The Strongest Shieldbearer (Chapter 40-41)

Table Of Contents
Chapter 1 (below)
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Everyone was excited to play the new game, swords and magic. Players lined up at the stores in the early hours of the morning, just to get a copy. Analysts predicted that the player count would reach a million on the first day one.

"I can't wait to bring down all my enemies with the might of my sword. When I master sword skills I will become a great expert that people will beg to party with!" one player enthusiastically said. "Oh ya, that's nothing. I am going to destroy all my enemies with flame explosions. Before they even get to me they will be reduced to a pile of ash" another player boasted. "When I become a healer parties will be begging for me to join and I will decide who gets to live or die!" a girl behind them laughed maniacally. The other two players distanced themselves from this person and started praying they could find a healer who wasn't crazy.

Everyone waiting in line either wanted to be a swordsman or mage. These classes were just too flashy. Who didn't want to be the one outputting the highest DPS? But there was one player among them that didn't care about dealing damage or healing. His name was Feng Zen.


When Zen logged into the game he saw the beginning village. It was packed with players, so much so that he couldn't actually see the village at all. All he could see were a million name tags overlapping and there was so much in his field of vision he couldn't even tell what we was looking at. Pushed around by the flood of people he had no choice but to go with the flow, like a fish in water. Eventually he came to the <Adventurers Association> and a prompt was displayed.

<What class would you want to choose?>

Mage, Swordsman, Tank, Miscellaneous

In Swords and Magic, each class had many subcategories. Mages could be summoners, elementalists or priests. Swordsmen could be berserkers, one handed or use spears. Tanks could be paladins, shieldbearers or heavy brawlers. Miscellaneous included things like assassins, archers or even weapon smiths. That's right forging was its own class! If a player wanted to become an apothecary and make potions they could do that on the side but forging could only be done by those that gave up on combat completely. After all, if one was in the fields grinding how would they have the time to perfect the art of making weapons?

Looking at the descriptions of the classes Zen saw one that seemed to speak directly to his heart. <Shieldbearer: They are the shield for their team. they have high defense but lack strong attacking methods.> This was a very simple description but to Zen he was elated. He said in his heart: "I want to protect my friends with honor and glory. An impenetrable defense as steady as a mountain making enemies despair and lose morale before they even lost any HP.

This is what I want to be!"

The only problem was he had no friends... But he was sure that he could find a team when he started playing. After all there were just too many DPS players and parties needed to form a sort of holy trinity of tanks, healers and supports. That way priests and tanks are always in high demand. Zen walked out of the Adventurers Association with his head held high.

Many players were forming parties so he just randomly went up to one and asked "Are you guys in need of a tank?" The swordsman responded: "Perfect we just nee... wait you're a shield bearer? HAHA Hey guys come look some idiot actually chose to be a shieldbearer!" One of his friends came over: "No way dude. I can't believe it. Who would choose a class that can bearly attack with low speed. It's obviously better to have a tank like the paladin who can

dodge powerful attacks or a brawler who can lifesteal." A priest with a worried expression on her face gave her opinion: "Also why shieldbearer? Isn't that like the lamest class?"

Zen's heart sank. All the pride that he had just a moment was gone with his dreams of becoming a sturdy mountain. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die. If I had known this I would have gone with something else he bitterly thought to himself. After that he searched and searched for a party but no one would accept him saying that his growth potential was low or explaining that even if shieldbearers had high defense, it wasn't enough to the point where

they could just take a bosses attack head on. Even if they could, they would need more healers to keep him alive and as a result have low damage leading to a slower leveling speed and more drawn out fights with a low chance of success.

With tears in his eyes he left the starter village and got a prompt.

<Do you wish to respec your stats before leaving (final chance)?>

The core attributes are Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Agility, Perception, Wisdom and defence. HP increased upon level up. There were also hidden stats like luck and HP regen. Strength for attack power, Stamina for deciding how long you can fight for, Intelligence for mana, agility for speed, perception for being able to react and use speed, Wisdom determines how fast mana regenerates. The physical skills of swordsman require less mana than spells.

Character: Zen

Race: Human

Job: Shieldbearer

Level: 0

HP: 100/100

Attributes: Strength 3, Stamina 4, Agility 3, Intelligence 3, Perception 2, Wisdom 2, Defense 7.

Free Skill Points: 0

Originally Zen made a fairly balanced character with all his stats around 10 with slightly more in defense. Now he couldn't care less as he considered his character ruined so he redistributed his points in the most stupid way he could think of.

Character: Zen

Race: Human

Job: Shieldbearer

Level: 0

HP: 100/100

Attributes: Strength 1, Stamina 1, Agility 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 1, Wisdom 1, Defense 18.

Free Skill Points: 0

He drained his skill points from every attribute and after dumping them all into defense rashly hit confirm. After awakening from his drunken stupor he realised what he had done. "Oh no I am screwed!" he screamed inwardly. Even if he was a shield bearer before maybe he could have recovered from the situation and tried to create a character that made sense. He could have worked hard and proved the people who looked down on him wrong. But now he had just dug himself a bigger hole.


You only get a few attribute points after each level. With agility at 1 he would be so slow that he would get out leveled by the other players immediately. With an intelligence of 1 he wouldn't be able to use skills. With a strength of one it would also take him a while to kill each monster

further slowing his leveling speed to a grinding halt. Zen knew that he was doomed.

 

...this going to be almost like a certain Brokenly Cute Kaijuu Shieldbearer.....
...
...
...
...that's it if he create his account as a Shota tho...

 

Chapter 2

After leaving the village, there were many players who passed by Zen while laughing at his incredible slow movement speed. “Keep working hard noob and maybe you will catch up to us in a hundred years.” Zen couldn’t really deny these words as he really might not be able to catch up with how slow he was moving which made him somewhat depressed but he felt better after seeing how beautiful the game was.


The sunset could be seen spilling golden rays of light from behind a mountain. It helped to illuminate grassy fields surrounding the village. The rays of light seemed to take on a life of their own as they changed colors with shades of purple or orange as they danced in between the clouds.


Closest to the village he saw a bunch of players fighting against goblins. Goblins liked to hang around villages so they could kidnap women NPCs and bring them back to their hobbit holes where they would do unspeakable things to them as they tormented them to death! Of course, these NPCs would respawn as they were just common placeholder type characters…


Zen realized that he didn’t really bring a weapon as all he had was the starting gear. He was just given a shield. He randomly picked up a rock he found on the ground and slowly approached a nearby goblin.


[Lowly Goblin, Lvl 3]


HP: 100/100


Goblins have low defense but they are fast and crafty. They know how to target the weak points of their prey and won't hesitate to kick you when you are down.


The goblin danced around him in a frenzy making it difficult to hit but it was also hard to hit but the goblin also had a hard time getting through his massive shield. The first one to land a hit was surprisingly Zen. But his initial excitement didn’t last long as it felt like he was hitting the rock against a stone cliff. Aren’t goblins supposed to have low defense?

He realized that even if the goblin had low defense with a strength of 1 combined with the level suppression that he couldn’t even put a scratch on the goblin. Next the goblin found a chance to plunge his dagger directly at his heart. Zen started to panic as he tried to shift his body to avoid a fatal blow.

When the dagger hit his chest it actually shattered! This was completely out of Zen’s expectations. The goblin saw this and immediately tried to run. To the goblin it must have felt like he was striking a reinforced steel bunker. Most level 0 players do not have 10 defense, much less 18.

