I was literally frozen for a long minute after reading the post.

  Complete stat overhaul?

  With how both agility and dexterity were adjusted, my build possibilities became endless. Strength suddenly became tertiary in importance.

  Durability system?

  It made sense, even though I wasn't keen on paying the upkeep on that.

  The changes to magical power and magical defense were also interesting, but didn’t affect me too much. There might be a reason to stack more light armor pieces against primarily magical opponents, I thought. But my items give me mana regen for wearing full medium, so that shouldn’t be a priority right now.

  I was glad I had a way to try my build out and change it once again for 30 days if it wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. Gave me a safety net.

  The fact that from tomorrow on we will be able to travel to different counties was also huge. Most Guilds were already forming up, and meeting up between members was of the utmost importance.

  I’ll check out the teleport gate in Tidemark tomorrow.

  The reputation system also looks interesting.

  Various streaming platforms were also opening up, as well as websites for guides, tips and tricks.

  In other games this would bother me, as this meant others were about to solve the mysteries of the world for me, but Godsrealm was so incredibly vast this was not really a problem.

  Additionally, the most important pieces of information were guaranteed not to hit the day of light; with RMT coming up, the best way to farm items and gold will definitely be kept under secret by most, or the methods will be sold directly in game, for a hefty sum.

  Real Money Trading meant that players like Ryder, who were loaded with cash would be able to just scoop up gold by the hundreds.

  This also didn’t bother me. Gold had limited value as of now; the best pieces of gear will become obsolete in weeks, maybe days even. And I was sure gold will have an astronomical price on the market.

  If someone wanted to blow a fortune on level 15 equipment, I could only say ‘be my guest’.

  Real value right now was in the quests. Not the ones issued by the association.

  The quests that weren’t out in the open. There were no breadcrumbs, no ‘string of Ariadne’ to find them; you had to immerse yourself in the world.

  In other words, the best way to become strong was to play the game.

  And I was about to do just that, come tomorrow.

  I just stepped out of the shower when I heard my phone ring.

  It was Ace.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Did you see the patch notes?” he asked without bothering to say hello.

  “Yeah.”

  “We’re getting closer to meet up!” Ace yelled excitedly. “I heard rumors that travel between regions will open at the end of the month, and possibly sooner if players reach the designated threshold.”

  That was great news. I wanted to meet up with my old friend. I wanted to see Cassie. I wanted to see how they were doing. But–

  “Great,” I said. “But Ace, let me be clear with one–”

  “I know,” he interrupted. “You don’t want to join the guild.”

  “Not yet,” I confirmed. “I really need to see where I’m going with all of this. It’s too… sudden.”

  “No pressure, boss,” he said. “But still, It’d be nice to see you in action once again.”

  “That,” I said, nodding. “You can count on.”

  “That’s all I wanted to hear,” he said, probably grinning. “Anyway, does your build change with this new patch?”

  “Oh, I’m rebuilding from scraps,” I said. “I went almost exclusively on strength.”

  “Yeah, there’s a ranger guide on our forums that recommended the same,” Ace said. “I figured that was the way to go, too.”

  “DEX and AGI were kinda lackluster, to be fair,” I hummed. “It was like NWE wanted to prioritize STR for multiple classes for this so called test period.”

  “Maybe it was the best way for them to see how the damage scales,” my friend guessed. “If everyone’s building strength, damage calc is kinda straightforward.”

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  There was some truth to what he was saying. But it didn’t matter anymore.

  We chatted for a couple minutes, then he left to have some sleep. He had a big day tomorrow, he said, but he didn’t want to spoil anything.

  I quickly checked today’s VODs.

  I saw that the lancer ProDG fought and won against Ziestra in the top 16. It was the Acolyte who helped us against the Woe of Riverhear.

  It was a convincing win for the Spearfighter, but Ziestra had shown some talent as well. And one of the skills he used, Shadow Bolt Barrage, was something I had never seen before, neither in game, nor the forums.

  At least a Rare rated skill, and from the looks of it, not many Acolytes have found it, yet.

  I spent nearly half an hour analyzing the match between Cyrus and Seraphina. She really was a demonio.

  There were quite a few times during the duel where she seemed to have the upper hand, which put her in the ‘scary’ tier of players, right next to Kaelith, Cyrus and Athos.

  Their commentator, Zenith Blade had also seemed like he knew what he was talking about.

  The last match I checked out was none other than the duel between Sylph and Lorrando; I figured if I saw my friend knock out that hawk-nosed bastard, I’d sleep better during the night.

  The video started with Lorrando already trash-talking about Sylph’s placement at the Archery Competition. That little festival event sure left a deep scar on him.

