat ran down his back.

It seems his mother could still read him like an open book from time to time, even though keeping the everyday facade intact dampened it, beneath the mask, his mother was a very scary woman.

Her 3 ex-husbands could only agree while having to pay her living expenses every month.

"Oh look at that one, come, I have to try it on, it just screams late night party and you know how I have to attend my sisters birthday next week, this would be great for the after-party."

Giggling she dragged Makoto into another shop with dresses and extremely skimpy clothes on display.

Sighing deeply he pretended to look at some overpriced jeans while secretly staring outside the display window again.

His city, close to the west coast had many young girls, most of them freshly burned and crispy brown from visiting tanning beds.

Either that or they had a natural tan from heritage because no one could tell him that sunbathing was a thing at January, when it was freezing cold outside.

"I think this one really fits me well, what do you think?"

Presenting herself, his mum turned around once and then showed a beaming smile again.

Not wanting to tell his own mother she looked like a teenage girl with too much make-up, asking to be dragged into an Alley he just nodded.

"Maybe a bit much if you ask me but it looks good"

Makoto said in the end.

He really didn’t want his mother to go out like that, for her safety and his own reputation.

No one wants a Sugar Mama as their mother...

Feeling a shiver down his spine just thinking about it he shook his head slightly and went back to his important business, which was staring at the behind of moderately attractive girls.

Ignoring his mothers antics about her current boyfriend a girl caught Makoto's eye.

Face 10/10, Body 10/10, Smile 10/10. Holy mother...

A blond beauty with green eyes was walking with another girl at her side past the shop, stopping just opposite of where he was standing.

He was not the only one that noticed her as many eyes followed this blond girl, the majority were men but not all of them.

With a half opened mouth he watched this goddess outside the shop talk with her friend, then something funny must have been said because she broke out into a crystal clear laughter that reached his ears, it was like the angels of heaven were singing an otherworldly hymn to him.

Makoto, for the first time in his life felt something strange, a sudden throb in his chest, then a warmth spreading out from it.

While watching this goddess walk away, a smile, maybe the first heartfelt and honest smile in many years, appeared on his face.

"She is way out of your league honey, forget about that right now before you get your little heart broken."

Shaken up by these harsh words he noticed his mother, standing right in front of him and giving him a knowing look before turning around to find another outfit.

Still stunned and confused a quick glance confirmed that the girl was gone.

Again a throb went through his chest.

.....

Back inside Azalon Makoto continued in his slaughter of rock crabs, his Penetration skill also gained 2 levels until the rate at which he gained experience for it slowed down only to completely stop after the 100th crab or so.

"Maybe it has something to do with its armor being too low at this point? Hell if I know."

Unsure he continued killing the big critters, his experience bar crawled at a snails pace at this point but it only took him a few seconds per crab after getting used to their pattern so it was worth it in his eyes.

The sandy beach was hot under his feet after having traveled on it for many miles at this point, a sudden thirst and hunger took a hold of Makoto.

Surprised about those familiar sensations he took out a loaf of bread and practically shoved it down his throat, for the thirst he couldn’t really do much, drinking sea water would only dehydrate him more... or would it?

Curious, Makoto went near the rolling tide and scooped a bit of water into his hands, it definitely smelled like salty water.

Gulping it down slowly his thirst felt quenched for a moment until it returned even worse.

"Thought so, damn."

Wiping away the excessive water on his face his eyes went north, alongside the beach.

Talis was still not clearly visible, only a dark spot could be seen at the horizon if one looked carefully.

"Just how far away is that place..."

Growling angrily and with a dry throat Makoto decided to ignore the rock crabs for now, it was time to enter the city before he dropped dead from thirst and boredom.

.....

The Marine city of Talis was a metropolis of travel and commerce.

A giant aquatic place with the statues and fountains all over the city producing crystal clear water, streams of said water were running down every street and extremely beautiful structures, built by some of the most talented sculptors and architects, gave the city an enchanting aura.

The whole city gave the illusion of practically being built on the water, only a few strong pillars beneath enforced by magic and runes held the complicated structure afloat.

A single big bridge connecting to the mainland was the traditional way of entering Talis.

Merchants mostly used the docks, hiring ships to send their goods and other unusual cargo.

Sometimes a few Travelers from faraway also arrived in Talis with the Merchant ships but the numbers were few.

This fine and sunny day a rather peculiar sight could be seen for those who entered and left Talis using the giant stone bridge.

