Lyssara began with a slash sending a wave of black fire igniting the elite. Her Ember veil Sigil artifact activated that further scorched the beast and thanks to the enhanced Vampiric Mark, her damage on the elite was further amplified. Before the elite could back away from her, she was through with her third attack.
[{Elite slain}]
[{No experience gained}]
She hadn't expected any from the elite however Kaelin who was deeply embedded in the wall was shocked with how easily Lyssara managed to dispose of the elite. "It would seem that you have to end the fight quickly before the elites close the distance." Lyssara urged as she made her way outside of the exit.
Kaelin tailed behind her as they faced the bats filling the halls. Lyssara sat back letting Kaelin clear the halls to help her with her reaction time and accuracy. "It's rather bizarre that you have yet to receive your first level up acknowledgment ." She stated as Kaelin easily dealt with the pesky flies.
She had initially thought that it would take her a couple of kills to trigger it but now, it was certain that it wouldn't come to be. "Maybe Jarren or one of the other ladies are willfully interfering with it." Kaelin posed which elicited a hum of contemplation from Lyssara as she stroked her chin.
"It could be, or there could be something wrong with the game." However that wasn't her leading theory as to why Kaelin had yet to level up. 'Or am I the problem? With my presence the game sees her progress as null thus she can't level up.' The deeper they went, the more likely it was.
'You're wasting both of your time here Jarren if so.' A mob let out a wail before meeting it's death. It wasn't long before the two came standing outside of the second elite. "This should be far harder than the first however thanks to it being airborne, you should have some time to line up your shots taking care of the lesser bats."
Lyssara advised as the doors opened. Clicking her tongue, the lay-out of the cave was the double chasm which would serve as a detriment to Kaelin given she required space to dodge with her damage output being rather low. "I should cover with the lesser ones in the case, you'll have to deal with the Brood mother."
The aloof Kaelin followed Lyssara's instructions and the outcome of the fight was just as she had anticipated. Kaelin barely lasted in the fight before mis-stepping and falling into the abyss. Lyssara didn't bother with the fight as she ended the five sending her back to the cave where Kaelin waited for her.
"What was that?!" Kaelin burst into rage seeing Lyssara's figure. "What? You weren't going to win if you faced the lesser bats. She Brood mother would start to target you regardless. And if you were wondering why I ended the dive is because you won't level up because of me. After all I'm not supposed to be in the first floor to begin with."
Kaelin who was on the verge of another storm paused before calming down. "Here, you have to know that at times the game can make it difficult not with the goal of shaping you to be better but to watch you suffer and that was a great example. You may have ties with Jarren but that won't ease the difficulty."
Kaelin's gaze softened hearing this, she knew that strength wouldn't be acquired with easiness however the spike in difficultly was just too much for her to bear out of the blue. "It's just as bad with you as it is with Seryn. But I'm sure the two of you should make it... eventually." She joked readying for the second floor.
"There's another player?" Realizing that Kaelin wasn't familiar with Seryn, she began her elaboration on Seryn. By the time she was done, Kaelin was both perplexed and a little fearful of the creators. "We play this game not out of purgatory but purpose. If you are here then it's clear that you have something of value that the rest don't."
"So don't waste a lot of time moping about the difficulty and get on with it. And remember, try to outwit the game if you can." And with that her figure was bathed in digital fragments that sent her to the next floor. Kaelin now alone at the starting area looked around, still baffled that the world she was in wasn't real.
"Just what have you made Jarren?" She couldn't help but wonder as she made her way to the weapons rack. This time she made her selection, a pike which required a lot of skill and physical power, both of which she had plenty of thanks to her training at the Ark Facility. 'Let's see how this turns out.' She muttered to herself as she began her first dive.
Taking a few steps forward, she came across a rat to which drawing her long bow brought it to an end.
[{Congratulations on leveling up}]
[{Please make your selection}]
[{Active Skills}]
[{Lightning Sparks- Fuse lightning elemental within your attacks, this results with the study of another element in the real world which must be learnt for progression}]
[{Root-bound Grasp- Cause earthen roots to burst from the ground beneath your enemies briefly rooting and damaging them}]
[{Passive Skills}]
[{Pulse Of Earth- While standing on natural ground, regenerate health slightly over time}]
[{Kinetic Conduction- Absorb a small fraction of physical damage taken as stored kinetic energy resulting with bonus impact damage upon each strike}]
[{Utility Skills}]
[{Lucent Flow- Increase movement speed by 10% while under healing or regeneration effect}]
[{Tidebinder's Trace- Send small motes of water into cracks, vents or corridors ahead to rely sensory data back to you. This skill can't be used in combat}]
The flux of information was overwhelming for her as she tried to read through all of the options given to her. By the end of it all, she was hesitant as she was torn with her decision. 'As much as I want to take the lightning spark skill, that will result with me learning am entirely new elemental.'
