MM - Chapter 92 - THE FIRST LAW

Celeste Luu Rahn

Celeste wasn’t entirely sold on Raine’s choices in friends. They all seemed nice enough, and a few were surprisingly competent. However, only Fizgore was obviously born into wealth, which made it difficult for her to want to connect with them. Overcoming a lifetime of ‘elite’ social programming wasn’t simple. Her time with Mel was helping, and at least she was making an effort. Not to earn brownie points with Raine or some stupid reason like that! Getting closer to his accomplices would only make her eventual goals of taking him for everything he was worth easier.

However, at the moment, she couldn’t help but agree with their sentiments. One she hadn’t managed to remember the name of shouted, just as thunderstruck by events as she was, “Two levels in thirty seconds! This has to be some kind of record.”

The short stocky one that looked like he never left the gym nodded vigorously, “So this is how he leveled so fast in the beginning, by bloody cheating!” 

The one Raine called brother—Richtor she thought—snorted in agreement, “Can you imagine Grifden’s face if he saw this? I can, and it’s glorious!”

Don’t know who that is, but it’s true. Raine really doesn't know how to do things normally.

“If we put this on the forums, it would probably be the top post within ten seconds.” All eyes swiveled to the brown-haired, lanky speaker. He raised his palms defensively, shaking his head, “Don’t look at me like that! I was only saying.”

Rhino cleared his throat. As the youngest and final addition to their merry band, he rarely spoke other than directly to Raine, “While we're on the subject. He angered the Phoenix Clan. If his, well, if any of our identities get leaked, they're going to kill us for sure.”

Celeste wasn’t about to let a perfect opportunity to seal loose lips go unanswered, “Couldn’t agree m—”

“Look out!” Rhino bodychecked the short one and they barely flew out of the range of an explosion that splashed across the shield. Intense heat seeped right through, unhindered by the shimmering blue barrier. Despite jumping away, Celeste’s hair burst into flames and her skin was heavily scorched. [-270] The air in her lungs turned to searing agony. Her eyes watered as half of her health vanished. She fell to her knees, coughing viciously until a bolt of soothing energy splashed across her back, restoring her sanity.

She shot Mel a thankful smile, then her eyes were pulled to the insane bastard who brought her to this hell. He was pointing a jeweled scepter toward another group of the deadly bugs. He then shouted the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard him say, “Puripuri Rainbow Release!” Unable to grasp the absurdity of the situation, the group could only stare with jaws falling wider and wider as a group of the bugs were wiped out by a single skill.

Celeste had at least managed to remember the name of the only other girl in the group. Even if it was just to make sure Deloralicious couldn’t also hear Raine’s thoughts, “One move… He killed those level twenty-five enemies in one move… I knew he was strong, but isn’t this too much?”

“How does he have a skill that damn digital while I'm stuck with Blast?! He's definitely a hacker!”

Mel pointed after Raine, a tinge of panic in her tone, “He's leaving!”

Fizgore’s deep, sharp voice cut through the battlefield clamor, “Five headed this way! Dodge, dodge, dodge!” His warning came too late. Thirty meters from the wall, the bugs slowed and changed color. Then promptly turned into lasers that impacted the shieldwall an instant later. Explosions sent ripples through the shield that did nothing to stop the waves of deadly fire racing toward the group.

The lanky loudmouth wasn't fast enough this time and the flames swallowed him whole. When the air cleared, all that remained were scorched-black bones and a pristine pair of Common Grey boots.

Raine KongRu

In the past, it wasn’t possible to find someone in the Tri-glades or Dantinian Empire who didn’t know about The Divide: the region of land between the two great walls was a holy mecca of Superiority and Attunement begging to be farmed. Though it didn’t begin that way.

Within the first weeks of release, everyone knew it wasn’t possible for a higher level player to powerlevel others efficiently. Afterall, fighting equal leveled enemies with an underleveled group dragging you down was suicidal, and if you were two levels or more above an enemy, it yielded no rewards. In essence, the only viable way to gain Superiority was with others your level, against enemies your level.

Then, they discovered the inviolable law of ZionLine deemed the most important, and hence its dubbing as the first law: Intent is the distinction between life and death.

Intent was a complex, hidden rule in ZionLine, and easily the most important of the five. For instance, if a level ten player held the desire in his heart—intent—to assist those of a lower level in killing an enemy, their efforts would be wasted. Even if they reduced the health of a level two beast to a sliver, then it was killed by a level zero player, there would be no rewards. 

On the surface, that was a direct contradiction to whichever player making the final hit of a kill got to collect all the rewards. 

