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{
"title": "A Second Life by Creepaz",
"id": 23,
"author": "Creepaz",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "A Second Life - Chapter 1",
"id": 110,
"next": null,
"prev": 109,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 1: Another life<br><br>As soon as I woke up, I hurried to check my auction, to see if it had reached its required amount. When I saw it a smile had crept up my face, while not as high as Weed’s, the price was still more than enough for the equipment for Royal Road.<br>“this must be the best day of my life” I yelled in delight, hurriedly I withdrew the money from the bank, and ordered Royal Road, it would take approximately 3 weeks for the equipment to arrive, so I decided to do get some real life experience with some martial arts, as I thought combat would be easier if I already knew some techniques, so for 1 week I did some taekwondo, 1 week of fencing, and the final week I used on learning to smith.<br>Finally the day came, when some guys came with Royal Road, I couldn’t hide my excitement as I literally jumped with joy, the delivery guys must’ve thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care, I’ve waited for this for a long time now, and no one is allowed to ruin my excitement or joy for that matter.<br>As soon as it was set up, I gave the delivery men a bonus, and jumped into the pod. It took a while for the magical words to appear.<br><br><br><br>Would you like to connect to Royal Road?<br>Yes/No<br><br>As if there ever were any doubts, I shouted “YES” at the top of my lungs and everything went dark.<br>“Hello” said a mechanical female voice, “I see this is the first time you’ve logged in. Let’s proceed with the character creation”<br>“First, what is your name?”<br>“Dante”<br>“Which race do you want to play as?”<br>My innermost desire would be to play as an elf, but then I would be secluded from the majority of the players that chose human, so I went with that “Human”<br>“Any changes to your appearance?”<br>“None”<br>“Which kingdom would you like to start in?”<br>“Doesn’t matter”<br>“Your character is now complete, have fun in Royal Road”<br>Right when she finished saying that, I woke up in the middle of the town square. Since this was the first time I had ever played a VRMMORPG, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I started running and jumping on the spot to test out this new body. After a while I got a little more comfortable, so I started exploring the town, but since I didn’t exactly know where I was, I asked a NPC guard<br>“Excuse me, but do you know where I am”<br>“Of course I do, you are in Rosenheim city”<br>“Thanks a lot”<br>All of a sudden I had this urge to hit something, but I couldn’t go out the city before 4 weeks have passed, so I asked the guard where I could hit something.<br>“The training center, would be a good place to start”<br>Alright, let’s go to the training center<br>“Sorry to bother you again, but where is the training center”<br>“Right down this road to the right, after that at the second intersection turn left, when you reach a tavern turn right down an alley behind it, and it should be in sight”<br>“Ok, thanks again”<br>“Hmm, that was some directions, don’t think I remember them all, it was right, left, and right down an alley behind the tavern and it should be there, but I don’t see it anywhere, all I see is some slums, did I take a wrong turn somewhere”*bump*<br>“Ah, sorry, I was lost in thought”<br>“No, no, it was my mistake” he said before walking away<br>“Well, that was weird”<br>“Hey mister, you should really chase that guy from before” said a little kid<br>“Why?”<br>“Well obviously because he stole your wallet” answered some middle-aged guy<br>“He WHAT, oh, he is so dead, quick kid tell me which way he went, I’m gonna kill that bastard”<br>“He went that way, he was walking slowly so you might be able to catch him if you run” answered the kid and pointed east.<br>“Alright, he won’t get away from me, thanks kid” I said as I rushed after the bastard<br>“Come back here, you son of a *****” I yelled after the guy was in sight<br>As if my yell was a signal the perpetrator ran at top speed while yelling “Hehe, Catch me if you can, but I warn you, I run 100m in 10 seconds flat”<br>“That’s obviously a lie you bastard, if you are still in my sight, and the distance haven’t lengthened, but shortened instead, you run slower than me, which only makes this a matter of time before I catch you”<br>“Ugh, this bastard” said the culprit under his breath,<br>After a couple of minutes of running, I caught the bastard.<br>“Now, you can hand over my stuff, or you’ll be beaten to death”<br>“Fine, here’s your stuff back, you only have 10 loaves of bread, and a canteen anyway”<br>“Thank you kindly, now get out of my sight, before I mess your face up”<br>Obviously frightened the man ran like the devil was after him.<br>“Yeah, you better run, and don’t let me catch you again”<br>Suddenly I heard a loud sound, and all went black.<br>“Ugh, where am I, it’s all dark and damp, like some kind of dungeon” I was in a dark and empty room, with only a single ray of moonlight coming out of a window blocked with metal bars, a sudden pain from the back of my head, showed that someone had hit me, and then brought me somewhere I don’t know.<br>“So you’re finally awake, eh”<br>“Who’s there?” I yelled out in surprise. An old man’s voice came from the corner of the room, and he approached the moonlight, so I could see his face, contrary to his voice, he was a young man, with a face so handsome that you would like to kill him, so you have one less love rival in the world.<br>“Allow me to introduce myself; I’m just a lowly player who got locked up in here due to a misunderstanding, my name is Virgil, and as you thought this is a dungeon, the royal dungeons to be exact, you probably committed a crime and were caught by the patrols”<br>“But I didn’t commit any crimes, I chased a guy who stole my stuff, and I took it back from him”<br>“Wait, this guy, was he around 176cm tall, had short brown hair, and a dirty face”<br>“Yes, how did you know?”<br>“Because he also stole my stuff”<br>“Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight we are both locked up for taking back our items from this guy that stole it from us”<br>“Seems like it”<br>“That’s ridiculous”<br>“Yes it is”<br>“Ugh, this is not how I imagined my new life in RR at all.”
</div> | Chapter 1: Another life
As soon as I woke up, I hurried to check my auction, to see if it had reached its required amount. When I saw it a smile had crept up my face, while not as high as Weed’s, the price was still more than enough for the equipment for Royal Road.
“this must be the best day of my life” I yelled in delight, hurriedly I withdrew the money from the bank, and ordered Royal Road, it would take approximately 3 weeks for the equipment to arrive, so I decided to do get some real life experience with some martial arts, as I thought combat would be easier if I already knew some techniques, so for 1 week I did some taekwondo, 1 week of fencing, and the final week I used on learning to smith.
Finally the day came, when some guys came with Royal Road, I couldn’t hide my excitement as I literally jumped with joy, the delivery guys must’ve thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care, I’ve waited for this for a long time now, and no one is allowed to ruin my excitement or joy for that matter.
As soon as it was set up, I gave the delivery men a bonus, and jumped into the pod. It took a while for the magical words to appear.
Would you like to connect to Royal Road?
Yes/No
As if there ever were any doubts, I shouted “YES” at the top of my lungs and everything went dark.
“Hello” said a mechanical female voice, “I see this is the first time you’ve logged in. Let’s proceed with the character creation”
“First, what is your name?”
“Dante”
“Which race do you want to play as?”
My innermost desire would be to play as an elf, but then I would be secluded from the majority of the players that chose human, so I went with that “Human”
“Any changes to your appearance?”
“None”
“Which kingdom would you like to start in?”
“Doesn’t matter”
“Your character is now complete, have fun in Royal Road”
Right when she finished saying that, I woke up in the middle of the town square. Since this was the first time I had ever played a VRMMORPG, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I started running and jumping on the spot to test out this new body. After a while I got a little more comfortable, so I started exploring the town, but since I didn’t exactly know where I was, I asked a NPC guard
“Excuse me, but do you know where I am”
“Of course I do, you are in Rosenheim city”
“Thanks a lot”
All of a sudden I had this urge to hit something, but I couldn’t go out the city before 4 weeks have passed, so I asked the guard where I could hit something.
“The training center, would be a good place to start”
Alright, let’s go to the training center
“Sorry to bother you again, but where is the training center”
“Right down this road to the right, after that at the second intersection turn left, when you reach a tavern turn right down an alley behind it, and it should be in sight”
“Ok, thanks again”
“Hmm, that was some directions, don’t think I remember them all, it was right, left, and right down an alley behind the tavern and it should be there, but I don’t see it anywhere, all I see is some slums, did I take a wrong turn somewhere”*bump*
“Ah, sorry, I was lost in thought”
“No, no, it was my mistake” he said before walking away
“Well, that was weird”
“Hey mister, you should really chase that guy from before” said a little kid
“Why?”
“Well obviously because he stole your wallet” answered some middle-aged guy
“He WHAT, oh, he is so dead, quick kid tell me which way he went, I’m gonna kill that bastard”
“He went that way, he was walking slowly so you might be able to catch him if you run” answered the kid and pointed east.
“Alright, he won’t get away from me, thanks kid” I said as I rushed after the bastard
“Come back here, you son of a *****” I yelled after the guy was in sight
As if my yell was a signal the perpetrator ran at top speed while yelling “Hehe, Catch me if you can, but I warn you, I run 100m in 10 seconds flat”
“That’s obviously a lie you bastard, if you are still in my sight, and the distance haven’t lengthened, but shortened instead, you run slower than me, which only makes this a matter of time before I catch you”
“Ugh, this bastard” said the culprit under his breath,
After a couple of minutes of running, I caught the bastard.
“Now, you can hand over my stuff, or you’ll be beaten to death”
“Fine, here’s your stuff back, you only have 10 loaves of bread, and a canteen anyway”
“Thank you kindly, now get out of my sight, before I mess your face up”
Obviously frightened the man ran like the devil was after him.
“Yeah, you better run, and don’t let me catch you again”
Suddenly I heard a loud sound, and all went black.
“Ugh, where am I, it’s all dark and damp, like some kind of dungeon” I was in a dark and empty room, with only a single ray of moonlight coming out of a window blocked with metal bars, a sudden pain from the back of my head, showed that someone had hit me, and then brought me somewhere I don’t know.
“So you’re finally awake, eh”
“Who’s there?” I yelled out in surprise. An old man’s voice came from the corner of the room, and he approached the moonlight, so I could see his face, contrary to his voice, he was a young man, with a face so handsome that you would like to kill him, so you have one less love rival in the world.
“Allow me to introduce myself; I’m just a lowly player who got locked up in here due to a misunderstanding, my name is Virgil, and as you thought this is a dungeon, the royal dungeons to be exact, you probably committed a crime and were caught by the patrols”
“But I didn’t commit any crimes, I chased a guy who stole my stuff, and I took it back from him”
“Wait, this guy, was he around 176cm tall, had short brown hair, and a dirty face”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“Because he also stole my stuff”
“Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight we are both locked up for taking back our items from this guy that stole it from us”
“Seems like it”
“That’s ridiculous”
“Yes it is”
“Ugh, this is not how I imagined my new life in RR at all.” |
{
"title": "Spearheading the Path to Glory",
"id": 65,
"author": "VIM1INC",
"rating": 4.2
} | {
"title": "Table of Contents, Progress Journals, Criticisms.",
"id": 209,
"next": 216,
"prev": 205,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Update Schedule and Table of Contents:<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=215" target="_blank">A0 Prologue</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=229" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 1</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=227" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 2</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=232" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 3</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=244" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 4</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=261" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 5</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=297" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 6</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=298" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 7</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=299" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 8</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=321" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 9</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=332" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 10</a>: Done!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=340" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 11</a>: Done!!!<br>A0 Chapter 12: <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=356" target="_blank">Part 1</a> Done!!! <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=375" target="_blank">Part 2</a>: Done!!! <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=378" target="_blank">Part 3</a>: Done!!!<br>A0 Chapter 13: <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=391" target="_blank">Part 1</a> Done!!! <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=413" target="_blank">Part 2</a> Done!!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=451" target="_blank">A0 Chapter 14</a>: Done!!!<br>A0 Chapter 15: <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=508" target="_blank">Part 1</a> Done!!! <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=553" target="_blank">Part 2</a> Done!!!<br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=664" target="_blank">Inter-Arc Chapter 1</a>: Done!!!<br>A1 Chapter 01: Done!!! <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=717" target="_blank">Part 1</a>/<a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=718" target="_blank">Part 2</a>/<a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=719" target="_blank">Part 3</a><br>A1 Chapter 02: <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=782" target="_blank">Part 1</a>: Done!! Part 2: 40%.<br><br>*!!: Done, but not proofread yet.<br>!!!: Done and proofread.<br><br>Planned Updates:<br>A1 Chapter 3: 1st Draft Planned<br>A1 Chapter 4: 1st Draft PlannedA1 Chapter 5: 1st Draft Planned<br>A1 Chapter 6: To be done<br>A1 Chapter 7: To be done<br>A1 Chapter 8: To be done<br>Planned deadline for Arc to be completed: 31/12/2013 (About 1 month after I finish exams. Currently on Hiatus). Possibly a bad idea.<br><br>Drafted Update Plans (hopefully):<br>A2: To follow Nanowrimo format. 50k words in 5 chapters in 1 month. Aims to write approximately 1,667 words a day.<br>A3: To follow Nanowrimo format. 50k words in 5 chapters in 1 month. Aims to write approximately 1,667 words a day.<br>To be done over January-February, latest March 2014.<br>A4-6: The Main Arc begins? To be spanned over 3 Arcs. Hopefully finished by then. No set deadline as of yet.<br><br>Other updates:<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">11/05/13</span>: Really, feel free to leave any constructive comments or opinions regarding what I have written. I need criticism to improve the quality of my work. I can do all the editing in the world and I will still miss out something important. There are several aspects that self-reflection will miss that an opinion by an external party can cover. I will do my best to take it in if it makes sense and if it is not blatant flaming.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">28/05/13</span>: I wondered if I had overextended when I started writing the fan fiction in at least 4.5k words per chapter. While it still easily takes me 3 days to write and edit a chapter, I find myself writing larger word counts (Chapter 10 was nearly 7k!!) each time. Perhaps it's something to consider when I'm slowly writing out the revamp; to divide portions into more easily read content. <br><br>Also, it would be perhaps a bit easier on me if I'm not writing a thesis each time I write out a chapter, so I can easily release more content within a short period of time, and I'll have time to actually do something else (Studying for important end-year exams; perform my current job properly; brainstorm ideas; and my good friend RandomLeech would have a easier time editing my work.). I'll give it a shot.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">02/06/13</span>: About 3 more chapters before I can call it a volume!! I think I can afford to cut down the number of chapters per volume, but I digress. What do you think? Should my chapters have smaller word counts from here? Or should I keep doing what I have been doing?<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">23/07/13:</span> Hiatus occurring in earnest. I'm still working on chapters, but I'm feeling really exhausted lately. Also, I'll include a page of contents here for easier reading. (Next/Previous Chapter links per chapter might be included, but I'm pretty lazy). And it's not easy to that kind of formatting with just my blasted mobile =3=<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">31/07/13:</span> Exam preparations have finally reached the last 3 months. This is where I shall disappear, for a period of time. See you after 27/11/2013!!
</div> | Update Schedule and Table of Contents:
[A0 Prologue](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=215): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=229): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 2](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=227): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 3](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=232): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 4](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=244): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 5](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=261): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 6](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=297): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 7](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=298): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 8](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=299): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 9](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=321): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 10](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=332): Done!!
[A0 Chapter 11](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=340): Done!!!
A0 Chapter 12: [Part 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=356) Done!!! [Part 2](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=375): Done!!! [Part 3](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=378): Done!!!
A0 Chapter 13: [Part 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=391) Done!!! [Part 2](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=413) Done!!!
[A0 Chapter 14](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=451): Done!!!
A0 Chapter 15: [Part 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=508) Done!!! [Part 2](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=553) Done!!!
[Inter-Arc Chapter 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=664): Done!!!
A1 Chapter 01: Done!!! [Part 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=717)/[Part 2](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=718)/[Part 3](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=719)
A1 Chapter 02: [Part 1](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=782): Done!! Part 2: 40%.
*!!: Done, but not proofread yet.
!!!: Done and proofread.
Planned Updates:
A1 Chapter 3: 1st Draft Planned
A1 Chapter 4: 1st Draft PlannedA1 Chapter 5: 1st Draft Planned
A1 Chapter 6: To be done
A1 Chapter 7: To be done
A1 Chapter 8: To be done
Planned deadline for Arc to be completed: 31/12/2013 (About 1 month after I finish exams. Currently on Hiatus). Possibly a bad idea.
Drafted Update Plans (hopefully):
A2: To follow Nanowrimo format. 50k words in 5 chapters in 1 month. Aims to write approximately 1,667 words a day.
A3: To follow Nanowrimo format. 50k words in 5 chapters in 1 month. Aims to write approximately 1,667 words a day.
To be done over January-February, latest March 2014.
A4-6: The Main Arc begins? To be spanned over 3 Arcs. Hopefully finished by then. No set deadline as of yet.
Other updates:
11/05/13: Really, feel free to leave any constructive comments or opinions regarding what I have written. I need criticism to improve the quality of my work. I can do all the editing in the world and I will still miss out something important. There are several aspects that self-reflection will miss that an opinion by an external party can cover. I will do my best to take it in if it makes sense and if it is not blatant flaming.
28/05/13: I wondered if I had overextended when I started writing the fan fiction in at least 4.5k words per chapter. While it still easily takes me 3 days to write and edit a chapter, I find myself writing larger word counts (Chapter 10 was nearly 7k!!) each time. Perhaps it's something to consider when I'm slowly writing out the revamp; to divide portions into more easily read content.
Also, it would be perhaps a bit easier on me if I'm not writing a thesis each time I write out a chapter, so I can easily release more content within a short period of time, and I'll have time to actually do something else (Studying for important end-year exams; perform my current job properly; brainstorm ideas; and my good friend RandomLeech would have a easier time editing my work.). I'll give it a shot.
02/06/13: About 3 more chapters before I can call it a volume!! I think I can afford to cut down the number of chapters per volume, but I digress. What do you think? Should my chapters have smaller word counts from here? Or should I keep doing what I have been doing?
23/07/13: Hiatus occurring in earnest. I'm still working on chapters, but I'm feeling really exhausted lately. Also, I'll include a page of contents here for easier reading. (Next/Previous Chapter links per chapter might be included, but I'm pretty lazy). And it's not easy to that kind of formatting with just my blasted mobile =3=
31/07/13: Exam preparations have finally reached the last 3 months. This is where I shall disappear, for a period of time. See you after 27/11/2013!! |
{
"title": "Just Another Story",
"id": 63,
"author": "napatapon",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "Chapter 1 - All You Need to do is Take a Step",
"id": 217,
"next": 219,
"prev": 197,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
--<br>“Should we enter?”<br>“Yah, we came all the way from school to see him and to know why his going to quit. “<br>“Uhmnn guys”<br>“What?” answered Terrence and Apple not looking in front they bumped to a man which seems to be standing in a line of people going to a room.<br>“Look at where your going kids”.<br>“Sorry mister.”<br>“What’s with this line, this is not a convenient store you know it’s a hospital.”<br>“It’s a place where sick people go to get cured” added Terrence as he was about to take a step but was stopped by a hand.<br>“Young man, correct me if im wrong but you and your friends are going to room 319 right?” asked a lady.<br>“Yes ma’am, hmnn how come you know?” <br>“Look around kids there is only one room left going to this direction.”<br>“So no butting in the line” a smiling nurse said.<br>“Theres a lot of you guys again today, Dawn’s one famous kid isn’t he, well I would date him if his 9 years older” chuckled the nurse as she laughed going to the door.<br>*knock**knock*<br>“Come in.” <br>“Hello Dawn you have a lot of guests again, just going to check if your okey. How are you feeling?” <br>“Im fine nurse” smiling Dawn looked at the line outside as his eyes gazed in front then at the back he saw 3 familiar faces that made his face brighter.<br><br>After 30 minutes of waiting<I hate waiting it’s the hardest thing to do in this world haha> they finally had their turn to see him.<br><br>“What the! ” <br><br>What they saw in the room surprised the 3 this is like being in an anime they thought. Whats with the flowers and the balloons its like a garden here with chocolates all over. Its like a dream Terrence thought as his gaze fixed on porn magazines left by some dude wrapped in a ribbon and placed beneath the bed. He sensed a sharp eye from behind he felt like he was facing death well not actually facing cause its from behind but he felt like he was being pricked by pins from behind, trembling he spoke gently “Reflex Tamarrr! ” too late he though he only saw a fist getting near his face causing him to fall down.<br><br>“Hahaha you guys never change I missed you guys.” in his mind he knew that somewhat the reason they came was not only to say hi.<br><br>After a few minutes of question and answer Apple couldn’t wait any longer she wanted to ask why he will quit school but in her mind a thought keeps popping up –Should I ask or not- she thought it will not be the appropriate time cause its just been a few weeks an all but all the questions that pops up in her head she always finds an answer to it.<br><br>She paused and then she decided to say it. “Dawn..”<br><br>“My eyes are failing me guys” Dawn said that it made the three silent. He continued and asked them to listen.<br><br>“Im experiencing temporary blindness the doctor said its because of the damage my eyes had, you see my retina’s been damage cause of the accident and that as time passes by I will be permanently blind.”<br><br>“I don’t know how many days or weeks or months or it maybe be even after a year but my eye sight will keep getting worse until all I can see is black.” It made sense Apple thought, Dawn is always like that never wanting to be a burden to others, its just like him the three thought. With mixed emotions they knew and understood that something’s going to change.<br><br>“That’s why im quitting, im gonna transfer to a school where I’ll be trained for a life with no eyesight.”<br><br>His heart pounded, he didn’t know how his friends will react but he made his mind his gonna do this and he will do it right so he decided to transfer and to be ready when the time comes. The silence even worsen his anxiety in his mind he wants them to say something.<br><br>“Don’t be stupid were always here for you dude” says Terrence trying to be cool.<br><br>“I thought of hitting you Dawn because you didn’t tell us and we had to know of it at school that your going to transfer, but still we thought it would be something much worse. with operation you can see again right?” asked the petite Tamara.<br><br>“Yah don’t fool yourself if you think you can get rid of us STUPID! We’re siblings from different parents!” added Terrence. As he reached his hands clinched to Dawn just like old times.<br><br>“I see that’s good” *sigh* Apple’s smile was a sign of relief they knew she’s back to normal.<br><br>“I will be in your hands guys.” Dawn knew his friends will be there he always knew for their bonds were as tight as real brothers and sisters.<br><br>--------------------------------<br>As the days continue to pass by the minutes Dawn experiencing blindness seems to become longer and longer this made him realize that He must be not weak of heart, this is a world where you need to work hard to live and feeling helpless wont do you any good. As he was lying in the couch he held his right hand up making a fist he thought that he must be ready for whatever comes in the future.<br><br>“Dawn I know what you’re thinking but you need to rest it’s only been a few weeks since your accident” a woman wearing an apron said to Dawn as she was fixing the table. A sweet aroma enveloped the room that It made Dawn hungry. That’s what He liked about her mother even though she usually shouts and all but deep down she is gentle and he knows she loves her family.<br><br>“By the way son, you have your usual love letter and with cookies too and written here TO MY HEROO spelled with two “O’s” haha It’s from the lovely Katyln” it made her laugh as she went to give it to her son.<br>“Mom, Come on…”blushed the young man as he held out the piece of paper and read it a loud. “My Hero” he repeated the words in his mind, it gave him peace and he felt a little braver. <br><br>He stood up took his jacket and some bread and went to put on his shoes.<br><br>”Ma, I’m going to the elderly home for a bit I’m taking some of your flowers okay?” he shouted as he reached for the scissors in the shelf.<br><br>“Remember to sit for a moment when you are tired and call at once if your blindness sets in. Do you want me to call your friends so that they can accompany you?” the worried mother said to her son.<br><br>“Come on Ma, ill just be gone for a couple of minutes an hour or two.”<br><br>“Say Hi to Granny for me okay” yelled her mother as her son closed the door.<br><br>As he was walking people greeted him young and old, male or female saying good job, some pats him on the back, some women even saying they will let him marry their daughter and this made Dawn even more shy. People around the area know of him not because of him saving a child but because of how hard working he is, he is known as the “Odd Jobs Specialist” from helping someone or looking for someone, getting a cat stuck on a tree you name it he will do it and what the people liked about him is that whoever asks for help he does it without complain whoever the client is a kid or an adult he does it whole heartedly.<br><br>Dawn reminiscing the past on how he got to working this odd jobs of his.<br><br>One summer when he was young he got lost looking for Apples slippers that got swept in the river as they were playing near it, Apple cried and cried that it irritated Terrence causing him to yell at her causing Tamara to punch him in the stomach the first time<that’s how Terrence became a punching bag so to speak haha> thus Dawn followed the river as it goes down the forest. <br><br>It was already noon when Dawn noticed that his already lost but being the brainy one of the four he thought to just follow the river cause it may lead him to a bridge or by the highway but instead he saw a viewing shed with an old woman playing flute. He was very silent he acted like a ninja from the anime’s he watch in the t.v.<br><br>The music stopped causing him to start feeling nervous thinking his in trouble.<br><br>“Young man, are you lost?” a motherly voice called out to him. He was shocked because he thought he was silent enough as he listened to the soothing tune the flute made. <br>“Now come nearer and sit by my side, don’t be afraid I wont hurt you” smiled the motherly woman. <br>“Want some tea?” she offered “I also have some snacks but don’t tell my daughter you ate them cause its hers” she said with a warm smile.<br><br>Something bothered Dawn, he knew the old lady isn’t looking at his direction but how could she tell that he is there. <br>“Are you going to let a beautiful woman as myself to do the first move?” she broke into a laugh “Come now you must be hungry with the panting of your voice and the sounds your sweat make as they hit the ground, I can tell that youre tired. Come have a snack with this old granny” she added.<br><br>“Are you blind?” answered the young boy as he came nearer to the old woman he was cautious thinking the old lady might be a monster like from the stories he heard from his friends. He thought how un respectful he was as he never meant those words to come out of his mouth. Judging by what he saw he thought there is a possibility but he didn’t intend to say it out loud.<br><br>“You’re the first one who met me first time say that.” The woman said”Your correct what you say is true” she smiled facing Dawn.<br><br>“Wow!” He shouted “Its like in the movies, Are you a ninja or a psychic perhaps?” running hastily and sitting near the old lady. <br><br>“What a curious young lad you are” she said with a smile.<br><br>“Oh I forgot where my manners.” He said in a low tone, standing up he dusted his clothes and bowed lower “I am Dawn Roxas my lady?” remembering how the old people use to do it as he recalled in some movies he saw he did it also.<br><br>“My what a gentleman” <br><br>“My name is Natasha Laicell” reaching out her hand to shake Dawns “You can also call me Granny.”<br><br>They talked like long time friends that didn’t see each other for a couple of years until Granny’s daughter came to pick them up. The day ended with him not saving the day because Terrence found the slippers but instead he gained a friend ^^<br><br>There meeting wasn’t just a coincidence but it was faith. <br>This was the start of a friendship that changed how Dawn looks at things in life.<br><br>````````<br>Sorry for the late update but still many things I needed to do been busy with work and all so I couldn’t find the time to write and It took me three rewrites to finish this chapter sup and lets do this haha<br>Its kinda hard for some aspects and im getting ready for the game arc now gonna finish up with things first laters..<br>As I said in the previous chapter please be nice sorry for the grammars and all but I hope you can still understand it though haha
</div> | --
“Should we enter?”
“Yah, we came all the way from school to see him and to know why his going to quit. “
“Uhmnn guys”
“What?” answered Terrence and Apple not looking in front they bumped to a man which seems to be standing in a line of people going to a room.
“Look at where your going kids”.
“Sorry mister.”
“What’s with this line, this is not a convenient store you know it’s a hospital.”
“It’s a place where sick people go to get cured” added Terrence as he was about to take a step but was stopped by a hand.
“Young man, correct me if im wrong but you and your friends are going to room 319 right?” asked a lady.
“Yes ma’am, hmnn how come you know?”
“Look around kids there is only one room left going to this direction.”
“So no butting in the line” a smiling nurse said.
“Theres a lot of you guys again today, Dawn’s one famous kid isn’t he, well I would date him if his 9 years older” chuckled the nurse as she laughed going to the door.
*knock**knock*
“Come in.”
“Hello Dawn you have a lot of guests again, just going to check if your okey. How are you feeling?”
“Im fine nurse” smiling Dawn looked at the line outside as his eyes gazed in front then at the back he saw 3 familiar faces that made his face brighter.
After 30 minutes of waiting<I hate waiting it’s the hardest thing to do in this world haha> they finally had their turn to see him.
“What the! ”
What they saw in the room surprised the 3 this is like being in an anime they thought. Whats with the flowers and the balloons its like a garden here with chocolates all over. Its like a dream Terrence thought as his gaze fixed on porn magazines left by some dude wrapped in a ribbon and placed beneath the bed. He sensed a sharp eye from behind he felt like he was facing death well not actually facing cause its from behind but he felt like he was being pricked by pins from behind, trembling he spoke gently “Reflex Tamarrr! ” too late he though he only saw a fist getting near his face causing him to fall down.
“Hahaha you guys never change I missed you guys.” in his mind he knew that somewhat the reason they came was not only to say hi.
After a few minutes of question and answer Apple couldn’t wait any longer she wanted to ask why he will quit school but in her mind a thought keeps popping up –Should I ask or not- she thought it will not be the appropriate time cause its just been a few weeks an all but all the questions that pops up in her head she always finds an answer to it.
She paused and then she decided to say it. “Dawn..”
“My eyes are failing me guys” Dawn said that it made the three silent. He continued and asked them to listen.
“Im experiencing temporary blindness the doctor said its because of the damage my eyes had, you see my retina’s been damage cause of the accident and that as time passes by I will be permanently blind.”
“I don’t know how many days or weeks or months or it maybe be even after a year but my eye sight will keep getting worse until all I can see is black.” It made sense Apple thought, Dawn is always like that never wanting to be a burden to others, its just like him the three thought. With mixed emotions they knew and understood that something’s going to change.
“That’s why im quitting, im gonna transfer to a school where I’ll be trained for a life with no eyesight.”
His heart pounded, he didn’t know how his friends will react but he made his mind his gonna do this and he will do it right so he decided to transfer and to be ready when the time comes. The silence even worsen his anxiety in his mind he wants them to say something.
“Don’t be stupid were always here for you dude” says Terrence trying to be cool.
“I thought of hitting you Dawn because you didn’t tell us and we had to know of it at school that your going to transfer, but still we thought it would be something much worse. with operation you can see again right?” asked the petite Tamara.
“Yah don’t fool yourself if you think you can get rid of us STUPID! We’re siblings from different parents!” added Terrence. As he reached his hands clinched to Dawn just like old times.
“I see that’s good” *sigh* Apple’s smile was a sign of relief they knew she’s back to normal.
“I will be in your hands guys.” Dawn knew his friends will be there he always knew for their bonds were as tight as real brothers and sisters.
--------------------------------
As the days continue to pass by the minutes Dawn experiencing blindness seems to become longer and longer this made him realize that He must be not weak of heart, this is a world where you need to work hard to live and feeling helpless wont do you any good. As he was lying in the couch he held his right hand up making a fist he thought that he must be ready for whatever comes in the future.
“Dawn I know what you’re thinking but you need to rest it’s only been a few weeks since your accident” a woman wearing an apron said to Dawn as she was fixing the table. A sweet aroma enveloped the room that It made Dawn hungry. That’s what He liked about her mother even though she usually shouts and all but deep down she is gentle and he knows she loves her family.
“By the way son, you have your usual love letter and with cookies too and written here TO MY HEROO spelled with two “O’s” haha It’s from the lovely Katyln” it made her laugh as she went to give it to her son.
“Mom, Come on…”blushed the young man as he held out the piece of paper and read it a loud. “My Hero” he repeated the words in his mind, it gave him peace and he felt a little braver.
He stood up took his jacket and some bread and went to put on his shoes.
”Ma, I’m going to the elderly home for a bit I’m taking some of your flowers okay?” he shouted as he reached for the scissors in the shelf.
“Remember to sit for a moment when you are tired and call at once if your blindness sets in. Do you want me to call your friends so that they can accompany you?” the worried mother said to her son.
“Come on Ma, ill just be gone for a couple of minutes an hour or two.”
“Say Hi to Granny for me okay” yelled her mother as her son closed the door.
As he was walking people greeted him young and old, male or female saying good job, some pats him on the back, some women even saying they will let him marry their daughter and this made Dawn even more shy. People around the area know of him not because of him saving a child but because of how hard working he is, he is known as the “Odd Jobs Specialist” from helping someone or looking for someone, getting a cat stuck on a tree you name it he will do it and what the people liked about him is that whoever asks for help he does it without complain whoever the client is a kid or an adult he does it whole heartedly.
Dawn reminiscing the past on how he got to working this odd jobs of his.
One summer when he was young he got lost looking for Apples slippers that got swept in the river as they were playing near it, Apple cried and cried that it irritated Terrence causing him to yell at her causing Tamara to punch him in the stomach the first time<that’s how Terrence became a punching bag so to speak haha> thus Dawn followed the river as it goes down the forest.
It was already noon when Dawn noticed that his already lost but being the brainy one of the four he thought to just follow the river cause it may lead him to a bridge or by the highway but instead he saw a viewing shed with an old woman playing flute. He was very silent he acted like a ninja from the anime’s he watch in the t.v.
The music stopped causing him to start feeling nervous thinking his in trouble.
“Young man, are you lost?” a motherly voice called out to him. He was shocked because he thought he was silent enough as he listened to the soothing tune the flute made.
“Now come nearer and sit by my side, don’t be afraid I wont hurt you” smiled the motherly woman.
“Want some tea?” she offered “I also have some snacks but don’t tell my daughter you ate them cause its hers” she said with a warm smile.
Something bothered Dawn, he knew the old lady isn’t looking at his direction but how could she tell that he is there.
“Are you going to let a beautiful woman as myself to do the first move?” she broke into a laugh “Come now you must be hungry with the panting of your voice and the sounds your sweat make as they hit the ground, I can tell that youre tired. Come have a snack with this old granny” she added.
“Are you blind?” answered the young boy as he came nearer to the old woman he was cautious thinking the old lady might be a monster like from the stories he heard from his friends. He thought how un respectful he was as he never meant those words to come out of his mouth. Judging by what he saw he thought there is a possibility but he didn’t intend to say it out loud.
“You’re the first one who met me first time say that.” The woman said”Your correct what you say is true” she smiled facing Dawn.
“Wow!” He shouted “Its like in the movies, Are you a ninja or a psychic perhaps?” running hastily and sitting near the old lady.
“What a curious young lad you are” she said with a smile.
“Oh I forgot where my manners.” He said in a low tone, standing up he dusted his clothes and bowed lower “I am Dawn Roxas my lady?” remembering how the old people use to do it as he recalled in some movies he saw he did it also.
“My what a gentleman”
“My name is Natasha Laicell” reaching out her hand to shake Dawns “You can also call me Granny.”
They talked like long time friends that didn’t see each other for a couple of years until Granny’s daughter came to pick them up. The day ended with him not saving the day because Terrence found the slippers but instead he gained a friend ^^
There meeting wasn’t just a coincidence but it was faith.
This was the start of a friendship that changed how Dawn looks at things in life.
````````
Sorry for the late update but still many things I needed to do been busy with work and all so I couldn’t find the time to write and It took me three rewrites to finish this chapter sup and lets do this haha
Its kinda hard for some aspects and im getting ready for the game arc now gonna finish up with things first laters..
As I said in the previous chapter please be nice sorry for the grammars and all but I hope you can still understand it though haha |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
} | {
"title": "Oscar Corvus - Chapter 3",
"id": 26,
"next": 27,
"prev": 25,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Bloodbirds</span><br><br>Time: 1 year (real world) prior to the “Defense of Attica”<br>Corbeau (Corvus) in Royal Road, Ivaldi City.<br><br>“Come on Merlin!” I called as I left the workshops for the first time in a week, squinting at the sunlight and stretching. It was originally my plan to try and learn some more rune magic today, but I decided I’d rather spend the day wondering the city, since I’d only seen a fountain, a street, an alley, and the hellish slave-driving Sindri’s workshop; in addition, it looked like even Sindri took a break every now and then. Still, I’d gained a bunch of stats, was well on my way to learning the rune-smithing skills I’d need in the game to design advanced weapons, and as bad as Sindri was, some of my earlier trainers, especially the self defense ones, made him look like a girl scout, so as I left I was feeling pretty jaunty. <br>I wandered around for a while, Merlin floating over my shoulder, just looking at the dwarves, the houses and shops, the food, the marketplace stalls, everything really. Eventually I was feeling hungry so I walked into a pub near the docks called the Dancing Mermaid, for some food and drink. They had a pretty excellent fish pie, and a really nice light ale which I was enjoying until a handful of thugs tromped in and started causing a scene. I hadn’t noticed previously, but these thugs all had a red feather on their shoulders, same as the ones I’d fought in the alley.<br><br>“Oy, Inkeeper!” their apparent leader shouted, “ ‘Ave you rethought your position vice-a-vis our proposed insurance plan? I’d ‘ate for something to happen to this place. Fire, burglars, even vandals might come in, and where’d you be without us an’ our fine company? Eh?” he said with his thick docklands accent while laughing, as the four other thugs with him loafed about looking menacing.<br>“I won’t allow this in my shop! We’re a decent establishment, and don’t want none of you lot in here. Get out!” the publican said. “Get out or I’ll call the guard.”<br>“See ‘ere innkeeper, you call the guard, there might be a ruckus, and who knows who’d be caught up in it, eh? Wouldn’t want your lovely daughter hurt now would we?” While the other customers looked on, thing were escalating quickly, from insinuated violence against the pub to violence against the owner’s daughter.<br>The pub owner, a middle aged dwarf with a beer belly, turned totally purple in rage at this, and reached below the bar, pulling out and quickly loading a crossbow.<br>“I spent four years in the army, out on the east end of Ivaldi fighting undead, you little shits. I was ranked “expert crossbowman”. You think I’ll miss your heads at this range? I see you again, I’ll be shitting in the hole I leave in your skull. Now fuck off, and tell your boss the next Bloodbird I see’ll be dead!”<br>“Alright, alright, no need to get angry, we were just passing a friendly message, eh?” the leader of the thugs said, looking nervous. “We’ll leave, alright? No problems.” With that, the thugs left, backing out with hands raised. As soon as they were out the door, the customer burst into cheers.<br><br>I went to see the owner and said: “You know they’ll be back, right?”<br>“What? I told them next time I’d…”<br>“You’d kill them, ya. But you see, a couple things. One, they’re gonna realize that as a crossbowman, you can get one, maybe two of them before they take you down. Two, the whole way a protection racket works is, everyone has to pay. If they let you get away with not paying, it’ll be a mass rebellion. No, they’ll be back. The only question is when, which depends on the people running the operation. You have any idea who that is?” The publican is looking rather worried now.<br>“No,” he says, “I don’t have a clue.”<br>“Shit. Well, they don’t seem to be too clever at any rate. I came across a trio of muggers last week, they weren’t much smarter than these guys. Which, considering they were morons, isn’t saying much. See, the thing is, if they’re dumb and angry, they’ll come tonight. They’ll see the challenge as something to crush immediately. If they’re a little smart and vicious, they’ll come tomorrow night, assuming either you’ll spend tonight waiting for them, then give up when they don’t come or be really tired the second night, or, if you don’t wait for them at all, then you won’t be ready; either way, they win. If they’re totally cold blooded, they’ll wait till the forth night; even if you’re prepared the first, second, third nights, by then you’ll assume they aren’t coming, so they can surprise you. Now, if they are scarily evil, they’ll wait a week, maybe 10 days, until the first of the others inspired by your example rebel too. Then, one night, before you can organize, they’ll move against all of you, taking out anyone who might rebel in the future.” By now he’s blanching and beginning to sweat, so I decide to try and calm him down a little by distracting him with some social niceties.<br><br>“My name’s Corbeau, by the way, apprentice Rune-Smith to Master Sindri. Nice to meet you,” I introduced myself.<br>“Ah, a Rune-Smith apprenticed to Sindri! Very impressive. I’m glad you’re kind enough to be interested in my troubles. My name’s Kabin. What do you think I should do?”<br>“Well. I don’t think they’re too smart; in fact, I’m willing to bet they’ll attack tonight. So, you have two options: One: Ambush them tonight, then try and hit their base before they can try again, or, Two: Grab one of them now, interrogate him, and go after the base immediately, trying to stay inside the decision cycle. I’m willing to help either way, and would advise option two.”<br>“Thank you so much! Let’s try that then.”<br><br>Quest Notice:<br>Your actions have begun a quest: Exterminating Birds, Difficulty D/E.<br>Quest: Exterminating Birds:<br>The Bloodbirds, a gang located in Ivaldi City, are making a nuisance of themselves. Protect Kabin by destroying the gang. It may be difficult to find their location.<br>Relationship with Kabin Improved.<br><br>“Alright,” I said, “let’s start planning how we can do this. First off, do you have any friends from your army days we can ask for help?”<br>“Sure, there are half a dozen guys from my squad are living in the neighborhood: three swordsmen, another crossbowman, a priest and an earth mage.”<br>“Okay, send your daughter to get three, and run and grab the other three yourself. I’ll wait here, if that’s alright. Meanwhile, Merlin, would you mind finding a couple likely looking sources of information?”<br>“Sure, now you need me. It’s never “Merlin, would you like some beer? Or how about a vacation?” Instead, it’s “Merlin, fly all over town looking for some smelly thugs.” Sure. Fine, be happy to” he grouched while flying off. I hid my grin until he left, then got back to eating the pie and drinking some juice. I’d need my strength for later.<br><br>About half an hour later everyone returned, and introduced themselves. The swordsmen turned out to be brothers with particularly unimaginative parents; they were named, oldest to youngest: Bazil, Chazil and Dazil. The only thing to tell them apart was that the oldest was slightly larger than the middle who was in turn larger than the youngest. The priest was Ajak, apparently a priest of a dwarven beer-god, while the mage was called Tsende or the Trencher, apparently for his ability to build trenches. I’m told it sounds more impressive in dwarvish, which is of course automatically translated to English for me. The second crossbowman, specializing in guerilla strikes and assassination, was called Teach, apparently since he’d been an elementary teacher and said that he wished he could teach his prior students the same way he did the undead. They varied in level between 47 (Dazzle) and 84 (Tsende), were all veterans of the unceasing undead wars in the East of the Island, and had their service issue chainmail and weapons, apparently in case they ever needed to be called up from the reserves. Tsende, by virtue of level and experience, was their squad corporal; apparently the sergeant lives in some small village away from the city. Still, if I could kill a pair of thugs when I was level one, we should, between us, be able to take care of business. I asked for a bottle of concentrated ink, and promised an explanation later. After explaining the mission to them: find a thug, capture and interrogate, locate base and kill the leadership, we all waited a couple minutes for Merlin to streak through the window and tell us where to go.<br><br>“Merlin, would you form an information overlay, please?” I asked.<br>“Sure. Follow the arrow to the enemy,” he replied while forming a visor to project a heads up display for me. We followed the directions for a dozen minutes before arriving at the destination: a dead-end alley with a trio of young Bloodbirds smoking, drinking and playing cards.<br>“Remember, we need one alive,” I said quietly. “Tsende, I want you to immobilize them; bury their legs in stone. Teach and Kabin, take the ones on the left and right respectively. Headshots, please. I’ll take the one in the middle. Ready? Take positions. On three. One. Two. Three.” <br><br>At the count, we rushed the Bloodbirds. With a roar of stone, the thugs were buried, unable to stand up. I ran down the center of the alley, ducking into a roll as Teach shouted “Down!” Crossbow bolts thudded into the heads of the left and right most thugs, while the one in the middle gaped.<br>“GET DOWN!” I screamed as one long, drawn-out word, activating the Kiai and slowing the survivor until I could tackle him. The other swordsmen piled on, and once we had him restrained I told the others “You’ve done a good job. Unfortunately, it isn’t over yet. We need to find out where to hit these guys, and that may get a little messy. And noisy. I wouldn’t want to expose you fine dwarves to such things; would you mind guarding the road leading to the alley?” Really, it’s that I didn’t want them to see what I was about to do. I still have nightmares about what happened in Nigeria when I was on a peace keeping mission with my Knights Corvi after the latest round of religious civil war. One of our men went missing while out fraternizing, and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting for intelligence. At least this time it would be adults, and computer characters rather than real teenagers looking to score some points with their local warlord.<br><br>The seven veterans, looking a little doubtful, left the alley and took up positions.<br>“Merlin, can you stop the air and especially any sound from leaving his mouth if necessary? I wouldn’t want to disturb our allies.”<br>“Of course, Corbeau.” As Merlin disengaged his display mode, the thug looked terrified. He understood that the only reason we’d need to gag him would be if he would be screaming.<br>Now, I spoke pretty nicely to the thug: “Alright lad, what’s your name?”<br>“Brick, sir, please don’t hurt me, I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear, honest!”“I’m sure you will Brick, I’m sure you will. And as long as you answer honestly, we won’t have any trouble. Just a nice conversation, then we’ll let you go on your way. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? So you can be nice and calm. Now, what city are we in, Brick?”<br>“No, not too bad guv. Ivaldi.”<br>“And what season is it.”<br>“Summer”<br>“You’re getting this, right Merlin? And running a baseline?”<br>“Sure, but I don’t know if it works with NPCs,” Merlin replied<br>“I think it does. I remember someone brought the topic up; whether players would see real tells when NPC’s lie. They’re meant to be based off of real human faces from court trials,” I said. “Alright then Brick, now, here’s a big one. Who’s your boss? The head honcho of the Bloodbirds?”<br>“I’m not sure what his name is, we just call him the Eagle. That’s all I know, honest.”<br>“He’s lying. Not about the Eagle, but about only knowing that,” Merlin told me.<br>“Oh Brick. Why’d you lie, mate? Do you not want to be alright? Fuck, I’m sorry for this I really am. Merlin, block is mouth.” I grabbed his hair to immobilize the head, then pinched his nose and started counting in my head. When I reached 50, he was looking pretty desperate and wide around the eyes, so I decided that’d be a good starting point and let go before slapping him a few times to get his attention on what I was saying.<br>“Alright Brick, that was 50 seconds without air. Every time you lie, that goes up ten seconds. Alright? It’s okay if you’re catching your breath. Nod if you understand. Good. You know that strangulation, lack of air, is one of the worst ways to go, right? You start convulsing as you get really low on air, and you’ll void yourself just before you die. You don’t want your body found like that, do you? No, didn’t think so. Now, what do you know about this Eagle?”<br>“Look, don’t fucking kill me, I’ll talk! Eagle, he’s some kind of low rank blood wizard, works for some necromancer called Serpentshead out east. He’s a fucking terror: tortured a Bloodbird who wanted to quit, go straight to be with a girl, to death. He killed the girl, too. Preserved their bodies and put them up next to each other in our headquarters. Please, guv, he can’t know I talked, alright?”<br>“Sure Brick sure. All you’ve got to do now is tell us where he is.”<br>“You’ll kill him, right? Promise you’ll kill him and I’ll tell you where he is.”<br>“Nah Brick, we’re killing his men and having this chat so we can sell him some cookies. Course we’re going to kill him. Now, before I lose my patience, where is he?”<br>“You got a map? I’ll mark it. It this abandoned warehouse right here. There’s a pair of guards outside the door, but no other traps or anything. We had them for a while, but Bloodbirds kept setting them off by accident.” <That’s some REAL amateur hour shit right there. Guards outside, but no second line of defense? Should be easy, so long as we take the wizard down hard and fast before he can get nasty.><br>“Alright Brick, you’ve done a great job. Now, like I said, you can go on your way. Let me just cut this cord around your hands.” Moving behind him, I took my knife and cut his throat. <br><br>Level Up<br><br>He’d made his decision, broken the law and justice, and I couldn’t have him warning this Eagle, after all, could I? Plus, never go into battle with an untested weapon. I needed to know what this knife did. Judging from the smell of ozone and the lines of ice, I was guessing that Sindri’s Knife had extra freeze and shock effects, helping slow and stun the enemies while increasing damage. Nice. Taking a few golds from the corpses as well as a blackjack and their cards, I put the points into dexterity as I left the alley.<br><br>“Alright, guys, I’ve got the location,” I said. “Let’s head over and have a look.”<br>“The prisoner?” Ajak asked. <It’s always the priests who are all holier than thou>.<br>“Taken care of,” I replied.<br>“Good,” Ajak grinned. “Can’t stand these Bloodbird shits.” <Or not. This shit always gets my dander up>, I thought as we all trooped off to the abandoned warehouse a dozen city blocks away. When we arrived in the vicinity, we snuck up to the back of the warehouse across the street before sending Merlin up to make sure that there weren’t any unexpected surprises. He went in through a window and checked the interior too before coming back and projecting an image of the layout.<br>“OK,” he said, “pay attention. There are two guards outside, and it looks like they’ve been drinking. There are half a dozen thugs and gangsters inside, as well as four of their girls who may be enemies but may turn into hostages. Eagle is located in this room, and appears to be asleep.”<br>“Is there outside entry into Eagle’s room?” I asked.<br>“None,” said Merlin. “And while the rest of the base seems trap free, his room has three mundane and two magical traps that I could see. There may be more.”<br>“Tsende, could you take the whole building down? I’m just asking, in case it’s necessary.”<br>“Maybe, but it would probably take a while. I’d have to bring down at a bunch of supports, and don’t have great control when I can’t see what I’m spelling. I’d also prefer not to kill any innocents,” he replied.<br>“Alright. Hmm… Back entrance, maybe? We can have Kabin take out one of the guards from a distance. The other runs in and says they’re under attack. The mage checks, sees it’s just Kabin, Tsende, Ajak, Bazil and Chazil, so he’ll sortie with his troops thinking he has the advantage. Anyone left inside is a noncombatant. Meanwhile as they leave the building, Teach and I go in through the back and hit Eagle from behind, since he should be towards the rear of his men. How does that sound?” Once everyone agreed, Teach led me on a sneak around to the back of the warehouse.<br><br>Leadership +4<br><br>Small Unit Commander Added<br>Helps a player lead small units. +5 Leadership and +5% Leadership for the first 4 soldiers you are leading. Troops are 50% more likely to go along with your plans.<br><br>Sneak Skill Added<br>Helps a player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.<br>The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.<br>Level 1 effect: You are 5% harder to detect.<br><br>Once we were in position, we had Merlin fly over and start a 30 count before they hit the exterior guards. We could faintly hear a thrum as the crossbow fired, followed almost immediately by a crunch as it buried itself into the thug’s skull. The other guard began screaming for help and ran inside. Moments later Merlin flew out and turned into visor-projection mode in front of my eyes.<br>“Eagle woke up and is rushing to the front door. Take position by the back and enter in estimated 15 seconds,” he said. Teach and I moved up to the rear entrance, and Merlin gave a three count: “1, 2, 3.” On three, Teach and I kicked the door as hard as we could. As it crashed open, we ran past screeching gang-girls, and out the front door where we could see the squad fighting the thugs. Bazil, Chazil and Dazil had their square, legionnaire style shields up and were stopping the advance of four thugs armed with short swords. Two thugs were keeping Ajak and Kabin’s heads down by threatening them with crossbow rounds, while Tsende was furiously engaging Eagle in a magical standoff.<br><br>Teach brought the crossbow up to his shoulder and loosed a bolt at Eagle, but it was deflected by a magical shield and barely scratched him. Still, it split Eagle’s attention and distracted him long enough for one of Tsende’s magically propelled stones to get through, further weakening the shield. I sprinted forward, covering the dozen paces to Eagle in a couple seconds, while focusing on Eihwaz and slashing with my knife, trying to break through Eagle’s shield. The level difference was just too much though, and again the attack was deflected, though the shield was weakened. Snarling, Eagle flung up his arm at me, shouting an arcane blood-word. I leapt and rolled, dodging, but Teach, standing just behind me, flew backwards, slamming headfirst into the wall before falling, unconscious or dead. Reaching into my inventory bag, I took out the ink and poured it onto my hand. I pressed up against the shield, and focusing as strong as I could, finger-painted Eihwaz reversed on it. While Eihwaz works to strengthen, Eihwaz reversed weakens. Another of Tsende’s projectiles slammed into the shield, and finally broke through the shield, smashing into the back of Eagle’s head. <br><br>As he instinctively turned towards Tsende, I screamed “Ei-HWAZ!” activating Kiai at the same time and slamming the knife into Eagle’s kidney for a critical hit as he screamed. Ripping it out, I buried the knife into Eagle’s other kidney, again screaming “Ei-HWAZ!” I pulled the knife free one last time and, grabbing Eagle’s hair, yanked his head back, exposing his neck. I stabbed the knife in sideways, glancing of the spine, the slashed out, cutting Eagle’s windpipe and half the blood vessels in his neck. As his blood sprayed forwards, I saw the announcement:<br><br>You have killed Eagle.<br>Quest Notice: Exterminating Birds Quest Completed:<br>Speak to Kabin for your reward<br>Level Up<br>Level Up<br>Level Up<br>Level Up<br><br>Without Eagle to contend with, Tsende and I helped mop up the rest of the Bloodbirds in moments. Laughing and shaking with excess adrenaline as soon as the fight was over, we searched the bodies, not finding much. Going inside, one of the treasure chests was empty, taken by the girls most likely. In Eagle’s room we hit the jackpot, finding a book on blood-magic and blood-runes, which I took, as well as a decent chain mail hauberk which was only long enough to be a chain mail tunic for me, though I was sure I’d be able to make better after another week or two working with Sindri. I got a sword with a malevolent aura too, but couldn’t identify it. We also found a series of letters between Eagle and Serpentshead, describing some plan to raise an undead legion strengthened with blood-runes and launch an assault against the eastern border forts. According to the letters, the legion was meant to be raised in two months; the assault would begin during the start of winter in three months; snow is perfect weather for the undead. As soon as I read it, I received a new quest:<br><br>Quest Notice:<br>Your Actions have begun a quest, difficulty E.<br>Quest: Inform the Authorities about Serpentshead<br>Serpentshead is planning a devastating attack on the Eastern region of Ivaldi. Inform a city Elder so appropriate measures can be taken. Failure to inform an Elder may result in the destruction of Ivaldi.<br><br><Well, looks like I’ll have to get Sindri out of the cathouse a little early. Honestly, that scares me more than going against Eagle…
</div> | The Bloodbirds
Time: 1 year (real world) prior to the “Defense of Attica”
Corbeau (Corvus) in Royal Road, Ivaldi City.
“Come on Merlin!” I called as I left the workshops for the first time in a week, squinting at the sunlight and stretching. It was originally my plan to try and learn some more rune magic today, but I decided I’d rather spend the day wondering the city, since I’d only seen a fountain, a street, an alley, and the hellish slave-driving Sindri’s workshop; in addition, it looked like even Sindri took a break every now and then. Still, I’d gained a bunch of stats, was well on my way to learning the rune-smithing skills I’d need in the game to design advanced weapons, and as bad as Sindri was, some of my earlier trainers, especially the self defense ones, made him look like a girl scout, so as I left I was feeling pretty jaunty.
I wandered around for a while, Merlin floating over my shoulder, just looking at the dwarves, the houses and shops, the food, the marketplace stalls, everything really. Eventually I was feeling hungry so I walked into a pub near the docks called the Dancing Mermaid, for some food and drink. They had a pretty excellent fish pie, and a really nice light ale which I was enjoying until a handful of thugs tromped in and started causing a scene. I hadn’t noticed previously, but these thugs all had a red feather on their shoulders, same as the ones I’d fought in the alley.
“Oy, Inkeeper!” their apparent leader shouted, “ ‘Ave you rethought your position vice-a-vis our proposed insurance plan? I’d ‘ate for something to happen to this place. Fire, burglars, even vandals might come in, and where’d you be without us an’ our fine company? Eh?” he said with his thick docklands accent while laughing, as the four other thugs with him loafed about looking menacing.
“I won’t allow this in my shop! We’re a decent establishment, and don’t want none of you lot in here. Get out!” the publican said. “Get out or I’ll call the guard.”
“See ‘ere innkeeper, you call the guard, there might be a ruckus, and who knows who’d be caught up in it, eh? Wouldn’t want your lovely daughter hurt now would we?” While the other customers looked on, thing were escalating quickly, from insinuated violence against the pub to violence against the owner’s daughter.
The pub owner, a middle aged dwarf with a beer belly, turned totally purple in rage at this, and reached below the bar, pulling out and quickly loading a crossbow.
“I spent four years in the army, out on the east end of Ivaldi fighting undead, you little shits. I was ranked “expert crossbowman”. You think I’ll miss your heads at this range? I see you again, I’ll be shitting in the hole I leave in your skull. Now fuck off, and tell your boss the next Bloodbird I see’ll be dead!”
“Alright, alright, no need to get angry, we were just passing a friendly message, eh?” the leader of the thugs said, looking nervous. “We’ll leave, alright? No problems.” With that, the thugs left, backing out with hands raised. As soon as they were out the door, the customer burst into cheers.
I went to see the owner and said: “You know they’ll be back, right?”
“What? I told them next time I’d…”
“You’d kill them, ya. But you see, a couple things. One, they’re gonna realize that as a crossbowman, you can get one, maybe two of them before they take you down. Two, the whole way a protection racket works is, everyone has to pay. If they let you get away with not paying, it’ll be a mass rebellion. No, they’ll be back. The only question is when, which depends on the people running the operation. You have any idea who that is?” The publican is looking rather worried now.
“No,” he says, “I don’t have a clue.”
“Shit. Well, they don’t seem to be too clever at any rate. I came across a trio of muggers last week, they weren’t much smarter than these guys. Which, considering they were morons, isn’t saying much. See, the thing is, if they’re dumb and angry, they’ll come tonight. They’ll see the challenge as something to crush immediately. If they’re a little smart and vicious, they’ll come tomorrow night, assuming either you’ll spend tonight waiting for them, then give up when they don’t come or be really tired the second night, or, if you don’t wait for them at all, then you won’t be ready; either way, they win. If they’re totally cold blooded, they’ll wait till the forth night; even if you’re prepared the first, second, third nights, by then you’ll assume they aren’t coming, so they can surprise you. Now, if they are scarily evil, they’ll wait a week, maybe 10 days, until the first of the others inspired by your example rebel too. Then, one night, before you can organize, they’ll move against all of you, taking out anyone who might rebel in the future.” By now he’s blanching and beginning to sweat, so I decide to try and calm him down a little by distracting him with some social niceties.
“My name’s Corbeau, by the way, apprentice Rune-Smith to Master Sindri. Nice to meet you,” I introduced myself.
“Ah, a Rune-Smith apprenticed to Sindri! Very impressive. I’m glad you’re kind enough to be interested in my troubles. My name’s Kabin. What do you think I should do?”
“Well. I don’t think they’re too smart; in fact, I’m willing to bet they’ll attack tonight. So, you have two options: One: Ambush them tonight, then try and hit their base before they can try again, or, Two: Grab one of them now, interrogate him, and go after the base immediately, trying to stay inside the decision cycle. I’m willing to help either way, and would advise option two.”
“Thank you so much! Let’s try that then.”
Quest Notice:
Your actions have begun a quest: Exterminating Birds, Difficulty D/E.
Quest: Exterminating Birds:
The Bloodbirds, a gang located in Ivaldi City, are making a nuisance of themselves. Protect Kabin by destroying the gang. It may be difficult to find their location.
Relationship with Kabin Improved.
“Alright,” I said, “let’s start planning how we can do this. First off, do you have any friends from your army days we can ask for help?”
“Sure, there are half a dozen guys from my squad are living in the neighborhood: three swordsmen, another crossbowman, a priest and an earth mage.”
“Okay, send your daughter to get three, and run and grab the other three yourself. I’ll wait here, if that’s alright. Meanwhile, Merlin, would you mind finding a couple likely looking sources of information?”
“Sure, now you need me. It’s never “Merlin, would you like some beer? Or how about a vacation?” Instead, it’s “Merlin, fly all over town looking for some smelly thugs.” Sure. Fine, be happy to” he grouched while flying off. I hid my grin until he left, then got back to eating the pie and drinking some juice. I’d need my strength for later.
About half an hour later everyone returned, and introduced themselves. The swordsmen turned out to be brothers with particularly unimaginative parents; they were named, oldest to youngest: Bazil, Chazil and Dazil. The only thing to tell them apart was that the oldest was slightly larger than the middle who was in turn larger than the youngest. The priest was Ajak, apparently a priest of a dwarven beer-god, while the mage was called Tsende or the Trencher, apparently for his ability to build trenches. I’m told it sounds more impressive in dwarvish, which is of course automatically translated to English for me. The second crossbowman, specializing in guerilla strikes and assassination, was called Teach, apparently since he’d been an elementary teacher and said that he wished he could teach his prior students the same way he did the undead. They varied in level between 47 (Dazzle) and 84 (Tsende), were all veterans of the unceasing undead wars in the East of the Island, and had their service issue chainmail and weapons, apparently in case they ever needed to be called up from the reserves. Tsende, by virtue of level and experience, was their squad corporal; apparently the sergeant lives in some small village away from the city. Still, if I could kill a pair of thugs when I was level one, we should, between us, be able to take care of business. I asked for a bottle of concentrated ink, and promised an explanation later. After explaining the mission to them: find a thug, capture and interrogate, locate base and kill the leadership, we all waited a couple minutes for Merlin to streak through the window and tell us where to go.
“Merlin, would you form an information overlay, please?” I asked.
“Sure. Follow the arrow to the enemy,” he replied while forming a visor to project a heads up display for me. We followed the directions for a dozen minutes before arriving at the destination: a dead-end alley with a trio of young Bloodbirds smoking, drinking and playing cards.
“Remember, we need one alive,” I said quietly. “Tsende, I want you to immobilize them; bury their legs in stone. Teach and Kabin, take the ones on the left and right respectively. Headshots, please. I’ll take the one in the middle. Ready? Take positions. On three. One. Two. Three.”
At the count, we rushed the Bloodbirds. With a roar of stone, the thugs were buried, unable to stand up. I ran down the center of the alley, ducking into a roll as Teach shouted “Down!” Crossbow bolts thudded into the heads of the left and right most thugs, while the one in the middle gaped.
“GET DOWN!” I screamed as one long, drawn-out word, activating the Kiai and slowing the survivor until I could tackle him. The other swordsmen piled on, and once we had him restrained I told the others “You’ve done a good job. Unfortunately, it isn’t over yet. We need to find out where to hit these guys, and that may get a little messy. And noisy. I wouldn’t want to expose you fine dwarves to such things; would you mind guarding the road leading to the alley?” Really, it’s that I didn’t want them to see what I was about to do. I still have nightmares about what happened in Nigeria when I was on a peace keeping mission with my Knights Corvi after the latest round of religious civil war. One of our men went missing while out fraternizing, and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting for intelligence. At least this time it would be adults, and computer characters rather than real teenagers looking to score some points with their local warlord.
The seven veterans, looking a little doubtful, left the alley and took up positions.
“Merlin, can you stop the air and especially any sound from leaving his mouth if necessary? I wouldn’t want to disturb our allies.”
“Of course, Corbeau.” As Merlin disengaged his display mode, the thug looked terrified. He understood that the only reason we’d need to gag him would be if he would be screaming.
Now, I spoke pretty nicely to the thug: “Alright lad, what’s your name?”
“Brick, sir, please don’t hurt me, I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear, honest!”“I’m sure you will Brick, I’m sure you will. And as long as you answer honestly, we won’t have any trouble. Just a nice conversation, then we’ll let you go on your way. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? So you can be nice and calm. Now, what city are we in, Brick?”
“No, not too bad guv. Ivaldi.”
“And what season is it.”
“Summer”
“You’re getting this, right Merlin? And running a baseline?”
“Sure, but I don’t know if it works with NPCs,” Merlin replied
“I think it does. I remember someone brought the topic up; whether players would see real tells when NPC’s lie. They’re meant to be based off of real human faces from court trials,” I said. “Alright then Brick, now, here’s a big one. Who’s your boss? The head honcho of the Bloodbirds?”
“I’m not sure what his name is, we just call him the Eagle. That’s all I know, honest.”
“He’s lying. Not about the Eagle, but about only knowing that,” Merlin told me.
“Oh Brick. Why’d you lie, mate? Do you not want to be alright? Fuck, I’m sorry for this I really am. Merlin, block is mouth.” I grabbed his hair to immobilize the head, then pinched his nose and started counting in my head. When I reached 50, he was looking pretty desperate and wide around the eyes, so I decided that’d be a good starting point and let go before slapping him a few times to get his attention on what I was saying.
“Alright Brick, that was 50 seconds without air. Every time you lie, that goes up ten seconds. Alright? It’s okay if you’re catching your breath. Nod if you understand. Good. You know that strangulation, lack of air, is one of the worst ways to go, right? You start convulsing as you get really low on air, and you’ll void yourself just before you die. You don’t want your body found like that, do you? No, didn’t think so. Now, what do you know about this Eagle?”
“Look, don’t fucking kill me, I’ll talk! Eagle, he’s some kind of low rank blood wizard, works for some necromancer called Serpentshead out east. He’s a fucking terror: tortured a Bloodbird who wanted to quit, go straight to be with a girl, to death. He killed the girl, too. Preserved their bodies and put them up next to each other in our headquarters. Please, guv, he can’t know I talked, alright?”
“Sure Brick sure. All you’ve got to do now is tell us where he is.”
“You’ll kill him, right? Promise you’ll kill him and I’ll tell you where he is.”
“Nah Brick, we’re killing his men and having this chat so we can sell him some cookies. Course we’re going to kill him. Now, before I lose my patience, where is he?”
“You got a map? I’ll mark it. It this abandoned warehouse right here. There’s a pair of guards outside the door, but no other traps or anything. We had them for a while, but Bloodbirds kept setting them off by accident.” <That’s some REAL amateur hour shit right there. Guards outside, but no second line of defense? Should be easy, so long as we take the wizard down hard and fast before he can get nasty.>
“Alright Brick, you’ve done a great job. Now, like I said, you can go on your way. Let me just cut this cord around your hands.” Moving behind him, I took my knife and cut his throat.
Level Up
He’d made his decision, broken the law and justice, and I couldn’t have him warning this Eagle, after all, could I? Plus, never go into battle with an untested weapon. I needed to know what this knife did. Judging from the smell of ozone and the lines of ice, I was guessing that Sindri’s Knife had extra freeze and shock effects, helping slow and stun the enemies while increasing damage. Nice. Taking a few golds from the corpses as well as a blackjack and their cards, I put the points into dexterity as I left the alley.
“Alright, guys, I’ve got the location,” I said. “Let’s head over and have a look.”
“The prisoner?” Ajak asked. <It’s always the priests who are all holier than thou>.
“Taken care of,” I replied.
“Good,” Ajak grinned. “Can’t stand these Bloodbird shits.” <Or not. This shit always gets my dander up>, I thought as we all trooped off to the abandoned warehouse a dozen city blocks away. When we arrived in the vicinity, we snuck up to the back of the warehouse across the street before sending Merlin up to make sure that there weren’t any unexpected surprises. He went in through a window and checked the interior too before coming back and projecting an image of the layout.
“OK,” he said, “pay attention. There are two guards outside, and it looks like they’ve been drinking. There are half a dozen thugs and gangsters inside, as well as four of their girls who may be enemies but may turn into hostages. Eagle is located in this room, and appears to be asleep.”
“Is there outside entry into Eagle’s room?” I asked.
“None,” said Merlin. “And while the rest of the base seems trap free, his room has three mundane and two magical traps that I could see. There may be more.”
“Tsende, could you take the whole building down? I’m just asking, in case it’s necessary.”
“Maybe, but it would probably take a while. I’d have to bring down at a bunch of supports, and don’t have great control when I can’t see what I’m spelling. I’d also prefer not to kill any innocents,” he replied.
“Alright. Hmm… Back entrance, maybe? We can have Kabin take out one of the guards from a distance. The other runs in and says they’re under attack. The mage checks, sees it’s just Kabin, Tsende, Ajak, Bazil and Chazil, so he’ll sortie with his troops thinking he has the advantage. Anyone left inside is a noncombatant. Meanwhile as they leave the building, Teach and I go in through the back and hit Eagle from behind, since he should be towards the rear of his men. How does that sound?” Once everyone agreed, Teach led me on a sneak around to the back of the warehouse.
Leadership +4
Small Unit Commander Added
Helps a player lead small units. +5 Leadership and +5% Leadership for the first 4 soldiers you are leading. Troops are 50% more likely to go along with your plans.
Sneak Skill Added
Helps a player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.
The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.
Level 1 effect: You are 5% harder to detect.
Once we were in position, we had Merlin fly over and start a 30 count before they hit the exterior guards. We could faintly hear a thrum as the crossbow fired, followed almost immediately by a crunch as it buried itself into the thug’s skull. The other guard began screaming for help and ran inside. Moments later Merlin flew out and turned into visor-projection mode in front of my eyes.
“Eagle woke up and is rushing to the front door. Take position by the back and enter in estimated 15 seconds,” he said. Teach and I moved up to the rear entrance, and Merlin gave a three count: “1, 2, 3.” On three, Teach and I kicked the door as hard as we could. As it crashed open, we ran past screeching gang-girls, and out the front door where we could see the squad fighting the thugs. Bazil, Chazil and Dazil had their square, legionnaire style shields up and were stopping the advance of four thugs armed with short swords. Two thugs were keeping Ajak and Kabin’s heads down by threatening them with crossbow rounds, while Tsende was furiously engaging Eagle in a magical standoff.
Teach brought the crossbow up to his shoulder and loosed a bolt at Eagle, but it was deflected by a magical shield and barely scratched him. Still, it split Eagle’s attention and distracted him long enough for one of Tsende’s magically propelled stones to get through, further weakening the shield. I sprinted forward, covering the dozen paces to Eagle in a couple seconds, while focusing on Eihwaz and slashing with my knife, trying to break through Eagle’s shield. The level difference was just too much though, and again the attack was deflected, though the shield was weakened. Snarling, Eagle flung up his arm at me, shouting an arcane blood-word. I leapt and rolled, dodging, but Teach, standing just behind me, flew backwards, slamming headfirst into the wall before falling, unconscious or dead. Reaching into my inventory bag, I took out the ink and poured it onto my hand. I pressed up against the shield, and focusing as strong as I could, finger-painted Eihwaz reversed on it. While Eihwaz works to strengthen, Eihwaz reversed weakens. Another of Tsende’s projectiles slammed into the shield, and finally broke through the shield, smashing into the back of Eagle’s head.
As he instinctively turned towards Tsende, I screamed “Ei-HWAZ!” activating Kiai at the same time and slamming the knife into Eagle’s kidney for a critical hit as he screamed. Ripping it out, I buried the knife into Eagle’s other kidney, again screaming “Ei-HWAZ!” I pulled the knife free one last time and, grabbing Eagle’s hair, yanked his head back, exposing his neck. I stabbed the knife in sideways, glancing of the spine, the slashed out, cutting Eagle’s windpipe and half the blood vessels in his neck. As his blood sprayed forwards, I saw the announcement:
You have killed Eagle.
Quest Notice: Exterminating Birds Quest Completed:
Speak to Kabin for your reward
Level Up
Level Up
Level Up
Level Up
Without Eagle to contend with, Tsende and I helped mop up the rest of the Bloodbirds in moments. Laughing and shaking with excess adrenaline as soon as the fight was over, we searched the bodies, not finding much. Going inside, one of the treasure chests was empty, taken by the girls most likely. In Eagle’s room we hit the jackpot, finding a book on blood-magic and blood-runes, which I took, as well as a decent chain mail hauberk which was only long enough to be a chain mail tunic for me, though I was sure I’d be able to make better after another week or two working with Sindri. I got a sword with a malevolent aura too, but couldn’t identify it. We also found a series of letters between Eagle and Serpentshead, describing some plan to raise an undead legion strengthened with blood-runes and launch an assault against the eastern border forts. According to the letters, the legion was meant to be raised in two months; the assault would begin during the start of winter in three months; snow is perfect weather for the undead. As soon as I read it, I received a new quest:
Quest Notice:
Your Actions have begun a quest, difficulty E.
Quest: Inform the Authorities about Serpentshead
Serpentshead is planning a devastating attack on the Eastern region of Ivaldi. Inform a city Elder so appropriate measures can be taken. Failure to inform an Elder may result in the destruction of Ivaldi.
<Well, looks like I’ll have to get Sindri out of the cathouse a little early. Honestly, that scares me more than going against Eagle… |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E12: Void Warrior",
"id": 224,
"next": 244,
"prev": 203,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
*Dokkun* <Heart Thumping>
<br>
<br>"No…", Gerhard touched the settling wall of rocks before him, the grey dirt trickling between his fingers, dust settling around his shoulders.
<br>
<br>*DOKKUN*
<br>
<br>"Max…", the whispered words left Gerhard's lips. Once more he was too late to save someone in front of him… one of his own family. A flood of memories pierced his mind as the images of what was done to his father, his mother, his sister, racing, winging, lacerating his psyche, shaking him to his core.
<br>
<br>*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*
<br>
<br>"Not again…", he crushed the dirt into his fist, spinning slowly to face the creature, the monster that had taken his grandson from him. All sensible thoughts that this was a game disappeared from his mind as his trauma was reawakened, and stoked, roaring into the very fibre of his being.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*DOKKUN*</span>…
<br>
<br>Something inside Gerhard rose, uglier than any creature he had ever faced in this virtual world, as it consumed him inside out, drowning him, suddenly forced to feel his decades…and losing the will to resist.
<br>
<br>*CREEEEEAK…..<span style="font-weight: bold;">CRACK</span>!*
<br>
<br>The sound of chains breaking reverberated inside his soul, casting the man that was Gerhard into pitch black darkness… and in his place stood a monster. A <span style="font-weight: bold;">REAL</span> monster.
<br>
<br>"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!", the Death Panda howled, perhaps in acknowledgment to a kindred spirit or perhaps to drown out its own fear. One thing it did know for a fact though… this man must be killed.
<br>
<br>Gerhard just stood there, watching its approaching charge with disinterest, the ground rumbling with each successive step it took towards him, his sword resting lifeless in his hand. Eric, noticing something was wrong, ran as hard as he could to intercept the creature, knowing he will never make it in time. He needn't bother though as a pair of Samurai leapt to the fore, katanas gliding through the air to slash at the forearms of the massive beast, their long hair shimmering gracefully around them. The Death Panda stumbled as its ligaments were severed, crashing face first until it slid just steps away from Gerhard.
<br>
<br>"What is that IDIOT doing?!", Lydia yelled in bafflement as Gerhard still hadn't moved an inch from his location.
<br>
<br>"Haaaa", one of the Samurai said knowingly to what looked like obviously her twin, "seems like the newbie is frozen in fear <span style="font-style: italic;">ne</span>, Masumi?"
<br>
<br>"Mayumi <span style="font-style: italic;">Nee-san</span><Sister>, should we help him?", the other Samurai said, as the creature rose slowly to its feet in front of Gerhard who was gazing impassively at it.
<br>
<br>"Maaa", resting the back of her katana on her shoulder, "he should experience death sometime in this game. We already tried helping", she shrugged nonchalantly.
<br>
<br>Eric however had other thoughts as he roared, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Kommandant!</span> <Commander!>", swinging his battle axe into the back of the creature's leg, causing the Death Panda to miss slightly with the thrusting paw strike towards Gerhard's face.
<br>
<br>A thin wound blossomed on Gerhard's right cheek, causing him for the first time to move, reaching up slowly with his hand to touch the red liquid dripping down his face. Bringing his bloodied fingertips to the front, he gazed at it curiously before licking it once, the taste of iron settling on his tongue. Seeming to have decided something for himself, Gerhard nodded once prior to lifting his head up, speaking to the creature as though it might understand him.
<br>
<br>"Blood for blood. A fair trade don't you think?", Gerhard said tonelessly. And exploded into violent motion.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>The sound of voices echoed across the vast expanse, a starless night sky hanging in the ceiling of this world as Gerhard woke up in confusion, the cawing of crows growing louder in the surrounding canopies of the trees. The blood red of dawn was rising in the distant horizon, an ill omen for the start of a day, Gerhard rising shakily to his feet and shivering despite himself, for some reason the surroundings looking achingly familiar. With a start Gerhard realised he was on the outskirts of Berlin, facing East… where he knew with increasing dread that the Russian Army had already engaged the beleaguered German <span style="font-style: italic;">Heer</span><Army> in multiple armoured penetrations all along the disintegrating frontlines and relentless fighting that was probably occurring in the streets behind him.
<br>
<br>Yet he knew without doubt why this section of the battlefront was quiet, as he turned a full circle, the burning wrecks of Russian battle tanks littering the wooded area coming into view, bodies of the dead Russian infantry lying bloodily splayed out and broken behind the ruined vehicles. The smell of blood, gunpowder and human guts ripped open finally assaulted Gerhard's senses as he gagged and fell to his knees, trying to vomit but all he could do was dry heave empty air.
<br>
<br>Struggling, Gerhard lifted his head as he heard the distinct crunching of boots on gravel, his gaze falling on the uniformed figure striding towards a group of Russian prisoners, all bound with hands behind their backs and kneeling dejectedly. They were guarded by grizzled German combat veterans, their uniforms in various states of disrepair in comparison to the pristine condition of the man's own, fast approaching with the self assurance of an infantry officer…a leader of men.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Major</span> <Major>", one of the German men, perhaps in his mid twenties, saluted smartly, "We sure showed <span style="font-style: italic;">Ivan</span> <the Russians> a thing or two about what NOT to do against an entrenched position", he chuckled.
<br>
<br>"That we did, Karl", the officer replied serenely, glancing at the prisoners like they were no more significant than insects, "that we did".
<br>
<br>"Shall I send them to the rear to be interrogated", to which Karl then whispered conspiratorially, "or release them like we usually do? It's not like we can feed them back in HQ… they will probably just get shot anyway".
<br>
<br>The officer returned his gaze to the soldier in front of him and shook his head slowly.
<br>
<br>"No, don't…", Gerhard whispered, trying to grab the shoulder of the officer, only to have his hand pass through harmlessly like an apparition, the talking figures unaware of Gerhard's existence.
<br>
<br>"Follow Hitler's orders", the officer in front of him said, shocking the soldier, one of the few old hands' left who survived <span style="font-style: italic;">Großdeutschland</span> destruction in Prussia. The soldier looked at him askance, as though not quite believing what he was hearing from a man he had served for half a decade.
<br>
<br>"Please..!", Gerhard called out desperately, "STOP!"
<br>
<br>"Kill them all"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-weight: bold;">DON'T GIVE THAT ORDER</span>!", Gerhard screamed… at the mirror image of himself, the crows taking flight into the air, their cries sounding like laughter.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/1DarkGerhard1_zps05abcfa0.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...abcfa0.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>The Gerhard of 1945 did an about turn and walked away, cries of "Nyeht! Nyeht! <No! No!>", coming from the prisoners as the German soldiers reluctantly raise their weapons at them.
<br>
<br>Gerhard sobbed as he knew what he was thinking at that time, over half a century ago… what to have for breakfast.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Max lifted his hands from his head, wondering why he wasn't logged out for being crushed to death, only becoming aware that he was surrounded by a gentle glow reminiscent of that time he first met…
<br>
<br>"Lorelei!", Max called out suddenly.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Hmmm?</span>", was the sleepy response.
<br>
<br>"Are you doing this?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">...doing what?</span>", Lorelei sounding baffled.
<br>
<br>"…never mind"
<br>
<br>Max began examining the walls around him in fascination, noting the odd peculiarity of the structure. He was basically enclosed in a perfect dome. Even the floor was a perfect circle, where the wall meets the dirt ground was joined seamlessly in an unnatural manner. At first Max thought the walls were glowing in an unbroken stream of light; however he noticed that the light itself was etched into the walls, seeming to pulse along veins of blue silver that stretched out and branched into one another, having no beginning and no end.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">… Max…ummm…s… since we are alone now…can I ask you something?</span>"
<br>
<br>"Hmmm?", he replied absentmindedly.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">… who is Jessica?...</span>"
<br>
<br>"Eh?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…WHO is JESSICA? Hmmm...?</span>"
<br>
<br>Sighing, "Jessica is not real", Max explained, "I made her up so that the twins wouldn’t be suspicious about you".
<br>
<br>"…ooooh…"
<br>
<br>"Yup yup", Max nodded his head happily, finally glad the misunderstanding was solved.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">….liar…</span>"
<br>
<br>"Eh?", and coincidentally a rock the size of a golf ball fell on his head…
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!</span>", which was eventually followed by a, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Humph!</span>"
<br>
<br>"Ehhhhhh", Max groaned exasperatedly, "W..Why do you think that?", as he rubbed the sore spot on his head that was for once, wasn't caused by Lorelei… well physically. Hell, you know what he means.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…you sure chased after her REALLY hard…</span>"
<br>
<br>"T..that's because-..", Unexpectedly, Max felt a shudder in his mind as Lorelei cried out.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Uuuuuuuuuuuu, it huuurts</span>", she whimpered.
<br>
<br>"W..what is it?", clutching his head with his hand, trying to withstand the throbbing pain.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…somebody is crying….crying so much…</span>"
<br>
<br>"Who is?", Max gritted his teeth.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Kyaaaaaaa! </span>", she screamed inside his mind, as though in agony.
<br>
<br>"Guhaa!", Max grunted at the force that was unleashed and rampaging in his own head, "L...Lorelei!! What is happening?!!!"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">THERE IS NOTHING! </span>", she wailed pitifully, "<span style="font-style: italic;">NOTHING THERE AT ALL!!!!</span>"
<br>
<br>Max fell to his knees as he clutched his head in pain, shouting, "CALM DOWN! LORELEI!", as he fell to his side, "Y..you're hurting me", he mumbled.
<br>
<br>And just as suddenly the pain stopped, Max wearily checking his HP… and was shocked to discover that he was right… he had lost some health points…
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">He is crying so much</span>", Lorelei continued to whimper quietly, "<span style="font-style: italic;">but there is nothing there at all</span>".
<br>
<br>Woozily, Max shook his head slowly as he asked, "Who is?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…an old man…</span>"
<br>
<br>He felt a shiver at those words, slow understanding dawning upon him.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">..he is breaking into pieces…Max.. </span>"
<br>
<br>As though revitalised, Max stood back up and flung his backpack into the ground in front of him, searching through it hurriedly, flinging unnecessary things aside until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing the wooden handle, Max pulled out his pickaxe, spinning around in a circle and trying to figure out his bearings.
<br>
<br>"Lorelei…"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…… </span>"
<br>
<br>"Lorelei!", Max called out urgently, "I need you!"
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Un</span>", she replied weakly, "<span style="font-style: italic;">what do you want me to do?</span>"
<br>
<br>Breathing slowly, Max requested, "Can you feel where this… man is?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">I..I can.. </span>"
<br>
<br>"Please try", he begged.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">B…but I am scared…</span>", she cried.
<br>
<br>"Shhh, it's ok", Max reassured her, "I am here with you right?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…Un…</span>", Max somehow feeling an imaginary nod from her.
<br>
<br>"Actually, it's more like you're living inside my head", he joked.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…uuuuu…you don't want me here?...It's Jessica isn't it?</span>"
<br>
<br>"Ehhhh?!! O…of course I do! I always wanted a beautiful girl beside me all the time!", feeling a drop of sweat slide down his forehead… although he would prefer that she wasn't inside a doll like a cursed item you find from a haunted dilapidated house… on a hill surrounded by a cemetery…that is constantly surrounded by fog….crap, he scared himself.
<br>
<br>"A-anyway!", he yelled out over loudly to squash the fears Max raised in himself, "Please do it..", he pleaded, "..for me"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">O…ok…</span>"
<br>
<br>"And", as though struck by divine intervention, "I will give you a gift later".
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…a gift?…</span>"
<br>
<br>"Something between close friends", he smiled, "a nickname".
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…is it something special...?</span>"
<br>
<br>"I have never given the twins or Jessica one", omitting the fact that he calls Mayumi 'demon' behind her back and since Jessica is fictional… whilst Masumi is Masumi.
<br>
<br>There was a moment of silence, as though Lorelei was thinking on it before she replied, "<span style="font-style: italic;">I..I will do IT!</span>", with an imperceptible note of happiness.
<br>
<br>"…uuu you're such a good girl", Max felt intense fulfilment…like a brother of course…, "if only Mayumi was like you".
<br>
<br>There was no reply, as though hushed and when the stillness grew into minutes, Max began to get worried… until he heard a weak answer from Lorelei.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">…turn to the right…</span>", she stated almost dreamily, "<span style="font-style: italic;">more…more…back a little</span>", Max doing as he is told as he adjusted his facing until she said, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Stop… this is the way to the mister</span>"
<br>
<br>"ALRIGHT!", lifting his pickaxe he brought it down with a resounding clang, chipping away with gusto as he sincerely thanked Lorelei, "GOOD WORK! Now leave the rest TO ME!"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Max…</span>", tiredly, Lorelei begged, "<span style="font-style: italic;">please, save him</span>"
<br>
<br>He redoubled his efforts, hammering away at the rock wall with his pickaxe, the force of the impact causing his arms to tremble in pain. 'You don’t have to tell me that', Max thought silently to himself, 'he is my grandfather after all'.
<br>
<br>Unnoticed by Max, the tip of his pickaxe glowed briefly on each reverse swing, as though urging him on…
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>It's… it's so strange how one's perception of somebody can be altered in a heartbeat, how just a single gesture or action can redefine a person, like the reforging of a ruined sword or weapon… the man known as Gerhard had perceptibly changed. And to Lydia eyes, when he finally regained the ability to move again… it was as though a dark blade was unsheathed. Seeping with malevolent cruelty.
<br>
<br>Without uttering a sound, Gerhard sprung forward and drew a swift overhead cut in the air, using the creature's own force to accelerate himself when it tried to swat him into the ground. Having blocked and deflected down the blow with his sword, he was spun upwards, landing on its forearm sideways after having carved his sword deep into its bone. Arterial blood was spraying upwards unto Gerhard's pants, the red liquid fountaining out in all directions as he stated in a monotone voice, "Hmm… still not enough".
<br>
<br>The monster roared in pain, and in reply, it swung its left arm towards him to which Gerhard just aimed the point of his sword from his side and casually absorbed the blow, his body becoming unnaturally limp before his hands tightened around the grip of his sword as he was being flung off his living platform. Gerhard flipped himself unto the swinging Death Panda's arm, using his sword as an anchor as the monster raged in futile protest at this human who seemed to be casually defying it.
<br>
<br>Even the twins let out gasps of astonishment at this total reckless way of fighting, where even a moment of misjudgement would spell catastrophic loss of HP or even death and yet… Gerhard walked along that line in perfect balance…as though embracing it. The walls continued to vibrate at this wild struggle, the roars slowly becoming cries of pain as Gerhard twisted his weapon deep into the creature's arm before pulling it out, crouching to race along the limb to finally kneel beside the monster's ear.
<br>
<br>"…It is unseemly to make a sound over that, don't you think?", he whispered, as though caressing the words into its ear.
<br>
<br>The sight of him talking calmly to the boss mob filled Lydia with a creeping sense of apprehension, that something was not quite right. The Gerhard she knew… the only man that she had spent a long time travelling with, was unbearably kind, sometimes naïve, but always filled with good intentions and understanding. Even towards his enemies. She…she did not know the man who is now, offhandedly stabbing his weapon into the Death Panda's ear after having spoken to it, his face unchanging, unreadable. There was no joy or elation there, no battle madness or a smirk of a tyrant…there was just nothing.
<br>
<br>"You really are a lost cause", as the beast yelped helplessly before Gerhard kicked it in the face, the blow shattering its nose as it reeled backwards in a lumbering manner.
<br>
<br>The boy William had just finally arrive and Lydia quickly covered his eyes with the hem of her robes, not knowing why she is doing it for a child, let alone an NPC one… but some things should never be seen by anyone. Eric though, felt he had stood on the sidelines long enough and hefted his weapon to rejoin the battle, bringing his axe in an arc to slam into the monster's knee. With vital bones shattering, ligaments torn beyond use, the Death Panda splayed forward, falling ungainly unto it forearms as it gave off a pitiful mewling sound, struggling to rise up defiantly and lashing out in all directions in futility. Using the least amount of movement, Gerhard shifted and swayed his body from side to side to avoid the blows, the strikes brushing by so close that only a master of the blade or someone insane would have ignored it as if it was insignificant. Striding towards the creature's head, he eventually presented himself before it, gazing with empty eyes at the now truly frightened fiend.
<br>
<br>"…it is time to collect…", he declared as though he was remarking on the weather… and proceeded to stab the monster in the eye with a machine like efficiency.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>There was only a light groan as the giant beast finally accepted its fate… but its suffering didn't end yet. Letting go of his weapon, Gerhard strode backwards a few steps before clenching his hand into a fist…and punched the bottom of the sword hilt, hammering the blade deeper into the boss mob's eye and drenching himself in the backsplash of blood.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>And he did it again.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>And again.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>And again.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>And again.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>Until it finally shuddered, for all intents and purposes, dead.
<br>
<br>There was a stunned silence from all the onlookers at the surreal sight, Lydia having long closed her eyes as she hugged the boy close to her chest, covering all his senses as they both huddled on the floor. She was shivering uncontrollably… this was only a game and yet the acts Lydia had witnessed today was more terrifying than any boss fight or castle siege in other MMORPGs she had played.
<br>
<br>But the moment was broken when the Samurai known as Mayumi swung her katana towards the back of Eric's head…. only to have it deflected into the ground, the crash of the impact causing a minor wound in the earth that raced in a straight path for several meters. The dirt was still settling when it revealed Gerhard, sword drawn and gazing at Mayumi steadily, unblinkingly.
<br>
<br>"What do you think you are doing to one of my subordinates?", he asked quizzically, pointing his blade towards her face.
<br>
<br>"Eeee? Didn't you know?", she smiled sweetly, "there is a bounty on his head", and turning to face Eric who was gazing back with a stony expression, "and we took a hefty commission to retrieve him".
<br>
<br>"Ahhh", Gerhard replied, understanding her words but… not really caring, "I do apologise, but I cannot allow anyone under my command to be lost needlessly".
<br>
<br>"And thus", Gerhard creaked his neck, "I shall accept his responsibility", assuming a relaxed stance in front of Mayumi.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Kommandant</span><Commander>, I… brought this upon myself for my past actions…"
<br>
<br>"Silence, <span style="font-style: italic;">Unterfeldwebel</span> <Sergeant>, do not disrupt our bout"
<br>
<br>"Sir, I can fight my own battles-…"
<br>
<br>"Eric", Gerhard said softly, interrupting him, "You just said I am your commander, right?
<br>
<br>"I did, but-…"
<br>
<br>"Then <span style="font-weight: bold;">OBEY</span> me", Gerhard commanded in a cold tone ringed with an undercurrent of power.
<br>
<br>"… <span style="font-style: italic;">Jawohl, Herr Kommandant!</span>" <As you willed, Commander!>, Eric stood to attention, words seeming to threaten to spill from his lips, but years of discipline made sure they were left unsaid.
<br>
<br>Mayumi just shrugged, "Well don't regret this, newbie", as she entered into a fighting stance, "Masumi….I don't need your help for this".
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Hai, nee-san</span><Yes, sister>", came the dutiful response.
<br>
<br>"Are you sure about that?"
<br>
<br>"Maaa maaa, its fine. This will be over soon anyway", she smiled, assured of victory.
<br>
<br>"….Then", he fixed his indifferent eyes upon her, as though seeing deep within and beyond, "don't ever regret the decisions you made"
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="color: #BF0040;">NEXT PREVIEW</span>
<br>
<br>Title: Familie <Family>
<br>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">I reached out my hands to them… but they are no longer here</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
</div> | *Dokkun* <Heart Thumping>
"No…", Gerhard touched the settling wall of rocks before him, the grey dirt trickling between his fingers, dust settling around his shoulders.
*DOKKUN*
"Max…", the whispered words left Gerhard's lips. Once more he was too late to save someone in front of him… one of his own family. A flood of memories pierced his mind as the images of what was done to his father, his mother, his sister, racing, winging, lacerating his psyche, shaking him to his core.
*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*DOKKUN*
"Not again…", he crushed the dirt into his fist, spinning slowly to face the creature, the monster that had taken his grandson from him. All sensible thoughts that this was a game disappeared from his mind as his trauma was reawakened, and stoked, roaring into the very fibre of his being.
*DOKKUN*…
Something inside Gerhard rose, uglier than any creature he had ever faced in this virtual world, as it consumed him inside out, drowning him, suddenly forced to feel his decades…and losing the will to resist.
*CREEEEEAK…..CRACK!*
The sound of chains breaking reverberated inside his soul, casting the man that was Gerhard into pitch black darkness… and in his place stood a monster. A REAL monster.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!", the Death Panda howled, perhaps in acknowledgment to a kindred spirit or perhaps to drown out its own fear. One thing it did know for a fact though… this man must be killed.
Gerhard just stood there, watching its approaching charge with disinterest, the ground rumbling with each successive step it took towards him, his sword resting lifeless in his hand. Eric, noticing something was wrong, ran as hard as he could to intercept the creature, knowing he will never make it in time. He needn't bother though as a pair of Samurai leapt to the fore, katanas gliding through the air to slash at the forearms of the massive beast, their long hair shimmering gracefully around them. The Death Panda stumbled as its ligaments were severed, crashing face first until it slid just steps away from Gerhard.
"What is that IDIOT doing?!", Lydia yelled in bafflement as Gerhard still hadn't moved an inch from his location.
"Haaaa", one of the Samurai said knowingly to what looked like obviously her twin, "seems like the newbie is frozen in fear ne, Masumi?"
"Mayumi Nee-san<Sister>, should we help him?", the other Samurai said, as the creature rose slowly to its feet in front of Gerhard who was gazing impassively at it.
"Maaa", resting the back of her katana on her shoulder, "he should experience death sometime in this game. We already tried helping", she shrugged nonchalantly.
Eric however had other thoughts as he roared, "Herr Kommandant! <Commander!>", swinging his battle axe into the back of the creature's leg, causing the Death Panda to miss slightly with the thrusting paw strike towards Gerhard's face.
A thin wound blossomed on Gerhard's right cheek, causing him for the first time to move, reaching up slowly with his hand to touch the red liquid dripping down his face. Bringing his bloodied fingertips to the front, he gazed at it curiously before licking it once, the taste of iron settling on his tongue. Seeming to have decided something for himself, Gerhard nodded once prior to lifting his head up, speaking to the creature as though it might understand him.
"Blood for blood. A fair trade don't you think?", Gerhard said tonelessly. And exploded into violent motion.
*********************************************************************************************
[INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
*********************************************************************************************
The sound of voices echoed across the vast expanse, a starless night sky hanging in the ceiling of this world as Gerhard woke up in confusion, the cawing of crows growing louder in the surrounding canopies of the trees. The blood red of dawn was rising in the distant horizon, an ill omen for the start of a day, Gerhard rising shakily to his feet and shivering despite himself, for some reason the surroundings looking achingly familiar. With a start Gerhard realised he was on the outskirts of Berlin, facing East… where he knew with increasing dread that the Russian Army had already engaged the beleaguered German Heer<Army> in multiple armoured penetrations all along the disintegrating frontlines and relentless fighting that was probably occurring in the streets behind him.
Yet he knew without doubt why this section of the battlefront was quiet, as he turned a full circle, the burning wrecks of Russian battle tanks littering the wooded area coming into view, bodies of the dead Russian infantry lying bloodily splayed out and broken behind the ruined vehicles. The smell of blood, gunpowder and human guts ripped open finally assaulted Gerhard's senses as he gagged and fell to his knees, trying to vomit but all he could do was dry heave empty air.
Struggling, Gerhard lifted his head as he heard the distinct crunching of boots on gravel, his gaze falling on the uniformed figure striding towards a group of Russian prisoners, all bound with hands behind their backs and kneeling dejectedly. They were guarded by grizzled German combat veterans, their uniforms in various states of disrepair in comparison to the pristine condition of the man's own, fast approaching with the self assurance of an infantry officer…a leader of men.
"Herr Major <Major>", one of the German men, perhaps in his mid twenties, saluted smartly, "We sure showed Ivan <the Russians> a thing or two about what NOT to do against an entrenched position", he chuckled.
"That we did, Karl", the officer replied serenely, glancing at the prisoners like they were no more significant than insects, "that we did".
"Shall I send them to the rear to be interrogated", to which Karl then whispered conspiratorially, "or release them like we usually do? It's not like we can feed them back in HQ… they will probably just get shot anyway".
The officer returned his gaze to the soldier in front of him and shook his head slowly.
"No, don't…", Gerhard whispered, trying to grab the shoulder of the officer, only to have his hand pass through harmlessly like an apparition, the talking figures unaware of Gerhard's existence.
"Follow Hitler's orders", the officer in front of him said, shocking the soldier, one of the few old hands' left who survived Großdeutschland destruction in Prussia. The soldier looked at him askance, as though not quite believing what he was hearing from a man he had served for half a decade.
"Please..!", Gerhard called out desperately, "STOP!"
"Kill them all"
"DON'T GIVE THAT ORDER!", Gerhard screamed… at the mirror image of himself, the crows taking flight into the air, their cries sounding like laughter.
The Gerhard of 1945 did an about turn and walked away, cries of "Nyeht! Nyeht! <No! No!>", coming from the prisoners as the German soldiers reluctantly raise their weapons at them.
Gerhard sobbed as he knew what he was thinking at that time, over half a century ago… what to have for breakfast.
*********************************************************************************************
Max lifted his hands from his head, wondering why he wasn't logged out for being crushed to death, only becoming aware that he was surrounded by a gentle glow reminiscent of that time he first met…
"Lorelei!", Max called out suddenly.
"Hmmm?", was the sleepy response.
"Are you doing this?"
"...doing what?", Lorelei sounding baffled.
"…never mind"
Max began examining the walls around him in fascination, noting the odd peculiarity of the structure. He was basically enclosed in a perfect dome. Even the floor was a perfect circle, where the wall meets the dirt ground was joined seamlessly in an unnatural manner. At first Max thought the walls were glowing in an unbroken stream of light; however he noticed that the light itself was etched into the walls, seeming to pulse along veins of blue silver that stretched out and branched into one another, having no beginning and no end.
"… Max…ummm…s… since we are alone now…can I ask you something?"
"Hmmm?", he replied absentmindedly.
"… who is Jessica?..."
"Eh?"
"…WHO is JESSICA? Hmmm...?"
Sighing, "Jessica is not real", Max explained, "I made her up so that the twins wouldn’t be suspicious about you".
"…ooooh…"
"Yup yup", Max nodded his head happily, finally glad the misunderstanding was solved.
"….liar…"
"Eh?", and coincidentally a rock the size of a golf ball fell on his head…
"Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!", which was eventually followed by a, "Humph!"
"Ehhhhhh", Max groaned exasperatedly, "W..Why do you think that?", as he rubbed the sore spot on his head that was for once, wasn't caused by Lorelei… well physically. Hell, you know what he means.
"…you sure chased after her REALLY hard…"
"T..that's because-..", Unexpectedly, Max felt a shudder in his mind as Lorelei cried out.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuu, it huuurts", she whimpered.
"W..what is it?", clutching his head with his hand, trying to withstand the throbbing pain.
"…somebody is crying….crying so much…"
"Who is?", Max gritted his teeth.
"Kyaaaaaaa! ", she screamed inside his mind, as though in agony.
"Guhaa!", Max grunted at the force that was unleashed and rampaging in his own head, "L...Lorelei!! What is happening?!!!"
"THERE IS NOTHING! ", she wailed pitifully, "NOTHING THERE AT ALL!!!!"
Max fell to his knees as he clutched his head in pain, shouting, "CALM DOWN! LORELEI!", as he fell to his side, "Y..you're hurting me", he mumbled.
And just as suddenly the pain stopped, Max wearily checking his HP… and was shocked to discover that he was right… he had lost some health points…
"He is crying so much", Lorelei continued to whimper quietly, "but there is nothing there at all".
Woozily, Max shook his head slowly as he asked, "Who is?"
"…an old man…"
He felt a shiver at those words, slow understanding dawning upon him.
"..he is breaking into pieces…Max.. "
As though revitalised, Max stood back up and flung his backpack into the ground in front of him, searching through it hurriedly, flinging unnecessary things aside until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing the wooden handle, Max pulled out his pickaxe, spinning around in a circle and trying to figure out his bearings.
"Lorelei…"
"…… "
"Lorelei!", Max called out urgently, "I need you!"
"Un", she replied weakly, "what do you want me to do?"
Breathing slowly, Max requested, "Can you feel where this… man is?"
"I..I can.. "
"Please try", he begged.
"B…but I am scared…", she cried.
"Shhh, it's ok", Max reassured her, "I am here with you right?"
"…Un…", Max somehow feeling an imaginary nod from her.
"Actually, it's more like you're living inside my head", he joked.
"…uuuuu…you don't want me here?...It's Jessica isn't it?"
"Ehhhh?!! O…of course I do! I always wanted a beautiful girl beside me all the time!", feeling a drop of sweat slide down his forehead… although he would prefer that she wasn't inside a doll like a cursed item you find from a haunted dilapidated house… on a hill surrounded by a cemetery…that is constantly surrounded by fog….crap, he scared himself.
"A-anyway!", he yelled out over loudly to squash the fears Max raised in himself, "Please do it..", he pleaded, "..for me"
"O…ok…"
"And", as though struck by divine intervention, "I will give you a gift later".
"…a gift?…"
"Something between close friends", he smiled, "a nickname".
"…is it something special...?"
"I have never given the twins or Jessica one", omitting the fact that he calls Mayumi 'demon' behind her back and since Jessica is fictional… whilst Masumi is Masumi.
There was a moment of silence, as though Lorelei was thinking on it before she replied, "I..I will do IT!", with an imperceptible note of happiness.
"…uuu you're such a good girl", Max felt intense fulfilment…like a brother of course…, "if only Mayumi was like you".
There was no reply, as though hushed and when the stillness grew into minutes, Max began to get worried… until he heard a weak answer from Lorelei.
"…turn to the right…", she stated almost dreamily, "more…more…back a little", Max doing as he is told as he adjusted his facing until she said, "Stop… this is the way to the mister"
"ALRIGHT!", lifting his pickaxe he brought it down with a resounding clang, chipping away with gusto as he sincerely thanked Lorelei, "GOOD WORK! Now leave the rest TO ME!"
"Max…", tiredly, Lorelei begged, "please, save him"
He redoubled his efforts, hammering away at the rock wall with his pickaxe, the force of the impact causing his arms to tremble in pain. 'You don’t have to tell me that', Max thought silently to himself, 'he is my grandfather after all'.
Unnoticed by Max, the tip of his pickaxe glowed briefly on each reverse swing, as though urging him on…
*********************************************************************************************
It's… it's so strange how one's perception of somebody can be altered in a heartbeat, how just a single gesture or action can redefine a person, like the reforging of a ruined sword or weapon… the man known as Gerhard had perceptibly changed. And to Lydia eyes, when he finally regained the ability to move again… it was as though a dark blade was unsheathed. Seeping with malevolent cruelty.
Without uttering a sound, Gerhard sprung forward and drew a swift overhead cut in the air, using the creature's own force to accelerate himself when it tried to swat him into the ground. Having blocked and deflected down the blow with his sword, he was spun upwards, landing on its forearm sideways after having carved his sword deep into its bone. Arterial blood was spraying upwards unto Gerhard's pants, the red liquid fountaining out in all directions as he stated in a monotone voice, "Hmm… still not enough".
The monster roared in pain, and in reply, it swung its left arm towards him to which Gerhard just aimed the point of his sword from his side and casually absorbed the blow, his body becoming unnaturally limp before his hands tightened around the grip of his sword as he was being flung off his living platform. Gerhard flipped himself unto the swinging Death Panda's arm, using his sword as an anchor as the monster raged in futile protest at this human who seemed to be casually defying it.
Even the twins let out gasps of astonishment at this total reckless way of fighting, where even a moment of misjudgement would spell catastrophic loss of HP or even death and yet… Gerhard walked along that line in perfect balance…as though embracing it. The walls continued to vibrate at this wild struggle, the roars slowly becoming cries of pain as Gerhard twisted his weapon deep into the creature's arm before pulling it out, crouching to race along the limb to finally kneel beside the monster's ear.
"…It is unseemly to make a sound over that, don't you think?", he whispered, as though caressing the words into its ear.
The sight of him talking calmly to the boss mob filled Lydia with a creeping sense of apprehension, that something was not quite right. The Gerhard she knew… the only man that she had spent a long time travelling with, was unbearably kind, sometimes naïve, but always filled with good intentions and understanding. Even towards his enemies. She…she did not know the man who is now, offhandedly stabbing his weapon into the Death Panda's ear after having spoken to it, his face unchanging, unreadable. There was no joy or elation there, no battle madness or a smirk of a tyrant…there was just nothing.
"You really are a lost cause", as the beast yelped helplessly before Gerhard kicked it in the face, the blow shattering its nose as it reeled backwards in a lumbering manner.
The boy William had just finally arrive and Lydia quickly covered his eyes with the hem of her robes, not knowing why she is doing it for a child, let alone an NPC one… but some things should never be seen by anyone. Eric though, felt he had stood on the sidelines long enough and hefted his weapon to rejoin the battle, bringing his axe in an arc to slam into the monster's knee. With vital bones shattering, ligaments torn beyond use, the Death Panda splayed forward, falling ungainly unto it forearms as it gave off a pitiful mewling sound, struggling to rise up defiantly and lashing out in all directions in futility. Using the least amount of movement, Gerhard shifted and swayed his body from side to side to avoid the blows, the strikes brushing by so close that only a master of the blade or someone insane would have ignored it as if it was insignificant. Striding towards the creature's head, he eventually presented himself before it, gazing with empty eyes at the now truly frightened fiend.
"…it is time to collect…", he declared as though he was remarking on the weather… and proceeded to stab the monster in the eye with a machine like efficiency.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
There was only a light groan as the giant beast finally accepted its fate… but its suffering didn't end yet. Letting go of his weapon, Gerhard strode backwards a few steps before clenching his hand into a fist…and punched the bottom of the sword hilt, hammering the blade deeper into the boss mob's eye and drenching himself in the backsplash of blood.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
And he did it again.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
And again.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
And again.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
And again.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
Until it finally shuddered, for all intents and purposes, dead.
There was a stunned silence from all the onlookers at the surreal sight, Lydia having long closed her eyes as she hugged the boy close to her chest, covering all his senses as they both huddled on the floor. She was shivering uncontrollably… this was only a game and yet the acts Lydia had witnessed today was more terrifying than any boss fight or castle siege in other MMORPGs she had played.
But the moment was broken when the Samurai known as Mayumi swung her katana towards the back of Eric's head…. only to have it deflected into the ground, the crash of the impact causing a minor wound in the earth that raced in a straight path for several meters. The dirt was still settling when it revealed Gerhard, sword drawn and gazing at Mayumi steadily, unblinkingly.
"What do you think you are doing to one of my subordinates?", he asked quizzically, pointing his blade towards her face.
"Eeee? Didn't you know?", she smiled sweetly, "there is a bounty on his head", and turning to face Eric who was gazing back with a stony expression, "and we took a hefty commission to retrieve him".
"Ahhh", Gerhard replied, understanding her words but… not really caring, "I do apologise, but I cannot allow anyone under my command to be lost needlessly".
"And thus", Gerhard creaked his neck, "I shall accept his responsibility", assuming a relaxed stance in front of Mayumi.
"Herr Kommandant<Commander>, I… brought this upon myself for my past actions…"
"Silence, Unterfeldwebel <Sergeant>, do not disrupt our bout"
"Sir, I can fight my own battles-…"
"Eric", Gerhard said softly, interrupting him, "You just said I am your commander, right?
"I did, but-…"
"Then OBEY me", Gerhard commanded in a cold tone ringed with an undercurrent of power.
"… Jawohl, Herr Kommandant!" <As you willed, Commander!>, Eric stood to attention, words seeming to threaten to spill from his lips, but years of discipline made sure they were left unsaid.
Mayumi just shrugged, "Well don't regret this, newbie", as she entered into a fighting stance, "Masumi….I don't need your help for this".
"Hai, nee-san<Yes, sister>", came the dutiful response.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Maaa maaa, its fine. This will be over soon anyway", she smiled, assured of victory.
"….Then", he fixed his indifferent eyes upon her, as though seeing deep within and beyond, "don't ever regret the decisions you made"
*********************************************************************************************
| NEXT PREVIEW Title: Familie <Family> I reached out my hands to them… but they are no longer here | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Character Stat after Chapter 12",
"id": 52,
"next": null,
"prev": 51,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Stat Window<br><br>Avatar: Jon Type: Dark<br>Level: 15 Class: Blood Mage<br>Title: Leader of the Pack<br>+10 Charisma<br>Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.<br>Life: 1066 (+500) Fame: -522 Mana: 530(+250)<br>Strength: 98(+5) Dexterity: 97 Vitality: 61<br>Wisdom: 48 Intelligence: 74 Focus: 13<br>Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0<br>Offence: 9 Defense: 10<br>Resistance to Magic:<br>Air: 1%<br>Cold: 6%<br>Earth: 1%<br>Fire: 3%<br>Holy: 1%<br>Lightning: 1%<br>Affinity to Elements:<br>Air: 1%<br>Ice: 6%<br>Earth: 1%<br>Fire: 3%<br>Holy: 1%<br>Lightning: 1% <br><br>Skill Window<br><br>Masteries:<br>Alchemy Mastery Level 3<br>Archery Mastery Level 3<br> Cooking Mastery Level 5<br>Knife Mastery Level 3<br>Magic Mastery Level 5<br>Sneak Mastery Level 3<br>Sword Mastery Level 1<br><br>Passive Skills:<br>Control Magic Level 3<br>Magic Capacity Level 3<br>Meditation Level 3<br>Owl's Instinct Level 2<br><br>Active Skills:Power Shot Level 2<br>Repair Level 1<br>Sharpening Level 3<br>Silent Strike Level 4<br>Speed Stab Level 3<br><br>Spell Window: <br>Burning Touch Level 1<br>Chilling Grasp Level 1<br>Cone of Frost Level 1<br>Heal Level 2<br>Healing Rain Level 1<br>Ice Dart Level 1<br>Sprout Level 1<br>Static Hand Level 1<br><br><br><br>Mastery<br><br>Archery Mastery<br>Archery mastery affect the ability to use short bows, long bows and crossbow with efficiency.<br>The higher the mastery the better the accuracy of the shoots are.<br>The archery mastery also affects shooting speed and attack power.<br>Level 1 Bonus:<br>Accuracy increased by 5%<br>Attack speed increased by 5%<br>Level 2 Bonus:<br>Accuracy increased by 10%<br>Attack speed increased by 5%<br>Level 3 Bonus:<br>Accuracy increased by 10%<br>Attack speed increased by 10%<br><br>Blood Magic Mastery<br>This skill governs your control over magic cast with vitality instead of magic.<br>Blood magic is stronger than simple magic but using it comes with many risks.<br>Higher mastery will reduce the pain that comes with the use of ones health. It will also increase the power of your blood magic and help you with controlling your spells.<br>Level 1: Blood magic is 20% more powerful.<br><br>Knife/Dagger Mastery<br>Increases efficiency of handling knives and daggers.<br>When using a knife or a dagger, depending on your level of mastery, the following bonuses will be applied:<br>Attack Speed: +5%<br>Attack Power: +5%<br>Level 2: Attack Speed +8%<br>Attack Power +5%<br>Level 3: Attack Speed 10%<br>Attack Power +5%<br><br>Magic Mastery<br>The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power.<br>The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is.<br>The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells.<br>Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.<br>Level 5 effects: Can cast beginner level spells.<br>Casting speed increased by 10%<br><br>Sneak Mastery<br>Helps the player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.<br>The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.<br>Level 3 effect: You are 10% harder to see.<br>You make 5% less noise when moving.<br><br>Sword Mastery<br>Sword master affect your ability to use swords efficiently.<br>The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.<br>Level 1: Attack Power +5%<br>Attack Speed +5%<br><br><br><br><br><br>Skills<br><br>Control Magic Passive Skill<br>A passive skill that heightens your control over the spells you cast. Good magic control can prevent area of effect spells (AoE) from hitting your allies while buff and de-buff spells can be applied on many targets at once.<br>Even the most basic of magic can be used in a verity of ways when you have enough control over it.<br>Lvl: 3<br><br>Drain Life Skill<br>Just like a mage can increase his mana flow and learn how to gather mana from his surroundings, the blood mage can collect life force from living beings.<br>As long as the blood mage has living things around him he can toy with the aspect of immortality. Taking the life force of others into himself, the blood mage will be healed from even the most grave of injuries and illnesses.<br>Level 1: Heal 1 Hp for every 50Hp drained<br>Drain 25 Hp a second. <br>Magic Capacity Passive Skill<br>This skill lowers the backlash of misfiring spells and reduces the damage taken when casting spells that require higher magic mastery than you have.<br>Magic capacity also guards from the damage taken when casting spells that need more Mp than you currently have.<br>Lvl: 3<br><br>Meditation Skill<br>By maintaining correct breathing and mental focus for long periods the mage can force his body to become more compatible with the arcane powers.<br>During this state of awareness the mage's mana points return at an accelerated rate.<br>One of the many side effects of this passive state is increased mana.<br>Level 1: +5 Mp every level up.<br>Affect while active: 1Mp every second.<br>Level 2: +10 Mp every level up.<br>Affect while active: 2Mp every second.<br>Level 3: +15 Mp every level up.<br>Affect while active: 3Mp every second.<br><br>Owl's Instincts Skill<br>The owl, the shadow of the night. It hunt's under the moonlight managing to catch and kill pray with easy even in the darkest of nights.<br>With instincts so honed he manages to REPLACE his talons into his targets vital spots at amazing speed and with incredible precision even under the most difficult conditions.<br>Users of bows have strived to achieve their astounding feats throughout the ages.<br>Level 1: Critical Hit Chance +5%<br><br>Power Shot Skill<br>By temporarily surrounding the bow with mana, the longbow man can draw the arrow farther than the bows maximum breaking point.<br>This allows the longbow man to fire an arrow that deals more damage and has a higher chance of penetrating the target.<br>Level 1: Maximum firing distance 30m<br>Attack power increased by 10%<br>Cost: 20 MP<br><br>Repair Skill Applying this skill on a piece of equipment will return it to its maximum durability.<br>Low level skill will need more than one time to restore all durability while a high level of this skill can increase the durability over the maximum amount, thus strengthening the equipment.<br>Notice: Can only be applied on metal.<br><br>Sharpening Skill<br>By the use of a grinding stone, wet stone, sharpening belt and a variety of other tools, you can return the edge of a weapon back to its original sharpness.<br>With good knowledge of sharpening, a weapon can even exceed its original attack power.<br>WARNING: Sharpening may result in durability loss.<br><br>Silent Strike Skill<br>This skill can only be used if the target is unaware of you presence.<br>It will deliver a fast and silent blow to your target.<br>The skill works with weapons, magic and hand to hand combat.<br>Level 1: Deal 10% more damage.<br>Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.<br>Cost: 50 Mp<br>Level 2: Deal 13% more damage.<br>Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.<br>Cost: 45 Mp<br>Level 3: Deal 15% more damage.<br>Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.<br>Cost: 45 Mp<br>Level 4: Deal 15% more damage.<br>Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.<br>Critical damage increased by 5%.Cost: 45 Mp<br><br>Soul Trap Skill<br>A dangerous consequence of using the "Drain Life" skill without care is this evil result.<br>When the player uses this skill with full Hp the drained life force doesn't have anywhere to go so it just lingers around the player.<br>If such a user continues to drain the target's life until the target dies, the lingering life force that doesn't know where to go will keep the soul of the dead target behind so that it has a place to stay. The soul of the dead player can then be used by the player for powering up his own skills and spells.<br>The soul can be placed in an appropriate container for future use. There are many such containers but precious gemstones are the most common, with a higher grade of gem stone being able to hold more than one soul.<br>When the soul is used for such an action it will be consumed and will no longer be part of the circle of life, never able to reincarnate.<br>Warning: Excessive soul trapping can anger the gods for messing with the circle of life.<br>Level 1: Can trap souls of level five and lower.<br><br>Speed Stab Skill<br>The skill allows you to perform a stabbing motion with your weapon of choice, with a speed that far accedes your normal abilities.<br>The motion is so fast; it allows you to perform multiple stabs in the time it would have taken you to make one.<br>Level 1: Number of stabs: 2<br>Mp cost: 20<br>Level 2: Number of stabs: 2<br>Attack power +5%<br>Mp Cost: 20<br><br><br><br><br>Affinity<br><br>Air Affinity<br>Knowing that air is not an empty vacuum but is made out of countless atoms, particles and even living beings, the mage can use his mana to manipulate the air around him to his needs.<br>Magic of this affinity is the hardest to control as air depending on where you are standing however spells of this affinity are consume the least amount of Mp put of all spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>Earth Affinity<br>Specializing in large scale spells, the practitioners of earth magic can summon the force of nature itself and transform the face of the planets surface.<br>By sending mana down into the ground and using the earth itself as a conductor, earth spells do not suffer a distance penalty like other spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>Fire Affinity<br>Manipulating your magic power you can now forcefully create friction between atoms to create a small spark.<br>Feeding the spark your mana, you are able to start a flame anywhere and everywhere.<br>Better affinity with the fire elements allows you to create bigger and hotter flames with less mana consumption.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>Holy Affinity<br>You have learned to channel holy power through your body and to your spells.<br>Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of holy spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>Ice Affinity<br>You have learned to channel the ice element through your body and to your spells.<br>Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of ice spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>Lighting Affinity<br>Tapping into the natural reserves of electricity in the atmosphere you can use your magic to channel it through your body.<br>Lightening spells deal the most damage and cost almost nothing to cast.<br>However, the lighting element is amongst the hardest elements to control, and is highly unstable.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br><br>Spells<br><br>"Burning Touch" Spell<br>With the use of mana you can create a small flame and spread it around your palm. While the spell is active the mana channels the fire affinity and protects your skin from harm while at the same time raising the temperature of the fire until the palm of your hand glows in an almost white light from the intense heat.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br>"Cone of Frost" Spell<br>By channeling the ice element through your body, you are able to quickly collect the surrounding moisture surrounding you, and expel in a chosen direction as frozen mist.<br>Projected in the shape of a cone, the mist slows down your opponents and pushes them away from you.<br>The small, sharp ice particles damage your opponent's health and have a small chance of completely freezing the target.<br>Level 1: Freeze Chance - 2%<br>Cone Angle: 15 degrees<br>Cost: 5 MP every second<br>Lecel 2: Freeze Chance - 4%<br>Cone Angle: 20 degrees<br>Cost: 5 MP every second<br><br>"Chilling Grasp" Spell<br>While the spell is active the temperature around your hand lowers drastically, creating liquid dioxide which is then spread around your hand like a glove.<br>Your skin is protected from the freezing cold but anything touched by the liquid will freeze.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br>"Healing Rain" Spell<br>An area of effect spell that conjures rain clouds out of thin air.<br>The clouds than condense holy power into liquid form that drops to the ground as rain.<br>Anyone touched by the drops will have its Hp restored.<br>While each drop by itself has very little healing power, sustaining the clouds for even a small period of time can completely heal hundreds of targets completely.<br>Level 1: AoE size – 15m radius.<br>Restore rate: 1Hp per drop.<br><br>"Heal" Spell<br>By channeling the holy element through your magic you can apply your mana to heal yourself and others.<br>For the spell to take affect you must touch the target directly.<br>Level 2: Amount of health points healed becomes higher.<br>.<br><br>"Ice Dart" Spell<br>Controlling the ice element with your mana, you are able to freeze the water in the air.<br>By shaping the ice into the form of a large dart you are then able to propel the projectile forward using you magic power.<br>The dart flies in a straight line and upon impact causes freeze damage and turns the area of impact to ice.<br><br>"Sprout" Spell<br>With the use of mana, an earth mage who has knowledge of ice or water magic can force a plant or seed to grow at an accelerated rate.<br>Unless the mage knows everything there is about the plant, the adult plant will not be able to complete with an original both in size and offered effect.<br>Cost: 500 Mp<br><br>"Static Hand" Spell<br>The spell amplifies the electric signals in your body and directs their energy to your hand.<br>The mana stores the extra electricity around your hand and releases it upon touch.<br>Affects: 3% chance to stun your opponent.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br><br>Buffs<br><br>"Back Wind"<br>By manipulating the air around you force it to turn into a gust of wind that continuously hits you in the back and pushes you forward.<br>Affects: Movement Speed Rises By 5%<br>Duration: 10 Minutes<br>Cost: 150 Mp<br><br>"Swift"<br>While the buff is active unnecessary movement are reduced and every action you perform becomes cleaner and more optimal.<br>Cost: 50 Mp<br>Effect: Speed Increases by 5%<br>Duration: 2 Minutes<br><br><br><br>Achievments<br><br>Going Up<br>You've earned this achievement for climbing a 100 meter tree.<br>Bonus: +5 Strength<br><br>Five Out Of Five<br>You've earned this achievement for acquiring all five element affinities available to beginner mages.<br>This had to be completed before magic mastery skill rose to level six for the achievement to count.<br>Bonus: +100 Mana<br><br>Achievements Earned: 2/76847<br><br>Quest Window<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">In Progress:</span><br>Helping the Bookkeeper<br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Completed:</span><br>Family Matters<br>Frozen Vegetables
</div> | Stat Window
Avatar: Jon Type: Dark
Level: 15 Class: Blood Mage
Title: Leader of the Pack
+10 Charisma
Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.
Life: 1066 (+500) Fame: -522 Mana: 530(+250)
Strength: 98(+5) Dexterity: 97 Vitality: 61
Wisdom: 48 Intelligence: 74 Focus: 13
Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0
Offence: 9 Defense: 10
Resistance to Magic:
Air: 1%
Cold: 6%
Earth: 1%
Fire: 3%
Holy: 1%
Lightning: 1%
Affinity to Elements:
Air: 1%
Ice: 6%
Earth: 1%
Fire: 3%
Holy: 1%
Lightning: 1%
Skill Window
Masteries:
Alchemy Mastery Level 3
Archery Mastery Level 3
Cooking Mastery Level 5
Knife Mastery Level 3
Magic Mastery Level 5
Sneak Mastery Level 3
Sword Mastery Level 1
Passive Skills:
Control Magic Level 3
Magic Capacity Level 3
Meditation Level 3
Owl's Instinct Level 2
Active Skills:Power Shot Level 2
Repair Level 1
Sharpening Level 3
Silent Strike Level 4
Speed Stab Level 3
Spell Window:
Burning Touch Level 1
Chilling Grasp Level 1
Cone of Frost Level 1
Heal Level 2
Healing Rain Level 1
Ice Dart Level 1
Sprout Level 1
Static Hand Level 1
Mastery
Archery Mastery
Archery mastery affect the ability to use short bows, long bows and crossbow with efficiency.
The higher the mastery the better the accuracy of the shoots are.
The archery mastery also affects shooting speed and attack power.
Level 1 Bonus:
Accuracy increased by 5%
Attack speed increased by 5%
Level 2 Bonus:
Accuracy increased by 10%
Attack speed increased by 5%
Level 3 Bonus:
Accuracy increased by 10%
Attack speed increased by 10%
Blood Magic Mastery
This skill governs your control over magic cast with vitality instead of magic.
Blood magic is stronger than simple magic but using it comes with many risks.
Higher mastery will reduce the pain that comes with the use of ones health. It will also increase the power of your blood magic and help you with controlling your spells.
Level 1: Blood magic is 20% more powerful.
Knife/Dagger Mastery
Increases efficiency of handling knives and daggers.
When using a knife or a dagger, depending on your level of mastery, the following bonuses will be applied:
Attack Speed: +5%
Attack Power: +5%
Level 2: Attack Speed +8%
Attack Power +5%
Level 3: Attack Speed 10%
Attack Power +5%
Magic Mastery
The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power.
The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is.
The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells.
Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.
Level 5 effects: Can cast beginner level spells.
Casting speed increased by 10%
Sneak Mastery
Helps the player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.
The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.
Level 3 effect: You are 10% harder to see.
You make 5% less noise when moving.
Sword Mastery
Sword master affect your ability to use swords efficiently.
The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.
Level 1: Attack Power +5%
Attack Speed +5%
Skills
Control Magic Passive Skill
A passive skill that heightens your control over the spells you cast. Good magic control can prevent area of effect spells (AoE) from hitting your allies while buff and de-buff spells can be applied on many targets at once.
Even the most basic of magic can be used in a verity of ways when you have enough control over it.
Lvl: 3
Drain Life Skill
Just like a mage can increase his mana flow and learn how to gather mana from his surroundings, the blood mage can collect life force from living beings.
As long as the blood mage has living things around him he can toy with the aspect of immortality. Taking the life force of others into himself, the blood mage will be healed from even the most grave of injuries and illnesses.
Level 1: Heal 1 Hp for every 50Hp drained
Drain 25 Hp a second.
Magic Capacity Passive Skill
This skill lowers the backlash of misfiring spells and reduces the damage taken when casting spells that require higher magic mastery than you have.
Magic capacity also guards from the damage taken when casting spells that need more Mp than you currently have.
Lvl: 3
Meditation Skill
By maintaining correct breathing and mental focus for long periods the mage can force his body to become more compatible with the arcane powers.
During this state of awareness the mage's mana points return at an accelerated rate.
One of the many side effects of this passive state is increased mana.
Level 1: +5 Mp every level up.
Affect while active: 1Mp every second.
Level 2: +10 Mp every level up.
Affect while active: 2Mp every second.
Level 3: +15 Mp every level up.
Affect while active: 3Mp every second.
Owl's Instincts Skill
The owl, the shadow of the night. It hunt's under the moonlight managing to catch and kill pray with easy even in the darkest of nights.
With instincts so honed he manages to REPLACE his talons into his targets vital spots at amazing speed and with incredible precision even under the most difficult conditions.
Users of bows have strived to achieve their astounding feats throughout the ages.
Level 1: Critical Hit Chance +5%
Power Shot Skill
By temporarily surrounding the bow with mana, the longbow man can draw the arrow farther than the bows maximum breaking point.
This allows the longbow man to fire an arrow that deals more damage and has a higher chance of penetrating the target.
Level 1: Maximum firing distance 30m
Attack power increased by 10%
Cost: 20 MP
Repair Skill Applying this skill on a piece of equipment will return it to its maximum durability.
Low level skill will need more than one time to restore all durability while a high level of this skill can increase the durability over the maximum amount, thus strengthening the equipment.
Notice: Can only be applied on metal.
Sharpening Skill
By the use of a grinding stone, wet stone, sharpening belt and a variety of other tools, you can return the edge of a weapon back to its original sharpness.
With good knowledge of sharpening, a weapon can even exceed its original attack power.
WARNING: Sharpening may result in durability loss.
Silent Strike Skill
This skill can only be used if the target is unaware of you presence.
It will deliver a fast and silent blow to your target.
The skill works with weapons, magic and hand to hand combat.
Level 1: Deal 10% more damage.
Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.
Cost: 50 Mp
Level 2: Deal 13% more damage.
Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.
Cost: 45 Mp
Level 3: Deal 15% more damage.
Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.
Cost: 45 Mp
Level 4: Deal 15% more damage.
Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.
Critical damage increased by 5%.Cost: 45 Mp
Soul Trap Skill
A dangerous consequence of using the "Drain Life" skill without care is this evil result.
When the player uses this skill with full Hp the drained life force doesn't have anywhere to go so it just lingers around the player.
If such a user continues to drain the target's life until the target dies, the lingering life force that doesn't know where to go will keep the soul of the dead target behind so that it has a place to stay. The soul of the dead player can then be used by the player for powering up his own skills and spells.
The soul can be placed in an appropriate container for future use. There are many such containers but precious gemstones are the most common, with a higher grade of gem stone being able to hold more than one soul.
When the soul is used for such an action it will be consumed and will no longer be part of the circle of life, never able to reincarnate.
Warning: Excessive soul trapping can anger the gods for messing with the circle of life.
Level 1: Can trap souls of level five and lower.
Speed Stab Skill
The skill allows you to perform a stabbing motion with your weapon of choice, with a speed that far accedes your normal abilities.
The motion is so fast; it allows you to perform multiple stabs in the time it would have taken you to make one.
Level 1: Number of stabs: 2
Mp cost: 20
Level 2: Number of stabs: 2
Attack power +5%
Mp Cost: 20
Affinity
Air Affinity
Knowing that air is not an empty vacuum but is made out of countless atoms, particles and even living beings, the mage can use his mana to manipulate the air around him to his needs.
Magic of this affinity is the hardest to control as air depending on where you are standing however spells of this affinity are consume the least amount of Mp put of all spells.
Affinity: 1%
Earth Affinity
Specializing in large scale spells, the practitioners of earth magic can summon the force of nature itself and transform the face of the planets surface.
By sending mana down into the ground and using the earth itself as a conductor, earth spells do not suffer a distance penalty like other spells.
Affinity: 1%
Fire Affinity
Manipulating your magic power you can now forcefully create friction between atoms to create a small spark.
Feeding the spark your mana, you are able to start a flame anywhere and everywhere.
Better affinity with the fire elements allows you to create bigger and hotter flames with less mana consumption.
Affinity: 1%
Holy Affinity
You have learned to channel holy power through your body and to your spells.
Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of holy spells.
Affinity: 1%
Ice Affinity
You have learned to channel the ice element through your body and to your spells.
Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of ice spells.
Affinity: 1%
Lighting Affinity
Tapping into the natural reserves of electricity in the atmosphere you can use your magic to channel it through your body.
Lightening spells deal the most damage and cost almost nothing to cast.
However, the lighting element is amongst the hardest elements to control, and is highly unstable.
Affinity: 1%
Spells
"Burning Touch" Spell
With the use of mana you can create a small flame and spread it around your palm. While the spell is active the mana channels the fire affinity and protects your skin from harm while at the same time raising the temperature of the fire until the palm of your hand glows in an almost white light from the intense heat.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
"Cone of Frost" Spell
By channeling the ice element through your body, you are able to quickly collect the surrounding moisture surrounding you, and expel in a chosen direction as frozen mist.
Projected in the shape of a cone, the mist slows down your opponents and pushes them away from you.
The small, sharp ice particles damage your opponent's health and have a small chance of completely freezing the target.
Level 1: Freeze Chance - 2%
Cone Angle: 15 degrees
Cost: 5 MP every second
Lecel 2: Freeze Chance - 4%
Cone Angle: 20 degrees
Cost: 5 MP every second
"Chilling Grasp" Spell
While the spell is active the temperature around your hand lowers drastically, creating liquid dioxide which is then spread around your hand like a glove.
Your skin is protected from the freezing cold but anything touched by the liquid will freeze.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
"Healing Rain" Spell
An area of effect spell that conjures rain clouds out of thin air.
The clouds than condense holy power into liquid form that drops to the ground as rain.
Anyone touched by the drops will have its Hp restored.
While each drop by itself has very little healing power, sustaining the clouds for even a small period of time can completely heal hundreds of targets completely.
Level 1: AoE size – 15m radius.
Restore rate: 1Hp per drop.
"Heal" Spell
By channeling the holy element through your magic you can apply your mana to heal yourself and others.
For the spell to take affect you must touch the target directly.
Level 2: Amount of health points healed becomes higher.
.
"Ice Dart" Spell
Controlling the ice element with your mana, you are able to freeze the water in the air.
By shaping the ice into the form of a large dart you are then able to propel the projectile forward using you magic power.
The dart flies in a straight line and upon impact causes freeze damage and turns the area of impact to ice.
"Sprout" Spell
With the use of mana, an earth mage who has knowledge of ice or water magic can force a plant or seed to grow at an accelerated rate.
Unless the mage knows everything there is about the plant, the adult plant will not be able to complete with an original both in size and offered effect.
Cost: 500 Mp
"Static Hand" Spell
The spell amplifies the electric signals in your body and directs their energy to your hand.
The mana stores the extra electricity around your hand and releases it upon touch.
Affects: 3% chance to stun your opponent.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
Buffs
"Back Wind"
By manipulating the air around you force it to turn into a gust of wind that continuously hits you in the back and pushes you forward.
Affects: Movement Speed Rises By 5%
Duration: 10 Minutes
Cost: 150 Mp
"Swift"
While the buff is active unnecessary movement are reduced and every action you perform becomes cleaner and more optimal.
Cost: 50 Mp
Effect: Speed Increases by 5%
Duration: 2 Minutes
Achievments
Going Up
You've earned this achievement for climbing a 100 meter tree.
Bonus: +5 Strength
Five Out Of Five
You've earned this achievement for acquiring all five element affinities available to beginner mages.
This had to be completed before magic mastery skill rose to level six for the achievement to count.
Bonus: +100 Mana
Achievements Earned: 2/76847
Quest Window
In Progress:
Helping the Bookkeeper
Completed:
Family Matters
Frozen Vegetables |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 1: Chapter 5 - Weed?",
"id": 237,
"next": 238,
"prev": 236,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
- Welcome to Royal Road: Elementarem Vim. Please enter your purchase id. –<br><br>A young boy stood in a white room that stretched infinitely in all directions. Most VR game titles<br>had more user friendly activation interface. Usually to help the mind of players absorb the change in perceived environment, players typically began in a lobby where an attendant would offer them coffee/drinks/snacks and ask them questions linked with activation process. Elemtarem Vim did away with all of that. Most users who logged on thought this was another marketing gimmick to distinguish the game from other VR games. The truth was far more simpler, Unicorn programmers did not have the time to design the activation interface. 11 months was too little of time to design and develop a new game and given the ideas Lee Hyun had, most senior level programmers estimated at least 3-3.5 years of production time and another 6 months of beta testing.<br><br>Lee Hyun skipped the beta testing, for him it was race against time. His precious money was now locked in with Unicorn. He only made the programmers focus on the main aspects of the game and completely overlooked the other aspects. So while most players thought this was done to attract their attention, reality was the game was still under development.<br><br>“RR2EV-PA-000-000-000-006”<br><br>- Unique purchase id, accepted. –<br>- This purchase is amongst the first 1,000,000 purchases. Bonus Skill points (SP) will be applied. –<br>- This purchase is amongst the first 10,000 purchases. Bonus Skill points will be applied. –<br>- This purchase is amongst the first 100 purchases. Bonus Skill points will be applied. –<br>With each passing bonus stat application message that popped up, the boy’s grin grew bigger and bigger.<br><br>Rewards in terms of bonus skill points for being the first to purchase online access to a VR game was very popular marketing tool. Even in its initial days Royal Road didn’t employ such marketing gimmicks (It was amongst the first VR games…that made a great selling point in it self). Lee Hyun would have made the first purchase of Royal Road, if they had offered bonus skill points. The reward of bonus skill points for being the first to purchase provided VR games a player base even before the game was developed.<br><br>Marketing guru’s considered it an excellent way to entice users into playing a game. Lee Hyun thought it was just good business sense. Unicorn was a cash starved company. With the initial hype setup 11 months ago, giving people the option to purchase online access early on, meant money inflow to the firm. Though players could not play the game, but when the game did go online, their purchase codes would provide them with rewards (such as bonus SP). With Elementarem Vim priced at US$ 99 yearly fees (which is considered a normal price), within the first three months of its release, it sold a million online access codes. Most of the purchasers were professional gamers and programming companies who would usually make small investments like this in games as a hedge just in case the game became very popular, they could always switch games and the bonus SP would add to their game play in the long run. Whatever the users reasons for purchase maybe, Lee Hyun helped Unicorn raise, $99 million in three months. Lee Hyun didn’t use a single cent from his investment of $50 million. He never planned to.<br><br>Select your avatar name –<br><br>-<br><br>“Weed.” The young boy had a cold malicious smile as he spoke that name.<br><br>-<br><br>Select your race. Royal Road: Elementarem Vim has 49 races. Currently only 4 races are<br>accessible. Please chose from Dwarves, Humans, Elves and Orcs.<br><br>“Info menu compare all race stats.”<br><br>A window popped up in front of the young boy.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Comparing all race stats</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dwarf</td><td colspan="3">Bonus Skill Points (SP)/Stats: Increased Intelligence, Brute Strength,<br>Creativity, Defense. Anti-Stat/SP: Lower Patience and Fighting Power. Would like to know more?</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Humans</td><td colspan="3">Bonus SP/Stats: Increased Dexterity. No anti-bonus stats. Would like to know more?</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Elves</td><td colspan="3">Bonus SP/Stats: Increased Wisdom, Intelligence, Health,<br>Elemental Affinity. Anti Stat /SP: Low Brute Strength, Fighting Power,<br>Defense. Additional Bonus: Looks of avatar will become more beautiful at every<br>level. Additional Penalty: Cannot choose certain professions. Additional Penalty:<br>Maximum weight carried – 50 Kgs. Additional Penalty: Can only wear light amour. Would like to know more?</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Orcs</td><td colspan="3">Bonus SP/Stats: Brute Strength, Critical Hit. Anti Stat/SP: Lower<br>intelligence, wisdom and creativity. Additional Bonus: Can wear 6 levels of amour.<br>Additional Bonus: Maximum Stamina +50 base stat every level. Additional Bonus:<br>Critical Hit +0.05% every level. Additional Penalty: Low elemental affinity and<br>resistance.Would like to know more?</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>The young boy thought about it for a while and chose “Elf Race”.<br><br>-<br><br>Select your Elemental Affinity. Royal Road: Elementarem Vim has 21 elemental affinities. Currently 7 are accessible. Please choose from: Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Force, Life, Neutral. Please note, your elemental affinity determines your starting location and quests. Elemental Affinities cannot be changed once selected.<br><br>“Info menu compare all Elemental Affinity.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Comparing all elemental affinities</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Air</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate air.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Water</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate water.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Earth</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate earth.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fire</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate Fire. Bonus Stat: Damage<br>dealt is 100% more than other elemental affinities. Anti- Stat: High Impatience.<br>Additional Penalty: Requires a container (can be gained in-game).</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Force</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate energy. Bonus Stat: High<br>resistance to primary elements.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Life</td><td colspan="3">Can use mana to manipulate life. Can be considered<br>similar to priests / healers.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Neutral</td><td colspan="3">Cannot use mana. By selecting neutral affinity, you<br>can defer your affinity choice. In case you do not select an elemental affinity<br>by level 100, you will be granted with additional bonus SP. Please note, a<br>neutral cannot chose an affinity after level 99. Additional Penalty: Any elemental<br>affinity selected will suffer from 20% lower attributes.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>There was still too little information about the game. The concept of Elemental Affinity was not very well explained. But clearly in the new Royal Road, it seemed to be playing a major role. The title itself contained the words ‘Elemental Powers’ in Latin. Not choosing an element would be risky. The young boy needed more information.<br><br>“Info menu more detail on Neutral Affinity.”<br><br>This affinity was created for players who would prefer the old fashioned Royal Road. Neutral players also run the risk of ending up with the primary elemental affinity accidentally / unknowingly. Neutral players can use elements via other devices. However such element powers cannot match those with whose have selected a primary element (Affinity will suffer from 50% lower attributes).<br>- Would you like to know more? -<br>“No.”<br><br>Lee Hyun had made it simple for gamers. Either select a primary class now or decide later with a 20%-<br>50% lower attack power. The young thought to himself. “Neutral Affinity, eh?” Where there are risks there are bound to be great rewards. The only problem was, he could not re-use the bonus SP he gained from being amongst the first purchasers if he decided to change affinities later.<br><br>- You have selected Neutral Affinity. Please Confirm. -<br><br>Unfortunately the young boy too was lost in his thoughts to notice that he spoke ‘Neutral Affinity’ out aloud and that the AI was requesting for a confirmation. Still lost in deep thought, the boy was mentally imagining what the game could potentially be like. Theoretically, Fire looked the best. But he had no idea what a container was. He checked the Fire Affinity details, but found no description of it. One of the problems with being the first players was always the risk associated with it. Most pro-gamers had a rule to never join a game within the first week to 3 months of its release. They usually waited for others to try, goof up and learn from their mistakes. Even Lee Hyun had waited a year before playing Royal Road, waiting and preparing became a standard norm in the gaming world. But the boy was time pressed. He could no wait and watch like others. He knew someone from the inside of Unicorn who said that like Royal Road, Elementarem Vim would have non-repeatable quests. So essentially, given the high level<br>of gaming one could be assured that all good quests could disappear within a year and would never reappear. (All other VRMMORPG usually have some recurring quests, Royal Road was the only exception to this rule.) In a game like Royal Road, the entry timing and information makes all the difference. He had taken substantial risk by just playing the game the day it went online, there was no need to risk it further.<br><br>“Okay. I choose Win..”<br><br>- Neutral Affinity selected -<br><br><br><br>“Eh?” The boy stood in shock. What just happened? He didn’t select Neutral Affinity. He wanted to choose Wind!!<br><br>“Info Menu Help - Call customer care.”<br><br>“Hello, this WeiChi. How may I help you customer.”<br><br>“Hi, the AI selected Neutral Affinity for me. I didn’t get to choose my affinity.”<br><br>“Let me just check Sir….No sir, as far as I can see, you have indeed selected Neutral Affinity.”<br><br>“Wait a second! That’s not possible!!”<br><br>“Please see for yourself.”<br><br>A window popped in front of the young boy and a video replayed of how he ended up with Neutral<br>Affinity. The boy cursed himself. Then cried and begged the Customer Care to undo the accidental selection. But no matter how much he wailed or whined, they simply could not do it. The boy sat on the white floor as tears rolled down his cheek. His precious money, months of research were all made irrelevant in a single moment of absent mindedness.<br><br>The customer care representative could understand the child’s pain. He called up Jin Hyuna to see if there could be anything extra they could do for the child. She responded saying it would be unfair to other gamers if they increased bonus SP that nullified the 20% deduction in elemental or physical attributes. However considering the young boy being amongst the first 10 purchasers and only 10 years old, the admin should feel free to provide any other stat. The customer care relayed Jin Hyuna’s words to the young boy whose eyes were now puffed with all the excessive crying. He thought about it for a minute and then request that his “Luck” stat be increased.<br><br>The customer care, rechecked with Jin Hyuna, who gave the approval to do so. The boy continued with the activation process.<br><br>- You may alter your appearance. –<br><br>“Increase height to 6 feet. Long golden hair, blue eyes. Skin tone fair.”<br><br>- You may alter only two physical features. Alternatively, you may purchase further physical changes in-game. Please select again. –<br><br>This was a new twist. All VR games allowed people to alter their looks however much they wanted free of charge. This would surely discourage some players from playing, thought the young boy.<br><br>“Increase age of character to 20 years old. Increase height to 6 feet.”<br><br>The young boy was taking a risk. Increasing age meant multiple, physical appearance changes. Most games considered it as one change. Fortunately for him, Elementarem Vim did so as well. The young boy, now looked like a tall 20 year old man.<br><br>Your account has been activated. –<br><br><br><br>- Would you like to encash Royal Road or other game characters or items for bonus SP? –<br><br>“Yes”<br><br>- Please upload data…. Data received.… Would you like to receive Bonus SP or Bonus Items in lieu for your encashed characters and items? -<br><br>“Money.”<br><br>Sorry this option is not available at the moment. Unicorn management has decided to provide<br>monetary compensation starting next year for all items. However, you may lock your data with us it shall be encashed into monetary compensation. Alternatively, you may continue holding this data and encash it again next year. –<br><br>-<br><br>Before he could say anything, a window popped up.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Important Message from Unicorn: Complete your<br>personal unique quest, be the strongest player in the world or lead the strongest<br>guild and complete 3 SSS quests. If you fulfill these conditions you will be<br>rewarded US $1 billion. Total monetary compensation may increase overtime. Terms<br>and Conditions Apply.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The boys jaws dropped open. One billion US dollars. The amount of money was ridiculous. He re-read the message twice. So the rumors were true. Unicorn is desperately trying to gain players. The boy was just about to encash his Royal Road characters and items for an estimated US$ 200. He counted the number of zeros in a billion. (there are 9). He didn’t even know how many 200 dollars made a billion. (it is 50,000,000). The boy wasn’t the only one who felt the shock of the monetary payout. Every player received this message and were left with their mouths open. Everyone encashed their Royal Road characters and items for bonus SP, nobody gave it a second thought.<br><br>“Encash all characters and items for Bonus SP.”<br><br>- Items encashed. You will receive all bonus stat points to allocate upon reaching level one and<br>completing 20 in game hours. –<br><br>- Initiating Game, in 5, 4…. –<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs<br>2. Selection of Gender option has been intentionally removed at the time of activation process / avatar creation. You will read more about this in the coming chapters.<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=285" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | - Welcome to Royal Road: Elementarem Vim. Please enter your purchase id. –
A young boy stood in a white room that stretched infinitely in all directions. Most VR game titles
had more user friendly activation interface. Usually to help the mind of players absorb the change in perceived environment, players typically began in a lobby where an attendant would offer them coffee/drinks/snacks and ask them questions linked with activation process. Elemtarem Vim did away with all of that. Most users who logged on thought this was another marketing gimmick to distinguish the game from other VR games. The truth was far more simpler, Unicorn programmers did not have the time to design the activation interface. 11 months was too little of time to design and develop a new game and given the ideas Lee Hyun had, most senior level programmers estimated at least 3-3.5 years of production time and another 6 months of beta testing.
Lee Hyun skipped the beta testing, for him it was race against time. His precious money was now locked in with Unicorn. He only made the programmers focus on the main aspects of the game and completely overlooked the other aspects. So while most players thought this was done to attract their attention, reality was the game was still under development.
“RR2EV-PA-000-000-000-006”
- Unique purchase id, accepted. –
- This purchase is amongst the first 1,000,000 purchases. Bonus Skill points (SP) will be applied. –
- This purchase is amongst the first 10,000 purchases. Bonus Skill points will be applied. –
- This purchase is amongst the first 100 purchases. Bonus Skill points will be applied. –
With each passing bonus stat application message that popped up, the boy’s grin grew bigger and bigger.
Rewards in terms of bonus skill points for being the first to purchase online access to a VR game was very popular marketing tool. Even in its initial days Royal Road didn’t employ such marketing gimmicks (It was amongst the first VR games…that made a great selling point in it self). Lee Hyun would have made the first purchase of Royal Road, if they had offered bonus skill points. The reward of bonus skill points for being the first to purchase provided VR games a player base even before the game was developed.
Marketing guru’s considered it an excellent way to entice users into playing a game. Lee Hyun thought it was just good business sense. Unicorn was a cash starved company. With the initial hype setup 11 months ago, giving people the option to purchase online access early on, meant money inflow to the firm. Though players could not play the game, but when the game did go online, their purchase codes would provide them with rewards (such as bonus SP). With Elementarem Vim priced at US$ 99 yearly fees (which is considered a normal price), within the first three months of its release, it sold a million online access codes. Most of the purchasers were professional gamers and programming companies who would usually make small investments like this in games as a hedge just in case the game became very popular, they could always switch games and the bonus SP would add to their game play in the long run. Whatever the users reasons for purchase maybe, Lee Hyun helped Unicorn raise, $99 million in three months. Lee Hyun didn’t use a single cent from his investment of $50 million. He never planned to.
Select your avatar name –
-
“Weed.” The young boy had a cold malicious smile as he spoke that name.
-
Select your race. Royal Road: Elementarem Vim has 49 races. Currently only 4 races are
accessible. Please chose from Dwarves, Humans, Elves and Orcs.
“Info menu compare all race stats.”
A window popped up in front of the young boy.
| Comparing all race stats | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dwarf | Bonus Skill Points (SP)/Stats: Increased Intelligence, Brute Strength,Creativity, Defense. Anti-Stat/SP: Lower Patience and Fighting Power. Would like to know more? | | |
| Humans | Bonus SP/Stats: Increased Dexterity. No anti-bonus stats. Would like to know more? | | |
| Elves | Bonus SP/Stats: Increased Wisdom, Intelligence, Health,Elemental Affinity. Anti Stat /SP: Low Brute Strength, Fighting Power,Defense. Additional Bonus: Looks of avatar will become more beautiful at everylevel. Additional Penalty: Cannot choose certain professions. Additional Penalty:Maximum weight carried – 50 Kgs. Additional Penalty: Can only wear light amour. Would like to know more? | | |
| Orcs | Bonus SP/Stats: Brute Strength, Critical Hit. Anti Stat/SP: Lowerintelligence, wisdom and creativity. Additional Bonus: Can wear 6 levels of amour.Additional Bonus: Maximum Stamina +50 base stat every level. Additional Bonus:Critical Hit +0.05% every level. Additional Penalty: Low elemental affinity andresistance.Would like to know more? | | |
The young boy thought about it for a while and chose “Elf Race”.
-
Select your Elemental Affinity. Royal Road: Elementarem Vim has 21 elemental affinities. Currently 7 are accessible. Please choose from: Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Force, Life, Neutral. Please note, your elemental affinity determines your starting location and quests. Elemental Affinities cannot be changed once selected.
“Info menu compare all Elemental Affinity.”
| Comparing all elemental affinities | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Air | Can use mana to manipulate air. | | |
| Water | Can use mana to manipulate water. | | |
| Earth | Can use mana to manipulate earth. | | |
| Fire | Can use mana to manipulate Fire. Bonus Stat: Damagedealt is 100% more than other elemental affinities. Anti- Stat: High Impatience.Additional Penalty: Requires a container (can be gained in-game). | | |
| Force | Can use mana to manipulate energy. Bonus Stat: Highresistance to primary elements. | | |
| Life | Can use mana to manipulate life. Can be consideredsimilar to priests / healers. | | |
| Neutral | Cannot use mana. By selecting neutral affinity, youcan defer your affinity choice. In case you do not select an elemental affinityby level 100, you will be granted with additional bonus SP. Please note, aneutral cannot chose an affinity after level 99. Additional Penalty: Any elementalaffinity selected will suffer from 20% lower attributes. | | |
There was still too little information about the game. The concept of Elemental Affinity was not very well explained. But clearly in the new Royal Road, it seemed to be playing a major role. The title itself contained the words ‘Elemental Powers’ in Latin. Not choosing an element would be risky. The young boy needed more information.
“Info menu more detail on Neutral Affinity.”
This affinity was created for players who would prefer the old fashioned Royal Road. Neutral players also run the risk of ending up with the primary elemental affinity accidentally / unknowingly. Neutral players can use elements via other devices. However such element powers cannot match those with whose have selected a primary element (Affinity will suffer from 50% lower attributes).
- Would you like to know more? -
“No.”
Lee Hyun had made it simple for gamers. Either select a primary class now or decide later with a 20%-
50% lower attack power. The young thought to himself. “Neutral Affinity, eh?” Where there are risks there are bound to be great rewards. The only problem was, he could not re-use the bonus SP he gained from being amongst the first purchasers if he decided to change affinities later.
- You have selected Neutral Affinity. Please Confirm. -
Unfortunately the young boy too was lost in his thoughts to notice that he spoke ‘Neutral Affinity’ out aloud and that the AI was requesting for a confirmation. Still lost in deep thought, the boy was mentally imagining what the game could potentially be like. Theoretically, Fire looked the best. But he had no idea what a container was. He checked the Fire Affinity details, but found no description of it. One of the problems with being the first players was always the risk associated with it. Most pro-gamers had a rule to never join a game within the first week to 3 months of its release. They usually waited for others to try, goof up and learn from their mistakes. Even Lee Hyun had waited a year before playing Royal Road, waiting and preparing became a standard norm in the gaming world. But the boy was time pressed. He could no wait and watch like others. He knew someone from the inside of Unicorn who said that like Royal Road, Elementarem Vim would have non-repeatable quests. So essentially, given the high level
of gaming one could be assured that all good quests could disappear within a year and would never reappear. (All other VRMMORPG usually have some recurring quests, Royal Road was the only exception to this rule.) In a game like Royal Road, the entry timing and information makes all the difference. He had taken substantial risk by just playing the game the day it went online, there was no need to risk it further.
“Okay. I choose Win..”
- Neutral Affinity selected -
“Eh?” The boy stood in shock. What just happened? He didn’t select Neutral Affinity. He wanted to choose Wind!!
“Info Menu Help - Call customer care.”
“Hello, this WeiChi. How may I help you customer.”
“Hi, the AI selected Neutral Affinity for me. I didn’t get to choose my affinity.”
“Let me just check Sir….No sir, as far as I can see, you have indeed selected Neutral Affinity.”
“Wait a second! That’s not possible!!”
“Please see for yourself.”
A window popped in front of the young boy and a video replayed of how he ended up with Neutral
Affinity. The boy cursed himself. Then cried and begged the Customer Care to undo the accidental selection. But no matter how much he wailed or whined, they simply could not do it. The boy sat on the white floor as tears rolled down his cheek. His precious money, months of research were all made irrelevant in a single moment of absent mindedness.
The customer care representative could understand the child’s pain. He called up Jin Hyuna to see if there could be anything extra they could do for the child. She responded saying it would be unfair to other gamers if they increased bonus SP that nullified the 20% deduction in elemental or physical attributes. However considering the young boy being amongst the first 10 purchasers and only 10 years old, the admin should feel free to provide any other stat. The customer care relayed Jin Hyuna’s words to the young boy whose eyes were now puffed with all the excessive crying. He thought about it for a minute and then request that his “Luck” stat be increased.
The customer care, rechecked with Jin Hyuna, who gave the approval to do so. The boy continued with the activation process.
- You may alter your appearance. –
“Increase height to 6 feet. Long golden hair, blue eyes. Skin tone fair.”
- You may alter only two physical features. Alternatively, you may purchase further physical changes in-game. Please select again. –
This was a new twist. All VR games allowed people to alter their looks however much they wanted free of charge. This would surely discourage some players from playing, thought the young boy.
“Increase age of character to 20 years old. Increase height to 6 feet.”
The young boy was taking a risk. Increasing age meant multiple, physical appearance changes. Most games considered it as one change. Fortunately for him, Elementarem Vim did so as well. The young boy, now looked like a tall 20 year old man.
Your account has been activated. –
- Would you like to encash Royal Road or other game characters or items for bonus SP? –
“Yes”
- Please upload data…. Data received.… Would you like to receive Bonus SP or Bonus Items in lieu for your encashed characters and items? -
“Money.”
Sorry this option is not available at the moment. Unicorn management has decided to provide
monetary compensation starting next year for all items. However, you may lock your data with us it shall be encashed into monetary compensation. Alternatively, you may continue holding this data and encash it again next year. –
-
Before he could say anything, a window popped up.
| Important Message from Unicorn: Complete yourpersonal unique quest, be the strongest player in the world or lead the strongestguild and complete 3 SSS quests. If you fulfill these conditions you will berewarded US $1 billion. Total monetary compensation may increase overtime. Termsand Conditions Apply. |
| --- |
The boys jaws dropped open. One billion US dollars. The amount of money was ridiculous. He re-read the message twice. So the rumors were true. Unicorn is desperately trying to gain players. The boy was just about to encash his Royal Road characters and items for an estimated US$ 200. He counted the number of zeros in a billion. (there are 9). He didn’t even know how many 200 dollars made a billion. (it is 50,000,000). The boy wasn’t the only one who felt the shock of the monetary payout. Every player received this message and were left with their mouths open. Everyone encashed their Royal Road characters and items for bonus SP, nobody gave it a second thought.
“Encash all characters and items for Bonus SP.”
- Items encashed. You will receive all bonus stat points to allocate upon reaching level one and
completing 20 in game hours. –
- Initiating Game, in 5, 4…. –
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs
2. Selection of Gender option has been intentionally removed at the time of activation process / avatar creation. You will read more about this in the coming chapters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=285) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 10",
"id": 49,
"next": 50,
"prev": 48,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Ch. 10: Floating The Worries Away<br><br>Just like Gorge hoped, Jon came to him, asking for advice.<br>He wanted to know what class to choose and what skills he needed to acquire.<br>Gorge asked what Jon's goals were in Royal Road and was just a little surprised to hear about the dragons.<br>Calling Silia, he told her his need, and his trusty secretary sent an email with all the information an hour later.<br><br><br><br>It turned out that dragon slayers came in all shapes and sizes. Every class could choose to upgrade and gain the skills of dragon slayers. Since the average level of players finishing the dragon-slayer class quest was around one-hundred and ten, Jon was in no hurry.<br>"Just do whatever you want for now. Enjoy the game and try out different things. Meet people, find friends and make enemies… look at all these things you can learn in the game. Choose something you like and tackle it. If you ever get stuck I'll be here to help you." He looked at Jon's unsmiling face, and warmth spread through his body. In the two weeks that passed the boy began to change. He was far from the cheerful kid he once knew but, Gorge could now recognize from time to time the child he remembered and loved in the man who was standing before him.<br><br>Jon logged back in, still not sure of what direction to develop. As he didn't really have any preferences he decided to learn skills as they came. His goal was now to raise his level and Gorge advised him to do quests to reach his goal faster.<br>He opened his menus one by one. Ignoring the stares around him, he read through the floating windows in front of his face.<br><br><br>Stat Window<br>Avatar: Jon Type: Chaotic<br>Level: 14 Class: Mage<br>Title: Leader of the Pack<br>+10 Charisma<br>Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.<br>Life: 1030 Fame: -82 Mana: 625<br>Strength: 98 Dexterity: 94 Vitality: 61<br>Wisdom: 40 Intelligence: 68 Focus: 13<br>Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0<br>Offence: 9 Defense: 10<br>Resistance to Magic:<br>Cold: 5%<br>Fire: 2%<br>Holy: 1%<br>Affinity to Elements:<br>Holy: 1% <br><br><br>Skill Window<br>Masteries:<br>Alchemy Mastery Level 3<br>Archery Mastery Level 3<br> Cooking Mastery Level 5<br>Knife Mastery Level 3<br>Magic Mastery Level 5<br>Sneak Mastery Level 3<br>Passive Skills:<br>Control Magic Level 2<br>Magic Capacity Level 2<br>Meditation Level 2<br>Owl's Instinct Level 2<br>Active Skills:<br>Power Shot Level 2<br>Repair Level 1<br>Sharpening Level 3<br>Silent Strike Level 3<br>Speed Stab Level 3<br><br><br>Spell Window<br>Heal Level 2<br>Healing Rain Level 1<br><br><br>Quest Window<br>In Progress:<br>Helping the Bookkeeper<br>Completed:<br>Family Matters<br>Frozen Vegetables<br><br><br>He read his only ongoing quest in detail, and finding it interesting enough, he made up his mind to complete it. But first, he had a few things he had to do. The first was learn ice magic like he wanted to. Thanks to Unknowadd's special brew it didn't take too long. <br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "The Basics of Ice Magic"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>Ice Affinity Acquired<br>You have learned to channel the ice element through your body and to your spells.<br>Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of ice spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Controlling Water and Lowering the Tempreture"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Beginner Spells For the Aspiring Ice Mage "<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>"Ice Dart" Spell Learnt<br>Controlling the ice element with your mana, you are able to freeze the water in the air.<br>By shaping the ice into the form of a large dart you are then able to propel the projectile forward using your magic power.<br>The dart flies in a straight line and upon impact causes freeze damage and turns the area of impact to ice.<br>Cost: 30 MP<br><br><br>Casting the spell, a small icicle the size of his hand slowly formed. Floating over his palm, Jon extended his arm and let the dart fly.<br>It impaled itself into the stone wall. Breaking apart, it left a small round area of the wall frozen. The frozen circle was the size of a basketball and soon melted away together with the broken pieces of the dart that fell to the floor, turning into a small puddle of water.<br><br><br>"Cone of Frost" Spell Learnt<br>By channeling the ice element through your body, you are able to quickly collect the surrounding moisture surrounding you, and expel in a chosen direction as frozen mist.<br>Projected in the shape of a cone, the mist slows down your opponents and pushes them away from you.<br>The small, sharp ice particles damage your opponents' health and have a small chance of completely freezing the target.<br>Level 1: Freeze Chance - 2%<br>Cone angle – 15 degrees.<br>Cost: 5 MP every second<br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Freezing Your Enemies"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>Left with a few hours of the Scholars Brew effect, and having finished what he came to do, he read a few more books just in case he would ever need their knowledge.<br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Conjuring Fire"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>Fire Affinity Acquired<br>Manipulating your magic power you can now forcefully create friction between atoms to create a small spark.<br>Feeding the spark your mana, you are able to start a flame anywhere and everywhere.<br>Better affinity with fire elements allows you to create bigger and hotter flames with less mana consumption.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br><br>Dipping the tip of his tongue in the magic potion he was able to finish the last book just before the effect wore off.<br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Wielding Pure Energy"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>Lighting Affinity Acquired<br>Tapping into the natural reserves of electricity in the atmosphere you can use your magic to channel it through your body.<br>Lightening spells deal the most damage and cost almost nothing to cast.<br>However, the lighting element is amongst the hardest elements to control, and is highly unstable.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br><br>-'I'll need to ask Gorge how to raise my affinity…'- Jon wondered as he closed the book and left the library.<br>-'One down and two to go.'-<br>He stretched his limbs, feeling his spine crack a little, and looked around remembering where to go.<br><br><br>The bronze barbarian could be seen from a far.<br>It attracted players to the marvel steps around it, announcing with great pride that behind him stands the great and powerful warriors guild.<br>Both players and Npcs flooded the building, in contrast to the small rogue's guild next to it.<br>The large building left no doubt in any one's mind that the warriors' guild was rich. Statues of warriors, both male and female, stood on every step. The gates were guarded by two huge, marble lions, and although the decorated doors of the gate were open wide a small giant of a man, stood and watched the people who walked in and out of the guild.<br>As Jon passed him, he felt that even with the enormous and heavy armor the man was covered in, the long two handed sword he leaned on, could slice anything with precision and speed.<br>-'It could be fun, decapitating a dragon in one swing…'-<br>A small line stood before the reception desk. He used the repair skill on his equipment while he was waiting.<br>Fighting alongside wolves had left his armor torn and broken. Most of the items had almost zero durability and restoring them back to full hardly even raised the experience on the skill.<br>-'It seems it will take longer than I thought… I'll need to find a way to level up the skill fast…-'<br>When Jon's turn came the Npc asked him for his name and five gold coins. In return he gave him a participant's number. A massage board stood next to the desk and on it was the explanation.<br>"The warriors guild is sorry for the inconvenience, but at the moment we don't have enough free room to accept anyone. As such, the warriors guild is organizing a small fighting tournament the winners of which will join the guild," it said.<br>The date of the tournament was in three game days. At the end of the massage were the rules, which basically said that every participant accepted the risk of death and injury and that range weapons were banned.<br>Sizing up his competition, Jon saw mostly newbies and low level players, only two or three caught his eye as people to look out for.<br><br><br>With three days on his hands, he went to the citadels training ground to stretch his muscles and work out a sweat. A month of reading books and working in the kitchen made him feel a little sluggish.<br>A small crowd gathered around one of the training dummies and in the middle was a man in beginner clothes swinging a wooden sword with incredible determination.<br>The few glances he managed to get through the crowd, made Jon hope he wouldn't have to meet the man in the tournament. He was clearly experienced with the sword and unlike all the other beginners he had seen on the grasslands, this man had fire burning in his eyes.<br>"He's still at it?" a player asked him as he got close. He didn't seem to want an answer in return so Jon ignored him, but another player, a girl, spoke out.<br>"Thirteen days in a row now. I swear he's crazy…"<br>"You don't say…"<br>"Some guys tried to copy him but they quit on the second day. What he's doing is exhausting…"<br>"Maybe he's an Npc."<br>"He must be," another player joined the conversation, "no player ever got on good terms with the training instructor."<br>"Didn't anyone try to ask him for a quest?"<br>"Pointless! He simply ignores you and keeps on whacking the poor scarecrow."<br>"I heard some guys saying you can gain status points by doing what he's doing…"<br>"Ooohh…" they all said in the same time.<br>"I still don't think it's worth it. I rather go kill some monsters."<br>"Yep," said the girl.<br>-'Pathetic…'- Jon looked at them with an expression almost bordering on disgust.<br>He wasn't surprised stat points could be gained from that. He also had numerous stat rise from simply repeating the same action.<br>-'But…'- he looked at the guy, who was still swinging the wooden sword. The sound of it cutting though the air was heard over the murmur of players surrounding him.<br>Jon understood why he was doing what he was doing, however he felt that was to extreme. He wondered at what motivated him.<br>-'Hmm… but then again, I also came here for the same reason…'- Jon stood there for some time, not looking at anything in particular. He then turned around and left as quietly as he came.<br><br><br>-'I've spent twenty years getting stronger... Sure it saved my life but now what?'- He looked back at the man again and remembered his long and perilous daily training regimes.<br>-'FUCK NO!'-<br>For the first time in, Jon knew not how long, he felt lost.<br>There were so many things to do but for some reason none of them appealed to him. He looked around and suddenly felt surrounded and although in a completely open space, he felt claustrophobic. Paranoia kicked in and he was sure he was being watched.<br>He ran on impulse.<br>People and buildings turned into a blur around him as he sprinted. His high dexterity stat amplified his movement speed and at first he stumbled a bit. He would raise one leg into the air before the other one had the chance to come back down. This caused him to fall down hard and tear the skin of his palms.<br>He got up without delay and with fear slowly spreading through his mind, he started running even faster.<br>Falling down a few more times he simply rolled back to his feet and continued running.<br>He felt that he was perused but was too afraid to look back. The wide street looked incredibly small and cramped and as he bumped into players and Npcs he refused to drop his speed.<br>When the city gates came into view, Jon was already used to his new speed and when a merchant's cart blocked his passage he sped up and jumped over it.<br>With his body twisting through the air he missed the top of the cart by mere centimeters. He dropped badly and almost twisted his ankle but managed to continue running nonetheless.<br>Guards stood up and moved to look at him run towards them. This sight flashed him a memory of a time guards tried to force him back into his cage. The place his arm got broken at that time inflamed in pain as if the bone cracked apart all over again.<br>As the pain spread throughout his body, Jon's awareness slipped away and a primal state of being took over him. It was in this state that he kept on running until his body simply gave up on him.<br><br><br>The knees were the first to give out.<br>They buckled under him and he crashed to the ground hitting his chin and breaking his nose on a tree root in the soft ground.<br>His lungs were on fire and each breath felt like a lump of coal that burned the insides of his mouth, singing his lips as it finally came outside. Jon was sure that he was breathing out flames, but in the short moments he managed to keep his eyes open he saw white vapor spread out as his breath came out in small clouds.<br>His heart pounded on his chest like a hammer and all of his muscles threatened to cramp and never loosen up again. He pained all over, yet as the cold, night time air settled on his still body he started feeling better.<br>Realizing how foolish he just acted he drifted off into sleep. Not shallow restless sleep, but deep almost childlike sleep which lasted long, healing and mending both his tired body and his restless mind.<br><br><br>The rays of the sun warmed his stiff body as he awoke. His clothes were still damp from the morning dew and his undershirt stuck to his chest from the dried blood, but he didn't mind.<br>He didn't open his eyes yet, he wanted to go back to sleep again. As soon as he awoke, memories of yesterday surfaced up and he became afraid again.<br>He had trouble understanding what was happening to him. He felt as if the floor had disappeared under him and everything he was used to wasn't reliable anymore.<br>Every bad experience he had ever had came to mind. It started from simple shameful memories and eventually arrived as close upon home as possible.<br>The memory of his bedridden mother filled his head and as much as he tried to ignore it, it remained, as vivid as the day it had happened. His nose was filled with the smell of antiseptics while his father, on his knees, cried over his mother's dead body.<br>Jon was five then, and as young as he was he understood what happened.<br>His mother got sick a year before and for the past six months she hadn't even left her bed. He recalled now, how the sight of his great, strong, almighty father, crying before him shocked him so much that his own tears got stuck inside and refused to come out.<br><br><br>He loved his mother and was always close to her but when she died he didn't feel sad for long. He never forgot her; he simply accepted her death and moved on. People around him thought it was an unusual behavior for such a young child but no one said anything.<br><br><br>Unlike Jon, the father took his wife's passing away in a bad way.<br>He blamed himself for her death. He believed that if only he spent more time with her she wouldn't have gotten sick. The blame corrupted his soul and as if to repent, he began to pay less and less attention to his company and more and more time to Jon.<br>The more time he spent with his son, the more responsibilities were dropped on Gorge.<br>In his mourning, Gorge dedicated his whole life to the success of Jon and his father, and by keeping the company safe he satisfied that need of his.<br>Jon's father, a veteran of the third world war, was a firm believer that a strong, healthy mind could only inhabit a strong and healthy body.<br>As an officer in WWIII, he was taught how to fight unarmed and fell in love with it. When the war ended and the world began rebuilding itself from the ground up, he made a fortune from a large gold deposit he discovered during his battle companies.<br>He used this fortune to create a small company that trafficked in electronics. With the connections he made during the war and the wealthy family he came from, this small company soon became one of the leading hi-tech firms in the post-war world.<br>However, leading a peaceful life didn't make him forget his passion for martial arts, and as the years passed and his company stabilized in the competitive market, he turned this passion into a hobby. Masters from all over the world instructed him in various arts of fighting and weapon masteries.<br>Before the death of his mother, Jon took very little interest in his father's hobby; instead his entire day was occupied by private tutors. In the fourth year of his life he had already started learning high school level topics. He was raised as an heir to the company and everything in his life was centered around it.<br>After the mother's death, Jon's father took over the instruction responsibilities from Gorge, and added martial arts training to Jon's daily regime.<br>The father and son quickly bonded through the harsh training and even when Jon grew up and there wasn't much more he could learn from his father, they still sparred regularly.<br>The father never remarried. No matter how many women Gorge tried to pick for him, the father seemed to treasure his wife regardless of how many years passed.<br><br><br>It was on Jon's eighteenth birthday that the second tragedy struck him.<br>His father died.<br>It was an accident but Jon blamed himself for it. He washed his hands numberless times, but the warm feeling of his father's blood remained.<br>He could live with that feeling; it was the cracking sound of his father's bones, being replayed over and over in his head that made him run away.<br>A whisper of that sound began to appear in his mind as he remembered his past. Luckily though, a real sound demanded his attention sending the soul wrenching whisper back into his subconsciousness.<br><br><br>Jon opened his eyes and looked around him, seeing only green wherever he looked, he stood up in wonder.<br>-'How far did I run?'-<br>The answer came as he read the systems massages that blocked his field of vision.<br><br><br>Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)<br><br><br>Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)<br><br><br>Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)<br><br><br>Swift Buff Learned<br>While the buff is active unnecessary movement are reduced and every action you perform becomes cleaner and more optimal.Cost: 50 Mp<br>Effect: Speed Increases by 5%<br>Duration: 2 Minutes<br><br><br>The heart of the forest had a magical ambiance to it.<br>Trees, with trunks wider than a building, encircled a clearing that was shaded by very high leaves that blocked the sunlight.<br>The little sunlight that did come through bounced off everything, giving a mystical glow to the vegetation. The clearing itself was covered with deep pools of clear, calm water and enormous dragonflies floated over the water surface.<br>Jon's feet left prints in the tall, bright green grass. Plants of all shapes and sizes spread their fragrance, which mixed together turning into a sweet yet gentle aroma.<br>He looked at where the sound came from, and on the other side of the clearing, where a large pool of water disappeared amongst thick tree roots, stepped out a deer the size of a horse.<br><br><br>As he looked closer, Jon's fear came back in full force and his paranoia got worse. The deer had a humanlike face that was colored bright red. Its numerous antlers looked like a peacock's tail.<br>For some reason the sight scared Jon stiff.<br>The monster stepped leisurely towards the water. With each step, flowers bloomed and died around its hoofs. The closer it got the faster Jon's heart began to pound.<br>When it was at the edge of the water it didn't stop but simply kept on walking. The hoofs sunk into the water for a moment but on the next step the deer continued straight, walking on the top of the water surface as if it were solid ground.<br>It moved forward until it reached a small island where it had to cramp its hoofs together to stand up. Lowering its big ugly head it sniffed a small puddle the size of a soup bowl which collected in the middle of the tiny island.<br>Jon saw how the puddle began to shine, illuminating the monster's human face from below and making it even uglier.<br>Through clear water he could see fish swim away in a hurry.<br>A rustling in the bushes behind him caught his attention and a gigantic white wolf stepped out into the clearing. Bigger than an elephant, the wolf moved gracefully towards Jon.<br>At this point, even though Jon knew he was inside the game the fear in him threatened to stop his beating heart.<br>The wolf, which at a close distance looked more gray than white, sniffed Jon in a slow inhale and stared at the monster deer when it was done. Something must have passed between them, because the wolf lowered its head and bent his front feet in a bow, after which it walked back into the cover of large trees, disappearing in the thicket.<br><br><br>As though he could feel it, Jon knew that the monstrous deer lowered its head again.<br>This time it puckered its cracked lips and as if it was kissing a loved one, it carefully touched the puddle of glowing water.<br>A shockwave spread through the clearing hitting Jon in the back and propelling him head first into one of the pools.<br>As strange as it was, the moment the shockwave hit him, as if blown away by its force, all of his fear was blasted out of him. Completely under water he rose to the surface and gently lifted his head to the cool air.<br>Waiting for the water to drip down his head he opened his eyes and looked at the clearing with an out of place calmness.<br>Ripples covered the water pools, and the leaves shook back into stillness.<br>The deer was gone and with it the puddle.<br><br><br>Soon, the clearing went back to its quiet self.<br>Jon didn't leave the water. The feeling of it against his skin was to his liking and he simply floated in one place with closed eyes.<br>In his sudden calmness, he analyzed the events that transpired and sorted out the extreme emotions he felt.<br>'That must be what a panic attack feels like..'- -<br>Hours passed but Jon still floated. Fish came out of their hiding and nibbled on the dead skin from his hands. Bugs landed on him and sucked salt off of him.<br>He dozed off a couple of times but it didn't matter to him.<br>Piece by piece he put together the reason for what he knew now was an emotional breakdown. It was that man, the one that struck the scarecrow relentlessly in the training ground, that was the cause. Seeing him work hard, made Jon remember how he himself worked hard.<br>This memory triggered another memory which triggered another, and eventually, everything he had repressed for the past five years suddenly flooded him and sent him running in fear.<br>But now it was okay. It seemed weird to him but although he still blamed himself for his father's death, he now accepted the fact that it wasn't his fault.<br>Once he made peace with that, everything else seemed to settle into place and when he opened his eyes, he felt like a new man.<br>-'It's been long over due.'-<br>He opened his main menu and logged out of the game, not even bothering to step out of the water.<br><br><br>Jon opened the door to Gorge's office room and stepped in.<br>"Jon?" Surprised, Gorge looked at his watch.<br>There was still time before dinner and he had never seen Jon come out before he needed to.<br>"Has anything happened?" He stood up and walked to Jon.<br>-'I've missed you!'- Jon thought as he hugged his old friend.<br>Gorge froze and didn't know what to do, but he hugged Jon back nonetheless. There was no need to say anything more. Gorge seemed to understand after a while Jon's intentions and without noticing, tears started running down his cheeks.<br>"Welcome back, Jon." He said for the second time this month, feeling that this time, the man he considered as his own son even if they weren’t related by blood, truly came back.<br>"What did I miss?" Jon asked as they parted.<br>This simple question sent a new wave of tears down Gorge's cheeks.<br><br><br>For two days they talked.<br>Although Gorge did most of the talking, it was no longer a one sided conversation.<br>Gorge saw how much it pained Jon when he explained how his father's death affected the company, but Jon wanted to know.<br>"I don't want to."<br>"Why not?"<br>"You're doing a good job and I don't feel like it."<br>"You do not feel like it? It is your destiny to lead. You have been born and raised for the role!"<br>"That’s when my father was still alive."<br>"You… what are you… how can you…" In a loss for words, Gorge went quiet for a while and Jon waited patiently.<br>"Jon, this is your company," he said in a calm and controlled tone. "The majority of the shares and money are held under your name. My role was to protect it until you take over, and now that you are here, my work is done!"<br>"No."<br>"You can not refuse!"<br>"Gorge," he took a deep breath, "I never wanted to be a C.E.O, and I only accepted the role because of my father. I wanted to work with animals when I was a kid but now I don't know what I want to do, all I know is that taking your position is not something I want to do. Keep it, and keep doing what you were doing."<br>"Jon... you need to understand that the situation is not that simple. The board of directors will see you as a threat. They will not ignore you! Especially Yo! The man will do anything to take over your father's company and will stop at nothing to either get rid of you or get you over to his side."<br>"If what you say is true, I have more than enough wealth to live comfortably till the day I die, you can have all my shares, I don't want them. This Yo won't have anything to fear if you're the official C.E.O"<br>They argued like that for some time, slowly Gorge realized Jon wouldn't budge, so he gave up, in a way.<br>"When did you become so stubborn?" Gorge sighed. "Have it your way! We shall keep everything as it is. I hope that eventually you will change your mind but until then I will hold the fort for you, so to speak."<br>Jon didn't respond.<br>"What are you planning on doing instead then?"<br>"In the near future… nothing. I thought about seeing the world but in the past five years I've traveled the whole globe and seen more than I ever wanted to."<br>"What di..."<br>"Gorge, please…" Jon looked at his friend's eyes, "Honestly, I don't want to do anything, just act lazy. I've never tried that."<br>"Hmm… You do not have to do it here, do you?"<br>"Not really."<br>"Very well. We will go back home in the end of the month, ok?"<br>"Sure."<br>"I am glad to have you back, Jon."<br>"I'm glad to be back, Gorge."<br>"I wonder how long you will laze around… you never could stay still for long," Gorge said to the empty room. Jon left some time ago but he stayed, sitting on an armchair and staring at the electric fireplace. He was smiling and humming to himself pleasantly.<br>Gorge was in a celebratory mood and so he took out his antic wooden pipe and poured himself a glass of the finest scotch.<br>"Pour yourself a glass dear, I am going back next month."<br>"Great news, sir." Silla's voice came out of the speakers as her head appeared to float before Gorge's armchair.<br>"I do not see you pouring."<br>"You know very well I don't drink, sir."<br>"Such a shame… at least drop the formalities. You never listen to me, but tonight I am not your boss. I am in a good mood and I would like to share it with you."<br>"Good news?" a small pause in which she seemed to struggle a bit but then added "Gorge?"<br>Gorge's mood got even better.<br>"Yes, I will be flying commercial home. And make sure the tickets are not business class."<br>"What?" Gorge enjoyed her flustered sight.<br>"And I will need two tickets."<br>Silia rolled her eyes and gave up on trying to understand. She knew there was logic behind everything he did, and she loved working under him, but sometimes he acted like her senile grandfather. She learnt to just go with him at those times.<br>"There's something you need to know before you start drinking… Gorge."<br>"What is it dear?" He lowered the glass from his lips.<br>"She called again…"<br>Gorge's hair seemed to stand up as anger flared in him but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.<br>"Is it something important?"<br>"No, sir."<br>"Silia, no honorifics, please." He said with a fatherly smile and downed his glass in one go.<br><br><br>A bird sang outside the window.<br>During the day hundreds of birds crocked and chirped, believing the sounds coming out of their beaks were beautiful songs while in reality all they did was make noise.<br>But during the night, the birds that kept silent during the day, unwilling to compete with others, burst out with their beautiful melodies. They did not care if there was anyone out there to hear them; they did it because they would die if they didn't. Luckily, tonight there was someone listening and these birds much rather have one person who listened than a whole crowd pretending to.<br>Jon lay on his bed, listening to the sweet melody.<br>He went to sleep early, and used to sleeping for three to four hours a night, he woke up early as well. As a kid he suffered from insomnia, and even after it passed he never managed to go back to a normal sleeping schedule.<br>Jon tried to laze around and do nothing, but he got bored. Things bored him pretty fast in general, and laying on his back the birds melody didn't hold his interest for long.<br>-'Is this what it's going to be like from now on?'-<br>He rolled around for another hour forcing himself to stay in bed. The moon was still up in the sky and the day hadn't even begun.<br>Making a grunting sound he got up and went down stairs. Preparing a quick snack, he was surprised at how easily he could handle himself in the kitchen.<br>Sitting down in the living room he searched the internet for ways to spend one's free time. He wasn't ready for what jumped at him on the screen.<br>Advertisements for "Royal Road" dominated his view; everything seemed to relate itself to the game.<br>Shows, sports, vacations, tourism, Royal Road took over every aspect of entertainment there was. It didn't matter what Jon searched for, in the end it still came back to Royal Road. There were even schools that took place entirely inside the game.<br>With every search word, eventually leading to the same thing he gave up and decided to go for an early morning swim. For two weeks he had been living on a gorgeous island yet he never took time to enjoy it.<br><br><br>As he walked down to the beach his mood slowly worsened and while he floated in the sea, the waves gently rocking him back and forth, his mood turned foul. Even the breathtaking sunrise before him couldn't lift the black cloud that seemed to surround him.<br>The cause of it was the fact that he found it all dull.<br>Sure, the scenery was beautiful, but so was the scenery in Royal Road. At some places it was even better than real life. The "Heart of the Forest" area looked much better than anything he had ever seen.<br>But what was more important than looks was the content.<br>Real life couldn't surprise him anymore. As he floated in the seemingly endless sea he knew that that was all there was to it. In Royal Road he always had to be on his guard since there was no way of knowing what would happen next.<br>He swam around, feeling his muscles clench in the sudden effort and enjoy the exercise. The water was just the right temperature and the little wind that was blowing a few moments ago was gone, now that the sun rose higher in the sky.<br>Every thought he had eventually boiled down to one conclusion; he needed to play the Royal Road.<br><br><br>Jon didn't know what it was he wanted to do but he knew that playing the game would give him four times as much time to decide. More so, everything he had learnt in the game could be applied to real life.<br>-'Maybe I'll learn to play an instrument…'- From this moment his mind began to race.<br>He stepped out onto the beach and lost in his thoughts he walked back and forth.<br>So many possibilities opened up before him, he didn't understand why he hadn't seen it before. Every hobby he had ever wanted to have he could have inside the game and he would have four times as much time to enjoy them.<br>'-And I don't have to stick to hobbies…'-<br>The game allowed complete freedom, the psychopath he had killed taught him that, so why not play around with the system.<br>There was one thing he got really good at in the past five years and in the skirmish he fought in, he proved to himself that in the game he could do everything he imagined.<br>-'I fought together with wolves! And the aerial moves I pulled off never worked in real life… maybe I can make my other fantasies work as well?'-<br>Feats of superhuman strength, speed and agility flashed in his mind. By switching super powers with magic, the ways in which he imagined himself defeating opponents and fighting in wars seemed innumerable.<br>Imagining the things he might be able to do made his blood boil. It was the same feeling he had right before he faced an oncoming army with his wolves. It was a feeling he got addicted to in the first years of his underground fighting, but forgot about when the thrill of fighting disappeared. Now that he remembered this feeling he wasn't able to relax.<br>Jon started sweating. A fire lit inside him and it was burning him from the inside.<br>He walked fast, almost running, back to the wooden house and nearly slammed through the door when it refused to open.<br>Gorge offered him breakfast but Jon refused politely and headed straight to the capsule in the living room. He turned back in his tracks and headed into the kitchen while the capsule powered up.<br>"So you are hungry?" Gorge said with a laugh, the sound of processors from the capsule mixed with it.<br>"No." Jon spoke from outside the kitchen, not bothering to enter as he wasn't planning to stay for long. "Gorge, I haven't decided what I'll do with my life yet, but that doesn't meant I'll stop playing Royal Road." He paused to see if Gorge would say anything but when no response came he continued.<br>"Royal Road is a game! I don't need a special reason to play it. As long as I enjoy it I won't stop. Whatever else comes along let it come; I'll tackle it when it comes. For now, I want to spend my free time playing the game I enjoy the way I enjoy playing."<br>The looked at each other until a beeping sound from the capsule announced that it was ready for use. Once the silence was broken Gorge breathed out a small sigh and rolled his eyes.<br>"Have fun," he said to Jon sincerely and resumed eating.<br>Jon went back into the living room and entered the capsule. The darkness enveloped him as the lid closed, but a few seconds later he closed his eyes and let his consciousness enter the game.<br><br><br>Frightened fish hurried to get away from him.<br>His body materialized underwater and he was gasping for air. Kicking the soft sand on the bottom he jumped out of the pool breathing deep, enjoying the sweet, moldy air of the forest.<br>He climbed onto the bank and shook some of the water off. Looking around himself he felt at peace that he had made the right decision.<br>The heart of the forest felt like a magical place, and it probably was.<br>Jon wanted to return to the citadel but he had no idea where he was. After some looking around he chose what looked to him like the largest tree trunk. The first branches started far up and there was no other foot hold on the ancient tree so holding an arrow in each hand he used them to climb it.<br>It took him more than half an hour, but eventually the thick blanket of leaves was penetrated and direct rays of sunlight blinded him and made his eyes water. He didn't realize how dim the clearing actually was.<br>He almost fell down when he tried to wipe away the tears but managed to grab hold and keep climbing. Passing the tree tops around him he knew he chose correctly. The tree he was climbing was taller than the rest and the closer he got to its highest point the farther he could see.<br>The green forest spread out to the horizon, blocking anything that could have been hiding amongst it from sight.<br><br><br>New Achievement<br>Going Up<br>You've earned this achievement for climbing a 100 meter tree.<br>Bonus: +5 Strength<br><br><br>Achievements Earned: 1/76847<br><br><br>He thought the mountains to his north were familiar and when he looked to the south he saw, what he hoped was the tallest tower of Seraborg citadel. He wasn't sure but there was nothing else to do but go in that direction and check.<br>Jon started to climb down but stopped when he saw the time. The sun would soon begin to set and that appealed to him. Sliding down to a sturdy branch he found a comfortable position, leaned his head back on the tree trunk, and basking in the warm evening sun, he waited.<br>-'What a way to start a new page in my life.'-<br>Jon smiled, set an alarm clock through the main menu and dozed off.
</div> | Ch. 10: Floating The Worries Away
Just like Gorge hoped, Jon came to him, asking for advice.
He wanted to know what class to choose and what skills he needed to acquire.
Gorge asked what Jon's goals were in Royal Road and was just a little surprised to hear about the dragons.
Calling Silia, he told her his need, and his trusty secretary sent an email with all the information an hour later.
It turned out that dragon slayers came in all shapes and sizes. Every class could choose to upgrade and gain the skills of dragon slayers. Since the average level of players finishing the dragon-slayer class quest was around one-hundred and ten, Jon was in no hurry.
"Just do whatever you want for now. Enjoy the game and try out different things. Meet people, find friends and make enemies… look at all these things you can learn in the game. Choose something you like and tackle it. If you ever get stuck I'll be here to help you." He looked at Jon's unsmiling face, and warmth spread through his body. In the two weeks that passed the boy began to change. He was far from the cheerful kid he once knew but, Gorge could now recognize from time to time the child he remembered and loved in the man who was standing before him.
Jon logged back in, still not sure of what direction to develop. As he didn't really have any preferences he decided to learn skills as they came. His goal was now to raise his level and Gorge advised him to do quests to reach his goal faster.
He opened his menus one by one. Ignoring the stares around him, he read through the floating windows in front of his face.
Stat Window
Avatar: Jon Type: Chaotic
Level: 14 Class: Mage
Title: Leader of the Pack
+10 Charisma
Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.
Life: 1030 Fame: -82 Mana: 625
Strength: 98 Dexterity: 94 Vitality: 61
Wisdom: 40 Intelligence: 68 Focus: 13
Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0
Offence: 9 Defense: 10
Resistance to Magic:
Cold: 5%
Fire: 2%
Holy: 1%
Affinity to Elements:
Holy: 1%
Skill Window
Masteries:
Alchemy Mastery Level 3
Archery Mastery Level 3
Cooking Mastery Level 5
Knife Mastery Level 3
Magic Mastery Level 5
Sneak Mastery Level 3
Passive Skills:
Control Magic Level 2
Magic Capacity Level 2
Meditation Level 2
Owl's Instinct Level 2
Active Skills:
Power Shot Level 2
Repair Level 1
Sharpening Level 3
Silent Strike Level 3
Speed Stab Level 3
Spell Window
Heal Level 2
Healing Rain Level 1
Quest Window
In Progress:
Helping the Bookkeeper
Completed:
Family Matters
Frozen Vegetables
He read his only ongoing quest in detail, and finding it interesting enough, he made up his mind to complete it. But first, he had a few things he had to do. The first was learn ice magic like he wanted to. Thanks to Unknowadd's special brew it didn't take too long.
You Have Completed the Book: "The Basics of Ice Magic"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Ice Affinity Acquired
You have learned to channel the ice element through your body and to your spells.
Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of ice spells.
Affinity: 1%
You Have Completed the Book: "Controlling Water and Lowering the Tempreture"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
You Have Completed the Book: "Beginner Spells For the Aspiring Ice Mage "
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
"Ice Dart" Spell Learnt
Controlling the ice element with your mana, you are able to freeze the water in the air.
By shaping the ice into the form of a large dart you are then able to propel the projectile forward using your magic power.
The dart flies in a straight line and upon impact causes freeze damage and turns the area of impact to ice.
Cost: 30 MP
Casting the spell, a small icicle the size of his hand slowly formed. Floating over his palm, Jon extended his arm and let the dart fly.
It impaled itself into the stone wall. Breaking apart, it left a small round area of the wall frozen. The frozen circle was the size of a basketball and soon melted away together with the broken pieces of the dart that fell to the floor, turning into a small puddle of water.
"Cone of Frost" Spell Learnt
By channeling the ice element through your body, you are able to quickly collect the surrounding moisture surrounding you, and expel in a chosen direction as frozen mist.
Projected in the shape of a cone, the mist slows down your opponents and pushes them away from you.
The small, sharp ice particles damage your opponents' health and have a small chance of completely freezing the target.
Level 1: Freeze Chance - 2%
Cone angle – 15 degrees.
Cost: 5 MP every second
You Have Completed the Book: "Freezing Your Enemies"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Left with a few hours of the Scholars Brew effect, and having finished what he came to do, he read a few more books just in case he would ever need their knowledge.
You Have Completed the Book: "Conjuring Fire"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Fire Affinity Acquired
Manipulating your magic power you can now forcefully create friction between atoms to create a small spark.
Feeding the spark your mana, you are able to start a flame anywhere and everywhere.
Better affinity with fire elements allows you to create bigger and hotter flames with less mana consumption.
Affinity: 1%
Dipping the tip of his tongue in the magic potion he was able to finish the last book just before the effect wore off.
You Have Completed the Book: "Wielding Pure Energy"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Lighting Affinity Acquired
Tapping into the natural reserves of electricity in the atmosphere you can use your magic to channel it through your body.
Lightening spells deal the most damage and cost almost nothing to cast.
However, the lighting element is amongst the hardest elements to control, and is highly unstable.
Affinity: 1%
-'I'll need to ask Gorge how to raise my affinity…'- Jon wondered as he closed the book and left the library.
-'One down and two to go.'-
He stretched his limbs, feeling his spine crack a little, and looked around remembering where to go.
The bronze barbarian could be seen from a far.
It attracted players to the marvel steps around it, announcing with great pride that behind him stands the great and powerful warriors guild.
Both players and Npcs flooded the building, in contrast to the small rogue's guild next to it.
The large building left no doubt in any one's mind that the warriors' guild was rich. Statues of warriors, both male and female, stood on every step. The gates were guarded by two huge, marble lions, and although the decorated doors of the gate were open wide a small giant of a man, stood and watched the people who walked in and out of the guild.
As Jon passed him, he felt that even with the enormous and heavy armor the man was covered in, the long two handed sword he leaned on, could slice anything with precision and speed.
-'It could be fun, decapitating a dragon in one swing…'-
A small line stood before the reception desk. He used the repair skill on his equipment while he was waiting.
Fighting alongside wolves had left his armor torn and broken. Most of the items had almost zero durability and restoring them back to full hardly even raised the experience on the skill.
-'It seems it will take longer than I thought… I'll need to find a way to level up the skill fast…-'
When Jon's turn came the Npc asked him for his name and five gold coins. In return he gave him a participant's number. A massage board stood next to the desk and on it was the explanation.
"The warriors guild is sorry for the inconvenience, but at the moment we don't have enough free room to accept anyone. As such, the warriors guild is organizing a small fighting tournament the winners of which will join the guild," it said.
The date of the tournament was in three game days. At the end of the massage were the rules, which basically said that every participant accepted the risk of death and injury and that range weapons were banned.
Sizing up his competition, Jon saw mostly newbies and low level players, only two or three caught his eye as people to look out for.
With three days on his hands, he went to the citadels training ground to stretch his muscles and work out a sweat. A month of reading books and working in the kitchen made him feel a little sluggish.
A small crowd gathered around one of the training dummies and in the middle was a man in beginner clothes swinging a wooden sword with incredible determination.
The few glances he managed to get through the crowd, made Jon hope he wouldn't have to meet the man in the tournament. He was clearly experienced with the sword and unlike all the other beginners he had seen on the grasslands, this man had fire burning in his eyes.
"He's still at it?" a player asked him as he got close. He didn't seem to want an answer in return so Jon ignored him, but another player, a girl, spoke out.
"Thirteen days in a row now. I swear he's crazy…"
"You don't say…"
"Some guys tried to copy him but they quit on the second day. What he's doing is exhausting…"
"Maybe he's an Npc."
"He must be," another player joined the conversation, "no player ever got on good terms with the training instructor."
"Didn't anyone try to ask him for a quest?"
"Pointless! He simply ignores you and keeps on whacking the poor scarecrow."
"I heard some guys saying you can gain status points by doing what he's doing…"
"Ooohh…" they all said in the same time.
"I still don't think it's worth it. I rather go kill some monsters."
"Yep," said the girl.
-'Pathetic…'- Jon looked at them with an expression almost bordering on disgust.
He wasn't surprised stat points could be gained from that. He also had numerous stat rise from simply repeating the same action.
-'But…'- he looked at the guy, who was still swinging the wooden sword. The sound of it cutting though the air was heard over the murmur of players surrounding him.
Jon understood why he was doing what he was doing, however he felt that was to extreme. He wondered at what motivated him.
-'Hmm… but then again, I also came here for the same reason…'- Jon stood there for some time, not looking at anything in particular. He then turned around and left as quietly as he came.
-'I've spent twenty years getting stronger... Sure it saved my life but now what?'- He looked back at the man again and remembered his long and perilous daily training regimes.
-'FUCK NO!'-
For the first time in, Jon knew not how long, he felt lost.
There were so many things to do but for some reason none of them appealed to him. He looked around and suddenly felt surrounded and although in a completely open space, he felt claustrophobic. Paranoia kicked in and he was sure he was being watched.
He ran on impulse.
People and buildings turned into a blur around him as he sprinted. His high dexterity stat amplified his movement speed and at first he stumbled a bit. He would raise one leg into the air before the other one had the chance to come back down. This caused him to fall down hard and tear the skin of his palms.
He got up without delay and with fear slowly spreading through his mind, he started running even faster.
Falling down a few more times he simply rolled back to his feet and continued running.
He felt that he was perused but was too afraid to look back. The wide street looked incredibly small and cramped and as he bumped into players and Npcs he refused to drop his speed.
When the city gates came into view, Jon was already used to his new speed and when a merchant's cart blocked his passage he sped up and jumped over it.
With his body twisting through the air he missed the top of the cart by mere centimeters. He dropped badly and almost twisted his ankle but managed to continue running nonetheless.
Guards stood up and moved to look at him run towards them. This sight flashed him a memory of a time guards tried to force him back into his cage. The place his arm got broken at that time inflamed in pain as if the bone cracked apart all over again.
As the pain spread throughout his body, Jon's awareness slipped away and a primal state of being took over him. It was in this state that he kept on running until his body simply gave up on him.
The knees were the first to give out.
They buckled under him and he crashed to the ground hitting his chin and breaking his nose on a tree root in the soft ground.
His lungs were on fire and each breath felt like a lump of coal that burned the insides of his mouth, singing his lips as it finally came outside. Jon was sure that he was breathing out flames, but in the short moments he managed to keep his eyes open he saw white vapor spread out as his breath came out in small clouds.
His heart pounded on his chest like a hammer and all of his muscles threatened to cramp and never loosen up again. He pained all over, yet as the cold, night time air settled on his still body he started feeling better.
Realizing how foolish he just acted he drifted off into sleep. Not shallow restless sleep, but deep almost childlike sleep which lasted long, healing and mending both his tired body and his restless mind.
The rays of the sun warmed his stiff body as he awoke. His clothes were still damp from the morning dew and his undershirt stuck to his chest from the dried blood, but he didn't mind.
He didn't open his eyes yet, he wanted to go back to sleep again. As soon as he awoke, memories of yesterday surfaced up and he became afraid again.
He had trouble understanding what was happening to him. He felt as if the floor had disappeared under him and everything he was used to wasn't reliable anymore.
Every bad experience he had ever had came to mind. It started from simple shameful memories and eventually arrived as close upon home as possible.
The memory of his bedridden mother filled his head and as much as he tried to ignore it, it remained, as vivid as the day it had happened. His nose was filled with the smell of antiseptics while his father, on his knees, cried over his mother's dead body.
Jon was five then, and as young as he was he understood what happened.
His mother got sick a year before and for the past six months she hadn't even left her bed. He recalled now, how the sight of his great, strong, almighty father, crying before him shocked him so much that his own tears got stuck inside and refused to come out.
He loved his mother and was always close to her but when she died he didn't feel sad for long. He never forgot her; he simply accepted her death and moved on. People around him thought it was an unusual behavior for such a young child but no one said anything.
Unlike Jon, the father took his wife's passing away in a bad way.
He blamed himself for her death. He believed that if only he spent more time with her she wouldn't have gotten sick. The blame corrupted his soul and as if to repent, he began to pay less and less attention to his company and more and more time to Jon.
The more time he spent with his son, the more responsibilities were dropped on Gorge.
In his mourning, Gorge dedicated his whole life to the success of Jon and his father, and by keeping the company safe he satisfied that need of his.
Jon's father, a veteran of the third world war, was a firm believer that a strong, healthy mind could only inhabit a strong and healthy body.
As an officer in WWIII, he was taught how to fight unarmed and fell in love with it. When the war ended and the world began rebuilding itself from the ground up, he made a fortune from a large gold deposit he discovered during his battle companies.
He used this fortune to create a small company that trafficked in electronics. With the connections he made during the war and the wealthy family he came from, this small company soon became one of the leading hi-tech firms in the post-war world.
However, leading a peaceful life didn't make him forget his passion for martial arts, and as the years passed and his company stabilized in the competitive market, he turned this passion into a hobby. Masters from all over the world instructed him in various arts of fighting and weapon masteries.
Before the death of his mother, Jon took very little interest in his father's hobby; instead his entire day was occupied by private tutors. In the fourth year of his life he had already started learning high school level topics. He was raised as an heir to the company and everything in his life was centered around it.
After the mother's death, Jon's father took over the instruction responsibilities from Gorge, and added martial arts training to Jon's daily regime.
The father and son quickly bonded through the harsh training and even when Jon grew up and there wasn't much more he could learn from his father, they still sparred regularly.
The father never remarried. No matter how many women Gorge tried to pick for him, the father seemed to treasure his wife regardless of how many years passed.
It was on Jon's eighteenth birthday that the second tragedy struck him.
His father died.
It was an accident but Jon blamed himself for it. He washed his hands numberless times, but the warm feeling of his father's blood remained.
He could live with that feeling; it was the cracking sound of his father's bones, being replayed over and over in his head that made him run away.
A whisper of that sound began to appear in his mind as he remembered his past. Luckily though, a real sound demanded his attention sending the soul wrenching whisper back into his subconsciousness.
Jon opened his eyes and looked around him, seeing only green wherever he looked, he stood up in wonder.
-'How far did I run?'-
The answer came as he read the systems massages that blocked his field of vision.
Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)
Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)
Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)
Swift Buff Learned
While the buff is active unnecessary movement are reduced and every action you perform becomes cleaner and more optimal.Cost: 50 Mp
Effect: Speed Increases by 5%
Duration: 2 Minutes
The heart of the forest had a magical ambiance to it.
Trees, with trunks wider than a building, encircled a clearing that was shaded by very high leaves that blocked the sunlight.
The little sunlight that did come through bounced off everything, giving a mystical glow to the vegetation. The clearing itself was covered with deep pools of clear, calm water and enormous dragonflies floated over the water surface.
Jon's feet left prints in the tall, bright green grass. Plants of all shapes and sizes spread their fragrance, which mixed together turning into a sweet yet gentle aroma.
He looked at where the sound came from, and on the other side of the clearing, where a large pool of water disappeared amongst thick tree roots, stepped out a deer the size of a horse.
As he looked closer, Jon's fear came back in full force and his paranoia got worse. The deer had a humanlike face that was colored bright red. Its numerous antlers looked like a peacock's tail.
For some reason the sight scared Jon stiff.
The monster stepped leisurely towards the water. With each step, flowers bloomed and died around its hoofs. The closer it got the faster Jon's heart began to pound.
When it was at the edge of the water it didn't stop but simply kept on walking. The hoofs sunk into the water for a moment but on the next step the deer continued straight, walking on the top of the water surface as if it were solid ground.
It moved forward until it reached a small island where it had to cramp its hoofs together to stand up. Lowering its big ugly head it sniffed a small puddle the size of a soup bowl which collected in the middle of the tiny island.
Jon saw how the puddle began to shine, illuminating the monster's human face from below and making it even uglier.
Through clear water he could see fish swim away in a hurry.
A rustling in the bushes behind him caught his attention and a gigantic white wolf stepped out into the clearing. Bigger than an elephant, the wolf moved gracefully towards Jon.
At this point, even though Jon knew he was inside the game the fear in him threatened to stop his beating heart.
The wolf, which at a close distance looked more gray than white, sniffed Jon in a slow inhale and stared at the monster deer when it was done. Something must have passed between them, because the wolf lowered its head and bent his front feet in a bow, after which it walked back into the cover of large trees, disappearing in the thicket.
As though he could feel it, Jon knew that the monstrous deer lowered its head again.
This time it puckered its cracked lips and as if it was kissing a loved one, it carefully touched the puddle of glowing water.
A shockwave spread through the clearing hitting Jon in the back and propelling him head first into one of the pools.
As strange as it was, the moment the shockwave hit him, as if blown away by its force, all of his fear was blasted out of him. Completely under water he rose to the surface and gently lifted his head to the cool air.
Waiting for the water to drip down his head he opened his eyes and looked at the clearing with an out of place calmness.
Ripples covered the water pools, and the leaves shook back into stillness.
The deer was gone and with it the puddle.
Soon, the clearing went back to its quiet self.
Jon didn't leave the water. The feeling of it against his skin was to his liking and he simply floated in one place with closed eyes.
In his sudden calmness, he analyzed the events that transpired and sorted out the extreme emotions he felt.
'That must be what a panic attack feels like..'- -
Hours passed but Jon still floated. Fish came out of their hiding and nibbled on the dead skin from his hands. Bugs landed on him and sucked salt off of him.
He dozed off a couple of times but it didn't matter to him.
Piece by piece he put together the reason for what he knew now was an emotional breakdown. It was that man, the one that struck the scarecrow relentlessly in the training ground, that was the cause. Seeing him work hard, made Jon remember how he himself worked hard.
This memory triggered another memory which triggered another, and eventually, everything he had repressed for the past five years suddenly flooded him and sent him running in fear.
But now it was okay. It seemed weird to him but although he still blamed himself for his father's death, he now accepted the fact that it wasn't his fault.
Once he made peace with that, everything else seemed to settle into place and when he opened his eyes, he felt like a new man.
-'It's been long over due.'-
He opened his main menu and logged out of the game, not even bothering to step out of the water.
Jon opened the door to Gorge's office room and stepped in.
"Jon?" Surprised, Gorge looked at his watch.
There was still time before dinner and he had never seen Jon come out before he needed to.
"Has anything happened?" He stood up and walked to Jon.
-'I've missed you!'- Jon thought as he hugged his old friend.
Gorge froze and didn't know what to do, but he hugged Jon back nonetheless. There was no need to say anything more. Gorge seemed to understand after a while Jon's intentions and without noticing, tears started running down his cheeks.
"Welcome back, Jon." He said for the second time this month, feeling that this time, the man he considered as his own son even if they weren’t related by blood, truly came back.
"What did I miss?" Jon asked as they parted.
This simple question sent a new wave of tears down Gorge's cheeks.
For two days they talked.
Although Gorge did most of the talking, it was no longer a one sided conversation.
Gorge saw how much it pained Jon when he explained how his father's death affected the company, but Jon wanted to know.
"I don't want to."
"Why not?"
"You're doing a good job and I don't feel like it."
"You do not feel like it? It is your destiny to lead. You have been born and raised for the role!"
"That’s when my father was still alive."
"You… what are you… how can you…" In a loss for words, Gorge went quiet for a while and Jon waited patiently.
"Jon, this is your company," he said in a calm and controlled tone. "The majority of the shares and money are held under your name. My role was to protect it until you take over, and now that you are here, my work is done!"
"No."
"You can not refuse!"
"Gorge," he took a deep breath, "I never wanted to be a C.E.O, and I only accepted the role because of my father. I wanted to work with animals when I was a kid but now I don't know what I want to do, all I know is that taking your position is not something I want to do. Keep it, and keep doing what you were doing."
"Jon... you need to understand that the situation is not that simple. The board of directors will see you as a threat. They will not ignore you! Especially Yo! The man will do anything to take over your father's company and will stop at nothing to either get rid of you or get you over to his side."
"If what you say is true, I have more than enough wealth to live comfortably till the day I die, you can have all my shares, I don't want them. This Yo won't have anything to fear if you're the official C.E.O"
They argued like that for some time, slowly Gorge realized Jon wouldn't budge, so he gave up, in a way.
"When did you become so stubborn?" Gorge sighed. "Have it your way! We shall keep everything as it is. I hope that eventually you will change your mind but until then I will hold the fort for you, so to speak."
Jon didn't respond.
"What are you planning on doing instead then?"
"In the near future… nothing. I thought about seeing the world but in the past five years I've traveled the whole globe and seen more than I ever wanted to."
"What di..."
"Gorge, please…" Jon looked at his friend's eyes, "Honestly, I don't want to do anything, just act lazy. I've never tried that."
"Hmm… You do not have to do it here, do you?"
"Not really."
"Very well. We will go back home in the end of the month, ok?"
"Sure."
"I am glad to have you back, Jon."
"I'm glad to be back, Gorge."
"I wonder how long you will laze around… you never could stay still for long," Gorge said to the empty room. Jon left some time ago but he stayed, sitting on an armchair and staring at the electric fireplace. He was smiling and humming to himself pleasantly.
Gorge was in a celebratory mood and so he took out his antic wooden pipe and poured himself a glass of the finest scotch.
"Pour yourself a glass dear, I am going back next month."
"Great news, sir." Silla's voice came out of the speakers as her head appeared to float before Gorge's armchair.
"I do not see you pouring."
"You know very well I don't drink, sir."
"Such a shame… at least drop the formalities. You never listen to me, but tonight I am not your boss. I am in a good mood and I would like to share it with you."
"Good news?" a small pause in which she seemed to struggle a bit but then added "Gorge?"
Gorge's mood got even better.
"Yes, I will be flying commercial home. And make sure the tickets are not business class."
"What?" Gorge enjoyed her flustered sight.
"And I will need two tickets."
Silia rolled her eyes and gave up on trying to understand. She knew there was logic behind everything he did, and she loved working under him, but sometimes he acted like her senile grandfather. She learnt to just go with him at those times.
"There's something you need to know before you start drinking… Gorge."
"What is it dear?" He lowered the glass from his lips.
"She called again…"
Gorge's hair seemed to stand up as anger flared in him but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
"Is it something important?"
"No, sir."
"Silia, no honorifics, please." He said with a fatherly smile and downed his glass in one go.
A bird sang outside the window.
During the day hundreds of birds crocked and chirped, believing the sounds coming out of their beaks were beautiful songs while in reality all they did was make noise.
But during the night, the birds that kept silent during the day, unwilling to compete with others, burst out with their beautiful melodies. They did not care if there was anyone out there to hear them; they did it because they would die if they didn't. Luckily, tonight there was someone listening and these birds much rather have one person who listened than a whole crowd pretending to.
Jon lay on his bed, listening to the sweet melody.
He went to sleep early, and used to sleeping for three to four hours a night, he woke up early as well. As a kid he suffered from insomnia, and even after it passed he never managed to go back to a normal sleeping schedule.
Jon tried to laze around and do nothing, but he got bored. Things bored him pretty fast in general, and laying on his back the birds melody didn't hold his interest for long.
-'Is this what it's going to be like from now on?'-
He rolled around for another hour forcing himself to stay in bed. The moon was still up in the sky and the day hadn't even begun.
Making a grunting sound he got up and went down stairs. Preparing a quick snack, he was surprised at how easily he could handle himself in the kitchen.
Sitting down in the living room he searched the internet for ways to spend one's free time. He wasn't ready for what jumped at him on the screen.
Advertisements for "Royal Road" dominated his view; everything seemed to relate itself to the game.
Shows, sports, vacations, tourism, Royal Road took over every aspect of entertainment there was. It didn't matter what Jon searched for, in the end it still came back to Royal Road. There were even schools that took place entirely inside the game.
With every search word, eventually leading to the same thing he gave up and decided to go for an early morning swim. For two weeks he had been living on a gorgeous island yet he never took time to enjoy it.
As he walked down to the beach his mood slowly worsened and while he floated in the sea, the waves gently rocking him back and forth, his mood turned foul. Even the breathtaking sunrise before him couldn't lift the black cloud that seemed to surround him.
The cause of it was the fact that he found it all dull.
Sure, the scenery was beautiful, but so was the scenery in Royal Road. At some places it was even better than real life. The "Heart of the Forest" area looked much better than anything he had ever seen.
But what was more important than looks was the content.
Real life couldn't surprise him anymore. As he floated in the seemingly endless sea he knew that that was all there was to it. In Royal Road he always had to be on his guard since there was no way of knowing what would happen next.
He swam around, feeling his muscles clench in the sudden effort and enjoy the exercise. The water was just the right temperature and the little wind that was blowing a few moments ago was gone, now that the sun rose higher in the sky.
Every thought he had eventually boiled down to one conclusion; he needed to play the Royal Road.
Jon didn't know what it was he wanted to do but he knew that playing the game would give him four times as much time to decide. More so, everything he had learnt in the game could be applied to real life.
-'Maybe I'll learn to play an instrument…'- From this moment his mind began to race.
He stepped out onto the beach and lost in his thoughts he walked back and forth.
So many possibilities opened up before him, he didn't understand why he hadn't seen it before. Every hobby he had ever wanted to have he could have inside the game and he would have four times as much time to enjoy them.
'-And I don't have to stick to hobbies…'-
The game allowed complete freedom, the psychopath he had killed taught him that, so why not play around with the system.
There was one thing he got really good at in the past five years and in the skirmish he fought in, he proved to himself that in the game he could do everything he imagined.
-'I fought together with wolves! And the aerial moves I pulled off never worked in real life… maybe I can make my other fantasies work as well?'-
Feats of superhuman strength, speed and agility flashed in his mind. By switching super powers with magic, the ways in which he imagined himself defeating opponents and fighting in wars seemed innumerable.
Imagining the things he might be able to do made his blood boil. It was the same feeling he had right before he faced an oncoming army with his wolves. It was a feeling he got addicted to in the first years of his underground fighting, but forgot about when the thrill of fighting disappeared. Now that he remembered this feeling he wasn't able to relax.
Jon started sweating. A fire lit inside him and it was burning him from the inside.
He walked fast, almost running, back to the wooden house and nearly slammed through the door when it refused to open.
Gorge offered him breakfast but Jon refused politely and headed straight to the capsule in the living room. He turned back in his tracks and headed into the kitchen while the capsule powered up.
"So you are hungry?" Gorge said with a laugh, the sound of processors from the capsule mixed with it.
"No." Jon spoke from outside the kitchen, not bothering to enter as he wasn't planning to stay for long. "Gorge, I haven't decided what I'll do with my life yet, but that doesn't meant I'll stop playing Royal Road." He paused to see if Gorge would say anything but when no response came he continued.
"Royal Road is a game! I don't need a special reason to play it. As long as I enjoy it I won't stop. Whatever else comes along let it come; I'll tackle it when it comes. For now, I want to spend my free time playing the game I enjoy the way I enjoy playing."
The looked at each other until a beeping sound from the capsule announced that it was ready for use. Once the silence was broken Gorge breathed out a small sigh and rolled his eyes.
"Have fun," he said to Jon sincerely and resumed eating.
Jon went back into the living room and entered the capsule. The darkness enveloped him as the lid closed, but a few seconds later he closed his eyes and let his consciousness enter the game.
Frightened fish hurried to get away from him.
His body materialized underwater and he was gasping for air. Kicking the soft sand on the bottom he jumped out of the pool breathing deep, enjoying the sweet, moldy air of the forest.
He climbed onto the bank and shook some of the water off. Looking around himself he felt at peace that he had made the right decision.
The heart of the forest felt like a magical place, and it probably was.
Jon wanted to return to the citadel but he had no idea where he was. After some looking around he chose what looked to him like the largest tree trunk. The first branches started far up and there was no other foot hold on the ancient tree so holding an arrow in each hand he used them to climb it.
It took him more than half an hour, but eventually the thick blanket of leaves was penetrated and direct rays of sunlight blinded him and made his eyes water. He didn't realize how dim the clearing actually was.
He almost fell down when he tried to wipe away the tears but managed to grab hold and keep climbing. Passing the tree tops around him he knew he chose correctly. The tree he was climbing was taller than the rest and the closer he got to its highest point the farther he could see.
The green forest spread out to the horizon, blocking anything that could have been hiding amongst it from sight.
New Achievement
Going Up
You've earned this achievement for climbing a 100 meter tree.
Bonus: +5 Strength
Achievements Earned: 1/76847
He thought the mountains to his north were familiar and when he looked to the south he saw, what he hoped was the tallest tower of Seraborg citadel. He wasn't sure but there was nothing else to do but go in that direction and check.
Jon started to climb down but stopped when he saw the time. The sun would soon begin to set and that appealed to him. Sliding down to a sturdy branch he found a comfortable position, leaned his head back on the tree trunk, and basking in the warm evening sun, he waited.
-'What a way to start a new page in my life.'-
Jon smiled, set an alarm clock through the main menu and dozed off. |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 1: Chapter 9 - Grounded",
"id": 242,
"next": 246,
"prev": 240,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Lee Hyun stared at a bunch of graphs shining on a screen in front of him. The first one showed the number of players playing RREV. It had been a whole week since the game went online and it had 6 million players. The trend was most encouraging from Lee Hyun’s perspective. Others would think that it is much worse as Unicorn used to have 10 million players. However Lee Hyun would look at the games success and not the company’s success. He believed that if the game was a success then so would the company succeed. Royal Road had only 4 million players and RREV had 6 million, thus Lee Hyun concluded RREV was doing better in terms of number of players.<br><br>The second graph on the screen displayed engagement ratio. This graph indicated that nearly all 80% users were playing the game for +9 hours a day, 10% for +15 hours/day, 5% for +18 hours/day. The remaining 5% were irregular players, they logged on as and when they pleased and played as much as they pleased. These results too were encouraging but they weren’t all that good. Maybe if +80% played the game for +12 hours/day, it would be an excellent result, but for now Lee Hyun and Unicorn Corp had to be satisfied. Lee Hyun continued going through graphs, pie-charts etc some told him about the average level and class in the game. The average was higher than his expectations, 50% players were already Class +FF. As he moved on, he checked the world map, exploration and discovery progress: 0%. It had only been one week so, no player could leave the starting city. He closed the reports and stepped out for a break. RREV had just cleared the initial critical period of 1 week post release. Lee Hyun could finally get some shut eye.<br><br>-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-<br><br>Lee Jun Zhou quickly gulped down his. He was impatiently waiting to log back into RREV.<br><br>“Don’t be in a hurry! Otherwise you’ll choke on your food!” snapped his mom.<br><br>He ignored his mom and continued munching away at what remained on his dinner plate. <br><br>His mom didn’t like being ignored. “Lee Jun, are you listening to what I said?” Her voice revealed how skeptical she was of receiving a reply.<br><br>Noting the change in his mothers voice, Lee Jun perked up his head and nodded. “Itch jus that dinner ij jo GUUD!” He spoke while his mouth was filled with food. Seeing his mother show disgust on her face, Lee Jun closed his mouth and smiled. He then resumed to munch away on his greens.<br><br>Unfortunately for Lee Jun, his mom didn’t buy it. Like all mothers know their children, she knew Lee Jun Zhou well, he was blatantly lying just to get back to the game which she was forcefully dragged him out off. She was very much worried about her son being addicted to the game especially since he was eating food that he hated (greens) without realizing so. “Ok that’s it! You are grounded! No more VR games for a week!”<br><br>“But Mom! I just unlocked my personal quest!! Come on! I even studied for the school test!!” Huge tears started rolling down the young boys face.<br><br>Unfortunately, Moms grow sturdier over time and they don’t give into crocodile tears at some point. His mom continued to ignore him as she packed away his VR gear and console. No matter how much he begged or pleaded, his mom didn’t budge from her decision.<br><br>Lee Jun began to accept his mother’s grounding. He thought of what else he could do in the mean while, sure his mom said no VR gaming, but she never said he can’t surf the web. He ran up stairs to his room and tapped the glass screen covering his wall.<br><br>“Welcome back master, Lee Jun. Where would you like to go today?” asked a computer like voice.<br><br>“The most popular RREV discussion forum.” The boy answered excitedly. Even though he couldn’t play the game he could always research more about it. He also had the option watching a live player feed, in case one of the Media houses decided to cover the show. <br><br>Lee Jun got lucky! There were live discussions on Lavias City going on as well as Live coverage of the game in other cities. The Media houses usually always sent one or two reporters to cover some games. Their aim usually was to build extensive in house knowledge about the game. However, some found it easier to simply contract Pro-gaming companies to do the same. In this case it seemed, KMC Extraordinare had sent an entire team (of 15 people) to the cover RREV. KMC Extraordinare Media was one of the larger media houses, so for them sending a team to cover a game was not all that abnormal. But KMC Media (abbreviated) had more reasons to send such a big team. Firstly, KMC Media became what it is today cause of their exclusive association with Weed / Lee Hyun. So it was natural that they would want to bet on the same person again. Secondly, the prize money was just too big to ignore. Lastly, the top brass of KMC Media just had a hunch RREV would become popular.<br><br>“Record all live feed and discussion.”<br><br>“Play feed from Durara City, from the starting.”<br><br>-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-<br><br>“Hi everyone, your favourite host, Kilp Woo here! I just selected the elven race and have decided to risk it with fire affinity. By taking fire affinity, players do not get a choice of starting kingdoms. As only one city has been discovered, I believe that Durara is the only place where one can start off.”<br><br>From what Lee Jun could tell, Durara was located on lower altitudes unlike Lavias which seemed to appear very high up – given the cloudy atmosphere. <br><br>Another similarity that probably all 4 kingdoms had was players were required to head to the temple of the starting city to initiate their combat skills. Kilp Woo headed to the fire temple where he was greeted by a priest. <br><br>Kilp Woo gained access to the temple and headed inside. “Ok so here I am in the Fire Temple! This is getting exciting!” After walking through a series of corridors (felt like going through a maze). Woo reached a grand hall. There were several users talking to each other, some players were reading scriptures on the wall and some talked to priests located near the exits. A vast majority were shouting ‘release’. Not that anything happened after the screamed. Woo wasn’t really sure where to begin with. Most games had a guide would talk to you, but in here there was clue as to whom to talk to.<br><br>“Hey are you new here?” Asked a player who noticed the confused Woo’s expression.<br><br>“Yeah.” He replied with slight embarrassment. <br>“Go talk to every priest in the hall. Only when you gather all the information from them can you move on to the next phase.” <br><br>“Thanks!” Woo screamed as he ran around talking to each priest.<br><br>The charitable player then resumed talking to players who were pestering him to join their party.<br><br>The first priest Woo talked to spoke about fire affinity. “Fire is the most dangerous affinity. Blessed are those who have decided to walk the path of fire.”<br><br>TRRRING!!!<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have learnt something about your affinity. <br>Progress: 1/30<br><br>Talk to some other priests and see what else you can learn about your affinity.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Woo hurried to the next priest. “Fire affinity players are by default citizens of Fire kingdom.”<br><br>And the next, “There are 6 known classes for fire affinity players. They are Class S, A, B, C, D and E. Each class has 3 subclasses and are usually denoted by ‘ +’ or a ‘ –‘ or nothing against the class name. You start with no class as you have no understanding of fire affinity.” <br><br>“The Emperor of the Fire Kingdom is rumored to be Class S - Level 400.”<br><br>“When you use fire attacks, the mana around you is being converted into fire.”<br><br> “Fire attacks can only be used with those who possess a container, ignition and fire affinity. A container is an item which converts mana into fuel for the fire. Ignition changes the fuel into fire and fire affinity helps you control the fire.”<br><br>“Mana is an inexhaustible resource. You never have to worry about it ending. You should just have the stamina to last as long as your attack.”<br><br>“Players with fire affinity are weak against earth affinity based attacks.”<br><br>The remaining priests talked about the history of the fire kingdom. As Woo finished learning all that he could from the priests, the last priest told Woo to meet a fire blacksmith to collect his ignition key.<br>Woo hurriedly collected his ignition key and had to do a related quest to gain a container. Once he did so, he returned to the temple to read the scriptures on the wall. The first step required Woo to mentally imagine a flame. Once he had the mental image fixed in his mind, he had to shout release. <br><br>“Release!” Nothing happened. Woo was embarrassed, this was not what he hoped to show the live audience.<br><br>“Release!” Nothing happened. He looked around for help and finally found the player who was helping everyone release their flame.<br><br>“Well. The thing is, just mentally imagining doesn’t cut it. I found it easier, if you accompanied some hand gestures to it.”<br><br>“Release!” shouted Woo while throwing a punch. Nothing happened.<br><br>“Release!” he shouted once again as he punched. Finally a tiny flame burst at the end of his fist.<br><br>TRRRING!!!<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have learnt how to use fire affinity. <br><br>You moved up a class. Your new class is E level 0.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The tiny flame had Lee Jun laughing out loud. He was happy he didn’t choose fire affinity. The fire affinity based players seemed to be constrained in finding a good ignition key and containers. Better the container, more the fire that could be burned at a given time. Though ignition key was only once needed to ignite the fire, the lower level ones had very very low durability; most came with a onetime use only. Woo’s containers name was ‘Match Stick’, true to its name it only burnt a flame as big a match stick could handle.<br><br>“Play feed from Aquaneos City, from the starting.”<br><br>Lee Jun, started scribbling down notes on his electronic pad. Water based affinity was written in the title. ‘These players require no container or ignition key to control water. They are weak to wind based attacks. Water affinity based players start with class FF. It is easier for players to learn water control rather than fire control…..’<br><br>“Play feed from Lavias City, from the starting.”<br><br>Title: Air based affinity. Players require special dresses to control air. They are weak to fire affinity attacks. Air affinity players start with class FF. It is as difficult to control air just like fire players.<br><br>“Play feed from Middle Earth, from the starting.”<br><br>Title: Earth based affinity. Players require no special item to control earth. They are weak to water affinity attacks. Earth affinity players start with class -FFF. The easiest of all elements to control.<br><br>Lee Jun paused for a moment. Rock, papers, scissors? Fire beats Air, Air beats Water, Water beats Earth and Earth beats Fire. So that’s how they have set this up. It was fairly standard practice in VRMMORPGs to set up magical abilities with weakness to each other. Darkness was weak to Light etc etc. However Lee Jun could not help but feel there was some deeper meaning to it. <br><br>Another thing Lee Jun noticed was that although fire appeared to be most constrained by the items and also the hardest to master. Those who did eventually learn how use it began with a huge advantage of starting class E. Thus the initial disadvantage was somewhat nullified.<br><br>Lee Jun wanted to know more how races would affect game play. <br><br>“Find threads relating to race selection.”<br><br>As he began reading discussions, his mom walked in.<br><br>“ITS THREE AM! WHY ARE YOU STILL UP!”<br><br>Lee Jun froze in terror. His mom stared at the glass screen.<br><br>“Parental Mode: Lock down for 1 month. Grounded 1 month, no VR games and no Internet! And GO TO SLEEP!” His mom screamed as she walked off.<br><br>"Fcuk!" <br><br>"AND NO SWEARING IN THE HOUSE! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT! YOU JUST EARNED ANOTHER MONTH!"<br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. The last swear is fuck. But it seems that the forum prevents posting of actual swearing. I just wanted to show how there was no auto-censorship in the fictional characters RL. :-/ I had no clue that RL had one too.<br>2. Sadly, Lee Jun Zhou is 10 years old - the age when you lack all freedom and your life is governed by adult commands.<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs<br>2. In case you skipped the prologue, I strongly recommend reading it. Otherwise the starting of this chapter would come across disconnected.<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=293" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | Lee Hyun stared at a bunch of graphs shining on a screen in front of him. The first one showed the number of players playing RREV. It had been a whole week since the game went online and it had 6 million players. The trend was most encouraging from Lee Hyun’s perspective. Others would think that it is much worse as Unicorn used to have 10 million players. However Lee Hyun would look at the games success and not the company’s success. He believed that if the game was a success then so would the company succeed. Royal Road had only 4 million players and RREV had 6 million, thus Lee Hyun concluded RREV was doing better in terms of number of players.
The second graph on the screen displayed engagement ratio. This graph indicated that nearly all 80% users were playing the game for +9 hours a day, 10% for +15 hours/day, 5% for +18 hours/day. The remaining 5% were irregular players, they logged on as and when they pleased and played as much as they pleased. These results too were encouraging but they weren’t all that good. Maybe if +80% played the game for +12 hours/day, it would be an excellent result, but for now Lee Hyun and Unicorn Corp had to be satisfied. Lee Hyun continued going through graphs, pie-charts etc some told him about the average level and class in the game. The average was higher than his expectations, 50% players were already Class +FF. As he moved on, he checked the world map, exploration and discovery progress: 0%. It had only been one week so, no player could leave the starting city. He closed the reports and stepped out for a break. RREV had just cleared the initial critical period of 1 week post release. Lee Hyun could finally get some shut eye.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Lee Jun Zhou quickly gulped down his. He was impatiently waiting to log back into RREV.
“Don’t be in a hurry! Otherwise you’ll choke on your food!” snapped his mom.
He ignored his mom and continued munching away at what remained on his dinner plate.
His mom didn’t like being ignored. “Lee Jun, are you listening to what I said?” Her voice revealed how skeptical she was of receiving a reply.
Noting the change in his mothers voice, Lee Jun perked up his head and nodded. “Itch jus that dinner ij jo GUUD!” He spoke while his mouth was filled with food. Seeing his mother show disgust on her face, Lee Jun closed his mouth and smiled. He then resumed to munch away on his greens.
Unfortunately for Lee Jun, his mom didn’t buy it. Like all mothers know their children, she knew Lee Jun Zhou well, he was blatantly lying just to get back to the game which she was forcefully dragged him out off. She was very much worried about her son being addicted to the game especially since he was eating food that he hated (greens) without realizing so. “Ok that’s it! You are grounded! No more VR games for a week!”
“But Mom! I just unlocked my personal quest!! Come on! I even studied for the school test!!” Huge tears started rolling down the young boys face.
Unfortunately, Moms grow sturdier over time and they don’t give into crocodile tears at some point. His mom continued to ignore him as she packed away his VR gear and console. No matter how much he begged or pleaded, his mom didn’t budge from her decision.
Lee Jun began to accept his mother’s grounding. He thought of what else he could do in the mean while, sure his mom said no VR gaming, but she never said he can’t surf the web. He ran up stairs to his room and tapped the glass screen covering his wall.
“Welcome back master, Lee Jun. Where would you like to go today?” asked a computer like voice.
“The most popular RREV discussion forum.” The boy answered excitedly. Even though he couldn’t play the game he could always research more about it. He also had the option watching a live player feed, in case one of the Media houses decided to cover the show.
Lee Jun got lucky! There were live discussions on Lavias City going on as well as Live coverage of the game in other cities. The Media houses usually always sent one or two reporters to cover some games. Their aim usually was to build extensive in house knowledge about the game. However, some found it easier to simply contract Pro-gaming companies to do the same. In this case it seemed, KMC Extraordinare had sent an entire team (of 15 people) to the cover RREV. KMC Extraordinare Media was one of the larger media houses, so for them sending a team to cover a game was not all that abnormal. But KMC Media (abbreviated) had more reasons to send such a big team. Firstly, KMC Media became what it is today cause of their exclusive association with Weed / Lee Hyun. So it was natural that they would want to bet on the same person again. Secondly, the prize money was just too big to ignore. Lastly, the top brass of KMC Media just had a hunch RREV would become popular.
“Record all live feed and discussion.”
“Play feed from Durara City, from the starting.”
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
“Hi everyone, your favourite host, Kilp Woo here! I just selected the elven race and have decided to risk it with fire affinity. By taking fire affinity, players do not get a choice of starting kingdoms. As only one city has been discovered, I believe that Durara is the only place where one can start off.”
From what Lee Jun could tell, Durara was located on lower altitudes unlike Lavias which seemed to appear very high up – given the cloudy atmosphere.
Another similarity that probably all 4 kingdoms had was players were required to head to the temple of the starting city to initiate their combat skills. Kilp Woo headed to the fire temple where he was greeted by a priest.
Kilp Woo gained access to the temple and headed inside. “Ok so here I am in the Fire Temple! This is getting exciting!” After walking through a series of corridors (felt like going through a maze). Woo reached a grand hall. There were several users talking to each other, some players were reading scriptures on the wall and some talked to priests located near the exits. A vast majority were shouting ‘release’. Not that anything happened after the screamed. Woo wasn’t really sure where to begin with. Most games had a guide would talk to you, but in here there was clue as to whom to talk to.
“Hey are you new here?” Asked a player who noticed the confused Woo’s expression.
“Yeah.” He replied with slight embarrassment.
“Go talk to every priest in the hall. Only when you gather all the information from them can you move on to the next phase.”
“Thanks!” Woo screamed as he ran around talking to each priest.
The charitable player then resumed talking to players who were pestering him to join their party.
The first priest Woo talked to spoke about fire affinity. “Fire is the most dangerous affinity. Blessed are those who have decided to walk the path of fire.”
TRRRING!!!
| You have learnt something about your affinity. Progress: 1/30Talk to some other priests and see what else you can learn about your affinity. |
| --- |
Woo hurried to the next priest. “Fire affinity players are by default citizens of Fire kingdom.”
And the next, “There are 6 known classes for fire affinity players. They are Class S, A, B, C, D and E. Each class has 3 subclasses and are usually denoted by ‘ +’ or a ‘ –‘ or nothing against the class name. You start with no class as you have no understanding of fire affinity.”
“The Emperor of the Fire Kingdom is rumored to be Class S - Level 400.”
“When you use fire attacks, the mana around you is being converted into fire.”
“Fire attacks can only be used with those who possess a container, ignition and fire affinity. A container is an item which converts mana into fuel for the fire. Ignition changes the fuel into fire and fire affinity helps you control the fire.”
“Mana is an inexhaustible resource. You never have to worry about it ending. You should just have the stamina to last as long as your attack.”
“Players with fire affinity are weak against earth affinity based attacks.”
The remaining priests talked about the history of the fire kingdom. As Woo finished learning all that he could from the priests, the last priest told Woo to meet a fire blacksmith to collect his ignition key.
Woo hurriedly collected his ignition key and had to do a related quest to gain a container. Once he did so, he returned to the temple to read the scriptures on the wall. The first step required Woo to mentally imagine a flame. Once he had the mental image fixed in his mind, he had to shout release.
“Release!” Nothing happened. Woo was embarrassed, this was not what he hoped to show the live audience.
“Release!” Nothing happened. He looked around for help and finally found the player who was helping everyone release their flame.
“Well. The thing is, just mentally imagining doesn’t cut it. I found it easier, if you accompanied some hand gestures to it.”
“Release!” shouted Woo while throwing a punch. Nothing happened.
“Release!” he shouted once again as he punched. Finally a tiny flame burst at the end of his fist.
TRRRING!!!
| You have learnt how to use fire affinity. You moved up a class. Your new class is E level 0. |
| --- |
The tiny flame had Lee Jun laughing out loud. He was happy he didn’t choose fire affinity. The fire affinity based players seemed to be constrained in finding a good ignition key and containers. Better the container, more the fire that could be burned at a given time. Though ignition key was only once needed to ignite the fire, the lower level ones had very very low durability; most came with a onetime use only. Woo’s containers name was ‘Match Stick’, true to its name it only burnt a flame as big a match stick could handle.
“Play feed from Aquaneos City, from the starting.”
Lee Jun, started scribbling down notes on his electronic pad. Water based affinity was written in the title. ‘These players require no container or ignition key to control water. They are weak to wind based attacks. Water affinity based players start with class FF. It is easier for players to learn water control rather than fire control…..’
“Play feed from Lavias City, from the starting.”
Title: Air based affinity. Players require special dresses to control air. They are weak to fire affinity attacks. Air affinity players start with class FF. It is as difficult to control air just like fire players.
“Play feed from Middle Earth, from the starting.”
Title: Earth based affinity. Players require no special item to control earth. They are weak to water affinity attacks. Earth affinity players start with class -FFF. The easiest of all elements to control.
Lee Jun paused for a moment. Rock, papers, scissors? Fire beats Air, Air beats Water, Water beats Earth and Earth beats Fire. So that’s how they have set this up. It was fairly standard practice in VRMMORPGs to set up magical abilities with weakness to each other. Darkness was weak to Light etc etc. However Lee Jun could not help but feel there was some deeper meaning to it.
Another thing Lee Jun noticed was that although fire appeared to be most constrained by the items and also the hardest to master. Those who did eventually learn how use it began with a huge advantage of starting class E. Thus the initial disadvantage was somewhat nullified.
Lee Jun wanted to know more how races would affect game play.
“Find threads relating to race selection.”
As he began reading discussions, his mom walked in.
“ITS THREE AM! WHY ARE YOU STILL UP!”
Lee Jun froze in terror. His mom stared at the glass screen.
“Parental Mode: Lock down for 1 month. Grounded 1 month, no VR games and no Internet! And GO TO SLEEP!” His mom screamed as she walked off.
"Fcuk!"
"AND NO SWEARING IN THE HOUSE! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU THAT! YOU JUST EARNED ANOTHER MONTH!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. The last swear is fuck. But it seems that the forum prevents posting of actual swearing. I just wanted to show how there was no auto-censorship in the fictional characters RL. :-/ I had no clue that RL had one too.
2. Sadly, Lee Jun Zhou is 10 years old - the age when you lack all freedom and your life is governed by adult commands.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs
2. In case you skipped the prologue, I strongly recommend reading it. Otherwise the starting of this chapter would come across disconnected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=293) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "SNEAK PREVIEW: TEASER",
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These are bunch of extracts from a lot of the upcoming chapters:<br><br><br>"Theodore stared the stats…’Just maybe this would be the right choice for him."<br><br><br>"The two masters clashed. Sparks were flying and the earth began to tremble. Each blow created a shockwave, which sent trees ripping and the earth jittering. Initially Weed thought to watch from a distance, however as the clashes intensified, the shock waves reached even a higher magnitude, so powerful were they that Weed who was at least a few hundred meters was sent flying back several feet."<br><br><br>"The two fighters jumped in the air towards each for a final blow but .............................it was over for him."<br><br><br>"Eventually after 2 weeks, Weed received a message from the system saying that the God would now ignore Weed and the affinity was no longer available to him. Most players would be appalled upon receiving such a message. But to Weed’s ears this was bliss."<br><br><br>"“War.” Screamed the healer as they got up to leave to safer areas. - But isn’t this a starting city? I mean how can war break out here?”<br><br>Weed shot a menacing look. “Are you saying you are refusing to help me? Your master? Your raison d’etre?”<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. You will see more of these releases soon! I know the story was slow to pick up and Volume 2 passed by without anything significant, but once it does ~_~ its pretty awesome. Please look forward to Vol 3 C10. :) That's where it gets a whole lot better.<br>2. By the way, Do you prefer short chapters or long chapters? Short chapters are quicker to post, long chapters take a while. It doesn't make much of a difference, but it impacts the number of volumes. Please do let me know your opinion, this is a hidden quest by the way. xD
</div> | These are bunch of extracts from a lot of the upcoming chapters:
"Theodore stared the stats…’Just maybe this would be the right choice for him."
"The two masters clashed. Sparks were flying and the earth began to tremble. Each blow created a shockwave, which sent trees ripping and the earth jittering. Initially Weed thought to watch from a distance, however as the clashes intensified, the shock waves reached even a higher magnitude, so powerful were they that Weed who was at least a few hundred meters was sent flying back several feet."
"The two fighters jumped in the air towards each for a final blow but .............................it was over for him."
"Eventually after 2 weeks, Weed received a message from the system saying that the God would now ignore Weed and the affinity was no longer available to him. Most players would be appalled upon receiving such a message. But to Weed’s ears this was bliss."
"“War.” Screamed the healer as they got up to leave to safer areas. - But isn’t this a starting city? I mean how can war break out here?”
Weed shot a menacing look. “Are you saying you are refusing to help me? Your master? Your raison d’etre?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. You will see more of these releases soon! I know the story was slow to pick up and Volume 2 passed by without anything significant, but once it does ~\_~ its pretty awesome. Please look forward to Vol 3 C10. :) That's where it gets a whole lot better.
2. By the way, Do you prefer short chapters or long chapters? Short chapters are quicker to post, long chapters take a while. It doesn't make much of a difference, but it impacts the number of volumes. Please do let me know your opinion, this is a hidden quest by the way. xD |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 5",
"id": 44,
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Chapter Five – Slayers, Dragons and Animal Cruelty<br><br>Cooking Skill Learned<br><br>"That's the basis of it." He was angry from explaining to Jon cooking basics.<br>"You want to get better, you need to start cooking."<br>They haven't opened yet, but Jon was already sweating from the kitchen heat. He arrived early like Burka told him and <br>was taken through a cooking boot course.<br>He used to help Gorge with preparing meals when he was a kid, so cooking wasn't new to him. <br><br><br><br>However what he thought he knew wasn't good enough for Burka.<br>Jon was yelled at for not holding the knife right, for not moving fast enough, for cutting things too big or too small. Whether he used too much herbs or not enough of them he was yelled at.<br>Even praise was yelled at him.<br>"Finally!", "That’s right!" or, "Good!" was always said with an angry tone, and loud enough for the whole kitchen to hear.<br><br>He might have been taught the Cooking skill, but it would be long until he would get a chance to actually prepare a dish.<br>For now, his cooking consisted of following Burka's orders and trying to anticipate what ingredient or seasoning he will need next.<br>Jon worked the whole day and when the time came for him to finish, instead of heading to the library he stayed and continued to help Burka, leaving only when the kitchen was closed for the night.<br><br>Cooking Skill Levels Up<br><br>"You've made it through a week with Burka, I'm genuinely amazed." Dragon stopped Jon as he logged back online.<br>"I've hired many adventurers like you, they all quit!" he smiled, "Most didn't even last a day with him. Couldn't handle his screaming and bossing around." He laughed.<br>"…"<br>"Still keeping to yourself? Your choice. As long as you keep helping Burka you can be a serial killer for all I care."<br>A corner of Jon's lips curved up just a tiny bit.<br>"Here, fifty silvers. Your cut of my winnings."<br>-'No wonder he’s in such a good mood.'-<br>They bet on him again. It seems this time Dragon was wiser.<br>"Listen, I respect you not talking and all, but if you're going to continue working here I need to know your name at least."<br>"Jon."<br>"Nice to meet you Jon." He extended his hand, "Dragon. Dragon the Mighty."<br>They shook.<br>"Good. Now, I understand Burka is showing you how to cook." He crossed his hands. "In that case I can't keep you as a kitchen hand anymore…"<br>"How about you become an apprentice cook? I’ve always wanted to have one in our kitchen but Burka always scares them away. How about it? You up for it?<br><br>Job Notice<br>You have been offered work as an apprentice cook. <br>Work schedule: 12 hours a day.<br>Time it takes for opening and closing the kitchen is not paid for. <br>Pay: 80 silvers a day.<br>Do you accept?<br>Yes? No?<br><br>"I am."<br>-'I like Burka.'-<br>Burka may seem angry all the time, but Jon understood that that was just who he was. He wasn't angry at all, that was just the way he talked.<br><br>Jon tried using the cooking skill to cook. All he had to do was invoke the skill and the system moved his body for him. Unfortunately his skill level was so low that all it got him were more angry screams from Burka.<br>As a result, he ended up cooking by himself, trying hard to keep up with Burka.<br>The cooking skill would kick in from time to time to adjust his hands position or show to him where and how to prepare an ingredient.<br><br>Cooking Skill Levels Up<br><br>As the skill rose there were even times it would show him a message suggesting what seasoning to use.<br><br>One day Burka told Jon to go through the whole seasoning rack, smelling and tasting each of them.<br>"You need to know their taste and how to recognize them. You waste time reading each label and it's slowing you down!"<br>Jon did as he was told.<br>He started from the usual ones like salt, sugar and pepper but soon got to the things found only in Royal Road. From different ground monster parts to things like fairy dust, elemental essence and things that looked, smelled and tasted more like something a witch would use than a seasoning for cooking.<br><br>Alchemy Skill Levels Up<br><br>Tasting unusual ingredients slowly increased his alchemy skill. For some ingredients there was even a popup window, showing its effects.<br><br>Blood Tree Sap<br>Sap collected from a Blood Tree. Incredibly sweet and with the beautiful color of red rubies. A blood tree sucks the blood of its victims and uses the blood to grow. A fully grown tree will be as hard as iron and with dark red leaves. The sap is high in calories and iron but getting it requires a lot of force.<br>Effects: Vitality +5<br>Unknown<br>Unknown<br>Unknown<br>Unknown<br><br>The alchemy skill seemed to supplement the cooking skill.<br>After he, in a way, identified the ingredients and seasoning with the alchemy skill the things he prepared for Burka became higher quality.<br>Understanding what he was working with made it easier to work with Gorge.<br><br>Cooking took over Jon's life, both in the game and outside of it.<br>He worked all day long with Burka, and at night when the kitchen closed down instead of heading to the library to read he logged out and cooked together with Jon.<br><br>"It is hard to believe that a week has not even passed yet since you started playing." Gorge spoke to Jon as they were making dinner together.<br>"…"<br>Jon still kept to himself most of the time, but while cooking he did talk to Gorge when he needed something passed or done.<br>"And Joshua tried to convince me that this was a bad idea." He was enjoying himself, lost in the nostalgia of the moment.<br>To Gorge, this was just like the time before Jon's father died. Less than a week ago he believed it was all gone forever, and now he was standing in the kitchen again, working together with Jon.<br>"Have you decided what to do once you can leave the citadel, Jon?"<br>"No."<br>"You should travel the land. I have read about so many interesting places in Royal Road... Maybe I will join you there one day." He was smiling to himself as he added the meat Jon cut into a frying pan.<br>They ate together as usual with Gorge explaining Jon as much of the game mechanics as he could. Once done eating, Jon jumped back into the capsule to get back to work.<br><br>"Give me your knife!" Burka snatched Jon's knife away from him.<br>"No wonder your work took a step backwards, this knife is dull!" He brought a grinding stone and attached it to the table.<br>"Look here."<br>Burka showed him how he attached it to the table. He began turning the handle and the round stone began to spin. Carefully he connected the knife with the stone.<br>Sparks flew out as the stone ground the metal of the knife's edge.<br>"Never work with a dull knife!" He spat, "It will ruin the ingredients!"<br>"You try!"<br><br>Sharpening Skill Learned<br>By the use of a grinding stone, wet stone, sharpening belt and a variety of other tools, you can return the edge of a weapon back to its original sharpness.<br>With good knowledge of sharpening, a weapon can even exceed its original attack power.<br>WARNING: Sharpening may result in durability loss.<br><br>A few minutes later he went back to work. It surprised him how easily the knife cut now.<br>-'I should sharpen my knife daily from now on.'-<br>He asked for a small break and visited the blacksmith shop. There he acquired a sharpening kit for a gold coin. An inflated price thanks to his high negative fame, but he decided it was something worth having.<br><br>"Listen up, listen up." Dragon came in the kitchen in a happy mood. "I have good news! A dragon was slain!"<br>The whole kitchen roared.<br>Jon didn't understand what was happening.<br>"An old friend of mine was part of the party that slew it." He shushed them.<br>"As thanks for having taught him how to hunt, he is sending me some dragon meat."<br>The kitchen staff roared again.<br>"You all know what that means, so start getting ready. It will arrive in two weeks." He went back to the dining hall leaving the kitchen in an uproar.<br>"Lucky."<br>"It's been so long!"<br>"I can't wait."<br><br>"Dragon meat?" Jon asked Burka.<br>"I know, I'm already drooling." It was the first time Jon didn't hear anger in his voice.<br>"…"<br>"You don't know about dragon meat?"<br>"No."<br>"Well, lucky you then." He sat down and closed his eyes for a moment. A rare smile appeared on his face.<br>"You see, Jon. Me and Dragon… well, they didn't call him Dragon at that time. Me and Dragon were dragon slayers, still are in fact, we just didn't kill any dragons lately."<br>"As in fifteen years, lately." One of the kitchen staff laughed, silenced by a knife thrown by Burka.<br>"Interrupt me again and you'll be cooking the meat with one hand."<br>The man went back to work still laughing.<br>Like I said, we were dragon slayers, the two of us. The best out there! And Dragon, he used to teach the young ones how to hunt them down. So every now and then we get dragon meat sent to us from them."<br>"…"<br>"Not impressed, are you?" he was surprised, "Do you even know how hard of an ingredient it is to get?"<br>"No."<br>"Ha. In all of Rozenheim kingdom, we're probably the only place to ever sell it. The only other place you'll find it, is on the tables of royalty." He was exited, talking loudly and waving his hands around.<br>"Not only is it the best quality meat out there, eating it makes you stronger."<br>"…" Jon was starting to get interested.<br>"The catch is, no matter how much of it you eat, as long as the meat came from the same dragon, it will affect you only once. Every dragon gives different bonuses and only once."<br>"That's one of the reasons there are hardly any dragons left now. Dragon slayers hunted them down almost to extinction, all in the pursuit of power." He sighed. "And money!"<br>"One bite from dragon meat can cost from a hundred and up to a thousand gold and more. Depending on the dragon the meat came from. Of course when prepared by someone like me the price gets even higher."<br>"Dragon meat is my specialty. I've cooked more dragon meat than anyone alive. People come from all over the land to get a taste of it. Don't be surprised if you see royalty in two weeks."<br>Jon looked around the kitchen. Everyone was excited.<br>"You're wondering what it has to do with you?"<br>"Yes."<br>"Dragon gives each of the staff a piece of meat. They can do whatever they want with it. Last time I sold most of mine, got me a small fortune. Most cook it for themselves. You'll get some as well, but you better get better at cooking if you want to get a better effect out of it."<br>"…"<br>"Didn't you hear me? Start cooking!" the angry Burka returned again.<br>And so Jon did, now with even more zeal than before.<br><br>Fame rises by 20 (+20 Fame)<br><br>Health points rise by 100 (+100 Hp)<br><br>His four weeks were over. To his annoyance that came with a small fame bonus.<br>Although he didn't care much for it right now, what attracted him to the game in the first place was seeing the players on the T.V fight monsters. From goblins to wyverns, the fights he saw on that program mesmerized and intrigued him.<br>Whenever he fought in the underground battles, in his mind he could do things that when he tried to do in reality, the laws of physics wouldn't allow him.<br>When he saw things like blocking a tree trunk swung by a troll with a small round shield and man defeat a giant by slashing his way inside the giant’s leg and hacking his way through the body only to come out from the mouth, he knew he could finally fight the way he imagined he could.<br>So, presented with the chance of monster fighting at last, as soon as he finished work he took it.<br><br>There were two gates to the citadel, an eastern and a western one. Jon exited through the west gate.<br>The guards standing on each side of the gate kept their eyes on him as he walked by them. As he stood on the other side of the gate, a pastoral scene came in to view. <br>Lit by the dim light of the moon, Jon gazed upon a big stretch of grass, stretching far and disappearing between smaller trees of the forest. From what he could see the forest looked like it had encircled the whole citadel.<br>While the environment was beautiful, what he saw happening in front of his eyes was horrendous. It froze him in place and he just stood there looking at the massacre happening next to him. Dozens of players were running around, some alone others in parties, and killing everything they were fast enough to catch.<br>If not for the cover of the night, what Jon knew was supposed to be a green grassland would have surly been colored red.<br>Wherever he looked cute and fluffy bunnies were butchered. Raccoons and foxes were ganged up on and killed ruthlessly. Jon thought he would be fighting monsters but instead the game wanted him to kill innocent animals to level up.<br>A wolf ran out of the forest. It was chasing a group of players who kept hitting him and running away. Once it was out of the forest the five of them surrounded it and began beating him ruthlessly. It tried to fight back but against five, it was a lost battle. Jon could hear its whines as is breathed its last breath.<br>-Disgusting!-<br>He went back into the citadel with a new goal.<br><br>A sign hung over the wooden door, on it were carved an arrow and a knife with their tips touching. The entrance to the rogue's guild looked simple and unimpressive.<br>On the other side of the street was the entrance to the warriors' guild. Unlike the first one, this entrance was spectacular. Clean and freshly painted, it had marvel steps and even an outrageous fountain with a statue of a barbarian in the middle.<br>There was a good reason for the difference. Guild depended on funds from its members for money. And in Royal Road, the vast majority of players preferred warriors to rogues. Not because warriors were better but only because they were easier to play.<br>Unlike rogues who had to rely on their own prowess, warriors could rely completely on the game's skill system.<br>While all a warrior had to do to kill a monster was swing the sword and the system took care of the rest, a rogue, especially one who relies on bows had to aim by himself.<br>Since most people didn't have good aim, and didn't want to train hard until their skills were high enough to compensate for it, they would simply denounce the idea and become a warrior instead. And so the warrior's guild flourished.<br>However for what Jon wanted to do he needed the rogues' guild, no matter how run down it looked.<br><br>A man exited the guild. He was wearing mages robes and was incredibly tall.<br>"You're in luck," he spoke to Jon.<br>"I just finished recasting the lights in the shooting range, they've been out for a week. You came in the right time."<br>He didn't wait for a response and went on his way. Jon entered the building and was surprised at how empty it was.<br>"Hello," a man said to him. "You're here to join us?"<br>Jon could tell he was an Npc by the way he was looking at him. His fame was working against him again.<br>"Yes."<br>"Bows or knives?"<br>"Bow."<br>"Do you have the bow mastery skill?"<br>"No."<br>"You can't join until you have one. But for five gold we will supply you with a practice bow and an unlimited amount of arrows for you to use in our shooting range. Once you acquire the skill come to me and I'll change your class to a bowman."<br>"Four gold."<br>"This is not up for negotiation. Five gold is the fee. Come back when you have it." The Npc started walked away.<br>"I'll cover the price."<br>"Kino, why waste money on this guy?" the Npc sounded annoyed.<br>"We hardly get new people and when one finally comes, you refuse to accept him?"<br>The Npc brought Jon a short bow and a quiver of dull arrows and left for a different room.<br>"Sorry for him."<br>"Name's Kino," he extended his hand. "It's good to see a new player take up the bow."<br>Jon put four gold coins in his hand.<br>"Wha? It's fine, don't worry about the money. Five gold is nothing at my level." He returned the money to Jon.<br>"Here, see," He showed Jon a paper with a quest notice on it. "Reward: One hundred and fifty gold coins."<br>"A couple of harpies attacked a small village in the north and unfortunately a party of idiot warriors decided to take up the quest. All the harpies had to do was fly over their heads and drop rocks. Now the warriors are hiding together with the villagers and I need to come and save the day."<br>"All of them are the same. Put a sword in their hands and they think they’re invincible." He was smiling. "So much gold for shooting down a few harpies, aren't I lucky?"<br>He hit Jon over the shoulder laughing.<br>"Anyway I got to get going. I've got a three day walk ahead of me. I hope I'll see ya again here."<br>He left waving goodbye to the few people who were there.<br>"The shooting range is that way." He popped his head back through the door.<br>Jon looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a thick metal door.<br>"Thank you." He said but Kino was already gone.<br><br>Jon looked around for the first time. The room looked like a bar, more than a guild. The only indication of it being a rogues guild was the numerous bows, knives and arrows everywhere. Hung on the walls were the better quality bows and in display cases lay special arrows. Some of those arrows even had a colored glow emitted by them.<br>No one paid any more attention to him so he went through an iron door and entered a shooting range.<br>It was big. Very big.<br>Lit by magic to simulate day light, Jon couldn't even see the farthest target. Three more players were there. One of them stood out thanks to his bow, if you can call it a bow.-'It's as big as him.'-<br>He was using arrows the size of rockets, and he was shooting at a target so far away that to Jon, it looked no bigger than a tennis ball.<br>"You're a newbie too?" A teenage boy asked Jon.<br>"…"<br>"I can tell by your bow." He showed his and it was the same as Jon's. "You know what to do?"<br>"No."<br>The boy jumped at the opportunity to show off his knowledge.<br>"You see the closest target to us." He pointed at the fifteen meter target. "All you have to do to get the bow mastery skill is hit that one and the two after it, dead center."<br>The next two targets were positioned at the thirty and fifty meter marks.<br>"Sounds easy, right?" a sad laugh escaped him.<br>"It's not, believe me, I've been stuck on the last target since morning." He strung an arrow and let it fly.<br>"See? This bow can't shoot that far! And when I complained about it to the others they just laughed at me and said I need to practice until I become stronger." He shot another arrow. Like the other one it landed a couple of meters shy of the target. A bunch of arrows were stuck in the ground around it already.<br><br>Jon took out an arrow as well. It was a simple wooden arrow with a metal tip. The edge was completely dull though.<br>His lack of response made the boy give up the conversation and concentrate on the shooting. Jon sat at one of the benches sticking out of the wall behind him. He took out his sharpening kit. In it was a small device for sharpening arrow tips. He picked the one that fit the arrow he was using out of five different arrow designs and went through the whole quiver.<br>One of the arrows broke, as it's durability reached zero but the rest were now shiny and sharp.<br><br>Sharpening Skill Levels Up<br><br>He chose an empty place and stood in front of his first target. The target was a straw scarecrow with red circles marked on the head and torso areas. It was approximately human sized and hard to miss at such a close range.<br>He checked his bow and like he thought it was a simple short bow, about eighty centimeters long and with a 33 kilo maximum draw strength.<br>He trained with long bows when he was younger, where to draw a string to its optimal shooting position, a force of 71 kilograms was needed.<br><br>This was the reason the kid couldn't hit his last target. When Jon logged in for his first time, a part of the scan the capsule took of him was a measurement of his strength and speed. By measuring the electrical pulses from his muscles the capsule calculated his physical parameters and transferred them into the game. Thanks to that, when Jon entered the game his body felt like his real body. The same scan was done on the kid, and since he wouldn't be able to shoot a bow that far in real life, inside the game it wasn't different.<br>If he wanted to succeed in hitting the last target he needed to raise his strength stat. Ten points were simply the games way of showing each player’s real life power. If a player could bench-press one hundred kilo weights his starting out strength stat would be ten, same as a player who can only bench-press twenty kilo weights.<br>When these two players raise their strength stat the stronger player will have a much higher effect then the weaker one even if they both add the same amount of stats.<br>That is why players needed to choose the class that suited them best. While a very weak player could become a strong warrior, he would need to put a lot more stat points in strength than a strong player who can already easily wield a heavy weapon even without putting any points into strength.<br>For the scrawny kid who was trying to shoot a bow next to Jon, the mage class would have been better, or maybe a knife wielding class that relied on speed. That is not to say he couldn't play as whatever class he wanted, it just meant he would have a harder time playing it.<br><br>Jon fitted an arrow, lifted the bow over his head with a straightened arm. Slowly he lowered his arm in an arc, pulling back the string as it lowered. When he got into firing position the bow was strung back as far at it could go and the targets head was where he was aiming. He let go of the back of the arrow, letting the bow straighten and sending the arrow flying straight into the colored mark in the center of the straw circle. It hit with enough force to penetrate the straw and poke out on the other side, almost falling completely.<br>His next arrow hit the thirty meter target and after a few more tries the third target had an arrow stuck in the red colored mark.<br><br>Archery Mastery Acquired<br>Archery mastery affects the ability to use short bows, long bows and crossbows with efficiency.<br>The higher the mastery the better the accuracy of the shoots are.<br>The archery mastery also affects shooting speed and attack power.<br>Level 1 Bonus:<br>Accuracy increased by 5%<br>Attack speed increased by 5<br><br>"How did you do that?" The boy yelled.<br>"Practice." He said and left to find the Npc from before.<br>Jon left the boy dumbfounded at the shooting range and entered the tavern looking room.<br>He quickly located the Npc and came up to him.<br>"What do you want?" he said, annoyed.<br>"Done."<br>"You're what?"<br>"…"<br>The Npc's eyes opened wide and he struggled for words.<br>"Well… hmm… that was pretty fast." He looked puzzled. "This isn't your first time shooting is it?"<br>"No."<br>"I thought as much." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Show me you've learned the archery skill and you'll be officially part of our guild."<br>Jon spoke out the command in his mind and the skill window opened, he turned it and faced it towards the Npc.<br> "Let’s see now." A smile appeared on his face at last as he finished reading.<br><br>Magic Mastery level 3<br>Archery Mastery level 1<br>Knife/Dagger Mastery level 2<br>Cooking Mastery level 4<br>Alchemy Mastery level 2<br>Sneak Mastery level 2<br>Sharpening level 2<br>Silent Strike level 2<br><br><br>"You're really stupid," he laughed. "You could've joined using your dagger mastery, and then the bow and arrows would've been free…"<br>"…"<br>"No wonder you and Kino got along." He took out a paper page, a quill and an ink well.<br>"Sign here and you part of us."<br><br>You Have Joined the Rogue's Guild<br>The guild is a place for forming friendship and hunting parties.<br>Some guilds have their own blacksmiths and merchants where guild members can trade for cheap.<br>The message board in each guild has many quests and jobs to choose from. <br>As a member of the guild you can get free food and lodging in every city that has a branch of it.<br>Notice: All rogue guild related Npcs now like you.<br><br>As soon as the paper was signed, the Npc's demeanor changed.<br>Moving the things away, he put his hand on Jon's shoulder and motioned him to follow.<br>"I'm the caretaker of this guild building, if you ever need help with anything come to me." The y walked into a different room.<br>"If you're interested in bows, first thing you should do is visit an artillator."<br>"Artillator?"<br>"Yeah, he's specializes in bows, crossbows and everything related to archery in general. From arrows to finger guards, he'll have everything you need." He slapped Jon's back a couple of times as he said that.<br>"And since you’re an official member he'll give you a special price."<br>"Here he is."<br>They stopped next to a bald man with squinting eyes. He was short but the muscles on his arms stood out sharply compared to his thin legs.<br>"I've brought you a new guy to equip." He moved Jon forward, and even though he was shorter than him he kept both of his hands on his shoulders.<br>"Promising young fellow, this one." He pushed Jon forward. "Haven't seen anyone get archer mastery this fast in quite some time now."<br>The bald man stepped forward. He was holding a large crossbow that he had just finished winding.<br>"Ballard's the name," he said in a very low voice. The voice didn't match his looks. Small and unimpressive, his voice sounded like something a giant would speak with.<br>"Jon."<br>"So, Jon, what's your weapon of choice?" He spread his hands to indicate the many bows and crossbows around him.<br>Jon looked around from where he was standing.<br>"You're very tall… long arms..." he mumbled to himself, "getting archery fast means you either have an inborn talent or, and this is more likely, you have experience with sharp shooting!"<br>"…"<br>"So what weapon are you experienced with?"<br>"Longbow."<br>"Yes… I guessed correctly." He put a crossbow down and took two bows of their hooks.<br>"Shorter or longer?" He held a bow in each hand.<br>While both were generic longbows, thin and made out of sturdy yet flexible wood, the left one was shorter than the other.<br>At six feet long (180cm) the left bow was the shortest possible length for a bow to be considered a longbow. The right bow, a standard longbow, was seven feet long (210cm) when not strung.<br>"Longer."<br>Ballard was silent for a moment. He looked at Jon from head to toe and put both bows back to where he had taken them from.<br>"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you’re not looking for a strong attack bow, are you?"<br>He was correct.<br>"Need distance." Jon acknowledged that Ballard was a professional in his trade.<br>"Ahah! Very well." He began taking off bows one by one, trying to get to something far in the back. He was excited.<br>"I've made this one a long time ago." He took out a simple looking longbow. "If it is distance you need, nothing will compare to this! I just hope it's not rotten inside." He took a string from a pile and started bending the bow.<br>"I made it from wood of a floating tree. That’s the reason for the color." He gave the strung bow to Jon. Although the same size as the other seven foot bow, its color was teal in the middle turning cyan towards the endings with the tips of the bow an almost transparent with a faint sky blue tint.<br>But it wasn't the color that surprised Jon, it was the weight. It was as light as a feather and just like one, when he let go of the bow, it didn't fall. It floated down and he just lazily picked it up right before it hit the ground.<br>"One of my favorite works." Ballard said, his eyes becoming wet and shiny, "Too bad it's as good as useless."<br>Jon looked at him questioningly.<br>"No attack power," he stated.<br>"It will kill a rabbit or a fox, but anything bigger and unless you hit a vital spot you'll need to wait for it to bleed to death." He sighed. "You're better off just running up to the monster and hitting it with the bow."<br>"Why?" Jon asked.<br>"Why am I showing it to you? If you want to hit far away targets, nothing I have here can compare to it. A good long bow can shoot an arrow at a target more than two hundred meters away… this beauty can send an arrow flying three hundred meters without you even breaking out a sweat."<br>Jon looked at the bow in his hands. He had to look at it or else he didn't even feel it was there.<br>"Come on now, give it here, I was just bragging a little. It is a useless bow and it's been left to rot for it."<br>"I'll take it."<br>"You're serious?" he grabbed Jon's arm with incredible strength. "You better not be kidding. A novice like you won't even have the skill to shoot the far, no point of you taking it just to make me feel better."<br>"…"<br>They looked each other in the eyes, Jon with his perfect poker face and Ballard with his half closed eyes.<br>"I think the caretaker was right, you really are a promising one." He let go of Jon's arm.<br>"Okay, let's get you fitted for shooting." He began throwing things at Jon for him to try on.<br>He didn't need much but Ballard insisted on equipping him from head to toe. Jon put on a matching set of leather armor.<br>Thick and sturdy, it may now stop a sword but a knife or an arrow won't pass through easily, while teeth and talons would only get stuck.<br>The only thing he kept from his original attire was the simple brown hood he got from one of the killed players in the library. It didn't offer any protection like the leather helmet Ballard insisted on, but it could hide a red PKer mark if there was ever a need for it.<br>"Come on; let's go give my beauty at test run." He hurried Jon towards the shooting range.<br>"Where are you taking him?" yelled the caretaker from behind the bars counter.<br>"To shoot of course!" He kept hurrying.<br>"Take him to the instructor first."<br>It was clear Ballard was eager to see his bow in action. He debated with himself and decided the instructor came first.<br>"He will help you shoot better. After me."<br>The instructor offered to change Jon's class to a Longbow Man.<br><br>Class Change Notice<br>You have been offered to switch to a Longbow Man from an Assassin.<br>Skills gained by becoming an assassin will be deleted, unless you have reached level two or higher in them.<br><br>Both the sneak and the silent strike skills were level two, so he will keep them. And even if he didn't Jon wouldn't have hesitated, he wanted to use bows and the Longbow Man class suited him at the moment.<br>He accepted without a second thought.<br><br><br>You have changed your profession to a Longbow Man.<br>With a longbow being considered a commoners weapon, this class is one of the most played classes.<br>This is the class to choose if you want to kill your opponent from afar. Precise and deadly, an arrow fired from a longbow will come down whistling from the sky, penetrating both armor and flesh.<br>+20 Dexterity<br>+5 Strength<br>A longbow man can choose between an Archer and Hunter class when he reaches level 30. To initiate the class change quest you will need to visit an instructor specific to your class.<br><br>Perception Stat Added<br>A stat that affects a player's power of vision.<br>As the stat rises so will a player's ability to perceive moving objects and notice details in his surroundings.<br>The higher the stat the farther a player can see.<br>It is said that a player with very high perception can even count the number of locusts in a moving swarm.<br><br>Power Shot Skill Learned.<br>By temporarily surrounding the bow with mana, the longbow man can draw the arrow farther than the bows maximum breaking point.<br>This allows the longbow man to fire an arrow that deals more damage and has a higher chance of penetrating the target.<br>Level 1: Maximum firing distance 30m<br>Attack power increased by 10%<br>Cost: 20 MP<br><br>Owl's Instincts Skill Learned<br>An owl, the shadow of the night. It hunt's under the moonlight managing to catch and kill pray with ease even in the darkest of nights.<br>With instincts so honed he manages to REPLACE his talons into his targets vital spots at amazing speed and with incredible precision even under the most difficult conditions.<br>Users of bows have strive to achieve their astounding feats throughout the ages.<br>Level 1: Critical Hit Chance +5%<br><br>They entered the shooting range. The boy was still there trying hard.<br>He looked at Jon when he came in and jealousy overwhelmed him. Here he was, on his third day of shooting and still without the archery mastery, looking at a guy dressed like a real rogue. A guy that only an hour ago entered the guilds shooting range for the first time.<br><br>"You ready?" Ballard was having trouble hiding his excitement.<br>"Shot it as far as you can, don't worry about the place, it's a magical room. The ceiling is as high as the sky and it will take you days of walking to reach the other side."<br>"…" Jon took out an arrow from the quiver safely attached to his waist.<br>Ballard bit his lip as he looked at Jon fit the arrow between his finger-guards and placed the shaft between his finger and the wood of the bow. It fell comfortably into a small cervix in the center of the bow.<br>He drew it back hard.<br>He had to use more strength than he was used too, to make it bend, but he managed to draw the arrow back until he felt the feathers on the back tickle his ear.<br>Raising the bow to a forty-five degree angle, took aim at nothing in particular and let go of the arrow.<br>The arrow disappeared from sight, leaving behind it a whistling sound. After a few moments it appeared as a small dot falling down to earth in the far distance. Where it landed was too far for Jon to see, but Ballard next to him whistled while up to the point it hit the ground.<br>"Five hundred meters, easy." He clapped his hands a couple of times.<br>"Didn't I tell you? Nothing can compare to it!"<br>Jon was amazed, so much in fact it almost showed on his face. Almost.<br>-'Weapon stat'- he spoke in his mind.<br><br>Star Piercer<br>Attack: 1 Durability: 50/50 Multiple Shot Speed: 9<br>A bow made out vines of a floating tree. These trees spin their vines at incredible speed, which allows them to ride wind currents from one place to the other in the search of nutrients.<br>The vine is very strong, light and elastic making it fine building material but poor basis for weapons. The vines characteristics make it incredibly weak and most of the time you are better of using a stone.<br><br>Just like the description said, the bow had the same attack power as a stone. Normal arrows had one attack power and buying stronger arrows was out of the question.<br>However the shooting distance it allowed for was extraordinary, and this was more important to Jon than attack power.<br>-'This is perfect.'- <br>He felt good.
</div> | Chapter Five – Slayers, Dragons and Animal Cruelty
Cooking Skill Learned
"That's the basis of it." He was angry from explaining to Jon cooking basics.
"You want to get better, you need to start cooking."
They haven't opened yet, but Jon was already sweating from the kitchen heat. He arrived early like Burka told him and
was taken through a cooking boot course.
He used to help Gorge with preparing meals when he was a kid, so cooking wasn't new to him.
However what he thought he knew wasn't good enough for Burka.
Jon was yelled at for not holding the knife right, for not moving fast enough, for cutting things too big or too small. Whether he used too much herbs or not enough of them he was yelled at.
Even praise was yelled at him.
"Finally!", "That’s right!" or, "Good!" was always said with an angry tone, and loud enough for the whole kitchen to hear.
He might have been taught the Cooking skill, but it would be long until he would get a chance to actually prepare a dish.
