Everlast Online

Liz accepted the quest, allowing Nina access to it as well.

The pair were given the necessary information in order to complete the quest and left. Liz was already trying to come up with plans in her head. Gloria would be restored in an hour and a half, meanwhile they had at least 3 hours to get into position.

Liz and Nina had the baron's route and estimated arrival times, the Marquess had also been able to provide an estimate of his security detail; giving Liz confidence as she believed she would be able to take them out.

The only uncertainty was Kilgard.

Baron Anthe was one of his supporters, but how important was he? Kilgard may up the baron's security depending on his value, which made things harder to plan for.

"You wanna see what new skills we got?" Nina asked after they had left the Marquess' estate. This brought Liz out of her thinking and reminded her of her 2 new skill scrolls, both class skills as well.

"Of course." Liz said, pulling out her scrolls as she and Nina got away from the crowds of people nearby, sitting down on a bench.

Liz chose to look at the 2 scroll's descriptions before using them:

[Class Skill Scroll (---)]

[Grants user 1 random class skill]

[Greater Class Skill Scroll (---)]

[Grants user 1 random class skill. Increased chance of granting high ranked skill]

Liz looked over to Nina and saw she was also just staring at the scrolls, likely inspecting them.

Liz momentarily thought back to the last class skill scroll she had acquired. 

It was a piece of parchment rolled up with a ribbon tying it closed, with a wax seal on top of it. The same was true about the scrolls she was holding, though there were some differences. Firstly, the [Class Skill Scroll]'s parchment was much lower quality and quite rough compared to the A-rank version and the greater version. Secondly, the ribbons were different, the [Class Skill Scroll] was a simple black ribbon, while the [Greater Class Skill Scroll]'s ribbon had golden highlights as well as the black.

However, the major difference was the wax seal. The regular scrolls just had plain seals, but the A-rank scroll was emblazoned with the letter A.

Liz stopped thinking about the minute differences as she saw Nina picking up the greater scroll.

"You're using the greater one first?" She asked.

"Course. It's more fun that way." Nina said with a laugh as she opened the scroll. Liz decided to take a leaf from her new friend's book and use the better item first, instead of last as she would have normally.

She was beyond happy with the results:

[Blood Donor (1) (B+): Allows user to absorb remnant life energy from corpses to restore HP, user may also drain own HP to restore MP. Absorption scales with skill level, INT and freshness of corpse]

This is an amazing skill! Liz was extremely happy with this and her stitched mouth was grinning widely behind the mask. Though it did affirm a doubt Liz was having, one she decided to fix now.

Liz opened up her status and used the 18 stat points she had been saving, placing them all into END.

There's no use in having my summons tank all my damage, if they're going to die immediately because I'm weak. She thought. Besides, a single powerful DOT-type attack could basically end me. I haven't died yet and I don't want to experience it.

Liz was slightly excited to see what the other scroll offered, [Blood Donor] was exceptional and that made her excited to see what the remaining scroll had in store for her, so she quickly made use of it.

[Summon - Skeleton Warrior (1) (F): Expend mana to summon a skeleton warrior to fight for you (0/10)]

"Damn... An F-rank skill." Liz muttered dejectedly, until she began to recognise the skill, "What the hell..."

[Summon - Skeleton Warrior] was the necromancer's starting skill and she had just gotten it... Again.

Liz was not confused at having gotten a duplicate skill, what she was confused about was that it had not been absorbed by her other skill: [Summon - Skeleton Soldier]

Duplicate skills should count towards the levels of the skills. Liz thought, simply put, [Summon - Skeleton Warrior] should have been absorbed into [Summon - Skeleton Soldier]. Instead, it became its own independent ability; defying some of the common knowledge about skills in ELO.

What Liz had just discovered was a secret aspect of the skill system. When a skill evolves it becomes entirely separate from what it once was; meaning that gaining the original (unevolved) skill does not contribute to the level of the evolved skill.

This allowed players to choose a skill, evolve it one way, then go and evolve it another way.

It opened up limitless opportunities to determine your character, and presented better opportunities for skills to merge and become better.

This system greatly favoured weaker classes as well. This was primarily due to weaker classes having skills that were far more common; take the [Swordsman] class as an example, its skill [Slash] was much more common than the [Necromancer]'s initial skill. Since their skills were more common, it was easier for players to amass a large variety of their skill. 

Of course a higher class could do the same, it would just be much harder.

And while harder, it would be much more beneficial in the hands of the higher classes. It goes without saying that the [Slash] skill is vastly inferior to a rarer skill like [Shield Shatter].

