《AMAZON》
AMAZON 01 - Want to make a buck, selling me out?
YEAAAH!!!!!
The coliseum thundered with thee echoing cheer of the gathered players. The huge construct easily can contain millions of spectators. However, the currently jam-packed coliseum boasted a viewer count over 20 million, the highest ever for any ranker tournament.
Ranker tournament is a system hosted tournament allowing players of ''AMAZON'' to contest for stupendous treasures. In the year 2025, AMAZON MMORPG Online came out as the first full immersion gaming experience that took the virtual world by the storm. Though expensive, everyone who had an experience of being transported to a magi-filled fantasy world, found the price completely reasonable and within a short time, the frightening demand for its game cabin increased the price to ten-fold in the black market. Fortunately, Mythic Ascension Corporation, the founder and manufacturer of AMAZON amped up the production of the game cabins to maintain the price, ensuring smooth supply.
It is not that the company does not want to capitalize on the demand price inflation, the game nature being MMORPG, AMAZON can only fully exhibit its potential only if it has a huge player base. Very quickly, by popular demand, impactful marketing, and robust production; the gamer count went beyond 2 million in just the first month.
It has been two years since the game went live, AMAZON now boasts a player population of almost 3 billion. With the approval of half the world''s population, AMAZON became the biggest social hub, elevating human interaction and commerce to an unprecedented level via the digital interface. Now, Mythic Ascension Corporation is the biggest company in the world wielding limitless capital and astounding influence around the globe.
The whole system of AMAZON is handled by the most advanced AI in the world: Aphion, the Goddess of Miracle. She also serves as the top tier NPC and the guardian of AMAZON. Aphion is helped by 12 sub-tiered God and Goddess NPC, who oversee AMAZON.
Being the first fully immersion MMORPG game and its ultra-realistic environment with magical quests and dragons made the players treat AMAZON as a second world. The game also has time-dilation rooms that helped the elite of the society to better manage their busy schedule. Shortly after AMAZON rose in popularity, the focus of various corporations and real-world powers were directed towards AMAZON. What once has started as a Mythical Fantasy world has turned a more cut-throat and divided planet of various superpowers of the real world. AMAZON now serves the whims and desires of big corporations as they hoard the game resources and in-game production lines making massive profits skinning the independent players to their bone.
Aphion has created various player quests, training opportunities, and resource competition to restrict the Super Guilds backed by real-life superpowers to monopolize the game resources. However, either with tempting offers or by force or coercion, one corporation or the other will swiftly annex the new player who stumbled upon a game opportunity into their ranks. The various Corporation couldn''t help but laugh at Aphion''s attempt to neutralize their powers. One such event that allows even a non-guild player to have the chance to receive a Divine-Rank artifact is the ''Ranker Tournament.''Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Which Guild do you think will rank first?"
"Heh¡ Is there a need to ask? Infernal Force Guild members are sure to take the top 10 spots! After all, the famed Stawin Corporation has invested a lot in them and is a major shareholder."
"True that¡ non-guild players like us stand no chance against behemoths like them¡"
Overhearing the conversation of the dejected duo, the nearby independent players could not help but smile bitterly. This has become the reality for non-guild players, prosperity in AMAZON can be sought with adequate might. A curvaceous cursemancer who is decked in basic equipment looked down on her in self-pity when she overheard the conversation. However, a little girl who was on holding onto the cursemancer was oblivious to the woes of the adults, unwittingly uttered¡
"Big sis, didn''t you say Garuda will take the number 1 spot¡"
As soon as the little girl mentioned Garuda, the eyes of all the independent player brightened.
"Ha-ha, little girl you should not listen to the lies of the adults," loudly called out a voice tinged with arrogance¡
"Cheh¡ who do you think¡" the retort of an independent player got caught in his throat as he recognized the man who said it¡
"I think I am Two Fingers, commander of Infernal Force battle legion," the succinct reply and the guild badge on his armor stopped everyone from guessing. When he walked to the little girl who spoke about Garuda, the cursemancer put herself in the middle, shielding the child behind her.