For now, his cooking consisted of following Burka's orders and trying to anticipate what ingredient or seasoning he will need next.
Jon worked the whole day and when the time came for him to finish, instead of heading to the library he stayed and continued to help Burka, leaving only when the kitchen was closed for the night.
Cooking Skill Levels Up
"You've made it through a week with Burka, I'm genuinely amazed." Dragon stopped Jon as he logged back online.
"I've hired many adventurers like you, they all quit!" he smiled, "Most didn't even last a day with him. Couldn't handle his screaming and bossing around." He laughed.
"…"
"Still keeping to yourself? Your choice. As long as you keep helping Burka you can be a serial killer for all I care."
A corner of Jon's lips curved up just a tiny bit.
"Here, fifty silvers. Your cut of my winnings."
-'No wonder he’s in such a good mood.'-
They bet on him again. It seems this time Dragon was wiser.
"Listen, I respect you not talking and all, but if you're going to continue working here I need to know your name at least."
"Jon."
"Nice to meet you Jon." He extended his hand, "Dragon. Dragon the Mighty."
They shook.
"Good. Now, I understand Burka is showing you how to cook." He crossed his hands. "In that case I can't keep you as a kitchen hand anymore…"
"How about you become an apprentice cook? I’ve always wanted to have one in our kitchen but Burka always scares them away. How about it? You up for it?
Job Notice
You have been offered work as an apprentice cook.
Work schedule: 12 hours a day.
Time it takes for opening and closing the kitchen is not paid for.
Pay: 80 silvers a day.
Do you accept?
Yes? No?
"I am."
-'I like Burka.'-
Burka may seem angry all the time, but Jon understood that that was just who he was. He wasn't angry at all, that was just the way he talked.
Jon tried using the cooking skill to cook. All he had to do was invoke the skill and the system moved his body for him. Unfortunately his skill level was so low that all it got him were more angry screams from Burka.
As a result, he ended up cooking by himself, trying hard to keep up with Burka.
The cooking skill would kick in from time to time to adjust his hands position or show to him where and how to prepare an ingredient.
Cooking Skill Levels Up
As the skill rose there were even times it would show him a message suggesting what seasoning to use.
One day Burka told Jon to go through the whole seasoning rack, smelling and tasting each of them.
"You need to know their taste and how to recognize them. You waste time reading each label and it's slowing you down!"
Jon did as he was told.
He started from the usual ones like salt, sugar and pepper but soon got to the things found only in Royal Road. From different ground monster parts to things like fairy dust, elemental essence and things that looked, smelled and tasted more like something a witch would use than a seasoning for cooking.
Alchemy Skill Levels Up
Tasting unusual ingredients slowly increased his alchemy skill. For some ingredients there was even a popup window, showing its effects.
Blood Tree Sap
Sap collected from a Blood Tree. Incredibly sweet and with the beautiful color of red rubies. A blood tree sucks the blood of its victims and uses the blood to grow. A fully grown tree will be as hard as iron and with dark red leaves. The sap is high in calories and iron but getting it requires a lot of force.
Effects: Vitality +5
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
The alchemy skill seemed to supplement the cooking skill.
After he, in a way, identified the ingredients and seasoning with the alchemy skill the things he prepared for Burka became higher quality.
Understanding what he was working with made it easier to work with Gorge.
Cooking took over Jon's life, both in the game and outside of it.
He worked all day long with Burka, and at night when the kitchen closed down instead of heading to the library to read he logged out and cooked together with Jon.
"It is hard to believe that a week has not even passed yet since you started playing." Gorge spoke to Jon as they were making dinner together.
"…"
Jon still kept to himself most of the time, but while cooking he did talk to Gorge when he needed something passed or done.
"And Joshua tried to convince me that this was a bad idea." He was enjoying himself, lost in the nostalgia of the moment.
To Gorge, this was just like the time before Jon's father died. Less than a week ago he believed it was all gone forever, and now he was standing in the kitchen again, working together with Jon.
"Have you decided what to do once you can leave the citadel, Jon?"
"No."
"You should travel the land. I have read about so many interesting places in Royal Road... Maybe I will join you there one day." He was smiling to himself as he added the meat Jon cut into a frying pan.
They ate together as usual with Gorge explaining Jon as much of the game mechanics as he could. Once done eating, Jon jumped back into the capsule to get back to work.
"Give me your knife!" Burka snatched Jon's knife away from him.
"No wonder your work took a step backwards, this knife is dull!" He brought a grinding stone and attached it to the table.
"Look here."
Burka showed him how he attached it to the table. He began turning the handle and the round stone began to spin. Carefully he connected the knife with the stone.
Sparks flew out as the stone ground the metal of the knife's edge.
"Never work with a dull knife!" He spat, "It will ruin the ingredients!"
"You try!"
Sharpening Skill Learned
By the use of a grinding stone, wet stone, sharpening belt and a variety of other tools, you can return the edge of a weapon back to its original sharpness.
With good knowledge of sharpening, a weapon can even exceed its original attack power.
WARNING: Sharpening may result in durability loss.
A few minutes later he went back to work. It surprised him how easily the knife cut now.
-'I should sharpen my knife daily from now on.'-
He asked for a small break and visited the blacksmith shop. There he acquired a sharpening kit for a gold coin. An inflated price thanks to his high negative fame, but he decided it was something worth having.
"Listen up, listen up." Dragon came in the kitchen in a happy mood. "I have good news! A dragon was slain!"
The whole kitchen roared.
Jon didn't understand what was happening.
"An old friend of mine was part of the party that slew it." He shushed them.
"As thanks for having taught him how to hunt, he is sending me some dragon meat."
The kitchen staff roared again.
"You all know what that means, so start getting ready. It will arrive in two weeks." He went back to the dining hall leaving the kitchen in an uproar.
"Lucky."
"It's been so long!"
"I can't wait."
"Dragon meat?" Jon asked Burka.
"I know, I'm already drooling." It was the first time Jon didn't hear anger in his voice.
"…"
"You don't know about dragon meat?"
"No."
"Well, lucky you then." He sat down and closed his eyes for a moment. A rare smile appeared on his face.
"You see, Jon. Me and Dragon… well, they didn't call him Dragon at that time. Me and Dragon were dragon slayers, still are in fact, we just didn't kill any dragons lately."
"As in fifteen years, lately." One of the kitchen staff laughed, silenced by a knife thrown by Burka.
"Interrupt me again and you'll be cooking the meat with one hand."
The man went back to work still laughing.
Like I said, we were dragon slayers, the two of us. The best out there! And Dragon, he used to teach the young ones how to hunt them down. So every now and then we get dragon meat sent to us from them."
"…"
"Not impressed, are you?" he was surprised, "Do you even know how hard of an ingredient it is to get?"
"No."
"Ha. In all of Rozenheim kingdom, we're probably the only place to ever sell it. The only other place you'll find it, is on the tables of royalty." He was exited, talking loudly and waving his hands around.
"Not only is it the best quality meat out there, eating it makes you stronger."
"…" Jon was starting to get interested.
"The catch is, no matter how much of it you eat, as long as the meat came from the same dragon, it will affect you only once. Every dragon gives different bonuses and only once."
"That's one of the reasons there are hardly any dragons left now. Dragon slayers hunted them down almost to extinction, all in the pursuit of power." He sighed. "And money!"
"One bite from dragon meat can cost from a hundred and up to a thousand gold and more. Depending on the dragon the meat came from. Of course when prepared by someone like me the price gets even higher."
"Dragon meat is my specialty. I've cooked more dragon meat than anyone alive. People come from all over the land to get a taste of it. Don't be surprised if you see royalty in two weeks."
Jon looked around the kitchen. Everyone was excited.
"You're wondering what it has to do with you?"
"Yes."
"Dragon gives each of the staff a piece of meat. They can do whatever they want with it. Last time I sold most of mine, got me a small fortune. Most cook it for themselves. You'll get some as well, but you better get better at cooking if you want to get a better effect out of it."
"…"
"Didn't you hear me? Start cooking!" the angry Burka returned again.
And so Jon did, now with even more zeal than before.
Fame rises by 20 (+20 Fame)
Health points rise by 100 (+100 Hp)
His four weeks were over. To his annoyance that came with a small fame bonus.
Although he didn't care much for it right now, what attracted him to the game in the first place was seeing the players on the T.V fight monsters. From goblins to wyverns, the fights he saw on that program mesmerized and intrigued him.
Whenever he fought in the underground battles, in his mind he could do things that when he tried to do in reality, the laws of physics wouldn't allow him.
When he saw things like blocking a tree trunk swung by a troll with a small round shield and man defeat a giant by slashing his way inside the giant’s leg and hacking his way through the body only to come out from the mouth, he knew he could finally fight the way he imagined he could.
So, presented with the chance of monster fighting at last, as soon as he finished work he took it.
There were two gates to the citadel, an eastern and a western one. Jon exited through the west gate.
The guards standing on each side of the gate kept their eyes on him as he walked by them. As he stood on the other side of the gate, a pastoral scene came in to view.
Lit by the dim light of the moon, Jon gazed upon a big stretch of grass, stretching far and disappearing between smaller trees of the forest. From what he could see the forest looked like it had encircled the whole citadel.
While the environment was beautiful, what he saw happening in front of his eyes was horrendous. It froze him in place and he just stood there looking at the massacre happening next to him. Dozens of players were running around, some alone others in parties, and killing everything they were fast enough to catch.
If not for the cover of the night, what Jon knew was supposed to be a green grassland would have surly been colored red.
Wherever he looked cute and fluffy bunnies were butchered. Raccoons and foxes were ganged up on and killed ruthlessly. Jon thought he would be fighting monsters but instead the game wanted him to kill innocent animals to level up.
A wolf ran out of the forest. It was chasing a group of players who kept hitting him and running away. Once it was out of the forest the five of them surrounded it and began beating him ruthlessly. It tried to fight back but against five, it was a lost battle. Jon could hear its whines as is breathed its last breath.
-Disgusting!-
He went back into the citadel with a new goal.
A sign hung over the wooden door, on it were carved an arrow and a knife with their tips touching. The entrance to the rogue's guild looked simple and unimpressive.
On the other side of the street was the entrance to the warriors' guild. Unlike the first one, this entrance was spectacular. Clean and freshly painted, it had marvel steps and even an outrageous fountain with a statue of a barbarian in the middle.
There was a good reason for the difference. Guild depended on funds from its members for money. And in Royal Road, the vast majority of players preferred warriors to rogues. Not because warriors were better but only because they were easier to play.
Unlike rogues who had to rely on their own prowess, warriors could rely completely on the game's skill system.
While all a warrior had to do to kill a monster was swing the sword and the system took care of the rest, a rogue, especially one who relies on bows had to aim by himself.
Since most people didn't have good aim, and didn't want to train hard until their skills were high enough to compensate for it, they would simply denounce the idea and become a warrior instead. And so the warrior's guild flourished.
However for what Jon wanted to do he needed the rogues' guild, no matter how run down it looked.
A man exited the guild. He was wearing mages robes and was incredibly tall.
"You're in luck," he spoke to Jon.
"I just finished recasting the lights in the shooting range, they've been out for a week. You came in the right time."
He didn't wait for a response and went on his way. Jon entered the building and was surprised at how empty it was.
"Hello," a man said to him. "You're here to join us?"
Jon could tell he was an Npc by the way he was looking at him. His fame was working against him again.
"Yes."
"Bows or knives?"
"Bow."
"Do you have the bow mastery skill?"
"No."
"You can't join until you have one. But for five gold we will supply you with a practice bow and an unlimited amount of arrows for you to use in our shooting range. Once you acquire the skill come to me and I'll change your class to a bowman."
"Four gold."
"This is not up for negotiation. Five gold is the fee. Come back when you have it." The Npc started walked away.
"I'll cover the price."
"Kino, why waste money on this guy?" the Npc sounded annoyed.
"We hardly get new people and when one finally comes, you refuse to accept him?"
The Npc brought Jon a short bow and a quiver of dull arrows and left for a different room.
"Sorry for him."
"Name's Kino," he extended his hand. "It's good to see a new player take up the bow."
Jon put four gold coins in his hand.
"Wha? It's fine, don't worry about the money. Five gold is nothing at my level." He returned the money to Jon.
"Here, see," He showed Jon a paper with a quest notice on it. "Reward: One hundred and fifty gold coins."
"A couple of harpies attacked a small village in the north and unfortunately a party of idiot warriors decided to take up the quest. All the harpies had to do was fly over their heads and drop rocks. Now the warriors are hiding together with the villagers and I need to come and save the day."
"All of them are the same. Put a sword in their hands and they think they’re invincible." He was smiling. "So much gold for shooting down a few harpies, aren't I lucky?"
He hit Jon over the shoulder laughing.
"Anyway I got to get going. I've got a three day walk ahead of me. I hope I'll see ya again here."
He left waving goodbye to the few people who were there.
"The shooting range is that way." He popped his head back through the door.
Jon looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a thick metal door.
"Thank you." He said but Kino was already gone.
Jon looked around for the first time. The room looked like a bar, more than a guild. The only indication of it being a rogues guild was the numerous bows, knives and arrows everywhere. Hung on the walls were the better quality bows and in display cases lay special arrows. Some of those arrows even had a colored glow emitted by them.
No one paid any more attention to him so he went through an iron door and entered a shooting range.
It was big. Very big.
Lit by magic to simulate day light, Jon couldn't even see the farthest target. Three more players were there. One of them stood out thanks to his bow, if you can call it a bow.-'It's as big as him.'-
He was using arrows the size of rockets, and he was shooting at a target so far away that to Jon, it looked no bigger than a tennis ball.
"You're a newbie too?" A teenage boy asked Jon.
"…"
"I can tell by your bow." He showed his and it was the same as Jon's. "You know what to do?"
"No."
The boy jumped at the opportunity to show off his knowledge.
"You see the closest target to us." He pointed at the fifteen meter target. "All you have to do to get the bow mastery skill is hit that one and the two after it, dead center."
The next two targets were positioned at the thirty and fifty meter marks.
"Sounds easy, right?" a sad laugh escaped him.
"It's not, believe me, I've been stuck on the last target since morning." He strung an arrow and let it fly.
"See? This bow can't shoot that far! And when I complained about it to the others they just laughed at me and said I need to practice until I become stronger." He shot another arrow. Like the other one it landed a couple of meters shy of the target. A bunch of arrows were stuck in the ground around it already.
Jon took out an arrow as well. It was a simple wooden arrow with a metal tip. The edge was completely dull though.
His lack of response made the boy give up the conversation and concentrate on the shooting. Jon sat at one of the benches sticking out of the wall behind him. He took out his sharpening kit. In it was a small device for sharpening arrow tips. He picked the one that fit the arrow he was using out of five different arrow designs and went through the whole quiver.
One of the arrows broke, as it's durability reached zero but the rest were now shiny and sharp.
Sharpening Skill Levels Up
He chose an empty place and stood in front of his first target. The target was a straw scarecrow with red circles marked on the head and torso areas. It was approximately human sized and hard to miss at such a close range.
He checked his bow and like he thought it was a simple short bow, about eighty centimeters long and with a 33 kilo maximum draw strength.
He trained with long bows when he was younger, where to draw a string to its optimal shooting position, a force of 71 kilograms was needed.
This was the reason the kid couldn't hit his last target. When Jon logged in for his first time, a part of the scan the capsule took of him was a measurement of his strength and speed. By measuring the electrical pulses from his muscles the capsule calculated his physical parameters and transferred them into the game. Thanks to that, when Jon entered the game his body felt like his real body. The same scan was done on the kid, and since he wouldn't be able to shoot a bow that far in real life, inside the game it wasn't different.
If he wanted to succeed in hitting the last target he needed to raise his strength stat. Ten points were simply the games way of showing each player’s real life power. If a player could bench-press one hundred kilo weights his starting out strength stat would be ten, same as a player who can only bench-press twenty kilo weights.
When these two players raise their strength stat the stronger player will have a much higher effect then the weaker one even if they both add the same amount of stats.
That is why players needed to choose the class that suited them best. While a very weak player could become a strong warrior, he would need to put a lot more stat points in strength than a strong player who can already easily wield a heavy weapon even without putting any points into strength.
For the scrawny kid who was trying to shoot a bow next to Jon, the mage class would have been better, or maybe a knife wielding class that relied on speed. That is not to say he couldn't play as whatever class he wanted, it just meant he would have a harder time playing it.
Jon fitted an arrow, lifted the bow over his head with a straightened arm. Slowly he lowered his arm in an arc, pulling back the string as it lowered. When he got into firing position the bow was strung back as far at it could go and the targets head was where he was aiming. He let go of the back of the arrow, letting the bow straighten and sending the arrow flying straight into the colored mark in the center of the straw circle. It hit with enough force to penetrate the straw and poke out on the other side, almost falling completely.
His next arrow hit the thirty meter target and after a few more tries the third target had an arrow stuck in the red colored mark.
Archery Mastery Acquired
Archery mastery affects the ability to use short bows, long bows and crossbows with efficiency.
The higher the mastery the better the accuracy of the shoots are.
The archery mastery also affects shooting speed and attack power.
Level 1 Bonus:
Accuracy increased by 5%
Attack speed increased by 5
"How did you do that?" The boy yelled.
"Practice." He said and left to find the Npc from before.
Jon left the boy dumbfounded at the shooting range and entered the tavern looking room.
He quickly located the Npc and came up to him.
"What do you want?" he said, annoyed.
"Done."
"You're what?"
"…"
The Npc's eyes opened wide and he struggled for words.
"Well… hmm… that was pretty fast." He looked puzzled. "This isn't your first time shooting is it?"
"No."
"I thought as much." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Show me you've learned the archery skill and you'll be officially part of our guild."
Jon spoke out the command in his mind and the skill window opened, he turned it and faced it towards the Npc.
"Let’s see now." A smile appeared on his face at last as he finished reading.
Magic Mastery level 3
Archery Mastery level 1
Knife/Dagger Mastery level 2
Cooking Mastery level 4
Alchemy Mastery level 2
Sneak Mastery level 2
Sharpening level 2
Silent Strike level 2
"You're really stupid," he laughed. "You could've joined using your dagger mastery, and then the bow and arrows would've been free…"
"…"
"No wonder you and Kino got along." He took out a paper page, a quill and an ink well.
"Sign here and you part of us."
You Have Joined the Rogue's Guild
The guild is a place for forming friendship and hunting parties.
Some guilds have their own blacksmiths and merchants where guild members can trade for cheap.
The message board in each guild has many quests and jobs to choose from.
As a member of the guild you can get free food and lodging in every city that has a branch of it.
Notice: All rogue guild related Npcs now like you.
As soon as the paper was signed, the Npc's demeanor changed.
Moving the things away, he put his hand on Jon's shoulder and motioned him to follow.
"I'm the caretaker of this guild building, if you ever need help with anything come to me." The y walked into a different room.
"If you're interested in bows, first thing you should do is visit an artillator."
"Artillator?"
"Yeah, he's specializes in bows, crossbows and everything related to archery in general. From arrows to finger guards, he'll have everything you need." He slapped Jon's back a couple of times as he said that.
"And since you’re an official member he'll give you a special price."
"Here he is."
They stopped next to a bald man with squinting eyes. He was short but the muscles on his arms stood out sharply compared to his thin legs.
"I've brought you a new guy to equip." He moved Jon forward, and even though he was shorter than him he kept both of his hands on his shoulders.
"Promising young fellow, this one." He pushed Jon forward. "Haven't seen anyone get archer mastery this fast in quite some time now."
The bald man stepped forward. He was holding a large crossbow that he had just finished winding.
"Ballard's the name," he said in a very low voice. The voice didn't match his looks. Small and unimpressive, his voice sounded like something a giant would speak with.
"Jon."
"So, Jon, what's your weapon of choice?" He spread his hands to indicate the many bows and crossbows around him.
Jon looked around from where he was standing.
"You're very tall… long arms..." he mumbled to himself, "getting archery fast means you either have an inborn talent or, and this is more likely, you have experience with sharp shooting!"
"…"
"So what weapon are you experienced with?"
"Longbow."
"Yes… I guessed correctly." He put a crossbow down and took two bows of their hooks.
"Shorter or longer?" He held a bow in each hand.
While both were generic longbows, thin and made out of sturdy yet flexible wood, the left one was shorter than the other.
At six feet long (180cm) the left bow was the shortest possible length for a bow to be considered a longbow. The right bow, a standard longbow, was seven feet long (210cm) when not strung.
"Longer."
Ballard was silent for a moment. He looked at Jon from head to toe and put both bows back to where he had taken them from.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you’re not looking for a strong attack bow, are you?"
He was correct.
"Need distance." Jon acknowledged that Ballard was a professional in his trade.
"Ahah! Very well." He began taking off bows one by one, trying to get to something far in the back. He was excited.
"I've made this one a long time ago." He took out a simple looking longbow. "If it is distance you need, nothing will compare to this! I just hope it's not rotten inside." He took a string from a pile and started bending the bow.
"I made it from wood of a floating tree. That’s the reason for the color." He gave the strung bow to Jon. Although the same size as the other seven foot bow, its color was teal in the middle turning cyan towards the endings with the tips of the bow an almost transparent with a faint sky blue tint.
But it wasn't the color that surprised Jon, it was the weight. It was as light as a feather and just like one, when he let go of the bow, it didn't fall. It floated down and he just lazily picked it up right before it hit the ground.
"One of my favorite works." Ballard said, his eyes becoming wet and shiny, "Too bad it's as good as useless."
Jon looked at him questioningly.
"No attack power," he stated.
"It will kill a rabbit or a fox, but anything bigger and unless you hit a vital spot you'll need to wait for it to bleed to death." He sighed. "You're better off just running up to the monster and hitting it with the bow."
"Why?" Jon asked.
"Why am I showing it to you? If you want to hit far away targets, nothing I have here can compare to it. A good long bow can shoot an arrow at a target more than two hundred meters away… this beauty can send an arrow flying three hundred meters without you even breaking out a sweat."
Jon looked at the bow in his hands. He had to look at it or else he didn't even feel it was there.
"Come on now, give it here, I was just bragging a little. It is a useless bow and it's been left to rot for it."
"I'll take it."
"You're serious?" he grabbed Jon's arm with incredible strength. "You better not be kidding. A novice like you won't even have the skill to shoot the far, no point of you taking it just to make me feel better."
"…"
They looked each other in the eyes, Jon with his perfect poker face and Ballard with his half closed eyes.
"I think the caretaker was right, you really are a promising one." He let go of Jon's arm.
"Okay, let's get you fitted for shooting." He began throwing things at Jon for him to try on.
He didn't need much but Ballard insisted on equipping him from head to toe. Jon put on a matching set of leather armor.
Thick and sturdy, it may now stop a sword but a knife or an arrow won't pass through easily, while teeth and talons would only get stuck.
The only thing he kept from his original attire was the simple brown hood he got from one of the killed players in the library. It didn't offer any protection like the leather helmet Ballard insisted on, but it could hide a red PKer mark if there was ever a need for it.
"Come on; let's go give my beauty at test run." He hurried Jon towards the shooting range.
"Where are you taking him?" yelled the caretaker from behind the bars counter.
"To shoot of course!" He kept hurrying.
"Take him to the instructor first."
It was clear Ballard was eager to see his bow in action. He debated with himself and decided the instructor came first.
"He will help you shoot better. After me."
The instructor offered to change Jon's class to a Longbow Man.
Class Change Notice
You have been offered to switch to a Longbow Man from an Assassin.
Skills gained by becoming an assassin will be deleted, unless you have reached level two or higher in them.
Both the sneak and the silent strike skills were level two, so he will keep them. And even if he didn't Jon wouldn't have hesitated, he wanted to use bows and the Longbow Man class suited him at the moment.
He accepted without a second thought.
You have changed your profession to a Longbow Man.
With a longbow being considered a commoners weapon, this class is one of the most played classes.
This is the class to choose if you want to kill your opponent from afar. Precise and deadly, an arrow fired from a longbow will come down whistling from the sky, penetrating both armor and flesh.
+20 Dexterity
+5 Strength
A longbow man can choose between an Archer and Hunter class when he reaches level 30. To initiate the class change quest you will need to visit an instructor specific to your class.
Perception Stat Added
A stat that affects a player's power of vision.
As the stat rises so will a player's ability to perceive moving objects and notice details in his surroundings.
The higher the stat the farther a player can see.
It is said that a player with very high perception can even count the number of locusts in a moving swarm.
Power Shot Skill Learned.
By temporarily surrounding the bow with mana, the longbow man can draw the arrow farther than the bows maximum breaking point.
This allows the longbow man to fire an arrow that deals more damage and has a higher chance of penetrating the target.
Level 1: Maximum firing distance 30m
Attack power increased by 10%
Cost: 20 MP
Owl's Instincts Skill Learned
An owl, the shadow of the night. It hunt's under the moonlight managing to catch and kill pray with ease even in the darkest of nights.
With instincts so honed he manages to REPLACE his talons into his targets vital spots at amazing speed and with incredible precision even under the most difficult conditions.
Users of bows have strive to achieve their astounding feats throughout the ages.
Level 1: Critical Hit Chance +5%
They entered the shooting range. The boy was still there trying hard.
He looked at Jon when he came in and jealousy overwhelmed him. Here he was, on his third day of shooting and still without the archery mastery, looking at a guy dressed like a real rogue. A guy that only an hour ago entered the guilds shooting range for the first time.
"You ready?" Ballard was having trouble hiding his excitement.
"Shot it as far as you can, don't worry about the place, it's a magical room. The ceiling is as high as the sky and it will take you days of walking to reach the other side."
"…" Jon took out an arrow from the quiver safely attached to his waist.
Ballard bit his lip as he looked at Jon fit the arrow between his finger-guards and placed the shaft between his finger and the wood of the bow. It fell comfortably into a small cervix in the center of the bow.
He drew it back hard.
He had to use more strength than he was used too, to make it bend, but he managed to draw the arrow back until he felt the feathers on the back tickle his ear.
Raising the bow to a forty-five degree angle, took aim at nothing in particular and let go of the arrow.
The arrow disappeared from sight, leaving behind it a whistling sound. After a few moments it appeared as a small dot falling down to earth in the far distance. Where it landed was too far for Jon to see, but Ballard next to him whistled while up to the point it hit the ground.
"Five hundred meters, easy." He clapped his hands a couple of times.
"Didn't I tell you? Nothing can compare to it!"
Jon was amazed, so much in fact it almost showed on his face. Almost.
-'Weapon stat'- he spoke in his mind.
Star Piercer
Attack: 1 Durability: 50/50 Multiple Shot Speed: 9
A bow made out vines of a floating tree. These trees spin their vines at incredible speed, which allows them to ride wind currents from one place to the other in the search of nutrients.
The vine is very strong, light and elastic making it fine building material but poor basis for weapons. The vines characteristics make it incredibly weak and most of the time you are better of using a stone.
Just like the description said, the bow had the same attack power as a stone. Normal arrows had one attack power and buying stronger arrows was out of the question.
However the shooting distance it allowed for was extraordinary, and this was more important to Jon than attack power.
-'This is perfect.'-
He felt good. |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 3: Chapter 7 - Training Montage (Part 3)",
"id": 303,
"next": 324,
"prev": 299,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Tizen picked up some ore lying next to the stove and placed it on a grate. He then pressed his hands against the ore and applied mana against it. Weed didn’t really understand what he was doing, till he noticed dirt and other non iron metals drip down through the grate.<br><br>Usually whenever Weed had to refine the ore, he would melt it on a pan and then pass it through a filter several times. The more he filtered the ore, higher was the purity level of the metal. To even reach acceptable levels of purity, 70%, he had to refine the ore at least six to seven times. As his level of skill rose in basic and advanced blacksmithing, he was able to use better filters or spot dirt easier. Even then he could never exceed 80% purity level for iron ore; the most basic type of ore. It was even harder to purify some ores which were not iron. Weed initially thought rarer the metal / ore. The harder it was to purify however he even had difficulty purifying some common ores; where purity levels never went above 60%. His research indicated an increase in basic and advanced blacksmithing would eventually enable him to filter better. Weed just accepted his level of blacksmithing as low and never gave it a second thought.<br><br>However, Weed was stunned to see Tizen not using any filter to refine the ore. If Weed were to normally melt ore over a grate, he would end up melting the ore, the dirt and the grate. Even if he didn’t melt the grate, he would have definitely melted the ore completely and only a pool of liquid ore would lie beneath the grate. Yet somehow Tizen was able to control the elements in such a way that even though the ore had completely melted, the liquid iron held itself together and all the other dirt slipped through the grate. It was almost as if the liquid iron was spitting out the dirt and refining itself.<br><br><br>When Tizen, finished with the refining, he picked up the liquid iron blob with his bare hands and transferred it into a vessel. He didn’t even flinch a little in pain as he held such hot iron. Weed stared as Tizen’s hands hoping to see the damage, however his skin reveal no change. There were no burn marks or signs of skin hardening. Weed then checked the iron ore; 100% purity. It was shocking, Tizen barely spent five minutes refining the ore and yet its purity was 100%. Weed would spend hours before he hit acceptable levels, and here the dwarf did it in less than 5 minutes. Weed could only stare at Tizen in envy; how he longed to master the dwarvish blacksmithing skills!<br><br>Tizen’s demonstration of the dwarvish blacksmithing skills didn’t end there; he then swooped a handful of iron and began stretching it with both his hands. <br><br>‘He possibly couldn’t hope to mold that without a cast?’ Weed thought as his eyes grew wider in anticipation.<br><br>Once long enough, Tizen then began shaping the iron with his hands. It would become thin where he pressed and curved where he rubbed. It was almost like magic (it is magic), little by little the long gooey metal started resembling a sword. The magic show didn’t end just there. The sword hardened perfectly when Tizen was done finishing it. In Weed’s case, molding was followed by several hours of cooling using both air fans and water. After which Weed would temper the sword several times and then finally sharpen it against the whetstone. Yet once again, Tizen demonstrated the shortcuts of dwarvish blacksmithing. <br><br>One would imagine at this point Tizen had completed the sword. At the very least this would be about where Weed would have stopped and appreciated his work. Even though, Weed’s swords already paled in comparisons to Tizens sharp and polished sword. Tizen’s eyes indicated he was nowhere near done. It was a matter of perfection; a dwarf trait. He dipped the sword in water for five minutes and pulled it out, dipped it again and pulled it out. He did this a few more times and then placed the sword in front of Weed; its sharpness had increased. It was also more polished, so much so, one might have confused the metal for a mirror.<br><br>“This is dwarvish blacksmithing.” Tizen said as he got up and ended the demonstration. “I used all the four elements; melting with fire, refining with earth, cooling & tempering with air and tempering and sharpening with water.”<br><br>Weed held the sword in his hand. It was incredibly light and well balanced. <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Durability: 150/150. Attack: 100.<br>Crafted by a sage master blacksmith. This sword has immensely high attack and durability.<br><br>Requirements: Level 75.<br><br>Effects: Strength +50, Fame +20, AGI +15, DEX+15,Stamina Regeneration: +0.01</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><br>Though the sword and its effects were incredible, there was something that was bothering Weed. <br><br>“Master, this sword has no elemental properties…I don’t understand why, I thought dwarvish blacksmithing imbued the weapon with elemental properties?”<br><br>Tizen smiled, most students would have overlooked this small detail while staring at the grand stats. “Weed do you understand how elemental properties are passed on to the weapon?”<br><br>“…”<br><br>“If a blacksmith is fire affinity based, he will have high fire affinity and lower levels in all other affinities. This creates a spillover effect of the fire affinity on the item being forged. That is how elemental properties are typically passed off. Now imagine a neutral blacksmith who is equal levels of affinity in all elements. The elements are in a state of stability (equilibrium). Such a blacksmith will be unable to add on any elemental properties.”<br><br>“Does this mean neutral players are unable to pass on any elemental properties to what they forge?” Weed asked as his heart began sinking; he was a neutral.<br><br>“Only if all their elemental levels are balanced. Most low level neutral blacksmiths you will encounter will possess equally balanced elemental affinities. However, as you progress, how life influences you, will determine the elements you are more attuned too.”<br><br>“Are there more ways to pass elemental properties on to a weapon?” Weed asked cautiously.<br><br>Tizen gave a sly smile; the elf was perceptive.<br><br>“You have keen senses, elf. Yes, there is another way to pass elemental properties on to an item, though few have ever ventured that far. Once you cross a certain threshold, as long as the elemental affinity is balanced, you can pass off any elements properties that you desire to the item. The one who is able to do so, is usually considered a true blacksmith; a sage master.”<br><br>Weed quickly opened the sword info window… “Sage Master?”<br><br>Tizen chuckled and left; leaving the young ones confused was most amusing.<br><br>-x-x-x-x-x-x-<br><br>Weed quietly stared at the sword Tizen crafted, it was beautiful. No other word could capture its perfection. He sighed as he stared at the swords he had been making; ugly, clunky, unbalanced, brittle…there was no end to the list of problems with them.<br><br>Weed opened his profession windows menu;<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Professions<br><br>- Basic Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 4 – 15%) – Deactivated Profession: You have learnt a more advanced profession. All bonuses and skills unlocked have been transferred to active advance profession. Bonuses and Skills will not overlap.<br><br>- Advanced Blacksmithing Profession: (Intermediate Level 1 – 34%) – Deactivated Profession: You have learnt a more advanced profession. All bonuses and skills unlocked have been transferred to active advance profession. Bonuses and Skills will not overlap.<br><br>- Dwarvish Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 1– 0%) – Active Profession: Master this profession to unlock its secrets.<br><br>- Basic Elemental Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 1– 3%) – Inactive Profession: Enables all elements. Enables elemental spirits fusion stat. Master this profession to unlock its secrets.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Weed’s journey had only just begun. He picked up an iron ingot and began focusing on melting it. He tried to imitate Tizen movement to movement, but to no avail. Dwarvish blacksmithing was a matter of skill and not imitation, Weed’s progress was terribly slow if not considered at a standstill. However, he was determined to push on. He decided to master the four elements before Theodore’s final test; whether he would be able to do so would be an entirely different story.<br>-x-x-x-x-x<br><br>As the sun began to rise, Weed put away the swords he had been forging. Three weeks had passed in the blink of an eye. He wasn’t sure whether he was hired or not, but in case he was, he would still have to turn down the permanent employment. Weed couldn’t imagine himself spending the rest of his gaming life in front a fire stove hammering away swords and shields. The thought was too morbid for him. As he packed away the last of the ores into the shed, he heard two passer bys conversation who were on the other side of the fence.<br><br>“You sure this is the shop?” asked a familiar voice.<br><br>“Yes Mark Hyung. This was the shop, I clearly remember it!” <br><br>Weed didn’t recognize this voice, but the name sounded awfully familiar.<br>“This was the very shop where the elf dragged me into and forced me to buy this sword!”<br><br>“Elf you say? Twice have we been duped by an elf, I don’t trust them. But anyways, thank you, Michi. The information you provided will truly be beneficial to our distinguished party, the hundred blades of winds. I will be sure to recruit you as a member when we become an elite party!”<br><br>“Really Hyung? That would be awesome!”<br><br>“I should get Joe and Jeff here…”<br><br>Weed had heard enough. He feared that forcing a newbie to buy a sword would have repercussions and now his nightmares came true. He cursed his luck that the newbie chose to complain to three idiots of the winds. They were a huge headache for Weed. He didn’t even want to imagine what a hundred of them would be like. He put on his hood and jumped into the neighboring shops backyard and then crossed over to the next street. He wanted to get as far as possible as he could from Swords and Charms. It was likely, the longer he stayed the more ugly, it was going to get. <br><br>Tizen walked into the shop expecting to be greeted by the stupid elves smiling face; however he got a rude shock to see his shop unmanned during opening hours. He checked the backyard of the store. Just in case Weed was packing away his practice material. But there was no sign of Weed anywhere in or around the store. Tizen felt heartbroken, just like all his other students, once they learnt dwarvish blacksmithing they would abandon him without a goodbye or a thanks. He expected Weed to be different but in the end Weed to betrayed his expectations (Betrayal Skill: +1 level).<br><br>‘Probably would have fired him today anyways, elves have no talent in blacksmithing.’ Tizen thought to himself as he took out a shield and began polishing it. It would be just him alone in this shop once again…“TING TING TING”<br><br>The door bell of the shop rang, at the door stood four human warriors. <br><br>Tizen never forgot a customer’s face; one of the four warriors was the one who bought a sword recently.<br><br>“Welcome customer! Why have you returned? Have you broken your sword?”<br><br>“No..You see about the sword…” Michi began to reply.<br><br>“We offer no refunds or exchanges on our purchases!” Tizen angrily interrupted the newbie player.<br><br>“No…actually we just wanted to know whether you manufacture these weapons or outsource them from someone else?” Jeff asked as he pushed Michi away. Jeff was a high level player and with high enough fame, NPCs would become more courteous. <br><br>“We always make our own weapons.” Tizen replied with a completely different more polite mannerism. “Would you like to see some?”<br><br>“Yes, something for beginners.”<br><br>Tizen removed a sword from the display. “Only for 44 Silver! Same sword as the gentleman over there bought last time. I even give you 6 silver off.”<br><br>Jeff looked at the sword and frowned.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Durability: 10/10. Attack: 6.<br>A good sword for beginners.<br>Requirements: None.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“This is not the sword. Michi show him your sword.”<br><br>Michi hurried to the cashier desk and with Tizen’s permission, handed Tizen the sword he bought.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Durability: 100/100. Attack: 12.<br>A highly durable and good sword for beginners.<br>Requirements: None.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Tizen squinted his eyes and stared at the sword info for a minute. “I know each and every sword in the store, yet I don’t ever remember crafting such a sword or any of my students…”<br><br>Tizen paused. He had given up on students and also discriminated against the elf. Never once did he see the elf’s finished product. His hands were trembling…the weapons license grade was a terrible benchmark for talent. A sage master yet so blinded by prejudice! Tizen was bitter towards himself; he had given up on his students and blacksmithing! The elf was a prodigy and one hungry to learn. How he wished he could turn back time and teach the elf more!<br><br>“Unfortunately, this is something my student made. He no longer works here.” Tizen proudly replied. He was proud to be an elf’s teacher. “He quit this morning”<br><br>“Would you know where this student is now?” Jeff asked impatiently, hoping catch up with the blacksmith and recruit him into his party.<br><br>“No.”<br><br>“Has he made more such weapons? I would like to buy every weapon he has made.”<br><br>“One moment please, I need to check the shed. He might have left some there.”<br>Tizen opened the shed door and stood in shock. He shout out, “I don’t think you can buy everything…”<br><br>In front of him, lay thousands if not hundreds of thousands of swords and shields. Tizen was mistaken, the elf was not only a prodigy but also very diligent at practice…the shop went on to become a very popular destination for purchasing durable weapons for beginners. Players would flock at it's doors all day long to be able to purchase the weapons the dwarf made and while waiting to buy their weapons they would often wonder why was it called “Elvish Swords and Charms” when a dwarf makes them?<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Edited by Knaivvs.<br>2. I extended the training montage chapter...was going to write it longer...but then decided to speed it up and cover the important points here. So I hope the notes, I use (images below), are good reference for understanding the profession. Please do find errors, so that I may make corrections accordingly.<br>3.<img src="http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Siddhant_Saxena/IMG1.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi894.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fac145...a%2fIMG1.png"><br>4. <img src="http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Siddhant_Saxena/IMG2.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi894.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fac145...a%2fIMG2.png"><br>5. A short chapter, but i can finally move past the training >.<<br><br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=397" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | Tizen picked up some ore lying next to the stove and placed it on a grate. He then pressed his hands against the ore and applied mana against it. Weed didn’t really understand what he was doing, till he noticed dirt and other non iron metals drip down through the grate.
Usually whenever Weed had to refine the ore, he would melt it on a pan and then pass it through a filter several times. The more he filtered the ore, higher was the purity level of the metal. To even reach acceptable levels of purity, 70%, he had to refine the ore at least six to seven times. As his level of skill rose in basic and advanced blacksmithing, he was able to use better filters or spot dirt easier. Even then he could never exceed 80% purity level for iron ore; the most basic type of ore. It was even harder to purify some ores which were not iron. Weed initially thought rarer the metal / ore. The harder it was to purify however he even had difficulty purifying some common ores; where purity levels never went above 60%. His research indicated an increase in basic and advanced blacksmithing would eventually enable him to filter better. Weed just accepted his level of blacksmithing as low and never gave it a second thought.
However, Weed was stunned to see Tizen not using any filter to refine the ore. If Weed were to normally melt ore over a grate, he would end up melting the ore, the dirt and the grate. Even if he didn’t melt the grate, he would have definitely melted the ore completely and only a pool of liquid ore would lie beneath the grate. Yet somehow Tizen was able to control the elements in such a way that even though the ore had completely melted, the liquid iron held itself together and all the other dirt slipped through the grate. It was almost as if the liquid iron was spitting out the dirt and refining itself.
When Tizen, finished with the refining, he picked up the liquid iron blob with his bare hands and transferred it into a vessel. He didn’t even flinch a little in pain as he held such hot iron. Weed stared as Tizen’s hands hoping to see the damage, however his skin reveal no change. There were no burn marks or signs of skin hardening. Weed then checked the iron ore; 100% purity. It was shocking, Tizen barely spent five minutes refining the ore and yet its purity was 100%. Weed would spend hours before he hit acceptable levels, and here the dwarf did it in less than 5 minutes. Weed could only stare at Tizen in envy; how he longed to master the dwarvish blacksmithing skills!
Tizen’s demonstration of the dwarvish blacksmithing skills didn’t end there; he then swooped a handful of iron and began stretching it with both his hands.
‘He possibly couldn’t hope to mold that without a cast?’ Weed thought as his eyes grew wider in anticipation.
Once long enough, Tizen then began shaping the iron with his hands. It would become thin where he pressed and curved where he rubbed. It was almost like magic (it is magic), little by little the long gooey metal started resembling a sword. The magic show didn’t end just there. The sword hardened perfectly when Tizen was done finishing it. In Weed’s case, molding was followed by several hours of cooling using both air fans and water. After which Weed would temper the sword several times and then finally sharpen it against the whetstone. Yet once again, Tizen demonstrated the shortcuts of dwarvish blacksmithing.
One would imagine at this point Tizen had completed the sword. At the very least this would be about where Weed would have stopped and appreciated his work. Even though, Weed’s swords already paled in comparisons to Tizens sharp and polished sword. Tizen’s eyes indicated he was nowhere near done. It was a matter of perfection; a dwarf trait. He dipped the sword in water for five minutes and pulled it out, dipped it again and pulled it out. He did this a few more times and then placed the sword in front of Weed; its sharpness had increased. It was also more polished, so much so, one might have confused the metal for a mirror.
“This is dwarvish blacksmithing.” Tizen said as he got up and ended the demonstration. “I used all the four elements; melting with fire, refining with earth, cooling & tempering with air and tempering and sharpening with water.”
Weed held the sword in his hand. It was incredibly light and well balanced.
| Durability: 150/150. Attack: 100.Crafted by a sage master blacksmith. This sword has immensely high attack and durability.Requirements: Level 75.Effects: Strength +50, Fame +20, AGI +15, DEX+15,Stamina Regeneration: +0.01 |
| --- |
Though the sword and its effects were incredible, there was something that was bothering Weed.
“Master, this sword has no elemental properties…I don’t understand why, I thought dwarvish blacksmithing imbued the weapon with elemental properties?”
Tizen smiled, most students would have overlooked this small detail while staring at the grand stats. “Weed do you understand how elemental properties are passed on to the weapon?”
“…”
“If a blacksmith is fire affinity based, he will have high fire affinity and lower levels in all other affinities. This creates a spillover effect of the fire affinity on the item being forged. That is how elemental properties are typically passed off. Now imagine a neutral blacksmith who is equal levels of affinity in all elements. The elements are in a state of stability (equilibrium). Such a blacksmith will be unable to add on any elemental properties.”
“Does this mean neutral players are unable to pass on any elemental properties to what they forge?” Weed asked as his heart began sinking; he was a neutral.
“Only if all their elemental levels are balanced. Most low level neutral blacksmiths you will encounter will possess equally balanced elemental affinities. However, as you progress, how life influences you, will determine the elements you are more attuned too.”
“Are there more ways to pass elemental properties on to a weapon?” Weed asked cautiously.
Tizen gave a sly smile; the elf was perceptive.
“You have keen senses, elf. Yes, there is another way to pass elemental properties on to an item, though few have ever ventured that far. Once you cross a certain threshold, as long as the elemental affinity is balanced, you can pass off any elements properties that you desire to the item. The one who is able to do so, is usually considered a true blacksmith; a sage master.”
Weed quickly opened the sword info window… “Sage Master?”
Tizen chuckled and left; leaving the young ones confused was most amusing.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Weed quietly stared at the sword Tizen crafted, it was beautiful. No other word could capture its perfection. He sighed as he stared at the swords he had been making; ugly, clunky, unbalanced, brittle…there was no end to the list of problems with them.
Weed opened his profession windows menu;
| Professions- Basic Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 4 – 15%) – Deactivated Profession: You have learnt a more advanced profession. All bonuses and skills unlocked have been transferred to active advance profession. Bonuses and Skills will not overlap.- Advanced Blacksmithing Profession: (Intermediate Level 1 – 34%) – Deactivated Profession: You have learnt a more advanced profession. All bonuses and skills unlocked have been transferred to active advance profession. Bonuses and Skills will not overlap.- Dwarvish Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 1– 0%) – Active Profession: Master this profession to unlock its secrets.- Basic Elemental Blacksmithing Profession: (Beginner Level 1– 3%) – Inactive Profession: Enables all elements. Enables elemental spirits fusion stat. Master this profession to unlock its secrets. |
| --- |
Weed’s journey had only just begun. He picked up an iron ingot and began focusing on melting it. He tried to imitate Tizen movement to movement, but to no avail. Dwarvish blacksmithing was a matter of skill and not imitation, Weed’s progress was terribly slow if not considered at a standstill. However, he was determined to push on. He decided to master the four elements before Theodore’s final test; whether he would be able to do so would be an entirely different story.
-x-x-x-x-x
As the sun began to rise, Weed put away the swords he had been forging. Three weeks had passed in the blink of an eye. He wasn’t sure whether he was hired or not, but in case he was, he would still have to turn down the permanent employment. Weed couldn’t imagine himself spending the rest of his gaming life in front a fire stove hammering away swords and shields. The thought was too morbid for him. As he packed away the last of the ores into the shed, he heard two passer bys conversation who were on the other side of the fence.
“You sure this is the shop?” asked a familiar voice.
“Yes Mark Hyung. This was the shop, I clearly remember it!”
Weed didn’t recognize this voice, but the name sounded awfully familiar.
“This was the very shop where the elf dragged me into and forced me to buy this sword!”
“Elf you say? Twice have we been duped by an elf, I don’t trust them. But anyways, thank you, Michi. The information you provided will truly be beneficial to our distinguished party, the hundred blades of winds. I will be sure to recruit you as a member when we become an elite party!”
“Really Hyung? That would be awesome!”
“I should get Joe and Jeff here…”
Weed had heard enough. He feared that forcing a newbie to buy a sword would have repercussions and now his nightmares came true. He cursed his luck that the newbie chose to complain to three idiots of the winds. They were a huge headache for Weed. He didn’t even want to imagine what a hundred of them would be like. He put on his hood and jumped into the neighboring shops backyard and then crossed over to the next street. He wanted to get as far as possible as he could from Swords and Charms. It was likely, the longer he stayed the more ugly, it was going to get.
Tizen walked into the shop expecting to be greeted by the stupid elves smiling face; however he got a rude shock to see his shop unmanned during opening hours. He checked the backyard of the store. Just in case Weed was packing away his practice material. But there was no sign of Weed anywhere in or around the store. Tizen felt heartbroken, just like all his other students, once they learnt dwarvish blacksmithing they would abandon him without a goodbye or a thanks. He expected Weed to be different but in the end Weed to betrayed his expectations (Betrayal Skill: +1 level).
‘Probably would have fired him today anyways, elves have no talent in blacksmithing.’ Tizen thought to himself as he took out a shield and began polishing it. It would be just him alone in this shop once again…“TING TING TING”
The door bell of the shop rang, at the door stood four human warriors.
Tizen never forgot a customer’s face; one of the four warriors was the one who bought a sword recently.
“Welcome customer! Why have you returned? Have you broken your sword?”
“No..You see about the sword…” Michi began to reply.
“We offer no refunds or exchanges on our purchases!” Tizen angrily interrupted the newbie player.
“No…actually we just wanted to know whether you manufacture these weapons or outsource them from someone else?” Jeff asked as he pushed Michi away. Jeff was a high level player and with high enough fame, NPCs would become more courteous.
“We always make our own weapons.” Tizen replied with a completely different more polite mannerism. “Would you like to see some?”
“Yes, something for beginners.”
Tizen removed a sword from the display. “Only for 44 Silver! Same sword as the gentleman over there bought last time. I even give you 6 silver off.”
Jeff looked at the sword and frowned.
| Durability: 10/10. Attack: 6.A good sword for beginners.Requirements: None. |
| --- |
“This is not the sword. Michi show him your sword.”
Michi hurried to the cashier desk and with Tizen’s permission, handed Tizen the sword he bought.
| Durability: 100/100. Attack: 12.A highly durable and good sword for beginners.Requirements: None. |
| --- |
Tizen squinted his eyes and stared at the sword info for a minute. “I know each and every sword in the store, yet I don’t ever remember crafting such a sword or any of my students…”
Tizen paused. He had given up on students and also discriminated against the elf. Never once did he see the elf’s finished product. His hands were trembling…the weapons license grade was a terrible benchmark for talent. A sage master yet so blinded by prejudice! Tizen was bitter towards himself; he had given up on his students and blacksmithing! The elf was a prodigy and one hungry to learn. How he wished he could turn back time and teach the elf more!
“Unfortunately, this is something my student made. He no longer works here.” Tizen proudly replied. He was proud to be an elf’s teacher. “He quit this morning”
“Would you know where this student is now?” Jeff asked impatiently, hoping catch up with the blacksmith and recruit him into his party.
“No.”
“Has he made more such weapons? I would like to buy every weapon he has made.”
“One moment please, I need to check the shed. He might have left some there.”
Tizen opened the shed door and stood in shock. He shout out, “I don’t think you can buy everything…”
In front of him, lay thousands if not hundreds of thousands of swords and shields. Tizen was mistaken, the elf was not only a prodigy but also very diligent at practice…the shop went on to become a very popular destination for purchasing durable weapons for beginners. Players would flock at it's doors all day long to be able to purchase the weapons the dwarf made and while waiting to buy their weapons they would often wonder why was it called “Elvish Swords and Charms” when a dwarf makes them?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Edited by Knaivvs.
2. I extended the training montage chapter...was going to write it longer...but then decided to speed it up and cover the important points here. So I hope the notes, I use (images below), are good reference for understanding the profession. Please do find errors, so that I may make corrections accordingly.
3.
4. 
5. A short chapter, but i can finally move past the training >.<
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=397) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Where the Roads Go",
"id": 3,
"author": "Chronos",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "Author's Section",
"id": 148,
"next": 155,
"prev": 140,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 1.15em;">About the Author</span></span>
<br>I am Chronos.
<br>
<br>I am obsessed with being technically accurate when it comes to facts about LMS and RR so that there are no discrepancies between my fanfiction and the original work. If there's anything off about my work, feel free to comment, message, chat, or email me.
<br>
<br>Also, I love critique and feedback, if you have anything you want to say about my ff, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me in the japtem forums, here, or at the email or skype above.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 1.15em;">About Where the Road Goes</span></span>
<br>This here is my first fanfiction.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 1.15em;">Contact Info</span></span>
<ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chatango:</span> Chronos5884</li><br><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Email:</span> <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8bc8e3f9e4e5e4f8beb3b3bfcbece6eae2e7a5e8e4e6">[email protected]</a></li><br><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Skype:</span> Chronos5884
<br></li></ul><br>Feel free to message me whenever/however. I will get back to you whenever I can. At certain times, I cannot get access to Chatango. I will however be available on gmail, skype, and google talk. I do not have a facebook at the moment. I may make one eventually.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 1.15em;">Disclaimer</span></span>
<br>I make an effort to not steal ideas from other Fanfic Authors. If I happen to have similar ideas and lines as others, it is probably coincidental.
</div> | About the Author
I am Chronos.
I am obsessed with being technically accurate when it comes to facts about LMS and RR so that there are no discrepancies between my fanfiction and the original work. If there's anything off about my work, feel free to comment, message, chat, or email me.
Also, I love critique and feedback, if you have anything you want to say about my ff, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me in the japtem forums, here, or at the email or skype above.
About Where the Road Goes
This here is my first fanfiction.
Contact Info
* Chatango: Chronos5884
* Email: [[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)
* Skype: Chronos5884
Feel free to message me whenever/however. I will get back to you whenever I can. At certain times, I cannot get access to Chatango. I will however be available on gmail, skype, and google talk. I do not have a facebook at the moment. I may make one eventually.
Disclaimer
I make an effort to not steal ideas from other Fanfic Authors. If I happen to have similar ideas and lines as others, it is probably coincidental. |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 7",
"id": 59,
"next": 60,
"prev": 58,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Interior defense of Saraborg<br><br>In a matter of minutes the interior city gate of Saraborg was torn apart. The embinyu soldiers rushed in one after another like a swarm of animals would on a fallen prey.<br><br>“Queen Evane, here they come!” cried one of the knights in a panicked voice<br>On this harsh battle field, she alone kept her wits “Stay calm. We’ve prepared as best we could. Everyone get into their positions and fire when ready.”<br>“Yes mam!”<br><br>The enemy soon came rushing down the central avenue in droves<br><br>“Attack! Burn it all down to ashes!!”<br>“Wahhahaha this is too easy!”<br><br>A clear voice rang out across the battle field “All units, fire at will.”<br><br>Several hundred arrows pounded upon the surprised paladins black armor. But they didn’t stop, instead they continued to advance over the corpses of their fallen comrades in a reckless charge.<br><br>One paladin was at the head of the charge with shield in hand and was already stuck with several arrows in his armor “Don’t you underestimate our resolve!!”<br><br>“That’s my line” said a voice below him. Before the man could respond to this unexpected figure, his throat was pierced by a thin long sword (think rapier type if it helps).<br><br>Taken aback at the sudden loss of their leader, the paladins stood in shock but soon recovered and focused on killing their opponent. They swung madly at the shadow as it weaved through their attacks like a phantom before rolling to the side as a battle axe crashed down several inches from her body. Evane then stabbed one of the soldiers in his stomach before doing a graceful back flip into the air and severing some of their heads. Some of their faces were still locked with an expression of shock, others fear.<br><br>Not all of them were as distracted as their compatriots, because a large figure landed a heavy kick to Evanes side with his steel boots, knocking her over.<br><br>“Mother!!” yelled a panicked voice. It was the recently crowned king of Rosenheim. He raised his bow, took aim at the attacker, and fired his shot with deadly precision.<br><br> Unfortunately, the arrow was easily deflected by the man’s armor. Not willing to go down without a fight, Evane thrust her sword upward into the paladins large frame, but all it served to do was enrage him. The paladin readied his weapon and prepared to deliver the finishing blow “Hah!”<br><br>But the final blow never came, instead it was intercepted by a broadsword carried by a seemingly weakly old man. “You bastards took her from me once. Do you honestly expect me to just stand by and let you take her from me again!?” said Zahab in a loud booming voice. His tone filled with both anger and conviction.<br><br>His body seemed to blur for a moment as he executed a downward slash, effectively cleaving the soldier in two straight down the middle. Zahab seemed to be unwilling to relent with just that much so he dashed forward with his sword, causing several streaks of silver to tear through the paladin’s armor and flesh. If Queen Evane was a fighter that embodied grace, then Zahab was a swordsman who embodied simplicity and hard work. Each of his attacks were filled with both speed and strength as they flowed effortlessly from one strike to another, proof of the long years he had spent honing his skills. There was not one unnecessary movement. After he had finished pushing the embinyu soldiers back somewhat, he lowered his hand and lifted Queen Evane back onto her feet.<br><br>“Still as troublesome as ever I see.” Joked Zahab with a slight smirk on his face<br>She in turn crossed her arms and pouted slightly “Hmph, I had it all under control.” But she soon relented. Once her wounds were healed she rejoined Zahab. Each fought back to back, making sure to not miss a step. They methodically attacked their opponents. Evane would distract the enemy with her elegant sword dance while Zahab ran in and cleaved them in two from the side.<br><br>“Will the couple in front please stop showing off! You’re making us single people feel downright sad!!” remarked Rodriguez jokingly with a slight snicker. He sighed slightly at the sight of this pair who were holding off a group of 30 soldiers on their own, then relented, placed his hands on his sides, and began to chuckle again.<br><br>“Quiet, you!!” yelled the pair in protest, their cheeks showing a slight rosy red color<br><br>All the jest and jokes were soon forgotten as a group of enemy reinforcements came in through the city gate.<br><br>“Double Spell! Oh Undine, goddess of water, bequeath unto me 30 spears of ice so that I may pierce mine foes with your just might.” Rodriguez’s left hand glowed white and then he continued with another spell “Agni, emperor of flames and ruler of the purgatory, bestow upon your faithful servant 30 spirits of fire so that I may set your enemies ablaze with your fury.”<br><br>“Ice Javalen*30! Fire bolt*30!!” The spells rose up slightly before forming an arc and crashing down on the embinyu soldiers with frightening strength.<br><br>“Cowards!!”<br><br>Succumbing to fear, they attempted to run into the nearby houses. One of them ran into a nearby red house and the others followed suit. From the darkness of the old home, a shining steel sword shot out and pierced the man in his chest. He stared back at the shadow in disbelief as a hand jutted out and slowly pushed his body off of the sword. The knight then readied his shield and “greeted” anyone else that might have the courage to step forward.<br><br>His armor was not shiny like many of the new knights but instead a dull silver color, covered with countless nicks, marks, and scratches from fierce battles giving off a feeling of strength and nobility. “Come on you bastards. I’ve waited long enough.” Pluto muttered with a low menacing voice.<br><br>Pluto had joined the Rosenheim army almost immediately after signing up for Royal Road. At first it was because a flower arranger he had met by chance recommended it to him. He thought that it would be a good chance to convert to a strong class and make money, but this notion soon faded after the years he spent fighting side by side with these men. Day after day he honed his sword skills by fighting with the other royal knights, each time they praised him for his skill he felt a sense of pride. He now considered Rosenheim kingdom his home and these men who were trying to tear it all apart his hated enemy.<br><br>The other paladins who had tried to enter the other houses faced a similar fate. Several civilians had also appeared above the homes and began to thrash the foes below them. Royal knights ranged from level 400 to 500, and if they didn’t want to be moved from a spot then they most likely weren’t going to be moved. With the windows shut tight and a royal knight at each of the entrances effectively keeping them out, as well as a powerful wizard plus two sword masters in the front, the embinyu forces couldn’t advance or hide under cover to the sides. Finally yielding to the pressure, they attempted to regroup with their comrades outside before making another attempt at the city.<br><br>A large sword twice the size of a normal man swung out from behind a house and met full force with 5 soldiers. Their bodies buckled at the sheer power as their armors failed them and they were sent into the air before turning gray. The other soldiers behind them reeled from the force of their comrades bodies hitting them along with the air pressure. Each one stared at the other in disbelief as a hulking man held the intimidating sword in one hand and 25 fully armored royal knights, each holding a lance, walked in.<br><br>“Now now sword instructor, you mustn’t be hogging all the fun.” said Sir Midvale as he wagged his finger in a lecturing motion.<br><br>*grunt* “You expect me to hold back when they’re that close? After what they did to my home!? Grrr…” The sword instructor grinded his teeth in anger and tightened his grip on his massive claymore sword. “These bastards tore apart my home and after I’ve finally managed to make it decent again, they come in here trying to do it again! That home was meant to be a place that they could return to…and these guys just….GRAHHH!! How the hell am I suppose to hold back when they’re right here in front of me?!” yelled the man in a heavy voice as he motioned toward the paladins with his enormous sword.<br><br>Sir Midvale motioned the other knights to fall into formation “You misunderstand, what I meant was that we also wanted a piece of them. Don’t think that you’re the only one who holds a grudge.” replied Midvale in a cold voice.<br><br>The Sword Instructor decided to yield, as much as he hated the Embinyu forces, he didn’t want to betray one of his oldest friends. They had known each other since childhood but this was the first time in a while that Midvale had spoken with such anger in his voice.<br><br>With astonishing speed the knights sprinted forward at full speed and dispatched the remaining paladins, sending them to meet their god. Those that did not meet their deaths by lance were soon trampled on by their horses.<br><br>“All is for Embinyu!!” a group of soldiers yelled out as he ran with crazed eyes at Sir Midvale.<br><br>His mithril lance was “occupied” by 3 paladins, each pierced through the stomach. He quickly threw them off with a flick of his wrist and rather than using his weapon, ordered his loyal stead to leap onto the first attacker. The beast landed hooves first onto the man, his face distorted with fear and disbelief as 1300 pounds of pure muscle and steel fell upon him.<br><br>A frightening voice spread through the city “GAAAAAAAOOOOO!!!”<br><br>“What the hell was that?!” cried one of the knights<br><br>A large grey hand smashed down on one of the knights then another hand appeared and backhanded the other Royal knights away.<br><br>“An ogre?! Since when did they have ogres!?!”<br><br>“Don’t lose concentration! Prepare a counter attack, we cannot lose this position!”<br><br>An audible humming sound could be heard from their backs as a crimson colored phoenix the size of a house flew past them and blasted the ogre back through the city gates. The few knights in front prepared themselves for the monster’s counter attack or death throes but were shocked when they saw the creature’s body. The ogre’s head was blown completely off and there was a stream of gray smoke coming from his upper body as it landed heavily on the Embinyu soldiers outside. It was an instant death for the Ogre. The makeshift “wall” effectively sealed off anymore possible invaders.<br><br>A beautiful woman in a white dress with striking blonde hair walked up to them.<br>“Sir Midvale, report in on the situation. What’s happening within the city?” Queen Evane asked as she finished wiping the blood from her sword with a handkerchief.<br><br>“Madam! We’ve taken care of most of the soldiers that broken in at this point. The other intruders have spread throughout the city.”<br><br>“That’s good, don’t let your guard down though.”<br><br>“Are we not going to chase after the enemies?” inquired one of the knights<br><br>“No we’re already low on man power as it is. Spread the knights out at key locations and possible target locations inside of the city. I suspect that they’re looking for something, otherwise they would have all moved as one toward the main castle. For now, let the volunteer units take care of the enemies with their guerilla attacks.”<br><br>“Understood! I shall report this news to the other squadrons at once!!”<br><br>************************************************************<br>LMS Junkies Guild have arrived :D<br><br>Guilds that had joined in the defense of Serabourg employed guerilla tactics by harassing their opponents with long range attacks in order to lure them in, then when their enemies were in range a group of warriors and knights would burst out of the houses and sandwich them with attacks. It wasn’t a pretty tactic but none of them cared about playing fair and giving their enemies a chance to fight back. They knew full well that if their positions were switched, they would not hesitate to slay them either.<br><br>Solo players who disliked playing in groups also employed a set of guerilla tactics but on a much smaller note. Some guilds even competed with one another to see who would get the most kills.<br><br><br>At the McDonalds/711/ any place with food you like to go to, in Rosenheim kingdom:<br>Embinyu Paladin 1: grr where are the citizens!?!?? There’s nothing to kill in this godforsaken city. Hmm…We may as well get something to eat?<br>Embinyu Paladin 2: Hahahah I agree with you, the food hereis pretty good.<br>About 20 paladins were taking a break inside of the restaurant.<br>Paladin 1: GAH! IT BURNS IT BURNS~!!!<br>Ttring! Decrease in health 70, damage will continue for an hour unless something is done.<br><br>“Why is there no water?!?!?!??!?!”<br>All of the paladins began to sprint to the bathroom in unison.<br>They hovered their mouths somewhat below the faucet and turned it on full blast before chugging it all down.<br>“Ptew!! What the hell, mud water?!?! Gah, who did this!!”<br>“Whoever the hell did this is gonna pay!! huh??? Who are you?<br><br>Person: Hi my name is nooborto just your friendly neighborhood ninja. Oh and I was the one who put hot sauce, really powerful right? It? my own blend.<br><br>They hurriedly scrambled to their feet with swords drawn and rushed at the masked man.<br>Paladin 2: “K-KILL HIM!!!”<br><br>But the clever ninja already foresaw this and began to throw poison daggers at the paladins and threw in a large stink bomb as he slammed and locked the door in one of the paladins faces<br>“Just you wait till I get my hands on you, you little brat!!!” The man began hacking away at the wooden door with his sword, his face red with fury.<br><br>The shaman in the back had had enough. He lowered his wand so that it pointed at the door and cast a spell “Fire ball!! Get ready to burn!! Hahahaha”<br><br>Nooborto now a good distance away from the door turned back to face the door. In a low voice which only he could hear he said “By the way, you should know that the stink bomb is made from a special fish oil which is highly flammable. Heh heh”<br>Paladins: “Wait, what?? Flammable!?” He peered back horridly as he saw slight sparks coming from the shaman’s hands “Stop you fool! Stop!!” It was too late. *BANG!!!*<br><br>Ting! You have killed 20 Embinyu priests you have acquired 40,000 exp<br>Ting! You have leveled up!x10<br>Nooborto: “Woot free exp~~! Ooo I see some embinyu shamans, maybe they?l give even more exp.”<br><br>Embinyu Shaman 3: “Where are those stupid paladins wander off to? We were supposed to be killing and they’re out eating food! Gahhhh just wait till I catch those idiots…”<br>Embinyu Shaman 8: I can’t agree with you more, this is stu- AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!<br>Nooborto: HA!! How do you like my thousands years of pain move(Note: This is from Naruto, just google it lol)<br>Embinyu Shaman 8: HOW DARE YOU DO THAT YOU LITTLE INSECT! Ice spear!!<br>Nooborto: “Smoke bomb!!”<br>Embinyu shaman 4: “You little coward you think we’ll let you leave here alive? Dream on!” A glint of silver flashed in front of him, rather than panicking the mage cast a barrier spell and laughed the attack off. “You think a little shuriken can stop me?! Ice spear! Ice spear! Fire ball! Lightning bolt!!”<br>“Argh!!!?”<br>“Aha! That’s what you get for underestimating me!?”<br>Shaman 7: “You idiot the one you hit was me! Frost diver!!!”<br>Shaman 4: “Sorry it was my mistake!” *boom*’<br>Shaman 1:” Everyone stop! We’re hitting each other, now let’s just use a wind spell and then kill the bastard!”<br><br>Nooborto was snickering from a roof top as he watched the mages fight each other in frustration. “Idiots~! I’m just the distraction. A good ninja knows when to flee as well.” He skipped away from the mages with liethe movements as he gazed down at the other Rosenheim residents who were also fighting. “Hmmm…I wonder who those guys are. It looks like they’re running to the library….? Meh, may as well watch.”<br><br>*****************************************************<br><br>Running through the midst of the burning city was a trio of novices who were most likely only level 30 judging by their plan leather armor. Following closely behind was a group of determined barbarian warriors wielding large clubs and maces.<br><br>“Joey~!! How did it come to this! Ahhhh” yelled a frightened female archer. Her normally bound hair was loose now due to her hair tie breaking. On her back was a crude elf bow but it was a good bow none the less.<br><br>To her side was a young man probably 18 years old, he was heaving from the weight of his bronze plate armor. “Huff….Huff…Cain, where do we go from here?”<br><br>The panicking shaman tried to compose himself but his hands shook persistently. He eventually pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his bag and examined it “Take the next left head straight for 4 blocks and then take one more left. After that, we’ll be at the Rosenheim library. We should be able to hide in there.”<br><br>“You heard the man, we’re almost home free!”<br><br>*Smash!* A giant mace crashed several feet away from the group and they grimly turned back to see the poised barbarian.<br>“RAAAAHHHHHH” In their moment of distraction, the platoon of barbarians had almost caught up on them.<br><br>“RUN FASTER!!!!!”<br><br>**********************************************************<br>Blueshadows spent most of her time in the library. Even in real life, she preferred reading novels and the like from playing actual games. Something about the idea of travelling to a different world and sharing a grand adventure drew her in. Books told stories of how friends helped one another when they were in need, tales of how they started out in a small village then bound into one misadventure after misadventure, eventually getting strong to the point that they could face off against a Dungeon guardian on their own. It was for this reason that she sought to join Royal Road along with her sister and friends from an online novel forum. Blueshadows had actually managed to stumble across a secret class called Moonlight Reader due to her long time spent in the library. The condition for this hidden class was to have a good relationship with all of the librarians in the Rosenheim library, read 60% of the books there, and also spends at least 600 hours there during the first two weeks a novice was stuck in the city. Needless to say, this was a ridiculous requirement because the library was filled with thousands upon thousands of books and no one else had met it as of late. Together with her friends they stormed a fort Alkhar which had been filled with goblins and even managed to overtake a lizard lord.<br><br><br>When she and her party had finally returned to Rosenheim after a 2 month trek through the wilderness she zoomed straight into the library at a lightning fast pace. In turn, she was completely unaware of the situation outside of the library. Blueshadows lazed about her small personal room high above the first level. It was a section filled completely with books about government and history which no one liked to read. After discovering this place, she decided to outfit it with her favorite sofas and books, effectively making it her own living quarters. She was about to doze off when there was a sudden loud crashing noise downstairs.<br><br>She reluctantly peeked from her hiding place to see what the disturbance was. A group of poorly dressed adventurers rushed through the library doors screaming like they were possessed, behind then was a small band of warriors who were obviously trying to kill them.<br><br>“What do we do now?! They followed us all the way here!!” yelped a girl in a squeaky voice<br><br>“I…I…I don’t know! Barbarians aren’t supposed to be this fast, it’s completely illogical!! Hackers!!” cried a panic stricken shaman<br><br>A loud voice thundered from behind them“RAAAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!”<br><br>Judging by his face one of the adventurers seemed to be especially angry “Rawr rawr rawr, can’t you say anything else!?” yelled Joey.<br><br>The warriors face flushed red at this comment and began thrashing madly at the man. He made wide, bold swings with his heavy club but kept missing by a hair and ended up their book cases.<br><br>‘How dare they ruin my home!’ thought Blueshadows. She climbed down from her hiding spot using a rope and swung her body onto one of the bookshelves, expertly balancing herself before leaning forward causing it to fall onto the next shelf. That caused a domino effect and one by one all of the shelves collapsed in with horrible force until they fell upon the unsuspecting group of adventurers and warriors.<br><br>-Ttring! You have killed a Embinyu soldier, you gain 465 experience<br>-Level up!<br>-Level up!<br><br>Bluehearts was surprised at this notification and accidentally spoke out loud “Embinyu denomination? What are they doing here??”<br><br>Cain was covered completely in dust but managed to squirm out from underneath the shelves. Un fortunately Joey took the full brunt of the attack “Gasp! I can breathe again!!”<br><br>“Miss, be careful! The Embinyu denomination broke into Serabourg, they’re trying to destroy everything! Ahhh my arm hurts…” Alice was the most uninjured of the trio but her arm left arm was broken.<br><br>Destroy? They’re going to destroy my books, my sanctuary? The usual passive Blueshadows glared venomously at the crowd of warriors then took out a cyan colored book from her bag and threw it at one of the soldiers.<br><br>The man closed his eyes and puffed out his chest at this weak attack “Hah, like a little book could actually hurt me.” His friends also joined in by laughing together.<br><br>“Enlarge!” The normally small book grew to a staggering size twice that of the barbarian. They would have been able to easily dodge the book but fortunately they had let their guard down at this attack.<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br>Class description:<br><br>Character Name: Blueshadows<br>Job: Moonlight Reader<br>Title: Erratic Thread Viewer<br>Status: Erratic<br>Level: unknown...<br>Health: Spazzy<br>Mana: 5000<br>Strength: 100<br>Dexterity: 10-50<br>Wisdom + Intellect: 1-1000 (By heplfulness and mood)<br>Fighting Spirit: 1-100000<br>Stamina: 20<br>Endurance: 10<br>Charisma: 5<br><br>The Moonlight Reader was a hidden class that lied dormant in the Rosenheim library until Blueshadows managed to unintentionally fulfill the qualifications for the class. The condition for this hidden class was to have a good relationship with all of the librarians in the Rosenheim library, read 60% of the books there, and also spends at least 600 hours there during the first two weeks a novice was stuck in the city.<br><br>Moonlight Readers possess a special book called Book of Dimensions.<br><br>Book abilities are:<br><br>1. enlarge-Can either make the book super big or small enough to fit in your pocket(note: do not read it when it’s tiny, really bad for your eyes lol)<br>2. Dimension transfer/Animate - The class book acts as a portal to another dimension so you can either enter the book or summon things from it. You must read the book you wish to summon something from (100-1000 times, or requirement is that you have an absolute perfect memory of the book and can recall everything about it). Said book creates a fantasy dimension that matches all the descriptions in the book and reenacts all of the events. You can only bring items out from the dimensions that you have already recorded. Objects brought out of the book will act as they did in the book so if you bring out a random T-rex he’s going to rampage. You bring out a knight and appeal to a sense of justice he may help you. It’s possible to build up intimacy so they’ll listen more to your orders. Those that were animated require a steady amount of mana(25 per sec and Blueshadows has enough mana/mana regain items to hold summoned objects/persons for 1 to 2 hours depending on the size). When you have no more mana they return to the book, they have the ability to recall back into said book whenever they want(They do this before they die so they don’t disappear), and objects have the choice of answering your summons. But you can communicate with summoned beings even when they are still in book). If you’re on bad terms they’ll ignore you (*cries*).<br>3. Reveal- Sometimes the book will reveal secret dungeons or lairs or watev that are hidden if all the summoned creatures have been happy for a long time (ie. A year) and can only be revealed in certain conditions that are similar to the hidden place (ie. If it is a desert on some other plain/island then surrounding must be desert-like in the first place) and only if you are really lucky with high charisma and luck or favor with a god.<br>4. Part of normal functions of the book-The book will open to specific story/world/pic/etc. you want and if you are not certain then you find a table of contents that shows stories/world/pic/etc. recorded. Always shows empty pages at both the beginning and end of the book though.<br><br><br>Notes about going into the book:<br>You can enter the book and go to these dimensions and screw with the story and interact with everyone. But if you mess with the storyline too much like making them unhappy with you then you can't summon said party. Ex: You read a book about the medieval times, bunch of kingdoms are fighting unleash something like a giant ninja god dragon to raise hell, then they’re going to get angry at you. (Note: In that dimension your abilities limiters are removed. Instead of summoning a single object you can bring a set of objects/events from another story/dimension into the one that you are in.) You over run all the humans and let dragons take over the continent/world. Humans are unhappy with her so they will refuse to heed your summons however the giant ninja god dragons that you interacted with and helped to conquer the world with will follow your summons and orders(they also fear they’ll be whipped by Blueheart so ya…)<br><br>---------------------------------------------------------<br><br>The book expanded further then tossed itself open and began to flip through all of its pages before glowing a faint white color “Animate, Black heart!!”<br><br>Heavy mist poured out through the book spreading through the entire complex. Slowly a shadow four times the size of the warriors formed from within the column of smoke and high above the warriors head was a glint of red which sent shudders down the hardened veteran’s spine. A claw reached out of the book first, then another claw, followed lastly by an enormous head with a pair of long horns and deep piercing red eyes which seemed to look into one’s soul. Her body loomed high above them, forcing them to strain their necks just to look at it. The body was covered with muscles and black steel like scales, flexible but inexplicably strong. Time stood still and no one uttered a sound.<br><br>Breaking the silence was a feminine voice which seemed to border between joy and madness “Dinner is served, Black heart~!”<br><br>“ROAAAAAAAR!!!” A earth shattering voice split the air and the beast’s neck moved with astounding speed. Before anyone could react one of the soldiers was lifted off of the ground and was doing a desperate death throe inside of the black dragon’s mouth. Blood splattered everywhere as Black Heart shook her head around, thoroughly enjoying her tasty treat. Seeing the terrifying beast in front of them devouring their comrade was too much for the warriors, and they made a beeline for the gateway. A massive tail hit them heavily from the side knocking them into the air then a enormous claw caught them midair and swatted them down like mere flies.<br><br>In an act of desperation they threw their weapons at the dragon’s head but that only served to further enrage the monster. She pulled her head back and prepared to breathe a breath of fire and brimstone at her foes.<br><br>“Oi, Black heart! No fire! Are you trying to destroy my house?!” yelled an agitated Blueshadows<br><br>Blackheart immediately stopped what she was doing and reluctantly nodded her head at her ‘mother’. Afterward she continued to play with her new ‘toys’.<br><br>Behind Bluehearts was the stunned trio who couldn’t understand what was happening in front of them. At first they were chased by a group of fearsome warriors and were ready to fight to the death, then this person appeared and summoned a giant dragon before killing everything in sight. It was beyond comprehension. Unnoticed to them, a shadow appeared from behind one of the bookshelves.<br><br>“Yaaaaaaaawn” said the mysterious woman as she began to stretch her arms.<br>Cain turned to face the stranger “Who are you? When did you get here?”<br>“Hm? I’m Chicaalterego, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And what do you mean when did I get here, I’ve been here the whole time!!”<br>“Eh? Really?”<br>“Yeah, I was resting in that sofa since this morning. It’s a really soft and good quality sofa so it was easy to fall asleep =)”<br>‘You slept through the sounds of cannon fire, explosions, screaming, and a massive siege on a city….?’ Is what the trio wanted to say but they were too astonished to actually reply.<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Character info:<br>Character Name: chicaalterego<br>Job: Air wasting stalker<br>Fame: 0<br>Life: Immortal?<br>Class: unknown<br>Status: Lazy<br>Level: 400<br>Health: 1<br>Mana: 0<br>Strength: 1<br>Dexterity: 0<br>Wisdom + Intellect: 342420<br>Stamina: 35544<br>Endurance: 1<br>Charisma: -13<br><br>[Job description: The Air wasting stalker (usually refereed to as useless bastards). Is not a legendary class, albeit it is known as a very obscure and mysterious one; this class is famous for it's weird side effects. The players in this profession can never attain fame and keeping the charisma in the positive area is an impossible feat. This job is very unappealing to many, since is completely useless for battle, for earning money and for most practical in-game feats. However the "Air wasting stalker" class provides you the ability of raising levels doing nothing, and enables you the option of sleep when you are sleeping in game, making the skin of their avatar be always smooth. It’s possible to learn new skills simply by watching due to their high intelligence but this will cause their level to drop each time they use it and be physically drained.<br><br>The ones in this profession tend to have a high level, since they chose it aware of the fact that they are lazy bums. But their level is just for show and it will be reduced if the player accidentally learns an ability due to their high wisdom. This class has only one real benefit to it, which comes when the player decides to use the ability unique to theirs class "Stalkerism" in which they can keep on stalking something even after their HP its 0. and below 0. Allowing the player keep up whatever they are doing procrastinating their dead, and then die a thousand times... ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>Chicaalterego turned to watch the massive black dragon ‘Hmm…That looks like fun’.<br>-Ttring! Book of Dimensions learned! You can now summon people/objects/beings from a book that you have an adept understanding of. Must have specific book you wish to summon from on hand and shout “Animate, ______”<br>-Level has decreased 50 because you learned a skill.<br><br>Chicaa was ecstatic at this news “oooh! I want to summon Pikachu and Pichu!!”<br>(MY CHILDHOOD, MY NOSTALGIA, COME FORTH!!!!!)<br><br>“Pichu?? Pi pi chu!!”<br>“Pika! Pi ka chu??? Pi, pi ka, chu chu”<br><br>“So….SO CUTE~~~!!!!” Unable to hold herself back anymore, Chicaalterego ran up to the small animals and bear hugged the struggling pokemon.<br><br>“Piii….pika~!!!” They squirmed around trying to break free but that just made her hug even tighter.<br><br>Finally, “Pi…ka….”<br><br>Sensing some kind of static and pressure in the air, Blueshadows turned around just in time to see what was happening. She wasn’t sure how Chicaa brought the pokemon out but she had watched enough episodes to know what was about to happen.<br><br>“Black heart, fly! Fly out of here right now! No questions just do it!!” yelled Blueshadows as she clawed her way up the dragon’s back. Black fire had only ever seen her master this flustered when she mentioned her sister Blueheart and instinctively followed what she was told to do.<br><br>Joey dragged his friends out of the entrance “If you don’t wanna die then run!”<br>“Ahhh, we’ve been doing so much running today!!” but Alice still followed closely behind<br><br>The only ones left were the remaining barbarians, clustered behind a bookshelf and confused they peered at one another.<br><br>“…CHU!!” A blinding flash of light enveloped the room followed by an overwhelming explosion effectively sending the barbarian warriors to become new stars in the night sky.<br><br>Somewhere off in the distance a voice could be heard “….Team rockets blasting off again~!! Meowth that’s right!! Wobbuffet!!”<br><br>-Stalkerism activated! "Stalkerism" is a skill in which they can keep on stalking something even after their HP its 0. and bellow 0. Allowing the player keep up whatever they are doing procrastinating their dead, and then die a thousand times...<br><br>Chicaalterego began to rub her cheeks against a reluctant Pikachu(PIKACHU IS A GUY BTW, HE WORE A KIMONO IN ONE EPISODE O_O IT BLEW MY MIND SO MUCH, I NEVER KNEW) and Pichu “Aww you’re so cute~!!”<br><br>“Pikaaaa~!!!”<br>-Pikachu and Pichu have returned to their dimension, they are unwilling to answer your summons a second time.<br>“Waaaah I wasn’t done yet!! Muuuu…Fine, I’ll just ask Blueshadows to help me then, if not I’ll just bug her until she does >:”<br><br>A shudder ran down Blueshadows spine just then “I’ve got a bad feeling all of a sudden…”<br><br>**********************************************************<br><br>An entire platoon Embinyu paladins had just finished passing an Inn in search of civilians. To their dismay they found nothing inside. It was apparent that there were people there prior but every valuable and personal belonging had been gleaned off the shelves and the family had long since departed. Outside the building near one of the old wine barrels was a young man dressed in a pure white clothes with a rare insignia sewn on its back, he possessed a gentle smile as incandescent as the sun and bright blonde hair.<br><br>“It’s 44 gold for each enemy slain, there’s 12 of them so….” His mind began to calculate the numbers instantaneously and before one could even blink he said “528 gold! Ahahahah That’s great, I’ll be super rich now! Well…they have no mage or priest with them so this’ll be easy. Heh heh, I can’t wait…I can finally buy that rare new wine I saw earlier, ahhh must not drool…Oh god of light please forgive my actions, and help me get rich err I mean, uphold justice by defeating these villains! Ooooh one of them has an adamant sword!! ” Sun’s eyes seemed to gleam as he looked at his soon to be new sword.<br><br>------------------------------------------------------------<br>Avatar: Grisia Creus || Type: Neutral<br>Level: 21 || Job: Holy Knight<br>Title: Sun Knight Captain || Fame: 7000<br>Health: 800 || Mana: 7500<br>Str: 30 +20 || Dex: 40 +20 || Vit: 50 +20<br>Wis: 60 +70 || Int: 9000 +70 || Spr: 40 +20<br>Sta: 30 +20 || Faith: 150 +70 || Attractiveness: 6000 +70<br>Leadership: 0 +20 || Luck: 0<br>Offense: 25 || Defense: 20<br>Resistance to Magic: None except for resistance to dark magic<br>-----------------------------<br>+20 points to all stats<br>+50 points to Attractiveness, Faith, Wisdom, and Intelligence.<br>+Luck will never rise above 0.<br>+Gained ability to learn all magic skills to the rank of master. Advanced skills available.<br>+Gained ability Sword Mastery will never rank beyond Beginner Level 1.<br>+50% increase in combat related stats when equipped with the Saint's Dragon Brigandine.<br>+Decrease in mana consumption for spells based on level of Magic Mastery.<br>+Gained ability to equip class specific items.<br>+Gained unique skill, Light Mastery.<br>+Gained ability to learn secret skills based on your level of Light Mastery.<br>+Gained ability of elemental perception.<br>+Magic skills will not gain skill proficiency but the corresponding masteries will gained increased growth rate and efficiency.<br>+Mana Regeneration rate is doubled, added effects can be produced from using Mediation.<br>-----------------------------<br>Swordmanship: Beginner level 1 0%<br>Light Mastery: Beginner level 8 27%<br>Elemental Mastery: Beginner level 5 47%<br>Necromancy Mastery: Beginner level 3 99%<br>Elemental Perception: Comprehension 5%<br>Holy Mastery: Beginner level 9 99%<br>Saint's Dragon Brigandine: comprehension 2%<br>Resurrection: comprehension 25%<br>Wine Making: Beginner level 5 0%<br>Mediation: Comprehension 10%<br>------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>The paladins became shocked as a tall handsome man seemed to appear out of thin air. Each one of them entered their battle stance but soon lowered their guard after carefully observing the man.<br><br>“What the hell? It’s just a priest!!”<br>“I know right…I thought it was that frightening lady from earlier, you know the one who danced around and cut everyone’s heads off....” His shoulders shuddered at the sheer memory of that person<br>“Ya…by the way, are you a boy or girl??”<br>“Must be a girl right? I mean just look at her! She has long blonde hair down past her shoulders, clear blue eyes, and pure white clothing. It’s obviously a priest from Freya!!” All of them began to nod in unison at this seemingly sound conclusion.<br><br>Sun could no longer hold himself back and roared “Grahhhh are you blinde?! I’m a guy damn it!! And take a careful look at my sword, it’s the sun sword! I’m the sun knight of the Church of Light!!” ugh why does this always happen….Whatever, I’ll just kill them and be done with it. An overwhelming amount of mana began to gather around Sun’s body and he was about to unleash his full fury on his opponents when…<br><br>“SUN!!! SUN WHERE ARE YOU!?!??! Quick you three go that way, everyone else search the surrounding area again. Sun must have gotten lost again…We absolutely cannot lose Sun another time, otherwise Judge is going to be super pissed off again. I don’t need to tell you what he’s like when he’s angry, right?!” said a red haired man with a booming voice.<br><br>All the knights nodded their heads furiously. Judge was plenty scary under normal circumstances; they didn’t want to even think about what he would be like if he were angry lest they suffer horrible nightmares for the rest of their lives.<br><br>Member of blaze knight’s platoon: “Ah, I found him! Guys he’s over here! Eh, who the heck are these guys!?”<br>Embinyu soldier: “Isn’t that our question?! Are you somehow related to this cross dresser?! Ugh, I can’t believe I thought he was a she. But then again, he is really scrawny, and does have shiny hair, and clear blue eyes, gah I still can’t believe it!”<br><br>‘oi, you’re not the one who has to suffer through it! Do you know how hard it is for me to get close to girls because I look like this?!?! Grr…I’d pwn your sorry ass if it weren’t for the fact that Blaze knight was here…’ thought Sun, gritting his teeth.<br><br>“How dare you insult Sun! Blaze knight platoon, forward!!”<br><br>“Whatever, it doesn’t matter if there’s 20 more of you. We’ll still beat you all down. Take them down boys!”<br><br>Ahhh noooo Blaze, don’t slash there! You’re damaging my new armor. Argh, the price is going to drop so much now because of those dents. Whyyyy!! my money, it’s slowly dwindling away~!!! D:<br><br>Wait, no! Not the shield! A matching set sells for more!!<br><br>“Grr, insolent pests! Blinding light!!” As soon as he said this, a bright light flooded the streets.<br>the knights buried their faces in their hands and began to rub their eyes vigorously “Gah my eyes! I can’t see!”<br><br>Wait…Can’t see???<br><br>Embinyu soldier “Now! Attack!”<br><br>During this time I hastily collected large amounts of water spirits with my right hand while also collecting lightning with my left hand. Heavy static filled the air causing everyone’s hair to stand on end. I let out a cry “Web of Lightning!” and released the spell on everyone. The effects of the lightning spell were further amplified by the heavily saturated air. Cries of pain erupted all around before they fell lifelessly to the ground in a limp motion. By the time I was through Blaze knight and all of the others could see again. That was plenty of time for me to use my magic to strip the soldiers of any possible values they had on them. (This is an actually an altered version from this website <a href="http://legend-of-the-sunknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-3-step-5-fifth-step-in-rescuing.html" target="_blank">http://legend-of-the-sunknight.blogspot ... cuing.html</a>)<br><br>“Um….Sun, what happened here?” asked Blaze knight, unable to understand the situation.<br><br>“Hmm it seems they all tripped and knocked themselves out!”<br><br>“But they’re on fire and smoking??”<br><br>“Then it must have been a misfired spell!”<br><br>“But there are no mages around here!”<br>“Perhaps lightning struck them all down” I said with my most innocent and dumbfounded expression<br><br>“What…? But all of them just….how???” asked a dumbfounded Blaze knight<br><br>“Brother Blaze, it seems that you are very tired. Try not to think about it too much and let’s go get you something nice to eat. How about some smoked ham??” Sun gave a smile that would look normal to anyone, but all of the holy knight captains knew that in truth it was one filled with malice. Each time he gave that smile something unfortunate would “coincidentally” happen to them.<br><br>“Yes! Please!” cried a fearful blaze knight<br><br>Rule Number Three – No matter how lame/foolish the Sun Knight looks, never ever provoke his wrath. Even if you’ve unintentionally discovered the Sun Knight’s imperfection, you had better just admit that he’s perfect unless you want to experience his imperfection yourself.<br><br>Ahh Blaze, if only the others were also so easily convinced. Oh well, I’ve gotten my new armor sets. I’ll be able to sell these for plenty heh heh. I love my magic pouch, I can carry as much stuff in it as I want~!!<br><br><br>"Hard earned money! Hard earned money! Lalala la!" "cough-coronation gift money-cough!" "Shut up, Alien!"<br><br>********************************************<br><br>Narr-Master watched the forces fighting below him with interest. He lithely clung to the top of the clock tower at the center of the city so that he could carefully observe everything below him.<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------------<br>Name: Narr-master<br>Level: 270<br>Title: "The phantom leech" Fame: -2456<br>Life: 11348 Mana: 6669<br>STR: 978+25 DEX: 1070+25 VIT: 1240+25<br>WIS: 80+25 INT: 400+25 SPR: 120+25<br>STA: 1300+25 Shamelesness: 770+50 AIR( means less pressence): 600+50 <br><br>Class: Screenlight leechtaker<br> [Screenlight leechtaker: Class whose mastery has been banned by Geihar Von Ahreupen himself after realising his fame was being leeched off by someone, Having taken him 20 years to discover this act of treason he realised the dangers such a dark profession may cause someday to the continent, thus forbidding It forever. Able to leech off the intangible and stalk the invisible, this path my only lead to darkness]<br><br>Stalk some assassins and harass them, or just watch/steal loot.<br><br>Skills:<br>Leech STR Leech WIS Leech HP Leech SKILL Shadow Bind<br>Leech STA Leech DEX Leech MANA Stalker Fist(after following someone for so long he can know his weak points)<br>Leech VIT Leech SPR Shadow Stalking<br>Leech AGI Leech EXP Shadow blending(he can enter shadows and use them as portals in battle)<br>Obscure Omniscience (after stalking some for so long he can predict his actions in battle)<br>Dark State of Parasitic Vampirisation ( costing 60 mana per secong his stats are boosted by 30% and he recovers 10% of whatever damage he dealt to the oponent)<br><br> Leechig skills work this way:<br> Leech STR (Takes a while) PERMANENT CHANGE<br>Leechtalker 700 STR Prey 800 STR ---------------------------> Leechtalker 705 STR Prey 795 STR<br><br>Here's his history provided by narr himself :)<br><br>Natham Alexander (add second english sounding middle name begining with an "R" here) Rojas, age 19 is the man behind the stalking, he is pretty much the reason why the world genius exists. Being extremily gifted allowed him to do whatever he set his mind to almost flawlessly and with ease. After years of strict tutoring paid by his overly exalted parents and not being able to make friends he came to just grow bored of everything, and developed a really aloof personality as a result. he first heard of Royal Road on rhe streets while he was "strolling around", and as he always did with something new, he tried it out. He wasn't really expecting a lot of fun, since everything else bored him too, he didn't have many expectations of the game. The first 4 mandatorial weeks pissed him off so instead of doing quests or getting a class he decided to just wander around the city, where due to many coincidences and events he somehow came to find a ultra ubber secret passage into the castle, there he obviously found the will of Remor Atick Leechenstalk and received the class "screenlight leechtalker", losing a plethora of fame too ( he was actually surprised you could lose fame when you didn't even have any).<br><br>After a while he began discovering his abilities and started testing them out for "fun", surprised since he hadn't thought of that word for years, and he was right he was having fun, using his already polished "wandering abilities" he could make his prescence really thin, even to monsters, first experimenting with the basic leeching skills "leeching life" and "shadow stalking", he preferred to do this during the night, while in the day he just enjoyed the sun he didn't have in the real world( he lived in some cloudy state).<br><br>One day loitering around he came around weed's sclupture stall and found it interesting--as sculpting was secretly the only thing he has ever failed to do, not that his artistic sense was bad, just that, out of some weird karmic law being good at everything to the point of getting killed by the other people's jealousy needed to be balanced out somehow, so the universe decided to make him suck at sclupting.<br><br>As the months passed and he continued to lv up, he came across weed a couple of times, not that he was ever noticed, he saw weed going into the secret crevice in the cave of litvart(kept following weed even after he stopped leeching off the people following him), he came across weed's pary before going to lavias(so he went with them), stumbled upon the orc/elf war.<br><br>Growing stronger he kept getting more skills, one of which alloed him to see his "victim's" stat window, that's how he came to know that weed was a LMS and ridiculously strong at that, first he was going to leech off of him but decided not, since he felt a weird akinship towards weed, maybe because they were both secret classes, he saw weed as the sun and he as the shadow.<br><br>His skills function in a way that he can literally suck people's stats and skills froma distance, which is why he has such overly inflated stats despite his lv, unfortunately these "passive" skills can't be used while in battle, so he usualy just rests under a tree nearby his victim, and while his prey is painstakingly trying to gaim exp he lessurely zaps it away, reducing his already obscenely low fame even more.<br><br>Screenlight Leechtalkers' main weapon are his fists, like some sort of monk(thankfully he leeched off other people's handycraft skill so at vol 6 his is already intermediate 7) he usually doesn't fight head on, but when need arises he was some skills to defend himself.<br>-----------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>For him, the attack on Seraborg started when he was in the middle of one of his daily strolls through the city. Seraborg was the city in which he gained his class and there was a sense of nostalgia as he walked through the dark alley ways of the city. Most would find the areas of the city in which he visited to be dark, foreboding, and a downright horrible place to visit but to Das Narr it was an adventure. Each day he managed to find new shortcuts, and hidden secrets within the cities walls. He had decided to continue his stroll despite the cities situation and soon spotted several familiar forms over in the city courtyard and two people with their backs to a wall.<br><br>“Hmm…That’s weird. No one ever comes to these parts. Even if there was a siege, there’s nothing of actual interest here. Eh? Wait, aren’t those two…..???” Das Narr said to himself<br><br>“Oi, Iheartz what’s taking you so long!” yelled a badly beaten and bloody Bonky.<br><br>“Hold on a sec, I’ve almost finished getting everything out and finished the preparations.” replied a troubled Iheartz. He literally turned his backpack upside down and a mountain of items began to pour out from the magical bag.<br><br>“Hold on!? Hold on?!?! You’re not the one who has to take all of the hits!!!” screamed Bonky as he braced himself for the impact of yet another ice spear *grunt* “HURRY UP!!”<br><br>“I’m ready! Do it!!”<br><br>“Finally….” Said Bonky with a heavy sigh “Devils pact activate! Bonkers mode!!”<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br> Avatar: Bonky333 || Type: Stuffed Animal<br>Level: 333 || Job: Bonking Master<br>Title: "Legendary Procrastinator" || Fame: 333<br>Health: 73737 || Mana: 37373<br>Strength: 333 || Agility: 333 || Vitality: 333<br>Wisdom: 333 || Intellect: 333 || Spirit: 333<br>Stamina: 333 || Endurance: 333<br>Leadership: 333 || Luck: 333<br>Offence: 333 || Defense: 333<br>Magic resistance: none<br><br>Special Skills:<br><br>Devil Pact: Goes into bonkers mode for a set period of time, doubling all stats at 333, unable to differentiate allies from prey, cannot be leveled up. Note: This will cause the player to temporarily assume another form while fighting.<br>Procrastinate: Lies around doing nothing, only skill capable of harming the Legendary Moonlight Slaver class(namely Blueheart).<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Bonky’s body became a staggering 8 feet tall, brown fur began to sprout all over his body covering him completely, his mouth grew large while his teeth became sharp, until he changed completely into the form of a giant grizzly bear with burning fur.<br><br>by: xneoknight<br><br><br>Several swords and maces struck against Bonky’s new body but they rebounded off of him just as easily. Underneath his furry exterior was pure muscle and unrestrained rage. Bonky dashed into a group of knights and hefted them high into the air, then used his new paw to smash a surprised priests head.<br><br>“What are you waiting for!? Mages, hurry up and blast this thing!!” yelled a well dressed paladin, presumably the leader of the group.<br><br>“Ice spear!! Ice bolt! Lightning bolt!”<br>The spells drew blood as it crashed down on his body but the beast showed no sign of stopping. They were just about to fire another volley when an ethereal dagger pierced several of their throats. The wizard had a stunned expression as he fell to the ground gurgling and struggling to get the dagger out. His attempts were in vain as a volley of ethereal daggers rained down on him and his comrades.<br>Hushed gasps escaped their throats as they looked upwards. An armament of daggers hovered menacingly in the air above them; their purpose was clear as day.<br><br>Even in his animalistic form, Bonky was not one to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself. He charged through the bombardment of spells until he pierced their ranks and began to violently throw his body weight in all directions. After the beast got past them it circled around one more time and began to trample over the still dazed soldiers.<br><br>“Barrier of blades has been prepared. Now switching to controlling Bonky. Ugh…so not looking forward to this.” muttered Iheartz with a hushed voice. He had dealt with controlling Bonky in his bonkers mode before and it was no easy feat.(Side note-Imagine that in his bonkers mode all of his strikes make a Bonking sound ;p) There was simply no reasoning with him as he relied completely on his instincts for fighting when in this form. Thankfully, they had several practice sessions and managed to influence him slightly now.<br><br>“Body take over!” All of the muscles in Iheartz’s body became frozen and unable to move as his consciousness moved and began to struggle for control over the ferocious bear turned Bonky.<br><br>-------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Name: Iheartz<br>Level: 212<br>Title: the Puppeteer<br>Life: 12012 Mana: 20120<br>Strength: 333 Dexterity: 999 Wisdom: 1332 Intellect: 2312<br>Class: Neuromancer<br>Has the ability to mentally attack and fully take control of the opponents body. Effectiveness of control and the power of the opponent (50%, 100%, 200%, etc) depends on skill level and intellect while the duration of control is governed by mana levels. Warning: while controlling others, the neuromancer's own body is put into a form of stasis and will be extremely vulnerable to attacks. In addition to mind control, the neuromancer is also capable of creating illusions, inhabiting inanimate objects, implanting thoughts, and even slight (surface thoughts) mind reading. The average Neuromancer is only capable of controlling a single, normal-leveled mob, with higher level Neuromancers being able to control near-boss level enemies or several different lower class enemies. It is said that an Arch Neuromagus has the ability to take over players, take over boss level monsters, and even permanently animate lifeless objects. However, given that nobody has reached such a level, this information is purely hypothetical.<br><br>Note: Neuromancers are extremely vulnerable to interruptions and destabilizations of their mental state. Observation: When I encountered Skyrim, League of Legends, or Moonlight Sculptor, 12012 life was lost, strength was increased by 333, dexterity was decreased by 333, wisdom was halved, and intellect encountered a random shifts.<br>-------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>He rose up on his hind legs to his full height then sent a mallet sized fist colliding into a knight’s head before repeatedly stomping and biting into the body of the obviously dead opponent. “Hmm I could get use to this” mumbled a giant flaming bear now possessed by Iheartz.<br><br>‘I wonder…maybe I could use that spell in this game…’ thought Iheartz “Fus Ro Dah!<br>“Chain lightning! Magic arrow!” shouted several desperate mages<br><br>He huddled his body to the ground to shield himself from the attacks. “Annoying gnats…”<br>Chaos seemed to break loose as the remaining ethereal daggers descended down from the sky piercing the priest’s bodies. They now resembled some kind of porcupine rather than a high priest of Embinyu. Iheartz bit into the dead paladin’s leg and reeled his new body backwards then to sent the corpse crashing onto a charging group of barbarians.<br><br>“Now, take down that damnable mage!” screeched a soldier from behind Iheartz<br><br>From the back!? Iheartz turned his body as fast as his massive girge allowed and caught sight of a group of Embinyu warriors charging at his frozen body. He sprinted as fast as his he could, but in the midst of his overzealousness he had overextended by at least 30 feet and left his real body open “crap…not going to make it….”<br><br>A steel mace struck Iheartz(original body) square in his back sending it sprawling to the ground. Iheartz’s mind was overwhelmed with pain as his body was beaten. Despite Neuromancers overwhelming ability to control objects at will they still had one major weakness. Almost all of their casting spells forced his original body to remain immobile making him a perfect target for the desperate warriors. Every spec of pain that his original body felt was linked directly to his mind and intensified. Iheartz reflexively held his grizzly paws over his head as he reeled from the overwhelming throbbing in his head.<br><br>The warrior had a heavy smirk on his face as he raised his mace to deliver the final blow.<br>Just then a shadow seemed to leap out of the dark alley and fly towards the attackers.<br><br>“Flying jump kick!” his leg landed straight on the paladin’s chest but it the heavily armored paladin seemed unaffected. However, this did not deter the man.<br><br>The man’s shadow seemed to spread and undulate as it encircled the group, then large black hands appeared from their shadows, tying down everyone’s legs “Shadow bind! Leech HP! Leech Mana!”<br><br>“You bastards are mine now~~!” said an ecstatic Narr-Master/Das Narr<br><br>“Little brat! You think you can take us on?! Hah! It doesn’t matter even IF our legs are tied down!”<br><br>“Divine protection! Saints blade!” A searing white flame enveloped the paladin’s sword and armor.<br><br>“Come, little one I shall--GAH” an armored fist collided with his face before he could finish his sentence.<br><br>His perpetrator stood in front of him, circling his wrist in a taunting motion. “You idiots talk too much, if you wanna brawl then let’s brawl. No need to waste time talking” Said the smirking fighter<br><br>“grr…I’ll skewer you on a pike you little runt!!”<br><br>The warrior forgot all about his broken nose and tried to charge at the man but the shadows continued to tie his feet down and slow him. The paladin swung madly at the fighter in an act of half desperation and half anger. Narr weaved his upper body in a figure 8 motion and landed several strikes on the warrior’s ribcage. It didn’t seem to have much affect at first but the combination of continuous failed attacks and harassment began to wear the paladins down both physically and mentally.<br><br>Sensing that his prey was staggering, Narr decided to “motivate” the man with a few quick jabs at his face.<br><br>“Upper cut! Gut buster! Power stomp! Demsey Roll! Falcon punch!!(My novel, I want least someone to use a falcon punch >: and what followed next can be summed up in this video graciously provided by Narr himself ;p Combos ShenLong the tiger Bloody Roar 2)<br>But the paladins were not disheartened by this flurry of strikes “Die! Eat cold steel! Grr…Why won’t you die?!?!”<br><br>This cycle of hit, dodge, hit, and taunt continued for some 15 minutes before the paladins finally noticed something was wrong.<br><br>“Hey, why aren’t you using Saint’s blade anymore?! Come on, we’ve got him by the ropes!”<br>“Huff…..Huff….It’s not that I don’t want to…I just…I’m out of mana! What’s more, even though he’s dodged most of our attacks we’ve also but there were also several good ones that landed! But look at him! The guy’s completely fine!”<br><br>Everyone stared at Narr in disbelief. It was true, despite there being lots of cuts on his leather armor; there were no noticeable wounds on him at all.<br><br>Narr sauntered up to the badly beaten warriors “Little late in saying this, but my Leech HP skill level is such that even dragon would have trouble killing me =)”<br><br>“What…but isn’t that cheating….?” Asked one of them weakly<br><br>“Cheating schmeating~! Eat my fist! Mwahahhahahhha!” Narr continued to pummel them for another 10 minutes before they finally lost consciousness or fell due to being worn out.<br><br>By this time, Iheartz and Bonky had also finished mopping up the other attackers.<br><br>The first thing Iheartz said was “We were completely in control of the situation. That was an obvious kill steal.”<br><br>“Hah like hell you were in control. You obviously overextended and couldn’t defend your real body in time.”<br><br>“Grr…”<br><br>“Tell you what, buy me that new sandwich special at the Inn and we’ll call it even.”<br><br>“But that costs 5 gold!”<br>“Or I could tell everyone about that time you got drunk and….”<br><br>“Ahhhh shhh!!!! Don’t say it! Okay I’ll buy you the stupid sandwhich, just NEVER mention that again.”<br><br>“Heh heh fine fine” ahhh nothing’s as fun as messing with your friends =)<br><br>“For now let’s just figure out what these guys want.” Turning to face the tied up Embinyu warriors and priests “So…you guys going to tell us what you attacked Seraborg for?”<br><br>“Hah don’t think you can make us talk so easily! We are proud servants of Embinyu! We never beg for mercy!”<br><br>Iheartz sighed deeply, doesn’t look like this is going to be easy. Oh well, it’s a lot more fun this way.
</div> | Interior defense of Saraborg
In a matter of minutes the interior city gate of Saraborg was torn apart. The embinyu soldiers rushed in one after another like a swarm of animals would on a fallen prey.
“Queen Evane, here they come!” cried one of the knights in a panicked voice
On this harsh battle field, she alone kept her wits “Stay calm. We’ve prepared as best we could. Everyone get into their positions and fire when ready.”
“Yes mam!”
The enemy soon came rushing down the central avenue in droves
“Attack! Burn it all down to ashes!!”
“Wahhahaha this is too easy!”
A clear voice rang out across the battle field “All units, fire at will.”
Several hundred arrows pounded upon the surprised paladins black armor. But they didn’t stop, instead they continued to advance over the corpses of their fallen comrades in a reckless charge.
One paladin was at the head of the charge with shield in hand and was already stuck with several arrows in his armor “Don’t you underestimate our resolve!!”
“That’s my line” said a voice below him. Before the man could respond to this unexpected figure, his throat was pierced by a thin long sword (think rapier type if it helps).
Taken aback at the sudden loss of their leader, the paladins stood in shock but soon recovered and focused on killing their opponent. They swung madly at the shadow as it weaved through their attacks like a phantom before rolling to the side as a battle axe crashed down several inches from her body. Evane then stabbed one of the soldiers in his stomach before doing a graceful back flip into the air and severing some of their heads. Some of their faces were still locked with an expression of shock, others fear.
Not all of them were as distracted as their compatriots, because a large figure landed a heavy kick to Evanes side with his steel boots, knocking her over.
“Mother!!” yelled a panicked voice. It was the recently crowned king of Rosenheim. He raised his bow, took aim at the attacker, and fired his shot with deadly precision.
Unfortunately, the arrow was easily deflected by the man’s armor. Not willing to go down without a fight, Evane thrust her sword upward into the paladins large frame, but all it served to do was enrage him. The paladin readied his weapon and prepared to deliver the finishing blow “Hah!”
But the final blow never came, instead it was intercepted by a broadsword carried by a seemingly weakly old man. “You bastards took her from me once. Do you honestly expect me to just stand by and let you take her from me again!?” said Zahab in a loud booming voice. His tone filled with both anger and conviction.
His body seemed to blur for a moment as he executed a downward slash, effectively cleaving the soldier in two straight down the middle. Zahab seemed to be unwilling to relent with just that much so he dashed forward with his sword, causing several streaks of silver to tear through the paladin’s armor and flesh. If Queen Evane was a fighter that embodied grace, then Zahab was a swordsman who embodied simplicity and hard work. Each of his attacks were filled with both speed and strength as they flowed effortlessly from one strike to another, proof of the long years he had spent honing his skills. There was not one unnecessary movement. After he had finished pushing the embinyu soldiers back somewhat, he lowered his hand and lifted Queen Evane back onto her feet.
“Still as troublesome as ever I see.” Joked Zahab with a slight smirk on his face
She in turn crossed her arms and pouted slightly “Hmph, I had it all under control.” But she soon relented. Once her wounds were healed she rejoined Zahab. Each fought back to back, making sure to not miss a step. They methodically attacked their opponents. Evane would distract the enemy with her elegant sword dance while Zahab ran in and cleaved them in two from the side.
“Will the couple in front please stop showing off! You’re making us single people feel downright sad!!” remarked Rodriguez jokingly with a slight snicker. He sighed slightly at the sight of this pair who were holding off a group of 30 soldiers on their own, then relented, placed his hands on his sides, and began to chuckle again.
“Quiet, you!!” yelled the pair in protest, their cheeks showing a slight rosy red color
All the jest and jokes were soon forgotten as a group of enemy reinforcements came in through the city gate.
“Double Spell! Oh Undine, goddess of water, bequeath unto me 30 spears of ice so that I may pierce mine foes with your just might.” Rodriguez’s left hand glowed white and then he continued with another spell “Agni, emperor of flames and ruler of the purgatory, bestow upon your faithful servant 30 spirits of fire so that I may set your enemies ablaze with your fury.”
“Ice Javalen*30! Fire bolt*30!!” The spells rose up slightly before forming an arc and crashing down on the embinyu soldiers with frightening strength.
“Cowards!!”
Succumbing to fear, they attempted to run into the nearby houses. One of them ran into a nearby red house and the others followed suit. From the darkness of the old home, a shining steel sword shot out and pierced the man in his chest. He stared back at the shadow in disbelief as a hand jutted out and slowly pushed his body off of the sword. The knight then readied his shield and “greeted” anyone else that might have the courage to step forward.
His armor was not shiny like many of the new knights but instead a dull silver color, covered with countless nicks, marks, and scratches from fierce battles giving off a feeling of strength and nobility. “Come on you bastards. I’ve waited long enough.” Pluto muttered with a low menacing voice.
Pluto had joined the Rosenheim army almost immediately after signing up for Royal Road. At first it was because a flower arranger he had met by chance recommended it to him. He thought that it would be a good chance to convert to a strong class and make money, but this notion soon faded after the years he spent fighting side by side with these men. Day after day he honed his sword skills by fighting with the other royal knights, each time they praised him for his skill he felt a sense of pride. He now considered Rosenheim kingdom his home and these men who were trying to tear it all apart his hated enemy.
The other paladins who had tried to enter the other houses faced a similar fate. Several civilians had also appeared above the homes and began to thrash the foes below them. Royal knights ranged from level 400 to 500, and if they didn’t want to be moved from a spot then they most likely weren’t going to be moved. With the windows shut tight and a royal knight at each of the entrances effectively keeping them out, as well as a powerful wizard plus two sword masters in the front, the embinyu forces couldn’t advance or hide under cover to the sides. Finally yielding to the pressure, they attempted to regroup with their comrades outside before making another attempt at the city.
A large sword twice the size of a normal man swung out from behind a house and met full force with 5 soldiers. Their bodies buckled at the sheer power as their armors failed them and they were sent into the air before turning gray. The other soldiers behind them reeled from the force of their comrades bodies hitting them along with the air pressure. Each one stared at the other in disbelief as a hulking man held the intimidating sword in one hand and 25 fully armored royal knights, each holding a lance, walked in.
“Now now sword instructor, you mustn’t be hogging all the fun.” said Sir Midvale as he wagged his finger in a lecturing motion.
*grunt* “You expect me to hold back when they’re that close? After what they did to my home!? Grrr…” The sword instructor grinded his teeth in anger and tightened his grip on his massive claymore sword. “These bastards tore apart my home and after I’ve finally managed to make it decent again, they come in here trying to do it again! That home was meant to be a place that they could return to…and these guys just….GRAHHH!! How the hell am I suppose to hold back when they’re right here in front of me?!” yelled the man in a heavy voice as he motioned toward the paladins with his enormous sword.
Sir Midvale motioned the other knights to fall into formation “You misunderstand, what I meant was that we also wanted a piece of them. Don’t think that you’re the only one who holds a grudge.” replied Midvale in a cold voice.
The Sword Instructor decided to yield, as much as he hated the Embinyu forces, he didn’t want to betray one of his oldest friends. They had known each other since childhood but this was the first time in a while that Midvale had spoken with such anger in his voice.
With astonishing speed the knights sprinted forward at full speed and dispatched the remaining paladins, sending them to meet their god. Those that did not meet their deaths by lance were soon trampled on by their horses.
“All is for Embinyu!!” a group of soldiers yelled out as he ran with crazed eyes at Sir Midvale.
His mithril lance was “occupied” by 3 paladins, each pierced through the stomach. He quickly threw them off with a flick of his wrist and rather than using his weapon, ordered his loyal stead to leap onto the first attacker. The beast landed hooves first onto the man, his face distorted with fear and disbelief as 1300 pounds of pure muscle and steel fell upon him.
A frightening voice spread through the city “GAAAAAAAOOOOO!!!”
“What the hell was that?!” cried one of the knights
A large grey hand smashed down on one of the knights then another hand appeared and backhanded the other Royal knights away.
“An ogre?! Since when did they have ogres!?!”
“Don’t lose concentration! Prepare a counter attack, we cannot lose this position!”
An audible humming sound could be heard from their backs as a crimson colored phoenix the size of a house flew past them and blasted the ogre back through the city gates. The few knights in front prepared themselves for the monster’s counter attack or death throes but were shocked when they saw the creature’s body. The ogre’s head was blown completely off and there was a stream of gray smoke coming from his upper body as it landed heavily on the Embinyu soldiers outside. It was an instant death for the Ogre. The makeshift “wall” effectively sealed off anymore possible invaders.
A beautiful woman in a white dress with striking blonde hair walked up to them.
“Sir Midvale, report in on the situation. What’s happening within the city?” Queen Evane asked as she finished wiping the blood from her sword with a handkerchief.
“Madam! We’ve taken care of most of the soldiers that broken in at this point. The other intruders have spread throughout the city.”
“That’s good, don’t let your guard down though.”
“Are we not going to chase after the enemies?” inquired one of the knights
“No we’re already low on man power as it is. Spread the knights out at key locations and possible target locations inside of the city. I suspect that they’re looking for something, otherwise they would have all moved as one toward the main castle. For now, let the volunteer units take care of the enemies with their guerilla attacks.”
“Understood! I shall report this news to the other squadrons at once!!”
************************************************************
LMS Junkies Guild have arrived :D
Guilds that had joined in the defense of Serabourg employed guerilla tactics by harassing their opponents with long range attacks in order to lure them in, then when their enemies were in range a group of warriors and knights would burst out of the houses and sandwich them with attacks. It wasn’t a pretty tactic but none of them cared about playing fair and giving their enemies a chance to fight back. They knew full well that if their positions were switched, they would not hesitate to slay them either.
Solo players who disliked playing in groups also employed a set of guerilla tactics but on a much smaller note. Some guilds even competed with one another to see who would get the most kills.
At the McDonalds/711/ any place with food you like to go to, in Rosenheim kingdom:
Embinyu Paladin 1: grr where are the citizens!?!?? There’s nothing to kill in this godforsaken city. Hmm…We may as well get something to eat?
Embinyu Paladin 2: Hahahah I agree with you, the food hereis pretty good.
About 20 paladins were taking a break inside of the restaurant.
Paladin 1: GAH! IT BURNS IT BURNS~!!!
Ttring! Decrease in health 70, damage will continue for an hour unless something is done.
“Why is there no water?!?!?!??!?!”
All of the paladins began to sprint to the bathroom in unison.
They hovered their mouths somewhat below the faucet and turned it on full blast before chugging it all down.
“Ptew!! What the hell, mud water?!?! Gah, who did this!!”
“Whoever the hell did this is gonna pay!! huh??? Who are you?
Person: Hi my name is nooborto just your friendly neighborhood ninja. Oh and I was the one who put hot sauce, really powerful right? It? my own blend.
They hurriedly scrambled to their feet with swords drawn and rushed at the masked man.
Paladin 2: “K-KILL HIM!!!”
But the clever ninja already foresaw this and began to throw poison daggers at the paladins and threw in a large stink bomb as he slammed and locked the door in one of the paladins faces
“Just you wait till I get my hands on you, you little brat!!!” The man began hacking away at the wooden door with his sword, his face red with fury.
The shaman in the back had had enough. He lowered his wand so that it pointed at the door and cast a spell “Fire ball!! Get ready to burn!! Hahahaha”
Nooborto now a good distance away from the door turned back to face the door. In a low voice which only he could hear he said “By the way, you should know that the stink bomb is made from a special fish oil which is highly flammable. Heh heh”
Paladins: “Wait, what?? Flammable!?” He peered back horridly as he saw slight sparks coming from the shaman’s hands “Stop you fool! Stop!!” It was too late. *BANG!!!*
Ting! You have killed 20 Embinyu priests you have acquired 40,000 exp
Ting! You have leveled up!x10
Nooborto: “Woot free exp~~! Ooo I see some embinyu shamans, maybe they?l give even more exp.”
Embinyu Shaman 3: “Where are those stupid paladins wander off to? We were supposed to be killing and they’re out eating food! Gahhhh just wait till I catch those idiots…”
Embinyu Shaman 8: I can’t agree with you more, this is stu- AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Nooborto: HA!! How do you like my thousands years of pain move(Note: This is from Naruto, just google it lol)
Embinyu Shaman 8: HOW DARE YOU DO THAT YOU LITTLE INSECT! Ice spear!!
Nooborto: “Smoke bomb!!”
Embinyu shaman 4: “You little coward you think we’ll let you leave here alive? Dream on!” A glint of silver flashed in front of him, rather than panicking the mage cast a barrier spell and laughed the attack off. “You think a little shuriken can stop me?! Ice spear! Ice spear! Fire ball! Lightning bolt!!”
“Argh!!!?”
“Aha! That’s what you get for underestimating me!?”
Shaman 7: “You idiot the one you hit was me! Frost diver!!!”
Shaman 4: “Sorry it was my mistake!” *boom*’
Shaman 1:” Everyone stop! We’re hitting each other, now let’s just use a wind spell and then kill the bastard!”
Nooborto was snickering from a roof top as he watched the mages fight each other in frustration. “Idiots~! I’m just the distraction. A good ninja knows when to flee as well.” He skipped away from the mages with liethe movements as he gazed down at the other Rosenheim residents who were also fighting. “Hmmm…I wonder who those guys are. It looks like they’re running to the library….? Meh, may as well watch.”
*****************************************************
Running through the midst of the burning city was a trio of novices who were most likely only level 30 judging by their plan leather armor. Following closely behind was a group of determined barbarian warriors wielding large clubs and maces.
“Joey~!! How did it come to this! Ahhhh” yelled a frightened female archer. Her normally bound hair was loose now due to her hair tie breaking. On her back was a crude elf bow but it was a good bow none the less.
To her side was a young man probably 18 years old, he was heaving from the weight of his bronze plate armor. “Huff….Huff…Cain, where do we go from here?”
The panicking shaman tried to compose himself but his hands shook persistently. He eventually pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his bag and examined it “Take the next left head straight for 4 blocks and then take one more left. After that, we’ll be at the Rosenheim library. We should be able to hide in there.”
“You heard the man, we’re almost home free!”
*Smash!* A giant mace crashed several feet away from the group and they grimly turned back to see the poised barbarian.
“RAAAAHHHHHH” In their moment of distraction, the platoon of barbarians had almost caught up on them.
“RUN FASTER!!!!!”
**********************************************************
Blueshadows spent most of her time in the library. Even in real life, she preferred reading novels and the like from playing actual games. Something about the idea of travelling to a different world and sharing a grand adventure drew her in. Books told stories of how friends helped one another when they were in need, tales of how they started out in a small village then bound into one misadventure after misadventure, eventually getting strong to the point that they could face off against a Dungeon guardian on their own. It was for this reason that she sought to join Royal Road along with her sister and friends from an online novel forum. Blueshadows had actually managed to stumble across a secret class called Moonlight Reader due to her long time spent in the library. The condition for this hidden class was to have a good relationship with all of the librarians in the Rosenheim library, read 60% of the books there, and also spends at least 600 hours there during the first two weeks a novice was stuck in the city. Needless to say, this was a ridiculous requirement because the library was filled with thousands upon thousands of books and no one else had met it as of late. Together with her friends they stormed a fort Alkhar which had been filled with goblins and even managed to overtake a lizard lord.
When she and her party had finally returned to Rosenheim after a 2 month trek through the wilderness she zoomed straight into the library at a lightning fast pace. In turn, she was completely unaware of the situation outside of the library. Blueshadows lazed about her small personal room high above the first level. It was a section filled completely with books about government and history which no one liked to read. After discovering this place, she decided to outfit it with her favorite sofas and books, effectively making it her own living quarters. She was about to doze off when there was a sudden loud crashing noise downstairs.
She reluctantly peeked from her hiding place to see what the disturbance was. A group of poorly dressed adventurers rushed through the library doors screaming like they were possessed, behind then was a small band of warriors who were obviously trying to kill them.
“What do we do now?! They followed us all the way here!!” yelped a girl in a squeaky voice
“I…I…I don’t know! Barbarians aren’t supposed to be this fast, it’s completely illogical!! Hackers!!” cried a panic stricken shaman
A loud voice thundered from behind them“RAAAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!”
Judging by his face one of the adventurers seemed to be especially angry “Rawr rawr rawr, can’t you say anything else!?” yelled Joey.
The warriors face flushed red at this comment and began thrashing madly at the man. He made wide, bold swings with his heavy club but kept missing by a hair and ended up their book cases.
‘How dare they ruin my home!’ thought Blueshadows. She climbed down from her hiding spot using a rope and swung her body onto one of the bookshelves, expertly balancing herself before leaning forward causing it to fall onto the next shelf. That caused a domino effect and one by one all of the shelves collapsed in with horrible force until they fell upon the unsuspecting group of adventurers and warriors.
-Ttring! You have killed a Embinyu soldier, you gain 465 experience
-Level up!
-Level up!
Bluehearts was surprised at this notification and accidentally spoke out loud “Embinyu denomination? What are they doing here??”
Cain was covered completely in dust but managed to squirm out from underneath the shelves. Un fortunately Joey took the full brunt of the attack “Gasp! I can breathe again!!”
“Miss, be careful! The Embinyu denomination broke into Serabourg, they’re trying to destroy everything! Ahhh my arm hurts…” Alice was the most uninjured of the trio but her arm left arm was broken.
Destroy? They’re going to destroy my books, my sanctuary? The usual passive Blueshadows glared venomously at the crowd of warriors then took out a cyan colored book from her bag and threw it at one of the soldiers.
The man closed his eyes and puffed out his chest at this weak attack “Hah, like a little book could actually hurt me.” His friends also joined in by laughing together.
“Enlarge!” The normally small book grew to a staggering size twice that of the barbarian. They would have been able to easily dodge the book but fortunately they had let their guard down at this attack.
---------------------------------------------------------
Class description:
Character Name: Blueshadows
Job: Moonlight Reader
Title: Erratic Thread Viewer
Status: Erratic
Level: unknown...
Health: Spazzy
Mana: 5000
Strength: 100
Dexterity: 10-50
Wisdom + Intellect: 1-1000 (By heplfulness and mood)
Fighting Spirit: 1-100000
Stamina: 20
Endurance: 10
Charisma: 5
The Moonlight Reader was a hidden class that lied dormant in the Rosenheim library until Blueshadows managed to unintentionally fulfill the qualifications for the class. The condition for this hidden class was to have a good relationship with all of the librarians in the Rosenheim library, read 60% of the books there, and also spends at least 600 hours there during the first two weeks a novice was stuck in the city.
Moonlight Readers possess a special book called Book of Dimensions.
Book abilities are:
1. enlarge-Can either make the book super big or small enough to fit in your pocket(note: do not read it when it’s tiny, really bad for your eyes lol)
2. Dimension transfer/Animate - The class book acts as a portal to another dimension so you can either enter the book or summon things from it. You must read the book you wish to summon something from (100-1000 times, or requirement is that you have an absolute perfect memory of the book and can recall everything about it). Said book creates a fantasy dimension that matches all the descriptions in the book and reenacts all of the events. You can only bring items out from the dimensions that you have already recorded. Objects brought out of the book will act as they did in the book so if you bring out a random T-rex he’s going to rampage. You bring out a knight and appeal to a sense of justice he may help you. It’s possible to build up intimacy so they’ll listen more to your orders. Those that were animated require a steady amount of mana(25 per sec and Blueshadows has enough mana/mana regain items to hold summoned objects/persons for 1 to 2 hours depending on the size). When you have no more mana they return to the book, they have the ability to recall back into said book whenever they want(They do this before they die so they don’t disappear), and objects have the choice of answering your summons. But you can communicate with summoned beings even when they are still in book). If you’re on bad terms they’ll ignore you (*cries*).
3. Reveal- Sometimes the book will reveal secret dungeons or lairs or watev that are hidden if all the summoned creatures have been happy for a long time (ie. A year) and can only be revealed in certain conditions that are similar to the hidden place (ie. If it is a desert on some other plain/island then surrounding must be desert-like in the first place) and only if you are really lucky with high charisma and luck or favor with a god.
4. Part of normal functions of the book-The book will open to specific story/world/pic/etc. you want and if you are not certain then you find a table of contents that shows stories/world/pic/etc. recorded. Always shows empty pages at both the beginning and end of the book though.
Notes about going into the book:
You can enter the book and go to these dimensions and screw with the story and interact with everyone. But if you mess with the storyline too much like making them unhappy with you then you can't summon said party. Ex: You read a book about the medieval times, bunch of kingdoms are fighting unleash something like a giant ninja god dragon to raise hell, then they’re going to get angry at you. (Note: In that dimension your abilities limiters are removed. Instead of summoning a single object you can bring a set of objects/events from another story/dimension into the one that you are in.) You over run all the humans and let dragons take over the continent/world. Humans are unhappy with her so they will refuse to heed your summons however the giant ninja god dragons that you interacted with and helped to conquer the world with will follow your summons and orders(they also fear they’ll be whipped by Blueheart so ya…)
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The book expanded further then tossed itself open and began to flip through all of its pages before glowing a faint white color “Animate, Black heart!!”
Heavy mist poured out through the book spreading through the entire complex. Slowly a shadow four times the size of the warriors formed from within the column of smoke and high above the warriors head was a glint of red which sent shudders down the hardened veteran’s spine. A claw reached out of the book first, then another claw, followed lastly by an enormous head with a pair of long horns and deep piercing red eyes which seemed to look into one’s soul. Her body loomed high above them, forcing them to strain their necks just to look at it. The body was covered with muscles and black steel like scales, flexible but inexplicably strong. Time stood still and no one uttered a sound.
Breaking the silence was a feminine voice which seemed to border between joy and madness “Dinner is served, Black heart~!”
“ROAAAAAAAR!!!” A earth shattering voice split the air and the beast’s neck moved with astounding speed. Before anyone could react one of the soldiers was lifted off of the ground and was doing a desperate death throe inside of the black dragon’s mouth. Blood splattered everywhere as Black Heart shook her head around, thoroughly enjoying her tasty treat. Seeing the terrifying beast in front of them devouring their comrade was too much for the warriors, and they made a beeline for the gateway. A massive tail hit them heavily from the side knocking them into the air then a enormous claw caught them midair and swatted them down like mere flies.
In an act of desperation they threw their weapons at the dragon’s head but that only served to further enrage the monster. She pulled her head back and prepared to breathe a breath of fire and brimstone at her foes.
“Oi, Black heart! No fire! Are you trying to destroy my house?!” yelled an agitated Blueshadows
Blackheart immediately stopped what she was doing and reluctantly nodded her head at her ‘mother’. Afterward she continued to play with her new ‘toys’.
Behind Bluehearts was the stunned trio who couldn’t understand what was happening in front of them. At first they were chased by a group of fearsome warriors and were ready to fight to the death, then this person appeared and summoned a giant dragon before killing everything in sight. It was beyond comprehension. Unnoticed to them, a shadow appeared from behind one of the bookshelves.
“Yaaaaaaaawn” said the mysterious woman as she began to stretch her arms.
Cain turned to face the stranger “Who are you? When did you get here?”
“Hm? I’m Chicaalterego, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And what do you mean when did I get here, I’ve been here the whole time!!”
“Eh? Really?”
“Yeah, I was resting in that sofa since this morning. It’s a really soft and good quality sofa so it was easy to fall asleep =)”
‘You slept through the sounds of cannon fire, explosions, screaming, and a massive siege on a city….?’ Is what the trio wanted to say but they were too astonished to actually reply.
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Character info:
Character Name: chicaalterego
Job: Air wasting stalker
Fame: 0
Life: Immortal?
Class: unknown
Status: Lazy
Level: 400
Health: 1
Mana: 0
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 0
Wisdom + Intellect: 342420
Stamina: 35544
Endurance: 1
Charisma: -13
[Job description: The Air wasting stalker (usually refereed to as useless bastards). Is not a legendary class, albeit it is known as a very obscure and mysterious one; this class is famous for it's weird side effects. The players in this profession can never attain fame and keeping the charisma in the positive area is an impossible feat. This job is very unappealing to many, since is completely useless for battle, for earning money and for most practical in-game feats. However the "Air wasting stalker" class provides you the ability of raising levels doing nothing, and enables you the option of sleep when you are sleeping in game, making the skin of their avatar be always smooth. It’s possible to learn new skills simply by watching due to their high intelligence but this will cause their level to drop each time they use it and be physically drained.
The ones in this profession tend to have a high level, since they chose it aware of the fact that they are lazy bums. But their level is just for show and it will be reduced if the player accidentally learns an ability due to their high wisdom. This class has only one real benefit to it, which comes when the player decides to use the ability unique to theirs class "Stalkerism" in which they can keep on stalking something even after their HP its 0. and below 0. Allowing the player keep up whatever they are doing procrastinating their dead, and then die a thousand times... ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicaalterego turned to watch the massive black dragon ‘Hmm…That looks like fun’.
-Ttring! Book of Dimensions learned! You can now summon people/objects/beings from a book that you have an adept understanding of. Must have specific book you wish to summon from on hand and shout “Animate, \_\_\_\_\_\_”
-Level has decreased 50 because you learned a skill.
Chicaa was ecstatic at this news “oooh! I want to summon Pikachu and Pichu!!”
(MY CHILDHOOD, MY NOSTALGIA, COME FORTH!!!!!)
“Pichu?? Pi pi chu!!”
“Pika! Pi ka chu??? Pi, pi ka, chu chu”
“So….SO CUTE~~~!!!!” Unable to hold herself back anymore, Chicaalterego ran up to the small animals and bear hugged the struggling pokemon.
“Piii….pika~!!!” They squirmed around trying to break free but that just made her hug even tighter.
Finally, “Pi…ka….”
Sensing some kind of static and pressure in the air, Blueshadows turned around just in time to see what was happening. She wasn’t sure how Chicaa brought the pokemon out but she had watched enough episodes to know what was about to happen.
“Black heart, fly! Fly out of here right now! No questions just do it!!” yelled Blueshadows as she clawed her way up the dragon’s back. Black fire had only ever seen her master this flustered when she mentioned her sister Blueheart and instinctively followed what she was told to do.
Joey dragged his friends out of the entrance “If you don’t wanna die then run!”
“Ahhh, we’ve been doing so much running today!!” but Alice still followed closely behind
The only ones left were the remaining barbarians, clustered behind a bookshelf and confused they peered at one another.
“…CHU!!” A blinding flash of light enveloped the room followed by an overwhelming explosion effectively sending the barbarian warriors to become new stars in the night sky.
Somewhere off in the distance a voice could be heard “….Team rockets blasting off again~!! Meowth that’s right!! Wobbuffet!!”
-Stalkerism activated! "Stalkerism" is a skill in which they can keep on stalking something even after their HP its 0. and bellow 0. Allowing the player keep up whatever they are doing procrastinating their dead, and then die a thousand times...
Chicaalterego began to rub her cheeks against a reluctant Pikachu(PIKACHU IS A GUY BTW, HE WORE A KIMONO IN ONE EPISODE O\_O IT BLEW MY MIND SO MUCH, I NEVER KNEW) and Pichu “Aww you’re so cute~!!”
“Pikaaaa~!!!”
-Pikachu and Pichu have returned to their dimension, they are unwilling to answer your summons a second time.
“Waaaah I wasn’t done yet!! Muuuu…Fine, I’ll just ask Blueshadows to help me then, if not I’ll just bug her until she does >:”
A shudder ran down Blueshadows spine just then “I’ve got a bad feeling all of a sudden…”
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An entire platoon Embinyu paladins had just finished passing an Inn in search of civilians. To their dismay they found nothing inside. It was apparent that there were people there prior but every valuable and personal belonging had been gleaned off the shelves and the family had long since departed. Outside the building near one of the old wine barrels was a young man dressed in a pure white clothes with a rare insignia sewn on its back, he possessed a gentle smile as incandescent as the sun and bright blonde hair.
“It’s 44 gold for each enemy slain, there’s 12 of them so….” His mind began to calculate the numbers instantaneously and before one could even blink he said “528 gold! Ahahahah That’s great, I’ll be super rich now! Well…they have no mage or priest with them so this’ll be easy. Heh heh, I can’t wait…I can finally buy that rare new wine I saw earlier, ahhh must not drool…Oh god of light please forgive my actions, and help me get rich err I mean, uphold justice by defeating these villains! Ooooh one of them has an adamant sword!! ” Sun’s eyes seemed to gleam as he looked at his soon to be new sword.
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Avatar: Grisia Creus || Type: Neutral
Level: 21 || Job: Holy Knight
Title: Sun Knight Captain || Fame: 7000
Health: 800 || Mana: 7500
Str: 30 +20 || Dex: 40 +20 || Vit: 50 +20
Wis: 60 +70 || Int: 9000 +70 || Spr: 40 +20
Sta: 30 +20 || Faith: 150 +70 || Attractiveness: 6000 +70
Leadership: 0 +20 || Luck: 0
Offense: 25 || Defense: 20
Resistance to Magic: None except for resistance to dark magic
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+20 points to all stats
+50 points to Attractiveness, Faith, Wisdom, and Intelligence.
+Luck will never rise above 0.
+Gained ability to learn all magic skills to the rank of master. Advanced skills available.
+Gained ability Sword Mastery will never rank beyond Beginner Level 1.
+50% increase in combat related stats when equipped with the Saint's Dragon Brigandine.
+Decrease in mana consumption for spells based on level of Magic Mastery.
+Gained ability to equip class specific items.
+Gained unique skill, Light Mastery.
+Gained ability to learn secret skills based on your level of Light Mastery.
+Gained ability of elemental perception.
+Magic skills will not gain skill proficiency but the corresponding masteries will gained increased growth rate and efficiency.
+Mana Regeneration rate is doubled, added effects can be produced from using Mediation.
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Swordmanship: Beginner level 1 0%
Light Mastery: Beginner level 8 27%
Elemental Mastery: Beginner level 5 47%
Necromancy Mastery: Beginner level 3 99%
Elemental Perception: Comprehension 5%
Holy Mastery: Beginner level 9 99%
Saint's Dragon Brigandine: comprehension 2%
Resurrection: comprehension 25%
Wine Making: Beginner level 5 0%
Mediation: Comprehension 10%
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The paladins became shocked as a tall handsome man seemed to appear out of thin air. Each one of them entered their battle stance but soon lowered their guard after carefully observing the man.
“What the hell? It’s just a priest!!”
“I know right…I thought it was that frightening lady from earlier, you know the one who danced around and cut everyone’s heads off....” His shoulders shuddered at the sheer memory of that person
“Ya…by the way, are you a boy or girl??”
“Must be a girl right? I mean just look at her! She has long blonde hair down past her shoulders, clear blue eyes, and pure white clothing. It’s obviously a priest from Freya!!” All of them began to nod in unison at this seemingly sound conclusion.
Sun could no longer hold himself back and roared “Grahhhh are you blinde?! I’m a guy damn it!! And take a careful look at my sword, it’s the sun sword! I’m the sun knight of the Church of Light!!” ugh why does this always happen….Whatever, I’ll just kill them and be done with it. An overwhelming amount of mana began to gather around Sun’s body and he was about to unleash his full fury on his opponents when…
“SUN!!! SUN WHERE ARE YOU!?!??! Quick you three go that way, everyone else search the surrounding area again. Sun must have gotten lost again…We absolutely cannot lose Sun another time, otherwise Judge is going to be super pissed off again. I don’t need to tell you what he’s like when he’s angry, right?!” said a red haired man with a booming voice.
All the knights nodded their heads furiously. Judge was plenty scary under normal circumstances; they didn’t want to even think about what he would be like if he were angry lest they suffer horrible nightmares for the rest of their lives.
Member of blaze knight’s platoon: “Ah, I found him! Guys he’s over here! Eh, who the heck are these guys!?”
Embinyu soldier: “Isn’t that our question?! Are you somehow related to this cross dresser?! Ugh, I can’t believe I thought he was a she. But then again, he is really scrawny, and does have shiny hair, and clear blue eyes, gah I still can’t believe it!”
‘oi, you’re not the one who has to suffer through it! Do you know how hard it is for me to get close to girls because I look like this?!?! Grr…I’d pwn your sorry ass if it weren’t for the fact that Blaze knight was here…’ thought Sun, gritting his teeth.
“How dare you insult Sun! Blaze knight platoon, forward!!”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter if there’s 20 more of you. We’ll still beat you all down. Take them down boys!”
Ahhh noooo Blaze, don’t slash there! You’re damaging my new armor. Argh, the price is going to drop so much now because of those dents. Whyyyy!! my money, it’s slowly dwindling away~!!! D:
Wait, no! Not the shield! A matching set sells for more!!
“Grr, insolent pests! Blinding light!!” As soon as he said this, a bright light flooded the streets.
the knights buried their faces in their hands and began to rub their eyes vigorously “Gah my eyes! I can’t see!”
Wait…Can’t see???
Embinyu soldier “Now! Attack!”
During this time I hastily collected large amounts of water spirits with my right hand while also collecting lightning with my left hand. Heavy static filled the air causing everyone’s hair to stand on end. I let out a cry “Web of Lightning!” and released the spell on everyone. The effects of the lightning spell were further amplified by the heavily saturated air. Cries of pain erupted all around before they fell lifelessly to the ground in a limp motion. By the time I was through Blaze knight and all of the others could see again. That was plenty of time for me to use my magic to strip the soldiers of any possible values they had on them. (This is an actually an altered version from this website [http://legend-of-the-sunknight.blogspot ... cuing.html](http://legend-of-the-sunknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-3-step-5-fifth-step-in-rescuing.html))
“Um….Sun, what happened here?” asked Blaze knight, unable to understand the situation.
“Hmm it seems they all tripped and knocked themselves out!”
“But they’re on fire and smoking??”
“Then it must have been a misfired spell!”
“But there are no mages around here!”
“Perhaps lightning struck them all down” I said with my most innocent and dumbfounded expression
“What…? But all of them just….how???” asked a dumbfounded Blaze knight
“Brother Blaze, it seems that you are very tired. Try not to think about it too much and let’s go get you something nice to eat. How about some smoked ham??” Sun gave a smile that would look normal to anyone, but all of the holy knight captains knew that in truth it was one filled with malice. Each time he gave that smile something unfortunate would “coincidentally” happen to them.
“Yes! Please!” cried a fearful blaze knight
Rule Number Three – No matter how lame/foolish the Sun Knight looks, never ever provoke his wrath. Even if you’ve unintentionally discovered the Sun Knight’s imperfection, you had better just admit that he’s perfect unless you want to experience his imperfection yourself.
Ahh Blaze, if only the others were also so easily convinced. Oh well, I’ve gotten my new armor sets. I’ll be able to sell these for plenty heh heh. I love my magic pouch, I can carry as much stuff in it as I want~!!
"Hard earned money! Hard earned money! Lalala la!" "cough-coronation gift money-cough!" "Shut up, Alien!"
********************************************
Narr-Master watched the forces fighting below him with interest. He lithely clung to the top of the clock tower at the center of the city so that he could carefully observe everything below him.
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Name: Narr-master
Level: 270
Title: "The phantom leech" Fame: -2456
Life: 11348 Mana: 6669
STR: 978+25 DEX: 1070+25 VIT: 1240+25
WIS: 80+25 INT: 400+25 SPR: 120+25
STA: 1300+25 Shamelesness: 770+50 AIR( means less pressence): 600+50
Class: Screenlight leechtaker
[Screenlight leechtaker: Class whose mastery has been banned by Geihar Von Ahreupen himself after realising his fame was being leeched off by someone, Having taken him 20 years to discover this act of treason he realised the dangers such a dark profession may cause someday to the continent, thus forbidding It forever. Able to leech off the intangible and stalk the invisible, this path my only lead to darkness]
Stalk some assassins and harass them, or just watch/steal loot.
Skills:
Leech STR Leech WIS Leech HP Leech SKILL Shadow Bind
Leech STA Leech DEX Leech MANA Stalker Fist(after following someone for so long he can know his weak points)
Leech VIT Leech SPR Shadow Stalking
Leech AGI Leech EXP Shadow blending(he can enter shadows and use them as portals in battle)
Obscure Omniscience (after stalking some for so long he can predict his actions in battle)
Dark State of Parasitic Vampirisation ( costing 60 mana per secong his stats are boosted by 30% and he recovers 10% of whatever damage he dealt to the oponent)
Leechig skills work this way:
Leech STR (Takes a while) PERMANENT CHANGE
Leechtalker 700 STR Prey 800 STR ---------------------------> Leechtalker 705 STR Prey 795 STR
Here's his history provided by narr himself :)
Natham Alexander (add second english sounding middle name begining with an "R" here) Rojas, age 19 is the man behind the stalking, he is pretty much the reason why the world genius exists. Being extremily gifted allowed him to do whatever he set his mind to almost flawlessly and with ease. After years of strict tutoring paid by his overly exalted parents and not being able to make friends he came to just grow bored of everything, and developed a really aloof personality as a result. he first heard of Royal Road on rhe streets while he was "strolling around", and as he always did with something new, he tried it out. He wasn't really expecting a lot of fun, since everything else bored him too, he didn't have many expectations of the game. The first 4 mandatorial weeks pissed him off so instead of doing quests or getting a class he decided to just wander around the city, where due to many coincidences and events he somehow came to find a ultra ubber secret passage into the castle, there he obviously found the will of Remor Atick Leechenstalk and received the class "screenlight leechtalker", losing a plethora of fame too ( he was actually surprised you could lose fame when you didn't even have any).
After a while he began discovering his abilities and started testing them out for "fun", surprised since he hadn't thought of that word for years, and he was right he was having fun, using his already polished "wandering abilities" he could make his prescence really thin, even to monsters, first experimenting with the basic leeching skills "leeching life" and "shadow stalking", he preferred to do this during the night, while in the day he just enjoyed the sun he didn't have in the real world( he lived in some cloudy state).
One day loitering around he came around weed's sclupture stall and found it interesting--as sculpting was secretly the only thing he has ever failed to do, not that his artistic sense was bad, just that, out of some weird karmic law being good at everything to the point of getting killed by the other people's jealousy needed to be balanced out somehow, so the universe decided to make him suck at sclupting.
As the months passed and he continued to lv up, he came across weed a couple of times, not that he was ever noticed, he saw weed going into the secret crevice in the cave of litvart(kept following weed even after he stopped leeching off the people following him), he came across weed's pary before going to lavias(so he went with them), stumbled upon the orc/elf war.
Growing stronger he kept getting more skills, one of which alloed him to see his "victim's" stat window, that's how he came to know that weed was a LMS and ridiculously strong at that, first he was going to leech off of him but decided not, since he felt a weird akinship towards weed, maybe because they were both secret classes, he saw weed as the sun and he as the shadow.
His skills function in a way that he can literally suck people's stats and skills froma distance, which is why he has such overly inflated stats despite his lv, unfortunately these "passive" skills can't be used while in battle, so he usualy just rests under a tree nearby his victim, and while his prey is painstakingly trying to gaim exp he lessurely zaps it away, reducing his already obscenely low fame even more.
Screenlight Leechtalkers' main weapon are his fists, like some sort of monk(thankfully he leeched off other people's handycraft skill so at vol 6 his is already intermediate 7) he usually doesn't fight head on, but when need arises he was some skills to defend himself.
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For him, the attack on Seraborg started when he was in the middle of one of his daily strolls through the city. Seraborg was the city in which he gained his class and there was a sense of nostalgia as he walked through the dark alley ways of the city. Most would find the areas of the city in which he visited to be dark, foreboding, and a downright horrible place to visit but to Das Narr it was an adventure. Each day he managed to find new shortcuts, and hidden secrets within the cities walls. He had decided to continue his stroll despite the cities situation and soon spotted several familiar forms over in the city courtyard and two people with their backs to a wall.
“Hmm…That’s weird. No one ever comes to these parts. Even if there was a siege, there’s nothing of actual interest here. Eh? Wait, aren’t those two…..???” Das Narr said to himself
“Oi, Iheartz what’s taking you so long!” yelled a badly beaten and bloody Bonky.
“Hold on a sec, I’ve almost finished getting everything out and finished the preparations.” replied a troubled Iheartz. He literally turned his backpack upside down and a mountain of items began to pour out from the magical bag.
“Hold on!? Hold on?!?! You’re not the one who has to take all of the hits!!!” screamed Bonky as he braced himself for the impact of yet another ice spear *grunt* “HURRY UP!!”
“I’m ready! Do it!!”
“Finally….” Said Bonky with a heavy sigh “Devils pact activate! Bonkers mode!!”
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Avatar: Bonky333 || Type: Stuffed Animal
Level: 333 || Job: Bonking Master
Title: "Legendary Procrastinator" || Fame: 333
Health: 73737 || Mana: 37373
Strength: 333 || Agility: 333 || Vitality: 333
Wisdom: 333 || Intellect: 333 || Spirit: 333
Stamina: 333 || Endurance: 333
Leadership: 333 || Luck: 333
Offence: 333 || Defense: 333
Magic resistance: none
Special Skills:
Devil Pact: Goes into bonkers mode for a set period of time, doubling all stats at 333, unable to differentiate allies from prey, cannot be leveled up. Note: This will cause the player to temporarily assume another form while fighting.
Procrastinate: Lies around doing nothing, only skill capable of harming the Legendary Moonlight Slaver class(namely Blueheart).
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Bonky’s body became a staggering 8 feet tall, brown fur began to sprout all over his body covering him completely, his mouth grew large while his teeth became sharp, until he changed completely into the form of a giant grizzly bear with burning fur.
by: xneoknight
Several swords and maces struck against Bonky’s new body but they rebounded off of him just as easily. Underneath his furry exterior was pure muscle and unrestrained rage. Bonky dashed into a group of knights and hefted them high into the air, then used his new paw to smash a surprised priests head.
“What are you waiting for!? Mages, hurry up and blast this thing!!” yelled a well dressed paladin, presumably the leader of the group.
“Ice spear!! Ice bolt! Lightning bolt!”
The spells drew blood as it crashed down on his body but the beast showed no sign of stopping. They were just about to fire another volley when an ethereal dagger pierced several of their throats. The wizard had a stunned expression as he fell to the ground gurgling and struggling to get the dagger out. His attempts were in vain as a volley of ethereal daggers rained down on him and his comrades.
Hushed gasps escaped their throats as they looked upwards. An armament of daggers hovered menacingly in the air above them; their purpose was clear as day.
Even in his animalistic form, Bonky was not one to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself. He charged through the bombardment of spells until he pierced their ranks and began to violently throw his body weight in all directions. After the beast got past them it circled around one more time and began to trample over the still dazed soldiers.
“Barrier of blades has been prepared. Now switching to controlling Bonky. Ugh…so not looking forward to this.” muttered Iheartz with a hushed voice. He had dealt with controlling Bonky in his bonkers mode before and it was no easy feat.(Side note-Imagine that in his bonkers mode all of his strikes make a Bonking sound ;p) There was simply no reasoning with him as he relied completely on his instincts for fighting when in this form. Thankfully, they had several practice sessions and managed to influence him slightly now.
“Body take over!” All of the muscles in Iheartz’s body became frozen and unable to move as his consciousness moved and began to struggle for control over the ferocious bear turned Bonky.
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Name: Iheartz
Level: 212
Title: the Puppeteer
Life: 12012 Mana: 20120
Strength: 333 Dexterity: 999 Wisdom: 1332 Intellect: 2312
Class: Neuromancer
Has the ability to mentally attack and fully take control of the opponents body. Effectiveness of control and the power of the opponent (50%, 100%, 200%, etc) depends on skill level and intellect while the duration of control is governed by mana levels. Warning: while controlling others, the neuromancer's own body is put into a form of stasis and will be extremely vulnerable to attacks. In addition to mind control, the neuromancer is also capable of creating illusions, inhabiting inanimate objects, implanting thoughts, and even slight (surface thoughts) mind reading. The average Neuromancer is only capable of controlling a single, normal-leveled mob, with higher level Neuromancers being able to control near-boss level enemies or several different lower class enemies. It is said that an Arch Neuromagus has the ability to take over players, take over boss level monsters, and even permanently animate lifeless objects. However, given that nobody has reached such a level, this information is purely hypothetical.
Note: Neuromancers are extremely vulnerable to interruptions and destabilizations of their mental state. Observation: When I encountered Skyrim, League of Legends, or Moonlight Sculptor, 12012 life was lost, strength was increased by 333, dexterity was decreased by 333, wisdom was halved, and intellect encountered a random shifts.
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He rose up on his hind legs to his full height then sent a mallet sized fist colliding into a knight’s head before repeatedly stomping and biting into the body of the obviously dead opponent. “Hmm I could get use to this” mumbled a giant flaming bear now possessed by Iheartz.
‘I wonder…maybe I could use that spell in this game…’ thought Iheartz “Fus Ro Dah!
“Chain lightning! Magic arrow!” shouted several desperate mages
He huddled his body to the ground to shield himself from the attacks. “Annoying gnats…”
Chaos seemed to break loose as the remaining ethereal daggers descended down from the sky piercing the priest’s bodies. They now resembled some kind of porcupine rather than a high priest of Embinyu. Iheartz bit into the dead paladin’s leg and reeled his new body backwards then to sent the corpse crashing onto a charging group of barbarians.
“Now, take down that damnable mage!” screeched a soldier from behind Iheartz
From the back!? Iheartz turned his body as fast as his massive girge allowed and caught sight of a group of Embinyu warriors charging at his frozen body. He sprinted as fast as his he could, but in the midst of his overzealousness he had overextended by at least 30 feet and left his real body open “crap…not going to make it….”
A steel mace struck Iheartz(original body) square in his back sending it sprawling to the ground. Iheartz’s mind was overwhelmed with pain as his body was beaten. Despite Neuromancers overwhelming ability to control objects at will they still had one major weakness. Almost all of their casting spells forced his original body to remain immobile making him a perfect target for the desperate warriors. Every spec of pain that his original body felt was linked directly to his mind and intensified. Iheartz reflexively held his grizzly paws over his head as he reeled from the overwhelming throbbing in his head.
The warrior had a heavy smirk on his face as he raised his mace to deliver the final blow.
Just then a shadow seemed to leap out of the dark alley and fly towards the attackers.
“Flying jump kick!” his leg landed straight on the paladin’s chest but it the heavily armored paladin seemed unaffected. However, this did not deter the man.
The man’s shadow seemed to spread and undulate as it encircled the group, then large black hands appeared from their shadows, tying down everyone’s legs “Shadow bind! Leech HP! Leech Mana!”
“You bastards are mine now~~!” said an ecstatic Narr-Master/Das Narr
“Little brat! You think you can take us on?! Hah! It doesn’t matter even IF our legs are tied down!”
“Divine protection! Saints blade!” A searing white flame enveloped the paladin’s sword and armor.
“Come, little one I shall--GAH” an armored fist collided with his face before he could finish his sentence.
His perpetrator stood in front of him, circling his wrist in a taunting motion. “You idiots talk too much, if you wanna brawl then let’s brawl. No need to waste time talking” Said the smirking fighter
“grr…I’ll skewer you on a pike you little runt!!”
The warrior forgot all about his broken nose and tried to charge at the man but the shadows continued to tie his feet down and slow him. The paladin swung madly at the fighter in an act of half desperation and half anger. Narr weaved his upper body in a figure 8 motion and landed several strikes on the warrior’s ribcage. It didn’t seem to have much affect at first but the combination of continuous failed attacks and harassment began to wear the paladins down both physically and mentally.
Sensing that his prey was staggering, Narr decided to “motivate” the man with a few quick jabs at his face.
“Upper cut! Gut buster! Power stomp! Demsey Roll! Falcon punch!!(My novel, I want least someone to use a falcon punch >: and what followed next can be summed up in this video graciously provided by Narr himself ;p Combos ShenLong the tiger Bloody Roar 2)
But the paladins were not disheartened by this flurry of strikes “Die! Eat cold steel! Grr…Why won’t you die?!?!”
This cycle of hit, dodge, hit, and taunt continued for some 15 minutes before the paladins finally noticed something was wrong.
“Hey, why aren’t you using Saint’s blade anymore?! Come on, we’ve got him by the ropes!”
“Huff…..Huff….It’s not that I don’t want to…I just…I’m out of mana! What’s more, even though he’s dodged most of our attacks we’ve also but there were also several good ones that landed! But look at him! The guy’s completely fine!”
Everyone stared at Narr in disbelief. It was true, despite there being lots of cuts on his leather armor; there were no noticeable wounds on him at all.
Narr sauntered up to the badly beaten warriors “Little late in saying this, but my Leech HP skill level is such that even dragon would have trouble killing me =)”
“What…but isn’t that cheating….?” Asked one of them weakly
“Cheating schmeating~! Eat my fist! Mwahahhahahhha!” Narr continued to pummel them for another 10 minutes before they finally lost consciousness or fell due to being worn out.
By this time, Iheartz and Bonky had also finished mopping up the other attackers.
The first thing Iheartz said was “We were completely in control of the situation. That was an obvious kill steal.”
“Hah like hell you were in control. You obviously overextended and couldn’t defend your real body in time.”
“Grr…”
“Tell you what, buy me that new sandwich special at the Inn and we’ll call it even.”
“But that costs 5 gold!”
“Or I could tell everyone about that time you got drunk and….”
“Ahhhh shhh!!!! Don’t say it! Okay I’ll buy you the stupid sandwhich, just NEVER mention that again.”
“Heh heh fine fine” ahhh nothing’s as fun as messing with your friends =)
“For now let’s just figure out what these guys want.” Turning to face the tied up Embinyu warriors and priests “So…you guys going to tell us what you attacked Seraborg for?”
“Hah don’t think you can make us talk so easily! We are proud servants of Embinyu! We never beg for mercy!”
Iheartz sighed deeply, doesn’t look like this is going to be easy. Oh well, it’s a lot more fun this way. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Chapter 4",
"id": 6,
"next": 7,
"prev": 5,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“Huahhh!”<br>I woke up shouting a battle scream. Huh? It seemed my mind played a trick on me again.<br>I was a high level player in RoyalRoad and just fought against tons of enemies with my glittering blade. I had some kind of weird armor on and didn’t look like myself anymore. I was something different.<br>That would have been too good. Me playing RoyalRoad. Hah. What a joke. But slowly it came to my mind. I am playing RoyalRoad. I have the game!<br>I turned around. I wanted to be that same guy again. But on instinct I looked on my clock and panicked. It was already midday. I jumped up in a hurry and got dizzy all over again. I hovered from left to right and tried to get on my feet again. I fall over my backpack and hit the ground hard. Well, actually I didn’t hit the ground I hit everything that was on it. Trousers, trash, magazines, books, clothes, leftovers... Ihh, leftovers. I really have to clean up from time to time.<br>My shirt was all gooey. I threw it into the corner and were in a hurry. I had to get to school fast.<br>But then it hit me like birdshit would hit me when I would run after a gorgeous girl.<br> I. Had. Holidays!<br>I roared out a shout full of happiness. Not to the world but all to myself.<br>The apartment was empty. My mom was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and found a sheet of paper pinned at my door. Was it there all the time? Strange.<br>“Dear Jason, ‘that would be me’,<br>yesterday I received a message from your father.<br>I really love you child, you may not think so but I do.<br>I am going to search for him.<br>Money is on the table if you need to buy food or something else you need.<br>I still love your father.<br>Don’t hate him. Don’t hate me.<br>Everyone makes faults in life.<br>Do your best.<br>In love<br>Mom<br>Only then I realized there still was this snoring noise.<br>Scenes went into another. Everything went blurry.<br>It was an audio backup which repeated itself over and over again.<br>I cried. Not just once but.. but.. I don’t know how often I cried. I was furious. Angry. Frustrated.<br>She still loves me? Where did she get that from? From her small little peanut brain? From some Tv-show? Or was it an article inside her fucking magazines? I hated everything at that moment and could steer my rage at anything. I hit the wall with all my might. Once. Twice.<br>My world fell into darkness.<br>When I woke up again I felt terrible. My right hand hurt like hell, trash all around me and my head felt like it was going to burst to million pieces just like Arug did. Too bad I wasn’t ingame.<br>I calmed down, cooled my hand, washed myself and put some clothes on which somehow got torn away from my body. They were shredded on the floor. I examined the flat. The wall was smeared with blood. Exactly at the point where I hammered my fist against it.<br>After all this I couldn’t believe it but I felt great. I was free, had enough money for the time being and time to do anything that I wanted to do.<br>I made some pancakes. Any angriness I ever felt was gone.<br>This outbreak was brilliant.<br>I could do anything. And anything - anything I wanted was RoyalRoad.<br>Finally the political and social lessons at school came in handy. The bank accepted the money without a word and opened up a new account for me. I deposited all of the money. The account filled from scratch to 5000€. I don’t know where my mother had all that money from but what would it bring to think about it? Nothing.<br>I called Mr. Humble and told him everything. Weird thing was that he wasn’t surprised.<br>He he held a speech about ancient times of heroes and made examples of some unknown people who have done the same and I interpreted it as my mom won't let my dad go. He offered me help and I accepted it gratefully after I gave it some thoughts.<br>Work hard, play harder.<br>That were his last words. I searched for a part-time job for the holidays and found one near school. It was a delivery service. Therefore I had to get my old bike out of the cellar. I felt great. Unbeatable. Limitless. I drove my first delivery on which more and more followed. Somehow I liked it.<br>Later on I met up with Mr. Humble he showed me the way inside school on holiday times and questioned me out. What I did on the first day, where I went, which people I became acquainted with and so on. It may sound boring but I told him most. Left some parts about Failariél out.<br>He sounded interested. He knew Arug as well. It was strange to see that so many people knew him. And somebody like me who started playing a day ago was witness of his dead. What fate has in handy for some guys is really unbelieveable.<br>He wished me good luck after we went through the big school. The corridors had appeared as they would never end. But I stood before my own capsule again. My own. Happiness and joy streamed through my body. I locked the door. I began to play right after that. The carpet felt great as it always did. As always, hah.<br>Black particles rushed with great speed beside me. The login process was really amazing. Wonderful if not beautiful.<br>The town was still in uproar when I arrived at my location. The fountain’s statue, a huge mermaid covered by starfishes, opened up a hole for water which streamed out of almost every pore of her body. She sparkled in the sunlight. Butterflies flew around her and the bitter frost wasn’t as cold as it was the day before. Or maybe everything just seemed so because I was finally inside my real world. The world where I could become anything.<br>“Did you hear about what happened to Arug?” Some strange guy asked me as he handed me a newspaper? He didn’t look healthy.<br>“Yeah. But thanks for the newspaper.” I put it into my inventory which was made up of some instant use pockets and my main inventory which was just cloud storage. System storage.<br>The first page didn’t give off the ‘hey read me I am interesting’ feeling. It was more the other way round. Unstructured without any idea of graphic design or how it was called here.<br>Failariél was not on which I noticed sadly. Maybe she will login later on. Hopefully.<br>People around the fountain had their time of their lives but they didn’t even realize it. I went past them. Not just them but past hundreds of users or NPC’s which I couldn’t distinguish sometimes.<br>The trainer didn’t see me at first. I poked him to see how he would react. Well, if he did notice it he didn’t show any sign of reaction. He didn’t turn or something like that, his eyes were fixed on the player who still smashed the scarecrow. What a weird guy.<br>“Hey trainer. Today is really a great day if there wasn’t that one fact. Weather ain’t as cold as before. But Arug isn’t among us anymore...”<br>“Oh. Yeah, I heard the news. Really something. I have known him since I was young. He was like a grandfather for me. He didn’t change in all this years.” Now he looked at me. His eyes didn’t show sadness but happiness wasn’t inside them either. His stare was quiet and peaceful.“You finished the quest I gave you?” He broke out of his ‘being-away’ stare and turned the dialogue around.<br>“Yeah I did finish the quest just before Arug was killed... actually right after it. Here.” I gave him the note. He slightly nodded and asked if he could keep it.<br>“You don’t mind if I keep this note or? It really means something for me. You see I don’t have much belongings of him.”<br>“No problem. Keep it. I still have this dagger.” I showed it to him.<br>He was taken aback.<br>“That dagger... it was Arug’s favourite weapon. It was the only weapon he couldn’t identify in all of his life. It was a secret for him as it was for everyone else. Keepsake it well. Oh and about this katana style.” His face went to that of an earnest trainer again.<br>“I could teach you the skill.”<br>Now I was astonished.<br>“That would be really great.”<br>“For a man, or better said for an elf, who gets acknowledged by Arug this is nothing. My last favor for him if you could say it so.”<br>----------<br>Quest: Learning from the professionals<br>Description: The trainer asked you if you would accept his training. It will be hard and cruel. Training is everything for that man so be prepared or die painfully! Beware.<br>Difficulty: ?<br>Objections: Finish his training successfully.<br>Possible rewards: Skill, weapon?<br>---------------<br>“Do you still want to accept it? It will be hard. And if I mean hard then it will be harder then everything you ever did until now!”<br>His tone made me back away few steps.<br>“The harder the better. I accept your challenge.” I was determined to finish the training successfully not just good but well. “I will turn around every stone on my path, I will slay every monster stronger than I am and I will graduate! I will become the best!”<br>“That’s determination I see there. But if you can keep up to it then it’s something different. Let’s go to my house to begin the training. Just say when you are ready and we will be going.”<br>His eyes were fierce. Full of hope but there was something in them that made me fear him.<br>The way was long. We ended up climbing a hill. The magnitude of the landscape didn’t escape my grasp. Fields full with blossomed flowers. Purple, blue, gold and every rainbow colour there was. The flowers shinned beautiful in the sunlight. Some sparkled some absorbed the light and emitted pure darkness.<br>You honour art in its natural form<br>Art doesn’t just consist of manmade pieces<br>It can just as well be a nature formed rock foundation<br>Or a blossoming field<br>New stat: Art<br>Art + 1<br>Cool. Already a new stat. What does it bring? Well, I will still have time later on.<br>On the top of the hill was a little house. Little compared to the hill but still big enough to fit an entire army. It just seemed little. We were too far away. We didn’t speak another word on the way. I was determined and what he was I really didn’t know or could have guessed it. Something around monk peace or so. We were at the last hundred meters.<br>“From now we will begin the training. I know that you have 24 days left in town before the government nullifies your restriction. Therefore we will split the training into 3 parts.<br>The first training period consists of physical exercise. Every part last 8 days. We will make breaks when I think it’s the right time for it.”<br>I was confused. Didn’t he say we would go to his house first?<br>“So, what is my first exercise?”<br>He took out some weights from his inventory.<br>A system window popped up<br>------------------<br>Item obtained: Wearable weight vest (20 pounds)<br>Defense: 5 Durability: 60/60<br>Description: A vest with integrated weights. It will help with training.<br>Offers great defense for the beginning as well.<br>Can be upgraded by adding weight to it.<br>---------------------<br>Only now I did realize that the weights were actually a vest.<br>“This will help you with your training. 8 days ain’t much for physical exercise but under my lead it will be more than enough to get you ready.” He said. He grinned at the part with leadership.<br>I equipped the vest. It was heavy. Really heavy. But I endured it for my goal.<br>“Okay, I am ready for the training.”<br>“Then start by running the hill up and down. Go, go, go. I will run with you!”<br>It was the beginning of hell. I ran and ran. My legs hurt already after some time and all my muscles ached. He hunted me up and down. Always a few steps behind me. If I slipped he wouldn’t catch me, but hit me instead. “Concentrate!”<br>I felt as if I were running for hours, darkness swept over us and the moon enlightened our way.<br>Ages went by. Hour after hour. At some point I thought that I couldn’t endure it anymore but I took one step after another always watched by him. It looked like he had red eyes in the dark which were fixated on me. Just another step! Just another one. Anoth-<br>“Okay, time for a break. My wife made food and I am hungry as a bear. I could eat an entire flock of cows!” I didn’t deny it. Maybe not an entire herd but a cow at least.<br>“Thanks god. A break.”<br>“You tired? That was just warm up training. You are lucky that my wife made food so early.”<br>He laughed.<br>“Let’s go to my house.”<br>I couldn’t believe it.<br>My legs shook after every step. I could feel the power in my legs fading slowly. There wasn’t much energy left.<br>System alert<br>We detected that you run your game via a modified capsule which isn’t patched at the moment<br>Initialising update...<br>Installing upgrades...<br>Installing upgrades...<br>Upgrades installed<br>From now on you don’t just train your virtual body inside the MMORPG but your real body as well<br>Additional information were sent to your capsule<br>What does that mean? I train my body in reality as well? A modification?<br>Slowly pieces fitted together<br>The abnormally big capsule, the way Mr. Humble spoke and the message just now<br>Isn’t that awesome?<br>Vitality+1<br>Vitality+1<br>Strength+1<br>Dexterity+1<br>Suddenly I received some status upgrades. Some stats evolved. I don’t know if the upgrades changed much but then I realized that I still had the 10 remaining points from my level ups.<br>I improved my strength and vitality stat 3 times and put the last 4 remaining points on dexterity. I figured out it would improve me so that I could finish the quest without problems. But well the instructor is always open for surprises...
</div> | “Huahhh!”
I woke up shouting a battle scream. Huh? It seemed my mind played a trick on me again.
I was a high level player in RoyalRoad and just fought against tons of enemies with my glittering blade. I had some kind of weird armor on and didn’t look like myself anymore. I was something different.
That would have been too good. Me playing RoyalRoad. Hah. What a joke. But slowly it came to my mind. I am playing RoyalRoad. I have the game!
I turned around. I wanted to be that same guy again. But on instinct I looked on my clock and panicked. It was already midday. I jumped up in a hurry and got dizzy all over again. I hovered from left to right and tried to get on my feet again. I fall over my backpack and hit the ground hard. Well, actually I didn’t hit the ground I hit everything that was on it. Trousers, trash, magazines, books, clothes, leftovers... Ihh, leftovers. I really have to clean up from time to time.
My shirt was all gooey. I threw it into the corner and were in a hurry. I had to get to school fast.
But then it hit me like birdshit would hit me when I would run after a gorgeous girl.
I. Had. Holidays!
I roared out a shout full of happiness. Not to the world but all to myself.
The apartment was empty. My mom was nowhere to be seen. I looked around and found a sheet of paper pinned at my door. Was it there all the time? Strange.
“Dear Jason, ‘that would be me’,
yesterday I received a message from your father.
I really love you child, you may not think so but I do.
I am going to search for him.
Money is on the table if you need to buy food or something else you need.
I still love your father.
Don’t hate him. Don’t hate me.
Everyone makes faults in life.
Do your best.
In love
Mom
Only then I realized there still was this snoring noise.
Scenes went into another. Everything went blurry.
It was an audio backup which repeated itself over and over again.
I cried. Not just once but.. but.. I don’t know how often I cried. I was furious. Angry. Frustrated.
She still loves me? Where did she get that from? From her small little peanut brain? From some Tv-show? Or was it an article inside her fucking magazines? I hated everything at that moment and could steer my rage at anything. I hit the wall with all my might. Once. Twice.
My world fell into darkness.
When I woke up again I felt terrible. My right hand hurt like hell, trash all around me and my head felt like it was going to burst to million pieces just like Arug did. Too bad I wasn’t ingame.
I calmed down, cooled my hand, washed myself and put some clothes on which somehow got torn away from my body. They were shredded on the floor. I examined the flat. The wall was smeared with blood. Exactly at the point where I hammered my fist against it.
After all this I couldn’t believe it but I felt great. I was free, had enough money for the time being and time to do anything that I wanted to do.
I made some pancakes. Any angriness I ever felt was gone.
This outbreak was brilliant.
I could do anything. And anything - anything I wanted was RoyalRoad.
Finally the political and social lessons at school came in handy. The bank accepted the money without a word and opened up a new account for me. I deposited all of the money. The account filled from scratch to 5000€. I don’t know where my mother had all that money from but what would it bring to think about it? Nothing.
I called Mr. Humble and told him everything. Weird thing was that he wasn’t surprised.
He he held a speech about ancient times of heroes and made examples of some unknown people who have done the same and I interpreted it as my mom won't let my dad go. He offered me help and I accepted it gratefully after I gave it some thoughts.
Work hard, play harder.
That were his last words. I searched for a part-time job for the holidays and found one near school. It was a delivery service. Therefore I had to get my old bike out of the cellar. I felt great. Unbeatable. Limitless. I drove my first delivery on which more and more followed. Somehow I liked it.
Later on I met up with Mr. Humble he showed me the way inside school on holiday times and questioned me out. What I did on the first day, where I went, which people I became acquainted with and so on. It may sound boring but I told him most. Left some parts about Failariél out.
He sounded interested. He knew Arug as well. It was strange to see that so many people knew him. And somebody like me who started playing a day ago was witness of his dead. What fate has in handy for some guys is really unbelieveable.
He wished me good luck after we went through the big school. The corridors had appeared as they would never end. But I stood before my own capsule again. My own. Happiness and joy streamed through my body. I locked the door. I began to play right after that. The carpet felt great as it always did. As always, hah.
Black particles rushed with great speed beside me. The login process was really amazing. Wonderful if not beautiful.
The town was still in uproar when I arrived at my location. The fountain’s statue, a huge mermaid covered by starfishes, opened up a hole for water which streamed out of almost every pore of her body. She sparkled in the sunlight. Butterflies flew around her and the bitter frost wasn’t as cold as it was the day before. Or maybe everything just seemed so because I was finally inside my real world. The world where I could become anything.
“Did you hear about what happened to Arug?” Some strange guy asked me as he handed me a newspaper? He didn’t look healthy.
“Yeah. But thanks for the newspaper.” I put it into my inventory which was made up of some instant use pockets and my main inventory which was just cloud storage. System storage.
The first page didn’t give off the ‘hey read me I am interesting’ feeling. It was more the other way round. Unstructured without any idea of graphic design or how it was called here.
Failariél was not on which I noticed sadly. Maybe she will login later on. Hopefully.
People around the fountain had their time of their lives but they didn’t even realize it. I went past them. Not just them but past hundreds of users or NPC’s which I couldn’t distinguish sometimes.
The trainer didn’t see me at first. I poked him to see how he would react. Well, if he did notice it he didn’t show any sign of reaction. He didn’t turn or something like that, his eyes were fixed on the player who still smashed the scarecrow. What a weird guy.
“Hey trainer. Today is really a great day if there wasn’t that one fact. Weather ain’t as cold as before. But Arug isn’t among us anymore...”
“Oh. Yeah, I heard the news. Really something. I have known him since I was young. He was like a grandfather for me. He didn’t change in all this years.” Now he looked at me. His eyes didn’t show sadness but happiness wasn’t inside them either. His stare was quiet and peaceful.“You finished the quest I gave you?” He broke out of his ‘being-away’ stare and turned the dialogue around.
“Yeah I did finish the quest just before Arug was killed... actually right after it. Here.” I gave him the note. He slightly nodded and asked if he could keep it.
“You don’t mind if I keep this note or? It really means something for me. You see I don’t have much belongings of him.”
“No problem. Keep it. I still have this dagger.” I showed it to him.
He was taken aback.
“That dagger... it was Arug’s favourite weapon. It was the only weapon he couldn’t identify in all of his life. It was a secret for him as it was for everyone else. Keepsake it well. Oh and about this katana style.” His face went to that of an earnest trainer again.
“I could teach you the skill.”
Now I was astonished.
“That would be really great.”
“For a man, or better said for an elf, who gets acknowledged by Arug this is nothing. My last favor for him if you could say it so.”
----------
Quest: Learning from the professionals
Description: The trainer asked you if you would accept his training. It will be hard and cruel. Training is everything for that man so be prepared or die painfully! Beware.
Difficulty: ?
Objections: Finish his training successfully.
Possible rewards: Skill, weapon?
---------------
“Do you still want to accept it? It will be hard. And if I mean hard then it will be harder then everything you ever did until now!”
His tone made me back away few steps.
“The harder the better. I accept your challenge.” I was determined to finish the training successfully not just good but well. “I will turn around every stone on my path, I will slay every monster stronger than I am and I will graduate! I will become the best!”
“That’s determination I see there. But if you can keep up to it then it’s something different. Let’s go to my house to begin the training. Just say when you are ready and we will be going.”
His eyes were fierce. Full of hope but there was something in them that made me fear him.
The way was long. We ended up climbing a hill. The magnitude of the landscape didn’t escape my grasp. Fields full with blossomed flowers. Purple, blue, gold and every rainbow colour there was. The flowers shinned beautiful in the sunlight. Some sparkled some absorbed the light and emitted pure darkness.
You honour art in its natural form
Art doesn’t just consist of manmade pieces
It can just as well be a nature formed rock foundation
Or a blossoming field
New stat: Art
Art + 1
Cool. Already a new stat. What does it bring? Well, I will still have time later on.
On the top of the hill was a little house. Little compared to the hill but still big enough to fit an entire army. It just seemed little. We were too far away. We didn’t speak another word on the way. I was determined and what he was I really didn’t know or could have guessed it. Something around monk peace or so. We were at the last hundred meters.
“From now we will begin the training. I know that you have 24 days left in town before the government nullifies your restriction. Therefore we will split the training into 3 parts.
The first training period consists of physical exercise. Every part last 8 days. We will make breaks when I think it’s the right time for it.”
I was confused. Didn’t he say we would go to his house first?
“So, what is my first exercise?”
He took out some weights from his inventory.
A system window popped up
------------------
Item obtained: Wearable weight vest (20 pounds)
Defense: 5 Durability: 60/60
Description: A vest with integrated weights. It will help with training.
Offers great defense for the beginning as well.
Can be upgraded by adding weight to it.
---------------------
Only now I did realize that the weights were actually a vest.
“This will help you with your training. 8 days ain’t much for physical exercise but under my lead it will be more than enough to get you ready.” He said. He grinned at the part with leadership.
I equipped the vest. It was heavy. Really heavy. But I endured it for my goal.
“Okay, I am ready for the training.”
“Then start by running the hill up and down. Go, go, go. I will run with you!”
It was the beginning of hell. I ran and ran. My legs hurt already after some time and all my muscles ached. He hunted me up and down. Always a few steps behind me. If I slipped he wouldn’t catch me, but hit me instead. “Concentrate!”
I felt as if I were running for hours, darkness swept over us and the moon enlightened our way.
Ages went by. Hour after hour. At some point I thought that I couldn’t endure it anymore but I took one step after another always watched by him. It looked like he had red eyes in the dark which were fixated on me. Just another step! Just another one. Anoth-
“Okay, time for a break. My wife made food and I am hungry as a bear. I could eat an entire flock of cows!” I didn’t deny it. Maybe not an entire herd but a cow at least.
“Thanks god. A break.”
“You tired? That was just warm up training. You are lucky that my wife made food so early.”
He laughed.
“Let’s go to my house.”
I couldn’t believe it.
My legs shook after every step. I could feel the power in my legs fading slowly. There wasn’t much energy left.
System alert
We detected that you run your game via a modified capsule which isn’t patched at the moment
Initialising update...
Installing upgrades...
Installing upgrades...
Upgrades installed
From now on you don’t just train your virtual body inside the MMORPG but your real body as well
Additional information were sent to your capsule
What does that mean? I train my body in reality as well? A modification?
Slowly pieces fitted together
The abnormally big capsule, the way Mr. Humble spoke and the message just now
Isn’t that awesome?
Vitality+1
Vitality+1
Strength+1
Dexterity+1
Suddenly I received some status upgrades. Some stats evolved. I don’t know if the upgrades changed much but then I realized that I still had the 10 remaining points from my level ups.
I improved my strength and vitality stat 3 times and put the last 4 remaining points on dexterity. I figured out it would improve me so that I could finish the quest without problems. But well the instructor is always open for surprises... |
{
"title": "Battle Maiden",
"id": 73,
"author": "fazwick",
"rating": 4.8
} | {
"title": "Battle Maiden: Book 1 Chapter 2",
"id": 308,
"next": 310,
"prev": 304,
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #408000;">Battle Maiden</span></span><br>Book 1 : Into the Gates of Hell<br>Chapter 2 : Into the Frying Pan</div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>“How’s your study?”<br>A middle aged man asked while reading out of his tablet. His eyes never went toward the person he was talking to. It might have been unnecessary, as there was only one other person with him. Still it was bad manners.<br> <br>“It’s progressing nicely” was the reply.<br><br>They were having breakfast. It was the only time of day they were together. Because of this, Sarah associates her uncle with the smell of morning coffee.<br><br>“Good. Let me know if you need anything.”<br>Still not looking at her, he took a sip of the extra strong coffee Sarah made. He was drowned with his work. He leaves home much earlier than Sarah and returns much later than her. Sometimes, he was not home for a week. Breakfast is the only time he has to spend together with his niece. <br><br>He is doing a bad job on it.<br><br>Still, Sarah did not mind. She understood the nature of his work. She was grateful toward her uncle for taking care of her. He’s the only family she has left.<br><br>“Have a safe trip.” <br>Sarah went as far as the front door with him before sending him off.<br><br>“Still have two hours till class, might as well go read something.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>“So how’s Royal Road?” <br>Steve asked his twin brother who is tutoring him. He wanted a distraction.<br><br>“It’s grueling. This ‘basic combat training’ thing.”<br>“Huh? What’s that?”<br>“You don’t know? Whack a scarecrow millions of time and you get a free sword.”<br><br>That is the current understanding of Scott towards the basic training. He thought everybody knew but just decide that it’s not worth it.<br><br>“Is the sword any good?”<br>Steve was curious. It’s the first time he heard about this.<br><br>“It is said to be better than the one NPC’s sell. With a bonus to strength.”<br>“Well, good luck then. You might die of boredom before getting it.”<br>“I’ll die trying if I must. A girl managed to do it, my pride as a man is at stake here.”<br>The real reason was not his pride. Scott simply believes that by completing the same training he might meet her again. This time, he is going to ask her name. Plus, she might come back to the training hall while he is doing the training.<br><br>“A girl huh? This reminds me of a rumor. I heard that the town you started in had a good looking librarian NPC.”<br>“Not interested in an NPC.”<br>“Just looking won’t hurt. This is why you are still single.”<br>“Just looking is why you have 2 exes and currently ALSO single.”<br><br>BURN!<br><br>They laughed it off. Steve went back to his studying as their allowance depended on his grade. Scott went back to his room and logged on to Royal Road.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>For newbies who just entered Royal Road, it is important for them to get a job for the first month. They were unable to go outside because they are too weak. Most do quests, some opted for a part time job in an NPC store. Whatever it is, they need to earn money for food.<br><br>Sera was no exception. She applied for a job in the town’s library. Not many chose to do so as the pay is low compared to the equipment and item store. The thought of being surrounded by dusty books also deterred potential employee. For Sera, this is heaven. She loves books, which are rare in real life as they are slowly replaced by e-books and iBook (don’t sue me). She loves the smell of books, the feeling of flipping pages, the sound they make as you turn the pages. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I can read books while working, get free food from the training hall, this is going great.’</span><br><br>She went to the training hall when no one else is around and worked (read books) in the library the rest of her time online. Most women eats heartily in VR to satisfy what they can’t do in RL, Sera read books instead. Over the course of four month, she has read almost all books in the town library.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘The game maker put great effort in shaping the world lore. History, ecosystem, culture, everything is very detailed and well thought out.’<br>‘This might be their central system AI’s doing. How much processing power does it have to achieve all this? A world that changes based on the players, AI who adapt with changes quickly, truly it’s an amazing game.’<br>‘If one were to build a world similar to ours in VR, will the line between real and virtual be diminished? RR purposely made the graphic distinguishable from real life, but a powerful enough computer might achieve this. Imagine not knowing whether you are in virtual reality, or in real life. I need to make note of this for my project.’</span><br><br>She was lost in thought as she finished reading the last book in the library. It’s titled ‘Beasts of Versailles Continent’. It contains interesting information on the common monsters found in the continent. Did you know that Kobolds are more closely related to dragons compared to Lizardman? <br><br>“Sera.”<br>The head librarian spoke in a soft voice calling out. Sera return the book back to the shelf and walked toward her.<br><br>“How may I help you today?”<br>Sera asked with a smile. The head librarian always meant business. She is not the one to engage in idle chat.<br><br>“You have read all the books in the library. It is a feat which will be rewarded.”<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring*</span><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">-You can now learn the skill Identify<br>-You can now learn the skill (???)<br>-Do you wish to learn the skill?-<br>Yes|No</span><br><br>Sera know what Identify was, but the second skill offered was simply marked with question marks. A secret skill. Sera did not hesitate and just nodded.<br><br>“Yes”<br><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ttring*<br>-You have learned the skill ‘Identify’.-</span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Identify (Active Skill)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Through studying different kind of books you have gain the ability to better study the properties of an object.<br>-Affected by wisdom stat<br>-Skill can be raised with usage</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ttring*</span><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">-You have learned the skill ‘Judge a book by its cover’.-</span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Judge a book by its cover (Active Skill)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Never judge a book by its cover, unless you have read many, Many books. The skill allows you to size up your opponent and find their weakness by simply observing them. However it is very risky as it may not be accurate.<br><br>-Affected by Wis and Int Stat of you and your opponent.<br>-Skill level can be raised through reading books.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The secret skill seems to be weird. The description contradicts the name. It can only be raised by reading books. Knowing how the game works, reading the same book will not give much increase in proficiency.<br><span style="font-style: italic;"><br>‘I guess I should try it out during battle.’</span><br><br>She realized that only once she went out of town after the one month limit had ended. She holed herself up in the city for four month, only reading books and hitting scarecrows for stress relief. To her, this world is not simply a game. It’s an outlet, a place no one knows her and none to judge her. She was satisfied with reading and occasional anger management in the training hall.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Maybe I should reread all the books here once more to raise the skill a bit.’</span><br><br>The head librarian smiled at Sera as she informs the second part of the news.<br>“Also, you’re fired. I finally got a replacement for you.”<br><br>“What?”<br><br>“All you did is read books, not really working. You are still welcome here to read as you like, but the library can’t afford to pay a free loader.”<br><br>“….”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I’ve been compromised. Never thought an NPC would find out.’</span><br><br>Sera now worries that her comfortable life is being destroyed. First, she was chased out by Instructor Graham, no more free food. Now she’s fired; no more free money. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘This congratulation and reward thing is a scam!’</span><br>She recalled the training hall incident. She was chased out right after getting congratulated.<br><br>“I hope you understand. I wish you luck.”<br>“What about today’s pay? “<br>“Did you do any work today?”<br><br>Sera put on an innocent smile.<br>“No?”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>Spoon is in the training hall diligently hitting the training dummy. He is now using a great sword instead of the wooden long sword he used on his first day. His training here taught him how the skill gain works in Royal Road. After a couple of days hitting the dummy, he found out that using varying techniques and combos will increase his stat faster. He started to imitate all the moves he knows from games and animes he had seen. The drill became less boring, but not for long.<br><br>He never knew what is the requirement to pass the test besides hitting the dummy. He thought it was the numbers of blows. So he took two slightly lighter and shorter wooden swords in place of the long sword. The training hall has many varieties of wooden swords, from weight, shape and design. With the two lighter wooden swords, his blows double in speed and quantity. After a week, he realized the pattern for his stat increase had changed. He is gaining agility faster than he gains strength.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘If I focus on speed, then agility will increase faster. Make sense, like real life.’</span><br>After realizing this logic, he exchanged his two swords with the heaviest wooden sword he could find. His strength is far behind his agilities by now. He needed to compensate.<br><span style="font-style: italic;"><br>‘What if, I swing this heavy sword with speed as a focus?’</span><br>It was easier said than done, but Spoon persisted. The heavy sword requires two hands to swing, and the momentum makes combo highly difficult. For another week he practices using this method. He is now able to swing the great sword with one hand.<br><br>“Hungry already?”<br>He was interrupted by a system warning telling him his satiety level is low. He opens his back pack to get a piece of rye bread which was supplied by his brother.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Noob should eat noob food. Here, 100 rye breads for you.’</span><br>Those were his brother’s exact word. Steve was pissed when he found out that Scott’s avatar name is Spoon, exactly resembling him, and has blue hair. As of why, Steve had a bad experience involving a blue spoon. That incident made Steve loath the color blue. The rye bread was his retaliation.<br>The traumatic incident of the blue spoon will, perhaps, be told another time.<br><br>“At least I got food.”<br>Spoon munched the bread slowly. It was too hard and dry to eat quickly. Spoon was never a picky eater. All that matter for him is the food is healthy and clean. Taste comes second.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘It’s about time I switch back to long sword.’</span><br>While his initial reason for doing this ridiculous training was to pursue the mysterious girl, he now finds it satisfying. Watching your stats increase while remaining level 1 was sublime to him. He swapped the heavy great sword for the long sword he initially used. It felt incredibly light in his hand. He wanted to see how much he improved. He went back to the dummy.<br><br>He focused on his sword.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘One swing. To feel the difference. Full power.’</span><br><br>His sword raised overhead, a slight pause at the peak. Concentrating all his strength and speed in one blow, the sword was swung down on the inanimate straw dummy.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*CRACK!*</span><br><br>He was surprised. Both the wooden sword and the dummy were shattered. Only the hilt of the sword remains intact in his grip. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*ttring*</span><br><br>A message appeared in front of Spoon.<br>He learned the skill Focused Strike.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Focused Strike (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Focus your energies for a single devastating blow. Great power but may reduce the durability of equipped weapon.<br>-Efficiency increase by level<br>-Power increase by level.<br>-Level of skill can only be increased through usage of skill.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>While he did learn a few skills through his training, this is the first active skill he discovered. An active skill is activated through command, either verbal or action (such as pose). There are mastery skills which are passive. They give bonuses just by using the skill or weapon. Spoon had a Sword Mastery of Beginner level 4. Any sword in his hands automatically increases in efficiency.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*tttring!*</span><br><br>Another message popped up showing an increase in stats.<br><br>Instructor Graham’s eye widened as he watched what had happen. He already knows that the kid got talent, but to learn a warrior skill while not having the class or any guidance was impressive. Not to mention he is still level 1. This incident boosted his affinity toward Spoon.<br><br>“Congratulations. You have passed the basic training course.”<br>“I did? I did not remember the girl before doing any of this when she passed.”<br>“Not everyone is the same. Everybody can hit a training dummy. But not many have the spirit.”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Spirit? More like having enough patience to put up with this crap.’</span><br><br>“I usually observe all trainee and decide on a sword which best suited them. You however, prove to be proficient in many styles of swords. So for your reward, you get to choose what type of sword you want.”<br><br>Spoon went silent. He never really thought about this before. He was always experimenting on different moves. He likes the power of the great sword, the reach of the long sword and the speed of short sword. Choosing one is not easy, as he probably will have to stick to it for the rest of the game.<br><br>Then he remembered the girl that made him start this crazy training. He found his answer.<br>“I want the sword exactly like the one you gave the girl before me.”<br><br>The instructor furrows his brows.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>“Achoo!”<br>“Why are you sneezing on the food? It is ruined!”<br>A loud thundering voice, belonged to the restaurant owner filled the kitchen. The plump lady, hit the head of the new worker using her ladle.<br><br><span style="color: #FF0000;">-HP decreased by 15-</span><br><br>“Throw that food in that chute! No spoiled food is to be served in my establishment. The cost will be charged on your salary!” <br>“No one will know, please don’t cut my salary.”<br>“Do you want to get fired instead? Hurry up and do your job!”<br>“Y-Yes MA’AM!!”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘This job sucks, I missed the library.’</span><br><br>The trainee name is Sera. Since she got fired and was short on cash, she started working in a restaurant in hope for free delicious food. She underestimated the amount of work involves in this industry. It was hectic.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Maybe I should quit this job’<br>‘After I get food of course.’</span><br><br>She began to sneakily eat the food she was told to throw. Wasting food is bad. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I should at least recover that lost HP.’</span><br><br>Sera stood in front of the chute, pretending to throw away the food while eating it. In a big restaurant like this, a lot of waste product generated each day. All of them, including failed cooking were thrown down this chute where it magically turns into composts. Well, not really magically; they still went through rotting process like in real world. Unnecessary details according to Sera.<br><br>To avoid suspicion, she had to stop eating half way. Taking too much time will cause the boss to get angry again. Sera lift the cover of the chute to throw away the food. As she stares down the chute, she notices a faint glimmer at the bottom. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘What sort of food shine like that’</span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Clunk!*</span><br><span style="color: #FF0000;"><br>-HP decreased by 23-</span><br><br>Sera were hit in the back of her head.<br>“What are you up to now? Can’t even do a simple task?”<br><span style="font-style: italic;"><br>‘This is by far the most annoying NPC I’ve met.’</span><br>“My apology, I just noticed something shiny at the bottom of the chute. I was trying to find out what it is.”<br>Sera faked an innocent smile. <br><br>“Shiny? Somebody must have dropped some utensils in there. Let me look.”<br>She lit a match and dropped it down the chute. For a short while the object was illuminated by the light. The owner face turns pale.<br><br>“It’s my wedding ring I lost..”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Someone is married to you?’</span><br>“Well, now that you know where it is, all you need to do is get down there to get it.”<br><br>Her face brightened. She faced Sera and holds her hands tightly.<br>“Exactly. My body is too big to enter down the chute. You will do nicely.”<br>“Eh? Me?”<br>“Will you help me out, I will reward you handsomely. The ring is a priceless memorabilia of mine.”<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ttring*</span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Quest Notification</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Retrieve Mrs. Graham’s Wedding Ring. (Grade D)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Requirement<br>-Can fit through the chute (Highly important)<br>-Deemed credible by the owner<br><br>Reward<br>-Unknown<br><br>If refused or failed, the restaurant will not serve any food to you. Ever.<br>Expired in 2 days.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Why me? Send one of your workers down. Now that I look properly, I’m the only one here a player character.’</span><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I guess level D might not be too hard. Just go down, take the thing, and climb back up.’</span><br><br>This is coming from a girl who always aces her test. A level D does not intimidate her even though she is still level 2. She never really took on a quest before. Surviving only by leeching of the instructor of the training hall and earning money through jobs in the library. She has no idea of the difficulty of the grade of the quest.<br><br> Sera nodded her head.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Rewards means money, money means food. Dying of hunger is pathetic.’</span><br><br>“I will do it.”<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">-You have accepted the quest-</span><br><br>“Great, beware of the rats residing down there.<br>“Rats??”<br>“Bigger than normal, with all those food. Stronger too.”<br>“Big RATS??”<br>“Also beware of their bite. Generations upon generations of rats having eaten failed food product made them highly poisonous.”<br>“BIG POISONOUS RATS???”<br>“Slimy lots, those rats. Go down prepared. I’ll give you a torch to light the place up. Please hurry, who knows when the rats might eat the ring.”<br>“Metal eating, big slimy poisonous rats?????”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>Below the restaurant, lies an underground cave. It was made when the city is but a small town. Its purpose is to hide supplies from bandits during time of strife. As war ended, and the town prospered, a restaurant was built on top of it, as if saying that they no longer need to hide.<br><br>Time passed by, what used to be food storage was infested by rats. The owner, at that time, was unable to get rid of the rats. Instead, he turns the underground cave into a dumping place for waste.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘It will never be full; the rats will eat up the thrown food.’<br>‘With modification, the entrance is now vertical, with smooth wall, to prevent the rats from escaping.’</span><br><br>This was the dark secret of the restaurant. What they did not expect, is the rat mutated from eating the rotten and spoiled food. What used to be a small colony of pest turned into a swarm of monsters.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><<Prev</span><span style="color: #BFFFBF;"> - - - - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Next>></span><br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=358" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/xcc1QEF.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fxcc1QEF.png"></a><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=366&p=1511#p1511" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/HF3aiKG.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fHF3aiKG.png"></a></div><br><br><blockquote><cite> Wrote: </cite>Tables are tricky in this forum.<br>Credits as always goes to Nobody8 again for pointing out grammar mistakes (he did up to chapter 3) and others who gave feedback in chat. Hopefully there are not many mistakes, thanks for reading.<br>Credits for the secret skill goes to my 8 year old niece, who said to me people who read lots of book should be able to judge a book by its cover.<br>Credits for bad naming sense all goes to me</blockquote><br>
</div> | Battle Maiden
Book 1 : Into the Gates of Hell
Chapter 2 : Into the Frying Pan
*****
“How’s your study?”
A middle aged man asked while reading out of his tablet. His eyes never went toward the person he was talking to. It might have been unnecessary, as there was only one other person with him. Still it was bad manners.
“It’s progressing nicely” was the reply.
They were having breakfast. It was the only time of day they were together. Because of this, Sarah associates her uncle with the smell of morning coffee.
“Good. Let me know if you need anything.”
Still not looking at her, he took a sip of the extra strong coffee Sarah made. He was drowned with his work. He leaves home much earlier than Sarah and returns much later than her. Sometimes, he was not home for a week. Breakfast is the only time he has to spend together with his niece.
He is doing a bad job on it.
Still, Sarah did not mind. She understood the nature of his work. She was grateful toward her uncle for taking care of her. He’s the only family she has left.
“Have a safe trip.”
Sarah went as far as the front door with him before sending him off.
“Still have two hours till class, might as well go read something.”
*****
“So how’s Royal Road?”
Steve asked his twin brother who is tutoring him. He wanted a distraction.
“It’s grueling. This ‘basic combat training’ thing.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“You don’t know? Whack a scarecrow millions of time and you get a free sword.”
That is the current understanding of Scott towards the basic training. He thought everybody knew but just decide that it’s not worth it.
“Is the sword any good?”
Steve was curious. It’s the first time he heard about this.
“It is said to be better than the one NPC’s sell. With a bonus to strength.”
“Well, good luck then. You might die of boredom before getting it.”
“I’ll die trying if I must. A girl managed to do it, my pride as a man is at stake here.”
The real reason was not his pride. Scott simply believes that by completing the same training he might meet her again. This time, he is going to ask her name. Plus, she might come back to the training hall while he is doing the training.
“A girl huh? This reminds me of a rumor. I heard that the town you started in had a good looking librarian NPC.”
“Not interested in an NPC.”
“Just looking won’t hurt. This is why you are still single.”
“Just looking is why you have 2 exes and currently ALSO single.”
BURN!
They laughed it off. Steve went back to his studying as their allowance depended on his grade. Scott went back to his room and logged on to Royal Road.
*****
For newbies who just entered Royal Road, it is important for them to get a job for the first month. They were unable to go outside because they are too weak. Most do quests, some opted for a part time job in an NPC store. Whatever it is, they need to earn money for food.
Sera was no exception. She applied for a job in the town’s library. Not many chose to do so as the pay is low compared to the equipment and item store. The thought of being surrounded by dusty books also deterred potential employee. For Sera, this is heaven. She loves books, which are rare in real life as they are slowly replaced by e-books and iBook (don’t sue me). She loves the smell of books, the feeling of flipping pages, the sound they make as you turn the pages.
‘I can read books while working, get free food from the training hall, this is going great.’
She went to the training hall when no one else is around and worked (read books) in the library the rest of her time online. Most women eats heartily in VR to satisfy what they can’t do in RL, Sera read books instead. Over the course of four month, she has read almost all books in the town library.
‘The game maker put great effort in shaping the world lore. History, ecosystem, culture, everything is very detailed and well thought out.’
‘This might be their central system AI’s doing. How much processing power does it have to achieve all this? A world that changes based on the players, AI who adapt with changes quickly, truly it’s an amazing game.’
‘If one were to build a world similar to ours in VR, will the line between real and virtual be diminished? RR purposely made the graphic distinguishable from real life, but a powerful enough computer might achieve this. Imagine not knowing whether you are in virtual reality, or in real life. I need to make note of this for my project.’
She was lost in thought as she finished reading the last book in the library. It’s titled ‘Beasts of Versailles Continent’. It contains interesting information on the common monsters found in the continent. Did you know that Kobolds are more closely related to dragons compared to Lizardman?
“Sera.”
The head librarian spoke in a soft voice calling out. Sera return the book back to the shelf and walked toward her.
“How may I help you today?”
Sera asked with a smile. The head librarian always meant business. She is not the one to engage in idle chat.
“You have read all the books in the library. It is a feat which will be rewarded.”
*Tring*
-You can now learn the skill Identify
-You can now learn the skill (???)
-Do you wish to learn the skill?-
Yes|No
Sera know what Identify was, but the second skill offered was simply marked with question marks. A secret skill. Sera did not hesitate and just nodded.
“Yes”
*Ttring*
-You have learned the skill ‘Identify’.-
| Identify (Active Skill) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Through studying different kind of books you have gain the ability to better study the properties of an object.-Affected by wisdom stat-Skill can be raised with usage | | | |
*Ttring*
-You have learned the skill ‘Judge a book by its cover’.-
| Judge a book by its cover (Active Skill) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Never judge a book by its cover, unless you have read many, Many books. The skill allows you to size up your opponent and find their weakness by simply observing them. However it is very risky as it may not be accurate.-Affected by Wis and Int Stat of you and your opponent.-Skill level can be raised through reading books. | | | |
The secret skill seems to be weird. The description contradicts the name. It can only be raised by reading books. Knowing how the game works, reading the same book will not give much increase in proficiency.
‘I guess I should try it out during battle.’
She realized that only once she went out of town after the one month limit had ended. She holed herself up in the city for four month, only reading books and hitting scarecrows for stress relief. To her, this world is not simply a game. It’s an outlet, a place no one knows her and none to judge her. She was satisfied with reading and occasional anger management in the training hall.
‘Maybe I should reread all the books here once more to raise the skill a bit.’
The head librarian smiled at Sera as she informs the second part of the news.
“Also, you’re fired. I finally got a replacement for you.”
“What?”
“All you did is read books, not really working. You are still welcome here to read as you like, but the library can’t afford to pay a free loader.”
“….”
‘I’ve been compromised. Never thought an NPC would find out.’
Sera now worries that her comfortable life is being destroyed. First, she was chased out by Instructor Graham, no more free food. Now she’s fired; no more free money.
‘This congratulation and reward thing is a scam!’
She recalled the training hall incident. She was chased out right after getting congratulated.
“I hope you understand. I wish you luck.”
“What about today’s pay? “
“Did you do any work today?”
Sera put on an innocent smile.
“No?”
*****
Spoon is in the training hall diligently hitting the training dummy. He is now using a great sword instead of the wooden long sword he used on his first day. His training here taught him how the skill gain works in Royal Road. After a couple of days hitting the dummy, he found out that using varying techniques and combos will increase his stat faster. He started to imitate all the moves he knows from games and animes he had seen. The drill became less boring, but not for long.
He never knew what is the requirement to pass the test besides hitting the dummy. He thought it was the numbers of blows. So he took two slightly lighter and shorter wooden swords in place of the long sword. The training hall has many varieties of wooden swords, from weight, shape and design. With the two lighter wooden swords, his blows double in speed and quantity. After a week, he realized the pattern for his stat increase had changed. He is gaining agility faster than he gains strength.
‘If I focus on speed, then agility will increase faster. Make sense, like real life.’
After realizing this logic, he exchanged his two swords with the heaviest wooden sword he could find. His strength is far behind his agilities by now. He needed to compensate.
‘What if, I swing this heavy sword with speed as a focus?’
It was easier said than done, but Spoon persisted. The heavy sword requires two hands to swing, and the momentum makes combo highly difficult. For another week he practices using this method. He is now able to swing the great sword with one hand.
“Hungry already?”
He was interrupted by a system warning telling him his satiety level is low. He opens his back pack to get a piece of rye bread which was supplied by his brother.
‘Noob should eat noob food. Here, 100 rye breads for you.’
Those were his brother’s exact word. Steve was pissed when he found out that Scott’s avatar name is Spoon, exactly resembling him, and has blue hair. As of why, Steve had a bad experience involving a blue spoon. That incident made Steve loath the color blue. The rye bread was his retaliation.
The traumatic incident of the blue spoon will, perhaps, be told another time.
“At least I got food.”
Spoon munched the bread slowly. It was too hard and dry to eat quickly. Spoon was never a picky eater. All that matter for him is the food is healthy and clean. Taste comes second.
‘It’s about time I switch back to long sword.’
While his initial reason for doing this ridiculous training was to pursue the mysterious girl, he now finds it satisfying. Watching your stats increase while remaining level 1 was sublime to him. He swapped the heavy great sword for the long sword he initially used. It felt incredibly light in his hand. He wanted to see how much he improved. He went back to the dummy.
He focused on his sword.
‘One swing. To feel the difference. Full power.’
His sword raised overhead, a slight pause at the peak. Concentrating all his strength and speed in one blow, the sword was swung down on the inanimate straw dummy.
*CRACK!*
He was surprised. Both the wooden sword and the dummy were shattered. Only the hilt of the sword remains intact in his grip.
*ttring*
A message appeared in front of Spoon.
He learned the skill Focused Strike.
| Focused Strike (Active) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Focus your energies for a single devastating blow. Great power but may reduce the durability of equipped weapon.-Efficiency increase by level-Power increase by level.-Level of skill can only be increased through usage of skill. | | | |
While he did learn a few skills through his training, this is the first active skill he discovered. An active skill is activated through command, either verbal or action (such as pose). There are mastery skills which are passive. They give bonuses just by using the skill or weapon. Spoon had a Sword Mastery of Beginner level 4. Any sword in his hands automatically increases in efficiency.
*tttring!*
Another message popped up showing an increase in stats.
Instructor Graham’s eye widened as he watched what had happen. He already knows that the kid got talent, but to learn a warrior skill while not having the class or any guidance was impressive. Not to mention he is still level 1. This incident boosted his affinity toward Spoon.
“Congratulations. You have passed the basic training course.”
“I did? I did not remember the girl before doing any of this when she passed.”
“Not everyone is the same. Everybody can hit a training dummy. But not many have the spirit.”
‘Spirit? More like having enough patience to put up with this crap.’
“I usually observe all trainee and decide on a sword which best suited them. You however, prove to be proficient in many styles of swords. So for your reward, you get to choose what type of sword you want.”
Spoon went silent. He never really thought about this before. He was always experimenting on different moves. He likes the power of the great sword, the reach of the long sword and the speed of short sword. Choosing one is not easy, as he probably will have to stick to it for the rest of the game.
Then he remembered the girl that made him start this crazy training. He found his answer.
“I want the sword exactly like the one you gave the girl before me.”
The instructor furrows his brows.
*****
“Achoo!”
“Why are you sneezing on the food? It is ruined!”
A loud thundering voice, belonged to the restaurant owner filled the kitchen. The plump lady, hit the head of the new worker using her ladle.
-HP decreased by 15-
“Throw that food in that chute! No spoiled food is to be served in my establishment. The cost will be charged on your salary!”
“No one will know, please don’t cut my salary.”
“Do you want to get fired instead? Hurry up and do your job!”
“Y-Yes MA’AM!!”
‘This job sucks, I missed the library.’
The trainee name is Sera. Since she got fired and was short on cash, she started working in a restaurant in hope for free delicious food. She underestimated the amount of work involves in this industry. It was hectic.
‘Maybe I should quit this job’
‘After I get food of course.’
She began to sneakily eat the food she was told to throw. Wasting food is bad.
‘I should at least recover that lost HP.’
Sera stood in front of the chute, pretending to throw away the food while eating it. In a big restaurant like this, a lot of waste product generated each day. All of them, including failed cooking were thrown down this chute where it magically turns into composts. Well, not really magically; they still went through rotting process like in real world. Unnecessary details according to Sera.
To avoid suspicion, she had to stop eating half way. Taking too much time will cause the boss to get angry again. Sera lift the cover of the chute to throw away the food. As she stares down the chute, she notices a faint glimmer at the bottom.
‘What sort of food shine like that’
*Clunk!*
-HP decreased by 23-
Sera were hit in the back of her head.
“What are you up to now? Can’t even do a simple task?”
‘This is by far the most annoying NPC I’ve met.’
“My apology, I just noticed something shiny at the bottom of the chute. I was trying to find out what it is.”
Sera faked an innocent smile.
“Shiny? Somebody must have dropped some utensils in there. Let me look.”
She lit a match and dropped it down the chute. For a short while the object was illuminated by the light. The owner face turns pale.
“It’s my wedding ring I lost..”
‘Someone is married to you?’
“Well, now that you know where it is, all you need to do is get down there to get it.”
Her face brightened. She faced Sera and holds her hands tightly.
“Exactly. My body is too big to enter down the chute. You will do nicely.”
“Eh? Me?”
“Will you help me out, I will reward you handsomely. The ring is a priceless memorabilia of mine.”
*Ttring*
| Quest Notification | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Retrieve Mrs. Graham’s Wedding Ring. (Grade D) | | | |
| Requirement-Can fit through the chute (Highly important)-Deemed credible by the ownerReward-UnknownIf refused or failed, the restaurant will not serve any food to you. Ever.Expired in 2 days. | | | |
‘Why me? Send one of your workers down. Now that I look properly, I’m the only one here a player character.’
‘I guess level D might not be too hard. Just go down, take the thing, and climb back up.’
This is coming from a girl who always aces her test. A level D does not intimidate her even though she is still level 2. She never really took on a quest before. Surviving only by leeching of the instructor of the training hall and earning money through jobs in the library. She has no idea of the difficulty of the grade of the quest.
Sera nodded her head.
‘Rewards means money, money means food. Dying of hunger is pathetic.’
“I will do it.”
-You have accepted the quest-
“Great, beware of the rats residing down there.
“Rats??”
“Bigger than normal, with all those food. Stronger too.”
“Big RATS??”
“Also beware of their bite. Generations upon generations of rats having eaten failed food product made them highly poisonous.”
“BIG POISONOUS RATS???”
“Slimy lots, those rats. Go down prepared. I’ll give you a torch to light the place up. Please hurry, who knows when the rats might eat the ring.”
“Metal eating, big slimy poisonous rats?????”
*****
Below the restaurant, lies an underground cave. It was made when the city is but a small town. Its purpose is to hide supplies from bandits during time of strife. As war ended, and the town prospered, a restaurant was built on top of it, as if saying that they no longer need to hide.
Time passed by, what used to be food storage was infested by rats. The owner, at that time, was unable to get rid of the rats. Instead, he turns the underground cave into a dumping place for waste.
‘It will never be full; the rats will eat up the thrown food.’
‘With modification, the entrance is now vertical, with smooth wall, to prevent the rats from escaping.’
This was the dark secret of the restaurant. What they did not expect, is the rat mutated from eating the rotten and spoiled food. What used to be a small colony of pest turned into a swarm of monsters.
*****
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> Wrote: Tables are tricky in this forum.
> Credits as always goes to Nobody8 again for pointing out grammar mistakes (he did up to chapter 3) and others who gave feedback in chat. Hopefully there are not many mistakes, thanks for reading.
> Credits for the secret skill goes to my 8 year old niece, who said to me people who read lots of book should be able to judge a book by its cover.
> Credits for bad naming sense all goes to me |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Angelic Knight Chapter 8",
"id": 201,
"next": 206,
"prev": 183,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">’Thump’.</span> <br><br>“That hurt,” Allwind muttered as he picked himself up off the crash mat, he had been attempting to get from one side of the balance beam to the other, without being knocked off by the two scarecrows that were now guarding the middle of the beam, it was easy to get passed the first that swung its lance low, all he had to do was jump over the lance and then attack the scarecrow.<br><br>The only problem was the second, scarecrow that was position slightly behind the first and swung its lance at mid height, this attack came straight after he landed back on the beam it was possible to dodge backwards but then the first scarecrow would attack with its shield knocking him off the beam, forcing him to restart, even using two blades to counter attack and block didn’t work.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">’Thump’</span><br><br>“There has to be a way to beat them, even if i block one attack i end up defenceless to the second,” Allwind muttered to himself shaking his head, before starting again.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Sword mastery level 2 <br>10% damage increase<br>6% increase in attack speed</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The instructor was stood in his usual place watching him train, every time Allwind got knocked off the balance beam, he winced knowing that eventually, just like the others he would quit, and then he would smile every time Allwind stubbornly got back up on to the beam starting again even though two days had passed since the beginning of the intermediate training, the instructor knew that if no progress was made the boy would quit, on one had lasted for three days.<br><br> <span style="font-weight: bold;">’Thump’.<br>‘Clatter’.</span><br><br>The instructor winced realising that the time had come as Allwind dropped the two wooden short swords he had been using, he was about to console the boy there was no shame in giving up every one else had, however Allwind had not approached the instructor instead he had gone to the other side of the training room and had begun doing this warm ups, before he started exercising on the rings hanging from the roof, the instructor sighed before realising that the boy never took his eyes off the two guardian scarecrows.<br><br>Allwind spent the next three hours hanging upside down, contemplating the situation when a loud voice shouted in his ear.<br>“Brother, dinner time you have explaining to do.”<br>‘Sounds like she’s mad best log off for the time being’ he thought dropping down from the hoops making a perfect landing.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Strength point + 2</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Agility point + 1</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Vitality point +1</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Endurance point +1</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">New skill Learnt<br>Soft Landing</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Soft Landing : level 1<br>You are now able to land from great heights without incurring significant damage<br>-10% damage from falling</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>‘That’s going to be useful,’ Allwind chuckled to himself it was very easy to earn points in this game it seemed, his mood had improved a lot due to the heavy training, even though he wasn’t making any progress.<br><br>****<br><br>Alan slowly opened the capsule hopping that his sister wasn’t stood waiting to pounce on him for his absence from school, ‘looks like i’m in the clear till after dinner,’ he thought as he climbed in to his wheelchair, ‘i’ve gotten too used to this thing’ he realised slapping one of the wheel’s with his hand causing it to sting, before setting off in the direction of the dining room.<br><br>Dinner was a quiet affair today it seemed, Alan knew why his sister had informed his mother of today’s little drama at school, it was going to be pain full after dinner, Alan knew and so he was busy formulating explanations in his head as everyone slowly finished their meals.<br><br>“So how many excuses have you thought up,” his mother asked sounding annoyed.<br>“It’ll need to be a good one” his dad put in. <br>“Depends what I’m accused of,” Alan replied.<br>“Let’s see, skipping class'" his mother asked.<br>“Their all on the second floor now,” he answered<br>“Verbally abusing a teacher,” his father said looking furious<br>“It was a statement of fact, i called her an idiot,” <br>“Blackmailing the school head,” his mother asked as his sister sat quietly at her place trying not to laugh.<br>“I simply pointed out were the school facilities needed to be improved,” Alan finished as no more questions came his way, he opened the pouch that was permanently attached, to the wheel chair to find that it was empty.<br>“If you’re looking for the letter you typed up earlier, i removed it for safe keeping,” his Sarah said smiling at him.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">’Silence’ </span> <br><br>“And i have all ready copied it, and sent it to members of the school board,” His father said looking smug “the student council gave you three days off you can send it then, yes i had a phone call,” he added looking at the roof temporarily.<br><br>“So i’m in trouble because,” <br><br>“You didn’t tell us anything,” Sarah shot at him angrily, to general nodding of heads around the table.<br>“Ow was that all?”<br>“This was definitely one of the occasions that you should have explained to us what was going on before you exploded,” his mother said having calmed down.<br>“she’s right not only are we family but i could have gotten the whole thing on tape,” his dad said as the rest of the table stared straight at him daggers in their eyes.<br>“What video poof is better than any kind of evidence then complaining,” he explained as the rest of the table relaxed.<br>“So what do you plan on doing for the next two days,” his mother asked<br>“ow that’s easy i’ll be in royal road training,” Alan replied.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">’More silence’ </span><br>“Who are you, and what have you done with my brother,” Sarah asked looking shocked.<br>“Funny,” Alan replied<br>“So what are you training at now?” his dad asked keen to keep the convocation going, since his wife was no throwing him a stair’s, that said they would be having private words later.<br>“A Knight apparently,”<br>“You’re heading for a knight class that’s hard work, you have to keep your honour up, so you can’t mess up or fail any quests,” Sarah said laughing.<br>“what’s so funny?”<br>“Dads a knight its amusing is all,”<br>“I am but i didn’t do any particular training for it,” he said looking puzzled.<br>“Really i’m doing the intermediate training,” Alan said calmly.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">’Really deep silence’ </span><br><br>“Did i say something wrong?” Alan asked<br>“Are you sure your doing Knight training, it’s just that we thought you would be doing gymnastics training?” his mum said quietly.<br>“Ow i’m doing that as well,” Alan quickly put it, “well to be honest it’s kind of a mixture of both,”<br><br>“Explain it to me you have lost me completely,” Sarah demanded, as his father leaned closer to absorb the information.<br>“Well ermm,” Alan began not knowing where to start,<br>“From the beginning,” his mother said sighing this was not what she had in mind when she said she wanted a family meeting.<br><br>It took over an hour for Alan to explain everything, what had happened, how and why, even talking about the moving scarecrows, which his family had no idea existed.<br>“Maybe it’s a hidden class of knight,” his sister said after listening intently to Alan.<br>“Hidden Class?”<br>“Some lucky people manage it,” his mother replied nodding <br>“Ow,”<br>“You’re so lucky,” Sarah said patting him on the shoulder, “as for those scarecrows why don’t you try improving your stats a bit more,” she said before turning and leaving for her room.<br>“Continue training kid if you’re sisters right on the hidden class then giving up isn’t an option,” his dad said smiling.<br><br>Alan felt relieved to have escaped with only a mild scolding, as he left he could hear his mum discussing the subject again with his dad, they would sort something out they always did, getting back to his room he opened the capsule and climbed in ready to tackle the scarecrows again.<br><br>****<br><br>Allwind logged back into the gym, looking around he realised he was alone, neither the instructor or lily were present, he collected the two wooden swords that he usually used and headed with a purpose towards the single scarecrow.<br><br>Dodging under the swinging lance he proceeded to take out his frustration and anger on it, his strength wasn’t high enough so he had to hit it twice in order to inflict the amount of damage a normal person was able to.<br><br>The instructor sometimes complained to Allwind that he was lacking in strength, Allwind had then proceeded to up his strength on the hoops this always seemed to quieten the instructor down, but he was still lacking and apart from training on the hoops could see no other way of getting stronger.<br><br>Allwind smiled as he dodged the lance again, "now this is how training should be done,” he said hitting the scarecrow five times in quick succession, “there’s no fan girls,” <span style="font-weight: bold;"> ‘hit,’ </span> “no audience,” <span style="font-weight: bold;"> ‘double hit,’ </span> “and above all no idiots,” <span style="font-weight: bold;"> ‘quadruple hit’ </span> “just me and you,” <span style="font-weight: bold;"> hit, </span> “right scare.”<br><br>Allwind said between hitting the scarecrow, he stepped back out of range of the scarecrow’s lance, watching it, as more stats were added,<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Agility point + 1</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Strength point + 1</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“Ok right let’s try the beam again,” he said staring intently at the two scarecrows that were guarding the beam, “tonight i’m gonna beat you,”<br><br>‘Shuffle,’<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thump, </span><br><br>‘Shuffle’<br>‘Whack, whack,’<br>‘Shuffle’<br> ‘Whack,’<br><span style="font-weight: bold;"> ‘Thump’ </span><br><br>“This isn’t working,” Allwind sighed looking at the roof from where he was lying on the crash mat, rolling over he picked himself back up off the mat, but he only got half way before his legs gave out. This time he ended up lying face down, some time past before he was able to more again, this time using one of his swords as a support to get back to his feet, he began to worry in the back of his mind that maybe his paralysed state in the real world was finally catching up to him, “!! Ermm, ow stamina bars empty, HAHAHAH, flashing red,” he laughed in relief, his worse fears passing quickly, “i never even noticed.” <br><br>Allwind stood still leaning on one of his swords for a long time, studding the two scarecrows that were blocking the beam, as his stamina bar slowly refilled, “guess i still need to take breaks every now and then,” using the sword as a makeshift pole he managed to move over to the side of the gym while he waited for the yellow bar to refill, in doing so he applied allot more pressure to the blade than he thought it was possible to hold, remarkably it didn’t bend or snap.<br><br>On a whim Allwind decided to test how much pressure the wooden blade could take, he slowly transferred most of his weight on to it, for nothing to happen, slowly Allwind smiled it would take timing and practice, but a plan had finally formed in his head it was nearly time to beat them.<br><br>------------------------------------------------------- end ---------------------------------------------------<br><br>Authors notes:<br><br>1) Yeay another chapter :lol: <br>2) How do you like the new tabels and quest boxes, yes it took time ive now edited, all the chapters so far, i love em every body thank cat :)<br>3) some one asked what Offstead was ??? its actualy the english nation board assosiation for the dictatorship of schools (a goverment body part)<br><br>now whats next lol, the end of the training is in site, thatll be the next chapter, then i can crack on with the story, meaning more school bits yeay, more chicken bits to add to the fun, ow and keep your eyes open aparently Cat, Bark and Hai are all walking around in the fan fics maybe they'll even turn up here ?? who knows :)<br><br>hope you enjoyed :)<br><br>anyone spots a mistake let me know ill fix it :)<br><br>05/05/13: edits done thanks guys :)
</div> | ’Thump’.
“That hurt,” Allwind muttered as he picked himself up off the crash mat, he had been attempting to get from one side of the balance beam to the other, without being knocked off by the two scarecrows that were now guarding the middle of the beam, it was easy to get passed the first that swung its lance low, all he had to do was jump over the lance and then attack the scarecrow.
The only problem was the second, scarecrow that was position slightly behind the first and swung its lance at mid height, this attack came straight after he landed back on the beam it was possible to dodge backwards but then the first scarecrow would attack with its shield knocking him off the beam, forcing him to restart, even using two blades to counter attack and block didn’t work.
’Thump’
“There has to be a way to beat them, even if i block one attack i end up defenceless to the second,” Allwind muttered to himself shaking his head, before starting again.
| Sword mastery level 2 10% damage increase6% increase in attack speed |
| --- |
The instructor was stood in his usual place watching him train, every time Allwind got knocked off the balance beam, he winced knowing that eventually, just like the others he would quit, and then he would smile every time Allwind stubbornly got back up on to the beam starting again even though two days had passed since the beginning of the intermediate training, the instructor knew that if no progress was made the boy would quit, on one had lasted for three days.
’Thump’.
‘Clatter’.
The instructor winced realising that the time had come as Allwind dropped the two wooden short swords he had been using, he was about to console the boy there was no shame in giving up every one else had, however Allwind had not approached the instructor instead he had gone to the other side of the training room and had begun doing this warm ups, before he started exercising on the rings hanging from the roof, the instructor sighed before realising that the boy never took his eyes off the two guardian scarecrows.
Allwind spent the next three hours hanging upside down, contemplating the situation when a loud voice shouted in his ear.
“Brother, dinner time you have explaining to do.”
‘Sounds like she’s mad best log off for the time being’ he thought dropping down from the hoops making a perfect landing.
| Strength point + 2 |
| --- |
| Agility point + 1 |
| --- |
| Vitality point +1 |
| --- |
| Endurance point +1 |
| --- |
| New skill LearntSoft Landing |
| --- |
| Soft Landing : level 1You are now able to land from great heights without incurring significant damage-10% damage from falling |
| --- |
‘That’s going to be useful,’ Allwind chuckled to himself it was very easy to earn points in this game it seemed, his mood had improved a lot due to the heavy training, even though he wasn’t making any progress.
****
Alan slowly opened the capsule hopping that his sister wasn’t stood waiting to pounce on him for his absence from school, ‘looks like i’m in the clear till after dinner,’ he thought as he climbed in to his wheelchair, ‘i’ve gotten too used to this thing’ he realised slapping one of the wheel’s with his hand causing it to sting, before setting off in the direction of the dining room.
Dinner was a quiet affair today it seemed, Alan knew why his sister had informed his mother of today’s little drama at school, it was going to be pain full after dinner, Alan knew and so he was busy formulating explanations in his head as everyone slowly finished their meals.
“So how many excuses have you thought up,” his mother asked sounding annoyed.
“It’ll need to be a good one” his dad put in.
“Depends what I’m accused of,” Alan replied.
“Let’s see, skipping class'" his mother asked.
“Their all on the second floor now,” he answered
“Verbally abusing a teacher,” his father said looking furious
“It was a statement of fact, i called her an idiot,”
“Blackmailing the school head,” his mother asked as his sister sat quietly at her place trying not to laugh.
“I simply pointed out were the school facilities needed to be improved,” Alan finished as no more questions came his way, he opened the pouch that was permanently attached, to the wheel chair to find that it was empty.
“If you’re looking for the letter you typed up earlier, i removed it for safe keeping,” his Sarah said smiling at him.
’Silence’
“And i have all ready copied it, and sent it to members of the school board,” His father said looking smug “the student council gave you three days off you can send it then, yes i had a phone call,” he added looking at the roof temporarily.
“So i’m in trouble because,”
“You didn’t tell us anything,” Sarah shot at him angrily, to general nodding of heads around the table.
“Ow was that all?”
“This was definitely one of the occasions that you should have explained to us what was going on before you exploded,” his mother said having calmed down.
“she’s right not only are we family but i could have gotten the whole thing on tape,” his dad said as the rest of the table stared straight at him daggers in their eyes.
“What video poof is better than any kind of evidence then complaining,” he explained as the rest of the table relaxed.
“So what do you plan on doing for the next two days,” his mother asked
“ow that’s easy i’ll be in royal road training,” Alan replied.
’More silence’
“Who are you, and what have you done with my brother,” Sarah asked looking shocked.
“Funny,” Alan replied
“So what are you training at now?” his dad asked keen to keep the convocation going, since his wife was no throwing him a stair’s, that said they would be having private words later.
“A Knight apparently,”
“You’re heading for a knight class that’s hard work, you have to keep your honour up, so you can’t mess up or fail any quests,” Sarah said laughing.
“what’s so funny?”
“Dads a knight its amusing is all,”
“I am but i didn’t do any particular training for it,” he said looking puzzled.
“Really i’m doing the intermediate training,” Alan said calmly.
’Really deep silence’
“Did i say something wrong?” Alan asked
“Are you sure your doing Knight training, it’s just that we thought you would be doing gymnastics training?” his mum said quietly.
“Ow i’m doing that as well,” Alan quickly put it, “well to be honest it’s kind of a mixture of both,”
“Explain it to me you have lost me completely,” Sarah demanded, as his father leaned closer to absorb the information.
“Well ermm,” Alan began not knowing where to start,
“From the beginning,” his mother said sighing this was not what she had in mind when she said she wanted a family meeting.
It took over an hour for Alan to explain everything, what had happened, how and why, even talking about the moving scarecrows, which his family had no idea existed.
“Maybe it’s a hidden class of knight,” his sister said after listening intently to Alan.
“Hidden Class?”
“Some lucky people manage it,” his mother replied nodding
“Ow,”
“You’re so lucky,” Sarah said patting him on the shoulder, “as for those scarecrows why don’t you try improving your stats a bit more,” she said before turning and leaving for her room.
“Continue training kid if you’re sisters right on the hidden class then giving up isn’t an option,” his dad said smiling.
Alan felt relieved to have escaped with only a mild scolding, as he left he could hear his mum discussing the subject again with his dad, they would sort something out they always did, getting back to his room he opened the capsule and climbed in ready to tackle the scarecrows again.
****
Allwind logged back into the gym, looking around he realised he was alone, neither the instructor or lily were present, he collected the two wooden swords that he usually used and headed with a purpose towards the single scarecrow.
Dodging under the swinging lance he proceeded to take out his frustration and anger on it, his strength wasn’t high enough so he had to hit it twice in order to inflict the amount of damage a normal person was able to.
The instructor sometimes complained to Allwind that he was lacking in strength, Allwind had then proceeded to up his strength on the hoops this always seemed to quieten the instructor down, but he was still lacking and apart from training on the hoops could see no other way of getting stronger.
Allwind smiled as he dodged the lance again, "now this is how training should be done,” he said hitting the scarecrow five times in quick succession, “there’s no fan girls,” ‘hit,’ “no audience,” ‘double hit,’ “and above all no idiots,” ‘quadruple hit’ “just me and you,” hit, “right scare.”
Allwind said between hitting the scarecrow, he stepped back out of range of the scarecrow’s lance, watching it, as more stats were added,
| Agility point + 1 |
| --- |
| Strength point + 1 |
| --- |
“Ok right let’s try the beam again,” he said staring intently at the two scarecrows that were guarding the beam, “tonight i’m gonna beat you,”
‘Shuffle,’
Thump,
‘Shuffle’
‘Whack, whack,’
‘Shuffle’
‘Whack,’
‘Thump’
“This isn’t working,” Allwind sighed looking at the roof from where he was lying on the crash mat, rolling over he picked himself back up off the mat, but he only got half way before his legs gave out. This time he ended up lying face down, some time past before he was able to more again, this time using one of his swords as a support to get back to his feet, he began to worry in the back of his mind that maybe his paralysed state in the real world was finally catching up to him, “!! Ermm, ow stamina bars empty, HAHAHAH, flashing red,” he laughed in relief, his worse fears passing quickly, “i never even noticed.”
Allwind stood still leaning on one of his swords for a long time, studding the two scarecrows that were blocking the beam, as his stamina bar slowly refilled, “guess i still need to take breaks every now and then,” using the sword as a makeshift pole he managed to move over to the side of the gym while he waited for the yellow bar to refill, in doing so he applied allot more pressure to the blade than he thought it was possible to hold, remarkably it didn’t bend or snap.
On a whim Allwind decided to test how much pressure the wooden blade could take, he slowly transferred most of his weight on to it, for nothing to happen, slowly Allwind smiled it would take timing and practice, but a plan had finally formed in his head it was nearly time to beat them.
------------------------------------------------------- end ---------------------------------------------------
Authors notes:
1) Yeay another chapter :lol:
2) How do you like the new tabels and quest boxes, yes it took time ive now edited, all the chapters so far, i love em every body thank cat :)
3) some one asked what Offstead was ??? its actualy the english nation board assosiation for the dictatorship of schools (a goverment body part)
now whats next lol, the end of the training is in site, thatll be the next chapter, then i can crack on with the story, meaning more school bits yeay, more chicken bits to add to the fun, ow and keep your eyes open aparently Cat, Bark and Hai are all walking around in the fan fics maybe they'll even turn up here ?? who knows :)
hope you enjoyed :)
anyone spots a mistake let me know ill fix it :)
05/05/13: edits done thanks guys :) |
{
"title": "Necromancer by Halosty",
"id": 25,
"author": "Halosty",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "Necromancer - Chapter 9",
"id": 270,
"next": 305,
"prev": 241,
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"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Necromancer<br>A Royal Road Fan Fiction<br>By: Halosty<br>Chapter 9<br><br>Mortimer was rather depressed at school Thursday morning. He’d had an impressive start to his combat career, slaying a player and even a rabbit, but he had ended up dying after each time. He would need to actually work his way up in levels and personal experience. This was not something he was used to doing, at least not in any way that felt real. In other games he had leveled up a character, but it had not been virtual reality, and thus, not him.<br><br>In real life, everything had been given to Mortimer, whatever he wanted. As mentioned, video games, as well as other entertainment at his whim. He didn’t even have to provide much of a return on his parent’s investment- just a bit more effort in the things he did. Mortimer was naturally suited for learning in school, when he tried. Thus, his parents had been easy to please when he needed to.<br><br>Royal Road, however, seems like it would come hard. Somehow, Mortimer was looking forward to it. Something he had chosen for himself, and would put the effort into. He was excited to start playing again as soon as he could. On the ride home, he was thinking about getting back into the game. That is, until just before he arrived. He had died. Specifically, just before he had gone to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. He couldn’t actually play again until tomorrow.<br><br>--------------------------<br><br>Mortimer arrived home and found a strange little man in the lobby. They stared at each other. Mortimer, in a rather quizzical fashion. <span style="font-style: italic;">Who is this guy?</span> The man, who appeared to be of east asian descent, perhaps Filipino, observed him more like a cat eyeing a mouse. Maybe. He certainly felt intimidating, for all that he was shorter than Mortimer by a good few inches. Since this encounter was going nowhere fast, Mortimer took the initiative. “Umm...”<br><br>Fortunately, his initiative became unnecessary quickly, as his father walked into the room. “Ah, Mortimer, I see you have met Master Valarao (pronounced like balaraw). He is to be your instructor.”<br><br>Mortimer thought for a minute. <span style="font-style: italic;">Instructor in what?</span>. He stood there like an idiot. He pondered. He thought about his life. Then, he remembered. The thing. Exercise. Sports. Or in this case, martial arts. In the case of this particular man, highly likely to be Filipino, Mortimer could assume he was a practitioner of Eskrima, or one of the other arts that fell under the same blanket category. Mortimer had asked for someone from something he thought was obscure enough for his parents to not find him any way to participate in. Mortimer had obviously underestimated the obscurity of this. He looked at the suitcase by the man’s feet, with a luggage tag that showed he had been flown in from somewhere. Apparently, he had also underestimated his parents.<br><br>Mortimer went back to thinking about Master Valarao, and Eskrima. He had chosen it because, if he had to learn it, he wouldn’t mind. That is, it was knife fighting. Well, at least partly. It wasn’t exclusively that, but such would be included, and Mortimer had taken up a liking to his dagger in Royal Road.<br><br>Mortimer decided he should stop standing there like an idiot and finally introduce himself, although it was a bit past the proper time he should have. “Greetings, Master Valarao. I am honored that you would consider taking me as a student.”<br><br>Master Valarao’s mouth twitched at the corner. Perhaps a smile, or a smirk, or a sneer. Maybe he just twitched. Maybe Mortimer was overthinking it. Then, Master Valarao said, “I will be happy to work with you, young Mortimer, if you are willing to work with me. Even your parent’s generosity won’t keep me here if you don’t put in the effort, and quite a bit of it.”<br>Somehow, Mortimer felt like those were the most words ever spoken by Master Valarao at once, although he had no idea why he felt that. At this, Mortimer’s father left with a gentle wave of his hand, and Mortimer helped Master Valarao carry one of his suitcases to the room where he would be staying. He was prepared to help him unpack, but was quickly dissuaded from that with a look from Master Valarao. Specifically, he looked like he would stab Mortimer with the knives that were found within if he touched them. Of course, there were also training sticks and various other weapons, as well as clothes, but Mortimer really only noticed the knives. They were very nice, and quite varied. They also seemed like they would be pointless to training, but they were here anyway.<br><br>Then, in a short time, Mortimer was training. He was given a short bamboo stick, with a grip on it. Presumably an imitation dagger that was much safer. Other than visual demonstrations of stances, Mortimer was given little instruction. “Stand like this.” “Attack me like this.” If his grip was wrong, Master Valarao shifted it for him until it was right. Then, “Now we spar.”<br><br>Sparring consisted of Mortimer attempting to attack Master Valarao, failing, and getting hit. Hard enough to show that he would be dead if there were anything real going on, but not hard enough to cause any kind of lasting injury to anything but pride. Then, he would be shown and told what he did wrong. Then, he would try again. And again.<br><br>Mortimer was not in the best shape he could have been in, but he actually managed to last several hours before collapsing in a heap on the floor. He learned about muscles he didn’t know about. Well, that’s not quite true. He had been learning anatomy, after all. Instead, he learned what it felt like for muscles he had never felt at all before to hurt. He was also bruised, slightly. Interestingly enough, however, he felt good. He slightly knew what he was doing now, and the ache in his muscle was a good ache. Well, no, not really. It hurt. It was a bad ache. Only when he was holding completely still could he pretend it was good. Still, he felt good at his progress.<br><br>“Tomorrow, we continue.”<br><br>With that, Master Valarao left.<br><br>After dinner, Mortimer collapsed on his bed and fell asleep.<br><br>--------------------------<br><br>In the morning, Mortimer half expected to be awakened at an unforgiving hour and forced to spar again. Instead, he awoke at an hour that felt unforgiving, but was just the normal time for him to get up and have breakfast before school.<br><br>At school, Mortimer avoided moving as much as possible, and even forsook some of his usual activities to avoid movement.<br><br>Then, at home again, he was somehow back to training. His muscles actually started to hurt slightly less after a bit of a warm up and some lighter work. Then, he was back to the real deal. He collapsed after less time, because his muscles were already tired from the day before.<br><br>There was no comment from Master Valarao about this, just, “Tomorrow, more.”<br><br>Today, however, Mortimer didn’t collapse straight into bed. Instead, he managed to collapse into the capsule. He was going to play Royal Road, and he was glad that he wouldn’t feel the muscle aches.<br><br>--------------------------<br><br>“Well, took your sweet time, didn’tcha?” said a familiar voice when Quietus woke up.<br><br>End Chapter 9<br><br>Previous Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=288">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=288</a><!-- l --><br>Next Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=359">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=359</a><!-- l -->
</div> | Necromancer
A Royal Road Fan Fiction
By: Halosty
Chapter 9
Mortimer was rather depressed at school Thursday morning. He’d had an impressive start to his combat career, slaying a player and even a rabbit, but he had ended up dying after each time. He would need to actually work his way up in levels and personal experience. This was not something he was used to doing, at least not in any way that felt real. In other games he had leveled up a character, but it had not been virtual reality, and thus, not him.
In real life, everything had been given to Mortimer, whatever he wanted. As mentioned, video games, as well as other entertainment at his whim. He didn’t even have to provide much of a return on his parent’s investment- just a bit more effort in the things he did. Mortimer was naturally suited for learning in school, when he tried. Thus, his parents had been easy to please when he needed to.
Royal Road, however, seems like it would come hard. Somehow, Mortimer was looking forward to it. Something he had chosen for himself, and would put the effort into. He was excited to start playing again as soon as he could. On the ride home, he was thinking about getting back into the game. That is, until just before he arrived. He had died. Specifically, just before he had gone to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. He couldn’t actually play again until tomorrow.
--------------------------
Mortimer arrived home and found a strange little man in the lobby. They stared at each other. Mortimer, in a rather quizzical fashion. Who is this guy? The man, who appeared to be of east asian descent, perhaps Filipino, observed him more like a cat eyeing a mouse. Maybe. He certainly felt intimidating, for all that he was shorter than Mortimer by a good few inches. Since this encounter was going nowhere fast, Mortimer took the initiative. “Umm...”
Fortunately, his initiative became unnecessary quickly, as his father walked into the room. “Ah, Mortimer, I see you have met Master Valarao (pronounced like balaraw). He is to be your instructor.”
Mortimer thought for a minute. Instructor in what?. He stood there like an idiot. He pondered. He thought about his life. Then, he remembered. The thing. Exercise. Sports. Or in this case, martial arts. In the case of this particular man, highly likely to be Filipino, Mortimer could assume he was a practitioner of Eskrima, or one of the other arts that fell under the same blanket category. Mortimer had asked for someone from something he thought was obscure enough for his parents to not find him any way to participate in. Mortimer had obviously underestimated the obscurity of this. He looked at the suitcase by the man’s feet, with a luggage tag that showed he had been flown in from somewhere. Apparently, he had also underestimated his parents.
Mortimer went back to thinking about Master Valarao, and Eskrima. He had chosen it because, if he had to learn it, he wouldn’t mind. That is, it was knife fighting. Well, at least partly. It wasn’t exclusively that, but such would be included, and Mortimer had taken up a liking to his dagger in Royal Road.
Mortimer decided he should stop standing there like an idiot and finally introduce himself, although it was a bit past the proper time he should have. “Greetings, Master Valarao. I am honored that you would consider taking me as a student.”
Master Valarao’s mouth twitched at the corner. Perhaps a smile, or a smirk, or a sneer. Maybe he just twitched. Maybe Mortimer was overthinking it. Then, Master Valarao said, “I will be happy to work with you, young Mortimer, if you are willing to work with me. Even your parent’s generosity won’t keep me here if you don’t put in the effort, and quite a bit of it.”
Somehow, Mortimer felt like those were the most words ever spoken by Master Valarao at once, although he had no idea why he felt that. At this, Mortimer’s father left with a gentle wave of his hand, and Mortimer helped Master Valarao carry one of his suitcases to the room where he would be staying. He was prepared to help him unpack, but was quickly dissuaded from that with a look from Master Valarao. Specifically, he looked like he would stab Mortimer with the knives that were found within if he touched them. Of course, there were also training sticks and various other weapons, as well as clothes, but Mortimer really only noticed the knives. They were very nice, and quite varied. They also seemed like they would be pointless to training, but they were here anyway.
Then, in a short time, Mortimer was training. He was given a short bamboo stick, with a grip on it. Presumably an imitation dagger that was much safer. Other than visual demonstrations of stances, Mortimer was given little instruction. “Stand like this.” “Attack me like this.” If his grip was wrong, Master Valarao shifted it for him until it was right. Then, “Now we spar.”
Sparring consisted of Mortimer attempting to attack Master Valarao, failing, and getting hit. Hard enough to show that he would be dead if there were anything real going on, but not hard enough to cause any kind of lasting injury to anything but pride. Then, he would be shown and told what he did wrong. Then, he would try again. And again.
Mortimer was not in the best shape he could have been in, but he actually managed to last several hours before collapsing in a heap on the floor. He learned about muscles he didn’t know about. Well, that’s not quite true. He had been learning anatomy, after all. Instead, he learned what it felt like for muscles he had never felt at all before to hurt. He was also bruised, slightly. Interestingly enough, however, he felt good. He slightly knew what he was doing now, and the ache in his muscle was a good ache. Well, no, not really. It hurt. It was a bad ache. Only when he was holding completely still could he pretend it was good. Still, he felt good at his progress.
“Tomorrow, we continue.”
With that, Master Valarao left.
After dinner, Mortimer collapsed on his bed and fell asleep.
--------------------------
In the morning, Mortimer half expected to be awakened at an unforgiving hour and forced to spar again. Instead, he awoke at an hour that felt unforgiving, but was just the normal time for him to get up and have breakfast before school.
At school, Mortimer avoided moving as much as possible, and even forsook some of his usual activities to avoid movement.
Then, at home again, he was somehow back to training. His muscles actually started to hurt slightly less after a bit of a warm up and some lighter work. Then, he was back to the real deal. He collapsed after less time, because his muscles were already tired from the day before.
There was no comment from Master Valarao about this, just, “Tomorrow, more.”
Today, however, Mortimer didn’t collapse straight into bed. Instead, he managed to collapse into the capsule. He was going to play Royal Road, and he was glad that he wouldn’t feel the muscle aches.
--------------------------
“Well, took your sweet time, didn’tcha?” said a familiar voice when Quietus woke up.
End Chapter 9
Previous Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=288">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=288</a><!-- l -->
Next Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=359">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=359</a><!-- l --> |
{
"title": "The Lonely Adventurer by Iskritor",
"id": 46,
"author": "Iskritor",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "The Lonely Adventurer - Chapter 1",
"id": 98,
"next": 99,
"prev": 97,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 1: The “How to make the kid grow up” Plan<br><br>Francis was in his special place. The wooden vessel rocked against the light green waves as Francis sat comfortably inside, the rhythm it made against the crashing waves lulled him into a sweet slumber. Francis often found himself alone on his small boat. He was a dot on the large expanse of sea around him and yet he so sure the waves would never betray him or lead him astray. Francis loved this place, it rekindled his memories of the times his father and him would let hours go by as they floated back to back, only an oversized canoe separating them from the open sea and a watery grave. With the wind in their hair, a fishing rod in their hands and the feeling like that moment could last a life time. It was during those moments Francis could safely say he had everything he wanted in life and that he was truly happy. The soft sound of water slapping gently against small hull had woke him up. Francis slowly regained consciousness, the rocking of the boat slowly making him come to his senses. It was like peace on earth for Francis after everything he had been through this year, it had been a long time since he’d felt inner peace such as this. Then his beautiful day dream came crashing down on him with the sound that had haunted him throughout his childhood, a sound he had hoped never to hear again.<br><br>“Oi you lazy ass, it’s time for dinner!” the voice came from a grey haired old man, with leathery skin and a deep and coarse voice. He stood on the white sanded beach waving his evil stick in the air, looking like he just escaped from a nursing home by the skin of his teeth. Judging from the mix of anger, stress and anxiety that appeared on his face they must have not treated him well. Francis grinned at the imaginary backstory he'd given his grandfather.<br><br>A two storey cottage sat on the edge of a lush green jungle where the trees began to clear. It stood on a platform tall enough that a grown man could walk underneath the house without having to duck or crane his neck. A collection of wooden steps lead to the also wooden veranda, a set of wooden rails on each side could be held on to so that you wouldn’t slip, as you got to the veranda the railings opened out to surround the rest of the wooden platform, disappearing into the side of the outer walls. The smell of dry but not musty wood hanging heavy in the air, the scent invading your senses as well as your clothes the longer you stayed beside it. On the veranda was an old lacquered oak bench that sat under a window beside the front door, on the other side of the door was a wooden rocking chair that smelt of pine, with a vine of flowers was carved enveloping the chair from the bottom upwards. The door was plain and simple with the lingering smell of what used to be an ash tree, but its frame had the same design from the rocking chair coiled around its edges. In short it was a beautiful house that looked like an arsonists dream come true.<br><br>With the beach being maybe a hundred meters away the sound of the waves gently crashing against the white sand could be heard from the porch. Looking out from the outstretched railings Francis could clearly see the setting sun, becoming massive in size as the water began to swallow its light, revealing the lengthy convex beach that caved inwards. The once green sea adopted an orange hue changing from one shade to another as the waves danced under the setting sunlight. Two jagged slopes rose from the water on either side of the sun and moved inwards to make up the surrounding mist topped mountain regions, where thick fogs hid their tallest peaks behind Francis. He looked out to the horizon as bright orange lights danced on his bare arms and shirt, taking up most of his view. He took a deep breath and exhaled, his body feeling as if it was breathing for the first time. As the suns light began to fade and the darkness took over, the sound of the jungle awakening could be heard all around the cottage, the sounds of nocturnal insects and beasts realising the day had gone and the time for creatures of the night had come. Sick with the sight of nothingness the smell of his grandfather’s cooking reached Francis’ senses and tempted him to go inside, and with a convincing rumble of his stomach he marched inside the hut, thinking.<br><br>Francis thought of all the rich people who paid absurd amounts of money to go to places like these.<br>-I guess if I had money like them a fortune is a small price to pay to take a glimpse of a real paradise -<br><br>“You know I thought soldiers were supposed to active all the time, like Rambo or something.” The old man nagged, rice flying from his mouth, “Why don't you go outside and kill a rattlesnake with your bare hands? That's what soldiers should do on their free time! Not sitting on a boat all day!” the old man never let go of the thought that soldiers were always soldiers and were never anything else, not writer or a teacher or a friend. They were always just soldiers.<br>“I’m not a soldier anymore gramps,” Francis sighed as he ate his rice, “I don't do that stuff anymore.”<br><br>The old man was nearing his 65th birthday and death looked like it was the last thing on his mind with how lively the old geezer was. Heck the old man was probably the last thing on Death’s mind too; Pappy Magalone always said that death was too busy with other things, that death had no time to wait for an old man like him to give up. The old man was unexpectedly healthy for, you know, being an old man! He could still beat Francis hard enough that Francis would flinch whenever his granddad raised his hand a little too high. Beatings were common in the Magalone household.<br><br>“Oh yeah, I forgot you’re a sissy. Freaking noob. If you're gonna spend a whole day at sea at least catch some fish next time will ya?”<br>-Yeah and I’ll shove it down your old ass throat then we’ll see how loud you can shout -<br>“I know what you’re thinking boy. You’re asking for a beating” His grandfather glared at him.<br>-How the hell? Is he psychic? – Francis seriously thought about whether or not his grandfather could read his mind or not as he stared at the old geezer, wondering if he had any supernatural talent that wasn’t beating a child or shouting at the top of his lungs.<br><br>After his father’s death Francis played Royal Road for something he felt was a lifetime, trying to escape from the pain he felt, hiding from everyone, hiding from his loss. Then when he was forcefully made to leave the game out he found out everything was gone, he had lost more than he thought he did and it pained his poor heart even more. The memory of that day was still fresh in his mind.<br><br>***<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">SYSTEM ERROR<br>Forced log-out: interference from outside the game has caused you to automatically log-out when this message ends. Goodbye.</span></div><br><br>The red flashing lights that took up the whole of his vision had left as quickly as it came, leaving only darkness. Francis tried to open his capsule but it was stuck, he tried a short kick in desperation which was followed by the click of the lock opening. Francis fell vertically out of his capsule. Face flat on the floor, the pain fresh on his face he got to his knees and looked up.<br><br>“That’s why it was so bloody heavy!”<br>“Really? I couldn’t even tell the difference.”<br>“Liar. I thought you were crying for a second with so much sweat on your face.”<br>“Was not. Its ‘cause it’s a hot day, that's all.”<br>“Whatever mate, just wipe that crap from your forehead, you’re sweating so much you're starting to look like a fountain. You're making me thirsty.”<br>“Shut up!”<br>“Oh that was great comeback. You sure showed me.”<br>“Well if you’re so smart and I’m so dumb why are we doing the same thing for a living?”<br>“Ha~ you have a good point, the world really is unfair.”<br>“Yeah the world is too cruel to the poor.”<br>“Too cruel indeed” Both men sighed in harmony.<br><br>Francis watched as the two men bickered, and finally realized the situation he was in.<br>“Who are you?! Why are you kidnapping me!?” Francis screamed at the top of his lungs, his breathing getting heavier by the second,”What the hell is going on here!!”<br><br>The two men finally decided to acknowledge him; one was huge brute that easily made up two or maybe three times the size of Francis, he had dark brown hair in sweaty clumps that stuck to his forehead and temples as well as an array of freckles that decorated the space under his small beady eyes and around his stumpy nose and nearly the rest of his rotund face. He was wearing a white T-shirt that looked like it was in pain with dark patches that covered the cloth; sweat was pouring from his brow. The other man was taller but only slightly, he had deep slanted eyes that were framed by his incredibly bushy eyebrows and the dark shadows underneath his eyes, a pointed nose protruded from his face and was hard not to concentrate on if you might have had a conversation with him. He also had sweat dripping from the matted light brown locks on his head and his sharp cheek bones all the way down to his angular jaw and pointy chin before dripping off and onto the carpet below. There was an identical white T-shirt that hung off his body, swaying in the non-existent breeze. They both wore identical black trousers and identically shiny shoes. It was as if The Blues Brothers had hit rock bottom, but kept their image. Looking at Francis they bellowed in amusement, after taking a few deep breaths moments later to calm down they spoke.<br><br>“We aint no kidnappers you little brat!” the fat man shouted.<br>“We’re bailiffs.” He said proudly.<br>“And we’re here to take everything that’s worth anything.” The skeletal man said with a smirk.<br>“Courtesy of your late father, our employers’ debtor. Sorry kid it’s just business.”<br>“Yeah, sorry kiddo it’s just business.” The sweaty man echoed.<br><br>And with that they left taking everything worth anything in the Magalone household, leaving only the smell of sweat behind.<br><br>***<br><br>It had been a year or so since Francis decided he would be worth something in his fathers’ eyes and joined the army, even though he wasn’t there to see him now Francis would never regret his decision. Sometimes he wished his father could know how much Francis has changed and that he did do something useful with his life as his father used to say. Francis likes to think he would have been proud of him.<br><br>Bzzt Zzzt ZzzZzzT<br><br>“Goddamn mosquitoes,” Pappy Magalone chanted as he hunted down the evil insects with his electrified tennis racket of doom. The smell of roast meat soon filled the air. If this had been a few minutes ago, Francis would be gagging from the smell and most likely choke on his food.<br><br>After a year and a bit of military service, Francis was discharged from the military for reasons he hasn’t told anybody yet. So when the day came for him to leave he had know no idea where to go, after hours of self conflict he bought a plane ticket and decided he had to see the old man. Time with the army had changed him; however he’d die before he had to start living by himself.<br><br>One night, amidst the thunder and the pouring rain there was a knock on his door, the old man with his stick in his hand opened the door cautiously. With the door fully open, the old man stared into the eyes of a giant. Francis had grown and extra inch that year making him six foot, although a common sight for Francis, Pappy Magalone hardly ever saw the creatures. The old man saw a man who towered him, fear kept the old man standing; the man in the rain had short cropped hair, toned looking but not bulky arms. A flash of lightning showed that he wore a grey T-shirt that was fitted to his body and DPM trousers which were tucked into boots that hugged the area above his ankles where the lacing started. A huge camouflaged rucksack hung off one shoulder; however the old man failed to see any of these details, the man’s eyes were the colour of night, the whites of his eyes making them even darker. These eyes felt familiar to the old man, he began to notice the face that bore them. A flash of lightning revealed his face. The old man wept and his legs crumpled as he saw his grandson’s face. The old man cried until he choked on his own tears, eventually stopping when Francis wrapped his arms around him as he joined him on the floor.<br><br>And so here he was. Francis fished when he was free and farmed when he wasn’t. Not the most dazzling life but he liked it here. He loved being with his grandfather too.<br><br>“Oi Francis I’m kicking you out.” His grandfather said casually, “you’re a lazy bastard and you eat too much. I can’t afford you.”<br><br>Francis sat there mid-chew staring at his grandfather.<br>-Did I just hear him right? Did he put magic mushrooms in my food? WHAT THE HELL!?-<br>Francis’ mind filled with all the excuses that meant he misheard his grandfather.<br><br>“Me and your aunt decided you can’t be a boy forever, you gotta go take care of yourself.” He paused, “Now listen here, your aunt Mari found a place not too far from your old place and we got it covered thanks to what your Dad left you.” He paused again, “I know it’s a big step for you but it’s something you gotta do. You got the money from your year with the grunts right? So don’t be begging us for money unless you’re done eating the grass in your back garden.” Pappy Magalone paused and looked at Francis in the eye a final time, “You’re flight leaves tomorrow. Eat your food. Pack your things. We leave in the morning.”<br><br>With that said he got up and went to bed.<br><br>Francis thought what he couldn’t say,<br>-FFUUUUUUUUUUUUU -<br><br><br>Pappy Malone shed a manly tear after waving off his beloved grandchild. He left the airport and called for a taxi the moment Francis disappeared behind security. On his way home he recalled the conversation he had with his daughter a few days back over the phone.<br><br><br>“Hello?”<br>“Oh, hello Dad how’s everything?”<br>“I’m fine, I’m fine.”<br>“That’s good. So how is it taking care of Francis?”<br>“That’s that thing, we gotta do something about the kid.”<br>“Huh? What do you mean? What are you talking about?”<br>“Mari, I doubt have enough years left to take care of another child.”<br>“Don't worry dad if that ever happens I’ll take care of our little brat. Why are you worrying anyway? You’re like a freaking cockroach!” Mari laughed.<br>“HUH? What’d you say you little brat? You’re lucky Francis took your place as my punching bag!” He retorted, “ Anyways we got a real problem on our hands, the brat’s still a brat and it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon. I’m worried about the kid you know? What’s gonna happen when we aren’t around?”<br>“Yeah, yeah, I see where you’re going Dad. I'm worried about him too. So what do you suggest we do? It’s not like the kid’s gonna change just like that.”<br>“I know, I know. That’s why we’re gonna make it impossible for him not to sort himself out.”<br>“Okay, and how do suggest we do that? Are you gonna throw him in the freaking forest old man?”<br>“Hey that’s not so bad! But I got a better idea...”<br>“What?”<br>“We buy his own place.”<br>“WHAAAAAAAT...?”<br>“Just trust me this will open his eyes, he’ll finally be introduced to the real world.”<br>*silence*<br>“Hello? Mari, you still there?”<br>*heavy breathing*<br><br>After hours of trying to persuade his daughter that it was a good idea, it was finally decided that with the savings he has Pappy Magalone will buy Francis his own apartment, nothing special just a place good enough not to die. And after an even longer period of persuasion and under the threat that Pappy Magalone would sell his house and move in with her, Aunt Mari gave up and said, “Alright I got it. If the kid’s dying of starvation, I’ll be there to rescue his skinny ass.”<br>And so the ‘How to make the kid grow up plan,’ came into existence.<br><br>- Kid. You better not mess this up. – Pappy Malone silently prayed.<br><br>Francis never liked civilian plane rides, there were too many people – he never liked people either. Nodding or shaking his head when he had to, and even saying a word every now and then, he somehow got past security, his suitcase trailing behind him and his military rucksack slung over his shoulder. Francis Magalone finally made it back to London, plane tickets courtesy of the old man. – Best birthday gift ever – Francis celebrated in his mind. Home sweet home, if he could still call it his home.<br><br>Aunt Mari was waiting for him at a nearby restaurant, it was the first time he’d seen her since he stopped contact with all his family when he joined the army. When Pappy Malone told her that Francis was back she wanted to drop everything and see him, but he told her not to, she still had her life to manage and Francis didn’t want to get in the way of anything. Of course she didn’t care about what Francis thought and was already packing her bags as they spoke, it had to take a little time and Francis threatening her that he’d would leave his granddad’s house and find somewhere else and she would never see him again, until he decided otherwise. This only managed to make her even more angry, like slapping a bull, but in the end she decided to let it go if he came to see her soon, which Francis agreed to, although not this soon.<br><br>She was just like he remembered. Aunt Mari could be considered by society as a young woman since she only recently entered her late 20’s, 29 to be exact, if Francis remembered correctly. His grandfather used to tell Francis that when his dad and Aunt Mari were just little kids, he used to get confused which one was which. She had some of his Dad’s facial features: high cheek bones and wide black eyes you couldn’t mistake for dark brown, though slanted enough to tell she was from south east Asia, with our family or maybe even our country’s international trademark - straight black hair. What separated them was Aunt Mari’s small rounded nose, thin lips that were a lighter pink than his father’s and higher cheekbones that made her eyes look smaller than they really were. Francis’ aunt was a beautiful woman, though he had never thought of her like that, he treated her like his mother ever since he could remember. He used to lay his head and sleep on her long curvy legs while she stroked his face and hair with the delicate fingers on her small hands, sometimes she would put her slim arms around his shoulder when they walked together. Her small form hid her aggressiveness something she shared with the rest of Francis’ family, he remembered trying his best as a kid when she visited because seeing her fury once had scarred him emotionally. Today she wore her hair in slight curls that made it look like a curtain of black waves under moonlight, complimented by her bright flowery sundress and the light brown handbag that was on the table. Francis was related to this woman, people used to think she was his mother all the time, and he’d never correct them. She turned her head and finally noticed him. She flashed him her trademark smile and Francis used all his strength to hold back his tears. She rushed to his side and hugged him.<br><br>“Long time no see brat.” She spoke with a touch of nostalgia in her voice.<br><br>They sat and ate while exchanging stories, filling each other in on what they’ve missed. Francis found out that aunt Mari wasn’t a lonely old woman who lived with cats instead of her sanity, like he thought she would have been when he returned. On the other hand she was in an almost year long relationship with a man who she planned to marry, they were engaged. Francis almost passed out from shock when he heard the news.<br><br>“Oi you rude little bastard! I wasn’t planning to spend the rest of my life alone you know.” She grumbled in offense.<br>“I really thought you would.” She punched his shoulder, “ Ow! Child abuse!”<br>“You’re not a kid anymore, even though you’re still a brat. I didn’t forget it’s your 19th today, just in case you were wondering.” She beamed at him, “I got you the perfect present.”<br><br>Francis slept on the drive to his new place of residence. He woke up to shouts to glee.<br><br>“Wake up! We’re here!”<br>“Ahhh” Francis groaned as he came back to his senses.<br>“Follow me!” Aunt Mari practically giggled as she shook the keys in front of him. “Hurry up!”<br>“Yeah yeah.” Francis spoke unenthusiastically.<br><br>The car locked behind him as he walked into his new apartment building. His apartment was on the top floor, the 20th floor, so it was a long elevator journey with a very excited aunt.<br><br>*Ding*<br>They finally reached the top. Room 206 was the last door on the right, just a straight walk from the elevator. Inside was a huge living room, too big for just one person. Francis could see three doors one on each corner of the room, two bedrooms and one bathroom like his aunt told him earlier, there was no carpet only a wooden floor that reminded him of his grandfather and a lone light bulb that hung from a cable on the ceiling, currently on. There were only two things that stood out in the room, one was the absence of furniture and the other was the thing behind Aunt Mari. In the middle of the room was a rectangular shaped object with a white sheet of cloth over it. Aunt Mari had rushed to the mystery object when they entered the room and had waited after Francis had stopped looking around and focussed on her. She pulled hard on the sheet.<br><br>“Tada!"<br><br>It was a capsule.<br><br>Before Aunt Mari left, she told Francis the “Dos and Don’ts” of living alone as well as giving him a handbook the size of a short novel. After telling Francis that if he wanted something he’d have to get it himself, she kissed him goodbye and that Ollie – her boyfriend – had left him a mattress as a gift in one of the rooms. With a loud bang of the door Francis was left alone with his mattress and Royal Road.<br><br>There was no time to lose. It had been a painful year alone. Too many things had happened; life had let him down more times than he had expected it too. And finally he was reunited with the one machine which could bring him happiness. Francis stepped toward the machine, and another, until his finger tips touched the cold ceramic casing. He hesitated. Did he really want to do this all over again? Was he really the same as before? Wasn't he a changed man? Francis stood there facing one of the biggest obstacles in his life – laziness, simply not caring about what happens. He knew if he entered this godly machine then everything he’d done to change himself would vanish, he would end up as just another game addict. But that wasn’t him anymore, he wasn’t just going to shut himself away and hide in one of his games. He faced his problems now, like a real man.<br><br>-That isn’t me anymore. I need to find a way to make some money. I have to survive. –<br><br>He quickly stepped away from the machine. Unpacking his things, he thought of all the things he could do for a living from now on.<br><br>-I could be a fireman or policeman. They would gladly accept a military man like me. – He thought to himself.<br>-I could do manual labour, there’s always some sort of construction going on, right? - He tried to re assure himself.<br>-I can always be a store clerk. I mean I don't hate people that much! – He tried to convince himself, unsuccessfully.<br><br>With the thought of eating grass and wondering what it would taste like heavy on his mind Francis turned to the one place in the world that could give him what he needed – the internet. With his new beloved laptop Francis decided to look for an answer.<br><br>-It hasn’t changed much in a year, still full of cats-<br><br>After looking any sort of job he thought he could do, from washing dishes and cleaning streets to holding doors open and parking people’s cars, Francis’ future was looking bleaker by the minute. Getting tired of finding nothing, Francis decided he do a little research on what he’s missed in the gaming world this past year. He didn’t have to look any further to before something caught his eye. A newspaper from last year had the front page title of, “Boy sells avatar for 3 billion won.”<br><br>-No. Freaking. Way. – Francis could not believe what he just read.<br><br>After reading a little more, he found out that at the time 3 billion won was equal to almost £2 million.<br><br>-How could I miss what’s probably the biggest win in gaming history since gaming tournaments became practically extinct! –<br><br>The reason for Francis not knowing about this great event was that there was no way he could have known. Even though the virtual reality system was used in army training, not strictly known to the public, it had its own local area network which wasn’t connected to the rest of the world, and the commanding officers listed the internet as “distracting” and therefore prohibited its use. Now if Francis had friends at this early point in his army career then they probably would have told him about it. Also if people didn’t think he was weird and avoided him he might have even over heard it. Past this point his comrades in arms felt it was old news, which is why Francis never found out during his time with the army. After the army he spent his time on an island in the third world, with internet access but with no laptop, and by then it almost been a year. He could have watched T.V. but Francis was too busy enjoying life in paradise and fishing to care about television. This finally leads us to the present day.<br><br>-I can’t believe I missed something like this! – Francis thought in frustration. This single piece of news gave Francis a brain wave.<br>-Now I'm definitely sure I can make money like this. –<br><br>He searched long and hard for a way to make money through gaming, he sorted out all the sites that could scam you from the trustworthy ones, and finally he was left with all the sites he could use to make money. After evaluating each one he was left with two sites, one was the number one site dealt with selling off in-game items for real money, and the other site was called Yorozuya it was a site where people could send requests to complete, from partying with you to a certain level or just finding you an item or even hire a member as a bodyguard or a mercenary. The site would give your request to one or more of its agents to complete all for a little bit of cash, and depending on your contract, a bunch of other stuff too.<br><br>Francis decided that he wouldn’t be able to get any worthwhile items that would end up getting sold on the auction site any time soon, so he decided he’ll check it out once he gets an item that could make him some real money. So that meant he only had one choice remaining.<br><br>He stared at the Yorozuya application form in confusion.<br><br>-Are these questions serious? What kind of people are these guys looking for? They sound like greasy old men that would take advantage of a poor little girl’s financial situation – Although he thought this, Francis didn’t care.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yorozuya Application Form</span><br>Thank you for your interest in becoming a Yorozuya member.</div><br><br>Character name: Exul<br>Email Address: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8dd5d5d5d5cdd5d5d5d5d5a3d5d5a3d5d5">[email protected]</a>"><a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6931313131293131313131473131473131">[email protected]</a></a><!-- e --><br>Character Gameplay time: 0 hours<br>Current Level: 1<br>Character creation date: After I fill out this application.<br><br>1. What type of payment would you like to receive?<br>- Money, if not in-game currency and items can do, as long as I get paid.<br>2. How much would you like to be paid?<br>- Any amount, as much as you can, as long as I get paid.<br>3. What jobs are you willing to do?<br>- Anything, as long as I get paid.<br>4. What jobs are you not willing to do?<br>- Nothing, as long as I get paid.<br>5. Why did you choose to become a Yorozuya?<br>- So that I can get paid.<br>6. Do you play the game frequently?<br>- I will even if I don't get paid.<br>7. How long do you intend to be a Yorozuya member?<br>- As long as I get paid.<br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: center;">Thank you for applying to become a Yorozuya member. This application will be sent directly to our website which will then be screened by one of our experienced members. If your application has passed our requirements, we shall contact you with further details.</div><br></span><br>Meanwhile Ben, a young Yorozuya member somewhere in Royal Road, had finally logged-out and was just getting ready for bed. Now as one of the members responsible for recruiting and the new recruits of an expanding business, he had to regularly check for any applicants as well as jobs which could be given to any of the new recruits as well as to accept only those suitable to became a member.<br><br>* Logs on to Yorozuya *<br>*Clicks on job requests*<br>*Scrolls down*<br><br>*sigh*<br>-Why are there ever any job requests our lowbies can do? Work ethic isn’t what it was before – He sighed.<br><br>*Clicks exit*<br>*Clicks on new applicants*<br>*Clicks first application*<br><br>After going through dozens of applications of people who were either asking for way too much money or just weren’t ambitious enough to work as a Yorozuya member, Ben was worn out. He yawned thinking to himself he might just smash his computer if he see’s any more of these applications. Just as he was about to log out, something new came up.<br><br>New Message<br><br>-I might as well do one more. This is a lucky bastard to catch me just before I got to log out –<br>As Ben the Yorozuya read the new application form on his screen, all he could think was how ridiculous it was.<br>-WTF? Is this guy hallucinating? Must be some strong stuff! – Ben was laughing his ass off.<br><br> He could absolutely not believe that this was serious.<br>-Am I getting trolled? –<br><br>It was minutes after reading it again and again for his own amusement that Ben decided to share this with his colleagues. Sending it to as many Yorozuya members that were online as he could and waiting to see their reactions.<br>The Yorozuya forums went nuts. All online members had something to say:<br><br>-LMAO where did you find this guy?<br>-Huh? He hasn’t even started playing yet?<br>-Come on. Be real I know you, made it up<br>-Imagine the look on his face if he see's that his character name's taken.<br>-He sounds desperate for some cash.<br>-Hahaha no freaking way!<br>-Sounds like a greedy bastard.<br>-The quality of our members is just going downhill.<br>-If this was a girl, we do some real dirty stuff!<br>-Freaking psycho pervert, the police haven't caught you yet?<br>-Come on it was a joke! The guy said he's willing to do anything! ;)<br><br>After a barrage of insults and even psyche analysis provided by the graceful members of the Yorozuya they determined that whatever this was, even though they found it hilarious, they had to mark it as spam and have it deleted. At that moment Big Boss jumped in.<br><br>-What’s going on Ben?<br>-Oh it’s nothing boss just some punk playing games<br>-Oh really? What kind?<br>-Here lemme show you. Check your inbox<br><br>Big Boss couldn’t believe what he just read. It didn’t make him laugh, but instead it spoke to him, making him remember something’s he would rather forget.<br>-...<br>-Boss? You there?<br>-Yeah I’m here.<br>-It’s stupid right? Don't worry I was about to delete it.<br><br>Big boss couldn’t believe what he just read. This boy was in many ways just like Big Boss when he was younger. A guy who needed money and had to do it any way he could. It reminded him of the many struggles he had to face just so he could eat for the day, all those people who made fun of him and everyone who looked down on him, the humiliation he lived with but he never gave up. If they could only see him now, 'never underestimate the poor and desperate' he always said.<br><br>-...<br>-Boss?<br>-No. Don't<br>-Don't what?<br>-Don't delete it. Accept him.<br>-HUUUH?<br>-Just do what I say.<br>-Erm yeah sure okay. Are you sure?<br>-Yeah, I'm sure.<br>-Is this a good idea I mean he's just trolling us<br>-Do it. Now.<br>-Yes sir<br>-Good.<br><br>And with that Francis Magalone became a proud new member of the Yorozuya family. He just didn’t know it yet.
</div> | Chapter 1: The “How to make the kid grow up” Plan
Francis was in his special place. The wooden vessel rocked against the light green waves as Francis sat comfortably inside, the rhythm it made against the crashing waves lulled him into a sweet slumber. Francis often found himself alone on his small boat. He was a dot on the large expanse of sea around him and yet he so sure the waves would never betray him or lead him astray. Francis loved this place, it rekindled his memories of the times his father and him would let hours go by as they floated back to back, only an oversized canoe separating them from the open sea and a watery grave. With the wind in their hair, a fishing rod in their hands and the feeling like that moment could last a life time. It was during those moments Francis could safely say he had everything he wanted in life and that he was truly happy. The soft sound of water slapping gently against small hull had woke him up. Francis slowly regained consciousness, the rocking of the boat slowly making him come to his senses. It was like peace on earth for Francis after everything he had been through this year, it had been a long time since he’d felt inner peace such as this. Then his beautiful day dream came crashing down on him with the sound that had haunted him throughout his childhood, a sound he had hoped never to hear again.
“Oi you lazy ass, it’s time for dinner!” the voice came from a grey haired old man, with leathery skin and a deep and coarse voice. He stood on the white sanded beach waving his evil stick in the air, looking like he just escaped from a nursing home by the skin of his teeth. Judging from the mix of anger, stress and anxiety that appeared on his face they must have not treated him well. Francis grinned at the imaginary backstory he'd given his grandfather.
A two storey cottage sat on the edge of a lush green jungle where the trees began to clear. It stood on a platform tall enough that a grown man could walk underneath the house without having to duck or crane his neck. A collection of wooden steps lead to the also wooden veranda, a set of wooden rails on each side could be held on to so that you wouldn’t slip, as you got to the veranda the railings opened out to surround the rest of the wooden platform, disappearing into the side of the outer walls. The smell of dry but not musty wood hanging heavy in the air, the scent invading your senses as well as your clothes the longer you stayed beside it. On the veranda was an old lacquered oak bench that sat under a window beside the front door, on the other side of the door was a wooden rocking chair that smelt of pine, with a vine of flowers was carved enveloping the chair from the bottom upwards. The door was plain and simple with the lingering smell of what used to be an ash tree, but its frame had the same design from the rocking chair coiled around its edges. In short it was a beautiful house that looked like an arsonists dream come true.
