Zectas Book II: Heraldic City of Coatl Read online

  ZECTAS VOLUME TWO

  The Heraldic City of Coatl

  This book is dedicated to the readers and my fellow dreamers inside Zectas.

  A special thanks to Vaanouney, ExperimentBL626, Otton,

  and you, for enjoying Zectas.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 01 - The Heraldic City

  Chapter 02 - Anger Management

  Chapter 03 - Cuezaltzinity or Tlaltezinism

  Chapter 04 - Missing Mausoleum

  Chapter 05 - Single Stone Beggar

  Chapter 06 - Mounted Race

  Chapter 07 - Fortunate Misfortune

  Chapter 08 - The Last Maneator

  Chapter 09 - Remember Verbrannt

  Chapter 10 - A Village against a City

  Side Story - The Labyrinth Escape

  Characters.

  Smoke and Sierra's Status Window.

  Chapter One: The Heraldic City

  Attracting viewership for Zectas' videos has gotten increasingly more difficult than when Nash first started. Tristan's latest video was about the start of his expedition into the unknown lands, east of Thayotl Kingdom.

  He brought all the available members of DracoRicco with him. Even the historic sight of 10,000 players marching only got about 50 million views.

  However, the most controversial thing that he has done up until now was not the expedition but rather the management of his city. He had implemented a new law that affected his city and its neighbouring territories.

  Tristan's decree was thought of as a brilliant scheme. By reducing taxes in Tonaci, he planned to increase its population, therefore taking the next step to develop it into a kingdom.

  Now that Tristan's city has the lowest taxes in the whole known world of Zectas, this had enticed most of the players in the eastern kingdom to migrate to his city.

  Players could now afford to buy properties. Some players started to buy houses and converted them into shops, while others brought some agricultural land and started planting medicinal herbs for potion making.

  Merchants could easily trade with NPCs for the highest marginal profit. Other production jobs such as Blacksmiths, Alchemists, and others also enjoyed the low taxes for their services.

  The game has a way of determining the location of the players where they are doing business transactions. The game would automatically deduct the taxes even if the transaction is between players.

  The deducted tax would then be transferred to the owner of the immediate vicinity but would still be deducted with 20% which will go to the monarch of the kingdom.

  This was also the reason why Amahan's mini-rally encampments were such a great success. Since, those places did not belong to any of the known kingdoms, there were no automatic deductions.

  * * * * * *

  Amahan's latest video was their fight against the Yetis. Together with the Decane members, they fought against thousands of undead monsters as they climbed over the Rhumeloc mountain range.

  His videos got a staggering 240 million views. The viewers were so impressed out how efficiently they moved through the mountain range. There were only ten of them but they managed to overcome such a challenging place.

  At the foot of the mountain, they fought against an army of skeleton soldiers. Decane's commanding power against the Undead proved to be quite useful.

  When they reached the slope of the mountain, they were faced against living monsters for the first time since the start of their expedition in the forgotten Kingdom of Aquilomentl.

  Agile snow wolves were the dominant monsters in this area. They stood on all fours at a height of 6 feet. A pack would mostly consist of thirty to fifty wolves.

  The viewers' were impressed to see that even if the enemies were not Undead their guild could still cut through them like cheese.

  They relied on the firepower of, Magikera, an Aero Magus, and Tirador, a Heavy Cannoneer, while the rest of the members formed a defensive circle around and 'kited' the monsters.

  Those snow wolves only managed to threaten the lives of two out of four of their tanks. Amahan, Hilot, Tambal, and Atiman all had advance variations of the priest job. They continued pouring on their healing and support magic at everyone.

  At the summit of Mount Rhumeloc, they faced the king of the mountain. 'Ketikus' was a yeti that was twice as large as normal yetis.

  This time, the tanks played the role of main attacker. Ligon, Bato, Puthaw, and Baskog surrounded Ketikus and took turns at bashing it.

  Their ability would inflict a stun of .25 second, but with all four of their synchronized attacks they were able to stun the beast for a full second, while Magikera and Tirador would execute their long range attacks.

  'Ketikus' stood no chance and perished inside the area that the Decane's tanks created.

  * * * * * *

  With his tenth video completed, Nash went towards his brothers' room. He wanted to give them their birthday presents. Seth and Donny were born exactly two years apart.

  Nash remembered how he used to get jealous whenever their parents would throw his younger siblings a birthday party. Both of them got presents while all he got were the dishes.

  Seth was now fourteen years old, while Donny turned twelve. His brothers told him that they were fine without getting any gifts.

  They knew that his past videos didn't make as much as before, and both of them wanted to help out in any way that they could.

  Nevertheless, Nash would not listen and got Seth a rare Italian dagger called cinquedea. He had it encased in a glass container.

