"If one of us enters, I'm sure they'll be an announcement and most likely an achievement as well," Worm said.
That piqued Lucy's interest straight away. As someone who wanted to leave her mark upon the game, become the best of the best, there was nothing sweeter to her ears than getting an achievement.
"Should we party?" She asked. "This game is evil but, surely, they'll give the achievement to us both if it's a party right?"
"Hmm. . .I don't know. . .I'm not sure. . ."
As the girl ran through her thoughts, Lucy ran through her own.
The person named 'Worm' had a level of 8 which Lucy thought was absolutely insane. Realizing that she didn't know who the highest leveled players currently were, she opened her Traveler's Book and took a glance to see if anything like that existed. Under a tab called 'Hall of Fame', there was a section for 'Level' and she checked it.
"Wow. . ." She muttered, wide-eyed, "You're the top leveled player."
Worm released a small, half-smile. "And you're the 3rd."
Had the girl memorized the rankings? Lucy checked again and, indeed, she was third. Behind a level 6 player called 'FiveFingerDeath'. . .a rather traditional mmo naming style. She supposed she could stay up there even after dying twice only really due to her ability to negate death penalties. How Worm was ahead of even her, however, was beyond her recognition. As far as she knew, the girl had purposely followed a river and drowned just to see what would happen and then proceeded to post about it on the forums.
"Still," She muttered, "You're amazing."
Worm shrugged.
"I'm simply rather good at virtual reality games. A talent. Perhaps."
Lucy could only nod to that. She too had played many before this. Eclipse wasn't the first VR game. Many successful ones had existed prior. However, Eclipse was the first full-dive one. The previous ones had merely been akin to three-dimensional videos that needed multiple equipment to function. A stationary mobility pad for one, and VR glasses a must.
Eclipse, on the other hand, through upscaling the glasses into helmets to pack more technology into, redirected the player's sensory receivers and transmitters to create a dream-like state otherwise known as 'full-dive.' It took several years of testing just to be approved by many nations—not to mention the beta-tests—but, in the end, here they were.
Lucy spoke, crossing her arms, "That makes sense. Your equipment doesn't look bad either."
She glanced at the sword at the girl's waist. Though sheathed, she could tell it was a much higher quality than her own due to its handle. Probably still bronze, as it was unlikely any higher-tiered weapons had fallen at this stage, but it definitely wasn't a goblin's recycled scrap weapon.
"The sword? Oh, umm. I'm. . .actually a healer," The girl said, "Unlike swordsmen, I can farm without waiting for regeneration. That's how I stay at the top of the level board, for now."
Lucy tilted her head. "But you're clearly wielding a sword? If you were a healer, it should slow you down instead of just sharing exp with a helper, no?"
As far as she knew from following the betas, though the game didn't explicitly say it, you wouldn't get the stat bonuses of an equipped weapon if it wasn't for your class. And, for some, you wouldn't even be able to equip them due to modifiers or your avatar build lacking the required stats needed. Then there was the aspect that if you even tried to use two weapons at once, the non-equipped one would fly right back into your inventory.
Worm smiled. "Dafy's Golden Feather gave me a modifier that allows me to equip any equipment with no penalty so long as I meet its requirement."
". . ." Lucy was speechless. Why hadn't she gotten anything as cool?
The girl shook her head, however. "It's not as awesome as you think. After all, later stage equipment will require specific levels or stats to equip and, without a book, I don't get bonuses to my mana and thus none to my healing as well. I won't be able to equip high tiered items if I focus on being a cross between classes, either, and I only get the skills of a healer. Essentially, I'm a terrible swordsman and an even worse healer, yet, decent than most for solo-play. Simply put, there's disadvantages and advantages."
Lucy narrowed her eyes. It was understandable, but a particular part of the girl's words struck her. Worm sounded far more informed than someone who had simply watched other beta testers like herself.
"Were you a beta-tester?" She asked.
Worm blinked her eyes.
"Smart. . ." The girl smiled. "I was lucky enough to win an access code, though a lot has changed even in this starter region alone. For one, neither Dafy nor this dungeon ever existed in the beta."
That brought both girls' attention back to the tree trunk. Lucy sighed, recognizing that standing there would get them nowhere fast. And she wanted to get places, fast.
"Let's just test it out. Let's make a party. You enter first since you found the map, but we'll make the party," She said.
"Alright," Worm agreed quite quickly with a nod, "Add me as a friend and invite me."
[Player 'Worm' accepted your friend request]
[Player 'Worm' accepted your party invite]
[What would you like to call your party?]
Lucy raised a brow.
"You can name parties in this game? There wasn't anything like that in the betas. At least not from what I watched."
Worm nodded. "You're correct."
Lucy smiled. What should she name the party? Well, she could go with a name that would fit her character's? There was a reason she named herself 'Eve', after all. Not only did it sound cool, but she also wanted to either be the best or someone with few equals. To leave legends within the game world. In reality, there weren't any challenges a person as rich as herself could face. In Eclipse, however, maybe there would be.
As Worm walked forward, she finished typing what she wanted.
[Congratulations! The party 'Eden'—composed of players 'Eve' and 'Worm'—has earned the title 'Pioneer' by becoming the first players to find and enter a dungeon on the American server! Once 'Acron's Goblin Outpost' has been cleared, it will be made available to all players!]
With the system announcement that reached all corners of the server, the moment marked the birth of a legend. Someday to be known worldwide.
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