Before the goblin got away Zen grabbed its arm. The goblin pulled but he didn’t budge. Strength determines how much you can apply force while defense determines how much people can apply force to you. He picked up a piece of the dagger of the ground and stabbed at the goblins eyes.

-2 appeared above the goblin’s head making Zen feel excited. Nearby players were confused because who would be happy about 2 damage? There attacks easily did 20 damage dispatching the goblins after about 5 attacks. But Zen didn’t care about these looks as he continued to stab away at the goblin. Slowly but surely torturing the creature to death.


10 minutes later the goblin died and dropped something.

[Broken handle] (Garbage rank, broken)

Equipment could be garbage, bronze, uncommon (silver), superior (gold), rare (blue), epic (purple) and legendary (orange). Garbage tier items were broken items. If a legendary item ran out of durability it would become garbage!


Zen picked up the handle and put it in his empty backpack. The backpack was like a brown sack on his back with simple ropes as the strap. He continued grinding the goblins. As he went we was able to find better daggers which sped up the process. He experimented with different tactics and found that pinning the goblins to the ground by sitting on them was quite effective.


The most effective strategy he used was poison. While most goblins took 7-8 minutes to defeat he beat 3 with poison in under a minute! But then he ran out of poison and had to go back to his slow and steady strategy. During this time period night had already set in and stars filled the sky.

Character: Zen

Race: Human

Job: Shieldbearer

Level: 3

HP: 120/120

Attributes: Strength 1, Stamina 1, Agility 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 1, Wisdom 1, Defense 18.

Free Skill Points: 2 (Earned every other level)

Free skill points: 9

He was troubled when deciding what to spend his skills on. He could put them into speed and save time on traveling around. He could put them in strength and kill monsters faster. If he put points into intelligence and used a damage skill he might not even need strength!


But at the end of the day he stayed true to his ways and dumped all of his points into defense. Zen was the type of mother f***er who would put all his chips not on black, but a black 37 when gambling, hoping that the ball would land in his section and if it didn’t work out it’s just unlucky.

After reaching 25 defense he could learn a skill.

<Skin hardening: Coats the outer skin in a hard layer, improving defense>

Zen immediately chose to learn this skill thinking that if it improved defense, it was his kind of skill.

 

I actually read that manga a long time ago but never found it again bc I forgot the name lol. I think it is OP how you can have all your skills at 1 so it multiples your defense by 4 or something so maybe that will get nerfed.

 

...yea, this dude goin to be on THE Forbidden road for sure...
i though it's just an accident, but for being a belief as if he possessed? dude is hard nut to crack, as he's a sheldbearer OFC he is one....(lame joke btw, me)

 

Chapter 3

<Skin hardening>

Mana Cost: 105

Cooldown: 1 minute

Current mana: 100/100 (insufficient)

Because each point of intelligence gives 3 mana, Zen would need to level and put 2 of his points into intelligence to use it. While walking back Zen organized his inventory which was almost full by now as he picked up every item that dropped. They were all bronze/common items that didn’t give any stats or affects so they weren’t better than his starting gear.


On the way he saw a Granny NPC who was shakily walking with a cane. He grew excited because he was tired of watching level 6 players zoom past him and would finally have someone to talk to. But this old granny was not to be trifled with! She has a movement speed of 2 which meant she was 30% faster than Zen and soon she disappeared into the horizon. Never in his life had Zen felt so humiliated.


When he got to town he found a store filled with various gear and potions. Most of the gear he collected would sell for half a bronze piece or even nothing. Because most of the things in the shop cost at least 1 silver (100 bronze) Zen had to give up on buying anything.

But when he noticed one item his eyes burned with intense desire and emotion.

[Simple Speed Potion (bronze)]

<Increases speed by 10%>

When he saw the description he was instantly disappointed. His 1 agility plus 10%... “THAT'S ONLY 1.1” he almost shouted causing people to stare. The system might even round his agility down to 1 making the potion worthless! All the potions were based on percentages instead of adding stats. He found a defense potion but he left without selling or buying anything because he was sad about the prices and the speed potion.


I need to think! How am I going to kill goblins more efficiently? When he arrived at the fields again he was done playing around.

[Goblin Soldier, lvl 4]

HP: 120/120

The goblins attacks only did a few damage while he regenerated 1 hp every second so he just ignored them. He tried inducing bleed effects but the low quality daggers he had were not capable of this. Then he tried strangling the goblin by simply covering its mouth and nose. To his delight this was brutally effective. A suffocation effect appeared which did a few damage every second.


To a normal player this was insignificant so no one would do this but to Zen it felt like he was flying at mach 10! He dealt with each goblin in about a minute and when he reached level 4 he discovered a strange patch of ground.


There was a bush that seemed to be connected to a dark cave. The walls were moist and hard. The cave was very compact which forced him to squat down. While curiosity got the better of Zen, he slipped and ended up tumbling down into the darkness.


Eventually the passageway opened up to a dimly lit gathering area of sorts. The goblins all surrounded an altar and were chanting in an ancient language. In front of the alter he noticed something that made him shriek in terror.

[Hobgoblin Lvl 10 (Special Elite)]

HP: 400/400

The goblin was big and fat. His body was a dark green and he gave off a putrid smell almost as strong as his bloodlust. His face was ugly and disoted.

Boom! Zen crashed through the ceiling and landed on an unfortunate goblin that instantly died. The goblins moved away startled. The Hobgoblin belowed:
"RAHHHHH"

Zen felt weak in the knees seeing the Hobgoblin grab his club and start charging. He immidiately dumped 2 points into intelligence bringing his mana to 106 and activated skin hardening. His skin became a pale gray color and appeared to have cracks around his arms. When the goblin swung his club down on Zen he only took -2 damage as he hastily blocked it with his shield but he was not happy as his shield was sent flying away. "Shieldy"


He stared at the Hobgoblin with bloodshot eyes as he slowly moved towards it. It decided that he wasn't a threat and directly picked him up! It actually

placed Zen in his mouth and started chewing. Even with skin hardening terrifying damages of -30 started appearing above his head. "I won't hold out long" he thought as the hobgoblin was munching.

Munch munch munch

He decisively decided to go deeper as he slipped down the hobgoblin's throat. With 30 hp left, he was in a precarious position. The stomach acid that surrounded him and started burning away at his remaining HP with -3 per second. Even with his 1 hp regen he didn't have much time. He pulled a dagger and started cutting at the stomach of the monster. The stomach walls were coated in slime. After stabbing and cutting a small hole appeared. The oozing acid was

corroding his skin as he reached through the hole. He couldn't see anything in the dark. His hand grabbed at something soft.

Bdump bdump bdump

THE HEART! he exclaimed and he squeezed. Pop! The hobgoblin's HP instantly fell to zero as it crashed to the ground. Lvl up! lvl up! Zen had no time to be happy as his HP was still decreasing. 10.. 8... 6.. 4... At the last possible moment he managed to climb up and exit the hobgoblin's mouth with 2 hp remaining. But he was surrounded by goblins and even with hardening mode they could deal 1 damage with a crit or if they hit a vital point.

The good news was with a regen speed of 1 his hp stabilized at 2 as he made his way over to shieldy. 2 hp, that's 1 more than I need! Zen thought. Shieldy was a bronze color and looked like a crude simple starter equipment but to Zen at this moment it looked like a legendary item! He grabbed the shield when a volley of arrows came flying at him. He blocked them with the shield and sat in the corner regening. At this moment hardening wore off but he could finally relax. 2, 3, 4, 5 hp. He sat there for almost a minute as his shield took 100s of attacks and then it finally broke becoming garbage!


