Open World Online (O.w.O)

• 1^st Person POV (MC)

-Present Time-

With a blink of an eye, the images of hollow walls and creeping dark illuminated by torches changed into where we were before the dungeon entrance.

...

...

...

“Haaaaaa...”

I sat down on the ground letting out another heavy sigh of relief, after taking in that we conquered the dungeon. With Siegfried following suit, he sprawled like a starfish taking big heaves of breath and resting.

It seems with the boss’s defeat, that nasty incurable [Poison] de-buff vanished since Siegfried had been keeping up his health by consuming Vitality Potion.

“Good work!” -Siegfried-

He raises an arm and gestures a thumbs up. While I weakly reply with my own thumbs up.

“Here’s some vitality pot.”

Opening up the inventory system, I tap and hold the icon until it shows a sub-tab where I can click on the word ‘Trade to ‘Siegfried Calenus’.

Setting the amount, I quickly used ‘half’ and sent it to him as he looked down at his inventory and then looked at me.

“You serious?” -Siegfried-

“Yeah, I can make more of them anyway.”

“I’ll take it then. Thanks!” -Siegfried-

Browsing further, knowing this is a ‘Safe Zone’ we can be sure to take our time for respite and not think about monster ambushes or PKers.

“What did you get?”

Nonchalantly I asked while I stared at my own. I got the usual ‘Gift Box’ and the Chimera’s goat horns. My eyes went wide as a memory jolted in my head regarding the notifications I got after successfully defending myself from those PKers.

“Hmmm, let me check.” -Siegfried-

While he was staring at nothing in my view, I waved my hand and tapped the red exclamation mark.

-System-

UPGRADE {Trait}: Fire II -> Fire III

UPGRADE {Trait}: Water II -> Water III

UPGRADE {Trait}: Wind II -> Wind III

UPGRADE {Trait}: Earth II -> III

UPGRADE {Trait} Dark II -> III

-System-

(“Huh!? H-hold on a minute. I didn’t consume any spell books. Hmmmm...”)

I got all of these notifications when I managed to defeat the mage PKer and priest PKer. Suffice it to say, this {Trait} can be increased by other means besides consuming spell books.

I see... I see... it is an alternative way to increase it but... Nah~ not going to do it, too much of a hassle and work including drawing other players' attention in a bad way.

“HoHo! Sweet!!!” -Siegfried-

His excited noise broke my train of thought and made me glance at him. Who had already risen from his starfish position and raised both arms to check out the new outfit he wore.

Although he looks half-naked showing the usual lanky build. He appeared to be wearing some kind of leather straps holding down two pauldrons on each of his shoulders. Those have the imagery of a roaring lion and he showed it off as if he’s a little kid showing a treasure.

With a chuckle, it does indeed fit his theme and class.

“It looks good on you! I hope it doesn’t interfere with your skill?”

I complimented, earning a smile from Siegfried who twists his body to show off the back. While he’s replying.

“Nope! The description says it is counted as ‘not wearing armour’ and when I wear it, my {Status} didn’t have a penalty or anything. All in all, it’s a good haul. Worth it!!!!” -Siegfried-

He brandishes a big grin of satisfaction as he clenches and unclenches his fist.

“OH! By the way, I have something to show you.* -Siegfried-

He made a gesture for me to come closer as I followed.

He then clenches his fist while muttering under his breath.

“[Morph: Slash]”

As soon as I heard those faint words from him. I hear the sounds of leather ripping apart while my eyes are drawn to where the source is, which is his hands.

On the knuckles, something emerges white and has several joints connecting it as if they are spikes made from bones. This sight strongly reminded me of a superhero in movies. Although they have metal protrusion instead of more... ‘Organic’ ones like Siegfried.

“You know... It’s kind of looking like That.”

Mimicking the gesture of that superhero, Siegfried gave a loud snort catching on to what superhero I was referring to.

“H-haha, yeah. It does look like him! How do I look?” -Siegfried-

He gave a pose that I had done before using his morphing ability to become bulkier.

Really....!? It looks like a perfect picture of that superhero. Then realization dawned on me...

