With shaking hands, Tristan cast [Tsunami] to end the boss and usher him into the halls of The Eight Elents history. He threw the card, and it transford into a roaring wave of water that slamd into the [Leviathan’s] weakened body. There was a satisfying crunch, followed by the Giant’s agonized roar.
It slumped over, dead.
Its body faded shortly after, leaving behind a screen in Tristan’s eyes.
You have defeated the [Leviathan] and cleared the [Slumbering Giants] Dungeon!
A list of loot displayed in front of him. Tristan only cared about one: 1x. Blood of the Leviathan acquired.
Knees trembling, he sat down on the floor and dismissed his deck. The swirling cards around him vanished from sight.
Finally. He’d done it. The last piece of the puzzle. The cavernous space briefly flashed, indicating it was now possible for him to open his [Binder].
Tristan did so. The [Binder] materialized in front of him, and instead of jumping straight to the end, he took his ti and flipped through the cards he’d collected over the years. Reminiscing. Pages upon pages filled with cards he’d earned, increasing in rank, from Novice all the way to Grandmaster, where he was now.
But not for long. Heart beating rapidly, he flipped the last page of Grandmaster and opened the page of Transcendent-rank cards, of which there was only one slot filled. A [Blueprint] for crafting a Transcendent card, the only one he’d been able to uncover after nearly six months of grinding and theorycrafting. Communication with the other Grandmasters was of course out of the question; every player was in it for themselves.
[Transcendent/Water/Dark/Field] — Abyssal Depths Blueprint: 10x. Fabric of Nyx, 10x. Fabric of Aquos, 10x. Blood of a Giant, 10x. Tears of a God, 10x. Soul of the Ocean, 10x. Soul of the Night, 1x. Transcendent Advancent Core.
It was ti. Tristan summoned Kelvin, his forger, and the NPC appeared beside him. He’d unlocked the ability to recruit him when he got the [Abyssal Depths Blueprint]. As far as Tristan knew, he was also the only one with this NPC, who was capable of forging Transcendent cards.
He quickly cycled through dialogue options, them being rote to him by this point, and entered the forging nu. He transferred the items over to Kelvin, who held his hands out. A light appeared there as the forging animation began.
The reality of the situation began to sink in, and he let out a nervous laugh. Tristan had played The Eight Elents during the alpha test, when the highest rank was Grandmaster. Then in beta, the developers teased an even higher rank on release.
Now, three years later, here he was. At the cusp of Transcendent, the highest rank possible, and he was about to be the first player to reach it.
With a satisfying trill, the card popped out, floating in the air.
The border was midnight black and blue with an ornate trim around the edge. The image was of the haunting depths of the deep sea, various sea creatures scattered about, a hint of the [Leviathan] in the shadows of the water. The na, type, and casts were written above the image, while the effect was written underneath.
[Transcendent/Water/Dark/Field] — Abyssal Depths: Swallow the battlefield in darkest water, where only you are able to see clearly. In this Field, only Water and Dark Summons may be cast. Upon cast, refresh the casts of all your Water and Dark Summons. All your Water and Dark Summons have their conditions negated; upon Summon, they are shrouded, deal imnsely increased damage, and heal while in this Field. (CASTS: 1 | DURATION: 5 MINUTES | CONDITION: THREE GRANDMASTER WATER AND/OR DARK SUMMONS MUST BE FULLY CAST FOR A TOTAL OF FIFTEEN MINUTES.]
Grinning, Tristan grabbed the card.
You have acquired 1x. [Transcendent/Water/Dark/Field] — Abyssal Depths.
You have unlocked the Transcendent rank. [Burst Deck] increased to 5. Transcendent Perks and cards have been unlocked.
He opened his [Bio], wanting to see it for himself.
Bio:
Na: Tristan Ford
Rank: Transcendent | Low
Forging: Adept
Build: Water/Dark
Playti: 3 years, 0 months, 22 days
“There it is,” he whispered. He dismissed the screen and rubbed the card, marveling at its weight, the smoothness of its texture. He slotted it into his deck and saw that it was able to cast because he’d fulfilled the condition during the battle with the [Leviathan].
He cast it imdiately, throwing the card out into the air. It flew out and ca to a screeching halt, as if it hit an invisible wall; water exploded out from it. It filled the entire cavernous room, shrouding everything in utter darkness, but Tristan could see as clearly as if it was day.
Let’s see what the imbuing effect looks like. He drew an [Elder Whale] Summon from his deck and cast it. The monster normally had a hefty condition to fulfill, but in [Abyssal Depths] that was no longer a problem. The monster ford, a massive black-and-blue whale that imdiately beca shrouded in shadow. It swam around in the Field like an invisible giant.
Tristan commanded it to use its skill [Mighty Crash]. The whale thrashed its tail-fin, and a muffled boom reverberated in Tristan’s ears. A mont later, a cannon of dark water burst out and slamd into the far wall with a thunderous roar.
Nodding in satisfaction, Tristan recalled [Abyssal Depths], and the card returned back to his hand, the water fading away.
This will be useful in the Rule of Twins, he thought. That was a raid where the final boss was a pair of corrupted elf sisters, and they always guarded each other’s blind spots, making them difficult to solo. And Tristan was a strictly solo player, making Rule of Twins his least cleared raid.
But… what’s the point? he thought a mont after, deflating slightly. There was no new goal to reach. Sure he could work on gathering other Transcendent cards, making a whole deck of them, but for what? The developers had stated in a recent update that they had no plans to make another rank higher than Transcendent, as no players had reached it yet.
