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You have gained +50 Affinity with Shir'tana

'Four levels and five attributes…'

Several soldiers dropped items. She picked everything.

Warrior’s chain mail

Effective against physical attacks + 20 Armor + 20 Life + 10 Endurance 5% Reduced movement speed

Requirements:

Level 13, 30 Strength

Durability: 19/25

Light leather boots

Allows swift direction change + 15 Agility 10% Increased movement speed 5% Less stamina consumption

Requirements:

Level 10

Durability: 16/18

"Jackpot!" Anissa grinned.

In terms of stats, these two items were far superior to what she had on her.

"I wish I could have kept the Sapphire Crown." Everything reversed back, the quest items were gone and she had her own. "Doubles your health, sounds nuts for the late-game."

A small figure was closing to her.

‘Eligible to learn Munshi’s secrets…’ She thought

"E-Empress, we survived!" Back to his regular size, Shir'tana jumped to hug Anissa.

"I was horrified, but I believed in your words," he was patted by her, "for a minute I took over the powers of my ancestor - Munshi Petven. I also peeked into his memories."

"You really spanked those bad boys there, " Anissa chuckled.

"It was all him really," the kid was excited," he led a great life! He was respected by everyone, and the Petven clan was a symbol of power and wisdom."

'So his secrets are now yours?' Anissa thought.

"Did you managed to learn about your parents?"

His face lost its color. "No, I… I think the memories are from very long ago…"

"Sooner or later, we will find them," her voice was confident.

He seemed concerned. "The memories and the knowledge of my ancestor feel chaotic in my head, but…"

'But you got something for me, right?'

She was correct. From the chaotic sea of memories, one incantation was conveniently mastered by the young boy.

Shir’tana’s conscious began to get cloudy. He stood next to her, losing his touch with the world. His eyelids seemed heavy to keep them up. He looked sleepy, his head slumped.

Nonetheless, his lips were whispering ancient words.

An incantation came out of him once again, but this time he was simply a tool controlled by a greater will.

You heard the words of approval by Munshi’s memory fragment.

You are eligible to walk the wizard path of the Petven clan.

"I will gladly accept to walk that path, my little Shir'tana," Anissa declared.

Update to Class status:

Class: Petven's apprentice

MAIN QUEST: ONE OF OUR OWN

In the history of the Petven clan, a few apprentices reached an extremely high proficiency in the art of magic. Their talent made them famous and rich. Even so, none of them got close to the dedicated clan members. In the memory of the legendary clan, challenge yourself for greatness, or fade in mediocrity forever. Become a member of the Petven clan, and share its legend with the world.

The main quest requirements:

You must stay alive until the main class is mastered.

You cannot accept another class, including a second class.

You must complete every related quest.

The main quest will fail if a requirement is not fulfilled:

The current class progress will be lost permanently.

The current class access will be lost permanently.

The skills related to the current class will be lost permanently.

The main quest reward:

You will become a member of the Petven clan.

You will gain full access to the clan's legacy.

Once acquired, the class cannot be lost upon death.

The class will change to Petven's descendant.

‘Everything or nothing, eh? Just the way I like it. Your Anissa will spread her wings, boys. Just watch me...’

She paused her thoughts and wrote a short message, “Cut off the stream”.

After the incantation, she explained to Shir'tana her current status.

"Eh, wha-" Shir'tana was confused, "y-you are now… a Petven's apprentice?"

“Do you know, little Shir’tana, that we have 2 things in common now,” melancholy could be sensed in her voice.

“First, I also grew without a family - I’m an orphan. And second, we are both looking for the Petven clan - my goal is to prove myself worthy and to be accepted as a member of the clan.”

“A member? Then... you? ”The boy’s eyes blurred on the light. “Sister…”

Anissa had a faint smile.

After collecting himself, Shir'tana said, “I-I couldn’t find a trace of my clan even after the transformation…”

“Don't worry. The incantation of Munshi blessed me with the mission to reveal the Petven’s greatness to the world once more. I am convinced that fate will guide me with its hints,” her dependable voice reassured him.

Shir’tana inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled. “I will pray for our success, sis.”

'Hmm?'

Class quest: A beginner step in the art of magic

Munshi’s dream was a miniature of his belief that each struggle is won by the more competent commander. In terms of power, the enemy general had the infinite capacity to match anyone. Promoting your basic soldier Shir’tana was the single way to overcome the enemy.

Before you leave Munshi’s dream, you must improvise once more. Munshi has granted you the opportunity to create your first spell.

*An empty spell slot has been created*

Quest requirements:

Your first spell must be created in Munshi’s dream in the next 24 hours.

Your first spell will have its Spell power permanently set to 1. Any extra points of the attribute will be ignored.

Your first spell will correspond to your other attributes and it will develop with the attributes progression.

Quest reward:

Your first spell. Progression in your main quest.

“Create my own spell,” Anissa whispered to herself.

“Sis, did you said something?” Shir’tana noticed.

Back from her trance, she answered, “Shir’tana, I have the blessing from Munshi to create my first spell. It has to be here, in Munshi’s dream.”

“A-Amazing!” Shir’tana had no spells at his disposal. He had the amulet, a tool used to create a portal for this dimension. He also had the talent to read through Munshi’s diary.

He had a thoughtful face for a moment. “I cannot slack either, sis. While you work hard on your first spell, I will meditate over Munshi’s memories. Let’s both of us do our best!”

“Aren’t you a hard worker,” she chuckled at his enthusiasm, “good luck then, little brother,” she winked.

They separated to work on each task.

Now, Shir’tana was standing in the distance. His serious face was a testament for his efforts to make the best of the memory fragment left by his ancestor.

On the other hand, Anissa was thinking over the quest challenge.

“Spell power will be set at 1…” Then she checked the attribute description.

Increases base spell damage. Slightly increases the base effectiveness of non-damage spells like buffs and heals. Spell power can be a requirement for certain spells. The lower attribute between Spell power and Intelligence slightly increases the base critical strike chance with spells.

In her mind, such a spell should be suitable to only support. ‘Traveling spell, defensive spell? Spell power influence to some extent even some non-damage spells… And how it will correspond to my attributes?’

So far she had invested only in Strength, Agility, Endurance. Those were not the typical mage attributes, "yet if they could remain relevant, and scale the aspects of my spell indefinitely…"

Her Spell power was left untouched so far. It was inevitable to invest in Spell power in the future, or so she thought.

"Or is it?..." Then she shook off the idea. "In no world a mage should sacrifice spell damage in order to support a single ability."

She thought that any moderate investment in Spell power should not be an issue.

"The other closest attributes related to spells should be…" She checked the descriptions.

“Intelligence...”

A requirement to learn certain skills and the majority of the spells. Increases mana pool by 5 for each point. Improves the mana regeneration. The lower attribute between Intelligence and Spell power slightly increases the base critical strike chance with spells.

“Intelligence is a must to learn high-level spells, it’s logical.” Then she reread the last sentence.

“Since my Spell power will be set at 1 for this particular spell, then my base critical strike chance will never increase.”

‘The mana will not be an issue early on, but later. If I have to rotate several spells... “ She thought for a bit, before jumping on the last spell related attribute

“Spellcasting… ”

Increases cast speed. Improves the freedom of movement while casting. Improves slightly the magic control - the ability to reshape spells in more effective ones. Slightly increases the caster’s proficiency - spells are less likely to fail.

“Huh?” Anissa got interested in the part, “reshape spells in more effective ones…”

If the boys were around, they would notice her curious stare. The same stare was a precursor to her best builds in The Forsaken Masters.

“How cool it would be if I can turn a basic fireball into a fire spear? With improved projectile speed, additional chance to pierce. What if I could turn it into a flying Phoenix and launch it upon my enemies…” She loved theorycrafting.

“Magic control could potentially upgrade any spell in a convenient way, plus provide extra damage like Spell power does?”

In her mind, Magic control opened endless possibilities. Of course, it was probably challenging to achieve high Magic control. At the same time, the slight damage improvement would likely be inferior to Spell power.

“Well, it’s just natural to be that way. But what would be a game without a challenge?”

She sat down, crossed legs and unleashed her imagination in another direction. Her quest was still running away with her dream.

TPK Tavern. Ontario, Canada.

“C’mon… I wanted to see the item drops and all that. ”

“Like hell she would reveal her rewards, ke-ke.”

“Smart girl!” Robert Walker declared

Excited gamers chatted after a broadcast. An unknown player by the nickname Empress was a hot topic. Her impressive performance inspired the locals.

“It was a large scale battle unseen to this moment in Brave New World!”

“I-I thought she was losing badly… How did tha-”

“Yeah, until the useless runt turned in Godzilla.”

“But couldn’t he just do that at the very beginning?”

“She probably didn’t reveal her cards to attract attention, I read she’s an amateur streamer.”

“Are you kidding me? She could barely stand on her feet at the end. And why would she send off her bodyguard when he’s so powerful?”

On a corner table, Hiji was in the company of Michael “Faceroll” Flynn.

“She really scared me with that desperado attack,” Hiji said.

“She executed various tactics, and nothing worked.” Michael took a sip.

“To the moment she discovered something," Hiji said. "And I thought the quest is impossible...” He lost a bet to Michael.

“That girl was fully invested in the battle. She contributed fairly as a fighter, but mainly she analyzed multiple strategies in real-time.” Michael was generous on compliments for once.

“You are interested in her!” Hiji provoked him.

Michael's face remained indifferent.

“By the way, she’s working your job,” Hiji chuckled, “with slightly less success though.”

Michael already read a brief article about the girl. She was a streamer with a fan base of several people. There was information about her history of playing The Forsaken Masters.

A game left unnoticed by Michael. Of course, he would play only the most commercial games. He had no idea when exactly his streamer career turned that way.

“Playing just for money…”

Hiji was aware of this. “Hey now, I think I saw a long-forgotten spark in your eyes,” he added and downed his drink, before asking for the bill.

After his friend left the tavern, Michael messaged his manager.

“Drop the tonight’s arrangement.”

His daily ritual was not something the manager would be asked to cancel often. Dozens of messages were sent in return.

The manager’s valuable piggy-bank had uncommon symptoms. What sort of illness undermined the manager’s financial nirvana?

Meanwhile, a warm smile was placed on Michael’s face, long after he returned home, and logged in Brave New World to play offline.

Playing offline tonight was the second waver of his otherways steady schedule.

Virford Mountain, near the Barbarian clan

“Chika, let me see that weapon again!”

The beautiful tanned woman revealed her white teeth. She linked an item to her party members.

Well-crafted Elegant Saber

6-15 Physical attack damage Every third attack against the same target has 50% Chance to cause bleeding Parrying with this weapon will increase your attack speed and movement speed by 10% for the next 2 seconds. +5 Agility

Requirements to equip:

Level 12, 10 Strength, 20 Dexterity

Durability: 9/13

Cannot be repaired

Chika was the lucker in today’s leveling.

“Damn good stats…” Kintaro envied.

“It’s shame that it can’t be repaired,” Baron added, “judging on the look, it might be some sort of ceremony item.”

“It’s not made for battle,” Chika agreed, “that’s why I don’t plan to waste it.”

She just reached level 12, but she was reluctant to equip her precious saber.

The trio farmed low-level monsters not far from the Barbarian encampment. They were on their home back to sell materials.

“How long do you think it will take for the players to reach the second clan?” Baron asked suddenly.

“Not too long I believe. Apparently, there are many highly skilled players from the Virford Mountain faction. In particular the FPS pro James Rodriguez and...” she made an awkward face, “the moba legend Sofia Romero...”

“Huh, w-wait, what?” Baron was surprised. “Isn’t she a grannie by now?”

Kintaro didn’t care much about the competitive mobas history, but even he had heard of Sofia Romero. She was often a guest at big tournaments. She was respected for her expertise in the genre and analyzed games at major events.

“The same Sofia! She’s sixty-something now.” Chika noticed some crowd near the encampment, it was too far though. “And I heard she’s been working with Rodriguez,” Chika’s words made Baron lift his eyebrows, “yeah, you shouldn’t mess with them.”

“Aren’t the people there rather lively?” Kintaro pointed forward.

“I thought the same, could it be some sort of event?” Chika said.

They got interested so they sped their step.

“Huh,” Baron doubted the picture, “aren’t they just brawling?”

“That short-haired girl, she’s marked in red!” Kintaro noticed first.

It was rather extreme for anyone to PK next to the city gates.

“S-She’s the streamer I told you about!” Chika was well informed when it comes to gaming news. “It’s Empress.”

Kintaro and Baron were both impressed by the story Chika told them . They learned about that Empress girl, who was involved in the second magic-related event. On the top of that, her journey turned into a rough battle between two NPC armies. Probably the first of its kind in Brave New World.

“Shir’tana, how we got separated like that?”

“I-I don’t know, sis,” the boy was confused, “I thought we would all return Ephra!”

‘Well, the boys returned there, but we both ended here. Destroying and killing shit...’

Brian: Anissa we are on our way from Ephra, it’s not too far!

The chat message was not reassuring for her.

“Goddammit!” She sidestepped to avoid a two-handed axe swing. “You shouldn’t have done that...”

The attacker showed his back to her, she kicked his leg to make him fall on a knee. Then she pierced two daggers through the back of his throat.

*CRITICAL STRIKE*

The poor level 8 guy died on the spot. The problem was that there were many enemies nearby. Two others were about to rush forward from her sides.

She quickly checked on Shir’tana. The boy was right behind her back, equipped with a basic wooden shield at his size, and an old rusty spear.

‘I had nothing better, but you probably wouldn’t be able to handle better anyway. Just survive, kid!’ She thought.

‘My spell will be up again in 10 seconds...’