Seven? Does that mean Briar has other siblings? Or copies?
But Briar is a summon because something happened with the Codex.
So, is the Codex really part of this game? Or, is he part of this game now? Not as a player, but something else?
As he pondered over it, the Metal Slime jumped on his shoulder.
Kyuuuu!
It said as it became intangible, like a shadow, and tangible again.
"Oh, I forgot." He said as he tapped the slime and a panel appeared.
He looked at it, and then typed a few words, and then, he nodded. Satisfied, he looked at the slime, who was now a bit afraid of his naming sense.
[Metal Slime - Missile.]
With this, Zypher went on to levelling up Briar.
He then went to other dungeons and levelled up, while also hoarding for skills.
But, this type of player is considered by the game.
And so, they did something for those players who have too many skills, and almost forgets the skills, spells, abilities and manifestations they have.
The Deck System.
Simply put, players can get too many achievements, or skills, but they cannot match with each other. And so, people tend to forget those skills, or regret getting the achievement or title, making their playstyles monotonous, and sometimes, hits brick.
Brick - A gaming term for being stuck on something that players can get a hard time getting over.
And so, in the seventh year anniversary of the game, they added the Deck System, for players to be able to arrange their skills and items in order.
The deck system has five decks in total, and a player can use his resources to unlock more.
Each deck, has four faces, and two extra cards; just like a deck of cards that has four symbols and two jokers.
These faces can be also used in other decks.
Each face has combinations that a player can use to raise their skills up, or any other thing they can use for their disposal.
And today, built two faces.
First Face: Quick Face.
With the Skills Quick Step and Triple Stab, Zypher can use this to traverse the whole map within seconds, and killing enemies along the way.
And this is not just fast, but swift. Swift kill, swift movements, and swift everything.
One Man Army is a good title, but the effectiveness of it can only be used in the vicinity of the enemy.
And so, fighting with Quick Face is sometimes not applicable, but, this can be used for now.
Quick Face also has the Ability: Speed Boost. It is when the user uses a Skill related to speed, the speed is boosted by 30% all the time, but decaying.
And so, when Zypher uses Triple Stab, which is Quick Stab multiplied by three, he gets 90% faster, but lowers down by 15% per second.
6 seconds is good enough, and for Triple Stab that has 4 seconds cool down, and Quick Step with 5 seconds cooldown and 2 seconds duration, this speed is already overwhelming.
And now, Zypher is in a dungeon that completes this face.
Birds of a Feather.
The map of the dungeon is simple.
Atop a valley, there are monsters that live on it, soaring through the skies as if it is theirs, like hegemons who looks down on all things that touches the land by their feet.
Feathers that represents each color of the spectrum, giving off majesty as they flap their wings, and exudes deep aura.
These monsters are called Peadoves. Like peacocks, they are colorful, but they only let one hue in their feathers.
And, this makes them the perfect target for Zypher.
Peadoves has certain skills based on their element.
But this is not yet his concern. Zypher only targeted two colors for now - the yellow that represents the Lightning Attribute, and the green that represents wind.
The wind and wood Peadoves are sometimes interchanged, but with Zypher's eyes, he can distinguish what is green and what is emerald.
And so, he leapt through the tallest tree on the valley, and looked for nests in the vicinity, and there he saw it.
A yellow nest, and in another one, a green nest; but, nests also has their guardians.
Smirking, Zypher used Quick Step. He then jumped down the tree, and flew a little towards the yellow nest.
And when he did, the Pea Guardian woke up and attacked him.
What's funny is these species are called Peadoves because their nests looks like pea pods, and they hang on the tree, for additional protection.
But this did not stop Zypher. Using Triple Stab, he first arrived before the bird, next is on its back, and in the third stab, he arrived at the nest in which he grabbed one egg before flying off.
This speed was so quick that even the guard did not even have the time to react.
After that, it shouted, and all the Lighting Doves in the vicinity came to it. The Pea Guardian let out a shriek, but then, another shriek was heard. Now, it was from another Pea Guardian of the Wind Doves.
As soon as it happened, a certain smell permeated the air. Smelling this, the birds went on a frenzy mode as they frantically searched where the smell was coming.
Not that long after, a figure can be seen running around the forest, followed by the Lightning Doves and the Wind Doves.
He then proceeded with his plan.
Missile, can create a level one copy of itself. And each copy, can use the Skill: Record if they touch an enemy.
And, Missile, who used 10 mana per copy, can now have over 6 copies in one cast.
And Zypher, will throw these copies on to the doves that has the skill he wants.
Using the Skill: Appraisal, he can see where in the flock he can throw it and use it.
But, here comes the funny part.
Any slime he summons is neutral, due to Missile being a summon, and an abberant at that.
