Defense Build and Maintenance

"Awww…"

Maple and Sally had started basing their activities around the second zone's town, but

Maple was looking rather gloomy.

"Hngg… First, they go into maintenance mode two weeks before the event. And then,

worst of all…"

They'd both logged in the moment maintenance ended, but when they saw the results,

they'd received quite a shock.

Well, mostly Maple.

The maintenance had rolled out a patch, adjusting skill effects and conditions, while

also improving field monster AI.

The names of skills affected weren't made public, so only people who actually had the

skills knew what had changed.

And there was one more big change.

Specifically…

They'd added skills that penetrated defense and reduced pain accordingly.

There were three to five of these per weapon type, and they were solidly powerful.

These skills reduced the overall pain levels attacks dished out to compensate for this…

but it was the skill adjustments that really hurt Maple.

"Awww…"

"Well, this happens when you get too much attention. Your approach made certain

builds way stronger than the devs intended."

Sally was patting her shoulders.

Maple had received two key nerfs.

But given what Sally had just said, perhaps it was really three.

First, the patch had gone after Devour.

The adjustments had added a limit of ten uses a day but doubled the MP it absorbed.

Since it was essentially always active, once her shield got hit ten times, Night's Facsimile

would turn into a perfectly ordinary great shield. Since it now absorbed twice as much

MP, it did still serve as a decent MP tank, but it was clearly a significant nerf.

Next, the AI improvements made monsters more likely to run around and attack from

behind or even run away entirely.

Sally had told Maple this was largely to prevent anyone else turning out like her. Maple

didn't seem to get what that meant, so Sally gave her the long version.

"I mean, if the AI is better, then nobody can use the white rabbits to shortcut their way

to your core skill, Absolute Defense. The improved AI means the rabbits won't attack

you for an hour straight—I think it's safe to assume management didn't expect anyone

to get it that way."

The maintenance would prevent the reoccurrence of an irregular like Maple, but Sally

also promised they weren't doing the maintenance just to target Maple and wouldn't

go so far as to kill her build outright.

"Like, they can't remove Absolute Defense entirely. I bet many top players had their

stronger skills nerfed a bit. And your Devour just happened to be one of them."

"Hmm… Well, I guess that's okay. It was pretty overpowered. But the last thing…"

"That means you'll actually be taking damage now. That change was definitely targeting

you. It's a bit roundabout, but… skills like that exist in a lot of games."

"Hnggggg…"

Maple's durability was so obviously off the charts that management had been forced

to resort to desperate measures and made some wide-reaching adjustments.

"Piercing skills are pretty standard, and frankly, you've had it a bit too easy," Sally said.

Maple put her hands together, looking apologetic.

"Oh… sorry," she said. "I'm not invincible anymore! Now our party won't be, either!

Even though you stepped up to be our evasion tank."

They'd set out to form a party that would, ideally, never take damage. But that was no

longer possible.

"Not your fault! And sure, you can take damage now, but… that just means you aren't

alwaysinvincible. Besides, if you can find a way to make it so you've got damage effects

going all over the place and they keep chipping away at you, but you—Just! Won't!

Die!—then that'll make you seem even more invincible. And then… you smile.

Wouldn't that be megacool?"

Maple pictured herself chuckling as the enemy desperately rained blows down on her,

clinging to the hope that they were doing some damage, only for her to turn the tables

once they'd worn themselves out.

"Oh… I do like the sound of that…"

"You just let out a very sinister chuckle."

"Wh-whoa! I didn't mean it! I take it back!" Maple yelped, waving her hands frantically.

Sally laughed it off. "Hmm… but I guess this means you'll have to boost your HP

somehow. Can't have the pierce damage shredding you. Can you handle the pain?"

"Well… if I have to, I guess? It's not as bad as the real world. And it seems like they've

reduced the pain levels."

"So you need to knuckle down and block as much as possible… then get your hands on

some recovery skills and equipment, maybe some that boost HP and MP?"

With that, she'd end up being basically invincible, or so Sally said.

"I'll help you gather the equipment! And look for any skills that might help."

"Y-you're sure?"

"I got you into this game! I have no problem doing all that if it'll help us enjoy it

together. Wanna go now?"

"Sure! Thanks!"

"I'll probably want your help eventually, too."

"Of course! I'll do whatever I can when the time comes!"

Maple was all smiles now.

"Right, then… First, let's get a few skills that raise your HP. That seems like the priority.

I know some already, and the event's coming up, so we'd better hurry!"

"Yeah!"

They ran off across the field.

To get new skills, to cover Maple's weaknesses, and to post good results in the event

together.

They just had to focus on what they could do right now.