  The first minute was fairly competitive. Both rangers traded shots, used Quick Step to dodge and demonstrated solid mechanics overall. Lorrando even landed a clean Piercing Shot that dropped Sylph to 60% HP.

  But then Lorrando got cocky.

  He started using skills recklessly, burning through mana with Burning Arrows and that Black Arrow ability I'd seen him use before. When Sylph dodged a particularly telegraphed shot, Lorrando actually stopped fighting to gesture at the sand, claiming it was "bugged" and was affecting his footing.

  The crowd started booing.

  Sylph capitalized immediately, landing three consecutive basic attacks while Lorrando was distracted. By the time Lorrando realized his mistake, he'd lost tempo completely.

  The last two minutes were a clinic. Sylph chained auto-attacks, conserved his skills, and systematically dismantled Lorrando's defense. When the final arrow struck and the match ended, Lorrando actually tried to argue with the ref before storming off to even more boos from the crowd.

  I closed the video with a satisfied smile.

  Karma delivered.

  And I slept like a baby afterwards.

  ***

  The alarm dragged me from sleep at exactly 6:00 AM. I slapped it off and lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling of my small cottage in northern Scotland. Once again, just like after the long session with the Elder Stag, my body ached in a way that was surprising, given all I did was lay motionless in a capsule half a day long.

  I rolled out of bed and went through my usual routine. Push-ups, sit-ups, some basic stretches to keep my real body from atrophying while I spent so much time in the capsule. After that, 30 minutes of jogging on an incline, just to keep my endurance up. An hour of working out left me sweating and awake.

  The shower afterward was brief but necessary, hot water washing away the grogginess. I dressed quickly in comfortable clothes, and made my way to the kitchen.

  The automatic coffee dispenser hummed to life when the motion sensors noticed me, filling the space with the premium coffee’s rich aroma. While it was brewing, I grabbed yogurt from the fridge and mixed in some cereal. Not gourmet, but that was all I had time for.

  I ate standing at the counter, checking my phone between bites. The Godsrealm forums were still buzzing about yesterday's announcement. Players were speculating about patch notes, guilds recruiting, the usual chaos.

  7:42 AM.

  I drained the last of my coffee, rinsed the cup, and headed to the capsule.

  The neural helmet settled over my head with practiced ease. I ran through the startup sequence, watched the diagnostics flash green, and closed my eyes as the virtual world came to life.

  I opened them in Tidemark, standing in the exact street where I'd logged out. The city was already alive despite the early hour; NPCs going about their morning routines, a few players wandering the streets.

  System time: 7:48 AM.

  Perfect.

  made my way up through the tiered streets. The Knight's Tower loomed larger with each turn, its stone walls catching the morning sun.

  Guards flanked the entrance: two knights in full plate armor, with the Count’s crest–the Trout I had seen on Ser Calian’s men–on their chests. Their stance was stiff, and the gear they were wearing were well maintained.

  When I got close enough, one of them stepped in front of me.

  “State your business,” he said, his voice deep.

  I pulled the contract from my inventory. “I have a summons from Ser Calian. I’m here to report for duty.”

  The guard took the scroll, examined the seal, and nodded. "You're expected. Lord Calian is in the eastern wing, third floor, strategy chamber. Take the main corridor, turn right at the armory, up the spiral stairs."

  "Thank you."

  The doors swung open, heavy wood and iron that must have weighed a ton each, moving as if they were made of paper.

  Inside, the Knight's Tower was even more impressive.

  The main hall soared seven stories high, sunlight streaming through narrow windows that cast geometric patterns across the stone floor. Tapestries hung on the walls depicting battles and coronations. Each of them was detailed enough so that I could mistake them from scenes from the actual game.

  Knights patrolled in pairs, and I realized something right then and there.

  I underestimated the levels of Ser Calian and his men.

  I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was higher level now, or whether my stat points on Influence and Presence had increased, but I knew one thing for sure: each of them must have been at least level 40.

  And that meant that the personal knights of Calian were even above that, and the Knight Commander might as well have been into the 70s.

  I almost forgot!

  Thinking about the stats made me realize I had to respec. However, I had no time to waste right now, I was already late.

  I followed the guard's directions, walking through corridors lined with weapon racks and armor stands.

  The spiral staircase was narrow, each step worn smooth, likely from centuries of use. I climbed to the third floor and emerged into a hallway with doors marked with plaques:

  War Room.

  Archives.

  Strategy Chamber.

  I found it at 7:58.

  The door was ajar, voices drifting out. I knocked twice and pushed it open.