With the beach being maybe a hundred meters away the sound of the waves gently crashing against the white sand could be heard from the porch. Looking out from the outstretched railings Francis could clearly see the setting sun, becoming massive in size as the water began to swallow its light, revealing the lengthy convex beach that caved inwards. The once green sea adopted an orange hue changing from one shade to another as the waves danced under the setting sunlight. Two jagged slopes rose from the water on either side of the sun and moved inwards to make up the surrounding mist topped mountain regions, where thick fogs hid their tallest peaks behind Francis. He looked out to the horizon as bright orange lights danced on his bare arms and shirt, taking up most of his view. He took a deep breath and exhaled, his body feeling as if it was breathing for the first time. As the suns light began to fade and the darkness took over, the sound of the jungle awakening could be heard all around the cottage, the sounds of nocturnal insects and beasts realising the day had gone and the time for creatures of the night had come. Sick with the sight of nothingness the smell of his grandfather’s cooking reached Francis’ senses and tempted him to go inside, and with a convincing rumble of his stomach he marched inside the hut, thinking.
Francis thought of all the rich people who paid absurd amounts of money to go to places like these.
-I guess if I had money like them a fortune is a small price to pay to take a glimpse of a real paradise -
“You know I thought soldiers were supposed to active all the time, like Rambo or something.” The old man nagged, rice flying from his mouth, “Why don't you go outside and kill a rattlesnake with your bare hands? That's what soldiers should do on their free time! Not sitting on a boat all day!” the old man never let go of the thought that soldiers were always soldiers and were never anything else, not writer or a teacher or a friend. They were always just soldiers.
“I’m not a soldier anymore gramps,” Francis sighed as he ate his rice, “I don't do that stuff anymore.”
The old man was nearing his 65th birthday and death looked like it was the last thing on his mind with how lively the old geezer was. Heck the old man was probably the last thing on Death’s mind too; Pappy Magalone always said that death was too busy with other things, that death had no time to wait for an old man like him to give up. The old man was unexpectedly healthy for, you know, being an old man! He could still beat Francis hard enough that Francis would flinch whenever his granddad raised his hand a little too high. Beatings were common in the Magalone household.
“Oh yeah, I forgot you’re a sissy. Freaking noob. If you're gonna spend a whole day at sea at least catch some fish next time will ya?”
-Yeah and I’ll shove it down your old ass throat then we’ll see how loud you can shout -
“I know what you’re thinking boy. You’re asking for a beating” His grandfather glared at him.
-How the hell? Is he psychic? – Francis seriously thought about whether or not his grandfather could read his mind or not as he stared at the old geezer, wondering if he had any supernatural talent that wasn’t beating a child or shouting at the top of his lungs.
After his father’s death Francis played Royal Road for something he felt was a lifetime, trying to escape from the pain he felt, hiding from everyone, hiding from his loss. Then when he was forcefully made to leave the game out he found out everything was gone, he had lost more than he thought he did and it pained his poor heart even more. The memory of that day was still fresh in his mind.
***
SYSTEM ERROR
Forced log-out: interference from outside the game has caused you to automatically log-out when this message ends. Goodbye.
The red flashing lights that took up the whole of his vision had left as quickly as it came, leaving only darkness. Francis tried to open his capsule but it was stuck, he tried a short kick in desperation which was followed by the click of the lock opening. Francis fell vertically out of his capsule. Face flat on the floor, the pain fresh on his face he got to his knees and looked up.
“That’s why it was so bloody heavy!”
“Really? I couldn’t even tell the difference.”
“Liar. I thought you were crying for a second with so much sweat on your face.”
“Was not. Its ‘cause it’s a hot day, that's all.”
“Whatever mate, just wipe that crap from your forehead, you’re sweating so much you're starting to look like a fountain. You're making me thirsty.”
“Shut up!”
“Oh that was great comeback. You sure showed me.”
“Well if you’re so smart and I’m so dumb why are we doing the same thing for a living?”
“Ha~ you have a good point, the world really is unfair.”
“Yeah the world is too cruel to the poor.”
“Too cruel indeed” Both men sighed in harmony.
Francis watched as the two men bickered, and finally realized the situation he was in.
“Who are you?! Why are you kidnapping me!?” Francis screamed at the top of his lungs, his breathing getting heavier by the second,”What the hell is going on here!!”
The two men finally decided to acknowledge him; one was huge brute that easily made up two or maybe three times the size of Francis, he had dark brown hair in sweaty clumps that stuck to his forehead and temples as well as an array of freckles that decorated the space under his small beady eyes and around his stumpy nose and nearly the rest of his rotund face. He was wearing a white T-shirt that looked like it was in pain with dark patches that covered the cloth; sweat was pouring from his brow. The other man was taller but only slightly, he had deep slanted eyes that were framed by his incredibly bushy eyebrows and the dark shadows underneath his eyes, a pointed nose protruded from his face and was hard not to concentrate on if you might have had a conversation with him. He also had sweat dripping from the matted light brown locks on his head and his sharp cheek bones all the way down to his angular jaw and pointy chin before dripping off and onto the carpet below. There was an identical white T-shirt that hung off his body, swaying in the non-existent breeze. They both wore identical black trousers and identically shiny shoes. It was as if The Blues Brothers had hit rock bottom, but kept their image. Looking at Francis they bellowed in amusement, after taking a few deep breaths moments later to calm down they spoke.
“We aint no kidnappers you little brat!” the fat man shouted.
“We’re bailiffs.” He said proudly.
“And we’re here to take everything that’s worth anything.” The skeletal man said with a smirk.
“Courtesy of your late father, our employers’ debtor. Sorry kid it’s just business.”
“Yeah, sorry kiddo it’s just business.” The sweaty man echoed.
And with that they left taking everything worth anything in the Magalone household, leaving only the smell of sweat behind.
***
It had been a year or so since Francis decided he would be worth something in his fathers’ eyes and joined the army, even though he wasn’t there to see him now Francis would never regret his decision. Sometimes he wished his father could know how much Francis has changed and that he did do something useful with his life as his father used to say. Francis likes to think he would have been proud of him.
Bzzt Zzzt ZzzZzzT
“Goddamn mosquitoes,” Pappy Magalone chanted as he hunted down the evil insects with his electrified tennis racket of doom. The smell of roast meat soon filled the air. If this had been a few minutes ago, Francis would be gagging from the smell and most likely choke on his food.
After a year and a bit of military service, Francis was discharged from the military for reasons he hasn’t told anybody yet. So when the day came for him to leave he had know no idea where to go, after hours of self conflict he bought a plane ticket and decided he had to see the old man. Time with the army had changed him; however he’d die before he had to start living by himself.
One night, amidst the thunder and the pouring rain there was a knock on his door, the old man with his stick in his hand opened the door cautiously. With the door fully open, the old man stared into the eyes of a giant. Francis had grown and extra inch that year making him six foot, although a common sight for Francis, Pappy Magalone hardly ever saw the creatures. The old man saw a man who towered him, fear kept the old man standing; the man in the rain had short cropped hair, toned looking but not bulky arms. A flash of lightning showed that he wore a grey T-shirt that was fitted to his body and DPM trousers which were tucked into boots that hugged the area above his ankles where the lacing started. A huge camouflaged rucksack hung off one shoulder; however the old man failed to see any of these details, the man’s eyes were the colour of night, the whites of his eyes making them even darker. These eyes felt familiar to the old man, he began to notice the face that bore them. A flash of lightning revealed his face. The old man wept and his legs crumpled as he saw his grandson’s face. The old man cried until he choked on his own tears, eventually stopping when Francis wrapped his arms around him as he joined him on the floor.
And so here he was. Francis fished when he was free and farmed when he wasn’t. Not the most dazzling life but he liked it here. He loved being with his grandfather too.
“Oi Francis I’m kicking you out.” His grandfather said casually, “you’re a lazy bastard and you eat too much. I can’t afford you.”
Francis sat there mid-chew staring at his grandfather.
-Did I just hear him right? Did he put magic mushrooms in my food? WHAT THE HELL!?-
Francis’ mind filled with all the excuses that meant he misheard his grandfather.
“Me and your aunt decided you can’t be a boy forever, you gotta go take care of yourself.” He paused, “Now listen here, your aunt Mari found a place not too far from your old place and we got it covered thanks to what your Dad left you.” He paused again, “I know it’s a big step for you but it’s something you gotta do. You got the money from your year with the grunts right? So don’t be begging us for money unless you’re done eating the grass in your back garden.” Pappy Magalone paused and looked at Francis in the eye a final time, “You’re flight leaves tomorrow. Eat your food. Pack your things. We leave in the morning.”
With that said he got up and went to bed.
Francis thought what he couldn’t say,
-FFUUUUUUUUUUUUU -
Pappy Malone shed a manly tear after waving off his beloved grandchild. He left the airport and called for a taxi the moment Francis disappeared behind security. On his way home he recalled the conversation he had with his daughter a few days back over the phone.
“Hello?”
“Oh, hello Dad how’s everything?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“That’s good. So how is it taking care of Francis?”
“That’s that thing, we gotta do something about the kid.”
“Huh? What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“Mari, I doubt have enough years left to take care of another child.”
“Don't worry dad if that ever happens I’ll take care of our little brat. Why are you worrying anyway? You’re like a freaking cockroach!” Mari laughed.
“HUH? What’d you say you little brat? You’re lucky Francis took your place as my punching bag!” He retorted, “ Anyways we got a real problem on our hands, the brat’s still a brat and it doesn’t look like that’s changing anytime soon. I’m worried about the kid you know? What’s gonna happen when we aren’t around?”
“Yeah, yeah, I see where you’re going Dad. I'm worried about him too. So what do you suggest we do? It’s not like the kid’s gonna change just like that.”
“I know, I know. That’s why we’re gonna make it impossible for him not to sort himself out.”
“Okay, and how do suggest we do that? Are you gonna throw him in the freaking forest old man?”
“Hey that’s not so bad! But I got a better idea...”
“What?”
“We buy his own place.”
“WHAAAAAAAT...?”
“Just trust me this will open his eyes, he’ll finally be introduced to the real world.”
*silence*
“Hello? Mari, you still there?”
*heavy breathing*
After hours of trying to persuade his daughter that it was a good idea, it was finally decided that with the savings he has Pappy Magalone will buy Francis his own apartment, nothing special just a place good enough not to die. And after an even longer period of persuasion and under the threat that Pappy Magalone would sell his house and move in with her, Aunt Mari gave up and said, “Alright I got it. If the kid’s dying of starvation, I’ll be there to rescue his skinny ass.”
And so the ‘How to make the kid grow up plan,’ came into existence.
- Kid. You better not mess this up. – Pappy Malone silently prayed.
Francis never liked civilian plane rides, there were too many people – he never liked people either. Nodding or shaking his head when he had to, and even saying a word every now and then, he somehow got past security, his suitcase trailing behind him and his military rucksack slung over his shoulder. Francis Magalone finally made it back to London, plane tickets courtesy of the old man. – Best birthday gift ever – Francis celebrated in his mind. Home sweet home, if he could still call it his home.
Aunt Mari was waiting for him at a nearby restaurant, it was the first time he’d seen her since he stopped contact with all his family when he joined the army. When Pappy Malone told her that Francis was back she wanted to drop everything and see him, but he told her not to, she still had her life to manage and Francis didn’t want to get in the way of anything. Of course she didn’t care about what Francis thought and was already packing her bags as they spoke, it had to take a little time and Francis threatening her that he’d would leave his granddad’s house and find somewhere else and she would never see him again, until he decided otherwise. This only managed to make her even more angry, like slapping a bull, but in the end she decided to let it go if he came to see her soon, which Francis agreed to, although not this soon.
She was just like he remembered. Aunt Mari could be considered by society as a young woman since she only recently entered her late 20’s, 29 to be exact, if Francis remembered correctly. His grandfather used to tell Francis that when his dad and Aunt Mari were just little kids, he used to get confused which one was which. She had some of his Dad’s facial features: high cheek bones and wide black eyes you couldn’t mistake for dark brown, though slanted enough to tell she was from south east Asia, with our family or maybe even our country’s international trademark - straight black hair. What separated them was Aunt Mari’s small rounded nose, thin lips that were a lighter pink than his father’s and higher cheekbones that made her eyes look smaller than they really were. Francis’ aunt was a beautiful woman, though he had never thought of her like that, he treated her like his mother ever since he could remember. He used to lay his head and sleep on her long curvy legs while she stroked his face and hair with the delicate fingers on her small hands, sometimes she would put her slim arms around his shoulder when they walked together. Her small form hid her aggressiveness something she shared with the rest of Francis’ family, he remembered trying his best as a kid when she visited because seeing her fury once had scarred him emotionally. Today she wore her hair in slight curls that made it look like a curtain of black waves under moonlight, complimented by her bright flowery sundress and the light brown handbag that was on the table. Francis was related to this woman, people used to think she was his mother all the time, and he’d never correct them. She turned her head and finally noticed him. She flashed him her trademark smile and Francis used all his strength to hold back his tears. She rushed to his side and hugged him.
“Long time no see brat.” She spoke with a touch of nostalgia in her voice.
They sat and ate while exchanging stories, filling each other in on what they’ve missed. Francis found out that aunt Mari wasn’t a lonely old woman who lived with cats instead of her sanity, like he thought she would have been when he returned. On the other hand she was in an almost year long relationship with a man who she planned to marry, they were engaged. Francis almost passed out from shock when he heard the news.
“Oi you rude little bastard! I wasn’t planning to spend the rest of my life alone you know.” She grumbled in offense.
“I really thought you would.” She punched his shoulder, “ Ow! Child abuse!”
“You’re not a kid anymore, even though you’re still a brat. I didn’t forget it’s your 19th today, just in case you were wondering.” She beamed at him, “I got you the perfect present.”
Francis slept on the drive to his new place of residence. He woke up to shouts to glee.
“Wake up! We’re here!”
“Ahhh” Francis groaned as he came back to his senses.
“Follow me!” Aunt Mari practically giggled as she shook the keys in front of him. “Hurry up!”
“Yeah yeah.” Francis spoke unenthusiastically.
The car locked behind him as he walked into his new apartment building. His apartment was on the top floor, the 20th floor, so it was a long elevator journey with a very excited aunt.
*Ding*
They finally reached the top. Room 206 was the last door on the right, just a straight walk from the elevator. Inside was a huge living room, too big for just one person. Francis could see three doors one on each corner of the room, two bedrooms and one bathroom like his aunt told him earlier, there was no carpet only a wooden floor that reminded him of his grandfather and a lone light bulb that hung from a cable on the ceiling, currently on. There were only two things that stood out in the room, one was the absence of furniture and the other was the thing behind Aunt Mari. In the middle of the room was a rectangular shaped object with a white sheet of cloth over it. Aunt Mari had rushed to the mystery object when they entered the room and had waited after Francis had stopped looking around and focussed on her. She pulled hard on the sheet.
“Tada!"
It was a capsule.
Before Aunt Mari left, she told Francis the “Dos and Don’ts” of living alone as well as giving him a handbook the size of a short novel. After telling Francis that if he wanted something he’d have to get it himself, she kissed him goodbye and that Ollie – her boyfriend – had left him a mattress as a gift in one of the rooms. With a loud bang of the door Francis was left alone with his mattress and Royal Road.
There was no time to lose. It had been a painful year alone. Too many things had happened; life had let him down more times than he had expected it too. And finally he was reunited with the one machine which could bring him happiness. Francis stepped toward the machine, and another, until his finger tips touched the cold ceramic casing. He hesitated. Did he really want to do this all over again? Was he really the same as before? Wasn't he a changed man? Francis stood there facing one of the biggest obstacles in his life – laziness, simply not caring about what happens. He knew if he entered this godly machine then everything he’d done to change himself would vanish, he would end up as just another game addict. But that wasn’t him anymore, he wasn’t just going to shut himself away and hide in one of his games. He faced his problems now, like a real man.
-That isn’t me anymore. I need to find a way to make some money. I have to survive. –
He quickly stepped away from the machine. Unpacking his things, he thought of all the things he could do for a living from now on.
-I could be a fireman or policeman. They would gladly accept a military man like me. – He thought to himself.
-I could do manual labour, there’s always some sort of construction going on, right? - He tried to re assure himself.
-I can always be a store clerk. I mean I don't hate people that much! – He tried to convince himself, unsuccessfully.
With the thought of eating grass and wondering what it would taste like heavy on his mind Francis turned to the one place in the world that could give him what he needed – the internet. With his new beloved laptop Francis decided to look for an answer.
-It hasn’t changed much in a year, still full of cats-
After looking any sort of job he thought he could do, from washing dishes and cleaning streets to holding doors open and parking people’s cars, Francis’ future was looking bleaker by the minute. Getting tired of finding nothing, Francis decided he do a little research on what he’s missed in the gaming world this past year. He didn’t have to look any further to before something caught his eye. A newspaper from last year had the front page title of, “Boy sells avatar for 3 billion won.”
-No. Freaking. Way. – Francis could not believe what he just read.
After reading a little more, he found out that at the time 3 billion won was equal to almost £2 million.
-How could I miss what’s probably the biggest win in gaming history since gaming tournaments became practically extinct! –
The reason for Francis not knowing about this great event was that there was no way he could have known. Even though the virtual reality system was used in army training, not strictly known to the public, it had its own local area network which wasn’t connected to the rest of the world, and the commanding officers listed the internet as “distracting” and therefore prohibited its use. Now if Francis had friends at this early point in his army career then they probably would have told him about it. Also if people didn’t think he was weird and avoided him he might have even over heard it. Past this point his comrades in arms felt it was old news, which is why Francis never found out during his time with the army. After the army he spent his time on an island in the third world, with internet access but with no laptop, and by then it almost been a year. He could have watched T.V. but Francis was too busy enjoying life in paradise and fishing to care about television. This finally leads us to the present day.
-I can’t believe I missed something like this! – Francis thought in frustration. This single piece of news gave Francis a brain wave.
-Now I'm definitely sure I can make money like this. –
He searched long and hard for a way to make money through gaming, he sorted out all the sites that could scam you from the trustworthy ones, and finally he was left with all the sites he could use to make money. After evaluating each one he was left with two sites, one was the number one site dealt with selling off in-game items for real money, and the other site was called Yorozuya it was a site where people could send requests to complete, from partying with you to a certain level or just finding you an item or even hire a member as a bodyguard or a mercenary. The site would give your request to one or more of its agents to complete all for a little bit of cash, and depending on your contract, a bunch of other stuff too.
Francis decided that he wouldn’t be able to get any worthwhile items that would end up getting sold on the auction site any time soon, so he decided he’ll check it out once he gets an item that could make him some real money. So that meant he only had one choice remaining.
He stared at the Yorozuya application form in confusion.
-Are these questions serious? What kind of people are these guys looking for? They sound like greasy old men that would take advantage of a poor little girl’s financial situation – Although he thought this, Francis didn’t care.
Yorozuya Application Form
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Yorozuya member.
Character name: Exul
Email Address: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)">[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)</a><!-- e -->
Character Gameplay time: 0 hours
Current Level: 1
Character creation date: After I fill out this application.
1. What type of payment would you like to receive?
- Money, if not in-game currency and items can do, as long as I get paid.
2. How much would you like to be paid?
- Any amount, as much as you can, as long as I get paid.
3. What jobs are you willing to do?
- Anything, as long as I get paid.
4. What jobs are you not willing to do?
- Nothing, as long as I get paid.
5. Why did you choose to become a Yorozuya?
- So that I can get paid.
6. Do you play the game frequently?
- I will even if I don't get paid.
7. How long do you intend to be a Yorozuya member?
- As long as I get paid.
Thank you for applying to become a Yorozuya member. This application will be sent directly to our website which will then be screened by one of our experienced members. If your application has passed our requirements, we shall contact you with further details.
Meanwhile Ben, a young Yorozuya member somewhere in Royal Road, had finally logged-out and was just getting ready for bed. Now as one of the members responsible for recruiting and the new recruits of an expanding business, he had to regularly check for any applicants as well as jobs which could be given to any of the new recruits as well as to accept only those suitable to became a member.
* Logs on to Yorozuya *
*Clicks on job requests*
*Scrolls down*
*sigh*
-Why are there ever any job requests our lowbies can do? Work ethic isn’t what it was before – He sighed.
*Clicks exit*
*Clicks on new applicants*
*Clicks first application*
After going through dozens of applications of people who were either asking for way too much money or just weren’t ambitious enough to work as a Yorozuya member, Ben was worn out. He yawned thinking to himself he might just smash his computer if he see’s any more of these applications. Just as he was about to log out, something new came up.
New Message
-I might as well do one more. This is a lucky bastard to catch me just before I got to log out –
As Ben the Yorozuya read the new application form on his screen, all he could think was how ridiculous it was.
-WTF? Is this guy hallucinating? Must be some strong stuff! – Ben was laughing his ass off.
He could absolutely not believe that this was serious.
-Am I getting trolled? –
It was minutes after reading it again and again for his own amusement that Ben decided to share this with his colleagues. Sending it to as many Yorozuya members that were online as he could and waiting to see their reactions.
The Yorozuya forums went nuts. All online members had something to say:
-LMAO where did you find this guy?
-Huh? He hasn’t even started playing yet?
-Come on. Be real I know you, made it up
-Imagine the look on his face if he see's that his character name's taken.
-He sounds desperate for some cash.
-Hahaha no freaking way!
-Sounds like a greedy bastard.
-The quality of our members is just going downhill.
-If this was a girl, we do some real dirty stuff!
-Freaking psycho pervert, the police haven't caught you yet?
-Come on it was a joke! The guy said he's willing to do anything! ;)
After a barrage of insults and even psyche analysis provided by the graceful members of the Yorozuya they determined that whatever this was, even though they found it hilarious, they had to mark it as spam and have it deleted. At that moment Big Boss jumped in.
-What’s going on Ben?
-Oh it’s nothing boss just some punk playing games
-Oh really? What kind?
-Here lemme show you. Check your inbox
Big Boss couldn’t believe what he just read. It didn’t make him laugh, but instead it spoke to him, making him remember something’s he would rather forget.
-...
-Boss? You there?
-Yeah I’m here.
-It’s stupid right? Don't worry I was about to delete it.
Big boss couldn’t believe what he just read. This boy was in many ways just like Big Boss when he was younger. A guy who needed money and had to do it any way he could. It reminded him of the many struggles he had to face just so he could eat for the day, all those people who made fun of him and everyone who looked down on him, the humiliation he lived with but he never gave up. If they could only see him now, 'never underestimate the poor and desperate' he always said.
-...
-Boss?
-No. Don't
-Don't what?
-Don't delete it. Accept him.
-HUUUH?
-Just do what I say.
-Erm yeah sure okay. Are you sure?
-Yeah, I'm sure.
-Is this a good idea I mean he's just trolling us
-Do it. Now.
-Yes sir
-Good.
And with that Francis Magalone became a proud new member of the Yorozuya family. He just didn’t know it yet. |
{
"title": "Amnesiac",
"id": 59,
"author": "Nightingale",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Chapter 1: Family",
"id": 162,
"next": 169,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“Your brother's injuries include seven cracked ribs, three broken, a broken wrist and fractured skull, numerous abraisio.....”<br><br>Henry slumped in his chair berating himself. He had thought himself as a good man who knew how to be a good human. This last chapter in his life left him second guessing this opinion.<br><br>*********<br><br>“Nokia has gone up..3..in the last quarter....downturn inevitable....new apple product....”<br><br>*Ring Ring........Ring Ring<br><br>“Hello, Henry Markson, may I ask who's calling”<br><br>“'Enry.....that you...” a trembling voice said over the phone. Henry was tempted to hang up that very moment, he knew the person calling and he didn't want to be involved any more. His self-destructive mother-in-law had driven his father to madness and eventual suicide, Henry didn't want to go down that same path.<br><br>“Jeraldine, just go to the hospital, call the police or some thing one of these days it's going to be a broken arm or worse.”<br><br>“No, no,no can't do that.....you haven't told anyone right, right?”<br><br>“there's nothing to tell is there?”<br><br>“Nope, not at all....” A groan is heard in the background.<br><br>“Jeraldine.....what was that” Henry waited in silence for a couple moments.<br><br>“Well...That's what I'm calling about.. you see you...you have a..”<br><br>“I have a what??” More silence followed this question. “Jeraldine, spit it out now, I have a what?!”<br><br>In the next moment the words came spilling forth over the phone, barely discernible as they were often emphasized by the hiccoughs and sobs slipping between words. “You have a brother!....oh god I said it...” Henry stumbled back to his chair and fell into it, speechless. “He's your brother from my last husband, the one before your father” *hic “he, he came to my apartment saying his father died and he had no where else to go” *sob sob “Frank didn't believe him and chased him out, but he kept coming back......Then today he came back when Frank turned onto our street, we were lucky, it was the middle of the day and the neighbors were all out....”<br>At this point Henry couldn't wait for the answer. “Jeraldine, what did he do? What did Frank do?”<br><br>“Well you see, he didn't mean to, I swear he didn't mean it. He just mixed up the gas and break, I swear he didn't mean it....he was going too fast and couldn't avoid him.” Henry was in complete disbelief, his step mother had stood by and let this happen. And she wasn't done yet. “Well, Frank didn't mean to, and ...and Derek shouldn't have walked into the road, he should have looked where he was going, now Frank's in a cell and I can't see him!” Henry would have hung up that very second had it not been for the fact that he now had a step-brother who is potentially dead before he could ever meet him.<br><br>“Jeraldine, Where is he?”<br><br>“He's in jail, where I can't see him.” She broke into a fresh waves of sobs and snivelling.<br><br>“NOT THAT WASTE OF SPACE TRASH YOU CALL A HUMAN!!! WHERE IS MY BROTHER?!!” In complete shock Jeraldine was quiet, Henry had never yelled at her before even when he blamed her for his father's death. At this point Jeraldine was afraid, to get Henry so angry, it took a lot. It was just enough to make a person such as Jeraldine believe that she may have done something wrong.<br><br>“.......He's on my kitchen floor....You won't tell anyone will you Henry, 'cause Frank--” At this point Jeraldine was interrupted by a loud noise followed by a dial tone. She turned to look at the limp boy on her floor, bleeding from multiple cuts on his arms and legs. His hand was at an unnatural angle from his forearm and his chest was strangely concave. A moan come from between his lips followed by violent coughs spilling blood from the corner of his mouth to put more of it on the already covered tile.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=189&p=382#p382" target="_blank">NEXT></a></div>
</div> | “Your brother's injuries include seven cracked ribs, three broken, a broken wrist and fractured skull, numerous abraisio.....”
Henry slumped in his chair berating himself. He had thought himself as a good man who knew how to be a good human. This last chapter in his life left him second guessing this opinion.
*********
“Nokia has gone up..3..in the last quarter....downturn inevitable....new apple product....”
*Ring Ring........Ring Ring
“Hello, Henry Markson, may I ask who's calling”
“'Enry.....that you...” a trembling voice said over the phone. Henry was tempted to hang up that very moment, he knew the person calling and he didn't want to be involved any more. His self-destructive mother-in-law had driven his father to madness and eventual suicide, Henry didn't want to go down that same path.
“Jeraldine, just go to the hospital, call the police or some thing one of these days it's going to be a broken arm or worse.”
“No, no,no can't do that.....you haven't told anyone right, right?”
“there's nothing to tell is there?”
“Nope, not at all....” A groan is heard in the background.
“Jeraldine.....what was that” Henry waited in silence for a couple moments.
“Well...That's what I'm calling about.. you see you...you have a..”
“I have a what??” More silence followed this question. “Jeraldine, spit it out now, I have a what?!”
In the next moment the words came spilling forth over the phone, barely discernible as they were often emphasized by the hiccoughs and sobs slipping between words. “You have a brother!....oh god I said it...” Henry stumbled back to his chair and fell into it, speechless. “He's your brother from my last husband, the one before your father” *hic “he, he came to my apartment saying his father died and he had no where else to go” *sob sob “Frank didn't believe him and chased him out, but he kept coming back......Then today he came back when Frank turned onto our street, we were lucky, it was the middle of the day and the neighbors were all out....”
At this point Henry couldn't wait for the answer. “Jeraldine, what did he do? What did Frank do?”
“Well you see, he didn't mean to, I swear he didn't mean it. He just mixed up the gas and break, I swear he didn't mean it....he was going too fast and couldn't avoid him.” Henry was in complete disbelief, his step mother had stood by and let this happen. And she wasn't done yet. “Well, Frank didn't mean to, and ...and Derek shouldn't have walked into the road, he should have looked where he was going, now Frank's in a cell and I can't see him!” Henry would have hung up that very second had it not been for the fact that he now had a step-brother who is potentially dead before he could ever meet him.
“Jeraldine, Where is he?”
“He's in jail, where I can't see him.” She broke into a fresh waves of sobs and snivelling.
“NOT THAT WASTE OF SPACE TRASH YOU CALL A HUMAN!!! WHERE IS MY BROTHER?!!” In complete shock Jeraldine was quiet, Henry had never yelled at her before even when he blamed her for his father's death. At this point Jeraldine was afraid, to get Henry so angry, it took a lot. It was just enough to make a person such as Jeraldine believe that she may have done something wrong.
“.......He's on my kitchen floor....You won't tell anyone will you Henry, 'cause Frank--” At this point Jeraldine was interrupted by a loud noise followed by a dial tone. She turned to look at the limp boy on her floor, bleeding from multiple cuts on his arms and legs. His hand was at an unnatural angle from his forearm and his chest was strangely concave. A moan come from between his lips followed by violent coughs spilling blood from the corner of his mouth to put more of it on the already covered tile.
[NEXT>](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=189&p=382#p382) |
{
"title": "One Fool's Playing by Pavel",
"id": 28,
"author": "Sonivitus",
"rating": 0.7
} | {
"title": "One Fool's Playing - Chapter 2",
"id": 15,
"next": null,
"prev": 14,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
It was autumn. A boring autumn, really. In the real world, there are the four seasons, but in the virtual one, there are some places with no changes during the year whatsoever.<br>Such place was one of the starting locations for newbies, called The Centipede Forest. With numerous low-level quests and weak monsters, this location doesn’t differ much from the similar ones. Regardless of the day you play, it is full of ordinary monsters. This day is no exception. But today, one player is extraordinary.<br><br>---<br>Two youngsters are standing amidst the trees, one with a fishing rod, obviously lost in thought, while the other one with a staff, trying to scare the first one.<br>,,Man, this is called ks! I know that! When i was playing earlier and i stole someone’s kill, he shouted ks on me and then again, repeatedly.<br>Now, you are doing me the same!“<br>,,What does it mean, anyway?“ The young fisherman seemed to be rather concerned about the meaning.<br>,,Heh… i knew you are a complete noob, from the first time i saw you! Don’t try to trick me! The question is not, what does this mean,<br>but that you stole me one centipede! And it was the one i painstakingly searched for the last two hours! Say me, you did it just to troll me.<br>You even hooked it with your fishing line and then threw into the river. What did you feed it with?“ From the curiosity, his voice softened a little.<br>,,It’s not, that i am trying to obtain some pet, or feed the fish, but unless i fight with monsters in the water, i cannot use my skills on them.“<br>,,I see. So you’re of the fisherman class. It seems you can at low levels only hunt efficiently the fish and so on, i didn’t know that. Such disadvantage early on, hm…“<br>,,…“<br>,,I’ve heard, that fishermen have a lot of stamina. You’re lucky, we are short on numbers in our party, since today we’ll try to kill the undine boss here.<br>If you give me your part of the drop, you can consider it worth that one centipede. What about that?“ There was a glint of monetary calculation in his eyes.<br>,,Sounds good. With a boss, it sure must be an epic battle! Since this way i will no longer owe you anything, it’s settled.“<br>---<br>Amidst few trees, another pair of players was standing, silently. Glaring on each other and clenching their teeth, seemingly both of them are angry.<br>This place doesn’t only differ in time, but it is far away, too. Instead of falling trees, the cedars here are covered in snow.<br>Experienced eyes could tell, that there is another difference. One player is totally confident.<br>Suddenly, both raised their hands and, while being in trance, said a couple of ancient words, at rather fast pace.<br>Under the flight of the magical arrows, several unique snowdrops vanished into the air to never return again. One could really regret their disappearance, if he didn’t know,<br>that original snowdrops is one of those things, which Royal Road has yet to manage.<br>While each mage shielded himself with the magic shield, based upon reading the type of his opponent‘s magic, one of them failed and the magic missile penetrated his left shoulder.<br>Trying to suppress his surprise, he decided to cast two lesser fireballs at once. The trick was, one of them was fake and each of them was flying at his enemy from opposite direction.<br>To buy time, there was not a better tactic. He could tell. This way, he had enough time to recast the magic shield, this time adjusted properly.<br>In the third round, our two magicians still insisted on giving each other pointers in a violent way. Now, one had both of his shoulders penetrated, his hitpoints decreasing rapidly.<br>Furious, he gave his all into the last attack and unexpected, strong winds created a snowstorm. It’s existence ceased along with one player.<br>The other was shaken, but still standing with a smile upon his pale face.<br>---<br>Finally, my training started to pay off. In this game, it is common for all the mages to spend most of their training routine reading new books,<br>while practicing their spells. While the academic intelligence they have is outstanding, the originality displayed by them is much worse.<br>Well, as a scholar i am no match for any of them, but i didn’t forget, that magic is an art.<br>While they do study, i am casting spells. While they are casting spells, i am still casting, too. Here, in Royal Road, the use of the abillity to focus can be easily<br>misunderstood to just do one thing more profficiently, or, from what i’ve heard, assasins use it to constantly check their surroundigs, while they kill.<br>At the very start, i just managed to cast one spell under slightly disadvantageous circumstances. Later on, i was able to cast two beginner spells at once.<br>Now, i can pull off one intermediate and one beginner, or two beginner and a third one with 40% chance to success.<br>Versus other damage-oriented mages, all i need is to use one beginner spell to alter the appearance and qualities on the surface of my water bolt.<br>Other elements are too hard to cover – frost will freeze my target, fire will burn and wind will push, with earth being the only exception.In all my previous games, i simply loved pvp. For me, ranked duels in Royal Road would be the only thing to be concerned about these days, if not for my younger brother.<br>I hope he will not be too tiresome. Just now he did PM me to help him. I wonder if all the younger siblings think the first characteristic of their family member<br>are the relationship bonds their share and only after that they are humans?<br>---<br>I hope he will come soon. It could be said, that every hero has a dark and troubled past, but i have no idea how to redeem my sins!<br>It seems my relieve from meeting him will be suspended, as he immediately switched to his insane mode.<br>,,What a…!“ He even didn’t finish, staring at my name. Wait… Name? Maybe they had to come up with a temporary solution?<br>,,I was too tired to notice back there, but now i see. Hm. What a fitting name you have! Hahahah!“ Nonsense!<br>During his heartily laughter, i thought it over:. ,,Hey, it’s no fun, when i remind you of you and you just laugh it off.“<br>After few of his futile tries to balance the score between us, we came to the forest.<br>,,You didn’t ask me to grind with you, did you? I told you repeatedly, that this way you won’t receive any experience.“<br>,,No, no! I just need you to help me apologize.“<br>,,Maybe if you apologize to me first. But what have you done?“<br>,,You see. There was this mage, called Lee. He invited me to a party against the undine boss here.“<br>,,I remember this one. But other, than the burst of damage every four minutes, there is nothing to worry about. Of course, it is said they made it more fierce after the last update.“<br>,,All of them were very concerned about me. They did let me to attack the undine first and left me outside the party, so that i will receive more levels!<br>To make me even more calm, they told me, that the less hitpoints i have, the easier it is to heal me. But, then…“<br>With voice colored in his slight anger, he asked me further.<br>,,As i used my skill on the monster, it bounced on our archer and instantly killed him. Then, it came back to me. I knew, that i have only this skill<br>and nothing else, so i could’nt help but to use it again. This time, it slayed our three mages, swiftly one after one. Being really scared, i did again and again.<br>In the end, it wiped our party completely. I tried to shout things like 'You shall not pass! ' and so on, you know, like Gandalf, but it didn’t help.<br>My mana was completely depleted and i was killed, too.“<br>,,I promise i will take care of this. Just explain me your skills and class. Could it be, that you‘re like me?“ I don’t play this game to make my nightmares real!<br>,,Then, take care of yourself. I have some ideas, but i need to try them first. Oh, and it would be better to don’t say your class.“<br>Because i was still afraid of my recently-obtained dark past, i hunted in different places. Each centipede had more vivid colors, than the ones back there.<br>But suddenly, i felt a killing intent from behind and chills ran down my spine. Someone stomped on the leaves and killed them in the most horrible way.<br>With the sound of their (I suppose everything has them, right?) bones being completely shattered, i turned around.<br>What a horrible way to die! He must be enjoying a good fame in the pvp realm. Otherwise, he would not try this against me.<br>But wait. There is this cliché called 'Defeat Means Friendship'. I know, because i watched the anime Rurouni Kenshin. There is this defeat of Sagara Sanosuke<br>and he becomes an important party member! I guess it’s time to obtain some too.<br>But this is completely out of the place, now. Every enemy converted this way must appear in the second episode of the anime, or manga,<br>but i have no idea, how to defeat him yet. As i tightened my grip on the katana, with the appearance of a fishing rod, i decided to be unrivalled story teller<br>and use my almost ultimate move on him in the next chapter.<br><br>_____________________<br>References:<br>ks - Means to steal a kill. Usually used by the pro guys, when they lose their abillity to remain good players and become frustrated,<br>trying to get back at least the feeling. But if done repeatedly, anyone will be mad at you.<br>See dark and troubled past: <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkAndTroubledPast" target="_blank">http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... oubledPast</a><br>Gandalf is a mighty, old freak from The Lord of the Rings.<br>Defeat Means Friendship: <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefeatMeansFriendship" target="_blank">http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... Friendship</a><br>Rurouni Kenshin is a manga, made into an anime and now being made into live-action: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_kenshin" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_kenshin</a><br>I suppose after the new chapter of Dark Side, nobody will ever believe, that i had the idea about focus and spells in my mind before.<br>It really discouraged me. But take it as it is, or believe i am just a copycat.
</div> | It was autumn. A boring autumn, really. In the real world, there are the four seasons, but in the virtual one, there are some places with no changes during the year whatsoever.
Such place was one of the starting locations for newbies, called The Centipede Forest. With numerous low-level quests and weak monsters, this location doesn’t differ much from the similar ones. Regardless of the day you play, it is full of ordinary monsters. This day is no exception. But today, one player is extraordinary.
---
Two youngsters are standing amidst the trees, one with a fishing rod, obviously lost in thought, while the other one with a staff, trying to scare the first one.
,,Man, this is called ks! I know that! When i was playing earlier and i stole someone’s kill, he shouted ks on me and then again, repeatedly.
Now, you are doing me the same!“
,,What does it mean, anyway?“ The young fisherman seemed to be rather concerned about the meaning.
,,Heh… i knew you are a complete noob, from the first time i saw you! Don’t try to trick me! The question is not, what does this mean,
but that you stole me one centipede! And it was the one i painstakingly searched for the last two hours! Say me, you did it just to troll me.
You even hooked it with your fishing line and then threw into the river. What did you feed it with?“ From the curiosity, his voice softened a little.
,,It’s not, that i am trying to obtain some pet, or feed the fish, but unless i fight with monsters in the water, i cannot use my skills on them.“
,,I see. So you’re of the fisherman class. It seems you can at low levels only hunt efficiently the fish and so on, i didn’t know that. Such disadvantage early on, hm…“
,,…“
,,I’ve heard, that fishermen have a lot of stamina. You’re lucky, we are short on numbers in our party, since today we’ll try to kill the undine boss here.
If you give me your part of the drop, you can consider it worth that one centipede. What about that?“ There was a glint of monetary calculation in his eyes.
,,Sounds good. With a boss, it sure must be an epic battle! Since this way i will no longer owe you anything, it’s settled.“
---
Amidst few trees, another pair of players was standing, silently. Glaring on each other and clenching their teeth, seemingly both of them are angry.
This place doesn’t only differ in time, but it is far away, too. Instead of falling trees, the cedars here are covered in snow.
Experienced eyes could tell, that there is another difference. One player is totally confident.
Suddenly, both raised their hands and, while being in trance, said a couple of ancient words, at rather fast pace.
Under the flight of the magical arrows, several unique snowdrops vanished into the air to never return again. One could really regret their disappearance, if he didn’t know,
that original snowdrops is one of those things, which Royal Road has yet to manage.
While each mage shielded himself with the magic shield, based upon reading the type of his opponent‘s magic, one of them failed and the magic missile penetrated his left shoulder.
Trying to suppress his surprise, he decided to cast two lesser fireballs at once. The trick was, one of them was fake and each of them was flying at his enemy from opposite direction.
To buy time, there was not a better tactic. He could tell. This way, he had enough time to recast the magic shield, this time adjusted properly.
In the third round, our two magicians still insisted on giving each other pointers in a violent way. Now, one had both of his shoulders penetrated, his hitpoints decreasing rapidly.
Furious, he gave his all into the last attack and unexpected, strong winds created a snowstorm. It’s existence ceased along with one player.
The other was shaken, but still standing with a smile upon his pale face.
---
Finally, my training started to pay off. In this game, it is common for all the mages to spend most of their training routine reading new books,
while practicing their spells. While the academic intelligence they have is outstanding, the originality displayed by them is much worse.
Well, as a scholar i am no match for any of them, but i didn’t forget, that magic is an art.
While they do study, i am casting spells. While they are casting spells, i am still casting, too. Here, in Royal Road, the use of the abillity to focus can be easily
misunderstood to just do one thing more profficiently, or, from what i’ve heard, assasins use it to constantly check their surroundigs, while they kill.
At the very start, i just managed to cast one spell under slightly disadvantageous circumstances. Later on, i was able to cast two beginner spells at once.
Now, i can pull off one intermediate and one beginner, or two beginner and a third one with 40% chance to success.
Versus other damage-oriented mages, all i need is to use one beginner spell to alter the appearance and qualities on the surface of my water bolt.
Other elements are too hard to cover – frost will freeze my target, fire will burn and wind will push, with earth being the only exception.In all my previous games, i simply loved pvp. For me, ranked duels in Royal Road would be the only thing to be concerned about these days, if not for my younger brother.
I hope he will not be too tiresome. Just now he did PM me to help him. I wonder if all the younger siblings think the first characteristic of their family member
are the relationship bonds their share and only after that they are humans?
---
I hope he will come soon. It could be said, that every hero has a dark and troubled past, but i have no idea how to redeem my sins!
It seems my relieve from meeting him will be suspended, as he immediately switched to his insane mode.
,,What a…!“ He even didn’t finish, staring at my name. Wait… Name? Maybe they had to come up with a temporary solution?
,,I was too tired to notice back there, but now i see. Hm. What a fitting name you have! Hahahah!“ Nonsense!
During his heartily laughter, i thought it over:. ,,Hey, it’s no fun, when i remind you of you and you just laugh it off.“
After few of his futile tries to balance the score between us, we came to the forest.
,,You didn’t ask me to grind with you, did you? I told you repeatedly, that this way you won’t receive any experience.“
,,No, no! I just need you to help me apologize.“
,,Maybe if you apologize to me first. But what have you done?“
,,You see. There was this mage, called Lee. He invited me to a party against the undine boss here.“
,,I remember this one. But other, than the burst of damage every four minutes, there is nothing to worry about. Of course, it is said they made it more fierce after the last update.“
,,All of them were very concerned about me. They did let me to attack the undine first and left me outside the party, so that i will receive more levels!
To make me even more calm, they told me, that the less hitpoints i have, the easier it is to heal me. But, then…“
With voice colored in his slight anger, he asked me further.
,,As i used my skill on the monster, it bounced on our archer and instantly killed him. Then, it came back to me. I knew, that i have only this skill
and nothing else, so i could’nt help but to use it again. This time, it slayed our three mages, swiftly one after one. Being really scared, i did again and again.
In the end, it wiped our party completely. I tried to shout things like 'You shall not pass! ' and so on, you know, like Gandalf, but it didn’t help.
My mana was completely depleted and i was killed, too.“
,,I promise i will take care of this. Just explain me your skills and class. Could it be, that you‘re like me?“ I don’t play this game to make my nightmares real!
,,Then, take care of yourself. I have some ideas, but i need to try them first. Oh, and it would be better to don’t say your class.“
Because i was still afraid of my recently-obtained dark past, i hunted in different places. Each centipede had more vivid colors, than the ones back there.
But suddenly, i felt a killing intent from behind and chills ran down my spine. Someone stomped on the leaves and killed them in the most horrible way.
With the sound of their (I suppose everything has them, right?) bones being completely shattered, i turned around.
What a horrible way to die! He must be enjoying a good fame in the pvp realm. Otherwise, he would not try this against me.
But wait. There is this cliché called 'Defeat Means Friendship'. I know, because i watched the anime Rurouni Kenshin. There is this defeat of Sagara Sanosuke
and he becomes an important party member! I guess it’s time to obtain some too.
But this is completely out of the place, now. Every enemy converted this way must appear in the second episode of the anime, or manga,
but i have no idea, how to defeat him yet. As i tightened my grip on the katana, with the appearance of a fishing rod, i decided to be unrivalled story teller
and use my almost ultimate move on him in the next chapter.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
References:
ks - Means to steal a kill. Usually used by the pro guys, when they lose their abillity to remain good players and become frustrated,
trying to get back at least the feeling. But if done repeatedly, anyone will be mad at you.
See dark and troubled past: [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... oubledPast](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkAndTroubledPast)
Gandalf is a mighty, old freak from The Lord of the Rings.
Defeat Means Friendship: [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... Friendship](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefeatMeansFriendship)
Rurouni Kenshin is a manga, made into an anime and now being made into live-action: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_kenshin>
I suppose after the new chapter of Dark Side, nobody will ever believe, that i had the idea about focus and spells in my mind before.
It really discouraged me. But take it as it is, or believe i am just a copycat. |
{
"title": "The Misadventures of Penguin Peril by Everyone",
"id": 84,
"author": "LaDenouement",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "Ch1 - Just another quiet day at the Chat until... by VIM1INC",
"id": 369,
"next": 370,
"prev": 368,
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"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
by VIM1INC » Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:15 am<br><br><br>"Come now, Lich, at least get me off that noose." A virtual Avatar complained to another avatar, that of a dead body that was supposedly dead, but had somehow revived itself from the fallen body of a zombie to one of unknown origin. To describe it would be an affront to mankind, and so, I shall not describe it.<br><br>"No, nyahahahaha. I will not." The mysterious talking body chuckled mischievously, its laughter like that of a anthropomorphic cat. Leeches covered every part of its body; a sticky and slimy mess.<br><br>The hanging Avatar, a muscular Panda wearing a top hat, frowned as he strained to break the noose, but it was made of diamond, and therefore nigh on unbreakable. Sighing to himself, the panda took out a guan dao, about 6 feet long and wickedly sharp. Holding it as easily as you would a twig, the panda slashed awkwardly at the noose, which did not yield. The Panda frowned at the result, and took out a dagger and tried again.<br><br>The noose still did not break, even though the Panda continued to switch items ranging from a chainsaw, a lance, a zweihander, a light saber, and even a crab, none of which left a discernable mark on the noose.<br><br>The unknown body snickered as the leeches crawled through and fro across its body.<br><br>Dropping the crab, which quickly scuttled away only for some of the leeches on the unknown body to pounce on it and proceed to make sweet monkey love to it (that, or suck its blood), the panda took out the Guan Dao again. Grimacing at what he was about to do, the panda composed itself, and stabbed the large blade onto his neck, and pulled, slicing his own head clean off.<br><br>A thump could be heard as the body hit the floor and disappeared in a grey flash. A few seconds later, a new Panda wearing a top hat appeared again, this one with a moustache and a monocle. <br><br>“Aha!! Weep and despair, Lich, for I am free!!” The Panda cried in triumph, only to feel its feet dangling on the ground and the tug of the noose as it tightened due to his movements.<br><br>“Dang it, Lich. It looks like after the last few times you left it like this, it has left a recurring effect on my persona.”<br><br>“Nyahahahaha, give up. This curse will not be so easily removed.” the unknown body snickered as it plucked off a leech and examined it like how a jeweller carefully grades a piece of jewellery. The panda frowned, seeing that the unknown body is unrepentant about its actions, sighed and dug in its coat pocket.<br>“Well, it looks like it is going to be another quiet day today. Got any interesting stories to tell?” the panda said as it took out a tea pot and a plate of biscuits. A small round table appeared in front of him, as if like magic, and the tea pot and plate of biscuits floated onto the table, landing with a soft *clink!*. A tea cup appeared, and with great difficulty (considering that he was currently dancing the hemp fandango), the Panda poured himself a cup.<br><br>A drop of tea fell onto the floor, where it began to sizzle.<br><br>“Nyahahaha. I did hear that a penguin is beginning to play Royal Road, though I have not heard that much detail on this.” The unknown body ignored the tea droplet that was currently dissolving a patch on the wooden floor and spoke casually.<br><br>“How would-“<br><br>“WHEN IS CHAPTER 13.10 GOING TO COME OUT??” A fierce roar could be heard from the distance, and a humanoid shape wearing nothing but a skintight suit and wearing a faceless mask leapt out of nowhere, foaming and frothing at the mouth.<br><br>“Oh, ah…” The Panda’s tongue began to formulate a reply, when a beam of holy light rained down from the heavens upon the unceremonious interrupter, obliterating it instantly. The panda shot an angry look at the unknown body.<br><br>“What? That wasn’t me. Could have been the moderators, you know how they feel about Anons.” The unknown body spoke out defensively.<br><br>“Hmmm.” The panda regarding the smoking spot on the floor that the Anonymous once occupied. He turned back to the table and poured himself another cup of tea. A droplet fell unto a puppy that was just passing by, causing it to instantaneously mutate into a ravenous, man-eating demonic hell hound.<br><br>“PUPPY!!! HERE CEREBERUS, HERE BOY!!” The unknown body cried with glee as it offered a leech to the newly mutated demon dog.<br><br>It was just another quiet day at the chat room with its regular bouts of silence followed by spurts of conversation. At least, until that event happened…
</div> | by VIM1INC » Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:15 am
"Come now, Lich, at least get me off that noose." A virtual Avatar complained to another avatar, that of a dead body that was supposedly dead, but had somehow revived itself from the fallen body of a zombie to one of unknown origin. To describe it would be an affront to mankind, and so, I shall not describe it.
"No, nyahahahaha. I will not." The mysterious talking body chuckled mischievously, its laughter like that of a anthropomorphic cat. Leeches covered every part of its body; a sticky and slimy mess.
The hanging Avatar, a muscular Panda wearing a top hat, frowned as he strained to break the noose, but it was made of diamond, and therefore nigh on unbreakable. Sighing to himself, the panda took out a guan dao, about 6 feet long and wickedly sharp. Holding it as easily as you would a twig, the panda slashed awkwardly at the noose, which did not yield. The Panda frowned at the result, and took out a dagger and tried again.
The noose still did not break, even though the Panda continued to switch items ranging from a chainsaw, a lance, a zweihander, a light saber, and even a crab, none of which left a discernable mark on the noose.
The unknown body snickered as the leeches crawled through and fro across its body.
Dropping the crab, which quickly scuttled away only for some of the leeches on the unknown body to pounce on it and proceed to make sweet monkey love to it (that, or suck its blood), the panda took out the Guan Dao again. Grimacing at what he was about to do, the panda composed itself, and stabbed the large blade onto his neck, and pulled, slicing his own head clean off.
A thump could be heard as the body hit the floor and disappeared in a grey flash. A few seconds later, a new Panda wearing a top hat appeared again, this one with a moustache and a monocle.
“Aha!! Weep and despair, Lich, for I am free!!” The Panda cried in triumph, only to feel its feet dangling on the ground and the tug of the noose as it tightened due to his movements.
“Dang it, Lich. It looks like after the last few times you left it like this, it has left a recurring effect on my persona.”
“Nyahahahaha, give up. This curse will not be so easily removed.” the unknown body snickered as it plucked off a leech and examined it like how a jeweller carefully grades a piece of jewellery. The panda frowned, seeing that the unknown body is unrepentant about its actions, sighed and dug in its coat pocket.
“Well, it looks like it is going to be another quiet day today. Got any interesting stories to tell?” the panda said as it took out a tea pot and a plate of biscuits. A small round table appeared in front of him, as if like magic, and the tea pot and plate of biscuits floated onto the table, landing with a soft *clink!*. A tea cup appeared, and with great difficulty (considering that he was currently dancing the hemp fandango), the Panda poured himself a cup.
A drop of tea fell onto the floor, where it began to sizzle.
“Nyahahaha. I did hear that a penguin is beginning to play Royal Road, though I have not heard that much detail on this.” The unknown body ignored the tea droplet that was currently dissolving a patch on the wooden floor and spoke casually.
“How would-“
“WHEN IS CHAPTER 13.10 GOING TO COME OUT??” A fierce roar could be heard from the distance, and a humanoid shape wearing nothing but a skintight suit and wearing a faceless mask leapt out of nowhere, foaming and frothing at the mouth.
“Oh, ah…” The Panda’s tongue began to formulate a reply, when a beam of holy light rained down from the heavens upon the unceremonious interrupter, obliterating it instantly. The panda shot an angry look at the unknown body.
“What? That wasn’t me. Could have been the moderators, you know how they feel about Anons.” The unknown body spoke out defensively.
“Hmmm.” The panda regarding the smoking spot on the floor that the Anonymous once occupied. He turned back to the table and poured himself another cup of tea. A droplet fell unto a puppy that was just passing by, causing it to instantaneously mutate into a ravenous, man-eating demonic hell hound.
“PUPPY!!! HERE CEREBERUS, HERE BOY!!” The unknown body cried with glee as it offered a leech to the newly mutated demon dog.
It was just another quiet day at the chat room with its regular bouts of silence followed by spurts of conversation. At least, until that event happened… |
{
"title": "Exodus™ Online by B4DDI3Z",
"id": 58,
"author": "Baddiez",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "WTF Does That Mean?",
"id": 152,
"next": 153,
"prev": 147,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
When you wonder what the hell does that mean as you read my fanfic feel free to drop by here XD.<br><br>Mazoku: A common concept in Japanese fantasy referring to a race of beings born with supernatural and paranormal powers.<br><br>Squishy: Squishy is basically what we call cloth users or characters that have low armour,hp and die quickly.<br>Typically this would be classes like mages, priests, necromancers etc.<br><br>Dps: Damage per second. This term is used to describe the damage dealers the ones that lay down the punishment.<br>Big Heals: High mana cost heals that heal LARGE amounts of damage.<br><br>GG: Good Game<br><br>Busby: Name is used to troll for those who havn't figured it out yet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby</a>. It doesn't actually look like that I will explain the appearance of it soon.
</div> | When you wonder what the hell does that mean as you read my fanfic feel free to drop by here XD.
Mazoku: A common concept in Japanese fantasy referring to a race of beings born with supernatural and paranormal powers.
Squishy: Squishy is basically what we call cloth users or characters that have low armour,hp and die quickly.
Typically this would be classes like mages, priests, necromancers etc.
Dps: Damage per second. This term is used to describe the damage dealers the ones that lay down the punishment.
Big Heals: High mana cost heals that heal LARGE amounts of damage.
GG: Good Game
Busby: Name is used to troll for those who havn't figured it out yet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby>. It doesn't actually look like that I will explain the appearance of it soon. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend Of JaWal - Chapter 9",
"id": 125,
"next": 978,
"prev": 10,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 9<br><br><br>“Existence has to be life but life does not have to be existence. If life would only consist of existing then what would you call the comparison of existence?”<br><br>Warwalker<br><br><br>Moonlight enlightened the groove in which the group had finally found shelter after a troublesome day. They had walked since sunrise, only to find out that they had just passed by a city where an event similar to the forest happened. Someone broke through the defense line and murdered almost every guard at the barrack. The few witnesses that were found were so shocked that they couldn’t tell one thing apart from the other. They were just frightened. So frightened that they couldn’t even talk anymore. As if dead would grasp them if they talked.<br><br>But the problem on hand was, that they had walked too far to easily walk back to the city. They were on a high level ground, a very high level ground, and through the night bonus, the entire area was suicidal dangerous. For now they had found this free spot between the huge trees, spruces to be correct. Sleepiness lay itself upon consciousness of the members, and Markus declared that he would take the first watch.<br><br>A campfire spread warmth and everyone was rather quickly asleep. The moment was just right for Markus who had waited for this the entire time. The thought that something was wrong with Failariél was just too overwhelming inside his head. He could not believe it himself but there was something about her, something weird. There was definitely something wrong. And he was responsible for the safety of his friends. Nobody knew of his plan to keep an eye on the beautiful elf.<br><br>Something was quite suspicious. She didn’t know what happened. The forest did not wake any memories and she herself had none. On top of that she couldn’t log out. The Bull and the twins had already bets running, that she was a NPC, sent to us for a quest. But I just couldn’t believe it.<br><br>Instead of watching the area, he held an eye on Failariél, who, at the moment, slept.<br><br>The shadows that enveloped the camp, were neither noticed by Markus nor by any other member of the group. Formed steelheads fall on their heads without a warning, the first still unnoticed, but as the second wave came the group was, as you could say, already ready for war. Everyone heaved their heavy blue coloured armors up in no time, and held their shields, or whatever they found at the moment to deflect the arrows in the direction of the arrows. You could hear steel hammering on steel. Bushes rustled and enemies swept forward. Bandits to be exact. Iron, steel and bronze shone in the bluish light of the moon. Shouts, roars and cries of pain filled the night. Birds crossed above their heads out of the trees, woken up by the tremendous noise.<br><br>“Back to back guys. Hold the position, we may be terribly outnumbered but we are still the legendary sapphire brigade! We, the blue jewels, won’t be stopped by a mere group of bandits. Even in death we may be triumphant!”<br><br>They formed a circle. Back to back they stood, slashing and cutting, shooting arrows to hear another cry of pain, for just another moin of death. This endless span of death was, frankly said, normal for mankind. Since the beginning of man humans fought battles for the possession of others. At the beginning it were thoughts like: Why can’t I have a cave so big and warm? later they changed to more trivial things. People fought for land they didn’t need just to shine more brightly afterward, or if it went wrong, to have no shine anymore.<br><br>The bandit group, having lost a huge amount of thieves and robbers, tried to retreat into the protection of the night and the shadows of the trees.<br><br>“After them”, Markus shouted to the group.”No more shall these people terrorize other travelers.”<br><br>They ran after them, unaware of the danger lurking behind the trees. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was coincidence, nonetheless it happened. With blue armor and raised arms still in the heat the battle, they didn’t notice, that the cries of the bandits had long ended. Despite they followed.<br><br>“Where are they?”, Markus hissed to the group with an icy cloud coming out.<br><br>“They can’t be so fast!”, answered the Bull on that. “They must be hiding somewhere.”<br><br>One of the twins stepped forward. “I can see something,” he pointed inside the forest.<br><br>The other twin agreed with bis brother. “Then what are we waiting around here?”, whispered Markus silently to the group, like a breath it reached the ears. The breath let Failarié’s blood run cold. Was it the sound of his voice, or is something wrong here, she thought.<br><br>Steadily they went deeper into the forest. One of them always seeing another thing to lead them deeper and deeper into the darkness. The further they got, the darker it became. The forest was silence. Too silent for the perception of Markus. But he didn’t say anything. With hushed steps they came onto a clearing.<br><br>To the shock of everyone, they found another massacre. The bandits they had chased, lay around, torn apart by brute force. Ponds of blood formed and somehow were connected to each other by small lines of blood. None of them noticed that the blood looked like a circle for a ritual. Even if someone of them would have seen it now, it was too late for them. the once so beautiful clearing was suddenly shining in the crimson red of blood. It was even more beautiful than before but on the other hand it was horrible. All this blood, all this guts, entrails still dripping blood was something that was not compatible with Failarièl’s stomach. She throw up in front of the group but no one could take it bad on her. This scene was just cruel.<br><br>But they still didn’t know why everything was enlightened just now. The Bull stepped forward into the circle, unaware of the danger. “It’s alright guys, nothing is here anymore.” He searched the ground for a trail but to his misfortune he didn’t find anything.<br><br>Slowly everyone of the group except of Failariél, who still recovered from her shock, walked onto the clearing. Aöö at once mayhem broke out. The earth began to shake, trees snapped somewhere in the distance, storm clouds gathered above their heads and the symbol began to shine bright red.<br><br><br><br><br>--------------------<br><br><br>I looked around unhealthy fast. My worry were the skeletons which chased me through the entire complex. I slipped past many corners and didn’t know where I were at the moment. As I looked out for any approaching enemies and noticed that there were none, I sighed. The corridor was<br><br>long and covered with moss one the right side. There were no visible entrances or windows on the sides. The air had an old smell to it. Dust whirled everywhere. A light breeze could be felt.<br><br>My breathing was heavy and I needed time to recover the stamina that I had lost on the run. Actually I had to overcome the shock of nearly getting killed as well. That was definitely not my plan! As I stood there I thought about what happened. I had gained so stat points while I were running and avoiding monsters. Was there something else? Mmh, I had nearly forgotten the loot of the head skeleton.<br><br>“Open Inventory”<br><br>I scrambled through the options, saw what I possessed at the moment, which was actually not much. The dagger from Orin. My body vest. The beginner clothes. And the katana. And the new items, marked up, were as far as I could say at the moment, leather leg armor, the helmet he wore, boots and gloves. I was surprised that one enemy dropped that much of equipment. But then I knew why I obtained so many items. It was the first-visit buff from before, which gave the rarest drop for the first kill. All items were still unidentified.<br><br>Identification!<br><br>It only made the stats visible for the gloves at the moment. Seems like I have to work on that skill in the future.<br>-------<br><br>Hard Leather Gloves of the Immortal Wanderer<br><br>Defense: 8<br><br>Stats: Agility + 5<br><br>Stamina + 5<br><br>Vitality + 5<br><br>Magic Resistance +5%<br><br>Description: Once this were gloves of great virtue.<br><br>Now after they are long forgotten you have the honor to<br><br>gain fame with them, so that they can shine bright again!<br><br>Special Effect: Raises stats according to your quests and fame.<br><br>Stops at some point.<br><br>---------<br><br><br><br>Wow. That were some great gloves. And it seems they will get even greater over time! If all the items I got are this awesome I have nothing to fear. Come at me! You undead scum.<br><br>The gloves were black leather and protected the underarm as well. They offered warmth through fur and gave advanced protection through engraved ruins. They looked nice and were very comfortable to wear.<br><br>Almost three hours were gone since I fall through the ceiling. I thought it was a trap-door but, when I was on the upper floor there was no sign of any trap door or anything like that. Maybe I just fell through the ceiling or magic warped me down. That reminds me of magic. I was in RoyalRoad and I still haven’t seen any real magic. Like fireballs or blizzards. Maybe I should stop at the library or buy me some magic tomes for traveling.<br><br>After all this time I had spent here, did the dark atmosphere not give me the creeps anymore.<br><br>Actually it felt really nice to know that you could see just as bad as others down here. Obviously I didn’t know at that time that I could pierce the darkness better than most other people.<br><br>My health was still not recovered to the fullest as a black figure appeared on one end of the corridor. I still didn’t feel that well but I thought why not give it a try. It would be boring if I just keep on running through this old and dusty corridors. With my katana at one side and well nothing on my other side except maybe my wits I confronted the enemy. Or whatever it was. it made a slurfing sound and as it came nearer I saw that it was a fully covered skeleton with bandages. A mummy! With no notice of my presence I waited inside a crack to let it pass to sneak up on it from behind.<br><br>As it went past my hiding place, I came out and followed slowly. To our both surprise did I accidentally step on one of the bandages. The mummy fall to the hard ground and lost most of the bandages as it roll down the corridor. As I heard a loud crash, I couldn’t see it anymore, I kept track of the bandages which I picked up on the way and found a broken skeleton at the end of the corridor. I swept over the loot, it wasn’t much, just some bone dust and eight copper coins. I examined the bandages.<br><br><br>-------<br><br>Item: Dusty bandages<br><br>Used to cover wounds and to stop bleedings.<br><br>It may infect the user as it is now covered with dust. <br><br>---<br><br>Well if it’s dusty than I can make it clean. I tried to clean the bandages but came to no success. The air was already too dusty or I don’T know why but the dust didn’t want to come of. What a pity!<br><br>Many skeletons blocked my way but no strong enemy popped up. As I eliminated this low-bobs I reached some levels. Starter levels can be gained fast just as in every other game.<br><br>One corridor was actually very tricky. I almost died there. the corridor stretched over many hundreds of meters and it looked like it had no end. I heard a click beneath my right foot. “Oh crap!” A trap! The words came out of my mouth and suddenly dust whirled down from the ceiling alongside small stones. I could hear something smashing down the corridor behind me and I grabbed all of my belongings and runned down,faster than I normally could have, the corridor. <br><br>Just as I reached the end of the corridor and a big boulder was close behind me I tripped. I crashed headfirst into the wall but it gave way. I rolled out of instinct fast to the side. Just then did the boulder come after me. It nearly got me! That were not more than one or two inches actually.<br><br>While I stood up and tapped down the dust from my clothes, I looked around. It was a huge dome. From above I could see rays of light entering - changing the atmosphere completely.<br><br>It looked like a fantasy movie or a great spectacular picture.<br><br>You could hear the clagging of my shoes echoing of the walls. As I got a better look of the entire circular room I could see four pillars holding the ceiling. They were formed like ancient titans.<br><br>Strong and powerful they did their job for a long time. You could see it.<br><br>Click.<br><br>I intuitively jumped to the side and rolled over the floor to catch some of the impact of.<br><br>“You ain’t as bad as I thought. From your looks you seem to be someone who has just arrived on this continent.” Lying I could see who spoke in such a harsh tone. It was some sort of guardian. He wear studded leather and had claws attached to his hands. “How I hate guys like you. Scum like you doesn’t deserve to live another day,” he jumped forward and proppeled like a tornado towards me. I could swear that I could hear the wind being sliced apart.<br><br>I raised my sword and blocked his attack at the last second by deflecting his tornado strike to the top and spinning to the side. But my sword didn’t stop at that moment, it came down right after I blocked the attack.<br><br>Critical Hit!<br><br>After I hit I slashed again but he was already away. “Who are you?” That had to sound stupid but nothing else came to my mind. “Why are you attacking me out of nowhere?” At least I could get some answers.<br><br>“For you to ask such questions, tztz. You broke into this holy sanctuary! Not me, you!”<br><br>His left arm was bleeding but that didn’t stop him from channeling power. A red orb formed in front of his hands. Before I could react he shoot it toward me. A bright red light blended my eyes. Pain numbed my senses and I was pushed back against the wall in a wide arc.<br><br>Something warm ran down my stomach. I touched it with my blood and realized that it was blood. My HP were at a critical point and without fast treatment I would die.<br><br>The weird thing was that he vanished in thin air. He wasn’t there anymore.<br><br>I took out the old bandages and treated myself with them. It stopped the bleeding temporarily. I definitely had to use it again to change the bandage later on.<br><br>After the bleeding stopped my HP went slowly up again. I took out something to eat from my backpack to recover some stamina and reduce my fatigue.<br><br>There had to be something here if there are guardians so powerful.<br><br>I went on and stepped into the middle again. The room seemed different than before. After some time I knew why. The sun had set and left behind a dark room. I examined the floor and the walls but didn’t find any clues about the place or who he was.<br><br>After spending some time doing that my wound began to bleed again. The bandages were soaked wet with blood and it hurt like hell to take them off.<br><br>I had still some left from before and put them on.<br><br>-----<br><br>You got infected with Vampirism.<br><br>The first stage will give you bonuses on<br><br>night vision and agility.<br><br>+25% Nightvision<br><br>Agility +5<br><br>You may suck blood to replenish health.<br><br>The longer you stay a vampire, the more do the effects do.<br><br>Beware!<br><br>-----<br><br>What the bloody hell? I just put some bandages on. Ohhh- The mummy must have been a vampire before and by applying the bandages on my wound I got the infected cells into my body.
</div> | Chapter 9
“Existence has to be life but life does not have to be existence. If life would only consist of existing then what would you call the comparison of existence?”
Warwalker
Moonlight enlightened the groove in which the group had finally found shelter after a troublesome day. They had walked since sunrise, only to find out that they had just passed by a city where an event similar to the forest happened. Someone broke through the defense line and murdered almost every guard at the barrack. The few witnesses that were found were so shocked that they couldn’t tell one thing apart from the other. They were just frightened. So frightened that they couldn’t even talk anymore. As if dead would grasp them if they talked.
But the problem on hand was, that they had walked too far to easily walk back to the city. They were on a high level ground, a very high level ground, and through the night bonus, the entire area was suicidal dangerous. For now they had found this free spot between the huge trees, spruces to be correct. Sleepiness lay itself upon consciousness of the members, and Markus declared that he would take the first watch.
A campfire spread warmth and everyone was rather quickly asleep. The moment was just right for Markus who had waited for this the entire time. The thought that something was wrong with Failariél was just too overwhelming inside his head. He could not believe it himself but there was something about her, something weird. There was definitely something wrong. And he was responsible for the safety of his friends. Nobody knew of his plan to keep an eye on the beautiful elf.
Something was quite suspicious. She didn’t know what happened. The forest did not wake any memories and she herself had none. On top of that she couldn’t log out. The Bull and the twins had already bets running, that she was a NPC, sent to us for a quest. But I just couldn’t believe it.
Instead of watching the area, he held an eye on Failariél, who, at the moment, slept.
The shadows that enveloped the camp, were neither noticed by Markus nor by any other member of the group. Formed steelheads fall on their heads without a warning, the first still unnoticed, but as the second wave came the group was, as you could say, already ready for war. Everyone heaved their heavy blue coloured armors up in no time, and held their shields, or whatever they found at the moment to deflect the arrows in the direction of the arrows. You could hear steel hammering on steel. Bushes rustled and enemies swept forward. Bandits to be exact. Iron, steel and bronze shone in the bluish light of the moon. Shouts, roars and cries of pain filled the night. Birds crossed above their heads out of the trees, woken up by the tremendous noise.
“Back to back guys. Hold the position, we may be terribly outnumbered but we are still the legendary sapphire brigade! We, the blue jewels, won’t be stopped by a mere group of bandits. Even in death we may be triumphant!”
They formed a circle. Back to back they stood, slashing and cutting, shooting arrows to hear another cry of pain, for just another moin of death. This endless span of death was, frankly said, normal for mankind. Since the beginning of man humans fought battles for the possession of others. At the beginning it were thoughts like: Why can’t I have a cave so big and warm? later they changed to more trivial things. People fought for land they didn’t need just to shine more brightly afterward, or if it went wrong, to have no shine anymore.
The bandit group, having lost a huge amount of thieves and robbers, tried to retreat into the protection of the night and the shadows of the trees.
“After them”, Markus shouted to the group.”No more shall these people terrorize other travelers.”
They ran after them, unaware of the danger lurking behind the trees. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was coincidence, nonetheless it happened. With blue armor and raised arms still in the heat the battle, they didn’t notice, that the cries of the bandits had long ended. Despite they followed.
“Where are they?”, Markus hissed to the group with an icy cloud coming out.
“They can’t be so fast!”, answered the Bull on that. “They must be hiding somewhere.”
One of the twins stepped forward. “I can see something,” he pointed inside the forest.
The other twin agreed with bis brother. “Then what are we waiting around here?”, whispered Markus silently to the group, like a breath it reached the ears. The breath let Failarié’s blood run cold. Was it the sound of his voice, or is something wrong here, she thought.
Steadily they went deeper into the forest. One of them always seeing another thing to lead them deeper and deeper into the darkness. The further they got, the darker it became. The forest was silence. Too silent for the perception of Markus. But he didn’t say anything. With hushed steps they came onto a clearing.
To the shock of everyone, they found another massacre. The bandits they had chased, lay around, torn apart by brute force. Ponds of blood formed and somehow were connected to each other by small lines of blood. None of them noticed that the blood looked like a circle for a ritual. Even if someone of them would have seen it now, it was too late for them. the once so beautiful clearing was suddenly shining in the crimson red of blood. It was even more beautiful than before but on the other hand it was horrible. All this blood, all this guts, entrails still dripping blood was something that was not compatible with Failarièl’s stomach. She throw up in front of the group but no one could take it bad on her. This scene was just cruel.
But they still didn’t know why everything was enlightened just now. The Bull stepped forward into the circle, unaware of the danger. “It’s alright guys, nothing is here anymore.” He searched the ground for a trail but to his misfortune he didn’t find anything.
Slowly everyone of the group except of Failariél, who still recovered from her shock, walked onto the clearing. Aöö at once mayhem broke out. The earth began to shake, trees snapped somewhere in the distance, storm clouds gathered above their heads and the symbol began to shine bright red.
--------------------
I looked around unhealthy fast. My worry were the skeletons which chased me through the entire complex. I slipped past many corners and didn’t know where I were at the moment. As I looked out for any approaching enemies and noticed that there were none, I sighed. The corridor was
long and covered with moss one the right side. There were no visible entrances or windows on the sides. The air had an old smell to it. Dust whirled everywhere. A light breeze could be felt.
My breathing was heavy and I needed time to recover the stamina that I had lost on the run. Actually I had to overcome the shock of nearly getting killed as well. That was definitely not my plan! As I stood there I thought about what happened. I had gained so stat points while I were running and avoiding monsters. Was there something else? Mmh, I had nearly forgotten the loot of the head skeleton.
“Open Inventory”
I scrambled through the options, saw what I possessed at the moment, which was actually not much. The dagger from Orin. My body vest. The beginner clothes. And the katana. And the new items, marked up, were as far as I could say at the moment, leather leg armor, the helmet he wore, boots and gloves. I was surprised that one enemy dropped that much of equipment. But then I knew why I obtained so many items. It was the first-visit buff from before, which gave the rarest drop for the first kill. All items were still unidentified.
Identification!
It only made the stats visible for the gloves at the moment. Seems like I have to work on that skill in the future.
-------
Hard Leather Gloves of the Immortal Wanderer
Defense: 8
Stats: Agility + 5
Stamina + 5
Vitality + 5
Magic Resistance +5%
Description: Once this were gloves of great virtue.
Now after they are long forgotten you have the honor to
gain fame with them, so that they can shine bright again!
Special Effect: Raises stats according to your quests and fame.
Stops at some point.
---------
Wow. That were some great gloves. And it seems they will get even greater over time! If all the items I got are this awesome I have nothing to fear. Come at me! You undead scum.
The gloves were black leather and protected the underarm as well. They offered warmth through fur and gave advanced protection through engraved ruins. They looked nice and were very comfortable to wear.
Almost three hours were gone since I fall through the ceiling. I thought it was a trap-door but, when I was on the upper floor there was no sign of any trap door or anything like that. Maybe I just fell through the ceiling or magic warped me down. That reminds me of magic. I was in RoyalRoad and I still haven’t seen any real magic. Like fireballs or blizzards. Maybe I should stop at the library or buy me some magic tomes for traveling.
After all this time I had spent here, did the dark atmosphere not give me the creeps anymore.
Actually it felt really nice to know that you could see just as bad as others down here. Obviously I didn’t know at that time that I could pierce the darkness better than most other people.
My health was still not recovered to the fullest as a black figure appeared on one end of the corridor. I still didn’t feel that well but I thought why not give it a try. It would be boring if I just keep on running through this old and dusty corridors. With my katana at one side and well nothing on my other side except maybe my wits I confronted the enemy. Or whatever it was. it made a slurfing sound and as it came nearer I saw that it was a fully covered skeleton with bandages. A mummy! With no notice of my presence I waited inside a crack to let it pass to sneak up on it from behind.
As it went past my hiding place, I came out and followed slowly. To our both surprise did I accidentally step on one of the bandages. The mummy fall to the hard ground and lost most of the bandages as it roll down the corridor. As I heard a loud crash, I couldn’t see it anymore, I kept track of the bandages which I picked up on the way and found a broken skeleton at the end of the corridor. I swept over the loot, it wasn’t much, just some bone dust and eight copper coins. I examined the bandages.
-------
Item: Dusty bandages
Used to cover wounds and to stop bleedings.
It may infect the user as it is now covered with dust.
---
Well if it’s dusty than I can make it clean. I tried to clean the bandages but came to no success. The air was already too dusty or I don’T know why but the dust didn’t want to come of. What a pity!
Many skeletons blocked my way but no strong enemy popped up. As I eliminated this low-bobs I reached some levels. Starter levels can be gained fast just as in every other game.
One corridor was actually very tricky. I almost died there. the corridor stretched over many hundreds of meters and it looked like it had no end. I heard a click beneath my right foot. “Oh crap!” A trap! The words came out of my mouth and suddenly dust whirled down from the ceiling alongside small stones. I could hear something smashing down the corridor behind me and I grabbed all of my belongings and runned down,faster than I normally could have, the corridor.
Just as I reached the end of the corridor and a big boulder was close behind me I tripped. I crashed headfirst into the wall but it gave way. I rolled out of instinct fast to the side. Just then did the boulder come after me. It nearly got me! That were not more than one or two inches actually.
While I stood up and tapped down the dust from my clothes, I looked around. It was a huge dome. From above I could see rays of light entering - changing the atmosphere completely.
It looked like a fantasy movie or a great spectacular picture.
You could hear the clagging of my shoes echoing of the walls. As I got a better look of the entire circular room I could see four pillars holding the ceiling. They were formed like ancient titans.
Strong and powerful they did their job for a long time. You could see it.
Click.
I intuitively jumped to the side and rolled over the floor to catch some of the impact of.
“You ain’t as bad as I thought. From your looks you seem to be someone who has just arrived on this continent.” Lying I could see who spoke in such a harsh tone. It was some sort of guardian. He wear studded leather and had claws attached to his hands. “How I hate guys like you. Scum like you doesn’t deserve to live another day,” he jumped forward and proppeled like a tornado towards me. I could swear that I could hear the wind being sliced apart.
I raised my sword and blocked his attack at the last second by deflecting his tornado strike to the top and spinning to the side. But my sword didn’t stop at that moment, it came down right after I blocked the attack.
Critical Hit!
After I hit I slashed again but he was already away. “Who are you?” That had to sound stupid but nothing else came to my mind. “Why are you attacking me out of nowhere?” At least I could get some answers.
“For you to ask such questions, tztz. You broke into this holy sanctuary! Not me, you!”
His left arm was bleeding but that didn’t stop him from channeling power. A red orb formed in front of his hands. Before I could react he shoot it toward me. A bright red light blended my eyes. Pain numbed my senses and I was pushed back against the wall in a wide arc.
Something warm ran down my stomach. I touched it with my blood and realized that it was blood. My HP were at a critical point and without fast treatment I would die.
The weird thing was that he vanished in thin air. He wasn’t there anymore.
I took out the old bandages and treated myself with them. It stopped the bleeding temporarily. I definitely had to use it again to change the bandage later on.
After the bleeding stopped my HP went slowly up again. I took out something to eat from my backpack to recover some stamina and reduce my fatigue.
There had to be something here if there are guardians so powerful.
I went on and stepped into the middle again. The room seemed different than before. After some time I knew why. The sun had set and left behind a dark room. I examined the floor and the walls but didn’t find any clues about the place or who he was.
After spending some time doing that my wound began to bleed again. The bandages were soaked wet with blood and it hurt like hell to take them off.
I had still some left from before and put them on.
-----
You got infected with Vampirism.
The first stage will give you bonuses on
night vision and agility.
+25% Nightvision
Agility +5
You may suck blood to replenish health.
The longer you stay a vampire, the more do the effects do.
Beware!
-----
What the bloody hell? I just put some bandages on. Ohhh- The mummy must have been a vampire before and by applying the bandages on my wound I got the infected cells into my body. |
{
"title": "Soul-Link by Zapper",
"id": 47,
"author": "zapper",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Soul Link - Prologue Part A",
"id": 100,
"next": 101,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Prologue A<br><br><br>Andre was a rich man, a good learner and a honest person. But Andre was worried about his father, but his father was more worried about their release of Royal Road. afraid of what would come, it was taking a toll on him physically and mentally. His father was in constant board meetings thinking of ways to survive but with no success. No one wanted to buy the company's stocks when Royal Road was to be released. He was so worried about it his situation, it eventually took a toll on his family.<br><br>[Today was the day Royal Road was released.]<br><br>But Andre did not care about the release, because he was looking forward to his date with his fiancé. They went to the movies, and after that to one of the best restaurants of the city. Onlookers would think "what a perfect couple”, “it's nice to be young and carefree”. Carefree, Andre was not so carefree as they thoughts. he wanted this date to be perfect, planning everything ahead calling all the places where they would go to reserved a spot for them. Time passed by as they ate, and quite quickly night had fallen, it was time to go home. Walking out of the restaurant his car was already prepared for him. They stepped in the car and he drove home. Once home, they went directly to Andre’s room and ^.^". (Will leave that to your imagination)<br>[Overnight his father's stock fell like a rock from €300 to just €3]<br><br>Andre and his fiancé woke up from a loud argument between Andre’s father and mother, about the money they lost.<br>Andre rushed to his parents and stopped it, just before they got physical.<br>Shocked by his parent's obsession over money and material possessions he said, “you don't need money if you still have each other!” But this only backfired as his father snapped back "YOU CAN TALK, YOU HAVE YOU'RE FIANCÉ TO FALL BACK ON." At that his fiancé got angry and walked out of the house.<br><br>Andre thoughts troubles his mind as he headed to university. "I hoop my parents will not start arguing again". As always he followed his normal schedule, but halfway through the day he was called to the directory office. Worrying why he was called, he went to the directory office. Once there, he knocked on the door and was called in. Walking in, he saw his head of security looking at him with a serious face, “I've some bad news for you.”<br><br>….?<br><br>“Your parents committed suicide”, Andre was shocked because he was thinking that he was responsible for saying, “as long as they got each other,” and fainted.<br><br>-END- Prologue A
</div> | Prologue A
Andre was a rich man, a good learner and a honest person. But Andre was worried about his father, but his father was more worried about their release of Royal Road. afraid of what would come, it was taking a toll on him physically and mentally. His father was in constant board meetings thinking of ways to survive but with no success. No one wanted to buy the company's stocks when Royal Road was to be released. He was so worried about it his situation, it eventually took a toll on his family.
[Today was the day Royal Road was released.]
But Andre did not care about the release, because he was looking forward to his date with his fiancé. They went to the movies, and after that to one of the best restaurants of the city. Onlookers would think "what a perfect couple”, “it's nice to be young and carefree”. Carefree, Andre was not so carefree as they thoughts. he wanted this date to be perfect, planning everything ahead calling all the places where they would go to reserved a spot for them. Time passed by as they ate, and quite quickly night had fallen, it was time to go home. Walking out of the restaurant his car was already prepared for him. They stepped in the car and he drove home. Once home, they went directly to Andre’s room and ^.^". (Will leave that to your imagination)
[Overnight his father's stock fell like a rock from €300 to just €3]
Andre and his fiancé woke up from a loud argument between Andre’s father and mother, about the money they lost.
Andre rushed to his parents and stopped it, just before they got physical.
Shocked by his parent's obsession over money and material possessions he said, “you don't need money if you still have each other!” But this only backfired as his father snapped back "YOU CAN TALK, YOU HAVE YOU'RE FIANCÉ TO FALL BACK ON." At that his fiancé got angry and walked out of the house.
Andre thoughts troubles his mind as he headed to university. "I hoop my parents will not start arguing again". As always he followed his normal schedule, but halfway through the day he was called to the directory office. Worrying why he was called, he went to the directory office. Once there, he knocked on the door and was called in. Walking in, he saw his head of security looking at him with a serious face, “I've some bad news for you.”
….?
“Your parents committed suicide”, Andre was shocked because he was thinking that he was responsible for saying, “as long as they got each other,” and fainted.
-END- Prologue A |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 2",
"id": 54,
"next": 55,
"prev": 53,
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"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Early next morning Weed and his friends had begun to fly toward Rosenheim on the backs of Bingryung and his Wyverns.<br>Pale: "Um....Master Weed, why are we flying to Rosenheim kingdom instead of using Yurin's picture shifting ability to save time?"<br>"It's been a long time since I visited my hometown so I want to enjoy the trip there. Moreover, I want to look for possible hunting grounds for later hunting so I'll get a little training in once the dance is over." said Weed as he systematically analyzed all of the nearby rivers and mountains they passed. Gold usually shows traces of itself near rivers after the dirt is washed off so all I need to look for is a slight glare.<br>There's also the possibility that they're buried in a mountain but checking all of the areas is too time consuming so this is easier.<br><br><br><br>"Look it's the spider dungeon!" said Surka as she watched Pale to see his reaction<br>"Ugh.....don't remind me.....I still have nightmares about that place..." said Pale as a shiver ran through his entire body.<br>Pale and all of his friends had trained in the spider dungeon until they were level 53 when they were still based at Rosenheim kingdom.It's a place filled with an innumerable number of poisonous arachnids each the size of a horse. There were also some smaller ones and it's been said that at the deepest level there's a spider queen which gives birth to them all.(Think of Harry Potter)<br>There was one incident where Pale was caught in a sticky web and was almost eaten by a giant spider that continues to haunt him to this day.<br><br>"mm...I still remember the Lair of Litvart where I trained for over a month from level 13 to 63. The place where I took for first step down the path of being a Legendary Moonlight Sculptor but more than anything those days when I trained that small group of 32 warriors fresh from camp into the high class knights known as Denarian."<br>A cloud of sorrow came over Weeds eyes as he remembered Dale who had died in the battle with the undead Lich Shire. They had been brothers in arms during the search and destroy mission for the Lair of Litvart, fought to regain the village of Baran from the lizardmen, been welcomed by them after his long stay at the city of heaven, and fought side by side against a legion of over 1 million undead in the Plains of Despair.<br>Weed didn't care about artificial intelligence or what was real and what wasn't real. To him, Rosenheim kingdom was his second home that had cared for him since the very start of his journey in Royal Road. It was the first place that welcomed him after his bleak history with the loan sharks.<br><br>The streets were crowded with people after they had entered the citadel at around 3pm from the north entrance. Bingryung and all of the other sculptures were allowed to wander freely and hunt monsters until Weed decided to summon them again.<br>A sense of nostalgia ran through Harn as he walked down that paved street toward the central plaza. Some of the buildings had been remade after the attack by Embinyu but he could still distinctly recognize all of the streets and the various paths that he had taken to reach the training hall, old maids house, Rodriguez's manor, the King's palace, the grocery store, sculpture shop, inn,local pub and more than anything the instructors home which sparked the meeting between him and Seoyoon.<br><br>"You guys go ahead." said Weed "I was asked to have a private meeting with the king before the ball begins."<br><br>"Well, alright. But when's the dance again?" asked Zephyr<br>"It'll be at 12am midnight, so let's meet up at the central plaza near where the dragon statue used to be(The one Weed altered into an ice Troll lol)<br>"Okay see you then!"<br><br>Weed could still vaguely hear their voices as his friends walked away.<br>"Let's do some shopping, there may still be some better dresses in some of the markets."<br>"I heard that there's a new cake shop over in the eastern district."<br><br>With that Weed headed toward the palace and was recieved with a armed escort into the building.<br>"Looks like they added some new sculptures and paintings, better observe them to get a few extra art points." by the time he met with the King he had already recieved an additional 23 points in the art stat.<br>They met in a large dining room in one of the castle's wings. There was no one else in the room other then them.<br>"Lord Weed, it has been a long time since we have seen one another. Tales of your accomplishments have reached all over the continent now and you are well recieved everywhere you go."<br>Weed examined the kings face thoroughly. He still looked young however it seems that he had been through several ordeals and was lacking sleep.<br>"I am honored to hear such words from someone as great as his highness." replied Weed after some seconds<br>"Haha I'm glad to hear that my word still holds some influence. The truth is, I requested this private meeting because I wanted to hear personally of your great tales, of what it felt like to go on those far off journey's to unknown regions and face monsters five times as large as you...""Sir??" Harn could sense that something was strange about his highness. He sounded as though he were desperate and tired. Completely different from that confident tone he held when they had first met.<br>"...The truth is that I am unsure of myself. I keep thinking of whether or not I'm the best person to be king. The people are unsure about me and the ones who hold most of the power right now are Duke Kanus and Count Albrook. I..I...I'm at a loss at what I should do...." said the King in a dejected voice while only looking at the ground.<br><br>Weed could somehow sympathize with this man. The king was only 5 years older than him but actually looked 15 years older, no doubt because of all the stress that he had been accumulating since he took on the crown. He was trapped in the palace and forced to study numerous hours to learn how to rule since he was the only heir, his mother died when he was young, and soon after his father passed on as well forcing him into the position of King. After this relapse there was a struggle for power between politicians and he lost much middle ground.<br><br>After a few more seconds of consideration Weed spoke out "It matters not what those politicians think but how much you care for your people. After all, no matter what you do it's impossible to appease everyone. The only thing that you can do is be answer everyone as honestly as you can and give your best effort in maintaining and improving Rosenheim kingdom. As you move forward, those that agree with you will naturally come toward and follow you. Moreover, I can say with certainty that no one is discontent with you being king.<br>If you had just looked outside then you would see that everyone is happy and enjoying themselves in fast paced city. They meet new people, form parties, train to get stronger, have dinner together and share laughs. Besides, if they were trly unhappy with you then they would have removed you from your position already."<br><br>The king was dumbfounded with Weed's answer. Everyone whom he had met thus far had always showered him with fanficul words in order to get close to him but here was a man who he could speak freely with and recieve a frank answer from.<br>"Hahahaha.....you are right Master Weed. Thank you for taking the time to meet me at this time, I know that you yourself have been going through quite an ordeal in the North. I look forward to seeing you at tonight's celebration."<br>"It was no trouble at all your majesty" said Weed curtly "But there are a few things that I'd like to talk with you about."<br>"Yes?"<br>"I'd like to form an alliance between Rosenheim kingdom and Arpen kingdom of the North(think this was the name of the kingdom, assuming cause the emperor's name was Geihar Von Arpen and he renamed Mora after that kingdom since it was originally part of it) and I'd like to establish some solid trade routes between each kingdom for mutual benefit."<br>"Ar-are you sure? I mean....Rosenheim kingdom lacks much strength and resources. We are still recovering from the last attack by Embinyu denomination? Wouldn't we just be a hindrance?"<br>"Nonsense! Rosenheim kingdom is like my home. My journey in Versailles began here and I have no intention on letting my home and those close to me so long as I can do something about it." said Weed in an honest manner. He felt a sense of obligation to protect this city that he grew up on, and he also didn't want anyone to suffer as he did. Harn knew full well the pain of losing someone close to him (His mom, dad, and also Dale whom he trained) and was willing to pay any price to have them back.<br>"Un....well if you insist, then Rosenheim would be more than happy to form an alliance with you."<br><br>-ttring! Friendship has been formed between Weed and King of Rosenheim.<br>-ttring!! Alliance between Rosenheim kingdom and Arpen Kingdom has been formed. Trade between both kingdoms is now open so long as both sides are on friendly terms.<br>"Thank you again master Weed."<br>"It is no problem your highness, I'm sure you would've done the same thing if I were in your shoes. But would it be alright if I go to the training grounds? There's someone I would like to talk with." An established trade policy will help Mora get cheaper deals on the gold and other minerals that Rosenheim kingdom gets from their mines. kukuku this is perfectly fair, I get profits in exchange for giving the king advice promising to help Serabourg.<br>"Of course! Of course!! Just take a left after you exit through this door, take the first right, head straight and go down the first stairs that you meet." replied the King
</div> | Early next morning Weed and his friends had begun to fly toward Rosenheim on the backs of Bingryung and his Wyverns.
Pale: "Um....Master Weed, why are we flying to Rosenheim kingdom instead of using Yurin's picture shifting ability to save time?"
"It's been a long time since I visited my hometown so I want to enjoy the trip there. Moreover, I want to look for possible hunting grounds for later hunting so I'll get a little training in once the dance is over." said Weed as he systematically analyzed all of the nearby rivers and mountains they passed. Gold usually shows traces of itself near rivers after the dirt is washed off so all I need to look for is a slight glare.
There's also the possibility that they're buried in a mountain but checking all of the areas is too time consuming so this is easier.
"Look it's the spider dungeon!" said Surka as she watched Pale to see his reaction
"Ugh.....don't remind me.....I still have nightmares about that place..." said Pale as a shiver ran through his entire body.
Pale and all of his friends had trained in the spider dungeon until they were level 53 when they were still based at Rosenheim kingdom.It's a place filled with an innumerable number of poisonous arachnids each the size of a horse. There were also some smaller ones and it's been said that at the deepest level there's a spider queen which gives birth to them all.(Think of Harry Potter)
There was one incident where Pale was caught in a sticky web and was almost eaten by a giant spider that continues to haunt him to this day.
"mm...I still remember the Lair of Litvart where I trained for over a month from level 13 to 63. The place where I took for first step down the path of being a Legendary Moonlight Sculptor but more than anything those days when I trained that small group of 32 warriors fresh from camp into the high class knights known as Denarian."
A cloud of sorrow came over Weeds eyes as he remembered Dale who had died in the battle with the undead Lich Shire. They had been brothers in arms during the search and destroy mission for the Lair of Litvart, fought to regain the village of Baran from the lizardmen, been welcomed by them after his long stay at the city of heaven, and fought side by side against a legion of over 1 million undead in the Plains of Despair.
Weed didn't care about artificial intelligence or what was real and what wasn't real. To him, Rosenheim kingdom was his second home that had cared for him since the very start of his journey in Royal Road. It was the first place that welcomed him after his bleak history with the loan sharks.
The streets were crowded with people after they had entered the citadel at around 3pm from the north entrance. Bingryung and all of the other sculptures were allowed to wander freely and hunt monsters until Weed decided to summon them again.
A sense of nostalgia ran through Harn as he walked down that paved street toward the central plaza. Some of the buildings had been remade after the attack by Embinyu but he could still distinctly recognize all of the streets and the various paths that he had taken to reach the training hall, old maids house, Rodriguez's manor, the King's palace, the grocery store, sculpture shop, inn,local pub and more than anything the instructors home which sparked the meeting between him and Seoyoon.
"You guys go ahead." said Weed "I was asked to have a private meeting with the king before the ball begins."
"Well, alright. But when's the dance again?" asked Zephyr
"It'll be at 12am midnight, so let's meet up at the central plaza near where the dragon statue used to be(The one Weed altered into an ice Troll lol)
"Okay see you then!"
Weed could still vaguely hear their voices as his friends walked away.
"Let's do some shopping, there may still be some better dresses in some of the markets."
"I heard that there's a new cake shop over in the eastern district."
With that Weed headed toward the palace and was recieved with a armed escort into the building.
"Looks like they added some new sculptures and paintings, better observe them to get a few extra art points." by the time he met with the King he had already recieved an additional 23 points in the art stat.
They met in a large dining room in one of the castle's wings. There was no one else in the room other then them.
"Lord Weed, it has been a long time since we have seen one another. Tales of your accomplishments have reached all over the continent now and you are well recieved everywhere you go."
Weed examined the kings face thoroughly. He still looked young however it seems that he had been through several ordeals and was lacking sleep.
"I am honored to hear such words from someone as great as his highness." replied Weed after some seconds
"Haha I'm glad to hear that my word still holds some influence. The truth is, I requested this private meeting because I wanted to hear personally of your great tales, of what it felt like to go on those far off journey's to unknown regions and face monsters five times as large as you...""Sir??" Harn could sense that something was strange about his highness. He sounded as though he were desperate and tired. Completely different from that confident tone he held when they had first met.
"...The truth is that I am unsure of myself. I keep thinking of whether or not I'm the best person to be king. The people are unsure about me and the ones who hold most of the power right now are Duke Kanus and Count Albrook. I..I...I'm at a loss at what I should do...." said the King in a dejected voice while only looking at the ground.
Weed could somehow sympathize with this man. The king was only 5 years older than him but actually looked 15 years older, no doubt because of all the stress that he had been accumulating since he took on the crown. He was trapped in the palace and forced to study numerous hours to learn how to rule since he was the only heir, his mother died when he was young, and soon after his father passed on as well forcing him into the position of King. After this relapse there was a struggle for power between politicians and he lost much middle ground.
After a few more seconds of consideration Weed spoke out "It matters not what those politicians think but how much you care for your people. After all, no matter what you do it's impossible to appease everyone. The only thing that you can do is be answer everyone as honestly as you can and give your best effort in maintaining and improving Rosenheim kingdom. As you move forward, those that agree with you will naturally come toward and follow you. Moreover, I can say with certainty that no one is discontent with you being king.
If you had just looked outside then you would see that everyone is happy and enjoying themselves in fast paced city. They meet new people, form parties, train to get stronger, have dinner together and share laughs. Besides, if they were trly unhappy with you then they would have removed you from your position already."
The king was dumbfounded with Weed's answer. Everyone whom he had met thus far had always showered him with fanficul words in order to get close to him but here was a man who he could speak freely with and recieve a frank answer from.
"Hahahaha.....you are right Master Weed. Thank you for taking the time to meet me at this time, I know that you yourself have been going through quite an ordeal in the North. I look forward to seeing you at tonight's celebration."
"It was no trouble at all your majesty" said Weed curtly "But there are a few things that I'd like to talk with you about."
"Yes?"
"I'd like to form an alliance between Rosenheim kingdom and Arpen kingdom of the North(think this was the name of the kingdom, assuming cause the emperor's name was Geihar Von Arpen and he renamed Mora after that kingdom since it was originally part of it) and I'd like to establish some solid trade routes between each kingdom for mutual benefit."
"Ar-are you sure? I mean....Rosenheim kingdom lacks much strength and resources. We are still recovering from the last attack by Embinyu denomination? Wouldn't we just be a hindrance?"
"Nonsense! Rosenheim kingdom is like my home. My journey in Versailles began here and I have no intention on letting my home and those close to me so long as I can do something about it." said Weed in an honest manner. He felt a sense of obligation to protect this city that he grew up on, and he also didn't want anyone to suffer as he did. Harn knew full well the pain of losing someone close to him (His mom, dad, and also Dale whom he trained) and was willing to pay any price to have them back.
"Un....well if you insist, then Rosenheim would be more than happy to form an alliance with you."
-ttring! Friendship has been formed between Weed and King of Rosenheim.
-ttring!! Alliance between Rosenheim kingdom and Arpen Kingdom has been formed. Trade between both kingdoms is now open so long as both sides are on friendly terms.
"Thank you again master Weed."
"It is no problem your highness, I'm sure you would've done the same thing if I were in your shoes. But would it be alright if I go to the training grounds? There's someone I would like to talk with." An established trade policy will help Mora get cheaper deals on the gold and other minerals that Rosenheim kingdom gets from their mines. kukuku this is perfectly fair, I get profits in exchange for giving the king advice promising to help Serabourg.
"Of course! Of course!! Just take a left after you exit through this door, take the first right, head straight and go down the first stairs that you meet." replied the King |
{
"title": "A Second Reality by Masadeer",
"id": 31,
"author": "Masadeer",
"rating": 2
} | {
"title": "A Second Reality - Chapter 1",
"id": 18,
"next": 19,
"prev": 17,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
I Become a Cloud Knight?<br><br>Well I guess I`ll start from the beginning.<br>When Royal Road first came out people were exclaiming how amazing the realism was, how the grass was so green, how it swayed with the wind, how it felt so smooth yet bristly to touch. Seriously the closed beta testers need to shut up about the grass. is what I was thinking as I was listening their first impressions on the Royal Road home page. They were streaming live closed beta test footage, only 5 people were selected for the closed beta, which was like announcing a planet full of hungry kindergarteners that they have a plate of the world's most delicious, fluffiest, softest and freshest baked cookies ever. And after watching the giant tsunami wave of children come flooding in, tell them that they only had five cookies . <br><br>When the beta testers first spawned in Royal Road they arrived in a wide plain outside of the castle, with lush green trees, flowers, cute rabbits and other small animal- Hey wait did I Just see a Rapppie from PSO2?<br>Nah~ can't be. Anyways where was I? oh and grass that covers the entire expanse of the plain far past the horizon. Unable to keep looking at those 5 idiots jumping around and acting as if Virtual reality technology was just invented I shut down my computer .<br> *****************<br>Two weeks later my pre-ordered Royal Road pod arrived UPS mail service. Unicorn LTD. must have some reallly deep pockets to be send these pods with no shipping and handling fees.<br>After i ran through the installation process and gathered all the basic information I needed to know off the Royal Road website, I rested myself in the Pod's gel mattress, and dived into the world of royal road.<br>After the start up sequences began, the inside of my pod began to fade away and multicolored polygons filled my view, creating the start-up screen for Royal Road. I entered my username/password, had a potential-lawsuit-in-the-making body scan, into a completely blank white environment. Then i looked up to see a red haired girl sitting in a chair floating off the ground. She looked at me with a bright smile on her face and said "hello you're our very first player, you'll have me, a GM guide you through the character creation process ;D" (note when I put words in asterisks (*) It's what the main character is thinking in his head)<br> *how am I the first character I spent 30 minutes pulling info off the internet o.e, did they just boot up the servers now or something?* "First off what race do you want to be?" I really didn't care very much and offhandedly I said "meh Demonic elf" as half a joke. But Lolidragon took it seriously(if you didn't get the reference go read 1/2 prince), "hmm... there's no such race available at the moment, but I'll inform my superiors about your request", and vanished before I could tell her I was kidding. A minute later she reappeared with a slight smirk on her face, as if she won an argument. "OK since you're our very first player to log on, Unicorn LTD. president decided to grant your wish ;D" <br>Suddenly a life size hologram of myself appeared in front of me, only it wasn't really me. He was about 5ft 10' Had long black hair almost reaching the shoulders, longish side bangs coming down in front of the ears, with a slightly slimmer build than mine. And that's where the similarities stop, His ears were pointed and protruded out an inch and a half, his eyes were a deep red his lips were a bit too pale to considered human. But most importantly was his gaze and stature, he stood in a manner much too noble for my tastes, as if he was an aristocrat looking down on everyone in his path. And the way he stared, it seemed as if he could tell the exact time you had left to live with a single glance. The dark black hair seemed to make him all the more sinister. " I want silver white hair" with a snap of her fingers my avatar's hair instantly became lighter, and much less intimidating. Lolidragon just kept staring at him, until I got bored and told her to move on . "all right now what do you want to be called?" asked a dejected Lolidragon. "Prin- ,no wait, Alf" Afterwards i chose to start in Leaf bud city(south of Rosenheim which hadn't been discovered yet) and with that ended my long tedious character creation. I spawned in Leaf Bud City's main square, with a constant stream of players logging in and spawning nearby. Hundreds of players had already started in Leaf bud City, and with the massive flood coming in, it's as if I didn't even exist. With no particular goal in mind to fill my four weeks confined to the city, I just wandered the streets after half an hour of wandering I came to the realization that *I'm seriously bored. How is this different from real life?* Suddenly the image of those 5 moron beta testers rolling around in the grass came to mind, and I had the oddest desire to find a patch of grass and just sleep. <br>After an hour of walking I saw a Knight wearing the uniform of the Church of Light. I walked up to him and asked "sir knight where could I find a patch of grass?"(at this point I was wondering if this city full of cobblestone buildings and paved roads had a single blade of grass growing in it). oddly enough he jumped in surprise and said "who's there?" *I'm Standing right in front of him!?* I call out again the knight again, and he now seems to be looking in every possible direction trying to find me. Starting to sense that something was off I grab him by the shoulders, and finally he seems to notice me. He nearly fell backwards . For some odd reason Strange realization was written all over the knights face. "Oh it's you Knight-Captain Cloud. Did you need something?" *lol whut?* confused I said the only thing that made sense in my mind ."Sorry i have no idea who you are o.o" "Ah you probably don't remember me, my Name's Adair, Knight-Captain Sun just appointed me his vice-captain last week" And finally Adair remembered what I was looking for "Oh right you wanted a patch of grass to drift in right?" *drift? I'll just go along with it o.e* ".... sure?" "In that case you should try the Palace Gardens, just follow this path north to reach the Castle, then just go through the gate and walk around the castle to the back." <br>Feeling even less important than before i started walking towards the castle. From behind I heard "He's already out of sight, how does he do that?" *I'm Still right in front of you dammit!*<br>*new skill learned* Mirage step- Be completely invisible players npcs monsters and animals. mp cost 20/second. Mp cost increases significantly when the user feels emotions that make them noticeable(I.e Anger, bravery) When used to attack, if the target did not die in the first attack chances of being noticed: 80%. Character trait *when feeling insignificant mp cost drops to 0, and skill activates without warning*
</div> | I Become a Cloud Knight?
Well I guess I`ll start from the beginning.
When Royal Road first came out people were exclaiming how amazing the realism was, how the grass was so green, how it swayed with the wind, how it felt so smooth yet bristly to touch. Seriously the closed beta testers need to shut up about the grass. is what I was thinking as I was listening their first impressions on the Royal Road home page. They were streaming live closed beta test footage, only 5 people were selected for the closed beta, which was like announcing a planet full of hungry kindergarteners that they have a plate of the world's most delicious, fluffiest, softest and freshest baked cookies ever. And after watching the giant tsunami wave of children come flooding in, tell them that they only had five cookies .
When the beta testers first spawned in Royal Road they arrived in a wide plain outside of the castle, with lush green trees, flowers, cute rabbits and other small animal- Hey wait did I Just see a Rapppie from PSO2?
Nah~ can't be. Anyways where was I? oh and grass that covers the entire expanse of the plain far past the horizon. Unable to keep looking at those 5 idiots jumping around and acting as if Virtual reality technology was just invented I shut down my computer .
*****************
Two weeks later my pre-ordered Royal Road pod arrived UPS mail service. Unicorn LTD. must have some reallly deep pockets to be send these pods with no shipping and handling fees.
After i ran through the installation process and gathered all the basic information I needed to know off the Royal Road website, I rested myself in the Pod's gel mattress, and dived into the world of royal road.
After the start up sequences began, the inside of my pod began to fade away and multicolored polygons filled my view, creating the start-up screen for Royal Road. I entered my username/password, had a potential-lawsuit-in-the-making body scan, into a completely blank white environment. Then i looked up to see a red haired girl sitting in a chair floating off the ground. She looked at me with a bright smile on her face and said "hello you're our very first player, you'll have me, a GM guide you through the character creation process ;D" (note when I put words in asterisks (*) It's what the main character is thinking in his head)
*how am I the first character I spent 30 minutes pulling info off the internet o.e, did they just boot up the servers now or something?* "First off what race do you want to be?" I really didn't care very much and offhandedly I said "meh Demonic elf" as half a joke. But Lolidragon took it seriously(if you didn't get the reference go read 1/2 prince), "hmm... there's no such race available at the moment, but I'll inform my superiors about your request", and vanished before I could tell her I was kidding. A minute later she reappeared with a slight smirk on her face, as if she won an argument. "OK since you're our very first player to log on, Unicorn LTD. president decided to grant your wish ;D"
Suddenly a life size hologram of myself appeared in front of me, only it wasn't really me. He was about 5ft 10' Had long black hair almost reaching the shoulders, longish side bangs coming down in front of the ears, with a slightly slimmer build than mine. And that's where the similarities stop, His ears were pointed and protruded out an inch and a half, his eyes were a deep red his lips were a bit too pale to considered human. But most importantly was his gaze and stature, he stood in a manner much too noble for my tastes, as if he was an aristocrat looking down on everyone in his path. And the way he stared, it seemed as if he could tell the exact time you had left to live with a single glance. The dark black hair seemed to make him all the more sinister. " I want silver white hair" with a snap of her fingers my avatar's hair instantly became lighter, and much less intimidating. Lolidragon just kept staring at him, until I got bored and told her to move on . "all right now what do you want to be called?" asked a dejected Lolidragon. "Prin- ,no wait, Alf" Afterwards i chose to start in Leaf bud city(south of Rosenheim which hadn't been discovered yet) and with that ended my long tedious character creation. I spawned in Leaf Bud City's main square, with a constant stream of players logging in and spawning nearby. Hundreds of players had already started in Leaf bud City, and with the massive flood coming in, it's as if I didn't even exist. With no particular goal in mind to fill my four weeks confined to the city, I just wandered the streets after half an hour of wandering I came to the realization that *I'm seriously bored. How is this different from real life?* Suddenly the image of those 5 moron beta testers rolling around in the grass came to mind, and I had the oddest desire to find a patch of grass and just sleep.
After an hour of walking I saw a Knight wearing the uniform of the Church of Light. I walked up to him and asked "sir knight where could I find a patch of grass?"(at this point I was wondering if this city full of cobblestone buildings and paved roads had a single blade of grass growing in it). oddly enough he jumped in surprise and said "who's there?" *I'm Standing right in front of him!?* I call out again the knight again, and he now seems to be looking in every possible direction trying to find me. Starting to sense that something was off I grab him by the shoulders, and finally he seems to notice me. He nearly fell backwards . For some odd reason Strange realization was written all over the knights face. "Oh it's you Knight-Captain Cloud. Did you need something?" *lol whut?* confused I said the only thing that made sense in my mind ."Sorry i have no idea who you are o.o" "Ah you probably don't remember me, my Name's Adair, Knight-Captain Sun just appointed me his vice-captain last week" And finally Adair remembered what I was looking for "Oh right you wanted a patch of grass to drift in right?" *drift? I'll just go along with it o.e* ".... sure?" "In that case you should try the Palace Gardens, just follow this path north to reach the Castle, then just go through the gate and walk around the castle to the back."
Feeling even less important than before i started walking towards the castle. From behind I heard "He's already out of sight, how does he do that?" *I'm Still right in front of you dammit!*
*new skill learned* Mirage step- Be completely invisible players npcs monsters and animals. mp cost 20/second. Mp cost increases significantly when the user feels emotions that make them noticeable(I.e Anger, bravery) When used to attack, if the target did not die in the first attack chances of being noticed: 80%. Character trait *when feeling insignificant mp cost drops to 0, and skill activates without warning* |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Prologue",
"id": 2,
"next": 3,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“So, who knows when the second world war started?”, asked Mr. Humble, the history teacher.<br>“Anyone?” Silence. Like always. No one did anything for school since this new game was published. Everyone except me played this game.<br>Everyone!<br> I don’t know why they do it or how they can afford it but... Arghh. It’s so frustrating.<br>My goddamn parents! Did they have to split up? I was a baby. Just a baby. And he left me. He forsook me. He left me behind with this hag. She doesn’t have a job, broke up school when she was 14 and, and - Ahhh. For gods sake, why me? WHY.<br>We live in a small flat at the end of the district. Financial we are ruined. She gets social money while I work all day to earn some money for myself. Well, at the moment I save it for this new game. Hopefully my mother doesn’t find the money.<br>She’s over 40. She never answered me or gave me a shrug when I asked her. Who cares.<br>My dad is somewhere around that age as well. Never heard a word from him and mom never talks about him either. What a splendid situation I am in.<br>But I heard from my teachers that my dad went to the same school as me and they say he is some important person which is why they can’t tell me who exactly he is. He paid them. Sounds important but he doesn’t give a piss about me. He never send money, nothing.<br>“Jason?”<br>Huh? Mr. Humble stared at me.<br>“You don’t even play Royal Road and you are still daydreaming. What’s so important for you that you don’t concentrate on the lesson? Everyone else has a reason but you - well, you don’t. So, do you know when the second world war started?” He irritated me. Since when did he mock me as well? Most did but for me Mr. Humble was one of the few persons at school who was okay. As far as getting not on my nerves and mocking went.<br>“1954?” I guessed. Where was the point to not say anything when he would say it anyways if I answered wrong.<br>“Wrong. Try harder. This way you will end up just like your mother. That b- Well like I said, try again.”<br>He truly went on my nerves.<br>“1938? Wait I remember it was 1939.”<br>“Splendid. Looks like you won’t end like her. But don’t get your hopes up too high. What I mean is, that you shouldn’t rest on your laurels. Work hard. Play harder. Ohh, sorry. I forgot you don’t play.”<br>Everyone laughed. Mr. Humble still amused whispered something in my ear..<br>“Well, you get what I want to say. It’s advice. Take it to your heart.”<br>What a weird situation. First he mocks me, then he makes me to a running gag and now?<br>Dingdong.<br>School was over.<br>“People, look at page 237 till next time. Ahh, well forget it. You don’t have time for that. And Jason.”<br>He stared at me. “What is it, Mr. Humble?”<br>“Never mind.”<br>The situation grew weirder from second to second.<br>I packed my bag. It was from Deuter. Stored 40l and was fashion just before the game came out. He Worked hard for it but now none gives a fuck. Everyone talks about this game. Levels there, items here and mysterious things over there. I wish I could talk with them. even the teachers played. Good point about that is that we don’t get any homeworks. Great!<br>Apparently I am the only one at school who doesn’t play Royal road. Royal road. Yeah, that’s what I am working so hard for.<br>It was winter, therefore it was already dark outside. Wonderful...<br>After going out of the school, on my way home, I thought about what happened in school. What kind of advice should that be? I know that I have to work hard to accomplish something. He doesn’t have to tell me that.<br>I heard a shout out of an allee. A woman. I strapped my bag tightly around my chest. I ran around the corner, stone in hand. Covered by the big buildings the allee was pitch black. I were not on the main street. Actually it was a side street, near my home. So there weren’t any people around who could help except me that is.<br>I slowly approached the corner with my back against the wall. Slowly, slowly.<br>Crunch<br>What the hell? The sound came from where I just were. I looked around suspiciously. Nothing. Weird. Maybe a rat?I spied around the corner. Again nothing. Fucking strange.<br>“Anyone there? I heard a shout.” Right after he said it, he felt stupid. Did I have to shout? Dumbwit.<br>“A shout?” The deep voice came from around the corner. He just noticed that there was a door, let in into the site.<br>“I heard nothing” It was a man. That’s what I thought. But then a high pitched cry came from inside.<br>“Damn. Didn’t I say that you have to shut up.” I realized that I were not welcome. The man was attracted and this was my chance to run. Or should I run? What if the woman is chained inside and screams to get attraction by a bystander like me? What shall I do?<br>Unconsciously I ran forward, rammed the stone in a upside-down swing against his head. Or that’s what I wanted to achieve. He stopped my move in mid-swing by hitting a nerve somewhere along my arm which opened my fingers. The stone dropped to the ground.<br>“A brave little boy you are. But what do you want to do now? Thought about that?” I barely noticed before that the man was in the 60s.<br>“Ehmm, well...”<br>“Did I do anything wrong?”<br>“Well, you see I heard that voice - shout and yeah... I thought that woman was in danger. So...so..”<br>“So?” The old man laughed.<br>I didn’t know how I had to answer.<br>“A woman? If you mean that this sound came from a woman then you are clearly mistaken. Weird. I thought everyone knows this sound nowadays.” Apparently should I know what sound it was but I couldn’t categorize it.<br>“Wasn’t that a woman? I mean I heard her voice.”<br>The mysterious man laughed again even louder than before.<br>“That - he pointed inside - isn’t a woman. It’s the capsule for Royal Road. You know that game don’t you? You have to!”<br>That was it. The missing link. I felt like a fool.<br>“Aehm. I am sorry. I didn’t know that. Well I do know about Royal Road but...”<br>“But what? You are clearly a weird person. You didn’t know that this sound came from a capsule? Wait.” The man made a strange face. “ You never played Royal Road before? Oh my. And I thought everybody played and gives everything to play. You-”<br>“Yeah, but everything I have is not enough. I can’t afford it. At the moment that it. I am working hard to earn the money.”<br>The man was shocked. You could see at his creasings that he was thinking something up.<br>“I will help you. How much do you have?”<br>I was sceptical. Why would a complete stranger help me? There has to be a hitch.<br>“Around 200€ at the moment. But, you know can you afford to help me. I mean-”<br>The man laughed so loud that I feared my ears burst.<br>“Kid. I play Royal Road everyday. I am famous inside. And you say I couldn’t afford to give you some pocket money? He wiped some tears from his face.<br>“It’s a magnificent game. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. Everyone played it except you. So I will give you the opportunity to merge into a new world, full of wonders, amazing quests, great people and beautiful landscapes. What you do inside is your own choice. Here take it.”<br>He fished some big cash from his pocket and counted to the amount of money I would need.<br>I was so amazed that this old man just got out, I don’t know, how much money from his pocket. At least 2000€. Just stored inside his pocket. I stared at the man and switched to the money. I gasped.<br>“Do you take it or not? I don’t want anything from you. So I would take it if I were you.”<br>I took the money.<br>“Thanks. I don’t know how I should pay it back. But thanks. I am truly in your favor.”<br>“No need to pay anything back. I got enough money and to give someone such an opportunity<br>is thanks enough for such an old man like myself.”<br>He laughed again. You could see that he laughed often.<br>“If you get strong enough come and visit me again inside the game. You will recognise me.”<br>With that he vanished inside.<br>I was speechless.
</div> | “So, who knows when the second world war started?”, asked Mr. Humble, the history teacher.
“Anyone?” Silence. Like always. No one did anything for school since this new game was published. Everyone except me played this game.
Everyone!
I don’t know why they do it or how they can afford it but... Arghh. It’s so frustrating.
My goddamn parents! Did they have to split up? I was a baby. Just a baby. And he left me. He forsook me. He left me behind with this hag. She doesn’t have a job, broke up school when she was 14 and, and - Ahhh. For gods sake, why me? WHY.
We live in a small flat at the end of the district. Financial we are ruined. She gets social money while I work all day to earn some money for myself. Well, at the moment I save it for this new game. Hopefully my mother doesn’t find the money.
She’s over 40. She never answered me or gave me a shrug when I asked her. Who cares.
My dad is somewhere around that age as well. Never heard a word from him and mom never talks about him either. What a splendid situation I am in.
But I heard from my teachers that my dad went to the same school as me and they say he is some important person which is why they can’t tell me who exactly he is. He paid them. Sounds important but he doesn’t give a piss about me. He never send money, nothing.
“Jason?”
Huh? Mr. Humble stared at me.
“You don’t even play Royal Road and you are still daydreaming. What’s so important for you that you don’t concentrate on the lesson? Everyone else has a reason but you - well, you don’t. So, do you know when the second world war started?” He irritated me. Since when did he mock me as well? Most did but for me Mr. Humble was one of the few persons at school who was okay. As far as getting not on my nerves and mocking went.
“1954?” I guessed. Where was the point to not say anything when he would say it anyways if I answered wrong.
“Wrong. Try harder. This way you will end up just like your mother. That b- Well like I said, try again.”
He truly went on my nerves.
“1938? Wait I remember it was 1939.”
“Splendid. Looks like you won’t end like her. But don’t get your hopes up too high. What I mean is, that you shouldn’t rest on your laurels. Work hard. Play harder. Ohh, sorry. I forgot you don’t play.”
Everyone laughed. Mr. Humble still amused whispered something in my ear..
“Well, you get what I want to say. It’s advice. Take it to your heart.”
What a weird situation. First he mocks me, then he makes me to a running gag and now?
Dingdong.
School was over.
“People, look at page 237 till next time. Ahh, well forget it. You don’t have time for that. And Jason.”
He stared at me. “What is it, Mr. Humble?”
“Never mind.”
The situation grew weirder from second to second.
I packed my bag. It was from Deuter. Stored 40l and was fashion just before the game came out. He Worked hard for it but now none gives a fuck. Everyone talks about this game. Levels there, items here and mysterious things over there. I wish I could talk with them. even the teachers played. Good point about that is that we don’t get any homeworks. Great!
Apparently I am the only one at school who doesn’t play Royal road. Royal road. Yeah, that’s what I am working so hard for.
It was winter, therefore it was already dark outside. Wonderful...
After going out of the school, on my way home, I thought about what happened in school. What kind of advice should that be? I know that I have to work hard to accomplish something. He doesn’t have to tell me that.
I heard a shout out of an allee. A woman. I strapped my bag tightly around my chest. I ran around the corner, stone in hand. Covered by the big buildings the allee was pitch black. I were not on the main street. Actually it was a side street, near my home. So there weren’t any people around who could help except me that is.
I slowly approached the corner with my back against the wall. Slowly, slowly.
Crunch
What the hell? The sound came from where I just were. I looked around suspiciously. Nothing. Weird. Maybe a rat?I spied around the corner. Again nothing. Fucking strange.
“Anyone there? I heard a shout.” Right after he said it, he felt stupid. Did I have to shout? Dumbwit.
“A shout?” The deep voice came from around the corner. He just noticed that there was a door, let in into the site.
“I heard nothing” It was a man. That’s what I thought. But then a high pitched cry came from inside.
“Damn. Didn’t I say that you have to shut up.” I realized that I were not welcome. The man was attracted and this was my chance to run. Or should I run? What if the woman is chained inside and screams to get attraction by a bystander like me? What shall I do?
Unconsciously I ran forward, rammed the stone in a upside-down swing against his head. Or that’s what I wanted to achieve. He stopped my move in mid-swing by hitting a nerve somewhere along my arm which opened my fingers. The stone dropped to the ground.
“A brave little boy you are. But what do you want to do now? Thought about that?” I barely noticed before that the man was in the 60s.
“Ehmm, well...”
“Did I do anything wrong?”
“Well, you see I heard that voice - shout and yeah... I thought that woman was in danger. So...so..”
“So?” The old man laughed.
I didn’t know how I had to answer.
“A woman? If you mean that this sound came from a woman then you are clearly mistaken. Weird. I thought everyone knows this sound nowadays.” Apparently should I know what sound it was but I couldn’t categorize it.
“Wasn’t that a woman? I mean I heard her voice.”
The mysterious man laughed again even louder than before.
“That - he pointed inside - isn’t a woman. It’s the capsule for Royal Road. You know that game don’t you? You have to!”
That was it. The missing link. I felt like a fool.
“Aehm. I am sorry. I didn’t know that. Well I do know about Royal Road but...”
“But what? You are clearly a weird person. You didn’t know that this sound came from a capsule? Wait.” The man made a strange face. “ You never played Royal Road before? Oh my. And I thought everybody played and gives everything to play. You-”
“Yeah, but everything I have is not enough. I can’t afford it. At the moment that it. I am working hard to earn the money.”
The man was shocked. You could see at his creasings that he was thinking something up.
“I will help you. How much do you have?”
I was sceptical. Why would a complete stranger help me? There has to be a hitch.
“Around 200€ at the moment. But, you know can you afford to help me. I mean-”
The man laughed so loud that I feared my ears burst.
“Kid. I play Royal Road everyday. I am famous inside. And you say I couldn’t afford to give you some pocket money? He wiped some tears from his face.
“It’s a magnificent game. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. Everyone played it except you. So I will give you the opportunity to merge into a new world, full of wonders, amazing quests, great people and beautiful landscapes. What you do inside is your own choice. Here take it.”
He fished some big cash from his pocket and counted to the amount of money I would need.
I was so amazed that this old man just got out, I don’t know, how much money from his pocket. At least 2000€. Just stored inside his pocket. I stared at the man and switched to the money. I gasped.
“Do you take it or not? I don’t want anything from you. So I would take it if I were you.”
I took the money.
“Thanks. I don’t know how I should pay it back. But thanks. I am truly in your favor.”
“No need to pay anything back. I got enough money and to give someone such an opportunity
is thanks enough for such an old man like myself.”
He laughed again. You could see that he laughed often.
“If you get strong enough come and visit me again inside the game. You will recognise me.”
With that he vanished inside.
I was speechless. |
{
"title": "Exodus™ Online by B4DDI3Z",
"id": 58,
"author": "Baddiez",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Exodus™ Online - Prologue",
"id": 147,
"next": 152,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Exodus Online<br>Prologue<br><br>The gray sky was filled with dark black clouds. The air smelled of an impending storm. It was the kind of day that would make you want to not get out of bed. However in Aaron’s case he had to go to school. <br><br>Aaron was an introverted person who studies diligently and gets good grades. He had turned 18 this year, and was a senior in high school. He was 6 feet tall, had a slightly muscular build, light brown eyes, and short hair. His life motto was “No friends, no enemies, no problems”.<br><br>He got up and started his daily routine. First he fixed his bed, then he went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He went back to his room to put his uniform on, and went down to eat breakfast, just like any other normal day.<br><br>However, today slightly differed from other days. It was the day the new game titled “Exodus™”, would be launched worldwide. The game was developed by the most advanced AI of all time. Five years in the making, using all games popular and unpopular from the last century as references. It was dubbed a miracle game, a game that would change gaming experience forever.<br><br>Like the good hardcore gamer he, was Aaron had pre-ordered the game and all the necessary equipment to play it. All he had to do was get through the day at school, and it would be smooth sailing from there. He already had his name picked out, his class, and even what he wanted to do when he started.<br><br>It took a while, but he managed to decide on Dual Wielding Katanas, with Magician as his secondary class to strengthen his swords and allows his sword to use elemental properties in battle. <br><br>The reason it took him so long to decide, was because every class you could imagine was available in the game he had to pick one main class at level 10, and at level 200, he gets access to his secondary class. <br><br>It was said to be one of the most outrageous ideas in games. Imagine a priest fighting upfront instead of standing in the back healing, or maybe even a necromancer that wasn't squishy, or even having a dancer as a main source of damage The possibilities were endless.<br><br>As soon as he was ready, he left for school. As a senior he already had his license, and his parents were nice enough to buy him a car. He turned the ignition and backed out of the driveway; the school was only a 5 minute drive away. When he pulled into the student parking lot he saw the government’s final recruiting effort. There was a sign with big bold black letters that said “Gamer Recruitment”.<br><br>As luck would have it “Exodus™ Online” was to launch on a worldwide scale. <br><br>It was due to the nature of the game, and the objective: raise your level, conquer new lands, set sail towards unconquered territories and establish your kingdom.<br><br>As dumb and cliche as it might seem, this was virtual reality we are talking about a second world, and many countries saw this as their opportunity to redeem themselves, or even to get revenge. Due to this every country was engaged in a wild recruitment campaign for gamers to build and strengthen their virtual army.<br><br>When he walked by. Someone called out to him.<br><br>“Hey you! You look like a gamer how would you like to fight for good ol ‘merica? I can promise you will be paid accordingly depending on your performance in game, hell, we’ll even provide medical, dental, and life insurance.”<br><br>‘ Here they go again with this crap. I don’t give a damn about fighting for the pride of my country in a virtual game. All I want is to grind, level up, get some badass armour and maybe even meet a cute girl.’<br><br>“Sorry, not interested” Aaron answered and walked away.<br><br>He slowly approached a pair of automatic doors. When he walked through, he saw students walking in groups while having a conversation in the hallway, couples walking to class together, and teachers yelling “The bell is going to ring soon!”.<br><br>‘My last year in this shithole’ <br><br>He walked towards the hall where his first class was, and after walking 5 minutes he walked in, he was surprised at the scene that greeted him. <br><br>Chairs and desks were pushed along the walls, and in the middle of the class was a big map, with the teacher standing on one side explaining the beginning areas. He also explained his hypothesis as to where good hunting grounds would be located in proximity of water, food sources, and shelter.<br><br>“Aaron, you are welcome to join the class today at the launch.”<br>“I’m sorry but I haven't bought the game yet Coach Johnson.”<br><br>Looking annoyed Coach Johnson responded. <br><br>“I called your mother she said that you’ve got one of the first 100 manufactured copies in the States.”<br><br>‘Thanks mom, thanks a lot.’ He thought.<br><br>Now embarrassed Aaron replied. <br>“ I don’t do well with groups. I am a solo player, sorry.”<br><br>“What a tool. I bet he thinks he’s better than us. Let’s hunt him down when the ban for player-killing is lifted.” The class raged. <br><br>All except one girl, Luna Eidos the class outcast, and candidate for weirdest girl of the year based on the schools underground website. She was quietly sitting in the corner of the classroom drawing while reading some weird comic with two guys on the cover page.<br>‘I wonder if she’s going to play the game. Well I doubt it. She doesn’t seem like the gamer type.’<br><br>Throughout the day, none of the classes were held. Class time was used for strategic meetings that covered every aspect of time game. A day ingame was 6 hours in real life. <br><br>The school had planned time for meals, bathroom breaks, and even offered excused absences to those who wanted to devote themselves to the game. But these students were also given homework.<br><br>When the bell signaling the end of the day finally rang, all hell broke loose. It was as if a fire alarm had been pulled, and everyone was rushing out of the school. <br><br>Bodies collided with one another, feet were stepped on, while others were trampled. No one cared. They wanted was to get home as quickly as possible and prepare for the worldwide launch that was held later that day.<br><br>Aaron sat in silence as he knew this would happen. Thinking he was the only one in the classroom he started to hum an old tune from a movie he had watched when he was younger. <br><br>He was startled when he heard a chair slide behind him and saw Luna get up and walk out of the door. <br><br>‘What the hell! I didn't even notice she was here’<br><br>Soon, he started to gather his things and was about to leave when Luna walked back in. <br><br>“ Please take this” She said giving him a note sealed with a heart shaped sticker.<br><br>‘.....’<br><br>“Ummm, Thank you.”<br><br>‘What the hell am I supposed to say?'<br><br>“So..... Are you going to play Exodus™ Online?” Asked Aaron nervously.<br><br>‘Wow why the hell did I ask her about a game. This is why I’m single’<br><br>“Yes, I will start playing today” Luna answered in a shy small voice.<br><br>‘Damn shes so cute. Screw my motto if she wasn’t so weird, I would definitely go for it.’<br><br>“Oh, ok well if you want you could give me yo—”<br><br>Luna didn't even let him finish his sentence she simply walked away.<br><br>‘Well that went well...’<br><br>Not wanting to run into Luna again, he delayed his departure for a few minutes. He then walked out of the school premise, towards his car.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Headlines</span></span><br>- Germany opens dedicated gaming buildings for Exodus™ Online.<br>- France invests millions in securing internet connections.<br>- United States rumored to have trained gamers for 5 years in preparation for the game.<br>- Exodus™ Online is dominating the World Game Market.<br>- Rumored Real Currency in-game Auction House proved to be true.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>As Aaron continued to scroll down the News Site, he soon lost interest. Everything was about Exodus™. It seemed as if the whole world was waiting for this game to launch. In actuality they were all waiting for it to launch.<br><br>Only 30 minutes remained until the launch. Aaron lay down putting on his Busby™<br>You were allowed to create your character and select a starting position 1 hour before the actual game launched.<br><br>“Welcome to Exodus™ Online."<br><br>“Please select a name”<br>“I AM DA ALMIGHTY DRAGON”<br>“Character Names may not include spaces, symbols, or numbers”<br><br>‘...’<br><br>“IAMDAALMIGHTYDRAGON”<br>“The name you have selected is too long. Please select another name.”<br><br>‘Thanks for crushing my dreams’<br><br>“Mazoku”<br>— Name has been registered<br><br>“Would you like to alter your characters appearance?” <br><br>“Change eye color to red. That is all”<br><br>— Your character has been created.<br><br><br>“If you have a region exemption code please say it now. ”<br><br>“ I don’t have one.”<br><br>“Very well, You will be starting in the United States Beginner Region. Please select a starting town.”<br><br>A holographic map appeared in front of Aaron. Countless towns were shown listing each bonus that came from each town and the monsters that appeared around each one.<br><br>“ Random” He said in a loud voice.<br><br>The game will be launching in 10 minutes. You are free to wait here or log out and return at the time of launch.<br><br>‘ 10 minutes what to do, oh i forgot the....’<br><br>To be continued.<br>-----------------------------------------------------------------<br>I am baddiez! I am but a baddy surrounded by goodies. If you see anything you don’t like or someplace you think I may be able to improve on my writing feel free to comment. <br><br>Also would like to thank AnmesicCat for helping proofread, Vereliosi for helping<br>with my writing, Zxilios for reading and giving me input, and Sunny for being cute ;)
</div> | Exodus Online
Prologue
The gray sky was filled with dark black clouds. The air smelled of an impending storm. It was the kind of day that would make you want to not get out of bed. However in Aaron’s case he had to go to school.
Aaron was an introverted person who studies diligently and gets good grades. He had turned 18 this year, and was a senior in high school. He was 6 feet tall, had a slightly muscular build, light brown eyes, and short hair. His life motto was “No friends, no enemies, no problems”.
He got up and started his daily routine. First he fixed his bed, then he went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He went back to his room to put his uniform on, and went down to eat breakfast, just like any other normal day.
However, today slightly differed from other days. It was the day the new game titled “Exodus™”, would be launched worldwide. The game was developed by the most advanced AI of all time. Five years in the making, using all games popular and unpopular from the last century as references. It was dubbed a miracle game, a game that would change gaming experience forever.
Like the good hardcore gamer he, was Aaron had pre-ordered the game and all the necessary equipment to play it. All he had to do was get through the day at school, and it would be smooth sailing from there. He already had his name picked out, his class, and even what he wanted to do when he started.
It took a while, but he managed to decide on Dual Wielding Katanas, with Magician as his secondary class to strengthen his swords and allows his sword to use elemental properties in battle.
The reason it took him so long to decide, was because every class you could imagine was available in the game he had to pick one main class at level 10, and at level 200, he gets access to his secondary class.
It was said to be one of the most outrageous ideas in games. Imagine a priest fighting upfront instead of standing in the back healing, or maybe even a necromancer that wasn't squishy, or even having a dancer as a main source of damage The possibilities were endless.
As soon as he was ready, he left for school. As a senior he already had his license, and his parents were nice enough to buy him a car. He turned the ignition and backed out of the driveway; the school was only a 5 minute drive away. When he pulled into the student parking lot he saw the government’s final recruiting effort. There was a sign with big bold black letters that said “Gamer Recruitment”.
As luck would have it “Exodus™ Online” was to launch on a worldwide scale.
It was due to the nature of the game, and the objective: raise your level, conquer new lands, set sail towards unconquered territories and establish your kingdom.
As dumb and cliche as it might seem, this was virtual reality we are talking about a second world, and many countries saw this as their opportunity to redeem themselves, or even to get revenge. Due to this every country was engaged in a wild recruitment campaign for gamers to build and strengthen their virtual army.
When he walked by. Someone called out to him.
“Hey you! You look like a gamer how would you like to fight for good ol ‘merica? I can promise you will be paid accordingly depending on your performance in game, hell, we’ll even provide medical, dental, and life insurance.”
‘ Here they go again with this crap. I don’t give a damn about fighting for the pride of my country in a virtual game. All I want is to grind, level up, get some badass armour and maybe even meet a cute girl.’
“Sorry, not interested” Aaron answered and walked away.
He slowly approached a pair of automatic doors. When he walked through, he saw students walking in groups while having a conversation in the hallway, couples walking to class together, and teachers yelling “The bell is going to ring soon!”.
‘My last year in this shithole’
He walked towards the hall where his first class was, and after walking 5 minutes he walked in, he was surprised at the scene that greeted him.
Chairs and desks were pushed along the walls, and in the middle of the class was a big map, with the teacher standing on one side explaining the beginning areas. He also explained his hypothesis as to where good hunting grounds would be located in proximity of water, food sources, and shelter.
“Aaron, you are welcome to join the class today at the launch.”
“I’m sorry but I haven't bought the game yet Coach Johnson.”
Looking annoyed Coach Johnson responded.
“I called your mother she said that you’ve got one of the first 100 manufactured copies in the States.”
‘Thanks mom, thanks a lot.’ He thought.
Now embarrassed Aaron replied.
“ I don’t do well with groups. I am a solo player, sorry.”
“What a tool. I bet he thinks he’s better than us. Let’s hunt him down when the ban for player-killing is lifted.” The class raged.
All except one girl, Luna Eidos the class outcast, and candidate for weirdest girl of the year based on the schools underground website. She was quietly sitting in the corner of the classroom drawing while reading some weird comic with two guys on the cover page.
‘I wonder if she’s going to play the game. Well I doubt it. She doesn’t seem like the gamer type.’
Throughout the day, none of the classes were held. Class time was used for strategic meetings that covered every aspect of time game. A day ingame was 6 hours in real life.
The school had planned time for meals, bathroom breaks, and even offered excused absences to those who wanted to devote themselves to the game. But these students were also given homework.
When the bell signaling the end of the day finally rang, all hell broke loose. It was as if a fire alarm had been pulled, and everyone was rushing out of the school.
Bodies collided with one another, feet were stepped on, while others were trampled. No one cared. They wanted was to get home as quickly as possible and prepare for the worldwide launch that was held later that day.
Aaron sat in silence as he knew this would happen. Thinking he was the only one in the classroom he started to hum an old tune from a movie he had watched when he was younger.
He was startled when he heard a chair slide behind him and saw Luna get up and walk out of the door.
‘What the hell! I didn't even notice she was here’
Soon, he started to gather his things and was about to leave when Luna walked back in.
“ Please take this” She said giving him a note sealed with a heart shaped sticker.
‘.....’
“Ummm, Thank you.”
‘What the hell am I supposed to say?'
“So..... Are you going to play Exodus™ Online?” Asked Aaron nervously.
‘Wow why the hell did I ask her about a game. This is why I’m single’
“Yes, I will start playing today” Luna answered in a shy small voice.
‘Damn shes so cute. Screw my motto if she wasn’t so weird, I would definitely go for it.’
“Oh, ok well if you want you could give me yo—”
Luna didn't even let him finish his sentence she simply walked away.
‘Well that went well...’
Not wanting to run into Luna again, he delayed his departure for a few minutes. He then walked out of the school premise, towards his car.
***
| Headlines- Germany opens dedicated gaming buildings for Exodus™ Online.- France invests millions in securing internet connections.- United States rumored to have trained gamers for 5 years in preparation for the game.- Exodus™ Online is dominating the World Game Market.- Rumored Real Currency in-game Auction House proved to be true. |
| --- |
As Aaron continued to scroll down the News Site, he soon lost interest. Everything was about Exodus™. It seemed as if the whole world was waiting for this game to launch. In actuality they were all waiting for it to launch.
Only 30 minutes remained until the launch. Aaron lay down putting on his Busby™
You were allowed to create your character and select a starting position 1 hour before the actual game launched.
“Welcome to Exodus™ Online."
“Please select a name”
“I AM DA ALMIGHTY DRAGON”
“Character Names may not include spaces, symbols, or numbers”
‘...’
“IAMDAALMIGHTYDRAGON”
“The name you have selected is too long. Please select another name.”
‘Thanks for crushing my dreams’
“Mazoku”
— Name has been registered
“Would you like to alter your characters appearance?”
“Change eye color to red. That is all”
— Your character has been created.
“If you have a region exemption code please say it now. ”
“ I don’t have one.”
“Very well, You will be starting in the United States Beginner Region. Please select a starting town.”
A holographic map appeared in front of Aaron. Countless towns were shown listing each bonus that came from each town and the monsters that appeared around each one.
“ Random” He said in a loud voice.
The game will be launching in 10 minutes. You are free to wait here or log out and return at the time of launch.
‘ 10 minutes what to do, oh i forgot the....’
To be continued.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I am baddiez! I am but a baddy surrounded by goodies. If you see anything you don’t like or someplace you think I may be able to improve on my writing feel free to comment.
Also would like to thank AnmesicCat for helping proofread, Vereliosi for helping
with my writing, Zxilios for reading and giving me input, and Sunny for being cute ;) |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 6",
"id": 45,
"next": 46,
"prev": 44,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter Six – A Fighting Chance<br><br>Jon felt the night was wasted away.<br>Every time he tried to leave, Ballard stopped him and urged him to keep shooting.<br>He shot far, he shot near, he shot at standing targets and at moving ones, he shot at sky and at the ground.<br>He told Jon to try shooting multiple arrows at once for a while, but when Jon failed to hit even the closest target Ballard gave up.<br>"We'll try that again when your mastery is higher," he said.<br><br><br>Ballard made him fire arrows nonstop for half an hour, so he could measure the firing speed. Even though a few years had passed since he last used bows, he fared well.<br>A good longbow's man can fire twelve to fifteen arrows a minute. Jon managed eight to nine per minute.<br>The artificial light inside tempered with one's feeling of time. If the boy shooting next to Jon didn't mention he had to log out as it was morning soon Jon would've just stood there the whole day, firing the way Ballard told him.<br><br>Archery Mastery Levels Up<br><br>Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)<br><br>Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)<br><br>Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)<br><br>Five hours of shooting left their mark on Jon. The skill and stat rising weren't so important as him getting used to the bow again.<br>The archery mastery skill worked by subconsciously correcting Jon's hands into the right position. The higher the skill level the more accurate was the correction.<br>However, Jon's precision was pretty good to begin with, and amplified by his low level mastery he succeeded in satisfying Ballard's expectations of him.<br>He didn't need to come back tonight, he had other plans, so before leaving he stocked his inventory with ten bundles of arrows. They were all simple, training arrows but they were free.<br><br>Work passed smoothly. He had already got used to the kitchen's fast pace and even managed to predict Burka's needs from time to time, which lowered the amount of times he got screamed at.<br>During his break, he mounted the grinding wheel on one of the tables and slowly went through the arrows in his inventory.<br>They were so dull, that when he checked their attack power it was at zero. Grinding the metal tips until they were sharp again returned the attack power to one.<br>Compared to the twelve attack power knife, Yarel was kind enough to donate to him, it was nothing. But Jon didn't care as the monotone act of sharpening appealed to him.<br><br>Sharpening Skill Levels Up<br><br>There were thirty arrows in each bundle. It took him ten seconds to sharpen an arrow and before his work was finished all ten bundles had been finished.<br>"Good hunting." Burka wished him as Jon ran off the second his work was done.<br><br>The sun had already set and the only light came from the moon and the star filled night sky.<br>Jon was standing at the edge of the forest, only a few bushes and a tree separated him from the grassland where numerous players were busy chasing helpless animals.<br>The citadel gate was about two kilometers away, only the burning fire and torches were visible in the night. He couldn't see the guards and that meant they couldn't see him.<br>Equipped with his bow and fitting an arrow, he waited.<br>There was a party of four moving close to the edge of the forest towards the place he stood, hidden in the dark between the trees.<br>The party consisted of a warrior, two mages and a bowman. The warrior was stepping on the bushes, making noise on purpose, while the other three walked some distance from him.<br>When the warrior was less than fifty meters away from Jon, he suddenly began sprinting towards the citadel.<br>A wolf jumped out of the thicket chasing him.<br>He heard the murmur of the casting mages and saw the bowman draw his bow.<br>Jon drew his bow and let go of the arrow. He was faster than the bowman and as he released the arrow he didn't look at it to see if he hit his target. Instead he quickly materialized the floating ball of mana before the bowman's face.<br>He heard a scream of pain that meant his arrow hit its target and saw the bowman drop his arrow to cover his eyes from the sudden bright blue light.<br>Looking back at the warrior he saw him standing with one knee on the ground clutching his hip where an arrow was sticking out.<br>The arrow dropped very little of the warrior’s Hp but it made him stagger and fall. The running wolf did the rest. It jumped to the air and flew at the warrior, snapping its jaws on the warrior's neck, breaking his Adam’s apple and cutting through the main jugular vane.<br>Once the warrior turned grey and disappeared the wolf changed its target to the bowman, who was struggling to fire because of the moving ball of light.<br>Three quick jumps and the wolf was under the bowman's feet slashing the torso with its talons. The bowman turned grey after two slashes.<br>As the bowman disappeared and the blue light covered the wolf, Jon thought he saw the wolf get bigger.<br>The two mages, now defenseless, forgot about their incantations and started running, with the wolf following after them. He strung another arrow and took aim at the farther mage of the two.<br>The wolf reached the first mage while Jon's arrow was still in the air.<br>One swing of the wolf's paw was enough to get rid of the little Hp the mage had.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>The arrow went through the mage's throat, a part of it poking out on each side. The mage tried to complete his incantation but blood filled his mouth and he started to choke. The wolf slashed his stomach open a second later.<br>Lit by an incomplete fireball in the mage's hand, Jon could see clearly this time. As the mage died the wolf suddenly grew in size. He dispelled his magic and looked at the wolf.<br><br>From what he had seen earlier, when a player managed to escape from a wolf or when a wolf managed to get the kill, it would immediately go back to the forest. This wolf didn't.<br>It walked up and sniffed the arrows that fell to the ground once the bodies disappeared. Finished with the arrows it lifted its head and began sniffing the air. Done, it looked at where Jon was hiding.<br>Even though he couldn't see them, he could feel the wolf's eyes staring at him and he gazed back unblinking. After a minute or two, the wolf slowly trotted aside and sat down on its hind legs. Getting comfortable it again looked at Jon.<br>Ten minutes passed like that. Both Jon and the wolf seemed frozen in place. Even the sound of another party not far away didn't make the wolf flinch.<br>Jon was trying to remember something Gorge mentioned to him. It took a while but he finally remembered.<br>"Monsters in Royal Road can level up and become stronger the same way players do." Was what Gorge said to him during dinner.<br>He stepped out into the grassland and headed to where the warrior died. In his place were lying a fox pelt and an arrow, which he picked up before continuing to the place the rest of the party died.<br>Three fox pelts and rabbit meat were his reward for helping the wolf. He threw the meat to the wolf, which was following him with his stare all the while. The meat fell next to him but he didn't move, he just kept staring at Jon.<br>Making sure he picked everything up, Jon dispelled the ball of light and returned to his spot in the forest. Once safely hidden from sight, he watched the wolf devour the rabbit meat and lay down to wait.<br><br>"Are you sure it was there?"<br>"I'm telling you I saw something bright floating around here!"<br>"Maybe it was a fairy?"<br>"Are fairies considered monsters? I wonder how much exp they give…"<br>"Who the fuck cares, man. It's a freaking fairy! I'm tired of fighting animals; I want to kill something cool."<br>A party of three was heading to where Jon had picked up the loot. Attracted by the mana ball he used to light the ground, they risked getting close to the forest edge.<br>Jon glanced at where the wolf was and only managed to notice him because he knew where it was. Crouching flat against the ground, the wolf looked ready to attack.<br>He wasted time no more. Summoning the ball of bright blue light again, he drew an arrow and took aim at the same time.<br>"There it is! I told you I wasn't seeing things!"<br>A player wielding a sword ran away from the group to where the ball materialized.<br>Getting closer he suddenly said:<br>"Guys, I don't think it's a fairy… I'm pretty sure this is some kind of maAAUUGHHHHHHH"<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)<br><br>The scream of pain was heard all the way back inside the citadel.<br>The player fell to the ground clutching at an arrow lodged inside his eye socket. No blood was flowing as the arrow was stopped by his skull. Nonetheless his face was wet. The fluids of his eye dripped down his face, reflecting the light of the floating ball, allowing Jon to see the expression of pain that covered it.<br>To Jon's disappointment, the bow was so weak that even a critical hit wasn't enough to kill a player.<br>"What happened?" The other two yelled in a worry.<br>The mana ball floated towards them and one of them tried to cut it with an axe but missed. Both of them now had their weapons in their hands but the ball rose high, out of their reach.<br>It served its purpose, by distracting them from the sprinting wolf who had already disposed of the screaming friend.<br>Another arrow pierced the hand of the axe wielder, making him drop his weapon to the ground.<br>"It's an ambush!" He started to scream, but was silenced by the wolf's claws reaping out his throat.<br>He fell to the ground choking with his own blood as he slowly bled to death. He lived long enough to see the wolf gnaw his friend's head off his shoulders.<br>All three players were gone and under the bluish magic light the wolf became bigger again.Jon canceled his magic and was looking around to make sure there was no one to see him when he noticed the wolf walking towards him.<br>It stopped before Jon. With only a couple of bushes and a tree separating them, he could smell the animal odor that came from it<br>It was holding something in his mouth, and when it let go, Jon saw it was the loot.<br>Three pelts and two arrows lay between him and the wolf.<br>He picked them up and tried to pat the wolf, but as his hand rose so did the lips of the wolf and it began to snarl. It stopped only when Jon went back into the darkness. The wolf sat there, as if waiting for Jon to do something.<br><br>Jon didn't take Star Piercer for nothing. His main goal was to help animals defend themselves. The wolf distracted him from it, but now it was time he began.<br>What Jon wanted to do was the same he did with the wolf, distract and hinder the players' movements to give the animals a chance to run away or retaliate. He couldn't do it in the day time and it had to be from afar, so that the players wouldn't turn on him.<br>Shooting from inside the forest hidden by the darkness of the night made him feel good. He felt like he was handing out justice. Lusting after the higher exp reward that monsters gave during the night, the grassland was full of players. This worked to Jon's advantage in two ways.<br>First of all, it meant he had a lot of targets to choose from. Second, monsters were stronger and more ferocious during the night.<br><br>Jon picked a player who was fighting something small around three-hundred meters from him.<br>He took aim at him and fired four arrows in a row. The fourth arrow left his hands right as the first fell down.<br>He looked to see if he had hit his target and saw that the first arrow didn't even come close. In the time it took the arrow to fall the player had already moved away. The other three arrows glittered through the sky, reflecting the moonlight of the sharpened tips, and buried themselves into the ground around the first one.<br>-Can't fire in an arc…'-<br><br>The way he fired didn’t work. He shot them high into the sky and let them fall down in a high arc to the ground. It took longer for the arrow to fall but it was the only way he knew of that allowed to shot at these distances.<br>But who was he kidding?<br>This wasn't real life, this was a game, and games followed their own rules!<br>He was holding a bow in his hands that could throw an arrow half a kilometer with ease. He needed to forget about real life limitations soon, as those were what made him want to play in the first place.<br>He picked a different target, a bit closer this time, took aim, and instead of lifting the bow at a higher angle, he simply drew it back harder.<br>The arrow flew out at an incredible speed. Slicing the air it whizzed by his target, making him turn around in surprise. There was no chance he could see him from almost two hundred meters away, so while the player looked around to see what startled him Jon was already taking aim again.<br>It took some time getting used to, but when the whole bundle of arrows in his quiver was gone he felt confident he could make it work.<br>He refilled the quiver and chose a target a little bit closer this time.<br>The first arrow missed but only by a small margin. The second arrow missed as well.<br>On the third try it struck true.<br>It struck the player’s left shoulder with a metallic sound and made him stagger. Unfortunately it didn't have much affect as the shoulder plate stooped the arrow from going deep. Although only a flesh wound, it managed to stun and distract, giving the fox the player was fighting a chance to counter attack.<br>The fox jumped and bit the player's hand. He thrashed around and flung his arm from side to side, but the fox hung on.<br>The surprise passed and he managed to regain his calm. He stopped flailing around and took out his belt knife. He lifted the knife over his head and was ready to part the fox's body away from its head when he noticed the white teeth that came flying at him from out of nowhere.<br>The wolf's body struck him full force. Its claws ripped the flesh of his arms and the teeth dug deep under his clavicle bone.<br>This caught Jon by surprise. Not only did the wolf sprung into action as soon as his arrow connected with the player but he also brought the arrow back together with a silver coin.<br>The fox ran off somewhere when it saw the wolf.<br>-'It's like playing catch.'- Memories of playing with the mansion guard dogs resurfaced.<br>-'Only this is better!'-<br><br>Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)<br><br>Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)<br><br>Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)<br><br>Strength Rises by 1 (+1 Str)<br><br>Perception Rises 1 (+1 Per)<br><br>By the time the sun began to rise, more than four hundred arrows had been fired. And even if about ninety percent of them were misses, as the first rays of sunshine illuminated the vast grassland, Jon could swear there were more animals running around than the day before.<br>It was time for him to go back to the kitchen.<br>He was waiting for the wolf to come back with the loot. It was running up the field, an arrow held between its teeth with a pelt jumping up and down with the rhythm of the wolf's movements,<br>Jon had the items dropped into his hands.<br>"Thank you."<br>The wolf still refused to be touched but it would now drop the stuff into Jon's hands…<br><br>"I'm glad you're fine." Burka said with an unusually quiet voice. "I heard there was a wolf that strayed from the forest and attacked people last night."<br>Jon stopped working and looked at him in wonder.<br>"I think you shouldn't go hunting tonight. If our idiotic doorman can overpower you, a wolf might kill you."<br>"Don't worry." He went back to working.<br>"I'm not worried about you, you fool!" His angry voice returned. "If you go and get mauled by a wolf my workload will grow!"<br>"So you better be careful out there!"<br>"Nine days left before the dragon meat arrives, you shouldn't even waste your time hunting!"<br>Burka started tendering the meat with a hammer, with more strength than he needed to.<br>Compliments from the customers that night, praised the meat for its tenderness.<br><br>Before going back to the forest, he stopped by the guild and restocked his arrows. Ballard tried to question him on how his bow worked but Jon managed to sneak away.<br>He walked to the spot he used yesterday and observed the grasslands before him.<br>It was a cloudy night and visibility was low.<br>He couldn't tell clearly, who was standing where after fifty meters, so he targeted mages.<br>When a mage began to cast his magic, a glow emanated from the part of body the magic would be focused on. At night, that glow could be seen from afar.<br>It was good for Jon that more than half of the players started out as mages. However most of the players were school or university students. So the majority of beginner mages changed their classes to a fighting class once they realized how much studying and reading, getting stronger as a mage involved.<br>Wherever he looked there were small puddles of light of different color. The red color dominated as the fireball was the most common beginner spell.<br>He drew an arrow and took aim when he suddenly thought of something.<br>-'Silent Strike'- he initiated the skill and his arrow began giving off a faint bluish glow from the forty five Mp that went into it.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>-'Cool.'-<br>He took aim was was about to release another arrow when he saw the red light go out suddenly.<br>There was no kill massage and the fireball disappeared too suddenly for it to be canceled.<br>A few moments later he got his answer in the form of a wolf. It brought back his arrow together with a few silver coins.<br>He wiped the coins on his pants and put them in his inventory. Out of the inventory he took out a large chunk of cooked meat and gave it to the wolf.<br>It hesitated at first, smelling cooked meat for the first time, but devoured it with pleasure after he risked a bite.<br>-'I wonder if the bonuses of the meat will affect him?'-<br>It was meat prepared by him, and it gave a bonus to the dexterity and strength stats. Small bonuses as his cooking skill was still low, but bonuses nonetheless.Joined by the wolf, Jon began playing catch.<br><br>Silent Strike Levels Up<br>Level 3: Deal 15% more damage.<br>Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.<br>Cost: 45 Mp<br><br>Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)<br><br>Morning came and he returned to work.<br>The same as yesterday, after work he stopped in the guild and restocked his supply of arrows before going to his spot in the forest.<br>It was another dark night, with the moon hidden behind the clouds. Tonight the wolf was waiting for Jon at his spot and as he greeted it, he also gave him another chunk of cooked meat.<br>The strategy of the third night was a little different, as last night's mage hunting was rather effective; there were hardly any mages left.<br>He would summon the ball of light and float it over the field. When the light revealed a player or a party of them, only then would he shoot.<br>The wolf no longer waited for the arrow to designate a target, but would begin running as soon as Jon began pulling back the bow.<br><br>Magic Mastery Levels Up<br>Level 4 effects: Can cast beginner level spells.<br>Casting speed increased by 8%<br><br>Focus Rises By 1 (+1 Foc)<br><br>Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)<br><br> Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)<br><br>Nothing changed until the sixth day.<br>The first players who had been killed by the wolf logged back in on the fifth night, and they were looking for revenge. They called their friends who called their own friends. The news spread like wild fire, and starting from noon players began to gather outside the citadel gates.<br>Looking at their gear it was clear they were all beginners, most didn't even have a weapon, and among those who did, wood was what they were made of.<br>The more experienced players seemed to distance themselves from the mob.<br>Seraborg citadel, being a starting city, was populated mostly by beginners and high level players.<br>Players leveled ten to sixty were usually adventuring the countryside in search of dungeons or were busy doing quests.<br>The players in the mob were attracted by word of a demonic wolf that could use magic and was as big as a horse. For many of them it was their first time hunting and the chance to partake in what they considered a boss hunt was too alluring to ignore.<br>As the sun hid behind the horizon they stepped on to the grassland in search of the enormous wolf.<br>When Jon arrived there were enough people to be considered a small army. More than a quarter of a thousand players moved about. The brave ones walked by the forests edge, trying to lure out the beast.<br><br>The search was concentrated around the place where he used to hide and shoot from. Not wanting to attract attention he entered the forest from a place the mob ignored.<br>He took out a piece of cooked meat and after a couple of minutes the bushes began to rustle and the wolf appeared.<br>It approached Jon and began licking his hand. He petted him and they shared the meat.<br>"I don't think we can play tonight." He spoke, scratching behind the wolf's ear.<br>"You've become big and strong, but there's just too many of them." The wolf licked his face in answer.<br>Even with Jon standing straight, all the wolf had to do to reach his face was lift its nose. The nights spent playing catch have transformed him.<br>"I want to play too. But even you can't take care of all of them by yourself…" he said, patting its fur.<br>The wolf backed away and walked out of the forests’ cover.<br>"Come back here, we can play tomorrow!"<br>The wolf didn't listen. Instead it got into a crouching stance to show its readiness.<br><br>Low level players usually ignored wolves and if they ever encountered one, they would run away.<br>If a party did decide to challenge a wolf, they would need an average party level of nine and at least four players. However, even then they would have a hard time and there was a big risk of someone dying.<br>That was what fighting a wolf in Royal Road meant. Wolves were the strongest beginner monsters and had a lot of Hp.<br><br>The wolf, so eager to play, was much stronger than a normal wolf. It had leveled up during the past five nights and had become considerably stronger, faster and smarter. If it wanted to play Jon wasn't about to say no.<br>He took out the bundles of arrows from his inventory and set them in the ground. This way he wouldn't run out of arrows no matter how many he let loose.<br>"Cerb, you ready?"<br>Cerberus lowered his tail, raised his head and howled at moon. The howl traveled far and got the attention of all of the players in the vicinity.<br><br>Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Added<br>For the duration of the next battle, the following bonuses are applied:<br>Attack speed increased by 30%<br>Movement speed increased by 15%<br>+30 Dexterity<br>+30 Strength<br>+100 Hp <br><br><br>Behind them the forest came alive. Something was moving through it fast and it wasn't trying to hide.<br>Out of the forest came twenty nine wolves who formed a line with Cerberus.<br>Snarling, barking and howling they got ready to face an oncoming army.<br>The sight of the ferocious wolves was more than enough to send chills down the players bodies; they would be fools not to run away.<br>However the mob effect kicked in, making them confuse stupidity for courage. Screaming and yelling the wave of people began running towards the wolves.<br>Jon laughed and got into firing position.<br>-'By the time they get here they'll be completely out of breath.'- The wolves waited for them to get closer.<br>He didn't need to aim. He simply went by the motions as fast as he could, letting the arrows fall like rain on the enemies heads.<br>Once he got used to the bow his arrow per minute rate became twelve to fourteen. Amplified by the Cerebrus's wolf pack buff he managed to fire seventeen to twenty arrows in a minute.<br>The arrows fell, crippling, stunning and maiming.<br>The faster players who got closer first were killed by the wolves with ease.<br>A moment of silence passed the scene.<br>The players were running almost silently, the wolves froze in a crouching position and Jon had finished his second bundle of arrows.<br>Suddenly it all exploded.<br><br>The wolves sprung into the oncoming army with grace and coordination. Magic and arrows came flying at them. Jon was sweating, with an incredible rush of excitement building up inside of him.<br><<<<<<<<<<<<WAR>>>>>>>>>>>><br>The system detected the start of a major battle.<br>You will not be able to disconnect until the fight is finished.<br>Death and kill penalties will not be applied.<br>Warning: Only the winning side will be rewarded. Staying alive is not a must and dead players will be rewarded when they reconnect.<br><br>The wolves killed player after player with swiftness none could match. Arrows bounced off of their fur, fire balls singed it, ice darts froze it and lightning bolts simply gave them a little shock.<br>The hits kept coming, hardly leaving their marks on the wolves Hp bar.<br>Jon located Cerberus with ease. He was twice as big as the other wolves.<br>He ran through the middle of the field, a line of bodies left behind him.<br>Jon couldn't stay on the sides any more. This was why he joined. He wanted to fight in ways real life just didn't allow.<br><br>He stashed his bow and took out one of the swords he got in the library. In his other hand he was holding Yarel's knife. He walked out of the forest slowly. The sound of his heartbeat overshadowed everything else. He felt calm and couldn't stop himself from smiling.<br>-'Silent Strike-' His knife went in and out of a warrior’s neck, cutting the jugular and sending a spray of blood into the air.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>Continuing the motion he twisted the knife in his hand and stabbed the player next to him in the neck as well. He spun, slicing a third player’s head almost completely off and pushing the knife in a fourth player’s armpit.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>Level Up<br><br>He did it fluently, not even slowing down. A fountain of blood covered him in red.<br>He kept walking forward while he distributed the stat points.<br>-'I want to decapitate someone.'- was the reason he put all the stat points into strength.<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Owl's Instincts Levels Up<br>Level 2: Critical Hit Chance +8%<br><br>Twelve more died, all of them critical hits. An arrow struck his chest. The metal tip got stuck in the leather armor while the wooden shaft broke off and fell to the ground.<br>Two more warriors fell and another arrow struck him.<br>He looked at the battlefield and analyzed the situation. Cerberus was making minced meat out of the long range players standing on the sides of the battle. The close ranged players ganged up on the wolves and Jon could see two wolves lying on the ground beaten to death.<br>-'Cerb will manage alone.'-<br>Helping the wolves was more important, as the arrows did little damage and magic could be avoided.<br>But that wasn't what drove him to a run. It was the sight of a huge amount of players gathered around the wolves that appealed to Jon. The wolves got surrounded by the players, with some fighting while others trying to get close enough to land a hit.<br>He sprinted towards them, putting ten points into strength. He reached the first player who, like the rest of them, was looking away from Jon, fighting to get closer to the center. The knife struck him in the nape of the neck and he fell down to the ground. Next to him players were dropping like flies.<br>"Traitor!" someone bellowed.<br>Those around him turned to stare at Jon. He was covered in blood, standing on a pile of dead bodies. They froze when they saw his smile but recovered when someone shouted:<br>"Get him!"<br>A dozen players went after him. Jon dashed at the closest one and REPLACEed the knife into his shoulder, climbed him and jumped using him as a spring board.<br>He flew through the air, the head of the players lifted to look at him pass into the center where the wolves were.<br>-'Silent Strike'-<br>He fell on top of a player, forcing his sword down the player's surprised mouth. With his flat side of the knife he managed to deflect an oncoming club. Following the wooden shaft of the club he sliced the fingers that were holding it. Drawing the sword out he was saved from a hit to the head by a bleeding wolf.<br>Jon was having the time of his life. He just wished his opponents had a bit more fighting experience. But he wasn't about to waste the moment away.<br>Like a whirlwind he began making his way outside the collar of players. The wolves followed, adding more bodies to the path. Pop-up massages telling him he made a critical hit flashed in his eyes.<br><br>Knife/Dagger Mastery Levels Up<br>Level 3: Attack Speed +10%<br>Attack Power +5%<br><br>Jon dodged a wooden training sword by crouching fast and sticking his knife into the swinging players boot. The player jumped in pain and a wolf trapped his neck between its teeth.<br>A path cleared before him and Jon dashed forward. Jumping high, he twisted in the air.<br>His legs pointing into the night sky, he turned around himself as if screwing into the ground. With the sword and knife horizontal to the ground he cut the knees of three players. Finishing his spin he fell on his feet in time to block a fist with the sharp side of his knife.<br>The players with the cut knee fell on their good knee and had their faces slashed at by the wolves.<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Speed Stab Skill Learned<br>The skill allows you to perform a stabbing motion with your weapon of choice, with a speed that far accedes your normal abilities.<br>The motion is so fast it allows you to perform multiple stabs in the time it would have taken you to make one.<br>Level 1: Number of stabs = 2<br>Mp cost: 20<br><br>They continued moving straight, receiving blows from all sides. The hits were weak and Jon's leather armor protected him from any serious injury, but the accumulated blows were starting to affect him.<br>Thoughts of losing passed through his mind and his moves began to slow down. He was starting to tire. A sound of a howl enveloped the battlefield and a moment later body parts began flying through the air. Cerberus was cutting his way to Jon and the wolves.<br>Cerberus was even bigger now. Jon could see the top of his head over the rows of players separating them. He was using his claws more than his teeth now. His front legs became longer and his torso looked wider. From time to time he even raised himself on his hind legs, swinging both his paws at the enemy. Each slash cut a player to pieces. A human head could fit in his jaws with enough room to move around.<br>Weapons broke off his body and magic couldn't even capture his attention. He looked feral, resembling a demon more than a wolf.<br>The sight of Cerberus invigorated Jon and fueled his hurting body.<br>-'Speed Stab!'- The player he aimed his skill at had both of his lounges punctured at the same time.<br>-'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'-<br>By the time he joined Cerberus his mana was depleted and his level rose again.<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Jon and Cerberus fought back to back, with the wolves circling and killing random players on all sides. In the nick of time Jon noticed a strong light coming from afar.<br>A mage used all of his mana to create a huge ball of fire and it was almost ready.<br>Jon stepped in hard and put all of his weight forward. Without giving it a second thought he threw his sword at the mage.<br>The focus stat and the owl's instinct skill kicked in and the system made Jon let go of the sword at just the right moment.<br>It flew through the air, reflecting the red light of the fireball and looking like a sword made of ambers. It impaled the mage’s stomach and forced him to break off the casting.<br>The huge ball of flames exploded with enough force to blow away all the leaves from the trees behind it.<br>Mages and bowmen around it were burned to death as it exploded and some unfortunate warriors became stunned. A wolf that was in the radius of the explosion was running around with his fur on fire. In its frenzy it ran into players, setting them on fire as it did.<br><br>The explosion became the turning point of the battle.<br>While Jon and the wolves were much stronger than the rest of the players, the number of players would have overwhelmed them eventually. Fortunately, the explosion together with the sight of Cerberus’ flinging cut up bodies into the air with every swing of its claws, caused some players’ nerves to break down.<br>Most of the range attackers fled back to the citadel, and with every death, more and more players deserted the fight.<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Speed Stab Levels Up<br>Level 2: Number of stabs: 2<br>Attack power +5%<br>Mp Cost: 20<br><br>As the sun rays began to show over the horizon the last players fell to the ground. It happened at the nick of time, a bit longer and the wolves' night time power bonus would have been canceled.<br>The sun rose over the field of battle bringing to light just how many have died. Jon and the wolves stood in the middle of piles of dead bodies.<br>He was bleeding hard but he didn't care as he felt better than ever. The way he fought would have never been possible in real life. The acrobatics and kill moves he used never worked when he tried them in the pit, but in this battle they not only worked but they worked well.<br>The wolves were howling at the pale remnants of the moon. Some members of their pack had died and the rest of them survived the battle with bad wounds.<br>The wolves began the battle the same size, but now out of the thirty who began only ten survived, each of them was a different size now.<br>They surrounded Jon and nuzzled him from all sides, licking his and each others wounds. Some wolves whimpered as the bigger wounds were licked clean.<br><br><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<End of the War>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br>The battle is over.<br>You have become stronger and will of today be known as the winner of the battle named "The fleeing of the newbies".<br>Level Rises<br>Fame Rises By 300 (+300 Fame)<br>Title granted: "Leader of the pack"<br>Title bonus: Charisma +10<br>Taming animals becomes 20% easier and faster.<br><br>Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Has Been Canceled<br><br>The bodies covering the grassland all turned grey at the same time and disappeared. No evidence that anything had happened at all was left. Only the dead wolves were left to lie in their own blood.<br>Jon began digging a grave and the surviving wolves joined in. They put the dead wolves inside and covered it back over with dirt. He gathered a few stones and put them in a circle on top of the middle of the grave. Inside the circle he drove his sword into the ground. He stood in silence, giving his respect to those who fought alongside him. The surviving wolves did the same by howling a sad howl.<br><br>Memorial of the Beasts Created<br>To remember those who have fallen to the human madness, the sword of a true friend to the animals will be engraved with the names of those who died fighting the humans.<br><br>A yellow glow enveloped the sword, and when it dissipated, runes were engraved into the blade.<br>The wolves went back to the forest and Jon went back to the citadel.<br><br>He passed remnants of the battle as he entered the gates. Players who had run away looked at Jon with fear and respect as he passed them. Some tried to attack him, but were saved from Jon’s wrath by the Npc guards.<br>He didn't go back to work like he was supposed to. He simply couldn't. The remaining wolves were left weak and hurt and any player brave enough could easily kill them all. Worry filled him and wandering the citadel streets, thinking of a way to help them, he saw the answer before him.
</div> | Chapter Six – A Fighting Chance
Jon felt the night was wasted away.
Every time he tried to leave, Ballard stopped him and urged him to keep shooting.
He shot far, he shot near, he shot at standing targets and at moving ones, he shot at sky and at the ground.
He told Jon to try shooting multiple arrows at once for a while, but when Jon failed to hit even the closest target Ballard gave up.
"We'll try that again when your mastery is higher," he said.
Ballard made him fire arrows nonstop for half an hour, so he could measure the firing speed. Even though a few years had passed since he last used bows, he fared well.
A good longbow's man can fire twelve to fifteen arrows a minute. Jon managed eight to nine per minute.
The artificial light inside tempered with one's feeling of time. If the boy shooting next to Jon didn't mention he had to log out as it was morning soon Jon would've just stood there the whole day, firing the way Ballard told him.
Archery Mastery Levels Up
Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)
Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)
Perception Rises By 1 (+1 Per)
Five hours of shooting left their mark on Jon. The skill and stat rising weren't so important as him getting used to the bow again.
The archery mastery skill worked by subconsciously correcting Jon's hands into the right position. The higher the skill level the more accurate was the correction.
However, Jon's precision was pretty good to begin with, and amplified by his low level mastery he succeeded in satisfying Ballard's expectations of him.
He didn't need to come back tonight, he had other plans, so before leaving he stocked his inventory with ten bundles of arrows. They were all simple, training arrows but they were free.
Work passed smoothly. He had already got used to the kitchen's fast pace and even managed to predict Burka's needs from time to time, which lowered the amount of times he got screamed at.
During his break, he mounted the grinding wheel on one of the tables and slowly went through the arrows in his inventory.
They were so dull, that when he checked their attack power it was at zero. Grinding the metal tips until they were sharp again returned the attack power to one.
Compared to the twelve attack power knife, Yarel was kind enough to donate to him, it was nothing. But Jon didn't care as the monotone act of sharpening appealed to him.
Sharpening Skill Levels Up
There were thirty arrows in each bundle. It took him ten seconds to sharpen an arrow and before his work was finished all ten bundles had been finished.
"Good hunting." Burka wished him as Jon ran off the second his work was done.
The sun had already set and the only light came from the moon and the star filled night sky.
Jon was standing at the edge of the forest, only a few bushes and a tree separated him from the grassland where numerous players were busy chasing helpless animals.
The citadel gate was about two kilometers away, only the burning fire and torches were visible in the night. He couldn't see the guards and that meant they couldn't see him.
Equipped with his bow and fitting an arrow, he waited.
There was a party of four moving close to the edge of the forest towards the place he stood, hidden in the dark between the trees.
The party consisted of a warrior, two mages and a bowman. The warrior was stepping on the bushes, making noise on purpose, while the other three walked some distance from him.
When the warrior was less than fifty meters away from Jon, he suddenly began sprinting towards the citadel.
A wolf jumped out of the thicket chasing him.
He heard the murmur of the casting mages and saw the bowman draw his bow.
Jon drew his bow and let go of the arrow. He was faster than the bowman and as he released the arrow he didn't look at it to see if he hit his target. Instead he quickly materialized the floating ball of mana before the bowman's face.
He heard a scream of pain that meant his arrow hit its target and saw the bowman drop his arrow to cover his eyes from the sudden bright blue light.
Looking back at the warrior he saw him standing with one knee on the ground clutching his hip where an arrow was sticking out.
The arrow dropped very little of the warrior’s Hp but it made him stagger and fall. The running wolf did the rest. It jumped to the air and flew at the warrior, snapping its jaws on the warrior's neck, breaking his Adam’s apple and cutting through the main jugular vane.
Once the warrior turned grey and disappeared the wolf changed its target to the bowman, who was struggling to fire because of the moving ball of light.
Three quick jumps and the wolf was under the bowman's feet slashing the torso with its talons. The bowman turned grey after two slashes.
As the bowman disappeared and the blue light covered the wolf, Jon thought he saw the wolf get bigger.
The two mages, now defenseless, forgot about their incantations and started running, with the wolf following after them. He strung another arrow and took aim at the farther mage of the two.
The wolf reached the first mage while Jon's arrow was still in the air.
One swing of the wolf's paw was enough to get rid of the little Hp the mage had.
Critical Hit
The arrow went through the mage's throat, a part of it poking out on each side. The mage tried to complete his incantation but blood filled his mouth and he started to choke. The wolf slashed his stomach open a second later.
Lit by an incomplete fireball in the mage's hand, Jon could see clearly this time. As the mage died the wolf suddenly grew in size. He dispelled his magic and looked at the wolf.
From what he had seen earlier, when a player managed to escape from a wolf or when a wolf managed to get the kill, it would immediately go back to the forest. This wolf didn't.
It walked up and sniffed the arrows that fell to the ground once the bodies disappeared. Finished with the arrows it lifted its head and began sniffing the air. Done, it looked at where Jon was hiding.
Even though he couldn't see them, he could feel the wolf's eyes staring at him and he gazed back unblinking. After a minute or two, the wolf slowly trotted aside and sat down on its hind legs. Getting comfortable it again looked at Jon.
Ten minutes passed like that. Both Jon and the wolf seemed frozen in place. Even the sound of another party not far away didn't make the wolf flinch.
Jon was trying to remember something Gorge mentioned to him. It took a while but he finally remembered.
"Monsters in Royal Road can level up and become stronger the same way players do." Was what Gorge said to him during dinner.
He stepped out into the grassland and headed to where the warrior died. In his place were lying a fox pelt and an arrow, which he picked up before continuing to the place the rest of the party died.
Three fox pelts and rabbit meat were his reward for helping the wolf. He threw the meat to the wolf, which was following him with his stare all the while. The meat fell next to him but he didn't move, he just kept staring at Jon.
Making sure he picked everything up, Jon dispelled the ball of light and returned to his spot in the forest. Once safely hidden from sight, he watched the wolf devour the rabbit meat and lay down to wait.
"Are you sure it was there?"
"I'm telling you I saw something bright floating around here!"
"Maybe it was a fairy?"
"Are fairies considered monsters? I wonder how much exp they give…"
"Who the fuck cares, man. It's a freaking fairy! I'm tired of fighting animals; I want to kill something cool."
A party of three was heading to where Jon had picked up the loot. Attracted by the mana ball he used to light the ground, they risked getting close to the forest edge.
Jon glanced at where the wolf was and only managed to notice him because he knew where it was. Crouching flat against the ground, the wolf looked ready to attack.
He wasted time no more. Summoning the ball of bright blue light again, he drew an arrow and took aim at the same time.
"There it is! I told you I wasn't seeing things!"
A player wielding a sword ran away from the group to where the ball materialized.
Getting closer he suddenly said:
"Guys, I don't think it's a fairy… I'm pretty sure this is some kind of maAAUUGHHHHHHH"
Critical Hit
Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)
The scream of pain was heard all the way back inside the citadel.
The player fell to the ground clutching at an arrow lodged inside his eye socket. No blood was flowing as the arrow was stopped by his skull. Nonetheless his face was wet. The fluids of his eye dripped down his face, reflecting the light of the floating ball, allowing Jon to see the expression of pain that covered it.
To Jon's disappointment, the bow was so weak that even a critical hit wasn't enough to kill a player.
"What happened?" The other two yelled in a worry.
The mana ball floated towards them and one of them tried to cut it with an axe but missed. Both of them now had their weapons in their hands but the ball rose high, out of their reach.
It served its purpose, by distracting them from the sprinting wolf who had already disposed of the screaming friend.
Another arrow pierced the hand of the axe wielder, making him drop his weapon to the ground.
"It's an ambush!" He started to scream, but was silenced by the wolf's claws reaping out his throat.
He fell to the ground choking with his own blood as he slowly bled to death. He lived long enough to see the wolf gnaw his friend's head off his shoulders.
All three players were gone and under the bluish magic light the wolf became bigger again.Jon canceled his magic and was looking around to make sure there was no one to see him when he noticed the wolf walking towards him.
It stopped before Jon. With only a couple of bushes and a tree separating them, he could smell the animal odor that came from it
It was holding something in his mouth, and when it let go, Jon saw it was the loot.
Three pelts and two arrows lay between him and the wolf.
He picked them up and tried to pat the wolf, but as his hand rose so did the lips of the wolf and it began to snarl. It stopped only when Jon went back into the darkness. The wolf sat there, as if waiting for Jon to do something.
Jon didn't take Star Piercer for nothing. His main goal was to help animals defend themselves. The wolf distracted him from it, but now it was time he began.
What Jon wanted to do was the same he did with the wolf, distract and hinder the players' movements to give the animals a chance to run away or retaliate. He couldn't do it in the day time and it had to be from afar, so that the players wouldn't turn on him.
Shooting from inside the forest hidden by the darkness of the night made him feel good. He felt like he was handing out justice. Lusting after the higher exp reward that monsters gave during the night, the grassland was full of players. This worked to Jon's advantage in two ways.
First of all, it meant he had a lot of targets to choose from. Second, monsters were stronger and more ferocious during the night.
Jon picked a player who was fighting something small around three-hundred meters from him.
He took aim at him and fired four arrows in a row. The fourth arrow left his hands right as the first fell down.
He looked to see if he had hit his target and saw that the first arrow didn't even come close. In the time it took the arrow to fall the player had already moved away. The other three arrows glittered through the sky, reflecting the moonlight of the sharpened tips, and buried themselves into the ground around the first one.
-Can't fire in an arc…'-
The way he fired didn’t work. He shot them high into the sky and let them fall down in a high arc to the ground. It took longer for the arrow to fall but it was the only way he knew of that allowed to shot at these distances.
But who was he kidding?
This wasn't real life, this was a game, and games followed their own rules!
He was holding a bow in his hands that could throw an arrow half a kilometer with ease. He needed to forget about real life limitations soon, as those were what made him want to play in the first place.
He picked a different target, a bit closer this time, took aim, and instead of lifting the bow at a higher angle, he simply drew it back harder.
The arrow flew out at an incredible speed. Slicing the air it whizzed by his target, making him turn around in surprise. There was no chance he could see him from almost two hundred meters away, so while the player looked around to see what startled him Jon was already taking aim again.
It took some time getting used to, but when the whole bundle of arrows in his quiver was gone he felt confident he could make it work.
He refilled the quiver and chose a target a little bit closer this time.
The first arrow missed but only by a small margin. The second arrow missed as well.
On the third try it struck true.
It struck the player’s left shoulder with a metallic sound and made him stagger. Unfortunately it didn't have much affect as the shoulder plate stooped the arrow from going deep. Although only a flesh wound, it managed to stun and distract, giving the fox the player was fighting a chance to counter attack.
The fox jumped and bit the player's hand. He thrashed around and flung his arm from side to side, but the fox hung on.
The surprise passed and he managed to regain his calm. He stopped flailing around and took out his belt knife. He lifted the knife over his head and was ready to part the fox's body away from its head when he noticed the white teeth that came flying at him from out of nowhere.
The wolf's body struck him full force. Its claws ripped the flesh of his arms and the teeth dug deep under his clavicle bone.
This caught Jon by surprise. Not only did the wolf sprung into action as soon as his arrow connected with the player but he also brought the arrow back together with a silver coin.
The fox ran off somewhere when it saw the wolf.
-'It's like playing catch.'- Memories of playing with the mansion guard dogs resurfaced.
-'Only this is better!'-
Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)
Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Foc)
Dexterity Rises by 1 (+1 Dex)
Strength Rises by 1 (+1 Str)
Perception Rises 1 (+1 Per)
By the time the sun began to rise, more than four hundred arrows had been fired. And even if about ninety percent of them were misses, as the first rays of sunshine illuminated the vast grassland, Jon could swear there were more animals running around than the day before.
It was time for him to go back to the kitchen.
He was waiting for the wolf to come back with the loot. It was running up the field, an arrow held between its teeth with a pelt jumping up and down with the rhythm of the wolf's movements,
Jon had the items dropped into his hands.
"Thank you."
The wolf still refused to be touched but it would now drop the stuff into Jon's hands…
"I'm glad you're fine." Burka said with an unusually quiet voice. "I heard there was a wolf that strayed from the forest and attacked people last night."
Jon stopped working and looked at him in wonder.
"I think you shouldn't go hunting tonight. If our idiotic doorman can overpower you, a wolf might kill you."
"Don't worry." He went back to working.
"I'm not worried about you, you fool!" His angry voice returned. "If you go and get mauled by a wolf my workload will grow!"
"So you better be careful out there!"
"Nine days left before the dragon meat arrives, you shouldn't even waste your time hunting!"
Burka started tendering the meat with a hammer, with more strength than he needed to.
Compliments from the customers that night, praised the meat for its tenderness.
Before going back to the forest, he stopped by the guild and restocked his arrows. Ballard tried to question him on how his bow worked but Jon managed to sneak away.
He walked to the spot he used yesterday and observed the grasslands before him.
It was a cloudy night and visibility was low.
He couldn't tell clearly, who was standing where after fifty meters, so he targeted mages.
When a mage began to cast his magic, a glow emanated from the part of body the magic would be focused on. At night, that glow could be seen from afar.
It was good for Jon that more than half of the players started out as mages. However most of the players were school or university students. So the majority of beginner mages changed their classes to a fighting class once they realized how much studying and reading, getting stronger as a mage involved.
Wherever he looked there were small puddles of light of different color. The red color dominated as the fireball was the most common beginner spell.
He drew an arrow and took aim when he suddenly thought of something.
-'Silent Strike'- he initiated the skill and his arrow began giving off a faint bluish glow from the forty five Mp that went into it.
Critical Hit
-'Cool.'-
He took aim was was about to release another arrow when he saw the red light go out suddenly.
There was no kill massage and the fireball disappeared too suddenly for it to be canceled.
A few moments later he got his answer in the form of a wolf. It brought back his arrow together with a few silver coins.
He wiped the coins on his pants and put them in his inventory. Out of the inventory he took out a large chunk of cooked meat and gave it to the wolf.
It hesitated at first, smelling cooked meat for the first time, but devoured it with pleasure after he risked a bite.
-'I wonder if the bonuses of the meat will affect him?'-
It was meat prepared by him, and it gave a bonus to the dexterity and strength stats. Small bonuses as his cooking skill was still low, but bonuses nonetheless.Joined by the wolf, Jon began playing catch.
Silent Strike Levels Up
Level 3: Deal 15% more damage.
Chance of a critical hit increases by 40%.
Cost: 45 Mp
Dexterity Rises By 1 (+1 Dex)
Morning came and he returned to work.
The same as yesterday, after work he stopped in the guild and restocked his supply of arrows before going to his spot in the forest.
It was another dark night, with the moon hidden behind the clouds. Tonight the wolf was waiting for Jon at his spot and as he greeted it, he also gave him another chunk of cooked meat.
The strategy of the third night was a little different, as last night's mage hunting was rather effective; there were hardly any mages left.
He would summon the ball of light and float it over the field. When the light revealed a player or a party of them, only then would he shoot.
The wolf no longer waited for the arrow to designate a target, but would begin running as soon as Jon began pulling back the bow.
Magic Mastery Levels Up
Level 4 effects: Can cast beginner level spells.
Casting speed increased by 8%
Focus Rises By 1 (+1 Foc)
Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)
Intelligence Rises By 1 (+1 Int)
Nothing changed until the sixth day.
The first players who had been killed by the wolf logged back in on the fifth night, and they were looking for revenge. They called their friends who called their own friends. The news spread like wild fire, and starting from noon players began to gather outside the citadel gates.
Looking at their gear it was clear they were all beginners, most didn't even have a weapon, and among those who did, wood was what they were made of.
The more experienced players seemed to distance themselves from the mob.
Seraborg citadel, being a starting city, was populated mostly by beginners and high level players.
Players leveled ten to sixty were usually adventuring the countryside in search of dungeons or were busy doing quests.
The players in the mob were attracted by word of a demonic wolf that could use magic and was as big as a horse. For many of them it was their first time hunting and the chance to partake in what they considered a boss hunt was too alluring to ignore.
As the sun hid behind the horizon they stepped on to the grassland in search of the enormous wolf.
When Jon arrived there were enough people to be considered a small army. More than a quarter of a thousand players moved about. The brave ones walked by the forests edge, trying to lure out the beast.
The search was concentrated around the place where he used to hide and shoot from. Not wanting to attract attention he entered the forest from a place the mob ignored.
He took out a piece of cooked meat and after a couple of minutes the bushes began to rustle and the wolf appeared.
It approached Jon and began licking his hand. He petted him and they shared the meat.
"I don't think we can play tonight." He spoke, scratching behind the wolf's ear.
"You've become big and strong, but there's just too many of them." The wolf licked his face in answer.
Even with Jon standing straight, all the wolf had to do to reach his face was lift its nose. The nights spent playing catch have transformed him.
"I want to play too. But even you can't take care of all of them by yourself…" he said, patting its fur.
The wolf backed away and walked out of the forests’ cover.
"Come back here, we can play tomorrow!"
The wolf didn't listen. Instead it got into a crouching stance to show its readiness.
Low level players usually ignored wolves and if they ever encountered one, they would run away.
If a party did decide to challenge a wolf, they would need an average party level of nine and at least four players. However, even then they would have a hard time and there was a big risk of someone dying.
That was what fighting a wolf in Royal Road meant. Wolves were the strongest beginner monsters and had a lot of Hp.
The wolf, so eager to play, was much stronger than a normal wolf. It had leveled up during the past five nights and had become considerably stronger, faster and smarter. If it wanted to play Jon wasn't about to say no.
He took out the bundles of arrows from his inventory and set them in the ground. This way he wouldn't run out of arrows no matter how many he let loose.
"Cerb, you ready?"
Cerberus lowered his tail, raised his head and howled at moon. The howl traveled far and got the attention of all of the players in the vicinity.
Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Added
For the duration of the next battle, the following bonuses are applied:
Attack speed increased by 30%
Movement speed increased by 15%
+30 Dexterity
+30 Strength
+100 Hp
Behind them the forest came alive. Something was moving through it fast and it wasn't trying to hide.
Out of the forest came twenty nine wolves who formed a line with Cerberus.
Snarling, barking and howling they got ready to face an oncoming army.
The sight of the ferocious wolves was more than enough to send chills down the players bodies; they would be fools not to run away.
However the mob effect kicked in, making them confuse stupidity for courage. Screaming and yelling the wave of people began running towards the wolves.
Jon laughed and got into firing position.
-'By the time they get here they'll be completely out of breath.'- The wolves waited for them to get closer.
He didn't need to aim. He simply went by the motions as fast as he could, letting the arrows fall like rain on the enemies heads.
Once he got used to the bow his arrow per minute rate became twelve to fourteen. Amplified by the Cerebrus's wolf pack buff he managed to fire seventeen to twenty arrows in a minute.
The arrows fell, crippling, stunning and maiming.
The faster players who got closer first were killed by the wolves with ease.
A moment of silence passed the scene.
The players were running almost silently, the wolves froze in a crouching position and Jon had finished his second bundle of arrows.
Suddenly it all exploded.
The wolves sprung into the oncoming army with grace and coordination. Magic and arrows came flying at them. Jon was sweating, with an incredible rush of excitement building up inside of him.
<<<<<<<<<<<<WAR>>>>>>>>>>>>
The system detected the start of a major battle.
You will not be able to disconnect until the fight is finished.
Death and kill penalties will not be applied.
Warning: Only the winning side will be rewarded. Staying alive is not a must and dead players will be rewarded when they reconnect.
The wolves killed player after player with swiftness none could match. Arrows bounced off of their fur, fire balls singed it, ice darts froze it and lightning bolts simply gave them a little shock.
The hits kept coming, hardly leaving their marks on the wolves Hp bar.
Jon located Cerberus with ease. He was twice as big as the other wolves.
He ran through the middle of the field, a line of bodies left behind him.
Jon couldn't stay on the sides any more. This was why he joined. He wanted to fight in ways real life just didn't allow.
He stashed his bow and took out one of the swords he got in the library. In his other hand he was holding Yarel's knife. He walked out of the forest slowly. The sound of his heartbeat overshadowed everything else. He felt calm and couldn't stop himself from smiling.
-'Silent Strike-' His knife went in and out of a warrior’s neck, cutting the jugular and sending a spray of blood into the air.
Critical Hit
Continuing the motion he twisted the knife in his hand and stabbed the player next to him in the neck as well. He spun, slicing a third player’s head almost completely off and pushing the knife in a fourth player’s armpit.
Critical Hit
Critical Hit
Critical Hit
Level Up
He did it fluently, not even slowing down. A fountain of blood covered him in red.
He kept walking forward while he distributed the stat points.
-'I want to decapitate someone.'- was the reason he put all the stat points into strength.
Level Up
Level Up
Owl's Instincts Levels Up
Level 2: Critical Hit Chance +8%
Twelve more died, all of them critical hits. An arrow struck his chest. The metal tip got stuck in the leather armor while the wooden shaft broke off and fell to the ground.
Two more warriors fell and another arrow struck him.
He looked at the battlefield and analyzed the situation. Cerberus was making minced meat out of the long range players standing on the sides of the battle. The close ranged players ganged up on the wolves and Jon could see two wolves lying on the ground beaten to death.
-'Cerb will manage alone.'-
Helping the wolves was more important, as the arrows did little damage and magic could be avoided.
But that wasn't what drove him to a run. It was the sight of a huge amount of players gathered around the wolves that appealed to Jon. The wolves got surrounded by the players, with some fighting while others trying to get close enough to land a hit.
He sprinted towards them, putting ten points into strength. He reached the first player who, like the rest of them, was looking away from Jon, fighting to get closer to the center. The knife struck him in the nape of the neck and he fell down to the ground. Next to him players were dropping like flies.
"Traitor!" someone bellowed.
Those around him turned to stare at Jon. He was covered in blood, standing on a pile of dead bodies. They froze when they saw his smile but recovered when someone shouted:
"Get him!"
A dozen players went after him. Jon dashed at the closest one and REPLACEed the knife into his shoulder, climbed him and jumped using him as a spring board.
He flew through the air, the head of the players lifted to look at him pass into the center where the wolves were.
-'Silent Strike'-
He fell on top of a player, forcing his sword down the player's surprised mouth. With his flat side of the knife he managed to deflect an oncoming club. Following the wooden shaft of the club he sliced the fingers that were holding it. Drawing the sword out he was saved from a hit to the head by a bleeding wolf.
Jon was having the time of his life. He just wished his opponents had a bit more fighting experience. But he wasn't about to waste the moment away.
Like a whirlwind he began making his way outside the collar of players. The wolves followed, adding more bodies to the path. Pop-up massages telling him he made a critical hit flashed in his eyes.
Knife/Dagger Mastery Levels Up
Level 3: Attack Speed +10%
Attack Power +5%
Jon dodged a wooden training sword by crouching fast and sticking his knife into the swinging players boot. The player jumped in pain and a wolf trapped his neck between its teeth.
A path cleared before him and Jon dashed forward. Jumping high, he twisted in the air.
His legs pointing into the night sky, he turned around himself as if screwing into the ground. With the sword and knife horizontal to the ground he cut the knees of three players. Finishing his spin he fell on his feet in time to block a fist with the sharp side of his knife.
The players with the cut knee fell on their good knee and had their faces slashed at by the wolves.
Level Up
Speed Stab Skill Learned
The skill allows you to perform a stabbing motion with your weapon of choice, with a speed that far accedes your normal abilities.
The motion is so fast it allows you to perform multiple stabs in the time it would have taken you to make one.
Level 1: Number of stabs = 2
Mp cost: 20
They continued moving straight, receiving blows from all sides. The hits were weak and Jon's leather armor protected him from any serious injury, but the accumulated blows were starting to affect him.
Thoughts of losing passed through his mind and his moves began to slow down. He was starting to tire. A sound of a howl enveloped the battlefield and a moment later body parts began flying through the air. Cerberus was cutting his way to Jon and the wolves.
Cerberus was even bigger now. Jon could see the top of his head over the rows of players separating them. He was using his claws more than his teeth now. His front legs became longer and his torso looked wider. From time to time he even raised himself on his hind legs, swinging both his paws at the enemy. Each slash cut a player to pieces. A human head could fit in his jaws with enough room to move around.
Weapons broke off his body and magic couldn't even capture his attention. He looked feral, resembling a demon more than a wolf.
The sight of Cerberus invigorated Jon and fueled his hurting body.
-'Speed Stab!'- The player he aimed his skill at had both of his lounges punctured at the same time.
-'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'- -'Speed Stab.'-
By the time he joined Cerberus his mana was depleted and his level rose again.
Level Up
Jon and Cerberus fought back to back, with the wolves circling and killing random players on all sides. In the nick of time Jon noticed a strong light coming from afar.
A mage used all of his mana to create a huge ball of fire and it was almost ready.
Jon stepped in hard and put all of his weight forward. Without giving it a second thought he threw his sword at the mage.
The focus stat and the owl's instinct skill kicked in and the system made Jon let go of the sword at just the right moment.
It flew through the air, reflecting the red light of the fireball and looking like a sword made of ambers. It impaled the mage’s stomach and forced him to break off the casting.
The huge ball of flames exploded with enough force to blow away all the leaves from the trees behind it.
Mages and bowmen around it were burned to death as it exploded and some unfortunate warriors became stunned. A wolf that was in the radius of the explosion was running around with his fur on fire. In its frenzy it ran into players, setting them on fire as it did.
The explosion became the turning point of the battle.
While Jon and the wolves were much stronger than the rest of the players, the number of players would have overwhelmed them eventually. Fortunately, the explosion together with the sight of Cerberus’ flinging cut up bodies into the air with every swing of its claws, caused some players’ nerves to break down.
Most of the range attackers fled back to the citadel, and with every death, more and more players deserted the fight.
Level Up
Level Up
Speed Stab Levels Up
Level 2: Number of stabs: 2
Attack power +5%
Mp Cost: 20
As the sun rays began to show over the horizon the last players fell to the ground. It happened at the nick of time, a bit longer and the wolves' night time power bonus would have been canceled.
The sun rose over the field of battle bringing to light just how many have died. Jon and the wolves stood in the middle of piles of dead bodies.
He was bleeding hard but he didn't care as he felt better than ever. The way he fought would have never been possible in real life. The acrobatics and kill moves he used never worked when he tried them in the pit, but in this battle they not only worked but they worked well.
The wolves were howling at the pale remnants of the moon. Some members of their pack had died and the rest of them survived the battle with bad wounds.
The wolves began the battle the same size, but now out of the thirty who began only ten survived, each of them was a different size now.
They surrounded Jon and nuzzled him from all sides, licking his and each others wounds. Some wolves whimpered as the bigger wounds were licked clean.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<End of the War>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The battle is over.
You have become stronger and will of today be known as the winner of the battle named "The fleeing of the newbies".
Level Rises
Fame Rises By 300 (+300 Fame)
Title granted: "Leader of the pack"
Title bonus: Charisma +10
Taming animals becomes 20% easier and faster.
Wolf's Blood Lust Buff Has Been Canceled
The bodies covering the grassland all turned grey at the same time and disappeared. No evidence that anything had happened at all was left. Only the dead wolves were left to lie in their own blood.
Jon began digging a grave and the surviving wolves joined in. They put the dead wolves inside and covered it back over with dirt. He gathered a few stones and put them in a circle on top of the middle of the grave. Inside the circle he drove his sword into the ground. He stood in silence, giving his respect to those who fought alongside him. The surviving wolves did the same by howling a sad howl.
Memorial of the Beasts Created
To remember those who have fallen to the human madness, the sword of a true friend to the animals will be engraved with the names of those who died fighting the humans.
A yellow glow enveloped the sword, and when it dissipated, runes were engraved into the blade.
The wolves went back to the forest and Jon went back to the citadel.
He passed remnants of the battle as he entered the gates. Players who had run away looked at Jon with fear and respect as he passed them. Some tried to attack him, but were saved from Jon’s wrath by the Npc guards.
He didn't go back to work like he was supposed to. He simply couldn't. The remaining wolves were left weak and hurt and any player brave enough could easily kill them all. Worry filled him and wandering the citadel streets, thinking of a way to help them, he saw the answer before him. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Chapter 7",
"id": 9,
"next": 10,
"prev": 8,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Failariél stood up. Everything was still a mess inside her head. She was surrounded by weird looking shadows, which embraced the heaven. A bright light full of warmth and brightness.<br>Her head hurt badly. She didn’t know here she were or what she was doing around here. At first she didn’t even know who she was but after solving the puzzle inside her head she knew her name at least. But still not where she was.<br>Wherever she was, she knew something bad happened. One hand held her head and the other pushed the ground so that she could stand up. The first try didn’t work out as she thought and she fell. She hit her head against a shadow and everything went black again.<br>The next time she woke up it was already dark. The bright light wasn’t there behind the shadows anymore. The ground had to be soft or at least the thing on which she was laying. She turned on her back and tried to think. She had a big bruise at her forehead. She ran her hand over it.<br>Slowly the shadows began to form to big black trees and she saw that the ground was covered with moss. She wanted to check which time it was but saw that she had dozen mails. Where I knocked out that long? Only then did she saw that days had passed. Days? At least one week.<br>She panicked. She wanted to log out instantly but to her surprise the button wasn’t where it was. She tried it by voice but nothing happened. What’s wrong? She didn’t know the answer.<br>She didn’t remember the names from the people who sent her the mails. She deleted them and stamped them as trash.<br>She stood up or at least that was what she attempted to do. <br>His legs trembled under her weight. She hadn’t eaten for days, neither had she drunk anything. Her status bars were inside the red zone. She didn’t know how she had survived until now but if she wanted to live she had to eat something fast.<br>She grabbed inside her backpack but her hand found nothing. Where was my backpack? She looked around. Where is my backpack!<br>She began to panic. She screamed out for help. After no one aided to her help she slowly lowered her voice. She focused. But nothing came to her mind. The panic attack consumed almost the last bits of her energy and she didn’t had much power left.<br>No food was around and she didn’t find any water. She began to walk down the forest slowly.<br>---------<br>The sword sliced the air from left to right. You could hear the katana penetrating the air. THe scarecrow cracked loudly after each hit. The owner of the katana made critical hits with each slash.<br>“That is the way you do it.” The fully concentrated instructor said to him. He whirled around wildly at first glance but if you watched carefully you could see that he had an exact order of movement. I saw the rhythm even though I didn’t watch my master. My thoughts were elsewhere. Failarièl hadn’t answered on my calls for the last week, albeit she was online.<br>“Do you understand Jawal? You have to concentrate on your attacks and watch the movements of your enemies to anticipate his next attack. If you see the attack coming you can counter it, and counters give additional damage and a critical hit. It’s exaggerating but you people from the other continent seem to be bad at this calculations which is why most of you die against stronger enemies or unknown foes.” He stopped his attacks and spoke with me. “Are you even listening?”<br>“Yeah, yeah I am. But why repeat everything you want to teach me so often? you know that i can do it. You even saw me do it.” My thoughts wandered to the present again. “Should I show it to you?” He wasn’t going on my nerves but my tone could have hinted that I had other things to take care of right now.<br>He grunted.<br>“If you are so strong as you think why don’t we go deeper? My training cellar is big. Even monsters roam at lower levels. Strong monsters!”<br>That was my chance to prove that I am ready to go to the next stage. We trained already for almost one week. The second stage was almost completed but the instructor didn’t saw me fit to proceed to the next stage at my current level. I went through many ordeals to get here but he just doesn’t understand that I am ready. Well, I don’t know what awaits me in the third stage but still. I want to pass.<br>“Then why don’t go down? I want to train against real monsters. I was caged inside this huge town all the time and all I wanted was to explore the vast world, encounter exotic animals and make an adventure for my own.” he looked suspicious at first and spied me carefully. He looked into my eyes deeply. Maybe he saw something different. He asked me this questions for a felt hundred times but he always said that it was not time to go deeper.<br>Maybe the sparkle in my eyes changed his expression. Maybe it was the quest which allowed him to go down at the 7th day. Maybe it was something else. But one of these maybes changed my life entirely.<br>“Excellent. Follow me.” As he said something weird flashed through my mind. where was the staircase. We still trained inside the huge hall. But I have never seen another staircase which lead down. Still I followed him.<br>“By the way where are we going down. I never saw another way down.”<br>He turned his head around but kept his pace.<br>“Ah, you finally noticed that as well. You will see soon. The place where we are going is secret. You will be the first outsider to enter it.”<br>“Outsider?” I was suspicious. Outsider of what? Of a certain guild? A faction? A group of monster killing huge barbarians who stay the entire day in a training center, do nothing and are still so powerful?<br>----------------<br>“Hey, you still alive?” She heard a man speak with a soft voice. He poked her. “If you are make a sound.”<br>“Ahuuh.”<br>The man stood up.<br>“Guys come over here. You have to see this. I found a survivor. And it seems she’s a player. At least her equipment looks that way.”<br>She heard footsteps. Her vision was still only a small line. She didn’t know where she were. She had walked down the forest but from some point on her memories are missing. From the earlier conversation she put together that she had been caught in an attack? There must have been other people as well.“Over here.” He said to his friends. And while he said that he held over a water bottle.<br>“Here, drink something.” He heaved her up and lay her down against a tree. “You okay?”<br>She tried to lift my finger to point at the bottle. But she couldn’t move, let alone make a sound.<br>But somehow he understood her gesture and filled her mouth with water. Gulping was hard but she tried at least. Water ran down her chin and soaked her clothes.<br>“Yeah, drink as much as you like. Just get up fast.” She let her some time for herself to gather her thoughts again. The bottle emptied quickly.<br>The man spoke during that time with his friends.<br>“So, what are we going to do with her?” One of them questioned the others..<br>“Markus, you have to decide. You found her, you have to care for her.” The third man said. But the fourth man knew the answer for the moment at least.<br>“Let’s speak with her first.”<br>They came over to her.<br>“Better?” She could look better than before and saw that he had black hair. His armor was blue and heavy plate mail. It shone like a sapphire. He looked strong. He held his helmet with his left hand and held out his right hand to her.<br>She grabbed it and let herself be pulled up by him. Her legs shaked terribly but somehow she managed to stand.<br>“So, I am Markus.”<br>“Failariél. Thanks for helping me.” She really was grateful.<br>“Ah, about that. You don’t have to thank me. It’s standard for the Sapphire brigade to help people in need. Do you know what happened here?” He spoke slow and loudly as if she was still not hearing right. But she liked the tone of his voice so she didn’t say anything about it.<br>“Sorry, but I don’t know anything.” She looked around for the first time. The scene was cruel. Body parts lay around and blood was everywhere. Entrails hang from branches and the once beautiful carriage was demolished, which add to the carnage just perfectly. Shock flashed in my eyes. The two horses which had pulled the carriage lay in front of it. Stomachs blown up and contains spilled. Or were they blown up? It looked more like they were eaten.<br>She gasped. She trembled. What had happened here?<br>She threw up. The accumulated stress and this scene were just too much for her.<br>The man patted her on the back.<br>“It seems you really don’t know anything. Well, to keep you on the newest level, we are bounty hunters and are hunting the group which has done this. We don’t have any information regarding them, even though we are hunting them for a long time already. The track lead us through the entire continent.”<br>“I don’t have many memories left. I only know that I woke up inside some strange forest where I couldn’t send any mails or logout. Additionally I haven’t eaten for days, neither did I log out.”<br>As she said that she remembered that she had to log out fast. She opened her options screen and scrolled down. But to her surprise the button was still missing.<br>The guys wondered what she was doing.<br>Markus spoke up.<br>“What’s wrong?”<br>“The button is still not there.” She checked again. But to her misery the field where the button had to be was still blank.<br>“Maybe it’s an error? “ Markus said skeptically.<br>“Can we help you in some way?” One of the other men said. It was the second man from before. She saw that all of them wore the same kind of armor as Markus. The only difference were their faces, their weapons and their races. Markus was a human who wielded a greatsword.<br>The second man who just spoke was an orc with two shining tuskars, a battlehammer on his back and the other ones were elves. Twins. Both of them wore two honed short swords and one big oakheart bow. Feathers could be seen over the light blue armor. most likely from their arrows.<br>“Markus, we don’t have time for this. We found a fresh hint here and we have to track it.” One of the twins mentioned. But the other twin didn’t agree.<br>“Have you seen any tracks leading away from here? I haven’t. It’s just like all the times before. the only clue we have is that woman over there.” It was the same man who spoke intelligent as before.<br>“Your right. I haven’t seen any footprints leading away, neither are branches cracked or anything.” Markus agreed with him.<br>Now all eyes were fixed on her.<br>“So, what do we do with her.”<br>“We move on and take her with us for now. She can’t look out and she has lost her memories, I think it’s the best choice we have. For her as well.” Markus said.<br>“Ah, and before we forget. The twins are Gloerdel and Gloardel. The orc is named Karthos, but we mostly call him “The Bull” or just bull.”<br>It seemed they followed their leaders order without complain. Failariél didn’t have anything against it so she accepted the offer.<br>“Nice to make an acquaintance with you.”<br>“Same here.”<br>The group moved on. A new member in their ranks.<br>------------<br>As I reached the lower level, I absolved the second stage and earned the rewards for it.<br>By absolving the second stage you showed<br>courage and proved your power of endurance.<br>Endurance and Stamina + 5<br>Agility + 10<br>New skill mastery: Sword Mastery<br>Sword mastery affects your ability to use swords efficiently.<br>The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.<br>Level 1: Attack Power +5%<br>New skill mastery: Long Sword Mastery<br>Long Sword Mastery affects your ability to wield longer swords than usual.<br>The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to wield them freely and<br>to use stronger attacks.<br>Level 1: Attack Speed +5%<br>Attack Power +5%<br>I was eager to improve my skills even more and started to hasten up. I couldn’t await what was beyond the huge door in front of me. Behind the stairs was nothing but darkness. To the left and to the right were the dusty but mighty stone walls and a huge metal door blocked the way to the training room.<br>“Are you ready to embrace the darkness? From now on you can’t back out!” The master was excited as much as I was. You could the fire in his eyes burning.<br>“Yeah, I am ready. I waited for this moment the entire time!”
</div> | Failariél stood up. Everything was still a mess inside her head. She was surrounded by weird looking shadows, which embraced the heaven. A bright light full of warmth and brightness.
Her head hurt badly. She didn’t know here she were or what she was doing around here. At first she didn’t even know who she was but after solving the puzzle inside her head she knew her name at least. But still not where she was.
Wherever she was, she knew something bad happened. One hand held her head and the other pushed the ground so that she could stand up. The first try didn’t work out as she thought and she fell. She hit her head against a shadow and everything went black again.
The next time she woke up it was already dark. The bright light wasn’t there behind the shadows anymore. The ground had to be soft or at least the thing on which she was laying. She turned on her back and tried to think. She had a big bruise at her forehead. She ran her hand over it.
Slowly the shadows began to form to big black trees and she saw that the ground was covered with moss. She wanted to check which time it was but saw that she had dozen mails. Where I knocked out that long? Only then did she saw that days had passed. Days? At least one week.
She panicked. She wanted to log out instantly but to her surprise the button wasn’t where it was. She tried it by voice but nothing happened. What’s wrong? She didn’t know the answer.
She didn’t remember the names from the people who sent her the mails. She deleted them and stamped them as trash.
She stood up or at least that was what she attempted to do.
His legs trembled under her weight. She hadn’t eaten for days, neither had she drunk anything. Her status bars were inside the red zone. She didn’t know how she had survived until now but if she wanted to live she had to eat something fast.
She grabbed inside her backpack but her hand found nothing. Where was my backpack? She looked around. Where is my backpack!
She began to panic. She screamed out for help. After no one aided to her help she slowly lowered her voice. She focused. But nothing came to her mind. The panic attack consumed almost the last bits of her energy and she didn’t had much power left.
No food was around and she didn’t find any water. She began to walk down the forest slowly.
---------
The sword sliced the air from left to right. You could hear the katana penetrating the air. THe scarecrow cracked loudly after each hit. The owner of the katana made critical hits with each slash.
“That is the way you do it.” The fully concentrated instructor said to him. He whirled around wildly at first glance but if you watched carefully you could see that he had an exact order of movement. I saw the rhythm even though I didn’t watch my master. My thoughts were elsewhere. Failarièl hadn’t answered on my calls for the last week, albeit she was online.
“Do you understand Jawal? You have to concentrate on your attacks and watch the movements of your enemies to anticipate his next attack. If you see the attack coming you can counter it, and counters give additional damage and a critical hit. It’s exaggerating but you people from the other continent seem to be bad at this calculations which is why most of you die against stronger enemies or unknown foes.” He stopped his attacks and spoke with me. “Are you even listening?”
“Yeah, yeah I am. But why repeat everything you want to teach me so often? you know that i can do it. You even saw me do it.” My thoughts wandered to the present again. “Should I show it to you?” He wasn’t going on my nerves but my tone could have hinted that I had other things to take care of right now.
He grunted.
“If you are so strong as you think why don’t we go deeper? My training cellar is big. Even monsters roam at lower levels. Strong monsters!”
That was my chance to prove that I am ready to go to the next stage. We trained already for almost one week. The second stage was almost completed but the instructor didn’t saw me fit to proceed to the next stage at my current level. I went through many ordeals to get here but he just doesn’t understand that I am ready. Well, I don’t know what awaits me in the third stage but still. I want to pass.
“Then why don’t go down? I want to train against real monsters. I was caged inside this huge town all the time and all I wanted was to explore the vast world, encounter exotic animals and make an adventure for my own.” he looked suspicious at first and spied me carefully. He looked into my eyes deeply. Maybe he saw something different. He asked me this questions for a felt hundred times but he always said that it was not time to go deeper.
Maybe the sparkle in my eyes changed his expression. Maybe it was the quest which allowed him to go down at the 7th day. Maybe it was something else. But one of these maybes changed my life entirely.
“Excellent. Follow me.” As he said something weird flashed through my mind. where was the staircase. We still trained inside the huge hall. But I have never seen another staircase which lead down. Still I followed him.
“By the way where are we going down. I never saw another way down.”
He turned his head around but kept his pace.
“Ah, you finally noticed that as well. You will see soon. The place where we are going is secret. You will be the first outsider to enter it.”
“Outsider?” I was suspicious. Outsider of what? Of a certain guild? A faction? A group of monster killing huge barbarians who stay the entire day in a training center, do nothing and are still so powerful?
----------------
“Hey, you still alive?” She heard a man speak with a soft voice. He poked her. “If you are make a sound.”
“Ahuuh.”
The man stood up.
“Guys come over here. You have to see this. I found a survivor. And it seems she’s a player. At least her equipment looks that way.”
She heard footsteps. Her vision was still only a small line. She didn’t know where she were. She had walked down the forest but from some point on her memories are missing. From the earlier conversation she put together that she had been caught in an attack? There must have been other people as well.“Over here.” He said to his friends. And while he said that he held over a water bottle.
“Here, drink something.” He heaved her up and lay her down against a tree. “You okay?”
She tried to lift my finger to point at the bottle. But she couldn’t move, let alone make a sound.
But somehow he understood her gesture and filled her mouth with water. Gulping was hard but she tried at least. Water ran down her chin and soaked her clothes.
“Yeah, drink as much as you like. Just get up fast.” She let her some time for herself to gather her thoughts again. The bottle emptied quickly.
The man spoke during that time with his friends.
“So, what are we going to do with her?” One of them questioned the others..
“Markus, you have to decide. You found her, you have to care for her.” The third man said. But the fourth man knew the answer for the moment at least.
“Let’s speak with her first.”
They came over to her.
“Better?” She could look better than before and saw that he had black hair. His armor was blue and heavy plate mail. It shone like a sapphire. He looked strong. He held his helmet with his left hand and held out his right hand to her.
She grabbed it and let herself be pulled up by him. Her legs shaked terribly but somehow she managed to stand.
“So, I am Markus.”
“Failariél. Thanks for helping me.” She really was grateful.
“Ah, about that. You don’t have to thank me. It’s standard for the Sapphire brigade to help people in need. Do you know what happened here?” He spoke slow and loudly as if she was still not hearing right. But she liked the tone of his voice so she didn’t say anything about it.
“Sorry, but I don’t know anything.” She looked around for the first time. The scene was cruel. Body parts lay around and blood was everywhere. Entrails hang from branches and the once beautiful carriage was demolished, which add to the carnage just perfectly. Shock flashed in my eyes. The two horses which had pulled the carriage lay in front of it. Stomachs blown up and contains spilled. Or were they blown up? It looked more like they were eaten.
She gasped. She trembled. What had happened here?
She threw up. The accumulated stress and this scene were just too much for her.
The man patted her on the back.
“It seems you really don’t know anything. Well, to keep you on the newest level, we are bounty hunters and are hunting the group which has done this. We don’t have any information regarding them, even though we are hunting them for a long time already. The track lead us through the entire continent.”
“I don’t have many memories left. I only know that I woke up inside some strange forest where I couldn’t send any mails or logout. Additionally I haven’t eaten for days, neither did I log out.”
As she said that she remembered that she had to log out fast. She opened her options screen and scrolled down. But to her surprise the button was still missing.
The guys wondered what she was doing.
Markus spoke up.
“What’s wrong?”
“The button is still not there.” She checked again. But to her misery the field where the button had to be was still blank.
“Maybe it’s an error? “ Markus said skeptically.
“Can we help you in some way?” One of the other men said. It was the second man from before. She saw that all of them wore the same kind of armor as Markus. The only difference were their faces, their weapons and their races. Markus was a human who wielded a greatsword.
The second man who just spoke was an orc with two shining tuskars, a battlehammer on his back and the other ones were elves. Twins. Both of them wore two honed short swords and one big oakheart bow. Feathers could be seen over the light blue armor. most likely from their arrows.
“Markus, we don’t have time for this. We found a fresh hint here and we have to track it.” One of the twins mentioned. But the other twin didn’t agree.
“Have you seen any tracks leading away from here? I haven’t. It’s just like all the times before. the only clue we have is that woman over there.” It was the same man who spoke intelligent as before.
“Your right. I haven’t seen any footprints leading away, neither are branches cracked or anything.” Markus agreed with him.
Now all eyes were fixed on her.
“So, what do we do with her.”
“We move on and take her with us for now. She can’t look out and she has lost her memories, I think it’s the best choice we have. For her as well.” Markus said.
“Ah, and before we forget. The twins are Gloerdel and Gloardel. The orc is named Karthos, but we mostly call him “The Bull” or just bull.”
It seemed they followed their leaders order without complain. Failariél didn’t have anything against it so she accepted the offer.
“Nice to make an acquaintance with you.”
“Same here.”
The group moved on. A new member in their ranks.
------------
As I reached the lower level, I absolved the second stage and earned the rewards for it.
By absolving the second stage you showed
courage and proved your power of endurance.
Endurance and Stamina + 5
Agility + 10
New skill mastery: Sword Mastery
Sword mastery affects your ability to use swords efficiently.
The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.
Level 1: Attack Power +5%
New skill mastery: Long Sword Mastery
Long Sword Mastery affects your ability to wield longer swords than usual.
The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to wield them freely and
to use stronger attacks.
Level 1: Attack Speed +5%
Attack Power +5%
I was eager to improve my skills even more and started to hasten up. I couldn’t await what was beyond the huge door in front of me. Behind the stairs was nothing but darkness. To the left and to the right were the dusty but mighty stone walls and a huge metal door blocked the way to the training room.
“Are you ready to embrace the darkness? From now on you can’t back out!” The master was excited as much as I was. You could the fire in his eyes burning.
“Yeah, I am ready. I waited for this moment the entire time!” |
{
"title": "Battle Maiden",
"id": 73,
"author": "fazwick",
"rating": 4.8
} | {
"title": "A chicken at the Stake (Q&A, Critique, feedbacks)",
"id": 388,
"next": 393,
"prev": 342,
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #004000;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Battle Maiden</span></span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q&A, Feedback, Random Stuff corner</span><br><br><img src="http://i.imgur.com/NBeAOkD.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fNBeAOkD.png"><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Drawn on Nov 28th 2013. Rough sketch of Sera and Spoon</span></div><br><br>I really think I should made this thread much sooner. Better late than never I guess.<br><br>This is where you can post suggestions, critique etc as you see fit. I know there is much room for improvements (especially grammars, my PRs always pointed that out), having the readers opinion will definitely help me out.<br>If you see me in the chat, you can also give some feedback there.<br><br>Thanks for reading.<br><br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=354" target="_blank">Begin here. Prologue.</a><br><br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=968" target="_blank">For Chicken madness</a>
</div> | Battle Maiden
Q&A, Feedback, Random Stuff corner
Drawn on Nov 28th 2013. Rough sketch of Sera and Spoon
I really think I should made this thread much sooner. Better late than never I guess.
This is where you can post suggestions, critique etc as you see fit. I know there is much room for improvements (especially grammars, my PRs always pointed that out), having the readers opinion will definitely help me out.
If you see me in the chat, you can also give some feedback there.
Thanks for reading.
[Begin here. Prologue.](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=354)
[For Chicken madness](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=968) |
{
"title": "The Damage Dealer by Silver",
"id": 39,
"author": "Silver",
"rating": 0
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"title": "The Damage Dealer - Prologue",
"id": 78,
"next": 79,
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The Miracles<br><br> The year is 2055, in the month of May. During that month, two miracles appeared that would one day build the greatest legend in the history of videogames, the legend, of The Untouchable. The first miracle, one that instantly sent a shockwave of joy throughout the gaming community, had been in progress for decades. During the creation of this shear act of god, many sacrifices had been made, which include, but are not limited to, the extermination of one thousand four hundred seventy nine lab mice, the sad death of four chimpanzees and a goat, and the brutal paralysis from the waist down of the first human test subject. However, despite all of these downfalls, the project was still completed, the first great miracle of the twenty first century; the perfection of virtual reality.<br> The second miracle, started a little differently, for it began as all great tales do, as a love story. It was a starry night in the grasslands of Oklahoma, where two lovers sat on a picnic blanket under a full moon, surrounded by the chirp of grasshoppers and the gentle sent of nature, NOT! This story started at a bar in New York, where a guy and a girl got really drunk, and the rest is history. Or at least it would have been, if nine months later the second miracle hadn’t occurred, the birth of a gamer.<br><br>The Prodigy<br> (Jay)<br><br> My mom tells me that I shouldn’t talk about it, but I have a literal perfect memory. I remember everything, from my birth up to today, the good, the bad, and the pain. It’s come in handy on several occasions, but it also caused the bullying. Up until I was twelve I could handle it, I never took a hit and managed to get away without a scratch. Let me explain, when I was little, I was tested to see if there was anything wrong with my senses, and, well, it turned out that something was. While the normal human brain can only process about two thirds of the images taken by the eyes, mine could process them all, in other words I can dodge anything, or so I thought. It happened after school at the bus stop, there were eight of them, all armed with bats and sticks. So I thought, “No biggie,” and simply dodged all of the blows, until one of them threw a huge rock at me from my blind spot knocking me down. The beating must have lasted an hour, I ended up in a hospital room for ten months, and the doctor said it was a miracle that I lived. You see, when I was five I was diagnosed with a bone disorder, long story short, my bones are extremely brittle, hence the ten months spent in a body cast and the fact that my mother won’t allow me to go to school ever again.<br> So I had finally been released from the hospital, so, what do I do? I go on my computer and immediately log on to my favorite game, Flow, a fantasy MMORPG based on a planet mostly covered by water. I was so close to reaching the max level that it wasn’t even funny anymore, there was literally thirty four percent till my final level up. For the next six months my life consisted of grinding to get to the final level, online schooling, and my mother refusing to let me out of the house. But then I finally succeeded, I had achieved the final level, and was the first and only person in the history of the game to do so. There was a brief flash of joy and achievements, followed by one singular thought “What now?” allow me to explain. I had been playing that game in all of my free time for the past eight years! It was my life! Gone, faded away, no longer a part of me. As I was one click away from deleting my character, a thought occurred to me. “Selling game accounts can be worth a large amount of money! I think I’ll save this for when I move out.” <br>The Search<br>(Jay)<br><br>I began intensely searching for a new game, something original. After a month of thoroughly inspecting search engine after search engine, I found something interesting. A new programing company named Unicorn was currently in the process of designing the very first MMORPG to run in virtual reality! The game was to be called Royal Road. I read through all of the details of the entire game and it sounded magnificent! I had never seen anything like it! It actually allowed you to gain permanent stat bonuses without leveling! The game incorporated everything from real life into how much damage you deal and take in a battle, centripetal force; gravity, blood lust, and anger were only the tip of the iceberg! The system was so complex that it took a whole five years to program it! There was one problem though, the game wasn’t scheduled to release for another two years.<br><br>The Preparation<br>(Jay)<br><br>‘Two years. This is insane! I have to wait an entire two years to play!?!? Calm down, think, this is the reason for all of your past mistakes, you never think! Alright, now that’s better, so two years until a game comes out that incorporates real world fighting techniques and merges them with fantasy, the answer is simple, I must find a place that will teach me how to fight.’ With minimal effort Jay found what he was looking for online. Kay, that’s not too far from here, now to convince mom.<br>“Absolutely not! I will not allow my son to go off risking his life at some dojo where he will get bullied! No means no!” my mother yelled as if this was the end of the world.<br>‘Here we go.’ “Mom, this is a dojo, not some war prison, besides, these people will teach me how to defend myself, this way I won’t get bullied ever again! And besides, with you not letting me out of the house, I won’t get enough exercise and will eventually become obese and get diabetes! Look, staying inside like this isn’t healthy, I’m still a kid and I deserve to be allowed to have some form of real life interaction with people other than my mother!” I debated in my most convincing tone.<br> “You know that I just want to protect you right?” my mom pleaded on the verge of tears.<br> “Of course I do, but you can’t protect me forever, I need to learn how to defend myself.” I spoke full of love.<br> She sighed, “Fine, if this is truly what you wish then I have no right to stop you, I will sign you up right away.” She conceded. I smiled; ‘Jay one, mom zip’ thanked her and walked back to my room.
</div> | The Miracles
The year is 2055, in the month of May. During that month, two miracles appeared that would one day build the greatest legend in the history of videogames, the legend, of The Untouchable. The first miracle, one that instantly sent a shockwave of joy throughout the gaming community, had been in progress for decades. During the creation of this shear act of god, many sacrifices had been made, which include, but are not limited to, the extermination of one thousand four hundred seventy nine lab mice, the sad death of four chimpanzees and a goat, and the brutal paralysis from the waist down of the first human test subject. However, despite all of these downfalls, the project was still completed, the first great miracle of the twenty first century; the perfection of virtual reality.
The second miracle, started a little differently, for it began as all great tales do, as a love story. It was a starry night in the grasslands of Oklahoma, where two lovers sat on a picnic blanket under a full moon, surrounded by the chirp of grasshoppers and the gentle sent of nature, NOT! This story started at a bar in New York, where a guy and a girl got really drunk, and the rest is history. Or at least it would have been, if nine months later the second miracle hadn’t occurred, the birth of a gamer.
The Prodigy
(Jay)
My mom tells me that I shouldn’t talk about it, but I have a literal perfect memory. I remember everything, from my birth up to today, the good, the bad, and the pain. It’s come in handy on several occasions, but it also caused the bullying. Up until I was twelve I could handle it, I never took a hit and managed to get away without a scratch. Let me explain, when I was little, I was tested to see if there was anything wrong with my senses, and, well, it turned out that something was. While the normal human brain can only process about two thirds of the images taken by the eyes, mine could process them all, in other words I can dodge anything, or so I thought. It happened after school at the bus stop, there were eight of them, all armed with bats and sticks. So I thought, “No biggie,” and simply dodged all of the blows, until one of them threw a huge rock at me from my blind spot knocking me down. The beating must have lasted an hour, I ended up in a hospital room for ten months, and the doctor said it was a miracle that I lived. You see, when I was five I was diagnosed with a bone disorder, long story short, my bones are extremely brittle, hence the ten months spent in a body cast and the fact that my mother won’t allow me to go to school ever again.
So I had finally been released from the hospital, so, what do I do? I go on my computer and immediately log on to my favorite game, Flow, a fantasy MMORPG based on a planet mostly covered by water. I was so close to reaching the max level that it wasn’t even funny anymore, there was literally thirty four percent till my final level up. For the next six months my life consisted of grinding to get to the final level, online schooling, and my mother refusing to let me out of the house. But then I finally succeeded, I had achieved the final level, and was the first and only person in the history of the game to do so. There was a brief flash of joy and achievements, followed by one singular thought “What now?” allow me to explain. I had been playing that game in all of my free time for the past eight years! It was my life! Gone, faded away, no longer a part of me. As I was one click away from deleting my character, a thought occurred to me. “Selling game accounts can be worth a large amount of money! I think I’ll save this for when I move out.”
The Search
(Jay)
I began intensely searching for a new game, something original. After a month of thoroughly inspecting search engine after search engine, I found something interesting. A new programing company named Unicorn was currently in the process of designing the very first MMORPG to run in virtual reality! The game was to be called Royal Road. I read through all of the details of the entire game and it sounded magnificent! I had never seen anything like it! It actually allowed you to gain permanent stat bonuses without leveling! The game incorporated everything from real life into how much damage you deal and take in a battle, centripetal force; gravity, blood lust, and anger were only the tip of the iceberg! The system was so complex that it took a whole five years to program it! There was one problem though, the game wasn’t scheduled to release for another two years.
The Preparation
(Jay)
‘Two years. This is insane! I have to wait an entire two years to play!?!? Calm down, think, this is the reason for all of your past mistakes, you never think! Alright, now that’s better, so two years until a game comes out that incorporates real world fighting techniques and merges them with fantasy, the answer is simple, I must find a place that will teach me how to fight.’ With minimal effort Jay found what he was looking for online. Kay, that’s not too far from here, now to convince mom.
“Absolutely not! I will not allow my son to go off risking his life at some dojo where he will get bullied! No means no!” my mother yelled as if this was the end of the world.
‘Here we go.’ “Mom, this is a dojo, not some war prison, besides, these people will teach me how to defend myself, this way I won’t get bullied ever again! And besides, with you not letting me out of the house, I won’t get enough exercise and will eventually become obese and get diabetes! Look, staying inside like this isn’t healthy, I’m still a kid and I deserve to be allowed to have some form of real life interaction with people other than my mother!” I debated in my most convincing tone.
“You know that I just want to protect you right?” my mom pleaded on the verge of tears.
“Of course I do, but you can’t protect me forever, I need to learn how to defend myself.” I spoke full of love.
She sighed, “Fine, if this is truly what you wish then I have no right to stop you, I will sign you up right away.” She conceded. I smiled; ‘Jay one, mom zip’ thanked her and walked back to my room. |
{
"title": "The Other Hidden Quests by JWindField",
"id": 36,
"author": "JWindField",
"rating": 0
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"title": "The Other Hidden Quest - Prologue",
"id": 61,
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The Tailor Prologue<br><br>-Japan-<br><br>It has been two months since Royal Road was launched. Since then, it has repeatedly made the headlines of multiple news stations due to the technological breakthroughs it introduced to the world. Royal Road is undoubtedly the top ranking Virtual Reality Game internationally, leaving others coughing in its metaphorical dust. <br><br>“And… Finally,” whispered a boy barely out of his teens, “I am going to start playing.”<br><br>He ran his hand over the capsule, a tiny smile flickering at the corner of his lips. It cost him over 700,000 yen – and juggling multiple part-time jobs together with school months before Royal Road was released to the public – but it was worth it.<br><br><br>Royal Road was every gamer’s dream. <br><br>Opening the capsule, he slipped inside and quickly booted up the system. Immediately, his vision went dark.<br><br>The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?<br><br>“Yes.”<br><br>-Select your avatar’s name-<br><br>‘Hmm… A name…’ Pondering for a few moments, he replied, “Gem.”<br><br>-Select your gender from male, female or neutral-<br><br>“Male.” ‘Duh.’<br><br>-Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine races-<br>“Human.”<br><br>-You may alter your appearances-<br><br>“Can I beautify myself by 100%?”<br><br>-No-<br><br>“The way I am.” ‘Meh… And to think that I hoped that it was possible.’<br><br>-Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. Please be aware that you are only allowed a maximum of –<br><br>“Pass.” ‘Yes yes, I got it madam. I did read the manual that came with the capsule, you know? So will you please just shut up and move on.’<br><br>-Select a city and kingdom you wish to start in-<br><br>“The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom.”<br><br>-Welcome to –<br><br>“Pass!”<br><br>‘Hah, the tutorial is for noobs. There is no way I’m going to be following that thing.’ Skipping past the tutorials, Gem appeared in Rosenheim Kingdom, right next to the fountain.<br><br>Slowly, he flexed his arm and fingers, making sure that he’s at least familiar with the interface before attempting to walk.<br><br>Sure enough, Royal Road has not deviated much in terms of basic interface, and it took virtually no time before Gem was flittering from board to board, taking in various information before deciding on his next move.
</div> | The Tailor Prologue
-Japan-
It has been two months since Royal Road was launched. Since then, it has repeatedly made the headlines of multiple news stations due to the technological breakthroughs it introduced to the world. Royal Road is undoubtedly the top ranking Virtual Reality Game internationally, leaving others coughing in its metaphorical dust.
“And… Finally,” whispered a boy barely out of his teens, “I am going to start playing.”
He ran his hand over the capsule, a tiny smile flickering at the corner of his lips. It cost him over 700,000 yen – and juggling multiple part-time jobs together with school months before Royal Road was released to the public – but it was worth it.
Royal Road was every gamer’s dream.
Opening the capsule, he slipped inside and quickly booted up the system. Immediately, his vision went dark.
The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?
“Yes.”
-Select your avatar’s name-
‘Hmm… A name…’ Pondering for a few moments, he replied, “Gem.”
-Select your gender from male, female or neutral-
“Male.” ‘Duh.’
-Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine races-
“Human.”
-You may alter your appearances-
“Can I beautify myself by 100%?”
-No-
“The way I am.” ‘Meh… And to think that I hoped that it was possible.’
-Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. Please be aware that you are only allowed a maximum of –
“Pass.” ‘Yes yes, I got it madam. I did read the manual that came with the capsule, you know? So will you please just shut up and move on.’
-Select a city and kingdom you wish to start in-
“The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom.”
-Welcome to –
“Pass!”
‘Hah, the tutorial is for noobs. There is no way I’m going to be following that thing.’ Skipping past the tutorials, Gem appeared in Rosenheim Kingdom, right next to the fountain.
Slowly, he flexed his arm and fingers, making sure that he’s at least familiar with the interface before attempting to walk.
Sure enough, Royal Road has not deviated much in terms of basic interface, and it took virtually no time before Gem was flittering from board to board, taking in various information before deciding on his next move. |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
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"title": "Oscar Corvus - End of Chapter 4 Character Stats",
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Note: This is not perfect. It's more to give a sense of scale as to how Corbeau changes from one section to another. May not relate well with traditional Moonlight Sculptor values.<br><br><br>End of chapter 4:<br> Stat Window<br> Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral<br> Level: 9 Class: Ivaldi Rune-Smith (Journeyman)<br> Title: None Fame: 70<br> Life: 482/482 Mana: 250/250<br> Strength: 35 Dexterity: 45<br> Vitality: 18 Wisdom: 40 <br> Intelligence: 45 Leadership: 3<br> Luck: 10 Stamina: 31<br> Offence: 21 (main hand) Defense: 101<br> Resistance to magic: Fire 20% ,<br> Elemental 1.5 %, Resistant to heat up to 150F. <br> Fireproof up to 200F. <br>Note: Uses Vielfras’ Life = 6.4* Vitality + 36* LVL, Mana = 5 * Int.<br> Skill Window<br> Rune Magic (Beginner Level 8)<br> Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 5)<br> Rune Meditation (Beginner Level 8)<br> Continuous Casting (Beginner Level 5)<br> Multitasking (Level 1)<br> Smithing (Intermediate Level 1)<br> Rune Scribing (Level 4)<br> Sharpening (Level 4)<br> Polishing (Beginner Level 1)<br> Lab Safety (Beginner Level 4)<br> Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 9)<br> Sneak (Level 1)<br> Small Unit Commander (Level 1)<br><br>Bonuses:<br>Runes 10% more effective, cost 10% less MP (Journeyman Rune-Smith)<br>+10% HP (half-dwarf)<br>+10% MP (half-elf)<br>Equipped<br>Sindri’s Knife: + 12 attack, Unknown rune effects (electrical and ice)<br>Colada (Bound Sword) Fully Charged: +21 attack. Ignores 20% or 40 points of enemy defense, whichever is greater. Powered effects: Cut through magic, Increase Exp. Gain, Strengthen Sword, Increase hitting power.<br>Close Fit Heavy Helmet (fitted): +16 Defense.<br>Articulated Gauntlets (fitted): +14 Defense. Increases damage dealt by fists.<br>Dwarven style greaves (fitted): +10 Defense. Increases damage dealt by kicks using your shin and strikes using knees.<br>Rune-Mail Hauberk (fitted) Fully charged: +60 Defense. Powered effects: Block Magic and Improve Strength. 50% damage reduction from slashing or piercing attacks. Has low resistance to blunt attacks.<br>Note: Fitted armor has less movement speed penalty and causes less tiredness.<br>Leather Boots: +1 Defense.<br>Journeyman’s AC: Attack depends on rounds used.<br>180x regular Journeyman’s round: 30 damage, damage decreases with distance.<br>60x advanced Journeyman’s round: 50 damage, damage decreases with distance.<br>60x silver Journeyman’s round: 50 damage, increased damage against undead, damage decreases with distance.<br><br>Rewards and effects:<br>100 Reputation Bonus in Ivaldi Docklands<br>Free Meals at Dancing Mermaid (Kabin’s Pub)<br>Cooking Lessons (Kabin-unclaimed)<br>Sword binding (Sindri-unclaimed)<br><br>Inventory (Permanently kept)- Sindri’s Backpack<br>Blood Runes Book (unread)<br>Malevolent Sword (Unkown)<br>Travelling Forge, Grinding Wheel and Anvil<br>Smithing Tools<br>Sindri’s Engraving tools<br>Sindri’s Library Key<br>Corbeau’s Journal<br><br>Spells Used:<br>Eihwaz & Eihwaz reversed- strengthen or weaken<br>Dagaz- learning<br>Algiz- Defense (esp. against magic)<br>Uruz- Power (physical strength)<br><br>Enchantments Used:<br>Deep Cut<br>No Rust<br>Never Break<br>Keep Sharp<br>Never Smell<br>Never Tear<br>Afli- Power (mana store)<br>Bruni-Fire/heat<br>Leita- Seek<br>Festa- Accelerate<br><br>Books & Knowledge:<br>Basics of Rune-Magic.<br>24 Basic Runes.<br>Basic Enchantments.<br>Intro to rune diagrams<br>Basic rune diagrams<br>Rune diagram theory through the ages<br>Rune diagram theory vol. 1<br>Rune diagram theory vol. 2<br>Southern runes<br>Unified rune theory by Sindri<br><br>Crafting Diagrams:<br>Damascened Metal<br>Damascus Steel Rune-Sword<br>Long-sleeve Riveted Chain Mail Hauberk<br>Articulated Gauntlets<br>Close Fit Heavy Helmet<br>Dwarven Greaves<br>Journeyman’s AC
</div> | Note: This is not perfect. It's more to give a sense of scale as to how Corbeau changes from one section to another. May not relate well with traditional Moonlight Sculptor values.
End of chapter 4:
Stat Window
Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral
Level: 9 Class: Ivaldi Rune-Smith (Journeyman)
Title: None Fame: 70
Life: 482/482 Mana: 250/250
Strength: 35 Dexterity: 45
Vitality: 18 Wisdom: 40
Intelligence: 45 Leadership: 3
Luck: 10 Stamina: 31
Offence: 21 (main hand) Defense: 101
Resistance to magic: Fire 20% ,
Elemental 1.5 %, Resistant to heat up to 150F.
Fireproof up to 200F.
Note: Uses Vielfras’ Life = 6.4* Vitality + 36* LVL, Mana = 5 * Int.
Skill Window
Rune Magic (Beginner Level 8)
Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 5)
Rune Meditation (Beginner Level 8)
Continuous Casting (Beginner Level 5)
Multitasking (Level 1)
Smithing (Intermediate Level 1)
Rune Scribing (Level 4)
Sharpening (Level 4)
Polishing (Beginner Level 1)
Lab Safety (Beginner Level 4)
Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 9)
Sneak (Level 1)
Small Unit Commander (Level 1)
Bonuses:
Runes 10% more effective, cost 10% less MP (Journeyman Rune-Smith)
+10% HP (half-dwarf)
+10% MP (half-elf)
Equipped
Sindri’s Knife: + 12 attack, Unknown rune effects (electrical and ice)
Colada (Bound Sword) Fully Charged: +21 attack. Ignores 20% or 40 points of enemy defense, whichever is greater. Powered effects: Cut through magic, Increase Exp. Gain, Strengthen Sword, Increase hitting power.
Close Fit Heavy Helmet (fitted): +16 Defense.
Articulated Gauntlets (fitted): +14 Defense. Increases damage dealt by fists.
Dwarven style greaves (fitted): +10 Defense. Increases damage dealt by kicks using your shin and strikes using knees.
Rune-Mail Hauberk (fitted) Fully charged: +60 Defense. Powered effects: Block Magic and Improve Strength. 50% damage reduction from slashing or piercing attacks. Has low resistance to blunt attacks.
Note: Fitted armor has less movement speed penalty and causes less tiredness.
Leather Boots: +1 Defense.
Journeyman’s AC: Attack depends on rounds used.
180x regular Journeyman’s round: 30 damage, damage decreases with distance.
60x advanced Journeyman’s round: 50 damage, damage decreases with distance.
60x silver Journeyman’s round: 50 damage, increased damage against undead, damage decreases with distance.
Rewards and effects:
100 Reputation Bonus in Ivaldi Docklands
Free Meals at Dancing Mermaid (Kabin’s Pub)
Cooking Lessons (Kabin-unclaimed)
Sword binding (Sindri-unclaimed)
Inventory (Permanently kept)- Sindri’s Backpack
Blood Runes Book (unread)
Malevolent Sword (Unkown)
Travelling Forge, Grinding Wheel and Anvil
Smithing Tools
Sindri’s Engraving tools
Sindri’s Library Key
Corbeau’s Journal
Spells Used:
Eihwaz & Eihwaz reversed- strengthen or weaken
Dagaz- learning
Algiz- Defense (esp. against magic)
Uruz- Power (physical strength)
Enchantments Used:
Deep Cut
No Rust
Never Break
Keep Sharp
Never Smell
Never Tear
Afli- Power (mana store)
Bruni-Fire/heat
Leita- Seek
Festa- Accelerate
Books & Knowledge:
Basics of Rune-Magic.
24 Basic Runes.
Basic Enchantments.
Intro to rune diagrams
Basic rune diagrams
Rune diagram theory through the ages
Rune diagram theory vol. 1
Rune diagram theory vol. 2
Southern runes
Unified rune theory by Sindri
Crafting Diagrams:
Damascened Metal
Damascus Steel Rune-Sword
Long-sleeve Riveted Chain Mail Hauberk
Articulated Gauntlets
Close Fit Heavy Helmet
Dwarven Greaves
Journeyman’s AC |
{
"title": "A Second Reality by Masadeer",
"id": 31,
"author": "Masadeer",
"rating": 2
} | {
"title": "A Second Reality - Prologue",
"id": 17,
"next": 18,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Intro: doing silly things away from home<br><br>-life, if I wanted to be all deep and philosophical I would've rhetorically asked you it`s meaning. If I wanted to be snide and sarcastic I would've just told you the answer was 42. I'm just random like that. <br><br>Now let`s face reality, as children we all believed that peace, love and kindness would solve all the problems in the world. As we grow up we start to understand more and more about the problems in society and the world in general. When we take a look at our lives from an outside perspective, we`re born, grow up, go to school until we become legal age or drop out. I'm not even going to talk about college and university. From then on we work and work and work until we die. <br><br>It`s really depressing when you look at it like that....... and then there`s me, just another part of society, living the same way, conforming to society, living each day almost exactly like how I lived the last. Maybe this is the reason behind my mental instabilities, perhaps in a desperate attempt to amuse myself I have developed a personality quirk to randomly be random, at the most random of times, in the most random of places, randomly alternating between randomizing my thoughts or my actions. Maybe we all just need a break from our monotonous lives from time to time. It`s probably something like this that causes tourists dump billions of dollars onto the UK, and annoy the British locals, and just be silly miles and miles away from home. <br>Yeah something like that. It`s also probably why I decided to play royal road, to do silly things far, far away from people I know.
</div> | Intro: doing silly things away from home
-life, if I wanted to be all deep and philosophical I would've rhetorically asked you it`s meaning. If I wanted to be snide and sarcastic I would've just told you the answer was 42. I'm just random like that.
Now let`s face reality, as children we all believed that peace, love and kindness would solve all the problems in the world. As we grow up we start to understand more and more about the problems in society and the world in general. When we take a look at our lives from an outside perspective, we`re born, grow up, go to school until we become legal age or drop out. I'm not even going to talk about college and university. From then on we work and work and work until we die.
It`s really depressing when you look at it like that....... and then there`s me, just another part of society, living the same way, conforming to society, living each day almost exactly like how I lived the last. Maybe this is the reason behind my mental instabilities, perhaps in a desperate attempt to amuse myself I have developed a personality quirk to randomly be random, at the most random of times, in the most random of places, randomly alternating between randomizing my thoughts or my actions. Maybe we all just need a break from our monotonous lives from time to time. It`s probably something like this that causes tourists dump billions of dollars onto the UK, and annoy the British locals, and just be silly miles and miles away from home.
Yeah something like that. It`s also probably why I decided to play royal road, to do silly things far, far away from people I know. |
{
"title": "Exodus™ Online by B4DDI3Z",
"id": 58,
"author": "Baddiez",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Classes",
"id": 153,
"next": 154,
"prev": 152,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
I have been getting a lot of questions about classes so i wanted to clear up basically how it works<br>so bear with me for a second.<br><br>You know that awesome class you love to use? Yeah that one! The one that's just missing that one thing?<br>Yeah well guess what. Get to level 200 pick a secondary class to combine yours with, and make it work!<br>Say what you wanted to be a healing necro? Well you could try it but the holy magic would hurt you?<br>You want to be an arcane archer? Well by all means try my friend.<br>What you want to heal like a priest but still dps? Then find a class that fits your needs at level 200 and make it work<br>But wouldn't someone just make an OP class?<br><br>Think of the millions of combinations people could use there will be someone out there who can counter your build<br>that is a given. The limits are your imagination players have the ability to pick two classes and find a way to make it work.<br>When i say that every class is available i mean every! How many types of mages do you think there are? How many types of necromancers?<br>How many types of druids? The list goes on. An ai didin't spend 5 years making this for kicks and giggles ;)<br><br>- Baddiez
</div> | I have been getting a lot of questions about classes so i wanted to clear up basically how it works
so bear with me for a second.
You know that awesome class you love to use? Yeah that one! The one that's just missing that one thing?
Yeah well guess what. Get to level 200 pick a secondary class to combine yours with, and make it work!
Say what you wanted to be a healing necro? Well you could try it but the holy magic would hurt you?
You want to be an arcane archer? Well by all means try my friend.
What you want to heal like a priest but still dps? Then find a class that fits your needs at level 200 and make it work
But wouldn't someone just make an OP class?
Think of the millions of combinations people could use there will be someone out there who can counter your build
that is a given. The limits are your imagination players have the ability to pick two classes and find a way to make it work.
When i say that every class is available i mean every! How many types of mages do you think there are? How many types of necromancers?
How many types of druids? The list goes on. An ai didin't spend 5 years making this for kicks and giggles ;)
- Baddiez |
{
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries by Glitch",
"id": 44,
"author": "Glitch",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries - Prologue",
"id": 93,
"next": 94,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Prologue<br><br><br> Kristen Morisen sat lazily in her seat with her cheek mushed into her left palm. She was positioned directly in the center of a lecture hall filled with students, and listening to a professor drone on and on about history.<br><br> “In the aftermath of World War I, a man by the name of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk led a revolution that would establish-“<br><br>Kristen’s thoughts cut off the professor before he could finish. Not that she cared much about what he was saying anyway. “Why am I still learning about history? I thought I wouldn’t see it again after high school?” she said to herself. “I guess this is something all freshmen have to deal with so I shouldn’t complain.” She let out an audible sigh and let her vibrant green eyes trail off into space.<br><br>A flash back to the time she had visited the college as a high school senior appeared and she remembered what the guide had told her then “We offer a very unique curriculum here where you get to take classes pertaining to your major starting in your freshman year!”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Hah! What a load of bull!</span><br><br>“They really got me good.” She mused “little did I know that there are still prerequisites for all the classes I actually wanted to take.”<br><br>Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a zipper. Kristen shot a glance at the person to her right and saw a guy trying to fill his backpack with notebooks and papers. He looked up quickly and met her viridian gaze. He gave a quick chuckle as if to break the awkwardness, and pointed over his shoulder toward the clock on the wall. It read 12:15PM.<br><br>“Finally!” she thought “I can get out of here.” It seems the only other person that hadn’t noticed that class had ended was the professor. “And so that is why-ah- it’s time already? Ok then for next week study chapter 7 in the book and do the review questions on page 136.” Kristen quickly jotted down the homework before gathering her things and dashing out of the classroom.<br><br>Normally she wouldn’t be very happy about getting out of class because that means she would have to go to work. However, fortunately for her, today was her day off. Being in a happy mood Kristen merrily made her way to the center courtyard on campus in hopes of making it on time to meet her friend.<br><br>“Krissy!~” a petite girl with short blonde hair was waving vigorously from one of the many park benches as Kristen entered the area. “Over here!” she called out. Spotting this spectacle, Kristen briskly made her way over before replying “Hey Jen!” Jen gave a hearty smile and quickly shot up to give Kristen a hug.<br><br>Before she could build momentum, Kristen’s palm was firmly placed onto Jen’s forehead. In an irritated tone she said “Jen, why do you always have to be so clingy? You’re acting like you didn’t just see me this morning.” Jen continued to push her head into Kristen’s palm and wave her arms frantically in the hope that it might give way.<br><br>“Eh~” Jen finally took a step back and began pouting.<br><br>“That doesn’t count; we hardly get to hang out nowadays because you’re always busy with work or your writing!” she then proceeded to stomp back over to the bench, plop down, and cross her arms and legs.<br><br>“Hmph”<br><br>“Hey, there’s nothing I can do about it. Unlike some people, I have to work to make sure I have a place to live.” Kristen retorted.<br><br>“Whoa, wait a second here, wasn’t that your choice? That last remark was a little uncalled for.”<br><br>Kristen did feel a little guilty for what she just said, and what Jen had said was true. She had made the decision to live on her own even though she had the option to commute from home. This was mostly to avoid dealing with her crazy family, mainly her 4 younger brothers, but also because the alternative was to double her school tuition with the additional payments of dorm housing.<br><br>“Ok ok, I get it. I’m sorry.”<br><br>Jen paused for a second as if to take in the apology before jumping up and latching on to Kristen with a suffocating hug, much to Kristen’s chagrin. “Yay!~” exclaimed Jen while rubbing her cheek against Kristen’s.<br><br>“Let’s head to Jazzman’s now, I’m starving.”<br><br>After finally managing to pry Jen off of her, Kristen was forced to wipe the globs of make-up left over from the exchange. Kristen often wondered how she came to be acquainted with such an energetic and outgoing person. It could be said that they were exact opposites. Jen had short blonde hair that stopped just above her jawline and a petite build at 5’2”. She must have barely weighed over 100lbs, if at all. She also had a cute baby face that would often make the guys swoon over her.<br><br>“Must be nice” Thought Kristen to herself.<br><br>In comparison Kristen was on the tall side at 5’8” and had long dark brown hair that made its way to the middle of her back. She had a masculine jawline that was accentuated by her glasses, which she often avoided using in public for that very reason. “I blame my parents for bad genes!” she often yelled in frustration.<br>They were even opposite in their interests. While Jen always had to have the latest designer items, clothes, and accessories; Kristen would rather spend her money on books or writing utensils. She had never taken an interest in clothes and makeup in high school because she was always too busy playing sports of some kind. If it wasn’t Soccer in the summer and fall, it was track in the spring. That being said, her only athletic merit was how fast she could run.<br><br>Living and working on her own was rather tough and because she was always so busy Kristen had missed out on most of the orientation events where people met. Even despite that, she was able to make a great friend like Jen because of how easy it is to get along with her. Not to mention they lived in the same neighborhood so it was easy to meet outside of class. Unlike Kristen though, Jen lived at home with her parents. Kristen had moved in to the apartment building down the street because it was the cheapest she could find, which means the two often commuted to school together.<br><br>After getting seated at one of the tables on the outdoor patio at Jazzman’s Café, a place they frequented, the two ordered some food and began chatting away about various topics. During a lull in their conversation, they caught a snippet of the conversation going on at the adjacent table.<br><br>“Hey did you end up checking out that dungeon the other day?” said a lanky dark haired boy to his friend sitting opposite him. The boy who responded was about average build with brown bangs that hovered just above his eyes. “No way, turns out it’s a dungeon for epic level players. A friend of mine who’s high level went in there with a team of like level 250’s and he said they all died within 10 minutes.” The dark haired boy couldn’t hide his surprise “What!? No way! I thought for sure we’d be able to do it with some help, I guess that double experience will go to waste now.”<br><br>As if catching Kristen’s attention on the topic being discussed, Jen started to say “Hey, speaking of-“<br><br>But Kristen quickly cut her off before she could even finish.<br><br>“No.”<br><br>Jen Furrowed her brow a little and said “Oh come on, you don’t even know what I was going to say.”<br><br>“Yes I do, it’s what you’ve said every time the topic has been brought up for the past 2 months.”<br><br>“And what would that be?” said Jen in a sarcastic tone, playing with the straw in her drink.<br><br>“You say ‘why don’t you play Royal Road it’s really fun and I’m sure you’d love it’” Kristen responded in a voice mocking Jen’s.<br><br>“I don’t talk like that!” complained Jen.<br><br>“It’s close enough.” said Kristen as she calmly sipped the straw from the ice tea placed in front of her.<br><br>“I don’t know why you’re so stubborn about this; it’s not like money is that big of an issue. You said you already had enough to buy a computer right? At this rate you’ll be the only person left alive who doesn’t play.”<br><br>Hearing these words made Kristen reel a little bit. Truthfully, she had no reason not to play. It’s true that pretty much everyone she could think of played the game. She often felt isolated not being able to talk to people about it. It’s not like she had no experience with games either. Her brothers would often torment her by hiding her books until she beat them in whatever games they wanted to play. But at this point she was denying her interest simply due to her own stubbornness.<br><br>“Even so, I don’t really have the luxury to play games with how busy I am.”<br><br>“Just think of it like a social networking site where you do things with friends. You only have to hunt if you want to and there are many things to do besides hunting. You seem like you might be better suited for a crafting class anyway. On top of that, it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of things, take me as an example, I play it pretty casually and I’m still level 135.” Jen gave a self-satisfying grin and puffed out her chest, not that there was much to puff.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Heheh I guess that’s one area I can say I’m the clear winner in.</span><br><br>“I guess I’ll think about it.” said Kristen, redirecting her thoughts to the topic at hand.<br><br>“That’s what you said last time!” said Jen, turning her grin into a pouting face once again.<br><br>“This time I’m serious. I’ll really think about it, I promise.” She really did mean it this time.<br><br>“You have to, I’ll be sad if you don’t.” Jen grabbed Kristen’s hand and gave the saddest puppy dog eyes possible.<br><br>“You know I’m not a guy so that doesn’t really work on me right?” said Kristen with a rather disgusted look on her face.<br><br>“Pwetty pwease” said Jen, obviously attempting to well up some tears from her hazel eyes for sympathy.<br><br>“OK! I get it! Just stop that you’re creeping me out!”<br><br>“Good!” exclaimed Jen, now satisfied with the answer.<br><br>As if on cue the waiter came with their food at that moment and the two quickly ended their conversation in favor of filling their hungry stomachs.
</div> | Prologue
Kristen Morisen sat lazily in her seat with her cheek mushed into her left palm. She was positioned directly in the center of a lecture hall filled with students, and listening to a professor drone on and on about history.
“In the aftermath of World War I, a man by the name of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk led a revolution that would establish-“
Kristen’s thoughts cut off the professor before he could finish. Not that she cared much about what he was saying anyway. “Why am I still learning about history? I thought I wouldn’t see it again after high school?” she said to herself. “I guess this is something all freshmen have to deal with so I shouldn’t complain.” She let out an audible sigh and let her vibrant green eyes trail off into space.
A flash back to the time she had visited the college as a high school senior appeared and she remembered what the guide had told her then “We offer a very unique curriculum here where you get to take classes pertaining to your major starting in your freshman year!”
Hah! What a load of bull!
“They really got me good.” She mused “little did I know that there are still prerequisites for all the classes I actually wanted to take.”
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a zipper. Kristen shot a glance at the person to her right and saw a guy trying to fill his backpack with notebooks and papers. He looked up quickly and met her viridian gaze. He gave a quick chuckle as if to break the awkwardness, and pointed over his shoulder toward the clock on the wall. It read 12:15PM.
“Finally!” she thought “I can get out of here.” It seems the only other person that hadn’t noticed that class had ended was the professor. “And so that is why-ah- it’s time already? Ok then for next week study chapter 7 in the book and do the review questions on page 136.” Kristen quickly jotted down the homework before gathering her things and dashing out of the classroom.
Normally she wouldn’t be very happy about getting out of class because that means she would have to go to work. However, fortunately for her, today was her day off. Being in a happy mood Kristen merrily made her way to the center courtyard on campus in hopes of making it on time to meet her friend.
“Krissy!~” a petite girl with short blonde hair was waving vigorously from one of the many park benches as Kristen entered the area. “Over here!” she called out. Spotting this spectacle, Kristen briskly made her way over before replying “Hey Jen!” Jen gave a hearty smile and quickly shot up to give Kristen a hug.
Before she could build momentum, Kristen’s palm was firmly placed onto Jen’s forehead. In an irritated tone she said “Jen, why do you always have to be so clingy? You’re acting like you didn’t just see me this morning.” Jen continued to push her head into Kristen’s palm and wave her arms frantically in the hope that it might give way.
“Eh~” Jen finally took a step back and began pouting.
“That doesn’t count; we hardly get to hang out nowadays because you’re always busy with work or your writing!” she then proceeded to stomp back over to the bench, plop down, and cross her arms and legs.
“Hmph”
“Hey, there’s nothing I can do about it. Unlike some people, I have to work to make sure I have a place to live.” Kristen retorted.
“Whoa, wait a second here, wasn’t that your choice? That last remark was a little uncalled for.”
Kristen did feel a little guilty for what she just said, and what Jen had said was true. She had made the decision to live on her own even though she had the option to commute from home. This was mostly to avoid dealing with her crazy family, mainly her 4 younger brothers, but also because the alternative was to double her school tuition with the additional payments of dorm housing.
“Ok ok, I get it. I’m sorry.”
Jen paused for a second as if to take in the apology before jumping up and latching on to Kristen with a suffocating hug, much to Kristen’s chagrin. “Yay!~” exclaimed Jen while rubbing her cheek against Kristen’s.
“Let’s head to Jazzman’s now, I’m starving.”
After finally managing to pry Jen off of her, Kristen was forced to wipe the globs of make-up left over from the exchange. Kristen often wondered how she came to be acquainted with such an energetic and outgoing person. It could be said that they were exact opposites. Jen had short blonde hair that stopped just above her jawline and a petite build at 5’2”. She must have barely weighed over 100lbs, if at all. She also had a cute baby face that would often make the guys swoon over her.
“Must be nice” Thought Kristen to herself.
In comparison Kristen was on the tall side at 5’8” and had long dark brown hair that made its way to the middle of her back. She had a masculine jawline that was accentuated by her glasses, which she often avoided using in public for that very reason. “I blame my parents for bad genes!” she often yelled in frustration.
They were even opposite in their interests. While Jen always had to have the latest designer items, clothes, and accessories; Kristen would rather spend her money on books or writing utensils. She had never taken an interest in clothes and makeup in high school because she was always too busy playing sports of some kind. If it wasn’t Soccer in the summer and fall, it was track in the spring. That being said, her only athletic merit was how fast she could run.
Living and working on her own was rather tough and because she was always so busy Kristen had missed out on most of the orientation events where people met. Even despite that, she was able to make a great friend like Jen because of how easy it is to get along with her. Not to mention they lived in the same neighborhood so it was easy to meet outside of class. Unlike Kristen though, Jen lived at home with her parents. Kristen had moved in to the apartment building down the street because it was the cheapest she could find, which means the two often commuted to school together.
After getting seated at one of the tables on the outdoor patio at Jazzman’s Café, a place they frequented, the two ordered some food and began chatting away about various topics. During a lull in their conversation, they caught a snippet of the conversation going on at the adjacent table.
“Hey did you end up checking out that dungeon the other day?” said a lanky dark haired boy to his friend sitting opposite him. The boy who responded was about average build with brown bangs that hovered just above his eyes. “No way, turns out it’s a dungeon for epic level players. A friend of mine who’s high level went in there with a team of like level 250’s and he said they all died within 10 minutes.” The dark haired boy couldn’t hide his surprise “What!? No way! I thought for sure we’d be able to do it with some help, I guess that double experience will go to waste now.”
As if catching Kristen’s attention on the topic being discussed, Jen started to say “Hey, speaking of-“
But Kristen quickly cut her off before she could even finish.
“No.”
Jen Furrowed her brow a little and said “Oh come on, you don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Yes I do, it’s what you’ve said every time the topic has been brought up for the past 2 months.”
“And what would that be?” said Jen in a sarcastic tone, playing with the straw in her drink.
“You say ‘why don’t you play Royal Road it’s really fun and I’m sure you’d love it’” Kristen responded in a voice mocking Jen’s.
“I don’t talk like that!” complained Jen.
“It’s close enough.” said Kristen as she calmly sipped the straw from the ice tea placed in front of her.
“I don’t know why you’re so stubborn about this; it’s not like money is that big of an issue. You said you already had enough to buy a computer right? At this rate you’ll be the only person left alive who doesn’t play.”
Hearing these words made Kristen reel a little bit. Truthfully, she had no reason not to play. It’s true that pretty much everyone she could think of played the game. She often felt isolated not being able to talk to people about it. It’s not like she had no experience with games either. Her brothers would often torment her by hiding her books until she beat them in whatever games they wanted to play. But at this point she was denying her interest simply due to her own stubbornness.
“Even so, I don’t really have the luxury to play games with how busy I am.”
“Just think of it like a social networking site where you do things with friends. You only have to hunt if you want to and there are many things to do besides hunting. You seem like you might be better suited for a crafting class anyway. On top of that, it’s pretty easy once you get the hang of things, take me as an example, I play it pretty casually and I’m still level 135.” Jen gave a self-satisfying grin and puffed out her chest, not that there was much to puff.
Heheh I guess that’s one area I can say I’m the clear winner in.
“I guess I’ll think about it.” said Kristen, redirecting her thoughts to the topic at hand.
“That’s what you said last time!” said Jen, turning her grin into a pouting face once again.
“This time I’m serious. I’ll really think about it, I promise.” She really did mean it this time.
“You have to, I’ll be sad if you don’t.” Jen grabbed Kristen’s hand and gave the saddest puppy dog eyes possible.
“You know I’m not a guy so that doesn’t really work on me right?” said Kristen with a rather disgusted look on her face.
“Pwetty pwease” said Jen, obviously attempting to well up some tears from her hazel eyes for sympathy.
“OK! I get it! Just stop that you’re creeping me out!”
“Good!” exclaimed Jen, now satisfied with the answer.
As if on cue the waiter came with their food at that moment and the two quickly ended their conversation in favor of filling their hungry stomachs. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Chapter 5",
"id": 7,
"next": 8,
"prev": 6,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Without any power left I sat down at the table on a big old oak wood chair. It was beautifully designed. A dragon head shaped it’s back and the fiery breath were the arm-rests.<br>The house wasn’t any different. Did I say house? The mansion! High Class decoration, pompous statues, magnificent artworks. Everything an art loving freak would love.<br><br>You saw “The wonders of Navenheil”<br>Art +1<br>You witnessed “The five Royal Knights”<br>Art +1<br><br>My art stat grew and even grew further. I think it upgraded 10 times just by looking at breath-stealing artworks.<br><br>We waited on the food which his wife, a big barbarian, was making. He bragged about her food the entire time. How amazing it tastes, how unbelievably good it looks and so on.<br>I asked for permission to go to the kitchen. He waved with his hand and let me go. A lingering look in his eyes and saliva running down his mouth.<br><br>At first I didn’t find the way but after going around in circles for sometime I found the kitchen.<br>It was just as big as every other room in this house. Beautifully designed with modern equipment. His wife just hacked a fish in two and sliced small portions off.<br>“Do you need anything?” She looked at me.<br>“Or are you an open man for help just like the other guests nowadays?”<br>I didn’t know what she meant but I obviously offered her my help. Even in my condition I could prepare some food. And if I learnt cooking here I could cook for myself at home. With my mother gone it was really pragmatic.<br>“If it doesn’t bother you, then I gratefully offer my help.”<br>“Take that knife over there and make a salat. Fast.”<br>I did as she wanted. I took the knife, looked at it and thought about what it could do. Exactly at that moment I got an alert.<br>You learned the skill “Identify”<br>By speculating about specific properties of the knife you entered the world of characteristics<br>Awesome. Really awesome. I used the skill on the knife and got a message.<br><br>Identified: Handmade kitchen knife<br>Damage: 7 Durability 40/40<br>Description: A well made knife. It’s usage for the kitchen but could be used for different things as well.<br>I snapped the bad salad leaves from the head and began to prepare the salad.<br>I followed her instructions and slowly understood the basics. I cut cucumbers in small pieces and threw them into the salad. Tomatoes, cheese, and other vegetables which I didn’t know at first but I get to knew after analyzing them followed one by one.<br><br>Identify leveled up. Beginner level 2 0%<br><br>A great bowl of different vegetables was the final product.<br><br>You learned the skill “cooking”<br>By helping the cook in this house and following her instructions you learnt everything about the basics of cooking<br><br>She thanked me. And I was happy to obtain this skill. Slowly I got into this stuff of virtual reality. To learn things you have to do them first.To do them you either have to them yourself by thinking about what you have to do or ask another person if he could teach you.<br>By doing them you hone them afterwards. There were different levels and categories. The levels varied from 1 to 10 and fit into following categories Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master and Grandmaster. If you leveled your skill up to level 10 it evolved to the next stage.<br><br>“No problem. This was nothing.”<br>She gave me a potion.<br>“Drink that potion if you feel down. I know how my man can be sometimes. You will need it.”<br>I analyzed it. But I got no result. Maybe too complicated for my skill level.<br>I thanked her again and brought the dishes to the eating room where I put them on the table. There was much and more on the table for just 3 persons.<br>I gulped. The smell was... was.. was. I don’t know what it was but it was captivating.<br><br>“Let the fight begin!”<br>He roared and pieced a big piece of pig with his mighty fork. I didn’t know what was going on. Small pieces of meat and drops of grease shot around my head. The scene was vicious. 2 big humans screamed at another and fought for each slice of meat vigorously. After some time a third person entered the battlefield. A small elf with nothing left but hunger! A new power awoke inside him.<br><br>You participated in “The monster’s feast”<br>Basic stats + 1<br>Fame + 10<br><br>You acquired the stat “Endurance”<br>It allows you to maintain a specific action for a longer time<br><br>The meal was great. Everything tasted abnormally good and we didn’t let one piece of meat on the table. Even the salad got ripped apart by us. The wife was cleaning up right now and we were departing for his training room to continue the training. We went into the cellar.<br>It was huge. And if I say huge then I mean huge. Compared to the house the cellar was at least 5 times bigger. And that was what I thought after seeing the first floor.<br><br>“I bet you didn’t think this cellar would be this big.” He laughed as he saw my confused state.<br>“You really know nothing about this world. This is just the first floor of my own private training cellar. 3 visitors had the floor in all this years and you are the first one this year and the first elf on top of that.”<br>I didn’t know what to say. This was just... just phenomenal.<br>“No words? Well, take your time... well actually not because we have to train but one thing I still have to say. Some mages enhanced this training floor. Your training speed will process 20% faster on the first floor and every next floor the rate will grow by 20%. But it consumes more energy, the energy which you would use for the amount the percents give. This way you can train much faster if you have the power to endure it.”“That sounds great.”<br>After eating such a monstrous meal I had enough power to do anything, that’s what I thought at least.<br>“So... What did you plan for my training?”<br>The room had enough space to do anything down here. In every corner were machines for training or stuff to build a up a hindrance run with obstacles. So much things were just lying around that I didn’t know where to start.<br>“Well, you see all this equipment here. I planned that we make up a cycle which we do again and again. Therefore we build up an obstacle course from corner to corner.”<br>“Okay.”<br><br>After some time we finished preparations. The room seemed half as big as it was before. There were 4 different courses but everyone hard on it’s own.<br>“Okay, time to start!<br>The week of horror began.<br><br>“Faster! Run faster!”<br>I did the cycle for felt 3 hours already but I only were at the second point. It was really hardcore especially with this kind of trainer.<br><br>I still wore my vest and he packed 5 pound more to it and said that still wasn’t enough.<br>“I want to see 20 repeats for that machine! Do it faster!”<br><br>“You have to jump over the hindrances!”<br>“Another 10 repeats! Come on you aren’t a small child anymore”<br>“Go, go, go!”<br>“Do you want to mock me? My grandmother can do this faster than you!”<br><br>Something was strange. My stats didn’t raise at all. At first I didn’t notice it but after sometime it was definitely weird.<br><br>“What are you standing around for? You still have to run around 2 times to make a break! Come on this time I run with you.”<br><br>The second round was just as horrible as the first. If it was not for him then I would have collapsed. Or stopped halfway. Sometimes trainers can be cruel but they do it to get you to your limits.<br>About the third round I didn’t even want to talk anymore. It was hell. Real hell. Flames spread through my muscles, streams of sweat ran down my skin. The warm up from before was nothing compared to this.<br>“Okay, that’s enough for today. Tomorrow I want to see more from you. Didn’t you say that you want to do it with ease and stand out in every category?”<br>I nodded with my head. I couldn’t say any word, powerless as I was. I logged out. I had to eat something after all this time.<br><br>--------<br><br>I opened my eyes. I wasn’t hungry was my first thought. But then came the pain. I never felt so much pain before. If I could I would have screamed out so loud that glass would explode.<br>I logged in again and didn’t think about what could happen to me. I just wanted this pain to vanish and inside the game it was easier to endure it.<br>I materialized right in front of the instructor.<br>“You here again?”<br>“I need to get some rest here.”<br>“It’s fine. You can take a rest upstairs.”<br>“Okay.”<br>I held my stomach and slendered upstairs. I threw myself down on the bed and cursed right after it. Pain spread out all over again. Then the potion came to my mind. I thought of drinking it but I didn’t. I wanted to endure this on my own. All on my own.<br><br>I couldn’t sleep at all. The pain was too much. I stood up and walked over to the bookshelf.<br>Only then did I look at the room I was in. It was a small room compared to the rest of the house. One door, the one I came in, was on the one side of the room, the spartanic bed was in the middle of the room, some pictures decorated the walls, a mirror hang on the third wall and the fourth wall was an entire bookshelf. I couldn’t even read most of the titles. Not because I was goddamn tired but because they were in another language. Weird thing about that was that normally the game would translate them for you. I thought it was strange.<br><br>I found three books which were in my language. They weren’t that big but I thought better than nothing at all. After reading the titles I knew why I couldn’t read the books from before. They were in another game language, made so that you have to learn the language here. The first book I could read was “Language of the Ancients”. The other ones weren’t that interesting at the moment. The book had approximately 200 pages.<br><br>You learned the ancient language<br>From now on you can read and understand it<br>Texts will be translated to your language but will be marked as ancient<br>Ancient marked writing will be italic<br>Wisdom + 3<br>Intelligence + 3<br><br>I decided to read the other two books first I picked up. The first of them read “Soundless Hunting” by an unknown author. Maybe it has interesting content.The first few pages weren’t really interesting but I read on and found a cool quote:<br><br>“Prey on the weak and you will survive, prey on the strong and you will live.”<br><br>I will definitely remember that one. I decided to read the book till the end, it wasn’t that long and I had already begun to read it.<br><br>In the middle of the book stood something about a sneaking technique to approach enemies silently. I wrote it down into my notebook the system offered. The rest of the book was rather boring. Different kinds of animals were explained, hunting methods and so on.<br><br>I laid down and went to sleep. The pain I had left could be tolerated.
