Investments for the future

Pretty chunky chapter, 3.5 K words long.

Before we start, someone asked me about the Book's cover.

I made it using AI like many other images, it's a scene of something that happened in this world, but will not appear in the main story as of now, that could change depending on how creative I am or where the story leads...

Pretty much, it's an Easter egg for me, made by me... Figures...

Well, it's not a spoiler, so I'll say it either way.

The man in front of you is an old Warrior, he was the Ashen Striker, he won't really be a thing in this story, but he may be mentioned here and there.

And the beast he is facing, different from the warrior, may appear in the story, either alive or dead.

It's the same thing for my old Book cover, the old cover showed another warrior from another time, albeit I don't know where I left my notes so I can't tell who it was anymore.

The reason for this is because the name of this book is Azimuth: The Elden Throne, and not the adventurers of Dale.

I felt it would make sense to use great warriors of Myth as the Cover rather than the Mc as in to show that the mc would one day become like them, or something like that.

You could also say it's Dale in case your immersion was completely shattered by this revelation.

What do you think?

Enjoy and later on, shower me with power stones :)

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/A few minutes later.../

[Playing video…]

"Finally, it's starting, hey everyo…"

"Shut up Max!"

"..."

/Bzz.../

...

/Blink.../

The Video started with the camera blinking as if to show the POV of a person waking up.

In no time at all, it rose to the ceiling, giving a wide view of its surroundings, a large hall just like the one they were in right now.

/Fwoosh... Fwoosh.../

There were no sounds, just the sound of wind light breathing...

/Move.../

The camera did a slow panoramic view of the room, showing many of its details before resting behind a tall man with developed muscles and red hair.

He had a mask on his face blocking others from seeing his facial features. However, the lower half of his face was still visible.

For a few seconds, the man stretched and did a few light movements, as if getting used to his new body...

/Smile.../

He smiled at the camera before he started to run… Faster and faster towards the wall.

And it was then that to the surprise of the millions of players currently watching the video, he jumped and kicked the wall, eventually grabbing onto the edge of the ceiling where he crawled into the light…

[DING!]

[Congratulations! You achieved something never done before]

Suddenly, epic music started to play as the system's voice sounded in everyone's ears.

At the same time, the camera moved as it started to show his back facing the ruins of the tutorial below him, the wind blowing his tattered clothes for an epic shot.

It looked pretty good…

/Hush hush!/

It suddenly cut to several isolated shots of him running, jumping, and even opening chests through the tower as a narrator started to say promotional words, like… Explore!

Conquer yourself and the world!

Collect lost treasures!…

/Shine.../

And at the end of it, it displayed a shot of the masked man jumping into a monster with a lance in his hand, fearless and brave as he put his life on the line…

But as the spear and the monster connected, the video was suddenly cut.

The music changed to something simpler but still epic as it showed the man running around the ruins of the city, exploring mysterious regions and collecting loot.

How he ran in dark tunnels, how he escaped from falling metallic cogs and it eventually ended with him opening a giant vault and golden light shining on his body.

"Hahahaha..."

And the video ended right there with his laugh.

[DING!]

But before they could do anything, every player received a system notification.

[A new record has been made, fastest Tutorial clear, time: -10 seconds. Player: My Dad]

[Congratulations to 'My dad' for setting the record!]

It was at that moment everyone realized the records weren't purely bullshit, and this entire promotion video was about a player achieving something incredible.

"HAHAHA! What an interesting guy." Said the guy with red hair as he stared at the ceiling

'To think about jumping into the hole… It explains the records now.'

'How did he do it? It's way too tall, not even the best of the best would be able to do it the way he did… And besides, how did he even get alone on the server?'

'It's impossible for him to be Level 100 when the game just started, so there must be a secret behind it all… How interesting.'

"Fred should we…"

"Forget it, there is less than a minute before the tutorial starts, there is no point in trying to jump into that hole, in fact, we should focus on what he did… " Fred replied as he shook his head

'If the video had been released sooner, then perhaps we could've planned for it, but its too late now.'

"Those chests he got and even that item… You know what those were, right?"

They all nodded.

"If this guy is truly a player and not a developer as we thought. Then it can only be one of two things, he is either a Beta tester or he knows someone with a great deal of information… But for now, let's focus on ourselves!" He said as he got up from his seat

'We can think about him later... A single player doesn't matter in the grand scale of things.'

[Disclaimer, initiating the Tutorial]

…

/5 minutes ago…/

"Huff… Huff…"

Dale was now sitting on a rock near the village as he recovered his breath.

