Endless: Hell's Swordsmen

Volume 2:Artifact user

Upon loading into the game, Astro was deposited in the town square of Stagnant Moss town.

Around him were hundreds of other players coalescing into reality. While towns were smaller than cities, they were still big enough to support large populations, larger than usual in the real world.

Stagnant Moss town should have a starting population of 500,000 people, not counting players.

Astro estimated that the player population should be less than a thousand, a relatively small amount for the area. After all, Stagnant Moss town was one of the less obscure towns available in the Sturgehaven kingdom.

It should be noted that towns are functionally different from cities. Towns are basically starter areas where players can take low level quests to familiarize themselves with the scope and diversity of Boundless and its combat system. There were four high tier cities: Koldone City, Cario City, Farst City and Sturgehaven City with the latter being the capital city. Each one of them had its benefits and detriments over the other, but the secrets hidden in them could decide the fate of the world.

Right now, players couldn't access cities until level 5. Guilds also could not be formed until level 10, which is the first benchmark level. At level 10, players would be assigned classes based on their attribute point distribution. Majority had no idea of this and even few top level experts were able to guess.

Before level 10, players could learn any assortment of classless skills and three class-based skills, so players assumed this was the criteria for getting a class, but this wasn't it. It solely depended on your point distribution. More points in strength and endurance would grant a Tank class and even then, there were differences. High strength and endurance with some points put into spirit would lead to a paladin class. High strength with slightly less endurance and more intelligence would lead to a mage guard class.

Many players ended up falling into categories they didn't aim for, and reset their accounts foolishly, falling behind players who took it as it was. The reasoning behind the AI's plan was that without foreknowledge of such a mechanic, players who allocated points based on preference, would end up with classes that had the best potential for them. Someone who invested in intelligence and spirit would expect to get a mage class with high mana recovery but would rather end up with a cleric class and restart. After a few years, those players would regret their hasty actions because the classes they wanted didn't suit them.

His class was a variation of the spellblade class, the knight. Knights were agility focused swordsman classes with some minor magical capability, but mostly for passive use unlike spellblade who used active magic like fireballs.

Astro knew the exact point allocation for the Avenger class, so he wasn't worried. Right now, he just needed to follow his early game plan to build a solid foundation for the mid game season. Opening his character sheet, he gazed at it with a mixture of melancholy and loss.

｢ Name: Draco

Class: unallocated

Artifact: Hell's Swordsmen

Level: 1

Exp: 0%

Str: 1

Dex: 1

End: 1

Int: 1

Spr: 1

Cha: 1

Lck: 1

Combat Skills: Hell's Black Flames

Tradeskills: None｣

The simple and empty table really brought home the absurdity of his situation.
The AI was still collecting information for improvement, so things were pretty barebones right now. Still, it would make his job easier, as the skill assist system was still active in the base version.