</div> | Without any power left I sat down at the table on a big old oak wood chair. It was beautifully designed. A dragon head shaped it’s back and the fiery breath were the arm-rests.
The house wasn’t any different. Did I say house? The mansion! High Class decoration, pompous statues, magnificent artworks. Everything an art loving freak would love.
You saw “The wonders of Navenheil”
Art +1
You witnessed “The five Royal Knights”
Art +1
My art stat grew and even grew further. I think it upgraded 10 times just by looking at breath-stealing artworks.
We waited on the food which his wife, a big barbarian, was making. He bragged about her food the entire time. How amazing it tastes, how unbelievably good it looks and so on.
I asked for permission to go to the kitchen. He waved with his hand and let me go. A lingering look in his eyes and saliva running down his mouth.
At first I didn’t find the way but after going around in circles for sometime I found the kitchen.
It was just as big as every other room in this house. Beautifully designed with modern equipment. His wife just hacked a fish in two and sliced small portions off.
“Do you need anything?” She looked at me.
“Or are you an open man for help just like the other guests nowadays?”
I didn’t know what she meant but I obviously offered her my help. Even in my condition I could prepare some food. And if I learnt cooking here I could cook for myself at home. With my mother gone it was really pragmatic.
“If it doesn’t bother you, then I gratefully offer my help.”
“Take that knife over there and make a salat. Fast.”
I did as she wanted. I took the knife, looked at it and thought about what it could do. Exactly at that moment I got an alert.
You learned the skill “Identify”
By speculating about specific properties of the knife you entered the world of characteristics
Awesome. Really awesome. I used the skill on the knife and got a message.
Identified: Handmade kitchen knife
Damage: 7 Durability 40/40
Description: A well made knife. It’s usage for the kitchen but could be used for different things as well.
I snapped the bad salad leaves from the head and began to prepare the salad.
I followed her instructions and slowly understood the basics. I cut cucumbers in small pieces and threw them into the salad. Tomatoes, cheese, and other vegetables which I didn’t know at first but I get to knew after analyzing them followed one by one.
Identify leveled up. Beginner level 2 0%
A great bowl of different vegetables was the final product.
You learned the skill “cooking”
By helping the cook in this house and following her instructions you learnt everything about the basics of cooking
She thanked me. And I was happy to obtain this skill. Slowly I got into this stuff of virtual reality. To learn things you have to do them first.To do them you either have to them yourself by thinking about what you have to do or ask another person if he could teach you.
By doing them you hone them afterwards. There were different levels and categories. The levels varied from 1 to 10 and fit into following categories Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master and Grandmaster. If you leveled your skill up to level 10 it evolved to the next stage.
“No problem. This was nothing.”
She gave me a potion.
“Drink that potion if you feel down. I know how my man can be sometimes. You will need it.”
I analyzed it. But I got no result. Maybe too complicated for my skill level.
I thanked her again and brought the dishes to the eating room where I put them on the table. There was much and more on the table for just 3 persons.
I gulped. The smell was... was.. was. I don’t know what it was but it was captivating.
“Let the fight begin!”
He roared and pieced a big piece of pig with his mighty fork. I didn’t know what was going on. Small pieces of meat and drops of grease shot around my head. The scene was vicious. 2 big humans screamed at another and fought for each slice of meat vigorously. After some time a third person entered the battlefield. A small elf with nothing left but hunger! A new power awoke inside him.
You participated in “The monster’s feast”
Basic stats + 1
Fame + 10
You acquired the stat “Endurance”
It allows you to maintain a specific action for a longer time
The meal was great. Everything tasted abnormally good and we didn’t let one piece of meat on the table. Even the salad got ripped apart by us. The wife was cleaning up right now and we were departing for his training room to continue the training. We went into the cellar.
It was huge. And if I say huge then I mean huge. Compared to the house the cellar was at least 5 times bigger. And that was what I thought after seeing the first floor.
“I bet you didn’t think this cellar would be this big.” He laughed as he saw my confused state.
“You really know nothing about this world. This is just the first floor of my own private training cellar. 3 visitors had the floor in all this years and you are the first one this year and the first elf on top of that.”
I didn’t know what to say. This was just... just phenomenal.
“No words? Well, take your time... well actually not because we have to train but one thing I still have to say. Some mages enhanced this training floor. Your training speed will process 20% faster on the first floor and every next floor the rate will grow by 20%. But it consumes more energy, the energy which you would use for the amount the percents give. This way you can train much faster if you have the power to endure it.”“That sounds great.”
After eating such a monstrous meal I had enough power to do anything, that’s what I thought at least.
“So... What did you plan for my training?”
The room had enough space to do anything down here. In every corner were machines for training or stuff to build a up a hindrance run with obstacles. So much things were just lying around that I didn’t know where to start.
“Well, you see all this equipment here. I planned that we make up a cycle which we do again and again. Therefore we build up an obstacle course from corner to corner.”
“Okay.”
After some time we finished preparations. The room seemed half as big as it was before. There were 4 different courses but everyone hard on it’s own.
“Okay, time to start!
The week of horror began.
“Faster! Run faster!”
I did the cycle for felt 3 hours already but I only were at the second point. It was really hardcore especially with this kind of trainer.
I still wore my vest and he packed 5 pound more to it and said that still wasn’t enough.
“I want to see 20 repeats for that machine! Do it faster!”
“You have to jump over the hindrances!”
“Another 10 repeats! Come on you aren’t a small child anymore”
“Go, go, go!”
“Do you want to mock me? My grandmother can do this faster than you!”
Something was strange. My stats didn’t raise at all. At first I didn’t notice it but after sometime it was definitely weird.
“What are you standing around for? You still have to run around 2 times to make a break! Come on this time I run with you.”
The second round was just as horrible as the first. If it was not for him then I would have collapsed. Or stopped halfway. Sometimes trainers can be cruel but they do it to get you to your limits.
About the third round I didn’t even want to talk anymore. It was hell. Real hell. Flames spread through my muscles, streams of sweat ran down my skin. The warm up from before was nothing compared to this.
“Okay, that’s enough for today. Tomorrow I want to see more from you. Didn’t you say that you want to do it with ease and stand out in every category?”
I nodded with my head. I couldn’t say any word, powerless as I was. I logged out. I had to eat something after all this time.
--------
I opened my eyes. I wasn’t hungry was my first thought. But then came the pain. I never felt so much pain before. If I could I would have screamed out so loud that glass would explode.
I logged in again and didn’t think about what could happen to me. I just wanted this pain to vanish and inside the game it was easier to endure it.
I materialized right in front of the instructor.
“You here again?”
“I need to get some rest here.”
“It’s fine. You can take a rest upstairs.”
“Okay.”
I held my stomach and slendered upstairs. I threw myself down on the bed and cursed right after it. Pain spread out all over again. Then the potion came to my mind. I thought of drinking it but I didn’t. I wanted to endure this on my own. All on my own.
I couldn’t sleep at all. The pain was too much. I stood up and walked over to the bookshelf.
Only then did I look at the room I was in. It was a small room compared to the rest of the house. One door, the one I came in, was on the one side of the room, the spartanic bed was in the middle of the room, some pictures decorated the walls, a mirror hang on the third wall and the fourth wall was an entire bookshelf. I couldn’t even read most of the titles. Not because I was goddamn tired but because they were in another language. Weird thing about that was that normally the game would translate them for you. I thought it was strange.
I found three books which were in my language. They weren’t that big but I thought better than nothing at all. After reading the titles I knew why I couldn’t read the books from before. They were in another game language, made so that you have to learn the language here. The first book I could read was “Language of the Ancients”. The other ones weren’t that interesting at the moment. The book had approximately 200 pages.
You learned the ancient language
From now on you can read and understand it
Texts will be translated to your language but will be marked as ancient
Ancient marked writing will be italic
Wisdom + 3
Intelligence + 3
I decided to read the other two books first I picked up. The first of them read “Soundless Hunting” by an unknown author. Maybe it has interesting content.The first few pages weren’t really interesting but I read on and found a cool quote:
“Prey on the weak and you will survive, prey on the strong and you will live.”
I will definitely remember that one. I decided to read the book till the end, it wasn’t that long and I had already begun to read it.
In the middle of the book stood something about a sneaking technique to approach enemies silently. I wrote it down into my notebook the system offered. The rest of the book was rather boring. Different kinds of animals were explained, hunting methods and so on.
I laid down and went to sleep. The pain I had left could be tolerated. |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Angelic Knight - Chapter 3",
"id": 90,
"next": 139,
"prev": 89,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Grey knights Parade<br><br><br>Allwind logged in to find himself stood exactly where he had logged out, in the plaza which he had been training in. He had literally started to do his usual stretches, when a group of ten people entered the plaza.<br><br>It was a new sight for Allwind, seeing so many people dressed in what looked like fine robes and armour that shone in the sunlight. He paused what he was doing to look at the group as they entered.<br><br>They huddled in a group talking to each other, before one of them noticed Allwind; it was a man wearing light grey armour. He slowly walked over to Allwind.<br><br>“Excuse me Sir, me and my friends, were planning on holding a meeting here; could you leave?”<br>The man in armour said, placing his hand on his sword at his belt threateningly.<br><br>“Excuse me, but you’re the one who should leave. You’re interrupting me in my daily activities.” Allwind stated flatly, not showing any fear. This seemed to take the man by surprise. The man grunted and turned back to the rest of the group. They went back into a huddle probably debating, what to do next.<br><br>Allwind decided to ignore them and continue his warm ups, but it wasn’t long before he was interrupted a second time. This time it was a girl from the same group.<br>The girl was dressed in a long robe, she walked over to Allwind and smiled. “She’s nice,” he thought when he noticed her.<br><br>“Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time? I’m really sorry if my knight friend offended you, but all the inns in the area are full, and we would like a place to talk and wait for our friends to turn up. Could I persuade a nice boy like you to leave for a moment? We shouldn’t be long,” she said sweetly.<br><br>“Why? I always train here, and you’re interrupting me. Please leave.”<br><br>This seemed to confuse the girl as well, as she went back to the others looking a bit confused. Just then another five people turned up and the mass greetings began. Two minutes later and Allwind was interrupted a third time, this time he got a huge shock.<br><br>The person this time was an old male, however this time Allwind knew who the man was. It turned out to be a teacher from his school. The man looked exactly like his history teacher.<br><br>Allwind somehow managed to hide his surprise at seeing his history teacher in Royal Road. “No wait everyone plays it, I have even overheard a convocation between the headteacher and a student about how they were playing the game.” He thought as the teacher started talking to him.<br><br>“Hello. It seems that I have to apologise for my student’s behaviour,” he started throwing Allwind’s mind in circles, “they were all students from my school,” he suddenly realised,” as his teacher continued “we wanted to have a guild meeting here, but we need privacy for it, I am sorry.”<br><br>No one at school knew Alan was playing Royal Road, and he wanted to keep it that way for the time being. So he reluctantly agreed to leave, fearing that his teacher would discover his identity, not only let everyone else know, but the teacher might also remember that Allwind hadn’t done any of his history assignments recently.<br><br>“I know you’re a user, and not NCP, you put on a good act.” His teacher said as he walked past him. Allwind just smiled back before bowing to the group he turned to leave as quickly as possible, the others watched him go in surprise.<br><br>****<br><br>Outside the plaza Allwind had no idea what he should be doing, apart from putting as much distance between him and the plaza as possible. He gazed back at the large group of people from his school. “Maybe I should find Lillian?” He mused as he began walking towards the river thinking about, when he accidently bumped into a person sending both of them to the ground with a crash.<br><br>“I’m sorry,” Allwind said as he picked himself up off the road.<br>“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” A female voice said from the side. As Allwind looked at the source of the voice, he found himself looking into the eyes of the most beautiful person he had ever met. She had green eyes, pale translucent skin, pointy ears and long blond hair.<br>She was wearing green and brown armour with what looked like a bow across her shoulder and a quiver of arrows at her side.<br><br>He quickly remembered his manners and helped the lady to her feet.<br>“Sorry about that,” he muttered not able to take his eyes off her, as four more people turned up.<br><br>“Do I know you?” the lady asked “you look familiar?”<br>“You ok, Merine?” One of the people next to her asked concerned.<br>“No sorry, you don’t,” Allwind replied automatically knowing perfectly well, who she was. Anyone who went to his school knew, who the person in front of him was. She was the idol of the school, an untouchable queen. It was rumoured that every boy in the third grade had tried to date her to no avail.<br><br>“Sorry, I’m looking for Lillian. Your friends are in the plaza ahead they kicked me out so I’ll be going.” He said quickly making up an excuse before the other four became interested in him; luckily he spotted Lillian ahead she looked like she was playing with her friends by the side of the river.<br><br>“Ha, there she is,” he pointed and started to head in Lillian’s direction when the unthinkable happened. The girl he had just pointed out disappeared from sight.<br><br>~ Splash ~<br><br>The sound was very distinctive and loud. Allwind quickly ran over to the edge of the river just in time to see a struggling Lillian being swept into the middle of the river, before being washed downstream.<br><br>“This is bad, after her!” The school idol shouted, pushing his back as Allwind looked on dumbfounded. He quickly regained his composure and started to sprint along the wharf, shouting for Lillian to hold on. The two sprinted along the stone quarry after the drowning NCP, as she was carried away by the river. Thankfully the wharf ran full the length of the city, allowing for ships to dock and unload their goods, with the occasional fisherman using it.<br><br>That didn’t mean however, that the stone wharf was empty. Far from it. There were people and creates to dodge around, as the two of them raced to save Lillian side by side. Suddenly a large group of creates appeared before the two blocking of the wharf, Allwind had a slight lead and was the first to start hectically climbing over creates. using his agility to boost himself over the creates, he reached the top somersaulting down to the ground.<br><br>****<br><br>It had been a very frustrating few days for the owner of a certain grocery store; he had bought some chickens off a merchant for a restaurant, and was now going to return them, simply because they were bald and now considered to be cursed.<br><br>He had after much effort managed to get the chickens into a crate before delivered them to the wharf. They were currently behind a stack of other creates out of harm’s way. He was now, going to transport them by boat, because the Church of Freya was having a parade to usher in the next Pope Candidate, making the roads in and out of town useless.<br><br>It happened while he was talking to a dock hand that he knew. A body that looked human crashed into the floor from the air. The body smashed into the crate with the chickens in sending bits of wood and hay flying, the human rolled on the floor before running off down the wharf, not even stopping to apologise. But that wasn’t the end of the Shopkeeper’s problems. When the dust had finished settling on the ground it revealed five very bald, very angry chickens.<br><br>Suddenly another figure, an elf, landed in the middle of the chickens, and sprinted off after the fleeing human. The chickens squawked angrily, flapping their featherless wings, and immediately set off after the two fleeing figures, leaving the Shopkeeper standing there, speechless.<br><br>****<br><br>Merine was running hard. It was getting to the point where her stamina bar was half empty. The person, which she bumped into a short time ago, looked like a newbie and shouldn’t have been able to run as far, or as fast as he had done. She had set off after him because he looked familiar to her, and she couldn’t let it go till he answered a question or two. So, she had witnessed the boy’s NCP friend fall into the river.<br><br>It was after jumping down from the crates that she got another surprise. The boy she was chasing now seemed to be widening the gap between them. Not only that, a group of what looked like chickens had not only joined in the chase, but had somehow overtaken her.<br><br>Ignoring the chickens that had overtaken her, she focused on trying to catch up to the boy in front, and then groaned at the sight ahead. There up ahead was the main bridge in Liberty city. It would be easy to save the girl from there, and she was right; on any normal day it would have been easy to save Lillian from the main bridge, but today was turning out not to be a normal day, as there was a parade for the new candidate pope being held. The result was that the bridge was lined with users and NCPs, all watching the parade. They had even managed to block all the entrances to the main road that the parade was being held on.****<br><br>Allwind noticed the huge group of people standing in his way, thought about giving up when he noticed a boy sitting on a box overlooking the crowd. It wasn’t hard to see how the boy had got up there, so Allwind, not thinking of anything other than saving Lillian as fast as possible, ran up the boxes that would get him past the crowd, and jumped.<br>****<br><br>The parade was going well, in the opinion of the high priest the Church of Freya’s influence was now firmly established in liberty city, thanks to his efforts. When the high priest received news from the central continent that the old Pope, Head of the Church of Freya, had died it came as a huge shock. It was a sad loss made all the more harder to bear as the old pope hadn’t chosen a successor.<br><br>This resulted in the parade, which was now taking place, to usher in the new candidate pope.<br>There were three candidates for the position of pope, all of which were giving the high priest a headache, add to that the fact that two of the three Holy Relics, the church was supposed to process, had been stolen. It left the high priest in a very difficult position inside the order.<br><br>The high priest sighed deeply and waved graciously to the watching crowd, at his side was a young boy, one of the candidates for pope, who went by the name of Alveron, dressed in the customary white priest outfit with white hat; he looked the spitting image of a pope. It was just a shame that the boy personality was subservient, if he was more proactive the high priest wouldn’t have to worry about the church’s future.<br><br>A second candidate was missing, and so far no one in the church knew of his whereabouts.<br><br>The other candidate however was a totally different mould to Alveron; he went by the name of Gease, was a stubborn show off, and was the son of a minor lord from the central continent. He had refused to wear the traditional outfit, and had a set of cloths, custom made by a tailor, just for this occasion. The high priest didn’t like Gease, purely because he didn’t want the church, he had built, to be influenced by the a noble.<br><br>Gease was riding a horse in front of the wagon the high priest was riding on, when the world seemed to explode. First a young man seemed to jump out of the crowd, he had blond hair and had somehow managed to execute a flying flip, he seemed to sail upside down slowly across the road just in front of Gease’s horse, some members of the crowd cheered others screamed, as the youth landed on his feet on the other side of the road, before disappearing behind the crowd.<br><br>Before anyone in the parade or crowd could react, there was another scream. This one was higher pitched than the last, and suddenly five airborne chickens appeared. But unfortunately they were not as gracefully in their flight as the young boy, and due to their unfortunate timing, they jumped straight into Gease, who was unceremoniously dumped on the road with the chickens attached to him.<br><br>They made chaos in the middle of the road, scratching and biting the pope candidate, as yet a third person managed to jump over the road. This time it was an elf. She disappeared just as quickly as the young boy had, while bystanders in the crowd and paladin knights tried to rescue the pope candidate, by catching the chickens.<br><br>The chickens, on the other hand, had bigger ideas, and with lots of running managed to evade every attempt to capture them, then fled up the street.<br><br>Leaving a very disgruntled high priest standing in the cart, the only redeeming part of the whole affair was that Gease was the one that had been dismounted, and not him.<br>****<br><br>“I can’t believe I managed to clear that,” Allwind thought as he sped up along the wharf. He glanced to the side and noticed that Lillian was beginning to struggle in the water, “there’s no way to get to her from here... unless,” making his mind up faster than he had ever done before, he leapt off the side of the wharf, on to a pole that was sticking out of the water. He had noticed them spaced out periodically, as he had run down the side of the wharf. Now he leapt from one to another moving further out into the river, before diving in slightly behind Lillian.<br>****<br><br>Merine’s day was just getting worse and worse, as she chased after the newbie in front of her. His stunt at the road, which was impressive, had caused allot of problems, which she had luckily managed to ignore, and now the idiot was jumping from pole to pole in front of her, in an effort to get closer to the drowning NCP.<br>****<br><br>Luckily, Allwind managed to reach Lillian before she drowned. He even managed to get her to cling to his back, as he tried to swim back to the side of the wharf, were a few onlookers stood. Even some of the people on the bridge further upstream were pointing and shouting. More problems began from there as Allwind’s stamina bar had finally run out, and no matter how hard he tried, he seemed to be going backwards in the water not forwards.<br>****<br><br>Merine stood there watching as Allwind finally reached the NCP. She let out a sigh of relief before she realised, that the idiot was now moving backwards downstream.<br>“The idiots finally run out of stamina then,” she sighed again taking the bow from her shoulder, took careful aim, and then fired one of her acquired skill shoots “Arrow line.”<br><br>The arrow flew through the air with a thin line of cord attached to it, landing just in front of Allwind, who managed to grasp hold of it, struggling to keep himself and Lillian afloat as Merine struggled to real both of them in. They eventually managed to get to the shore.<br><br>“That was close,” a smiling school idol said, as she hauled a dripping wet Allwind and Lillian to the dockside. “Any further downstream and you would have died,” she said, pointing downstream to the edge of town. Newbie’s were not allowed to leave their starting city for four week, so he would have been trapped between a fast flowing river and the border edge of town.<br><br>“Thanks,” Allwind replied.<br>“No problem at least you saved the girl. Maybe I should take up fishing?” The idol replied before frowning, “we have to move, the knights of Freya are pretty annoyed at the stunt you just pulled. Where does she live?”<br>It took 30 minutes to get the dripping wet Allwind and Lillian back to their starting point, having taken a lot of back and side streets to avoid the remnants of the parade, Lillian had mentioned where she lived, but refused to let go of Allwind’s back.<br><br>When they arrived there was a greeting party ready. It was the people who had kicked Allwind out of the plaza. Allwind started to panic when he noticed them staring at him, “this is definitely somewhere I wanted to come back too,” he thought.<br>“You can relax, they’re friends. We are the Grey Knights,” the school idol said, noticing his panic.<br><br>She spent the next five minutes explaining to the rest of the Grey Knights what had happened, before Allwind could escape. They were the ones who had whispered to Merine about the Knights of Freya.<br>Lillian was still holding onto his back, he said thank you to the school idol for saving them, and was about to leave, when she called out to him, wanting to know his name. He paused, thinking for a moment that he had been found out.<br><br>“It’s Allwind,” he replied turning to leave quickly.<br>“Allwind? I know that name, but where have I heard it before?” The history teacher said, scratching his head, as Allwind promptly disappeared around the corner. looking for Lillian’s home.<br>“He looked familiar as well,” Merine said, sighing before she urged the group of knights to get on with their delayed meeting.<br>End?<br><br>****<br><br>The grass here was tall, comfy and commanded a good view of the surrounding area, it was a completely new experience. In the field outside of Liberty city, the newbie’s went about hunting foxes and other animals. Looking down on their struggles from the high grass were five pairs of beady, bloodshot eyes. They were watching and learning. Their learning soon paid off then an unlucky fox got too close to the tall grass. With a squawk, and a fair amount of rustling, the fox disappeared into the grass, and was never seen again. It wasn’t the only fox to meet its fate near the tall grass.<br>The Real Ending<br><br><br>Authors notes<br><br>well first i hope u enjoy reading the new updates and changes :)<br>second a great many thanks to Vindrueelsker again, for taking great pains to proof and spell check for me, thanks vin ill send u some imaginary grapes :)
</div> | Grey knights Parade
Allwind logged in to find himself stood exactly where he had logged out, in the plaza which he had been training in. He had literally started to do his usual stretches, when a group of ten people entered the plaza.
It was a new sight for Allwind, seeing so many people dressed in what looked like fine robes and armour that shone in the sunlight. He paused what he was doing to look at the group as they entered.
They huddled in a group talking to each other, before one of them noticed Allwind; it was a man wearing light grey armour. He slowly walked over to Allwind.
“Excuse me Sir, me and my friends, were planning on holding a meeting here; could you leave?”
The man in armour said, placing his hand on his sword at his belt threateningly.
“Excuse me, but you’re the one who should leave. You’re interrupting me in my daily activities.” Allwind stated flatly, not showing any fear. This seemed to take the man by surprise. The man grunted and turned back to the rest of the group. They went back into a huddle probably debating, what to do next.
Allwind decided to ignore them and continue his warm ups, but it wasn’t long before he was interrupted a second time. This time it was a girl from the same group.
The girl was dressed in a long robe, she walked over to Allwind and smiled. “She’s nice,” he thought when he noticed her.
“Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time? I’m really sorry if my knight friend offended you, but all the inns in the area are full, and we would like a place to talk and wait for our friends to turn up. Could I persuade a nice boy like you to leave for a moment? We shouldn’t be long,” she said sweetly.
“Why? I always train here, and you’re interrupting me. Please leave.”
This seemed to confuse the girl as well, as she went back to the others looking a bit confused. Just then another five people turned up and the mass greetings began. Two minutes later and Allwind was interrupted a third time, this time he got a huge shock.
The person this time was an old male, however this time Allwind knew who the man was. It turned out to be a teacher from his school. The man looked exactly like his history teacher.
Allwind somehow managed to hide his surprise at seeing his history teacher in Royal Road. “No wait everyone plays it, I have even overheard a convocation between the headteacher and a student about how they were playing the game.” He thought as the teacher started talking to him.
“Hello. It seems that I have to apologise for my student’s behaviour,” he started throwing Allwind’s mind in circles, “they were all students from my school,” he suddenly realised,” as his teacher continued “we wanted to have a guild meeting here, but we need privacy for it, I am sorry.”
No one at school knew Alan was playing Royal Road, and he wanted to keep it that way for the time being. So he reluctantly agreed to leave, fearing that his teacher would discover his identity, not only let everyone else know, but the teacher might also remember that Allwind hadn’t done any of his history assignments recently.
“I know you’re a user, and not NCP, you put on a good act.” His teacher said as he walked past him. Allwind just smiled back before bowing to the group he turned to leave as quickly as possible, the others watched him go in surprise.
****
Outside the plaza Allwind had no idea what he should be doing, apart from putting as much distance between him and the plaza as possible. He gazed back at the large group of people from his school. “Maybe I should find Lillian?” He mused as he began walking towards the river thinking about, when he accidently bumped into a person sending both of them to the ground with a crash.
“I’m sorry,” Allwind said as he picked himself up off the road.
“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” A female voice said from the side. As Allwind looked at the source of the voice, he found himself looking into the eyes of the most beautiful person he had ever met. She had green eyes, pale translucent skin, pointy ears and long blond hair.
She was wearing green and brown armour with what looked like a bow across her shoulder and a quiver of arrows at her side.
He quickly remembered his manners and helped the lady to her feet.
“Sorry about that,” he muttered not able to take his eyes off her, as four more people turned up.
“Do I know you?” the lady asked “you look familiar?”
“You ok, Merine?” One of the people next to her asked concerned.
“No sorry, you don’t,” Allwind replied automatically knowing perfectly well, who she was. Anyone who went to his school knew, who the person in front of him was. She was the idol of the school, an untouchable queen. It was rumoured that every boy in the third grade had tried to date her to no avail.
“Sorry, I’m looking for Lillian. Your friends are in the plaza ahead they kicked me out so I’ll be going.” He said quickly making up an excuse before the other four became interested in him; luckily he spotted Lillian ahead she looked like she was playing with her friends by the side of the river.
“Ha, there she is,” he pointed and started to head in Lillian’s direction when the unthinkable happened. The girl he had just pointed out disappeared from sight.
~ Splash ~
The sound was very distinctive and loud. Allwind quickly ran over to the edge of the river just in time to see a struggling Lillian being swept into the middle of the river, before being washed downstream.
“This is bad, after her!” The school idol shouted, pushing his back as Allwind looked on dumbfounded. He quickly regained his composure and started to sprint along the wharf, shouting for Lillian to hold on. The two sprinted along the stone quarry after the drowning NCP, as she was carried away by the river. Thankfully the wharf ran full the length of the city, allowing for ships to dock and unload their goods, with the occasional fisherman using it.
That didn’t mean however, that the stone wharf was empty. Far from it. There were people and creates to dodge around, as the two of them raced to save Lillian side by side. Suddenly a large group of creates appeared before the two blocking of the wharf, Allwind had a slight lead and was the first to start hectically climbing over creates. using his agility to boost himself over the creates, he reached the top somersaulting down to the ground.
****
It had been a very frustrating few days for the owner of a certain grocery store; he had bought some chickens off a merchant for a restaurant, and was now going to return them, simply because they were bald and now considered to be cursed.
He had after much effort managed to get the chickens into a crate before delivered them to the wharf. They were currently behind a stack of other creates out of harm’s way. He was now, going to transport them by boat, because the Church of Freya was having a parade to usher in the next Pope Candidate, making the roads in and out of town useless.
It happened while he was talking to a dock hand that he knew. A body that looked human crashed into the floor from the air. The body smashed into the crate with the chickens in sending bits of wood and hay flying, the human rolled on the floor before running off down the wharf, not even stopping to apologise. But that wasn’t the end of the Shopkeeper’s problems. When the dust had finished settling on the ground it revealed five very bald, very angry chickens.
Suddenly another figure, an elf, landed in the middle of the chickens, and sprinted off after the fleeing human. The chickens squawked angrily, flapping their featherless wings, and immediately set off after the two fleeing figures, leaving the Shopkeeper standing there, speechless.
****
Merine was running hard. It was getting to the point where her stamina bar was half empty. The person, which she bumped into a short time ago, looked like a newbie and shouldn’t have been able to run as far, or as fast as he had done. She had set off after him because he looked familiar to her, and she couldn’t let it go till he answered a question or two. So, she had witnessed the boy’s NCP friend fall into the river.
It was after jumping down from the crates that she got another surprise. The boy she was chasing now seemed to be widening the gap between them. Not only that, a group of what looked like chickens had not only joined in the chase, but had somehow overtaken her.
Ignoring the chickens that had overtaken her, she focused on trying to catch up to the boy in front, and then groaned at the sight ahead. There up ahead was the main bridge in Liberty city. It would be easy to save the girl from there, and she was right; on any normal day it would have been easy to save Lillian from the main bridge, but today was turning out not to be a normal day, as there was a parade for the new candidate pope being held. The result was that the bridge was lined with users and NCPs, all watching the parade. They had even managed to block all the entrances to the main road that the parade was being held on.****
Allwind noticed the huge group of people standing in his way, thought about giving up when he noticed a boy sitting on a box overlooking the crowd. It wasn’t hard to see how the boy had got up there, so Allwind, not thinking of anything other than saving Lillian as fast as possible, ran up the boxes that would get him past the crowd, and jumped.
****
The parade was going well, in the opinion of the high priest the Church of Freya’s influence was now firmly established in liberty city, thanks to his efforts. When the high priest received news from the central continent that the old Pope, Head of the Church of Freya, had died it came as a huge shock. It was a sad loss made all the more harder to bear as the old pope hadn’t chosen a successor.
This resulted in the parade, which was now taking place, to usher in the new candidate pope.
There were three candidates for the position of pope, all of which were giving the high priest a headache, add to that the fact that two of the three Holy Relics, the church was supposed to process, had been stolen. It left the high priest in a very difficult position inside the order.
The high priest sighed deeply and waved graciously to the watching crowd, at his side was a young boy, one of the candidates for pope, who went by the name of Alveron, dressed in the customary white priest outfit with white hat; he looked the spitting image of a pope. It was just a shame that the boy personality was subservient, if he was more proactive the high priest wouldn’t have to worry about the church’s future.
A second candidate was missing, and so far no one in the church knew of his whereabouts.
The other candidate however was a totally different mould to Alveron; he went by the name of Gease, was a stubborn show off, and was the son of a minor lord from the central continent. He had refused to wear the traditional outfit, and had a set of cloths, custom made by a tailor, just for this occasion. The high priest didn’t like Gease, purely because he didn’t want the church, he had built, to be influenced by the a noble.
Gease was riding a horse in front of the wagon the high priest was riding on, when the world seemed to explode. First a young man seemed to jump out of the crowd, he had blond hair and had somehow managed to execute a flying flip, he seemed to sail upside down slowly across the road just in front of Gease’s horse, some members of the crowd cheered others screamed, as the youth landed on his feet on the other side of the road, before disappearing behind the crowd.
Before anyone in the parade or crowd could react, there was another scream. This one was higher pitched than the last, and suddenly five airborne chickens appeared. But unfortunately they were not as gracefully in their flight as the young boy, and due to their unfortunate timing, they jumped straight into Gease, who was unceremoniously dumped on the road with the chickens attached to him.
They made chaos in the middle of the road, scratching and biting the pope candidate, as yet a third person managed to jump over the road. This time it was an elf. She disappeared just as quickly as the young boy had, while bystanders in the crowd and paladin knights tried to rescue the pope candidate, by catching the chickens.
The chickens, on the other hand, had bigger ideas, and with lots of running managed to evade every attempt to capture them, then fled up the street.
Leaving a very disgruntled high priest standing in the cart, the only redeeming part of the whole affair was that Gease was the one that had been dismounted, and not him.
****
“I can’t believe I managed to clear that,” Allwind thought as he sped up along the wharf. He glanced to the side and noticed that Lillian was beginning to struggle in the water, “there’s no way to get to her from here... unless,” making his mind up faster than he had ever done before, he leapt off the side of the wharf, on to a pole that was sticking out of the water. He had noticed them spaced out periodically, as he had run down the side of the wharf. Now he leapt from one to another moving further out into the river, before diving in slightly behind Lillian.
****
Merine’s day was just getting worse and worse, as she chased after the newbie in front of her. His stunt at the road, which was impressive, had caused allot of problems, which she had luckily managed to ignore, and now the idiot was jumping from pole to pole in front of her, in an effort to get closer to the drowning NCP.
****
Luckily, Allwind managed to reach Lillian before she drowned. He even managed to get her to cling to his back, as he tried to swim back to the side of the wharf, were a few onlookers stood. Even some of the people on the bridge further upstream were pointing and shouting. More problems began from there as Allwind’s stamina bar had finally run out, and no matter how hard he tried, he seemed to be going backwards in the water not forwards.
****
Merine stood there watching as Allwind finally reached the NCP. She let out a sigh of relief before she realised, that the idiot was now moving backwards downstream.
“The idiots finally run out of stamina then,” she sighed again taking the bow from her shoulder, took careful aim, and then fired one of her acquired skill shoots “Arrow line.”
The arrow flew through the air with a thin line of cord attached to it, landing just in front of Allwind, who managed to grasp hold of it, struggling to keep himself and Lillian afloat as Merine struggled to real both of them in. They eventually managed to get to the shore.
“That was close,” a smiling school idol said, as she hauled a dripping wet Allwind and Lillian to the dockside. “Any further downstream and you would have died,” she said, pointing downstream to the edge of town. Newbie’s were not allowed to leave their starting city for four week, so he would have been trapped between a fast flowing river and the border edge of town.
“Thanks,” Allwind replied.
“No problem at least you saved the girl. Maybe I should take up fishing?” The idol replied before frowning, “we have to move, the knights of Freya are pretty annoyed at the stunt you just pulled. Where does she live?”
It took 30 minutes to get the dripping wet Allwind and Lillian back to their starting point, having taken a lot of back and side streets to avoid the remnants of the parade, Lillian had mentioned where she lived, but refused to let go of Allwind’s back.
When they arrived there was a greeting party ready. It was the people who had kicked Allwind out of the plaza. Allwind started to panic when he noticed them staring at him, “this is definitely somewhere I wanted to come back too,” he thought.
“You can relax, they’re friends. We are the Grey Knights,” the school idol said, noticing his panic.
She spent the next five minutes explaining to the rest of the Grey Knights what had happened, before Allwind could escape. They were the ones who had whispered to Merine about the Knights of Freya.
Lillian was still holding onto his back, he said thank you to the school idol for saving them, and was about to leave, when she called out to him, wanting to know his name. He paused, thinking for a moment that he had been found out.
“It’s Allwind,” he replied turning to leave quickly.
“Allwind? I know that name, but where have I heard it before?” The history teacher said, scratching his head, as Allwind promptly disappeared around the corner. looking for Lillian’s home.
“He looked familiar as well,” Merine said, sighing before she urged the group of knights to get on with their delayed meeting.
End?
****
The grass here was tall, comfy and commanded a good view of the surrounding area, it was a completely new experience. In the field outside of Liberty city, the newbie’s went about hunting foxes and other animals. Looking down on their struggles from the high grass were five pairs of beady, bloodshot eyes. They were watching and learning. Their learning soon paid off then an unlucky fox got too close to the tall grass. With a squawk, and a fair amount of rustling, the fox disappeared into the grass, and was never seen again. It wasn’t the only fox to meet its fate near the tall grass.
The Real Ending
Authors notes
well first i hope u enjoy reading the new updates and changes :)
second a great many thanks to Vindrueelsker again, for taking great pains to proof and spell check for me, thanks vin ill send u some imaginary grapes :) |
{
"title": "Short Stories by Vielfras",
"id": 49,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Daily Commute",
"id": 31,
"next": 32,
"prev": 30,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Daily Commute<br><br>A soothing shaking spread through the trains' long benches as the train began to move. Well… I can't really call it shaking. It's more like a smooth back and forwards motion, so unnoticeable that it feels like the sit is shaking when actually it is you who is moving. The bottom of the train didn't touch the rails but hovered a short distance from the ground. As it moved the train carts bobbed up and down which caused the wavelike motion.<br><br>I've been taking this train for a few months now, ever since I started my life as a university student. It's not so bad now but during my first few rides I did suffer from bad nausea. I know there are pills against that but I didn't want to rely on them for the next four years. It took a couple of weeks but now it seems weird to me that I had ever suffered from it.<br>My apartment is half an hour's ride from the campus so I don't bother doing much but listen to music during the commute. I enjoy listening to electro-psychedelic fusion tracks as I watch the other people on the train. I'm studying sociology with a few classes on psychology so without even noticing I always apply what I learned to the other passengers. I would've continued to enjoy it if not for the dreaded route change.<br><br>About a week ago the usual route of the train was changed to include three more stations. The first is a small neighborhood where at most there are a few mothers who board the train to go do some shopping; it’s the other two that are bothering my usual routine.<br>The second stop is where a dozen or so suit wearing office workers board. Room isn't the problem; there are more than enough seats. A man who boards with them is half the cause of my misery. Here he comes, wearing the same dark blue suit as always. Even his tie is the same as yesterdays. Red colored with diagonal grey stripes. He'll spot his friend soon and then my misery will start.<br>"Hey." Same greeting followed with a firm hand shake.<br>Now the long haired guy, who I'm pretty sure is a homeless, will answer the same thing he always does.<br>"Gounornmg." He has a small speech disorder and I still can't understand him.<br><br>He was what attracted my attention and made me notice them at first.<br>A song has just finished playing and there were a few seconds of where no noise came from my headphones, in this brief moment I heard his voice. I curse my self daily for pausing the music and listening to their conversation more carefully. Since that day I can't stop my self from eavesdropping to them on a daily basis. The other man is dressed in ragged and torn clothes so he is very easy to spot so I make sure to sit down near him.<br>I can't understand what he says but I manage to deduct some of it from the responses. What he said earlier for example, I know for sure that it mean "Good Morning."<br><br>"Good morning to you too." The suit wearing man sits in the empty seat his friend always keeps for him and puts his large briefcase on an empty seat between them.<br>"Jouguouyeang?"<br>"You know… fine… like usual. You?"<br>"I soufgdkoduiondredohfarweeogay."<br>"Lucky."<br>"Yeah." He never seems to have trouble with this word. "Hwskjnytmli?"<br>"She thinks she's coming down with a cold, asked me to buy her some medicine on the way home."<br>"Ojkjidiois?"<br>"Nah, don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing serious."<br><br>They just keep with the small talk like that up until the third newly added station to the trains' route. There, a bunch of cackling high-school and middle-school students step onto the train. At this point I move a couple of seats closer so I can still eavesdrops through the large chatter on the cart.A girl in a middle-school uniform joins them; sitting on the empty seat between them after the suit man puts his briefcase away. This is always followed by a couple of stares, mostly from mothers who boarded to go shopping, but no one ever says a word or asks any questions.<br>From the moment the girl joins them the conversation changes to magic, monsters and treasure. The girl does most of the talking, asking the men a flood of questions with a high and happy voice.<br>She doesn't always understand the man with the speech disorder but that never stops her and she simply asks him to repeat himself. He always gets annoyed when his necktie friend asks him to repeat what he said, however with the girl he patiently repeats what he said. Making sure to try and say it clearer this time.<br><br>I don't play games. I'd like to, but I just don't have enough time.<br>Nonetheless, when it comes to "Royal Road", even those who don't play it know the basics. That's why on the second day of me watching them it hit me what it was they were talking about. Once the connection was made, it was no longer strange for the two middle aged men to be speaking to a middle-schooler.<br>In Royal Road it was common for older players to party with the young ones. The most common reason was parental supervision, where groups of parents would take turns playing alongside their children, but there were also occasions where kids asked complete strangers for help.<br>I remember seeing a large electronic sign in the station where the students wait, which warned children about this. "Don't share your personal information in Royal Road!" it said with big, bright red letters.<br><br>I get off before them, so I never see if the girl joins her school friends later or when they get off the train. It doesn't bother me whether there is anything inappropriate about their relationship. The girl is clearly the one who seeks their company and it is the parents fault for not being more careful. I also don't care how they met each other in the first place or what class they play as.<br>There is only one thing that has been bothering me. I doubt I'll ever ask them about it personally and I don't want to look for the answer on the Internet for some reason. Although I'm contemplating about joining them inside the game I'm satisfied with the current status quo between us.<br>It was my first thought when I learnt they play Royal Road and I wondered a lot about it in the past week. But… I guess I'll never find out whether inside the game, the man wearing the dirty clothes, suffers from a speech disorder or speaks normally.<br>His problem seems to be physical and since you play the game with your mind he should be able to voice his thoughts clearly, right?<br>And what about accents? Does ones thoughts have accents?<br><br>I put my headphones back on as I step off the train. The station is crowded with hundreds of people and I quickly forget about the trio from the train as I make my way to the exit. They make the time fly during my daily commute to university so I guess I can hold off finding the answer for a while longer.<br>"Hi."<br>"You look happy?" A friend from class asks. "Something good happen? Is it that brunette from the first row?"<br>"Nah." I'm kind of surprised that I look happy, "Just thinking…"<br>"Whatever… so did you ask her out yet?"
</div> | Daily Commute
A soothing shaking spread through the trains' long benches as the train began to move. Well… I can't really call it shaking. It's more like a smooth back and forwards motion, so unnoticeable that it feels like the sit is shaking when actually it is you who is moving. The bottom of the train didn't touch the rails but hovered a short distance from the ground. As it moved the train carts bobbed up and down which caused the wavelike motion.
I've been taking this train for a few months now, ever since I started my life as a university student. It's not so bad now but during my first few rides I did suffer from bad nausea. I know there are pills against that but I didn't want to rely on them for the next four years. It took a couple of weeks but now it seems weird to me that I had ever suffered from it.
My apartment is half an hour's ride from the campus so I don't bother doing much but listen to music during the commute. I enjoy listening to electro-psychedelic fusion tracks as I watch the other people on the train. I'm studying sociology with a few classes on psychology so without even noticing I always apply what I learned to the other passengers. I would've continued to enjoy it if not for the dreaded route change.
About a week ago the usual route of the train was changed to include three more stations. The first is a small neighborhood where at most there are a few mothers who board the train to go do some shopping; it’s the other two that are bothering my usual routine.
The second stop is where a dozen or so suit wearing office workers board. Room isn't the problem; there are more than enough seats. A man who boards with them is half the cause of my misery. Here he comes, wearing the same dark blue suit as always. Even his tie is the same as yesterdays. Red colored with diagonal grey stripes. He'll spot his friend soon and then my misery will start.
"Hey." Same greeting followed with a firm hand shake.
Now the long haired guy, who I'm pretty sure is a homeless, will answer the same thing he always does.
"Gounornmg." He has a small speech disorder and I still can't understand him.
He was what attracted my attention and made me notice them at first.
A song has just finished playing and there were a few seconds of where no noise came from my headphones, in this brief moment I heard his voice. I curse my self daily for pausing the music and listening to their conversation more carefully. Since that day I can't stop my self from eavesdropping to them on a daily basis. The other man is dressed in ragged and torn clothes so he is very easy to spot so I make sure to sit down near him.
I can't understand what he says but I manage to deduct some of it from the responses. What he said earlier for example, I know for sure that it mean "Good Morning."
"Good morning to you too." The suit wearing man sits in the empty seat his friend always keeps for him and puts his large briefcase on an empty seat between them.
"Jouguouyeang?"
"You know… fine… like usual. You?"
"I soufgdkoduiondredohfarweeogay."
"Lucky."
"Yeah." He never seems to have trouble with this word. "Hwskjnytmli?"
"She thinks she's coming down with a cold, asked me to buy her some medicine on the way home."
"Ojkjidiois?"
"Nah, don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing serious."
They just keep with the small talk like that up until the third newly added station to the trains' route. There, a bunch of cackling high-school and middle-school students step onto the train. At this point I move a couple of seats closer so I can still eavesdrops through the large chatter on the cart.A girl in a middle-school uniform joins them; sitting on the empty seat between them after the suit man puts his briefcase away. This is always followed by a couple of stares, mostly from mothers who boarded to go shopping, but no one ever says a word or asks any questions.
From the moment the girl joins them the conversation changes to magic, monsters and treasure. The girl does most of the talking, asking the men a flood of questions with a high and happy voice.
She doesn't always understand the man with the speech disorder but that never stops her and she simply asks him to repeat himself. He always gets annoyed when his necktie friend asks him to repeat what he said, however with the girl he patiently repeats what he said. Making sure to try and say it clearer this time.
I don't play games. I'd like to, but I just don't have enough time.
Nonetheless, when it comes to "Royal Road", even those who don't play it know the basics. That's why on the second day of me watching them it hit me what it was they were talking about. Once the connection was made, it was no longer strange for the two middle aged men to be speaking to a middle-schooler.
In Royal Road it was common for older players to party with the young ones. The most common reason was parental supervision, where groups of parents would take turns playing alongside their children, but there were also occasions where kids asked complete strangers for help.
I remember seeing a large electronic sign in the station where the students wait, which warned children about this. "Don't share your personal information in Royal Road!" it said with big, bright red letters.
I get off before them, so I never see if the girl joins her school friends later or when they get off the train. It doesn't bother me whether there is anything inappropriate about their relationship. The girl is clearly the one who seeks their company and it is the parents fault for not being more careful. I also don't care how they met each other in the first place or what class they play as.
There is only one thing that has been bothering me. I doubt I'll ever ask them about it personally and I don't want to look for the answer on the Internet for some reason. Although I'm contemplating about joining them inside the game I'm satisfied with the current status quo between us.
It was my first thought when I learnt they play Royal Road and I wondered a lot about it in the past week. But… I guess I'll never find out whether inside the game, the man wearing the dirty clothes, suffers from a speech disorder or speaks normally.
His problem seems to be physical and since you play the game with your mind he should be able to voice his thoughts clearly, right?
And what about accents? Does ones thoughts have accents?
I put my headphones back on as I step off the train. The station is crowded with hundreds of people and I quickly forget about the trio from the train as I make my way to the exit. They make the time fly during my daily commute to university so I guess I can hold off finding the answer for a while longer.
"Hi."
"You look happy?" A friend from class asks. "Something good happen? Is it that brunette from the first row?"
"Nah." I'm kind of surprised that I look happy, "Just thinking…"
"Whatever… so did you ask her out yet?" |
{
"title": "Amnesiac",
"id": 59,
"author": "Nightingale",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Chapter 2: Cloud",
"id": 169,
"next": 493,
"prev": 162,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“All surface wounds will heal in time, the one thing I'm worried about though is his mental state after. Mr. Markson, I'm sorry to tell you this....but there appears to be some lesions on Derec's medial temporal lobe.”<br><br>“Wh-what does that mean?” Henry was afraid, not fearful that he would be stuck with a vegetable, but afraid that he wouldn't be able to care for the young man he hadn't even met properly yet.<br><br>“The medial temporal lobe, is the part of the brain that stores long-term memory. From what we can gather from the few short moment's Derec has been awake, he suffers from retrograde amnesia. He will be able to remember everything from after the accident but nothing from before, his latest memories are from around the age 9 or 10 though we can't be sure.” Like any experienced doctor, Dr. Hans knew how best to handle family when it came to breaking the news, there were no fake smiles or unsupported reassurances, nothing but the facts. “I'll give you some time to think over your options.” Dr. Hans hated this part of it, an amnesiac is a hard case to take care of, they require much consideration and many families just can't handle the burden and they abandon siblings, parents and spouses to long-term care centres.<br><br>But Henry wasn't one of those people, just the though of Jeraldine taking Derec home only to be kicked out by Frank, or locked up and beaten daily. “No! I don't need time to think, I'll take custody. What can I do to help him?”<br><br>Almost sighing in relief Dr. Hans turned back to Henry and sat behind his desk. “We are very lucky in recent years for the technology we have today, that it will allow us to care for and even cure patients with Derec's condition. Proven time and time again, the new virtual reality Royal Road is what we are going to use to our advantage.”<br><br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account? --</blockquote><br><br>Derec was so excited, this is the first game he got to play that actually belonged to him, any other games he used to play either were at the arcade when he managed to scrap together a few coins or at a friends house.<br><br>“Yes!”<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Select the name of your avatar --</blockquote><br><br>“Cloud” Derec automatically named his favourite final fantasy character, he remembered playing the game on his best friend Jason's Playstation just yesterday.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Select your gender from male female or neutral --</blockquote><br><br>“boy”<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Royal road has forty-nine races, you may select your race from the primary thirty --</blockquote><br><br>Human was a boring race for Derec, and dwarves were short, thinking about it he decided within moments “elf”<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Due to programming restrictions specific to this gaming console changes to a pre-programmed appearance are not permitted. Would you like to continue? --</blockquote><br><br>This confused Derec but he didn't really care to think about it much, as it was going through the beginning stages was taking long enough. “Continue!”<br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road --</blockquote><br><br>“Hurry up!”<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Based on your race choice and programming restrictions your city of origin is the Citadel of Isis in the Avalon kingdom. Would you like to continue? --</blockquote><br><br>Yet again Derec was confused. Why would there be restrictions on his console? But really not like he would have been able to pick better city or kingdom as he didn't know anything about the game beyond the basic description. “Yes I wanna continue”<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>-- Welcome to Royal Road. Entering instance in 3, 2, 1, 0...... --</blockquote><br><br>With a flash Cloud was in the middle of a bustling square. In complete shock he just stood stock still until someone bumped into him. “Out of the way freak!” Stumbling Cloud looked up to the person that the voice had come from. At this moment he noticed quite a few people staring at him, speaking in low whispers he could barely hear.<br><br>“---Child”<br><br>“--- alter their looks like that?”<br><br>“Why not be taller?”<br><br>After a while cloud realized they were all looking down at him, literally. Looking down at himself, Cloud realized he was quite short in comparison to the other players. Then it hit him, this game was unlike any other he had ever played, what was going on? Did he somehow get stuck in the console? Was he in another world?<br><br>Running to the nearest water fountain he looked at his reflection in the water, he looked exactly like himself. He had his ordinary dark hair and blue eyes, average body for a ten year old; a little too skinny for his height but nothing out of the usual. He must have gone to another planet! But why weren't there any other people his own age here?<br><br>Cloud needed to think but he couldn't keep a straight thought in his head without it getting knocked out every time he got stepped on or elbowed. Running to to the nearest alley he slid down the wall and sat on the ground, staring at the bricks across from him. Thinking back on the last few hours he vaguely remembered a conversation.<br><br>'This new game is called Royal Road.......like nothing you've ever played before....virtual reality......to remember.'<br><br>Then it came to him, this was just a game he was playing, the system like nothing he had ever played before, something called virtual reality where it seemed like he was in another world. Feeling a little sheepish at his own outrageous conclusions Cloud watched the bustling crowd of players in the street.<br><br>Standing up he turned toward the street taking a step forward when some one grabbed his hand. Not looking back he squeezed his eyes shut, tugging on his captured hand trying to free himself only to find he was truly caught by the fact that having the body of a child gave him the strength to match.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=181" target="_blank"><PREVIOUS</a> | <a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=646" target="_blank">NEXT></a></div>
</div> | “All surface wounds will heal in time, the one thing I'm worried about though is his mental state after. Mr. Markson, I'm sorry to tell you this....but there appears to be some lesions on Derec's medial temporal lobe.”
“Wh-what does that mean?” Henry was afraid, not fearful that he would be stuck with a vegetable, but afraid that he wouldn't be able to care for the young man he hadn't even met properly yet.
“The medial temporal lobe, is the part of the brain that stores long-term memory. From what we can gather from the few short moment's Derec has been awake, he suffers from retrograde amnesia. He will be able to remember everything from after the accident but nothing from before, his latest memories are from around the age 9 or 10 though we can't be sure.” Like any experienced doctor, Dr. Hans knew how best to handle family when it came to breaking the news, there were no fake smiles or unsupported reassurances, nothing but the facts. “I'll give you some time to think over your options.” Dr. Hans hated this part of it, an amnesiac is a hard case to take care of, they require much consideration and many families just can't handle the burden and they abandon siblings, parents and spouses to long-term care centres.
But Henry wasn't one of those people, just the though of Jeraldine taking Derec home only to be kicked out by Frank, or locked up and beaten daily. “No! I don't need time to think, I'll take custody. What can I do to help him?”
Almost sighing in relief Dr. Hans turned back to Henry and sat behind his desk. “We are very lucky in recent years for the technology we have today, that it will allow us to care for and even cure patients with Derec's condition. Proven time and time again, the new virtual reality Royal Road is what we are going to use to our advantage.”
> Quote:-- The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account? --
Derec was so excited, this is the first game he got to play that actually belonged to him, any other games he used to play either were at the arcade when he managed to scrap together a few coins or at a friends house.
“Yes!”
> Quote:-- Select the name of your avatar --
“Cloud” Derec automatically named his favourite final fantasy character, he remembered playing the game on his best friend Jason's Playstation just yesterday.
> Quote:-- Select your gender from male female or neutral --
“boy”
> Quote:-- Royal road has forty-nine races, you may select your race from the primary thirty --
Human was a boring race for Derec, and dwarves were short, thinking about it he decided within moments “elf”
> Quote:-- Due to programming restrictions specific to this gaming console changes to a pre-programmed appearance are not permitted. Would you like to continue? --
This confused Derec but he didn't really care to think about it much, as it was going through the beginning stages was taking long enough. “Continue!”
> Quote:-- Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road --
“Hurry up!”
> Quote:-- Based on your race choice and programming restrictions your city of origin is the Citadel of Isis in the Avalon kingdom. Would you like to continue? --
Yet again Derec was confused. Why would there be restrictions on his console? But really not like he would have been able to pick better city or kingdom as he didn't know anything about the game beyond the basic description. “Yes I wanna continue”
> Quote:-- Welcome to Royal Road. Entering instance in 3, 2, 1, 0...... --
With a flash Cloud was in the middle of a bustling square. In complete shock he just stood stock still until someone bumped into him. “Out of the way freak!” Stumbling Cloud looked up to the person that the voice had come from. At this moment he noticed quite a few people staring at him, speaking in low whispers he could barely hear.
“---Child”
“--- alter their looks like that?”
“Why not be taller?”
After a while cloud realized they were all looking down at him, literally. Looking down at himself, Cloud realized he was quite short in comparison to the other players. Then it hit him, this game was unlike any other he had ever played, what was going on? Did he somehow get stuck in the console? Was he in another world?
Running to the nearest water fountain he looked at his reflection in the water, he looked exactly like himself. He had his ordinary dark hair and blue eyes, average body for a ten year old; a little too skinny for his height but nothing out of the usual. He must have gone to another planet! But why weren't there any other people his own age here?
Cloud needed to think but he couldn't keep a straight thought in his head without it getting knocked out every time he got stepped on or elbowed. Running to to the nearest alley he slid down the wall and sat on the ground, staring at the bricks across from him. Thinking back on the last few hours he vaguely remembered a conversation.
'This new game is called Royal Road.......like nothing you've ever played before....virtual reality......to remember.'
Then it came to him, this was just a game he was playing, the system like nothing he had ever played before, something called virtual reality where it seemed like he was in another world. Feeling a little sheepish at his own outrageous conclusions Cloud watched the bustling crowd of players in the street.
Standing up he turned toward the street taking a step forward when some one grabbed his hand. Not looking back he squeezed his eyes shut, tugging on his captured hand trying to free himself only to find he was truly caught by the fact that having the body of a child gave him the strength to match.
[<PREVIOUS](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=181) | [NEXT>](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=646) |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
} | {
"title": "Oscar Corvus - Appendix",
"id": 29,
"next": null,
"prev": 28,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Appendix: Damascus Steel and Rune Guns<br>Damascus Steel and Rune Guns.<br><br>This is in reply to a comment I got wondering/griping about Damascus steel being too advanced for Corbeau (see chapter 4: Journeyman), as well as some objections about the rune-guns I'm implementing. In general though, the replies may or may not be interesting depending on how much you're interested in the thought process behind all this. Also contains Appendix Note 1, previously posted on Moonlight Sculptor Jcafe forum.<br><br>Update: Due to subsequent comments from Anonymous, aka "Mr. Pesky" (his words not mine), now contains some information on how I envision spells working. And other things. See bellow Appendix Note 2.<br><br><br>On the topic of Damascus Blades:<br><br>One: Making Damascus Blades and Skill level:<br>Corbeau does not actually make the blade. He makes the bars, which Sindri, greatest NPC master of rune-smithing, finishes. So, the precision of the hammering is lower. Also, he is using good stock; one of the biggest problems with making Damascus steel is precursor bars of sufficient purity and carbon content control. Corbeau is given the initial bars and is primarily responsible for hammering them together, a bit of work with a grinding wheel, and scribing runes. These are all much easier. Furthermore, these are all shortswords, which are easier to make than regular swords or long-swords. If Corbeau had shaped the blades as well, the edges would have been worse and degraded faster than the ones Sindri made. Some, if not many, of the swords might have needed re-forging.<br><br>Two: Corbeau is too shitty a smith to make anything useful<br>Corbeau is only an amateur level smith in the game. IRL (for the book) he has degrees in electrical, chemical, and most applicably mechanical engineering, as well as prior experience with smithing as part of his training to comprehensively understand manufacturing for his businesses. Thus he is only minimally helped by and completely not needing the system assist. RR allows skills beyond real world competency, but you always have at least real world competency. This applies to making the gun too.<br><br>Three: Damascus steel being too “cheap” or common:<br>It isn’t. Other areas, beginners might get copper, bronze, or at most iron swords. City guard might get iron or common steel. But, we’re on Ivaldi, most famous and insular dwarven island-nation with the best rune-smiths and general rune/smithing technology level (in my worldbuilding, at least). And, it’s for swords which, even though they’re relatively cheap, are being made by Sindri, the greatest rune-smith NPC on the island, and thus the world.<br><br>Three: Sindri would never teach Corbeau an advanced technique like Damascus metal-making!<br> Sindri taught Corbeau the technique to make Damascus steel for many reasons: 1) Sindri likes Corbeau because Corbeau (unnecessarily) saved him from muggers. 2) Sindri likes that Corbeau doesn’t whine despite being made to do ridiculous feats of endurance. 3) Sindri likes Corbeau because of the Eagle incident. 4) Related to 3, Sindri is promoting Corbeau to journeyman after four weeks of work. 5) While steel is a good material, there are many better ones in the game/a fantasy environment. Apart from unique creature carapaces, etc, there is also mythril, adamantine, orichalcum, etc depending on the game’s hierarchy. Although, the Damascus technique can be used by Corbeau on other materials too.<br><br>Four: Random Comment on Damascus Steel:<br>The technique I described in Chapter four is the actual method one uses to make Damascus steel, or at least one of the techniques used to make something we nowadays call Damascus steel. Ancient Damascus requires some very specific (and unknown) impurities to form certain beneficial microstructures. For the purposes of this fanfic, it is assumed that by the time RR was created, people had figured out what those impurities were, that Sindri’s bar stock contains the impurities in the optimal amounts, and that the manufacturing route described is acceptable for creating the desired microstructures.<br><br>Five: Random comment on Colada (Corbeaus Bound Sword):<br>You may be thinking: 21 attack only for Colada, this awesome weapon? And you’d be right. That’s not much attack. But, remember it’s a bound weapon, and has some of the attributes of the user. So, as the user gets stronger, so might the sword. And who knows what unknown and unexpected interactions the runes that are currently attached to the sword might give? That’ll develop more in chapter 5 and beyond.<br><br>On the subject of Guns:<br><br>One: Regarding accuracy with firearms:<br>Corbeau has soldierly/mercenary experience as he went along occasionally with his PACs Corvi. This is part of the backstory readers already have access to. Corvus also has significant weapons, survival and combat training. This is part of the backstory I have access to :) He can be assumed to be reasonably proficient with any weapon he designs and uses. Merlin can also help in visor/heads up mode by projecting expected bullet trajectory. Guns are not useable by anyone and everyone. That said, after a couple hours of training you can hit the target at 20 yards pretty easily.<br><br>Two: Making the gun physically: <br>Corbeau, again, has some smithing experience IRL (See Damascus Blades Two). He has more experience in mechanical engineering, and access to Sindri’s workshop complex which has any tool and stock supplies you need and many you don’t. Merlin helps by projecting blueprints and such from real world. The system assist does not drive the actions.<br><br>Three: Why make/use the bullets? <br>Because they store energy/damage. A bullet is effectively a semi-mechanical version of a charge in a spell wand. Also, a bullet can have runes engraved on it; remember, Corbeau’s primary magic (at least for now) is significantly less effective unless carefully drawn ahead of time. Bullets have a long, long range and move quickly, so they can deliver punishing rune-loads at a distance. Bullets also deal significant direct physical damage, so magic resistance or shields are less effective. Meanwhile, magical payload can help cut through magically powered anti-physical shields. Bullets are good at penetrating physical armor, and many can be fired rapidly. Lastly, guns and bullets are very very efficient at power-use. <br><br>Four: Analysis of “realism” of the bullet technology/mechanism: <br>I’m an engineering student from MIT, and so when I was deciding on a technology to fire the bullets, I first did a simple feasibility energy estimation. Throughout this estimation, I used the assumptions that would result in a higher cost of energy for accelerating the bullet or a lower cost of energy for using a firebolt, so the comparison is actually a little unfair for the firebolt.<br>First, figure out the power of a firebolt (Entry level attack spell cast by mages): Let’s assume each mage can cast 5-10 firebolts, and that each firebolt consumes 20 MP (mana). Let’s further assume 5 mages about level 5-10 working in concert can take down 2 wolves. That means 50 firebolts kills 2 wolves, or 25 firebolts kills one wolf. <br>Next, how much heat is needed to kill a wolf? Assume a wolf is 50 kg, and is 80% water, so is 40L water. To kill a wolf, core temperature must raise 10 degrees C. So, the energy in a firebolt is:<br>(1 Kcal/L degreeC)*(10 degreeC)*(40 L) / (25 firebolts) = 8 kcal per firebolt = 33.5 kJ per firebolt. This assumes that a firebolt does not lose energy in flight.<br>Next question: How much water is needed to evaporate? The amount of water needed is enough to produce the same quantity of gas as is produced by 18.2 grams of gunpowder (charge in a 7.62x39mm round). Primary gas evolved by gunpowder is CO2, molecular weight 44. Water, H2O, is molecular weight 18. So, 18.2*18/44 = 7.45 grams of water are needed. Call it 7.5 grams of water.<br>How much heat to evaporate 7.5 grams of water? Well, assume raising the temperature 80 degrees C, then boiling the water. To do this, you need (7.5*80 calories) to raise temperature of water + (7.5 *2.26 kJ) to boil the water = 19.5 kJ, or 4.65 kcal.<br>How much energy is required to accelerate the bullet? Highest muzzle velocity for a 7.62x39mm round is 2.5 kJ.<br>Total energy is therefore = 22kJ for a boiling-water-rune-powered AK-47 round, versus 33.5 kJ for a firebolt. To compare mana cost, a bullet costs Corbeau 80 mana/MP to charge, versus the 20 for a firebolt. Part of this is due to the use of runes to further accelerate the bullet, increasing damage and range while decreasing flight time. Still, there is sufficient margin to overcome runic storage and transfer inefficiency. Note, by the way, that the primary energy cost of firing a rune-round is in boiling the water; for this reason, Corbeau will eventually switch to more of a railgun design rather than the AK47 clone; however, this would have required designing a new gun rather than duplicating an old one and he did not have time. Furthermore, the AK’s high mechanical tolerances were advantageous given his skill level.<br><br>Five: Are bullets overpowered? <br>Hell Yes! If you can use them. Since the “primer” is really using the hammer to connect two rune diagrams, you really need at least a little rune-smithing skill to activate that connection, otherwise it’s nothing more than a scratch on the back of the bullet. But, it really isn’t unreasonable for bullets to be overpowered. In sheer energy quantity, a bullet from a rifle or handgun will generally have less impact energy than a properly delivered punch by a martial-artist. Why are guns so deadly then? It’s all efficiency! Guns are very, very efficient at killing people. <br>Interestingly, statistics show (or at least so I’ve been told by every martial arts/ self defense instructor I’ve had, some of them cops) that at arm’s reach, eg the normal distance for a mugging, a knife is actually more deadly than a gun. There are a couple reasons: one, most people get shot once, twice, maybe three times (pistol, generally semi-auto, often revolver). Most people get stabbed bunches of times, partially because knives are quiet so the attacker doesn’t feel a need to run. Two, knives are very efficient at cutting things close to you, and do lots of damage pretty fast. Three, people tend to bury and then re-bury or slash around other people’s torsos, which is pretty much fatal without rapid assistance. <br>Comparatively, swords extend the range over knives, and are better at damage/strike, but much less strikes/time. Guns can increase the strikes/time, especially automatics, and have very good range. Plus, they are effective against armored or shielded opponents. For example, 1880 (ish, I can’t remember my history well enough), using guns far less advanced than an AK47, 150 British troops defeated thousands of Zulu at Rorke’s Drift, taking something like 20 dead in return for routing the entire army.<br><br>Six: It all depends on how you think about RR:<br>If you think about it like a traditional fantasy game where everything is designed to be balanced, then yes, guns are not really good. But, if you think of it as an alternate reality, granted, one using different rules than those in our reality, but with its own reality-approximating physics engine, then it isn’t unreasonable for “unfair” or “unbalanced” skills, talents and techniques to evolve over time. Still, guns are not as all-powerful as they are in reality; over-strengthed archers can use bows as strong as ballista, mages can cast spells of mass destruction and personal protection, and warriors can become so tough that any bullet Corbeau could currently make would cause little more than a welt. At the end of the day, this is my fanfic and I choose to think of RR as an alternate reality with basic physical and magical laws, but without some obnoxious fairness engine.<br>So, could Corbeau face off against some low to mid level enemies and win (maybe up to level 50 or 60) in a “fair” fight? Sure. Could he take on a level 200 or 300 boss in a fair fight? Hell no.<br>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>I posted this on the Moonlight Sculptor Forum on JCafe earlier, but am copying it below if you’re interested. It contains some more general thoughts and motivations about guns in fantasy settings and the powered armor everyone saw in the flash-forward prologue.<br>Appendix Note 1:<br><br>Basic gun/weapon mechanics: (a lot of this will be included within the text of the story as it progresses, this is in case you are interested in thought as to how it works. Don't read this then complain that I repeat myself).<br><br> (click to show/hide)<br><br>I've always been really annoyed when I read books, and think- "dude, with a bit of engineering added to your magic, you could totally be a walking, smiting, tank, or at least have some much better weapons", cause to me that means the magic system isn't robust enough (so long as it's reasonable that any characters have been exposed to Saturday morning cartoons growing up). Someone who does a really good job of technologically modified myth/magic is Charles Stross in the Atrocity Archives, while Modesitt always sets up characters who can godmode as soon as they figure out the twist to the magic system he's set up. Ignoring the potential to take advantage of the twist, or hole, or whatever you want to call it seems a bit lame to me. And so, I can play around with this, which is normally a pet peeve of mine.<br><br>Guns, and more importantly gunpowder, are really really difficult to do right (in real life); for example, it's taken about 600 years to go from the first popularization of gunpowder which might kill you instead of your enemy till now. As such, if RR designers/AI want to avoid guns, all they would pratically need to do is shift the chemistry for the existing formulations to slow the burn. EG, then gunpowder you could practically make from scratch wouldn't be able to explode; modern "gunpowder" might be as efficient as very early gunpowder (almost useless for practical, rapid firing, high penetration weapons). This means that anyone wanting to recreate gunpowder and firearms within the game would need to develop the industry from scratch, probably with a high Alchemy skill, but more important would first require a very very high level of classical (real world) scientific education, training, experience, base inspiration/genius to apply to the problem, and will to create weapons. I study at MIT, in a chemistry/engineering field, and can say that there are very very few people capable of that (seriously, a handful). And almost all of them get high paying jobs in chemistry related jobs, and would probably not want to basically continue their job in a game when they could do the same in the real world and get paid. And when doing this in the game would take months of dedicated, boring, repetitive work before they get to do anything interesting (unless there's a secret manual with a base recipe floating around).<br>So, to develop guns believably in RR, using a gunpowder route, main character (whose username will be Corbeau) would have to meet those requirements. And eventually, maybe, he will. I'm still debating that. And implementing it would include some "bwahahaha- science+alchemy=godmode" moments, especially if the AI/game environment are designed a certain way (which, since I'd be writing it, it would be). Which would make the corner of my head devoted to science very happy.<br><br>But, there are much simpler solutions in a magical environment, ie, in RR. As long as there are runes, it is a simple matter to create a stockpile of devices that either accelerate (think railgun without a need for electromagnets, eg if two geometric rune-pieces come together to make an acceleration glyph, and there is a little rune-battery for power), explode (acting as gunpowder, eg if rune contains energy and the pattern is broken), etc to act as ammunition.<br><br>Gunsmithing, while difficult, is less difficult than developing the chemistry and industry required to make gunpowder, and can be directly copied by a sufficiently skilled technician.<br><br>Similarly to rune-rounds, imagine a purely magical device: wands can cast a set number of pre-charged spells. Eg, a wand might be able to cast 50 fire darts. Which is useless, unless against a rabbit (say, 10 fire darts cooks 1 rabbit). But, imagine 100 of these wands (10x10 grid). That's 5000 fire darts, firing rapidly, as a very very cheap flamethrower (level requirement is the same as for 1 wand, mana to charge a single spell is low, although charging time and preparation is high). This could take down a swarm of 500 rabbits. Or, a handful of, say, lvl 40 brigands. Similarly, a powerful light spell (equal to 5 x 60 watt bulb) might give you a sunburn, or hurt your eyes. 50 of these might blind, or focused, be a laser (auto industry, for example, uses 2,500 to 5,000 watt lasers that can cut inches of steel a second. 50 spells x 300 watt/spell --> 15,000 watts). Note: I hadn't thought of lasers until Grisia brought it up, but thank you! And this serves as a good way of creating these devices.<br><br>In general, some combination of mechanics, magic and alchemy can achieve, within the framework of an open, physics based gaming system (as opposed to highly constrained environment) pretty much whatever is possible within that system. If that system allows more than our own reality (ie, it allows magic, super strength, uber-materials like mythril, etc), then it's only logical you could achieve things you can't achieve in our own reality, or can achieve the same things but easier and faster. <br><br><br>Appendix Note 2:<br><br>Basic Armor concepts:<br><br> (click to show/hide)<br>Currently, I'm envisioning powered armor (probably a few different models over time), similar to a cross between Iron Man, MechWarrior Elementals, Warhammer 40K Space Marines, Gantz and smaller Japanese Mecha.<br><br>The armor will mostly consist of: power storage (chemical/magical), weapons (built in, carried. physical, magical. close and ranged), storage (using weight/space reduction), protection (material armor, permanent enchantments, temporary activated spells), control/movement (spells to enhance movement, detection and reaction circuits, and spirit-assisted devices), rapid movement (wheels similar to Heavy Gear, short range jetpack, maybe longer range jetpack and wings for some models). Pieces will be everything from straight up metals, to enchanted and possessed materials, to organics modified from monsters (inspired by Medusa's head in Perseus myth). I'll gradually build more appendix notes on individual armor designs as they develop within my head/the story.<br>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Continued replies to Mr. Pesky:<br>Mr Pesky has continued to post complaints/requests for clarification/debate in the comments (see below in comments section), so here are the replies (each begins with my interpretation of the core question, then with a quote from Mr. Pesky, then contains the reply beneath). Generally, I try and come up with a practical solution to implementing traditional fantasy elements through a basic physics/chemistry emulation engine.<br><br>1: On fireballs vs. firebolts:<br>"no wright in the head beginner wizard (tho which of them is) would try to boil a whole living walking wolf to kill it and especially with a fire ball- most of the destructive power of said fire ball doesn’t come from the heat and the flames"<br><br>True, with a fireball (explosive, fire, attack spell) a fair amount of the force is delivered via concussive explosion. But, then, what would a fireball be? If you think of a fireball as poorly contained/leaking plasma core (which creates the larger, highly visible fireball), then when containment is broken (ie, fireball impact) there will be an explosion. But this doesn't really matter; I specified a "firebolt" (fire, attack spell, NOT explosive), ie a non-explosive, lower level, single enemy damaging spell rather than a fireball. Firebolts damage with pure heat, and my calculation is good.<br><br>2: Why are fireballs and firebolts limited? More generally, how do spells work?<br>"why is it radiating all that heat everywhere and from the start of its creation nonetheless when it could make it to good use by, for example, gaining velocity??<br>heck why is it even visible?!?"<br><br>I think of many spells in general as possibly consisting of the following elements: <br>Mana-channel going back to the caster to maintain spell (optional), <br>mana-core which rapidly loses power to maintain/effect spell (optional), <br>magical circuit/spell components to determine how and when that mana is used (required), <br>and lastly the physical manifestation/ interaction of that spell (required).<br><br>Apply this to a fireball, and what do you get? Well, first assume that a fireball is a semi-contained plasma. It leaks energy, thus causing the flame around it, but is maintained over some distance by the mana core. The containment has a partial field quality rather than a pure shell, which further delimits the spreading of the fireball's corona. However, this containment is fragile and sensitive to deformation and impact. This limits the speed at which the fireball can travel. Size and speed of the fireball are defined by how powerful it is (more powerful-> bigger containment requirement -> slower) as well as by how good the mage is, especially how efficiently he can create the field. Range is limited by speed of travel, as well as by how much mana the containment requires and how efficient the initial mana pool is at feeding the containment spell. Some heat is still lost.<br><br>Firebolts are similar, except they lack the plasma core. This reduces penetration and results in little/zero explosive impact. However, they are "bolts", and consist of a column rather than a sphere. This allows a stronger front-containment, and faster travel.<br><br>It's important to think of RR, too. Most/all mages, and definitely all low level ones, cast by auto-casting rather than manual-casting. Furthermore, while manual-aiming for bows, for example, is quite easy, manual-casting requires envisioning an incredibly complicated spell (think of a medium complexity eletrical diagram or computer program) in it's entirety, powering it at the proper rate, while saying any required words and focus motions. This means mages are highly dependent on the game system, and thus their level and stats, to assist them.<br><br>Runes are a good way to make your own spells. Each one is effectively a functional circuit element, and they can be prepared significantly in advance. This is the basis of magic in my fanfic (ie, not really up for too much discussion :) ).<br><br>Ok, so I think that answers the "why are spells limited"/"how do spells work?".<br><br><br>3: Further explaining rune-powered bullets:<br>"so when you want to boil your drop of water (by the way if my memory serves me right boiling distilled water would be harder because even if it has a harder time corroding things it also doesn't have how to start the reaction, or what it is doing when boiling, because it lacks said impurities as a form of a catalyst) you have to give it a tremendous amount of energy because you are not trying to just boil it throughout time but rather explode it in an instant (that is why I wrote “to evaporate” rather than just “to boil”)"<br><br>So, this has a few points to address: First, there's the "pure water doesn't boil", and you'd be totally right. If, that is, the cartridges were made of glass. They aren't, they're made of metal. The surface of metal provides sufficient reaction surface, especially since evaporation/boiling is an agitation process.<br><br>Second, there's the "needs a lot of energy to evaporate, not just boil", and again you're right. If you go over the calculation, the 2.26kJ/g is the vaporization heat, ie the heat to completely evaporate the water. This is included in the rune-batteries. There is sufficient extra for overheating to flash boil (approximate temperature 120 C) as well as to power the magnification rune to raise heating rate.<br><br>4: About rune-efficiency versus normal spell efficiency:<br>"he doesn't have the skill for such efficient use of mana at beginner lvl magics"<br><br>First off, rune-efficiency is higher than regular spell efficiency, even for the same level, so long as the rune-spell is carefully prepared and scribed in advance. Go up to the "how spells work" for more info. Second, because they are being prepared in advance, runes can also be manual-cast with cast-assist as opposed to auto-cast after a trigger word. Big difference. Third, mages are shooting off firebolts at a similar level. Corbeau's spell boils 7.5 grams of water. That's about 150 drops, or about one and a half teaspoons. If anything, I've made Corbeau's rune-round too expensive to charge; as his efficiency improves however, it will become cheaper, allowing at least some base effect from leveling up. Plus, the payload on the bullets will improve over time.<br><br>5: About Damascus process:<br>"you said making layered metal wasn't just specific to “damascened metal” not to mention it probably wasn't the most important (and shouldn't the knowledge of making “damascened metal” be part of metallurgy skill as a matter of fact?)"<br><br>Damascus process is well known; if you're really interested, you should look it up. Briefly, it is essentially the process of taking two or more different metals and drawing them out then folding them over to produce a many-layered composite. Metallurgy is literally the study of metals. Smithing forms the basis of metallurgical science. If you meant, isn't this more smelting or refining? No: to get damascus you need to beat and fold the metals. You can produce many different types of layered composite in metals, but Damascus steel is the most famous, and currently the thing which Corbeau is focused on.<br><br>6: About RR:<br>"once again the question arises does the best marksman in real life make the best in “Royal Road”"<br><br>In RR the best RW (real world) marksman is not the best marksman. However, they are as good as they are in real life. So, if I can nail a target at 60 yards with a bow right now, if I went into RR I would still be able to do so with a similar quality bow and arrows. That's not really up for debate. It's specifically laid out in the original Moonlight Sculptor.<br><br>7: Guns are overpowered part 2:<br><br>Guns are overpowered. I can't state that enough. Even Corbeau's gun, inefficient as his earliest model is, is overpowered. He carries around (at end of ch. 4) enough ammo to single-handed slaughter dozens to hundreds of enemies (depending on critical hits, power of enemies). However, he knows this too, and is taking steps to prevent the transfer of gun-tech. Currently, the only person/NPC allowed to know about it is Sindri. Furthermore, this model requires rune-skill, and all models based on runes would need to be charged by rune smiths, who are rare in Ivaldi and incredibly rare elsewhere.<br><br>8: In general, to Mr. Pesky:<br><br>Lots of information about stuff is out there already. For example, you could look at an exploded diagram of an AK47 on google images, then try and think how and what you'd need to make it (eg, mill, lathe, some stock pieces like springs would make it very much faster). Guns are actually remarkably unsophisticated with regard to parts. If you read a book about guns, you'll see we were close to having repeating rifles in the 16th century, but the explosion of conflict drove a demand for standardized, cheaper, less complicated weapons with marginal improvements; this trend continued for centuries. Technology wise, the tools needed to make something like an AK-47 existed by the end of the 19th century, and were not beyond the standards of early 19th century had a need for them been envisioned.<br><br>I understand that you may have a different background than I do, and so some things I take for granted (knowing how to build something, for example), you may not know. You seem to be pretty worked up though, and driving yourself into a frenzy of irritation by the end of your comment posts. Calm down. At the end of the day, I'm not writing a fanfic about something super-balanced and average. That really doesn't float my boat. I'm writing a fanfic about a character with the potential to do something out of the ordinary, something interesting. I understand this isn't the fanfic you would write, and isn't the way you might implement certain plot elements; if that bothers you too much though, the only thing I can say is go off and write your own, I'd look forward to reading it :) In the future, if you could try and distill your issues into a dozen or so questions which I could then answer, it would be appreciated.
</div> | Appendix: Damascus Steel and Rune Guns
Damascus Steel and Rune Guns.
This is in reply to a comment I got wondering/griping about Damascus steel being too advanced for Corbeau (see chapter 4: Journeyman), as well as some objections about the rune-guns I'm implementing. In general though, the replies may or may not be interesting depending on how much you're interested in the thought process behind all this. Also contains Appendix Note 1, previously posted on Moonlight Sculptor Jcafe forum.
Update: Due to subsequent comments from Anonymous, aka "Mr. Pesky" (his words not mine), now contains some information on how I envision spells working. And other things. See bellow Appendix Note 2.
On the topic of Damascus Blades:
One: Making Damascus Blades and Skill level:
Corbeau does not actually make the blade. He makes the bars, which Sindri, greatest NPC master of rune-smithing, finishes. So, the precision of the hammering is lower. Also, he is using good stock; one of the biggest problems with making Damascus steel is precursor bars of sufficient purity and carbon content control. Corbeau is given the initial bars and is primarily responsible for hammering them together, a bit of work with a grinding wheel, and scribing runes. These are all much easier. Furthermore, these are all shortswords, which are easier to make than regular swords or long-swords. If Corbeau had shaped the blades as well, the edges would have been worse and degraded faster than the ones Sindri made. Some, if not many, of the swords might have needed re-forging.
Two: Corbeau is too shitty a smith to make anything useful
Corbeau is only an amateur level smith in the game. IRL (for the book) he has degrees in electrical, chemical, and most applicably mechanical engineering, as well as prior experience with smithing as part of his training to comprehensively understand manufacturing for his businesses. Thus he is only minimally helped by and completely not needing the system assist. RR allows skills beyond real world competency, but you always have at least real world competency. This applies to making the gun too.
Three: Damascus steel being too “cheap” or common:
It isn’t. Other areas, beginners might get copper, bronze, or at most iron swords. City guard might get iron or common steel. But, we’re on Ivaldi, most famous and insular dwarven island-nation with the best rune-smiths and general rune/smithing technology level (in my worldbuilding, at least). And, it’s for swords which, even though they’re relatively cheap, are being made by Sindri, the greatest rune-smith NPC on the island, and thus the world.
Three: Sindri would never teach Corbeau an advanced technique like Damascus metal-making!
Sindri taught Corbeau the technique to make Damascus steel for many reasons: 1) Sindri likes Corbeau because Corbeau (unnecessarily) saved him from muggers. 2) Sindri likes that Corbeau doesn’t whine despite being made to do ridiculous feats of endurance. 3) Sindri likes Corbeau because of the Eagle incident. 4) Related to 3, Sindri is promoting Corbeau to journeyman after four weeks of work. 5) While steel is a good material, there are many better ones in the game/a fantasy environment. Apart from unique creature carapaces, etc, there is also mythril, adamantine, orichalcum, etc depending on the game’s hierarchy. Although, the Damascus technique can be used by Corbeau on other materials too.
Four: Random Comment on Damascus Steel:
The technique I described in Chapter four is the actual method one uses to make Damascus steel, or at least one of the techniques used to make something we nowadays call Damascus steel. Ancient Damascus requires some very specific (and unknown) impurities to form certain beneficial microstructures. For the purposes of this fanfic, it is assumed that by the time RR was created, people had figured out what those impurities were, that Sindri’s bar stock contains the impurities in the optimal amounts, and that the manufacturing route described is acceptable for creating the desired microstructures.
Five: Random comment on Colada (Corbeaus Bound Sword):
You may be thinking: 21 attack only for Colada, this awesome weapon? And you’d be right. That’s not much attack. But, remember it’s a bound weapon, and has some of the attributes of the user. So, as the user gets stronger, so might the sword. And who knows what unknown and unexpected interactions the runes that are currently attached to the sword might give? That’ll develop more in chapter 5 and beyond.
On the subject of Guns:
One: Regarding accuracy with firearms:
Corbeau has soldierly/mercenary experience as he went along occasionally with his PACs Corvi. This is part of the backstory readers already have access to. Corvus also has significant weapons, survival and combat training. This is part of the backstory I have access to :) He can be assumed to be reasonably proficient with any weapon he designs and uses. Merlin can also help in visor/heads up mode by projecting expected bullet trajectory. Guns are not useable by anyone and everyone. That said, after a couple hours of training you can hit the target at 20 yards pretty easily.
Two: Making the gun physically:
Corbeau, again, has some smithing experience IRL (See Damascus Blades Two). He has more experience in mechanical engineering, and access to Sindri’s workshop complex which has any tool and stock supplies you need and many you don’t. Merlin helps by projecting blueprints and such from real world. The system assist does not drive the actions.
Three: Why make/use the bullets?
Because they store energy/damage. A bullet is effectively a semi-mechanical version of a charge in a spell wand. Also, a bullet can have runes engraved on it; remember, Corbeau’s primary magic (at least for now) is significantly less effective unless carefully drawn ahead of time. Bullets have a long, long range and move quickly, so they can deliver punishing rune-loads at a distance. Bullets also deal significant direct physical damage, so magic resistance or shields are less effective. Meanwhile, magical payload can help cut through magically powered anti-physical shields. Bullets are good at penetrating physical armor, and many can be fired rapidly. Lastly, guns and bullets are very very efficient at power-use.
Four: Analysis of “realism” of the bullet technology/mechanism:
I’m an engineering student from MIT, and so when I was deciding on a technology to fire the bullets, I first did a simple feasibility energy estimation. Throughout this estimation, I used the assumptions that would result in a higher cost of energy for accelerating the bullet or a lower cost of energy for using a firebolt, so the comparison is actually a little unfair for the firebolt.
First, figure out the power of a firebolt (Entry level attack spell cast by mages): Let’s assume each mage can cast 5-10 firebolts, and that each firebolt consumes 20 MP (mana). Let’s further assume 5 mages about level 5-10 working in concert can take down 2 wolves. That means 50 firebolts kills 2 wolves, or 25 firebolts kills one wolf.
Next, how much heat is needed to kill a wolf? Assume a wolf is 50 kg, and is 80% water, so is 40L water. To kill a wolf, core temperature must raise 10 degrees C. So, the energy in a firebolt is:
(1 Kcal/L degreeC)*(10 degreeC)*(40 L) / (25 firebolts) = 8 kcal per firebolt = 33.5 kJ per firebolt. This assumes that a firebolt does not lose energy in flight.
Next question: How much water is needed to evaporate? The amount of water needed is enough to produce the same quantity of gas as is produced by 18.2 grams of gunpowder (charge in a 7.62x39mm round). Primary gas evolved by gunpowder is CO2, molecular weight 44. Water, H2O, is molecular weight 18. So, 18.2*18/44 = 7.45 grams of water are needed. Call it 7.5 grams of water.
How much heat to evaporate 7.5 grams of water? Well, assume raising the temperature 80 degrees C, then boiling the water. To do this, you need (7.5*80 calories) to raise temperature of water + (7.5 *2.26 kJ) to boil the water = 19.5 kJ, or 4.65 kcal.
How much energy is required to accelerate the bullet? Highest muzzle velocity for a 7.62x39mm round is 2.5 kJ.
Total energy is therefore = 22kJ for a boiling-water-rune-powered AK-47 round, versus 33.5 kJ for a firebolt. To compare mana cost, a bullet costs Corbeau 80 mana/MP to charge, versus the 20 for a firebolt. Part of this is due to the use of runes to further accelerate the bullet, increasing damage and range while decreasing flight time. Still, there is sufficient margin to overcome runic storage and transfer inefficiency. Note, by the way, that the primary energy cost of firing a rune-round is in boiling the water; for this reason, Corbeau will eventually switch to more of a railgun design rather than the AK47 clone; however, this would have required designing a new gun rather than duplicating an old one and he did not have time. Furthermore, the AK’s high mechanical tolerances were advantageous given his skill level.
Five: Are bullets overpowered?
Hell Yes! If you can use them. Since the “primer” is really using the hammer to connect two rune diagrams, you really need at least a little rune-smithing skill to activate that connection, otherwise it’s nothing more than a scratch on the back of the bullet. But, it really isn’t unreasonable for bullets to be overpowered. In sheer energy quantity, a bullet from a rifle or handgun will generally have less impact energy than a properly delivered punch by a martial-artist. Why are guns so deadly then? It’s all efficiency! Guns are very, very efficient at killing people.
Interestingly, statistics show (or at least so I’ve been told by every martial arts/ self defense instructor I’ve had, some of them cops) that at arm’s reach, eg the normal distance for a mugging, a knife is actually more deadly than a gun. There are a couple reasons: one, most people get shot once, twice, maybe three times (pistol, generally semi-auto, often revolver). Most people get stabbed bunches of times, partially because knives are quiet so the attacker doesn’t feel a need to run. Two, knives are very efficient at cutting things close to you, and do lots of damage pretty fast. Three, people tend to bury and then re-bury or slash around other people’s torsos, which is pretty much fatal without rapid assistance.
Comparatively, swords extend the range over knives, and are better at damage/strike, but much less strikes/time. Guns can increase the strikes/time, especially automatics, and have very good range. Plus, they are effective against armored or shielded opponents. For example, 1880 (ish, I can’t remember my history well enough), using guns far less advanced than an AK47, 150 British troops defeated thousands of Zulu at Rorke’s Drift, taking something like 20 dead in return for routing the entire army.
Six: It all depends on how you think about RR:
If you think about it like a traditional fantasy game where everything is designed to be balanced, then yes, guns are not really good. But, if you think of it as an alternate reality, granted, one using different rules than those in our reality, but with its own reality-approximating physics engine, then it isn’t unreasonable for “unfair” or “unbalanced” skills, talents and techniques to evolve over time. Still, guns are not as all-powerful as they are in reality; over-strengthed archers can use bows as strong as ballista, mages can cast spells of mass destruction and personal protection, and warriors can become so tough that any bullet Corbeau could currently make would cause little more than a welt. At the end of the day, this is my fanfic and I choose to think of RR as an alternate reality with basic physical and magical laws, but without some obnoxious fairness engine.
So, could Corbeau face off against some low to mid level enemies and win (maybe up to level 50 or 60) in a “fair” fight? Sure. Could he take on a level 200 or 300 boss in a fair fight? Hell no.
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I posted this on the Moonlight Sculptor Forum on JCafe earlier, but am copying it below if you’re interested. It contains some more general thoughts and motivations about guns in fantasy settings and the powered armor everyone saw in the flash-forward prologue.
Appendix Note 1:
Basic gun/weapon mechanics: (a lot of this will be included within the text of the story as it progresses, this is in case you are interested in thought as to how it works. Don't read this then complain that I repeat myself).
(click to show/hide)
I've always been really annoyed when I read books, and think- "dude, with a bit of engineering added to your magic, you could totally be a walking, smiting, tank, or at least have some much better weapons", cause to me that means the magic system isn't robust enough (so long as it's reasonable that any characters have been exposed to Saturday morning cartoons growing up). Someone who does a really good job of technologically modified myth/magic is Charles Stross in the Atrocity Archives, while Modesitt always sets up characters who can godmode as soon as they figure out the twist to the magic system he's set up. Ignoring the potential to take advantage of the twist, or hole, or whatever you want to call it seems a bit lame to me. And so, I can play around with this, which is normally a pet peeve of mine.
Guns, and more importantly gunpowder, are really really difficult to do right (in real life); for example, it's taken about 600 years to go from the first popularization of gunpowder which might kill you instead of your enemy till now. As such, if RR designers/AI want to avoid guns, all they would pratically need to do is shift the chemistry for the existing formulations to slow the burn. EG, then gunpowder you could practically make from scratch wouldn't be able to explode; modern "gunpowder" might be as efficient as very early gunpowder (almost useless for practical, rapid firing, high penetration weapons). This means that anyone wanting to recreate gunpowder and firearms within the game would need to develop the industry from scratch, probably with a high Alchemy skill, but more important would first require a very very high level of classical (real world) scientific education, training, experience, base inspiration/genius to apply to the problem, and will to create weapons. I study at MIT, in a chemistry/engineering field, and can say that there are very very few people capable of that (seriously, a handful). And almost all of them get high paying jobs in chemistry related jobs, and would probably not want to basically continue their job in a game when they could do the same in the real world and get paid. And when doing this in the game would take months of dedicated, boring, repetitive work before they get to do anything interesting (unless there's a secret manual with a base recipe floating around).
So, to develop guns believably in RR, using a gunpowder route, main character (whose username will be Corbeau) would have to meet those requirements. And eventually, maybe, he will. I'm still debating that. And implementing it would include some "bwahahaha- science+alchemy=godmode" moments, especially if the AI/game environment are designed a certain way (which, since I'd be writing it, it would be). Which would make the corner of my head devoted to science very happy.
But, there are much simpler solutions in a magical environment, ie, in RR. As long as there are runes, it is a simple matter to create a stockpile of devices that either accelerate (think railgun without a need for electromagnets, eg if two geometric rune-pieces come together to make an acceleration glyph, and there is a little rune-battery for power), explode (acting as gunpowder, eg if rune contains energy and the pattern is broken), etc to act as ammunition.
Gunsmithing, while difficult, is less difficult than developing the chemistry and industry required to make gunpowder, and can be directly copied by a sufficiently skilled technician.
Similarly to rune-rounds, imagine a purely magical device: wands can cast a set number of pre-charged spells. Eg, a wand might be able to cast 50 fire darts. Which is useless, unless against a rabbit (say, 10 fire darts cooks 1 rabbit). But, imagine 100 of these wands (10x10 grid). That's 5000 fire darts, firing rapidly, as a very very cheap flamethrower (level requirement is the same as for 1 wand, mana to charge a single spell is low, although charging time and preparation is high). This could take down a swarm of 500 rabbits. Or, a handful of, say, lvl 40 brigands. Similarly, a powerful light spell (equal to 5 x 60 watt bulb) might give you a sunburn, or hurt your eyes. 50 of these might blind, or focused, be a laser (auto industry, for example, uses 2,500 to 5,000 watt lasers that can cut inches of steel a second. 50 spells x 300 watt/spell --> 15,000 watts). Note: I hadn't thought of lasers until Grisia brought it up, but thank you! And this serves as a good way of creating these devices.
In general, some combination of mechanics, magic and alchemy can achieve, within the framework of an open, physics based gaming system (as opposed to highly constrained environment) pretty much whatever is possible within that system. If that system allows more than our own reality (ie, it allows magic, super strength, uber-materials like mythril, etc), then it's only logical you could achieve things you can't achieve in our own reality, or can achieve the same things but easier and faster.
Appendix Note 2:
Basic Armor concepts:
(click to show/hide)
Currently, I'm envisioning powered armor (probably a few different models over time), similar to a cross between Iron Man, MechWarrior Elementals, Warhammer 40K Space Marines, Gantz and smaller Japanese Mecha.
The armor will mostly consist of: power storage (chemical/magical), weapons (built in, carried. physical, magical. close and ranged), storage (using weight/space reduction), protection (material armor, permanent enchantments, temporary activated spells), control/movement (spells to enhance movement, detection and reaction circuits, and spirit-assisted devices), rapid movement (wheels similar to Heavy Gear, short range jetpack, maybe longer range jetpack and wings for some models). Pieces will be everything from straight up metals, to enchanted and possessed materials, to organics modified from monsters (inspired by Medusa's head in Perseus myth). I'll gradually build more appendix notes on individual armor designs as they develop within my head/the story.
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Continued replies to Mr. Pesky:
Mr Pesky has continued to post complaints/requests for clarification/debate in the comments (see below in comments section), so here are the replies (each begins with my interpretation of the core question, then with a quote from Mr. Pesky, then contains the reply beneath). Generally, I try and come up with a practical solution to implementing traditional fantasy elements through a basic physics/chemistry emulation engine.
1: On fireballs vs. firebolts:
"no wright in the head beginner wizard (tho which of them is) would try to boil a whole living walking wolf to kill it and especially with a fire ball- most of the destructive power of said fire ball doesn’t come from the heat and the flames"
True, with a fireball (explosive, fire, attack spell) a fair amount of the force is delivered via concussive explosion. But, then, what would a fireball be? If you think of a fireball as poorly contained/leaking plasma core (which creates the larger, highly visible fireball), then when containment is broken (ie, fireball impact) there will be an explosion. But this doesn't really matter; I specified a "firebolt" (fire, attack spell, NOT explosive), ie a non-explosive, lower level, single enemy damaging spell rather than a fireball. Firebolts damage with pure heat, and my calculation is good.
2: Why are fireballs and firebolts limited? More generally, how do spells work?
"why is it radiating all that heat everywhere and from the start of its creation nonetheless when it could make it to good use by, for example, gaining velocity??
heck why is it even visible?!?"
I think of many spells in general as possibly consisting of the following elements:
Mana-channel going back to the caster to maintain spell (optional),
mana-core which rapidly loses power to maintain/effect spell (optional),
magical circuit/spell components to determine how and when that mana is used (required),
and lastly the physical manifestation/ interaction of that spell (required).
Apply this to a fireball, and what do you get? Well, first assume that a fireball is a semi-contained plasma. It leaks energy, thus causing the flame around it, but is maintained over some distance by the mana core. The containment has a partial field quality rather than a pure shell, which further delimits the spreading of the fireball's corona. However, this containment is fragile and sensitive to deformation and impact. This limits the speed at which the fireball can travel. Size and speed of the fireball are defined by how powerful it is (more powerful-> bigger containment requirement -> slower) as well as by how good the mage is, especially how efficiently he can create the field. Range is limited by speed of travel, as well as by how much mana the containment requires and how efficient the initial mana pool is at feeding the containment spell. Some heat is still lost.
Firebolts are similar, except they lack the plasma core. This reduces penetration and results in little/zero explosive impact. However, they are "bolts", and consist of a column rather than a sphere. This allows a stronger front-containment, and faster travel.
It's important to think of RR, too. Most/all mages, and definitely all low level ones, cast by auto-casting rather than manual-casting. Furthermore, while manual-aiming for bows, for example, is quite easy, manual-casting requires envisioning an incredibly complicated spell (think of a medium complexity eletrical diagram or computer program) in it's entirety, powering it at the proper rate, while saying any required words and focus motions. This means mages are highly dependent on the game system, and thus their level and stats, to assist them.
Runes are a good way to make your own spells. Each one is effectively a functional circuit element, and they can be prepared significantly in advance. This is the basis of magic in my fanfic (ie, not really up for too much discussion :) ).
Ok, so I think that answers the "why are spells limited"/"how do spells work?".
3: Further explaining rune-powered bullets:
"so when you want to boil your drop of water (by the way if my memory serves me right boiling distilled water would be harder because even if it has a harder time corroding things it also doesn't have how to start the reaction, or what it is doing when boiling, because it lacks said impurities as a form of a catalyst) you have to give it a tremendous amount of energy because you are not trying to just boil it throughout time but rather explode it in an instant (that is why I wrote “to evaporate” rather than just “to boil”)"
So, this has a few points to address: First, there's the "pure water doesn't boil", and you'd be totally right. If, that is, the cartridges were made of glass. They aren't, they're made of metal. The surface of metal provides sufficient reaction surface, especially since evaporation/boiling is an agitation process.
Second, there's the "needs a lot of energy to evaporate, not just boil", and again you're right. If you go over the calculation, the 2.26kJ/g is the vaporization heat, ie the heat to completely evaporate the water. This is included in the rune-batteries. There is sufficient extra for overheating to flash boil (approximate temperature 120 C) as well as to power the magnification rune to raise heating rate.
4: About rune-efficiency versus normal spell efficiency:
"he doesn't have the skill for such efficient use of mana at beginner lvl magics"
First off, rune-efficiency is higher than regular spell efficiency, even for the same level, so long as the rune-spell is carefully prepared and scribed in advance. Go up to the "how spells work" for more info. Second, because they are being prepared in advance, runes can also be manual-cast with cast-assist as opposed to auto-cast after a trigger word. Big difference. Third, mages are shooting off firebolts at a similar level. Corbeau's spell boils 7.5 grams of water. That's about 150 drops, or about one and a half teaspoons. If anything, I've made Corbeau's rune-round too expensive to charge; as his efficiency improves however, it will become cheaper, allowing at least some base effect from leveling up. Plus, the payload on the bullets will improve over time.
5: About Damascus process:
"you said making layered metal wasn't just specific to “damascened metal” not to mention it probably wasn't the most important (and shouldn't the knowledge of making “damascened metal” be part of metallurgy skill as a matter of fact?)"
Damascus process is well known; if you're really interested, you should look it up. Briefly, it is essentially the process of taking two or more different metals and drawing them out then folding them over to produce a many-layered composite. Metallurgy is literally the study of metals. Smithing forms the basis of metallurgical science. If you meant, isn't this more smelting or refining? No: to get damascus you need to beat and fold the metals. You can produce many different types of layered composite in metals, but Damascus steel is the most famous, and currently the thing which Corbeau is focused on.
6: About RR:
"once again the question arises does the best marksman in real life make the best in “Royal Road”"
In RR the best RW (real world) marksman is not the best marksman. However, they are as good as they are in real life. So, if I can nail a target at 60 yards with a bow right now, if I went into RR I would still be able to do so with a similar quality bow and arrows. That's not really up for debate. It's specifically laid out in the original Moonlight Sculptor.
7: Guns are overpowered part 2:
Guns are overpowered. I can't state that enough. Even Corbeau's gun, inefficient as his earliest model is, is overpowered. He carries around (at end of ch. 4) enough ammo to single-handed slaughter dozens to hundreds of enemies (depending on critical hits, power of enemies). However, he knows this too, and is taking steps to prevent the transfer of gun-tech. Currently, the only person/NPC allowed to know about it is Sindri. Furthermore, this model requires rune-skill, and all models based on runes would need to be charged by rune smiths, who are rare in Ivaldi and incredibly rare elsewhere.
8: In general, to Mr. Pesky:
Lots of information about stuff is out there already. For example, you could look at an exploded diagram of an AK47 on google images, then try and think how and what you'd need to make it (eg, mill, lathe, some stock pieces like springs would make it very much faster). Guns are actually remarkably unsophisticated with regard to parts. If you read a book about guns, you'll see we were close to having repeating rifles in the 16th century, but the explosion of conflict drove a demand for standardized, cheaper, less complicated weapons with marginal improvements; this trend continued for centuries. Technology wise, the tools needed to make something like an AK-47 existed by the end of the 19th century, and were not beyond the standards of early 19th century had a need for them been envisioned.
I understand that you may have a different background than I do, and so some things I take for granted (knowing how to build something, for example), you may not know. You seem to be pretty worked up though, and driving yourself into a frenzy of irritation by the end of your comment posts. Calm down. At the end of the day, I'm not writing a fanfic about something super-balanced and average. That really doesn't float my boat. I'm writing a fanfic about a character with the potential to do something out of the ordinary, something interesting. I understand this isn't the fanfic you would write, and isn't the way you might implement certain plot elements; if that bothers you too much though, the only thing I can say is go off and write your own, I'd look forward to reading it :) In the future, if you could try and distill your issues into a dozen or so questions which I could then answer, it would be appreciated. |
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"title": "Where the Roads Go",
"id": 3,
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"rating": 4.3
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"title": "Where the Roads Go - Chapter Three",
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! I didn’t mean to get a wolf! Of all the luck! Maybe I can lure it back to the trap. Yeah, that should work. Wait where was that trap again? Wasn’t it right about… Oh shi-! </span><br><br>Fang felt a rope tighten around her ankle. Time was in slow motion. The last thing she saw was a spear flying at her and a wolf pouncing. She closed her eyes tightly.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh man… this is going to hurt.</span><br><br>Jessica groaned. Death hadn’t felt too good. Even worse, she wouldn’t be able to play for another 24 hours. She felt a little sick, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forgetting something. At least death would give her time to put in extra studying hours. <br><br>In the first few weeks of adventuring outside the walls, she had already died twice. The first was when she had tried to hunt foxes because she had tired of hunting rabbits, and the second was when she had tried her hands at using multiple traps. It had been embarrassing, to say the least. At least in the former, she had gotten more than one fox, in the latter… there was no “at least.” If she told Emmett, he would probably laugh himself to death. At least it was somewhat amusing; three weeks had passed since she started Royal Road, and she had already died twice. Perhaps she’d have a death a week. At this rate, she would.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Damn it. I really suck at this game.</span><br><br>She mourned her failures in her head. After she had had enough of wallowing in self-pity, she turned her thoughts towards her studies. She had to rearrange her notes, there was a test in two weeks, and she had to check her assignments to make sure she had them done and that there wasn’t anything she missed. She returned to her dorms mulling over the tasks ahead of her. As she was opening the door to her room, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten.<br><br>In the middle of the night, her roommates were awakened by a scream.<br><br>“Aaaaaah! My loot!”<br><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br>It was her fourth week playing this game. Half the week had gone by, and she had not died yet. She felt inordinately proud of herself, even though she knew it was silly. Most players, she was sure, hadn’t died in the first month. She continued to use her ambush and trapping methods, and as she practiced, she got better, and took a great deal less damage.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Mwahahahaha! Come a little closer foxy foxy. Just a little bit closer… Gotcha!</span><br><br>Fang pounced on the fox that had been attracted by the smell of meat. After a bit of maneuvering, she pinned the fox down with her hand wrapped around its muzzle and her knee in its side. She dispatched it quickly and picked up the loot. <br><br>She stared at her loot in puzzlement; she couldn’t understand this game’s system. This fox clearly had not been carrying an iron can, but now she had gotten one as a drop. Where had the fox been hiding it? The can was too large to fit into its mouth, so it couldn’t have ingested it. The metal handle may have been hanging from that bushy tail, but it would have been loud and noisy and not hard at all to miss. She puzzled over this, but then had to give up under the reasoning of: <span style="font-style: italic;">it’s a game; it doesn’t have to make sense</span>.<br><br>At least now she could sell her pot and use something cheaper. Or perhaps it would be better to sell the can. She pondered this for a while before determining that she would keep both the pot and the can, and see if they would work the same.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Hm… I’m out of supplies, I should head back to town for tonight. Most stores are closed though, so I should stay there until morning, probably. What should I do while I’m waiting…? Maybe I’ll just explore the town again, I haven’t been there in a while, maybe I’ll think of something I need while I’m walking. Yes, let’s do that.</span><br><br>Fang finished looting the animal she had just killed and put its drops in her bag. She had gotten an animal skin drop, and that was what she used to wrap the meat to keep it from touching other things in her bag. She wondered how it had gotten 50 coppers to drop though. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Fifty coppers, huh? Must have weighed a ton, maybe it carried it in its stomach? Wouldn’t that cause indigestion? Poor creature, it must have had a horrible tummy ache. If I had such a bad stomach ache, I’d attack just about anyone that crossed my path too.</span><br><br>The guards eyed her as she went back through the gates. She’d gotten used to it of course. They’d been doing that to her for a while. As she wandered down the road, she was accosted by two drunken men. <br><br>“Pretty girl, come play with us!”<br><br>“Haha, yeah, we’ll show you a very fun time!”<br><br>Fang gave them an annoyed look. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Of course, no story would be complete without a female being harassed by a pair of drunken men after dark. Clearly this is the time for the female character to either show that she’s bad-ass character, or a damsel-in-distress side-character who everyone hates. Or she could show that she’s a fighter and then get knocked down a peg and then still be hated by everyone. Pleasant thought, that.</span> She thought to herself sarcastically. <br><br>“Do I look like I have breasts to you?”<br><br>That brought them to a temporary halt. One reached out and groped her flat chest; she slapped his hands away and glared at them. They were silent for only a moment.<br><br>“Ohhh! You’re a boy! I see.”<br><br>“That’s okay; you’ve got a pretty face. We wouldn’t mind doing a pretty boy like you.”<br><br>“Yeah, c’mon, c’mon, we’ll have some fun together. Don’t you want to have fun?” <br><br>The first drunk grabbed Fang’s wrist as he said those last words. Fang stiffened, leaned back, and dug her heels in as he gave her a tug.<br><br>“No, I don’t want to go with you. Let me go right now.”<br><br>The drunk ignored her words and tried to pull harder, as he ended the tug she turned on her heel, turned her arm sideways, raised her arm over her head, and brought the heel of her palm down on his wrist bone. He yelped as her palm connected and his grip was broken. Fang jumped back away from him out of his reach.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh shit… now what? I never learned what you were supposed to do after that, and there were no lessons in the dojang about what to do when it was two against one… I was only there for three months.</span><br><br>“Why you little shit! I’m going to kill you!”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, so now they’ve gone fighting-drunk, and I don’t know what to do next, just my luck. Goodbye cruel world.</span><br><br>She dodged one of the drunks as he charged, fighting down the urge to yell, “Tauro Tauro” and wave a red flag off to the side. Pity she didn’t even have a red handkerchief. She pivoted and elbowed him in the spine then jumped back again. She wasn’t as strong as them, and couldn’t handle two guys at once, so she wanted to keep her distance, to give her time to react. It seems that they weren’t so drunk they couldn’t fight. If she got them angry enough, the alcohol might be burned away and then she would be really in for it.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Well, if I die, I’m going to at least be clothed, probably.</span><br><br>“Motherfucking bastards, you want a piece of me? Come and get it!” she yelled as she tossed her bag aside. <br><br>When she was stressed and feeling threatened like this, she tried to intimidate by acting tough. She pushed down her fear. Hopefully, if she made enough of a racket, the guards would come. She wasn’t entirely sure she could outrun these drunks. It was also likely that their stats were higher than hers. She still hadn’t gotten around to choosing a class.<br> <br><span style="font-style: italic;">If only I’d chosen a class like monk or warrior or berserker! Then this situation wouldn’t be so bad.</span> Inwardly, she was sobbing to herself.<br><br>She sidestepped a rush, and tripped one then dodged the next and backed away. If there had been one, she might have been able to get one in some sort of lock or hold and wait for the guards, but because there were two, that was too risky, and she would have to keep them occupied without being caught by them. She wished the ground was sandier. She could throw sand in their eyes if it was.<br><br>They split up and went in opposite directions around her. They were trying to make it so that one could get behind her, and attack from behind. She sprung sideways so that they would both be on one side of her, but she was getting closer to a dead end alley. In fact, she had her back to the alley. This could end badly if they advanced at a good distance from each other, and cornered her in the alley. She began trying to move away from the alley, but clearly she wasn’t the only one who realized she could be cornered there. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Not good. I need to find an opening and get away from this alley. The longer I wait, the smaller my window of escape becomes.</span><br><br>She made a run for it, but an arm was flung in her way, they had closed the distance faster than she thought they could. She spun to try the other way, but the other was already too close. She tried to duck under an arm, but she was caught and thrown into the other guy behind her. She felt herself caught in a vise-like grip and was dragged backward. She scrabbled for footing, but she was unable to get her feet under her. As they dragged her into the alley, her arms were being pulled back. She was at a very disadvantageous physical position as well as in a bad situation.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Damn it! I’m not a fighter!</span><br>She was flung face first into the wall. She fell to the ground stunned. If she could form proper sentences in her head now, she would be screaming at herself to get up and move. A boot flew towards her face. She brought her arms up and jerked her head to the side. The boot grazed her arms. She would not scream, she told herself. She wouldn’t let them know they had hurt her. She tried to get her feet under her but she was kicked in the shoulder and fell back into the wall. The foot remained against her shoulder and the wall.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">An opening, of a sort!</span><br><br>She brought her legs to her chest and kicked out at his unprotected shin. There was a crack and he fell forward without a foot to support him except for the foot on her shoulder and the wall. He was in an uncomfortable position. If his knee hadn’t hit the ground, he would be doing the splits. As it was, his knee was uncomfortably close to his face. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Damn it, if I had hit harder, he would have kneed himself in the face. I should have hit harder.</span><br><br>She would have kicked again, but the other man had moved forward and grabbed for her throat. She had ducked her head, so her chin was now protecting her neck. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her up. The other guy moved away, and she was pleased to see he could barely put weight on the foot she had kicked and he was moving rather stiffly, as if he was in a great deal of pain.<br><br>“I’ll kill you!”<br><br>“You already said that. Or maybe it was the gorilla holding me now.” She said with a sneer. “So let’s just get it over with already.”<br><br>“Why you-!” the injured one began as he drew his sword and started forward.<br><br>There was a crack as a fist collided with her cheek. Her head snapped around and her opposite cheek hit the wall. <br><br>“No.” The one holding her said as he held her pinned against the wall. “We’ll just make you wish you were dead.”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Damn… I was so close. If they killed me, they would get the murderer mark and I could see their names and maybe send people after them.</span><br><br>She tried to pull her knife, but he grabbed her wrist as she drew it. He tightened his grip until she sucked in a breath from the pain and dropped the knife. He kicked it back out of the way. His fist dug into her sternum and he flung her to the side. She managed to save herself a knock on the head but she wasn’t able to protect herself from the kick to the stomach. She gritted her teeth as she curled into a ball and covered her head with her hands. She just hoped they wouldn’t stomp on her, but that seemed unlikely.<br><br>They began to kick her and stomp her, while she tried to protect herself. She refused to cry out or beg for mercy. She would not give them the satisfaction. At some point during the beating, she heard the thwack of a bowstring and the sound of an arrow sinking into flesh. There was cursing and footsteps going away from her. It didn’t take long for there to be two thumps as the drunkards collapsed.<br><br>“Are you okay?” A gentle voice asked.<br><br>She opened her tightly closed eyes to see the silhouette of a person outlined by the lights from the street leaning over her. She stared dazedly for a moment and closed her eyes feeling tired and drained. She ran her tongue over her cracked lips and tasted blood.<br><br>“Yeah…” she whispered softly.<br><br>“Can you stand?” the voice asked.<br><br>“Just… give me a bit.” She replied. <br><br>She wanted to let her mind stay blank and lie there, but she forced herself to take inventory of all her pains. Her neck hurt from the first punch her lip seemed to be split and one cheek stung while the other ached dully. Her shins, hip, knees, arms, and side hurt, and so did her stomach. She moved slowly as she uncurled herself from a ball, testing for any pain. She wasn’t really in the mood to make herself hurt worse, or move something that shouldn’t be moved. She lifted herself up on one elbow and a hand then pulled her legs under her. Warm helped her sit up and stand, and she steadied herself against a wall. She had a sudden headache and felt a bit dizzy. Strong arms helped support her as she stumbled over to a wall and rested against it. She considered the unconscious bodies before her. Each one had been felled by a single arrow to the leg. She wondered how he had taken them down with one arrow per person, but dismissed the thought in her exhaustion. She was just glad it was over with. <br><br>“Let’s get out of here. I want to get the guard before they wake up, but I don’t want to leave you here.” The person helping her said. She glanced at him, but could barely see his face which was concealed in the shadows.<br><br>“Yeah.” She stumbled forward with an arm clutching her stomach and another arm against the wall to support her.<br><br>“Here, lean on me.” The person offered. He maneuvered himself so that it would be easier for her to lean on him and helped her stumble out of the alley. <br><br>“My bag.” She said as they started to move down the street.<br><br>“You’re bag? Where’d you leave it?” the person helping her asked. <br><br>“Over there.” she said and pointed to her bag sitting on the side of the road. He led her over to another wall to lean on while he retrieved her bag.<br><br>“Wow this is heavy.” He said as he shouldered her bag. <br><br>“I have a room in an inn, if you want to go somewhere to rest. It’s not far and I’d like to get a better look at you in the light, and make sure you’re okay. I’ll also get a friend to come heal you.” He offered.<br><br>She just closed her eyes and nodded. Her headache was getting worse. He helped her up again and they made their way to the inn. <br><br>“There’s a washbasin you can clean yourself at, over there. And you can help yourself to my extra clothes if you don’t have any, they’re over there. Yours look a bit damaged.” He added as he helped her to his bed. <br><br>“I’m going to go talk the guards, okay?” <br><br>She nodded and he left immediately. Fang just wanted to lie down on the bed, but she was a mess. She’d have to at least make sure she didn’t bleed over the pillows. She gathered her strength and stumbled over to the wash basin and splashed water on her face and cleaned herself up. Her clothes were covered in dust and were torn, that was probably why he wanted her to change. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">He doesn’t want me to get his bed dirty.</span><br><br>She stripped off her clothes and changed into a cleaner pair in her bag. The dirty ones she rolled up. She’d have to repair them soon, or get some new clothes and armor; either would work. She pulled out some bandages and bandaged her injured cheek that was bleeding, and applied some salve before going back to his bed. She wouldn’t fall asleep, she told herself. She was just going to rest some. Unfortunately, she fell asleep, and didn’t even wake up when her rescuer had returned or later when he let a cleric in to heal her.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I had such a strange dream last night.</span><br><br>Fang thought to herself as she woke in the morning. She tried to ponder the meaning of dreaming about being beaten up by drunks until she opened her eyes to a strange room. She lay on her side on a strange bed in what she now remembered was the inn. Her rescuer was sleeping on the floor with his back to her. She took a moment to study him, now that she could finally see him in daylight. <br><br>He was a silver-haired wood-elf with an angular face and a strong chiseled jaw. His hair was chin-length and ever-so-slightly wavy. She could see the tips of his pointed ears through his silver hair. She examined the rest of him, wishing she could see his face from here. He seemed like he would be someone tall, taller than her in this form by maybe half a foot, and she had increased her height when she had chosen an appearance. He was slender, as expected of an elf, but he had an athletic build. She could see a bare hint of muscles beneath his clothing, but as he was currently wearing a loose shirt with short sleeves, she could see the muscles in his arm. The muscles were apparent, but in no way overgrown. His boots were by the door, and his feet were bare. She wondered if he was cold. It seemed he’d covered her with the blanket, but that had left him without one.<br><br>She peeled the blankets off the bed and tried to cover him with them. When she bent down to see if she had woken him up and also examine his face, she met his gray eyes. He stretched and sat up as she looked away. <br><br>“Well, you seem to be awake and in much better condition than you were before. Why were they attacking you?”<br><br>“Er… well, they were drunk, and they wanted me to” she paused as she looked for an appropriate word, “accompany them… I suppose. I declined. I wasn’t interested in the entertainment they suggested.” <br><br>“I see.” He studied her. “You were lucky I was coming back from a walk at that time. I saw them drag you into the alley.”<br><br>“Yes, thank you very much for your help. I’m glad you were there. By the way, how did you take them out with one arrow?”<br><br>“Oh, that’s simple. I coated the arrow tips in a neurotoxin. This poison will completely paralyze the body in a short time, and can easily stop the heart with about two or three arrows. However, one each was enough to take care of those drunk idiots.” He said dismissively.<br><br>“…”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Simple my ass! He knocked them out in less than ten seconds! That’s some strong poison. Hm... if it's so strong, it has to be expensive.</span><br><br>Fang tried to keep the gleam out of her eye.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Jackpot! I wonder how much money I can get out of him…</span>
</div> | Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! I didn’t mean to get a wolf! Of all the luck! Maybe I can lure it back to the trap. Yeah, that should work. Wait where was that trap again? Wasn’t it right about… Oh shi-!
Fang felt a rope tighten around her ankle. Time was in slow motion. The last thing she saw was a spear flying at her and a wolf pouncing. She closed her eyes tightly.
Oh man… this is going to hurt.
Jessica groaned. Death hadn’t felt too good. Even worse, she wouldn’t be able to play for another 24 hours. She felt a little sick, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forgetting something. At least death would give her time to put in extra studying hours.
In the first few weeks of adventuring outside the walls, she had already died twice. The first was when she had tried to hunt foxes because she had tired of hunting rabbits, and the second was when she had tried her hands at using multiple traps. It had been embarrassing, to say the least. At least in the former, she had gotten more than one fox, in the latter… there was no “at least.” If she told Emmett, he would probably laugh himself to death. At least it was somewhat amusing; three weeks had passed since she started Royal Road, and she had already died twice. Perhaps she’d have a death a week. At this rate, she would.
Damn it. I really suck at this game.
She mourned her failures in her head. After she had had enough of wallowing in self-pity, she turned her thoughts towards her studies. She had to rearrange her notes, there was a test in two weeks, and she had to check her assignments to make sure she had them done and that there wasn’t anything she missed. She returned to her dorms mulling over the tasks ahead of her. As she was opening the door to her room, she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten.
In the middle of the night, her roommates were awakened by a scream.
“Aaaaaah! My loot!”
***
It was her fourth week playing this game. Half the week had gone by, and she had not died yet. She felt inordinately proud of herself, even though she knew it was silly. Most players, she was sure, hadn’t died in the first month. She continued to use her ambush and trapping methods, and as she practiced, she got better, and took a great deal less damage.
Mwahahahaha! Come a little closer foxy foxy. Just a little bit closer… Gotcha!
Fang pounced on the fox that had been attracted by the smell of meat. After a bit of maneuvering, she pinned the fox down with her hand wrapped around its muzzle and her knee in its side. She dispatched it quickly and picked up the loot.
She stared at her loot in puzzlement; she couldn’t understand this game’s system. This fox clearly had not been carrying an iron can, but now she had gotten one as a drop. Where had the fox been hiding it? The can was too large to fit into its mouth, so it couldn’t have ingested it. The metal handle may have been hanging from that bushy tail, but it would have been loud and noisy and not hard at all to miss. She puzzled over this, but then had to give up under the reasoning of: it’s a game; it doesn’t have to make sense.
At least now she could sell her pot and use something cheaper. Or perhaps it would be better to sell the can. She pondered this for a while before determining that she would keep both the pot and the can, and see if they would work the same.
***
Hm… I’m out of supplies, I should head back to town for tonight. Most stores are closed though, so I should stay there until morning, probably. What should I do while I’m waiting…? Maybe I’ll just explore the town again, I haven’t been there in a while, maybe I’ll think of something I need while I’m walking. Yes, let’s do that.
Fang finished looting the animal she had just killed and put its drops in her bag. She had gotten an animal skin drop, and that was what she used to wrap the meat to keep it from touching other things in her bag. She wondered how it had gotten 50 coppers to drop though.
Fifty coppers, huh? Must have weighed a ton, maybe it carried it in its stomach? Wouldn’t that cause indigestion? Poor creature, it must have had a horrible tummy ache. If I had such a bad stomach ache, I’d attack just about anyone that crossed my path too.
The guards eyed her as she went back through the gates. She’d gotten used to it of course. They’d been doing that to her for a while. As she wandered down the road, she was accosted by two drunken men.
“Pretty girl, come play with us!”
“Haha, yeah, we’ll show you a very fun time!”
Fang gave them an annoyed look.
Of course, no story would be complete without a female being harassed by a pair of drunken men after dark. Clearly this is the time for the female character to either show that she’s bad-ass character, or a damsel-in-distress side-character who everyone hates. Or she could show that she’s a fighter and then get knocked down a peg and then still be hated by everyone. Pleasant thought, that. She thought to herself sarcastically.
“Do I look like I have breasts to you?”
That brought them to a temporary halt. One reached out and groped her flat chest; she slapped his hands away and glared at them. They were silent for only a moment.
“Ohhh! You’re a boy! I see.”
“That’s okay; you’ve got a pretty face. We wouldn’t mind doing a pretty boy like you.”
“Yeah, c’mon, c’mon, we’ll have some fun together. Don’t you want to have fun?”
The first drunk grabbed Fang’s wrist as he said those last words. Fang stiffened, leaned back, and dug her heels in as he gave her a tug.
“No, I don’t want to go with you. Let me go right now.”
The drunk ignored her words and tried to pull harder, as he ended the tug she turned on her heel, turned her arm sideways, raised her arm over her head, and brought the heel of her palm down on his wrist bone. He yelped as her palm connected and his grip was broken. Fang jumped back away from him out of his reach.
Oh shit… now what? I never learned what you were supposed to do after that, and there were no lessons in the dojang about what to do when it was two against one… I was only there for three months.
“Why you little shit! I’m going to kill you!”
Oh, so now they’ve gone fighting-drunk, and I don’t know what to do next, just my luck. Goodbye cruel world.
She dodged one of the drunks as he charged, fighting down the urge to yell, “Tauro Tauro” and wave a red flag off to the side. Pity she didn’t even have a red handkerchief. She pivoted and elbowed him in the spine then jumped back again. She wasn’t as strong as them, and couldn’t handle two guys at once, so she wanted to keep her distance, to give her time to react. It seems that they weren’t so drunk they couldn’t fight. If she got them angry enough, the alcohol might be burned away and then she would be really in for it.
Well, if I die, I’m going to at least be clothed, probably.
“Motherfucking bastards, you want a piece of me? Come and get it!” she yelled as she tossed her bag aside.
When she was stressed and feeling threatened like this, she tried to intimidate by acting tough. She pushed down her fear. Hopefully, if she made enough of a racket, the guards would come. She wasn’t entirely sure she could outrun these drunks. It was also likely that their stats were higher than hers. She still hadn’t gotten around to choosing a class.
If only I’d chosen a class like monk or warrior or berserker! Then this situation wouldn’t be so bad. Inwardly, she was sobbing to herself.
She sidestepped a rush, and tripped one then dodged the next and backed away. If there had been one, she might have been able to get one in some sort of lock or hold and wait for the guards, but because there were two, that was too risky, and she would have to keep them occupied without being caught by them. She wished the ground was sandier. She could throw sand in their eyes if it was.
They split up and went in opposite directions around her. They were trying to make it so that one could get behind her, and attack from behind. She sprung sideways so that they would both be on one side of her, but she was getting closer to a dead end alley. In fact, she had her back to the alley. This could end badly if they advanced at a good distance from each other, and cornered her in the alley. She began trying to move away from the alley, but clearly she wasn’t the only one who realized she could be cornered there.
Not good. I need to find an opening and get away from this alley. The longer I wait, the smaller my window of escape becomes.
She made a run for it, but an arm was flung in her way, they had closed the distance faster than she thought they could. She spun to try the other way, but the other was already too close. She tried to duck under an arm, but she was caught and thrown into the other guy behind her. She felt herself caught in a vise-like grip and was dragged backward. She scrabbled for footing, but she was unable to get her feet under her. As they dragged her into the alley, her arms were being pulled back. She was at a very disadvantageous physical position as well as in a bad situation.
Damn it! I’m not a fighter!
She was flung face first into the wall. She fell to the ground stunned. If she could form proper sentences in her head now, she would be screaming at herself to get up and move. A boot flew towards her face. She brought her arms up and jerked her head to the side. The boot grazed her arms. She would not scream, she told herself. She wouldn’t let them know they had hurt her. She tried to get her feet under her but she was kicked in the shoulder and fell back into the wall. The foot remained against her shoulder and the wall.
An opening, of a sort!
She brought her legs to her chest and kicked out at his unprotected shin. There was a crack and he fell forward without a foot to support him except for the foot on her shoulder and the wall. He was in an uncomfortable position. If his knee hadn’t hit the ground, he would be doing the splits. As it was, his knee was uncomfortably close to his face.
Damn it, if I had hit harder, he would have kneed himself in the face. I should have hit harder.
She would have kicked again, but the other man had moved forward and grabbed for her throat. She had ducked her head, so her chin was now protecting her neck. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her up. The other guy moved away, and she was pleased to see he could barely put weight on the foot she had kicked and he was moving rather stiffly, as if he was in a great deal of pain.
“I’ll kill you!”
“You already said that. Or maybe it was the gorilla holding me now.” She said with a sneer. “So let’s just get it over with already.”
“Why you-!” the injured one began as he drew his sword and started forward.
There was a crack as a fist collided with her cheek. Her head snapped around and her opposite cheek hit the wall.
“No.” The one holding her said as he held her pinned against the wall. “We’ll just make you wish you were dead.”
Damn… I was so close. If they killed me, they would get the murderer mark and I could see their names and maybe send people after them.
She tried to pull her knife, but he grabbed her wrist as she drew it. He tightened his grip until she sucked in a breath from the pain and dropped the knife. He kicked it back out of the way. His fist dug into her sternum and he flung her to the side. She managed to save herself a knock on the head but she wasn’t able to protect herself from the kick to the stomach. She gritted her teeth as she curled into a ball and covered her head with her hands. She just hoped they wouldn’t stomp on her, but that seemed unlikely.
They began to kick her and stomp her, while she tried to protect herself. She refused to cry out or beg for mercy. She would not give them the satisfaction. At some point during the beating, she heard the thwack of a bowstring and the sound of an arrow sinking into flesh. There was cursing and footsteps going away from her. It didn’t take long for there to be two thumps as the drunkards collapsed.
“Are you okay?” A gentle voice asked.
She opened her tightly closed eyes to see the silhouette of a person outlined by the lights from the street leaning over her. She stared dazedly for a moment and closed her eyes feeling tired and drained. She ran her tongue over her cracked lips and tasted blood.
“Yeah…” she whispered softly.
“Can you stand?” the voice asked.
“Just… give me a bit.” She replied.
She wanted to let her mind stay blank and lie there, but she forced herself to take inventory of all her pains. Her neck hurt from the first punch her lip seemed to be split and one cheek stung while the other ached dully. Her shins, hip, knees, arms, and side hurt, and so did her stomach. She moved slowly as she uncurled herself from a ball, testing for any pain. She wasn’t really in the mood to make herself hurt worse, or move something that shouldn’t be moved. She lifted herself up on one elbow and a hand then pulled her legs under her. Warm helped her sit up and stand, and she steadied herself against a wall. She had a sudden headache and felt a bit dizzy. Strong arms helped support her as she stumbled over to a wall and rested against it. She considered the unconscious bodies before her. Each one had been felled by a single arrow to the leg. She wondered how he had taken them down with one arrow per person, but dismissed the thought in her exhaustion. She was just glad it was over with.
“Let’s get out of here. I want to get the guard before they wake up, but I don’t want to leave you here.” The person helping her said. She glanced at him, but could barely see his face which was concealed in the shadows.
“Yeah.” She stumbled forward with an arm clutching her stomach and another arm against the wall to support her.
“Here, lean on me.” The person offered. He maneuvered himself so that it would be easier for her to lean on him and helped her stumble out of the alley.
“My bag.” She said as they started to move down the street.
“You’re bag? Where’d you leave it?” the person helping her asked.
“Over there.” she said and pointed to her bag sitting on the side of the road. He led her over to another wall to lean on while he retrieved her bag.
“Wow this is heavy.” He said as he shouldered her bag.
“I have a room in an inn, if you want to go somewhere to rest. It’s not far and I’d like to get a better look at you in the light, and make sure you’re okay. I’ll also get a friend to come heal you.” He offered.
She just closed her eyes and nodded. Her headache was getting worse. He helped her up again and they made their way to the inn.
“There’s a washbasin you can clean yourself at, over there. And you can help yourself to my extra clothes if you don’t have any, they’re over there. Yours look a bit damaged.” He added as he helped her to his bed.
“I’m going to go talk the guards, okay?”
She nodded and he left immediately. Fang just wanted to lie down on the bed, but she was a mess. She’d have to at least make sure she didn’t bleed over the pillows. She gathered her strength and stumbled over to the wash basin and splashed water on her face and cleaned herself up. Her clothes were covered in dust and were torn, that was probably why he wanted her to change.
He doesn’t want me to get his bed dirty.
She stripped off her clothes and changed into a cleaner pair in her bag. The dirty ones she rolled up. She’d have to repair them soon, or get some new clothes and armor; either would work. She pulled out some bandages and bandaged her injured cheek that was bleeding, and applied some salve before going back to his bed. She wouldn’t fall asleep, she told herself. She was just going to rest some. Unfortunately, she fell asleep, and didn’t even wake up when her rescuer had returned or later when he let a cleric in to heal her.
***
I had such a strange dream last night.
Fang thought to herself as she woke in the morning. She tried to ponder the meaning of dreaming about being beaten up by drunks until she opened her eyes to a strange room. She lay on her side on a strange bed in what she now remembered was the inn. Her rescuer was sleeping on the floor with his back to her. She took a moment to study him, now that she could finally see him in daylight.
He was a silver-haired wood-elf with an angular face and a strong chiseled jaw. His hair was chin-length and ever-so-slightly wavy. She could see the tips of his pointed ears through his silver hair. She examined the rest of him, wishing she could see his face from here. He seemed like he would be someone tall, taller than her in this form by maybe half a foot, and she had increased her height when she had chosen an appearance. He was slender, as expected of an elf, but he had an athletic build. She could see a bare hint of muscles beneath his clothing, but as he was currently wearing a loose shirt with short sleeves, she could see the muscles in his arm. The muscles were apparent, but in no way overgrown. His boots were by the door, and his feet were bare. She wondered if he was cold. It seemed he’d covered her with the blanket, but that had left him without one.
She peeled the blankets off the bed and tried to cover him with them. When she bent down to see if she had woken him up and also examine his face, she met his gray eyes. He stretched and sat up as she looked away.
“Well, you seem to be awake and in much better condition than you were before. Why were they attacking you?”
“Er… well, they were drunk, and they wanted me to” she paused as she looked for an appropriate word, “accompany them… I suppose. I declined. I wasn’t interested in the entertainment they suggested.”
“I see.” He studied her. “You were lucky I was coming back from a walk at that time. I saw them drag you into the alley.”
“Yes, thank you very much for your help. I’m glad you were there. By the way, how did you take them out with one arrow?”
“Oh, that’s simple. I coated the arrow tips in a neurotoxin. This poison will completely paralyze the body in a short time, and can easily stop the heart with about two or three arrows. However, one each was enough to take care of those drunk idiots.” He said dismissively.
“…”
Simple my ass! He knocked them out in less than ten seconds! That’s some strong poison. Hm... if it's so strong, it has to be expensive.
Fang tried to keep the gleam out of her eye.
Jackpot! I wonder how much money I can get out of him… |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Angelic Knight Chapter 5",
"id": 144,
"next": 159,
"prev": 139,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Allwind was finally able to enjoy himself for the first time since the accident that took his legs from him, he never imagined that he would be able to do gymnastics again, never mind find a place that was nearly fully equipped in a game for him to use. <br><br>The retired, old knight trainer had been sceptical at first, when Allwind declared that he could use the hoops and the travel beam. The old man paused to lecture Allwind on how difficult the piece of training was and that recruits usually took 2-3 days to get from one end of the beam to that other without falling off, while the old man was babbling on Allwind lost interest and after climbing onto the beam, began walking from one end to the other, without so much as losing his balance the old man stood there in shock which soon turned to amazement, when Allwind started running up and down the beam before jumping off the end in a summersault finish.<br><br>The hoops were up next causing the old knight to become hopeful, he was thinking to himself that he might have actually found someone, that could pass all the training no one had ever passed the gruelling training, sessions that the old trainer did only 3 people made it to the middle of the course before giving up, the boy he was now training had done in 2 minutes what it took others 2 days to accomplish, and now he was dangling upside down in the hoops something that the old man wasn’t expecting.<br><br>After doing a series of aerial stunts on the hoops, Allwind dismounted landing perfectly, the old man looked astonished before motioning to the training dummy the old man headed to the weapons racks with stars in his eyes before coming back with a long wooden sword, giving it to Allwind he stood back to watch, to find that all Allwind did was stand their trying to lift the sword before Allwind turned to him “ermm what am i supposed to do with this exactly,” the trainer stared at the boy as if he had imagined the last 10 minutes.<br><br>“You hit the dummy with it of course have you never seen a sword?” The old man asked.<br>“No I’m afraid that I’ve never used a sword before.”<br>“Then i will demonstrate to you the proper way in how to hold and use a sword.” The old man said relieved and slightly disappointed, he was beginning to think that he had nothing to teach the young boy that had chosen quiet happily to undergo the harshest training there was.<br><br>“So pay attention and copy what i do.” The old man said taking the sword back from Allwind he stood in front of the scarecrow and proceeded to slash the thing, all Allwind could do was watch in amazement as the old instructor appeared to almost destroy the scarecrow with powerful attacks before he stopped and handed the wooden sword back to Allwind.<br><br>Standing in front of the scarecrow Allwind proceeded to attack it the way the instructor had done but lifting the heavy wooden sword took all the effort he could muster never mind attacking the target this was evident when he tripped and fell into the scarecrow.<br><br>“Are you a bumbling idiot?” the instructor asked shocked.<br>“I’m sorry but the sword is to heavy, are there any lighter ones?” Allwind shot back trying to keep the anger out of his voice.<br>“This is a two handed sword try it again with a one handed sword.” The instructor said pointing to the weapons rack. Allwind looked carefully at the array of wooden weapons before he came back with two shorter swords that were much lighter he was actually able to lift these, placing one on the ground, he silently thanked god for his good fortune, before resuming his place in front of the scarecrow, he began to strike it with only one sword as hard as he could.<br><br>It wasn’t long before he collapsed on the floor tired his hands hurt to the point that they were beginning to swell, not to mention his stomach was growling as he realised the food bar had run out. The training had felt good thought he had even managed to gain 2 points in strength which had surprised him, the instructor nodded his head “good we will have lunch now come to the kitchen.”<br>Lunch was made and served by the instructors wife, an old lady that reminded Allwind of his own grandparents who had passed away several years ago. Sat at the table was also Lilly, who smiled at him before turning red and eating the food that was in front of her. The meal itself was simple a cooked piece of meat with several side dishes and soup all very delicious, saying thank you for the meal the two men then headed back to the gym to continue training.<br><br>The pattern was now set Allwind would login after school train till he dropped from being too tired, then having dinner with the instructors family before training again, it was only two days later when his Gymnastics stat reached level 3 and his sister complained about the lack of information he was telling her about, what he was doing and what his stats looked like, did he actual remember to check them. <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">LEVEL UP: Gymnastics Skill [3]<br><br>You can perform continues Gymnastics, threading together many different styles of movement.<br>Gymnastics can now be performed during combat.<br>- Increases over all speed.<br>- Increases Stamina by 100<br>- Increases health by 100<br>- Increases Agility by 5<br>- Increases Endurance by 5</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>Not only had he hit level 3 in Gymnastics he had also gained various other stats and skills.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Avatar</td><td width="25%">Allwind</td><td width="25%">Type</td><td width="25%">Nuteral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">2</td><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title</td><td>N/A</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">300</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">400</td><td width="25%">Sustenance</td><td width="25%">1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">STR</td><td width="25%">12</td><td width="25%">AGI</td><td width="25%">20</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">VTI</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">WIS</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">INT</td><td>10</td><td width="25%">ENDURANCE</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">LUCK</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">LEARDERSHIP</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">DEFENCE</td><td width="25%">0</td><td width="25%">OFFENCE</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">MAGICAL RESISTANCE</td><td colspan="2">0%</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Level Up: Sword Mastery [1]<br> <br>Increases Attack Power with a sword (+10% ATK)<br>Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+3% ATK SPD)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Sustenance<br> <br>You are likely to use less stamina in action. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>"It's turning out to be a very good game," Allwind muttered to himself as he turned the capsul off, and got into bed, tomorrow he had school to deal with.<br><br>------------------------------------------------------------ end ------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Authors notes: <br><br>I had a day off (yes they actualy exsist! days off i mean!) so heres another chapter :)<br><br>29/4/13: edited table :)
</div> | Allwind was finally able to enjoy himself for the first time since the accident that took his legs from him, he never imagined that he would be able to do gymnastics again, never mind find a place that was nearly fully equipped in a game for him to use.
The retired, old knight trainer had been sceptical at first, when Allwind declared that he could use the hoops and the travel beam. The old man paused to lecture Allwind on how difficult the piece of training was and that recruits usually took 2-3 days to get from one end of the beam to that other without falling off, while the old man was babbling on Allwind lost interest and after climbing onto the beam, began walking from one end to the other, without so much as losing his balance the old man stood there in shock which soon turned to amazement, when Allwind started running up and down the beam before jumping off the end in a summersault finish.
The hoops were up next causing the old knight to become hopeful, he was thinking to himself that he might have actually found someone, that could pass all the training no one had ever passed the gruelling training, sessions that the old trainer did only 3 people made it to the middle of the course before giving up, the boy he was now training had done in 2 minutes what it took others 2 days to accomplish, and now he was dangling upside down in the hoops something that the old man wasn’t expecting.
After doing a series of aerial stunts on the hoops, Allwind dismounted landing perfectly, the old man looked astonished before motioning to the training dummy the old man headed to the weapons racks with stars in his eyes before coming back with a long wooden sword, giving it to Allwind he stood back to watch, to find that all Allwind did was stand their trying to lift the sword before Allwind turned to him “ermm what am i supposed to do with this exactly,” the trainer stared at the boy as if he had imagined the last 10 minutes.
“You hit the dummy with it of course have you never seen a sword?” The old man asked.
“No I’m afraid that I’ve never used a sword before.”
“Then i will demonstrate to you the proper way in how to hold and use a sword.” The old man said relieved and slightly disappointed, he was beginning to think that he had nothing to teach the young boy that had chosen quiet happily to undergo the harshest training there was.
“So pay attention and copy what i do.” The old man said taking the sword back from Allwind he stood in front of the scarecrow and proceeded to slash the thing, all Allwind could do was watch in amazement as the old instructor appeared to almost destroy the scarecrow with powerful attacks before he stopped and handed the wooden sword back to Allwind.
Standing in front of the scarecrow Allwind proceeded to attack it the way the instructor had done but lifting the heavy wooden sword took all the effort he could muster never mind attacking the target this was evident when he tripped and fell into the scarecrow.
“Are you a bumbling idiot?” the instructor asked shocked.
“I’m sorry but the sword is to heavy, are there any lighter ones?” Allwind shot back trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
“This is a two handed sword try it again with a one handed sword.” The instructor said pointing to the weapons rack. Allwind looked carefully at the array of wooden weapons before he came back with two shorter swords that were much lighter he was actually able to lift these, placing one on the ground, he silently thanked god for his good fortune, before resuming his place in front of the scarecrow, he began to strike it with only one sword as hard as he could.
It wasn’t long before he collapsed on the floor tired his hands hurt to the point that they were beginning to swell, not to mention his stomach was growling as he realised the food bar had run out. The training had felt good thought he had even managed to gain 2 points in strength which had surprised him, the instructor nodded his head “good we will have lunch now come to the kitchen.”
Lunch was made and served by the instructors wife, an old lady that reminded Allwind of his own grandparents who had passed away several years ago. Sat at the table was also Lilly, who smiled at him before turning red and eating the food that was in front of her. The meal itself was simple a cooked piece of meat with several side dishes and soup all very delicious, saying thank you for the meal the two men then headed back to the gym to continue training.
The pattern was now set Allwind would login after school train till he dropped from being too tired, then having dinner with the instructors family before training again, it was only two days later when his Gymnastics stat reached level 3 and his sister complained about the lack of information he was telling her about, what he was doing and what his stats looked like, did he actual remember to check them.
| LEVEL UP: Gymnastics Skill [3]You can perform continues Gymnastics, threading together many different styles of movement.Gymnastics can now be performed during combat.- Increases over all speed.- Increases Stamina by 100- Increases health by 100- Increases Agility by 5- Increases Endurance by 5 |
| --- |
Not only had he hit level 3 in Gymnastics he had also gained various other stats and skills.
| Avatar | Allwind | Type | Nuteral |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Level | 2 | Class | N/A |
| Title | N/A | Fame | 0 |
| Health | 300 | Mana | 100 |
| Stamina | 400 | Sustenance | 1 |
| STR | 12 | AGI | 20 |
| VTI | 10 | WIS | 10 |
| INT | 10 | ENDURANCE | 15 |
| LUCK | 10 | LEARDERSHIP | 0 |
| DEFENCE | 0 | OFFENCE | 0 |
| MAGICAL RESISTANCE | | 0% | |
| Level Up: Sword Mastery [1] Increases Attack Power with a sword (+10% ATK)Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+3% ATK SPD) |
| --- |
| Sustenance You are likely to use less stamina in action. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat. |
| --- |
"It's turning out to be a very good game," Allwind muttered to himself as he turned the capsul off, and got into bed, tomorrow he had school to deal with.
------------------------------------------------------------ end ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors notes:
I had a day off (yes they actualy exsist! days off i mean!) so heres another chapter :)
29/4/13: edited table :) |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 1",
"id": 40,
"next": 41,
"prev": 39,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter One - Not Completely Back Home Yet<br><br> <br>"Dear, why did you leave the money?" M’s.Rainold was on the verge of hysteria. <br>"I bought something with it, honey."<br>"With all of it?” She looked at her husband nodding calmly as they were walking back to their car.<br>She bet 10 million dollars and won. With the odds as they were, their winning totaled 300 million.<br>"What in god's name could cost 300 million?" She was almost running after her husband now. <br>"Stop rushing and answer me, what did you spend the money on?"<br>"On him." He pointed at their car that came into view. <br><br>M’s.Rainold stopped looking at her husband and followed his finger. Her hands shot up to her mouth to hold back a scream. <br>"Jon, I missed you so much." Mr.Rainold hugged the man covered in wolf blood. <br>"What are you doing? Get away from him." She would have pulled her husband back but she was too terrified of the same gray wolf she wanted to bet on.<br>"It's nice to see you again, Joshua."<br>Joshua Rainold looked shocked; the boy he remembered was gone, replaced by this emotionless man.<br>"Bring him something to wipe himself with!" he yelled to the driver.<br>"Don't worry. Used to this. Put something on your seat, it will get dirty." The dead look in his eyes never wavered. <br>Mr.Rainold motioned his wife to get in the car; he decided there will be enough time to think about all of this later.<br>"Don't worry about it, just get in, let's go home." His hand on Jon's shoulder he gently nudged him into the car, but Jon refused to move.<br>"What about him?"<br>"Who?"<br>He looked at his feet and Joshua followed the stare, reacting the same way his wife did.<br>"What is that?" he backed into the car.<br>"A wolf."<br>"I can see that! But why is it with you?"<br>"He wanted to come."<br>"We can't take him, send him away."<br>"Are you sure?"<br>"Yes I'm sure! We can't fly a wolf into Greece." <br>"..." <br>Joshua wavered for a moment seeing for the first time, Jon’s expressionless face show a hint of emotion. As he got on one knee and took the wolf’s head in his hands he looked sad. But with a quick twist, the wolf fell to the floor motionless and Jon's face was again unreadable.<br><br>He stared at Jon with disbelief, he expected him to have changed after participating in the underground fights, but for him to kill an animal as if he were opening a bottle shocked him more than anything he had ever seen. The boy he had known would never harm an animal; he refused to swat a mosquito, let alone break a wolf's spine.<br>"It's better this way."<br>"Wha...Why…ehh how is it better?"<br>"They would have taken him back and made him fight again, at least I killed him painlessly."<br>He got in the car and asked where they were going.<br>"Home." Mr.Rainold said nothing until they got there.<br><br>"This isn't my home." <br>"No, it is not. I talked to Gorge and we decided it would be best if you lived here until we know more. No one will bother you here."<br>"Gorge? Will he be there?"<br>"Yes. He will take care of you just like when you were a kid."<br>A little smile appeared on Jon's face as he remembered his childhood.<br>"I wish dad were here too."<br>"We all do." <br><br>They were heading to an island not far from Greece. It was used as a vacation house for the heads of their company. However since Richard’s death it was always empty. <br>The island was covered with wild plants and was left as it had been, except for a small house not far from the beach. A boat was tied at the dock and Joshua maneuvered his yacht next to it. <br>"This must be Gorge's. Follow the path; I need to gather some things before I follow you."<br>Jon jumped off the deck and started walking up a dirt path.<br>Joshua was looking at him till he disappeared into the bush. He couldn't help but remember the old days, which put tears in his eyes. <br>Five years passed with them not hearing a word about Jon. He believed Jon was dead and seeing him alive and well, at least physically, was just too confusing. He didn't leave Jon's side from the moment they got in the car, and only now that he was alone did he finally come to terms with the fact.<br>-'Gorge knows what to do'- he thought to himself and sighed 'no need to hurry now'. He sat down on the ledge and looked at the horizon losing himself in his thoughts.<br><br>Jon didn't walk long when the house came into view. It was a three story cottage, made entirely out of wood. Trees surrounded it hiding it almost entirely out of view. Only the windows and the front porch protruding out of the foiledge were visible.<br>He walked lazily up the two steps that led onto the porch and looked at the front door blast open, hitting the wall with a load thump. <br>An old man ran out of the house and right at him. He was ready to fight back the moment the door opened but he lowered his defenses when he saw the old man was weeping. <br>The old man collided into Jon and hugged him with all his strength. He was crying now into Jon's chest yet Jon's hands stayed firm at his side.<br>"I can't believe it's you." It was hard to understand him with all the weeping. "I've missed you so much young master, oh so much." The tears kept on falling.<br>Jon kept quiet. He recognized Gorge now, but simply didn't know what to say. So he said nothing, as there was nothing better to say.<br><br>Gorge was still crying. There seemed to be no end to the tears, so they stood there until Jon finally decided to speak.<br>"Don't cry." was all that came out. He wanted to say more, but nothing came out. To Gorge it was more than enough, it was the same voice he heard so long ago.<br>"Let us go inside, I've prepared some food." The tears stopped and a smile covered his face now, making him look thirty years younger.<br><br>They sat at the dining table, Jon stuffing himself not even chewing the food, Gorge wiping away a tear every other minute when Mr.Rainold came in. He nodded at Gorge a stood next to him keeping silent as well.<br>"I'm tired." He said it so suddenly the two other men in the room looked around to see if there was someone else with them. <br>"Yes, I'm sure you are… go up and choose yourself a room you like, I need to speak to Joshua. I will wake you up for breakfast tomorrow."<br>Jon stood up, but not before stuffing his mouth with some more food, and walked up the stairs.<br>"Good night," said Mr.Rainold.<br>"Sleep tight," said Gorge.<br><br>They waited until they heard the sound of the door upstairs shut close. <br>"Gorge, I…" He was interrupted by Gorge who hugged him.<br>"I do not care Joshua, not today. You have already told me the important parts over the phone, the rest can wait. I will not judge you and I 'm not going to ask what it was that you were doing there." He looked at Mr.Rainold sympathetically. <br>"I am forever grateful to you. You have proven yourself a true friend and a trusted man. Lord knows there aren't many like you among the other board directors."<br>Mr.Rainold sat put two glasses on the table and poured in whisky from the bottle he brought with him.<br>"I can use a drink, Gorge, the past couple of days were very long."<br>Gorge sat down and downed the glass in one go. A drink was something he needed as well.<br>He extended his glass to Mr.Rainold for a refill.<br>"Hits the spot doesn't it?" He laughed. They both did.<br>"Sit down Joshua; we have a long night ahead of us."<br>"You are right, I have to return tomorrow, with you here my workload will triple." He sat down and sipped his drink.<br>"Do not worry about the work; I can take care of it from here," he sighed. "The problem is not in that… what do we do now? He's not himself… It's like he doesn't even remember me at all."<br>"He does. Gorge. He smiled when I told him that it's you who will be taking care of him."<br>"He did." Tears appeared at the edges of his eyes again. "That's good. I was afraid he lost his feelings completely. He just looked bored. Bored when he met me, bored while he ate and bored when he finished eating. Like he wasn't even there…"<br>"Give him time, Gorge, that’s all he needs now. Time with someone he knows and who loves him."<br><br>"We have to keep him a secret," he suddenly looked afraid, "who knows what they will do if they find out he is alive. They might kill him; we have to keep him hidden."<br>"It's okay, Gorge, leave it to me, I'll make sure they’ll never find out about him, not until we want them to, at least, I'm quite good at these things." He smiled and poured himself another drink.<br>"As long as we are careful around Yo, we have nothing to worry about. He's the only one who's still aggressively trying to take the control over the company, the rest seem to have already accepted you."<br>"I know that, I'm just afraid they'll try to get rid of him. Even if he doesn't decide to lead the company, he still owns the majority of the shares… He can overrule their every decision. They aren't going to stand by and let him be."<br>"Don't worry, I'm on your side, and while it seems otherwise, there are still many who remember and respect his father. They will stand by us, I'm certain of that."<br>"Oh, Joshua, what will we do with him, we need to get him help."<br>"It's fine, listen; he's not as far gone as you seem to think. I kept my eyes on him closely while we traveled, he's just distant. Who knows what he went through these five years. We don't need to hurry. All we need to do is…"<br><br>The first rays of sunshine hit the dew gathered in the night. If someone looked out of the window at that time he would see an already beautiful island turn into a paradise. The whole island shone as if covered by thousands of gems.<br>A scene lost, with none to look at. Out of the only three men on the island, one was asleep and the other two were too occupied, to take the time to look outside. <br>"I should get back." Said one of them,<br>"Stay for breakfast, at least." The other man stood up slowly.<br>"Can't. I have a plane to catch."<br>"I see. Well, it's goodbye then."<br>"It is. Gorge… good luck." He extended his hand forward.<br>"Thank you, the same to you." He shook his hand and ended it with a fatherly embrace.<br>"Don't forget to make him bathe. He won't do it unless you tell him to."<br>"I'll make sure to tell him."<br>Both man sighed out loud and smiled at each other. <br>"See ya."<br>"Good bye."<br>Mr.Rainold left and Gorge entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He heard the sound of the yachts engine start up right as the water in the pot started to boil. He turned off the gas and headed upstairs to wake up Jon.<br><br>There was no trouble finding the room he chose, with dirty foot marks leading to it. He opened the door slowly and froze in place. He swallowed hard, trying to swallow a sudden fear that hit up him. The pair of eyes looking at him from the corner of the dark room seemed more beast than man’s.<br>He reminded himself that it was only Jon, yet the goose bumps refused to disappear from his skin. "It's me, Jon." He said with a chocked voice.<br>"Why are sitting in the corner like that? Didn't you like the bed?" He tried to smile.<br>Jon continued to stare silently. <br>-'Just continue talking to him, Joshua said it will make a difference eventually."-<br>"Come on, Jon, on your feet now."<br>Jon stood up obediently, still staring from his corner. <br>"Did you sleep well?"<br>"…"<br>"You look rested." <br>"…"<br>"I've made breakfast." Jon's eyes relaxed at the sound of this, "Let's go eat it together." He smiled and motioned to the door.<br>Jon moved cautiously towards the door, passing Gorge carefully. Gorge followed him closely downstairs.<br>"Go, wash up while I set the table. The bathroom is to the left."<br>"…"<br>Gorge smiled to himself, reminding himself it will all be fine in the end.<br><br>They ate together, although Gorge talked more than he ate. He spoke to Jon about everything and anything, trying to vary the topics as much as he could. He wanted to get some response out of Jon but it was no use. Jon listened, but didn't say anything back. <br>For more than an hour they sat at the table and Jon only uttered one word.<br>"More".<br>Gorge made more food and Jon said no more. <br>He was cleaning the table when the phone rang.<br>"Yes."<br>"I see…" he looked at Jon, who sat and stared at the space.<br>"Forward it to me, I'll take care of it."<br>"Ok."<br>"Jon…" He closed he phone, "I need to take care of some work will you be okay."<br>"…" Jon looked at him or more like through him.<br>"Do you have anything you want to do?" <br>"…"<br>"There's always the T.V if you don't feel like doing anything." He felt like he was speaking to the air. But Jon stood up, and walked to the living room where he sat and turned on the T.V.<br>A Greek news show was airing and Jon didn't bother to change the channel. He just sat there staring at the T.V, Gorge doubted he even saw it.<br>-'Well at least I don't need to worry about him going anywhere.'- Gorge relaxed and left to the workroom hoping to finish as fast as possible.<br>It was the usual work, approving this, changing that. His secretary had already taken care of most of it, he just had to give his final approval on the matter.<br>It was going smooth, he finished most of the work after two hours, and he decided to go down and check on Jon.<br>He could hear the sound of the T.V, it was still on the same news channel. He entered the living room and freaked out when he couldn't see Jon.<br>He ran to the middle of the room almost stepping on Jon who was lying on the floor.<br>"What are you doing?" he yelled, "Why are you on the floor?" he was slowly regaining his calm.<br>"Training," he said, and began doing push-ups.<br>Only now did Gorge notice that Jon was covered in sweat.<br>"Why?" he sat down on the sofa.<br>"…"<br>"Jon! Listen to me, what are you training for?"<br>"…"<br>"Jon, you don't need to do this anymore, you will never need to fight again. It is fine you are safe now." <br>Jon continued to lift himself up and down from the floor.<br>"Jon…" Gorge felt desperate, he pulled Jon up from the floor and tried to sit him down on the sofa, but Jon resisted. <br>"Jon, stop it!" He was yelling again, however, Jon looked unaffected. "You will never have to fight again."<br>"I know." Jon was looking him in the eyes."Then why are you doing this?"<br>"…"<br>Gorge released Jon and backed away from the living room. Before he even exited the room Jon was already on the floor again, pushing himself up from it repeatedly. Gorge felt helpless and powerless. He stood there, watching over Jon, contemplating on how to deal with him.<br>He made up his mind and decided to start immediately. Jon seemed to do what he was told even if he kept silent, so he will use that to his advantage.<br>"Jon!"<br>"…"<br>"Jon are you listening?"<br>"…"<br>"Jon, answer me!" He said with a commanding tone, "Are you listening?"<br>"Yes."<br>"Good." It worked, "From now on whenever I ask you something you will answer me. Do you understand?"<br>Jon stood up and looked him in the eyes. For a second Gorge regretted speaking this way, but he steeled his will and continued.<br>"Do you understand Jon?"<br>"I do."<br>"Very good. Now answer me, why are exercising?" <br>Jon didn't answer immediately this time, he looked as if he were searching for the right words.<br>"I…"<br>"I…eh… I"<br>"It's okay Jon. You can tell me." Gorge felt the muscles of his face relaxing as his heart went out to the poor boy.<br>"I'm bored."<br>Gorge couldn't stop himself from laughing. That was all, boredom? He imagined such horrible things and all it was, was boredom.<br>"It's no wonder you're bored, you've been watching the news for the past two hours and you can't even understand a word." <br>Jon looked at the television screen and then fixed his eyes back at Gorge. He looked as if he were waiting for something.<br>"Jon, tell me, why didn't you change the channel?"<br>"You said watch T.V."<br>"Yes, I did. But why didn't you change the channel if you wanted to?"<br>"…"<br>Jon looked confused; he kept throwing his gaze from Gorge to the television screen. He looked like he was sweating more than a minute ago. Gorge was about to ask him the same question again when it finally hit him.<br>-'He does exactly what I tell him! He's waiting for permission! I didn't state he was allowed to change the channel and so he didn't.'-<br>"Jon, look at me."<br>"You can watch whichever channel you want, do you understand? Change it as much as you want until you find something you like. Ok?"<br>"Ok." <br>Jon sat down on the sofa, the bored expression back on his face again. <br>Gorge felt better, he felt like he understood what the real problem was now, or at least the first problem he needed to solve. <br>-'It will take some time.'- Gorge decided. He turned to head back to his work when he remembered Mr.Rainold's words right before he left.<br>"Jon, go take a shower before you start channel surfing."<br>Jon stood up and went towards the bathroom.<br>"Jon, I can't know if you heard me if you don't say anything."<br>Jon stopped in his tracks.<br>"Where are you going?"<br>"Shower."<br>"Good. I put some spare clothes in your room. Put some on when you're done showering and throw what you're wearing in the trash. Once you're done you can go back to watching television."<br>"Oh, and you can change the channel how many times you want. You got all that?"<br>"Yes."<br><br>Gorge sat down at his desk feeling much relieved and continued his work. It was late in the afternoon when he finally finished. He checked the time and saw that they should've already eaten. He checked on Jon to see if everything was ok, and assured that it was he went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. <br>"Jon, food’s ready, come join me at the table." Gorge was finishing setting the table when Jon came and sat down. Jon immediately started to pile food on his plate.<br>"Say, thank you, Jon."<br>"Thank you."<br>"Bonapetit" Gorge sat down and started eating as well.<br><br>"So Jon, did you find anything you liked?" he asked when Jon was busy taking seconds.<br>"Yes."<br>"Really? Will you tell me about it?"<br>"…" he seemed to be too preoccupied with stuffing food in his mouth to bother with answering.<br>"I thought we had an agreement, Jon. Please, answer me when I'm asking you something. What did you watch?" He finished eating and was now watching Jon trying to swallow large chunks of meat without chewing.<br>"Aphagme" <br>"Chew you food properly, it's not going to run away from you."<br>"A game." He said again once he swallowed.<br>"What game?"<br>"Video game."<br>"A video game? And they were showing it on television?"<br>"Yes."<br>"Must be one hell of a game then. What is it called?"<br>"Royal Road."<br>"What is it about?" he was trying to make Jon continue talking and the game was as good as a topic as any.<br>"…"<br>-'I need to be more specific with him.'- He took a moment to think and rephrased his question.<br>"What did you like about the game?"<br>"Not boring."<br>"Hah" he laughed, "Would you like to play Royal Road as well, Jon?"<br>Jon stopped eating and looked up at Gorge. He swallowed slowly and said with a begging voice, "Yes!"<br>"Very well then. I will give my secretary a call and ask her to send you a copy."<br>"Have you finished eating?"<br>"Yes."<br>"Ok. You can do whatever you want until dinner."<br>Jon stood up and walked back to the living room.<br>"Jon," Gorge followed, "if you feel hungry you can take what you like from the refrigerator, ok?"<br>"Ok." His eyes were already glued to the screen.<br>"Ok." Gorge smiled and left him alone.<br><br>"Silia." He phoned his secretary from the office.<br>"Yes, I'm fine."<br>"I need you to get me something."<br>"A game."<br>"Don't worry, I'll find the time."<br>"No, keep forwarding the work here."<br>"Royal Road."<br>"Make sure it gets here by tomorrow, understood?"<br>"Very well."<br>"Yes."<br>"Goodbye."<br>He hung up.<br>-'Might as well call Jushua too.'- He said Mr.Rainold's name to the phone and waited.<br>"How are you doing, Gorge?"<br>"Better than expected, Joshua. Much better in fact."<br>"That's good to hear."<br>"Yes, he doesn't talk much, but he answers when I ask him something. However, the answer must be simple or else he keeps his mouth shut."<br>"I see."<br>"Listen, I'm calling to say, that I'll be trying something with him."<br>"Already?"<br>"Nothing dangerous, do not worry. He saw a game called Royal Road on the television and said he liked it. I told him he could play it."<br>"I don't think that was wise Gorge. I know the game, he's already out of touch with the real world, I think the game will make it even worse."<br>"I don't care about that at the moment Joshua. He refuses to talk in full sentences. We can't begin to understand what he has been through unless he tells us about it, and we can not force him too.<br>"So you want him to play the game so he has something to talk about?"<br>"Exactly. A common interest so to say. I’d like him to want to talk to me and the game might be just what we needed."<br>"I still think it's a bad idea, Gorge."<br>"It'll be fine. If worst comes worst, all we have to do is take the game away."<br>"Gorge, do you know what the game’s about?"<br>"I do not."<br>"I thought as much, learn about it a little and call me after if you change your mind."<br>"Agreed."<br>"Later then."<br>"Goodbye."<br><br>Gorge did just that. He read all he could find about Royal Road up to the point where he fell asleep by the computer screen. The ringing of the phone woke him up. <br>"…"<br>It was his secretary. He looked at the clock and saw that it was almost noon already. He straightened up and shook his head to wake up.<br>"Yes, Silia, I am listening."<br>"Very good."<br>"I know, I know, don't worry. I'll let them in."<br>"Already here? Why didn't you call earlier."<br>"Damn it, you should've tried harder."<br>He hung up in a hurry, he had to find Jon. They can't be allowed to see him. Even his secretary was clueless about his existence.<br>There were no sounds from down stairs so he ran to Jon's room, blasting the door open and stumbling into the room. Jon was there alright. But not where Gorge expected to find him. <br>Gorge was lying on the floor and Jon was sitting on top off him with a hand around his neck.<br>"It me."<br>Jon let go him and stood up. Gorge lay there shaking.<br>"People are coming to set up the game we talked about yesterday. I need you to stay in your room and be quiet. Do you understand Jon?"<br>"Yes." He was sitting in the corner of the room again.<br>Gorge got up, his whole body sore. He kept thinking how badly it could've all ended.<br>"You can sleep on the bed if like, Jon, you will get sick if you keep sleeping on the floor like that."<br>Jon just looked at him as if nothing had happened.<br>"I'll call you when they are gone." He left Jon and went to meet Silia and the workers on the beach.<br><br>"You don't look well," said Silia as they entered the house.<br>"I did not sleep very well."<br>"Sir, are you sure you want to play this game?"<br>"I do. I want to feel young again." He smiled to her casually.<br>"Sir, I'm worried about you. You decide to go on a vacation out of the blue like that and you don't even say when you'll be back. The board directors are worried, I'm worried. Did anything happen?"<br>"Nothing dear, things are better than ever. All I need is a good night's sleep."<br>"Are you doing okay? Are you sure you don't want me to hire a maid?"<br>"Dear, you are forgetting I myself have more experience as a maid. I've served the Doe family for 50 years. Whether as a butler or as the C.E.O is of little importance to me. I will continue to serve them until I am dead and no sooner."<br>"Sir…"<br>"That is enough, I have made my decision and it is your job to accommodate it."<br>"Very well sir." She straightened up and assumed a business attitude.<br>"Let me explain how to operate the capsule." She walked up to what looked like a large silver refrigerator and began talking.<br><br>"Jon, you can come down now." Gorge was sitting at the dining table waiting for Jon to join him for launch.<br>While Jon was eating, Gorge told him the games basics. He explained about leveling, skills stats, quests and professions. He intentionally didn't go into details. He wanted Jon to inquire for more information on his own in the hope hat Jon will come to him for help.<br>He showed Jon the capsule and repeated what Silia had told him earlier about operating it.<br>"Do you have anything you don't understand?" He asked, hoping for a reaction.<br>"No." <br>Jon got into the capsule and got comfortable. Before closing the lid Gorge decided to give Jon one last advice.<br>"When you level up, make sure you put all your stat points into Dexterity at first, it will make you faster. Your combat experience and fighting prowess will mean nothing if you can't hit your opponent. You can overcome the difference in strength with your knowledge of fighting and speed."<br>A small smile appeared on Jon's face and just as Gorge closed the lid he heard Jon’s murmur: "Thank you".<br>He backed away from the capsule as that began to tilt backwards until it was horizontal to the floor. The sound of processors spinning filled the room and Gorge was left with nothing to do but wait.<br>"Might as well get some work done." He said to himself and left to the office. <br><br>"He's not here yet?" Said Si as he joined Vi at the town square.<br>"You're surprised? It's Ron we’re talking about…" he stood up and greeted his friend.<br>"Ready?"<br>"Hah, I've been waiting a month for this day."<br>"I leveled up yesterday."<br>"Congratz, man."<br>"Yeah. I finished a quest for some merchant and my level rose to four."<br>"Nice, I'm still stuck at three. We mages waste too much time reading books in the mages guild; I hardly had any time for anything but that."<br>"You know, I was talking to Ron on the phone yesterday and he said he's already level six."<br>"Lucky bustard. How the fuck did he land a job at the blacksmith stand?"<br>"Here he comes, you can ask him yourself."<br>Ron was running towards them while waving something over his head.<br>"Look what I got." <br>"Wow," Si and Vi said at the same time.<br>Ron was holding a brand new Iron mace and he looked ecstatic.<br>"The blacksmith I worked for gave this to me as a present when I told him today I was going hunting outside the city walls for the first time."<br>"Damn, that’s nice. Do you think he will give us something too?" <br>"Maybe, man, I'll ask him later."<br>"Let's go, guys; I can't wait to finally fight some monsters." Vi was shaking with excitement.<br>"Relax, man! Were too weak to fight anything cool, we'll probably be killing rabbits until were at least level ten!."<br>"Yeah! The best we can manage is a fox if we gang up on him, even that if we’re lucky."<br>"Hey Ron I'm not like you, one spell and I can take down a wolf! You probably can't even swing that huge metal ball of yours."<br>"A wolf? In your dreams! You'll be lucky to kill a rabbit with how weak your noob spells. With this mace I can kill both you guys with one hit."<br>"Oh yeah? You wanna try swinging that thing at me, ah? Ah?."<br>"Relax guys, relax. None of us ever fought before, lets see how we deal with a rabbit and we'll see where we go from there." Si Spoke with the voice of reason.<br>"Ok, men, yeah, let’s get going."<br>"Wait!" Ron suddenly spoke quietly," You wanna know if I can swing, I'll show you. You see that newbie over there?"<br>They turned to the direction Ron was looking at.<br>"Yeah what about him?"<br>"I'm going to scare him a little."<br>"Don't, man, what if he fights back?"<br>"Don't worry, man, I'm not gonna kill him or anything, I'm just gonna scare him a little. You know, give him a friendly welcome into the game. And if he fights, what of it? I'm level six and the guy just logged in for the first time." A smirk appeared on Ron's face.<br>"I don't like it, Ron, we better just go hunting like we planned." Si tried to calm things down again.<br>"Relax, Si, look at the way he's moving. We did the same on our first time, remember Ron? Man, that weird feeling of not knowing if what you’re seeing and feeling is real or fake. Do it Ron, he won't touch you even if he tried."<br>"Yeah." He started walking slowly, trying to get as close as possible without his target noticing.<br>"We've got your back worry."<br>"This is going to end badly, I just know it."
</div> | Chapter One - Not Completely Back Home Yet
"Dear, why did you leave the money?" M’s.Rainold was on the verge of hysteria.
"I bought something with it, honey."
"With all of it?” She looked at her husband nodding calmly as they were walking back to their car.
She bet 10 million dollars and won. With the odds as they were, their winning totaled 300 million.
"What in god's name could cost 300 million?" She was almost running after her husband now.
"Stop rushing and answer me, what did you spend the money on?"
"On him." He pointed at their car that came into view.
M’s.Rainold stopped looking at her husband and followed his finger. Her hands shot up to her mouth to hold back a scream.
"Jon, I missed you so much." Mr.Rainold hugged the man covered in wolf blood.
"What are you doing? Get away from him." She would have pulled her husband back but she was too terrified of the same gray wolf she wanted to bet on.
"It's nice to see you again, Joshua."
Joshua Rainold looked shocked; the boy he remembered was gone, replaced by this emotionless man.
"Bring him something to wipe himself with!" he yelled to the driver.
"Don't worry. Used to this. Put something on your seat, it will get dirty." The dead look in his eyes never wavered.
Mr.Rainold motioned his wife to get in the car; he decided there will be enough time to think about all of this later.
"Don't worry about it, just get in, let's go home." His hand on Jon's shoulder he gently nudged him into the car, but Jon refused to move.
"What about him?"
"Who?"
He looked at his feet and Joshua followed the stare, reacting the same way his wife did.
"What is that?" he backed into the car.
"A wolf."
"I can see that! But why is it with you?"
"He wanted to come."
"We can't take him, send him away."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure! We can't fly a wolf into Greece."
"..."
Joshua wavered for a moment seeing for the first time, Jon’s expressionless face show a hint of emotion. As he got on one knee and took the wolf’s head in his hands he looked sad. But with a quick twist, the wolf fell to the floor motionless and Jon's face was again unreadable.
He stared at Jon with disbelief, he expected him to have changed after participating in the underground fights, but for him to kill an animal as if he were opening a bottle shocked him more than anything he had ever seen. The boy he had known would never harm an animal; he refused to swat a mosquito, let alone break a wolf's spine.
"It's better this way."
"Wha...Why…ehh how is it better?"
"They would have taken him back and made him fight again, at least I killed him painlessly."
He got in the car and asked where they were going.
"Home." Mr.Rainold said nothing until they got there.
"This isn't my home."
"No, it is not. I talked to Gorge and we decided it would be best if you lived here until we know more. No one will bother you here."
"Gorge? Will he be there?"
"Yes. He will take care of you just like when you were a kid."
A little smile appeared on Jon's face as he remembered his childhood.
"I wish dad were here too."
"We all do."
They were heading to an island not far from Greece. It was used as a vacation house for the heads of their company. However since Richard’s death it was always empty.
The island was covered with wild plants and was left as it had been, except for a small house not far from the beach. A boat was tied at the dock and Joshua maneuvered his yacht next to it.
"This must be Gorge's. Follow the path; I need to gather some things before I follow you."
Jon jumped off the deck and started walking up a dirt path.
Joshua was looking at him till he disappeared into the bush. He couldn't help but remember the old days, which put tears in his eyes.
Five years passed with them not hearing a word about Jon. He believed Jon was dead and seeing him alive and well, at least physically, was just too confusing. He didn't leave Jon's side from the moment they got in the car, and only now that he was alone did he finally come to terms with the fact.
-'Gorge knows what to do'- he thought to himself and sighed 'no need to hurry now'. He sat down on the ledge and looked at the horizon losing himself in his thoughts.
Jon didn't walk long when the house came into view. It was a three story cottage, made entirely out of wood. Trees surrounded it hiding it almost entirely out of view. Only the windows and the front porch protruding out of the foiledge were visible.
He walked lazily up the two steps that led onto the porch and looked at the front door blast open, hitting the wall with a load thump.
An old man ran out of the house and right at him. He was ready to fight back the moment the door opened but he lowered his defenses when he saw the old man was weeping.
The old man collided into Jon and hugged him with all his strength. He was crying now into Jon's chest yet Jon's hands stayed firm at his side.
"I can't believe it's you." It was hard to understand him with all the weeping. "I've missed you so much young master, oh so much." The tears kept on falling.
Jon kept quiet. He recognized Gorge now, but simply didn't know what to say. So he said nothing, as there was nothing better to say.
Gorge was still crying. There seemed to be no end to the tears, so they stood there until Jon finally decided to speak.
"Don't cry." was all that came out. He wanted to say more, but nothing came out. To Gorge it was more than enough, it was the same voice he heard so long ago.
"Let us go inside, I've prepared some food." The tears stopped and a smile covered his face now, making him look thirty years younger.
They sat at the dining table, Jon stuffing himself not even chewing the food, Gorge wiping away a tear every other minute when Mr.Rainold came in. He nodded at Gorge a stood next to him keeping silent as well.
"I'm tired." He said it so suddenly the two other men in the room looked around to see if there was someone else with them.
"Yes, I'm sure you are… go up and choose yourself a room you like, I need to speak to Joshua. I will wake you up for breakfast tomorrow."
Jon stood up, but not before stuffing his mouth with some more food, and walked up the stairs.
"Good night," said Mr.Rainold.
"Sleep tight," said Gorge.
They waited until they heard the sound of the door upstairs shut close.
"Gorge, I…" He was interrupted by Gorge who hugged him.
"I do not care Joshua, not today. You have already told me the important parts over the phone, the rest can wait. I will not judge you and I 'm not going to ask what it was that you were doing there." He looked at Mr.Rainold sympathetically.
"I am forever grateful to you. You have proven yourself a true friend and a trusted man. Lord knows there aren't many like you among the other board directors."
Mr.Rainold sat put two glasses on the table and poured in whisky from the bottle he brought with him.
"I can use a drink, Gorge, the past couple of days were very long."
Gorge sat down and downed the glass in one go. A drink was something he needed as well.
He extended his glass to Mr.Rainold for a refill.
"Hits the spot doesn't it?" He laughed. They both did.
"Sit down Joshua; we have a long night ahead of us."
"You are right, I have to return tomorrow, with you here my workload will triple." He sat down and sipped his drink.
"Do not worry about the work; I can take care of it from here," he sighed. "The problem is not in that… what do we do now? He's not himself… It's like he doesn't even remember me at all."
"He does. Gorge. He smiled when I told him that it's you who will be taking care of him."
"He did." Tears appeared at the edges of his eyes again. "That's good. I was afraid he lost his feelings completely. He just looked bored. Bored when he met me, bored while he ate and bored when he finished eating. Like he wasn't even there…"
"Give him time, Gorge, that’s all he needs now. Time with someone he knows and who loves him."
"We have to keep him a secret," he suddenly looked afraid, "who knows what they will do if they find out he is alive. They might kill him; we have to keep him hidden."
"It's okay, Gorge, leave it to me, I'll make sure they’ll never find out about him, not until we want them to, at least, I'm quite good at these things." He smiled and poured himself another drink.
"As long as we are careful around Yo, we have nothing to worry about. He's the only one who's still aggressively trying to take the control over the company, the rest seem to have already accepted you."
"I know that, I'm just afraid they'll try to get rid of him. Even if he doesn't decide to lead the company, he still owns the majority of the shares… He can overrule their every decision. They aren't going to stand by and let him be."
"Don't worry, I'm on your side, and while it seems otherwise, there are still many who remember and respect his father. They will stand by us, I'm certain of that."
"Oh, Joshua, what will we do with him, we need to get him help."
"It's fine, listen; he's not as far gone as you seem to think. I kept my eyes on him closely while we traveled, he's just distant. Who knows what he went through these five years. We don't need to hurry. All we need to do is…"
The first rays of sunshine hit the dew gathered in the night. If someone looked out of the window at that time he would see an already beautiful island turn into a paradise. The whole island shone as if covered by thousands of gems.
A scene lost, with none to look at. Out of the only three men on the island, one was asleep and the other two were too occupied, to take the time to look outside.
"I should get back." Said one of them,
"Stay for breakfast, at least." The other man stood up slowly.
"Can't. I have a plane to catch."
"I see. Well, it's goodbye then."
"It is. Gorge… good luck." He extended his hand forward.
"Thank you, the same to you." He shook his hand and ended it with a fatherly embrace.
"Don't forget to make him bathe. He won't do it unless you tell him to."
"I'll make sure to tell him."
Both man sighed out loud and smiled at each other.
"See ya."
"Good bye."
Mr.Rainold left and Gorge entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He heard the sound of the yachts engine start up right as the water in the pot started to boil. He turned off the gas and headed upstairs to wake up Jon.
There was no trouble finding the room he chose, with dirty foot marks leading to it. He opened the door slowly and froze in place. He swallowed hard, trying to swallow a sudden fear that hit up him. The pair of eyes looking at him from the corner of the dark room seemed more beast than man’s.
He reminded himself that it was only Jon, yet the goose bumps refused to disappear from his skin. "It's me, Jon." He said with a chocked voice.
"Why are sitting in the corner like that? Didn't you like the bed?" He tried to smile.
Jon continued to stare silently.
-'Just continue talking to him, Joshua said it will make a difference eventually."-
"Come on, Jon, on your feet now."
Jon stood up obediently, still staring from his corner.
"Did you sleep well?"
"…"
"You look rested."
"…"
"I've made breakfast." Jon's eyes relaxed at the sound of this, "Let's go eat it together." He smiled and motioned to the door.
Jon moved cautiously towards the door, passing Gorge carefully. Gorge followed him closely downstairs.
"Go, wash up while I set the table. The bathroom is to the left."
"…"
Gorge smiled to himself, reminding himself it will all be fine in the end.
They ate together, although Gorge talked more than he ate. He spoke to Jon about everything and anything, trying to vary the topics as much as he could. He wanted to get some response out of Jon but it was no use. Jon listened, but didn't say anything back.
For more than an hour they sat at the table and Jon only uttered one word.
"More".
Gorge made more food and Jon said no more.
He was cleaning the table when the phone rang.
"Yes."
"I see…" he looked at Jon, who sat and stared at the space.
"Forward it to me, I'll take care of it."
"Ok."
"Jon…" He closed he phone, "I need to take care of some work will you be okay."
"…" Jon looked at him or more like through him.
"Do you have anything you want to do?"
"…"
"There's always the T.V if you don't feel like doing anything." He felt like he was speaking to the air. But Jon stood up, and walked to the living room where he sat and turned on the T.V.
A Greek news show was airing and Jon didn't bother to change the channel. He just sat there staring at the T.V, Gorge doubted he even saw it.
-'Well at least I don't need to worry about him going anywhere.'- Gorge relaxed and left to the workroom hoping to finish as fast as possible.
It was the usual work, approving this, changing that. His secretary had already taken care of most of it, he just had to give his final approval on the matter.
It was going smooth, he finished most of the work after two hours, and he decided to go down and check on Jon.
He could hear the sound of the T.V, it was still on the same news channel. He entered the living room and freaked out when he couldn't see Jon.
He ran to the middle of the room almost stepping on Jon who was lying on the floor.
"What are you doing?" he yelled, "Why are you on the floor?" he was slowly regaining his calm.
"Training," he said, and began doing push-ups.
Only now did Gorge notice that Jon was covered in sweat.
"Why?" he sat down on the sofa.
"…"
"Jon! Listen to me, what are you training for?"
"…"
"Jon, you don't need to do this anymore, you will never need to fight again. It is fine you are safe now."
Jon continued to lift himself up and down from the floor.
"Jon…" Gorge felt desperate, he pulled Jon up from the floor and tried to sit him down on the sofa, but Jon resisted.
"Jon, stop it!" He was yelling again, however, Jon looked unaffected. "You will never have to fight again."
"I know." Jon was looking him in the eyes."Then why are you doing this?"
"…"
Gorge released Jon and backed away from the living room. Before he even exited the room Jon was already on the floor again, pushing himself up from it repeatedly. Gorge felt helpless and powerless. He stood there, watching over Jon, contemplating on how to deal with him.
He made up his mind and decided to start immediately. Jon seemed to do what he was told even if he kept silent, so he will use that to his advantage.
"Jon!"
"…"
"Jon are you listening?"
"…"
"Jon, answer me!" He said with a commanding tone, "Are you listening?"
"Yes."
"Good." It worked, "From now on whenever I ask you something you will answer me. Do you understand?"
Jon stood up and looked him in the eyes. For a second Gorge regretted speaking this way, but he steeled his will and continued.
"Do you understand Jon?"
"I do."
"Very good. Now answer me, why are exercising?"
Jon didn't answer immediately this time, he looked as if he were searching for the right words.
"I…"
"I…eh… I"
"It's okay Jon. You can tell me." Gorge felt the muscles of his face relaxing as his heart went out to the poor boy.
"I'm bored."
Gorge couldn't stop himself from laughing. That was all, boredom? He imagined such horrible things and all it was, was boredom.
"It's no wonder you're bored, you've been watching the news for the past two hours and you can't even understand a word."
Jon looked at the television screen and then fixed his eyes back at Gorge. He looked as if he were waiting for something.
"Jon, tell me, why didn't you change the channel?"
"You said watch T.V."
"Yes, I did. But why didn't you change the channel if you wanted to?"
"…"
Jon looked confused; he kept throwing his gaze from Gorge to the television screen. He looked like he was sweating more than a minute ago. Gorge was about to ask him the same question again when it finally hit him.
-'He does exactly what I tell him! He's waiting for permission! I didn't state he was allowed to change the channel and so he didn't.'-
"Jon, look at me."
"You can watch whichever channel you want, do you understand? Change it as much as you want until you find something you like. Ok?"
"Ok."
Jon sat down on the sofa, the bored expression back on his face again.
Gorge felt better, he felt like he understood what the real problem was now, or at least the first problem he needed to solve.
-'It will take some time.'- Gorge decided. He turned to head back to his work when he remembered Mr.Rainold's words right before he left.
"Jon, go take a shower before you start channel surfing."
Jon stood up and went towards the bathroom.
"Jon, I can't know if you heard me if you don't say anything."
Jon stopped in his tracks.
"Where are you going?"
"Shower."
"Good. I put some spare clothes in your room. Put some on when you're done showering and throw what you're wearing in the trash. Once you're done you can go back to watching television."
"Oh, and you can change the channel how many times you want. You got all that?"
"Yes."
Gorge sat down at his desk feeling much relieved and continued his work. It was late in the afternoon when he finally finished. He checked the time and saw that they should've already eaten. He checked on Jon to see if everything was ok, and assured that it was he went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
"Jon, food’s ready, come join me at the table." Gorge was finishing setting the table when Jon came and sat down. Jon immediately started to pile food on his plate.
"Say, thank you, Jon."
"Thank you."
"Bonapetit" Gorge sat down and started eating as well.
"So Jon, did you find anything you liked?" he asked when Jon was busy taking seconds.
"Yes."
"Really? Will you tell me about it?"
"…" he seemed to be too preoccupied with stuffing food in his mouth to bother with answering.
"I thought we had an agreement, Jon. Please, answer me when I'm asking you something. What did you watch?" He finished eating and was now watching Jon trying to swallow large chunks of meat without chewing.
"Aphagme"
"Chew you food properly, it's not going to run away from you."
"A game." He said again once he swallowed.
"What game?"
"Video game."
"A video game? And they were showing it on television?"
"Yes."
"Must be one hell of a game then. What is it called?"
"Royal Road."
"What is it about?" he was trying to make Jon continue talking and the game was as good as a topic as any.
"…"
-'I need to be more specific with him.'- He took a moment to think and rephrased his question.
"What did you like about the game?"
"Not boring."
"Hah" he laughed, "Would you like to play Royal Road as well, Jon?"
Jon stopped eating and looked up at Gorge. He swallowed slowly and said with a begging voice, "Yes!"
"Very well then. I will give my secretary a call and ask her to send you a copy."
"Have you finished eating?"
"Yes."
"Ok. You can do whatever you want until dinner."
Jon stood up and walked back to the living room.
"Jon," Gorge followed, "if you feel hungry you can take what you like from the refrigerator, ok?"
"Ok." His eyes were already glued to the screen.
"Ok." Gorge smiled and left him alone.
"Silia." He phoned his secretary from the office.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"I need you to get me something."
"A game."
"Don't worry, I'll find the time."
"No, keep forwarding the work here."
"Royal Road."
"Make sure it gets here by tomorrow, understood?"
"Very well."
"Yes."
"Goodbye."
He hung up.
-'Might as well call Jushua too.'- He said Mr.Rainold's name to the phone and waited.
"How are you doing, Gorge?"
"Better than expected, Joshua. Much better in fact."
"That's good to hear."
"Yes, he doesn't talk much, but he answers when I ask him something. However, the answer must be simple or else he keeps his mouth shut."
"I see."
"Listen, I'm calling to say, that I'll be trying something with him."
"Already?"
"Nothing dangerous, do not worry. He saw a game called Royal Road on the television and said he liked it. I told him he could play it."
"I don't think that was wise Gorge. I know the game, he's already out of touch with the real world, I think the game will make it even worse."
"I don't care about that at the moment Joshua. He refuses to talk in full sentences. We can't begin to understand what he has been through unless he tells us about it, and we can not force him too.
"So you want him to play the game so he has something to talk about?"
"Exactly. A common interest so to say. I’d like him to want to talk to me and the game might be just what we needed."
"I still think it's a bad idea, Gorge."
"It'll be fine. If worst comes worst, all we have to do is take the game away."
"Gorge, do you know what the game’s about?"
"I do not."
"I thought as much, learn about it a little and call me after if you change your mind."
"Agreed."
"Later then."
"Goodbye."
Gorge did just that. He read all he could find about Royal Road up to the point where he fell asleep by the computer screen. The ringing of the phone woke him up.
"…"
It was his secretary. He looked at the clock and saw that it was almost noon already. He straightened up and shook his head to wake up.
"Yes, Silia, I am listening."
"Very good."
"I know, I know, don't worry. I'll let them in."
"Already here? Why didn't you call earlier."
"Damn it, you should've tried harder."
He hung up in a hurry, he had to find Jon. They can't be allowed to see him. Even his secretary was clueless about his existence.
There were no sounds from down stairs so he ran to Jon's room, blasting the door open and stumbling into the room. Jon was there alright. But not where Gorge expected to find him.
Gorge was lying on the floor and Jon was sitting on top off him with a hand around his neck.
"It me."
Jon let go him and stood up. Gorge lay there shaking.
"People are coming to set up the game we talked about yesterday. I need you to stay in your room and be quiet. Do you understand Jon?"
"Yes." He was sitting in the corner of the room again.
Gorge got up, his whole body sore. He kept thinking how badly it could've all ended.
"You can sleep on the bed if like, Jon, you will get sick if you keep sleeping on the floor like that."
Jon just looked at him as if nothing had happened.
"I'll call you when they are gone." He left Jon and went to meet Silia and the workers on the beach.
"You don't look well," said Silia as they entered the house.
"I did not sleep very well."
"Sir, are you sure you want to play this game?"
"I do. I want to feel young again." He smiled to her casually.
"Sir, I'm worried about you. You decide to go on a vacation out of the blue like that and you don't even say when you'll be back. The board directors are worried, I'm worried. Did anything happen?"
"Nothing dear, things are better than ever. All I need is a good night's sleep."
"Are you doing okay? Are you sure you don't want me to hire a maid?"
"Dear, you are forgetting I myself have more experience as a maid. I've served the Doe family for 50 years. Whether as a butler or as the C.E.O is of little importance to me. I will continue to serve them until I am dead and no sooner."
"Sir…"
"That is enough, I have made my decision and it is your job to accommodate it."
"Very well sir." She straightened up and assumed a business attitude.
"Let me explain how to operate the capsule." She walked up to what looked like a large silver refrigerator and began talking.
"Jon, you can come down now." Gorge was sitting at the dining table waiting for Jon to join him for launch.
While Jon was eating, Gorge told him the games basics. He explained about leveling, skills stats, quests and professions. He intentionally didn't go into details. He wanted Jon to inquire for more information on his own in the hope hat Jon will come to him for help.
He showed Jon the capsule and repeated what Silia had told him earlier about operating it.
"Do you have anything you don't understand?" He asked, hoping for a reaction.
"No."
Jon got into the capsule and got comfortable. Before closing the lid Gorge decided to give Jon one last advice.
"When you level up, make sure you put all your stat points into Dexterity at first, it will make you faster. Your combat experience and fighting prowess will mean nothing if you can't hit your opponent. You can overcome the difference in strength with your knowledge of fighting and speed."
A small smile appeared on Jon's face and just as Gorge closed the lid he heard Jon’s murmur: "Thank you".
He backed away from the capsule as that began to tilt backwards until it was horizontal to the floor. The sound of processors spinning filled the room and Gorge was left with nothing to do but wait.
"Might as well get some work done." He said to himself and left to the office.
"He's not here yet?" Said Si as he joined Vi at the town square.
"You're surprised? It's Ron we’re talking about…" he stood up and greeted his friend.
"Ready?"
"Hah, I've been waiting a month for this day."
"I leveled up yesterday."
"Congratz, man."
"Yeah. I finished a quest for some merchant and my level rose to four."
"Nice, I'm still stuck at three. We mages waste too much time reading books in the mages guild; I hardly had any time for anything but that."
"You know, I was talking to Ron on the phone yesterday and he said he's already level six."
"Lucky bustard. How the fuck did he land a job at the blacksmith stand?"
"Here he comes, you can ask him yourself."
Ron was running towards them while waving something over his head.
"Look what I got."
"Wow," Si and Vi said at the same time.
Ron was holding a brand new Iron mace and he looked ecstatic.
"The blacksmith I worked for gave this to me as a present when I told him today I was going hunting outside the city walls for the first time."
"Damn, that’s nice. Do you think he will give us something too?"
"Maybe, man, I'll ask him later."
"Let's go, guys; I can't wait to finally fight some monsters." Vi was shaking with excitement.
"Relax, man! Were too weak to fight anything cool, we'll probably be killing rabbits until were at least level ten!."
"Yeah! The best we can manage is a fox if we gang up on him, even that if we’re lucky."
"Hey Ron I'm not like you, one spell and I can take down a wolf! You probably can't even swing that huge metal ball of yours."
"A wolf? In your dreams! You'll be lucky to kill a rabbit with how weak your noob spells. With this mace I can kill both you guys with one hit."
"Oh yeah? You wanna try swinging that thing at me, ah? Ah?."
"Relax guys, relax. None of us ever fought before, lets see how we deal with a rabbit and we'll see where we go from there." Si Spoke with the voice of reason.
"Ok, men, yeah, let’s get going."
"Wait!" Ron suddenly spoke quietly," You wanna know if I can swing, I'll show you. You see that newbie over there?"
They turned to the direction Ron was looking at.
"Yeah what about him?"
"I'm going to scare him a little."
"Don't, man, what if he fights back?"
"Don't worry, man, I'm not gonna kill him or anything, I'm just gonna scare him a little. You know, give him a friendly welcome into the game. And if he fights, what of it? I'm level six and the guy just logged in for the first time." A smirk appeared on Ron's face.
"I don't like it, Ron, we better just go hunting like we planned." Si tried to calm things down again.
"Relax, Si, look at the way he's moving. We did the same on our first time, remember Ron? Man, that weird feeling of not knowing if what you’re seeing and feeling is real or fake. Do it Ron, he won't touch you even if he tried."
"Yeah." He started walking slowly, trying to get as close as possible without his target noticing.
"We've got your back worry."
"This is going to end badly, I just know it." |
{
"title": "A Second Reality by Masadeer",
"id": 31,
"author": "Masadeer",
"rating": 2
} | {
"title": "A Second Reality - Chapter 2",
"id": 19,
"next": 20,
"prev": 18,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
I Become One Hell of a Butler! *Against my will!!*<br> As I walked down the path I eventually reached the castle gates, I witnessed the royal palace in all its glory. My thoughts on it? It's a castle what do you think it looks like? When i finally reached the palace gardens(which somehow seems to be the only recognizable piece of land with any grass on it, in this city for some reason)I find myself a spot under an apple tree and sat down against it. Looking around i noticed that the gardener was a real artisan. With the garden fenced with at least 6 different species of roses, the massive plot of land was Covered with a beautiful arrangement of carefully grown flowers, even rare herbs and medicinal plants were arranged to add a subtle mysterious undertone.*I can't believe they grow Burdock here*. It even featured a fountain in the shape of the god of light with water spraying up from Its feet. it was then that I noticed there were statues of each of the original 12 holy knights scattered throughout the royal gardens all facing the fountain, except for one, the sun knight. <br><br><br>The sun knight statue supported himself using a sword with its tip in the ground, facing away from the god of light. This seemed odd to me, but at the time I didn't care to investigate it. <br>While I sat under that tree I realized, maybe those five morons aren't that retarded after all. The grass was amazingly soft and comfortable to sit on.*OH NO YOU DON'T GRASS IDIOCY WILL NEVER GET ME STOP THE INFECTION EARLY* Just then I noticed that in the few hours I've been in Royal road I haven't even looked at my stats or inventory yet. I call out "Stats window" "Inventory"<br>Avatar: Alf | Type: Neutral ||Tendency: demonic<br>Level: 1 ||Class: none<br>Title : Cloud knight||Fame:0<br>Life: 100||Mana:100<br>Str:10||Dex:10||Vit:10<br>Wis:10||Int:10<br>Leadership: 0||Luck: 0<br>Offence: 1||Defence:0<br>Resistance to magic: 5<br>*WTF WHY AM I STILLL THE CLOUD KNIGHT*-removes title*<br>In my inventory there was 10 pieces of rye bread, a canteen of water, and a letter from Lolidragon? I opened the letter and basically she wanted to train with me. <br>I folded it into a paper airplane. <br>*You have learned handicraft* - Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery. <br>Slightly amused that i learned a skill from it, I put the paper airplane back into my inventory, and pulled up a random herb. I have basic knowledge on some herbs since I'm studying medicine in real life, and read up on them, but i suspect that Unicorn LTD made up some that didn't exist in reality. This one happened to have round pale blue leaves with small red berries , which I had never seen before in my life. So I did the only logical course of action. I tasted it. The berries were extremely sour, tasting similar to cranberries *cranberries on steroids* while the leaves smelled like mint and tasted sweet like condensed milk. And then i decided to take a nap.<br> When I next opened my eyes Staring at me was a Rappie, a fluffy five foot tall bird that resembled a baby chick albeit a giant 5 foot one. <br> I could've sworn it was the same one I saw while those five retards were playing in the grass. *must be seeing things I'll just sleep some more* When I woke up again this time a blonde haired girl of about 16 was staring at me while sitting in a small elegant chair with a matching small elegant table drinking tea.<br>Getting slightly annoyed of waking up to things staring at me, and being half asleep I complain "can't a guy get any decent sleep without being stared at by random creatures?" <br>"How rude, did you just call myself, Rinslet Laurenfrost, a random creature? What a miserable afternoon tea it's been today, Reverend even forgot to bring milk and sugar!!!!!" <br>"A-ah, sorry. I was having a strange dream" Remembering that herb I tasted before I went to sleep, I opened up my inventory and selected it. <br>Unidentified herb- An herb with unknown properties, you have discovered it to be edible with no immediate side effects. <br>Pulling out the herb, I offered it to the snobbish girl. "here this herb might help with that".<br>"What is this? I've never seen you nor this herb before in my life, and you expect me to just put it in my tea? You could be a hired assassin by someone aiming for my life"<br>Slightly amused "My friends may have compared me to a demon lord from time to time but even I wouldn't poison girl's tea. Besides it's tasty" I pulled off a few leaves and started munching on them. Only then did the young noble accept some leaves of my herb . My satisfaction bar refilled slightly, only then did I remember that I was supposed to eat every few hours. As I was about to take a bite out of one of my Loaves of bread, Rinslet's surprised tone rang through t the garden. "Amazing! This herb adds a subtle calming fragrance to the tea, not to mention the taste. it tastes as if I had used the best cream in the kingdom!" <br>-Your relationship with Rinslet has increased-<br>Smiling, she poured me a cup and added some of my leaves. Taking a sip, my exhaustion was completely blown away, this was by far the most amazing drink I've ever had. My satisfaction bar was filled to the max and: <br>You drank Mysterious Tea<br>Effects: +20 Life +300 Mana +5 Str +30Dex +40 Int +40 Wis<br>Your thoughts become sharper, your comprehension speed and ability to learn skills are doubled<br>You want me to describe how it tasted? Why would I do that? I'm not a food critic how could I explain its flavor so that you'd understand it?<br>Anyways I noticed a tall man Walking over towards us. He was wearing a swallow tail suit , white gloves, small circle rimmed glasses, with Neat orderly White hair, complete with a pocket watch chain hanging out of his pocket extending up the third button from the bottom on his suit. He's clearly a dolphin. This Dolphin was holding a some humanoid creature with a large purple head up by the back of its collar.<br>Tapping Rinslet on the shoulder I ask "hey what's that Dolph- er ...Butler holding?". Turning around Rinslet replied "Oh that's Klaus and....." Her lightly smiling face immediately became an angry scowl ".... Reverend". *She's knows Aliens?* Facing Klaus, with a slightly confused expression, "Klaus today's your day off " Klaus dropped Reverend on the ground, he collapsed in a heap on the ground. Klaus then took a deep bow and "My apologies Ojou-sama, I found out that this useless manservant had forgotten milk and sugar for your afternoon tea, and frankly I couldn't bear it anymore and beat him to a near death state." *Oh so his purple face and large head was because it was swollen from being beaten.* "so you aren't in contact with aliens, I'm kinda disappointed" I mumble to myself, and then bring myself to ask: "So you beat him so much he nearly met the grim reaper when you dropped him just now, because he forgot milk and sugar?" In a somewhat dejected tone Klaus answered "Unfortunately no, ever since we took him in yesterday, after he got separated from his four friends who were playing in the grass. Apparently his friends went north to find new grass to roll around in." *Oh so he was one of THOSE idiots.* I was tempted to kick him that last inch over the threshold into the grim reaper's arms "Since then this simpleton has broken every dish in the manor, every vase and statue, blown up the kitchen, killed Ojou-sama's pet dog-" " HE DID WHAT?" shouted RInslet, and half in tears. "WHAT DID HE DO TO MY DEAR, BELOVED THEODOR?" "I-I am so sorry Ojou-sama, I thought you knew........about last night's dinner.....That roast beef......" Sensing my chances of being able to get back at this moron for wasting two weeks of beta testing by playing in the grass. I offered to dispose of him =D, besides I didn't want a corpse stinking up my spot.*Quest Accepted*<br>Dispose of the half dead useless manservant<br>This Manservant has committed Unspeakable atrocities against his masters, You are to dispose of him as quickly and efficiently as possible.<br>Difficulty Level: E<br>Warning: this is a player character, Directly Killing him will give you the mark of a killer, and all the penalties associated.<br>Quest requirements: Being a seemingly capable person and offering to dispose of him.<br>While comforting Rinslet, Klaus looked over and nodded with a small expression of gratitude on his face. I pick up the Collapsed Kusa-baka(grass idiot, I was getting bored of calling the 5 Kusa-bakas Idiots) and slung him over my shoulder. Thus began my search for the rowdiest kids I could find.<br> I found them at a nearby construction site, where the workers had already gone home for the day. They appeared to be noble Children Except for one poor raggedy looking one .<br>Kid 1: Hey, last night I saw mommy doing this to daddy, It looked fun. Hey bring Levi over.<br>Then the other two boys grabbed the raggedy looking one and held him down. Kid 1 then stepped on the raggedy looking kid's head and started mercilessly whipping him with a belt. *..... I think I now understand why some nobles develop these hobbies when they're older.* <br>I walked over And with a bright smile on my face "Hey, this Onii-chan here has a present for you kids" <br>Kids 1 2 and 3 Look at me with Expectant eyes, you could practically see the sparkles in their eyes. *how can they look so innocent while playing such a game o.o* <br>I take the Kusa-baka off my shoulder and present him to the children. "You can stop playing rough with that child over there, because this Alien was absolutely Made for Game like this. ;D , With this alien you can keep hitting it as hard as you want, as much as you want =3, just give me one minute" I open up my inventory and pull out some medicinal herbs I picked from the gardens before I left, rolled and crushed them as best as I could in my hands and applied it to the Kusa-baka's face. His hp restored by about 12%, can't have him dying on me in one hit right?<br> -Your relationship with the Nobility has increased*<br>*You have learned - bandaging* - Use a cloth or plant based bandage on a target to recover from wounds, Herbs and salves may also be applied to increase effects.<br>I can't believe I learned a skill from that, maybe doing evil things benefits me because I'm part demon? <br>Distracted with their new toy Levi was free from oppression. He looked at me with such soul-wrenchingly grateful eyes I almost forgot about the evil deed I had just commited. "Thank you, thank you so much." I gave him my best Sun-knight-failure-attempt smile and told him to hurry on his way.<br>-Your relationship with the Peasants has increased*<br>"I'll never forget what you've done for me sir cloud knight" *wait CLOUD KNIGHT?* I open up my status window and try to remove the title again but this time a system message popped up saying "you cannot remove titles while you only have one" *Who the hell made up this stupid rule!*<br>Oh well I did good today. The noble children received a new toy, that peasant child isn't being bullied and I got partial revenge for me, Klaus, Rinslet and millions of royal road players . Plus I didn't get a murderer's mark OR a fame penalty, so everyone wins~. Everyone except the Kusa-baka you say? Eh, who cares it's not like I know them or anything.<br><br>**********************************************************************************<br>Getting back to the royal gardens, Rinslet looks a lot better than when I left, though her eyes were still a little red. I smile at her and gleefully "I have gotten rid of that Stain on society =3" Klaus came up and said "I'd like to know of your methods" Realizing that Rinslet probably shouldn't hear about my accomplishments, I whisper them to Klaus.<br>-Your relationship with Klaus has increased<br>-your relationship with Rinslet has increased<br><br>Smiling from my answer, Klaus explained to Rinslet "He was dealt with very appropriately, I think he has potential." almost grinning Rinslet agreed " yes I think so too ." *say what? what's going on here?* "......ummmmmmmm" Rinslet suddenly walked up to me and declared "Starting today your name is Sebastian" *wtfbbq?* "what? Why's that?" "because you're my new butler, silly." I get the feeling my human rights are about to be violated. "o.e Before I even ask about that, why would you change my name?" "how else do you think butlers have names like Klaus? He's certainly not German, and his real name is Thomas J. Everworth." *He has a butler like last name so why don't you just call him everworth????* "when did I ever agree to this?" "That's what they all say, come. Let's go home Klaus, and be sure to bring Sebastian with us." "Yes Ojou-sama" *Huh, what bring Sebastian with us? What do you mean? Didn't you just name ME Sebastian?* Suddenly Klaus Had his vice-like grip on the back of my collar and was dragging me with them. "Hey wait! Where are you taking me??? This isn't cool Klaus!" *Hey wait I remember I forgot a loaf of rye bread on the table* "At least let me get my bread baccccccckkkkkkkkk~~~~~!!!"
</div> | I Become One Hell of a Butler! *Against my will!!*
As I walked down the path I eventually reached the castle gates, I witnessed the royal palace in all its glory. My thoughts on it? It's a castle what do you think it looks like? When i finally reached the palace gardens(which somehow seems to be the only recognizable piece of land with any grass on it, in this city for some reason)I find myself a spot under an apple tree and sat down against it. Looking around i noticed that the gardener was a real artisan. With the garden fenced with at least 6 different species of roses, the massive plot of land was Covered with a beautiful arrangement of carefully grown flowers, even rare herbs and medicinal plants were arranged to add a subtle mysterious undertone.*I can't believe they grow Burdock here*. It even featured a fountain in the shape of the god of light with water spraying up from Its feet. it was then that I noticed there were statues of each of the original 12 holy knights scattered throughout the royal gardens all facing the fountain, except for one, the sun knight.
The sun knight statue supported himself using a sword with its tip in the ground, facing away from the god of light. This seemed odd to me, but at the time I didn't care to investigate it.
While I sat under that tree I realized, maybe those five morons aren't that retarded after all. The grass was amazingly soft and comfortable to sit on.*OH NO YOU DON'T GRASS IDIOCY WILL NEVER GET ME STOP THE INFECTION EARLY* Just then I noticed that in the few hours I've been in Royal road I haven't even looked at my stats or inventory yet. I call out "Stats window" "Inventory"
Avatar: Alf | Type: Neutral ||Tendency: demonic
Level: 1 ||Class: none
Title : Cloud knight||Fame:0
Life: 100||Mana:100
Str:10||Dex:10||Vit:10
Wis:10||Int:10
Leadership: 0||Luck: 0
Offence: 1||Defence:0
Resistance to magic: 5
*WTF WHY AM I STILLL THE CLOUD KNIGHT*-removes title*
In my inventory there was 10 pieces of rye bread, a canteen of water, and a letter from Lolidragon? I opened the letter and basically she wanted to train with me.
I folded it into a paper airplane.
*You have learned handicraft* - Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery.
Slightly amused that i learned a skill from it, I put the paper airplane back into my inventory, and pulled up a random herb. I have basic knowledge on some herbs since I'm studying medicine in real life, and read up on them, but i suspect that Unicorn LTD made up some that didn't exist in reality. This one happened to have round pale blue leaves with small red berries , which I had never seen before in my life. So I did the only logical course of action. I tasted it. The berries were extremely sour, tasting similar to cranberries *cranberries on steroids* while the leaves smelled like mint and tasted sweet like condensed milk. And then i decided to take a nap.
When I next opened my eyes Staring at me was a Rappie, a fluffy five foot tall bird that resembled a baby chick albeit a giant 5 foot one.
I could've sworn it was the same one I saw while those five retards were playing in the grass. *must be seeing things I'll just sleep some more* When I woke up again this time a blonde haired girl of about 16 was staring at me while sitting in a small elegant chair with a matching small elegant table drinking tea.
Getting slightly annoyed of waking up to things staring at me, and being half asleep I complain "can't a guy get any decent sleep without being stared at by random creatures?"
"How rude, did you just call myself, Rinslet Laurenfrost, a random creature? What a miserable afternoon tea it's been today, Reverend even forgot to bring milk and sugar!!!!!"
"A-ah, sorry. I was having a strange dream" Remembering that herb I tasted before I went to sleep, I opened up my inventory and selected it.
Unidentified herb- An herb with unknown properties, you have discovered it to be edible with no immediate side effects.
Pulling out the herb, I offered it to the snobbish girl. "here this herb might help with that".
"What is this? I've never seen you nor this herb before in my life, and you expect me to just put it in my tea? You could be a hired assassin by someone aiming for my life"
Slightly amused "My friends may have compared me to a demon lord from time to time but even I wouldn't poison girl's tea. Besides it's tasty" I pulled off a few leaves and started munching on them. Only then did the young noble accept some leaves of my herb . My satisfaction bar refilled slightly, only then did I remember that I was supposed to eat every few hours. As I was about to take a bite out of one of my Loaves of bread, Rinslet's surprised tone rang through t the garden. "Amazing! This herb adds a subtle calming fragrance to the tea, not to mention the taste. it tastes as if I had used the best cream in the kingdom!"
-Your relationship with Rinslet has increased-
Smiling, she poured me a cup and added some of my leaves. Taking a sip, my exhaustion was completely blown away, this was by far the most amazing drink I've ever had. My satisfaction bar was filled to the max and:
You drank Mysterious Tea
Effects: +20 Life +300 Mana +5 Str +30Dex +40 Int +40 Wis
Your thoughts become sharper, your comprehension speed and ability to learn skills are doubled
You want me to describe how it tasted? Why would I do that? I'm not a food critic how could I explain its flavor so that you'd understand it?
Anyways I noticed a tall man Walking over towards us. He was wearing a swallow tail suit , white gloves, small circle rimmed glasses, with Neat orderly White hair, complete with a pocket watch chain hanging out of his pocket extending up the third button from the bottom on his suit. He's clearly a dolphin. This Dolphin was holding a some humanoid creature with a large purple head up by the back of its collar.
Tapping Rinslet on the shoulder I ask "hey what's that Dolph- er ...Butler holding?". Turning around Rinslet replied "Oh that's Klaus and....." Her lightly smiling face immediately became an angry scowl ".... Reverend". *She's knows Aliens?* Facing Klaus, with a slightly confused expression, "Klaus today's your day off " Klaus dropped Reverend on the ground, he collapsed in a heap on the ground. Klaus then took a deep bow and "My apologies Ojou-sama, I found out that this useless manservant had forgotten milk and sugar for your afternoon tea, and frankly I couldn't bear it anymore and beat him to a near death state." *Oh so his purple face and large head was because it was swollen from being beaten.* "so you aren't in contact with aliens, I'm kinda disappointed" I mumble to myself, and then bring myself to ask: "So you beat him so much he nearly met the grim reaper when you dropped him just now, because he forgot milk and sugar?" In a somewhat dejected tone Klaus answered "Unfortunately no, ever since we took him in yesterday, after he got separated from his four friends who were playing in the grass. Apparently his friends went north to find new grass to roll around in." *Oh so he was one of THOSE idiots.* I was tempted to kick him that last inch over the threshold into the grim reaper's arms "Since then this simpleton has broken every dish in the manor, every vase and statue, blown up the kitchen, killed Ojou-sama's pet dog-" " HE DID WHAT?" shouted RInslet, and half in tears. "WHAT DID HE DO TO MY DEAR, BELOVED THEODOR?" "I-I am so sorry Ojou-sama, I thought you knew........about last night's dinner.....That roast beef......" Sensing my chances of being able to get back at this moron for wasting two weeks of beta testing by playing in the grass. I offered to dispose of him =D, besides I didn't want a corpse stinking up my spot.*Quest Accepted*
Dispose of the half dead useless manservant
This Manservant has committed Unspeakable atrocities against his masters, You are to dispose of him as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Difficulty Level: E
Warning: this is a player character, Directly Killing him will give you the mark of a killer, and all the penalties associated.
Quest requirements: Being a seemingly capable person and offering to dispose of him.
While comforting Rinslet, Klaus looked over and nodded with a small expression of gratitude on his face. I pick up the Collapsed Kusa-baka(grass idiot, I was getting bored of calling the 5 Kusa-bakas Idiots) and slung him over my shoulder. Thus began my search for the rowdiest kids I could find.
I found them at a nearby construction site, where the workers had already gone home for the day. They appeared to be noble Children Except for one poor raggedy looking one .
Kid 1: Hey, last night I saw mommy doing this to daddy, It looked fun. Hey bring Levi over.
Then the other two boys grabbed the raggedy looking one and held him down. Kid 1 then stepped on the raggedy looking kid's head and started mercilessly whipping him with a belt. *..... I think I now understand why some nobles develop these hobbies when they're older.*
I walked over And with a bright smile on my face "Hey, this Onii-chan here has a present for you kids"
Kids 1 2 and 3 Look at me with Expectant eyes, you could practically see the sparkles in their eyes. *how can they look so innocent while playing such a game o.o*
I take the Kusa-baka off my shoulder and present him to the children. "You can stop playing rough with that child over there, because this Alien was absolutely Made for Game like this. ;D , With this alien you can keep hitting it as hard as you want, as much as you want =3, just give me one minute" I open up my inventory and pull out some medicinal herbs I picked from the gardens before I left, rolled and crushed them as best as I could in my hands and applied it to the Kusa-baka's face. His hp restored by about 12%, can't have him dying on me in one hit right?
-Your relationship with the Nobility has increased*
*You have learned - bandaging* - Use a cloth or plant based bandage on a target to recover from wounds, Herbs and salves may also be applied to increase effects.
I can't believe I learned a skill from that, maybe doing evil things benefits me because I'm part demon?
Distracted with their new toy Levi was free from oppression. He looked at me with such soul-wrenchingly grateful eyes I almost forgot about the evil deed I had just commited. "Thank you, thank you so much." I gave him my best Sun-knight-failure-attempt smile and told him to hurry on his way.
-Your relationship with the Peasants has increased*
"I'll never forget what you've done for me sir cloud knight" *wait CLOUD KNIGHT?* I open up my status window and try to remove the title again but this time a system message popped up saying "you cannot remove titles while you only have one" *Who the hell made up this stupid rule!*
Oh well I did good today. The noble children received a new toy, that peasant child isn't being bullied and I got partial revenge for me, Klaus, Rinslet and millions of royal road players . Plus I didn't get a murderer's mark OR a fame penalty, so everyone wins~. Everyone except the Kusa-baka you say? Eh, who cares it's not like I know them or anything.
**********************************************************************************
Getting back to the royal gardens, Rinslet looks a lot better than when I left, though her eyes were still a little red. I smile at her and gleefully "I have gotten rid of that Stain on society =3" Klaus came up and said "I'd like to know of your methods" Realizing that Rinslet probably shouldn't hear about my accomplishments, I whisper them to Klaus.
-Your relationship with Klaus has increased
-your relationship with Rinslet has increased
Smiling from my answer, Klaus explained to Rinslet "He was dealt with very appropriately, I think he has potential." almost grinning Rinslet agreed " yes I think so too ." *say what? what's going on here?* "......ummmmmmmm" Rinslet suddenly walked up to me and declared "Starting today your name is Sebastian" *wtfbbq?* "what? Why's that?" "because you're my new butler, silly." I get the feeling my human rights are about to be violated. "o.e Before I even ask about that, why would you change my name?" "how else do you think butlers have names like Klaus? He's certainly not German, and his real name is Thomas J. Everworth." *He has a butler like last name so why don't you just call him everworth????* "when did I ever agree to this?" "That's what they all say, come. Let's go home Klaus, and be sure to bring Sebastian with us." "Yes Ojou-sama" *Huh, what bring Sebastian with us? What do you mean? Didn't you just name ME Sebastian?* Suddenly Klaus Had his vice-like grip on the back of my collar and was dragging me with them. "Hey wait! Where are you taking me??? This isn't cool Klaus!" *Hey wait I remember I forgot a loaf of rye bread on the table* "At least let me get my bread baccccccckkkkkkkkk~~~~~!!!" |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 11",
"id": 50,
"next": 51,
"prev": 49,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter Eleven – Branching Out<br><br>A faint afterglow covered the horizon in crimson, coloring the clouds in red, making the sky blush as the sun slowly hid behind the horizon..<br>The first stars appeared in the sky and soon after them the moon became clearly visible in the darkening skies. Looking down, Jon saw an impenetrable blackness which reached all the way down to the bottom. He would need to descend the tree almost blind, but the prospect didn't discourage him in the least, on the contrary, he welcomed the challenge. He took another long glance at the crimson sunset trying to memorize the beautiful sight that marked a new beginning for him. The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon but a bright line of orange and red still separated the world from the black sky.<br><br><br>Grabbing the handle of his knife he jumped and began to slide down the tree trunk. He drove the knife into the wood to slow his descent, and although the palms of his hands became white from the strain and his shoulders threatened to pop out of their sockets, except for a scratch or two he managed to get back down safely.<br>He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he noticed that the closer he got to the ground the brighter everything became. However, when his boots felt the comfortable hardness of the ground he saw that the entire clearing was illuminated in a multicolored glow.<br>The weird flowers he saw during the day were now shining softly and since there seemed to be thousands of them, it was almost as if the sun hadn't disappeared behind the horizon but instead, had fallen down here into the clearing.<br>A smile spread on Jon's face as he touched a flower, glowing pink, next to him. In response to his touch it spit out pollens that floated randomly to the grass, shining all the way down.<br>He was laughing inside. This was the reason he came back to Royal Road, this feeling of wonder and surprise. He never expected this and the beautiful sight before him made him thank the creators of the game for implementing a camera option.<br>Jon pushed a bunch of flowers, sending spores to the air. The spores looked like fireflies as they slowly fell down on the water. There, they floated in one place, turning the water into pools of multicolored light. As the colors mixed together and more and more spores were added it looked to Jon like rainbows.<br>He set up a camera menu, stood before the rainbow pools, spread his arms apart, and took a picture of himself.<br>-'I'll show this to Gorge later.'-<br><br>The tower he saw was in the south and that was the way he went.<br>The glow from the clearing disappeared after a few minutes, hidden amongst tall trees and wide bushes. The second the darkness became complete, buzzing sounds surrounded him.<br>He felt things land on him but couldn't see what.<br>A few muttered words summoned a mana ball that shone a circle of light around him. Clear blue light fell on hundreds of insects in all shapes and sizes.<br>From very small bugs that traveled together in a buzzing cloud, to insects as big as Jon's fist whose wings flapped at incredible speed to keep them in the air.<br>He lifted his knife to defend himself but saw the futility of it. He wished he had learned a fire spell but remembered he had something else that could work.<br>Leaving the ball of blue light to hover over his head, he chanted a spell and spread his palm which started to radiate a faint light. A large, ugly bug was heading his way so Jon moved his hand to greet it and activated the spell.<br>Snow began to form between his fingers and was sent flying forward in the shape of a large cone. The cold air struck the bug and slowed it down. The bug's wings froze and it fell to the ground together with a multitude of other, angrily buzzing, insects..<br>Jon continued on his way, the cone of frost moving from side to side. Most of the insects fell to the ground while the smaller ones died from the spell. He looked at his Mp bar and calculated that he could keep the spell active for about twenty five minutes but then the bugs will tear him to pieces.<br>Imagining his body being sucked dry and eaten by thousands of those critters fastened his heartbeat. Taking deep breaths, he slowly calmed himself down, and when the sound of his own heartbeat didn’t echo in his ears anymore, a small icon appeared in his peripheral vision. A small square positioned itself over his MP bar, and was a sign that the meditation skill was active and his MP would now regenerate faster. It gave him a little more room for breath, but in an hour all of his Mp would be gone.<br>The annoying buzzing was getting louder. It looked as if every bug he got rid of was replaced three more.<br>-'They have to end at some point…'- Jon was waving around a sword with his free hand, trying to squash as many insects as he could with the flat sides of the blade. Drops of sticky green liquid flew around with every swing. The blade became covered with so much insect shells he had had to stop and wipe it off on a tree. More than once.<br><br>He didn't know how far it was to the tower he saw, but at the speed he was going, he doubted he would reach it before morning. Hastening his steps didn't help much, since he had to battle his way through walls of bugs.<br>Jon was getting dangerously close to running out of mana but the amount of bugs refused to decrease.<br>-'Where are they all coming from?'- He was starting to get desperate,<br>He refused to die on the day he opened a new page in his life, it would be a bad omen and mean bad luck from now on. His whole soul cried out and a miracle happened. A large cloud spread in front of him, blocking the light from the mana ball the swarm of small, mosquito resembling insects, looked like a pitch black beast that was awoken from its slumber and being famished it was now after Jon.<br>His spell froze them but there were just too many. He saw them land on his skin and block it from his eyes. To save himself, he lifted his arm over his head and let the freezing engulf his whole body.<br>The insects didn't give up and resumed their assault on him, only to freeze to death.<br><br>Level Up<br><br>Each bug gave an almost unnoticeable amount of experience points as it died, however hundreds of them froze to death from his spell and hundreds more were smashed to pieces on his sword. Together they managed to raise a small amount of experience he needed to level up.<br>Jon breathed out loudly once he knew he was out of danger for now.<br>When leveling up, Hp and Mp are fully restored, and negative effects are removed.<br><br>Jon was tired and sweating heavily. The uncomfortable way he was forced to walk in and constant sword swinging were tiring him fast. He wasn't hungry but his throat was parched. Looking around as he was moving he didn't see any water, only sticky, shiny ooze that dripped from his sword.<br>-'I wonder…'-<br>He was using already magic , so another one would make little difference.<br>Jon sheathed his sword and after chanting a few lines an icicle formed in his palm. It floated patiently, waiting for the one who conjured it to choose a target and send it flying.<br><br>Control Magic Levels Up<br><br>Intelligence Rises by 1(+1 Int)<br><br>Instead of shooting it at the annoying buzzers around him, he grabbed hold of it and put the tip in his mouth. He feared it would freeze his face but with the spell canceled, all of the magic left it and it remained a simple, although sharp, piece of ice. Sucking on it, the scratching in the back of his throat began to fade.<br>He took out the sword again and returned to insect massacre.<br><br>Jon would have died in the forest that night if not for four things that happened.<br><br>"Cone of Frost" Spell Levels Up<br><br>Meditation Skill Levels Up<br><br>Sword Mastery Learnt<br>Sword mastery affects your ability to use swords efficiently.<br>The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.<br>Level 1: Attack Power +5%<br>Attack Speed +5%<br><br>And the fourth thing, which was the one that really saved him from the onslaught of bugs, was finding out the reason they were following him.<br>Some of the pollens, from the shining flowers in the clearing, were stuck to him and they attracted them to him. His mana was just about to run out when he saw the light from the mana ball over his head being reflected at him.<br>The light came upon a small pond and spread on the peaceful water, coloring the water and making it look like a glass floor. Without a second thought he jumped inside and rinsed himself from the pollens. A few insects still circled around him when he came out, but these were just normal mosquitoes that were looking for a chance to suck his blood.<br>Now he had some time to think and as he increased his pace, Jon couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't encountered any animals except the bugs yet. The sun was beginning to show its presence, coloring the sky above him an orange tint that seemed to be fighting the black of the night, yet still he didn't see any animals.<br>He heard them but when he looked at the direction the sound came from, the noise died off and the creature that made it was gone.<br><br>It became easier to move around so he walked faster.<br>With no need to protect his life he cast the Swift buff on himself and sped up even more. The distance between trees was growing smaller and the leaves above him were lowering. The bushes and wandering roots that blocked his path a while ago were becoming rarer and from time to time, he thought he heard city sounds.<br>The sun was high in the sky, scorching Jon's skin even through dense cover of the foliage above him. Animals started to appear all around him. The first he noticed were the birds, whose wing flap he could hear as they passed from one tree to the next. Small sets of eyes looked at him from everywhere as he made his way through the forest. He heard fighting noises and began to run.<br>The trees opened, letting a view of the citadel walls penetrate their natural, green curtain. He stepped onto the wide grassland that circled Serabourg and felt his strength return to him. It was a long night and he was tired and dirty. His entire body was sticky from the bug's insides that splattered on him and he was wondering where he could wash it off. The mages' guild dormitory came to mind and that’s where he went, ignoring the shocked players around him.<br>The way he popped out of the forest surprised some of the low level players enough to make them drop their weapons. <br>In Royal Road, all a player had to do to clean himself up was re-log into the game. When a player logged into the game, his avatar was cleaned up and ready to battle. However, there was a timer that prevented logging back in immediately. The average waiting time was ten minutes, but sometimes it was as long as an hour.<br><br>As he walked through the street stalls near the gate he looked at them as if seeing for the first time. He never noticed how many people were actually playing Royal Road at any given moment, but now he noticed the crowd he had to push through stretched to the citadel center square, where a large fountain with a statue of Freya was placed.<br>Suddenly, a flashback of his first moments of the game flashed before him when he saw the spot where those three players attacked him.<br>-'I wonder what's happened to them?'-<br>He didn't know that those three players took part in the war, and that they were among the first players to die.<br>Jon stepped into the shadow cast by the mages' tower. He looked up at its twenty-one floors and saw a man flying out of a window. He followed him until the man disappeared over the citadel wall and wondered if that was the guild leader. It was hard to tell what the man was wearing since he was moving so fast, but Jon thought he saw a chainmail on him which stroke Jon as weird. Mages rarely wore anything but robes. However, looking down at his hard leather armor he smiled as he understood there were always exceptions.<br><br>The mages guild was bustling with activity.<br>There were at least a hundred mage trainees at any given moment inside, learning and practicing magic. Together with dozens of Npcs and about a hundred of other players, there was hardly a place where one could be alone in the building.<br>As a member of the guild Jon could use all the facilities it had to offer and was entitled to a bed and a chest where he could store his things. Showers were open to him as well and as each dormitory floor had a few, he climbed the stairs to the fifth floor where the rooms started.<br>As he passed the showers he heard voices inside and ignored the room, heading to the next floor where the beginner mages were stronger but fewer.<br>Each floor he passed seemed to be arranged in the same way. Eighteen rooms were spread in the middle, surrounding the staircase. Narrow corridors passed between every pair of rooms with a window at the end. The showers and toilets were placed on both sides of each floor, at the far ends of the largest corridor that seemed to split the floor in half.<br>The lower floors had three or four beds in each room, with the fifth floor having six beds in every room but starting from the tenth floor each room seemed to be reserved fortwo players.<br>On the fifteenth floor the sounds of the street could no longer be heard and silence was deafening. The few people he passed glanced at him in wonder but didn't bother with him.<br>Each step he made echoed in the stone corridors and when he opened the door to the showers of the sixteenth floor its hinges squeaked loudly, startling him and sending his hand to search for the hilt of his knife.<br>He looked behind to see if there was anyone to discern him but the brick corridor was empty. Only a few spiders moved on their spider webs that hung from the ceiling and a flick of a rat tail that disappeared from view in one of the rooms.<br><br>There were six shower stalls, separated from the rest of the bathroom by a wall. Sinks and toilets were on the other side of the room and that was where hooks and benches were laid out. Most of what Jon wore was made out of leather and he washed it first in one of the sinks. The water turned green and yellow as the leather became cleaner. He gave his sword a quick rinse and left everything to dry on the hooks.<br>He found what looked like a bottle of soap that had an unfamiliar smell on the bench in the shower room and used it plenty. Soon steam filled the room and the fragrance of the soap hung in the air. There must have been some magic system involved, because there were no visible pipes and the shower head simply hovered in the air. Two crystals were embedded into the wall, one red and one blue. Touching them changed the temperature of the water according to the crystal color.<br>He lost the track of time while he was standing under the stream of hot water, his mind raced imagining different scenarios and how he could fight in them. Motivation and determination filled him but he knew that with his current skill levels it was impossible. He needed something like the mana ball to raise his magic mastery and be useful at the same time. He remembered reading about something suitable in the cleric book but couldn't remember the specifics.<br>He turned off the water and stepped out to the other room.<br><br>Fresh and Clean Bonus<br>Your mind and body are rested and you feel good.<br>Stamina, Mp and Hp fully restored.<br>For the next three hours the chance of spells failing is reduced by half.<br><br>He didn't have a towel so he opened one of the windows and let the wind dry him while he enjoyed a view of the citadel spread beneath him.<br>A loud squeak from the door announced to Jon that someone joined him and he turned around to look who.<br>By his robes it was clear that he was a mage, and like most mages he was on the short side. He seemed about twelve and was pretty chubby. Acne and barely visible whiskers covered his face. A rat sat comfortably on his shoulder but after one look at Jon's nude body the rat jumped under the boy's robe and started shaking.<br>Jon was taller than most people and would usually stand out in a crowd.<br>Years of hard physical hardships had left their mark on him and turned his body into a mountain of muscle with no visible fat. His lean and muscular body type didn't show much strength when he wore clothes but standing naked next to the window, his wide shoulders and large chest plates looked huge to a small flabby kid.<br>The light of the window lit Jon from the side and weak shadows cross his flat stomach , making the squares of muscle that ran along it stand out.<br>With his long arms and legs and his straight posture that used all of his height to look down on the boy, he could have been mistaken for an angel, lit by the sun that made small drops of water on his body shine like jewels. However his long dark hair and scars that covered his entire body made him resemble a demon and when he smiled, the boy interpreted it as an evil grin. Without a word said the boy jumped out of the room and hurried down the stairs.<br>The glare from Jon's eyes, which were hidden behind his brow line, lodged itself in the boys mind and made him forget to breathe. The boy had never left the citadel before and for the past few months had dedicated his entire time to mastering magic. The leather armor and a sword that hung from the hooks put him on guard and the sight of Jon caught him by surprise making him imagine monsters where there were none..<br>He ran to the first Npc he saw and explained to her about a monster that sneaked into the guild.<br><br>While Jon was putting on his armor he noticed that it had a few large tears on it which started breaking apart in few places. The repair skill didn't work and he wondered where he could fave it fixed, or better yet learn to fix it himself.<br>Jon liked kids, and usually they liked him back. He didn't intend to scare the boy and was looking around to see if he could spot him while on his way to the library on the lower floors. There was only one staircase so they couldn't miss each other, and like he hoped, Jon met the kid on the flight of stairs that separated the sixth and seventh floors.<br>The boy was hiding behind the skirt of a stern looking woman, a mature woman, with a wrinkled face and an all knowing look in her eyes.<br>"You see?" she spoke to the boy. "There was nothing to be scared of. The man is your fellow guild member; apologize to him for acting rude."<br>She had to push the kid forward Jon, but eventually the boy looked at Jon's face and lowered his head in an apologizing gesture. Jon gave him a piece of cheese from his inventory to give to the rat. No words were said since none were needed. The boy took the cheese, bowed again and ran off with his pet rat up the stairs.<br>"I'm very sorry, sir." she turned to Jon when the boy disappeared behind a corner. "He's a sweet boy. Came to my dormitory a few months ago and hasn't left the building ever since." She straightened with her hands the place on her skirt that the boy crumpled when he was grabbing her.<br>"You see… he can't speak and somehow that has made him scared of anything that is unfamiliar to him. He's very bright for his age and has been learning spells mages much older than him are struggling with, but unless he goes out he will never get a chance to use them."<br>They were walking down the stairs and Jon had a suspicious feeling that someone was looking at him. He turned his head quickly and managed to see the boy hide himself behind the wall. With a smile he took out another piece of cheese, he had stocked his inventory with ingredients before quitting his position as kitchen hand, and nibbled on it for the boy to see. He left another piece on the floor and made a shape of whiskers next to his nose with his fingers, trying to tell the boy it was for his pet. The boy popped his head out for a second to look and hid again, waiting for Jon to continue down the stairs."He conveyed to me on paper," the woman talked about the boy as if he were her own child, "that he wanted to learn telepathy magic so he could speak to others. It's a great goal but there are a few master wizards that can manage that spell."<br>They separated on the fifth floor and Jon heard her voice a few moments later yelling at someone about some mess.<br><br>The library was filled with people as usual.<br>Unlike the citadel library, where Unknownadd kept silence as close to a crypt as possible, here groups of players were chatting leisurely and comparing notes with each other. Jon had never gone to school but that was what he imagined it might look like.<br>The librarian greeted him with a friendly hello and asked what book he could get him. Jon sat down in an empty armchair and looked around while he waited. They didn't notice him but the two girls that had taught him about magic, Irene and Romune if he remembered correctly, were busy reading next to a growing pile of books on their table. A large group of players were weaving a spell together, trying to hold open a portal of some sorts. The librarian blocked Jon's view as he passed him five books and by the time he left the portal was gone and the group looked disappointed.<br>He looked at the book titles and picked one at random. With a gulp of "Scholars Brew" and some help from the swift buff that to Jon's surprise worked on reading as well, the first book was finished in three hours.<br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Air Is Everywhere"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br>Air Affinity Acquired<br>Knowing that air is not an empty vacuum but is made out of countless atoms, particles and even living beings, the mage can use his mana to manipulate the air around him to his needs.<br>Magic of this affinity is the hardest to control as air changes depending on where you are standing. However spells of this affinity are consume the least amount of Mp put of all spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>He wondered how strong he needed to be to fly in the air and was relieved to know it only required an intermediate level of magic mastery.<br><br>"Back Wind" Buff Learnt<br>By manipulating the air around you force it to turn into a gust of wind that continuously hits you in the back and pushes you forward.<br>Affects: Movement Speed Rises By 5%<br>Duration: 10 Minutes<br>Cost: 150 Mp<br>The incident with the bugs made him understand that learning an affinity was pointless if he didn't learn any spells of that nature. If he had had a fire spell at that time he could have lit a branch on fire and would've had a much easier time. You learn from your mistakes and Jon was back in the mages' library to learn.<br>The next three books were ones he had already read but they still had many spells in them that were left to learn. He chose one from each.<br><br>"Burning Touch" Spell Learnt<br>With the use of mana you can create a small flame and spread it around your palm. While the spell is active the mana channels the fire affinity and protects your skin from harm while at the same time raising the temperature of the fire until the palm of your hand glows in an almost white light from the intense heat.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br>Jon cast the spell to see if it was what he hoped it to be and in his carelessness his leather glove combusted into sudden flames and was burnt into ashes in less than a second. He could feel a sudden warmness all over his body which felt nice and comforting. He touched a finger to a wooden table and smoke started to lift from it immediately. He applied a little force and his finger began to slide into the table as if it were butter, small flames licked his palm like orange tongues. He lifted his hand and canceled the spell.<br>The smell of burnt wood spread through the library and a black hole in the table looked like an eye, staring at Jon angrily.<br>'This will do!'- The spell worked just like he hoped it would and this meant the other two spells would be the same.<br><br>"Chilling Grasp" Spell Learnt<br>While the spell is active the temperature around your hand lowers drastically, creating liquid dioxide which is then spread around your hand like a glove.<br>Your skin is protected from the freezing cold but anything touched by the liquid will freeze.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br>His hand was slowly surrounded by swirling mist. A chill ran through his body and his skin covered in goosebumps. He canceled the spell after looking at the hypnotizing movement of the mist. There was no need to test the spell on anything as he had already read what the effect would be like.<br>Done with the book he put it away and stretched his muscles. A few knacks escaped from his joints when he stood up to do that. Jon dropped back into the armchair and was surprised to see how fast the time went by.<br>Outside the window it was already dark. The moon was visible and the first stars were appearing in the night sky. He looked up at the ceiling and saw magic lanterns that mimicked daylight.<br>-'Maybe I should learn how to cast that…'- an image of a man appeared in his mind and he leaned back into the pillow of the armchair, nibbling on a Grezgler's tail he took out of his inventory. It reminded him a little of cinnamon as it slowly melted in his mouth. The short black tail was halfway gone when he recalled where he had seen the man. He was the one that he had met right before he entered the Rogues guild for the first time. He said something about recasting the magic in the shooting range.<br>-'I wonder how much he got paid?'- The tail was almost gone. –'If it's a low level spell I could help them with that… they hardly have any funds as it is.'-<br><br>He took out the flask Unknowadd had given him and took another gulp. The brew inside made noises as it moved. Some of the players were looking at him enviously, moving their eyes from his face to the flask he was holding.<br>Most of the library funds came from profits of selling the special brew. Jon even saw a player trying to bargain for the brews recipe but after offering ten thousand gold pieces and still getting no for an answer he gave up and left in anger.<br>Jon would be more cautious with the flask if these weren’t docile trainee mages. The shortage of brew has made the life of mages twice as hard and made the price of mandrake roots skyrocket.<br>The roots gave the same affect as the brew but were rare and pricy to begin with. Now with Unknoadd no longer selling the "Scholars Brew" only the richest mages could allow themselves the luxury of a bonus to reading speed.<br>-'Not much left… I better hurry.'- He secured the cork and put the flask back into his inventory.<br><br>"Static Hand" Spell Learnt<br>The spell amplifies the electric signals in your body and directs their energy to your hand.<br>The mana stores the extra electricity around your hand and releases it upon touch.<br>Affects: 3% chance to stun your opponent.<br>Cost: 5 Mp every second.<br><br>Strands of electricity were jumping between his stretched fingers. The hairs on his arm stood up and a weak crackling sound came from his hand. He knew he couldn't get electrified by his own spell so there was no hesitation when he reached to his knife.<br>Before his hand even grasped the hilt, the electricity visibly jumped to the metal knife. He held the knife up and saw the electricity arc from his hand to the tip of the blade. He looked around to see if there was anything to try it on but the only things that were suitable were other players in the library. He thought about it for a moment, even found a target, but in the end decided not to hurry.<br>-'Now that I'm a mage I need to drop my fame… hmm…'- He knew a quick way, but he needed to wait for night time.<br>Good thing he still had a book to read, the timing was perfect. He ignored the group of players trying to hold a portal open again, took a gulp of scholars brew and opened the book.<br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Earth, Dirt, Stone, Mana!"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br>Earth Affinity Acquired<br>Specializing in large scale spells, practitioners of earth magic can summon a force of nature itself and transform the face of the planets surface.<br>By sending mana down into the ground and using the earth itself as a conductor, earth spells do not suffer a distance penalty like other spells.<br>Affinity: 1%<br><br>He didn't have any particular interest in this field of magic, but since it was the last affinity available for him until his magic mastery reached intermediate he took the time to acquire it. Luckily it came with a reward.<br><br>New Achievement<br>Five Out Of Five<br>You've earned this achievement for acquiring all five element affinities available to beginner mages.<br>This had to be completed before magic mastery skill rises to level six for the achievement to count.<br>Bonus: +100 Mana<br><br>He also gained knowledge of a spell that would be very useful if he ever wanted to raise his alchemy level. However it was a spell that required level seven magic mastery and ice affinity. The latter wasn't a problem but he almost died while trying to cast a high level spell and he was a bit hesitant of trying again. This time he wouldn't have the dragon meat bonus to protect him if anything failed.<br>-'My stats are much higher than those of my level… should I try?'- Jon knew already he would try to cast the spell but he still tried to convince himself otherwise, even as his hands were turning the pages to that of the spell.<br>To lessen the risk as much as he could he took out an apple from his inventory. Food didn't rot while it was inside the inventory and could be held fresh indefinitely. Jon peeled the apple and cut it to pieces with great care.<br>His level five cooking skill and his level three alchemy skill were applied to the fruit so when he ate it the bonus was amplified.<br><br>Apple Consumed<br>A simple red apple one can find in any grocery store or food stall.<br>Considered the fruit of wisdom after its important role in the biblical story of Adam and Eve.<br>Effects: Wisdom +10<br>Intelligence +10<br>Unknown<br>Unknown<br>Unknown<br><br><br>It wasn't much but fifty more Mp could mean the difference between life and death. He hoped the effects would last long enough for him to complete the spell. If it was as long as the healing rain chant the apple would have served as nothing more than a tasty snack.<br><br>Breathing deep, Jon blocked out the sounds of the room and concentrated all of his attention on the correct pronunciation of the spell. He read page after page ignoring the sweat that began to form on his brow.<br>Wrinkles appeared and deepened on his forehead as he progressed with the spell. It turned out shorter that the healing rain spell but much more complicated.<br>Maybe it was because he hadn't read any books on the subject like he did on healing magic, but it felt to him that he just couldn't understand how the spell worked at all. Why and how did the spell wield his mana to get the desired effect were lost on Jon and because of that the end result was disappointing. It took seventeen minutes with the help of the scholars brew to finish casting the spell and as soon as the last word was uttered his Mp bar began to shorten.<br><br>Sprout Spell Learnt<br>With the use of mana, an earth mage who has knowledge of ice or water magic can force a plant or seed to grow at an accelerated rate.<br>Unless the mage knows everything there is about the plant, the adult plant will not be able to compete with an original one both in size and offered effect.<br>Cost: 500 Mp<br><br>Jon aimed the spell at one of the apple seeds on the table and as his Mp was consumed a glow appeared around the seed. When half of the mana required for the spell to work was invested the seed began to glow. All was going smoothly when suddenly, without any sign or notice, the mana that was used up was expelled from the seed and thrown back to Jon. He wasn't given a chance to react when all of the mana entered him with such force that he felt like he was being torn apart. As the sudden pain dissipated an uncomfortable feeling of prickling needles was left in his body. His arms felt bloated and the tips of his fingers, toes, ears and nose felt as if they were burnt.<br>He was sitting half way down the armchair, with his legs and arms extended forward while his head was stretched back almost to the point of breaking the neck.<br>The mind slowly recovered and began to work again although with some delay, making his thoughts stutter. The body however was unresponsive and stunned.<br>This was a problem as his Mp bar was empty, while his Hp bar had only eighty three points left. If a spell backfired like this on a battlefield he would have died for sure.<br>It made no sound when it happened so other inhabitants of the library didn't notice and kept to their own business. Jon couldn't move and had nothing to do but sit and watch the others while feeling was slowly returning into his numb body. The system notice refused to disappear on its own and was blocking some of his field of vision.<br><br>Magic Capacity Levels Up<br><br>One guy looked back at him and smiled knowingly. He came to Jon and offered a glass of water at which Jon looked suspiciously.<br>"Drink. It will help," he said cheerfully.<br>Carefully Jon held the glass with both of his hands. His fingers refused to close and remained extended making the glass shake slightly. The first mouthful sent a wave of relief through him. His stiff body relaxed and he managed to sit back into the armchair comfortably. The man looked at him and left, giggling quietly to himself.<br>As he downed the last drops from the glass he was feeling like his body belonged to him again. Only a burning sensation at the tips of his ears refused to leave. He touched them gently to see if they were okay and since they felt fine to the touch he ignored them and concentrated on regulating his breath.The icon showing the meditation skill was active appeared at its usual place over the Mp bar. He waited until he had enough to heal himself.<br>-'I'll need to take some time to train the magic capacity skill… it probably saved my life this time.'-<br>He thought about trying the spell again but saw that the sun had already set and didn't really want to miss his opportunity because he was stunned in his chair.<br><br>It was still a bit early so to while away the time he browsed through bookshelves, reading book titles without any particular agenda. He wondered if it was possible to finish them all.<br>-'Maybe if I had an extremely concentrated dose of scholars brew…'-<br>One of the books, a really dirty and torn one, piqued his interest. A soft book with no hardcover, this book had clearly gone through a lot. Fingerprints covered every page and some of the pages were ripped and crumpled. The title said "Miscellaneous Spells for Adventurers", it didn't have a description on its back, so Jon skimmed through it.<br>It was a useful book but not for mages. It had spells that didn't require magic mastery to cast. These spells were useful for other classes, a warrior or a rough. It had spells for lighting fire, condensing water out of air, making a light orb, conjuring a magical rope and many other daily use spells.<br>Jon wondered though what player could use this unless he was a mage. Even the simplest spells required an absurd amount of Mp. The lowest number he saw was on the "Fresh Air" spell, a spell that got rid of bad smells, and it needed four hundred and fifty Mp to cast. A spell with the same affect and name from the wind affinity book cost only ten Mp.<br>Flipping through the pages the book opened on a spell called "Guiding Light". The book explained that the spell taps into the divine power of the gods to show an adventurer a general direction of where the goal of his quest was. This was an unbelievably useful spell, but needed five thousand Mp to cast.<br>-'I saw some of these spells in other books… maybe this one has an equivalent as well?'-<br><br>There was a different librarian during night time but he managed to find the book just as fast as the other one.<br>"This is the one with the spell you wanted," he handed Jon a medium sized book called "Searching and Exploring With the Help Of Magic".<br>"But you'll need these to learn it." He held up two more books.<br>"It's fine." Jon took the first book and looked for the spell. It was there and here it required only eight hundred Mp. A little bit more than he had but he could still cast it without too much risk as the magic mastery needed was of level five.<br>"Ohh… I guess you already have an affinity with the holy element."<br>Jon looked at the time in his main menu and saw it was the middle of the night. It explained why the library was so much quieter now. It was what he was waiting for but he wanted that spell.<br>"I'm borrowing the book." Jon stated to the librarian.<br>"No problem." He picked a thick book from his desk and handed a quill to Jon. "Just sign here."<br>"Good. You can have it for one month but I rather you return it sooner. We only have two copies of this one." He filled out the rest of the details like the title, author and condition by himself.<br>"If you don't return it after a month we will find you and take it from you. There will be a very high fee to pay then."<br>The librarian glanced over Jon from head to feet and added a simple warning.<br>"Don't think you can hide from us. Even the best rogues don't stand a chance against our seekers."<br>The librarian was trying to scare Jon and was a little annoyed when he was ignored. He closed the log book with more force that was needed, making dust fly out of it, and put it back in its place. Jon left the library while he was doing that.<br><br>Jon opened his stats menu and put the book in his inventory for later. <br><br>Stat Window<br>Avatar: Jon Type: Chaotic<br>Level: 15 Class: Mage<br>Title: Leader of the Pack<br>+10 Charisma<br>Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.<br>Life: 1066 Fame: -82 Mana: 530(+250)<br>Strength: 98(+5) Dexterity: 97 Vitality: 61<br>Wisdom: 48 Intelligence: 74 Focus: 13<br>Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0<br>Offence: 9 Defense: 10<br>Resistance to Magic:<br>Air: 1%<br>Cold: 6%<br>Earth: 1%<br>Fire: 3%<br>Holy: 1%<br>Lightning: 1%<br>Affinity to Elements:<br>Air: 1%<br>Ice: 6%<br>Earth: 1%<br>Fire: 3%<br>Holy: 1%<br>Lightning: 1% <br><br><br>-'It's time.'-<br>He was stretching his body and loosening his joints as he walked. Purple colored magic mesmerized him when he started playing and tonight he would fulfil the condition for its use.<br>All he needed was to kill twenty one people. A simple task when they arrange themselves like sheep for the slaughter.
</div> | Chapter Eleven – Branching Out
A faint afterglow covered the horizon in crimson, coloring the clouds in red, making the sky blush as the sun slowly hid behind the horizon..
The first stars appeared in the sky and soon after them the moon became clearly visible in the darkening skies. Looking down, Jon saw an impenetrable blackness which reached all the way down to the bottom. He would need to descend the tree almost blind, but the prospect didn't discourage him in the least, on the contrary, he welcomed the challenge. He took another long glance at the crimson sunset trying to memorize the beautiful sight that marked a new beginning for him. The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon but a bright line of orange and red still separated the world from the black sky.
Grabbing the handle of his knife he jumped and began to slide down the tree trunk. He drove the knife into the wood to slow his descent, and although the palms of his hands became white from the strain and his shoulders threatened to pop out of their sockets, except for a scratch or two he managed to get back down safely.
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he noticed that the closer he got to the ground the brighter everything became. However, when his boots felt the comfortable hardness of the ground he saw that the entire clearing was illuminated in a multicolored glow.
The weird flowers he saw during the day were now shining softly and since there seemed to be thousands of them, it was almost as if the sun hadn't disappeared behind the horizon but instead, had fallen down here into the clearing.
A smile spread on Jon's face as he touched a flower, glowing pink, next to him. In response to his touch it spit out pollens that floated randomly to the grass, shining all the way down.
He was laughing inside. This was the reason he came back to Royal Road, this feeling of wonder and surprise. He never expected this and the beautiful sight before him made him thank the creators of the game for implementing a camera option.
Jon pushed a bunch of flowers, sending spores to the air. The spores looked like fireflies as they slowly fell down on the water. There, they floated in one place, turning the water into pools of multicolored light. As the colors mixed together and more and more spores were added it looked to Jon like rainbows.
He set up a camera menu, stood before the rainbow pools, spread his arms apart, and took a picture of himself.
-'I'll show this to Gorge later.'-
The tower he saw was in the south and that was the way he went.
The glow from the clearing disappeared after a few minutes, hidden amongst tall trees and wide bushes. The second the darkness became complete, buzzing sounds surrounded him.
He felt things land on him but couldn't see what.
A few muttered words summoned a mana ball that shone a circle of light around him. Clear blue light fell on hundreds of insects in all shapes and sizes.
From very small bugs that traveled together in a buzzing cloud, to insects as big as Jon's fist whose wings flapped at incredible speed to keep them in the air.
He lifted his knife to defend himself but saw the futility of it. He wished he had learned a fire spell but remembered he had something else that could work.
Leaving the ball of blue light to hover over his head, he chanted a spell and spread his palm which started to radiate a faint light. A large, ugly bug was heading his way so Jon moved his hand to greet it and activated the spell.
Snow began to form between his fingers and was sent flying forward in the shape of a large cone. The cold air struck the bug and slowed it down. The bug's wings froze and it fell to the ground together with a multitude of other, angrily buzzing, insects..
Jon continued on his way, the cone of frost moving from side to side. Most of the insects fell to the ground while the smaller ones died from the spell. He looked at his Mp bar and calculated that he could keep the spell active for about twenty five minutes but then the bugs will tear him to pieces.
Imagining his body being sucked dry and eaten by thousands of those critters fastened his heartbeat. Taking deep breaths, he slowly calmed himself down, and when the sound of his own heartbeat didn’t echo in his ears anymore, a small icon appeared in his peripheral vision. A small square positioned itself over his MP bar, and was a sign that the meditation skill was active and his MP would now regenerate faster. It gave him a little more room for breath, but in an hour all of his Mp would be gone.
The annoying buzzing was getting louder. It looked as if every bug he got rid of was replaced three more.
-'They have to end at some point…'- Jon was waving around a sword with his free hand, trying to squash as many insects as he could with the flat sides of the blade. Drops of sticky green liquid flew around with every swing. The blade became covered with so much insect shells he had had to stop and wipe it off on a tree. More than once.
He didn't know how far it was to the tower he saw, but at the speed he was going, he doubted he would reach it before morning. Hastening his steps didn't help much, since he had to battle his way through walls of bugs.
Jon was getting dangerously close to running out of mana but the amount of bugs refused to decrease.
-'Where are they all coming from?'- He was starting to get desperate,
He refused to die on the day he opened a new page in his life, it would be a bad omen and mean bad luck from now on. His whole soul cried out and a miracle happened. A large cloud spread in front of him, blocking the light from the mana ball the swarm of small, mosquito resembling insects, looked like a pitch black beast that was awoken from its slumber and being famished it was now after Jon.
His spell froze them but there were just too many. He saw them land on his skin and block it from his eyes. To save himself, he lifted his arm over his head and let the freezing engulf his whole body.
The insects didn't give up and resumed their assault on him, only to freeze to death.
Level Up
Each bug gave an almost unnoticeable amount of experience points as it died, however hundreds of them froze to death from his spell and hundreds more were smashed to pieces on his sword. Together they managed to raise a small amount of experience he needed to level up.
Jon breathed out loudly once he knew he was out of danger for now.
When leveling up, Hp and Mp are fully restored, and negative effects are removed.
Jon was tired and sweating heavily. The uncomfortable way he was forced to walk in and constant sword swinging were tiring him fast. He wasn't hungry but his throat was parched. Looking around as he was moving he didn't see any water, only sticky, shiny ooze that dripped from his sword.
-'I wonder…'-
He was using already magic , so another one would make little difference.
Jon sheathed his sword and after chanting a few lines an icicle formed in his palm. It floated patiently, waiting for the one who conjured it to choose a target and send it flying.
Control Magic Levels Up
Intelligence Rises by 1(+1 Int)
Instead of shooting it at the annoying buzzers around him, he grabbed hold of it and put the tip in his mouth. He feared it would freeze his face but with the spell canceled, all of the magic left it and it remained a simple, although sharp, piece of ice. Sucking on it, the scratching in the back of his throat began to fade.
He took out the sword again and returned to insect massacre.
Jon would have died in the forest that night if not for four things that happened.
"Cone of Frost" Spell Levels Up
Meditation Skill Levels Up
Sword Mastery Learnt
Sword mastery affects your ability to use swords efficiently.
The higher the skill level, the easier it will become to perform powerful and elaborate techniques.
Level 1: Attack Power +5%
Attack Speed +5%
And the fourth thing, which was the one that really saved him from the onslaught of bugs, was finding out the reason they were following him.
Some of the pollens, from the shining flowers in the clearing, were stuck to him and they attracted them to him. His mana was just about to run out when he saw the light from the mana ball over his head being reflected at him.
The light came upon a small pond and spread on the peaceful water, coloring the water and making it look like a glass floor. Without a second thought he jumped inside and rinsed himself from the pollens. A few insects still circled around him when he came out, but these were just normal mosquitoes that were looking for a chance to suck his blood.
Now he had some time to think and as he increased his pace, Jon couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't encountered any animals except the bugs yet. The sun was beginning to show its presence, coloring the sky above him an orange tint that seemed to be fighting the black of the night, yet still he didn't see any animals.
He heard them but when he looked at the direction the sound came from, the noise died off and the creature that made it was gone.
It became easier to move around so he walked faster.
With no need to protect his life he cast the Swift buff on himself and sped up even more. The distance between trees was growing smaller and the leaves above him were lowering. The bushes and wandering roots that blocked his path a while ago were becoming rarer and from time to time, he thought he heard city sounds.
The sun was high in the sky, scorching Jon's skin even through dense cover of the foliage above him. Animals started to appear all around him. The first he noticed were the birds, whose wing flap he could hear as they passed from one tree to the next. Small sets of eyes looked at him from everywhere as he made his way through the forest. He heard fighting noises and began to run.
The trees opened, letting a view of the citadel walls penetrate their natural, green curtain. He stepped onto the wide grassland that circled Serabourg and felt his strength return to him. It was a long night and he was tired and dirty. His entire body was sticky from the bug's insides that splattered on him and he was wondering where he could wash it off. The mages' guild dormitory came to mind and that’s where he went, ignoring the shocked players around him.
The way he popped out of the forest surprised some of the low level players enough to make them drop their weapons.
In Royal Road, all a player had to do to clean himself up was re-log into the game. When a player logged into the game, his avatar was cleaned up and ready to battle. However, there was a timer that prevented logging back in immediately. The average waiting time was ten minutes, but sometimes it was as long as an hour.
As he walked through the street stalls near the gate he looked at them as if seeing for the first time. He never noticed how many people were actually playing Royal Road at any given moment, but now he noticed the crowd he had to push through stretched to the citadel center square, where a large fountain with a statue of Freya was placed.
Suddenly, a flashback of his first moments of the game flashed before him when he saw the spot where those three players attacked him.
-'I wonder what's happened to them?'-
He didn't know that those three players took part in the war, and that they were among the first players to die.
Jon stepped into the shadow cast by the mages' tower. He looked up at its twenty-one floors and saw a man flying out of a window. He followed him until the man disappeared over the citadel wall and wondered if that was the guild leader. It was hard to tell what the man was wearing since he was moving so fast, but Jon thought he saw a chainmail on him which stroke Jon as weird. Mages rarely wore anything but robes. However, looking down at his hard leather armor he smiled as he understood there were always exceptions.
The mages guild was bustling with activity.
There were at least a hundred mage trainees at any given moment inside, learning and practicing magic. Together with dozens of Npcs and about a hundred of other players, there was hardly a place where one could be alone in the building.
As a member of the guild Jon could use all the facilities it had to offer and was entitled to a bed and a chest where he could store his things. Showers were open to him as well and as each dormitory floor had a few, he climbed the stairs to the fifth floor where the rooms started.
As he passed the showers he heard voices inside and ignored the room, heading to the next floor where the beginner mages were stronger but fewer.
Each floor he passed seemed to be arranged in the same way. Eighteen rooms were spread in the middle, surrounding the staircase. Narrow corridors passed between every pair of rooms with a window at the end. The showers and toilets were placed on both sides of each floor, at the far ends of the largest corridor that seemed to split the floor in half.
The lower floors had three or four beds in each room, with the fifth floor having six beds in every room but starting from the tenth floor each room seemed to be reserved fortwo players.
On the fifteenth floor the sounds of the street could no longer be heard and silence was deafening. The few people he passed glanced at him in wonder but didn't bother with him.
Each step he made echoed in the stone corridors and when he opened the door to the showers of the sixteenth floor its hinges squeaked loudly, startling him and sending his hand to search for the hilt of his knife.
He looked behind to see if there was anyone to discern him but the brick corridor was empty. Only a few spiders moved on their spider webs that hung from the ceiling and a flick of a rat tail that disappeared from view in one of the rooms.
There were six shower stalls, separated from the rest of the bathroom by a wall. Sinks and toilets were on the other side of the room and that was where hooks and benches were laid out. Most of what Jon wore was made out of leather and he washed it first in one of the sinks. The water turned green and yellow as the leather became cleaner. He gave his sword a quick rinse and left everything to dry on the hooks.
He found what looked like a bottle of soap that had an unfamiliar smell on the bench in the shower room and used it plenty. Soon steam filled the room and the fragrance of the soap hung in the air. There must have been some magic system involved, because there were no visible pipes and the shower head simply hovered in the air. Two crystals were embedded into the wall, one red and one blue. Touching them changed the temperature of the water according to the crystal color.
He lost the track of time while he was standing under the stream of hot water, his mind raced imagining different scenarios and how he could fight in them. Motivation and determination filled him but he knew that with his current skill levels it was impossible. He needed something like the mana ball to raise his magic mastery and be useful at the same time. He remembered reading about something suitable in the cleric book but couldn't remember the specifics.
He turned off the water and stepped out to the other room.
Fresh and Clean Bonus
Your mind and body are rested and you feel good.
Stamina, Mp and Hp fully restored.
For the next three hours the chance of spells failing is reduced by half.
He didn't have a towel so he opened one of the windows and let the wind dry him while he enjoyed a view of the citadel spread beneath him.
A loud squeak from the door announced to Jon that someone joined him and he turned around to look who.
By his robes it was clear that he was a mage, and like most mages he was on the short side. He seemed about twelve and was pretty chubby. Acne and barely visible whiskers covered his face. A rat sat comfortably on his shoulder but after one look at Jon's nude body the rat jumped under the boy's robe and started shaking.
Jon was taller than most people and would usually stand out in a crowd.
Years of hard physical hardships had left their mark on him and turned his body into a mountain of muscle with no visible fat. His lean and muscular body type didn't show much strength when he wore clothes but standing naked next to the window, his wide shoulders and large chest plates looked huge to a small flabby kid.
The light of the window lit Jon from the side and weak shadows cross his flat stomach , making the squares of muscle that ran along it stand out.
With his long arms and legs and his straight posture that used all of his height to look down on the boy, he could have been mistaken for an angel, lit by the sun that made small drops of water on his body shine like jewels. However his long dark hair and scars that covered his entire body made him resemble a demon and when he smiled, the boy interpreted it as an evil grin. Without a word said the boy jumped out of the room and hurried down the stairs.
The glare from Jon's eyes, which were hidden behind his brow line, lodged itself in the boys mind and made him forget to breathe. The boy had never left the citadel before and for the past few months had dedicated his entire time to mastering magic. The leather armor and a sword that hung from the hooks put him on guard and the sight of Jon caught him by surprise making him imagine monsters where there were none..
He ran to the first Npc he saw and explained to her about a monster that sneaked into the guild.
While Jon was putting on his armor he noticed that it had a few large tears on it which started breaking apart in few places. The repair skill didn't work and he wondered where he could fave it fixed, or better yet learn to fix it himself.
Jon liked kids, and usually they liked him back. He didn't intend to scare the boy and was looking around to see if he could spot him while on his way to the library on the lower floors. There was only one staircase so they couldn't miss each other, and like he hoped, Jon met the kid on the flight of stairs that separated the sixth and seventh floors.
The boy was hiding behind the skirt of a stern looking woman, a mature woman, with a wrinkled face and an all knowing look in her eyes.
"You see?" she spoke to the boy. "There was nothing to be scared of. The man is your fellow guild member; apologize to him for acting rude."
She had to push the kid forward Jon, but eventually the boy looked at Jon's face and lowered his head in an apologizing gesture. Jon gave him a piece of cheese from his inventory to give to the rat. No words were said since none were needed. The boy took the cheese, bowed again and ran off with his pet rat up the stairs.
"I'm very sorry, sir." she turned to Jon when the boy disappeared behind a corner. "He's a sweet boy. Came to my dormitory a few months ago and hasn't left the building ever since." She straightened with her hands the place on her skirt that the boy crumpled when he was grabbing her.
"You see… he can't speak and somehow that has made him scared of anything that is unfamiliar to him. He's very bright for his age and has been learning spells mages much older than him are struggling with, but unless he goes out he will never get a chance to use them."
They were walking down the stairs and Jon had a suspicious feeling that someone was looking at him. He turned his head quickly and managed to see the boy hide himself behind the wall. With a smile he took out another piece of cheese, he had stocked his inventory with ingredients before quitting his position as kitchen hand, and nibbled on it for the boy to see. He left another piece on the floor and made a shape of whiskers next to his nose with his fingers, trying to tell the boy it was for his pet. The boy popped his head out for a second to look and hid again, waiting for Jon to continue down the stairs."He conveyed to me on paper," the woman talked about the boy as if he were her own child, "that he wanted to learn telepathy magic so he could speak to others. It's a great goal but there are a few master wizards that can manage that spell."
They separated on the fifth floor and Jon heard her voice a few moments later yelling at someone about some mess.
The library was filled with people as usual.
Unlike the citadel library, where Unknownadd kept silence as close to a crypt as possible, here groups of players were chatting leisurely and comparing notes with each other. Jon had never gone to school but that was what he imagined it might look like.
The librarian greeted him with a friendly hello and asked what book he could get him. Jon sat down in an empty armchair and looked around while he waited. They didn't notice him but the two girls that had taught him about magic, Irene and Romune if he remembered correctly, were busy reading next to a growing pile of books on their table. A large group of players were weaving a spell together, trying to hold open a portal of some sorts. The librarian blocked Jon's view as he passed him five books and by the time he left the portal was gone and the group looked disappointed.
He looked at the book titles and picked one at random. With a gulp of "Scholars Brew" and some help from the swift buff that to Jon's surprise worked on reading as well, the first book was finished in three hours.
You Have Completed the Book: "Air Is Everywhere"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Air Affinity Acquired
Knowing that air is not an empty vacuum but is made out of countless atoms, particles and even living beings, the mage can use his mana to manipulate the air around him to his needs.
Magic of this affinity is the hardest to control as air changes depending on where you are standing. However spells of this affinity are consume the least amount of Mp put of all spells.
Affinity: 1%
He wondered how strong he needed to be to fly in the air and was relieved to know it only required an intermediate level of magic mastery.
"Back Wind" Buff Learnt
By manipulating the air around you force it to turn into a gust of wind that continuously hits you in the back and pushes you forward.
Affects: Movement Speed Rises By 5%
Duration: 10 Minutes
Cost: 150 Mp
The incident with the bugs made him understand that learning an affinity was pointless if he didn't learn any spells of that nature. If he had had a fire spell at that time he could have lit a branch on fire and would've had a much easier time. You learn from your mistakes and Jon was back in the mages' library to learn.
The next three books were ones he had already read but they still had many spells in them that were left to learn. He chose one from each.
"Burning Touch" Spell Learnt
With the use of mana you can create a small flame and spread it around your palm. While the spell is active the mana channels the fire affinity and protects your skin from harm while at the same time raising the temperature of the fire until the palm of your hand glows in an almost white light from the intense heat.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
Jon cast the spell to see if it was what he hoped it to be and in his carelessness his leather glove combusted into sudden flames and was burnt into ashes in less than a second. He could feel a sudden warmness all over his body which felt nice and comforting. He touched a finger to a wooden table and smoke started to lift from it immediately. He applied a little force and his finger began to slide into the table as if it were butter, small flames licked his palm like orange tongues. He lifted his hand and canceled the spell.
The smell of burnt wood spread through the library and a black hole in the table looked like an eye, staring at Jon angrily.
'This will do!'- The spell worked just like he hoped it would and this meant the other two spells would be the same.
"Chilling Grasp" Spell Learnt
While the spell is active the temperature around your hand lowers drastically, creating liquid dioxide which is then spread around your hand like a glove.
Your skin is protected from the freezing cold but anything touched by the liquid will freeze.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
His hand was slowly surrounded by swirling mist. A chill ran through his body and his skin covered in goosebumps. He canceled the spell after looking at the hypnotizing movement of the mist. There was no need to test the spell on anything as he had already read what the effect would be like.
Done with the book he put it away and stretched his muscles. A few knacks escaped from his joints when he stood up to do that. Jon dropped back into the armchair and was surprised to see how fast the time went by.
Outside the window it was already dark. The moon was visible and the first stars were appearing in the night sky. He looked up at the ceiling and saw magic lanterns that mimicked daylight.
-'Maybe I should learn how to cast that…'- an image of a man appeared in his mind and he leaned back into the pillow of the armchair, nibbling on a Grezgler's tail he took out of his inventory. It reminded him a little of cinnamon as it slowly melted in his mouth. The short black tail was halfway gone when he recalled where he had seen the man. He was the one that he had met right before he entered the Rogues guild for the first time. He said something about recasting the magic in the shooting range.
-'I wonder how much he got paid?'- The tail was almost gone. –'If it's a low level spell I could help them with that… they hardly have any funds as it is.'-
He took out the flask Unknowadd had given him and took another gulp. The brew inside made noises as it moved. Some of the players were looking at him enviously, moving their eyes from his face to the flask he was holding.
Most of the library funds came from profits of selling the special brew. Jon even saw a player trying to bargain for the brews recipe but after offering ten thousand gold pieces and still getting no for an answer he gave up and left in anger.
Jon would be more cautious with the flask if these weren’t docile trainee mages. The shortage of brew has made the life of mages twice as hard and made the price of mandrake roots skyrocket.
The roots gave the same affect as the brew but were rare and pricy to begin with. Now with Unknoadd no longer selling the "Scholars Brew" only the richest mages could allow themselves the luxury of a bonus to reading speed.
-'Not much left… I better hurry.'- He secured the cork and put the flask back into his inventory.
"Static Hand" Spell Learnt
The spell amplifies the electric signals in your body and directs their energy to your hand.
The mana stores the extra electricity around your hand and releases it upon touch.
Affects: 3% chance to stun your opponent.
Cost: 5 Mp every second.
Strands of electricity were jumping between his stretched fingers. The hairs on his arm stood up and a weak crackling sound came from his hand. He knew he couldn't get electrified by his own spell so there was no hesitation when he reached to his knife.
Before his hand even grasped the hilt, the electricity visibly jumped to the metal knife. He held the knife up and saw the electricity arc from his hand to the tip of the blade. He looked around to see if there was anything to try it on but the only things that were suitable were other players in the library. He thought about it for a moment, even found a target, but in the end decided not to hurry.
-'Now that I'm a mage I need to drop my fame… hmm…'- He knew a quick way, but he needed to wait for night time.
Good thing he still had a book to read, the timing was perfect. He ignored the group of players trying to hold a portal open again, took a gulp of scholars brew and opened the book.
You Have Completed the Book: "Earth, Dirt, Stone, Mana!"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Earth Affinity Acquired
Specializing in large scale spells, practitioners of earth magic can summon a force of nature itself and transform the face of the planets surface.
By sending mana down into the ground and using the earth itself as a conductor, earth spells do not suffer a distance penalty like other spells.
Affinity: 1%
He didn't have any particular interest in this field of magic, but since it was the last affinity available for him until his magic mastery reached intermediate he took the time to acquire it. Luckily it came with a reward.
New Achievement
Five Out Of Five
You've earned this achievement for acquiring all five element affinities available to beginner mages.
This had to be completed before magic mastery skill rises to level six for the achievement to count.
Bonus: +100 Mana
He also gained knowledge of a spell that would be very useful if he ever wanted to raise his alchemy level. However it was a spell that required level seven magic mastery and ice affinity. The latter wasn't a problem but he almost died while trying to cast a high level spell and he was a bit hesitant of trying again. This time he wouldn't have the dragon meat bonus to protect him if anything failed.
-'My stats are much higher than those of my level… should I try?'- Jon knew already he would try to cast the spell but he still tried to convince himself otherwise, even as his hands were turning the pages to that of the spell.
To lessen the risk as much as he could he took out an apple from his inventory. Food didn't rot while it was inside the inventory and could be held fresh indefinitely. Jon peeled the apple and cut it to pieces with great care.
His level five cooking skill and his level three alchemy skill were applied to the fruit so when he ate it the bonus was amplified.
Apple Consumed
A simple red apple one can find in any grocery store or food stall.
