Realm of Myths and Legends

Chapter 2 Breaking Parameters

Welcome to Realm of Myths and Legends, please wait a moment as we generate your character.

"According to the manual I read during my 12-hour wait, the system scans your body and then generates a character based on its traits. So someone who has trained well in real life will have a huge advantage over those who haven’t. Luckily I had the chance to cultivate the Heavenly Golden Body physique. Although it isn’t mastered to perfection yet, it is more than enough to give me an edge."

Izroth was thinking to himself as the game was finishing up the creation of his character. His character looked exactly like Izroth, well Jin but since they are the same person now he would not bother trying to constantly differentiate them. You could customize the character some, but could not change the gender or the appearance drastically, this was due to the game concerns about player safety and fraud.

Beep Beep! Character generation complete, please choose your class. RML had many special and hidden classes, but the starting classes were limited. But do not think for a second the choice was not an important one. After all, this determined what role your character would play in a party, be it for dungeons or raids. Izroth knew all of this due to the memories he absorbed.

Izroth did not hesitate and chose the Combat Master class. There were 9 different classes to start off from in RML: Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Cleric, Summoner, Shaman, Ranger, Fighter and Combat Master. These classes branched out into a numerous amount of different or hidden classes. The Combat Master class was frowned upon by many because of its strict requirements. Beta testers said that it was an impossible class to play and incredibly hard to do anything with because of one reason: it required you to come up with your own skills!

This may sound easy, but you have to come up with logical moves that the AI accepts and registers as a skill, and if you come up with some half-baked moves then you end up with a trash class. It had a lot of poor feedback from the beta testers because a skill from that class would never pass a grade D skill. Skills are ranked by grades in RML from strongest to weakest SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F. One was supposed to dream of obtaining an A rank skill, not a C rank skill!

So anyone who became a Combat Master would most likely be useless in groups. This spread fast amongst the gaming community as everyone had their eyes glued to the beta testers advice trying to gain the slightest advantage over others in the race to be the strongest player or guild. In fact, some of the huge guilds and gaming clubs forbid any of their members from being Combat Masters!

But what others saw as impossible and trash, Izroth saw infinite potential.

"If I could recreate the Boundless Emperor Void Perfection heavenly law here..." Izroth already began to think of all the possibilities available to him. As he was thinking a ding sound went off.

Character creation complete... Generating Stats...

Ding! Because your Constitution is strong you have been given an HP boost!

Ding! Because your HP cannot exceed game starting parameters it is limited to the max of 100!

Ding! Because your Constitution far exceeds the starting parameters, parameters for your character have been increased!

Ding! Because your Physical Strength is strong you have been given an Attack boost!

Ding! Because your Attack cannot exceed game starting parameters it is limited to the max of 20!

Ding! Because your Physical Strength far exceeds the starting parameters, parameters from your character have been increased!

Ding! Because...

Alerts from the system were filling up Izroth’s vision, making him a bit dizzy from trying to keep up with them. In the end, his character came out like this:

Name: Izroth

EXP: 0/100

Level: 1(Stat Points: 0)

Title: None

Class: Combat Master

HP(Hit Points): 200/200

Energy: 100

ATK(Attack): 40

DEFENSE(DEF): 20

AGILITY(AGI): 20

MAGIC(MAG): 0

Gear Equipped:

None

Skills: (Skill Points: 0)

Breaker of Limits(Passive) Level: MAXED (S Rank)

Inventory: (Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 50)

Empty

Fame:

World Fame: 0

If anyone would have seen these stats, even the game developers, their eyes would have popped out of their sockets! These stats were not even supposed to exist at level 1! Parameters were set in place so that even if someone went a bit beyond the limits it would halt them until they further advanced in levels. But, Izroth was so far beyond the limits that the game made an exception and broke those parameters to give him an extra boost and a special passive! He was probably the only and first player in the world to even get a skill!

"Breaker of Limits? A passive skill that allows me to surpass my limits. I did not expect such a benefit after having only cultivated the Heavenly Golden Body for a few hours. It’s a shame I could not cultivate the Boundless Emperor Void Perfection technique... Or else I may have broken the game."

Izroth laughed, but it was filled with joy for the power he felt flowing through his entire body. Even though it was only a video game, it was fully immersive and one would feel as though it were no different from reality itself!

Izroth’s vision became entirely white before seeing an entire world that seemed endless, that was the world of RML. Massive mountains, endless abyss, monstrously large forest, huge deserts, all kinds of monsters and beast! This was a small cutscene to give players a taste of the vastness of RML!

When Izroth opened his eyes once more he was in a small village, it was the starting village where all players start known as Opal Town. It was a nice little village situated in a relatively safe zone. Izroth looked around, the game interface was helping him to navigate more smoothly as he used the minimap to follow the beginner tutorial quest. A few players had already run off and started to try out fighting monsters with their bare hands and got slaughtered.

