Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! Hero time! And some transport skillz!

ANYWAY, this was one of those chapters that I had a bit of a problem writing. It took me around eight hours to get this one done, since I just couldn’t focus on writing it… (^.^’) So it might not be all up to the same quality as the usual chapters.

ALSO… Also… Hmm… What do I put here? I’m kind of at loss here…

ALSO(3), it’s kind of funny… While I was reading some FF online I found some people who used a format very similar to mine when it comes to the author’s note/corner. Was it a coincidence, they are copying me or am I copying then? Oh well… Whatever it is, it sure was entertaining (^.^)

Have a good read!

-------

“Well then…”Arkhoss said as he gathered his thoughts and scratched his chin, still a bit shocked. “You will find the crystal I need in an old sealed cave westwards from Eldor.” He snapped his fingers, making a small engraved crystal circle appear. With a flicker of his hands the crystal floated towards me, and I picked it up. “You will need that to access the area. Afterwards, it will be kept open to whoever wishes to visit it.” He explained me.

“Nifty. So, what’s the catch?” I asked him as I threw the circle into my inventory. He smiled mischievously at my words.

“You see, the area has been sealed many ages ago due to the large amounts of mana circulating within. There was so much magic energy within the place that the very mana started to crystalize.” He snapped his fingers again, and a floating image of a cave covered in large glowing crystals appeared.

“Are these mana crystals? Like the ones I get when mining?” I asked when I saw the scene, but Arkhoss simply shook his head.

“Your mana crystals are nothing more than a natural formation that absorbs the mana around it. These, are the very crystallization of mana. There was so much energy here that it became a brand new kind of mineral.” He said with a subtle admiration in his voice, before putting on a slightly sad face. “However, when mana crystalizes like this, all that abundant energy is lost, since it can’t be converted back without spending even more energy.”

He let out a long sigh while I stared at the image for some time. A new kind of mineral? Does that means I can use it while crafting? Oh, boy. I’m getting excited here.

“Let me guess… There is an exception to this case?” I said after a few seconds of thought.

Arkhoss smiled satisfied at my words, and once again snapped his fingers. This time, what appeared before me was some kind of crystalline formation that vaguely resembled a flower, with some pink crystal spreading from a center where a dark black crystal sprouted.

“That black crystal that you see here is what I want you to get me.” He said with a smirk. “Different from the other crystals, this one suffered an malformation during its initial period and became somewhat unstable, making him easier to convert back into mana.” I grimaced a bit at this. If he is unstable, isn’t there a chance it will explode right in my face when I get it? Arkhoss noticed my doubts and slightly shook his head. “This crystal will only collapse under very specific conditions, so no need to worry about it exploding in your face.”

“Well, one last worry now.” I said in relief before putting on a ferocious face. “So, what exactly I’m going against here? I’m pretty sure it won’t be a walk in the park.”

“Exactly as you said.” One more snap of his fingers and two images appeared in front of me.

One was of wolf with crystalline claws and fangs and with some lines in his fur that glowed just like the crystal. The other was some kind of short and stubby armor-looking thingy with crystals instead of a body.

“You see, before the area was sealed, it was a mining and development area. These crystalline beings here…” He said pointing to the armor thingy. “Is a kind of old ancestors of yours and the Constructs. You could call him the missing link between the two races. They were made by some of the most intelligent races with the intention of doing the hard-work for them. The cave was also the habitat of some wolves that took rest there during the night.”

“Then, these are the guys guarding the mine?” I asked while looking at them. “Then, all I need to do is take care of the wolves that the… armor thingies will leave me alone?” I asked while thinking, but Arkhoss shook his head.

“No. When the mana outbreak happened, the researchers sealed the facility immediately and didn’t have time to recover these objects. Although most of the ones used for guarding stopped functioning, the ones in charge of extracting the ores were built much sturdier to hold against possible collapses, so they survived for enough time to be contaminated by the mana. The same happened to these wolves, so now both works as the guards for the mine.” As he said that, he once again snapped his fingers, and the image changed one last time.

