Traction, p.6
Traction, page 6
ED, year 1, day 87-88.
Xeal stood with his friends, each of which had upgraded their gear greatly over the last three weeks. Xeal was wearing a leather armor with metal plates placed at key points to increases protection. At his sides were two rapiers, all of which were level 25 gear. The rest of his friends had level 20 gear equipped. Clara had passed the test to become a champion (holy warrior) and wore a breast plate, while wielding a long sword and kite shield with holy symbols on it. Amet had on chainmail and was wielding a pair of war axes. Gale stood in an intricate mix of chainmail and strung white fur armor, holding a staff, while a holy symbol hung from her neck and a mace from her waist. Aalin and Ignis both stood in new robes. Aalin’s were blue while Ignis’s were shades of red and orange. Aalin held a wand with a beautiful blue gem at its base while Ignis wielded an oddly shaped staff with a vibrant red gem inlayed in it’s top. As Xeal looked at all his friends, he could only smile before speaking.
“Well, it looks like you all have done rather well. Are you all ready to have some fun?” (Xeal)
“Hell yah. What do you have in mind?” (Amet)
“Something Clara and Gale should have a blast with, seeing as each of them are so religious now.” (Xeal)
“Hey, I’m sorry this game requires us to join one of the faiths to gain these classes. It’s not like I’m all holier than thou now. If anything, you should be thankful Clara and I went with Freya as our goddess.” (Gale)
“Hey, you were the one who picked. I was good so long as it was a god of war. You’re the one insistent on it being a god of love as well.” (Clara)
“What are you saying? That you didn’t like my choice?” (Gale)
“Let’s drop it, I don’t want to get into it here.” (Clara)
“What did the two of you go through in your class quest?” (Amet)
“Shut it, or else!” (Clara)
“Okay.” (Amet)
Xeal could only laugh. He hadn’t realized they had chosen Freya. Had he known, he might have warned them. In ED you could choose your faith and deity from any of the ones in the whole game regardless of what was practiced in your area. All of the deities were taken from historical pantheons, and while not all pantheons were represented, or complete, popular ones such as Freya were. The only issue was ED did not block explicit content even if you wanted it to. It was often viewed as part of some challenges. Xeal was sure that the two must have gone through something that involved both war and sex. As to what exactly happened, he knew better then to ask.
“Ok, let’s move on. I didn’t mean to start a fight here. The plan for the day is to grind in the Ethereal Bog, which contains hordes of undead. Gale, Clara and Ignis, you will be our main damage outputs as Amet and I work as tanks while Aalin focuses on buffing the party as a whole. Now this area is a level 30 and up area, so Amet, don’t expect to do that much damage even with your buff from your title. The important thing is to keep the back lines safe. We will be moving in a file formation with myself in the front, followed by Gale, Clara, Aalin, Ignis, and Amet, in that order. Unlike most foes, the undead can rise up from the ground just as you pass them. This can lead to us finding ourselves surrounded quickly. To avoid our back liners from being targeted, Amet, Clara and I need to be ready to form a perimeter to protect the rest while they reduce our foes.” (Xeal)
With that Xeal led the group out of the city. His goal was to get the group to where they could handle grinding the Ethereal Bog without his help. As they were currently, Xeal doubted any of them would be able to deal any real damage to the skeletons that occupied the fringes of the bog. Once you added the terrain in and the general resistances of them in as well, even he would have trouble dealing any real damage. If it wasn’t for just how effective magic was and how weak the early undead’s attacks were, he wouldn’t have even tried it yet. This was the one saving grace the system gave players the first time they entered an area with the undead in it. Players would always fight a monster that, while on par in most aspects of other monsters of similar level, their attack was always low, comparatively.
Xeal guided them across the Fox Plains, carefully avoiding monsters along the way until they arrived at the outskirts where a few skeletons could be seen roaming around. Slowly he led them towards the closest one and engaged it directly in combat. Xeal and Amet tanked it while Clara shifted to the rear to protect the flank, while switching out with both of them to use her holy smite skill she had picked up, before dropping back to wait out its charge period. Finally, after a solid 30 minutes of work, they were able to take down the skeleton. While no one was injured badly, everyone was low on mana and skill points.
“Geeze, that thing just didn’t want to die, and you want us to grind here?” (Ignis)
“Yah, I could barely keep up with it at all. Are you sure we shouldn’t focus on something a little lower level for a while?” (Amet)
“Relax. Look at your HP. These enemies are great for you all to push your limits with. If my math is right, you should all be level 25 and I should be over halfway to level 27 if we can keep this going for our next 8 log ins.” (Xeal)
“Damn, that’s way too fast. Wait. Won’t that mean we will be moving onto level 31 foes before we are done?” (Ignis)
“Wait. Didn’t you say only the level 30 foes would be weak damage dealers?” (Aalin)
“It will be fine. You will all be level 23 before we make that jump, and by then you should all be able to fight more effectively.” (Xeal)
After a long rest to recover, they started to continue their assault which was going fine for most of the day, with them singling out a skeleton and slowly whittling down its HP while fighting defensively. They had repeated this process 17 times and were about to look for one more foe for the day when suddenly three skeletons rose from the ground and charged at the group.
