Tunder Power nocked an explosive arrow and let it go in a split second. The projectile reached a speed that surpassed that of a bullet leaving a gun, making it a feat that should normally be impossible at Rank 2. Surprisingly it had nothing to do with his class, skills, or any of his items, but was solely because of his strange genetics.
Tunder Power's appearance had noticeably changed. His ears had gotten longer and pointier, and his somewhat buff form had slimmed down a bit to become more compact. His dark brown eyes had similarly manifested a strange glimmer as if fireflies coursed within them.
All-in-all, he gave off quite the different vibe and presence compared to when he had just started the game. If Draco were here, he would be surprised, for this was the general makeup of a male Elf, although with some extra add-ons.
It appeared that in the real world Tunder Power hailed from an Elven branch of Supernatural. Given his physique, it could not be from the arrogant and noble High Elf branch. Although quite close, he also was not one of those reclusive Forest Elves, and just by looking at him, he clearly was not one of the treacherous yet s.e.xy Dark Elves.
In fact, he came from the combat-capable Wood Elf faction, which was also the weakest of them all nominally, however it was not due to low strength, but low numbers. His situation in Supernatural had been troubling because of his weak backing.
The Wood Elf faction was generally lumped together with the Forest Elves, as they were both 'tree huggers'. However, since the former was recognized as superior to the latter, it meant that those like Tunder had been ostracized.
But that no longer bothered Tunder. In the world of Boundless, especially in the midst of Umbra, he was free to be who he wanted. Case in point, they had a Royal Succubus, a White Dragoness, and an Ultima Sunt flying above them!
Not only that, the members of Umbra were supremely uncaring of one's origins, only caring about one's ability. Fortunately, Tunder was extremely capable in that regard, as he had proven once more during the tournament the members of Supernatural had held amongst themselves.
Since the fights between the last 16 in the Guild Arena had been watched by nearly all the members of Umbra, he had quickly become well-liked and well-received, a feeling the loner still couldn't get used to.
What he really appreciated though was that everyone respected his preferences. On the same day that he had won the tournament, an expert member of Umbra by the name of Shani had offered him to train or quest together since they were both archers, yet he had politely refused her invitation.
To his surprise, she had just nodded and told him that if he ever changed his mind, he could just take her up on that offer. Ever since that incident she always waved or nodded at him when they passed each other's path, but had otherwise not bothered him.
He liked to explore and move about on his own, so no one tried to be overly chummy or enter his space. After all, Umbra was chock full of talents, where even basic members were good enough to become guild leaders of Rare guilds at the least.
Among this group, many preferred to move alone as well, so he didn't stand out in that regard.
After doing his due diligence and researching more about the world, he had discovered something groundbreaking about this FIVRMMO, which was the fact that he could activate his gene freely within the game, only needing to turn it off to recover stamina.
As one might expect, the conditions to do so were much more rigid and strenuous in the real world, but in here, it was smooth like butter. Because of it, his skill with the manipulation of his genes had soared outside of the game as well, and he wasn't the only one.
Every trainee sent over by the headquarters had eventually made this discovery and had started to enjoy this benefit. The headquarters went crazy when they got the news, and they had immediately tried to send over more trainees. However, Eva had adamantly refused, stating she only wanted an elite few.
The best she had offered had been to help Supernatural create its own representative guild and assist them in skipping the early headaches of managing a guild. The rest needed to be done by themselves.
Not daring to slight one of the few Superior Lords, they had meekly complied and had thanked her for her help. All of this had really only become possible because Eva had become softer after becoming Evaterasu.
Just imagining how the meeting would have gone had Riveting Night still been in power was enough to make one shiver in fear.
Tunder Power did not need to rely on only his enhanced genes thanks to his Wood Elf affiliation. His Ranger class was extremely tailored for him, and the class skills it offered still made him shake with shock to this day.
｢Wildheart – Passive skill
Effect: The user obtains a unique and unbreakable connection with the world around them. HP and Stamina are constantly replenished at a rate of 5% per second, and all nature-based skills and techniques are 120% stronger.｣
｢Marksman Supreme – Passive skill
Effect: The user exhibits extreme marksmanship at all times. All ranged techniques, skills, and abilities are 300% more effective, and obtain the Supreme Accuracy trait.｣
｢Stampede – Active skill
Effect: Call out to the beasts of the plains and have them crush foes with their hooves, damaging a specific group of enemies within 2 miles. This deals variable damage depending on location.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
｢Lock-on – Active skill
Effect: Place a marker on an enemy that allows you to track then regardless of distance, location, or defenses. This cannot be blocked or dispelled.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
｢Snipe – Active skill
Effect: Nock an arrow in your bow that contains all your focus and concentration. The arrow will become unavoidable, but the user will be unable to strike at the same target for 1 minute. This deals 150% ranged damage.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.｣
｢Arrow Call – Active skill
Effect: Connect your will to the spirit of Rangers long gone, manifesting a full quiver of arrows when your current stock expires fully.
Note 1: At Rank 2, there is a 10% chance to manifest unique arrows.
Note 2: Inventory and quiver must be totally empty of arrows for the skill to work.
Cooldown: 1 hour.｣
This wasn't all though. Just like the others, he was reserving some of his key active skills for the true battle after this cleanup, but he abused his Snipe skill freely. With his class boosts and his own Supernatural genes, he was the reincarnation of Legolas.
Fitter Cleric clapped his hands when he saw an arrow pierce the skull of a void monster that tried to hit him. He then walked over to the thrashing monster and used his staff to bonk it on the head.
The void monster could not understand the reasoning behind Fitter's action, but then again, who did? Whatever the case, the Luckmancer took out a familiar tool from his inventory. It was the Pandora's Box!
