MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

158 The Highest Contributor

Rose gazed into the distance, her eyes fixed upon the sprawling battlefield before her. The ground was littered with the yellow bones of the undead skeletons, their bony fingers clutching at the earth as they advanced towards the players. The players themselves were a kaleidoscope of color, their armor and weapons reflecting the light of the sun. Spells of every hue flew through the air, striking the skeletons and sending them tumbling to the ground. Despite the ferocity of the players’ attacks, the skeletons seemed relentless, their bony fingers always reaching for their next prey.

Rose’s grip was tight around the massive longbow that she held. The bow was half her size, made from a dark, rich wood that grew only in the elven forest. To a simple onlooker, it appeared to be nothing more than a simple Silver Tier equipment, but the bow was far from ordinary.

She did not carry a quiver of arrows, for the projectiles materialized as she strained the bowstring. With each pull of the string, an arrow of pure mana appeared, ready to be loosed at her enemies. The bow hummed with a low energy, the mana within it waiting to be unleashed.

Swish...

Another skeleton fell, its head exploding into a shower of brittle bones as Rose’s arrow found its mark. The force of the impact was enough to send the rest of the skeleton’s body tumbling to the ground.

Rose took a moment to spare a glance at the band on her right wrist, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. The band was made from a soft, black leather, molded to fit her wrist perfectly.

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~~~~

The band on Rose’s wrist was a Platinum Tier equipment awarded to her for being the biggest contributor in the first wave of the battle. And yet, even as she took aim and loosed another arrow at the enemy, she felt a twinge of doubt.

She had reacted faster than the others, her arrow had reached the skeleton before anyone else’s. But still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her achievement was not worthy of such a high-tier equipment.

She only killed a single skeleton and got such overpowered loot!

Rose’s eyes were drawn to the figure of a woman standing a dozen feet away from her, her arms raised as she unleashed a barrage of lightning spells onto the battlefield. The sight was awe-inspiring, the spears of lightning striking the skeletons with deadly precision.

And yet, as Rose watched, she felt a sense of confusion wash over her. Wasn’t the undead immune to lightning?

Rose’s thoughts turned to the many discussions and debates she had read on the forums regarding the undead. It was well known that they were only affected by a select few affinities, and yet, here on the battlefield, these skeletons seemed to have a weakness for everything. She couldn’t help but question if they were truly undead.

Rose’s gaze lingered on the skeletal figures before her, and she couldn’t help but frown at their strange appearance. The teeth were sharp, unlike anything she had ever seen in her research on the undead. The bones were a sickly shade of yellow, a far cry from the bleached white skeletons she had seen in the images on the internet.

She tried to access their status window, as she did with all her enemies, but to her surprise, it was unavailable. This was a first for Rose, she had never encountered creatures in the game that were unreadable. What kind of creatures were these?

Rose’s fingers moved with fluid precision as she sent another arrow flying towards the enemy. In a momentary break from the intense battle, she took another look at the female player standing nearby.

She was struck by the breathtaking sight of the player’s massive wings, feathers as black as the night sky and so delicate they appeared to be made of gossamer. The player looked like a celestial being, a real-life angel with her wings spread wide, casting powerful spells with grace and ease.

As she peered inside the angel’s hood, her eyes were met with a breathtaking sight – an otherworldly beauty, like nothing she had ever seen before. The angel was so captivatingly gorgeous, that even the most famous models in the world would have paled in comparison.

A flicker of envy danced through Rose’s mind, and she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of self-doubt. She couldn’t help but question her own worth in the face of such stunning perfection. However, Rose quickly reminded herself that true beauty lay in character, not just physical appearance.

With a newfound determination, Rose clenched her fists, letting the fire of ambition ignite within her. She had a goal to strive for, a challenge to conquer – to surpass the mysterious beauty hiding within the hood.

Rose let the mana flow into her, allowing it to build and grow within her. With a focused mind, she summoned forth two arrows at once, and though the task seemed daunting, she was determined to succeed. She had practiced archery outside of the game, honing her skills and precision, and now was the time to put it all to the test.