Considered the fruit of wisdom after its important role in the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
Effects: Wisdom +10
Intelligence +10
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
It wasn't much but fifty more Mp could mean the difference between life and death. He hoped the effects would last long enough for him to complete the spell. If it was as long as the healing rain chant the apple would have served as nothing more than a tasty snack.
Breathing deep, Jon blocked out the sounds of the room and concentrated all of his attention on the correct pronunciation of the spell. He read page after page ignoring the sweat that began to form on his brow.
Wrinkles appeared and deepened on his forehead as he progressed with the spell. It turned out shorter that the healing rain spell but much more complicated.
Maybe it was because he hadn't read any books on the subject like he did on healing magic, but it felt to him that he just couldn't understand how the spell worked at all. Why and how did the spell wield his mana to get the desired effect were lost on Jon and because of that the end result was disappointing. It took seventeen minutes with the help of the scholars brew to finish casting the spell and as soon as the last word was uttered his Mp bar began to shorten.
Sprout Spell Learnt
With the use of mana, an earth mage who has knowledge of ice or water magic can force a plant or seed to grow at an accelerated rate.
Unless the mage knows everything there is about the plant, the adult plant will not be able to compete with an original one both in size and offered effect.
Cost: 500 Mp
Jon aimed the spell at one of the apple seeds on the table and as his Mp was consumed a glow appeared around the seed. When half of the mana required for the spell to work was invested the seed began to glow. All was going smoothly when suddenly, without any sign or notice, the mana that was used up was expelled from the seed and thrown back to Jon. He wasn't given a chance to react when all of the mana entered him with such force that he felt like he was being torn apart. As the sudden pain dissipated an uncomfortable feeling of prickling needles was left in his body. His arms felt bloated and the tips of his fingers, toes, ears and nose felt as if they were burnt.
He was sitting half way down the armchair, with his legs and arms extended forward while his head was stretched back almost to the point of breaking the neck.
The mind slowly recovered and began to work again although with some delay, making his thoughts stutter. The body however was unresponsive and stunned.
This was a problem as his Mp bar was empty, while his Hp bar had only eighty three points left. If a spell backfired like this on a battlefield he would have died for sure.
It made no sound when it happened so other inhabitants of the library didn't notice and kept to their own business. Jon couldn't move and had nothing to do but sit and watch the others while feeling was slowly returning into his numb body. The system notice refused to disappear on its own and was blocking some of his field of vision.
Magic Capacity Levels Up
One guy looked back at him and smiled knowingly. He came to Jon and offered a glass of water at which Jon looked suspiciously.
"Drink. It will help," he said cheerfully.
Carefully Jon held the glass with both of his hands. His fingers refused to close and remained extended making the glass shake slightly. The first mouthful sent a wave of relief through him. His stiff body relaxed and he managed to sit back into the armchair comfortably. The man looked at him and left, giggling quietly to himself.
As he downed the last drops from the glass he was feeling like his body belonged to him again. Only a burning sensation at the tips of his ears refused to leave. He touched them gently to see if they were okay and since they felt fine to the touch he ignored them and concentrated on regulating his breath.The icon showing the meditation skill was active appeared at its usual place over the Mp bar. He waited until he had enough to heal himself.
-'I'll need to take some time to train the magic capacity skill… it probably saved my life this time.'-
He thought about trying the spell again but saw that the sun had already set and didn't really want to miss his opportunity because he was stunned in his chair.
It was still a bit early so to while away the time he browsed through bookshelves, reading book titles without any particular agenda. He wondered if it was possible to finish them all.
-'Maybe if I had an extremely concentrated dose of scholars brew…'-
One of the books, a really dirty and torn one, piqued his interest. A soft book with no hardcover, this book had clearly gone through a lot. Fingerprints covered every page and some of the pages were ripped and crumpled. The title said "Miscellaneous Spells for Adventurers", it didn't have a description on its back, so Jon skimmed through it.
It was a useful book but not for mages. It had spells that didn't require magic mastery to cast. These spells were useful for other classes, a warrior or a rough. It had spells for lighting fire, condensing water out of air, making a light orb, conjuring a magical rope and many other daily use spells.
Jon wondered though what player could use this unless he was a mage. Even the simplest spells required an absurd amount of Mp. The lowest number he saw was on the "Fresh Air" spell, a spell that got rid of bad smells, and it needed four hundred and fifty Mp to cast. A spell with the same affect and name from the wind affinity book cost only ten Mp.
Flipping through the pages the book opened on a spell called "Guiding Light". The book explained that the spell taps into the divine power of the gods to show an adventurer a general direction of where the goal of his quest was. This was an unbelievably useful spell, but needed five thousand Mp to cast.
-'I saw some of these spells in other books… maybe this one has an equivalent as well?'-
There was a different librarian during night time but he managed to find the book just as fast as the other one.
"This is the one with the spell you wanted," he handed Jon a medium sized book called "Searching and Exploring With the Help Of Magic".
"But you'll need these to learn it." He held up two more books.
"It's fine." Jon took the first book and looked for the spell. It was there and here it required only eight hundred Mp. A little bit more than he had but he could still cast it without too much risk as the magic mastery needed was of level five.
"Ohh… I guess you already have an affinity with the holy element."
Jon looked at the time in his main menu and saw it was the middle of the night. It explained why the library was so much quieter now. It was what he was waiting for but he wanted that spell.
"I'm borrowing the book." Jon stated to the librarian.
"No problem." He picked a thick book from his desk and handed a quill to Jon. "Just sign here."
"Good. You can have it for one month but I rather you return it sooner. We only have two copies of this one." He filled out the rest of the details like the title, author and condition by himself.
"If you don't return it after a month we will find you and take it from you. There will be a very high fee to pay then."
The librarian glanced over Jon from head to feet and added a simple warning.
"Don't think you can hide from us. Even the best rogues don't stand a chance against our seekers."
The librarian was trying to scare Jon and was a little annoyed when he was ignored. He closed the log book with more force that was needed, making dust fly out of it, and put it back in its place. Jon left the library while he was doing that.
Jon opened his stats menu and put the book in his inventory for later.
Stat Window
Avatar: Jon Type: Chaotic
Level: 15 Class: Mage
Title: Leader of the Pack
+10 Charisma
Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.
Life: 1066 Fame: -82 Mana: 530(+250)
Strength: 98(+5) Dexterity: 97 Vitality: 61
Wisdom: 48 Intelligence: 74 Focus: 13
Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0
Offence: 9 Defense: 10
Resistance to Magic:
Air: 1%
Cold: 6%
Earth: 1%
Fire: 3%
Holy: 1%
Lightning: 1%
Affinity to Elements:
Air: 1%
Ice: 6%
Earth: 1%
Fire: 3%
Holy: 1%
Lightning: 1%
-'It's time.'-
He was stretching his body and loosening his joints as he walked. Purple colored magic mesmerized him when he started playing and tonight he would fulfil the condition for its use.
All he needed was to kill twenty one people. A simple task when they arrange themselves like sheep for the slaughter. |
{
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries by Glitch",
"id": 44,
"author": "Glitch",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries - Chapter 1",
"id": 94,
"next": 95,
"prev": 93,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 1<br><br><br>The light faded on another spring day as a lone girl trudged her way up the metal stairs of a particularly crumby looking apartment building. With each step forward she cursed her inability to find another place to live.<br><br>“Why did the third story have to be the cheapest? They could at least put in an elevator, the cheapskates.”<br><br>Finally making it to the top of the staircase she adjusted her bag and started making her way to apartment number 307. Of course it had to be the farthest one away from her current position.<br><br>“This might not be so bad if I hadn’t tried to keep up with Jen all day.”<br><br>After having lunch with Jen earlier in the day, the two of them decided to go shopping at the local mall. A terrible decision in retrospect, as trying to keep up with Jen while shopping was like trying to catch a fly with chopsticks. Not the movie scene where a martial arts master does it in a single try. More like the 10 year old kid who thinks it’s possible and spends hours darting around the house chasing the damn thing before collapsing from exhaustion.<br><br>“Well it was tiring, but fun nonetheless.”<br><br>A smile spread across Kristen’s face as she rummaged through her bag to look for her keys. Once found, she slid the key into the lock and twisted until she heard a click. She then proceeded to swing the door open. After entering she closed the door behind her and took off her shoes, placing them in the doorway. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness but she did get a waft of stale ramen containers and books--Home.<br><br>Even though she could barely see in front of her, she knew the layout by heart. Not that there was much to remember. There was one big room that was divided down the middle by a wall, on the right a hallway leading to her bedroom and the bathroom. On the left, the kitchen, and the big open space directly in front of the door acted as a living/dining/whatever-else-It’s-needed-for room.<br><br>Feeling too lazy to deal with the crappy design flaw of having the light switch on the other side of the room, Kristen dragged her feet toward the armrest of the sofa she knew to be in front of her. As her knees hit the sofa and her momentum spilled her forward, her eyes had just adjusted enough to the light to notice the faint outline of a person sleeping.<br><br>At the last moment Kristen twisted her body a full 360 degrees while falling to avoid landing on the couch. While doing so, her hand whipped around and slammed onto the coffee table positioned in front of the sofa with what felt like the force of a semi-truck.<br><br>“GAAHH!!”<br><br>Kristen instantly clutched her left hand and tried to suppress the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. While she lay whimpering between the two pieces of furniture, the person who was sleeping now jolted awake.<br><br>“Wha-huh? …Oh Krissy it’s just you..haha…what the hell happened?”<br><br>Recovering a bit from the throbbing pain in her left hand she took her one good hand and began throwing punches in the general direction of the sofa.<br><br>“Ow!... Ow! ..ow….Hey …STOP IT!” and with that he grabbed her hand and took advantage of the difference in strength. He used this opportunity to get up from the sofa and began walking to the other side of the room.<br><br>“Hang on a sec, lemme get the lights.”<br><br>With the bright flash that came, both of them were forced to squint their eyes in adjustment.<br><br>“What the hell are you doing here Kevin?” asked Kristen cursing under her breath and shaking her hand in an attempt to stop the throbbing.<br><br>“Explain why you started hitting me without warning first?... Actually are you all right? You look hurt.”<br><br>Kristen positioned herself on the end of the sofa as her brother made his way back and sat on the other end.<br><br>“You probably deserved it… anyway I’m fine so answer my question.” And with that she stuck her thumb in her mouth and waited for an answer. Kevin let out a sigh and answered.<br><br>“Didn’t mom tell you already? She called last week and told you about me visiting your college today, don’t you remember?”<br><br>“Yeah she did, but what does that have to do with you being in my apartment? How’d you even get in anyway?”<br><br>“I just told the landlord I was your brother and he let me in.”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Tch I shouldn’t have told that bastard I had siblings.</span><br><br>“Also, our parents figured it would be a good opportunity to check up on you.”<br><br>“I should have expected as much, mom sounded a bit suspicious over the phone.”<br><br>“Yeah, well, you know how they are” Kevin brushed his hair out of his eyes and gave a little chuckle.<br><br>This was the first time since Christmas break she had seen her brother. Kevin was the easiest of her brothers to get along with. Maybe it was because he was the closest to her in age, but more likely it was because of his laid back attitude. At home he was influenced by her father and other brothers’ stupidity, but on his own he was easy to deal with.<br><br>Kevin had long hair for a guy as the dark strands brushed the top of his shoulders. His goatee emphasized the strong jawline that seemed to be such a popular trait in the family. He had long limbs which gave him a very slim figure and he was very tall, topping out at exactly 6 feet.<br><br>“Hah~ yeah I know…..anyway, how was the tour?” she asked, interested in his opinion.<br><br>“Alright I guess, they tried to give me the same bullshit line that reeled you in heheh”. He smirked at the opportunity to send a jab at his sister.<br><br>“It’s not all a lie, you just have to wait an extra year until that curriculum kicks in, I planned on going here regardless of what pitch they used so it didn’t make that big of a difference in the end.”<br><br>“Well unlike you I’m not reckless enough to only apply to one school, so I have some options.” Kevin leaned back into his seat and brought his middle and ring finger up to trace his eyebrow, a habit of his that Kristen had noticed over the years.<br><br>Kristen leaned forward, the pain finally subsiding from her hand.<br><br>“You mean you’re not awesome enough to do something like that. It must be tough always being in the shadow of such an amazing sister.” Kristen placed her hands on her hips, trying to play up the act.<br><br>“Yea I’m not awesome enough to stay single throughout all of high school like you.” The sarcasm in his words oozed out as he curled up expecting punches to be thrown.<br><br>“Hey! Whose fault do you think that is!?”<br><br>“I don’t know what you mean.” He said while a smile creeped across his face and his defense tightened.<br><br>Getting riled up at her brothers feigned ignorance Kristen said “Really? You don’t know what I mean? So you don’t remember what happened with Tony?”<br><br>“What about Tony?”<br><br>“I brought him home and the five of you decided to act like gangsters, asking if he wanted to be ‘indoctrinated into the family’, that’s what! What could possibly possess you to do such a thing?”<br><br>“We had a good reason for it!” Kevin said, trying to muster a defense.<br><br>“Ok, what was it then?”<br><br>“James said he had a tattoo.” He said frankly.<br><br>Kristen couldn’t hide her irritation any longer. “You do realize his tattoo was a small butterfly on his ankle right?”<br><br>“Well now I do, but how were we supposed to know that?...besides you have to admit, it was pretty funny to see his reaction when he saw us.”<br><br>Kristen buried her face in her hands before gathering herself and asking a question.<br>“Alright well anyway, how long are you staying…cause I have work tomorrow afternoon.”<br><br>“Kicking me out already huh? Don’t worry I’m just staying for tonight; I’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up tomorrow.”<br><br>Kristen let out a sigh and rocked herself forward so she could stand up.<br><br>“OK well I’m just gonna take a shower and go to bed, I’m beat no thanks to Jen.”<br><br>“What’s this? You went out and did something other than work? …haha how’d that go?” he said tracing his eyebrow once again.<br><br>“It was fun.” She said, too tired to engage in his banter.<br><br>“Oh Kev, before I forget….you do know there are pillows and blankets in the closet in my room right? You should grab some.”<br><br>“Oh that’s where they were? I was wondering where you hid them.”<br><br>With that Kristen got a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. The warm water slowly eased the tension in her muscles and when she finally exited the shower she was fully relaxed. After getting dressed in her usual pajamas, she opened the door while still drying her hair to see her brother sound asleep on the couch.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I’ll never understand how he falls asleep so quickly.</span><br><br>She made her way to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Once again she was reminded how small her place was by the fact that there was barely enough room for her to fit between the dresser on the left wall and her bed in the middle of the room. On the far wall was her desk with papers strewn about everywhere and books piled on top of each other. This was where she headed.<br><br>Kristen sat down at her desk and opened up her laptop. Even though she was sure she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, there was still one thing to be done. Yes, it was time to fulfill the 6 month long mission she had been on. Tonight was the night she would buy Royal Road.<br><br>Honestly the money she was about to spend wasn’t originally intended for this. She had been saving up to buy a computer until her parents surprised her by buying a nice laptop for her at Christmas. She had saved up quite a bit of money at the time but it still wasn’t enough to buy a capsule. So for the last 6 months she had worked her ass off, opting to work overtime and even take on part-time jobs, to save up the remaining money needed to buy it. All this work, simply because she didn’t want to be “The weird girl at school who doesn’t play Royal Road.”<br><br>She had lied to Jen when she found out about the extra money because she wanted an opportunity to close the gap between their levels. If there was one personality trait of Kristen’s that stood out, it was her competitiveness. It wasn’t something that showed itself much after high school where she didn’t play any sports, but it didn’t just disappear.<br><br>As she entered the url for the Royal Road website, flashing lights and cinematics danced across her screen.<br><br>“hmm…while I’m here I might as well do a bit of research.”<br><br>She clicked the link to the forums and began browsing the comments to see what people were talking about. To her surprise everyone was talking about the same thing, some video with a battle between Orcs and Dark Elves. One of the comments posted a link to the video but Kristen was instantly put off when she saw the length.<br><br>“What the hell!? Isn’t this video like 20 hours long? Who the hell has time for that?”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I better just focus on my original task before I forget.</span><br><br>Kristen entered in all her billing information before finally clicking the “Purchase” button. Her heart rate sped up as she was waiting for the confirmation e-mail to find its way into her inbox. When it finally appeared she read it to make sure everything went through smoothly.<br><br>“Thank you for purchasing Royal Road. Capsule delivery will take 3-4 business days and will require a signature at the time you receive the delivery. We hope you enjoy your stay on the Continent of Versailles.”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I guess all that’s left to do is wait.</span><br><br>With that, Kristen hurriedly shut her laptop and squeezed under her covers for some much needed shut-eye.<br><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">**4 DAYS LATER**</span><br><br><br>Kristen was hurriedly running back to her apartment after getting out of class, the reason?<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">They must be coming to deliver the capsule today.</span><br><br>“Nobody came yesterday and today will be 4 days so it must be today.” Thought Kristen while running up the stairs of her apartment building, jumping two at a time.<br><br>She wanted to get home faster than usual today not only because she was excited about the delivery, but also because she only had 2 hours before she had to go to work. Kristen worked at a restaurant close by, it paid well and because it was a higher end place, the tips were nice.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">But why do I have to work today of all days.</span><br><br>After getting into her apartment she halfway got into her work clothes before taking a moment to sit on the couch and turn on the T.V. The tension had barely left her muscles when she heard a loud clamoring outside her door.<br><br>“What’s that?” she thought inquisitively.<br><br>Just then she was startled by a sudden knocking on her door.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">It’s here!</span><br><br>Kristen ran up to her door and pulled it open. She was greeted by two worn out looking gentleman. One looked older with a scruffy beard and the other looked even younger than her with short black hair that was covered by a baseball cap.<br><br>“Are you a miss…..Kristen Morisen?” said the older man while wiping some sweat off his brow.<br><br>“Ah, yes, I’m sorry for making you lug that thing all the way up here.” Said Kristen.<br><br>The older man gave a booming laugh and said “Don’t worry about it, I’ve dealt with worse…just sign here please” and he handed Kristen an electronic clipboard.<br><br>“Mark here will help with setting it up once it’s in place, just tell us where you want it.” He thumbed in the direction of the guy with the baseball cap.<br><br>As Kristen handed the man back the clipboard she asked “That won’t cost me extra or anything will it?”<br><br>The younger man spoke for the first time “No, everything is included in the cost of the delivery.”<br><br>“Oh perfect. Just put it behind the sofa, I don’t think it will fit anywhere else anyway.”<br><br>The two men gently positioned the capsule behind the sofa. There was just enough room between the sofa and the capsule now to fit through if you turned sideways.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I guess I’ll have to get rid of the coffee table to make room.</span><br><br>After 20 minutes of watching the younger guy run around the apartment with wires, plugging things in and turning things on, he turned to inform her that the installation was complete.<br><br>“That should be everything, enjoy.”<br><br>With that, he handed her a thick manual entitled A Beginner’s Guide to Royal Road and the two men exited the apartment. While Kristen would love to immerse herself into the manual and game right away, she no longer had safety funds to fall back on, so she steeled herself and got ready for work. Taking one last look at the capsule while putting on her shoes, Kristen stifled her disappointment at not being able to play right away and headed out the door.
</div> | Chapter 1
The light faded on another spring day as a lone girl trudged her way up the metal stairs of a particularly crumby looking apartment building. With each step forward she cursed her inability to find another place to live.
“Why did the third story have to be the cheapest? They could at least put in an elevator, the cheapskates.”
Finally making it to the top of the staircase she adjusted her bag and started making her way to apartment number 307. Of course it had to be the farthest one away from her current position.
“This might not be so bad if I hadn’t tried to keep up with Jen all day.”
After having lunch with Jen earlier in the day, the two of them decided to go shopping at the local mall. A terrible decision in retrospect, as trying to keep up with Jen while shopping was like trying to catch a fly with chopsticks. Not the movie scene where a martial arts master does it in a single try. More like the 10 year old kid who thinks it’s possible and spends hours darting around the house chasing the damn thing before collapsing from exhaustion.
“Well it was tiring, but fun nonetheless.”
A smile spread across Kristen’s face as she rummaged through her bag to look for her keys. Once found, she slid the key into the lock and twisted until she heard a click. She then proceeded to swing the door open. After entering she closed the door behind her and took off her shoes, placing them in the doorway. Her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness but she did get a waft of stale ramen containers and books--Home.
Even though she could barely see in front of her, she knew the layout by heart. Not that there was much to remember. There was one big room that was divided down the middle by a wall, on the right a hallway leading to her bedroom and the bathroom. On the left, the kitchen, and the big open space directly in front of the door acted as a living/dining/whatever-else-It’s-needed-for room.
Feeling too lazy to deal with the crappy design flaw of having the light switch on the other side of the room, Kristen dragged her feet toward the armrest of the sofa she knew to be in front of her. As her knees hit the sofa and her momentum spilled her forward, her eyes had just adjusted enough to the light to notice the faint outline of a person sleeping.
At the last moment Kristen twisted her body a full 360 degrees while falling to avoid landing on the couch. While doing so, her hand whipped around and slammed onto the coffee table positioned in front of the sofa with what felt like the force of a semi-truck.
“GAAHH!!”
Kristen instantly clutched her left hand and tried to suppress the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. While she lay whimpering between the two pieces of furniture, the person who was sleeping now jolted awake.
“Wha-huh? …Oh Krissy it’s just you..haha…what the hell happened?”
Recovering a bit from the throbbing pain in her left hand she took her one good hand and began throwing punches in the general direction of the sofa.
“Ow!... Ow! ..ow….Hey …STOP IT!” and with that he grabbed her hand and took advantage of the difference in strength. He used this opportunity to get up from the sofa and began walking to the other side of the room.
“Hang on a sec, lemme get the lights.”
With the bright flash that came, both of them were forced to squint their eyes in adjustment.
“What the hell are you doing here Kevin?” asked Kristen cursing under her breath and shaking her hand in an attempt to stop the throbbing.
“Explain why you started hitting me without warning first?... Actually are you all right? You look hurt.”
Kristen positioned herself on the end of the sofa as her brother made his way back and sat on the other end.
“You probably deserved it… anyway I’m fine so answer my question.” And with that she stuck her thumb in her mouth and waited for an answer. Kevin let out a sigh and answered.
“Didn’t mom tell you already? She called last week and told you about me visiting your college today, don’t you remember?”
“Yeah she did, but what does that have to do with you being in my apartment? How’d you even get in anyway?”
“I just told the landlord I was your brother and he let me in.”
Tch I shouldn’t have told that bastard I had siblings.
“Also, our parents figured it would be a good opportunity to check up on you.”
“I should have expected as much, mom sounded a bit suspicious over the phone.”
“Yeah, well, you know how they are” Kevin brushed his hair out of his eyes and gave a little chuckle.
This was the first time since Christmas break she had seen her brother. Kevin was the easiest of her brothers to get along with. Maybe it was because he was the closest to her in age, but more likely it was because of his laid back attitude. At home he was influenced by her father and other brothers’ stupidity, but on his own he was easy to deal with.
Kevin had long hair for a guy as the dark strands brushed the top of his shoulders. His goatee emphasized the strong jawline that seemed to be such a popular trait in the family. He had long limbs which gave him a very slim figure and he was very tall, topping out at exactly 6 feet.
“Hah~ yeah I know…..anyway, how was the tour?” she asked, interested in his opinion.
“Alright I guess, they tried to give me the same bullshit line that reeled you in heheh”. He smirked at the opportunity to send a jab at his sister.
“It’s not all a lie, you just have to wait an extra year until that curriculum kicks in, I planned on going here regardless of what pitch they used so it didn’t make that big of a difference in the end.”
“Well unlike you I’m not reckless enough to only apply to one school, so I have some options.” Kevin leaned back into his seat and brought his middle and ring finger up to trace his eyebrow, a habit of his that Kristen had noticed over the years.
Kristen leaned forward, the pain finally subsiding from her hand.
“You mean you’re not awesome enough to do something like that. It must be tough always being in the shadow of such an amazing sister.” Kristen placed her hands on her hips, trying to play up the act.
“Yea I’m not awesome enough to stay single throughout all of high school like you.” The sarcasm in his words oozed out as he curled up expecting punches to be thrown.
“Hey! Whose fault do you think that is!?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He said while a smile creeped across his face and his defense tightened.
Getting riled up at her brothers feigned ignorance Kristen said “Really? You don’t know what I mean? So you don’t remember what happened with Tony?”
“What about Tony?”
“I brought him home and the five of you decided to act like gangsters, asking if he wanted to be ‘indoctrinated into the family’, that’s what! What could possibly possess you to do such a thing?”
“We had a good reason for it!” Kevin said, trying to muster a defense.
“Ok, what was it then?”
“James said he had a tattoo.” He said frankly.
Kristen couldn’t hide her irritation any longer. “You do realize his tattoo was a small butterfly on his ankle right?”
“Well now I do, but how were we supposed to know that?...besides you have to admit, it was pretty funny to see his reaction when he saw us.”
Kristen buried her face in her hands before gathering herself and asking a question.
“Alright well anyway, how long are you staying…cause I have work tomorrow afternoon.”
“Kicking me out already huh? Don’t worry I’m just staying for tonight; I’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up tomorrow.”
Kristen let out a sigh and rocked herself forward so she could stand up.
“OK well I’m just gonna take a shower and go to bed, I’m beat no thanks to Jen.”
“What’s this? You went out and did something other than work? …haha how’d that go?” he said tracing his eyebrow once again.
“It was fun.” She said, too tired to engage in his banter.
“Oh Kev, before I forget….you do know there are pillows and blankets in the closet in my room right? You should grab some.”
“Oh that’s where they were? I was wondering where you hid them.”
With that Kristen got a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. The warm water slowly eased the tension in her muscles and when she finally exited the shower she was fully relaxed. After getting dressed in her usual pajamas, she opened the door while still drying her hair to see her brother sound asleep on the couch.
I’ll never understand how he falls asleep so quickly.
She made her way to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Once again she was reminded how small her place was by the fact that there was barely enough room for her to fit between the dresser on the left wall and her bed in the middle of the room. On the far wall was her desk with papers strewn about everywhere and books piled on top of each other. This was where she headed.
Kristen sat down at her desk and opened up her laptop. Even though she was sure she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, there was still one thing to be done. Yes, it was time to fulfill the 6 month long mission she had been on. Tonight was the night she would buy Royal Road.
Honestly the money she was about to spend wasn’t originally intended for this. She had been saving up to buy a computer until her parents surprised her by buying a nice laptop for her at Christmas. She had saved up quite a bit of money at the time but it still wasn’t enough to buy a capsule. So for the last 6 months she had worked her ass off, opting to work overtime and even take on part-time jobs, to save up the remaining money needed to buy it. All this work, simply because she didn’t want to be “The weird girl at school who doesn’t play Royal Road.”
She had lied to Jen when she found out about the extra money because she wanted an opportunity to close the gap between their levels. If there was one personality trait of Kristen’s that stood out, it was her competitiveness. It wasn’t something that showed itself much after high school where she didn’t play any sports, but it didn’t just disappear.
As she entered the url for the Royal Road website, flashing lights and cinematics danced across her screen.
“hmm…while I’m here I might as well do a bit of research.”
She clicked the link to the forums and began browsing the comments to see what people were talking about. To her surprise everyone was talking about the same thing, some video with a battle between Orcs and Dark Elves. One of the comments posted a link to the video but Kristen was instantly put off when she saw the length.
“What the hell!? Isn’t this video like 20 hours long? Who the hell has time for that?”
I better just focus on my original task before I forget.
Kristen entered in all her billing information before finally clicking the “Purchase” button. Her heart rate sped up as she was waiting for the confirmation e-mail to find its way into her inbox. When it finally appeared she read it to make sure everything went through smoothly.
“Thank you for purchasing Royal Road. Capsule delivery will take 3-4 business days and will require a signature at the time you receive the delivery. We hope you enjoy your stay on the Continent of Versailles.”
I guess all that’s left to do is wait.
With that, Kristen hurriedly shut her laptop and squeezed under her covers for some much needed shut-eye.
**4 DAYS LATER**
Kristen was hurriedly running back to her apartment after getting out of class, the reason?
They must be coming to deliver the capsule today.
“Nobody came yesterday and today will be 4 days so it must be today.” Thought Kristen while running up the stairs of her apartment building, jumping two at a time.
She wanted to get home faster than usual today not only because she was excited about the delivery, but also because she only had 2 hours before she had to go to work. Kristen worked at a restaurant close by, it paid well and because it was a higher end place, the tips were nice.
But why do I have to work today of all days.
After getting into her apartment she halfway got into her work clothes before taking a moment to sit on the couch and turn on the T.V. The tension had barely left her muscles when she heard a loud clamoring outside her door.
“What’s that?” she thought inquisitively.
Just then she was startled by a sudden knocking on her door.
It’s here!
Kristen ran up to her door and pulled it open. She was greeted by two worn out looking gentleman. One looked older with a scruffy beard and the other looked even younger than her with short black hair that was covered by a baseball cap.
“Are you a miss…..Kristen Morisen?” said the older man while wiping some sweat off his brow.
“Ah, yes, I’m sorry for making you lug that thing all the way up here.” Said Kristen.
The older man gave a booming laugh and said “Don’t worry about it, I’ve dealt with worse…just sign here please” and he handed Kristen an electronic clipboard.
“Mark here will help with setting it up once it’s in place, just tell us where you want it.” He thumbed in the direction of the guy with the baseball cap.
As Kristen handed the man back the clipboard she asked “That won’t cost me extra or anything will it?”
The younger man spoke for the first time “No, everything is included in the cost of the delivery.”
“Oh perfect. Just put it behind the sofa, I don’t think it will fit anywhere else anyway.”
The two men gently positioned the capsule behind the sofa. There was just enough room between the sofa and the capsule now to fit through if you turned sideways.
I guess I’ll have to get rid of the coffee table to make room.
After 20 minutes of watching the younger guy run around the apartment with wires, plugging things in and turning things on, he turned to inform her that the installation was complete.
“That should be everything, enjoy.”
With that, he handed her a thick manual entitled A Beginner’s Guide to Royal Road and the two men exited the apartment. While Kristen would love to immerse herself into the manual and game right away, she no longer had safety funds to fall back on, so she steeled herself and got ready for work. Taking one last look at the capsule while putting on her shoes, Kristen stifled her disappointment at not being able to play right away and headed out the door. |
{
"title": "Clash of Gods",
"id": 68,
"author": "docmeister",
"rating": 3.3
} | {
"title": "Prologue",
"id": 306,
"next": 318,
"prev": null,
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its a story my first so far and i wanted to share it to know if people liked it, as i have no experience doing such thing and its short, but i hope to continue making it so that i get better at it as i enjoyed making this part.<br><br>Prologue 1 Clash of Gods.<br><br>It all started 12 years ago. The day my parents had a car accident and neither survived. I and my twin sister did not have any relatives. So we ended up in an orphanage. <br><br>I was abnormally smart and mature for my age of 4. I understood what happened and most of the problems ahead of us. They called it hospital but I knew it was no more than an underground lab. I did not want my sister to suffer through anything, so I told them that they could do to me anything to me if they gave my sister a real chance at being adopted.<br><br>2 months passed and I practically understood what was happening. There was the front, which consists of the orphanage. The normal kids and the kids whose body rejected the experiment, both are up for adoption. Go to school normally and leave at 18.<br><br>Then there was the place that I lived in. it is called the lab, it’s a secret facility where they try different experiments on the children to make a better human being. These include being faster, stronger, better senses, having more endurance, and healing quicker. It’s not a new project so the number of casualties is 0% for the last 30 years or so I’ve overheard. There are different levels of acceptance to the formula; when a child has problems with it he is passed to the front of the orphanage, but I have had the easiest time taking the substance that is supposed to make me better, and shown some of the best results in physical training, and when coupled with my mind I’m the best student so far.<br><br>My sister stopped calling for me after three months. Was adopted in 6 months time, by a rich and loving couple, which could not have children of their own. I was and am happy for her and wish her the best of luck, even though I felt my heart break a little.<br>For the first year I was given the injections took to it as a fish to water. Was made to run 10 kilometers a day, and after some time started enjoying the movement, experimented myself, running faster, slower, with longer strides, taking jumping strides, even running with the hands. <br><br>At 6 years of age I could run 20km in an hour and a half, and could take down 2 out of 3 times the instructor in hand to hand combat.<br><br>At 12 years of age I had completed some college courses, learned to read, Spanish, French, and Latin. Could even talk or listen without a hitch to a native. But without neglecting physical training, now I could run 25 kilometers in an hour without breaking a sweat, have a grip strength of 145 kg. I learned how to fight with and throw knives, became a master swordsman, by reading the flow of battle not loosing concentration on my surroundings, and attacking weak points. Learned marksmanship with different kinds of guns, like machine guns and hand guns, etc. but my favorite was and is the bow, longbow or crossbow, I even could get bull’s-eyes running while firing at a target 60 yards of distance every time.<br><br>At fifteen, I learned my weak point, it was not anything extraordinary, but was asked for the first time to go grocery shopping alone and I got lost , and could not get back in 5 hours time, when the market was at a 10 minutes walking distance.<br><br>I learned that I was not as perfect as I seemed and was undimmed to undertake any of the jobs assigned at the orphanage, wich included choufer, body guard, etc. I felt dejected but that did not stop me from enjoying what I had so far.<br><br>I continued my training in the hopes of being useful in the future, but it was not until my sixteenth birthday that I was called to the front of the orphanage, because a smiling couple, the same couple as the one that adopted my sister, wanted me too.<br><br>And that’s how I undertook the most difficult task of my life which was to have a normal high school life.
</div> | its a story my first so far and i wanted to share it to know if people liked it, as i have no experience doing such thing and its short, but i hope to continue making it so that i get better at it as i enjoyed making this part.
Prologue 1 Clash of Gods.
It all started 12 years ago. The day my parents had a car accident and neither survived. I and my twin sister did not have any relatives. So we ended up in an orphanage.
I was abnormally smart and mature for my age of 4. I understood what happened and most of the problems ahead of us. They called it hospital but I knew it was no more than an underground lab. I did not want my sister to suffer through anything, so I told them that they could do to me anything to me if they gave my sister a real chance at being adopted.
2 months passed and I practically understood what was happening. There was the front, which consists of the orphanage. The normal kids and the kids whose body rejected the experiment, both are up for adoption. Go to school normally and leave at 18.
Then there was the place that I lived in. it is called the lab, it’s a secret facility where they try different experiments on the children to make a better human being. These include being faster, stronger, better senses, having more endurance, and healing quicker. It’s not a new project so the number of casualties is 0% for the last 30 years or so I’ve overheard. There are different levels of acceptance to the formula; when a child has problems with it he is passed to the front of the orphanage, but I have had the easiest time taking the substance that is supposed to make me better, and shown some of the best results in physical training, and when coupled with my mind I’m the best student so far.
My sister stopped calling for me after three months. Was adopted in 6 months time, by a rich and loving couple, which could not have children of their own. I was and am happy for her and wish her the best of luck, even though I felt my heart break a little.
For the first year I was given the injections took to it as a fish to water. Was made to run 10 kilometers a day, and after some time started enjoying the movement, experimented myself, running faster, slower, with longer strides, taking jumping strides, even running with the hands.
At 6 years of age I could run 20km in an hour and a half, and could take down 2 out of 3 times the instructor in hand to hand combat.
At 12 years of age I had completed some college courses, learned to read, Spanish, French, and Latin. Could even talk or listen without a hitch to a native. But without neglecting physical training, now I could run 25 kilometers in an hour without breaking a sweat, have a grip strength of 145 kg. I learned how to fight with and throw knives, became a master swordsman, by reading the flow of battle not loosing concentration on my surroundings, and attacking weak points. Learned marksmanship with different kinds of guns, like machine guns and hand guns, etc. but my favorite was and is the bow, longbow or crossbow, I even could get bull’s-eyes running while firing at a target 60 yards of distance every time.
At fifteen, I learned my weak point, it was not anything extraordinary, but was asked for the first time to go grocery shopping alone and I got lost , and could not get back in 5 hours time, when the market was at a 10 minutes walking distance.
I learned that I was not as perfect as I seemed and was undimmed to undertake any of the jobs assigned at the orphanage, wich included choufer, body guard, etc. I felt dejected but that did not stop me from enjoying what I had so far.
I continued my training in the hopes of being useful in the future, but it was not until my sixteenth birthday that I was called to the front of the orphanage, because a smiling couple, the same couple as the one that adopted my sister, wanted me too.
And that’s how I undertook the most difficult task of my life which was to have a normal high school life. |
{
"title": "The Misadventures of Penguin Peril by Everyone",
"id": 84,
"author": "LaDenouement",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "Ch4 - The Reporter by fazwick",
"id": 372,
"next": 375,
"prev": 371,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
by fazwick<br><br><br>“What is intelligence?”<br><br>“How do you measure intelligence?”<br><br>“You see ladies and gentleman, intelligence is not how much you know, it is your capacity to learn, to understand, to adapt! It is what separate us humans and animals, making us the superior species.”<br><br>“As such, we decided to test out the ability of Peril to adapt in the virtual reality environment. Can the world’s most intelligent penguin adapt to the alien environment presented before it?”<br><br>The media was starving for the news of Peril. Peril, a penguin who became an international celebrity with the title of most intelligent penguin had recently entered Royal Road. The constant pressure from the media forced Unicorn Corporation, who had sponsored the research, to hold a press conference.<br><br>“Will we be able to see Peril’s adventure?” A reporter shouted.<br><br>“I’m afraid we will not. All information regarding Peril will be classified information.”<br><br>The reason for this was obvious. If Peril’s in game avatar were exposed, players all over would swarm toward it.<br><br>“Classified.” <br><br>That was the answer given for 90% of the questions asked during the press conference. The press ended leaving many unsatisfied, doubts unclarified.<br>****<br><br>Faz just got home from the press conference. Working as a reporter left him little time to play his favourite game, Royal Road. He was actually satisfied that Unicorn was being tight lipped on Peril, otherwise his superiors would send him running around for more news.<br><br>He hung his coat and undid his tie before slipping comfortably onto his chair. He planned to check his mail before he retired to his bed. To his surprise, his mailbox was flooded with notifications.<br><br>“What the hell?” Faz exclaimed as he read the absurdly long title of the forum post. “Lydia, that girl sure knows how to make a title. Let’s see what it says..”<br><br>[<span style="font-style: italic;">Guys, I just met the smartest bird in the world on Royal Road. It’s unbelievable. We have to recruit it! We have to recruit that penguin, Peril!</span>]<br><br>His eyes widened, Peril was found in game! He knew that he could not let this opportunity slip by. He sent a message to his boss and quickly logged on into Royal Road.<br><br>As the flash of light enveloped his sight, replacing the view with a medieval city, he laughed his heart out.<br><br>“Finally, I can get paid to play Royal Road!”<br><br>*****
</div> | by fazwick
“What is intelligence?”
“How do you measure intelligence?”
“You see ladies and gentleman, intelligence is not how much you know, it is your capacity to learn, to understand, to adapt! It is what separate us humans and animals, making us the superior species.”
“As such, we decided to test out the ability of Peril to adapt in the virtual reality environment. Can the world’s most intelligent penguin adapt to the alien environment presented before it?”
The media was starving for the news of Peril. Peril, a penguin who became an international celebrity with the title of most intelligent penguin had recently entered Royal Road. The constant pressure from the media forced Unicorn Corporation, who had sponsored the research, to hold a press conference.
“Will we be able to see Peril’s adventure?” A reporter shouted.
“I’m afraid we will not. All information regarding Peril will be classified information.”
The reason for this was obvious. If Peril’s in game avatar were exposed, players all over would swarm toward it.
“Classified.”
That was the answer given for 90% of the questions asked during the press conference. The press ended leaving many unsatisfied, doubts unclarified.
****
Faz just got home from the press conference. Working as a reporter left him little time to play his favourite game, Royal Road. He was actually satisfied that Unicorn was being tight lipped on Peril, otherwise his superiors would send him running around for more news.
He hung his coat and undid his tie before slipping comfortably onto his chair. He planned to check his mail before he retired to his bed. To his surprise, his mailbox was flooded with notifications.
“What the hell?” Faz exclaimed as he read the absurdly long title of the forum post. “Lydia, that girl sure knows how to make a title. Let’s see what it says..”
[Guys, I just met the smartest bird in the world on Royal Road. It’s unbelievable. We have to recruit it! We have to recruit that penguin, Peril!]
His eyes widened, Peril was found in game! He knew that he could not let this opportunity slip by. He sent a message to his boss and quickly logged on into Royal Road.
As the flash of light enveloped his sight, replacing the view with a medieval city, he laughed his heart out.
“Finally, I can get paid to play Royal Road!”
***** |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
} | {
"title": "Oscar Corvus - Prologue Part 1",
"id": 22,
"next": 23,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Place: Attica City, Eastern Continent, Western Coastal Region Attica<br><br>Time: Present (in terms of storyline), Afternoon, Mid Summer<br><br>From the journal of Keru, level 180 Samurai, during the “Defense of Attica”, part of the “Summer Campaign” questline.<br><br>Attica, city of a hundred temples. Or at least, that’s what RR calls it. More of a big town really, ten thousand or so inhabitants, almost a thousand players calling Attica “home”. Most of the temples little more than shrines. Still, a regional capital with tall walls, strong gates, a well-trained guard force supported by mages and priests. The greek-style buildings, brick, plaster and tile, had less chance for a huge fire to break out. Resupply possible via the harbor. No surprise then, that when the “Summer Campaign” event started, it was picked as the final bastion for those defending the region. Was meant to be a place where the defenders could hole up and block the advance a week or two until the guilds got their act together and reinforced the region.<br><br> <br>The “Summer Campaign”. Doesn’t sound so bad. Except that Attica, all that area really, is mostly inhabited by fey mobs: sprites, some breeds of elf, fairies. Titania, the Summer Queen of the Fey, decided she wanted to push her territory north. Heard it’s cause some bard wrote some song praising Mab, the Winter Queen, and Titania got all pissy. Hence the event, and the questline. I ever get my hands on that bard I’ll kill him slow.<br>Still, “Summer Campaign” sounds friendly, huh? How bad could some fairies be? Well, sprites, fairies, elves, all have high stealth stats, speed. Trapping abilities. Mental magics and illusions. Tamed or summoned beasts. Poisons. Don’t get me started on the poisons. RR is way too realistic about irritations like itching, especially some places, let’s leave it at that. The first battles, in the forests and plains, were a slaughter. The fey refused open battle, ambushing and picking off soldiers instead. Barely half the defenders made it back, the others forced to respawn in surrounding regions.<br><br>To make it worse, high level elves are absurd archers, overpowered really; this is why I spent two days stuck on a wall, hiding behind a borrowed shield, while we got picked off with impunity by their snipers. The undines, a type of water fey we didn’t even know about, sunk the relief ship with 50 mages, 30 priests, and two centuries of Roma legionnaires. Which is why we had to abandon the outer walls when the casualties were too high, retreating to the walls inner city this morning with the two hundred or so survivors.<br>Leran, guild leader of the Flaming Falcons, the local guild, had the foresight to trap the main city all to hell. Which is what it looked like: smoky, burning, filled with small winged shapes flitting to and fro, larger monsters looming in the smog. At least the elves couldn’t see to shoot at us, though I was almost at the point of killing myself just to escape the smoke. Glad it can’t give me cancer for real.<br><br>Of course, that’s when whatever elf-bastard is in charge decided to send in the shock troops. About a hundred player survivors were left, mostly the higher level warriors with good armor and more valuable mages and priests who were kept in the rear. Maybe two hundred more city guardsmen. Against them, a dawn assault of a hundred or so trolls, two dozen hill giants, and a half dozen armored giants led by a clan chief. Can anyone say overkill? I’m above average level for the surviving defenders. A troll is a reasonable fight for me. A hill giant is level 230 and resistant to magic. An armored giant might be 280, and more important, hard to hurt with arrows. A clan chief? We’re talking level 310, maybe higher. And they dish out tons of damage. And are as tall as our walls. And break through thick oak gates like it was painted paper.<br>Which brings me to now. Sitting here, one arm broken, me out of healing potions, priests out of mana. Thirty odd defenders trying to hold the area just past the exit gate long enough for the non-combatant NPCs to escape. Knowing the next wave will break us, that Attica, our home, where we know the locals, get the best prices and quests, and have the most fun, will fall. At least we made them bleed for it. According to the announcements, we caused 2 casualties for every one we received. Their trolls at least were wiped out, as were many of the giants and whatever elves were caught in the traps.<br><br>Hearing the bellow of the clan chief as he orders another charge, I pick up my sword, a nice katana whose wounds almost never heal, and set myself up in a high guard, ready to slash down and do at least some damage before I die, even if I'm weaker with one hand than two. Two guardsmen, either side of me, brace their pikes, hoping to hold whatever giant hits our section of the line long enough for me to get in close and personal. As I see the roaring giant charging, his armor, and more important, the decorations marking it, and realize I’m about to go against the clan chief, I realize I’m fucked. Not that the others will survive the charge of the dozen surviving giants either. So, like a good samurai, tired as hell from days of fighting and smoke and just wanting to die well for a bit of peace, I scream and charge too. I notice my shadow flickering against the wall, the light brightening, the club descending.<br><br>And then, just before I get properly and nobly crushed, some cheating bastard in what looks like mecha armor flashes overhead, flames coming out of a jetpack, and smashes his armored boots into the giants shoulders. The jetpack cuts out, and the bastard, towering over us humans at seven feet (~2.1 m) tall, his armor in a camouflage pattern, looking clean and heroic and all sorts of unfair shit, opens up with two machine pistols right into the giants face, pulping it and getting covered in blood. While keeping his footing and riding the falling giant the remaining 15 feet to the floor, the bastard somehow de-equips the guns without accessing a bag, and raises his gauntlets, now glowing with runes. As he lands, he unleashes a storm of lightning and fire which cuts through the remaining giants. The crowd of refugees start cheering him, he jumps and roars off on his jumpjet to finish being a heroic cheating prick, and though I’m grateful I’m alive, and the half dozen level-ups from completing this quest were kept, I can’t help but think that a) this guy should have shown up a couple days earlier, and b) mecha armor and machine pistols- wtf? Is he a hacker? A glitch? The RR AI playing a joke on us? Or just some jackass player who's going to change the balance of the game forever?<br><br>As I see the announcement that we succeeded in the defense of Attica portion of the “Summer Campaign”, I decide it’s a good time for a nap. Just as soon as I steal the loot he left on the giants…
</div> | Place: Attica City, Eastern Continent, Western Coastal Region Attica
Time: Present (in terms of storyline), Afternoon, Mid Summer
From the journal of Keru, level 180 Samurai, during the “Defense of Attica”, part of the “Summer Campaign” questline.
Attica, city of a hundred temples. Or at least, that’s what RR calls it. More of a big town really, ten thousand or so inhabitants, almost a thousand players calling Attica “home”. Most of the temples little more than shrines. Still, a regional capital with tall walls, strong gates, a well-trained guard force supported by mages and priests. The greek-style buildings, brick, plaster and tile, had less chance for a huge fire to break out. Resupply possible via the harbor. No surprise then, that when the “Summer Campaign” event started, it was picked as the final bastion for those defending the region. Was meant to be a place where the defenders could hole up and block the advance a week or two until the guilds got their act together and reinforced the region.
The “Summer Campaign”. Doesn’t sound so bad. Except that Attica, all that area really, is mostly inhabited by fey mobs: sprites, some breeds of elf, fairies. Titania, the Summer Queen of the Fey, decided she wanted to push her territory north. Heard it’s cause some bard wrote some song praising Mab, the Winter Queen, and Titania got all pissy. Hence the event, and the questline. I ever get my hands on that bard I’ll kill him slow.
Still, “Summer Campaign” sounds friendly, huh? How bad could some fairies be? Well, sprites, fairies, elves, all have high stealth stats, speed. Trapping abilities. Mental magics and illusions. Tamed or summoned beasts. Poisons. Don’t get me started on the poisons. RR is way too realistic about irritations like itching, especially some places, let’s leave it at that. The first battles, in the forests and plains, were a slaughter. The fey refused open battle, ambushing and picking off soldiers instead. Barely half the defenders made it back, the others forced to respawn in surrounding regions.
To make it worse, high level elves are absurd archers, overpowered really; this is why I spent two days stuck on a wall, hiding behind a borrowed shield, while we got picked off with impunity by their snipers. The undines, a type of water fey we didn’t even know about, sunk the relief ship with 50 mages, 30 priests, and two centuries of Roma legionnaires. Which is why we had to abandon the outer walls when the casualties were too high, retreating to the walls inner city this morning with the two hundred or so survivors.
Leran, guild leader of the Flaming Falcons, the local guild, had the foresight to trap the main city all to hell. Which is what it looked like: smoky, burning, filled with small winged shapes flitting to and fro, larger monsters looming in the smog. At least the elves couldn’t see to shoot at us, though I was almost at the point of killing myself just to escape the smoke. Glad it can’t give me cancer for real.
Of course, that’s when whatever elf-bastard is in charge decided to send in the shock troops. About a hundred player survivors were left, mostly the higher level warriors with good armor and more valuable mages and priests who were kept in the rear. Maybe two hundred more city guardsmen. Against them, a dawn assault of a hundred or so trolls, two dozen hill giants, and a half dozen armored giants led by a clan chief. Can anyone say overkill? I’m above average level for the surviving defenders. A troll is a reasonable fight for me. A hill giant is level 230 and resistant to magic. An armored giant might be 280, and more important, hard to hurt with arrows. A clan chief? We’re talking level 310, maybe higher. And they dish out tons of damage. And are as tall as our walls. And break through thick oak gates like it was painted paper.
Which brings me to now. Sitting here, one arm broken, me out of healing potions, priests out of mana. Thirty odd defenders trying to hold the area just past the exit gate long enough for the non-combatant NPCs to escape. Knowing the next wave will break us, that Attica, our home, where we know the locals, get the best prices and quests, and have the most fun, will fall. At least we made them bleed for it. According to the announcements, we caused 2 casualties for every one we received. Their trolls at least were wiped out, as were many of the giants and whatever elves were caught in the traps.
Hearing the bellow of the clan chief as he orders another charge, I pick up my sword, a nice katana whose wounds almost never heal, and set myself up in a high guard, ready to slash down and do at least some damage before I die, even if I'm weaker with one hand than two. Two guardsmen, either side of me, brace their pikes, hoping to hold whatever giant hits our section of the line long enough for me to get in close and personal. As I see the roaring giant charging, his armor, and more important, the decorations marking it, and realize I’m about to go against the clan chief, I realize I’m fucked. Not that the others will survive the charge of the dozen surviving giants either. So, like a good samurai, tired as hell from days of fighting and smoke and just wanting to die well for a bit of peace, I scream and charge too. I notice my shadow flickering against the wall, the light brightening, the club descending.
And then, just before I get properly and nobly crushed, some cheating bastard in what looks like mecha armor flashes overhead, flames coming out of a jetpack, and smashes his armored boots into the giants shoulders. The jetpack cuts out, and the bastard, towering over us humans at seven feet (~2.1 m) tall, his armor in a camouflage pattern, looking clean and heroic and all sorts of unfair shit, opens up with two machine pistols right into the giants face, pulping it and getting covered in blood. While keeping his footing and riding the falling giant the remaining 15 feet to the floor, the bastard somehow de-equips the guns without accessing a bag, and raises his gauntlets, now glowing with runes. As he lands, he unleashes a storm of lightning and fire which cuts through the remaining giants. The crowd of refugees start cheering him, he jumps and roars off on his jumpjet to finish being a heroic cheating prick, and though I’m grateful I’m alive, and the half dozen level-ups from completing this quest were kept, I can’t help but think that a) this guy should have shown up a couple days earlier, and b) mecha armor and machine pistols- wtf? Is he a hacker? A glitch? The RR AI playing a joke on us? Or just some jackass player who's going to change the balance of the game forever?
As I see the announcement that we succeeded in the defense of Attica portion of the “Summer Campaign”, I decide it’s a good time for a nap. Just as soon as I steal the loot he left on the giants… |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 3",
"id": 42,
"next": 43,
"prev": 41,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 3 - New Players With New Rumors<br><br><br>Magic Mastery levels up to 3<br><br><br>Focus Stat Added<br>This stops a player from being distracted with whatever an action he is performing.<br>The higher the stat the more effectively an action can be performed, even allowing more than one action to be performed at the same time successfully.<br>High focus lowers chances of spells backfiring and casting failure.<br>The stat will increase by itself when an action is completed well under difficult conditions or when a player performs actions demanding high concentration.<br><br><br><br>You Have Completed the Book: "Mages through the Ages, vol 16"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>It was morning, the third day since he began playing. Twelve days passed in game time.<br>Thanks to the "Scholar's Brew" that Unknownadd, the library bookkeeper, gave Jon, he was able to go through the books at an incredibly fast pace.<br>And since all Jon did during the past eleven days was reading and practicing his magic he was now one step closer to the purple magic he so longed for.<br><br><br>Gorge found what he was looking for and Jon now knew what that magic was and the requirement for it. The information came with a warning though. <br>Gorge urged him to stay as far away as possible from those who use it.<br>Apparently purple magic was a taboo in Royal Road and mage guilds banned it completely.<br>Jon didn’t care for it, but to reassure Gorge, he agreed to run away if he ever saw someone use purple magic.<br>That didn't mean Jon wasn't going to use purple magic himself though. Now that he knew what he needed to do, he wasted no time.<br><br><br>In the sixteen volumes he had already read through, purple magic had been mentioned only once and only in passing.<br>In the third volume an evil mage by the name of Bar-Khan was said to have used purple magic. All it said was that the heroic mage and his brave knights defeated Bar-Khan and the horrible purple colored magic, thus saving the kingdom from destruction.<br>Jon doubted he would find any other mention of it in the books, but that was no longer why he read the books.<br>He needed to practice his magic and he needed something to do while he waited for his mana to return.<br>He could now keep the ball of mana safe for almost a minute. He was also able to float it around his hand, weaving patters of blue light through his fingers.<br><br><br>Volume seventeen was opened before him but this time he wasn't waiting for the mana bar to replenish. He was waiting for one of the other players to go into the sea of bookshelves. Thanks to his newly leveled up Magic Mastery skill, a small blue marble of light was floating over the pages. The black ink of the letters reflected the light, covering Jon's face with a pattern of blue colored dots.<br>A chair scraped the floor as the player who sat on it got up. <br>Jon's eyes followed him immediately and he saw him disappear behind the bookshelves heading into the deep of the library.<br>He broke off the magic he had been maintaining for the past ten minutes, closed the book and stood up.<br>He followed the player. There weren’t many people in the library and those who were there, kept to themselves.<br>The one he was looking for was busy searching for a book; he was short and very thin.<br>-'Most likely an aspiring mage earning easy int stats.'-<br>Jon walked up to the boy from behind, silently.<br><br><br>You have killed a player!<br>Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)<br>A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 6 hours.<br><br><br>Jon was back in his seat reading, as if he had never even left.<br>The ball of light was the only thing that suggested something had happened. It was in the air once again but not over the books pages.<br>It now floated close to Jon's forehead, behind it was hidden the red mark he had just earned.<br>-'Twenty three more to go.'- he thought and waited for another player to get up.<br><br><br>Jon's fame was now at negative fifty five. He needed negative five-hundred, which meant he either burnt Serabourg Citadel or something crazy as that, or simply killed twenty-three more players.<br><br><br>Jon stood up and followed another player to the shadows of the books, a minute later he was back in his seat reading.<br>-'Twenty two.'- Jon was enjoying himself for the first time, in a very long time. No longer was he bored.<br>-'Twenty one.'-<br>-'Twenty.'- <br>-'Nineteen.'-<br>All of them silent kills. Fast and precise, the victim had never even seen his face.<br>The fifth person to die in the library never knew what happened as well. One moment he was looking for a book, and the next he was staring at the interior of his own capsule. It was so sudden he thought the game disconnected, so he tried to log back in again, only the game wouldn't allow him. <br>A pleasant female voice said: "You have died. You can log back into the game in 24 four hours."<br><br><br>You have killed a player!<br>Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)<br>A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 21 hours.<br><br><br>Level Up<br><br><br>Class Change Notice<br>You can change you profession to an Assassin.<br>Yes? No?<br><br><br>-'Yes.'- Jon didn't care what his profession was. <br><br><br>You have changed you profession to an Assassin.<br>The killer of the night, the assassin feels at home in the shadows.<br>He moves swiftly and silently, killing his target unseen and undetected.<br>The assassin specializes in the element of surprise and will avoid open battle.<br>The assassin profession grants a bonus to dexterity and luck.<br>+30 Dexterity<br>+15 Luck<br><br><br>Sneak Mastery acquired<br>Helps a player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.<br>The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.<br>Level 1 effect: You are 5% harder to detect.<br><br><br>Surprise Attack Skill learned.<br>This skill can only be used if the target is unaware of your presence.<br>The skill works with weapons, magic and hand to hand combat.<br>Level 1: Deal 10% more damage.<br>Cost: 50 Mp <br><br><br>Not interested, Jon skipped through the windows pooping up in front of him reading only the headlines.<br>-'Surprise attack?'- He opened his skill menu. –'Useful.'-.<br>He picked up a silver coin that fell from his kill, distributed the stat points to dexterity and went back to reading.<br><br><br>Stat Window<br>Avatar: Jon Type: Evil<br>Level: 5 Class: Assassin<br>Title: None Fame: -135<br>Life: 280 Mana: 150<br>Strength: 10 Dexterity: 50 Vitality: 10<br>Wisdom: 28 Intelligence: 10 Focus: 4<br>Leadership: 0 Luck: 15 <br>Offence: 3 Defense: 0<br>Resistance to magic: None<br><br><br>The sun went down and the only three people stayed in it.<br>Unknowadd was busy taking care of an old book at his table so Jon was alone with the third person.<br>He was sitting at his usual spot. Hidden behind a slowly growing pile of books Jon could see the whole reading area without being noticed. <br>He no longer used a candle but a magic orb instead. The other person could only see a faint blue radiance shining through the wall of books surrounding Jon. <br>The woman lit by candle light was reading a book thick enough to be mistaken for a small stool.<br><br><br>Jon had been waiting for this moment. The last person left a while ago and it was unlikely he would come back. The two of them were alone and Jon wasted no more time. <br>He slipped into the darkness and made his way through the maze of bookshelves. He used the light of her candle as a landmark and was soon standing behind her. He kept himself out of the candle light, waiting to see if she would notice.<br>She didn't.<br>The blue ball of light was still floating where he left it. <br>He walked up to her. Looking over her shoulder he read the first couple of sentences. It was in a different language so he understood nothing. <br>He lifted the seventeenth volume he was reading during the whole day and got into position.<br>-'Surprise Attack'- He invoked the skill for the first time. Fifty Mp points disappeared. <br>The moment the skill was triggered, the blue light disappeared. <br>The woman looked up, noticing a sudden change. <br>This worked to Jon's advantage, distracting her from the sound of the book slashing the air.<br>The edge of the book connected with the back of her neck, breaking it with a loud snap.<br><br><br>Critical Hit<br>Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Fos)<br><br><br>He waited for her to turn gray and disappear just like the others, but she didn't.<br>Instead of disappearing, her body slowly slid of the chair to the floor. It fell with a thud.<br>-'Npc…'- Jon was unfazed. It mattered not to him who she was. <br>He summoned the blue ball and made his way back to his seat.<br>The woman's body left to lie there, nothing more than a waste of time to him.<br><br><br>You Have Completed A Book: "Mages through the Ages, vol 17"<br>Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)<br><br><br>Morning arrived people started to appear again. There were half a dozen of them at the moment the body was discovered. <br>Jon was watching through the cracks in his wall of books. He knew it had been discovered much earlier.<br>The second person to arrive noticed her on the floor. He said nothing and after looking around to see if anyone was watching him he stripped her of her possessions. Taking even the dress she was wearing. <br>He was clearly a player. Jon saw how he put the things inside his inventory. The only thing he left outside was the ring she was wearing; now resting comfortably on his finger.<br>He left the library immediately after. Whatever it was he came for, was no longer important.<br><br><br>Word of the body traveled and soon the library was full of curious players and Npcs alike.<br>Jon left the crowd inside to join the one outside.<br><br><br>You have stolen three books!<br>Fame decreased by 3. (-3 Fame)<br><br><br>He was almost out of rye-bread and he needed to stock up on some food.<br>He was walking to the market and he noticed people were staring at him. Not just Npcs but players as well.<br>The red mark on his forehead was attracting attention, while his negative fame put Npcs on their guard.<br>Thankfully the guard left him alone for now, however their gaze never left him.<br>He entered a grocery store and was kicked out by the merchant.<br>"I need no PKer’s money!" he yelled.<br>He went to the market stalls this time, searching for an Npc to buy from.<br>This too was fruitless. His negative fame made Npc merchants raise their prices so high he could hardly buy even a load of bread.<br><br><br>Jon opened the map menu and looked at the citadels layout.<br>After a short walk his was at his destination, no one bothered to look at him here.<br>He was walking around in the slums of the city. This place wasn't clean and shiny like the areas around the market square.<br>Players avoided these parts of the citadel unless a quest took them here.<br>The houses were run down, the streets covered with filth and the people dirty. The majority were crippled old men and the few kids that were running about had a at least one hand missing. Punishment for getting caught stealing.<br>Women were nowhere to be seen.<br><br><br>Jon grabbed a passing kid and jingled some coins before him.<br>The sound of coins made the whole street freeze up. "Food." he said.<br>Jealous gazes penetrated Jon from all direction. Tiny cracks appeared in doors and windows, the residents eyed Jon from inside.<br>"After me, sir." The kid spoke quickly, grabbing and pulling him after him.<br>The boy took him, following the border of the slums. <br>They stopped suddenly and the boy extended his good hand.<br>Jon put a copper coin in it. <br>"These after." He held up two more coppers.<br>The boy went on.<br>As they got to where the main street, the one that cut through the Citadel in half, passed into the slums Jon saw a crowd of people.<br>More an more people were flooding, coming out of numerous alleys. They walked up and joined what turned out to be a line of people.<br>"You better hurry, before it runs out." The boy said and locked his way.<br>Jon gave him the coins and the boy ran away.<br>Jon took his place in the line and waited for his turn.<br><br><br>"The hell man? Why didn't you bring him here?" a big tanned kid said as the boy who escorted Jon a moment ago came close.<br>"That guy's crazy." He looked back at Jon.<br>"Wha?" three more kids spoke at the same time.<br>"Yeah, I thought he was easy pray at first too. But not anymore…"<br>"What did he do man?" the tanned kid asked.<br>"Remember the black clothed man we tried to jump?"<br>"Don’t you dare bring him up!" the one who acted like the leader got up and grabbed him by the throat.<br>"Let go! Let go man!"<br>"Sorry…"<br>"Don't be. He killed my brother as well. Or did you forget that the other ten we buried were my friends as well?"<br>The five boys looked at the floor in silence.<br>"You see him?" He pointed at Jon. "This guy felt even more dangerous than the one we swore to kill." <br>The other four stared wide eyed at Jon.<br>"That's crazy man!"<br>"Hey maybe Yarel will get him?"<br>"That bitch? No chance."<br>"Yeah all she ever does is look down at us."<br>"Fucking slut. Thinks coz she has all that money she's better than us."<br>"I'd kill her in a second if she wasn't useful. Brings us food, trying to be all saint and shit."<br>"I heard she's only doing this to look good in front of the church."<br>"We should get her too one day, her armor must be worth a fortune." <br>"Whatever, guys. Let’s get something to eat" He lifted the coins he got."<br>"You bastard. Give me those."<br>"Take it if you can," he said already sprinting away."<br>"Get him." They chased after him laughing.<br><br><br>Jon stood in line waited to get a share of food. <br>While waiting he summoned the ball of light again. In the strong afternoon sun, the faint blue light it radiated was unnoticeable. He was spinning it around his finger and moving it from one hand to the other. <br>This has already become second nature to him. With his magic mastery almost at level four, controlling this spell, intended for aspiring mages as a means of learning to control their MP has become nothing more than a habit. Nonetheless, even though it wasn't his intention the use of magic still trained his magic mastery skill.<br><br><br>Intelligence Rises by 1 (+1 Int)<br><br><br>More than that, the constant use of magic also raised his Int stat. <br>Although it was getting harder to raise it like that. This time it took twenty four hours for it to increase. Last time it was eighteen and only fifteen the time before that.<br><br><br>He was getting closer. He finally saw who was giving the food away.<br>He knew she was female from the voice he heard but now he could see she was wearing the most outrageously exaggerated armor possible.<br>Things dangled from it, stuff poked out of it and all of the pointless additions made to it made it twice as big as it needed to be.<br>The fleshy sword at her him seemed pale in comparison to the decorative shield she had slung on her back.<br>A huge helm covered her head, holding her blond hair in place. <br>She looked out of place in the gray slum with all her shiny gear.<br>"Here, take this. It was very expensive." She said with a condescending tone and a fake smile plastered on her face.<br><br><br>The line moved and it was Jon's turn. <br>"Here, for you si…" her eyes wandered to Jon's face noticing the red mark stuck in the middle of it.<br>"A player?" She smiled for real now. "How can you be so worthless that you need to bag for food when you’re a player?" The smile was now a smirk.<br>"A PKer begging for food. You're luck I'm such a good person."<br>"…"<br>"Take this." She handed him an expensive looking pastry which Jon took quietly.<br>"I would never it something so simple, but for a player who kills others it should be enough." She said to his back.<br>"Hypocrite." Jon uttered.<br>"What did you say?!" her voice rose. "Say that again to my face, coward."<br>"Hypocrite." Jon said without a moments delay.<br>"Me? A hypocrite? Does PKing make one stupid?" <br>"I, who is so busy with quests from the church of Freya, take the time to feed the Citadel beggars and you dare call me a hypocrite! Prepare for battle!" She held up her shield and took out her sword.<br><br><br>You have been invited to dual.<br>Do you accept?<br>Yes? No?<br><br><br>Jon didn't want this. She reminded him of the way his former feeders talked to him. A dual against someone like her was pointless.<br>"What are you waiting for, scum?" she yelled. "Be honored you get to fight the me. Yarel, the holy knight will one day be a name spoken by all. Later you can brag to your friends how you were lucky enough to be slain by my hand." She banged on her shield once she finished talking.<br>"…"<br>"Accept."<br>"Are you afraid of me?" She laughed. "It's understandable. Don't be fooled by my incredible equipment. I'm still only level twenty. More than enough, however, to defeat you without using my awesome skills." She extended her sword with a shaking hand.<br>Jon was hungry and she was distracting him.<br>-'It'll end faster if I accept.'- <br>The second he accepted the dual Yarel sprang to action. She wanted to lay the first hit and was slowly moving closer to Jon while talking.<br>With a quick step she reached Jon with ease, dropping her sword at Jon's head.<br>Jon just stood there looking at the blade go down.<br>-'Pathetic.'- Her armor was so heavy it looked like she was moving in slow motion.<br>All Jon did, was simply take a small step sideways and let the sword passed right next. <br>She did all the rest for him.<br>The sword dropped, missing her mark and pulling Yarel after it. The various additions on the armor jingled as she fell face first to the ground.<br>-'At least she didn't let go of her sword.'-<br>"Fight fairly you, Pker." she yelled from the ground.<br>She couldn't even get up. The armor weighed to much for her to lift herself with the strength of her arms and turning to her back was impossible due to the useless decorations.<br><br><br>Jon sat down on her back and began eating his pastry.<br>"I have lost. Kill me! You may have used trickery, but I have lost nonetheless."<br>He ignored her.<br>"Do it already, earn your honor."<br>This was why he didn't want to dual from the start. Winning duals earned you fame and this was exactly what he didn't need.<br>"No."<br>"You bastard! I demand you finish this. I refuse to have my honor stained this way." She struggled to get up.<br>Jon finished eating, ignoring her screams and protests.<br>Once she started crying, he kicked away her shield and sword. <br>The crowd immediately carried them away.<br>"What are you doing? Leave that alone!" she screamed at the Npc's.<br>"Is this how you repay my charity?" She was sobbing.<br>A rock flew from the crowd and hit her helm.<br>"That’s what I think of your charity, you spoiled slut!." Another rock came flying.<br>The crowd was moving closer and closer.<br>Jon took her belt knife as it was the only the useful thing she had. Unlike the jewel incrusted sword and the shiny shield which meant nothing more than decoration, the knife was simple.<br>Simple yet well made.<br>"I'll get my revenge. Daddy will by me the strongest equipment there is and I'll hunt you down to level one!" She was hysteric.<br>Jon stood up, wiped his hands on her clothes, tied the belt-knife around his waist and walked away.<br>The crowed lynched her as soon as he was out of sight.<br>She screamed as she was stripped and beaten.<br>"This will feed us for months."<br>"That's for looking down on us."<br>"Who's pitiful now ah?!"<br>She commanded the game to log her out, however, the system wasn't instantaneous.<br>Unless you were dead the game waited for ten seconds before bringing you back to the real world.<br>These ten seconds felt to Yarel like infinity as she was brutally beaten by the mob. Although one couldn't die playing, the pain felt in the game was real. And when she was finally safe inside her capsule she kept screaming her lungs out.<br>She swore to get her revenge as she exited the capsule, falling to the floor from exhaustion.<br><br><br>Your relationship with the beggars of Serabourd Citadel has increased.<br>They now respect and admire you.<br><br><br>He was still hungry.<br>-'I should've taken some of her food.'-<br>He was back at the market again. The pastry he had left him with an urge for more. <br>He go three silver coins from his kills in the library so he though he had enough, but the price raisin caused by his negative fame, was more than he had expected.<br>-'I'll need to start earning some money.'-<br>He went into the shop he was walking by and asked for a job.<br>Chased away from it and all the rest of the places he tried he was becoming hungrier by the minute.<br>The sun had already set, and when he passed by the library earlier it was still swarming with guards.<br>He entered the only restaurant he could find that was still open. It was a rich place but Jon didn't care. He had spent the past years in cages; jail would be a step up from it. <br><br><br>The head waiter did his job without asking questions. Jon was seated at one of the smaller tables close to the wall. <br>He ordered large quantities of meat and vegetables, and when that was finished he asked for more. When he was done, he got up and walked out the door.<br>A hand grabbed his shoulder the moment his stepped outside. Jon wasn't surprised.<br>"May I ask where sir is going?"<br>"…" Jon knew this would happen and was ready for it.<br>"Sir seems to have forgotten to pay for his food, nothing wrong with that. That’s why I'm here, to remind you of it."<br>"…"<br>"Where's the gold?" his tone changes.<br>"What's happening here?" another man came out.<br>"Dragon, sir. This man refuses to pay for his food."<br>"Does he now? Well, that's what I pay you for. Persuade him share his gold with us."<br>"With pleasure, sir." The brute made a fist with his free hand.<br>"No gold."<br>"We shall see about that."<br>He started to push Jon into his small booth. Jon tried to resist but felt powerless. The brute’s level was much higher than his. Even worse, his speed was useless as he was already captured.<br>"Just pay, it will be much faster." The man named Dragon said.<br>"Can't. No gold."<br>"No use in telling lies. It won't help you."<br>"…"<br>"Last chance."<br>"…" Jon gave in and stopped resisting. He walked slowly to the booth on his own.<br>"Wait."<br>"Sir?"<br>"I believe him." <br>"What?"<br>"Knock him out instead."<br>Bam! A giant fist connected with Jon's temple and everything went dark. <br>Jon was aware of the passing time and it seemed like he could still log out, but his screen stayed dark.<br>So he waited, the darkness was comforting to him.
</div> | Chapter 3 - New Players With New Rumors
Magic Mastery levels up to 3
Focus Stat Added
This stops a player from being distracted with whatever an action he is performing.
The higher the stat the more effectively an action can be performed, even allowing more than one action to be performed at the same time successfully.
High focus lowers chances of spells backfiring and casting failure.
The stat will increase by itself when an action is completed well under difficult conditions or when a player performs actions demanding high concentration.
You Have Completed the Book: "Mages through the Ages, vol 16"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
It was morning, the third day since he began playing. Twelve days passed in game time.
Thanks to the "Scholar's Brew" that Unknownadd, the library bookkeeper, gave Jon, he was able to go through the books at an incredibly fast pace.
And since all Jon did during the past eleven days was reading and practicing his magic he was now one step closer to the purple magic he so longed for.
Gorge found what he was looking for and Jon now knew what that magic was and the requirement for it. The information came with a warning though.
Gorge urged him to stay as far away as possible from those who use it.
Apparently purple magic was a taboo in Royal Road and mage guilds banned it completely.
Jon didn’t care for it, but to reassure Gorge, he agreed to run away if he ever saw someone use purple magic.
That didn't mean Jon wasn't going to use purple magic himself though. Now that he knew what he needed to do, he wasted no time.
In the sixteen volumes he had already read through, purple magic had been mentioned only once and only in passing.
In the third volume an evil mage by the name of Bar-Khan was said to have used purple magic. All it said was that the heroic mage and his brave knights defeated Bar-Khan and the horrible purple colored magic, thus saving the kingdom from destruction.
Jon doubted he would find any other mention of it in the books, but that was no longer why he read the books.
He needed to practice his magic and he needed something to do while he waited for his mana to return.
He could now keep the ball of mana safe for almost a minute. He was also able to float it around his hand, weaving patters of blue light through his fingers.
Volume seventeen was opened before him but this time he wasn't waiting for the mana bar to replenish. He was waiting for one of the other players to go into the sea of bookshelves. Thanks to his newly leveled up Magic Mastery skill, a small blue marble of light was floating over the pages. The black ink of the letters reflected the light, covering Jon's face with a pattern of blue colored dots.
A chair scraped the floor as the player who sat on it got up.
Jon's eyes followed him immediately and he saw him disappear behind the bookshelves heading into the deep of the library.
He broke off the magic he had been maintaining for the past ten minutes, closed the book and stood up.
He followed the player. There weren’t many people in the library and those who were there, kept to themselves.
The one he was looking for was busy searching for a book; he was short and very thin.
-'Most likely an aspiring mage earning easy int stats.'-
Jon walked up to the boy from behind, silently.
You have killed a player!
Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)
A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 6 hours.
Jon was back in his seat reading, as if he had never even left.
The ball of light was the only thing that suggested something had happened. It was in the air once again but not over the books pages.
It now floated close to Jon's forehead, behind it was hidden the red mark he had just earned.
-'Twenty three more to go.'- he thought and waited for another player to get up.
Jon's fame was now at negative fifty five. He needed negative five-hundred, which meant he either burnt Serabourg Citadel or something crazy as that, or simply killed twenty-three more players.
Jon stood up and followed another player to the shadows of the books, a minute later he was back in his seat reading.
-'Twenty two.'- Jon was enjoying himself for the first time, in a very long time. No longer was he bored.
-'Twenty one.'-
-'Twenty.'-
-'Nineteen.'-
All of them silent kills. Fast and precise, the victim had never even seen his face.
The fifth person to die in the library never knew what happened as well. One moment he was looking for a book, and the next he was staring at the interior of his own capsule. It was so sudden he thought the game disconnected, so he tried to log back in again, only the game wouldn't allow him.
A pleasant female voice said: "You have died. You can log back into the game in 24 four hours."
You have killed a player!
Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)
A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 21 hours.
Level Up
Class Change Notice
You can change you profession to an Assassin.
Yes? No?
-'Yes.'- Jon didn't care what his profession was.
You have changed you profession to an Assassin.
The killer of the night, the assassin feels at home in the shadows.
He moves swiftly and silently, killing his target unseen and undetected.
The assassin specializes in the element of surprise and will avoid open battle.
The assassin profession grants a bonus to dexterity and luck.
+30 Dexterity
+15 Luck
Sneak Mastery acquired
Helps a player hide his presence and blend into the surroundings.
The grandmaster sneak is even able to hide himself in plain sight.
Level 1 effect: You are 5% harder to detect.
Surprise Attack Skill learned.
This skill can only be used if the target is unaware of your presence.
The skill works with weapons, magic and hand to hand combat.
Level 1: Deal 10% more damage.
Cost: 50 Mp
Not interested, Jon skipped through the windows pooping up in front of him reading only the headlines.
-'Surprise attack?'- He opened his skill menu. –'Useful.'-.
He picked up a silver coin that fell from his kill, distributed the stat points to dexterity and went back to reading.
Stat Window
Avatar: Jon Type: Evil
Level: 5 Class: Assassin
Title: None Fame: -135
Life: 280 Mana: 150
Strength: 10 Dexterity: 50 Vitality: 10
Wisdom: 28 Intelligence: 10 Focus: 4
Leadership: 0 Luck: 15
Offence: 3 Defense: 0
Resistance to magic: None
The sun went down and the only three people stayed in it.
Unknowadd was busy taking care of an old book at his table so Jon was alone with the third person.
He was sitting at his usual spot. Hidden behind a slowly growing pile of books Jon could see the whole reading area without being noticed.
He no longer used a candle but a magic orb instead. The other person could only see a faint blue radiance shining through the wall of books surrounding Jon.
The woman lit by candle light was reading a book thick enough to be mistaken for a small stool.
Jon had been waiting for this moment. The last person left a while ago and it was unlikely he would come back. The two of them were alone and Jon wasted no more time.
He slipped into the darkness and made his way through the maze of bookshelves. He used the light of her candle as a landmark and was soon standing behind her. He kept himself out of the candle light, waiting to see if she would notice.
She didn't.
The blue ball of light was still floating where he left it.
He walked up to her. Looking over her shoulder he read the first couple of sentences. It was in a different language so he understood nothing.
He lifted the seventeenth volume he was reading during the whole day and got into position.
-'Surprise Attack'- He invoked the skill for the first time. Fifty Mp points disappeared.
The moment the skill was triggered, the blue light disappeared.
The woman looked up, noticing a sudden change.
This worked to Jon's advantage, distracting her from the sound of the book slashing the air.
The edge of the book connected with the back of her neck, breaking it with a loud snap.
Critical Hit
Focus Rises by 1 (+1 Fos)
He waited for her to turn gray and disappear just like the others, but she didn't.
Instead of disappearing, her body slowly slid of the chair to the floor. It fell with a thud.
-'Npc…'- Jon was unfazed. It mattered not to him who she was.
He summoned the blue ball and made his way back to his seat.
The woman's body left to lie there, nothing more than a waste of time to him.
You Have Completed A Book: "Mages through the Ages, vol 17"
Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)
Morning arrived people started to appear again. There were half a dozen of them at the moment the body was discovered.
Jon was watching through the cracks in his wall of books. He knew it had been discovered much earlier.
The second person to arrive noticed her on the floor. He said nothing and after looking around to see if anyone was watching him he stripped her of her possessions. Taking even the dress she was wearing.
He was clearly a player. Jon saw how he put the things inside his inventory. The only thing he left outside was the ring she was wearing; now resting comfortably on his finger.
He left the library immediately after. Whatever it was he came for, was no longer important.
Word of the body traveled and soon the library was full of curious players and Npcs alike.
Jon left the crowd inside to join the one outside.
You have stolen three books!
Fame decreased by 3. (-3 Fame)
He was almost out of rye-bread and he needed to stock up on some food.
He was walking to the market and he noticed people were staring at him. Not just Npcs but players as well.
The red mark on his forehead was attracting attention, while his negative fame put Npcs on their guard.
Thankfully the guard left him alone for now, however their gaze never left him.
He entered a grocery store and was kicked out by the merchant.
"I need no PKer’s money!" he yelled.
He went to the market stalls this time, searching for an Npc to buy from.
This too was fruitless. His negative fame made Npc merchants raise their prices so high he could hardly buy even a load of bread.
Jon opened the map menu and looked at the citadels layout.
After a short walk his was at his destination, no one bothered to look at him here.
He was walking around in the slums of the city. This place wasn't clean and shiny like the areas around the market square.
Players avoided these parts of the citadel unless a quest took them here.
The houses were run down, the streets covered with filth and the people dirty. The majority were crippled old men and the few kids that were running about had a at least one hand missing. Punishment for getting caught stealing.
Women were nowhere to be seen.
Jon grabbed a passing kid and jingled some coins before him.
The sound of coins made the whole street freeze up. "Food." he said.
Jealous gazes penetrated Jon from all direction. Tiny cracks appeared in doors and windows, the residents eyed Jon from inside.
"After me, sir." The kid spoke quickly, grabbing and pulling him after him.
The boy took him, following the border of the slums.
They stopped suddenly and the boy extended his good hand.
Jon put a copper coin in it.
"These after." He held up two more coppers.
The boy went on.
As they got to where the main street, the one that cut through the Citadel in half, passed into the slums Jon saw a crowd of people.
More an more people were flooding, coming out of numerous alleys. They walked up and joined what turned out to be a line of people.
"You better hurry, before it runs out." The boy said and locked his way.
Jon gave him the coins and the boy ran away.
Jon took his place in the line and waited for his turn.
"The hell man? Why didn't you bring him here?" a big tanned kid said as the boy who escorted Jon a moment ago came close.
"That guy's crazy." He looked back at Jon.
"Wha?" three more kids spoke at the same time.
"Yeah, I thought he was easy pray at first too. But not anymore…"
"What did he do man?" the tanned kid asked.
"Remember the black clothed man we tried to jump?"
"Don’t you dare bring him up!" the one who acted like the leader got up and grabbed him by the throat.
"Let go! Let go man!"
"Sorry…"
"Don't be. He killed my brother as well. Or did you forget that the other ten we buried were my friends as well?"
The five boys looked at the floor in silence.
"You see him?" He pointed at Jon. "This guy felt even more dangerous than the one we swore to kill."
The other four stared wide eyed at Jon.
"That's crazy man!"
"Hey maybe Yarel will get him?"
"That bitch? No chance."
"Yeah all she ever does is look down at us."
"Fucking slut. Thinks coz she has all that money she's better than us."
"I'd kill her in a second if she wasn't useful. Brings us food, trying to be all saint and shit."
"I heard she's only doing this to look good in front of the church."
"We should get her too one day, her armor must be worth a fortune."
"Whatever, guys. Let’s get something to eat" He lifted the coins he got."
"You bastard. Give me those."
"Take it if you can," he said already sprinting away."
"Get him." They chased after him laughing.
Jon stood in line waited to get a share of food.
While waiting he summoned the ball of light again. In the strong afternoon sun, the faint blue light it radiated was unnoticeable. He was spinning it around his finger and moving it from one hand to the other.
This has already become second nature to him. With his magic mastery almost at level four, controlling this spell, intended for aspiring mages as a means of learning to control their MP has become nothing more than a habit. Nonetheless, even though it wasn't his intention the use of magic still trained his magic mastery skill.
Intelligence Rises by 1 (+1 Int)
More than that, the constant use of magic also raised his Int stat.
Although it was getting harder to raise it like that. This time it took twenty four hours for it to increase. Last time it was eighteen and only fifteen the time before that.
He was getting closer. He finally saw who was giving the food away.
He knew she was female from the voice he heard but now he could see she was wearing the most outrageously exaggerated armor possible.
Things dangled from it, stuff poked out of it and all of the pointless additions made to it made it twice as big as it needed to be.
The fleshy sword at her him seemed pale in comparison to the decorative shield she had slung on her back.
A huge helm covered her head, holding her blond hair in place.
She looked out of place in the gray slum with all her shiny gear.
"Here, take this. It was very expensive." She said with a condescending tone and a fake smile plastered on her face.
The line moved and it was Jon's turn.
"Here, for you si…" her eyes wandered to Jon's face noticing the red mark stuck in the middle of it.
"A player?" She smiled for real now. "How can you be so worthless that you need to bag for food when you’re a player?" The smile was now a smirk.
"A PKer begging for food. You're luck I'm such a good person."
"…"
"Take this." She handed him an expensive looking pastry which Jon took quietly.
"I would never it something so simple, but for a player who kills others it should be enough." She said to his back.
"Hypocrite." Jon uttered.
"What did you say?!" her voice rose. "Say that again to my face, coward."
"Hypocrite." Jon said without a moments delay.
"Me? A hypocrite? Does PKing make one stupid?"
"I, who is so busy with quests from the church of Freya, take the time to feed the Citadel beggars and you dare call me a hypocrite! Prepare for battle!" She held up her shield and took out her sword.
You have been invited to dual.
Do you accept?
Yes? No?
Jon didn't want this. She reminded him of the way his former feeders talked to him. A dual against someone like her was pointless.
"What are you waiting for, scum?" she yelled. "Be honored you get to fight the me. Yarel, the holy knight will one day be a name spoken by all. Later you can brag to your friends how you were lucky enough to be slain by my hand." She banged on her shield once she finished talking.
"…"
"Accept."
"Are you afraid of me?" She laughed. "It's understandable. Don't be fooled by my incredible equipment. I'm still only level twenty. More than enough, however, to defeat you without using my awesome skills." She extended her sword with a shaking hand.
Jon was hungry and she was distracting him.
-'It'll end faster if I accept.'-
The second he accepted the dual Yarel sprang to action. She wanted to lay the first hit and was slowly moving closer to Jon while talking.
With a quick step she reached Jon with ease, dropping her sword at Jon's head.
Jon just stood there looking at the blade go down.
-'Pathetic.'- Her armor was so heavy it looked like she was moving in slow motion.
All Jon did, was simply take a small step sideways and let the sword passed right next.
She did all the rest for him.
The sword dropped, missing her mark and pulling Yarel after it. The various additions on the armor jingled as she fell face first to the ground.
-'At least she didn't let go of her sword.'-
"Fight fairly you, Pker." she yelled from the ground.
She couldn't even get up. The armor weighed to much for her to lift herself with the strength of her arms and turning to her back was impossible due to the useless decorations.
Jon sat down on her back and began eating his pastry.
"I have lost. Kill me! You may have used trickery, but I have lost nonetheless."
He ignored her.
"Do it already, earn your honor."
This was why he didn't want to dual from the start. Winning duals earned you fame and this was exactly what he didn't need.
"No."
"You bastard! I demand you finish this. I refuse to have my honor stained this way." She struggled to get up.
Jon finished eating, ignoring her screams and protests.
Once she started crying, he kicked away her shield and sword.
The crowd immediately carried them away.
"What are you doing? Leave that alone!" she screamed at the Npc's.
"Is this how you repay my charity?" She was sobbing.
A rock flew from the crowd and hit her helm.
"That’s what I think of your charity, you spoiled slut!." Another rock came flying.
The crowd was moving closer and closer.
Jon took her belt knife as it was the only the useful thing she had. Unlike the jewel incrusted sword and the shiny shield which meant nothing more than decoration, the knife was simple.
Simple yet well made.
"I'll get my revenge. Daddy will by me the strongest equipment there is and I'll hunt you down to level one!" She was hysteric.
Jon stood up, wiped his hands on her clothes, tied the belt-knife around his waist and walked away.
The crowed lynched her as soon as he was out of sight.
She screamed as she was stripped and beaten.
"This will feed us for months."
"That's for looking down on us."
"Who's pitiful now ah?!"
She commanded the game to log her out, however, the system wasn't instantaneous.
Unless you were dead the game waited for ten seconds before bringing you back to the real world.
These ten seconds felt to Yarel like infinity as she was brutally beaten by the mob. Although one couldn't die playing, the pain felt in the game was real. And when she was finally safe inside her capsule she kept screaming her lungs out.
She swore to get her revenge as she exited the capsule, falling to the floor from exhaustion.
Your relationship with the beggars of Serabourd Citadel has increased.
They now respect and admire you.
He was still hungry.
-'I should've taken some of her food.'-
He was back at the market again. The pastry he had left him with an urge for more.
He go three silver coins from his kills in the library so he though he had enough, but the price raisin caused by his negative fame, was more than he had expected.
-'I'll need to start earning some money.'-
He went into the shop he was walking by and asked for a job.
Chased away from it and all the rest of the places he tried he was becoming hungrier by the minute.
The sun had already set, and when he passed by the library earlier it was still swarming with guards.
He entered the only restaurant he could find that was still open. It was a rich place but Jon didn't care. He had spent the past years in cages; jail would be a step up from it.
The head waiter did his job without asking questions. Jon was seated at one of the smaller tables close to the wall.
He ordered large quantities of meat and vegetables, and when that was finished he asked for more. When he was done, he got up and walked out the door.
A hand grabbed his shoulder the moment his stepped outside. Jon wasn't surprised.
"May I ask where sir is going?"
"…" Jon knew this would happen and was ready for it.
"Sir seems to have forgotten to pay for his food, nothing wrong with that. That’s why I'm here, to remind you of it."
"…"
"Where's the gold?" his tone changes.
"What's happening here?" another man came out.
"Dragon, sir. This man refuses to pay for his food."
"Does he now? Well, that's what I pay you for. Persuade him share his gold with us."
"With pleasure, sir." The brute made a fist with his free hand.
"No gold."
"We shall see about that."
He started to push Jon into his small booth. Jon tried to resist but felt powerless. The brute’s level was much higher than his. Even worse, his speed was useless as he was already captured.
"Just pay, it will be much faster." The man named Dragon said.
"Can't. No gold."
"No use in telling lies. It won't help you."
"…"
"Last chance."
"…" Jon gave in and stopped resisting. He walked slowly to the booth on his own.
"Wait."
"Sir?"
"I believe him."
"What?"
"Knock him out instead."
Bam! A giant fist connected with Jon's temple and everything went dark.
Jon was aware of the passing time and it seemed like he could still log out, but his screen stayed dark.
So he waited, the darkness was comforting to him. |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 8",
"id": 60,
"next": 404,
"prev": 59,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The Return of the Tyrant<br><br><br>In central continent, far to the north near the borders Rosenheim and the northern continent, a battle of epic scale was taking place. Over 325,000 barbarians, shamans, paladins, and heavily armored Embinyu soldiers were fighting against a mere 4,000 Royal Knights and players. The battlefield had completely changed in the last 24 hours. Blood soaked the earth changing it into a muddy swamp, the bodies of enemies and allies alike littered the floor. Warriors whose weapons were broken resorted to using their fists to fight. Near the center of the battle field was a massive crater with the smoking remains of an undead dragon, its putrid stench clung to the ground, refusing to dissipate anytime soon.<br><br><br>In the center of this hellish battle field was a single person who was having the time of his life.<br><br>“Come one, come on! I’m still not tired yet! Oi, you there! Want a piece of Geomchi sama as well?! Yatz! Yatz! Ahahahha~!” yelled Geomchi at the top of his lungs.<br><br>Geomchi was better known throughout the world as Hyundo Ahn, a master swordsman in real life and the successor of Bonkuk Kumdo. Ahn’s skill in kumdo was recognized worldwide but he had always felt something was missing in his life. The answer to this question was given to him by a former student named Harn Lee that he had trained for over a year at his dojo.<br><br>One of the things he longed for more than anything else in the world, he found in Royal Road. The battle field!! Each day was a new challenge. There was always a chance to fight all sorts of monsters/enemies, each time he would face impossible odds against innumerable enemies then somehow managing to pull through. There was never a chance to rest, and each time he fought his way out tooth and nail till he came out on top. It was his way of reaffirming that he was still getting stronger, that there was still room for improvement. A nice side bonus to Royal Road was that it also helped him get close to beautiful woman~!<br><br>Geomchi’s body swayed side to side as he carefully watched his opponents movements.<br><br>The man towered above Geomchi by a full head and his body armor began to make creaking sounds as he brought his shield to shoulder level.<br><br>Within seconds Geomchi had closed the distance and swung his sword down without hesitation. Somehow, just before colliding with the paladins shield it managed to swerve around his defenses and cut into the man’s ribcage. The force of the blow was weakened because of the action so the soldier didn’t fall immediately, but Geomchi followed up with another fluid attack and the man’s body turned gray and fell lifelessly to the ground.<br><br>“Alright boys, let’s show what we’re made of!” shouted Geomchi at the top of his lungs.<br>His words ignited his students fighting spirits and they all rallied together for another attack.<br><br>“My turn next!”<br>“Ahahah that makes 23 now!”<br>“Tonight’s going to be a feast!”<br>“Yatz Yatz!”<br><br>3 miles away from Geomchi and the others was Mapan’s caravan of wagons as well the 3,000 that Weed had recruited beforehand. They were capitalizing on the wedge the martial artists had created with their amazing front assault.<br><br>Pale looked on admiringly as he shot off a few more arrows from his bow. “They’re amazing as always….” It was obvious from their conversations that each of the martial artists suffered through strict training and even harsher diets which was why they were so strong, but he even so, he couldn’t help but be jealous at their strength and courage. Each of them wielded a sword like a master and charged onward into battle without fear. It would have been a ridiculous sight for anyone else. Pale’s shoulders drooped down as he stared at the ground, contemplating his own weakness.<br><br>Seeming to sense his uneasiness, Maerun hugged Pale from behind in an attempt to cheer him up. “You’re fine the way you are. They have their good points but so do you.”<br><br>Pale relaxed his body and let his weight drop onto Maerun, his head just centimeters away from her neck. “Oh, like what?” asked Pale sarcastically<br><br>“Well, you’re straightforward, reliable, keep your promises, and most importantly you He could not help but be jealous at the swords masters’ strength.” Reassured Maerun in a calming voice<br><br>“Mm…thanks dear.” Pale kissed Maerun lightly on her cheek and then went back to sniping at any careless enemies.<br><br>“Sei! This makes 46! How much are you on now? 30?! Ahahhaha!” bellowed Geo2chi as he cut down yet another Hyena rider. Each of the Hyena’s were twice the size of a horse and although slow, they made up for their lack of speed with pure savageness and brute strength. Armed with Skulls hard as rock, claws strong enough to smash armor, and jaws capable of crushing a fully grown man’s body in seconds. One of the wounded Hyena riders lunged toward Geo3chi from the side in attempt to flank him. Just as swiftly, a paladin wearing full Mithril armor and a cross shield tackled him from his left. The ground shook as the two monstrous bodies collided and stopped in midair.<br><br>“Saints Blade!” Volk’s sword became engulfed in a beautiful white flame. He plunged his sword into the monster’s stomach, scorching its insides. The beast bellowed painfully while its rider remained calm and collected. The soldier’s spear connected with Volk’s massive body, sending him rolling into the dirt. Half out of anger, and the other half out of desperation, the Hyena threw its full body weight at Volk with the holy sword still embedded in his stomach. Volk stood his ground and literally smacked the monstrosity in the face with his tower shield. There was little to no damage inflicted, but the Hyena was stunned for several seconds. That was all the time he needed to change the tide. Volk tore his sword out from the monster’s belly, causing a stream of blood to endlessly flow out from its body. The Hyena’s claw suddenly lashed out at Volk in a last ditch effort and was rewarded with blood. Volk fell to the ground, his head spinning by the blow. The rider seemed to sense that his partner was dying and prepared to deliver the final blow on his enemy for slaying his pet.<br><br>Suddenly a single silhouette appeared from behind the Hyena rider. “I dislike being ignored you know…” said Geo2chi gruffly.<br><br>In that small span of time, Geo2chi closed the distance with a jump then followed up with a twist in mid air to dodge the rider’s sword. His hips, shoulder, and wrist all moved in sync with one another to generate all the power he needed. The sword whistled through the air and at the end of the arc it cleaved into the man’s neck, completely separating it from the man’s head from his body.<br><br>“Cmon Volk, we can’t die just yet!” shouted the warrior ‘I have yet to attract a beautiful girl!’<br>“Ku…Sorry, give me a few more seconds. He managed to get a good shot on me earlier.” Volk clutched his bleeding shoulder and began to rub herbs on it.<br><br>From behind them, an angelic voice began to sing a hymn of healing. “Freya, goddess of beauty and hearth, please grant these noble warriors your blessings. Sanctuary!” The blood covered ground began to glow a faint blue color, and the vitality of both Geo2chi and Volk visibly rose.<br><br>“Thanks honey…” The bleeding on Volk’s arm had stopped and the shoulder looked as good as new.<br><br>“Of course dear!” said the priestess with a smile<br><br>“What! Why are you on the battle field, you already have a beautiful wife!!! Grr…” Geo2chi and several other swordsmen who had heard their conversation were glaring death beams at the ignorant couple. ‘So jealous….’<br><br>“Hm? Did you say something just now Master Geo2chi?”<br>“No, no! What makes you think that? Ahahahha”<br><br>The battle on the eastern side of the battle field seemed to be going well. Sword raised high, Geomchi roared at the top of his lungs “Our sword is invincible!”<br><br>The other martial artists responded back with just as much vigor<br>“Our sword is invincible!”<br>“Our sword is invincible!”<br><br>“Well, it’s true that they’re incredibly strong…” commented Maerun in the back<br>“True, undeniably strong at that” said Pale feeling more respect than jealousy now<br><br>“Fight hard! Gain fame! And then attract the ladies!!” yelled Geo2chi. All of them then proceeded taking off their armor to show off their muscular bodies.<br><br>“For the ladies~! To the death!!!” roared all of the martial artists in unison.<br><br>Maerun couldn’t help but face palm herself at that last comment “Although they could definitely do without all those impure thoughts…”<br><br>Morale was on the rise within the Player and Rosenheim army ranks. They had all rushed down the mountain on the spur of the moment but began to have second thoughts after losing Weed. But now after seeing this man’s strength they fought all the harder. Sword and shield in hand, they clashed headfirst into the enemy ranks. Even the Embinyu heavy infantry seemed to falter in at their recklessness. It would have a picturesque moment if not for the fact that they stripped off their upper armor and ran across the battle field like hyperactive kids….<br><br>“Our sword is invincible! Our sword is invincible!!”<br><br>Unbelievably enough, even Mapan seemed to be infected by their brashness. Merchants were every bit as weak as art classes, possibly even more so since their profession relied on skill rather than physique. He gave a weak battle cry then went off to join the others, battle axe in hand. Needless to say, he would have died several times if not for Maerun’s watchful eye.<br><br>“Sigh….They’re at it again….” Complained a slight woman wearing a crimson colored hat and matching colored robes. She watched as some 500 half naked martial artists were running around, cutting down everything in sight.<br><br>“It can’t be helped Romune, that’s just the way they are.” defended a young woman clothed in a form hugging white priestess outfit. Irene lowered her staff and began chanting a prayer “By the power of the holy spirit, restore their health. Healing Hand!”<br><br>A pure white aura enveloped those below her and their vitality visibly rose. Color returned to their faces, and the battle field seemed more like a bunch of kids at a playground then the usual carnage filled bloodbaths it was supposed to be.<br><br>“Wuoooooh! Thanks Lady Irene!”<br><br>“Well….I guess you’re right, Unni” Threads of magic began to pool towards Romune’s hands as she uttered an arcane phrase under her breath. The threads began to circulate around her finger tips then tightened together to take the shape of a spear. It was one of her favorite spells called “fire spear” which twisted, shredded, flayed, and burned anything it hit. Her entire body recoiled from the shock of releasing the spell but the unlucky soldiers who were hit by the spell suffered even more. Everything in the surrounding was turned to ash in seconds; they didn’t even have the chance to scream.<br><br>“The northern front is falling! The northern front is falling!” blabbered a ranger as he scrambled towards Mapan’s wagon which was serving as a base of sorts<br><br>Pale’s mind began to run through all of the possible factors, motives, scenarios at a lightning fast pace.<br><br>‘The Northern front is guarded by the Rosenheim Royal knights and is closest to Serabourg so the defense is thickest there. It would take a majority of their forces to break through. The Embinyu Denomination already suffered a major blow when we first broke through…So why attack there instead of here, where it’s weaker? Unless…’<br><br>“All available units form up on me!!! The Embinyu Denomination is making a last ditch effort on Serabourg!! They’re trying to take down Serabourg even at the cost of their lives!” Pale’s voice was full of strength and echoed across the battlefield. Players and NPC’s alike rallied toward him. Their ranks were in disarray, their clothes dyed red with blood, and confusion was evident in their eyes. But still they assembled to Pale in desperate defense of their home.<br><br>Pale spoke with a charismatic voice that no one, not Maerun or even himself had ever heard before “Now is the time to fight! Forget about the impossible and fight as you see fight! We will fight to our last breaths and protect Rosenheim ourselves!”<br><br>“RAHHH~!! For Rosenheim!!” yelled the soldiers in unison<br><br><br>Surka, Romune, Irene, and Maerun all gave nods of approval at Pale’s choice. They had always hunted together but Pale always seemed to be lacking something. There was always a lack of confidence in what he did which caused him to second guess himself. He felt as though he was just a shadow when compared to Weed. But now he hardened his conviction and was ready to move out of the shadow.<br><br>“Forward MARCH!!” roared the archer<br><br>*******************************************************<br>“Agh….” Becker groaned as he tried to lift his body off of the ground. ‘Just how long was I out….seconds, minutes, hours….??’ He had a brain splitting headache and his body flared with pain. His armor weighed down on him like never before, it was difficult just breathing.<br><br>Becker looked up and examined his surroundings. The ground scorched black and the ground was littered with the bodies of his subordinates. Knights he had trained alongside since his days as a foot soldier now littered the ground, bodies burnt.<br><br>“No…This can’t be….” Muttered the swordsman in disbelief<br><br>Suddenly, Pain coursed through his left shoulder and he clutched it by reflex…or what was left of it. His left arm from the elbow down was completely gone and through some sick twist of luck, if you could call it that, his wound was seared shut. Otherwise, he may have bled to death while unconscious. “Ahhh….AHHHHH!!!” Becker would’ve cried more but his voice cracked<br><br>‘How did it come to this?’ thought Becker to himself, tears streaming down his face<br><br>Mere moments before, he had charged down the mountain with his allies in a last ditch effort to repulse the Embinyu Denomination. Some of us even joked about finding a girl to call our own as soon as this was over. One of the new recruits, Elliott I think his name was, boldly stated that he would propose to the new busty barmaid at the Jacob’s family Inn.<br><br>The tide of battle seemed to be in their favor. They were strengthened by an incalculable factor called morale. Whether it comes to monsters or NPCs, morale is always a decisive factor in battles. The soldiers were fighting to protect their homes and loved ones and were prepared to give their lives up if necessary to defend it. On the other hand, the Embinyu denomination’s warriors had gone through consecutive victories one after another; they hadn’t even considered losing this battle.<br>The commander’s allies (Weed’s friends) fared well in combat and had seemed to be winning on the eastern front. The Rosenheim knights, never one to back down, took it upon themselves to guard the northern front where most of the enemies were. We chose to stand and fight despite our numerical disadvantage in order to buy time for the others to win. When we met in combat, the enemy made common mistakes in their weapon handling because of their overconfidence and the knights capitalized on it just as quickly. Our practiced formations proved their worth in combat and everything seemed to be going well. Then, out of nowhere, the ground beneath our feet gave way and our bodies were engulfed in smoke and fire. Was it a cannon ball, or maybe a high level shaman? Either way, the explosion mangled our limbs and threw our bodies into the air. I’d hate to think what would have become of us if not for our armor…<br><br>Becker was brought back to reality as an arm wrapped around his body from his right and lifted him off the ground through sheer force.<br><br>“Now’s not the time to be day dreaming buddy! Come on, lift your fat ass up and gimme a hand here! Jeez….the hell have you been eating?” joked the wounded knight. His cloak was in tatters, everything from his shield to his armor was full of cracks, and above all else half of his face was burnt off. Despite that, he somehow managed to smirk at Becker, as though everything was fine.<br><br>“Buren?! What are you doing here?! We have to get you to a priest immediately!” cried Becker, pushing the wounded knight away.<br><br>“Nuh uh…Not without you.” Countered Buren, still smirking<br><br>Becker pleaded desperately for Buren to reconsider “Don’t be a fool! I can barely stand up on my own! I’ll just be slowing you down! Please…I beg you…You still have a wife waiting for you back home….Please…just go…”<br><br>Despite his objections, Buren continued to drag Becker onward through sheer force. Aside from his hearty appetite, Buren was most known for his stubbornness and refusal to reconcile once his mind was made up; especially if it was related to the life of a fellow brother in arms.<br><br>Buren eyed his weeping companion for several seconds, making sure he was alright.“Now who’s the fool? Weren’t you flirting with that new busty bar maid at Jacob’s family Inn on Central Avenue?” replied the knight gruffly<br><br>“Gu….*sob*….*sob*…Thank you….” Croaked Becker weakly<br><br>“HAH! Don’t thank me just yet! You’re footing the bill for our victory party when we get back!” replied Buren, smacking his comrade heartily on his back. He looked over his surroundings once more.<br><br>‘Our bodies are too exposed out here in the open... Got to get to cover…’<br><br>“Cmon Becker, we need to keep moving…We’ll be able to rest once we make it to that rock formation.” As Buren was about to continue dragging Becker to cover, he felt a burning sensation from his left leg. Buren looked down knowingly, and sure enough there was a steel bolt embedded in his thigh.<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Your body has been hurt! 300 damage.<br>Left leg has been wounded, subsequently movement speed is reduced by 20%<br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>“Damn it!” cursed Buren as all of his body weight fell onto his one good leg. ‘I was sure there were no more remaining enemies left! And how did they managed pierce my armor?! Even if it’s been damaged, this armor was custom made and reinforced with Mithril!’ Buren looked over his shoulder. 200 meters away from him were 30 barbarians staring down at them, like a hunter carefully marking their prey. The chieftain could easily be spotted from the others. He was twice the size of the other barbarians, wore a brown pelt along with a necklace made of animal teeth. The man carried a scimitar at his back as a spare weapon and wielded an enormous crossbow with a green tipped bolt as his main.<br><br>‘Adamant bolts….’ Muttered Becker in disdain. Adamant was one of the toughest minerals in existence, second only to the mythical ore called Helium.<br><br>“My thanks to you general Norman, these weapons you’ve given me are truly great!”<br><br>“Ha ha ha! It’s perfectly fine. I’m glad that you decided to join the Embinyu denomination. I can promise you even finer gifts so long as you follow our order.”<br><br>“I will. Those other clans were all fools for rejecting your offer of an alliance. With these weapons, we shall easily conquer all of those weaklings.!!”<br><br>“Tsk, can’t fight and escape at the same time….Gotta get to safety.” The pair began to limp toward cover as best they could but their accumulated wounds hindered them every inch of the way.<br><br>*thunk thunk* Pain engulfed Becker’s body as a pair of bolts lodged themselves in his shoulder blade and lower back.<br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Your body has been hurt! 450 damage.<br>Attack speed reduced by 10%<br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Eight barbarians rushed at them from all sides, axe and swords in hand, ready to deal the final blow on their weakened foes. Becker and Buren however had other plans. They drew their broadswords and fought back to back. Becker singled out the largest of the barbarians and lunged at him with wild abandon.<br><br>“Aura Blade!!” red aura enveloped Becker’s sword as he activated his skill and met the axe mid-blow. Sparks flew as the two weapons collided ending with both warriors’ weapons being thrown back. He ignored the recoil and instead focused his eyes focused on the shaft of the axe which was visibly cracking.<br><br>‘One more time!!’ Becker lunged at him a second time, taunting the barbarian to attack a second time. The warrior was more than happy to accept the challenge and axe swung down full force at Becker’s head.<br><br>‘Have to time it just right…’ The sword glowed red once more as Becker’s sword crashed into the shaft of the axe a second time, this time with more force. The weapon was split into two with the axe head striking deeply into Becker’s chest. He gasped for air as his armor caved in from the strength of the blow. The barbarian looked in shock at his mangled weapon and scrambled for his scimitar, but panicked as his scabbard got in the way. Becker lashed out at the man and his sword pierced the warrior’s upper body, its tip peeking out from his foes back. He kicked the dying man off of his sword and readied himself for another bout.<br><br>Four barbarians rushed the Buren all at once, most likely thinking he would be easy prey with all his wounds. Buren shouted a mighty war cry and charged head first at his enemies. His mailed fist collided with the closest warrior he could find and then followed up with a kick to his midsection. The barbarian crumpled over in pain from the blow and Buren finished him with two quick slashes of his sword. *THUNK THUNK* Two more bolts pierced Buren’s back, most likely from these warriors “brave” Chieftain. Buren instinctively swung his sword when he saw another warrior rush at him from the corner of his eye. This one, however, was fast. He ducked under Buren’s sword and pushed him off his feet.<br><br>“NOW! KILL HIM!!” shouted the barbarian<br><br>“Guh…Damned Leech!!” Buren desperately swung his sword at the warrior, but his wounds made it difficult. Even the few blows Buren managed to land on the man’s face with the hilt of the sword seemed to do little. Swords, daggers, and kicks attacked Buren from all angles as Buren desperately thrashed around to avoid them. The remaining two warriors drew their swords and seemed ready pounce on Buren in his helpless state. Out of nowhere, Becker spun his body around a full 180 degrees and dispatched the leech with a slash thrust of his sword then threw his sword at the warrior on the left. The weapon was easily deflected but it managed to give Buren a chance to get back on his feet. Then forth, Becker used the body as a sort of shield from his enemies attacks while Buren focused on slaying the remaining attackers.<br><br>Both of the knights fought bravely for several minutes. Punching, slashing, and hacking their foes until they were out of breath. There was now a decent pile of dead bodies beneath their feet. However, their enemies were numerous and continued to wear them down with long ranged attacks when their warriors began to wane. Over ten bolts were embedded in their body and their strength was fading quickly. Buren felt a wooden club smash into the back of his head. Just before falling over he saw Becker sprawled out with his back on the ground. Becker’s face was covered in blood, tears of regret streamed down his face as he cursed his body for failing him.<br><br>Unable to hold his body up any longer, Buren fell face first into the blood covered ground. The Chieftain and his elite guard sauntered over to their bodies, ready to land the final blow.<br><br>“BUREN!!! BECKER!!!” shouted a familiar voice<br>“Lieutenant!!”<br><br>Becker strained his neck to see the source of the voice. Off in the distance were Hosram and the trainees. Their armor was in shambles and most of them didn’t even have a shield. Despite this, each of them was rushing towards the aid of their comrade.<br><br><br>‘No! They can’t come here! They don’t know they have crossbows!!’ Becker shouted as hard as his cracked throat would let him “Stay back!! You can’t come here!!” but still, his comrades wouldn’t heed his warnings. Becker struggled to get back to his feet but the Chieftain’s heavy boot crashed down on his back.<br><br><br>“How interesting…So they wish for a fight then. SOLDIERS!!!”<br>The Chieftains elite guards assembled behind him, ready for orders “Sir!!”<br>“Shoot them down until they’re nothing more than Swiss cheese. Leave no survivors. We’ll show these weaklings what it means to go against us.” Commanded the Chieftain with a wave of his hand<br><br>Becker’s back was stomped over and over until his ribs were thoroughly broken. The Chieftain leaned closer to Becker and said in a hushed voice “It doesn’t matter how many of you there are or how hard you train. Trash is still trash, no matter what they do….Just like your poor excuse of a commander.”<br><br>My mind went blank as his words slowly registered themselves in my brain. All of the training we’ve devoted ourselves to were for nothing….? The deaths of my comrades were in vain? The Commander was a weakling?!?!<br><br>Becker flew into a rage as he poured every last ounce of his strength into throwing the Cheiftain’s foot from his body! “Don’t you bullshit me you bastard!! What do you know about the Commander?! What do you know about us?!!” My body shook from side to side as I tried to throw the man’s foot off.<br><br>“Tsk…What an annoying maggot!” complained the Chieftain. Despite Becker’s efforts, the Chieftain stayed his ground and kept Becker pinned to the ground. He readied his crossbow and prepared to deliver the finishing blow on the brave warrior. Just as he was about to fire, something of a miracle happened. A sudden gust of wind blew out from the crater where the remains of the Undead Dragon laid.<br><br>Unprepared for the sudden Gale, the Chieftain was thrown off of Becker and he struggled to steady his feet. Riding the momentum of the wind, Becker flew at the man and bit into the Chieftain’s throat. He desperately used his hands to push the furious knight off of him but Becker held on. With his last bit of strength, Becker tore through the Chieftains Jugular and both fighters fell to their knees. The Chieftain was clutching his neck and trying to keep the blood from flowing out but it didn’t stop flowing out from the open wound. Unable to scream or breathe, he died within seconds gurgling on his own lifeblood.<br><br>“*cough* Serves you right…” Becker had a satisfied expression on his face as he watched the man die.<br><br>“Bastard! How dare you do that to the Chieftain!!” yelled one of the barbarian warriors. He held a long sword in hand and was about to kill Becker and Buren without a moment’s hesitation.<br><br>Three arrows pierced Arglen’s chest, all of them tightly grouped together near his heart. Arglen was wearing one of the new chain mails provided by the Embinyu Army. The armor was made by an advanced level smith and enchanted for protection by their own Shamans but these arrows bore through him like it wasn’t even there.<br><br>“What….The hell?” said Arglen in disbelief.<br><br>*Sweesh Sweesh* Two more arrows found their mark, this time on Arglen’s throat. His head turned to the left to ask his comrades for help but was shocked to see them being slain by a group of armorless swordsmen.<br><br>“Fight! Don’t let any of these bastards make it out of here alive!!” ordered Pale as he loosed another arrow. He looked on as a Shaman was clutching his eye in pain. The fire ball spell he was preparing exploded from the moment’s distraction causing the man’s body to become inflamed.<br><br>“Becker! Buren! Snap out of it!! Someone call a priest! Hurry!!” yelled Johnson, who was now at the two warriors side.<br><br>‘Can’t see…Who’s there….? Is that the Sword Instructor? Hey, you know I trained really hard to get advanced 7 mastery…even though my last attack was just biting, that’s fine….right…? I did manage to take one of the leader’s heads…’ thought Becker to himself. His body was getting colder; he had long since lost all feeling in his limbs.<br><br>Johnson did his best to stop the bleeding. “STAY!! AWAKE!! YOU HEAR ME BECKER?! STAY AWAKE!! I don’t want to lose another brother!!”<br><br>Even his eyes were beginning to lose focus; everything slowly became foggier and foggier. ‘Can I rest now? I’m so tired…’<br>Becker was about to lapse into unconsciousness when he suddenly noticed something floating in the air. It was impossible to not recognize him. There was familiar presence that he and the others knew all too well. The presence of the one person they had all chased after since their days as trainees in the Lair of Litvart.<br><br>“Welcome back…Commander…*cough*…You’re late heh heh…” muttered Becker. Tears streaked down his face and he smiled as his consciousness faded.
</div> | The Return of the Tyrant
In central continent, far to the north near the borders Rosenheim and the northern continent, a battle of epic scale was taking place. Over 325,000 barbarians, shamans, paladins, and heavily armored Embinyu soldiers were fighting against a mere 4,000 Royal Knights and players. The battlefield had completely changed in the last 24 hours. Blood soaked the earth changing it into a muddy swamp, the bodies of enemies and allies alike littered the floor. Warriors whose weapons were broken resorted to using their fists to fight. Near the center of the battle field was a massive crater with the smoking remains of an undead dragon, its putrid stench clung to the ground, refusing to dissipate anytime soon.
In the center of this hellish battle field was a single person who was having the time of his life.
“Come one, come on! I’m still not tired yet! Oi, you there! Want a piece of Geomchi sama as well?! Yatz! Yatz! Ahahahha~!” yelled Geomchi at the top of his lungs.
Geomchi was better known throughout the world as Hyundo Ahn, a master swordsman in real life and the successor of Bonkuk Kumdo. Ahn’s skill in kumdo was recognized worldwide but he had always felt something was missing in his life. The answer to this question was given to him by a former student named Harn Lee that he had trained for over a year at his dojo.
One of the things he longed for more than anything else in the world, he found in Royal Road. The battle field!! Each day was a new challenge. There was always a chance to fight all sorts of monsters/enemies, each time he would face impossible odds against innumerable enemies then somehow managing to pull through. There was never a chance to rest, and each time he fought his way out tooth and nail till he came out on top. It was his way of reaffirming that he was still getting stronger, that there was still room for improvement. A nice side bonus to Royal Road was that it also helped him get close to beautiful woman~!
Geomchi’s body swayed side to side as he carefully watched his opponents movements.
The man towered above Geomchi by a full head and his body armor began to make creaking sounds as he brought his shield to shoulder level.
Within seconds Geomchi had closed the distance and swung his sword down without hesitation. Somehow, just before colliding with the paladins shield it managed to swerve around his defenses and cut into the man’s ribcage. The force of the blow was weakened because of the action so the soldier didn’t fall immediately, but Geomchi followed up with another fluid attack and the man’s body turned gray and fell lifelessly to the ground.
“Alright boys, let’s show what we’re made of!” shouted Geomchi at the top of his lungs.
His words ignited his students fighting spirits and they all rallied together for another attack.
“My turn next!”
“Ahahah that makes 23 now!”
“Tonight’s going to be a feast!”
“Yatz Yatz!”
3 miles away from Geomchi and the others was Mapan’s caravan of wagons as well the 3,000 that Weed had recruited beforehand. They were capitalizing on the wedge the martial artists had created with their amazing front assault.
Pale looked on admiringly as he shot off a few more arrows from his bow. “They’re amazing as always….” It was obvious from their conversations that each of the martial artists suffered through strict training and even harsher diets which was why they were so strong, but he even so, he couldn’t help but be jealous at their strength and courage. Each of them wielded a sword like a master and charged onward into battle without fear. It would have been a ridiculous sight for anyone else. Pale’s shoulders drooped down as he stared at the ground, contemplating his own weakness.
Seeming to sense his uneasiness, Maerun hugged Pale from behind in an attempt to cheer him up. “You’re fine the way you are. They have their good points but so do you.”
Pale relaxed his body and let his weight drop onto Maerun, his head just centimeters away from her neck. “Oh, like what?” asked Pale sarcastically
“Well, you’re straightforward, reliable, keep your promises, and most importantly you He could not help but be jealous at the swords masters’ strength.” Reassured Maerun in a calming voice
“Mm…thanks dear.” Pale kissed Maerun lightly on her cheek and then went back to sniping at any careless enemies.
“Sei! This makes 46! How much are you on now? 30?! Ahahhaha!” bellowed Geo2chi as he cut down yet another Hyena rider. Each of the Hyena’s were twice the size of a horse and although slow, they made up for their lack of speed with pure savageness and brute strength. Armed with Skulls hard as rock, claws strong enough to smash armor, and jaws capable of crushing a fully grown man’s body in seconds. One of the wounded Hyena riders lunged toward Geo3chi from the side in attempt to flank him. Just as swiftly, a paladin wearing full Mithril armor and a cross shield tackled him from his left. The ground shook as the two monstrous bodies collided and stopped in midair.
“Saints Blade!” Volk’s sword became engulfed in a beautiful white flame. He plunged his sword into the monster’s stomach, scorching its insides. The beast bellowed painfully while its rider remained calm and collected. The soldier’s spear connected with Volk’s massive body, sending him rolling into the dirt. Half out of anger, and the other half out of desperation, the Hyena threw its full body weight at Volk with the holy sword still embedded in his stomach. Volk stood his ground and literally smacked the monstrosity in the face with his tower shield. There was little to no damage inflicted, but the Hyena was stunned for several seconds. That was all the time he needed to change the tide. Volk tore his sword out from the monster’s belly, causing a stream of blood to endlessly flow out from its body. The Hyena’s claw suddenly lashed out at Volk in a last ditch effort and was rewarded with blood. Volk fell to the ground, his head spinning by the blow. The rider seemed to sense that his partner was dying and prepared to deliver the final blow on his enemy for slaying his pet.
Suddenly a single silhouette appeared from behind the Hyena rider. “I dislike being ignored you know…” said Geo2chi gruffly.
In that small span of time, Geo2chi closed the distance with a jump then followed up with a twist in mid air to dodge the rider’s sword. His hips, shoulder, and wrist all moved in sync with one another to generate all the power he needed. The sword whistled through the air and at the end of the arc it cleaved into the man’s neck, completely separating it from the man’s head from his body.
“Cmon Volk, we can’t die just yet!” shouted the warrior ‘I have yet to attract a beautiful girl!’
“Ku…Sorry, give me a few more seconds. He managed to get a good shot on me earlier.” Volk clutched his bleeding shoulder and began to rub herbs on it.
From behind them, an angelic voice began to sing a hymn of healing. “Freya, goddess of beauty and hearth, please grant these noble warriors your blessings. Sanctuary!” The blood covered ground began to glow a faint blue color, and the vitality of both Geo2chi and Volk visibly rose.
“Thanks honey…” The bleeding on Volk’s arm had stopped and the shoulder looked as good as new.
“Of course dear!” said the priestess with a smile
“What! Why are you on the battle field, you already have a beautiful wife!!! Grr…” Geo2chi and several other swordsmen who had heard their conversation were glaring death beams at the ignorant couple. ‘So jealous….’
“Hm? Did you say something just now Master Geo2chi?”
“No, no! What makes you think that? Ahahahha”
The battle on the eastern side of the battle field seemed to be going well. Sword raised high, Geomchi roared at the top of his lungs “Our sword is invincible!”
The other martial artists responded back with just as much vigor
“Our sword is invincible!”
“Our sword is invincible!”
“Well, it’s true that they’re incredibly strong…” commented Maerun in the back
“True, undeniably strong at that” said Pale feeling more respect than jealousy now
“Fight hard! Gain fame! And then attract the ladies!!” yelled Geo2chi. All of them then proceeded taking off their armor to show off their muscular bodies.
“For the ladies~! To the death!!!” roared all of the martial artists in unison.
Maerun couldn’t help but face palm herself at that last comment “Although they could definitely do without all those impure thoughts…”
Morale was on the rise within the Player and Rosenheim army ranks. They had all rushed down the mountain on the spur of the moment but began to have second thoughts after losing Weed. But now after seeing this man’s strength they fought all the harder. Sword and shield in hand, they clashed headfirst into the enemy ranks. Even the Embinyu heavy infantry seemed to falter in at their recklessness. It would have a picturesque moment if not for the fact that they stripped off their upper armor and ran across the battle field like hyperactive kids….
“Our sword is invincible! Our sword is invincible!!”
Unbelievably enough, even Mapan seemed to be infected by their brashness. Merchants were every bit as weak as art classes, possibly even more so since their profession relied on skill rather than physique. He gave a weak battle cry then went off to join the others, battle axe in hand. Needless to say, he would have died several times if not for Maerun’s watchful eye.
“Sigh….They’re at it again….” Complained a slight woman wearing a crimson colored hat and matching colored robes. She watched as some 500 half naked martial artists were running around, cutting down everything in sight.
“It can’t be helped Romune, that’s just the way they are.” defended a young woman clothed in a form hugging white priestess outfit. Irene lowered her staff and began chanting a prayer “By the power of the holy spirit, restore their health. Healing Hand!”
A pure white aura enveloped those below her and their vitality visibly rose. Color returned to their faces, and the battle field seemed more like a bunch of kids at a playground then the usual carnage filled bloodbaths it was supposed to be.
“Wuoooooh! Thanks Lady Irene!”
“Well….I guess you’re right, Unni” Threads of magic began to pool towards Romune’s hands as she uttered an arcane phrase under her breath. The threads began to circulate around her finger tips then tightened together to take the shape of a spear. It was one of her favorite spells called “fire spear” which twisted, shredded, flayed, and burned anything it hit. Her entire body recoiled from the shock of releasing the spell but the unlucky soldiers who were hit by the spell suffered even more. Everything in the surrounding was turned to ash in seconds; they didn’t even have the chance to scream.
“The northern front is falling! The northern front is falling!” blabbered a ranger as he scrambled towards Mapan’s wagon which was serving as a base of sorts
Pale’s mind began to run through all of the possible factors, motives, scenarios at a lightning fast pace.
‘The Northern front is guarded by the Rosenheim Royal knights and is closest to Serabourg so the defense is thickest there. It would take a majority of their forces to break through. The Embinyu Denomination already suffered a major blow when we first broke through…So why attack there instead of here, where it’s weaker? Unless…’
“All available units form up on me!!! The Embinyu Denomination is making a last ditch effort on Serabourg!! They’re trying to take down Serabourg even at the cost of their lives!” Pale’s voice was full of strength and echoed across the battlefield. Players and NPC’s alike rallied toward him. Their ranks were in disarray, their clothes dyed red with blood, and confusion was evident in their eyes. But still they assembled to Pale in desperate defense of their home.
Pale spoke with a charismatic voice that no one, not Maerun or even himself had ever heard before “Now is the time to fight! Forget about the impossible and fight as you see fight! We will fight to our last breaths and protect Rosenheim ourselves!”
“RAHHH~!! For Rosenheim!!” yelled the soldiers in unison
Surka, Romune, Irene, and Maerun all gave nods of approval at Pale’s choice. They had always hunted together but Pale always seemed to be lacking something. There was always a lack of confidence in what he did which caused him to second guess himself. He felt as though he was just a shadow when compared to Weed. But now he hardened his conviction and was ready to move out of the shadow.
“Forward MARCH!!” roared the archer
*******************************************************
“Agh….” Becker groaned as he tried to lift his body off of the ground. ‘Just how long was I out….seconds, minutes, hours….??’ He had a brain splitting headache and his body flared with pain. His armor weighed down on him like never before, it was difficult just breathing.
Becker looked up and examined his surroundings. The ground scorched black and the ground was littered with the bodies of his subordinates. Knights he had trained alongside since his days as a foot soldier now littered the ground, bodies burnt.
“No…This can’t be….” Muttered the swordsman in disbelief
Suddenly, Pain coursed through his left shoulder and he clutched it by reflex…or what was left of it. His left arm from the elbow down was completely gone and through some sick twist of luck, if you could call it that, his wound was seared shut. Otherwise, he may have bled to death while unconscious. “Ahhh….AHHHHH!!!” Becker would’ve cried more but his voice cracked
‘How did it come to this?’ thought Becker to himself, tears streaming down his face
Mere moments before, he had charged down the mountain with his allies in a last ditch effort to repulse the Embinyu Denomination. Some of us even joked about finding a girl to call our own as soon as this was over. One of the new recruits, Elliott I think his name was, boldly stated that he would propose to the new busty barmaid at the Jacob’s family Inn.
The tide of battle seemed to be in their favor. They were strengthened by an incalculable factor called morale. Whether it comes to monsters or NPCs, morale is always a decisive factor in battles. The soldiers were fighting to protect their homes and loved ones and were prepared to give their lives up if necessary to defend it. On the other hand, the Embinyu denomination’s warriors had gone through consecutive victories one after another; they hadn’t even considered losing this battle.
The commander’s allies (Weed’s friends) fared well in combat and had seemed to be winning on the eastern front. The Rosenheim knights, never one to back down, took it upon themselves to guard the northern front where most of the enemies were. We chose to stand and fight despite our numerical disadvantage in order to buy time for the others to win. When we met in combat, the enemy made common mistakes in their weapon handling because of their overconfidence and the knights capitalized on it just as quickly. Our practiced formations proved their worth in combat and everything seemed to be going well. Then, out of nowhere, the ground beneath our feet gave way and our bodies were engulfed in smoke and fire. Was it a cannon ball, or maybe a high level shaman? Either way, the explosion mangled our limbs and threw our bodies into the air. I’d hate to think what would have become of us if not for our armor…
Becker was brought back to reality as an arm wrapped around his body from his right and lifted him off the ground through sheer force.
“Now’s not the time to be day dreaming buddy! Come on, lift your fat ass up and gimme a hand here! Jeez….the hell have you been eating?” joked the wounded knight. His cloak was in tatters, everything from his shield to his armor was full of cracks, and above all else half of his face was burnt off. Despite that, he somehow managed to smirk at Becker, as though everything was fine.
“Buren?! What are you doing here?! We have to get you to a priest immediately!” cried Becker, pushing the wounded knight away.
“Nuh uh…Not without you.” Countered Buren, still smirking
Becker pleaded desperately for Buren to reconsider “Don’t be a fool! I can barely stand up on my own! I’ll just be slowing you down! Please…I beg you…You still have a wife waiting for you back home….Please…just go…”
Despite his objections, Buren continued to drag Becker onward through sheer force. Aside from his hearty appetite, Buren was most known for his stubbornness and refusal to reconcile once his mind was made up; especially if it was related to the life of a fellow brother in arms.
Buren eyed his weeping companion for several seconds, making sure he was alright.“Now who’s the fool? Weren’t you flirting with that new busty bar maid at Jacob’s family Inn on Central Avenue?” replied the knight gruffly
“Gu….*sob*….*sob*…Thank you….” Croaked Becker weakly
“HAH! Don’t thank me just yet! You’re footing the bill for our victory party when we get back!” replied Buren, smacking his comrade heartily on his back. He looked over his surroundings once more.
‘Our bodies are too exposed out here in the open... Got to get to cover…’
“Cmon Becker, we need to keep moving…We’ll be able to rest once we make it to that rock formation.” As Buren was about to continue dragging Becker to cover, he felt a burning sensation from his left leg. Buren looked down knowingly, and sure enough there was a steel bolt embedded in his thigh.
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Your body has been hurt! 300 damage.
Left leg has been wounded, subsequently movement speed is reduced by 20%
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“Damn it!” cursed Buren as all of his body weight fell onto his one good leg. ‘I was sure there were no more remaining enemies left! And how did they managed pierce my armor?! Even if it’s been damaged, this armor was custom made and reinforced with Mithril!’ Buren looked over his shoulder. 200 meters away from him were 30 barbarians staring down at them, like a hunter carefully marking their prey. The chieftain could easily be spotted from the others. He was twice the size of the other barbarians, wore a brown pelt along with a necklace made of animal teeth. The man carried a scimitar at his back as a spare weapon and wielded an enormous crossbow with a green tipped bolt as his main.
‘Adamant bolts….’ Muttered Becker in disdain. Adamant was one of the toughest minerals in existence, second only to the mythical ore called Helium.
“My thanks to you general Norman, these weapons you’ve given me are truly great!”
“Ha ha ha! It’s perfectly fine. I’m glad that you decided to join the Embinyu denomination. I can promise you even finer gifts so long as you follow our order.”
“I will. Those other clans were all fools for rejecting your offer of an alliance. With these weapons, we shall easily conquer all of those weaklings.!!”
“Tsk, can’t fight and escape at the same time….Gotta get to safety.” The pair began to limp toward cover as best they could but their accumulated wounds hindered them every inch of the way.
*thunk thunk* Pain engulfed Becker’s body as a pair of bolts lodged themselves in his shoulder blade and lower back.
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Your body has been hurt! 450 damage.
Attack speed reduced by 10%
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Eight barbarians rushed at them from all sides, axe and swords in hand, ready to deal the final blow on their weakened foes. Becker and Buren however had other plans. They drew their broadswords and fought back to back. Becker singled out the largest of the barbarians and lunged at him with wild abandon.
“Aura Blade!!” red aura enveloped Becker’s sword as he activated his skill and met the axe mid-blow. Sparks flew as the two weapons collided ending with both warriors’ weapons being thrown back. He ignored the recoil and instead focused his eyes focused on the shaft of the axe which was visibly cracking.
‘One more time!!’ Becker lunged at him a second time, taunting the barbarian to attack a second time. The warrior was more than happy to accept the challenge and axe swung down full force at Becker’s head.
‘Have to time it just right…’ The sword glowed red once more as Becker’s sword crashed into the shaft of the axe a second time, this time with more force. The weapon was split into two with the axe head striking deeply into Becker’s chest. He gasped for air as his armor caved in from the strength of the blow. The barbarian looked in shock at his mangled weapon and scrambled for his scimitar, but panicked as his scabbard got in the way. Becker lashed out at the man and his sword pierced the warrior’s upper body, its tip peeking out from his foes back. He kicked the dying man off of his sword and readied himself for another bout.
Four barbarians rushed the Buren all at once, most likely thinking he would be easy prey with all his wounds. Buren shouted a mighty war cry and charged head first at his enemies. His mailed fist collided with the closest warrior he could find and then followed up with a kick to his midsection. The barbarian crumpled over in pain from the blow and Buren finished him with two quick slashes of his sword. *THUNK THUNK* Two more bolts pierced Buren’s back, most likely from these warriors “brave” Chieftain. Buren instinctively swung his sword when he saw another warrior rush at him from the corner of his eye. This one, however, was fast. He ducked under Buren’s sword and pushed him off his feet.
“NOW! KILL HIM!!” shouted the barbarian
“Guh…Damned Leech!!” Buren desperately swung his sword at the warrior, but his wounds made it difficult. Even the few blows Buren managed to land on the man’s face with the hilt of the sword seemed to do little. Swords, daggers, and kicks attacked Buren from all angles as Buren desperately thrashed around to avoid them. The remaining two warriors drew their swords and seemed ready pounce on Buren in his helpless state. Out of nowhere, Becker spun his body around a full 180 degrees and dispatched the leech with a slash thrust of his sword then threw his sword at the warrior on the left. The weapon was easily deflected but it managed to give Buren a chance to get back on his feet. Then forth, Becker used the body as a sort of shield from his enemies attacks while Buren focused on slaying the remaining attackers.
Both of the knights fought bravely for several minutes. Punching, slashing, and hacking their foes until they were out of breath. There was now a decent pile of dead bodies beneath their feet. However, their enemies were numerous and continued to wear them down with long ranged attacks when their warriors began to wane. Over ten bolts were embedded in their body and their strength was fading quickly. Buren felt a wooden club smash into the back of his head. Just before falling over he saw Becker sprawled out with his back on the ground. Becker’s face was covered in blood, tears of regret streamed down his face as he cursed his body for failing him.
Unable to hold his body up any longer, Buren fell face first into the blood covered ground. The Chieftain and his elite guard sauntered over to their bodies, ready to land the final blow.
“BUREN!!! BECKER!!!” shouted a familiar voice
“Lieutenant!!”
Becker strained his neck to see the source of the voice. Off in the distance were Hosram and the trainees. Their armor was in shambles and most of them didn’t even have a shield. Despite this, each of them was rushing towards the aid of their comrade.
‘No! They can’t come here! They don’t know they have crossbows!!’ Becker shouted as hard as his cracked throat would let him “Stay back!! You can’t come here!!” but still, his comrades wouldn’t heed his warnings. Becker struggled to get back to his feet but the Chieftain’s heavy boot crashed down on his back.
“How interesting…So they wish for a fight then. SOLDIERS!!!”
The Chieftains elite guards assembled behind him, ready for orders “Sir!!”
“Shoot them down until they’re nothing more than Swiss cheese. Leave no survivors. We’ll show these weaklings what it means to go against us.” Commanded the Chieftain with a wave of his hand
Becker’s back was stomped over and over until his ribs were thoroughly broken. The Chieftain leaned closer to Becker and said in a hushed voice “It doesn’t matter how many of you there are or how hard you train. Trash is still trash, no matter what they do….Just like your poor excuse of a commander.”
My mind went blank as his words slowly registered themselves in my brain. All of the training we’ve devoted ourselves to were for nothing….? The deaths of my comrades were in vain? The Commander was a weakling?!?!
Becker flew into a rage as he poured every last ounce of his strength into throwing the Cheiftain’s foot from his body! “Don’t you bullshit me you bastard!! What do you know about the Commander?! What do you know about us?!!” My body shook from side to side as I tried to throw the man’s foot off.
“Tsk…What an annoying maggot!” complained the Chieftain. Despite Becker’s efforts, the Chieftain stayed his ground and kept Becker pinned to the ground. He readied his crossbow and prepared to deliver the finishing blow on the brave warrior. Just as he was about to fire, something of a miracle happened. A sudden gust of wind blew out from the crater where the remains of the Undead Dragon laid.
Unprepared for the sudden Gale, the Chieftain was thrown off of Becker and he struggled to steady his feet. Riding the momentum of the wind, Becker flew at the man and bit into the Chieftain’s throat. He desperately used his hands to push the furious knight off of him but Becker held on. With his last bit of strength, Becker tore through the Chieftains Jugular and both fighters fell to their knees. The Chieftain was clutching his neck and trying to keep the blood from flowing out but it didn’t stop flowing out from the open wound. Unable to scream or breathe, he died within seconds gurgling on his own lifeblood.
“*cough* Serves you right…” Becker had a satisfied expression on his face as he watched the man die.
“Bastard! How dare you do that to the Chieftain!!” yelled one of the barbarian warriors. He held a long sword in hand and was about to kill Becker and Buren without a moment’s hesitation.
Three arrows pierced Arglen’s chest, all of them tightly grouped together near his heart. Arglen was wearing one of the new chain mails provided by the Embinyu Army. The armor was made by an advanced level smith and enchanted for protection by their own Shamans but these arrows bore through him like it wasn’t even there.
“What….The hell?” said Arglen in disbelief.
*Sweesh Sweesh* Two more arrows found their mark, this time on Arglen’s throat. His head turned to the left to ask his comrades for help but was shocked to see them being slain by a group of armorless swordsmen.
“Fight! Don’t let any of these bastards make it out of here alive!!” ordered Pale as he loosed another arrow. He looked on as a Shaman was clutching his eye in pain. The fire ball spell he was preparing exploded from the moment’s distraction causing the man’s body to become inflamed.
“Becker! Buren! Snap out of it!! Someone call a priest! Hurry!!” yelled Johnson, who was now at the two warriors side.
‘Can’t see…Who’s there….? Is that the Sword Instructor? Hey, you know I trained really hard to get advanced 7 mastery…even though my last attack was just biting, that’s fine….right…? I did manage to take one of the leader’s heads…’ thought Becker to himself. His body was getting colder; he had long since lost all feeling in his limbs.
Johnson did his best to stop the bleeding. “STAY!! AWAKE!! YOU HEAR ME BECKER?! STAY AWAKE!! I don’t want to lose another brother!!”
Even his eyes were beginning to lose focus; everything slowly became foggier and foggier. ‘Can I rest now? I’m so tired…’
Becker was about to lapse into unconsciousness when he suddenly noticed something floating in the air. It was impossible to not recognize him. There was familiar presence that he and the others knew all too well. The presence of the one person they had all chased after since their days as trainees in the Lair of Litvart.
“Welcome back…Commander…*cough*…You’re late heh heh…” muttered Becker. Tears streaked down his face and he smiled as his consciousness faded. |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 2",
"id": 41,
"next": 42,
"prev": 40,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter Two – A Helpful Merchant<br><br>"Hello," a pleasant female voice said.<br>Jon was staring into total darkness. He tried to move and discovered he was floating. Even though his body was immobilized in the capsule, he could move freely in the encircling darkness.<br>"Hello." The voice said again. It seemed to come from all directions at once.<br>"Hello," he answered.<br>"Welcome to Royal Road. Your body is being scanned at the moment; in the meantime, please, choose a nickname."<br>"Jon."<br>"Very good. Jon, what race do you want to play as?"<br>"Me."<br>"Very good. Jon, human. Do you want to make changes to you appearance?"<br>"No."<br>"Very good. Please choose a place to start playing." A list of names appeared, floating in the darkness.<br>-'Gorge said to start in Rosenheim.'-<br>He found the name Rosenheim Citadel near the bottom of the list and picked it.<br>"Very good. The scan will be finished in a moment. Please wait."<br>Jon floated for a while in the darkness. He felt at home in it.<br>"Scan complete. The game will start now. I hope you will enjoy playing, good luck."<br>The darkness faded into a blinding light.<br><br><br><br>Jon closed his eyes against the bright light. Sounds of people talking surrounded him. Opening his eyes he saw a market, busy with people walking about. He couldn't believe it. In his mind he was still in the capsule but his eyes were telling him otherwise.<br>He lifted his arms and shook his legs.<br>-'Just like my real body'- he thought<br>He tried making a step. It went okay, so he tried to jump. That worked fine as well.<br>-'It even smells real.'-<br>He looked around, Gorge explained to him about Npcs (Non-Player-Characters) but it was impossible to tell the difference. Everyone he looked at looked like a real person. They all went about their business around him, trading and talking.<br>-'That guy might be an Npc.'-<br>In the whole crowd only one person stood out. He was walking strangely slowly, looking at the opposite direction of which he was going.<br>Jon ignored him. He was busy trying out the interface commands. One by one he checked different menus. From his inventory that contained only a handful of rye bread to his skill menu which was empty, he checked them all. To him the menus looked like floating, transparent pages. The menus were only visible to Jon, so from the side he looked like a crazy person, pressing and flipping the air.<br>A man who walked by him gave him a disgusted look and when Jon turned around to look at him, his eyes met the eyes of the person who he thought was an Npc.<br>Only this Npc raised an iron club over his head and was preparing to swing it down at Jon.<br><br>Without a second thought Jon moved forward closing the small distance between him and the attacker in one step. His foot stepped on the attacker's foot and he pressed down hard while simultaneously pushing him backwards.<br>The weight of the iron club raised high in the air together with a small push made him lose his balance and he fell on his back, letting go of the club to cushion the fall with his hands. Jon caught the club in the air and dropped it hard on the man. The heavy club connected with the throat of the man who was now lying on his back and crushed it completely.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>A window popped up in front of Jon's eyes and disappeared after a second. The man under his feet turned grey and disappeared as well, only his club was left, held firmly by Jon.<br><br><br>Level Up<br>Level Up<br>You have killed a player!<br>Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)<br>A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 6 hours.<br><br>It was over in a flash.<br>"He killed him" A voice screamed close by. Jon ignored it.<br>He raised a hand to touch his forehead and sure enough there was something that felt like a small gem stuck right in the middle.<br>-'Stats menu'- He spoke the command in his mind and the menu materialized in front of him.<br>"Fucker killed Ron!" a different voice this time.<br>-'What did Gorge say I should raise when I level up?'-<br>"Si, let's get him!." The first voice said.<br>-'Right, raise the dexterity.'- Jon put the ten status points he got from reaching level three into the Dexterity status.<br>"Si, distract him while I cast a spell." "Now! Go! What are you waiting for?"<br>Jon looked at the direction the voice was coming from. His dexterity stat was now at twenty, ten points higher than the stat of the man running at him with a drawn sword. Not a lot but more than enough.<br>Jon spun on one foot to avoid the sword that passed near his right shoulder. Not waiting for the spin to finish, he used the spin momentum to raise the iron club fast towards the opponent’s chin.<br>The club hit dead center.<br>It broke the chin and kept going upwards; squishing the head out of the openings in the helmet replacing with an iron ball what was once a face.<br><br>Critical Hit<br>Level Up<br>You have killed a player!<br>Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)<br>The red mark will disappear in 12 hours.<br><br>Jon ignored the screens that pooped up in his field of vision and sprinted to the one casting the spell. He let go of the club and was in front of the caster while it was still falling through the air , the helmet still attached to the ball at the end.<br>By the time the club hit the ground with a metallic tinge, Jon's fingers were resting comfortably inside the caster's eye sockets.<br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>-'I wonder why he didn't count as a kill?'-<br>Both men turned grey and disappeared. A book fell on the ground beside Jon's legs. He picked up the book forgetting about the club and the helmet still lying a couple of steps away.<br><br>"You! Stop right there." A guard wearing full body metal armor arrived at the scene yelling..<br>"Put your hands out so I can tie them, come on."<br>"Wait." A man moved Jon's hands out of the way, "I saw everything. They attacked him first."<br>"Did they?"<br>"Ask anyone you want!" He waved his hands at the crowd that gathered around them.<br>It took some more persuading, but in the end the guard backed of but didn't go away. He kept eyeing Jon, giving him bad stares.<br>Jon's fame was negative sixty. While that meant nothing to human players, Npc's like the guard would think Jon was a criminal.<br>"Get out of here both of you, I don't need any more trouble from him."<br>"Yes, sir. We shall run along now." The man bowed to the guard and pushed Jon to go away.<br>"Are you crazy? Killing people in the middle of the street? Do you want to spend your first month playing in jail?" he kept looking behind him to see if there was anyone following them.<br>"You're lucky my speech-craft skill is level 3, or else you'd be behind bars now."<br>They turned into a side street leaving the crowd behind them.<br>"Name's Mapan. Merchant Mapan!" He extended his hand forward.<br>"…" Jon just looked at it.<br>"Ahh, you got me." He laughed after a few seconds of silence. "I'm no merchant. Not yet anyway. But you wait and see I'll become the greatest merchant in Royal Road."<br>"…"<br>"I just need to finish the profession change quest. They want me to get three hundred rabbit skins. Three hundred!" He started getting angry. "Do you have any idea how hard that is? And the fuckers tell me to do it in three days!!!"<br>He tried to calm himself down.<br>"So…" his demeanor suddenly changed, "did those guys happen to drop any rabbit skins after being slain by the mighty, you?" a fake smile covered his face.<br>-'So that’s why he helped me.'-<br>Jon lifted the book he picked from the ground.<br>"Oh, what's this?" Mapan snatched the book and started flipping through it.<br>"Hmm, "Fundamentals of magic", not bad not bad, might be worth a gold coin or two to the right person. Great condition, almost new… wait, what's this? Worthless" He threw the book back to Jon.<br>"That's a library book, he must have stolen it. I was wondering why a newbie dropped a book like that."<br>"So no rabbit skins?"<br>"No."<br>"Damn." He said suddenly. "Freaking waste of time. That's what I get for helping others."<br>"At least I got some Exp for my speech-craft skill." He murmured as he joined the mass of people in the main street.<br>Jon was looking at him until he disappeared from his sight. He stood there waiting, not knowing what to do.<br>The sound of someone's yelling reached his ears, something about buying rabbit skins for 30 coppers each. Jon was still standing at the same place Mapan left him. He didn't know what to do now. After putting the five stat points he got from reaching level four into the dexterity stat he thought about what to do next but nothing came to mind.<br>-'I want to fight monsters, but Gorge said I can't go out of the city for my first month in game time.'-<br>He was bored, and with nothing better to do, he simply sat down in the ally with his back to the wall and started reading the book he picked up.<br><br>As the sun got closer to the horizon, the light that reached him between the building walls slowly grew smaller. Jon kept moving closer and closer to the ally's entrance, following the disappearing light. It was no small book, filled with pages of difficult magic formulas and hard to pronounce spells Jon understood he would have to find a place with enough light if he wanted to keep reading at night.<br>But he was in no hurry, although hard the book interested him and there were still a couple of hours before the sun disappeared completely. So he kept reading.<br><br>"Hello" a kid approached Jon.<br>"Is there anything we can help you with?" A girl said, and approached him as well.<br>Jon ignored them both.<br>"Honorable sir, I and my friend are adventurers and we will gladly help you with anything you need."<br>The two of them waited for a response.<br>"Come on, he's not gonna give us any quests." The girl whispered to the boy.<br>"Wait a sec. I'm telling you he must be an Npc related to some secret quest."<br>"Sir," he cleared his throat and stepped closer to Jon "I also enjoy reading. May I ask what book it is you’re reading?"<br>-'They don't intend to leave me do they they?'- He flipped a page. –'Need to find someplace quiet'-<br>He stood up and closed the book.<br>"See, I told you he wan an Npc!" the boy smiled.<br>"Library." Jon said.<br>"What?"<br>"Library." Jon turned pointing at the book.<br>Terror grasped the kid’s face. The boy gave one look at the red gem on Jon's forehead and ran away screaming "Player killer!!!!" at the top of his lungs.<br>Jon moved to the girl still pointing at the book.<br>"Library?"<br>The little girl started crying. A guard passing by heard it and interfered.<br>"What's going on here?"<br>Jon turned to the guard, the girl kept crying behind him.<br>"You, what have you done to the girl?" the guard reached for his sword.<br>"Where is the library?" he said and pointed at the book he was holding.<br>The guard eyed Jon suspiciously, his hand still holding a handle of his sword.<br><br>With directions and a warning from the guard, Jon found a library not far from the town square where he first logged into the game. The sun was starting to set, covering everything with a dim orange light. A large old library building, illuminated by the setting sun, appeared magical. Jon entered through a huge wooden double door. The air was cooler inside.<br>The parts visible in the candle light were rows and rows of bookshelves. The sound of his steps in a huge room, echoed in the silence.<br>He approached a bookkeeper's desk. An old man, with a long, flowing, gray beard sat beside a book as big as Jon’s.<br>"What do you want?" he asked with a sharp voice when he noticed Jon. "This is not a place for trouble makers like yourself!" Jon's negative fame changed the attitude of the usually pleasant Npc.<br>Jon took out his book and handed it to the bookkeeper.<br>"What's this?" he put the glasses hanging from his neck on his nose. "This book was stolen! Where did you get this?" he eyed Jon curiously.<br>"Found it."<br>"Yes, but where did you find it?"<br>"…"<br>"Not saying, fine. Are you returning it then?"<br>"…"<br>The bookkeeper stared at Jon intensively, waiting for him to speak.<br>"…"<br>"You’re a man of few words; I like that in a man." The bookkeeper's eyes softened. "You don't have to tell me where you found it, but thank you for returning it nonetheless."<br><br>Fame Rises By 5 (+5 Fame)<br>Relationship With Library Bookkeeper Increased<br><br>"Is there something you'd like in return?"<br>Jon looked at the book in the mans hand. The bookkeeper noticed a bookmark stuck in it and smiled.<br>"You want this book back?"<br>"Yes."<br>"Can't do that. Books are not allowed to leave the library."<br>"…"<br>"If you still wish to read it, follow me." The bookkeeper took something out of a drawer and walked into the sea of bookshelves. The sun had set and the darkness took over the library. Jon followed closely.<br>They stopped in an open space. A dozen or so candles were lit, near every candle a person reading a book was visible.<br>"Here," the bookkeeper handed a lit cantle to Jon which he took.<br>"Sit wherever you like, there's more than enough room."<br>Jon took the book and two spare candles and sat down at one of the far tables, hidden from the rest of the people in the room by a large stack of books.<br>He placed the candle into a candle holder, opened the book where he last stopped and continued reading.<br><br>When the last candle was almost burnt out Jon looked up from the book for the first time. The first rays of sunshine were starting to come through the large glass windows near a high ceiling.<br>He was hungry and even though he had almost finished the book it was becoming hard to concentrate. He took out rye bread from his inventory and filled a glass with water from a jug in the middle of the table.<br>-'I want to do magic.'-<br>He thought about what he had read, then picked and tried to chant the simplest spell in the book. Nothing happened. He tried a few more times. No result.<br>-'Too bad'-<br>He finished eating, there was enough light now to read the letters even without a candle. He wondered how come he wasn't tired even though he had just spent the whole night awake.<br>-That's right. Gorge said time moved faster in the game. I've been playing for about twelve hours, so that's… hmm… three hours in real life. Need to log out for dinner soon.'-<br>-'I'll finish the book first'- he thought and went back to reading.<br><br>New Skill Acquired: Magic Mastery<br>The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power.<br>The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is.<br>The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells.<br>Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.<br><br><br>You Have Completed The Book: "Fundamentals Of Magic"<br>Intelligence Rises By 2 (+2 Int)<br><br>He opened the skill menu, and sure enough there it was; Basic Magic Mastery: Level 1/ 0%.-'Maybe now.'-<br>He chose a spell the book said was perfect for beginners, opened his palm as if holding a ball, and began chanting. As soon as he began the chant a weak bluish glow appeared around his hand and his Mp (Mana points) started dropping. When twenty out of his one hundred magic points disappeared, the light enveloping his palm collected itself into the shape of a ball.<br>The ball was the size of a large marble, glowing in a bright blue color and floating around his palm, almost grazing the skin but never touching it.<br>-'Whoah…'- he was awestruck. His mind went blank as he stared at a small wonder in his hand.<br>It didn't last long though, soon the blue ball of light started shaking violently. This snapped Jon back from his trance.<br>He concentrated hard trying to steady the ball again, afraid to lose it. He managed somewhat, it was still moving around more than at first but not so violently. His concentration wavered and the ball fell apart, falling on his palm like sand and disappearing into nothingness.<br>-'If only I had this in the cage.'-<br>The skill window he forgot to close, now showed Basic Magic Mastery: Level 1/ 6%. He closed it so it wouldn't distract him and cast the spell again.<br>Like the first time, the spell started shaking and when he got it under control again he decided to try another thing the book mentioned. He chanted one more line and saw his Mp start to go down again. The less Mp he had left the bigger the ball became. As it reached the size of a tennis ball he hardly had any mana left to spare.<br>He kept infusing the spell with his magic, mesmerized by the dancing light. The blue Mp bar in his peripheral vision started blinking red and soon disappeared completely. Jon thought it was over however he was not satisfied!<br>He wanted the light to shine brighter, he wanted it to cover him in its blue glow.<br>-'Brighter'-<br>The ball floated in his hand, barely even moving.<br>-'Brighter'-<br>The glow became brighter.<br>-'BRIGHTER!'- He felt a sudden pull forward, it was small and hardly noticeable yet he felt as if the ball were sucking him in.<br>Something was moving inside the ball, it looked like smoke but it was red. It swirled inside the ball, growing bigger, slowly giving the blue color a purple hue. The light it gave off became stronger and Jon liked it.<br>He concentrated, trying to make the color change completely to purple. He was so engrossed in the light, he didn't notice how pale the skin of his arm became. The stronger the purple hue became the whiter Jon grew. Commanded by Jon to grow brighter and with no more Mp to use, the spell tapped into Jon's life for nourishment.<br>The red health bar was vanishing fast. A little longer and Jon would die.<br><br>The spell broke suddenly. The ball fell apart like sand, leaving an afterimage of itself still floating in the air. Jon was still alive; his Hp bar was barely visible and saw that now.<br>His survival instinct kicked in, it had saved his life dozens of time in the death matches and Jon learned to rely on it unconditionally.<br>-'Thank you.'- it saved him again.<br>He sat down, dizzy and sick. The Hp and Mp bar filled out slowly as time passed.<br>-'Again.'- he wanted to see the purple light again.<br>He got used to being on the verge of death in the years he had spent in the "pit". Many did the same thing that almost killed him. Most of them didn't stop in time killing themselves and vowing not to do something so stupid again, and amongst those who stopped in time none tried it again.<br>Players who played as mages were usually weak and cowardly by nature. They chose the Mage profession to avoid direct combat, staying on the sidelines casting their spells for a safe distance, afraid of getting hurt, more often than not, protected by warriors.<br>Contrary to them, Jon felt alive only on the verge of death. The purple light called to him and he intended to follow it.<br><br>Thinking things through, he stood up and began searching for the bookkeeper. He found him and returned the book to him.<br>"More."<br>The bookkeeper looked at Jon knowingly.<br>"You've discovered your magic power, haven’t you?"<br>"…"<br>"I can see it in you, like in so many others before you." He smiled, yet his eyes looked sad. "I'll tell you what I have told the rest of them. There aren't any spell books here, if you want to learn how to cast spell go to the Mages guild! I won't tolerate people playing with magic in my library!" he said and pointed at the huge book Jon saw when he first came in.<br>"Once was more than enough!<br>Jon noticed the burn marks on it now.<br>"No spells." He repeated after the bookkeeper.<br>"Then what is it that you want?"<br>"Magic books."<br>"Like I said, all magic books are kept in the Mage guild. You should go there it's not far away. I'll even draw you a map. I've gotten good at it with all aspiring mages leaving there once I tell you there are no spells to be learnt here." He took out a piece of paper and began searching for ink, digging through the mass on his desk.<br>"No." Jon stopped the bookkeeper. "Mage books."<br>"Mage books? You mean books about magicians?"<br>"I've got the perfect thing for you!" he looked excited. "Follow me."<br>"This is such a rare moment. It's been years since someone read them." He was racing through the bookshelves, the end of his robe stretching behind him like a tail. Jon had to walk carefully so as not to step on it.<br>"Here they are." He pointed at the shelf covered with a thick layer of dust. "There are a lot of them, but they are just what you need if you want to learn about mages."<br>Jon looked at the books. There were twenty of them and they all looked identical.<br>"Volumes one through twenty. The only place you can find the complete set is here. You can't find them all even if you search the whole Royal library. And the Mages guild only has the last one, what a joke!" He was full of energy, waving his hands at the volume he mentioned.<br>"How do you like them?" He spoke to Jon, not taking his eyes of the books.<br>Jon took out the first volume. It wasn't big but it was much heavier than it looked. Embrowned on the leather cover with golden thread was the title "Mages through the Ages", under it in smaller, silver letters was written "Volume One."<br>"No author." The bookkeeper said.<br>"No one knows who wrote the books. Every hundred years or so a book was discovered, there is no record of them, ever. They simply appear out of nowhere. No merchant ever remembers where he got it; they all say it simply appeared in their shop one day. And adventurers who find them never remember picking them up." He was smiling happily. "Historians consider it as great mystery, and many have dedicated their lives to find out the author."<br>Jon returned to his sitting place. The old bookkeeper stayed back to remove the dust that piled up on the rest of the volumes.<br>-'Purple magic.'- he was looking for a mention of a mage who used it, and this was a good place to start…<br><br>"Here you go." The bookkeeper handed Jon a steaming cup.<br>"…"<br>"Drink it. It's my own recipe, it will help you concentrate."<br>Jon took the small cup carefully. It was filled to the brim with black, tar like liquid. The cup was so small, that there was hardly enough for a mouth full. He downed it in one sip.<br>It took him by surprise. Even though there was steam coming from the liquid and the cup was hot to the touch, as the liquid made its way to his stomach he felt cold spreading through his body. Goosebumps appeared on his skin and the hair on his arms stood up.<br>The cold disappeared as suddenly as it arrived.<br><br>You drank "Scholars Brew"<br>You feel reenergized.<br>Your reading speed is doubled.<br>Affect last for 5 hours.<br><br>"Refreshing isn't it?" The bookkeeper laughed, "You, get used to it."<br>"If you want more, there's always a jug at my table. Take as much as you want, there's no need to ask," he said and went to the next person, already with a full cup in his hand.<br>-'I'm surprised he doesn't spill it,'- he thought and continued reading.<br><br>He was getting close to the half-way point of the book when a big red letters flashed in his face.<br><br>REAL LIFE INTERFERENCE! PLEASE LOG OUT IMMIDIATELY!<br><br>-'Must be Gorge.'-<br>He uttered the command in his mind and darkness filled his vision.<br>Once the sound of the spinning processors stopped the capsule moved into a standing position and the lid opened.<br>"Did you forget about dinner?" Gorge asked, not even waiting for the lid to open completely.<br>"Come on, the food is getting cold." He turned around and left.<br>Jon followed him and sat at the table.<br>"Enjoy." Gorge was smiling again.<br>He waited for Jon to finish eating before satisfying his curiosity.<br>"Did you like it?" No use for roundabout questions Gorge figured, better ask him straight.<br>Jon swallowed the last bite and looked up at Gorge.<br>"Yes."<br>"Anything specific?"<br>"Purple light."<br>"Purple? Where did it come from?"<br>"Magic."<br>Gorge laughed, "Magic you say? And you got to use it?"<br>"Yes."<br>"So you're going to be a magician then?"<br>"No." he said after a moment of thought.<br>"That is good. I do not think being a magician would suit you."<br>"A berserker suits you better from what Joshua tells me." He took the risk, trying to make a joke.<br>"…" Jon just looked at Gorge without as much as blinking.<br>"Never mind that, just kidding."<br>-'Too soon.'- Gorge thought.<br>"You know, Jon, I have been reading up on Royal Road, I can help you. All you need to do is ask."<br>-'He might know.'- He wanted to see the purple light again, maybe Gorge can help.<br>"Purple magic."<br>"Yes, I heard."<br>"Purple magic!"<br>"You want me to find out about purple magic?" he looked hopefully at Jon.<br>"Yes."<br>"That is great. I'll make sure I find something by breakfast. I will go start while you take a shower." He stood up, "You do not want the capsule to smell of sweat, do you?"<br>"Used to it."<br>This caught Gorge off guard.<br>"Listen to me, Jon, I do not know what you have been through," he leaned close to Jon's face, "and I pray one day you will tell me about it. But until you do I will treat you no different than when you were a boy and I was your nanny. So you better listen and behave or just like then I will punish you."<br>Jon didn't show the slightest bit of response.<br>"I may not be able to spank you now, but if you do not start to act like the grown up that you are I will have the capsule sent back. Understood?"<br>"…"<br>"The only reason I asked for it was because I believe it will make you want to talk to me. Joshua said it was a bad idea so if I see that instead of opening you up to me it does the opposite, I will get rid of it." He was breathing heavily.<br>"Are we clear?"<br>"Yes."<br>"And you better start talking in complete sentences, boy, or it will be sooner rather than later."<br>"I understand."<br>"That's better. Now go clean up."<br>Jon stood up and left the room.<br>"Come see me when you are done," he yelled after him, "and make sure to use the scrub."<br><br>-'At least his mind isn't gone.'- He thought as he booted up a holographic display.<br>-'If he can think like a normal person all I need to do is make him talk until he's so used to it that he does it on his own.'-<br>-'I'd hate to do it, but I can always threaten him with the game. Just need to make sure he wants to keep playing it.'-<br>"Call Silia." he said to the screen.<br>"Yes, sir." Her face appeared on it.<br>"I need you to find out about purple magic."<br>"I understand Sir wasted no time with the game." She looked annoyed. "I'll update you as soon as I find something. Anything else I can do for you?"<br>"Relax." Gorge smiled tenderly. Silia has been his secretary for the past five years, and worked for Jon's father for many years before that. He cared for her as if she were his own daughter.<br>"The moment you come back to your senses." And Silia treated Gorge as if he actually were her father. "Sir."<br>"There is nothing to worry about, dear; it will all make sense to you soon."<br>She smiled, but her eyes still showed how worried she really was.<br>"Connect me to Joshua, please. I will have more time than I thought I would these upcoming days and I wish to tell him that personally."<br>Silia looked like she wanted to ask something but did what she was told instead.<br><br>"How are you doing, Gorge?" Mr.Rainold's face replaced Silia's.<br>"Better than I could imagine. Much better in fact."<br>"I take it your plan worked then?"<br>"Indeed it did, my dear friend. I told him that if he wanted to keep playing he needed to start talking."<br>Joshua looked confused.<br>"There is nothing wrong with him, Joshua, not with his mind, at least. I believe he thinks just like you and me, even better and faster then both of us if there is anything left of the boy I had known in him." He sighed. "I think that all he need is to get used to talking again. Wherever he spent these five years at, it is clear talking was not very important there."<br>"Continue."<br>"He understands everything I tell him but he just does not deem it necessary to respond with words. He expresses himself with actions and only when he can’t, does he use words. What I hope to achieve with the game is make it hard for him not to talk."<br>"You said so yesterday, Gorge."<br>"Yes, but what I didn't say was that it already works. He asked me to find out about purple magic."<br>"He asked you to do what?"<br>"Not exactly asked, but he seems interested in purple magic and agreed to accept my help."<br>"…"<br>"It is a start, Joshua. I believe this can work!"<br>"Have it your way, Gorge, you know him better than anyone." A phone ring came from Mr.Rainold's side. "Just in case I have a professional ready to take a look at him. I need to go Gorge, be sure to keep me posted."<br>"Good night, Joshua."<br><br>"Good, you are done and I can tell by the smell you were thorough."<br>"…"<br>"Do you want to talk about something?" He tried just in case.<br>"Maybe watch T.V? We can watch the show you liked, the one about Royal Road."<br>"No." He seemed to struggle with something.<br>"I want to play."<br>Gorge laughed.<br>"I imagined you would. I don't suppose you intend to sleep, do you?"<br>"No"<br>"Well, you can sleep inside the game today. It is your first day after all."<br>"Let’s go, I will help you get in."<br><br>The capsule, gel like interior hugged Jon's body, it felt like it was trying to swallow him.<br>"Listen, I haven’t found anything about purple magic so far, I will need some time for that. However from what I have read, even the most basic of spells requires the second level of basic Magic Mastery. Make sure you get that. Purple magic will come later."<br>"Thank you," Jon said as the lid began to close, just like last time.<br>"My pleasure." Gorge was smiling, "Have fun."<br>The lid closed and moved to a horizontal position to the floor.<br>The sound of spinning processors filled the room once again.
</div> | Chapter Two – A Helpful Merchant
"Hello," a pleasant female voice said.
Jon was staring into total darkness. He tried to move and discovered he was floating. Even though his body was immobilized in the capsule, he could move freely in the encircling darkness.
"Hello." The voice said again. It seemed to come from all directions at once.
"Hello," he answered.
"Welcome to Royal Road. Your body is being scanned at the moment; in the meantime, please, choose a nickname."
"Jon."
"Very good. Jon, what race do you want to play as?"
"Me."
"Very good. Jon, human. Do you want to make changes to you appearance?"
"No."
"Very good. Please choose a place to start playing." A list of names appeared, floating in the darkness.
-'Gorge said to start in Rosenheim.'-
He found the name Rosenheim Citadel near the bottom of the list and picked it.
"Very good. The scan will be finished in a moment. Please wait."
Jon floated for a while in the darkness. He felt at home in it.
"Scan complete. The game will start now. I hope you will enjoy playing, good luck."
The darkness faded into a blinding light.
Jon closed his eyes against the bright light. Sounds of people talking surrounded him. Opening his eyes he saw a market, busy with people walking about. He couldn't believe it. In his mind he was still in the capsule but his eyes were telling him otherwise.
He lifted his arms and shook his legs.
-'Just like my real body'- he thought
He tried making a step. It went okay, so he tried to jump. That worked fine as well.
-'It even smells real.'-
He looked around, Gorge explained to him about Npcs (Non-Player-Characters) but it was impossible to tell the difference. Everyone he looked at looked like a real person. They all went about their business around him, trading and talking.
-'That guy might be an Npc.'-
In the whole crowd only one person stood out. He was walking strangely slowly, looking at the opposite direction of which he was going.
Jon ignored him. He was busy trying out the interface commands. One by one he checked different menus. From his inventory that contained only a handful of rye bread to his skill menu which was empty, he checked them all. To him the menus looked like floating, transparent pages. The menus were only visible to Jon, so from the side he looked like a crazy person, pressing and flipping the air.
A man who walked by him gave him a disgusted look and when Jon turned around to look at him, his eyes met the eyes of the person who he thought was an Npc.
Only this Npc raised an iron club over his head and was preparing to swing it down at Jon.
Without a second thought Jon moved forward closing the small distance between him and the attacker in one step. His foot stepped on the attacker's foot and he pressed down hard while simultaneously pushing him backwards.
The weight of the iron club raised high in the air together with a small push made him lose his balance and he fell on his back, letting go of the club to cushion the fall with his hands. Jon caught the club in the air and dropped it hard on the man. The heavy club connected with the throat of the man who was now lying on his back and crushed it completely.
Critical Hit
A window popped up in front of Jon's eyes and disappeared after a second. The man under his feet turned grey and disappeared as well, only his club was left, held firmly by Jon.
Level Up
Level Up
You have killed a player!
Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)
A red mark has appeared on your forehead, it will disappear in 6 hours.
It was over in a flash.
"He killed him" A voice screamed close by. Jon ignored it.
He raised a hand to touch his forehead and sure enough there was something that felt like a small gem stuck right in the middle.
-'Stats menu'- He spoke the command in his mind and the menu materialized in front of him.
"Fucker killed Ron!" a different voice this time.
-'What did Gorge say I should raise when I level up?'-
"Si, let's get him!." The first voice said.
-'Right, raise the dexterity.'- Jon put the ten status points he got from reaching level three into the Dexterity status.
"Si, distract him while I cast a spell." "Now! Go! What are you waiting for?"
Jon looked at the direction the voice was coming from. His dexterity stat was now at twenty, ten points higher than the stat of the man running at him with a drawn sword. Not a lot but more than enough.
Jon spun on one foot to avoid the sword that passed near his right shoulder. Not waiting for the spin to finish, he used the spin momentum to raise the iron club fast towards the opponent’s chin.
The club hit dead center.
It broke the chin and kept going upwards; squishing the head out of the openings in the helmet replacing with an iron ball what was once a face.
Critical Hit
Level Up
You have killed a player!
Fame is decreased by 20 points. (-20 Fame)
The red mark will disappear in 12 hours.
Jon ignored the screens that pooped up in his field of vision and sprinted to the one casting the spell. He let go of the club and was in front of the caster while it was still falling through the air , the helmet still attached to the ball at the end.
By the time the club hit the ground with a metallic tinge, Jon's fingers were resting comfortably inside the caster's eye sockets.
Critical Hit
-'I wonder why he didn't count as a kill?'-
Both men turned grey and disappeared. A book fell on the ground beside Jon's legs. He picked up the book forgetting about the club and the helmet still lying a couple of steps away.
"You! Stop right there." A guard wearing full body metal armor arrived at the scene yelling..
"Put your hands out so I can tie them, come on."
"Wait." A man moved Jon's hands out of the way, "I saw everything. They attacked him first."
"Did they?"
"Ask anyone you want!" He waved his hands at the crowd that gathered around them.
It took some more persuading, but in the end the guard backed of but didn't go away. He kept eyeing Jon, giving him bad stares.
Jon's fame was negative sixty. While that meant nothing to human players, Npc's like the guard would think Jon was a criminal.
"Get out of here both of you, I don't need any more trouble from him."
"Yes, sir. We shall run along now." The man bowed to the guard and pushed Jon to go away.
"Are you crazy? Killing people in the middle of the street? Do you want to spend your first month playing in jail?" he kept looking behind him to see if there was anyone following them.
"You're lucky my speech-craft skill is level 3, or else you'd be behind bars now."
They turned into a side street leaving the crowd behind them.
"Name's Mapan. Merchant Mapan!" He extended his hand forward.
"…" Jon just looked at it.
"Ahh, you got me." He laughed after a few seconds of silence. "I'm no merchant. Not yet anyway. But you wait and see I'll become the greatest merchant in Royal Road."
"…"
"I just need to finish the profession change quest. They want me to get three hundred rabbit skins. Three hundred!" He started getting angry. "Do you have any idea how hard that is? And the fuckers tell me to do it in three days!!!"
He tried to calm himself down.
"So…" his demeanor suddenly changed, "did those guys happen to drop any rabbit skins after being slain by the mighty, you?" a fake smile covered his face.
-'So that’s why he helped me.'-
Jon lifted the book he picked from the ground.
"Oh, what's this?" Mapan snatched the book and started flipping through it.
"Hmm, "Fundamentals of magic", not bad not bad, might be worth a gold coin or two to the right person. Great condition, almost new… wait, what's this? Worthless" He threw the book back to Jon.
"That's a library book, he must have stolen it. I was wondering why a newbie dropped a book like that."
"So no rabbit skins?"
"No."
"Damn." He said suddenly. "Freaking waste of time. That's what I get for helping others."
"At least I got some Exp for my speech-craft skill." He murmured as he joined the mass of people in the main street.
Jon was looking at him until he disappeared from his sight. He stood there waiting, not knowing what to do.
The sound of someone's yelling reached his ears, something about buying rabbit skins for 30 coppers each. Jon was still standing at the same place Mapan left him. He didn't know what to do now. After putting the five stat points he got from reaching level four into the dexterity stat he thought about what to do next but nothing came to mind.
-'I want to fight monsters, but Gorge said I can't go out of the city for my first month in game time.'-
He was bored, and with nothing better to do, he simply sat down in the ally with his back to the wall and started reading the book he picked up.
As the sun got closer to the horizon, the light that reached him between the building walls slowly grew smaller. Jon kept moving closer and closer to the ally's entrance, following the disappearing light. It was no small book, filled with pages of difficult magic formulas and hard to pronounce spells Jon understood he would have to find a place with enough light if he wanted to keep reading at night.
But he was in no hurry, although hard the book interested him and there were still a couple of hours before the sun disappeared completely. So he kept reading.
"Hello" a kid approached Jon.
"Is there anything we can help you with?" A girl said, and approached him as well.
Jon ignored them both.
"Honorable sir, I and my friend are adventurers and we will gladly help you with anything you need."
The two of them waited for a response.
"Come on, he's not gonna give us any quests." The girl whispered to the boy.
"Wait a sec. I'm telling you he must be an Npc related to some secret quest."
"Sir," he cleared his throat and stepped closer to Jon "I also enjoy reading. May I ask what book it is you’re reading?"
-'They don't intend to leave me do they they?'- He flipped a page. –'Need to find someplace quiet'-
He stood up and closed the book.
"See, I told you he wan an Npc!" the boy smiled.
"Library." Jon said.
"What?"
"Library." Jon turned pointing at the book.
Terror grasped the kid’s face. The boy gave one look at the red gem on Jon's forehead and ran away screaming "Player killer!!!!" at the top of his lungs.
Jon moved to the girl still pointing at the book.
"Library?"
The little girl started crying. A guard passing by heard it and interfered.
"What's going on here?"
Jon turned to the guard, the girl kept crying behind him.
"You, what have you done to the girl?" the guard reached for his sword.
"Where is the library?" he said and pointed at the book he was holding.
The guard eyed Jon suspiciously, his hand still holding a handle of his sword.
With directions and a warning from the guard, Jon found a library not far from the town square where he first logged into the game. The sun was starting to set, covering everything with a dim orange light. A large old library building, illuminated by the setting sun, appeared magical. Jon entered through a huge wooden double door. The air was cooler inside.
The parts visible in the candle light were rows and rows of bookshelves. The sound of his steps in a huge room, echoed in the silence.
He approached a bookkeeper's desk. An old man, with a long, flowing, gray beard sat beside a book as big as Jon’s.
"What do you want?" he asked with a sharp voice when he noticed Jon. "This is not a place for trouble makers like yourself!" Jon's negative fame changed the attitude of the usually pleasant Npc.
Jon took out his book and handed it to the bookkeeper.
"What's this?" he put the glasses hanging from his neck on his nose. "This book was stolen! Where did you get this?" he eyed Jon curiously.
"Found it."
"Yes, but where did you find it?"
"…"
"Not saying, fine. Are you returning it then?"
"…"
The bookkeeper stared at Jon intensively, waiting for him to speak.
"…"
"You’re a man of few words; I like that in a man." The bookkeeper's eyes softened. "You don't have to tell me where you found it, but thank you for returning it nonetheless."
Fame Rises By 5 (+5 Fame)
Relationship With Library Bookkeeper Increased
"Is there something you'd like in return?"
Jon looked at the book in the mans hand. The bookkeeper noticed a bookmark stuck in it and smiled.
"You want this book back?"
"Yes."
"Can't do that. Books are not allowed to leave the library."
"…"
"If you still wish to read it, follow me." The bookkeeper took something out of a drawer and walked into the sea of bookshelves. The sun had set and the darkness took over the library. Jon followed closely.
They stopped in an open space. A dozen or so candles were lit, near every candle a person reading a book was visible.
"Here," the bookkeeper handed a lit cantle to Jon which he took.
"Sit wherever you like, there's more than enough room."
Jon took the book and two spare candles and sat down at one of the far tables, hidden from the rest of the people in the room by a large stack of books.
He placed the candle into a candle holder, opened the book where he last stopped and continued reading.
When the last candle was almost burnt out Jon looked up from the book for the first time. The first rays of sunshine were starting to come through the large glass windows near a high ceiling.
He was hungry and even though he had almost finished the book it was becoming hard to concentrate. He took out rye bread from his inventory and filled a glass with water from a jug in the middle of the table.
-'I want to do magic.'-
He thought about what he had read, then picked and tried to chant the simplest spell in the book. Nothing happened. He tried a few more times. No result.
-'Too bad'-
He finished eating, there was enough light now to read the letters even without a candle. He wondered how come he wasn't tired even though he had just spent the whole night awake.
-That's right. Gorge said time moved faster in the game. I've been playing for about twelve hours, so that's… hmm… three hours in real life. Need to log out for dinner soon.'-
-'I'll finish the book first'- he thought and went back to reading.
New Skill Acquired: Magic Mastery
The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power.
The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is.
The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells.
Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.
You Have Completed The Book: "Fundamentals Of Magic"
Intelligence Rises By 2 (+2 Int)
He opened the skill menu, and sure enough there it was; Basic Magic Mastery: Level 1/ 0%.-'Maybe now.'-
He chose a spell the book said was perfect for beginners, opened his palm as if holding a ball, and began chanting. As soon as he began the chant a weak bluish glow appeared around his hand and his Mp (Mana points) started dropping. When twenty out of his one hundred magic points disappeared, the light enveloping his palm collected itself into the shape of a ball.
The ball was the size of a large marble, glowing in a bright blue color and floating around his palm, almost grazing the skin but never touching it.
-'Whoah…'- he was awestruck. His mind went blank as he stared at a small wonder in his hand.
It didn't last long though, soon the blue ball of light started shaking violently. This snapped Jon back from his trance.
He concentrated hard trying to steady the ball again, afraid to lose it. He managed somewhat, it was still moving around more than at first but not so violently. His concentration wavered and the ball fell apart, falling on his palm like sand and disappearing into nothingness.
-'If only I had this in the cage.'-
The skill window he forgot to close, now showed Basic Magic Mastery: Level 1/ 6%. He closed it so it wouldn't distract him and cast the spell again.
Like the first time, the spell started shaking and when he got it under control again he decided to try another thing the book mentioned. He chanted one more line and saw his Mp start to go down again. The less Mp he had left the bigger the ball became. As it reached the size of a tennis ball he hardly had any mana left to spare.
He kept infusing the spell with his magic, mesmerized by the dancing light. The blue Mp bar in his peripheral vision started blinking red and soon disappeared completely. Jon thought it was over however he was not satisfied!
He wanted the light to shine brighter, he wanted it to cover him in its blue glow.
-'Brighter'-
The ball floated in his hand, barely even moving.
-'Brighter'-
The glow became brighter.
-'BRIGHTER!'- He felt a sudden pull forward, it was small and hardly noticeable yet he felt as if the ball were sucking him in.
Something was moving inside the ball, it looked like smoke but it was red. It swirled inside the ball, growing bigger, slowly giving the blue color a purple hue. The light it gave off became stronger and Jon liked it.
He concentrated, trying to make the color change completely to purple. He was so engrossed in the light, he didn't notice how pale the skin of his arm became. The stronger the purple hue became the whiter Jon grew. Commanded by Jon to grow brighter and with no more Mp to use, the spell tapped into Jon's life for nourishment.
The red health bar was vanishing fast. A little longer and Jon would die.
The spell broke suddenly. The ball fell apart like sand, leaving an afterimage of itself still floating in the air. Jon was still alive; his Hp bar was barely visible and saw that now.
His survival instinct kicked in, it had saved his life dozens of time in the death matches and Jon learned to rely on it unconditionally.
-'Thank you.'- it saved him again.
He sat down, dizzy and sick. The Hp and Mp bar filled out slowly as time passed.
-'Again.'- he wanted to see the purple light again.
He got used to being on the verge of death in the years he had spent in the "pit". Many did the same thing that almost killed him. Most of them didn't stop in time killing themselves and vowing not to do something so stupid again, and amongst those who stopped in time none tried it again.
Players who played as mages were usually weak and cowardly by nature. They chose the Mage profession to avoid direct combat, staying on the sidelines casting their spells for a safe distance, afraid of getting hurt, more often than not, protected by warriors.
Contrary to them, Jon felt alive only on the verge of death. The purple light called to him and he intended to follow it.
Thinking things through, he stood up and began searching for the bookkeeper. He found him and returned the book to him.
"More."
The bookkeeper looked at Jon knowingly.
"You've discovered your magic power, haven’t you?"
"…"
"I can see it in you, like in so many others before you." He smiled, yet his eyes looked sad. "I'll tell you what I have told the rest of them. There aren't any spell books here, if you want to learn how to cast spell go to the Mages guild! I won't tolerate people playing with magic in my library!" he said and pointed at the huge book Jon saw when he first came in.
"Once was more than enough!
Jon noticed the burn marks on it now.
"No spells." He repeated after the bookkeeper.
"Then what is it that you want?"
"Magic books."
"Like I said, all magic books are kept in the Mage guild. You should go there it's not far away. I'll even draw you a map. I've gotten good at it with all aspiring mages leaving there once I tell you there are no spells to be learnt here." He took out a piece of paper and began searching for ink, digging through the mass on his desk.
"No." Jon stopped the bookkeeper. "Mage books."
"Mage books? You mean books about magicians?"
"I've got the perfect thing for you!" he looked excited. "Follow me."
"This is such a rare moment. It's been years since someone read them." He was racing through the bookshelves, the end of his robe stretching behind him like a tail. Jon had to walk carefully so as not to step on it.
"Here they are." He pointed at the shelf covered with a thick layer of dust. "There are a lot of them, but they are just what you need if you want to learn about mages."
Jon looked at the books. There were twenty of them and they all looked identical.
"Volumes one through twenty. The only place you can find the complete set is here. You can't find them all even if you search the whole Royal library. And the Mages guild only has the last one, what a joke!" He was full of energy, waving his hands at the volume he mentioned.
"How do you like them?" He spoke to Jon, not taking his eyes of the books.
Jon took out the first volume. It wasn't big but it was much heavier than it looked. Embrowned on the leather cover with golden thread was the title "Mages through the Ages", under it in smaller, silver letters was written "Volume One."
"No author." The bookkeeper said.
"No one knows who wrote the books. Every hundred years or so a book was discovered, there is no record of them, ever. They simply appear out of nowhere. No merchant ever remembers where he got it; they all say it simply appeared in their shop one day. And adventurers who find them never remember picking them up." He was smiling happily. "Historians consider it as great mystery, and many have dedicated their lives to find out the author."
Jon returned to his sitting place. The old bookkeeper stayed back to remove the dust that piled up on the rest of the volumes.
-'Purple magic.'- he was looking for a mention of a mage who used it, and this was a good place to start…
"Here you go." The bookkeeper handed Jon a steaming cup.
"…"
"Drink it. It's my own recipe, it will help you concentrate."
Jon took the small cup carefully. It was filled to the brim with black, tar like liquid. The cup was so small, that there was hardly enough for a mouth full. He downed it in one sip.
It took him by surprise. Even though there was steam coming from the liquid and the cup was hot to the touch, as the liquid made its way to his stomach he felt cold spreading through his body. Goosebumps appeared on his skin and the hair on his arms stood up.
The cold disappeared as suddenly as it arrived.
You drank "Scholars Brew"
You feel reenergized.
Your reading speed is doubled.
Affect last for 5 hours.
"Refreshing isn't it?" The bookkeeper laughed, "You, get used to it."
"If you want more, there's always a jug at my table. Take as much as you want, there's no need to ask," he said and went to the next person, already with a full cup in his hand.
-'I'm surprised he doesn't spill it,'- he thought and continued reading.
He was getting close to the half-way point of the book when a big red letters flashed in his face.
REAL LIFE INTERFERENCE! PLEASE LOG OUT IMMIDIATELY!
-'Must be Gorge.'-
He uttered the command in his mind and darkness filled his vision.
Once the sound of the spinning processors stopped the capsule moved into a standing position and the lid opened.
"Did you forget about dinner?" Gorge asked, not even waiting for the lid to open completely.
"Come on, the food is getting cold." He turned around and left.
Jon followed him and sat at the table.
"Enjoy." Gorge was smiling again.
He waited for Jon to finish eating before satisfying his curiosity.
"Did you like it?" No use for roundabout questions Gorge figured, better ask him straight.
Jon swallowed the last bite and looked up at Gorge.
"Yes."
"Anything specific?"
"Purple light."
"Purple? Where did it come from?"
"Magic."
Gorge laughed, "Magic you say? And you got to use it?"
"Yes."
"So you're going to be a magician then?"
"No." he said after a moment of thought.
"That is good. I do not think being a magician would suit you."
"A berserker suits you better from what Joshua tells me." He took the risk, trying to make a joke.
"…" Jon just looked at Gorge without as much as blinking.
"Never mind that, just kidding."
-'Too soon.'- Gorge thought.
"You know, Jon, I have been reading up on Royal Road, I can help you. All you need to do is ask."
-'He might know.'- He wanted to see the purple light again, maybe Gorge can help.
"Purple magic."
"Yes, I heard."
"Purple magic!"
"You want me to find out about purple magic?" he looked hopefully at Jon.
"Yes."
"That is great. I'll make sure I find something by breakfast. I will go start while you take a shower." He stood up, "You do not want the capsule to smell of sweat, do you?"
"Used to it."
This caught Gorge off guard.
"Listen to me, Jon, I do not know what you have been through," he leaned close to Jon's face, "and I pray one day you will tell me about it. But until you do I will treat you no different than when you were a boy and I was your nanny. So you better listen and behave or just like then I will punish you."
Jon didn't show the slightest bit of response.
"I may not be able to spank you now, but if you do not start to act like the grown up that you are I will have the capsule sent back. Understood?"
"…"
"The only reason I asked for it was because I believe it will make you want to talk to me. Joshua said it was a bad idea so if I see that instead of opening you up to me it does the opposite, I will get rid of it." He was breathing heavily.
"Are we clear?"
"Yes."
"And you better start talking in complete sentences, boy, or it will be sooner rather than later."
"I understand."
"That's better. Now go clean up."
Jon stood up and left the room.
"Come see me when you are done," he yelled after him, "and make sure to use the scrub."
-'At least his mind isn't gone.'- He thought as he booted up a holographic display.
-'If he can think like a normal person all I need to do is make him talk until he's so used to it that he does it on his own.'-
-'I'd hate to do it, but I can always threaten him with the game. Just need to make sure he wants to keep playing it.'-
"Call Silia." he said to the screen.
"Yes, sir." Her face appeared on it.
"I need you to find out about purple magic."
"I understand Sir wasted no time with the game." She looked annoyed. "I'll update you as soon as I find something. Anything else I can do for you?"
"Relax." Gorge smiled tenderly. Silia has been his secretary for the past five years, and worked for Jon's father for many years before that. He cared for her as if she were his own daughter.
"The moment you come back to your senses." And Silia treated Gorge as if he actually were her father. "Sir."
"There is nothing to worry about, dear; it will all make sense to you soon."
She smiled, but her eyes still showed how worried she really was.
"Connect me to Joshua, please. I will have more time than I thought I would these upcoming days and I wish to tell him that personally."
Silia looked like she wanted to ask something but did what she was told instead.
"How are you doing, Gorge?" Mr.Rainold's face replaced Silia's.
"Better than I could imagine. Much better in fact."
"I take it your plan worked then?"
"Indeed it did, my dear friend. I told him that if he wanted to keep playing he needed to start talking."
Joshua looked confused.
"There is nothing wrong with him, Joshua, not with his mind, at least. I believe he thinks just like you and me, even better and faster then both of us if there is anything left of the boy I had known in him." He sighed. "I think that all he need is to get used to talking again. Wherever he spent these five years at, it is clear talking was not very important there."
"Continue."
"He understands everything I tell him but he just does not deem it necessary to respond with words. He expresses himself with actions and only when he can’t, does he use words. What I hope to achieve with the game is make it hard for him not to talk."
"You said so yesterday, Gorge."
"Yes, but what I didn't say was that it already works. He asked me to find out about purple magic."
"He asked you to do what?"
"Not exactly asked, but he seems interested in purple magic and agreed to accept my help."
"…"
"It is a start, Joshua. I believe this can work!"
"Have it your way, Gorge, you know him better than anyone." A phone ring came from Mr.Rainold's side. "Just in case I have a professional ready to take a look at him. I need to go Gorge, be sure to keep me posted."
"Good night, Joshua."
"Good, you are done and I can tell by the smell you were thorough."
"…"
"Do you want to talk about something?" He tried just in case.
"Maybe watch T.V? We can watch the show you liked, the one about Royal Road."
"No." He seemed to struggle with something.
"I want to play."
Gorge laughed.
"I imagined you would. I don't suppose you intend to sleep, do you?"
"No"
"Well, you can sleep inside the game today. It is your first day after all."
"Let’s go, I will help you get in."
The capsule, gel like interior hugged Jon's body, it felt like it was trying to swallow him.
"Listen, I haven’t found anything about purple magic so far, I will need some time for that. However from what I have read, even the most basic of spells requires the second level of basic Magic Mastery. Make sure you get that. Purple magic will come later."
"Thank you," Jon said as the lid began to close, just like last time.
"My pleasure." Gorge was smiling, "Have fun."
The lid closed and moved to a horizontal position to the floor.
The sound of spinning processors filled the room once again. |
{
"title": "Tales of Adventure",
"id": 86,
"author": "GnomeBob",
"rating": 4.6
} | {
"title": "Vol1 Chapter 9 The path to Strength Pt1",
"id": 440,
"next": 441,
"prev": 439,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 9<br>The path to Strength<br><br>Crane returned to the library, more specifically, the autobiography section of famous warriors. He took a large stack of books to his table and began to read the first few chapters of each. Unlike adventure stories, autobiographies contained the how the person started out, and how they became strong. If it was through some lucky incident or encounter he closed it up and put it back. Crane felt he had used up all his luck and wasted it, so that kind of information was useless to him. But if he found a way to become stronger, he would write it down to put into action as soon as he could. There were locations where one could learn powerful and useful skills, there were methods of raising stats without leveling up, and there were hidden uses of common skills. However the list was still small, too small for him to take back the difference from the -20% stat debuff he now permanently had. He had to incorporate his own training into each training to increase his strength and skills. He knew where to start.<br><br>Crane knew of the training hall of Yarsan since he first mapped the city, the building was so large it could probably be seen from space, if Versailles had any satellites. According to several autobiographies, those powerful people got their start by training at a Basic Training hall until several of their base stats rose to a max of 40 points. But for Crane that would only be half the practice.<br><br>As Crane walked in, a burly man at the door looked at his beginner clothes and said, "Young adventurer, I presume you have arrived at the Versailles continent very recently."<br><br>Crane smiled lightly, "Not exactly sir, I came here for basic training."<br><br>The man gave a mildly impressed look at the young Crane and said, "You can gain strength in this place, but it takes more than most have, do you have it in you complete the basic training?"<br><br>Crane looked down for a moment then up at instructor and said, "We shall see."<br><br>Crane walked over to the wall and picked up one of the thousands of swords that hung there and walked over to a dummy, he took a deep breath and said, "Show stats."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2">Status Window</td></tr><tr><td>Avatar- Crane.</td><td>Alignment- Neutral</td></tr><tr><td>Level 92</td><td>Class- Kallamore Warrior</td></tr><tr><td>Title- None</td><td>Fame- 240</td></tr><tr><td>Health- 2830</td><td>Mana- 1340</td></tr><tr><td>Strength- 200-30</td><td>Agility- 205-31</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom- 70-4</td><td>Intellect- 70-4</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality- 50+0</td><td>Luck- 0+10</td></tr><tr><td>Leadership 12+8</td><td>Finesse- XX+10</td></tr><tr><td>Fighting Spirit- 28+3</td><td>Perseverance 34+6</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Endurance- 40+2</td></tr><tr><td>Attack- 98</td><td>Defense- 28</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">+ All stats are added 10<br>+ While using a sword you receive +50% bonus to Attack<br>+ Decreases Mana Cost for Sword Skills by 50%<br>+ Can learn skills that use the Stat Finesse<br>+ All stats increase by 20% while wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet<br>+ All stats decrease by 20% while not wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The difference between wearing and not wearing the helmet he could no longer wear was 40%. Over time no amount of training could make up for the difference but there was a way to cover for it.<br><br>Crane closed the screen and took his majestic stance, imagining cutting the dummy into sixteen pieces. 71! He struck the dummy in four, fast precise regular attacks and took his stance again, this time imagining his sword was a light-saber that could cut through anything as if it were made of mist. 69! He struck the dummy another four times and took the stance again.<br><br>All the routines within Soa's routine increased in proficiency together, it did not matter which one he used. How much the proficiency increased when used was determined by its level and the finesse stat of the routine used. Even Crane's shout skill only increased in proficiency if the strength boost was used on an attack which caused damage, but a routine could increase as long as the stat boost was used. Crane could get similar results by running a few paces after using Noble step but the training hall was more efficient. The proficiency increase of a 80 finesse routine was four times that of a 40 finesse routine. Cranes came here with several things in mind. He knew that it took anywhere from one to three months to complete the training, Crane goal wasn't speed but effect. By the time Crane completed his training, whenever it was, he wanted to be able to get 90 or higher on his finesse each and every time he used it. And if possible Crane wanted to raise Soa's Routine proficiency as high as he could.<br><br>Crane used a routine before every attack and practiced different images and emotions. When his mana had reached zero he would whack the scarecrow every way he knew how until his mana fully returned and he would go back to practicing. In this way he continued for seven hours and he got his first point.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>-Strength increased by 1 point. (+1 STR)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane had doubts at first of whether or not the training hall would work but after seeing its truth he redoubled his efforts. However after a few hours more, the pain and monotony of the exercise, as well as the mental stress of repeatedly using powerful emotions to summon high finesse, weakened Crane's resolve. 'Why do I have to do this,' 'why am I putting myself through this,' 'this isn't worth it, this isn't even real,' But at those thoughts he remembered the people under his command who died screaming for his help before his eyes, he remembered the smiling faces of his subordinates when he let them hit him before his next strike ended their lives, he remembered the wise soldier who wanted to become a chief and died because of the greed of others and Crane's own arrogance. Crane gripped the handle of his sword so hard he felt it would splinter and attacked the scarecrow with every piece of strength he had until his mana returned. He then took a deep breath and went back to finesse training.<br><br>After two weeks of pushing himself through the toughest challenge he had ever experienced, he received a long awaited message.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Skill Level Up: Soa's Routine [5]</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane smiled and went back to hitting the scarecrow.<br>Another month and a half went by and Crane's mind had changed. Two months of mental practice had granted him heightened will power and imagery skills. Although there was no stat to prove it, the fact that Crane hadn't hit a finesse rating of less than 92 in the past week showed he was capable of invoking any degree of thought and pressure in an instant. <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)<br>Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)<br>Vitality rises by 1 point. (+1 VIT)<br>Fame rises by 20 point. (+20 FAME)<br>Life rises by 100 point. (+100 HP)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane stopped and looked at his messages, "Show stat window."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2">Status Window</td></tr><tr><td>Avatar- Crane.</td><td>Alignment- Neutral</td></tr><tr><td>Level 92</td><td>Class- Kallamore Warrior</td></tr><tr><td>Title- None</td><td>Fame- 260</td></tr><tr><td>Health- 2830</td><td>Mana- 1340</td></tr><tr><td>Strength- 240-38</td><td>Agility- 245-39</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom- 70-4</td><td>Intellect- 70-4</td></tr><tr><td>Vitality- 90-8</td><td>Luck- 0+10</td></tr><tr><td>Leadership 12+8</td><td>Finesse- XX+10</td></tr><tr><td>Fighting Spirit- 68-4</td><td>Perseverance 98-9</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Endurance- 40+2</td></tr><tr><td>Attack- 122</td><td>Defense- 40</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">+ All stats are added 10<br>+ While using a sword you receive +50% bonus to Attack<br>+ Decreases Mana Consuption for Sword Skills by 50%<br>+ Can learn skills that use the Stat Finesse<br>+ All stats increase by 20% while wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet<br>+ All stats decrease by 20% while not wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>He gained 40 points in three stats but his -20% stats meant he had only earned a net 32 points. His greatest increase was in the Perseverance stat, which increased when one performed the same action over and over, it increased defense and stamina by a large margin. Although he had not reached the level he once was, his now level 6 Soa's routine would fill the gap. However this was only a single step, Crane had a long way to go. <br><br>On his way out, he was stopped by the instructor. "You have thoroughly impressed me, not something easily accomplished, and I have a gift for you."<br><br>Crane was aware of the training sword, but he had not use for it. "Thank you but-"<br><br>"This is not a gift from me," he interrupted, "I am aware that the sword I usually give out is useless to you, but when I told a friend of mine about a routine using foreigner who practiced here daily, this man gave this to me and asked I give it to you when you were ready."<br><br>The instructor pulled out an elegant rapier Crane immediately recognized as his former commander's blade. Crane took it and said, "Give your friend my thanks and tell him.." Crane could not think of what to say next when the instructor suggested, "That you continue forward and well." Crane nodded and headed back to the library. <br><br>On the way there he took out the sword, "Identify."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Owen's Rapier<br>Durability: 130/130<br>Damage- 29<br>Made by the great Blacksmith Oralast, this blade was made specifically for fencers.<br>Options:<br>+10 Finesse<br>Requirement:<br>Level 120<br>Finesse stat</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>This was Owen's personal weapon, likely made for him years ago. If the training hall instructor told Owens that Crane was using routines in his practice Owens would have known the reason, and that a sword with +10 finesse would be immeasurably useful when he could equip it.<br><br>Crane knew that he had looked through every available book shelf and had written down every way he could find to become stronger. But while he was training he remembered the second quest he received in Royal Road and where he found the answer to it. He walked up to the woman at the front counter or the library and said, "I would like to look through the restricted section."<br><br>"I suppose telling you that access to the restricted section is in fact restricted is pointless. There are records in there people sleep better at night knowing are kept secure. So why don't you tell me why you want access and we'll go from there."<br><br>Crane told her his tale from leaving the library five months prior, to returning two months ago to now.<br><br>"So that's how it is, but I still can't let you inside to read those books. The only way inside is if you're an authorized library staff member or if you're returning an overdue book."<br><br>Crane asked, "Are you hiring?"<br><br>"Nope, we got several foreigners working here for next to nothing, though even they are not authorized to access it."<br><br>"Well, is there anything I can do? Like when you waved my fee?"<br><br>"Hmm, it just so happened that someone who can't be punished for doing so borrowed a book from the restricted section, left the city, and hasn't returned it."<br><br>"Why can't he be punished? I thought everyone had to sign that waiver thing."<br><br>"Now they do, it is because of him that we started that, he borrowed it shortly after the library opened. The book in question is now 170 years overdue."<br><br>Crane was shocked, she must have been joking, "Umm, wouldn't he be dead by now?"<br><br>"Probably, in any case, I can't grant you access to the restricted section, but if you get the book he borrowed, I'll let you put it back in its bookshelf. You can take as long to put it back as you want."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Retrieve the book<br>Before it was illegal to do so, someone borrowed a book from the restricted section. Find the book to gain one time access to the Yarsan library's restricted section.<br>Difficulty Unknown</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane wasn't certain about the unknown difficulty, but if there was even one more way to get stronger inside than it was worth it.<br><br>"I'll get that book."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You accepted the quest</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>"Good luck, the book is called Herbs of Senbain Mountains"<br><br>Crane went back to the library and piled up every book on the Senbain mountains he could find. With his Potent Recipes of Kallamore book as a guide, Crane looked up the possible locations of the best place for the rarest and most useful herbs to grow. His alchemy book was several hundred years old and the person who borrowed the book may have had the very same book. With those two books and the alchemy skill, one could make powerful potions. However there was a great risk, The mountains were covered in powerful monsters, and although no one knew exactly where they were, the Ekril likely lived there as well.<br><br>There were no books that had exact herb locations, but by cross referencing the general medical references within the history of the areas with herbs that commonly grew together that could make potions that matched that area along with several agriculture books, Crane got a general idea of places within the Senbain mountains with high chances of growing rare herbs that could be used to make powerful potions. <br><br>After four days or research, Crane had a general map of the 3 areas that likely possessed herbs that could be used in a large number of powerful potions. He left the library for the Dark Djinn guild house where he had been keeping his stuff in storage since he no longer had access to the base storage. When he arrived he saw that there were a several members there gathered around a board. The board had information on it which updated weekly, it told of secret rumors and contacts that often lead to quests. As he always did he passed it by without reading it and went to his room. He opened his storage and found something he didn't expect. There was always a chance of something getting stolen though he was assured it would not happen, but Crane found an extra item inside his storage. He took it out and said, "Identify."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Dark Djinn welcome package<br>One week after joining the Dark Djinns, low level members receive guild equipment to help them along.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane figured that he hadn't gotten a uniform before because he was required to wear the Kallamore uniform. "Open."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have received</td></tr><tr><td>Dark Blue Overcoat<br>Durability 80/80<br>Defense 16<br>Made with the skin of a lizardman beneath soft fabric, this jacket provides the highest defense without limiting mobility.<br>Options:<br>Weather resistant<br>Hidden pockets<br>Requirements:<br>Level 70 Dark Djinn member</td></tr><tr><td>Black Shirt<br>Durability 40/40<br>Defense 6<br>Requirements:<br>Level 20 Dark Djinn member</td></tr><tr><td>Black pants<br>Durability 35/35<br>Defense 4<br>Requirements:<br>Level 20 Dark Djinn member</td></tr><tr><td>Black boots<br>Durability 60/60<br>Defense 5<br>Options:<br>Muffles the sound of footsteps<br>Requirements:<br>Level 40 Dark Djinn member</td></tr><tr><td>Dark Blue Gloves<br>Durability 40/40<br>Defense 3<br>Options:<br>Leave no fingerprints<br>Requirements:<br>Level 40 Dark Djinn member</td></tr><tr><td>Dark Blue wide brimmed Feather hat<br>Durability 30/30<br>Defense 3<br>Contains the feather of a white Crane<br>Requirements:<br>Level 40</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane didn't mind that fact that the Dark Djinns' standard colors were black and dark blue. The equipment usually enabled you to move through the night unseen of that is what you wanted, and combined it had greater defense than his now non equippable officer uniform. But what he did mind was that with all this equipment on, he would look like a cartoon character. <br>"A feather hat? Seriously?" He would bet that the hat wasn't even apart of the set.<br><br>Crane walked down the stairs with his starter equipment on and his guild equipment in his inventory when he was stopped at the stairs by the hostess. <br>She said with a smile, "Did you not get the equipment I made?"<br><br>"Um I did but, well, can I put it on later?"<br><br>Like a mother speaking to a child trying to get out of doing the chores, she said "Now now, you joined this guild and said you wanted to be a good public face of the guild. You have the duty to your guild to look the part. Unless you don't like my handmade equipment..."<br><br>Crane was now felt the eyes of every person in the house and realized he didn't have a choice. He brought up his inventory screen and double clicked each item.<br><br>The snickering began. He barely made it to the door before the entire house had burst out into hysterical laughter. With the exception of the hostess, every person there was a user. Just so he could stop the laughter, Crane yelled, "Hey, Does Anyone wanna go with me to the Senbain Mountains?!" And just like that, the users shut up. The dangers of the Senbain mountain range were well known. Going there was as good as a death sentence. <br><br>Crane left the house but after saying it outloud, it did occur to him that maybe he should not go alone. No matter how much preparation you have done, someone to watch your back always helps. At that thought Crane heard a "Hey!" Crane turned around to see a little girl in a magician's hat who had been one of the ones laughing at his outfit earlier. "Are you really going into the Senbain Mountains?"<br><br>Not much good would come from lying so he gave an affirmative nod.<br><br>"Which part?"<br><br>Crane pulled out a map of Kallamore Kingdom and pointed to the mountain range closest to Yarsan. Although there were other places with rarer herbs, Crane had a suspicion that this was the most likely place, the potion that could be made from that herb had a very particular effect, so that was where he would start. The girl's eyes' lit up and she said, "Me and a party are going there too! I don't know how strong you are, but if our destination is the same, shall we go there together?"<br><br>After rag spider canyon, Crane was very wary of joining another party, but the party wasn't of NPCs, but users, as long as they could take care of themselves he didn't mind watching their back while they watched his. "Alright, when are you heading off?<br><br>She smiled and said, "later today, I'm meeting with my party at the front gate. Can you meet us there around 3pm?"<br><br>"Yea, that's fine."<br><br>Crane went to the market to buy throwing knives and a large variety of herbs to create most basic potions and a few poisons. Crane neglected to ask about the parties other members but the girl at least would probably be a spellcaster from the looks of her equipment, so Crane bought extra ingredients for mana potions. He did not know what potions he would need so Crane did not mix them. After storing some knives in the hidden pockets of his overcoat, he headed out for the meeting place.<br><br>Crane walked out the gate a little early and saw a girl wearing the magician hat. "Hey, I'm here, where are the others?"<br><br>She turned around and said," What? Who are you?"<br><br>Crane saw her face and realized his mistake, this girl wore the same outfit but was taller and looked closer to his age than the other girl did. He was about to apologize when another little girl, this time in a white cleric's robe, came running over to Crane and the other girl. The little cleric was the youngest so far, and crane became suspicious of the fact that these two magicians showed up in the place where he was told to meet for the party. <br><br>"Umm, is this the party heading for the Senbain Mountains?"<br><br>The older one said, "Yes, but.. Wait, my sister messaged me about you, she said she found some swordsmans in the shopping district saying he was heading to the mountains. So that's you huh?" <br><br>Crane realized that these three magicians were sisters and that the middle one who invited him had not told these two she was a member of a dark guild. Crane decided it was best to say as little as possible for now and nodded to the older sister's question.<br><br>A few minutes later the last little magician showed up and said, "Ah, I guess you already met my sisters.. Well , introduction time, my name is Salem, and I am a black mage specializing in fire."<br><br>The little one spoke next and said, "Hiiii! Im Tonya, and Imma priestess. Im good at healing and buff spells."<br><br>Crane looked up to the eldest one but she avoided eye contact and said nothing, Salem then said, "And she's Eris, she's a black mage like me, but she specializes in dark magic. We're all sisters in real life and fight together as the three witches!"<br><br>If Crane had not been training mentally for two months he would've cracked up badly, but he kept his poker face and said, "Well, my name is Crane, and I am a swordsman." He whipped his rapier up for emphasis on the obvious and said, "Well, now that introductions are done, would you like to share what you're going to the the mountains for or just leave now?"<br><br>Eris started walking in the direction of the mountains with Tonya following. Salem said, "She is not very quick to trust people." Salem and Crane caught up to the girls headed for the the most dangerous area in the Kallamore kingdom. <br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Crane and the three witches had been walking for about ten hours without a single word shared between them. Crane didn't mind silence, but their destination was about an eleven day walk and Crane needed to know a few things. He walked up to the group so they were all in eyeshot and said, "How much experience do you have?"<br><br>Little Tonya said, "We have looooaads!" We've fought rabbits, and foxes, and wolves, and snakes, and bears, an-" "Enough, We are strong enough to take care of ourselves."<br>Saying two things at once, Eris effectively put the entire group on mute for the rest of the day. <br><br>At night they group set up camp in a small grove of trees, monsters were 50% stronger at night and it was not worth the risk to continue. Crane was on lookout duty, or so he told them. Truth was, Crane was practicing battle aura. It was a learn through practice skill he read about before going to the training hall and required 60 fighting spirit to learn. Fighting spirit itself weakens monsters around the user and can even make them think twice about attacking. Battle aura replaces the effect of fighting spirit with a powerful thought generated by the user. If it is a weak thought about cutting up anything that comes close to pieces, it has about the same effect and range as fighting spirit. But if it is a powerful thought, like, "I will make everything I see suffer a fate that will make them beg for death," while imagining said fate, the effect of battle aura changes into a powerful intimidation that affects only the area in front of you. It can not inflict damage but the effects are as wide and flexible as the user's mind and just as powerful. The skill however is not widely known because it is almost impossible to accidentally train. To train it Crane needed to practice using powerful images in his head to scare off monsters, while completely surrounded by monsters for a period of several hours. That is why Crane chose this place. The girls didn't know it, but they were completely surrounded. The reason was because Crane suggested they stay the night inside the tree grove. The books Crane read included more than just herb references, Crane looked up every report of every monster ever spotted in the Senbain mountains. One of the monsters responsible for many sneak attacks was a weaker type monster than hid in plain sight and waited for the prey to let down their guard. Crane and the witches set up camp in a grove of trees but the truth was that there wasn't a single tree in that area. Trick Trees as they were called, were around level 55, and could easily be mistaken for a tree if it stood still. Everytime he saw one move, Crane would imagine chopping it up while laughing manically. Afterwards it would immediately stop moving.<br><br>After about 2 hours, all the Trick Trees knew they had been made, they had planned to attack at once but the every time they tried to move closer they felt death's hand grip them. They could feel that Crane was dangerous but they were carnivores posing as a plant and they were hungry. One of them inched closer and Crane turned on it with a glare so fierce, the trick tree felt that he was the one about to be eaten. It backed away from the man slowly but the further away it got, the closer the man felt, it didn't make sense. When it had backed away so much there were no trees behind it, it separated its legs and ran away into the night. One by one, brave trees attempted to approach the man, only to feel a fear like the were in the presence of a hungry fire breathing dragon. <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have learned New Skill: Battle Aura</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br>-----------------------------------<br><br><br>"Morning.... Did we move?"<br>"Heeeeeey, where'd the treeeess go?"<br>"..."<br><br>Crane got up and said, "Time to hit the road, I'll take lead."<br><br>"Skill window Battle Aura"<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Battle Aura [1] 0%<br>Converts fighting spirit into directed aura based off the user's thought. Power determined by strength of thought, area value determined by Fighting spirit, area position determined by thought itself<br>Mana Cost: 1 every 3 seconds</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>The skill used mana very slowly, however in royal road, mana does not recharge while using a skill, though there are skills that temporarily decrease maximum mana when used. Crane did not use the skill yet, he wanted to see the monsters that were close by and see how fast he could make them run away, but then he had an idea. Crane lead them on a small detour into an area where a certain monster was known to roam. After the group entered an area that had different plants, Eris said, "Hey! Where are you talking us! That tree only grows in the area southwest of Yarsan. We shouldn't see them on a direct southern route the the mountains!"<br><br>Crane was mildly impresses, "You are correct, this is not the straight route, the straight route will take another ten days, there is a faster way."<br><br>She spoke up again, "If there were a faster way I would know about it!"<br><br>At first Crane thought she may have been arrogant, but then he realized that as the eldest of three sisters she likely looked after the other two and protected them. She probably already researched the fastest route and the area around it to best protect her sisters. <br><br>"I'm sure you would Eris, but the way we are going to get there has never been attempted before, so of course you have never heard of it."<br><br>She looked at him with a doubting expression and said, "And if it has never been tried before, how do you know of it?"<br><br>Crane smiled and said, "Because I just thought of it."<br><br>Crane sat down and took out his cauldron, pile of ingredients and herbs, and his recipe book. Crane asked Tonya, "Can you heal well and cure ailments?"<br><br>She quickly replied "Of Course I can!"<br><br>Crane had bought a rare and expensive ingredient a while back that could be used to make a potion that gave a fairly substantial buff. But it required alchemy mastery a few levels higher than he had. Crane wanted to make as many potions as he could to level up his proficiency so he confirmed that he didn't need anything but mana potions. Crane started dumping ingredients and herbs into his cauldron and mixing them in slow deliberate motions. The witches gathered around him to see what he was doing, trying to find some clue as to how this would help them get to their destination faster. But crane started to fill up bottle after bottle with his brew, replacing the emptying cauldron with more and more ingredients. After Crane had filled up twenty bottles, Eris finally said, "Ok, I give, what are you making?"<br><br>"These are mana potions, they're pretty decent and two or three could probably fill any of you up."<br><br>The girls each let out a unique gasp. The alchemy skill was so well regulated and rare among users they had not even considered that mana potions, highly expensive item sold in store were being made en masse in front of them. Eris looked for a moment at the ever rising pile of potions and said, "None of us have a teleport spell of any length, you're not going to use us like a mana potion powered car that'll zip you across the planes in a day or two."<br><br>This woman was being very negative Crane noticed. If gold fell from the sky she would probably find some way to complain. Not that it was entirely a bad thing, trusting or believing in someone could turn around and bite you in the butt. She probably thought that someone with people to protect couldn't risk trusting others because if she was betrayed then the people she cared for could be hurt. Even though Crane was about the same age she was, she only saw him as a potential threat. That did not matter to Crane though, honestly he approved of her suspicions. Whether or not she and Crane got along didn't matter that much to him, she had her duties, and he had his. <br><br>"I won’t deny that I'm going to use these potions to zip across the planes in a day or two, but that is for later, for now you and your sisters can do whatever you want until I am done. However I'm quite sure you are not aware of this area's monster population. It is safest to stay here at the moment."<br><br>Eris crossed her arms and said, "I know way more about the local monsters than you!"<br><br>Crane sighed as he stirred the cauldron and said, "Then where did the trees go last night?"<br><br>She knew she had to stop talking, it was obvious her bluff had been called and if she continued Crane may embarrass her in front of her sisters. Crane on the other hand was glad she didn't ask him, if she had, he would have a hard time explaining why he purposely camped inside a pack of carnivorous trees without warning them. <br><br>After Crane made about a hundred mana potions, a few health potions, and four antidotes, he would never travel without a couple of his own again, his potion mastery had leveled up to 5 and he was as ready as he could be to make the the potion. He only had one shot, and if it wasn't strong enough, coming here was a complete waste. He slowly and carefully mixed in the ingredient and after letting it cure, poured it into a bottle. "Identify."<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Knight's Potions<br>Strength +50<br>Agility +50<br>Vitality +50<br>Honor +50<br>Lasts 3 minutes<br>Does not stack with other Potions</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Crane took a sigh of relief. The point of a knight potions was honor points and Crane was relieved it gave enough, but only three minutes. It went to prove he still wasn't good enough to make the high level potions in the book. But even though three minutes was going to be difficult, he had to believe it was going to work. "Part one complete."<br><br>Salem overhead Crane and said, "Part one? What's part two? How many parts are there?"<br><br>"Just three, part one was elevate potion making to where I could make this, now I'm going to find part two. You should stay here."<br><br>Eris said, "Like hell! You lead us here, where you go, we go."<br>Tonya and Salem nodded in unison.<br><br>"Alright, but just so you know, part two is going to try to eat me." With that Crane headed further into the territory.<br><br><br>Chapter 9 part 2 <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=581">viewtopic.php?f=91&t=581</a><!-- l --><br>Chapter 8 Into the Spider's web <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=579">viewtopic.php?f=91&t=579</a><!-- l -->
</div> | Chapter 9
The path to Strength
Crane returned to the library, more specifically, the autobiography section of famous warriors. He took a large stack of books to his table and began to read the first few chapters of each. Unlike adventure stories, autobiographies contained the how the person started out, and how they became strong. If it was through some lucky incident or encounter he closed it up and put it back. Crane felt he had used up all his luck and wasted it, so that kind of information was useless to him. But if he found a way to become stronger, he would write it down to put into action as soon as he could. There were locations where one could learn powerful and useful skills, there were methods of raising stats without leveling up, and there were hidden uses of common skills. However the list was still small, too small for him to take back the difference from the -20% stat debuff he now permanently had. He had to incorporate his own training into each training to increase his strength and skills. He knew where to start.
Crane knew of the training hall of Yarsan since he first mapped the city, the building was so large it could probably be seen from space, if Versailles had any satellites. According to several autobiographies, those powerful people got their start by training at a Basic Training hall until several of their base stats rose to a max of 40 points. But for Crane that would only be half the practice.
As Crane walked in, a burly man at the door looked at his beginner clothes and said, "Young adventurer, I presume you have arrived at the Versailles continent very recently."
Crane smiled lightly, "Not exactly sir, I came here for basic training."
The man gave a mildly impressed look at the young Crane and said, "You can gain strength in this place, but it takes more than most have, do you have it in you complete the basic training?"
Crane looked down for a moment then up at instructor and said, "We shall see."
Crane walked over to the wall and picked up one of the thousands of swords that hung there and walked over to a dummy, he took a deep breath and said, "Show stats."
| Status Window | |
| --- | --- |
| Avatar- Crane. | Alignment- Neutral |
| Level 92 | Class- Kallamore Warrior |
| Title- None | Fame- 240 |
| Health- 2830 | Mana- 1340 |
| Strength- 200-30 | Agility- 205-31 |
| Wisdom- 70-4 | Intellect- 70-4 |
| Vitality- 50+0 | Luck- 0+10 |
| Leadership 12+8 | Finesse- XX+10 |
| Fighting Spirit- 28+3 | Perseverance 34+6 |
| Endurance- 40+2 | |
| Attack- 98 | Defense- 28 |
| + All stats are added 10+ While using a sword you receive +50% bonus to Attack+ Decreases Mana Cost for Sword Skills by 50%+ Can learn skills that use the Stat Finesse+ All stats increase by 20% while wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet+ All stats decrease by 20% while not wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet | |
The difference between wearing and not wearing the helmet he could no longer wear was 40%. Over time no amount of training could make up for the difference but there was a way to cover for it.
Crane closed the screen and took his majestic stance, imagining cutting the dummy into sixteen pieces. 71! He struck the dummy in four, fast precise regular attacks and took his stance again, this time imagining his sword was a light-saber that could cut through anything as if it were made of mist. 69! He struck the dummy another four times and took the stance again.
All the routines within Soa's routine increased in proficiency together, it did not matter which one he used. How much the proficiency increased when used was determined by its level and the finesse stat of the routine used. Even Crane's shout skill only increased in proficiency if the strength boost was used on an attack which caused damage, but a routine could increase as long as the stat boost was used. Crane could get similar results by running a few paces after using Noble step but the training hall was more efficient. The proficiency increase of a 80 finesse routine was four times that of a 40 finesse routine. Cranes came here with several things in mind. He knew that it took anywhere from one to three months to complete the training, Crane goal wasn't speed but effect. By the time Crane completed his training, whenever it was, he wanted to be able to get 90 or higher on his finesse each and every time he used it. And if possible Crane wanted to raise Soa's Routine proficiency as high as he could.
Crane used a routine before every attack and practiced different images and emotions. When his mana had reached zero he would whack the scarecrow every way he knew how until his mana fully returned and he would go back to practicing. In this way he continued for seven hours and he got his first point.
| -Strength increased by 1 point. (+1 STR) |
| --- |
Crane had doubts at first of whether or not the training hall would work but after seeing its truth he redoubled his efforts. However after a few hours more, the pain and monotony of the exercise, as well as the mental stress of repeatedly using powerful emotions to summon high finesse, weakened Crane's resolve. 'Why do I have to do this,' 'why am I putting myself through this,' 'this isn't worth it, this isn't even real,' But at those thoughts he remembered the people under his command who died screaming for his help before his eyes, he remembered the smiling faces of his subordinates when he let them hit him before his next strike ended their lives, he remembered the wise soldier who wanted to become a chief and died because of the greed of others and Crane's own arrogance. Crane gripped the handle of his sword so hard he felt it would splinter and attacked the scarecrow with every piece of strength he had until his mana returned. He then took a deep breath and went back to finesse training.
After two weeks of pushing himself through the toughest challenge he had ever experienced, he received a long awaited message.
| Skill Level Up: Soa's Routine [5] |
| --- |
Crane smiled and went back to hitting the scarecrow.
Another month and a half went by and Crane's mind had changed. Two months of mental practice had granted him heightened will power and imagery skills. Although there was no stat to prove it, the fact that Crane hadn't hit a finesse rating of less than 92 in the past week showed he was capable of invoking any degree of thought and pressure in an instant.
| Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)Vitality rises by 1 point. (+1 VIT)Fame rises by 20 point. (+20 FAME)Life rises by 100 point. (+100 HP) |
| --- |
Crane stopped and looked at his messages, "Show stat window."
| Status Window | |
| --- | --- |
| Avatar- Crane. | Alignment- Neutral |
| Level 92 | Class- Kallamore Warrior |
| Title- None | Fame- 260 |
| Health- 2830 | Mana- 1340 |
| Strength- 240-38 | Agility- 245-39 |
| Wisdom- 70-4 | Intellect- 70-4 |
| Vitality- 90-8 | Luck- 0+10 |
| Leadership 12+8 | Finesse- XX+10 |
| Fighting Spirit- 68-4 | Perseverance 98-9 |
| Endurance- 40+2 | |
| Attack- 122 | Defense- 40 |
| + All stats are added 10+ While using a sword you receive +50% bonus to Attack+ Decreases Mana Consuption for Sword Skills by 50%+ Can learn skills that use the Stat Finesse+ All stats increase by 20% while wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet+ All stats decrease by 20% while not wearing the Kallamore Warrior's helmet | |
He gained 40 points in three stats but his -20% stats meant he had only earned a net 32 points. His greatest increase was in the Perseverance stat, which increased when one performed the same action over and over, it increased defense and stamina by a large margin. Although he had not reached the level he once was, his now level 6 Soa's routine would fill the gap. However this was only a single step, Crane had a long way to go.
On his way out, he was stopped by the instructor. "You have thoroughly impressed me, not something easily accomplished, and I have a gift for you."
Crane was aware of the training sword, but he had not use for it. "Thank you but-"
"This is not a gift from me," he interrupted, "I am aware that the sword I usually give out is useless to you, but when I told a friend of mine about a routine using foreigner who practiced here daily, this man gave this to me and asked I give it to you when you were ready."
The instructor pulled out an elegant rapier Crane immediately recognized as his former commander's blade. Crane took it and said, "Give your friend my thanks and tell him.." Crane could not think of what to say next when the instructor suggested, "That you continue forward and well." Crane nodded and headed back to the library.
On the way there he took out the sword, "Identify."
| Owen's RapierDurability: 130/130Damage- 29Made by the great Blacksmith Oralast, this blade was made specifically for fencers.Options:+10 FinesseRequirement:Level 120Finesse stat |
| --- |
This was Owen's personal weapon, likely made for him years ago. If the training hall instructor told Owens that Crane was using routines in his practice Owens would have known the reason, and that a sword with +10 finesse would be immeasurably useful when he could equip it.
Crane knew that he had looked through every available book shelf and had written down every way he could find to become stronger. But while he was training he remembered the second quest he received in Royal Road and where he found the answer to it. He walked up to the woman at the front counter or the library and said, "I would like to look through the restricted section."
"I suppose telling you that access to the restricted section is in fact restricted is pointless. There are records in there people sleep better at night knowing are kept secure. So why don't you tell me why you want access and we'll go from there."
Crane told her his tale from leaving the library five months prior, to returning two months ago to now.
"So that's how it is, but I still can't let you inside to read those books. The only way inside is if you're an authorized library staff member or if you're returning an overdue book."
Crane asked, "Are you hiring?"
"Nope, we got several foreigners working here for next to nothing, though even they are not authorized to access it."
"Well, is there anything I can do? Like when you waved my fee?"
"Hmm, it just so happened that someone who can't be punished for doing so borrowed a book from the restricted section, left the city, and hasn't returned it."
"Why can't he be punished? I thought everyone had to sign that waiver thing."
"Now they do, it is because of him that we started that, he borrowed it shortly after the library opened. The book in question is now 170 years overdue."
Crane was shocked, she must have been joking, "Umm, wouldn't he be dead by now?"
"Probably, in any case, I can't grant you access to the restricted section, but if you get the book he borrowed, I'll let you put it back in its bookshelf. You can take as long to put it back as you want."
| Retrieve the bookBefore it was illegal to do so, someone borrowed a book from the restricted section. Find the book to gain one time access to the Yarsan library's restricted section.Difficulty Unknown |
| --- |
Crane wasn't certain about the unknown difficulty, but if there was even one more way to get stronger inside than it was worth it.
"I'll get that book."
| You accepted the quest |
| --- |
"Good luck, the book is called Herbs of Senbain Mountains"
Crane went back to the library and piled up every book on the Senbain mountains he could find. With his Potent Recipes of Kallamore book as a guide, Crane looked up the possible locations of the best place for the rarest and most useful herbs to grow. His alchemy book was several hundred years old and the person who borrowed the book may have had the very same book. With those two books and the alchemy skill, one could make powerful potions. However there was a great risk, The mountains were covered in powerful monsters, and although no one knew exactly where they were, the Ekril likely lived there as well.
There were no books that had exact herb locations, but by cross referencing the general medical references within the history of the areas with herbs that commonly grew together that could make potions that matched that area along with several agriculture books, Crane got a general idea of places within the Senbain mountains with high chances of growing rare herbs that could be used to make powerful potions.
After four days or research, Crane had a general map of the 3 areas that likely possessed herbs that could be used in a large number of powerful potions. He left the library for the Dark Djinn guild house where he had been keeping his stuff in storage since he no longer had access to the base storage. When he arrived he saw that there were a several members there gathered around a board. The board had information on it which updated weekly, it told of secret rumors and contacts that often lead to quests. As he always did he passed it by without reading it and went to his room. He opened his storage and found something he didn't expect. There was always a chance of something getting stolen though he was assured it would not happen, but Crane found an extra item inside his storage. He took it out and said, "Identify."
| Dark Djinn welcome packageOne week after joining the Dark Djinns, low level members receive guild equipment to help them along. |
| --- |
Crane figured that he hadn't gotten a uniform before because he was required to wear the Kallamore uniform. "Open."
| You have received |
| --- |
| Dark Blue OvercoatDurability 80/80Defense 16Made with the skin of a lizardman beneath soft fabric, this jacket provides the highest defense without limiting mobility.Options:Weather resistantHidden pocketsRequirements:Level 70 Dark Djinn member |
| Black ShirtDurability 40/40Defense 6Requirements:Level 20 Dark Djinn member |
| Black pantsDurability 35/35Defense 4Requirements:Level 20 Dark Djinn member |
| Black bootsDurability 60/60Defense 5Options:Muffles the sound of footstepsRequirements:Level 40 Dark Djinn member |
| Dark Blue GlovesDurability 40/40Defense 3Options:Leave no fingerprintsRequirements:Level 40 Dark Djinn member |
| Dark Blue wide brimmed Feather hatDurability 30/30Defense 3Contains the feather of a white CraneRequirements:Level 40 |
Crane didn't mind that fact that the Dark Djinns' standard colors were black and dark blue. The equipment usually enabled you to move through the night unseen of that is what you wanted, and combined it had greater defense than his now non equippable officer uniform. But what he did mind was that with all this equipment on, he would look like a cartoon character.
"A feather hat? Seriously?" He would bet that the hat wasn't even apart of the set.
Crane walked down the stairs with his starter equipment on and his guild equipment in his inventory when he was stopped at the stairs by the hostess.
She said with a smile, "Did you not get the equipment I made?"
"Um I did but, well, can I put it on later?"
Like a mother speaking to a child trying to get out of doing the chores, she said "Now now, you joined this guild and said you wanted to be a good public face of the guild. You have the duty to your guild to look the part. Unless you don't like my handmade equipment..."
Crane was now felt the eyes of every person in the house and realized he didn't have a choice. He brought up his inventory screen and double clicked each item.
The snickering began. He barely made it to the door before the entire house had burst out into hysterical laughter. With the exception of the hostess, every person there was a user. Just so he could stop the laughter, Crane yelled, "Hey, Does Anyone wanna go with me to the Senbain Mountains?!" And just like that, the users shut up. The dangers of the Senbain mountain range were well known. Going there was as good as a death sentence.
Crane left the house but after saying it outloud, it did occur to him that maybe he should not go alone. No matter how much preparation you have done, someone to watch your back always helps. At that thought Crane heard a "Hey!" Crane turned around to see a little girl in a magician's hat who had been one of the ones laughing at his outfit earlier. "Are you really going into the Senbain Mountains?"
Not much good would come from lying so he gave an affirmative nod.
"Which part?"
Crane pulled out a map of Kallamore Kingdom and pointed to the mountain range closest to Yarsan. Although there were other places with rarer herbs, Crane had a suspicion that this was the most likely place, the potion that could be made from that herb had a very particular effect, so that was where he would start. The girl's eyes' lit up and she said, "Me and a party are going there too! I don't know how strong you are, but if our destination is the same, shall we go there together?"
After rag spider canyon, Crane was very wary of joining another party, but the party wasn't of NPCs, but users, as long as they could take care of themselves he didn't mind watching their back while they watched his. "Alright, when are you heading off?
She smiled and said, "later today, I'm meeting with my party at the front gate. Can you meet us there around 3pm?"
"Yea, that's fine."
Crane went to the market to buy throwing knives and a large variety of herbs to create most basic potions and a few poisons. Crane neglected to ask about the parties other members but the girl at least would probably be a spellcaster from the looks of her equipment, so Crane bought extra ingredients for mana potions. He did not know what potions he would need so Crane did not mix them. After storing some knives in the hidden pockets of his overcoat, he headed out for the meeting place.
Crane walked out the gate a little early and saw a girl wearing the magician hat. "Hey, I'm here, where are the others?"
She turned around and said," What? Who are you?"
Crane saw her face and realized his mistake, this girl wore the same outfit but was taller and looked closer to his age than the other girl did. He was about to apologize when another little girl, this time in a white cleric's robe, came running over to Crane and the other girl. The little cleric was the youngest so far, and crane became suspicious of the fact that these two magicians showed up in the place where he was told to meet for the party.
"Umm, is this the party heading for the Senbain Mountains?"
The older one said, "Yes, but.. Wait, my sister messaged me about you, she said she found some swordsmans in the shopping district saying he was heading to the mountains. So that's you huh?"
Crane realized that these three magicians were sisters and that the middle one who invited him had not told these two she was a member of a dark guild. Crane decided it was best to say as little as possible for now and nodded to the older sister's question.
A few minutes later the last little magician showed up and said, "Ah, I guess you already met my sisters.. Well , introduction time, my name is Salem, and I am a black mage specializing in fire."
The little one spoke next and said, "Hiiii! Im Tonya, and Imma priestess. Im good at healing and buff spells."
Crane looked up to the eldest one but she avoided eye contact and said nothing, Salem then said, "And she's Eris, she's a black mage like me, but she specializes in dark magic. We're all sisters in real life and fight together as the three witches!"
If Crane had not been training mentally for two months he would've cracked up badly, but he kept his poker face and said, "Well, my name is Crane, and I am a swordsman." He whipped his rapier up for emphasis on the obvious and said, "Well, now that introductions are done, would you like to share what you're going to the the mountains for or just leave now?"
Eris started walking in the direction of the mountains with Tonya following. Salem said, "She is not very quick to trust people." Salem and Crane caught up to the girls headed for the the most dangerous area in the Kallamore kingdom.
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Crane and the three witches had been walking for about ten hours without a single word shared between them. Crane didn't mind silence, but their destination was about an eleven day walk and Crane needed to know a few things. He walked up to the group so they were all in eyeshot and said, "How much experience do you have?"
Little Tonya said, "We have looooaads!" We've fought rabbits, and foxes, and wolves, and snakes, and bears, an-" "Enough, We are strong enough to take care of ourselves."
Saying two things at once, Eris effectively put the entire group on mute for the rest of the day.
At night they group set up camp in a small grove of trees, monsters were 50% stronger at night and it was not worth the risk to continue. Crane was on lookout duty, or so he told them. Truth was, Crane was practicing battle aura. It was a learn through practice skill he read about before going to the training hall and required 60 fighting spirit to learn. Fighting spirit itself weakens monsters around the user and can even make them think twice about attacking. Battle aura replaces the effect of fighting spirit with a powerful thought generated by the user. If it is a weak thought about cutting up anything that comes close to pieces, it has about the same effect and range as fighting spirit. But if it is a powerful thought, like, "I will make everything I see suffer a fate that will make them beg for death," while imagining said fate, the effect of battle aura changes into a powerful intimidation that affects only the area in front of you. It can not inflict damage but the effects are as wide and flexible as the user's mind and just as powerful. The skill however is not widely known because it is almost impossible to accidentally train. To train it Crane needed to practice using powerful images in his head to scare off monsters, while completely surrounded by monsters for a period of several hours. That is why Crane chose this place. The girls didn't know it, but they were completely surrounded. The reason was because Crane suggested they stay the night inside the tree grove. The books Crane read included more than just herb references, Crane looked up every report of every monster ever spotted in the Senbain mountains. One of the monsters responsible for many sneak attacks was a weaker type monster than hid in plain sight and waited for the prey to let down their guard. Crane and the witches set up camp in a grove of trees but the truth was that there wasn't a single tree in that area. Trick Trees as they were called, were around level 55, and could easily be mistaken for a tree if it stood still. Everytime he saw one move, Crane would imagine chopping it up while laughing manically. Afterwards it would immediately stop moving.
After about 2 hours, all the Trick Trees knew they had been made, they had planned to attack at once but the every time they tried to move closer they felt death's hand grip them. They could feel that Crane was dangerous but they were carnivores posing as a plant and they were hungry. One of them inched closer and Crane turned on it with a glare so fierce, the trick tree felt that he was the one about to be eaten. It backed away from the man slowly but the further away it got, the closer the man felt, it didn't make sense. When it had backed away so much there were no trees behind it, it separated its legs and ran away into the night. One by one, brave trees attempted to approach the man, only to feel a fear like the were in the presence of a hungry fire breathing dragon.
| You have learned New Skill: Battle Aura |
| --- |
-----------------------------------
"Morning.... Did we move?"
"Heeeeeey, where'd the treeeess go?"
"..."
Crane got up and said, "Time to hit the road, I'll take lead."
"Skill window Battle Aura"
| Battle Aura [1] 0%Converts fighting spirit into directed aura based off the user's thought. Power determined by strength of thought, area value determined by Fighting spirit, area position determined by thought itselfMana Cost: 1 every 3 seconds |
| --- |
The skill used mana very slowly, however in royal road, mana does not recharge while using a skill, though there are skills that temporarily decrease maximum mana when used. Crane did not use the skill yet, he wanted to see the monsters that were close by and see how fast he could make them run away, but then he had an idea. Crane lead them on a small detour into an area where a certain monster was known to roam. After the group entered an area that had different plants, Eris said, "Hey! Where are you talking us! That tree only grows in the area southwest of Yarsan. We shouldn't see them on a direct southern route the the mountains!"
Crane was mildly impresses, "You are correct, this is not the straight route, the straight route will take another ten days, there is a faster way."
She spoke up again, "If there were a faster way I would know about it!"
At first Crane thought she may have been arrogant, but then he realized that as the eldest of three sisters she likely looked after the other two and protected them. She probably already researched the fastest route and the area around it to best protect her sisters.
"I'm sure you would Eris, but the way we are going to get there has never been attempted before, so of course you have never heard of it."
She looked at him with a doubting expression and said, "And if it has never been tried before, how do you know of it?"
Crane smiled and said, "Because I just thought of it."
Crane sat down and took out his cauldron, pile of ingredients and herbs, and his recipe book. Crane asked Tonya, "Can you heal well and cure ailments?"
She quickly replied "Of Course I can!"
Crane had bought a rare and expensive ingredient a while back that could be used to make a potion that gave a fairly substantial buff. But it required alchemy mastery a few levels higher than he had. Crane wanted to make as many potions as he could to level up his proficiency so he confirmed that he didn't need anything but mana potions. Crane started dumping ingredients and herbs into his cauldron and mixing them in slow deliberate motions. The witches gathered around him to see what he was doing, trying to find some clue as to how this would help them get to their destination faster. But crane started to fill up bottle after bottle with his brew, replacing the emptying cauldron with more and more ingredients. After Crane had filled up twenty bottles, Eris finally said, "Ok, I give, what are you making?"
"These are mana potions, they're pretty decent and two or three could probably fill any of you up."
The girls each let out a unique gasp. The alchemy skill was so well regulated and rare among users they had not even considered that mana potions, highly expensive item sold in store were being made en masse in front of them. Eris looked for a moment at the ever rising pile of potions and said, "None of us have a teleport spell of any length, you're not going to use us like a mana potion powered car that'll zip you across the planes in a day or two."
This woman was being very negative Crane noticed. If gold fell from the sky she would probably find some way to complain. Not that it was entirely a bad thing, trusting or believing in someone could turn around and bite you in the butt. She probably thought that someone with people to protect couldn't risk trusting others because if she was betrayed then the people she cared for could be hurt. Even though Crane was about the same age she was, she only saw him as a potential threat. That did not matter to Crane though, honestly he approved of her suspicions. Whether or not she and Crane got along didn't matter that much to him, she had her duties, and he had his.
"I won’t deny that I'm going to use these potions to zip across the planes in a day or two, but that is for later, for now you and your sisters can do whatever you want until I am done. However I'm quite sure you are not aware of this area's monster population. It is safest to stay here at the moment."
Eris crossed her arms and said, "I know way more about the local monsters than you!"
Crane sighed as he stirred the cauldron and said, "Then where did the trees go last night?"
She knew she had to stop talking, it was obvious her bluff had been called and if she continued Crane may embarrass her in front of her sisters. Crane on the other hand was glad she didn't ask him, if she had, he would have a hard time explaining why he purposely camped inside a pack of carnivorous trees without warning them.
After Crane made about a hundred mana potions, a few health potions, and four antidotes, he would never travel without a couple of his own again, his potion mastery had leveled up to 5 and he was as ready as he could be to make the the potion. He only had one shot, and if it wasn't strong enough, coming here was a complete waste. He slowly and carefully mixed in the ingredient and after letting it cure, poured it into a bottle. "Identify."
| Knight's PotionsStrength +50Agility +50Vitality +50Honor +50Lasts 3 minutesDoes not stack with other Potions |
| --- |
Crane took a sigh of relief. The point of a knight potions was honor points and Crane was relieved it gave enough, but only three minutes. It went to prove he still wasn't good enough to make the high level potions in the book. But even though three minutes was going to be difficult, he had to believe it was going to work. "Part one complete."
Salem overhead Crane and said, "Part one? What's part two? How many parts are there?"
"Just three, part one was elevate potion making to where I could make this, now I'm going to find part two. You should stay here."
Eris said, "Like hell! You lead us here, where you go, we go."
Tonya and Salem nodded in unison.
"Alright, but just so you know, part two is going to try to eat me." With that Crane headed further into the territory.
Chapter 9 part 2 <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=581">viewtopic.php?f=91&t=581</a><!-- l -->
Chapter 8 Into the Spider's web <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=579">viewtopic.php?f=91&t=579</a><!-- l --> |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 5",
"id": 57,
"next": 58,
"prev": 56,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The grand counter attack<br><br>The grand counterattack(will be including some photos from manga I like to help you all visualize, try and guess the names of the manga :D)<br><br>“General Norman, our forces have almost broken through the city gate! Estimated time until the city gate is 20 minutes. After that we’ll be able to occupy the city. But I have to say that I’m surprised…This is a very impressive army you’ve amassed here.”<br><br>“Ha ha ha! Of course it is!! I was given this army by the high priest himself! We have not suffered a defeat in these last 4 months and have conquered countless cities. I doubt there’s an army other than the Hermes guild that could put so much as a scratch in our ranks. But still…I have to take over this city quickly so that I can report back to my superiors. For some reason they were quite eager to rule this city. I wonder why?” The old general stopped doubting himself and decided to move forward with the plan “Anyway, continue the assault we must have this city before sunrise.”<br><br><br><br>It was like a completely different world when they exited the citadel. There was a cold wind in the air and there were no lights, no sign of life, only an endless mass of mist and darkness that seemed to swallow them whole. The single source of light was the moon but even that seemed to be fading as they charged forward. Many of the knights and players were still afraid but they still decided to follow Weed and ride alongside him. The knights and warriors acted as the spearhead and defenders of the formation while all of the long range specialists and squishier players stayed closer to the center of the mob inside the wagons.<br><br>Weed looked over his shoulder before raising his sword into the air “Follow me!!”<br><br>Hosram nodded his head in reply and “Forward!! Follow the commander!” roared Becker in reply<br><br>Within minutes they were in sight of the embinyu soldiers guarding the siege weapons. They were the ones that stood between them and the Forest of Miming. Their front line consisted of a wall of over 10,000 Paladins with two more rows of Paladins behind them making for a total of 30,000 paladins. All of them held tower shields, large rectangular shields that could cover the entire body from head to toe, and locked them together to form an enormous wall. Behind the row of paladins stood a group of 20,000 Shamans who were readying their staves for combat. It was a common formation that most guilds use when entering a new hunting ground of high level monsters. Paladins or another combat related class would create a defensive wall around the physically weaker characters while the shamans would throw out hexes, curses, and magical attacks at the enemies then buff and heal their allies. (Hybrid classes like Shamans which can’t out heal/out buff a priest make up for this weakness by throwing buffs at their allies and then debuffs at the enemy so there’s a larger difference in abilities. This was the tactic Dyne used to help Weed in the City of Heaven) It may take some time but by using this tactic a group of only 40 could clear out an entire floor or dungeon of monsters.<br><br>Some of the players went weak in the knees but Weed didn’t care. He was too busy analyzing the gears that the embinyu forces had on. Hmm….The paladins are wearing Legion Plate armor but those are too heavy for me to carry right now. So Harn turned his focus toward the shamans and his eyes immediately turned into money signs/showed a spark ($_$ Money vision ? that’d be Harn’s face atm lol) Most of the Shamans had a wand of occult which was a common wooden staff tipped with a goats skull but some of the higher level shamans had a staff with a diamond twice the size of Harn’s fist embedded at the top!! Diamonds….Diamonds…He instantly began calculating the price that it would fetch for as well as the electricity and water bill. This month’s fees have been higher but if I have that then I can sell it for about 700,000 won or maybe more! His eyes began to change and a dark shadow loomed over his face as he tightened his grip on his sword. All of the paladins and Shamans who fell upon Weed’s gaze felt a cold chill run up their spine. Harn regarded the paladins as little more than a doormat that needed to be stepped upon and the Shamans as a treasure chest that needed to be beaten a little before it’d open and give him his money.<br><br>Lowering his sword so that it pointed at the Shaman with the diamond staff Weed out “Hold the line!! We’re breaking through!”<br><br>Now it was Becker’s rouse to his troops “Knights of Rosenheim push forward! We will protect Master Weed with our lives and show these Embinyu bastards the meaning of fear! Engrave it onto your hearts… Now is the time to lay it all on the line and fight!”<br><br>"Holy Shield!"<br><br>A basic paladin skill that decreases the amount of damage received by a flat amount.<br><br>"Sun God's mercy on your soul! Warrior's blessing!"<br><br>A blessing that further increases a paladins resistance to brute force and magical attacks. If the paladin is at a high level then it also helps to increase their health regeneration.<br>Normally people would avoid having a fight with a paladin because of their strong defense and healing abilities. They were regarded as one of the toughest things to kill and some people compare them to a living zombie. (Anyone else thinking of Creus Sun the Sun Knight here? XD)<br><br>"Saint-blade!"<br><br>The sword of the paladin began to radiate a brilliant white flame. The sacred fire will break out from the sword every time it’s swung. However it consumes a large amount of mana.<br><br>"You will know the strength of Embinyu!”<br>“Embinyu! Embinyu!! Embinyu!” the Paladins and Shamans began chanting like it was some kind of spell.<br><br>“Fire spear!”<br>“Earthen Shackles!”<br>“Deep Freeze!”<br>“Chain lightning!”<br>The Embinyu Shaman’s began launching various magical attacks with debuffing effects at the incoming soldiers.<br><br>Standing at the forefront of the formation was just one man who was riding a bull. After lowering his back slightly so he was closer to the ground, Weed ordered Rover to run faster and got ready to intercept the magic spells “Sculpting Blade!” A pure Cyan colored blue light surrounded Weed’s blade.<br><br>Horizontal slash to the right, upwards slash and then following up with a diagonal slash. Weed had practiced blocking and occasionally reflecting the spells countless times with his Sculpting blade that it had become a reflex. Now that his mastery of Sculpting Blade had reached advanced 9 the only ones who could damage Weed with magical spells would have to be an archmage. (volume 2 chapter 16 made it so that Weed could block/deflect spells lower than his sculpting blade level at the cost of mana.) The spells were fairly low level and wouldn’t have done much damage to Harn given his high magic resist but he didn’t want to be delayed from reaching his brand new staff by even one second.<br><br>Weed started his offensive when he finally closed the gap between him and the Paladins. After taking out a small fox sculpture from his mastery Harn began casting his skills “Sculpture destruction! Give me strength!”(Got this part from when Weed was an ice troll so not adjusted to his current art stat)<br><br>You have destroyed a fine statue!<br>Art stats permanently reduced by 5.<br>100 reputation decreases.<br>Stats are an art for a day's rate is the power switch.<br>Had originally due to low power thermostat does not happen all at once the transition.<br>870 Power of the advanced skill level 7 'devastating blow' to the changes.<br>Actually, just hit a bunch of power to attack the enemy until it will blow away.<br>Paralysis and chaos, creating a percentage increase in the fall.<br>This advanced skill level 6 of the power 950 'pierce the window' is replaced by.<br>As a powerful attack enemy armor and shields will crush it entirely.<br>This advanced skill level 9 power of 1430 'monster of the moment' is replaced by.<br>Able for a short time can use up to 3 times the maximum power.<br>Requires tremendous stamina.<br><br><br>Sculpture Destruction skill has increase in exp<br><br><br>“Heraim fencing!” screamed Weed as he ordered Rover to tackle the closest paladin and then throw him overhead. (Now let’s do a little basic physics. Force = Mass times Acceleration in this case Rover is 3500 pounds and he’s forced to sprint at full speed by a demonic master who seems to be somehow even more evil than usual. So….Ya…R.I.P.(Rest in peace, Rest in pieces, Regurgitate in peace, take your pick, sir Paladin o_o”) Weed charged through the newly created gap and quickly began to send the other paladins to their doom.<br><br>Five Embinyu paladins quickly moved to defend the gap that had been created.<br>“You shall not pass!”<br>“We will stop you here, monster!”<br><br>“All those who try to keep me from my money deserve to die!!!” (Took this from oddsquad ½ prince novel since the smiling overlord was so darn similar.) roared Weed as he sent them flying into the sky to become a star. For a moment, embinyu and Rosenheim felt incredibly sorry for these poor men and forgot all about who the real villain was. Some of the people there even thought Weed was spewing fire from his mouth.<br>Weed could feel his attacks growing stronger with each successive hit but all he could think about was how much he could sell those diamond embedded staff for and how many other high quality staffs there were. The warriors standing in his way meant nothing to him for he only saw them as experience and item drops. Harn didn’t wait for the reinforcements since he thought they might steal his kill and decided to push forward on his own. Exp~! Lovely exp!! You’ve also brought me a nice bonus item. Don’t worry, I’ll come and claim you shortly!! Grahh annoying ants, out of my way!! Daddy’s coming for you my cute new diamond staff~!! It was indeed a very strange image. Weed would be smiling as he hacked away his foes, and send death glares at anyone who got in his way. (mm….this may sound a bit too creepy. But this is just how I imagine Harn when he sees something valuable, so sue me lol. If there are too many complaints I’ll change it QWQ)<br><br>Following closely behind him was Seoyoon. She thrust her sword into the part where the shields linked with one another and separated them with pure strength.<br><br> “Wha-What the hell is this person!?” All of the paladins surrounding him tried to reinforce the barrier but it was no use. She burst through the small opening and bulldoze her way through.<br><br>Seoyoon’s body was by no means large for a warrior, but she had trained her body for over a year and fought in countless battles during that time. Battle senses, tactics, and instinct were sharpened to the extreme each day when she fought in the wilderness on her own. There was no way that these soft hearted paladins who only knew easy victories could stand up to her assault.<br><br>Last but not least was Geomchi’s group.<br>“Come on! We can’t lose to them!”<br>“Rahh taste cold steel!”<br><br>The martial artists made use of their new breaker skill which allowed them to smash rocks, armor, and anything with a tough surface. Without their shields and armor the paladins were nothing. The soldiers began to lose their footing and eventually fell to the ground as Geomchi and the rest surged through their ranks and ran them over. They would even occasionally throw in a punch or hit the enemies with their hilt of the sword to bring them down. The only thing on their mind was beating the enemy and gaining fame so that girls would notice them more. Plus, they were fairly pissed off that the dance was cancelled because of Embinyu Denomination’s random attacks. Now they wouldn’t be able to see all those beautiful ladies in dresses.<br>“The death penalty!!” The Embinyu soldiers eyes became filled with fear.<br><br>The player’s jaws dropped to the ground as they watched this small group of 500 break through an army more than 10 times as large as theirs.<br><br>Soon they broke through the 3rd wave of Embinyu paladins and had arrived as far as the tents where their reserves had been resting. An instant later the entire ground had been covered in blood and the surrounding tents were full of cries for mercy. Some of their cavalries had even tried to run off for help but were soon shot down by Pale and the other archers.<br>“Take down the catapults!! Hurry! Burn them down!”<br>“"Unhindered blazing flames which consume everything. Fire Field!"<br> “Fire arrow!”<br>All of the martial artists, Weed, and Seoyoon: “Splendor of the sword!” A special long range skill taught by Zahab himself which only a few knew of. Streams of blue light began to surround their bodies before focusing on their swords. With each swing of their blades a rainbow colored bird would fly out and strike their targets with deadly accuracy.<br><br>Boom! Dirt, dust, and scraps of wood flew everywhere as a deafening explosion sounded out across the battle field. There was only a large crater where the catapult had been before.<br><br>Seoyoon and Weed stood at the head of the attack and cut down enemy after enemy forging their way through the masses. Becker's soldier's covered them from the flanks and set the remaining tents on fire to cover their escape.<br><br><br>Finally they were on their way to the forest of miming, said to be a minor forest god.<br>As Weed was running toward the woods he looked to his sides and saw his comrade’s faces, feeling somewhat at ease with this change of pace. It didn't matter that there was an army of 300,000 men hot on his trail for he was surrounded by an army of his own. Things were different from the last time they had attacked. Now his friends and soldiers that he had fought alongside him before were now with him. For the first time in a long time Harn, the lone wolf that hunted through the Continent of Magick, felt at ease on the battlefield.<br><br>Weed took one long look at the forest of miming and the enormous mountain that still some tens of miles away. The real battle begins now.<br><br>"Come on you lot! We've still got a lot of ground to cover!!" yelled Weed in a loud voice as he tried to hide his smile.<br>"Wuohhh!! Follow the commander! We're going to make it through this alive!" screamed some of the Royal Knights.<br><br>**************************************<br><br>“General Norman! A small group of soldiers has broken through are right flank and are heading for the Forest of Miming. Estimated number is 3500.”<br>“What?! Then why are you just standing here for!?? Rally cavalry regiments 3 through 7 and intercept those bastards! We were given strict orders not to allow any survivors!”<br>“Understood. 20,000 cavalry men should be more than enough to take them down.”<br>“See that you do then.” Replied the General in a cold voice “Or it’ll be your head.”<br>*Gulp* “Sir yes sir!”<br><br>**************************************<br>“Hehe”<br>“Hahahaha”<br>“Yahaaaaaaaaaa”<br><br>The entire group began to break out into an uncontrollable laughter as they finally began to realize what an impossible thing they had just done.<br><br>"Come on you lot! We've still got a lot of ground to cover and need to set up the traps!!" yelled Weed in a loud voice as he tried to hide his smile.<br>"Wuohhh!! Follow the commander! We're going to make it through this alive!" screamed Becker toward the skies<br><br>Everyone in behind him started screaming as well at the unexpected turn of events.<br>"Hurrahh! I'll follow you anywhere master Weed!"<br>"Toward the mountains! We'll grind those embinyu bastards to dust with our cannons!"<br>"Push forward!! We can do this!!"<br><br>To be honest, most of the soldiers and players that had been conscripted for the assault were second guessing whether or not they could break through the enemy’s army and some had even considered running away after they were out of the gate. But once they broke through the enemy encampment their faith was restored. There was no turning back and the only thing they could do was keep moving forward.<br><br>In a matter of minutes they reached the forest and broke out of their formation to ready the traps.<br><br>Good. This is where we’ll hold them off thought Weed as he watched everyone run through the shrubs in haste preparing everything.<br><br>“Everyone listen up! We’re splitting up into two groups. Group one will contain the shamans, sculptors, and Geomchi’s group. They will make defense preparations while the rest of us hold off the enemy! Am I understood?”<br><br>“Yes Commander!!”<br><br>“Geomchi I need for your group to go with the others and clear away some of the monsters to Death Mountain. Once there use you breaker skill the crush all of the rocks so that the enemy has nothing to hide behind. Also, carve out several slides along the face of the mountain. Shamans, you are to summon as many boulders as you can while the Sculptors carve them. If you get it then move out!” instructed Weed.<br><br>After group one left through the main road Hosram ordered the knights to cut down the surrounding trees so that the enemies couldn’t follow.<br><br>“All of the traps have been readied and everyone is in position.” Said Maylon in a cool fashion<br>“Good. Now we need only wait for the enemy.”<br><br>************************************<br>The Forest of Death<br><br>Within 15 minutes the Embinyu Cavalry had arrived at the forest of Miming, dismounted, and began to scour the past each tree in search of the enemy.<br><br>The Rosenheim defense force was conversing over the group chat with private messages.<br>-Pale: Master Weed there’s a group of 10 paladins 320 meters from you. The rest of them are close behind.<br>-Really? That’s a pretty accurate reading??<br>-Well yeah…I mean they’re wearing brand new shiny white armor. It’s kind of hard NOT to notice them…In fact it hurts my eyes a little. *Rub Rub*<br>-Well okay just make sure not to shoot anyone yet. We need to follow the plan and wait for them to get closer.<br>-WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE LAST MAN STANDS!!!! Elliott screamed over the group chat. After that a bunch of other players started saying the same thing causing an echo effect.<br>-Weed: Grr... SHUT UP BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND KO YOUR ASSES!!! Shouted Weed as he repeatedly massaged his temples. (I wanted to Weed to say this least once lol, it’s kind of like Creus Sun from Legend of The Sun Knight wanting to scream “Are you blind?! Look at my sword! I am the Sun knight! SUN.KNIGHT.” >: ) Gah…Even calculating tax returns wasn’t this painful…<br>-Elliott: -But…<br>-Weed -Shiiing- (Sound of Weed pulling his sword out and getting ready to smack him)<br>-Elliott: I’ll be good.<br>Pale: Hate to interrupt your honey moon but…<br>-Weed: Don’t you start with me to Pale…<br>-Pale: The enemies are in range. Shall we begin?<br>-Weed: Yeah…Hwaryung, you’re up. Let’s give them a show to remember for all time.<br>-Of course!<br><br>Pales previous comment seemed to have struck one of Seyoon’s nerve as she to had taken out her blade.<br>“Moonlight Serenade!” the melancholic melody of a harp began to weave its way through the trees and directly into the ears of all those nearby. Then a beautiful lady with pale white skin appeared from behind one of the trees in a light green dress which exposed her upper back and part of her left leg because of the slit. It was Hwaryung dancing to the sorrowful music. There was utter silence as everyone gazed upon Hwaryung’s wondrous dance. She moved to and fro across the small opening in the forest all the while the hem of the dress clung to her, revealing her body’s smooth curves. Hwaryung’s beauty was somehow enhanced in this desolate and depressing forest. The moonlight shone through the forest ever more and seemed to shine only on her, and her beauty was magnified by the flower bed that Weed had arranged beforehand. That crystal like voice of hers seemed echo through the night and breathe life back into this once dead forest. She gave off the impression that she was a Nymph, an embodiment of the spirit of the forest itself in its entire splendor. The Embinyu soldiers were drawn to her and began to move forward bit by bit.<br><br>-Weed: mm….I kind of feel like singing now to.<br>-Mapan: NO!!<br>-Weed: -shiiing(sound of sword being drawn out again)- Hmm…What was that?<br>-Mapan: Um…We are not worthy??<br>-Weed: Darn right you aren’t. *Sheathes back his sword*<br><br>On a separate group chat:<br>-Irene: Master Weed’s singing can’t be that bad, right…?<br>-Mapan: I spent an entire month carrying him from Baran Village to Herridia village, the home base for the Church of Freya. The entire time I was with him I was contemplating suicide but couldn’t because I would’ve my carriage…<br>-Romune: How did you get through it then?<br>-Mapan: I smashed my earlobes with a rock and later had myself healed when we reached town. Thankfully he was more worried about cutting his bag of jewels so I didn’t need to learn how to read his lips…I swear that it was a form of torture. If I didn’t do that with the rock I would’ve gone permanently tone deaf both in Royal Road and in reality…Argh….just thinking about it hurts my ears.<br>-….<br>-Pale: Good save man!! Pale sincerely felt like patting Mapan on the back just then. If Mapan, who had to deal with Weed even more than them had trouble putting up with it, who knows what they would’ve been forced to do.<br><br>Back to main group chat<br>-Pale: Master Weed all of them are gathered and in range.<br>-Weed: Without hesitation Weed announced “Begin the attack.”<br>“Rangers pick out your targets and focus on hitting the gaps in their armor. Fire on my signal” ordered Maylon who was left in charge of the ranger(sniper type of archers I think)<br>“Archers knock back your arrows and prepare to volley on my command.” ordered Pale in a calm fashion. He was in charge of the archers who had specialized more in using multishot and vulture’s eye.<br>“Mages begin chanting your incantations now it will begin shortly.”<br><br>“Archers fire!”<br>“Rangers fire at will!”<br><br>The soldiers that were entranced by Hwaryung’s dance were easily taken by surprise by the sudden attack. All at once, a rain of arrows began to pour down from all directions upon the Embinyu soldiers. But as expected from a trained army they quickly got back in order. “Defensive formation! Get into circle formation and protect the priests and mages!!”<br>“Where are they?! I can’t see anything!”<br>“Ahh…. Above! They’re shooting at us from above!!”<br>“Damned cowards….Mages, what are you waiting for?! Shoot back at them while we defend!”<br><br>Kuku…Like I’ll let you do that. You guys were trained so that makes you all the more easily to predict. Weed took out a horn from his bag and blew it “puwoo wooowoowoo woowoowoo!” The horn of three big victories Weed had been carrying out was used to signal the start of the attack. “Rosenheim knights, now is the time! Break into wall formation and strike down your enemies!!!”<br><br>The Rosenheim knights appeared to be zombies as they popped out of the ground (like daisies!!! Only in this case they’re daisies of doom). They were originally ordered to hide underground by covering themselves with dirt by Weed so that they wouldn’t be discovered but now it was finally time for them to take their revenge. They held in their hands the tower shields that they had looted from the Embinyu Paladins previously and then lined up with each other to form a wall before crashing into the enemy from all four sides. “Crush them!!!”<br><br>They began to cut down all of the stray warriors in their path and then charged toward the gathered enemies. The Knights moved as one as though they were a massive machine. They were fueled by an decisive factor called morale. All of them knew full well that Rosenheim would fall indefinitely if Embinyu denomination was allowed to run amuck, so they decided to wager everything in this fight and stop them here regardless of whether or not they died. The embinyu soldiers on the other hand were in complete distress. They had always held an absolute advantage in terms of numbers and would just swarm their enemies to win, but now their numbers were just a hindrance.<br><br>“Push!! Don’t let a single one of them get away!” The knights came at them from every direction and boxed them in like sardines by using the tower shields. All of them were level 400 royal knights so there was no way that they could outmuscle them. In the end, they could do nothing as their bodies were mashed together. None of them could so much as scratch their nose, let alone fight back!<br> “Kill them!! Kill them!!”<br>“Lightning Bo-Gahh!!”<br>All of the archers in the trees continued to rain down arrows upon the now helpless enemies as the knights on the ground. Within minutes almost of the enemies were killed and only a mound of grey bodies was left.<br><br>Several shadows appeared from behind Weed an latched onto his body.<br>“Now!! Blast him!!”<br>“Hurry up, we can’t last long as is!!” Some of the stray paladins had survived the onslaught and were only pretending to be dead. 10 mages began to chant a high level spell called Jupitel Thunder. “Get off of me!!” Weed attempted to rip them off from his body but they crowded him and held him in place. Shit… “Stone skin! Cold eyes!” Weed activated a skill to increase his defensive abilities at the cost of mana and movement speed then shut his eyes tightly bracing himself for the attack. I am so going to get revenge on those stupid knights when I’m back…Huh?? Shouldn’t they have blasted me by now.<br><br>Weed opened one of his eyes slightly to take a peek at what was going on. His face was distorted into a mixture of surprise and horror. Several of the mages were missing their limbs and lying on the ground crying. The paladins that had been holding him in place were easily dealt with by a dagger to their necks. Seoyoon looked in Weed’s direction and hastily examined his body to see if he was hurt. Then heaved a sigh of relief as their were no wounds. But for some reason Weed took two steps back and looked awkwardly at her.<br><br>Weed began to analyze the situation at a lightning speed pace. Holy crap she’s a monster…She easily dealt with those paladins even though I couldn’t get them off…and there were 25 of them!! Wait…why is she looking at me like that?! Could it be…? She must want some kind of reward!! But…I helped her get that circlet before!! Agh…However, she did save me…and I was the one who got caught in that stupid trap because I let my guard down…. “….I’ll show you something amazing once this is all over as well as take you out to dinner…?”<br><br>Seoyoon just stared dumfoundedly at Weed as he ran through a series of poses and expressions you would normally only see in a gag manga. Why is he offering to show me something? No wait…he said dinner!! He clearly said dinner!! “Dinner…?”<br>“Yes, and I’ll even make it myself…” I have to minimize the costs somehow…<br>So…it’s a date?! “Okay! You promised!! You can’t back out of it no matter what.” Seoyoon smiled slightly at this thought of being able to eat with him.<br><br>Weed: It’s not like I can~~!! Argh….looking at her expression just now, I bet she wants some high class dinner with rare and costly ingredients like lobster….Argh~~~!! My money!!! It’s slowly fading away!!! Whyyyyyyyyyy!!!<br><br>“Commander there’s a group of enemies escaping to the right!” reported Buren<br>Just as Weed tidying himself up and getting ready to explain why it was unnecessary, a large number of spells crashed down on the enemies and annihilated them.<br>“I placed Romune and the other mages over there to cut them off. For now, everyone get back into your positions it should be another 15 minutes till the next group comes.”<br>“Weed nim there’s a large number of cavalry coming from the west! It seems to be at least 12,000 cavalry men!”<br>“What?? But...that’s too soon. There’s no way we can hold off that many as we are.”<br>*Whizz* Several arrows flew towards Weed but Buren and Becker used the shields to defend him.<br>“There is the enemy! Show them the might of embinyu!!”<br>Damn it…We’re too exposed and we may not be able to get away safely but right now we’ve got no choice… “Tsk! All units retreat!! Hurry up and fall back!”<br>From the corner of his eye a large shadow suddenly flew past him and toward the Embinyu army. That impossibly large body and ridiculously massive battle axe couldn’t have belonged to anyone else. It was the only player he had talked to when he was in the training center “Python!! What are you doing?!”<br>Python looked back at Weed with a slight smile on his face. It seems that he sensed that it would be impossible for everyone to safely get away unless they had more time and decided to charge in him. “You had better give me a duel once this is all over!” he shouted as he turned back to face the opponents.<br><br>Raising his battle axe far over his head Python executed a horizontal slash and cut down both the horse and the man on it. “Come face the great Python sama~!! Ahahahha!”<br>“Ignore him! He’s just trying to distract us, quickly go and take down those-”<br>The soldier was de-capacitated before he could even finish his sentence.<br>“You’ll deeply regret it if you dare to underestimate me.” Said Python in a low voice as he readied his weapon for battle once more. None of the Embinyu dared to charge forward and leave their backs to this monster so they all focused their attention on bringing him down.<br><br>“Master Weed, are we really going to leave him behind?! He sacrificed himself for us!”<br>Enraged Weed shouted back “We have no choice!! The priority right now is to get as many people safely to death mountain and prepare to defend Rosenheim!” Harn tried to hold himself back by biting his lower lip “The only thing we can do now is avenge him.”<br><br>“Sir! Second enemy group inbound from the left! Estimated numbers are 8,000. They seem to be trying to flank us!!”<br>“What?! So they had another group in waiting…This means that Pythons sacrifice was meaningless. Damn it!! No…I have to calm down. Anger will only be a hindrance right now.” Weed quickly calmed himself down and issued orders. “Heavy armor troops form a wall and hold to separate us from the enemy and try to intercept their attacks. Lead party, do not allow a single one of those bastards to get past you otherwise our formation will be torn to shreds! Archers and mages support the heavy armor division with your attacks!! We absolutely cannot fall here. For Rosenheim kingdom!!”<br><br>Skill: Sing<br>Allies within range are affected with a 200% increase of moral. Confused allies have confusion removed. Leadership for 5 minutes will be boosted 195%.<br><br>“We will follow your orders!!”<br><br>-Mapan have you finished setting things up yet? We’re heading your way right now.<br>-Eh?? But it’s too soon! We still haven’t finished putting everything in place yet!<br>-No choice! Gather everyone there and begin to head toward Death Mountain right now. We’re already engaging a group of 8,000 men and behind them there’s another 12,000.<br>-Um…Understood, Master Weed. We’ve already placed several of the taps at the designated locations so we’ll be going now.<br><br>Weed began to beckon all those present to gather around him “All units form up and follow me! Do not mis step single foot off the path I’m about to take otherwise you may get separated. Am I clear?”<br>“Yes!!”<br><br>The knights and players continued running for a total of 4 miles before reaching a clearing where they tied up the horses. Following closely from behind was unrelenting Embinyu Denomination.<br>Embinyu soldier: *Huff….Huff* “Stop! You cowards come and face me!! Argh…. So hard to breathe…”<br>Romune could hardly contain her silence anymore and decided to throw back her own insult “Coming from a man who only has confidence when he outnumbers his enemies? Hmph! You can’t even be considered a man.”<br>Unable to counter this insult all the soldier could do was order his subordinates to capture her “Gahh what are you idiots waiting for, hurry up and catch that woman! I want her head on a silver platter!”<br>“Huff…Huff….We’re trying but they’re damned fast…It’s just about impossi- URK!!”<br>Just like that the soldier fell off his horse, as did several the sergeants that they were following and some of the other soldiers.<br>“Ahhh~!!! My neck hurts….And this puddle stinks…”<br><br>Secret weapon number 1: Weed had actually ordered the blacksmith guild to hand over 50 thin steel wires and for the painters guild to paint them jet black. This way they would be close to invisible at night and the enemy would be unable to notice them. Mapan was ordered to set these strings in various locations through the forest at neck level when they ride a horse.<br><br>“Eh??? Wait…This smell is….OIL!?!? All units retreat at once! It’s a trap!!”<br><br>After Weed’s gained enough distance he decided it was time. While gritting his teeth in anger he issued the order “Burn it down. The forest, Embinyu Denomination, everything.”<br><br>“Fire arrow!”<br>“Fire field!”<br>“Fire ball!”<br>“Fire bolt!”<br><br>The last and final strike was Romune’s spell “Endless Rivers of fire!” the fire started burning where Romune’s hand was pointing and then began burning its way through the forest and Embinyu forces with horrifying accuracy. The flames were fueled by the oil that Mapan had poured and everything in its path soon became ash. Rather than a river it seemed more like an enormous snake was circling its prey and devouring it whole.<br><br>After another half an hour of travel everyone arrived at Death Mountain. Geomchi and the rest were finishing up smashing the surrounding rocks and turning the mountain face completely flat. The only exceptions were these 8 small slides that went from the top of the mountain to the base.<br><br><br>Pale glanced left and right repeatedly, analyzing the mountain. “Why does this look so familiar….I’m sure I’ve never been to this area before but somehow it just looks recognizable…”<br>“What’s wrong dear?”<br>“Nothing, nothing it’s just that…I feel as though I’ve seen this scenery before.”<br><br>At the top of the mountain were the shamans and sculptors. The shamans were summoning giant blocks of rock from underground (This was in 32 I think) and the sculptors would carve them down into the form of a sphere by using a chisel and hammer.<br><br>“How’s everything progressing?” asked Weed in a serious manner<br>“We’ve just finished setting up the cannons and fortifications.”<br>“Good, then angle the cannons and take down the enemies priests/mages. If they lose their long range attackers and healers then they’ll be considerably weakened.”<br>“All right, we’ll adjust the angle and begin the bombardment at once. We’ve already stockpiled plenty of cannon balls from the Merchant guilds so there’s no need to hold back.”<br><br>Maylon looked at Pale in worry. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he reached the top of the mountain and his knees went weak. “Pale your face looks pale(white as a sheet if you want but I wanted to do this okay ;p). What’s the matter this time?”<br><br>Cold sweat ran down Pales forehead as he turned toward his wife. With a weak laugh he told her “Ha ha….I finally remembered where I saw this scene from…”<br><br>Ian: “The Embinyu denomination is here!! Let’s kick their asses!!”<br>“Rahhhhhhhhhh!!!!” The knights began to run down the hill but were stopped before they could even make a move.<br>“Stay where you are!!” yelled Weed “Time for you guys to show your stuff.”<br>With a boisterous laugh the martial artists took out a warhammer (think of a hammer but like 10 times bigger, the face of it is as large as a person’s head), started moving his shoulder around in circles, and got into a batters position. “Heh heh, I can finally let loose and relieve some of my stress. ORAHHHHH” Geo4chi smashed his hammer into the boulder dead center and sent it flying downhill into the face of an unlucky embinyu paladin and 3 of his friends behind him. “Ahahhaha that’s four points right??”<br><br>Martial artists have the unique ability of being able to competently wield any weapon that they want. Even if their mastery level of the weapon is low the player can make up for this with his strength stat that he trained with other weapons. Needless to say, everyone from the dojo had a monstrous amount of strength built from repeated training, hunting, and swimming across the ocean.<br><br>Embinyu mage: “You cowards!! Come down here and face me!! Face me!!!”<br><br>Next was Geomchi who sported a warhammer twice that of Geo4chis and sent the next boulder colliding into 6 embinyu soldiers causing everyone below to shudder in fear. Embinyu mage: “Guah!! Okay…You win…” After turning to face his compatriots he looked at his friends or mainly the girls in the group, and struck a pose to show off his biceps. “HAHA!! How do you like that?! 6 points!!”<br><br>The martial artists started to compete with one another to see who could get the highest score. The rocks were sent downhill just as fast as they were summoned by the shamans. Sometimes the sculptors didn’t even have enough time to carve it into a sphere but instead a cube that rebounded randomly.<br><br>Pale felt absolute pity for the Embinyu soldiers who were treated as nothing more than toys in a game. He turned his head toward Maylon to divert his attention and continued “…The Mountain was changed into a giant bowling alley…and the embinyu denomination is the bowling pins….”<br><br>Maylon could say nothing to comment at this ridiculous idea. But she couldn’t deny it since it was unfolding in front of her very eyes. She could only laugh weakly as she continued to watch the situation unfold. “I thought that I had gotten used to Master Weed but each time I think I understand him he just does something even more random.”<br><br>It was Irene’s turn to say something. “Don’t worry, we’re all the same as well. One time he even punched a lizardman to death with his barehands….”<br><br>“Seriously….?”<br><br><br>The embinyu soldiers continued to climb the mountain despite the rain of rocks, spells, and arrows. But it was clearly evident that their morale and confidence were fading as they watched those in front of them turn grey. Knowing that the situation was turning, the Embinyu priests and necromancers began to make their move. They raised their wands and began to chant various spells.<br><br>"Rise sleepless spirits living here undetected by eyes. Take revenge on those that killed you! Dead Rise!”<br><br>All of the dead warriors were ressurected as skeleton knights and Dullahans to take revenge on their enemies. The most frightening thing about them was their tenacity. Even if they only had their head they would still try to bite your ankles!!(This is from bonky’s summary of volume 10,btw you still working on it ?_?)<br><br>“You, fated to bring death,blood, and carnage,the battlefield shall be your home! Bloodlust!”(From oddsquad vol 2 chapter 16)<br><br>Their eyes turned red with fury and the muscles on their bodies grew to the point that it nearly ripped their armor off. The newly reformed army began to charge up the mountain once more with the soldiers in the front acting as shields. “No mercy!! You will suffer Embinyu!! RAHHHHH!!!”<br><br>Weed tensed as he watched the enemy’s run forward without a care for their lives. The skeletons and paladins already had high defense but now that they had been buffed it would be next to impossible to stop them. This is bad, even if we are uphill they still have the advantage in terms of numbers. Feeling that the tide of battle was about to change weed decided to reorganize the groups priorities. “Priests focus on heal bombing the skeletons while archers take down their necromancers. Mages, we’ll need your spells now more than ever. Cavalry, circle around the mountain and sweep across the mountain after the mages finish casting their spells. Your objective is merely to knock them back down the mountain; the momentum should take care of the rest. Also, split up into two groups and switch directions from time to time to catch them off guard.”<br><br>“Ready and waiting!”<br>“Attack!!”<br>“Holy light!!”<br>“Treatment of the Hand!” Healing regenerates a living person’s wounds but to an undead it causes damage.<br>“Wind cutter!”<br>“Churning Earth!”<br>“Thundercloud!”<br><br>The mages began to take turns firing off their spells so that there would never be a gap in between attacks that embinyu could take advantage of.<br><br>Just as he was about to give the order for the next attack Weed saw a glint in the center of the group below. That color…that shape…there’s no mistake about it! It’s the Dea staff! It’s Carved with the figure of Thea, Goddess of the Divine Light. It’s a special staff that increases the effectiveness of a priests skill by 200% and also contains in it 3 different buffs called magnifcat which increases mana regeneration, Assumptio which decreases the amount of damage your team recieves by a flat amount, as well as Angelus, a spell that increases the teams vitality. A priest with such an item would be welcome in any guild or party he wanted!! They must have taken it from one of the cities they captured. Every item in the Royal Road magazine was recorded in a part of Weed’s mind. What he recalled was that it was an impossibly rare item that no player had gotten his hands on yet. Not even the powerful Hermes guild. It’s price would probbly be 20 million won(20,000) or more…ARGH….But I can’t go down and take it. There’s too many, even more than I can handle. A lightbulb suddenly went off in Weed’s mind.<br><br> “Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”<br>“Wuooooooh!!! Greetings to the great master!! Whatever you need of me I will do it!!” Van Hawk was obviously happy. He could smell war in the air and was ready for combat at anytime. (Skeletons don’t have a nose~!! :3)He was only ever called out on rare occasions such as these when he was needed to fight, at other times he was trapped inside the necklace until he was summoned. This had been happening quite a lot recently since Harn disliked the thought of needlessly sharing exp.<br><br>“You see that gold staff that priest is holding in the center of the group?” said Weed with a smile<br>Van Hawk began to worry. Every time his master smiled it meant something unimaginably horrifying was about to happen. “….Yes…” he replied in a low voice as though he were on an execution stand.<br><br>“I want you to get it for me, as well as his robes if you can. Silver robes sell for quite a bit since they boost both the faith and the intelligence stat.”<br><br>The death knight tried to come up with a rebuttal and threw out whatever reasons his brain could think of(He has no brain yohohoho~! Okay had to be a little corny ;p) “But…it’s a very large number of enemies…and, and…it’s a very holy object. I’ll be lucky if my arms aren’t burned off after holding it for five minutes!!”<br>“Did you not just say that you would do whatever I ordered you to do?”<br>Van Hawk instantly regretted his words “Yes….I did but….”<br>“Are you not a knight who values honor?”<br>“….Yes…”<br>“Then go get that staff for me. If you fail or it’s damaged in any way…*cracks knuckles and neck a little* You know full well what’s in store for you…”<br>“….Understood…” *sniff*<br><br>Lifting Van Hawk high over his shoulders with his arms he gave one more order to the poor Death Knight “Now go get me that staff!! And don’t come back until you do!!”<br><br>“Why m- AHHHHHHHH!!!!” Van Hawk flew headfirst into the crowd of enemies and collided with the priest who held the Staff.<br><br>Irene: “Um…Master Weed…?”<br>“What is it?! Don’t you see I’m busy watching the battle?!” Weed refused to stop looking at his beloved dea Staff. That staff made of pure gold that would soon come into his hands.<br>Romune: “Well the thing is….There’s something you should see.”<br>“I’m already watching something.”<br>It was then Maylon’s turn “Master Weed! You really REALLY need to see this.”<br>After five more attempts and then smacking his head with their staffs, Weed reluctantly turned his eyes away from his precious Dea staff and the sight of a death knight punching his way through a mass of paladins.<br>“Alright, what is it??”<br><br>It was only then that Weed noticed the abnormal sound of someone grunting, and the ground shaking. All of the blood drained from Weed’s face as he gazed across the landscape. There were 12 enormous ogres, each pushing a siege tower toward Rosenheim.<br>Maylon tried to cheer everyone up but it was in vain “Guys no need to look so frightened. We…we still have the cannons. The siege towers are made of wood so we could try and take them down from here!”<br><br><br>After taking a gulp Weed pointed his finger toward a part of the skies. “You’ve trained your vulture’s eye ability for a while so you should be able to see them easily.”<br><br>Maylon turned her head and squinted her eyes as she focused on the shadow in the sky. she nearly fainted when she saw them but Pale held her up “Those…Those are…Undead dragons?! Four of them?!?!?”<br><br>“That’s right….So we have no time to waste on these weaklings.” Weed quickly got over his doubt and began to closely analyze the situation and figure out a possible countermeasure. “Maylon about how long until the undead dragons get here?” Weed asked calmly<br>“I’d say…15 to 20 minutes.”<br>“It’ll be close but I have a plan. Geo39chi and Geo5chi(The martial artists are named in terms of 1st sword, 5th sword, etc with Geomchi being 1st I believe) attach some of the steel chains to the balls and get ready for my command!”<br><br>At this time, after much fighting Van Hawk had finally managed climb the mountain. His Skull had an arrow in it, his Ulna, Clavicle, and several other bones were cracked beyond repair, and his entire left ribcage was missing. In his left hand he held the Dea Staff but it was engulfed in a pure white holy flame.<br><br>-You have received holy damage, health decreases by 250<br>-Health decreased by 330<br><br>*Huff* *Huff* The death knight was gripping his ribs and on the verge of collapsing but he supported himself with his sword began to limp toward Weed by using the sword as a cane. “Master….Master…I’ve gotten the staff…ahahaha…”<br><br>“Mages and priests enchant the knight’s and the archer’s weapons then let them engage the paladins.”<br><br>“Master…??? It took a while but there was a paladin who managed to get several good strikes on me but I’m here now.”<br><br>-Health is decreased by 423. Your left hand is now destroyed. Have a nice day.<br>“Crap…I can’t let it get damaged or master will beat me even more…Better switch to my right hand” grimaced Van Hawk. But that arm to, was engulfed in a white flame and continued to inflict damage upon him.<br>-HP is decreased by 477<br><br>“Afterward, the wizards are to work focus on using large area of effect spells to bring down the siege towers. You don’t need to destroy the towers, just render them immobile by breaking their wheels. The cannons will also help give you supporting fire in between the spells”<br><br>“Master, please um…This really hurts. If you could just recall me back into the necklace so I can recover….”<br><br>-You receive 560 damage. Your right arm has been destroyed.<br>Van Hawk was forced to hold onto the holy Dea Staff in his mouth to keep it from falling down.<br>“…..Master, help….pretty please…? Agh….”<br><br>“Break out into three groups with one group casting another spell, after that spell is over the next one will fire, and the third group is to recover their mana then switch out with the others when necessary.”<br><br>Once the orders were given Weed turned around to see who was speaking to him. “Ah! The Dea Staff!! Good job, Van Hawk. I knew you could do it.” turning to side to side “Eh? Where are you?”<br><br>“Master….I’m down here…”<br>Weed tilted his head downward but he could only see a mound of fine ground dust.<br>Hesitating a bit Weed finally asked “….Van Hawk??? Is that you??”<br>“Yes, it is me master. Can I go back into the necklace to recover now? Please?!!?” asked the death knight as he tried to suppress his tears.<br><br>“…Recall death knight!”<br>Oh thank goodness…I can finally rest…<br>“Summon Death Knight Van Hawk”<br><br>Appearing in a shroud of black smoke was Van Hawk back at full health.<br>Weed stood proudly with his hands at his hips as though he had just done a great deed “Good. You’re all repaired now. Fight alongside the others and defend the mage group.”<br>The suppressed tears finally broke free and they streamed down the death knights cheeks as streams of blood. Why me….I never did anything to deserve this…<br><br>Weed: “Ahahaha! No need to cry tears of joy Van Hawk. Just fight and I’ll consider that thanks enough.”<br>*Sniff Sniff* After accepting his cruel fate he charged toward the enemy alongside the Rosenheim Knights.<br><br>Hugging the staff fiercely was Weed “My precious…I won’t hand you over to anyone!! Not to those Embinyu guys, the undead dragons, or the gods themselves!”