  "I told you not to get me anything. How am I suppose to use this anyway? This case doesn't have any openings at all."

  "Of course! That knife is meant to be the start of your knife collection. I don't want you to go out and have some random knife fights."

  "Then why did you have to pick such an old looking knife? It does look pretty cool though. Thanks, Nash!"

  Seth gave Nash a big hug and continued to scrutinize the craftsmanship in his new knife.

  Nash then proceeded to Donny's room. He gave Donny an eskrima stick signed by Grandmaster Saavedra. This was Donny's idol. Once he saw what the Grandmaster could do, he was hooked and tried to replicate his movements.

  "Is this really from Grandmaster Saavedra? Did he really sign this stick? These eskrima sticks looks amazing, but I don't plan to use them at all."

  "Huh? I thought you liked them? Why aren't you gonna use them?"

  "And ruin Grandmaster Saavedra's signature? Stop being silly, Nash. Oh, and thank you for this gift."

  Donny leapt from his bed and gave him a tackle-like hug.

  * * * * * *

  Nash's ninth video of his encounter with Sierra got him a check of $15,000. The viewers couldn't believe that there was a Werebear race. For obvious reasons, Nash decided to edit out Sierra's name.

  Clearly, everyone could see just how tough the Werebear's defenses were. The viewer's kept on asking how to get the race. They continued on pleading but were all left unanswered.

  His tenth video was his solo mission on Mount Gliseloc. He had showed them certain scenes of his adventure. But left out the part where he got the hooded cape. He didn't want other people to know his ability of gliding through the air.

  After a couple of hours, as Nash released his tenth video, he read the same thread entitled 'Tristan vs. Amahan vs. Smoke'

  DarthMole: Tristan is copying Amahan and now Smoke is copying Amahan. That clearly shows just how superior Amahan is.

  JustDFacts: It's only Tristan who is copying Amahan. If you think about it. Smoke and Amahan's videos both came out around the same time. How could he have copied Amahan? Please think about what you
post...

  SmoKING: Right on! Also, Amahan brought his whole guild with him to challenge that mountain, but what about my man, Smoke? He was flying solo. He didn't even bring that badass Werebear with him and still conquered that mountain. Now, if only he gave the location of that mountain.

  DetectiveRonan: Here are some simple facts. Fact one: Tristan is still the only player who owns a main city and commands 300 NPCs. Fact two: Amahan still has the highest level in the game and is the leader of Decane, the guild with the highest level average. Fact three: We only know a few things about Smoke. After all those facts I'd go with Tristan. He still has the clear advantage and he has yet to conquer the unknown lands in the east.

  CatatonicKing: Nyan nyan nyan, hear me, loyal cat subjects.

  PurrFex: Meow! I hear and obey my liege.

  PentaKiller: Can you Lioumereans stick to your own part of the forum? Mod? Mod? Can you erase this please? Anyway, Tristan's decision in lowering the taxes is a great help. It helps all players to acquire some property. Presently, I own a general merchandise store in Tonaci, district 12. I have more than reasonable prices. The store's name is Pentastico.

  Manita: Amahan still has the commanding lead in conquering the forgotten Kingdom of Aquilomentl. I predict that once they've conquered that place they will not only gain a city but a whole kingdom.

  Tritank: And you think that Tristan won't do the same once his done with the unknown lands in the east? Your narrow thinking clouds your judgment. I agree with what @DetectiveRonan said. Let's just stick to the facts, and you'll see that Tristan will win.

  Sierra: Not if I have anything to do about it.

  Tritank: You're cute. Are you some kind of great god? You think that your presence alone can stop the super typhoon known as Tristan? Can you take on 10,000 players at once? I don't think so!

  On the agreed upon date, Nash got a call from the manager at the arcade. He came home with a gloomy disposition.

  His tenth video only got 150 million views, which meant that his check for this was only for $10,000. If it wasn't for Sherry's Werebear debut in his ninth video he would have most likely gotten another $10,000 check.

  He was reminded just how much of a difference Sherry made into his life. He regretted not asking her to join him on Mount Gliseloc. If she did, he was sure he would have broken the quota of 200 million views.

  * * * * * *

  Smoke was greeted by the Earth prison that he had created and held the Maneator. He told Sierra about the quest that was offered by the fiendish monster.

  "I think Mitleid is telling the truth. I haven't heard of a quest that would turn into a trap."

  "Well, there's always a first time for everything, and I don't want to be the first schmuck who falls into a 'quest trap'. I just wish I had Darius' ability 'Truth Seeker'. Then I would know for sure."

  "Then you should ask for Darius' help. I understand that you want to be independent, but I think it's always wiser to utilize all the tools available to you. We will have to transport him securely though."

