The Killer

"Don't panic, stabilize your breathing, then start to think" he muttered to himself.

Living his previous years without his lower limbs, it is not surprising if his upper half are more developed than the others. He is naturally ambidextrous and his intelligences is higher than his peers. Although the absence of a proper childhood makes him easily distracted and fascinated by anything new, even childish at times, he could be extremely serious when the situation calls for it.

He inherited this trait from his father, a very successful lawyer. Successful to the point that he surrendered taking cases and settled for consultancy services. Way back before his parents were married, whoever hired his father would have the proceedings shift to their favor, that's just how good his father's skills were.

But all the prestige was a double-edged sword, as his reputation grew, he was slowly considered not only as a valuable asset for his clients but a threat to the opposing party. When big shots are involved, death threats becomes a daily occurrence, both from his clients and the opposition.

As a professional, he was prepared for the risks that come with the profession but his loved ones are not. It was either the profession, or the family. He stopped accepting cases from everyone and put up a consultancy firm instead. The big shots seemed contented with his stance as the threats stopped appearing by his doorstep, as long as he doesn't take sides, they would just let him be.

Blake didn't attend school and spent most of his time at his father's office. Learning firsthand the tricks of the trade that his father spent decades learning. When his father died, the firm disbanded. He decided to put up a small consultancy business at his home, providing services online as well as taking over his father's old workspace. Together with the annuity from Immerse Tech, he was set for life. In fact, just the annuity alone was enough for his gaming lifestyle but he wanted to continue his father's legacy, it was his way of honoring his late father.

"Know what you know and know what you don't know so that you'll know what you need to know more"

His father's words echoed on his mind. The multiple repetitions of the word "know" was enough to give anyone an idea of how important information is.

"Know what you know" best refers to knowing one's self, knowing one's environment and knowing all the possible deductions that could be done based on the information at hand.

"Know what you don't know" refers to the obviously unknown. It may be an enemy, an object, a principle, it can take the form of many things. Knowing what you don't know sounds ironic but his father described it as preparation or gathering intelligence. Although "know what you don't know" is a little bit vague, a more appropriate example would be something like searching for a needle in a haystack. No matter "where" you look, if you don't know "what" a needle is, you're bound to fail. After searching and you didn't find the needle, you still get to know that the needle isn't there. There is progress and eventually, the elimination process will lead you to where the needle is.

"Knowing what still needed to be known more" is another complicated thing his father taught him. It basically asks "Why?" on everything. Why was the needle needed? Why was it there? Why does it have to be me who looks for it? The series of "Why?"s are endless. Although perfect information is near impossible, one shouldn't stop asking questions after a problem is solved. You may not be able to answer the questions but as his father quotes "Today's Questions will be Tomorrow's Answers"

First, Know Yourself.

"Status!"

[Name: Blake

Class: Shrine Priest

Subclass: N/A

Race: Elf

Level:1

Exp: 0/100

HP: 100

MP: 70

ATK: 2

DEF: 2

M.ATK: 3

M.DEF: 1

CRIT: 1

HIT: 3

EVA: 1

ABS: 1 ]

"I never really paid attention nor analyzed what being level 1 is before so I can't judge my stats at the moment. Also, this equipment doesn't provide any stats at all. The only thing of use is this staff which truly lives up to its name"

I equipped the staff that came with the beginner pack which all new players receive. Aside from the weapon, the only thing that were of value were some low-level gems for forging and some small food rations to combat hunger.

The staff quickly materialized in my hand as soon as I equipped it. It was as if I pulled it out of thin air instinctively, like I can't not pick it up. It felt like it forced me to grab something which I intentionally want to equip. What's wrong with that? I just felt a little bit controlled but other than that, I find it rather convenient so I'm kind of confused myself.

The staff was made of some twisted wood and was carved with various text colored in blue but I could not recognize the language used. It could be all random scribblings cause they all seem that way to me. It was a little over a meter long and weighs around a kilogram. Multiple zigzagging thin white paper strips were attached on the circular end of the staff. The paper strips were full of the same random scribbles that I could not understand. I tried throwing it away just to see what happens.

The staff disappeared in my inventory slot as soon as I've thrown it over. I guess the actual throw overruled the "intent" of keeping it. I quickly ran after the staff as I could not afford losing it. I'm so weak right now that I could lose to a fight with some field rats, having a weapon might not guarantee my survival but it will dramatically increase my chances.

After searching through the bushes, I finally found my only weapon.

[Poor Subpar Nusa

Level Requirement: 1

MATK: 4

Enchantment Grade 1

Lv1. Increased MATK (+1)

MP.RES +2]

In Aeulheim, weapons can be improved through a forging system. By using gems as an enhancer and using crystals as a booster, an equipment's quality, level and grade could be improved. By using unique gems, it is even possible to change a physical weapon into a magical one. The loots from monsters are all limited to a maximum of Uncommon quality (3rd from the bottom) and Grade 3 Enchantments (also 3rd from the bottom). This forging system embodies the thought of "better for all to suffer from the same RNG than for a single person to destroy the game just by looting an overpowered equipment".

Of course, there are still complaints on how a 96% success rate Grade 8 Enchantment still failed and other similar cases but overall, the system was favored by the players. According to them, it was much better than the much hated "Durability" system and "Enhancement" system which can has a 10% chance of enhanced, 70% chance of downgraded, and 20% chance of broken equipment.

Back to my weapon, the word poor in the name of the staff indicates its quality which is the lowest amongst the 10 ranks. Improving the quality also improves the equipment's main attribute. In the case of this weapon, it should increase the MATK but as it is only of the poor grade, no bonuses are currently applied.

The level requirement could also be called the level of the weapon. Aside from level 1, the weapon levels usually come in multiples of 10. Like quality, upgrading the levels would improve the main attribute of the equipment.

Improving the Enchantment Grade is another way of upgrading equipment. However, unlike the previous two methods, it doesn't improve the main attributes. Instead, it improves the "options" or enchantments attached to the equipment. An equipment mainly has one main attribute and a maximum of 3 enchantments. Also, as you may have noticed, some echantments like Increased MATK has levels while MP.RES doesn't have one. Both of these attributes increase when the equipment grade is improved but Increased MATK can further be upgraded without affecting the weapon's enchantment grade.

I was fiddling with my weapon when a shadow passed by me. I know I should have rolled forward to avoid any potentially dangerous attacks from behind but it was too late. My body instinctively turned a hundred and eighty degrees. What I saw was the most deadly thing I have ever seen.

She looks like 17 and had blue captivating eyes that seemed to reflect the sky, high nose bridge, red kissable lips, fair complexion, and even the seemingly casual green robe which accentuated her blonde hair fashioned to a Dutch Braid. Even those pointy ears seemed to add texture to her already curvaceous body. No doubt, this girl is one hell of a boy killer! This beautiful looks are just too much. My father's "You know know what you don't know know still know" are all jumbled up due to this one person.

She finally noticed me staring at her a she looked my way and I was not even able to look away to hide my embarrassed face.

For a moment, I forgot that I was a level 1 support class Shrine Priest potentially forever stuck in a video game filled with Dragons and Demon Lords, my resurrection still questionable and I might only have 1 life before potentially being dead in reality.

But I was only stuck for a moment before my long pointy ears were filled with an angelic voice coming from this young lady in front of me.

"Hi, my name's Seraline. What's yours?"