Fateful Encounter

Two weeks went by. WindBow's level was at 16 now, ranked 2nd in the world. Although he didn't really mind his ranking, it just started to drop recently. Because leveling gets harder after level 10, the advantage he got over others with his quest rewards have made him the first ranked until three days ago. All Might, the leveling manic from America, took the first position again.

There 10 dungeons, including the spider one that he himself did, who have been opened. The others were all opened by big guilds like Supreme Army from United States, Chosen Ones from Korea and Great Empire from Europe. Although they're called guilds, they still haven't formed an official guild. No one has found a guild creation token yet, they're all formed from other games.

Because of those new dungeons, the level of players have rising fast and most players are between level 9-12, the top 100 are between level 15-17. Only All Might, the first ranked, was level 17.

Virtual released another feature one week ago. It didn't close the server as it was actually installed in last patch and was just blocked. It was auction houses and the arena. Of course, although it was released, no one used it yet.

Why? Because small villages didn't have any of such buildings. Players would be able to access them when they got to a town.

The arenas were very anticipated by the players. There are a lot of players who like PvP and the Arena let them duel without losing their exp or equips.

But the Auction is anticipated to change even more the game world. The auctions accepts currency from the real world too. Although it's expensive, rich players don't mind losing a few hundred thousand to get their hands on better equips and keep their superiority complex.

The game was gaining bigger proportions and becoming a rising star in the real world economy.

The dungeons provided the basic skills for every class, besides a good spot for leveling and trading. Why trade? Stone Village was swelled with players who came for the dungeon. Lots of players and decent drops meant good opportunity for Peddlers too, increasing even more the population.

The players finally were getting used to the game and LEO's popularity was rising. The number of players just hit 100,000,000 and that's because the game pod is not that cheap. If it was cheaper, then hitting a billion in a week would be possible. The ranked players all have prior sponsor from other games. Those sponsor were starting to move as well.

WindBow just got online. He resupplied before logging out, so he just left Stone Village heading to the South Gate. It was the closest gate from the level 20 area. He was feeling like challenging himself against new mobs again.

As usual, he attracted attention even though he doesn't really want to. The reason is the black wolf walking besides him. Fenrir grew a little and was around waist height. Because its master is making it fight all the time, it started to change its temperament. It used to only look for power, looking for chances to evolve. Now it enjoys difficult fights with its life on the line, just like its master.

Skill stones are still very rare. There has been some other found, but it amounts to less than 30 in the whole world. Because the skills are more advanced than the basic ones found, all who have used a skill stone have high recognition and are famous.

Because pet system is normal in most games, people are still unsure if that wolf was the result of a skill stone or a hidden quest, but no matte which one it is, they still admired and envied that player who has so lucky.

WindBow attracted some attention to his equipment. He would always bring materials to George and George was always either selling things or crafting. George became a little well known in Stone Village as one the best craftsmen. His equipment now was level 15 and his bow finally upgraded to level 15 uncommon! The uncommon grade bow was made with spider boss drops.

[Status]

Nome: WindBow

Title: Pioneer

Rank: Civilian

Guild: None

Level: 16 (89%)

Class: Archer

HP: 451/451

MP: 100/100

STR 1(+1)

VIT 1(+2)

AGI 17(+8)

DEX 17(+2)

INT 1

WILL 1(+1)

ATK: 84.8 (+5.94)

MATK: 1

DEF: 37

MDEF: 16

[Equipment]

Set Effects

*Bear Set: +300 HP, +10MDEF (Ranged)

Bear Helm - Common Level 15:

DEF + 6

VIT + 1

Bear Cape - Common Level 15:

MDEF + 4

AGI + 2

Bear Gloves - Common Level 15:

DEF + 5

AGI + 1

STR + 1

Bear Armor - Common Level 15:

DEF + 10

VIT + 1

Bear Pants - Common Level 15:

DEF + 8

WIL + 1

Bear Boots - Common Level 15:

DEF + 6

VIT + 1

Tin Arrow - Common Level 10:

ATK + 6

Black Spider Bow - Uncommon Level 15:

ATK + 40

DEX + 2

AGI + 3

Every attack leaves a small trace of poison in the arrow used. Has 3% chance to poison the target. Deals 20hp per second. Lasts for 10 seconds.

[Skills]

(Bow Mastery)

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 7/10

Effects: 7% increased damage with bows.

(Strong Shot)

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 5/10

Effects: Deals 110% damage and has 15% chance to stun the target for 1 second.

(Increased Vision)

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 1/1

Effects: Increase attack rage with ranged weapons by 5 meters. Stealth Detection +5 (Hidden). Increases Dexterity cognitive effectiveness by 5%.