When it was learned that it all came down to intent, the path to true powerleveling was revealed. Because the Vaaterran casters in the blastslits had no intention of assisting those below, their damage wasn't counted as ‘helpful,’ and the group could receive the full benefits of each kill, regardless of how much ‘help’ was administered.

The usual strategy was to form a raid of fifteen players below the level of the rabinoids. Then, the fastest player was gifted boots with a short range blink ability. That player would aggro the bugs, dragging them through the numerous higher-level AOE skills of the Vaaterrans until the monsters were weakened enough for the raid group to easily kill.

Ultimately, killing the abundant enemies in The Divide was the easy part; gaining access through the guilds who hoarded the zone was another thing entirely. Luckily, those guilds were still ignorant of this place and the method needed to capitalize on it. That wouldn't remain the case for long. But first, they would congregate in this area for another reason, and it was for this ulterior motive that Raine brought them here instead of a slightly better leveling area.

Raine churned through Discipline, Lunging constantly in an effort to avoid the twenty rabinoids buzzing just above the ground. They couldn’t maintain their flights for long, zipping forward in extended jumps that were much faster than Raine could run. So, he dodged.

Sweat dripped from his brow as his feet crunched into blistering-hot ground. He took two steps toward several un-aggroed bugs before needing to spend five more Discipline to Lunge again. He was already below half Discipline, and there were still two minutes until the cooldown on rainbow release ended.

A flickering in his HUD marked the first two deaths in the party. He wasn’t surprised in the least. He was impressed they made it this long with how lackadaisical they were behaving. While passing through the mountains, they had grown too reliant on him. It was unfortunate they were in such a hurry as there were several great opportunities they had to skip. However, chances to ruin Damian Tafell’s plans while earning a few thousand gold in the process didn't appear often enough to ignore them.

Raine dove and rolled as the next clutch of bugs jumped at him from twenty meters away, almost instantly passing through the space he’d been a moment ago. He barely had his feet under him when he Lunged to the side. His nose was centimeters from the soil and its heat evaporated the sweat clinging to his skin. An extended arm smacked the ground, flipping him upward to avoid a late arrival that leaped his way with sharp mandibles stretched wide.

Ten Lunges later, he had collected nearly forty rabinoids. He spun on them, “Puripuri Rainbow Release!” As with the first group, there was not one survivor. Because of the two deaths, there was more to go around and two hundred thousand Superiority and a hundred and fifty Attunement flowed into him. He booked it back to the shield to allow his resources to replenish.

Crossing his fingers, he maintained a steady stream of bloodlust, directing his killing intent toward a distant bug. When thirty seconds passed and Cassidy’s Comet reimagined in his grip, he victoriously pumped a fist.

My Discipline will recharge slower this way, but staying in combat means I don’t have to reroll the damn roulette fifty times.

While the party made their way to him, he spoke with the raid leader's privilege and his voice reached all their ears regardless of distance, “When you die, get back here as quickly as you can.”

Celeste responded with one word and he could practically hear her usual snark in it, “When?”

Before the first hour was up, Raine was proven right. Other than him, each of them received the priceless experience of being burned alive and having to run back while knowing they were missing out on tons of Superiority. The challenge of opening the heavy doors delayed them further, often forcing them to wait until two or three died; all the while they were subjected to the jeers of the Vaaterrans. When they did finally return, they no longer bothered with pointless conversation or errant thoughts; their full dedication was on the task of staying alive and reaping the incredible rewards.

In that time, Raine accumulated two million Superiority, enough to bring both his growth weapons to the cusp of level sixteen. Additionally, he earned fifteen hundred Attunement. To make such gains while also leveling his future core raid team was a feat the players of the world wouldn't believe. His quest completed automatically, gifting him an arguably more valuable commodity than Superiority and Attunement.

[Repeatable Quest: Minor extermination completed]

[You have survived the summoned forces of the Dantinian Empire and significantly contributed to the defenses of Celendine’s Shield]

[Reward: 1 Reputation with the Lesser Nobles Faction of Silverlight City]

[Repeatable Quest: Minor extermination available for remote acceptance]

[Note: Leaving the battlefield before the quest ends will result in Reputation Penalties]

[Y/N]

Raine grinned at the messages, gladly accepting the quest again. After the tenth point of reputation, the quest would no longer give rewards. As planned, that was exactly what he needed to become a lesser noble. In the past, this particular quest was considered one of the most difficult for accumulating rep with the noble faction. In itself, killing two hundred rabinoids in an hour wasn’t a challenge, doing it amidst the intense competition from other players was what made it nearly impossible. Raine had breezed through, more than doubling the required kills and there was no reason to stop.

Nine more to go.

As time flowed with unceasing combat, the group’s evasive efforts did wonders to help them adapt to their rapidly increasing attributes, but Raine knew it wouldn’t be enough.

