The center of the village was the same place that Arthur had arrived at. It had a small fountain along with an old statue. The statue had been weathered to the point where it was hard to make out who it belonged to as the features of its face had faded away.
All one could tell was the fact that it looked like a warrior.
At the bottom of the statue, one could read a name.
"Kestrel…" Arthur read the name after which the village was named.
'Now that I think of it… There was not much information about Kestrel even back then. People tried to look for it but there were no records…' Arthur thought back to his past life.
With the rise of the top-ranked player and his hidden class, there was no lack of people that were looking for his secrets. While several of them were found, there were still many that were left undiscovered, Kestrel being one of them.
No one knew why such a hidden class was hidden in a newbie village, but they knew that it had something to do with Kestrel.
'Maybe I'll learn more this time around.' Arthur thought to himself and looked around.
There were still players appearing at the fountain, though most of them looked to be frustrated.
"DAMMIT! How are these mobs so fast?"
"Aren't they supposed to be starter mobs, how do we even kill them if we can't catch them?"
"And they kill us in just six attacks! That takes them like 3 seconds!"
There was no lack of players who had returned to the fountain after having died. It was the respawn point and also the place where newbies would arrive.
Arthur who heard their complaints couldn't help but chuckle.
'It really was quite hard for them at the start. After all, they didn't know how to use their game avatars that well.' Arthur recalled.
It was a matter of time before they would get adjusted and adapt to killing the beasts. Even if there were other VR games in the past, they were not on the level of Morpheus Online and also had aim assist that helped the players a lot.
But there was nothing of that sort in this game.
Arthur shook his head, dispelling his distracting thoughts and focused on the next task.
'Player status.' He said in his mind.
~DING~
>Player Status<
——
Name: Arzhur
Level: 1
Class: None
Title: None
***
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Hunger: 100%
Experience: 0%
***
<Physical Stats>
Strength: 1
Toughness: 1
Agility: 1
Dexterity: 1
Vitality: 1
<Non-Physical Stats>
Wisdom: 1
Intelligence: 1
Will: 1
***
<Equipment>
Right Hand: Old Dagger
Left Hand: Empty
Chest Armor: Hemp Shirt
Leg Armor: Hemp Pants
Boots: Old Leather Shoes
Bag: Old Satchel
***
<Skills>
1. Inspect
——
Arthur looked at the stats that were nothing special. These were the stats that everyone started off with and they were all set to 1 by default.
This was also why the balance of Morpheus Online was maintained for a long time for newbies. Everyone started off at the same point, and it was up to them to explore and find opportunities to improve their stats.
There were several ways to do so, like getting better equipment, doing quests, getting titles, or simply leveling up. And most people did all of the above with leveling up being the most basic way of improving themselves.
This was exactly what Arthur was intending to do right now.
'Killing the starting mobs won't be an issue but once I do kill them all, it will take a while for them to respawn. Time that I do not wish to waste… If I am to make the most of my advantages, I cannot afford to waste even a second.' Arthur thought to himself as he walked towards the gate of the village.
At the gate, two guards could be seen standing. Their titles floated on top of their heads, glowing in a green color showing that they were allies. This was something only the players could see of course.
But despite passing, by them the guards didn't really seem to be bothered. They looked to be bored and were only here to do the bare minimum and nothing else. The only time they would act would be if the mobs would get too close to the town.
While they looked pretty harmless right now, Arthur knew they were far beyond any of the players.
There was no lack of fearless players who had teased or even fought them outright in his past life. Safe to say, their end was swift and they were killed in just a single attack.
'Each of the guards here are supposed to be level 20 on an average. That is far beyond what any player will have for the coming few weeks.' Arthur thought a few things. 'Hmmm… can I test that strategy here later?' a plan formed in his mind.
He continued to his destination and soon arrived at an open plain.
Here tens of players could be seen trying to kill what looked like rabbits!
"CATCH IT!"
"Don't let it slip again!"
"SHIT!"
"GODDAMNED RABBITS!"
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm The players cursed and shouted, unable to fight against the small beast.
But Arthur knew that even if they were starting mobs, they were special.
'All beings in the world of Morpheus Online have magic in them. Even if they are not able to utilize it directly, they are still strengthened by it. One would be making a mistake if they took these rabbits as common animals.' Arthur thought to himself before pointing a finger towards the rabbits.
"Inspect!"
Upon saying the command, a new window opened in front of Arthur showing that the skill had been activated.
~DING~
>Inspect Successful!<
——
Target: Grey Plains Rabbit
Rank: Common
Level: 1
HP: 100%
MP: 76%
——
Inspect was the basic skill that all players started off with and cost nothing to use. It was also something that many newbie players didn't know at the time of the launch, simply because there was no tutorial!
'Need to wait till their MP falls to 0… that'll be my chance.' Arthur watched the players fight and let them exhaust the mobs.
He continued to use Inspect every ten seconds, checking the MP of the rabbits. And a couple minutes later he saw one of the rabbit's MP falling to 0%
'Now!' Seeing that his chance had arrived, Arthur jumped into the fray.
He skillfully weaved between the exhausted players, surprising them.
"Hey! Watch it!" they shouted, but he didn't care.
The Grey Plains Rabbit heard him approaching with its long ears and gazed at him. Then in the next moment, it jumped towards him!
"Hah! He's gonna die soon. The way to survive is to dodge their attacks, not tank them." Someone snarked.
Arthur simply focused on the target ahead and let the attack hit him.
THWACK!
The Rabbit slammed into his body with a force that shouldn't be possible for a beast that size.
[-10% HP]
Just one hit had taken off one-tenth of his health. This was also why the other players were frustrated with the rabbits. They were too fast and a mere six hits were enough to kill them.
But Arthur didn't show the same response. Instead, he smiled.
'Just like I thought. They strengthen their attacks with their skill. If their MP is drained, they cannot do it and their attacks will weaken.' Arthur looked at his remaining HP and knew that he had more than enough to sustain this.
THWACK!
But a mere moment later, he was struck by the rabbit again.
[-10% HP]
Another fraction of his HP was shaved off and the rabbit seemed intent on taking all of it again.
But just as it was about to bounce away from Arthur's body, his hand moved nimbly.
KIIIIII!
The beast let out a painful cry as the Dagger slashed at its sides, leaving a long cut.
[Critical Hit!]
[ -70% HP]
"Bingo!" Arthur smiled widely and pounced at the beast again.
The pain had stunned the rabbit and slowed its response. It gave Arthur enough time to stab the beast once more.
[Fatal hit!]
[-30% Hp]
>Grey Plains Rabbit has been killed!<
>Experience obtained: 10%<
Arthur's experience bar increased by 10% showing that he only needed to kill nine more such rabbits to level up.
"So, far, so good. Let's keep it up." Arthur immediately rushed to the next target, leaving the other players flabbergasted.
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