"You think you are qualified to get in my way?" curtly asked Two Fingers when saw the basic equipment of the cursemancer.
Sigh! "I wanted to get to into the fighting area without any fanfare. Guess that''s not possible anymore," an easy-going voice interjected when the pressure of Infernal Force commander''s aura was mounting on everyone.
"WHO IS IT? SHOW YOURSELF IF YOU HAVE GUTS! LET ME SEE WHICH IDIOT LOST HIS BRAIN AND GOT IN THE WAY OF INFERNAL FORCE''S BUSINESS!" the man who''s the subordinate of the Infernal Force''s commander bellowed out and all 100 men that wore the Infernal Force Guild emblem started to search for the man who spoke out.
Peanuts, a Lvl 20 Elementalist, was just checking out the commotion until the hooded guy beside him spoke out, getting in the middle of Infernal Force''s business. He suddenly felt like a lightning fell on his head and immediately put a wide distance between the hooded stranger and him. If it was just an arrogant player showing off, Peanuts will just rat him out earning the favor of the Super Guild, but he knew that the guy spoke out only to help the cursemancer and the little girl.
"Psst brother, I laud your courage for speaking out, but if you keep standing here, the men of Infernal Force will find you. Why don''t we take off before they catch us?" though Peanuts addressed the hooded player with familiarity his eyes kept roaming around and his legs angst, ready to sprint at moment''s notice.
"Don''t you want to make a buck, selling me out?"
"Ah! I¡ I was¡ Don''t... Don''t look down on me, brother, I may be poor in AMAZON, but I won''t do anything to make a profit. You stepped in to help that cursemancer and that little girl. Now that the Infernal Force people are distracted, we completed our heroic act, we should get the hell out of here!"
"We¡?"
"Brother, this is not the time for details!"
Gritting his teeth, Peanuts opened a trade tab with the hooded stranger, "Here take this instantaneous movement scroll, but remember it''s a loan! Use is only if you are about to get caught," generously traded Peanuts with a cry face.
Garuda, the Ruler of Skies, has arrived!
¡®Dammit! Why do I have the bad luck of seeing this guy helping out a stranger! I admit I am scared of the Infernal Force, but if I can¡¯t even help the guy who put his head into the lion¡¯s mouth for the Independent player, I cannot even call myself a man!¡¯
¡®Crap! Crap! Crap!¡¯
¡°Well¡ if brother Peanuts insist, I will take this scroll, but I will exchange something of mine with you¡¡±
Before Peanuts could say anything, the hooded stranger put up a dull-looking rusty weapon from his spatial bag and accepted the trade. As soon as the trade completed, the magic scroll went to the stranger and the rusty weapon came to Peanuts¡¯ bag, after which without a word, the hooded stranger started walking away from Peanuts.
¡®Ah it¡¯s just my luck! I thought this brother was of noble character, now he has exchanged this trash weapon with me, I can¡¯t even ask back for the scroll even if he doesn¡¯t use it¡¯
Sigh! ¡®Guess, I am taken advantage of again¡¡¯ lamented Peanuts as he clicked on the weapon on the bag interface, hoping to salvage least some scrap of value. In AMAZON, equipment can be disintegrated with a chance of obtaining the ores used in the equipment making, lower the weapon quality the more the percentage of probability and amount of raw materials extracted. This mechanism allows the newly adventuring gamers to save a bit on their equipment cost when they are still weak. Only players of Lvl 20 or below can avail this feature.
Rueful over the loss of his scroll, Peanuts checked the tier and rank of the rusty weapon. However, as soon as he did, Peanuts was stunned into silence.
***
EQUIPMENT STATS:
[Staff of Apprenticeship] [Ancients¡¯ Staff] (Two-handed staff, Mythic-Grade staff Lvl 30-60)
Equipment Requirement: Intelligence 100, Vitality 50
Equipment effect:
Attack Power: +560
Defense: +230
Attack speed increased by 20%
All spell casting time reduced by 50%A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
100% chance to double casting
40% chance on critical hit
Ignore levels +15
Additional effects:
Intelligence increased by 50%
Strength increased by 20%
Dexterity increased by 30%
Speed increased by 15%
Endurance increased by 25%
Vitality increased by 10%
Charisma increased by 5%
All items Lvl requirement decreased by 10
All spells proficiency increased by +6 Lvl
Mythic Effects:
Equipment skill 1: Beast Companion
Effect: Summons a monster mount of +1 tier.
