NOVEL WEB V1 Chapter 41: Battle Royale 1
- 1st Person POV (MC)
-Sunday, The day of the Event-
Days go by so quickly when you’re having fun. That is particularly true of what happened.
Me and Siegfried are LV59, purposefully done so we don’t get dragged to the LV60 pool of players. I can safely assume many players would’ve done the same.
The rest of the days after grinding were the usual re-stocking and re-crafting potions. My new addition of potions was well received by customers as Pochi Mochi’s forum mentioned it as a great boon in dungeons. It’s also due to that, I have gained more profits than usual.
I also renovated the Mini Deep Woods biome into Mini Lainore Forest and placed it in the ‘Large Section’ of My Home. With more space, I can put several plants found in Lainore Forest including the herbs. I didn’t miss out on putting some blue smaller trees within Mini Lainore Forest to add some aesthetic.
Then the rest... Siegfried and I casually discussed our abilities in his [Consume] and my [Creation (Small)] during those days. We experimented on whether his ability worked and it did. Siegfried's body turned slimy and capable of making himself spiky or shooting projectiles.
It means I can provide Siegfried monsters {Skill} and their unique abilities. So in a teamwork scenario, it will be a great boon!
Now, Sunday has come as I blearily wake up and freshen up my face. Eating a nice meal to fill my belly, I slapped my cheeks to hype myself up.
(“Today’s the day!!!”)
Cleaning up all the mess in the kitchen after use, I quickly dash to my bedroom to wear the helmet and press its big button.
-Entering O.w.O-
“Master, you’re back!!!” -Gaia-
He sprinted over and rubbed his head on my waist in joy. Gaia is so cute! I peppered him with kisses. He often frolicked around Lainore Forest, from what I can tell Gaia is happier and it might be his original homeland.
(“Ah!!! I almost forgot.”)
Immediately, I opened the event tab in the system. It's already started but I can see a countdown timer around 2 hours and a button to confirm ‘Teleport’.
Asking Gaia to guard the place around, I pressed the button and with a single blink. The world around me changes...
I am in a massive chamber with many players around me indicated by their tags as they could see me as well.
The chamber itself looks ever-expanding as more and more players teleport here. I presume we already got segregated depending on our LV range...
I wander to the walls of the room preferring not to mingle in the crowd too much. They provide benches for seating as I sit and relax.
“Yo! I knew you’d be here.” -Siegfried-
He appears amidst the crowd. He waved his hands with a smile on his face.
“Hahaha, you read me like a book.”
I chuckled at it, I am predictable in social situations as he noticed.
Taking a seat beside me, he then browses something mid-air I can see his lips pursed.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, not really but it appears my inventory has been cleared out and I cannot open the Safe.” -Siegfried-
Doing the same thing, I too unable to do those things well. They did tell us that there will be inventory changes. Also, the standard potions they’ll give us...
My eyes glanced to the side, seeing a training field within this ever-expanding room. Players of all classes playing around damaging the dummies. Even experimenting on their {Spell} or {Skill} hmm... More like double-checking.
“I guess it’s all reliant on {Skill}, {Spell}, {Status}, and equipment.”
I commented and Siegfried gave out a wolfish grin. He is always excited at the prospect of battling. I have some ideas on what to do once we are on stage. That would be for later... I prepared and memorized a lot of handy {Spell} after all!
Some players prefer to not do rash things rather they talk to other random players. Even as much as adding friends, ahhh... I wish I had that confidence. It’s just too many people here...
-2 hours have Passed-
After the countdown has reached its end. A panel popped in front of me, presumably Siegfried and other players too as their reaction to staring at mid-air was something...
It says I’ll be teleported to the corresponding ‘Area’ within 10 seconds, 9 seconds...
Huffffff...
I take a deep breath and let it out as Siegfried notices and brings up his hand. We clapped hands just in time before the countdown finished and my vision changed.
An announcement as loud and clear shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Let the Battle Royale Begins!!!!!” -Announcer-
-Battle Field Arena-
Dry winds blew past by and it’s hot in terms of temperature. My feet felt like it’s sinking as I looked down and realized I was in the middle of a desert.
