Zenith Affinity

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Guild Chat:

Ashariel Navi - 38/100

Kesa Ivy - 49/100

Ren Tidecrest 79/100

Solara Sky - 77/100

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“Nooooo!” Sky said, sinking to her knees in defeat.

Ren laughed as Mia handed him the summoning stone. He inspected it, linking the stone in Guild Chat.

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Ren Tidecrest: [Zazed, Luminous Monarch, Mount Summoning Stone]

Aralen: Ooh, that's a nice one!

Dark Hero: You should see Sky’s face.

Cadmeas Odalfus: A truly devastating defeat. Well done, Ren Tidecrest!

Immortal Jack: I think Sky’s crying.

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Ren had a smile on his face, but he looked up to Sky as she spoke.

“GG, Ren. It was a good roll.”

“Thank you, Sky. But we should talk about this,” Ren began. “You are the guild leader, and I know how hard it is to find legendary mounts that are Solar or adjacent, a very rare affinity. It was less than 10 in-game, I think, regardless of what it might be now that we are here.”

Sky didn’t want to hope, but she couldn’t hide the emotion in her gaze as she looked back at him.

“I think our guild leader needs to have a mount worthy of the guild. One like Zazed here. So… the next water mount that drops, one that I am interested in, you roll along with me for it, deal?”

“Seriously?”

He held out the mount summoning stone to her, the sphere pulsing in Ren's grasp. “Take it. Zazed is a perfect mount for you. Just know that you owe me one, yeah?”

Sky laughed, “Are you sure?"

Ren nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Ren. I will pay you back.” Sky took the stone, looking at it with reverence.

“I think Sky should walk everywhere,” Kesa said.

“Kesa!”

“What? Wouldn’t that be like a humility thing or something? I don’t know.”

“That’s so mean,” Sky said, faking the emotional damage.

“Well, now that that is settled, we do have a bit more loot, I think,” Zedra said. “Including an incredible blade our party got as a drop, but none of us can use it.”

Zedra was looking at his HUD, and he linked something in guild chat.

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Zedra Stone: [Luminous Gladius] - Thrusting attacks are extended with a blade of light. Increased Light Affinity melee attacks and abilities.

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“It’s not exactly a lightsaber, but that would be illegal. It is a sword imbued with the light affinity, though,” Zedra said. “A gladius.”

“Ash! That would be perfect for you!” Alisha said.

“Mhm. Can I roll on that?” Ashariel asked, her tone not filled with anger or sarcasm for once.

“Of course, unless everyone is passing. It’s not a casting blade, or I am sure Sky would be rolling for it too.”

“Casting blades are fun, but you get more AoE with staves,” Sky said, shrugging a shoulder. She still held the summoning stone close to her chest like someone might try and take it from her.

“I would have tried as well, but my magic is best with a staff or a scepter, as is most healing magic,” Ar’Gen Lightfist said.

“Great! Here you go, Ashariel,” Zedra said. He held out the blade, which was in its white scabbard, handle first.

Ashariel’s eyes went wide as she grabbed it, reading the description. “This is a truly wondrous weapon.”

Salazard Dread nodded, “Mmmm, a gladius, a weapon meant primarily for thrusting in close-quarters combat. Of course this one is enchanted to bypass that range deficiency. A very solid enchantment that has potential to last until Tier 3 or higher if you upgrade it properly.”

“Great! We can enhance and enchant it when we get to 50, and you will have a weapon until endgame,” Zedra said, nodding over at Sky. Sky smiled back at the previously divisive Celestial, who returned the expression. The sword disappeared from her hand, landing in her inventory before she equipped it on her hip.

“We also acquired an item that those of the water affinity might desire,” Cadmeas spoke up.

“Link it!” Sky said.

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Cadmeas Odalfus: [Ring Of Refracted Movement] - Allows the wearer to cast the Water-Attuned movement skill [Refracted Step]. Must interact with water on either the start or finish of the ability.

Caligula: Uuh, can one of mine roll on that? You guys are getting crazy loot!

Solara Sky: Only if no one here wants it.

Caligula: *Sad face*

Kesa Ivy: 48/100

Ren Tidecrest: 2/100

Sarah Maple: 37/100

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Everyone looked at Sarah after she rolled.

