Back on the Third zone,The first reaction of players was confusion. Leveling up and looting were their biggest source of strength, so why would anyone waste so much time in the event without them?
“Check the other functions first,” As if he could see their thoughts, Zyrus spoke to everyone via the comms. Even he had to admit that Matope had done a wonderful job in planning the event.
Roles:
King >> The ruler of the army. His death will mark the end of the game. Int + 50, restricted to attack within 100m circle.
(0/1)
Vajeer >> Can mobilize and communicate with all units. Agi + 20
(0/10)
Bishop >> Can charge in any singular direction without taking any damage.
(0/100)
Knight >> Can move anywhere within 500m square.
(0/200)
Mammoth >> Can cause a knockback towards the frontal direction, range of 10m
(0/300)
Soldier >> Those with no special powers. Automatically given to the ones without any other roles.
While it looked complex at a glance, the roles were similar to chess. Even the non-human players could understand what they were about.
The buffs were grayed out since they could only be selected once the roles were filled up. But what caused everyone’s eyes to sparkle was the last tab: Shop.
Only a few options were available at the moment. And each one of them was something the players were willing to bleed for.
Shop:
Elemental seed: 100,000 points
{Note: One time purchase item}
Skill proficiency potion: 50,000 points
{Note: limited to 5 purchases}
10k Exp card: 10,000 points
Even though no one knew what an elemental seed was, something that was worth more than skill proficiency was bound to be good stuff. Their biggest worry about exp was also solved as the conversion rate was 1:1 with the points. It could be said that everyone was satisfied with the outcome.
Of course, those who had followed Zyrus from the start were an exception.
They knew better than anyone that there was no free meal in the sanctuary. Since the rewards were so good, the difficulty would also be hellish.
It was just that even they didn’t realize just how correct they were before the game began…
[00:01:00]
Zyrus and the others barely managed to ‘elect’ all the roles. It was a troublesome process even for an organized troop like theirs. The vast majority of the kings would find it impossible to finish electing the roles within less than an hour.
What was the purpose of giving the voting power to 100,000 players? Everyone was aware that strength ruled above all else. Zyrus was the de facto king, while the marshals were set to be the Vajeer. Add in the Scavenger rat king, a lion, and a flying monkey that represented the beast legions to fill the last three spots.
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What took more than 40 minutes was the selection of the Knight and Mammoth. The 500 roles had a brutal competition where Ria and the others argued about who was suited among their subordinates.
On the other hand, Zyrus had declared that the wolves of the goblin riders would take all 100 spots of the bishops.
[00:00:00]
Finally, the time was up.
[==] Attention all Players! The first round of Shatar starts right now [==]
-Elected Roles are bestowed upon the players.
-You may select the following Buffs after reaching the stage.
||| The King is asked to spin the Roulette |||
A colorful cascade of light enveloped the entire fleet. Perhaps due to the trick of light, but every player could see a ten-foot wide wheel in front of their king.
Zyrus had a serious look as he read the 10 slots that represented the location they’d be sent to. Mudao, Huodao, Jindao, Fengdao, and Shuidao. These were the 5 islands that were the ‘stage’ of the game.
The roulette would determine which among them would be the next stage, and more importantly, whether they’d be teleported there directly or be sent to a dangerous area that was close by.
5 stages and 5 dangerous areas…the chance of getting thrown into the middle of a monster hoard was 50%.
Zyrus channeled his mana into the center of his palm and pressed on the center of the roulette. Colorful lights flashed in the players' eyes as it spun faster and faster, and just when their tension was at its peak, it slowed down to crawl.
*Tick*Tick*Riiiiinngg*
Zyrus sighed in relief as the pin settled down on the silver-grey slot.
[==] The stage has been selected [==]
[==] The first game of Shatar will begin on Jindao [==]
[==] Initiating teleportation to Jindao Island [==]
After the all too familiar dizzying sensation, the players arrived at an empty sky-blue space. The game screen like visuals were similar to the starting screens in tutorial.
Blue and silver cubes floated randomly while a golden meteor would shoot off from time to time. This was a quiet yet mesmerizing area that could accommodate thousands of players.
[Please select the Buffs]
[The king will select the core buffs that would be available]
[Further selection will be on individual basis]
[You can now read the rules of Shatar]
[Time left– 00:05:00]
Zyrus read the message and then the long list of buffs behind it. This was enough to give him a headache despite the intelligence boost he got.
He selected everything in less than a minute and left the rest to the players themselves, his advice being to focus on defense and recovery. He didn’t know anything about this event, so he had to weigh his every word.
As a king, his every action had a long-lasting impact. Much more so than the simple buff selection.
Contrary to his expectations, the king didn’t have any buffs to choose from. The king would get a default buff and extra power-ups after each victory. This and many other tidbits of information were written in the rules of shatar.
To summarize the information, shatar was a game played between two kings. The stage was an island which was further divided into 64 spaces.
A third of them were already occupied by the natives, shown in the red color. The rest were showing as grey spaces for the time being.
The conditions for victory were as such: The one who controlled more than 50 of the 64 spaces would emerge victorious and earn the right to move on.
The way to win more spaces was also pretty straightforward. Occupy a place with your ‘pawns’ for a certain period of time, and you can turn them into an allied space. There were also some specific timeouts and protection periods involved, not to mention the ‘stage buffs’ one could gain after occupying more spaces.
Zyrus was sure that the event rules were a form of treasure trove of knowledge. This was essentially a crash course on warfare for both him and his army.
Seeing that there was less than a minute left, Zyrus looked at the buff that was given to the king.
[+[ Heavenly Ruler ]+]
A king may not be the strongest being on the stage, but their very existence is the foundation of order. Victory and defeat, fortune and disaster, the world’s destiny is determined by the kings’ actions.
Unit creation: You can assemble your troops into 16 different groups.
King’s maneuver: You can instantly occupy any 16 gray spaces at the start of the game. A mana calculation will be done which will fill the ‘Turn’ charge. Each turn allows you to move your units according to the terrain conditions and their roles.
Crown’s blessing: Every unit within the adjacent space of the king will have their defense and offense increased by an additional 20%
Eye of the heaven: You can see everything within the stage via a projection, but as a cost, you are unable to affect anything. The king cannot move from initial space without a ‘Turn.’
Zyrus realized that the rules were yet to be completed. Judging from the chess-like theme, he was sure that further restrictions and powerups would be added in the future. The rules right now were akin to a tutorial phase.
[Time left– 00:00:00]
With a glaring flash of light, everyone disappeared except for Zyrus. In front of him was a complete map of the Jindao Island.
Chapter 188: Heavenly Ruler
7 min read