Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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After a few long minutes of agonizing pain...

[DING]

[Your body's immune system has evolved]

[You have acquired the Skill, Anomalous Status Resistance 0-Star]

[Miasma Resistance 2.5-Star is being absorbed into Anomalous Status Resistance]

[Anomalous Status Resistance 0-Star -> 1-Star]

"Haa..."

After 10 long minutes, the pain finally started to lessen as the heat in his body slowly dissipated.

But the stomach ache remained behind...

"Phew… I did it." He said with a small smile

'Looks like my plan worked, although not in the way I wanted.'

'Previously, I thought they would fuse and make something better, but in the end, one ended up being absorbed by the other.'

'I've been researching Skills and Abilities, together with Unique events from the past games from the Lore archives I have in my computer.'

'I thought they would fuse to create one of them...'

'Not bad either way, this only means that what I previously thought of the two Skills was wrong, which is to be expected given how little I knew of them both.'

"Here." Yumi said as she gave him a bottle

"This is?"

"The antidote, just to be sure, drink it up, it'll at the very least clean your system a little and help with the stomach ache you're feeling."

"Thank you... And how did you notice that?"

"I have my ways." She said with a small smile

/Gulp…/

"What about now? Do you have any plans?" She asked Dale as she saw him get up from the ground

"I'll rest a little and continue later, I still have a lot to do."

'Including paying Rodi and his team for giving me the item that allowed all of this to be possible in the first place…'

"I thought you were going to say something like that… So here, take it while it's still hot." Yumi said with a smile

"You're full of surprises." Dale joked lightly as he looked at the vial

It was another vial!

'It looks like the materials I gave her were enough to make two sets…'

"Not as much as you…" She said embarrassed

"Aren't you going to drink it?..." Dale asked, before quickly recognizing his mistake

She was surprised by this.

"No… I'm too weak, I would possibly pass out immediately..."

"Ha... I'm not really good with pain..."

"So it's better if it's in your hands, although remember that you need to heat it up first otherwise it'll be impossible to drink…"

"Since it cooled down already, the chance of it failing once it's reheated is higher… So I would recommend simply throwing it away. I'll leave the choice to you though."

"I know, thank you for your hard work."

'I can't throw it away, it would be too much of a waste…'

'But who should I give this to? Any of the Elders would do but there is indeed the danger…'

'Hum... That would work, I have to pay them for this.'

"Just remember to be careful and to rest always, the impact a nice rest can have on your body is often neglected..."

"I'll keep that in mind." Dale replied as he stretched his back

He looked around and asked:

"Do you need any help cleaning up?"

"Yes… I would be thankful." Yumi said with a smile

'Like him, I also have many recipes to experiment with and learn! But first, I need to clean my equipment...'

"Then let's get to work!" Dale said as he grabbed a broom

…

/15 minutes later…/

Dale left Yumi's house and made his way to the Church.

It looked the same as ever, but now, all of its windows had been replaced with wooden frames, so now, the cold wind couldn't get inside anymore.

The simple stone path on the Church's hill had been cleaned and fixed, looking much prettier than before.

After two weeks of heavy work, the effects the players were having in the Village were starting to show.

Some of the Church's ground had been repaired, the wood looked a bit better and polished...

A brand new wooden Altar had been installed in the previous one's place, together with a large donation box for the offering so poor David didn't drown in the coins.

It was obviously, Dale's idea, this way, even after two weeks of donations, the box had yet to become full, and it would still take some time to do so...

Although one day it would, and the money would have to go somewhere... Though they would figure that out eventually.

David on the other hand looked pretty happy on his small hand-sewed pillow on top of the Altar, Dale swore he saw the damn golden head smile when he looked at it.

The mechanism for the secret entrance had also been repaired, now, the Altar could be moved easily, either from the inside or from the outside, remaining closed most of the time to avoid intruders.

Also, from now on, there would always be a pair of guards in front of the entrance, blocking it and impeding other players from getting access to the Catacombs.

They were also there to impede other players from getting their greedy hands on the Church's icon and the coins in the donation box.

The players tried many, many things to get inside, money, items, gems, everything of value they could think of to bribe those guards, but it was all in vain since, for them, those things were meaningless.

It was not that he was trying to stop them, but Dale couldn't allow so many players down there, it was simply too dangerous.

What if one player got a quest to free the monsters sealed inside? Fucking hell that would be a disaster.

A player might also be able to explore the sewers and get inside one of the buried buildings from the underground, getting their hands on a potentially valuable item.

And that was unacceptable.

...

Inside the Church, Dale saw many players, probably doing the usual things, either browsing in the public market, managing their Skills, getting a New Class, doing a Quest...

Perhaps even praying…

It seemed that, apart from the two guards, the only people within the Church were players, there were so many of them Dale felt claustrophobic.

'Urg... It seems that I'll have to implement some rules to the Church...'

'Because this won't do, there are close to 200 players here and the number will likely keep increasing, in the future, there may even be thousands of players coming and going to the Church every day, this isn't sustainable.'

