Man Made God 002
Page 22
Light Arrow: Infuses the power of light into arrow
Deals 400% damage to undead and enemies with an affinity for the darkness element
Nature Arrow: Infuses the power of nature into an arrow
When an enemy is struck, vines will sprout from the arrow and entrap the enemy for 60 seconds
The Fairy Archer Class wasn’t as good as his Seven Forms Spearman class, but it was still a lot better than Susan’s current Archer class. After thinking about it for a moment, he grabbed the scroll and returned to Bromley Paxton.
“You found what you want?” The mayor looked at the scroll in Adam’s hand and furrowed his brow. “A class change scroll, huh? Those are quite rare. This is the only one I have ever seen. However, none of us can change into this class, though a few have tried. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“I’m sure,” Adam said.
“Then you should now return to your companions,” Bromley Paxton said.
They left the vault and Adam parted ways with Solum’s mayor. His companions were waiting by the gate outside. Susan was playing with Kureha, while Fayte watched on, her eyes gentle and tender like she was watching over her younger sister. Lilith stared enviously at Susan like she wanted to be in the girl’s place. Titania was just fluttering around. She was also the first to notice him.
“Did you find something beneficial in the mayor’s vault?” she asked.
“I did.” Adam nodded. “However, let’s not talk about it here. I think we should find an inn or some place where no one can potentially overhear us.”
Everyone except Lilith seemed a little confused about why he’d be worried about people overhearing them, but no one argued and they eventually found an inn. It was a simple inn called the Blooming Peony.
In keeping with the fantasy setting, the three-story building had a tavern when people first entered. It was already pretty rowdy by the time they arrived. Adam immediately picked up the smell of alcohol just after entering. Susan covered her nose when she also caught the scent, and while it was impossible to know what sort of expression Fayte was making behind that veil, it could not have been pleasant. She was staring daggers at some of the men and women laughing as booze sloshed around in their mugs.
“I feel like the creator went a little overboard when they were trying to mimic the classic settings of a fantasy world,” Adam said.
“You’re telling me,” Fayte muttered.
Titania crossed her arms and glared at them. “Just what do you mean by ‘fantasy world?’”
Neither of them knew how to answer the woman. How could they tell an NPC that all of this—her, this tavern, and everything else—was just a game?
It wasn’t just NPCs who were sitting down to enjoy a drink. Adam caught several other players who were sharing a round of drinks with each other. It was easy to tell players from non-players because a basic screen didn’t pop up over the players. Only using a skill like [scan] allowed people to see a player’s stats.
He had once heard that VRMMOs were used by some people as a form of escape from the daily struggles of real life. Some people didn’t come into the virtual world for money, but to live out a fantasy life, the kind they could never find in their ordinary, average, everyday lives. However, this was his first time seeing examples of that type of player.
Perhaps it was because of the company he was keeping, but a lot of people were looking his way and talking. They were quite loud.
“Hey, check it out. Don’t you think that group looks like one of those harem parties?”
“I’ve heard of those! It’s a party that consists of nearly all women and just one guy, right?”
“Yeah. I heard they’re rare, but some players who play VR games will bring their harems into the game.”
“Lucky sonofabitch. I wish I had my own harem to play with.”
Adam sighed and did his best to ignore the gossiping people as he walked to the counter near the back of the bar. Fayte, Susan, and Lilith followed close behind him. Kureha was in Susan’s arms right now instead of on his head, while Titania had once more perched herself on his shoulder.
“I’d like to rent a room for the night,” Adam said to the barman.
The old barman set the mug he’d been cleaning on the counter and turned to him, pressing his hands flat against the counter. His face reminded Adam of a road map. It was covered in crisscrossing scars that lent him a frightening appearance.
“A single room for one night is 50 gold coins.”
Adam didn’t bother trying to barter with the man, handing him 50 gold coins in exchange for a key and gesturing for his party to follow him.
The room he rented was surprisingly nice. It contained four beds, though all of them were relatively small. There was also a table and a nightstand. An oil lamp sat off to the side, providing a gentle illumination that complimented the evening sunset.
Adam sat down on one of the beds while Fayte, Susan, and Lilith took the other three. Kureha and Titania climbed onto his bed. While Kureha curled up on his lap, Titania sat with her legs dangling over the edge, kicking them back and forth like a bored child.
“Do you mind if I ask what you retrieved from the mayor’s vault now?” asked Fayte, finally unable to contain her curiosity.
“I got this.” Adam pulled out a scroll from his item pouch. “Su, catch.”
“What—ah!”
Startled when Adam tossed the scroll, Susan fumbled for several seconds before reaching out her hand to catch it. The others remained silent as they looked curiously at the scroll in her hands. None of them could read it since the item was currently being held by someone. Only Susan could read it right now, and her eyes went wide.
“This is…!”
“Do you remember when we talked about hidden classes?” Adam asked. “It’s one of the few ways to gain higher stats per level. When I saw this, I knew it was something I needed to get for you.”
The words “hidden class” rang out like a gunshot. Fayte, Lilith, and even Titania looked like they had been struck dumb.
