1-18 – Shahar’s Nightwalker
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Jisha furrowed her brows.

Her inventory was full, and there were countless items in front of her. The Closed Field ended with her victory, so the system gave her an ample amount of time to collect everyone's loot. But what was she going to do? How was she going to transport seven, no... eight players' full inventories' worth of material?

A time-consuming method known as "item cycling" existed, but it would take far too long. She didn't immediately need any of these items, either, so she had another plan.

*Here's good I think... Yeah, I'll definitely remember this one.*

She picked an arbitrary tombstone and began digging a hole near it. Spirits were prevalent in Synergy as well, so this was usually taboo. However, Shahar's tombstone was the only real one in the cemetery. In other words, the rest of them were fakes.

*There, there, and... there.* 

 

*>System message: Level up!*

...

*>System message: Level up!*

*>Name: Fae Sol*

*>Level: 7 -> 8 (+1)*

... 

 

After running around the cemetery and a bit of inventory shuffling magic, Jisha collected the remnant XP and dumped 70+ items into the hole. She placed the dirt back on top and made sure it blended in with the surrounding soil. Nothing despawned in Synergy, so no matter how long she left it there, it would remain unless someone else stumbled upon it.

One thing that she *was* able to pick up, though, made her revel at her inventory numbers. 

 

*>Inventory*

*>Melee Starter Stick: 9*

*>Ranged Starter Pellet: 372*

... 

 

The number of level 0 items was incomprehensible for a single player. It wasn't a lot for now, but it was a different story for someone who'd traveled back in time.

Jisha sighed.

*I would love to sit here and farm kills, too... But it's not likely that anyone else will come.*

Fixed Fields were lucrative XP grinders if set up properly, but unfortunately, no one else had found this place.

*Anyway, time to finally receive my reward.*

 


 

The tombstone had teleported again, so after several more minutes of running around, Jisha finally reunited with her long-lover, Shahar! Her heart skipped a beat when she imagined-

*No, no, calm down!*

She walked up to it, and a small, circular engraving manifested at its base. The engraving was an identical but concave image to what she was now holding in her hand - Shahar's emblem, a phoenix flying towards a crescent moon.

Anyone would know what to do at this point.

*Here goes nothing...*

Jisha nervously placed the token face down and fit it snugly into the engraving. After a second, the token embedded and emblazoned itself into the slot. 

 

*>System message: Quest complete: Grave Robbery.*

*>System message: Level up!*

*>Name: Fae Sol*

*>Class: Ranged*

*Level: 8 -> 9 (+1)*

... 

 

*Only one...*

The quest likely gave one level's worth of XP no matter what level you were, but she wasn't here to complain about something so trivial.

*Come on, come on...*

 

*>System message: Dispensing quest rewards:*

*>Shahar's Nightwalker: 1*

 

*Yes!*

This was what she was after! Her heart raced as she excitedly read Shahar's Nightwalker's properties.

 

*>Name: Shahar's Nightwalker*

*>Type: Armor (Accessory, Drape)*

*>Description: "From darkness, bring them to the light."*

*>Rating: Unique*

*>Abilities:*

*>Absolute Anti-Appraisal (Passive, Toggle: No cooldown): When equipped, user name and level will be hidden from all parties. You may reveal them to anyone at any time. Exception: Rexian's Eyes.*

*>Anti-Paparazzi (Passive, Toggle: No cooldown): While enabled, all attempts to record you will become corrupted.*

*>Breeze (Passive(s), Toggle: No cooldown): While enabled, stamina drain is reduced by 50% and/or Presence is decreased by 50%. While out of combat for 5 minutes, Top Speed is increased by 200%.*

*>Night Walk (Toggle: No cooldown): Presence -99% for up to 10 minutes. Time remaining: 10:00.00. Cooldown: 1 week.*

*>Object Impermanence (Toggle: No cooldown): Gain up to 5 seconds of Incorporeality. Time remaining: 5.00. Cooldown: 1 week.*

*>Shahar's Blessing - Item Cloak (Rank 0): Mask the Presence of up to 10 Rank 0 Consumable-type items by 99% for one week. Items cloaked: 0/10. Cooldown: 1 week. Upgrade this ability using Shards of Darkness. Shards: 0/1.* 

 

None of these abilities could be overlooked, but one of them stood above the rest.

*Incorporeality??*

"Incorporeality" was arguably the best status effect in the game. Once you were incorporeal, you "disappeared from the world". You would become a ghost-like presence with zero ability to interact with the world of Synergy.

This status effect had a long history behind it, but once players figured out its true worth, incorporeality potions that granted even a couple seconds of the effect sold for thousands of gold.

Once incorporeal, you would become unable to become targeted, tracked, sensed, etc. You would also be able to pass harmlessly through any object, whether it be physical walls or magical barriers.

*Wow... As expected of Shahar.*

Calling this overpowered would be apt. She had unlimited access to a status effect that would ordinarily fetch a hefty sum. Not to mention its abilities were extremely convenient for her circumstances.

Appraisal blocking was something she desperately needed since she would likely be the highest leveled player in the game for a while, if not forever. Having a passive ability that was a guaranteed block would prevent her from being hunted down for her leveling knowledge.

The Anti-Paparazzi skill was also incredibly convenient; it disallowed any of her combat techniques from being captured and studied extensively.

