It had been quite nice recently.
Most of the player population was staying quiet, doing their usual grinding and killing each other. Just like in any MMO.
But Magic Unbound wasn’t just like any MMO. No. It was THE MMO.
And while the ninety-nine-point-ninety-nine percent of the players were utterly boring, the last zero-point-zero-one percent caused the biggest headache.
These were mostly separated by the Threat Assessment Team into different categories. The gold category was for rich people, mostly second-generation heirs who thought that the sun was shining from their assholes and nobody in their little bubble said no to them. They mostly kept an eye on them to avoid frivolous lawsuits and cheating. Most people had their money on one of the privileged assholes being the first one to be caught cheating.
He agreed with them.
Silver was for people who were important to the company. Relatives of workers and other associates. They were observed mostly to avoid people accusing them of collusion and cheating.
Bronze was for famous people. Celebrities, influencers, sports people, and other famous entities who felt they deserved more just because they knew how to kick a ball, or got naked in a movie about mutant rats or whatever.
Black was for known white and black hat hackers and anyone whom they felt was trying to find vulnerabilities in the game’s system. Selene kept an eye on them, ready to bring out the big guns if they even found a hairline fracture.
Vermilion, Viridian, and Azure were for people in the game. People who achieved records that were almost impossible, or unimaginable. People who achieved feats that the developers thought were beyond them.
Vermilion had the most people. These were, in general, the top players in the game. Viridian was the cream off the top. The pioneers. The inventors. The people who discovered things that should have been hidden. Who killed monsters that seemed to be invincible.
Then there was Azure.
Or as they called them in-house: the fuckers.
After some rebalancing and reevaluating their grading criteria in light of several events caused by one of the fuckers, it held only one person.
The chief fucker.
He was pretty sure the guy was cheating. Nobody was that good and talented. But no.
Dozens of private investigators found nothing. Selene reported no intrusions. They basically had nothing on him.
Hell, he was pretty close to believing in the theory that the guy was some kind of alien using their unknown technology to have fun on their vacation on a primitive planet. Or he was magic…
At this point, the leadership had decided that as long as the fucker didn’t do anything too exploitative, he could play.
When he heard the decision, he wanted to yell that anything the fucker did was exploiting something, but… THERE. WAS. NO. CONCRETE. EVIDENCE!
He said nothing that would show his sources, yet every action he took dripped with suspiciousness.
Then there was his ‘talent’ with mana control.
They designed the game with longevity in mind. They created skills that took time and effort to master. And here came the fucker with his adorable pet wolf and mastered it in record time.
Once again, without any evidence of cheating.
The fucker…
He was about to imagine how he could punish him when a soft chime went off near him. He froze, and he could see that everybody around the speaker which let out the chime, also froze.
Instead of replying immediately, he took another fortifying sip of his drink. Then, as he lowered the cup from his mouth, he let out a tired sigh.
“What is it, Selene?”
The gentle voice of the game’s system came from the speaker, as her beautiful face appeared on one of the nearby screens.
“You told me to report if that…fucker… has done anything noteworthy, sir,” she reported with an air of amusement. While the staff of Future Unknown despaired at the fucker’s actions, Selene thought it was simply funny.
“What did our most annoying customer do this time?”
He looked at the AI, and based on the smirk on her face, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t like the answer.
“He created a ritual that allowed him to scan a great amount of area for fractures and found one of the Valleys of Distortions.”
For a moment, there was a complete silence in the room.
In the end, he broke it. “He-he created a ritual?”
“Yes, sir!” came the cheery reply. “He used an actual Ritual Master to carve the basic focus circles, then used his own skills to create an ad-hoc ritual for this purpose. The resolution of the scan wasn’t great, but it allowed him to find almost all the fractures in the area.”
“Ad-hoc ritual circle?” he was feeling rather faint.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
She waved her hand a little. “I’m pretty sure he worked it out in real life, but he used Illusionary Runes to create the circles.”
“Circles?”
“Four circles, seven in total, sir.”
He closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then to a hundred before opening them again and looking at the amused AI. “Let me guess… no evidence of cheating?”
“Just pure skill and tenacity!”
“That fucker!”
He turned away from the laughing AI and began to yell. “Get me the stats! I want to see the recording! Someone check their destination! I want to know everything about that Valley! Chop-chop people before the fucker does something else annoying!”
There was a general noise as people hurried around. Keyboards clacked, mice clicked and computers made all sorts of noises.
Then, as he managed to calm himself down a little, Selene spoke up.
“He had one of his friends unbury an ancient outpost. Bye!” then she vanished from the screen.
He stared blankly at the dark screen for a long moment.
“OH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!”
Liz was very surprised at how much she enjoyed crafting in Magic Unbound.
Usually, as a streamer, she preferred to play much more active classes to keep the watchers entertained. Plus, magic…
But ever since she found that crystal tablet, she had been delving deeper and deeper into crafting. Hell, even when she wasn’t playing, she was active on crafter forums, arguing about metal alloys, enchantments, and whatnot.