The slimes are in the field of neutrality, and so, he has to throw them, for them to become an "enemy" to him, and he can kill them, and absorb the skills or abilities they gained.
But you might think, the birds can fly, and so, how will Zypher catch those birds? Well, it's not that hard, for him.
As Zypher throws the slime to the enemy, it is also becoming an enemy to him, and so, using the first stab in the Triple Stab, he appears behind it and give it damage, but then, the bird, who is attacking him, will arrive soon.
He then uses the second stab to appear behind the bird, and also give it damage, and this will be the time when the slime will hit the bird, and using the third stab, with the crit of the trigger of Charity Dagger, he can kill them with one stab.
In this way, he can absorb a skill, and kill the enemies fast. With this movement, he can execute low-levelled enemies.
After a while, he got the two skills he wanted.
First is the Raijin Pace. It is a skill that uses the power of Lightning to step three to five times, with more and more distance after each use, and create a thunder strike every step.
Next one is the Fujin Step. This step is extremely calm, but one step can make the user traverse a mile within a second. This step is too fast that even Zypher had a very long time grinding before he caught one Wind Dove with this skill.
And so, using this tricks, he managed to complete 80% of the Quick Face. This percentage is based on the fact that he knows everything about the monsters and powers of the game from his past life.
And now, his target is not the birds, but something more powerful.
Without further ado, he took his next flight to the nearest nest.
Each nest has one guardian, but each two colors have one Elder.
And now, as he crushed his fifth Lightning Egg, together with the five Wind Eggs he crushed earlier, the Elder had enough.
[Birds of a Feather Hidden Boss - Storm Elder.]
In truth, he could've used the Water Doves' Eggs, but, he has other plans for them. For now, the Lightning and the Wind Birds will suffice.
And so, Zypher was overjoyed when the Elder appeared.
This time, he is sure to get what he wants.
In truth, the Elder drops it by 0.01, but Zypher is playing at Inferno mode, which gives him 100 times the normal drop rate.
As it cancels out, it is sure that it would drop, and Zypher will complete the Quick Face.
And so, he flew up using the Fujin Step, and he waited for the Elder. He the looked at the majestic gift coming to him, and he can't hide his smile.
"Come, baby!" He said as he gripped Charity Dagger.
A shriek came, and all the Lightning and Wind Doves went to him, but he is unbothered, in truth, he is excited.
Using the Raijin Pace, he used his first step, and the lightning bolt rained over the incoming flock, but the Lightning Doves are unaffected, but the same can't be said to the Wind Doves.
KRAAAAAAH!
The sharp shriek was heard again, but now, Zypher arrived before the Elder and used another step.
BANG! STAB! STAB! BOOM!
After the second step, he used Raijin Pace and Triple Stab simultaneously that it created a combo attack in which every step he makes gives him an opportunity to stab the opponent, and each stab has Lightning energy.
With one combo, he chipped out 10% of the health of the Elder.
With the Raijin Triple Stab Combo, he started on gaining momentum, and in his fourth round in doing so, when the Raijin Pace has it's fift step, and the third stab of Triple Stab, plus the critical strike of Charity Trigger, he dealt the damage that cleared the remaining health of the Elder Dove.
"KASHAAAA!"
It's whining and fearful cry carried resentment and hate, but all he could do is give a skill, an ability and the very first manifestation Zypher has obtained in the game.
Special Skill: Call of the Storm.
- Using Mana, summon a storm orb that explodes upon contact.
This skill, is not gonna land on Quick Face, as it uses energy to explode, meaning it can send the enemies away, and can break his rhythm.
Hidden Ability: Storm Bearer
- Any Water, Lightning, Thunder, Wind and Ice Skills, Abilities, Spells and Manifestations are 50% more effective.
This, can be used in many types of scenario, and Zypher can also get the other types to create a Face for this one, but it is still long before he does that.
Because the main dish of this buffet is this.
Speed Seal: Energizer.
- Speed charges through. Each movement stores kinetic energy, and explodes upon the user's discretion. Upon explosion, give 200% of user's current speed that decays over three seconds.
This was the thing that he was looking for, and now, he got it, the Quick Face is completed.
True to it's name, it is quick, speedy, and has a lot of agility, but it lacks defense and offense.
Battling a speedster is just waiting for them to get tired, because they lack the ability to finish someone because their speed is their focus.
But now, getting Energizer, and an evolved form of Triple Stab, which is Lightning Stabs, plus the steps and all, can make him run away as fast as possible, engage and disengage, and even fake an enemy into using their kit.
Kit - a gamer term that means their disposal of skills and other things they have in them to use in a battle.
And Zypher, is a master of fighting styles. And now, the finishing touches are done.