“Sir, I think you should come take a look at this.”

A man with a white button up and glasses was attentively watching his computer screen as he called for his manager.

“What do you got for me Riyu?”

The manager approached the man in glasses, his name was Daito Hasegawa. He was the manager of Mystica Online’s Monitoring Division within Proxit International. It was the job of the monitoring division to oversee players and insure that the game’s progression went smoothly.

“It appears as though a new player has received the ‘Luck is a Double Edged Sword’ feat sooner than expected.”

Daito’s eyes widened with curiosity.

“That was fast, the game has only been out for a week! The analytics team said the chance for a player to obtain that feat was less than one in a million. What’s this player’s name?”

“Dynus, sir. And it doesn’t stop at the feat he got…”

“What do you mean by that Riyu, just get it out.”

Riyu Soto was the man’s full name, he was just another desk worker at the monitoring division. Despite this he was a super fan of the game and enjoyed overseeing the players. However, even he was worried about what he was about to say.

“Sir, he already has the hidden quest for the ‘Unrivaled Tamer’ secret class.”

Daito heaved a heavy sigh before wiping his face.

“The analytics team needs to do a better job. This totally throws off our current timeline. They told us secret classes wouldn’t appear until around the first major update, and of all the possible classes it just had to be the Unrivaled Tamer.”

“Exactly sir, what should we do about it?”

Daito was worried about the balance of the game since Dante had received the first quest for a secret class. In Mystica Online, secret classes were major power ups from regular ones. Furthermore, not all secret classes were created equally. If Dante were to pass his quest and get the Unrivaled Tamer class then it would mean that he had a major one up on the rest of the players.

“Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about it. If we meddle with player-assigned content then it will look bad for the company. For now just go ahead and keep a watchful eye on this ‘Dynus’ guy. Report back to me if anything else happens with him.”

“Will do sir.”

…

Dante accepted the quest from Gaimus after pouting momentarily. If he declined it then it would count as failing the quest, meaning he would never be able to have a secret class in the future. No person in their right mind would want such a thing.

Right after Dante closed the quest menu another quest popped up in front of his eyes, thankfully though this one wasn’t ridiculous.

[All requirements have been met, you may officially begin playing the game.]

----------

Quest Name: Getting Started

Quest Difficulty: Very Easy

Requirements:

- Player who has received their first class

Description: Mystica Online currently has one major landmass for players to start their game on called the ‘Zeroti Continent’. You must go to the World Portal in the Gamer’s Hub, then enter it and choose where to begin your game from. Note that your choice will assign a nationality to you depending on which empire you begin in.

Rewards:

- Player nationality

Time Limit: None

[This quest cannot be refused.]

----------

Dante was happy to see this quest appear because it meant he could immediately begin leveling to achieve the requirements for his secret class.

[Quest ‘Getting Started’ has begun.]

…

After checking the map Dante found the location of the World Portal and entered it. The appearance of the portal was like a stone archway with a yellow magical energy that functioned as the door.

[You have entered the World Portal.]

[This is your first time using the World Portal. Please choose which empire to begin your journey with by saying out loud which option you prefer.]

[Option 1: Scylian Empire]

[Option 2: Empire of Gentari]

[Option 3: Akindi Empire]

[Option 4: Empire of Harpuus]

“Hmm, which to choose?”

The start location wasn’t necessarily a huge deal. All four starting empires were on equal footing and had the same access to resources. The only real difference between the four were their geographical location. The Scylian Empire was in the North East of Zeroti, the Empire of Gentari was in the North West, the Akindi Empire was in the South East, and the Empire of Harpuus was in the South West.

Additionally, players weren’t restricted by borders like NPCs unless they owned a noble title within a specific kingdom. This allowed them to travel to the various unique regions of the map without worry.

“I choose option 3, it sounds the coolest.”

[Option 3 has been chosen. Are you sure you’d like to begin your journey in the Akindi Empire? (Y/N)]

“Yes I’m sure, let’s get started!”

[Option 3 has been confirmed. Now traveling to the capital of the Akindi Empire: Gilded City.]

Dante’s vision went white for a few seconds before he was plopped into the center of a shopping district within the Gilded City. Although he couldn’t see much of the city yet, Dante could just tell by the sheer size of his surroundings and the amount of people around him that it was massive.