A young man with ragged clothes, dust and sand stuck to him, like make-up to a busy whore was running on the beach as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.

A few small-time Merchants that had erected their stands on the bridge to attract newcomers could only grin seeing the running and weary figure.

Soon enough the man was on the stone bridge, his naked feet drumming a fast beat.

Breathing heavily his eyes lit up after seeing the giant fountain and before anyone could stop or do anything he jumped right into it.

"Oh man did you see that?!"

"That guy is crazy I tell you."

A few people exclaimed while laughing.

This truly strange man was just lying inside the fountain for a while, water splashing on top of him until he stood up and greedily drank the water coming out of the statues.

After a satisfied "Puh!" the man stepped out of the fountain, completely drenched head to toe but smiling from one ear to the other.

"So this is Talis huh?"

Makoto said, looking at the big aqueducts bringing fresh water into the city and the many statues and structures spilling the precious liquid quite literally on the streets.

Grinning, the man entered the city, leaving wet footprints behind with many onlookers and their whispered words following him.

Chapter 5: Devil's Trade

Annoyed, Makoto tried to ignore the crowd of people that followed him together with the new stares of players and NPCs.

Alright in hindsight it might have not been the best idea to dive headfirst into a fountain but who didn’t want to do that at least once?

This was a game meant for enjoyment after all and the cold water had truly been bliss after running for half a day with a dried up throat and a red bar warning him about dehydration in the corner of his eye.

While pulling up his wet pants so his sword that was at his hip would not drag behind him on the floor, Makoto examined the various stands.

Many Merchants targeted one specific thing like potions, armor, weapons or general food.

It only took him a minute to find a stand with a wide variety of miscellaneous items on display.

Approaching the man sitting behind a makeshift counter Makoto started speaking.

"Good day sir, is it possible to sell monster drops and other loot here?"

The man smiled at his words and nodded.

"You have come to the right place boy, come, show Dio what you got and I will tell you how much It be worth."

Without hesitation Makoto opened his Inventory and dropped a good hundred or so rock crab shell pieces together with other random loot he had gotten from the Goblin Dungeon.

The Merchants eyes widened seeing the pile of junk before him.

"Well boy, I have to say I get enough of these damn crab shells, maybe not as many at the same time but they are useful in their own way true, and some of these bone and tooth necklaces could be enchanted so they would probably sell well...

Tell you what, I will take it all from you for 50 Copper coins, that sound good for you?"

Cheapskate...

Makoto knew that if he sold all of his loot at that price he would practically be robbing himself so the smile froze on his lips and a fake, shocked expression appeared on his face.

"Truth be told I had hoped for more... You must know good sir that I got these necklaces in a cave close to the Village of Salem where I saved many women and children that had fallen prey to the vile and disgusting Goblin Chief that ruled the area.

After painstakingly freeing them and not taking their money because I saved those poor souls out of the goodness of my heart you are telling me I only get 50 Copper for my troubles and finally reaching Talis?!

Oh how truly unlucky for me to only get 50 Copper for this big pile of loot. What true tragedy for my efforts to be mocked by the gods only giving me this worthless pile of over one hundred rock crab shells and many bone and tooth necklaces that can be enchanted for good stats!"

Makoto had spoken louder and louder attracting the attention of the surrounding players and NPC's, many of which after hearing his tale looked at Dio with contempt.

Sweating heavily and hushing him to be quiet Dio the merchant sighed and made a new offer.

"Well after hearing all the troubles you went through I can't help but feel with you, hardships can truly leave one penniless.

Alright, I will give you 1 Silver for all of this, what do you-"

"Oh what a great Tragedy to only get 1 Silver for fighting over a hundred rock crabs and cracking their incredibly hard defenses, I'm sure the villagers of Salem who see me as their hero after saving their women and children will have great interest in hearing the story of how I had no money left to repair my gear after only getting 1 Silver for all the hardship-"

"Ok fine! Fine! 1 Silver and 30 Copper, that is my last offer! Take it or go!"

The Merchant interrupted his incredible performance of showing crocodile tears and puppy eyes while faking the most miserable of faces.

Immediately a sinister smile formed on his lips, shocking Dio.

"Pleasure doing business with you!"

Makoto walked away, a pile of garbage lighter and over 1 Silver richer.

Another System message made him pause.

