Chapter 5: Also filthy rich.
"Z! To your left!" yelled the Level 1 Healer named Happy Fate.
Aster, who was the Tank of this party, grit his teeth. He turned around and slammed one of the two Wolves around him with his shield. While Aster had reached Level 2, a considerably high level at this point in time, the Wolves before him were both Level 2.
(Wolf, Rank 0, Level 2 Monster, Common)
HP: 163/371
(Wolf, Rank 0, Level 2 Monster, Common)
HP: 325/371
The Level 2 Assassin of the party, Quick Jabs, stabbed into the other Wolf. Under the pressure, he missed and stabbed Aster in the side, dropping his HP to 6.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Aster growled as he glared at the skinny Assassin beside him. In his predicament, Aster thought of his sister. 'If Luna was here, we could've killed them already!'
"I got it! Just focus on DPS!" Happy Fate quickly healed Aster while instructing Quick Jabs. "Heal!"
+12
A few meters away from the group, a third Wolf swiped at the Level 3 Swordsman in front of it. The Swordsman cursed as he used his Defense Skill. "Parry!"
The claw hit the ground as the Wolf glared at the middle aged man. The man named First Flight turned to the group of three behind him. "Hurry up! I can't hold it back for long!"
Happy Fate nodded. "Team Heal!"
+8
+8
First Flight got his HP healed back to 40 while Aster got his HP pushed to 26. Quick Jabs got no heals as his HP was already full.
Aster turned to the Wolf with the lowest HP and swung his his hammer.
-7
First Flight used his Attack Skill against his own Wolf, slashing with his two longswords. "Slash!"
-13
-20
The Wolf that was pushed back by Aster turned to the Tank with rage and attempted to bite him, but Aster sidestepped the attack and countered with his hammer once more.
-6
The Wolf to his right, the one with the lowest HP, saw the opportunity and swiped at Aster with unbelievable speed. Aster paled as he saw it going directly for his body. "SHIT!"
-22
"A CRIT!!" Happy Fate immediately started casting her next Heal.
"Jabs! Take over for Z!" First Flight instructed as he tried to make his way over, yet the Wolf in front of him didn't allow him to leave.
"A-Alright!" Quick Jabs rushed to take Aster's place as Aster retreated back a little. "Backstab!"
Quick Jabs missed his Skill. "Damn it!"
The Wolf in front of First Flight didn't let off either as it bit towards the man who skillfully redirected the attack using one of his longswords. Happy Fate used Heal on Aster as he waited for the [Injured] status effect to disappear.
+11
"I got this one!" Aster rushed towards the Wolf that was going to attack Quick Jabs. He raised his shield to block as he activated his Lifesaving Skill. "Protective Aura!"
He took no damage from the attack despite being injured. First Flight grinned as he slashed with both his swords. "Reliable Tanks really are great to have!"
-5
-6
Everyone started to look at Aster with hope.
'With a Tank this good, we might have a chance!' Happy Fate smiled, yet her smile disappeared when she saw Quick Jabs getting slashed by his Wolf's claw.
-10
His HP dropped to 7. Aster grit his teeth in anger. "AT LEAST HOLD ONE OFF, YOU USELESS IDIOT!!"
"Calm down! We got this!" Happy Fate also gnashed her teeth as she healed Quick Jabs.
+9
"I'm running low on Mana!" Happy Fate said.
"Damn it! Z, can you hold off all three on your own for a bit? We'll kill two of them and retreat!" First Flight asked as he started luring his Wolf over.
Quick Jabs was fuming at this point. He turned to his Wolf and yelled. "I'm tired of being your verbal punching bag, Z!!"
-20
"A crit..." Aster looked at the damage with wide eyes.
"I'm trusting you with this one, Z!" First Flight immediately rushed to the injured Wolf and stabbed his swords into it.
-20
-14
First Flight's Wolf ran to Aster and bit at him, though Aster skillfully dodged out of the way, this time paying close attention to the second Wolf to his side. Happy Fate quickly healed Aster.