“Shit, this isn’t cool man.” (Amet)
“Calm down. Come on, we need to head them off.” (Xeal)
“What? No way. This is where we should run.” (Amet)
“Calm down, we will be fine; Gale pass me your mace.” (Xeal)
“Um, sure, but why?” (Gale)
“No time right now. Ignis, Clara, Gale, Amet, focus on the one to the far left. You just need to take care of it while I keep the other two occupied. Clara, be ready in case one gets by me. Aalin, just keep those buffs coming.”
Everyone responded in the affirmative and went about their tasks. They all could tell this was going to be a hard fight. Xeal would have no chance to switch out until the first one fell. Xeal had taken the mace due to the fact that it was the most effective weapon against a skeleton. It would have been nice to be fighting a zombie instead, as then slashing attacks would be effective. The only reason Xeal hadn’t been using a blunt weapon from the start was due to how awkward they felt to him. He hated off balance weapons and had always favored swords. The rapiers which he wielded now were great for piercing attacks and alright for slashing, but incapable of any form of blunt attack. Xeal focused on wielding it in his right hand, swinging it at the skeleton on the far right and was happy to see the increase in damage output. However, his stance was thrown off and he was having problems keeping the one in the middle from slipping by.
“My damage is up, but my movements are to sloppy now. Everyone, just focus on downing the one to the left. I think I can weather these two for a while at least.” (Xeal)
“You sure?” (Amet)
“Yah, just make sure you take care of it quickly.” (Xeal)
“Will do.” (Amet)
“Okay, Clara don’t hold anything back. You and Amet are going to double up on the one to the left. Ignis, tell them each time you have a spell ready so they can give you an opening. Aalin, focus on me. Gale, just keep doing what you’re doing.” (Xeal)
With the plan altered, everyone sprang into action with Clara unleashing wave after wave of holy smite, Ignis supplying a steady stream of fireballs, Gale bathing the whole area in holy spells and Amet landing blow after blow. The first skeleton fell after 30 minutes of work. Amet was sitting around a quarter health and looking tired, so Xeal went back to dual wielding rapiers, calling out.
“Everyone take a break. I will keep these two busy for a while.” (Xeal)
“What, you want us to disengage?” (Clara)
“Yes. You’re all low on SP and MP, and Amet needs some healing. I will be fine. Just use items to restore yourselves. I can last at least 20 minutes, then switch with me Amet.” (Xeal)
“You got it. Thanks man.” (Amet)
Xeal spent the next 20 minutes doing his best to dodge and parry the attacks that were coming his way. This had become easier thanks to all the hits he had landed with the mace on the knee joints of the skeleton, causing them to start to crack, slightly hindering the skeletons movements. He hoped it would be enough for him to last with no healing while his party recovered. At no time did he go on the offensive as it would only serve to cause openings for the skeletons to land hits on him while the negative energy of the bog restored their health. This too was one of the greatest weaknesses of the undead. If you were able to cleanse the area of negative energy, they would lose HP just standing still. However, it could also be said that the negative energy was leaving them to try and infect the area once more. This was a constant battle for tier five and up clerics and champions, as they could gain access to area affect spells that could cleanse an area of negative energy. The density of the energy present was directly related to the strength of the undead in the area as well. so even if they didn’t have the power to completely remove the energy, they could weaken the foes in the area for a time. In Xeal’s last life the Vault of Ucnuc had been completely purified and taken over by the player’s guild who had reforged the blade Xeal now held the fragment to. They held onto it for years before a group of evil role-playing players had managed to sneak in and conduct a ritual that bathed the area in negative energy far greater than before, rebirthing the Vault of Ucnuc as a level 200-300 area, with it spilling out into the Ethereal Bog and Fox Plains with hordes of undead appearing and laying siege to Dragon’s Heart city. Many had thought the city would fall when undead armies of tens of thousands of level 100 and up monsters had surrounded the area. But after years of work the area outside of the Vault was cleansed, but due to the lack of tier eight clerics the Vault was never completely cleansed again.
The end result was the guild that had conquered it first and based themselves out of it fell and were lost to time. This had taught many guilds a valuable lesson. They had thought that they could hold onto their power from one stronghold that provided immense benefits, guarding it like a dog with a bone. They all had thought, if anything, another guild would come to take it from them in a fight. They never thought players would come to just watch it burn. The time directly after the area was infected with negative energy saw the merging of many guilds that had their power too concentrated in one place with others that were similar and in a close proximity. It had marked the end of most small regional powers and led to the age of a small guild being considered any guild with less than 1,000,000 members. Guilds with less than 10,000 members were just ignored, except in rare cases where they were formed of exclusively talented individuals, but those guilds were extremely rare.
