Myths Galore

{Would You like to retrieve your retrieve your reward now?} Y or N?

I chose 'Yes' as soon as it appeared. An interface with nine colored fishes the size of a.d.u.l.t Gold fish in a giant Fish bowl appeared in front of me. It asked me to catch any fish in 60 seconds. White, Black and Silver were pretty fast while Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow and Violet ones were relatively slower. I put my hand in the bowl and tried to catch one of the fast ones as they appeared to be better ranked skillbooks. But as time ticked by, I started getting anxious and abandoned my attempt to catch fast ones and settled for any one fish. Finally as clock began the countdown of last 10 seconds, I drew out Violet fish from the tank.

{Congratulations, You have obtained the skill Crippling Shot}

Crippling Shot (Active) - 15 MP

Cooldown: 20 seconds

~ Aiming at targets Vital points, does 60% damage.

~ 100% chance of slowing the target down for 10 seconds. 80% chance of stunning the target for 3 seconds.

Requirements: Intermediate Archery.

Skills were divided into Tier just like player levels. Some skills would grow with every Tier Player advanced. Such skills were very popular but finding them in market was impossible. There were also some hidden skills which could be learnt by only a limited amount of players. In some cases the limit was only one. They were placed in Tier other than Normal skills. It was called 'Game - changer' by players and Game designers.

Rajas was qualified to learn the Power Shot now. After learning it he noticed a change in description of skill in his skill window.

Power Shot (Active) - 10MP

Level 1 - Tier (0)

Cooldown- 30 seconds

~ Increases the range of the Archer for one shot by up to 5 meters.

~ If the target is within 5 meters of users does 150% damage with damage reducing 10% for every meter beyond 5.

This was first proper Archery skill he had learned. For every 1 meter increased range he had to let arrow charge for 0.2 seconds more. It was small price to pay. As he had finished all his tasks. He had decided to have lunch break before going to Elf Mir.

He went to cafeteria of VR center. Brocky was already there with few others from the hostel. Rajas realised that after travelling to Past he was preferring introverted lifestyle to the extent he didn't hang out with anyone. In the past time, even though he was not exactly a social butterfly, he was not wallflower either. He had his group of friends and he had a Girlfriend. That was testament to his social skills.

He decided to rectify this situation starting today. He placed his order for one meal and joined the group on table. As soon as Brocky saw him, he quickly made space for him to sit.

"This is mah mate, mah room Partner, Riggy"

I had never heard such abbreviation of this majestic name which meant king of the beasts.

" Hello I am Mrigendra"

I decided to introduce myself. Even though I liked Brocky, he often took liberties he should not take. So I had to stand up for myself. After a round of shake hands, I was familiar with the other two, Sean and Kel, on the table.

Sean and Kel were very enthusiastic about the Myths Glory. Sean planned to become a Priest. On the other hand Kel was more inclined towards the dark arts of Necromancy. I was happy that he was not ostracized by the two just because he was from opposing faction. Suddenly Sean's smart watch pinged.

"Hey did you see the forums? Shadows of Glory is planning to kill Elite Red Faced Ape of Red tree forest."

" Pinnacle Stone got some balls. Me like det"

" Do you think Earth's Mightiest will remain calm?"

" What can they do with so few players in Barbarian Village (6)?"

" Do ya know, Pinnacle stone is dyin'?"

" Who told you?"

" I heard he took some tonics to enhance his body and reaction speed. They worked but they come with heavy price of degenerating nerve cells."

" Well he was a legend! His chain of in game trading company had made him ric.h.e.s.t man but one after another all of his elites died, Fire Dance, Violet Aqua... "

" How can y'all forget Coca-Cola. Was mah idol"

And so on the chatting continued.

Shadows of Glory was not a super guild but it had upset Super guild Earth's Mightiest on quite a few occasions. Guild leader of Shadows of Glory was a guy named 'Pinnacle Stone' who was Sword Master in every game he played. He gained his fame in God's Domain VR game. But sadly his life was nearing end at a young age of 37. All because he drank some fluids which were said to enhance body.

Anyways these guys were making waves again. After the party wipe faced by Night's Lovers which had 30 level 5 players, no party had attempted to kill the elite again.

We had finished our lunch while having the discussion about the Shadows of Glory.