+6
Aster also showed no mercy as he threw his hammer at the injured Wolf.
-12
First Flight grinned as his Slash's cooldown finished. "Slash!!"
-30
-30
"It's on 9 HP! Jabs! Kill it!!" First Flight turned his back on the Wolf and went to back up Aster.
"I got this." Quick Jabs stabbed with his dagger, but just as he was about to stab it into the Wolf. The Wolf's [Injured] status disappeared.
-8
"SHIT!!" Quick Jabs cursed as the Wolf looked at him with fury. Although it had only 1 HP, it had entered into a [Berserk] state.
"Die!!" Happy Fate yelled as she threw her staff at the Wolf. The Wolf easily moved out of its way, yet it didn't notice Aster's shield flying in from its side!
You have slain a Wolf. Awarding 2 EXP to all members of the party.
Everyone received the same notification as the Wolf hit the ground, dead. The thing that shocked everyone was that the only thing it dropped was 10 Copper Coins.
"We still have two more!" First Flight grit his teeth. 'What kind of shitty luck is this?!'
Happy Fate quickly used her Skill, Team Heal. She almost restored her entire team's HP to full except for Aster, yet she also removed his [Injured] status.
The Wolves had no mercy as they bit at the unprotected Aster, one of them managing to hit him.
-11
Quick Jabs then circled around one of the Wolves and used his Skill again. "Work this time! Backstab!!"
-17
"It worked!" Quick Jabs beamed as the Wolf's HP dropped to 170.
"I'm low on Mana! I can only manage 4 more Heals!" Happy Fate said to First Flight. He then nodded as he slashed his swords. "Don't worry! I'll rip it a new one!!!"
-9
-18
"Another crit?!" Aster couldn't believe his eyes, yet First Flight suddenly widened his eyes in realization.
"This really is the most realistic game ever. The crits appear more often if the player is skilled." First Flight sighed as he smiled once more. "How interesting..."
Happy Fate circled to the dead Wolf's corpse and barely threw Aster's hammer back to him along with his shield. Aster then smirked as he swung his hammer, yet he missed.
"I...m-missed?" Aster stuttered. Quick Jabs reminded him. "You'll get it! Just keep attacking!"
First Flight swung his sword at the Wolf.
-24
He swung his second one, yet the Wolf dodged, causing the attack to hit Aster.
-6
"Sorry!" the man apologized as he thought. 'Damn it! That's why I'm not S-rank yet! I need better spatial awareness!'
The uninjured Wolf kept trying to attack Aster, yet the skillful Tank kept either blocking with his shield or entirely dodging the attack.
"Let's kill this thing!!" Quick Jabs struck out. This thing was going to switch from [Injured] to [Berserk] any second now!
-16
Even Happy Fate broke all pretenses and entered melee range to attack using her staff.
-8
Aster swung his hammer again.
-16
First Flight took a deep breath. 'Let's try this again.'
-24
-44
"ANOTHER CRIT?!!?" the entire team's jaws dropped. Quick Jabs even muttered to himself. "Is all our luck in loot being used up in our combat?"
-24
Quick Jabs quickly ended things with his dagger.
You have slain a Wolf. Awarding 2 EXP to all party members.
It dropped 10 items this time. First Flight turned to the third Wolf. "Never mind the loot! We'll see to it after we kill this one!"
"Alright!" Aster followed behind. His fighting spirit rose after killing the two Wolves. Only one more stood in their way.
(Wolf, Rank 0, Level 2 Monster, Common)
HP: 319/371
Although they believed they could kill it, they were still cautious as it still had a large portion of its HP. Happy Fate retreated and healed Aster back to 32 HP.
+9
Aster swung his hammer at the beast with caution. He didn't want to accidentally hit his teammates.
-10
"If we can get another crit, we win this!!" First Flight said as he rushed forward and slashed with his swords.
-7
-6
"AAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the Wolf howled as it entered its [Berserk] state.
"We're so screwed..." Quick Jabs despaired.
