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Chapter 3: Araphel of the First Heaven
Yi Mu finds himself in a town and it is buzzing with excitement from thousands of people!
This town is insanely large!
Correction. It looks more like a large city with a medieval feel.
He knows instantly that they are real players because they are all looking so lost and are questioning the other players excitingly on their classes and skills!
All of a sudden he notices that the surrounding players are gossiping about him!
“Look at him, he must be a rookie player! He is using the default avatar look even though there are hundreds of combinations!”
“His name is Yi Mu. What a noob name!”
Yi Mu smiles weakly when his name is mentioned. It is because he has suddenly noticed that all the players that are around him have fanciful names like Fairy Sword, Little Chili, Black Musketeer, Lovely Doll etc.
He sighs softly, “This is so embarrassing.”
But he is soon composed again. It is because he has noticed that almost everyone is now taking out their basic weapons and playing with it!
Therefore he tries to ignore the unnecessary comments and begins to experiment with the basic weapons in his inventory.
There are several basic weapons that he has shown interest on as he says, “Let me see.”
Offensive Arms
Long Sword +5 Attack
Two handed Sword +12 Attack, Speed -2
Mace +4 Attack, +2 Speed
Magic Sword +4 Attack, +3 Magic Attack
Defensive Arms
Wooden Shield +1% Block
He equips the long sword and the wood shield and says, “Oh well, I think this will be sufficient for now. Cross fingers.”
All of a sudden he notices an accessories panel and tap on it, “Hmm, what is this?”
And inside is a mirror.
He is a little startled, “Hmm, a mirror accessory? And the name is the Heavens Sundering Mirror. Interesting. Oh heavens, it is a purple color accessory and not a gray equipment!”
He taps eagerly on it for more information.
The description reads: An immortal artefact that hails from the Great Beyond. Artefact of the Arhat Immortals. The last owner is said to be the Goddess of Mercy, a Sixth Positioning Immortal. Sunders everything under the heavens, destroying evil with the inner light of the mirror.
Tier: Legendary
Stats: +10% Magic Block, +50% Magic Damage. +250 MP
Effect 1: Chance to reflect magic attacks.
Yi Mu is startled and is stupefied!
+50% Magic Damage!
+250 MP!
What kind of the boost this is! It is insanely good!
But he is soon making soft sighs, “Unfortunately I am not such a great magic user according to my stats or else surely I will be the greatest magic user around.”
But his eyes are already glowing as he says dreamily to himself, “But this chance to reflect is really something! In most RPGs, this is a terrifying ability! But why do I have it? Is it a gift from the Goddess Xiang? Or is a random system gift for playing? If so then most of my opponents will have something unique and I must exercise extreme cautious when I am doing PVP. What are the rules for PVP? Will I drop my stuff?”
But he quickly put that thought aside as he equipped the Heavens Sundering Mirror after finding the accessory slots. “Interesting. So we have four accessory slots. It is twice the number in most RPGs.”
He realized that he has to get to know the rules of the game quickly. It is because many of the players that play the Immortal Realm Online are some of the best players around and they are probably picking up hints and information.
The most pressing thing that he has in mind is his choice of skills; what skills should he advance first to gain the best advantage?
He has 912 MP now versus his 853 HP. It will be a pity not to make full use of his large magic capacity.
With that in mind, he presses his skill tab again.
This time he is surprised to find out that he has actually unlocked two additional skills, Weapon Amplifier and Rippling Life Force Weaponry.
An arrow is pointing down from the Mana Weaponry that he has learnt earlier and it has unlocked the skill <Weapon Amplifier> that is on the left side and it has also unlocked the skill <Rippling Life Force Weaponry>. At the same time, the skill <Armor Amplifier> has an arrow that is pointing down to the skill <Rippling Life Force Weaponry> as well.
He checks his skills again as he ponders, “I have three tier one skills in my Arms Synergy. Mana Weaponry, Amplify Armor and Shield Mastery. I have another three tier two skills, Weapon Amplifier, Rippling Life Force Weapon and a secret skill that can be unlock if I am able to learn Rippling Life Force Weapon and Weapon Mastery.”
Next he taps on Rippling Life Force Weapon, “This skill looks like a powerful skill. I should learn this…”
But no longer has he taps on the skill, a system notification pops up <Require Level 10>.
He sighs softly, “The skill description is not even showing up on my skill panel. How the heck do I know if this skill is good or bad?”
He takes a look at his level 1 Mana Weaponry again and notices that it has a Magic symbol on it. Checking Rippling Life Force Weapon, he notices it has the Tech symbol on it. He mutters, “So one is a magic skill while the other is a technical skill.”