He looked different from before, he was now wearing a suit of heavy armor and he looked rather cool as his armor shone under the sun…

"Phew... I did this… Check... And that… Okay, I did everything I wanted. So it's time to do some of the extra things…"

'All of the loot I wanted has been collected, including the secret items.'

His exotic appearance gathered quite a bit of attention as the villagers looked at him in wonder, with some of the elders even seemingly noticing what his armor meant...

They all had all manners of reactions, but no one approached him for some reason, perhaps out of fear, duty, or something else...

"First, I need to clean my inventory of all this trash." Dale said as a small system window materialized up in front of him like a hologram

'I raided many chests along the way and now my inventory is saturated with shit I don't need… At least right now, but even if I may need them one day, money is more important than some things...'

Dale got up and went to a nice-looking stone building in the village.

There was a wooden board near it reading: Trade Center.

...

/Creak.../

Pushing the old doors of the shop, he got inside the corner street building.

"It's rather empty…"

'In the Beta, this place was closed. Shortly put, this should be the in-game marketplace.'

'Every MMO has a market operated by the system AI, most of the time, it's the players that set up their own markets and economy to sustain their own needs.'

'However, the game's market works with fixed Medium to low-interest rates.'

'The values change depending on what you seek, such as the need to sell something fast, taking loss most of the time, or if you wish to auction something to an entire server and so on.'

'There is no way for players to get access to such Systems on their own, so they need to rely on the in-built ones for their businesses.'

'Though, most of the time, players follow two types of Economy, the in-game one, and the player-to-player one.'

'A player's values are different from the in-game NPCs after all...'

'So soon enough, markets will start popping up all throughout the game, albeit it should still take a while for multi-regional trading to commence.'

'At least solely through the players' hands as such a feat is allowed with the help of the System's shop.'

'Currently, there is no way for players to get access to other in-game markets, so the most basic, system-operated one will have to do the trick for now.'

'I will drop my items here and this will allow the players from multiple servers to buy and bid for them, I will get an enormous amount of gold like this even if we count what I'll lose from the interest the shop will take for themselves…'

'I don't mind paying it since I'm trading a bit of gold for the convenience of the service, especially since the gold can be collected anywhere in the game as long as the player is within a major settlement that has an access point to enter the main trading hub.'

'Well, not only the currency but also items... Trading all of this rare gear for only Gold would be a waste of resources...'

'There are some items I would like to collect, things I could not procure on my own... So I could sell them later for even higher prices, hahaha!'

/Snap back to reality!/

"Hello mister knight, how may I help you?" Asked a beautiful blond clerk inside the shop

"Good morning, I wish to put some of my items directly into sale and auction some of them at the same time." He said as he opened his inventory

Dale was pretty straightforward, but he did not drop formalities.

The gorgeous girl smiled and replied:

"Are you aware of our policy and rates? If not I can explain it to you pretty quickly…"

'Dale's expression did not change, although he became a bit regretful as he said:'

"I don't want to be rude since I am running for time, so make it fast please."

The girl didn't seem offended as she said everything rather fast.

Dale nodded and started to select his items and put them for sale.

"I don't need this, much less this... These should be sold in batches, and these should be sold individually..."

"Put these on a Special market... I will only accept these items for payment... Perfect." He said with a large smile

After 2 minutes, Dale's inventory was now pristine... Mostly.

"Is that all sir?" Asked the clerk with a sunny smile, Dale almost had the illusion she was shinning

"Yes."

"According to our policy, some of your items transactions require you to pay a certain amount beforehand. The total is 0.1 Iron Zulls."

"Okay."

'0.1 Iron Zulls are about 1000 Wood Zulls, or 1 Million Experience points.'

'If we go by its monetary value, then it's still pretty steep, but I have enough funds, and I will hit it big soon enough…'

'The amount I gain is proportional to the amount I spend! If I do it in a smart way…'

'The problem comes if you take its XP value, 1 Million Experience points is... Extremely significant.'

'With that amount, I would shoot up beyond Level 20, it is clear the developers did it this way because it was not meant for it to be balanced.'

'They're pretty much saying for you to go out there and start farming instead of losing the precious XP in exchange for so little money...'

'And that is why the conversion of XP to Zulls isn't something to look out for in the tutorial zone as you'll be barely making use of it in this Low-Level area.'

'Such a shame I can't convert money into XP... And in any case, this conversion will most likely only be a thing in the Tutorial.'

'Because if you could use it outside, then the game's balance would truly utterly end...'

