“Say, John,”

John closed his water canteen and wiped his hand on the back of his mouth. “Yeah what’s up?”

“How did you get so good at this game, so fast?” Radiation asked.

“EM…” Dedication mumbled. It was awfully rude to just ask an expert for their secret. But then gave up on it: he wanted to know too, and John didn’t seem bothered by her remarks.

“It’s alright,” John said to Dedication. He reached back for another pebble and chucked it off the edge from his sitting position. “Well, it’s alright for you to ask, I mean. But I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”

Radiation nodded and watched the falling stone. “Yeah, I figured. Worth a shot.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. You’re good enough right now: and it takes time to improve." He put a hand on his chin, as if thinking, then dropped it back down to waist level. "Who knows? You might be better than me someday, both of you.” In the past, Dedication certainly had been.

“It’ll be a long time until that day.”

“It’s just time; there’s plenty of that.”

"Some have more."

"You aren’t in a rush are you?" John laughed. "It's the pre-release, of course, you're shit."

The Skarl team didn’t respond and continued recovering their stamina and health. A cold draft ran down the hill, but they ignore that too. They let their tired limbs savor the break and watched the tainted lands below them.

John did too until a message popped up.

Helios: We’ve arrived at the hill. It’s the strangest hill I’ve ever seen.

John: Took you long enough.

Helios: We are level three and two. It’s tough, pushing through these stronger rabbits.

John: Your level is too low, but you won’t have to push anymore. Just hold position and farm the level four rabbits until Selene’s level three. Be careful of the raccoons and take the rabbits in small groups.

Helios: Alright.

John: Come up to the fifteenth landing when you are done.

John closed the chat and hopped to his feet. “Well, back to leveling,” he said, checking his watch. He wound it up and slipped into back into his pocket. “How far are you two to level four?”

“About three-quarters of the way. That’s nearly forty percentage points more than last night,” Dedication replied. “Less than an hour at this crazy rate.”

The level five player nodded in acknowledgment. “Hit four, then we can hunt an elite monster.” John reckoned it wouldn't be too bad, even without his other allies.

The fifteenth floor was soon filled with dazzling bursts of light, gunshots, and magic chants. With John thinning out the mobs and luring the difficult ones, the two's experience bars flooded upwards.

…

“Shit, more of these little bastards?”

Gram nodded. “You need level three before we go up.”

She was 58% to level three.

Jodie sighed, annoyed, and raised her staff, ready to cast magic. An angry warmth ran over her blonde hair and carmine-red robes. “Alright, sure, that’s fine." She took a breath. "But you need to talk to him about that when we do go up. Take the time to consider it again."

He thought for a moment and raised his weapon too. “I will.”

The sound of flames, sword strikes, and the occasional fireball detonation rang out along the foot of the hill.

…

‘Floodlight’

~3

~7

~11

The oppressive cone of light swallowed the tainted lizard in the worst sunburn it ever experienced. Unfortunately, it appeared that scales were quite resistant to light.

‘Holy Strike.’

The lance-shaped holy bolt entered the Komodo’s trunk of a knee.

-9

It further injured the giant lizard's already shot kneecap. Its legs buckled and it collapsed, leaving it immobile against the fountain of light damage.

~16

~20

~24

~27

The damage wasn’t the best due to the thick scales of the beast and the four-level difference, but it was enough. Moreover, Radiation had managed to get fairly up close before casting the spell.

[You have slain a Tainted Lizard.]

[You have gained 367XP]

[You have leveled up.]

[The third level barrier has been removed.]

Radiation and Dedication caught their breath, the former dropping forward in pain from the powerful spell. The priest quickly cast a spell to dispel the poison and relieve his partner.

‘Cleanse’

[Your poisoned status has been removed.]

The two rested while John watched.

“Jerk,” Radiation was breathing heavily, hands on her knees. “I thought we weren’t supposed to fight the lizards,” she muttered somewhat annoyed.

“I’ve just been luring those away earlier. There was never a verbal agreement.” John answered. "Plus, I did most of the damage." He quickly collected the drops.

Radiation didn't say anything, restricted by stamina and John's shameless remarks.

“It’s good to practice on something stronger. I mean, that how you become stronger yourself," John added. "And that’s what you want, right?”

“That’s good and all, but I’d at least like to be prepared,” she spat out.

Dedication opened his mouth and closed it. He had wanted to say something to Radiation but just let it be. If this partnership was to go on for a while, there wouldn’t be any point in restricting her much longer.