I will never forget you, shieldy! Zen screamed in his heart as he looked at the goblins with hatred. He now had 70 hp. As he rushed around he held a goblin

in each hand and strangled them 1 by 1. He couldn't knock them around but he used the mobs to limit the amount of projectiles. It took him an hour to clear

out all the goblins. He leveled up again, raising his level to 6 somewhat catching up to other players. He started picking up every item he saw. The hobgoblin dropped a giant club which he used to attack earlier.

[Crude Giant Club (silver)]

Attack: 20

Description: Smashes enemies to pieces with unrivaled violence.

Attack is affected by your own strength stat. There was no way this club would only do 20 damage in capable hands. Zen stored it and got a notification.

<Alert: You are over encumbered. Reducing speed to 1!>

My speed is already 1! Zen thought as he happily looted everything. He really left nothing picking up random wooden bowls or cups or big rocks. Nothing was too useless or heavy for Zen. He picked it all up and the bronze sack on his back became a mountain that stretched to the sky. As he left the cave other players were dumbfounded.

"What is that player doing? Their bag is bigger than my future!" One player said. "I know how he could have so much loot. He must be rich. Let's follow him and see what happens." Everywhere Zen walked there was an earthquake. When he got back to town there was a crowd of curious players following him.


A player named tyrantal explosion blocked his path: "Don't you see that his is my road, if you want to enter you have to pay the entrance fee" This was clearly bs as Zen could see other players go by but its not like Zen could force the player to move. Tyrantal Explosion grew excited seeing his bag saying: "Your lucky I am in a good mood today, hand over half your items and I will let you go" Dejected Zen started taking things out of his enormous bag 1 by 1.

[Rusty spoon (Garbage)]

[Wooden bowl (Garbage)]

[Wooden Table (Garbage)]

"STOPPPP" Tyrannical Explosion yelled. "Is everything in your sack garbage? Forget it this is not worth my time." The other players didn't know what to think. Why did this kid collect so much garbage? What is his goal? Some thought he was trying to pull off a joke. After all, who would want their movement speed reduced to 1? That is just a waste of time! But Zen made his way to the store followed by the curious crowd.

His bag wouldn't fit through the doorway and got stuck on the way in. The other players felt bad for him and yelled "PUSHHH, WE CAN MAKE IT IF WE WORK TOGETHER" They pushed the bag through the doorway of the small shop and it rolled over to the checkout counter. The NPC had a flabergasted expression as she said how may I help you?

 

Chapter 4

Although each bronze ranked weapon only sold for half a copper coin when you added up all Zen’s loot he was still able to get a few silver for it. The hobgoblins club also sold for a few silver. He just saved the money not knowing what to buy.

Among the players crowding around, one was particularly eye catching. Her name was Thoughtful Rain. She had an innocent looking face and skin that was white as snow. Despite this, her body was quite vulumptios with curves that no man could resist. When the male players around her saw her playful expression she gave towards Zen they felt a burn in their crotches and their hearts ached with jealousy.

Many guilds tried to recruit Thoughtful Rain but the three big ones were Tyrantal Ambitions, Half moon pavillion and Green Snake Dragons. The three biggest guilds in town constantly tried to recruit her with massive amounts of benefits but she only refused them.

“Thoughtful Rain will you party with me? My skills are unmatched.” “Party with me. I will even be willing to be your foot stool if you want.” some players asked. “Ew, gross” Thoughtful Rain said before ignoring them.

Although they were disappointed they understood that a normal player trying to party with Thoughtful Rain, who the big guilds couldn’t even recruit was unrealistic. It was like the difference between heaven and earth. At least she wasn’t partying with anyone so they didn’t feel too bad.

“Are you willing to party with me?” These words shocked everyone including Zen. Every player shot glares filled with hatred at Zen as he started sweating profusely. He felt as though a red target had been painted on his back at that moment. “How am I supposed to respond to this?” Zen thought. One one hand if he accepted the invite he would ignite the jealousy of all the players around him getting himself in trouble. One the other hand if he refused all the players would be enraged at him for refusing their goddess. There was no good option!

Zen knew that this was the end of his peaceful life in Swords and Magic. From now on he would be tormented by players who remembered this in addition to the 3 big guilds. But then a lightbulb went off in Zen’s head as he had an idea. “You don’t want to party with me, trust me” Zen tactfully declared. “Why not?” Thoughtful Rain asked. “I move with a movement speed of 1, I am afraid that Miss Rain would just be wasting her time with me and end up at a low level.”

Zen was satisfied with coming up with such an intelligent solution. “Oh” Thoughtful Rain said while looking rather disappointed. “Then why don’t you raise your agility?” She asked. “This… “ Zen pondered. Why doesn’t he raise his agility? Wasn’t he suffering all along because he didn’t raise it? Didn’t he raise intelligence? But he raised intelligence to use a skill that raises defense.

Zen couldn’t really describe the mysterious feeling in his heart. He felt that if he compromised, if he raised his agility even 1 point, took even one step back, that he would lose something that he would never be able to get back. This feeling terrified him!

At this moment the guilds realized that if they could recruit Feng Zen and get him to raise his agility they could also recruit Thoughtful Rain. Three guild leader’s eyes showed a crazy look as they started making offers.

“If you join Tyrannical Ambitions and raise your agility I will give you a full set of silver equipment for Tanks. In addition we will take you out to level in dungeons you can’t try alone.” Tyrannical Explosion said. “Our offer is the same however we will also give you first pick of all equipment for shield bearers now and in the future!” Green Scaled Snake exclaimed. “If you join the Half Moon Pavilion I can give you a monthly salary of 1 gold coin.” Crescent moon said calmly.

All of these offers seemed very attractive to the other players, so much so that they started to drool and fantasize about being a big shot in a guild with a beauty like Thoughtful Rain. But Zen only heard three words ‘Raise your agility’. “I REFUSE” Zen said. The other players had their mouths wide open.

“What did I hear incorrectly? He refused?” A player questioned whether he misheard. “You do realize what it means to refuse our offers, right? It means you will become an enemy of the 3 guilds. Is that really what you want? Why don’t you join one of our guilds and get benefits instead?” Tyranical Explosion persuaded. “There is no reason to be so stubborn” Crescent moon added.

“I don’t mind joining your guilds but... I have one condition” Zen said. “If it is something we can do we will try to accommodate you” Green Scaled Snake. “I refuse to raise my agility.” Zen said.

“WHATT??? ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU WANT TO BE A TURTLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?” Tyranical Explosion yelled. The players were shocked as well but they also felt another emotion when they saw this. Admiration! He could have taken a sweet deal and secured benefits but instead decided to make an enemy of the 3 guilds, simply because he didn’t want to raise his agility.

They might not have understood his reasons but they admired his unrivaled determination. He was going to stay true to his ways no matter what and build his character the way he wanted to or die trying. No one could force him to back down with threats or benefits. He had a stern expression as he looked at the raging guilds and was completely unmoved. He would not budge an inch, truly a mountain of a man.

Unfortunately it didn’t matter what these solo players thought as the guilds were sure to take revenge. They could not stand for this loss of face. Most elites of the clan were level 8. This was way higher than level 6 as leveling became more difficult with each increase. Being unable to handle one lone nooby level player or convince him to join. Who would ever want to join their guilds again after seeing this? ‘They must not be that great’ players would think.