“[Extend: Invisibility]”
“[Extend: Incorporeal]”
Casting that, my body turns invisible and my form is ghostly as I walk without leaving footsteps behind. My [Guidance] buff has been turned on as I cast the first support {Spell}.
Standing in the middle of an open area like this is asking for a <Snipe>. I do not want to waste a lot of MP for now.
Waiting for the slight drowsiness to fade away, I cast another {Spell}.
“[Widen: Locate Forest]”
Map System seems to still be working as a radius appears on it indicating a ‘Forest’ type of biome is there. It seems the desert is the central location of this ‘Area’.
In a hurry, I left the desert locale and encountered the forest biome. From beyond my vision, I can see a sheen covering the skies and a border that doesn’t allow me to leave.
Okay... I can set up a base here.
“[Star Fragment]”
Three shimmering colourful crystals emerge and I designate them to be A, B, and C. Giving internal commands to spread them out, they float away as I order them to cast [Widen: Alarm] as my medium. Since they have their own MP, I do not feel any drowsiness at all.
A, B, and C will act as my radar. [Alarm] is a simple field {Spell} that alerts me when things pass through the field, it won’t tell me what has passed but!! Knowing this ‘Area’ doesn’t have monsters it only means players have come.
“[Extend: Mirage Field]”
Waiting for the cast bar to finish, I assessed my map. In this battle, map awareness is another key factor for survival.
So far A, B, and C didn’t pick up players. If they went passed the [Alarm] field most likely they are rogue class.
Once the cast bar is finished, a barrier of shimmering colours is erected. It refracts light at first and then stabilizes. This field makes me and my allies have [Greater Invisibility] applied. Unlike [Invisibility] the greater version eliminates sounds and footstep markings I made and when I cast {Spell} I only revealed for a few seconds before vanishing again.
I sat on the ground till my MP fully recovered since the next step would be a gruelling one...
“[Double Sigil: Maximize Fire Ball]”
Making contact with the ground with my finger, two magical circles appear for a brief moment in bright red signifying fire. Simultaneously a cast bar appeared and began to fill up.
[Sigil] is a nifty {Spell} that allows a magic caster to set up a magical trap. I can assign whatever {Spell} I wanted to be attached with Meta Magic options.
And also...
Swiping my finger, three options appeared with fancy smancy visual effects like runes and stuff. Those three options are; Trigger, Timer, and Radius.
Trigger options can be Enemy Only, Ally Only, and Enemy & Ally
Timer options can be Remote Detonation, Instant, and Delayed where I can put seconds, minutes, or hours.
Radius options can be On Contact, Small, Medium, and Large.
Upon finishing what I choose, I can feel my body get heavier and my eyelids weigh like a ton. The damn forced upcasting makes it so costly. [Sigil] and [Fire Ball] are Tier 3 {Spell} gets upcasted then added Meta Magic options.
I’m pretty sure the damage is almost lethal to players of equal level but man it’s expensive...
I sat again resting by closing my eyes a few times until I felt normal then doing it all over again. Creating numerous mines around this base.
I also added extra surprises in the [Sigil] that work for Ally which means me.
I felt relieved and safer after seeing all the magic circles littered on the base. All placed randomly of course and since I’m the caster, I can see where they are.
Here comes the other issue...
Does the ‘Area’ border get smaller as time goes on? If so I might need to relocate. If not, then I can stay here and do the next best thing.
“[Widen: Scry]”
After casting it, a large panel appeared showing me a vast bird eye view of the map in real time plus I could zoom in to see closer.
--
Ohohoho???
I can see players battling against one another, far from here where my [Alarm] radius didn’t reach. Into the desert locale...
In this event, there are two goals. First, Survive and Second, get as many points as possible.
Survive gives a ton of points but it won’t be enough to win the 1st prize nor the 3rd...
That is why I need to also aim for the second goal, I have already prepared a chain of {Spell} to do that.
With a deep breath, I checked my overall body and confirmed that it was good. I am raring to go...
“[Triple: Range Up]”
Triple is a Meta Magic option that is a higher version than Double but of course, there will be drawbacks. Because it is a ‘Subsequent’ cast, each additional {Spell} costs double the amount from the last; original cost, two times, four times, eight times more etc...