She even downloaded a few technical articles about topics she was a little confused about, while continuously lamenting about the fact she never finished her degree. ‘Though, why a degree in journalism would help, I don’t know…’
And then Sam came and threw that other tablet at her…
She was part happy and part angry about it. For one, it elevated her crafting skills to another level, on the other hand, she had to scrap almost every plan for her future projects thanks to the new information.
Lucy was not happy when Liz told her that, thanks to the new skills, she would need to restart Project Alexandria. Thankfully, most of that anger was directed at Sam. Then she revealed what changes she had planned and her boss instantly lost her anger and turned all sweet smiles and laughter.
Liz quickly retreated to her workshop, which had recently become her haven, before Lucy decided to do something to her.
She took a moment to center herself, dressed in her usual overalls, which left just enough space to keep the perverts from complaining but covered everything to keep herself from feeling weird. Then she pulled out some materials, made sure her adorable drones were doing okay, checked that the few she had set up to manufacture light fittings and other miscellaneous stuff for the hotels and supermarkets were also working without any issues, and sat at her streaming desk. She took a small cloth and covered the items on the desk.
In a minute, the stream was online.
“Hello everyone! Drone Jr, come say hello!”
One of her newer drones, at least a hundred percent more adorable than the first ones she created, obediently floated over and bobbed around as if bowing before the stream.
Instantly, the chat was flooded with exclamations and emoticons.
“As usual, today is a crafting stream,” she announced and smiled as she read the happy reactions.
- Finally! I have been waiting for a week! I want to see cute drones with deadly weapons!
- Gatling gun go brrrrrr
- Mama wants big booms!!
- What are you going to build, Rose?
“I’m glad you asked!” She then dramatically pulled the cloth away from the items. “Today, we are going to build a grenade launcher!”
- WOW
- Mama got big booms!
- I want to have your babies Rose
- Can I has grenade launcher too?
- Are you going to sell it?
She read the chat, ignored the silly ones, and chose one of the more serious ones to answer. “Sorry, but my contract prevents me from selling the weapons. But rest assured, you’ll be able to see my cute drones destroy monsters with them!”
She picked up one of the metal alloys and held it up to the camera.
“So, as you can see, I have been doing some research and managed to put together a pretty nice alloy that will allow some good mana conductivity.” She took a cute stance and sent a small kiss at the camera. “And no. I’m not sharing the recipe!”
She pulled out one of her tools and began to shape the metal while keeping up some small talk with the chat.
“So, what’s up with you guys? Anything interesting in the big damage world?”
Instantly, the chat was flooded, but Liz just smiled, nodded when appropriate, and made all the right noises as she worked. She did not doubt that Tim would be combing through those chat logs.
With the stream over, she lost her smile; her face hurting a little, but still, she was in a great mood. Lots of interaction, donations, and whatnot. Even without the company paying her, she would be doing well with just the income from the stream.
But now there was something else to do.
She didn’t mention it to her watchers, but the new drones were built by using Light and Crystal Geomancy at the same time. Crystal for the body and light for the mind and some of the abilities. Her shields were much stronger than at the beginning.
She even had a small belt tool that cast a personal full-body shield around her.
Opening the notifications, she went through the usual skill level ups after crafting something new-ish, then took a look at the important ones.
[Congratulations! You managed to combine two different disciplines of Geomancy!]
[You crafted more than ten Tier 1 drones and one Tier 2 drone.]
[Due to your accomplishment, you receive +1 WIS and +1 DEX!]
[You haven’t selected your crafting specialty yet! Would you like to see a list of available specialties?]
She clicked on the yes button.
Instantly, another window appeared before her with the list.
[Your available specialties are the following:
Drones
Manufacturing
Enchanting
Design
Jewelry
Home appliances
Joke products
…
..
.
Geomancy!]
She read the entire list, and while several from the list tempted her, in the end, there was only one logical choice.
[Congratulations! You selected Geomancy as your crafting speciality!]
[Geomancy Speciality: You wish to focus on Geomancy, master all its secrets, and revel in its intricacy. It is a heavy road you chose, but the final destination should be everything you ever wished for. The effectiveness of Geomancy-related crafting is increased, while the effectiveness of anything else is decreased. Grants you the Critical Crafting skill!]
[Critical Crafting: Level 0/13 (0%) When you craft there is a chance that some of or the entire item is upgraded a quality tier. This chance depends on your LUCK, knowledge, mindset, and the general disposition of the universe. Additionally, this skill only gains experience points when you achieve a critical craft. Grants a base 1% critical crafting chance per skill level.]
She stared a little longer at the skill, trying to see if there was a way to reliably use it, but in the end, she just shrugged and closed the window. She never liked relying on chance.
Hard work was much more reliable…
Rewards: Next reward at 60 reviews, 2500 followers, or 750 favorites!
Titles:
Magical Items:
[High-quality Troll Leather Armor: Created by a journeyman crafter employed by your own company. They worked extra hard to make sure to return your goodwill. Excellent quality, given the materials and the crafter. Enchanted to decrease the sound it makes during movement, as well as has increased durability. Thanks to the substance it was impregnated with the troll leather it lacks its customary weakness to fire.]
*Not actually bottomless.]
Quests:
Active quests:
[Just walk in there!]
[Prove yourself!]