Izroth saw this scene and shook his head, those players obviously had not bothered to read any guides or manuals. It was clear that it would be near impossible to defeat monsters or beast without first obtaining your class weapon. That was unless you were in a similar situation as Izroth who had a major stat boost or someone who was highly skilled. But someone highly skilled would not necessarily make things harder for themselves on purpose, or else Izroth would have also just gone straight to fighting monsters.

Soon enough, Izroth arrived in front of a small rundown building. Even though Opal Town was a small village, it was only small when taking the entire RML world into account. But, if compared to something on Earth it would be about the size of a small country!

Izroth stepped into the building and inside was an old man sat up against the wall snoring away with an empty flask in his hand asleep. It was obvious that this man was a drunkard, but the tutorial started here for sure, Izroth knew this because the system would not have guided him here otherwise.

"Hello, I am Izroth a Combat Master. I have come to seek the guidance of you, honored elder." Izroth was very respectful. After all, he never sought to make enemies but was never afraid of those who wanted to bully or offend him.

The old man’s snoring suddenly stopped as his eyes slowly opened, "Honored elder...?" the old man let out a small laugh. "I have been called many things before, but that one is a first..." the old man stood up wobbling a bit constantly looking like he was about to fall over. He moved the flask up to his lips to take a drink before realizing it was empty and tossing it aside. He then pulled another flask from his inner coat pocket and started drinking. While doing so, he took the time to size Izroth up.

"The path of a Combat Master is not for the light-hearted, it’s only for those with true determination and will... Are you sure this is the path you want to choose..?" for just a brief moment the old man seemed to release a mighty and oppressive aura as to test Izroth.

"As I thought, he’s not just a drunken old man..." Izroth thought to himself as he felt that oppressive aura, although it did not affect him it, could make those with a low willpower quake in fear and run away. Without hesitating, Izroth made his decision.

"I am sure this is the path. Determination? Will? If I said that I was second best at having those traits then no one would dare say they were first!" Izroth eyes showed the look of an unshakable will.

The old man was slightly surprised for a moment before suddenly bursting out in laughter, "Hahaha! Good! Good! It has been a while since I have actually been somewhat excited! Since you are sure then I will give you the quest, it’s simple really. Just come up with your own skill that is at least C rank, and you can become an official Combat Master." the old man took another drink from his flask but still kept his attention on Izroth to see his reaction.

Izroth was honestly impressed with the AI function of this game, they were similar to life puppets back in his world but there was always a feeling of no life from those. However, one would be hard pressed to believe that they were not actually talking to a real person in this game! Though this might be a small problem... At least a C rank skill and he had to create it from nothing! It was no wonder that players said this class was trash, most players could not create a skill past D rank and yet the tutorial for the class to get a weapon made it so you had to create a C rank skill at the very minimum!

Izroth was deep in thought, he was unsure if any of the cultivation techniques he knew would even work here. After all, this world was much different from his own and this was a video game as well. He closed his eyes concentrating for a moment, but slowly opened his eyes and looked towards the old man who was back slouching up against the wall with that flask in his hand.

"I understand, thank you for your guidance" Izroth cupped his fist towards the old man before leaving the small rundown building to give something a try.

"While I do not know if it will work, I won’t know for sure until I try..!" Izroth thought to himself while finding a nice isolated area, though it was quite difficult with the number of players running around.

"I have to search through my memories for a suitable technique to learn. If it’s something too weak I won’t be able to advance further, but if it’s something too profound it may not even work at all." Izroth took the time to sort through his memories before finally coming to a realization.

"Of course! Why did I not think of it sooner! It has to be that heavenly law, the Three Baneful Swords"

Izroth took a deep breath before concentrating on remembering the movements of the Three Baneful Swords. It was a powerful sword technique he learned in his early cultivation years. Three Baneful Swords, one sword to destroy, two swords to kill and three swords to annihilate! It was a domineering heavenly law!

"The question still remains, can I create it without using a sword?"

Izroth did not know the answer to that question but still decided to give it a try. With his arm and body, he moved in the exact motions from his memories of the first of the Three Baneful Swords, the sword of destruction. The sword was just an extension of one’s arm for a true sword master. Izroth had mastered the sword long ago, it was just the matter of getting this new body used to it.

Time seemed to slow down for Izroth as he was completely immersed in his technique. A few players passed by and gave him weird looks, thinking he was lagging or maybe AFK. Some even thought he was just a weirdo who was probably just doing that to try and troll people. But all of these people were ignored by Izroth as he had only one thing on his mind, his sword.

