It all Started Small

TING!

Lira almost had to step back to stabilize himself after an object slammed in his leg.

"Well…whathefuck?"

"Sorry! I was trying to finish this creature that was escaping, and I missed my throw!"

Lira looked at the spot on his armor where the spear been deflected off – no scratch marks or dents. Then, he turned to look at the girl jogging this way who had yelled such a response to him.

First thing he noticed, as a young man, was that she was very attractive and not afraid to show it. Brunette with dyed blonde streaks in the hair. Low cut V-neck, summer jean shorts, and maybe adidas running shoes. Second thing, he realized as a result of the first was that she was wearing no gear of any kind that he could see. Lastly, he realized she was dragging along a humanoid creature with a horn on its head that was just about as large as she was.

*Strong, huh. That's about 30 yards away. If I didn't have my armor, well I don't know about vitality, but a regular human would have died in the long run or been lodged to the ground.*

*Missed your throw? Um, what?*

"Why would you throw it so hard if you couldn't aim it? If I had been someone else, you would've been responsible for an accidental death."

She, who was originally smiling apologetically, immediately changed her expression to a smirk.

"Well, good thing you're not, huh, big guy?"

*Oh, so that's how it's going to be?*

"Allllright then."

Lira then turned to continue his walk to Che's. He was now just down the road.

"Waaaait a moment. Come on, don't be such a pussy!"

*Oh my god, if I wasn't raised right…*

Lira didn't turn around.

"What? You got something to say? Speak. Got places to go."

"But…do you? Come on, I can tell you've played games before, and you're clearly strong. You're calm and alone. Very few people around here are like that right now. This experience must be surreal to you, right? I know you've thought about it right now."

*…*

"Thought about what?"

The girl laughed and walked around to the front of Lira.

"Oh, come on, don't play dumb! Being strong! What ruled the world before? Money! Money was strength, but now, we're at such low-levels and yet have such strength. Seems to be like personal and group strength will rule the world soon. And you, you took my spear like it was nothing! Didn't even fall. You should see that I'm strong. We could be something together; start a group."

*Starting to wonder if she hit me on purpose, but then that level of aim would be frightening. Very few people have such precision if they aren't axe throwers, etc.*

"Hmm. What you've said could be true. Or, the military could centralize and shred anyone who breaks the peace. At the least, these are delusions that would require a god-awful amount of effort to realize."

"The military? Have you seen the news in the last thirty minutes? The white house was hit with an explosion. Monsters are appearing EVERYWHERE. The creature I just killed is definitely not something that a few bullets can kill. If those soldiers aren't fighting for their lives right now, they're dying without supplies like so many others. The factories that produce metal for their ammo? Down. A large tower has appeared over Salt Lake City. The world is in chaos and will continue to be. This is the time where the strong hold up humanity and solidify their place at the top."

"You talk like a psychopath, hmm? But, I don't disagree. The issue is, I don't know you. How could I trust you with my life, especially after what you just pulled?"

*He's so careful. So unexpected. Usually, people are more accepting. I didn't expect him to be such a pussy for how cool he looks.*

"Well. Just trust me?"

"…"

Lira just stared at her, his eyes widening a little in disbelief.

"Ah! Why do you look so condescending?!"

"Just trust you? Listen. I, like most other people, have a family. The first thing on my mind is reaching them as soon as I can while leveling. If I was at a different point, sure I'd take the risk and enjoy the journey, but not with my parents or my friends right now. Call it duty. However, I agree that a group would be best, so here. Given some time, I'll certainly be focused on being among the strongest. It's what I will have to do to protect my people; it'll also just be fun. So, let's start a group. I'll be based in this area but gone for several days. Once, I'm ready to start the climb, I'll come back here, and we can build up the group and dominate. Sound good?"

The girl looked at him for a moment, the same smirk still plastered on her face. Then, it widened to a smile.

"You talk a lot, huh? Deal! Now…what's your name?"

"Real name or…player name?"

"Hmm. Player name. We'll be known by our player names, so we'll also go by them!"

"Lira."

"Nice to meetcha, Lira. I'm Ion."

"Great. I'll be on my way now, Ion. Better keep up those levels."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be eating my dust."

"Right."

Lira had already started to walk away before he turned back and called her name.

"Actually, ION. ION. We're going to be a group. What's the name? It's gotta represent how incredible we'll be."

Ion looked back and put her finger to her lips.

"Hmm. I'm a bit arrogant, so…how about The Uncrowned Kings?"

*Edge. She's an edgelord.*

"The Uncrowned Kings? Hmm. I think it's too defining. Leave a little to the imagination."

"Okay then…the Immortals."

"You got even more arrogant, lord. Fine, it works! Now, we gotta go real hard to keep up with such a name. Fortune and talent need be by our side."

Lira swiped right, popping up his status window, and clicked Clan. After a bit of jiggering, he finally saw a screen prompting Clan creation.

*Invite Players…Ion*

"Go ahead and accept it so I can give you the same privileges."

Ion looked at Lira for a moment, then swiped and accepted the invitation. Lira quickly upgraded her privileges, though he didn't have much of an idea what they were.

"Now, we're good. See you within the week."

"Okay, bye!"

Ion waved a bit as Lira turned and walked off.

*So, he's only level 2? What's with his armor? Not even a dent…*

***

"Che? You there? Che?"

Lira called out his friend's name in a voice somewhere between shout and talking levels, out in front of his home.

"CH-"

A young man with a more than lean muscular build opened the front door and walked out in sandals and shorts.

"Always so extra man, just knock."

"Ah, shut up. You know an apocalypse is happening right now, right?"

