Everlast Online

"This is gonna be good." Nina smiled as each of the 3 girls held the last remaining rewards they had gotten from the baron kidnapping quest, "Which should we open first?"

"Save the best for last." Liz said resolutely, this was a common mindset for her as she was often forced to give things up due to her difficult life, "So random skills first."

"Cool!" Nina smiled, placing her armour set box down on the table between them.

In each of the women's hands were [Skill Scrolls], specifically scrolls that had no absolutely no guidance in the skills they granted. A mage could get a physical skill; an assassin could get a skill that just made loud noises with them at the centre. Of course the reverse was also true, a mage could get a powerful spell and an assassin could get some kind of instant kill poison skill - It was literally a roll of the dice.

Gloria, the most reserved of the 3 women, felt a strange sense of excitement at the possibility; a result of her past as a gambler between spending time increasing her power to save her race. She even let a small smile spread across her face behind her mask.

"Okay. On Three. One... Two... Three!" Liz called out, wanting the 3 of them to use their scrolls at the same time. She had never had friends before - not real ones anyway - and wanted to bond with the ones she had acquired in Everlast Online.

"I got a dud..." Nina sighed, as she looked at the other 2 with a disappointed smile.

[Singing (0%) (F): Improves the users ability to sing]

"Same..." Liz laughed since she had not expected to get an incredibly useful skill, "But it still seems kind of cool as a hobby."

[Doll Maker (0%) (D): Teaches the user the art of crafting dolls and puppets] (A/N: fyi there is no magic in this skill. It's a basic crafting passive skill that helps her make dolls and puppets, she can't control them - at least not with the [Doll Maker] skill at least ;) )

They then turned to Gloria who remained as static as ever.

"I got quite a useful skill." Gloria finally spoke, before explaining the skill she had acquired:

[Sturdy Body (1) (D+): Massively increase the durability of a single part of your body for 5 seconds. Durability scales with END and skill level. Cooldown - 10 seconds]

"Whaat!" Nina moaned, "This isn't fair!"

Liz giggled at her antics as Nina complained how she got the worst skill out of the 3 of them.

"Haha, onto the clothes then." Liz finally said, interrupting Nina as she grumbled about her new singing skill. This seemed to brighten her mood as each of the picked up the small boxes that supposedly contained their new clothes. She picked up the little box and inspected it, quite intrigued by the magic behind it:

[Class Armour Set (C)]

[Grants the one who opens the box a C-rank armour set related to their class]

This is quite good timing as I had recently begun outgrowing the usefulness of the stat bonuses. Liz thought as she willed the box to open with the other 2 girls simultaneously.

"Beautiful...", "Awsome!", "Splendid." Each of the girls spoke at the same time as they each viewed the outfits they had received.

Liz was quite excited by what she had received:

[Grave Princess Set (C): Even beyond the grave you uphold the dignity royalty - [+15% Increase to INT], [+5% Power when using Undead-Type skills]]

[Set Effect: [Increases affinity with all intelligent undead races], [Grants Undead Command Skill], [Allows user to walk with the grace of a princess]]

• [Undead Command (C): Take control of a single unintelligent undead for 5 minutes]

[Equip Conditions: [Undead-Type Race], [Necromancer Class], [Female]]

The set was also quite beautiful in a way Liz couldn't full explain.

It was a black and blood-red ball gown, one befitting a princess with frills and lace all over it; the strange part was that it was in tatters, rips and dirt over the body of the dress. Along the neck was a black amulet with a dark purple gem inside of it; it was purely aesthetic with no practical use, but Liz had never seen anything like it. At least not until she looked up to the head piece: A black tiara. It was similarly made from black metal and dark purple gems, only it was the single part of the entire set that wasn't in any way dirty - like it reflected the honour of royalty.

Liz wasted no time in equipping the set and looking at herself in awe as she found herself in the most beautiful dress she had ever worn in her entire life; even if it had been adjusted with her [Dress-Up Doll] attribute.

Nina had a less fairytale response to her new equipment:

[Performers Costume (C): These clothes were made for you and you were made for the stage - [+15% Increase to AGi], [+5% Increase to CHA]]

[Set Effect: [Increases success rate of all manipulation/deception-type skills], [Face becomes harder to recognise when in use]

[Equip Conditions: [Acting-Type Class]]

(A/N: Set effects may not be entirely clear in the sense of a performing setting. 1st effect is since acting is basically just lying to and manipulation of an audience. 2nd effect is to allow performer to play multiple roles or become more convincing in a role)

While Nina loved the effects of the outfit she still found it to be a little... Excessive.

For starters the colours were extremely bright and garish, a mix of red, blue and pink. The skirt was short and quite rigid such that it would not flow or twirl as she moved with it, the shorter skirt also revealed a pair of multicoloured stockings and a pair of shoes in mismatched colours. The chest area was a bright pink corset that heavily drew attention to her breasts, while the skirt was a mismatch of red and blue; for the head it was a classic jester hat that matched well with the corset.

Nina wasn't entirely keen on showing off her body with the set, but equipped it regardless.

