Open World Online (O.w.O)

• 1^st Person POV (MC)

-Present Time-

-System-

[Arch Specter’s Core (Rare)]

Description: Crystallized mana of a powerful undead being. Can be used for other purposes.

[Staff of Shadows (Uncommon)]

Description: a sleek-looking ebony staff atop it lies a beautiful glowing purple gem. It shines with an eerie and uncanny atmosphere. When worn, slightly increase INT and potency of dark-based {Spell}. Requirement: Mage Class Level 10

[Undead Boss Gift Box (Rare)]

Description: A box containing myriads of items for players who had slayed an Undead boss monster.

-System-

“Hehe....”

My face would probably look a bit strange as I couldn’t help but give a weird smile & laugh.

“It looks nice!”

Changing to my new staff, I feel completely elated like a child getting candy.

“Hahaha....”

Although the {Status} increase is similar to my old staff. I have the additional effects of increasing the potency of dark-based {Spell}.

The gift box will be stored for later, I’m thinking of piling them up and using it all in one go to increase my chances.

Before I could admire the staff further though, I saw a blinking icon of an email adorned by a red exclamation mark in the system panel.

“What is this?”

Felt like deja vu, as the email icon vanished and was replaced by a whole sub-panel.

“Hmm....”

-System-

Congratulations! You have reached a level threshold!!!

What is a level threshold? It is a point in the player's level progression where they will gain a large number of status points, upgrade in their racial trait, and much more unlockable. Level Threshold are around; 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100.

[UPGRADE] {Racial Trait}: Primordial Race (Aspect of Creation)

[UPGRADE] {Trait}: Primordial Body I (Aspect of Creation) -> Primordial Body II (Aspect of Creation)

[UPGRADE] {Trait}: Words of Power I -> Words of Power II

[NEW] {Trait}: Star Fragment

-System-

“Ohohohoho!”

I couldn’t help but give out an excited laugh upon seeing these notifications. It is always satisfying to see progress that you achieve on your own.

Tapping each of those words, several sub-panels popped up and kindly explained what kind of ‘Upgrade’ I was receiving.

-System-

{Trait}: Primordial Body II (Aspect of Creation)

Effect: Your body doesn’t age. You do not need to eat, sleep, drink, and breathe.

Moderately decrease damage taken from magical sources. You have a moderate chance to resist hostile magical effects.

Moderately increased damage taken from physical sources. Requirement: Primordial Race (Aspect of Creation) Level: 10

{Trait}: Words of Power II

Effects: Changes the way {Spell} works and you can influence a {Spell} cast. {Spell} cast this way ignore restrictions. Requirement: Primordial Race (Aspect of Creation) Level: 10

{Trait}: Star Fragment

Effects: Create a small crystalline-sized floating entity called ‘Star Fragment’. The entity's floating ability cannot be disabled by any means except destruction of itself. The amount of ‘Star Fragment’ created corresponds to your INT and WIS status (1).

Star Fragment has 1 HP, 1 SP, and the same MP as you.

This entity is an extension of yourself as such you can control it to move and act whichever you want. You can also transfer a part of your senses to the entity. This also means your Star Fragment is capable of using and having your {Racial Trait}.

Since the Star Fragment has its MP. You can cast {Spell} using the entity as a medium to where the {Spell} came from. Requirement: Primordial Race (Aspect of Creation) Level: 10

-System-

“Huh... interesting.”

(“I am getting weaker due to physical damage. Need to think of a cautionary measure for it sooner or later. Hmmm... I can ‘Influence’ a {Spell} cast? What does that mean... the Star Fragment though... I wonder what it is like, I better try it in my home after. Gosh, so many things to think about!!”)

With a big smile from my haul, I decided to use the safe point to go home as my scenery instantly changed to a more familiar scene.

--

*BAAAAAAAAA!!!*

From a distance, I can hear Gaia’s bleating and his small gallops as his silhouette emerges in the corner of my vision.

“Hahaha... you seem very happy. Wait... I smell a minty fresh from your mouth...”

I made an interested face before gently stroking his head as I began to take a leisurely walk with Gaia on the paved marble road of my home.

From its outer ring to the middle ring of My Temple, I haven’t planted anything so it is still only a plain flat grassland.

That is until I reached the inner ring of my home. At the upper right cone, clusters and clusters of herbs have fully grown.

Coloured flowers bloomed brightly; pastel pink, sunlight yellow, and azure blue. I know all of these as I planted them of course.

Though... narrowing my eyes, I can see some of the leaves and flowers have been nibbled and chewed by something.

(“Clearly that’s where Gaia gets his minty breath.”)

With a sigh and a stronger ruffle of his head, I decided to harvest all the herbs and replanted them.

“Oh? I got more seeds than usual, this good boy {Skill} is amazing. Aren’t ya??? Who’s a good boy?”

