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[21:51] [Guild] Vizovia: um, I have a question
[21:51] [Guild] Vizovia: how can I get a [Molecule of Chaos]?
Vizovia had hit level 91 on her mage earlier in the afternoon which allowed
her to finally equip The Ocular, a pretty good one-handed magic rod. For a
level 91 Mage only three other one-handed weapons were better depending
on the build, but the differences were small. Arcanist Mage favoured flat Intellect
bonus while Elementalist pulled ahead with extra critical hit rating. The
Ocular was better than the previous two-handed staff she used, even despite
the fact her other weapon slot, the off-hand, was rather poor in quality for
the time being. Still, just the bonus intellect stat conferred by Ocular was an
improvement of more than eight percent. She was unlikely to get her hands
on another weapon of this quality in the near future – probably not before
she hits level 96 – so now it was time to utilise it to the maximum. And that
meant socketing and enchanting it, which in turn meant obtaining runes and
Enchanting materials, and therefore, expenses and effort. Dusts and Motes were
relatively easy and cheap to get, whereas Sigils were quite expensive considering
she needed twelve of them. It would drain her pocket almost completely,
but it was necessary and worth the investment. Ò_Ó told her so, a week ago
when Ocular had dropped and Slam1go awarded it to her as he was serving
as the group leader at the time. This is what gold is for, someone else added.
But the last reagent, a Molecule of Chaos, was a problem.
[21:51] [Guild] 415: 90+ raid trash drop with small chance
[21:51] [Guild] Azarus: or market
[21:51] [Guild] Azarus: but it ain’t cheap
[21:51] [Guild] slowah: it’s ez, just be Azarus and grind money all day
[21:51] [Guild] slowah: then buy whatever you need
[21:51] [Guild] slowah: =]
[21:51] [Guild] Azarus: can confirm, it works
[21:51] [Guild] Azarus: even better when you dont feed tons of mats to
your wife every week
[21:51] [Guild] Vizovia: xD
[21:51] [Guild] slowah: pray for this man
[21:51] [Guild] Vizovia: well I am 91 and poor
[21:51] [Guild] Sl4y: no problem, I’ll assign you a husband who will
work himself to death for you
[21:51] [Guild] Vizovia: um, what xD
[21:51] [Guild] Azarus: can confirm, it works :/
[21:52] [Guild] Sl4y: ok but seriously, I have a better idea
[21:52] [Guild] Sl4y: come find me in Argentia
[[Sl4y] invites you to a Group.][accept][reject]
Sl4y sat by a wooden table in a gallery overlooking the great fountain in
Argentia, which just like the decorative railing owed its brightness to the
red-veined marble the Kingdom was known for. Major city arteries coming
from east, south, and north met here, while a cobbled alley to the west led to
the Dresdver Palace, the seat of the Kingdom’s royal court according to the
game lore. This was not Sl4y’s usual spot, but it was one Sapphire liked. The
building was just one of the merchant houses, open to players at all times,
but the gallery was accessible from the outside. It offered a good view on
the large square where the main roads met, and where two tall flag poles on
either side of the fountain displayed the current owners of GvG castles for
all to see: Havoc’s somewhat simplistic design of an inverted trinity symbol
in white over pitch-black background and with an etched golden trim; and a
more elaborate design for Bulwark, a bassinet-type helmet with the vertical-
-slitted visor down, over a white-and-red checker pattern background. There
was meaning behind Bulwark’s heraldry. The founder, Octav, apparently was
a big chunk of a man who practised bohurt, a niche contact sport imitating
medieval combat, with armours, sword, shields, et cetera. The chequered background
stood for his homeland, Croatia. Along The Road Guild, the allies of
Bulwark, was not represented since only the actual owner was ever displayed
despite the allied contributions. Sl4y’s eye sniped Vizovia approaching across the large square. A bare-headed,
sky blue-haired Mage dismounted outside from a feathered lime-green
raptor mount and entered the gallery by the staircase from the street, waving
a gloved hand at the people expecting her. She was thin-bodied and of average
female height, and she came wearing her Mage gear. A gossamer-thin
white mantle enveloped her shoulders, its folds held together on her chest by
a clasp. The mantle gently billowed behind her as she walked, and the underlying
buttoned tunic was thigh-length, revealing her bare knees. The tunic
was sleeveless but her gloves covered her forearms almost up to her elbows.