Now there was the image of a much larger and ferocious looking armor showing, with lean legs and a taller frame, as well as two large arms. All of this linked by the glowing blue crystals. The wolf had changed into a wilder looking one, with a large mane and two glowing stripes of fur that went all the way to the tip of the tail, where a short scythe-like crystals sprouted.

I didn’t even need to hear his explanations to know what were these guys.

“And these are the top-dogs.” I said in a confident tone.

“Yes. The construct is the only security model that was still working by the time it was contaminated. It was called Excel-Loran back at the time. It was also a prototype for the next generation. Although some of its equipment deteriorated over the time, he now uses the rapidly regenerating crystals in its body as a mean to attack.” He then turned to the wolf. “This one was the old alpha of the wolfs who basked a bit too much into the moonlight that passed through the crystals, as well as eating them a bit too much. I like to call him Crystalline moonlit ravager.”

“Well, that name is too fancy. I shall call him Doggy.” I answered him in my best serious face, making him blink in surprise.

“As I was saying, the Crystaline moonlit…”

“Doggy.” I interrupted him, making him look at me annoyed.

“The Crystalline moon…”

“Doggy!” He frowned a bit more.

“Crystalli…”

“DOGGY!”

“OKAY! The doggy…”

“Yeah… It sounds kind of silly. Let’s go back with Crystalline moonlit ravager.” I said after hearing him saying the word. He looked confused at me before letting out a long sigh.

“As I was saying, this wolf has a special condition to itself related to the crystals. Different from Excel-Loran, who use the crystal of his own body, the wolf uses the crystals of the terrain around him as weapons.”

I looked at Doggy for some time. There was still some thing bugging me about him. As cool and badass a wolf with a scythe for tail was, he still wasn’t as much of a boss material as the other one. There was still something missing.

But let’s not waste the surprise, right?

“Well. Seems interesting. Where do I sign up?” I said in good humor, receiving a satisfied smile from him.

HEROIC QUEST:

Chaos’ crystalArkhoss, the god of Chaos asked you to recover a crystal found in the middle of the Sealed Crystal Mine dungeon. His true purposes are unknown, but you have decided to help him anyway.

Dungeon details:

Recommended level: 18-22

Recommended party size: 6-8

After completing the quest, the Sealed Crystals Mine will be opened as a repeatable instanced dungeon for the other playersRewards:

Talk to Arkhoss

Ooh, heroic quest? Is it harder than a normal quest? Probably still easier than the Mythical one, though. And that quest title, Cyg did that on purpose, didn’t she?

“Good. If you point the crystal towards the sun, it will show you the way to the mine.” He then turned to the others. “Sorry for my lack of cordiality, but this was a serious matter. Now, if you excuse-me, I shall take my leave.” He said while making a slight bow towards the others before poofing into oblivion.

I got a dungeon quest! Hooray! I wonder if I should call the guys to help me in this one? I don’t think I can tackle a dungeon boss alone for now. But can they even reach here in time? Now that I think about it, I have no idea where they actually are right now.

As I spent my time wondering on what I would do from now on, I heard as someone approached me and gently tugged at my arm. I turned to see Hanbei looking a bit worried at me.

“Hey, Gon. That guy said that he is the god of Chaos, right?” She asked me a bit worried. I blinked surprised before nodding. “Doesn’t that make him… You know, evil?”

I hesitated a bit before answering. Cygnas already told me the answer to that question, but before I could say something, Evelyn intervened.

“No…” She said still a bit shocked. “The god of Chaos isn’t inherently evil nor good. He’s just… Chaotic.” She said after some time before turning to me and saying. “But… How come you met someone like him?” She asked me with eyes filled with disbelief.

“I never thought I would see a god in my entire life…” Logan muttered besides her while staring wide eyed at me.

I laughed a bit wryly. What should I say? I was following a friend because why not, and then I ended up finding that he was going to meet with the god of chaos, and after leaving the god confused he took a liking of me?