“What? I will eventually go with the water attunement…”

“No, it’s fine. By then I should be able to recreate it anyway,” Sky said with a smile.

“Sky…you have to roll for me! I need another movement ability!” Ren said, not truly emoting the desperation his words implied.

“You want me to roll against my own healer? And for something that isn’t a mount? You are crazy, my friend.”

Ren nodded, “I mean…that’s fair.”

Baron Vane patted his back, “Next time.”

Cadmeas made a huge presentation of delivering the ring like it was some sort of holy object, “Lady Kesa Ivy! A ring bestowed upon thee from above!”

“Uh, thanks?”

“You are most welcome, young druid!”

“Right.”

“Grats, love,” Dark said, pulling the much shorter purple-haired healer into a side hug as he plopped a kiss on the top of her head.

Kesa smiled brightly as she equipped the translucent blue ring, which had light dancing around in it, like it was trying to escape.

The guild sat in the cooling geyser waters, relaxing as they recovered from the fight. Sky was looking down at her chest while moving her arms in different ways to see the response.

“Sky! STOP IT!” Kesa said.

“What? They look amazing in this wet robe. It’s not my fault Zedra dressed me in all white and forced me into a water fight.”

Zedra face-palmed while Dark and Atticus, as well as a few others, burst out laughing.

“I…have no words,” Zedra said.

“I guess we have our rogues' underlying motivations for becoming a Tailor. He wanted to get Sky into a wet T-shirt contest!” Dark Hero laughed.

Sky’s golden eyes danced with laughter as she stared Zedra down, “And here I thought using those open party showers showed enough skin!”

“Oh my word,” Atticus said, shaking his furry head.

“Halp!” Zedra pleaded.

The guild laughed as Sky spoke up. “Alright, is that everything besides a huge load of affinity gems?”

“I believe so,” Zaria said, looking around.

“All good to go here,” Alisha said.

“Same,” Ren replied.

“We're ready to find an epic mount!” Dread said.

“Saaaame!” Raze Iver replied.

“Great! I think we should split up a bit in hopes of covering more ground. Say, two parties per group?” Sky mused.

“That would be fine with me. Can we party up with you, Sky?” Zaria asked.

“HEY! Not fair! That lady owes me a mount!” Ren said.

“Oh, alright…no worries. We are with the Pinkies then, sound good?”

“Pinkies? Like the fingers?” Alisha asked wearily.

Zaria laughed, “Ehh, best I could come up with.”

Alisha exchanged glances with the rest of her party, and no one seemed to mind. “I guess that’s fine.”

“I think we will go with the regulars,” Selena said.

“Ahem…I believe you mean [The Traditionals]! And yes, my dear Selena Blackmore of [Affliction], we would once again look fondly upon a partnership of mutual benefit!” Cadmeas said.

“Great.”

“I guess that leaves us. I think we will complement each other well!” Dread said, nodding to Raze and the rest of [Nature Green].

“Sounds good.”

“Alright, [Reality Check] and the [Sword Souls], [The Traditionals] and [Affliction], [Flamesouls] and [Pink Lotus], and [Century] with [Nature Green]! Is that everybody?” Sky asked.

“Yup!” Zaria replied.

“Great! So don’t bother going east unless you are headed way north or south. West is more of what we had here…hills and such, maybe some valleys and the like, probably your best bet on finding something worthy of taking down. I think we will head southwest and try to reach the coast. We have a couple water-based mounts to locate after all.

"Make sure you mark down the exact location and name of any dungeons. Don’t feel like you have to clear them, but if you can give it a good once over, please do. Also, ensure that any mobs that might be trying to escape are put down. Any questions?”

“What do we need for mount saddles?” Ar’Gen asked.

Sky nodded at the question, “Mostly affinity gems, leather, and some other basic stuff. Zaria is our leatherworker, so we will bring our crafting writs to her once we all learn the skills needed. We will probably buy most of the raw mats we don’t have, but ensure you stock up on gems in your affinity, and also ensure that you have your aura ability before level 40 if you are trying to get a non-neutral mount.”

“I think you meant, ‘basic-bitch mount.’” Selena Blackmore said with a dose of sarcasm.

