MM - Chapter 115 - MINE, IT'S ALL MINE

While sorting through the first boss’s loot, twice, Raine had to bail out the raid group when several dozen demons attacked them at once. Each time, Rocky scattered the vermin with a colossal kick. While they slaughtered the demons, Raine swapped back to his axe since the mastery only needed a few hundred percent more. The notification came with another crunching step by Rocky. Already, two weapons were complete, filling Raine with satisfaction at his rapid progress.

[Congratulations!]

[Axe mastery Beginner 5000/5000%]

[Damage dealt with axe basic attacks and skills increased by 10%]

[See a trainer in any major city to advance axe weapons to Adept]

[Congratulations!]

[Staff mastery Beginner 5000/5000%]

[Damage dealt with staff basic attacks and skills increased by 10%]

[See a trainer in any major city to advance staff weapons to Adept]

After scanning both, Raine kept the axe equipped. Finishing each beginner mastery was a much lower priority than having a bank of Attunement to draw upon if he needed it later. With that distraction out of the way, he drooled over the first Marvelous Gold, nightmare-difficulty raid drop.

[Abyssal Earrings: (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (Demonic Power +265) (CNC +95)]

Those stats. Beats the pants off this stupid bandit earring. It’ll pair amazing with Umbra’s Snare. Need to stop sinking SP into Comet and Gambit until I reach level twenty-five. The extra SP and AT gains aren’t worth waiting until after we finish the raid to equip any of this stuff. Besides, it's bound to get even more challenging from here on out.

[Cape of Unnecessary Toxicity (Cloth - back): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (HP +175) (Discipline +150) (DEF +50) (RES +50) (Durability 200/200) (Innate skill - Ya Mutha: Taunts a target consuming them in irrational rage for 30 seconds (more effective on foes with lower Demonic Power) (Cooldown: 10 minutes)]

It’s items like these that make me wonder what the AI were thinking when they created this world. Good thing two capes dropped, or I’d feel bad for taking this from Fizgore.

[Cape of The Creeper (Cloth - back): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) Further reduces light reflectivity and sound generation while stealthed by 40%. Additionally blocks obfuscation techniques up to adept grade (HP +200) (Discipline +100) (FNS +60) (ACU +60) (Durability 200/200)]

My current armor SET only gives twenty-five Finesse and Acuity, and my cloak has no stats at all… What an upgrade.

[Staff of Demonic Incineration: (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (EP +150) (DEF +35) (AS -.25) (PHY +60) (CNC +60) (Durability 200/200) (Innate skill - Demonic Infusion: Convert any conjured flames to those of demonic origin granting viscosity that deals 100% damage over 5 seconds) (Uses: 100/100 refreshes at midnight)]

Having an innate skill means slightly lower attributes. Celeste will love it. Perfectly matches her fighting style.

[Scorched Legion Goatskin Gloves(Leather - Hands): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (DEF +41) (Discipline +120) (FNS +62) (PHY +62) (Durability 250/250) (Flame Resistance +10)]

[Scorched Legion Spaulders (Leather - Shoulder): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (DEF +45) (Discipline +120) (PTC +60) (FNS +60) (Durability 250/250) (Flame Resistance +10)]

Raine’s skin prickled. He repeatedly swallowed the excess saliva building in his mouth as he was beset by a dizzying desire to equip the new gear and jump into the fray, wiping out the remaining demons as quickly as possible. He held back. After taking the time and effort to bring his friends here, stealing this opportunity for growth from them would be a waste.

[Scroll of Cursed Gaze: (Marvelous Gold) Pierce your foes with a level 30 Cursed Gaze in a 1,000 by 3-meter column AOE]

[Bottled Essence of Malefaction: (Marvelous Gold) Specialized additive material for use in crafting equipment that enhances sight]

Another war asset. Cursed Gaze is probably the skill the boss used. Beam-type attacks are excellent for sniping commanders. This will definitely come in handy. The local guilds aren’t going to take kindly to my future plans.

The inevitable conflicts only added to Raine’s excited jitters. He took a deep breath, moving on to the last three drops. At any level, Chaotic Gold could essentially be considered the best possible gear. The rarity of Heavenly Amethyst was so high that a tier-four powerhouse would be lucky to have one. Chaotic Gold was also rare, but at least it could be farmed with relative reliability. Typically, it would be lucky to get just one piece from a nightmare raid boss. Raine mentally sang his mysterious ally’s praises again as he drooled over each of the three.

[Blazing Legion Sabatons (Plate - Feet): (Chaotic Gold - LVL 25) (HP +230) (DEF +75) (Discipline +175) (PTC +80) (FIN +80) (ACU +80) (Durability 275/275) (Flame Resistance +15)]

A sixth of my total Defense and three attributes above sixty… I’ve got to hit twenty-five asap. Gloves, shoulders, and boots that are all great for my build. This luck; starting to feel like something terrible is coming.

