MMORPG: Shattered Land

2:00:00

Marius was well rested when he logged back on. And in sore need of managing his Inventory.

He had collected so many items that his current Inventory was absolutely full, which was quite impressive.

Players were given an initial Inventory of 200 slots. There was the option to by Storage Stones that could increase the inventory space. Now that Marius was in a City, he could fully utilize this options. Of course, the storage stones were expensive, but Marius was also very rich. His grinding sessions had left him with a very full wallet.

As he walked towards the Smithy to purchase the Storage Stones, he carefully looked through his items.

Many of them were outdated Mana Pills and Health Potions that he had purchased from the Beginner Village. There was also loot that were of White and Iron Grade which Marius had no interest in. Now that his Silent Night was Iron Rank, he had no need for a weapon that was of a lower grade.

Though there were a few pieces of equipment that he could have replaced his Grey Wolf Set with if he could equip Armor.

There were three types of equipment.

Armor which could be equipped to the Weapon Master and Warrior classes.

Then the Cloth class which suited the Wizard and Sorcerer classes.

The third was the Leather class which was suited for the Ranger class and the Martial Artist class.

There were only three classes that had options.

The Battle Mage class could equip any of the three types of equipment.

The Night Stalker and Assassin class could choose from Cloth and Leather.

This was unfortunate for Marius because the Equipment drops in the Iron Mountain City were mostly high-quality Armours.

But that wasn't important. Since Marius could travel to other Cities, he could obtain stronger and more appropriate equipment there. For now, he could simply sell the Iron Grade and lower equipment while hoarding bronze grade and higher.

He still needed to refine his Silent Night.

In addition, he still had 99 Precious Chests left over that he hadn't opened. Luckily, these stacked so they didn't take up all of his inventory space.

Marius was looking forward to opening these as the item 'Moriah's Virtue' was an excellent silver rank item. Even if he only got a dozen of those, they could go a long way towards refining his weapon.

It didn't take long to reach the Smith and Marius had completed his sorting. Without any hesitation he sold off his worthless items, clearing almost half of his inventory space.

In short order, Marius purchased five Storage Stones. They cost a gold coin each and Marius laughed at the price. Each Storage stone increased his inventory by 200 units, giving him 1,200 slots to store things.

Next, he purchased Whetstones. Now that Weapon Durability was an issue, Marius needed an item that could repair his Weapons without constantly returning to the City. Whetstones stacked in groups of 100. Marius purchased five stacks and stored them.

He was tempted to purchase some Bronze Grade equipment, but the prices were far too expensive. He'd be able to grind Obsidian Rank monsters and obtain better from them soon enough.

Before leaving he opened the 'Precious Chests in bulk and smiled at what he got.

They were all Silver and Gold Grade equipment. Though they were all Level 15 so he couldn't equipment them, they would be valuable when he reached Level 15.

His next stop was the Shop. Here he purchased the highest level Mana Pills and Health Potions. The amount of gold he spent was extremely high, but Marius felt they were a good investment. He wouldn't be returning the City if he could help it and these items restored 200 Mana and Health with a 30-second cooldown. They were worth the price.

Marius had one more stop after his shopping spree.

The Alchemist Store.

This was different from the Shop as it sold items that were more difficult to craft. And their prices reflected that.

The item Marius was after was called a Mineral Coat. It was an item, specially made in the Iron Mountain City and it had one purpose. It minimized the effect of Durability.

Every time a Player used a weapon to strike a monster and every time a monster struck a players equipment, its Durability would decrease. Once Durability hit zero, the equipment would be destroyed.

Marius had barely taken any direct damage so his Grey Wolf Set still had full Durability.

Marius' Silent Night was different. If its durability hit zero it would degrade back to White Grade.

Thus, Marius felt that the Mineral Coat was vital to his plans.

The effect of the Mineral Coat was one hour. This meant that Marius would need four per day on average.

Mineral Coat, like most items, could be stacked in groups of 100. Marius bought four stacks. The equivalent of 100 days of gameplay.

Satisfied, Marius turned and began his travel to the higher level grinding Maps. His purchases had taken a little under an hour and Marius was eager to begin training his Beast Tamer occupation.

The key to the Beast Tamer occupation was understanding a Monster's Spirit Value. Each Rank of monster had a set Spirit Value and that Value increased as the monsters Rank increased.

