Traveling Warriors

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The seconds passed and the strong light receded, letting everyone recover their sight.

But what lay in front of them was simply unthinkable…

All of the players of the 3 factions, with the exception of one, had all died, dropping a few of their equipped items on the ground.

"You survived that?" Dale said with surprise as he looked at the last player

'Incredible. I wonder what sort of Skill, Item, or whatever could allow him to outlive that damage burst…'

'It was only for a moment, but I used an AOE Skill of a legendary weapon while being boosted by a Divine Skill okay...'

'Unless I am giving too much credit to them.'

...

/A few seconds before…/

[Activating the temporary Skill, Refracted Starlight ???-Star]

[The temporary Skill, Balance of Order ???-Star has activated]

With the sword at its center, a massive ball of light completely engulfed the entire Church, as if the sun had replaced it.

From it, several rays of light were created, flying in the sky like comets.

These rays eventually curved in the sky and quickly made their way toward the many players around Resko!

It didn't matter if they were hiding below a roof or behind a wall, everyone connected to those 3 factions was instantly wiped out from Resko by those light comets.

Their items were dropped on the ground as they were logged off without knowing what hit them.

"..."

'My ears hurt…'

But while everyone cowered under the light, Dale complained…

[DING]

[You've dealt 100% HP damage to player…]

[DING]

[You've dealt 100% HP damage to player…]

[DING]

[You've dealt 100% HP damage to player…]

[DING]

[DING]

[DING]

[DING]

[DING]

…

Over a hundred players, over 300 notifications… All within a very short span of time.

Dale had committed his biggest mistake to date, and that was forgetting to turn off the notification sound effect…

He couldn't hear a thing anymore…

[Your quest has been updated]

[Eliminate the Bandits!

Eliminate all of the trespassers before they escape outside with the relics! 20/21

Eliminate all of the bandits' companions within Resko: 132/132

]

[You eliminated 152 Level 5 players, +15.2% XP]

[No Karma shall be awarded due to circumstance]

[Alone, you massacred over 100 enemies without mercy!]

[You have Attained a new Tale! Massacre of 100!]

[In a single strike, you slew over 100 enemies!]

[You have Attained a new Tale! Culling Blade!]

{Ju-Arkesios is requesting you to finish the job in order to receive great rewards}

"!"

'Someone actually survived that? And what was that?'

'A God is actually talking with me?... Is this due to the quest?'

'Perhaps this is a hint for further development?'

Dale looked around and soon saw someone kneeling on the ground next to a sea of items.

This person was completely average, and Dale wouldn't have thought that this person had a powerful Skill…

"You survived that?" Dale said with surprise as he looked at the last player

Dale thought for a moment before smiling.

"Deeming by your face I imagine there won't be a second time." He said as he looked at the fallen man

'An 100% damage negation for a very short time frame? Or something like resurrection after death?'

'Or was he just lucky and had something like 100% evasion to all damage? Any of these would be rather incredible Skills to have.'

'But… It's time to act though!'

"I'll commend you for going this far, but that doesn't change anything. You're hanging by a thread..."

Dale grabbed a small stone and threw it very lightly toward the player…

[You've dealt 1 damage to player Mamoca]

[You killed player Mamoca]

[You received 0.1% XP]

Dale looked deeply at the player as his body slowly turned into white light, dropping a few items on the ground.

'Among some of the disadvantages of being a Standard player is the exact problem of having a value to your total life, and in this scenario, 1 point of damage was enough to end him.'

'It takes at least 1 minute for a player's body to turn into light before it becomes impossible to resurrect him, but in here, they became white light almost instantaneously.'

'This temporary Skill is very fearsome…'

[Your quest has been updated]

[Special Quest, Eliminate the Bandits! has been completed!]

[Resko Reputation +30]

[Total Reputation = 151]

{Ju-Arkesios is giving you your reward for wiping out the bandits that desecrated his Temple!}

Suddenly, a small spark was broken off from the white light of the player he had just killed, flying towards Dale...

{You've received the Skill, Desperation 3.5-Star}

This immediately surprised Dale, who understood what had just happened.

'This must be... His Skill?'

'3.5?! That's super high for a Level 5 player who just left the tutorial!'

'This can be comparable to the Skills you can get from a Unique Item!'

'In the first place, how did he get such a Skill?... Unless!'

'Did he start with a randomized character? Starting the game with a random Skill and stats?'

{Your body is not compatible with the Skill, Desperation}

{The Skill, Desperation 3.5-Star has changed to Vital Heart 0-Star}

[Heretics!

Eliminate all of the heretics so that the balance and prosperity of his church may recover 1/1

Uproot the forces behind them 0/3

]

'Another quest that will likely take a very long time to finish...'

