Mmorpg: Shattered Land - Volume 1

Elemental Squirrel

Health: 50

Mana: 300

Attack: 10

Skills: (Mass Swarm), (Protect the Nuts)

Marius was overwhelmed by the sheer number of Squirrels that descended upon him.

They were not as fast as the Brutal Sparrows but their number’s easily made Marius’ swordplay redundant as they struck him from his flanks.

-15, -15, -15

Three attacks got through making Marius turn and run. he only had 140 Health and that was not nearly enough to take on so many furry little beasts.

“Well,” Marius thought to himself “Let’s be a little silly.”

As he wandered here, Marius had passed by many landscapes and sceneries. There were a great many trees, many with odd shapes. Hundreds of random boulders that could be useful for changing directions if need be.

And a lake.

It was the lake that the old man ran to now and he made a beeline towards it.

The only surprise was that he didn’t leave the Squirrels far behind. They actually kept pace with him. Marius was just glad they couldn’t attack him as he ran.

It appeared that the Squirrels required the player to be stationary as they plunged into them. Or maybe the speed difference was the key to their damage. Either way, since Marius had started running the only damage he took was -1 where a Squirrel had struck him before he got to full speed.

Not too long later, the lake came into view.

Smiling, Marius ran full pelt into the water and dived in, feeling a wave of cold encompass him as he sank.

Behind him, like a rain of bullets, the Squirrels descended and hit the water, sinking down after him.

Turning, Marius saw the Squirrels suspended in the water, their little feet and tails furiously trying to make their way to him.

They were kind of cute, something his granddaughter would have begged him to get for her as a pet.

Melancholy formed in his heart at the thought. He raised his blade, pushing his painful memories away. With a kick of his feet, he plunged towards them, slashing at their little furry bodies.

Though the water made his attacks and movements slower, Marius still managed to chain a decent horizontal and vertical strike on the first Squirrel, killing it in two hit.

(Player Midnight Solitude has gained 300 Exp, 15 Bronze Coins, 1 Elemental Ore and 1 Elemental Stone).

(Player Midnight Solitude is the first player to kill an Elemental Squirrel. +1 Luck).

Marius was not expecting Elemental Ore to drop but stored it anyway. The Squirrels gave a high amount of exp and that helped squash the old man’s melancholy.

“Time to grind.” Marius thought quietly as he swam towards the other Squirrels. With the water slowing their movements to a crawl, Marius had no problem catching and slaughtering the tiny monsters. If Marius had calculated correctly he needs to kill about 26 more of these beasts to level up. If they all dropped 15 Bronze coins then he’d have 4 silvers with change.

With grim determination, Marius tore through the Squirrels.

In less than a half hour, Marius had harvested all the Squirrels that he needed, collecting 20 Elemental Ore and 27 Elemental Stones. he wasn’t sure what the difference was but he assumed the Ores were meant for forging or something similar. He had no interest in that occupation so he would sell it to a smithy when he returned to the village.

Once all the Squirrels were gone, Marius came out of the Lake. he was surprised that being underwater so long hadn’t affected him.

Name: Midnight Solitude

Class: Night Stalker

Level: 4 (16010/32,000)

Occupation: None

Health: 150

Mana: 150

Luck: 1

Attack: 15

Defense: 2

Intelligence: 15

Spirit:2

Dexterity: 26

Skills: Basic Slash Level 1 (968/1000 proficiency) (Deals base damage. Cooldown none)

Binding Shadow Level 1 (180/1000 proficiency) (Binds target for 2 seconds. Cost 10 Mana. Cooldown 5 seconds.)

Even his breathing wasn’t hindered.

“Something to point out to Rajan?” he pondered.

Just as he was about to turn and leave a high pitch squeal pierced through the Woods. Turning he saw a Large Boar charging at him.

Large Boar Level 10

Health: 200

Mana: 100

Attack: 150

Skills: (Wild Charge), (Shredding Tusk).

Though the Boar had massive attack and Health, its speed was nothing and Marius easily dodged it, striking the beast as it passed.

