The huge red eyes were unwavering. The eyes of a wild beast, begging for attention – Gram didn't dare look away. Its array of bristles shifted up and down with its violent, heavy breathing and its fur stretched as the muscles underneath tensed in anticipation. Gram didn't move, praying the creature wouldn't either.

At the bottom of the ramp, John broke back into a sprint, boots slapping under the craggy floor. He reached the Giant Tainted Rabbit in seconds, taking a huge leap.

-15

A thief didn't weigh much, but the momentum brought John's knife straight through the rabbit's pelt, sticking the monster.

-10

-9

-9

Promptly, the pistol discharged thrice in rapid succession. Ultimately, there was not much damage, but attacks were more than enough to destabilize the rabbit.

All Gram saw was the eyes of the beast approaching as his field of view was filled by the falling mass.

Typically, when creating these pitfalls, the Giant Tainted Rabbit would excavate the hole with its hind legs. It would dig down around twice its body length before exiting using all its limbs to pull and push itself upwards. However, the sudden impacts forced it face-first into the hole, its forepaws pressed firmly against its body, and its massive, fluffy hindquarters flailing about uselessly.

Essentially, it was stuck – its anatomy just didn't allow it to escape rapidly from such a position. Almost as fast as Gram's shrieks of horror, the threat of the elite monster disappeared.

"Kill it!" John yelled.

"Oh, right," said Jodie, who had been watching, for the second time today, in amazement. She fumbled her staff and chanted a few words.

Previously, after the earlier encounters with the tainted monsters, John had given Jodie a quick lesson on the magic skills of RISE. Typically, in fantasy RPGs, a secondary resource bar, mana, would be used to govern the usage of magic along with cooldowns. By the lore of these games, it was supposed to be a spiritual system with effects related to concentration and the soul.

Due to RISE's ground-breaking innovation in the field of VR realism, many of the technologies were limited: there simply hadn't been enough time to develop the devices to heavily support these non-physical sensations. Thus, to cast spells, the developers decided to fuse the HP and MP systems, not too dissimilar to a hemomancer, without the dark connotation.

Simply, spells cost health in RISE. It might be percent max health, percent current health, flat health, limb functionality or more.

A low-tier spell like Torch at low intensity didn't really mean much, but the highest tier spell could literally cost an arm and a leg. Many people in the past had referred to mages as the masochists of RISE. Indeed, it might hurt to be an elementalist, but historically, these kinds of games bred legendary existences, the most notorious of which being AoE magic. The resource system served as an effective check to nuclear proliferation.

Mechanics aside, Jodie clenched her teeth almost as hard her staff as some blood drained from her arm. A bright red Fireball congealed out of the blood in her staff, firing towards the rabbit's exposed bottom.

-20

"Its fur's so tough," Jodie mumbled. In previous encounters with common tainted rabbits, a Fireball could easily do upwards of 35 damage depending on proximity.

-12

-9

-8

-13

"Well, hit it again," John replied as he stabbed and shot the fat ass repeatedly.

Beginner elementalists typically had two main offensive skills, a larger AoE ability, like Fireball for Pyromancers, and a cheaper single target damage spell.

The staff in Jodie's hand glowed again as it graciously accepted the fresh health points.

[Ember]

A-Grade Spell

Rank: 1

Damage: 15-30 SDU | (Fire)

Range: 25m

Cooldown: 0.5s

Cast Time: 1-1.3s Standard | (Based on Intensity)

Cost: 2-3% Current Health; 1 Health Point Minimum | (Based on Intensity)

Notes: A standard sustained damage spell; low chance to proc burn status.

Ember, like most magic spells in RISE could be varied based on provided health points, 15-30 SDU (Standard Damage Units) of pure fire damage. This lowest grade spell was really more limited by the caster than the cooldown. The cast time was based off a standard user, allowing plenty of skill expression from talented mages. The variable cost also made it more efficient to take a fight with less health, incentivizing risk. One had control their health range to optimize damage and safety while focusing on complex runes and chants under intense physical stress.

