Everlast Online

[You have begun KINGDOM Quest: <Archduke's Plot>] [Archduke's Plot (I) (S)] [Plot: You have proven yourself worthy and have been granted knowledge of the turmoil to come. One of the highest officials of the Vradora Kingdom is planning to overthrow the king and the entire kingdom is in danger. Will you take up arms] [Goal: <Gather information of the Archduke's Plot>] [Reward: <Archduke's Plot (II)>, <???>] [Accept: Y/N] [«WARNING» The outcomes of KINGDOM Quests will permanently alter <Vradora> forever]

Liz obviously accepted this, although its rank could not match the mythic world quest it would surely grant her rewards beyond her wildest dreams. Unfortunately, it seemed others would also learn of the riches she was soon to make:

[«WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT» KINGDOM Quest <Archduke's Plot> has begun] [S-rank KINGDOM Quest <Archduke's Plot> has been started by player <Smokey>] [Reward: <+1000 Rep>, <10,000 Gold>, <Golden Compass (C)>

"Damn." Liz muttered under her breath as she clicked to accept the quest from the Marquess and dismissed the announcement while collecting the rewards; she would look at them later. There had been a few other world announcements since the clearings of the tutorial bosses, but they were just minor things; clearing higher ranked dungeons and similar, but now it was the notice of another important quest.

And Liz was once again right at its centre.

The Marquess soon began speaking again, explaining what she needed to do and where she was to do it.

"Abaddon Kilgard is an incredibly devious and intelligent man." The Marquess began to explain the plot to Liz further, "He has influence that matches his majesty at his fingertips and a somewhat legitimate claim to the throne as the bastard child of the previous king."

"He commands Vradora's Aristocratic faction in opposition to the crown, many have suspected he desired to take over, but with the letter you have recovered we have the confirmation."

"Then why not confront him with it." Liz interrupted the Marquess, she was unused to feudal politics.

"The letter confirms this, but it is not enough to convict him of treason. The seal is surely real, not something a mere bandit could replicate, but this would not hold up within court. With only this he could easily escape conviction and continue his plans in more secrecy as he knows we suspect him." The Marquess shook his head, he wished it could be that easy, but men with power and money could get away with almost everything; a truth Liz understood more than anyone.

"Fine." Liz sighed, "Then what am I to do?"

She already knew, but the NPCs of ELO were intelligent and she knew it was best to play along with the growing plot.

"We must learn more of what the Archduke is planning." The Marquess began explaining.

"In the letter you have acquired, the goal of the bandits was to block supplies from reaching Barview from the direction of Ghasten. Ghasten is a weak town but they regularly import materials from the spooky forest that are vital to the city. Kilgard wanted to weaken me as one of the King's greatest supporters, but beyond this we do not know what he wants."

"What I need of you is to find out more information, using whatever means available to you." The Marquess looked Liz in the eye as he spoke, "The safety of the kingdom relies on you, I hope you can deliver. Here is a map of the kingdom, marking the territories owned by the Archduke; I suspect he will have information in one of these 3 locations."

He pointed at 3 places in specific on the map. All 3 laying within the capital; the first was a mansion owned by the Archduke; the second, the main office of a trading firm he owned; and finally the last location was within the slums of the capital. The Marquess explained that a powerful gang ruled this area and it was suspected that Kilgard was funding their expansion across the slums

"I understand. Thank you for trusting me." Liz stood and bowed before leaving, she could not be given any assistance as the Archduke had not yet set his sights on her. Beyond the assassins, she was unknown and Liz wanted it kept that way. She could only hope it would.

As Liz left she assimilated the map, getting a 'detailed' map of Vradora as well as an understanding of which nations bordered it. Being the Divine Empire, Magica Kingdom and finally the Cronus Kingdom.

Barview was stationed at the border of Vradora and Cronus; it would take a while in order to reach the capital where she needed to be, but only a week within the game on horse. That would certainly be annoying. There was no means of fast travel within Vradora as teleportation magic was not a common ability.

"This is going to take a while." Liz sighed, however perhaps the hounds may reduce the time. It was a week by horse, but what about an inexhaustible hound; how long would that take? 

Liz would soon find out as she made her way to the exit of the city.

Now then, how am I going to get information? Liz thought, the point of the quest was to gather intel, it did not specify stealth but Liz understood that if the Archduke knew others had his information, he would change tactics, Necromancy isn't exactly built for stealth. Though there is her...

Liz remembered she did know someone who was quite good with stealth. Liz quickly opened the friend menu and composed a short message:

[Smokey: hey]

Liz waited for a moment for a reply and it soon came, from there a conversation started:

[Nina: what up]

[Smokey: looking for some help with something you want in?]

[Nina: kingdom quest?]

[Smokey: ye]

[Nina: rewards?]