｢Pandora's Box – Unique Item
Rank: Legendary
Effects:
Passive 1 – Metronome: Depending on the user's luck, their auto-attack will manifest random effects.
Passive 2 – A Little Hope: Depending on the user's luck, destiny might grant them a second way out in fatal situations.
Active 1 – Lucky Draw: Depending on the user's luck, one random active skill of any type would be used. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Description: This is a box that was never meant to be opened, but was yet unsealed by little Pandora. After releasing its contents, it now manifests random abilities depending on the luck of the wielder.｣
Immediately, he used his auto-attack on a void monster nearby. Instead of a creamy gold light of luck that he usually manifested, what came out was a lance of ice that pierced into the monster's back.
Fitter was the gigolo of Lady Luck, and for this first passive that depended on how fortuitous his fate was, it was almost impossible for him to get anything useless anymore.
Especially, after what he and Essence Stalker had experienced in that bloody Ancestral City of Dragons. Fitter shuddered whenever he thought about what was there, and dearly wished he and Essence would have just left it to a monster like Draco.
However, they had survived, and they had triumphed. They had even managed to gain some control over the city, which had allowed them to get exported to this battlefield. It would be impossible to return without a special method.
However, Fitter had no intention of ever going back.
The Luckmancer used the active skill of the Pandora's Box, which rolled for a random active skill based on his Luck. This was the true secret to his success, and had saved their hides more than once on their accursed adventures, since he often got overpowered and broken active skills thanks to his special stats and situation.
When Fitter saw what he drew, he smiled lightly. It seemed like his original babe was working overtime, for he had once again gotten something that he would never have even touched in his life otherwise.
｢Star Storm – Large-scale active spell
Effect: Open the heavens and let them rain down their wrath upon the world. Deals 5,000% gravity damage to an Area Zone.
Duration: 10 seconds
Cooldown: ?.｣
This was the pinnacle spell of the Gravimancer class, and although Eva had purchased the spellbook for it from Shuro, none of Umbra's members so far had been able to satisfy the requirements, so it was still waiting in the Guild Shop for its lucky future owner.
However, this bastard Fitter Cleric, due to nepotism and his hard work in bed, had become the player to bring this skill to life for the first time. He slammed the butt of his staff into the ground and pointed to the sky while mumbling a chant.
"Caelum et aperire caelum revelare mihi!"
Immediately, the bright blue sky was torn open like someone had pulled a piece of paper apart. Beyond that rip lay the endless beauty of space, with many bright specks of light denoting stars and planets far in the distance.
Frankly, it was a supremely beautiful sight. Many stopped their battles to look up and gaze upon the change in the sky above them. Even the Rank 3 void monster who had been chilling at the back looked up with interest.
Soon, the ambience of the view got disturbed when the specks of light that had looked so far away just moments ago had started to grow in size and intensity. It was like someone was turning the dial for the brightness from, 1 to 10 slowly.
Void monster and player alike had similar thoughts running through their minds at that moment.
'What the hell is happening? Why are the stars getting brighter and why can we see them in the middle of the day? Aye, that shit looks kinda close, doesn't it?
Haha, it couldn't be that those stars are actually heading here, to this specific battlefield, right? Haha, that's impossible, the power required to pull that off would be astronomic.
It has to be just a fancy lightshow, right? Just a distraction so someone can pull off a hidden scheme, right? There's no way-… bruh that shit is starting to get REALLY close…'
Soon, the players and void monsters were no longer able to feed their collective disbelief as they felt the heat and force of the incoming specks of light. Huge meteors emerged that were coated with flame and ash.
Immediately, everyone panicked and tried to run to somewhere safe. Unfortunately, the Area Zone had been locked for the duration of this quest, so there was no escape. Players affiliated with Umbra quickly regrouped and Uno activated one of his greatest skills.
｢All-out Defense – Active skill
Effect: Forgo all personal defense to create a huge barrier covering an area of 10 miles that protects all allies within.
Note: Barrier has 60% damage reduction but no reflection. It also has a damage threshold of 8,000,000 at Rank 2.
Duration: 2 hours.
Cooldown: 22 hours.｣
Immediately, a giant carapace-like barrier emerged around the entirety of Umbra, as well as the remnants of Meiren, Kamisuo, and Desecrators, but also the stragglers from Myriad Cards and Lorebinders.
Eva and her clique shot down to the ground and she used her Divine Skill to control the earth to open a path for them. After heading deep enough underground, she opened up a large cave and transported the Four Beauties into the mansion small world.
The Rank 3 void monsters displayed serious expressions as they all ripped holes in reality and dove into those special pockets of intangible space to escape the calamity. Some Rank 2 void monsters gave up and fell to the ground, while about 5 of them were still battling regardless.
Ah, but when even Eva and the Rank 3 void monsters had run away in fear, who dared to still battle when the heavens themselves were falling?
The answer was two fellows. The one on the left was Local Lord, who was waving around his greatsword and fighting brutally. He was still Rank 1, so his damage output was abysmal.
However, he had his bloodline to augment him, which was why he feared no spell or enemy in this world. Bruh, he could even recover from a speck of dried blood, much less being crushed to paste.
As for the one on the right, it was Essence Stalker who was using his halberd with a level of speed and dexterity that could only be seen from a person like Draco. Essence Stalker had spent a great amount of time fighting Draco's clone, and had adopted some parts of it into his own fighting style.
As for why he feared nothing from this apocalyptic scene… well, it was hard to explain at the moment. Since seeing was better than believing, one's eyes could only bulge when looking at the results of the star storm landing on the duo, as well as the entire Area Zone, in the next moment.