Tyrannical Explosion practically had smoke coming out of his ears. He was so angry his veins could be seen popping up on his forehead. Green Snake and Crescent Moon were also outraged. “Good luck ever being able to mingle in Swords and Magic again” The guild leaders all said as they left. Although they left peacefully Zen could feel a storm brewing. This was not over.

 

This is the first novel I have written so I appreciate feedback and comments in general. So far, I think chapter 3 was a little low quality but the other chapters are fun. I also think my story needs a lot of world building around quests, introducing side characters, vivid descriptions of enemies/battles. I will probably give the MC some sort of attacking method as it seems to be impossible to write a story without that.

 

Chapter 5
With the interference of the 3 guilds Zen knew it was impossible to get any kills. The suffocation damage was just too slow to get the last hit. Even before them the guilds could circle around him and clear out any areas he went to. But killing monsters wasn’t the only wasy to get experience in swords in magic. There was also crafting and quests.


Crafting had extremely high requirements as the player needed to know how to craft in real life! Either that or they needed a lot of experience crafting in game. Alchemists would need a lot of time and money wasted making potions before it became profitable. Blacksmiths needed to choose the blacksmith class at the start but Zen chose shield bearer.


If Zen waited until he could craft potions he would already be way behind in levels. Besides that he wouldn’t be able to get the materials for potion making without killing monsters… Another option was enchanting but Zen wasn’t a mage he was a shield bearer. Zen started to realize the limitations of the shield bearer class but the class had its advantages too. The main advantage was the perk Sturdy Defense.


<Sturdy Defense: defense stat is amplified by 20% in battle>


Zen approached a board in the adventure’s association that had all sorts of quests. When he looked at each one an interface would pop up and explain the quest. When he looked at some high level quests black skulls would flash in his vision and the text was blood red. He could almost here the skulls laughing at the stupid noob who wanted to die. Stronger quests had better rewards but also worse punishments for failure. People who failed legendary quests would be cursed and have to abandon their accounts.


There are a large variety of quests in Swords and magic. There are quests where you have to kill 200 goblins for example or kill a lvl 10 or higher hobgoblin. There are quests that require the player to get a certain item from bosses or by crafting. There are mysterious hidden quests which can be epic or legendary. Finally, there are collection quests where an NPC would tell you to go collect herbs in the fields or something.


Nobody wanted to do collection quests because the rewards were so meager that it was faster to just level up by killing monsters. But then he found one that peaked his interest:


[Inferno Valley (SIlver Rank)

Quest: Collect 10 fire essence in the volcano and bring to the Jealous Witch

Rewards: 1000 EXP

+10 fire resist

Punishment: -20 fire resistance


Zen liked the quest because 1000 EXP was enough to level up three times and he thought he could complete it with his defense. He dumped the 9 points from earlier into defense and dumped his skill points into skin hardening which started at lvl 1.


Character: Zen

Race: Human

Job: Shieldbearer

Level: 6

HP: 150/150

Attributes: Strength 1, Stamina 1, Agility 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 1, Wisdom 1, Defense 27.

Free Skill Points: 0 (Earned every other level)

[Skin Hardening (Lvl 3)]

Free skill points: 0


He set off in the direction of the quest marker at his usual speed and started singing to pass the time: “What do we DO WITh a drunKEN SailOr, What do we… ”


Zen didn’t noticed the many shadows moving in the background as he merrily continued on his journey. “Man I didn’t think he’d be so stupid as to actually leave the starting villiage. Without the spawn protection this level 6 noob will surely be PKed” Fading Shadow said. “Boss do we make our move now?” Another assassin asked.


“Let's wait for now, if we kill him here he will lose a level and can recover but if we wait a day… he he he would have spent the whole day walking just to be killed and sent back to the village” Shadow said with a cold glint in his eyes. “What a brilliant plan!”

Chapter 6

Along the way Zen happily greeted NPCs and players as they passed him. Eventually, he came to a place where the stone path turned black and the grass turned ashen, covered in ash. In the distance, he could see a Volcano towering in the sky spewing out fire and magma. It was producing smoke at the top that blacked out the sun.


Zen felt a cold chill on his neck and a burning pain in his chest as his palms turned swaty. He looked down to see a crude looking dagger sticking out of his chest. -50

HP: 100/150


“What the… A SNEAK ATTACK“ Zen turned around to see many shadowy figures closing in on him. When he looked at his hp bar he felt his heart sink. The sneak attack had done extra damage from a skill and then doubled because it hit a vital area achieving a critical hit. Zen’s skin rapidly started turning grey with cracks appearing around his arms and legs. Skin hardening!


“You will die today! There is room for negotiation” The assassins were level 8. Zen felt he had no chance of winning but he realized he didn’t have to win, he just had to make it to the Volcano in the distance. If he entered with enough HP the assassins would have to give up as they didn’t have the defense to withstand the heat for too long.


Suddenly he turned around and slowly made his way to the volcano. Zen was completely focused on walking while defending his vitals and reducing the damage. Daggers slashed left and right as the assassins ferociously assaulted, hitting Zen with every skill and cooling down an assassin possessed. “SHADOW STRIKE” “Backstab!” The black lines trailing their attacks filled the space around Zen. He was quickly swinging his arms while slowly walking.

Agility was movement speed but as long as it's not your feet, you can move the rest of your body as fast as you want. Zens hp steadily decreased. Zen was furious as he felt pain across his arms and chest, he was bleeding all over, his shirt was stained with blood. But he kept walking: step by step. He couldn’t lose focus for a second. Any attack that hit his vitals would stagger him further reducing his defenses. In the face of such a barrage that would be his end.


When attacks slipped through he would twist his body to avoid critical hits. Then Zen’s skin ran out. Before then he had only taken 60 damage but now his health started plummeting when the attacks slashed away at his skin.


“KEEP ATTACKING HE’S ON HIS LAST LEGS! Eviscerate!” Sword light slashed the air causing the temperature to rise to yet another level. Zen was soaked in sweat and blood as he fiercely battled. 50 hp, 40 30...


After about 15 minutes Zen finally reached the Volcano but he wasn’t optimistic. Rushed inside a cave opening at the base. He knew that if the assassins followed him they could win. But when he looked back he noticed the assassins painting and some were even lying down… “We will get you one day” Fading Shadow cursed.


Zen was confused until he realized something. They were out of stamina! Zen might have been battling fiercer than each of them but because he was just defending he didn’t use any stamina. He could probably only attack a few times with a stamina of 1 but it didn’t matter. The assassins would have to rest to regain their stamina. Zen was in much worse condition. He was bleeding all over and in some places his bones could be seen. 30 hp 31 32… Zen was relieved to see his hp slowly regen.


The walls of the volcano were charged black and rugged like a typical cave. It was so hot Zen could see wavy lines in the air. Fire sprites danced in the air with a playful energy. They were ethereal and looked like fireballs from a distance. Then he noticed one was violently shaking uncontrollably.


“What is wrong with it?” Zen worrily asked. Suddenly it pooped out a tiny orb of which was covered in steam. The fire sprite had a satisfied expression on its face and rejoined the other sprites but the other fire sprites would avoid it with a look of disdain. The fire sprite went to bathe in a lava pool formed from magma coming out of the wall. It almost looked like a hot spring.


Zen watched this mystical scene with confusion as he forgot why he came here. “The fire essence!” Zen hastily collected the 10 fire essence. The quest wasn’t too hard besides waiting for the fire sprites to poop. They didn’t attack as they didn’t feel threatened and some even playfully circled around Zen and looked at him with curious expressions.