“Well, you should be prepared now, for a bigger monster that is. You’re level four,” John said. “We can go kill an elite coon.”

“Sure…”

“Also,” John added, pulling out a skill book. He had seen enough of the mage’s talent and determination. “You might have some use for this.”

Dedication received the leather-binded skill book first. “Focus,” he read. He passed the item to Radiation.

She quickly rifled through it, her eyes popping in excitement. She closed it eagerly, pressing it to her generous chest to learn it.

The priest had to stop her impulsive action. “There’s a price, right?” Dedication asked. “We’re the ones in a guild, we are the ones that should be recruiting. You shouldn’t be giving us a gift, rather we should have. Why? Did you want to trade?”

John shrugged. “It can be a trade or a gift. It’s up to you.”

Dedication looked at John with uncertainty, but not quite unease. He scanned those casual eyes for a hint but found nothing.

“A trade then,” he concluded. “We have a skill book too, but not for thieves.” He fished a similar leather hardback out of his inventory.

John glanced at it. The faded golden words read Hunker Down. It was a defensive skill for guardians that dropped off low-level mobs on the tainted lands. It wasn’t the rarest skill, but John could make some use out of it.

“Alright sure, a trade. A book for a book.”

“And favor, I suppose. The values don’t quite match up.”

John nodded.

With the confirmation, EM quickly closed her eyes and used the skill book, learning Focus. There was a little sparkle of light that twirled around and entered her head. Her pretty face cracked into a smile, keen to use it.

"Alright, up the hill," John directed.

The pair followed John up the ramp to the next floors. There couldn't, however, help but feel uncomfortable. Around them, the mobs were becoming spread out, but the difficulty became beyond the strength of just duo.

Elite Tainted Raccoons spawned on the seventeenth landing of the hill, usually one at a time at level five.

“John,” Dedication muttered when they arrived. “Are you sure that’s a raccoon?”

[Elite Tainted Raccoon]

Level: 5

HP: 650/650

The monster didn’t really look like one – it was like more like a masked bear.

The nimble claws became giant maces that would smash on a player like they were a little crab-apple on a playground. The teeth became fangs, and the breath, noxious gas that spewed out periodically. The originally beady, red eyes evolved into tennis balls that locked onto targets, exerting the mob's cruel intentions.

The silver lining to the horrific challenge ahead was the monster’s health. Elite monsters in RISE weren’t always elite in the same way. The giant rabbit earlier had evolved beefiness, but the damage it would have done, if it could have done any at all, was relatively small.

This raccoon was squishier for its level but had damage and poison. There it was, fifty meters away, looking quite comfortable, nestled into a little dent in the sandstone cliffside. That’s where the good drops would be too.

“Yeah, it’s a raccoon,” John responded.

“John, get your eyes checked, that’s clearly a bear, a bigass bear,” Radiation mumbled.

“It’d be easier if that were the case,” John sighed and initiated the fight by diving into stealth.

This was a weird tactic. Gun-based thieves didn’t normally gain anything from starting directly with melee combat. Stealth ensured surprise and guaranteed the first hit, but this target would definitely survive and retaliate.

“Mage, stay back here, a distance of at least thirty meters,” John advised. “Wait until I jump him and just Beam him in the eyes at will. Priest, follow behind and just cleanse whenever I’m poisoned.”

Beam was a spell that could be effective in a huge range.

[Beam]

A - Grade Spell

Rank: 1

Total Focal Damage: 8 + (430% Intelligence) + (320% Equipment Stats) SDU | (Light; Fire)

Duration: 8s

Maximum Focal Distance: 15m

Cooldown: 14s

Cast Time: 0.75s Second Standard

Total Cost: 5% Current Health; 7 HP Minimum.

Notes: Beam of light that does continuous damage to target; Most damage at the variable focal point; channeled, can be canceled; full cost at the beginning, unused time refund on cancel.

Beam was a great DPS spell for optical magicians who possessed good control that did immense damage at the focal point. Its effective range could be considered more than fifty meters. Like most of the optical elementalist spells, it was channeled, the intensity varying with duration rather than pure damage. There might be no immobilization, but it was hard to move and aim while casting in pain.

But when combined with Focus, the spell really shone.

[Focus]

A - Grade Spell

Rank: 1

Cooldown: 20s

Cast Time: 35% in addition to selected spell

Cost: 50% of selected spell

Notes: Concentrates the photons of spells; increases range for some spells; increases damage for some spells; increases accuracy for some spells; decrease AoE.

