“This is 95.8 FM Radio Station for Gamers giving you a live update on the situation with our current big event in Ages Online. The war between Caerheim and Honduria has just been ignited and both forces have had several skirmishes for a few days now with minimal losses on both sides. It seems that both the attackers and defenders are just testing the water so to speak. What do you think Toby?"

“Yes indeed, Adele. All eyes are on Caerheim now. Although the Hondurian side only has NPC soldiers taking part in the battle, the citizens of Caerheim are obliged to be involved in her defense should they want to keep their sovereignty intact. This is the first time events of such a scale happened within the six months since Ages Online’s debut, so none of us know what would happen if Caerheim were to lose the war. Do they become vassals? Or slaves? All we know is that those who joined the event and dies could not log in until the event is properly over. Personally I am a Honduria player and I am majorly disappointed we are not getting any of the action happening right now at the western continent. What we can only do is to contribute funds for the war efforts back at home. For Honduria!”

“Toby, Caerheim is not that weak either. Don’t assume that Caerheim will lose this fight, because fighting on our side is the commander of the Joint Operation Army, Guardian Lifey. Not only is she a whooping level 120, she also has a hidden profession to aid her. We have discussed this before in one of our previous sessions, a Guardian has superb defensive skills that can protect others as well as themselves, making Lifey one of the most suitable candidates for this battle.”

The deejay put on some light-hearted music in the background.

“Of course, a Guardian has some major offensive skills as well. In fact, I do remember us discussing how the process of being a Guardian came about.”

“You are right Adele, the Guardian profession is not exactly ‘hidden’ anymore, but it is still exclusive since there can only be one Guardian at any point of time in the game. For our listeners who missed out on the coverage back then, I shall briefly describe the process. Firstly, one must be a warrior and earn the favor of the Goddess Thema to even be considered for the position, and then undergo the Trial of Heroes located at the Holy City of Athems in Honduria. After successfully completing the trial, one will be chosen out of all those who pass to become a Guardian and be put on a quest to gather the legendary divine arms of the Hero of Thema, Antorine.”

“Does that mean that Lifey actually originated from Honduria but is fighting for Caerheim? Oh what interesting dynamics we have here in relation to this HC war.”

The Internet is a lazy place, where abbreviations and short forms are made for all things. The HC War is what others have started to call the event instead of the Honduria-Caerheim War and will probably continue calling for the rest of Ages Online’s history.

“Anyway, back onto the topic. There are actually two armies involved in Caerheim’s defense.”

“Two armies, Toby?”

“Yes, Adele. It would appear that Lifey had restricted the Joint Operation to players of at least level 50 and above to fight alongside the Loyderidge soldiers. Players and NPCs who are lower than the requirement but still wish to contribute to the battle would have to turn to the local militia. The militia, led by Knight Gordo, is acting as a support regiment to the main Joint Operation. Quite a number of low leveled players are there training with the militia as we speak.”

“Oh my goodness, I didn’t know that! Maybe I should join that and contribute as a good citizen of Caerheim should.”

“If you are not afraid to die, Adele. Some players are sitting out of this war precisely because the penalty for dying consumes too much time which could otherwise be spent leveling. To them, fighting the war is pointless.”

The male deejay cleared his throat like he had spoken something disgusting.

“Yet there are also plenty who are willing to give their lives for their country. Of particular note is the player Naomi, level 22, who had been training with the militia ever since she joined the game. Yes listeners, you heard that right. She entered the militia since she was level 1. It was said that she registered three days prior to the start of the HC war and leveled up very quickly during this period due to the frequent training sessions the militia conducts into Loyderidge’s surroundings. A rising star of the militia, that one is.”

“Wow, Toby. She must have been a role model for all the patriots. Do we have more details about her? I wonder what profession she has.”

“I am not really sure Adele. The Yashita Corps never divulge information about its players so we can only hazard a guess as to what her job class is unless she reveals it herself. Judging by the circumstances, she might have already been offered a knight or soldier profession by Knight Gordo.”

