Open World Online (O.w.O)

• 1^st Person POV (MC)

-Present Time-

(“I did this dungeon several times already I memorized the quickest way to the ‘Alternative’ Boss. But! I do have some routes not discovered yet.”)

This means... those will lead me to the normal boss of this dungeon.

My weapon unfurls itself emitting a beautiful silvery gossamer glow. Thanks to its abilities, my map discovery range is massively increased allowing me to immediately find out if this one led to a dead end or not.

However, my exploration brain kept nagging me to check them in case there were treasure chests or something.

We encountered several enemies on the way but it’s smooth sailing as I have my summons with me.

...

...

...

That led to here...

I’m currently standing in front of a massive chamber made from towering bookshelves with a couple of mage’s lights to give somewhat an eerie glow.

From the dungeon architecture, I can safely say this is a boss room. I mean... an empty open space plus the background music has been silenced saying ‘Important’ here. In the middle of this room lies an altar with one globule of light.

...

Glancing at my surroundings, these bookshelves have their books in duller colour, unlike the previous ones.

(“There must be something to trigger the boss spawn.”)

*FWOOOSHHH*

(“Or not...”)

That lone globule of light slowly and steadily glows brighter. In doing so, I noticed several motes of light seemingly ‘extracted’ from the books and collected into that lone globule.

I immediately back off and command The Tormented to be at the front including the others as I stay at the rear watching all of this unfold.

The globule continues to get bigger and bigger, after accumulating who knows how many of those motes. I began to hear it...

Voices...

Countless of them, all in discordant as if tasting to speak after so long before becoming in sync.

“Are you here to learn?” -Augur-

It spoke in an offering tone but I know that there will be a battle. Well, I’ll take the bite with no other options.

“Yes.”

Upon giving my answer, the massive globule of light pulses and battle music began.

“Practical Lesson: Fire.” -Augur-

It speaks like a stern teacher albeit in a haunting and creepy way as several books begin to float around it including scraps of paper as they glow in reddish light.

A bar appeared atop its name titled ‘Practical Lesson: Fire’ as it slowly filled. In the meantime, the boss hurls several elemental bolts which ‘tanked’ by my summons and consecutively healed by The Accursed.

“[Mass: Aspersio]!!”

Saying the keywords and aiming my left hand towards them. Visual effects began to take hold as their weapons began to be enveloped by golden granules.

[Aspersio] enchant weapon with Light element but also having an effect to deal more damage towards undead and fiend type of enemies.

(“I assume this is a spirit, so it is undead in classification.”)

With that, I ordered them to attack while The Accursed is on standby focusing on healing as they chant away.

“[Maximize: Solar Prominence]”

Uttering that keyword, miniature suns began to be formed as part of the visual effects as I flick my left hand to launch one sunlight spear towards Augur.

It connects as I see its HP drop just a slight bit as my summons begin to attack on their own.

*FWOOOOOOOMMMMM* *CRACKLE*

Right in the nick of time, the boss’ cast bar finished as the room was engulfed in a sea of red flames.

I can feel the temperature turning hotter but not to the point of searing heat rather it's like gentle sun shining on my skin. Before the fires abruptly vanished it didn’t happen.

I didn’t take any damage at all though...

Glancing at the party panel, I saw my summons HP had taken quite a chunk.

As I continued flicking my left hand like a whip to send out sunlight spear. I’m tempted to cast healing {Spell} but I trust The Accursed can handle this.

Right then, The Accursed began to chant louder than ever before and their staff shone in a creepy red light. In doing so, The Tormented, Silenced, and themselves began to heal, and their wounded visual effects recovered.

(“Good! The AI works wonderfully. No need to do it manually as in commanding them.”)

I kept focusing on DPS and the boss speaks...

“Practical Lesson: Water.” -Augur-

It’s quite quick as the boss mentioned, I heard the sounds of ocean waves and noticed that our surroundings had been engulfed by water.

Knowing this, I ordered my summons to change position and spacing themselves between each other anticipating what’s next from this boss.

(“Ah!”)

Several puddles also formed in random places within the battlefield and I mentally ordered my summons to stay away from it.

Right in the nick of time, the boss speaks...

“Practical Lesson: Wind.” -Augur-

*BZZZTTTT* *BZZZTTTT* *CRACKLE*

Sparks begin to course through the ceilings as the boss’ cast bar appears and begins to be filled up.

Maintaining distance, buffs, and HP of my summons. I continue dealing damage slowly whittling down its HP until its cast bar is finished.

In doing so...

*BLAAAARRRRRR*

Simultaneously, a thunderbolt strikes true to everyone and these have AoE so I am glad that I ‘spaced’ out each summon if not it will overlap and probably kill them.