It took only a moment for Liz to realise this; and the moment she did she began planning how best to use it.

Okay, what do I need? She thought to herself. I have foot soldiers and my beasts can somewhat act as cavalry. Golems are great at destroying things, big damage and slow bodies - like a siege weapon or something. I haven't had the chance to look at the archer's yet, but they will cover my ranged capabilities.

Liz quickly came to a decision. By realising that the golems are best used to destroy and are not suited to protection due to their unreasonably slow speed. This lead to Liz realising she needed a tank-type unit; and luckily she was already familiar with one:

Looks like I'm getting the guardian skeletons. Liz thought.

Liz was shaken out of her thoughts by Nina who was smiling brightly. 

"Did you get anything good?" Liz asked, already knowing the answer.

"I finally got an active attack skill!" She almost shouted. Nina was very happy with her class, but had consistently been annoyed that she had not been able to get any active skills that would improve her attacks. But now she finally got one:

[Ambush Strike (1) (E+): Empower one physical attack using a dagger. Attack increases by a further 100% if the target is ambushed. Power scales with skill level and STR]

It was definitely not the best attack skill, but Nina was still glad to have it. She doubted she would be taking part in much upfront combat anyway, especially with Smokey around.

Weirdly, Nina was more excited about [Ambush Strike] - the skill from the regular scroll - than the skill she acquired from the better one.

[Liar (0%) (C): Makes your lies sound more believable]

[Liar] would probably be more useful overall, but Nina was just excited about getting a proper active skill.

Nina and Liz talked about the skills they had gotten, Nina complained that Liz had better luck than she did and the girls had a bit of a laugh.

Next they began planning. 

Liz would have all of her undead available, even Gloria, to attack the baron. But they needed him alive, causing Nina to recommend buying a large potato sack and a bit of rope. Liz agreed that this was the best way to capture him, and continued.

Liz and Nina gathered all the items they thought they would need and moved to get into position to capture the baron.

---

Gally had a... Troubling time with ELO.

He, like many others, had chosen to use [Randomised Character] when he first opened the game. It was all over the forums that this was the superior option of the 2 given. Every post about the topic detailed how, in the beta, all the best players had chosen a random race and quickly become more powerful thanks to their race skills giving them a leg up over other players who had opted for the safer option.

And when people argued that you might end up with a horrible character, those advocating for randomised character argued that the worst you could become was one of the standard races.

(A/N: I don't think I've actually said what the 'standard' races are so I'll do that in an authors note at the end)

These same pro players who recommended this were completely wrong and Gally would be able to tell you this himself.

Gally, wanting to become a pro player, had chosen to randomise his race. 

He was the kind of person who idolised those at the top of the gaming world. He desperately wanted to be like them and would do anything to do so.

But fate didn't seem to look favourably upon him as when he woke up in Galdrash, he saw himself, not in a starter town, but instead in the middle of a ramshack village full of green people.

He had been extremely shocked and rushed to his status page, devastated after seeing his status page:

==== (FYI this is from first opening the status after entering the game)

Name: [Gally]

Race: [Goblin] (Attributes)↓

Class: [Warrior (1)]

Title: 

[Reputation: 0] [Gold: 0]

Stats: [STR: 5] [END: 4] [AGI: 5] [INT: 1]

Race Skills: [Brutality (1) (F+)]

Class Skills:[Swordsmanship (0%) (F)]

Other Skills: 

[Inventory]↓ [Equipment Menu]↓

[Player Auction]↓ [Currency Conversion]↓

====

Gally was horrified by what he had gained from randomised pick. He couldn't eve change it without having to pay for another ELO account.

A GOBLIN!? He had thought, even the attributes of the race were horrible; even the race skill was almost unusable:

[Brutality (1) (F+): Increases physical attack power by 100% for 10 minutes. Inflicts <Insanity> status effect on user for 10 minutes]

(A/N: Insanity is basically berserk, meaning you lose control over body)

Goblins had [Cowardice] which gave a speed boost when running away and improved their hiding abilities as well as made them harder to notice by stronger enemies; [Cruelty] which improved attacks when being intentionally cruel to others; and [Tribal] which improved ability to work in a team and improved fertility.

In Gally's opinion only the last attribute was any good (besides the last part), as he couldn't rise to the top being a coward and cruelty had annoying activation requirements.

