Everlast Online

Liz logged back into ELO with her mood much improved.

The threats to her sister and her friends had been dealt with and she now had a plan - no matter how difficult it would be to pull off.

Magnus had not fully understood what Liz had meant; Jess on the other hand, had. Hearing Grimes refer to Liz as Smokey was enough to let her and Bailey fully understand why she had been targeted - it was unclear if Piper had heard given the circumstances of when Liz arrived.

Anyway, Magnus had not been playing ELO as he was not the type to play games like - he had more than enough visors to equip his men, taking Liz's recommendation quite seriously, but had not made use of them as the gang struggled to make headway in the guild. Because of this, Liz had to explain who she was in ELO; the name Smokey, while somewhat famous, was not universally known. Luckily, Magnus understood she was a sort of supernova who was leading the charge into ELO; further learning of the money she had made allowed him to understand the guild idea was a good investment.

Liz decided to appoint Magnus as vice-leader; she would have chosen him as leader, but her name would grant more weight to the guild. With his ability to lead and Liz's power, they had a shot of becoming equal to the mega-guilds - or perhaps even becoming one themselves.

Magnus put his trust in Liz's plan, her intuition rarely having failed him, and set off to create his own character.

(A/N: While ELO was not excessively profitable, that's only by the standards of a mob boss who basically runs an entire city. Still made quite a bit of money)

Thankfully, the list of requirements to forming a guild were already public knowledge and while certainly difficult for some; she had already met the conditions:

[Requirements to form a guild]

1. [Gain a noble's approval to establish a guild in their territory]
2. [Acquire a building to designate as a guild house]
3. [Have at least 5 members, including guild leader and vice leader]

The 1st was honestly the easiest since Liz was already a noble so she didn't need to get approval. The 2nd was just as easy since being a noble came with its own mansion. Ironically, the final requirement, the one most considered to be the easiest, was the most irritating for Liz.

Thankfully, Magnus made up for this as he and 2 others could fill the slots; the final slot being taken by Nina of course.

Liz rematerialised in the dusty waiting room she had left, to find both Nina and Gloria still there waiting for her. Seeing her manifest, Nina jumped at her, her eyes filled with worry as Liz was not the type of person to just up and leave like she had.

"What happened!" She yelled, almost shaking the poor puppet.

"It was a family emergency." Liz said as she began to feel nauseous, despite being a type of undead with no stomach, "I've taken care of it."

"Miss Nina, perhaps you should stop now." Gloria chimed in, getting a mental thumbs up from Liz, "Master looks very uncomfortable."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." Nina said as she stopped swinging Liz around, but did not let go, "I've never realised how soft you are before."

Nina pulled her in for a hug, treating Liz like an actual stuffed toy. Her body was quite soft, a fact that should have been unsurprising considering her physical body was quite literally a child's doll, just increased in size. Nina and Liz hugged in silence for a while until Nina finally let her go, her face slightly red; Nina sat back down and looked at Liz expectantly.

"Well. Are you going to finally show off your skill?" Nina asked and even Gloria looked expectant. Legendary ranked skills were not common - even for legendary ranked beings. For Liz to get one while still mortal was incredibly rare.

"Sorry, but there's a more important matter to deal with first." Liz said, slightly serious, but not dire, "I need to make a guild. Do you want to join?"

"Of course." Nina said, without an ounce of hesitation.

"You do understand I have made myself the enemy of at least one mega guild right." Liz explained, "Joining me makes you their enemy too."

"I know that already." Nina said, acting like she didn't care, "But those mega guild douche bags are the worst. I'd rather be their enemy with you than not be allowed to keep playing with you."

Liz smiled at Nina's sentimentality, her attention being taken as a system notice appeared in front of her:

There were 2 ways to add friends in ELO, first was to, in person, send a friend request - like Liz had done with Nina - and the other was to use each player's unique serial number for their device; this allowed Magnus to add Liz as a friend to make the next part easy.

Especially as she gained 2 more friends, being those who were members of Magnus's gang.

With all the members Liz needed she began forming her guild:

Liz was surprised to see Gloria as an option, but was ultimately glad it was there.

Liz went through all of the options, selecting all 5 possible guild recruits and getting a positive response almost instantly. All that was left was the name, something Liz was not the best at - still, she had chosen one she thought was cool:

Every guild was announced to the entire player base, it happened often enough that most people simply ignored them after seeing the word guild - but this time it was not one they could ignore.

Smokey was not the same as other players; her feats within ELO had been so great that even the mega guilds couldn't just sweep her under the rug like they had done with some other successful players in past games. But that was not all, the guild rank also sent a shock through the player base: Smokey hadn't just made a guild, she had made a rank 3 guild - this was not expected.

In ELO, the way to make and upgrade guilds became known only after the first person achieved it - excluding Valkyries rise to rank 2 as that was automatic and due to the reward for being the first guild. People rushed online and saw the new post they had expected; finding that the way to upgrade a guild to rank 3 was by owning the land your guild resided in. This put a damper on most people's spirit since that was not entirely possible for them, unlike the other 2 ranks.