“You have reached LV 10 then? That’s?”

He slightly nods confirming my assumption regarding special abilities granted upon reaching level threshold.

“Wohooo, more things for us inhumans.”

I spoke in whispers but didn’t diminish my excitement with Siegfried’s smiling along. We are in high clouds at the moment until we check on the time.

“Welp, it’s already night-time IRL. I think I’m going to go off once I tele back to a safe point.”

“Same, I got a competition coming up.” -Siegfried-

(“I thought he mentioned he only does boxing as a hobby?”)

“EH!? When?”

“Hahaha, pretty recently. I talked to you about still practising boxing as a hobby then I just got invited by my coach to participate in light competitive boxing. I am a bit rusty... so it’s a good warm-up.” -Siegfried-

He rubbed the back of his head while having a sheepish smile.

“What are the odds?? Anyway, make sure to protect yourself okay!? I have heard some nasty injuries during boxing matches.”

He chuckles...

“It’s just a light competition! No dangerous punches or anything like that. Also proper protection gear.” -Siegfried-

Hearing that I felt a bit relieved then I shook my fist upward to say...

“Go and win! I’ll cheer for you in advance. Hahahaha...”

“Thanks!!” -Siegfried-

He brandishes a big grin before vanishing upon tapping something in mid-air, even though his eyes are hidden by his bangs. I can tell he’s genuinely happy and excited.

-Teleported to The Temple-

“BAAAAA!” -Gaia

(“Hmm? This is a different sound?”)

Unlike the ominous bleats of the chimera goat’s head or high-pitched joyful ones from Gaia, this one is much deeper akin to a bellow.

Nevertheless, though, the bellow itself is unmistakably slightly high-pitched containing an excited feeling.

“I wonder who made this noise?”

Arriving sooner and on the edge of my vision is Gaia who had a sudden growth spurt. Its body is now as big as a pony and its antlers have branched further.

First, he bleats like a goat and now after confirming those sounds originating from him. Gaia is now bellowing...

Hmm...?

Wait a second...

As Gaia’s excited pitter-patter comes closer. I can see in detail that his antlers have grown some leaves and buds of flowers. Which made me wrinkle my forehead in confusion.

“Uh... So, you aren’t an animal but a plant?”

That doesn’t seem right when I pose that question to Gaia who instead tilts his head in reply. Making us confused altogether.

Shaking my head, I decided to not entertain those thoughts and instead check the {Status} of Gaia before logging off.

-System-

{Name}: Gaia

Description: A mysterious white herbivore.

{Affection Meter}: Max

{Age}: Youngling

{Owner}: Magie Magia

{Skill}: <Nature’s Bounty>

Description: All gatherable materials within a Safe Zone where Gaia is present will always have maximum yield and the highest quality.

{Skill}: <Nature’s Blessing>

Description: All gatherable materials within a Safe Zone where Gaia is present will have a shorter cooldown period.

-System-

“Ouuhhh? What do you mean by shorter cooldown?”

Distracted by Gaia’s new skill, I hurriedly check the garden maintained by my utility golem.

Huh... it seems Gaia’s skill changes the ripening time of my plants. Mana and Stamina Herb will fully grow within 1 day or night cycle from their usual 2 cycles.

My lips curved upwards in satisfaction as I gently stroked Gaia’s head with him being happy given affection.

With this, I decided to log out knowing the time had reached 11 PM.

(“Tomorrow is my single day off, I’ll be back to work the day after tomorrow sigh...”)

Sighing, I tapped the ‘log-out’ button in the system panel

-Exiting O.w.O-

My view instantly changes to my bedroom. As I get up to charge the helmet and brush my teeth for the night.

-Tomorrow-

Wake up and do the usual household chores. I finally enjoyed my well-earned breakfast while scrolling on Pochi Mochi’s blog.

Hm!?

My eyes widened for a bit, after almost scrolling past a section named ‘Spell Mechanic’

Without further ado, this topic piqued my interest as I began reading them in earnest.

-This section refers to the O.w.O game spell-casting mechanics-

It explains the basics such as the ‘Sensation’ that players feel when their MP is consumed by a certain amount. Divided into stages; slight drowsiness, heavy drowsiness, and last full blow fallen asleep.

