Chapter 14
The city gate in front of me is enormous compared to the previous ones I've seen, though it is to be expected for a major city like Lallias. Surrounded by walls on half of its part and water on the other, the city is a majestic sight to behold. It is guarded by NPCs that take offense in the sight of red players or PKers (Player Killers). Starting from this city, players can now kill each other through PK since players have already gotten past the beginner territories. There are severe punishments for red players such as getting chased by NPC guards, being unable to party in dungeons, getting killed without repercussions by other players, and many more disadvantages. That is why there are not that many red players, only those foolish enough or confident enough in their skills to survive CoA alone do PK.
Players go in and out nonstop in the city. There are plenty of players around especially on a Sunday. As for why I was here in front of the city port gate, I was waiting for Clarissa to arrive at our agreed time.
As I was getting bored waiting, there was suddenly a commotion near the gate. I got curious so I went to check what it was about. I caught a glimpse of someone fighting when I got near enough surrounded by many onlookers with the same curiosity as me. One was a swordsman with a knight set you would commonly get in this stage of the game, the other though had a rugged rogue kind of look. He has twin claws equipped in both of his hands. His clothes are in tatters and he's wearing a hood so I could not quite see his facial features at this angle. I identified the rogue.
Dravyn
Hp: 100%
Mp: 76℅
Lvl: 95
Guild: Ravenhide
Duel wr: Hidden
Team Rank matches wr: Hidden (rank 921)
1v1 Rank matches wr: Hidden (rank 872)
id#:***********
intro: Duel me if you want to test your skills!
"Hahaha, weak! So very weak! You haven't even done any damage to me!" the ranker taunted with a high shrill voice.
Krane
Hp 21%
"Tsk! Crazy bastard!" the knight exclaimed.
I see what's happening here, the knight must have challenged the ranker. A pretty bold move considering he is only level 51. The ranker is toying with him. There are plenty of those kinds of people who want to prove themselves by challenging a ranker like this guy so it's all his fault that he is being humiliated right now. Though that ranker is quite a trash-talker.
"You're so weak that I don't even need my weapon to beat you!" he taunted.
He drops his weapon to the ground, a form of disrespect to your enemy, many would even call it the ultimate BM (bad manners) move. You can do it freely in this game since other players cannot pick up the weapons or equipment drop from another player unless they specifically unequip it. This is made so that even if you accidentally dropped a useful item or got disarmed by a powerful blow from an opponent, your weapon or armor set would not be lost instantly to any looters. Unless you got PKed (Player killed) of course, then your killer will have the right to your loot.
The BM move went viral on YouTube when 2 popular streamers had a conflict that lasted for weeks. It started with trash-talking, then their fans came to join the fight so the situation escalated and it got a little bit overblown. PKs started to go rampant and unconcerned players got caught up in the clash. The 2 streamers eventually both decided to have a PVP match to settle the dispute once and for all. The match started fairly even, but Kaeneth, one of the streamers got the upper hand eventually. Before he finished his opponent, he tossed his main weapon on the ground and pummelled his rival to death using his bare hands. He then stated after the fight in his stream that he didn't need a weapon to beat someone as weak as him. That notion went on to the community as the ultimate disrespect you can do to your opponent. Many say that your opponent dropping his main weapon in front of you would be the most humiliating experience you'll ever have in PVP. However, I haven't experienced it yet because I'm not that weak to be defeated by someone without a weapon.
As the two were about to resume their bout with the ranker dropping his weapon, an angel caught my attention.
"There you are, Novo! What are you doing there?" Clarissa called out to me.
"Oh, nothing, ready to explore the port city?" I said as I immediately went to her.
The match was pretty one-sided so there's no point in seeing someone get humiliated, and I also don't want Clarissa to watch a match with that much toxicity.
"Yeah, let's go!" she said excitedly.
We explored the whole city while I taught Clarissa the things that came to mind. Such as where to find the blacksmith and weaponsmith, the guild branch for the quest, and other basic necessities that she would benefit from learning.
We arrived eventually in the town square, we bought many things. Some decorations and accessories and some food that can affect your taste receptors, though you do not get the satisfaction of filling your stomach after eating it so it's quite a strange experience. An experience I would never get used to no matter how many times I tried it.
After a while of traveling around the city, something caught my attention. I might be wrong about it but my intuition tells me otherwise. Still, it is better to be cautious so I stopped for a bit.
"What's wrong?" Clarissa asked curiously.
