"This doesn't break any rules! This player found a feature we never thought about!" Desk Guy argued.
"It provides an unfair advantage! Everything in the game must follow the rules!"
"That's rich, you act like the Pinnacle weapons don't exist."
"The Pinnacle weapons are different, you obtain them through legit means. Through trial and error can you obtain one and become the strongest. This in an unintended feature."
"We can't punish them for that."
"If a Warrior is capable of dealing ranged attack damage with no cost, how is that fair?"
"Using your own argument here this player learned this through effort. Is it really against the rules if it's not a Skill?"
". . . Fine! Loosen the restrictions on this player, but keep a close eye on them! If what they're doing is proven to be the work of some third party software I will not hesitate to ban them!"
Desk Guy nodded, "That's fair."
~ ~ ~
"It has been decided, since this was an unintended aspect of the game we will be reducing the restrictions on you. You shouldn't come across an Error issue like this when performing this ability again."
Akiol was slightly surprised, "That's nice. We might have this issue again in the future though, how much are these restrictions loosened?"
"I cannot say. In exchange for this inconvenience please accept this EXP potion. We will send you back to your experience shortly."
The voice cut out and a time began counting down from 30 seconds. A potion appeared and hovered in front of Akiol. He reached out and grabbed it, as soon as his hand made contact the items disappeared. A notification appeared in front of him.
<Items sent to Inbox.>
<Return to game?>
Akiol accepted the prompt and his surroundings changed back to the dungeon. Still in the separate Dimension from Akiol's artifact.
Zui Hao's wounds finished recovering, "Just die! [Phoenix Path Ultimate Art: Flames of-]"
The encasement of flames flickered out. Zui Hao fell to the ground. When he landed he quickly snatched his sword, "I ran out of energy! Even my backup energy talisman was completely used. I was too hasty!"
Akiol silently breathed a sigh of relief, "You've run out of energy. Now we are on the same footing. You sure you don't want to quit here?"
Akiol still had some MP, however he was on the edge of death. [Tool 6 (First Aid)] provided very little in terms of HP regeneration. He only recovered 100HP, it truly was only first aid.
"Quit? Don't be foolish. I will not let my path end here."
"A shame, if you come willingly perhaps you could be spared."
"I would rather die!"
"Then so be it."
The two charged towards each other. Swords clashed, a metallic ringing filling the surroundings. Akiol had an advantage with his [Dimension Change] still active. However he didn't need it.
Without the special skills Zui Hao was extremely easy to defeat. It was pure sword combat, something Akiol was confident he would never lose to.
Zui Hao grew frustrated as the combat grew. Wounds appearing on his body, blood and sweat began to blur his vision. His fury reached a breaking point, "So be it! I don't care about the backlash! [Forbidden Blood Path: Sacrificial Augmenting]!"
Zui Hao's eyes turned red, his veins began to become visible. All of them a blood red. Akiol saw the transformation and frowned, "Boss Enragement, this game truly doesn't want me to succeed."
<Warning!!! Boss has enraged!>
"Ah yes, this confirms it I suppose. That and my target turning into a monster."
Zui Hao let out an agonizing scream, his body flooded in pain. His power increase was only a little less than his Phoenix Awakening. However he no longer cared about such thing. With a demonic voice he yelled, "Die!"
Akiol was disappointed, "So overconfident that you're sacrificing something just to kill me? Is it pride? Just throw it away, it's not needed here."
Akiol dodged the attacks. His hand blurred and two fingers touched the wrist of Zui Hao. His sword dropped to the ground and Akiol cut off his hand.
Zui Hao grasped his wrist and groaned in pain. Akiol pointed his sword towards his neck, "You've lost."
"Kill me! I won't go back! They're ruining my future! I would rather die!"
"You shall pay for your crimes. You have done damage to the city, you have betrayed the clan. You think that I will let you escape your fate and die?"