[

For your outstanding ability to detect a scam and turning the deal in your favor you are awarded with a unique skill!

]

[Devil's Greed:

Money makes the world go round so why not take more than you give?

NPC Merchants and Shop owners will feel an instinctive fear towards you.

Skill Type: passive Skill Level 1 (0%)

Skill Effect: +0.5% increased deals in your favor for both buying and selling.

Additional Effect: Able to Bargain more effectively.

]

Makoto couldn’t help but smile after reading that last line.

This skill would be incredibly useful for big transactions that scaled into the thousands of gold, he would be able to reap extra profits and he didn’t even have to barter for any of that.

Well aware that any Merchant who got wind of the skill would probably take drastic measures to get it, he closed the window.

An impish smile creeped onto his face just thinking about the future.

.....

After visiting another shop to buy a water-skin and filling it from one of the many fountains, Makoto decided to buy more food and a few bandages for emergency healing, you never know.

Next on his agenda was a quick repair and after that he headed to a small shop wedged beneath one of the aqueducts running overhead through the whole city.

The sign showed a Hammer and a metal armor piece, it was obviously a shop for equipment which he dearly needed more of.

Inside, Makoto saw many different types of armors on display, most were made out of different metals but a few leather or cloth pieces could be found here and there.

Normally anyone would choose strong metal for protection, but those that had already reached level 10 could select a class, making certain types of armor more effective, even when considering the lower defense.

[Steel Gauntlets:

Sturdy metal was used in forging these Gauntlets, making it hard for rust or harm to befall this formidable piece of equipment.

Defense: 10 Vitality: 5

Special Option: Durability of the item degrades 5% slower.

Durability: 35/35

Requirements: Level 5

]

[Asurian Knight Helmet:

Crafted in the Image of the Royal Knights protecting the King of Asuria residing in Elisante. It shows devotion to the kingdom and at the same time a responsibility to protect it from all harm.

Defense: 15 Vitality: 10

Special Option: +5 Honor (If stat is unlocked)

Durability: 40/40

Requirements: Level 10, Must have a friendly relationship with the kingdom of Asuria.

]

[Baneskin Leather Cuirass:

Produced from the leather of a Baneskin, a foul creature living underground and preying on wandering adventurers or miners.

The skilled craftsman handling the leather was able to bring out a wondrous effect from it.

Defense: 12 Vitality: 5

Special Option: Resistance to dark magic increases by 10%.

Durability: 35/35

Requirements: Level 10

]

Looking at all of these lower level Armor pieces, most of them were either too expensive, above his current level or both.

Finally after nearly inspecting the whole shop Makoto found a pair of greaves that matched his level and price range.

[Brass Greaves:

Robust brass greaves with strips of hard and soft leather, used to adjust and fixate them to ones body.

Defense: 6 Vitality: 5

Durability: 25/25

Requirements: Level 5

]

The Price was 70 Copper.

After looking at the number displayed on a piece of paper next to the greaves, Makoto went to the clerk in the back.

"I would like to buy the greaves on display with the number 162 please."

"If you just wait here for a moment please."

The woman behind the counter went to get said greaves, locked behind a case of glass.

After only a minute she handed him the surprisingly heavy equipment while another player to his right gave Makoto a sharp look.

Putting the greaves on right away while ignoring the look he was getting, Makoto tried to exit the store but a sudden group was blocking his way.

"You know, I was about to buy that nice pair you have on your legs there, how about you give it to me for 50 Copper and I will ignore the whole thing."

A guy at the front of the group said, it was the previous player that had given him the evil eye.

He was a good head taller than Makoto, had bleach blond hair and a supposedly warm smile on his face, only his dark-blue eyes told a different story.

Makoto knew a look of contempt from someone who thought he was better than everyone else when he saw one.

While also smiling he shook his head and the blond brat frowned.

"I'm sorry but they cost me 70 Copper and even if you gave me one Silver instead of trying to rip me off I would still not sell them, I grabbed them first.

Bad luck pretty boy."

Shoving a girl in the group wearing a purple dress aside, Makoto left an enraged party and a concerned clerk behind.

.....

The sun was starting to set when Makoto walked over the stone bridge connecting Talis to solid ground.

He wanted to be able to select a class as soon as possible so his next goal was to reach level 10.

Close to the beach was a few fields with new enemies that he had not encountered yet.

After approaching the one of them, he was finally able to see the letters before it noticed him.