I entered the game once again after topping up my account for another 4 hours. This time he was ready to complete the quest given by Mir and become an elf. With Players levels advancing faster than expected it was imperative he catch up. Hearing about the chain of trading companies had given him an idea.

He soon reached Mir's tree house. Unlike other times the door was opened and Mir was relaxed. His dark chocolate hair cascaded down his shoulders. His snow white robe was sequined by his hair. The serenity he exuded was capable of calming even the wildest beast. Embroidered on the collars of robe was a purple lily bordered with gold. This was completely different than the haggard and rude version of Mir Rajas had came to know.

When Rajas saw the purple lily on the robe of Mir, he had a light bulb moment. As soon as he entered he bowed with courtesy.

"Greetings Your Highness, Mir."

Mir who was sitting on the bed with utmost calm was startled.

" It seems you have learned to read the language of nature."

Smiling Mir got up from the bed. He snapped his fingers and Rajas felt the change in his body. He received series of system notifications.

{You have received Elven kingdom glory +3}

{You are eligible to become Elf}

{Congratulations! You have successfully joined Elven Kingdom.}

{You have received Blessings of Nature.} {Wisdom +5}

{You have unlocked racial traits.}

Please choose two of the below:

1. Natural Affinity

Increases success rate of capturing pets. Effectiveness of Herbs is increased.

2. Wilderness Wanderer

Increased movement speed in forest types of terrains. Increased vision range.

3. Elemental Affinity

Reduces cast time and mana consumption for elemental spells. Can bind with elemental Spirit.

4. Sensitivity

With heightened senses elves are able to sense any movements in their surroundings.

5. Everlasting Vitality

Healing effects are more effective on you. Whenever health is critical, recovery rate is two times the normal.

6. Aura of Dragon

Enemies are intimidated. Melee combatants cannot display their full power against you.

I decided to choose at later time.

{You have unlocked Hidden Stat Dexterity.}

Rajas didn't dare move in presence of highly intelligent NPC like Mir. After gaining the Elven features he immediately bowed again, this time a full 90° bow.

" I thank your highness for granting me the blessings of the nature."

Mir waved away my formalities with a wave of hand. He returned to his seat and regained his haughty composure. With imperious tone he asked me about the quest he had issued.

"Did you bring a jar of water from the Purification Pond?"

" Yes, Your Highness"

And I gave him the 20 bottles of Holy Spirit water. He took one of the bottles emptied it in his left palm. After swirling around the 5 drops in his palms he appeared some what disappointed.

" This water is barely satisfactory "

And he shook his hand letting the water drops fall on tree house floor. They were quickly absorbed into the tree and the yellow leaves of tree fell and were replaced by green shoots.

I still had not received any quest completed message from system. So I decided to ask HippyAinCreepy if there were any higher quality Holy Spirit Water bottles.

As soon as I messaged him, he replied instantly. There was a bottle of Holy Spirit Water that was sold for 20 silver. I s.u.c.k.e.d in a cold breath. So expensive! But for sake of my quest I asked him to buy it and transferred him the money.

The mailing system had just started half an hour ago. Prerequisite for it was a quest for auction house opening. Some Player named "HappyGoLucky" had completed it and he even had received system announcement with generous reward of 50 silver. Later when we checked forums during lunch, there was uproar over new Stat appearing in his Stat window, Charisma which was very useful in earning reputation as well as familiarity with NPCs.

I received the mail order from HippyAinCreepy which contained the best quality Holy Spirit Water bottle. I presented it to Mir. As soon as he opened it I could see stars light up in his eyes.

"This... just 5 drops of this are enough to complete the purification ceremony"

Mir said with delight. And that was when Rajas heard the sweet chime of system.

{You have completed quest Mir's Request}

{Familiarity with Mir +20}

{You have gained 300 EXP}

The Familiarity might seem like useless attribute at the moment but I now had familiarity with one of the Elven Royalties. If I decided to get any sort of business in Elven kingdom, this would be my ticket to making it fly.