-10 appeared above the Boars head.

“And high defense” Marius murmured.

“Binding Shadow” he cast, trapping the Boar as he went to town, slashing the Boar as quickly as he could

-10, -10, -25.

The moment Binding Shadow ended, Marius savagely dropped his elbow behind the Boars neck dealing a small -6 damage. Taking advantage of the close proximity, Marcus kicked the Boars leg, making it stumble as it tried to turn, causing -6 damage as it fell.

Then Marius attacked again, chaining combo’s as the Boar tried to get up. Three rounds later, the boar turned into a stream of light

(Player Midnight Solitude has gained 350 Exp, 20 Bronze Coins and 1 Boars Meat.)

(Player Midnight Solitude is the first Player to kill a Large Boar. +1 Luck)

Marius grinned at the experience.

It may be time to hunt a few boars.

“Come on, we can’t be too far away.” A familiar voice echoed through the trees.

Marius recognized the voice as that of the warrior who despised Night Stalkers.

“They passed through the wolves faster than I thought they would.” Marius though as he slipped behind a tree.

“Boss, we need to stop. We’ve lost too many members. Those wolves were only in grade 1. The grade 2 Squirrels are going to destroy us.” Another familiar voice. The female Ranger.

Marius peered around the tree and saw the team of four walking towards the Squirrel ambush.

“Shut up.” The Warrior declared. “We just need to kill a few Elemental Squirrels then we can respawn in the village. Once we have an idea of how to fight them we can grind up on the Grey Wolves and attack them better armed.”

Marius agreed with the Warriors analysis. It was better to get information on an unknown and the best way to do that was to experience. But he did not agree with the Warrior’s methods. after all, if a player died they’d lose a level. And grinding a team on Grey Wolves would be a long, drawn-out process. it would just reduce their morale over the long term.

After they passed Marius paid them no mind. Instead, he opened his inventory and started equipping the Grey Wolf equipment.

Grey Wolf Boots

Attack: 2

Dexterity: 2

Grey Wolf Pants

Spirit: 2

Defense: 2

Grey Wolf Leg Guards

Dexterity: 3

Defense: 1

Grey Wolf Gauntlets

Attack: 2

Defense: 2

Grey Wolf Helm

Health: 10

Defense: 2

After equipping the gear Marius saw a large boost in his stats.

Name: Midnight Solitude

Class: Night Stalker

Level: 5 (16360/32,000)

Occupation: None

Health: 240

Mana: 300

Luck: 2

Attack: 14

Defense: 9

Intelligence: 15

Spirit: 4

Dexterity: 31.

Marius checked out his new appearance, holding back a laugh. He looked like an old Norse Berserker, covered in Wolf Pelts.

After equipping the Grey Wolf gear, Marius also noticed he still had 3 full sets.

“I’ll sell these when I get back.” he decided. With more players entering the Woods they would need better equipment. Basic supply and demand. They would demand better equipment, Marius could supply it.

He’ll make a killing.

Without any more ado, Marius began running towards the village. With his increased speed it only took him a half hour to arrive and he immediately went to the shopkeeper.

“Young Adventurer, welcome back.” the shopkeep beamed.

“Hello friend, I have quite a few Elemental Stones on me. How would you like to trade them?”

“Excellent.” the shopkeep beamed again. “I offer Pure Elemental Stones in exchange for the Elemental Stones. For 5 Elemental Stones, you can purchase 1.”

A menu popped up and Marius saw the five kinds of Pure Elemental stones the shopkeeper was talking about.

Fire Stone Level 1(Can be set to a weapon and adds 10% fire damage. Can be refined)

Earth Stone Level 1 (Can be set to a weapon and adds 10% damage resistance. Can be refined)

Wind Stone Level 1 (Can be set to a weapon and adds 10% attack speed. can be refined)

Ice Stone Level 1 (Can be set to a weapon and adds 10% frost damage. Can be refined)

Lightning Stone level 1 (Can be set to a weapon and adds 15% Pierce damage. Can be refined)

Marius was stunned by the descriptions. These were early game items?