“You got this… for me?” Susan looked up from the scroll to him. Her eyes were wide. “Why?”
“What do you mean? We’re companions, aren’t we? You needed one, so I got one for you.” Adam shrugged as if that was answer enough.
Susan’s lips trembled. She looked ten seconds away from crying. Adam almost had a panic attack when he saw the tears in her eyes, but then Susan wiped her eyes before the tears could fall and smiled at him.
“Thank you very much,” she said, voice overcome with emotion.
“You’re welcome.” Adam found himself smiling as well. What a cute girl. She really did bring out a man’s protective instincts. “Anyway, you should activate that scroll to gain your new class. All you have to do is unfurl it.”
Susan nodded once before doing just as he instructed. The scroll released a flash of light when she unfurled it. Susan gasped as the light emitting from the scroll engulfed her body, covering it from head to toe in light particles that completely blocked her from view. When the light died down, everyone looked at Susan, but they didn’t see anything different. There were no changes—physically, at least.
“Well?” asked Fayte. “How do you feel? Any different?”
“Um… I do feel a little different,” Susan admitted after a moment. “I’m not really sure how to explain it, but… it’s like I suddenly feel more energetic? Lighter? Something like that, I guess.”
“That is the effects of your class change,” Titania informed her. “You don’t realize how much strength you are gaining when you level up because the increase happens in small increments, but a class change generally has some big changes. The Fairy Archer Class you just changed into is a great example. Fairy classes bring about some of the most significant status changes as well, so you feel the difference more readily.”
“So that’s how it is,” Susan muttered.
Everyone was amazed by this new information. Even Adam was a little shocked. He ha
d of course experienced the unusual phenomena that was the increase in energy and power after gaining the Seven Forms Spearman Class. However, he had brushed it off as just an in-game effect. Now it seemed like there might be even more to these classes than he realized.
Just because he was curious, Adam decided to check out Susan’s new stats.
Name: Little_Su
Class: Fairy Archer
Lvl: 12
SP: 0
AP: 30,150
Experience: 199,460/307,200
Reputation: +20,000
Strength: +25
Constitution: +25
Dexterity: +20
Intelligence: +5
Speed: +50
Physical Attack: +145
Health: 320/320
Hit-Rate: 400%
MP: 60/60
Movement: +200
Skills:
kill Name: Deadeye
escription: Archers can increase their hit-rate and critical hit-rate by increasing their perceptions through the Deadeye skill.
Current lvl: 5 MAXED
Ability: Increases Hit-rate to 110%
Deals x2 critical damage
MP Cost: 5
Cooldown time: 5 seconds
Skill Name: Rain of Arrows
Description: Archers who learn this skill can fire a hailstorm of arrows that deals damage to multiple enemies.
Current lvl: 5 MAXED
Ability: Causes 150% damage to all enemies within 15 yards of targeted enemy
MP Cost: 5
Cooldown time: 10 second
Skill Name: Fairy Shot
Description: A skill that can only be used by someone of the Fairy Archer Class. Increases accuracy and damage dealt by arrows.
Current lvl: 1
AP needed to reach next lvl: 2,000
Ability: Increases accuracy by 50%. If enemy is hit, x2 critical damage is dealt
MP Cost: 10
Cooldown time: 10 seconds
Skill Name: Light Arrow
Description: A skill used by the Fairy Archer Class. Infuses arrow with the power of light.
Current lvl: 1
AP needed to reach next lvl: 2,000
Ability: Deals 400% damage to undead and enemies of the darkness element
MP Cost: 20
Cooldown time: 10 seconds
Skill Name: Nature Arrow
Description: A skill used by someone with the Fairy Archer Class. Infuses the power of nature into the arrow.
Current lvl: 1
AP needed to reach next lvl: 2,000
Ability: When an enemy is struck by a Nature Arrow, they become entrapped in vines for 60 seconds
MP Cost: 30
Cooldown time: 10 seconds
While her abilities were not the most impressive he had seen, they were a lot better than they had been, and now that she had a better class, her stats would only increase from here.
It was evening now. The sky was growing dark in the Forgotten Realm, which was synchronized to match the time in the real world. Everyone agreed to log off and meet back up tomorrow morning at 8am.
When Adam logged off and wandered into the living room, he found Fayte coming out of the other hallway that led to her bedroom at about the same time. She smiled at him and gestured toward the video game console sitting by the television.
“Loser makes dinner?” she asked.
He grinned. “You’re on.”
Adam turned on the television and console as Fayte sat on the couch. He handed her a controller, then sat down beside her as the startup screen for Street King VII appeared before them. Both of them selected the characters they wanted to battle with, then selected the random battlefield setting so neither of them had an advantage over the other.
“Thank you for getting that hidden class for Su,” Fayte said as the game began.
“Why are you thanking me?” asked Adam. “I didn’t really do anything that amazing, and having someone with a better class will benefit us in the long run. I’m just doing what’s expected of me.”
“That may be so, but I appreciate what you did, and I know Su does too. You don’t know this, but she was very nervous about meeting you for the first time.”
