Game’s Dogma

Zephyrwolf was speechless as he stared at his remaining 100 firecrackers. Apart from the long staff used by clerics, he basically got nothing but a bunch of damn Health Potions. Meanwhile, Idyllic Poet and Danting were both fiddling their newly acquired off-hand equipment merrily.

After firing off another 10 firecrackers into the sky, a beam of light descended before him.

‘Congratulations, you received an Army Token.’

‘Army Token?’

Everyone gathered around Zephyrwolf to get a look of his token. On the summoning token, the word ‘Army’ was engraved in a vivid and lively font.

‘Army Token, a one-use item. When used, it will summon a hundred-men army (level of army dependent on the summoner). The army will disappear after an hour.’

‘Legends say that ancient generals and soldiers morphed into a spectral army token after their deaths. Only those who are fated can get their hands on the token and summon the spectral soldiers to fight for them.’

Drako Yau patted Zephyrwolf’s shoulder and said, ‘Good stuff right there, great for keeping yourself alive. Use it when you’re about to die.’

The Army Token was of a different nature than his Fire Crystal Master Bracelet. While his bracelet was a permanent equipment, its main use was to catch his opponents off guard. Zephyrwolf’s Army Token, despite being a one-use item, was way more powerful. Such items tended to be overwhelmingly effective in combat, much like Handsome Scholar’s Soul Snatcher which took Greenstone’s life in one single hit. 

‘Everyone’s done?’

Danting, Idyllic Poet, and Zephyrwolf looked at one another before turning their gazes at Greenstone and Drako Yau.

‘You two got nothing good at all?’

‘No, we haven’t even started pulling the lottery’, Drako Yau said while shaking his head.

‘Damn,’ Zephyrwolf shouted, ‘what the hell were you doing then?’

‘Haha, of course I’m going to pull it all at once! I don’t have the patience to go at it for so long’, Drako Yau chuckled and answered.

Greenstone seemed to agree with Drako Yau. He nodded and said, ‘I’ll go first then.’ He swung his arm and dropped a large pile of firecrackers onto the ground; he was using all 400 or so firecrackers in one go.

The three of them twitched their faces as they thought, These two dudes are bold as hell…

The next moment, the pile of firecrackers disappeared before their eyes and shot into the sky as a stream of light.

B-Boom!

It was as loud as thunder, shuddering everyone here at the Highlands of John. Fireworks almost blotted out the entire sky as they danced and exploded in the air. A beam of light flickered and gathered up high, then shot down to land in front of Greenstone.

‘Congratulations, you received the Three Treasures Integration Cultivation Style Book.’

‘Eh?’

What’s that?

Drako Yau was the only one stupefied. Cultivation style?!

In Greenstone’s hands lay a tattered book with the words ‘Three Treasures Integration’ written messily on the cover.

‘Three Treasures Integration Cultivation Style, a secret cultivation style passed down only within the ancient Wa Shan Sect. The style emphasises on meticulousness and perpetuation in order to strengthen and maintain the body. While not attack-oriented, it is an exceptional style for building one’s foundations.’

The others were all baffled by the description. Greenstone picked up the book, which abruptly burst into a streak of light and entered his body.

‘Good stuff’, Greenstone nodded and said. He didn’t explain why it was ‘good’; they probably wouldn’t understand even if he did.

One person in the squad kept up a suspicious look, and that was Drako Yau. He also knew a cultivation style, passed on to him by the old geezer, the Vitality Mantra Cultivation Style. He had heard from the old geezer that less than five cultivation styles had been passed down to the modern age. Yet… one was appearing in the game?

The others didn’t really pay much heed to the cultivation style book. While their opinions varied, they all thought it wasn’t very useful. Drako Yau was the only one who knew how rare and powerful it was.

Everyone then turned their eyes to Drako Yau.

‘It’s your turn now, come one, let’s go!’

Pulling the lottery was always an exhilarating thing that players couldn’t get enough of.

‘It’s here!’

Among the five of them, Drako Yau was the one with the most firecrackers, for he was the one who contributed the most and also because he was the boss. He used up all his firecrackers at once and fired them into the sky.

A deafening boom, no weaker than the one just now, exploded in the air. The fireworks even turned into a dragon!

Countless players stared into the sky to catch a glimpse of the massive dragon made of fire and sparks, all of them shocked and awe-struck. The dragon seemed to be in search of something, and the next moment, it slammed into the ground while carrying something bright in its jaws.

A crater appeared in front of Drako Yau, splattering dust and rocks everywhere. The dust dispersed soonly after and revealed a single item on the ground. He took a step forward and picked it up.

‘Congratulations, you have received Tattered Armour.’

‘Common equipment, Tattered Armour. Once equipped, it cannot be removed. Origin unknown.

Defence: 1.’

They were all at a loss for words as they looked at the Tattered Armour; its name couldn’t be more befitting. It was an armoured vest, but it was worn out and ragged all over.

‘Well, use 10 at a time next time. It’s either heaven or hell when you go all in.’ Zephyrwolf, acting like he was experienced with it, patted Drako Yau on the shoulder, to which Drako Yau only shrugged.

He wasn’t really too bothered by the event in the first place. To him, the greatest reward of this event was the experience and the chance for everyone to get used to fighting as a team. Especially Idyllic Poet and Danting, the two newcomers—their chemistry had improved vastly after the event.

Drako Yau tossed the Tattered Armour into his item bag. He clapped his hands and said, ‘Alright, let’s return to the city. Zephyrwolf and I have to start preparing for our class progressions.’ He then tore a Return-to-City scroll and teleported back.

Somewhere in the world, where not even a blade of grass could survive.

The entire place was dyed in black and purple. The dark purple soil was extremely barren and cracked all over, the land thirsting for water. However, on such a continent, a massive fortress stood tall in the middle of nowhere.

The fortress alone was larger than Empyreon and Yoda combined; both cities could each hold over 100,000 players. At the centre of the fortress was a tall spire.

‘Gahhhhh!!!’

A rageful roar could be heard from the spire’s peak. It reverberated throughout the fortress, sending shivers through every living creature’s spine and making them kneel on the floor while shivering.

In the spire, a middle-aged man, whose skin colour was purple, was gasping for breath. Ten or so of his men knelt before him, each of which were experts and masters. However, they simply knelt on the ground, their mouths trembling.

After the middle-aged man settled down from his fit of rage, he forced himself to act calm and looked at his men. 

‘Can someone tell me what the hell happened?’

The underlings all had dark blue skin and were dark elves, elites among elites. They all sent glances at one another, but no one dared to speak.

A moment later, one of the dark elves crawled a few steps forwards and said, ‘Exalted Demon Lord, we saw a massive glow just now, then… the thing sealed inside the Tower of Imprisonment shot out as a bright aura enshrouded it. It was extremely quick. One of our comrades tried to stop it, but…’ The dark elf pointed at a corpse in the corner. ‘He died immediately after it crashed into him.’