"Ohh sorry, stay here for a bit I forgot something. I'll be back soon so don't go anywhere or we might miss each other."
"I'm not a child you know," she pouted... how cute.
I left her at the LVL 90 guards. They might be NPCs but they still have raw stats so one hit from them would be fatal for players at this stage of the game.
I walked to a back alley in the small part of the city where there were seldom any players and no NPC guards in sight to confirm my theory. After a while of waiting, 3 players approached me.
At the center of the trio, I spot someone familiar.
I identified him.
Gurand
Hp: 91%
Mp: 84%
Lvl: 39
Guild: none
Duel wr: 96%
Wins: 27
Matches: 28
Team Rank matches wr: N / A
1v1 Rank matches wr: N / A
id#:***********
Introduction: Add me and I'll carry you. I'm a PVP veteran here in CoA
"You again?" I said exasperatedly.
"Hehehe time for a payback for ruining my 100 percent win rate. I told you before you'll pay for this right? Now beg if you don't want to be farmed out of your set like a useless mob! So, apologize to me if you don't want that to happen hehehehhe." he did his signature creepy laughter.
Ohh, if an apology is the only thing he wants then it's fine. It's more troublesome to kill them all here and become a red player.
"I'm sorry I ruined your win rate, it won't happen again so let bygones be bygones, and let us get out of each other's hair," I said politely.
"Oooh, you seem tame now, where was your bravado when we fought last time? Teach me more of the moves you said I was lacking. You're so good in the game that you can even tell me how to swing my sword, ain't that right, bitch?!" he spat out his words.
I remained silent. That's constructive criticism, not even trash-talk. How will he improve if he ignores his weakness and doesn't take advice from others who are more experienced than him? He's so prideful that all my suggestions and teachings went for naught... how disappointing.
"Ohh I know, get down on your knees and lick my feet, then maybe I'll let you go heheheh." He smiled manically.
You know, I could just log out and all your posturing will be for nothing, right? We're not in some death VR game or something similar where logging out is not allowed.
I sigh.
Though, if I don't teach him a lesson here, he will probably bother us later down the road.... how bothersome. Looks like I have no other choice. There are three of them so it's a 3v1 huh, it has been so long since I fought 3 on 1. Almost 3 years if I'm not mistaken and also at a grander stage compared to this back alley.... how nostalgic.
"Fine, just please leave me alone after this," I lied to let their guard down. Though to be fair, I don't think they will leave me alone even after I apologize judging by their reactions.
I took the initiative. I placed my staff at my back strap as I got near his strike zone pretending to beg on all fours. When he let his guard down, I took out my hidden dagger from my belt and stabbed his head.
A notification pinged, warning me of my PK attempt, but I ignored it.
"Wha?!"
Gurand
Hp 63%
He seemed confused, he could not comprehend that I would actually try to fight them 1v3 so I used his moment of confusion to land another stab in his head.
Gurand
Hp 25%
He got scared at his own diminishing HP, he probably didn't expect that a mage could do this much damage in melee combat. Too bad for him, I allotted a lot of stats on my dex. Also, my accessories have dex-boosting attributes while my cleric set and robe have wisdom and int-boosting stats for sustainability and increased healing power.
In his moment of terror, he fell out of balance and landed butt-first on the ground. He panicked and crawled out of the way to hide behind his subordinate. The near traumatic experience he got from our last match where I single handedly destroyed him must still linger in the depths of his psyche for him to show this much reaction to my move. I almost feel bad for him cause he's just probably doing this to have some form of closure from his last humiliating defeat. I let him go though since I don't actually plan on killing him or I would become a wanted player.
"W-what are you guys waiting for?! Get her!“ He shouted at his subordinates.
"Hraaa"
"Lightningball"
As if the confusion spell they were subjected to finally faded, his two subordinates finally made their move.
The rogue slashed at me with his dagger while the mage fired a small ball of lightning, a basic lightning spell in the same tier as a fireball. Lightning spells are faster than fire-based ones but lack the proper firepower.
I let the dagger scrape me but did not let it damage any vital parts while I took the lightning ball head-on with my other free hand.
*Ting
Another notification pinged in my peripheral vision but I ignored it since I already knew what it was. It is a notification that allows me to use defensive measures against the enemies trying to kill me. Meaning, I can now kill them without any repercussions.
Kritika
Hp 100%
Martz
Hp 100%
Novo
Hp 78%
That took a lot more in my HP than I would have liked. I am reminded again of my squishiness with just how their weak attacks are doing this much damage to my HP. However, the sacrifice was worth it since I can now fight back without any bit of worry.