Zen felt better as his injuries were gone and he regenerated to full HP. He noticed a crack in the cave that led to a passageway. He wanted to explore it so he laid down and slipped through. At the end of the passageway there was a pillar of magma flowing down. Through the fire he could almost see an altar.

As he neared the pillar the temperature kept climbing. 100 degrees 110 120… The fire sprite habitat was scalding hot but compared to this pillar of magma it almost seemed like a tropical vacation. Zen was at the center of the volcano. He realized that whatever was on the altar would be really valuable and knew that if he left without trying he would regret it.


He activated skin hardening and pushed into the fire pillar. -140 The lava instantly melted his gray outer skin as it cooked his insides. “AAHHH” He screamed in pain as he endured the suffering. Strangely the inside of the pillar was devoid of lava and was much cooler than the outside, although it was still hotter than the fire sprite habitat.


Zen hastily shook his body, throwing the magma that was sticking to his blistered skin to the ground. -2 -2 He was still on fire which caused burn damage so he stopped, dropped and rolled next to the magma. -2

HP[4/150]

+1 +1 Zen finally stopped the burning and let out a sign of relief. He could now take his time with the loot but an alert interrupted him:
[Fire resistance (lvl 1) (passive)]

Effect: +5 fire resistance

When Zen thought about all the pain he had experienced just for a measly 5 fire resistance, he shuddered. You would have to be crazy to use this method… he thought to himself.

 

I messed up he was supposed to be level 6 after the Hobgoblin and got 9 points from leveling which he put into defense raising it to 27 and had an hp of 150. I copy-pasted it and forgot to change it!

 

Chapter 7 - Loot
On the altar, there wasn’t a sword or any armor but a piece of cloth. It was red but goated in gold flames. As he approached it Zen could hear whispers in his ear of an ancient language.

[Yakuza Sakuza’s Wraps (Gold Rank)]

+10 defense

+1 END

+1 Vitality

Passive: Uses defense instead of attack. The power of the weapon is equivalent to 50% of the user’s defense.

Requirements: 40 defense, basic knowledge of Sumo, Open palm attacks only.

Description: The fighting spirit of a yakuza is ablaze like a raging fire! Sakuza was known throughout the land as an unmovable mountain and would intimidate opponents with just a stare. These are wraps from his early days and have decayed to their current pour state.


When Zen saw the gear his eyes lit up. The gear was just too perfect. All this time I have been wondering how I am going to attack. Who would have thought that I can use defense to attack? But when Zen thought about it further it made sense as an open palm strike is very similar to blocking.

But the main issue was that Zen only had 37 defense with the stat bonus and he also had no knowledge of sumo. Zen decided to log out of the game and go to a dojo.

Meanwhile the assassins had been grinding monsters the whole time outside the volcano. Their coordination was good so they were able to hunt high leveled monsters quickly, almost reaching level 10. At level 10 they got big bonuses in stats and new skills. A fire zombie exploded, bathed in shadow light. “Shadow, look at this!”

[Undead Shadow dagger (Gold Rank)]

+10 attack

+5 fire resistance

+5 agility

Passive: ignore 30% of the target's defense

Description: A dagger created to destroy tanks. Assassin’s holding this can overcome their class weakness and stand on the front lines!

“This is what I need!” Fading Shadow felt like he was floating on clouds. “Now that kid won’t be able to last a minute against me. After I kill him I will surely become an elder of Tyrannical Admissions. I might even get good offers from the other clans as thanks and will profit from their competition to recruit me. I have to thank that shield bearer for this opportunity.” Fading shadow started laughing maniacally as he dreamed of being a top tier assassin.

Chapter 8- A Yakuza’s Eyes
Zen was a big boy in the game but outside the game he was short and skinny. Whenever he would change for gym class he would meekly change in the corner as he was embarrassed of his small size. Zen was currently climbing up a mountain, surrounded by bamboo trees and falling autumn leaves.

By the top he was completely out of breath. A wooden sign simply said “Sumo dojo” indicating that the owner didn’t care for formalities. Humongous sumo students looked at the pale, meek kid in astonishment. One came forward: “Hey kid, this is a Sumo dojo, not a library. Are you lost? Don’t tell me you want to be a sumo wrestler?”


The students were expecting Zen to be intimidated but instead he shouted: “YES, I CAME HERE TO LEARN SUMO!” Silence. For a moment there was only the sound of wind passing through the tall forest. Then suddenly every wrestler burst out into laughter like they had heard the funniest joke in the world.


“You? Be a sumo wrestler? Guys I have just discovered my life time love of poetry. I am skipping practice, I will see you guys later.” Han Xiao suddenly declared. Zen felt completely humiliated being laughed at by so many people. Rage began to grow in his heart. “Alright, kid since the great Kuzo is magnanimous I will give you a chance. If you can force me to move one step I will put in a good word with master Ramzada.”


Kuzo was completely massive. He did not look like a student but rather a full grown man or perhaps a linebacker for Alabama. Zen immediately charged at him as he looked like he wasn’t paying attention, still laughing to his friends and to Zen’s surprise he really wasn’t! It wasn’t even an act. BOOM!


Kuzo didn’t expect the little kid to charge him at all and was caught completely off guard when they collided. Zen used every bit of strength in every part of his body as he focused it all to one point to take out Kuzo's legs. But even with Zuko caught completely off guard, he didn’t move. Not one inch! The difference was just too great. “No matter how determined you are kid, you can’t learn sumo with a body like that” Razmada sighed.


No matter what Zen did he couldn’t move him at all and eventually Kuzo yawned bored. “Practice is starting, hurry up Zuko” Kuzo pushed Zen to the ground and walked away. Zen knew he needed to learn Sumo no matter what so he found a window and watched their practice.


Stomps and palm strikes. The drills were basic but each student’s movements produced ripples through the air. Razmada had a stern look on his face as he carefully watched over them. Even during these drills, no student dared to slack off, scared of his wrath.


Zen tried his best to follow along. Every time he made a move he would look at the other students correcting any mistakes in his movement. He knew that practicing the incorrect movements would do more harm than good. He soon discovered something: it was hard!


As he grew more tired keeping up the same movements became many times hard than climbing the mountain. Soon the students moved on to sparring practice but Zen continued the basic palm strikes and foot stomps. When his arms were tired he would switch to foot stomps and vise versa. It started raining but Zen didn’t care. He kept persisting in the cold rain.


Eventually his arms and legs were sore and hurting badly but Zen pushed through. He wasn’t afraid of the soreness as he could rest while gaming and kept shouting in his heart: “I HAVE TO LEARN SUMO”.


“It’s been 4 hours already, don’t tell me that kid is still out there” Zuko’s friend exclaimed. “Continue your sparing practice, I will be back in a minute” Master Razmada instructed. The students wondered if he was going outside and why. Don’t tell me he is interested in that kid.


“You should give up while ahead kid. Trust me, sumo isn’t for casual kids like you” Razmada started when he froze. Zen was completely soaked, he had bruises all over his body and parts of his arms were red and swollen. Even so he continued his movements, slowly but surely with precision. ‘Doing the motions slowly is harder than doing them fast!’ Razmada thought. Has this kid been out here this whole time doing palm strikes? It’s been 4 hours!

“Don’t mind me sir, I have to learn sumo, just being outside is enough” Zen said. Razmada was shaken when he saw the way Zen looked at him. There was a blazing determination that didn’t seem to waver in the face of any world obstacle. He couldn’t believe that such a skinny weakling could produce such an aura.


