“Eliminate the all but the least used weapons,” I requested, instantly all the normal bladed weapons, maces, staves and even bows vanished. “No ranged weapons either.” All the slings, crossbows, dart guns and a dozen other weapons vanished. It left me with just 6 different weapons to choose from.
Flail
A threshing tool consisting of a wooden staff with a short heavy ball swinging from it. Base Attack Speed 3.50 – Weapon Damage 5-8
Brass Knuckles
Pieces of metal shaped to fit around the knuckles. Base Attack Speed 1.20 – Weapon Damage 3-4
Sickle
A hand-held agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades. Base Attack Speed 2.20 – Weapon Damage 4-5
Spear
A pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood with a pointed head. One-Handed Base Attack Speed 2.4 – One-Handed Weapon Damage 4-5 – Two-Handed Base Attack Speed 2.00 – Two-Handed Weapon Damage 7-9
Bullwhip
A single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, designed as a tool for working with livestock. Base Attack Speed 2.20 – Weapon Damage 5-6
Three-section staff
A flail weapon consisting of three wooden or metal staffs connected by metal rings or rope. Base Attack Speed 1.80 – Weapon Damage 3-4
So difficult! So many cool weapons! Why? Why did I have to choose just one of them?
Admittedly the Bullwhip was so very tempting. With my interest in the Lore of the game, I could be the next in a long line of adventuring explorers, I just need a fedora. I don’t care if the movie is older than dirt or whatever, it was still awesome, even in this day and age. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very practical. It was also more of a ranged weapon than not.
There was one weapon that made more sense than any of the others. The Spear. I would have thought it was a common weapon but then if I hadn’t considered it as a common weapon option before I’m sure many others didn’t either. Plus, it had one-handed and two-handed usage.
With a heavy sigh, I picked up a simple spear.
You’ve learned the skill ‘One-Handed Polearms’
One-Handed Polearms
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Current Damage Modifiers
Damage: +0.50
Critical Strike Chance: +0.05%
You’ve learned the skill ‘Two-Handed Polearms’
Two-Handed Polearms
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Current Damage Modifiers
Damage: +0.50
Critical Strike Chance: +0.05%
“Oh, hell yeah!” I exclaimed. I got two different weapon skills at once.
“A wise choice. Very few people ever look at the spear. It is the only weapon in the current starter catalog offers both One-Hand and Two-Handed usage from the beginning,” Maggie gave me a small nod of acknowledgment.
I couldn’t help but grin. “If I use it one-handed does that mean I can equip another weapon in the other hand or a shield?”
“A spear user may only equip a Phalanx Shield or a Net in the offhand,” she replied.
“What’s a Phalanx Shield?” I had an idea of what she meant but I felt it would be best to get clarification from her first.
“A Phalanx Shield is a classification of shield within the World Tree. This shield has a notch cut into the side to support the spear increasing both the accuracy of the spear and providing a forward guard to the user,” she answered.
“Does this mean I can get a Phalanx Shield or a Net to go with my spear as it is part of the one-handed usage?” I asked, doubting it would work. Still, it couldn’t hurt to ask.
Maggie paused again as if searching for the answer. After a few minutes of silence, which honestly worried me a little, she finally started speaking. “You are without a doubt the biggest troublemaker I’ve ever encountered,” Maggie spoke, but it was no longer Maggie’s voice. It was a voice I recognized as the lead developer from the short video, Mitchell Dawson.
“Mr. Dawson?” I couldn’t help but ask to confirm.
“Yeah, that’s me, I’ve temporarily hijacked Maggie here. I just had to speak to the colossal pain that found himself a giant hole in our character creation process. And here I thought just putting in the spear was enough of a hidden Easter Egg, to begin with, given it would provide two weapon skills from the start. Then you just had to go and scramble my egg by pointing out the shield and net usage,” he explained.
“Am I in trouble?” I asked, feeling cautious. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to imagine him taking my new skills away from me already.
“Trouble? Of course not,” exclaimed Mitchell. “If anything, I’m happier than a kid on Christmas morning. Anytime a player finds a bug I missed it gets me fired up.”
“So, I can keep the spear?” I asked, not sure what his ‘fired up’ would entail.
“Yeah, you can keep the spear. You can keep the weapon skills too. I’m even going to give you a little bonus too. I’m going to create a new skill and even let you have it as part of your starting weapon kit. But first, choose, shield or net,” he replied with a grin in place, it just didn’t look right on Maggie’s face.
“Shield,” I answered without hesitation.
You’ve learned the skill ‘Phalanx Shield’
Phalanx Shield
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Current Defense Modifiers
Block Chance: +0.05%
Critical Block Chance: +0.025%
“Sweet! Is this a unique Skill?” I asked.