Their brains might overheat if I tell them that story…

“Well… There were circumstances…” I said while scratching my head awkwardly. “Anyway, it seems that I will have to go back to Eldor soon, since I still have some things to take care of… So, any last tips regarding the class?” I asked trying to change the atmosphere a bit.

It seemed to work, as Evelyn blinked surprised and then smiled gently while nodding.

“Sorry about that. I was a bit too shocked there and ended up asking something personal.” She said in an apologetic tone, I simply waved it away. “Well… If I had to suggest something about the class that you already don’t do, it would be to not be ashamed of using retreat when needed.” She said before stopping to think about something. “Oh, can you still derivate one of your skills?” She asked me.

“Yes, I still have one point I was holding for when I get my class. Why?”

“Then I will recommend you derivating the Cycle weapons skills.” She said, back to her gentle teacher tone. “You see, when you derivate it, you earn a skill that makes so that you attack before and after changing your weapons, landing two powerful blows at once!”

I nodded in accordance. Before spending my point, I would take a good look at everything I had, but since it’s the professional’s recommendation, I would give it an extra credit when taking it in consideration.

After that, it seemed that there wasn’t much else for us to do, and since it was already the end of the afternoon, me and the girls decided to head back to Eldor immediately. We quickly bade our farewells to the two, but not before Evelyn told me to come back at level twenty since she would pass-me a new skill.

Just as we were about to head back, we were called back one last time, but this time it was Logan who made the call. He was frowning slightly as if thinking whether or not he should do what he was about to do, but in the end he shook his head.

“Come close, all three, will you?” He said in his sleepy disinterested tone.

Me and the girls looked at each other slightly confused, but approached him nonetheless. As soon as we were within his reach he extended his hand and touched our foreheads one at a time.

For Impressing Logan Brown-hoof, he has reluctantly granted you the Skill: Nature walk.Skill: Nature walk [lvl1]

0%A movement technique created ages ago by the original wood-elven rangers who crossed all kinds of terrains when scouting. Using this skill allows you to sense the flow of nature around you and travel on any natural terrain through the fastest path.

+50% movement speed while on natural terrains.

WARNING: CANNOT BE USED IN COMBAT. LOCKS ALL OFENSIVE SKILLS DURING USE AND FOR 10 SECONDS AFTER Cost: 0 energy

I blinked surprised at this, then looked at the girls, noticing they were also as shocked as I was we turned back to Logan who was frowning.

“…You did show me something incredible today…” He said while pointing towards Aura, who was looking at me confused, probably wanting to know what happened. “And I couldn’t simply let you all go back like this when it’s about to get dark.” He said while explaining himself.

Me and the girls thanked him one last time before departing for good. That last part kind of left me confused because I swore his class was druid or something, thanks to him speaking with Aura, but now he comes and teaches us this skill, so maybe that’s not it? No matter.

We immediately activated the new skill and tested it on the woods back home. Han and me felt like two children with how fast we started running. It simply felt amazing how easily we could advance compared to before. Our bodies were being guided by an invisible force whenever we were about to impassionate ourselves and we would always land on some kind of stable surface like a rock or packed earth.

We were so excited with the new skill that two minutes after leaving we had to turn back so I could pick up Aura and Lieutenant who were left behind. Aura barked angrily at me for some time, making me lower my head since I had nothing to say for myself.

In the end, I had to change to the leather jacket I used as a street wear and she took a ride with me by squirming inside the shirt and putting only her head out. Lieutenant ended up taking a ride with Hanbei, who offered to carry him.

Then we once again went back to running through the woods like two little kids, with Yuu doing the role of the mother who had to follow us, since she was the only one who wasn’t over-excited about the skill. In fact, she actually looked like she was used to it.

Martial artists are scary.

Also, I was wondering what would happen if we suddenly were to enter in combat while using the skill. For most of the time, we passed through the areas so fast that most monsters didn’t even bother with us. But I did receive my answer eventually, when one of the squirrel wolf thingy suddenly appeared besides me and immediately attacked me while I was mid-jump.