'Will I have to hunt down the organizations behind these players? I didn't want to make enemies but I ended up making one... Or a few all at once.'

'However, that's for the future. I can now rest easy...'

But Dale didn't have a lot of time to rejoice…

"?! Urg!..."

The massive pain was still there, it may have been suppressed due to the previous events, but once everything ended, he finally started to feel it again…

[Your body cannot contain the massive quantity of Mana within it and it's falling apart]

[Because you've spent a large amount of Mana, you've brought more time to your body's inevitable doom]

[Your reformed body is reacting and adapting, changing…]

[Mana Overflow is evolved into a Mana Void]

As he read the notifications with red eyes, Dale though:

'Dammit! What a scam! I'm dying for the fucking quest bonus! Isn't this a tad bit too realistic?!'

'Great power so overwhelming that it kills me!?'

'Worst is... I could've killed all of them without all of this, but now I'm going to die because of this fucking overkill use of power!'

'I'll just use everything I can!'

[Stable Emotions 2.5-Star has activated]

[Fighting Spirit 2-Star has activated]

[Fighting Spirit 2-Star -> 2.5-Star]

[Vital Heart 0-Star has activated]

[For 3 seconds, all fatal damage is negated]

[You have resisted the effects of Mana Void]

[3 seconds…]

[You have resisted the effects of Mana Void]

[2 seconds…]

[You have…]

[Vital Heart 0-Star -> 0.5-Star]

[With the completion of the mission, the Blessing of Ju-Arkesios has begun to dissipate…]

[Vital Heart 0.5-Star has deactivated]

{Ju-Arkesios assures you that you'll make it through…}

But Dale paid no attention as his mind was elsewhere…

The seconds turned into a minute as Dale remained there in silent agony, he couldn't even move his body much less produce a single sound, else he would be screaming his lungs out due to the massive pain.

But he would never give up, not like this.

The Mana slowly dissipated out of his body as if there was a hole somewhere, and eventually...

[You have successfully resisted the Mana Void!]

[The blessing of God may have dissipated, but its effects still remain, your body has changed and evolved, giving birth to a new you!]

[You have Attained a new Tale! Forged Heart amidst desperation]

[Your flesh has been marked by Mana and transformed into something more fit to wield it]

"Haa…"

'Fuck me… My body is all…'

The level of pain he felt was unlike anything he had ever felt before, but right now, he felt no pain, in fact, he even felt a bit good, as if that pain was all an illusion…

But he is very much aware that wasn't the case.

"Now that this is over…"

Dale turned his head around, gazing at the players behind him.

'Time to deal with those motherfuckers.'

Under the faint sunlight coming from the windows, Dale's figure looked very imposing to the remaining players…

…

/Step step…/

One step after the other, Dale made his way to them, some of them were sweating bullets while some were simply in awe, others, fearful.

Dale arrived in front of them and said:

"The reason you all still remain here is all thanks to the actions you showed me so far, but that has only spared you a quick death."

"Now, what is your excuse to avoid punishment?"

"M-Me…" Said a voice in the crowd

"Hm?"

'This voice… I had actually forgotten about him.'

From the crowd of players, one stepped forward.

It was none other than Rodi, with an extremely pale look.

"It's… It's all my fault." He said in honesty

'All of this is all due to my pride. When I finished editing my Dungeon Raid video and posted it, I was completely shocked at how successful it became, hitting all of the records I've had…'

'Although I kept the entrance to the Dungeon and a few other things a secret, the video still exploded in popularity…'

'So I thought for a moment, and the desire to post more took over me… Eventually, my rational side took over and I stopped myself from posting more.'

'But when I went back home I… I commemorated this by drinking 9 cans of beer… And…'

'I ended up posting the part where I saw his legendary sword and the Altar… Because of this slip these players…'

"... You know, I can't read your mind, you seem regretful, so I am willing to listen to you, but once again, I can't read your mind."

'If he were guilty the quest would've marked him for death as well, so it's better to act cool and keep my NPC persona.'

"Really?! Thank you, God!" He said as he prostrated on the ground

"..."

'This guy…'

It was really pathetic and even a bit comedic how quickly he went from desperate to thankful…

The people all around had mixed reactions to this, but most seemed happy they weren't going to be eliminated.

"So?" Dale asked with his arms crossed

"I… Because of a mistake…"

'How do I even explain this to the NPC?!'

Rodi finally realized a big problem… How was he supposed to explain his editing problem to an NPC?

"I uh…"

Rodi used every single neuron in his mind, his' and his companions' lives depended on his words!

"We're traveling warriors."

"..."

"..."

/Silence/

/Thud!/

One of the players, a girl with glasses and short dark hair fell on the ground like a log.

…

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Notes