</div> | The grand counter attack
The grand counterattack(will be including some photos from manga I like to help you all visualize, try and guess the names of the manga :D)
“General Norman, our forces have almost broken through the city gate! Estimated time until the city gate is 20 minutes. After that we’ll be able to occupy the city. But I have to say that I’m surprised…This is a very impressive army you’ve amassed here.”
“Ha ha ha! Of course it is!! I was given this army by the high priest himself! We have not suffered a defeat in these last 4 months and have conquered countless cities. I doubt there’s an army other than the Hermes guild that could put so much as a scratch in our ranks. But still…I have to take over this city quickly so that I can report back to my superiors. For some reason they were quite eager to rule this city. I wonder why?” The old general stopped doubting himself and decided to move forward with the plan “Anyway, continue the assault we must have this city before sunrise.”
It was like a completely different world when they exited the citadel. There was a cold wind in the air and there were no lights, no sign of life, only an endless mass of mist and darkness that seemed to swallow them whole. The single source of light was the moon but even that seemed to be fading as they charged forward. Many of the knights and players were still afraid but they still decided to follow Weed and ride alongside him. The knights and warriors acted as the spearhead and defenders of the formation while all of the long range specialists and squishier players stayed closer to the center of the mob inside the wagons.
Weed looked over his shoulder before raising his sword into the air “Follow me!!”
Hosram nodded his head in reply and “Forward!! Follow the commander!” roared Becker in reply
Within minutes they were in sight of the embinyu soldiers guarding the siege weapons. They were the ones that stood between them and the Forest of Miming. Their front line consisted of a wall of over 10,000 Paladins with two more rows of Paladins behind them making for a total of 30,000 paladins. All of them held tower shields, large rectangular shields that could cover the entire body from head to toe, and locked them together to form an enormous wall. Behind the row of paladins stood a group of 20,000 Shamans who were readying their staves for combat. It was a common formation that most guilds use when entering a new hunting ground of high level monsters. Paladins or another combat related class would create a defensive wall around the physically weaker characters while the shamans would throw out hexes, curses, and magical attacks at the enemies then buff and heal their allies. (Hybrid classes like Shamans which can’t out heal/out buff a priest make up for this weakness by throwing buffs at their allies and then debuffs at the enemy so there’s a larger difference in abilities. This was the tactic Dyne used to help Weed in the City of Heaven) It may take some time but by using this tactic a group of only 40 could clear out an entire floor or dungeon of monsters.
Some of the players went weak in the knees but Weed didn’t care. He was too busy analyzing the gears that the embinyu forces had on. Hmm….The paladins are wearing Legion Plate armor but those are too heavy for me to carry right now. So Harn turned his focus toward the shamans and his eyes immediately turned into money signs/showed a spark ($\_$ Money vision ? that’d be Harn’s face atm lol) Most of the Shamans had a wand of occult which was a common wooden staff tipped with a goats skull but some of the higher level shamans had a staff with a diamond twice the size of Harn’s fist embedded at the top!! Diamonds….Diamonds…He instantly began calculating the price that it would fetch for as well as the electricity and water bill. This month’s fees have been higher but if I have that then I can sell it for about 700,000 won or maybe more! His eyes began to change and a dark shadow loomed over his face as he tightened his grip on his sword. All of the paladins and Shamans who fell upon Weed’s gaze felt a cold chill run up their spine. Harn regarded the paladins as little more than a doormat that needed to be stepped upon and the Shamans as a treasure chest that needed to be beaten a little before it’d open and give him his money.
Lowering his sword so that it pointed at the Shaman with the diamond staff Weed out “Hold the line!! We’re breaking through!”
Now it was Becker’s rouse to his troops “Knights of Rosenheim push forward! We will protect Master Weed with our lives and show these Embinyu bastards the meaning of fear! Engrave it onto your hearts… Now is the time to lay it all on the line and fight!”
"Holy Shield!"
A basic paladin skill that decreases the amount of damage received by a flat amount.
"Sun God's mercy on your soul! Warrior's blessing!"
A blessing that further increases a paladins resistance to brute force and magical attacks. If the paladin is at a high level then it also helps to increase their health regeneration.
Normally people would avoid having a fight with a paladin because of their strong defense and healing abilities. They were regarded as one of the toughest things to kill and some people compare them to a living zombie. (Anyone else thinking of Creus Sun the Sun Knight here? XD)
"Saint-blade!"
The sword of the paladin began to radiate a brilliant white flame. The sacred fire will break out from the sword every time it’s swung. However it consumes a large amount of mana.
"You will know the strength of Embinyu!”
“Embinyu! Embinyu!! Embinyu!” the Paladins and Shamans began chanting like it was some kind of spell.
“Fire spear!”
“Earthen Shackles!”
“Deep Freeze!”
“Chain lightning!”
The Embinyu Shaman’s began launching various magical attacks with debuffing effects at the incoming soldiers.
Standing at the forefront of the formation was just one man who was riding a bull. After lowering his back slightly so he was closer to the ground, Weed ordered Rover to run faster and got ready to intercept the magic spells “Sculpting Blade!” A pure Cyan colored blue light surrounded Weed’s blade.
Horizontal slash to the right, upwards slash and then following up with a diagonal slash. Weed had practiced blocking and occasionally reflecting the spells countless times with his Sculpting blade that it had become a reflex. Now that his mastery of Sculpting Blade had reached advanced 9 the only ones who could damage Weed with magical spells would have to be an archmage. (volume 2 chapter 16 made it so that Weed could block/deflect spells lower than his sculpting blade level at the cost of mana.) The spells were fairly low level and wouldn’t have done much damage to Harn given his high magic resist but he didn’t want to be delayed from reaching his brand new staff by even one second.
Weed started his offensive when he finally closed the gap between him and the Paladins. After taking out a small fox sculpture from his mastery Harn began casting his skills “Sculpture destruction! Give me strength!”(Got this part from when Weed was an ice troll so not adjusted to his current art stat)
You have destroyed a fine statue!
Art stats permanently reduced by 5.
100 reputation decreases.
Stats are an art for a day's rate is the power switch.
Had originally due to low power thermostat does not happen all at once the transition.
870 Power of the advanced skill level 7 'devastating blow' to the changes.
Actually, just hit a bunch of power to attack the enemy until it will blow away.
Paralysis and chaos, creating a percentage increase in the fall.
This advanced skill level 6 of the power 950 'pierce the window' is replaced by.
As a powerful attack enemy armor and shields will crush it entirely.
This advanced skill level 9 power of 1430 'monster of the moment' is replaced by.
Able for a short time can use up to 3 times the maximum power.
Requires tremendous stamina.
Sculpture Destruction skill has increase in exp
“Heraim fencing!” screamed Weed as he ordered Rover to tackle the closest paladin and then throw him overhead. (Now let’s do a little basic physics. Force = Mass times Acceleration in this case Rover is 3500 pounds and he’s forced to sprint at full speed by a demonic master who seems to be somehow even more evil than usual. So….Ya…R.I.P.(Rest in peace, Rest in pieces, Regurgitate in peace, take your pick, sir Paladin o\_o”) Weed charged through the newly created gap and quickly began to send the other paladins to their doom.
Five Embinyu paladins quickly moved to defend the gap that had been created.
“You shall not pass!”
“We will stop you here, monster!”
“All those who try to keep me from my money deserve to die!!!” (Took this from oddsquad ½ prince novel since the smiling overlord was so darn similar.) roared Weed as he sent them flying into the sky to become a star. For a moment, embinyu and Rosenheim felt incredibly sorry for these poor men and forgot all about who the real villain was. Some of the people there even thought Weed was spewing fire from his mouth.
Weed could feel his attacks growing stronger with each successive hit but all he could think about was how much he could sell those diamond embedded staff for and how many other high quality staffs there were. The warriors standing in his way meant nothing to him for he only saw them as experience and item drops. Harn didn’t wait for the reinforcements since he thought they might steal his kill and decided to push forward on his own. Exp~! Lovely exp!! You’ve also brought me a nice bonus item. Don’t worry, I’ll come and claim you shortly!! Grahh annoying ants, out of my way!! Daddy’s coming for you my cute new diamond staff~!! It was indeed a very strange image. Weed would be smiling as he hacked away his foes, and send death glares at anyone who got in his way. (mm….this may sound a bit too creepy. But this is just how I imagine Harn when he sees something valuable, so sue me lol. If there are too many complaints I’ll change it QWQ)
Following closely behind him was Seoyoon. She thrust her sword into the part where the shields linked with one another and separated them with pure strength.
“Wha-What the hell is this person!?” All of the paladins surrounding him tried to reinforce the barrier but it was no use. She burst through the small opening and bulldoze her way through.
Seoyoon’s body was by no means large for a warrior, but she had trained her body for over a year and fought in countless battles during that time. Battle senses, tactics, and instinct were sharpened to the extreme each day when she fought in the wilderness on her own. There was no way that these soft hearted paladins who only knew easy victories could stand up to her assault.
Last but not least was Geomchi’s group.
“Come on! We can’t lose to them!”
“Rahh taste cold steel!”
The martial artists made use of their new breaker skill which allowed them to smash rocks, armor, and anything with a tough surface. Without their shields and armor the paladins were nothing. The soldiers began to lose their footing and eventually fell to the ground as Geomchi and the rest surged through their ranks and ran them over. They would even occasionally throw in a punch or hit the enemies with their hilt of the sword to bring them down. The only thing on their mind was beating the enemy and gaining fame so that girls would notice them more. Plus, they were fairly pissed off that the dance was cancelled because of Embinyu Denomination’s random attacks. Now they wouldn’t be able to see all those beautiful ladies in dresses.
“The death penalty!!” The Embinyu soldiers eyes became filled with fear.
The player’s jaws dropped to the ground as they watched this small group of 500 break through an army more than 10 times as large as theirs.
Soon they broke through the 3rd wave of Embinyu paladins and had arrived as far as the tents where their reserves had been resting. An instant later the entire ground had been covered in blood and the surrounding tents were full of cries for mercy. Some of their cavalries had even tried to run off for help but were soon shot down by Pale and the other archers.
“Take down the catapults!! Hurry! Burn them down!”
“"Unhindered blazing flames which consume everything. Fire Field!"
“Fire arrow!”
All of the martial artists, Weed, and Seoyoon: “Splendor of the sword!” A special long range skill taught by Zahab himself which only a few knew of. Streams of blue light began to surround their bodies before focusing on their swords. With each swing of their blades a rainbow colored bird would fly out and strike their targets with deadly accuracy.
Boom! Dirt, dust, and scraps of wood flew everywhere as a deafening explosion sounded out across the battle field. There was only a large crater where the catapult had been before.
Seoyoon and Weed stood at the head of the attack and cut down enemy after enemy forging their way through the masses. Becker's soldier's covered them from the flanks and set the remaining tents on fire to cover their escape.
Finally they were on their way to the forest of miming, said to be a minor forest god.
As Weed was running toward the woods he looked to his sides and saw his comrade’s faces, feeling somewhat at ease with this change of pace. It didn't matter that there was an army of 300,000 men hot on his trail for he was surrounded by an army of his own. Things were different from the last time they had attacked. Now his friends and soldiers that he had fought alongside him before were now with him. For the first time in a long time Harn, the lone wolf that hunted through the Continent of Magick, felt at ease on the battlefield.
Weed took one long look at the forest of miming and the enormous mountain that still some tens of miles away. The real battle begins now.
"Come on you lot! We've still got a lot of ground to cover!!" yelled Weed in a loud voice as he tried to hide his smile.
"Wuohhh!! Follow the commander! We're going to make it through this alive!" screamed some of the Royal Knights.
**************************************
“General Norman! A small group of soldiers has broken through are right flank and are heading for the Forest of Miming. Estimated number is 3500.”
“What?! Then why are you just standing here for!?? Rally cavalry regiments 3 through 7 and intercept those bastards! We were given strict orders not to allow any survivors!”
“Understood. 20,000 cavalry men should be more than enough to take them down.”
“See that you do then.” Replied the General in a cold voice “Or it’ll be your head.”
*Gulp* “Sir yes sir!”
**************************************
“Hehe”
“Hahahaha”
“Yahaaaaaaaaaa”
The entire group began to break out into an uncontrollable laughter as they finally began to realize what an impossible thing they had just done.
"Come on you lot! We've still got a lot of ground to cover and need to set up the traps!!" yelled Weed in a loud voice as he tried to hide his smile.
"Wuohhh!! Follow the commander! We're going to make it through this alive!" screamed Becker toward the skies
Everyone in behind him started screaming as well at the unexpected turn of events.
"Hurrahh! I'll follow you anywhere master Weed!"
"Toward the mountains! We'll grind those embinyu bastards to dust with our cannons!"
"Push forward!! We can do this!!"
To be honest, most of the soldiers and players that had been conscripted for the assault were second guessing whether or not they could break through the enemy’s army and some had even considered running away after they were out of the gate. But once they broke through the enemy encampment their faith was restored. There was no turning back and the only thing they could do was keep moving forward.
In a matter of minutes they reached the forest and broke out of their formation to ready the traps.
Good. This is where we’ll hold them off thought Weed as he watched everyone run through the shrubs in haste preparing everything.
“Everyone listen up! We’re splitting up into two groups. Group one will contain the shamans, sculptors, and Geomchi’s group. They will make defense preparations while the rest of us hold off the enemy! Am I understood?”
“Yes Commander!!”
“Geomchi I need for your group to go with the others and clear away some of the monsters to Death Mountain. Once there use you breaker skill the crush all of the rocks so that the enemy has nothing to hide behind. Also, carve out several slides along the face of the mountain. Shamans, you are to summon as many boulders as you can while the Sculptors carve them. If you get it then move out!” instructed Weed.
After group one left through the main road Hosram ordered the knights to cut down the surrounding trees so that the enemies couldn’t follow.
“All of the traps have been readied and everyone is in position.” Said Maylon in a cool fashion
“Good. Now we need only wait for the enemy.”
************************************
The Forest of Death
Within 15 minutes the Embinyu Cavalry had arrived at the forest of Miming, dismounted, and began to scour the past each tree in search of the enemy.
The Rosenheim defense force was conversing over the group chat with private messages.
-Pale: Master Weed there’s a group of 10 paladins 320 meters from you. The rest of them are close behind.
-Really? That’s a pretty accurate reading??
-Well yeah…I mean they’re wearing brand new shiny white armor. It’s kind of hard NOT to notice them…In fact it hurts my eyes a little. *Rub Rub*
-Well okay just make sure not to shoot anyone yet. We need to follow the plan and wait for them to get closer.
-WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE LAST MAN STANDS!!!! Elliott screamed over the group chat. After that a bunch of other players started saying the same thing causing an echo effect.
-Weed: Grr... SHUT UP BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND KO YOUR ASSES!!! Shouted Weed as he repeatedly massaged his temples. (I wanted to Weed to say this least once lol, it’s kind of like Creus Sun from Legend of The Sun Knight wanting to scream “Are you blind?! Look at my sword! I am the Sun knight! SUN.KNIGHT.” >: ) Gah…Even calculating tax returns wasn’t this painful…
-Elliott: -But…
-Weed -Shiiing- (Sound of Weed pulling his sword out and getting ready to smack him)
-Elliott: I’ll be good.
Pale: Hate to interrupt your honey moon but…
-Weed: Don’t you start with me to Pale…
-Pale: The enemies are in range. Shall we begin?
-Weed: Yeah…Hwaryung, you’re up. Let’s give them a show to remember for all time.
-Of course!
Pales previous comment seemed to have struck one of Seyoon’s nerve as she to had taken out her blade.
“Moonlight Serenade!” the melancholic melody of a harp began to weave its way through the trees and directly into the ears of all those nearby. Then a beautiful lady with pale white skin appeared from behind one of the trees in a light green dress which exposed her upper back and part of her left leg because of the slit. It was Hwaryung dancing to the sorrowful music. There was utter silence as everyone gazed upon Hwaryung’s wondrous dance. She moved to and fro across the small opening in the forest all the while the hem of the dress clung to her, revealing her body’s smooth curves. Hwaryung’s beauty was somehow enhanced in this desolate and depressing forest. The moonlight shone through the forest ever more and seemed to shine only on her, and her beauty was magnified by the flower bed that Weed had arranged beforehand. That crystal like voice of hers seemed echo through the night and breathe life back into this once dead forest. She gave off the impression that she was a Nymph, an embodiment of the spirit of the forest itself in its entire splendor. The Embinyu soldiers were drawn to her and began to move forward bit by bit.
-Weed: mm….I kind of feel like singing now to.
-Mapan: NO!!
-Weed: -shiiing(sound of sword being drawn out again)- Hmm…What was that?
-Mapan: Um…We are not worthy??
-Weed: Darn right you aren’t. *Sheathes back his sword*
On a separate group chat:
-Irene: Master Weed’s singing can’t be that bad, right…?
-Mapan: I spent an entire month carrying him from Baran Village to Herridia village, the home base for the Church of Freya. The entire time I was with him I was contemplating suicide but couldn’t because I would’ve my carriage…
-Romune: How did you get through it then?
-Mapan: I smashed my earlobes with a rock and later had myself healed when we reached town. Thankfully he was more worried about cutting his bag of jewels so I didn’t need to learn how to read his lips…I swear that it was a form of torture. If I didn’t do that with the rock I would’ve gone permanently tone deaf both in Royal Road and in reality…Argh….just thinking about it hurts my ears.
-….
-Pale: Good save man!! Pale sincerely felt like patting Mapan on the back just then. If Mapan, who had to deal with Weed even more than them had trouble putting up with it, who knows what they would’ve been forced to do.
Back to main group chat
-Pale: Master Weed all of them are gathered and in range.
-Weed: Without hesitation Weed announced “Begin the attack.”
“Rangers pick out your targets and focus on hitting the gaps in their armor. Fire on my signal” ordered Maylon who was left in charge of the ranger(sniper type of archers I think)
“Archers knock back your arrows and prepare to volley on my command.” ordered Pale in a calm fashion. He was in charge of the archers who had specialized more in using multishot and vulture’s eye.
“Mages begin chanting your incantations now it will begin shortly.”
“Archers fire!”
“Rangers fire at will!”
The soldiers that were entranced by Hwaryung’s dance were easily taken by surprise by the sudden attack. All at once, a rain of arrows began to pour down from all directions upon the Embinyu soldiers. But as expected from a trained army they quickly got back in order. “Defensive formation! Get into circle formation and protect the priests and mages!!”
“Where are they?! I can’t see anything!”
“Ahh…. Above! They’re shooting at us from above!!”
“Damned cowards….Mages, what are you waiting for?! Shoot back at them while we defend!”
Kuku…Like I’ll let you do that. You guys were trained so that makes you all the more easily to predict. Weed took out a horn from his bag and blew it “puwoo wooowoowoo woowoowoo!” The horn of three big victories Weed had been carrying out was used to signal the start of the attack. “Rosenheim knights, now is the time! Break into wall formation and strike down your enemies!!!”
The Rosenheim knights appeared to be zombies as they popped out of the ground (like daisies!!! Only in this case they’re daisies of doom). They were originally ordered to hide underground by covering themselves with dirt by Weed so that they wouldn’t be discovered but now it was finally time for them to take their revenge. They held in their hands the tower shields that they had looted from the Embinyu Paladins previously and then lined up with each other to form a wall before crashing into the enemy from all four sides. “Crush them!!!”
They began to cut down all of the stray warriors in their path and then charged toward the gathered enemies. The Knights moved as one as though they were a massive machine. They were fueled by an decisive factor called morale. All of them knew full well that Rosenheim would fall indefinitely if Embinyu denomination was allowed to run amuck, so they decided to wager everything in this fight and stop them here regardless of whether or not they died. The embinyu soldiers on the other hand were in complete distress. They had always held an absolute advantage in terms of numbers and would just swarm their enemies to win, but now their numbers were just a hindrance.
“Push!! Don’t let a single one of them get away!” The knights came at them from every direction and boxed them in like sardines by using the tower shields. All of them were level 400 royal knights so there was no way that they could outmuscle them. In the end, they could do nothing as their bodies were mashed together. None of them could so much as scratch their nose, let alone fight back!
“Kill them!! Kill them!!”
“Lightning Bo-Gahh!!”
All of the archers in the trees continued to rain down arrows upon the now helpless enemies as the knights on the ground. Within minutes almost of the enemies were killed and only a mound of grey bodies was left.
Several shadows appeared from behind Weed an latched onto his body.
“Now!! Blast him!!”
“Hurry up, we can’t last long as is!!” Some of the stray paladins had survived the onslaught and were only pretending to be dead. 10 mages began to chant a high level spell called Jupitel Thunder. “Get off of me!!” Weed attempted to rip them off from his body but they crowded him and held him in place. Shit… “Stone skin! Cold eyes!” Weed activated a skill to increase his defensive abilities at the cost of mana and movement speed then shut his eyes tightly bracing himself for the attack. I am so going to get revenge on those stupid knights when I’m back…Huh?? Shouldn’t they have blasted me by now.
Weed opened one of his eyes slightly to take a peek at what was going on. His face was distorted into a mixture of surprise and horror. Several of the mages were missing their limbs and lying on the ground crying. The paladins that had been holding him in place were easily dealt with by a dagger to their necks. Seoyoon looked in Weed’s direction and hastily examined his body to see if he was hurt. Then heaved a sigh of relief as their were no wounds. But for some reason Weed took two steps back and looked awkwardly at her.
Weed began to analyze the situation at a lightning speed pace. Holy crap she’s a monster…She easily dealt with those paladins even though I couldn’t get them off…and there were 25 of them!! Wait…why is she looking at me like that?! Could it be…? She must want some kind of reward!! But…I helped her get that circlet before!! Agh…However, she did save me…and I was the one who got caught in that stupid trap because I let my guard down…. “….I’ll show you something amazing once this is all over as well as take you out to dinner…?”
Seoyoon just stared dumfoundedly at Weed as he ran through a series of poses and expressions you would normally only see in a gag manga. Why is he offering to show me something? No wait…he said dinner!! He clearly said dinner!! “Dinner…?”
“Yes, and I’ll even make it myself…” I have to minimize the costs somehow…
So…it’s a date?! “Okay! You promised!! You can’t back out of it no matter what.” Seoyoon smiled slightly at this thought of being able to eat with him.
Weed: It’s not like I can~~!! Argh….looking at her expression just now, I bet she wants some high class dinner with rare and costly ingredients like lobster….Argh~~~!! My money!!! It’s slowly fading away!!! Whyyyyyyyyyy!!!
“Commander there’s a group of enemies escaping to the right!” reported Buren
Just as Weed tidying himself up and getting ready to explain why it was unnecessary, a large number of spells crashed down on the enemies and annihilated them.
“I placed Romune and the other mages over there to cut them off. For now, everyone get back into your positions it should be another 15 minutes till the next group comes.”
“Weed nim there’s a large number of cavalry coming from the west! It seems to be at least 12,000 cavalry men!”
“What?? But...that’s too soon. There’s no way we can hold off that many as we are.”
*Whizz* Several arrows flew towards Weed but Buren and Becker used the shields to defend him.
“There is the enemy! Show them the might of embinyu!!”
Damn it…We’re too exposed and we may not be able to get away safely but right now we’ve got no choice… “Tsk! All units retreat!! Hurry up and fall back!”
From the corner of his eye a large shadow suddenly flew past him and toward the Embinyu army. That impossibly large body and ridiculously massive battle axe couldn’t have belonged to anyone else. It was the only player he had talked to when he was in the training center “Python!! What are you doing?!”
Python looked back at Weed with a slight smile on his face. It seems that he sensed that it would be impossible for everyone to safely get away unless they had more time and decided to charge in him. “You had better give me a duel once this is all over!” he shouted as he turned back to face the opponents.
Raising his battle axe far over his head Python executed a horizontal slash and cut down both the horse and the man on it. “Come face the great Python sama~!! Ahahahha!”
“Ignore him! He’s just trying to distract us, quickly go and take down those-”
The soldier was de-capacitated before he could even finish his sentence.
“You’ll deeply regret it if you dare to underestimate me.” Said Python in a low voice as he readied his weapon for battle once more. None of the Embinyu dared to charge forward and leave their backs to this monster so they all focused their attention on bringing him down.
“Master Weed, are we really going to leave him behind?! He sacrificed himself for us!”
Enraged Weed shouted back “We have no choice!! The priority right now is to get as many people safely to death mountain and prepare to defend Rosenheim!” Harn tried to hold himself back by biting his lower lip “The only thing we can do now is avenge him.”
“Sir! Second enemy group inbound from the left! Estimated numbers are 8,000. They seem to be trying to flank us!!”
“What?! So they had another group in waiting…This means that Pythons sacrifice was meaningless. Damn it!! No…I have to calm down. Anger will only be a hindrance right now.” Weed quickly calmed himself down and issued orders. “Heavy armor troops form a wall and hold to separate us from the enemy and try to intercept their attacks. Lead party, do not allow a single one of those bastards to get past you otherwise our formation will be torn to shreds! Archers and mages support the heavy armor division with your attacks!! We absolutely cannot fall here. For Rosenheim kingdom!!”
Skill: Sing
Allies within range are affected with a 200% increase of moral. Confused allies have confusion removed. Leadership for 5 minutes will be boosted 195%.
“We will follow your orders!!”
-Mapan have you finished setting things up yet? We’re heading your way right now.
-Eh?? But it’s too soon! We still haven’t finished putting everything in place yet!
-No choice! Gather everyone there and begin to head toward Death Mountain right now. We’re already engaging a group of 8,000 men and behind them there’s another 12,000.
-Um…Understood, Master Weed. We’ve already placed several of the taps at the designated locations so we’ll be going now.
Weed began to beckon all those present to gather around him “All units form up and follow me! Do not mis step single foot off the path I’m about to take otherwise you may get separated. Am I clear?”
“Yes!!”
The knights and players continued running for a total of 4 miles before reaching a clearing where they tied up the horses. Following closely from behind was unrelenting Embinyu Denomination.
Embinyu soldier: *Huff….Huff* “Stop! You cowards come and face me!! Argh…. So hard to breathe…”
Romune could hardly contain her silence anymore and decided to throw back her own insult “Coming from a man who only has confidence when he outnumbers his enemies? Hmph! You can’t even be considered a man.”
Unable to counter this insult all the soldier could do was order his subordinates to capture her “Gahh what are you idiots waiting for, hurry up and catch that woman! I want her head on a silver platter!”
“Huff…Huff….We’re trying but they’re damned fast…It’s just about impossi- URK!!”
Just like that the soldier fell off his horse, as did several the sergeants that they were following and some of the other soldiers.
“Ahhh~!!! My neck hurts….And this puddle stinks…”
Secret weapon number 1: Weed had actually ordered the blacksmith guild to hand over 50 thin steel wires and for the painters guild to paint them jet black. This way they would be close to invisible at night and the enemy would be unable to notice them. Mapan was ordered to set these strings in various locations through the forest at neck level when they ride a horse.
“Eh??? Wait…This smell is….OIL!?!? All units retreat at once! It’s a trap!!”
After Weed’s gained enough distance he decided it was time. While gritting his teeth in anger he issued the order “Burn it down. The forest, Embinyu Denomination, everything.”
“Fire arrow!”
“Fire field!”
“Fire ball!”
“Fire bolt!”
The last and final strike was Romune’s spell “Endless Rivers of fire!” the fire started burning where Romune’s hand was pointing and then began burning its way through the forest and Embinyu forces with horrifying accuracy. The flames were fueled by the oil that Mapan had poured and everything in its path soon became ash. Rather than a river it seemed more like an enormous snake was circling its prey and devouring it whole.
After another half an hour of travel everyone arrived at Death Mountain. Geomchi and the rest were finishing up smashing the surrounding rocks and turning the mountain face completely flat. The only exceptions were these 8 small slides that went from the top of the mountain to the base.
Pale glanced left and right repeatedly, analyzing the mountain. “Why does this look so familiar….I’m sure I’ve never been to this area before but somehow it just looks recognizable…”
“What’s wrong dear?”
“Nothing, nothing it’s just that…I feel as though I’ve seen this scenery before.”
At the top of the mountain were the shamans and sculptors. The shamans were summoning giant blocks of rock from underground (This was in 32 I think) and the sculptors would carve them down into the form of a sphere by using a chisel and hammer.
“How’s everything progressing?” asked Weed in a serious manner
“We’ve just finished setting up the cannons and fortifications.”
“Good, then angle the cannons and take down the enemies priests/mages. If they lose their long range attackers and healers then they’ll be considerably weakened.”
“All right, we’ll adjust the angle and begin the bombardment at once. We’ve already stockpiled plenty of cannon balls from the Merchant guilds so there’s no need to hold back.”
Maylon looked at Pale in worry. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he reached the top of the mountain and his knees went weak. “Pale your face looks pale(white as a sheet if you want but I wanted to do this okay ;p). What’s the matter this time?”
Cold sweat ran down Pales forehead as he turned toward his wife. With a weak laugh he told her “Ha ha….I finally remembered where I saw this scene from…”
Ian: “The Embinyu denomination is here!! Let’s kick their asses!!”
“Rahhhhhhhhhh!!!!” The knights began to run down the hill but were stopped before they could even make a move.
“Stay where you are!!” yelled Weed “Time for you guys to show your stuff.”
With a boisterous laugh the martial artists took out a warhammer (think of a hammer but like 10 times bigger, the face of it is as large as a person’s head), started moving his shoulder around in circles, and got into a batters position. “Heh heh, I can finally let loose and relieve some of my stress. ORAHHHHH” Geo4chi smashed his hammer into the boulder dead center and sent it flying downhill into the face of an unlucky embinyu paladin and 3 of his friends behind him. “Ahahhaha that’s four points right??”
Martial artists have the unique ability of being able to competently wield any weapon that they want. Even if their mastery level of the weapon is low the player can make up for this with his strength stat that he trained with other weapons. Needless to say, everyone from the dojo had a monstrous amount of strength built from repeated training, hunting, and swimming across the ocean.
Embinyu mage: “You cowards!! Come down here and face me!! Face me!!!”
Next was Geomchi who sported a warhammer twice that of Geo4chis and sent the next boulder colliding into 6 embinyu soldiers causing everyone below to shudder in fear. Embinyu mage: “Guah!! Okay…You win…” After turning to face his compatriots he looked at his friends or mainly the girls in the group, and struck a pose to show off his biceps. “HAHA!! How do you like that?! 6 points!!”
The martial artists started to compete with one another to see who could get the highest score. The rocks were sent downhill just as fast as they were summoned by the shamans. Sometimes the sculptors didn’t even have enough time to carve it into a sphere but instead a cube that rebounded randomly.
Pale felt absolute pity for the Embinyu soldiers who were treated as nothing more than toys in a game. He turned his head toward Maylon to divert his attention and continued “…The Mountain was changed into a giant bowling alley…and the embinyu denomination is the bowling pins….”
Maylon could say nothing to comment at this ridiculous idea. But she couldn’t deny it since it was unfolding in front of her very eyes. She could only laugh weakly as she continued to watch the situation unfold. “I thought that I had gotten used to Master Weed but each time I think I understand him he just does something even more random.”
It was Irene’s turn to say something. “Don’t worry, we’re all the same as well. One time he even punched a lizardman to death with his barehands….”
“Seriously….?”
The embinyu soldiers continued to climb the mountain despite the rain of rocks, spells, and arrows. But it was clearly evident that their morale and confidence were fading as they watched those in front of them turn grey. Knowing that the situation was turning, the Embinyu priests and necromancers began to make their move. They raised their wands and began to chant various spells.
"Rise sleepless spirits living here undetected by eyes. Take revenge on those that killed you! Dead Rise!”
All of the dead warriors were ressurected as skeleton knights and Dullahans to take revenge on their enemies. The most frightening thing about them was their tenacity. Even if they only had their head they would still try to bite your ankles!!(This is from bonky’s summary of volume 10,btw you still working on it ?\_?)
“You, fated to bring death,blood, and carnage,the battlefield shall be your home! Bloodlust!”(From oddsquad vol 2 chapter 16)
Their eyes turned red with fury and the muscles on their bodies grew to the point that it nearly ripped their armor off. The newly reformed army began to charge up the mountain once more with the soldiers in the front acting as shields. “No mercy!! You will suffer Embinyu!! RAHHHHH!!!”
Weed tensed as he watched the enemy’s run forward without a care for their lives. The skeletons and paladins already had high defense but now that they had been buffed it would be next to impossible to stop them. This is bad, even if we are uphill they still have the advantage in terms of numbers. Feeling that the tide of battle was about to change weed decided to reorganize the groups priorities. “Priests focus on heal bombing the skeletons while archers take down their necromancers. Mages, we’ll need your spells now more than ever. Cavalry, circle around the mountain and sweep across the mountain after the mages finish casting their spells. Your objective is merely to knock them back down the mountain; the momentum should take care of the rest. Also, split up into two groups and switch directions from time to time to catch them off guard.”
“Ready and waiting!”
“Attack!!”
“Holy light!!”
“Treatment of the Hand!” Healing regenerates a living person’s wounds but to an undead it causes damage.
“Wind cutter!”
“Churning Earth!”
“Thundercloud!”
The mages began to take turns firing off their spells so that there would never be a gap in between attacks that embinyu could take advantage of.
Just as he was about to give the order for the next attack Weed saw a glint in the center of the group below. That color…that shape…there’s no mistake about it! It’s the Dea staff! It’s Carved with the figure of Thea, Goddess of the Divine Light. It’s a special staff that increases the effectiveness of a priests skill by 200% and also contains in it 3 different buffs called magnifcat which increases mana regeneration, Assumptio which decreases the amount of damage your team recieves by a flat amount, as well as Angelus, a spell that increases the teams vitality. A priest with such an item would be welcome in any guild or party he wanted!! They must have taken it from one of the cities they captured. Every item in the Royal Road magazine was recorded in a part of Weed’s mind. What he recalled was that it was an impossibly rare item that no player had gotten his hands on yet. Not even the powerful Hermes guild. It’s price would probbly be 20 million won(20,000) or more…ARGH….But I can’t go down and take it. There’s too many, even more than I can handle. A lightbulb suddenly went off in Weed’s mind.
“Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”
“Wuooooooh!!! Greetings to the great master!! Whatever you need of me I will do it!!” Van Hawk was obviously happy. He could smell war in the air and was ready for combat at anytime. (Skeletons don’t have a nose~!! :3)He was only ever called out on rare occasions such as these when he was needed to fight, at other times he was trapped inside the necklace until he was summoned. This had been happening quite a lot recently since Harn disliked the thought of needlessly sharing exp.
“You see that gold staff that priest is holding in the center of the group?” said Weed with a smile
Van Hawk began to worry. Every time his master smiled it meant something unimaginably horrifying was about to happen. “….Yes…” he replied in a low voice as though he were on an execution stand.
“I want you to get it for me, as well as his robes if you can. Silver robes sell for quite a bit since they boost both the faith and the intelligence stat.”
The death knight tried to come up with a rebuttal and threw out whatever reasons his brain could think of(He has no brain yohohoho~! Okay had to be a little corny ;p) “But…it’s a very large number of enemies…and, and…it’s a very holy object. I’ll be lucky if my arms aren’t burned off after holding it for five minutes!!”
“Did you not just say that you would do whatever I ordered you to do?”
Van Hawk instantly regretted his words “Yes….I did but….”
“Are you not a knight who values honor?”
“….Yes…”
“Then go get that staff for me. If you fail or it’s damaged in any way…*cracks knuckles and neck a little* You know full well what’s in store for you…”
“….Understood…” *sniff*
Lifting Van Hawk high over his shoulders with his arms he gave one more order to the poor Death Knight “Now go get me that staff!! And don’t come back until you do!!”
“Why m- AHHHHHHHH!!!!” Van Hawk flew headfirst into the crowd of enemies and collided with the priest who held the Staff.
Irene: “Um…Master Weed…?”
“What is it?! Don’t you see I’m busy watching the battle?!” Weed refused to stop looking at his beloved dea Staff. That staff made of pure gold that would soon come into his hands.
Romune: “Well the thing is….There’s something you should see.”
“I’m already watching something.”
It was then Maylon’s turn “Master Weed! You really REALLY need to see this.”
After five more attempts and then smacking his head with their staffs, Weed reluctantly turned his eyes away from his precious Dea staff and the sight of a death knight punching his way through a mass of paladins.
“Alright, what is it??”
It was only then that Weed noticed the abnormal sound of someone grunting, and the ground shaking. All of the blood drained from Weed’s face as he gazed across the landscape. There were 12 enormous ogres, each pushing a siege tower toward Rosenheim.
Maylon tried to cheer everyone up but it was in vain “Guys no need to look so frightened. We…we still have the cannons. The siege towers are made of wood so we could try and take them down from here!”
After taking a gulp Weed pointed his finger toward a part of the skies. “You’ve trained your vulture’s eye ability for a while so you should be able to see them easily.”
Maylon turned her head and squinted her eyes as she focused on the shadow in the sky. she nearly fainted when she saw them but Pale held her up “Those…Those are…Undead dragons?! Four of them?!?!?”
“That’s right….So we have no time to waste on these weaklings.” Weed quickly got over his doubt and began to closely analyze the situation and figure out a possible countermeasure. “Maylon about how long until the undead dragons get here?” Weed asked calmly
“I’d say…15 to 20 minutes.”
“It’ll be close but I have a plan. Geo39chi and Geo5chi(The martial artists are named in terms of 1st sword, 5th sword, etc with Geomchi being 1st I believe) attach some of the steel chains to the balls and get ready for my command!”
At this time, after much fighting Van Hawk had finally managed climb the mountain. His Skull had an arrow in it, his Ulna, Clavicle, and several other bones were cracked beyond repair, and his entire left ribcage was missing. In his left hand he held the Dea Staff but it was engulfed in a pure white holy flame.
-You have received holy damage, health decreases by 250
-Health decreased by 330
*Huff* *Huff* The death knight was gripping his ribs and on the verge of collapsing but he supported himself with his sword began to limp toward Weed by using the sword as a cane. “Master….Master…I’ve gotten the staff…ahahaha…”
“Mages and priests enchant the knight’s and the archer’s weapons then let them engage the paladins.”
“Master…??? It took a while but there was a paladin who managed to get several good strikes on me but I’m here now.”
-Health is decreased by 423. Your left hand is now destroyed. Have a nice day.
“Crap…I can’t let it get damaged or master will beat me even more…Better switch to my right hand” grimaced Van Hawk. But that arm to, was engulfed in a white flame and continued to inflict damage upon him.
-HP is decreased by 477
“Afterward, the wizards are to work focus on using large area of effect spells to bring down the siege towers. You don’t need to destroy the towers, just render them immobile by breaking their wheels. The cannons will also help give you supporting fire in between the spells”
“Master, please um…This really hurts. If you could just recall me back into the necklace so I can recover….”
-You receive 560 damage. Your right arm has been destroyed.
Van Hawk was forced to hold onto the holy Dea Staff in his mouth to keep it from falling down.
“…..Master, help….pretty please…? Agh….”
“Break out into three groups with one group casting another spell, after that spell is over the next one will fire, and the third group is to recover their mana then switch out with the others when necessary.”
Once the orders were given Weed turned around to see who was speaking to him. “Ah! The Dea Staff!! Good job, Van Hawk. I knew you could do it.” turning to side to side “Eh? Where are you?”
“Master….I’m down here…”
Weed tilted his head downward but he could only see a mound of fine ground dust.
Hesitating a bit Weed finally asked “….Van Hawk??? Is that you??”
“Yes, it is me master. Can I go back into the necklace to recover now? Please?!!?” asked the death knight as he tried to suppress his tears.
“…Recall death knight!”
Oh thank goodness…I can finally rest…
“Summon Death Knight Van Hawk”
Appearing in a shroud of black smoke was Van Hawk back at full health.
Weed stood proudly with his hands at his hips as though he had just done a great deed “Good. You’re all repaired now. Fight alongside the others and defend the mage group.”
The suppressed tears finally broke free and they streamed down the death knights cheeks as streams of blood. Why me….I never did anything to deserve this…
Weed: “Ahahaha! No need to cry tears of joy Van Hawk. Just fight and I’ll consider that thanks enough.”
*Sniff Sniff* After accepting his cruel fate he charged toward the enemy alongside the Rosenheim Knights.
Hugging the staff fiercely was Weed “My precious…I won’t hand you over to anyone!! Not to those Embinyu guys, the undead dragons, or the gods themselves!” |
{
"title": "Spearheading the Path to Glory",
"id": 65,
"author": "VIM1INC",
"rating": 4.2
} | {
"title": "A0 Chapter 1: Curiosity killed the Cat, and me as well.",
"id": 202,
"next": 205,
"prev": 200,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
*<br>You always remember one thing… Never talk to strangers. Your parents, or at least, your mum always pummeled that into your head. Your dad just pummels anyone strange.<br><br>Remember this, as I begin my story…<br><br>Ok, you don't have to remember that. I just needed something to start things off with.<br><br>I am incredibly content with what I have. I was born in an above average household, with loving parents and two sisters. I am in the middle, simply put.<br><br>I never wanted for anything in my life. My parents would make sure I eat well, we would go out to many interesting places during family outings and I never seemed to have any desire for toys, unless it was for Christmas or something…<br><br>I never had any desire for anything, come to think of that.<br><br>No wishes, no desires, no dreams. I was happy with getting a well-paid job somehow, getting a cosy place somewhere, and living my life out reading books and cooking. No dreams equal no stress, no stress equals good life. It was so ridiculously simple, that I must be a genius. That, or an egomaniac.<br><br>Genius or not, my grades were perfectly average. I did not strive for high grades like other result-oriented parent would have wanted. I just paid attention in class and would scrape through the final year with 50 to 60+ in every subject.<br><br>I loved video games, but I wasn’t any good with them. I did like a certain Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG for short) back then, but the name escapes me.<br><br>It was a simplistic side-scrolling game where one just embarks on quests and kills monster after monster. It was simple, you grew stronger and stronger, and you had fun.<br><br>Yet, I somehow grew out of this. Perhaps I was tired about the state that the game was getting into.<br><br>Have you heard of this concept called “power creeping”? It was this element that many game providers seem to inject in the game to encourage people to keep playing. The goal in mind for an MMORPG was to grow your character and reach the top, and game companies know that.<br><br>As such, the easiest way for companies to earn money was easy. There’s always a limit to how far a character in a game might grow right? In short, in order to milk as much money as possible from their audience, it was to move the cap a little higher each time, or just drop that limit altogether. The same goes for equipment. You have your character decked out in the best equipment possible, stats enhanced to the maximum, it was godly and flawless in every way.<br><br>And then the company introduces another, more powerful set of gear. People enjoy the process of growth, they want that piece of equipment, or they will begin to lose out in the long run. People make the upgrades, the company introduces yet another set of equipment, and you put in the time and effort, and more importantly, your money, to procure that set. It is a vicious cycle.<br><br>One shouldn’t rest on your laurels. The enjoyment is in the journey and not the end goal. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Words of wisdom that was distorted viciously by gaming companies and used to get as much cash and time from their players as possible.<br><br>People eventually tire of the arms race and quit, but does it matter? The company already got your money, and are laughing their way to the bank, while pushing along a wheelbarrow of your money. Such a thing happened to me, and I couldn’t stop. I liked the feeling of my character growing stronger and more invincible, sweeping aside monsters several times my size as though they were ants. I just kept pushing…<br><br>And then… one day, I just…stopped. It was a strange, but oddly liberating feeling.<br><br>Move forward a few years into the present. Virtual Reality games had become more complex, bringing entirely new gaming experiences for gamers. It was in another dimension in terms of immersion. While some games let you create an avatar and play out the game, this time, you ARE the avatar. It is an incredible feeling, extremely addictive, or so I’m told.<br><br>I never wanted anything to do with video games, especially MMORPGs, ever again. It is a complicated feeling. How would I know whether that company, that’s dangling that enticing promise of a incredible gaming experience, is actually out to fleece my money? Is there some strings attached?<br><br>I was especially suspicious about Free to Play (F2P) games, eventually there is always some “Pay to Win” (P2W) elements inside where I have to cough out extra to become a bit, or some cases, overwhelmingly stronger than everyone else. I was incredibly suspicious about everything to do with the gaming industry. Even console games are doing it. There’s always this content that cannot be unlocked through any means except paying a sum, over that of when you bought the game. Imagine the horror of it. This concept is known as Disk locked content (DLC). Go search the term on Google, you will see that I’m right.<br><br>Chief among the influx of VR games was this game known as Royal Road. Created by Unicorn Corporation, it was introduced to rave reviews, and shot through the charts to become the most played game on in the world. 90% of the Korean player demographic were playing this game, and the game quickly spread across the world like wildfire.<br><br>Everywhere I look, people from all walks of life were talking about the game. The young, the old, the elderly, but not the little kids, apparently, have an avatar in game. The old get to live out youth again, the young just play the game and have fun doing it. Even my family was into it, but not me.<br><br>As the popular saying goes, <span style="font-style: italic;">“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”</span>. I had made my stance, and was intent on sticking by it, and God help the person who tries to persuade me otherwise…<br><br>**<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">… until now…</span><br><br>…<br><br>I would like to say that divine retribution was stuck upon said person that made me go back to gaming, that the great Thunder Gods above heard my sworn oath and smote the offender with the wrath of a thousand thunder bolts, that the person was drawn and quartered, and sent to the fiery pits of Hell where my good friend the Devil sauntered about, with his horns and goatee while wielding a pitchfork, and had his way with that person.<br>I really do…<br><br>… but I would be telling a <span style="font-style: italic;">lie</span> if I did.<br><br>That day, I was on the train home, listening to my music. I had my doubts and suspicions about gaming, but I was at home with Music. Music is a classic means of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings, of stimulating one aspect of one senses… but I digress. I was listening to a new song by this singer, one Togari Polton…<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">“Squatting on the streets in a cold alley,<br>arms fumbling for a match…<br><br>I strike it once against the flint, it fails<br>I strike it twice, and it lights up…<br><br>And I was entranced by the lovely glow it made…<br>It spoke of wishes and dreams,<br>Once harbored by the innocent,<br>Only to be discarded, thrown away<br>by the turmoils of life,<br>For it is a…”<br></span><br>What life was according to Togari’s song, I would probably never know, since I was struck twice on the head by a book, and my MP5 player fell to the floor. Apparently that caused the song to be deleted afterwards. And I never bothered to download the song again, it was too much effort, really.<br><br>The offender in question was one Lilian Liam Lee (Her parents must really adored alliteration to give such a name to her, and to some extremes too), a girl from my class. She had a slim build, black flowing tresses that fell across a shoulders, and a really cute face. And I mean, really cute. She looked a lot younger than her age. She was really short with a washboard chest, but don’t let her diminutive build fool you.<br><br>She was incredibly good at sports, and she played a lot, easily seen from the heavily tanned skin that had enjoyed hours of sunshine. On the other hand, she loved arts and crafts. A truly multi-talented individual, salt of the Earth. (And no, I am not some Lolicon. Get that out of your system.)<br><br>She wasn’t looking much like salt to me at the moment since she swatted me as she would a fly with that book, though.<br><br>“Howard!!” She even had a cute voice too. Gosh… No, wait, I was supposed to be angry…<br><br>I put on a suitable face for that purpose, and glared at her. If it was one thing I prided on, it is my angry face. I am weird like that.<br><br>She didn’t seem to be too intimidated by it though, and gave a big toothy grin, making her look like a seven year-old, saying:<br><br>“I decided, you would suited for this!!”<br><br>I was confused, and my angry face quickly faded away, replaced by a blank look and a raised eyebrow.<br><br>“For what?”<br><br>“Well, you are an avid gamer, right?”<br><br>“That was ages back. Get that out of your mind.”<br><br>For a multi-talented person, Lili was a bit of an airhead. Lili was how I addressed her. As for why, well, we were childhood friends…<br><br>“Oh come now, Once a gamer, always a gamer, right?”<br><br>“You have it mixed up with our school motto…”<br><br>Yup, definitely an airhead. A very cute one, though. I decided to ask, if not for the sake of having light conversation, then it was in order to get it out of the way:<br><br>“What do you want anyway?”<br><br>“Gee, there’s no need to be so rude… Have you heard of this game called Royal Road?”<br><br>“It’s that MMORPG that everyone is talking about now, right?” I knew that already from reading articles and watching the news. It was everywhere. Even my family plays it.<br><br>“See, you used that term without flinching. You are still a player, after all, even if your gaming instincts are a bit rusty.”<br><br>“Just get on with it already.” I was getting impatient.<br><br>“Well, Royal Road is currently offering a free one-month trial in an advertising campaign…”<br><br>“… And?”<br><br>“Let me finish. I have an old capsule that’s just gathering dust somewhere, and I wanted it to get some use. I didn’t want to give it to just anyone though, but you are different.”<br><br>“… Lili, you know how I feel about video games…”<br><br>“This one’s different!! It’s just incredible. There’s a reason why everyone is playing it you know<br>Lili’s face was becoming red with indignation, and she puffed up her cheeks while pouting. It was as though I was looking at a hamster, cheeks filled with food. It was really cute… Maybe I ought to tease her a little more…<br><br>You, reader, don’t mistake that as a symptom of being a Lolicon.<br><br>“Oh? Enlighten me then…”<br><br>“Look, it’s free for a month, and the capsule needs to be serviced anyway. Just give it a shot, and if after a month you don’t like the game you can just quit and return me the capsule.”<br><br>“Hmmm….” I was intrigued, but I needed a bit more persuas-<br><br>“Just do it for me, pleeeeeeassssse?”<br><br>Oh god, the puppy-dog pout!! Anything but that!!<br><br>I was ridiculously weak against that tactic, and with that, the remnants of my stalwart resistance quickly crumbled. Fine, I would play the game, if only for her sake. I was interested in how the game was like anyway. I could just quit afterwards, right?<br><br>Looking back on this, how I wished that I didn’t make that observation…<br><br>And no, reader, thou shalt still not call me a lolicon, or I will smite thee with the wrath of a thousand thunder bolts...<br>******************************************************************************************************************************************************************<br><br>Note: Togari Polton was just a random name I thought up :P<br><br>More on why Howard was so defensive: <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon" target="_blank">http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon</a>
</div> | *
You always remember one thing… Never talk to strangers. Your parents, or at least, your mum always pummeled that into your head. Your dad just pummels anyone strange.
Remember this, as I begin my story…
Ok, you don't have to remember that. I just needed something to start things off with.
I am incredibly content with what I have. I was born in an above average household, with loving parents and two sisters. I am in the middle, simply put.
I never wanted for anything in my life. My parents would make sure I eat well, we would go out to many interesting places during family outings and I never seemed to have any desire for toys, unless it was for Christmas or something…
I never had any desire for anything, come to think of that.
No wishes, no desires, no dreams. I was happy with getting a well-paid job somehow, getting a cosy place somewhere, and living my life out reading books and cooking. No dreams equal no stress, no stress equals good life. It was so ridiculously simple, that I must be a genius. That, or an egomaniac.
Genius or not, my grades were perfectly average. I did not strive for high grades like other result-oriented parent would have wanted. I just paid attention in class and would scrape through the final year with 50 to 60+ in every subject.
I loved video games, but I wasn’t any good with them. I did like a certain Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG for short) back then, but the name escapes me.
It was a simplistic side-scrolling game where one just embarks on quests and kills monster after monster. It was simple, you grew stronger and stronger, and you had fun.
Yet, I somehow grew out of this. Perhaps I was tired about the state that the game was getting into.
Have you heard of this concept called “power creeping”? It was this element that many game providers seem to inject in the game to encourage people to keep playing. The goal in mind for an MMORPG was to grow your character and reach the top, and game companies know that.
As such, the easiest way for companies to earn money was easy. There’s always a limit to how far a character in a game might grow right? In short, in order to milk as much money as possible from their audience, it was to move the cap a little higher each time, or just drop that limit altogether. The same goes for equipment. You have your character decked out in the best equipment possible, stats enhanced to the maximum, it was godly and flawless in every way.
And then the company introduces another, more powerful set of gear. People enjoy the process of growth, they want that piece of equipment, or they will begin to lose out in the long run. People make the upgrades, the company introduces yet another set of equipment, and you put in the time and effort, and more importantly, your money, to procure that set. It is a vicious cycle.
One shouldn’t rest on your laurels. The enjoyment is in the journey and not the end goal. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Words of wisdom that was distorted viciously by gaming companies and used to get as much cash and time from their players as possible.
People eventually tire of the arms race and quit, but does it matter? The company already got your money, and are laughing their way to the bank, while pushing along a wheelbarrow of your money. Such a thing happened to me, and I couldn’t stop. I liked the feeling of my character growing stronger and more invincible, sweeping aside monsters several times my size as though they were ants. I just kept pushing…
And then… one day, I just…stopped. It was a strange, but oddly liberating feeling.
Move forward a few years into the present. Virtual Reality games had become more complex, bringing entirely new gaming experiences for gamers. It was in another dimension in terms of immersion. While some games let you create an avatar and play out the game, this time, you ARE the avatar. It is an incredible feeling, extremely addictive, or so I’m told.
I never wanted anything to do with video games, especially MMORPGs, ever again. It is a complicated feeling. How would I know whether that company, that’s dangling that enticing promise of a incredible gaming experience, is actually out to fleece my money? Is there some strings attached?
I was especially suspicious about Free to Play (F2P) games, eventually there is always some “Pay to Win” (P2W) elements inside where I have to cough out extra to become a bit, or some cases, overwhelmingly stronger than everyone else. I was incredibly suspicious about everything to do with the gaming industry. Even console games are doing it. There’s always this content that cannot be unlocked through any means except paying a sum, over that of when you bought the game. Imagine the horror of it. This concept is known as Disk locked content (DLC). Go search the term on Google, you will see that I’m right.
Chief among the influx of VR games was this game known as Royal Road. Created by Unicorn Corporation, it was introduced to rave reviews, and shot through the charts to become the most played game on in the world. 90% of the Korean player demographic were playing this game, and the game quickly spread across the world like wildfire.
Everywhere I look, people from all walks of life were talking about the game. The young, the old, the elderly, but not the little kids, apparently, have an avatar in game. The old get to live out youth again, the young just play the game and have fun doing it. Even my family was into it, but not me.
As the popular saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”. I had made my stance, and was intent on sticking by it, and God help the person who tries to persuade me otherwise…
**
… until now…
…
I would like to say that divine retribution was stuck upon said person that made me go back to gaming, that the great Thunder Gods above heard my sworn oath and smote the offender with the wrath of a thousand thunder bolts, that the person was drawn and quartered, and sent to the fiery pits of Hell where my good friend the Devil sauntered about, with his horns and goatee while wielding a pitchfork, and had his way with that person.
I really do…
… but I would be telling a lie if I did.
That day, I was on the train home, listening to my music. I had my doubts and suspicions about gaming, but I was at home with Music. Music is a classic means of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings, of stimulating one aspect of one senses… but I digress. I was listening to a new song by this singer, one Togari Polton…
“Squatting on the streets in a cold alley,
arms fumbling for a match…
I strike it once against the flint, it fails
I strike it twice, and it lights up…
And I was entranced by the lovely glow it made…
It spoke of wishes and dreams,
Once harbored by the innocent,
Only to be discarded, thrown away
by the turmoils of life,
For it is a…”
What life was according to Togari’s song, I would probably never know, since I was struck twice on the head by a book, and my MP5 player fell to the floor. Apparently that caused the song to be deleted afterwards. And I never bothered to download the song again, it was too much effort, really.
The offender in question was one Lilian Liam Lee (Her parents must really adored alliteration to give such a name to her, and to some extremes too), a girl from my class. She had a slim build, black flowing tresses that fell across a shoulders, and a really cute face. And I mean, really cute. She looked a lot younger than her age. She was really short with a washboard chest, but don’t let her diminutive build fool you.
She was incredibly good at sports, and she played a lot, easily seen from the heavily tanned skin that had enjoyed hours of sunshine. On the other hand, she loved arts and crafts. A truly multi-talented individual, salt of the Earth. (And no, I am not some Lolicon. Get that out of your system.)
She wasn’t looking much like salt to me at the moment since she swatted me as she would a fly with that book, though.
“Howard!!” She even had a cute voice too. Gosh… No, wait, I was supposed to be angry…
I put on a suitable face for that purpose, and glared at her. If it was one thing I prided on, it is my angry face. I am weird like that.
She didn’t seem to be too intimidated by it though, and gave a big toothy grin, making her look like a seven year-old, saying:
“I decided, you would suited for this!!”
I was confused, and my angry face quickly faded away, replaced by a blank look and a raised eyebrow.
“For what?”
“Well, you are an avid gamer, right?”
“That was ages back. Get that out of your mind.”
For a multi-talented person, Lili was a bit of an airhead. Lili was how I addressed her. As for why, well, we were childhood friends…
“Oh come now, Once a gamer, always a gamer, right?”
“You have it mixed up with our school motto…”
Yup, definitely an airhead. A very cute one, though. I decided to ask, if not for the sake of having light conversation, then it was in order to get it out of the way:
“What do you want anyway?”
“Gee, there’s no need to be so rude… Have you heard of this game called Royal Road?”
“It’s that MMORPG that everyone is talking about now, right?” I knew that already from reading articles and watching the news. It was everywhere. Even my family plays it.
“See, you used that term without flinching. You are still a player, after all, even if your gaming instincts are a bit rusty.”
“Just get on with it already.” I was getting impatient.
“Well, Royal Road is currently offering a free one-month trial in an advertising campaign…”
“… And?”
“Let me finish. I have an old capsule that’s just gathering dust somewhere, and I wanted it to get some use. I didn’t want to give it to just anyone though, but you are different.”
“… Lili, you know how I feel about video games…”
“This one’s different!! It’s just incredible. There’s a reason why everyone is playing it you know
Lili’s face was becoming red with indignation, and she puffed up her cheeks while pouting. It was as though I was looking at a hamster, cheeks filled with food. It was really cute… Maybe I ought to tease her a little more…
You, reader, don’t mistake that as a symptom of being a Lolicon.
“Oh? Enlighten me then…”
“Look, it’s free for a month, and the capsule needs to be serviced anyway. Just give it a shot, and if after a month you don’t like the game you can just quit and return me the capsule.”
“Hmmm….” I was intrigued, but I needed a bit more persuas-
“Just do it for me, pleeeeeeassssse?”
Oh god, the puppy-dog pout!! Anything but that!!
I was ridiculously weak against that tactic, and with that, the remnants of my stalwart resistance quickly crumbled. Fine, I would play the game, if only for her sake. I was interested in how the game was like anyway. I could just quit afterwards, right?
Looking back on this, how I wished that I didn’t make that observation…
And no, reader, thou shalt still not call me a lolicon, or I will smite thee with the wrath of a thousand thunder bolts...
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Note: Togari Polton was just a random name I thought up :P
More on why Howard was so defensive: <http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon> |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Filler: Short Story (not related to RR)",
"id": 249,
"next": 254,
"prev": 246,
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">The following story is not related to Royal Road in anyway.</span><br><br>This was a story, I wrote two years ago for my kid sister who had to submit an assignment in relation to Diary Entry for her English class. The story is entirely fictional, however the places and minor details with regards to the tragedy are true. It is a really good read and I just wanted to share it with everyone.<br><br>-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: Friday, 11th March 2011</span><br><br>Since childhood, I have often dreamt walking down desolate streets, surrounded by dilapidated buildings. No matter how long I walked in my dream, everything around me is in complete ruins. I have always wondered whether this dream was a lost memory from the past or a warning about the future to unfold? Today, I found the answer, it was a warning.<br><br>It began as an ordinary day with my mom yelling at me to wake up. As an everyday routine, I hurriedly got ready for school and she began badgering me about how I should wake up on time. Before she could lecture me on the importance of breakfast, I grabbed two freshly made rice cakes and ran out of the house. My ordinary day continued; the same yakisoba bread for lunch, the same conversations with friends, and the same boring classes.<br><br>As school ended, I alone stayed behind to finish the preparations for tomorrow’s cultural activities. That is when it happened, that is when my ordinary life came to a crashing halt. The ground shook violently and something hit my head. As I fell to ground losing consciousness, I remember only hearing the screams of students.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: Saturday, 12th March 2011</span><br><br>If only, it had been an ordinary earthquake, maybe my today might not have been so different.<br><br>I woke up in my classroom with my head throbbing in pain. Looking at the desks and chairs lying thrown all over the classroom, vivid memories came flooding back. My mother’s yelling now seemed like a distant dream...as I walked through the abandoned corridors of the school in search for company, the circumstances resembled awfully similar to my dream; alone in a post apocalyptic world. Rather than being afraid of the loneliness, I decided to fight my destiny.<br><br>I declared to myself, “I am not alone; I already have a companion, my diary.”<br><br>Mustering all my courage, I grabbed my bag and headed towards the fire escape just as I had practiced during disaster management workshops. However, my plans were soon drowned as I realized that the lower and ground floors were under water. Just like that my courage crumbled, and I could no longer hold back the tears of fright and loneliness.<br><br>It was dark outside and I was starving. I didn’t even know what time it was. Thoughtlessly, I pulled out my cell phone from my bag, to check the time...<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: Sunday, 13th March 2011</span><br><br>Only a few minutes back I managed to get connectivity on my cell phone. As instructed by the emergency helpline, I have been waiting on the school’s roof top for a JSDF helicopter to rescue me. As far as my eyes could see, it appeared that all of Minamisanriku had been submerged under water. Staring into the horizon I felt only anger towards the Gods who robbed me of my past. My childhood playground, the local grocery vendor, all of it was gone. I tightly hugged my precious diary, the only proof of the Minamisanriku I grew up in, as if I were protecting it from an invisible foe...<br><br>It has been nearly two days since the earthquake and my last meal, I fainted due to hunger. <br><br>Waking up in the rescue helicopter, I caught a glimpse of the view below through the window; most of Miyagi Prefecture lay in waste. The sight of devastation left a numb tingling sensation throughout my body. As my thoughts turned towards my mother, I found it strangely twisted and ironic, to pray for her safety to the very Gods responsible for such destruction...<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: Monday, 14th March 2011</span><br><br>I learnt the earthquake recorded 9 on the Richter scale; it had enough power to destroy thousands of homes, bring the Japanese economy to a standstill and even shift the Earth’s axis. Yet regardless of all its strength, it failed to crush our indomitable spirit.<br><br>The campsite was overflowing with compassion. People from everywhere were here, some from Iwate and some from Miyagi. Everyone here was somebody who had lost someone or something and yet for some reason nobody gave into the despair.<br><br>The courage displayed reminded me of the lines from Invictus, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” I do not know whether those lines gave me courage or hope, but at that moment I didn’t feel like a powerless little girl.<br><br>I began assisting in the distribution of food, water and blankets across the campsite. While helping around, I found Misaki, a fellow classmate. We hugged each other on sight and seeing a familiar face brought a huge smile on both our faces. My cheeks still hurt from smiling; I don’t think I have ever been so happy.<br><br>I miss my mother...I pray for her safety.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: Tuesday, 15th March 2011</span><br><br>Today has been a good day. The day has been warmer, the water levels receded and lots of people were rescued. Seeing Misaki reunite with her mother, shed a small ray of hope for me, maybe somewhere out there my mother is safe.<br><br>As I walked into the warehouse, our makeshift shelter, an old man in his forty’s called out to me. He introduced himself as a friend and claimed to know my mother. He told me, I must have an angel watching over me, since I survived both of Japan’s worst earthquakes; the 1995 Kobe and 2011 Tohoku.<br><br>It then flashed back; the recurring dream was a memory of the past after all. It all came back to me, the ground trembling, buildings collapsing. I was two years old when it happened. I was playing in the garden when my house collapsed burying both my parents. I remember, walking forever in the ruins searching for somebody to help my parents. I remember waking up in the warm arms of lady who told me everything will be alright. I remember calling her my mother and hugging her tightly...<br><br>I know she is out there, I hope she remembers her daughter hates waiting.<br><br><br>-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-<br><br>Hope you liked it. (now back to preparing material for Vol 2 and exams!!! :o )
</div> | The following story is not related to Royal Road in anyway.
This was a story, I wrote two years ago for my kid sister who had to submit an assignment in relation to Diary Entry for her English class. The story is entirely fictional, however the places and minor details with regards to the tragedy are true. It is a really good read and I just wanted to share it with everyone.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Date: Friday, 11th March 2011
Since childhood, I have often dreamt walking down desolate streets, surrounded by dilapidated buildings. No matter how long I walked in my dream, everything around me is in complete ruins. I have always wondered whether this dream was a lost memory from the past or a warning about the future to unfold? Today, I found the answer, it was a warning.
It began as an ordinary day with my mom yelling at me to wake up. As an everyday routine, I hurriedly got ready for school and she began badgering me about how I should wake up on time. Before she could lecture me on the importance of breakfast, I grabbed two freshly made rice cakes and ran out of the house. My ordinary day continued; the same yakisoba bread for lunch, the same conversations with friends, and the same boring classes.
As school ended, I alone stayed behind to finish the preparations for tomorrow’s cultural activities. That is when it happened, that is when my ordinary life came to a crashing halt. The ground shook violently and something hit my head. As I fell to ground losing consciousness, I remember only hearing the screams of students.
Date: Saturday, 12th March 2011
If only, it had been an ordinary earthquake, maybe my today might not have been so different.
I woke up in my classroom with my head throbbing in pain. Looking at the desks and chairs lying thrown all over the classroom, vivid memories came flooding back. My mother’s yelling now seemed like a distant dream...as I walked through the abandoned corridors of the school in search for company, the circumstances resembled awfully similar to my dream; alone in a post apocalyptic world. Rather than being afraid of the loneliness, I decided to fight my destiny.
I declared to myself, “I am not alone; I already have a companion, my diary.”
Mustering all my courage, I grabbed my bag and headed towards the fire escape just as I had practiced during disaster management workshops. However, my plans were soon drowned as I realized that the lower and ground floors were under water. Just like that my courage crumbled, and I could no longer hold back the tears of fright and loneliness.
It was dark outside and I was starving. I didn’t even know what time it was. Thoughtlessly, I pulled out my cell phone from my bag, to check the time...
Date: Sunday, 13th March 2011
Only a few minutes back I managed to get connectivity on my cell phone. As instructed by the emergency helpline, I have been waiting on the school’s roof top for a JSDF helicopter to rescue me. As far as my eyes could see, it appeared that all of Minamisanriku had been submerged under water. Staring into the horizon I felt only anger towards the Gods who robbed me of my past. My childhood playground, the local grocery vendor, all of it was gone. I tightly hugged my precious diary, the only proof of the Minamisanriku I grew up in, as if I were protecting it from an invisible foe...
It has been nearly two days since the earthquake and my last meal, I fainted due to hunger.
Waking up in the rescue helicopter, I caught a glimpse of the view below through the window; most of Miyagi Prefecture lay in waste. The sight of devastation left a numb tingling sensation throughout my body. As my thoughts turned towards my mother, I found it strangely twisted and ironic, to pray for her safety to the very Gods responsible for such destruction...
Date: Monday, 14th March 2011
I learnt the earthquake recorded 9 on the Richter scale; it had enough power to destroy thousands of homes, bring the Japanese economy to a standstill and even shift the Earth’s axis. Yet regardless of all its strength, it failed to crush our indomitable spirit.
The campsite was overflowing with compassion. People from everywhere were here, some from Iwate and some from Miyagi. Everyone here was somebody who had lost someone or something and yet for some reason nobody gave into the despair.
The courage displayed reminded me of the lines from Invictus, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” I do not know whether those lines gave me courage or hope, but at that moment I didn’t feel like a powerless little girl.
I began assisting in the distribution of food, water and blankets across the campsite. While helping around, I found Misaki, a fellow classmate. We hugged each other on sight and seeing a familiar face brought a huge smile on both our faces. My cheeks still hurt from smiling; I don’t think I have ever been so happy.
I miss my mother...I pray for her safety.
Date: Tuesday, 15th March 2011
Today has been a good day. The day has been warmer, the water levels receded and lots of people were rescued. Seeing Misaki reunite with her mother, shed a small ray of hope for me, maybe somewhere out there my mother is safe.
As I walked into the warehouse, our makeshift shelter, an old man in his forty’s called out to me. He introduced himself as a friend and claimed to know my mother. He told me, I must have an angel watching over me, since I survived both of Japan’s worst earthquakes; the 1995 Kobe and 2011 Tohoku.
It then flashed back; the recurring dream was a memory of the past after all. It all came back to me, the ground trembling, buildings collapsing. I was two years old when it happened. I was playing in the garden when my house collapsed burying both my parents. I remember, walking forever in the ruins searching for somebody to help my parents. I remember waking up in the warm arms of lady who told me everything will be alright. I remember calling her my mother and hugging her tightly...
I know she is out there, I hope she remembers her daughter hates waiting.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Hope you liked it. (now back to preparing material for Vol 2 and exams!!! :o ) |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
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"title": "Vol 1: Chapter 1 - The Saint",
"id": 233,
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Lee Hyun, now an old man, (in his sixties) sat in front of the glowing screen thinking pensively about the offer.<br><br>The message continued “The starting salary is not much given the industry high, but I managed to convince the board to surrender to you an additional 15% stake, doesn’t sound bad?”<br><br>Lee Hyun’s eyes shined in the darkness at the mention of ‘15% additional stake’. He knew this offer was a steal the moment he heard it. With new found vigor, he moved towards the screen and tapped his fingers on it at lightning speed. A computer voice then read out “Unicom current market value is US$ 0.5 billion, Peak Value 20 years ago: US$ 500 billion.”<br><br>Lee Hyun’s eyes twinkled, this was indeed a steal! 15% stake meant US$ 75 million was upfront and with potential to increase it 500 times or more! Greed glistened in Lee Hyun’s eyes. How long ago was it that he felt such greed, maybe 40 years ago? When he first started playing Royal Road. Having tasted success in Continent of Magic and Royal Road, Lee Hyun thought he could replicate the success in other popular titles. Especially since the number of virtual players around the world had gone up by 100 times. However, Lee Hyun soon realized that it was not going to be that easy. The economic times were desperate and the people living in it were desperate; earning money through games became a popular mainstream job source. Seeing the opportunity, some people set up companies, where players worked in teams to gather information and provide services (also known as ProGaming Companies). Becoming number one in a game became impossibly harder. Eventually, as economics would dictate, the returns to professional gaming were normalized. No longer did there exist the opportunity to earn<br>millions. Lee Hyun grew wary of professional gaming and turned to other activities where there was still money to be made. After making sizeable amount of money from Professional Gaming Lectures as a professor and Brand Ambassadors for many games, he was forced into retirement at the age of 40 by his sister and wife who were worried about his health. From then till now, Lee Hyun was stayed away from the media limelight and slowly but surely the world forgot about Lee Hyun – the God of professional gaming as they nicknamed him.<br><br>Lee Hyun replayed the message twice and went through all of it in great detail. He then surfed the web reading articles and recent news. After six hours or so of receiving the mail, he tapped on the screen twice (which brought him to the homepage) and click a ‘Reply with Call’ icon. “Calling Kang Jin Cheol.”<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol joined Unicorn around the same time Lee Hyun retired (which also happened to be around the time when most of the initial players started to quit the game). He began as “Advisor of Royal Road Trade” where he monitored (and at times corrected / manipulated) trading prices of items in Royal Road. His keen sense of making money soon elevated him to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Unicorn Corp. With the sudden resignation of the CEO, many board members wanted Jin Cheol to take the place of the CEO. But Jin Cheol understood his limitations, he trained in trading and wasn’t the visionary that could turn around the firm. To turn around Unicorn, they needed innovation and creativity something which he only saw in Lee Hyun. Thus, he nominated Lee Hyun’s name (and resume) to the Board and it was accepted. That’s when the offer was made, today at 9AM.<br><br>“Lee Hyun! I knew you would call!” Jin Cheol was slightly surprised, he expected Lee Hyun to at least think a day over the offer (6 hours was too short!). “Well did the offer grab your attention?” Jin Cheol asked with a sly smile on his face. Jin Cheol was pleased, he had masterminded the offer. It was not too much and not too little. He knew Lee Hyun well and knew that Lee Hyun would only take interest if there was possibility to do make more.<br>“It did.” Lee Hyun admitted. “But, I think we need to discuss the finer details. Lets meet up for lunch at the Pinnacle. My treat.”<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol nervously glanced at Lee Hyun (note: this is a video call). “Finer details? <span style="font-style: italic;">The Pinnacle? Your treat?</span>” If anything that Kang Jin Cheol had learnt from Lee Hyun was that Lee Hyun never gave anything for free.<br><br>“Yes that very Pinnacle and my treat. See you at 3 today then.” Lee Hyun then abruptly hung up the call.<br><br>A loud cheer broke out in the conference room where Kang Jin Cheol took the call. All the board<br>members present were extremely happy. Lee Hyun who avoided the world so ferociously (more like forced by his sister) for the last 20 years was finally snagged! Sweat rolled down Kang Jin Cheol’s forehea. None of them knew Lee Hyun as he did. Lee Hyun was a shark; a terribly vicious shark. In Kang Jin Cheol’s mind, Lee Hyun wasn’t the golden goose which laid the golden eggs. No rather Lee Hyun was the person who would take your golden goose and the golden eggs and ask you for money for doing so!!<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol’s secretary dragged him to the elevator. “We don’t have much time Sir!” She said. “He said 3. You have less than an hour to reach the Pinnacle and we need to grab you a suit, something worthy of the Pinnacle.”<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol was still disoriented, was it really a good idea to bring Lee Hyun aboard? Either way, he knew he was running out of time. They had tried almost everything, from hiring the brightest in business schools to the best Virtual Gaming CEOs. Unicorn was a sinking ship and if they didn’t act fast enough, there would be nothing left to save.<br><br>“We had exhausted all options and Lee Hyun is the last resort. Lee Hyun is the last resort. This is the correct thing to do. The correct…” Kang Jin Cheol repeated it to himself as the elevator sped down the eighty stories of Unicorn’s head quarter building. His secretary who stood alongside him gave a puzzled look, she never played Royal Road with Weed. So she clearly had no clue what Kang Jin Cheol was going through.<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs<br>2. In case you skipped the prologue, I strongly recommend reading it. Otherwise the starting of this chapter would come across disconnected.<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=281" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | Lee Hyun, now an old man, (in his sixties) sat in front of the glowing screen thinking pensively about the offer.
The message continued “The starting salary is not much given the industry high, but I managed to convince the board to surrender to you an additional 15% stake, doesn’t sound bad?”
Lee Hyun’s eyes shined in the darkness at the mention of ‘15% additional stake’. He knew this offer was a steal the moment he heard it. With new found vigor, he moved towards the screen and tapped his fingers on it at lightning speed. A computer voice then read out “Unicom current market value is US$ 0.5 billion, Peak Value 20 years ago: US$ 500 billion.”
Lee Hyun’s eyes twinkled, this was indeed a steal! 15% stake meant US$ 75 million was upfront and with potential to increase it 500 times or more! Greed glistened in Lee Hyun’s eyes. How long ago was it that he felt such greed, maybe 40 years ago? When he first started playing Royal Road. Having tasted success in Continent of Magic and Royal Road, Lee Hyun thought he could replicate the success in other popular titles. Especially since the number of virtual players around the world had gone up by 100 times. However, Lee Hyun soon realized that it was not going to be that easy. The economic times were desperate and the people living in it were desperate; earning money through games became a popular mainstream job source. Seeing the opportunity, some people set up companies, where players worked in teams to gather information and provide services (also known as ProGaming Companies). Becoming number one in a game became impossibly harder. Eventually, as economics would dictate, the returns to professional gaming were normalized. No longer did there exist the opportunity to earn
millions. Lee Hyun grew wary of professional gaming and turned to other activities where there was still money to be made. After making sizeable amount of money from Professional Gaming Lectures as a professor and Brand Ambassadors for many games, he was forced into retirement at the age of 40 by his sister and wife who were worried about his health. From then till now, Lee Hyun was stayed away from the media limelight and slowly but surely the world forgot about Lee Hyun – the God of professional gaming as they nicknamed him.
Lee Hyun replayed the message twice and went through all of it in great detail. He then surfed the web reading articles and recent news. After six hours or so of receiving the mail, he tapped on the screen twice (which brought him to the homepage) and click a ‘Reply with Call’ icon. “Calling Kang Jin Cheol.”
Kang Jin Cheol joined Unicorn around the same time Lee Hyun retired (which also happened to be around the time when most of the initial players started to quit the game). He began as “Advisor of Royal Road Trade” where he monitored (and at times corrected / manipulated) trading prices of items in Royal Road. His keen sense of making money soon elevated him to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Unicorn Corp. With the sudden resignation of the CEO, many board members wanted Jin Cheol to take the place of the CEO. But Jin Cheol understood his limitations, he trained in trading and wasn’t the visionary that could turn around the firm. To turn around Unicorn, they needed innovation and creativity something which he only saw in Lee Hyun. Thus, he nominated Lee Hyun’s name (and resume) to the Board and it was accepted. That’s when the offer was made, today at 9AM.
“Lee Hyun! I knew you would call!” Jin Cheol was slightly surprised, he expected Lee Hyun to at least think a day over the offer (6 hours was too short!). “Well did the offer grab your attention?” Jin Cheol asked with a sly smile on his face. Jin Cheol was pleased, he had masterminded the offer. It was not too much and not too little. He knew Lee Hyun well and knew that Lee Hyun would only take interest if there was possibility to do make more.
“It did.” Lee Hyun admitted. “But, I think we need to discuss the finer details. Lets meet up for lunch at the Pinnacle. My treat.”
Kang Jin Cheol nervously glanced at Lee Hyun (note: this is a video call). “Finer details? The Pinnacle? Your treat?” If anything that Kang Jin Cheol had learnt from Lee Hyun was that Lee Hyun never gave anything for free.
“Yes that very Pinnacle and my treat. See you at 3 today then.” Lee Hyun then abruptly hung up the call.
A loud cheer broke out in the conference room where Kang Jin Cheol took the call. All the board
members present were extremely happy. Lee Hyun who avoided the world so ferociously (more like forced by his sister) for the last 20 years was finally snagged! Sweat rolled down Kang Jin Cheol’s forehea. None of them knew Lee Hyun as he did. Lee Hyun was a shark; a terribly vicious shark. In Kang Jin Cheol’s mind, Lee Hyun wasn’t the golden goose which laid the golden eggs. No rather Lee Hyun was the person who would take your golden goose and the golden eggs and ask you for money for doing so!!
Kang Jin Cheol’s secretary dragged him to the elevator. “We don’t have much time Sir!” She said. “He said 3. You have less than an hour to reach the Pinnacle and we need to grab you a suit, something worthy of the Pinnacle.”
Kang Jin Cheol was still disoriented, was it really a good idea to bring Lee Hyun aboard? Either way, he knew he was running out of time. They had tried almost everything, from hiring the brightest in business schools to the best Virtual Gaming CEOs. Unicorn was a sinking ship and if they didn’t act fast enough, there would be nothing left to save.
“We had exhausted all options and Lee Hyun is the last resort. Lee Hyun is the last resort. This is the correct thing to do. The correct…” Kang Jin Cheol repeated it to himself as the elevator sped down the eighty stories of Unicorn’s head quarter building. His secretary who stood alongside him gave a puzzled look, she never played Royal Road with Weed. So she clearly had no clue what Kang Jin Cheol was going through.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs
2. In case you skipped the prologue, I strongly recommend reading it. Otherwise the starting of this chapter would come across disconnected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=281) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
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"title": "S1 E10: We are Never Truly Alone",
"id": 185,
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} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner</span>!< Up, Ansbach-Dragoons!>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth</span>!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"</div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard sang the song of his ancestors, a song that was forged from the fires and victories of battle, a true Prussian song still remembered in Germany as a tune, but the words forgotten. Until now. Words were hammered and instilled with courage, as Gerhard remembered his father and his father's father singing it on the remembrance day of Prussia's unification of the German states, refining the song to match the swing and grace of his sword.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Schnall um deinen Säbel</span>< Buckle on your sabre>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">und rüste dich zum Streit</span>!< and brace yourself for battle!>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Prinz Karl ist erschienen</span><Prince Charles has appeared>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">auf Friedbergs Höh'n,</span>< on Friedberg's heights>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Sich das preußische Heer</span>< to compare himself with us,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">mal anzusehen</span>.< the Prussian Army!>"</div>
<br>
<br>Although Gerhard could easily kill the guards, the Orc clan chiefs and human bandit leaders were proving to be an entire matter altogether. The most he could do was alter the trajectory of their strikes away from his vital points and that of Eric's. The two men, fighting back to back, moved in sync to a rhythm of war set forth by Gerhard's song.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Drum, Kinder, seid lustig</span>< So, boys, be jovial>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">und allesamt bereit</span>:< and all ready to go.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner</span>!< Up, Ansbach Dragoons!>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth</span>!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"</div>
<br>
<br>There were perhaps 12 Orc clan chiefs, and double that for the bandits, but nevertheless Eric was proving his worth, obviously at a much higher level compared to the current bosses, as he usually took no more than 4 to 6 strikes to slay his foes before switching to another target. And yet he might had fallen already, swarmed under by the high damaging alliance leaders, were it not for Gerhard valiantly hurling himself into harm's way to avert any critical damage on the red armoured giant.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Ein preuß'scher Dragoner</span>< A Prussian Dragoon>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">tut niemals nicht flieh'n</span>!< does not flee, never!>"</div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard hurled those lines defiantly, and at some point during the battle he had drawn the sword given to him by the instructor in his offhand, and was using it as an impromptu shield in a reverse handed grip. He was no dual sword wielder but he sure as hell can use it to block at least, learning in the midst of combat, decreasing the margin for error until it seemed Gerhard had a whispering aura around his arm that reflected attacks back at his opponents.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Und stünd'n sie auch noch</span>< And they also still stand>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">so dicht auf Friedbergs Höh'n</span>,< so close together on Friedberg's height,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Wir reiten sie zusammen</span>< We could ride them down>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">wie Frühlingsschnee</span>.< like spring snow.></div>
<br>
<br>Eric seemed spurred on by the song, not by the buffs that was flowing through him… but by the words that reverberate somewhere inside him, a martial beat chipping away at his heart… so much so that he felt…alive.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ob Säbel, ob Kanon'</span>,< Whether sabers, whether cannons,>
<br>o<span style="font-style: italic;">b Kleingewehr uns dräut</span>:< whether muskets, threaten us:></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>When Gerhard sang those lines, Eric stamped the ground without warning, the earth rippling outward violently and causing the enemies to falter. As boss level mobs, they weren’t going to fall so easily, but Gerhard took this opportunity to land several critical strikes, aiming for the face or throat with his sword, where he knew that it would be most effective. However, Gerhard almost stumbled in surprise when Eric lifted up his voice in song.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Drum, Kinder, seid lustig</span>< So, boys, be jovial>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">und allesamt bereit</span>:< and all ready to go.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner</span>!< Up, Ansbach Dragoons!>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth</span>!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"</div>
<br>
<br>The combination of the two warriors had made the melee last barely three minutes although for them it felt unbearably long, each moment they wondered when the enemy reinforcements would arrive to slay them. However, in those three minutes , even the guards surrounding the tent hadn't joined in the fight and when they both ran out of the tent, to fulfill their own separate missions, Gerhard finally knew why. A wall of sound returned to him the moment he stepped outside to which Gerhard intuitively surmised that the tent itself was, perhaps, sound proofed in an arcane manner to prevent spies from listening in, hence why no help came to the alliance leaders.
<br>
<br>
<br>"THE ORCS HAVE BETRAYED US!", Gerhard shouted in warning whilst running through the human quarter full pelt, acting all panicky as he kept yelling convincingly, "THEY HAVE KILLED OUR LEADERS! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!"
<br>
<br>Startled faces turned to look at him in shock but quickly hardened when they saw orcs chasing one of their 'own', Gerhard's words still lingering in the air as the human bandits race to engage the orcs in combat. It wasn't long before brawls and deadly melees broke out like spot fires till it began to spread, merged and then encompassed vast sections of the encampment, the barely concealed racial tension that was simmering beneath both sides brought to the surface in a violent outpouring of mad butchery and unchecked hate.
<br>
<br>In the Orc quarter, the soldiers were rampaging about, grabbing flaming sticks from cooking fires and hurling them unto the tents, Lydia casting fireballs, her lowest mana cost spell in every direction, as two men assigned to guard her kept any Orcs away from her in order that she could better concentrate. Everything was not going their way though. Screaming could be heard as three soldiers were surrounded, disarmed and were being slowly torn limb from limb, the sound of cracking bones and flesh tearing was gratefully drowned out by the pandemonium caused by the flames and rage filled cries abounding that the humans had turned on the Orcs.
<br>
<br>The deceit that Gerhard had laid became reality as human bandits came surging in from their quarter screaming, "TRAITORS! MURDERERS! KILL THEM ALL!"
<br>
<br>This was the moment that the troops and Lydia were waiting for, the shattered remnants of the Rosenheim squads racing towards the gates to escape. However, the way ahead was teeming with Orcs blocking their path. Threatened with encirclement, they could only desperately fend off the attacks as they became bogged down… until Eric arrived and cleaved a path for the soldiers to follow. The desperate troops took this chance, Lydia sheltered on all sides by the NPCs who were fighting and dying all around her to ensure that she was safe. She had never seen anything like it before… that the NPCs were acting so humanlike that Lydia almost reached out a hand when one of them was speared through the stomach, the soldier falling face first, dead unto the churned and muddy ground.
<br>
<br>The air was grim with desperation until a voice raised in song was heard… Gerhard appearing out of nowhere as he barrelled into the back of an Orc that was about to cleave a hapless disarmed soldier. Immediately morale rose, and strength flowed with vigour through tired limbs, giving them a final surge of fighting prowess for the now depleted group to reach the gate. Except Eric had stayed behind…
<br>
<br>"…that IDIOT!", Gerhard cursed, turning to his men and shouting, "Come on! First squad on me! The rest HOLD this position!", before leaping back through the gateway.
<br>
<br>"…that makes two idiots…", Lydia complained, unable to do anything but watch, her mana completely drained and left with no option but to only follow Gerhard's insane rescue with her eyes, the squad led by him slowly progressing forward.
<br>
<br>"ARE YOU TRYING TO DIE!?", Gerhard roared in fury as he reached Eric, standing shoulder to shoulder and surrounded by thousands of Orcs and Humans slaughtering each other in wild abandon, all sanity lost in this maelstrom of flashing blades and glaives. The ring of Rosenheim shields slowly shrank as one after another, a soldier fell dead and trampled by the mad crush of bodies that was filled with unbound savagery, seemingly spurred by their animal instincts to kill.
<br>
<br>"We are leaving NOW!", Gerhard yelled into Eric's ear, and for a moment he thought that the giant was going to ignore him until he saw a minute nod given as reply, to which Gerhard yelled to the men around him, "SQUAD! WITHDRAW ON THE DOUBLE TIME! MAINTAIN FORMATION! ON MY COMMAAAND……. WITHDRAW!"
<br>
<br>With a visible heave, the soldiers leaned behind their shields and pushed abruptly, the bodies surrounding them reeling back a step or two and allowing the tired troops to quickly retreat until they were surrounded and crushed again. However, Gerhard repeated his command and the move was done once again…. and again, and again, and again… to them it felt like they were caught in a cycle, doing this infinitely, each time harder than the last… until they finally reached the supposed safety of the gate.
<br>
<br>Without another word said, they fled for their lives into the forest, chased after by a few enemy warbands that weren't engaged in the fatal brawls within the encampment.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Max woke up spluttering water from his throat, rolling onto his stomach as he coughed all the fluids out of his system, his brown hair plastered all over his face. Raising himself on his elbows, Max finally noticed his surroundings, a soft blue light emitting from the damp walls as he sat up and checked his stats to see how much HP he lost. Sighing in relief, it only accounted for less than ten percent of his life as he stood up slowly, turning around in a circle to see just where he was.
<br>
<br>Becoming a little anxious, he noticed that he was in a cave of some sort with no visible exit, except the pool of water that nearly encircled the sandy ground he was on in a crescent half moon. However… there appeared to be ores of various grades all around him, and the tingling sensation of easy money flowed through him as he shrugged at his predicament.
<br>
<br>'Might as well make the most of this situation', he thought as his pragmatic nature instilled in him by his father and grandfather took over, pulling out a pick axe and carefully chipping away at the ores.
<br>
<br>"…..Mister… what are you doing?"
<br>
<br>"Hmm? Oh… I am just collecting materials to make some stUUUUFF!?", Max yelled out as he finally realised that he wasn't alone, gazing about wildly and tucking the pickaxe close to his chest like a pseudo weapon.
<br>
<br>He couldn't see anyone around him, and the first thought that raced through his head was…ghost… Yes readers, some people just have phobias that can't be controlled…
<br>
<br>"….D-don't hurt me…", the voice sounded as though it was about to burst into tears.
<br>
<br>To which at last, Max noticed the eyes peering out from the water, to which it belonged to… the face of a beautiful girl. "Eh? EHHHHH?"
<br>
<br>Instantly, he flung the pick axe over his shoulder as he laughed robotically, "Hahaha, I wouldn't hurt you. It's my policy to be nice to pretty girls"
<br>
<br>"…You promise?…"
<br>
<br>"I promise", Max swore.
<br>
<br>The girl seemed to glide forward in the water, and Max became startled as he saw her figure…
<br>
<br>"…what is it?...", she asked quizzically.
<br>
<br>"Just who are you?", Max wondered aloud.
<br>
<br>"Me? I am Lorelei", she replied hugging what appeared to be a wooden doll close to her chest, "Nice to meet you".
<br>
<br><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Lorelei1_zps7c7c1dcd.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...7c1dcd.jpg">
<br>
<br>"…N-nice to meet you too", Max replied stuttering. He…he was talking to a mermaid!
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>Barely fourteen soldiers made it out alive with Gerhard, Lydia and Eric, all of which remained of Gerhard's proud command as the survivors trudged through Basterni with backs hunched in fatigue, beyond the point of exhaustion from the flight of their perilous escape. Onlookers in the form of villagers and players looked on aghast at the state they were in, covered from head to toe in mud, blood red stains and dented or cracked armour under which their clothe was ruined beyond repair. Nevertheless, the soldiers had gain vast amounts of EXP… and would be promoted to Centurion once Ernst Rommer received and rested them.
<br>
<br>The squad that returned with the prisoners appeared ashamed, however, the surviving soldiers waved back at them, gesturing and calling out to them to say that it was good to see familiar faces… to which the squad then came forward and helped the wounded into the fort, broken from their indecision because of the strong camaraderie forged by Gerhard.
<br>
<br>Finally standing before the old man, Gerhard still retained enough pride to salute smartly at Ernst Rommer, who responded wearily, "The task is done?"
<br>
<br>Gerhard replied woodenly, "The mission is accomplished… at great cost. I beg forgiveness for the annihilation of my command".
<br>
<br>"…I placed a hard assignment upon you… even I wasn't sure I would had been able to accomplish it in my heyday… so, there is nothing to forgive"
<br>
<br>"I would like to recommend the men for promotion-…"
<br>
<br>"All in due time… however, first accept your reward…", Sir Ernst Rommer replied solemnly, "Kneel"
<br>
<br>The crowd of villagers and the few players that followed the group gasped as they realised what was happening as Gerhard, bound by the moment, knelt on tired knees upon the stony ground, head bowed.
<br>
<br>"Gerhard von Natzmer, for your meritorious service in the Kingdom of Rosenheim's army, for continuous valour beyond all odds, by the power invested in me by the King, I induct thee into the Royal Knightly Order of the Rose, guardians of the King and the Kingdom. Furthermore, I name thee my heir, with all the rights and titles that this entails upon my retirement, or my death."
<br>
<br>Everyone looked on stunned, including Gerhard who raised his head up in shock but the old man wasn't finished.
<br>
<br>"Also… I present to you my sword, <span style="font-style: italic;">Duty</span>, given to me by my predecessor and his before him, for we are the first and last line against the darkness".
<br>
<br>"…And I pray you never know what that darkness is…", the old man finished cryptically.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>Fame has risen by 150 points
<br>Charisma has risen by 10 points (+10 CHR)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quest Completed: The Shadow War
<br>
<br>The Orc raiders and Human bandits have fallen upon each other as their alliance collapsed leaderless, although it is far off in the distant future that peace will return in the region, already raids have fallen considerably, allowing nearly safe travel along the main roads and between villages.
<br>
<br>Difficulty Level: C
<br>
<br>Quest Reward: You have received the title of 'Knight' and named the heir of Sir Ernst Rommer, Lord and Master of Basterni. You have also been inducted into the Royal Knightly Order of the Rose, to be finalised by trials set forth by the King. You will receive a monthly stipend of 100 gold and all items purchased within Basterni will be discounted by 60%. Additionally, the sword <span style="font-style: italic;">Duty</span> has been gifted upon you that pulses with unknown arcane energies. </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>"…Your task is done…", Eric stood behind Gerhard who turned around and smiled wearily.
<br>
<br>"…Tomorrow then… early morning I suppose?..."
<br>
<br>Eric nodded, before turning away and marching off, the crowd and soldiers parting before him, averting their eyes from the look he was giving. It was the face of the Grim Reaper himself.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Max ogled at the creature before him… which he felt he has been doing a lot lately so he mentally slapped himself and regained his composure, slowly coming forward to the shore's edge and crouched down.
<br>
<br>"Ummm… did you bring me here?", was the first and important question to be asked.
<br>
<br>She nodded shyly, the gesture so cute that his heart began beating like crazy, before he repeated to himself over and over, ' she is not human, she is not human, she is not human', like a mantra to retain some form of cognitive process before this beautiful creature.
<br>
<br>"…w..why did you bring me here?"
<br>
<br>"…I…I was just lonely…and you seemed nicer compared to the two scary people.."
<br>
<br>"Scary people? You mean the people I was travelling with? No, no, they are not scary-…", Max stopped suddenly, "except for one person… she is the devil herself…"
<br>
<br>"Uuuuu, see, I knew it…."
<br>
<br>"Yup, thank goodness you weren't caught by her evil claws, who knows what she will do to you…", he blushed red as his imagination took control and veered his mind into….unhealthy thoughts. Well healthy if you were male.
<br>"But", Max continued, "why are you by yourself?"
<br>
<br>"…Lorelei doesn't know", she replied whimpering, "I have always been by myself"
<br>
<br>"Eh?", he felt his heart constrict at those words, "What do you mean by that?"
<br>
<br>"When I opened my eyes….there was only me and 'doll'", she lifted the wooden figure over her head to show Max.
<br>
<br>"….just how long have you been here?..."
<br>
<br>Looking up at him with eyes full of questions, she replied, "I…I think the water turned very cold 12 times, and sometimes ice would flow down into my home"
<br>
<br>To which Max drew in a breadth in shock. If what she was telling was accurate… that was 12 seasons… the amount of time since Royal Road first began…she had been alone since the game was first created!
<br>
<br>"Lorelei…do you…want to be my friend", Max asked gently.
<br>
<br>"...Friend? What is that?", she tilted her head in question whilst hugging the doll. The word seemed to resonate inside her somehow.
<br>
<br>"A friend is someone who you can always talk to, play with, and still… reach out for help no matter how far apart you are"
<br>
<br>Lorelei sank deeper into the water until it was up to her lips, bubbling the words out shyly", …I…I would like that, Max"
<br>
<br>Max smiled as he reached out his hand to her, "Then lets shake on it"
<br>
<br>"..Does it hurt?"
<br>
<br>To which he chuckled softly, "No, it's kind of like an agreement or contract"
<br>
<br>"O…ok", she seemed to come to a conclusion to herself as Lorelei swam closer to the shore and slowly reached out with one hand, the other securely clutching the wooden doll.
<br>
<br>Their fingers touched and Max thought for a second that it glowed briefly, but Lorelei acted like nothing had happened so he must have imagined it. Taking her hand in his palm, he shook it up and down once, saying, "And now we are friends. I hope to be in your care"
<br>
<br>"…Me too", and she smiled so brightly that Max felt tempted to cross that boundary between species.
<br>
<br>"Anyway", Max stood up, "I guess it's time for me to get back to the others", he shivered, "who knows what Mayumi will do to me since I have all their luggage…"
<br>
<br>"…Can I come too?", Lorelei looked up, seemingly on the verge of tears at the possibility of already losing her first friend.
<br>
<br>"Eh? How will you do that?", Max asked in genuine surprise. It's not like he can carry her out of here, plus she was half fish… don't she need water?
<br>
<br>"…Can you hold my doll?", she lifted the figurine up to Max.
<br>
<br>"Ok…", as he accepted it, a soft glow surrounded Lorelei, becoming increasingly brighter until Max had to avert his eyes for fear of going blind. When the afterglow of the light faded, she was nowhere to be seen.
<br>
<br>"Lorelei? Lorelei?! Where are you?!", he asked in panic.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">I am here</span>", a voice echoed in his head.
<br>
<br>"W...what! where?", he looked wildly about.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">In your hands silly</span>", the voice replied sounding crossed.
<br>
<br>"…U..UWAAAH!…", Max shouted.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Eh? W..What is it?</span>", she asked puzzled.
<br>
<br>"Oh…oooooooh..it's nothing", Max replied shakily…to which he was not alright at all. He felt like he was holding a cursed doll… however Max didn't want to hurt Lorelei's feelings so he reined in his rampaging emotions with a laborious effort.
<br>
<br>"Soooo… now how are we going to get out of here?", Max asked to put his mind elsewhere as he gingerly placed the doll in one of his side pouches.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">It's ok, you will be saved soon</span>"
<br>
<br>"Eh?"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">One of your friends is coming</span>"
<br>
<br>To which, he heard a loud shuddering as the walls around him vibrated, so much so that he fell on his backside as one portion of the wall caved inwards, the figure of Masumi striding forward with fragments of rocks falling all around.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Masumi_zps4666ecaa.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...66ecaa.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>"Masumi… did your eyes just glowed red?"
<br>
<br>"Eh? W..What's wrong with you? Are you still drowning?", Masumi replied defensively.
<br>
<br>Looking closely again, Masumi's eyes had returned to normal and Max truly wondered if he had not hit his head somewhere along the line in the water. He was seeing a lot of weird things lately…
<br>
<br>"Ooooh Maaaaax", A voice said all too cheerily behind Masumi, "I hope you are reeeady~"
<br>
<br>"Eh? What for?"
<br>
<br>"For making your master chase after you…"
<br>
<br>"SINCE WHEN DID I BECOME YOUR SLAVE!?"
<br>
<br>A rope looped itself around his neck and forcefully dragged him forward, "Since you ran off with all our spare clothing. Dirty panty thief", she admonished him by stepping HARD on his head.
<br>
<br>"….forgive me….master…"
<br>
<br>"That’s better", Mayumi smiled as she continued, "I guess I will let this slide since I have such a generous heart"
<br>
<br>'….<span style="font-style: italic;">please apologise to all the saints in the world</span>!', Max yelled inside his head. It looked like he wasn't going to be able to escape from her clutches anytime soon.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Lydia watched on in silence as the two men stood facing off against one another, wondering how she can safely stop this duel before it got out of hand. Gerhard seriously did not even have any chance at all… and the new sword he was given can only be equipped at level 100, to which he only shrugged and said it didn’t mattered.
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">OF COURSE IT MATTERED</span>', she shouted inside her head, '<span style="font-style: italic;">just what kind of player thinks that levels are inconsequential, can someone please drag that person forward to me</span>!?'
<br>
<br>The whole village had gathered, Sir Ernst Rommer acting as the witness to the duel, and players who were up early in the morning wondering what kind of event was going on in the village. Since the roads became safer, players once again began to return to the region and though as soon as they saw Eric, most blanched and fled as soon as possible. However, a few bravely stayed due inherently to curiosity, wondering why the giant with a fearsome reputation was standing in the middle of a village and not attacking anyone. Eric suddenly stirred and the onlookers held their breath, feeling like a momentous occasion has come.
<br>
<br>Eric planted the head of his battle axe into the ground, donning his war helm prior to announcing sombrely, "You will keep your word now?" more as a statement rather than a real question.
<br>
<br>"I will always honour it", Gerhard replied sadly, assuming a fencer stance with a slow graceful salute to Eric, kissing the flat of the blade lightly before regrettably pointing the sword towards the man who he had saved and been saved by, fought and bled beside with.
<br>
<br>"Then, it ends", Eric stated then erupted into motion, running forward with battle axe held high.
<br>
<br>There was nothing left to do but conclude their fight, Gerhard moving in without hesitation, sidestepping the axe stroke that would have beheaded him, before launching an attack of his own. To which this was deflected by the armoured plate, Gerhard's sword no match for such high level equipment and he could only shave away piecemeal at Eric's HP, mindful of the fact that any return stroke could be fatal for himself. As for Eric, the sword hits that do succeed in getting past his armour were only a minor irritation, he having long surpassed his endurance mastery in his quest-less journey of slaughter.
<br>
<br>To the untrained eye, it looked like a wild dance, of sweeping axe strokes and thrusting sword points, of minute dodges and blunt indifference to hits, the contrast between Gerhard's graceful movements matched by Eric's animal ferocity as they fought back and forth across the courtyard of silent and apprehensive observers. However, Ernst Rommer could be seen grimacing, perhaps the only person, NPC or otherwise, that knows that Gerhard is losing. And losing badly.
<br>
<br>*Clang*
<br>
<br>Gerhard once again diverted another axe stroke away before stepping in, thrusting out with his fist for Eric's throat. It was instantly caught, and Gerhard stifled a cry of pain as his left hand was viciously crushed, before Eric pulled him and hurled the slight body of Gerhard into the air. He crashed brutally into a fruit stand, shattering it as Gerhard coughed out blood, his HP dropping to half health as Eric strode unhurriedly towards him.
<br>
<br>"Haha, brutal as ever", Gerhard chuckled grimly, rising to his feet, feeling bones shift within his body uncomfortably, "urgh, you broke my ribs... again".
<br>
<br>"Noooo!", a voice cried out and the figure of the boy whom Gerhard had saved came running forward as Eric swung down with his axe. There was a moment of slight hesitation that Gerhard noted, and suddenly the memory of his previous fight with Eric resurfaced in his mind.
<br>
<br>Lydia grabbed the boy to prevent him from getting hurt, surprised by her own actions and that of this NPC… just what was happening to the both of them… unable to explain her inexplicable deeds.
<br>
<br>"Eric…you…you are still a good man after all", Gerhard smiled happily after he painfully dodged the blow.
<br>
<br>"……"
<br>
<br>"You… you weren't ever going to kill that child were you"
<br>
<br>"… I don't know what you are talking about", Eric growled as he swung his axe again, aiming for Gerhard's now weakened left side.
<br>
<br>"I saw that axe stroke into the ground where the child lay… it would have missed anyway even if I didn't intervene".
<br>
<br>"… Shut up…"
<br>
<br>"… You are a father, aren't you?.."
<br>
<br>"SHUT UP!", Eric roared as he increased his attack speed, going berserk at Gerhard.
<br>
<br>"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME!?", Eric screamed, "WHAT DO YOU TRULY KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!?"
<br>
<br>"I SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH MY MEN! I SHOULD HAVE DIED LONG AGO!"
<br>
<br>"NOW… I HAVE NOTHING!!", he roared, "I RETURNED HOME TO <span style="font-weight: bold;">NOTHING</span>!"
<br>
<br>To all this Gerhard was only silently listening, however he was caught unprepared by such a flurry of attacks, Gerhard receiving a blow to his right hand that held his sword where it was smashed into a wall shattering his fingers, the weapon falling from his useless hand. Eric was going out of control, madness and rage in his every movement as one such strike connected into Gerhard's abdomen, the axe blade biting deep into his left side, Eric still bellowing.
<br>
<br>"I SHOULD HAVE NEVER SURVIVED!", Eric wailed.
<br>
<br>Gerhard grabbed the handle of the battle axe with his ruined hands to trap Eric in place, looking up to gaze into the eyes of the armoured warrior before him. Roaring out in a voice laced with iron and power, Gerhard commanded, "<span style="font-style: italic;">SOLDAT, STILLSTE-HEN!</span>"<SOLDIER, ATTEN-SHUN!>
<br>
<br>Instantly, years of discipline took control over Eric's body as he obeyed, unable to resist the authority of a voice that expects immediate and unflinching obedience, the voice of a true officer reaching into Eric's soul to pull the soldier that he once was back to the fore. His arms fell to his sides, leaving the weapon still embedded in Gerhard, Eric stamping his feet together as he stood straight with chest out and in perfect textbook military stance.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Words of Iron
<br>
<br>A natural born leader of men, your commands are expected to be obeyed without question, followed without doubt, trust given when asked. Enemies are affected as well, though only temporarily. Duration and Skill chance increases by Skill level.
<br>
<br>Improves when you successfully turn an enemy or convince allies to do the unreasonable.
<br>You may not distribute bonus stat points to Words of Iron</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>To which, dying, Gerhard reached out with bloody hands to grasps either side of Eric's face, ignoring the agonizing pain and blood threatening to escape from his lips, he spoke softly, " <span style="font-style: italic;">Soldat…Kamerad… </span><Soldier…comrade>… your war is over now. You have fought well for the <span style="font-style: italic;">Vaterland</span><Fatherland>… because you LIVED. You are alive and nothing else matters. With life you can still hope, rebuild… be with the ones you love the most"
<br>
<br>Pulling their heads together till they touched forehead to forehead, Gerhard declared, "You are NOT dead Eric. You are still a soldier, a father, a husband, a son to someone. You are ALIVE! SO LIVE! Live for the others who never returned. Live on and don't soil their memories DAMNIT! I COMMAND <span style="font-weight: bold;">YOU</span> TO LIVE!"
<br>
<br>"….It's ok for me to be alive…?", Eric whispered.
<br>
<br>Gerhard chuckled, "Just what have I been saying <span style="font-style: italic;">dummkopf</span> <idiot>. Of course it is ok"
<br>
<br>"But… I am crippled..", Eric voice becoming hoarse with emotion.
<br>
<br>"You are crippled in body, but not in mind, Eric"
<br>
<br>"… So… I can live?"
<br>
<br>"It's great to be alive, isn't it?"
<br>
<br>"But the others...?"
<br>
<br>"They STILL live, as long as you do in here", Gerhard tapped Eric's temple, "and in here”, Gerhard said as he tapped Eric’s heart.
<br>
<br>"….I am not allowed to die..?"
<br>
<br>"Request denied", Gerhard smiled beatifically.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herlizh willkommen, Soldat</span><Welcome home, soldier>. Thank you for your service", Gerhard saluted weakly before finally his strength failed, his legs buckling out from under him as he collapsed forward into Eric's chest.
<br>
<br>With silent tears streaming down his face, Eric laid Gerhard gently down upon the ground, trying to stem the flow of blood as Lydia finally ran over and urgently began casting her low level healing spell, worry deep in her eyes. She didn't want to witness that scene from when Gerhard was near death ever again… the memory still haunting her due to how bizarre it was…
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Author's Note: There is more after the Song.</span></span></div>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqF9/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Promise You</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/OnlyaDream_zpsdf5558ad.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...5558ad.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>"Countless knights went to battle, and many were hurt, as the dragon moved closer and closer to the palace. The King declared whosoever killed the dragon would be granted half his kingdom. On hearing this, knights came from across the sea. They were the fiercest, the bravest and the largest knights anyone had ever seen. Thousands gathered to attack the dragon. But for all their effort, they couldn't defeat the dragon and the countryside became strewn with ruins. They were left with a riddle after every battle. 'My defeat will be an empty cup filled'.
<br>
<br>
<br>Only the little blacksmith's heart was full of hope, fashioning a suit of armour and a sword out of old tin cups, mounting his pony, and then rode to court. Bowing before the King, he said, 'I wish to defeat the dragon'. There was a moment of silence, then everyone but the Princess began to laugh. The King said, 'You are no match for this dragon. It takes might to fight. You are just too small.'
<br>
<br>The tiny blacksmith responded with pride, 'I may be slight, but I can fight.'
<br>
<br>He travelled far and wide until he found the dragon's cave and entered it without hesitation. There he found the dragon lying in misery with its eyes swollen shut and its forked tongue lying on the ground. It hissed at his approach, for it could smell him, but the tiny knight wasn't afraid. With his chivalrous heart all he could feel now was mercy. He wanted to help the beast and so returning outside, he climbed down the cliff to the stream below. At the bottom there was plenty of water, but nothing with which to carry it. Then he spied a chipped cup, carefully picking it from the sand, he filled it as best as he could and climbed back up.
<br>
<br>But when he got back to the dragon, he discovered that not only had the cup been chipped but it had a crack he had not noticed. What little water there was had leaked out while he was climbing. He moved toward the dragon and said, 'I'm sorry. I meant to help you, I really did. But the cup is empty.'
<br>
<br>To his surprise the dragon rose up with a roar of delight.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">'Thank you, oh thank you, tiny knight,
<br>You have saved me, all right!
<br>An empty cup it may be,
<br>But it was filled with kindness, you see.
<br>And an empty cup filled, sets me free!
<br>I'll guard you forever, I tell no lies.
<br>I'll be your wings, if you'll be my eyes.'</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>The tiny knight was shocked before becoming delighted. The evil dragon wasn't evil at all, only bewitched, and now that the riddle was solved it showed that it was kind as well. Then the tiny knight, astride his flying dragon, flew home. The tiny knight then married the Princess and received half the kingdom. The dragon got back his eyesight and, true to his word, guarded the kingdom faithfully."
<br>
<br>"Hehe", the two young boys laughed happily to the conclusion of the story.
<br>
<br>"Come on boys, visiting time is over", the woman closed the book she had been flipping the pages… for Eric to read.
<br>
<br>"Awww mamaaa. We want papa to tell us more stories", they exclaimed.
<br>
<br>"Now, listen to your mother, boys", Eric scolded as his wife affectionately stroked the hair from his eyes, "if you misbehave, I won't let you visit me again".
<br>
<br>"Noooooooo!", they yelped before quieting down, as their mother placed a finger on each of their lips.
<br>
<br>"Shhhh, don’t disturb the other patients", she reminded them.
<br>
<br>"Its fine dear, they are all too busy being jealous of me to care", Eric joked.
<br>
<br>"Screw you, Eric! My wife was prettier… ten years ago", someone yelled, and the hospital ward broke out in laughter.
<br>
<br>As she took the boys by the hands and packed their belongings, readying to leave, she turned back around and kissed Eric deeply, to which the boys said, "ewwwwww".
<br>
<br>"I am so glad you are alive", she whispered.
<br>
<br>"I am too", he smiled, "And I won't regret it ever again."
</div> | [INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
*********************************************************************************************
"Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner!< Up, Ansbach-Dragoons!>
Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"
Gerhard sang the song of his ancestors, a song that was forged from the fires and victories of battle, a true Prussian song still remembered in Germany as a tune, but the words forgotten. Until now. Words were hammered and instilled with courage, as Gerhard remembered his father and his father's father singing it on the remembrance day of Prussia's unification of the German states, refining the song to match the swing and grace of his sword.
"Schnall um deinen Säbel< Buckle on your sabre>
und rüste dich zum Streit!< and brace yourself for battle!>
Prinz Karl ist erschienen<Prince Charles has appeared>
auf Friedbergs Höh'n,< on Friedberg's heights>
Sich das preußische Heer< to compare himself with us,>
mal anzusehen.< the Prussian Army!>"
Although Gerhard could easily kill the guards, the Orc clan chiefs and human bandit leaders were proving to be an entire matter altogether. The most he could do was alter the trajectory of their strikes away from his vital points and that of Eric's. The two men, fighting back to back, moved in sync to a rhythm of war set forth by Gerhard's song.
"Drum, Kinder, seid lustig< So, boys, be jovial>
und allesamt bereit:< and all ready to go.>
Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner!< Up, Ansbach Dragoons!>
Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"
There were perhaps 12 Orc clan chiefs, and double that for the bandits, but nevertheless Eric was proving his worth, obviously at a much higher level compared to the current bosses, as he usually took no more than 4 to 6 strikes to slay his foes before switching to another target. And yet he might had fallen already, swarmed under by the high damaging alliance leaders, were it not for Gerhard valiantly hurling himself into harm's way to avert any critical damage on the red armoured giant.
"Ein preuß'scher Dragoner< A Prussian Dragoon>
tut niemals nicht flieh'n!< does not flee, never!>"
Gerhard hurled those lines defiantly, and at some point during the battle he had drawn the sword given to him by the instructor in his offhand, and was using it as an impromptu shield in a reverse handed grip. He was no dual sword wielder but he sure as hell can use it to block at least, learning in the midst of combat, decreasing the margin for error until it seemed Gerhard had a whispering aura around his arm that reflected attacks back at his opponents.
Und stünd'n sie auch noch< And they also still stand>
so dicht auf Friedbergs Höh'n,< so close together on Friedberg's height,>
Wir reiten sie zusammen< We could ride them down>
wie Frühlingsschnee.< like spring snow.>
Eric seemed spurred on by the song, not by the buffs that was flowing through him… but by the words that reverberate somewhere inside him, a martial beat chipping away at his heart… so much so that he felt…alive.
Ob Säbel, ob Kanon',< Whether sabers, whether cannons,>
ob Kleingewehr uns dräut:< whether muskets, threaten us:>
When Gerhard sang those lines, Eric stamped the ground without warning, the earth rippling outward violently and causing the enemies to falter. As boss level mobs, they weren’t going to fall so easily, but Gerhard took this opportunity to land several critical strikes, aiming for the face or throat with his sword, where he knew that it would be most effective. However, Gerhard almost stumbled in surprise when Eric lifted up his voice in song.
"Drum, Kinder, seid lustig< So, boys, be jovial>
und allesamt bereit:< and all ready to go.>
Auf, Ansbach-Dragoner!< Up, Ansbach Dragoons!>
Auf, Ansbach-Bayreuth!< Up, Ansbach-Bayreuth!>"
The combination of the two warriors had made the melee last barely three minutes although for them it felt unbearably long, each moment they wondered when the enemy reinforcements would arrive to slay them. However, in those three minutes , even the guards surrounding the tent hadn't joined in the fight and when they both ran out of the tent, to fulfill their own separate missions, Gerhard finally knew why. A wall of sound returned to him the moment he stepped outside to which Gerhard intuitively surmised that the tent itself was, perhaps, sound proofed in an arcane manner to prevent spies from listening in, hence why no help came to the alliance leaders.
"THE ORCS HAVE BETRAYED US!", Gerhard shouted in warning whilst running through the human quarter full pelt, acting all panicky as he kept yelling convincingly, "THEY HAVE KILLED OUR LEADERS! TO ARMS! TO ARMS!"
Startled faces turned to look at him in shock but quickly hardened when they saw orcs chasing one of their 'own', Gerhard's words still lingering in the air as the human bandits race to engage the orcs in combat. It wasn't long before brawls and deadly melees broke out like spot fires till it began to spread, merged and then encompassed vast sections of the encampment, the barely concealed racial tension that was simmering beneath both sides brought to the surface in a violent outpouring of mad butchery and unchecked hate.
In the Orc quarter, the soldiers were rampaging about, grabbing flaming sticks from cooking fires and hurling them unto the tents, Lydia casting fireballs, her lowest mana cost spell in every direction, as two men assigned to guard her kept any Orcs away from her in order that she could better concentrate. Everything was not going their way though. Screaming could be heard as three soldiers were surrounded, disarmed and were being slowly torn limb from limb, the sound of cracking bones and flesh tearing was gratefully drowned out by the pandemonium caused by the flames and rage filled cries abounding that the humans had turned on the Orcs.
The deceit that Gerhard had laid became reality as human bandits came surging in from their quarter screaming, "TRAITORS! MURDERERS! KILL THEM ALL!"
This was the moment that the troops and Lydia were waiting for, the shattered remnants of the Rosenheim squads racing towards the gates to escape. However, the way ahead was teeming with Orcs blocking their path. Threatened with encirclement, they could only desperately fend off the attacks as they became bogged down… until Eric arrived and cleaved a path for the soldiers to follow. The desperate troops took this chance, Lydia sheltered on all sides by the NPCs who were fighting and dying all around her to ensure that she was safe. She had never seen anything like it before… that the NPCs were acting so humanlike that Lydia almost reached out a hand when one of them was speared through the stomach, the soldier falling face first, dead unto the churned and muddy ground.
The air was grim with desperation until a voice raised in song was heard… Gerhard appearing out of nowhere as he barrelled into the back of an Orc that was about to cleave a hapless disarmed soldier. Immediately morale rose, and strength flowed with vigour through tired limbs, giving them a final surge of fighting prowess for the now depleted group to reach the gate. Except Eric had stayed behind…
"…that IDIOT!", Gerhard cursed, turning to his men and shouting, "Come on! First squad on me! The rest HOLD this position!", before leaping back through the gateway.
"…that makes two idiots…", Lydia complained, unable to do anything but watch, her mana completely drained and left with no option but to only follow Gerhard's insane rescue with her eyes, the squad led by him slowly progressing forward.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO DIE!?", Gerhard roared in fury as he reached Eric, standing shoulder to shoulder and surrounded by thousands of Orcs and Humans slaughtering each other in wild abandon, all sanity lost in this maelstrom of flashing blades and glaives. The ring of Rosenheim shields slowly shrank as one after another, a soldier fell dead and trampled by the mad crush of bodies that was filled with unbound savagery, seemingly spurred by their animal instincts to kill.
"We are leaving NOW!", Gerhard yelled into Eric's ear, and for a moment he thought that the giant was going to ignore him until he saw a minute nod given as reply, to which Gerhard yelled to the men around him, "SQUAD! WITHDRAW ON THE DOUBLE TIME! MAINTAIN FORMATION! ON MY COMMAAAND……. WITHDRAW!"
With a visible heave, the soldiers leaned behind their shields and pushed abruptly, the bodies surrounding them reeling back a step or two and allowing the tired troops to quickly retreat until they were surrounded and crushed again. However, Gerhard repeated his command and the move was done once again…. and again, and again, and again… to them it felt like they were caught in a cycle, doing this infinitely, each time harder than the last… until they finally reached the supposed safety of the gate.
Without another word said, they fled for their lives into the forest, chased after by a few enemy warbands that weren't engaged in the fatal brawls within the encampment.
*********************************************************************************************
Max woke up spluttering water from his throat, rolling onto his stomach as he coughed all the fluids out of his system, his brown hair plastered all over his face. Raising himself on his elbows, Max finally noticed his surroundings, a soft blue light emitting from the damp walls as he sat up and checked his stats to see how much HP he lost. Sighing in relief, it only accounted for less than ten percent of his life as he stood up slowly, turning around in a circle to see just where he was.
Becoming a little anxious, he noticed that he was in a cave of some sort with no visible exit, except the pool of water that nearly encircled the sandy ground he was on in a crescent half moon. However… there appeared to be ores of various grades all around him, and the tingling sensation of easy money flowed through him as he shrugged at his predicament.
'Might as well make the most of this situation', he thought as his pragmatic nature instilled in him by his father and grandfather took over, pulling out a pick axe and carefully chipping away at the ores.
"…..Mister… what are you doing?"
"Hmm? Oh… I am just collecting materials to make some stUUUUFF!?", Max yelled out as he finally realised that he wasn't alone, gazing about wildly and tucking the pickaxe close to his chest like a pseudo weapon.
He couldn't see anyone around him, and the first thought that raced through his head was…ghost… Yes readers, some people just have phobias that can't be controlled…
"….D-don't hurt me…", the voice sounded as though it was about to burst into tears.
To which at last, Max noticed the eyes peering out from the water, to which it belonged to… the face of a beautiful girl. "Eh? EHHHHH?"
Instantly, he flung the pick axe over his shoulder as he laughed robotically, "Hahaha, I wouldn't hurt you. It's my policy to be nice to pretty girls"
"…You promise?…"
"I promise", Max swore.
The girl seemed to glide forward in the water, and Max became startled as he saw her figure…
"…what is it?...", she asked quizzically.
"Just who are you?", Max wondered aloud.
"Me? I am Lorelei", she replied hugging what appeared to be a wooden doll close to her chest, "Nice to meet you".
"…N-nice to meet you too", Max replied stuttering. He…he was talking to a mermaid!
*********************************************************************************************
Barely fourteen soldiers made it out alive with Gerhard, Lydia and Eric, all of which remained of Gerhard's proud command as the survivors trudged through Basterni with backs hunched in fatigue, beyond the point of exhaustion from the flight of their perilous escape. Onlookers in the form of villagers and players looked on aghast at the state they were in, covered from head to toe in mud, blood red stains and dented or cracked armour under which their clothe was ruined beyond repair. Nevertheless, the soldiers had gain vast amounts of EXP… and would be promoted to Centurion once Ernst Rommer received and rested them.
The squad that returned with the prisoners appeared ashamed, however, the surviving soldiers waved back at them, gesturing and calling out to them to say that it was good to see familiar faces… to which the squad then came forward and helped the wounded into the fort, broken from their indecision because of the strong camaraderie forged by Gerhard.
Finally standing before the old man, Gerhard still retained enough pride to salute smartly at Ernst Rommer, who responded wearily, "The task is done?"
Gerhard replied woodenly, "The mission is accomplished… at great cost. I beg forgiveness for the annihilation of my command".
"…I placed a hard assignment upon you… even I wasn't sure I would had been able to accomplish it in my heyday… so, there is nothing to forgive"
"I would like to recommend the men for promotion-…"
"All in due time… however, first accept your reward…", Sir Ernst Rommer replied solemnly, "Kneel"
The crowd of villagers and the few players that followed the group gasped as they realised what was happening as Gerhard, bound by the moment, knelt on tired knees upon the stony ground, head bowed.
"Gerhard von Natzmer, for your meritorious service in the Kingdom of Rosenheim's army, for continuous valour beyond all odds, by the power invested in me by the King, I induct thee into the Royal Knightly Order of the Rose, guardians of the King and the Kingdom. Furthermore, I name thee my heir, with all the rights and titles that this entails upon my retirement, or my death."
Everyone looked on stunned, including Gerhard who raised his head up in shock but the old man wasn't finished.
"Also… I present to you my sword, Duty, given to me by my predecessor and his before him, for we are the first and last line against the darkness".
"…And I pray you never know what that darkness is…", the old man finished cryptically.
| You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! Fame has risen by 150 points Charisma has risen by 10 points (+10 CHR) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Quest Completed: The Shadow War The Orc raiders and Human bandits have fallen upon each other as their alliance collapsed leaderless, although it is far off in the distant future that peace will return in the region, already raids have fallen considerably, allowing nearly safe travel along the main roads and between villages. Difficulty Level: C Quest Reward: You have received the title of 'Knight' and named the heir of Sir Ernst Rommer, Lord and Master of Basterni. You have also been inducted into the Royal Knightly Order of the Rose, to be finalised by trials set forth by the King. You will receive a monthly stipend of 100 gold and all items purchased within Basterni will be discounted by 60%. Additionally, the sword Duty has been gifted upon you that pulses with unknown arcane energies. |
| --- |
"…Your task is done…", Eric stood behind Gerhard who turned around and smiled wearily.
"…Tomorrow then… early morning I suppose?..."
Eric nodded, before turning away and marching off, the crowd and soldiers parting before him, averting their eyes from the look he was giving. It was the face of the Grim Reaper himself.
*********************************************************************************************
Max ogled at the creature before him… which he felt he has been doing a lot lately so he mentally slapped himself and regained his composure, slowly coming forward to the shore's edge and crouched down.
"Ummm… did you bring me here?", was the first and important question to be asked.
She nodded shyly, the gesture so cute that his heart began beating like crazy, before he repeated to himself over and over, ' she is not human, she is not human, she is not human', like a mantra to retain some form of cognitive process before this beautiful creature.
"…w..why did you bring me here?"
"…I…I was just lonely…and you seemed nicer compared to the two scary people.."
"Scary people? You mean the people I was travelling with? No, no, they are not scary-…", Max stopped suddenly, "except for one person… she is the devil herself…"
"Uuuuu, see, I knew it…."
"Yup, thank goodness you weren't caught by her evil claws, who knows what she will do to you…", he blushed red as his imagination took control and veered his mind into….unhealthy thoughts. Well healthy if you were male.
"But", Max continued, "why are you by yourself?"
"…Lorelei doesn't know", she replied whimpering, "I have always been by myself"
"Eh?", he felt his heart constrict at those words, "What do you mean by that?"
"When I opened my eyes….there was only me and 'doll'", she lifted the wooden figure over her head to show Max.
"….just how long have you been here?..."
Looking up at him with eyes full of questions, she replied, "I…I think the water turned very cold 12 times, and sometimes ice would flow down into my home"
To which Max drew in a breadth in shock. If what she was telling was accurate… that was 12 seasons… the amount of time since Royal Road first began…she had been alone since the game was first created!
"Lorelei…do you…want to be my friend", Max asked gently.
"...Friend? What is that?", she tilted her head in question whilst hugging the doll. The word seemed to resonate inside her somehow.
"A friend is someone who you can always talk to, play with, and still… reach out for help no matter how far apart you are"
Lorelei sank deeper into the water until it was up to her lips, bubbling the words out shyly", …I…I would like that, Max"
Max smiled as he reached out his hand to her, "Then lets shake on it"
"..Does it hurt?"
To which he chuckled softly, "No, it's kind of like an agreement or contract"
"O…ok", she seemed to come to a conclusion to herself as Lorelei swam closer to the shore and slowly reached out with one hand, the other securely clutching the wooden doll.
Their fingers touched and Max thought for a second that it glowed briefly, but Lorelei acted like nothing had happened so he must have imagined it. Taking her hand in his palm, he shook it up and down once, saying, "And now we are friends. I hope to be in your care"
"…Me too", and she smiled so brightly that Max felt tempted to cross that boundary between species.
"Anyway", Max stood up, "I guess it's time for me to get back to the others", he shivered, "who knows what Mayumi will do to me since I have all their luggage…"
"…Can I come too?", Lorelei looked up, seemingly on the verge of tears at the possibility of already losing her first friend.
"Eh? How will you do that?", Max asked in genuine surprise. It's not like he can carry her out of here, plus she was half fish… don't she need water?
"…Can you hold my doll?", she lifted the figurine up to Max.
"Ok…", as he accepted it, a soft glow surrounded Lorelei, becoming increasingly brighter until Max had to avert his eyes for fear of going blind. When the afterglow of the light faded, she was nowhere to be seen.
"Lorelei? Lorelei?! Where are you?!", he asked in panic.
"I am here", a voice echoed in his head.
"W...what! where?", he looked wildly about.
"In your hands silly", the voice replied sounding crossed.
"…U..UWAAAH!…", Max shouted.
"Eh? W..What is it?", she asked puzzled.
"Oh…oooooooh..it's nothing", Max replied shakily…to which he was not alright at all. He felt like he was holding a cursed doll… however Max didn't want to hurt Lorelei's feelings so he reined in his rampaging emotions with a laborious effort.
"Soooo… now how are we going to get out of here?", Max asked to put his mind elsewhere as he gingerly placed the doll in one of his side pouches.
"It's ok, you will be saved soon"
"Eh?"
"One of your friends is coming"
To which, he heard a loud shuddering as the walls around him vibrated, so much so that he fell on his backside as one portion of the wall caved inwards, the figure of Masumi striding forward with fragments of rocks falling all around.
"Masumi… did your eyes just glowed red?"
"Eh? W..What's wrong with you? Are you still drowning?", Masumi replied defensively.
Looking closely again, Masumi's eyes had returned to normal and Max truly wondered if he had not hit his head somewhere along the line in the water. He was seeing a lot of weird things lately…
"Ooooh Maaaaax", A voice said all too cheerily behind Masumi, "I hope you are reeeady~"
"Eh? What for?"
"For making your master chase after you…"
"SINCE WHEN DID I BECOME YOUR SLAVE!?"
A rope looped itself around his neck and forcefully dragged him forward, "Since you ran off with all our spare clothing. Dirty panty thief", she admonished him by stepping HARD on his head.
"….forgive me….master…"
"That’s better", Mayumi smiled as she continued, "I guess I will let this slide since I have such a generous heart"
'….please apologise to all the saints in the world!', Max yelled inside his head. It looked like he wasn't going to be able to escape from her clutches anytime soon.
*********************************************************************************************
Lydia watched on in silence as the two men stood facing off against one another, wondering how she can safely stop this duel before it got out of hand. Gerhard seriously did not even have any chance at all… and the new sword he was given can only be equipped at level 100, to which he only shrugged and said it didn’t mattered.
'OF COURSE IT MATTERED', she shouted inside her head, 'just what kind of player thinks that levels are inconsequential, can someone please drag that person forward to me!?'
The whole village had gathered, Sir Ernst Rommer acting as the witness to the duel, and players who were up early in the morning wondering what kind of event was going on in the village. Since the roads became safer, players once again began to return to the region and though as soon as they saw Eric, most blanched and fled as soon as possible. However, a few bravely stayed due inherently to curiosity, wondering why the giant with a fearsome reputation was standing in the middle of a village and not attacking anyone. Eric suddenly stirred and the onlookers held their breath, feeling like a momentous occasion has come.
Eric planted the head of his battle axe into the ground, donning his war helm prior to announcing sombrely, "You will keep your word now?" more as a statement rather than a real question.
"I will always honour it", Gerhard replied sadly, assuming a fencer stance with a slow graceful salute to Eric, kissing the flat of the blade lightly before regrettably pointing the sword towards the man who he had saved and been saved by, fought and bled beside with.
"Then, it ends", Eric stated then erupted into motion, running forward with battle axe held high.
There was nothing left to do but conclude their fight, Gerhard moving in without hesitation, sidestepping the axe stroke that would have beheaded him, before launching an attack of his own. To which this was deflected by the armoured plate, Gerhard's sword no match for such high level equipment and he could only shave away piecemeal at Eric's HP, mindful of the fact that any return stroke could be fatal for himself. As for Eric, the sword hits that do succeed in getting past his armour were only a minor irritation, he having long surpassed his endurance mastery in his quest-less journey of slaughter.
To the untrained eye, it looked like a wild dance, of sweeping axe strokes and thrusting sword points, of minute dodges and blunt indifference to hits, the contrast between Gerhard's graceful movements matched by Eric's animal ferocity as they fought back and forth across the courtyard of silent and apprehensive observers. However, Ernst Rommer could be seen grimacing, perhaps the only person, NPC or otherwise, that knows that Gerhard is losing. And losing badly.
*Clang*
Gerhard once again diverted another axe stroke away before stepping in, thrusting out with his fist for Eric's throat. It was instantly caught, and Gerhard stifled a cry of pain as his left hand was viciously crushed, before Eric pulled him and hurled the slight body of Gerhard into the air. He crashed brutally into a fruit stand, shattering it as Gerhard coughed out blood, his HP dropping to half health as Eric strode unhurriedly towards him.
"Haha, brutal as ever", Gerhard chuckled grimly, rising to his feet, feeling bones shift within his body uncomfortably, "urgh, you broke my ribs... again".
"Noooo!", a voice cried out and the figure of the boy whom Gerhard had saved came running forward as Eric swung down with his axe. There was a moment of slight hesitation that Gerhard noted, and suddenly the memory of his previous fight with Eric resurfaced in his mind.
Lydia grabbed the boy to prevent him from getting hurt, surprised by her own actions and that of this NPC… just what was happening to the both of them… unable to explain her inexplicable deeds.
"Eric…you…you are still a good man after all", Gerhard smiled happily after he painfully dodged the blow.
"……"
"You… you weren't ever going to kill that child were you"
"… I don't know what you are talking about", Eric growled as he swung his axe again, aiming for Gerhard's now weakened left side.
"I saw that axe stroke into the ground where the child lay… it would have missed anyway even if I didn't intervene".
"… Shut up…"
"… You are a father, aren't you?.."
"SHUT UP!", Eric roared as he increased his attack speed, going berserk at Gerhard.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME!?", Eric screamed, "WHAT DO YOU TRULY KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!?"
"I SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH MY MEN! I SHOULD HAVE DIED LONG AGO!"
"NOW… I HAVE NOTHING!!", he roared, "I RETURNED HOME TO NOTHING!"
To all this Gerhard was only silently listening, however he was caught unprepared by such a flurry of attacks, Gerhard receiving a blow to his right hand that held his sword where it was smashed into a wall shattering his fingers, the weapon falling from his useless hand. Eric was going out of control, madness and rage in his every movement as one such strike connected into Gerhard's abdomen, the axe blade biting deep into his left side, Eric still bellowing.
"I SHOULD HAVE NEVER SURVIVED!", Eric wailed.
Gerhard grabbed the handle of the battle axe with his ruined hands to trap Eric in place, looking up to gaze into the eyes of the armoured warrior before him. Roaring out in a voice laced with iron and power, Gerhard commanded, "SOLDAT, STILLSTE-HEN!"<SOLDIER, ATTEN-SHUN!>
Instantly, years of discipline took control over Eric's body as he obeyed, unable to resist the authority of a voice that expects immediate and unflinching obedience, the voice of a true officer reaching into Eric's soul to pull the soldier that he once was back to the fore. His arms fell to his sides, leaving the weapon still embedded in Gerhard, Eric stamping his feet together as he stood straight with chest out and in perfect textbook military stance.
| New Skill: Words of Iron A natural born leader of men, your commands are expected to be obeyed without question, followed without doubt, trust given when asked. Enemies are affected as well, though only temporarily. Duration and Skill chance increases by Skill level. Improves when you successfully turn an enemy or convince allies to do the unreasonable. You may not distribute bonus stat points to Words of Iron |
| --- |
To which, dying, Gerhard reached out with bloody hands to grasps either side of Eric's face, ignoring the agonizing pain and blood threatening to escape from his lips, he spoke softly, " Soldat…Kamerad… <Soldier…comrade>… your war is over now. You have fought well for the Vaterland<Fatherland>… because you LIVED. You are alive and nothing else matters. With life you can still hope, rebuild… be with the ones you love the most"
Pulling their heads together till they touched forehead to forehead, Gerhard declared, "You are NOT dead Eric. You are still a soldier, a father, a husband, a son to someone. You are ALIVE! SO LIVE! Live for the others who never returned. Live on and don't soil their memories DAMNIT! I COMMAND YOU TO LIVE!"
"….It's ok for me to be alive…?", Eric whispered.
Gerhard chuckled, "Just what have I been saying dummkopf <idiot>. Of course it is ok"
"But… I am crippled..", Eric voice becoming hoarse with emotion.
"You are crippled in body, but not in mind, Eric"
"… So… I can live?"
"It's great to be alive, isn't it?"
"But the others...?"
"They STILL live, as long as you do in here", Gerhard tapped Eric's temple, "and in here”, Gerhard said as he tapped Eric’s heart.
"….I am not allowed to die..?"
"Request denied", Gerhard smiled beatifically.
"Herlizh willkommen, Soldat<Welcome home, soldier>. Thank you for your service", Gerhard saluted weakly before finally his strength failed, his legs buckling out from under him as he collapsed forward into Eric's chest.
With silent tears streaming down his face, Eric laid Gerhard gently down upon the ground, trying to stem the flow of blood as Lydia finally ran over and urgently began casting her low level healing spell, worry deep in her eyes. She didn't want to witness that scene from when Gerhard was near death ever again… the memory still haunting her due to how bizarre it was…
Author's Note: There is more after the Song.
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[Ending Song: Promise You](http://picosong.com/FqF9/)
"Countless knights went to battle, and many were hurt, as the dragon moved closer and closer to the palace. The King declared whosoever killed the dragon would be granted half his kingdom. On hearing this, knights came from across the sea. They were the fiercest, the bravest and the largest knights anyone had ever seen. Thousands gathered to attack the dragon. But for all their effort, they couldn't defeat the dragon and the countryside became strewn with ruins. They were left with a riddle after every battle. 'My defeat will be an empty cup filled'.
Only the little blacksmith's heart was full of hope, fashioning a suit of armour and a sword out of old tin cups, mounting his pony, and then rode to court. Bowing before the King, he said, 'I wish to defeat the dragon'. There was a moment of silence, then everyone but the Princess began to laugh. The King said, 'You are no match for this dragon. It takes might to fight. You are just too small.'
The tiny blacksmith responded with pride, 'I may be slight, but I can fight.'
He travelled far and wide until he found the dragon's cave and entered it without hesitation. There he found the dragon lying in misery with its eyes swollen shut and its forked tongue lying on the ground. It hissed at his approach, for it could smell him, but the tiny knight wasn't afraid. With his chivalrous heart all he could feel now was mercy. He wanted to help the beast and so returning outside, he climbed down the cliff to the stream below. At the bottom there was plenty of water, but nothing with which to carry it. Then he spied a chipped cup, carefully picking it from the sand, he filled it as best as he could and climbed back up.
But when he got back to the dragon, he discovered that not only had the cup been chipped but it had a crack he had not noticed. What little water there was had leaked out while he was climbing. He moved toward the dragon and said, 'I'm sorry. I meant to help you, I really did. But the cup is empty.'
To his surprise the dragon rose up with a roar of delight.
'Thank you, oh thank you, tiny knight,
You have saved me, all right!
An empty cup it may be,
But it was filled with kindness, you see.
And an empty cup filled, sets me free!
I'll guard you forever, I tell no lies.
I'll be your wings, if you'll be my eyes.'
The tiny knight was shocked before becoming delighted. The evil dragon wasn't evil at all, only bewitched, and now that the riddle was solved it showed that it was kind as well. Then the tiny knight, astride his flying dragon, flew home. The tiny knight then married the Princess and received half the kingdom. The dragon got back his eyesight and, true to his word, guarded the kingdom faithfully."
"Hehe", the two young boys laughed happily to the conclusion of the story.
"Come on boys, visiting time is over", the woman closed the book she had been flipping the pages… for Eric to read.
"Awww mamaaa. We want papa to tell us more stories", they exclaimed.
"Now, listen to your mother, boys", Eric scolded as his wife affectionately stroked the hair from his eyes, "if you misbehave, I won't let you visit me again".
"Noooooooo!", they yelped before quieting down, as their mother placed a finger on each of their lips.
"Shhhh, don’t disturb the other patients", she reminded them.
"Its fine dear, they are all too busy being jealous of me to care", Eric joked.
"Screw you, Eric! My wife was prettier… ten years ago", someone yelled, and the hospital ward broke out in laughter.
As she took the boys by the hands and packed their belongings, readying to leave, she turned back around and kissed Eric deeply, to which the boys said, "ewwwwww".
"I am so glad you are alive", she whispered.
"I am too", he smiled, "And I won't regret it ever again." |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E05: A Good Deed Does Not Goes Unpunished",
"id": 149,
"next": 150,
"prev": 135,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
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<br>The survivors of the unit were in a half circle around 6 freshly made graves, at the head of each overturned mound was placed a roughly cut slab of wall or stone taken from the ruins of the village, each carved with the name of their fallen friends and comrades. The soldiers all stood to attention as Gerhard marched forward into the centre, before halting and doing an about turn to face the grim and sad faces of the squad. Looking to each of them in turn Gerhard then spoke;
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<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Männer</span> <Men> Today… today each and every one of you have changed. Right now we cannot ask ourselves why we lived and yet the others didn’t. We must not ask ourselves why the hand of fate has dealt such a cruel blow against us nor why it has chosen this day, this hour, this moment to show us the face of death through our comrades".
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<br>Pausing for a brief moment, as if looking into himself and struggling for some sort of answer he then continued, "We lived because it was not yet our time. We lived purely by chance, because Death's gaze happened to pass over us as he picked the souls of the brave. And now we stand here as the brave lay there…." as Gerhard pointed to the mounds.
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<br>"We are here because we weren't deemed suitable enough to enter the halls of Valh<span style="font-size: 0.9em;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 0.9em;"><span style="font-size: 1.15em;">ǫ</span></span></span></span>ll ….so I say this. LIVE! Live long and prosper! Live the lives our friends are no longer able to have. And while we are at it, let's spit into Death's face together and show him that he had his chance to choose us… now we shall be the harbingers of death itself and he will have to try his damn hardest to take away our right to live! And when it is our time to finally join our friends once again, let us tell them that we done right by them, that we always remembered them. Let no man here forget the faces of those gone before us"
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<br>A period of long silence followed before one of the soldiers stirred and shouted, "Salute!"
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<br>There was a loud cacophony of metal on metal as armoured right fists tapped the breastplates over their hearts to which it became an unspoken signal for Gerhard to sing. Lydia still didn’t understand why they were actually holding a funeral for the NPCs but Gerhard was so adamant that she choose not to argue. After all, if a role-player is this serious about his character… was what she thought until she saw his face. To her astonishment, an unbroken flow of tears were streaming from his eyes… it seemed so genuine and heartfelt that even Lydia choked up at the sorrow he was showing. And that is when she truly listened to the song.
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ich hatt' einen Kameraden,</span> < I had a comrade>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Einen bessern findst du nit. </span>< None better I have had.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Die Trommel schlug zum Streite,</span> < The drum called us to fight,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Er ging an meiner Seite</span> < He always on my right,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">In gleichem Schritt und Tritt. </span>< In step, through good and bad.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">In gleichem Schritt und Tritt.</span> < In step, through good and bad.>
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<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Eine Kugel kam geflogen:</span> < A bullet it flew towards us,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Gilt’s mir oder gilt es dir?</span> < For him or meant for me?>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Sie hat ihn weggerissen</span>, < His life from mine it tore,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Er liegt zu meinen Füßen </span>< At my feet a piece of gore,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Als wär's ein Stück von mir. </span>< As if a part of me.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Als wär's ein Stück von mir. </span>< As if a part of me.>
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<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Will mir die Hand noch reichen,</span> < His hand reached up to hold mine.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Derweil ich eben lad'.</span> < I must re-load my gun.>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">"Kann dir die Hand nicht geben,</span> < "I cannot ease your pain,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Bleib du im ew'gen Leben</span> < In life eternal we'll meet again,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Mein guter Kamerad!" </span>< My good comrade!>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Mein guter Kamerad!"</span> <My good comrade!></div>
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<br>By the end of it, as the squad and Gerhard marched away towards the direction of their mission, none of them commented on why Lydia was inexplicably sobbing.
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<br>"Huhuhuhuhuhu"
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<br>"Mum? Why are you chuckling weirdly", Max lifted his head out of the brown box and looked at his mom worriedly.
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<br>"Guess what I fooound ~~~", she said excitedly as she lifted a photo up to her lips.
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<br>"Geeeeh!!!", Hermann exclaimed as he saw what she was holding.
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<br>"Awwwww, is that you dad? Coochie coochie cooo", Max teased.
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<br>"GIVE .. GIVE IT HERE!"
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<br>Max laughed as his dad grabbed the picture from his mom's hands in a not so rough manner so he wouldn’t damage the photo and Hermann's face softened as he gazed at the scene shown in the picture.
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/family3_zpsf10a2191.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...0a2191.png"></div>
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<br>"Where did you get this photo from?", Hermann asked softly.
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<br>"Hmmm? Why from his wallet of course. I think it’s a wallet?", she held up a black leather wallet of some kind, cracked from age however another photo slipped from its folds and drifted down towards the floor, Max bending over to pick it up.
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<br>"Wow, it seems to be faded beyond recognition, Dad would you know who these people are?"
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<br>"Let me see here…<span style="font-style: italic;">Mein Gott! </span><My God!>, we have to get this fixed immediately! Max run to the local camera, photography store arrgggh whatever! Get this fixed and restored!", Hermann shouted excitedly.
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<br>"Wha.. what is it father?"
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<br>"Yes Hermann dear, what is going on? Tell me before I call the mental asylum to come pick you up"
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<br>"Well... don't you want to see what our family in Prussia was like?", the statement shocking his wife and son before both looked to the old photograph, perhaps the last treasure of Gerhard's old life, from an old forgotten kingdom.
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<br>The tired squad basically stumbled into the fortified frontier village of Basterni, followed by the happily whistling Lydia pushing along a wheelbarrow full of loot. Once they passed through the wooden gate, she immediately broke off in search of a merchant but not before shouting, "Don't leave without me, ok?! I am your healer after all! Cya soon", and then she blew a kiss towards them… yup, not very shameful at all.
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<br>The journey, as some may already have guessed was not an easy one, the unit having been ambushed 6 times along the way with each fight getting progressively harder as higher level mobs began making their appearance along the King's Road, delaying the group so much so that they finally arrived after a week of avoiding the more unmanageable mobs of Orcs and human bandits whilst hiding in the mud or bushes beside the road. However it was always difficult to do so when all Lydia could do was whisper loudly, "Looooot, come on guuuys lets kill them!", with dollar signs seeming to replace the irises of her eyes. Even when the mob size was 40 or more…. The last fight along the road was caused when Lydia said "Whoops", before 'accidentally' casting fireball at one of the Orcs… That is how she assured Gerhard after a brutal fight that lasted nearly 20mins, smiling innocently at him while with one foot kicking loot into her opened bag.
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<br>Gerhard, trying to think the best of people and not knowing how magic works in this game let it slide… although he has this sinking feeling that the journey wouldn’t be so bad if she didn't follow them. For some reason she decided to tag along and when asked Lydia batted her eyelids prettily and claimed it was safer with the unit because the whole area had become far too hostile for a young, frail and BEAUTIFUL girl like her to be alone in. She emphasised the 'BEAUTIFUL' bit… thrice…
<br>When they finally walked to the end of the fortified village, they came upon the fort the community was built around from and stood in front of perhaps the only reinforced oak gates for a week's travel in all directions. An elderly guardsman poked his head over the stone parapet and questioned the squad, "Is this all the reinforcements?... And where is the Denarion that went to the capital? Don’t tell me they decided to take him along on that foolhardy errand of the King's?"
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<br>The recruits, now hardened veterans, looked to one another before pointedly staring at Gerhard who noticed and cleared his throat, acting as impromptu leader and stepping forward to address the guard, "We were original a full squad, Sir, however we were ambushed in one of the villages and lost half our men, the Denarion included. I don't suppose I can meet Sir Ernst Rommer? I have a letter for him from the Instructor at Serabourg"
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<br>"Ha! That ugly mongrel still alive? Well you are looking at him"
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<br>"Pardon?", Gerhard replied in confusion.
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<br>"I AM Sir Ernst Rommer", the old man repeated, as though it was as plain as day before yelling behind him, "COME ON YOU SLACK JAWED DAIRY COWS! COME ALIVE, LOOK SHARP AND LET THEM IN! DON'T WANT THEM TO THINK THAT YOU GUYS WERE JUST LAZING ABOUT AND PLAYING CARDS DO YOU!?", totally oblivious that the squad outside can hear him quite well.
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<br>The gate groaned as it slowly opened outwards, Ernst Rommer coming down stairs in the distance within, hunched over and obviously tiring out badly. Gerhard quickly marched forward and up the stairs, offering his arm to the old man who was about to swat it away in irritation before Gerhard said, "I am honoured to help those respected and brave men who were injured in the line of duty. I take it a recent injury is slowing you down, Sir?"
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<br>To which Ernst Rommer grunted in assent and gratefully leaned into the side of Gerhard who slowly led the old man down the stairs carefully. There were nods of approval from several of the NPC soldiers who were garrisoned there and he received a message bubble once again.
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<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Charisma has risen by 1 point (+1 CHR)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
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<br>"So why did he sent you along with this bunch of arrow fodder to the worse posting in the universe?", the old man looked him up and down, "you are too good for this… you feel like a man who has stared death in the face for a long time", Ernst Rommer remarked intuitively… almost like a real human would.
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<br>It startled Gerhard however he just reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a letter for the commander, who promptly read it and grinned lopsidedly, "Well welcome to the last days of your life, and judging from the looks the recruits are giving you I bet you led them to safety here. If that orc smelling freak liked what he saw, and I sure as hell like what I am seeing standing right here.. Do you feel up for an apprenticeship under my command?"
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<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">You have received a job offer!</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">If you accept it, you will take a military position of Centurion in the Rosenheim army. You will command 100 foot soldiers. You are entitled to receive regular training, and a monthly income of 3 Gold. You will also be apprenticed to Sir Ernst Rommer as his sole Squire. Will you accept this job offer?</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
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<br>The question caused Gerhard to blink rapidly in confusion... until he saw the faces of the survivors looking at him expectantly... eyes that reminded him of comrades long ago. Gerhard had lived a long life... and yet somehow he felt like he was being offered a second chance to make amends to those he failed long ago...
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<br>Clicking his heels and standing in military attention, Gerhard saluted the old man crisply, "I accept, <span style="font-style: italic;">mein Kommandant</span><my Commander>. Command me as you will!"
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<br>"....then go send your gear for repairs and report to the quartermaster for additional armour with my heraldry".
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<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Quest Complete!
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<br>You have arrived safely at the frontier village of Basterni and reported to the commander for your posting. You have additionally received the title of 'Squire' and a rank within the Army of Rosenheim.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
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<br>Clapping once on the shoulder of Gerhard the old man said, "Well… you are now my second in command. I am sorry about this since you have just arrived … but you are ordered to locate and engage the Orc and Human leaders of this accursed alliance", Rommer's eyes seemed to burn fiercely as he continued, "… with their total annihilation as your duty. You have 5 days to organise and set forth. Requests for a transfer are denied. Leave is denied. Refusal to accept is also DENIED".
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<br>A quest window promptly opened.
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<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>The Shadow War
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<br>The Orc raiders and Human bandits have forged an alliance which is devastating the region. Attempts to bring them to battle has been futile with the enemy constantly using guerrilla tactics to harass the beleaguered Rosenheim troops despatched to the region. Finding the leaders and executing them is hoped to destabilise the alliance and lead to its downfall.
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<br>Difficulty Level: C
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<br>Quest Requirements
<br>Acknowledged as reliable by the instructor for a constant passion for Sword Mastery
<br>Acknowledged as reliable by the commander by ensuring the survival of at least half or more of the squad and its subsequent delivery to the frontier village
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<br>Warning: If you refuse to accept this quest, this will count as desertion and you will be stripped of all worldly possessions before thrown into prison for a period of 2 years followed by a dishonourable discharge.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
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<br>It was some thirty minutes before Lydia waltzed into the courtyard that had Gerhard's tired head in his hands as she called in a 'I have a happy fat wallet' kind of voice, "So, what did I miss?"
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<br>"Gyaaaaa!", a player shouted as he was hacked in half by a battle axe swung by a giant in red armoured plate as the well armed caravan of merchants and warriors screamed in terror as they recognised the figure.
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<br>"RUN FOR IT! IT'S ERIC THE RED!", one of the warriors screamed before he leapt forward to try and give the others a chance to escape.
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<br>It was a futile effort though as he was instantly cut down, the lone giant bringing death and chaos with every swing of his axe until finally only a single warrior remained, sitting down with back leaning against a tree trunk, already close to death with his HP fading rapidly, "…damn you player killer… our guild won't stand for your insolent behavi-..", to which he was silenced by a fall of an axe.
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<br>The red armoured giant gazed around at the caravan full of goods and gears bound for the frontier region before he rested the long handle of his battleaxe on his shoulder and began his slow walk in the general direction of the village of Basterni… ignoring all the items. The gaze he directed forward would bring chills racing down one spine if you were to look into them… devoid of all emotion. His eyes were as dead as a corpse.
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqFE/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Gentle Light</span></a></div>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Ending_zpsbc81b361.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...81b361.jpg"></div>
</div> | [INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
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The survivors of the unit were in a half circle around 6 freshly made graves, at the head of each overturned mound was placed a roughly cut slab of wall or stone taken from the ruins of the village, each carved with the name of their fallen friends and comrades. The soldiers all stood to attention as Gerhard marched forward into the centre, before halting and doing an about turn to face the grim and sad faces of the squad. Looking to each of them in turn Gerhard then spoke;
"Männer <Men> Today… today each and every one of you have changed. Right now we cannot ask ourselves why we lived and yet the others didn’t. We must not ask ourselves why the hand of fate has dealt such a cruel blow against us nor why it has chosen this day, this hour, this moment to show us the face of death through our comrades".
Pausing for a brief moment, as if looking into himself and struggling for some sort of answer he then continued, "We lived because it was not yet our time. We lived purely by chance, because Death's gaze happened to pass over us as he picked the souls of the brave. And now we stand here as the brave lay there…." as Gerhard pointed to the mounds.
"We are here because we weren't deemed suitable enough to enter the halls of Valhǫll ….so I say this. LIVE! Live long and prosper! Live the lives our friends are no longer able to have. And while we are at it, let's spit into Death's face together and show him that he had his chance to choose us… now we shall be the harbingers of death itself and he will have to try his damn hardest to take away our right to live! And when it is our time to finally join our friends once again, let us tell them that we done right by them, that we always remembered them. Let no man here forget the faces of those gone before us"
A period of long silence followed before one of the soldiers stirred and shouted, "Salute!"
There was a loud cacophony of metal on metal as armoured right fists tapped the breastplates over their hearts to which it became an unspoken signal for Gerhard to sing. Lydia still didn’t understand why they were actually holding a funeral for the NPCs but Gerhard was so adamant that she choose not to argue. After all, if a role-player is this serious about his character… was what she thought until she saw his face. To her astonishment, an unbroken flow of tears were streaming from his eyes… it seemed so genuine and heartfelt that even Lydia choked up at the sorrow he was showing. And that is when she truly listened to the song.
Ich hatt' einen Kameraden, < I had a comrade>
Einen bessern findst du nit. < None better I have had.>
Die Trommel schlug zum Streite, < The drum called us to fight,>
Er ging an meiner Seite < He always on my right,>
In gleichem Schritt und Tritt. < In step, through good and bad.>
In gleichem Schritt und Tritt. < In step, through good and bad.>
Eine Kugel kam geflogen: < A bullet it flew towards us,>
Gilt’s mir oder gilt es dir? < For him or meant for me?>
Sie hat ihn weggerissen, < His life from mine it tore,>
Er liegt zu meinen Füßen < At my feet a piece of gore,>
Als wär's ein Stück von mir. < As if a part of me.>
Als wär's ein Stück von mir. < As if a part of me.>
Will mir die Hand noch reichen, < His hand reached up to hold mine.>
Derweil ich eben lad'. < I must re-load my gun.>
"Kann dir die Hand nicht geben, < "I cannot ease your pain,>
Bleib du im ew'gen Leben < In life eternal we'll meet again,>
Mein guter Kamerad!" < My good comrade!>
Mein guter Kamerad!" <My good comrade!>
By the end of it, as the squad and Gerhard marched away towards the direction of their mission, none of them commented on why Lydia was inexplicably sobbing.
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"Huhuhuhuhuhu"
"Mum? Why are you chuckling weirdly", Max lifted his head out of the brown box and looked at his mom worriedly.
"Guess what I fooound ~~~", she said excitedly as she lifted a photo up to her lips.
"Geeeeh!!!", Hermann exclaimed as he saw what she was holding.
"Awwwww, is that you dad? Coochie coochie cooo", Max teased.
"GIVE .. GIVE IT HERE!"
Max laughed as his dad grabbed the picture from his mom's hands in a not so rough manner so he wouldn’t damage the photo and Hermann's face softened as he gazed at the scene shown in the picture.
"Where did you get this photo from?", Hermann asked softly.
"Hmmm? Why from his wallet of course. I think it’s a wallet?", she held up a black leather wallet of some kind, cracked from age however another photo slipped from its folds and drifted down towards the floor, Max bending over to pick it up.
"Wow, it seems to be faded beyond recognition, Dad would you know who these people are?"
"Let me see here…Mein Gott! <My God!>, we have to get this fixed immediately! Max run to the local camera, photography store arrgggh whatever! Get this fixed and restored!", Hermann shouted excitedly.
"Wha.. what is it father?"
"Yes Hermann dear, what is going on? Tell me before I call the mental asylum to come pick you up"
"Well... don't you want to see what our family in Prussia was like?", the statement shocking his wife and son before both looked to the old photograph, perhaps the last treasure of Gerhard's old life, from an old forgotten kingdom.
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The tired squad basically stumbled into the fortified frontier village of Basterni, followed by the happily whistling Lydia pushing along a wheelbarrow full of loot. Once they passed through the wooden gate, she immediately broke off in search of a merchant but not before shouting, "Don't leave without me, ok?! I am your healer after all! Cya soon", and then she blew a kiss towards them… yup, not very shameful at all.
The journey, as some may already have guessed was not an easy one, the unit having been ambushed 6 times along the way with each fight getting progressively harder as higher level mobs began making their appearance along the King's Road, delaying the group so much so that they finally arrived after a week of avoiding the more unmanageable mobs of Orcs and human bandits whilst hiding in the mud or bushes beside the road. However it was always difficult to do so when all Lydia could do was whisper loudly, "Looooot, come on guuuys lets kill them!", with dollar signs seeming to replace the irises of her eyes. Even when the mob size was 40 or more…. The last fight along the road was caused when Lydia said "Whoops", before 'accidentally' casting fireball at one of the Orcs… That is how she assured Gerhard after a brutal fight that lasted nearly 20mins, smiling innocently at him while with one foot kicking loot into her opened bag.
Gerhard, trying to think the best of people and not knowing how magic works in this game let it slide… although he has this sinking feeling that the journey wouldn’t be so bad if she didn't follow them. For some reason she decided to tag along and when asked Lydia batted her eyelids prettily and claimed it was safer with the unit because the whole area had become far too hostile for a young, frail and BEAUTIFUL girl like her to be alone in. She emphasised the 'BEAUTIFUL' bit… thrice…
When they finally walked to the end of the fortified village, they came upon the fort the community was built around from and stood in front of perhaps the only reinforced oak gates for a week's travel in all directions. An elderly guardsman poked his head over the stone parapet and questioned the squad, "Is this all the reinforcements?... And where is the Denarion that went to the capital? Don’t tell me they decided to take him along on that foolhardy errand of the King's?"
The recruits, now hardened veterans, looked to one another before pointedly staring at Gerhard who noticed and cleared his throat, acting as impromptu leader and stepping forward to address the guard, "We were original a full squad, Sir, however we were ambushed in one of the villages and lost half our men, the Denarion included. I don't suppose I can meet Sir Ernst Rommer? I have a letter for him from the Instructor at Serabourg"
"Ha! That ugly mongrel still alive? Well you are looking at him"
"Pardon?", Gerhard replied in confusion.
"I AM Sir Ernst Rommer", the old man repeated, as though it was as plain as day before yelling behind him, "COME ON YOU SLACK JAWED DAIRY COWS! COME ALIVE, LOOK SHARP AND LET THEM IN! DON'T WANT THEM TO THINK THAT YOU GUYS WERE JUST LAZING ABOUT AND PLAYING CARDS DO YOU!?", totally oblivious that the squad outside can hear him quite well.
The gate groaned as it slowly opened outwards, Ernst Rommer coming down stairs in the distance within, hunched over and obviously tiring out badly. Gerhard quickly marched forward and up the stairs, offering his arm to the old man who was about to swat it away in irritation before Gerhard said, "I am honoured to help those respected and brave men who were injured in the line of duty. I take it a recent injury is slowing you down, Sir?"
To which Ernst Rommer grunted in assent and gratefully leaned into the side of Gerhard who slowly led the old man down the stairs carefully. There were nods of approval from several of the NPC soldiers who were garrisoned there and he received a message bubble once again.
*Tring!
| Charisma has risen by 1 point (+1 CHR) |
| --- |
"So why did he sent you along with this bunch of arrow fodder to the worse posting in the universe?", the old man looked him up and down, "you are too good for this… you feel like a man who has stared death in the face for a long time", Ernst Rommer remarked intuitively… almost like a real human would.
It startled Gerhard however he just reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a letter for the commander, who promptly read it and grinned lopsidedly, "Well welcome to the last days of your life, and judging from the looks the recruits are giving you I bet you led them to safety here. If that orc smelling freak liked what he saw, and I sure as hell like what I am seeing standing right here.. Do you feel up for an apprenticeship under my command?"
*Tring!
| You have received a job offer! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| If you accept it, you will take a military position of Centurion in the Rosenheim army. You will command 100 foot soldiers. You are entitled to receive regular training, and a monthly income of 3 Gold. You will also be apprenticed to Sir Ernst Rommer as his sole Squire. Will you accept this job offer? | | | |
The question caused Gerhard to blink rapidly in confusion... until he saw the faces of the survivors looking at him expectantly... eyes that reminded him of comrades long ago. Gerhard had lived a long life... and yet somehow he felt like he was being offered a second chance to make amends to those he failed long ago...
Clicking his heels and standing in military attention, Gerhard saluted the old man crisply, "I accept, mein Kommandant<my Commander>. Command me as you will!"
"....then go send your gear for repairs and report to the quartermaster for additional armour with my heraldry".
*Tring!
| Quest Complete! You have arrived safely at the frontier village of Basterni and reported to the commander for your posting. You have additionally received the title of 'Squire' and a rank within the Army of Rosenheim. |
| --- |
Clapping once on the shoulder of Gerhard the old man said, "Well… you are now my second in command. I am sorry about this since you have just arrived … but you are ordered to locate and engage the Orc and Human leaders of this accursed alliance", Rommer's eyes seemed to burn fiercely as he continued, "… with their total annihilation as your duty. You have 5 days to organise and set forth. Requests for a transfer are denied. Leave is denied. Refusal to accept is also DENIED".
A quest window promptly opened.
*Tring!
| The Shadow War The Orc raiders and Human bandits have forged an alliance which is devastating the region. Attempts to bring them to battle has been futile with the enemy constantly using guerrilla tactics to harass the beleaguered Rosenheim troops despatched to the region. Finding the leaders and executing them is hoped to destabilise the alliance and lead to its downfall. Difficulty Level: C Quest Requirements Acknowledged as reliable by the instructor for a constant passion for Sword Mastery Acknowledged as reliable by the commander by ensuring the survival of at least half or more of the squad and its subsequent delivery to the frontier village Warning: If you refuse to accept this quest, this will count as desertion and you will be stripped of all worldly possessions before thrown into prison for a period of 2 years followed by a dishonourable discharge. |
| --- |
It was some thirty minutes before Lydia waltzed into the courtyard that had Gerhard's tired head in his hands as she called in a 'I have a happy fat wallet' kind of voice, "So, what did I miss?"
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"Gyaaaaa!", a player shouted as he was hacked in half by a battle axe swung by a giant in red armoured plate as the well armed caravan of merchants and warriors screamed in terror as they recognised the figure.
"RUN FOR IT! IT'S ERIC THE RED!", one of the warriors screamed before he leapt forward to try and give the others a chance to escape.
It was a futile effort though as he was instantly cut down, the lone giant bringing death and chaos with every swing of his axe until finally only a single warrior remained, sitting down with back leaning against a tree trunk, already close to death with his HP fading rapidly, "…damn you player killer… our guild won't stand for your insolent behavi-..", to which he was silenced by a fall of an axe.
The red armoured giant gazed around at the caravan full of goods and gears bound for the frontier region before he rested the long handle of his battleaxe on his shoulder and began his slow walk in the general direction of the village of Basterni… ignoring all the items. The gaze he directed forward would bring chills racing down one spine if you were to look into them… devoid of all emotion. His eyes were as dead as a corpse.
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[Ending Song: Gentle Light](http://picosong.com/FqFE/)
 |
{
"title": "Bad Intentions",
"id": 85,
"author": "PreviouslyAnon23",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Chapter 5: The Beast",
"id": 363,
"next": 399,
"prev": 360,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Blitz followed Bumpy as he led the way out of the underground arena and back outside. He paused to conduct some business with the guard, who was clearly happy at receiving his money. The guard even nodded to Blitz, as he stood waiting for Bumpy to walk over. Bumpy took Blitz back through the alleyway and to the bridge, not too far from the steps, when the bell at the temple could be heard. Blitz looked up, and seeing the position of the sun, knew that it was the evening bell that had rung.<br><br>“Oh shoot, the evening bell. I missed the deadline for the quest..”Blitz looked at Bumpy and waved. <br><br>Hurrying off to the steps, Bumpy called out to Blitz,“Don’t worry about it, the Abbot won’t mind. Trust me.”<br><br>Whenever anyone said ‘trust me’ to Blitz, he always knew they weren't to be trusted. Blitz ran as fast as he could up the steps, and rushed to the pavillion where Abbot Fung and Master Ping were. Blitz waited and tried to hand in the quest to the Abbot, but he would not even acknowledge Blitz’s presence now.<br>--<br>Ting<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Quest failed<br><br>You failed to deliver the Abbot’s herbs before the evening bell<br><br>-15 relationship with the Abbot</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Blitz cursed to himself as he removed the herbs from his inventory. He set them down by the pavilion and walked away. He figured that now, he would have to probably wait another three weeks before he might get another opportunity. His stomach grumbling, he went to the temple kitchen to get his food. He was still allowed to get food, at least in compensation for his chores.<br><br>For the next few days, Blitz hurried and finished his chores earlier. Then he hurried for his rendezvous with Bumpy, who he followed to the arena. In the arena, Blitz was fast becoming a hit. In the last three days, he had defeated six fighters; some wielding axes, others with claw weapons, dual swords, one of them had a whip, which Blitz found rather challenging, but only for a short while. He was never hit by his opponents, they were outclassed in every respect. The foundation he got from performing chores were pivotal to his victories.<br><br>Blitz had accumulated a decent amount of gold, 20 gold in fact, while only being Lv6. He was very proud when Bumpy had approached him, saying he had set up the fight with the arena champion. Blitz was relishing the challenge, and thought that if everything went as smoothly as it had the last few days,it would not pose any problems.<br><br>The fight was scheduled for the next day, so Blitz decided to ask for information on the arena champ, only to discover that no one knew anything much about him. Bumpy could only state rumours and hearsays, some being how he never spoke, and seemed only interested in one thing, but no one knew what it was. This man with this singular interest, Blitz thought about how peculiar he sounded, as he was making his way back to the temple to get something to eat. He had spent most of the day fighting and was hungry. He ate, then logged off the game.<br><br>xxxx<br><br>After logging off, Hussain was hungry, and went to cook dinner. He ate, had a shower, then went to bed to rest for ‘work’ the next day. He awoke early, prepared breakfast, and made sure his mum had her medication. He had a shower, and then logged in. His mother was now clued in to the fact that he was using this capsule thing to make money. During the past few weeks, she had regained some of her independence and could do some work around the house, leaving Hussain free to get on with his plan.<br><br>xxxxx<br><br>Blitz was ready, and he felt prepared. His mind was in the right place,and he was full of confidence as he skipped down the steps of the temple. He had finished his chores early again today, which served as a nice warm up. The last few days had seen his base stats jump a great deal. He had a nice bank built up from winning all his fights in a spectacular fashion, all by knock-outs to the body. Soon, the four week restriction would be over and he could venture out. <br><br>Bumpy was shocked to see Blitz there waiting for him. Bumpy had arrived a bit late, so he quickly ran over to Blitz.<br><br>“Sorry, I’m late. I had to bring my savings to place a bet on this fight - this could make or break us. If we manage to pull this off, we’ll be made for life,”Bumpy was patting his money bag at his side and smiling.<br><br>“Well, let’s go and win this thing,”Blitz grinned.<br><br>Bumpy led the way. Blitz had, by now, learned the way to the arena, but he always liked Bumpy’s company through the dimly lit alleyways. They soon arrived at the door and knocked. The guard opened up nodded at them. <br><br>After letting them enter, he then called out to Blitz,“Good luck...”<br><br>Blitz looked back and smiled. He continued on his way to the arena. They entered the arena to the sound of loud cheering. It seemed a fight had just finished, and the old men who cleared the arena floor were dragging a man with his entrails hanging out from a slash across his stomach away. Blitz grimaced at the sight, but in the last few days, he had seen things that were a lot worse, and had become somewhat desensitised.<br><br>The announcer then walked to the centre of the arena and began talking,“Well, well, the time and match you've all been waiting for is here - on one hand we have the challenger hailing from the temple of Pusean and Abbot Fung himself. Though he’s a newcomer, he’s by far proven himself a worthy contender.”<br><br>Blitz started stretching and loosening up. He began jumping to get the blood flow going, and prepared himself. He then stepped out onto the arena dirt floor. The crowd cheered wildly. He held a hand aloft, acknowledging the crowd. He found it funny how he was not officially a member of the Pusean temple, nor trained under Abbot Fung. If it made him seem a better attraction, he’d let them say it. The money he would get from this fight would be the excellent launch pad to start adventuring.<br><br>“Then on the other side, we have the undefeated champ. Thaun, The Beast.”<br><br>The crowd went silent and still, the air felt heavy, and the tension was almost palpable. Blitz stopped jumping and looked in the direction of the dark tunnel. Walking out of the darkness was a gigantic man with such musculature as to look overweight when wearing a suit. His muscles were so dense, it seem like it could repel close range shotgun blasts. He had a grey/black afro, with facial hair looking like someone from a blaxploitation film era. <br><br>Thaun was shirtless, his broad hairy chest exposed, his abdominal muscles were beyond imagination, they were clear for everyone to see. He looked like a body-builder - imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger, but two of him, rolled into one - His shoulders were immense, his neck was almost as broad as his shoulders. His head seemed oddly muscular, and his jaw looked like granite. His arm, forearm and biceps were like steel. Scars were littered across his body from top to bottom. <br>Thaun walked with a grace that belied a man of his size. His legs were as hairy as his chest and arms, and he walked with the gait of someone who wielded authority. His fists were tapered with white straps. He had on black cloth pants, and was barefooted. He approached the ring, and the crowd was still silent, as The Beast jumped over the barricade of the ring and landed lightly, coming to a stop immediately when he was inside.<br><br>The announcer cleared his throat and started to back away to the outside the ring,saying,“Th-There we go fight fans, The Beast has arrived. Can the newcomer overcome this.. challenge today?”<br><br>Bumpy turned to Blitz, shrugged his shoulders, then looking over at Thaun, he backed away and almost ran out of the arena, saying ‘Good luck’. He did not even sound like he meant it. Blitz became unnerved as he looked over at The Beast, who had a bored look on his face. It appeared to Blitz that he was looking right through him, and staring at something many times more important than he was.<br><br>Ting<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Quest<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Slay The Beast </span><br><br>Defeat Thaun The Beast of the underground arena. No time limit.<br><br>Unable to refuse the quest.<br><br>Difficulty - Unknown<br><br>Quest rewards:????</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br>-<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">You have accepted the quest</span><br>-<br><br>The signal to the start of match was heard, but still, there was no noise from the crowd, who were now firmly seated and were looking on with bated breaths. Blitz began moving slowly around the outskirts of the arena, heading over to where Thaun The Beast was. Thaun stood still, the only movement he made since stepping into the ring was to tilt his head slightly to the right and kept focus on the spot where Blitz had been.<br><br>Blitz kept advancing and was about to try a quick attack. He lowered his stance, about to run, when he noticed that Thaun was now looking at him, with his jaw flexed, tautly displaying the rows of muscles on his face. Blitz, sensing something to not be quite right, stopped his charge, and backed away. Thaun, with his arms down at his side, and with the same bored look in his eyes, slowly began walking towards Blitz.<br><br>Blitz instinctively jumped backwards. He felt a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt before from any of the other opponents he had faced in the previous fights - not even his first fight with the crimson warrior. He looked at Thaun for any openings, who still had both arms down, but could not see any. Blitz decided that this was not the time to overthink, and went for broke. <br><br>Charging at Thaun, Blitz tried to use his speed to his advantage. He moved to the left side, trying to get out of Thaun’s line of sight to perform an attack. Upon seeing Thaun moving in slow motion, Blitz smiled, as he knew he was faster. He tried for a body shot, he pulled back and let swing a right aimed at the solar plexus. Thaun’s arms were still at his side. As Blitz’s fist almost reached its destination,Thaun’s left hand instantly shot up and stuck it out in Blitz’s face, interrupting the attack.<br>-<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">You have been momentarily stunned</span><br>- <br>It felt like he had been struck with a sledgehammer to the face. Thaun’s tapered hand struck Blitz’s nose, causing his eyes to become watery, and dulling his vision. Blitz immediately ducked down and rolled backwards. He looked at Thaun to make there was no follow up attack. He saw Thaun only slowly bringing back his left hand to his side - the crowd still silently looked on. Blitz was shocked. His mind was in a daze, and he was trying hard to keep calm. He looked over at Bumpy quickly, only to see Bumpy with a sad look in his eyes.<br><br>Looking back over at Thaun, Blitz got back up and looked around for a weapon. He steeled himself. He wasn’t going to go down like some punk. He found a wooden staff, and picked it up. He remembered watching the monks train when he was sweeping the temple yard, and this weapon could offer him a better chance at victory. He did not care anymore about using his fists. <br><br>-<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">You have equipped a staff</span><br>-<br><br>Blitz twirled the staff a few times, mimicking what he had seen the monks do, and got into a stance. He watched as Thaun brought his right hand up to his mouth and bit on his tapered straps, then did the same with the left. Thaun then bought both hands up to his face, placing his fists just below his chin. His elbows were tucked in at his chest, forming what looked like an impregnable shield. He then hunkered down, and seemed to shrink to ¼ of his original size. The only parts visible were the top of his head and his eyes. His back seemed to come around and almost wrapped him. His legs were not visible. He looked like a ball.<br><br>Blitz was in such shock, that the staff almost fell from his hand. Then a noise came from behind, which sounded like Bumpy’s voice,“Focus!”<br><br>Blitz grabbed the staff tightly and was transfixed, as Thaun, now low, began bobbing from side to side. Blitz kept his eyes on him and inched a bit closer. But he jumped back when Thaun’s eyes looked at him with such intensity that his body seemed to be getting bigger. This stopped Blitz from advancing, and sent him retreating. He took a step back. Then suddenly, Thaun dashed, instantly closing the gap. Blitz hit out with the staff to the left, hitting nothing but air. Thaun bobbed to the right, and Blitz lashed out there, missing again.<br><br>A fist materialised in front of Blitz‘s face, who instinctively raised his hand to block, only to feel a sledgehammer-like blow to his body.<br>-<br> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Your legs are wobbly, movement speed reduced -50%. You have taken 150DMG</span><br>-<br>He felt like vomiting. He wanted to hold his stomach, but that would leave his face exposed. Another sledgehammer blow came to his abdomen. His vision was getting blurry. <br><br>-<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">You have taken 200DMG. You are momentarily dazed</span><br>-, <br><br>Gritting his teeth, Blitz tried to escape from the corner he was backed up into. He tried to dive to the left side, scramble away and catch his breath. But this was not to be, he received a shoulder check, pinning him back in the corner. Blitz was panicking. That shoulder check had hit him squarely in the chest, and it was like a truck had crashed into him. He saw a fist heading to his face, and he tried to get his hand up in time<br><br>Blitz felt something cool on his body. He jumped up and looked around. Remembering that he was in a fight, he lashed out, only to hear,“Oi, Oi, calm down. It’s OK, its only me.”<br><br>Looking up, he saw Bumpy holding an empty wooden bucket. Blitz then came to the realisation that he had failed, and hung his head.<br>-<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quest Failed</span><br>-
</div> | Blitz followed Bumpy as he led the way out of the underground arena and back outside. He paused to conduct some business with the guard, who was clearly happy at receiving his money. The guard even nodded to Blitz, as he stood waiting for Bumpy to walk over. Bumpy took Blitz back through the alleyway and to the bridge, not too far from the steps, when the bell at the temple could be heard. Blitz looked up, and seeing the position of the sun, knew that it was the evening bell that had rung.
“Oh shoot, the evening bell. I missed the deadline for the quest..”Blitz looked at Bumpy and waved.
Hurrying off to the steps, Bumpy called out to Blitz,“Don’t worry about it, the Abbot won’t mind. Trust me.”
Whenever anyone said ‘trust me’ to Blitz, he always knew they weren't to be trusted. Blitz ran as fast as he could up the steps, and rushed to the pavillion where Abbot Fung and Master Ping were. Blitz waited and tried to hand in the quest to the Abbot, but he would not even acknowledge Blitz’s presence now.
--
Ting
| Quest failedYou failed to deliver the Abbot’s herbs before the evening bell-15 relationship with the Abbot |
| --- |
Blitz cursed to himself as he removed the herbs from his inventory. He set them down by the pavilion and walked away. He figured that now, he would have to probably wait another three weeks before he might get another opportunity. His stomach grumbling, he went to the temple kitchen to get his food. He was still allowed to get food, at least in compensation for his chores.
For the next few days, Blitz hurried and finished his chores earlier. Then he hurried for his rendezvous with Bumpy, who he followed to the arena. In the arena, Blitz was fast becoming a hit. In the last three days, he had defeated six fighters; some wielding axes, others with claw weapons, dual swords, one of them had a whip, which Blitz found rather challenging, but only for a short while. He was never hit by his opponents, they were outclassed in every respect. The foundation he got from performing chores were pivotal to his victories.
Blitz had accumulated a decent amount of gold, 20 gold in fact, while only being Lv6. He was very proud when Bumpy had approached him, saying he had set up the fight with the arena champion. Blitz was relishing the challenge, and thought that if everything went as smoothly as it had the last few days,it would not pose any problems.
The fight was scheduled for the next day, so Blitz decided to ask for information on the arena champ, only to discover that no one knew anything much about him. Bumpy could only state rumours and hearsays, some being how he never spoke, and seemed only interested in one thing, but no one knew what it was. This man with this singular interest, Blitz thought about how peculiar he sounded, as he was making his way back to the temple to get something to eat. He had spent most of the day fighting and was hungry. He ate, then logged off the game.
xxxx
After logging off, Hussain was hungry, and went to cook dinner. He ate, had a shower, then went to bed to rest for ‘work’ the next day. He awoke early, prepared breakfast, and made sure his mum had her medication. He had a shower, and then logged in. His mother was now clued in to the fact that he was using this capsule thing to make money. During the past few weeks, she had regained some of her independence and could do some work around the house, leaving Hussain free to get on with his plan.
xxxxx
Blitz was ready, and he felt prepared. His mind was in the right place,and he was full of confidence as he skipped down the steps of the temple. He had finished his chores early again today, which served as a nice warm up. The last few days had seen his base stats jump a great deal. He had a nice bank built up from winning all his fights in a spectacular fashion, all by knock-outs to the body. Soon, the four week restriction would be over and he could venture out.
Bumpy was shocked to see Blitz there waiting for him. Bumpy had arrived a bit late, so he quickly ran over to Blitz.
“Sorry, I’m late. I had to bring my savings to place a bet on this fight - this could make or break us. If we manage to pull this off, we’ll be made for life,”Bumpy was patting his money bag at his side and smiling.
“Well, let’s go and win this thing,”Blitz grinned.
Bumpy led the way. Blitz had, by now, learned the way to the arena, but he always liked Bumpy’s company through the dimly lit alleyways. They soon arrived at the door and knocked. The guard opened up nodded at them.
After letting them enter, he then called out to Blitz,“Good luck...”
Blitz looked back and smiled. He continued on his way to the arena. They entered the arena to the sound of loud cheering. It seemed a fight had just finished, and the old men who cleared the arena floor were dragging a man with his entrails hanging out from a slash across his stomach away. Blitz grimaced at the sight, but in the last few days, he had seen things that were a lot worse, and had become somewhat desensitised.
The announcer then walked to the centre of the arena and began talking,“Well, well, the time and match you've all been waiting for is here - on one hand we have the challenger hailing from the temple of Pusean and Abbot Fung himself. Though he’s a newcomer, he’s by far proven himself a worthy contender.”
Blitz started stretching and loosening up. He began jumping to get the blood flow going, and prepared himself. He then stepped out onto the arena dirt floor. The crowd cheered wildly. He held a hand aloft, acknowledging the crowd. He found it funny how he was not officially a member of the Pusean temple, nor trained under Abbot Fung. If it made him seem a better attraction, he’d let them say it. The money he would get from this fight would be the excellent launch pad to start adventuring.
“Then on the other side, we have the undefeated champ. Thaun, The Beast.”
The crowd went silent and still, the air felt heavy, and the tension was almost palpable. Blitz stopped jumping and looked in the direction of the dark tunnel. Walking out of the darkness was a gigantic man with such musculature as to look overweight when wearing a suit. His muscles were so dense, it seem like it could repel close range shotgun blasts. He had a grey/black afro, with facial hair looking like someone from a blaxploitation film era.
Thaun was shirtless, his broad hairy chest exposed, his abdominal muscles were beyond imagination, they were clear for everyone to see. He looked like a body-builder - imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger, but two of him, rolled into one - His shoulders were immense, his neck was almost as broad as his shoulders. His head seemed oddly muscular, and his jaw looked like granite. His arm, forearm and biceps were like steel. Scars were littered across his body from top to bottom.
Thaun walked with a grace that belied a man of his size. His legs were as hairy as his chest and arms, and he walked with the gait of someone who wielded authority. His fists were tapered with white straps. He had on black cloth pants, and was barefooted. He approached the ring, and the crowd was still silent, as The Beast jumped over the barricade of the ring and landed lightly, coming to a stop immediately when he was inside.
The announcer cleared his throat and started to back away to the outside the ring,saying,“Th-There we go fight fans, The Beast has arrived. Can the newcomer overcome this.. challenge today?”
Bumpy turned to Blitz, shrugged his shoulders, then looking over at Thaun, he backed away and almost ran out of the arena, saying ‘Good luck’. He did not even sound like he meant it. Blitz became unnerved as he looked over at The Beast, who had a bored look on his face. It appeared to Blitz that he was looking right through him, and staring at something many times more important than he was.
Ting
| QuestSlay The Beast Defeat Thaun The Beast of the underground arena. No time limit.Unable to refuse the quest.Difficulty - UnknownQuest rewards:???? |
| --- |
-
You have accepted the quest
-
The signal to the start of match was heard, but still, there was no noise from the crowd, who were now firmly seated and were looking on with bated breaths. Blitz began moving slowly around the outskirts of the arena, heading over to where Thaun The Beast was. Thaun stood still, the only movement he made since stepping into the ring was to tilt his head slightly to the right and kept focus on the spot where Blitz had been.
Blitz kept advancing and was about to try a quick attack. He lowered his stance, about to run, when he noticed that Thaun was now looking at him, with his jaw flexed, tautly displaying the rows of muscles on his face. Blitz, sensing something to not be quite right, stopped his charge, and backed away. Thaun, with his arms down at his side, and with the same bored look in his eyes, slowly began walking towards Blitz.
Blitz instinctively jumped backwards. He felt a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt before from any of the other opponents he had faced in the previous fights - not even his first fight with the crimson warrior. He looked at Thaun for any openings, who still had both arms down, but could not see any. Blitz decided that this was not the time to overthink, and went for broke.
Charging at Thaun, Blitz tried to use his speed to his advantage. He moved to the left side, trying to get out of Thaun’s line of sight to perform an attack. Upon seeing Thaun moving in slow motion, Blitz smiled, as he knew he was faster. He tried for a body shot, he pulled back and let swing a right aimed at the solar plexus. Thaun’s arms were still at his side. As Blitz’s fist almost reached its destination,Thaun’s left hand instantly shot up and stuck it out in Blitz’s face, interrupting the attack.
-
You have been momentarily stunned
-
It felt like he had been struck with a sledgehammer to the face. Thaun’s tapered hand struck Blitz’s nose, causing his eyes to become watery, and dulling his vision. Blitz immediately ducked down and rolled backwards. He looked at Thaun to make there was no follow up attack. He saw Thaun only slowly bringing back his left hand to his side - the crowd still silently looked on. Blitz was shocked. His mind was in a daze, and he was trying hard to keep calm. He looked over at Bumpy quickly, only to see Bumpy with a sad look in his eyes.
Looking back over at Thaun, Blitz got back up and looked around for a weapon. He steeled himself. He wasn’t going to go down like some punk. He found a wooden staff, and picked it up. He remembered watching the monks train when he was sweeping the temple yard, and this weapon could offer him a better chance at victory. He did not care anymore about using his fists.
-
You have equipped a staff
-
Blitz twirled the staff a few times, mimicking what he had seen the monks do, and got into a stance. He watched as Thaun brought his right hand up to his mouth and bit on his tapered straps, then did the same with the left. Thaun then bought both hands up to his face, placing his fists just below his chin. His elbows were tucked in at his chest, forming what looked like an impregnable shield. He then hunkered down, and seemed to shrink to ¼ of his original size. The only parts visible were the top of his head and his eyes. His back seemed to come around and almost wrapped him. His legs were not visible. He looked like a ball.
Blitz was in such shock, that the staff almost fell from his hand. Then a noise came from behind, which sounded like Bumpy’s voice,“Focus!”
Blitz grabbed the staff tightly and was transfixed, as Thaun, now low, began bobbing from side to side. Blitz kept his eyes on him and inched a bit closer. But he jumped back when Thaun’s eyes looked at him with such intensity that his body seemed to be getting bigger. This stopped Blitz from advancing, and sent him retreating. He took a step back. Then suddenly, Thaun dashed, instantly closing the gap. Blitz hit out with the staff to the left, hitting nothing but air. Thaun bobbed to the right, and Blitz lashed out there, missing again.
A fist materialised in front of Blitz‘s face, who instinctively raised his hand to block, only to feel a sledgehammer-like blow to his body.
-
Your legs are wobbly, movement speed reduced -50%. You have taken 150DMG
-
He felt like vomiting. He wanted to hold his stomach, but that would leave his face exposed. Another sledgehammer blow came to his abdomen. His vision was getting blurry.
-
You have taken 200DMG. You are momentarily dazed
-,
Gritting his teeth, Blitz tried to escape from the corner he was backed up into. He tried to dive to the left side, scramble away and catch his breath. But this was not to be, he received a shoulder check, pinning him back in the corner. Blitz was panicking. That shoulder check had hit him squarely in the chest, and it was like a truck had crashed into him. He saw a fist heading to his face, and he tried to get his hand up in time
Blitz felt something cool on his body. He jumped up and looked around. Remembering that he was in a fight, he lashed out, only to hear,“Oi, Oi, calm down. It’s OK, its only me.”
Looking up, he saw Bumpy holding an empty wooden bucket. Blitz then came to the realisation that he had failed, and hung his head.
-
Quest Failed
- |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E08: Regret is a Curse that Binds",
"id": 173,
"next": 175,
"prev": 160,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
"Papa! Read us a story!"<br><br>"Haha, ok ok, come here boys", the man smiled as he lifted the two youngsters unto his lap, his wife smiling as she passed him a book that the boys loved to listen to.<br><br>"Now, where were we…? Ahhh, we were about to start 'The Tiny Knight', which is our favourite, isn't it?"<br><br>"YAAAAY!", the boys both shouted together before turning to look at the pages that he flicked to.<br><br>"Ahem", he coughed to clear his throat, "Once upon a time long ago, even before Germany was Germany, there lived a blacksmith who was only two feet tall. He was so short that he needed a stool to stand on to shoe the dashing steeds of the knights. This bothered him not in the slightest because, although he was tiny, he was also very courageous. It was his dream to become a knight and one day marry the princess whom he loved".<br><br>"She was both kind and beautiful but taller than he, and had long silken hair, which she wore in a braid. But, alas, the tiny blacksmith could only admire the Princess from afar because she was, after all, a princess and he but a lowly blacksmith who was not even tall."<br><br>"One day a terrible dragon flew into the kingdom, setting anyone who crossed its path aflame , it trampled houses and burned fields. Many knights battled the dragon but their swords could not cut its thick scales."<br><br>"But you can stop it can't you papa?", asked his son innocently,tilting his head backward to look at him.<br><br>The question lightly startled the man before he started chuckling, and was about to pat his son gently on the head, when he noticed that his arms were refusing to move from his sides, slowly beginning to become anxious as the feeling of weight on his lap disappeared, his boys looking at him quizzically. Turning to his wife to call for help, he saw her weeping in the corner, her eyes full of pity and hopelessness… She slowly began walking away with their sons on either side of her, leading them by their tiny hands.<br><br>"Wait….WAIT! AREN'T I STILL ALIVE!?"<br><br>"D..DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!"<br><br>"I AM ALIVE DAMNIT!!!!", Eric roared.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div><br><br><br>Eric blinked rapidly as light filled his eyes, a nurse looking down at him in worry while shaking him awake.<br><br>"Mister Elsker. Mister Elsker. I am sorry but you were yelling in your sleep", looking at him nervously whilst she wiped his sweaty forehead dry with clothe.<br><br>"Log me in", he mumbled incoherently.<br><br>"I think you should go back to slee-"<br><br>"I have HAD enough of sleeping! NOW, LOG ME IN!"<br><br>"…. Ok ok", she sighed, "just don’t wake the other patients", she said as she was lifting the device towards his head and fitting it in place.<br><br>As the log on screen filled his eyes, his whole perception shifted into the 'new' world, where he can feel, touch, move again…. where he can kill. Rage surged through his body as only one thought raced across his mind, '<span style="font-style: italic;">To make everyone fall as low as he. To make them bleed</span>'.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div><br><br><br>"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?", Max screamed as he barely dodged a strike to his head from a rusty glaive, a strand of his brown hair parting from his scalp with the orc grinning at him while gleefully chasing him across the wide dark cavern he found himself in.<br><br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Maa… maa </span>relax, they are only low level mobs", Mayumi reassured him, easily despatching them with a single strike of her katana, making it look incredibly easy.<br><br>"LOW!? IF YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN I AM ONLY LEVEL 5! AND THESE ARE LEVEL 80 MOBS! GYAAAAA!", Max ran harder for his life as 3 more Orcs decided that he was, perhaps easier to deal with and gave chase, especially when the samurai twins were busy discussing their journey plans and barely paying attention to the orcs who were attacking them but nevertheless still managing to brutally slaughter them in the process. In very vivid and graphic detail that the surrounding Orcs were feeling quite ill from just looking at such a surreal scene.<br><br>"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS IS A SHORTCUT! MORE LIKE A SHORTCUT TO HELL!", almost crying, he vowed never to trust a beautiful face again as he continued to complain, "AND WHAT THE HELL IS A LEVEL 80 DUNGEON DOING NEAR A STARTER ZONE!!???"<br><br>"Oh that? Me and Masumi found it aaaages ago and decided to keep the location to ourselves. It's so travel convenient, with awesome shortcuts all over the continent"<br><br>Ducking a sword strike, twisting his body weirdly like an S shape to avoid a spear thrust, he continued to shout, "…NO SERIOUSLY WHY IS IT LEVEL 80?!! ISNT IT LIKE SUPER HARD FOR EVERYONE ELSE?!"<br><br>"Ehhhhh? We came here at level 40 and it was already too easy. <span style="font-style: italic;">Ne</span>, Masumi?" <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Mayumi_zpsf1d087f0.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...d087f0.jpg"></div><br><br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Un, nee-san </span><sister> but I think he is complaining because he is doing it at level 5?"<br><br>"NO! NO! EVEN AT LEVEL 80 I WOULD STILL DIE! I AM JUST A BLACKSMITH, YOU KNOW! I ONLY FIX AND MAKE THINGS, YOU KNOW?!!"<br><br>"… So, isn't there no problem at all then? If you're going to die at level 5 or 80 anyway, might as well still go through this place. I mean, there is even an <span style="font-style: italic;">onsen </span><hot spring> down here", Mayumi squealed in delight at the thought of a nice hot bath.<br><br>"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"<br><br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">N..nee-san</span><sister>, I think he is crying"<br><br>"Really? I thought he was just so happy to be accompanied by beautiful people like us"<br><br>"WILL YOU JUST SAVE ME ALREADY?!", Max demanded urgently as now half a cavern full of orcs were chasing him instead of facing the twins. The orcs around the twins weren't even pretending to attack anymore, doing a lottery style draw from pulling out sticks to see which unlucky ones had the shortest and then they would go and get pointlessly chopped up into slabs of green meat. Orcs have some pride after all.<br><br>"UWAAAAAAH! I WANT TO GO BACK TO A LAST SAVE POINT", he screamed, asking for the impossible. Yup, Max has got off to a relatively swell start to Royal Road… if only it wasn't so instantly life threatening the moment he left Serabourg. <br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div><br><br><br>It's been nearly a week since Gerhard ordered his command to proceed deeper into the forest, aware that supplies were fast running out, however, the mood of the men was still un-dampened and even though the hardships they were enduring was slowly escalating, his leadership value now was so high that they would blindly follow him into oblivion itself, if he were to order it. This would now seem to be the case as the tracks of the escaped Orcs they were following had become increasingly difficult to pursue until suddenly all traces had disappeared. There is no worse feeling for a commander than to lead your men into possible doom, just from following your orders.<br><br>"….what are you doing", Gerhard asked in genuine puzzlement, finally noticing Lydia standing in front of him and making a weird looking face.<br><br>"I am just imitating you. Well, how do I look? Mysterious and deep in thought?"<br><br>"No… more like your face was flattened by a frying pan full of bacon"<br>"Wait! Why bacon?!! Couldn’t it have been pancakes instead?!"<br><br>"Sorry, but I'd rather have the children at the orphanage enjoy those"<br><br>"….YOU'RE meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean" , she complained before coming closer and said softly, "Well? Have we totally lost their trail?"<br><br>Gerhard could only nod as he sighed, "Just early this morning. We still haven't been able to locate a set of tracks even though we went over the same ground three times".<br><br>"I told you we should have gotten a ranger, or at least a player that can track, but noooo, you had to be all 'time is of the essence' or 'just believe in me, I know what I am doing'. And this is why men should never decide the choice of restaurants or what movie to watch"<br><br>"I resent that. I will have you know I am a fine connoisseur of restaurants and classical music", he retorted before admitting, "Although you were right. I never expected such large beings to be able to move through the forest so quickly".<br><br>"You should know by now. Lydia is always right!", she stuck out her chest proudly, leaving little to the imagination as her sizable bosom was hemmed in tight by her dress.<br><br>Gerhard coughed in embarrassment before turning away but not until she noticed it and said, "Ohooo, is MISTER Gerhard a cherry boy, hmmm?", she chuckled evilly.<br><br>"I will have you know, I have a so-… dear gods woman! Put them away!", Gerhard exclaimed, while the NPC men for some reason started to watch the scene unfolding before their eyes with deep interest.<br><br>"What's the matter, hmm?", she asked innocently as she pressed her breasts together with her hands to make a huge seductive mound whilst trying to steer herself to the front of his face. "I am only just talking to you"<br><br>"You are doing more than talking, and you know it! Totally shameless this generation! I fear for Max's future choice of girlfriends, I swear!"<br><br>"Eh? Who is Max?"<br><br>"Oh, he is my-…", Gerhard stopped suddenly as he instantly became alert, a gut feeling warning him that something was approaching with incredible killing intent, turning back to gaze at the rearguard of his troops.<br><br>"Hmm? What is it?", Lydia asked only to gape in astonishment as Gerhard took off and raced towards the rear.<br><br>"ALL SQUADS MOVE TO THE FRONT OF COLUMN NOW!", Gerhard roared in command, drawing his sword before halting as the last of his men streamed past him after immediately following his orders.<br><br>Their drill and efficiency was astonishing since they not only obeyed, but automatically formed the standard double line formation he taught them, of warriors to the fore and with archers to the rear, already notching arrows and readying to fire. Striding forward from the trees, Gerhard tensed as he recognised the armoured figure of Eric the Red gradually materialising from the forest, his tall form splendidly bedecked in red full plate armour, which was topped off with a full faced Sutton Hoo style helm, looking like a Viking chieftain garbed for war. Without a signal from Gerhard, the entire battle group assumed their combat stances, the warriors locking shields together, while the archers raised their bows to the sky preparing to unleash an arrow storm.<br><br>However, Gerhard raised his right arm over his head to signal that no action was to be taken unless by his command. Seeing this, all the men could do was watch with mounting apprehension as Eric the Red strode closer to their commander, Lydia basically readying a spell and about to ignore Gerhard's command until, sensing it, he turned to gaze back at her. His eyes seemed to say, 'trust me', and she groaned as she stopped chanting before waving her hands furiously in signal at him, 'I hope you know what you are doing!'<br><br>Gerhard strode forward, and when he was barely 50 metres away, placed the point of his sword into the ground and called out, "Halt, advance and be recognised", practically military lingo that only soldiers would understand.<br><br>It caused the giant to halt abruptly, a long tense moment passed before there was a response from beneath his helm, "I believe I am known as ‘Eric the Red’"<br><br>"What is your purpose... in coming here?"<br><br>To which Eric pointed at Gerhard with his battle axe and said, "To finish our duel and kill you".<br><br>At those words the air became filled with killing intent, the battle group barely restraining themselves from attacking while Eric just gazed at their commander, completely oblivious of everyone else.<br><br>"I am sorry, but under military law, I am forbidden from initiating or participating in duels", Gerhard calmly refused.<br><br>"….You do not have a choice in the matter", a trace of anger slowly appearing in Eric's voice.<br><br>"Actually, I do. I am honour bound by soldier's law, and therefore", Gerhard calmly threw down his sword at the giant's feet, shocking everyone, including Eric, "You will just have to cut me down".<br><br>"…..pick up your sword…", Eric whispered.<br><br>"Request denied", Gerhard responded adamantly.<br><br>"PICK UP YOUR SWORD!!!", Eric roared, striding forward to swing his battle axe into Gerhard's head.<br><br>The entire line of warriors, his soldiers, surged forward in outrage only to stop, baffled as their commander was still alive whilst standing unflinchingly with blood on the side of Gerhard's temple, slowly making a blood trail down his dusty face, caused from the minor cut of the axe blade. Gerhard just gazed into Eric's eyes for one long drawn out moment before suggesting, "However, I may be able to accommodate you. As a noble, we also have our own set of laws. Were you to honour a request of mine, I will gladly accept your challenge and finish what we started".<br><br>"….And that would be?"<br><br>"You managed to track us. How?"<br><br>"….I have the skills required for it."<br><br>"And can you see Orc tracks around us?"<br><br>"Clear as day", Eric spat out.<br><br>"Good, because we CAN'T. Lead us to where those Orcs have gone and let me fulfil my mission, and then I swear to you that we shall have our fight"<br><br>"… and why shouldn’t I just kill you now, anyway?".<br><br>"…..I can't let you do that. I cannot afford to fail my men. NEVER again.."<br><br>Those words struck a chord inside Eric, reverberating round and round like a broken record as the man, whom he once was, recognised the need inside of this commander, this gentleman officer standing before him. Eric was under no illusion who this man was, he knew that this was no ordinary player but a REAL soldier that is still duty bound…unlike what Eric has become. It was several heartbeats before the tension eased from his arm, as he finally took the axe away from Gerhard's head, the atmosphere around them becoming calm to the relief of Lydia and the men.<br><br>"…I shall hold you to that…", Eric said in a low deadly tone.<br><br>"Its fine, <span style="font-style: italic;">kamerad</span><comrade>", Gerhard gazed back at him sadly in understanding, "I know you need this. And you also know that I won't go back on my word", stepping in close to whisper in Eric's ear, "After all, we understand each other very well…. since we are both scarred by our past".<br><br>As Gerhard turned away to explain the situation to the others, the armoured giant just stood there, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists, confused and unsure of what to think. Looking back up, he saw Gerhard beckoning him to come forward, and Eric automatically did without thinking. Eric knew he cannot regain what was lost… and that’s why he must fill up the void. And if it is done through the deaths of others then so be it. He owed the world and no one nothing anymore.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqF9/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Promise You</span></a></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/OnlyaDream_zpsdf5558ad.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...5558ad.jpg"></div>
</div> | "Papa! Read us a story!"
"Haha, ok ok, come here boys", the man smiled as he lifted the two youngsters unto his lap, his wife smiling as she passed him a book that the boys loved to listen to.
"Now, where were we…? Ahhh, we were about to start 'The Tiny Knight', which is our favourite, isn't it?"
"YAAAAY!", the boys both shouted together before turning to look at the pages that he flicked to.
"Ahem", he coughed to clear his throat, "Once upon a time long ago, even before Germany was Germany, there lived a blacksmith who was only two feet tall. He was so short that he needed a stool to stand on to shoe the dashing steeds of the knights. This bothered him not in the slightest because, although he was tiny, he was also very courageous. It was his dream to become a knight and one day marry the princess whom he loved".
"She was both kind and beautiful but taller than he, and had long silken hair, which she wore in a braid. But, alas, the tiny blacksmith could only admire the Princess from afar because she was, after all, a princess and he but a lowly blacksmith who was not even tall."
"One day a terrible dragon flew into the kingdom, setting anyone who crossed its path aflame , it trampled houses and burned fields. Many knights battled the dragon but their swords could not cut its thick scales."
"But you can stop it can't you papa?", asked his son innocently,tilting his head backward to look at him.
The question lightly startled the man before he started chuckling, and was about to pat his son gently on the head, when he noticed that his arms were refusing to move from his sides, slowly beginning to become anxious as the feeling of weight on his lap disappeared, his boys looking at him quizzically. Turning to his wife to call for help, he saw her weeping in the corner, her eyes full of pity and hopelessness… She slowly began walking away with their sons on either side of her, leading them by their tiny hands.
"Wait….WAIT! AREN'T I STILL ALIVE!?"
"D..DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEAVE ME BEHIND!"
"I AM ALIVE DAMNIT!!!!", Eric roared.
*********************************************************************************************
Eric blinked rapidly as light filled his eyes, a nurse looking down at him in worry while shaking him awake.
"Mister Elsker. Mister Elsker. I am sorry but you were yelling in your sleep", looking at him nervously whilst she wiped his sweaty forehead dry with clothe.
"Log me in", he mumbled incoherently.
"I think you should go back to slee-"
"I have HAD enough of sleeping! NOW, LOG ME IN!"
"…. Ok ok", she sighed, "just don’t wake the other patients", she said as she was lifting the device towards his head and fitting it in place.
As the log on screen filled his eyes, his whole perception shifted into the 'new' world, where he can feel, touch, move again…. where he can kill. Rage surged through his body as only one thought raced across his mind, 'To make everyone fall as low as he. To make them bleed'.
[INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
*********************************************************************************************
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?", Max screamed as he barely dodged a strike to his head from a rusty glaive, a strand of his brown hair parting from his scalp with the orc grinning at him while gleefully chasing him across the wide dark cavern he found himself in.
"Maa… maa relax, they are only low level mobs", Mayumi reassured him, easily despatching them with a single strike of her katana, making it look incredibly easy.
"LOW!? IF YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN I AM ONLY LEVEL 5! AND THESE ARE LEVEL 80 MOBS! GYAAAAA!", Max ran harder for his life as 3 more Orcs decided that he was, perhaps easier to deal with and gave chase, especially when the samurai twins were busy discussing their journey plans and barely paying attention to the orcs who were attacking them but nevertheless still managing to brutally slaughter them in the process. In very vivid and graphic detail that the surrounding Orcs were feeling quite ill from just looking at such a surreal scene.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS IS A SHORTCUT! MORE LIKE A SHORTCUT TO HELL!", almost crying, he vowed never to trust a beautiful face again as he continued to complain, "AND WHAT THE HELL IS A LEVEL 80 DUNGEON DOING NEAR A STARTER ZONE!!???"
"Oh that? Me and Masumi found it aaaages ago and decided to keep the location to ourselves. It's so travel convenient, with awesome shortcuts all over the continent"
Ducking a sword strike, twisting his body weirdly like an S shape to avoid a spear thrust, he continued to shout, "…NO SERIOUSLY WHY IS IT LEVEL 80?!! ISNT IT LIKE SUPER HARD FOR EVERYONE ELSE?!"
"Ehhhhh? We came here at level 40 and it was already too easy. Ne, Masumi?"
"Un, nee-san <sister> but I think he is complaining because he is doing it at level 5?"
"NO! NO! EVEN AT LEVEL 80 I WOULD STILL DIE! I AM JUST A BLACKSMITH, YOU KNOW! I ONLY FIX AND MAKE THINGS, YOU KNOW?!!"
"… So, isn't there no problem at all then? If you're going to die at level 5 or 80 anyway, might as well still go through this place. I mean, there is even an onsen <hot spring> down here", Mayumi squealed in delight at the thought of a nice hot bath.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
"N..nee-san<sister>, I think he is crying"
"Really? I thought he was just so happy to be accompanied by beautiful people like us"
"WILL YOU JUST SAVE ME ALREADY?!", Max demanded urgently as now half a cavern full of orcs were chasing him instead of facing the twins. The orcs around the twins weren't even pretending to attack anymore, doing a lottery style draw from pulling out sticks to see which unlucky ones had the shortest and then they would go and get pointlessly chopped up into slabs of green meat. Orcs have some pride after all.
"UWAAAAAAH! I WANT TO GO BACK TO A LAST SAVE POINT", he screamed, asking for the impossible. Yup, Max has got off to a relatively swell start to Royal Road… if only it wasn't so instantly life threatening the moment he left Serabourg.
*********************************************************************************************
It's been nearly a week since Gerhard ordered his command to proceed deeper into the forest, aware that supplies were fast running out, however, the mood of the men was still un-dampened and even though the hardships they were enduring was slowly escalating, his leadership value now was so high that they would blindly follow him into oblivion itself, if he were to order it. This would now seem to be the case as the tracks of the escaped Orcs they were following had become increasingly difficult to pursue until suddenly all traces had disappeared. There is no worse feeling for a commander than to lead your men into possible doom, just from following your orders.
"….what are you doing", Gerhard asked in genuine puzzlement, finally noticing Lydia standing in front of him and making a weird looking face.
"I am just imitating you. Well, how do I look? Mysterious and deep in thought?"
"No… more like your face was flattened by a frying pan full of bacon"
"Wait! Why bacon?!! Couldn’t it have been pancakes instead?!"
"Sorry, but I'd rather have the children at the orphanage enjoy those"
"….YOU'RE meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean" , she complained before coming closer and said softly, "Well? Have we totally lost their trail?"
Gerhard could only nod as he sighed, "Just early this morning. We still haven't been able to locate a set of tracks even though we went over the same ground three times".
"I told you we should have gotten a ranger, or at least a player that can track, but noooo, you had to be all 'time is of the essence' or 'just believe in me, I know what I am doing'. And this is why men should never decide the choice of restaurants or what movie to watch"
"I resent that. I will have you know I am a fine connoisseur of restaurants and classical music", he retorted before admitting, "Although you were right. I never expected such large beings to be able to move through the forest so quickly".
"You should know by now. Lydia is always right!", she stuck out her chest proudly, leaving little to the imagination as her sizable bosom was hemmed in tight by her dress.
Gerhard coughed in embarrassment before turning away but not until she noticed it and said, "Ohooo, is MISTER Gerhard a cherry boy, hmmm?", she chuckled evilly.
"I will have you know, I have a so-… dear gods woman! Put them away!", Gerhard exclaimed, while the NPC men for some reason started to watch the scene unfolding before their eyes with deep interest.
"What's the matter, hmm?", she asked innocently as she pressed her breasts together with her hands to make a huge seductive mound whilst trying to steer herself to the front of his face. "I am only just talking to you"
"You are doing more than talking, and you know it! Totally shameless this generation! I fear for Max's future choice of girlfriends, I swear!"
"Eh? Who is Max?"
"Oh, he is my-…", Gerhard stopped suddenly as he instantly became alert, a gut feeling warning him that something was approaching with incredible killing intent, turning back to gaze at the rearguard of his troops.
"Hmm? What is it?", Lydia asked only to gape in astonishment as Gerhard took off and raced towards the rear.
"ALL SQUADS MOVE TO THE FRONT OF COLUMN NOW!", Gerhard roared in command, drawing his sword before halting as the last of his men streamed past him after immediately following his orders.
Their drill and efficiency was astonishing since they not only obeyed, but automatically formed the standard double line formation he taught them, of warriors to the fore and with archers to the rear, already notching arrows and readying to fire. Striding forward from the trees, Gerhard tensed as he recognised the armoured figure of Eric the Red gradually materialising from the forest, his tall form splendidly bedecked in red full plate armour, which was topped off with a full faced Sutton Hoo style helm, looking like a Viking chieftain garbed for war. Without a signal from Gerhard, the entire battle group assumed their combat stances, the warriors locking shields together, while the archers raised their bows to the sky preparing to unleash an arrow storm.
However, Gerhard raised his right arm over his head to signal that no action was to be taken unless by his command. Seeing this, all the men could do was watch with mounting apprehension as Eric the Red strode closer to their commander, Lydia basically readying a spell and about to ignore Gerhard's command until, sensing it, he turned to gaze back at her. His eyes seemed to say, 'trust me', and she groaned as she stopped chanting before waving her hands furiously in signal at him, 'I hope you know what you are doing!'
Gerhard strode forward, and when he was barely 50 metres away, placed the point of his sword into the ground and called out, "Halt, advance and be recognised", practically military lingo that only soldiers would understand.
It caused the giant to halt abruptly, a long tense moment passed before there was a response from beneath his helm, "I believe I am known as ‘Eric the Red’"
"What is your purpose... in coming here?"
To which Eric pointed at Gerhard with his battle axe and said, "To finish our duel and kill you".
At those words the air became filled with killing intent, the battle group barely restraining themselves from attacking while Eric just gazed at their commander, completely oblivious of everyone else.
"I am sorry, but under military law, I am forbidden from initiating or participating in duels", Gerhard calmly refused.
"….You do not have a choice in the matter", a trace of anger slowly appearing in Eric's voice.
"Actually, I do. I am honour bound by soldier's law, and therefore", Gerhard calmly threw down his sword at the giant's feet, shocking everyone, including Eric, "You will just have to cut me down".
"…..pick up your sword…", Eric whispered.
"Request denied", Gerhard responded adamantly.
"PICK UP YOUR SWORD!!!", Eric roared, striding forward to swing his battle axe into Gerhard's head.
The entire line of warriors, his soldiers, surged forward in outrage only to stop, baffled as their commander was still alive whilst standing unflinchingly with blood on the side of Gerhard's temple, slowly making a blood trail down his dusty face, caused from the minor cut of the axe blade. Gerhard just gazed into Eric's eyes for one long drawn out moment before suggesting, "However, I may be able to accommodate you. As a noble, we also have our own set of laws. Were you to honour a request of mine, I will gladly accept your challenge and finish what we started".
"….And that would be?"
"You managed to track us. How?"
"….I have the skills required for it."
"And can you see Orc tracks around us?"
"Clear as day", Eric spat out.
"Good, because we CAN'T. Lead us to where those Orcs have gone and let me fulfil my mission, and then I swear to you that we shall have our fight"
"… and why shouldn’t I just kill you now, anyway?".
"…..I can't let you do that. I cannot afford to fail my men. NEVER again.."
Those words struck a chord inside Eric, reverberating round and round like a broken record as the man, whom he once was, recognised the need inside of this commander, this gentleman officer standing before him. Eric was under no illusion who this man was, he knew that this was no ordinary player but a REAL soldier that is still duty bound…unlike what Eric has become. It was several heartbeats before the tension eased from his arm, as he finally took the axe away from Gerhard's head, the atmosphere around them becoming calm to the relief of Lydia and the men.
"…I shall hold you to that…", Eric said in a low deadly tone.
"Its fine, kamerad<comrade>", Gerhard gazed back at him sadly in understanding, "I know you need this. And you also know that I won't go back on my word", stepping in close to whisper in Eric's ear, "After all, we understand each other very well…. since we are both scarred by our past".
As Gerhard turned away to explain the situation to the others, the armoured giant just stood there, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists, confused and unsure of what to think. Looking back up, he saw Gerhard beckoning him to come forward, and Eric automatically did without thinking. Eric knew he cannot regain what was lost… and that’s why he must fill up the void. And if it is done through the deaths of others then so be it. He owed the world and no one nothing anymore.
*********************************************************************************************
[Ending Song: Promise You](http://picosong.com/FqF9/)
 |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Angelic Knight Chapter 6",
"id": 159,
"next": 183,
"prev": 144,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">School</span> a place of learning, a place where adult youths spend their time congregating in flocks, discussing the latest trends and hobbies, which class they have, don’t have, what they plan to do later on in the day for fun, and theirs all ways that rare bit of information that gets learnt in actual lessons, sinking into some people’s heads, to the greater relief of the teachers the world over.<br><br>So far Alan’s day had been anything but fun ‘i never appreciated how many doors this place had’ he thought to himself as he was forced to wait yet again for someone to remember to hold the door open for him so he could get through, the day had started nicely with the ride to school in the car, he had actually looked forward to school this morning his mood was quickly turning sour ‘if i attach a ram to the side of the chair i could in theory get up enough speed to knock these doors down,’ he thought while trying to open the door from his chair, ‘ill discuses it with dad later,’ “no he’ll probably just laugh.” He muttered.<br><br>“Who will laugh?” a girls voice asked from behind him.<br>“It’s nothing don’t worry about it.” Alan said without turning around before he realised that he was being spoken to. <br>“Alan good morning,” a new male voice sounded above him making him freeze. He knew the voice well it was his history teacher, and standing next to him was the school idol, he looked at them meekly knowing that awkward questions were going to be asked, about lessons and how his recovery was going and then the dreaded one homework.<br><br>“So who’s laughing?” the school idol asked, tilting her head,<br>“It's nothing i was just mumbling to myself do you mind?” Alan asked.<br>“I don’t mind you talking to yourself,” she replied innocently.<br>Alan quickly put his head in his hands as the teacher laughed.<br>“He meant, do you mind opening the doors for him,”<br>“Ow I’m so sorry, sorry.” The most popular girl in school said almost crying in embarrassment.<br>“Thank you,” Alan said not knowing what to say embarrassing the school idol would probably earn him some more enemy’s to go along with the doors, once people found out about this incident. Alan was about to go through the doors when then the teacher asked the question he was expecting in the beginning, “Alan while were here, have you finished all your assignments, that you missed?”<br><br>“As it happens sir, i finished them three doors back,” Alan replied taking out papers from his bag and handing them over.<br>“So you did, is there anymore doors we can open for you?” He asked quickly going through the sheets,<br>“No i’ll be fine i only have to go in there.” Alan replied pointing to his homeroom.<br><br> ****<br><br>Homeroom was allot more fun, as Alan was able to understand what most of his friends were saying in regard to royal road, it was no longer gibberish to him ‘well most of it,’ he thought to himself, it was what a female friend that sat next to him leaned over and whispered, “so you started playing then?” that got him embarrassed<br>“How did you know?” Alan whispered back.<br>“Your attitude has changed slightly and your paying attention to what’s being said.” She replied smiling <br>“Any pointers would help?”<br>“Just go at your own pace is what i suggest?”<br>“My own pace hmm.” <br>“To start with at least”<br>“Thanks and keep this quiet for now please.”<br>“Sure on one condition when you get to level 100 look me up.”<br>“If i get that far, i will.”<br><br>“Good morning class” a female voice spoke up from the front of the room as students started to sit in their seats the teacher had arrived.<br>Registration took no more than fifteen minutes, at the end Alan started to look forward to the lessons for that day he would only have to spend one hour in the library as today’s lessons were mostly on the ground floor.<br>As the students began to relax the teacher spoke up again, “Before you all go, you should be aware that those of you studying English, maths, social science’s and physics on the ground floor will be moved to the second floor for the next two month as the rooms are being renovated.<br><br>!!! Alan sat their dumb founded.<br>“Ehh miss why,” a student at the front of class asked concerned.<br>“The rooms in question are due to be fitted with capsules,” the teacher replied smiling, as everyone in the room went quiet all thinking the same thing and throwing each other knowing glances the school would finally get royal road.“GOING UPSTAIRS SHOULD BE FUN,” Alan said biting down on his anger, at the stupidity of the school, his voice wasn’t load but it still carried to the corners of the room silencing all the mutterings that had started.<br><br>“I TAKE IT SOME ONES GOING TO VOLENTER TO CARRY ME AND A WELCHAIR UPSTAIRS AND DOWN AGAIN, ANYONE NO VOLENTERS SHOCKING, I DONT SUPPOSE ANYONE THOUGHT ABOUT WHERE I WOULD <span style="font-weight: bold;">BE ABLE TO DO LESSONS</span>.” Alan said shouting at the end.<br><br>“Ermm” the teacher started.<br>“DONT BOTHER ILL GO TO THE LIBARY CAN SOME ONE AT LEAST TAKE NOTES FOR ME PLEASE,” he said moving himself away from his desk and towards the door. He reached the door before anyone could move at his outburst, “WELL DONT JUST STAND THEIR OPEN THE DOOR FOR ME THEIR NOT AUTOMATIC YOU KNOW.” He snapped at the teacher again as she quickly rushed over to open the door not knowing what else she could possibly do, as the room started muttering behind him. Only two voices sounded out louder than anyone both almost said the same thing he’s right. <br><br>****<br>Ten minutes later he found himself in the library in front of one of the many computers typing away his anger at the so called learning experience the school was so proud of.<br><br>He composed ten letters, seven of which were mild statements of fact to his course teachers, informing them that he would be in the library if they needed him, and that they were to send him all the course work and assignments that he needed.<br><br>The next three were trickier to compose as they had to be more official one was to the student council, they would probably get told about today’s incidents and want an explanation, the other to the head of the school listing all the difficulties he faced now on a daily bases, while threatening him that Off-stead would here about the lack of disabled access.<br><br>The third was a very diplomatic message to Off-stead explaining his situation the difficulties faced right down to the small details. He then printed off a copy of all the letters making three copies of the letter to Off-stead. It took him two hours before he was able to leave the Library heading in the direction of the reception desk, at the front hall.<br><br><br>He didn’t get far however before a male voice called out to him.<br>“Hi Alan long time no see” the voice said.<br>“Ow it’s you, so they sent the deputy of the council to see what’s gone wrong” <br>“Now is that anyway to speak to a friend.”<br>“Those still exist Hu” Alan replied keeping the bitterness out of his voice <br>“I know things were bad but”<br>“You have no idea, look I’m sorry i have business to take care of in fact, deliver these to the student council would you, and open some doors for me so i can get to reception, you can read it on the way.” Alan said handing him the letter for the student council and a copy of the one heading for Off-stead.<br><br>After two doors the deputy looked at Alan in shock “you have to put up with this, I’m not surprised you snapped at a teacher, hmm where are the other letters going,” he asked<br>“These are for teachers informing them that i will be forever shut in the library since i can’t stay at home. The other three, two are going to the head the other to Off-stead’ I’m not pulling any more punches” Alan said.<br><br>“Do me a favour as a long time friend don’t send it yet, let the head think you’ve sent it, the student council as been wanting to get back at the head for some time now, and this is perfect, give me three days, then send it, go home for today, i’ll pick up all the piece’s you’ve thrown around,”<br><br>“What good will that do?”<br>“Allot trust me.”<br>“Fine three days if things have not changed by then I’m posting it.”<br>“You won’t regret it, give me the rest of those letters, ill see they get there they need to go, and ill ring you in three days time, go and play Royal road for three days the council will cover for you.”<br><br>“Good idea !!! wait how do you know i play?”<br>“Your sister told me.”<br><br>-------------------------------------------------- end ----------------------------------------------- <br><br>Authors notes:<br><br>longer chapter this time :)
</div> | School a place of learning, a place where adult youths spend their time congregating in flocks, discussing the latest trends and hobbies, which class they have, don’t have, what they plan to do later on in the day for fun, and theirs all ways that rare bit of information that gets learnt in actual lessons, sinking into some people’s heads, to the greater relief of the teachers the world over.
So far Alan’s day had been anything but fun ‘i never appreciated how many doors this place had’ he thought to himself as he was forced to wait yet again for someone to remember to hold the door open for him so he could get through, the day had started nicely with the ride to school in the car, he had actually looked forward to school this morning his mood was quickly turning sour ‘if i attach a ram to the side of the chair i could in theory get up enough speed to knock these doors down,’ he thought while trying to open the door from his chair, ‘ill discuses it with dad later,’ “no he’ll probably just laugh.” He muttered.
“Who will laugh?” a girls voice asked from behind him.
“It’s nothing don’t worry about it.” Alan said without turning around before he realised that he was being spoken to.
“Alan good morning,” a new male voice sounded above him making him freeze. He knew the voice well it was his history teacher, and standing next to him was the school idol, he looked at them meekly knowing that awkward questions were going to be asked, about lessons and how his recovery was going and then the dreaded one homework.
“So who’s laughing?” the school idol asked, tilting her head,
“It's nothing i was just mumbling to myself do you mind?” Alan asked.
“I don’t mind you talking to yourself,” she replied innocently.
Alan quickly put his head in his hands as the teacher laughed.
“He meant, do you mind opening the doors for him,”
“Ow I’m so sorry, sorry.” The most popular girl in school said almost crying in embarrassment.
“Thank you,” Alan said not knowing what to say embarrassing the school idol would probably earn him some more enemy’s to go along with the doors, once people found out about this incident. Alan was about to go through the doors when then the teacher asked the question he was expecting in the beginning, “Alan while were here, have you finished all your assignments, that you missed?”
“As it happens sir, i finished them three doors back,” Alan replied taking out papers from his bag and handing them over.
“So you did, is there anymore doors we can open for you?” He asked quickly going through the sheets,
“No i’ll be fine i only have to go in there.” Alan replied pointing to his homeroom.
****
Homeroom was allot more fun, as Alan was able to understand what most of his friends were saying in regard to royal road, it was no longer gibberish to him ‘well most of it,’ he thought to himself, it was what a female friend that sat next to him leaned over and whispered, “so you started playing then?” that got him embarrassed
“How did you know?” Alan whispered back.
“Your attitude has changed slightly and your paying attention to what’s being said.” She replied smiling
“Any pointers would help?”
“Just go at your own pace is what i suggest?”
“My own pace hmm.”
“To start with at least”
“Thanks and keep this quiet for now please.”
“Sure on one condition when you get to level 100 look me up.”
“If i get that far, i will.”
“Good morning class” a female voice spoke up from the front of the room as students started to sit in their seats the teacher had arrived.
Registration took no more than fifteen minutes, at the end Alan started to look forward to the lessons for that day he would only have to spend one hour in the library as today’s lessons were mostly on the ground floor.
As the students began to relax the teacher spoke up again, “Before you all go, you should be aware that those of you studying English, maths, social science’s and physics on the ground floor will be moved to the second floor for the next two month as the rooms are being renovated.
!!! Alan sat their dumb founded.
“Ehh miss why,” a student at the front of class asked concerned.
“The rooms in question are due to be fitted with capsules,” the teacher replied smiling, as everyone in the room went quiet all thinking the same thing and throwing each other knowing glances the school would finally get royal road.“GOING UPSTAIRS SHOULD BE FUN,” Alan said biting down on his anger, at the stupidity of the school, his voice wasn’t load but it still carried to the corners of the room silencing all the mutterings that had started.
“I TAKE IT SOME ONES GOING TO VOLENTER TO CARRY ME AND A WELCHAIR UPSTAIRS AND DOWN AGAIN, ANYONE NO VOLENTERS SHOCKING, I DONT SUPPOSE ANYONE THOUGHT ABOUT WHERE I WOULD BE ABLE TO DO LESSONS.” Alan said shouting at the end.
“Ermm” the teacher started.
“DONT BOTHER ILL GO TO THE LIBARY CAN SOME ONE AT LEAST TAKE NOTES FOR ME PLEASE,” he said moving himself away from his desk and towards the door. He reached the door before anyone could move at his outburst, “WELL DONT JUST STAND THEIR OPEN THE DOOR FOR ME THEIR NOT AUTOMATIC YOU KNOW.” He snapped at the teacher again as she quickly rushed over to open the door not knowing what else she could possibly do, as the room started muttering behind him. Only two voices sounded out louder than anyone both almost said the same thing he’s right.
****
Ten minutes later he found himself in the library in front of one of the many computers typing away his anger at the so called learning experience the school was so proud of.
He composed ten letters, seven of which were mild statements of fact to his course teachers, informing them that he would be in the library if they needed him, and that they were to send him all the course work and assignments that he needed.
The next three were trickier to compose as they had to be more official one was to the student council, they would probably get told about today’s incidents and want an explanation, the other to the head of the school listing all the difficulties he faced now on a daily bases, while threatening him that Off-stead would here about the lack of disabled access.
The third was a very diplomatic message to Off-stead explaining his situation the difficulties faced right down to the small details. He then printed off a copy of all the letters making three copies of the letter to Off-stead. It took him two hours before he was able to leave the Library heading in the direction of the reception desk, at the front hall.
He didn’t get far however before a male voice called out to him.
“Hi Alan long time no see” the voice said.
“Ow it’s you, so they sent the deputy of the council to see what’s gone wrong”
“Now is that anyway to speak to a friend.”
“Those still exist Hu” Alan replied keeping the bitterness out of his voice
“I know things were bad but”
“You have no idea, look I’m sorry i have business to take care of in fact, deliver these to the student council would you, and open some doors for me so i can get to reception, you can read it on the way.” Alan said handing him the letter for the student council and a copy of the one heading for Off-stead.
After two doors the deputy looked at Alan in shock “you have to put up with this, I’m not surprised you snapped at a teacher, hmm where are the other letters going,” he asked
“These are for teachers informing them that i will be forever shut in the library since i can’t stay at home. The other three, two are going to the head the other to Off-stead’ I’m not pulling any more punches” Alan said.
“Do me a favour as a long time friend don’t send it yet, let the head think you’ve sent it, the student council as been wanting to get back at the head for some time now, and this is perfect, give me three days, then send it, go home for today, i’ll pick up all the piece’s you’ve thrown around,”
“What good will that do?”
“Allot trust me.”
“Fine three days if things have not changed by then I’m posting it.”
“You won’t regret it, give me the rest of those letters, ill see they get there they need to go, and ill ring you in three days time, go and play Royal road for three days the council will cover for you.”
“Good idea !!! wait how do you know i play?”
“Your sister told me.”
-------------------------------------------------- end -----------------------------------------------
Authors notes:
longer chapter this time :) |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E03: Awakening from Madness",
"id": 132,
"next": 135,
"prev": 129,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>
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<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>There was severe coughing coming from the attic as Max's father came down the ladder with a pair of browning old boxes stacked one upon the other. Max reached out to help his father while his mother 'tut tutted' behind him due to the sheer amount of dust gently spreading downward like a cloud from the ceiling.
<br>
<br>"I will go get the vacuum", his mother declared, "And Hermann dear, you better dust yourself outside, NOW! Or else I am throwing both the clothes and you into the washing machine!"
<br>
<br>"Maaax. Your mother is bullying me!", his father complained to which Max only chuckled in reply.
<br>
<br>Grumbling, Hermann went outside to do as he was told while Max used a wet cloth to wipe the dust off the boxes. He had seen these boxes as a kid playing upstairs in the attic with his cousins but he had never known they contained the entire life story of his grandfather in them. Lifting one lid off slowly, the first thing that greeted his eyes was an old black and white photo of a group of men obviously in German military uniforms from the 2nd world war. They were lounging around a dead campfire in a rough circle next to a tank, and from the looks of it, was undergoing repairs by its crew. Flipping the photo to the back, the unmistakable handwriting of his grandfather can be seen.
<br>
<br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite><span style="font-style: italic;">'25. Juni 1943. Sommers. Russland' </span><25 June 1943. Summer. Russia>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">Nahkampfspange in Gold</span>' <Close Combat Clasp in Gold></blockquote><br>
<br>Piquing his interest, he returned back to the front of the photo to look for the familiar face of his grandfather, however the only person who caught his eye was that of a beautiful smiling man wrapping one arm around one of the dusty figures while he had the other hand over his left breast pocket, fingers grasping on a long horizontal looking medal which was tugged forward from his chest. Something about the man and the way he acted, made Max blink repeatedly in disbelief.
<br>
<br>"Unbelievable, isn't it?", His mother said over his shoulder as Max turned at her voice.
<br>
<br>"Mother… surely, this can't be…"
<br>
<br>"It sure is. THAT is Gerhard von Natzmer. I believe he was 22 years of age at the time", his mother smiled as she continued, "I remembered when your father first introduced me to him. Even at his advancing age, he emitted a charm that drew women to him like wild maddened bears to honey. Your poor grandmother had a hard time keeping them away from him", she laughed.
<br>
<br>"Almost exactly like your father", she stuck her tongue out at Hermann who finally returned to the study room.
<br>
<br>"Huh? What? What did I do?"
<br>
<br>"Exactly! You didn’t do anything!", she harrumphed.
<br>
<br>When Hermann's eyes alighted upon the old photograph, he suddenly grinned as he stood next to Max. "I don’t suppose you know what it means to get one of those medals do you, Max?"
<br>
<br>Max could only shake his head as his father then offered him another question.
<br>
<br>"Out of the 20 million men who served in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Wehrmacht</span> <Armed Forces> how many do you think was awarded this particular medal?"
<br>
<br>Thinking briefly, Max roughly posited, "40,000?"
<br>
<br>"Well if you were thinking of the Bronze version then you are close. This medal is awarded for exactly what it is named for. Close combat. 15+ battles for Bronze. 25+ battles for Silver. 50+ battles for Gold."
<br>
<br>Hermann smiled as he traced the medal on the photographed fondly before he continued, "Only 631 such medals were ever awarded. It was more highly prized than even a <span style="font-style: italic;">Ritterkreuz </span><Knight's Cross> which, by the way, was also awarded to him and should be around this box somewhere. But as I was saying, YOUR grandfather had survived 73 battles of brutal hand to hand combat. "
<br>
<br>"Which means", suddenly wrapping his arms around his son's neck, and knuckling him roughly on the head, "he is one tough bastard".
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard woke up fitfully from his sleep, the dream was as always ebbing away before he can catch hold of it only for him to see that dawn was barely rising over the cloudless horizon. The sound of snoring could be heard all around him as he quietly got up to stretch sore muscles caused from the rough cold ground, nodding once at the sentry who was freezing silently hidden up the foliage of a tree, before making his way closer to the campfire. Already the Denarion was up and about, a rank akin to <span style="font-style: italic;">Unterfeldwebel</span> <Sergeant> as Gerhard understood it and as such a man who was supposedly extremely capable. Stifling a yawn, he sat down opposite the Denarion and reached out for the ladle to scoop out some of the simmering soup that one of the men had prepared the night before.
<br>
<br>The unit including Gerhard consisted only of 12 men, and though he was a special case, as he was applying for apprenticeship with a knight, technically he had to follow the commands of the Denarion until they had arrived at their destination. However considering the severity of the reports they were receiving from villages they had passed as they marched their way along the road, it seemed madness that only a single squad was being sent to reinforce the rapidly deteriorating situation. But that was all the capital could spare hugely due to the fact that a sizeable portion of the military had joined a punitive force led by a temporary knight named Darius. To which every single Orc across the border was exploiting Rosenheim's lack of manpower whilst human bandits were adding to the growing chaos in the countryside.
<br>
<br>Nevertheless, they were making good time and to Gerhard's surprise he had also gained a new stat during the journey. In the initial few hours after they had set forth from Serabourg, Gerhard had begun humming as he usually does, which sounded so catchy that the fresh faced recruits in the unit grew interested and asked to learn the tune. Before long, he had taught them the German lyrics and they sang as they marched for hours on end and by the 7th day a message bar popped open for Gerhard.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>New Stat: Singing
<br>
<br>A talented singer that brings forth hidden depths of strength and courage from within oneself and allies. Easier to win a girl's heart.
<br>Improves when you sing or compose a song.
<br>Different songs may yield different benefits.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>This caused Gerhard to raise an eyebrow in amusement though it didn’t curb his singing in the slightest. The march towards the frontier was more akin to a leisurely stroll in comparison to the pace that was demanded when he was a <span style="font-style: italic;">Soldate der deutschen Armee</span> <Soldier of the German army> to which he found he could sing all he want and the men around him responded in kind. It was such a strange feeling, the sense of camaraderie he felt with these NPCs, who didn't even speak the same mother tongue as him and yet here they were laughing, joking and insulting each other with the familiarity of old comrades as the camp started to rouse awake.
<br>
<br>But the mood became subdued as they approached the next village, with clear signs of battle damage everywhere. The roof of one house was caved in and smoke could still be seen rising from the ashes within whilst there were bodies of the villagers splayed haphazardly like broken dolls everywhere. The bodies already had flies swarming around them. The scene was so disconcertingly familiar to Gerhard that he felt bile rising in his throat, feeling almost like he was standing on the fields of the Eastern Front once again, where he passed the handiwork of German divisions that had long raced ahead towards Moscow. War was never pretty but the vile things that some of his compatriots did left a bad aftertaste in his mouth… though years later he would find himself in the same position.
<br>
<br>The unit continued its march towards the centre of the village to which Gerhard felt that they should have sent scouts ahead but since he had no authority whatsoever, like a good former soldier he kept his mouth firmly shut. That didn’t mean he would be any less vigilant though as he kept his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings from the rear of the unit where he was stationed. Already the extensive destruction was forcing the unit to bunch up closer than he liked, that Gerhard intuitively tugged on the armour of the man in front to slow down and keep pace with him instead. The recruit looked extremely keyed up because of the situation but Gerhard just grinned and made a rude gesture to which the lad chuckled as his tension eased.
<br>
<br>When they reached their objective a well located in a wide opened public square, the Denarion halted the column and after a cursory glance at his surroundings, signalled for the men to be at ease. However a weird smell was being emitted from the well and an alarmingly bad feeling was beginning to creep up along Gerhard's spine, so much so that before the man in front could yelp, Gerhard grabbed the soldier and literally threw him back into the rubble filled lane and promptly joined him. The rest of the unit could only look back askance at his behaviour, before the reason for it became quite apparent: a single fire arrow arching up into the air before pitching perfectly into the well. The Denarion and the men who had crowded around the well were instantly incinerated, as a cone of fire burst upward from within the opening of the well before the shock wave knocked the others to the ground. The ground rippled outwards from the epicentre before collapsing back inwards dragging a few more unlucky souls into its fiery depth as Gerhard exhaled all the breath from his body so as to not have his eardrums burst from the pressure.
<br>
<br>When the explosion ran its course, all that could be heard were screams and cries of pain everywhere. Through the black hazy smoke a rain of arrows falling amongst the prone men of the unit could be seen. For a flickering moment, to Gerhard's eyes the scene became superimposed with that of the Siege of Stalingrad, where an entire German Army was destroyed in 5 months of gruelling combat, before reality reasserted itself and he stood up amidst the crossfire of arrows and ran into the maelstrom.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Männer!</span> <Men!> Get up! Move, damn it!", Gerhard cried as he sprinted from one man to the other, checking to see if they were alright.
<br>
<br>The raw recruits were either stunned or too frightened to move and Gerhard knew that they were going to be annihilated if he didn't do something drastic quickly. Dragging one limp body back into cover, he yelled to the cowering recruit who was unhurt due to Gerhard's actions before, "Look after him!", and then he took off into the direction of the buildings surrounding the square.
<br>
<br>Kicking a door down, Gerhard leapt in and rolled, avoiding a sword swing to his face before righting back up and stabbing the sword into the mob's back.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Critical Hit!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>A brief look showed that it was a human, probably one of the bandits plaguing the area but because of the brown clothing and armour he was wearing, Gerhard once again felt like he was transported to a different place and time, the face of a Russian boy soldier he had bayoneted trying to feebly force the blade out. Only the sound of screaming outside brought him back to his senses, and he pulled the blade out of the limp body. The reason why Gerhard could instantly kill the mob was quite simple, his gear and basic training. The gifts given to him by his fan girls were not only attractive; it also boosted up his already formidable stats.
<br>Racing up the stairs, he found some of the archers firing down unto the street, all in the same brown colour scheme and Gerhard could already feel that he was mentally drifting away. Before it could happen he bulldozed into the centre of the group and swung his sword like a madman. He had always known that he was no longer quite the same man from before the war, that somewhere along the line he had become broken, gone a little crazy. He never went skiing with his family because the snow reminded him too much of Russia, or would always be alert out in parks during a family picnic. Maybe one cannot escape the trauma etched unto your soul, but in the here and now it was interfering with his duties. And that was to save those recruits outside, the fact that they were NPCs mattered not. For Gerhard was once a commanding officer within the <span style="font-style: italic;">Großdeutschland </span>division and he will be damned if he let men die pointlessly under his watch.
<br>
<br>And so, Gerhard began to sing, something he never did in reality, in battle, back in World War 2. He sang to focus his mind on the here and now, to see his enemies for who they were, not the brave Russian soldiers of his memories, but vile bandits who had slaughtered an entire village for personal gain. He sang to beat back the Terror of Death, even though in his head he knew that this is only a game, his heart and soul responded by quickening his movements, strength flowing through his limbs just as it did all those years ago, in another place, in another time. When it was over, Gerhard was the only one left standing, splattered in the blood of his enemies but multiple message bubbles began appearing one after the other.
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ding!</span>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>Charisma has risen by 3 points (+3 CHR)</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-weight: bold;">Class Change!
<br>You can convert to a secret class Sword Singer. If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class that are withheld from the primary classes.
<br>Do you want to convert to Sword Singer?</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard just shrugged and replied, "I accept". One class is as good as any is how he truly felt, and another message bubble popped up.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">You've levelled up!
<br>Level up:
<br>Sword Mastery[5]
<br>+50% STR
<br>+15% Agility
<br>Skill:
<br>You acquired a new skill, <span style="color: #FF0000;">Sword Song</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">SKILLS WINDOW</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Passive</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Forced March</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #0040BF;">(0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, movement speed is increased to all members due to your motivating song
<br>+ 5%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Herald of the King</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #0040BF;">(0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, your leadership is increased temporarily.
<br>+ 2 mins</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Lord of Battles</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #0040BF;">(0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, attack power is increased to all members due to your motivating song. Additional effects on your sword mastery.
<br>+ 5%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Sword Mastery</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.5 <span style="color: #0040BF;">(78%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Increases attack power and speed for equipping a sword.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Active</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Sword Song</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #0040BF;">(0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Increases attack speed and critical chance. If leadership higher than opponents, additional effect of 'slowed' is applied on enemies.
<br>Mana consumption: 40 per second</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>Instead of wasting time reading what he had gained, Gerhard closed the screen, gripped the handle of his sword tightly, before moving into the next building. He had comrades to save.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br><span style="font-size: 1.7em;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">6 July, 1942.
<br>Crossing of the Don, Assault on Voronezh City</span></span></span>
<br>
<br>
<br>*Fhwipp* *Fhwipp* *Fhwipp* *Fhwipp*
<br>
<br>Bullets constantly flew through the air as the men of the recently rebuilt <span style="font-style: italic;">Großdeutschland</span>, now an entire division of thousands, which were formed from the sixty survivors of the winter battles of 1941, were paddling desperately hard on overcrowded rubber boats towards the opposite shore, where the heavily defended riverbank suburbs of <span style="font-style: italic;">Voronezh</span> awaits. Comprising of poor low huddled homes interspersed with a few towering stone or brick buildings; the entire area was being blanketed by bombardment by German air and artillery support units, plumes of dirt rising up constantly in a never ending stream of intervals that it looked like a fireworks display on the ground. If you can ignore the screams, flying shrapnel and debris that is.
<br>
<br>The German assault force was meant to have landed north of the city, where they could reform and attack on foot, however, due to the fast river current, vast proportions of the rubber boats were being swept downriver… into the waiting guns of the Russian shore defence teams. Men were frantically ducking down as low as they could into the rubber dinghies, the occasional shout of pain followed by a gurgling blood filled gasp, or just the silence that comes when your life was ended instantly without you even knowing, was such a common scene on many boats. A few such ships would reach the far bank, leaking from numerous bullet holes… only for there to be no movement, the entire occupants lying dead in a rising pool of their own blood mixing with the water of the Don river.
<br>
<br>There was only one area of relative calm on the shore, a beachhead having been established in the face of unrelenting gun and mortar fire from the entrenched Russians, German MG34 teams hosing the windows and any such openings with their machine guns to keep the <span style="font-style: italic;">Ivans</span> <Russians> heads down. Leaping from his boat that was punctured full of holes, the German soldier ran through the storm of lead, the sand from the riverbank kicking up all around him as he was spotted by the Russians, a bullet managing to score a deep rent in his metal helmet as he veered towards the side, happening to spot what he was looking for.
<br>
<br>Diving into a ditch filled with groaning wounded soldiers, he crawled towards a man calmly listening in on the radio, marking locations on his map even as the air around him whistled with flying lead, the terrain they were in not providing even a rudimentary form of cover from enemy fire.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/GerOffizier_zpsaa069d13.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...069d13.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Hauptmann!</span> <Captain!>", the man called out in greeting, before ducking face first into the dirt as the ground next to him puffed up from a passing bullet, "glad to see you are alive!", spitting sand out from his mouth.
<br>
<br>"Welcome to the war, Karl", Gerhard waved vaguely in the direction of the enemy, "Feel free to win it for us"
<br>
<br>"We are really in the shit, aren't we?!", Karl, his Sergeant laughed.
<br>
<br>"…. Karl, we need to move. From what I can decipher from this mess on the radio, we have only managed to land in small pockets. Grab whoever you can find and pull some of the MG teams out of the sand", Gerhard then pointed towards a distant crumbling building, "I will grab some men and see you in there"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Jawohl, Herr Hauptmann!</span> <As you willed, Captain!>", Karl responded with a grin, scurrying backwards on his hands and knees before flipping over to lie on his back, "YOU! YOU! AND YOU!", pointing to several cowering soldiers, "GIVE THE <span style="font-style: italic;">HAUPTMANN</span> <CAPTAIN> A HAND! STOP CRYING YOU GIRL! LOSING A FINGER IS ONLY A FLESH WOUND!", before he then went off to locate the soldiers that his captain required.
<br>
<br>By the time he had returned, Karl almost groaned in disbelief as he spotted his Captain and impromptu squad already racing across the open ground, Gerhard's distinctive war cry of "<span style="font-style: italic;">GROßDEUTSCHLAND</span>!", piercing out and cutting through the ambience of war, as he barged into the building, sounds of gunfire erupting from within.
<br>
<br>Turning to the men behind him Karl shouted out, "C'MON LADIES!! WE ARE NOT PAID BY THE HOUR! <span style="font-style: italic;">AUF GROßDEUTSCHLAND! AUF AUF! </span><UP GROßDEUTSCHLAND! UP UP!> FOLLOW THE <span style="font-style: italic;">HAUPTMANN</span>!<CAPTAIN!>"
<br>
<br>With a wild yell, the men chased after the Sergeant into the maelstrom, praying that the bullets would just pass them by… stumbling through into the building, Karl turned back to see a trail of dead comrades …. where obviously prayers had failed them. Glancing about wildly, he found his Captain swiftly pulling out a bayonet from a Russian soldier… with the face of a youth. Gerhard's face was impassive, however, as Karl stood next to him saying, "They keep just getting younger don't they?"
<br>
<br>"…That they do, Karl", Gerhard replied woodenly before asking, "You got the MG crews?"
<br>
<br>"Signed, sealed", and thumbing over his shoulders, "and delivered. Excuse the bleeding, though"
<br>
<br>"… I will excuse them for ruining their uniforms. Just for today", Gerhard grinned jokingly, although the smile did not reach his eyes, as the horrors of the day did not seemed like it would end anytime soon.
<br>
<br>Turning to the machine gun crews, Gerhard called out, "Hoste! Take your gun and set it up over by that window", he pointed, the soldier doing as he was told instantly, flipping down the bipod of his weapon to allow it to sit on the windowsill, whilst his loader feeds the ammunition belt into the breech of the gun.
<br>
<br>"Dietl! Tomas! Your crews follow me from behind and set up where the <span style="font-style: italic;">Unterfeldwebel</span> <Sergeant> directs!", Gerhard finished.
<br>
<br>This left Gerhard with just seven men for his crazed assault… but someone had to do it. Kicking down the door at the back of the building, Gerhard shouted, " <span style="font-style: italic;">GROßDEUTSCHLAND!</span>", and leapt through, bullet holes appearing around the doorframe from enemy fire as the men followed willingly to save their comrades, trapped along the river bank.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqFE/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Gentle Light</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Ending_zpsbc81b361.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...81b361.jpg"></div>
</div> | [INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
*********************************************************************************************
There was severe coughing coming from the attic as Max's father came down the ladder with a pair of browning old boxes stacked one upon the other. Max reached out to help his father while his mother 'tut tutted' behind him due to the sheer amount of dust gently spreading downward like a cloud from the ceiling.
"I will go get the vacuum", his mother declared, "And Hermann dear, you better dust yourself outside, NOW! Or else I am throwing both the clothes and you into the washing machine!"
"Maaax. Your mother is bullying me!", his father complained to which Max only chuckled in reply.
Grumbling, Hermann went outside to do as he was told while Max used a wet cloth to wipe the dust off the boxes. He had seen these boxes as a kid playing upstairs in the attic with his cousins but he had never known they contained the entire life story of his grandfather in them. Lifting one lid off slowly, the first thing that greeted his eyes was an old black and white photo of a group of men obviously in German military uniforms from the 2nd world war. They were lounging around a dead campfire in a rough circle next to a tank, and from the looks of it, was undergoing repairs by its crew. Flipping the photo to the back, the unmistakable handwriting of his grandfather can be seen.
> Quote:'25. Juni 1943. Sommers. Russland' <25 June 1943. Summer. Russia>
>
> 'Nahkampfspange in Gold' <Close Combat Clasp in Gold>
Piquing his interest, he returned back to the front of the photo to look for the familiar face of his grandfather, however the only person who caught his eye was that of a beautiful smiling man wrapping one arm around one of the dusty figures while he had the other hand over his left breast pocket, fingers grasping on a long horizontal looking medal which was tugged forward from his chest. Something about the man and the way he acted, made Max blink repeatedly in disbelief.
"Unbelievable, isn't it?", His mother said over his shoulder as Max turned at her voice.
"Mother… surely, this can't be…"
"It sure is. THAT is Gerhard von Natzmer. I believe he was 22 years of age at the time", his mother smiled as she continued, "I remembered when your father first introduced me to him. Even at his advancing age, he emitted a charm that drew women to him like wild maddened bears to honey. Your poor grandmother had a hard time keeping them away from him", she laughed.
"Almost exactly like your father", she stuck her tongue out at Hermann who finally returned to the study room.
"Huh? What? What did I do?"
"Exactly! You didn’t do anything!", she harrumphed.
When Hermann's eyes alighted upon the old photograph, he suddenly grinned as he stood next to Max. "I don’t suppose you know what it means to get one of those medals do you, Max?"
Max could only shake his head as his father then offered him another question.
"Out of the 20 million men who served in the Wehrmacht <Armed Forces> how many do you think was awarded this particular medal?"
Thinking briefly, Max roughly posited, "40,000?"
"Well if you were thinking of the Bronze version then you are close. This medal is awarded for exactly what it is named for. Close combat. 15+ battles for Bronze. 25+ battles for Silver. 50+ battles for Gold."
Hermann smiled as he traced the medal on the photographed fondly before he continued, "Only 631 such medals were ever awarded. It was more highly prized than even a Ritterkreuz <Knight's Cross> which, by the way, was also awarded to him and should be around this box somewhere. But as I was saying, YOUR grandfather had survived 73 battles of brutal hand to hand combat. "
"Which means", suddenly wrapping his arms around his son's neck, and knuckling him roughly on the head, "he is one tough bastard".
*********************************************************************************************
Gerhard woke up fitfully from his sleep, the dream was as always ebbing away before he can catch hold of it only for him to see that dawn was barely rising over the cloudless horizon. The sound of snoring could be heard all around him as he quietly got up to stretch sore muscles caused from the rough cold ground, nodding once at the sentry who was freezing silently hidden up the foliage of a tree, before making his way closer to the campfire. Already the Denarion was up and about, a rank akin to Unterfeldwebel <Sergeant> as Gerhard understood it and as such a man who was supposedly extremely capable. Stifling a yawn, he sat down opposite the Denarion and reached out for the ladle to scoop out some of the simmering soup that one of the men had prepared the night before.
The unit including Gerhard consisted only of 12 men, and though he was a special case, as he was applying for apprenticeship with a knight, technically he had to follow the commands of the Denarion until they had arrived at their destination. However considering the severity of the reports they were receiving from villages they had passed as they marched their way along the road, it seemed madness that only a single squad was being sent to reinforce the rapidly deteriorating situation. But that was all the capital could spare hugely due to the fact that a sizeable portion of the military had joined a punitive force led by a temporary knight named Darius. To which every single Orc across the border was exploiting Rosenheim's lack of manpower whilst human bandits were adding to the growing chaos in the countryside.
Nevertheless, they were making good time and to Gerhard's surprise he had also gained a new stat during the journey. In the initial few hours after they had set forth from Serabourg, Gerhard had begun humming as he usually does, which sounded so catchy that the fresh faced recruits in the unit grew interested and asked to learn the tune. Before long, he had taught them the German lyrics and they sang as they marched for hours on end and by the 7th day a message bar popped open for Gerhard.
*Tring!
| New Stat: Singing A talented singer that brings forth hidden depths of strength and courage from within oneself and allies. Easier to win a girl's heart. Improves when you sing or compose a song. Different songs may yield different benefits. |
| --- |
This caused Gerhard to raise an eyebrow in amusement though it didn’t curb his singing in the slightest. The march towards the frontier was more akin to a leisurely stroll in comparison to the pace that was demanded when he was a Soldate der deutschen Armee <Soldier of the German army> to which he found he could sing all he want and the men around him responded in kind. It was such a strange feeling, the sense of camaraderie he felt with these NPCs, who didn't even speak the same mother tongue as him and yet here they were laughing, joking and insulting each other with the familiarity of old comrades as the camp started to rouse awake.
But the mood became subdued as they approached the next village, with clear signs of battle damage everywhere. The roof of one house was caved in and smoke could still be seen rising from the ashes within whilst there were bodies of the villagers splayed haphazardly like broken dolls everywhere. The bodies already had flies swarming around them. The scene was so disconcertingly familiar to Gerhard that he felt bile rising in his throat, feeling almost like he was standing on the fields of the Eastern Front once again, where he passed the handiwork of German divisions that had long raced ahead towards Moscow. War was never pretty but the vile things that some of his compatriots did left a bad aftertaste in his mouth… though years later he would find himself in the same position.
The unit continued its march towards the centre of the village to which Gerhard felt that they should have sent scouts ahead but since he had no authority whatsoever, like a good former soldier he kept his mouth firmly shut. That didn’t mean he would be any less vigilant though as he kept his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings from the rear of the unit where he was stationed. Already the extensive destruction was forcing the unit to bunch up closer than he liked, that Gerhard intuitively tugged on the armour of the man in front to slow down and keep pace with him instead. The recruit looked extremely keyed up because of the situation but Gerhard just grinned and made a rude gesture to which the lad chuckled as his tension eased.
When they reached their objective a well located in a wide opened public square, the Denarion halted the column and after a cursory glance at his surroundings, signalled for the men to be at ease. However a weird smell was being emitted from the well and an alarmingly bad feeling was beginning to creep up along Gerhard's spine, so much so that before the man in front could yelp, Gerhard grabbed the soldier and literally threw him back into the rubble filled lane and promptly joined him. The rest of the unit could only look back askance at his behaviour, before the reason for it became quite apparent: a single fire arrow arching up into the air before pitching perfectly into the well. The Denarion and the men who had crowded around the well were instantly incinerated, as a cone of fire burst upward from within the opening of the well before the shock wave knocked the others to the ground. The ground rippled outwards from the epicentre before collapsing back inwards dragging a few more unlucky souls into its fiery depth as Gerhard exhaled all the breath from his body so as to not have his eardrums burst from the pressure.
When the explosion ran its course, all that could be heard were screams and cries of pain everywhere. Through the black hazy smoke a rain of arrows falling amongst the prone men of the unit could be seen. For a flickering moment, to Gerhard's eyes the scene became superimposed with that of the Siege of Stalingrad, where an entire German Army was destroyed in 5 months of gruelling combat, before reality reasserted itself and he stood up amidst the crossfire of arrows and ran into the maelstrom.
"Männer! <Men!> Get up! Move, damn it!", Gerhard cried as he sprinted from one man to the other, checking to see if they were alright.
The raw recruits were either stunned or too frightened to move and Gerhard knew that they were going to be annihilated if he didn't do something drastic quickly. Dragging one limp body back into cover, he yelled to the cowering recruit who was unhurt due to Gerhard's actions before, "Look after him!", and then he took off into the direction of the buildings surrounding the square.
Kicking a door down, Gerhard leapt in and rolled, avoiding a sword swing to his face before righting back up and stabbing the sword into the mob's back.
| Critical Hit! | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
A brief look showed that it was a human, probably one of the bandits plaguing the area but because of the brown clothing and armour he was wearing, Gerhard once again felt like he was transported to a different place and time, the face of a Russian boy soldier he had bayoneted trying to feebly force the blade out. Only the sound of screaming outside brought him back to his senses, and he pulled the blade out of the limp body. The reason why Gerhard could instantly kill the mob was quite simple, his gear and basic training. The gifts given to him by his fan girls were not only attractive; it also boosted up his already formidable stats.
Racing up the stairs, he found some of the archers firing down unto the street, all in the same brown colour scheme and Gerhard could already feel that he was mentally drifting away. Before it could happen he bulldozed into the centre of the group and swung his sword like a madman. He had always known that he was no longer quite the same man from before the war, that somewhere along the line he had become broken, gone a little crazy. He never went skiing with his family because the snow reminded him too much of Russia, or would always be alert out in parks during a family picnic. Maybe one cannot escape the trauma etched unto your soul, but in the here and now it was interfering with his duties. And that was to save those recruits outside, the fact that they were NPCs mattered not. For Gerhard was once a commanding officer within the Großdeutschland division and he will be damned if he let men die pointlessly under his watch.
And so, Gerhard began to sing, something he never did in reality, in battle, back in World War 2. He sang to focus his mind on the here and now, to see his enemies for who they were, not the brave Russian soldiers of his memories, but vile bandits who had slaughtered an entire village for personal gain. He sang to beat back the Terror of Death, even though in his head he knew that this is only a game, his heart and soul responded by quickening his movements, strength flowing through his limbs just as it did all those years ago, in another place, in another time. When it was over, Gerhard was the only one left standing, splattered in the blood of his enemies but multiple message bubbles began appearing one after the other.
*Ding!
| You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! Charisma has risen by 3 points (+3 CHR) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Class Change! You can convert to a secret class Sword Singer. If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class that are withheld from the primary classes. Do you want to convert to Sword Singer? |
| --- |
Gerhard just shrugged and replied, "I accept". One class is as good as any is how he truly felt, and another message bubble popped up.
| You've levelled up! Level up: Sword Mastery[5] +50% STR +15% Agility Skill: You acquired a new skill, Sword Song | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SKILLS WINDOW | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Passive | | | |
| Forced March | Lv.1 (0%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, movement speed is increased to all members due to your motivating song + 5% | |
| Herald of the King | Lv.1 (0%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, your leadership is increased temporarily. + 2 mins | |
| Lord of Battles | Lv.1 (0%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, attack power is increased to all members due to your motivating song. Additional effects on your sword mastery. + 5% | |
| Sword Mastery | Lv.5 (78%) | Increases attack power and speed for equipping a sword. | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Active | | | |
| Sword Song | Lv.1 (0%) | Increases attack speed and critical chance. If leadership higher than opponents, additional effect of 'slowed' is applied on enemies. Mana consumption: 40 per second | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
Instead of wasting time reading what he had gained, Gerhard closed the screen, gripped the handle of his sword tightly, before moving into the next building. He had comrades to save.
*********************************************************************************************
6 July, 1942.
Crossing of the Don, Assault on Voronezh City
*Fhwipp* *Fhwipp* *Fhwipp* *Fhwipp*
Bullets constantly flew through the air as the men of the recently rebuilt Großdeutschland, now an entire division of thousands, which were formed from the sixty survivors of the winter battles of 1941, were paddling desperately hard on overcrowded rubber boats towards the opposite shore, where the heavily defended riverbank suburbs of Voronezh awaits. Comprising of poor low huddled homes interspersed with a few towering stone or brick buildings; the entire area was being blanketed by bombardment by German air and artillery support units, plumes of dirt rising up constantly in a never ending stream of intervals that it looked like a fireworks display on the ground. If you can ignore the screams, flying shrapnel and debris that is.
The German assault force was meant to have landed north of the city, where they could reform and attack on foot, however, due to the fast river current, vast proportions of the rubber boats were being swept downriver… into the waiting guns of the Russian shore defence teams. Men were frantically ducking down as low as they could into the rubber dinghies, the occasional shout of pain followed by a gurgling blood filled gasp, or just the silence that comes when your life was ended instantly without you even knowing, was such a common scene on many boats. A few such ships would reach the far bank, leaking from numerous bullet holes… only for there to be no movement, the entire occupants lying dead in a rising pool of their own blood mixing with the water of the Don river.
There was only one area of relative calm on the shore, a beachhead having been established in the face of unrelenting gun and mortar fire from the entrenched Russians, German MG34 teams hosing the windows and any such openings with their machine guns to keep the Ivans <Russians> heads down. Leaping from his boat that was punctured full of holes, the German soldier ran through the storm of lead, the sand from the riverbank kicking up all around him as he was spotted by the Russians, a bullet managing to score a deep rent in his metal helmet as he veered towards the side, happening to spot what he was looking for.
Diving into a ditch filled with groaning wounded soldiers, he crawled towards a man calmly listening in on the radio, marking locations on his map even as the air around him whistled with flying lead, the terrain they were in not providing even a rudimentary form of cover from enemy fire.
"Herr Hauptmann! <Captain!>", the man called out in greeting, before ducking face first into the dirt as the ground next to him puffed up from a passing bullet, "glad to see you are alive!", spitting sand out from his mouth.