In the second hour, after the bugs were mostly cleared out of the direct area, he gathered the whole group. He taught them the first Martial Qigong Kata: Resplendence. Developed over three decades, its sole purpose was easing the adaptation of rapidly rising attributes. The complex movements combined flexibility and strength in exactly the right ways to push their growing limits.

Raine brooked no balktalk when Kevinsbakon complained about how hard the movements were. “Just learn it! Your attributes are increasing too quickly. You'll be lucky to be able to run by the time you’re level fifteen. Once you get to Silverlight and unlock your classes, practice it non-stop until the competition!”

There were no complaints after only a few minutes when they realized how crazily effective the movements were. Still, intense dedication was required to learn how to push an avatar beyond the norm. They had a long, long way to go. For now, Raine was satisfied with their efforts and led them to a new section of the wall flush with enemies.

Raine fell into a rhythm relying on Rupture and rainbow release to deal the bulk of his damage. The skill’s range could easily encompass fifty beasts, but he didn’t have enough Discipline to survive being mobbed by such numbers so he typically gathered thirty per batch. Then, he took ten minutes to recover. By the end of those ‘breaks,’ his skull would inevitably feel like he’d squeezed it in a vice from the constant use of bloodlust.

When he first gained the mental ability, his nose was bleeding after a minute of sustained use. While pleased with his progress, he couldn’t consider himself proficient by any margin. 

At the end of the fourth hour, Rhino won the race and hit level fifteen first. Raine threw ten silver and a set of level fifteen Common Grey gear at him, then promptly kicked him out of the raid group, “That’s enough mooching for you. Want to get stronger, go earn it yourself.”

“Wha-what?!” The boy stammered, though he didn’t miss snatching the goodies from the ground.

“Take the side entrances in the tunnel to the top of the wall and drift to Silverlight City. Wait for us there. Don’t fly directly into the city or the guards will kill you. They’ll take that ten silver as an entrance fee, then give you a few quests to familiarize you with the Commoners District. That will lead you to the trainers to take the test for your class. There are a few unlockable classes in the city but I don’t suggest you take them.”

Raine was interrupted by a new clutch of suicidal bugs that started glowing while aiming toward the group. Mel was already in motion, sprinting at such a steep angle her fingers could have brushed the ground. She shoulder-checked TwistedReligion, sending them both to safety. Mid-air, she flung her arm to the side, releasing a bolt of green energy that collided with the dashing Richtor. The wave of flames had just smacked into him from behind and he only survived thanks to her perfect timing and aim.

Raine whistled appreciatively. She had only died once, and since then hadn’t taken a single point of damage while consistently rescuing others. 

She's adapting to increased attributes so fast. This doesn't make any sense. In the past, she was mediocre at best. If she had displayed this level of skill, she would have been moved into CronGate’s raid group along with Fizgore.

After landing, Mel caught sight of him observing her. She dusted herself off and shot him a sultry wink. [Gee wiz, I wonder why I wouldn't have wanted that…] Smiling, she continued the previous conversation, “The hidden classes aren’t better? These regular ones don’t sound very good.”

Raine shrugged, “Yes and no. It’s complicated. Each of the skills for the combination classes are roughly twenty-fifty percent weaker than the skills of the generic classes. That said, they have more options. Those options also require a more broad application of attributes, but the combination classes don’t supply more attributes per level so you end up significantly weaker in most regards. That’s only going to make completing your second tier class quests more difficult. Earning your second tier classes is where you’ll be truly tested, and the class you end up with is based on your performance. The good ones are leagues better than the regular ones. Take the basic classes first, get better skills, use them to get a monstrous class at level fifty, profit.”

The looks he got from the group were a mixture of disbelief and outright distrust. Realizing he slipped too much knowledge from the past, Raine pivoted, “At least, that’s what I read in the Silverlight City Public Library. You should go visit it when you have time. There’s tons of valuable information there. If you want to skip out on training, you can do some research first, then pick your class. Just remember, the path you choose now pales in importance to how well you perform on the second class quest. Mess that up, and you really can screw your build for life.”

Rhino looked back, hesitating at the gate, “So, you’re saying it doesn’t matter what we choose now?”

One little push for the kid can’t hurt, right?

Raine shook his head, “Sure it does. Don’t be a sneaky thief if you’re better at stabbing things with a spear. Oh, and if you manage to get yourself killed on the way there, don’t come begging for my help. If you’re not level fifteen when it’s time for the raid tomorrow, then you’ll be the one missing out on the rewards.”

Rhino swallowed hard, nodded, then rapped on the heavy door and disappeared inside the Great Wall.