For those wondering, I met face-first with a tree, and Aura took on the brunt of the impact with me. Afterwards, we had squirrel wolf thingy for barbecue that Aura cooked with a scary pleasure in her eyes.

During our unplanned dinner, the girls finally started their barrage of questions about the class and such. I quickly explained them the skills while examining the possible derivations for them. I could clearly see they frowning when they heard about the skills, after all, it was one mess of a class that I had.

After quickly analyzing all the skills, I was left in doubt between these two skills.

Skill: Unstoppable charge [lvl1](Modify Tactical charge)

(0%)Your charge becomes an unstoppable force, brutally trespassing any enemy in your way while dealing even more damage from the skill used.

Bonus damage increased to 50%

Ignores collision. Skill used can hit multiple enemies. Only applies to self, using on allies apply Tactical Charge.Cost: 10 energy

Cool down: 10 secods

Sub-skill: Offensive Cycle [lvl1] (New skill)

(levels increase with Adaptability)You master the art of changing your weapons mid-battle and begins to exploit the openings such action may create, attacking both, before changing and after changing weapons. Damage and attack may vary between weapons.

Cool down is shared with Cycle weaponsCost: 20 energy

Cool down: 1 minute

I looked at the two windows a bit at loss. Both skills were the ones with the most immediate effect when it comes to battles, and both sounded really good. In the end, I chose the Offensive Cycle because of Evelyn’s recommendation, deciding to pick up the Unstoppable charge when I get to level 20.

“So, what did the crazy god give you back there?” Hanbei asked after we finished our dinner. I picked up the Crystal disk and threw it to her.

“It’s a key to a level twenty dungeon.” I state proudly, receiving a look of admiration from her.

Yuu, on the other hand…

“Shishou… What is a dungeon?” She asked me while tilting her head.

How long has it been since her last lesson? Getting a bit happy with this, I immediately straightened my posture and started using my sensei voice.

“Good question, my apprentice!” As soon as my words left my mouth, Yuu immediately sit down in seiza, that thing where you sit on your knees, and looked at me with expectation. Hanbei seemed entertained by the scene, as she giggled slightly. “Dungeons are maps usually present in RPGs that usually possess enemies much stronger than the usual for their levels and usually requires a small premade group to challenge it head on. There are usually two kinds of enemies who appear in a dungeon. One, are the minions, they are the ones you would usually find the most numerous, but also are the weakest in a dungeon. The others are the bosses. These guys are usually ridiculously strong, but also gives excellent gear for anyone who manages to defeat them.” I Explained everything while drawing in the ground. Yuu kept nodding excitedly at my words. “Now, apprentice, as I said, we need a group before tackling a dungeon. Do you remember what the main roles of the group are?”

She blinked surprised at the sudden question, before putting herself to think about it.

“They are… The damage dealers…” She said slowly while looking at me, smiling happily when I nodded. “The… Curators?” I shook my head and she frowned while thinking again. “Healers?” I nodded. “And tankers?”

“Very good, my apprentice!” I said while petting her, making her close her eyes in bliss. Afterwards I had to appease an annoyed Aura who also wanted her petting rights. “Well, as I was saying, I received a quest that requires me to go in a dungeon, so now I have to build a team to delve into it.”

“And you are taking us, right?” Hanbei said with puppy eyes.

“Heeh… Who knows? I’m not sure if I want to take the two of you with me…” I said in a fake pensive tone, making her widen her eyes in horror.

“NOO! Don’t you dare go into a brand new dungeon without taking me!” She said while swinging my head back and forth. I made sure to keep a foolish expression all the time just for the fun of it.

“Well, jokes aside, I still have to go back to the city and finish crafting my new gear.” I said after freeing myself from her grasps. “So, I guess I still have around a day or two before having to decide on what to do.”

Hanbei pouted lightly, but nodded finally.