“Not at all, but it is specific to using a phalanx shield where all other shields fall into a single category. Anyway, great job finding this hole in our programming. Maggie will rejoin you in a moment and let you select a shield. Unfortunately, I must now go and remove the spear as a starting weapon option. I was able to sneak in 2 skills for one weapon, but three skills will never fly once the game forums pick up on it. Which reminds me, I have just given you a significant starting bonus, I’m going to have to ask you keep your mouth shut about this, or your skills and weapon may just disappear n'est-ce pas?” he finally asked.
I understood fully what he was saying. He just gave me a massive boost. One he could easily take away from me later. So of course, I answered, “I completely understand, my lips are sealed.”
“Good, in that case, enjoy the game,” he said with a friendly smile. Maggie’s eyes closed, and her head nodded forward as if asleep.
“Hello again, I am back,” said Maggie, perking right back up again and back to her usual self. “So, we need to select a phalanx shield for you.”
“Before that, what do +0.50 Damage and +0.05% Critical for the current damage modifier mean, or the defense modifiers?” I asked, always trying to get just a little more information.
“Your skill with one-handed polearms, two-handed polearms, and the phalanx shield is very primitive and relatively unskilled. You are just competent enough to not stab yourself on accident,” she answered.
“So, if I had no skill with the weapon there is a chance I could stab myself?” I asked, I was trying to be funny, but it clearly didn’t work.
“Yes,” she answered seriously. “However, the chances of that happening are low.”
Talk about a critical failure roll just waiting to happen. I had heard plenty of stories about old tabletop games, where players used a 20-sided die to determine success and failure. The best stories were always the unique and interesting ways a game master would completely screw over a player when they rolled a natural ‘1’ and the critical failure that followed. They always made me laugh.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Okay, weapon and clothes have been selected. Show me the phalanx shield choices.”
A single weapon rack appeared with 4 styles of shields to choose from. I took the simple, round phalanx shield, matching my simple spear.
Once all the equipment racks vanished, Maggie spoke again. “Next you will select a starti
ng province. As you do not have a racial ability granting heat resistance, cold resistance or water breathing, you have 34 provinces to choose from. Do you have any preference in the type of environment?”
Now, this would be important. If I chose the wrong environment it could hurt or even destroy the development of my skills. A desert environment might reduce my ability to learn stealth and I could also have problems with food and water. Although, I imagine a desert environment would be good to build up poison resistance.
I had to shake my head to get that thought out of there. I needed someplace with a fair climate and good environmental skills available to learn.
“Based on your line of thought, I would suggest either a jungle or forest environment. A mountainous region would also suit your purposes.” Maggie suggested.
“Jungle is too hot and I’m not big on mountains but not complete opposed either. So, Forest or maybe a mountain forest?” I requested.
“Excellent, I narrowed your choices to these two,” said Maggie.
Suddenly, my view was invaded by two large windows baring the system description for the two suggested provinces.
Piper Forest – Level 1-5
Piper Forest is inhabited by common critters of all sorts from bears to wolves and an abundance of small caves for them to hide in amongst the hills and trees of the area. There is also a large rat population beginning to give the locals no end of trouble, just waiting for some young fool adventurer to deal with them.
Hurlig Ridge – Level 1-5
Hurlig Ridge is a forested area with a mountain ridgeline bordering the northern edge of the province. It plays home to a number of dangerous fowl and their natural feline predators, as well as a healthy wolf population. If the wolves are not enough, the ancient ruins in the area have sparked many ghost stories among the local residents.
“Hurlig Ridge, that’s got to be it. There’s a ruin there, which would probably be perfect for me to build up my Lore profession.” I said excitedly. It was finally time for me to get my game on.
“Excellent, I hope you felt this time was productive and I have done everything I can to prepare you for the adventures ahead?” she asked.
“Thank you, Maggie, you were very helpful,” I replied.
“In a moment, you will close your eyes and when you reopen them you will be placed at random in Hurlig Ridge,” she explained briefly.
“Wait, random? Don’t I start in a safe zone?” I asked, feeling slightly confused.
“It will be a level 1 area near the province village. We have found it disturbs the citizens when people just suddenly appear,” she clarified.
“How odd?” I wondered aloud. I supposed the game was just that advanced. “Anyway, I’m ready when you are.”
“Enjoy your adventure,” she said her parting word with a vibrant smile.
My eyes suddenly felt heavy closing on their own. Once they closed I felt a kind of rush of wind and everything felt so much different. At first, I could hear water rushing in the background, some kind of river and maybe a waterfall not too far off. A screech above told me there was a bird nearby. The gust of wind made the branches of the trees around me rattle and the leaves on the bushes rustle. The wind had a cold bite to it but not freezing. My eyes opened once more to see was indeed in a forest surrounded by tall pine trees and a smattering of bushes nearby, ripe with blackberries.
“Oh wow,” I couldn’t help the sigh of contentment and enjoyment. Everything felt so real, smelled so real, hurt so real.
Pwn Star69 Lvl 37 does 368-damage to you with a thrown pebble.
Pwn Star69 Lvl 37 has murdered you. You will be automatically transported and revived at the nearest graveyard.