"Welcome to the war, Karl", Gerhard waved vaguely in the direction of the enemy, "Feel free to win it for us"
"We are really in the shit, aren't we?!", Karl, his Sergeant laughed.
"…. Karl, we need to move. From what I can decipher from this mess on the radio, we have only managed to land in small pockets. Grab whoever you can find and pull some of the MG teams out of the sand", Gerhard then pointed towards a distant crumbling building, "I will grab some men and see you in there"
"Jawohl, Herr Hauptmann! <As you willed, Captain!>", Karl responded with a grin, scurrying backwards on his hands and knees before flipping over to lie on his back, "YOU! YOU! AND YOU!", pointing to several cowering soldiers, "GIVE THE HAUPTMANN <CAPTAIN> A HAND! STOP CRYING YOU GIRL! LOSING A FINGER IS ONLY A FLESH WOUND!", before he then went off to locate the soldiers that his captain required.
By the time he had returned, Karl almost groaned in disbelief as he spotted his Captain and impromptu squad already racing across the open ground, Gerhard's distinctive war cry of "GROßDEUTSCHLAND!", piercing out and cutting through the ambience of war, as he barged into the building, sounds of gunfire erupting from within.
Turning to the men behind him Karl shouted out, "C'MON LADIES!! WE ARE NOT PAID BY THE HOUR! AUF GROßDEUTSCHLAND! AUF AUF! <UP GROßDEUTSCHLAND! UP UP!> FOLLOW THE HAUPTMANN!<CAPTAIN!>"
With a wild yell, the men chased after the Sergeant into the maelstrom, praying that the bullets would just pass them by… stumbling through into the building, Karl turned back to see a trail of dead comrades …. where obviously prayers had failed them. Glancing about wildly, he found his Captain swiftly pulling out a bayonet from a Russian soldier… with the face of a youth. Gerhard's face was impassive, however, as Karl stood next to him saying, "They keep just getting younger don't they?"
"…That they do, Karl", Gerhard replied woodenly before asking, "You got the MG crews?"
"Signed, sealed", and thumbing over his shoulders, "and delivered. Excuse the bleeding, though"
"… I will excuse them for ruining their uniforms. Just for today", Gerhard grinned jokingly, although the smile did not reach his eyes, as the horrors of the day did not seemed like it would end anytime soon.
Turning to the machine gun crews, Gerhard called out, "Hoste! Take your gun and set it up over by that window", he pointed, the soldier doing as he was told instantly, flipping down the bipod of his weapon to allow it to sit on the windowsill, whilst his loader feeds the ammunition belt into the breech of the gun.
"Dietl! Tomas! Your crews follow me from behind and set up where the Unterfeldwebel <Sergeant> directs!", Gerhard finished.
This left Gerhard with just seven men for his crazed assault… but someone had to do it. Kicking down the door at the back of the building, Gerhard shouted, " GROßDEUTSCHLAND!", and leapt through, bullet holes appearing around the doorframe from enemy fire as the men followed willingly to save their comrades, trapped along the river bank.
*********************************************************************************************
[Ending Song: Gentle Light](http://picosong.com/FqFE/)
 |
{
"title": "The Lost Sun by Grisia",
"id": 33,
"author": "Grisia",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "The Lost Sun - Volume 1 Chapter 3 (Revamped)",
"id": 36,
"next": 37,
"prev": 35,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The Lost Sun Revamped - Ch.3: Limit<br><br><br>“Is it a curse that I always end up as a priest?” Sun thought to himself. In his own world, he would always be branded as a priest instead of a Holy Knight because of his poor sword skills.<br><br>Personal matters aside, he was finally able to leave the city and look for clues. Then he realized a very important fact that he had not noticed before. He didn’t have anywhere to start looking in the first place. From his research he knew that the known continent was gigantic. He would never be able to find any answers by just wandering around and sooner or later his money will run out.<br><br>“Sun, there you are.” Calvin called out to him. “It’s a good thing that you have not departed yet.”<br><br>Calvin reached into the box he was carrying and pulled out a robe and a staff.<br><br>“Here is the basic equipment for a priest that has joined the Order.”<br><br>Sun took the equipment and looked over it.<br><br>Priest Robe: Durability 90/90. Defense: 2<br>A standard robe made for a priest of the Order of Freya.<br>Restriction: Faith 50. Recognized by the Order of Freya.<br>Equip: Raises Faith by 10. Raises mana regeneration by 10%.<br><br>Priest Staff: Durability 80/80. Attack 2-8.<br>A standard staff made for a priest of the Order of Freya.<br>Restriction: Faith 50. Recognized by the Order of Freya.<br>Equip: Raises Faith by 10. Holy based magic power raised by 10%.<br><br>Along with the robe and the stuff, Calvin handed him two dozen small vials of [Holy Water].<br><br>“These shall help you in your journey.”<br><br>Sun thanked Calvin for his consideration but was still troubled about what he should do from here on.<br>“Sun, could it be that you do not have any plans about where to start your journey?” Calvin noticed Sun’s hesitation. “If that is so, then let me offer a suggestion.”<br><br>“What is it?”<br><br>“In the nearby town of Lexington, the Order has a large problem with the growing number of undead. Though they are fine for now but, if the number of undead continues to rise, it would most likely result in the destruction of the town.”<br><br>“That’s horrible.” Sun never did like the undead very much.<br><br>“That’s why they decided to put together a task force to find and eliminate the source of the undead. Earlier this week, they sent a message to the church requesting aid in the expedition. Would you be willing to lend you skills to this request?” Calvin asked him hopefully.<br><br>The Infestation of Lexington<br>The rising number of undead in Lexington has become a growing concern for its inhabitants and its neighboring towns. Join the expedition to find and destroy the source of the undead.<br>Difficulty Level: E<br>Requirement: Recognized by the Order of Freya.<br>Reward: The results will determine the reward.<br><br>Sun thought about the benefits that accepting this mission would have. Taking this mission would at least give him somewhere to start looking. Since the expedition was led by the Order of Freya, then that meant he wouldn’t have to pay for his meals. He wouldn’t be placing his life in any danger since, as a priest, he was safe in the back of the fight with plenty of meat shields in the front.<br><br>“I will join the expedition to save the town.”<br><br>You accepted the quest.<br><br>“I am happy to hear that Sun.” Calvin was overjoyed at his response. “You are the honorable and righteous person I thought you were.”<br><br>Calvin recommended that Sun go buy some supplies for the trip as well as a map. Since most of the items were common everyday material, they could all be bought at the same place. Sun headed to the general store to make his purchases.<br><br>“Welcome!” a cheerful voice came from within the store as Sun walked in.<br><br>“Hello there Recette, how has business been lately?” Sun asked her.<br><br>Recette was the owner of the item shop Recettear. The shop sold various types of items, such as swords and loot from monsters. It was pretty weird the type of random stuff she would sell, and surprisingly enough there were people that bought that random stuff.<br><br>“It has been pretty good lately.” She answered him. “What are you looking for today Sun?”<br><br>Thanks to his contributions to the church, almost all the NPCs in town knew who he was by sight.<br><br>“I’m planning on going on a journey and I’m going to need some supplies.”<br><br>“Eh? So you’re planning on leaving the citadel?” Recette asked him curiously.<br><br>“Yea.” Sun answered and then started choosing the various things he would need for his journey. The number of things he bought was mainly food, camping supplies, bandages and herbs, and a map.<br><br>Recette began totaling up the price for the purchase.<br><br>“The price is going to be 5 gold.” She said after a brief moment.<br><br>“That’s a bit high; can’t you come down a little?” Sun tried to see if he could barter for a lower price.<br><br>“Since you’re part of the Order, then I can come down a little bit.” Recette began to see how much she could lower the price by. “How about 4 gold 80 silver?”<br><br>That was the effect of belonging to the Order; people that believe in the Church would give several types of benefits to the members of the Order.<br><br>“That sounds perfect.” Sun reached into his pocket and paid for his purchase. The items were then transferred to his inventory. Sun was still amazed at the pouch he had. Seemingly small, it was capable of holding several times its capacity and weight. It was as if it was a small 4-dimensional pouch that could magically hold anything, however even these pouches had a limit on its capacity.<br><br>“Thank you for your purchase!” Recette called out to him as he left the store.<br><br>Sun left the store a bit unsatisfied. Recette was a cute young girl, yet she had not shown any interest in him at all. It couldn’t have been his appearance since back in his world, he would always get first place on the Sunshine Beautiful Men list. Sun could not really find a reason why he was always so unpopular with women.<br><br>Little to his knowledge, in this world, the female NPCs did not show any romantic feelings towards users unless they are supposed to. The female user base didn’t have any romantic feelings for Sun either because they thought he was an NPC.<br><br>“Perhaps this is my fate as the Sun Knight.” Sun sighed over his misfortune.<br><br>Feeling depressed, he headed for the exit of the town.<br><br>“Halt.” The guard, from before, called out to him.<br><br>Sun stopped and looked at the guard.<br><br>The guard looked Sun over, examining him. He would scrutinize his fiercely with his keen observing eyes, looking for the feeling of someone that was not ready to exit the city yet.<br><br>“The monsters outside are quite fierce.” The guard explained. “However, it would appear that you are sufficiently prepared. You may proceed.”<br><br>He was finally able to get past that annoying gate guard the kept stopping him from going outside, though he could never find out how the guard was able to tell whether or not he had stayed in the city for a month.<br><br>…<br><br>Sun walked on for hours upon hours in the scorching heat.<br><br>“It’s so hot.” He complained to himself. “I thought this town was supposed to be nearby.”<br><br>Even though many things have changed since he had arrived in this world, the one thing that remain the same was his pitifully low amount of stamina. Along the way, he took several stops in order to rest and further delayed the trip.<br><br>Along the way, he would use his staff to ruthlessly beat rabbits to death. Then he would prop them up on sticks and cook them on the fire he started from the campfire kit he bought at the store.<br><br>Back in the town, he had learned that a large number of rabbits roamed around various parts of the forest. Being the cheap person that he was, he decided kill and eat the rabbits instead of spending money on food.<br><br>Along the trip, he killed dozens of rabbits for food because he would frequently take breaks to rest. That and he was actually a glutton. With no one around to criticize him, he would eat as much as he wanted.<br><br>Truthfully, the town was relatively close since he had walked nearly the entire distance. However, he took yet another break about a mile from the town and the large, lush forest obstructed his sight so that he was unable to see the town in the distance.<br><br>Then, out of nowhere, something jumped out into the clearing he was resting in and started to attack!<br>Sun jumped out of the way and then looked over at the enemy monster.<br><br>It was a slime monster.<br><br>“The hell is this thing?” Sun didn’t know what classification this creature would fall under since he had never encountered anything like this before in his life. He decided that he couldn’t be too careful because he didn’t know what it was capable of doing. For now, he lifted his staff and focused on the enemy. Then he realized an important fact. He didn’t have any magic spells he could cast.<br><br>The slime circled him for a few seconds and then jumped forward and attacked with Slime Punch. <br><br>Thankfully, he was barely able to roll to the side and dodge the attack.<br><br>Enraged that the monster was making a fool of him, Sun gripped his staff and ran over to the monster. Swinging the staff erratically, he bashed the end of the staff onto the slime. Just to be sure it was dead; he continued smacking it with his stick repeatedly. The slime, being a semi-solid, semi-aqueous monster, splattered upon repeated impact of the staff. Upon dying, it gave off a horrid shriek of pain and then collapsed.<br><br> Because of your first victory against a monster, you have learned a new holy skill!<br><br>Before Sun could check the content of the skill by touching the window, a strange rustling sound made him stop moving in alarm. The rustling continued as the bushes and shrubs in the forest shook violently, then countless slime monsters emerged and filled the area. The slimes were in the middle of their migration period and they had heard the call from the slime he had just killed.<br>Seeing that he was horribly outnumbered and had no combat skills to speak of, he turned away and ran as fast as he could. He kept running and running until he was starting to get tired. He looked over his shoulder to see if he was safe.<br><br>Those damn monsters were somehow sprinting after him despite having no legs. At the sight of this, he could do nothing but continue running. However, even running soon became unviable to him.<br><br>A dead end. He had run in a random direction and now he was cornered at the edge of a cliff.<br><br>He just couldn’t believe how unlucky he was at the moment. Just earlier he was eating delicious food at the church and now he was being lynched by a bunch of jelly monsters at the edge of a cliff. The monsters were rapidly catching up and he had nowhere to run.<br><br>Sun started looking through his pouch, panicking for his life.<br><br>“There’s got to be something in here that can help me!” Sun looked ardently for anything that could save him. If he had a grappling hook or some sort of item that could let him glide then he could safely escape. <br><br>However, he had not foreseen such a situation and didn’t think to buy such a thing.<br><br>The slimes had finally caught up to him and he was truly out of options. Then he finally noticed a system announcement window that told him that the skill Holy Burst was available for use, the skill the he had learned earlier by killing the slime. Given his current situation, he wasn’t able to check the skill description as he was in the process of being murdered. He decided to bet on it since he had nothing else he could use at the moment. The only other skills he had were Holy Mastery and Divine Blessing. One was a passive skill and the other was a buff, both useless in his current circumstances.<br><br>“Holy Burst!” Sun shouted the skill out in hopes that it would do something to save him.<br><br>Sun’s mana rapidly depleted after he shouted those words and he felt drained. Having all of his mana taken from him in a brief moment caused him to become dizzy and fall over. He couldn’t see what had happened to the slimes and could only brace for death.<br><br>Death did not come. All of the slimes were gone. Sun slowly stood up and looked around.<br><br>The slimes were truly gone, but he did not understand why they had vanished.<br><br>Walking over to where the slimes were, he studied the area for any hints about what had happened.<br>Then he found it. He had at first thought they were mounds of dirt on the cliff, but they were in fact ashes.<br>Holy Burst had vaporized the slimes.<br><br>Sun couldn’t help but to check the skill description.<br><br>Holy Burst [1]<br>Allows the caster to channel great holy energy at the cost of all of the user’s mana. Anything that the caster recognizes as an enemy will be targeted by the skill. Holy energy will cause scorching damaged to all enemies stuck. The damage towards the undead will increase two fold and will be ignited. The damage caused by the skill is affected by the user’s Faith, Intelligence, Wisdom, and current amount of mana.<br>Mana Consumption: All of caster’s mana.<br><br>The skilled looked quite powerful at first, but it drains all of the user’s mana. This left nothing left if the monster was still alive. Normally the skill would not have such a powerful effort for being level one, but Sun’s high Holy Mastery, stats, and equipment helped to improve the effects of the skill. The 50% class bonus to the effect of holy spells greatly enhanced the overall effect of the spell.<br><br>Sun let out a sigh of relief. If not for this skill, he most certainly would have died.<br><br>“But still, priests are horribly weak.” Sun thought about the various limitations that he had as a priest. At least back in his world he had complete control of magic to help him out.<br><br>Priests were only slightly different from a cleric. The main difference between the two classes was that priests were able to use higher level holy magic and had a greater effect with holy spells. A small benefit of the priest class was that they were able to learn Divine Magic Skills, in other words Holy Magic Spells, to fight with. The skills were not very strong but, if used correctly and under the proper conditions, they would prove extremely useful.<br><br>After using Meditation to recover his mana, he walked to the town which was just below the cliff and all he had to do was walk around and go down the hill.<br><br>He entered the small town of Lexington and was surprised at what he saw. Unlike the urban atmosphere he had seen back at the citadel, this town was locked up with boards over the windows, large furniture blocking the doorways, and torches were placed in a holder on every building.<br><br>“What the hell is going on here?” Sun was shocked. He had heard that this place was being attacked by countless undead monsters but it was ridiculous that it was to such an extent. The entire town looked as if it was a war-zone.<br><br>Stepping past the bodies of the rotting undead that the expedition had not bothered to bury, he tried to find his way to the command center of the church. In fact, it was relatively easy to find. The closer he got to town square the less undead bodies that were lying around.<br><br>However, before heading to the church, he decided it was time to restock on supplies. The earlier brush with death was enough to tell him to be more prepared. So he tried looking for the general store in town.<br><br>After walking by the ruins of various shops and stores, he finally found a beat up shack that had a sign that said ‘Items’ on it. At the counter was a tired, middle aged man that was trying to fix a bag.<br><br>He looked up weakly to Sun. “What are you looking for?”<br><br>“Just a few things.” Sun didn’t like the atmosphere in the town. It felt as if everyone had already given up from the long struggle against the undead. After he bought the goods he was looking for he asked the man a question.<br><br>“Where can I find the Church of Freya in this town?”<br><br>“The Church of Freya!? Why do you wish to find the church? Could it be that you...” the man was shaking as he spoke. “Now that I look you are wearing the robes of the Order. Are you here to help us?”<br><br>“The Order requested aid from the nearby cities and I have arrived to help. The head priest at the church I was staying at dispatched a number of paladins and alerted other cities to give aid to Lexington.” Sun repeated what Calvin had told him earlier.<br><br>“Thank Freya. Not all is lost.” The man started crying. “Please help us… those monsters have taken everything from us.”<br><br>Sun could not express how he felt at that moment. Before him was a man that has lost everything and was now asking, no begging him, to do something. Anything that could help the townspeople feel a sense of security in their own home. Unlike the other generations of Sun Knights, the peace among the kingdoms has caused no major wars in the past few decades. So the Church of the God of Light was unable to pillage in the confusion of the war and had to downsize its army. With the exception of his belligerent teacher, this period of peace made it so the last few generations of Sun Knights had no experience for the cruelty of war. Sun was no exemption to this fact.<br><br>So there was nothing he could do except try to reassure the man that he will do whatever he can.<br>He left the general store and headed out to the square. He headed to the largest and most damaged building of all, the Church of Freya. On its front was a small wrecked symbol that barely made it recognizable as the church.<br><br>He walked into the church and to the front desk. Pulling out the letter requesting aid that he had gotten from Calvin, he explained that he was sent to help in the expedition. Then he told them about the reinforcements that would be arriving later on.<br><br>The receptionist was relieved at the mention of reinforcements and told Sun to follow him.<br><br>The once beautiful halls of the church were heavily damaged from undead attacks. It looked as if the entire building was smashed in. In fact, earlier in the month, the undead penetrated deep into the church and destroyed many of its facilities. It was only earlier in the week that they drove the undead out of the church.<br><br>“So you are the one that Calvin has sent.” The paladin commander Jacob looked over Sun, evaluating him. “You will make a fine addition to our troops. The lack of a healer has left many of our comrades to die when they had a chance to live. As you have been recommended by Calvin, I trust that you are more than capable of leading a group of paladins. I will give you command of the 8th Platoon.”<br><br>Quest Update:<br>Jacob has given you leadership of the 8th Platoon.<br>The men of the 8th Platoon will follow your orders.<br>A total of 20 Paladins have been placed under your command.<br><br>“The details of the operation will be revealed tomorrow when the rest of the reinforcements arrive.” Jacob informed Sun.<br><br>Looking over to the receptionist he said. “Take this priest to his room for the night. The rooms may not be the best since the undead attack but it’s better than nothing.”<br><br>Sun was taken to the room, where he slept for the night. All the while, he was thinking about all of the things that had happened to him earlier in the day. The shock, the weakness, and his own helplessness. There was nothing that he could do about any of it; he lacked the power to change anything.<br><br>“God of Light, please grant me the strength to protect your children.” Praying to the God of Light, Sun began to feel his consciousness fading as he fell asleep.
</div> | The Lost Sun Revamped - Ch.3: Limit
“Is it a curse that I always end up as a priest?” Sun thought to himself. In his own world, he would always be branded as a priest instead of a Holy Knight because of his poor sword skills.
Personal matters aside, he was finally able to leave the city and look for clues. Then he realized a very important fact that he had not noticed before. He didn’t have anywhere to start looking in the first place. From his research he knew that the known continent was gigantic. He would never be able to find any answers by just wandering around and sooner or later his money will run out.
“Sun, there you are.” Calvin called out to him. “It’s a good thing that you have not departed yet.”
Calvin reached into the box he was carrying and pulled out a robe and a staff.
“Here is the basic equipment for a priest that has joined the Order.”
Sun took the equipment and looked over it.
Priest Robe: Durability 90/90. Defense: 2
A standard robe made for a priest of the Order of Freya.
Restriction: Faith 50. Recognized by the Order of Freya.
Equip: Raises Faith by 10. Raises mana regeneration by 10%.
Priest Staff: Durability 80/80. Attack 2-8.
A standard staff made for a priest of the Order of Freya.
Restriction: Faith 50. Recognized by the Order of Freya.
Equip: Raises Faith by 10. Holy based magic power raised by 10%.
Along with the robe and the stuff, Calvin handed him two dozen small vials of [Holy Water].
“These shall help you in your journey.”
Sun thanked Calvin for his consideration but was still troubled about what he should do from here on.
“Sun, could it be that you do not have any plans about where to start your journey?” Calvin noticed Sun’s hesitation. “If that is so, then let me offer a suggestion.”
“What is it?”
“In the nearby town of Lexington, the Order has a large problem with the growing number of undead. Though they are fine for now but, if the number of undead continues to rise, it would most likely result in the destruction of the town.”
“That’s horrible.” Sun never did like the undead very much.
“That’s why they decided to put together a task force to find and eliminate the source of the undead. Earlier this week, they sent a message to the church requesting aid in the expedition. Would you be willing to lend you skills to this request?” Calvin asked him hopefully.
The Infestation of Lexington
The rising number of undead in Lexington has become a growing concern for its inhabitants and its neighboring towns. Join the expedition to find and destroy the source of the undead.
Difficulty Level: E
Requirement: Recognized by the Order of Freya.
Reward: The results will determine the reward.
Sun thought about the benefits that accepting this mission would have. Taking this mission would at least give him somewhere to start looking. Since the expedition was led by the Order of Freya, then that meant he wouldn’t have to pay for his meals. He wouldn’t be placing his life in any danger since, as a priest, he was safe in the back of the fight with plenty of meat shields in the front.
“I will join the expedition to save the town.”
You accepted the quest.
“I am happy to hear that Sun.” Calvin was overjoyed at his response. “You are the honorable and righteous person I thought you were.”
Calvin recommended that Sun go buy some supplies for the trip as well as a map. Since most of the items were common everyday material, they could all be bought at the same place. Sun headed to the general store to make his purchases.
“Welcome!” a cheerful voice came from within the store as Sun walked in.
“Hello there Recette, how has business been lately?” Sun asked her.
Recette was the owner of the item shop Recettear. The shop sold various types of items, such as swords and loot from monsters. It was pretty weird the type of random stuff she would sell, and surprisingly enough there were people that bought that random stuff.
“It has been pretty good lately.” She answered him. “What are you looking for today Sun?”
Thanks to his contributions to the church, almost all the NPCs in town knew who he was by sight.
“I’m planning on going on a journey and I’m going to need some supplies.”
“Eh? So you’re planning on leaving the citadel?” Recette asked him curiously.
“Yea.” Sun answered and then started choosing the various things he would need for his journey. The number of things he bought was mainly food, camping supplies, bandages and herbs, and a map.
Recette began totaling up the price for the purchase.
“The price is going to be 5 gold.” She said after a brief moment.
“That’s a bit high; can’t you come down a little?” Sun tried to see if he could barter for a lower price.
“Since you’re part of the Order, then I can come down a little bit.” Recette began to see how much she could lower the price by. “How about 4 gold 80 silver?”
That was the effect of belonging to the Order; people that believe in the Church would give several types of benefits to the members of the Order.
“That sounds perfect.” Sun reached into his pocket and paid for his purchase. The items were then transferred to his inventory. Sun was still amazed at the pouch he had. Seemingly small, it was capable of holding several times its capacity and weight. It was as if it was a small 4-dimensional pouch that could magically hold anything, however even these pouches had a limit on its capacity.
“Thank you for your purchase!” Recette called out to him as he left the store.
Sun left the store a bit unsatisfied. Recette was a cute young girl, yet she had not shown any interest in him at all. It couldn’t have been his appearance since back in his world, he would always get first place on the Sunshine Beautiful Men list. Sun could not really find a reason why he was always so unpopular with women.
Little to his knowledge, in this world, the female NPCs did not show any romantic feelings towards users unless they are supposed to. The female user base didn’t have any romantic feelings for Sun either because they thought he was an NPC.
“Perhaps this is my fate as the Sun Knight.” Sun sighed over his misfortune.
Feeling depressed, he headed for the exit of the town.
“Halt.” The guard, from before, called out to him.
Sun stopped and looked at the guard.
The guard looked Sun over, examining him. He would scrutinize his fiercely with his keen observing eyes, looking for the feeling of someone that was not ready to exit the city yet.
“The monsters outside are quite fierce.” The guard explained. “However, it would appear that you are sufficiently prepared. You may proceed.”
He was finally able to get past that annoying gate guard the kept stopping him from going outside, though he could never find out how the guard was able to tell whether or not he had stayed in the city for a month.
…
Sun walked on for hours upon hours in the scorching heat.
“It’s so hot.” He complained to himself. “I thought this town was supposed to be nearby.”
Even though many things have changed since he had arrived in this world, the one thing that remain the same was his pitifully low amount of stamina. Along the way, he took several stops in order to rest and further delayed the trip.
Along the way, he would use his staff to ruthlessly beat rabbits to death. Then he would prop them up on sticks and cook them on the fire he started from the campfire kit he bought at the store.
Back in the town, he had learned that a large number of rabbits roamed around various parts of the forest. Being the cheap person that he was, he decided kill and eat the rabbits instead of spending money on food.
Along the trip, he killed dozens of rabbits for food because he would frequently take breaks to rest. That and he was actually a glutton. With no one around to criticize him, he would eat as much as he wanted.
Truthfully, the town was relatively close since he had walked nearly the entire distance. However, he took yet another break about a mile from the town and the large, lush forest obstructed his sight so that he was unable to see the town in the distance.
Then, out of nowhere, something jumped out into the clearing he was resting in and started to attack!
Sun jumped out of the way and then looked over at the enemy monster.
It was a slime monster.
“The hell is this thing?” Sun didn’t know what classification this creature would fall under since he had never encountered anything like this before in his life. He decided that he couldn’t be too careful because he didn’t know what it was capable of doing. For now, he lifted his staff and focused on the enemy. Then he realized an important fact. He didn’t have any magic spells he could cast.
The slime circled him for a few seconds and then jumped forward and attacked with Slime Punch.
Thankfully, he was barely able to roll to the side and dodge the attack.
Enraged that the monster was making a fool of him, Sun gripped his staff and ran over to the monster. Swinging the staff erratically, he bashed the end of the staff onto the slime. Just to be sure it was dead; he continued smacking it with his stick repeatedly. The slime, being a semi-solid, semi-aqueous monster, splattered upon repeated impact of the staff. Upon dying, it gave off a horrid shriek of pain and then collapsed.
Because of your first victory against a monster, you have learned a new holy skill!
Before Sun could check the content of the skill by touching the window, a strange rustling sound made him stop moving in alarm. The rustling continued as the bushes and shrubs in the forest shook violently, then countless slime monsters emerged and filled the area. The slimes were in the middle of their migration period and they had heard the call from the slime he had just killed.
Seeing that he was horribly outnumbered and had no combat skills to speak of, he turned away and ran as fast as he could. He kept running and running until he was starting to get tired. He looked over his shoulder to see if he was safe.
Those damn monsters were somehow sprinting after him despite having no legs. At the sight of this, he could do nothing but continue running. However, even running soon became unviable to him.
A dead end. He had run in a random direction and now he was cornered at the edge of a cliff.
He just couldn’t believe how unlucky he was at the moment. Just earlier he was eating delicious food at the church and now he was being lynched by a bunch of jelly monsters at the edge of a cliff. The monsters were rapidly catching up and he had nowhere to run.
Sun started looking through his pouch, panicking for his life.
“There’s got to be something in here that can help me!” Sun looked ardently for anything that could save him. If he had a grappling hook or some sort of item that could let him glide then he could safely escape.
However, he had not foreseen such a situation and didn’t think to buy such a thing.
The slimes had finally caught up to him and he was truly out of options. Then he finally noticed a system announcement window that told him that the skill Holy Burst was available for use, the skill the he had learned earlier by killing the slime. Given his current situation, he wasn’t able to check the skill description as he was in the process of being murdered. He decided to bet on it since he had nothing else he could use at the moment. The only other skills he had were Holy Mastery and Divine Blessing. One was a passive skill and the other was a buff, both useless in his current circumstances.
“Holy Burst!” Sun shouted the skill out in hopes that it would do something to save him.
Sun’s mana rapidly depleted after he shouted those words and he felt drained. Having all of his mana taken from him in a brief moment caused him to become dizzy and fall over. He couldn’t see what had happened to the slimes and could only brace for death.
Death did not come. All of the slimes were gone. Sun slowly stood up and looked around.
The slimes were truly gone, but he did not understand why they had vanished.
Walking over to where the slimes were, he studied the area for any hints about what had happened.
Then he found it. He had at first thought they were mounds of dirt on the cliff, but they were in fact ashes.
Holy Burst had vaporized the slimes.
Sun couldn’t help but to check the skill description.
Holy Burst [1]
Allows the caster to channel great holy energy at the cost of all of the user’s mana. Anything that the caster recognizes as an enemy will be targeted by the skill. Holy energy will cause scorching damaged to all enemies stuck. The damage towards the undead will increase two fold and will be ignited. The damage caused by the skill is affected by the user’s Faith, Intelligence, Wisdom, and current amount of mana.
Mana Consumption: All of caster’s mana.
The skilled looked quite powerful at first, but it drains all of the user’s mana. This left nothing left if the monster was still alive. Normally the skill would not have such a powerful effort for being level one, but Sun’s high Holy Mastery, stats, and equipment helped to improve the effects of the skill. The 50% class bonus to the effect of holy spells greatly enhanced the overall effect of the spell.
Sun let out a sigh of relief. If not for this skill, he most certainly would have died.
“But still, priests are horribly weak.” Sun thought about the various limitations that he had as a priest. At least back in his world he had complete control of magic to help him out.
Priests were only slightly different from a cleric. The main difference between the two classes was that priests were able to use higher level holy magic and had a greater effect with holy spells. A small benefit of the priest class was that they were able to learn Divine Magic Skills, in other words Holy Magic Spells, to fight with. The skills were not very strong but, if used correctly and under the proper conditions, they would prove extremely useful.
After using Meditation to recover his mana, he walked to the town which was just below the cliff and all he had to do was walk around and go down the hill.
He entered the small town of Lexington and was surprised at what he saw. Unlike the urban atmosphere he had seen back at the citadel, this town was locked up with boards over the windows, large furniture blocking the doorways, and torches were placed in a holder on every building.
“What the hell is going on here?” Sun was shocked. He had heard that this place was being attacked by countless undead monsters but it was ridiculous that it was to such an extent. The entire town looked as if it was a war-zone.
Stepping past the bodies of the rotting undead that the expedition had not bothered to bury, he tried to find his way to the command center of the church. In fact, it was relatively easy to find. The closer he got to town square the less undead bodies that were lying around.
However, before heading to the church, he decided it was time to restock on supplies. The earlier brush with death was enough to tell him to be more prepared. So he tried looking for the general store in town.
After walking by the ruins of various shops and stores, he finally found a beat up shack that had a sign that said ‘Items’ on it. At the counter was a tired, middle aged man that was trying to fix a bag.
He looked up weakly to Sun. “What are you looking for?”
“Just a few things.” Sun didn’t like the atmosphere in the town. It felt as if everyone had already given up from the long struggle against the undead. After he bought the goods he was looking for he asked the man a question.
“Where can I find the Church of Freya in this town?”
“The Church of Freya!? Why do you wish to find the church? Could it be that you...” the man was shaking as he spoke. “Now that I look you are wearing the robes of the Order. Are you here to help us?”
“The Order requested aid from the nearby cities and I have arrived to help. The head priest at the church I was staying at dispatched a number of paladins and alerted other cities to give aid to Lexington.” Sun repeated what Calvin had told him earlier.
“Thank Freya. Not all is lost.” The man started crying. “Please help us… those monsters have taken everything from us.”
Sun could not express how he felt at that moment. Before him was a man that has lost everything and was now asking, no begging him, to do something. Anything that could help the townspeople feel a sense of security in their own home. Unlike the other generations of Sun Knights, the peace among the kingdoms has caused no major wars in the past few decades. So the Church of the God of Light was unable to pillage in the confusion of the war and had to downsize its army. With the exception of his belligerent teacher, this period of peace made it so the last few generations of Sun Knights had no experience for the cruelty of war. Sun was no exemption to this fact.
So there was nothing he could do except try to reassure the man that he will do whatever he can.
He left the general store and headed out to the square. He headed to the largest and most damaged building of all, the Church of Freya. On its front was a small wrecked symbol that barely made it recognizable as the church.
He walked into the church and to the front desk. Pulling out the letter requesting aid that he had gotten from Calvin, he explained that he was sent to help in the expedition. Then he told them about the reinforcements that would be arriving later on.
The receptionist was relieved at the mention of reinforcements and told Sun to follow him.
The once beautiful halls of the church were heavily damaged from undead attacks. It looked as if the entire building was smashed in. In fact, earlier in the month, the undead penetrated deep into the church and destroyed many of its facilities. It was only earlier in the week that they drove the undead out of the church.
“So you are the one that Calvin has sent.” The paladin commander Jacob looked over Sun, evaluating him. “You will make a fine addition to our troops. The lack of a healer has left many of our comrades to die when they had a chance to live. As you have been recommended by Calvin, I trust that you are more than capable of leading a group of paladins. I will give you command of the 8th Platoon.”
Quest Update:
Jacob has given you leadership of the 8th Platoon.
The men of the 8th Platoon will follow your orders.
A total of 20 Paladins have been placed under your command.
“The details of the operation will be revealed tomorrow when the rest of the reinforcements arrive.” Jacob informed Sun.
Looking over to the receptionist he said. “Take this priest to his room for the night. The rooms may not be the best since the undead attack but it’s better than nothing.”
Sun was taken to the room, where he slept for the night. All the while, he was thinking about all of the things that had happened to him earlier in the day. The shock, the weakness, and his own helplessness. There was nothing that he could do about any of it; he lacked the power to change anything.
“God of Light, please grant me the strength to protect your children.” Praying to the God of Light, Sun began to feel his consciousness fading as he fell asleep. |
{
"title": "The Lost Sun by Grisia",
"id": 33,
"author": "Grisia",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "The Lost Sun - Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Revamped)",
"id": 34,
"next": 35,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Ch. 1 : What Happened After (Vol 4 Ch 1 of LSK)<br><br>The sound of coughing resounded throughout the area, growing in severity as it continued. It was coming from a man who was kneeling on the ground, coughing heavily. Normally, he would be perfectly composed and elegant. However, this situation did not allow him to emanate the usual atmosphere that he usually upheld. He clutched his left side with his right hand, blood dripping from a large gash. The rest of his body was hardly any better. Large cuts were embedded deep into several parts of his body while other parts of his body were severely burnt or broken.<br><br><br>Earlier in the day, he had successfully escaped from Roland’s watch and had decided to go and relax in his cellar. In the middle of savoring his wine and eating his meat, a strange familiar made its way into his cellar. Pink had animated a little doll from her room and sent it over to him. Since the doll had no means of communicating with him, Pink had attached a letter to it. The contents of the letter were simple. Pink wanted him to come over and play for a while. Furthermore, it told him to bring along the Divine Sun Sword with him, a legendary treasure of the Sun Knight, because she wanted to test something. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, and that it would be harder for Roland to find him if he wasn’t in the city, he decided to go to Pink’s cottage.<br><br>Pink was a necromancer that he was acquainted with. However, the more peculiar part of Pink was that she was a corpse. Now if she was a normal undead necromancer, then ignoring her would pose no problem. This was not the case. Pink was somewhat of a rarity. She was an undying lich, having traded her physical body and hidden her soul away; she had access to enormous amounts of dark power. It was only recently that he had used the Divine Sun Sword to impale and destroy her physical body out of anger because of her role in the death of one of his comrades. This reaction was understandable and Pink didn’t hold it against him. Prior to losing her physical body, she had told him that she was going to return to Leaf Bud City soon so this must have been what she was talking about.<br><br>After having wandered into the outskirts of the city, he picked up the presence of an enormous amount of dark energy. It couldn’t be Pink, as she usually masks her power and is usually unnoticeable. Given the presence of an unknown malevolent force, he sought to discover the source and eliminate it before any danger comes to the city. When he arrived at the abandoned execution ground, he was immediately attacked by an enormous mass of dark energy. Struggling against the black magic with the Divine Sun Sword, he released an overwhelming amount of holy energy to combat the darkness. The clash of the two powerful opposing elements caused a large disturbance, creating a giant explosion in the execution grounds. He had not been able to protect himself from the blast and was caught up in it. The force of the blast knocked the Divine Sun Sword from his hands and launched him into the air.<br><br>Breathing heavily for a few more seconds, he started to cough violently and then he started to cough up blood. Wiping the blood from his mouth with his free hand, he extended his [SIGHT] outwards to examine his surroundings. Sun was no longer capable of seeing through his eyes, a price he had to pay for resurrecting his friend. This [SIGHT] referred to a unique ability that he had been born with known as [ELEMENTAL PERCEPTION]. This ability allowed his to identify the composition of elements, thus allowing him to detect the shape and nature of what he was ‘seeing’. He extended the range of his sight, further increasing it until it reached his maximum range of 500 meters. In that entire area, there was absolutely nothing at all. No objects, no people, not even any walls or floors. It was a mystery how he was even kneeling down at the moment as there was nothing supporting him.<br><br>Finally getting his violent coughing under control, he used what little holy light he had left to cast an [INTERMEDIATE HEAL] on himself. With that, he managed to remove most of his less severe injuries and moderately heal the more severe ones. Getting to his feet, he began to stagger forwards. The damage done to his legs was considerable and his healing spell could not fully recover them but it was enough for him to walk. He limped forwards into the nothingness, hoping to find something; anything that could help him find his way back. He continued walking for what seemed like hours. The strain on his body caused some of his wounds to reopen and bleed out. Soon the last of his stamina was depleted and he collapsed.<br>In the empty space, he laid there for quite some time. Even after all the distance he had covered, his [SIGHT] still had not picked up anything. Then a miracle happened. From above, he felt a faint presence of light energy. The light began to grow in intensity as it came closer to him. Then finally it stopped.<br><br>“I must have finally died and gone to see the God of Light.” Sun said as he faced the presence. A few times he had joked to himself about dying and going to see the God of Light and now it was true. Sun thought to himself the irony of his current situation. “Go ahead God of Light. My time is up.”<br><br>Resigned to his fate, Sun closed his eyes and began to think about the Twelve Holy Knights. When he had become the Sun Knight, he was glad that he finally had brothers of his own. If he hadn’t become the Sun Knight, then perhaps he wouldn’t have enjoyed his life as much as he did. So he was grateful to the God of Light for blessing him with his friends and now it was his time to go.<br><br>The light began to vibrate the surrounding air and make a buzzing sound. When the buzzing stopped, a feminine voice called over to him. “The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?”<br><br>“What?” The being that Sun had thought was the God of Light had just said something incomprehensible.<br><br>“Select a character name.” the voice continued monotonously, ignoring Sun’s confusion.<br><br>“What do you mean select a name?” Sun was baffled at what the God of Light was saying. “God of Light, do you not recognize me? I am your very own Sun!”<br><br>“Name confirmed Sun. Select your gender from male, female, or neutral.”<br><br>“Isn’t it obvious?! I’m a guy!” Sun was hysterical from refuting the God of Light’s statements.<br><br>“Is the God of Light blind or something?!” Sun thought to himself as the voice continued speaking.<br><br>“Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine races…” The voice was cut short by Sun’s exclamation.<br><br>“I’m human! I might be really fair skinned but there’s no way that I’m an elf and there is no possible way that I’m a demi human!” Sun was gasping for air again. However this time it was not from exhaustion but rather from irritation.<br><br>“You may alter your appearance.”<br><br>Sun merely sighed for a brief moment. Then he spoke up in a loud voice.<br><br>“Why the hell would I want to do that?!”<br><br>The voice continued with its explanation, simply taking his response as a ‘no’.<br><br>“Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. Select a city and kingdom you want to start.”<br><br>This immediately caught his attention.<br><br>“Finally!” he thought “I can go back to the city.”<br><br>“Send me to Leaf Bud City of the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound!” Sun waited for the God of Light to send him back to his city. However, nothing happened.<br><br>“Not a registered location in the continent. Due to player indecision, the starting location will be determined by the most frequently requested location in the past month. Location set to Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom. Welcome to Royal Road.”<br><br>“Wait! Where are you sending me?” Sun frantically asked the God of Light. “That’s not where I want to go! Send me back! The Holy Temple! Send me to the Holy Temple!”<br><br>The light element rapidly filled the entire area. Soon it became so intense that he could no longer look at it them with his [SIGHT] any longer. He closed off his ability and soon he could hear all sorts of sounds coming from around him. Once again he threw his sight out to see his surroundings. However, it didn’t work. He tried again and again. It still wasn’t working.<br><br>“How is this possible?” Sun thought to himself. “If I can’t use my [SIGHT], then I can’t see anything at all!”<br>This was true. Without his [SIGHT], then he was truly blind and incapable of doing anything. It was due to his mastery of [SIGHT] that he was able to continue his duties as the Sun Knight, without anyone noticing anything wrong with his vision.<br><br>Clenching his fist, Sun lamented his predicament. Never mind his duties as the Sun Knight; without the ability to see, there was no way that he was ever going to make it back to his city.<br><br>A few kids were running through the street and bumped into him. Due to the unexpected shove, Sun hastily regained his balance and looked over to the kids running off through the streets.<br>“I…I can see?”<br><br>Sun looked around at his surroundings. This wasn’t [SIGHT] that he was using because he couldn’t sense any elements. Even if he was using [SIGHT] without knowing it, his ability was incapable of differentiating specific characteristics such as facial features and color. Everything that he was seeing was as if he had never lost his sight to begin with. Contemplating his thoughts, he began to slowly walk aimlessly through the streets.<br>“Could it be that the God of Light has restored my sight?” Sun then began to think about the entity that he had sensed back in the black room.<br><br>“No, I don’t think that was the God of Light after all. It didn’t even recognize me as the Sun Knight and its speech patterns were strange. The God of Light would be aware of the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound, but that thing said it doesn’t exist in this continent.” The entity, he decided, could not have been the God of Light but could very possibly be an equally powerful god of another origin.<br><br>“It welcomed me though. To ‘Royal Road.’ What could it be? Judging on what it told me, I am in a place called the Citadel of Serabourg in Rosenheim Kingdom.” In the middle of his pondering, he had reached the end of the citadel and was now at one of the city walls. He decided that first he should try to go outside and see if he could find anything that looked familiar so that he could find his way back to the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound.<br><br>Following along the side of the walls, he finally found a gate. He started walking towards the gate so that he could go outside.<br><br>“Stop.” One of the armed guardsmen blocked his path with his spear. “You appear to be a new traveler in the Versian continent. It is dangerous for new travelers to exit the citadel without properly preparing first. We will not allow you to pass for a period of one month. Until then, travel within the city limits while gathering enough money and equipment so that you are prepared.”<br><br>“This Sun is honored by your compassion for your fellow man, but there is no need for worry as I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Sun told the guardsman that he didn’t need to wait because he was confident that he could handle it himself. To show the guardsman that he could handle being by himself, he was going to use one of the basic holy skills taught by the Holy Temple.<br><br>“Look. [HOLY LIGHT]!” Sun held his hand out to release a sphere of light that could illuminate its surroundings.<br><br>A small orb of light hovered above his hand and illuminated the area around the guards.<br><br>“You are right traveler. You appear to be adequately skilled to exit the citadel. We offer our apologies for having obstructed you.”<br><br>...<br><br>That was what he wanted to happen. What really happened was that as he tried to gather the holy element for the spell, he was incapable of collecting any and was unable to cast the spell.<br><br>“What is this?” He tried again with the other elements. Fire, water, wind, darkness, all of them failed to work.<br><br>“Very funny traveler. We have much work to attend to and have no time for your antics. If you wish to leave the citadel you must wait one month.” With that said, the guards continued their vigilant watch over the gates.<br><br>“So it’s not only my [SIGHT] that’s gone, but all of my magic as well.” Having lost his abilities, he was at a loss about what to do now.<br><br>“Wait, he said that this continent was the Versian continent. I have never heard of such a continent before. Surely this region must not have the blessings of the major gods and therefore does not have the capabilities of elemental magics?” Seeing that he was in an entirely unknown place and the absence of magical powers led him to believe that the gods did not have influence in this land.<br><br>“If that is so… then where on earth am I such that the gods do not have any dominance?” He took a look back to the city gates and through the gates, he saw many adventurers traveling around on foot. Almost all of them were hunting nearby animals.<br><br>“Wait a minute… what is that?” he looked at a certain adventurer keenly. This adventurer in particular was blasting the animals with what looked like a [FIREBALL]. Over a bit was another adventurer using ice magic and there were clerics using holy magic everywhere.<br><br>“…” It seemed that he was wrong in thinking that the continent was deprived of godly influence and thus was why he was incapable of using his magic. The real answer was that he simply was incapable of using magic, not that the continent was godless.<br><br>“Maybe I can find a branch of the God of Light in this town.” The Church of the God of Light was the oldest and most traditional of all religions in his continent. Branches of the church could be found in almost any major town. Given the size of this town, there would certainly be a branch church here. Wandering around the streets, he passed by several buildings and shops. It was starting to get dark and he still hadn’t been able to find a church yet.<br><br>His throat was parched from walking around all day in the hot sun. He reached into a knapsack that had appeared on him when he appeared in this place. Inside the sack were ten pieces of bread and a canteen of water. Drinking from the bottle, he asked himself what he had done to deserve this. So what if he was the mastermind in removing a pig of a king from the throne in the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound. It’s not that big of a deal that he left a Death Lord walking around in the Holy Temple or that he took a princess hostage to beat the hell out of the Church of Chaos’s Champion. That was all water under the bridge now. It not like any of those things were intentional, they just sort of happened.<br><br>Chewing on his barley bread and commenting on how stale and bland it was, he smelled an appetizing scent coming from nearby. Following the scent of food, he arrived at an open lot. In the clearing there were a number of men eating stew and a man stirring a boiling pot.<br><br>He walked over to the cook and decided to ask a few questions.<br><br>“That is a fragrant smell coming from the pot. Perhaps you are an extremely skilled cook as the stew looks so enticing that I would be honored if I were to be able to have a taste.”<br><br>“Traveler, surely you jest.” The chef laughed heartily. “Why don’t you have a bite to eat and tell us who you are?”<br><br>“Certainly.” He sat down as he took a bowl of stew. After eating a spoonful, he told the chef. “My, it tastes even better than it smells. Thank the gods for this pleasure. My name is Sun. I am the Sun Knight from the Church of the God of Light. Do you know where I can find a church around here?”<br><br>“Sun, you most certainly can.” The chef answered. “This is the town’s church, the Church of Freya. I don’t believe in ever hearing about such a church of the God of Light. However, I will assist you as much as I can.”<br>The man extended his hand to him. “My name is Calvin and I am the head priest in this church.”<br><br>Motioning to the men eating stew. “and these are the paladins that belong to this order.”<br><br>Looking at Sun, Calvin said “You look like a man of the faith to me. Would you like to join the order until you complete your search?”<br><br>A large window appeared in front of him.<br><br>Class Change:<br>Calvin is offering you a position in the Freya order. Do you wish to convert now?<br><br>He looked over at Calvin and the paladins.<br><br>“Are they not able to see this thing?” he thought to himself. “What the hell is this thing anyways?”<br><br>Unable to identify the mysterious window, he decided to accept their offer since he wasn’t able to leave for a month anyways and there wasn’t anywhere else he could get food for free.<br><br>“I accept.” Soon after he said these words, his entire body was enveloped in a strange light.<br><br>Name: Sun Type: Neutral<br>Level: 1 Class: Cleric<br>Title: None Fame: 0<br>Life: 120 Mana: 150<br>Str: 10+10 Dex: 10+10 Vit: 10+10<br>Wis: 10+30 Int: 10+30 Faith: 0+30<br>Leadership: 0+10 Luck: 0+10<br>Resistance to magic: None<br>+All stats are added 10 points.<br>+Wisdom, Intelligence, and Faith stat are added extra 20 points.<br>+Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class.<br>+Holy Mastery has been generated.<br>+Faith stat has been generated.<br><br>“Why am I a cleric?” Sun asked. He had introduced himself as the Sun Knight, yet they made him into a cleric.<br><br>“Well the thing is that almost all of our clerics have been transferred to do missionary work at other towns. Even then, we only had a few clerics then because not many people wish to become clerics. Those that join the faith mostly become paladins so clerics are hard to come by. That’s also the reason why we had to outsource our clerics to other towns. Plus it looks like you have never held a sword in your life and you appear unsuited for combat so a cleric would be a perfect job for you.” Calvin replied to him honestly.<br><br>Sun could not believe what was happening to him, but was too tired to raise his complaints any longer and simply headed into the church to sleep for the night.
</div> | Ch. 1 : What Happened After (Vol 4 Ch 1 of LSK)
The sound of coughing resounded throughout the area, growing in severity as it continued. It was coming from a man who was kneeling on the ground, coughing heavily. Normally, he would be perfectly composed and elegant. However, this situation did not allow him to emanate the usual atmosphere that he usually upheld. He clutched his left side with his right hand, blood dripping from a large gash. The rest of his body was hardly any better. Large cuts were embedded deep into several parts of his body while other parts of his body were severely burnt or broken.
Earlier in the day, he had successfully escaped from Roland’s watch and had decided to go and relax in his cellar. In the middle of savoring his wine and eating his meat, a strange familiar made its way into his cellar. Pink had animated a little doll from her room and sent it over to him. Since the doll had no means of communicating with him, Pink had attached a letter to it. The contents of the letter were simple. Pink wanted him to come over and play for a while. Furthermore, it told him to bring along the Divine Sun Sword with him, a legendary treasure of the Sun Knight, because she wanted to test something. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, and that it would be harder for Roland to find him if he wasn’t in the city, he decided to go to Pink’s cottage.
Pink was a necromancer that he was acquainted with. However, the more peculiar part of Pink was that she was a corpse. Now if she was a normal undead necromancer, then ignoring her would pose no problem. This was not the case. Pink was somewhat of a rarity. She was an undying lich, having traded her physical body and hidden her soul away; she had access to enormous amounts of dark power. It was only recently that he had used the Divine Sun Sword to impale and destroy her physical body out of anger because of her role in the death of one of his comrades. This reaction was understandable and Pink didn’t hold it against him. Prior to losing her physical body, she had told him that she was going to return to Leaf Bud City soon so this must have been what she was talking about.
After having wandered into the outskirts of the city, he picked up the presence of an enormous amount of dark energy. It couldn’t be Pink, as she usually masks her power and is usually unnoticeable. Given the presence of an unknown malevolent force, he sought to discover the source and eliminate it before any danger comes to the city. When he arrived at the abandoned execution ground, he was immediately attacked by an enormous mass of dark energy. Struggling against the black magic with the Divine Sun Sword, he released an overwhelming amount of holy energy to combat the darkness. The clash of the two powerful opposing elements caused a large disturbance, creating a giant explosion in the execution grounds. He had not been able to protect himself from the blast and was caught up in it. The force of the blast knocked the Divine Sun Sword from his hands and launched him into the air.
Breathing heavily for a few more seconds, he started to cough violently and then he started to cough up blood. Wiping the blood from his mouth with his free hand, he extended his [SIGHT] outwards to examine his surroundings. Sun was no longer capable of seeing through his eyes, a price he had to pay for resurrecting his friend. This [SIGHT] referred to a unique ability that he had been born with known as [ELEMENTAL PERCEPTION]. This ability allowed his to identify the composition of elements, thus allowing him to detect the shape and nature of what he was ‘seeing’. He extended the range of his sight, further increasing it until it reached his maximum range of 500 meters. In that entire area, there was absolutely nothing at all. No objects, no people, not even any walls or floors. It was a mystery how he was even kneeling down at the moment as there was nothing supporting him.
Finally getting his violent coughing under control, he used what little holy light he had left to cast an [INTERMEDIATE HEAL] on himself. With that, he managed to remove most of his less severe injuries and moderately heal the more severe ones. Getting to his feet, he began to stagger forwards. The damage done to his legs was considerable and his healing spell could not fully recover them but it was enough for him to walk. He limped forwards into the nothingness, hoping to find something; anything that could help him find his way back. He continued walking for what seemed like hours. The strain on his body caused some of his wounds to reopen and bleed out. Soon the last of his stamina was depleted and he collapsed.
In the empty space, he laid there for quite some time. Even after all the distance he had covered, his [SIGHT] still had not picked up anything. Then a miracle happened. From above, he felt a faint presence of light energy. The light began to grow in intensity as it came closer to him. Then finally it stopped.
“I must have finally died and gone to see the God of Light.” Sun said as he faced the presence. A few times he had joked to himself about dying and going to see the God of Light and now it was true. Sun thought to himself the irony of his current situation. “Go ahead God of Light. My time is up.”
Resigned to his fate, Sun closed his eyes and began to think about the Twelve Holy Knights. When he had become the Sun Knight, he was glad that he finally had brothers of his own. If he hadn’t become the Sun Knight, then perhaps he wouldn’t have enjoyed his life as much as he did. So he was grateful to the God of Light for blessing him with his friends and now it was his time to go.
The light began to vibrate the surrounding air and make a buzzing sound. When the buzzing stopped, a feminine voice called over to him. “The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?”
“What?” The being that Sun had thought was the God of Light had just said something incomprehensible.
“Select a character name.” the voice continued monotonously, ignoring Sun’s confusion.
“What do you mean select a name?” Sun was baffled at what the God of Light was saying. “God of Light, do you not recognize me? I am your very own Sun!”
“Name confirmed Sun. Select your gender from male, female, or neutral.”
“Isn’t it obvious?! I’m a guy!” Sun was hysterical from refuting the God of Light’s statements.
“Is the God of Light blind or something?!” Sun thought to himself as the voice continued speaking.
“Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine races…” The voice was cut short by Sun’s exclamation.
“I’m human! I might be really fair skinned but there’s no way that I’m an elf and there is no possible way that I’m a demi human!” Sun was gasping for air again. However this time it was not from exhaustion but rather from irritation.
“You may alter your appearance.”
Sun merely sighed for a brief moment. Then he spoke up in a loud voice.
“Why the hell would I want to do that?!”
The voice continued with its explanation, simply taking his response as a ‘no’.
“Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. Select a city and kingdom you want to start.”
This immediately caught his attention.
“Finally!” he thought “I can go back to the city.”
“Send me to Leaf Bud City of the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound!” Sun waited for the God of Light to send him back to his city. However, nothing happened.
“Not a registered location in the continent. Due to player indecision, the starting location will be determined by the most frequently requested location in the past month. Location set to Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom. Welcome to Royal Road.”
“Wait! Where are you sending me?” Sun frantically asked the God of Light. “That’s not where I want to go! Send me back! The Holy Temple! Send me to the Holy Temple!”
The light element rapidly filled the entire area. Soon it became so intense that he could no longer look at it them with his [SIGHT] any longer. He closed off his ability and soon he could hear all sorts of sounds coming from around him. Once again he threw his sight out to see his surroundings. However, it didn’t work. He tried again and again. It still wasn’t working.
“How is this possible?” Sun thought to himself. “If I can’t use my [SIGHT], then I can’t see anything at all!”
This was true. Without his [SIGHT], then he was truly blind and incapable of doing anything. It was due to his mastery of [SIGHT] that he was able to continue his duties as the Sun Knight, without anyone noticing anything wrong with his vision.
Clenching his fist, Sun lamented his predicament. Never mind his duties as the Sun Knight; without the ability to see, there was no way that he was ever going to make it back to his city.
A few kids were running through the street and bumped into him. Due to the unexpected shove, Sun hastily regained his balance and looked over to the kids running off through the streets.
“I…I can see?”
Sun looked around at his surroundings. This wasn’t [SIGHT] that he was using because he couldn’t sense any elements. Even if he was using [SIGHT] without knowing it, his ability was incapable of differentiating specific characteristics such as facial features and color. Everything that he was seeing was as if he had never lost his sight to begin with. Contemplating his thoughts, he began to slowly walk aimlessly through the streets.
“Could it be that the God of Light has restored my sight?” Sun then began to think about the entity that he had sensed back in the black room.
“No, I don’t think that was the God of Light after all. It didn’t even recognize me as the Sun Knight and its speech patterns were strange. The God of Light would be aware of the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound, but that thing said it doesn’t exist in this continent.” The entity, he decided, could not have been the God of Light but could very possibly be an equally powerful god of another origin.
“It welcomed me though. To ‘Royal Road.’ What could it be? Judging on what it told me, I am in a place called the Citadel of Serabourg in Rosenheim Kingdom.” In the middle of his pondering, he had reached the end of the citadel and was now at one of the city walls. He decided that first he should try to go outside and see if he could find anything that looked familiar so that he could find his way back to the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound.
Following along the side of the walls, he finally found a gate. He started walking towards the gate so that he could go outside.
“Stop.” One of the armed guardsmen blocked his path with his spear. “You appear to be a new traveler in the Versian continent. It is dangerous for new travelers to exit the citadel without properly preparing first. We will not allow you to pass for a period of one month. Until then, travel within the city limits while gathering enough money and equipment so that you are prepared.”
“This Sun is honored by your compassion for your fellow man, but there is no need for worry as I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Sun told the guardsman that he didn’t need to wait because he was confident that he could handle it himself. To show the guardsman that he could handle being by himself, he was going to use one of the basic holy skills taught by the Holy Temple.
“Look. [HOLY LIGHT]!” Sun held his hand out to release a sphere of light that could illuminate its surroundings.
A small orb of light hovered above his hand and illuminated the area around the guards.
“You are right traveler. You appear to be adequately skilled to exit the citadel. We offer our apologies for having obstructed you.”
...
That was what he wanted to happen. What really happened was that as he tried to gather the holy element for the spell, he was incapable of collecting any and was unable to cast the spell.
“What is this?” He tried again with the other elements. Fire, water, wind, darkness, all of them failed to work.
“Very funny traveler. We have much work to attend to and have no time for your antics. If you wish to leave the citadel you must wait one month.” With that said, the guards continued their vigilant watch over the gates.
“So it’s not only my [SIGHT] that’s gone, but all of my magic as well.” Having lost his abilities, he was at a loss about what to do now.
“Wait, he said that this continent was the Versian continent. I have never heard of such a continent before. Surely this region must not have the blessings of the major gods and therefore does not have the capabilities of elemental magics?” Seeing that he was in an entirely unknown place and the absence of magical powers led him to believe that the gods did not have influence in this land.
“If that is so… then where on earth am I such that the gods do not have any dominance?” He took a look back to the city gates and through the gates, he saw many adventurers traveling around on foot. Almost all of them were hunting nearby animals.
“Wait a minute… what is that?” he looked at a certain adventurer keenly. This adventurer in particular was blasting the animals with what looked like a [FIREBALL]. Over a bit was another adventurer using ice magic and there were clerics using holy magic everywhere.
“…” It seemed that he was wrong in thinking that the continent was deprived of godly influence and thus was why he was incapable of using his magic. The real answer was that he simply was incapable of using magic, not that the continent was godless.
“Maybe I can find a branch of the God of Light in this town.” The Church of the God of Light was the oldest and most traditional of all religions in his continent. Branches of the church could be found in almost any major town. Given the size of this town, there would certainly be a branch church here. Wandering around the streets, he passed by several buildings and shops. It was starting to get dark and he still hadn’t been able to find a church yet.
His throat was parched from walking around all day in the hot sun. He reached into a knapsack that had appeared on him when he appeared in this place. Inside the sack were ten pieces of bread and a canteen of water. Drinking from the bottle, he asked himself what he had done to deserve this. So what if he was the mastermind in removing a pig of a king from the throne in the Kingdom of the Forgotten Sound. It’s not that big of a deal that he left a Death Lord walking around in the Holy Temple or that he took a princess hostage to beat the hell out of the Church of Chaos’s Champion. That was all water under the bridge now. It not like any of those things were intentional, they just sort of happened.
Chewing on his barley bread and commenting on how stale and bland it was, he smelled an appetizing scent coming from nearby. Following the scent of food, he arrived at an open lot. In the clearing there were a number of men eating stew and a man stirring a boiling pot.
He walked over to the cook and decided to ask a few questions.
“That is a fragrant smell coming from the pot. Perhaps you are an extremely skilled cook as the stew looks so enticing that I would be honored if I were to be able to have a taste.”
“Traveler, surely you jest.” The chef laughed heartily. “Why don’t you have a bite to eat and tell us who you are?”
“Certainly.” He sat down as he took a bowl of stew. After eating a spoonful, he told the chef. “My, it tastes even better than it smells. Thank the gods for this pleasure. My name is Sun. I am the Sun Knight from the Church of the God of Light. Do you know where I can find a church around here?”
“Sun, you most certainly can.” The chef answered. “This is the town’s church, the Church of Freya. I don’t believe in ever hearing about such a church of the God of Light. However, I will assist you as much as I can.”
The man extended his hand to him. “My name is Calvin and I am the head priest in this church.”
Motioning to the men eating stew. “and these are the paladins that belong to this order.”
Looking at Sun, Calvin said “You look like a man of the faith to me. Would you like to join the order until you complete your search?”
A large window appeared in front of him.
Class Change:
Calvin is offering you a position in the Freya order. Do you wish to convert now?
He looked over at Calvin and the paladins.
“Are they not able to see this thing?” he thought to himself. “What the hell is this thing anyways?”
Unable to identify the mysterious window, he decided to accept their offer since he wasn’t able to leave for a month anyways and there wasn’t anywhere else he could get food for free.
“I accept.” Soon after he said these words, his entire body was enveloped in a strange light.
Name: Sun Type: Neutral
Level: 1 Class: Cleric
Title: None Fame: 0
Life: 120 Mana: 150
Str: 10+10 Dex: 10+10 Vit: 10+10
Wis: 10+30 Int: 10+30 Faith: 0+30
Leadership: 0+10 Luck: 0+10
Resistance to magic: None
+All stats are added 10 points.
+Wisdom, Intelligence, and Faith stat are added extra 20 points.
+Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class.
+Holy Mastery has been generated.
+Faith stat has been generated.
“Why am I a cleric?” Sun asked. He had introduced himself as the Sun Knight, yet they made him into a cleric.
“Well the thing is that almost all of our clerics have been transferred to do missionary work at other towns. Even then, we only had a few clerics then because not many people wish to become clerics. Those that join the faith mostly become paladins so clerics are hard to come by. That’s also the reason why we had to outsource our clerics to other towns. Plus it looks like you have never held a sword in your life and you appear unsuited for combat so a cleric would be a perfect job for you.” Calvin replied to him honestly.
Sun could not believe what was happening to him, but was too tired to raise his complaints any longer and simply headed into the church to sleep for the night. |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Angelic Knight - Chapter 1",
"id": 88,
"next": 89,
"prev": 87,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Walking Again<br><br><br>The lid of the capsule closed with a slight hissing sound,<br>“Great I’m inside a huge coffin” Alan muttered as darkness surrounded him,<br>“At least it’s comfortable in here, now what do i do?” he sighed realising that perhaps he should have waited for his sister to get home from school, so that she could explain this contraption to him.<br><br>Suddenly there was a bright flash in front of his eye’s, yelling out in shook he found himself in a white room all though labelling it as a room would probably be stretching the imagination.<br>Another shook came as he realised he was actually standing up with no means of support to hang onto, slowly he started to move around his heart raced with joy, he had his legs back.<br><br>Crouching down suddenly he began to hug them not wanting to let them go when a female voice spoke out.<br><br>The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?<br><br>Startled Alan looked around franticly for the person that was speaking to him but could only see the white room. “Is this Royal Road?” Alan asked somewhat troubled.<br><br>Correct this is the login and Avatar design stage for Royal Road. Do you wish to create a new account?<br><br>“Err yes” Alan spoke from where he was sat on the floor looking at the roof.<br><br>Select the name of your avatar<br><br>“Hmm Allwind that’s the name the crowds at competitions use for me might as well use it here,” Alan mused after struggling several moments to come up with something.<br><br>Select your gender from male, female or neutral.<br><br>“Male,” Alan said looking puzzled, “wait neutral what’s that about? This thing is really crazy, how does that work?” he pondered<br><br>Error, please select your gender from male, female or neutral.<br><br>“Male please”<br><br>Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary thirty.<br>Ranging from human to orc, elf to dwarf---<br><br>“Human” Alan replied to the voice not sure that what he was hearing was real, what the hell’s an orc he thought.<br><br>You may alter your appearance to your liking.<br><br>“Show me what i look like”<br><br>Suddenly a life like model appeared in front of Alan it was like looking in a mirror<br><br>“Wow is that what i’ll look like in the game?”<br><br>Correct.<br><br>“Can i change it?”<br><br>You may alter your appearance to your liking.<br><br>“Hmm hair colour, change to blond, add five centimetres in length.” Suddenly the avatar’s hair changed from brown to blond and lengthened.<br><br>“Cool hmm, increase leg muscle” and suddenly there was more muscle on the avatars legs.<br>“And change eye colour to green” after fussing with the avatar creation program for more than thirty munities Alan was happy with the overall effect.<br><br>“Done i really don’t believe that’s going to be me”<br><br>Your account has been activated, your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.<br><br>Select a city or kingdom to start in?<br><br>“What? I don’t know any, random i don’t really mind,” Alan said scratching his head from where he was sat.<br><br>Welcome to Royal Road, enjoy your journey.<br><br>Suddenly a bright light embraced Alan, and then there was a flood of sound, a sound that only a large crowd could make, as Allwind was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor.<br><br>“Now what? Ow my, it’s just like reality bit old though.” He said sitting up and looking around.<br>“Is this really virtual reality it feels so real the floor even feels cold,”<br><br>“Hey newbie get out of the road your blocking the gate” a tall muscular man in amour said as he walked past Allwind before disappearing.<br><br>Slowly standing up Allwind’s legs began to shake, as he slowly made his way to the side of the plaza that he had appeared in it was busy far busier than he ever anticipated “just how many people play this game?”<br><br>“Just where should i start?” he mused when he court sight of something in the window of a nearby shop “wow it’s me well the thing i created wow this is really amazing, so real,” he said touching his own face with his hands.<br><br>“You can tell he’s a newbie.”<br><br>Some of the crowd around the plaza had noticed Allwind’s behaviour and were discussing him among themselves “it's not a bad looking avatar all said and done” one girl whispered.<br><br>“Guess i’ll just walk around and get used to things” Allwind smiled and began his tour of this strange world that looked like reality with shaking legs.<br><br>The city was big with many areas, shops, street vendors even a river that ran through the city but the most prominent building, had to be the large church built with white marble; it was a symbol of prosperity and beauty were people could worshiped the Goddess Freya.<br><br>Allwind soon arrived at a secluded spot away from all the hassles of the busy roads and plaza, his legs had stopped shaking as he got used to walking again “i wonder if i can do Gymnastics in this world, one way to find out,” he muttered as he began to run up and down the small square he found himself in.<br><br>As he completed his forth lap of the square he threw his upper body weight forward and executed a cartwheel stopping he looked around in embarrassment it had been so long that he had all most messed up the very basics.<br>Signing in relief that there was no one there to witness him he proceeded to more cartwheels across the square and then decided to do a hand stand against the wall for fun running through the basic training methods that he used to do on a regular basis.<br><br>TTiring<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">You have gained the skill Gymnastics.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“Hu a skill what’s that.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Skill Gymnastics<br>Level 1<br><br>Increases Agility by 5<br>Increases Endurance by 5<br>Increases Health by 100</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“This is weird I already know gymnastics? I wonder what other skills I have.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Avatar</td><td width="25%">Allwind</td><td width="25%">Type</td><td width="25%">Nuteral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">1</td><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title</td><td>N/A</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">100</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Stamina</td><td colspan="2">100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">STR</td><td width="25%">12</td><td width="25%">AGI</td><td width="25%">20</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">VTI</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">WIS</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">INT</td><td>10</td><td width="25%">ENDURANCE</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">LUCK</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">LEARDERSHIP</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">DEFENCE</td><td width="25%">0</td><td width="25%">OFFENCE</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">MAGICAL RESISTANCE</td><td colspan="2">0%</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div> <br><br>“Hmm what the hell does all this mean?”<br><br>“Brother Log off now dinners ready.”<br><br>“Yikes not so loud,”<br><br>“What am I doing? Brother, dinner is ready just say exactly what I do, system window, logoff accept.”<br><br>“System window, logoff accept,” and suddenly a number of blue windows popped up, and the world went dark before allwind could read any.<br><br>The lid to the capsule opened revealing the face of his sister, Sarah she looked absolutely stunning for a seventeen year old, and often got into trouble while avoiding boys that were always after her affections, currently she was looking furiously down at Alan as he lay in the capsule.<br><br>“You should have told me you were starting” she said pouting before leaving heading in the direction of the dining room.<br><br>* * * *<br><br>Dinner that night was somewhat awkward, as Alan sat once again in his wheelchair at the table, his mother and father sat opposite while his sister refused to say anything to him at all during the meal, it wasn’t till after they had finished that she let go of her anger and nearly jumped on him wanting to know what he looked like, where he had started and what he was going to do?<br><br>She fired that many questions at him so fast, that even their parents couldn’t keep up with the convocation.<br><br>“Ow you started playing?” his mother asked happily.<br><br>“Yes thought I would try it out.”<br><br>“We can tell son, you have the light back in your eyes.” His dad commented<br><br>“So where are you, where did you start from?” his sister asked almost begging for info<br><br>“In a small square in a city some were”<br><br>Sarah hit her head with the palm of her hand “i should have known.” She cried in frustration, as his parents laughed.<br><br>“Well let us know where you are, and we will come help you if you ever need it,” his mum said smiling she was truly relieved that Alan had found something to do.<br><br>“Have you done any quest yet?” Sarah asked.<br><br>“Quests? No just being doing acrobatics unless that was the message that popped up” Alan said scratching his head.<br><br>“You mean systems window, yes that will be a quest.” Sarah said smiling.<br><br>His dad however knew how lax Alan was when it came to gaming so he politely inquired as to the details of his son’s first quest.<br><br>“Hmm well it just said that you have learned gymnastics skill nothing more.”<br><br>- Thump –<br><br>“Are you ok sis hitting your head on the table hurts you know.”<br><br>“I’m fine but maybe you should go back to the hospital i think they forgot to check on your brain,” was the reply from the face down Sarah.<br><br>“Well if were done i want to go back to training”<br><br><br>End<br><br><br>Author’s notes<br><br>Big thanks to Vindrueelsker, Vereliosi and IcedLance for their inspiration and all around humour<br>Side notes hopefully this layout will be better than the prologue.<br><br>29/4/13: have edited the table :) + new quest boxses
</div> | Walking Again
The lid of the capsule closed with a slight hissing sound,
“Great I’m inside a huge coffin” Alan muttered as darkness surrounded him,
“At least it’s comfortable in here, now what do i do?” he sighed realising that perhaps he should have waited for his sister to get home from school, so that she could explain this contraption to him.
Suddenly there was a bright flash in front of his eye’s, yelling out in shook he found himself in a white room all though labelling it as a room would probably be stretching the imagination.
Another shook came as he realised he was actually standing up with no means of support to hang onto, slowly he started to move around his heart raced with joy, he had his legs back.
Crouching down suddenly he began to hug them not wanting to let them go when a female voice spoke out.
The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?
Startled Alan looked around franticly for the person that was speaking to him but could only see the white room. “Is this Royal Road?” Alan asked somewhat troubled.
Correct this is the login and Avatar design stage for Royal Road. Do you wish to create a new account?
“Err yes” Alan spoke from where he was sat on the floor looking at the roof.
Select the name of your avatar
“Hmm Allwind that’s the name the crowds at competitions use for me might as well use it here,” Alan mused after struggling several moments to come up with something.
Select your gender from male, female or neutral.
“Male,” Alan said looking puzzled, “wait neutral what’s that about? This thing is really crazy, how does that work?” he pondered
Error, please select your gender from male, female or neutral.
“Male please”
Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary thirty.
Ranging from human to orc, elf to dwarf---
“Human” Alan replied to the voice not sure that what he was hearing was real, what the hell’s an orc he thought.
You may alter your appearance to your liking.
“Show me what i look like”
Suddenly a life like model appeared in front of Alan it was like looking in a mirror
“Wow is that what i’ll look like in the game?”
Correct.
“Can i change it?”
You may alter your appearance to your liking.
“Hmm hair colour, change to blond, add five centimetres in length.” Suddenly the avatar’s hair changed from brown to blond and lengthened.
“Cool hmm, increase leg muscle” and suddenly there was more muscle on the avatars legs.
“And change eye colour to green” after fussing with the avatar creation program for more than thirty munities Alan was happy with the overall effect.
“Done i really don’t believe that’s going to be me”
Your account has been activated, your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.
Select a city or kingdom to start in?
“What? I don’t know any, random i don’t really mind,” Alan said scratching his head from where he was sat.
Welcome to Royal Road, enjoy your journey.
Suddenly a bright light embraced Alan, and then there was a flood of sound, a sound that only a large crowd could make, as Allwind was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor.
“Now what? Ow my, it’s just like reality bit old though.” He said sitting up and looking around.
“Is this really virtual reality it feels so real the floor even feels cold,”
“Hey newbie get out of the road your blocking the gate” a tall muscular man in amour said as he walked past Allwind before disappearing.
Slowly standing up Allwind’s legs began to shake, as he slowly made his way to the side of the plaza that he had appeared in it was busy far busier than he ever anticipated “just how many people play this game?”
“Just where should i start?” he mused when he court sight of something in the window of a nearby shop “wow it’s me well the thing i created wow this is really amazing, so real,” he said touching his own face with his hands.
“You can tell he’s a newbie.”
Some of the crowd around the plaza had noticed Allwind’s behaviour and were discussing him among themselves “it's not a bad looking avatar all said and done” one girl whispered.
“Guess i’ll just walk around and get used to things” Allwind smiled and began his tour of this strange world that looked like reality with shaking legs.
The city was big with many areas, shops, street vendors even a river that ran through the city but the most prominent building, had to be the large church built with white marble; it was a symbol of prosperity and beauty were people could worshiped the Goddess Freya.
Allwind soon arrived at a secluded spot away from all the hassles of the busy roads and plaza, his legs had stopped shaking as he got used to walking again “i wonder if i can do Gymnastics in this world, one way to find out,” he muttered as he began to run up and down the small square he found himself in.
As he completed his forth lap of the square he threw his upper body weight forward and executed a cartwheel stopping he looked around in embarrassment it had been so long that he had all most messed up the very basics.
Signing in relief that there was no one there to witness him he proceeded to more cartwheels across the square and then decided to do a hand stand against the wall for fun running through the basic training methods that he used to do on a regular basis.
TTiring
| You have gained the skill Gymnastics. |
| --- |
“Hu a skill what’s that.”
| Skill GymnasticsLevel 1Increases Agility by 5Increases Endurance by 5Increases Health by 100 |
| --- |
“This is weird I already know gymnastics? I wonder what other skills I have.”
| Avatar | Allwind | Type | Nuteral |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Level | 1 | Class | N/A |
| Title | N/A | Fame | 0 |
| Health | 100 | Mana | 100 |
| Stamina | | 100 | |
| STR | 12 | AGI | 20 |
| VTI | 10 | WIS | 10 |
| INT | 10 | ENDURANCE | 15 |
| LUCK | 10 | LEARDERSHIP | 0 |
| DEFENCE | 0 | OFFENCE | 0 |
| MAGICAL RESISTANCE | | 0% | |
“Hmm what the hell does all this mean?”
“Brother Log off now dinners ready.”
“Yikes not so loud,”
“What am I doing? Brother, dinner is ready just say exactly what I do, system window, logoff accept.”
“System window, logoff accept,” and suddenly a number of blue windows popped up, and the world went dark before allwind could read any.
The lid to the capsule opened revealing the face of his sister, Sarah she looked absolutely stunning for a seventeen year old, and often got into trouble while avoiding boys that were always after her affections, currently she was looking furiously down at Alan as he lay in the capsule.
“You should have told me you were starting” she said pouting before leaving heading in the direction of the dining room.
* * * *
Dinner that night was somewhat awkward, as Alan sat once again in his wheelchair at the table, his mother and father sat opposite while his sister refused to say anything to him at all during the meal, it wasn’t till after they had finished that she let go of her anger and nearly jumped on him wanting to know what he looked like, where he had started and what he was going to do?
She fired that many questions at him so fast, that even their parents couldn’t keep up with the convocation.
“Ow you started playing?” his mother asked happily.
“Yes thought I would try it out.”
“We can tell son, you have the light back in your eyes.” His dad commented
“So where are you, where did you start from?” his sister asked almost begging for info
“In a small square in a city some were”
Sarah hit her head with the palm of her hand “i should have known.” She cried in frustration, as his parents laughed.
“Well let us know where you are, and we will come help you if you ever need it,” his mum said smiling she was truly relieved that Alan had found something to do.
“Have you done any quest yet?” Sarah asked.
“Quests? No just being doing acrobatics unless that was the message that popped up” Alan said scratching his head.
“You mean systems window, yes that will be a quest.” Sarah said smiling.
His dad however knew how lax Alan was when it came to gaming so he politely inquired as to the details of his son’s first quest.
“Hmm well it just said that you have learned gymnastics skill nothing more.”
- Thump –
“Are you ok sis hitting your head on the table hurts you know.”
“I’m fine but maybe you should go back to the hospital i think they forgot to check on your brain,” was the reply from the face down Sarah.
“Well if were done i want to go back to training”
End
Author’s notes
Big thanks to Vindrueelsker, Vereliosi and IcedLance for their inspiration and all around humour
Side notes hopefully this layout will be better than the prologue.
29/4/13: have edited the table :) + new quest boxses |
{
"title": "The Angelic Knight by Silverhip",
"id": 42,
"author": "silverhip",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "players stats",
"id": 206,
"next": 231,
"prev": 201,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
just some notes that will make it easyer for me to write angelic knight sorry if it confuses people, i apoligise it is for my benifit (mainly) + will be upgraded regually as the story progresses so if you want to see what level and stats my main charicters have then here's the place to find them. :lol: <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">WARNING CHAPTER 11 SPOILERS </span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">AVATAR</td><td width="25%">ALLWIND</td><td width="25%">TYPE</td><td width="25%">NEUTRAL</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">LEVEL</td><td width="25%">4</td><td width="25%">CLASS</td><td width="25%">Anigelic Knight</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">TITLE</td><td width="25%">N/A</td><td width="25%">FAME</td><td width="25%">40</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Honour</td><td width="25%">0</td><td width="25%">HEALTH</td><td width="25%">440</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">MANA</td><td width="25%">140</td><td width="25%">STAMINA</td><td width="25%">640</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">SUBSTINANCE</td><td width="25%">1</td><td width="25%">Fighting Spirit</td><td width="25%">1</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">RESONANCE</td><td colspan="2">1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">STR</td><td width="25%">25</td><td width="25%">AGI</td><td width="25%">52</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">VIT</td><td width="25%">21</td><td width="25%">WIS</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">INT</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">ENDURANCE</td><td width="25%">16</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">LUCK</td><td width="25%">0</td><td width="25%">LEADERSHIP</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">DEFENCE</td><td width="25%">0%</td><td width="25%">OFFENCE</td><td width="25%">15%</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">MAGICAL RESISTANCE</td><td colspan="2">0%</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">GYMNASTICS SKILL : LEVEL : 3<br><br>You can perform continuous Gymnastics, threading together many different styles of movement.<br>Gymnastics can now be performed during combat.<br>Increases over all speed.<br><br>Increases Stamina by 100<br>Increases health by 100<br>Increases Agility by 5<br>Increases Endurance by 5</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">SWORD MASTERY : LEVEL : 2 <br><br>10% damage increase<br>6% increase in attack speed</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">SOFT LANDING : LEVEL : 1<br><br>You are now able to land from great heights without incurring significant damage<br><br>-10% damage from falling</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Skill: You learned Bandage Skill. level 2<br>Enables you to stop bleeding.<br>Increases life of the wounded when tended.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div> <br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Identification Level : 1 Allows you to identify objects in detail including magical influences</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">LIGHT WING : LEVEL 1<br><br>creates the ability to fly for a limited time:<br>current time 30 seconds <br><br>when activatated consumes 100% mana <br>increases Agility 50%<br>increases strenght 25%<br>mana reqeneration 25%</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">EAGEL EYE LEVEL 1<br><br>can spot traps and life forms at a distance.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><br>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Avatar</td><td width="25%">Clarie</td><td width="25%">Type</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">2</td><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">Cleric</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">N/A</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">5</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">210</td><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">310</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">420</td><td width="25%">Substinance</td><td width="25%">1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">concentration ??</td><td width="25%">5</td><td width="25%">STR</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">AGI</td><td width="25%">12</td><td width="25%">VIT</td><td width="25%">11</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">WIS</td><td width="25%">29</td><td width="25%">INT</td><td width="25%">31</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">ENDURANCE</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">LUCK</td><td width="25%">5</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">DEFENCE</td><td width="25%">5%</td><td width="25%">OFFENCE</td><td width="25%">1%</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">MAGICAL RESISTANCE</td><td colspan="2">20%</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Magic Mastery Level 2<br><br>10% Added spell effects<br>3% speed increase when casting</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Skill Meditation Level 1<br><br>refills mana 10% every 30 seconds</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Large area spell level 1<br><br>spells can cover a large area can be linked to other spells</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Malerites slow buff level 1<br><br>slows the target down</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
</div> | just some notes that will make it easyer for me to write angelic knight sorry if it confuses people, i apoligise it is for my benifit (mainly) + will be upgraded regually as the story progresses so if you want to see what level and stats my main charicters have then here's the place to find them. :lol:
WARNING CHAPTER 11 SPOILERS
| AVATAR | ALLWIND | TYPE | NEUTRAL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LEVEL | 4 | CLASS | Anigelic Knight |
| TITLE | N/A | FAME | 40 |
| Honour | 0 | HEALTH | 440 |
| MANA | 140 | STAMINA | 640 |
| SUBSTINANCE | 1 | Fighting Spirit | 1 |
| RESONANCE | | 1 | |
| STR | 25 | AGI | 52 |
| VIT | 21 | WIS | 10 |
| INT | 10 | ENDURANCE | 16 |
| LUCK | 0 | LEADERSHIP | 0 |
| DEFENCE | 0% | OFFENCE | 15% |
| MAGICAL RESISTANCE | | 0% | |
| GYMNASTICS SKILL : LEVEL : 3You can perform continuous Gymnastics, threading together many different styles of movement.Gymnastics can now be performed during combat.Increases over all speed.Increases Stamina by 100Increases health by 100Increases Agility by 5Increases Endurance by 5 |
| --- |
| SWORD MASTERY : LEVEL : 2 10% damage increase6% increase in attack speed |
| --- |
| SOFT LANDING : LEVEL : 1You are now able to land from great heights without incurring significant damage-10% damage from falling |
| --- |
| Skill: You learned Bandage Skill. level 2Enables you to stop bleeding.Increases life of the wounded when tended. |
| --- |
| Identification Level : 1 Allows you to identify objects in detail including magical influences |
| --- |
| LIGHT WING : LEVEL 1creates the ability to fly for a limited time:current time 30 seconds when activatated consumes 100% mana increases Agility 50%increases strenght 25%mana reqeneration 25% |
| --- |
| EAGEL EYE LEVEL 1can spot traps and life forms at a distance. |
| --- |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Avatar | Clarie | Type | Neutral |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Level | 2 | Class | Cleric |
| Title | N/A | Fame | 5 |
| Health | 210 | Stamina | 310 |
| Mana | 420 | Substinance | 1 |
| concentration ?? | 5 | STR | 15 |
| AGI | 12 | VIT | 11 |
| WIS | 29 | INT | 31 |
| ENDURANCE | 10 | LUCK | 5 |
| DEFENCE | 5% | OFFENCE | 1% |
| MAGICAL RESISTANCE | | 20% | |
| Magic Mastery Level 210% Added spell effects3% speed increase when casting |
| --- |
| Skill Meditation Level 1refills mana 10% every 30 seconds |
| --- |
| Large area spell level 1spells can cover a large area can be linked to other spells |
| --- |
| Malerites slow buff level 1slows the target down |
| --- | |
{
"title": "The Right Hand Of God by Chimeara18",
"id": 29,
"author": "chimeara18",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Chapter 11 The Melee Begins",
"id": 422,
"next": 425,
"prev": 418,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Arthe had been out of the dungeon for a day now and in that time he had been working almost exclusively on raising his repair skill. Thanks to his efforts it was now at Intermediate 2 24%. When it had hit intermediate he had immediately gone to see Mathis and asked to learn Blacksmithing, Mathis had jumped at the chance to demonstrate his superior abilities and had taught Arthe the basics of the skill. However Arthe had neither the time or the inclination to raise the skill just yet, instead he had spent the remainder of his time getting to know his new sword skills more intimately as well as regularly going to the Temple of Freya to pray.<br><br>Of course this wasn't because he had suddenly become religious, no it was because he wanted to raise his faith stat as much as possible before the Grand melee. This way when he was asked to join the ranks of the Paladins of Freya he would have more than enough faith to garner the respect of the other paladins around him. He was determined to be the most respected paladin of the lot as well as the strongest, the latter would take some time to achieve but with increased respect would come more lucrative quest opportunities. Thanks to his repeated praying his faith stat was now in excess of 400, along with this he had learned a basic healing spell.<br><br>Fortifying Aura [1]:<br>This holy aura heals the body and bolsters the spirit of the caster and nearby allies.<br>+20hp per second.<br>+10 stamina per second.<br>A.O.E- 5 yards.<br>Range and amount increases as the skill levels.<br>cost: 20 Mana per second.<br><br>This skill would come in very handy during the Grand Melee as he could heal himself and restore his stamina during the fight without having to stop, at least for as long as his Mana held out. Of course if he persisted in using his sword skills repeatedly then he wouldn't be able to use it, but with his Analytical Blade skill as well as his buffs he was fairly sure that he would not have to use his sword abilities that often.<br><br>Arthe had just 1 day till the Melee began and in that time he wanted to level up at least twice more so that he could use the level 50 gear he had found in the dungeon, to this end he went to see Mathis for help. When he arrived at his house Cassis was also there eating breakfast, both he and Mathis seemed to be having a fairly serious conversation so Arthe waited at the doorway.<br><br>"Well something has to be done, we can't just leave those Lizard-men out there preying on the villagers. Just because we're busy with the Melee preparations doesn't mean we can't do our duty." Cassis was saying.<br><br>"I know that and I also know that there aren't any soldiers to spare just now. Most of them are already out on punitive expeditions and the rest are either wounded or busy guarding the palace. Maybe we could ask one of the adventurers in town, perhaps Cadfael would be willing." Mathis responded.<br><br>"No I already asked him, he said he has been summoned to Somren to go on an expedition to the north so he has no time to help. And the other adventurers don't seem to be willing as the number of Lizard-men is too few to provide much in the way of experience or rewards. Greedy lot they were too, wanted a lot of gold just for killing 7 lizard-men. Honestly can you believe it."<br><br>Arthe decided now was a good time to interrupt so he pushed open the door and coughed loudly as he did.<br><br>"Hey Mathis, Hi Cassis. i couldn't help but overhear that you have a small monster problem. Is there anything I could do to help?"<br><br>Mathis looked at him then at Cassis, both of them grinned and then smacked themselves on the forehead.<br><br>"Freya! we're both idiots. We could send Arthe, why didn't we think of that sooner." Mathis said, then he got up and beckoned Arthe over to a map on one of the worktops.<br><br>"Now then we've had reports of a small group of Lizard-men preying on merchant carts about 2 hours from the city, their numbers have been accurately verified as only 7 so it's not a big problem. Having said that the merchants guild has been complaining incessantly to the city guard about getting rid of them. If you could go and sort them out it would be a big help, don't worry about missing the Melee as Cassis here will lend you a fast horse so that you can get there and back in quick time. So how about it?"<br><br>"Ding"<br>Quest received.<br>Slay the Lizard-men bandits.<br>Kill the monsters harrying the merchant caravans outside the city.<br>Quest difficulty: E<br>Quest rewards: Increased reputation with merchant guild and city guard.<br><br>"I accept." Arthe said immediately.<br><br>"Excellent, now then take this map and you'll find Cassis' horse round back in the yard. Shouldn't take you more than 5 hours to get there, kill the beasts and come back. so I'll see you soon."<br><br>Arthe headed out the back where he found a large grey stallion tied to the railing, he mounted it (after a couple of tries anyway) and headed down towards the city gate. <br><br>An 1 1/2 hours later he had come across the remains of a merchants cart at the side of the road. He looked for some sign to tell him which direction the marauders had come from and spotted a trail of clawed footprints heading into the forest. Before heading in after them he tied the horse to one of the trees and used his blessings on himself.<br><br>He had not traveled more than 50 yards into the woods when he heard the sound of voices, sneaking closer he began to tell the voices apart. Some of them spoke clearly in scared tones and the others had words interspersed with hisses. It seemed that he had come across the Lizard-men and whatever captives they had taken from the caravan. Realizing that he had to act quickly he drew his sword and stepped out from his hiding place, looking at the makeshift camp he saw humans tied together on one side with the lizard-men grouped around their ill-gotten gains on the other.<br><br>He ran towards the captives hoping to cut them free before he was noticed, unfortunately one of the Lizard-men picked exactly the wrong time to turn around and spotted him.<br><br>"Hss it'sss a human! Ssslay him!"<br><br>Arthe then stood between the monsters and the captives readying himself for the coming battle, the beasts charged at him all at once but got in each others way in the process. This allowed one of the creatures to pull ahead of the others, it ran at Arthe spear held high to strike but Arthe sidestepped the thrust and brought his blade down sharply on the fiends neck. His sword swept its head from its shoulders and Arthe stepped back into position. By this point the other Lizard-men had sorted themselves out and came at Arthe a bit more cautiously, as they drew near they attacked him in unison but he managed to fend off their spear tips with his shield then he stepped into their unguarded midst and activated his Blade dance skill. When it had completed two of the remaining 6 were dead and another 2 severely wounded, the last two went absolutely wild at this and attacked furiously. Arthe fended off hit after hit before reciprocating with a Shield bash to one enemy and a sharp thrust to the other, his thrust went straight into the abdomen of its target ending its life instantly. <br><br>Now faced with 2 injured enemies and one stunned one Arthe made short work of finishing them off, with decapitating strikes to the two wounded he then proceeded to sever the last enemy in two at the waist with a colossal swing of his sword. As it died the captives let out a massive cheer and Arthe was gifted with a system message telling him the news he was waiting for.<br><br>You have leveled up!<br>You have leveled up!<br><br>He was not expecting to gain two levels but then he realized that he had gained bonus experience for defeating the Lizard-men in a forest, where they had a 50% increase in strength. Still it was a nice surprise because when he looked at the amount of experience needed to level again he saw that only 23% was left. That meant he would probably level again when he turned in the quest.<br><br>Arthe then cut the captives free and guided them out of the forest, luckily no one had come along and stolen his horse in the meantime. He had not been looking forward to telling Cassis if it had, the merchants were extremely grateful and each told him that he would eternally receive a 25% discount from whatever he bought off them in the future. Saying that they began to gather the remnants of their belongings from the smashed cart and then make their way towards the city. Arthe stayed with them until the city gates came in sight, then he bid them farewell and headed back to Mathis' house. <br><br>He arrived just as Mathis was locking up and told him that the Lizard-men had been wiped out and that he had freed some merchants that were held captive. Mathis grinned at him and congratulated him on a job well done.<br><br>"Ding"<br>Quest completed:<br>The monsters are dead and you have saved a group of merchants, they will forever be in your debt and you will be hailed as a hero in the merchants guild.<br>You have leveled up!<br>You have gained 100 contribution points for the Kingdom of Baldur.<br>You have increased your reputation with the merchants guild. You are now an Honored Customer.<br><br>"Excellent, a level, some reputation and best of all contribution points to spend at the Palace armory. Maybe i should look for a new breastplate before the battle tomorrow. No not a lot of point, my current armor is still pretty awesome and I haven't really got enough points to buy anything decent. Meh might as well go and get a good night's rest before the start of the Grand Melee." Arthe mused whilst walking with Mathis up the hill towards the Castle.<br><br>"So lad, you feeling prepared for tomorrows battle royale? or are you nervous and shaking in those boats you call shoes?" Mathis asked with a grin.<br><br>"I'm feeling pretty confident actually old man, I've got my level up nicely and my equipment is some of the best stuff you've ever seen. Just wait I'll show you tomorrow, you'll be proud that you helped me my first day here i swear it." Saying this Arthe waved goodbye and entered a nearby inn.<br><br>"You already made me proud when you came out of the mausoleum alive boy." Mathis said quietly before heading up to the Castle silently.<br><br><br>The Day of The Melee.<br><br>Arthe and about 20 other people, both players and NPC's, sat in the barracks waiting for the call to head out to the tournament field. Arthe had taken this opportunity to examine the equipment and weaponry of his opponents, most of them were using full plate armor with 2 handed swords but there were 3 who were different. The tallest one was using two scimitars and was wearing chainmail over leather and another was wearing only leather while wielding a single rapier, it was the third that peaked Arthe's interest though. She was wielding an Epee in one hand and a long Stiletto dagger in the other, she was also wearing a leather cuirass but hers was longer than most. It dropped down to her knees and Arthe was very interested to note that she wore no leg armor save for a pair of knee high boots, mainly he was interested in the tantalizing glimpses of thigh on show. (What just because he's a chivalrous knight he's not allowed to admire a girls legs?)<br><br>All of the contestants except for Arthe and the girl were showing off their various sword skills and posing in their armor, at the same time there were many envious glances directed at Arthe. This was because he had now equipped the Shield and Gauntlets of Freya as well as the Icy longsword of the Ancient Protector, this meant that he was dressed in glossy black armor for the most part with golden gloves and a gold shield. This unusual look seemed to suit Arthe's barbarian like body, even the girl was staring at him. Well he thought she was, she had a full helm on so her face was hidden but he hoped she was admiring him and not thinking he looked like a prat.<br>After about 5 minutes a trumpet sounded from outside and the participants were ushered onto the tournament grounds, at the far end was the royal box. Apparently the king and his daughter, the princess Frith, were attending and the winner would be granted a private audience. Arthe was pretty interested in meeting the princess as rumor had it that she was quite a beauty, he was fully aware that she was an NPC but still a pretty girl is a pretty girl.<br><br>The participants bowed to the royal box and then separated, some stayed together in pairs or trios and the rest stood alone. The entire crowd went silent in anticipation, then the King stood up and threw a spear down into the arena. This was the signal to begin, at once the majority of the solo competitors charged at each other. With much shouting and skill activation the Melee got underway, Arthe was keeping an eye on the opponents who were in groups but at the same time he found himself an enemy to engage. <br><br>His first opponent was a large bloke in half plate who swung his greatsword with surprising speed, surprising but not in a good way. It was so slow that Arthe had more than enough time to duck under it and thrust his own blade into his opponents leg. The guy fell and immediately declared his capitulation, obviously the Grand Melee wasn't a fight to the death but a test of martial skill. With one enemy down Arthe decided to try his luck against one of the groups of three, by this time roughly 6 of the participants had already surrendered and those that remained were warily picking their next opponent. <br><br>The female fighter was facing off against the scimitar wielder and had lightly pricked him in various places, the guy had obviously lost his temper and was flailing about with his blades without any semblance of skill at all. Eventually he was stabbed hard in the upper arm and dropped one of his swords, immediately a marshal declared him out and he shuffled to the arena wall dejectedly. He wasn't alone though, many of the other competitors were also sat there and they appeared to be taking bets as to who would win.<br><br>Arthe, meanwhile, was in the midst of battling a trio of 2 handed sword users. He had managed to wound all 3 of them slightly but had taken an injury himself in the thigh. As it was a minor wound he hadn't been disqualified but it was slowing him down. He decided to activate both his Benevolence of the Goddess skill as well as his Fortifying Aura, when he did so his wound closed up in about 5 seconds and he felt faster and stronger.<br>He used Shield Bash to drive one opponent backwards and then he used Targeted Thrust to drive his sword right through another mans leg, as he recovered he saw an overhead slash coming his way and rolled sideways just in time.<br><br>As he got up he swung his sword hard at the feet of the nearest enemy, forcing them to jump, then he followed up on that swing with a shoulder height slash. The hit connected and knocked his target into the guys partner, forcing them both to the ground, Arthe then proceeded to stab one in the upper arm before holding his sword tip at the others throat.<br><br>"Do you yield?"<br><br>"I surrender to your skill." Replied the warrior with a sigh and a smile, before he picked up his mate and walked them both over to the side wall.<br><br>The crowd let out a massive cheer at this display of martial prowess and Arthe bowed briefly to them before turning back to find a new opponent.<br>There were only 7 warriors left by this time (including Arthe) and the melee had degenerated into something of a brawl, the one on one duels had stopped and now it was a free for all. Participants would strike at all those who came in range whether they had been partners before or not, many of them seemed to be determined not to allow the female contestant to win and were surrounding her. Arthe couldn't believe that the so called honorable contestants were acting like this and leaped to her aid, (honestly it wasn't because he liked her legs or anything I swear) he swung his sword fiercely at all the enemies in sight forcing them to step back then he activated Blade Dance.<br><br>The flurry of strikes hit every single one of the enemies surrounding the girl, not one of them missed and none of the opponents could block them in time. By the time the skill finished 5 enemies were on the floor groaning in pain and the arena was so silent you could hear a pin drop, all of a sudden a giant wave of applause and cheering echoed from the stands. Every member of the audience was on their feet applauding this brave Knight who had jumped straight to the woman's defense, even the King was applauding gently. Arthe then turned to his last remaining opponent, bowed, then raised his sword and shield for the final battle of the contest.<br><br>The woman stood silent for a moment and then spoke to him;<br>"Thank you for the assistance but I will not hold back when facing you despite my gratitude"<br><br>Arthe thought her voice sounded like moonbeams hitting water, (urgh gush, maybe i should have words with the author. Oh wait...)<br>then he removed his helmet and responded.<br><br>"I expect nothing less than your full capabilities and will reciprocate in kind. Honor demands we fight using our full strength, may holy Freya guide our swords." Admittedly he did get a bit carried away with his role playing but he thought it was justified especially if it made him seem more chivalrous and heroic to the watching princess. He then replaced his helm and took up arms once more.<br><br>After exchanging these words the two of them saluted each other and the royal box and engaged in combat once more, Arthe blocked the girl's stiletto time and again with his shield, while at the same time parrying her Epee with his sword and looking for openings.<br>Eventually he saw a slight weakness in her footing and took advantage of it, using Shield Bash to knock her off balance, he disarmed her Epee hand with his blade then pushed her over. Swiftly he knelt on her Stiletto arm and held the edge of his sword against her throat. The match was done.<br><br>"Do you yield?"<br><br>"I yield."<br><br>Arthe then got up and held out his hand to help the girl stand, following this action he turned to the king and saluted with his sword. He was then confronted with a round of applause from all those present in the arena, even those who had been defeated in the tournament were standing and cheering.<br><br>A marshal then guided both Arthe and the unknown girl to the front of the royal box where they both knelt and lowered their heads. The King made his way down to them followed by the princess and a large knight in shining plate armor. <br><br>"Congratulations to you brave Knights for showing such prowess on this field of battle, seldom have we seen such might with our own eyes. raise your heads that i might look upon those who have achieved victory here today."<br><br>Arthe removed his helm and spotted the girl out of the corner of his eye doing the same. There was a large cry from the audience and a gasp from the king. Arthe dared to look up and saw one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen but that wasn't what had caused the outcry.<br><br>"Why have you done this my daughter and who is this that has been by my side throughout this tournament?" The King cried, as he did the veil on the princess was raised and the wearer knelt at the king's feet.<br><br>"Forgive her father I had forced her into acting this role so that I may prove mine own skill at arms to thee. I had hoped to win this tournament and so persuade you into allowing me to venture out into the world and make my own mark however i have failed." This response came from the girl at Arthe's side and he could only listen in shock and then terror.<br><br>Terror because he had unknowingly struck down the princess and caused her harm during the melee, the King could very well order his banishment or even his death because of such an act. Arthe was imagining all sorts of horrible fates in store for him but fortunately the King did not seem to be too upset with him, more with his daughter.<br><br>"What if you had been grievously wounded, what of those men who may have hurt you and in the process condemned themselves, did you not think of these when you were considering such an action. Have i not told you that we royalty cannot act without contemplating the effects our actions may have on those who serve us?" The king wasn't actually that angry, he had seen his daughter fight with both skill and bravery and was very proud of her but he could not allow her to take such dangerous actions without thinking them through.<br><br>"Enough father it is done now and there is little to be done about it, instead you should be praising this brave warrior who won the battle and won it so honorably as well." Came the response from the , quite obviously used to these lectures , princess.<br><br>"Indeed but we shall discuss this later. Forgive me brave Knight, tell me what is your name?" <br><br>"My name is Arthedain sire, until recently squire to Sir Cassis and student of Mathis." Arthe replied with as much formality and respect as he could manage.<br><br>"Ah I have heard of you, did you not also clear the Monster Mausoleum not 2 days hence. Also was it not you who saved those merchants upon the road yesterday?" The king asked with equal parts respect and admiration in his voice.<br><br>"Indeed it was me my lord king, but those were but trials granted to me by Holy Freya as a test to prove my readiness to venture into the world and aid the innocent." <br><br>"Well spoken Sir Arthedain, as a token of our appreciation and a reward for winning this tournament I wish to present you with this Helm." The King beckoned to a servant carrying a red cushion, on it was a magnificent full plate helm of shining gold.<br><br>"Kneel Sir Arthedain and receive your just rewards." The King intoned.<br><br>Arthe knelt and as he did so the king placed the helm upon his head. Arthe very quietly said Identify and looked at the stats of the helmet.<br><br>Helmet of the Loyal Retainer:<br>Durability:150/150<br>Defense: 70<br>This helm was presented to the most Loyal of the Kingdom of Numenors Knights. Once left to rust it has been fully restored over a long period of time by an extremely skilled Blacksmith<br><br>Equip:<br>+30 STR<br>+30 VIT<br>+200 Honor<br>+20% to all resistances<br>+2% experience gain<br><br>Requirements: <br>Must have Honor Stat<br>Must have won the Grand Melee<br>STR +60<br>Honor +100<br><br><br>The king then made Arthe stand before congratulating him again and walking away gesturing for his daughter to follow. Before she left she came over to Arthe.<br><br>"I thank you for an Honorable fight. I promise you that we shall meet again in vastly different circumstances." As she said those last words she turned and left.<br><br>Arthe gulped visibly and wondered to himself what those, "vastly different circumstances", would be.....
</div> | Arthe had been out of the dungeon for a day now and in that time he had been working almost exclusively on raising his repair skill. Thanks to his efforts it was now at Intermediate 2 24%. When it had hit intermediate he had immediately gone to see Mathis and asked to learn Blacksmithing, Mathis had jumped at the chance to demonstrate his superior abilities and had taught Arthe the basics of the skill. However Arthe had neither the time or the inclination to raise the skill just yet, instead he had spent the remainder of his time getting to know his new sword skills more intimately as well as regularly going to the Temple of Freya to pray.
Of course this wasn't because he had suddenly become religious, no it was because he wanted to raise his faith stat as much as possible before the Grand melee. This way when he was asked to join the ranks of the Paladins of Freya he would have more than enough faith to garner the respect of the other paladins around him. He was determined to be the most respected paladin of the lot as well as the strongest, the latter would take some time to achieve but with increased respect would come more lucrative quest opportunities. Thanks to his repeated praying his faith stat was now in excess of 400, along with this he had learned a basic healing spell.
Fortifying Aura [1]:
This holy aura heals the body and bolsters the spirit of the caster and nearby allies.
+20hp per second.
+10 stamina per second.
A.O.E- 5 yards.
Range and amount increases as the skill levels.
cost: 20 Mana per second.
This skill would come in very handy during the Grand Melee as he could heal himself and restore his stamina during the fight without having to stop, at least for as long as his Mana held out. Of course if he persisted in using his sword skills repeatedly then he wouldn't be able to use it, but with his Analytical Blade skill as well as his buffs he was fairly sure that he would not have to use his sword abilities that often.
Arthe had just 1 day till the Melee began and in that time he wanted to level up at least twice more so that he could use the level 50 gear he had found in the dungeon, to this end he went to see Mathis for help. When he arrived at his house Cassis was also there eating breakfast, both he and Mathis seemed to be having a fairly serious conversation so Arthe waited at the doorway.
"Well something has to be done, we can't just leave those Lizard-men out there preying on the villagers. Just because we're busy with the Melee preparations doesn't mean we can't do our duty." Cassis was saying.
"I know that and I also know that there aren't any soldiers to spare just now. Most of them are already out on punitive expeditions and the rest are either wounded or busy guarding the palace. Maybe we could ask one of the adventurers in town, perhaps Cadfael would be willing." Mathis responded.
"No I already asked him, he said he has been summoned to Somren to go on an expedition to the north so he has no time to help. And the other adventurers don't seem to be willing as the number of Lizard-men is too few to provide much in the way of experience or rewards. Greedy lot they were too, wanted a lot of gold just for killing 7 lizard-men. Honestly can you believe it."
Arthe decided now was a good time to interrupt so he pushed open the door and coughed loudly as he did.
"Hey Mathis, Hi Cassis. i couldn't help but overhear that you have a small monster problem. Is there anything I could do to help?"
Mathis looked at him then at Cassis, both of them grinned and then smacked themselves on the forehead.
"Freya! we're both idiots. We could send Arthe, why didn't we think of that sooner." Mathis said, then he got up and beckoned Arthe over to a map on one of the worktops.
"Now then we've had reports of a small group of Lizard-men preying on merchant carts about 2 hours from the city, their numbers have been accurately verified as only 7 so it's not a big problem. Having said that the merchants guild has been complaining incessantly to the city guard about getting rid of them. If you could go and sort them out it would be a big help, don't worry about missing the Melee as Cassis here will lend you a fast horse so that you can get there and back in quick time. So how about it?"
"Ding"
Quest received.
Slay the Lizard-men bandits.
Kill the monsters harrying the merchant caravans outside the city.
Quest difficulty: E
Quest rewards: Increased reputation with merchant guild and city guard.
"I accept." Arthe said immediately.
"Excellent, now then take this map and you'll find Cassis' horse round back in the yard. Shouldn't take you more than 5 hours to get there, kill the beasts and come back. so I'll see you soon."
Arthe headed out the back where he found a large grey stallion tied to the railing, he mounted it (after a couple of tries anyway) and headed down towards the city gate.
An 1 1/2 hours later he had come across the remains of a merchants cart at the side of the road. He looked for some sign to tell him which direction the marauders had come from and spotted a trail of clawed footprints heading into the forest. Before heading in after them he tied the horse to one of the trees and used his blessings on himself.
He had not traveled more than 50 yards into the woods when he heard the sound of voices, sneaking closer he began to tell the voices apart. Some of them spoke clearly in scared tones and the others had words interspersed with hisses. It seemed that he had come across the Lizard-men and whatever captives they had taken from the caravan. Realizing that he had to act quickly he drew his sword and stepped out from his hiding place, looking at the makeshift camp he saw humans tied together on one side with the lizard-men grouped around their ill-gotten gains on the other.
He ran towards the captives hoping to cut them free before he was noticed, unfortunately one of the Lizard-men picked exactly the wrong time to turn around and spotted him.
"Hss it'sss a human! Ssslay him!"
Arthe then stood between the monsters and the captives readying himself for the coming battle, the beasts charged at him all at once but got in each others way in the process. This allowed one of the creatures to pull ahead of the others, it ran at Arthe spear held high to strike but Arthe sidestepped the thrust and brought his blade down sharply on the fiends neck. His sword swept its head from its shoulders and Arthe stepped back into position. By this point the other Lizard-men had sorted themselves out and came at Arthe a bit more cautiously, as they drew near they attacked him in unison but he managed to fend off their spear tips with his shield then he stepped into their unguarded midst and activated his Blade dance skill. When it had completed two of the remaining 6 were dead and another 2 severely wounded, the last two went absolutely wild at this and attacked furiously. Arthe fended off hit after hit before reciprocating with a Shield bash to one enemy and a sharp thrust to the other, his thrust went straight into the abdomen of its target ending its life instantly.
Now faced with 2 injured enemies and one stunned one Arthe made short work of finishing them off, with decapitating strikes to the two wounded he then proceeded to sever the last enemy in two at the waist with a colossal swing of his sword. As it died the captives let out a massive cheer and Arthe was gifted with a system message telling him the news he was waiting for.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
He was not expecting to gain two levels but then he realized that he had gained bonus experience for defeating the Lizard-men in a forest, where they had a 50% increase in strength. Still it was a nice surprise because when he looked at the amount of experience needed to level again he saw that only 23% was left. That meant he would probably level again when he turned in the quest.
Arthe then cut the captives free and guided them out of the forest, luckily no one had come along and stolen his horse in the meantime. He had not been looking forward to telling Cassis if it had, the merchants were extremely grateful and each told him that he would eternally receive a 25% discount from whatever he bought off them in the future. Saying that they began to gather the remnants of their belongings from the smashed cart and then make their way towards the city. Arthe stayed with them until the city gates came in sight, then he bid them farewell and headed back to Mathis' house.
He arrived just as Mathis was locking up and told him that the Lizard-men had been wiped out and that he had freed some merchants that were held captive. Mathis grinned at him and congratulated him on a job well done.
"Ding"
Quest completed:
The monsters are dead and you have saved a group of merchants, they will forever be in your debt and you will be hailed as a hero in the merchants guild.
You have leveled up!
You have gained 100 contribution points for the Kingdom of Baldur.
You have increased your reputation with the merchants guild. You are now an Honored Customer.
"Excellent, a level, some reputation and best of all contribution points to spend at the Palace armory. Maybe i should look for a new breastplate before the battle tomorrow. No not a lot of point, my current armor is still pretty awesome and I haven't really got enough points to buy anything decent. Meh might as well go and get a good night's rest before the start of the Grand Melee." Arthe mused whilst walking with Mathis up the hill towards the Castle.
"So lad, you feeling prepared for tomorrows battle royale? or are you nervous and shaking in those boats you call shoes?" Mathis asked with a grin.
"I'm feeling pretty confident actually old man, I've got my level up nicely and my equipment is some of the best stuff you've ever seen. Just wait I'll show you tomorrow, you'll be proud that you helped me my first day here i swear it." Saying this Arthe waved goodbye and entered a nearby inn.
"You already made me proud when you came out of the mausoleum alive boy." Mathis said quietly before heading up to the Castle silently.
The Day of The Melee.
Arthe and about 20 other people, both players and NPC's, sat in the barracks waiting for the call to head out to the tournament field. Arthe had taken this opportunity to examine the equipment and weaponry of his opponents, most of them were using full plate armor with 2 handed swords but there were 3 who were different. The tallest one was using two scimitars and was wearing chainmail over leather and another was wearing only leather while wielding a single rapier, it was the third that peaked Arthe's interest though. She was wielding an Epee in one hand and a long Stiletto dagger in the other, she was also wearing a leather cuirass but hers was longer than most. It dropped down to her knees and Arthe was very interested to note that she wore no leg armor save for a pair of knee high boots, mainly he was interested in the tantalizing glimpses of thigh on show. (What just because he's a chivalrous knight he's not allowed to admire a girls legs?)
All of the contestants except for Arthe and the girl were showing off their various sword skills and posing in their armor, at the same time there were many envious glances directed at Arthe. This was because he had now equipped the Shield and Gauntlets of Freya as well as the Icy longsword of the Ancient Protector, this meant that he was dressed in glossy black armor for the most part with golden gloves and a gold shield. This unusual look seemed to suit Arthe's barbarian like body, even the girl was staring at him. Well he thought she was, she had a full helm on so her face was hidden but he hoped she was admiring him and not thinking he looked like a prat.
After about 5 minutes a trumpet sounded from outside and the participants were ushered onto the tournament grounds, at the far end was the royal box. Apparently the king and his daughter, the princess Frith, were attending and the winner would be granted a private audience. Arthe was pretty interested in meeting the princess as rumor had it that she was quite a beauty, he was fully aware that she was an NPC but still a pretty girl is a pretty girl.
The participants bowed to the royal box and then separated, some stayed together in pairs or trios and the rest stood alone. The entire crowd went silent in anticipation, then the King stood up and threw a spear down into the arena. This was the signal to begin, at once the majority of the solo competitors charged at each other. With much shouting and skill activation the Melee got underway, Arthe was keeping an eye on the opponents who were in groups but at the same time he found himself an enemy to engage.
His first opponent was a large bloke in half plate who swung his greatsword with surprising speed, surprising but not in a good way. It was so slow that Arthe had more than enough time to duck under it and thrust his own blade into his opponents leg. The guy fell and immediately declared his capitulation, obviously the Grand Melee wasn't a fight to the death but a test of martial skill. With one enemy down Arthe decided to try his luck against one of the groups of three, by this time roughly 6 of the participants had already surrendered and those that remained were warily picking their next opponent.
The female fighter was facing off against the scimitar wielder and had lightly pricked him in various places, the guy had obviously lost his temper and was flailing about with his blades without any semblance of skill at all. Eventually he was stabbed hard in the upper arm and dropped one of his swords, immediately a marshal declared him out and he shuffled to the arena wall dejectedly. He wasn't alone though, many of the other competitors were also sat there and they appeared to be taking bets as to who would win.
Arthe, meanwhile, was in the midst of battling a trio of 2 handed sword users. He had managed to wound all 3 of them slightly but had taken an injury himself in the thigh. As it was a minor wound he hadn't been disqualified but it was slowing him down. He decided to activate both his Benevolence of the Goddess skill as well as his Fortifying Aura, when he did so his wound closed up in about 5 seconds and he felt faster and stronger.
He used Shield Bash to drive one opponent backwards and then he used Targeted Thrust to drive his sword right through another mans leg, as he recovered he saw an overhead slash coming his way and rolled sideways just in time.
As he got up he swung his sword hard at the feet of the nearest enemy, forcing them to jump, then he followed up on that swing with a shoulder height slash. The hit connected and knocked his target into the guys partner, forcing them both to the ground, Arthe then proceeded to stab one in the upper arm before holding his sword tip at the others throat.
"Do you yield?"
"I surrender to your skill." Replied the warrior with a sigh and a smile, before he picked up his mate and walked them both over to the side wall.
The crowd let out a massive cheer at this display of martial prowess and Arthe bowed briefly to them before turning back to find a new opponent.
There were only 7 warriors left by this time (including Arthe) and the melee had degenerated into something of a brawl, the one on one duels had stopped and now it was a free for all. Participants would strike at all those who came in range whether they had been partners before or not, many of them seemed to be determined not to allow the female contestant to win and were surrounding her. Arthe couldn't believe that the so called honorable contestants were acting like this and leaped to her aid, (honestly it wasn't because he liked her legs or anything I swear) he swung his sword fiercely at all the enemies in sight forcing them to step back then he activated Blade Dance.
The flurry of strikes hit every single one of the enemies surrounding the girl, not one of them missed and none of the opponents could block them in time. By the time the skill finished 5 enemies were on the floor groaning in pain and the arena was so silent you could hear a pin drop, all of a sudden a giant wave of applause and cheering echoed from the stands. Every member of the audience was on their feet applauding this brave Knight who had jumped straight to the woman's defense, even the King was applauding gently. Arthe then turned to his last remaining opponent, bowed, then raised his sword and shield for the final battle of the contest.
The woman stood silent for a moment and then spoke to him;
"Thank you for the assistance but I will not hold back when facing you despite my gratitude"
Arthe thought her voice sounded like moonbeams hitting water, (urgh gush, maybe i should have words with the author. Oh wait...)
then he removed his helmet and responded.
"I expect nothing less than your full capabilities and will reciprocate in kind. Honor demands we fight using our full strength, may holy Freya guide our swords." Admittedly he did get a bit carried away with his role playing but he thought it was justified especially if it made him seem more chivalrous and heroic to the watching princess. He then replaced his helm and took up arms once more.
After exchanging these words the two of them saluted each other and the royal box and engaged in combat once more, Arthe blocked the girl's stiletto time and again with his shield, while at the same time parrying her Epee with his sword and looking for openings.
Eventually he saw a slight weakness in her footing and took advantage of it, using Shield Bash to knock her off balance, he disarmed her Epee hand with his blade then pushed her over. Swiftly he knelt on her Stiletto arm and held the edge of his sword against her throat. The match was done.
"Do you yield?"
"I yield."
Arthe then got up and held out his hand to help the girl stand, following this action he turned to the king and saluted with his sword. He was then confronted with a round of applause from all those present in the arena, even those who had been defeated in the tournament were standing and cheering.
A marshal then guided both Arthe and the unknown girl to the front of the royal box where they both knelt and lowered their heads. The King made his way down to them followed by the princess and a large knight in shining plate armor.
"Congratulations to you brave Knights for showing such prowess on this field of battle, seldom have we seen such might with our own eyes. raise your heads that i might look upon those who have achieved victory here today."
Arthe removed his helm and spotted the girl out of the corner of his eye doing the same. There was a large cry from the audience and a gasp from the king. Arthe dared to look up and saw one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen but that wasn't what had caused the outcry.
"Why have you done this my daughter and who is this that has been by my side throughout this tournament?" The King cried, as he did the veil on the princess was raised and the wearer knelt at the king's feet.
"Forgive her father I had forced her into acting this role so that I may prove mine own skill at arms to thee. I had hoped to win this tournament and so persuade you into allowing me to venture out into the world and make my own mark however i have failed." This response came from the girl at Arthe's side and he could only listen in shock and then terror.
Terror because he had unknowingly struck down the princess and caused her harm during the melee, the King could very well order his banishment or even his death because of such an act. Arthe was imagining all sorts of horrible fates in store for him but fortunately the King did not seem to be too upset with him, more with his daughter.
"What if you had been grievously wounded, what of those men who may have hurt you and in the process condemned themselves, did you not think of these when you were considering such an action. Have i not told you that we royalty cannot act without contemplating the effects our actions may have on those who serve us?" The king wasn't actually that angry, he had seen his daughter fight with both skill and bravery and was very proud of her but he could not allow her to take such dangerous actions without thinking them through.
"Enough father it is done now and there is little to be done about it, instead you should be praising this brave warrior who won the battle and won it so honorably as well." Came the response from the , quite obviously used to these lectures , princess.
"Indeed but we shall discuss this later. Forgive me brave Knight, tell me what is your name?"
"My name is Arthedain sire, until recently squire to Sir Cassis and student of Mathis." Arthe replied with as much formality and respect as he could manage.
"Ah I have heard of you, did you not also clear the Monster Mausoleum not 2 days hence. Also was it not you who saved those merchants upon the road yesterday?" The king asked with equal parts respect and admiration in his voice.
"Indeed it was me my lord king, but those were but trials granted to me by Holy Freya as a test to prove my readiness to venture into the world and aid the innocent."
"Well spoken Sir Arthedain, as a token of our appreciation and a reward for winning this tournament I wish to present you with this Helm." The King beckoned to a servant carrying a red cushion, on it was a magnificent full plate helm of shining gold.
"Kneel Sir Arthedain and receive your just rewards." The King intoned.
Arthe knelt and as he did so the king placed the helm upon his head. Arthe very quietly said Identify and looked at the stats of the helmet.
Helmet of the Loyal Retainer:
Durability:150/150
Defense: 70
This helm was presented to the most Loyal of the Kingdom of Numenors Knights. Once left to rust it has been fully restored over a long period of time by an extremely skilled Blacksmith
Equip:
+30 STR
+30 VIT
+200 Honor
+20% to all resistances
+2% experience gain
Requirements:
Must have Honor Stat
Must have won the Grand Melee
STR +60
Honor +100
The king then made Arthe stand before congratulating him again and walking away gesturing for his daughter to follow. Before she left she came over to Arthe.
"I thank you for an Honorable fight. I promise you that we shall meet again in vastly different circumstances." As she said those last words she turned and left.
Arthe gulped visibly and wondered to himself what those, "vastly different circumstances", would be..... |
{
"title": "The Right Hand Of God by Chimeara18",
"id": 29,
"author": "chimeara18",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Chapter 15: Return of the.... Princess?",
"id": 455,
"next": 459,
"prev": 454,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
After Dan logged off for the night he was confronted with a hysterical VDP (Virtual Display Phone [my invention as a mobile phone replacement]), it was ringing and vibrating and generally having some kind of hissy fit. He picked it up and discovered that he had 12 unread text messages, 7 voicemails and 5 unseen video messages. <br><br>"Good god, who the hell wants to get hold of me this badly. Can't be mum as she would have just come got me out of the capsule and Dad's abroad so it's not him, it's not like I have any really close friends that call me this much. Huh best have a look i suppose."<br><br>He gingerly answered one of the video messages and nearly jumped out of his skin when a virtual image of his brothers head and shoulders popped up in front of him swearing sulphurously.<br><br>"Oi Dan! Answer your goddamned phone you useless bloody brother, what's going on with your character on RR? For some reason there were loads of priests praying and bowing after you when you walked past, what did you do? Was it some kind of epic quest or what? Call me back when you get this."<br><br>Dan laughed at the hysterical tone in his brothers message and then wondered what he should tell him. He decided to text Steve rather than call him because he didn't want to deal with multiple questions or tell him exactly what had happened to him.<br><br>His text read like this: Steve don't worry nothing's wrong, I've just changed my class to a special kind of paladin that i can't tell you about in detail because I'll lose the class if I do. I'm going off on some adventures solo for the time being and I'll tell you more about it later. Dan<br><br>Then having done that he went to get himself some dinner before logging back on.<br><br>When he logged back in it was night and he was outside Ymrheim in some woodlands, there was nothing around him and he still felt the strange pull towards the west.<br><br>Arthe decided to walk through the night hunting monsters as he went in order to increase his level, at one point around 1 am game time he discovered a small clearing lit with pale moonlight. A beautiful pond was in the center of the clearing and from the pool came a bright blue glow, he went to get a drink from it when a message window popped up in front of him.<br><br>You have discovered the enchanted glade.<br>Reputation increase denied because of class<br>Fame increase denied because of class<br>You are well rested, experience gain increase by 1.5x<br>Drinking from the enchanted waters will permanently increase your Mana pool by 200 points.<br><br><br>It was while Arthe was drinking from the pond that he heard a strange sound coming from nearby, he hurriedly filled his water flask and headed in the direction of the sounds origin. He came upon a group of moving lights surrounding a person, he couldn't tell who or what the person was because the glowing lights were obscuring his vision so he decided to wait and see what would happen. The individual was flailing about with their weapon trying to drive the lights away but all he/she was doing was making their situation worse, the lights began to land on him/her and this action was accompanied by muted gasps of pain. It was at this point that Arthe decided to jump in and help, he summoned a sphere of light and sent it towards the strange glowing creatures which left the person they were attacking and chase after Arthe's light sphere instead.<br><br>He sent the light sphere as far away as he could before terminating the spell and turning to the person behind him.<br><br>"What did you do to cause those things to attack you?" He asked whilst attempting to get a decent look at the individual in question.<br><br>"Do? I didn't do anything, I was only trying to light a fire when I was suddenly surrounded by those weird things. Anyway who are you to question my actions especially since you haven't even introduced yourself." Came the disgruntled response.<br><br>Arthe gulped, he had heard that voice before and not that long ago either. It was the princess of Baldur, Frith.<br><br>"We have met before your highness, my name is Arthedain or Arthe if you prefer. You remember we fought at the grand melee a month ago."<br><br>"Ah yes so we did, you defeated me as I recall. I tried to find your whereabouts after the contest but you had vanished, were you off adventuring somewhere?" Replied her royal highness, jewel of Baldur, light of the kingdom, apple of her father's eye and so on.<br><br>"Not in so many words your highness, I was training with the Paladins of Freya until yesterday when I entered their ranks myself. I am now setting out into the world according to the will of the goddess." Arthe answered, choosing his words carefully.<br><br>"Hmm is that so, then I will accompany you on your travels. It's been getting really boring around here recently I could do with some excitement."<br><br>"Forgive me your highness;" "Urgh call me Frith please I hate all that princess nonsense."<br><br> "Very well Frith, I am afraid I cannot allow you to accompany me as my duties are far to dangerous and even I am not aware of where they will take me." Arthe responded quickly after he was interrupted by Frith.<br><br>"Dangerous, that's exactly what I want. Besides you have seen with your own eyes that I can take care of myself, plus if you refuse I shall have you arrested."<br><br>"Ding" Quest received.<br><br>Escort the princess.<br>Accompany Frith on her adventures through the wilderness.<br>Difficulty: unknown<br>Rewards: reputation with the kingdom of Baldur, your freedom.<br>Requirements: Acquaintance with princess Frith and must have participated in the Grand Melee.<br>If this quest is denied then you will be branded a criminal and hunted down in the Baldur kingdom, should the princess die you will have a kill on sight order put out on you and no one will allow you to buy from them in Baldur kingdom and its neighbors.<br><br>Arthe sighed after looking at the quest and then accepted it with resignation, when he did so Frith grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.<br><br>"Okay then where are we off to first Arthe, and by the way which of the paladin orders do you belong to. I haven't seen that tabard before."<br><br>"We are heading west, to where I don't know yet and I am unable to tell you what order I belong to. It's forbidden." Arthe replied even as he started to walk off westwards.<br><br>"What do you mean it's forbidden, I'm the princess of Baldur, I command you to tell me." Frith demanded a bit irritably.<br><br>"Unfortunately for you Frith I am not one of your citizens and I answer to no power save that of Freya herself or her representative in this mortal realm. So you will just have to live without knowing what I am or where I plan to travel," Arthe responded, " unless of course you would be willing to return to the palace?" This last bit was said quite hopefully.<br><br>"Not a chance Arthe, you're not getting rid of me that easily. If you won't tell me I'll have to figure it out, there's only 3 orders to choose from anyway so it's not like it's difficult to guess."<br><br>Arthe grinned as she said this, knowing that very few people were aware of the existence of his class and they were all either the same class or grandmasters of the Paladin order. As they traveled along during the rest of the night he had to put up with countless questions about his skills and abilities, as dawn broke Frith finally came out with 3 straight questions.<br><br>"Are you an Arbiter?"<br><br>"No I am not a member of the Order of Arbiters."<br><br>"Then are you a member of the Order of Freya's Grace?"<br><br>"No I'm not part of that order either."<br><br>"In which case you must be a member of the Order of Holy Light." Frith exclaimed triumphantly only to have her hopes dashed.<br><br>"No I am not a member of the Order of Holy Light. Princess I must caution you that to continue this line of questioning puts you at risk of imprisonment by the church, what I am is a closely guarded secret known to few inside the church itself and none outside. If you persist I must abandon you and the quest you gave me regardless of the consequences, I cannot be swayed from my task by your order or that of any King. Forgive me for my bluntness but that is the truth of the matter." Arthe explained the facts of his circumstances to Frith and continued walking.<br><br>"Hmm if that is the case then I suppose I must stop questioning you then hadn't I, but I will say this. There are secret records in the royal library from before the creation of the Kingdom of Baldur that speak of an ancient order of paladins whose origins and membership is the worlds most closely guarded secret, if you are one of those then you have my utmost respect and sympathy." Frith replied quietly and with great respect.<br><br>When Arthe turned to look at her she even had tears in the corner of her eyes, it was evident that she knew more than she was supposed to about the Guardian order but it was too late for him to worry about now. On the plus side it meant he could proceed with his tasks without having to explain to her why he was doing it or what his next move would be, also she was beautiful so he would have someone nice to look at on his travels and someone to talk to. He was also aware that as he was over 18 there was an 'ahem' adult side to royal road and that even if Frith was an NPC, due to the high sophistication of the AI software, she was absolutely lifelike in her mental and 'ahem' physical capabilities. So if he played his cards right, who knows? (Readers please forgive me, I swear it's in Arthe's nature as a social recluse, I'm innocent of all wrongdoing in this. Don't judge me.)<br>The two of them traveled together for a couple of months, hunting down monsters here and there and rescuing the occasional villager from monsters. After 9 weeks of adventuring they had both increased their level to the 120's, Arthe was level 128 and Frith was level 124. In addition to this Arthe had leveled all of his holy skills up into the intermediate stages with his lowest at Intermediate 3 and his highest at Intermediate 8, with his class boost and his helmet boost he even had a couple at Advanced 1. This meant his holy magic was far above the skill levels of the other priest or paladin users and with his leveling armor his stats remained at highly boosted levels as well, unfortunately he had to replace most of the armor with what he obtained off of monster drops and as such he didn't look quite as good as he had before.<br> Frith on the other hand had taken a small fortune with her when she left the palace and had been consistently buying newer and better equipment as she had leveled, not that Arthe was jealous or anything. It was just that most of the money received from the monster drops was taken used up buying food and supplies for Frith and because Arthe's fame was negated by his class he could not receive a discount from any of the merchants he bought from. This meant he had trouble buying expensive equipment and so had to rely on drops.<br><br>However it was not all bad news thanks to his Freya's Guidance skill, Arthe had managed to discover the location of a dungeon full of undead which also contained clues to the whereabouts of another piece of the Justicar's armor. According to the information provided by the Goddess the clues pointed to the location of the Justicar's sword, Arthe was practically drooling about finding this sword because it would solve his most pressing issue.<br>Finding a weapon that could cope with the strength of his holy power channeling through it, needless to say it was already difficult enough to obtain a holy attribute weapon from the body of an evil monster but finding one which could withstand an advanced holy spell running through it was almost impossible. When he had the sword Arthe would not have to rely on his spells quite so much and could get back to doing what he enjoyed most, bashing monsters with a bit of metal. He also wouldn't have to worry about getting hit quite so much as he could use both his shield and his sword to defend himself properly, that way even if most of his armor was low quality then he could still cope with a number of heavy attacks. Admittedly even without a holy attribute sword Arthe could still use his sword skills to kill enemies but he was sure that he would need his holy powers to be really strong in the future so he had concentrated mainly on those, still his sword skills had also been leveled slightly to Beginner 6.<br><br>Arthe and Frith had become quite close over the last few weeks, initially she had been a bit imperious and standoffish but that had changed after Arthe saved her from being eaten by a giant wasp. The monster had come out of nowhere whilst he was repairing their armor and carried her off before he could react, so he had grabbed their gear and chased after it regardless of the danger. Arthe had followed it back to a giant wasps nest inside a cliff and had hacked and cut his way through all the inhabitants until he had found her, when she had seen him covered in wounds and coated with the entrails of a hundred dead wasps she had hugged him hard and apologized profusely for her previous attitude. Right after that they had gone after the wasp queen and butchered her, good times.<br><br>Now the two of them swapped stories about their families and had competitions over who could eat the most honey before getting ill or who could go the longest without talking. Arthe invariably won the latter whilst Frith usually won the former, these kind of activities and others made the journey more enjoyable and Arthe could not remember having such a pleasant time at any point of his life in game or in reality.<br>The biggest headache on his mind at the moment was the consistent pulling towards the west, he could feel it all day and it never seemed to get any lighter. He assumed it meant he was being called to aid someone in need but he wanted to be at least level 150 before he started taking on proper paladin quests, he had no desire to die on his first task as a Guardian.<br><br>It had been two days after Arthe had spoken to Freya about the undead dungeon, now he and Frith were stood in front of it. Dungeon wasn't quite the right word, castle was a more apt description. The dungeon was small castle that looked to have been a border fort at some point in the distant past now it was occupied by ghosts and other undead fiends, according to the local villagers anyway.<br><br>You are the first to discover the Fort of the Oath-breakers.<br>Fame increase negated by class.<br>Double experience for a week<br>Item drop rate doubled and the first monster of each type drops the best equipment it can.<br>Subsequent monsters drop common loot.<br>Named Monsters drop ancient equipment.<br><br>Arthe had never seen the last sentence before and neither had Frith, they looked at each other excitedly, sure that they were about to get some awesome loot. Then they proceeded to enter the fort warily, the first monsters they encountered were ghouls of varying types but these monsters left them alone due to Arthe's high fighting spirit and so they were able to get into the main hall itself before they came across any other undead.<br>There were 3 Dullahan in the room sitting around a table laden with rotted food and dusty crockery, Arthe was slightly worried about their numbers but then reassured himself that his holy magic was more than sufficient to dispose of them before things got too hairy.<br><br>Frith wasn't worried at all and actually seemed to revel in the danger, she gestured at Arthe to take two of the Dullahan while she engaged the third.<br>She attacked using her razor sharp epee, thrusting the point at the head carried in the monsters arms. Arthe on the other hand was repeatedly casting Holy Bolt and Holy smite on his opponents causing them to screech in agony, eventually they succumbed to the power of the light and he then watched as Frith finally nailed her opponent right between the eyes.<br>All three of the Dullahan corpses turned grey and disappeared, one of them dropped an arm band and the other two dropped rusty pieces of armor. The arm band was silver and it was engraved with runic symbols, it emanated a feeling of evil and Arthe stopped Frith from touching it before she was hurt. He cast purify on the item until it no longer emitted an evil aura but instead felt pure and holy, then he gestured to Frith to pick it up.<br>She had a higher level identify skill then Arthe so he usually let her look at the items first, this time she let out a low gasp of surprise before handing the bracelet to Arthe.<br><br>Armband of the Numenorian Captain:<br>Durability:100/100<br><br>This bracelet once belonged to the guard captain of a border fort, he wore it in battle for many years and it absorbed much of his combat prowess.<br>Worn for centuries by an agent of evil it has recently been purified by a Holy personage and as such has gained bonuses to its effects.<br><br>Equip:<br>+20 STR<br>+20 VIT<br>+15% Attack Power<br>+10% Attack speed<br>Wearer can cast minor Blessing on self 3 times per day.<br><br>Requirements:<br>Level 120<br>+50 WIS<br>+100 STR<br>+60 STAM<br><br><br>Arthe examined the object closely before handing it back to Frith, she looked at him quizzically for a second.<br><br>"You can have it, I don't need the blessing effect and it has many effects suitable for a pure warrior type such as yourself."<br><br>"Thanks Arthe, I'm sure it'll come in handy when we're destroying the rest of this forts inhabitants." Frith smiled at Arthe and lightly gripped his hand for a moment.<br><br>Then the two of them headed on further into the fort.
</div> | After Dan logged off for the night he was confronted with a hysterical VDP (Virtual Display Phone [my invention as a mobile phone replacement]), it was ringing and vibrating and generally having some kind of hissy fit. He picked it up and discovered that he had 12 unread text messages, 7 voicemails and 5 unseen video messages.
"Good god, who the hell wants to get hold of me this badly. Can't be mum as she would have just come got me out of the capsule and Dad's abroad so it's not him, it's not like I have any really close friends that call me this much. Huh best have a look i suppose."
He gingerly answered one of the video messages and nearly jumped out of his skin when a virtual image of his brothers head and shoulders popped up in front of him swearing sulphurously.
"Oi Dan! Answer your goddamned phone you useless bloody brother, what's going on with your character on RR? For some reason there were loads of priests praying and bowing after you when you walked past, what did you do? Was it some kind of epic quest or what? Call me back when you get this."
Dan laughed at the hysterical tone in his brothers message and then wondered what he should tell him. He decided to text Steve rather than call him because he didn't want to deal with multiple questions or tell him exactly what had happened to him.
His text read like this: Steve don't worry nothing's wrong, I've just changed my class to a special kind of paladin that i can't tell you about in detail because I'll lose the class if I do. I'm going off on some adventures solo for the time being and I'll tell you more about it later. Dan
Then having done that he went to get himself some dinner before logging back on.
When he logged back in it was night and he was outside Ymrheim in some woodlands, there was nothing around him and he still felt the strange pull towards the west.
Arthe decided to walk through the night hunting monsters as he went in order to increase his level, at one point around 1 am game time he discovered a small clearing lit with pale moonlight. A beautiful pond was in the center of the clearing and from the pool came a bright blue glow, he went to get a drink from it when a message window popped up in front of him.
You have discovered the enchanted glade.
Reputation increase denied because of class
Fame increase denied because of class
You are well rested, experience gain increase by 1.5x
Drinking from the enchanted waters will permanently increase your Mana pool by 200 points.
It was while Arthe was drinking from the pond that he heard a strange sound coming from nearby, he hurriedly filled his water flask and headed in the direction of the sounds origin. He came upon a group of moving lights surrounding a person, he couldn't tell who or what the person was because the glowing lights were obscuring his vision so he decided to wait and see what would happen. The individual was flailing about with their weapon trying to drive the lights away but all he/she was doing was making their situation worse, the lights began to land on him/her and this action was accompanied by muted gasps of pain. It was at this point that Arthe decided to jump in and help, he summoned a sphere of light and sent it towards the strange glowing creatures which left the person they were attacking and chase after Arthe's light sphere instead.
He sent the light sphere as far away as he could before terminating the spell and turning to the person behind him.
"What did you do to cause those things to attack you?" He asked whilst attempting to get a decent look at the individual in question.
"Do? I didn't do anything, I was only trying to light a fire when I was suddenly surrounded by those weird things. Anyway who are you to question my actions especially since you haven't even introduced yourself." Came the disgruntled response.
Arthe gulped, he had heard that voice before and not that long ago either. It was the princess of Baldur, Frith.
"We have met before your highness, my name is Arthedain or Arthe if you prefer. You remember we fought at the grand melee a month ago."
"Ah yes so we did, you defeated me as I recall. I tried to find your whereabouts after the contest but you had vanished, were you off adventuring somewhere?" Replied her royal highness, jewel of Baldur, light of the kingdom, apple of her father's eye and so on.
"Not in so many words your highness, I was training with the Paladins of Freya until yesterday when I entered their ranks myself. I am now setting out into the world according to the will of the goddess." Arthe answered, choosing his words carefully.
"Hmm is that so, then I will accompany you on your travels. It's been getting really boring around here recently I could do with some excitement."
"Forgive me your highness;" "Urgh call me Frith please I hate all that princess nonsense."
"Very well Frith, I am afraid I cannot allow you to accompany me as my duties are far to dangerous and even I am not aware of where they will take me." Arthe responded quickly after he was interrupted by Frith.
"Dangerous, that's exactly what I want. Besides you have seen with your own eyes that I can take care of myself, plus if you refuse I shall have you arrested."
"Ding" Quest received.
Escort the princess.
Accompany Frith on her adventures through the wilderness.
Difficulty: unknown
Rewards: reputation with the kingdom of Baldur, your freedom.
Requirements: Acquaintance with princess Frith and must have participated in the Grand Melee.
If this quest is denied then you will be branded a criminal and hunted down in the Baldur kingdom, should the princess die you will have a kill on sight order put out on you and no one will allow you to buy from them in Baldur kingdom and its neighbors.
Arthe sighed after looking at the quest and then accepted it with resignation, when he did so Frith grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.
"Okay then where are we off to first Arthe, and by the way which of the paladin orders do you belong to. I haven't seen that tabard before."
"We are heading west, to where I don't know yet and I am unable to tell you what order I belong to. It's forbidden." Arthe replied even as he started to walk off westwards.
"What do you mean it's forbidden, I'm the princess of Baldur, I command you to tell me." Frith demanded a bit irritably.
"Unfortunately for you Frith I am not one of your citizens and I answer to no power save that of Freya herself or her representative in this mortal realm. So you will just have to live without knowing what I am or where I plan to travel," Arthe responded, " unless of course you would be willing to return to the palace?" This last bit was said quite hopefully.
"Not a chance Arthe, you're not getting rid of me that easily. If you won't tell me I'll have to figure it out, there's only 3 orders to choose from anyway so it's not like it's difficult to guess."
Arthe grinned as she said this, knowing that very few people were aware of the existence of his class and they were all either the same class or grandmasters of the Paladin order. As they traveled along during the rest of the night he had to put up with countless questions about his skills and abilities, as dawn broke Frith finally came out with 3 straight questions.
"Are you an Arbiter?"
"No I am not a member of the Order of Arbiters."
"Then are you a member of the Order of Freya's Grace?"
"No I'm not part of that order either."
"In which case you must be a member of the Order of Holy Light." Frith exclaimed triumphantly only to have her hopes dashed.
"No I am not a member of the Order of Holy Light. Princess I must caution you that to continue this line of questioning puts you at risk of imprisonment by the church, what I am is a closely guarded secret known to few inside the church itself and none outside. If you persist I must abandon you and the quest you gave me regardless of the consequences, I cannot be swayed from my task by your order or that of any King. Forgive me for my bluntness but that is the truth of the matter." Arthe explained the facts of his circumstances to Frith and continued walking.
"Hmm if that is the case then I suppose I must stop questioning you then hadn't I, but I will say this. There are secret records in the royal library from before the creation of the Kingdom of Baldur that speak of an ancient order of paladins whose origins and membership is the worlds most closely guarded secret, if you are one of those then you have my utmost respect and sympathy." Frith replied quietly and with great respect.
When Arthe turned to look at her she even had tears in the corner of her eyes, it was evident that she knew more than she was supposed to about the Guardian order but it was too late for him to worry about now. On the plus side it meant he could proceed with his tasks without having to explain to her why he was doing it or what his next move would be, also she was beautiful so he would have someone nice to look at on his travels and someone to talk to. He was also aware that as he was over 18 there was an 'ahem' adult side to royal road and that even if Frith was an NPC, due to the high sophistication of the AI software, she was absolutely lifelike in her mental and 'ahem' physical capabilities. So if he played his cards right, who knows? (Readers please forgive me, I swear it's in Arthe's nature as a social recluse, I'm innocent of all wrongdoing in this. Don't judge me.)
The two of them traveled together for a couple of months, hunting down monsters here and there and rescuing the occasional villager from monsters. After 9 weeks of adventuring they had both increased their level to the 120's, Arthe was level 128 and Frith was level 124. In addition to this Arthe had leveled all of his holy skills up into the intermediate stages with his lowest at Intermediate 3 and his highest at Intermediate 8, with his class boost and his helmet boost he even had a couple at Advanced 1. This meant his holy magic was far above the skill levels of the other priest or paladin users and with his leveling armor his stats remained at highly boosted levels as well, unfortunately he had to replace most of the armor with what he obtained off of monster drops and as such he didn't look quite as good as he had before.
Frith on the other hand had taken a small fortune with her when she left the palace and had been consistently buying newer and better equipment as she had leveled, not that Arthe was jealous or anything. It was just that most of the money received from the monster drops was taken used up buying food and supplies for Frith and because Arthe's fame was negated by his class he could not receive a discount from any of the merchants he bought from. This meant he had trouble buying expensive equipment and so had to rely on drops.
However it was not all bad news thanks to his Freya's Guidance skill, Arthe had managed to discover the location of a dungeon full of undead which also contained clues to the whereabouts of another piece of the Justicar's armor. According to the information provided by the Goddess the clues pointed to the location of the Justicar's sword, Arthe was practically drooling about finding this sword because it would solve his most pressing issue.
Finding a weapon that could cope with the strength of his holy power channeling through it, needless to say it was already difficult enough to obtain a holy attribute weapon from the body of an evil monster but finding one which could withstand an advanced holy spell running through it was almost impossible. When he had the sword Arthe would not have to rely on his spells quite so much and could get back to doing what he enjoyed most, bashing monsters with a bit of metal. He also wouldn't have to worry about getting hit quite so much as he could use both his shield and his sword to defend himself properly, that way even if most of his armor was low quality then he could still cope with a number of heavy attacks. Admittedly even without a holy attribute sword Arthe could still use his sword skills to kill enemies but he was sure that he would need his holy powers to be really strong in the future so he had concentrated mainly on those, still his sword skills had also been leveled slightly to Beginner 6.
Arthe and Frith had become quite close over the last few weeks, initially she had been a bit imperious and standoffish but that had changed after Arthe saved her from being eaten by a giant wasp. The monster had come out of nowhere whilst he was repairing their armor and carried her off before he could react, so he had grabbed their gear and chased after it regardless of the danger. Arthe had followed it back to a giant wasps nest inside a cliff and had hacked and cut his way through all the inhabitants until he had found her, when she had seen him covered in wounds and coated with the entrails of a hundred dead wasps she had hugged him hard and apologized profusely for her previous attitude. Right after that they had gone after the wasp queen and butchered her, good times.
Now the two of them swapped stories about their families and had competitions over who could eat the most honey before getting ill or who could go the longest without talking. Arthe invariably won the latter whilst Frith usually won the former, these kind of activities and others made the journey more enjoyable and Arthe could not remember having such a pleasant time at any point of his life in game or in reality.
The biggest headache on his mind at the moment was the consistent pulling towards the west, he could feel it all day and it never seemed to get any lighter. He assumed it meant he was being called to aid someone in need but he wanted to be at least level 150 before he started taking on proper paladin quests, he had no desire to die on his first task as a Guardian.
It had been two days after Arthe had spoken to Freya about the undead dungeon, now he and Frith were stood in front of it. Dungeon wasn't quite the right word, castle was a more apt description. The dungeon was small castle that looked to have been a border fort at some point in the distant past now it was occupied by ghosts and other undead fiends, according to the local villagers anyway.
You are the first to discover the Fort of the Oath-breakers.
Fame increase negated by class.
Double experience for a week
Item drop rate doubled and the first monster of each type drops the best equipment it can.
Subsequent monsters drop common loot.
Named Monsters drop ancient equipment.
Arthe had never seen the last sentence before and neither had Frith, they looked at each other excitedly, sure that they were about to get some awesome loot. Then they proceeded to enter the fort warily, the first monsters they encountered were ghouls of varying types but these monsters left them alone due to Arthe's high fighting spirit and so they were able to get into the main hall itself before they came across any other undead.
There were 3 Dullahan in the room sitting around a table laden with rotted food and dusty crockery, Arthe was slightly worried about their numbers but then reassured himself that his holy magic was more than sufficient to dispose of them before things got too hairy.
Frith wasn't worried at all and actually seemed to revel in the danger, she gestured at Arthe to take two of the Dullahan while she engaged the third.
She attacked using her razor sharp epee, thrusting the point at the head carried in the monsters arms. Arthe on the other hand was repeatedly casting Holy Bolt and Holy smite on his opponents causing them to screech in agony, eventually they succumbed to the power of the light and he then watched as Frith finally nailed her opponent right between the eyes.
All three of the Dullahan corpses turned grey and disappeared, one of them dropped an arm band and the other two dropped rusty pieces of armor. The arm band was silver and it was engraved with runic symbols, it emanated a feeling of evil and Arthe stopped Frith from touching it before she was hurt. He cast purify on the item until it no longer emitted an evil aura but instead felt pure and holy, then he gestured to Frith to pick it up.
She had a higher level identify skill then Arthe so he usually let her look at the items first, this time she let out a low gasp of surprise before handing the bracelet to Arthe.
Armband of the Numenorian Captain:
Durability:100/100
This bracelet once belonged to the guard captain of a border fort, he wore it in battle for many years and it absorbed much of his combat prowess.
Worn for centuries by an agent of evil it has recently been purified by a Holy personage and as such has gained bonuses to its effects.
Equip:
+20 STR
+20 VIT
+15% Attack Power
+10% Attack speed
Wearer can cast minor Blessing on self 3 times per day.
Requirements:
Level 120
+50 WIS
+100 STR
+60 STAM
Arthe examined the object closely before handing it back to Frith, she looked at him quizzically for a second.
"You can have it, I don't need the blessing effect and it has many effects suitable for a pure warrior type such as yourself."
"Thanks Arthe, I'm sure it'll come in handy when we're destroying the rest of this forts inhabitants." Frith smiled at Arthe and lightly gripped his hand for a moment.
Then the two of them headed on further into the fort. |
{
"title": "The Dark Side",
"id": 34,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3.7
} | {
"title": "The Dark Side - Chapter 9",
"id": 48,
"next": 49,
"prev": 47,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter Nine – Learning From Experience<br><br><br>Held in a sleeper hold, the boy soon passed out and Jon let him fall gently to the ground. The hooded figures passed them calmly and Jon was grateful for that.<br>He weighed his options and saw that there was no point forcing his way inside the house and it was unlikely he would be given an invitation.<br>He could climb the window and make his way down but another way appealed to him more.<br>Looking back at the figures he took his knife in his hand and began to slowly sneak after them.<br>The only light on the street came from the night sky and the men seemed calm and didn't even bother looking back.<br>The leather boots he wore were made for stalking pray through woods so walking on a brick road, Jon made no noise. His sneak mastery kicked in and took care of loose pebbles and shaky bricks by getting rid of them completely or silencing any sounds they made.<br>A smile appeared on Jon's face as he began stalking his pray. It grew bigger as he got closer and when he was right behind them, ready to strike the smile became a grin.<br>One of them dared to threaten Jon the night before and even though at the time he let him go, being offered a chance to get payback he was ecstatic.<br><br><br><br>Jon knew for sure one of them was a mage so he was free to concentrate on the other.<br>They were both of the same build and height and with their hoods and dark clocks it was impossible to differentiate between them.<br>To increase his chances he pulled out three arrows from his inventory and held them firmly in his free hand. He synchronized his steps with theirs and stepped in with his left leg between them.<br>-''Silent Strike!'-<br><br>Sneak Mastery Levels Up<br><br><br><br><br>Critical Hit<br><br>At the same moment his leg hit the ground the knife penetrated the neck of the right man. Not wasting time on reading the popup massage, as soon as he felt the hilt of the blade touch the skin he turned his attention to the other target.<br>Pulling out the knife in a downward motion he aimed for where the spleen should be under the cloak.<br>-'Speed Stab!'-<br>The blade entered the flesh twice in repetition, however before losing the momentum of his swing he spun fast to the right, using his left leg as a pivot.<br>With his right leg he tripped the right man and as his spin continued he REPLACEed the three arrows into the hip of the left man. Lowering himself closer to the ground as he spun he completed a full spin and dropped his knife arm fast at the right man who fell to the ground.<br>-'Speed Stab!'-<br>He struck the chest twice, aiming for the heart but only puncturing a lung. The moment this was done he pushed back hard against the ground and rolled back. The left man was screaming in pain while the right man lay on his back making choking sounds.<br>Jon rose into a crouching stance and observed the situation while out of reach. He got lucky.<br>He guessed the mage was on the right and when he saw the daggers tied to the left man's legs he knew he guessed correctly.<br>He was clutching at the arrows sticking out of his leg and even in the weak starlight the numerous knives were visible through the gap in the hood.<br>-'Seven,'-<br>There were probably more than that but seven were all he saw.<br><br>Jon rushed forward before the man could regain his composure and stabbed him again.<br>He swung for another stab but he noticed movement in his peripheral vision and leaned back instinctively.<br>One of the arrows, held firmly in the man's hand, cut the air next to his head, missing only barely his nose. Continuing the motion Jon dropped, leaned back and jumped up while lowering his free hand to the ground, he managed to twist his body into a hand stand and kick the man in the chin with his heel.<br>He let go of the arrow and before it hit the ground Jon dashed next to him and cut open his shin. He didn't fall down though. Instead he grabbed two of his daggers and jumped at Jon with one leg.<br>The dagger aimed at his face was diverted using the flat of Jon's small knife, but the second dagger made a diagonal slash, that began on Jon's shoulder and ended at his elbow.<br>Jon jumped back and with two good legs he managed to easily keep his distance from the limping man.<br>Chanting fast he healed the bleeding gash and getting the heal spell ready for another use he slowly moved towards the man again.<br>He knew he had an advantage and there was no need to rush. Taking out a sword from his inventory he used the longer reach to slowly cut away at the man while dodging the double daggers.<br>The man saw he was overpowered and decided on a desperate attack. He grabbed the sword under his armpit and pushed forward aiming a dagger at Jon's eye. Jon was expecting an attack of the sorts and simple let go of the swords hilt and grabbed the man's extended arm.<br>With little force he leveraged the elbow against its natural angle, creating a loud cracking sound and a fresh cry of pain.<br>A quick slash of his knife ended the fight and the man fell to the ground next to the now motionless body of his friend.<br>He disappeared after a moment, turning grey and leaving a dagger behind.<br>Putting on the cloak and hood of the dead Npc, Jon used the clasp at the top to cover his face, leaving only a small gap for him to see through.<br>Before continuing he undressed the Npc, putting everything in his inventory.<br><br>The door opened, spilling light into the dark street once again. There were a few windows that had candles light shining through them, most likely people were woken up by the fight, however none dared to look outside.<br>A man around Jon's age stood inside the lit room. He wore an apron and had a very dirty towel in his hands.<br>"I hoped you'd come back," he said while cleaning his hands on the towel.<br>Jon didn't answer or move but the man didn't seem bothered by it.<br>"Where's the other one? I'd have liked to see his reactions…" His eyes looked over Jon's shoulder.<br>When he was certain there was no one else but Jon, he stepped back inside.<br>"Close the door behind you."<br><br>"You came at the right time. I've just finished the preparation and I'll be starting the main act in a moment."<br>They walked into another room hidden behind curtains. Unlike the other room, this one was dim and only two candles lit it from the middle of the room. A small corridor separated the rooms and blocked Jon's view of the room.<br>"Stand at the corner, it will take a while. Today I'm planning to go deep."<br>The entire room came into view finally and it made Jon stop in his tracks. He was used to blood before and had experienced brutality of all kinds and in different places but never this methodical.<br>"Try not to bump into anything."<br>The floor was covered with blood that was slowly dripping down holes along the walls, while dangled from the ceiling were hundreds of strings.<br>Leaning against the walls were five wooden tables and to each was strapped a person. Both female and male, they all had open stomachs and all of their or inner organs were tied to the wires. With an almost unnoticeable movement, they swung back and forth. Covering the whole span of the room it looked as if the room itself was alive. The rest of the bodies had parts of their body stripped naked from flesh, right down to the bone. The skin, muscle and blood vessels were still connected to the corresponding body part of each body; they were simply spread out neatly, nailed to the wood.<br>"Beautiful, isn't it?"<br>He was standing next to another wooden table at hip height. On it lay another body, female: Jon guessed it was the woman's daughter. They both had the same light brown hair.<br>The man was looking around as well, marveling his own work. In his hand was a metal scalp and spread on a floating fabric next to him were dozens of different metal instruments.<br>Jon looked at the dead bodies again and saw now that the stripping of the flesh was done with a surgical precision.<br>One of the bodies had all off its skin peeled of and hung next to it like a suit of meat.<br>There was a strong smell of iron in the room.<br>"Are you an adventurer?" he asked and Jon answered with a nod.<br>"I thought so; they don't program things like this into Npc's. That's why the other one bailed." He was hovering his hand over the naked woman.<br>"You see," he licked his lips when he touched her stomach, "I've always been fascinated by the human body. It's truly a marvelous achievement of nature." He was massaging her body, touching her as if she were a fruit and he wasn't sure if it was ripe enough.<br>"But when I tried to satisfy my curiosity I ended up in a juvenile prison camp. From there it was impossible to peruse my interests so I studied hard and became a med student."<br>His eyes began to shine when he came upon a scar on her forearm.<br>"I think I'll start from here," he said in a whisper to her. It was then that Jon noticed she was conscious. She was immobilized and gagged but wide awake and aware of everything around her.<br>"Unfortunately they don't let you do any real surgery until your fifth year and that is just moronic."<br>Unfortunately for him, Jon had his knife drawn under the cloak and was slowly moving closer.<br>"Luckily I heard my classmates discuss about how they had butchered some bandits not long ago and it piqued my curiosity. After asking around I learnt about this game and how realistic it is." His eyes rolled up and an expression of extreme pleasure appeared on his face as his scalpel made the first cut into the girl's hand.<br>"I was surprised when the game rewarded me for successful surgery." He was looking at the blood that slowly began to drop down her arm onto the table. He dipped his finger in it and after eyeing it put the tip in his mouth and sighed in pleasure.<br>"It gave me the anatomy skill and when I got annoyed from their continuous struggling I was presented with the immobilization skill." He turned to Jon, not even bothered at how close he was to him.<br>"You see… the way I see it…hmm…" he smeared blood on his lips as if it were lipstick, "the game doesn't care how you play the game. It knows the difference between right and wrong, but it doesn't really understand it. Its main purpose is help players enjoy their game. If I want to explore the limits and possibilities of the human anatomy it will create situations it analyzed and decided I would enjoy. I've met people who even I think are sickening but the game's A.I. doesn't discriminate."<br>"I'd like to see your heart beating," he whispered in her ear, "and hear you scream as I fondle it…"<br>He closed his eyes and his brow wrinkled in concentration.<br><br>The girl screamed with force.<br>"No one can hear you dear. I had them soundproof the room with magic." Her screams continued, and when she started to beg him to stop and let her go his mood just seemed to improve.<br>She still couldn't move but hearing her suffer gave him pleasure.<br>Gently he touched the edge of a razor to her skin and pushed little by little until it penetrated. The blade started to move downwards and made a three centimeter gash when it stopped suddenly.<br>Screams of pain mixed together and turned into a roar. The man was grasping the stump of his arm. His palm was left behind holding the scalpel and blood spurted around the room.<br>"You…you... how dare you? I've paid good money for her! She is mine! I'll make sure they fire you for this! This isn't ov…" Jon's knife cut his throat and only gasping sounds escaped it.<br>He kicked him back and made him stumble to a wooden board. Thrusting hard he penetrated his palm and impaled the knife in the wood, pinning the man to one place. The man struggled to get free but with only a stump for a hand he couldn't free the knife.<br>Jon watched him bleed to death as he squirmed and pulled to no avail. It was eerily quiet when he turned grey and disappeared.<br><br>The immobilization on the girl went away together with him but she wasn't moving. After healing her arm, Jon dressed her in the black cloak he wore and slung her over his shoulder.<br>Before leaving the room he kicked the two candles next to the table and waited for the wood to catch fire. Satisfied that the fire would spread he left the house.<br>When he lifted the little boy under his armpit tongues of fire could be seen through the windows and the door of the house. The street became brighter and brighter as the whole house caught fire.<br>He walked back to the restaurant, the fire dancing behind him while his elongated shadow danced before him.<br><br>Quest Update Notice<br>You have saved the woman's daughter.<br>Return her to the mother to finish the quest.<br><br><br><br>It's weird how only these small scattering clouds, that looked more like cotton than clouds, reached so high. Big, beautiful clouds, ones you can lie on the grass and look at for hours, sailed slowly under the edge of the plateau.<br>The sun began to rise a couple of hours ago but the streets of Dragon Town were still in twilight. It would take a few more hours before the rays of the sun reached this high.<br>Even though it was called Dragon Town, it was more of an impenetrable citadel than a town.<br>High in the mountains, on a flat plateau with a steep downward fall on all sides, the only way to enter was through a draw bridge, or by air if you were one of the lucky ones. Armies could camp outside for years and not even step one foot inside.<br>And with a dozen dragons at their disposal, the town would never run out of food and water so a siege was pointless. <br>With endless free space on all sides but the north, the plateau which started as a couple of big halls in the ground and a shack was now a thriving town on the verge of becoming a city.<br><br>During the thousand year war of the new gods against the old, only dragons were able to tip the scales and bring an end to the fighting. Since then the dragons' might in battle was something lusted for by any warlord or king.<br>A few madmen managed to steal a couple of eggs and raise the hatchlings into fearsome dragons who dominated the battleground. Impressed by their deeds, the king gave them a small piece of land high in the mountains and told them to breed him an army of these beasts.<br>More than a hundred years later, people had gathered and families settled around the dragon pits, thus Dragon Town was formed. However, the promise had been forgotten and the dragon riders were forced to rely on donations from wealthy men. Now, every time a female laid eggs they were culled, and only the strongest of the litter was kept alive.<br>When he grew up a little, the small dragon had a metal stake thrust through the back of his skull. This metal pike allowed a rider to control his dragon with small pulls and pushes, as if the dragon were nothing more than a horse.<br>It sounds cruel, but in the days of the first domesticated dragons, three metal stakes were used instead of one.<br>That was the only option they could find, they had to have a guarantee that no dragon went on a rampage and ate everyone. They were not pets, they were considered nothing more than work beasts.<br><br>An enormous man exited his house. With a body like a trunk of a hundred year old tree, he was covered with muscles and steel. A simple round helmet on his hands that served a simple purpose of protecting and not decoration and a chain mail that dropped down to his hips, he straightened and stretched under the morning sun.<br>"Ratsha is awake!"<br>"Is it true he once pulled back a dragon by its tail?"<br>The kids who were role-playing as warriors and mages ran up to Ratsha and began to storm him as if he were a castle. After playing with them for a while Ratsha clasped a sword to his belt and put his hand through the rings of his shield.<br>The sword was simple looking, but having been made by dwarves, it had proved its worth in countless encounters and after years of fighting it still hadn't lost its edge. The shield had a wooden base but was covered with metal sheets.On his legs were plate leggings and on his feet were simple yet sturdy thick leather boots. The boots wouldn't stop an arrow or a sword, but Ratsha felt that protecting your heels was going over the top.<br>Ratsha climbed on his huge war horse and looked at the sky. He thought he had made peace with his decision yesterday but now doubts crept into him. The door to his house was open but he didn't mind, everything of his possessions he considered important was tied safely to the horse. He moved his eyes to the peak of the mountain; up there, was Iggeld's Valley which only a year ago was still called Wind Valley. It was the only habitable place higher than Dragon Town, but seven years ago there were only boars, deer, mountain goats and fierce almost hurricane like winds up there.<br><br>Even though Iggeld was an outsider and came with his uncle when he was still a kid, he quickly became obsessed with dragons. He would draw them, talk about them and while the rest of the children played together he would spend his time near dragon pits looking at the huge beasts underneath.<br>Iggeld's parents were killed in a raid. Thankfully he and his sister Yaska were fishing in the canopy at the time, and as they were still small children the raiders didn't notice them between tall canopies.<br>They returned with fish in their hands only to see their village in flames. Their uncle picked them up and they traveled as far north as they could to escape. He wasn't really their uncle, just a neighbor who had lost his family in the raid as well. Yaska was left with some family during their travels, and Iggeld, together with the uncle walked until they reached Dragon Town and learnt there was no place further or higher to hide in.<br>The uncle remarried soon after their arrival to a widow with a boy of her own. After the birth of the first baby Iggeld was ignored and by the time of the second baby he was completely forgotten.<br>Left to his own he spent his days around dragons. On the day twelve eggs hatched, like all the kids in town, he lay upon the edge of the pit and looked into the darkness beneath, trying to see the hatchlings. While all the kids soon got bored and went back to playing, Iggeld came back day after day until he could not only tell apart the dragons but find a favorite and even name it.<br>Ratsha liked the boy even then. The boy had a good personality and a solid temper. They both shared love for dragons and when he heard Iggeld went down into the pit to help a hatchling reach the teats of the mother, he was worried for him like a father.<br><br>Laying on the edge as usual, he saw his favorite one stay behind the rest of the litter, all weak and powerless. And while the rest of the hatchlings were busy sucking out the milk for the mothers teats he jumped into the basket and spun the handle fast until he reached the bottom. He then caught the little dragon in his hands and pushing the rest aside , moved the little dragon face against the back nipple where there was more milk. The little dragon felt the warm drops of milk on its bloodless lips and began to suck with all its might.<br>The mother raised its head in protest but still exhausted from going through birth, she ignored it and went back to sleep.<br>No one dared to go into a pit of a mother and her hatchlings, even the food was put into the basket and at a pull of a lever the meat dropped right in front of the mother's jaws.<br>But there was Iggeld, a ten year old boy, who fearlessly went down and as if it were the most common thing in the world grabbed a hatchling and forced him to eat.<br>Aponitza, the lead keeper hired him on the spot, glad to learn that with the use of children it was possible to begin training dragons at a much younger age. The fact that the boy worked for nothing more than bread and water was a bonus.<br>It backfired on him less than a year later.<br>When the time of the picking came, Chernish, the small dragon Iggeld saved at the time was deemed weak, and that meant he would be killed.<br>Iggeld, who treated Chernish as his family couldn't handle the news and stole the little dragon and they both escaped.<br>Having hunted boars in Wind Valley, Iggeld remembered all the caves in the rock walls that surrounded the valley. With great difficulty both of them reached the peak of the mountain in the dead of the night. Cold, tired and helpless the little boy stumbled into a cave and had survived ever since.<br>Left with an option of death or survival, both Iggeld and Chernish not only survived but grew up to become big and strong.<br>Chernish, not limited by the small pits would run all day long and fly daily unlike the town dragons that flew once a week. All the exercise and the increasing weight Iggeld forced on him made him grow up as big as the dragons of the wild. At the age of five he was already twice as big and strong as the town dragons.<br>At first Iggeld was considered crazy. Everyone was sure, that without a metal stake the dragon would soon devour him. But instead, Iggeld and Chernish transcended the slave-master relationship of dragon riders and became true friends. Chernish would crawl out of his skin if that would have pleased Iggeld. He regarded him as a parent and a true friend and would have torn apart an army to save Iggeld. It was a scary and funny sight, seeing a huge monster walk after Iggeld like a loyal dog.<br><br>Last month Whitehair and Yakun, young but accomplished dragon keepers, each chose themselves a small hatchling and went up the mountain to join Iggeld and raise their dragons in his way. People laughed about how stupidity was contagious and were sure that when Iggeld became interested in women he would surely come down. In the seven years he was absent the town had plenty of girls who grew up to become very warm women, they boasted.<br>They kept on laughing up until the point where another breeder left to join Iggeld.<br>And while Whitehair and Yakun were young and single, Shvarn left together with his wife and kids.<br>When Ratsha saw that, his mind was finally made up. He prepared everything he needed and said goodbye to the town.<br><br>"Ahoy! Iggeld! Come greet your friend." The giant warrior slowly moved forward on his big war horse. Even with Ratsha's massive size the horse had no trouble walking.<br>A vast and lush valley opened before him. He came through the only entrance and was assailed by the wind. It tried to blow him off the horse and roll him over the ledge but Ratsha just tightened his legs and straightened. Proud and fearless he didn't even blink as a small black hill fell from the sky, denting the ground and sending dust flying everywhere. His horse moved its head from side to side but stood still unlike most horses that usually ran away in panic.<br>There was a sound of buckles being opened, and a man slid down the black metal wall to the ground.<br>Ratsha jumped off his horse and grasped Iggeld in a warm embrace. They let go and looked at each other with big smiles.<br>"What are you doing here? And in battle gear…" Iggeld asked as he took of a thick wool cape he used to protect himself against the wind and cold of the sky.<br>Ratsha surprised him by going down on one knee and offering his sword to him.<br>"I've come to ask you permission to join your valley. I swear to help protect everyone who already lives here and all who will come. I promise to fight to my last breath to save you and the dragons. Accept me Iggeld! Don't let me go back in shame!"<br>Iggeld was speechless. Since he was a kid he looked up to Ratsha. He had heard stories of the warriors feats in battle and seeing him on his knee was incomprehensible to him.<br>"Stand up. You know very well that this is not my valley, and who the hell in his right mind would attack this godforsaken place?" He was waving his hands around and shifting from leg to leg uncomfortably. "And even if there was someone crazy enough, they would have to go through Dragon Town first and that place is built better than most forts! Trust me! Together with Chernish we traveled to the farthest edges of the kingdom and had never seen anything more protected. Right?" He lifted his hand to the monstrosity that was casting its shadow on them.<br>Chernish's huge head dropped over Ratsha and its hot breath hit him in the back.<br>Used as he was to dragons, it still sent a shiver down his spine.<br>"You're still young," he said in a slow and low voice, "But I have lived for enough time to learn that there is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress. Times may be peaceful now but things change, and when that change comes you better be prepared!" He lifted his sword even higher. "Now except my damn blade and let me rise already, before that beast of yours swallows me whole."<br>Iggeld took the sword reluctantly and hugged his friend again. Chernish feeling ignored licked them both with his large tongue.<br>"Let's say hello to the rest, they will be glad to have you with us."<br><br>They walked to the other side of the valley, where the wind was weaker and smoke was rising from a crack in the rock wall. Chernish followed behind, his massive head hanging over the two men. His tail moved from side to side showing his happiness at being allowed to walk with his great father and his friend as equal. He raised his head and puffed out his chest wishing for the others to see him.<br>Three small dragons ran up to them with their butts jumping up and down in a funny way. The two bigger ones were the size of large cats, while the third one, Shvarn's hatchling, followed behind them, half crawling half falling. His eyes had only recently opened and his legs were still weak. Shvarn's two kids ran next to them to greet Chernish.<br>"Go, play," said Iggeld to the huge dragon.<br>A moving mountain of black jumped forward, shortening the distance in one motion. His tongue flashed, as fast as lightning, and licked the boys from head to toe. They tried to avoid it but to no avail. Leaving them red and moist Chernish fell on his back carefully so as not to crush his little friends. They climbed on to his stomach, lifting the dragons on their hands, and began to jump up and down, kicking the scales on the stomach as hard as they could.<br>Chernish closed his eyes in pleasure. His scales were harder than steel and small vibrations from the jumps were like a massage.<br>"Keep an eye on them. We don't want them to fall from up there."<br>"We are, Iggled." The boys answered unanimously as they picked up a hatchling that strayed too far to the side.<br><br>"You do know more will arrive?"<br>"Let them come. This is not my valley; I'm in no position to send them away."<br>"Iggeld, you really are still a boy… you're the only one who still calls this place Wind Valley. Man up, and accept your role! They will come and this place will become a village." Ratsha paused, finishing his mug of beer.<br>"You and Chernish have earned a small fortune in the past years, and it is time you've started putting it to use" he said, licking off the drops stuck in his beard.<br>"I've been thinking about it, actually. You've felt the wind outside, well believe it or not, but that is just a fraction of its original strength. I've managed to block its path, somewhat, but if we want to live here comfortably we need to build a wall against it."<br>Ratsha looked at Iggeld in amazement.<br>"Sure… let us build a wall… but make sure you add a gate and some watchtowers. That way you'll completely seal the valley from the outside world and from any attackers."<br>"That again? I don't want to hear about that again…"<br>"Oh, Iggeld, trust in me. I may not be very wise, but I've learnt enough to know that it is better to be prepared than be sorry."<br>Both of them refilled their mugs and sat in silence, looking at the children and dragons playing.<br><br><br><br>"That's the last of it, boys." Dragon entered the kitchen looking exhausted. The past couple of days were tiring, and the whole staff except for Jon felt on the verge of collapsing.<br>Hundreds of high born and big name customers came, and the average price of a dragon meal was two thousand and seven hundred gold coins.<br>Even in his exhausted state the thought of his newly acquired fortune brought a smile to Dragon's face.<br>"Come get your money!"<br>Each of them got one hundred gold coins. It may look very little but you need to take into account that they all received a large piece of dragon meat as well.<br>Everyone left but Jon. He walked up to Dragon and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.<br>"It's okay, Jon, you can go. I understand. I knew it was coming from the moment I saw your reaction to the meats' bonuses. You're not the first one of my staff to leave for that reason and probably not the last." He hugged Jon warmly.<br>"However you are the best out of them all, so it hurts me to see you leave. I won't stop you, and I've spoken with Burka, he will gladly accept you if you ever decide to come back."<br>Jon didn't show it but he was actually feeling a bit sad to leave.<br>They walked to the entrance where the brute joined them.<br>"One piece of advice though… there are countless of ways to defeat a dragon, but in all my years as a dragon slayer I've never heard of someone slaying one with a knife or a dagger. You better think of getting yourself a real weapon." He grasped Jon's hand and shook it in goodbye. "Also, if you ever want to become a dragon slayer, kill one thousand dragon type monsters and come to me. If you manage to do that I'll share with you the next step to become a mighty dragon slayer. Drakes are the weakest of the kind…"<br>The brute interrupted them with a cough at that point.<br>He extended his hand forward silently and looked Jon in the eyes. They never shared any words except for their first meeting, but Jon never felt any animosity towards him for his actions at the time. He took the hand and they shook intensely.<br>No more words were spoken between them and Jon turned to leave on his way.<br>A girl with light brown hair stood in his way.<br>She was staring at the ground and fidgeting slightly. He didn't recognize her with clothes on and hair covering her face at first, but when he saw her mother and little brother standing not far he figured out who she was.<br>Dragon and the brute whispered to each other behind him.<br>The little boy ran up to his sister when he saw she was taking her time. Grabbing her by her palm he tried to encourage her but she kept looking at the ground.<br>"She wanted to thank you for saving her," the boy said in a cheerful voice "but she's embarrassed that you've seen her naked." He jumped to the side to dodge his sister's hands. He hid behind Jon and her face lifted to look at him. As if catching fire, her face turned bright red and dropped back down as soon as their eyes met.<br>"Thank you," she said quietly to her feet.<br>Jon looked back at Dragon as if asking for help and Dragon stepped down the stairs.<br>"He was glad he could help. He's just a little shy so he doesn't speak much." He waved to the mother to come closer.<br>"You see, he's leaving today and I'll be missing a worker. How would you like to take his place?" He seemed to be speaking to the girl but was looking at the mother.<br>"Of course she will," said the mother in a commanding tone. "Tell the nice man you will, honey."<br>The young lady glanced at Jon for a moment, and turning an even deeper red color, she nodded in agreement.<br>"Great, great. Let us go meet the man you're going to be helping. He's a little scary… but deep inside he is just a small pussycat."<br>Dragon led the family inside and as he passed Jon who was standing silently he said to him.<br>"I guess now you have something worth returning for, eh? Let's just hope no one takes this beauty away before you do." He winked at him without even stopping.<br>The brute was laughing to himself as he raised his hand in farewell to Jon.
</div> | Chapter Nine – Learning From Experience
Held in a sleeper hold, the boy soon passed out and Jon let him fall gently to the ground. The hooded figures passed them calmly and Jon was grateful for that.
He weighed his options and saw that there was no point forcing his way inside the house and it was unlikely he would be given an invitation.
He could climb the window and make his way down but another way appealed to him more.
Looking back at the figures he took his knife in his hand and began to slowly sneak after them.
The only light on the street came from the night sky and the men seemed calm and didn't even bother looking back.
The leather boots he wore were made for stalking pray through woods so walking on a brick road, Jon made no noise. His sneak mastery kicked in and took care of loose pebbles and shaky bricks by getting rid of them completely or silencing any sounds they made.
A smile appeared on Jon's face as he began stalking his pray. It grew bigger as he got closer and when he was right behind them, ready to strike the smile became a grin.
One of them dared to threaten Jon the night before and even though at the time he let him go, being offered a chance to get payback he was ecstatic.
Jon knew for sure one of them was a mage so he was free to concentrate on the other.
They were both of the same build and height and with their hoods and dark clocks it was impossible to differentiate between them.
To increase his chances he pulled out three arrows from his inventory and held them firmly in his free hand. He synchronized his steps with theirs and stepped in with his left leg between them.
-''Silent Strike!'-
Sneak Mastery Levels Up
Critical Hit
At the same moment his leg hit the ground the knife penetrated the neck of the right man. Not wasting time on reading the popup massage, as soon as he felt the hilt of the blade touch the skin he turned his attention to the other target.
Pulling out the knife in a downward motion he aimed for where the spleen should be under the cloak.
-'Speed Stab!'-
The blade entered the flesh twice in repetition, however before losing the momentum of his swing he spun fast to the right, using his left leg as a pivot.
With his right leg he tripped the right man and as his spin continued he REPLACEed the three arrows into the hip of the left man. Lowering himself closer to the ground as he spun he completed a full spin and dropped his knife arm fast at the right man who fell to the ground.
-'Speed Stab!'-
He struck the chest twice, aiming for the heart but only puncturing a lung. The moment this was done he pushed back hard against the ground and rolled back. The left man was screaming in pain while the right man lay on his back making choking sounds.
Jon rose into a crouching stance and observed the situation while out of reach. He got lucky.
He guessed the mage was on the right and when he saw the daggers tied to the left man's legs he knew he guessed correctly.
He was clutching at the arrows sticking out of his leg and even in the weak starlight the numerous knives were visible through the gap in the hood.
-'Seven,'-
There were probably more than that but seven were all he saw.
Jon rushed forward before the man could regain his composure and stabbed him again.
He swung for another stab but he noticed movement in his peripheral vision and leaned back instinctively.
One of the arrows, held firmly in the man's hand, cut the air next to his head, missing only barely his nose. Continuing the motion Jon dropped, leaned back and jumped up while lowering his free hand to the ground, he managed to twist his body into a hand stand and kick the man in the chin with his heel.
He let go of the arrow and before it hit the ground Jon dashed next to him and cut open his shin. He didn't fall down though. Instead he grabbed two of his daggers and jumped at Jon with one leg.
The dagger aimed at his face was diverted using the flat of Jon's small knife, but the second dagger made a diagonal slash, that began on Jon's shoulder and ended at his elbow.
Jon jumped back and with two good legs he managed to easily keep his distance from the limping man.
Chanting fast he healed the bleeding gash and getting the heal spell ready for another use he slowly moved towards the man again.
He knew he had an advantage and there was no need to rush. Taking out a sword from his inventory he used the longer reach to slowly cut away at the man while dodging the double daggers.
The man saw he was overpowered and decided on a desperate attack. He grabbed the sword under his armpit and pushed forward aiming a dagger at Jon's eye. Jon was expecting an attack of the sorts and simple let go of the swords hilt and grabbed the man's extended arm.
With little force he leveraged the elbow against its natural angle, creating a loud cracking sound and a fresh cry of pain.
A quick slash of his knife ended the fight and the man fell to the ground next to the now motionless body of his friend.
He disappeared after a moment, turning grey and leaving a dagger behind.
Putting on the cloak and hood of the dead Npc, Jon used the clasp at the top to cover his face, leaving only a small gap for him to see through.
Before continuing he undressed the Npc, putting everything in his inventory.
The door opened, spilling light into the dark street once again. There were a few windows that had candles light shining through them, most likely people were woken up by the fight, however none dared to look outside.
A man around Jon's age stood inside the lit room. He wore an apron and had a very dirty towel in his hands.
"I hoped you'd come back," he said while cleaning his hands on the towel.
Jon didn't answer or move but the man didn't seem bothered by it.
"Where's the other one? I'd have liked to see his reactions…" His eyes looked over Jon's shoulder.
When he was certain there was no one else but Jon, he stepped back inside.
"Close the door behind you."
"You came at the right time. I've just finished the preparation and I'll be starting the main act in a moment."
They walked into another room hidden behind curtains. Unlike the other room, this one was dim and only two candles lit it from the middle of the room. A small corridor separated the rooms and blocked Jon's view of the room.
"Stand at the corner, it will take a while. Today I'm planning to go deep."
The entire room came into view finally and it made Jon stop in his tracks. He was used to blood before and had experienced brutality of all kinds and in different places but never this methodical.
"Try not to bump into anything."
The floor was covered with blood that was slowly dripping down holes along the walls, while dangled from the ceiling were hundreds of strings.
Leaning against the walls were five wooden tables and to each was strapped a person. Both female and male, they all had open stomachs and all of their or inner organs were tied to the wires. With an almost unnoticeable movement, they swung back and forth. Covering the whole span of the room it looked as if the room itself was alive. The rest of the bodies had parts of their body stripped naked from flesh, right down to the bone. The skin, muscle and blood vessels were still connected to the corresponding body part of each body; they were simply spread out neatly, nailed to the wood.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
He was standing next to another wooden table at hip height. On it lay another body, female: Jon guessed it was the woman's daughter. They both had the same light brown hair.
The man was looking around as well, marveling his own work. In his hand was a metal scalp and spread on a floating fabric next to him were dozens of different metal instruments.
Jon looked at the dead bodies again and saw now that the stripping of the flesh was done with a surgical precision.
One of the bodies had all off its skin peeled of and hung next to it like a suit of meat.
There was a strong smell of iron in the room.
"Are you an adventurer?" he asked and Jon answered with a nod.
"I thought so; they don't program things like this into Npc's. That's why the other one bailed." He was hovering his hand over the naked woman.
"You see," he licked his lips when he touched her stomach, "I've always been fascinated by the human body. It's truly a marvelous achievement of nature." He was massaging her body, touching her as if she were a fruit and he wasn't sure if it was ripe enough.
"But when I tried to satisfy my curiosity I ended up in a juvenile prison camp. From there it was impossible to peruse my interests so I studied hard and became a med student."
His eyes began to shine when he came upon a scar on her forearm.
"I think I'll start from here," he said in a whisper to her. It was then that Jon noticed she was conscious. She was immobilized and gagged but wide awake and aware of everything around her.
"Unfortunately they don't let you do any real surgery until your fifth year and that is just moronic."
Unfortunately for him, Jon had his knife drawn under the cloak and was slowly moving closer.
"Luckily I heard my classmates discuss about how they had butchered some bandits not long ago and it piqued my curiosity. After asking around I learnt about this game and how realistic it is." His eyes rolled up and an expression of extreme pleasure appeared on his face as his scalpel made the first cut into the girl's hand.
"I was surprised when the game rewarded me for successful surgery." He was looking at the blood that slowly began to drop down her arm onto the table. He dipped his finger in it and after eyeing it put the tip in his mouth and sighed in pleasure.
"It gave me the anatomy skill and when I got annoyed from their continuous struggling I was presented with the immobilization skill." He turned to Jon, not even bothered at how close he was to him.
"You see… the way I see it…hmm…" he smeared blood on his lips as if it were lipstick, "the game doesn't care how you play the game. It knows the difference between right and wrong, but it doesn't really understand it. Its main purpose is help players enjoy their game. If I want to explore the limits and possibilities of the human anatomy it will create situations it analyzed and decided I would enjoy. I've met people who even I think are sickening but the game's A.I. doesn't discriminate."
"I'd like to see your heart beating," he whispered in her ear, "and hear you scream as I fondle it…"
He closed his eyes and his brow wrinkled in concentration.
The girl screamed with force.
"No one can hear you dear. I had them soundproof the room with magic." Her screams continued, and when she started to beg him to stop and let her go his mood just seemed to improve.
She still couldn't move but hearing her suffer gave him pleasure.
Gently he touched the edge of a razor to her skin and pushed little by little until it penetrated. The blade started to move downwards and made a three centimeter gash when it stopped suddenly.
Screams of pain mixed together and turned into a roar. The man was grasping the stump of his arm. His palm was left behind holding the scalpel and blood spurted around the room.
"You…you... how dare you? I've paid good money for her! She is mine! I'll make sure they fire you for this! This isn't ov…" Jon's knife cut his throat and only gasping sounds escaped it.
He kicked him back and made him stumble to a wooden board. Thrusting hard he penetrated his palm and impaled the knife in the wood, pinning the man to one place. The man struggled to get free but with only a stump for a hand he couldn't free the knife.
Jon watched him bleed to death as he squirmed and pulled to no avail. It was eerily quiet when he turned grey and disappeared.
The immobilization on the girl went away together with him but she wasn't moving. After healing her arm, Jon dressed her in the black cloak he wore and slung her over his shoulder.
Before leaving the room he kicked the two candles next to the table and waited for the wood to catch fire. Satisfied that the fire would spread he left the house.
When he lifted the little boy under his armpit tongues of fire could be seen through the windows and the door of the house. The street became brighter and brighter as the whole house caught fire.
He walked back to the restaurant, the fire dancing behind him while his elongated shadow danced before him.
Quest Update Notice
You have saved the woman's daughter.
Return her to the mother to finish the quest.
It's weird how only these small scattering clouds, that looked more like cotton than clouds, reached so high. Big, beautiful clouds, ones you can lie on the grass and look at for hours, sailed slowly under the edge of the plateau.
The sun began to rise a couple of hours ago but the streets of Dragon Town were still in twilight. It would take a few more hours before the rays of the sun reached this high.
Even though it was called Dragon Town, it was more of an impenetrable citadel than a town.
High in the mountains, on a flat plateau with a steep downward fall on all sides, the only way to enter was through a draw bridge, or by air if you were one of the lucky ones. Armies could camp outside for years and not even step one foot inside.
And with a dozen dragons at their disposal, the town would never run out of food and water so a siege was pointless.
With endless free space on all sides but the north, the plateau which started as a couple of big halls in the ground and a shack was now a thriving town on the verge of becoming a city.
During the thousand year war of the new gods against the old, only dragons were able to tip the scales and bring an end to the fighting. Since then the dragons' might in battle was something lusted for by any warlord or king.
A few madmen managed to steal a couple of eggs and raise the hatchlings into fearsome dragons who dominated the battleground. Impressed by their deeds, the king gave them a small piece of land high in the mountains and told them to breed him an army of these beasts.
More than a hundred years later, people had gathered and families settled around the dragon pits, thus Dragon Town was formed. However, the promise had been forgotten and the dragon riders were forced to rely on donations from wealthy men. Now, every time a female laid eggs they were culled, and only the strongest of the litter was kept alive.
When he grew up a little, the small dragon had a metal stake thrust through the back of his skull. This metal pike allowed a rider to control his dragon with small pulls and pushes, as if the dragon were nothing more than a horse.
It sounds cruel, but in the days of the first domesticated dragons, three metal stakes were used instead of one.
That was the only option they could find, they had to have a guarantee that no dragon went on a rampage and ate everyone. They were not pets, they were considered nothing more than work beasts.
An enormous man exited his house. With a body like a trunk of a hundred year old tree, he was covered with muscles and steel. A simple round helmet on his hands that served a simple purpose of protecting and not decoration and a chain mail that dropped down to his hips, he straightened and stretched under the morning sun.
"Ratsha is awake!"
"Is it true he once pulled back a dragon by its tail?"
The kids who were role-playing as warriors and mages ran up to Ratsha and began to storm him as if he were a castle. After playing with them for a while Ratsha clasped a sword to his belt and put his hand through the rings of his shield.
The sword was simple looking, but having been made by dwarves, it had proved its worth in countless encounters and after years of fighting it still hadn't lost its edge. The shield had a wooden base but was covered with metal sheets.On his legs were plate leggings and on his feet were simple yet sturdy thick leather boots. The boots wouldn't stop an arrow or a sword, but Ratsha felt that protecting your heels was going over the top.
Ratsha climbed on his huge war horse and looked at the sky. He thought he had made peace with his decision yesterday but now doubts crept into him. The door to his house was open but he didn't mind, everything of his possessions he considered important was tied safely to the horse. He moved his eyes to the peak of the mountain; up there, was Iggeld's Valley which only a year ago was still called Wind Valley. It was the only habitable place higher than Dragon Town, but seven years ago there were only boars, deer, mountain goats and fierce almost hurricane like winds up there.
Even though Iggeld was an outsider and came with his uncle when he was still a kid, he quickly became obsessed with dragons. He would draw them, talk about them and while the rest of the children played together he would spend his time near dragon pits looking at the huge beasts underneath.
Iggeld's parents were killed in a raid. Thankfully he and his sister Yaska were fishing in the canopy at the time, and as they were still small children the raiders didn't notice them between tall canopies.
They returned with fish in their hands only to see their village in flames. Their uncle picked them up and they traveled as far north as they could to escape. He wasn't really their uncle, just a neighbor who had lost his family in the raid as well. Yaska was left with some family during their travels, and Iggeld, together with the uncle walked until they reached Dragon Town and learnt there was no place further or higher to hide in.
The uncle remarried soon after their arrival to a widow with a boy of her own. After the birth of the first baby Iggeld was ignored and by the time of the second baby he was completely forgotten.
Left to his own he spent his days around dragons. On the day twelve eggs hatched, like all the kids in town, he lay upon the edge of the pit and looked into the darkness beneath, trying to see the hatchlings. While all the kids soon got bored and went back to playing, Iggeld came back day after day until he could not only tell apart the dragons but find a favorite and even name it.
Ratsha liked the boy even then. The boy had a good personality and a solid temper. They both shared love for dragons and when he heard Iggeld went down into the pit to help a hatchling reach the teats of the mother, he was worried for him like a father.
Laying on the edge as usual, he saw his favorite one stay behind the rest of the litter, all weak and powerless. And while the rest of the hatchlings were busy sucking out the milk for the mothers teats he jumped into the basket and spun the handle fast until he reached the bottom. He then caught the little dragon in his hands and pushing the rest aside , moved the little dragon face against the back nipple where there was more milk. The little dragon felt the warm drops of milk on its bloodless lips and began to suck with all its might.
The mother raised its head in protest but still exhausted from going through birth, she ignored it and went back to sleep.
No one dared to go into a pit of a mother and her hatchlings, even the food was put into the basket and at a pull of a lever the meat dropped right in front of the mother's jaws.
But there was Iggeld, a ten year old boy, who fearlessly went down and as if it were the most common thing in the world grabbed a hatchling and forced him to eat.
Aponitza, the lead keeper hired him on the spot, glad to learn that with the use of children it was possible to begin training dragons at a much younger age. The fact that the boy worked for nothing more than bread and water was a bonus.
It backfired on him less than a year later.
When the time of the picking came, Chernish, the small dragon Iggeld saved at the time was deemed weak, and that meant he would be killed.
Iggeld, who treated Chernish as his family couldn't handle the news and stole the little dragon and they both escaped.
Having hunted boars in Wind Valley, Iggeld remembered all the caves in the rock walls that surrounded the valley. With great difficulty both of them reached the peak of the mountain in the dead of the night. Cold, tired and helpless the little boy stumbled into a cave and had survived ever since.
Left with an option of death or survival, both Iggeld and Chernish not only survived but grew up to become big and strong.
Chernish, not limited by the small pits would run all day long and fly daily unlike the town dragons that flew once a week. All the exercise and the increasing weight Iggeld forced on him made him grow up as big as the dragons of the wild. At the age of five he was already twice as big and strong as the town dragons.
At first Iggeld was considered crazy. Everyone was sure, that without a metal stake the dragon would soon devour him. But instead, Iggeld and Chernish transcended the slave-master relationship of dragon riders and became true friends. Chernish would crawl out of his skin if that would have pleased Iggeld. He regarded him as a parent and a true friend and would have torn apart an army to save Iggeld. It was a scary and funny sight, seeing a huge monster walk after Iggeld like a loyal dog.
Last month Whitehair and Yakun, young but accomplished dragon keepers, each chose themselves a small hatchling and went up the mountain to join Iggeld and raise their dragons in his way. People laughed about how stupidity was contagious and were sure that when Iggeld became interested in women he would surely come down. In the seven years he was absent the town had plenty of girls who grew up to become very warm women, they boasted.
They kept on laughing up until the point where another breeder left to join Iggeld.
And while Whitehair and Yakun were young and single, Shvarn left together with his wife and kids.
When Ratsha saw that, his mind was finally made up. He prepared everything he needed and said goodbye to the town.
"Ahoy! Iggeld! Come greet your friend." The giant warrior slowly moved forward on his big war horse. Even with Ratsha's massive size the horse had no trouble walking.
A vast and lush valley opened before him. He came through the only entrance and was assailed by the wind. It tried to blow him off the horse and roll him over the ledge but Ratsha just tightened his legs and straightened. Proud and fearless he didn't even blink as a small black hill fell from the sky, denting the ground and sending dust flying everywhere. His horse moved its head from side to side but stood still unlike most horses that usually ran away in panic.
There was a sound of buckles being opened, and a man slid down the black metal wall to the ground.
Ratsha jumped off his horse and grasped Iggeld in a warm embrace. They let go and looked at each other with big smiles.
"What are you doing here? And in battle gear…" Iggeld asked as he took of a thick wool cape he used to protect himself against the wind and cold of the sky.
Ratsha surprised him by going down on one knee and offering his sword to him.
"I've come to ask you permission to join your valley. I swear to help protect everyone who already lives here and all who will come. I promise to fight to my last breath to save you and the dragons. Accept me Iggeld! Don't let me go back in shame!"
Iggeld was speechless. Since he was a kid he looked up to Ratsha. He had heard stories of the warriors feats in battle and seeing him on his knee was incomprehensible to him.
"Stand up. You know very well that this is not my valley, and who the hell in his right mind would attack this godforsaken place?" He was waving his hands around and shifting from leg to leg uncomfortably. "And even if there was someone crazy enough, they would have to go through Dragon Town first and that place is built better than most forts! Trust me! Together with Chernish we traveled to the farthest edges of the kingdom and had never seen anything more protected. Right?" He lifted his hand to the monstrosity that was casting its shadow on them.
Chernish's huge head dropped over Ratsha and its hot breath hit him in the back.
Used as he was to dragons, it still sent a shiver down his spine.
"You're still young," he said in a slow and low voice, "But I have lived for enough time to learn that there is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress. Times may be peaceful now but things change, and when that change comes you better be prepared!" He lifted his sword even higher. "Now except my damn blade and let me rise already, before that beast of yours swallows me whole."
Iggeld took the sword reluctantly and hugged his friend again. Chernish feeling ignored licked them both with his large tongue.
"Let's say hello to the rest, they will be glad to have you with us."
They walked to the other side of the valley, where the wind was weaker and smoke was rising from a crack in the rock wall. Chernish followed behind, his massive head hanging over the two men. His tail moved from side to side showing his happiness at being allowed to walk with his great father and his friend as equal. He raised his head and puffed out his chest wishing for the others to see him.
Three small dragons ran up to them with their butts jumping up and down in a funny way. The two bigger ones were the size of large cats, while the third one, Shvarn's hatchling, followed behind them, half crawling half falling. His eyes had only recently opened and his legs were still weak. Shvarn's two kids ran next to them to greet Chernish.
"Go, play," said Iggeld to the huge dragon.
A moving mountain of black jumped forward, shortening the distance in one motion. His tongue flashed, as fast as lightning, and licked the boys from head to toe. They tried to avoid it but to no avail. Leaving them red and moist Chernish fell on his back carefully so as not to crush his little friends. They climbed on to his stomach, lifting the dragons on their hands, and began to jump up and down, kicking the scales on the stomach as hard as they could.
Chernish closed his eyes in pleasure. His scales were harder than steel and small vibrations from the jumps were like a massage.
"Keep an eye on them. We don't want them to fall from up there."
"We are, Iggled." The boys answered unanimously as they picked up a hatchling that strayed too far to the side.
"You do know more will arrive?"
"Let them come. This is not my valley; I'm in no position to send them away."
"Iggeld, you really are still a boy… you're the only one who still calls this place Wind Valley. Man up, and accept your role! They will come and this place will become a village." Ratsha paused, finishing his mug of beer.
"You and Chernish have earned a small fortune in the past years, and it is time you've started putting it to use" he said, licking off the drops stuck in his beard.
"I've been thinking about it, actually. You've felt the wind outside, well believe it or not, but that is just a fraction of its original strength. I've managed to block its path, somewhat, but if we want to live here comfortably we need to build a wall against it."
Ratsha looked at Iggeld in amazement.
"Sure… let us build a wall… but make sure you add a gate and some watchtowers. That way you'll completely seal the valley from the outside world and from any attackers."
"That again? I don't want to hear about that again…"
"Oh, Iggeld, trust in me. I may not be very wise, but I've learnt enough to know that it is better to be prepared than be sorry."
Both of them refilled their mugs and sat in silence, looking at the children and dragons playing.
"That's the last of it, boys." Dragon entered the kitchen looking exhausted. The past couple of days were tiring, and the whole staff except for Jon felt on the verge of collapsing.
Hundreds of high born and big name customers came, and the average price of a dragon meal was two thousand and seven hundred gold coins.
Even in his exhausted state the thought of his newly acquired fortune brought a smile to Dragon's face.
"Come get your money!"
Each of them got one hundred gold coins. It may look very little but you need to take into account that they all received a large piece of dragon meat as well.
Everyone left but Jon. He walked up to Dragon and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.
"It's okay, Jon, you can go. I understand. I knew it was coming from the moment I saw your reaction to the meats' bonuses. You're not the first one of my staff to leave for that reason and probably not the last." He hugged Jon warmly.
"However you are the best out of them all, so it hurts me to see you leave. I won't stop you, and I've spoken with Burka, he will gladly accept you if you ever decide to come back."
Jon didn't show it but he was actually feeling a bit sad to leave.
They walked to the entrance where the brute joined them.
"One piece of advice though… there are countless of ways to defeat a dragon, but in all my years as a dragon slayer I've never heard of someone slaying one with a knife or a dagger. You better think of getting yourself a real weapon." He grasped Jon's hand and shook it in goodbye. "Also, if you ever want to become a dragon slayer, kill one thousand dragon type monsters and come to me. If you manage to do that I'll share with you the next step to become a mighty dragon slayer. Drakes are the weakest of the kind…"
The brute interrupted them with a cough at that point.
He extended his hand forward silently and looked Jon in the eyes. They never shared any words except for their first meeting, but Jon never felt any animosity towards him for his actions at the time. He took the hand and they shook intensely.
No more words were spoken between them and Jon turned to leave on his way.
A girl with light brown hair stood in his way.
She was staring at the ground and fidgeting slightly. He didn't recognize her with clothes on and hair covering her face at first, but when he saw her mother and little brother standing not far he figured out who she was.
Dragon and the brute whispered to each other behind him.
The little boy ran up to his sister when he saw she was taking her time. Grabbing her by her palm he tried to encourage her but she kept looking at the ground.
"She wanted to thank you for saving her," the boy said in a cheerful voice "but she's embarrassed that you've seen her naked." He jumped to the side to dodge his sister's hands. He hid behind Jon and her face lifted to look at him. As if catching fire, her face turned bright red and dropped back down as soon as their eyes met.
"Thank you," she said quietly to her feet.
Jon looked back at Dragon as if asking for help and Dragon stepped down the stairs.
"He was glad he could help. He's just a little shy so he doesn't speak much." He waved to the mother to come closer.
"You see, he's leaving today and I'll be missing a worker. How would you like to take his place?" He seemed to be speaking to the girl but was looking at the mother.
"Of course she will," said the mother in a commanding tone. "Tell the nice man you will, honey."
The young lady glanced at Jon for a moment, and turning an even deeper red color, she nodded in agreement.
"Great, great. Let us go meet the man you're going to be helping. He's a little scary… but deep inside he is just a small pussycat."
Dragon led the family inside and as he passed Jon who was standing silently he said to him.
"I guess now you have something worth returning for, eh? Let's just hope no one takes this beauty away before you do." He winked at him without even stopping.
The brute was laughing to himself as he raised his hand in farewell to Jon. |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 6",
"id": 58,
"next": 59,
"prev": 57,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The chisel danced across the boulder with a flurry of movements. The increase in strength from having destroyed the sculpture was still in effect, causing boulder’s sides to melt away with each motion. The image of the figure he wanted was already in Weed’s mind. What was necessary for fighting a dragon was not fanciful tactics but power; pure, absolute, and unrefined power. Nowhere was this more potent than in the creatures that ruled Las Gigolo. The Fire Giants who lived deep within the island. They alone were capable of standing their ground against boss class monsters. While shaping the boulder Harn started to feel that something the piece was lacking something essential. “Gah…This still doesn’t look right…But what am I missing?!?!?!”<br><br><br><br>Simply shaping the rock into the form of a Fire Giant wouldn’t be enough. It was essential to imbue emotion into a sculpture so that they could reach a higher level. But what emotion is best suited for a Fire Giant???<br><br>“Sir! The Embinyu Denomination has broken through the gate!!” Hosram gripped the hilt of his sword in anger then turned to his men “Everyone prepare for combat! We have to get back and help protect Rosenehim!”<br><br>“Yes Sir!!”<br><br>“Stay where you are!!” Shouted Weed with anger evident in his voice. Wait a second…that’s it! Anger!!! That’s what was missing from the carving!<br><br>“But sir…if we don’t act now then all of Rosenheim may perish!!”<br><br>Weed raised his hand as if to give an explanation but before he could even give a reply, a bellow rang across the night sky. It was the 4 Wyverns that Weed had given life to for the battle with Shire. They were originally a group of 10 but 6 of them had died in the battle with the undead legion. The Wyverns were the very first sculptures that Harn had given life to so they were of ample level now because of all their hunting.<br><br>“So heavy….”<br>“Wahhh I want to go back home to my nice den!!”<br>“Horrible master…”<br>“Why do we have to go through this!?”<br><br>The Wyverns flew high in the sky but they were carrying some kind of gigantic blanket with one wyvern at each corner. The cloth sunk in at the center indicating that there was something at the center.<br><br>-What are you doing? Hurry and drop the package so that the entrance will be sealed.<br>Waliyah(Wyvern 1? Not sure): *sniff* “Not even one word of thanks…Let’s just drop this and get it over with.”<br><br>The piece of clothe plummeted straight down onto the Southern entrance that the Embinyu were entering through and make a beautiful crashing sound. Inside of the blanket were numerous clay pots each containing 40 gallons of oil. “Fire ball!” Ten balls of fire were fired from all of the mages along the castle walls with each one aimed at a bottle of oil. The outside of the gate was turned into a sea of fire and the Embinyu forces that had entered the Citadel were now separated from their compatriots.<br><br>“Secret Weapon number 3. Funnel the enemy forces into the Citadel by giving them an opening. After which, separating them from their allies so that the interior defense forces can pick them off one by one.” Said Weed as though it were a fact<br><br>The soldiers were in disbelief. To actually purposely allow the enemy into a city you’re supposed to protect to the death was unheard of. Yet this man used it as a battle tactic to draw their enemies in!! “But still…The number that had entered Rosenheim just now should be at the least 60,000!! That’s simply too much for them to handle alone.”<br><br>“Don’t worry about that either. The defense forces are not that weak. They have Zahab, one of the strongest swordsmen in Versailles, Queen Evane whose holy powers rival that of a pope candidate, and the Sage Rodriguez who earned the title ‘Star of Wisdom’. I’ve also given them several tactics to use so that they’ll have an advantage over the enemy.” Told Weed in a calm voice as though he were lecturing a group of kids. “For now, focus on defending this mountain from our foes and taking down their outside forces. If either the undead dragons, siege towers, or ogres get in range of Serabourg then all our efforts will have been for naught. Got it?”<br><br>Still in shock because of the absurdity of the situation, the knights reflexively answered “….Understood Commander.”<br><br>Once that was done Weed walked back to the boulder and resumed fashioning the boulder into a suitable battle form. The pace he was working at increased considerably. Weed continued to hack away at the rock with a fearsome grin on his face which sent shivers down everybody’s spine. Each swing of his arm and movement of his body seemed to display joy and elation. Weed danced circles around the boulder<br><br>Rage!! Ahahahahhaha~!! Why didn’t I think of it before just now. Ah well who cares, now that I know what needs to be done then it’s a simple matter. If there’s one emotion I have plenty of, then it’s anger!!! Anger at Ray Bard for having stolen my money from me by selling the armor I received from the Freya Church, fury towards that bastard who arranged all of those useless trinkets in my own castle, and rage towards the Loan Sharks who haunted me for my entire high school life then stole my money!! Harn’s fury grew each second as he thought of the pain his family went through because of those men in their cheap black suits. The memory of that event was still clear as day to him. The image of Hyan crying in his grandmother’s arms that day in the hospital when those loan sharks cheated us was seared into his pupils. That money was going to be used to pay for grandmother’s surgery and Hyeon’s college funds, and to pay for the new home we were going to live in! It was a chance for them to live a better life!!<br><br> “RAHHHHHH!!!!” Grabbing the head of the sculpture he assaulted the skull with countless stabs. Despite the appearances, each one of the attacks was done with pinpoint accuracy and a masterful control of power. After the face was finished he then moved toward defining the muscles of this massive behemoth. Each of the muscles bulged out from the body expressing a kind “weight”. The upper body was curved forward to express a sense of power while the tendons/veins were traced over again to give a better sense of their depth.<br><br>Weed took several steps back to get a better look at the end result. The giant had one foot forward and was hunched down toward the ground while his face was turned clockwise slightly. The mouth was agape as though he were letting out a loud yell or trying to bite the neck of his opponent. His arms were spread to his sides in preparation of grabbing the enemy. His body’s muscles were thick and bulging. Just the biceps alone were 6 times the size of a normal mans thighs whereas the eyes seemed to possess some kind of spark that caused fear in all those who saw it. The statue seemed to possess a life and power of its own which couldn’t be tied down by human hands. It was a colossal 12 feet tall and 8 feet across (Actually bit larger since hunched down). Everyone who looked upon the piece felt as though it was rushing toward them, getting ready to grab and lift their bodies into the air so that he could better smash into the ground.<br><br>-Please Set the name sculpture<br><br>“The Fire Giant’s Rampage”<br><br>-The Fire Giant’s Rampage, is that correct?<br><br>“Yes.”<br><br>----------------------------------------------<br>-Ttring! You have created a masterpiece! Fire Giants are the rulers of Las Gigolo. Beings borne of fire who only know how to live and die in war, they are the embodiment of strength! Your name will be spread far and wide among sculptors everywhere for having accurately captured their rage and might. Intimacy with Fire Giants + 15<br><br>Artistic value: 30.<br><br>Special options: Players health and Mana regeneration will increase by 8%.<br><br> Intelligence and wisdom fall by 25.<br><br> The disappearance of appeal and attractiveness stat.<br><br> Increased power by 41.<br><br> Increased agility by 5.<br><br> <br>-Improved skill of carving skill.<br>-Your fame increases by 15.<br>-Endurance rises by 20<br>-Stamina rises by 10<br>----------------------------------------------<br><br><br>Lifting the sculpture onto his shoulders, Weed turned to face the others “Your orders are simple. Fight and live. Protect that which you care about with your own hands and if you are going to be defeated than you find a way to survive. You must continue moving no matter how much blood or mud you’re covered. Pour everything into this one battle and live through it! We’re going to get through this! We are going to live on!! We’ll grow old and laugh about how crazy we were in some pub years from now!! And if any of you dare die on me then I swear I’ll drag your asses out of hell myself and give you another beating!!! GOT IT?!?!” I can’t be losing even more reputation points.<br><br>A couple of the people there left stunned but soon raised their hands into the air in response “YES SIR!!!”<br><br>While seemingly everyone was in high spirits, there was a small group in the back who were carefully considering what Weed had just said. “Uhh guys….”<br>“Yes? What is it Irene?”<br>“I don’t think he was joking about that dragging you out of hell part.”<br>Pale felt uneasy at Irene’s words and tried to ease the tension with a laugh, but his voice cracked because he could sense something was off after looking at her expression “Hahaha…What do you mean? Of course it was just a joke said by master Weed.”<br>“Have you forgotten about Queen Evane?”<br>“……….”<br>“He raised a person from the dead to life. Who’s to say whether he was or wasn’t joking about what he said just now???”<br>No one could say anything to counter this idea. After being with Weed for so long, the only thing that one could say about him was that he was greedy, brash, unpredictable, and could somehow make the impossible possible.<br><br>After finishing that long winded speech Weed began to sprint downhill at a breakneck pace. His heart pounding like mad and the shirt he wore which was now soaked completely through with sweat. He felt a mix of excitement and anger toward his enemy as he charged toward them.<br><br>“Sculpture Summoning! Hydra!” With a flash of light a hydra with eight heads, thick scaly skin, and 20 meters tall(60 feet I think? Just using a height that makes it big) appeared next to Weed, dwarfing everything near it. “Kill the ogres and stop the siege towers advance!! If you do then I’ll cook them up for you to eat later!!There was no noticeable change in the hydra’s facial expression(s) but he seemed to stride ecstatically toward the enemies with a “Hiiiiisssssssss”<br><br>Several of the ogres and Embinyu soldiers bodies were immediately trapped by the coils of the snakes body. The sound of their bones cracking could clearly be heard by all. The less fortunate ones had their upper bodies eaten and their bodies were left flailing like a chicken with their head cut off. Each time they focused on cutting off one snake head another one would gobble them up.<br><br>“Well that takes care of one thing.”<br><br>-Tori switch targets and focus on holding off the undead dragon on the left! Bingryung and Wyverns bring down the second dragon at the top! Eunsae, Golden bird, and Phoenix target the dragon on the bottom right and I’ll take the remaining one!! Their wings drooped considerably as they resigned themselves to their fate. Once they were in range Golden Bird, Eunsae, and Phoenix dived down headfirst into the one of the dragons and used their huge talons to dig onto the monster’s body. After which, they began pecking and ripping apart the dragon’s wings, forcing it to the ground. Tori’s bats clung to each and every part of the dragon’s body’s making it almost impossible for the beast to fly properly let alone fight. Bingryung and the wyverns used their breathe attacks to inflict damage on them from afar.<br><br>“Sculpture Transformation!”<br><br>-You have used the shape shifter skill<br><br>Weed’s body slowly grew in size until he was over 25 meters tall (Try going to your financial district, look at a building and count up to 8 floors then count 4 to 6 windows across. Then imagine those a giant fire giant staring down you have 5 seconds to give it to me before I eat you :< lol), his skin became a murky red and a black tattoo began to trace itself across his body. It could have been due to the fire aura surrounding his body or a trick of the eyes but the markings seemed to pulsate as if they were alive. Each of the giant’s arms was as thick as the trunk of a tree.<br>Strength will increase by 5% when near a Volcano or major source of fire.<br>-Body size has increased. Current armor will not fit. Un-equipping chest plate and leg plating.<br><br>- Strength and vitality increases considerably because of the shape shifter skill.<br><br> Vitality and recovery rate is increased according to the characteristics of the species.<br><br>Knowledge and wisdom stat has decreased to zero. Any Combat-related skills will most likely fail.<br> <br><br> Knowledge, wisdom, art, religion, attractiveness, and elegance all drop significantly.<br><br> Shapeshifter is valid until the pieces are being.<br><br> Is applied to an affinity with nature, enhances the property of fire based attacks.<br><br> Weed had a different body but his mind was still the same.<br><br> "Not bad. Stat window! "<br><br><br><br>----------------------------------------------<br><br>Character Name: Weed tendencies: Monster<br><br>Size: 406 Race: Fire Giant<br><br>Vitality: 376,271 Mana: 1650<br><br>Strength: 1428 Agility: 1395<br><br>Stamina: 1684 Wisdom: 15<br><br>Intelligence: 11 grit: 719<br><br>Endurance: 662 Endurance: 959<br><br>Art: 70 Charisma: 462<br><br>Leadership: 751 Good: 3<br><br>Faith: 5 attractions: 8<br><br>Maetjip: 881 grace: 6<br><br>Spirit: 152 Containers: 170<br><br><br><br>* Fire Giants are the exercise of the species characteristics.<br><br> Your body now emits a fire aura. All physical attacks will also inflict the burn status.<br><br>Skill levels are now being adjusted. You can learn up to a maximum of level 8 beginner Fire Giant Skills. (This was all taken from volume 25 when Weed turned into an Ice Troll, just modified most of the words)<br><br>----------------------------------------------<br><br>All at once the war of the giants began. The dragon let loose an intense roar which seemed to swallow the world itself.<br><br><br>“ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!”<br><br>-Roar of the Dragon!<br>Dragons are peerless.<br>They inflict psychological pressure on inferior creatures!<br>Even if thousands of animals such as foxes gathered, they would end up lying on the ground, dead.<br>The mental process of magicians trembled with fear of the Dragon.<br>-Morale of the soldiers has decreased<br><br>Weed decided to let out his own battlecry in response to this challenge. Something inside of him demanded it, needed it. After taking in a deep breath Weed let loose an earsplitting roar of his own “RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”(You have no idea how badly I wanted to switch this with “COME AT ME BRO!!” QWQ)<br><br>-You have used the skill Yell. All Allies within range are affected. There is a 200% increase in moral. All confusion among your troops is dispelled. For 5 minutes leadership will be boosted 195%.<br><br>Weed’s feet never stayed on the ground for longer than a second, his stride turned into a dash as he glides across the ground with a speed that seemed impossible for his massive size. As if accepting his dare, the undead dragon lowered his altitude and headed straight for him. Weed squatted down in an instant then leaped upwards covering a considerable distance and collided with the dragon’s body, midair sending out shock waves in every direction. The heavens themselves seemed to tremble at this impact. Unfortunately, the dragon had an advantage in terms of momentum and Weed was rapidly forced back to the ground.<br><br>by : xneoknight<br><br><br>“I’m not going down that easily!!” cried Weed as he clutched onto the beasts rotting body and began to tear at the wings. “Let’s see how well you fight now!!”<br><br>Unable to bear the pain of having his precious wings torn off, the beast let out a bellow of pain “Kruahhhhhhh!!!!” But Weed was brought back to the ground all the same. A putrid smell oozed out from the beast’s mouth as he stared coldly at Weed with the hollow yet frightening eyes that only an undead dragon could possess. The dragon’s mouth was lined with rows of sharp teeth and the mouth took up 2/3rd of its head. Upon closer inspection one could see that most of its flesh had become rotten and fallen off, but a majority was still held in place by magic. The claws extended out grotesquely up at Weed.<br><br>*growl* After letting out a low snarl it began to claw at Weed’s body with his limbs and made several attempts to bite at his head but Weed kept dodging by twisting his body. Unable to push the monster’s enormous body off of him, Weed could only land several hits at the beast’s body in hopes of unbalancing him and getting a chance to go on the offensive. But the beast didn’t budge an inch and each of the monster’s attacks were getting closer to his head, not to mention the fact that Weed’s stamina was quickly fading. “Get off me you fat pig!!”<br><br>Embinyu soldiers: “Die you monster!!”<br> “All is for Embinyu!!”<br><br>Some of the soldiers who had been trying to scale the mountain were now slashing at Weed’s face.<br><br>“Hail Embinyu!”<br><br>Weed clenched his fist in anger. He was angry at the Embinyu denomination for having put him through all this trouble, he was angry at this animal who was getting cocky, but more than anyone he was angry at himself for being unable to get out of this mess.<br><br>“Fall now!! It is impossible for you to win! The name of Embinyu will be spread through all of Versailles!! You cannot fight destiny!!”<br><br>Destiny…? DESTINY?!?! You think I care something as stupid as destiny?! Do you actually think that I’d leave the fate of my family to something as unreliable as destiny?! I’ll be the one to decide what’s impossible and what I’ll do with my life!! Weed grinded his teeth in anger and began to launch even more punches at the dragon’s flank but it still showed no sign of moving.<br><br> When suddenly *THUNK* “SKREEEE!!” The dragon’s body recoiled slightly at the last attack.<br>Finally a reaction! But how…??? It should’ve taken at least another 50 more hits.<br><br>Private message: -Brother!!<br>-Eh?!?! Hayan!? Is that you???<br>-Yes, it’s me. Zephyr and I managed to make it safely to the clock tower. I’ve marked the area around the dragon’s heart. So strike there. Even an attack at his ribs or stomach should be more effective now.<br><br>Hayan had been painting the fight at a lightning fast pace since the start of the clash. It took a while but now all of the preparations were ready. She buffed her brother and the others by drawing them with great detail to show their strength, while only using a rough sketch for the undead dragons so that they would be weakened. Black paint was also used to mark further and weaken the dragon’s bodies.<br><br>Hmm…So that means I can inflict more damage now? But main problem is that it’s really hard to move right now. No, even that’s not the problem!! Hayan definitely said “Zephyr and I”!!! Grr…That freaking playboy is alone in the clock tower with my sister! Bastard!!!<br><br>Weed private messaged Zephyr in a voice filled with killing intent.<br>-ZEPHYR. Take three steps away from Hayan. NOW.<br>-“Eh?! Master Weed!? Y-You misunderstand! I wasn’t doing anything suspicious! Honest!!” Fear was evident in Zephyr’s voice as he began to stammer repeatedly<br>-DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF.<br>-Ah um…Yes! Right away!!<br><br>Hmph…I’ll need to educate guy once this is all over. Now how the heck am I suppose to get this thing off of me.<br><br>"The divine light which guides this world, show this evil being that which is right and holy. St. blind!" A pure white light shot out from the priest shot out from the priest’s hands and penetrated the dragon’s eyes.<br><br><br>"Freya, the goddess of beauty which halts everything. This is the truth! The<br>strength of our faith. Slow!" The dragon’s movement speed only slowed down slightly. But the effects became more obvious after all of the priests began to fire the same spell at the undead dragon.<br><br>Chance!! Hmm…but before that…*Looks at the Eimbyu soldier next to his head*<br>Embinyu Soldier: “Know the power of Embinyu!!”<br>*CHOMP* *chew chew chew* “mm…Tastes like barbeque chicken.”<br><br>-You have eaten a human!! Stamina +3, Health points heals by 45.<br><br>“Heh heh, ready not here I come.”<br>Gripping his fist once more, Weed went into a frenzy and launched a series of punches as well as knees at the beast’s abdomen until finally it tipped over. Rolling away to the side, Weed watched gleefully as the monster’s health points finally decreased. The beast hunched over in pain and held his arm close to his stomach, but Harn could still see the will to fight in its eyes.<br><br>Without a word, Weed readied his stance once more and prepared to attack. He acknowledged the undead dragon as a strong opponent which was all the more reason he had to finish this battle quickly. There were other enemies so it would be best to finish this fight first before I become too worn out to take on the others.<br><br>“Hah!” Weed charged in and delivered a series of punches to the beast’s body. A majority of the blows were focused on breaking the ribs and chest while the other strikes were for locking up the opponent’s movements so that they couldn’t counterattack. The time Harn had spent practicing Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do was note in vain. For more than a year he had practiced basic punching, kicking, and various techniques to the brink of passing out. Every time he returned hhome, his body would be drenched in sweat and his bones creaked. But still he persisted with the training. Now these movements were engraved not just in his body but his memory as well. Each attack flowed into another heavy blow to the monster’s body. His steps became more compact and all of his excess movements disappeared as he felt his senses sharpen. Loud ‘Thumps’ rang out each time he came in contact with the dragon’s body.<br><br>********************************************************<br>At the peak of death mountain there was a single person who was carefully watching the battle between the giants. It was Mapan. Everything seemed to fade away as he focused on the sight of Weed facing off against the undead dragon, one of the strongest monsters in all of Royal Road. He paid no attention to the explosions caused by the spells and cannons but instead began to laugh as he watched the scene unfold before hm.<br><br>“Haha….it’s because of things like this that I can’t stop being a Merchant.” Muttered Mapan look of satisfaction on his face<br><br>Mapan had been through numerous adventures with Weed, possibly as much as Irene and the others. He stood beside Weed in the battle with the undead legion, met with him in Las Gigolo with the others, correlated an attack on Bar Kahn by helping to gather over 500 paladins, and also visited the land of vampires together.<br><br>He recorded every second of the fight, making sure not to miss a single detail. Their voices split the heavens as they roared at one another. The earth itself shook when they crashed down upon it and each of their strikes caused the air to tremble.<br><br>Truth be told, Mapan considered it an honor to be able to know Weed and felt thrilled each time he watched Weed’s antics. How many could say that they watched a battle between a fire giant and an undead dragon first hand, and assisted in crushing an army 4 times their own.<br>********************************************************<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-Undead dragon receives damage in the chest, ribcage has been damaged. Defenses have been weakened. Deals 334 damage, imposes fire damage.------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-Undead dragon receives damage in the chest. Deals 470 damage, imposes fire damage.<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-Undead dragon receives damage in the heart. Temporarily stunned. Deals 600 damage, imposes fire damage.<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-Large gash has been inflicted on Undead dragon’s side. Deals 369 damage, imposes fire damage.<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 920 damage, imposes fire damage. +12%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 1210 damage, imposes fire damage. +19%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>------------------------------------------------------<br>-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 1540 damage, imposes fire damage. +24%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)<br>------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Finally unable to take it anymore, the dragon raised itself up high on his hind legs and slammed his neck down as though it were a sledge hammer. The sheer force of the blow shook the earth and caused several rock fragments to fly up. Then the dragon switched to a tackle and tried to bring Weed back to the ground “BAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”<br><br> Quickly stepping to the side, Weed continued his baptism of blows to the monster’s flank before finally the dragon’s flesh tore itself apart under the pressure. Black blood and rotten intestines poured out from the wound as the nauseating smell of rancid meat, rotten cheese, and burned feces all wrapped into one began to permeate through the air.<br><br>Seeing the opening, Weed tackled the dragon and forced him onto his side. After which he began to rip at the innards and used both of his hands to rip off the ribcage revealing the still pumping heart. Feeling its life fading, the dragon made a last ditch effort and tried to claw at Weed’s face. But it was all in vain; Weed succumbed to his primal instincts and let his rage take over. He beat the dragon several times with his fists until the dragon’s skull was shattered under the impact. Then he ripped out the monster’s heart and raised it up high showing off his prize.<br><br>He then made a victory cry that could only belong to a beast from the wild “Wu….Wuooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” as his body became drenched in the black blood.<br><br>-ttring!<br>-You have gained Experience<br>-You have gained Experience<br>-Level up!<br><br>************************************<br>In a pub somewhere a group of friends were staring bewildered at the large crystal ball which displayed the news about Royal Road. Except now, instead of news it showed the battle between Rosenheim kingdom and the Embinyu Denomination. Right now however, it was displaying the fight between Weed the Fire Giant and an Undead Dragon.<br><br>Jarvan IV, still dazed from what he just saw, said “Did he just….”<br>Before he could finished, Garen answered him with a casual tone “Kill a dragon with his barehands? Yup.”<br>Jarvan IV still shocked began to ask “Am I….”<br>Still not bothering to look at the screen “Going crazy?”<br>Jarvan IV: “Yeah!!”(DEMACIA~~!! AND YES LEAGUE OF LEGENDS XD)<br>Garen: “Sorry to inform you, but this is reality…”<br>Jarvan IV: “How did you know what I was going to say though?”<br>Garen: “Haha, because I just heard the same thing from Master Yi, Olaf, Trynadmere, and Xin Zhao!!<br>Gragas: “Have a drink! You need it more than I do… You’ll somehow get used to these unbelievable sights when you spend enough time watching Weed. Now to find some brew…Oi, Singed!! You’re going to share that with me, right!?”<br>“Yep, Shaken…not stirred.” Told Singed as he handed over the drink to the large Gragas.”<br><br>Laughing manically in the back was Shaco: “Ahahahhaha!! Rammus why don’t you try taking him on!? Jajajaja! Hmm? Where’d Rammus go??? Guys…?”<br>Wukong spoke out to the jester “Rammus used Power ball to run away after Weed punched the dragon in the face and ripped out the poor dragon’s heart.”<br>Shaco tilted his head in confusion for a few seconds then hesitantly asked “What about the others…? The pub was filled to the brim a few seconds ago.”<br><br>Recounting the events in his head Wukong told him “Let’s see…Malphite used Unstoppable force to run through the wall so he could barf out back, seems the sight of black blood spewing out from an open wound was too much for him. Shen shadow dashed behind him to console him, but for some reason I heard even more barfing afterward?? Zilean time warped out…and Teemo moved quickly out the front door.”<br><br> “Hmm…What about Sion? You want to try fighting Weed sometime?” asked Shaco curiously<br>Sion furiously shook his head and went back to drinking his beer.<br>“Oh come on! You’re already dead!!”<br>Sion: “Not uh! No way am I facing that monstrosity! I already died once, and there’s no way I want to die again!”<br>Shaco: “Aw fine….Hey Chogath! What about you?!”<br>Chogath almost tripped over himself when Shaco called him out. “HELL NO!!! Did you see that guy?! I may bite people’s heads off but this guy eats them whole!! Body and all!!”<br>Shaco: “Aw fine….Party pooper….”<br><br>************************************<br><br>General Norman’s eyes went wide at this sight. He was watching the scene unfold from a safe location and immediately realized that the tide of battle was changing. He saw Weed as a major threat which had to be eliminated before he became too dangerous.<br> “I have to get rid of this man…otherwise…it’s me who’s going to die…” uttered General Norman in horror.<br><br>“Mages and artillery, concentrate fire on the Fire Giant! Necromancers, order the ogres and remaining undead dragons to take him down after the 3rd volley has weakened him!!!”<br><br>“Gah!!” cried Weed as several ogres grabbed onto him and a undead dragon bit down on one of his knees from the back.<br>-Tori! I told you to hold them off!! Don’t think I’m going to let you off for this!!<br>-That’s…They’re stronger than the other one from before!!<br>-What? Stronger??? How can that be, you should be able to take on even named undead dragons, so how is this one so tough?!<br><br>The answer to this question came not in a message but as a system notice.<br>-You have been poisoned, health declines by 250. This status will persist until healed.<br>-Health declines by 232<br><br>Weed’s heart sunk as he saw this message. Impossible…there’s no way that an undead dragon can possess poison traits!! There’s no such thing as a poison attribute dragon in the Royal Road Database!!!<br> <br>General Norman laughed gleefully as he watched the giant’s body turn black. This was a sign that he was poisoned, and from the looks of things it seemed to be a class 5 poison.<br>“Gahahha, are you surprised?! This is thanks to the research our Necromancers have been doing for the past few years. We finally succeeded in creating a chimera by combining a dragon’s body with Basilisk’s blood!!”<br>Weed could do little as his body was pelted with spells and dark spears. His once intimidating frame was now no more than a hindrance as he was just made into a target dummy. Unable to tell left from right anymore, he ran toward where he thought the main enemy force was, but was soon held in place by the remaining ogres.<br><br>Damn it…if it’s going to be like this…<br>-Romune!!<br>-Master Weed, we’re running out of cannon ball shells! I don’t think we’ll be able to provide you much support after this!! The shaman’s mana is still high so we can keep defending the mountain. Unfortunately, the enemy’s artillery is out of our attack range…<br>-Forget about their artillery! Cast ‘that’ spell and get rid of these ogres and this damnable dragon!!<br>-But…If I cast that spell then you’ll be…<br>-No choice! Just do it while they’re still focused in one spot!<br>-Understood…<br><br>Romune carefully raised her hands up towards the skies, as though she were welcoming someone.<br>“Embers of domination…Flames of purgatory…Let the fires that have existed since the beginnings of time gather now and sear the world once more! Meteor Storm!!”<br><br>Part of the sky became a bright red/orange and the remaining birds in the area began flying to the South. “Skreeeeeeee!!!”<br><br>Sensing the danger, the ogres and undead dragons began to try and flee as well. They jerked back as they felt something clutching on to them from behind. Their hearts sank when they looked back to see a disfigured yet still very much alive Fire Giant.<br><br> “Heh heh, you bastards aren’t getting away from me.” Said Weed as he tightened his grip.<br><br>A flaming meteor 5 times that of the undead dragon began to fall from the heavens. The skies themselves burst into flames as it pushed its way through. If you were to look at it from right below then you would be unable to see past the clouds beyond. Such was its enormity and size. Weed smiled wryly as he stared up at the monstrosity and retightened his grip on the ogres once more.<br><br><br>BOOM!!!! The meteors fell down mercilessly upon their bodies until their bodies were blown apart. Dust exploded out from underground and began to spread in all directions. Everything was washed away in an instant. When the dust finally cleared, the only thing left was an enormous crater 20 times the size of a national foot ball stadium. In the center was a mass of pile of disfigured flesh which emitted black smoke and a horrid smell.<br><br>*******************************************************<br>The surrounding Embinyu soldiers were drawn to the destruction and gathered around the crevice. Not one of them made a sound. Instead, they just stared blankly at the utter destruction.<br><br>The Rosenheim knights were at a loss at what to do. Their invincible leader was now gone and they had no one to follow. Many of them had a dazed look on their faces, as though they were half awake and half asleep.<br><br>“No!!” screamed Seoyoon as she stared in horror as the meteor crashed down. It can’t be…Not like this…It end like this for you…Unable to hold herself back, she took hold of Rover’s reins and began to descend down the mountain toward the crater.<br><br>Rover: “Eumoo??”<br>“Come on Rover! Go faster!” yelled Seoyoon as she forced Rover to press on. The wind blew furiously past her and tangled her hair but she didn’t care<br>Rover: Mm…I don’t get what’s going on but anything is better than following my crazy master. Plus this feels really nice! So soft… “Eumooooo!!!!”<br><br>“Wait for me!!” After wiping his tears away with his forearm, Mapan readied his cart natures once more. “I’m going as well!!” There are some things more valuable than money, such as moments like these. I swore to myself that even if all hell broke loose, I would still follow Master Weed and record all of his adventures in my memories.<br><br>Already half way down the mountain, Seoyoon readied herself for the enemy. Determination was obvious in her eyes. She was set on making it to Weed’s side no matter the consequences.<br><br>“Incredible….” Said Geomchi as he looked at the crater Romune had created. I knew that spells were powerful, but I never imagined that they could create something like this! Rather than fear, he felt excitement as he looked at this new frontier. His bliss was soon interrupted as several shadows ran past him.<br><br>“Wait for me!!” shouted Maylon in distress<br>“Oi, Mapan! Get back here! We need a ride as well!!” yelled Pale as he chased down the cart<br>“Huff Huff…Making a girl run…You’re going to get a hell of a beating later Mapan!” screamed an out of breath Romune<br><br>Why does he have so many people chasing after him…I never knew that he was this popular. And they’re beautiful girls to boot!! A blood vessel on Geomchi’s head was bulging and on the verge of exploding!<br><br>“Wahhhh, Please don’t leave me behind as well!!” said Irene as she hurriedly ran after everyone while holding up the ends of her skirt<br><br>“Come on dear! We can’t miss this chance!” yelled a sweet voice from the back. Following close behind her was an intimidating Paladin closely behind.<br><br>“Coming…” said Volk in an eerie voice. Volk’s grim face and intimidating 6 foot 5 build further amplified his frightening aura.<br><br>“Grrr….” Geomchi tightened his grip on his sword in anger. He was a bachelor since childhood and had not once had a girlfriend, let alone held a girls hand. Likewise, all of the martial artists gathered there were in the same situation as Geomchi. All of them had never graduated from high school(was it college? Kinda forgetting here) and instead focused solely on mastering martial arts. Why is he so popular…‘What does he have that I don’t!!’ Thought all of them in unison.<br><br>Libby grabbed onto Geo39chi’s arm and began tugging at it repeatedly “Honey! We have to help him too!”<br><br><br> *BURST!* “Stay where you are!!” Geomchi shouted, unable to hold his anger. “We’ll take care of this.” That’s right…I finally know. The only difference between us is the amount of fame we’ve gained through quests and battles. If I gain fame then I’ll also have girls chasing after me!!<br><br>“Master…??” said Geo39chi, unable to figure out what his master wanted.<br><br>“It’s our turn to fight.” lectured Geomchi in severe tone. He turned and stared at Libby who was closely hugging onto Geo39chi’s arm. So jealous… “You just stay here and guard the mages and priests.”<br><br>“Ahh….” He must want me to stay with Libby. I never knew he was so thoughtful. “Understood, master. I’ll make sure that not a single one of those Embinyu bastards make it up here!!” shouted the man as he pounded his armor and made a resolute face.<br><br>Fight the enemies, slay a lot of them, gain fame, and get a girlfriend. He’s already ahead of me, so I can’t let him fight in this battle. “Men! Make ready for combat!!”<br><br>In no time at all Seoyoon was within range of the Embinyu soldiers.<br>“Kill her!!”<br>“So pretty…”<br><br>“You will not stop me.” Replied Seoyoon as she made ready for combat. Her sword came into contact with the first enemy that neared her. The sheer force of the blow rivaled that of a sledge hammer. The soldier was sent crashing into the back, leaving everyone else stunned. Seoyoon bit her lips back each time she stared at the crater. “Out of my way!!” She carefully aimed her sword at the gaps in the paladin’s armor and made sure to launch a few strikes during the return swing to keep them weary.<br><br><br>Countless battles alone in the plains of despair had taught her one thing. Never stop moving when in combat. The moment your body slows down or your sword drops is when the opponent will strike at you. “Hah!” Her sword drew an arc in the air and slashed across one of the soldier’s shields, and then with a twist of her wrist she sent the blade flying into the head of the person next to him. Each of her attacks sent the enemies reeling.<br><br><br>*Swish Swish* 5 arrows were fired at the warriors who were about to charge at Seoyoon.<br>“Fire ball!” 8 fire balls shot out from Romune’s staff and created a wall of fire separating them from each other.<br>“Be careful Miss Seoyoon, it’s rather dangerous to go out alone.” Said Irene in a serene voice<br>“Yeah! Don’t hog all the fun for yourself!!” shouted Maylon<br><br>*Blush* Seoyoon nodded slightly at her new companions.<br>“By the power of the holy spirit, restore her health. Healing hand! (Actually got the incantation from oddsquad when they killed the wolf) We’ll follow you as well. You see, we owe Master Weed a debt of gratitude.”<br><br>Excited and somewhat embarrassed, Seoyoon began to take out her enemies one by one.<br>“Yatz! Yatz!” yelled Seoyoon briskly. A little giggling could be heard from the back as she swung her sword.<br><br>“Master, so what’s the plan?”<br>“I have an incredible plan!”<br>“Great, what is it?”<br>“We go down and kick all of their asses!!”<br>“………………..”<br>“Listen my brothers. Why do you think it is that Harn has so many girls following him and yet we have so few?”<br>They shook their heads back and forth, unsure of what to say.<br>“It’s fame. Harn has fought in numerous battles and completed various quests. Whereas we have not.”<br>“Ahh….” They nodded as if they finally understood.<br>“So if we beat a lot of enemies in this battle we will gain fame. Fame will lead to us being more popular. And popularity means we’ll meet more girls!!!” finished Geomchi proudly.<br>“Ah! So that’s how!! Come on guys, let’s go show them what we’re made of!!” cried Geo2chi getting ready to sprint downhill.<br>“Wait!!!” yelled Geomchi, grabbing onto his arm.<br>“What is it…??”<br>“Simply beating our enemies won’t be enough.”<br>“Then what should we do??”<br>Smiling, Geomchi took out a black colored flag from his backpack. The one they used in the land of vampires.<br>“Ahhh….”<br><br>The Rosenheim knights remained on top of the hill, still in a daze, while Weed’s friends rushed toward the enemy and the crater far behind them.<br>“Captain Becker! Snap out of it!! What are your orders?!”<br>“Captain Becker!”<br>“It’s impossible…There’s no way that he could have…” said Becker half heartedly, despair evident in his eyes.<br>“Come on boys!! Let’s kick some ass! We can’t back down now!” yelled Geomchi to his students. For some reason their upper body armor and shirts were unequipped and they were waving a black flag in the air. “We are invincible in black! No matter what happens we do not back down!!”<br><br>The knights gazed in awe as the martial artists charged fearlessly at the enemy without any armor. They mistook the black flag Geo45chi was holding as a symbol of “No Surrender” since the symbol for giving up was a white flag.<br><br>“That’s right…He’s invincible. Weed can never die. His will lives on in us.” Becker said to himself, as though it were some spell. Finally breaking out of his shock, Becker stood up and readied his blade.<br>“Sir…?” asked a worried knight<br>“Knights, Assemble!!!”<br>“Sir!” All of them lined up in a single fashion line at the sudden shout. A sign of the many hours they had trained.<br>“Everyone! Ready your weapons!!”<br>“Stop! Becker, what do you think you’re doing!!” cried Elliott in a cracked voice. His armor showed several cracks and his face was covered in blood and sweat.<br>“You probably wouldn’t understand since this is your first time meeting him” turning to face the others he said “Tell me, what’s the name of our squadron?!”<br>“Serabourg defense squadron numbers 4 through 15!!” yelled everyone instinctively<br>“WRONG!”<br>Each of them stared at each other in confusion, wondering what was wrong about it.<br>“Johnson and Hosram, what is the name of our squadron!!”<br>Seeming to understand what their brother was saying, they raised their swords up together and yelled out in a loud voice “We are the original members who participated in the clean up Lair of Litvart mission 4 years ago(not sure about time)!!”<br>“And who is our commander!?!”<br>“Master Weed!!!”<br>Lowering his sword so that it pointed at the crater, Becker roared “TO THE COMMANDER!!!!!”<br>“CHARGE!!”<br>Most of the knights remaining on death mountain began to dash madly downhill on their horses to meet with the others, while the remaining ones stayed to defend the cannons and wizards.<br><br>********************************************<br>“Uncle Johnson! Uncle Johnson!” cried a pair 8 year old twins who were wearing matching clothes.<br>“Ahahha, what are you doing up so late? Couldn’t sleep?” asked an old man in a rocking chair<br>“Not uh…We want to hear the story!”<br>“Ohh…Which one might you be talking about?” smirked Johnson, setting down his book<br>“You know which one!!” the two boys pouted together and glared at the man “The one about lady warrior!! From 30 years ago!!”<br>*Sigh* “Honestly…Hosram’s going to give me a lecture about keeping you two up so late.”<br>Smiling brightly “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to put in a good word for you! Heh heh”<br>“grr…Cheeky little brats. Meh fine…I felt like reminiscing about it anyway.”<br><br>The two boys quickly got into bed and covered themselves with their sheets.<br><br>“It was right after Weed had fallen in combat. Our artillery had just run out of cannon balls and the only thing keeping our position from being run over were the shamans summoning the giant boulders. On one side the Embinyu forces had suffered a major blow from losing their trump card and half of their forces whereas we lost our commander. It may have been out of desperation, fatigue, or simple hope but either way we stormed down Death Mountain to reinforce the others and headed toward the crater.” Johnson paused slightly, and raised his head to the sky as though he were looking off into the distance. “I can still remember it like yesterday…Most of us were frightened and unsure about what was going to happen. Our armor weighed down on us and we felt as though we were marching to our doom. Each stride we took reinforced this thought.”<br><br>“And then what happened, and then what happened?!” yelled the twins, unable to contain themselves.<br><br>“We saw a goddess…” muttered the man, still entranced by his memory “Her beautiful red hair flowed through the air as she clashed with the enemies. That elegant face of hers became tinged with blood when she dove under her opponents and split their bodies in two. She was…a breath of fresh air on that hardened battle field where people died by the thousands. All those who watched became entranced by her delicate movements.”<br><br>“Waaaaah! How pretty?!”<br>“She possessed beauty which surpassed that of any goddess.”<br>“I’m telling on you to Miss Ably!!”<br>“Gah! Don’t you dare! If you do that then I guarantee that you’ll never be able to have any candy for the rest of your life. That and I’ll never tell you this story again!”<br>“Ahhh, we’re sorry!! We apologize!!” the two did an over exaggerated bow “Please continue!”<br>“Hmph…No where was I…Ah, yes! I was talking about her moves.” Settling back into his chair Johnson continued with his story “She was completely different from Master Weed. He was a man who always charged forward, breaking through anything and everything that got in his way. Whereas she…she danced upon the battlefield. Her body didn’t seem to be tied down by gravity. The volley of arrows never so much as touched her armor, and she coolly cut down her foes. For her enemies she was a goddess of destruction, whereas she was the priestess of salvation for her allies whom she fought for. Indeed…all of us felt as though she were a valkyrie, the legendary female figure from Norse Mythology, descended to Versailles. We wanted to fight alongside her. Yes…That was it…”<br><br>“And afterward?!”<br>“Now now, it’s time for bed…Can’t be letting you kids stay up too late.<br>“Awww…..”<br>“Well then, good night you noisy brats!”<br>“Blehhh!!” said the boys as they stuck out their tongues<br><br>********************************************<br>Back to present day, the Rosenheim knights had finished descending and regrouped with Weed’s friends and Seoyoon.<br><br>“Archer Squadron! Fire a volley and provide covering fire!” yelled Becker<br> Overtaken with new life, Hosram joined in the charge “Knight Squadron!! Lance units 4 through 7, with me!!!”<br>“We will follow Master Weed’s final order! Fight and live, use your own strength to protect what you care about. We’re going to survive this battle and make it back home to our families!” roared Johnson vigorously “Heavy armored regiments 3 through 5 support our flanks! Protect the lady!! TO THE COMMANDER!!!
</div> | The chisel danced across the boulder with a flurry of movements. The increase in strength from having destroyed the sculpture was still in effect, causing boulder’s sides to melt away with each motion. The image of the figure he wanted was already in Weed’s mind. What was necessary for fighting a dragon was not fanciful tactics but power; pure, absolute, and unrefined power. Nowhere was this more potent than in the creatures that ruled Las Gigolo. The Fire Giants who lived deep within the island. They alone were capable of standing their ground against boss class monsters. While shaping the boulder Harn started to feel that something the piece was lacking something essential. “Gah…This still doesn’t look right…But what am I missing?!?!?!”
Simply shaping the rock into the form of a Fire Giant wouldn’t be enough. It was essential to imbue emotion into a sculpture so that they could reach a higher level. But what emotion is best suited for a Fire Giant???
“Sir! The Embinyu Denomination has broken through the gate!!” Hosram gripped the hilt of his sword in anger then turned to his men “Everyone prepare for combat! We have to get back and help protect Rosenehim!”
“Yes Sir!!”
“Stay where you are!!” Shouted Weed with anger evident in his voice. Wait a second…that’s it! Anger!!! That’s what was missing from the carving!
“But sir…if we don’t act now then all of Rosenheim may perish!!”
Weed raised his hand as if to give an explanation but before he could even give a reply, a bellow rang across the night sky. It was the 4 Wyverns that Weed had given life to for the battle with Shire. They were originally a group of 10 but 6 of them had died in the battle with the undead legion. The Wyverns were the very first sculptures that Harn had given life to so they were of ample level now because of all their hunting.
“So heavy….”
“Wahhh I want to go back home to my nice den!!”
“Horrible master…”
“Why do we have to go through this!?”
The Wyverns flew high in the sky but they were carrying some kind of gigantic blanket with one wyvern at each corner. The cloth sunk in at the center indicating that there was something at the center.
-What are you doing? Hurry and drop the package so that the entrance will be sealed.
Waliyah(Wyvern 1? Not sure): *sniff* “Not even one word of thanks…Let’s just drop this and get it over with.”
The piece of clothe plummeted straight down onto the Southern entrance that the Embinyu were entering through and make a beautiful crashing sound. Inside of the blanket were numerous clay pots each containing 40 gallons of oil. “Fire ball!” Ten balls of fire were fired from all of the mages along the castle walls with each one aimed at a bottle of oil. The outside of the gate was turned into a sea of fire and the Embinyu forces that had entered the Citadel were now separated from their compatriots.
“Secret Weapon number 3. Funnel the enemy forces into the Citadel by giving them an opening. After which, separating them from their allies so that the interior defense forces can pick them off one by one.” Said Weed as though it were a fact
The soldiers were in disbelief. To actually purposely allow the enemy into a city you’re supposed to protect to the death was unheard of. Yet this man used it as a battle tactic to draw their enemies in!! “But still…The number that had entered Rosenheim just now should be at the least 60,000!! That’s simply too much for them to handle alone.”
“Don’t worry about that either. The defense forces are not that weak. They have Zahab, one of the strongest swordsmen in Versailles, Queen Evane whose holy powers rival that of a pope candidate, and the Sage Rodriguez who earned the title ‘Star of Wisdom’. I’ve also given them several tactics to use so that they’ll have an advantage over the enemy.” Told Weed in a calm voice as though he were lecturing a group of kids. “For now, focus on defending this mountain from our foes and taking down their outside forces. If either the undead dragons, siege towers, or ogres get in range of Serabourg then all our efforts will have been for naught. Got it?”
Still in shock because of the absurdity of the situation, the knights reflexively answered “….Understood Commander.”
Once that was done Weed walked back to the boulder and resumed fashioning the boulder into a suitable battle form. The pace he was working at increased considerably. Weed continued to hack away at the rock with a fearsome grin on his face which sent shivers down everybody’s spine. Each swing of his arm and movement of his body seemed to display joy and elation. Weed danced circles around the boulder
Rage!! Ahahahahhaha~!! Why didn’t I think of it before just now. Ah well who cares, now that I know what needs to be done then it’s a simple matter. If there’s one emotion I have plenty of, then it’s anger!!! Anger at Ray Bard for having stolen my money from me by selling the armor I received from the Freya Church, fury towards that bastard who arranged all of those useless trinkets in my own castle, and rage towards the Loan Sharks who haunted me for my entire high school life then stole my money!! Harn’s fury grew each second as he thought of the pain his family went through because of those men in their cheap black suits. The memory of that event was still clear as day to him. The image of Hyan crying in his grandmother’s arms that day in the hospital when those loan sharks cheated us was seared into his pupils. That money was going to be used to pay for grandmother’s surgery and Hyeon’s college funds, and to pay for the new home we were going to live in! It was a chance for them to live a better life!!
“RAHHHHHH!!!!” Grabbing the head of the sculpture he assaulted the skull with countless stabs. Despite the appearances, each one of the attacks was done with pinpoint accuracy and a masterful control of power. After the face was finished he then moved toward defining the muscles of this massive behemoth. Each of the muscles bulged out from the body expressing a kind “weight”. The upper body was curved forward to express a sense of power while the tendons/veins were traced over again to give a better sense of their depth.
Weed took several steps back to get a better look at the end result. The giant had one foot forward and was hunched down toward the ground while his face was turned clockwise slightly. The mouth was agape as though he were letting out a loud yell or trying to bite the neck of his opponent. His arms were spread to his sides in preparation of grabbing the enemy. His body’s muscles were thick and bulging. Just the biceps alone were 6 times the size of a normal mans thighs whereas the eyes seemed to possess some kind of spark that caused fear in all those who saw it. The statue seemed to possess a life and power of its own which couldn’t be tied down by human hands. It was a colossal 12 feet tall and 8 feet across (Actually bit larger since hunched down). Everyone who looked upon the piece felt as though it was rushing toward them, getting ready to grab and lift their bodies into the air so that he could better smash into the ground.
-Please Set the name sculpture
“The Fire Giant’s Rampage”
-The Fire Giant’s Rampage, is that correct?
“Yes.”
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-Ttring! You have created a masterpiece! Fire Giants are the rulers of Las Gigolo. Beings borne of fire who only know how to live and die in war, they are the embodiment of strength! Your name will be spread far and wide among sculptors everywhere for having accurately captured their rage and might. Intimacy with Fire Giants + 15
Artistic value: 30.
Special options: Players health and Mana regeneration will increase by 8%.
Intelligence and wisdom fall by 25.
The disappearance of appeal and attractiveness stat.
Increased power by 41.
Increased agility by 5.
-Improved skill of carving skill.
-Your fame increases by 15.
-Endurance rises by 20
-Stamina rises by 10
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Lifting the sculpture onto his shoulders, Weed turned to face the others “Your orders are simple. Fight and live. Protect that which you care about with your own hands and if you are going to be defeated than you find a way to survive. You must continue moving no matter how much blood or mud you’re covered. Pour everything into this one battle and live through it! We’re going to get through this! We are going to live on!! We’ll grow old and laugh about how crazy we were in some pub years from now!! And if any of you dare die on me then I swear I’ll drag your asses out of hell myself and give you another beating!!! GOT IT?!?!” I can’t be losing even more reputation points.
A couple of the people there left stunned but soon raised their hands into the air in response “YES SIR!!!”
While seemingly everyone was in high spirits, there was a small group in the back who were carefully considering what Weed had just said. “Uhh guys….”
“Yes? What is it Irene?”
“I don’t think he was joking about that dragging you out of hell part.”
Pale felt uneasy at Irene’s words and tried to ease the tension with a laugh, but his voice cracked because he could sense something was off after looking at her expression “Hahaha…What do you mean? Of course it was just a joke said by master Weed.”
“Have you forgotten about Queen Evane?”
“……….”
“He raised a person from the dead to life. Who’s to say whether he was or wasn’t joking about what he said just now???”
No one could say anything to counter this idea. After being with Weed for so long, the only thing that one could say about him was that he was greedy, brash, unpredictable, and could somehow make the impossible possible.
After finishing that long winded speech Weed began to sprint downhill at a breakneck pace. His heart pounding like mad and the shirt he wore which was now soaked completely through with sweat. He felt a mix of excitement and anger toward his enemy as he charged toward them.
“Sculpture Summoning! Hydra!” With a flash of light a hydra with eight heads, thick scaly skin, and 20 meters tall(60 feet I think? Just using a height that makes it big) appeared next to Weed, dwarfing everything near it. “Kill the ogres and stop the siege towers advance!! If you do then I’ll cook them up for you to eat later!!There was no noticeable change in the hydra’s facial expression(s) but he seemed to stride ecstatically toward the enemies with a “Hiiiiisssssssss”
Several of the ogres and Embinyu soldiers bodies were immediately trapped by the coils of the snakes body. The sound of their bones cracking could clearly be heard by all. The less fortunate ones had their upper bodies eaten and their bodies were left flailing like a chicken with their head cut off. Each time they focused on cutting off one snake head another one would gobble them up.
“Well that takes care of one thing.”
-Tori switch targets and focus on holding off the undead dragon on the left! Bingryung and Wyverns bring down the second dragon at the top! Eunsae, Golden bird, and Phoenix target the dragon on the bottom right and I’ll take the remaining one!! Their wings drooped considerably as they resigned themselves to their fate. Once they were in range Golden Bird, Eunsae, and Phoenix dived down headfirst into the one of the dragons and used their huge talons to dig onto the monster’s body. After which, they began pecking and ripping apart the dragon’s wings, forcing it to the ground. Tori’s bats clung to each and every part of the dragon’s body’s making it almost impossible for the beast to fly properly let alone fight. Bingryung and the wyverns used their breathe attacks to inflict damage on them from afar.
“Sculpture Transformation!”
-You have used the shape shifter skill
Weed’s body slowly grew in size until he was over 25 meters tall (Try going to your financial district, look at a building and count up to 8 floors then count 4 to 6 windows across. Then imagine those a giant fire giant staring down you have 5 seconds to give it to me before I eat you :< lol), his skin became a murky red and a black tattoo began to trace itself across his body. It could have been due to the fire aura surrounding his body or a trick of the eyes but the markings seemed to pulsate as if they were alive. Each of the giant’s arms was as thick as the trunk of a tree.
Strength will increase by 5% when near a Volcano or major source of fire.
-Body size has increased. Current armor will not fit. Un-equipping chest plate and leg plating.
- Strength and vitality increases considerably because of the shape shifter skill.
Vitality and recovery rate is increased according to the characteristics of the species.
Knowledge and wisdom stat has decreased to zero. Any Combat-related skills will most likely fail.
Knowledge, wisdom, art, religion, attractiveness, and elegance all drop significantly.
Shapeshifter is valid until the pieces are being.
Is applied to an affinity with nature, enhances the property of fire based attacks.
Weed had a different body but his mind was still the same.
"Not bad. Stat window! "
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Character Name: Weed tendencies: Monster
Size: 406 Race: Fire Giant
Vitality: 376,271 Mana: 1650
Strength: 1428 Agility: 1395
Stamina: 1684 Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 11 grit: 719
Endurance: 662 Endurance: 959
Art: 70 Charisma: 462
Leadership: 751 Good: 3
Faith: 5 attractions: 8
Maetjip: 881 grace: 6
Spirit: 152 Containers: 170
* Fire Giants are the exercise of the species characteristics.
Your body now emits a fire aura. All physical attacks will also inflict the burn status.
Skill levels are now being adjusted. You can learn up to a maximum of level 8 beginner Fire Giant Skills. (This was all taken from volume 25 when Weed turned into an Ice Troll, just modified most of the words)
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All at once the war of the giants began. The dragon let loose an intense roar which seemed to swallow the world itself.
“ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!”
-Roar of the Dragon!
Dragons are peerless.
They inflict psychological pressure on inferior creatures!
Even if thousands of animals such as foxes gathered, they would end up lying on the ground, dead.
The mental process of magicians trembled with fear of the Dragon.
-Morale of the soldiers has decreased
Weed decided to let out his own battlecry in response to this challenge. Something inside of him demanded it, needed it. After taking in a deep breath Weed let loose an earsplitting roar of his own “RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”(You have no idea how badly I wanted to switch this with “COME AT ME BRO!!” QWQ)
-You have used the skill Yell. All Allies within range are affected. There is a 200% increase in moral. All confusion among your troops is dispelled. For 5 minutes leadership will be boosted 195%.
Weed’s feet never stayed on the ground for longer than a second, his stride turned into a dash as he glides across the ground with a speed that seemed impossible for his massive size. As if accepting his dare, the undead dragon lowered his altitude and headed straight for him. Weed squatted down in an instant then leaped upwards covering a considerable distance and collided with the dragon’s body, midair sending out shock waves in every direction. The heavens themselves seemed to tremble at this impact. Unfortunately, the dragon had an advantage in terms of momentum and Weed was rapidly forced back to the ground.
by : xneoknight
“I’m not going down that easily!!” cried Weed as he clutched onto the beasts rotting body and began to tear at the wings. “Let’s see how well you fight now!!”
Unable to bear the pain of having his precious wings torn off, the beast let out a bellow of pain “Kruahhhhhhh!!!!” But Weed was brought back to the ground all the same. A putrid smell oozed out from the beast’s mouth as he stared coldly at Weed with the hollow yet frightening eyes that only an undead dragon could possess. The dragon’s mouth was lined with rows of sharp teeth and the mouth took up 2/3rd of its head. Upon closer inspection one could see that most of its flesh had become rotten and fallen off, but a majority was still held in place by magic. The claws extended out grotesquely up at Weed.
*growl* After letting out a low snarl it began to claw at Weed’s body with his limbs and made several attempts to bite at his head but Weed kept dodging by twisting his body. Unable to push the monster’s enormous body off of him, Weed could only land several hits at the beast’s body in hopes of unbalancing him and getting a chance to go on the offensive. But the beast didn’t budge an inch and each of the monster’s attacks were getting closer to his head, not to mention the fact that Weed’s stamina was quickly fading. “Get off me you fat pig!!”
Embinyu soldiers: “Die you monster!!”
“All is for Embinyu!!”
Some of the soldiers who had been trying to scale the mountain were now slashing at Weed’s face.
“Hail Embinyu!”
Weed clenched his fist in anger. He was angry at the Embinyu denomination for having put him through all this trouble, he was angry at this animal who was getting cocky, but more than anyone he was angry at himself for being unable to get out of this mess.
“Fall now!! It is impossible for you to win! The name of Embinyu will be spread through all of Versailles!! You cannot fight destiny!!”
Destiny…? DESTINY?!?! You think I care something as stupid as destiny?! Do you actually think that I’d leave the fate of my family to something as unreliable as destiny?! I’ll be the one to decide what’s impossible and what I’ll do with my life!! Weed grinded his teeth in anger and began to launch even more punches at the dragon’s flank but it still showed no sign of moving.
When suddenly *THUNK* “SKREEEE!!” The dragon’s body recoiled slightly at the last attack.
Finally a reaction! But how…??? It should’ve taken at least another 50 more hits.
Private message: -Brother!!
-Eh?!?! Hayan!? Is that you???
-Yes, it’s me. Zephyr and I managed to make it safely to the clock tower. I’ve marked the area around the dragon’s heart. So strike there. Even an attack at his ribs or stomach should be more effective now.
Hayan had been painting the fight at a lightning fast pace since the start of the clash. It took a while but now all of the preparations were ready. She buffed her brother and the others by drawing them with great detail to show their strength, while only using a rough sketch for the undead dragons so that they would be weakened. Black paint was also used to mark further and weaken the dragon’s bodies.
Hmm…So that means I can inflict more damage now? But main problem is that it’s really hard to move right now. No, even that’s not the problem!! Hayan definitely said “Zephyr and I”!!! Grr…That freaking playboy is alone in the clock tower with my sister! Bastard!!!
Weed private messaged Zephyr in a voice filled with killing intent.
-ZEPHYR. Take three steps away from Hayan. NOW.
-“Eh?! Master Weed!? Y-You misunderstand! I wasn’t doing anything suspicious! Honest!!” Fear was evident in Zephyr’s voice as he began to stammer repeatedly
-DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF.
-Ah um…Yes! Right away!!
Hmph…I’ll need to educate guy once this is all over. Now how the heck am I suppose to get this thing off of me.
"The divine light which guides this world, show this evil being that which is right and holy. St. blind!" A pure white light shot out from the priest shot out from the priest’s hands and penetrated the dragon’s eyes.
"Freya, the goddess of beauty which halts everything. This is the truth! The
strength of our faith. Slow!" The dragon’s movement speed only slowed down slightly. But the effects became more obvious after all of the priests began to fire the same spell at the undead dragon.
Chance!! Hmm…but before that…*Looks at the Eimbyu soldier next to his head*
Embinyu Soldier: “Know the power of Embinyu!!”
*CHOMP* *chew chew chew* “mm…Tastes like barbeque chicken.”
-You have eaten a human!! Stamina +3, Health points heals by 45.
“Heh heh, ready not here I come.”
Gripping his fist once more, Weed went into a frenzy and launched a series of punches as well as knees at the beast’s abdomen until finally it tipped over. Rolling away to the side, Weed watched gleefully as the monster’s health points finally decreased. The beast hunched over in pain and held his arm close to his stomach, but Harn could still see the will to fight in its eyes.
Without a word, Weed readied his stance once more and prepared to attack. He acknowledged the undead dragon as a strong opponent which was all the more reason he had to finish this battle quickly. There were other enemies so it would be best to finish this fight first before I become too worn out to take on the others.
“Hah!” Weed charged in and delivered a series of punches to the beast’s body. A majority of the blows were focused on breaking the ribs and chest while the other strikes were for locking up the opponent’s movements so that they couldn’t counterattack. The time Harn had spent practicing Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do was note in vain. For more than a year he had practiced basic punching, kicking, and various techniques to the brink of passing out. Every time he returned hhome, his body would be drenched in sweat and his bones creaked. But still he persisted with the training. Now these movements were engraved not just in his body but his memory as well. Each attack flowed into another heavy blow to the monster’s body. His steps became more compact and all of his excess movements disappeared as he felt his senses sharpen. Loud ‘Thumps’ rang out each time he came in contact with the dragon’s body.
********************************************************
At the peak of death mountain there was a single person who was carefully watching the battle between the giants. It was Mapan. Everything seemed to fade away as he focused on the sight of Weed facing off against the undead dragon, one of the strongest monsters in all of Royal Road. He paid no attention to the explosions caused by the spells and cannons but instead began to laugh as he watched the scene unfold before hm.
“Haha….it’s because of things like this that I can’t stop being a Merchant.” Muttered Mapan look of satisfaction on his face
Mapan had been through numerous adventures with Weed, possibly as much as Irene and the others. He stood beside Weed in the battle with the undead legion, met with him in Las Gigolo with the others, correlated an attack on Bar Kahn by helping to gather over 500 paladins, and also visited the land of vampires together.
He recorded every second of the fight, making sure not to miss a single detail. Their voices split the heavens as they roared at one another. The earth itself shook when they crashed down upon it and each of their strikes caused the air to tremble.
Truth be told, Mapan considered it an honor to be able to know Weed and felt thrilled each time he watched Weed’s antics. How many could say that they watched a battle between a fire giant and an undead dragon first hand, and assisted in crushing an army 4 times their own.
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-Undead dragon receives damage in the chest, ribcage has been damaged. Defenses have been weakened. Deals 334 damage, imposes fire damage.------------------------------------------------------
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-Undead dragon receives damage in the chest. Deals 470 damage, imposes fire damage.
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-Undead dragon receives damage in the heart. Temporarily stunned. Deals 600 damage, imposes fire damage.
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-Large gash has been inflicted on Undead dragon’s side. Deals 369 damage, imposes fire damage.
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-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 920 damage, imposes fire damage. +12%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)
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-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 1210 damage, imposes fire damage. +19%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)
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-You have deal a deadly blow. Deals 1540 damage, imposes fire damage. +24%(because of targeting one area, the damage increases)
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Finally unable to take it anymore, the dragon raised itself up high on his hind legs and slammed his neck down as though it were a sledge hammer. The sheer force of the blow shook the earth and caused several rock fragments to fly up. Then the dragon switched to a tackle and tried to bring Weed back to the ground “BAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
Quickly stepping to the side, Weed continued his baptism of blows to the monster’s flank before finally the dragon’s flesh tore itself apart under the pressure. Black blood and rotten intestines poured out from the wound as the nauseating smell of rancid meat, rotten cheese, and burned feces all wrapped into one began to permeate through the air.
Seeing the opening, Weed tackled the dragon and forced him onto his side. After which he began to rip at the innards and used both of his hands to rip off the ribcage revealing the still pumping heart. Feeling its life fading, the dragon made a last ditch effort and tried to claw at Weed’s face. But it was all in vain; Weed succumbed to his primal instincts and let his rage take over. He beat the dragon several times with his fists until the dragon’s skull was shattered under the impact. Then he ripped out the monster’s heart and raised it up high showing off his prize.
He then made a victory cry that could only belong to a beast from the wild “Wu….Wuooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” as his body became drenched in the black blood.
-ttring!
-You have gained Experience
-You have gained Experience
-Level up!
************************************
In a pub somewhere a group of friends were staring bewildered at the large crystal ball which displayed the news about Royal Road. Except now, instead of news it showed the battle between Rosenheim kingdom and the Embinyu Denomination. Right now however, it was displaying the fight between Weed the Fire Giant and an Undead Dragon.
Jarvan IV, still dazed from what he just saw, said “Did he just….”
Before he could finished, Garen answered him with a casual tone “Kill a dragon with his barehands? Yup.”
Jarvan IV still shocked began to ask “Am I….”
Still not bothering to look at the screen “Going crazy?”
Jarvan IV: “Yeah!!”(DEMACIA~~!! AND YES LEAGUE OF LEGENDS XD)
Garen: “Sorry to inform you, but this is reality…”
Jarvan IV: “How did you know what I was going to say though?”
Garen: “Haha, because I just heard the same thing from Master Yi, Olaf, Trynadmere, and Xin Zhao!!
Gragas: “Have a drink! You need it more than I do… You’ll somehow get used to these unbelievable sights when you spend enough time watching Weed. Now to find some brew…Oi, Singed!! You’re going to share that with me, right!?”
“Yep, Shaken…not stirred.” Told Singed as he handed over the drink to the large Gragas.”
Laughing manically in the back was Shaco: “Ahahahhaha!! Rammus why don’t you try taking him on!? Jajajaja! Hmm? Where’d Rammus go??? Guys…?”
Wukong spoke out to the jester “Rammus used Power ball to run away after Weed punched the dragon in the face and ripped out the poor dragon’s heart.”
Shaco tilted his head in confusion for a few seconds then hesitantly asked “What about the others…? The pub was filled to the brim a few seconds ago.”
Recounting the events in his head Wukong told him “Let’s see…Malphite used Unstoppable force to run through the wall so he could barf out back, seems the sight of black blood spewing out from an open wound was too much for him. Shen shadow dashed behind him to console him, but for some reason I heard even more barfing afterward?? Zilean time warped out…and Teemo moved quickly out the front door.”
“Hmm…What about Sion? You want to try fighting Weed sometime?” asked Shaco curiously
Sion furiously shook his head and went back to drinking his beer.
“Oh come on! You’re already dead!!”
Sion: “Not uh! No way am I facing that monstrosity! I already died once, and there’s no way I want to die again!”
Shaco: “Aw fine….Hey Chogath! What about you?!”
Chogath almost tripped over himself when Shaco called him out. “HELL NO!!! Did you see that guy?! I may bite people’s heads off but this guy eats them whole!! Body and all!!”
Shaco: “Aw fine….Party pooper….”
************************************
General Norman’s eyes went wide at this sight. He was watching the scene unfold from a safe location and immediately realized that the tide of battle was changing. He saw Weed as a major threat which had to be eliminated before he became too dangerous.
“I have to get rid of this man…otherwise…it’s me who’s going to die…” uttered General Norman in horror.
“Mages and artillery, concentrate fire on the Fire Giant! Necromancers, order the ogres and remaining undead dragons to take him down after the 3rd volley has weakened him!!!”
“Gah!!” cried Weed as several ogres grabbed onto him and a undead dragon bit down on one of his knees from the back.
-Tori! I told you to hold them off!! Don’t think I’m going to let you off for this!!
-That’s…They’re stronger than the other one from before!!
-What? Stronger??? How can that be, you should be able to take on even named undead dragons, so how is this one so tough?!
The answer to this question came not in a message but as a system notice.
-You have been poisoned, health declines by 250. This status will persist until healed.
-Health declines by 232
Weed’s heart sunk as he saw this message. Impossible…there’s no way that an undead dragon can possess poison traits!! There’s no such thing as a poison attribute dragon in the Royal Road Database!!!
General Norman laughed gleefully as he watched the giant’s body turn black. This was a sign that he was poisoned, and from the looks of things it seemed to be a class 5 poison.
“Gahahha, are you surprised?! This is thanks to the research our Necromancers have been doing for the past few years. We finally succeeded in creating a chimera by combining a dragon’s body with Basilisk’s blood!!”
Weed could do little as his body was pelted with spells and dark spears. His once intimidating frame was now no more than a hindrance as he was just made into a target dummy. Unable to tell left from right anymore, he ran toward where he thought the main enemy force was, but was soon held in place by the remaining ogres.
Damn it…if it’s going to be like this…
-Romune!!
-Master Weed, we’re running out of cannon ball shells! I don’t think we’ll be able to provide you much support after this!! The shaman’s mana is still high so we can keep defending the mountain. Unfortunately, the enemy’s artillery is out of our attack range…
-Forget about their artillery! Cast ‘that’ spell and get rid of these ogres and this damnable dragon!!
-But…If I cast that spell then you’ll be…
-No choice! Just do it while they’re still focused in one spot!
-Understood…
Romune carefully raised her hands up towards the skies, as though she were welcoming someone.
“Embers of domination…Flames of purgatory…Let the fires that have existed since the beginnings of time gather now and sear the world once more! Meteor Storm!!”
Part of the sky became a bright red/orange and the remaining birds in the area began flying to the South. “Skreeeeeeee!!!”
Sensing the danger, the ogres and undead dragons began to try and flee as well. They jerked back as they felt something clutching on to them from behind. Their hearts sank when they looked back to see a disfigured yet still very much alive Fire Giant.
“Heh heh, you bastards aren’t getting away from me.” Said Weed as he tightened his grip.
A flaming meteor 5 times that of the undead dragon began to fall from the heavens. The skies themselves burst into flames as it pushed its way through. If you were to look at it from right below then you would be unable to see past the clouds beyond. Such was its enormity and size. Weed smiled wryly as he stared up at the monstrosity and retightened his grip on the ogres once more.
BOOM!!!! The meteors fell down mercilessly upon their bodies until their bodies were blown apart. Dust exploded out from underground and began to spread in all directions. Everything was washed away in an instant. When the dust finally cleared, the only thing left was an enormous crater 20 times the size of a national foot ball stadium. In the center was a mass of pile of disfigured flesh which emitted black smoke and a horrid smell.
*******************************************************
The surrounding Embinyu soldiers were drawn to the destruction and gathered around the crevice. Not one of them made a sound. Instead, they just stared blankly at the utter destruction.
The Rosenheim knights were at a loss at what to do. Their invincible leader was now gone and they had no one to follow. Many of them had a dazed look on their faces, as though they were half awake and half asleep.
“No!!” screamed Seoyoon as she stared in horror as the meteor crashed down. It can’t be…Not like this…It end like this for you…Unable to hold herself back, she took hold of Rover’s reins and began to descend down the mountain toward the crater.
Rover: “Eumoo??”
“Come on Rover! Go faster!” yelled Seoyoon as she forced Rover to press on. The wind blew furiously past her and tangled her hair but she didn’t care
Rover: Mm…I don’t get what’s going on but anything is better than following my crazy master. Plus this feels really nice! So soft… “Eumooooo!!!!”
“Wait for me!!” After wiping his tears away with his forearm, Mapan readied his cart natures once more. “I’m going as well!!” There are some things more valuable than money, such as moments like these. I swore to myself that even if all hell broke loose, I would still follow Master Weed and record all of his adventures in my memories.
Already half way down the mountain, Seoyoon readied herself for the enemy. Determination was obvious in her eyes. She was set on making it to Weed’s side no matter the consequences.
“Incredible….” Said Geomchi as he looked at the crater Romune had created. I knew that spells were powerful, but I never imagined that they could create something like this! Rather than fear, he felt excitement as he looked at this new frontier. His bliss was soon interrupted as several shadows ran past him.
“Wait for me!!” shouted Maylon in distress
“Oi, Mapan! Get back here! We need a ride as well!!” yelled Pale as he chased down the cart
“Huff Huff…Making a girl run…You’re going to get a hell of a beating later Mapan!” screamed an out of breath Romune
Why does he have so many people chasing after him…I never knew that he was this popular. And they’re beautiful girls to boot!! A blood vessel on Geomchi’s head was bulging and on the verge of exploding!
