Elysium

Level 11

MAREN

Level 11

We were all in a bad mood due to Aethan's unfortunate incident. Yana had been despondent, blaming herself for what happened. Drial couldn't be more asympathetic. He kept telling us that we will be able to see him in approximately a couple of hours, game time.

We had all been walking silently back toward the town. It would have been faster if we used a scroll but it was all to our agreement that we should walk. It wasn't going to get dark in a few hours and we'll probably be in the city before then. We get to think about a lot of things while we walk. A few hours of stagnant leveling wouldn't hurt.

"So when we disappear, we dont' re-spawn immediately?" I asked. It might be an insensitive question, given what just happened and how we were feeling but it had to be asked.

"No," was Drial's very helpful response.

"So what happens in the two hours that we're gone? Just... float in space?"

"Sort of. For the player involved, it's quick. It's a matter of perception."

"Ohh."

It was the last sound from any of us until we reached the town.

Strangely, when we did reach the town, a very familiar character greeted us ecstatically. It was Aethan, the same lively person he was before he disappeared but somehow... changed. I just can't put my finger on it. From the look on my companions' faces, I wasn't the only one who noticed.

Just like what we did with Seiko, we had a pleasant talk over dinner and everything was as if nothing happened. We decided to retire for the night because an event was coming in the morning and the whole town was in a stir.

Chaos week.

We are in the midst of the latest event of the game so far. For seven days, game time, we will be participating in a bloody battle with monsters and other players. The difference of Chaos Week with normal days is that monsters are stronger and more difficult to defeat. Of course, this entails a better drop rating and loot percentage. For players, experience is deducted every time he or she dies. This means one could revert back some levels.

My goal as of now is to level up faster and get better equipment. We’ve discovered that items sold in the shops in town are usually of lower quality than those dropped by monsters. Aethan needs more tools and raw materials to come up with better equipment. His priority right now is his armor. In his current state, I could punch him and take about 5% of his life points. Seiko was as stagnant in leveling as Aethan is. Drial was doing pretty well – but no surprise here. Yana was also doing well.

We haven’t taken any group quests after that one with Diyari. We got a hefty reward for that one, too. Aethan got the best of it, since most of Diyari’s reward consisted of metal chunks and broken pieces, which you won’t have much use for if you’re not a crafter. But we did get potions (low-quality compared to those we got from Astal) and attribute scrolls (I hogged the intelligence scrolls). We got to keep the gold suit… but we have no need for that anymore. Diyari also gave us a little amount of the glue he made. He said we might need it in the future. As a bonus, Diyari repaired all of our armors and offered to open up a gem slot in an armor or weapon of our choice. We could return once we’ve obtained optimum-quality armor.

To deviate from game-talk. Have I ever mentioned how much of a pig I am when it comes to food? I am more gluttonous than Aethan and Drial combined. So it wasn’t any surprise to my companions that I know most if not all the cafeterias, restaurants and food courts in town.