“Wait, Toby! There are reports coming in from our listeners that say she is teaching some of the militia basic martial arts as a form of self-defense. Also, she doesn’t seem to use soldier or knight equipment so she should not be a knight or soldier. The description most of them offered is ‘a spirited fiery young girl’. Sounds pretty awesome to me.”

“That is definitely interesting. So will they successfully defend Loyderidge from Honduria? Lifey and Naomi seems to be at the heart of this war. We at 95.8 FM Radio Station for Gamers wish them all the best and will bring to you updates to the situation at our next session.”

………….

After two straight hours of travelling through the darkness, the two of them finally emerged back into light. The first thing Beast did was to check his surroundings. Judging by the position of the sun and the terrain and the barely visible fortress tower, they appeared to be at the edge of the Tarron Hills on the other far end opposite where the Fort of Lanos should be and the in-game time was late afternoon. Good. An hour of journeying west should put them near the outskirts of Corelia, a mining town further inland than Torintu, with time to spare.

“Fuahhh. I never thought I would miss the sun so much…” At the exit of the tunnel they came out from, Kiki plopped herself down onto the grass with a sigh.

“Same here. “ Beast took a seat next to the assassin.

Kiki flinched ever so slightly, and Beast noticed.

“Is something the matter?”

“Uh… I …”

Could this be regarding the backstab incident back at Savathrox?

“Ne-never mind.”

Beast was helpless. Ever since that thing happened, the cheerful, talkative girl he knew had been replaced by a more reserved and quiet person. It almost felt like Beast was missing something. Was she feeling guilty over nearly killing her ally or was mind control this traumatic or something else entirely? He had totally no idea.

Logically speaking, mind control in a virtual reality is akin to robbing one of their free will and action with only the conscious left as a watching bystander. Who knows how scary it would be if it happened in real life, much less being simulated down to the finest degree in the game. Beast might not have been mind-controlled before but he could easily imagine the horror and helplessness involved. He mentally made a note not to allow Savathrox to use it on anyone in the future, provided he managed to control him.

In any case, the situation was becoming more awkward by the second. Something had to be done to save it.

“Well, Corelia the mining town is near here to the west. We should go there and get a good bath and some food before we decide on what to do. What do you think?”

“Okay.”

The rest of the journey was conducted in silence. Beast tried to break it with random topics of conversation, but they always got stuck in his mouth at the sight of Kiki’ brooding face. In the end he simply gave up. Maybe a good meal and a good bath off these slime and muck would change things for the better.

Luckily, they did not encounter any monsters on their way to Corelia, except for a lone hyena that the both of them quickly disposed of. Entering the mining town, it was to Beast's surprise that there would be so many people in it. Traders, players, NPCs cluttered the narrow streets of the town, showing a clear sign of over-crowdedness. Being out of the way and further from Torintu than the frontier town of Poingard, Beast had thought that the mining town Corelia would only interest those of the crafter and smithy professions, but this amount of traffic exceeded way beyond the normal expected value.

People of all sorts huddled to find space at the sides of the streets, and some were even blatantly sleeping on the pavement, turning the surroundings into an impromptu slum. Most of them appeared to be NPC refugees, with most of the establishments taken up by the richer players.

“Oh no.” Beast muttered at a sudden realization.

As he had feared, the inn was full.

“I am sorry customers but I have no more rooms left. The amount of people taking refuge in Corelia is way too much to handle.”

The reason for this was the war. Although the newbies were sent to Torintu, the majority of those who could contribute but did not wish to throw away their virtual lives and leveling time came much further out west to seek shelter, for fear that the war would be lost and Torintu and Rydelin would be attacked next. Torintu had been informed to make adequate preparations, but judging by the state of the town, Corelia had not been similarly notified. Was a warning sent at all or did the Shadun-esque person who was to deliver a warning to this town fail the quest?

Beast shook his head to clear his self-questioning.