On the second day of their grinding…

Maple was in the second zone town, thinking about the best uses for Devour.

She couldn't use it willy-nilly like she had been, so she'd have to be stingier with it and

carefully choose her opportunities.

"Um… so I definitely need to raise my defense even more, making it harder to take

damage…"

All she could really do was keep boosting her VIT value until she didn't even need a

shield to block blows.

"Maybe with a few more levels…"

Maple got to her feet, but before she could head out to the field, she received a message.

"Mm? Oh! It's from Iz!"

Maple read the message and discovered her new shield was ready.

"Right! That'll help me switch up my tactics!"

Maple had just been thinking about Devour conservation, so this message had arrived

with flawless timing.

"I'd better go pick it up!"

Maple made a beeline for Iz's shop.

Upon her arrival, she wasted no time heading inside.

Iz was behind the counter. Their eyes met.

"Oh, Maple! That was quick."

"It's really ready?!"

"Of course! Here you go."

Maple took the pure-white great shield—named White Snow—and equipped it.

It was beautifully decorated, white as freshly fallen snow, but with blue gems

embedded here and there on the surface. It was every bit as impressive-looking as

Night's Facsimile.

"Thank you so much!" Maple said, gazing at it with evident delight.

Iz grinned back. "It looks good on you! It should be pretty durable, but make sure to

bring it in for maintenance regularly. It would suck if it broke."

"Okay!" Maple said enthusiastically.

"And… try fighting with it once. I did my best to match the size, but if you're struggling

with it, I can always adjust it."

"Got it. Thanks again!"

They chatted a bit more, and then Maple put White Snow in her inventory and left the

shop.

Outside, Maple went straight into the field.

Like Iz suggested, she wanted to try White Snow out.

"Um, then… I suppose I should do the training Sally recommended while I'm at it!"

Two birds with one shield. Maple was all fired up.

* * *

She and Sally had been gathering skills for a week now—one more week till the event

started.

Once again, Maple was on her own, looking for new skills.

"I never realized until Sally told me, but I don't have any of the skills great shielders

usually use in parties."

Sally had told her the core great-shield skills had a wealth of defense and Vitality

benefits, so whenever she got a chance, she was out here on her own, trying to master

the basics.

She and Sally had already worked together, getting a number of HP-boosting and MPboosting skills.

Maple checked her current stats, wondering what she needed next.

Maple

Lv24 HP 40/40 +60 MP 12/12 +10

[STR 0] [VIT 170 +66 ]

[AGI 0] [DEX 0]

[INT 0]

Equipment

Head [None] Body [Black Rose Armor]

R. Hand [New Moon: Hydra] L. Hand [Night's Facsimile: Devour]

Legs [Black Rose Armor] Feet [Black Rose Armor]

Accessories [Forest Queen Bee Ring]

[Toughness Ring]

[None]

Skills

Shield Attack, Sidestep, Deflect, Meditation, Taunt

HP Boost (S), MP Boost (S)

Great Shield Mastery IV

Absolute Defense, Moral Turpitude, Giant Killing, Hydra Eater, Bomb Eater

Getting HP Boost (S) and MP Boost (S) had given her an extra thirty HP and an extra

ten MP.

Then Sally had given her the Toughness Ring, which granted another thirty HP.

That didn't feel like much, but it was more than double what Maple had started with.

Sally had said she was going to acquire a Pierce Attack skill before the event began.

This was specifically so she could get an idea of what sort of damage Maple would be

in for. They didn't want to find out mid-event.

"She's done so much for me… I've got to find myself some useful skills."

Maple's eyes paused on one skill in particular.

"Cover Move I and Cover… basic great-shield skills. That I don't have."

Both were skills that protected party members and were only for great shielders.

Anyone in a party with a great shield had to have them.

Maple had looked at them before but hadn't needed them then—but now she was in a

party, so they were a lot more interesting.

Cover Move I

Move to the location of a party member within a five-yard radius, ignoring AGI.

After use, take 2x damage for thirty seconds.

Use limit is ten.

Use limit recovers every hour.

Condition

Purchase at the Skill Shop.

Cover

Protect nearby party members from damage.

On activation, increase VIT by 10%.

Condition

Purchase at the Skill Shop.

The Skill Shop was run by an NPC and sold basic skills for each type of equipment.

In addition to Cover Move I and Cover, it sold Slash, Double Slash, and so on.

Maple had sold the extra white scales she'd collected at the lake and received a lot of

G, so she could easily afford a couple of skills.

"Guess I'm going shopping!"

Maple set out for the NPC shop.

She figured this would allow her to save Sally if she was ever in trouble.