  "But I thought you said that he was telling the truth?"

  "I may think that, but I don't want to be the first schmuck who falls for the ploys of the Maneator."

  "I guess that does make some sense. All right, we will have to modify one of the carriages. Sierra, I think we may need your help again?"

  "NO! You don't plan to put some of Sharanga's trap on me and place me on the carriage are you?"

  "But, we have to make sure that the carriage won't break as we travel. You don't want Mitleid to escape, do you? Come on, it will be really quick."

  "Fine! Argh! But this will be the last time I'm gonna be used like I'm some kind of guinea pig."

  "Of course! I promise..."

  * * * * * *

  All of them worked on modifying Tulin's carriage. Gandiva reassured her stag moose that the carriage should still be manageable to pull.

  Smoke went to Mitleid's earth prison to prepare him for their journey to Nanahuatl. He asked Sharanga to accompany him as they were going to add more traps to weigh him down.

  "I'm taking you to someone who can tell me if what you're saying is the truth or not. I hope you don't mind the special treatment in our travel conditions. It's simply because I don't trust you."

  "I don't mind, I've been through worse. I get your skepticism but you must understand, that I would do anything to free my people."

  "Your docile side is really giving me the creeps. Are you really like this or just a great actor?"

  "You'll understand once I tell you the whole story."

  Sharanga added more of her traps and made sure that it hurt Mitleid every time she placed them. Smoke used his 'Earth Manipulation' ability to move the Maneator towards Tulin's carriage.

  The updated carriage could now hold a weight of at least eight tons. Smoke and Sierra had customized seats at the back. They will be the only passengers on this carriage as Gandiva would drive from the front as usual, while everyone else would ride with Laernea.

  * * * * * *

  Smoke was still hesitant about everything. He couldn't believe that such a beast was a king to some race. This quest could be a trap, but Smoke couldn't let the opportunity of it being a real quest pass him by either.

  The trip back was longer because of the special prisoner cart. Smoke took advantage of the time by reading a book with one hand and flattening the road ahead with his other hand.

  When Gandiva and Tulin would run at top speed, Smoke's Earth manipulations could not catch up with the fast moving ground.

  Yet, now that the pace was relatively slower, Smoke had more than enough time to make the road wider and flatter.

  He was so pleased with himself. He could now increase his 'Earth Manipulation' and continue gaining knowledge from books simultaneously. The book that he was currently reading was entitled 'The Heraldic City of Coatl'.

  With his hidden basic stat 'Wisdom', the reading time required for acquiring a book's knowledge had been reduced by 20%.

  Smoke was now troubled with the distribution of his stats. If he would continue to increase 'Wisdom' it could greatly boost all his active abilities. Nevertheless, he couldn't ignore 'Dexterity' and 'Strength'.

  These two stats were his bread and butter for defeating monsters. His 'Earth Manipulation' took some time to form. At its current level an enemy could easily dodge any of his earth attacks.

  At best it could make great prisons, shields, and other structures. It's a great support ability but didn't really offer much of an offensive power.

  While he was pondering on what to improve, an armored armadillo scuttled along its way. Then he recalled that he had the ability after all.

  The 'Armor Break of the Armored Armadillo', he had stopped using the ability because it quickly drained his mana. It started at 20mp per use but as its level increased so did the mana consumption. Now it's currently at 50mp per use.

  When you add in the factor of his attack speed then that 50mp quickly 5,000mp in a couple of seconds. However, if he was to focus on Wisdom, mana consumption should no longer be an issue.

  Smoke also decided to not raise 'Intelligence' because acquiring knowledge from books raised stat anyway. It would be inefficient to not abuse the hidden basic stat 'Wisdom'.

  Also, the ability tomes of Gravity Control and Targeted Teleportation required Light and Dark affinities. Even if he did manage to get 300 Intelligence he still wouldn't be able to use the ability tomes.

  Smoke noticed that Sierra was watching him intensely as he was grinding his ability. As the progress bar on the book that he was holding was about to be completed he asked Sierra if she could look to her left side towards the outside of the carriage.

  Sierra tried to find what Smoke wanted her to see. She saw a wide wall up ahead. The wall was decorated with impressions of a lady that had turned to a Werebear. They were traveling, making the figures on the wall look like they were moving.

  "This is amazing! It's like I'm watching a paper ani
mation."

  The walls then depicted the Werebear fighting a varanus indicus. Their battle ended quickly with the Werebear killing the lizard monster with her dual claw attack.

  The earth wall animation ended with the Werebear turning back into a lady, and she stood together with a hooded man.

  "That was so cool! I didn't know you were such a great artist."

  "I think that Zectas only has our imagination as its limits. I just thought about what I wanted the wall to look like, and it came out like that."