Finished quests:
[Monster Parade!]
[Topping the tree!]
[Reap what you sow!]
[Seaside opportunity]
[Another seaside opportunity]
[The booty of mystery!]
[Demonic demonstration!]
[The Test of the Survivor!]
[To the city you go!]
[Eternal Vigilance!]
[Returning Champion]
Skills:
Mana Skills:
[Mana Body: Level 7/100 (21%) (Passive) Your mana permeates your body, enhancing and improving it. The better your control of your mana is, and the more mana you have, the bigger the effect is. For every 100 Mana Points, it grants you 1 Base Health gain. For every skill level, it increases the Health Regeneration by 0,1.]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 32 / MAG: 30 = 1,06 --> +2 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
Neutral Mage skills:
Elemental Mage Skills:
Wind Mage skills:
[Wind Blade III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Active) A spell that allows you to launch a blade of wind. The cutting power and speed of the blade are increased. You have greater control over its movement after creation. Allows you to slightly control its path after launching the wind blade.]
[Wind Blade Storm: Level 6/10 (7%) (Active) A spell that unleashes a storm of wind blades around you. The damage of the released Wind Blades depends on the Wind Blade spell and your mastery over it.]
[Wind Bullet III: Level 9/10 (99%) A spell that allows you to launch a bullet made of concentrated wind. You have excellent control over the projectile’s speed, size, and path.]
[Wind Explosion: Level 3/10 (21%) A spell that allows you to create a singular bullet of wind mana, and then fire it, which will, upon impact, detonate. The strength of the detonation depends on the amount of wind mana channeled into the bullet and your mastery over the Wind Bullet spell!]
[Wind Movement: 39/100 (19%) (Active) You can use your mastery over wind to move in any direction you wish. Your movement speed is increased significantly. This speed boost is increased by 1% for each skill level.]
[Wind Edge III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) A spell that allows you to enhance the edge of any bladed weapon you wield with the wind. Thanks to the spell, the speed of your strikes will greatly increase. The power and reach of the blade will be greatly increased further.]
[Wind Affinity: Level 61/100 (17%) (Passive) You have a good affinity for the wind. Beings born of the wind will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Wind-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
- Wind Flurry
- Wind Bullet Barrage
- Healing Wind
- Wind Jump
- Wind Drill
- Wind Blade I-III
- Wind Blade Storm
- Wind Bullet I-III
- Wind Explosion
- Wind Movement
- Wind Edge I-III!
Utility skills:
Companion skills:
Shadow skills:
(Shadow Cloak triggers this benefit.)]
[Shadow Affinity: Level 30/100 (14%) (Passive) You have a good affinity with the shadows. Beings born of the shadows will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Shadow-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
Physical skills:
[Basic Armor Mastery: Level 91/100 (6%) (Passive) You learned the basics of wearing armor. Decreases the Stamina consumption slightly while wearing any kind of armor.]
[Clean Armor: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your mana got used to a certain spell, so the waste mana radiating from you will, over time, permeate and clean your armor.]
[Resistant Armor: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Thanks to your practice, you can fully utilize everything that your armor provides, granting you increased resistance against the environment. Grants 2% increased environmental resistance per skill level. Environmental resistance protects against environmental effects only.]
[Durable Armor: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) You learned how to roll with the punches. This includes knowing when your armor can take a hit and when it can’t. Increased durability for any armor you wear from incoming damage from non-environmental sources.]
[Epic Breathing Technique: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) You breathe, and the world breathes with you. You move along your own rhythm. Decreases stamina consumption even more during any activity and further increases stamina regeneration when not in a fight. Gain +2 Stamina Regeneration for every skill level.]
[Tranquil Heart: Level 11/100 (54%) (Passive) Your heart beats to the same rhythm as your body. It’s efficient and harmonious. You have an even easier time resisting mind-altering effects and a portion of of those effects are reflected back to the source. The portion is 1% per skill level. You also radiate an aura of tranquility that confers the resistance portion of the skill to your allies near you.]
[Flow: Level 77/100 (9%) (Passive) Thanks to being a natural sensor, you can read the flow of the mana. Increases your stability and the bonuses any movement or martial art skill provides by 1% per level in the skill.]
[Focused Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) When focusing on any enemy beyond what is normal, your ability to read their flow becomes clearer and more precise.]
[Controlled Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your read of the flow is more controlled, allowing you to see the flow much better. Increases the flow visibility by 20% for every skill level.]
[Immersed Flow: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) When you start reading the flow a counter starts. After every ten seconds, the effect of the Flow skill increases by 1% for each skill level. Maximum 600 seconds.]
Parry: Level 24/100 (13%) (Passive) Decreases the stamina consumption of defensive weapon movements. It allows you to more efficiently and accurately parry incoming attacks. Decreases the damage of the blocked attack by 0,5% for each skill level at the moment of blocking.]
Resistance skills:
General skills:
Crafting skills:
Pet skills:
[Strong Jaw: Level Max (Passive) The jaw of the wolf is strengthened.]
[Lucky Aura: Level Max (Passive) Those who are in the same party as the wolf receive a buff to their luck. It depends on their luck how big the increase is.]