“How do you refine these stones?” Marius asks.

“You can refine them by taking them to a refinery. It takes 10 of one element stone to refine to Level 2, 100 for Level, 1,000 for Level 4 and 10,000 for level 5.”

“That is a lot of Elemental Stones. ” Marius murmured. “I’ll take 2 Wind Stones, 2 Lightning Stones, and 1 Fire Stone.”

Completing the Trade, Marius took out an Elemental Ore. “This is forging material, yes?” He asked.

“Indeed. They are of little value to me, but the Smith would love to trade you something for them.”

Smiling, Marius stashes the ore away and took out a piece of Grey Wolf Equipment. “Could you give me a market price for these pieces of equipment?” he asked.

Ten minutes later he left and ran towards the Smithy.

He hadn’t paid attention to it before, but the village design was much like the medieval description of a Brittish Village. There were cobblestone roads and thatch roofs. Even the NPC’s wore clothing of the era.

Marius had enjoyed learning about history as a boy. Learning about the ancient and medieval civilizations that had risen and fallen with the passing of time. East or West, it didn’t matter, he had absorbed it all like a dry sponge to water.

It was part of what attracted him to travel in his youth and even fueled his education in Eastern Martial arts.

When he arrived at the smithy, he stepped in, a new air of excitement bubbling in him. This was like going to a museum and seeing all the old, fundamental ways people lived. His ancestors had lived in this era.

“Master Smith. May we trade?” Marius said politely, catching the smith’s attention.

“Ahh, Adventurer. I’m busy at the moment. Could you come back will some Elemental Ore? I have a large order that needs to be met and the markets are fresh out of them.”

Marius smiled. “Master Smith. I happen to have come across some Elemental Ore. Would you care to trade?”

The Smith looked surprised. “I can trade you a piece of equipment for your Elemental Ore, or I could forge you a Customized Weapon for 20 Elemental Ores.”

Customised Weapon? Marius had seen nothing about this in the data Raja had left him.

“Could you tell me more about Customized Weapons?” Marius asked.

“Certainly. Customized Weapons are weapons made to your own specification. They begin as common white grade equipment but can be refined. For example, a white grade Customized Weapon can have 100 pieces of bronze grade equipment refined to it and it will increase the grade to a bronze grade weapon”

“Also, the level of the weapon can be increased. though it takes 1000 experience to level up to level 5, each level afterward will take 3 times the relative experience to upgrade”

Marius was shocked. The experience needed to upgrade seemed like a lot, but in comparison, it could be upgraded faster than would be able to level up. The only problem was the grade.

“Can a customized weapon exceed the users level?” Marius asked.

“No,” the Smith replied. “But the weapon will be bound to you, so it can never be dropped. You can improve it as much as you please but you will be unable to access one after you leave the Village.”

Marius nods, taking out the 20 Elemental Ores.

“I will trade you for the Customized Weapon. But how do I refine the weapon?”

The Smith smiled. “Simply place the equipment onto the weapon and it will offer to be refined. You do need to refine all 100 pieces at the same time though or the chances of failure will increase.”

“1% per piece?” Marius guessed.

“Correct.” The Smith confirmed. “you could try refining with fewer but the result will not be as effective and you will have a more fragile weapon.”

Marius nods. “How long will it take?”

“An hour.” The Smith replies.

Marius accepts the transaction indicating that he wanted a short sword before leaving towards the Village Leader’s Hall. There are a few people lined up outside so Marius joins the queue.

As he waits he opens up the trade tab on his menu, placing all three sets of Grey Wolf equipment on. You can only access the Trade Tab while in a Village or City so Marius wasn’t expecting them to sell quickly. many players would be unaware of the option. The Shopkeeper had said that individually, the pieces were worth 1 silver each, so a complete set was worth 5 silvers. Since that was already a high amount, Marius reduced his price to 4 silvers and waited as he slowly made his way up to the Village Leader.