(“Who is the victim or test subject in this? I would not try to sling so many spells myself to the point of falling asleep. Haha...”)

To cast {Spell} one just needed to say the keyword of it. Ranging from shouting, speaking normally, or even whispering.

But! It is considered polite to say the keyword clearly and concisely in a PvE scenario to prevent friendly fire.

(“I already know those things!”)

“Too bad, he doesn’t list any keyword of {Spell} sigh....”

That is what I’m hoping after all...

Upon scrolling down, there’s a large sub-section of {Spell} aptly named ‘Meta Magic’ which made me grow curious to read it.

Hmmm...

Meta Magic refers to influencing the result of a {Spell} depending on what adjectives are used and this mechanic will be unlocked when you have reached LV 25 in any Spell Casting class ex; Priest or Mage etc. Using Meta Magic will cause an increase in the {Spell} MP consumption. So it is advised not to use it on every single {Spell} unless you ‘felt’ like you can.

(“Does that mean there are other classes beside them? Hehe~ more things to discover I suppose.”)

Unintentionally, I gave out an excited grin at the prospect of a different or advanced class. Though... discovering them would be another challenge in itself that I would happily endure.

Oh no! I’m almost going off topic, back to the reading.

These are examples of Meta Magic so far that Pochi Mochi and his anonymous source knew...

[Maximize: ‘Keyword’]

[Double: ‘Keyword’]

[Triple: ‘Keyword’]

[Widen: ‘Keyword’]

[Extend: ‘Keyword’]

And judging by the namesake including the description Pochi Mochi gave. It seems interesting to use...

Maximize means enhancing the {Spell} potency.

Double means causing the {Spell} to launch twice in a single cast.

Triple means causing the {Spell} to launch thrice in a single cast. An advanced form of [Double] and also more costly in terms of MP.

Widen means increasing the {Spell} targeting range.

Extend means increasing the {Spell} effects duration.

(“Hehe~ I can’t wait to reach LV 25 so I can use meta magic!”)

I chow down the breakfast with excitement while reading the forum section now.

-Forum: Missing Racial-Changing Items in Character Creation-

Raising my eyebrows, I tap my phone screen on it and a discussion consisting of a myriad of players is displayed.

Hmmm...

Hmm...

Hm!?

In short, the Devs removed those racial-changing items in character creation but not unilaterally.

Older players noticed when talking to newbies. One of the racial changing items is missing such as ‘Astral Orb’ then slowly other items have been removed as well such as ‘Fire Orb’ then other elemental orbs.

“That is an odd decision from the devs, I wonder why they did it?”

Giving an errant question I merely shake my head to brush away the thoughts. Then I scrolled away on my phone until I found another interesting discussion being brought up in the forum with a topic named...

-I talked to ‘God’ OMG!!!!!-

My forehead wrinkled in confusion and intrigued as I clicked on it. Myriad players who I assumed to be Priest classes or the same sort of it are discussing their ‘meeting with God’ once they have reached LV 25.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

Amongst the confusing comments of many priest players. There’s one player who kindly explains all of this to players who aren’t a priest in the ‘Pinned Comment’.

In his explanation, to gain Priest’s Class {Skill} one needed to make an oath. Flavouring of roleplay, it can be anything and need to reach a daily ‘Praying’ limit each day. Upon completion, one would get the {Skill}.

For Priests that have reached LV 25. They began to be able to meet with ‘God’ who they swore an oath to. It works similarly to talking with AI yet it has strange intelligence and... ‘Emotion’ which is odd but hey? This is after all they say ‘Hi-Tech’ stuff.

I sort of thought ‘Interesting’. After all, these comments are talking as if ‘God’ is like an old best friend or a parental figure they dearly missed. Even as far as becoming their ‘Free Therapist’. Some even went on a debate with their own ‘God’ and got their perspective changed.

Hahaha...

With a chuckle on my own, at least I got another useful information as they explained where to learn their Priestly {Spell}.

After all of this, I began cleaning up the used dishes before playing the game once more.