Maple bought both skills and left the shop, carrying a bag with two scrolls—the skills

were written on these.

She sat down on a nearby bench and pulled one out of the bag.

When she unrolled it, the letters lit up—and when that light faded, the scroll crumbled,

turning to light and fading away.

"Skill: Cover Move I acquired."

"Oh, how pretty!"

Maple took out the Cover scroll and unrolled that, too.

Once again, it lit up and then crumbled into light.

"Oh… it's over already? Were there any other skills I needed?"

There weren't. She had checked ahead of time to see what skills she needed.

"Oh well! Maybe they'll add more someday. Guess I'll do what Sally said and work on

my own gaming ability!"

She enthusiastically headed back to the second zone field.

"Ugh… I'm so slow. Too slow. Was I always this slow?"

Maple was in a desert Sally had told her about. She'd made her way out into it and then

stopped. According to Sally, this was currently the best place for Maple's goals.

"Hmm… I don't see any enemies… Yikes!"

A sudden blow from behind almost knocked her off her feet.

Naturally, she took no damage, so her life wasn't in danger.

"Wh-what the…? Oh, is that—?"

A monster that resembled a pill bug was rolling around behind her. That must be what

had tackled her.

It rolled around for a while, then uncurled and began burrowing under the sand.

"I get it! That's how I practice defense!"

Maple took out the white shield that Iz had made for her.

White Snow

[VIT +40]

Unlike Night's Facsimile, it had a simple description, no skills at all—but at the moment,

the VIT boost was actually stronger.

This probably proved just how good Iz was. She was the best crafter around, capable

of supplying the top players in the game.

"Okay, let's get to work!"

Maple hefted her shield, and a pill bug bounced off the back of her head.

"Eep! G-gimme a second!"

But the monsters were disinclined to do so. As she was mid-scream, they hit her again.

"Ugh… n-now I'm mad!"

She scrambled to her feet, hefted her shield, and perked up her ears.

According to Sally, it was important to determine the location of enemies from the

sounds of their movement. Following her instructions, Maple was focused on that,

doing her best to detect her enemies' locations.

"Hmm… here!"

Maple held her shield up to her right. A pill bug was charging in, and it bounced off the

shield, falling backward.

"Great… aiiiieee!"

Maple was so pleased she'd detected it that she didn't notice the second pill bug

attacking from behind.

"R-right… there's more than one. That makes it harder…"

She spent another two hours fighting them. But by the end, she could block around 40

percent.

Sally said that if she could block all the attacks, then she wouldn't have to worry much

about Pierce Attacks no matter where they were.

"But at only forty percent… Well, I worked hard enough for today. How does Sally

dodge like that, seriously?"

To Maple's eyes, it looked less like Sally was dodging and more like the attacks were

dodging her. With that thought, she logged out for the day.

A little earlier that same day, Sally had just logged in herself. She was thinking about

her build.

"Time I spent these points. I'm pretty set on this direction, after all. I want to keep my

attack options varied, so… let's go with fifteen to STR, twenty to AGI, and the rest to

INT. There go all fifty!"

Sally

Lv18 HP 32/32 MP 25/25 +35

[STR 25 +20 ] [VIT 0]

[AGI 75 +68 ] [DEX 25 +20 ]

[INT 25 +20 ]

Equipment

Head [Surface Scarf: Mirage] Body [Oceanic Coat: Oceanic]

R. Hand [Deep Sea Dagger] L. Hand [Seabed Dagger]

Legs [Oceanic Clothes] Feet [Black Boots]

Accessories [None]

[None]

[None]

Skills

Slash, Double Slash, Gale Slash, Defense Break

Down Attack, Power Attack, Switch Attack

Fire Ball, Water Ball, Wind Cutter

Sand Cutter, Dark Ball

Water Wall, Wind Wall, Refresh, Heal

Affliction III

Strength Boost (S), Combo Boost (S), Martial Arts I

MP Boost (S), MP Cost Down (S), MP Recovery Speed Boost (S), Poison Resist (S)

Gathering Speed Boost (S)

Dagger Mastery II, Magic Mastery II

Fire Magic I, Water Magic II, Wind Magic II

Earth Magic I, Dark Magic I, Light Magic II

Presence Block II, Presence Detect II, Sneaky Steps I, Leap I

Fishing, Swimming X, Diving X, Cooking I, Jack of All Trades

"Getting Light Magic to II lets me use Heal… and with Affliction at III, I can inflict more

status effects. And I've got a Pierce Attack skill, so I'm good on attacks and support."

Sally closed her status menu and headed to the field. Her destination was in the depths

of a forest.