[Demon Slayer Kriss (Dagger): (Chaotic Gold - LVL 25) (Celestial Power +175) (Attack Speed +1.5) (FNS +95) (ACU +75) (CNC +80) (Durability 250/250) (Innate skill - Sacrifice: Cut your palm to produce sacred blood that restores 1000% of the damage dealt when consumed) (Cooldown: 1 hour)]

Holy what?! With the right reagent, an alchemist could preserve the blood to make infinite potions! Because it's based on damage dealt, the blood will only get more potent with each level of the wielder. This isn’t a weapon; it's a strategic-level guild asset. If word of this gets out, guilds will flock from other continents to take it away.

Raine’s gaze drilled into Mel’s back. She was the perfect candidate for the weapon, and there was no way he would let her use it without significant contractual restrictions, which she wanted anyway. For the first time, Raine was as eager as her to get that contract signed.

[Retina of Malefaction: (Chaotic Gold) Post-quenching liquid coat for use in the crafting of bladed weapons. Increases Acuity and Finesse of final product by 25]

The final crafting material was only underwhelming because of how broken the kriss was. An attribute boost of fifty to a weapon was no laughing matter. Even when players reached level one hundred, the item would sell for tens of thousands of gold.

Maybe I’ll save this for the next society auction. Mason Mnemonic is the only man alive who knows Raine and Alaric are one and the same. I need to continue bringing him good stuff to keep him on my side. I never heard of him leaking player identities in the past, but enough money can get just about anything done.

Now that he was level twenty-three, the gains from each kill had dropped slightly. Still, the base five hundred percent for being in a nightmare raid was working dividends.

[Obtained 33,600 Raid Superiority (600% bonus for defeating a raid elite 2 levels above you)]

[Obtained 24.5% Raid Attunement (600% bonus for defeating a raid elite 2 levels above you)]

It didn’t take long for the addictive shimmering lights of a level-up to surround him. The Superiority needed for the next level jumped by a large margin—fifteen to twenty million. Every five levels was a significant increase, and Raine could only hope there were enough demons left to get him there.

“Stop fighting for a few minutes!” Raine called out. He hopped down from Rocky and waited impatiently for them to finish the few demons they were already engaged with. Once they were done, combat ended, and Raine hastily accessed his interface. Spearhead of Orthrus increased his total title count to four, allowing him to also equip Sky Catcher, One Man Army, and Big Game Executioner.

With the bonus fifty percent Superiority of Sky Catcher, he was confident in leveling once more with the remaining several hundred demons spread across the devastated plains. To motivate the group, he linked a few pieces of the gear that dropped. Their jaws fell open, and Raine’s face hurt with how wide his smile grew.

While not Raine’s first raid by any stretch of the imagination, it was the first time that every piece of gear belonged solely to him. No management goons would be coming to take away the best pieces. He wasn’t forced to divvy them up based on any rules set by someone else. It was all his, and at that moment, seeing their shocked expressions, he couldn’t help but feel like the whole world was in the palm of his hand.

Talerra shook her head, eyes wide, “A-aren't these a little too good? All my equipment combined barely gives as much as one of these…”

Raine snorted, “You're wearing level ten Lustrous Blues and trying to compare them to level twenty-five unique-nightmare raid gear? Did you hit your head?” Thoroughly chastised, a blush crept up her neck as her eyes dropped to the ground.

Richtor took up the banner of silly questions, “How can a raid be unique?”

“ZL was made entirely by quantum algorithms that can simultaneously compute millions of processes. Meaning, there's no use trying to put a limit on the content that’s out there.” Seeing their confused frowns, Raine tried again, “There’s enough content for every human alive to play for ten thousand years and barely scratch the surface. Unique quests, zones, realms, whatever, there might as well not be an end to it all.”

TwistedReligion, Kevinsbakon, and Milkdud shared a glance, more convinced than ever that Raine had something to do with the ZionLine beta. Richtor tapped his lips with a finger, pondering how to phrase his follow-up question, “Didn’t the devs have to go through everything that was created, though? You know, quality control and all that.”

Raine shrugged. That very question was hotly debated in the past. Nobody knew for sure since no developer ever had the guts to step into the limelight and bear the brunt of the martial families’ fury. “Beats me. Far as I can tell, that would be impossible, so I doubt it.”

Talerra gasped; her higher education allowed her to know better than others the dangers of what he was saying, “This whole game was built by AI without any oversight?! T-that’s illegal! ZLO will be crucified in the courts if that’s true.”

“Maybe, maybe not. With Ziegfried leading ZLO’s board of directors, who’s going to tell them what they can and can’t do?”

The phoenix scion wasn’t alone in gasping this time. Ziegfried was one of the five Old Monsters who saved the world during the AI wars. He alone was responsible for annihilating millions of terminals—AI-powered robots that nearly cleansed the globe of organic life. 

Even before the wars, the Old Monsters never came into the limelight. They remained in the shadows, doing whatever it was they did that kept them alive for hundreds of years. For one to publicly announce they were leading a company was unheard of. Not that he’d done so yet, but Raine knew it would happen soon, so he didn’t mind mentioning it.

Anticipating the slew of questions they were about to throw his way, Riane raised a hand, “Enough chatting. Let's finish up here. This is only the first area, and I have other things to get to today. Whoever kills the most demons gets a drop.”