The two young men stepped up to each other while talking, and slammed hands together in a mix between a handshake and a hold.

"So, Che, I hear you got a hidden class?"

"Oh, you know it! Outlander, hehe. It's OP as shiiiit."

"So, what can ya do with it? Let's see your gear then."

"Hehe, as an outlander, I was allowed to choose three weapons! I got a Tier 8 mana-gun, Lao's Silver Point. I also got knuckles and a short-sword. As for my skills, heh, well it's better to show you. Hehehe."

"Stop laughing you creep…"

Outlander's Courage - passive: After having traversed the worst, an Outlander is not afraid of any challenge. He cannot be debuffed by anyone lower than ten levels above him.

Outlander's Intuition - passive: An Outlander knows well how to survive and has built an extraordinary sense for danger. He will know when enemies are watching him. Hidden Stat Sense + 1 every level.

Hailstorm - passive: When using a mana-gun, the mana cost per shot is 1/3rd of the original cost.

Over Dust, Ash, and Sand, He Walks - passive: The Outlander is at home in desolation. The Outlander can control all of such particles within a 10-foot radius.

Wrath of the Legend – active: The Outlander's stats double for two minutes. All passives have increased effect.

Lira finished reading the skills.

"Huh. Only one active and it's a berserk skill. Seems like hidden classes don't start off with attack-based active skills or maybe even have them. We'll have to see. Now, let's see that armor."

Che grinned and swiped right.

Instantly his body was covered in what looked like a mix padding and pieces of silver armor. He had shoulder pauldrons with silver dragon designs, one of which was connected by chain to a cuirass and gauntlet, that took over his right hand, while the other hand was barren. He also had greaves and cuisses. As for the torso, it was protected by padding of some sort. Lastly, a belt was wrapped around his waist, just under the padding.

"Hmm. Pretty shabby…huh."

"Hey! This is just the stuff I have now! It was the basic armor I chose. Actually, why is your armor so cool looking and…full body?"

"Oh. Hmm. I haven't looked at its stats, but the description for my armor said it was among the pinnacle of its class. It supposedly adjusts its strength based on the weight I can take. I think its unique."

"Wait, you could get a description?"

"…Of course. You just had to as….k."

"…FUCK."

"HAHAHAHA. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, HUH. But yea, lemme check its stats. Better yet, here, we'll check'em together."

Lancester's Blair Armor:

Unique Armor

Grows with User

Can be evolved with Sage-level enchanting

Can only be used by Player Lira

Blunt Defense + 206

Sharp Defense + 322

Elemental Resistance + 600

Constitution + 45

Strength + 22

Vitality + 40

Agility + 12

Che looked at Lira's armor's stats with his jaw wide open.

"Jone…your armor is ridiculous. Fucking ridiculous. What the fuck."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well…first. Your armor is just one armor. Mine is made of multiple parts, you know, like an outfit. Even so, my base gear here only gives me BD + 45 and SD + 42. None of them have elemental resistance nor add to constitution, which isn't even on the stat board. As for stats, they give me +8 strength, + 10 vitality, and +10 agility. Bro, what the fuck? Why is your armor this OP? What even is 600 elemental resistance?"

"Hmm. Idk, but looks like I really am unkillable right now! Yo, earlier, those wolves couldn't pierce it or push me off my feet. I wonder if it can take bullets…Oh! Speaking of which, can you use your Tier 8 weapon right now?"

Che summoned it.

"Well, I can take it out, but I've never used it…Let's try it on you!"

He grinned, a little bit of indignance in his expression.

"Woah! That's a Tier 8. Calm down! Just, test it."

"Alright, alright."

Che, flipped the gun around his finger, readied his aim at a tree, and then fired.

A glowing ball of flame instantly hit the tree.

"Damn."

"Dammmmn. That was almost bullet speed. Far more explosive."

"Does the weapon come with skills?"

"Hmm. It does….but-"

"You can't use'em?"

"Yep. It says I'll need to be level 50."

"Level 50? Jesus. Also, your weapon doesn't look like it does in inventory, right? Mine has a wild cool glow in inventory, but once I pull it out, it's normal."

"Yea, mine doesn't have the glow or aura. I think that's also a full-usage thing. Need to be higher level."

"Hmm. Ya know, I kinda just realized. You like guns a lot and have experience with them, and you got a class that could wield them as well as a Tier 8 gun weapon…I haven't seen anyone else with a mana-gun. On the other hand, I like medieval weaponry and train with them and I got shown weapons like that. Do you think…?"

Che looked at him, his mouth slowing extending to an "Ooooh" position, as the realization dawned over his face.

"Noooo way. That would be too cool. Optimized settings for each person?"

"Cool as shiiiit, but how does that work for people who've never used any weapons? Maybe randomized or maybe optimized to what they might be best at?"

"I don't know, probably."

"Hmm, well anyways. I came across this girl on the way her-"

"Is she hot?"

"Oi, that's not the point, but yes. Anyways, more importantly, she's smart and probably bad news, but most importantly, she's strong. We agreed to start a group, called the Immortals. The aim, which is realistic, is to be Immortals – really, beings strong enough to be taken seriously even by governments. Also, we're all equal in it. In my mind, it'll be what you and me have always fantasized about – a small group of extremely powerful people. We can now make that a reality. Join us, bud."

"Join? What are you waiting for? INVITE ME!"

"Boom, done."

"Right back atcha."

"ALRIGHT!"

"ALRIGHT!"

"Great, now, let's talk family for a bit…"

Che stepped out of the doorway and Lira entered his house closing the door behind him.