(Double Shot)

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 8/10

Effects: Deals 96% twice to the target. Consumes 1 arrow only.

(Multishot)

Rank: Apprentice

Level: 2/10

Effects: Fires arrows in a cone dealing 74% damage to every unit hit. Arrows pierce pierce up to 3 targets. Maximum range is 12 meters.

Any attack effect can be applied normally. Costs 5 arrows.

(Tame)

Rank: Extra

Level: 2/5

Effects: Can capture monster as pets.

Number of pets: 1/2.

"All right, all points spent. Time to move on Let's go, Fenrir."

His companion gave a low bark as confirmation.

WindBow always summoned Fenrir if he could. The reason is, he noticed the tame exp going up when he was in a town once. He concluded that tame would level whenever he gave a command to his pet. He tried giving useless commands like "roll" and "sit", but it didn't work. Maybe because he could do it too easily or it was way too simple. It still had room for research.

"Bro, are you free?"

Just as he was leaving he received a call from Love Money, George's character.

"I'm free. What's up? Do you need help?"

"Hehe I just got a nice quest! Guess what? I'm going to trade in a town! Not a village! And I haven't seen any information about towns being discovered. This looks promising, right? We might get rich! But to get there I need to go through a level 20 map. I need you to escort me there. What do you think?"

"No problem. Where are you?"

"Haha, you're really my bro! I'm at Stone Village's South Gate. If you're too far away, please don't worry. I can wait you here, it's no problem. Don't feel oblig..."

"I'm here."

WindBow was about to depart from the South Gate too, so they were actually very close.

Love Money felt as if he lost some hp points there. Though he got over it quickly and started blabbering about fate tying them together.

"Senpai, please wait."

As they were about to depart they heard someone calling. Though they completely ignored it. After all, neither were called "Senpai".

"Please wait."

They heard again louder and turned to see who it was. It was actually a tank character. His bulky armor showed that he was not a newbie. He was running in their direction and shaking his arms.

"Hum? I think I know him... or maybe not?"

"Senpai, I am ShieldMan. I don't know if you remember me, but you gave me advice once leaving Moon Forest. It helped a lot then and up to this day I still think about it. I just wanted to thank you."

As ShieldMan lowered his head, a young girl also appeared, using silk clothes, she had a gentle appearance, though one could barely see it now as she was about to pass out. Looks like she ran until she depleted her whole stamina.

"Onii.. I told you... Wait... Please.."

"Oh, Yuki. Sorry, I just saw Master going out of town had to get to him."

"Master? Me? Guess you're conf.. Wait, are you that warrior who were fighting wolves like a robot?"

"Yes, it's me! Glad that Master remembers me."

Things finally clicked in his mind. That Asian whom he said a few vague things, he still remembered him after more than two weeks. That's a little weird actually.

He told a short version so Love Money wouldn't feel himself out of the loop.

"I see. I just said some small things. You're just talented to have come this far."

"No, Master's words that day were more than that. They were not much, but they made me realize this game was different. The change in perspective was the reason I'm thankful."

"Well, If you say so. Anyway, who's this little lady?"

"This is my sister Yuki, in our country it means Snow. She is an acolyte and just got to level 14."

"Oh, not bad. Acolytes have a hard time leveling so you two must have been through a lot."

"I'm a level 15 tank warrior. My sister and I have been playing as a team."

"A tank and a priest, huh?"

WindBow was calculating in his mind. Although he said he would escort his friend, as an Archer, his skills were not really good for protecting someone. In fact, warriors are the best for that. With a priest's support, it would become a lot easier too.

"Hey, how about you too come with us? Is that okay, Ge.. Money?"

"Sure, bro. If he's your friend, than he's my friend too."

"So how about it? I'm escorting my friend here through the level 20 map there."

"Sure! It would be amazing to see Master in action!"

The little sister didnt share her brother's feelings, but she didnt object it. Her brother was really grateful to this man.

"All right, so first of all... stop that 'Master' thing, it's weird. Call me by Wind or Bow or whatever you'd like."

"That's.. okay, WindBow."

"Good. Let's depart. Wake up, Fenrir."

=============================

"Brothers, that armor looks expensive and they're heading to the level 20 map. How about we ambush them?"

"Indeed, their equips doesn't look bad. I almost quit the game when PvP was prohibited. A game without PK is just s***. But it was just the beginner's area. Maps from level 20 and higher don't have the same restriction. We can still have fun."

"Haha, right. Let's go! They have only 3 combat classes. We're double their numbers."

"They're still going to a high level map. Be careful everyone. One of them looks very high level."

As WindBow and his team departed, a group of mean looking men departed after them.