The first rank was achieved simply by forming the guild and came with the main benefit of increasing ranks: The first guild skill, [Guild Vault]. A large sub-dimension that stored gold and items; gold could then be accessed freely by any guild member while the guild leader and vice-leader could grant access to the items stored inside.

The second rank was somewhat difficult, but only in the aspect that it cost a lot of money. For rank 2, guild leaders needed to own their guild building, which required a lot of money - especially for players with a lot of guild members. However, rank 2 gave an exceptionally useful skill: [Guild Return], allowing guild members to teleport back to the guild house once per week.

Finally was the third rank: Owning the land your guild stood in; for some this was enough for them to give up as they saw no possibility of becoming nobles; but for others they only saw it as a matter of time - and some saw an immediate solution.

There was plenty of unclaimed land and there were no rules that forbade changing guild house locations; sure it would take time, but it would be easier than trying to become a noble.

The final piece of information revealed was the rank 3 guild skill:

[Summon Guild: The guild leader can summon the entirety of the guild to their location. Each member has the right to refuse the summons. Cooldown - 1 month]

Liz was incredibly impressed by the skill, considering the ramifications of it. She figured it would primarily occur during typical guild wars - as similar skills would be used in other games. 

With the guild formed, the rest was up to Magnus. At the moment, only the guild leader and the vice-leader could send out guild invites; most guilds relegating their vice-leader into a bureaucratic position and Liz was no different.

Magnus would get things up and running at the same time as increasing their overall power - making sure that almost the entire gang took part in the game from this point. Liz on the other hand now had 2 things to do; a long term goal and a short term one.

The long term goal was to improve her territory; with her land in such a state it was basically useless, so what she needed more than anything was to improve.

The short term goal was one she had been putting off: [Book of the Damned].

"This guild is cool and all." Nina said, looking through the menu, "But you still haven't explained about your new skill!"

Liz briefly explained the message that appeared when the book dissolved into her, Nina and she were a little confused as to what happened, but Gloria told them the book was most likely a grimoire.

"But I thought grimoires had proficiencies that you need to improve so you can get more skills." Nina said, confused, "Liz said all of the skills have already been unlocked."

(A/N: Nina was there when Liz told the king her real name so she knows it too)

"That is typically the case, but it seems this grimoire is a static skill." Gloria explained, sounding quite surprised herself, "They are much rarer and cannot be improved, but often they hold greater power than typical grimoires."

Liz was becoming more excited at the thought of the skill.

Nina looked more excited than Liz did, but she wouldn't have to wait any longer as she finally activated the skill. But what happened was not what Liz was expecting; there was no mana loss as the book that had previously floated into her mind reappeared, floating in front of her with the ethereal green design still fully visible.

The trio stared with anticipation, but nothing happened. Liz began to wonder what it did, thinking of turning the pages and as she did, the cover opened and the pages began to turn.

So it works by thought. Liz realised, flipping through the pages.

The first page that had any text on it read: Final Will and Testament, but other than that it was blank.

"Isn't that the name of one of the skills?" Nina asked as she looked over her shoulder, "Why's it blank?"

Liz wondered that for a moment too, but quickly remembered the purpose of the skill.

"Because I haven't stored any of my undead yet." Liz said.

"What about all of your summoning skills? Didn't they get absorbed?" Nina responded, making Liz begin to panic.

Have I just lost basically all of my weapons? Liz thought, realising that she had essentially just crippled herself until she could increase her army again.

"Do not panic, master." Gloria jumped in with reassuring news, "The grimoire's skill does not seem to have an upper limit, meaning you could surely gain thousands of undead whereas before you were restricted by the skill."

"Hmm." Liz hummed to herself, "I suppose that's true. I just need to get more undead later."

But it does bring up other issues though. Liz realised, starting to recognise another of her summoning skill's superior qualities. If I have to find resources for my undead, that means I can't just recklessly get rid of them like before.

Liz could only sigh to herself as she instructed the book to turn its pages.

This is where things become instantly more interesting; on the page seemed to be a title: [List of the Deceased] a glossary of all the available undead she could create below separated into 3 sections. These sections then corresponded with 3 tabs sticking out from the top of the book, reading: [Flesh], [Bone] and [Spirit] in that order. Becoming excited again Liz did not want to spoil all the options by looking at the glossary and instead turned the page to start with the first choice:

[Zombie]

[Abilities: {Biting}, {Scratching}]

[General rank estimation: F]

[One of the most basic forms of undead and among the lowest ranked flesh-types. While they are undoubtedly weak, they are incredibly cheap to create and in areas with many corpses, they can be created quickly to overwhelm enemies]

[Ingredients: {1 corpse}, {Mana}]

[Reduced Ingredients: {No reduced cost due to rank}]

The page detailed the general properties of the undead, even giving a picture of a grotesque humanoid creature with rotting skin and dead eyes; despite the rank and overall low review given by the description it was still quite frightening.