Laughter went around, and Sky agreed, “Indeed. We are the first to push this far out, so bag as many legendary mounts as you can, but make sure that you can take them down before fighting. If they are over level 40, you are too deep! Zazed was a true open world boss, so there shouldn't be anything as powerful as him around here.”

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

[Reality Check] and the [Sword Souls] broke off from the road after a good hour of travel, lining up in the direction of a bay to the south, about a five-hour journey on foot according to their maps. The [Sword Souls] didn’t have a dedicated scout or rogue type like Zedra, but Baron Vane was quick with his high dexterity and agility scores, so he scouted out to the east while Zedra took to the west as the groups traveled south.

It wasn’t too hard of a path to cut through after they passed by a thick valley of bushes. Sky had gleefully used her [Flare Step] to jump over anything, and many people were attempting the same sort of move. The most interesting one was Kesa, with her new ring equipped.

She cast a [Cleansing Rain] right on the other side of the thicket and activated [Refracted Step]. Just like Zazed had done, she flowed into a bit of light and appeared within the AoE of her cleansing spell, a huge giggle leaving her mouth as she appeared.

“I could get used to this…”

“You know, it’s surprising that it’s water attuned, even when you turn into light,” Sky noted as she floated down.

“I suppose so, but it requires water to work,” Kesa replied.

“I guess so.”

Ren appeared with his own water teleportation ability [River Walker]. With a shake of his head, he said, “That ring would have been way more fun with my skill set.”

“Can you even cast water spells?” Zedra asked. He appeared to have been standing there casually, as if he had been waiting for the rest of the party the whole time.

“You don’t have to. If you read what it said, as long as it interacted with water at the start or finish of the teleport, it would work. Any time I have a [Flowing Blade] going, I could activate the ability, no question.”

“Well, you will survive for now, and later we can make a second one for you,” Sky said.

“Thanks!” Ren said brightly.

The two parties continued, finding wetlands and plenty of targets to fight. Open world leveling is much slower than farming dungeons, but it is still effective. They ran into no less than a dozen encounters before they found the first Legendary Mob, and by that point, the smell of the ocean was on the wind.

A massive green elk strolled through the wetlands, clearly out of its element, even with the random tree that dotted the landscape.

“Don’t elk usually live in higher elevations?” Baron Vane asked.

“They do, and it's not quite fall, so their rutting season hasn't hit yet. Very strange,” Atticus said.

Everyone looked over to the kainen with surprise.

“What? Male elk are not very good eating, especially when they are in the rut. They go lean and starve themselves. The only way to eat elk is to get yourself a cow.”

“Hm, the more you know,” Baron said with a shrug.

“This thing might be out of place, but it would be a great mount for a Nature Affinity player,” Zedra said.

“Like everyone in [Nature Green]?” Kesa asked with a smile.

“Exactly. Pretty sure most of them are focused on nature…which makes sense.”

Zedra looked at the elk one more time before stealthing away.

‘Willow, Glade Guardian’

The Elk fell in record time, a fairly easy fight to defend against. Dark Hero and Gabriel were able to constantly draw threat from the legendary creature, and both were able to block its large charge attack. The only thing that caused the parties a bit of trouble was the massive vines that targeted everyone near it all at once. It summoned bark-like spears after [Immobilizing] most of the two parties and unleashed them like a swarm of bees the size of daggers.

The [Sword Souls] didn’t have a fully dedicated healer, but Gabriel had a small amount as a Paladin. That still left most of the heavy lifting to the dedicated healer, Kesa. She was able to cast her [Golden Nova] ability from her [Staff of Surging Waters]. It was well practiced at this point in their journey, and she followed up with the [Cleansing Rain] spell. Removing afflictions and conditions, while granting [Affliction Resistance], was the one-two punch to her healing powers.

The [Immobilize] was dropped with the falling rain, and the two pirates immediately responded. The first to inflict any CC on Willow was Dabriel from the [Sword Souls]. He had a violin, and along with that was the bow/sword he used to cast his spells. With a dramatic quadruple stop chord, his bow/sword illuminated the area in violet magical light, and with a quick slash from a distance, the music sounded from both his violin and the giant elk.

When the [Stunning Chords] landed on Willow, it was immediately stunned, and everyone from both parties moved to claim the kill.