[

Starved Wolf: lvl 7

]

With ribs clearly showing beneath its fur a blood curdling growl could be heard while yellow eyes looked at Makoto with rage and greed.

Instantly, before he even had time to properly ready his weapon the wolf was like a dark streak flying towards him, mouth open and ready to bite a big chunk out of his thigh.

Damn this thing is fast!

Evading barely to the right Makoto tried swinging his sword to slice into its side but before the motion was even complete there was no more wolf beneath his blade, instead a sharp pain jolted up his back and with a roar he punched away the teeth that had been latched into him.

[

You have received 36 Damage!

]

Pressing one hand on his back, Makoto decided to stay alert and keep the wolf in his line of sight at all times, he had to get used to its pattern first before he could start dealing actual damage to it.

One big problem was also its incredible speed, it was nearly too fast for him to react.

With another deep growl it bolted for him again, this time even more eager to sink its teeth into Makoto after tasting his blood.

Sweeping his blade in a low arc in front of him, he was able to diverge the wolf from its initial trajectory.

After slowly getting used to its speed, Makoto was able to ward off the attacks long enough to see a pattern.

Confident in being able to deal some good damage he waited patiently, Makoto didn’t have to wait long, in the end he wasn’t the one starving here after all.

Predicting the attack and performing another low sweep he guided the creature, and knowing it was finally close enough, he spun around and lashed out with his sword in another fast sweep.

Wide eyed and unable to stop himself, the blade hit the wolfs jaw, chopping the lower half of its mouth clean off and leaving a stunned beast, now unable to chomp its teeth into anything anymore.

[

Critical hit!

78 Damage dealt!

]

Makoto was surprised as well, this was the first time he had actually chopped off a body part.

Even when fighting the Goblins and knowing their pattern in his sleep, he was still only able to slice throats and never behead any of them.

A weird gurgling howl escaped the wolfs exposed throat, continues blood ran down its neck and with bloodshot eyes of hatred nearly exploding out of its sockets a new window appeared.

[

Enemy (Starved Wolf) has entered a frenzy!

Enemy unable to distinct between ally or foe!

Enemy Damage increased by 20%!

Enemy overall Defense and Resistance has dropped by 15%!

]

"A desperation move huh?"

Smiling he waved the wolf with his free hand to step closer.

Naturally the beast did not know what the gesture meant but at this rate it could not even remember its initial intention, only all consuming rage remained and without hesitation the wolf launched towards Makoto's position.

Without any worry he waited until the right moment, steadied his footing and with quick movement, his sword disappeared down the wolfs throat, piercing everything in its path and after getting a few continues messages declaring critical hit after hit the light faded from the monsters eyes.

Everything that was left behind was a pelt and a tooth, he pocketed both items and continued killing until he hit level 7 after which he distributed his points and checked his status window as well as Skills for the first time in a while.

[Status Window

Name: Makoto Level: 7

Alignment: Neutral Class: None

Race: Human Gender: Male

Titles

None

Health: 320/320 Mana: 150/150

Strength: 38(+3) Agility: 38

Vitality: 14(+7) Wisdom: 10

Intelligence: 10 Fame: 5

Evasiveness: 6

]

[Penetration:

Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.

Skill Type: passive Skill Level 3 (21%)

Skill Effect: + 11% Armor Penetration

]

[Devil's Greed:

Money makes the world go round so why not take more than you give?

NPC Merchants and Shop owners will feel an instinctive fear towards you

Skill Type: passive Skill Level 1 (15%)

Skill Effect: +0.5% increased deals in your favor for both buying and selling.

Additional Effect: Able to Bargain more effectively.

]

His health was finally in the 300's and even though his skill list only contained two Skills for now, they would be very powerful after increasing the level and most importantly, he got them completely free of any charge.

Normally even simple skills like Tanning or Sword-Fencing had to be either earned through various quests or paid for, most took the first option if possible because right now not many players could afford to pay 10 gold for one basic skill this early into the game...

Wiping off the blood from his blade, Makoto eyed the surrounding wolfs and a sudden instinct made them all perk up their ears and look at him.

The smile that he showed them could only be compared to one a mother would give her child, a loving smile that was happy the other was born.

Because if those wolfs did not exist, how else would he be able to gain so much experience and level up?

A big group of wolfs was growling at Makoto with fearful eyes, the smile those beasts could clearly see on this mans face was that of love but the air coming from him had an incredible killing intent.