'Perhaps it's possible to charge these players money so they mind their time more? Or to construct small praying houses outside the main Church so the players can do their business there instead of populating this area.'

The Villagers themselves only visited the Church at night, at least most of them, but even then, the number of players would remain about the same…

Some even felt a bit weirded out by this, so he had to figure out a solution for it all soon...

But he wasn't here for them, nor for David, he was here for Rodi and his team.

A few days ago, they were doing their raids as per usual, they had gotten so good at it that a single person was all that was needed to farm all of the necessary materials, giving the others the opportunity to explore the sewers and search for more opportunities.

Although that single player would have the most gruesome farming experience of his life...

And perhaps due to luck or due to their diligence, going there every day, they found many things, materials, resources, drop items, and even some hidden materials scattered all around, most of the materials were sold to Dale, while they kept the rest.

But given they Quest, one day, they found something... Odd.

A green gem buried away in the mud…

At first, they didn't think much of it, it was probably a random drop, they had found many such drops before through their daily explorations…

But it was unusual enough, so they brought it to Dale's attention, who in consequence, brought it to the Elders, who identified it.

It was a Volvet Tear, and as legends said, it was the fossilized remains of the Venom Glands of a Basilisk, a terrible monster that was long extinct, cut down from the rivers of time by the Warriors of old.

After handing it to Yumi, and after a day of research, she found a use for it, and as such, Dale's crazy plan started… And it worked.

And now, it was time to repay them for their services, since at the time, Dale only gave them a few coins and left…

'I have to give them some motivation, who knows what they'll find next… Or have already found, I need them to come to me, to feel like it is worth it.'

'If a Volvet Tear appeared in the sewers, then its possible other such materials are hidden there as well.'

'Perhaps there was a fancy laboratory that was destroyed and had its contents wash into the Sewers over the last 100 years, I see no reason to not motivate the players to collect whatever they find on the ground...'

He went to the guards and asked:

"What happened to the Cleanup Squad?"

"They just entered a little while ago, if you go after them, you should be able to meet them, the guard said with a nod."

"Thank you Troy, open the passage for me, I'll be going in."

The man named Troy nodded, he grabbed a large metal handle and pushed.

The other guard also grabbed another large metal handle, helping Troy to push the Altar.

/Grounble…/

The entire ground started to move, opening a hole for him to pass through.

Dale got inside, making his way after the team.

…

/A few minutes later…/

"It's a Rotting Undead Knight." Said a man with a large shield in his hand, he was the thank of this party

"Those are tricky, everyone, get ready." Rodi replied as he lifted his weapon

'But just as valuable as they are tricky, they are guaranteed to drop a single part of the set, even if extremely broken, they can be exchanged for money and Experience with Lord Dale.'

'I would do so much to get one of those sets... Repaired...'

There was also the chance for it to drop extra materials, and if they were extremely lucky, they could even drop a half-usable part of the set!

Albeit, even after 2 weeks of farming, they only got a pair of boots and a helmet in that state, the rest was... Just as terrible as expected.

"Sigh, how long will we have to do this? I'm getting tired of hunting undead monsters and sewer creatures…" Replied a girl with blue hair on the side, she had a bow on her hand, it was clear that she was a long-range damage dealer

"Probably not for much longer, we do it mainly for the Levels remember, thanks to it, we are ahead of everyone." Replied another girl, one with short hair and glasses, it was the secretary-looking lady that bosses Rodi around, she had a spear in her hand, but she didn't look like a damage dealer at all

"Thanks to it, all of us are now close to Level 30, after today or tomorrow, we'll have met our goals and the qualifications to explore outside."

"She's right, you saw the videos people posted right? The monsters out there will shred you to pieces in a moment, the average of the monsters out there is 60, about the same as this Undead Knight." Rodi replied as he waited for the Skeleton knight to agro

"Even for us who have nice Skills and gear, it would be difficult to take even one of them, much less if they came in groups… Not to say if it's an Elite or Variant…"

"Grrr...!"

/FWOOSH!/

The Skeleton Knight suddenly dashed forward the moment it noticed their presence, swinging its spear.

To these people, a single Skeleton Knight was like a Mini-Boss.

Since each of these players was around Level 30, taking out a Challenge Level 60 to 70 monsters wasn't an easy feat… They were literally trying to kill something double their Level.

The Level suppression was insane... Everything they could do was reduced against it while everything it could do was stronger against them.

Apart from a few specifics like Dot damage.

Yet they had to, they wanted to take this creature out, even if it took an hour to defeat it, the rewards made up for the time.

They only managed to do it thanks to their teamwork and experience as this is a monster that will kill all of them with the exception of the Tank in a single hit.

In fact, thanks to his current abilities, their Tank could solo everything in the top section of the Catacombs, but it would take so long that he would be half-dead by the time he finished his daily Quest...

/Grab…/

"Wh…"

But out of nowhere, a large hand came from the shadows and grabbed the Undead Knight's spear, halting it in place.

"I finally caught up to you guys." Dale said with a thin smile as he took a step forward

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