On the way back, when we crossed the river we looked around for another one of those fishes we had seen before, but sadly we couldn’t find anything. I wouldn’t mind having another round of sushi later on.

With the skill that Logan gave us, the travel back was much faster, but we did stop by an innocent boar on the plains so that I could test out the new skill I got. Equipping the bow in the main slot and the sword and shield as secondary weapons I waited for it to charge at me before making a side step and activating the skill.

As soon as the skill kicked in, my body moved forwards as I delivered a heavy kick against the boar’s flank before leaning forwards and pulling the bowstring to the limit, shooting at it in point-blank, making it squeal in pain. However, the attack didn’t stop there, as I spun around while putting the bow back into my back and went to the sword hanging in my belt. As soon as I picked it up, I felt as the bow and the quiver disappeared from my back while the shield materialized in my left arm. I quickly drew the sword from the sheath while dealing a wide and strong horizontal slash followed by a simple, but strong shoulder-powered shield bash.

-7 -32 -29 -18 (daze)

-86 (394/480)

Me and the girls blinked in surprise. Is someone out there screwing with me? I mean… EIGHTY SIX POINTS OF DAMAGE IN ONE SINGLE SKILL? AND APPLY DAZE? WHAT THE HELL?

Damn, these derivate skills are kind of broken, don’t you think? Well… At least the cooldown is kind of high. One minute for using the skill and it costs the same as a slash, so it’s not all that op…

Who am I kidding. NERF PLZ!

Rather, PLZ, NO NERF!

Okay, Evelyn, I owe you for this amazing skill. I’m in love with it. This is simply bleeding amazing.

Afterwards I made a few other tests with the skill and noticed that the combo changes according if I use it with the sword and shield instead. I start with bashing my shield at the guys face before dealing a heavy downwards blow with my two hands before sheathing the weapon. As soon as the sword is sheathed, the bow appears, and I automatically jump back while shooting three arrows in an arc, followed by a single power-shot-like shot when I land.

The damage is about the same as the other combo, but the daze doesn’t seem to be a 100% chance. However, it’s still bleeping amazing.

The best part? This is with my old set! I can’t wait to try my new set.

BEWARE FOOLISH MORTALS, FOR GONDORRER BOARSBANE IS ABOUT TO START HIS PATH IN THE ROAD TO OVERPOWEREDNESS! MWAHAHAHAHAH!

Well, megalomaniac tendencies aside, we quickly reached Eldor just as the night began to fall. Once there I asked the girls what they were going to do while I prepare myself for my craft-a-ton that is about to happen. Yuu said that she was going to look around for someone that can teach her more about tailoring, since she was having fun with it, while Hanbei decided to look around for a crafting skill herself.

We quickly marked to meet again at Melinda's place late afternoon tomorrow, because that is when I expected to have finished my crafting.

As soon as we separated ourselves, I felt as Aura suddenly shivered as her fur changed to silver.

“Waah! I was getting a bit bored back there! Why didn’t you separate earlier?” Cyg asked me slightly annoyed I chuckled a bit before answering.

“And why didn’t you appear back there? I don’t think there would be many problems if you were to show yourself to them.” I told her my thoughts. Cyg tilted her head while looking up to me.

“But wouldn’t you be troubled by that?” She asked worriedly, but I simply shook my head.

“Nah. The problem would be if the NPCs found out about you, but I guess players aren’t as much of a problem.” I said absentmindedly.

“I see… Then I’ll greet the two later.” She said cheerfully. “So, what are you going to do now?” She asked me curious.

“Well, for now I’m going to pay Sol and Torg a visit. It might be a bit sooner than the expected, but I guess they should have some progress by now. Why you ask?” I asked a bit curious.

She smiled widely while wagging her tail.

“Well, I just thought that you might want to reserve some time to pass through the cathedral later!” She said happily. I raised an eyebrow at her words. “You see, there is a patch about to come, and there is something you will probably be interested in!”

Ooh? A patch? Already?