Dark Players

The moon sprinkled dim lights across the forest fields.

Evan had only taken 55 critical damage due to several reasons. First off, although he had been standing right above the massive explosion, which would normally have killed any player in Soulbound Combat mode, his D-rank Pyrotechnics mastery and medium armor had lessened much of the impact.

Secondly, {Ignore Pain} had been active, granting him an 80% damage reduction after factoring in his passive defenses. Of course, the force hitting his head, even with a helmet equipped, would still be considered a critical hit once the explosion swallowed Evan and the Ranger whole. His whole body was caught in the explosion after all.

Consequently, there was a disparity in the damage received between Evan and the Ranger even though they were both at the epicenter of the explosion. In addition to that, a critical hit on the Ranger was absent because of Tutorial Combat mode, further decreasing the damage disparity.

'Looking back, two explosives is probably enough against squishy mobility or DPS classes, even if they're still in Tutorial Combat mode.' Evan reflected for future reference. 'This probably has to be a last resort thing. I took quite some damage even with {Ignore Pain}. I can't avoid a critical this close up.'

The two remaining attackers were next. {Detection} had revealed that the Mage and Priest were level 6 like their companions. Mille rebuffed everyone with {Bolstera Physicalis} again once her party gathered.

With lower movement speed than the opposition, it became much harder for attackers to escape. As magic-type classes, their {AGI} wasn't that high to begin with.

"Why did you attack us?" Sightseer calmly asked.

"Hah! Why should we tell you?" The female Mage sneered.

"We'll spare the first one to talk."

The Mage's and Priest's eyes met.

"I'll talk." The Priest said in a defeated manner.

"Traitor! I won't let you!"

Before the Mage could do anything, Mille's {Ice Bolt} and Evan's boomerang had already struck her. Evan had avoided linking his attacks with ricochets to avoid hitting the reluctantly cooperative Priest. Sightseer finished off the Mage with 5 consecutive arrows by using {Rapid Draw}.

"I'll pay you back for this!" The Mage uttered a final cry.

{You have killed PetraIsCute!}

{+30 EXP}

—

[You have leveled up!]

[Taboo skill Corrupted Enclosure (D-rank) will lose its effects 5 minutes after the caster's death!]

—

"So she was the culprit. Now, speak." Mille impatiently ordered, forming another {Ice Bolt} on her staff.

Evan's party soon learned that the attempted raid on his party was related to an incident from yesterday. The enemy party had spotted Evan in town yesterday while he was still displaying the aura effects from his gear. Unfortunately, Evan had run off before their ambush took place and they lost track of him in the forest.

They had found Evan again by coincidence in Cobblestone earlier today and had followed his party all this time.

"You guys are pretty high leveled. Did you level up by killing other players until now?" Evan asked.

The Priest nodded.

"What about the Yellow Zone skill your friend used? How did she get that?" Evan solicited.

"She- She'll kill me if I tell you."

"What makes you think we won't? Spit it out!" Mille flared.

The Priest eventually told them about a Dark Quest the Mage had obtained. She had recruited the Priest and a few other players and formed a party yesterday. Once they helped her finish the Dark Quest, they'd gone around on several killing sprees and farmed EXP and items from players.

"You would have done the same if you were in my shoes!" The Priest opined.

The trio looked at each other and shrugged. Was the Priest right? Why wouldn't they?

"Well, I guess you might be right. You might be wrong." Evan admitted. "Everything is circumstantial. At the end of the day, you attacked us. You chose this path." He turned towards the girls. "Hey guys, how many levels do you drop on player death?" He looked at the others.

"Two levels." Mille and Sightseer chorused.

{You have killed UltimateDivineAura!}

{+30 EXP}

"Hmm. Our names are still green. That Yellow Zone skill is busted." Evan asserted.

"Don't even think about it, Midnight." Mille voiced as she scrolled through a gaming forum on her system interface. "It says here that Dark players lose their affinity to their respective Guardians."

"Okay, but don't they gain other stuff to make up for it? Stuff like the {Corrupted Enclosure} proficiency."

"There's a catch to everything. A player that accepts a Dark Quest signs a contract with an Evil Guardian upon Quest completion. These Evil Guardians work against the seven Guardians that protect Aerth. Several players have posted topics stating they regret accepting these Dark Quests. A recent picture was posted anonymously. Look here!"

Mille shared her interface with Sightseer and Evan. A blurred-out face with someone wearing a Sunstone Vizor was depicted in the photography. A Vizor that should normally have been blazing red was now dull grey!

"This anonymous player states that his battery vials now run out three times as fast!" Mille exclaimed. "Though there's not much else info-wise, it reeks of bad news."

"Alright, alright. I was just curious." He lied. What piqued his interest was whether converting to a Dark player earned him more money. The fact that the expensive vials depleted faster put a halt to his curiosity.

After looting the area, Evan and his had party picked up several pieces of gear. Evan chose a Unique Shortsword and equipped it on his off-hand since he lacked a response to melee combat.

—

[Morbid Blade – Unique:

Type: Shortsword (1-handed)

– A blade crafted by a blacksmith that lost his daughter to an illness. It is said that his emotions still linger in this blade.

Attack power (+16) at player level (8). The player is Immune to Fear.

Restrictions: Level 1-15.]

[Twig-Leaf Boomerang – Unique (2G):

Experience: 178/200

Type: Ricochet weapon (1-handed)

– A well-crafted boomerang made by a skilled blacksmith apprentice. After adding an unknown ingredient by accident, the weapon has been blessed with growth potential.

Attack power (+12) at player level (8). Can ricochet up to (2) times after hitting its first intended target.

Restrictions: Level 1-15.]

—

'Sweet. My boomerang is about to become an Epic.' Evan rejoiced.

The remaining loot was shared evenly among the party and could be sold at decent prices in a marketplace. These player killers had earned a ridiculous sum after all the killing they'd been doing. Just a 20% coin drop had amassed to around 750 Aerth coins shared between Evan and his party.

They continued their journey toward Azure Lake in the dead of night, where they eventually met up with Evan's old classmate.

"Girls, meet Facebasher. Facebasher, meet girls." Evan introduced.

"What a lame-ass introduction!" Mille snorted and whacked Evan's head with her staff.

{Critical! -3 HP}

Luckily, her {STR} was trash.

"I'm Mille." She offered her hand. "It's nice to finally have a real tank in our party." She put extra emphasis on the word real while rubbing Facebasher's sturdy armor but stared intently at the other supposed Warrior in the party.

A flustered Facebasher turned his attention toward Sightseer to escape Mille's armor poking.

"I'm Sightseer, Scouter class."

"Nice to meet you. I'm a Shieldbreaker."

"Alright, guys. Here's the plan." Evan interrupted. "We have a pretty decent Quest lined up, so that's priority number one. In order to attempt this Quest, we need to be at least level 12, preferably higher." He then explained the details of the Quest.

"Secondly, I'd like to hear your opinions on the upcoming tournament. Are you participating, and how many Merits are you at?"

After tallying their Merits, Evan got a good picture. He and Mille already had the required numbers, while both Sightseer and Facebasher were one Merit short. It was more than he'd expected as they hadn't met an Anomaly yet.

Luckily, they were all interested in taking part in the New Braves tournament!