Game time flowed at a 10:1 ratio, so for every 10 hours in the game world, it was only 1 hour in the real world. Izroth had spent 5 hours fully immersed in his sword until finally, an alert went off.

Ding! Congratulations, player Izroth has created a new skill! Please name the skill!

Izroth was snapped out of his trance from the sound of the alert, this is what he was waiting for!

"It works...!" a large smile appeared on his face, it looks like Jin’s gamer heart fused well with Izroth, he was actually pretty excited about this!

"Name the skill First Baneful Sword: Destruction" Izroth said not even having to think about the name.

Generating skill... Complete!

Skill Name: First Baneful Sword: Destruction

Skill Creator: Izroth

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: A

Active: Deals 300% of user Attack as damage. Has a chance of causing the ’Fear’ effect in those it targets.

Description: A sword filled with a concentrated amount of destruction. Beware! A single strike of this sword technique can destroy those who stand in its way! This strike is not its full potential.

Special Effect: This skill can be used without a sword, but the damage is reduced by 50%."

An A ranked skill! High damage with a chance of crowd control and it could even be used bare handed! There was only one word for a skill of this caliber especially this early on in the game, overpowered! Though Izroth did not get to fully enjoy the skill before another alert went off!

Ding! Congratulations player Izroth, you have created the first skill in Realm of Myths and Legends.

You have been awarded +1 skill point!

You have been awarded +100 EXP!

You have leveled up to level 2!

You have been awarded +3 stat points for leveling up!

You have gained +100 World Fame!

Name: Izroth

EXP: 0/200

Level: 2(Stat Points: 3)

Title: None

Class: Combat Master

HP(Hit Points): 200/200

Energy: 100

ATK(Attack): 40

DEFENSE(DEF): 20

AGILITY(AGI): 20

MAGIC(MAG): 0

Gear Equipped:

None

Skills: (Skill Points: 1)

Breaker of Limits(Passive) Level: MAXED (S Rank)

First Baneful Sword: Destruction(Active) Level: 1/3 (A Rank)

Inventory: (Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 50)

Empty

Fame:

World Fame: 100

System Message: Would you like to announce your name to the world?

Izroth thought about it for a moment but decided against it. After all, right now was not the right now to do so. He had to wait until he had a more solid footing in this world before revealing himself.

"No, do not announce my name"

Ding! World Announcement: Player XXXX has created the first skill, rank A! They have been awarded...

The instant that announcement went off players were in a frenzy trying to figure out who could have created their own skill already! The game had not even been out for 1 hour real time yet, that was insane! Maybe it was some famous pro player from a big guild or a beta tester, but that did not make any sense, usually big guilds loved free promoting whenever they could and that would have been a perfect chance!

While everyone was trying to figure out the identity of the incredible player that created the first skill, Izroth had already returned back to the old rundown building. The old man was still in the same spot, but when Izroth walked in he seemed to be fully aware.

"Honored elder, I have completed the task. Have a look."

Izroth made a very simple motion with his hand, but this motion was filled with sharp destructive energy that seemed as though it would devour anything that stood in its way! Izroth used the ’First Baneful Sword: Destruction’ technique without a sword!

The eyes of the old man widened as he turned serious and quickly stood up completely in shock. That was an A ranked skill! Those were incredibly hard to come by and yet this young man had not even been gone for half a day and already came up with such an incredible technique by himself. How could the old man not be shocked?!

"Will this suffice as having passed the tutorial?" Izroth said with a smile on his face, of course, he knew it was more than enough to pass the tutorial. After all, the old man only requested a C rank skill but he had instead made an amazing A rank skill! If even he could not pass it with that then Combat Masters really would be a joke.

"Yes... Yes! Of course, it will suffice!" the old man seemed excited as though he was a child going to the amusement park for the very first time.

"Hahaha! Incredible! Such talent! I have not seen your kind of talent in a long time young man! Come come, you must choose a weapon! I also have something else to reward you for your capability" the old man did not even have the flask in his hand because he was so excited about the situation. He led Izroth to a back room in the small building.

Izroth thought it would be cramped but it was actually quite spacious, much more so than it seemed to be from the outside.

"My name is Gear. I used to be somewhat of an adventurer back in my prime days, now I just spend my days here passing them by a day at a time. I never believed that I would manage to meet such a genius within my lifetime" Gear let out a small sigh that seemed to be filled with a sense of acceptance of his fate and many other unknown emotions.

Before Izroth was a rack that contained many different kinds of weapons. Gloves, swords, daggers, hammers, axes, clubs, maces, staffs, spears; you name it and it was there. Of course, due to the potential variety of the Combat Master class, it had to have such a large weapon choice available.

A weapon instantly caught the attention of Izroth the moment it came into his view.

"That’s..."