Her large, fuschia-pink eyes complemented her colours nicely. Overall, she
looked pretty good. In fact, she looked too good for a level 91 character who
was still leveling. Was she deliberately wearing sub-optimal but pretty gear?
Sl4y made a mental note to inspect her before the next party to make sure she
did not confuse a raid for a fashion show. Still, he had to admit whoever she
was in real life, she had style.
Sl4y was not sitting alone, and something in her awkward pause told Sl4y
that Vizovia was taken by surprise when she came upstairs.
[21:58] Vizovia: um, sorry to spoil your moment ^^
[21:58] Sapphire: what moment?
[21:58] Sapphire: ahh!
Sapphire was the other mature girl of the guild but one that would grimace
if called “big sis” or something of the sort. Funnily enough, nobody
seemed to know her real age precisely, probably except for Sl4y who would
not tell. Even if Vizovia had not seen the nickname over the Minstrel’s head,
she would identify her by chestnut hair and narrow eyes observing her from
underneath a fringe. To Vizovia’s perception she projected an aura of silent
confidence and quiet judgement. They never talked one-on-one; she seemed
to often log in around the time Vizovia usually goes to bed or just minutes
before the GvG.
[21:58] Sapphire: don’t mind me, just enjoying my evening with Patrick :)
Sl4y was surprised for a very short moment and wondered who this Patrick
may be, but then it hit him.
[21:58] Sl4y: it’s fine V, I invited you here myself didn’t I
[21:58] Sl4y: is this what you need?
Sl4y said, opening a trade window with the younger Mage, and dragged
the item she needed from his inventory into it, but has not confirmed the deal
yet. He had been in the Bank building when the /guild conversation started.
I’m pretty sure we had a few Molecules in here somewhere, he had thought
as he moved from his own storage to that of Havoc. He would give her one
of his own, but he did not have any himself. But his intuition was correct
and he picked up one of them from Havoc’s restricted storage and moved
it to his bags, then he opened the transaction log, and wrote “for Vizovia”
underneath the latest entry. It was unlikely anyone would even read the log,
as only those lamentable few of Veteran rank and above could even open it,
much less make a fuss out of it. Certainly, people like Venetia, Belixner, or
Sarevoc had at least a few of their own in stash and had nothing to do with
them. Then he returned to the gallery where Sapphire waited for him, which
was also where Vizovia found them a few moments later.
[21:58] Vizovia: yes!
[21:58] Vizovia: how much?
[21:58] Sl4y: 0
[21:58] Vizovia: :o
[21:58] Sl4y: a gift from the guild :p
[21:58] Sl4y: but first - what do you need it for?
[21:58] Vizovia: Avalanche ench
[21:58] Sl4y: isn’t thaumic torrent better?
[21:58] Vizovia: I thought it is, but o_o says no
[21:58] Sl4y: I have no idea why, but I won’t argue with his mage wisdom
I guess
[21:58] Sl4y: here you go :)
Sl4y confirmed the trade.
[21:58] Vizovia: thank you :3
[21:58] Vizovia: do we have some sort of procedure for requesting
gbank stuff?
[21:58] Sl4y: no, but maybe we should
[21:58] Sl4y: take it before I write it:D
[21:58] Vizovia: ok haha
[21:59] Vizovia: I’ll leave you two alone now then ^^’
[21:59] Vizovia: thanks again!
