Monster Tide: The Second Wave

While Myst had landed a clean hit on the rogue monster that made its way to the east section, a man from the center section watched the scene unfold from afar, his mouth becoming slack-jawed as he had never seen a person from the village so effortlessly and cleanly decapitate a monster's head in one swift move.

"Who the hell did that?!" Tristan could not help but exclaim, his expression that of awe as he looked at the armored man beside him. Nudging the man, he asked, "Is that person a newcomer to the village?"

"A newcomer? Not at all." In response to the question, Damian shook his head. Then, with a light smirk, he told Tristan, "In fact, you're very familiar with that person already."

"Well? Come on, spit it out! Don't leave me in suspense!" Tristan frowned soon after, noticing that Damian was intentionally not mentioning the name of the person that did the feat he had just seen. Turning his head to what was in front of them, he repeated, "Come on, Damian! Just tell me already! The second wave is coming!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Hearing how badly Tristan wanted to know who it was, Damian could not stop himself from laughing for a bit. Eventually, after taking in a few deep breaths, he told him, "It's Myst, Tristan. Myst did that."

"Myst?" Tristan tilted his head, trying to rummage through his memory as the name was familiar to him. After some time, his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… you're telling that little girl from a few years ago had actually done what she promised to do?"

As he said this, Tristan could not help but remember the first time he had met with the girl. It was on a fateful day when two people had arrived at the smithy, Damian, who had just become the leader of the village guards at that time, and the girl he eventually knew as Myst.

According to what he could recall, Damian asked him if he could forge a specific weapon for Myst, a thin aerodynamic blade that resembled a sword more than a rapier. In response to that, Tristan could not help but ask why, telling them that any sword would do just fine.

Surprisingly, the one to answer that question was the young Myst, who looked at him with eyes filled with determination before opening her mouth, saying words that had stuck to his memory since then.

"That's because… I want to become the fastest sword user there is!"

"She's definitely the fastest sword user I know." Tristan chuckled at the memory, a hint of pride on his face, feeling that he had made an impact on how Myst had grown into what she was today. Letting out a light sigh soon after, he looked at Damian before lightly nodding. "Mind if I craft a blade for her once this monster tide is over?"

"Be my guest." Damian lightly shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure Myst would be glad to receive a new blade from you."

Receiving a smile from Tristan in response, Damian then focused his attention to what was before them. Narrowing his eyes a bit as a light frown appeared on his face, he then ordered a couple people to come closer to him. "Tell the west and east section to move a bit closer to the center."

"It's almost time for the second wave to arrive."

…

By the time Myst had returned to the east section, almost everyone there was cheering for her, with some of them talking about how effortlessly she killed the monster that had gone rogue. In response to those words, Myst lightly smiled and nodded at them, thanking them before returning to her original position.

"It seems like there's something on your mind," Valyr could not help but say to Myst once she had returned, prompting the latter to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Seeing that he had caught her attention, he scratched his cheeks and continued, "Judging by your expression, it feels like you're dissatisfied."

"I guess so." Myst shrugged her shoulders in response, obtaining a message from the center section for the east section to move closer sometime later. As she commanded everyone to move a bit closer to the center section, she continued to talk with Valyr. "Let's just say I don't feel like I'm moving fast enough."

"You're already moving plenty fast to me," Valyr told her. "In fact, out of everyone in the east section, I think I was the only one who could see where you were headed, though I'm pretty sure I lost track of you at times."

"That's the thing," Myst replied, lightly sighing. "I want to move so fast that no person could track me."

"Well, that's definitely a lofty goal," Valyr could not help but say. "Have you gotten skills that increase your AGI?"

"More or less, I guess," Myst said in response before taking a quick glance at the battlefield in front of them. Calculating that there were only a few minutes until the second wave arrived, she ordered everyone to hasten their pace. "I bought every passive skill in the contribution point shop that boosts my AGI. I also bought every active skill that does the same thing, but I can only activate so much of them until my mana runs out."

"Hmm…" After pondering over it for a bit, Valyr went ahead and used [Analysis] on the equipment Myst was wearing. By the time the east section had finished their relocation to be nearer to the center section, Valyr finally noticed the one part she hadn't been using to its full advantage. 'Her equipment doesn't boost her stats at all.'

Although rare at the early stages of the game, equipment that boosted stats gradually became more and more common once one went through the various class ranks. In fact, it could be said that a huge part of the reason why high-leveled players were able to achieve incredibly high stats was mostly due to the equipment they wore, boosting all of their stats to insane degrees.

'The only thing she has that boosts her AGI is the sword around her waist,' Valyr thought. 'On top of that, the boost from it isn't the maximum you could get from a weapon made for a Rank 1 class holder.'

"When was the last time you changed your equipment?" Valyr asked while Myst was in the middle of choosing people to fight at the frontlines.

"A couple of days ago. Why do you ask?" Myst said in response, asking Valyr if he could help out in the arranging of personnel to tackle the second wave.

"Well, I feel like I have an idea on how you could get one step closer to achieving your goal," Valyr said in response, which instantly piqued Myst's interest. However, just as she was about to ask how…

Rumble…

A rumble far stronger than the first wave was felt throughout the entire defensive line, making a couple people at the frontlines stumble and fall from the sheer intensity of the rumble. Unfortunately for Myst, seeing as the second wave of monsters was already in front of them, Myst could not help but inwardly sigh, placing the matter at the back of her head for later as she refocused her attention towards the battlefield.

"Advance!"