The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Returning to the cottage, Crucis spoke again to the old NPC.

"Congratulations," said the old man, "You may now learn a skill. Equip your [Silver Dagger], and try to pierce the targets painted on the large trees to your left while standing in place. The dagger is soft, so you must target it precisely."

Crucis walked up to the large, thick barks of the four trees indicated. The trees had small, white circles painted on them, but formed a diamond, meaning that Crucis would have to stab backwards to reach some of the targets. The targets all faced the centre of the diamond. He counted eight targets in all, two on each tree. Crouching in the centre of the trees, Crucis slowly pressed the [Silver Dagger] against the ground to test it. He found that its soft blade meant that it could easily deflect if his strike wasn't entirely precise. If he was attacking a person or creature, then typically this would still cause a tear and allow him to cause damage. However, cutting cleanly into these targets would be difficult. Lightly touching the targets, he noticed that part of the tree behind the targets had been hollowed out and filled with a layer of hard clay, which was thin and easy to pierce through but would easily deflect an inexact strike.

He grimaced slightly, since with his current abilities he had no real way of striking backwards or sideways with nearly as much precision as required. It seemed that the old NPC was giving him a task with no chance of succeeding. Crucis wondered if the NPC, with his mysterious tasks, fancied himself a successor to Mister Miyagi.

After Crucis attempted to strike the target behind him, and made no mark, the NPC requested that he try again. This time, Crucis did not bother to try, and instead simply pressed his dagger lightly against the target in front of him to form a small incision and make it easier for him to hone in on it in the future.

The NPC now indicated that Crucis should take a small pin and tie it near the end of his dagger, to serve as a sort of compass indicating where he was striking. Crucis tied this onto the centre of the [Silver Dagger] with a small, tough length of string provided, and noticed that he had obtained a new skill. The skill was named [Panoramic Strike] and allowed the player to stab precisely in any direction. This could be quite powerful. When trying the task again, he made sure to turn the other way around, so that the target with an incision was behind him and hence gave him an easier backwards target.

Using this skill, he struck at the target behind him at shoulder-height, and found his blade passing easily through. During this task, there was no cooldown time for [Panoramic Strike], meaning that he could use it again immediately. He wondered if there was a way to replicate this lack of CD elsewhere, but he would have to figure that out later. For now, he targeted the target with the incision, slightly lower than the previous one he struck, and though his hand almost slipped the dagger still eased into the incision and cut deep into it. The rest of the targets, sideways and straight on, were comparatively simple, and he pierced them easily.

"Well done! Even piercing six of the targets would pass the task. Since you succeeded with all eight, your [Panoramic Strike] skill has automatically been upgraded to level 4. Come back if you want to take a new task, or try to practice hitting the targets again," said the old man.

Crucis thanked him, and then proceeded once more towards the hillside on the East. He had heard that a player had cut 7 targets in that test and been rewarded with the skill being upgraded to level 2, so seemingly anything above 6 targets led to a reward. A few [Spy] players who were encouraging others to try this quest, which many skipped due to its reputation, had said on the forum that the final part wasn't difficult because you didn't have to hit every target. Crucis was still quite glad that he had left an incision on the target, since the backwards stabs were quite difficult at the lowest level of the skill. Now, however, he felt that his strikes were more accurate and damaging.

For completing the quest, he also received a reasonable amount of EXP, enough to reach level 27. This was just one lower than Cael, who was at level 28. He wasn't surprised that Crucis was levelling faster, as he could navigate the areas around Kruxol with more comfort rather than staying pinned inside the town. However, Cael's magic could eventually unlock several buffs and powerful attacks, which could possibly make him more efficient in grinding enemies over time. Further, his AoE skills would be better, and he could easily dispatch of whole spawns of enemies in one go.

Reaching the hillside, he looked for the blocked cave entrance once again. After finding it, he used [Agile Step] to enter once again, then shut the door behind him. He would now be at peace to wait out at least the 10 minutes of his red name. He reflected that he could easily kill players in the woods and return here for safety.