"I'll be taking my leave now, thank you for the help." He said as he turned around and left the shop

He felt it was a bit of a shame to leave so soon but he had no time to appreciate the beauty of an NPC.

"Bye-bye, thank you for the patronage!"

The clerk waved to him and Dale stopped, turning around and waving at her as well when he was about to leave.

But once he was done he rushed outside.

"... My… How quick of him." She said as her eyes suddenly sparkled with wisdom

A playful smile formed on her face as she used her left hand to caress her cheeks.

'We'll meet again one day… Dale Houston. It was fun, meeting you in such a carefree manner.'

With that, she got up from her chair and left through a back door, and soon enough, another pretty clerk came through the door and sat in her place, as if that was the natural order of things.

She did not have the same eyes as the previous clerk though... They looked... Hollow.

…

/FWOOSH!/

Dale ran through the streets like a bulldozer, forcing the NPCs to make way for him hastily so as to not be knocked off by him.

Well... Everyone would since it is quite scary to see a 2 M tall, heavily armored Knight running at you with menacing intent at the speed of a car.

/STOP!/

/Slide.../

He eventually stopped next to a house, sliding inside with style as he said:

"I collected what I wanted, I investigated the secrets I planned beforehand, got extra items, and sold my extra items."

"The only thing that is left is this:"

Dale took out a few items from his inventory and put them together on top of a rock somewhere in the middle of the house.

[Sigil of Strength (Broken)]

[Sigil of Constitution (Broken)]

[Sigil of Dexterity (Broken)]

[Sigil of Mental Power (Broken)]

[Sigil of Reflexes (Broken)]

[Sigil of Mana (Broken)]

Looking at these 6 shining items made Dale smile and remember older times.

He sat down next to the rock with a light smile.

"These 6 items were part of a special event and they were extremely rare drops from 6 even harder Super Raids… I never thought I would be able to gather them all like this."

'In the past game, each of these Sigils could've been kept in the player's inventory, and they would grant him/her a flat stat boost forever.'

'I can keep them in my inventory, getting their basic effects of +5 to their respective attributes...'

'Or I can break them, absorbing their internal energy, and the effect would be just the same as in the past game, a flat +15 to all Stats.'

'This could also be done in the past game but no one would be stupid enough to do it.'

'As it was a waste of a good item that could've been passed onto a new character or sold… Like many did.'

"I came here today because there was a ritual that could only be done once all 6 of them were gathered, a special quest and event that only triggered if you acquired all 6 pieces while also doing a few other things in-between and meeting a few criteria..."

'That is why I am inside this seemingly normal house, it may look half-rotted and unassuming, but this used to be the house of an extremely Skilled Smith.'

His hands touched the strange rock where all 6 sigils had been gathered...

'And this isn't a rock... It's an Anvil.'

'I memorized the entire ritual, it isn't complicated, it's pretty simple in fact...'

"But I don't know if it will work, yet, if it does…"

Dale shook his head.

"No more talk, time to work…"

He opened his inventory and took out a hammer.

[Manufacturing Hammer of the Golden Sun (Consumable)

Effects: Use it to fuse several items together into a single item, the result is random and may range from all possible recipe options that can be derived from the used materials.

The higher the rarity of the items, the higher the failure rate.

*This consumable Item is only effective while within the Tutorial Zone*

]

'This was the hammer used in the ritual if it can even be called that.'

'Unfortunately, the hammer is about to snap in two, that is why I imagine the System deemed it as a consumable...'

"It's now or never!!" He said as he used all of his strength to smash the hammer on the anvil

/CLANG!!/

Dale struck the 6 sigils at the same time!

/CRACK!/

The old anvil finally gave in, breaking into many pieces as the golden hammer scattered into yellow particles of light that rose to the sky...

But the Sigils did not fall to the ground, they instead started to float and even rise slightly...

/SHUA!/

"Arg!..."

Strong rainbow light shone on his face as the six sigils fused together in a party of brilliant and colorful lights…

And in the end, a single sigil was left.

It looked like a floating seal, shining in a faint white color.

(Think of the Elden Ring lol)

[Aspect of Might (Incomplete)

Effects: Shatter it to gain a might fit for a Champion.

]

"It worked!... But it's incomplete?..."

"Well, I guess that is normal since the sigils were broken to begin with."

'As for my luck... There was no such thing, the ritual was supposed to have a 100% success rate. Although I was a bit skeptical since the materials weren't in their ideal state...'

'I can say my gamble paid off...'