[Smokey: second part of the quest + something else but hidden]

[Nina: sounds good count me in]

[Nina: you wanna meet up]

[Smokey: north entrance barview]

[Nina: cya there]

Nina was looking over her messages with joy. She was really just excited that smokey had messaged her first, but now she wanted help with a quest! Nina would've accepted immediately but she didn't want to sound desperate.

Nina, like Liz, was a solo player from lower City-Y; better off than Liz, but not by much. She really just played for fun, knowing she could never contend with the top players, but someone else was doing just that. Smokey had become a bit of an idol for Nina.

Liz and Nina met up around 10 minutes later; Liz was waiting for Nina to arrive and walked over to her when she saw.

"You called?" Nina said. Liz smiled and inspected her, seeing that she had risen to level 40.

"Yeah thanks." Liz was in need of a player with stealth capabilities and Nina was the only one she knew who fit the bill.

"So, what's the mission?"

"Let's form a party first." Liz said, first having to create a party.

[«ALERT» You have been sent a party request by Friend: <Smokey>] [Accept: <Y/N>]

Nina quickly clicked yes and looked over the information she had been presented:

[<Smokey's Party>] [(L) Smokey (50) (Necromancer)] [Nina (40) (Thief)]

She's already level fifty! Nina hadn't expected her to be so high levelled already, even she was quite ahead of the curve at level 40, What the hell's a necromancer?

"Okay, do you know how to add you to a quest?" Liz asked, she had no idea how to act with one, "Oh, here it is."

Nina received a notification as she was added to the kingdom quest, she now understood why Smokey had contacted her. With her thief class it should be possible to find some and steal what she was looking for.

"So where do we go?" Nina asked, there was no indication of where to look in the quest, but Liz seemed pretty confident  in what to do.

"The capital." Liz responded as she looked into her inventory, "There are three suspicious areas we need to search. I needed someone with stealth abilities; can you explain what the thief class does?"

"... Oh! Yeah! The thief is an advanced version of the hunter class." Nina explained, "It isn't that hard and I got it at level fifteen. It specialises in stealth and stealing items."

"That is... exactly what I need right now." Liz was more than glad at the capabilities of her newest member as she pulled out 2 items, "Let's go, I want to do something, but it's best to do it in an enclosed area."

The 2 of them began moving until they were no longer near barview and they could no longer see the city when Liz stopped and looked over her items.

The first was one she hadn't expected to get:

[Golden Compass (C)]

[Compass designed to detect treasure. Say the name of the item you want and it will point in its direction. When the item is found the compass will be destroyed. If the desired item is 'unavailable' the compass will be destroyed]

Liz understood this item. It was deceivingly simple, say a name and find treasure; the problem laid in saying the name.

Why did the description say 'unavailable'? The answer was simple, it was a trap!

If I say the wrong name the compass will be wasted. Liz smirked, a normal player would ignore that and simply say they wanted a powerful weapon or armour, but Liz doubted any armour was named as such, hence the compass would destroy itself, I only get one chance at this and I know exactly what to ask for.

Liz knew how best to use the item, it was literally a godsend for her, but right now it would not be put into use. Later she would bask in its value, but not now.

"What's that?" Nina asked as she looked at Liz inspecting the compass.

"The reward from the world announcement." That was all Liz said, she did not really trust Nina enough to explain the purpose and so put it away without any further explanation. Nina understood and asked no further; she just waited for Liz to carry on walking again.

Liz then turned to her next item, the one she had been waiting for, for 2 weeks now: 

[A-rank Class Skill Scroll (A)]

[Grants the user 1 A-rank class skill]

The description was simple and without fanfare, but Liz was still excited. [Raise Horde] was example enough of a [Necromancer] A-rank skill and Liz was salivating at the thought of acquiring another.

"Is that a skill scroll?" Nina asked, she was familiar and had gotten one for herself recently; [Mapping] to be exact, having heard of its uses when exploring.

Truthfully, Nina wanted to be an explorer. The [Thief] class was something she acquired by coincidence after she kept targeting a rude player's stall. They were selling stolen materials so she decided to steal the items while they were distracted, between this and using a knife with her bow she eventually qualified for the [Thief] class.

"It's a class skill scroll. It gives a random class skill." Liz explained, Nina recognised its value - one could only acquire class skills every 10 levels, however this item defied that rule. But Nina was not so foolish or disrespectful to try and steal it. Smokey was kind enough to invite her on this quest, she wouldn't betray her for a single item, even if it was especially good. Nina also knew Smokey could kill her in an instant if she so desired.

With everything decided Liz ripped the scroll and like usual a new skill appeared in her menu:

[Summon: Guardian (A): Summon a Great Warrior from between the Realms (more↓)]

What?.. This was abnormal. The skill had no level, but it was not passive. It was a summoning skill, but had no max capacity. A 'Great Warrior from between the Realms', none of the other skills mentioned this, Liz's summons were just made from mana; what was special about this skill?

Liz also noticed that this skill also had more information.

Do all A-rank skills have extra information? Whatever, let's just see it.