[You have arrived in the Gilded City.]

The name “Gilded City” came from the gigantic palace that sat at the center of the city. It was all white and lined with golden accents that made it look extremely luxurious. The dome that sat atop its highest tower was particularly eye catching as it was made purely out of gold.

Aside from the palace the rest of the city was extremely pleasant looking. White cobblestone lined the streets while various sized cottages, military posts, and businesses occupied the space around them. Overall the theme of white and blue was prevalent everywhere one looked.

After taking in his surroundings Dante immediately pulled up his stat sheet to assign the skill points he had earned from reaching level 2.

----------

Name: Dynus

Title: None

Noble Rank: None

Level: 2

Feats: 1

Class: Summoner

Affiliation(s): Akindi Empire

Renown: 0

Experience: 0/750

Skill Points: 5

HP: 100 (+)

Stamina: 50 (+)

Strength: 5 (+)

Intelligence: 15 (+)

Fortitude: 5 (+)

Agility: 10 (+)

Luck: 1,050 (+)

Available Summons: 0

Summon Limit: 1

Soul Power: 100 (0 used)

----------

The base stats for players were assigned according to class, so in the case of Dante who was a summoner his stats were similar to that of a mage. He had low strength and fortitude (defense), but high intelligence and average agility. In addition he had three extra stats which were specific to summoners.

“Before I do anything let’s see what the summoner stats are for in the help menu.”

[Available Summons: Refers to the amount of summons the player owns. Includes spirits.]

“Spirits? That sounds interesting. I can assume what summon limit means as well, but what about soul power?”

[Soul Power: Refers to the amount of energy within the player’s soul. This value dictates the summon limit of your character as well as the difficulty when taming monsters (100 soul power equates to 1 summon limit). Additionally, tamed monsters will occupy a certain amount of your soul power.]

“Ahh, so that’s the handicap on summoners. Without it we’d be able to tame an army right away and destroy the balance of the game.”

Dante then turned his attention back to the stat screen and decided to put one stat point into each stat aside from luck and HP to see how much they raised by per level. Afterward he was happy with the result.

----------

Skill Points: 0

HP: 100

Stamina: 100

Strength: 15

Intelligence: 25

Fortitude: 15

Agility: 15

Luck: 1,050

----------

“Not bad, it looks like all the stats raise by 10 per level aside from stamina which goes up by 50, and probably HP since it’s similar. What’s up with that luck stat though? 1,000 extra luck is ridiculous, I wonder how much it raises by level?”

With his stats out of the way Dante checked his inventory to see what he had equipped by default and was automatically depressed.

“Leather tunic, leather pants, leather shoes, and an iron sword. My base intelligence is higher than my strength, but they gave me a sword instead of a wand or staff?”

At the time Dante was unaware of the fact that a staff or wand required the user to know spells already to use, hence since he was a summoner without magic spells he was given a sword instead.

----------

Item: Leather Tunic

Type: Chest Piece

Rarity: Common

Rating: 10

Description: A simple leather tunic.

Requirements: None

Stats: +2 fortitude, +10 HP, Durability (50/50)

----------

Item: Leather Pants

Type: Greaves

Rarity: Common

Rating: 10

Description: A simple pair of leather pants.

Requirements: None

Stats: +2 fortitude, +10 HP, Durability (50/50)

----------

Item: Leather Shoes

Type: Shoes

Rarity: Common

Rating: 10

Description: A pair of leather shoes.

Requirements: None

Stats: +1 fortitude, +5 HP, Durability (50/50)

----------

Item: Iron Sword

Type: Sword (One handed)

Rating: 13

Description: A basic iron sword used by many.

Requirements: None

Stats: 10 Attack Power, Durability (100/100)

----------

“Thanks to the armor my fortitude is at 20 and my HP is at 125. It’s better than nothing I guess. Now how long do I have for the secret class quest?”

[Time Remaining (Quest: Recognized by Gaimus): 0 hours, 55 minutes, and 32 seconds]

“There’s no time to waste, I should check my map and go to the closest hunting grounds outside the city right away.”