After Willow, where they claimed the mount summoning stone, both parties moved to the southeast, following the scent of the sea, where they ran into a sprawling rocky beach.

A singular blue dome looked like it was floating in the ocean, just past the waves. It was a confusing sight for a moment, the swirling patterns somehow pulling the ocean water up and over it in a strange display of magic. A name popped up above it as the groups stared.

‘Cobalt, Azure Sea Shepard’

“It’s blue!” Sky said, recognizing the creature as a sea turtle, magic’d up to the size of a houseboat.

“And swirly!” Atticus said.

“Is that thing capable of being a mount?” Ren asked.

“It is, but you will need a specialized saddle. It just takes a bit more mats, and you can get the Stable Masters to design one for a bit of extra gold,” Zedra said.

“It's likely a group mount too. Able to carry five to ten people,” Dark Hero said.

“I’ve heard of those, but don’t they cost a bunch more?” Baron Vane asked.

“Yes, but we won't be selling it, despite how much it goes for,” Sky said.

They allowed Ren to pull aggro this fight. As one of the few tritons that had been selected by the incoming players, he was in the same boat as Kesa, with a powerful affinity for water. The tritons don’t transform as the myrim do, but they gain water breathing and increased affinity and movement speed while in water.

Both parties found a place with better-than-average footing, where the rocks had been ground down to a small enough size. Even with that, Sky and Atticus climbed up some larger boulders to gain a decent vantage on the battlefield. They had enough range on their spells that they could still blanket the battlefield while hopefully staying out of aggro range.

Ren activated his [Flowing Blade] and casually skipped out into the crashing waves. He almost seemed to slip into the water like there was no resistance to his passing.

“Wait…does his water blade skill let him walk on water?” Kesa asked.

“It looks like it…” Zedra replied.

“I think he put that point into his [Flowing Blade] at 33. He said something about surface tension or something. I wasn’t actually listening,” Baron Vane said.

The two parties watched as Ren skimmed across the moving water, completely unfazed by the uneven and shifting surface. He moved out far enough where the shelf break caused the water to go from 8-10 feet deep, all the way to 40 or more feet. The huge blue sea turtle didn’t seem to react to Ren’s approach until his blade impacted the shell.

Cobalt’s health dropped by less than a sliver, if at all, but aggro was drawn, and that was all that mattered.

Just as Ren made his way back, the massive turtle shell turned and began to follow. It only became interesting when a massive swell in the ocean began to flow along with the turtle. Water affinity mana was moving around the turtle in such huge amounts that it turned the color of the dark blue ocean into a lighter azure blue, almost like it was extending the size of the shell to an entire wave.

“That’s a big wave,” Dark commented.

Ren reached the beach and spun around. Dark stepped up and prepared to take the impact.

“Can you stop it, Dark?” Ren asked.

“We will see. It says projectiles in the description, but I don't have any other ideas.

“Line up behind him! Gabriel, Dabriel, buffs of Dark, now!” Ren called out.

“[Affinity Growth]!” Gabriel called out, his shield pointed at Dark. A flash of golden light enveloped Dark, just as Dabriel cast something on his violin.

“[Enhance]! [Sonic Imbuement]!” The kambien bard yelled out.

A purple flash enhanced Dark, and a vibrating tone began to ring from his shield.

“[Dark Aegis]!”

Dark’s shield seemed to pull in light just as the wall of water, nearly 30 feet high, began to crash over. It was timed perfectly to land right on Dark, but a wall of darkness pushed out from his shield.

It immediately stopped the water crashing down headfirst, but Cobalt followed along with it, and a massive turtle head reached out and failed to find an edge as it bit out at Dark’s shield wall. Three seconds of damage prevention was enough to stop all damage from the wave. The problem was that the water had nowhere to go besides back into the bay.

Sky hadn’t let the crashing wave hit her, [Flare Stepping] up into the air and floating back down as she began to throw [Flare Shots] down at Cobalt. Atticus also dropped his [Shocking Field] while the rest of the parties down below tried to anchor themselves against the rip tide.

“[Stand Tall]!” Gabriel called out. The Paladin cast a spell that grants [Control Resistance] to up to 10 people. It allowed everyone touched by the buff to stop one instance of CC. It was enough to stop the water from pulling anyone off of their feet as it flowed back and around the turtle.

