Chapter 49：Glamour

Adrian arrived at the training grounds the next day and met with Bronx. He was handed a bow and arrow with a common rating. There he saw five targets with different ranges. The range of each target is spaced ten meters apart with ten meters as the closest and fifty meters as the farthest. It seems that hit the target's bullseye five times means hit the bullseye for each target with different ranges.

The game Pandemonium gives freedom for the players not only in adventure but also the interpretation in quests. There were ramblings in the forum about some quests having underlying meanings and hidden objectives which would not only increase the reward but also the overall experience in the quest. This was true for story bound quests that changes depending on the choices of the quest holder. Even small quest could lead to a destruction of a village which was apparent when ranker player posted his recording of his quest which led to the revitalization of a wicked sorcerer.

" Using a bow is not all about having the perfect aim but is the unison of strength and precision. You must be able to properly pull the bowstring so that the arrow could fly straight properly and would have enough strength to pierce the enemy. First, follow my movements and try to shoot the ten meter target first." Bronx said.

Adrian tried to copy Bronx's posture but was only able to hit the farthest side of the target. It was as expected that it was still difficult for Adrian which is why every time he pulls the bowstring Bronx would ask him to hold his form first and Bronx would correct Adrian's posture. This routine was made until Adrian instinctively arrived at the posture when firing an arrow.

Adrian managed to hit the bullseye for the ten meter target in about twenty tries. The twenty meter target in about 45 tries and the thirty meter target in under thirty tries because he is finally getting used to it. He took a break before attempting the last two targets because his arm was already straining. He tried hitting the bullseye again if it would trigger the condition but it did not. He would have to hit the bullseye of the five different targets to finish the quest.

Adrian then continued targeting the last two targets and managed to clear the quest after hundreds of tries. It seems the difficulty shot up exponentially for targets that are farther but he managed to clear the quest.

[Player Equinox has cleared the quest Achieve Weapons Mastery Final. Congratulations for clearing the linked quest.]

[Player Equinox has obtained the Weapon Mastery passive skill.]

[All the restrictions placed on Player Equinox would now be lifted. Skills and Title effects would now be effective once more.]

[Player Equinox has been rewarded with All Stats+5 for undergoing the training]

[Player Equinox has been given the title 'Daemos Reserve Soldier']

Skill: Weapons Mastery

Effect: Boosts the damage done by any type of weapon by 5%. Increase all Weapon skills by 10%.

Cooldown: Passive

Title: Daemos Reserve Soldier

Effect: Able to get quests provided by the Security Corps. Gives 10% stat boost when fighting with the Daemos Security Corps.

Now that Adrian obtained the Weapons Mastery skill, he then asked Bronx on how the Glamour skill could be obtained since the members of the Security Corps are usually the one who uses the skill because they are the ones who tend to go outside the most.

"I see that you want to learn it so that you could venture outside and be able to learn from the culture of other races. Obtaining it is not that difficult. You only have to visualize yourself in an appearance you desire. Glamour is more of a camouflage than a transformation since it only hides or changes the perception of people to you. Physically, you can look without horns but when you touch that part of your body, it is still present. It deceives the senses of people but it could be found out if you are not careful which is why do not let others touch you head which has your horns. Practice there in the room there for that room contains a mirror. I wish you luck on your future endeavor." Bronx said and bid Adrian goodbye.

Adrian went inside the room and first tried visualizing his arm turning to that of his previous human avatar. He could see that his whole arm was turning to his previous human avatar. He then tried to do all of his body but he started sweating because it took all his concentration in an instant to visualize him turning into his previous human avatar. After a couple of failed attempts, Adrian managed to do his full body which of course did not include the clothes and weapon yet he did not obtain the skill. He then tried walking but broke his concentration which cancelled the effect.

" I think I must be at least be able to walk for it to trigger that I receive the skill." Adrian thought

There are three ways for skills to be acquired which are through skillbooks, skill creation and finding a teacher. The method Adrian is doing now is skill creation which takes some time and effort because he has to recreate the skill from scratch and wait for the system to validate his skill creation. Adrian was on the point of giving up when he heard a prompt.

[Player Equinox has managed to create the active skill 'Glamour']

Skill: Glamour

Tier: Rare

Effect: Conceals the true image of the user from the perspective of others. It does not transform the user to the image he has visualized but changes the perception of others of your image. The effect of the skill would be broken if the user goes below 5% health.

Cooldown: 20 minutes

Cast Time: Instant

Mana Consumed: 200 MP

Adrian finally sighed with relief and looked at the remaining log in hours and there was still ten minutes left but he already logged out because of the mental fatigue. Before he went to bed, he contacted his best friend.

" Marlon could you like help me with a quest for my Job Class Advancement?" Adrian asked.

" Sure, what level are you now? I am currently level 45." Marlon answered.

" I am still level 20 because I had to acquire some other requirements for the Job Class Advancement" Adrian said.

" That is still pretty fast considering you only started two weeks ago." Marlon said praising.

" I may be level 20 but my soulbounds are a level lower than mine. I still have to do something before we proceed in killing the Silver Moore Banshee" Adrian said while he remembered that he have to acquire the polymorph skill for his soulbounds. He would only show Marlon his soulbounds not the whole world because he does not want to be hounded by other guilds. Adrian wants to explore some of the worlds in Pandemonium before joining or maybe creating a guild.

" Okay, Sure. Just tell me when we would attempt the dungeon. I would be your faithful BUS. I mean what are best friends for." Marlon said but it made Adrian laugh. Adrian thanked Marlon and said that he will talk to him again later. Adrian was now ready for bed.

=========================

When Adrian was undergoing training, a certain group headed by a famous explorer with a player name of Jones manage to acquire a map that had horrific drawings. They did not heed the warnings that was depicted on the map because they think that it was only a game and it would not affect them anyway because Jones only bought the map for 5 bronze coins.

He managed to acquire some help from the top guilds by borrowing some of their members because the treasure location was in a zone with level 150 monsters. The general player base is only at the hundreds level and only the top guild are about level 140s to 150s range. Now, with the Level rankings finally revealed with Hou Yiwei with a level of 167. There are also rankings per class which is based on the base job classes.

The members that are accompanying Jones are not the core members of the top guild but was still pro gamers that could work together to bring down monsters that are in the range of 150 to 170. Unfortunately, this time the Goddess of Victory did not smile upon them. When they entered the cave called the Forbidden Cavern, they lost a member every hour. From the fifty that accompanied Jones, only ten were left which were the leader of each platoon.

When they reached the boss room, they were greeted by a boss that was so strong that they were wiped out before dealing as much as a thousand damage. The boss was riding a pale horse with a corrosive breath. The boss has a grotesque appearance that would even scare ghosts because it has tumors all over its body. Some pulsating while some popped and oozed a green liquid. The boss' name was in gold which signifies that it was a boss monster that grows in level in accordance to the player base and it was a glorified raid boss.

Monster: Plague( Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse)

Level: 200

HP: 99.99%/100%

Description: ???

When the raid team was beaten a world message was then heard.

[The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse has been awoken. Unexpected diseases would hit countries. New diseases without a cure would be born. The life expectancy of the inhabitants of this world has been decreased by 5 years.]