Confused and backed into a corner nearly all of them went into a frenzy, just by being near Makoto they had lost the little reason they had left inside of them.

Attacking their brothers beside them, while sometimes a smiling Demon with love in his eyes appeared, a bloody battle royal took place on the fields not far from the stone bridge of Talis.

Howling sounds could be heard until deep at night and many guards patrolling the bridge were only able to see an occasional light, scattered in the distance, possibly from a swung sword.

Citizens of Talis called this event the 'Howling Moon' and it was told again and again as one of the mysteries surrounding The Marine city.

Chapter 6: Player Kill - PK

"Do you really think this is a good idea, Drake?"

"I told you already, Melody! Whatever happens is his own fault! Now come on, we will lose him if we keep up this tempo."

Shutting her mouth with mixed feelings Melody glanced at Drake who had already turned away.

Before getting to know him she had been captured by his looks.

He was a bit taller than average, had deep blue eyes and blond hair that always looked like bed hair, but at this point her guess was he had created his Avatar like that on purpose, fully aware of how it made him look aloof but also handsome at the same time.

Frowning a bit she remembered how Drake treated everyone else.

It was like he thought of them as beneath him or something.

Melody couldn’t understand how someone could think like that.

She regretted joining this party but it was true that she wanted to be in the strongest guild possible and Yggdrasil, the currently strongest and most known guild had left a big impact on her.

That was also how she met Drake, he had deep ties with a few important people, going as far as even knowing the guild master of Yggdrasil personally.

Promises of getting into the guild after it had officially established itself in the capital of Asuria dragged Melody into this party.

Looking ahead she saw Drake's new target.

It was a man with average height, black eyes and hair, normal looks and currently wearing nothing else for equipment except gauntlets and a pair of brass greaves.

Still frowning she saw the signal from Drake and raised her staff...

.....

Again a light descended down, embracing Makoto and making him aware that he had gained yet another level.

"These wolfs really give a lot of experience."

He couldn’t help but smile while looking at the corpse of yet another starved wolf disappear in a cloud of light particles.

Every wolf he killed dropped one pelt and at least one tooth, sometimes more.

Rarely he also got a few copper coins but other than that the only reason he really hunted them was because of the good experience.

Now that he was level 8 and the wolfs he hunted, one level below his own, made it so a game effect took action right away.

If a player was the same level he would get the actual experience of the mob, if he was below he could get more than double the experience, it was dependent on how big the gap was.

And finally if a player was above the monsters level he would immediately feel the difference, the monsters experience was cut in half and if it was more than one level it just kept getting worse until no experience at all was received.

"Guess I have to find a new enemy, I'm tired of fighting wolfs anyways."

His current location in mind, Makoto advanced through the fields.

Every wolf close to him immediately tucked its tail between its legs and bolted, they had seen his malicious actions enough times in the last few hours to fear him like no other.

After leaving the beach behind and getting into close proximity of the forest he was able to see a familiar sight.

"Another cave... well I am level 8 now so it shouldn’t be as bad."

Confident in his own ability, Makoto stepped inside the cool and shadowy cave.

[

You have entered the Dungeon: Crystalline Cave

]

Instead of a dark cave the surroundings were actually very well lit.

The ceiling itself was open to the sky mostly and the light illuminated the big tunnel he was walking down very well.

Soon enough he found a strange new creature.

[

Crystal Lizard: Level 9

]

It was a lizard the size of an adult crocodile slowly moving around.

Its scales shimmered when hit by light and beady round eyes sparkled when it noticed Makoto.

Intrigued by this strange mix between an inanimate crystal and a lizard he drew his sword and waited for the thing to make the first move.

Surprisingly, it just stared at him for a while and then went on its merry way again, completely ignoring Makoto.

"Well if you wanna play like that, don’t mind me!"

He said while stabbing the flank of the lizard with his sword.

[

28 Damage dealt!

]

Because of the incredibly hard scales, Makoto was only able to penetrate a few inches before an enraged hiss and snapping sound nearly took his hand and he had to back off.

This time Makoto had the things full attention and with quick steps the lizard ran towards him, its mouth open and a row of sharp, dagger sized teeth glittered under the sun.

The fight itself was not too long, his damage was quite high because of his skill 'Penetration' that made it possible to ignore a good bit of natural armor.

