End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2), John Gold [ebook reader online txt] 📗

“Nope. The people here are fine, just coming here to escape hard lives elsewhere. It’s only the PKers that kill everyone.”

“Do you know where Zirda is?”

“Yep.”

“Show me on my map.”

The marauder pointed out exactly where the city was. Time to let him go? No, I need more questions answered.

“How did you do so much damage? I took a whole 13000!”

“You’re wearing cloth armor, kid. I do piercing damage, and I have a class skill for strikes in the back. There’s your 13000. How did you survive it?”

Clever guy!

“Because I knew someone was going to attack me. I could sense you. What’s your name?”

“Ritor.”

Ritor, Level 39

Doing that kind of damage at this level isn’t bad at all.

“What are you doing out here, so far from the roads to No Man’s Land?”

“Kid, in these parts, everyone hunts each other. Nobody’s neutral. You only have friends and enemies. I’m sitting out here in the middle of nowhere because it’s the only place anyone will let me hunt. In the week I’ve been here, you’re the first person to come in from the sea.”

“Brutal. What’s the maximum damage a marauder or assassin can do?”

“How should I know? With buffs and potions, my max is 50000. I’m no pro, but I can hit you pretty good. Okay, just let me go.”

“There are pros? What’s the difference between them and normal marauders?”

“Oh, please, why don’t you just kill me? Let me go back to the respawn in peace.”

“You’ll go back if you don’t answer my questions.”

“You know what? Screw you…”

I don’t want to make a noise, so I have to stun him before finishing him off. He could have written anyone in chat, after all. Then, I pick up the modest loot and run off in the direction of Zirda, stealth mode activated.

So, I learned a few things. First, players can do a lot of damage if they’re well-prepared or specialize in short battles. Second, there are professional killers who, the marauder said, can do even more damage. I’m better off staying away from them and sticking to stealth mode.

I lost two days thanks to the move to the new orphanage. Because of that, I have to hurry and find Zirda before the trial starts.

Over the five days it takes me to traverse No Man’s Land, I realize how naïve I used to be. My shield keeps me pretty safe from general attacks, but I only ignore part of the damage if it’s concentrated on a specific point. Each of those different points reacts differently, though the soft spots on my body are the ones that take the most damage by far. My skull and ribcage, for example, stand up well against chopping and clubbing attacks. On the other hand, they have a hard time with piercing attacks. It’s the same everywhere. Besides that, there are vulnerable spots where daggers and other sharp objects do double the damage. The marauder hit one of them. My current resistance to physical damage blocks 80000. That means that I was able to survive a piercing attack to my kidneys, a weak point with low resistance that gives opponents that double damage. That’s actually a big reason why most players don’t pay attention to “nonsense” like boosting their resistance. It takes incredible resistance to be able not to worry about piercing attacks at all. Also, there are some swords that scorch or do electric damage, and you really have to be careful around those. I need to boost my shield or find another solution to the problem.

I’m learning so much. For instance, stealth is half as effective as invisibility, so it only takes 125 perception for people to discover me. Thieves, marauders, and assassins all have a class ability for silent walking. Happily, that doesn’t save them from imp eye. When people talk with me and I tell them my name, they see a red bar that tells them I attacked another player first and killed them, although, in actual fact, I’ve only ever killed people who were following me. I don’t touch anyone else.

Running around in my death costume is a ton of fun. When I catch players, they give up quickly and tell me what I need to know. I find out everything there is to know about the villages and what’s going on in them.

“Why are there so many people from the west here? Just today, a good twenty of them tried to attack me.”

“There’s an undead invasion there! The other side is sending their troops on from the other side of the continent, and they’ll be here tomorrow.”

“What invasion? When did it start?”

“A week ago. What, you didn’t see the global notification?”

“Sorry, my friend, you get other messages in purgatory. Want to find out what they are? I have a one-way ticket with your name on it.”

“No, thanks. Why don’t you just let me go? I told you everything you wanted to know.”

Just then, two more creep up behind me. My imp eye tells me where they are, and two dwarf hammers come pounding down on them. The two powerful spells, created with five streams of consciousness each, shatter the bodies of the marauders and bury them in the ground.

“It looks like your friends are going to keep you company down there.” I don’t even move. Killing two marauders without even twitching creates a strong impression.

“N-no… I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“Tell me about the undead invasion.” My boney, childish hands touch the marauder.

“A week ago, there was a global notification, and the small pantheon started pulling all their believers into the cities. The same thing happened here.”

It turns out that high-level undead are about to fill No Man’s Land.

“What level are they?”

“All different kinds, from little Level 700s to even Level 1000s. I saw