Finally, Breeze would allow much easier exploration of the massive world of Synergy.

Shahar's Blessing and Night Walk were the only ones she didn't immediately have a use for, but they were extremely practical.

Presence was a genuine hidden stat in Synergy whose value ranged from 0 to 100. Even at max level, the system wouldn't tell you what someone's Presence value was. Only with a special item could you appraise someone's Presence.

Presence determined how difficult it was for others to detect you. Not just be seen, but be *detected* by any method in Synergy, whether it was audibly, magically, or something else entirely. An item (or player) with a Presence value of 50 was twice as hard to detect as one with 100 Presence. In other words, simply wearing Shahar's Nightwalker made it twice as difficult for its wearer to be detected. And Presence -99% meant that the object would be left with a value of 1.

*100 times harder to detect, huh. I would have trouble dealing with that even in the end game. Overpowered and convenient... I couldn't ask for anything better.*

Equipping armor and clothing didn't use ordinary inventory slots, so Jisha equipped Shahar's Nightwalker without hesitation. The thin, black cloth fashionably covered her whole body and didn't hinder her movement.

*If I could dual wield swords, I'd be the picturesque VR swordsman. Or woman.*

After admiring her new looks, Jisha noticed a new notification on her HUD.

*Huh?*

Something unexpected appeared - it was a friend request from an unlikely source.

*Uh... Guess I'll accept.*

 

*>System message: User "BrenT" has been added to your friends list.*

 

She hadn't forgiven them for luring two girls to their deaths, but there was something she wanted to confirm. Before she sent a message, though, Bren initialized the conversation.

*>BrenT: Who are you?*

*Huh...*

How was she supposed to answer this?

*I guess it's normal for them to be curious.*

Their skills were above average, and if what Kenshi said was true, they'd naturally have questions.

*>BrenT: I've never considered myself a good player, but to meet someone that much better is quite humbling.*

Jisha smirked at Bren's self-deprecation.

*>Fae Sol: Is that why you lured and ambushed players instead of fighting them fairly?*

*>Brent: Uh, no. That's...*

...

Silence. Jisha patiently waited for him to answer. *He* was the one that added *her*, so she could get away with stiff-arming him.

*>BrenT: We simply took extra measures to make sure our plan wouldn't fail.*

*>Fae Sol: Yet look what happened.*

*>BrenT: Ugh... Anyway. Would you mind reviewing the battle recording with us some time? Any advice would be appreciated.*

*>Fae Sol: ... Shameless.*

*>BrenT: Yeah, we get that a lot. But I need to shoot my shot, right?*

*What... What is this guy...*

Bren's social power level was blinding! Where was his self-awareness? But he wasn't wrong. Now that he'd asked, there was a non-zero chance of his wish coming true.

*>Fae Sol: Answer my question first, and I'll consider it.*

*>BrenT: Go ahead.*

*>Fae Sol: Kenshi mentioned you were "Academy" students. By chance, does this refer to the Royal Academy?*

*>BrenT: Yes, we're all students of the Northeastern Royal Academy.*

*>Fae Sol: Oh? Really?*

If this was true, Jisha would definitely keep an eye on them. Upper-class children from all over the Northeast would attend this prestigious academy. This meant it was a prime spot to gather intel on other countries from primary sources.

Including clues as to what happened on her final day.

*But first, I've got to make sure he's telling the truth.*

*>Fae Sol: Who's the Classical Elycai instructor?*

*>BrenT: ... Professor Mereot.*

*>Fae Sol: And the Centralite History professor? Answer quickly.*

*>BrenT: Professor Crael.*

*>Fae Sol: What's the colloquial name of the student commons?*

*>BrenT: Nine-point.*

...

Bren proceeded to answer every question flawlessly, including some obscure trivia. There was no doubt about it. She couldn't guarantee the status of the other six, but Bren himself was, without question, enrolled in the Academy.

*>BrenT: Seriously, who are you?*

*>Fae Sol: Just an average alumnus.*

*>BrenT: Huh...*

He was clearly unsatisfied with this response, but Jisha wasn't going to reveal any more about herself.

*>Fae Sol: Well, I'm happy with your answers. If you want my help, I've got one more condition.*

*>BrenT: ... What?*

*>Fae Sol: After the first update, join my guild.*

*>BrenT: That...*

Jisha was aware that she was asking something that couldn't be answered right away. But if she was going to spend her time on someone, it better be someone that could help her!

*>BrenT: I'll think about it.*

*>Fae Sol: Think hard. No join, no review! (✿◠‿◠)*

Guilds didn't exist yet, but Jisha was planning on creating one with the same name as her previous life: "Sun Dragons".

In reality, she'd mentally downplayed Bren's abilities to a significant degree. Looking at it objectively, his commanding capability was actually pretty good. Having him as a cadre would benefit her greatly.

And there was one more thing she was curious about. He was a talented v-sports player with charismatic lackeys behind him, and he was at a critical crossroads in his life. On top of that, he attended the prestigious Northeastern Royal Academy. Yet in her previous life, she had never heard of Bren.

*Something big must have happened to him.*

What made him disappear from the face of the planet? And if he proved his loyalty to her, could she stop it?

*Hmm... It's something I'll look into once I log out.*

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