Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

001.3 | NOOB'S FIRST KILL

Leon raised out his wooden staff holding the middle part of it with his two hands. A floating small tattered book remained on his side, with pages flipping at an astounding speed. A magic circle had formed under his feet, which comprised shapes and layers spinning in circles as he activated magic formations one after another. 

By his race, an elf of the Elven race, his affinity for magic is high compared to other races. Legend says that the elves were created and born from mana. This constitution made the Elven race gain the ability to regenerate MP by just collecting the spirit energy wherever they are. 

[Mana] is the main source of magic. It can be found everywhere. It is abundant in some areas, especially on the lands of the Elven race, ancient caves, monster lairs, and some floors in the dungeon. A large mana field can also be found on the [Rebirth Stone], which cannot be mined or harvested by players.

Mana comes in many forms, but most of the time, they are stored in six-helix crystals in a myriad of colors representing the concentration of mana present in the crystal. In low-level dungeons and caves, red to yellow crystals can be dug out, and some can be found sticking on the walls. These crystals feed the surrounding air and earth the minuets mana called the spirit energy. 

[Spirit Energy] are particles of mana that are digestible and used by all races. Since the Elven Race is classified as the only natural magic user of the whole world, they are capable of absorbing mana directly from mana crystals. Mixed-race magic users and other races could not handle such activity, so they use spirit energy as their magic source. 

In this dungeon, Leon noticed several mana crystals, but they are in the color of coal and white. These crystals represent that they are overused and out of energy. Earlier, he remembered seeing dark-colored crystals (blue and violet - high-level mana crystals), but after activating the boss battle, all the mana crystals lost their luster and become empty.

This boss is no joke if he could empty such high-level mana crystals, Leon thought. 

But it doesn't matter. He is from a race that could regenerate mana out of nothing, so much a disadvantage is not prominent. It's just that he is still a low-level magician, and his regeneration is much slower. He is also being repressed by the boss, so the already low mana regeneration becomes lesser, giving him a difficult time to activate magic formations. 

Even though the Elven race can collect the [MP] twice the number a normal race can do, this scarcity of Spirit Energy is still a problem. That is why rather than healing, he is using his MP for spells.

Learning this fact, Leon mentally calculated MP that he can earn for a minute. 

Opening his player's interface, a translucent plate appeared in front of him, almost blocking his frontal view. It showed his personal information plus the function that comes with his race. His eyes skimmed through the interface and found the section that he is looking at on the right side corner, where several tabs are piled up. 

He clicked the tab with a book icon, quickly scrolled for a certain command, searched for the Spell Book, and opened it. A smaller plate appeared out to the right side of the [SPELL BOOK] option showing him names of spells with their specific mana input.

Of course, as a low-level Elven, only a few spells can be used. Some are even in dim black slate due to the insufficient mana left in his system. The remaining spells are the common stun and run attacks that only cost a point of MP and have a minimal effect on the enemy. Elven and mages don't actually have the power to create a close combat tackle; that is why they are preferred to make long-range attacks.

There are also specialize spells that the Elven can use. Only two are left under his radar, and both only consume five points of MP. The cooldown of both spells is still in a minute. 

Because Leon didn't know the [SKILL POINT SYSTEM] - a system of the game that gives you the freedom to allot points in a certain skill or spell to obtain its maximum potential. He only has these specialized skills in Level one that is why his spell's cool downtime is over a minute, and its power is only strong enough to steal a single point.

He opened his skill point folder. Fighting the monsters from the previous floors gave him some skill points. Only earning twenty, he put one of his chosen specialized skills in level five with the additional point on the Fibonacci scale. 

For this skill to level up in two, he has to use one skill point. And to level up to three, he has to add his recent point to the previous point of the skill. That is one plus two that gives him three skill points. And to level up to four, he needed five skill points at all. This is only applicable to the specialized skills, while regular skills only needed one skill point to advance.

Spending one, three, five, and eight - he is now only left with three points. He allotted the remaining points to the Stun and Attack spell that only follows the one skill point until reaching a certain level - level 10 - that collects two [SP] (skill points). 

Leon is about to proceed on his next adjustment when his screen suddenly shook that sent static to his view. Sweeping the interface on the side, he saw specks of dust of clouds forming around the area blocking the visibility of the players. He can see strikes of blades flying around before having the warrior's back appear in his sight.

Shin is carefully taking the beast in close combat. Due to his low level, his [HP] is gradually decreasing in a larger number, though still in a favorable condition. Despite having the [HUMANOID RACE], Shin's main archetype is a warrior that elevates his attack power, and HP increased by twenty percent. He is a level higher than Leon and can block and evade attacks despite the enemy's higher rank.

Shin withdrew from his position and jumped beside the elf. He is trying to regenerate some HP, a characteristic common to any of the Warrior class. Though, unlike the Elven Race that needed Spirit Energy, the Tank Ranks (the other name for a warrior archetype) only needed consecutive combos and combat energy to have their HP rise up. In this situation, he can almost collect HP by just hitting the beast twice.

"I never thought that it can work," Shin said, breathing unsteadily from the high leap.

"It's a chance," Leon retorted. "The Tanks have the unusual durability towards fighting enemies higher to their level that is why they are usually used at vanguards. And with your innate character skill [IRON TANK], the moment the enemy notices you, by just ignoring a glance, you can hit them with double damage."

"But this is the common sense of a warrior. Why is there a drastic change with our flow?"

Shin asked the proper question. Of course, they use the same tactic with their members when they are on the previous grounds. Shin, with the other front liners, is using a spell closer to Iron Tank. 

[Iron Tank] is a skill that makes the enemies' attention directed towards the caster. The hit points would be the same as the normal attack. But once the enemy turns around, or let's say, tried to attack other players, the caster can now give a double attack hit point to the enemy, which is almost stronger than the original.