"I wanna get a badass skill while Maple isn't looking. Can't wait to see the look on her

face!"

Sally was currently seeking out one of a number of quests available from NPCs.

There was a little house in the depths of the woods, and if you cleared this quest, you

could unlock the Superspeed skill.

"AGI: 70 is a prereq, but I got there just in time!"

Like Maple, Sally was getting as strong as she could before the event started.

"Okay, I'm here!"

Sally found herself by a little house in the woods. Nothing particularly remarkable

about it—your standard-issue log house.

There was a burbling brook running beside it and a waterwheel turning slowly.

A small field out front and signs that someone had been chopping wood. A number of

logs lying ready to chop.

The pleasant sound of birdsong filled Sally's ears.

She approached the house, knocked on the door, and waited.

After a moment, the door swung open.

An elderly man with a long white beard emerged, walking with the aid of a cane.

"Not often we get visitors out here," he said. "Come on in; sit a spell. There's a lot of

fearsome monsters in these parts."

He waved Sally through the door. She accepted his generosity.

If you arrived without enough AGI, the man wouldn't answer the door, and nothing

would happen at all.

The interior was pretty barren. Just the bare-minimum furniture.

The one thing that drew the eye was the dagger displayed atop a shelf to one side—it

was old but clearly an impressive piece.

The old man waved her to a chair by the table, and Sally took a seat.

He put a mug of tea in front of her.

"Drink up! It'll help you relax."

"Uh, thanks. Don't mind if I do."

Sally drank the tea. Like he'd said, she could feel it working.

Specifically, it fully restored her MP.

She hadn't lost any HP, so she couldn't tell, but her intel said it restored that, too.

"Hmph. Feel free to take a load off. I'll go fetch some Magic Water."

Magic Water was, as the name suggested, magic-restoring water found in a natural

spring. NPCs in the second zone town would tell you where it was.

It was pretty far—a good thirty minutes from here.

Sally had been waiting for this moment.

"Oh, I'd be happy to fetch some for you."

"Mm? Would you? I sure would appreciate it. My knees aren't what they used to be."

He gave Sally a glass bottle.

A blue screen appeared in front of Sally.

It had the words YES and NO on it.

Naturally, Sally tapped YES and accepted the quest.

Crafter players had checked out the Magic Water spring right after the second zone

opened, but nobody could figure out how to collect the water.

You could drink it right there and recover your MP, but taking it with you was

seemingly impossible.

The only way to collect the Magic Water was by using the glass bottle received from

this quest.

But it would vanish from your inventory an hour after filling it.

In other words, the spring mostly existed for the sake of this quest.

"I'll be right back!"

"Thanks… I appreciate it."

Sally flew out of the log house, racing toward the spring.

There were three types of monsters in the area.

The first were Big Spiders.

These were arachnids that were over three feet wide. They used their thread to bind

their foes, which could be a real pain. This type of attack was Sally's nemesis.

The second enemy was the Sleep Beetle.

These were rhinoceros beetles that inflicted the sleep status effect on their foes. They

were slightly larger than real-world beetles but still easy to overlook and quite scary

if they caught you off guard.

The third enemy was the treant.

Disguised as trees, they waited to ambush unsuspecting travelers.

But they were the only tree in this forest with red fruit.

Knowing that in advance would make them easier to avoid. Even then, their branches

and roots could reach pretty far, and many a player had found their escape routes cut

off.

Sally was racing through the woods.

She'd done her homework but encountered no monsters as she ran.

With no serious obstacles getting in the way, it took her exactly thirty minutes to reach

the spring.

"Isn't that lovely!" she said.

The clearest water she'd ever seen caught the light, and the sparkles illuminated the

trees and plants all around.

It was a magical sight, and Sally stopped to soak it in.

Then she drank a gulp from it, restoring her MP—and focused her mind.

"Here's where it gets tough."

Sally filled the glass bottle and placed it in her inventory. Her time limit: one hour.

If she failed to make it back to the log house in time, it would vanish, and she'd fail the

quest.

There'd been no monsters on her way here, but on the way back, the forest would be

jam-packed with them.

"Here goes nothing…"

Sally swung around and plunged back into the woods, the shrill screeches of spiders

echoing all around.

This was the meat of the quest.

With no monsters, it took half an hour. But with monsters, getting back in just an hour

was a real challenge.

The only way to get Superspeed was to overcome this trial.

Spider thread was shooting out of the underbrush and from trees above, whistling

past her ears. If any of those hit, she'd be captured… and done for.

"Whoa!…! Mirage!"

As Sally raced on, a swarm of Sleep Beetles struck her…

And her body warped, dissolving into thin air.

The real Sally was already out of the swarm's reach.