Another reason was that the lizard, compared to a starved wolf, was incredibly slow, its short stumpy legs had no way of catching Makoto so without even getting a scratch he finished the crystal lizard and a nice shower of experience was his reward together with shining scales that were left behind after its death.

Checking his skill, just as he suspected the before stagnant skill experience had increased a good bit.

It really seemed like he had to find new and even better armored enemies to increase the level of 'Penetration', well it was only logical after all.

Going deeper and deeper into the Dungeon, Makoto discovered many bends and other possible directions he could go.

Trying to take it slow he explored every single one, most of them were dead ends but some looped back into other or to the same cross section so he was able to finally find the right one after nearly two hours.

The deeper he went the less light shone from above and his surroundings started to be illuminated by the crystals around him, they gave off a white and hard light like electronic lamps maybe would.

"Doesn’t this look like the exact same Dungeon that I saw in that one video with that boss?

I mean it would fit well with the other lizards I have been fighting. Well I wasn’t the first one to discover this Dungeon so the possibility is probably high that it is the same one."

Thinking aloud he found another group of lizards and finished them off one after another. Even after increasing in number they didn’t really pose any threat so he was not too worried.

A sudden pain exploded on his shoulder and with it a system window surprised Makoto, while he was still engaging in a battle with two Lizards.

[

Player Melody has attacked you!

You have received 102 Damage!

Player Melody has turned Chaotic with her actions in attacking you, attacking or killing her will not change your Alignment!

]

"What the-"

Before he could even react more pain exploded in his back and another message popped up.

[

Player Drake has attacked you!

You have received 84 Damage!

Player Drake has turned Chaotic with his actions in attacking you, attacking or killing him will not change your Alignment!

]

With a grunt Makoto jumped out of the way and a fireball flew over his head.

Finally able to turn around he saw a face he had only seen recently.

It was the same blond pretty boy that had tried to scam him in the armor shop before.

This time he was holding a two handed sword while grinning towards Makoto, blood was running down Drake's blade, his blood.

"Well look who we have here, are you maybe lost? No need to worry, I will use this sword to personally 'guide' you back to Talis!"

Still grinning he ran towards Makoto while swinging wide from above.

With a loud bang, Makoto was able to block the attack with his own sword but his arms nearly buckled under the swing.

Looking at Drake and the letters above him, his heart slightly trembled.

[

Drake: Warrior lvl 11

]

While evading yet another swing to the right, Makoto tried to let this blond rich boy have a taste of his own medicine, but he was denied this sweet revenge by an arrow that lodged itself in his chest.

[

Player Dawnwind has attacked you!

You have received 75 Damage!

Player Dawnwind has turned Chaotic with his actions in attacking you, attacking or killing him will not change your Alignment!

]

Makoto grit his teeth, against Drake alone he might have had at least a possible chance but under the attack of two others his health had taken a big dive and was already close to nothing.

Evading to the right and left he was able to dodge a few hits from all three until one of the lizards which he had completely forgotten about, bit his arm, slowing him down enough for yet another swing from Drake to reap his life.

[

You have received 93 Damage!

You have been killed by Drake!

]

With furry in his eyes Makoto glared at Drake that looked at him with a devilish smile.

"You will regret this, asshole."

That was the only thing he was able to say before darkness creeped in around him, taking his vision and again a familiar message showed itself, asking if he wanted to revive.

To his surprise he did not revive inside the Dungeon but in Talis just like Drake had hinted at.

Still angry but curious why he didn’t revive in the Dungeon, he opened the help screen and got his answer shortly after explaining his situation.

[

If killed inside a Dungeon from another player the usual spawn mechanic will be used instead of the Dungeon-respawn.

The reason behind it is simply to avoid spawn-camping, no one wants to be set back to level 1 just for getting killed inside a Dungeon once by a possible group of PK'ers.

]

Closing the Interface Makoto stormed through the streets of Talis.

He had already checked his equipment, if he maybe dropped anything and unfortunately his plated gloves couldn't be found anywhere.

To make matters worse he had lost so much experience that he was now level 7 again, even if he was close to 8 the lost level and his only defensive equipment other than his new greaves now in the hands of his killers filled Makoto with so much anger that his face was a mask of rage and anybody that crossed his way couldn't help but flinch and take a step back.

Only after crossing the stone bridge, reason caught up with Makoto and he stopped.

He had dropped one level and lost a piece of equipment, he was now even weaker than before, with that he wanted to fight that group of players again?