Gally had to work so much harder than regular players to be able to reach a similar standing to them. As a monster race he couldn't even enter human towns to buy things from them without higher Rep, or they would try to kill him. He had to struggle so hard before he could even start properly playing the game.

It was for this reason he had come to hate Smokey. She had come out of nowhere and lucked her way into becoming someone important. His favourite celebrity, Golden Monarch, even explained how she had a horrible personality and that she might have been cheating.

Gally had ignored the post by the developers following this, assuming they had just been bought off.

If Golden Monarch had said it, then it was obviously true.

(A/N: Yeah. He's this kind of person)

Gally had changed from a sword to a single large knife, picking up [Knifemanship] naturally since goblins didn't have access to skill books. Gally was lucky that he found a quest that rewarded a high amount of Rep after playing for around 5 days, as this allowed him to enter human towns and begin taking some of their quests; though a lot of NPCs still gave him dirty looks, and many of the players went out of their way to kill him - even after learning he was a player.

Yet, through all this Gally continued fighting and rose to the point where he could now head to the capital city.

He had changed from [Warrior] into [Scout] - focusing on his AGI and strength instead of his END like he had initially wanted to - and this allowed him to be recruited for a B-rank guard quest. Gally was requested to guard Baron Anthe on his way to the capital city for some kind of celebration, Gally didn't care because something else had taken up the forefront of his mind.

Gally had gotten the opportunity to go on a quest with Golden Radiance: The best guild in the entire world.

Not just Golden Radiance either, but one of their executives: [Brant (55) (PC)]

They were about to set off and Gally was trying to work up the courage to talk to them. It was honestly his dream to join their guild, but he felt just asking was... Stupid. Luckily, it seemed a conversation was about to start anyway.

"Sir, what's up with that monster? Is it the baron’s slave or something?" One of the Golden Radiance members walked up to Brant and asked him a question while shooting a glare at Gally.

For the first time Brant looked over at Gally, and being an avid opportunist, Gally took the chance to talk to them.

"H-Hi. I'm Gally. I'm the scout for this mission." Gally stumbled through his introduction, before quickly adding on to it, "I'm a really big fan of your guild. I hope to join it one day!"

Brant just looked at him, up and down before a smile appeared on his face.

"Alright Gally the Goblin. Do a good job here and I'll put a word in for you." Gally was beaming with joy as Brant walked away, he was going to put his all into this mission and prove his worth to everyone.

"Alright everyone! We're heading out!" A knight called from near the carriage with the baron.

The baron did not have many actual knights, hence why he had stoop to hire himself some mercenaries as guards. The limited number of knights looked down on the hired hands, but none more than Gally.

God it sucks to be a goblin. He thought. I need to find a way to evolve.

He at least felt lucky he had chosen to become a scout as very few players seemed to pick this option after being a [Hunter] or knife-using [Warrior]; Gally didn't really understand why though; [Scouts] were great.

They were fast and thanks to his [Critical Eye] skill Gally could easily locate the more important parts of a body in order to land critical hits. They were exceptional at surveying areas, but could be dangerous in a fight if necessary; and from what Gally had heard, it was only one class-up from the [Assassin] class, and that would be a cool class to use.

The start of the journey was easy, Gally went ahead, looked for any possible dangers and reported them as necessary. Occasionally, he would find a pack of monsters, or a single monster he couldn't handle and report back to the carriage to gain assistance. But other than that, it was smooth sailing with Gally racking up experience freely.

God, it pays to be a scout. Gally thought, from what he heard there was even a scout-guild in the capital where he could improve his skill, buy new ones and get quests directly related to scouting. He was even considering not bothering with the [Assassin] class and just focusing entirely on his scout abilities.

However, on the second day Gally noticed something suspicious near the route.

There were 2 piles of rocks on either side of the road, despite not being marked on the map Gally was given. Being cautious, and wanting to do his absolute best, Gally went and reported what he had seen.

"You came to report a couple of boulders?" The head guard scoffed, "Quit wasting my time you warty freak."

And so, Gally backed away. He wasn't about to get into a fight with a knight who was above level 60, the only part was that it seemed the Golden Radiance members had seen that exchange.

If they know how the NPCs treat me, will they still let me join!? He began to worry excessively, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he had to continue doing his job to the best of his ability. My skills will make up for how NPCs see goblins.

Gally was far ahead of the carriage when he heard shouts behind him, turning he saw that the rocks were not boulders - they were golems!

The carriage and the escorts were trapped between 3 giant stone golems.