*BA!*

His tail wags so fast that it blurs.

Now... it’s time to replant them... haaa... it going to take some time to do those even with ‘Auto’ mode.

Oh!!!! I have an idea in mind.

Raising my left hand in a direction, I shouted.

“[Summon Golem]!!”

As a cast bar popped right near my view, I could see it slowly filling up. Including the visual effect & the familiar option panel for golems appearing once it is full.

“[Summon Iron Utility Golem]!!”

The blob of metal began to form protrusions that looked like limbs and became a rather small humanoid-looking golem.

It stood there in silence while I was checking its {Status}, {Skill}, {Spell}, and any behavioural commands I could give.

“Ah... I see why a utility golem is an option.”

These behavioural commands are structured around menial tasks. The ones I’m interested in are harvesting, planting, and mining but it has other functions as well.

“Hooo? I can assign this too!?”

I can set intervals when it will harvest and replant. It also detects when the plants ripen. Including an option for it to be stored in my Safe after harvesting or in a random chest crafted from Artisan branch {Skill}.

“it is like a helper bot in survival or farming games. How handy... let’s see here... *Ehem* *Ehem*”

Clearing my throat, I made sure my voice was as concise and clear as possible.

“Mr. Golem, you will be handling the harvesting and storing of plants from now on.”

Tapping on its panel, I altered the delay in harvesting. Which gives ample time for Gaia to nibble on these plants before harvest.

It seems like a ‘Grazed’ plant doesn’t affect any quality or quantity only the visual effects so... I think it will be alright.

After all, Gaia needs some nutrients for him to grow bigger.

Once I gave the command, the golem began its work as it took a seed from my Safe and planted it.

“Oooo... I see what ‘Utility’ {Spell} focusing on quality of life means.”

The golem raises its pudgy small limb and points it to the ground as it glows in brown colour. In the party system, I can see the golem’s action and what it was casting.

(“[Move Earth] [Create Water] [Transport]”)

These {Spell}... they aren’t listed in the spell book sold by the Academy. I see... but it doesn’t matter as I know the ‘Keyword’ now.

Pointing to the ground, I whispered the spell

“[Move Earth]”

I can see the cast bar filling up nearly instantaneously as I saw with Mr. Golem.

The tip of my index finger faintly glows in earthy brown light as I wiggle it around small amount of soil soon follows.

By curving my finger inward, a groove was made as if I put pressure on the soil creating a hole for a seed to be planted.

(“I see... so that’s how you do it.”)

Moving on, I began casting other {Spell} that the golem used.

[Create Water] essentially made me spray a jet of water or if I cup my hand it will be filled up by clear water until it overflows.

Meanwhile [Transport] allows me to levitate objects and move them to where I want them to be. They were all constantly using MP until I cancelled the spell, not a lot of cost needed as I feel fine even after using it for a minute or two.

(“Unlike [Chant of Rejuvenation]... hmm... let’s have a look on the Academy spell book if they display different books.”)

“System...”

Moving to the safe point section, I tapped the icon ‘Safe Point: Frontera’ and instantly my view changed to the hustle & bustle of the city.

-In the Academy-

“Hmmmm... nope, nothing’s changed”

For now, they still displayed Spell Books of Tier 1 and Tier 2.

...

...

I need more Zeni to purchase them. How...do...

“AH! I forgot to submit my completed requests”

Immediately, I turned tail and increased my pace of walking until I arrived at the adventure’s guild.

Submitted all of the completed requests, I gained around 250k Zeni and another skill book which I’m going to use right now.

As soon as I clicked confirm, the skill book vanished and a large panel appeared in its stead. Containing a multitude of {Skill} where I can freely choose.

“Hmm... I’m conflicted in between <Mana Affinity I> and <Mana Conversion>”

They sounded interesting though unfortunately I couldn’t check the description. Ugh... which one?

Okay! Let’s choose this one.

-System-

NEW!! {Skill}: Mana Affinity I

Description: Slightly increase Maximum MP and passive MP regen.

-System-

“Direct and simple just what I need.”

Nodding, I returned to The Academy in hopes of purchasing some Spell Books just to upgrade my {Trait}.

“Hmmm... I got several spell books on hand and some {Spell} added to my journal.”

Let’s see here... confirm!

-System-

UPGRADE {Trait}: Fire I => Fire II

UPGRADE {Trait}: Wind I => Wind II

UPGRADE {Trait}: Dark I => Dark II

-System-

“All right with this, I can cast all Tier 2 and below {Spell}.”

Nodding to myself, I checked on the time after I logged on to O.w.O

“Huh? Has it been that long?”

The time display shows that it has been a total of 6 hours and in the real world, it's already 5 PM nearing 6 PM.

In a hurry, I tapped the safe point to my home and teleported there.

*BAAAA!!!*

The telltale voice of Gaia can be heard in the distance and I can also hear the gallops he made.