According to the map the lowest level hunting grounds nearby was Redry Forest. It was occupied by various mobs like wolves, bears, and bandits, but included non-hostile mobs like deer and rabbits as well.

Most new players in Mystica Online would choose to train in the training grounds before heading out into the forest to level up. This was because the level of mobs within Redry Forest was from 5-10, which would make it difficult for a level 2 player to progress in. Dante on the other hand was a different story.

For a summoner, their biggest weakness was their own strength. They relied on the power of summoned tames in order to do battle. Therefore, Dante wanted to immediately tame a monster in the forest to help him out.

Aside from that, to gain access to the training grounds in the Gilded City players had to complete a quest for the guard to the grounds. Dante was already limited on time thanks to the “Recognize by Gaimus” quest, so he couldn’t go there even if he wanted to.

It took Dante about 10 minutes to get outside of the city and reach the forest. Thankfully the area he was spawned in was near the city gates.

[You have now entered Redry Forest.]

The forest wasn’t densely packed with trees, in fact it was rather sparsely packed. There were various meadows that surrounded it as well. The name “Redry Forest” came from the trees whose leaves would turn bright red in the fall.

Dante narrowed his eyes on a lone wolf he noticed near the edge of the forest. For now it would be easiest for him to target enemies that were by themselves since he was limited in hand-to-hand combat and had no other help.

“Let’s go ahead and test this out!”

Dante sprinted to the wolf and as he drew closer he was able to see its basic stats.

----------

Name: Grey Wolf

Level: 5

HP: 150

Soul Power: 250

----------

“It may be a little hard at first but it’s necessary that I test out my skills before taming anything.”

By test out his skills he meant his taming skills. On the way to Redry Forest he had viewed the information window on the three skills he received for becoming a summoner.

----------

Skill Name: Tame

Rank: 1 Star

Level: 1 (MAX)

Type: Active (skill)

Description: A skill used by summoners to tame mobs.

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Damage: Not applicable

Details and Effects:

- The odds of successfully taming a mob is based on the user’s soul power in comparison to the wild mob. The % of success equates to the user’s soul power divided by the mob’s soul power. For example: 100/500 (user soul power/mob soul power) = 20% chance of capture.

- Cannot use this skill on a monster whose health is over 25% of their overall HP

- Can be used on all non-human or non-intelligent humanoid species (like elves, dwarves, etc)

- Cannot be used on dungeon bosses or raid bosses

- Cannot be used on the summons of other summoners or owned spirits

- Taming chance can be bypassed if the tame willingly accepts their owner

- Hold hand out toward the target and shout “tame” to activate

- When a target monster is successfully tamed the user will receive 75% of the original EXP and gold that would be obtained for killing it

----------

Skill Name: Summon

Rank: 1 Star

Level: 1 (MAX)

Type: Active (skill)

Description: A basic spell used by summoners to summon one of their owned tames or spirits to a nearby location.

Cooldown: None

Damage: Not applicable

Details and Effects:

- Tames and spirits can be summoned anywhere within a 2 meter radius of the summoner

- Tames are summoned in exactly 1 second

- Tames and spirits must remain within 100 meters of their owner or else they will automatically be recalled

- Say “summon (monster’s name)” with a specific location in mind to summon the tame or spirit

----------

Skill Name: Summon Recall

Rank: 1 Star

Level: 1 (MAX)

Type: Active (skill)

Description: A basic spell used by summoners to unsummon a tame or spirit from the field.

Cooldown: None

Damage: Not applicable

Details and Effects:

- Unsummoning process takes exactly 1 second

- Tames and spirits can be unsummoned no matter how far they are from their owner

- Say “recall (monster’s name)” to recall the specified tame

- Tames will automatically be recalled if they are outside of a 100 meter radius from their owner

- Tames will automatically be recalled if their fatigue reaches max

----------

Dante was less than 10 meters away from the wolf when it noticed him. The wolf immediately began to growl then charged toward him.

“All I have to do is weaken it first, then I can try to capture it.”

The wolf was much faster than Dante, before he even realized it the wolf was pouncing in the air ready to attack him.

Dante quickly dodged by jumping and rolling to the side.

“That was close!”

The wolf narrowly missed Dante and it was well aware of that. To the wolf it was unlikely that Dante would be able to defeat him.

