The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 14: Anvil Descending

(March 3rd Game Day / January 21th Real Day)

By the time I had finished reading through everything my mind was boggled.

I didn't cheer or shout; I didn't even celebrate at all. I was still trying to take in everything that had just happened.

It was an Ancient Relic after all and was a timed event like I had thought, but for it to be one of the top ten on the server? Is there really such a thing? I mean, if it were true, why didn't one of the developers or researchers come and claim this power for themselves if it was so great? I couldn't really believe what I was reading, in my mind it was certainly embellishment by the developers.

In the Annals of History for Dragon's Wrath there is made mention of hundreds of Artifacts and Relics that held information or powers from the past, so it was reasonable to believe that there was a power ranking and one of those items would have to be ranked as number one.

If the game followed the mythology of the times then Lightning was considered the most powerful property of the Gods throughout the ancient world, from the Northern territories to the Mediterranean down through the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. If I was correct in my thinking, I had quite possibly discovered the most powerful Relic in the game, less than a real world month after it was released.

I didn't believe it.

I wasn't a lucky person.

I had studied everything on the game before it released and knew all about the history of the game and saw plenty of Easter eggs inside the "Annals of History" that was available on Dragon's Wrath's website.

It was a huge compendium filled with hundreds of pages of lore that was a fun read in its own right. I knew these things existed even though they were only hinted at. I knew it when I saw that odd weather pattern, when I saw that anvil.

But to think that my over-attentiveness that I have often considered a curse, to think that because of that bad quirk that I can't stop no matter how hard I try, I would have been able to come across one of the best powers in the game?

I didn't believe it.

Shaking my head in disbelief, thinking the game had pulled a prank on me and some celebrity was going to pop up around the corner with a camera crew, I quickly opened up my Character Window and browsed through the tabs where information about me was stored.

As I clicked through a few tabs to get to the Spells > Lightning Spells, I found a list of every Lightning Spell that existed that would be available to me in due time. All but one was grayed out but I had the innate knowledge now. I wouldn't need any NPC trainer to teach me anything, ever.

As soon as I read the spell, it was like going through a crash course similar to what Neo did; I was able to learn [Lightning Bolt] instantly. In my eagerness I quickly read through the available spells and saw a few familiar ones that had been reported by Alpha or Beta testers but I also saw a few that weren't listed and ones that were obviously of such a high level that I wouldn't be able to use them for at least a year or maybe even two.

What really caught my eye was that there was a special tab to the side, Spells > Lightning Spells > Unique Lightning Spells. I clicked on the [Unique Lightning Spells] tab and saw a few spells I had never heard about anywhere and one only required a level four proficiency, [Flash Step].

I could learn this one within a month or two and from what I saw it provided the ability to essentially teleport short to medium distances via lightning, it was an instantaneous spell that could prove immensely useful.

It was a damn near cheat skill was what it was.

After a few hurried minutes reading through the potential spell list I was sold at least partially on the benefit of the Ancient Relic, I at least had the knowledge that others did not have.

I could work with that.

Staring at my hands intently, I then looked up at the cracked anvil in the distance.

The rain had stopped and the clouds had parted revealing the beautiful moon and its mini-moon counterpart in all their glory. Illuminating the mountain top with their faint light, I could finally look at the anvil with clarity. It had been reduced to a large pile of rubble.

Approaching the stones, I placed my hand once more to see if there was anything left and was suddenly shocked when the entire pile of rubble collapsed on itself in a puff of dust.

There was nothing left.

Changing my focus, I walked near the edge of the mountain and looked down to where the river ran some three-thousand and three-hundred feet below.

Clasping my hands, I closed my eyes as I went through the process.

Gathering the surging electrical energy, the raw power condensed in my hands was slowly expanding as I spaced my hands further apart.

A cluster of electrical energy, a ball had formed.

As electricity continued to arc between the ball and my fingertips I was in awe.

I had harnessed the power of electricity.

Looking off into the distance, I brought my arms forth and aimed at the river. The cast only took two seconds but as it was my first, it had felt like an eternity.

With the completion of the cast the ball of electricity, no, the ball of lightning surged off in a straight-line at near instantaneous speeds, leaving a trail of lightning until it dissipated far off in the distance. It was a straight-line skill shot that flew where I aimed it.

It was basic, but it was powerful.

[Lightning Bolt] cost a lot of mana relative to a [Fireball] or [Frost Bolt] but it also did more damage and traveled much faster.

For short duration PvP fights, I would have preferred the burst damage of Lightning over the sustained damage of Frost anyways.

Reading the Spell-Tiers I realized what God-Tier meant and was quite surprised by the finding. [Lightning Bolt] like every other spell, has the potential to be upgraded once a proficiency with that individual spell is reached.

There are three such upgrades, one at level 4, another at level 7, and the final one at level 10 proficiency. The level 10 proficiency could take anywhere from two to five years to reach in real time and was considered Master-Tier.

Going above level 10 was considered God-Tier. [Lightning Bolt] at Master-Tier had a 20% chance to paralyze the target for one-second. [Lightning Bolt] at God-Tier had a 100% chance to paralyze the target for one-second.

That… is remarkable.

Yeah, this was a bit broken.

Staring at the moon, I couldn't help but wonder if the sun ever gets tired of always lending the moon its light. I also wondered if everything I accomplish in the future will only be due to the result of finding the Wondrous Legendary Ancient Relic.

There is no doubt in my mind, that no matter how successful or brightly I shine, some people will forever point to this moment in time as the precursor, as the only reason I am who I am. I may have found one of the greatest powers in the game, but from this day forward, how will people perceive me?

Just like the moon that shines so brightly in the darkness of the night, illuminating the world just enough to stave off complete darkness. The world stares back and appreciates the moon for what it provides, but in the end the moon is nothing without the sun.

The moon borrows its glory.

While contemplating what the future had in store for me, I packed all of my equipment into my bag and tied it around my body with the rope that I had.

After finishing up, I went and pulled out my little project that I had been working on. From two decently sized tree branches I had carved what amounted to rudimentary skis.

I had a plan to get down the mountain as rapidly as I could.

Sliding my feet into the grooves I had carved out of the skis, I waddled my way to the starting position.

Looking at the nice, clean gradual decline of the easterly slope that continued down the entire mountain in front of me, I couldn't help but smile.

There was a clear route that you could take all the way down, and I was sure it wouldn't be too difficult.

I then turned around and with a push skated down the opposite westerly slope, the one that was a near vertical wall, the one I had just climbed a few days past.

With twenty seconds of momentum built up I flew off the ledge and watched as my skis fell off into the darkness below.

While contemplating how long it took to fall straight down 3,300 feet, I enjoyed the view.

The answer turned out to be around twenty-two seconds.