The exhilaration from the successful field test of his [Twin Soul Bladesworn] abilities carried Drake back through the southern gates of Silverhaven. The Silverwood Foothills had served their purpose perfectly, confirming that even with his current, somewhat unrefined Skill Completion Rates for the new class abilities, his damage output and combat flow were immensely superior to his old Warrior sword-and-shield style.
He navigated the bustling streets of the Merchant Ward, heading towards The Silver Griffin Inn to restock on basic supplies like rations and perhaps repair his gear if needed, though the [Initiate's Twin Blades] were still in pristine condition. He felt a sense of purpose, a clear path forward.
As he was mentally reviewing the cryptic clues Elder Jian had provided for locating the Echoing Forge, his entire field of vision suddenly flashed with a bright, system-wide notification, accompanied by a triumphant fanfare that momentarily startled players across the city.
<< GLOBAL SYSTEM ALERT >>
<< Congratulations, Adventurers of Xylos! A momentous milestone has been reached! >>
<< Ten Million unique souls have now emerged from the Tutorial and stepped into the wider world! >>
<< To commemorate this achievement and foster friendly competition, Player Rankings are now UNLOCKED and accessible via your main interface! >>
<< May your deeds be legendary! >>
The alert faded, leaving a new, glowing icon on Drake's primary interface – a small golden laurel wreath. Around him, the chatter in the streets immediately intensified as players reacted to the news. "Rankings? Finally!" "Ten million already? This game's huge!" "Wonder who's top level?" "Is there a PvP ranking? Gotta check!"
Drake felt a flicker of curiosity himself. "Player Rankings, huh? Interesting. Might be useful to see where the top players are, what levels they've reached. Not that I care about competing for rank, but data is data."
He found a relatively quiet alcove near a fountain, away from the main flow of traffic, and focused his intent on the new laurel wreath icon. A sleek, multi-tabbed interface window opened.
Legacy of Alvari - Player Rankings
[Level Ranking] - Overall player level.
[Average SCR (ASCR) - Weekly] - Average Skill Completion Rate across all skills used in the past 7 days. (Resets weekly to reflect current mastery).
[Pet Ranking] - (Currently Inactive - Pet System Not Yet Implemented).
[Guild Ranking] - (Currently Inactive - Guild Wars & Major Achievements Not Yet Tallied).
"Level, ASCR... Pet ranking inactive, expected. Guild ranking too. Okay, let's see the level board first. Probably some no-lifers at Level 30+ already."
He clicked on [Level Ranking]. The list populated, showing names (anonymized by default to aliases or character IDs unless players opted to display their full name) and levels. As expected, the top ranks were dominated by players in their high 20s, a few already pushing Level 30 or 31. Drake scanned down... and found his own anonymous ID listed somewhere in the mid-thousands – respectable for someone who had spent an inordinate amount of time in the tutorial, but far from the top.
"Level 20... yeah, about where I expected to be relative to the hardcore progression players. Above average for the total player base now that ten million are out of the tutorial, but not front-runner material by any stretch. That's fine."
Then, with a growing sense of academic curiosity, he clicked on the [Average SCR (ASCR) - Weekly] tab. The description noted: "Calculated based on all successful skill activations (SCR >= 60%) in the last 7 days. Higher SCRs weigh more heavily. Reflects a player's recent execution consistency and mastery."
The list loaded. Drake's eyes scanned for his ID, expecting to be somewhere in the middle or lower ranks given his new Bladesworn skills were mostly in the low 80s SCR. He scrolled... and then froze.
Rank 1: [Hidden] - ASCR: 96.4%
He stared. Blinked. Re-read it. Rank 1. Him. With a weekly Average Skill Completion Rate of 96.4%. A jolt, not of pride, but of immediate concern, shot through him.
"What?! Ninety-six percent?! How is that even... Oh. Oh no." The calculation suddenly made horrifying sense. "The system calculates based on the last seven days. For almost that entire period, especially the intense Unbeatable Guardian grind and the subsequent perfection of [Basic Slash] and [Defend] to 100% SCR as a Warrior, I was only using those two skills, thousands upon thousands of times, at 95% then 100% SCR. My [Ground Stomp] was 92%. Those perfect executions must be massively skewing the average. My new Bladesworn skills, with their 80-85% SCRs, I've only been using them for a day in game time... they barely register in the calculation yet compared to the sheer volume of perfect Warrior skill usage."
