Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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"..."

'Is that... What I think it is?'

Dale stared at the players surrounding the small hill path leading to the Church with a frown.

'Bastards, they barely even arrived and they are already setting territories and blockages?'

'The other Villages may ignore them, but there is a limit to how disruptive they can be without suffering some level of retaliation...'

'This is deeply problematic...'

'For me, it may not matter much right now, but in the future, if they find out who I am, my peace will come to an end.'

'And I may be forced into a PvP situation left and right... And despite me not fearing it, I have nothing to gain from that either apart from potential injuries...'

'From what I read, PvP between the two modes is actually pretty complex.'

'Because the player is a being that works with numbers, the moment they attack me, their power will be measured by those very same numbers.'

'So they won't just swing their sword at me and make me bleed, but this act will first go through a massive wall of calculations before the conclusion of whether that sword will damage me or not, will be displayed.'

'This can be both beneficial and detrimental for the player because they could be much weaker than me, but due to their Skill's calculations, it bypassed my defenses.'

'But it could also work against them as if I wore some simple leather piece from a high-level monster, the damage could just be negated altogether.'

'Something similar happens in my case, if I were to hit a player, the damage would be calculated based on my stats, and a few other factors, like where I hit them and what sort of Skill I used.'

'Because normal players can't get hurt and normally, it doesn't matter if they are hit in the head or in the toe since they have an HP bar.'

'This damage will then deduct from their total HP count.'

'Different from monsters, Standard players can't benefit from hitting vital spots during a PvP scenario, but as I said before if my attack were to as much as graze their toes, they're done, they'll take the full damage.'

'While in my case, I may lose a toe, but what? I would be alive... In pain, but alive.'

'Of course, I also suffer more from simple injuries due to how a HardCore player's body works...'

'Still, in most scenarios, a HardCore player can easily One-hit KO a normal player due to all of the damage he can inflict.'

'And since it's only the start of the game and proper builds have yet to appear, HardCore players have an obvious advantage in regards to PvP.'

'But that won't last long.'

'I am not afraid of them, but what if they decide to mob me? The normal penalty for death is minus 1 Level worth of XP + a full in-game forced logout.'

'These penalties can change depending on the situation.'

'But still, if I was forced to fight against a group of players every day, it would never end, even if their Levels decrease, it wouldn't take long for them to recover it.'

'Worst comes to worst, I may have to force my way through these players and even use my influence and Reputation to make their lives harder within this place, and hopefully, make them leave.'

'Yet until then, would I even be able to sleep and log out? They could just mob me to death until I either lose my character or am forced to leave.'

'My peaceful gaming that was composed of waking up, doing tasks, and sleeping will go down the drain.'

'My biggest weakness is the fact my body has to remain in the game as I log out...'

'And even if I could stay 24/7 in the game, I would have to put my game character to sleep from time to time else I'll get a nasty debuff.'

Thinking about the consequences of these players' presence, Dale advanced near the blockage, ready to comprehend the situation and possibly, de-escalate it.

/Walk.../

He completely ignored their presence as he made his way to the blockage, intending to go beyond it...

But the same couldn't be said for them...

"STOP!" Said one of the players, someone with a red cloak

"..."

'As expected, they just won't let me through without some trouble.'

Dale knew things wouldn't be so simple, so he slowly turned to side and said as he started acting:

"I've not seen you bunch around here." He said with a frown as he scratched his chin

The player looked at Dale, and immediately saw the yellow bar on top of his ??? name.

For a moment he identified him as an NPC, but he had to make sure he wasn't, in fact, a hidden player!

"May I ask, who are you?" He asked as he raised his weapon to him

That was everything Dale needed.

[DING!]

[Resko's Reputation -5]

"?!"

But the player immediately heard a notification... A very bad one.

"..."

Dale's expression started to tense.

This action made it clear that this was indeed an NPC, after all, it was impossible for a player to have this degree of authority this early in the game...

Most importantly, this wasn't just any NPC, it was one that wasn't very pleased right now...

"I could ask the same, who are you all?"

"And why are you blocking my passage?" He asked as he crossed his arms

'I wanted to say more, but fewer words are better for a stronger impression.'

"We..."

The player was shocked and even confused about what to do, but before he had the chance to act, another player pushed him aside and said:

"I'm very sorry Mr.Dale, it was our mistake." The player replied

It was a girl who was wearing a white cloak with a scarlet insignia on her chest, like the other person, she was also from a group and easily distinguishable from the rest due to her different attire.

She definitely knew something the others didn't...

And right now, she was trying to make amends with Dale while also trying to make a good impression on him.

This might've worked if Dale was indeed an NPC, but unfortunately...

"Hm? You know me?"

'She knows me? When did I become famous?'

"Yes sir, we've been actually waiting for you, if you allow me I'll escort you..."