"You. . . then die with me! [Forbid-]"
Akiol sliced his throat, cutting the chant short. Zui Hao fell to the ground. Akiol flicked his wrist to remove the blood from his sword. He sighed, "What's with the crazy people and self destructing?"
<You have completed dungeon: The Escape of a Genius.>
<Rating: A+>
<Rewards: +5 levels, +20000 Gold, Skill Stone, Skill Stone.>
<Leaving Dungeon in 90 seconds...>
Akiol did a double take, two skill stones? Also a rating? He assumed the rating feature was new with the recent update. However he was flabbergasted that he received two Skill Stones. Was it really that easy?
Akiol had scored big time, two Skill Stones from the dungeon. Plus an five levels and an EXP potion from the incident. It was truly a fantastic gain, he was thoroughly pleased.
His Artifact's [Dimension Change] was now on a large cooldown, but he thought it was a great exchange.
He exited the dungeon manually, as soon as he was outside he teleported back to Chalkworth. The first thing he did was claim the Exp Potion from his inbox. The Exp Potion gave him an additional 20% Exp so he drank it without hesitation.
The two skill stones had question marks in their description. So he had no choice but to get them appraised. However once he reached the appraisal shop there was a long line.
Akiol frowned, the update had only been out for a short time. So why was there such a long line?
He walked along the line, listening in on the conversations.
"The developers are really generous. To think that such an event would be released so soon!"
"Right? With such high equipment drops I am sure my strength will increase."
"Well of course you fool! Those were high level enemies. The drops would be good!"
"I got lucky and got a Skill Stone?"
"""What?"""
"Hahaha! Friend, you should give me that. We have been friends for a while yeah?"
"I don't even know you man."
"Nonsense!"
Akiol heard such conversations as he walked. An event? It has been a while, but so soon after the update? He opened the group chat and began typing.
Akiol: What's this about an event?
Kan'na: Ah, there you are. Everyone is scrambling to participate. A city is under siege from some enemy faction. Adventurers are being requested to assist in defending. Since the opponents are humans there is some equipment drops. The lowest level soldier is level 120+ anyway.
Akiol: Why am I always gone during these things? Though I won't be participating in this one. I don't need equipment.
Tilia: Wait no! I need some equipment to level my Occupation. Please assist!
Akiol: Scratch that, I will be participating in this one. I seem to be in need of equipment.
Yielya: Heh. . .
Wrock: Come join! We should attack their higher leveled stuff together.
Akiol: Uh, give me a moment. Just finished a solo dungeon, most of my skills are on cooldown.
Jarvis: So this is what's going on? Should I join?
Tilia: Your tames would be very helpful!
Akiol closed the group chat. As he waited for his cooldowns and health regeneration he chatted with Breaker of Stars.
He questioned, "So about the drawback? I want to hear it in detail."
'Okay. . . With the power I wield your body would naturally be unable to withstand it. The Repulse ability has a recoil to it. If you were human your muscles would be shredded, and your arm would turn useless. It's only because your a slime that your able to withstand it to a greater degree.'
Akiol frowned, "How does that translate to needing strength though?"
'Well. . . I lied about that. While you do need to be stronger to swing me around efficiently. It isn't a deciding factor. It's the quality of your body. In this case, the quality of your slime. No ordinary being would be able to wield me for long periods of time, if not at all.'
"Mind explaining that further?"
'Only beings on a higher plane of existence will be able to fully wield me. Which you are not yet.'
A higher plane of existence! Every player no matter the race will undergo an evolution at level 250. Level 250 was the turning point for everyone. Not only will their race evolve, but so will their classes! The basic ones can choose between two more paths. The hidden ones undergo an qualitative improvement.
At this point the whole game will change for these players. Able to explore further into the unknown, fight even greater beings. The limits of A World's Legacy can only be found after level 250! However Akiol did not know of this.
"It would probably be one of my future evolutions then. The future holds many opportunities huh."
He was excited to see it!