[Vizovia cheers]
[Vizovia waves at you]
[Vizovia waves at Sapphire]
[21:59] Sapphire: cya (:
Vizovia then casually jumped over the railing down onto the cobbled street
to save the few seconds she would otherwise lose taking the stairs. Gamers
are busy people who do not have this kind of time. Sl4y got an impression
she was embarrassed or something, and wondered if she felt the need to
vanish as soon as possible. At the same time he wondered if she was doing a
little celebratory dance as she turned the corner. Not that the game allowed
this kind of celebration, but it is the thought that counts. He typed a message.
[22:00] [To: Sapphire]: really? PATRICK? XD
[22:00] [Friend] Sapphire: XD
[22:00] [Friend] Sapphire: the first name that came to me
[22:00] [Friend] Sapphire: should we tell her?
[22:00] [To: Sapphire]: no xD
[22:00] [To: Sapphire]: well it’s up to you tbh, I don’t mind
[22:00] [Friend] Sapphire: then dont
[22:00] [Friend] Sapphire: that hasn’t happened in a while
[22:00] [To: Sapphire]: yeah
[22:00] [To: Sapphire]: it takes me back:D
[22:01] [Friend] Sapphire: not since the honeymoon island incident xD
[22:01] [Friend] Sapphire: dont know if you noticed, but I forgot to
change outfits again
[22:01] [Friend] Sapphire: I was in slut uniform all this time
[22:01] [To: Sapphire]: I might have noticed this very revealing costume,
yes.
[22:01] [Friend] Sapphire: why did they even make them this way? its
supposed to protect me. so unrealistic
[22:01] [Friend] Sapphire: horny game devs smh =_=
[22:01] [To: Sapphire]: unrealistic?
[22:01] [To: Sapphire]: I’m a Priest dripping with gold. Looks very realistic
to me =]
Vizovia had easily acquired the Molecule, the item she thought would be most
problematic to get and therefore would be the last to be collected. But now it
was in her inventory while the most basic stuff was not. Fortunately she knew
where to find it herself.She pranced giddily through the town. Not only did
she now carry a new weapon, but also now held an epic-quality reagent in
her inventory, that she would otherwise have to spend several hours getting.
Guilds can be pretty great!
[Friend] Ò_Ó has logged in.
She was about to check if Ò_Ó is online; she needed to talk to him when
he just happened to log in. She waited a few minutes before she whisped him
through the friendlist.
‘Hey, got a moment? Two questions only,’ She sent to him.
‘Sure, what’s up?’ The answer came immediately.
‘You sure it’s Avalanche not something else?’
‘Ofc.’
‘OK then. I’ll get the rest of the dusts and motes now ^^’
‘You got the molecule already?’ asked Ò_Ó.
‘Yes, just now. Sl4y gave me one! :D’
‘Good, I should have told you to check with him first, I forgot. Is he still on?’
‘He’s hanging out with Sapphire now. I didn’t know they were so close.’
‘Are they?’ said Ò_Ó.
'What?’
‘Nothing. You said you wanted to ask something else?’
‘Yes, I have the last nine levels to get, where do I put the last stats and skills?’
‘It doesn’t matter, you are still leveling so you will reset stats and skills at
100 anyway. Then you will fine-tune your build for whatever you want to do :p’
‘Hm, ok.’
‘Just put it stats in INT and skills in area spells, Meteor Strike or Freezing
Gust, or even Chain Lightning. Don’t invest in raid buffs. When in doubt,
take damage :)’
‘Ok, thank you ^^’
‘Now, I need you for something. Got a few moments?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Great. Come find me :)’
He opened a portal and brought her to Fulgrad, a minor town in the southern
continent. It was a nearly insignificant place, except for being a safe refuge
among maps flagged for player versus player combat, and a home to a few
vendors of goods sold nowhere else, such as tiny rainbow-scaled lizard pets and
firecrackers. But the town’s most important business was gems and jewellery.