Hmmm...

(“Fire is Raid Wide, Water is puddles, Wind is Individual, so can I assume Earth is group?”)

As I thought of that, I noticed the puddles were electrified with sparks jotting out and I made a mental note of the changes happening in the battlefield.

(“Hmmm... does that mean my summons will take less damage from ‘Fire’ if they stand in the puddle? I know there’s a mechanic about that in other MMORPG.”)

As per usual, I am unaffected. Most likely from my {Trait}. Flicking my left hand, again and again, I continued the DPS until...

“Practical Lesson: Earth.” -Augur-

Several books change their glow into earthly brown and I see a mark atop one of The Tormented’s heads. A familiar one... In the shape of a circle that gets smaller, its animation repeats indicating ‘Group Up’.

“[Warp]”

In a quick utterance, my view simply changed from facing the boss from afar now a bit closer than I would have liked.

(“All of you, group up!”)

Ordering that in my head, my summons obeyed as they gathered in the nick of time with the boss’ cast bar finishes.

As it did...

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

Sounds of rock gnashing another rock echoed in the chamber, spiralling spikes and tectonic movement ensued.

In an instant, my summons’ HP dropped and The Accursed chanted louder causing their staff to shed an ominous red light.

The others' HP recovered significantly, I guess this is like Cardinals [Coluceo Heal] but in unholy form. Since they recovered, I warped back to my original position and commandeered them to continue fighting.

...

...

...

(“So far so good... The boss has no 2^nd phase and it’s almost dead now.”)

“Well done. You can be a great mage.” -Augur-

It complimented me as its HP dropped to 0 and its ‘essence’ scattered then inhabiting the countless books on the shelves.

*PING*

(“There we go, the notification of dungeon completion.”)

Pressing ‘Yes’, I got teleported out of the dungeon arriving at the entrance I checked what I got.

(“Haaaaaaa... Aside from Spell Books, I obtained a random [Rare] grade equipment for Mage class.”)

Though.... I’m looking for the [Legendary], haaaa... Guess back to grind again as I see that my summons vanished so they need to be resummoned.

-After Countless of Retries-

(“Huhuhuhuhu....”)

I’m kneeling on the ground, internally crying both in happiness and pain as I get another piece of the 1K set after so long of grinding.

This one is a silvery necklace and attached to it, is a beautifully cut sapphire gem in the shape of a teardrop with sophisticated filigrees to accentuate each cut but also act as a cage to contain the gem.

-System-

[Thousand Memories (Legendary)]

Description: A necklace forged with long-forgotten magical techniques. It shines with a mysterious glint and some say upon touching the gem, it evokes unknown memories.

When worn, double the amount of {Spell} the wearer can memorize and the user can store two {Spell} into the necklace when the {Spell} is triggered it will be an instant cast. Curse: When worn, halves the wearer {Spell} effectiveness. This does not affect the {Spell} stored in the necklace.

Set Effect: (0/3) When all 3 pieces have been worn, enhance the effects of the items and nullify their Curse effect.

Requirement: Mage Class

-System-

(“Oof... That curse is really bad.”)

Although the idea of storing {Spell} and instantly using it when needed is tempting the other effect such as doubling {Spell} memory has no effect since I don’t have that mechanic due to my {Trait}.

(“I guess, I better find the other part before I equip them all.”)

An idea just springs to my mind...

Why not just buy them in the marketplace rather than keep looking for it?

It’s quicker besides how much would it be right? It can’t be that expensive!

--

(“I regret saying that.”)

Why is the ring so damn expensive?????

In the player's market, that single ring costs around 5 million Zenis for the average price!

If I converted them into real-life dollars that would be the amount of 5000$.

(“Though... I have heard some claims of in-game items that got traded for a higher price than that but still...”)

I shook my head and decided.

Okay! Let’s scroll down who knows maybe someone sell it cheaper if they want quick money...

Oh! I know, I can simply just sort it by lowest price as I click on the tab to do so.

...

...

...

(“Haaaaaaaa...”)

Letting out a soul-sucking sigh, the cheapest one available is 2 million Zenis.

Ouhhhhhh... Should I buy it or not? I do have the money. It will save a lot of time spent on grinding.

...

...

...

Aghhhh! Fine, let’s just buy it.

With a heavy heart, I tapped on ‘Confirm’ purchase and saw my stash of Zenis just whisked away. In exchange, a gleaming icon of a ring with golden borders is being highlighted in my inventory.

Tapping on it, a bigger panel appeared to describe that item.

-System-

[Thousand Words (Legendary)]

Description: A ring forged with long-forgotten magical techniques. Some say they can hear whispers when wearing this ring.