That put a fire under their asses. They were quick to launch into a renewed killing frenzy. Raine watched his Superiority bar tick higher for twenty minutes before he was greeted with the delicious melody of reaching level twenty-five.

[Level up! x 2]

[+40 free attributes points]

[Potency: +6]

[Finesse: +6]

[Acuity: +6]

[Physique: +6]

[Connection: +8]

[General Skill Points +2]

Raine split his sixty free attributes evenly between Physique and Connection. His physical form tightened, solidifying in a way that made him feel capable of taking a few hits from Rocky bare-chested. He couldn’t, but that didn’t stop the thought from pulling at the corners of his lips. Raine slowly flexed the propulsive force of his Connection, catching a glimpse of feedback that made his heart race.

True connection is getting easier. Is that because of the extra thirty points or the additional three to my nascent attribute? I should have tested it before distributing my attributes. Oh well, I’ll get another chance in a second.

Raine swapped out his earrings, cape, gloves, shoulders, and boots, reveling in the massive attribute bonuses that swept through him like a typhoon. He toggled off the fraction of solidity so it wouldn’t skew the numbers, then perused his status for the first time in a while.

NAME: Alaric

CLASS: Armsman

TITLE: Spearhead of Orthrus / Sky Catcher / One Man Army / Big Game Executioner

ASPECT: Greater Aspect of the Werewolf

LEVEL: 22 > 25

SUPERIORITY: 283,410 / 25M

ATTUNEMENT: 45,917%

GENERAL SKILL POINTS: 2

I’ll get new Armsman skill options at level thirty-five. I’ll save these two general skill points until I know how to spend them. By then, I’ll have six, which should hopefully let me get whatever skills I want.

HEALTH POINTS: 1070 > 1,470 (4,022)

ATTACK POWER: 192 > 211 (643)

DEFENSE: 107 > 147 (608)

RESISTANCE: 146 > 209 (395)

CRITICAL RATE: 13% (49%)

ELEMENTAL POWER: 194 > 278 (557)

CELESTIAL POWER: 194 > 278 (557)

DEMONIC POWER: 194 > 278 (822)

DISCIPLINE: 204 > 286 (1,108)

ATTACK SPEED: 2.1 (4.1)

MOVE SPEED: 10.15 > 12.6 (43.66)

Very nice! Total HP went way up. The fifteen percent bonus from Heart of Plutus is giving me five hundred alone. Attack Power was just under three hundred before. It more than doubled, while Discipline tripled. Combining Discipline and Attack Power, my base damage is 1,751… without a weapon equipped… Can’t believe I was just complaining about the cursed ring.

My defense is high enough that even debuffed, it would be hard for players my level to hurt me. Finesse got the biggest boost. No surprise crit rate, attack, and Move Speed went way up. Almost up to the four point five attacks per second soft-cap. Even half a point after that takes a thousand Finesse.

ATTRIBUTES:

POTENCY: 96 > 106 (297)

FINESSE: 96 > 105 (436)

ACUITY: 96 > 105 (204)

PHYSIQUE: 107 > 147 (347)

CONNECTION: 97 > 139 (278)

Acuity is lagging. Going to be hard to visually keep up with my new speed. Hopefully I get a few more drops to make up the difference. With triple the loot, anything is possible.

WEAPON ATTUNEMENTS:

[Fists - Beginner 196/5000%]

[Mace - Beginner 2081/5000%]

[Knives - Beginner 73.5/5000%]

[Shield - Beginner 86.5/5000%]

[Axes - Beginner 5000/5000%]

[Staff - Beginner 5000/5000%]

[Wands - Beginner 514.5/5000%]

[Spear - Beginner 220.5/5000%]

[Swords - Beginner 343/5000%]

Can’t believe I thought it was so hard to finish beginner grade the first time... Should have just done a nightmare raid.

Raine laughed at his own joke. There was a reason he got a world-first achievement for beating The Gaze of Malefaction. The number of groups worldwide capable of fighting through so many demons and beating that boss could likely be counted on two hands. That didn’t mean they would have the opportunity, though. If he wasn’t a noble and able to hire mercenaries to find the invasion heart, there was no way he would have even made it through the front door. 

However, massive guilds, with their manpower, couldn’t be underestimated. Raine also knew that masters and grandmasters would be flooding into ZionLine all too soon. It wouldn’t be long before his current advantages were overtaken.

Raine kicked off the ground, and the world blurred as he overshot Rocky’s shoulder. Laughing at the massive difference in power and speed, he allowed gravity to take its course, then directed the rahk glahm to hold out a palm. Raine landed on the proffered limb, only needing to slightly bend his knees to absorb the shock.

The group was a good distance away, wrapping up their fight with the last few demons. The city on the horizon was beyond them; its gloomy walls beckoned him closer. There was no such thing as a raid that grew easier the further one progressed. The promised challenge set Raine's blood to boiling, and the delectable loot that awaited would belong entirely to him. The war assets, once claimed, would propel his future guild to heights that the other local guilds couldn't hope to match.

They would come, and he would be waiting with arms open to receive them.