Checking through his inventory, he saw that he now had something called [Tracking Powder], a powder which could be placed on a target and would emit a red vapour into the air which made it easier to track them if they ran away. Crucis reflected that this would be useful for attacking enemies who tried fleeing, and could easily be applied while using [Stealth Cloak]. He only had a limited amount for now, however, and wondered if he could craft more later or gain it from other quests. It wasn't urgent, however, since as an Assassin he would probably be able to chase down most fleeing opponents. It might be useful if he was attacking groups of players, however, since one might flee while the other is fighting. In any case, it was worth keeping on hand.

From Andrej, he had looted [Gridiron Gloves], which raised Constitution +200 but could not be used while attacking. While there was no Lumberjack tradeskill in this game, these gloves might be useful for traversing dangerous areas. He reflected that, with high CON, and perhaps some buffs and health restoration abilities, it would be easy for an Assassin to flee combat in the wild even if attacked by a stronger player. But at present he was not strong enough for that, since most powerful players would take him out within a few hits even if he had high CON. At higher levels, however, he had heard that combat could be more drawn-out and a level 100 tank could be a stubborn enemy against a level 200 attacker, although the level 200 would probably prevail after a minute or so. This might make it easier to go on longer journeys, however.

Andrej had also dropped a [Cloth Trap], a soft bag-like trap which could be used on small opponents to contain them and prevent them from fleeing or attacking. Crucis hadn't heard much about their use, but had read that one player had used this while doing quests at a zoo far to the North of Kruxol, where he was told to use a tranquilising powder on a few wild snakes and young capybara to gather them for the zoo. The reason for thr tranquilisation is that creatures could easily pierce through the soft bag if they scraped or clawed at it enough, and this would lead to a check against their stats which would determine if they could escape. This kind of stat check was treated by the game as akin to a combat, and creatures could have HP depleted if they repeatedly failed to escape, though in most cases escape was quite easy. Hence, creatures who did escape were already treated as aggressive and locked in combat with the player. However, the bag could be sewn shut once again after the player had escaped from combat.

Crucis considered whether this trap might work as an indirect means of getting a bat to enter combat modes. Walking over to the swarm of bats in the cave, he held out the [Cloth Trap] and draped it over one of the level 25 bats. To his disappointment, nothing happened, and the bat hung limp in the cloth, occasionally fluttering its wings but not using its claws. However, Crucis then remembered that the stat check occurred once the bat started to make its way out of a hole in the bag. Noticing that the bat was trying to fly forwards, though seemingly rendered immobile within the [Cloth Trap], Crucis reached his [Silver Crucfix Dagger] carefully into the open end of the trap and made a small puncture in the bag in front of the bat. Withdrawing his hand quickly, he closed the bag completely around the bat. He saw a few calculations appear in the system messages tp his left:

[Checking BAT's STR and DEX]

[STR: 0, DEX: 0]

[Calculated 0% chance to escape]

[Running equation...]

[FAILED ESCAPE]

[No deducted HP. Creature BAT has ability 'Feckless,' immune to recoil damage. ]

This sequence of messages repeated several times. Seemingly the bat was now locked in combat, but the game was experiencing an error checking on its stats. Crucis reached his dagger arm carefully into the bag, but was surprised when he felt a soft contact with his ring finger and realised that the bat had bitten him. He yanked back his hand. Since the bat was not a boss or another player, this bite had been painless and left no imprint on the hand. If it had been a boss, then his finger would probably be bleeding profusely right now, but the pain reduction also hid bleeding and similar effects. Daredevils had an option to turn bleeding displays on and off, but even if it was turned on the bleeding would only be displayed minimally, and only if the bleeding status was inflicted. He checked his HP and saw that the strong bite had removed 7% of his HP.

Keeping the bag firmly shut, he tried another approach. Tightening the bag around the bat, he stabbed firmly through the bag and into the bat using [Silent Stab]. The blade passed quietly through the bag and cut deeply into the bat, dealing 30% of its HP in damage. Crucis stabbed repeatedly at the bat, as if it was Julius Caesar, and after 4 hits the creature was dead. Crucis gained a lot of EXP from this bat, enough to reach almost one-sixth of the way to level 28. He quickly pulled the tears on the [Cloth Trap] shut, since it could be repaired automatically when out of combat. It could be repaired automatically 100 times, and after that would cost 500 gold for another 100 chances.

