I did it!

First Chapter of today!

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Chapter 26: Shadows Follow

It was Sunday, more than 24 hours had passed since Makoto died at the hands of those 3 Bounty Hunters and he would finally be able to go back inside the game.

While putting on a new shirt he looked into the mirror and remembered about his eyes and the kick from yesterday.

Just what was happening to him?

Could it be that he had retained some kind of muscle memory from playing Azalon? But why would his eyes glow red just like in the game then?

Unsure, he decided to look online if he could find anything about what he was experiencing, after kicking the thief from yesterday like that without any prior training, there was definitely something going on.

His search though turned out to be fruitless, there was nothing to be found, not on the actual website nor the forums.

After over an hour of searching without finding any clue, Makoto decided to keep it in mind as currently it was pointless to pursue if he had no idea what it really was.

He had already tried getting angry but you could hardly fake real anger so the posing and angry faces he pulled before his mirror had also not brought up any new revelations.

Still concerned if what he was doing was the right thing, Makoto entered his capsule, delving into the world of Azalon.

…..

Makoto returned back to Marahel where he started his journey.

It was more than a bit frustrating that he would have to walk all of that distance again.

One good thing was that Lilliana and Sanja were nowhere to be seen, he really didn't want to explain to them why exactly he was back in town again.

Everytime you died in Azalon there was a punishment, you would lose experience, could drop a level, 'Neutral' and 'Good' players had a minimal chance of dropping gear while 'Chaotic' players had a bigger chance.

Right away he checked his gear and experience bar, it didn't surprise him that he dropped back down to level 18 even though he was still close to 19.

Luckily enough, Makoto did not lose any of his equipment, that would have been a pretty big loss after already losing so much game-time and experience.

Playing with the idea of maybe getting a Task to shoot back up to 19, he decided to visit the Inn.

As always there was no greeting or nice words of welcome from the Innkeeper, only silence.

There was no change with the Tasks, just the usual level 15-18 hunting Tasks, too low for his taste.

About to leave the establishment, his eyes fell on the Bounty-Board out of an old habit and what he saw made his eyes grow large.

Kill the Heretic!:

Current Bounty Hunters: 12/100.

It had been reset.

His Bounty Request had actually been reset.

Until now he had thought the issue would have been dealt with after dying once and making the group of 3 practically the richest players in the game but no, his bounty still counted and was reset.

"You gotta be fucking joking me here!"

Unable to contain his fury, Makoto practically dragged the Innkeeper to the Bounty-Board and put the man's face against his Bounty request.

"Explain!"

Was all he said and the taller man clearly struggled under his unyielding grip.

"It seems to me they issued the Bounty Request more than once, it is highly unusual but since you foreigners always come back, it has become more and more popular.

That is all I know, if you want to get further answers you have to visit a Magic Institute and now please unhand me!"

Clearly enraged, the Innkeeper wrenched himself free from Makoto's grip and went back behind the counter he had been rudely dragged from.

"Just how rich was the Blood Moon Church..."

Unable to believe how unlucky he was while cursing the Cardinal many times over, Makoto left the Inn in quite the hurry.

Judging by the low number of people that accepted the Bounty Request on his head a second time, Makoto's guess was that most of the players did not expect this option on Bounty Request just like Makoto himself.

The people that killed him had to drag his body all the way to the Capital as it was the nearest city with a Magic Institute, if they noticed that they could accept the same Request again then they would already be on their way to Marahel.

With a bit of luck he still had some leeway until they got here and he would be able to cross the river.

Going far enough east and south so he would escape their tracking Skill, that was his new objective.

Sure he had the option to go north and try it that way but that was uncharted territory, he had no idea if the lake would not just stretch for half a day or if he could even cross the damn thing.

If he went south he would at least know the way.

Right now, in a hurry and with constant paranoia, Makoto would rather travel the same path again to cross the river and then take a detour than the other way around.

Practically running and looking over his shoulder every few minutes, Makoto was able to reach the riverbank he had been at before in record time.

He was looking at the rushing water and about to jump in when his instinct warned him.

Twisting his whole body so he fell to the floor, an arrow lodged itself in the soft riverbed before his feet.

Looking back, behind him he saw a familiar party of 3 running towards him, clearly unwilling to let him go.

How they had even found him was beyond Makoto.

Without thinking about it or hesitating any longer, he jumped into the river and the strong current got a hold of him in only a few moments.

He was traveling a lot faster than he would ever be able to on foot, leaving the 3 players far behind him.

It was extremely risky as he nearly drowned a good dozen or so times but Makoto decided to stay inside the cold water for more than an hour after which he used all the power he was able to muster to escape the deathly clutches of said river.

Shivering from head to toe, Makoto dragged himself on the riverbed and needed a good moment to get his head back into the game.

A quick look on his map confirmed that he was incredibly far south now.

Way out of the reach of any tracking Skill hopefully.

After the dizziness inside his head subsided, Makoto started his Journey East again.

He was incredibly far south now but not that far from the Capital anymore, luckily for him he would have had to travel south at some point anyways to reach Elisante.

Just like last time, there was no forests anywhere close, only fields with a few Dire Plain Wolfs patrolling and a bizarre green creature.

Living Carsureus Plant: lvl 18

Makoto saw the letters but he could not believe that it was actually a plant.

The closer he got, the more details revealed themselves to him and he was able to see vines that forked into thick packs, resembling something like muscles.

The whole thing seemed to be made out of these vines that snaked all and every direction, tangling and mangling together in the strangest of ways, creating a living and walking creature.

Unsure what to expect he readied his sword.

The thing noticed and looked at him, its head had two empty sockets where the eyes should have been and with a mouth gaping open wide, it lunged towards Makoto.