For example, the Black Rank Iron Hound had a Spirit Value of 5, while a Grey Rank monster would only have 1. You could Refine one Grey Rank monster with four other Grey Rank monsters to raise it to the Black Rank.

Grey, Black and Obsidian Rank could be classed as the Lower Tier, with 1, 5 and 20 Spirit Values respectively.

Lord and High Lord were in the Middle Tier, with Spirit Values of 50 and 100 respectively.

Demon and Demon King, on the other hand, were in the Top Tier with a Spirit value of 200 and 400 respectively.

To Refine any monster to a higher Rank, it required a huge investment of Monster Spirit's. To put it simply:

Grey to Black Rank = 5

Black to Obsidian Rank = 25

Obsidian to Lord Rank = 250

Lord to High Lord Rank = 500

High Lord to Demon = 1000

Demon to Demon King = 2000.

Of course, Taming and Refining would cost Mana. It cost 50 Mana to Tame a Monster and a further 100 to Refine it. Thus it was quite an exhaustive occupation. But also the most rewarding.

By Taming and Refining Monsters, the player's occupation Level would increase. Once it reached Level 10 the Player would be promoted to Beast Master.

The Beast Tamer was limited in the Ranks it could Tame. For example, Obsidian Rank Monsters would be well within their Taming Capabilities, while Lord Rank would be the absolute pinnacle.

Of course, a Tamer could Refine past that point, but the resources to go any further would outrageous and not worth the time.

But Beast Masters could Tame anything at The Demon Rank and below. The only Rank beyond their reach was the Demon King Rank. That Rank, a Beast Master would need to Refine themselves.

Of course, it was easy to say, but the requirements for Taming above Lord Rank required huge amounts of Luck.

There were no free lunches.

It was unfortunate though. Monsters that were Tamed did not drop Equipment, nor did they give the Player Experience. So the Tamer would need to prioritize their Occupation or their Level.

On the other hand, a Beast Tamer could summon their Monsters as Pets to do battle for them. The experience from such battles would be split between the Monster and the Tamer, and the drops would be the same as if the Player had done it themselves.

Marius felt that having powerful monsters under his command would be more beneficial than a high level at the current time. But first, he needed to get a few.

And this was where he'd start.

He had made it to the Level 15-20 map. Of the three monsters that could be found here, the one that had most caught Marius' eye was the Stone Goat. Of course, he would have liked to get more Iron Hounds, but with that map so fill, he just didn't see the point. Besides, these Goats were much better in terms of sweeping a map.

Marius quickly bypassed the Mountain Bears and started his hunt for the Stone Goats. They were plentiful and as Black Rank Monsters, their Spirit values were very good.

If the Beast Tamer quest had indicated anything to Marius, it was that Grey Rank was trash and the best place to start was the Black Rank.

So Marius began his hunt. He maintained his original hunting method of trapping the rear Goat but now that he was a little strong, he found his damage was more than enough to kill the Level 19 monsters with just 2 slashes each.

This left him with only one Stone Goat left to Tame.

Unfortunately, Marius failed his first few attempts, wasting close to 200 Mana. Because of this Taming, the Goat required several Binding Shadows before he finally took ownership of the Goat.

Marius ignored the notifications as he opened his Occupation Tab and looked at his new Stone Goat. The Goat sat in the first of his ten Monster Slots, its stats readily available for viewing.

Its level had been decreased to Level 1 and its stats had taken a dive. But still, Marius could now see its Skills and had a much better understanding of the monster.

There was also the option to move it to a Pet slot which would allow him to use it in battle. Marius would have to put it back in his Monster Slot to upgrade it.

With a smile, Marius placed it in his pet Slot and summoned it. It appeared by his side, looking ready to charge at anyone or anything that his master wanted him to.

So Marius spent the last of his hour hunting goats. Though its level was low, the Stone Goat still had a massive attack stat and with a little help from Marius' Burning Haze, could deal fatal damage it's it's much higher leveled adversaries.

Any Stone Goat that the two didn't slaughter was Tamed and would sit in Marius' Monster Slot until he was ready to Refine it.

When he had four Goats in his Monster Slot, he recalled his fierce little Goat and refined it to Obsidian Rank. It's stats skyrocketed and Marius knew he'd made the right choice.