Looking at the Mana Weaponry, he noted. “Alas, I have 6 skill points left. This skill seems so tempting. It may be my newbie skill but it will be a skill that I will use for a long time. The skill has only 10 MP and my MP is 912, so I am able to use it 91 times. Anyway, the CD is 10, so I probably won’t be able to exhaust my MP so quickly and it will be good for farming later. Should I save my precious 6 skill points or should I level my Mana Weaponry?”
With an itchy finger, he suddenly presses the level skill menu and the system pops up <Mana Weaponry Level 2!!!>
He whistles coolly, “Oh well, it is too late for regrets now. Let me check the skill status now.”
Mana Weaponry Level 2
130% Damage Boost. +2 Critical. (Up 30% Damage, 1 Critical)
Min Damage: 11
Max Damage 16
MP: 13
CT: 1
CD: 10
Taking a careful look, he grumbles, “Crap, the MP cost goes up by 3 to 13. Never mind, I got plenty of MP anyway. I guess I will go for the extra damage boost.”
Being a careful player, he begins to examine his skills again as he begins to experiment with the various menus.
All of a sudden his eyes are beaming when he notices that the level requirement for the Rippling Life Force Weapon has dropped by 2 to level 8!
He has a conclusion quickly, “So learning a related skill can lower the next related tier by 2.”
But he needs to prove if his theory is right. So he decides to level up his Mana Weaponry again.
Mana Weaponry Level 3
160% Damage Boost. +2 Critical. (Up 30% Damage, 1 Critical)
Min Damage: 14
Max Damage 17
MP: 16
CT: 1
CD: 9 (From 10)
Skill Points Remaining: 4
The MP cost goes up by another 3 to 16 but the skill cooldown lowers down from 10 to 9!
He is beginning to understand the skill mechanic now as he thinks to himself, “While the MP Cost may increase, the CD may also decrease. So it can actually be worthwhile to pump up a skill level. What about the level requirement for Rippling Life Force Weapon now? Has it been lowered?”
As he taps on the Rippling Life Force Weapon, there is a lit in his eyes. Indeed, the level requirement has been lowered by another 2 to level 6!
He is now level 2 and he needs to pump his Mana Weaponry to level 5 in order to learn Rippling Life Force Weapon.
That is something he decides to do even though he knows that leveling to level 10 should be an easy thing to do. That is because this is going to be his strategy!
He has to see the skills that are beyond the Rippling Life Force Weapon in order to strategize even better!
Mana Weaponry Level 5
220% Damage Boost. +5 Critical.
Min Damage: 18
Max Damage 22
MP: 22
CT: 1
CD: 8
Skill Points Remaining: 2
Looking pleased, he comments to himself. “I will be able to use Mana Weaponry 41 times. Not bad at all.”
But that is not his real purpose.
He checks the Rippling Life Force Weapon next and is excited that it is now unlocked!
Without much ado, he taps to learn the skill!
System Notification <Learnt Rippling Life Force Weapon!>
He laughs to himself, “I must be the server first to learn this skill. Let me check how strong it is!”
Rippling Life Force Weapon (AoE)
Description: Charge the weapon with life force energy and when it hits, it impacts and hits the target as well as the surrounding targets (3m radius)
10% Damage Boost. +1 Critical.
Min Damage: 7
Max Damage 8
MP: 50
CT: 1
CD: 10
Skill Points Remaining: 1
He stares at the panels and almost faints from shock, “50 MP Cost?!! 10%$ Damage Boost only and my damage with it is only 7 to 8. This is crazy even if it is an AoE skill…”
He smiles weakly and with a soft sigh, he taps on the panel again for more skill info.
Level 2 of the Rippling Life Force Weapon requires him to reach a player level of 12.
He has unlocked tier 2 of the last secret skill, Weapon Mastery with the Rippling Life Force Weapon.
At the same time, he has unlocked two tier 3 skills, Weapon Attune and Finishing Touch. Both at which requires level 20.
He has one skill point left and feeling a little cheated by the system!
He muses, “Turn up that my initial skill is more powerful than my new tier 2 skill. I am too stunned for words…I’ll better scrap this character and restart again…”
And it seems that he is not the only one that has learnt the wrong skills as multiple murmurs are heard exclaiming aloud, “Oh craps! I have learnt the wrong skills!”
“Me too!”
“Holy! Same here!”
“I am screwed!”
“For real! Same here!”
All of a sudden there is a world announcement:
<Please read the display guide book for the world information and basic menu>
<In 30 minute time, your real adventures will start. So be prepared and get familiar with yourself. You are encouraged to interact with the other players. Note that there is no friend list here and it is important for you to interact socially!”
Immediately all the players start to finger with their self-visible panels excitingly!
Many of the players are also muttering with anxiety, “Oh crap. I am always been an introvert. Mixing with real people…My social skills are lacking…”
There are also many male players that are looking forward to this real social element and they are already chatting up with ladies!
