Defiant’s Edge (Black Iron Empire) - Valtir 1497

It did not take long for Markus to arrive into the gameworld soon after departing the Tutorial and ironically find himself in a region of the world that seemed uninhabited. Well, maybe “uninhabited” wasn’t the right descriptor for his situation.

His first sight after coming into Valtir was a rotting wooden roof that hadn’t been fixed up in centuries or appeared to have been last renovated over two hundred years ago. He could clearly see that his arrival was not during the day like he had expected from books or games that portrayed a clear sunny afternoon when the protagonist arrived in the new world, but rather at twilight (the time between the setting sun and shadow of night). Markus knew that much despite his Interface telling him what time it was inside of the game. Taking a moment before moving away from his arrival point, Markus called up his [Status].

[System Status]

Name: Markus Reeves

Age: 20

Race: [Vil’thrum (Eternal/Elder)]

[Titles] [Buffs/Debuffs]

Tier: F-

Level: 1

XP to Level: 500/1,000 (50%)

Class: [None]

HP: 7400/7400

Energy: 6000/6000

Available Points: 12

Vitality: 740

Strength: 60

Agility: 80

Perception: 90

Intelligence: 300

Wisdom: 300

[Perks] [Abilities] [Spells] [Companions] [Money Pouch]

He noticed the twelve free stat points and the five hundred experience points, but Markus didn’t know where they came from. That is until he decided to check his notifications where only one prompt lay unopened.

[Congratulations! For completing the Tutorial, you have been awarded 500 XP, 12 AP, and a Reward Package! Check your inventory!]

“Put ten points into perception and save two in reserve,” Markus ordered.

That gave him a notification ping in response and a System prompt appeared in his vision.

[Congratulations! You have reached the first Threshold for the skill (Perception) and have been awarded a Unique Ability!]

Codex Entry: Abilities, Spells, and Perks

Within Cruxborne Legends, all Abilities are similar to cantrips in Dungeons and Dragons or as they are known in Valtir as Skills though they do not cost any Energy to sustain. Both Abilities and Spells are graded through a tier system based on their quality and power output. These tiers are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Mythical, Legendary, and lastly Divine. They are also referred to by ascending numbers one through six for simplicity among the masses. Abilities can be gained by completing Quests, special Events, or [Ability Orbs] of a relevant tier.

Unlike abilities, Spells can only be obtained through special means. Some spells can be unlocked through levelling up, acquiring [Spell Tomes], or being taught by a teacher in a relevant school of magic though it depends on the spell rarity. Most spells can be found up to the Mythical rarity through levelling and being taught, but any higher tiered spells must be found in spell tomes located in special zones all across the world. Some Divine-ranked spells and abilities however can be located in high risk areas in Valtir, but most are only granted by patron deities as rewards for completing quests.

Perks are a whole different story in comparison.

While any race has one [Origin Perk] in their genetic pool, anyone-regardless of Race Limits-can have multiple perks which either hinder or benefit the user. An example of a beneficial perk is [Universal Translation] where any language can be easily understood as if it were the person’s native tongue while another could provide no restrictions to anything such as [Limitless]. One example of a hindering perk is [Mortal Soul] where the person is unable to be revived once they die-effectively preventing them from respawning.

“There’s thresholds in this game?” Markus asked himself-unaware he asked it out loud.

“Yep!” an unfamiliar voice rang out in the ramshackled ruin, startling Markus out of his stupor. “Though they aren’t quite easy to accomplish seeing as they are only reachable after significant levelling.”

Markus turned his gaze over to the source of the voice to find a sort of elvish humanoid male dressed in a black assassin garment. He had short curly black hair with emerald green eyes and a sun kissed skin tone standing at around five feet and seven inches. What Markus could tell was that this person held no malice towards him though by the slightly amused smirk on his face, this intruder enjoyed spooking him.

“Sorry for spookin’ ya, mate. Couldn’t resist it,” he apologized.

“Who are you?” Markus asked-his irritation flaring up a little.

“I’m Zac Ghost. Pleasure to meet cha!” the man-Zac-responded with a slight tilt of the head with the impression of tilting his non-existent hat off towards Markus. “I’m also here to welcome you properly into Valtir as your companion though please don’t get too used to me being around. There are some places where you can go but I can’t like the Tutorial you just left. I should also explain that none of the natives of this world will understand much about the System since it is a feature of the Cruxborne. In short, people like you.”

Markus was a little confused. “Then how do you know about the System? I was told that I was the only person to accept…”

Zac put his finger to his lips as if to silence Markus’ rambling before explaining. “I’m your companion! I’m allowed to know about the System’s existence and how best to help guide you through everything. Don’t worry, I’m not going to talk about the System with anyone else save for you or any other Cruxborne that you meet along the way.”

Markus seemed to accept that fact since he could tell the tier six companion token was removed from his [Inventory]. He assumed it got consumed after leaving the Tutorial zone, so he left it alone-accepting this strange man as his companion.

“So then,” Markus began, “where are we?”

Zac pondered for a moment then responded with “The edge of the Black Iron Empire region in a town once called ‘Defiant’s Edge’.”

“Doesn’t exactly seem like this place can be called a town since this place looks like a ruin,” Markus questioned. “Is this ramshackled ruin ancient or am I missing something important here?”

“More like a mixture of both, mate,” Zac responded nonchalantly. He then turned to walk out the door of the shack and Markus noted that outside fared little better than where he woke up. Most of the structures around him were ruined by weather and time, but still provided a measure of shelter against any disturbances. It looked like that only a scant few buildings-much like the shack Markus woke up in-were still usable as basic shelters while the rest were not. The environment looked like an old western town in the midst of being reclaimed by nature.

A literal ghost town.

Ping!

New Quest Received!

[Secrets of the Ancients I]

“Hey! I just got a quest!” Markus exclaimed in wide-eyed shock to Zac who looked at him with a light shrug.

“Why not open your quest log? You’ll need to check it out from time to time and it is handy to help remind yourself of the tasks you receive,” Zac responded.

He opened his [Quest Log] and found the only active quest there. Without hesitation, Markus opened up the entry for [Secrets of the Ancients].

Quest: [Secrets of the Ancients I]

[Difficulty: Unique]

After leaving the Tutorial Zone and appearing in a ramshackled ruin, you discovered the ruined city located at the edge of the Black Iron Empire. Unaware of what happened to cause the town of [Defiant’s Edge] to become a ghost town befitting an old western town from Earth, you must set out to find out more about this town’s background…

-{Objectives}-

Solve the following mystery: [Discovery - Defiant’s Edge]: 0%

-{Rewards}-

10,000 XP 100 Gold New Quest: [Secrets of the Ancients II]