“Even so, could we have a place to wash up and some food to fill our stomach?”

“Sir, I could provide you two with a hot meal for 7 silver 35 coppers each…”

“7 silvers for a meal?!” Beast almost shrieked at the daylight robbery. What gave? Meals were a silver back at Torintu. Even if he factor in the level price inflation for towns, it also should not be this much.

The innkeeper only shrugged in response. “Food shortages.”

“I see. Fine, forget it.” He will cook his own food like always then. “What about use of the showers then?”

“I am afraid washing up will also require a room in the inn. May I suggest what you can do instead which is to head to the nearby Inpelmarr Stream south of Corelia. That is, if you don’t mind the natural water and the outdoors.”

“What? Are you serious? I have a lady with me and she needs her privacy.” Beast moved to protest, only to be held back by Kiki tugging at his shirt. She gave him a silent shake of her head. “Can’t you just make an exception?”

“It is our inn policy sir.”

Beast gave Kiki a signal to leave the place. They were done here.

“I am really sorry sir.”

“Right, thank you.” Beast curtly replied before exiting the inn.

The next stop they went to was the general store. The moment they entered, some of the players inside immediately held up their hands to cover their nose. Beast scowled; it was not like he wanted to move around town covered in sewer muck.

“Hey hobos.” One of the adventurers, clothed in robes and seemingly a mage, called out. “Please go back out to the alleys where you belong.”

Beast ignored them and headed straight for the shopkeeper.

“Hey, hey! Did you hear me?” The same mage again, livid that he was being ignored, planted himself at Beast’s side and talked down to the Lore Keeper.

“How much would these sell for?” Beast asked, while emptying his backpack of all the loot he had obtained while inside Fort Lanos. Hobgoblin ears, various rusty hobgoblin equipment, Antroach eggs which he had no more desire to eat, ratmen paws, etc… Troll blood and armadillo hides he would keep; he had a use for them.

“That would be 5 gold 17 silvers.”

“I said, did you hear me?”

“Deal.” Ka-ching! The money came into Beast’s inventory almost immediately.

“Do you sell anything related to alchemy, smithing and tailoring?”

“Are you ignoring me? Punk! ”

“I do sell some basic gathering items for the professions customer and the chemistry set for alchemy, but any more advanced than that such as processing and crafting should be obtained from the respective stores.”

“I see. Give me the basic then plus a change of common clothes.”

“That will be 3 gold and 95 coppers.” This time, a tanning kit, a pickaxe and a chemistry set filled up the space in his backpack in addition to a set of plain brown linen shirt and pants. Those are the default wear of everyone in game with 0 defense and zero stats. Seemed that his class did not consider 0 defense wearables as “equipment” – something Beast was thankful for. Otherwise, he would have been running around stark naked this whole time.

“Oh, give me some condiments for cooking too.”

“Right, that would be another 75 silvers.” The condiments are long lasting, making them worthwhile to get. Even with all these purchases, he still had approximately 5 gold.

“OI!”

Nodding for Kiki to take her turn at item selling, Beast strode out of the door but not before giving the mage a slight provocative smirk.

………

The moment Beast stepped outside, a loud yell came from behind him.

“Hey, hobo! I challenge you to a duel!”

Beast rolled his eyes before turning around to face the loud-mouth. As always, these kinds of players are a staple in MMORPGs. Snotty, egoistic brats who think they are the rulers of the world.

A duel is an official challenge issued from one player to another when one does not wish to become a chaotic PKer, especially in the middle of a town or city where guards would immediately take notice. Sometimes it is also used as a form of entertainment between friends or as a gauge of player ability between each other. The best thing about dueling is that a player cannot die during the duel, thus preventing the death penalty from taking place. There was also the option of putting something tangible at stake but for this battle, the mage never stated for it.

Beast eyed the mage from top the bottom. Judging by his equipment and that fancy looking staff he had, the mage should be around level 60.

“Fine, I accept.” What was a level 60 mage compared to a level 90 lich warlock?