Dante recovered from his dodge as fast as possible then stood firm in place with his sword up, ready to swing when the chance arrived.

In the eyes of the wolf it took this as a challenge. The wolf sprinted to Dante again, but this time he was ready.

As the wolf came toward him Dante lowered his stance then swung sideways at the wolf when it was within range. To his surprise the attack actually went through, yet the wolf was still able to bite him

[25 damage dealt to target ‘Grey Wolf’ with Iron Sword.]

[53 HP lost due to enemy ‘Grey Wolf’ from Bite.]

53 damage! That number might not sound like much, but for Dante who had 125 HP it was just under half his overall health.

“That wasn’t even a critical hit, I can’t allow it to get another attack in or I might die…”

Death in Mystica Online was a scary concept for those who put in hard work. If a player died while playing their EXP bar would reset to 0% of their current level. In addition to that their account would be locked for 24 hours, making them unable to login until the 24 hours was up.

The wolf was aggravated with Dante and began growling furiously once again. However, it learned from its previous mistake of mindlessly charging at Dante, so it began to slowly circle him.

“It’s on guard now because of my attack.”

Dante checked the wolf’s health before continuing.

----------

HP: 125/150

----------

“I have to handle this fast or I’ll run out of time for my quest. If I get it down to 25% health I can capture it. As it stands the odds of a successful capture are roughly 40%.”

Dante slowly began to walk closer to the wolf, then with one bone chilling howl it leapt at him. This time Dante got into a crouched stance, then as the wolf was atop him he jabbed the wolf’s underbelly.

[Critical hit! 48 damage dealt to the target ‘Grey Wolf’ with Iron Sword.]

Due to the jab the wolf was flung behind Dante, causing it to fall and slide across the ground.

[Target ‘Grey Wolf’ took 17 damage due to a fall.]

“Now’s my chance!”

Dante ran toward the wolf and stabbed it before it could get back up.

[23 damage dealt to the target ‘Grey Wolf’ with Iron Sword.]

“It has less than 40 HP left, time to catch it!”

Dante held out his hand then shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Tame!”

The wolf was covered in a white light as it staggered back to it’s feet.

[Attempting to tame target ‘Grey Wolf…’]

[Taming successful!]

[Obtained 7 gold]

[Obtained 73 EXP]

[You have tamed a ‘Grey Wolf.’ Please give your tame a new name.]

“How about...Gnarl.”

[Your ‘Grey Wolf’ has now been named Gnarl.]

“Let’s go ahead and check his stat sheet.”

----------

Name: Gnarl

Level: 5

Rarity: Common

Gender: Male

Species: Grey Wolf

Personality: Aggressive

Evolution Requirements: Level 20, max affinity

Growth Factor: 1

Affinity: 5

HP: 150

Strength: 51

Intelligence: 10

Fortitude: 15

Agility: 22

Fatigue: 4/100

Description: The grey wolf is a common species that can be found all over the Zeroti Continent. They specialize in speed and attack, but lack in health and defensive strength.

Special Abilities:

Expert Tracker - Can track a target with just a trace of blood or faint smell. (30 second cooldown)

----------

“Awesome I did it! Although I have to share EXP with him it should be easier to level up now.”

Dante closed the information window for Gnarl.

“Summon Gnarl!”

Gnarl’s body appeared in front of Dante in a flash of white.

“He actually looks pretty cool.”

Dante smirked at his new tame. Originally he didn’t pay much attention to the wolf’s appearance because he was focused on fighting it, but now he noticed its features.

Gnarl was the same size as an adult wolf with a full body of light grey hair. He also had a black stripe of hair down his back. Not only were his teeth intimidating, but his eyes were a light green which added to the intimidation effect.

“How much time do I have left?”

[Time Remaining (Quest: Recognized by Gaimus): 0 hours, 41 minutes, and 08 seconds]

“Oh my god this is going to be a pain. Are you ready to do some hunting Gnarl?”

Gnarl growled at Dante and nodded. It appeared his aggressive personality would prove beneficial for Dante.

“Let’s get started then!”

Dante ran off with Gnarl close behind him. Now that he had the help of a level 5 mob it would be far easier for him to clear the forest!

Chapter End.