Attempt
January 9th 00:15 AM
Ayaan is under the shower inside the hotel room.
He was looking at the quest screen as he let the warm water wash over him.
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QUEST COMPLETED
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Quest Name: **The Bloodied Reef**
Objective Achieved:
✔ Defeat at least 60 Crimson Tide Reavers
✔ Slay at least 10 Crimson Tide Marauders
✔ Survive the Minions of the Reaver Warlord (2 Waves)
✔ Kill Reaver Warlord, Varrak
Rewards:
- **All Stats +10**
- One Skill Upgrade by one level (Player can select a skill of their choice for the upgrade)
- Bone Carved Armor*10
- Crimson Reef shell fragment*214
- Barbed Harpoon*180
- Jagged Trident*10
- Crimson Fang of Varrack*1
- Reaver Warlord's Essence
- Varrack's Crimson Shell
==============================
That was a decent haul. Originally the quest reward was the increase of stats by 5 points each, but it became ten. It doubled. He didn't know how they were calculated, but it didn't matter. An increase is an increase.
Just from a glance, he knew that most of the rewards will be sold in the system shop. The only things he knew he would keep are the Crimson Fang of Varrack, the warlord's longsword and the Reaver Warlord's Essence.
Until now, every time he consumed an essence, he always got a good reward from it. As for the rest, they would either be sold or be crafted.
Ayaan closed the quest notification and opened the system interface.
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SYSTEM INTERFACE
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Name: Ayaan Rakshit
Level: 4
Class: None
Title: None
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STATS
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Strength (STR): 63
Agility (AGI): 59
Endurance (END): 58
Intelligence (INT): 68
Perception (SEN): 88
Available Stat Points: 0
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HEALTH & MANA
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HP (Health Points): 200/200
MP (Mana Points): 160/160
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EXP PROGRESS
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EXP: 243072.7/ 500000
[■■■■■■□□□□□□] 48.00%
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PHYSICAL STATUS
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Fatigue: 0
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SKILLS
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Active Skills: Enhanced Aqua Respite Lv 1 (40%) | Water Bullet Lv 2 | Frog King's Stomp Lv 1 (95%)
Passive Skills: Marsh Stride Lv 1| Primal Awareness Lv 1
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UPCOMING QUEST
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Quest 5: The Exiled Champion (2 days to go)
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INVENTORY
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Slots: 11/15
-Black Iron Alloy Sword*1
- Black Iron Sword*24
- Black Iron Combat Knife*1
- Abyssal Guardian Armor*1
- Bone Carved Armor*10
- Crimson Reef shell fragment*214
- Barbed Harpoon*180
- Jagged Trident*10
- Crimson Fang of Varrack*1
- Reaver Warlord's Essence
- Varrack's Crimson Shell
==============================
Apart from the loot, the biggest haul in this quest is the Exp. He managed to level up to level 5 while in the middle of the quest and the survival mode served as a good Exp farm.
He previously had around 89000 Exp. He gained the remaining he needed for level up after killing the 60 reavers and 10 Marauders. He only fell short by a few Exp points, which were quickly gained by killing the first monster in the survival mode.
Then the remaining was excess that he could use to progress for the next level. He killed 144 monsters in the survival mode. Apart from the first, the rest gave 143000 Exp points. Then he killed the Warlord that gave him 100000 points.
He needs 250000 Exp for the next level.
Ayaan's previous worries about not being able to level up were gone. Even though levelling up gave him stat points, the major upgrade came from satisfying the hidden requirements. Maybe if he just stuck with the regular quest clearance, the level up stats would have made a big difference.
And the way the quests are progressing along with his prowess, he didn't worry too much about gaining Exp.
But there was a different thing that worried him.
The behavior of the monsters.
In the first quest, he only fought the water serpents. They are brainless and acted purely on instinct. The second and third had semi-humanoid creatures.
They were a bit smarter. They had goals, but their battle was instinctual.
Then in the fourth quest, the reavers and marauders were good at wielding weapons, but they didn't have complete battle sense. This changed with the warlord.
It felt like he was battling another human until the warlord lost it. Just when Ayaan was getting the upper hand and was about to cripple the monster, it lost its sanity and attacked him based on instincts.
The refined battle almost turned into a brawl. It became a stupid and tasteless battle.
If the progression goes like this, Ayaan is sure that he will soon encounter proper warriors who will use their brains more than their brawn.