Finally was Gloria who felt her armour was perfect for her:

[War Maiden (C): Upon the battlefield you are death, a wolf among sheep - [+15% STR], [+5% END]]

[Set Effects: [Improves basic ability with all weapon types]]

[Equip Conditions: [Demise Knight Class], [Female]]

The set was much less bulky than the one she was currently wearing, very much fitting to her form. The parts Gloria considered armour were made of black metal, but draped over them was a white dress, one Gloria found to be quite gorgeous. The armour held a number of spikes on the pauldrons and forearms; the armour even came with a mask as the headpiece as if it knew Gloria preferred to wear a mask.

Gloria equipped the armour immediately as she smiled at how perfectly it fit her.

These are amazing! All three women thought simultaneously.

---

3 women looked at the building they had just purchased with joy; the symbol of a helmet with white wings extending from behind it striking pride into the crowd of women behind them.

"You're amazing eldest sister." The largest of the 3 women turned to the one in the middle and spoke with second-hand pride, "It only makes sense that you were the first."

"It is only with yours and Elli's help." The beautiful woman said with a kind smile as she looked at her 2 younger sisters.

"You are too humble, elder sister." Elli said while trying to hide the reverence she felt for her sister, "Alex is right, you should be incredibly proud."

"Haha. Well I suppose you're correct." The woman laughed elegantly before turning to face the crowd behind her, "With this we have created a foundation for our influence in ELO! We, The Valkyries, shall reign supreme over Galdrash!"

Cheers exploded from the crowd as they all basked in the glory of their guildmaster.

This was Isla, the leader of one of the mega guilds: Valkyries, she had an incredible amount of power in all aspects. She was exceptionally talented with all the money she could ever need, had beauty that could topple nations and the political influence to control them.

She and her 2 younger sisters had consistently dominated every game they had joined with Elli's fearsome intellect, Alex's great martial power and Isla as the lynchpin that tied everything together.

In ELO Isla had received the [Drude] race during the beta. This was a type of demon, specifically a corrupted dryad. Their abilities focused on controlling nature while also corrupting it; her first racial skill was an exceptionally powerful one, even if it slightly relied on the environment:

[Nature Drain (B): Passively dain the life energy from surrounding plants to recover HP and MP]

As a passive skill - though one Isla could toggle on and off - it couldn't improve, but it still made her an exceptionally dangerous individual to fight; Isla also had the skills to back herself up when not using the skill.

She had also received a secondary skill from defeating one of the guardians blocking the routes to the next area.

[Vine Whip (1) (D+): Allows user to expend mana to create a whip out of vines. Mana cost to directly manipulate, but only initial cost to create. Strength of whip scales with INT and skill level]

This was not as exceptional as her other racial skill, but still a perfect one for Isla as her favourite weapon in any game was the whip; she even had the [Whip] skill after choosing the warrior class.

Isla herself was exceptionally powerful and skilled, but her sisters were also exceptionally powerful.

They had also received races perfect for their respective abilities: Elli was a [Dodomeki], a frail race that excelled in magic; and Alex was an [Amazonian] who held exceptional physical power, but little to no magic talent.

All of the women of Valkyries were exceptional, but the 3 leaders of the guild stood head and shoulders above the rest.

And now as they had become the first guild in ELO, their influence would surely skyrocket.

---

While one of the mega-guild leaders was celebrating, another was consumed in a ball of fury.

"FUCK! THAT FUCKING BITCH!" Golden Monarch screamed, destroying the filthy huts all around him, "I'LL KILL HER! I'LL KILL THAT DIRTY WHORE!"

Golden Monarch couldn't stand that he had been upstaged again.

First that little runt Smokey and now this! He fumed as he sat on the charred body of the orc chief he had killed again. Even going through the dungeon multiple times had not been enough to quench his anger.

Smokey had once again disrespected Golden Radiance during a quest where his subordinates needed to escort a noble; this was bad enough, but for Isla to not only beat him to making a guild, she had also upstaged his accomplishment of clearing a dungeon quest; no one on the forums was even talking about it.

"At least the reward was worth it..." He muttered, finally calming down slightly as he looked at what he had acquired from completing the dungeon quest:

[Humility (~~~): A sword with holy power, it has bound to your soul]

[Rank 1: [+15% Attack Power], [+5% Power of holy-type skills], [+Smite Skill]

• [Smite (1) (B): Imbue holy energy into your sword and smite down your enemies. Strength of attack scales with INT, STR, evilness of target(s) and skill level]

[Rank 2: Locked]

[###]

"This is the kind of reward someone like me deserves." A dark smile spread across the dragonewt's face and those around him backed away - expecting another burst of anger.

"Hahahaha! Soon enough this world will be mine." He laughed, thinking about all the things he would do to his enemies; while he couldn't do much to Isla, he would enjoy the torture he would inflict onto Smokey.

---

"Hmmm. That is concerning." A melodic voice spoke out from within the abyss of space, a woman looking down on the world of Galdrash, "What the hell is Michael thinking giving someone like that his blade."

As she sighed her breath landed in the middle of a desert, instantly causing plants and foliage to sprout out from below the sand and replacing the barren landscape.

"Damn... I didn't mean to do that." The woman giggled at her mistake, it was a little annoying, but not necessarily bad.

"Well. I can't really do anything now, I'll just have to leave it up to fate."

"I really wish Arthur didn't have to let people like that into here. It really brings down the mood."