“Alright man, we’re back.” (Ignis)
“Great, let’s focus on the one to the right.” (Xeal)
“Will do, but for now you should focus on taking a breather yourself.” (Ignis)
“No need. I still have over half health and can go for another hour easily. Remember, I’m used to being solo. Everyone being here just lets me take it easy.” (Xeal)
“You’re crazy, man.” (Amet)
“It’s fun to have you around to.” (Xeal)
“Stop crushing on each other you two and keep those damn skeletons occupied.” (Clara)
“Right, I’ll switch back to the mace. Amet, keep the one on the left pinned down. Clara, only use half your reserves on this one. Same goes for you, Ignis. Aalin, focus your buffs on me and Gale. You know what to do.” (Xeal)
It took 25 minutes to finish off the next skeleton, and Amet was in bad shape with less than an eighth of his health intact when Xeal relived him. That said, once they started in on the last skeleton, it became easy. With no reason to hold anything back, everyone unleashed everything they had left to end it as quickly as possible, and after 20 minutes the fight was over, and everyone pulled out a scroll to return to Dragon’s Heart city for a rest. They had done about as well as Xeal could have hoped. The loot was mostly items that could be used in crafting various different items. So, like most of what Xeal had gotten recently, it was added to the guild storehouse for use by the guild’s crafters. As they reached the inn, Xeal noticed that Clara and Amet had gotten a room together. It seems they had brought their relationship into ED as well. Aalin and Ignis each paid for their own room, as contrary to reality, ED actually charged more per person for a double room than if each got their own. At first many had complained saying that it wasn’t fair, but over time it came to be realized that double rooms offered several benefits single rooms did not, one of which he was sure Amet and Gale would be enjoying. Xeal was just about to get a single room himself until Gale asked him a question with a red face.
“Xeal, can I talk to you for a bit?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“It’s the faith Clara and I joined. The goddess Freya is the goddess of battle and love. As such she encourages her champions and clerics to partake in both regularly. Doing so gives us some decent passive buffs. Clara has Amet but-”
“Wow, there. I don’t like where this is going.”
“Oh, shut up. I’m not asking you to do me or anything, that would be too messed up. No, I just wanted your advice on how to secure a partner without hurting Ignis, more than I have already.”
“That’s a hard one. Are there any requirements?”
“The buffs are better the stronger our partner is, and the buffs we get from NPC’s are way weaker.”
“And you don’t want to bat for the other team either, right?”
“Nope, I’m straight. A group thing would be one thing, but I’m not interested in any one on one like that.”
“Too much info Gale. Well, my only answer to you is to find a boyfriend here in ED and date them. It might cause some problems, but it is the best answer I can give you. Just don’t start banging random guys whenever you can. I can’t have one of my vice guild leaders getting that kind of reputation.”
“Ugh, being a lady sucks.”
“Yep, the spotlight is no fun.”
Gale made her way to the counter seeming slightly disappointed and paid for a room before disappearing, following which Xeal did the same.
Morning, August 15, 2266.
It was the first pay day that the payroll company would be handling. Alex had decided to treat the money everyone had made as a signing bonus. His company was now set up to pay everyone on the first and fifteenth. While they were flush on credits for now, Alex still worried about the long term finances of FAE and once other guilds started to take off as well. He was only one player and even with 20 years of playing ED, he probably knew less than one percent of what opportunities were out there. With over 100 countries spread between 13 continents and countless islands, not to mention the pocket dimensions one could stumble upon, ED was simply too vast for even the most informed guilds to keep track of it. While Alex could access most of it through his guild’s archives and the ED forums in his last life, none of that was available to him now. He had to build off what he remembered, take the concepts that others had used successfully, and exploit them. The first guild cities didn’t start to pop up until ED had been out for over five years, and it had taken another five before they were operational. Guilds had ignored crafting players until tier six players started to emerge and the need for weapons other than those dropped in loot became apparent.
Alex stretched as he prepared to do his morning run. As he did so, he thought of the conversations he had with the three new vice guild leaders. He had told them about his plans to move to Colorado Springs and invited them to join him there if they became permanent vice guild leaders. Henry had declined as he didn’t want to leave his friends behind. Kazuyuki had said he would consider it once he was sure FAE would be able to stand the test of time. Tara had jumped on the opportunity the moment she had learned that housing would be covered by the guild. Alex knew that once the guild city was operational, all three would move as they would have no reasons not to, and that was enough for him. He had laughed at Tara’s reaction to being told she needed to stay in shape the most. Kazuyuki had already been doing so and Henry accepted it and forced his friends into it as well. Only Tara had protested and almost begging to not have to. Only relenting after Alex made it perfectly clear that if she were to end up unable to play ED due to her physical condition deteriorating from her negligence, she would lose her rights to the vice guild leader position.
Alex was still getting used to finding his parents downstairs together each morning. After they had started to play ED, the pair seemed much more intimate than he could remember them ever being when he lived at home. Both were only playing in their sleep right now, but they seemed to have been enjoying the extra time it allowed them to spend together. Anna had taken to giving Alex a death stare whenever he was present and their parents started acting like newlyweds in front of them. To his surprise, Anna had started to join him and his friends for their morning runs saying she needed to stay active. She was playing as much as she could now and blaming Alex for pushing an addictive substance onto her in the form of ED. Needless to say, she wasn’t looking forward to the start of school on the 23rd. Their mom had already stated that if she didn’t maintain at least a 3.5 GPA she would be barred from playing ED. Alex was waiting outside for his friends to show up for the run with Anna when she broke the silence.
