Puppet Master

Nimin moved quickly. Upon turning his camera he moved his mouse too quickly and smacked the can of soda. A spill began to spread across the table and he rushed to stop it. Napkins began to soak up the soda and he noticed his character getting hit.

Strange Smile spoke, "Shot? Are you good?"

Nimin typed incredibly quickly with one hand while collecting more napkins. How inconvenient! He didn't need a hidden event like this!

Hidden Events happened somewhat rarely in dungeons. Each time a dungeon started a random set of hidden conditions would need to be fulfilled in order to trigger a hidden event. Due to the randomness their appearance is often credited to luck. These events could be bosses or changes in the storyline. Usually it was a new objective. To come across one so soon would normally be great fortune.

It was just that Nimin wasn't trying to go through the pain of dealing with one!

Critical Shot: I spilled something. Hold them off will you?

"I-I mean we could try?", Strange Smile's confidence wavered, he didn't want to boast in front of a great expert like this.

"Simon! You hold off the puppet master, Lemon you wipe out the small fry. Even if you have to use your vials!"

The Techmancer rose their staff, electronic waves moved up it and towards its end. Fire sparked to life as a massive ball of fire leapt forward. Crashing into a large clump of mannequins it exploded into flame. Towards the end of the staff lie multiple thin cylinders of red colored vials. Made of glass and filled with a mysterious fluid, these vials are crucial for staff wielding Techmancers. Each staff had a limited amount, but they allowed Techmancers to instantly cast certain spells!

A wall of fire erected on the left. One of the vials on the staff draining rapidly. The staff moved a section, and the vials shifted. Like a cylinder on a revolver they switched to the next vial for ammunition. Not willing to tear through the limited supply, Lemon opted to cast another spell.

Simon rushed towards the Puppet Master, the massive wooden hands raising to slap the ground. Currently the Medic was healing Critical Shot, and the massive wooden hand was lingering above them. Rushing underneath Simon controlled his character to punch upwards, clashing with the descending hand.

Purple electricity arced across the ground as the arms struggled against the hand. Despite having two massive arms, their size barely reached half the size of the wooden hand. Simon's efforts paid off in the end! The massive wooden hand retracted, only managing to destroy the other part of the stage.

Strange Smile was dashing through the mannequins, smacking them as much as possible with his daggers. His current build wasn't meant for damage however, so he wasn't nearly as efficient as a Techmancer.

Things went smoothly for about a minute, when the Elites began to enter the stage. Without Simon to hold them off, they were free to terrorize the lower HP classes. Lemon could only do so much, and was rapidly using her limited vials.

Strange Smile couldn't take much more, "How long does it take to clean a mess?!"

The skill of the party wasn't top of the line, a sudden change to their usual strategy started to make them fall apart. More mannequins reached the stage and began attacking Simon, Critical Shot, and the Medic. This was going to lead to a party wipe, there was no doubt. Until a certain soda spill was finally cleaned up.

Critical Shot: Sorry

No punctuation? Strange Smile turned his view towards Critical Shot. Upon seeing what was happening, he watched on dumbly.

Critical Shot held the assault rifle with one hand near his waist and was firing madly, a low level Skill known as {Hipfire}! Fully automatic sent a rain of bullets into the swarm of mannequins. With the now open hand a grenade appeared in it like a hologram, futuristic technology printing it in less than a second. Throwing it towards the elite Nimin sputtered, "Oops!"

His throw was inaccurate! Compared to aiming which was a bit easier to pick up, he hadn't experienced using grenades in a long time. Since throwing required quick a bit of guidance from the player and wasn't automatic, he flopped the throw. Not willing to let this mistake stop him Nimin's fingers flew at an even higher pace. Returned youth allowed him to be so reckless now!

Light blue cubes formed a shape in his free hand. The simplistic style didn't seem to fit the high graphic game, it was like Nimin was altering the game itself. A handgun appeared in his empty hand and he aimed it while still firing the assault rifle.

A titanium black beretta m9, gold engravings of a dragon spiraled down its barrel. Nimin's original main choice of weapon, and once the strongest handgun in the game. A sense of familiarity entered Nimin's senses as he pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed forth, chipping outside of the grenade. This caused the grenade to bounce in the opposite direction, towards his originally intended area.