Now Tristan had, but he was the first one. How many more Transcendents would there need to be before the developers added a new rank?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
A strange, suffocating depression ca over him. A familiar one. It was always the case with him that the climb to the top was more fun than reaching the top itself. He also wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed playing a ga for the sake of it. He needed a goal, sothing to work toward.
Maybe it was ti to start a new ga. It would be hard to find another one that scratched the sa itch The Eight Elents did; the mix of real-ti, fast action and an interesting card-based progression system was right up his alley. Though he didn’t really much care for the crafting side of things.
He shook his head. He was being silly. He always got like this after reaching a goal. He just needed a break.
He prepared to log out.
A card manifested in the air. The prismatic, golden coloring was different than any he’d seen, and the image in the center was a person in a forest of so sort. He squinted and looked closer; that was his character. Short, light skin, ssy black hair and a thin, almost too-sharp face. He’d used the face-scanner to create his avatar.
He read the words underneath the image.
As the first player to reach the Transcendent rank, you have reached the pinnacle of The Eight Elents. But there’s always another peak.
Accept this card to unlock [New Ga Plus]. Start anew and ascend again—but this ti, for real,
Tristan’s frown grew. He looked around the room, wondering if maybe there was so mischievous ga master playing a trick on him. But there was nothing but him and the screen.
He read the words again. The Eight Elents was a VRMMO; sothing like a new ga plus wouldn’t make any sense in a multiplayer environnt like this. He definitely didn’t hear anything about it in the patch notes or dev updates.
The embers of excitent flared up inside him. A hidden ssage, one just for him for reaching Transcendent? And what did that last line an? This ti, for real.
He didn’t know. Quite frankly, he didn’t care. Here was another challenge, another goal to accomplish.
Heart racing, he grabbed the card.
***
One mont, he’d been in the final boss room of the [Abyssal Depths]. The next, he stood in a clear grove in a sun-dappled forest. After a delayed mont, he realized where he was: this was Great Woods, a Novice-Apprentice zone. It was one of the four starting bios on Solossi, a beginner island.
Tristan blinked. Sothing was weird. He raised his arm, swished it around in the air. He took a deep breath, feeling the wind brush his cheeks, the sll of thick loam filling his nose.
This felt real. Too real.
“What’s happening?” he murmured out loud, walking around. He was wearing basic clothes, just a shirt, pants, boots, too low to even be graded or [Armored].
The sa gear everyone has when they start the ga…
He opened up his [Status Page], thinking he should start there.
Bio:
Na: Tristan
Rank: Novice | Low
Forging: Novice
Build: N/A
Armor: 0
Age: 18
[New Ga Plus]: Increase all drop rate by 2x: [Perkshards], [Forgeshards], [Item Cards], [Equipnt Cards], and [Blueprints].
Main Deck (1/5):
[Novice/Earth/Attack] — Earth Bolt: Shoot out a basic bolt of Earth energy. (CASTS: 10).
Burst Deck (0/5):
LOCKED UNTIL MASTER
Perks:
LOCKED UNTIL APPRENTICE
Forge Perks:
LOCKED UNTIL APPRENTICE
So much was wrong with this. He’d reset back to Novice… Why did it show his age now instead of his playti? Where were his cards, his [Perks] and what was this new [New Ga Plus] buff? Furthermore, his only card was [Earth Bolt], which was one of the four starting Attacks every new player started with. His equipnt was all gone, aning his [Armor] reset back to 0.
He paced the grove, thinking. He rembered accepting that strange card. He rembered the strange wording of it, the odd feel of the whole situation. And now, he was back at Great Woods as a fresh Novice with a crazily strong buff.
Double drop rate? The strength of that was enough to make him temporarily forget the bizarreness of the situation. Double the items ans double the speed of forging new cards, while double the [Perkshards] ans double the speed of unlocking new Perks. He wasn’t quite sure what [Forgeshards] were, however; such a chanic didn’t exist in the ga.
In the ga… Tristan knelt down and scooped up so of the dirt, rubbing it between his fingers. There was a texture to it, a sense of physicality, that no VRMMO he’d played over the years had ever managed to replicate.
This ti, for real, the card had said. But that was impossible.
Right?
His thoughts were cut off by a rumbling in the earth. Yelping, he tried to stay upright but was quickly knocked down to the ground as the whole world seed to tremble. The trees groaned and shook, birds scattering into the air, their rapid flight mirrored by the thumping of his heart. The fear that coursed through him was as real as anything he’d ever known.
Then, as soon as it ca, it left. The world stabilized.
And a ssage appeared in front of him.
A new rank has been unlocked: Divine. New lands, monsters, and more have been revealed.
Only the Divine will have the strength to defeat what is coming.
He read the words again. And again and again and again.
A new rank? Divine? The strength to defeat what is coming?
Excitent coursed through him. No, that was too small a word; thrill pulsed through his body like a second heartbeat. This was it, this was what he’d been waiting for. Nothing else mattered. He needed to be the first one to reach that new rank.
Ever since he was young, Tristan had been called lazy by those around him. They just didn’t understand that he was as ambitious as it ca; he just needed the right avenue to channel his ambition through. The mont he bought his first VRMMO ga, grinded, and saw his na on the leaderboards, he knew this was his calling.
He might not have his equipnt, deck, stats, and everything else anymore; it didn’t matter. Those could be reclaid—what couldn’t, what would separate him from anyone else who dared get in his way, was his knowledge and hunger. His skill, his drive to be the best.
He’d already reached the pinnacle once.
He could do it again.
He was going to do it again.
His head brimming with ideas, Tristan set off into the forest proper and imdiately got jumped on by a screaming squirrel.
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