Naturally, though, decision making and skill didn't matter against a still target, and a series of fire wisps tore into the rabbit's hulking rear, drawing pinpricks of blood.

-15

-14

"This isn't gonna go fast, is it?" Jodie muttered. She had used maximum strength Ember wisps with a reasonable cast time for a beginner of 1.55s.

Simultaneously, Gram found himself lying in the stool once more. He had instinctively leaned backwards in the face of the failing rabbit. It was filled with rage as the huge jaws snapped and hissed, causing Gram to wince under the powerful blows and stench.

He carefully jabbed his greatsword upwards, testing the waters.

-14

Nothing happened to him, the rabbit was stuck firmly in place more than a meter above his sprawled position.

"C'mon," he groaned to no one. His greatsword displayed a blueish tint. For melee classes using skills, RISE had certain indicators prior to their usage.

-18

[Sweep]

A - Grade Skill

Rank: 1

Damage: 3-6 + (110% Base Damage) SDU | (Slash, Penetration)

AoE: 0.5m + (Weapon Reach), Radial 180-235 degrees

Cooldown: 8s

Notes: A sweeping attack with an increased chance to cause slash and penetration procs; works with non-sweeping motions, but loses AoE effect; reduces the interval between attacks

This skill, Sweep, did additional damage and was usually weaved into a combo. Spells that did mixed damage did a variable amount of each type, but generally did higher percentages based on the listed order. Sweep, had a higher chance of procing slash than penetration, dealing considerably more damage as the former. Its usage was very liberal. Despite its name, a player could use it freely in combos on thrusts, smashes, anything, although it still was more effective to enhance sweep attacks.

-13

-14

-25

Gram repeated thrusted the blade upwards, eventually finding it's mark in one of the huge crimson eyes. The rabbit gave out a roar of pain and Gram locked his jaw not daring to open his mouth as the juices rain down.

[You have slain the Giant Tainted Rabbit (Elite)]

[You are the first party to slay an Elite monster in the Gyeadian Outskirts]

[You are the first party to slay an Elite monster in the Hiar region]

[You are the first party to slay an Elite monster in all of RISE]

[You have the option to reveal your party's identities to the world.]

[You have gained 360 XP]

[You have leveled up]

[The first level barrier has been released. Please refer to the website for further details]

Eventually, under the combined efforts of the three, the Giant Tainted Rabbit died miserably. Incidentally, bodies didn't despawn in RISE, leaving behind a large corpse. Through a shower of experience, drops, and fluids, John and Jodie pulled out the pale-faced Gram.

"Why do you hate me?" Gram coughed out eventually.

"What do you mean?" John laughed. "It was part all of the plan."

"That was a shit plan."

"I mean, it worked." John replied. "Didn't it, Selene?"

Jodie didn't say anything, but nodded, trying not to laugh at Gram's unsightly appearance. There's always something appealing about the suffering of loved ones, to a certain extent, of course.

"There's no way you planned that pitfall shenanigan." Gram continued.

"No, I didn't," John admitted. "Either way, the rabbit wouldn't have attacked you in the pit. They typically use such traps to separate groups. Those stuck at the bottom will be buried alive at the end of a fight."

"So, you used me to lure it out of its hole. Were you confident you could 2v1 it?"

"Yeah," John chuckled awkwardly. There was no way he could say he had planned on a 1v1. "Anyways, let this be your next lesson – you too, Selene – the environment is the perfect weapon; RISE is not one of those archaic competitions of stats."

"You speak such wise words, but you commit such awful actions." Gram said, rolling his eyes.

"Do as I say, not as I do – especially not to me."

In the end, regardless of the methods, the Giant Tainted Rabbit was dead and giant dead rabbits gave bountiful rewards. They had spent hours outside murdering common monsters, at a rate much faster than other players would have, and only managed 75% percent experience. In contrast, a single level 2 elite monster was enough to push them straight into the double-digit percentages of the next level.

Glancing over the system notifications, Gram couldn't help but whistle. "That's a lot of experience."