"Why's it already going Berserk?!" Happy Fate stepped back in fear.
Aster received its claw head on.
-22
His HP dropped to 10. Quick Jabs just stared at the Wolf in fear, doing nothing else. Happy Fate ordered as she healed Aster. "Move your ass!!"
+10
"What's the point?" Quick Jabs chuckled bitterly. "It's already Berserk. We're dead."
"..." Aster took a deep breath. Then swung his hammer at the beast. "As long as I'm the Tank of this party, none of you will die because I won't die until it falls into a weakened state!!"
-5
"This half damage buff from the berserk state is a pain in the ass!!" First Flight growled as he swung his swords.
-5
-2
The Wolf slashed once more. Unfortunately for it, Aster was prepared this time. He raised his shield to meet the Wolf's claw.
-7
He still received damage, but it was acceptable.
Quick Jabs bit his lip as he rushed forward. "Whatever! If I die, then I die! It's not like I'm losing anything by trying!"
-3
"Team Heal!" Happy Fate exhausted the rest of her Mana to heal Aster back and recover some of the DPS's stamina.
+7
Aster missed his attack as the Wolf swiftly dodged out of the way. First Flight attacked again.
-5
-3
"Get ready! It's about to fall into its weakened state!!" First Flight yelled.
Aster quickly activated his Skill, Protective Aura.
"AWOOOO!" the Wolf turned ballistic as it slashed at Aster more than 5 times.
-2
-1
-3
-10
Aster managed to block all five, even managing to negate the damage of one of them! Sadly, his Skill ran out after the fourth one. He received the fifth without his Skill, dropping his HP to 4. The Wolf's status turned from [Berserk] to [Weakened], which started the onslaught.
-6
-16
-30
-30
-38
-6
-12
-12
-14
-16
-6
-16
-16
-10
-24
The party's DPS released their Skills from the beginning and the entire party participated in the attack, even Happy Fate. This huge party attack reaped 252 HP from the Wolf's 270 remaining HP. It quickly recovered from its [Weakened] state and attacked the low HP Aster.
"Shit..." Aster cursed as he had no energy to lift his shield or dodge.
Suddenly, Quick Jabs appeared before the Wolf's claw. "Redirection!"
First Flight felt a chill go down his spine as he noticed a red glow around the claw. He awkwardly jumped in front of the attack. "Parry!"
He rigidly moved the attack away from Quick Jabs, yet he received the full brunt of the attack.
-26
Quick Jabs felt his hairs stand as he saw the damage. He was at full health, yet even his full 17 HP would be gone before this attack. First Flight's HP fell to 18 as he entered into an [Injured] state!
"Kill it." Aster could barely speak in between breaths. Quick Jabs struck at the Wolf.
-6
Even Happy Fate hit with her staff.
-3
First Flight could barely swing his sword.
-4
The Wolf attacked Aster again. Quick Jabs took the hit again. They could easily bring him back to Level 2 by carrying him, but if their Tank fell a level, it would affect their leveling speed.
-7
"DIE, DAMN YOU!!" Quick Jabs stabbed out as he yelled. He missed. "SHIIIIIIT!!!!"
-6
The Wolf's HP dropped to 0 as he received a critical hit from Happy Fate's staff. She fell to the ground along with Aster as both of them ran out of energy. First Flight sighed in relief as he proceeded to grab all the loot. "Let's see what we got. 41 Copper Coins, 2 Wolf's Hide, 6 Wolf's Meat, a Wolf's Fang, a Common Staff, an Uncommon Staff and an Uncommon Chestplate for Tanks."
"So, the Chestplate obviously goes to Z. The Uncommon Staff goes to Fate. The Common Staff goes to me. The Wolf's Fang goes to Jabs. Z and I will take 2 Wolf's Meat each and you two will take one each. You two will also take one Wolf's Hide each, and each one of us will take 10 Copper Coins. The last Copper Coin will go to Jabs. His crit really saved our asses back there." First Flight, as the party's leader, distributed the loot. "Anyone has any problems with this?"