Focus varied on a per spell basis, but for Beam, it allowed the focal point damage to extend to more than forty meters.

Although eager to test out the combination, EM couldn’t help but feel neglected. “What, that’s it?” Radiation asked. “Isn’t there supposed to be a tactic or something?”

John didn’t answer, creeping forward at fair speed with his dagger and pistol in hand. Actually, John didn’t even need the optical mage. As long as he had healing and cleansing, the plan would be viable.

He reached a distance of ten meters and he slowed his advance to a crawl. Silent steps was activated, and the movement was further slowed to a near standstill as the leather boots cautiously tread across the tainted terrain. He approached the beast’s unguarded rear.

Around five meters was the critical point where, due to the mob's elite status, the raccoon would be able to detect him even in his practiced stealth. John paused and seven and took a deep breath.

He broke into a sprint, gaining speed as fast as possible. The raccoon noticed at six due to the sudden movement, but John reached the acceleration he needed at five.

‘Pounce.’

The notes for this ability were somewhat misleading. The advertised leap distance wasn’t actually the maximum distance, but rather additional to the jump of the player. But not many thieves would have the ability to sprint without breaking stealth to use this effect.

The long jump brought the thief pouncing into the air. The raccoon’s giant paw swung over thief as he flew, but he made it, the dagger’s tip straight and thrusting towards the raccoon’s hide.

-18

[The target has resisted umbra.]

The dagger shuddered as it pierced the bristles. John crashed into the raccoon’s side, knocking the breath out of him. There was no umbra proc, but the blade stuck, giving him a place to leverage his strength.

The raccoon rolled and lurched, trying to eject the thief. During its violent fury, a beam of light blasted it in the face, on the side of the snout.

EM Radiation clenched her jaw as her combined spell continued discharging. Beam had an adjustable focal point up to fifteen meters, but with the help of Focus, photons concentrated on the fur.

~3

~8

Thermal damage of any kind was always excruciatingly painful, and the raccoon reeled. The beam of light traced a path upwards, aiming for the left eye where it eventually passed over.

~23

~29

It was momentary but the laser boiled the surficial intraocular liquid, temporarily blinding the beast’s eye. In response, it belched out a thick cloud of poison.

~35

~46

Seizing the opportunity, John managed to scrabble up the ursine like back. He stabbed down viciously with the basic dagger.

-15

[The durability of your Basic Dagger has decreased by 1]

It wasn’t a deep wound, but it was directly above the raccoon’s right leg, and it was meant to be a channel. The thief twisted and pried, trying to expand the wound. The raccoon quivered in response.

Meanwhile, the thick smoke-like substance engulfed the face of the critter, billowing over the shoulders and paws.

~47

~48

“Shit,” EM muttered as her Beam’s damage dwindled into nothingness. The particles of the poison shielded the monster by scattering the light entirely. Moreover, the poison crept backward. John was now barely visible on the monster’s back, wreathed in noxious fumes.

Under the movements of the coon and the wafting of the airborne toxin, John locked his legs down. He took one last gasp of fresh air and he jammed his pistol into the gap. It had been widened enough to snugly hold pistol barrel.

And behind that barrel, in front of the hammer mechanism and bolt, four various, colored tips laid. Encased in another of John’s special magazines, a rainbow of hurt – orange, blue, red, black – itched for action.

-34

The shrapnel round, a holo-point designed with alchemically modified shards, expanded inside the tough tissue of the raccoon. The damage was low because of the strength of the musculature, but the metallic bits scattered, further embedding itself into the meat with each movement of the coon.

With a clack, the bolt slid back and forth smoothly.

-12

The ice round entered next. The damage was even lower, the round shattering on impact. But instantly, the liquid within the shell bloated into fifty times its volume, filling the shrapnel cavity. The flesh flash froze under the bizarre cryogenic mixture, turning a frosty white.

The coon, finally managed to react, rolling and shaking. The ground rumbled as the huge mass squirmed to get the thief off its aching wound.

And it was successful. Shooken left and right, John was forced to let go or risk being crushed.

-6

[A shock has winded your body.]

He skidded across the floor and bounced once before he could twist and reorient himself, landing on his feet.

[You have been poisoned.]

He must have taken in a breath as he was flung.

John saw the message but ignored it as the beast before him suppressed its pain-induced spasms. It made a weird sound – like a roar and screech simultaneously – and stared down the thief angrily.