Players come to Fulgrad from all over the world of ARIS to buy the finest
wedding rings from NPC vendors. From here a bridge took players across
the river to a dungeon, the Fulgradorn Mines, and the local area was bountiful
in high-experience mobs such as fire-breathing Salamanders the size of a
passenger car, stalking the foothills of a volcano fuming to the south. They
were slow, but very, very patient. Why chase prey, when you can just roast it
by setting the area on fire? It’s not like it moves afterwards.
‘Stay dismounted. Cast Invisibility when I do,’ he typed to her.
Vizovia and Ò_Ó left the town by the west gate and entered a forest of
amazingly tall trees spreading their crowns wide and forming a canopy overhead
akin to sequoias. The underside of leaves viewed from down below looked
silvery or blue-ish giving the whole place an eerie feeling. The ground level’s
foliage was unsurprisingly modest, since the trees overhead absorbed almost
all of the daylight, leaving very little for plants growing underfoot. A tall
yellow-and-blue grass was reminiscent of a savannah, and massive branches
strewn the forest floor as they dropped dry or broken from the tree tops high
above, creating an excellent home for all kinds of insects as they rot and decompose
on the ground.
Ò_Ó had led her along the road at first, but soon they went offroad. To
Vizovia it seemed like her companion did not really know where they were
going. They were taking turns left or right in apparently random places.
‘Are you looking for something?’ She asked him.
‘No. Looking for someone, and trying to not be looked at while we’re at
it. Ah, there we go! See that guy?’ asked Ò_Ó. Slightly uphill from them was
a Witch Doctor player mobbing and AoE-ing Skantids; insect-like creatures
living in large colonies, their thick chitinous plating indicating their high DEF
attributes. Their behaviour seemed to be modelled on ants or bees. Fire worked
best against them, but not every class had access to elemental attacks. One
also had to be careful to engage them carefully and individually, for when
attacked, Skantids were programmed to summon other nearby drones to assist
them. A careless player could get rapidly swarmed, but this Witch Doctor
was doing a good job preventing that. How unfortunate for him, thought Ò_Ó.
‘Yes,’ said Vizovia at his side.
‘Great! Now kill him.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me. Fold him.’
‘I thought you needed my help. Why not do it yourself?’
‘Because you must do it :)’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m telling you to :D’
‘...’
‘Come on. He’s getting away.’
‘But he’s just doing a quest or something!’
‘Yeah. I know. But this is a PvP zone, he knows the risks. Go in there
and gank him.’
‘But why?!’
‘Why, why… so many questions. Consider it therapy.’
‘Therapy for what? Speak sense please.’
‘For being a noob and a doormat. Like that time you passed on boots
in Azure Halls because Doom rolled for it. Yeah I noticed that. Or the time
you got camped outside Hardline and didn’t ask on /g for help. Were it me,
I wouldn’t call for help either, but that is because I am stubborn and I have
pride and you don’t, you were just shy.’
‘How do you know about that? :/’ She was not enjoying this conversation.
‘Because it was my sister’s party who camped you, that’s how :D’
‘OMG what’s wrong with you people :/ what are you, a family of bullies?’
‘You should meet our eldest bro. Now, go kill this dude.’
‘He is 6 levels above me!’
‘Then we’re in luck he’s low.’
‘Are you enjoying this?’
‘Yes :D but Sl4y also asked me to babysit you.’
‘He didn’t. You know I’m an adult, right?’ Vizovia asked.
‘Did I say babysit? Of course I meant “mentor you”.’
‘That sounds bet-’
‘But you are a baby.’
Vizovia sighed with irritation loudly enough that her cat woke up. The
good mood she had after obtaining the Molecule of Chaos was leaving the
party.
‘But he’s weak now, won’t that be super lame to attack him now?’ she
asked.
‘True. I’ll tell him you want to duel him at full strength.’
‘No!’
‘Then off you go! :D Fold his ass! While we’re at it, I’ll check your technique.
What would you open with in this situation? CC or burst?’
‘Sigh. If he sees me first then-’ Vizovia began but was interrupted.