Gally rushed back in order to help them, trying to think of a way to destroy the golem, when another problem presented itself. Undead began appearing and attacking the caravan, the sheer number pushing them into a corner. 

At the very least, the golems aren't attacking. Gally thought, relieved. Instead they were boxing the guards in, preventing anyone from escaping. Wait... What the hell is that?

Atop the one of the golem was the figure of a small person. They stood a bit taller than a goblin and to Gally's shock, more skeletons were appearing around them.

I should kill that guy!

He thought to himself, changing his strategy. He didn't need to beat the monsters attacking, just the person bringing them here.

Gally activated his [Stealth] skill rushing as fast as he could and climbing the back of a golem, behind what he could now see was a girl in a witches costume. He snuck up behind her, his knife ready to cut her neck open, when his [Critical Eye] passive caught the slightest movement behind him. Gally jumped back as an axe narrowly missed his neck.

What he saw was a large woman dressed in black armour with a large axe in her hand

"Who dares attack my mistress!?" A woman in black knight's armour looked around warily.

She can't see me? Gally thought, the knight had definitely attacked in the right area, but she was acting as if she didn't know where he was.

A plot? Or perhaps genuine. Judging from her movement, the woman's agility was fairly high and she had attacked right where his neck would have been, but was that just a coincidence.

Gally jumped to the side and dashed towards the witch-hat woman again. She was blocked a second time by the knight, but in a much less accurate manner.

She had cut above his head this time, far too high to hit him accurately. She couldn't see him, only vaguely sensed him.

"Gloria! What's wrong!" The witch woman called out.

"There is an assassin!" Gloria replied, axe at the read. The girl, seemingly confident in her guard, turned back to watching the fight below. Gally took note that the witch stood strangely, like she was waiting for something.

Gally saw that the guards were managing to protect themselves against the undead, but also noticed the witch had introduced skeleton archers stood atop the golem, raining arrows down; making their predicament much harder.

Gally knew he had to do something and began his attack again, this time aiming for the knight woman. He would not be able to get to the witch and stop the summoned undead without getting past the knight woman first.

Gally landed a series of cuts along her body. She was faster than him, he was sure of it, but it was clear her's was not a class meant for speedy attacks like his. Gally was making perfect use of 3 of his skills [Critical Eye] to notice any attacks as they came, [Fast Feet] to quickly move with precision and [Evasive Fighter] to move in ways his body normally wouldn't allow for and gain a passive increase to his next attack for every attack he dodged at the ‘last moment’.

Gally perfectly worked his class, focusing only on shallow attacks to slowly whittle down his enemy instead of trying to do anything flashy. It was clear the knight had figured out his general height, but he was still controlling the flow of the fight.

The knight was gradually being pushed back by Gally, each slash of his knife getting longer along her body.

However, he had made a mistake and lost sight of his footing, getting himself trapped on a piece of rock. He managed to bend backwards, but the knight's axe grazed his nose; breaking the stealth.

"I've got you now goblin!" She called out, swinging her axe as it coated with a layer of orange light, she had activated a skill!

Gally just barely avoided it, the attack hitting the floor where he just was. The stone erupted out in a giant shockwave, sending the small goblin flying across the back of the golem, shaving off just more than half of Gally's HP without him even being hit in the first place

Half of my health! He shouted internally! Shit! Gally thought, seeing the woman running to actually kill him this time.

He again managed to dodge, trying to take distance and reactivate [Stealth] as soon as he could, but it was harder than he thought.

(A/N: [Stealth] needs a certain level of room to properly activate. If someone hides their presence right in front of them, it'll have less effect)

The woman did not want to lose him now that his position was clear. Gally was on his backfoot as he jumped around desperately to try and dodge, slashing only when he was certain it was safe. But the woman did not let up for even a moment, each attack almost landing in a potentially fatal spot.

The woman raised her axe up in the air, so, preparing for a downward strike Gally positioned himself to move to the right of the attack; instead he felt a wrenching pain in his gut. The woman's attack was a feint and she launched her fist straight into Gally's stomach, knocking him to the ground.

"This is the end goblin." The woman spat. Gally tried to stand back up and dodge, but the attack had caused the [Staggered] status effect and he could not move.

Her axe swung down, and Gally prepared to lose his level. Instead he heard the clashing of metal against metal.

"I see you've improved your summons Smokey." A familiar voice called out from above him, Brant had parried the attack and momentarily knocked the knight of balance then pushed her back further with a axe skill of his own.

Golden Radiance had come to his aid. He and they were about to fight against a powerful foe, together!