When worn, Significantly reduce the casting time of {Spell}. Curse: When worn, Significantly slow movement, animation, and attack speed.

Set Effect: (0/3) When all 3 pieces have been worn, enhance the effects of the items and nullify their Curse effect.

Requirement: Mage Class

-System-

Ooohhhh... Now I know why it’s expensive and why players choose its downgrade version [Scholar’s Ring]. That curse effect is... incredibly bad, [Scholar’s Ring] side effects are only reducing max HP so it’s bearable. But causing the wearer to be constantly affected with [Slow] is deadly in many situations.

(“Fiuf... Thankfully I have all 3 items with me so the curse will be nullified.”)

But before I wear them...

I quickly opened up the Safe Point system and manouvre to ‘The Temple’ and tapped on it confirming that I wanted to TP there.

-Back to My Home-

Upon arrival, the skies glitter with stars and adorned with a sea of navy blue showing its nighttime.

Several fireflies can be spotted in the distance and I hear crickets as well.

It made me wonder about something... I don’t know what’s going on but seems like insects ignored my presence too similar to the critters I created.

I guess all the critters I made will treat me as if I’m not there. My thoughts quickly change as I stare into the sky.

(“Heh... I have been in that dungeon for so long that I didn’t even know the time of day outside.”)

Okay...

I took out my C.B.R overall robe resulting in me wearing a simple tunic and breeches as I geared up.

Uuuuuhhhhh, I’m not a jewellery type of person but looking at my reflection within the conjured mirror. I smiled and let out a giggle...

(“Hehehe... I feel bonita.”)

...

...

...

Okay! That’s enough indulgence for me, let’s see what the ‘Enhanced’ effects are.

Ahhhhhh... It essentially doubled the original effect. The headpiece that doubles INT & WIS changed to quadruple. The necklace quadrupled {Spell} memorization and allowed me to store 4 {Spell}. The ring further speeds up chanting time though I do not know how quickly.

(“Let’s test it!”)

I thought delightfully as I went to my backyard where the training dummy was.

Hmmm... Let’s start with the quickest magic.

“[Fire Bolt]”

In a fraction of a second the cast bar flashes, fills, and unleashes the magic. With several motes of fire hitting the dummy it takes multiple instances of damage.

“Huh... Not much of a change, I guess it is unnoticeable if it’s already fast at the start. Then what about... [Fire Ball]!!”

Upon uttering that keyword, a cast bar appears including visual effects of [Fire Ball] magic but it’s noticeably quicker.

Before I have the ring the cast time is around 1 second-ish and now with the ring, I think It’s even less than half a second...

(“Hmmm... What about higher tier {Spell}.”)

Curious, I stand in front of the dummy with Gaia beside me vigilant as ever. Also! Not far from me, I can sense that Oreo is around like a hidden guardian.

(“I’m not that weak to be warranted this much protection in our own home. Haaa... Well, they do enjoy this so I let it slide.”)

Anyway! Focus. I extend my hand doing a little bit of a flair by raising both of my arms above my head and utter the words.

“[Meteor Storm]!!”

(“A Tier 10 {Spell} let’s see how long it needs.”)

As the keywords left my lips, a cast bar appeared and began to be filled up.

Huh...

It’s significantly faster since the usual cast time for this {Spell} is around 5 seconds but counting the time myself. This is less than a second, maybe half a second?

After that, the visual effects begin with the skies getting darker as if a storm is approaching. It was then stained with a reddish hue and several hunks of rock started to fall enveloped in flames just like how meteors I pictured in other games.

Several of them strike the training dummy dealing massive amounts of damage and in multiple instances.

After taking a closer look at the lodged boulders on the ground.

(“Geez, these boulders are huge! I believe one is enough to topple a building. Since it’s scaling with INT, I have multiple of them bombarding poor dummy.”)

Granted, this {Spell} belongs to the Archmage class makes sense as to why it has strong DPS. Anyway! Based on this, safe to say my chant time is reduced by 70% - 90%!!!

The purchase was well worth and now time to accumulate my Zenis again.

(“This set should be more popular, but why do people just focus on [Scholar’s Ring]?”)

Opening the system panel to ‘Browse’ the net, I glanced at the IRL time as I commented to myself.

“It’s already this late huh...”

I need to sleep for tomorrow’s appointment... after I check this though.

--

(“Aaaaaaaahhhhh... I see... I see.”)

There’s a legendary headpiece for mage and corresponding priest classes that provides {Spell} Cool-down reduction obtained from a dungeon in Fey Forest and Celestial Peak area.

(“That explains why 1K set isn’t popular.”)

Satisfied with the answer, I promptly logged off after saying my goodbyes.

-Exiting O.w.O-