That mindset alone was only asking to be killed yet again.

Furious about his helplessness he pierced the sand beneath his feet with his sword and let his rage out.

The roar coming from him surprised many NPC's and players that passed by but Makoto didn’t care.

After picking himself up again the only emotion that resided inside him was cold rage.

With his eyes looking in the direction of the cave, Makoto spoke, more to himself than anyone else.

"Just you wait, Drake, Melody and Dawnwind. I will remember your names and return the favor thrice you pieces of shit!"

His face was still a mask of fury but his heart had calmed down and a plan formed in his mind.

First things first he had to get stronger, then and only then could he possibly kill a whole party by himself.

.....

[

You have discovered: Odd Shell

]

A big question mark formed on his face staring at the red shell in his hands.

[Odd Shell:

There seems to be some use to it but what could it be....

Effect: Unknown

]

It had been uncovered in the sand after a rock crab Makoto was fighting bumped against the hidden object.

He decided to hunt these strange creatures again and to his luck the rock crabs further down the beach, north of Talis, were level 8 and not 4.

It also helped train his 'Penetration' skill again.

[Penetration:

Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.

Skill Type: passive Skill Level 4 (2%)

Skill Effect: + 14% Armor Penetration

]

Happy that at least something good happened today, Makoto continued fighting the crabs and amassed an incredible amount of junk in his inventory together with that odd red shell.

After reaching Level 8 again he took a little break and sat down.

He had no need to regenerate any health considering he never got hit but the mental strain of constantly fighting took a lot out of him so Makoto decided to watch the waves for a while.

There was some players around him fighting, all of them seemed to be in a party which baffled Makoto, these crabs were incredibly slow so he couldn’t believe how clumsy some of these players would have to be to need any help to begin with.

Interested he watched a Mage and Warrior fight 3 crabs at the same time, their synergy was good but the warrior did not dodge any hits and the mage was the same just standing there and shooting his fireballs.

It was strange for Makoto seeing this foreign way of fighting considering that most of his battles only consisted of dodging and counter-attacking when the enemy made a mistake or was caught off-guard.

While watching others fight around him, Makoto gathered as much Intel as possible on how players could fight.

It would help him in turn, remembering how most players reacted in different situations.

To his surprise one especially weird combination of a Priest and Mage had real problems with the crabs.

The rock crabs were slow but so was a Mage or Priest if they got the attention of a monster, they invested all their stats into Wisdom and Intelligence so their Agility was probably still at 10.

Both the Mage and Priest where screaming while a group of rock crabs chased them.

The sight was so funny seeing these two female players getting chased by a mob of stamping rock crabs that Makoto broke out into loud laughter while holding his stomach, tears blinding his sight.

Both players ran past him with red faces, they knew Makoto was laughing about them and the Mage took it especially personal because she couldn’t help to scream in anger at Makoto.

"If you have time to laugh your ass off help us, jackass!"

Still giggling from time to time Makoto stood up.

Before him 5 Rock crabs paused, they had a new target now and Makoto readied his sword.

While sidestepping a pincer shooting towards him Makoto returned the favor by piercing the crabs eye.

[

112 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Blind: -20% Accuracy until the fight is finished.

]

Putting both hands on his sword he swung his blade downwards, cutting deep and killing the first crab.

With another step to the right he pierced the side of another exoskeleton and cut along it, new Damage windows appeared over and over again until after nearly cutting all the way through its body the second one died too.

Number 3 and 4 also disappeared after only 2 or 3 attacks and for the last one Makoto tried an idea he had gotten from before after slicing his first Starved Wolf's jaw off.

Gripping his sword tight Makoto waited.

The last crab was a little hesitant in engaging after seeing what happened to its brothers but in the end it only was a dumb crab after all.

With its short and many legs it ran towards Makoto but he was already prepared.

Waiting for the exact right moment he held his blade low before suddenly swinging upwards.

He landed the attack perfectly beneath the crabs belly, his sword slicing from below through the whole body and head until finally, the metal exited through the top again, cutting the poor thing in two with only one blow.

[

Lethal Hit!

You have dealt a lethal blow and are rewarded for your incredible feat.

+1 Fame!

]

Surprised about the effectiveness of his attack and the window he turned around to the two girls, they had an aghast look on their faces together with an open moth.

"'Is that help enough?"

Makoto couldn't stop himself asking, before breaking out into more laughter after seeing their bewildered expressions.