He walked up to another bat inquisitively, and this time slipped the [Cloth Trap] around it immediately as soon as it flew near the ground, then closed the bag tightly around it. He then stabbed fiercely at the bat until it died in about 10 seconds. He again gained a decent amount of HP from it. It seemed that he had found an efficient way to grind.

Using [Stealth Cloak] and [Dodge Step] between kills for the damage boost to his weapon, he struck down 20 bats in five minutes. He considered switching to STR-boosting gear for higher damage to bats, but he decided that Agility was actually more useful here because it let him shuffle through bats more quickly. While EXP from the bats lowered as his own level increased relative to theirs, it was still a healthy gain. He also noticed a few interesting patterns as the bats died and new spawns appeared. Occasionally, after several bats had died, a level 30 bat would appear, hovering slowly near the ground. It had very high HP, but due to its higher level it gave Crucis a good EXP drop.

In two hours, he had already reached level 38. He realised that this placed him close to the top rank of players, but the EXP from bats was beginning to run dry by now. Soon, doing quests or grinding higher-level mobs would give more EXP, but the advantage of this method was that he could kill bats more quickly than most other opponents in the wild, and did not need to watch out for other players or wait to regain HP. The sheer amount of bats dying boosted his EXP gain significantly higher than would typically be possible. Since bats were an elusive, flying opponent, players typically didn't grind them because it would be too much of a hassle, and higher-level bats could also inflict poison status effects.

After grinding for two hours and twenty minutes, Crucis was at level 39 and had progressed 15% towards the next level. However, when he killed a bat, he suddenly found that a letter had dropped on the ground beneath him. Picking it up, he read:

[The first player to slay 500 bats unlocks the 'Draugr Onslaught' world event.

Draugr will begin to spawn in the wild, and hordes of them will head towards the starting towns and major cities. They are immune to players' physical attacks, and gain additional strength when attacked in this way. Players shall fight to defend their towns.

As a reward for unlocking a world event, you have been given great rewards and EXP!]

Crucis was elevated to level 42 by the EXP gift. Checking his inventory, he saw that he had gained two pieces of glowing equipment:

[Gauntlets of Ash (Enchanted) | Increases your top stat by 10%, or by 50% if your HP is below 50%.]

[Skeletal Dust Bracelet (Enchanted) | The skeleton of a defeated draugr ground into a powder and suspended in a ring by magical enchantment. Player no longer regenerates HP naturally, but a quantity equal to 50% of CON is added to a minor stat of choice. Player heals to full HP after each kill.]

Crucis had also received a strange item named [Ticket to the Count's Castle], and described cryptically like this: [As a reward for awakening the dead, you have been invited to the Count Vladyslav's castle South-West of Uhl-sathur. Watch your neck!] How inviting. He could save that for a rainy day.

Crucis heard an announcement blare out, sent by the game and displayed in red font in the system messages:

[World event notice]

[The Draugr Invasion has begun!

Draugr shall begin to spawn, and hordes of them will attack Kruxol. Since you are near Kruxol, please step up to defend your town from the undead menace!

The draugr are impervious to your weapons and physical attacks. Be warned, they are a formidable opponent! Since Kruxol is a starting town, only level 25 and 30 Draugr will spawn nearby, but they will have stronger reinforcements coming from the North. Good luck!

Draugr will begin to attack the towns in 10 minutes.

This event will end after 2 hours.]

Since the draugr were immune to physical attacks, Crucis would have little luck in fighting them. He would have better luck switching to Cael. While he would have liked to explore the new features unlocked by his levelling, this event was temporary and he could take his time once it was over. Besides, the draugr would soon be attacking the town, and entering past a horde of draugr would be a touch uncomfortable.

He wore the [Skeleton Dust Bracelet] before setting off, to increase his Agility by 326, and then left the cave and set off running towards Kruxol. The faint sound of hissing crept from the woods, as the draugr began slowly to appear and gather.