After completion of quest I still didn't know what Purification ceremony was and what purpose it served but I could guess it was related to Night Lily Pendant. After seeing I couldn't get any response from Mir, I decided to grind my levels to quickly reach the level 10 and advance to Ranger.

~~~~~

Rajas once again reached the Dirt lands of Death. He wondered why they were named as such when all the creatures found here were living beings such as Gnolls and some others like occasional coyote or giant earthworms.

Coyote were lucky charm monsters which would have a chance to drop lucky charms. These lucky charms were one time consumables which could increase any one of your Stat by 1 to 5 or just give you 'Lucky' buff lasting for 1 hour to 24 hours. 'Lucky' inversed the drop rates. If there was 1% chance of skillbook dropping from a monster and 99% chance for Animal hide to drop, it would be inversed to 99% drop rate for skillbook and 1% drop for animal hide. Anyways I had to yet see one Coyote.

I soon reached the spot I had scouted earlier. The 3 stone formation. The three players from before were nowhere to be seen. So I took my spot and settled myself. Then I took an aim and pulled the string as far as possible which was preparatory action for Power shot.

*Souuu*

The Arrow had found the densest spot of Gnolls which consisted of 4 Gnoll scouts, 2 Gnoll Marauders and 1 Gnoll Hunter. It hit one of the Gnoll Marauders near his ear enraging him.

- 17

As the distance was about 12 meters, only 80% damage was done. But it fulfilled the purpose of attracting aggro of the whole group. They came charging towards me leaving behind the trails of sand which obscured my vision of monsters behind the first two, a Gnoll scout and a Gnoll Marauder that I had hit. I rapidly fired arrows taking down the Gnoll Marauder. It took me about 15 arrows to bring him down. Next was the Gnoll Hunter which could pose significant threat if it was allowed to approach my hiding spot. I managed to land 4 critical hits and hence it took me just 11 arrows to take down the Gnoll Hunter. Next was the left over Gnoll Marauder. He was very close so aiming had become much more easier. I once again prepared Power Shot. With distance between us decreasing to less than 5 meters it was going to do 150% of damage.

*Souuu*

- 67 (Crit)

The Arrow hit him in the eye. Too bad my Arrows didn't have triangular blades in frontend or with a Power Shot, I could have beheaded him.

As the Gnoll Marauder fell, Gnoll Scouts were in front of me. I managed to get one of them down with lethal strike piercing and destroying his heart, while the other one took some time. When I finally managed to kill him, I realised one of the Gnoll scouts was missing. I quickly equipped Shadow Claws and turned around to find the Gnoll scout who sneaked up on me. Another minute and only one of the Gnoll Scouts was left so I went outside and made a quick work of him.

After reviewing the battle I realised that killing with Shadow Claws was much faster only because of Counter which let my damage skyrocket. If I could get accustomed to using Bow and aiming only at Vital points I will be able to kill monster much faster too and that to without wasting my arrows. Also having a few skills in your quiver didn't hurt.

After the harsh battle it was time to retrieve arrows and collect loot. Of the hundred arrows in my quiver, Rajas had used 87 of them. So it was actually not bad condition but it could be improved much more. 78 coppers, 1 wrist guard and a quiver with 2 broken arrows was the harvest. One could wear two quivers after becoming an Archer so it was good that Rajas had got a backup Quiver prepared. Rajas checked the item description.

Gnoll's Wristguards [White]

Pdef - 1

[What description do you want?]

Grumpy Uncle strikes again! Rajas barely stopped himself from laughing out aloud. He checked the quiver next.

Hunter's Quiver [Iron]

Arrow Capacity + 20

[Quiver used by Gnoll Hunters]

_This one seems fairly normal._

After he put them away Rajas noticed his notification bar was still flashing. Wondering what he missed, he pulled open the notification bar. In the various notifications of damage done and received as well that of gaining experience points, he noticed there was one asking him to complete his race transformation after every time he gained experience points. After the death of second Gnoll scout his experience bar had capped at 8000 points and he was being asked to complete Race transformation.

_Shit! I forgot to pick Racial Traits_

He once again opened the Racial traits page.

Even though the descriptions were vague and ambiguously unclear, it was impossible to deny each one of them was useful. Rajas had decided on Natural Affinity as soon as he saw it. He was undecided about what should be his second trait. Wilderness Wanderer was limited to grassy and forest terrain. Elemental Affinity was useless to him who had decided to become Ranger. As for Sensitivity it would be useful in detecting stealth classes in surroundings. Everlasting Vitality was also good option which would let him recover his health in pinch. Aura of Dragon was best for those aspiring to be Dragon knights. Still confused he decided to check forum and get some dinner before choosing any racial trait.