The blow itself was not heavy and he was able to block it with his sword but it attacked fast, jabbing left and right in a rhythm too quick to follow.

More than once he received a vine hand into his sides, unable to block every single hit.

You have received 102 Damage!

You have received 95 Damage!

You have received 79 Damage!

The hits could be called weak but the incredible attack speed made up for it by a long shot.

He blocked on purpose for a good while, letting his regen kick in while observing these movements, too fast for any normal creature.

After half a minute he used a clean slash and one of the thing's arms fell to the ground, it had been a calculated and swift move.

Slightly proud he watched the creature stop and look at its own shorter arm.

Only moments later vines started to form a new hand and it continued attacking, wiping the smile from Makoto's face.

Every time he attacked, the thing healed, he did little to no damage to it as the system windows only showed minuscule numbers.

An idea formed in his mind and after stabbing its body a few times a sudden Critical hit confirmed his suspicion.

"So you are the first 'weakness' type, I see."

He spoke more to himself than to the creature while attacking the spot around its chest where a man's heart would normally be without mercy.

Critical hit after Critical hit followed and soon enough the plant monster broke down on the ground, leaving behind a few of its vines that he put in his Inventory.

The Living Carsureus Plant Monster had been a special kind, it had a regenerative body that would regrow pretty much everything, only the area around its chest was vital and could actually hurt the thing.

Abilities such as extreme regeneration and the vulnerability of one specific area would normally be associated with bosses, as they generally had a bigger build, allowing for an easier area for the player to attack.

In Azalon even a normal monster could have these characteristics simply because the players did not have to fight with mouse and keyboard but instead had an actual able body.

It allowed for precise attacks, with precise timing.

Gameplay in a Virtual Reality game could be called the one and only selling point of any game, it did not even have to be RPG based like Azalon.

Right now only a limited number of people played Azalon as it was incredibly expensive but cheaper capsules and lighter equipment to enter this world would reach the market in the middle of February, allowing even the average High School student easy access.

As far as Makoto knew, the current number of players only reached in the 50 thousands, with the middle of February, 50 million more would join the Server.

When cities already felt crowded right now they would be bursting with players in 2 weeks.

Wiping his sword clean, Makoto engaged a Dire Wolf this time.

He was already used to their style of attack and had no trouble in evading left and right while cutting the beast into tiny pieces.

Naturally he was now always on the lookout for potential Bounty Hunters while steadily heading East.

The number of Dire Wolfs increased, packs started to form and Makoto began to have serious troubles.

Only after killing a pack of 10 Dire Plain Wolfs did he reach level 19 again and not only that.

The Skill 'Blood Rejuvenation' has leveled up!

The Skill 'Curse Blade' has leveled up!

Blood Rejuvenation:Bathing in the blood of others you are able to find new Strength even during extended skirmish and battle.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level6 (1%)Skill Effect:0.35% max health restored every second for every 2% missing health.

Curse Blade:Enchanting your blade with a secret curse your every strike will lacerate the enemies flesh, bringing unbearable pain and misery to your opponent.Skill Type:activeSkill Level7 (2%)Skill Effect:+65% more Chance to inflict the 'Bleed' status effect.Additional Effect:+40% more Damage and longer Duration when inflicting the 'Bleed' status effect.Extra Effect:+5% Chance to inflict a random status effect.Uses:25 Mana per attack

His 'Curse Blade' Skill stopped gaining a higher chance to inflict the 'Bleed' status effect with this new level up and instead he gained the chance to inflict a random status effect on top of it.

This was actually the first time he had heard of something like this.

Normally Skills would increase and give you better benefits but not new ones, Makoto was unsure if it was with every Skill like that when you leveled them up enough or only with 'Curse Blade'.

Never the less it pleased him, it made the Skill a lot more interesting, especially because it said 'random'.

If it was random could he not also inflict deadly status effects too?

The thought alone made a devilish smile appear on his lips.

The regeneration from 'Blood Rejuvenation' was no joke either at this point.

Falling below half health allowed an insane amount of regeneration, just 5 seconds equaled a health potion at this point.

In a way just this one Skill made it totally worth to pick his Class.

Was this the reason why he only had 2 Skills, because one of them could be called too good?

Remembering how one Archer had made a complete fool out of him before, he was not sure if that was really fair.

Clearly there was an easy way to counter it and Makoto had a feeling that there probably was an item that would put the same effect on an enemy player, maybe it did not exist yet but if he could smear his blade with poison why not get the same only with the 'blighted' status effect?

Deep in thought he nearly did not hear the Dire Wolf until it was too late.

Kicking the mutt in its ugly face, Makoto revealed a bloodthirsty grin.

He needed to reach level 25 as quickly as possible to stand up to those Bounty Hunters.

Wielding his sword with both hands he used a practiced feint to make the Wolf back off out of fear, only to then step in and shove his blade down its stinking throat.

Critical hit!

756 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Slowed: -15% movement speed until the battle is finished.

Thankful as always that his sword's Special effect kicked in, Makoto pulled out his blade while the Wolf fell to the floor with a yelp.

A smile on his face and no mercy visible in his eyes, he butchered the beast alive, even going as far as feeding it its own intestines just to add a little flavor to the fight.

Satisfied with the result, Makoto wiped his bloody hands clean and waited for the desecrated corpse of the Dire Wolf to disappear.

Wolf teeth and a piece of pelt.

Picking up the loot like the good boy he was, Makoto started heading north-east.

The Capital was very close now.

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Hope you all enjoyed!

It has been 3 weeks now since I uploaded the first Chapter, happy anniversary, yayyyy. :D

If you have any questions, ideas or advice, don't be shy and comment below. :D

See you again soon! :drinkT: