Recruitment

"Kill it, kill it!"

"I don't do enough damage! My spells are still on cooldown!"

The two were having a hard time making it up to where John was.

Death at this point would be horrible. As a bonus of Assimilation, the time, gear, and experience penalties were negligible until around level five, but the long trek back to the hill was undesirable. The Skarl pair struggled under the over-leveled mobs.

"Blast it!" Dedication screamed as the level five tainted rabbit jumped to attack him.

-32

A point-blank Beam engulfed the tainted critter's head, covering it in another layer of laser burns.

[Your teammate has slain a Tainted Rabbit]

[You have gained 45XP]

They had killed for half an hour to get here, but Dedication was still pleased by the experience, very high for a single mob, split between the two players too. But then again, the Skarl representatives were level three, fighting against a level five mob.

"Heal me," EM requested, eyeing the last foe, a scorched tainted raccoon.

[Tainted Raccoon]

Level: 5

HP: 139/168

Her health pool, displayed in bright red in the party combat window, was at 67/129. "Floodlight's almost ready."

"Sure, but…"

\12

Dedication grimaced as he used another chunk of his health bar, setting his health to 45/127.

+18

The heal wasn't quite as much as Radiation had hoped for.

As a result of the unified resource system of RISE, priests gained more relevance than simple healing – they became the lifeline of a party – a resource for damage and survivability. They allowed warriors to tank more, and mages to cast more.

Logically, they should also allow priests to heal more, but that created a problem of infinite circular healing as spells mostly cost less their effects.

As such, there were different healing effectivenesses on classes. It was one hundred percent effectiveness on tank classes, a bit less on physical ranged classes and DPS melee classes. Mages had anywhere from 70% to 50% based on the type and other priests had near zero.

Additionally, to prevent over-prolongation of fights, there were diminishing returns on consecutive magic class healing that were introduced with the second Assimilation barrier.

Still, the 18 health heal really wasn't much.

The raccoon didn't seem to care about mechanics, and continued, reaching around 15 meters in distance.

EM Radiation was chanting her spell now, not Beam, but something stronger.

[Floodlight]

A - Grade Spell

Rank: 1

Total Maximum Damage: 14 + (315% Intelligence) + (285% Equipment Stats) SDU | (Light; Fire)

Total Minimum Damage: 5 + (125% Intelligence) + (110% Equipment Stats) SDU | (Light; Fire)

Duration: 3s

Effective Radius: 15m

AoE Arc: 55 degrees cone

Cooldown: 1min 35s

Cast Time: 1.25s Second Standard

Total Cost: 18% Current Health; 15 HP Minimum.

Notes: Burst of light for a duration in a cone; deals more damage with closer range; angle cannot be changed mid-cast; cannot move during use; does not penetrate through solids; invariable damage per tick but can be canceled mid-cast, refunding the unused cost.

Floodlight was a versatile skill that applied a decent AoE in a cone in front of the target. Mages could also use it as a sort of shotgun, but that greatly reduced the AoE as the spell didn't penetrate mobs. Of course, the immobilization made this tactic a humongous risk.

Radiation finished the chanting for the spell, completing it in 1.073s. The raccoon was a mere three meters away at this time.

\15

In front of her hands, a beam of light opened, overpoweringly bright, like the sun gracing a group of mere mortals. It was a stream, the sum of the individual photons carrying enough energy to visibly push back the raccoon.

~5

~17

~33

A cumulative damage number started collecting over the tainted raccoon's head. There was a shrill squeal as the raccoon started roasting. It was burning – burning alive, consumed by an overwhelming light. It struggled to escape the AoE, turning its body and running to the left.

~49

~65

Light damage, the next best thing to holy damage against the tainted, chewed through the raccoon's fur, leaving it scorched black and sizzling as the flesh underneath boiled away.

[The target has been partially blinded].

~87

The tainted raccoon finally made it out of the beam, losing the majority of its health and eyesight on the left side.

EM tried to cancel the spell and react to the raccoon's escape but its nimbleness was beyond the starter optical elementalist.

Out of the horrifying effects of Floodlight, the raccoon leaped on Radiation's chest, ravaging the neck area.

-25

-18

-20

'Devotion.'

\30

+40

Dedication quickly used an emergency healing spell. It had a very poor exchange ratio of cost to healing, but Radiation would have almost died otherwise.

However, it was only a temporary fix, as the sharp claws continued to rip into Radiation's robes and the supple flesh beneath. She tried to defend herself with her arms, but that only resulted in those getting torn up.

-18

-17

'Holy Strike.'

\5

[Your health has nearly been depleted from magic overuse. Visibility and weariness symptoms have evolved.]

Priests weren't completely defenseless. The blood of in his wrist welled up into the staff, shooting a lustrous bolt of holy magic.

-26

The lance-shaped charge stuck the tainted raccoon in the hindquarters, ripping the mob off the mage.

There was a moment of respite and Dedication knew they had to finish it here: they had nothing left.

"Hit it!" Dedication screamed, not sure who he was shouting to.

He was barely aware of what he was doing, but under the dazing effects of magic overuse, he lumbered over. He staggered to a stop before the monster, almost falling over. He gasped and gave the raccoon a blunt-sided smack with his staff.

-6

Due to his pitiful stats, the overhead blow didn't do much, but it was enough to hurt the critter. He raised the staff and brought it down with whatever force he could muster.

-5

And again.

-5

[The durability of your Starter Staff has decreased by 1]

The depleted priest bludgeoned the raccoon over and over until it was immobile. The holy image was wholly absent.

[You have slain a Tainted Raccoon]

[You have gained 69XP]

Then Dedication dropped in exhaustion right beside his colleague. He gasped for more breath and shoved biscuits in his mouth, almost choking on it. And he lay there, recovering health.

In the corner of his eye, melded into the thirteenth cliffside, a boulder shimmered. The anomaly formed a silhouette – a human silhouette – squatted on a rock, squinting at them like a game analyst watching the most questionable game of his career.

"Hey, buddy," John finally called, waving his hand dramatically.

Dedication didn't reply – he couldn't reply – his mouth was full of gluten and sobs.

"How was the trip? I hope the walk didn't take too long."

Dedication cursed the cooperation offer in his head. He cursed the fact he had claimed goodwill. He swallowed, painful on his dry throat. "How long were you watching?"

"The whole of that last fight. It was a good one."

Radiation moved her head with crumbs tumbling down her face. "Didn't you say that you were farming while waiting for us?" she panted.

"I got bored. Thought I'd lend you a hand."

"Yes, about that helping hand," Radiation mumbled.

John shrugged. "It's good to struggle once in a while, you know. You'll grow faster."

"Struggle is right, maybe not even enough to describe that – that was almost death," Radiation retorted.

EM was acting unprofessionally again. Dedication had cautioned her earlier to watch her tongue, but he was too exhausted to apologize on her behalf.

"I've always been more a safety net rather than a harness."

"No one sets a safety net millimeters about the ground…"

John shrugged again and hopped off the rock, landing in front of the sprawled Skarl members. "Well, you're here in one piece. That's good enough."

"Yeah, we're here," EM grumbled. "But you haven't even told us what you want to do."

John pointed to the peak of the hill. "That's the plan: to kill a few elite monsters of this hill, maybe catch us a glimpse of a boss."

…

The path from the thirteenth landing to the fifteenth landing was scattered with bodies. It might not have been the a lot of the landing, just a bloody line, but it was still terrifying. They were varied in size and race, location and level, but all brutally bloodied and very dead.

As his companions examined the mobs, John examined them.

Dedication was young, younger than his fairly clean behavior made him out to be. From the beneath the burgundy robes, he appeared to be seventeen with a fresh boyish face and a fit body. He wielded his staff with tired confidence that was also apparent in his dark observing eyes.

EM Radiation's appearance, however suited her demeanour. The perfect single word would be hot: as in her fiery temper, streaky red hair, and admittedly, appearance. Seemingly five or so years older than John, she had a pale-ish complexion that somehow matched her grimy cloak and bloodied, cream-white robes beneath.

Dedication finally glanced away from John's carnage and looked at the man himself. John: that's what his nametag said, he hadn't lied. Dedication then looked at the various carcasses again. "So, John, could I ask what level you are?"

"Five."

Dedication had expected something similar, but that didn't stop his jaw from dropping. "If you don't mind me asking, could you confirm your lack of affiliation?"

"I don't have a guild…" John answered. He looked at Dedication and added: "I don't plan on joining one either."

The Skarl representative wasn't surprised: such a player was probably beyond their guild. "But would you be willing to consider further cooperation? A bit after the official release opens, the agreement stipulates we can run the starter dungeon. I'd like to snatch the first clear from the larger guilds."

John considered. The Tainted Tunnels must have recently been uncovered from beneath Gyead. The dungeon was a five-man dungeon, and most teams would be able to clear it at level four. It dropped a certain item on first clear too.

Dedication had also confirmed John's suspicions of the pre-release restrictions. He tucked that into the back of his mind.

"That sounds good. But it won't be for free," John answered.

"Of course, you can have drop priority: we'd just like to get our name out there."

John nodded.

They continued until John stopped them at the fifteenth landing. This stair in the cliffside was populated except for the small area where John had previously hunted.

He pointed at a collection of mobs. "Go kill them, you need to level up first."

"Shouldn't we enter as a party?" Radiation asked.

"Nah, just go by yourselves," John answered. "It's not efficient enough."

There was a certain point where the killing speed of a party was outweighed by its size. Prior to the level five changes to party XP, this limitation was around three or four for normal players, depending on the strength of the members. But for the current level of John, this optimal range would probably be alone or with just a priest.

With the thief clearing out the stronger mobs and luring away the tainted lizards, the pair had an easier time leveling. Even with the level six raccoons, they had decent time as long as John gave them a shot or two.

Overall, the thief was very pleased with his new companions. They seemed to be of a decent skill level. He had thought as much during their earlier struggle, but this simply confirmed it.

But why did John accept the offer for Skarl when he could have partnered with any goliath of the RISE pre-release? As he fought off the mobs in front of him, he further considered the pair.

Particularly, Dedication was interesting. Why was he in Skarl? John had examined it carefully, the implications puzzling him. That was not Dedication, John knew that player.

He had met the same player in the past, under the same appearance, but a different name and banner.

Previously, it had been Lark of the Night. He was a star healer, one of the best in the Hiar region, one of the key members of the King's Men. That troop, like the historic actors of England, brought great tales to the players of RISE, only their stories – anecdotes and recordings – were exclusively of their countless encounters with Nike.

But there was no way to change a username in RISE, nothing other than to reset.

'So why did he reset?'

John had no clue, but regardless, it would be a good idea for him to befriend such a valuable player. If he stayed in the Skarl guild, then John would have relations with formidable power. However, if Lark of the Night, or Dedication rather, left, then John would be more than happy to take him under his wing.

And there was EM Radiation too. John hadn't heard anything about her. Her skills and adaptability seemed to be good amongst the pre-release players, but it was too early to make more speculation based solely off that.

He still had the Focus skillbook, which might be worthwhile to give Radiation in exchange for a better relationship. John played with the thought and decided to hold onto it for a bit. He might give it after a bit more judgment.

'This pre-release is a mystery, but at least it's a mystery full of gems.'

He aside the thoughts of recruitment and focused on the mobs ahead of him.

'Pounce'