"It's just the beginning. Leveling's really just too slow in this game." John said, shaking his head.

"Hey, what's this?" Jodie said, reading the latest notification more carefully. "Something about reduced acclimatization handicaps?"

"Remember the assimilation function I told you about while we were hunting? We broke through the first barrier," John replied. "The combat system will feel a bit harder and more realistic. But, you can now learn more skills and basic quests are unlocked."

"Alright," Jodie said as she scrolled through the notifications. "But the real accomplishment has got to be this first kill."

"Yeah, it's not bad." John shrugged. A reincarnated should be able to do at least this much.

"Do we reveal names?"

"Nah, it's a burden at this point." John was more than familiar with the consequences of announcing his presence. Top players in the past always carried its weight.

[RISE Announcement: A party of three has defeated a Giant Tainted Rabbit, killing the first Elite Monster.]

[Server Announcement: A lone adventurer, Thyme, has defeated a Large Swirled Wolf, killing the second Elite Monster.]

"Oh, wow," Gram exclaimed. "Someone just defeated a similar monster alone. Minutes after us too."

"Yeah…" John said. He was deep in thought.

First of all, players were supposed to still be in the tutorial which lasted a whole in-game day. It took a lot of confidence to skip a tutorial for such a different experience like RISE.

Secondly, RISE delayed the second announcement until after the first was made, and the first was only displayed after the anonymity option dealt with. Gram wasn't aware of it, but Thyme could have killed his monster literally milliseconds after they did. And their party had John, a veteran of a new game, even if he didn't seriously aim to hunt an elite monster.

As a result, John's mind drifted. 'Who could it be? Is it one of the previous top players? I'd definitely recognize the name.'

In fact, the pre-release was one of the foggiest points of RISE's history. Other than its existence, not much was known. However, the first to third kill - the only ones that were announced - of an elite monster hadn't been recorded in the public release. Players had thought that the achievement was too small to be worth announcing.

This simply wasn't the case though: there was a broadcast, but only displayed during the pre-release. In the past, the first three kills must have been obtained during this period. Such an early defeat of an elite monster certainly wasn't trivial too, the death of a relatively difficult mob could not be attributed to luck at this point, but only skill and adaptability. 'So, why haven't I heard of them?' Logically, John came up with two possible conclusions. 'Either it's a hidden expert that hadn't been known in the past or one that had quit the game early on.' The latter held immense appeal.

"That's a shame," Gram commented, examining the drops. There was just a couple copper coins, some [Giant Tainted Rabbit Bristle(s)], a mound of [Giant Tainted Rabbit Meat], and oddly again, multiple [Giant Tainted Rabbit Skull(s)]. "You'd think a mob this fierce would have some gear drops."

"This kind of animalistic mob doesn't usually have drops other than commodities on them. We'll have to explore its den to find the goodies." John answered.

The cave felt eerie in the dim light of magic stones, even without the beast which once inhabited it. In a corner, the late Giant Tainted Rabbit had piled up some rabbit mud into a sort of bed. John dug into the soft material with the hilt of his dagger to keep maintain the edge durability.

The first find was a copper coin, causing Jodie and Gram's eyes to light up. For reference, a beginner started with five coppers and the previous rabbit hunting had only yielded three.

"Oh, let me!" Gram exclaimed with child-like joy. The next discovery was another copper coin. And another coin. And another one. Gram pulled out six more coins in deliberate succession.

"Hey Gram, stop pulling out these little coins one at a time," Jodie said, unamused.

Gram laughed merrily. Still, he ran his hand over the exposed valuables, instantly adding the remaining coppers into his inventory. "Twenty-three," he announced proudly.

"Sizeable haul," John commented.

"We got some gear too."

"Yeah, what did you find?" Jodie asked.

"It's a shield."

"A shield?" John evaluated. "That's too bad, warriors are an offensive tank class, they only use plate armor or lower. Consider it a bonus of ten coppers." The shield would sell for more if this were the public release where beginners could pool their funds together. The pre-release was a gathering of professionals: they each had a certain pride.

"And a dagger."