[Summon: Guardian (A)]

• [This Skill may only be used once. Once used the skill will be destroyed. Once destroyed this skill can be acquired again]
• [This skill requests the aid of a great warrior from another realm who has died and exists as only a soul]
• [Should no warrior respond, the skill will be destroyed]
• [Should any warrior(s) respond, but none accept the summons, the skill will be destroyed]
• [Warrior(s) will respond based on compatibility and affinity]

What the hell is all this? Liz did not understand, the skill will be 'destroyed'? What the hell does that mean?

This was not just a regular summoning, it was something much grander than that; Liz was coming to realise she had gotten yet another powerful skill beyond what she had expected. Although unclear on the specifics, she could tell bringing someone from another realm was no commonplace occurrence.

So it comes with risks? In Liz's eyes, this skill was a gamble. It could grant her a powerful warrior, but it may do nothing; and the idea of reaching into another realm sounded dangerous. Potential danger, potential power.

As Liz was pondering over whether or not the skill was worth risking, Nina just sat and watched, wondering what kind of skill she got, to not just use it immediately. Nina surely would have just used the skill.

Perhaps it's dangerous or something? Nina had sat down on the grass and was still waiting for something, when Liz finally spoke she was slightly surprised.

"Alright! Nina, follow me." Without waiting for a response Liz walked off of the path and into the forest that waited on the sides, she had none of her skeletons so Nina worried about attacks, she was not very powerful as an attacker, "Here should do!"

As they moved Nina had failed to properly look around and simply followed, now she saw they found themselves in a clearing with 3 pairs of wooden hands floating nearby, from these hands skeletons began appearing one after the other, first it was humans then after 50 of those it was 40 of the skeleton dogs Nina had been chased by before.

Five more than before... Nina saw that Smokey had gotten stronger, Though there are less human ones.

"You lot. Secure the perimeter." The moment she spoke all 50 of the skeletons moved and made a ring around the perimeter of the clearing, nothing would pass them easily. Where there was n0 extra space to guard, the other skeleton seemed to default to guarding their master. That would be useful.

"Do not let anything pass you by, kill them if they try but only break formation when necessary." Liz sounded much like the commander of an army and in many ways she was, her new soldiers were easy to order and quickly understood Liz's intentions, she then turned to the hounds, "Kill anything that comes towards me, except her."

Liz knew the hounds weren't as smart, so made sure to count Nina as an exception. Nina was glad for this.

LIz also had her golem available but chose not to draw any extra attention, their size would be a problem. However, she had set her [Puppet Hand] to automatic, ordering it to recover any summons where necessary and summon the golems should trouble arise.

"Well, I don't know how long this will take, but try to ensure I don't die." Liz then sat in the centre of the clearing and a magic circle appeared around her, Nina was about to move but something forced her and the skeletons away from her. From there all hell broke loose.

Nina watched as Smokey began to float, her eyes shot open and an ethereal light shone out from them. She soon became parallel to the ground and a great light shot up from first her eyes, then from the entire circle, the light then began to swirl and formed a dome around Liz, one that Nina could not see within.

The person in question now stood within a starry void, no longer in the small forest she was once in.

Below her was a platform and around her were seats like a stadium

What the hell... Liz looked around at the empty seats, not entirely sure as to what was going on. She had activated her skill then blacked out.

The seats were empty, but one by one lights began appearing, just lights. Some like flames, some like orbs and stars, but each different in some way.

There were black ones, blue ones, many shapes and colours were present, and each looked down upon her from their raised seating; if they could even look in any way.

Ah. Liz came to a realisation, This is an audience, they want to see if I'm worthy...

So be it.

---

Outside the starry void it was chaotic and it had all started with the beam of light that had shot into the sky. Luckily, the light was only visible to Barview so no other cities sent any investigative teams.

"Milord." A knight rushed into the Marquess' office, "The patrol knights have reported a flash of light in the distant north. How shall we proceed."

The Marquess briefly displayed his shock, but returned to his poker face quickly after.

"No response. I am familiar with the event and it is of no consequence, continue as you were." The Marquess said dismissively, the knight nodded and let; believing the Marquess' words implicitly.

To think she would acquire that skill. The Marquess thought, She is more of an asset than I first thought.

He returned to his work.

The knights did not investigate further and none of the NPCs thought it wise to approach such a strange phenomenon. The players were a different story.

---

The players grinding near Barview had witnessed a strange light flash up into the sky before dissipating entirely, even with only superficial knowledge of Galdrash's customs and culture they could tell this was abnormal.

And so, one thought ran through every player's mind. One thought, one word. Every player considered the other a competitor, in one way or another they were competing. Even if they were a team they still competed for the best rewards.

But at this moment the entire playerbase who had witnessed this light had one thought in mind. From the lowliest solo player, to the highest guild master, that single word was the same:

EVENT!

Every player moved quickly, rushing to the light, messaging their superiors, soon enough any player who feasibly could would converge on that light.

Every player would converge on Smokey.