“There, there... Good boy.”

*BA!* *BA!*

He seems happy and the growth progress of my plants is doing well. Mr. Golem is taking care of it nicely with those ‘NPC Spells’.

Glancing at the system panel, I checked my friend list to see Siegfried is still offline even now.

(“Well, I think he will be online at night. I’ll come back to the game later.”)

-Exiting O.w.O-

“Pwahhh!!!”

I stretch my body as much as I can till my limbs shiver before getting up from my comfy bed.

“6 hours of playing, hahaha... it’s been so long since I spent that much time in games. Reminds me when I’m college.”

Smiling, I went to the kitchen area for an early dinner. After all, I’m going back to the game again...

While waiting for my meal to heat up, I opened the Wikia page of O.w.O reading about what’s new.

(“Hmmm... Pochi Mochi already reached Level 45 in only two days after the game launched? So fast!!!!”)

“Ohhhh... he also put a section for dungeons & fields in each area. Let’s see here...”

So far, he discovered several ‘Areas’ within Frontera’s borders. There are; Deep Woods, Wet Swamplands, Snow Plains, Jagged Highlands, and Fields of Sorrow which is the area he’s currently in.

Ohhhh!!! There’s another dungeon beside ‘Ancient Ruins’ in Deep Woods. I see... it is named ‘Beast Cave’ where you can access it during the day-time while ‘Ancient Ruins’ for night-time.

Ah... It’s very kind of him to put the approximate direction and its characteristics landmark to each Area for players to discover.

*DING*

My food’s done, time for my dinner!

--

All right!! What time is it? I whipped my head to the wall instinctively looking for it as I saw the clock.

“8 PM, hmmm... I can play till midnight.”

Finished washing myself up, wearing my comfortable pyjamas, and fully dried hair. I can now enjoy the game to the fullest!

With that, I wore the helmet and let myself lie down in a comfortable position as I pressed the big button at the top.

-Entering O.w.O-

*BAAAAAAA!!!*

Gaia immediately stood beside me, nudging his head to my waist while I began stroking his head and neck as he made satisfied grumbles and noises.

“You’ve been eating well I see...”

His body has grown bulkier and I can see his antlers grew to have a similar look to a tree branch.

Checking on my miniature ‘Deep Woods’ it seems Mr Golem has been taking care of it as in my safe there’s an increase in the amount of herbs and seeds.

*PING*

(“Hm? A notification sound?”)

“System.”

Without further ado, I called out the system and a display popped in front of me. Scrolling through each of the tabs, I saw a red exclamation mark on an icon resembling a chat bubble.

Clicking on it opens another sub-tab where I can see names on the left side and a blank space on my right.

“Ah! This is the chat system.”

-Chat System-

(Siegfried)

-Wyd?

(Me)

-I just Logged on after taking a small break. What are you doing?

(Siegfried)

-Wanna go for a grind? I want to reach LV 10 today.

(Me)

-Sure! I discovered a dungeon and wanted to try another one in Deep Woods.

(Siegfried)

-Oh??? A dungeon??

(Me)

-Yeah, I’ll tell you when we meet up.

-Where?

(Siegfried)

-Adventurer’s Guild Entrance.

(Me)

-Otw!!!

-Chat System-

“Be a good boy and eat a lot okay?”

Gaia understood what I was saying so he replied with a nod of his own then scooted over to the herbs that were nearing its harvest as I waved goodbye to him.

Soon after, I scrolled the tab sections on the top of the system panel leading to the safe point section where I tapped the word ‘Frontera’ and my vision immediately changed.

NPC haggles prices to players and other NPCs alike. Horses neighing while dragging carriages here and there and of course errant conversation of players thinking of the next city they are going to visit or items they need for quests.

Take a short but sweet walk down the streets of Frontera. I am now seeing more and more players wearing different equipment.

“Hmmm... where is he?”

Looking around, I’m trying to find Siegfried amidst all of these players. Until I see a man running in my direction.

(“Yup, that’s him alright.”)

“That was quick!” -Siegfried-

He’s wearing the same tattered tunic and breeches. As his head turned to notice my staff.

“Ah! I got this new baby at the dungeon. Let’s get some quests first before we go?”

Siegfried nodded then waved his hand in the air as I got a ‘Party Invitation’ from him. Which I delightfully accept.

“Oh... you’re LV 10 now?” -Siegfried-

He noticed my level from the party system but... his tone mellowed. Is he disturbed by my level? Ah! He must have been thinking I couldn’t party up with him.

“It’s because of the dungeon and by the way, did you know? They put a penalty on EXP for players that have reached the highest level in an area. I didn’t get any more EXP now in Deep Woods but I can still get the loot and other things.”

“I see, that’s a relief.” -Siegfried-

I nod to his words. After all, it is better to party up in a dungeon. Without Mr. Golem at that time, I don’t think I can complete it.