Yi Mu sighs softly as he reaches for the guide book and taps on it.
<Learn World Basic Info. Gain +500 XP>
<CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 3>
He is disinterested now because he feels that he has made a bad mistake with his skills allocation.
So he just takes a quick glance at the guide book. He muses, “The information here is just basic anyway. So this is the Immortal Realm and where we are now is Araphel, the first of the nine heavens. Our basic objective is to find a way up to the Second Heavens and meet the True Immortals. Blah, blah, blah.”
He heaves a soft sigh, “So now I have got 3 skill points now.”
When he has thought of that, he is a little agitated because as a pro player, he has actually miscalculated. Moreover, this is a whole new experience and there is no guide whatever so. He is expecting to be the leading player but now he has just screwed himself.
“Since I am so screwed then let me screw myself upside now then.”
So he presses the tier 1 skills, Amplify Armor and Shield Mastery, allocating one point to them.
Why he did that baffles himself. He just needs something to vent out his frustrations!
All of a sudden his system announced with a beeping red light that only he can see!
<Secret skill Heaven Sword is unlocked!>
<Gain a permanent bonus of +3 Skill, +3 Attack>
<Gain a permanent bonus of +5 Morale>
Omg!
He is startled!
This game has secret skills that can reveal only if specific skills are learnt?!
This is getting cooler than he has expected!
Quickly he checks the new skill that he has acquired is reading the description eagerly;
Heaven Sword
Description: Secret Skill of the Way of the Swords.
Level: Max
Passive Effect 1: 1/3 of the weapon attack will be added to block in additional to the effect of the Shield Mastery when it is casted.
Passive Effect 2: Block chance = chance to ignore defense and block of the opponent.
Passive Effect: +10 Physical Damage
He is shouting loudly in his trembling heart, “Omg! This is so freaking strong!”
Is he the first one in the server to discover this secret skill? He has actually acquired this secret skill by combining two supposedly useless skills!
“Well not exactly useless skills but this is not for my planned build anyway.”
He is now smiling broadly, ignoring the laughing sight of the other players when they have noticed his less than fantastic name.
His eyes are now beaming as he ruminates, “It seems that I have a good start after all!”
All of a sudden there are a bright light above the city as a beautiful crimson phoenix descends from the heavens!
And on top of the crimson phoenix is a heavenly forbidding maiden!
Yi Mu is stunned by her heavenly presence and by the enticing beauty of her every moment!
He gasped, “She is so beautiful…I wish she is real. She is the goddess of my heart…”
This heavenly forbidding maiden resonates, her heavenly voice reaching into the hearts of everyone as she says gently. “To all the brave hearts, welcome to Araphel. I, the Goddess Celestial Alice of the Ninth Heavens welcome you. Very soon your divine trials will start and I wish you luck and luck may well be the most important element that you may need.”
Yi Mu is emotional as he murmurs, “The Goddess Celestial Alice…she is really a goddess…”
The Goddess Celestial Alice lit a mysterious smile, “To you, this may be a game but to us, this is real…”
Yi Mu is smiling too. Somehow her smiles have the effect of lifting the spirits on all the onlookers!
But he is also musing, “Of course this is a game to us. You are just an AI, an NPC. What a nice way to show that as an NPC, she is actually caring for us.”
She continues with an enchanting look on everyone, “Therefore if you perish in-game then your fate will be sealed. You will perish forever. In short, your death will be real.”
Yi Mu is startled and is a little confused!
He is not the only one that is startled when he has heard that. Everyone around him are murmuring and looking at each other, not knowing whether this Goddess Celestial Alice is just using a game phrase to tense up the atmosphere or she is just drumming the anticipation for the upcoming adventures.
A guy in their midst laughed aloud and said confidently, “You are all little pusses. This is just a game. Nothing is real. Just sit back and relax. This is just the opening dialogue. Then she will go on and say that a Demon King is terrorizing the Immortal Realm and we are the heroes that will save the game!”
Yi Mu says after him with a laugh, “That’s right. They just need to play more games…”
The Goddess Celestial Alice continues, “Therefore now, none of you are able to log off now. There isn’t an option to do so anyway.”
With that many of the players have turned pale immediately!
They have all realized that none of them know how to log off from the game!
Even Yi Mu is panicky as he quickly searches for a way to log off. He stares blankly, “There is really no way to log off! Is this a bad joke?!”
The Goddess Celestial Alice smiles enchantingly, “Failure to survive here will end your life. This isn’t a joke. You are all struck here and won’t be able to log off until someone here can complete this game.”
The atmosphere here has suddenly become very tense and some of the girls around are beginning to cry and their sobbing sounds can be heard!
End 3 End
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