‘Don’t tell me, show me. Wreck him and assert dominance! Then spit
on him!’
‘Ugh, but you asked -_- Fine, I’ll try, then leave me alone, geez -_- ‘
A moment later a Witch Doctor by the name of Numeu5 lay on the ground
defeated, but still inside his body. It was a short struggle. He was at forty
percent HP and a few skills on cooldown when the Pyroclasm hit him, and
it critted too. Before he knew what hit him, Ice Shackle rooted him in place.
He could only turn his camera towards the source of the damage: a female
Mage from Havoc no less, one that he recognized somehow, casting some
lightning-school spell at him from about 30 metres away and the direction
he came from. That was just a few metres outside his range, but her Shackle
prevented him from moving. She even had put a Force Field on herself just
in case he could close the gap somehow. She played it well, meaning he
could only watch his death.
She came over to where he lay among the still corpses of broken insectoids
and stood over him. What she said next was not “haha ez” or something
in this vein that he expected from Havoc people. Instead, what followed was:
[22:25] Vizovia: hello! And I’m sorry ^^’
[22:25] Vizovia: I just really needed to kill you
[22:25] Vizovia: I hope you don’t mind :3
He now recognized a few details about her. Numeus himself was a
member of Execute, the chief among the rival guilds of Havoc, and several
members of both sides regularly exchanged insults and provocations on
server’s forums. His current character, Numeu5 was his third character on
the server and he did not even bother to have it join the guild. Nevertheless,
he now recalled seeing a new Mage in Havoc during the regular battles. He
might have even killed her himself a few times when he was on his Hunter,
Numeus. She was either new, or someone’s alt. If she even was a she.
But somehow, his death did not feel entirely negative. Her character
looked gorgeous, but she was ruthless enough to surprise-attack him, skilled
enough to not screw up this simple gank, but also oddly nice. Since when
Havoc had people like that?
[22:25] Numeu5: you’re awfully polite for someone stabbing someone
else in the back
[22:25] Vizovia: sorry, I really had to^^’
He was about to type his response, when another Mage emerged from
thin air next to Vizovia and downed Numeus’s, and Numeus knew it was
Invisibility that had concealed the newcomer. So there were two of them, but
only one attacked. It was that dude with a weird name, Ò_Ó, whom Numeus
knew well. Not personally of course, they just killed each other hundreds of
times over the years of AltAr.
[22:26] Ò_Ó: hello sir! You have been folded by the feminine hands of
Vizovia. How would you rate your ganking experience this day?
[22:26] Numeu5: D:
[22:26] Numeu5: it was awful, not recommended
[22:26] Numeu5: but I give it all 4 points out of 10 just because I’ve never
been ganked by an angel before
He said, then released his body. Vizovia and Ò_Ó now stood over an
empty player skeleton.
‘So, how was it? :D’ asked Ò_Ó.
‘I thought he would be pissed off, but you managed to turn it into a joke
somehow.’
‘Yes, and you have a new fan now too :D’
‘I won’t comment on that,’ said Vizovia bashfully.
‘By the way, this guy you killed is a veteran from Execute, I’m sure he
won’t remember you or hold a grudge or anything. But you better get that
lvl 100 soon.’
‘I’ll kill you xD’
‘You promise? If you do, do it properly, I’d hate to die from a lame gank
(like he did xD). Next time try to have a few extra steps of distance between
you and them, you were too close. Mages outrange alchemy attacks. Had he
been more prepared, he could have some bombs to drop on you. And if you
open with Pyroclasm, cast TA first.’
‘TA?’
‘[Thaumic Acceleration]’ Ò_Ó linked the spell in chat.
‘Ah.’
‘But following with a root and pre-casting FF on yourself was a good
idea. Anyway he was low so it was EZ this time. Not much to learn from that.’
‘Mhm.’
‘Now let’s go make you some more enemies!’
Vizovia groaned inwardly.