Then he remembers something from his past. “Razmada is so strong you can feel his palm strikes in your bones. They hit you at your core” A pro sumo wrestler said. “Ya but his opponent is Yakuza Yamada, I don’t think there is any way to win” “That’s true, it is Yamada after all“ The sumo wrestlers knew how strong Razmada was but at the mere mention of the name ‘Yakuza Yamada’ it seemed as though the discussion was over and they were in agreement. Razmada didn’t stand a chance!

“Introducing challenger Razmada” the announcer boomed. Razmada walked into the ring with determined eyes: “I will be a Yakuza” that was his dream. “Yakuza Yamada” The announcer said. The announcer didn’t bother hyping up the fight at all. That was because the aura of these two fighters had already filled the stadium leaving everyone on bated breaths.


Razmada assaulted Yamada with his fiercest technique: “Consecutive raging strikes!” But in response Yamada simply casually smacked his strikes away with one hand and charged straight ahead. When they collided, Ramada felt like he was a tiny Eskimo trying to push a glacier. He was pushed all the way to the edge which restricted his ability to palm strikes.


How can it end like this? he thought. Yamada planted his tree trunk like legs in the ground and pushed. Simply pushed. He didn’t even use technique and he didn’t need strategy either. He pushed Razmada out of the ring and won in less than 30 seconds. His eyes looked like those of a sleeping dragon filled with cold determination that seemed to set the world on fire.


“This is, the eyes of a Yakuza!” Razmada thought. For this kid to remind me of Razmada, my eyes must be going bad in my old age. “Practice is over kid” Razmada said. Zen was disappointed. Razmada turned around to leave but said: “Come here tomorrow at 6am don’t be one second late” Zen’s eyes lit up with astonishment, ‘I thought this old man hated me’ he thought.

 

Razmada assaulted Yamada with his fiercest technique: “Consecutive raging strikes!” But in response Razmada -> Yamada simply casually smacked his strikes away with one hand and charged straight ahead.

isn't it a bit name error here?

 

Chapter 9

Back in the starter village, Red Town, three high leveled players sat around a small table.

Tyrannical Explosion was a legend of the gaming world. He was known as a famous berserker from previous games who could make players flinch from the mere wind pressure his axe produced. He was also famous for having a terrible temper. In one incident, a player accidentally offended him buy declaring that he would be the first one to defeat a dungeon that Tyrannical Explosion was attempting. Just because of that casual remark, Tyrannical Explosion hunted the player down and Pked him over and over forcing that player to go into hiding.

Moon Goddess was also famous in the gaming world. Her beauty allowed her to star in many commercials making millions but she was not only beautiful but also powerful. Players would never dare to hit on her as they are afraid of offending not only Half Moon Pavilion, but also the expert herself. Green snake was less well known in the gaming world but his eyes were deep as the ocean revealed that he was a true expert. Some speculated that he was a martial artist in real life but his identity was a mystery.

Many players looked at these three experts gathering together, casually sipping tea in astonishment. "Aren't they form the three guilds? Aren't they sworn enemies/competitors? What are they doing together?" One player wondered.

"With my assassin team trailing that shield kid we have nothing to worry about. He will surely be dealt with." Tyrannical Explosion declared. "I sure hope so, leaving him alive would severely damage all our reputations. Other guilds would laugh at us like we were a joke." Moon Goddess said in a displeased tone that revealed her anger. "Yes, if he is not dealt with we might even have to take action personally." Green Snake agreed.

Back at the volcano Zed was thinking about how the 3 defense needed to equip Sakuza's wraps. He left the pillar the same way he came and felt a familiar burning sensation all over his body.

Fire Resist +3, Defense +1

'This is it!' he thought. Although he never wanted to experience that pain again he could only grit his teeth and endure it. It didn't help that his vitality was 1 giving him slower regen (hence he needed more time to recover after walking through the lava) and got less resistance. Vitality also affects stamina but that was irrelevant here. After going through the lava twice more Zed thought that even seeing the cute fire sprites would trigger PTSD. His fire resistance reached 14 and his defense reached 30. With the extra 10 it was enough to equip the wraps.

He tried to get used to the feeling of using palm strikes and side stomps in game as it had a different feeling from real life.

System: You have discovered hidden skills.

[Basic Palm Strikes (Level 1)]

Requirements: 40 defense

Cost: 5 stamina

Description: Strike the foe with open palms forcing them back, low damage.

Quality: Initially looks like a chicken randomly flailing its arms around randomly but from the right angle this might be an amateur sumo wrestler using palm strikes.

[Basic Earth Stomp (Level 1)]

Requirements: 40 defense

Cost: 0 stamina

Description: Stomp the ground creating tiny vibrations. Might slightly stagger opponents in a close proximity.

Quality: Useless in combat as Sumo wrestlers don't even stomp in matches!

'Hidden skills!' Zed grew excited when he saw palm strikes. Especially when he saw the Level 1 and basic tags, which implied that the skills could be leveled up and evolved. Most players were currently just using the basic skills from their classes as they had yet to reach level 10. When he looked at Ground Stomps he was very disappointed however. Useless in battle? Is this a joke? At least it costs 0, is that because it isn't an attack?

Even so he left the tunnel after practicing palm strikes. When Zed returned to the fire sprite habitat he noticed a team of assassins waiting for him with arrogant expressions on their faces. Initially, the assassins were afraid of the hot environment but after grinding fire zombies for the past few days they had developed enough fire resistance to withstand the heat. They had also all reached level 10 gaining special assassin skills.

"It is time for you to die, shield kid." Fading Shadow laughed with confidence. When Zed saw their numbers and levels his eyes shrunk to pin size. 'They came so far in a few days? I'm still level 6!' In swords and magic, stats were important! 4 levels meant they had almost double his total stats. Zed also didn't like the look of the dagger in Shadow's hands, as he could faintly make out an eagle phantom residing in it. Eagles are known for assassinating/assaulting prey many times their size fearlessly.


Chapter 10- Lifeforce

Shadow took the lead and directly charged at Zed. At this moment the fire sprites were disturbed by the invading enemies and assaulted the other assassins in Shadow's group, making Zed's fight a 1v1. Skin hardening!

Fading Shadow was craftily using his speed to his advantage. He would rarely attack Zed straight on. Instead he used a variety of skills to send black sword lights at weird, difficult to predict, angles. He would also throw in feints, making his attacks hard to block.

Xiu xiu xiu

As the lights flashed on Zed's body damages of -10 appeared over his head. 'So much, does he have a way to bypass my armor?' Zed wondered. He did his best to counter attack. Palm strike! Zed extended his arm quickly with all his might at Shadow's position. By the time the attack got there Shadow was already gone. "Scary, scary, but as long as your attack doesn't land you can only passively take hits until you are dead!"

Zed felt like an in-boxer who couldn't step into range, constantly bombarded by attacks. He gradually was forced back into the tunnel, the temperature quickly rising. When he turned around he saw a wall of lava. 'Oh No!' Zed was out of room to back up. Zed had been furiously defending causing him to only lose about half his hp but it had only been 5 minutes. When thinking about how to get Shadow into range Zed realized all he could do was stomp.

Earth stomp!

The stomps produced vibration within the caves walls. Small Rocks started falling from the ceiling. Please stun him! Zed thought. "You really think a trashy skill like that could affect me? These small vibrations? Whatever will I Do?" Shadow taunted.


'So frustrating!' If he died here he would fail the quest, wasted his time to travel here, lose a level, possibly drop his prized wraps. All his efforts would go down the drain. Zed thought back to the dojo as he watched those sumo wrestlers stomp they would shake the dojo. All together the vibrations would have the might of an Earthquake.


