I stood over the crushed remains of the Dirty Ratz, the contents of its stomach-a few hundred mesos and a Hard Walnut – strewn about the floor along with its strange gears and screws. However, amongst the ruin was a strange glimmer, one which I hoped and prayed was the one I had been searching for so long, only to find in such an unorthodox place. I dug into the pile of sprockets, and soon unearthed my prize- The final fragment of a glowing, green Dexterity crystal. From the depths of Eos Tower I began my climb upwards to find Pio and request his help in this, Kez’s most important mission yet.

Two weeks ago, I had spoken with one of my comrades on a matter of seemingly little import. As usual, Lolly was berating me for not leveling as often as everyone else, and I retorted that a true legit was not concerned with strength, for pursuit of power was the path to the Dark Side. And, as usual, she didn’t buy it. She continued to insist that I lacked conviction, and moreover I was generally inept and incapable of leveling on my own. Once more, as usual, I dismissed her theory as mere nonsense. However, soon something… unusual happened.

She issued a challenge against me. An unspoken challenge, originally intended to mock my perceived ineptitude and display the impossibility of me ever again gaining a level. And, as those words rang through my mind, I decided to take action and prove her wrong, once and for all.

“I swear to God, Kez… If you ever hit 50, I’ll Smega for you.”

That comment. She never expected to have to back it up. She meant it in one of those “when pigs fly” ways, though if you ask her yourself she’ll tell you otherwise in a heartbeat.

At level 40, I had decided to put less emphasis on leveling- my only drive in reaching level 40 was to wear the Dark Distinction, and my urge to level all but disappeared once I was known far and wide as “Captain Kez”. Then someone close to me briefly left Maplestory and I promised I wouldn’t get too far ahead while they were gone. So, this sudden rush to reach level 50 in oh, say. . . two weeks, was unprecedented. And, the driving force behind it, the thing that would make it all keep going, the “personal gain” in the equation- the gathering of materials, construction and consecration of my own Hunter weapon- the sacred tradition of building my Olympus.And, having gathered all materials and needing one last Dex Crystal Fragment, I was en route to the Omega Sector when, suddenly, the Ditry Ratz in question bequeathed unto me the tenth and final piece. Suddenly, a change of plans- I no longer needed that trip to Omega.

What was once an idle remark was now becoming a reality. Having gradated from PQing, my allies would now be made to grind like I had- the week they spent free of the 101st Floor’s evil grasp had freed their minds, for the most part- My comrade Kul, who completed his final PQ in the hours after the patch, was so hopelessly addicted that he now withers away in the secret entrance in Orbis Tower, again a slave to Party Quests. (He’s trying to kick the habit cold turkey.) However, I was able to exploit my natural Archer ability to kill things earlier than I should be and get a spot hunting undeads in their party. In the past week, I have gone from level 40 to 47, more levels than I had gained in the prior month. More importantly, however, I have at least managed to prematurely accomplish what I originally set out to do.

I was in the FM, and someone commented on the fact that I had grown in power recently, remarking that I used to never level and must have “gotten smart”. When I replied that I did not seek power for the sake of power and rarely leveled of my own volition, they naturally retorted with a sarcastic expression and a “Yeah, right.” However, the once-skeptic Lolly suddenly spoke out, and on my behalf even.

“Actually, he’s right. He could level more if he wanted to, but power doesn’t mean much to Kez.”

Quotes like that make my day.

Also, I got more pics.

1- Me and the crew Mushmomming. Boss pwned her hard.
2- Darrow and I killed Rogs. Archers FTW.
3- Guy drives a hard bargain. . . I really need that dot, but one billion?
4- Lolly and Boss making out after a GPQ. . . for some reason I’m enraged by this.