He felt a flush of unease. Rank 1 ASCR, even if temporary and based on a statistical anomaly of his recent history, was a spotlight he did not want. The forums were already buzzing about the Unbeatable Guardian cleared by an anonymous. Now, the same anonymous tag appearing at the absolute pinnacle of skill execution, even with names anonymized by default, would draw immense scrutiny. People would try to connect the dots.
"This is bad. This is really bad. Next week, when the calculation window shifts and my Bladesworn skills with their current ~82-85% SCRs make up the bulk of my activity, my ASCR will plummet to something more reasonable. But for this week... I'm Rank 1 by a huge margin. Everyone will be wondering who this 'Hidden' player is that supposedly has near-perfect execution across the board." He quickly checked the next few ranks – they were in the high 80s, a significant gap.
He hoped the default anonymity held strong. The thought of being hounded by top guilds, exploit accusers, or just legions of curious players was deeply unappealing. His [Eidetic Execution] talent was his greatest secret, the foundation of his power. Drawing attention to its effects, even indirectly through an inflated ASCR, felt dangerous.
"Okay. Don't panic. It's temporary. It'll fix itself next week. Just need to keep a low profile, avoid drawing any more attention than the Unbeatable clear already did. Focus on the plan."
His plan, despite this jarring revelation, still felt optimal. First, pursue the [Legacy of the Twin Souls] quest from Elder Jian and find the [Echoing Forge]. This would involve travel and combat, naturally practicing his new Bladesworn skills and organically improving their SCRs over time. Second, dedicate any downtime, especially in cities or safe areas, to revisiting and practicing Enchanting. The thought of consistently crafting high-CCR items with [Eidetic Execution] was too compelling to ignore, and he now had the gold from the tutorial boss to fund the initial, undoubtedly costly, attempts at improving his known glyphs or learning new ones.
"Right. Echoing Forge is priority. This ASCR thing is just a temporary blip. Hopefully."
He closed the ranking interface, the image of "Rank 1: [Hidden] - ASCR: 96.4%" still burning in his mind. He needed to get reacquainted with Enchanting, to take his mind off the unwanted leaderboard spotlight and see if he could make any progress on the [Glyph of Minor Health] he'd barely managed to learn back in Oakhaven. Silverhaven, being a much larger city, surely had superior facilities and perhaps more advanced trainers or recipe vendors.
He navigated through the Citadel Ward towards the area marked on his city map as the "Artisan's Way," Silverhaven's primary crafting district. It was even larger and more specialized than Oakhaven's. He located the Enchanter's Guild, a tall, rune-etched tower humming with magical energy. Inside, he found an NPC vendor selling a wider array of enchanting supplies and recipes than he'd seen in Oakhaven.
He looked at his gold: just over 400 Gold remaining after renting the inn room and buying some supplies. "Still have the [Recipe: Glyph of Minor Health] learned, CCR locked at a miserable 63%. Need more materials to practice that, or maybe try a new basic recipe like Minor Strength if they have it here. This is going to be expensive if I want to push those CCRs higher."
He approached the vendor. "I need enchanting supplies. Specifically, [Lesser Magic Dust], [Faint Essence], and some [Basic Vellum Rolls]. Do you also sell the recipe for a [Glyph of Minor Strength]?"
The vendor, an acolyte with an air of quiet patience, nodded. "Indeed, Enchanter. We have ample supplies. [Lesser Magic Dust] is 50 copper per unit, [Faint Essence] is 1 silver 50 copper, and Vellum is 25 copper per sheet. The [Recipe: Glyph of Minor Strength] is 10 Gold."
"Prices are similar to Oakhaven. Okay, let's get a decent batch of materials to try and improve that Minor Health CCR, and pick up the Minor Strength recipe too. Need to be careful with the spending." He purchased a substantial amount of dust and essence, several rolls of vellum, and the new recipe.
<< Gold Deducted: ~150 >> << Acquired: [Lesser Magic Dust] x100, [Faint Essence] x50, [Basic Vellum Roll] x4, [Recipe: Glyph of Minor Strength] >>
With his funds noticeably lighter but his resolve firm, Drake found an unoccupied enchanting table in a quiet corner of the Guild hall. The intricate CCR mini-game for Enchanting, with its rune tracing and Mana flow management, was a familiar, if daunting, prospect.