I aimed at myself, this [Range Up] buff can stack increasing the range of a {Spell} or projectile attack and I can feel a sudden heaviness encompassing my body.
Immediately, I sat down and closed my eyes for a bit to get some respite.
After a minute or two, I was blinking in and out. I finally felt fine enough to begin.
Cross-referencing the [Scry] and my map. I begin to cast a {Spell}.
“[Widen: Thunder]”
I point at a location where my [Scry] detected a cluster of players fighting against one another.
Soon the cast bar began and the visual effects started. Through my [Scry] the clouds begin to darken, coalescence into one big turbulence.
Then...
*BLAAAAAARRR*
A flash of striking yellow covered my [Scry] and in an instant. I got some points from the notification...
-Perspective Change 3rd Person POV-
“OHOOOO!? THE PLAYERS SEEM TO HAVE FOUND EACH OTHER.” -Announcer-
A harmonized shout of excitement came from her back as she was sitting on a floating ride meant for a single person.
In this colosseum-like location, she levitates and manipulates a big screen in the centre. She waved her hand and the massive screen in front, displayed a skirmish between myriads of players.
They seem to be in serious combat. {Spell} being slung towards one another. The clashing of metal or the sounds of punches hitting flesh echoed on the screen.
Then...
*Rumble* *Rumble*
“OH??? IT SEEMS THE WEATHER IS A BIT SPICY” -Announcer-
Her brows furrowed unnoticed by the spectators as she thought.
(“They didn’t tell me about the terrain??”) -Announcer-
Brushing off that thought, she continues giving comments...
Several spectators murmured upon seeing what was going on.
“Is there a terrain effect or something?” -Curious Player-
“They didn’t say anything about it though...” -Unsure Player-
The rumbling grew louder until...
*BLAAAARRRRRRR*
Bright yellow flash overpowered the screen for a blink of an eye then returned.
“Huh???” -Surprised Player-
“Did someone cast a {Spell}? It looks like [Thunder].” -Knowledgeable Player-
-Meanwhile on the Battlefield-
Several players that had survived the incoming [Thunder] dispersed.
“What the heck was that???” -Player-
He wore a flowing robe while desperately running away from the desert.
“[Invisibility]”
His body turns transparent blending in with the surrounding colours. In hopes the caster of that [Thunder] won’t target him.
(“How? [Thunder] is a Tier 5 {Spell}, and the cast time takes significantly longer time than the usual slinging [Fire Ball] or [Ice Storm]. So, there must be a player covered with visual effects...”)
He squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows, in that situation, he didn’t see anyone having that kind of visual effect.
(“Could it be? A {Skill}?”)
That is the only explanation that he’s gotten before running away into the depths of the forest.
...
Another player, with pointed ears, and a heavily scarred face. Judging by the wrinkles of his face, that player’s age is old or he could be altering his age in character creation.
After the [Thunder] strike, he expertly uses <Body Decoy> to evade, evidently by his lack of hurting visual effects on his body.
(“Who did it? Is it a {Skill} that makes casting visual effects go unnoticed? No... A {Skill} that is useful must be in legendary rarity and I already know who has it. She’s in LV100 Pool so there is no way another {Skill} like that will appear.”)
Legendary grade {Skill} is one of a kind. If a player got it, then no other players would have it.
Understanding that the elven rogue goes to the familiar biome where he often lingers. Right inside the fresh greenery of the forest. As it is closed by its canopy will prevent an air strike attack.
Hiding in one of the tall branches of the forest. He muttered under his breath.
“[Eyes of the Forest]”
Blinking his eyes, a green glint courses through his pupils and in an instant. He located several non-elves players dotted on his map.
That is a special ability given to elves, it reveals a large area of non-elves creatures whether it will be players, monsters, and the like. The downside though that it can only be used in a land filled with vegetation. So he cannot use it during the skirmish in the desert. That was why he got caught by surprise.
“Odd...”
He saw several players roaming about searching for others and indeed clashed against one another. His eyes narrowed into one particular dot that stayed still as if stuck in one spot.
After noticing it, he realizes what an odd thing to happen. Another player that is near that dot simply didn’t realize it and just went by without even a clash.
It only means one thing.
“I need to investigate that.”
-Perspective Change to 1st Person POV (MC)