"None!" Quick Jabs responded enthusiastically. A Wolf's Fang was an Uncommon material that could be used to make daggers or shortswords, exactly what an Assassin like himself would want.
"I'm not complaining." Happy Fate smiled. They truly made a fortune this time.
"I'm not going to be the one to disagree." Aster sighed.
Frost Empire Region announcement:
Player Ghost Face has unlocked the Link-to-Coin system. Player Ghost Face will be awarded with 10 EXP and 2 Silver Coins. All players within the region will be able to buy and sell real life Links using in-game Coins and vise versa.
"Seriously?!" Aster looked at his transparent screen with wide eyes.
First Flight quickly opened the Link-to-Coin store. "There's already 8 Silver Coins on the market? This is great! I can buy some Coins like this!"
"It looks like it's an auction type store." Happy Fate muttered as she inspected the store.
First Flight immediately lost all his excitement with a sigh. "If it's a competition of wealth, then all the big Guilds will buy it out first."
"What if we created a Guild?" Quick Jabs recommended after a moment of silence.
"That would need a huge start up cost." Happy Fate said. She then fell into thought. "You know...I'm not against this idea. It might not have to be a Guild, but maybe we can create an Attack Force."
"That will still need some start up money." First Flight sighed. He then calculated as he thought about it. "It'll take at least 10,000 Links."
"...I know it's not much, but I can put forth 400 Links if you're serious about this." Quick Jabs said.
"I can put 2,000 Links into it." Happy Fate smiled. "I believe that Flight can lead an Attack Force well. I'll think of it as investing in you."
"..." First Flight looked at Happy Fate with wide eyes. He then laughed. "Hahaha! Well, if you're being this sincere, how can I let you down? I'm putting in 5,000 Links!"
"We still need around 2,600 Links." Quick Jabs started thinking.
"Um...hello?" Aster looked at all three of them, a little offended.
"You don't have to put anything in, Z." Happy Fate smiled at the young man. No one expected him to put anything in. After all, Fate and Jabs were halfway into their 20s and First Flight was well into his 30s. What kind of people would they be if they took money from a 14 year old who could barely play the game legally?
"Excuse you, but if I'm gonna be a part of this, I will put money in." Aster crossed his arms.
"We appreciate it, Z. But how much could you possibly have? Aren't you just 13?" Quick Jabs sighed.
"14." Aster said through grit teeth. "You know what? Fuck it. I'm funding this whole thing."
"What?" all three looked at the boy.
"I want 96% of the shares. Fate and Jabs will get 1% each, and Flight gets 2%." Aster smiled. The young man was never stupid with his money, but even he knew that putting 10,000 Links into a game was beyond stupid. 'I don't care. I'm proving a point. As long as I don't ask dad for more money, he has no business on what I spend it on...though I could use more funding...'
The siblings' household had a very clear rule. You get money based on performance. Straight As are the minimum which rewards the two kids with 350 Links a month. Extra effort and work, gives them extra money. While Luna would go shopping and having fun with her friends, the workaholic Aster would go do community work, extracurricular activities, chores and even part time jobs which paid him on top of his parents' allowance. The 14 year old boy was averaging 2,250 Links a month! The average person would make 1,500 Links a month!! Since he had almost nothing to use his money on except for the occasional shopping session with Luna and Marth, the kid had over 101,000 Links in his account!!!
'While this is gonna be 10% of my savings, I don't care. What the hell am I gonna spend it on? Luna? Yeah right.' Aster smirked.
'Is he the son of a damn millionaire?' Jabs stared at Aster with wide eyes.
Flight cleared his throat. "Well...I might need to contact your guardian first. After all, 10,000 Links is no small amount, and you need his signature to create the Attack Force in your name. You can handle all legal procedures on your own after that."
"No problem." Aster smiled. "I'll send you my IRL info in a second. I'll log out and then you can call me. I'll put you through to my dad. Call me after 10 minutes."
Aster then proceeded to log out.