"No need, I can climb a hill on my own..." Dale interrupted as he raised his right hand

'I can't let them get the upper hand on things, I'll proceed at my own pace.'

He looked at them all before proceeding to climb the hill.

'There is no need for me to say anything else, if she were a HardCore player I would've said more, but since she isn't then I need to act a bit more robotic and in line with her grand total of 0 Reputation.'

"I wanted to rest a bit but..."

'I want to find out what is happening and why these people have suddenly flocked to this place!'

Dale walked calmly, curious and annoyed at the same time, leaving the distressed players behind.

The girl started interacting with her system pannel before initiating a call with someone...

...

/BAM!/

/CLANG!/

/Ting ting.../

As Dale approached the Church, he could hear the sounds of conflict from within, followed by the sound of things breaking and even coins falling on the ground...

"For the love of God... Couldn't they have chosen a better place for such foolishness?" He mumbled to himself as he tightened his fists

He immediately understood what was happening and quickened his steps...

...

/CREEEAK!/

He pushed the massive doubled doors of the Church open and was met with an incredibly chaotic scene:

To better explain things, first, it was better to understand that there seemed to be four groups inside, one of which was observing everything unfolding from the side, not participating in it at all.

These people all wore the same badge as the girl from before, they were bystanders to this mess.

And from the looks of it, they were waiting for something... For someone to arrive.

Or perhaps they were simply waiting for the 3 groups to fight before intervening and racking in the profits...

Although such a thing is unrealistic since those 3 groups would've ganged up on them by now... As such, given everyone was ignoring them, there might've been some sort of agreement made beforehand.

The other three groups, on the other hand, completely disregarded the fact that this was a holy place, fighting within the church, and spilling blood onto the ground without any sign of respect for what this place meant, and for who it was dedicated.

They broke the things Dale worked so hard to fix, clean, and brush, making his eyelids twitch in displeasure.

And given the amount of blood and items on the ground, it seemed there were once other groups that had been culled out already, these people were the last, the best of them, the titans of this conflict...

"..."

But above all, rage soon filled Dale's eyes as he realized the reason behind all of this.

In the middle of the Church, the 3 remaining groups could be seen fighting among themselves for the scattered piles of coins on the ground.

These were obviously the ones that used to be inside David's Altar, which was now broken beyond recognition into a series of splinters and stone fragments...

Aside from that, making Dale's face go livid was the fact that his sword had fallen on the ground, meaning that these players had once tried to grab it but failed due to its massive weight.

His lack of caution had made others try to steal what was his by right!

"#!"

The veins on his forehead seemed to be about to burst due to how enraged he was.

These players, not only did they invade his territory, but they blocked his path acting as if they owned the place...

They desecrated the sacred grounds of this village, spilling blood and stealing the offerings for their God, the very place he tried so hard to clean and repair...

A place crucial to the completion of his Quests.

David, his little annoying friend was nowhere to be seen, probably stolen by them as well, taken away from his pedestal.

And now, they even tried to steal his sword?!

Dale was on the verge of bursting...

"!"

It didn't take long for people to notice him, especially the 3 groups of people who were fighting.

Since the moment Dale entered the room, all of them received notifications of '-Reputation' fall multiple times over...

Ever since Dale learned how to do it, he made sure to abuse it...

Still, he knew that it was better to enforce caution and not overuse one's boons and risk losing everything they had...

But this time, he had a reason, and if the game banned him from making the rational decision here, then so be it, he would resolve all of this through other means...

/Silence.../

Everyone quickly stopped, retreating into their respective areas.

And instead of talking or moving, they all looked at Dale, waiting for his reaction...

Until one of them opened their mouth to say:

"Tsk, it happened faster than I thought!"

'The variable moved, the worst combination is here.'

'The operation was a complete failure, time for plan B...'

He looked around, trying to confirm something, and he soon said:

"It seems we have no choice!"

He started to talk out loud, trying to get everyone's attention.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one, and it's the same for you all."

"If we continue to fight, these riches will be confiscated by the NPCS! And the only ones who'll benefit will be those neutral bastards!"

"And in the end, no one will get ahold of the Legendary Item! So let's work together and..."

He immediately started to spew bullshit, and in no time at all, Dale had heard enough.

"There is no need for words." He said out loud as he interrupted the scheming player

'My sword...'

'It may not have been the reason as to why they are here, but I'm pretty sure it's the reason they are fighting now.'

'It pisses me off to see them do as they wish within a land that is not theirs without abiding by the laws...'

[DING!]

[Special Quest, Eliminate the Bandits! has been generated!]

[Blinded by greed and power, bandits have made their way to Resko!

They have no respect for the people of these lands and are purely driven by their endless dark desires! Completely ignorant of their surroundings!