I dashed at the rogue first and waited for his response. He panicked and slashed at me just as I expected. I sidestepped his slash and prepared my counter. As his overhead dagger swing missed my head by an inch, I jammed my dagger into his mouth.
"Khack" he flinches at the gruesome attack.
Kritika
Hp 61%
Even though he doesn't feel the attack strongly in terms of pain receptors due to the pain limiters, the psychological damage of having a dagger in your mouth was more than enough damage. Pure terror was plastered on his face making him unable to move, he is inexperienced.
I took advantage of his inexperience.
I jammed my other dagger onto his ear and used the other dagger in his mouth as a pivot to slash him with both of my dual daggers. I made an X-shaped crescent with his head as the canvas.
Kritika
Hp 0%
In the corner of my vision, I saw the mage channeling a powerful spell while all that was happening. Even though he was surprised at how quickly his teammate died at my hands, he kept his cool and continued his channeling. He's better than expected, compared to this guy at least. He's a couple of feet away so it would be hard to stop his magic. Hard, but not impossible. From my experience in PVP, the moment the enemy is about to attack is the best moment to attack them.
"Lightni- khack"
Just as he was about to cast his skill, I swiftly threw my left dagger into his mouth. He failed to dodge it since he was eager to cast the spell and got complacent. As a result, his spellcasting was canceled.
I rushed at him in an effort to press the attack and not let him get enough breathing space.
He tried to swat me with his staff but he's so slow and bad at melee combat that it doesn't even look like an attack to me. I easily dodged it and stabbed his head with my remaining dagger, again and again with me dodging his futile attempts at melee defense until he disappeared into blue motes of light. I picked up the dagger I threw that was dropped in his death, along with a robe item.
You've acquired
Robe of Vergoth (epic)
Whoah lucky! Clarissa will need this later on. It has a level 40 requirement but we will power level quickly enough for her to wear this. A thought crossed my mind, maybe PKing players are actually worth it? No, wait! Hold that thought, let's not get into any psychopathic tendencies now shall we?
After I took all the loot I turned my head to the source of all this trouble.
He was stricken in both terror and awe judging from his expression. Though to be fair, I just soloed his whole gang in a little more than a minute, so I guess it is to be expected.
I walked towards him with slow and menacing steps. This is kinda fun.
"Eeek I'm s-sorry please forgive me!" he cried.
You could just log out you know, though I guess he's too panicked and immersed in the present to think of something as simple as that.
As I got close to him, I placed my dagger to his throat for extra intimidation points.
"Listen here, I don't want you anywhere near me or my partner. Got that?" I mustered the most intimidating voice I could. Which is admittedly, not that intimidating given my current cutesy voice via voice changer.
He whimpered still.
"You must have already concluded that I'm a veteran player myself, but what you don't know is that I also have a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired from playing CoA, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. I'm also a high-ranking member of the Paragon guild. If you try anything like this again, I promise that my guildmates and I will find you, and we will kill you, over and over till you drop all your equipment. Got that?"
He nodded his head so fast that it looked like he was having a seizure.
"Now get out of here, I don't want to see your face ever again."
He immediately stood up and ran away as I released my dagger from his neck.
I used my old guild as a threat. It's more of a white lie since I don't have any contacts in the guild now. Though the Paragon guild was one of the top guilds back then, I would like to think they have at least some influence in the CoA community till now.
Well, I guess that's it. I don't usually resort to threatening players but he gave me no choice. I don't want him to go after Clarissa when I'm not around, so that's the best solution I could think of in that given situation. I just hope I terrified him enough so that he won't bother us ever again.
I walked back to where I left Clarissa, I saw her looking at something with an unfocused eye. She is probably surfing the net or something akin to that.
"Sorry it took so long. Did I make you wait?" I said apologetically.
"Novo! I didn't wait that long but where did you go?" she asked curiously.
"I just got something for you," I said as I initiated a trade with her.
I traded her the robe I got earlier from the mage.
"Wha- this is an epic robe, I can't just have this for free!" she denied the trade.
"It's not for free though". I said in a strict voice she is used to by now when I teach her about the game. "As I said before, you're helping me level so I need you to have stronger items so that you won't slow me down, understood?"
"Y-yes!" she said determinedly.
How easy.
She accepted the robe with such a broad smile that it made me think that becoming a PK-crazed player would actually be worth it.