Marius was quite enjoying himself when a message came through.

"Are you available to speak sir?" It was the Assasin, Super Nova.

"Of course," Marius replied. He still had a few minutes before he would log off.

"Is your offer still open?" he asked.

"Of course. Though as I said, I do not play for long periods of time. Are you ok with that?"

"I am. But I do have a few...reservations?"

Marius smiled. "Speak your mind. I won't laugh at you."

Super Nova paused before continuing. "If you are who you say you are, I just cannot fathom why you are here, playing a game. Shouldn't you be in a hospital with carers?"

"A fair assessment," Marius replied. "However, I am not someone who likes hospitals. They give me the creeps and I try to avoid them. Besides, if you were old and near the end of your life, would you rather live in a sterilized environment with trained staff on hand to force you to keep living longer? Or would you rather live in the comfort of your own home, with your memories and no one to tell you what to do?"

"You're dying?" Super Nova said in shock.

"Boy. We are all dying. Every second that goes by we get closer to the time of our ultimate demise," Marius smiled. "Besides, I'm old. Old people tend to do that, you know?"

"I think I understand," Super Nova said. "But I just don't understand why you chose me."

Marius smiled. This boy.

"What do you know of character?" Marius asked.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"In my experience, there are two types of people. People that go with the flow and those that fight the current. Which do you think is the safest type of person to be?"

"Those that go with the flow right? If you are doing what everyone else is doing then you have safety in numbers and more people to help you if you need it."

Marius nodded. "Correct, though I would say that your argument is supporting the 'easiest' route. Yes?"

"Is there a difference?" Super Nova asked. "Isn't the easiest route the safest?".

"Not if you are following everyone off a waterfall," Marius noted. "If you go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing then you will be the same as them. Don't you think that something like that would be incredibly dangerous? have you ever heard of the Blind leading the Blind?"

"But that's only if there is a waterfall." Super Nova argued.

"I think you are taking the analogy too far. But ok, where do all rivers lead?"

"The Ocean?"

"Maybe. But can you see the Ocean from where you start? The river could be winding, there could be trees and mountains that block your view. You might end up hitting a dam and be forced into stagnant waters. My point is, what is ahead is the unknown. If you follow everyone else, you might not be able to see what is to come in time and then if that waterfall does appear, you are just going be thrown off it with the rest. So I ask again, which do you think is the safest option?"

"Going against the current?"

Marius laughed this time. "That is certainly an exhausting option. Going your own way, treading uncertain waters. I would say that going against the current is the riskiest of the two."

"But, you said there are two types. Then you just turned around and gave reasons for why neither of them is safe." Super Nova objected.

"Haha, safety is overrated. Besides, I said in my experience there are two types. I didn't say that they couldn't be combined. Thinking in only one way or the other will only narrow your scope. For example, who can you think of that would be 'going with the flow'?"

"Students," Super Nova said flatly.

"Yes. But are all students the same? Do they all mindlessly follow the river with everyone else? Think about it. There are many branches of education that a student can take. They may be following the current but don't they also have the power to change the course of their lives? After they graduate the world is open to them and the world is a dangerous place. The older you get, the more see that 'safety' is a child's dream. All we can really do survive. Thus going with the flow, or fighting the current."

"But, what does that have to do with my character? And what does that have to do with you choosing me?"

'When I first saw you, you had just pissed off one of the Big Guilds of the Beginner Village. Everyone around you watched, waiting to see you get dealt with. Your friend, he conveniently ran away pretty quickly. What does that tell you about their character?"

"That they were going with the flow? Abiding by the status quo that Winnie P was enforcing."

"Correct," Marius praised. "And how did you react?"

"I asked them what the hell they wanted?" Super Nova replied.

Marius smiled. "You faced them down. I admit, its a game with minimal consequences, but still, you faced them down. You had the courage to steal their kills and didn't let them intimidate you. And that is why I made you that offer. I'd rather have a kid with guts fighting beside me than some idiot that's just going with the flow."

"Of course, that just one of the reasons,' Marius continued. "Buts that's all the time I have for today."

Marius quickly sent Super Nova his playing times and schedule.

"If you still want in, meet up with me at those times. I'll be farming Stone Goats at the Level 15-20 Map so come and find me later."

With that, Marius closed the conversation and logged off.