With already so much on her tray, adding more to the list would be too much for her. With the game being relatively new to her, she would be at a deficit of time trying to learn the lightning element. Her finger hovered above the second choice, inwardly cursing as she couldn't learn the lightning element.
"What a dilemma you really have stumbled into Kaelin." Jarren joked in her mind which caught her off guard. "Jarren?" She asked looking around for his source however what met her was an empty hall. "I can't keep an eye on you? Besides I'm sure that you should have more than enough time to learn the lightning element, I don't mind teaching you."
The news delighting her as she made her decision.
[{Lightning Sparks}]
[{Kinetic Conduction}]
[{Tidebinder's Trace}]
[{Have been acknowledged}]
"But of course this will come at a price." Her heart skipped a beat hearing this. She dreaded what it would be as she asked. "And what exactly will it be?" A chuckle was her response before Jarren fell silent. 'Damn it Jarren!' She couldn't help but curse at her situation. 'So this is what Lyssara meant with the difficulty of the game spiking.'
The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed for her to make any progress. 'And I still need to learn to awake my innate skill as well.' A feat she was unsure how Lyssara achieved as she readied her next bow. Unlike before which were regular arrows, this time her arrows were streams of water with sparks coursing through them.
Firing at one of the bats, the flying bastard was electrocuted before meeting it's end.
[{No kinetic energy left}]
Dismissing the notification, this jump in power made her recall the fight with the Gnawback. 'This should cover both my close quarters and long distance assault.' With new flames of determination burning in her eyes, she ventured deeper into the first floor.
...
Lyssara on the other hand was baffled with the second floor as what met her first was a notification.
[{Congratulations on beating the tutorial of the game. Any death beyond this point will result with the loss of half of the items in the player's inventory. The items will be chosen at random}]
[{The leveling up system will be set to normal}]
A shiver ran down her spine. 'Tutorial? The actual game had yet to begin?!' Her mind recalled of Seryn, unsure to feel pity or helplessness for her. 'I'm sure that you should be strong enough for this if you put in the work.' Still lost with her muses as they heard akin to a delusional person wishing for the impossible.
'Unless there is a way to change the favor of a player then it'll only get harder for her to progress.' Taking out her tuck, she began her descent. The grimy caves from before were no more as this time it was a wide expanse, the air chill with the scent of death heavy suspended above.
Looking around, she realized that she was in a graveyard, the moon above her barely illuminating the night as heavy clouds covered the night sky. A strange fog began to roll in, one that raised her guard before inhumane groans filled the air. Her eyes darted for the source and to her shock, the tombstones began to shatter, corpses rising from the dead groaned with restlessness an rage.
The game didn't need to tell her what to do as she prepared for the fight to come. The corpses that dragged their way to her had purple skin with bits of their internal organs pouring out. Be it ribs, lungs or intestines that made her stomach tie in knots as their snarls further chilled the air. Each second she spent in the graveyard, the more fearful she grew.
Her artifact woke forming a ring only she could see. "Arghhh!" The corpses within her radius began to cry out in agony which unnerved her. 'So they still can experience sensation even in the after life. What were they thinking when making this floor?!' She could help but wonder as she made a move on one of the corpses.
*Slash*
Her cut was quick, clean and precise making the head roll off. However the rest of the body kept on going despite the lack of a head. "Looks like I'll have to light their bodies ablaze to completely deal with them." She muttered as her body began to dance in a sea of flames. Black fire licked her entire frame which made the horde of corpses halt with their advances.
'So it would seem that you don't like fire.' Pleased with this revelation, her determination to coat the entire floor with her flames grew. More and more corpses began to walk away from her with the hopes of evading the blast but eventually it proved useless.
*Whoosh*
With a thought, a tide of flames washed over the entire floor incinerating the corpses as well as their tombstones into ash. 'It would seem those lessons Jarren gave me weren't a waste of time.' A remark meant to agitate the horror that watched her however he refused to bite.
[{You have leveled up}]
A notification came almost immediately showing her options.
[{Would you like to upgrade your current skills or make new additions?}]
The question making her wonder before choosing to upgrade her skills. 'So far it would take too much time and resources for me to start investing in another skill.' She concluded as a stream of notifications flashed in front of her.
[{Echo Step- Dashes now leave trails of black fire and mimicked damage has been increased from 15% to 30% of original damage}]
[{Predator's Calm- Time reduced from three seconds to two and the critical hit rate has been increased from two attacks to five attacks}]
[{Vampiric Mark- The damage dealt to marked enemies has been increased from 20% to 35%. Increased drop rate chance has also been increased from 2% to 5%}]
[{New enemies now marked, Undead Corpse}]
A grin formed on her lips seeing this. 'It would seem that I haven't been getting much use out of the Predator's Calm skill with the last floor.' With the constant engagements she was thrown into, it was hard for her to get any real use out of it. 'But here, I'm sure that it should serve it's purpose.'