He shook those thoughts off his head and finished the shower. He got changed and was about to get some sleep when all of a sudden he sensed a sudden threat.
'Duck'
A bullet came through the window and hit the mirror mounted on the wall. The mirror broke into pieces.
'Sniper'
Ayaan picked a piece of mirror and ran to the wall, with his back against it. He stood right beside the window through which the bullet came from.
*BAM*
Another bullet came while he did that, but he managed to dodge it. He could even faintly hear the sound of the gunshot.
He extended the mirror slightly. He got a decent view out of the window. Ayaan already had a guess on where the sniper could be. To shoot at that angle to his room, there are only a couple of buildings in that direction that could enable that shot.
And he wasn't wrong.
He managed to faintly see the sniper's location. Maybe because of his overly buffed-up perception stat, he could see the man even in that faint moonlight.
Various thoughts ran through Ayaan's mind as he thought about taking care of this problem. At that moment, he heard something else.
*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*
The sound of footsteps, clear and rhythmic is coming through the corridor. He could see the faint shadows at the gap of the door.
There are enemies outside the door
Ayaan rummaged through his bag and took out a handgun. Even though he didn't use the gun in the quest, because of how useless it had become, he did bring a gun with him just in case. He just left it in his luggage.
He took a deep breath and got ready.
*BAM*
The door was kicked open.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Ayaan fired the first shot. The first intruder was shot in the face, the second one in the chest, and the third one missed.
The intruders wore full gear. Except for the helmets. The Kevlar vests, the holsters with handguns, combat knives, and black camo gear are suitable for urban settings. They are very familiar with this.
They just didn't expect Ayaan to react this quickly.
After the first one was done, the rest of the team didn't halt. They just ran into the room, shooting at Ayaan.
*RATATATATA*
Ayaan kicked the wall and slid under the bed. With a faint flash, the Abyssal Serpent Armor enveloped him.
*RATATATA*
The assault rifle fired at the bed. They surrounded it and got ready to finish him off. But right before they could fire…
*CRACK* *BAM*
The bed split into two, right in the middle. The two halves flew into either side, catching the attackers on either side off guard. Ayaan jumped up and attacked the people at the front. Three people died. He took the assault rifle from one of them and fired on either side.
*RATATATT*
And at once the room quietened down.
*BAM*
The sniper shot once again. Ayaan blocked the bullet with the forearm shield. He got a clear look at the sniper and he cursed himself for not carrying a weapon of that range. Water bullet and the abyssal chakrams both of them are powerful, but they don't have the same range as that rifle.
Ayaan watched as the Sniper shot one more time before he realized that he couldn't take down the target and packed his stuff. He immediately got ready to leave.
Ayaan looked at the building which was a couple blocks away.
.
.
.
Three minutes later.
The sniper just ran out of the building through the rear entrance. He threw his disguise into a trash can and set it on fire. He barged into a restaurant through its rear door, got changed once again, and even changed his bag.
All his moves appeared practiced, swif,t and precise. He knew what he was doing.
By the time, he came out of the front door of the restaurant, he was like a whole different person and he was carrying a guitar bag. He looked around, ensuring there was no one looking, he bumped into someone.
A familiar metallic scent of blood invaded his mind and his instincts screamed. But his fear enveloped him, making him unable to run.
Ayaan stood in front of him like a wall. He was in his casual clothes as he put his hand over the sniper. The sniper knew, even though there was no weapon aimed at him, he would be dead the moment Ayaan deemed so.
"Follow me."
.
.
.
Five minutes later.
Ayaan was at the entrance of the hotel, the sniper was along with him. A group of police officers arrived, about to take over the scene. However, Ayaan stopped them at the hotel entrance with his special ID card.
The ID indicates his involvement with the intelligence department instead of his Navy ID.
"This is an issue that involves the national interests. The intelligence department will take over. You will get the relevant paperwork to your station in ten minutes."
The inspector in charge checked the credentials and called his superior to confirm.
"Okay, Sir. Do you need any support?"
"Can you help with the evacuation of the hotel and guarding the crime scene? My team will come and take over."
"Yes, sir."
The inspector saluted and went to perform the tasks.
The sniper who wanted to make a run for it, halted in his tracks as he felt Ayaan's cold gaze.
Ayaan pulled the sniper forcefully and entered the hotel. After arriving at his room, he called Raj to take over the matters.
"Now, I need you to answer some questions." Ayaan locked in on the sniper.