Defense of the summoned creature increased by 300%
Strength increased by 200%.
Duration: 2 hours
Cooldown: 12 hours
Description: Allows the wielder to summon a companion to fight by side or can be used for travel allowing user to recover stamina and concentration.
Equipment skill 2: Mana Dome
Effect: Cast a mana dome around the wielder that can take damage of 20 times of the player¡®s HP+MP.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 1 hour
Description: Insta-casts a mana dome around the wielder to defend against attacks that is of 20 times of the total HP+MP.
Equipment skill 3: Void Blink
Effect: Instantly travel 1000 meter via spatial tunnel
Duration: 1 second
Cooldown: 10 minutes
Description: Insta-casts a spatial tunnel allowing the wielder to shift 1000 meters in one second. No chanting or hand-seals required.
Durablity: 400/550
Weapon Description: This staff is designed for the basic apprentices of the Ancients Clan. A default staff used by the lower-class apprenticeship in the prestigious Manacloud School of Magic. Though the staff is common during the time of Ancients, for the present ages such magical staff is extremely precious. May contain clues that leads Ancient¡¯s magical tomes. May trigger a Legacy quest based on the wielder¡¯s spell casting performance. Hard to repair, may explode once the durability falls below 1/3.
***
When Peanuts first read the name of the staff, ¡®Staff of Apprenticeship¡¯, he was thoroughly incensed at the hooded stranger and wanted to curse at him, but the word ¡®Ancient¡¯s¡¯ caught his eye and the as soon as he read the rank of the weapon he wanted to slap-himself to know if he¡¯s dreaming or not. Weapons are of 12 grades starting from Common-Grade to God-Grade. Mythic Grade is just third from the top. So far, there is no news of any Super Guild possessing a God Grade equipment. Mythic Grade is already very rare and often causes guild wars when one was found.
Peanuts could not believe his luck when he got a Mythic Grade staff in exchange for a measly Instantaneous Movement Scroll. He wanted to thank his lucky stars that he did not chose to rat out the stranger. Infernal Force may have given him an Iron Grade random equipment if they are feeling generous.
Huff! Huff!
¡®I¡¯ve hit the jackpot! So this is what mom meant by great things happen to noble people¡¯ Peanuts nodded to himself reading the weapon stat for the 11th time.
¡®Ah Shucks, I missed on getting this rich and generous brother¡¯s name. Let me check on the Game Log, his name would be recorded in the Materials Traded panel.¡¯
However, when Peanuts checked on the Game Log he felt incredulous like the world is spinning, his Game Log showed a short phrase¡
[Staff of Apprenticeship received from Garuda, Lvl ???, Tier ?, Divine Saint.]
¡°He¡ he is Garuda¡¡± though Peanuts¡¯ voice was faint as he said that out in daze. Everyone quietened, the arrogant guild members abruptly stopped as the hooded player went towards Two Fingers.
Chuckling to the stupefied silence of the crowd, he removed his hood, which was an enchanted stealth equipment of the High-Elves.
As soon as the hood came off and intense wave of pressure surrounded everyone, the independent players did not feel dismayed by this pressure as it quickly alleviated all their fatigue. However, the same cannot be said for the Guild members of Infernal Force.
¡°Di¡Divine Domain¡¡± appalled a high level adventurer.
Every step Garuda took towards Two Fingers felt like he was smashed down by a war hammer. In just two steps, everyone but the 1st Legion commander fell down to their knees.
¡°Garuda! Don¡¯t push your luck!¡± said Two Fingers with gritted teeth glaring at the no. 1 independent player in the entire AMAZON¡
¡°Garuda, the Ruler of Skies, has arrived!¡±