Strange Smile shouted, "Redirection?!"

Grenade Redirection! A feat that required more precision than a Line Crossing! Grenades operated under a unique feature considering their size. All grenades were spherical, regardless of their type. Hitting anywhere on the outside of the grenade would redirect it in the opposite direction it was hit. This was difficult due to a different feature of the grenades: if you hit the center it would explode early. The center was calculated to be about 50% of the total size. A massive core in the center. Thus accurately redirecting a grenade without prematurely triggering it was considered a top line skill!

The grenade exploded in the face of an Elite, making it stumble back. The strange glitch-like appearance occurred again as the handgun disappeared. Critical Shot automatically grabbed ahold of the assault rifle with both hands. Sprinting across the stage he fired rapidly into the mannequins. Skills that caused you to fire bullets didn't take ammo from the magazine, allowing him to fire relentlessly like this!

Nimin's rapid destruction of the mannequins stabilized the situation. Noticing his party standing about dumbly he clicked his tongue, "This isn't a show! You think turning this around like this is easy?! I didn't even get to wipe my fingers!!"

Contrary to how much he spoke, he only typed a few words.

Critical Shot: Focus puppet master.

The punctuation was back! Strange Smile snapped out of his daze and turned his attacks towards the massive wooden hands. Lemon hesitated, "Do I also. . . ?"

Critical Shot: Wall when off cooldown. That's all I need.

Normally they would criticize Critical Shot for being arrogant. But right now this seemingly arrogance was very comforting! A hero holding back the horde of enemies in a last stand! It would bring a tear to the eye.

Reloading the assault rifle Nimin continued to mow down the mannequins. Occasionally a grenade would slip through his fingers to blow up in the face of an Elite. Once the third grenade exploded Nimin made a face, "This might not turn out well."

As if hearing his voice an announcement appeared.

< The Puppet Master is infuriated! >

< The Puppet Master sends its creations in a rage! >

More mannequins began to stumble towards the stage. A wall of flame sprouted at this moment, which gave Nimin a bit of relief, but this was looking like a failed raid.

"If all it took was just a bit of practice to return to what I was able to do. . .", Nimin then discarded the thought before it finished.

He needed something new in the first place. With the new level cap, the Skill slots, and the freedom he now had at his fingertips. A playstyle unique to him, with the forgotten Unique Skill at his disposal. Something that would truly stand out. This new playstyle needed something about it. Eye catching was only the start! It needed a matching personality. One befitting of his new age.

Critical Shot didn't need a calm and composed veteran to take the charge. That was far from enough! It needed the confidence of a hot blooded youth, the arrogance of one! Flashy, confident, and skillful! That would be what he would become, the new legacy he would start in these two years! It started here, his name would start to spread here!

| Quick Swap |!

The glitchy appearance occurred as the assault rifle turned into a pair of handguns. The edgy yet beautiful designs were quite the eye candy. Pointing them forward Critical Shot adjusted his posture, "Let me show you the might of my youth!!"

A flurry of bullets flew forward as Nimin welcomed the new wave of mannequins. Bullets slammed into the mannequins and made them splinter violently. Dual wielding was a difficult task due to each of the weapons needing to be aimed separately. Additionally it provided a heavy debuff to reload speed, making it a poor choice for chaotic battles. However Nimin had Quick Swap! When he needed to reload he would unequip a weapon, taking advantage of the handguns naturally quick reload speed!

At this moment, currently unknown to Nimin, his brilliant display of skill was being recorded. The silent Medic on standby had occasionally snagged a glance towards him, and was drawn by the high speed movement.

Soon enough the massive wooden hands shattered, signaling the end of the Hidden Event.

< The Puppet Master has been defeated! >

< The mannequins seem to move slower than usual. . . >

Strange Smile didn't celebrate, "Quick, help out Shot with the. . . remaining. . ."

Critical Shot stood on a pile of destroyed mannequins. The current pose Critical Shot was in was eye catching, relaxed holding the two beretta m9s. A simple message appeared in the chat, but said so much.

Critical Shot: No need.