/Grab.../

/Crack!/

Without hesitation, Dale crushed it as he struck a cool pose, and with it, red lightning started to surge from his arm and into his body!

[You are absorbing an incomplete fragment of the Aspect of Might]

"ARG!"

Immense pain soon followed as Dale fell onto the ground as he lost the strength to stand.

{Detected massive change in the Biological Core}

{Body reconstruction is in progress}

But Dale did not hear it as he was too occupied screaming in pain…

…

Half a minute later…

The pain suddenly vanished as Dale felt every part of his body go sore.

He tried moving, but his muscles immediately protested, he wasn't in pain if he stood still, but he had to move as he couldn't just lay there...

"Haaa… Fuck me…"

'Just... What happened to me?..."

"Is this because of the real-life pain configuration that comes with fucking HardMode?..."

'This was way more intense than I could've ever imagined...'

"Open… My cursed Status... Phew..." He said as he breathed heavily

[Player: DareDevil (Dale Houston) Attainments: Body Reformation

Level:5 (0%)

Class: None

Character Status:

Strength: 60(115); Constitution: 60(115); Dexterity: 60(115); Mental Power: 35(90); Reflexes: 35(90); Mana: 10(65)

Skills:

Slot 1-> Spear Technique 2-Star (Neutral)

Slot 2-> Close quarters Combat 0.5-Star (Neutral)

Slot 3-> Stable Emotions 1-Star (Passive)

Slot 4-> Spatial Awareness 0-Star (Passive)

Slot 5-> Fighting Spirit 0.5-Star (Active)

Temporary Skills: Glyph Activation 2-Star (Active); Glyph Ignition 3-Star (Active);

Current Effects:

+15 All Stats

Aspect of Might -> All Stats +15

Body Reformation -> Natural Healing and Stamina recovery speed have been increased

Commander of the Vault Guardians Set -> All Stats +15 while in a Ruin

Ruin's Guardian Glyph Blade -> All Stats +10 while in a Ruin

Inventory (+)

]

"The what now?" Dale asked in confusion as he read through his greatly changed Status

…

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Notes

First, his stats may be high, but let's look at the overall situation.

+15 stats will vanish once he leaves the tutorial.

+25 stats from his gear will go away once he leaves a ruin.

So his sole boost is the Aspect of Might and whatever armor he decides to later use.

I will show how this will be balanced, he is strong, but not super overpowered. Especially since people can do the same as he did and there will probably be someone out there that will…

So how strong is the Mc?

As I showed before, with 50 strength, the mc was capable of lifting several times what a normal person would be normally capable of with relatively ease.

He bench-pressed almost double that of the world record, and he didn't even try that hard. And his body isn't that massive either.

The Mc can break a thick brick wall with ease and his skin won't even be marked.

It will become clearer as we advance in the story. But what I have in mind is for him to be as strong as a Level 40-50 player. That is... If we only count his base stats without his items and buffs...

If we add those as you saw, his stats are over 100, which is over what a standard Level 100 player would have as a base...

Of course, that is pushing things since players would normally do many events and quests to grow stronger outside of their own stat per Level gain without the use of gear.

But yes, he is OP... If he is to face another player as of now.

What I want to say is that, even if he is so strong, due to the fact he is a HardCore player, he can still die if a low-Level player hits a lucky strike and if all conditions align...

Perhaps it'll be a good Skill, or a powerful weapon, but a low Level player can still kill him.

Think of him like a tank, even a child can destroy it if it is given a rocket launcher and it just happens to hit a fragile spot...

He isn't impervious to the sword like a martial artist yet...

...

Some of the items' stats ->

[Commander of the Vault Guardians Set (Unique)

Rating: 3.5-Stars

+15 all Stats while in a ruin, otherwise, +5 to all Stats.

Set Bonus -> Commander, if there are 5 or more people with the Vault Guardian Set near you, All Stats + 2, and for every 5 additional people, to a maximum of 20.

If the number of people goes to 25, unlocks the temporary Skill, Barricade Vault 2-Star.

If the number of people goes to 60, unlocks the temporary Skill, Gliph Aura 3-Star.

If the number of people goes to 100, unlocks the temporary Skill, Wrath of the Machine 4-Star

Requirements: Strength: 30; Constitution: 25; Dexterity: 10

Description: Long ago the Paxus Knight Army stood guard over the Capital of Pil-Iros with their Glyphed weapons and armor gloriously under the setting sun.

Their Commander, wearing his famed armor, stood guard over the city and never once lost a battle.

]