"Too close… Yikes!"

A root had shot up from underfoot.

With her current stats, one hit would kill her.

She couldn't afford to stop for an instant. Dodging the roots, she kept close watch on

her surroundings.

Three trees with red fruit. Definitely all treants.

"Fire Ball!"

Treants weren't the most mobile of monsters, so the fire spell struck the trunk easily,

setting it aflame.

The treant's roar of anger echoed through the woods.

"Eep! Maybe that was a bad idea!"

That cry was attracting more monsters. Sally's Presence Detect II could sense them

coming.

"Mirage!"

She sent a fake running back toward the spring.

This successfully baited the beetles, but no such luck with the spiders. They were still

coming right at her—must be some sort of skill.

"Saw through it, huh? Slash!"

Two strikes mid-dodge.

Their HP certainly went down, but it was still at 70 percent. She didn't have time to

stop and finish the job.

"Crap… the treants are bad enough…!"

Sally was facing an alarming number of foes, and they were all taking different

approaches.

The spiders in particular had pretty high Agility. Almost as high as Sally's.

This made sense—this quest was specifically designed for high-Agility builds.

"Oceanic!"

A thin film of water spread outward from her feet. The pursuing spiders charged right

into it, and their numbers thinned.

"Slash!… Wind Cutter!"

Slicing her way through treant roots and branches, Sally raced onward.

She was slowly gaining ground on the spiders.

But this was really taking its toll on her nerves.

If she slowed for an instant, she'd get caught—but this was a forest. There were trees

in her way, brush underfoot, and no telling what path she should take.

If she tripped, she'd instantly be in serious trouble.

She heard a buzzing in her ears and glanced backward.

"More beetles?… Oh crap…!"

There were three main types of monster in these woods.

And one more type you almost never encountered.

There was a giant dragonfly on her heels.

The Wind Dragonfly.

As the name suggested, this monster used wind magic to propel itself forward, flying

so fast, it was like the trees didn't exist.

"What rotten luck! Holy crap! Wind Cutter!"

She sent wind blades over her shoulder. A warning shot.

She couldn't afford to stop and fight. Her only option was to outrun it. But it was

gaining steadily.

High-level wind magic was slicing through the air around Sally, whooshing past her

ears. She used trees as shields, dodged the rest, and activated Oceanic again to make

the spiders back off.

Sleep Beetles came in from the right, but Mirage distracted them. Still, as she ran, she

found herself surrounded once more.

Sally started to worry.

"Spiders in front, treants on the left—guess I'm going that way!"

She was using every scrap of info Presence Detect II gave her to plot the best route.

She found the thickest clump of trees, anything to slow the dragonfly down. Three

treants ahead. Naturally, she couldn't afford to engage.

"Mirage!"

The treants were easily fooled. Dozens of pointed branches shot toward her duplicate,

running it through.

Certain they'd scored a kill, the treants let out a sinister cackle.

"Thanks!" Sally said, relieved. "Huge help!"

It wasn't Sally they'd stabbed.

It was one of the dragonfly's wings.

The dragonfly had not expected this attack and had completely failed to dodge.

The damaged wing slowed it substantially.

Sally put even more distance between herself and the monsters.

The dragonfly flung wind magic after her, and spells screeched past on either side, but

this last desperate attack never stood a chance of hitting her.

"Haah… haah… I made it! Haah! This might have been the most exhausting one yet!"

Sally was outside the log cabin.

It had taken her fifty-two minutes. Just barely in time.

She opened the cabin door.

"I'm back!"

"Oh! There you are. A relief to see you safe and sound."

She'd nearly died a dozen times, so her smile was a little strained, but the old man just

kept chattering away.

"Hmm… I suppose I oughtta thank you. Wait here a moment."

He got up and took a scroll out of a drawer.

"This'll teach you the Superspeed skill. I'm sure it'll come in handy. Please take it."

As he spoke, he blurred… and was gone.

"I no longer need it," said a voice behind her.

Sally spun around. There stood the old man, grinning like he'd pulled off the best

prank.

"Heh-heh… diligence pays dividends."

"R-right!" Sally said. She left the log cabin behind.

Armed with her new power.

A week hunting new skills flew by, and it was time for the second event. Sally and

Maple met up in the second zone town.

"Whew! My first event! Getting a bit nervous," Sally admitted. She tried stretching a

bit.

"It's packed again!" Maple said. "Is everyone joining in?"

"Probably. The benefits are really worth it… Oh, here we go."

A stir ran through the crowd.

A crackle emerged from the speakers, and an announcer's voice rang out.

"Let the second event begin!"

As the crowd roared, curtains rose.