I didn't really make much use out of [Raise Horde] because my regular undead were better, but these don't seem too bad. Liz thought, considering a zombie as a decent force should she ever run low. Turning the page revealed another flesh-type undead, the undead beast, but the page after was not one she expected and one Gloria seemed shaken up to see:

[Bone Slayer]

[Abilities: {Enhanced STR}, {Enhanced AGI}, {Weaponized Tail}]

[General rank estimation: C-]

[A decent living-type undead originating from another dimension. The race is on the brink of extinction despite having above average combat ability. They would make for an excellent light armoured unit in any necromancer's army]

[Ingredients: { 1 corpse}, {Reinforced bone}, {Tailed-Beast corpse}, {Mana}]

[Reduced Ingredients: {175 corpses}, {Mana}]

Gloria looked visibly shaken up by the page, a feeling transmitted across Liz and Gloria's bond.

"Do you want me to..." Liz trailed off, having read Gloria's backstory and also the description of her race, she knew full well what she was offering; but not whether or not it was her place to.

"It would not be the same, but thank you for the thought, master." Gloria said solemnly, "But please do not hesitate to make use of the option."

Gloria understood her irrationality, even if it was through unconventional means she could bring her race back. Perhaps it was pride, or perhaps it was the knowledge of [Create Undead]'s function that stopped her. Undead created through a skill like [Create Undead] were not true beings as their souls could not fully form, preventing them from increasing in strength. All undead created through this way were bound to the power they had upon creation - there was no way to change this without a superior form of the skill. For this reason Gloria didn't feel comfortable rebirthing her race in that manner.

She did not care if Liz made use of the soldier type, but she could not in good conscience recognise them as the same race she had once hailed from.

Turning the pages, Liz was happy to find that all of her summoning skills had been integrated into the skill - not only as creatable options, but also with the reduced summoning cost as well; she had also had a page for [Skeleton], the bone version of [Zombie], despite never summoning a skeleton before. The reduced conditions were not available, replaced instead with [User has not yet summoned a {Skeleton}] [Summon a {Skeleton} to discover the reduced ingredients]. [Skeleton] was not the only page like this, there was also a page for the [Blood Golem] and its [Blood Fiends] all with their reduced conditions locked. The final shock, and the page that finally clued Liz into the conditions of recording a race into the book, came with an undead she had only met once:

[Ancient Guard]

[Abilities: {Superior END}, {Shield Proficiency}, {Shield Techniques}, {Enhanced Regeneration}]

[General rank estimation: S]

[One of the specialised evolutions of the {Death Knight} and an amazing defender/tank. While incredibly slow, they make up for it in their impenetrable defences and above average strength - definitely a must have when available]

[Ingredients: {100 corpses}, {C-Rank or greater broken shield}, {Defender's Grudge}, {Indomitable Will}]

[User has not yet summoned an {Ancient Guard}] [Summon an {Ancient Guard} to discover the reduced ingredients]

"It's seeing them!" Liz called out, the other 2 letting out exclamations of understanding as they too had been trying to uncover the condition of being added into the book, "That's so powerful!"

Liz and Nina began to cheer over how amazing the ability was. Just by seeing an undead she could learn how to make one; they began to theorise what the skill meant by familiar with and considered other possibilities. They wondered if Liz perhaps just saw an image of an undead, whether or not she could learn their ingredients - and similar trains of thought to this.

The last major point of interest was the [Spirit] section of the book. It was the shortest by far with only 2 entries; however, both stuck out more to Liz than most of the others did:

[Abandoned Doll]

[Abilities: {Dark Magic}, {Curse Magic}]

[General rank estimation: D+]

[The favourite toy of a child that has long been abandoned; the grudge built within has turned it into a fearsome mage with a speciality in curse magic. While not exceptionally powerful, its specialty in curse magic makes it a powerful ally for any necromancer]

[Ingredients: {1 corpse}, {1 noble child’s former favourite toy}, {Mana}}

[User has not yet summoned an {Abandoned Doll}] [Summon an {Abandoned Doll} to discover the reduced ingredients]

Liz was more than happy to know more about her own race, especially when it concerned her abilities.

I have a surprising pack of curses for a race that specialises in them. Liz thought as she looked over her status. Though, it probably refers to race skills and they’re pretty rare.

The next page was also interesting, but for a different reason:

[Guardian]

[Abilities: {Unknown}]

[General rank estimation: {Unknown}]

[The soul of a powerful being from another dimension. If given the option they are a must have for all necromancers - do not hesitate to acquire them]

[Ingredients: {Unknown}]

[Reduced Ingredients: {Unknown}]

“This… Defies logic…” Gloria muttered, “[List of the Deceased] is a legendary skill, it shouldn’t be bested by an A-rank one.”

Gloria, who had been looking over Liz’s shoulder, was baffled at the information. Liz was also confused by the data, the complete lack of info on guardians was incredibly intriguing; but a quick thought came to mind:

I might be able to get some more information pretty soon. Liz thought as she reached into her inventory to pull out her latest world announcement reward.

And just as she had hoped, the skill she desired laid in her hands. Liz did not hesitate to rip the scroll and activate the skill; a beam of light passed through the roof of her manor without even cleaning the dust.

“Let’s see what kind of guardian I can choose this time.” Liz grinned, entering the void once again.