Just as Cobalt recoiled from the blocked strike, the [Sword Souls] moved in. Crag Breaker, normally just a secondary front liner that focused on offensive combat as a Barbarian, was the first to make contact. His [Devastating Roar] came out as a wordless growl, buffing the melee damage of allies hit by the shout ability.

It echoed loudly off the shell and water, hitting everyone in both parties. His massive great sword came down like a guillotine, finding the neck of the giant Cobalt. The first serious damage landed as swords and daggers fell. Cobalt gained the [Stunned Condition], and everyone moved in.

A surprisingly high damage source came from Atticus, who used his channeled ability, [Lightning Strikes], calling down lightning for the entire time. It seemed the turtle was weak to the affinity, as each strike knocked chunks of the turtle's HP away. As soon as the stunned condition came, Cobalt did two things, both offensive and defensive.

Its two front fins crashed down on the beach, causing a summoned wave of blue water to push everyone back. The second thing Cobalt did was pull all the water it could around itself, creating a defensive shell of moving water.

Sky and Atticus hadn’t stopped attacking as they were far enough and high enough to avoid the knockback. Lightning and solar affinities crashed down on the turtle, most of it now being absorbed by the summoned water shield.

It was Ren that had the advantage here, just as Kesa began to dish out a counter play in the form of her own [Healing Wave]. Ren was able to move under the water, and he aimed below the edge of the shell. He was able to deal enough damage to break the shield ability, and Dark followed up with a [Dark Charger], snapping on another stun condition.

Just as more damage came, Dabriel decided to turn this short stun into a full burn phase, adding his [Stunning Chords] as he slashed across his strings. Zedra appeared in the water, his action speed slowed, but his strikes were true. [Opportunity Strike] landed in a soft spot, dealing critical flanking damage.

Baron Vane moved up to the right fin, slashing away at it while holding an ability at the tip of his tongue. The fin might be massive, but a [Reposte] would rebuff any attack that came his way. All the while, he was cutting deep wounds into the turtle. Ren’s glowing blue blade matched the flowing water around Cobalt, but deep red began to join the blue waters as his blade carved into the jaw and neck.

This damage phase nearly killed Cobalt, but he wasn’t finished yet. Water flowed under the massive turtle, and it raised out of melee range. Water began to spin from the swirling patterns on his shell. They formed into giant water spouts as they left the shell, reaching up into the sky as if they were made of wind. As soon as they left the shell, life began to drain from anyone caught in the water spouts.

Kesa cast her strongest heals, barely able to keep the weakest alive as the massive attack moved on.

Lightning had continued to fall on Cobalt, but no one really noticed that Sky had stopped attacking through the entire last damage phase. Atticus peeked over at her, and his eyes went wide as he took a step back.

A [Sun Bringer] was forming on the tip of her staff, but it was unlike anything he had seen before. The sun was pushing up to the size of an engine, and it was only growing as Sky continued to pour her mana into it. She had a face of absolute concentration, but once Cobalt had lifted to the maximum height he was capable of, Sky unleashed her spell.

One would have thought it would travel slowly, a singularity creeping without a care for time. But that wasn’t the reality. The sun launched forward with unseen momentum, bursting an entire water spout into steam on the way.

Cobalt turned its massive head only to have its eyes reflect the still growing orb of fire and light.

Sky wasn’t one to audibly cast spells, but she did have a flair for the dramatic. Just loud enough for Atticus to hear, she spoke, “[Super Nova].”

Cobalt was trying to turn away as the rolling star landed on his snout. As if the gravity of the [Sun Bringer] devoured that of the world, the turtle was pulled towards the imminent blast, unable to back away.

The [Sun Bringer] began to shrink, but not from a loss of mass, but rather it folded in on itself, rapidly condensing until a total gravitational collapse took place. The star seemed to implode before completely reversing. The ensuing blast covered the beach in the largest explosion caused by a player to date.

Cobalt immediately died, and even with the lack of friendly fire, everyone was blasted back from the force of the explosion alone.

“Yes!” Sky yelled, filled with excitement that her overloading of magic had worked.

“What the hell, Sky?” Kesa asked rhetorically.

‘What?”