The Founding of the Core Team
1386 Words
“Again. That’s just a fluke.” B-Champ is unconvinced.
“Fine with me.”
The same system message flashed across everyone’s screen, as well as the count down. Blade, Valeria and Shadowstrikes remained on the side to watch the second duel between B-Champ and RagingInferno.
“Did RagingInferno cheat? How could he defeat B-Champ at level seventy three?” Valeria asked.
“That’s something you will be privileged to know when you become a part of my team,” Blade replied, eyes on the two combatants as they waited for the start of the duel.
The horn signaling the start of the duel sounded. As usual, B-Champ attacked head on. This time around, RagingInferno did not choose to be on defense like what he did the first time. He met B-Champ’s fist with his broadsword, the impact of steel clashing produced sparks between the duelists. RagingInferno then disengaged, jumping back two paces away from the enemy. B-Champ followed, refusing to give RagingInferno a breather from his rapid punches.
But RagingInferno stepped to the side, completely moving away from B-Champ’s front attack range. He did not remain idle though. He lifted his broadsword and a gale blew. All of a sudden, RagingInferno’s broadsword blurred, producing multiple images until it’s no longer in his hands.
“Where did his weapon go?” Valeria asked.
“Keep watching,” Shadowstrikes suggested.
A whistling sound came. Then one by one, flaming broadswords dropped around B-Champ, like a meteor shower. B-Champ’s hit points rapidly decreased as he stood rooted to the spot. He couldn’t move because the skill has a stun effect effective for two seconds. The stun effect was only for a minuscule of time but it was enough for RagingInferno’s massive damage to work against the enemy. In a matter of seconds, B-Champ’s hit points drastically declined. And it only took one simple kick from RagingInferno to clinch the victory. B-Champ’s body flew across the arena as his hit points dropped to zero.
A system message announcing RagingInferno’s victory flashed on their screens.
“Alright! Good job, my man!” Shadowstrikes cheered.
“Unbelievable!” Valeria exclaimed. “W-What sorcery is this?”
Blade chuckled as he vanished. RagingInferno and B-Champ must have ended the duel thus the system teleported everyone inside the arena back to the safe zone of Rionas—the town center. Liwan saw his friends pop in one by one, along with B-Champ and Valeria.
“So, what do you say? Not bad, huh?” RagingInferno sauntered towards his friends.
“You still have to work on your timing. It’s a little sloppy,” Blade observed.
“Yeah. My fingers kind of stuck on my keyboard, I couldn’t press on the keys as quickly as I’d like.”
“Hmm…” Blade murmured. He turned to the others. “Accept my party invitation and turn on your mic, guys. I know you have questions. It’s easier to explain that way.”
Blade sent party invites to B-Champ and Valeria. Moments later, they’re all in the same communication channel.
“Hi, I’m Liwan my character is a Chevalier named Blade. Nice to meet you.”
“Yo, Jason here. My character’s name is RagingInferno.”
“Denver. I’m Shadoswstrikes’ owner.”
A small voice came through the channel. It’s unmistakably feminine.
“I’m Valeria’s owner. My name is Valerie.”
“Oh, that explains the name,” Jason beamed.
“Yeah.”
“Byron James, B-Champ’s owner.”
“Now that everyone is acquainted, let’s hear your questions. Who wants to go first?”
“Me,” Byron said.
“Okay. What do you want to know?”
“How did RagingInferno defeat me? Are you using any cheat?”
“Jay, I’ll leave you this question.”
Jayson cleared his throat.
“There’s no cheat, man. It’s simply a matter of build. Liwan helped me allocate the right amount of stat points to achieve a certain effect be it damage, defense, speed or hit points. I must say RagingInferno was prepared for strength proficiency in the future. It’s the same for all of us; Blade and Shadowstrikes follows the same.”
“H-How?”
“By studying how the system works. From PVP damage, monster damage, defense, equipments, etc. The forums is teeming with valuable information if you know where to look. And Liwan here managed to come up a guide of his own and that’s what we’re using to strengthen our characters,” Jayson explained.
“I’ve been reading the forums but I don’t see anything like that. All the information was released by the game company and it’s all basic,” Byron disagreed.
The three friends laughed.
“That’s the same thing we said to Liwan before. But you’ve seen the results. It’s true. And it’s not something we usually share with other people. Since you’re going to be a part of our team, Liwan decided to share it with you. So, are you on board? He doesn’t ask much, just loyalty,” Denver said.
“You mean, you can do the same thing to our characters?” Valeria asked after a period of silence.
“Yes. But that depends if your characters are still salvageable. I may need to take a look at your stats. Only then I can give you a clear answer. And of course, I’d have to check your hand speeds. We’ll have personalized trainings, specially tailored for your type of characters and the kind of pilot you are,” Liwan asserted in response.
“Whoa…are we still playing as amateurs? It seems to me you’re gearing up to be professional e-sports players,” Byron blurted out.
“Why not? A guy can dream.”
“When do we start?” Valeria finally asked.
“There is no appropriate time than now.”
“Okay. Tell us what to do.”
“We’ll add you to our chat group so you can send me images there later. I need you to take a screen shot of your character’s stats.”
After getting Valeria and Byron’s phone numbers, Liwan sent them an invite to join their group chat. The new recruits sent him the images Liwan asked. He scanned the image with his eyes, the gears on his mind immediately working. After some time, he came into a conclusion.
“Guys,” he called.
“Yes, Li?” It was Jayson he heard.
“Start hunting for gold bars. The more, the better. While you’re at it, store a lot of fruits—blue, yellow, red and green. We’ll need a lot of them, like lots and lots.”
“Fruits from the trees scattered around Soulnight?” B-Champ wanted to be sure.
“Yes. We’re going to adjust your stats by decreasing adding or reducing points in necessary areas in order to balance and tailor your build according to your preference and game play.”
“I thought we’re building them to suit the needs of the team?” Jayson reminded Liwan.
“We’re humans, and easily adaptable. What’s more important here is a character suited to the way you play. Like you, you don't like strategies and all that stuff. So we tailored you character stats to enable you to just hack and s***h without any reservations. You are the type of person who likes attacking without caring about his hit points, so you're suitable to tanking and taking the brunt of the enemy’s damage. Need I explain this to you? Just go figure.”
Denver chuckled. “It’s no use telling him that, Li. Jayson doesn’t like using his brains.”
“I use my brains from time to time, stupid,” Jayson quipped.
“I don’t remember you doing it though.”
“You have a bad memory, my friend. But the truth is, thinking makes me hungry so I leave that to Liwan.”
“Okay. I’ll head on to Atlans for the blue fruits. Then to Enorcal for the yellow ones,” B-Champ said.
“I suggest we divide the tasks to faster amass the needed ingredients.”
“B-But won’t it hamper your own leveling?” Valeria asked Liwan.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll catch up with you guys sooner than you expected. For now, we need to fix your stats before you reach a hundred. It would be harder to do that once you hit that level. Fruit drop rates for low levels like us is a lot higher compared to yours,” Liwan answered as a matter of factly.
“I see.”
“Are we doing the same thing for future members of the team?”
“Depends. I won’t waste my time on people who doesn’t share the same vision with us. I am going to keep the core team small but powerful to enable them to be potential leaders in the future. A strong guild will attract many players eventually. And once our numbers multiply, we’ll need captains to supervise them. You are the first members of the core team I would be creating so I am investing time and effort to correct your builds into something that will benefit us as a team in the long run. Do you understand?”
“But what if we betray you? After correcting our builds, aren’t you worried we might leave your team?”
There was silence on the communication line.
- Writer