Then, why did it change when Leon commanded him?

"I am just using a simple strategy. That is to follow our original setting," Leon said. "Warriors are better to close combat. Elf, archers, and even mages needed to fire at a certain distance to maximize the attack energy. With your level and race, we can take this beast's HP slowly, however..."

They both looked at the howling beast now in [RED RAGE]. Reaching Red Rage, a certain condition will be met by the players causing a catalyst that hastens the beast's growth that makes it impossible to beat. With this monster's HP lowered almost a hundred, it enters a vital stage thanks to Shin. The physical and magical affinities will be doubled than the original, letting the beast cast hard to negate spells.

This works as an adrenaline rush.

"What should we do?" Shin asked.

Leon looked at the warrior's HP. It is still in the middle of the numbers but low for him to face the beast one on one again. He returned to his interface and chose the newly leveled skill, holding his staff and pointing it towards the beast. The book beside him flipped on a certain page that highlighted him with a visible glow. 

Like an incantation, he motioned the end of the staff to create a circular line on the air, reciting the specific words for the spell to activate.

The air around him started to circulate, moving his long hair around showing his sharp ears. His eyes glinted bright, expressing the magic his system is releasing towards the staff. He draws a star-like figure forming the famous pentagon from the circle, getting brighter the sooner he finished the pentagram. A ball of energy is slowly being accumulated in the middle of the pentagram, ready to be released any time.

Shin covered his face avoiding the specks of dust, when he noticed the beast coming towards the elf. Leon didn't give him a command, but initiative took him to act. He opened his player's interface seeing the current status of his health. The Iron Tank is still on the range, so he attacked the beast once again, dealing only with a single point of damage.

Due to the Red Rage, his Iron Tank seems to be useless. He gritted his teeth and tried attacking again to give time for the activation of the spell. It will only take ten seconds - isn't that fast enough to perform a spell? But in the middle of the war, a ten seconds difference can play a vital change.

Shin thrust the cheap sword he held to the beast's side and slid down while slashing the tough skin. Though, he only made a meter length wound before the sword shattered due to its low durability. The beast tried catching him by moving its hand to the side, but Shin is smart enough to step back quickly. He heard Leon called him from behind.

"Move away!" The elf commanded.

Shin just nodded, making the beast a stepping tool, and boosted his jump up to land in the distance closer to Leon. The spell chanted by the elf was released, pointing towards the beast enveloping it with a grey film slowly restricting its movement. Flashes of electricity also followed suit, reducing his action to minimal until it stopped. Bright light covered the whole place, blinding the players for a while.

The light that scattered dissolved in the air. The time continued running while the scene formed in front of their eyes again. A huge shadow loomed before them, motionless.

Yes, the beast is no longer moving.

The smoke of dust slowly dissipated around, giving a clearer vision to the surrounding. The remaining members watching the whole scene have their eyes in shock, wondering what just those consecutive moves are. They all turned their heads to the elf, who is currently gasping for air.

"What did you--"

"Step back!" Leon yelled at them before they can take a single step. "Make sure to not enter the ten-foot radius, or else you will die."

"What?"

"Just listen to me. Don't ask any questions!"

"..."

Shin hid a chuckle while listening to the elf's commanding voice. All throughout the trip, Leon only interrupted a few times. Maybe if he interrupted more, they might defeat this beast having all of the members present. Leon looked at him with a face of disinterest.

"It might look like a joke, but we are not finished here," Leon said, pointing the enemy in a frozen state.

"How did you do that anyway?" Shin asked. "I'm not that informed when it comes to other races' spells."

"It's the [Ghoul Touch]," Leon answered. "It's a spell that paralyzes the enemy using a stench scent. Actually, it paralyzes anyone that can smell the stench within the ten-foot radius.

"Really? Then why am I not affected?" Shin pointed himself. "I am still on the radius, right?"

"It might affect you, but remember that you are a level higher than me and more than that is a Tank Rank. There's no way that you will be affected directly by this spell. It won't even poison you a bit."

"Whoa... that is quick thinking. How about some other spells? Right, isn't your spell a bit faster? You didn't use a catalyst to spread the scent. So... how?"

"I actually have one spell that can be used, but its cooldown and MP intake are in a number that I can never gamble. So I use the Ghoul Touch. Using scent to paralyze an enemy will indeed take time if I do not use a catalyst. But have you forgotten?"

Leon spread his arms up as if showing the whole place. Shin only took half a second to understand the point and beamed a smile. Leon returned it with a smirk. Unlike the tracing scent that needed moving air to disperse, an enclosed area is enough to hold and concentrate a stench. 

"Well, I did say that we manage to stop this beast from moving, but..." 

Leon looked at the beast. The grey film with currents running around is still there. He narrowed his eyes, seeing the numbers run around him. The grey film is gradually losing numbers due to the beast's numbers negating it. The moment the grey film reaches the negatives is also the time the spell will be broken. 

"Ghoul Touch is still a low-class spell. Its effect will decrease with enemies with a higher level. Normally, it can hold an average monster for fifteen minutes. But this one..."

The longest must be ten minutes. No, ten minutes is already an estimate. The Red Rage decreased the effect of the spell. 

"Tell me how to do it. You're not playing solo. We can even ask help from them," Shin said, pointing to the cowards who kept hidden behind the rocks. Leon crooked his lips.

"Enough with the jokes. We can finish this one with just the two of us."

Shin was stunned for a while before laughing his lungs out. Indeed, if it was Leon who commanded them, they will surely defeat this floor's boss without a doubt. Looking ahead, Shin prepared his mind. Leon transmitted a message that he never thought of using before.