Chapter 2
The line of explicative statements spewing from my mouth upon respawning is not something to be repeated for civilized ears. Let’s just say, my rant could have made the devil blush.
“Take it, easy kid, you’re going burst a blood vessel in your head if you keep ranting,” offered an old man I just realized was there to hear my little episode. I looked at him closer to see a player nameplate reading
“I was just PK’d, Benji. I’m not happy,” I stated as calmly as I could though I could easily feel the rage and wrath bubbling just below the surface. How could I have been player killed already? I had only just logged in to the World Tree.
“Pwn Star69?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “Did he get you too?” I felt slightly mollified knowing I wasn’t the only one.
“Yes, he did. No big deal. I just hope I didn’t have a big one on the line. That would be disappointing,” grumbled the old man.
It took me a second to puzzle out his statement. “Fishing?”
Old Benji nodded and grinned with a little grunt to it. “I used to go fishing with my dad when I was a young boy. But with the damages to the environment and the restrictions on such activities now I haven’t gotten to do it in more than 50 years. This world lets me fish to my heart’s content . . . except when a PK’er gets it in his head to boost his kill count with an easy target.”
“Has he killed you before?” I asked, feeling anger on behalf of the friendly old man, someone who just wanted to enjoy some fishing, but totally approved of in here. Fishing was basically illegal in the real world unless you knew someone with enough pull to get you a license. A lot of pull.
“Several times. Eventually, I’m sure he’ll hit his kill count number he needs to join whatever PK guild he’s trying to get into and he’ll leave the province behind. Still, with your death, that makes it his sixth kill of the day. He’ll be banned for the next 24 hours.”
“Banned? I don’t understand? I thought PK’ing was totally approved here?” Now I was truly confused. PvP is encouraged in the World Tree from what Maggie had said during my orientation and yet now the guy who just killed me got a 24-hour ban for killing another player.
“You must be new. PvP is encouraged. However, killing players more than 20 levels lower than you is highly discouraged. As such, after killing 6 players more than 20 levels below your own in a 24-hour period, results in a 24-hour game lockout.”
“Okay, but why would he keep killing low-level players if it gets him banned for a day?”
“He does it to inflate his kill count. In PvP, kill count matters, especially death to kill ratio. So, players will artificially inflate their kill count this way. It helps them get into PK guilds.”
At that moment, something in me kind of snapped . . . maybe broke is a better word for it. “I haven’t even been in the game for 5 minutes and this . . . PK’er killed me for the sake of an inflated kill count. I didn’t even get a chance to check my stats and this clown, one-shot my brand spanking new toon. I swear . . . I swear on whatever gods or goddesses might be listening, I will have retribution . . . no, I will have justice!”
Apparently, my vow was heard, as a rumble of thunder and a flash lightning in the perfectly clear sky symbolized . . . I suppose the system message appearing before me, was more compelling.
Attention: The Goddess Issara has heard your vow demanding justice.
A unique class has been offered to you by the Goddess Issara, goddess of Retribution and Justice
Warrior Priest of Issara - +20% to holy spell damage, -25% to holy spell healing
Do you accept this great honor?
Yes
No
I had to blink several times to understand what just happened. “Did that really just happen?”
“Did what happen?” asked Benji.
“You didn’t hear the thunder?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to share the details with the old man.
“No, no thunder,” he then paused to l
ook up at the bright clear sky. “Nope, no thunder. Not even a cloud in the sky, just you suddenly halting your vow of revenge to stare off into space,” he answered.
“Okay, then please ignore me. I’m having an off day.” Okay, so it probably wasn’t very convincing, but the old man didn’t seem concerned.
“Well, feel better young fella. So long as Pwn has hit his quota, I’m going back to fishing. Good luck on your revenge,” he offered with a tip of his fishing hat which he must have just equipped, he also now had a fishing rod and tackle box in hand.
Back to the more important matter at hand. A unique class. There were rumors on the forums about this kind of thing, but no one had ever confirmed them as true. There were stories of all kinds of things in the World Tree, but the most exciting were always about the unique classes and the amazing abilities they had. But once again, they were never confirmed as they were so coveted. If anyone had one, they would hide it. No matter what. And it wasn’t as if a person could see your class if they inspected you, only your gear could be inspected, and the level was displayed right next to your name, but you couldn’t ever see their specific stats or abilities which made it easier to hide. But still, I’m only level one and haven’t killed anyone or anything. But then again, I didn’t even have the chance to do anything before I was killed. Immediately following which I made a vow to the gods and goddesses.
It then occurred to me, there were probably several unique factors required to occur for this to happen. First, to be murdered or rather PK’d. Second, to vow to the gods I would get retribution or maybe justice . . . both? Third, and this was just a guess, the circumstance of the death had to be exactly correct, in my case, murdered with zero experience, murdered by someone more than 20 levels above me or maybe 30 levels above given Pwn Star was level 37. I’m not sure what other factors applied, but it was probably along those lines.
The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive Page 3