'If only I could obtain that feeling.'

System: Earth stomp has leveled up.

Zed didn't see the notification as he put all his attention to stomping as hard as he could. He didn't see shadow or the cave walls, not even his upper body. It felt like the ground and his feet were the only things that existed in the world.

Rumblleee!

The cave walls started shaking more and more. The vibrations started to accumulate. "It's useless even with more vibrations you can't stun me" Shadow said as he continued to attack. -10 -10 -10 When Zed had less than 50 hp remaining the ceiling of the tunnel finally burst open. Lava came pouring down into the passageway behind shadow, forming a new pillar of fire.

"GOOOO" Zed used a palm strike immediately, catching Fading Shadow off guard and pushing him into the lava... "AHHHH'' Fading Zed screamed as he entered the lava, his hp bar rapidly reaching 0, leaving only a burnt corpse. He had some fire resistance but without enough defense/skin hardening there was no way he could withstand the lava like Zed.

System: Level up (you are now level 7).

Zed had no time to celebrate as the lava was spreading. He quickly healed up, dumped the skill points into defense and activated skin hardening which came off cooldown, charging through the lava pillar. When he got the fire sprite area the fire sprites were dancing on dead bodies proudly. "uruu" They let out a battle cry.

While Shadow's items burned in lava, his assassins left 10 bronze pieces of equipment on the ground. Although Zed couldn't use most of the gear as it was meant for assassins, one item caught his interest. It was a crimson chest plate emitting a feint undead energy.

[Burning Lifeforce Chest Plate (bronze rank)]

Requirements: 50 defense, 30 fire resistance

+10 Defense

+10 Vitality

-10 Speed

+5 Fire Resistance

Passive: Increase health regeneration by 10%

Description: Despite being dead, zombies are known for their vitality. They are even able to regenerate lost limbs! The main weakness of zombies is their low speed. As the chestplate is imbued with the energy of fire zombies it shares their traits. Collect more set pieces to unlock additional abilities.

2 pieces- Increased Lifeforce(Passive): +5 defense, +5 Virality

4 pieces Life Shield: HP increased by 10%, After activating, creates a Life Shield that absorbs 60% of the damage received for 30 seconds, up to a maximum of 100 damage.

Zed wondered how someone with this equipment could die so quickly but it made sense when he saw the requirements. '30 fire resistance? I have 20 so I guess I can equip this armor when I get the reward from the fire sprite quest.' Zed was worried about resistances. Facing a mages bombardment of magic defense would be partially ignored, as a solo player he also felt that high defense was useless without enough hp regen to sustain in a fight. He also had low vitality before, which restricted him from being able to use palm strikes more than a few times. All of these problems resulted from a lack of vitality.

But the Burning LIfeforce equipment was a game changer. Zed went to the barren ash filled land surrounding the volcano. There were lava rivers flowing and countless fire zombies wandering around aimlessly. Some were even walking in the lava. 'Such high fire resistance!'

When Zed approached a fire zombie he could see burns all over it's rotten skin making him jumpy. "RAWOUGHH" The zombie came towards him so he sent a palm strike at its chest forcing back. -10

[Fire Zombie (lvl 10)]

HP: 290/300

+1 +1 The zombie had high defense and vitality making it very difficult to kill. It also had double his hp. Luckily the zombie's attacks were slow so it would get pushed away by palm strikes before it could attack. After hitting it with a hundred palm strikes it died.


System: Fire Zombie Slain, Rewarding 300 EXP

Fire Zombie Slain, Rewarding 300 EXP

Fire Zombie Slain, Rewarding 300 EXP

Zed continued to farm the zombies all day Basic palm strike soared to level 5 and then slowly reached level 6 after that. It also got 10% stronger each time it leveled up, meaning that the current palm strikes is 60% stronger than the skill he used to beat Shadow. Every skill in the game worked this way. Every 5 levels, leveling would get harder and the only way to level it up is to use it hundreds or even thousands of times.

Zed was not bored by the constant grinding but was instead excited as he felt himself get stronger. By the end of the day, he was able to collect the rest of the set as it was just a set of bronze equipment and didn't have a particularly low drop rate. He also reached level 8.

 

Your right. I suck at naming and keep forgetting the names of characters so I just decided to rename them to stuff I can remember.

 

so, how the heck the sumo dojo end so suddenly?

 

He went to the dojo during the day, practice ended, then at night he was playing the game. Also I just realized it doesn't make sense to get 2 levels for killing one player and then get 0 for killing zombies so I am going to say he leveled up once for each.

 

Chapter 11 - Arrival

Sigh… A girl sighed as she stared at an empty cup, her beautiful eyes giving off a sad expression. “Come on sis, you don’t have to worry about that shield kid, it is his honor to die for you! Also, who needs him when you have me to protect you, any enemies that come within 50 yards of us will be full of arrows before they know what even happened.” Arrow said. The girl didn’t respond, lost in her own thoughts. Earlier, she was interested in the shield kid just like everyone else, but had somehow implicated this innocent guy. She felt bad! She didn’t mean for this to happen. Even if the guilds hunted him of their own accord, she couldn’t help but feel that she had delivered the dagger at his back herself. This girl was Thoughtful Rain.

Rumble, rumble…

“What’s that noise?” Someone asked. Every player in the town instinctively turned their head and noticed an enormous tank-like existence stomping back and forth, approaching Red Town (the starter town). “What is he doing stomping back and forth like that?” Arrow wondered. Everyone present had the same question. As he got closer they recognized the player as the shield bearer. “How is this possible? Didn’t the guilds send people to deal with him?” The town was in an uproar. Thoughtful Rain had a surprised and joyful expression.

Hearing that Zen had appeared, Tyrannical Explosion actually spit out the tea he was drinking. “How can this be? What happened to the assassin squad?” He couldn’t understand how he could show up, not only unharmed, but while being at a higher level than before!

He started to not believe his eyes but the rumbling told him this wasn’t a dream. He wondered if Zed had some trick up his sleeve to shake off the assassins or if he somehow wiped them out by himself. Explosion quickly dismissed this idea as pulling off a 1v8 is not easy and even if he somehow was stronger he couldn’t keep the assassins from escaping and reporting back at least.

“There are no rules against walking loudly. But knock it off, you’re disturbing the peace.” A level 50 NPC guard said. Zed apologized and started walking normally but at the same speed as before.


System: Earth stomp has reached level 9.

[Basic Earth Stomp (lvl 9)]

Requirements: 40 defense

Cost: 0 stamina

Description: Now capable of sending decent vibrations through the ground. Might be useful in some niche situations.

Zed discovered that using Earth Stomp while traveling didn’t slow him down or use stamina so he was using it the whole way back. After entering the town Zed didn’t bother with the players and just followed the quest marker to a rusty shack on the outskirts of Red Town. The grass around the shack seemed to be corrupted by poison turning it purple. A heinous odor could be smelled from outside that reminded Zed of chemical waste.

When Zed entered, he noticed a witch with green skin mixing a potion in a cauldron. The mana density suffocated him as he struggled to stay conscious. An insidious voice entered his ears. “What are you here for, little one. Oh you are somewhat sturdy, would you mind helping me with my… experiments?”


Chapter 12- Huge Upgrades
“I took the request for the fire essence.” Zed nervously said. He retrieved the red orbs from his bag and gave them to the witch.

System: Quest completed. Awarding 1000 EXP and 10 fire resistance.