“Is that so?”
“It is so.”
“Hmmm…”
Adam tapped several buttons on his controller, manipulating his character into attacking Fayte’s with a powerful combination that knocked down nearly a third of her health. Fayte wore a grim yet determined expression as she countered him with a combination of her own. Her character shot forward and spun like a drill, slamming into Adam’s character and removing about a fourth of his health.
“Well, I guess I kind of expected that,” he said at last. “She’s such a meek girl.”
“She is at that,” Fayte agreed. “I have tried for a long time to help her become more outspoken, but nothing I’ve done has ever worked. I’m honestly getting worried. If she keeps going on like this, she’ll wind up—”
Adam glanced at Fayte out of the corner of his eye. The woman was not looking at him and focusing instead on the game, but her lips were now drawn into a thin line. She looked like she was berating herself over something.
“I’m guessing you just said something you shouldn’t have,” Adam guessed.
Fayte sighed. “Something like that. Please forget I said anything.”
“If that is what you want.”
“Thank you.”
The game continued and Adam won the first round. He also started off strong in the second round, but at the very end, Fayte pulled off a startling victory by trapping him within a combination attack that he couldn’t guard against. In their last round, he and Fayte did not speak at all but instead focused entirely on their characters.
Adam thought about Susan during his small competition with Fayte, wondering what her circumstances were. Should he ask Astaroth to look into it? He considered the idea before deciding not to. It would not be appropriate to butt into someone else’s business. He and Susan weren’t very close either, so he was sure she would not appreciate him sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong.
“Ah… I won,” Fayte murmured as her character struck a victory pose on the screen. She seemed shocked, but it only lasted for a moment before her eyes began sparkling. “I won! I finally won!”
“Looks like it,” Adam agreed calmly.
She sent him a suspicious glance. “You didn’t let me win, did you?”
Adam had learned through constant exposure to her that Fayte was a sore loser. A very sore loser. Every time she lost made her that much more determined to win the next time. At the same time, she hated it when someone gave her a victory because she felt like they were being condescending to her. What Fayte enjoyed the most about competitions was winning on her own merit and skills.
“Do I seem like the kind of guy who would go easy on someone?” asked Adam.
“I guess not.” Fayte furrowed her brow, then relaxed her expression, the wrinkles on her skin disappearing as a beautiful smile like the blooming of a rose appeared on her face. “Sorry. I guess I’m just shocked. I never expected to beat you.”
“Well, you have, which means it is my turn to make dinner tonight.”
“I can’t wait to eat your cooking.”
Adam smiled wryly as he stood up and made his way into the kitchen. He checked the fridge and pantry to see what kind of ingredients he had to work with.
He ended up making buffalo chicken quesadillas.
Journey to Suncrest Mountain
“GRAAAAAA!!”
The howl of the [chimera] was bone-chilling—or that was how Adam imagined it was supposed to sound. It was low and deep, a vicious growl laced with blood lust.
Unfortunately, its terrifyingness was lost on Adam.
[Chimeras] were horrific abominations. They walked around on four multi-jointed limbs, were covered in bright yellow and red fur, and possessed the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and th
e horns of an ox. It looked like an amalgamation of various creatures combined together with little thought or reasoning. In all his years, he had never seen anything quite like it.
Even Lucifer wouldn’t make something that hideous.
Because its limbs had multiple joints, it had an awkward way of moving that made it look lopsided, but it was still incredibly fast and even more agile. According to Titania’s [scan], the [chimera] had a level of 20, with a Speed stat of +200 and +150 Strength. Adam’s Speed right now was only +50. That went to show him how much faster this enemy was than him.
Of course, for as powerful and fast as this enemy was, its movements were far too predictable for it to hit him.
“Kureha!” Adam called out as he leapt backward.
With a yip, the little fox yokai standing several yards behind him raised her second tail. Blue arcs of lightning erupted from the tail, agglomerated into a sphere, and flashed forward in a powerful bolt that rent the air. The [Thunder Bolt] slammed into the chest of the [chimera], which howled in pain as a large damage sign appeared above it.
-7,524!
The [chimera] had +30,000 health, and Kureha’s attack had just taken away almost a third of that. Adam had already whittled away most of its health using [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms]. He only managed to hit it once, but thanks to [Blood Sacrifice] and [Song of Vigor], the amount of damage he did per attack was pretty ridiculous. Honestly, if he hadn’t missed with his second attack, he would have one-shot killed this ugly creature.
With the last of its health sapped away, the [chimera] let out a pitiful howl before falling onto its stomach and going still.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have killed 6 [chimera]! Items dropped: x4 [Chimera Core], [Jade Ring], and 6,600 gold coins! +15,000 experience points!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! Kureha has leveled up! She is now at level 14! +200 HP! +1,800 MP! +10 SP!]
Adam couldn’t stop the smile from rising to his face as he finally saw the familiar announcement. He had been grinding levels for several hours now, killing [chimera] and [diamond serpents] in the forests just outside of Solum. It had taken a lot of effort, far more than he would have liked, but one of his companions had finally leveled up.