Swish... Swish...

Rose took aim and released the arrows, one by one, with deadly accuracy. They found their targets and took them down in an instant, leaving the angel watching the field with a slight look of surprise.

Releasing another set of arrows, Rose heard a strange creaking sound, and she watched in confusion as one of her arrows dissipated mid-air, turning into light particles. She quickly checked her Status window and realized that she had run out of mana.

Panic set in as Rose frantically searched for a solution. She remembered the MP pot she had bought from a guard NPC, and quickly reached for it. She uncorked the bottle and drank its contents, but the next moment, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Rose had to drop to one knee, steadying herself so that she wouldn’t fall from the wall.

‘What the hell...’

Rose looked around in a frantic search for the source of her headache, but the pain was too intense, spreading through her body with each passing moment. She tried to keep her thoughts focused and calm, but the searing pain was too much to bear.

As Rose writhed in pain, the nearby players took notice and quickly stepped back, observing her with curious and confused gazes. They had never seen such a reaction to a potion before, and they didn’t know how to help.

Puff...

With a loud puff, Rose felt sweat pouring down her forehead as she struggled to bring herself back to her feet. She leaned against the cold stone wall, taking deep breaths to try and steady herself.

Glancing around, Rose noticed another player, a demon, in a similar state, writhing on the ground, clearly in a lot of pain. In his hand was an MP potion, similar to the one that Rose had bought from the guard NPC.

‘We’ve been poisoned!’

Rose muttered a curse as she strained her neck to lift her head.

“Don’t drink the potions you’ve bought from the guard NPC, they are poison!”

One of Rose’s teammates quickly reacted to the situation and handed her a potion. She took it gratefully, nodding her thanks before quickly consuming it. The potion was like a ray of hope, immediately dulling the pain.

Rose’s attention was drawn to the demon, a seemingly lone player who was still lying on the ground. His HP was in the dozens, and Rose knew that he was in dire need of help. Despite her own struggles, Rose couldn’t ignore the plight of others. She guessed that the waves of enemies would continue until either the city was overrun or they reached the final boss.

With a determined look, Rose ran over to the demon and knelt beside him. She carefully lifted a potion to his lips, and watched as the life-giving liquid flowed into his body. She saw his eyes slowly regain clarity, and his body twitched as he started to come back to consciousness. The demon was alive, and Rose felt a sense of satisfaction wash over her.

“Thank you...”

The demon murmured, whilst looking at Rose with a shy look and used his half-numb legs to carry himself, further from the wall, where he could recover.

Rose, seeing this, nodded and ran back to the wall, taking a position, near the Lightning throwing angel.

Rose glanced at the woman, who’s eyes were unblinking, staring at the battlefield and her arms, which were continuously in sync to either bring a potion to her lips or cast a spell.

Rose observed a frown forming on the angel’s face as she looked towards a female orc, who was effortlessly making her way through the skeleton army with a deadly scythe. The orc was taking the lives of a few enemies at a time with each swing of her weapon.

Behind the orc, there was a group of less skilled players following her lead, avoiding conflict with the skeletons and merely following the path cleared by the orc’s scythe swings. Rose could see the greed in their eyes, which didn’t come as a surprise to her, given her prior experience with treacherous humans.

Suddenly, one of the greedy players overtook the orc and made a reckless move by jumping at the skeleton leader, swinging his sword with the intention of destroying its skull.

Swish...

The entire battlefield fell silent as the player’s head was cleanly severed from his shoulders.

Rose noticed the angel beside her preparing a massive lightning orb, while nervously eyeing the orc. She surmised that the angel must be a friend of the orc.

‘It’s never too late to make connections...’

Rose thought as she aimed her bow towards the dark sky, releasing an arrow crafted from her own mana. The arrow arced gracefully towards its target.

‘It’ll be a 100% hit!’

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