As an Honorary Elder, it's your job to protect Resko and its people from invaders!

Requirements:

Eliminate all of the trespassers before they escape outside with the relics! 0/21

Eliminate all of the bandits' companions within Resko: 0/132

*All players eliminated throughout the duration of this quest will be sent directly to Prison upon respawning; the duration of their sentence will be determined later.

]

/Smile/

Dale smiled internally as his real expression turned ferocious.

It seemed even the game had enough of their behaviors...

...

/Change of POV/

"..."

'Dammit!'

Just as Dale looked at them, the players looked at Dale, trying to figure out what to do.

And amongst them was the scheming player, calculating his next steps...

"It's happening too fast, the plan is over now."

'We took too long and the NPCs came, what is the barricade force doing?!'

'No... We shouldn't have left it to those Scarlet Bastards, I'm sure they planned for this, they're trying to restrict us.'

'Now they know about this and our Reputation is ruined... It doesn't matter, we just need to steal this item and deliver it to our headquarters...'

'Our Reputation within such a remote place is meaningless compared to the worth of this sword...'

He looked at the sword with a bit of regret.

'But why is it so heavy?! Because of that...'

/FWUSH!/

In the blink of an eye, the sword on the ground suddenly moved on its own, and like a flash, it disappeared from their eyes.

"?!"

When they turned their eyes to Dale, they saw that the sword that was previously on the ground was now in his right hand.

He was holding onto that massive and heavy sword with one hand!

"Strangers...This is my sword."

"And you're not worthy of hearing its name."

/Thud/

Dale took one step forward, getting into position as his right arm went back, preparing for a wide swing...

"Dammit! Everyone get..."

/FLASH!/

Suddenly, the sword flashed...

...

/Back to Dale, a few seconds prior.../

"?!"

'The sword... It came to me on its own?!'

Dale was just as surprised by this predicament as the players were.

Nothing had been activated, and no keyword had been said, but yet, the sword moved to his hand as it knew he was going to grab it.

And that was precisely Dale's plan.

He was going to rush there and grab his sword, and if that didn't work, he was thinking about stealing a weapon from someone or merely using his fists to crush their heads into a paste...

But in a change of events, the sword flew to him...

'Above all... I am more impressed with how I actually managed to grab it...'

'It looks way lighter than last time... Strange...'

[DING!]

Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down, and golden light started to descend from the windows of the Church.

All sounds had vanished, and the world lost color, leaving behind just the strange glimmer of the golden light...

But soon enough... A Golden string of texts materialized in front of him:

[DING!]

[Unique Quest, Heretics! Has been activated!]

[Ju-Arkesios, the God of prosperity, had enough of the trespassers that dared to profane her holy grounds and steal her Divine artifact.

Her rage cannot be quenched easily, and she's ready to make them an example.

Requirements:

Eliminate all of the heretics so that the balance and prosperity of her church may recover 0/1

Uproot the forces behind them 0/3

*Ju-Arkesios promises big rewards for this task.

]

(Due to some things, Ju-Arkesios gender shall be left at "undetermined" until further notice, thanks)

Before he could even read the description of this bizarre quest, Dale suddenly felt a strange power surge within him...

[You've been blessed by Ju-Arkesios, receiving the boon of Mana]

[Boon of Mana -> + 500% to your current Mana stat]

[You've been blessed by Ju-Arkesios, receiving the temporary Skill, Balance of Order]

[Balance of order ???-Star -> Smite your enemies in the name of Ju-Arkesios, recover the balance within Chaos, and punish those who strayed from it.

All attacks against those marked with 'Disorder' can deal up to x3 damage, and in the situation this attack kills a player marked with 'Disorder', Death punishment is increased

??...]

And with this blessing, he suddenly felt his body go out of control!

Scorching heat as he had never felt before ran through his flesh, drilling through his bones, trying to destroy him from within!

It was as if his body was being combusted from the inside out!

[Your body is overly Saturated with Mana]

[You've contracted the disease, Mana Overflow!]

[Your reformed body is reacting...]

If not enough to add to his confusion, Dale suddenly heard David's voice in his head:

[KID! Don't waste any more time! This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity, so make sure to use that sword in your hands!]

"!!!"

'The sword?...'

But Dale didn't have time to think as the slowed time quickly recovered to its previous speed.

Feeling the massive energies coursing through his body, and the pain that came with it all because of those people in front of him, Dale felt incomprehensible rage.

He opened his mouth and said:

"Strangers... This is my sword. And you're not worthy of hearing its name."

At that moment he thought about all of his Skills...

And one passed through his mind.

[Activating the temporary Skill, Refracted Starlight ???-Star]

[The temporary Skill, Balance of Order ???-Star has activated]

And the world was consumed by white...

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Notes

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