Level up, level up! You have now reached level 10.

The necessary conditions have been met.

New class unlocked: Sumo Wrestler

Would you like to change classes? Y/N


‘Change classes? Does that mean I would be a shield bearer any more?’ Zed wondered as he fell into deep thought. He didn’t know what would happen if he changed classes. He knew that hidden skills were good but had never heard of a secret class before…

Zed clicked Accept (Y). After thinking it through, Zed realized he had no use for a shield because no one would party with him so he had no reason to use a shield.

System: Promoted to level 1! Sumo wrestlers are durable and never back down. Good luck.

‘What THAT’S IT? What a scam.’ Zed looked up and down but he didn’t get any new skills or stats or bonuses. He worked so hard to get to level 10 and now he just got “promoted” to level 1 for nothing. When Zed equipped the life force armor, his agility fluctuated as negative numbers appeared, but then was set to 1. ‘I guess you can’t get lower than 1?’

Character: Zen

Race: Human

Job: Novice Sumo Wrestler

Level: 1

HP: 175/75

Attributes: Strength 1, Vitality 25, Agility 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 1, Wisdom 1, Defense 61.

Free Skill Points: 1 (Earned every other level)

Skills-

[Skin Hardening (Lvl 4)]

[Earth Stomp (lvl 9)]

[Palm Strike (lvl6)]

[Life shield (lvl1)]

Free attribute points: 0

Every armor piece gave defense and vitality, at the expense of speed. 10 from the chest plate, 7 from the pants, 5 from the helmet and 3 from the boots. Adding in skill points from 2 levels, Zed’s defense broke past 60.

System: First player to reach 50 defense. Awarding title: Stone wall.

[Stone Brick Wall]: You share the characteristics of a stone wall. Sturdy and resistant to the elements.

Effect: +10 defense


70 defense, Zed was excited as his defense just doubled. He left the witches hut, afraid of what she might do to him. "You really are an interesting guy? Where are you going?" Thoughtful rain intercepted him as he was leaving. "To find a new quest." Zed casually answered. "How did you get so much EXP from one quest? Nevermind, let's go look together." Thoughtful Rain said as she doubted that this shield kid managed to get such a lucrative quest. Zed realized that this was trouble but since he was already a public enemy he agreed.

Slay 100 wolves, nope, kill the ice fairy queen, can't do that one. Collection quests? No these low level quests will take me so long they're not worth it. Zed took out a Hobgoblin but it was pure luck. He was able to kill the explosive zombies but it took a very long time, he only did it for the life force armor.

"I can't find anything I like, I think I am going to go to Red city." Zed said as he left. "Wait up" Rain chased after him. She couldn't understand why he took a glance at the quests and just left without reading any of them. They were all kill quests so he couldn't do them and didn't want to risk the quest failure penalties.

Each town was surrounded by low level areas while cities were surrounded by mid/low level areas (level 20 and above). As you go out you will find increasingly difficult monsters and will run into higher levels, more elites, less safe zones and low level dungeons (level 40+). Even further and players might run into boss level monsters and bigger dungeons (level 75+). Later on players can access the underworld to hunt demons or go to heaven to fight angels but this would require at least level 100.

There was also Green town, Blue Town, etc. as well as a city for each color. With most players being level 10 why would Zed go to an area meant for level 20+. Did he just want to marvel at treasures he couldn't touch? Quests he couldn't take? Rain didn't really understand but she picked up a kill quest around the route to Red City and followed Zed.

Meanwhile the guilds were in a tough situation. On one hand they could mobilize 100 players to take out Zed and he would be overwhelmed easily. But if they did that, even if they killed him, they would still lose face as the big bad guilds mobilize their entire army to kill one lone player. What are they cowards? Other guilds would look down on them while other solo players wouldn't feel good about such a guild either.

The one advantage they had was that Zed couldn't run away. "Assemble the mages." Moon Goddess ordered. Her guild specialized in mage classes, while Tyrannical Explosion's guild was mostly assassin's/archers and Green Snake's guild focused on warrior classes like swordsman. Each guild had players of all classes, of course, so they would have a good team comp to raid dungeons in the future.

Magic was a sort of inherent counter to defense because it partially ignored it. Unless the player had resistances they would be a sitting duck if they couldn't dodge the spells. Fortunately more powerful spells had longer cast times making them easier to dodge. Swords and magic was a very balanced game. There were no invincible classes, only invincible players. But this was also what gave Moon Goddess confidence. "He is done for this time, I want to see how he manages to survive this." She said with cold eyes.

 

eh? you m8 as well create another quest from the witch...
like, making use of his def or durability for each Pots.....

 

Chapter 13

“Ehhh?? You went to a real sumo dojo in real life?” Thoughtful Rain asked. “He he, although I couldn’t get inside.” Zed responded.


Initially, Zed was very nervous as the girl in front of him was incredibly beautiful but as they traveled he worked up his courage to ask Thoughtful Rain about her class and start a conversation. Rain was a token priest, specialized in healing. On the side, Hundred Arrows (the archer who is her brother) was gnashing his teeth, murmuring curses under his breath. “Don’t get cocky just because we are following you. We just happen to be going in the same direction!” Hundred Arrows hissed. “But I am following him.” Rain said innocently with a puzzled look on her face. This caused Zed to break out into laughter which made Hundred Arrows even angrier.


As they traveled, they passed through the starter fields with goblins and came to a woodland area. Trees lined the path and they would have to cross small creeks by jumping on the rocks. It looked more like a hike in the mountains than a fantasy game. While using his scouting abilities Hundred Arrows could see many mobs lurking in the woods. The monsters included wood spirits, elves and tree monsters. Tree monsters were indistinguishable from oak trees but would awaken from their slumber upon sensing players. The monsters didn’t approach the path so the party simply passed them peacefully.


“Not good we have pursuers. There are at least 30, no 50 closing in on our position.” Hundred Arrows said with a panicked expression. In the trees, shadows started appearing around the pathway then an explosion lit the path on fire. The smoke kept rising as the forest burned reducing visibility. “NOOO” Rain screamed, she believed Zed was reduced to ash because she could tell from the fire mana that the spell was fairly powerful. “Im okay.” Zed shouted from within the smoke, a -2 damage appeared.

The surrounding mages looked with wide eyes. “What Explosion only did 2 damage? What kind of fire resistance does this kid have?” Fire Asura questioned. He found it unbelievable that his attack, which easily one shotted any unlucky tank that was too slow to dodge, actually only did 2 damage.


“Being surprised can wait till after we kill him.” Another mage said while using wind magic to clear the smoke. The forest had burnt trees everywhere, the wildlife was enraged. The only trees that remained were tree monsters accompanied by earth spirits. They surrounded the group of mages. When the smoke cleared Zed and his group were nowhere to be found.


“There using earth magic, be careful” Wavy Ocean said in alarm. The fire mages took the frontlines casting flame spell after flame spell targeting the tree's weakness. The slow, sturdy trees couldn’t dodge but it still took a while as the trees had high health regeneration.


All around them there were cave walls with ancient writings and what looked like a cave man’s drawings. A man with a shield faced 7 crowned figures in one scene. This was followed by the man hanging, the kings dancing in celebration. “Where are we?” Rain asked.


System: You have entered the trial of the 7 kings. Experience will not be rewarded. Complete the trial in the allotted time.


Timer: 1:00:00

Reward: ???
Punishment: Death


When Zed saw the timer he felt a sting in his heart. ‘Oh no, my weakness.’