The battle began instantaneously right outside the general store. In a flash, the mage fired off a cone of freezing wind at Beast, which Beast dodged by jumping backwards out of range.

“An ice person huh?”

“Shut up! Icicle Spike!”

An icicle sprouted out from the ground, which Beast easily evaded. The next one however, impacted right on his chest - a quick attack with multiple basic ice bolts spells using the icicle as a distraction. The basic spells, though weaker than the rest of the spell tree, were very quick to cast and fire. Given enough dexterity, they would not even need casting; there had been rumors going around the forums of a Rapid Fire Magician using bolt spells like a gatling gun.

-99 Hp

-94 Hp

-98 Hp

-89 Hp

-106 Hp

You have been chilled. Movement -25%

Surprisingly, the attacks were not as damaging as expected. Beast silently thanked the innate magic resistance as he kissed the Vanadic Signet Ring on his finger.

However, all that appeared to the mage as though Beast was simply mocking him. Flying into a rage, the ice magician fired ice bolts after ice bolts at Beast to no avail. He was simply just too slow and too obvious to catch Beast with his high agility, much less being affected by anger to concentrate properly on his target. All he succeeded in doing was to coat the streets with a layer of frozen ice.

By this time, the spectacle and noise had already attracted most of the people near the area to come and watch the duel.

Suddenly, the mage’s attack patterns changed.

“Fenrir’s Fang!”

Stopping his ice bolts volley, a huge ice lance suddenly coalesced over his shoulder, which he then hurled with a flick of his arm. It took Beast all his reflexes to jump off to the side, allowing the spear to pass and smashed into a stone wall behind him before breaking into harmless pieces.

Not letting up on his attacks, the mage quickly followed up with a teleport to close the distance and burst out with a wave of frost. What he did not expect however, was Beast taking the damage point blank and launching a mana-infused punch right in his face. Even as Beast’s feet became frozen to the ground due to the area of effect skill, the Lore Keeper used the ensnare effect as an anchor to absorb the recoil of the punch. In an instant, the mage flew backwards onto the ground, his health bar over his head cut by half.

"Whoa, did you see that? He just pwned that dude's health in one hit."

"What job is he? I don't remember there are any classes that fight barehanded."

Beast raised an eyebrow. Were all mages this weak? Or was it just this one person with a weaker constitution? Or was it because he injected all his 2500 plus worth of mana into that one attack that caused such an effect? Maybe it was a combination of both, but Beast frankly did not care. He was going to try out a combo that had been on his mind ever since he got out of the Lanos Catacombs.

It was at this point the opponent smiled; He must have thought that Beast ran out of mana using his best skill.

“Rage of Frost! Fenrir’s might!” Those were buffs that increased magic power and Ice type damage. He was going in big.

“Mana drain!” A swirl of faint blue which only he can see started to flow from the surroundings into him through the Gloves of the Conqueror.

“Cold fury of the Borean North Wind blows the sky; hailstorm of Iycintes swallows the land. Freeze! Abso-“

To the mage’s horror, Beast’s mana bar started to fill itself, while his own mana was slowly being inexplicably drained. Before he could cast his finishing move, the mage’s ultimate spell cancelled itself due to a lack of mana.

Then, it was Beast’s turn to attack.

Breaking out of the ice shackles rooting him down, Beast infused all his available mana into his punch again, catching the mage right in the stomach. The attack blew off one third of the mage’s maximum health in an instant, dazing him and leaving the poor man vulnerable to the next. Another blow later, the mage fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, defeated.

Just as the duel ended with Beast’s victory to the applause of the gathered people, Kiki exited the shop.

“Ready to go?” Beast asked.

“Did something … happen here?” The girl raised an eyebrow at the sight of the aftermaths of the duel. Frost coated the storefront and pavements were littered with pieces of melting ice shards. A man’s groan audibly rang out from under Beast’s feet.

“Nothing much.” Beast shrugged. “You ready?”

Kiki nodded, and they both left without looking back.