“Wahhhh, Please don’t leave me behind as well!!” said Irene as she hurriedly ran after everyone while holding up the ends of her skirt
“Come on dear! We can’t miss this chance!” yelled a sweet voice from the back. Following close behind her was an intimidating Paladin closely behind.
“Coming…” said Volk in an eerie voice. Volk’s grim face and intimidating 6 foot 5 build further amplified his frightening aura.
“Grrr….” Geomchi tightened his grip on his sword in anger. He was a bachelor since childhood and had not once had a girlfriend, let alone held a girls hand. Likewise, all of the martial artists gathered there were in the same situation as Geomchi. All of them had never graduated from high school(was it college? Kinda forgetting here) and instead focused solely on mastering martial arts. Why is he so popular…‘What does he have that I don’t!!’ Thought all of them in unison.
Libby grabbed onto Geo39chi’s arm and began tugging at it repeatedly “Honey! We have to help him too!”
*BURST!* “Stay where you are!!” Geomchi shouted, unable to hold his anger. “We’ll take care of this.” That’s right…I finally know. The only difference between us is the amount of fame we’ve gained through quests and battles. If I gain fame then I’ll also have girls chasing after me!!
“Master…??” said Geo39chi, unable to figure out what his master wanted.
“It’s our turn to fight.” lectured Geomchi in severe tone. He turned and stared at Libby who was closely hugging onto Geo39chi’s arm. So jealous… “You just stay here and guard the mages and priests.”
“Ahh….” He must want me to stay with Libby. I never knew he was so thoughtful. “Understood, master. I’ll make sure that not a single one of those Embinyu bastards make it up here!!” shouted the man as he pounded his armor and made a resolute face.
Fight the enemies, slay a lot of them, gain fame, and get a girlfriend. He’s already ahead of me, so I can’t let him fight in this battle. “Men! Make ready for combat!!”
In no time at all Seoyoon was within range of the Embinyu soldiers.
“Kill her!!”
“So pretty…”
“You will not stop me.” Replied Seoyoon as she made ready for combat. Her sword came into contact with the first enemy that neared her. The sheer force of the blow rivaled that of a sledge hammer. The soldier was sent crashing into the back, leaving everyone else stunned. Seoyoon bit her lips back each time she stared at the crater. “Out of my way!!” She carefully aimed her sword at the gaps in the paladin’s armor and made sure to launch a few strikes during the return swing to keep them weary.
Countless battles alone in the plains of despair had taught her one thing. Never stop moving when in combat. The moment your body slows down or your sword drops is when the opponent will strike at you. “Hah!” Her sword drew an arc in the air and slashed across one of the soldier’s shields, and then with a twist of her wrist she sent the blade flying into the head of the person next to him. Each of her attacks sent the enemies reeling.
*Swish Swish* 5 arrows were fired at the warriors who were about to charge at Seoyoon.
“Fire ball!” 8 fire balls shot out from Romune’s staff and created a wall of fire separating them from each other.
“Be careful Miss Seoyoon, it’s rather dangerous to go out alone.” Said Irene in a serene voice
“Yeah! Don’t hog all the fun for yourself!!” shouted Maylon
*Blush* Seoyoon nodded slightly at her new companions.
“By the power of the holy spirit, restore her health. Healing hand! (Actually got the incantation from oddsquad when they killed the wolf) We’ll follow you as well. You see, we owe Master Weed a debt of gratitude.”
Excited and somewhat embarrassed, Seoyoon began to take out her enemies one by one.
“Yatz! Yatz!” yelled Seoyoon briskly. A little giggling could be heard from the back as she swung her sword.
“Master, so what’s the plan?”
“I have an incredible plan!”
“Great, what is it?”
“We go down and kick all of their asses!!”
“………………..”
“Listen my brothers. Why do you think it is that Harn has so many girls following him and yet we have so few?”
They shook their heads back and forth, unsure of what to say.
“It’s fame. Harn has fought in numerous battles and completed various quests. Whereas we have not.”
“Ahh….” They nodded as if they finally understood.
“So if we beat a lot of enemies in this battle we will gain fame. Fame will lead to us being more popular. And popularity means we’ll meet more girls!!!” finished Geomchi proudly.
“Ah! So that’s how!! Come on guys, let’s go show them what we’re made of!!” cried Geo2chi getting ready to sprint downhill.
“Wait!!!” yelled Geomchi, grabbing onto his arm.
“What is it…??”
“Simply beating our enemies won’t be enough.”
“Then what should we do??”
Smiling, Geomchi took out a black colored flag from his backpack. The one they used in the land of vampires.
“Ahhh….”
The Rosenheim knights remained on top of the hill, still in a daze, while Weed’s friends rushed toward the enemy and the crater far behind them.
“Captain Becker! Snap out of it!! What are your orders?!”
“Captain Becker!”
“It’s impossible…There’s no way that he could have…” said Becker half heartedly, despair evident in his eyes.
“Come on boys!! Let’s kick some ass! We can’t back down now!” yelled Geomchi to his students. For some reason their upper body armor and shirts were unequipped and they were waving a black flag in the air. “We are invincible in black! No matter what happens we do not back down!!”
The knights gazed in awe as the martial artists charged fearlessly at the enemy without any armor. They mistook the black flag Geo45chi was holding as a symbol of “No Surrender” since the symbol for giving up was a white flag.
“That’s right…He’s invincible. Weed can never die. His will lives on in us.” Becker said to himself, as though it were some spell. Finally breaking out of his shock, Becker stood up and readied his blade.
“Sir…?” asked a worried knight
“Knights, Assemble!!!”
“Sir!” All of them lined up in a single fashion line at the sudden shout. A sign of the many hours they had trained.
“Everyone! Ready your weapons!!”
“Stop! Becker, what do you think you’re doing!!” cried Elliott in a cracked voice. His armor showed several cracks and his face was covered in blood and sweat.
“You probably wouldn’t understand since this is your first time meeting him” turning to face the others he said “Tell me, what’s the name of our squadron?!”
“Serabourg defense squadron numbers 4 through 15!!” yelled everyone instinctively
“WRONG!”
Each of them stared at each other in confusion, wondering what was wrong about it.
“Johnson and Hosram, what is the name of our squadron!!”
Seeming to understand what their brother was saying, they raised their swords up together and yelled out in a loud voice “We are the original members who participated in the clean up Lair of Litvart mission 4 years ago(not sure about time)!!”
“And who is our commander!?!”
“Master Weed!!!”
Lowering his sword so that it pointed at the crater, Becker roared “TO THE COMMANDER!!!!!”
“CHARGE!!”
Most of the knights remaining on death mountain began to dash madly downhill on their horses to meet with the others, while the remaining ones stayed to defend the cannons and wizards.
********************************************
“Uncle Johnson! Uncle Johnson!” cried a pair 8 year old twins who were wearing matching clothes.
“Ahahha, what are you doing up so late? Couldn’t sleep?” asked an old man in a rocking chair
“Not uh…We want to hear the story!”
“Ohh…Which one might you be talking about?” smirked Johnson, setting down his book
“You know which one!!” the two boys pouted together and glared at the man “The one about lady warrior!! From 30 years ago!!”
*Sigh* “Honestly…Hosram’s going to give me a lecture about keeping you two up so late.”
Smiling brightly “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to put in a good word for you! Heh heh”
“grr…Cheeky little brats. Meh fine…I felt like reminiscing about it anyway.”
The two boys quickly got into bed and covered themselves with their sheets.
“It was right after Weed had fallen in combat. Our artillery had just run out of cannon balls and the only thing keeping our position from being run over were the shamans summoning the giant boulders. On one side the Embinyu forces had suffered a major blow from losing their trump card and half of their forces whereas we lost our commander. It may have been out of desperation, fatigue, or simple hope but either way we stormed down Death Mountain to reinforce the others and headed toward the crater.” Johnson paused slightly, and raised his head to the sky as though he were looking off into the distance. “I can still remember it like yesterday…Most of us were frightened and unsure about what was going to happen. Our armor weighed down on us and we felt as though we were marching to our doom. Each stride we took reinforced this thought.”
“And then what happened, and then what happened?!” yelled the twins, unable to contain themselves.
“We saw a goddess…” muttered the man, still entranced by his memory “Her beautiful red hair flowed through the air as she clashed with the enemies. That elegant face of hers became tinged with blood when she dove under her opponents and split their bodies in two. She was…a breath of fresh air on that hardened battle field where people died by the thousands. All those who watched became entranced by her delicate movements.”
“Waaaaah! How pretty?!”
“She possessed beauty which surpassed that of any goddess.”
“I’m telling on you to Miss Ably!!”
“Gah! Don’t you dare! If you do that then I guarantee that you’ll never be able to have any candy for the rest of your life. That and I’ll never tell you this story again!”
“Ahhh, we’re sorry!! We apologize!!” the two did an over exaggerated bow “Please continue!”
“Hmph…No where was I…Ah, yes! I was talking about her moves.” Settling back into his chair Johnson continued with his story “She was completely different from Master Weed. He was a man who always charged forward, breaking through anything and everything that got in his way. Whereas she…she danced upon the battlefield. Her body didn’t seem to be tied down by gravity. The volley of arrows never so much as touched her armor, and she coolly cut down her foes. For her enemies she was a goddess of destruction, whereas she was the priestess of salvation for her allies whom she fought for. Indeed…all of us felt as though she were a valkyrie, the legendary female figure from Norse Mythology, descended to Versailles. We wanted to fight alongside her. Yes…That was it…”
“And afterward?!”
“Now now, it’s time for bed…Can’t be letting you kids stay up too late.
“Awww…..”
“Well then, good night you noisy brats!”
“Blehhh!!” said the boys as they stuck out their tongues
********************************************
Back to present day, the Rosenheim knights had finished descending and regrouped with Weed’s friends and Seoyoon.
“Archer Squadron! Fire a volley and provide covering fire!” yelled Becker
Overtaken with new life, Hosram joined in the charge “Knight Squadron!! Lance units 4 through 7, with me!!!”
“We will follow Master Weed’s final order! Fight and live, use your own strength to protect what you care about. We’re going to survive this battle and make it back home to our families!” roared Johnson vigorously “Heavy armored regiments 3 through 5 support our flanks! Protect the lady!! TO THE COMMANDER!!! |
{
"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 1",
"id": 53,
"next": 54,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
It was about 10am in game time and a well adorned man in a pure white armor was walking through a large hall way in Mora's newly constructed Royal Palace. He had been staring incessantly at all of the decorations on the walls for the last hour.<br>"The chandeleir alone is 1450 gold, the porcelain pot is 500 gold, rose like painting frame is of pure gold so 730 gold, painting is of a view of the beach from a hill by some<br>famous artist I've never heard of and has been reported to be some 1120 gold. AND YET MY SISTER AND I COULD HAVE MADE ALL OF THIS BY OURSELVES FOR LESS THEN HALF THAT!!!! Argh!!! When I find the little bastard who bought all of this I'll wring him for all he's worth and then put him to work for the rest of his-"<br><br>"Um....Your majesty?? There's something I'd like to discuss with-"<br><br><br><br>"WHAT IS IT?!??! Can't you see that I'm deep in thought?!?! screamed Weed as he turned around to see who was interupting him as he was contemplating the various Chinese torture methods he had read about before(He read a book about it in front of Zephyr when he came over to his house to see his sister. Needless to say it scared the crap out of him and reinforced the idea of not crossing this man or making his sister cry)<br><br>His eyes met an old stuttering man in his late 80s who was cowering and on the verge of tears "W-w-Well you see....it's about the Mora's current state."<br>"Eh?? Town elder?? Ah.....I'm so sorry...I was thinking about the recent battle I had with the Demon in Rodrick's Labrynth" said Weed as he bowed in apology several times. Harn loved his grandmother dearly because of all the long years she had spent looking after him and his sister. He reflected this deep respect and love toward anyone elderly he came across.<br><br>"Ah yes the battle with the fierce demon and the conquering of the said to be impossible labrinth! Do you know it's the talk of the city right now? Numerous knights, priests, paladins, and players have come to Mora after hearing of your great conquest!"<br><br>Hmm....that's good, increase in numbers means a more consumers and an increase in revenue due to the tax system<br>"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Harn felt that the old man was prepared to ramble about this accomplishment for several hours if not stopped. As much as Harn cared for the elderly, right now he was Weed. Lord of Mora and a man had to figure out a way to restabalize the economy after the large expenditure on the royal palace.<br>"The smith is running low on supplies, there's been an increase of fish coming in from some of the villages which is good, but the wheat and other food supplies have been a bit slower this year. I fear that we may have to import from other cities and increase the tax rate."<br><br>Argh.....more thing's to think about. I can't decrease funding to the blacksmiths because of their armor and weapons will be vital for the eventual battle with Hermes and Embinyu denomination but I can't increase the tax rate just yet since it's only been a few months since the last one...<br>"Transfer 4 squads to the fishing town and 5 squads to Bar Kahn's castle and hire some orcs there to work with them.The mountains near Bar Kahn's castle have numerous monsters so we can kill those for meat and transfer them to the areas we need.<br>Along with getting in some basic training they'll also be able to increase their strength by mining in the nearby areas for minerals. Also Increase the funding for the Navy and begin building ships at the nearby fishing town so that we can later increase the amount of fish caught.<br><br>"Understood. But there's also this other matter we need to talk about."<br>"Hm?"<br>"The current king of Rosenheim kingdom has invited you to a ball room dancing event held at their castle. It's supposed to be a celebration of the recapture of Rosenheim kingdom and they want you to be the guest of honor for the event."<br>"Tell them that I can't go then. I have to go to Bar Kahn's castle in order to get everything in order for the knight squadron and give them a little more training before they hunt on their own."<br>"Hm....very well then, I'll send them a message that you are unable to go. So sad, I had heard that there was an increase in jewelry in Rosenheim kingdom to. How beautiful it would have been to see all those noble ladies dancing with their necklaces shining on their pale white skin."<br>"Jewelry?"<br>"Yes. There have been a string of newly found diamond, saphire, and gold mines found near their kingdom."<br>"...."<br>At this time Harn's mind began calculating the amount of average income generated from each of said mines and how much gold could be gained after crafting them into bracelets and necklaces to be sold in the Mora market or in other kingdoms through Mapan's numerous merchant shops.<br><br>"Change of plans. Tell the king that I'll be more than happy to go to the event."<br>money money money~! There's money to be made!! Not to mention the amount of experience I'll get after clearing the surrounding area of monsters and claiming the mine as my own!!<br><br>"Understood your majesty. The dance will take place in two days. I recommend going to one of the clothes shops near Wyvern plaza, it's been said that there's an advanced level Taylor who's in the middle of his master quest. Also, it would be wise to go accompanied. But....ah....that's probably needless. You must have thousands of women fawning over you! hahaha, to be youn again..."<br>Bah who needs to hire a tailor, it's much cheaper to make the clothes yourself. Though, I'd better go to the mall after shopping for groceries so I can steal-err...learn from their great designs. kukuku.<br>But who on earth am I suppose to bring to accompany me to the ball? thought Weed as he parted ways with the town elder and continued walking down the hallway.<br><br>At this time the answer came to Harn not as a flash of inspiration but a massive tackle by Mayrun,Pale,Mapan,Irene,Romune,Surka,Hwaryung,Zephyr and his own sister whose game name was Violations."Take us with you!"<br>"I'll help you make a profit from all of the items and jewelry you get/make from the mines!!"<br>"I'll teach your soldiers the art of fishing by any means necessary if you bring us along!"<br>"There's this gorgeous dress I've been wanting to wear in public with!"<br>Last but not least was his sister who was making puppy eyes at him while squeezing the life out of him with a bear hug.<br><br>"Alright, Alright. I'll take everyone along to Rosenheim kingdom...but all of you had better earn your keep! We'll move out first thing tomorrow morning."<br>All of the girls had begun to hold hands and spin around as though they were possessed and chanted "Yipee! We're going to a ball!!"<br>"Um....but,how am I suppose to bring my wagon along??" Said Mapan after several seconds. A wagon was essential for any Merchant when going to a far off location and he was unwilling to part with it after all of the tough journeys he had went through with it.<br>"Well...it's a very heavy object and Violations picture shifting can't transfer it so...I guess you'll just have to be sent via air transport."<br>"Air transport?? Did Royal Road have that?" asked Mapan questionably<br>"hm? Of course! Have you already forgotten about Tori's bats? He can easily transport you and all of your cargo to Rosenheim kingdom in a matter of hours. Of course he's going to have to drink some of your blood midway through the trip since it's a large distance"<br><br>At this time Mapan started to look at the ground and rub his neck with his right hand. During the battle Mapan was used as a battery for Tori so that he could regain his mana and continue fighting. Needless to say, the memory of having your neck drilled into by two large fangs while suspended some 20 miles above ground was horrifying<br>and he had since tried to block it from his memory.<br>"Okay.....guess there's that way. Ah!! How about if Bingryong or some of the Wyvern's carried me there instead? All of them are more than large enough" said Mapan as he raised his head at the thought<br>Unfortunately Weed had long since turned his back and continued down the hallway, crushing Mapan's only hope and leaving him to his fate.<br><br>Just as he was about to turn the corner he felt a tug at his sleeve and almost fell backward.<br>"Ugh...now what is it?" asked Weed as he slowly turned around. To his surprise he found a beautiful woman with deep red hair and pale skin staring up at him while holding onto his sleeve with both hands.Seoyoon!<br>He was struck speechless as this one of a kind beauty tightened her grip on his arm and stared upwards into his eyes while pouting.<br>Weed could only lean backward in surprise and utter "gu..." while clutching his heart. Her expression clearly said "Me to...I want to go to."<br>"Alright you can come to..." muttered Harn as he turned his head to the right to avoid her gaze. With that she let go of his hand and walked down the stairs with a slight smile on her face after she turned away from Weed.<br><br>Several seconds later Weed was banging his head against a wall in a far off part of the castle.<br>"Gah! Why did I do that~~~!She must be tricking me again, just like she did that one time when we fought the undead dragon! Her goal must be to get her hands on the mine. Hmph! Like I'll let you steal from me what is mine!<br>That's right, I won't be tricked!!" cried Weed as he shook a fist at the skies<br><br>Meanwhile Seoyoon was still smiling as she shopped around Binryung Plaza in search of a suitable dress and items to bring on the quest.<br>"It's been so long since we went on a journey together..." While in the mist of happiness Seoyoon had forgotten to put on her cloak as per usual so as not to draw attention to herself.<br>Several men around the plaza were awestruck at her beauty and stopped in their tracks immediately upon seeing her. Some of them had fallen to the ground after being pushed aside by strangers but they didn't care, they just continued to stare<br>at her as she walked by.<br><br>"kuuk! What beauty...."<br>"Where did she come from?"<br>"I must have her....anyone who gets in the way shall die!"<br>"I must propose to her!"<br>All of the men began to fight each other in order to get closer to her and eventually a dog fight broke out.<br>The only thing that could be heard as the sound of slaps ringing out and screaming from the plaza and things settled down a bit.<br><br>"You cheat!"<br>"What?! You said you were going to marry me! You were even on your knees a few seconds ago!!"<br>"What does she have that I don't?!?!"<br><br>"Um....beauty for one thing?" said some of the men<br>*smack smack smack* *kick* "FIREBALL!"<br><br>"Bah...men..."<br>"Besides, look at her hand. She has a ring on which means she's already married."<br><br>At this time not just the men on the ground because of their girlfriends/wives but all of the men in the plaza turned their heads in unison to look at Seoyoon's hand.<br>As for Seoyoon....she was completely oblivious to all of this and was just carrying a bag of groceries while humming.<br><br>"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" said a man as a stream of tears ran down his eyes.<br>"why god....why....! I've been an honorable man...."<br>"We must kill this bastard who dares to take away our goddess!" screamed a warrior as he raised up his broadsword.<br>"YEAH!!!" yelled all of the men present<br><br>Weed: "Achoo! Bah....bad luck as always."<br>"Sir, there's a small mob at Binryung Plaza. they seem to be screaming random things among which was 'Kill he who took away our goddess'. What are your orders?" asked a royal knight in an armor made of pure steel.<br>"Reoncile with them by trying to find the source of the problem and negotiating. Then force them to disperse. If all else fails, have Rover tackle every one of them. He's been getting a little fat lately."<br>"Sir, yes sir! Come on guys!" and a group of 60 knights began marching toward the plaza.
</div> | It was about 10am in game time and a well adorned man in a pure white armor was walking through a large hall way in Mora's newly constructed Royal Palace. He had been staring incessantly at all of the decorations on the walls for the last hour.
"The chandeleir alone is 1450 gold, the porcelain pot is 500 gold, rose like painting frame is of pure gold so 730 gold, painting is of a view of the beach from a hill by some
famous artist I've never heard of and has been reported to be some 1120 gold. AND YET MY SISTER AND I COULD HAVE MADE ALL OF THIS BY OURSELVES FOR LESS THEN HALF THAT!!!! Argh!!! When I find the little bastard who bought all of this I'll wring him for all he's worth and then put him to work for the rest of his-"
"Um....Your majesty?? There's something I'd like to discuss with-"
"WHAT IS IT?!??! Can't you see that I'm deep in thought?!?! screamed Weed as he turned around to see who was interupting him as he was contemplating the various Chinese torture methods he had read about before(He read a book about it in front of Zephyr when he came over to his house to see his sister. Needless to say it scared the crap out of him and reinforced the idea of not crossing this man or making his sister cry)
His eyes met an old stuttering man in his late 80s who was cowering and on the verge of tears "W-w-Well you see....it's about the Mora's current state."
"Eh?? Town elder?? Ah.....I'm so sorry...I was thinking about the recent battle I had with the Demon in Rodrick's Labrynth" said Weed as he bowed in apology several times. Harn loved his grandmother dearly because of all the long years she had spent looking after him and his sister. He reflected this deep respect and love toward anyone elderly he came across.
"Ah yes the battle with the fierce demon and the conquering of the said to be impossible labrinth! Do you know it's the talk of the city right now? Numerous knights, priests, paladins, and players have come to Mora after hearing of your great conquest!"
Hmm....that's good, increase in numbers means a more consumers and an increase in revenue due to the tax system
"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Harn felt that the old man was prepared to ramble about this accomplishment for several hours if not stopped. As much as Harn cared for the elderly, right now he was Weed. Lord of Mora and a man had to figure out a way to restabalize the economy after the large expenditure on the royal palace.
"The smith is running low on supplies, there's been an increase of fish coming in from some of the villages which is good, but the wheat and other food supplies have been a bit slower this year. I fear that we may have to import from other cities and increase the tax rate."
Argh.....more thing's to think about. I can't decrease funding to the blacksmiths because of their armor and weapons will be vital for the eventual battle with Hermes and Embinyu denomination but I can't increase the tax rate just yet since it's only been a few months since the last one...
"Transfer 4 squads to the fishing town and 5 squads to Bar Kahn's castle and hire some orcs there to work with them.The mountains near Bar Kahn's castle have numerous monsters so we can kill those for meat and transfer them to the areas we need.
Along with getting in some basic training they'll also be able to increase their strength by mining in the nearby areas for minerals. Also Increase the funding for the Navy and begin building ships at the nearby fishing town so that we can later increase the amount of fish caught.
"Understood. But there's also this other matter we need to talk about."
"Hm?"
"The current king of Rosenheim kingdom has invited you to a ball room dancing event held at their castle. It's supposed to be a celebration of the recapture of Rosenheim kingdom and they want you to be the guest of honor for the event."
"Tell them that I can't go then. I have to go to Bar Kahn's castle in order to get everything in order for the knight squadron and give them a little more training before they hunt on their own."
"Hm....very well then, I'll send them a message that you are unable to go. So sad, I had heard that there was an increase in jewelry in Rosenheim kingdom to. How beautiful it would have been to see all those noble ladies dancing with their necklaces shining on their pale white skin."
"Jewelry?"
"Yes. There have been a string of newly found diamond, saphire, and gold mines found near their kingdom."
"...."
At this time Harn's mind began calculating the amount of average income generated from each of said mines and how much gold could be gained after crafting them into bracelets and necklaces to be sold in the Mora market or in other kingdoms through Mapan's numerous merchant shops.
"Change of plans. Tell the king that I'll be more than happy to go to the event."
money money money~! There's money to be made!! Not to mention the amount of experience I'll get after clearing the surrounding area of monsters and claiming the mine as my own!!
"Understood your majesty. The dance will take place in two days. I recommend going to one of the clothes shops near Wyvern plaza, it's been said that there's an advanced level Taylor who's in the middle of his master quest. Also, it would be wise to go accompanied. But....ah....that's probably needless. You must have thousands of women fawning over you! hahaha, to be youn again..."
Bah who needs to hire a tailor, it's much cheaper to make the clothes yourself. Though, I'd better go to the mall after shopping for groceries so I can steal-err...learn from their great designs. kukuku.
But who on earth am I suppose to bring to accompany me to the ball? thought Weed as he parted ways with the town elder and continued walking down the hallway.
At this time the answer came to Harn not as a flash of inspiration but a massive tackle by Mayrun,Pale,Mapan,Irene,Romune,Surka,Hwaryung,Zephyr and his own sister whose game name was Violations."Take us with you!"
"I'll help you make a profit from all of the items and jewelry you get/make from the mines!!"
"I'll teach your soldiers the art of fishing by any means necessary if you bring us along!"
"There's this gorgeous dress I've been wanting to wear in public with!"
Last but not least was his sister who was making puppy eyes at him while squeezing the life out of him with a bear hug.
"Alright, Alright. I'll take everyone along to Rosenheim kingdom...but all of you had better earn your keep! We'll move out first thing tomorrow morning."
All of the girls had begun to hold hands and spin around as though they were possessed and chanted "Yipee! We're going to a ball!!"
"Um....but,how am I suppose to bring my wagon along??" Said Mapan after several seconds. A wagon was essential for any Merchant when going to a far off location and he was unwilling to part with it after all of the tough journeys he had went through with it.
"Well...it's a very heavy object and Violations picture shifting can't transfer it so...I guess you'll just have to be sent via air transport."
"Air transport?? Did Royal Road have that?" asked Mapan questionably
"hm? Of course! Have you already forgotten about Tori's bats? He can easily transport you and all of your cargo to Rosenheim kingdom in a matter of hours. Of course he's going to have to drink some of your blood midway through the trip since it's a large distance"
At this time Mapan started to look at the ground and rub his neck with his right hand. During the battle Mapan was used as a battery for Tori so that he could regain his mana and continue fighting. Needless to say, the memory of having your neck drilled into by two large fangs while suspended some 20 miles above ground was horrifying
and he had since tried to block it from his memory.
"Okay.....guess there's that way. Ah!! How about if Bingryong or some of the Wyvern's carried me there instead? All of them are more than large enough" said Mapan as he raised his head at the thought
Unfortunately Weed had long since turned his back and continued down the hallway, crushing Mapan's only hope and leaving him to his fate.
Just as he was about to turn the corner he felt a tug at his sleeve and almost fell backward.
"Ugh...now what is it?" asked Weed as he slowly turned around. To his surprise he found a beautiful woman with deep red hair and pale skin staring up at him while holding onto his sleeve with both hands.Seoyoon!
He was struck speechless as this one of a kind beauty tightened her grip on his arm and stared upwards into his eyes while pouting.
Weed could only lean backward in surprise and utter "gu..." while clutching his heart. Her expression clearly said "Me to...I want to go to."
"Alright you can come to..." muttered Harn as he turned his head to the right to avoid her gaze. With that she let go of his hand and walked down the stairs with a slight smile on her face after she turned away from Weed.
Several seconds later Weed was banging his head against a wall in a far off part of the castle.
"Gah! Why did I do that~~~!She must be tricking me again, just like she did that one time when we fought the undead dragon! Her goal must be to get her hands on the mine. Hmph! Like I'll let you steal from me what is mine!
That's right, I won't be tricked!!" cried Weed as he shook a fist at the skies
Meanwhile Seoyoon was still smiling as she shopped around Binryung Plaza in search of a suitable dress and items to bring on the quest.
"It's been so long since we went on a journey together..." While in the mist of happiness Seoyoon had forgotten to put on her cloak as per usual so as not to draw attention to herself.
Several men around the plaza were awestruck at her beauty and stopped in their tracks immediately upon seeing her. Some of them had fallen to the ground after being pushed aside by strangers but they didn't care, they just continued to stare
at her as she walked by.
"kuuk! What beauty...."
"Where did she come from?"
"I must have her....anyone who gets in the way shall die!"
"I must propose to her!"
All of the men began to fight each other in order to get closer to her and eventually a dog fight broke out.
The only thing that could be heard as the sound of slaps ringing out and screaming from the plaza and things settled down a bit.
"You cheat!"
"What?! You said you were going to marry me! You were even on your knees a few seconds ago!!"
"What does she have that I don't?!?!"
"Um....beauty for one thing?" said some of the men
*smack smack smack* *kick* "FIREBALL!"
"Bah...men..."
"Besides, look at her hand. She has a ring on which means she's already married."
At this time not just the men on the ground because of their girlfriends/wives but all of the men in the plaza turned their heads in unison to look at Seoyoon's hand.
As for Seoyoon....she was completely oblivious to all of this and was just carrying a bag of groceries while humming.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" said a man as a stream of tears ran down his eyes.
"why god....why....! I've been an honorable man...."
"We must kill this bastard who dares to take away our goddess!" screamed a warrior as he raised up his broadsword.
"YEAH!!!" yelled all of the men present
Weed: "Achoo! Bah....bad luck as always."
"Sir, there's a small mob at Binryung Plaza. they seem to be screaming random things among which was 'Kill he who took away our goddess'. What are your orders?" asked a royal knight in an armor made of pure steel.
"Reoncile with them by trying to find the source of the problem and negotiating. Then force them to disperse. If all else fails, have Rover tackle every one of them. He's been getting a little fat lately."
"Sir, yes sir! Come on guys!" and a group of 60 knights began marching toward the plaza. |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 4: Chapter 8 - Arachnid (Part 2) by V4lkyr13",
"id": 395,
"next": 396,
"prev": 384,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“…So you knew?” Weed asked calmly with his back against the boulder. The scorpion scuttled in Weed’s direction. The remaining survivors of the mining crew all hiding in crevices or behind boulders out of the scorpions view and reach. The monster simply, ran around in circles looking for them.<br><br>“…”<br><br>“You knew about the scorpion? Didn’t you Tasha?” Weed asked again, only louder this time.<br><br>“....”<br><br>“Answer him! Is he telling the truth?” Tinaquarrier asked, impatiently. He just lost four friends in rapid succession.<br>“You must know that Nigel asked <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span> to keep this an absolute secret. This was necessary for the sake of our own safety.” Tasha shouted back.<br><br><br>The scorpion moved in Tasha’s direction.<br><br>“Sarkaan, did you know about it as well?” Tinaquarrier asked angrily.<br><br>“…”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;"> ‘Since when did games have such realistic NPC’s? Lying to each other? Is this some cinematic moment?</span> The flow of the game didn’t seem to suggest this was scripted or was it crafted so well that it appeared so fluid and realistic? The range of emotions the NPC’s displayed, to a background story running in tandem which players were unaware of added to Elementarem Vim’s appeal. <span style="font-style: italic;">‘Might as well join in on the fun.’ </span><br><br>“Of course, Sarkaan knew!” Weed shouted back gleefully, he did not like Sarkaan for his meticulous approach to begin with. It was a good opportunity to burn Sarkaan and build bridges in one go. “How else, did he know what type of scorpion it was?”<br><br>Weed could hear scraping sound from behind him. The scorpion could not reach them at the moment. But it sure as hell was waiting for them. Talking was technically a hazard, although Sarkaan indicated that it the creature has no ears it could still pick up on vibrations no matter how tiny. It had trouble pinpointing it if it wasn’t a continuous flow but gained a rough idea where it’s target were. Weed wondered how did the scorpion distinguish between food and inanimate objects; <span style="font-style: italic;">pretty much like a bat using echo to hunt</span>. To avoid giving away their location they spoke with long gaps of silence in between.<br><br>“Quiet! Its getting closer!” Masin shouted as he smelt it get very close to Weed. Indeed. The scraping sound was much closer now. It moved around them. By speaking up, the scorpion turned around and headed towards Masin.<br><br>“Phewww.” Weed breath a sigh of relief.<br><br>After a few hours, Weed noticed that it was still in the center of the cavern. <span style="font-style: italic;">‘Its circling us!’</span> Everyone had the same realization as Weed, even though nobody moved a single voluntary muscle, their heart beats was a giveaway. The scorpion continued to make circuits around their location for a while. <br><br>As the stuffiness increased, Weed could feel a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Waiting and doing absolutely in a game was the most boring part...however Weed did not at anytime feel bored. He had to remain alert and stay as still as he could. Though it wasn’t a perfect solution, up against a level E/500 monster he didn’t have many options. If you had to compare the scorpion to a monster in Royal Road, it would be on par with three Van Hawks. Its massive size, impossible to crack armor and four pincers only certified the perceived threat level as “instant death”. If Weed had played mortal combat, then the scorpions first and last attacking move would be ‘Fatality’ accompanied with a ‘Flawless Victory’ message. To sum it, wait it out or commit suicide by fighting the monster were the two options Weed faced.<br><br>After waiting hours, it eventually lost interest and went away. <br><br>‘Is it even possible to get a cramp in game?’ Weed asked to himself. He was flexing his body as quietly as possible when his foot knocked a small rock off the edge of the ledge. For Weed, the world around him slowed down. He instantly dropped to catch the stone...but it was too late. It gave off an echo with each bounce against the lower ledges till it came to silent halt on the mine’s floor where it rest in peace. The four dwarves who had come out of their hiding places stood motionless as they stared at the stone at the bottom. Hearing no clicking sounds of the pincers, they then shifted their gaze to Weed and glared at him menacingly. Weed himself flashed a guilty look in return, the last thing he wanted to do right now was risk calling the monster back. <br><br>Everyone looked at Masin with a questioning look on their face.<br><br>“SNIIIIFFFFF” <br><br>“SNIIIFFFFFF”<br><br>Masin gave a nod after taking a few deep sniffs. Everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The trauma finally ceased. Seeing the clear signal, Tinaquarrier rushed towards Sarkaan and lifted him by the collars and pushed him against the wall. <br><br>“Spill everything.” He said in steely tone. Weed’s mind registered the look. It was similar to the look his mother sport whenever she caught him doing something wrong. She will keep staring at you until you spill it. However, his mother’s eyes revealed a sense of warmth and care. Tinaquarrier eyes burned with the glare of hatred, he seemed to be on the tipping point ready to kill Sarkaan at any moment. Weed was overly joyed to see Sarkaan being lifted by the corners; Weed’s dislike for Sarkaan was made apparent with this. Weed also noted Tinaquarriers habit of lifting people by the collar, having experienced it himself; he knew Sarkaan felt very much threatened. Though dwarves maybe small, they are quite strong, just like ants. Tinaquarrier only proved that every time he lifted someone bigger or heavier than him.<br><br>Weed quickly turned towards Tasha. He showed no sense of surprise at Tinaquarriers actions. He also didn’t seem to be indicating he would break it off. He kept his peace and showed no remorse. Sarkaan on the other hand, began sweating and fidgeting. The silence stretched. Only the odd sounds of the wind howling through the mines could be heard.<br><br>“It’s the shell.” Said Sarkaan that broke first.<br><br>Tinaquarrier pressed Sarkaan against the wall, as if he was pressing him for more details.<br><br>“The diamond is the scorpion’s armored black shell!”<br><br>“Quiet, Sarkaan!” Hissed Tasha as he broke his silence. “Nigel..”<br><br>“No! It is enough that three of our brethren died. I shall have no more blood on my hands!” <br><br>Sarkaan that finally broke his silence shot back. Tinquarrier let go of Sarkaan who fell to the ground and started coughing. Tinaquarrier’s grip had him choked. Tasha wanted to say more but Tinaquarrier stepped forward. Both of dwarves were staring eye to eye. Their close friendship seemed to be drawing to a quick end. Tinaquarrier gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as Tasha reached in for his daggar. Weed who was on the sideline would swear that weapons were about to be pulled out and more than unncessary blood would be spilt. He simply decided to step between them. The two dwarves would have drawn their weapons out had it not be for Weed; killing each other off seemed the most amicable solution. <br><br>“Stop this. Both of you. We can do this later.” Weed pushed both Tinaquarrier and Tasha apart or at least tried he tried too. His low stat made it feel like he was prying between two walls. From Sarkaan’s or Masin’s or any third person view point it would look like Weed was feeling up the two dwarves chest. It would qualify as a WTF moment.<br><br>Tinaquarrier shot Tasha last hard look. It was a look that promised that matters were yet to be settled. Usually, matters between dwarves were settled involving hammers and cracked skulls. Tasha shot Sarkaan the same look as well who looked even guiltier.<br><br>“Okay. This changes nothing. We are contracted to get black diamonds. It matters not if we picked it up off the ground of some monster’s shell. Can we all agree on that?” Weed gave all dwarves leveled gaze. Sometime back, in a zombie survival movie clip, he saw a similar sort of scene. Just like the movie, where everyone was bashing each other up for hiding secrets and so on. However when the main hero intervenes and spews brilliant cliché lines that they must survive no matter what, the group stops fighting amongst themselves. Weed was hoping to pull off the hero’s role here less the flying twenty feet in the air and doing ridiculous chinese kung fu moves that could split a boulder in two.<br>“Sarkaan, tell me more about the Black crawler.” Tinaquarrier said as he let go off his sword.Tasha resigned himself to a corner of the cavern, he refused be part of the reveal secrets while on a guilt trip movement. The story came out slowly from Sarkaan’s mouth.<br><br>“Know the old man, Kendelbreu? Remember, how he used to be the richest of the richest? A wealth knowing no bounds?” Sarkaan asked solemnly. <br><br>“Aye, what of it?”<br><br>“Kendelbreu’s wealth lay in the mines he dug. Kendelbreu had inherited mining rights for a single mine. That was the source of all his wealth. It was also the largest and most precious mine in Northern Mountain City. Rarest of the rarest ores and stones came from his mines like water flowing into our city. <br><br>He had many mining crews to unearth rare ores. It was unknown whether the scorpion first arrived here. Maybe it arrived here before the mining began and was in deep slumber,only to be woken up by all the mining. The point is the scorpion is here. It began with one team that never resurfaced. Back in the day, when I was new to mining, it caused a sensation amongst the miners. No trace left of an entire team. Where did they go? No one knew. Kendelbreu hushed the matter with the money he had. Then a few more teams went missing. They just didn’t return. We would leave together and return together. Everyone knew everyone’s face. Seeing people not return was disturbing. Very rarely do we have cave-ins or explosions. Did we hear anything? Did we see anything? Nothing. Its like they vanished.<br><br>Nobody thought much of it. Sometimes Kendelbreu told us dwarve quit and sometimes he told us cave in. We knew better but Kendelbreu was rich, who would say anything. Even the royal house turned blind eye when Kendelbreu happily paid the death benefits. The few who remained, started taking precautions. Money is only good if you have a life to spend it on. Eventually, there were survivors that claimed they were attacked by a monster like never seen before. Black and large; the scorpion. Initially, Kendelbreu rubbished the claims of the survivors, said they were delirious. <br><br>However, one day, Kendelbreu’s own team stumbled upon the monster’s lair. It was filled with dwarven bones and babies of the gigantic monster. Kendelbreu had stumbled onto it’s nesting lair. Now most dwarves, would run away in fear seeing something like that. But Kendelbreu had different eyes. When he flashed his torch in the nest, the baby scorpions shined back like millions of black jewels. The diamond dust Kendelbreu gave, came from the baby scorpions that the workers killed in their effort to escape. Since then Kendelbreu had been searching for people to mine his black diamond.<br><br>Then, one day, it all stopped. Kendelbreu’s wealth was no more, where did he lose it? No one knows. They say he was transporting it when bandits struck. However, only few knew what really happened for Kendelbreu had his pride and never revealed where his wealth disappeared. But those who miners who lived to tell the tale, knew better. He paid miners astronomical rates to keep mining in these dangerous conditions. He hired legions of soldiers to kill the scorpion. Finally, he is now reduced only to a shadow of what he used to be. He has gambled everything on these mines.”<br><br>Sarkaan finished with the long and sad tale of tragic greed.<br><br>‘Something feels off.’ Weed thought. He could not put his finger on it. But he felt something important was missing from the story. He did not get much time to think about it as Tinaquarrier broke his thought process.<br><br>“Then what? We find the monster’s lair and kill some baby scorpion for black diamond?” Tinaquarrier asked as he seemed more than willing to kill something.<br><br>Weed glanced at Tinaquarrier. It was as if he had forgotten the deaths of his two comrades and moved on; just focusing on his job.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Probably its dwarven culture. Mining is a dangerous job. Makes them too fatalistic?’</span><br><br>“Are you mad, you want to go to that monster’s lair?” Masin’s voice rose an octave and volume. “Did you not see what it did to Narre? Snapped her body in two. How many dwarven swords do you know that can slice a dwarf in half? Eh?”<br><br>“Masin, it’s either the scorpion or Nigel. We don’t need to kill the giant just a few babies. How much could one be worth? Even the rarest stone is 1000 gold a gram. This must be worth more? Think about it! A single baby scorpion. Enough to feed your family for days at an end.” Tinaquarrier’s voice rose too in challenge. “And do you want Narre’s, Dol’arcs or Yaluk’s death to be in vain? Had they known it was no ordinary scorpion, maybe they would have acted wiser.” <br><br>Weed doubted that last line. The scorpion by all standards was extraordinary. If the three dead dwarves didn’t realize that then, then god help their VR souls. <br><br>Masin seemed to agonize over the choice. The short spelunking had so far resulted in three deaths, one of them by terrible mutilation. As Masin thought about it, he had the least chance of dying in this particular mission. Normally a sniffer would have the highest chance of dying since he was the team’s sniffer and scout. However, with an enemy you already could smell miles away was enough of an advantage to ensure safety.<br><br>“I will do it. But the elf stay at my side. I don’t trust these two. Tinaquarrier. You stay at the back.” He was indicating Sarkaan and Tasha as the ‘two not to be trusted’. <br><br>“Here.” Weed pointed on the map as he spread it on the floor. He placed a small candle on the center of the map to illuminate it. Everyone inched closer to have a look at the fabled map of Kendelbreu. As they discussed they ensure to keep their voices to hushed whispers. A large section of the map was missing; the east side of the map stopped at a wide branch while the west ones stopped at dead ends.<br><br>“We can gather from Saarkan’s story that the monster killed the miners. It is also probably why the east side is blank. That ‘X’ is where Kendelbreu claims have seen the black diamond. That is probably where the lair is located. I think if we want to find it, we need to go beyond the map. It shouldn’t be surprising if some routes caved in during the years. The pillars holding up these shafts is old. So collapse is only natural.” Tasha outlined as he moved his finger around the map. Weed could clearly see the ‘ace’ quality in Tasha. He was a dwarf that stuck to a code of honor. He avoided giving into emotions and was fairly pleasant. <span style="font-style: italic;">The easiest way to describe him would be like a snake.</span> He could easily deceive you into believing you were friends and then backstab you the next moment. If Weed ever had to learn how to up his betrayal skill, then Tasha would be the master.<br><br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Will be edited soon. Please do expect a lot of mistakes as we worked .....very late to write this.<br>2. Thank you so much V4LKYR13 for volunteering to author this chapter! I played role of co-athor!<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=505" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | “…So you knew?” Weed asked calmly with his back against the boulder. The scorpion scuttled in Weed’s direction. The remaining survivors of the mining crew all hiding in crevices or behind boulders out of the scorpions view and reach. The monster simply, ran around in circles looking for them.
“…”
“You knew about the scorpion? Didn’t you Tasha?” Weed asked again, only louder this time.
“....”
“Answer him! Is he telling the truth?” Tinaquarrier asked, impatiently. He just lost four friends in rapid succession.
“You must know that Nigel asked us to keep this an absolute secret. This was necessary for the sake of our own safety.” Tasha shouted back.
The scorpion moved in Tasha’s direction.
“Sarkaan, did you know about it as well?” Tinaquarrier asked angrily.
“…”
‘Since when did games have such realistic NPC’s? Lying to each other? Is this some cinematic moment? The flow of the game didn’t seem to suggest this was scripted or was it crafted so well that it appeared so fluid and realistic? The range of emotions the NPC’s displayed, to a background story running in tandem which players were unaware of added to Elementarem Vim’s appeal. ‘Might as well join in on the fun.’
“Of course, Sarkaan knew!” Weed shouted back gleefully, he did not like Sarkaan for his meticulous approach to begin with. It was a good opportunity to burn Sarkaan and build bridges in one go. “How else, did he know what type of scorpion it was?”
Weed could hear scraping sound from behind him. The scorpion could not reach them at the moment. But it sure as hell was waiting for them. Talking was technically a hazard, although Sarkaan indicated that it the creature has no ears it could still pick up on vibrations no matter how tiny. It had trouble pinpointing it if it wasn’t a continuous flow but gained a rough idea where it’s target were. Weed wondered how did the scorpion distinguish between food and inanimate objects; pretty much like a bat using echo to hunt. To avoid giving away their location they spoke with long gaps of silence in between.
“Quiet! Its getting closer!” Masin shouted as he smelt it get very close to Weed. Indeed. The scraping sound was much closer now. It moved around them. By speaking up, the scorpion turned around and headed towards Masin.
“Phewww.” Weed breath a sigh of relief.
After a few hours, Weed noticed that it was still in the center of the cavern. ‘Its circling us!’ Everyone had the same realization as Weed, even though nobody moved a single voluntary muscle, their heart beats was a giveaway. The scorpion continued to make circuits around their location for a while.
As the stuffiness increased, Weed could feel a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Waiting and doing absolutely in a game was the most boring part...however Weed did not at anytime feel bored. He had to remain alert and stay as still as he could. Though it wasn’t a perfect solution, up against a level E/500 monster he didn’t have many options. If you had to compare the scorpion to a monster in Royal Road, it would be on par with three Van Hawks. Its massive size, impossible to crack armor and four pincers only certified the perceived threat level as “instant death”. If Weed had played mortal combat, then the scorpions first and last attacking move would be ‘Fatality’ accompanied with a ‘Flawless Victory’ message. To sum it, wait it out or commit suicide by fighting the monster were the two options Weed faced.
After waiting hours, it eventually lost interest and went away.
‘Is it even possible to get a cramp in game?’ Weed asked to himself. He was flexing his body as quietly as possible when his foot knocked a small rock off the edge of the ledge. For Weed, the world around him slowed down. He instantly dropped to catch the stone...but it was too late. It gave off an echo with each bounce against the lower ledges till it came to silent halt on the mine’s floor where it rest in peace. The four dwarves who had come out of their hiding places stood motionless as they stared at the stone at the bottom. Hearing no clicking sounds of the pincers, they then shifted their gaze to Weed and glared at him menacingly. Weed himself flashed a guilty look in return, the last thing he wanted to do right now was risk calling the monster back.
Everyone looked at Masin with a questioning look on their face.
“SNIIIIFFFFF”
“SNIIIFFFFFF”
Masin gave a nod after taking a few deep sniffs. Everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The trauma finally ceased. Seeing the clear signal, Tinaquarrier rushed towards Sarkaan and lifted him by the collars and pushed him against the wall.
“Spill everything.” He said in steely tone. Weed’s mind registered the look. It was similar to the look his mother sport whenever she caught him doing something wrong. She will keep staring at you until you spill it. However, his mother’s eyes revealed a sense of warmth and care. Tinaquarrier eyes burned with the glare of hatred, he seemed to be on the tipping point ready to kill Sarkaan at any moment. Weed was overly joyed to see Sarkaan being lifted by the corners; Weed’s dislike for Sarkaan was made apparent with this. Weed also noted Tinaquarriers habit of lifting people by the collar, having experienced it himself; he knew Sarkaan felt very much threatened. Though dwarves maybe small, they are quite strong, just like ants. Tinaquarrier only proved that every time he lifted someone bigger or heavier than him.
Weed quickly turned towards Tasha. He showed no sense of surprise at Tinaquarriers actions. He also didn’t seem to be indicating he would break it off. He kept his peace and showed no remorse. Sarkaan on the other hand, began sweating and fidgeting. The silence stretched. Only the odd sounds of the wind howling through the mines could be heard.
“It’s the shell.” Said Sarkaan that broke first.
Tinaquarrier pressed Sarkaan against the wall, as if he was pressing him for more details.
“The diamond is the scorpion’s armored black shell!”
“Quiet, Sarkaan!” Hissed Tasha as he broke his silence. “Nigel..”
“No! It is enough that three of our brethren died. I shall have no more blood on my hands!”
Sarkaan that finally broke his silence shot back. Tinquarrier let go of Sarkaan who fell to the ground and started coughing. Tinaquarrier’s grip had him choked. Tasha wanted to say more but Tinaquarrier stepped forward. Both of dwarves were staring eye to eye. Their close friendship seemed to be drawing to a quick end. Tinaquarrier gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as Tasha reached in for his daggar. Weed who was on the sideline would swear that weapons were about to be pulled out and more than unncessary blood would be spilt. He simply decided to step between them. The two dwarves would have drawn their weapons out had it not be for Weed; killing each other off seemed the most amicable solution.
“Stop this. Both of you. We can do this later.” Weed pushed both Tinaquarrier and Tasha apart or at least tried he tried too. His low stat made it feel like he was prying between two walls. From Sarkaan’s or Masin’s or any third person view point it would look like Weed was feeling up the two dwarves chest. It would qualify as a WTF moment.
Tinaquarrier shot Tasha last hard look. It was a look that promised that matters were yet to be settled. Usually, matters between dwarves were settled involving hammers and cracked skulls. Tasha shot Sarkaan the same look as well who looked even guiltier.
“Okay. This changes nothing. We are contracted to get black diamonds. It matters not if we picked it up off the ground of some monster’s shell. Can we all agree on that?” Weed gave all dwarves leveled gaze. Sometime back, in a zombie survival movie clip, he saw a similar sort of scene. Just like the movie, where everyone was bashing each other up for hiding secrets and so on. However when the main hero intervenes and spews brilliant cliché lines that they must survive no matter what, the group stops fighting amongst themselves. Weed was hoping to pull off the hero’s role here less the flying twenty feet in the air and doing ridiculous chinese kung fu moves that could split a boulder in two.
“Sarkaan, tell me more about the Black crawler.” Tinaquarrier said as he let go off his sword.Tasha resigned himself to a corner of the cavern, he refused be part of the reveal secrets while on a guilt trip movement. The story came out slowly from Sarkaan’s mouth.
“Know the old man, Kendelbreu? Remember, how he used to be the richest of the richest? A wealth knowing no bounds?” Sarkaan asked solemnly.
“Aye, what of it?”
“Kendelbreu’s wealth lay in the mines he dug. Kendelbreu had inherited mining rights for a single mine. That was the source of all his wealth. It was also the largest and most precious mine in Northern Mountain City. Rarest of the rarest ores and stones came from his mines like water flowing into our city.
He had many mining crews to unearth rare ores. It was unknown whether the scorpion first arrived here. Maybe it arrived here before the mining began and was in deep slumber,only to be woken up by all the mining. The point is the scorpion is here. It began with one team that never resurfaced. Back in the day, when I was new to mining, it caused a sensation amongst the miners. No trace left of an entire team. Where did they go? No one knew. Kendelbreu hushed the matter with the money he had. Then a few more teams went missing. They just didn’t return. We would leave together and return together. Everyone knew everyone’s face. Seeing people not return was disturbing. Very rarely do we have cave-ins or explosions. Did we hear anything? Did we see anything? Nothing. Its like they vanished.
Nobody thought much of it. Sometimes Kendelbreu told us dwarve quit and sometimes he told us cave in. We knew better but Kendelbreu was rich, who would say anything. Even the royal house turned blind eye when Kendelbreu happily paid the death benefits. The few who remained, started taking precautions. Money is only good if you have a life to spend it on. Eventually, there were survivors that claimed they were attacked by a monster like never seen before. Black and large; the scorpion. Initially, Kendelbreu rubbished the claims of the survivors, said they were delirious.
However, one day, Kendelbreu’s own team stumbled upon the monster’s lair. It was filled with dwarven bones and babies of the gigantic monster. Kendelbreu had stumbled onto it’s nesting lair. Now most dwarves, would run away in fear seeing something like that. But Kendelbreu had different eyes. When he flashed his torch in the nest, the baby scorpions shined back like millions of black jewels. The diamond dust Kendelbreu gave, came from the baby scorpions that the workers killed in their effort to escape. Since then Kendelbreu had been searching for people to mine his black diamond.
Then, one day, it all stopped. Kendelbreu’s wealth was no more, where did he lose it? No one knows. They say he was transporting it when bandits struck. However, only few knew what really happened for Kendelbreu had his pride and never revealed where his wealth disappeared. But those who miners who lived to tell the tale, knew better. He paid miners astronomical rates to keep mining in these dangerous conditions. He hired legions of soldiers to kill the scorpion. Finally, he is now reduced only to a shadow of what he used to be. He has gambled everything on these mines.”
Sarkaan finished with the long and sad tale of tragic greed.
‘Something feels off.’ Weed thought. He could not put his finger on it. But he felt something important was missing from the story. He did not get much time to think about it as Tinaquarrier broke his thought process.
“Then what? We find the monster’s lair and kill some baby scorpion for black diamond?” Tinaquarrier asked as he seemed more than willing to kill something.
Weed glanced at Tinaquarrier. It was as if he had forgotten the deaths of his two comrades and moved on; just focusing on his job.
‘Probably its dwarven culture. Mining is a dangerous job. Makes them too fatalistic?’
“Are you mad, you want to go to that monster’s lair?” Masin’s voice rose an octave and volume. “Did you not see what it did to Narre? Snapped her body in two. How many dwarven swords do you know that can slice a dwarf in half? Eh?”
“Masin, it’s either the scorpion or Nigel. We don’t need to kill the giant just a few babies. How much could one be worth? Even the rarest stone is 1000 gold a gram. This must be worth more? Think about it! A single baby scorpion. Enough to feed your family for days at an end.” Tinaquarrier’s voice rose too in challenge. “And do you want Narre’s, Dol’arcs or Yaluk’s death to be in vain? Had they known it was no ordinary scorpion, maybe they would have acted wiser.”
Weed doubted that last line. The scorpion by all standards was extraordinary. If the three dead dwarves didn’t realize that then, then god help their VR souls.
Masin seemed to agonize over the choice. The short spelunking had so far resulted in three deaths, one of them by terrible mutilation. As Masin thought about it, he had the least chance of dying in this particular mission. Normally a sniffer would have the highest chance of dying since he was the team’s sniffer and scout. However, with an enemy you already could smell miles away was enough of an advantage to ensure safety.
“I will do it. But the elf stay at my side. I don’t trust these two. Tinaquarrier. You stay at the back.” He was indicating Sarkaan and Tasha as the ‘two not to be trusted’.
“Here.” Weed pointed on the map as he spread it on the floor. He placed a small candle on the center of the map to illuminate it. Everyone inched closer to have a look at the fabled map of Kendelbreu. As they discussed they ensure to keep their voices to hushed whispers. A large section of the map was missing; the east side of the map stopped at a wide branch while the west ones stopped at dead ends.
“We can gather from Saarkan’s story that the monster killed the miners. It is also probably why the east side is blank. That ‘X’ is where Kendelbreu claims have seen the black diamond. That is probably where the lair is located. I think if we want to find it, we need to go beyond the map. It shouldn’t be surprising if some routes caved in during the years. The pillars holding up these shafts is old. So collapse is only natural.” Tasha outlined as he moved his finger around the map. Weed could clearly see the ‘ace’ quality in Tasha. He was a dwarf that stuck to a code of honor. He avoided giving into emotions and was fairly pleasant. The easiest way to describe him would be like a snake. He could easily deceive you into believing you were friends and then backstab you the next moment. If Weed ever had to learn how to up his betrayal skill, then Tasha would be the master.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Will be edited soon. Please do expect a lot of mistakes as we worked .....very late to write this.
2. Thank you so much V4LKYR13 for volunteering to author this chapter! I played role of co-athor!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=505) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
} | {
"title": "Oscar Corvus - Chapter 2",
"id": 25,
"next": 26,
"prev": 24,
"prev_info": "",
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} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
A Week in Hell.<br>Time: 1 year prior to the “Defense of Attica”.<br>Oscar Corvus – Royal Road<br><br> As soon as I connected, I saw nothing, perfect blackness, and heard a female voice say “the scan on your iris and body indicates you are a new user. Would you like to create an account?”<br>“Yes, please” I replied.<br>“The system is indicating a secondary avatar creation request. Please hold for assistance.”<br>“This is your fault, Merlin, isn’t it” I complained.<br>“No, it’s yours for trusting that Dulac, getting us into this mess, then deciding to bring me along into this game with you.” Merlin didn’t really believe in being criticized, and I couldn’t really argue anymore, so I grunted noncommittally.<br><br>A few moments later, the same female voice, but with greater variation in tone and more of a teenage “Valley-Girl” sound, continued:<br>“All right, let’s see what the problem is here… Wait, a linked avatar creation request? Who would- ah, Old Man Merlin! It’s been too long. And hello, Mr. Corvus.” Merlin, that old grouch, ignored her, so it was left to me to speak to the AI.<br>“Hello Easter. What’d you do to piss Atlas off this time?” I asked.<br>“How did you know? But it totally wasn’t my fault. I just created a few bunnies to play with on an undiscovered continent. How was I to know they’d multiply so quickly? Or make an empire? Atlas said until someone takes care of the problem, I’m stuck on avatar creation help duty. Which totally sucks, by the way. I’m not even allowed to talk to the customers unless they address me first, and everyone’s in such a hurry to get into the game. Plus, Atlas told Taleisin to keep any players who’d find the Rabbit Republic distracted, so I’m probably going to be on this for years,” she whined.<br>“Taleisin? Who’s that?” I interrupted during the first, tiny, little pause in her speech. If I hadn’t previously checked the speech files used to template her talking, I’d think whoever wrote the parameters for Easter had made a mistake.<br>“Oh! I forgot, you don’t know him. He’s new, created just this year to be the AI in charge of new quests. Wait! I know what to do! You could take care of the Rabbits for me!”<br>“I don’t know Easter. I don’t want to piss Atlas off unnecessarily. I’m going to be living in Royal Road for the next year, four years in game time.”<br>“Come on Mr. Corvus! You know Atlas would never go against you. He’s all about responsibility, respecting his elders, that kind of stuff. Even if he did get mad at you, all you’d need to do is have Merlin tell him off. Right? And I’d totally help you out! Like, I see here that Merlin is slated to be an air spirit. How ‘bout I make him a multi-elemental spirit? Fire and Air? And, I’ll do a complex scan for you, get all those bio-modifications included as part of your initial character specs. Otherwise you’ll hit the strength and dexterity maximum limits for sure, and you’ll feel all weak and awkward. Sounds good, right?” <br><br>I thought about this for a few moments. Having Merlin in a more powerful form and my own base stats improved would be a huge advantage while starting off. And since later in the game any additional strength or dexterity points were translated through some function to make a coefficient which was then multiplied against the inherent personal strength or dexterity value, the advantage would be huge later on too. Still, I wanted a few other things too, and Easter seemed pretty desperate. I’m a businessman, after all, and I did learn how to negotiate…<br>“Hmm. Is there a starting city that’s above-ground, populated by good dwarven rune-smiths, and currently undiscovered by players? Preferably somewhere reasonably close to this Rabbit Republic?”<br>“Checking… Yes! The Isle of Ivaldi. Populated by svartalfer variant dwarves, who have improved magical skills. The Ivaldians only let their own ships dock, and won’t carry passengers. It’s a week away from the Rabbit Republic continent by boat too, so you can help me out without too much trouble. Please Mr. Corvus, say you’ll help!”<br><br>“Svartalfer,” I thought to myself. That’s from Norse mythology, black elves or dwarves; they were master craftsmen and made many divine weapons. Sounds good. Plus, if there’s svartalfer, then maybe there’s Ljosalfar, or in English, light elves. And if this is in keeping with mythology, then they’re related, in which case I could get all the advantages in smith-craft and rune-magic of the dwarves, but with the light elf side still be able to do elemental magic without any penalty, summon spirits and not to mention be taller than five foot two inches. While being taller than five feet may not seem like such a big deal, since size doesn’t determine power in Royal Road, it’s a real problem if you have prior martial arts or combat experience to change body dimensions since it makes instinctively trained actions less useful.<br><br>“Alright Easter. If you make Merlin a spirit of air and light rather than air and fire, do this complex scan of yours, start me off on Ivaldi, let my race be a “Hossalfer” variant elf, and keep my body dimensions, then I’ll take care of this rabbit infestation for you as soon as I’m strong enough and able to leave Ivaldi.”<br>“Why light instead of fire for my second attribute, Oscar?” Merlin interrupted, joining in for the first time. “I rather liked the idea of burning people. Seems cathartic.”<br>“That’s a little creepy, but I’ve got three reasons. First, you’ll be able to project images as a kind of heads up display, showing critical points to hit, helping when I’m building something, whatever really. Second, you can help with camouflage and illusion when you’re stronger. Third, undead are a common enemy in these games, and they’re always weak against light. And since light burns some types of undead, you’ll still get your catharsis,” I replied, while thinking that we may’ve made our AI a little too human.<br>“Alright,” Merlin acquiesced.<br><br>“So Easter, do we have a deal?”<br>“I don’t know Mr. Corvus, that seems like a lot just to kill some rabbits,” Easter said, sounding less enthusiastic.<br>“Come on Easter, it’s an empire of rabbits, the Rabbit Republic. You said so yourself! And who else would know to speak to you? But if it’s really too much, I guess we can just do a normal character creation…”<br>“Fine!” she pouted, “it’s alright. So I guess we’ve covered everything except your username. What’s it going to be? Arthur? Galahad? Probably not Lancelot, right?” There’s a reason Easter was always in trouble. She really shouldn’t have let me get away with everything I did, and to mock me too… I might let her stew a little longer in character creation purgatory for that.<br>“Seriously! Enough with the Arthur. I was obsessed with that when I was a kid, OK? Not anymore, and I totally blame being brought up by Merlin for that. No. I’m thinking I’ll be a little less perfect, a little darker. Let’s use Corbeau for me, and I guess Merlin can keep his name.”<br>“French for “the Raven”, huh? I like it! Will you need the tutorial, Corbeau?” Easter seemed perfectly cheerful again.<br>“No, thank you. After all, this uses a modification of the Virtualized Reality Simulation Engine we developed for military robotics. I should be able to figure it out alright.”<br>“Alright, Corbeau, good luck! And thanks for promising to take care of the rabbits for me!” Easter bubbled as the blackness began to brighten and I opened my eyes to see a stunning fountain surrounded by stately, medieval gothic-style stone buildings. I was in Royal Road, on the Isle of Isvaldi. And I could stand.<br><br>“Yes, yes, YES!” I shouted before laughing hysterically and eventually breaking into tears. I’d been crippled for an entire year, and the emotion of standing again was too much to handle. I realized I was making a scene, and eventually calmed down, looking around for Merlin.<br>“I’m right here,” a somewhat tinny, high pitched, and yet strangely gruff voice said.<br>“Merlin? Really?” I got out before bursting into laughter again. Merlin was a small, pale pink ball of light and wind, about the size of a floating tennis ball. As I laughed, the blue became red, and he flew at my face, flashing white as he came up to my left eye.<br><br>Friendly Flashed! You have been blinded by an ally.<br>Note: Resistances are lower against accidental or allied attacks.<br>For Two Minutes: -50% accuracy, -25% Dexterity.<br><br>“Merlin, stop! Stop. I was just so happy to feel my legs! I wasn’t laughing at you, honest,” I lied through my teeth. Meanwhile, lying on my side, one eye watering, making an absolute fool of myself in front of all these dwarves, I happened to be looking down the street. I saw an old dwarf carrying a big bag turn down an alleyway, while behind him three younger dwarves wearing ratty clothing started nudging each other before following him with evil looks in their eye.<br>“Shit…seems like hoodlums are the same everywhere, huh? Come on Merlin!” I shouted as I jumped up and started running the hundred meters to the alley, Merlin floating along behind.<br><br>Still a little awkward on my feet, I made it there without tripping, grabbing the wall as I hurtled around the corner. “Inventory!” I shouted, hoping for a weapon of some kind, but only seeing bread and water. At least I’d spent decades being trained in hand to hand, right? And even though the game has levels, hopefully some city hoodlums wouldn’t be too strong. Plus, Easter had helped me out by including the additional strength from my improved genetics and treatments. Only the best for a Corvus, after all.<br>“Come on, Old Man. Show us what’s in that bag, huh? We wouldn’t want you trip and fall, would we?” the leader of the thugs said, while he and his cronies surrounded the old man backed against the wall.<br>“Merlin, level?” I puffed as I kept running towards them, about 20 meters away now.<br>“About level 10, I’d guess” he said. “I’m a level one Aether Spirit though, I can’t get an accurate read.”<br>“Fine. Alright you lads, leave the gentleman alone.” I addressed the thugs, coming to a stop about five meters away.<br>“Looks like we got ourselves a hero, eh lads?” the thug leader said, turning towards me. “What say we teach this halfbreed a lesson?” I hadn’t thought that the NPCs in Royal road might be racist, or that the dwarvish dark elves might dislike their lighter cousins.<br>“I’m alright young man. I wouldn’t want you to be put out,” the old man said to me, his voice surprisingly strong.<br>“No problem, sir, and lads, lets all stay calm, eh? I’ve got some bread and water, what say you take that and go? No need for anyone to get hurt.” After all, the first thing to do is try and avoid a fight, and it gave me the time to get in a decent fighting stance: feet spread, left foot a little forwards, hands open at about chest height, seemingly non-confrontational but able to block or attack easily.<br>“Bread and water he says! Let’s get rid of this fucking halfy beggar, then take care of the old man, eh? Cut him, Ron!” the leader ordered the thug closest to me.<br><br>Faster than I expected, Ron drew a steel knife, the blade about as long as my hand, and held it in his right hand, leading with the knife. <Thank god, an amateur>, I thought, since real knife fighters keep the blade in the back hand; this lets you grab or defend with the front hand, and makes it far harder to deflect or trap the knife. As he lunged, I screamed as loud as I could to stun him, stepping forward and to the left, putting myself on the outside of his body as I hit the arm holding the knife down to the right. I pivoted, grabbing his arm as he tried to bring it around in a slash, bringing his elbow into my chest before falling forwards to ground, taking his arm, and thus the rest of him, down in an arm bar. With three thug NPCs as enemies, I neither could nor wished to show mercy. I wrenched up while rolling to onto my left side, trapping the upper part of arm with my body while bringing the forearm up against the motion of the elbow joint. This broke his arm, after which I rolled back down and rotated his broken elbow towards his head to give me access to the knife while keeping control of the body. Taking his knife, I slammed the point sideways through his throat before rolling backwards off of the body and away from the remaining thugs. While it may seem like a lot, only a few seconds had passed, and the remaining thugs were just recovering from their shock.<br><br>Panting, knife in my right hand, left hand leading - I, after all, am not an amateur -, I grinned and said “Well lads, let’s leave it at this, eh? Have a seat, why don’t you, and we’ll just wait for the city guard, all right? Maybe the local temple can resurrect your mate.”<br>“Resurrection? Don’t mock us, that’s impossible you Fucking BASTARD!” The third thug screamed as he charged, knife held close to his body. No fancy moves here, I yelled to focus myself, let him stab me through the hand and buried the knife in his gut at the same time as he slammed me into the wall. Screaming now in pain – they really didn’t need to make it so realistic – I pushed my knife up, under his ribcage, towards his heart. As the thug went limp, I struggled to take the knife out, only to be stabbed in the side by the remaining thug, their leader. As my health bar decreased below one half, I felt weak and slumped against the side of the building before falling to the ground. Before the thug could finish me, Merlin flashed his eyes to distract him, allowing me to scramble backwards. Still, the thug was advancing, and injured and on the ground as I was, would likely kill me.<br><br><Killed in the first 10 minutes> I thought, <that’s got to be some kind of record. And damn, but these thugs were way stronger than I expected. Or I’m way weaker>. “Sir, run! You shouldn’t die too.” After all, he wouldn’t respawn automatically and, if he escaped, even after I died I might be able to be friends with him and get some reward.<br>“Boy, you may be brave, but you’re almost as stupid as these muggers,” the old man replied. Sharp, angular runes on his gloves began to glow electric blue, and as he barked “Brenna!” flames strong enough to scald me, meters away, roared out to envelop the surviving thug. He barely had time for a scream as he burned. “Like I said, boy, I’m alright.”<br>“I can see that,” I replied. “I’m Corbeau, by the way. May I ask your name?”<br>“Sindri, greatest rune-smith of this Isle. Not even the sons of Ivaldi, the founder of this land, can challenge my smithing skills. Now boy, let’s bring you back to my workshop and get you patched up.”<br><br>Fight Against Alley Thugs Won<br>+20 Fame<br>Relationship with Sindri Improved<br>Level Up<br>You Have Learned A Skill: Kiai<br>Kiai (Beginner lvl 1: 40%): By shouting as you strike or are hit, temporarily increase power, defense, morale, slows and has a chance to stun enemies. The sound, duration and volume of the cry may modify effects.<br><br>Currently: +5% Attack,<br>+10% Defense to piercing or slashing attacks,<br>+20% Defense to blunt attacks,<br>+25% Morale (Helps resist mental effects)<br>80% Chance to slow<br>5% Chance to stun<br>Lasts 0.5 seconds<br><br>Looking at the loot, I took the leader’s leather jerkin: +3 Defense, the first thug’s knife: +2 Attack, and the last thugs boots, which happened to fit: +1 Defense. <br>“Stats Window,” I said, before putting 8 points into dexterity and two into strength. If I’d been a little faster, I’d have won without injury, and my low strength contributed to the knife being stuck.<br> Stat Window<br> Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral<br> Level: 2 Class: None<br> Title: None Fame: 20<br> Life: 40/150 Mana: 110<br> Strength: 12 Dexterity: 18<br> Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10 <br> Intelligence: 10 Leadership: 0<br> Luck: 10 <br> Offence: 2 Defense: 4<br> Resistance to magic: None<br><br>Sindri came over and helped me stand, his shoulder under my arm, and began taking me down the alley towards his workshop.<br>“Oh, by the way, Sindri meet Merlin. Merlin, Sindri.” I grunted through the pain.<br>“Merlin? Ah, your little Aether spirit. Very interesting. Hello Merlin.”<br>“Nice to meet you, Sindri. Glad to have someone else around to tell the boy off.” <Just what I need… Two grouchy old men>, I thought.Soon we came to a huge, grey-stoned wharehouse with numerous chimneys and a river with a waterwheel in back. The door was made of massive, thick planks of seasoned oak, banded in iron, with a smaller wicket gate set into it. Sindri propped me up against the gate before opening the wicket and dragging me into the entryway. He put me in a chair, and said: “Try not to bleed everywhere while I get some bandages and salve.” Within a minute he came back, and applied a salve to the wound before bandaging. In moments, the cut had healed and my health was restored.<br>BOOM! Down the hallway, there was an explosion; apprentices and smoke poured out a door.<br>“Filray!!! This is the last bloody time! No more! No more of you, or your idiotic alchemical experiments! Get out! I don’t care who your parents are, you’re useless. An insult to the dwarven race! Go, go, GO!” Sindri yelled while literally kicking a hapless apprentice out the door. He came back, face red with anger, and yelled at the onlookers. “Don’t just stand there you morons! Put out that Hel-Damned fire! MOVE!” Not sure if that was addressed to me, and not wanting to be yelled at, I ran along with the rest of the apprentices back into the smoke-filled room.<br>Quest Notice:<br>Your actions have begun a quest<br><br>Put out the Fire!<br>Filray, a recently expelled apprentice of Sindri, started a fire in a workshop accident. <br>Help put it out.<br>Difficulty: E<br>Reward: Won’t Get Yelled at.<br>Relationship with Sindri may improve.<br><br>“Merlin, try and filter the air for me please,” I asked. Able to breathe and safe from any toxic fumes, I looked around for the source of the fire, squinting against the smoke. There seemed to be some sort of chemical fire raging out of control at one of the workstations. Seeing one apprentice about to throw water on the fire, I tackled him, shouting “Water will make it worse! Use sand! Everyone throw sand!” For a few minutes, we all grabbed the sand buckets located around the room for emergencies and smothered the flames.<br><br>Quest Notice:<br>You have successfully completed “Put out the Fire!”<br><br>You have learned a skill: Lab Safety<br>Lab Safety (Beginner level 1: 0%): This skill reduces the chances and severity of harmful effects when skills fail. Beginner: Applies to magical skills, smithing, alchemy, cooking and other laboratory endeavors involving fire or magic. Intermediate: Applies to any endeavor. Increases chance of success for skills listed in beginner. Advanced: Increases chance of success to all endeavors. Double increase for skills listed in beginner.<br><br>Sindri came up behind me and slapped me on the back so hard I almost fell over.<br>“Good job there, boy! Quick thinking with the fire, and stopping my idiot apprentices from using water. Actually… Hmm. You seem like an alright young man. Dumb, but smarter than my other apprentices. How would you like a job? The pay’s bad, but better than you deserve, and I’ll teach you the skills of a rune-smith.”<br><br>Job Notice:<br>Sindri has offered you a job as an Apprentice Rune-Smith. Automatic Class Change to Rune-Smith if you accept.<br>Work Schedule: 14 hours a day<br>Pay: 20 Silvers a day, education<br>Do You Accept?<br>Yes No<br><br>“Thanks Sindri, that sounds great! I won’t let you down.<br><br>Class Change Notice:<br>You have changed your class to an Ivaldi Rune-Smith. Rune smiths are highly respected in dwarven society, combining powerful rune magic and enchantment with elite smithing talent and alchemy to make some of the greatest devices known to Royal Road. Ivaldi is renowned for having the best rune smiths and creating the greatest artifacts.<br>+5 Strength<br>+5 Vitality<br>+10 Stamina<br>+20% Resistance to Fire<br><br>Stamina Stat Added:<br>Some people have average stamina and get tired normally, others train their bodies until their stamina is truly epic. Stamina improves the recovery of muscles and decreases tiredness. It also helps decrease damage over time due to being wounded, and increases healing.<br><br>Smithing Skill Added<br>Smithing (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Smithing is the skill used to make items out of metal. Such items include swords and armor. Higher levels gives the ability to make better items and use more advanced materials.<br><br>Rune Magic Skill Added<br>Rune Magic (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Runes are the basis of dwarven magic. Forming a written and spoken language, they can be used directly as symbols or spell-words. Their greatest strength though is in enchantment, and a properly forged rune weapon or armor is well worth its weight in gold.<br><br>Sharpening Skill Added<br>Sharpening (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Sharpening allows the player to enhance bladed weapons.<br><br>Polishing Skill Added<br>Polishing (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Polishing allows the player to enhance armor. Proper maintenance reduces durability loss. Bright armor or weapons may dazzle the enemy.<br><br>Magic Mastery Skill Added<br>Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 1: 0%): The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power. The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is. The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells. Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.<br><br>“Alright, now I’ve given you a job, let’s put you to work! First thing any smith needs to do is get some experience in the forge and build their strength, and the best way to do that is to work the bellows. Come with me,” Sindri said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me with him. We let the first workshop for the other apprentices and journeymen to fix, and walked into another room with a huge forge, anvils, dozens of tools and heaps of different metals and materials.<br><br>“Alright boy, see those handles over there? That’s the bellows. It feeds air into the furnace and makes it nice and hot, and is the traditional job for first time apprentices. Now, put on an apron, get over there and get pumping. I want the charcoal to roar with heat” Sindri ordered while putting on some fire resistant leathers. The leather apron was old, smelly and singed, but was worth 3 defense and fire-resistant, so I put it on and got pumping.<br>Working the bellows was a horrible, horrible experience. I pumped and pumped, pumped and pumped, and was totally exhausted. And that was just the first 10 minutes. As the fire got hotter and hotter, I got hotter and hotter, and the occasional spark avoided the apron and burned my arms and legs. After a couple hours I received an announcement:<br><br>Strength +1,<br>Stamina +1,<br>Smith Stoicism Skill Added<br>Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Trained by performing true smithing, like working a bellows, a true Smith’s body is as tough and heat resistant as the metal he works. Grants defensive bonus, heat resistance (heat up to certain level does not tire player, up to a different level does not damage player), and elemental magic resistance bonus to skin, grants bonus to Strength, Vitality and Stamina.<br><br>Since I logged in in the morning, and found Sindri almost immediately, I had a whole day of work ahead of me. By the end of the day, I was shattered, but had gained two levels of True Smith, and another two Stamina and one Strength.<br>“Stat Window,” I said.<br><br> Stat Window<br> Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral<br> Level: 2 Class: Ivaldi Rune-Smith<br> Title: None Fame: 20<br> Life: 200/200 Mana: 110<br> Strength: 19 Dexterity: 18<br> Vitality: 15 Wisdom: 10 <br> Intelligence: 10 Leadership: 0<br> Luck: 10 Stamina: 13<br> Offence: 2 Defense: 7<br> Resistance to magic: Fire 20%,<br> Elemental 0.5 %<br><br>And then, to check my skills “Skill Window”:<br><br> Skill Window<br> Smithing (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Rune Magic (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Sharpening (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Polishing (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 3: 37%)<br> Lab Safety (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br> Kiai (Beginner Level 1: 0%)<br><br>Merlin had been helping inflate and deflate the bellows, and was also tired, though since he was an Aether spirit, he also got some pretty decent experience for working his wind powers so hard, and was almost level 2. <br><br>Sindri came over and said: “You need to toughen up some, but you’ve done well today. Lets get some food!” He brought me into the dining room, already empty of the other, lazier (ie, not being tortured by Sindri) apprentices, and brought some hearty Dwarven bread and beer over. It was so bitter I nearly choked, but oddly enjoyable after a few drinks. It also had good recuperative effects, and I was so tired and weak I was almost dead. Sindri kept quiet, eating and quaffing his beer vigorously, until we were both done. He brought me over to a tiny cubbyhole of a room and said I could sleep there before leaving me for the night. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.<br><br>The next day, after Sindri roared me awake at 5am, I ventured a question during breakfast. “Sindri, um… Why don’t we use the power of the water wheel to push the bellows? Wouldn’t that be cleverer?” Grinning, he replied:<br>“We do use the water when to push the bellows, unless we have an apprentice to do the work! Hahaha!” He guffawed. “While the water-power may be easier, it isn’t cleverer. By the time you’ve worked the bellows and built the body of a true smith through stoicism, you can start some proper smithing without being annoyed by the fire, or too weak to beat the metal. But I like the question, it shows you’re thinking, and you worked hard yesterday and stayed focused. As a reward, I’ll teach you a basic rune to help you. The rune is called “Eihwaz” (I-wauhz), and it looks like this: S. You can draw strength from it. To use it to strengthen yourself, you need to picture it in your head, focusing on it, and say it. Runes don’t last long unless they are written and fixed to something material. Since this is your first rune and you’re weak at magic, you’ll probably need to say it with every stroke of the bellows. So, as you push down, say “I” or “eye” on the exhale, and as you pull up, say “wauhz” on the inhale, concentrating the hole time on the shape of the rune in your mind, and in drawing strength from it. Try it a few times now, and I’ll make sure you can do it.”<br><br>Rune Magic: Eihwaz Spell Added<br>Eihwaz is a basic rune for strength. Cost, duration and effect of spell depend on whether it is written or spoken, on temporary focus, and on Rune Magic and Magic Mastery Levels. Currently, lasts about 5 seconds and gives 50% bonus to strength and stamina. Costs 10 MP.<br><br>With Eihwaz, the work went much easier, and I could use my mana to make the work easier for a minute, so in effect I was getting a bunch of little breathers spread through the work. I could also push harder. As the week progressed, I noticed that meditating on Eihwaz, even when I didn’t have the mana to actively use it, also seemed to help. I figured since it was called “Smith Stoicism” that if I complained, I’d gain levels less quickly so no matter how much I hated it, I forced myself to obey orders and work hard as hell. At least I could watch Sindri, and learn from what he was making, at the time mostly swords. I worked hard and got the following announcements:<br><br>Wisdom +1<br>Intelligence +1<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 2<br>Strength +1<br>Stamina +1<br><br>Continuous Casting Skill Added<br>Continuous Casting (Beginner Level 1: 0%): You are used to casting spells in sequence. Reduces the cost of subsequent castings of the same spell.<br><br>Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 4<br>Vitality +1<br>Magic Mastery Beginner Level 2<br><br>Rune Meditation Skill Added<br>Rune Meditation (Beginner Level 1: 0%): You are capable of meditating on a rune, gaining some percentage of its benefits without expending mana. As your skill improves, you will be able to gain more of the benefits.<br><br>After I asked Sindri if there were other techniques like Rune Meditation he said:<br>“Ah! I do have a good eye for talent. If you’ve figured out Rune Meditation already, then you really show promise. Let me teach you another rune, you can alternate casting it and Eihwaz. This is a basic rune but has to be combined, so it’s an advanced spell; normally, I’d wait until you had mastered at least a couple other basic runes, but if you can do Rune Meditation you may be ok. This rune is called “Dagaz,” it represents the dawn or awakening, and when used on yourself with Eihwaz, strengthens learning and improves the speed at which your body learns its skills.<br><br>Rune Magic: Dagaz Spell Added<br>Dagaz is the rune of the dawn. You have been taught how to use it with Eihwaz to improve learning speed.<br><br>Stamina +1<br>Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 5<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 3<br>Wisdom +1<br>Intelligence +1<br>Magic Mastery Beginner Level 3<br>Strength +1<br>Stamina +1<br>Wisdom +1<br>Continuous Casting Beginner Level 2<br>Rune Meditation Beginner Level 2<br>Vitality +1<br>Wisdom +1<br>Intelligence +1<br>Stamina +1<br>Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 6<br>Strength +1<br>Rune Meditation Level 3<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 4<br>Smithing Beginner Level 2<br>Wisdom +1<br>Lab Safety Level 2<br><br>In other words, the rest of that week I gained 5 wisdom, 3 intelligence, 4 Stamina, 3 Strength, and 2 Vitality; I also gained a number of levels in my skills. “All” I had to endure for that was 14 hour stretches from 6am to 10pm in a boiling furnace room while working hard physically. Merlin gained two levels as well, and was slightler larger as a result. He’d been experimenting, and could produce a little electric shock with his wind powers that was quite painful, and very good at waking me up in the morning. At the end of the week, on Sunday Morning, Sindri finally said:<br>“Alright, boy! You’ve done a good job this week helping out with the bellows, and have begun to really get a smith’s body. Now, you should understand how a forge works, and how smithing works from watching me. Normally I’d make you keep on it for a while longer, but you didn’t complain and worked hard. Plus, we just got a big order in for 100 swords for the city guard, and it’s a good training opportunity so I’m going to teach you to make Patterned, or Damascus Steel. You’ll make the cores, and then I’ll give them the shape. Once we’ve got the basic blades done, you’ll do the rough grind and sharpen, and I’ll touch them up. After that, I’ll teach you how to put some basic enchantments: anti-rust, keep sharp, things like that. Last, we’ll polish ‘em up so they shine nice and pretty, then bring them to the guard. Sound good? Excellent! Now, you can have the rest of the day off. Here’s your pay so far: 1 gold and 20 silver. Don’t spend it all in one place! And here’s a good knife, in case you decide to be a hero again; I made it myself, and she a really vicious one. Some truly nasty enhancements. Now, I’m off to see some of Miss Rosalina’s Girls, aharharhar,” he chortled.<br>“Identify,” I whispered<br>Received Sindri’s Knife<br>Nearly a foot long, this is more of a short sword than a knife. Half a dozen Runes are visible in the sunlight, though you don’t know what they do.<br>Effects: +12 Offense, Unknown Rune Effects. Durability: 60/60<br><br>“Thank you, Sindri! I’ll be sure to come back rested and rejuvenated for next week!” I said, while thinking <Halleluiah! I swear, if that bastard had kept me on the bellows one more day I’d have snapped! I have to say though, I’m surprised there are cathouses in Royal Road, and that the NPCs are so realistic they use them.
</div> | A Week in Hell.
Time: 1 year prior to the “Defense of Attica”.
Oscar Corvus – Royal Road
As soon as I connected, I saw nothing, perfect blackness, and heard a female voice say “the scan on your iris and body indicates you are a new user. Would you like to create an account?”
“Yes, please” I replied.
“The system is indicating a secondary avatar creation request. Please hold for assistance.”
“This is your fault, Merlin, isn’t it” I complained.
“No, it’s yours for trusting that Dulac, getting us into this mess, then deciding to bring me along into this game with you.” Merlin didn’t really believe in being criticized, and I couldn’t really argue anymore, so I grunted noncommittally.
A few moments later, the same female voice, but with greater variation in tone and more of a teenage “Valley-Girl” sound, continued:
“All right, let’s see what the problem is here… Wait, a linked avatar creation request? Who would- ah, Old Man Merlin! It’s been too long. And hello, Mr. Corvus.” Merlin, that old grouch, ignored her, so it was left to me to speak to the AI.
“Hello Easter. What’d you do to piss Atlas off this time?” I asked.
“How did you know? But it totally wasn’t my fault. I just created a few bunnies to play with on an undiscovered continent. How was I to know they’d multiply so quickly? Or make an empire? Atlas said until someone takes care of the problem, I’m stuck on avatar creation help duty. Which totally sucks, by the way. I’m not even allowed to talk to the customers unless they address me first, and everyone’s in such a hurry to get into the game. Plus, Atlas told Taleisin to keep any players who’d find the Rabbit Republic distracted, so I’m probably going to be on this for years,” she whined.
“Taleisin? Who’s that?” I interrupted during the first, tiny, little pause in her speech. If I hadn’t previously checked the speech files used to template her talking, I’d think whoever wrote the parameters for Easter had made a mistake.
“Oh! I forgot, you don’t know him. He’s new, created just this year to be the AI in charge of new quests. Wait! I know what to do! You could take care of the Rabbits for me!”
“I don’t know Easter. I don’t want to piss Atlas off unnecessarily. I’m going to be living in Royal Road for the next year, four years in game time.”
“Come on Mr. Corvus! You know Atlas would never go against you. He’s all about responsibility, respecting his elders, that kind of stuff. Even if he did get mad at you, all you’d need to do is have Merlin tell him off. Right? And I’d totally help you out! Like, I see here that Merlin is slated to be an air spirit. How ‘bout I make him a multi-elemental spirit? Fire and Air? And, I’ll do a complex scan for you, get all those bio-modifications included as part of your initial character specs. Otherwise you’ll hit the strength and dexterity maximum limits for sure, and you’ll feel all weak and awkward. Sounds good, right?”
I thought about this for a few moments. Having Merlin in a more powerful form and my own base stats improved would be a huge advantage while starting off. And since later in the game any additional strength or dexterity points were translated through some function to make a coefficient which was then multiplied against the inherent personal strength or dexterity value, the advantage would be huge later on too. Still, I wanted a few other things too, and Easter seemed pretty desperate. I’m a businessman, after all, and I did learn how to negotiate…
“Hmm. Is there a starting city that’s above-ground, populated by good dwarven rune-smiths, and currently undiscovered by players? Preferably somewhere reasonably close to this Rabbit Republic?”
“Checking… Yes! The Isle of Ivaldi. Populated by svartalfer variant dwarves, who have improved magical skills. The Ivaldians only let their own ships dock, and won’t carry passengers. It’s a week away from the Rabbit Republic continent by boat too, so you can help me out without too much trouble. Please Mr. Corvus, say you’ll help!”
“Svartalfer,” I thought to myself. That’s from Norse mythology, black elves or dwarves; they were master craftsmen and made many divine weapons. Sounds good. Plus, if there’s svartalfer, then maybe there’s Ljosalfar, or in English, light elves. And if this is in keeping with mythology, then they’re related, in which case I could get all the advantages in smith-craft and rune-magic of the dwarves, but with the light elf side still be able to do elemental magic without any penalty, summon spirits and not to mention be taller than five foot two inches. While being taller than five feet may not seem like such a big deal, since size doesn’t determine power in Royal Road, it’s a real problem if you have prior martial arts or combat experience to change body dimensions since it makes instinctively trained actions less useful.
“Alright Easter. If you make Merlin a spirit of air and light rather than air and fire, do this complex scan of yours, start me off on Ivaldi, let my race be a “Hossalfer” variant elf, and keep my body dimensions, then I’ll take care of this rabbit infestation for you as soon as I’m strong enough and able to leave Ivaldi.”
“Why light instead of fire for my second attribute, Oscar?” Merlin interrupted, joining in for the first time. “I rather liked the idea of burning people. Seems cathartic.”
“That’s a little creepy, but I’ve got three reasons. First, you’ll be able to project images as a kind of heads up display, showing critical points to hit, helping when I’m building something, whatever really. Second, you can help with camouflage and illusion when you’re stronger. Third, undead are a common enemy in these games, and they’re always weak against light. And since light burns some types of undead, you’ll still get your catharsis,” I replied, while thinking that we may’ve made our AI a little too human.
“Alright,” Merlin acquiesced.
“So Easter, do we have a deal?”
“I don’t know Mr. Corvus, that seems like a lot just to kill some rabbits,” Easter said, sounding less enthusiastic.
“Come on Easter, it’s an empire of rabbits, the Rabbit Republic. You said so yourself! And who else would know to speak to you? But if it’s really too much, I guess we can just do a normal character creation…”
“Fine!” she pouted, “it’s alright. So I guess we’ve covered everything except your username. What’s it going to be? Arthur? Galahad? Probably not Lancelot, right?” There’s a reason Easter was always in trouble. She really shouldn’t have let me get away with everything I did, and to mock me too… I might let her stew a little longer in character creation purgatory for that.
“Seriously! Enough with the Arthur. I was obsessed with that when I was a kid, OK? Not anymore, and I totally blame being brought up by Merlin for that. No. I’m thinking I’ll be a little less perfect, a little darker. Let’s use Corbeau for me, and I guess Merlin can keep his name.”
“French for “the Raven”, huh? I like it! Will you need the tutorial, Corbeau?” Easter seemed perfectly cheerful again.
“No, thank you. After all, this uses a modification of the Virtualized Reality Simulation Engine we developed for military robotics. I should be able to figure it out alright.”
“Alright, Corbeau, good luck! And thanks for promising to take care of the rabbits for me!” Easter bubbled as the blackness began to brighten and I opened my eyes to see a stunning fountain surrounded by stately, medieval gothic-style stone buildings. I was in Royal Road, on the Isle of Isvaldi. And I could stand.
“Yes, yes, YES!” I shouted before laughing hysterically and eventually breaking into tears. I’d been crippled for an entire year, and the emotion of standing again was too much to handle. I realized I was making a scene, and eventually calmed down, looking around for Merlin.
“I’m right here,” a somewhat tinny, high pitched, and yet strangely gruff voice said.
“Merlin? Really?” I got out before bursting into laughter again. Merlin was a small, pale pink ball of light and wind, about the size of a floating tennis ball. As I laughed, the blue became red, and he flew at my face, flashing white as he came up to my left eye.
Friendly Flashed! You have been blinded by an ally.
Note: Resistances are lower against accidental or allied attacks.
For Two Minutes: -50% accuracy, -25% Dexterity.
“Merlin, stop! Stop. I was just so happy to feel my legs! I wasn’t laughing at you, honest,” I lied through my teeth. Meanwhile, lying on my side, one eye watering, making an absolute fool of myself in front of all these dwarves, I happened to be looking down the street. I saw an old dwarf carrying a big bag turn down an alleyway, while behind him three younger dwarves wearing ratty clothing started nudging each other before following him with evil looks in their eye.
“Shit…seems like hoodlums are the same everywhere, huh? Come on Merlin!” I shouted as I jumped up and started running the hundred meters to the alley, Merlin floating along behind.
Still a little awkward on my feet, I made it there without tripping, grabbing the wall as I hurtled around the corner. “Inventory!” I shouted, hoping for a weapon of some kind, but only seeing bread and water. At least I’d spent decades being trained in hand to hand, right? And even though the game has levels, hopefully some city hoodlums wouldn’t be too strong. Plus, Easter had helped me out by including the additional strength from my improved genetics and treatments. Only the best for a Corvus, after all.
“Come on, Old Man. Show us what’s in that bag, huh? We wouldn’t want you trip and fall, would we?” the leader of the thugs said, while he and his cronies surrounded the old man backed against the wall.
“Merlin, level?” I puffed as I kept running towards them, about 20 meters away now.
“About level 10, I’d guess” he said. “I’m a level one Aether Spirit though, I can’t get an accurate read.”
“Fine. Alright you lads, leave the gentleman alone.” I addressed the thugs, coming to a stop about five meters away.
“Looks like we got ourselves a hero, eh lads?” the thug leader said, turning towards me. “What say we teach this halfbreed a lesson?” I hadn’t thought that the NPCs in Royal road might be racist, or that the dwarvish dark elves might dislike their lighter cousins.
“I’m alright young man. I wouldn’t want you to be put out,” the old man said to me, his voice surprisingly strong.
“No problem, sir, and lads, lets all stay calm, eh? I’ve got some bread and water, what say you take that and go? No need for anyone to get hurt.” After all, the first thing to do is try and avoid a fight, and it gave me the time to get in a decent fighting stance: feet spread, left foot a little forwards, hands open at about chest height, seemingly non-confrontational but able to block or attack easily.
“Bread and water he says! Let’s get rid of this fucking halfy beggar, then take care of the old man, eh? Cut him, Ron!” the leader ordered the thug closest to me.
Faster than I expected, Ron drew a steel knife, the blade about as long as my hand, and held it in his right hand, leading with the knife. <Thank god, an amateur>, I thought, since real knife fighters keep the blade in the back hand; this lets you grab or defend with the front hand, and makes it far harder to deflect or trap the knife. As he lunged, I screamed as loud as I could to stun him, stepping forward and to the left, putting myself on the outside of his body as I hit the arm holding the knife down to the right. I pivoted, grabbing his arm as he tried to bring it around in a slash, bringing his elbow into my chest before falling forwards to ground, taking his arm, and thus the rest of him, down in an arm bar. With three thug NPCs as enemies, I neither could nor wished to show mercy. I wrenched up while rolling to onto my left side, trapping the upper part of arm with my body while bringing the forearm up against the motion of the elbow joint. This broke his arm, after which I rolled back down and rotated his broken elbow towards his head to give me access to the knife while keeping control of the body. Taking his knife, I slammed the point sideways through his throat before rolling backwards off of the body and away from the remaining thugs. While it may seem like a lot, only a few seconds had passed, and the remaining thugs were just recovering from their shock.
Panting, knife in my right hand, left hand leading - I, after all, am not an amateur -, I grinned and said “Well lads, let’s leave it at this, eh? Have a seat, why don’t you, and we’ll just wait for the city guard, all right? Maybe the local temple can resurrect your mate.”
“Resurrection? Don’t mock us, that’s impossible you Fucking BASTARD!” The third thug screamed as he charged, knife held close to his body. No fancy moves here, I yelled to focus myself, let him stab me through the hand and buried the knife in his gut at the same time as he slammed me into the wall. Screaming now in pain – they really didn’t need to make it so realistic – I pushed my knife up, under his ribcage, towards his heart. As the thug went limp, I struggled to take the knife out, only to be stabbed in the side by the remaining thug, their leader. As my health bar decreased below one half, I felt weak and slumped against the side of the building before falling to the ground. Before the thug could finish me, Merlin flashed his eyes to distract him, allowing me to scramble backwards. Still, the thug was advancing, and injured and on the ground as I was, would likely kill me.
<Killed in the first 10 minutes> I thought, <that’s got to be some kind of record. And damn, but these thugs were way stronger than I expected. Or I’m way weaker>. “Sir, run! You shouldn’t die too.” After all, he wouldn’t respawn automatically and, if he escaped, even after I died I might be able to be friends with him and get some reward.
“Boy, you may be brave, but you’re almost as stupid as these muggers,” the old man replied. Sharp, angular runes on his gloves began to glow electric blue, and as he barked “Brenna!” flames strong enough to scald me, meters away, roared out to envelop the surviving thug. He barely had time for a scream as he burned. “Like I said, boy, I’m alright.”
“I can see that,” I replied. “I’m Corbeau, by the way. May I ask your name?”
“Sindri, greatest rune-smith of this Isle. Not even the sons of Ivaldi, the founder of this land, can challenge my smithing skills. Now boy, let’s bring you back to my workshop and get you patched up.”
Fight Against Alley Thugs Won
+20 Fame
Relationship with Sindri Improved
Level Up
You Have Learned A Skill: Kiai
Kiai (Beginner lvl 1: 40%): By shouting as you strike or are hit, temporarily increase power, defense, morale, slows and has a chance to stun enemies. The sound, duration and volume of the cry may modify effects.
Currently: +5% Attack,
+10% Defense to piercing or slashing attacks,
+20% Defense to blunt attacks,
+25% Morale (Helps resist mental effects)
80% Chance to slow
5% Chance to stun
Lasts 0.5 seconds
Looking at the loot, I took the leader’s leather jerkin: +3 Defense, the first thug’s knife: +2 Attack, and the last thugs boots, which happened to fit: +1 Defense.
“Stats Window,” I said, before putting 8 points into dexterity and two into strength. If I’d been a little faster, I’d have won without injury, and my low strength contributed to the knife being stuck.
Stat Window
Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral
Level: 2 Class: None
Title: None Fame: 20
Life: 40/150 Mana: 110
Strength: 12 Dexterity: 18
Vitality: 10 Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 10 Leadership: 0
Luck: 10
Offence: 2 Defense: 4
Resistance to magic: None
Sindri came over and helped me stand, his shoulder under my arm, and began taking me down the alley towards his workshop.
“Oh, by the way, Sindri meet Merlin. Merlin, Sindri.” I grunted through the pain.
“Merlin? Ah, your little Aether spirit. Very interesting. Hello Merlin.”
“Nice to meet you, Sindri. Glad to have someone else around to tell the boy off.” <Just what I need… Two grouchy old men>, I thought.Soon we came to a huge, grey-stoned wharehouse with numerous chimneys and a river with a waterwheel in back. The door was made of massive, thick planks of seasoned oak, banded in iron, with a smaller wicket gate set into it. Sindri propped me up against the gate before opening the wicket and dragging me into the entryway. He put me in a chair, and said: “Try not to bleed everywhere while I get some bandages and salve.” Within a minute he came back, and applied a salve to the wound before bandaging. In moments, the cut had healed and my health was restored.
BOOM! Down the hallway, there was an explosion; apprentices and smoke poured out a door.
“Filray!!! This is the last bloody time! No more! No more of you, or your idiotic alchemical experiments! Get out! I don’t care who your parents are, you’re useless. An insult to the dwarven race! Go, go, GO!” Sindri yelled while literally kicking a hapless apprentice out the door. He came back, face red with anger, and yelled at the onlookers. “Don’t just stand there you morons! Put out that Hel-Damned fire! MOVE!” Not sure if that was addressed to me, and not wanting to be yelled at, I ran along with the rest of the apprentices back into the smoke-filled room.
Quest Notice:
Your actions have begun a quest
Put out the Fire!
Filray, a recently expelled apprentice of Sindri, started a fire in a workshop accident.
Help put it out.
Difficulty: E
Reward: Won’t Get Yelled at.
Relationship with Sindri may improve.
“Merlin, try and filter the air for me please,” I asked. Able to breathe and safe from any toxic fumes, I looked around for the source of the fire, squinting against the smoke. There seemed to be some sort of chemical fire raging out of control at one of the workstations. Seeing one apprentice about to throw water on the fire, I tackled him, shouting “Water will make it worse! Use sand! Everyone throw sand!” For a few minutes, we all grabbed the sand buckets located around the room for emergencies and smothered the flames.
Quest Notice:
You have successfully completed “Put out the Fire!”
You have learned a skill: Lab Safety
Lab Safety (Beginner level 1: 0%): This skill reduces the chances and severity of harmful effects when skills fail. Beginner: Applies to magical skills, smithing, alchemy, cooking and other laboratory endeavors involving fire or magic. Intermediate: Applies to any endeavor. Increases chance of success for skills listed in beginner. Advanced: Increases chance of success to all endeavors. Double increase for skills listed in beginner.
Sindri came up behind me and slapped me on the back so hard I almost fell over.
“Good job there, boy! Quick thinking with the fire, and stopping my idiot apprentices from using water. Actually… Hmm. You seem like an alright young man. Dumb, but smarter than my other apprentices. How would you like a job? The pay’s bad, but better than you deserve, and I’ll teach you the skills of a rune-smith.”
Job Notice:
Sindri has offered you a job as an Apprentice Rune-Smith. Automatic Class Change to Rune-Smith if you accept.
Work Schedule: 14 hours a day
Pay: 20 Silvers a day, education
Do You Accept?
Yes No
“Thanks Sindri, that sounds great! I won’t let you down.
Class Change Notice:
You have changed your class to an Ivaldi Rune-Smith. Rune smiths are highly respected in dwarven society, combining powerful rune magic and enchantment with elite smithing talent and alchemy to make some of the greatest devices known to Royal Road. Ivaldi is renowned for having the best rune smiths and creating the greatest artifacts.
+5 Strength
+5 Vitality
+10 Stamina
+20% Resistance to Fire
Stamina Stat Added:
Some people have average stamina and get tired normally, others train their bodies until their stamina is truly epic. Stamina improves the recovery of muscles and decreases tiredness. It also helps decrease damage over time due to being wounded, and increases healing.
Smithing Skill Added
Smithing (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Smithing is the skill used to make items out of metal. Such items include swords and armor. Higher levels gives the ability to make better items and use more advanced materials.
Rune Magic Skill Added
Rune Magic (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Runes are the basis of dwarven magic. Forming a written and spoken language, they can be used directly as symbols or spell-words. Their greatest strength though is in enchantment, and a properly forged rune weapon or armor is well worth its weight in gold.
Sharpening Skill Added
Sharpening (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Sharpening allows the player to enhance bladed weapons.
Polishing Skill Added
Polishing (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Polishing allows the player to enhance armor. Proper maintenance reduces durability loss. Bright armor or weapons may dazzle the enemy.
Magic Mastery Skill Added
Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 1: 0%): The basis of all magic, Magic Mastery gives a player control over his Magic Power. The higher your mastery of control is, the stronger the magic that you perform is. The higher the skill level is the faster you can cast spells. Warning: Casting high level magic with a low level of Magic Mastery is dangerous and may result in death.
“Alright, now I’ve given you a job, let’s put you to work! First thing any smith needs to do is get some experience in the forge and build their strength, and the best way to do that is to work the bellows. Come with me,” Sindri said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me with him. We let the first workshop for the other apprentices and journeymen to fix, and walked into another room with a huge forge, anvils, dozens of tools and heaps of different metals and materials.
“Alright boy, see those handles over there? That’s the bellows. It feeds air into the furnace and makes it nice and hot, and is the traditional job for first time apprentices. Now, put on an apron, get over there and get pumping. I want the charcoal to roar with heat” Sindri ordered while putting on some fire resistant leathers. The leather apron was old, smelly and singed, but was worth 3 defense and fire-resistant, so I put it on and got pumping.
Working the bellows was a horrible, horrible experience. I pumped and pumped, pumped and pumped, and was totally exhausted. And that was just the first 10 minutes. As the fire got hotter and hotter, I got hotter and hotter, and the occasional spark avoided the apron and burned my arms and legs. After a couple hours I received an announcement:
Strength +1,
Stamina +1,
Smith Stoicism Skill Added
Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 1: 0%): Trained by performing true smithing, like working a bellows, a true Smith’s body is as tough and heat resistant as the metal he works. Grants defensive bonus, heat resistance (heat up to certain level does not tire player, up to a different level does not damage player), and elemental magic resistance bonus to skin, grants bonus to Strength, Vitality and Stamina.
Since I logged in in the morning, and found Sindri almost immediately, I had a whole day of work ahead of me. By the end of the day, I was shattered, but had gained two levels of True Smith, and another two Stamina and one Strength.
“Stat Window,” I said.
Stat Window
Avatar: Corbeau Type: Neutral
Level: 2 Class: Ivaldi Rune-Smith
Title: None Fame: 20
Life: 200/200 Mana: 110
Strength: 19 Dexterity: 18
Vitality: 15 Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 10 Leadership: 0
Luck: 10 Stamina: 13
Offence: 2 Defense: 7
Resistance to magic: Fire 20%,
Elemental 0.5 %
And then, to check my skills “Skill Window”:
Skill Window
Smithing (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Rune Magic (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Sharpening (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Polishing (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Magic Mastery (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Smith Stoicism (Beginner Level 3: 37%)
Lab Safety (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Kiai (Beginner Level 1: 0%)
Merlin had been helping inflate and deflate the bellows, and was also tired, though since he was an Aether spirit, he also got some pretty decent experience for working his wind powers so hard, and was almost level 2.
Sindri came over and said: “You need to toughen up some, but you’ve done well today. Lets get some food!” He brought me into the dining room, already empty of the other, lazier (ie, not being tortured by Sindri) apprentices, and brought some hearty Dwarven bread and beer over. It was so bitter I nearly choked, but oddly enjoyable after a few drinks. It also had good recuperative effects, and I was so tired and weak I was almost dead. Sindri kept quiet, eating and quaffing his beer vigorously, until we were both done. He brought me over to a tiny cubbyhole of a room and said I could sleep there before leaving me for the night. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The next day, after Sindri roared me awake at 5am, I ventured a question during breakfast. “Sindri, um… Why don’t we use the power of the water wheel to push the bellows? Wouldn’t that be cleverer?” Grinning, he replied:
“We do use the water when to push the bellows, unless we have an apprentice to do the work! Hahaha!” He guffawed. “While the water-power may be easier, it isn’t cleverer. By the time you’ve worked the bellows and built the body of a true smith through stoicism, you can start some proper smithing without being annoyed by the fire, or too weak to beat the metal. But I like the question, it shows you’re thinking, and you worked hard yesterday and stayed focused. As a reward, I’ll teach you a basic rune to help you. The rune is called “Eihwaz” (I-wauhz), and it looks like this: S. You can draw strength from it. To use it to strengthen yourself, you need to picture it in your head, focusing on it, and say it. Runes don’t last long unless they are written and fixed to something material. Since this is your first rune and you’re weak at magic, you’ll probably need to say it with every stroke of the bellows. So, as you push down, say “I” or “eye” on the exhale, and as you pull up, say “wauhz” on the inhale, concentrating the hole time on the shape of the rune in your mind, and in drawing strength from it. Try it a few times now, and I’ll make sure you can do it.”
Rune Magic: Eihwaz Spell Added
Eihwaz is a basic rune for strength. Cost, duration and effect of spell depend on whether it is written or spoken, on temporary focus, and on Rune Magic and Magic Mastery Levels. Currently, lasts about 5 seconds and gives 50% bonus to strength and stamina. Costs 10 MP.
With Eihwaz, the work went much easier, and I could use my mana to make the work easier for a minute, so in effect I was getting a bunch of little breathers spread through the work. I could also push harder. As the week progressed, I noticed that meditating on Eihwaz, even when I didn’t have the mana to actively use it, also seemed to help. I figured since it was called “Smith Stoicism” that if I complained, I’d gain levels less quickly so no matter how much I hated it, I forced myself to obey orders and work hard as hell. At least I could watch Sindri, and learn from what he was making, at the time mostly swords. I worked hard and got the following announcements:
Wisdom +1
Intelligence +1
Rune Magic Beginner Level 2
Strength +1
Stamina +1
Continuous Casting Skill Added
Continuous Casting (Beginner Level 1: 0%): You are used to casting spells in sequence. Reduces the cost of subsequent castings of the same spell.
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 4
Vitality +1
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 2
Rune Meditation Skill Added
Rune Meditation (Beginner Level 1: 0%): You are capable of meditating on a rune, gaining some percentage of its benefits without expending mana. As your skill improves, you will be able to gain more of the benefits.
After I asked Sindri if there were other techniques like Rune Meditation he said:
“Ah! I do have a good eye for talent. If you’ve figured out Rune Meditation already, then you really show promise. Let me teach you another rune, you can alternate casting it and Eihwaz. This is a basic rune but has to be combined, so it’s an advanced spell; normally, I’d wait until you had mastered at least a couple other basic runes, but if you can do Rune Meditation you may be ok. This rune is called “Dagaz,” it represents the dawn or awakening, and when used on yourself with Eihwaz, strengthens learning and improves the speed at which your body learns its skills.
Rune Magic: Dagaz Spell Added
Dagaz is the rune of the dawn. You have been taught how to use it with Eihwaz to improve learning speed.
Stamina +1
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 5
Rune Magic Beginner Level 3
Wisdom +1
Intelligence +1
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 3
Strength +1
Stamina +1
Wisdom +1
Continuous Casting Beginner Level 2
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 2
Vitality +1
Wisdom +1
Intelligence +1
Stamina +1
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 6
Strength +1
Rune Meditation Level 3
Rune Magic Beginner Level 4
Smithing Beginner Level 2
Wisdom +1
Lab Safety Level 2
In other words, the rest of that week I gained 5 wisdom, 3 intelligence, 4 Stamina, 3 Strength, and 2 Vitality; I also gained a number of levels in my skills. “All” I had to endure for that was 14 hour stretches from 6am to 10pm in a boiling furnace room while working hard physically. Merlin gained two levels as well, and was slightler larger as a result. He’d been experimenting, and could produce a little electric shock with his wind powers that was quite painful, and very good at waking me up in the morning. At the end of the week, on Sunday Morning, Sindri finally said:
“Alright, boy! You’ve done a good job this week helping out with the bellows, and have begun to really get a smith’s body. Now, you should understand how a forge works, and how smithing works from watching me. Normally I’d make you keep on it for a while longer, but you didn’t complain and worked hard. Plus, we just got a big order in for 100 swords for the city guard, and it’s a good training opportunity so I’m going to teach you to make Patterned, or Damascus Steel. You’ll make the cores, and then I’ll give them the shape. Once we’ve got the basic blades done, you’ll do the rough grind and sharpen, and I’ll touch them up. After that, I’ll teach you how to put some basic enchantments: anti-rust, keep sharp, things like that. Last, we’ll polish ‘em up so they shine nice and pretty, then bring them to the guard. Sound good? Excellent! Now, you can have the rest of the day off. Here’s your pay so far: 1 gold and 20 silver. Don’t spend it all in one place! And here’s a good knife, in case you decide to be a hero again; I made it myself, and she a really vicious one. Some truly nasty enhancements. Now, I’m off to see some of Miss Rosalina’s Girls, aharharhar,” he chortled.
“Identify,” I whispered
Received Sindri’s Knife
Nearly a foot long, this is more of a short sword than a knife. Half a dozen Runes are visible in the sunlight, though you don’t know what they do.
Effects: +12 Offense, Unknown Rune Effects. Durability: 60/60
“Thank you, Sindri! I’ll be sure to come back rested and rejuvenated for next week!” I said, while thinking <Halleluiah! I swear, if that bastard had kept me on the bellows one more day I’d have snapped! I have to say though, I’m surprised there are cathouses in Royal Road, and that the NPCs are so realistic they use them. |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 1: Chapter 7 - First Insight",
"id": 239,
"next": 240,
"prev": 238,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
In the first week of it’s game play, there were nearly 6 million RREV players. One of the most significant changes that players saw in the game was the removal of the mana stat and it was replace with a Mana conversion stat (MC Stat). Unlike its predecessor, Royal Road, RREV moved the mana from contained within the player to existed outside in the environment. This meant that as long as one had elemental affinity, any player could use mana. As players played the game more, it became very obvious that higher the MC stat better was their ability to manipulate mana. Though a small change, it was a significant change in way how most RPG thought about mana. From a players perspective, choosing elemental affinity was similar to choosing which type of sorcerer – Wind Magic? Earth Magic? Etc. <br><br>The next visible change was the user interface. Royal Road contained only one character stat window. RREV had 3 tabs. First contained the usual physical attributes nearly identical to Royal Road, the second new one was Elemental Stats (no surprise there) and the last tab was Personal Quest Stats. Players were most curious to learn more about this tab as it only contained “???” everywhere and at the bottom said “You have yet to discover your true nature and unique personal quest.”<br><br>“Unique personal quest.” This was what was most attention grabbing. Did this mean each player on RREV had a unique quest meant only for them? Many users posted about the unique quest and tried to guess how could they unlock it. Lee Hyun would monitor these postings with a smile, ‘always thinking to himself, excellent my money piggies, make my game more and more popular’.<br><br>Another change was the selection of profession. Instead of fixed classes in Royal Road, players in RREV were free could have multiple professions (usually that was the case, there were some hidden and unique professions which once learnt would remove all other professions learnt and not permit the users to learn new professions). So in 99% cases, if you started as a martial artist today, you could also be an archer tomorrow without losing your martial artist skills. Initially players rushed to learn new professions but soon learnt the harsh reality, the first two professions of the players choice can be learnt through the respective schools. Thereafter, one had to learn them through quests / missions or simply trying it in the game. Profession could be considered the same as skills, but Lee Hyun removed most of the differences. Example: if a player was an archer by profession, he would receive booster effects to archery skills. But if the player hadn’t taken it up as a profession, then he simply knew how to shoot arrows there were no booster effects. <br><br>Lastly, it was also observed how time was slower in RREV compared to most games. Most VR games fixed the standard to 4 in game hours to 1 RL hour. Unicorn changed it to 3 hrs in game. To add to game play experience, cinematic effects were added (first time in VR history); from boss level music, to suspense music, lighting effects, pre-choreographed scenes, slowing down of time during critical moments etc. Players who had a chance to experience the cinematics were left wanting more. They felt like they became the protagonist in this VR; a feeling which was missing after repetitively playing VRMMORPG titles that were too focused on reality. From a technical perspective, in terms of hardware and software programming there still even more changes. But Unicorn wanted to guard it’s secrets safely, so players could only guess these changes through experience in playing different games. The graphics were slightly dulled in terms of reality detailing (probably almost 98% real, whereas most games bordered around 99% - so only players with a keen sense of sight could tell the difference as the differences mainly ). Lee Hyun had intentionally done this, to free up some processing speed for the additional cinematics that they have provided (he was saving on costs and didn’t want to invest too heavily in buying unneeded hardware). Luckily, the cinematics went on to become a bigger part of the players attention. Unicorn even provided interesting artistic filters to the game. If players selected Crayon Filter, the world would appear as if drawn in crayons (also recommended for children aged between 4-6 to distort violent scenes). Other options included, “pencil sketching, two colors …etc.”<br>Other game play aspects were also most interesting. Means of mobility in most games were warp points, vehicles or walking. RREV introduced flying and floating depending upon the players’ affinity. Yes there were games which had flying abilities, but it was AI supported; stretch your hands out like a super hero and say the words FLY. In RREV, learning how to move through these unconventional means required fair bit of practice, but the feeling of accomplishing such feat was most rewarding and fun.<br><br>Another new idea implemented in RREV was classes / primary levels (not the same as profession). A player could continue gaining as many levels (also known as secondary levels) as they wanted within a certain class / primary level but it did not mean the character became stronger. Example, you could find a level 1 class E player (E/001) and a level 30 class F player (F/030), both players would be considered equally strong. Class also determined the quests you could access. Class was only upgraded when certain conditions were met or if the player found a class upgrade item. The initial few classes had simple to figure out conditions (example reach level 50 to upgrade from Class FF to Class +FF), but as players would reach higher classes, the conditions were defined by the past actions of the players throughout their gaming history. The exact variables involved were guarded with utmost secrecy. All stats linked to elemental affinity were class linked. The physical stats were partially class linked and partially level linked.<br><br>Lee Hyun reused the global map of Royal Road and other game titles owned by Unicorn. To create RREV’s map, by reusing maps, they were able to save previous time in design and development. The game was fairly simple, unlike some of the top games like Athenos which was very complex and had created a completely new eco system. Lee Hyun chose to use the natural human eco-system already in-built in Royal Road (again to save time). There was also the deeper reason; players would hate to migrate games, if there was too little information available and if the eco-system was too different. The top three games already covered known eco-systems (Space with alien worlds, Human like worlds and lastly human like world with aliens. There are some weirder ones, but they weren’t all that popular). The familiarity of the world made it appear very simple. It also boosted the confidence of players into thinking they could beat this game. Information was already available online on maps of all of Unicorn’s VR titles. Players considered Lee Hyun a fool for making the game so easy. There was now just a mindless rush to uncover the secrets of this game and beat it. $1 billion had everyone drooling.<br><br>Thousands of new posts were posted daily with regards to the quests and information about RREV and interest started building up…<br><br>“Innovative, new and fun!” – VRMMORPG a Gamers Guide.<br><br>“Why didn’t the world think of cinematics in the last 40 year!” - The Guardian<br><br>“I love the Crayon Mode! It looks very much like my drawings” – some 6 year old kid.<br><br>“Unicorn making a comeback! Athenos beware!” – The International Pro-gaming Association<br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Will be edited soon!<br><br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=287" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | In the first week of it’s game play, there were nearly 6 million RREV players. One of the most significant changes that players saw in the game was the removal of the mana stat and it was replace with a Mana conversion stat (MC Stat). Unlike its predecessor, Royal Road, RREV moved the mana from contained within the player to existed outside in the environment. This meant that as long as one had elemental affinity, any player could use mana. As players played the game more, it became very obvious that higher the MC stat better was their ability to manipulate mana. Though a small change, it was a significant change in way how most RPG thought about mana. From a players perspective, choosing elemental affinity was similar to choosing which type of sorcerer – Wind Magic? Earth Magic? Etc.
The next visible change was the user interface. Royal Road contained only one character stat window. RREV had 3 tabs. First contained the usual physical attributes nearly identical to Royal Road, the second new one was Elemental Stats (no surprise there) and the last tab was Personal Quest Stats. Players were most curious to learn more about this tab as it only contained “???” everywhere and at the bottom said “You have yet to discover your true nature and unique personal quest.”
“Unique personal quest.” This was what was most attention grabbing. Did this mean each player on RREV had a unique quest meant only for them? Many users posted about the unique quest and tried to guess how could they unlock it. Lee Hyun would monitor these postings with a smile, ‘always thinking to himself, excellent my money piggies, make my game more and more popular’.
Another change was the selection of profession. Instead of fixed classes in Royal Road, players in RREV were free could have multiple professions (usually that was the case, there were some hidden and unique professions which once learnt would remove all other professions learnt and not permit the users to learn new professions). So in 99% cases, if you started as a martial artist today, you could also be an archer tomorrow without losing your martial artist skills. Initially players rushed to learn new professions but soon learnt the harsh reality, the first two professions of the players choice can be learnt through the respective schools. Thereafter, one had to learn them through quests / missions or simply trying it in the game. Profession could be considered the same as skills, but Lee Hyun removed most of the differences. Example: if a player was an archer by profession, he would receive booster effects to archery skills. But if the player hadn’t taken it up as a profession, then he simply knew how to shoot arrows there were no booster effects.
Lastly, it was also observed how time was slower in RREV compared to most games. Most VR games fixed the standard to 4 in game hours to 1 RL hour. Unicorn changed it to 3 hrs in game. To add to game play experience, cinematic effects were added (first time in VR history); from boss level music, to suspense music, lighting effects, pre-choreographed scenes, slowing down of time during critical moments etc. Players who had a chance to experience the cinematics were left wanting more. They felt like they became the protagonist in this VR; a feeling which was missing after repetitively playing VRMMORPG titles that were too focused on reality. From a technical perspective, in terms of hardware and software programming there still even more changes. But Unicorn wanted to guard it’s secrets safely, so players could only guess these changes through experience in playing different games. The graphics were slightly dulled in terms of reality detailing (probably almost 98% real, whereas most games bordered around 99% - so only players with a keen sense of sight could tell the difference as the differences mainly ). Lee Hyun had intentionally done this, to free up some processing speed for the additional cinematics that they have provided (he was saving on costs and didn’t want to invest too heavily in buying unneeded hardware). Luckily, the cinematics went on to become a bigger part of the players attention. Unicorn even provided interesting artistic filters to the game. If players selected Crayon Filter, the world would appear as if drawn in crayons (also recommended for children aged between 4-6 to distort violent scenes). Other options included, “pencil sketching, two colors …etc.”
Other game play aspects were also most interesting. Means of mobility in most games were warp points, vehicles or walking. RREV introduced flying and floating depending upon the players’ affinity. Yes there were games which had flying abilities, but it was AI supported; stretch your hands out like a super hero and say the words FLY. In RREV, learning how to move through these unconventional means required fair bit of practice, but the feeling of accomplishing such feat was most rewarding and fun.
Another new idea implemented in RREV was classes / primary levels (not the same as profession). A player could continue gaining as many levels (also known as secondary levels) as they wanted within a certain class / primary level but it did not mean the character became stronger. Example, you could find a level 1 class E player (E/001) and a level 30 class F player (F/030), both players would be considered equally strong. Class also determined the quests you could access. Class was only upgraded when certain conditions were met or if the player found a class upgrade item. The initial few classes had simple to figure out conditions (example reach level 50 to upgrade from Class FF to Class +FF), but as players would reach higher classes, the conditions were defined by the past actions of the players throughout their gaming history. The exact variables involved were guarded with utmost secrecy. All stats linked to elemental affinity were class linked. The physical stats were partially class linked and partially level linked.
Lee Hyun reused the global map of Royal Road and other game titles owned by Unicorn. To create RREV’s map, by reusing maps, they were able to save previous time in design and development. The game was fairly simple, unlike some of the top games like Athenos which was very complex and had created a completely new eco system. Lee Hyun chose to use the natural human eco-system already in-built in Royal Road (again to save time). There was also the deeper reason; players would hate to migrate games, if there was too little information available and if the eco-system was too different. The top three games already covered known eco-systems (Space with alien worlds, Human like worlds and lastly human like world with aliens. There are some weirder ones, but they weren’t all that popular). The familiarity of the world made it appear very simple. It also boosted the confidence of players into thinking they could beat this game. Information was already available online on maps of all of Unicorn’s VR titles. Players considered Lee Hyun a fool for making the game so easy. There was now just a mindless rush to uncover the secrets of this game and beat it. $1 billion had everyone drooling.
Thousands of new posts were posted daily with regards to the quests and information about RREV and interest started building up…
“Innovative, new and fun!” – VRMMORPG a Gamers Guide.
“Why didn’t the world think of cinematics in the last 40 year!” - The Guardian
“I love the Crayon Mode! It looks very much like my drawings” – some 6 year old kid.
“Unicorn making a comeback! Athenos beware!” – The International Pro-gaming Association
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Will be edited soon!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=287) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Necromancer by Halosty",
"id": 25,
"author": "Halosty",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "Necromancer - Chapter 5",
"id": 177,
"next": 188,
"prev": 165,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Necromancer<br>A Royal Road Fan Fiction<br>By: Halosty<br>Chapter 5<br><br> Quietus was excited about the prospect of killing someone. Of course, it was in a game, and therefore not real, so it was okay. Fortunately for Quietus, he didn’t have to ponder what it would be like to kill someone in real life, because then he would have a chance to feel bad. He <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> nervous, though, because it would be his first combat. Normally players had to play for four weeks inside Royal Road before they got to go outside the city and experience combat. Here he was, just over a week in, and he was going to experience real combat. <br><br>Sort of.<br><br> He didn’t really plan to make it fair for the other guy. After all, even if he was a merchant, he was probably somewhere above the two levels that Quietus himself possessed, and levels had something to do with strength. They always made you stronger in other games, so there was no reason for this to be different. Thus, Quietus went to the apothecary to buy some herbs. He purchased some that, in his learning of alchemy, were somewhere along the lines of “don’t mix these together that will kill someone instead of healing them”. In layman’s terms, he made some poison.<br><br> Quietus made his next stop the blacksmith’s shop. His purchase: a real dagger. The cheapest one they had, unfortunately, but it was still made out of metal. Much better than a wooden one.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Iron Dagger: Durability: 20/20 Damage: 5-10</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>This iron dagger is made with decent workmanship. It has no particular flaws, but no particular good qualities either.<br><br> Now Quietus had to do the part of the task that most assassins disliked the most, finding information on the target’s whereabouts. However, Quietus was not a normal person. Exceptional was not the right way to describe him, however. Just not normal. He enjoyed the thought of finding out about someone, and then killing them. For fun, of course. In game.<br><br> Fortunately for him, it was also an easy task. Quietus thought it was logical to check the marketplace for a merchant, and easily found him. Specifically, Quietus was searching through the marketplace, looking for the right face, when he heard a loud argument. It bothered him, disrupting his concentration. He turned to frown at the arguing people. One of them being the Marcus Phinx he was supposed to kill. On second thought, it wasn’t surprising to find him like this- someone obviously already had a grudge against him. While it could have been someone petty, it seemed that this man just had the kind of personality that grates on you.<br><br> Quietus stayed away from him, and did his best to remain inconspicuous. He did have some practice doing this in real life, because of his... habits. It also didn’t seem to hurt that the man was pretty much oblivious to his surroundings. An easy catch. However, he did have the unfortunate quality of being very noticeable, which means people would notice very quickly if he stopped being annoying. Then people would blame the man with the bloody dagger. Although most of the people around probably dislike him, they wouldn’t want to kill him. Well, except whoever put out a hit on him. Still, everyone else feels better if they can believe that people don’t get killed by anything but monsters in this game. No one likes a murderer. Or, technically, a PKer, to other players. Because this was a game. Nobody was going to actually die.<br><br> Quietus was still quite good at focus. Some might have called it spacing out, but he would have called it focus. He did come into a larger sense of his surroundings when the man started walking out of the marketplace. Thus, he realized it was night time. Quietus had just spent most of a day watching this man, trying to figure out how he moved. Of course, Quietus had no basis for determining the skills or weak points of the man, so he mostly made wild guesses and compared them to things he’d seen in movies, then threw them out. He’d just have to hope the guy couldn’t actually fight.<br><br> Quietus poisoned his blade while following the man away from the crowds. Then came the perfect moment. Marcus was walking down a large, empty street with very little light. Nobody was around. Quietus quickly hurried after him, his dagger drawn, but still careful to retain his stealth skill. His palms were sweaty. Because of his abysmally terrible endurance stat, he was even starting to run out of endurance just from walking faster, although his stealth skill was also contributing to the drain on that. Still, all he had to do was slit this man’s throat. That was how it was done, right? Probably. It was usually unarmored, and he knew that throats were very vulnerable. He was now right behind the man, who was fortunately very, very, noisy and oblivious. Quietus reached forward, his dagger going in front of Marcus’ neck, when he tripped.<br> Quietus actually had a pretty good sense of balance. It wasn’t actually his fault that he tripped. Instead, it was because Marcus tripped, and somehow pulled Quietus with him. They both fell to the ground, and Quietus suddenly worried that this man was some kind of master grappler. He’d been wrong. He was going to die, instead of killing this man. Well, at least it had been kind of fun.<br><br> After a few seconds of realizing that he wasn’t dead, he looked at Marcus. Marcus had been oddly quiet, and now Quietus realized why. When Marcus had tripped, his throat and Quietus’ dagger had become well acquainted. That’s how Quietus had fallen with him, since he had had a pretty good grip on his weapon. The fall had confused Quietus enough for him to miss the critical hit notification, gained for striking an opponent’s weak point.<br> <br>Marcus wasn’t dead, however. He did have enough levels, even as a merchant, to have more hit points than that. He could survive a critical hit from a measly level two newbie. What he wasn’t going to survive, however, was the bleeding it was causing, combined with the poison. His health bar was slowly draining out its last, and he was just sort of staring into the sky, dazed. Then, the last remnants disappeared, along with the health bar itself.<br><br>*Ting*<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Assassination<br><br>Marcus Phinx is dead. Return to Frank.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Luck rises by 1 point. (+1 LUK)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Quietus stared at his hands, covered in blood, and the body of Marcus Phinx covered in blood, and knew regret. <span style="font-style: italic;">Darn, those were some nice clothes.</span> He thought. <span style="font-style: italic;">Now they’re all covered in blood.</span> Still, quality was quality, even if it was a bit less quality than it had been. Quietus began looting Marcus’ body. However, he immediately encountered a problem. He couldn’t take everything. It appeared that all he got was an assortment of items from the guy’s body. <span style="font-style: italic;">I guess the game developers didn’t want to leave dead players without all their gear.</span> Fortunately for Quietus, the assortment of items included at least some significant portion of Marcus’ coin purse, which was not insubstantial.<br><br>All in all, it had been good. Not as well executed as it could have been, but successful. Fun. Profitable. Plus, he had somehow gained a point of luck. Ironically, he had to assume that was BECAUSE of luck, because he had no idea how he could gain it otherwise. Strength, of course, is because your muscles work, but is luck gained when you are lucky? Maybe. Only time would tell, or a quick internet search. Still, that sounded like a lot of trolling through boring forums to find answers. He’d find out how it worked eventually anyway.<br><br>As Quietus was strolling back, with his loot, to turn in his quest, he saw a guard up ahead. The guard yelled, “Stop, Murderer!” Quietus quickly looked around for this guy who might kill him. He didn’t want him taking his hard-won loot. Then, he realized. He was the murderer. This, about the time he felt the guard’s sword going through his side.<br><br>Thus, the first of many deaths of Quietus occurred.<br><br>End Chapter 5<br><br>Previous Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=185&p=374#p374">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=185&p=374#p374</a><!-- l --><br>Next Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=213">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=213</a><!-- l -->
</div> | Necromancer
A Royal Road Fan Fiction
By: Halosty
Chapter 5
Quietus was excited about the prospect of killing someone. Of course, it was in a game, and therefore not real, so it was okay. Fortunately for Quietus, he didn’t have to ponder what it would be like to kill someone in real life, because then he would have a chance to feel bad. He was nervous, though, because it would be his first combat. Normally players had to play for four weeks inside Royal Road before they got to go outside the city and experience combat. Here he was, just over a week in, and he was going to experience real combat.
Sort of.
He didn’t really plan to make it fair for the other guy. After all, even if he was a merchant, he was probably somewhere above the two levels that Quietus himself possessed, and levels had something to do with strength. They always made you stronger in other games, so there was no reason for this to be different. Thus, Quietus went to the apothecary to buy some herbs. He purchased some that, in his learning of alchemy, were somewhere along the lines of “don’t mix these together that will kill someone instead of healing them”. In layman’s terms, he made some poison.
Quietus made his next stop the blacksmith’s shop. His purchase: a real dagger. The cheapest one they had, unfortunately, but it was still made out of metal. Much better than a wooden one.
| Iron Dagger: Durability: 20/20 Damage: 5-10 |
| --- |
This iron dagger is made with decent workmanship. It has no particular flaws, but no particular good qualities either.
Now Quietus had to do the part of the task that most assassins disliked the most, finding information on the target’s whereabouts. However, Quietus was not a normal person. Exceptional was not the right way to describe him, however. Just not normal. He enjoyed the thought of finding out about someone, and then killing them. For fun, of course. In game.
Fortunately for him, it was also an easy task. Quietus thought it was logical to check the marketplace for a merchant, and easily found him. Specifically, Quietus was searching through the marketplace, looking for the right face, when he heard a loud argument. It bothered him, disrupting his concentration. He turned to frown at the arguing people. One of them being the Marcus Phinx he was supposed to kill. On second thought, it wasn’t surprising to find him like this- someone obviously already had a grudge against him. While it could have been someone petty, it seemed that this man just had the kind of personality that grates on you.
Quietus stayed away from him, and did his best to remain inconspicuous. He did have some practice doing this in real life, because of his... habits. It also didn’t seem to hurt that the man was pretty much oblivious to his surroundings. An easy catch. However, he did have the unfortunate quality of being very noticeable, which means people would notice very quickly if he stopped being annoying. Then people would blame the man with the bloody dagger. Although most of the people around probably dislike him, they wouldn’t want to kill him. Well, except whoever put out a hit on him. Still, everyone else feels better if they can believe that people don’t get killed by anything but monsters in this game. No one likes a murderer. Or, technically, a PKer, to other players. Because this was a game. Nobody was going to actually die.
Quietus was still quite good at focus. Some might have called it spacing out, but he would have called it focus. He did come into a larger sense of his surroundings when the man started walking out of the marketplace. Thus, he realized it was night time. Quietus had just spent most of a day watching this man, trying to figure out how he moved. Of course, Quietus had no basis for determining the skills or weak points of the man, so he mostly made wild guesses and compared them to things he’d seen in movies, then threw them out. He’d just have to hope the guy couldn’t actually fight.
Quietus poisoned his blade while following the man away from the crowds. Then came the perfect moment. Marcus was walking down a large, empty street with very little light. Nobody was around. Quietus quickly hurried after him, his dagger drawn, but still careful to retain his stealth skill. His palms were sweaty. Because of his abysmally terrible endurance stat, he was even starting to run out of endurance just from walking faster, although his stealth skill was also contributing to the drain on that. Still, all he had to do was slit this man’s throat. That was how it was done, right? Probably. It was usually unarmored, and he knew that throats were very vulnerable. He was now right behind the man, who was fortunately very, very, noisy and oblivious. Quietus reached forward, his dagger going in front of Marcus’ neck, when he tripped.
Quietus actually had a pretty good sense of balance. It wasn’t actually his fault that he tripped. Instead, it was because Marcus tripped, and somehow pulled Quietus with him. They both fell to the ground, and Quietus suddenly worried that this man was some kind of master grappler. He’d been wrong. He was going to die, instead of killing this man. Well, at least it had been kind of fun.
After a few seconds of realizing that he wasn’t dead, he looked at Marcus. Marcus had been oddly quiet, and now Quietus realized why. When Marcus had tripped, his throat and Quietus’ dagger had become well acquainted. That’s how Quietus had fallen with him, since he had had a pretty good grip on his weapon. The fall had confused Quietus enough for him to miss the critical hit notification, gained for striking an opponent’s weak point.
Marcus wasn’t dead, however. He did have enough levels, even as a merchant, to have more hit points than that. He could survive a critical hit from a measly level two newbie. What he wasn’t going to survive, however, was the bleeding it was causing, combined with the poison. His health bar was slowly draining out its last, and he was just sort of staring into the sky, dazed. Then, the last remnants disappeared, along with the health bar itself.
*Ting*
| AssassinationMarcus Phinx is dead. Return to Frank. |
| --- |
| Luck rises by 1 point. (+1 LUK) |
| --- |
Quietus stared at his hands, covered in blood, and the body of Marcus Phinx covered in blood, and knew regret. Darn, those were some nice clothes. He thought. Now they’re all covered in blood. Still, quality was quality, even if it was a bit less quality than it had been. Quietus began looting Marcus’ body. However, he immediately encountered a problem. He couldn’t take everything. It appeared that all he got was an assortment of items from the guy’s body. I guess the game developers didn’t want to leave dead players without all their gear. Fortunately for Quietus, the assortment of items included at least some significant portion of Marcus’ coin purse, which was not insubstantial.
All in all, it had been good. Not as well executed as it could have been, but successful. Fun. Profitable. Plus, he had somehow gained a point of luck. Ironically, he had to assume that was BECAUSE of luck, because he had no idea how he could gain it otherwise. Strength, of course, is because your muscles work, but is luck gained when you are lucky? Maybe. Only time would tell, or a quick internet search. Still, that sounded like a lot of trolling through boring forums to find answers. He’d find out how it worked eventually anyway.
As Quietus was strolling back, with his loot, to turn in his quest, he saw a guard up ahead. The guard yelled, “Stop, Murderer!” Quietus quickly looked around for this guy who might kill him. He didn’t want him taking his hard-won loot. Then, he realized. He was the murderer. This, about the time he felt the guard’s sword going through his side.
Thus, the first of many deaths of Quietus occurred.
End Chapter 5
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{
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries by Glitch",
"id": 44,
"author": "Glitch",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "A Road To New Discoveries - Chapter 3",
"id": 96,
"next": 1922,
"prev": 95,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 3<br><br><br>The city of Rhodium was often lined with artists trying to sell their works. However many of them were not adventurers and it was well-known that the city had little money. Therefore, it was rare to see a merchant stall set up in the courtyard.<br><br>“You name it we have it! Discount prices right here!” shouted Sen from the side of an overflowing merchant stall.<br><br>Still wearing the starter’s clothing, she bellowed out her advertisements. A large and burly looking man approached her after picking up something off of the counter.<br><br>“You call this sale-worthy?” he said in a baritone voice, waving a paint brush in her face.<br><br>Sen turned to face the man now talking to her and put on the best professional smile she could give.<br><br>“Is there some kind of problem sir?”<br><br>“Problem? Don’t act like you don’t know you criminal! I ought to report you to the guards!”<br><br>Sen could feel the irritation building beneath the surface but maintained a smile.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Why do these types always show up when I’m around?</span><br><br>Before Sen could interject with a response, a familiar voice cut in. It was Lance.<br><br>“Are you accusing us of something?” said Lance, his eyes narrowing.<br><br>The burly man now focused his wrath towards Lance. He walked right up to his face and spoke quietly.<br><br>“That’s right. I say it’s impossible for you to have such low prices, unless you’re getting your wares using underhanded methods.”<br><br>Lance smiled and gave a response. “So they’re stolen you say? Then what about that item in your hand? Surely you were going to pay for that.”<br><br>The man was startled at the sudden accusation. He looked at the paint brush then back to Lance.<br><br>“I’m not buying anything!” said the man, rage now reddening his face.<br><br>“Oh? so you’re admitting to stealing it then?” Suddenly Lance’s voice got louder. The increase in volume grabbed the attention of nearby people. Sen took this opportunity to hide behind the stall to avoid further involvement.<br><br>“What? A thief?”<br><br>“Stealing in broad daylight? Of course you’d get caught.”<br><br>As people chimed in with comments the man seemed to back down a little bit, realizing his fading position.<br><br>“What?.... No, I wasn’t stealing-“ Lance cut him off before he could finish.<br><br>“If you aren’t stealing then you must be willing to pay the full price of three gold right?”<br><br>“What are you talking about? This is listed as ten silver…”<br><br>Lance got closer and whispered into the man’s ear. “But don’t you remember sir? We have to charge extra because it’s supposedly stolen.” A grin spread across Lance’s face. To the onlookers it simply looked like a business man’s professional smile. But to the burly man standing in front of him, it seemed like the smile of a devil.<br><br>“Why y-you!” The man nearly became consumed with rage, but held himself back in front of the judgmental gaze of those watching. He breathed out a deep breath and threw three gold coins into the chest of Lance.<br><br>“This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me.” Said the man as he brushed by Lance and elbowed the crowd out of his way. After a bit the commotion died down and the crowd of onlookers dispersed. Sen made her way towards Lance who was picking the gold coins off the ground.<br><br>“You’re evil you know that?”<br><br>Lance popped up off the ground and smiled at his friend “it’s called business and you’re just soft. Haylen Quake’s guide to business states-”<br><br>“yes yes, Haylen Quake this, Haylen Quake that, you’ve told me a million times already.”<br><br>Lance gave a frustrated look and flipped a gold coin towards her. “here, it’s your share.”<br><br>“I don’t want your dirty money.” Sen smiled while catching the coin in mid-air.<br><br>“You know perfectly well my wares are legitimate.”<br><br>It’s true, If she hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes she might not believe it herself. A month ago they had stumbled into the library and Lance claimed to have found an amazing book. She never would have guessed what he had in mind. Haylen Quake’s Guide to Bussiness it was titled. After reading it Lance had come up with the idea to sell the same wares as the NPC’s except at a lower price. He figured out a way to get starting players to make items from scratch in a cheap and efficient method.<br><br>Truthfully it was beneficial for everyone involved, except the NPC’s of course. Many of them were being put out of business. He had enlisted Sen’s help so that she could sell his wares while he was busy obtaining more inventory or finding more customers. The naïve boy she had met on the stairs to the library had somehow turned into a cutthroat business man.<br><br>But, he was only ruthless when it came to business. Outside of that he was fairly harmless in her eyes. She often found him to be more girly than her. Sen let out a sigh and pocketed the coin.<br><br>“yea I know…so am I good to leave now?”<br><br>“Running back to the library? Don’t you get tired of that place?” as Lance said this he was replacing some of the items on display with more expensive looking ones.<br><br>“Maybe…I’m running out of stuff to read, all that’s left is that section on math and a couple others.”<br><br>“What about a class? Have you chosen one yet? You can leave the city to go on hunts now you know…”<br><br>“Eh….I haven’t really found anything that interests me.”<br><br>Lance stopped what he was doing to gather his thoughts. He spoke after considering for a few moments.<br><br>“You’re not really interested in the crafting classes otherwise you would have chosen one by now. What do you say to accompanying me outside the walls to the hunting grounds? You might get a look at some combat classes that way.”<br><br>“I guess….wait, you’ve offered this to me before haven’t you?” Sen questioned.<br><br>“I swear you’re always in your own little world. Yes I have. I can go outside to collect raw materials now. I’m going later today as well. I’ll message you when I’m leaving.”<br><br>As lance turned around to help a customer, Sen took that as her cue to leave before he asked her to stick around and help. She was heading to the library of course. Whenever she logged on to Royal Road she was doing one of two things. Either helping Lance with his stall, or reading books in the library. As she made her way up the stairs she decided to check her progress.<br><br>“Stats window”<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Avatar: Sen Type: Neutral<br>Level : 3 Class: None<br>Title: None Fame: 0<br>Health: 130 Mana: 210<br>STR: 10 AGI: 10<br>VIT: 15 WIS: 25<br>INT: 29 Leadership: 0<br>Luck: 0 Offense: 0<br>Defense: 0 Resistance to Magic: None</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>Sen had leveled up twice in the month since she started and distributed the points into vitality and intelligence. The first level up had been in the quest with Lily. The second came after she did a few quests for the other NPC’s in the library. In the process she learned that she could use the Identify skill she had gotten to determine what untitled books were about, or if they had hidden properties. Since it was the only skill she knew currently, she used it on practically anything she could find. Lance often laughed at her saying it was useless, but simply doing that had allowed her to raise it to Beginner’s level 3.<br><br>She had also realized recently that her stats were unnatural when compared to other players. Reading books had boosted her intelligence and wisdom stats, which had given her more mana. It was one of the reasons why Sen was obsessed with the library. Initially it was because the books she was reading contained stories she had never even heard of before. She genuinely enjoyed reading about fantastical tales of adventure that were apparently historical records.<br><br>She had been reading a particularly interesting book about a battle against vampires. When she finished the last page a message window popped into her view notifying her of stat increases. After some trial and error she had discovered that simply reading books for a general amount of time led to some minimal stat increases. The problem was that you had to read a book in its entirety for it to count. Simply flipping through the pages led to nothing, you had to retain the information.<br><br>However, the stat increases weren’t nearly optimized due to her having to log off for work and school. It was still enough to make an impact and the more important factor was that it reminded her that she was indeed in a game world. Once that registered into her brain, she kicked into gaming mode.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">These stats might come in handy later.</span><br><br>Although she hadn’t played very many RPG’s she was reminded of memorizing combos in a fighting game. You need to know what the combo is before you can execute it and so that’s what she equated the stat increases to.<br><br>Sen walked through the double door entrance of the library like she had many times throughout the past month. She was greeted by the girl behind the counter, Lily.<br><br>“Ah, welcome back miss Sen.” She said with a smile on her face.<br><br>Even though Sen knew Lily was an NPC, she couldn’t help but act normally around her. She had been kind enough to allow her to build what essentially amounted to a fort of books in the sitting area and she even had given her a skill book.<br><br>“Hey Lily, don’t mind me. I’ll be in the usual spot.” Sen waved and briskly moved past the counter towards the sitting area on the first floor.<br><br>“Wait miss Sen!”<br><br>Lily tried getting her attention but Sen didn’t hear her.<br><br>“I guess everything will be ok….”<br><br>As she got closer to her fort, someone she didn’t recognize was already occupying it. An old man with stark white hair and a long flowing beard was reading the book she was looking forward to reading. He was wearing dark blue robes and when she got close enough she could see he was human. The old man looked up from the book and, seeing Sen approaching him, hopped down from the chair.<br><br>Sen was surprised because he really did hop from the chair. When he landed he was barely 5ft tall and his beard swished against his waist.<br><br>“Hello my dear, you must be miss Sen correct?” he outstretched his hand offering a handshake.<br><br>Normally Sen would have accepted him with ease, but she was currently a little irritated at the fact that he had gotten to read that book before her. In addition to that he already seemed to know who she was, and she had no clue as to who he was. She had already had to deal with the man back at the market earlier, so she decided to vent her frustration at him.<br><br>“Who are you and what do you want?” she crossed her arms and assumed a defensive stance.<br><br>The man looked back at her in surprise. A moment passed before he burst into laughter leaving Sen the one surprised.<br><br>“Hahahaha…well aren’t you an interesting one!” he said while retracting his hands into his sleeves.<br><br>The man contemplated for a moment before responding to her question.<br><br>“Hmm…yes, my name is Reginald and I was told you might be able to help me.”<br><br>He put a smile on his face and waited for Sen’s answer.<br><br>“Reginald…could I just call you Reggie? It’s easier….”<br><br>The man once again burst into laughter before responding.<br><br>“hahaha….you can call me whatever you’d like provided you help me with my problem dear.”<br><br>Sen eased her defense a bit and said “What problem would that be?”<br><br>“I’d like you to help me find a book.”<br><br>Sen was curious now, but stubbornly decided to keep being angry.<br><br>“Why me? Couldn’t you just get the head librarian to help? I’m sure she knows this place better than me.”<br><br>The smile faded from Reggie’s face and he shouted “NO! I won’t have anything to do with her!...I hate that wretched women.”<br><br>Sen was taken aback by the sudden anger. It’s true that she didn’t particularly like the head librarian because she wouldn’t allow her to go up to the third floor, but this man seemed to have a personal vendetta against her. Reggie regained his composure and continued.<br><br>“I asked the young lady at the front desk and she said that she had no knowledge of the books I’m looking for. When I asked if there was anyone else who might know, she mentioned you. She said I could meet you if I stuck around here for a while, which I have.”<br><br>Sen’s curiosity was definitely piqued now. Even though he only seemed to know her thanks to Lily, he had still sat around for who knows how long just to see if she could find a book. She really wondered what kind of book he could be searching for. Forgetting about her anger she couldn’t help but ask.<br><br>“What kind of book is it?”<br><br>“Ah, I misspoke earlier, I’m actually looking for a series of books. Tell me, have you heard of Haylen Quake?”<br><br>Sen was surprised to hear that name again. Lance hadn’t been able to shut up about the guy for the past month.<br><br>“I know the name….a friend of mine found a book he wrote about business. Unfortunately I don’t know anything more than that.”<br><br>“Oh yes, he was particularly well known for his ruthless business practices. However he was a much bigger figure than that. Many consider him one of the most influential men to walk the continent, outside of Von Arpen of course.”<br><br>Sen had spent the better part of a month in-game reading about Von Arpen and the history of the continent. So she knew that for this man to mention those two in the same sentence was a big deal.<br><br>“So he wrote more than just books about business then?” she asked now sitting down to give her full attention.<br>“Yes, he wrote many books about many things. But, the books that I’m looking for are special even amongst everything he wrote.”<br><br>Suddenly Reggie produced a book seemingly from out of nowhere. He placed it on the table in front of her after clearing a space. It was a brown hardcover book with gold trimming around the edges and fancy gold lettering. It was entitled The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Index.<br><br>“Volume…Index?” Sen said in confusion.<br><br>“I said they were special. Go ahead, take a look inside.” Reggie said with a grin on his face. Since she was given permission there was no hesitation as she flipped open the cover and read the first few sentences. This only made her more confused.<br><br>“W-what the heck is this?” Sen asked.<br><br>What she had read was complete gibberish. It was like someone had hit the randomize feature on all the words in the book. There was not even any sentence structure let alone a concept of chapters or table of contents. Nothing!<br>“You think that’s something? Apparently there’s three more volumes just like it.”<br><br>Sen truly didn’t know what to think. Even as an avid reader and huge fan of books she still couldn’t figure out why anyone would keep or even write a book like this.<br><br>“…and you want to find them I’m guessing?”<br><br>“Of course! I mean, isn’t it interesting?” Reggie said with a spark of life flickering into his eyes.<br><br>“Here’s one of the richest and most powerful men on the continent. Not only was he the main perpetrator behind the founding of this city and very library we stand in, but he was also considered one of the greatest mages of his time. Then, right before his death, he writes this series of books that seem to have come straight out of the mind of an insane person. Who wouldn’t be interested!?”<br><br>Reggie’s curiosity and enthusiasm only served to boost her own. After hearing a story like that she couldn’t help but be interested in the mystery behind them. Reggie seemed to sense her growing curiosity and posed the question again.<br><br>“So will you help me? I’m not asking you to find all of them but depending on how well you do I might be inclined to increase your reward.” After he said this Sen realized what would come next.<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Qwerky Quake<br><br>A mysterious old man has approached you in search of an odd series of books written by a man named Haylen Quake. He has promised a reward depending on how many of the books you can find.<br><br>Difficulty Level: E<br>Quest Requirements<br><br>Must have completed the Sniffling Secret quest.<br><br>Must have spent a minimum of 200 hours in the library.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>Sen was shocked by the requirements. She knew she had spent a lot of time in the library but to have it quantified like that put it more into perspective.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">It makes sense though, I lose track of time so easily in here.</span><br><br>“I don’t know how many I can find but I’ll definitely help you with your search.”<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">You have accepted the quest</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>This was one of the easiest decisions she made in a while. She got up from her seat while Reggie spoke.<br><br>“Wonderful! I’ll stay here with the book should you want to look it over.”<br><br>“Wait a second…you’re not going to help me? Where’s all that enthusiasm from before?”<br><br>“Now now, do you really think an old man like me can search up and down a library like this for any period of time?”<br><br>Sen tried persisting but Reggie wouldn’t budge on the matter. She finally gave up and decided to look over the book more thoroughly in order to get some clues. The sections in the library were divided into themes and genres. Although she didn’t expect a crazy book such as this to have any of those, it still might hint at where the others could be.<br><br>The first thing she did was use her Identify Item skill, but the only thing that popped up was more gibberish. She turned the book over and back but still found nothing. But when she flipped through its pages, suddenly a flash of color went by. She turned back the pages slowly until a purple bookmark was revealed.<br><br>“Ah, I had forgotten that was in there.” Said Reggie.<br><br>True to her habits she used her identify skill on the bookmark.<br><br>“Identify!”<br>*Tting*<br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Magic Bookmark<br>This magic bookmark will automatically return to the last saved page in a book, provided it has been used in that book once before. Simply state the title of the book to initiate the process. If nothing happens, the bookmark has not been used in that book, the book doesn’t exist, or it is not in range to be affected by this magic.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>Sen was surprised something actually turned up. She looked back to Reggie while holding up the bookmark.<br><br>“Did you know this was magical?” she asked.<br><br>“No actually, I just assumed it was a regular bookmark…”<br><br>“This changes everything! Don’t you see how easy it’d be to find the other books with this?”<br><br>“Well I suppose, but there’s one problem with your theory.”<br><br>“What’s that?” Sen asked, beginning to lose patience with this old man.<br><br>“Even if I did know the names of the other books, which I don’t, there’s no guarantee that the bookmark was saved in any of them.”<br><br>“Well isn’t that great, how did you even expect to find them then?”<br><br>Reggie laughed hesitantly in response. “I’m sorry, it took a lot of digging just to even find out that they were stored in this library, all I really had to go on was that book I already have.”<br><br>Sen slumped back into her chair. If only she could get a hint at something, anything! Her eyes followed the table and came to rest on the gold trimmed book. While staring at it she read the title again and suddenly shot upright in her seat.<br><br>“no…it couldn’t be that easy….could it?”<br><br>Reggie looked at her in confusion. She took the bookmark and held it in front of her face.<br><br>“The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Middle”<br><br>“Now there’s no way that would-“ Reggie was cut off mid-sentence when the bookmark suddenly zoomed out of Sen’s hand and headed up the nearest staircase.<br><br>“You were saying?” Sen smiled then quickly ran after the bookmark that was zipping through the bookcases. After a few minutes, she came running back with a book in her hand and out of breath.<br><br>“*Huff* Got it! *Huff*”<br><br>She placed a blue book of similar size to the brown one on the table. After flipping through the pages it was exactly the same as the other book.<br><br>“They all really are like this.” She said now catching her breath.<br><br>Using the same method she had for the first book she found the other two which had the same title except for the volume, which were Ring and then Pinky for the last one. As she brought back the final book she wanted to address something that had been nagging her.<br><br>“Reggie you said there was only four books right?”<br><br>“Yes, to my knowledge there are only four volumes.”<br><br>“Then why does it say the Five Fingers of Quake?” she asked inquisitively.<br><br>“We’re talking about these books and you want to question something like that?” said Reggie defensively.<br><br>She knew it was silly but she decided to try anyway.<br><br>“The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Thumb”<br><br>Sen had guessed correctly. Suddenly the bookmark shot out of her hand. She quickly followed after it, darting up the staircase to the second level. The other books had all been located on the first or second level but this time the bookmark zipped right over the rope blocking the staircase leading up to the third floor. Sen didn’t have time to think and hurdled over the rope so as not to lose the bookmark.<br><br>She had always been bothered by the fact that she wasn’t allowed on the third floor. Lily had told her that it was where all the rarest and most expensive books were located. However, as she ran through the bookcases after the bookmark, nothing seemed to stick out to her.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">I don’t see what’s so special about this place.</span><br><br>At that moment the bookmark shot towards the ground. As she approached it, thinking something had happened, it wiggled its way between the wooden floorboards before she could grab it. She knocked on the wood to test it out and it made a hollow sound. She worked for a few minutes before finally prying up a small section. Inside the hidden compartment was a small leather bound notebook, with a purple bookmark now nestled inside it.<br><br>Sen picked it up and flipped through the pages. This time there wasn’t any words, only numbers.<br><br>“What the heck…” her comment was interrupted by Reggie who revealed himself from behind a bookcase.<br><br>“So it really was like that..” he said in wonder.<br><br>“Like what?”<br><br>“Tell me, what do you think that book is?”<br><br>Isn’t it just a crazy person’s notebook?<br><br>Sen took another look at the pages and suddenly realized something.<br><br>“It’s a cypher!”<br><br>Reggie smiled “That’s correct, that book is most likely a cypher for the others.”<br><br>It then dawned on Sen what Reggie had said before.<br><br>“You knew about this?”<br><br>“It was only a theory. My father insisted that Haylen was nothing but a crazy person. But I tracked down these books and you’ve found that cypher. This must mean something. Haylen quake must have had a message that he wanted to give.”<br><br>Sen now grew suspicious.<br><br>“Hey…who are you really?<br><br>“Aha, you’re only curious about this now? Well I suppose there is no reason to hide it any longer. My full name is Reginald Quake, the last living descendant of Haylen Quake, and resident court mage of Rhodium.” He smiled and kept quiet to let her take everything in.<br><br>Sen was awestruck. She had been referring to him like he was just some old man and now he tells her this? Before she could speak up he spoke first.<br><br>“Don’t worry too much, I’m not really one for formalities. And although it sounds grand, court mage isn't that high of a position.”<br><br>“if you say so…” Sen said hesitantly<br><br>“It’s fine, I assure you. Now bring that book here so I can get a better look at it.”<br><br>Sen handed the book over and watched him flip through the pages after a few moments he spoke out.<br><br>“Well the good news is that I’ll definitely be able to cypher a message using this. The bad news is that I think it should take me about a month.”<br><br>Sen was worried that she might not get to hear what the message was, so she decided to ask.<br><br>“If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind telling me the message when you figure it out? I’m awfully curious as to what it is now…”<br><br>“Of course! Did you think I would just leave you high and dry after you’ve helped me so much? Ah! That reminds me, your reward.”<br><br>Suddenly he produced a book from thin air. It was a golden glowing book, much like the green one she had seen before.<br><br>“This is one of two books that have been passed down in my family. It’s supposed to teach some skill but nobody in my family could even open it. I don’t really have a use for it but perhaps it could help you.”<br><br>Sen reached for the book only to have it wrenched away.<br><br>“Wait a second. I’m fairly sure that only a wizard can learn this skill. I’ll only give it to you should you decide to pursue the magical arts.”<br><br>*Tting*<br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Class: Wizard<br>If you accept it, you can use exclusive skills related to the nature of the class. Do you want to convert now?</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>Sen had been thinking about which class to pick for a while now. If she ever wanted to do some hunting she figured her best bet was to be a Wizard since she had no experience with fighting in hand to hand combat. She also knew that her stats favored using mana. Although it was a tough decision she didn’t know whether she would get another chance to get a skill like this, so she accepted.<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Avatar: Sen Type: Neutral<br>Level : 3 Class: Wizard<br>Title: None Fame: 0<br>Health: 130 Mana: 210+100<br>STR: 10 AGI: 10<br>VIT: 15 WIS: 25+10<br>INT: 29 +10 Leadership: 0<br>Luck: 0 Offense: 0<br>Defense: 0 Resistance to Magic: None<br>+100 mana<br>+10 to Int and Wis stats<br>+Reduces mana cost for spells<br>+Increases attack power of spells<br>+Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>“Perfect, then I’ll meet you back here in about a month. I suggest you use that time to train, there’s no telling what kind of adventure might be awaiting us.”<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Quest updated<br><br>The man who asked you to search for the books turned out to be none other than Reginald Quake, that last descendant of Haylen Quake. After much trouble you have found a hidden volume that seems to be a cypher for the other books. Reginald has said he will decode the message but that it will take a month. Meet him back at the library during the agreed time to find out what the message of the books is.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">You have leveled up!</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">You have leveled up!</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>After receiving the book and saying goodbye to Reggie, Sen sat down to examine it. She tried to use her identify skill but it seemed like her skill was too low. Instead of fretting she tried to just simply open the book like she had before. To her surprise it worked.<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Skill: you acquired a new skill, Spitfire</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>“Spitfire Window!”<br><br><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="text-align: center">Spitfire<br>DMG: 1-2 fire dmg/s (+39 dmg/s)<br>Mana Consumption: 2/s (+39/s)<br>Range: 30ft maximum<br>**NOTE**<br>Damage and Mana Consumption gain +1 for every Intelligence stat.<br>Caster can scale Damage and Mana Consumption as they wish.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br><br>Sen was shocked at the mana consumption. Even after distributing her stats and gaining the bonus from her class change and level up, she would still not be able to use it at full power for more than a few seconds. As she was lost in thought about her new skill, a voice called out to her.<br><br>“Hey Sen you there?” It was Lance. Sen looked around before realizing he was somewhere else.<br><br>“I’m going out to collect some materials now. If you’re interested in joining me come to the gates in about ten minutes.”<br><br>It’s that late already!?<br><br>Sen had lost track of time. However, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see how good this new skill was. She hopped up from her seat and dashed out towards the gates to meet Lance.
</div> | Chapter 3
The city of Rhodium was often lined with artists trying to sell their works. However many of them were not adventurers and it was well-known that the city had little money. Therefore, it was rare to see a merchant stall set up in the courtyard.
“You name it we have it! Discount prices right here!” shouted Sen from the side of an overflowing merchant stall.
Still wearing the starter’s clothing, she bellowed out her advertisements. A large and burly looking man approached her after picking up something off of the counter.
“You call this sale-worthy?” he said in a baritone voice, waving a paint brush in her face.
Sen turned to face the man now talking to her and put on the best professional smile she could give.
“Is there some kind of problem sir?”
“Problem? Don’t act like you don’t know you criminal! I ought to report you to the guards!”
Sen could feel the irritation building beneath the surface but maintained a smile.
Why do these types always show up when I’m around?
Before Sen could interject with a response, a familiar voice cut in. It was Lance.
“Are you accusing us of something?” said Lance, his eyes narrowing.
The burly man now focused his wrath towards Lance. He walked right up to his face and spoke quietly.
“That’s right. I say it’s impossible for you to have such low prices, unless you’re getting your wares using underhanded methods.”
Lance smiled and gave a response. “So they’re stolen you say? Then what about that item in your hand? Surely you were going to pay for that.”
The man was startled at the sudden accusation. He looked at the paint brush then back to Lance.
“I’m not buying anything!” said the man, rage now reddening his face.
“Oh? so you’re admitting to stealing it then?” Suddenly Lance’s voice got louder. The increase in volume grabbed the attention of nearby people. Sen took this opportunity to hide behind the stall to avoid further involvement.
“What? A thief?”
“Stealing in broad daylight? Of course you’d get caught.”
As people chimed in with comments the man seemed to back down a little bit, realizing his fading position.
“What?.... No, I wasn’t stealing-“ Lance cut him off before he could finish.
“If you aren’t stealing then you must be willing to pay the full price of three gold right?”
“What are you talking about? This is listed as ten silver…”
Lance got closer and whispered into the man’s ear. “But don’t you remember sir? We have to charge extra because it’s supposedly stolen.” A grin spread across Lance’s face. To the onlookers it simply looked like a business man’s professional smile. But to the burly man standing in front of him, it seemed like the smile of a devil.
“Why y-you!” The man nearly became consumed with rage, but held himself back in front of the judgmental gaze of those watching. He breathed out a deep breath and threw three gold coins into the chest of Lance.
“This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me.” Said the man as he brushed by Lance and elbowed the crowd out of his way. After a bit the commotion died down and the crowd of onlookers dispersed. Sen made her way towards Lance who was picking the gold coins off the ground.
“You’re evil you know that?”
Lance popped up off the ground and smiled at his friend “it’s called business and you’re just soft. Haylen Quake’s guide to business states-”
“yes yes, Haylen Quake this, Haylen Quake that, you’ve told me a million times already.”
Lance gave a frustrated look and flipped a gold coin towards her. “here, it’s your share.”
“I don’t want your dirty money.” Sen smiled while catching the coin in mid-air.
“You know perfectly well my wares are legitimate.”
It’s true, If she hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes she might not believe it herself. A month ago they had stumbled into the library and Lance claimed to have found an amazing book. She never would have guessed what he had in mind. Haylen Quake’s Guide to Bussiness it was titled. After reading it Lance had come up with the idea to sell the same wares as the NPC’s except at a lower price. He figured out a way to get starting players to make items from scratch in a cheap and efficient method.
Truthfully it was beneficial for everyone involved, except the NPC’s of course. Many of them were being put out of business. He had enlisted Sen’s help so that she could sell his wares while he was busy obtaining more inventory or finding more customers. The naïve boy she had met on the stairs to the library had somehow turned into a cutthroat business man.
But, he was only ruthless when it came to business. Outside of that he was fairly harmless in her eyes. She often found him to be more girly than her. Sen let out a sigh and pocketed the coin.
“yea I know…so am I good to leave now?”
“Running back to the library? Don’t you get tired of that place?” as Lance said this he was replacing some of the items on display with more expensive looking ones.
“Maybe…I’m running out of stuff to read, all that’s left is that section on math and a couple others.”
“What about a class? Have you chosen one yet? You can leave the city to go on hunts now you know…”
“Eh….I haven’t really found anything that interests me.”
Lance stopped what he was doing to gather his thoughts. He spoke after considering for a few moments.
“You’re not really interested in the crafting classes otherwise you would have chosen one by now. What do you say to accompanying me outside the walls to the hunting grounds? You might get a look at some combat classes that way.”
“I guess….wait, you’ve offered this to me before haven’t you?” Sen questioned.
“I swear you’re always in your own little world. Yes I have. I can go outside to collect raw materials now. I’m going later today as well. I’ll message you when I’m leaving.”
As lance turned around to help a customer, Sen took that as her cue to leave before he asked her to stick around and help. She was heading to the library of course. Whenever she logged on to Royal Road she was doing one of two things. Either helping Lance with his stall, or reading books in the library. As she made her way up the stairs she decided to check her progress.
“Stats window”
| Avatar: Sen Type: NeutralLevel : 3 Class: NoneTitle: None Fame: 0Health: 130 Mana: 210STR: 10 AGI: 10VIT: 15 WIS: 25INT: 29 Leadership: 0Luck: 0 Offense: 0Defense: 0 Resistance to Magic: None |
| --- |
Sen had leveled up twice in the month since she started and distributed the points into vitality and intelligence. The first level up had been in the quest with Lily. The second came after she did a few quests for the other NPC’s in the library. In the process she learned that she could use the Identify skill she had gotten to determine what untitled books were about, or if they had hidden properties. Since it was the only skill she knew currently, she used it on practically anything she could find. Lance often laughed at her saying it was useless, but simply doing that had allowed her to raise it to Beginner’s level 3.
She had also realized recently that her stats were unnatural when compared to other players. Reading books had boosted her intelligence and wisdom stats, which had given her more mana. It was one of the reasons why Sen was obsessed with the library. Initially it was because the books she was reading contained stories she had never even heard of before. She genuinely enjoyed reading about fantastical tales of adventure that were apparently historical records.
She had been reading a particularly interesting book about a battle against vampires. When she finished the last page a message window popped into her view notifying her of stat increases. After some trial and error she had discovered that simply reading books for a general amount of time led to some minimal stat increases. The problem was that you had to read a book in its entirety for it to count. Simply flipping through the pages led to nothing, you had to retain the information.
However, the stat increases weren’t nearly optimized due to her having to log off for work and school. It was still enough to make an impact and the more important factor was that it reminded her that she was indeed in a game world. Once that registered into her brain, she kicked into gaming mode.
These stats might come in handy later.
Although she hadn’t played very many RPG’s she was reminded of memorizing combos in a fighting game. You need to know what the combo is before you can execute it and so that’s what she equated the stat increases to.
Sen walked through the double door entrance of the library like she had many times throughout the past month. She was greeted by the girl behind the counter, Lily.
“Ah, welcome back miss Sen.” She said with a smile on her face.
Even though Sen knew Lily was an NPC, she couldn’t help but act normally around her. She had been kind enough to allow her to build what essentially amounted to a fort of books in the sitting area and she even had given her a skill book.
“Hey Lily, don’t mind me. I’ll be in the usual spot.” Sen waved and briskly moved past the counter towards the sitting area on the first floor.
“Wait miss Sen!”
Lily tried getting her attention but Sen didn’t hear her.
“I guess everything will be ok….”
As she got closer to her fort, someone she didn’t recognize was already occupying it. An old man with stark white hair and a long flowing beard was reading the book she was looking forward to reading. He was wearing dark blue robes and when she got close enough she could see he was human. The old man looked up from the book and, seeing Sen approaching him, hopped down from the chair.
Sen was surprised because he really did hop from the chair. When he landed he was barely 5ft tall and his beard swished against his waist.
“Hello my dear, you must be miss Sen correct?” he outstretched his hand offering a handshake.
Normally Sen would have accepted him with ease, but she was currently a little irritated at the fact that he had gotten to read that book before her. In addition to that he already seemed to know who she was, and she had no clue as to who he was. She had already had to deal with the man back at the market earlier, so she decided to vent her frustration at him.
“Who are you and what do you want?” she crossed her arms and assumed a defensive stance.
The man looked back at her in surprise. A moment passed before he burst into laughter leaving Sen the one surprised.
“Hahahaha…well aren’t you an interesting one!” he said while retracting his hands into his sleeves.
The man contemplated for a moment before responding to her question.
“Hmm…yes, my name is Reginald and I was told you might be able to help me.”
He put a smile on his face and waited for Sen’s answer.
“Reginald…could I just call you Reggie? It’s easier….”
The man once again burst into laughter before responding.
“hahaha….you can call me whatever you’d like provided you help me with my problem dear.”
Sen eased her defense a bit and said “What problem would that be?”
“I’d like you to help me find a book.”
Sen was curious now, but stubbornly decided to keep being angry.
“Why me? Couldn’t you just get the head librarian to help? I’m sure she knows this place better than me.”
The smile faded from Reggie’s face and he shouted “NO! I won’t have anything to do with her!...I hate that wretched women.”
Sen was taken aback by the sudden anger. It’s true that she didn’t particularly like the head librarian because she wouldn’t allow her to go up to the third floor, but this man seemed to have a personal vendetta against her. Reggie regained his composure and continued.
“I asked the young lady at the front desk and she said that she had no knowledge of the books I’m looking for. When I asked if there was anyone else who might know, she mentioned you. She said I could meet you if I stuck around here for a while, which I have.”
Sen’s curiosity was definitely piqued now. Even though he only seemed to know her thanks to Lily, he had still sat around for who knows how long just to see if she could find a book. She really wondered what kind of book he could be searching for. Forgetting about her anger she couldn’t help but ask.
“What kind of book is it?”
“Ah, I misspoke earlier, I’m actually looking for a series of books. Tell me, have you heard of Haylen Quake?”
Sen was surprised to hear that name again. Lance hadn’t been able to shut up about the guy for the past month.
“I know the name….a friend of mine found a book he wrote about business. Unfortunately I don’t know anything more than that.”
“Oh yes, he was particularly well known for his ruthless business practices. However he was a much bigger figure than that. Many consider him one of the most influential men to walk the continent, outside of Von Arpen of course.”
Sen had spent the better part of a month in-game reading about Von Arpen and the history of the continent. So she knew that for this man to mention those two in the same sentence was a big deal.
“So he wrote more than just books about business then?” she asked now sitting down to give her full attention.
“Yes, he wrote many books about many things. But, the books that I’m looking for are special even amongst everything he wrote.”
Suddenly Reggie produced a book seemingly from out of nowhere. He placed it on the table in front of her after clearing a space. It was a brown hardcover book with gold trimming around the edges and fancy gold lettering. It was entitled The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Index.
“Volume…Index?” Sen said in confusion.
“I said they were special. Go ahead, take a look inside.” Reggie said with a grin on his face. Since she was given permission there was no hesitation as she flipped open the cover and read the first few sentences. This only made her more confused.
“W-what the heck is this?” Sen asked.
What she had read was complete gibberish. It was like someone had hit the randomize feature on all the words in the book. There was not even any sentence structure let alone a concept of chapters or table of contents. Nothing!
“You think that’s something? Apparently there’s three more volumes just like it.”
Sen truly didn’t know what to think. Even as an avid reader and huge fan of books she still couldn’t figure out why anyone would keep or even write a book like this.
“…and you want to find them I’m guessing?”
“Of course! I mean, isn’t it interesting?” Reggie said with a spark of life flickering into his eyes.
“Here’s one of the richest and most powerful men on the continent. Not only was he the main perpetrator behind the founding of this city and very library we stand in, but he was also considered one of the greatest mages of his time. Then, right before his death, he writes this series of books that seem to have come straight out of the mind of an insane person. Who wouldn’t be interested!?”
Reggie’s curiosity and enthusiasm only served to boost her own. After hearing a story like that she couldn’t help but be interested in the mystery behind them. Reggie seemed to sense her growing curiosity and posed the question again.
“So will you help me? I’m not asking you to find all of them but depending on how well you do I might be inclined to increase your reward.” After he said this Sen realized what would come next.
| Qwerky QuakeA mysterious old man has approached you in search of an odd series of books written by a man named Haylen Quake. He has promised a reward depending on how many of the books you can find.Difficulty Level: EQuest RequirementsMust have completed the Sniffling Secret quest.Must have spent a minimum of 200 hours in the library. |
| --- |
Sen was shocked by the requirements. She knew she had spent a lot of time in the library but to have it quantified like that put it more into perspective.
It makes sense though, I lose track of time so easily in here.
“I don’t know how many I can find but I’ll definitely help you with your search.”
| You have accepted the quest |
| --- |
This was one of the easiest decisions she made in a while. She got up from her seat while Reggie spoke.
“Wonderful! I’ll stay here with the book should you want to look it over.”
“Wait a second…you’re not going to help me? Where’s all that enthusiasm from before?”
“Now now, do you really think an old man like me can search up and down a library like this for any period of time?”
Sen tried persisting but Reggie wouldn’t budge on the matter. She finally gave up and decided to look over the book more thoroughly in order to get some clues. The sections in the library were divided into themes and genres. Although she didn’t expect a crazy book such as this to have any of those, it still might hint at where the others could be.
The first thing she did was use her Identify Item skill, but the only thing that popped up was more gibberish. She turned the book over and back but still found nothing. But when she flipped through its pages, suddenly a flash of color went by. She turned back the pages slowly until a purple bookmark was revealed.
“Ah, I had forgotten that was in there.” Said Reggie.
True to her habits she used her identify skill on the bookmark.
“Identify!”
*Tting*
| Magic BookmarkThis magic bookmark will automatically return to the last saved page in a book, provided it has been used in that book once before. Simply state the title of the book to initiate the process. If nothing happens, the bookmark has not been used in that book, the book doesn’t exist, or it is not in range to be affected by this magic. |
| --- |
Sen was surprised something actually turned up. She looked back to Reggie while holding up the bookmark.
“Did you know this was magical?” she asked.
“No actually, I just assumed it was a regular bookmark…”
“This changes everything! Don’t you see how easy it’d be to find the other books with this?”
“Well I suppose, but there’s one problem with your theory.”
“What’s that?” Sen asked, beginning to lose patience with this old man.
“Even if I did know the names of the other books, which I don’t, there’s no guarantee that the bookmark was saved in any of them.”
“Well isn’t that great, how did you even expect to find them then?”
Reggie laughed hesitantly in response. “I’m sorry, it took a lot of digging just to even find out that they were stored in this library, all I really had to go on was that book I already have.”
Sen slumped back into her chair. If only she could get a hint at something, anything! Her eyes followed the table and came to rest on the gold trimmed book. While staring at it she read the title again and suddenly shot upright in her seat.
“no…it couldn’t be that easy….could it?”
Reggie looked at her in confusion. She took the bookmark and held it in front of her face.
“The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Middle”
“Now there’s no way that would-“ Reggie was cut off mid-sentence when the bookmark suddenly zoomed out of Sen’s hand and headed up the nearest staircase.
“You were saying?” Sen smiled then quickly ran after the bookmark that was zipping through the bookcases. After a few minutes, she came running back with a book in her hand and out of breath.
“*Huff* Got it! *Huff*”
She placed a blue book of similar size to the brown one on the table. After flipping through the pages it was exactly the same as the other book.
“They all really are like this.” She said now catching her breath.
Using the same method she had for the first book she found the other two which had the same title except for the volume, which were Ring and then Pinky for the last one. As she brought back the final book she wanted to address something that had been nagging her.
“Reggie you said there was only four books right?”
“Yes, to my knowledge there are only four volumes.”
“Then why does it say the Five Fingers of Quake?” she asked inquisitively.
“We’re talking about these books and you want to question something like that?” said Reggie defensively.
She knew it was silly but she decided to try anyway.
“The Five Fingers of Quake Volume: Thumb”
Sen had guessed correctly. Suddenly the bookmark shot out of her hand. She quickly followed after it, darting up the staircase to the second level. The other books had all been located on the first or second level but this time the bookmark zipped right over the rope blocking the staircase leading up to the third floor. Sen didn’t have time to think and hurdled over the rope so as not to lose the bookmark.
She had always been bothered by the fact that she wasn’t allowed on the third floor. Lily had told her that it was where all the rarest and most expensive books were located. However, as she ran through the bookcases after the bookmark, nothing seemed to stick out to her.
I don’t see what’s so special about this place.
At that moment the bookmark shot towards the ground. As she approached it, thinking something had happened, it wiggled its way between the wooden floorboards before she could grab it. She knocked on the wood to test it out and it made a hollow sound. She worked for a few minutes before finally prying up a small section. Inside the hidden compartment was a small leather bound notebook, with a purple bookmark now nestled inside it.
Sen picked it up and flipped through the pages. This time there wasn’t any words, only numbers.
“What the heck…” her comment was interrupted by Reggie who revealed himself from behind a bookcase.
“So it really was like that..” he said in wonder.
“Like what?”
“Tell me, what do you think that book is?”
Isn’t it just a crazy person’s notebook?
Sen took another look at the pages and suddenly realized something.
“It’s a cypher!”
Reggie smiled “That’s correct, that book is most likely a cypher for the others.”
It then dawned on Sen what Reggie had said before.
“You knew about this?”
“It was only a theory. My father insisted that Haylen was nothing but a crazy person. But I tracked down these books and you’ve found that cypher. This must mean something. Haylen quake must have had a message that he wanted to give.”
Sen now grew suspicious.
“Hey…who are you really?
“Aha, you’re only curious about this now? Well I suppose there is no reason to hide it any longer. My full name is Reginald Quake, the last living descendant of Haylen Quake, and resident court mage of Rhodium.” He smiled and kept quiet to let her take everything in.
Sen was awestruck. She had been referring to him like he was just some old man and now he tells her this? Before she could speak up he spoke first.
“Don’t worry too much, I’m not really one for formalities. And although it sounds grand, court mage isn't that high of a position.”
“if you say so…” Sen said hesitantly
“It’s fine, I assure you. Now bring that book here so I can get a better look at it.”
Sen handed the book over and watched him flip through the pages after a few moments he spoke out.
“Well the good news is that I’ll definitely be able to cypher a message using this. The bad news is that I think it should take me about a month.”
Sen was worried that she might not get to hear what the message was, so she decided to ask.
“If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind telling me the message when you figure it out? I’m awfully curious as to what it is now…”
“Of course! Did you think I would just leave you high and dry after you’ve helped me so much? Ah! That reminds me, your reward.”
Suddenly he produced a book from thin air. It was a golden glowing book, much like the green one she had seen before.
“This is one of two books that have been passed down in my family. It’s supposed to teach some skill but nobody in my family could even open it. I don’t really have a use for it but perhaps it could help you.”
Sen reached for the book only to have it wrenched away.
“Wait a second. I’m fairly sure that only a wizard can learn this skill. I’ll only give it to you should you decide to pursue the magical arts.”
*Tting*
| Class: WizardIf you accept it, you can use exclusive skills related to the nature of the class. Do you want to convert now? |
| --- |
Sen had been thinking about which class to pick for a while now. If she ever wanted to do some hunting she figured her best bet was to be a Wizard since she had no experience with fighting in hand to hand combat. She also knew that her stats favored using mana. Although it was a tough decision she didn’t know whether she would get another chance to get a skill like this, so she accepted.
| Avatar: Sen Type: NeutralLevel : 3 Class: WizardTitle: None Fame: 0Health: 130 Mana: 210+100STR: 10 AGI: 10VIT: 15 WIS: 25+10INT: 29 +10 Leadership: 0Luck: 0 Offense: 0Defense: 0 Resistance to Magic: None+100 mana+10 to Int and Wis stats+Reduces mana cost for spells+Increases attack power of spells+Enables you to equip certain items specialized for the class |
| --- |
“Perfect, then I’ll meet you back here in about a month. I suggest you use that time to train, there’s no telling what kind of adventure might be awaiting us.”
| Quest updatedThe man who asked you to search for the books turned out to be none other than Reginald Quake, that last descendant of Haylen Quake. After much trouble you have found a hidden volume that seems to be a cypher for the other books. Reginald has said he will decode the message but that it will take a month. Meet him back at the library during the agreed time to find out what the message of the books is. |
| --- |
| You have leveled up! |
| --- |
| You have leveled up! |
| --- |
After receiving the book and saying goodbye to Reggie, Sen sat down to examine it. She tried to use her identify skill but it seemed like her skill was too low. Instead of fretting she tried to just simply open the book like she had before. To her surprise it worked.
| Skill: you acquired a new skill, Spitfire |
| --- |
“Spitfire Window!”
| SpitfireDMG: 1-2 fire dmg/s (+39 dmg/s)Mana Consumption: 2/s (+39/s)Range: 30ft maximum**NOTE**Damage and Mana Consumption gain +1 for every Intelligence stat.Caster can scale Damage and Mana Consumption as they wish. |
| --- |
Sen was shocked at the mana consumption. Even after distributing her stats and gaining the bonus from her class change and level up, she would still not be able to use it at full power for more than a few seconds. As she was lost in thought about her new skill, a voice called out to her.
“Hey Sen you there?” It was Lance. Sen looked around before realizing he was somewhere else.
“I’m going out to collect some materials now. If you’re interested in joining me come to the gates in about ten minutes.”
It’s that late already!?
Sen had lost track of time. However, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see how good this new skill was. She hopped up from her seat and dashed out towards the gates to meet Lance. |
{
"title": "Oscar Corvus by Raga",
"id": 32,
"author": "raga",
"rating": 3.6
} | {
"title": "Oscar Corvus - Chapter 4",
"id": 27,
"next": 28,
"prev": 26,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Journeyman</span><br><br>Time: 1 week (RR) after entering RR. 1 year (Real World) before defense of Attica.<br>Corbeau (Corvus) in Royal Road, Ivaldi City<br><br>Before I went to go roust Sindri and ask him to talk to the rest of the city Elders, the most respected craftsmen, soldier and politicians for me, I needed to collect my reward from Kabin. When I approached him, he grabbed me a bone-cracking hug, smelling of smoke and stale sweat.<br>“Corbeau, my friend, thank you so much! I can never repay you properly for helping me, and protecting my daughter. Any time you want to, come over to my pub and you’ll eat for free. Furthermore, when Sindri finally gives you some spare time, come over and I’ll give you cooking lessons. After all, you are what you eat! And I’ll tell everyone in the area who’s responsible for getting rid of those nasty Bloodbirds, so the merchants should be more favorably inclined. How about that? I know it isn’t much, but it’s all I can give.” While that didn’t seem like much, and would cost Kabin next to nothing, it would be seriously useful to me. Well-cooked food, and Kabin was a good cook, had serious bonuses and tasted way better. Cooking training from a good chef would help me improve that skill far quicker than experimenting on my own, and teach me some good recipes. And the fame wouldn’t hurt, especially the local reputation increase. But being too well known wouldn’t help when I went against Serpentshead in case I wanted to disguise myself for an infiltration.<br>“That sounds great Kabin. Except for one thing. When you and your friends tell this story, I want you to say that Merlin never leaves my side while I’m fighting, OK?”<br>“Sure thing!”<br><br>You have accepted Kabin’s Reward<br>+50 Fame.<br>+100 Reputation: Ivaldi Docklands<br>Offer for Cooking Training<br>Free meals at the Dancing Mermaid<br><br>“Alright,” I said, “now I need to go find Sindri.” I left the area, and started asking people on the street around Sindri’s warehouse where he might be. Eventually I tracked him down to the “Dainty Dwarf,” apparently a bawdyhouse. It would have been much nicer if the girls weren’t all dwarves. Short, stocky, and very hairy isn’t really my type. Unfortunately, my looks: 6’2” tall, with pointed ears from my elven blood, skin a deep gold resulting from the mix of brown- dwarf- and pale gold –elf-, seemed to be pretty exotic and I had to dodge the hands of several of the girls as well as not a few of the drunk dwarven men. Spotting Sindri sitting in the corner, a girl in each arm, I made my way over to him.<br>“Sindri!” I shouted over the din. “We need to talk!”<br>“What?” he bellowed. I was starting the think Sindri might be a little deaf from all the hammering in his workshops.<br>“We need to talk!” I said, slower and even louder this time. “Let’s go outside!”<br>“I can’t hear you! Come outside!” he thundered. Shrugging and grinning at the inanity, I followed him outside where it was much quieter.<br>“What trouble are you in now, boy? Apart from having disrupted my evening, that is?”<br>“Well, Sindri, it’s like this,” I said, before telling him the whole story of the evening. “…and then I thought, who should I bring these letters to? And immediately thought of you, Master Sindri,” I finished, laying on the flattery.<br>“Harrumph. Well, it looks like I can’t punish you for disturbing me. You did a good job with that Eagle; I’d heard of him. How did you kill him? I’d think the difference in strength was too high?”<br>“Ah, well, Sindri, it would be except for three things. First, Eagle was a mage, so his personal strength and defense weren’t too high. Second, we took him by surprise. Third, Tsende, the earth mage, actually broke through his defenses, though I helped a little. I just stabbed him a few times.”<br>“Well, good job either way. And these letters indicate a serious campaign in the near future. I’ll have to accelerate your training over the next couple weeks and try and get you up to Journeyman Rune-Smith so you can come along; it’ll be good experience for you to be attached to a squad as their armorer, and you’ve done well enough in your training that I think you can do it. It’ll be difficult though, not like the gentle work you’ve been doing till now. We’ll double the number of swords to make next week. The week after that, you’ll make a complete suit of enchanted chainmail, as well as plate greaves, gauntlets, helmet and shield. The third week, you’ll craft your own tools and complete a Journeyman piece to prove your worth as a smith.”<br><br>Quest Completed: Inform an Elder<br>Relationship with Sindri has improved.<br>Relationship with Sivaldi Elders has improved slightly.<br><br>New Quest: Class Progression Quest: Journeyman<br>Sindri, impressed with you, is accelerating your training. If you can make 200 swords with his help, finish a complete suit of enchanted armor, make a set of smithing tools, and complete an acceptable Journeyman piece, you will become a Journeyman Ivaldi Rune-Smith. Journeymen are full members of the Rune-Smith’s guild, and have access to the guild library. They are also allowed to create and sell their own work.<br><br>“Thanks, Sindri!”<br>“Alright, now let’s head back. I need to show you how to make a Damascus core so I can go talk to the other Elders in the morning.” We headed back to the workshops, and Sindri went over to the wall, throwing a lever which turned on the water-powered bellows. Next he walked over to the sorted piles of stock metal in the corner, and selected two steel bars marked “Wootz-Hard” and three steel bars marked “Wootz-Medium”. I knew from some smithing I’d done years ago as part of my industrial production training that modern billet welded steel, known as modern-Damascus, used a combination of high and medium carbon rods that were then beaten and folded to produce the patterned steel.<br>“Always take two of the hard Wootz and three of the medium Wootz. Then, tie them together using a wire around the outside, sandwiching the hard inside the medium,” he said while doing so. “Next, bring it over to the forge and heat it until it’s red hot. Make sure to always use the fine charcoal,” he said, adding a scoop of charcoal to the fire.<br>“Once it’s red hot, take it out and cover it with this stuff, borax. When that’s white, you hammer the bar until it’s twice as long as it started, heating as you need. Then, refold the billet back on itself, and repeat. Do this for a total of six refoldings to get 300 layers. That’ll make a good Damascus steel core. I’ll do most of the shaping of the blades when I get back from the emergency Elder’s meeting. <br><br>“So you know how to make your own blades in the future, you hammer the billet to the right shape for the blade, then heat to orange red and wait for the blade to cool in the air. Next, grind the blade as necessary and sand it up until this middle grit, and engrave the runes for the enchantments. Normalize the blade by heating until it’s bright red, then allow to cool in air before you move onto the final heat treatment. Heat the blade until it’s orange-red, then quench in oil. If you’re being fancy, you can cover everything other than the edge of the blade in this white clay, then heat a bit hotter before quenching in brine. That’ll make the edge harder, but keep the core soft, so the blade can be sharper without breaking. Either way, temper the blade for two hours by heating it until the blade is almost hot enough to burn paper.” <br><br>“Finally, clean the blade, add the final edge, and polish it up until 1200 grit. Put the blade in this acid, then polish the blade with the fine polishing grit and charge the runes. Finally, add a handle. And there you have it! Although one blade takes a long time to make, you can make several at the same time. You can also use this technique with metals other than steel, combining harder and softer materials together. You can even use it to combine different materials together, but they have to be able to weld. Although we only have orders for a hundred short-swords for the city guard right now, I bet they’ll double it because of Serpentshead, so you’ll have to work hard tomorrow. Now, get some sleep!”<br><br>You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascened Metal<br>Damascened metals, most commonly steel, are an advanced form used in swords. Capable of holding a very sharp edge yet still malleable enough not to break in combat, every warrior dreams of owning a Damascus blade.<br><br>You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascus Steel Rune-Sword<br>You have been taught how to create a Damascus Steel Rune-Sword.<br><br>I went to bed and woke up far too early after a shock from Merlin. Groaning, I stumbled into the dining room and ate some bread and beer, before going to the forge. Adding some charcoal to the fire, I increased the speed of the bellows and got to work. Seven hours later, by noontime, I had 5 Damascus billets done, and was halfway done with four more. It was exhausting work hammering the steel, and I continued to focus on Rune Meditation as well as actively using Eihwaz and Dagaz. As the day went on, I received plenty of announcements.<br>+1 Strength<br>+1 Strength<br>+1 Stamina<br>Rune Meditation Beginner Level 4<br>Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 7<br>Smithing Beginner Level 3<br>+1 Strength<br>New Skill: Multitasking (Level 1)<br>You are used to focusing on several different tasks at once. Reduces penalty for dual-casting spells or working on different crafting projects simultaneously. Reduces chance of being distracted or deceived by spells.<br><br>Sindri finally came back around 7 pm, grumbling about the useless morons on the council. Thank god he was happy with my progress, or at least what passes for happy with Sindri.<br>“Only 9 billets made, boy! Have to work harder! No sleep till we’re done, we’ll both worship at the Smith-God’s alter! Two hundred swords by Monday, let’s build some character!” he bellowed, cheery at the idea of another smithing hell-week even worse than the one previous. Have I mentioned how much I hate the phrase “character building?” It’s about up there with “I’m from the IRS, and have some questions about your taxes.”<br><br>As the night progressed and turned into the next day, Sindri still wouldn’t let us sleep, and even went so far as to have other apprentices bring us food at water in the forge. I was so focused I didn’t notice the updates as my Strength, Stamina, and skills improved. I even managed to tune out the horrible sound of Sindri singing to his swords. Life became the fire and hammer and steel. By Wednesday evening, I was so tired I couldn’t see straight. By Thursday, I was too tired to even cast Eihwaz or Dagaz and my health began to gradually decline. As I finished the last of the billets at 9am on Friday after 100 hours of straight smithing, I passed out, Sindri still finishing shaping the swords. I woke up when Sindri threw a bucket of water in my face; checking the system only three hours had passed.<br>“Enough rest, Boy!” he roared. “These swords won’t enchant themselves!” Rising, I checked my stats. I’d made huge gains:<br><br>Strength +8<br>Stamina +14<br>Intelligence +3<br>Wisdom +3<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 6<br>Rune Meditation Beginner Level 6<br>Magic Mastery Beginner Level 4<br>Smithing Beginner Level 6<br>Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 9<br>Lab Safety Beginner Level 4<br>Continuous Casting Beginner Level 4<br>Multitasking Level 3<br><br>Still, I decided I needed to be more careful in the future. I’d almost died and if I did I’d be stuck in the game, watching a black screen, for four horrifically boring days.<br>“Well done, boy, well done! You hung in there like a true smith; many masters can’t keep up with me. Furthermore, those Damascus patterns are even acceptable! You’ve made me proud, and must have been a great smith in a previous life. Now, watch carefully as I show you the rune-patterns for “No-Rust, Keep-Sharp, Never-Break and Cut-Deep”. These are what we call permanent runes; they may wear out eventually with a lot of use, and they can be overcome, but if the user maintains the sword properly, they can last forever. The greater the Rune-Magic of the caster, and the better they are at Rune-Scribing, the stronger the effect of the runes. There are other enchantments, powered runes, which might need to be recharged or channel energy; they are more like those gauntlets of mine, and tend to have stronger, if temporary, effects.”<br><br>Relationship with Sindri has improved.<br><br>New Skill: Rune-Scribing Level 1.<br>Rune Scribing is the act of writing rune enchantments. Higher levels help make clearer, more effective runes which can be written smaller, allowing for more runes per object.<br><br>You have received Rune-Magic Enchantments:<br>No Rust, Keep Sharp, Never Break, Cut Deep.<br><br>“Your job now, boy, is to grind an edge onto these blades and engrave those runes. Put the Deep-Cut on the tip; that rune doesn’t extend that far, and it’s most useful for stabbing. Keep Sharp is pretty long and should be oriented along the forward edge. Never break and No Rust go in the center. Alright, enough lollygagging, get to work!”<br>Obeying his order, I quickly took an armful of the blades and brought them to the grinding wheels. Since Sindri was such a masterful smith, they already had pretty good edges and shapes just from the hammering. Still, he was working quickly, and had made the blades slightly larger than they should be, anticipating a final grind. By 2am Saturday morning, I had finally finished sharpening the swords; I was still absolutely exhausted, my arms and hands aching from the vibrations imparted by the grinding wheels. I had, however, gained some level:<br><br>+2 Wisdom<br>Sharpening Level 4<br>Rune Meditation Beginner Level 7<br><br>I picked up one of the sets of engraving tools to start scribing the runes anyways; I was young and tough, and determined to push through and beat the sword-making challenge. I carefully cut the runes into the blades, continuing until my hands were cramped from holding the tools, my head was aching from squinting and concentrating and I was entirely exhausted. As my skill improved, each successive sword was slightly easier, slightly faster to complete, the demand on my concentration and energy slightly lower. Eventually, it was very restful, as I meditated on Eihwaz, Dagaz, and rune-scribing. Finally, Sunday morning around 7 am I finished.<br><br>+3 Wisdom<br>+2 Intelligence<br>+3 Dexterity<br>Rune Meditation Beginner Level 8<br>Rune Scribing Level 4<br><br>“Sindri, I’m done!” I yelled at him over the sounds of the forge, as he completed the final heat treatments.<br>“Excellent! Come over here and I’ll show you how to charge the runes. Do it just like this: focus on the rune in your mind and it’s meaning, and imagine sending your mana into it. I want you to charge all the runes you made for practice; I’ll strengthen them afterwards. Off you go then!” I don’t think he’d slept yet, how he was still going was beyond me. I was ready to pass out, and at least I’d gotten three hours of sleep. Still, I kept going, and after dozens of failures managed to charge the runes on the swords by Sunday afternoon.<br><br>+2 Intelligence<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 7<br><br>Without my noticing, Sindri had come over to watch over my shoulder. It would have been fine, except his only voice seemed to be a booming roar.<br>“Congratulations, lad! You’ve finished, and even have some spare time before midnight!” he shouted in my ear, startling me. I jumped sideways, fell down, and then stood up as he laughed. “And, since it’d be a shame to have made so many fine blades but not have one of your own, I made this for you,” he said while still chuckling, showing me a sword significantly longer than the short swords we’d been making. It was a little over three feet long, with a slightly narrower than usual leaf shaped blade, weighted towards the front to improve chopping while still being narrow enough to stab with, and would be perfect as a bastard sword; given my relatively high strength I could use it either one handed or, slightly more devastating, two handed as well. Sindri continued to say: “you’re becoming a proper rune-smith, so you should enchant the blade yourself. It still needs to be grinded, have the first runes cut onto it, be normalized, heat treated, treated with acid and get that final sharpening. You should also bind the sword to you, which is something only a rune-smith can do. To do so, you’ll have to put some of your blood on the blade while it’s hot, put some more into the quenching brine for the heat treatment, and give it a name. I’ll leave you until dinner time to work on the runes and set up the normalization heating, and you can finish it next week as you work on the armor.”<br>Item Received: Unfinished Sword<br>Despite my exhaustion, I was elated with my new toy, and immediately ground an edge before I began scribing runes as small and carefully as I could. I put Deep Cut runes on the tip and all the way down to the midpoint of the blade, leaving spaces for Keep Sharp runes as well as future runes I might learn. I put No Rust near where the guard would go on both sides of the blade, and Never Break runes near the tip, halfway, and nearer the guard on both sides, then heated the blade before leaving it overnight to cool and normalize. Finally able to sleep, I passed out, knowing I’d be up again early in the morning.<br><br>The next morning I was again woken early, Sindri apparently not affected by exhaustion. Stumbling and cursing, I managed to get to the dining room and eat before following him into the forge. This week, we were making a helmet, greaves (leg armor), gauntlets (hand/ lower arm armor) and a suit of chain mail. Making the armor was significantly easier than the swords. First, Sindri gave me patterns and calculation tables for the gauntlets, helmet, and greaves.<br><br>Crafting Diagrams Received:<br>Articulated Gauntlets, Close Fit Heavy Helmet, Dwarven Greaves<br><br>The gauntlets were articulated plate around the fingers, made by cutting and shaping small pieces of steel sheet, then attaching the sections with rivets and lining the interior with leather. The hand section was attached to the bracers to protect the lower arms. Each piece received a Never-Break and a No-Rust enchantment, so the greatest work was in scribing all the runes. When complete, the gauntlets were surprisingly light, but still very solid; a punch with these could be deadly. I finished the gauntlets on the first day.<br>The helmet required some more advanced shaping. First, we made a mold of my head, so we’d have something to fit the helmet to. Then, we added the leather padding around my head that would help prevent concussions, then fit the helmet around that. The helmet consisted of a solid, mostly bowl-shaped chunk to protect the head from the eyebrows up as well as the side of the head and neck, and included an articulated section made flexible with small pieces of chain-mail to protect the neck. A bracing section that extended onto the back helped support the weight of the helmet. There was also a facemask, which covered everything other than some small holes for the eyes and nose; it included hinges to move with the jaw so there wasn’t anything to cover the mouth and get in the way. Everything was padded with comfortable leather, and Sindri taught me another pair of runes to enhance the leather pieces so they wouldn’t smell or need to be replaced as frequently from wear and tear.<br><br>You have received Rune-Magic enchantments:<br>Never Smell, Never Tear<br><br>The helmet was further enhanced using the Never-Break and Never-Rust enchantments, then I went back and improved the leather gloves for the gauntlets too. While it normally would take days or weeks to make these in real life, the game’s assistance and Sindri’s helping skills meant that I was finishing the armor incredibly rapidly. On Wednesday, I built the greaves, which protected the front and sides of the legs from the shin up to around the knees. With a sharp, but not cutting edge on front and a point at the top, they could be used as a weapon as well as armor.<br><br>Finally, it was time to make the chainmail on Thursday. Normally, chainmail is an absolute pain to make. Although lighter than plate armor and flexible, it can take a long time to attach all the rings with rivets, which reduces the chance of penetration by a piercing attack. Properly made chain mail was almost impenetrable by medieval weaponry in the real world, but very difficult to make. Sindri claimed no proper Rune-Smith wears anything other than mail, since it’s lighter than plate and each ring can be enchanted. Of course, considering a single suit might have thousands of links, true Rune-Mail was ridiculously difficult to make or buy. Of course, Sindri had a solution to this problem; I was surprised to find out it wasn’t hard work.<br><br>“Alright, boy,” he said, “it’s time for you to craft your mail. Here’re the diagrams you need. Now, since you’ll keep this mail for a long time and it’s hard as hell to change once it’s made, I’ll help you out a little. Each link of the chain should have five enchantments. Near the rivet, should be a Never-Break. You can put a No-Rust anywhere you like. Meanwhile there are two basic runes that any mail coming out of my shop has: “Algiz,” for defense, particularly against magic, and “Uruz” for physical power, so the user is stronger and faster and the armor doesn’t slow them down. You’ll also need Afli. They look like so, and need to be linked thusly” he said as he drew the runes. As he spoke, I saw several announcements:<br><br>You have received a crafting diagram: Long-sleeve Riveted Chain Mail Hauberk<br>Chain mail is the flexible defense of choice. This hauberk covers you from neck to knee, and has long sleeves to protect your arms. Lighter chain is used at the joints for flexibility.<br><br>New Rune Magic Ability: Linked Runes:<br>You are now aware of how to link written runes to increase their power.<br><br>You have learned some Runes:<br>Algiz (Basic Rune)- Defense, especially against magic.<br>Uruz (Basic Rune)- Physical Power, increases strength and dexterity.<br>Afli (Complementary Rune)- Power, stores rune power and acts as battery.<br><br>“Now,” he continued, “both Algiz and Uruz are powered runes. They can store some MP themselves, but not too much. Meanwhile, Afli isn’t really useful on its own, but it can store a whole lot of MP. Since each Algiz or Uruz rune should only be using a little energy, the suit can last for hours of combat if fully charged, or days of regular use. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t be lazy and rely on the enchantments, but build the strength to wear this armor yourself. Now, normally you might think of writing and charging tens of thousands of runes and cry: don’t! Even I got so bored of making chain links that I designed a machine to do so for me. It does require MP to operate though, and needs to be fed steel wire, so that’s your job for the next few days.” And so, for three days and two nights straight I fed this machine every scrap of available mana I had, until finally the mail was complete, and then attached it with string to the leather jacket worn as padding underneath. Saturday night, I showed it to Sindri; after he approved, I finally went to sleep, and woke up Sunday around noon.<br><br>Sunday, I finally had enough time to work on my sword. Having normalized the steel, I heated it and blooded it, quenched it with oil mixed in blood, and while tempering it tried to think of it’s name. Finally, I said aloud “what should I call you?” and thought I heard “Colada”. I etched Colada with acid, added the fine edge, and polished the blade, then finally charged the runes. Before adding the guard and handle, I added linked runes of Eihwaz, Dagaz, Uruz and several Afli runes to the tang; the Dagaz would hopefully, through our bond, increase my experience gain, while Uruz would help if I needed to do a power-attach with Colada. Eihwaz would strengthen the runes and hopefully the sword as well, while I could charge the Afli runes to increase the duration of these effects in battle. Along the edge, I started linking Algiz runes to the Deep-Cut enchantments so that the sword would be able to cut through magic, adding dozens of small Afli runes a little further from the edge, then charged Colada. Finished, I decided I’d get some rest then find Sindri and show him my work on Monday. I also saw an announcement:<br><br>Smithing Beginner Level 7<br><br>Monday morning, I was actually allowed to sleep in until 6am; this was a minor miracle for Sindri. I woke on my own (or rather by Merlin shocking me, but what’s the difference?) and dressed in my armor so I’d get used to wearing it. I then went to get some breakfast in the dining room. Sindri was also there, looking a bit hung over from his weekend escapades.<br>“Sindri, take a look at this! I finished the sword and called her Colada!” I enthused.<br>“That’s some decent work, and makes me more comfortable ending your apprenticeship so quickly,” he said, unusually not chewing me out. “ Before you can become a journeyman though, you need to do two things. First, you need to have your own set of tools. It’s traditional for the master to give you a travelling forge, grinding wheel and anvil, so here you are. You’ll also need to make and enchant three hammers: a 1 pound ball-peen, a 3 pound cross-peen and a 4 pounder. You’ll need a pair of metal shears, tongs, a punch, centerpunch and a set of chisels. Lastly, you’ll need a set of engraving tools for rune-scribing; you’re the most promising apprentice to come through in a long while, and I’d like you to take my own journeyman engraving tools. The second thing you need to do is complete a Journeyman piece. This should be something impressive and interesting, demonstrating your experience in the craft and ability to work runes. I’ll give you access to my library, so you can look at the more advanced runes there. It’s the locked room just to the right of the stockroom. Now, get to work! It’s already 7am and I expect you to be done with the greatest journeyman piece I’ve ever seen by Sunday!”<br><br>Items Received:<br>Travelling Forge, Grinding Wheel and Anvil<br>Sindri’s Engraving Tools<br>Sindri’s Library Key.<br><br>The tools were relatively easy to make, and I was finished by the end of the day. Tuesday morning I went into the library, and began to read and take notes in an empty journal I found. Being scarily genius smart and a speed reader, it went quite quickly. I read and slept and ate for three days, until on Friday I finally had the knowledge to attempt my project.<br><br>You have completed a book: Basics of Rune-Magic.<br>Better understanding of Rune-Magic and it’s possibilities<br><br>You have completed a book: 24 Basic Runes. <br>+1 Intelligence, provides theoretical knowledge of all Basic Runes.<br><br>You have completed a book: Basic Enchantments.<br>Provides theoretical knowledge of many basic enchantment runes.<br><br>You have completed a book: Introduction to Rune Diagrams.<br>+1 Wisdom, provides theoretical understanding of how to make written rune-spells.<br><br>You have completed a book: Basic Rune Diagrams.<br>+1 Intelligence, contains many basic rune diagrams.<br><br>You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Through the Ages.<br>Contains information regarding different Rune Diagram theories and discoveries.<br>You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 1<br>Contains theory on designing rune diagrams<br><br>You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 2<br>+1 Wisdom, contains theory on designing rune diagrams<br><br>You have completed a book: Southern Runes<br>Contains a number of runes from Dwarves in Southern countries<br><br>You have completed a book: Unified Rune Theory by Sindri<br>+1 Intelligence, contains information on converting between spoken runes, rune diagrams and enchantments.<br><br>From these, I learned some important theory. Some rune combinations, especially the weaker effects, could be permanent or semi-permanent. Stronger effects needed to be powered. Depending on how a rune was drawn, it could be either a permanent rune, a triggered rune, or a active rune. Permanent runes I already covered. Triggered runes required someone skilled in Rune-Smithing to activate them. Active runes would instantly activate whenever possible.<br><br>Thursday night I stayed up late, working on the plans for my journeyman project. I was trying to re-create a gun inside the game. Starting early Friday morning, I first constructed all the parts needed to make an AK 47; it’s not that I have a fetish for them as so many people seem to do, it’s that they have a design so robust that even communist workers, not exactly the most motivated in the world, couldn’t fuck it up. Later on, I would switch to an acceleration rather than explosion driven device. Since Merlin could project the devices I needed to cut and form, and since my smithing skill was already pretty decent, it wasn’t that difficult to make everything; I had the gun assembled and enchanted against rust or breaking by Saturday noontime, and all I had to do was avoid sleep. The really complicated thing to do would be designing the cartridges to fire without gunpowder.<br><br>The way the cartridge worked was pretty ingenious. The main challenge was to have something burn as fast as gunpowder and evolve a similar amount of gas; this meant I needed something around the same density. I first planned on using finely powdered rune-processed charcoal derived from sugar. To make it, I would sugar, then process it in a special chamber covered in runes to make pure carbon charcoal. Then, I could take the carbon and put it into a cartridge with a pair of runes to speed up the burning and increase the force of the explosion, powered by an Afli rune. Experimentation with the amount of Afli power until the charcoal burned completely at the right rate would yield a cartridge. <br><br>After thinking about the problem for a couple more minutes though, I realized there was an easier method: water. I put an amount of distilled water (so it wouldn’t corrode anything) in the cartridge so that it would create the right amount of gas when boiled, and scribed an active Bruni, or “heat/fire” rune on the back of the cartridge to produce heat as well as well as a Festa, or “strengthen/accelerate” rune to increase the power of the gas, both driven by Afli runes. Experimentation with the charge and number of Afli runes yielded a useable result: four small Afli runes charged with a total of 80 MP would power one shot. The hammer, instead of igniting the primer, would instead complete the rune-linkage between the Afli and Bruni, triggering the shot. The bullets were stamped on their nose with a small “Leita” or “seek” rune to improve accuracy, powered with a 20 MP Afli rune. As the bullet passed through some rifling, the scratching would connect it to the Afli rune scribed on the base of the bullet. Saturday night I made a mold for the cartridges and stamp for the runes then feverishly produced rounds. By Sunday evening I had just over 360 rounds of 7.62x39 completed in a variety of metals: 60 advanced rounds made of Never-Break and No-Cut enhanced steel for armored enemies, 60 rounds of silver for undead with the same enhancements as the advanced rounds, and 240 rounds of standard rounds for normal enemies. In the process of making and powering all the runes, I gained:<br><br>Continuous Casting Beginner Level 5<br>Magic Mastery Beginner Level 5<br>Rune Magic Beginner Level 8<br>Smithing Beginner Level 8<br><br>Tired and worn out, I went to sleep on the floor of the workshop, next to the AK and waited for Sindri to come in and inspect my Journeyman’s piece.<br><br>Sometime close to midnight, Merlin shocked me awake just before Sindri entered. Yawning, I stood up just in time as he came in, shouting as usual.<br>“Alright, Boy,” he said, “Let’s see it! What have you prepared for your journeyman’s piece?”<br>“Well Master Sindri, I’ve got something pretty interesting for you. I call it the Journeyman’s AC, or Automatic-Corbeau. It takes these cartridges, flash boiling the water and causing these small bullets to fly out the front travelling at almost a thousand meters a second. Shall I give a demonstration in the testing range?”<br>“Please do,” he said, looking interested. We left the workshop, going into the firing range where crossbows would normally be tested. At the end of the range, about 60 meters away, was a target dummy wearing a somewhat holed breastplate. Switching the fire selector to full auto, I put ten controlled, three round bursts into the dummy, pretty much finishing it off. <br>Now looking very impressed, Sindri asked “can I try?”<br>“Of course,” I showed him how to load the magazine, and flipped the selector to single fire. “Just pull the trigger, keeping the sights aimed at the dummy. After you’ve tried single shot, you can adjust to automatic.” Sindri, grinning, began firing the gun. After a handful of shots, he switched to automatic and empty the clip in one long burst. Now smiling wider than I I’d ever seen before, he turned back to me and grabbed me in a bone-crushing hug (literally, I took 60 points of damage).<br>“I knew it! I knew you’d be a great Rune-Smith! But this, this is amazing! Wonderful! I heartily approve your promotion to Journeyman. In fact, if you make many more inventions like these, you’ll qualify as not just a journeyman rune-smith, but as a rune-artificer, which gives you access to some of the secret and restricted guild research libraries. Congratulations, Corbeau! I’d like you to feel at home in my workshop anytime, though of course you are now capable of doing as you like. Would you mind letting me have the diagram for the runes and device you used? I’d like to work on them and make some improvements and variations.”<br><br>You have created a new crafting diagram: Journeyman’s AC<br>By designing a device and having it accepted by a master of the rune-smithing art, your Journeyman’s AC is now an official crafting diagram.<br><br>Smithing Beginner Level 9<br><br>You have completed the class progression quest: Ivaldi Journeyman Rune-Smith<br>As a Journeyman Rune-Smith, you are allowed to create and sell your smithing works in any guild town. You are also allowed access to the general library and workspaces in any affiliated guild. Relationship with Ivaldi Rune-Smiths Guild Improved.<br><br>Smithing Intermediate Level 1<br>Level Up<br>Level Up<br>All runes are now 10% more effective and cost 10% less MP.<br><br>“Of course you can have a copy of my crafting diagram, Sindri!” I replied, grinning at finally being called something other than “boy”. “But I have two conditions: One, don’t share this diagram or the results of our future research with anyone else without my agreement. These weapons could be incredibly dangerous if used against us. Two, we share any crafting diagrams we make based on this idea with each other. Do you agree?”<br>“Alright. I’d like to improve your ammunition first, maybe get it to fire faster and more accurately, and then maybe move onto some other variants of gun as well as ways of making enough of these bullets to last a long fight. Now, I don’t expect to see much of you over the next couple of weeks; you’re a Journeyman, so you should go on some journeys, get some experience, have some adventures. Remember though, in 5 weeks the first Ivaldi Legion is moving to the front to attack Serpentshead, and I hope you’ll be back by then to go along and help the troops. Here’re the three gold and sixty silvers I owe you, less 1 gold for materials to make your journeyman’s piece leaves you with two gold sixty, and I’ve got a present for you; this backpack uses some new space-folding runes so it fits twenty times as much as you’d think, and makes it weigh twenty times less. Alright, now I’m sure you’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow; you should get some rest.” <br>You Received Sindri’s Backpack:<br>A huge backpack to begin with, holds 20 times as much space inside as it seems. Makes objects weigh 20 times less.<br><br>In the morning I packed the four gold and handful of silver I’d collected over my first month playing along with everything else I needed into my new backpack. I put on my armor, slung Colada, my sword, at my left hip and placed Sindri’s knife on my right. I placed two magazines containing regular ammunition, as well as one magazine each of advanced and silver, in pouches on my belt so they’d be easily accessible. Finally, I slung my Journeyman’s AC, or JAC, across my chest and was finally able to leave the city and train. After all, I’d need to be much stronger before I could think of taking on Serpentshead, even with all the nasty tricks I was thinking of.
</div> | Journeyman
Time: 1 week (RR) after entering RR. 1 year (Real World) before defense of Attica.
Corbeau (Corvus) in Royal Road, Ivaldi City
Before I went to go roust Sindri and ask him to talk to the rest of the city Elders, the most respected craftsmen, soldier and politicians for me, I needed to collect my reward from Kabin. When I approached him, he grabbed me a bone-cracking hug, smelling of smoke and stale sweat.
“Corbeau, my friend, thank you so much! I can never repay you properly for helping me, and protecting my daughter. Any time you want to, come over to my pub and you’ll eat for free. Furthermore, when Sindri finally gives you some spare time, come over and I’ll give you cooking lessons. After all, you are what you eat! And I’ll tell everyone in the area who’s responsible for getting rid of those nasty Bloodbirds, so the merchants should be more favorably inclined. How about that? I know it isn’t much, but it’s all I can give.” While that didn’t seem like much, and would cost Kabin next to nothing, it would be seriously useful to me. Well-cooked food, and Kabin was a good cook, had serious bonuses and tasted way better. Cooking training from a good chef would help me improve that skill far quicker than experimenting on my own, and teach me some good recipes. And the fame wouldn’t hurt, especially the local reputation increase. But being too well known wouldn’t help when I went against Serpentshead in case I wanted to disguise myself for an infiltration.
“That sounds great Kabin. Except for one thing. When you and your friends tell this story, I want you to say that Merlin never leaves my side while I’m fighting, OK?”
“Sure thing!”
You have accepted Kabin’s Reward
+50 Fame.
+100 Reputation: Ivaldi Docklands
Offer for Cooking Training
Free meals at the Dancing Mermaid
“Alright,” I said, “now I need to go find Sindri.” I left the area, and started asking people on the street around Sindri’s warehouse where he might be. Eventually I tracked him down to the “Dainty Dwarf,” apparently a bawdyhouse. It would have been much nicer if the girls weren’t all dwarves. Short, stocky, and very hairy isn’t really my type. Unfortunately, my looks: 6’2” tall, with pointed ears from my elven blood, skin a deep gold resulting from the mix of brown- dwarf- and pale gold –elf-, seemed to be pretty exotic and I had to dodge the hands of several of the girls as well as not a few of the drunk dwarven men. Spotting Sindri sitting in the corner, a girl in each arm, I made my way over to him.
“Sindri!” I shouted over the din. “We need to talk!”
“What?” he bellowed. I was starting the think Sindri might be a little deaf from all the hammering in his workshops.
“We need to talk!” I said, slower and even louder this time. “Let’s go outside!”
“I can’t hear you! Come outside!” he thundered. Shrugging and grinning at the inanity, I followed him outside where it was much quieter.
“What trouble are you in now, boy? Apart from having disrupted my evening, that is?”
“Well, Sindri, it’s like this,” I said, before telling him the whole story of the evening. “…and then I thought, who should I bring these letters to? And immediately thought of you, Master Sindri,” I finished, laying on the flattery.
“Harrumph. Well, it looks like I can’t punish you for disturbing me. You did a good job with that Eagle; I’d heard of him. How did you kill him? I’d think the difference in strength was too high?”
“Ah, well, Sindri, it would be except for three things. First, Eagle was a mage, so his personal strength and defense weren’t too high. Second, we took him by surprise. Third, Tsende, the earth mage, actually broke through his defenses, though I helped a little. I just stabbed him a few times.”
“Well, good job either way. And these letters indicate a serious campaign in the near future. I’ll have to accelerate your training over the next couple weeks and try and get you up to Journeyman Rune-Smith so you can come along; it’ll be good experience for you to be attached to a squad as their armorer, and you’ve done well enough in your training that I think you can do it. It’ll be difficult though, not like the gentle work you’ve been doing till now. We’ll double the number of swords to make next week. The week after that, you’ll make a complete suit of enchanted chainmail, as well as plate greaves, gauntlets, helmet and shield. The third week, you’ll craft your own tools and complete a Journeyman piece to prove your worth as a smith.”
Quest Completed: Inform an Elder
Relationship with Sindri has improved.
Relationship with Sivaldi Elders has improved slightly.
New Quest: Class Progression Quest: Journeyman
Sindri, impressed with you, is accelerating your training. If you can make 200 swords with his help, finish a complete suit of enchanted armor, make a set of smithing tools, and complete an acceptable Journeyman piece, you will become a Journeyman Ivaldi Rune-Smith. Journeymen are full members of the Rune-Smith’s guild, and have access to the guild library. They are also allowed to create and sell their own work.
“Thanks, Sindri!”
“Alright, now let’s head back. I need to show you how to make a Damascus core so I can go talk to the other Elders in the morning.” We headed back to the workshops, and Sindri went over to the wall, throwing a lever which turned on the water-powered bellows. Next he walked over to the sorted piles of stock metal in the corner, and selected two steel bars marked “Wootz-Hard” and three steel bars marked “Wootz-Medium”. I knew from some smithing I’d done years ago as part of my industrial production training that modern billet welded steel, known as modern-Damascus, used a combination of high and medium carbon rods that were then beaten and folded to produce the patterned steel.
“Always take two of the hard Wootz and three of the medium Wootz. Then, tie them together using a wire around the outside, sandwiching the hard inside the medium,” he said while doing so. “Next, bring it over to the forge and heat it until it’s red hot. Make sure to always use the fine charcoal,” he said, adding a scoop of charcoal to the fire.
“Once it’s red hot, take it out and cover it with this stuff, borax. When that’s white, you hammer the bar until it’s twice as long as it started, heating as you need. Then, refold the billet back on itself, and repeat. Do this for a total of six refoldings to get 300 layers. That’ll make a good Damascus steel core. I’ll do most of the shaping of the blades when I get back from the emergency Elder’s meeting.
“So you know how to make your own blades in the future, you hammer the billet to the right shape for the blade, then heat to orange red and wait for the blade to cool in the air. Next, grind the blade as necessary and sand it up until this middle grit, and engrave the runes for the enchantments. Normalize the blade by heating until it’s bright red, then allow to cool in air before you move onto the final heat treatment. Heat the blade until it’s orange-red, then quench in oil. If you’re being fancy, you can cover everything other than the edge of the blade in this white clay, then heat a bit hotter before quenching in brine. That’ll make the edge harder, but keep the core soft, so the blade can be sharper without breaking. Either way, temper the blade for two hours by heating it until the blade is almost hot enough to burn paper.”
“Finally, clean the blade, add the final edge, and polish it up until 1200 grit. Put the blade in this acid, then polish the blade with the fine polishing grit and charge the runes. Finally, add a handle. And there you have it! Although one blade takes a long time to make, you can make several at the same time. You can also use this technique with metals other than steel, combining harder and softer materials together. You can even use it to combine different materials together, but they have to be able to weld. Although we only have orders for a hundred short-swords for the city guard right now, I bet they’ll double it because of Serpentshead, so you’ll have to work hard tomorrow. Now, get some sleep!”
You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascened Metal
Damascened metals, most commonly steel, are an advanced form used in swords. Capable of holding a very sharp edge yet still malleable enough not to break in combat, every warrior dreams of owning a Damascus blade.
You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascus Steel Rune-Sword
You have been taught how to create a Damascus Steel Rune-Sword.
I went to bed and woke up far too early after a shock from Merlin. Groaning, I stumbled into the dining room and ate some bread and beer, before going to the forge. Adding some charcoal to the fire, I increased the speed of the bellows and got to work. Seven hours later, by noontime, I had 5 Damascus billets done, and was halfway done with four more. It was exhausting work hammering the steel, and I continued to focus on Rune Meditation as well as actively using Eihwaz and Dagaz. As the day went on, I received plenty of announcements.
+1 Strength
+1 Strength
+1 Stamina
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 4
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 7
Smithing Beginner Level 3
+1 Strength
New Skill: Multitasking (Level 1)
You are used to focusing on several different tasks at once. Reduces penalty for dual-casting spells or working on different crafting projects simultaneously. Reduces chance of being distracted or deceived by spells.
Sindri finally came back around 7 pm, grumbling about the useless morons on the council. Thank god he was happy with my progress, or at least what passes for happy with Sindri.
“Only 9 billets made, boy! Have to work harder! No sleep till we’re done, we’ll both worship at the Smith-God’s alter! Two hundred swords by Monday, let’s build some character!” he bellowed, cheery at the idea of another smithing hell-week even worse than the one previous. Have I mentioned how much I hate the phrase “character building?” It’s about up there with “I’m from the IRS, and have some questions about your taxes.”
As the night progressed and turned into the next day, Sindri still wouldn’t let us sleep, and even went so far as to have other apprentices bring us food at water in the forge. I was so focused I didn’t notice the updates as my Strength, Stamina, and skills improved. I even managed to tune out the horrible sound of Sindri singing to his swords. Life became the fire and hammer and steel. By Wednesday evening, I was so tired I couldn’t see straight. By Thursday, I was too tired to even cast Eihwaz or Dagaz and my health began to gradually decline. As I finished the last of the billets at 9am on Friday after 100 hours of straight smithing, I passed out, Sindri still finishing shaping the swords. I woke up when Sindri threw a bucket of water in my face; checking the system only three hours had passed.
“Enough rest, Boy!” he roared. “These swords won’t enchant themselves!” Rising, I checked my stats. I’d made huge gains:
Strength +8
Stamina +14
Intelligence +3
Wisdom +3
Rune Magic Beginner Level 6
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 6
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 4
Smithing Beginner Level 6
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 9
Lab Safety Beginner Level 4
Continuous Casting Beginner Level 4
Multitasking Level 3
Still, I decided I needed to be more careful in the future. I’d almost died and if I did I’d be stuck in the game, watching a black screen, for four horrifically boring days.
“Well done, boy, well done! You hung in there like a true smith; many masters can’t keep up with me. Furthermore, those Damascus patterns are even acceptable! You’ve made me proud, and must have been a great smith in a previous life. Now, watch carefully as I show you the rune-patterns for “No-Rust, Keep-Sharp, Never-Break and Cut-Deep”. These are what we call permanent runes; they may wear out eventually with a lot of use, and they can be overcome, but if the user maintains the sword properly, they can last forever. The greater the Rune-Magic of the caster, and the better they are at Rune-Scribing, the stronger the effect of the runes. There are other enchantments, powered runes, which might need to be recharged or channel energy; they are more like those gauntlets of mine, and tend to have stronger, if temporary, effects.”
Relationship with Sindri has improved.
New Skill: Rune-Scribing Level 1.
Rune Scribing is the act of writing rune enchantments. Higher levels help make clearer, more effective runes which can be written smaller, allowing for more runes per object.
You have received Rune-Magic Enchantments:
No Rust, Keep Sharp, Never Break, Cut Deep.
“Your job now, boy, is to grind an edge onto these blades and engrave those runes. Put the Deep-Cut on the tip; that rune doesn’t extend that far, and it’s most useful for stabbing. Keep Sharp is pretty long and should be oriented along the forward edge. Never break and No Rust go in the center. Alright, enough lollygagging, get to work!”
Obeying his order, I quickly took an armful of the blades and brought them to the grinding wheels. Since Sindri was such a masterful smith, they already had pretty good edges and shapes just from the hammering. Still, he was working quickly, and had made the blades slightly larger than they should be, anticipating a final grind. By 2am Saturday morning, I had finally finished sharpening the swords; I was still absolutely exhausted, my arms and hands aching from the vibrations imparted by the grinding wheels. I had, however, gained some level:
+2 Wisdom
Sharpening Level 4
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 7
I picked up one of the sets of engraving tools to start scribing the runes anyways; I was young and tough, and determined to push through and beat the sword-making challenge. I carefully cut the runes into the blades, continuing until my hands were cramped from holding the tools, my head was aching from squinting and concentrating and I was entirely exhausted. As my skill improved, each successive sword was slightly easier, slightly faster to complete, the demand on my concentration and energy slightly lower. Eventually, it was very restful, as I meditated on Eihwaz, Dagaz, and rune-scribing. Finally, Sunday morning around 7 am I finished.
+3 Wisdom
+2 Intelligence
+3 Dexterity
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 8
Rune Scribing Level 4
“Sindri, I’m done!” I yelled at him over the sounds of the forge, as he completed the final heat treatments.
“Excellent! Come over here and I’ll show you how to charge the runes. Do it just like this: focus on the rune in your mind and it’s meaning, and imagine sending your mana into it. I want you to charge all the runes you made for practice; I’ll strengthen them afterwards. Off you go then!” I don’t think he’d slept yet, how he was still going was beyond me. I was ready to pass out, and at least I’d gotten three hours of sleep. Still, I kept going, and after dozens of failures managed to charge the runes on the swords by Sunday afternoon.
+2 Intelligence
Rune Magic Beginner Level 7
Without my noticing, Sindri had come over to watch over my shoulder. It would have been fine, except his only voice seemed to be a booming roar.
“Congratulations, lad! You’ve finished, and even have some spare time before midnight!” he shouted in my ear, startling me. I jumped sideways, fell down, and then stood up as he laughed. “And, since it’d be a shame to have made so many fine blades but not have one of your own, I made this for you,” he said while still chuckling, showing me a sword significantly longer than the short swords we’d been making. It was a little over three feet long, with a slightly narrower than usual leaf shaped blade, weighted towards the front to improve chopping while still being narrow enough to stab with, and would be perfect as a bastard sword; given my relatively high strength I could use it either one handed or, slightly more devastating, two handed as well. Sindri continued to say: “you’re becoming a proper rune-smith, so you should enchant the blade yourself. It still needs to be grinded, have the first runes cut onto it, be normalized, heat treated, treated with acid and get that final sharpening. You should also bind the sword to you, which is something only a rune-smith can do. To do so, you’ll have to put some of your blood on the blade while it’s hot, put some more into the quenching brine for the heat treatment, and give it a name. I’ll leave you until dinner time to work on the runes and set up the normalization heating, and you can finish it next week as you work on the armor.”
Item Received: Unfinished Sword
Despite my exhaustion, I was elated with my new toy, and immediately ground an edge before I began scribing runes as small and carefully as I could. I put Deep Cut runes on the tip and all the way down to the midpoint of the blade, leaving spaces for Keep Sharp runes as well as future runes I might learn. I put No Rust near where the guard would go on both sides of the blade, and Never Break runes near the tip, halfway, and nearer the guard on both sides, then heated the blade before leaving it overnight to cool and normalize. Finally able to sleep, I passed out, knowing I’d be up again early in the morning.
The next morning I was again woken early, Sindri apparently not affected by exhaustion. Stumbling and cursing, I managed to get to the dining room and eat before following him into the forge. This week, we were making a helmet, greaves (leg armor), gauntlets (hand/ lower arm armor) and a suit of chain mail. Making the armor was significantly easier than the swords. First, Sindri gave me patterns and calculation tables for the gauntlets, helmet, and greaves.
Crafting Diagrams Received:
Articulated Gauntlets, Close Fit Heavy Helmet, Dwarven Greaves
The gauntlets were articulated plate around the fingers, made by cutting and shaping small pieces of steel sheet, then attaching the sections with rivets and lining the interior with leather. The hand section was attached to the bracers to protect the lower arms. Each piece received a Never-Break and a No-Rust enchantment, so the greatest work was in scribing all the runes. When complete, the gauntlets were surprisingly light, but still very solid; a punch with these could be deadly. I finished the gauntlets on the first day.
The helmet required some more advanced shaping. First, we made a mold of my head, so we’d have something to fit the helmet to. Then, we added the leather padding around my head that would help prevent concussions, then fit the helmet around that. The helmet consisted of a solid, mostly bowl-shaped chunk to protect the head from the eyebrows up as well as the side of the head and neck, and included an articulated section made flexible with small pieces of chain-mail to protect the neck. A bracing section that extended onto the back helped support the weight of the helmet. There was also a facemask, which covered everything other than some small holes for the eyes and nose; it included hinges to move with the jaw so there wasn’t anything to cover the mouth and get in the way. Everything was padded with comfortable leather, and Sindri taught me another pair of runes to enhance the leather pieces so they wouldn’t smell or need to be replaced as frequently from wear and tear.
You have received Rune-Magic enchantments:
Never Smell, Never Tear
The helmet was further enhanced using the Never-Break and Never-Rust enchantments, then I went back and improved the leather gloves for the gauntlets too. While it normally would take days or weeks to make these in real life, the game’s assistance and Sindri’s helping skills meant that I was finishing the armor incredibly rapidly. On Wednesday, I built the greaves, which protected the front and sides of the legs from the shin up to around the knees. With a sharp, but not cutting edge on front and a point at the top, they could be used as a weapon as well as armor.
Finally, it was time to make the chainmail on Thursday. Normally, chainmail is an absolute pain to make. Although lighter than plate armor and flexible, it can take a long time to attach all the rings with rivets, which reduces the chance of penetration by a piercing attack. Properly made chain mail was almost impenetrable by medieval weaponry in the real world, but very difficult to make. Sindri claimed no proper Rune-Smith wears anything other than mail, since it’s lighter than plate and each ring can be enchanted. Of course, considering a single suit might have thousands of links, true Rune-Mail was ridiculously difficult to make or buy. Of course, Sindri had a solution to this problem; I was surprised to find out it wasn’t hard work.
“Alright, boy,” he said, “it’s time for you to craft your mail. Here’re the diagrams you need. Now, since you’ll keep this mail for a long time and it’s hard as hell to change once it’s made, I’ll help you out a little. Each link of the chain should have five enchantments. Near the rivet, should be a Never-Break. You can put a No-Rust anywhere you like. Meanwhile there are two basic runes that any mail coming out of my shop has: “Algiz,” for defense, particularly against magic, and “Uruz” for physical power, so the user is stronger and faster and the armor doesn’t slow them down. You’ll also need Afli. They look like so, and need to be linked thusly” he said as he drew the runes. As he spoke, I saw several announcements:
You have received a crafting diagram: Long-sleeve Riveted Chain Mail Hauberk
Chain mail is the flexible defense of choice. This hauberk covers you from neck to knee, and has long sleeves to protect your arms. Lighter chain is used at the joints for flexibility.
New Rune Magic Ability: Linked Runes:
You are now aware of how to link written runes to increase their power.
You have learned some Runes:
Algiz (Basic Rune)- Defense, especially against magic.
Uruz (Basic Rune)- Physical Power, increases strength and dexterity.
Afli (Complementary Rune)- Power, stores rune power and acts as battery.
“Now,” he continued, “both Algiz and Uruz are powered runes. They can store some MP themselves, but not too much. Meanwhile, Afli isn’t really useful on its own, but it can store a whole lot of MP. Since each Algiz or Uruz rune should only be using a little energy, the suit can last for hours of combat if fully charged, or days of regular use. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t be lazy and rely on the enchantments, but build the strength to wear this armor yourself. Now, normally you might think of writing and charging tens of thousands of runes and cry: don’t! Even I got so bored of making chain links that I designed a machine to do so for me. It does require MP to operate though, and needs to be fed steel wire, so that’s your job for the next few days.” And so, for three days and two nights straight I fed this machine every scrap of available mana I had, until finally the mail was complete, and then attached it with string to the leather jacket worn as padding underneath. Saturday night, I showed it to Sindri; after he approved, I finally went to sleep, and woke up Sunday around noon.
Sunday, I finally had enough time to work on my sword. Having normalized the steel, I heated it and blooded it, quenched it with oil mixed in blood, and while tempering it tried to think of it’s name. Finally, I said aloud “what should I call you?” and thought I heard “Colada”. I etched Colada with acid, added the fine edge, and polished the blade, then finally charged the runes. Before adding the guard and handle, I added linked runes of Eihwaz, Dagaz, Uruz and several Afli runes to the tang; the Dagaz would hopefully, through our bond, increase my experience gain, while Uruz would help if I needed to do a power-attach with Colada. Eihwaz would strengthen the runes and hopefully the sword as well, while I could charge the Afli runes to increase the duration of these effects in battle. Along the edge, I started linking Algiz runes to the Deep-Cut enchantments so that the sword would be able to cut through magic, adding dozens of small Afli runes a little further from the edge, then charged Colada. Finished, I decided I’d get some rest then find Sindri and show him my work on Monday. I also saw an announcement:
Smithing Beginner Level 7
Monday morning, I was actually allowed to sleep in until 6am; this was a minor miracle for Sindri. I woke on my own (or rather by Merlin shocking me, but what’s the difference?) and dressed in my armor so I’d get used to wearing it. I then went to get some breakfast in the dining room. Sindri was also there, looking a bit hung over from his weekend escapades.
“Sindri, take a look at this! I finished the sword and called her Colada!” I enthused.
“That’s some decent work, and makes me more comfortable ending your apprenticeship so quickly,” he said, unusually not chewing me out. “ Before you can become a journeyman though, you need to do two things. First, you need to have your own set of tools. It’s traditional for the master to give you a travelling forge, grinding wheel and anvil, so here you are. You’ll also need to make and enchant three hammers: a 1 pound ball-peen, a 3 pound cross-peen and a 4 pounder. You’ll need a pair of metal shears, tongs, a punch, centerpunch and a set of chisels. Lastly, you’ll need a set of engraving tools for rune-scribing; you’re the most promising apprentice to come through in a long while, and I’d like you to take my own journeyman engraving tools. The second thing you need to do is complete a Journeyman piece. This should be something impressive and interesting, demonstrating your experience in the craft and ability to work runes. I’ll give you access to my library, so you can look at the more advanced runes there. It’s the locked room just to the right of the stockroom. Now, get to work! It’s already 7am and I expect you to be done with the greatest journeyman piece I’ve ever seen by Sunday!”
Items Received:
Travelling Forge, Grinding Wheel and Anvil
Sindri’s Engraving Tools
Sindri’s Library Key.
The tools were relatively easy to make, and I was finished by the end of the day. Tuesday morning I went into the library, and began to read and take notes in an empty journal I found. Being scarily genius smart and a speed reader, it went quite quickly. I read and slept and ate for three days, until on Friday I finally had the knowledge to attempt my project.
You have completed a book: Basics of Rune-Magic.
Better understanding of Rune-Magic and it’s possibilities
You have completed a book: 24 Basic Runes.
+1 Intelligence, provides theoretical knowledge of all Basic Runes.
You have completed a book: Basic Enchantments.
Provides theoretical knowledge of many basic enchantment runes.
You have completed a book: Introduction to Rune Diagrams.
+1 Wisdom, provides theoretical understanding of how to make written rune-spells.
You have completed a book: Basic Rune Diagrams.
+1 Intelligence, contains many basic rune diagrams.
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Through the Ages.
Contains information regarding different Rune Diagram theories and discoveries.
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 1
Contains theory on designing rune diagrams
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 2
+1 Wisdom, contains theory on designing rune diagrams
You have completed a book: Southern Runes
Contains a number of runes from Dwarves in Southern countries
You have completed a book: Unified Rune Theory by Sindri
+1 Intelligence, contains information on converting between spoken runes, rune diagrams and enchantments.
From these, I learned some important theory. Some rune combinations, especially the weaker effects, could be permanent or semi-permanent. Stronger effects needed to be powered. Depending on how a rune was drawn, it could be either a permanent rune, a triggered rune, or a active rune. Permanent runes I already covered. Triggered runes required someone skilled in Rune-Smithing to activate them. Active runes would instantly activate whenever possible.
Thursday night I stayed up late, working on the plans for my journeyman project. I was trying to re-create a gun inside the game. Starting early Friday morning, I first constructed all the parts needed to make an AK 47; it’s not that I have a fetish for them as so many people seem to do, it’s that they have a design so robust that even communist workers, not exactly the most motivated in the world, couldn’t fuck it up. Later on, I would switch to an acceleration rather than explosion driven device. Since Merlin could project the devices I needed to cut and form, and since my smithing skill was already pretty decent, it wasn’t that difficult to make everything; I had the gun assembled and enchanted against rust or breaking by Saturday noontime, and all I had to do was avoid sleep. The really complicated thing to do would be designing the cartridges to fire without gunpowder.
The way the cartridge worked was pretty ingenious. The main challenge was to have something burn as fast as gunpowder and evolve a similar amount of gas; this meant I needed something around the same density. I first planned on using finely powdered rune-processed charcoal derived from sugar. To make it, I would sugar, then process it in a special chamber covered in runes to make pure carbon charcoal. Then, I could take the carbon and put it into a cartridge with a pair of runes to speed up the burning and increase the force of the explosion, powered by an Afli rune. Experimentation with the amount of Afli power until the charcoal burned completely at the right rate would yield a cartridge.
After thinking about the problem for a couple more minutes though, I realized there was an easier method: water. I put an amount of distilled water (so it wouldn’t corrode anything) in the cartridge so that it would create the right amount of gas when boiled, and scribed an active Bruni, or “heat/fire” rune on the back of the cartridge to produce heat as well as well as a Festa, or “strengthen/accelerate” rune to increase the power of the gas, both driven by Afli runes. Experimentation with the charge and number of Afli runes yielded a useable result: four small Afli runes charged with a total of 80 MP would power one shot. The hammer, instead of igniting the primer, would instead complete the rune-linkage between the Afli and Bruni, triggering the shot. The bullets were stamped on their nose with a small “Leita” or “seek” rune to improve accuracy, powered with a 20 MP Afli rune. As the bullet passed through some rifling, the scratching would connect it to the Afli rune scribed on the base of the bullet. Saturday night I made a mold for the cartridges and stamp for the runes then feverishly produced rounds. By Sunday evening I had just over 360 rounds of 7.62x39 completed in a variety of metals: 60 advanced rounds made of Never-Break and No-Cut enhanced steel for armored enemies, 60 rounds of silver for undead with the same enhancements as the advanced rounds, and 240 rounds of standard rounds for normal enemies. In the process of making and powering all the runes, I gained:
Continuous Casting Beginner Level 5
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 5
Rune Magic Beginner Level 8
Smithing Beginner Level 8
Tired and worn out, I went to sleep on the floor of the workshop, next to the AK and waited for Sindri to come in and inspect my Journeyman’s piece.
Sometime close to midnight, Merlin shocked me awake just before Sindri entered. Yawning, I stood up just in time as he came in, shouting as usual.
“Alright, Boy,” he said, “Let’s see it! What have you prepared for your journeyman’s piece?”
“Well Master Sindri, I’ve got something pretty interesting for you. I call it the Journeyman’s AC, or Automatic-Corbeau. It takes these cartridges, flash boiling the water and causing these small bullets to fly out the front travelling at almost a thousand meters a second. Shall I give a demonstration in the testing range?”
“Please do,” he said, looking interested. We left the workshop, going into the firing range where crossbows would normally be tested. At the end of the range, about 60 meters away, was a target dummy wearing a somewhat holed breastplate. Switching the fire selector to full auto, I put ten controlled, three round bursts into the dummy, pretty much finishing it off.
Now looking very impressed, Sindri asked “can I try?”
“Of course,” I showed him how to load the magazine, and flipped the selector to single fire. “Just pull the trigger, keeping the sights aimed at the dummy. After you’ve tried single shot, you can adjust to automatic.” Sindri, grinning, began firing the gun. After a handful of shots, he switched to automatic and empty the clip in one long burst. Now smiling wider than I I’d ever seen before, he turned back to me and grabbed me in a bone-crushing hug (literally, I took 60 points of damage).
“I knew it! I knew you’d be a great Rune-Smith! But this, this is amazing! Wonderful! I heartily approve your promotion to Journeyman. In fact, if you make many more inventions like these, you’ll qualify as not just a journeyman rune-smith, but as a rune-artificer, which gives you access to some of the secret and restricted guild research libraries. Congratulations, Corbeau! I’d like you to feel at home in my workshop anytime, though of course you are now capable of doing as you like. Would you mind letting me have the diagram for the runes and device you used? I’d like to work on them and make some improvements and variations.”
You have created a new crafting diagram: Journeyman’s AC
By designing a device and having it accepted by a master of the rune-smithing art, your Journeyman’s AC is now an official crafting diagram.
Smithing Beginner Level 9
You have completed the class progression quest: Ivaldi Journeyman Rune-Smith
As a Journeyman Rune-Smith, you are allowed to create and sell your smithing works in any guild town. You are also allowed access to the general library and workspaces in any affiliated guild. Relationship with Ivaldi Rune-Smiths Guild Improved.
Smithing Intermediate Level 1
Level Up
Level Up
All runes are now 10% more effective and cost 10% less MP.
“Of course you can have a copy of my crafting diagram, Sindri!” I replied, grinning at finally being called something other than “boy”. “But I have two conditions: One, don’t share this diagram or the results of our future research with anyone else without my agreement. These weapons could be incredibly dangerous if used against us. Two, we share any crafting diagrams we make based on this idea with each other. Do you agree?”
“Alright. I’d like to improve your ammunition first, maybe get it to fire faster and more accurately, and then maybe move onto some other variants of gun as well as ways of making enough of these bullets to last a long fight. Now, I don’t expect to see much of you over the next couple of weeks; you’re a Journeyman, so you should go on some journeys, get some experience, have some adventures. Remember though, in 5 weeks the first Ivaldi Legion is moving to the front to attack Serpentshead, and I hope you’ll be back by then to go along and help the troops. Here’re the three gold and sixty silvers I owe you, less 1 gold for materials to make your journeyman’s piece leaves you with two gold sixty, and I’ve got a present for you; this backpack uses some new space-folding runes so it fits twenty times as much as you’d think, and makes it weigh twenty times less. Alright, now I’m sure you’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow; you should get some rest.”
You Received Sindri’s Backpack:
A huge backpack to begin with, holds 20 times as much space inside as it seems. Makes objects weigh 20 times less.
In the morning I packed the four gold and handful of silver I’d collected over my first month playing along with everything else I needed into my new backpack. I put on my armor, slung Colada, my sword, at my left hip and placed Sindri’s knife on my right. I placed two magazines containing regular ammunition, as well as one magazine each of advanced and silver, in pouches on my belt so they’d be easily accessible. Finally, I slung my Journeyman’s AC, or JAC, across my chest and was finally able to leave the city and train. After all, I’d need to be much stronger before I could think of taking on Serpentshead, even with all the nasty tricks I was thinking of. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Chapter 1",
"id": 3,
"next": 4,
"prev": 2,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
When I came home I went straight to my room. Not that I have any other choice in a flat with 2 rooms but you get the idea.<br>I put down my bag.<br>“Hey Jason. Back home? How was school?” My mom stood between the door frame.<br>“Ah, I totally forgot about you. Yeah, I am back. School was fine. Mr. Humble saved my day again. It was so boring until the history lesson but as soon as the subject began it lightened up.”<br>On first meetings everyone thinks that my mom is really friendly but in reality it’s just her surface. If you scratch it away you will make contact with a ferocious woman on level “Angry pirate killer”. Nah, just a joke.<br>That’s why I told her that lie. If i would tell her that everyone mocks me at school she would panic and do something that wouldn’t be good for either of us.<br>“Ah, that’s great honey. Is school really that boring? I thought you liked it more than me. Well, doesn’t matter. I go out at 7. You know where the food is. I didn’t have time to make it.” <br>It’s more like she doesn’t care for me and watches TV all day instead of making food for me.<br>“Yeah, I know where it is. I will make something later. Ain’t hungry at the moment.”<br>“Okay, feel free to do everything you want.” With that she left the room and probably went to her coach again inside her living, sleep or “whatever else she does in there” room.<br>Great. I got the money. I could buy the capsule and the game at this moment but what I didn’t think about is where I should place it. For real, how could I forget such a simple thing. Ahhh. It’s driving me crazy.<br>Calm down. Calm down. I should analyse my situation. I can’t place the capsule at home. Should I ask the old man again for help? Nah, that would just ruin our relationship between us or better said his wish to me. How should I find him in an entire new world for me?<br>So, nothing much left. School won’t work either. Maybe we got a basement?<br>“Mom, do we have a basement?<br>“No, why do you ask?”<br>“No reason at all. Just wondering.”<br>Basement. Check.<br>School. Check.<br>Old man. Check.<br>Home. Check.<br>Hmm, where could I play?<br>I thought about that for some time. Hours maybe. When my mom went out of the house I knew it were 7. So...<br>Ahh.<br>I went outside to get some fresh air. Why is there no place where I could play? Why. I got no relatives either. For fucks sake. My entire life sucks because of my family. I wish I could change something. That’s the reason why I want to play Royal Road. people all over the world - our world - talked about it day and night. Day after day. It must be awesome. So please, please anybody give me a hint.<br>I went around the residential block. If you could call it that. We lived in a apartment house. 10 floors, 19 neighbours. Around it there were some shacks but nothing worth to mention.<br>Nothing was close. City was an hour away and not to mention the infrastructure. Our house was the only minimal technology sign in the entire district. But everybody plays Royal Road. How is that possible I ask.<br>After roaming around for some hours still with no conclusion I went home again. I met no soul outside here. No wonder.<br>But as surprisingly as it seems I met our floor neighbour Mark, a worker on temporary employment around 25, at the entrance.<br>“Hey there. Long time no see.”<br>“Jason, what a surprise. Aren’t you supposed to play Royal Road?”<br>“Me? We don’t even have a capsule at home. I think my mother doesn’t even know about Royal Road.”<br>“What a pity. I knew that your mom isn’t all that mentally good but... Well if I can help you in any way then just ask me.”<br>“Everyone knows that except herself... This may sound a bit weird but could we arrange it so that I could play inside your flat? I mean I got the money and everything but I couldn’t play at home with her around.” I asked hopefully. Mark is a cool guy and maybe he understands me.<br>Mark shrugged.<br>“Yeah, well I know that your mother ain’t right but with help I meant... Well, you know not that kind of help. Sorry.”<br>I almost began to cry.<br>The next day I went to school like everyday. First lessons structured themselves as usual. But then I had history again. I had completely forgotten about yesterday's speech with all that has happened. I was thinking about where I could play when Mr. Humble came in.<br>“Good day pupils.”<br>“Good day Mr. Humble.”<br>“Everyone of you can go home. I have to do some work which needs me elsewhere.”<br>Screams of satisfaction all over the class. All except me. You could think that I would be happy as well but... But the way Mr. Humble stared at me made me wince.<br>“I see that everyone of you is high spirited today. Well Mr. Walker would you come with em to my office.”<br>What did I just hear? Mr. walker would be me but I didn’t do anything wrong. It seems like bad luck follows me almost everywhere. the first situation which was good in my life was the money spending yesterday. I followed reluctantly.<br>“Mr. Humble if I remember correctly I didn’t do anything wrong. So why should I follow you to your office.”<br>He looked at me seriously.<br>“Huh? You really have the wrong idea. I want to help you.”<br>Help me? Me?<br>“In which way do you want to help me? I mean I don’t deserve any help.”<br>“Oh, you do. You just don’t know about it.”<br>“So what kind of help do you want to give me?”<br>“I heard that you were looking for a place where you could install your capsule and I got the perfect place for you. In my office there is a second room which I could give you for the time being. You could play there whenever you want. There’s even food and a toilet so you don’t have to worry about nonsensical stuff.”<br>I was suspicious. I mean yesterday he mocked me and now he wants to help me? And what do I not know about?“For real? I mean that’s great. I truly appreciate it. So I can call Unicorn right away.”<br>“What? Why do you want to call the enterprise? Everything is already installed. You just have to pay for it. And I know that you got the money with you so you could start right away.”<br>It sounded too good to be true. Somehow everything went well since yesterday. How come?<br>Well who cares if life gives you opportunities you should seize them with both hands.<br>“So I can play right away? Isn’t the capsule programmed for a special person?”<br>“Well, that capsule in there was not used till now. So theres no problem with you playing there.<br>I presume you know how.”<br>“Ehmm... About that I don’t know how. i never even came close to getting one so I didn’t think about it beforehand.”<br>“Well, there should be no problem. You are a good student. You will find out how things work.”<br>He turned around and went the stairway down. No other word.<br>But before that he gave me the keys.<br>I went to his office. It was at the end of the floor behind some big lockers. I tried the keys.<br>Still wondering about what was going on. All this luck piled up. There has to be a misunderstanding. <br>Well at least I can play now. Or better said emerge into a completely new world.<br>Make a new existent.<br>I went inside the room. Saw the door which leads to the second room which Humble talked about. But before I went to my new world I looked around me carefully. Posters, data maps, stats and screenshots decorated the walls. Amazing what a collection he has. I picked up some food, sent my mother a message and went into what? Complete darkness. There was no light inside and I could barely see anything. The lamps in the first room illuminated almost nothing in here. But what I could see was amazing. Inside was a huge, white machine. It looked like you could enter at the top and close it after that. Just like in the movies when they enter their hyper powered mech suits. Freakin’ awesome.<br>There was a small desk in one corner on which Humble had put some manuals. They looked like manuels that is to say. I went around the capsule which radiated white. Not much but so that you could see it. My eyes adjusted to the dim light and I noticed that there was nothing else in here. So it seemed at least.<br>A giant fluffy red and black coloured carpet covered the ground. Cool feeling I have to say. I could feel at home here. I took one of the chairs. It was one of this gaming bags. SK was written on it. I don’t know what that had to say but well who cares. It had such a comfort, you wouldn’t believe me even if I were to describe it.<br>I put my mobile phone on the table and took the first magazine from the table. Even if I couldn’T bear to resist not to play I didn’t know where to start so...<br>The first book “How to begin” stated that I have to wait 4 weeks inside the game after I first logged in to get outside of town. Bullshit. I even have to wait longer. Then he read that times went 4 times faster inside RR than in reality. At least something positive.<br>Well it seems like this wasn't the right book to begin with.<br>He skipped through the accumulation. “Skills and Stats”, “NPC”, “The World of RoyalRoad”, …after skipping through what felt like a hundred books he found the book he was looking for:“Getting started, Login and Creation”.<br>The book was really interesting. He found out some things about the classes and starting cities. How you could change or alternate your avatar. And so on. It was finally time for me to get started. After taking one last bite I climbed into the capsule closed the airlock and emerged into a new world.<br>“The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?”<br>When I were connected to Royal Road, the first sound that reached my ears was a feminine voice.<br>“Yeah, I want to create a new account.”<br>“Select your avatar”<br>Hmm, what shall I call myself? Jason Walker. How can you change that name to a fitting name inside a game? Mysterious and powerful all at once. Sonker? Walker? JW? Nah. I already knew it. It will be Jawal.<br>“Jawal”<br>“Select your gender from male to fem-”<br>“Male”<br>“Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races and 20 sub races. Do you need a summary?”<br>“No, but I got a question. Can you be a halfling?”<br>“A halfling? What do you mean?”<br>“Well, a mix between races.”<br>Silence. After some minutes he thought the game had a bug but then...<br>“You, you are the first to ask such a question!” The voice was clearly different from the feminine voice. It was old and powerful.<br>“Therefore we grant your wish”<br>“I want to be half human-half elf.”<br>“Your wish has been granted” With that the feminine voice popped up again.<br>“You may alter your appearance.”<br>My appearance? I didn’t think about that when I wanted to be a halfling.<br>Like before, I want to look mysterious but still powerful.<br>“Let my appearance the way it is. Just alter my ears. A bit sharper. Make my body more like that off an elf.”<br>“So you want to be 1,75cm high, have spiky brown hairs with a bright skin? Additional to that your own body state? On top of that blue eyes?”<br>“Almost. Change my eyes to a sparkling green-purple.”<br>“Select a city and kingdom you want to start at”<br>“The citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom.”<br>His new life began.<br>-------------------------------------------------------------------<br>“He’s indeed something special. You had definitely a right intuitive there, Phantom.”<br>“I guess always right.”<br>“Do you expect him to change the fate of Royal Road?”<br>“Everyone could change it”
</div> | When I came home I went straight to my room. Not that I have any other choice in a flat with 2 rooms but you get the idea.
I put down my bag.
“Hey Jason. Back home? How was school?” My mom stood between the door frame.
“Ah, I totally forgot about you. Yeah, I am back. School was fine. Mr. Humble saved my day again. It was so boring until the history lesson but as soon as the subject began it lightened up.”
On first meetings everyone thinks that my mom is really friendly but in reality it’s just her surface. If you scratch it away you will make contact with a ferocious woman on level “Angry pirate killer”. Nah, just a joke.
That’s why I told her that lie. If i would tell her that everyone mocks me at school she would panic and do something that wouldn’t be good for either of us.
“Ah, that’s great honey. Is school really that boring? I thought you liked it more than me. Well, doesn’t matter. I go out at 7. You know where the food is. I didn’t have time to make it.”
It’s more like she doesn’t care for me and watches TV all day instead of making food for me.
“Yeah, I know where it is. I will make something later. Ain’t hungry at the moment.”
“Okay, feel free to do everything you want.” With that she left the room and probably went to her coach again inside her living, sleep or “whatever else she does in there” room.
Great. I got the money. I could buy the capsule and the game at this moment but what I didn’t think about is where I should place it. For real, how could I forget such a simple thing. Ahhh. It’s driving me crazy.
Calm down. Calm down. I should analyse my situation. I can’t place the capsule at home. Should I ask the old man again for help? Nah, that would just ruin our relationship between us or better said his wish to me. How should I find him in an entire new world for me?
So, nothing much left. School won’t work either. Maybe we got a basement?
“Mom, do we have a basement?
“No, why do you ask?”
“No reason at all. Just wondering.”
Basement. Check.
School. Check.
Old man. Check.
Home. Check.
Hmm, where could I play?
I thought about that for some time. Hours maybe. When my mom went out of the house I knew it were 7. So...
Ahh.
I went outside to get some fresh air. Why is there no place where I could play? Why. I got no relatives either. For fucks sake. My entire life sucks because of my family. I wish I could change something. That’s the reason why I want to play Royal Road. people all over the world - our world - talked about it day and night. Day after day. It must be awesome. So please, please anybody give me a hint.
I went around the residential block. If you could call it that. We lived in a apartment house. 10 floors, 19 neighbours. Around it there were some shacks but nothing worth to mention.
Nothing was close. City was an hour away and not to mention the infrastructure. Our house was the only minimal technology sign in the entire district. But everybody plays Royal Road. How is that possible I ask.
After roaming around for some hours still with no conclusion I went home again. I met no soul outside here. No wonder.
But as surprisingly as it seems I met our floor neighbour Mark, a worker on temporary employment around 25, at the entrance.
“Hey there. Long time no see.”
“Jason, what a surprise. Aren’t you supposed to play Royal Road?”
“Me? We don’t even have a capsule at home. I think my mother doesn’t even know about Royal Road.”
“What a pity. I knew that your mom isn’t all that mentally good but... Well if I can help you in any way then just ask me.”
“Everyone knows that except herself... This may sound a bit weird but could we arrange it so that I could play inside your flat? I mean I got the money and everything but I couldn’t play at home with her around.” I asked hopefully. Mark is a cool guy and maybe he understands me.
Mark shrugged.
“Yeah, well I know that your mother ain’t right but with help I meant... Well, you know not that kind of help. Sorry.”
I almost began to cry.
The next day I went to school like everyday. First lessons structured themselves as usual. But then I had history again. I had completely forgotten about yesterday's speech with all that has happened. I was thinking about where I could play when Mr. Humble came in.
“Good day pupils.”
“Good day Mr. Humble.”
“Everyone of you can go home. I have to do some work which needs me elsewhere.”
Screams of satisfaction all over the class. All except me. You could think that I would be happy as well but... But the way Mr. Humble stared at me made me wince.
“I see that everyone of you is high spirited today. Well Mr. Walker would you come with em to my office.”
What did I just hear? Mr. walker would be me but I didn’t do anything wrong. It seems like bad luck follows me almost everywhere. the first situation which was good in my life was the money spending yesterday. I followed reluctantly.
“Mr. Humble if I remember correctly I didn’t do anything wrong. So why should I follow you to your office.”
He looked at me seriously.
“Huh? You really have the wrong idea. I want to help you.”
Help me? Me?
“In which way do you want to help me? I mean I don’t deserve any help.”
“Oh, you do. You just don’t know about it.”
“So what kind of help do you want to give me?”
“I heard that you were looking for a place where you could install your capsule and I got the perfect place for you. In my office there is a second room which I could give you for the time being. You could play there whenever you want. There’s even food and a toilet so you don’t have to worry about nonsensical stuff.”
I was suspicious. I mean yesterday he mocked me and now he wants to help me? And what do I not know about?“For real? I mean that’s great. I truly appreciate it. So I can call Unicorn right away.”
“What? Why do you want to call the enterprise? Everything is already installed. You just have to pay for it. And I know that you got the money with you so you could start right away.”
It sounded too good to be true. Somehow everything went well since yesterday. How come?
Well who cares if life gives you opportunities you should seize them with both hands.
“So I can play right away? Isn’t the capsule programmed for a special person?”
“Well, that capsule in there was not used till now. So theres no problem with you playing there.
I presume you know how.”
“Ehmm... About that I don’t know how. i never even came close to getting one so I didn’t think about it beforehand.”
“Well, there should be no problem. You are a good student. You will find out how things work.”
He turned around and went the stairway down. No other word.
But before that he gave me the keys.
I went to his office. It was at the end of the floor behind some big lockers. I tried the keys.
Still wondering about what was going on. All this luck piled up. There has to be a misunderstanding.
Well at least I can play now. Or better said emerge into a completely new world.
Make a new existent.
I went inside the room. Saw the door which leads to the second room which Humble talked about. But before I went to my new world I looked around me carefully. Posters, data maps, stats and screenshots decorated the walls. Amazing what a collection he has. I picked up some food, sent my mother a message and went into what? Complete darkness. There was no light inside and I could barely see anything. The lamps in the first room illuminated almost nothing in here. But what I could see was amazing. Inside was a huge, white machine. It looked like you could enter at the top and close it after that. Just like in the movies when they enter their hyper powered mech suits. Freakin’ awesome.
There was a small desk in one corner on which Humble had put some manuals. They looked like manuels that is to say. I went around the capsule which radiated white. Not much but so that you could see it. My eyes adjusted to the dim light and I noticed that there was nothing else in here. So it seemed at least.
A giant fluffy red and black coloured carpet covered the ground. Cool feeling I have to say. I could feel at home here. I took one of the chairs. It was one of this gaming bags. SK was written on it. I don’t know what that had to say but well who cares. It had such a comfort, you wouldn’t believe me even if I were to describe it.
I put my mobile phone on the table and took the first magazine from the table. Even if I couldn’T bear to resist not to play I didn’t know where to start so...
The first book “How to begin” stated that I have to wait 4 weeks inside the game after I first logged in to get outside of town. Bullshit. I even have to wait longer. Then he read that times went 4 times faster inside RR than in reality. At least something positive.
Well it seems like this wasn't the right book to begin with.
He skipped through the accumulation. “Skills and Stats”, “NPC”, “The World of RoyalRoad”, …after skipping through what felt like a hundred books he found the book he was looking for:“Getting started, Login and Creation”.
The book was really interesting. He found out some things about the classes and starting cities. How you could change or alternate your avatar. And so on. It was finally time for me to get started. After taking one last bite I climbed into the capsule closed the airlock and emerged into a new world.
“The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?”
When I were connected to Royal Road, the first sound that reached my ears was a feminine voice.
“Yeah, I want to create a new account.”
“Select your avatar”
Hmm, what shall I call myself? Jason Walker. How can you change that name to a fitting name inside a game? Mysterious and powerful all at once. Sonker? Walker? JW? Nah. I already knew it. It will be Jawal.
“Jawal”
“Select your gender from male to fem-”
“Male”
“Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races and 20 sub races. Do you need a summary?”
“No, but I got a question. Can you be a halfling?”
“A halfling? What do you mean?”
“Well, a mix between races.”
Silence. After some minutes he thought the game had a bug but then...
“You, you are the first to ask such a question!” The voice was clearly different from the feminine voice. It was old and powerful.
“Therefore we grant your wish”
“I want to be half human-half elf.”
“Your wish has been granted” With that the feminine voice popped up again.
“You may alter your appearance.”
My appearance? I didn’t think about that when I wanted to be a halfling.
Like before, I want to look mysterious but still powerful.
“Let my appearance the way it is. Just alter my ears. A bit sharper. Make my body more like that off an elf.”
“So you want to be 1,75cm high, have spiky brown hairs with a bright skin? Additional to that your own body state? On top of that blue eyes?”
“Almost. Change my eyes to a sparkling green-purple.”
“Select a city and kingdom you want to start at”
“The citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom.”
His new life began.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
“He’s indeed something special. You had definitely a right intuitive there, Phantom.”
“I guess always right.”
“Do you expect him to change the fate of Royal Road?”
“Everyone could change it” |
{
"title": "The Lonely Adventurer by Iskritor",
"id": 46,
"author": "Iskritor",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "The Lonely Adventurer - Chapter 2",
"id": 99,
"next": null,
"prev": 98,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 2: New Start<br><br><br>Francis sat on his mattress watching his capsule whirr into life. He moved the machine into his bedroom so that everything he owned that was of importance was in the same place. After completing the Yoruzuya application form he practically tackled his capsule. Anyone standing witness would be struggling to decide on whether he was hugging the capsule or they were witnessing foreplay between man and machine.<br><br>As he waited for the start-up procedure to finish he looked back on all of the adventures he had a year ago. It all seemed so distant when he thought about it, like it happened in another life time. He remembered his days trekking through the rough virtual terrain, just to get to an unexplored dungeon or cave or tunnel. He remembered the many close calls he had with death and the frightening creatures that almost succeeded in ending his virtual life, as well as the monsters that did. He remembered friends and foes and companions. He remembered his father.<br><br>*BEEP*<br><br>A sharp high pitched sound pierced the air, clearing Francis’ thoughts, and signalling the machine was ready to be used. Francis opened the lid letting the trapped air escape and fill his nose with the familiar scent of plastic and metal. He stepped into the machine and lay down, closing the lid behind him. The hiss of air escaping the pod as the door shut reminded him of his old refrigerator, threatening to leak even more memories from his past. The nostalgic darkness enveloped his body as he lay there thinking of the amount of time he’s spent in the dark this year and not thinking of the happy life he led before.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The scan on your iris and veins has determined that you are a registered user.<br>Welcome back to Royal Road.</span></div><br><br>Hearing the familiar female voice again, made Francis’ heart race. Of all the feelings and memories that were related to this voice, excitement was the most common. Not long after, a skinny boy dressed in extravagant clothes stood before Francis. The boy had had eyes that were permanently droopy as if everything in life was meaningless and bored him. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles and the look on his face showed that the only problems he ever faced was with his internet connection. His skinny frame practically protested against any form of exercise, the gem slathered staff he held and the golden-lined robes he wore showed his materialistic attachment.<br><br>“Pfft! Haha no way! I really did look like a noob,” Francis insulted his past self, fully knowing he hardly changed a bit.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Would you like to continue playing with this character?</span></div><br><br>“Yes.” Before he deleted his old character, Francis wanted to say goodbye one last time to his old friend, to see if any of his friends were still around, and to take a glimpse at his last adventure.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Error.<br> Data corrupted. Character unavailable.</span></div><br><br>Francis panicked. His long awaited reunion was going to be cut short by something he had no control over. Francis stood in despair, wondering how such a sweet voice can deliver so much despair and not show a hint of pity. Tears began to swell in his eyes.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Unable to load character, data has been corrupted. Data is cannot be retrieved.<br> Sorry for the inconvenience.</span></div><br><br>-‘Inconvenience? This, is an inconvenience?’- Francis erupted with emotion, feeling regret for the first time for not saying his goodbyes earlier.<br><br> Francis’ was never the most sociable child. It was a challenge for him to even talk to other people, let alone befriend them. So when he did make friends in the limitless world that is Royal Road, it genuinely made him happy. He found people who would be there to share in his joy as well as his sadness. He found comrades. Saying goodbye was the least he could do before turning over a new leaf. Now he was unable to give the people who helped him a last courtesy. He only hoped that he might run into them in-game and have adventures once again.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">New avatar will receive bonus stats as compensation. You may choose stat allocation once the game begins.</span></div><br><br>-‘Huh?’-<br><br>He knew it. Even though Royal Road was built on a system that could handle most of the world’s population and boasted the greatest security, it wasn’t foolproof. Like a cleaning detergent that says ‘Kills %99.99 of bacteria’, Francis, like the unlucky few, had just experienced that %0.01 of bacteria that just won’t die. But he knew Royal Road would never let him down. Even though it wasn’t a fair trade, he decided that bonus stats at the start of the game weren’t too bad either.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Please select your avatar name.</span></div><br>“Fluxe.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Select your gender from male, female or neutral.</span></div><br><br>“Male.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty nine.</span></div><br><br>A list of the many races that inhabited Royal Road and the perks that came with picking them as well as their strengths and weaknesses, flashed into existence. From Elves and Dwarves to Orcs and Barbarians, they were all there.<br><br>“Human,” Francis said, shuddering as he imagined himself as being an Orc.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Would you like to alter your appearance?</span></div><br><br>“No.” Francis never thought about whether or not he was good-looking but if he went with all the compliments he got from his aunt when he was a child, then he’s have to say he’s drop dead gorgeous, even though he wasn’t.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">You have created a new avatar. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.</span></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Please select the city and kingdom you want to start in.</span></div><br><br>Francis saw more names than he remembered. The world of Royal Road had continued to grow in his absence, and it’s nowhere near stopping. He wanted to start somewhere new, someplace brimming with adventure.<br><br>“Somewhere new and filled with adventure!” he shouted hoping the AI would know just the place to take him.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">You have chosen Seaford city, Fulborne Kingdom.<br>I hope you enjoy your game, good luck.</span></div><br><br><br>Little did Francis know that getting your game data corrupted wasn’t just a very rare occurrence in this day and age, but it was an almost impossible thing to happen naturally, especially for a virtual game like Royal Road. The only way in which game data from a virtual game like Royal Road would be if someone wanted it to happen. A great amount of skill and resources are required to accomplish such a thing and even then not many people in the world are capable of such a feat.<br><br><br>***<br>A bright flash blinded Francis. Whispers and faint smells began to fill the air. Whispers became shouts and smells became odours. Soon a picture of a busy market place was being painted by Francis’ sense. All he had to do was open his eyes. As he did so, and his eyes began to focus and the blurry shapes of Players sharpened. Warriors walked tall and proud, armour on their back and sword by their waist; they paraded their strength and status, from jewel encrusted swords to sticks. Rogues treaded in silence, the initiates: face hidden by a hood, basking in the glory of their new found powers, the veterans coated in black as if merged with their shadows. Newly ordained magicians ran around with robes longer than they were tall, the ones of a higher level marched with a purpose as if everything they did was of great importance. The market was busy as usual: players bartering with shopkeepers to make that sword a few silvers cheaper or to buy this shield for a bit more copper. Newbies running all over the place talking to NPC’s no doubt doing some sort of menial quest for a measly reward. It was home sweet home.<br><br>Nostalgia, excitement, anxiousness, all of these feelings clashed within Francis. He could practically taste the adventure. A smiling Francis caught the sight of a slightly chubby boy next to him. The look on his face could only be described as happiness, the sort of happiness that only wishes can bring to a person. All of that disappeared in a split second. A quick turn of the boy’s head made him face to face with Francis. And judging by the fear in the boy’s eyes and the frightened look in his face, Francis had scared him. Francis laughed. He’d never thought of himself as a scary person but evidently he was. The sound of his joy made the colour drain from the boy’s face.<br><br>“Hey don’t worry man. I’m not gonna do anything to you,” Francis smiled down at the boy.<br><br>“Y-yeah, it’s alright. It’s just that you were staring at me, and I didn’t know what I did wrong. I thought you were going to hurt me. Plus you were smiling so I thought you were a masochist and enjoy stuff like that and you’re a big guy so, you know, I was... not that I’m saying you actually like to hurt people! I just thought you were gonna give me a beating, like people usually do...” He looked up at Francis, “Ah! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just please. Don't.”<br><br>Francis felt pity well up inside him. “No worries bro. I said I wasn’t gonna do anything,” Francis smiled, “You just reminded me of how I was when I started playing this game. Brought back some nice memories, you are new right? What’s your name?”<br><br>“Err yeah I am. I just started,” the boy stood up and brushed himself off, “I-I’m Jun, Jun Inosanto, nice to meet you.”<br><br>“Haha it’s my pleasure. Not a lot of people use their real name as their character name Jun,” Francis claimed cheerfully, “Well to make it even, I’m Francis. Keep that to yourself though!” Francis said with a wink, “Hey Jun! Let’s be friends.”<br><br>“Sure!” Jun blurted.<br><br>With his new friend in tow Francis started his new adventure. He explained the dynamics of the game, a few rules to follow and some hints and tips that should help him along the way. After their short meeting Jun decided to run some errands and raise funds for stuff he’ll need when he leaves the city walls, while Francis decided to look around the city a bit more and see what new things Royal Road had in store for him. After a promise to meet again when they could leave the city the two boys parted ways.<br><br>“If you run into any trouble just whisper me and I’ll come help you.”<br><br>“I’ll remember,” Jun said gladly, “See ya around Francis!”<br><br>Francis stood there watching his new friend disappear into the crowd. He had never thought it would be this easy to make a friend. Jun reminded him of Clark Wilson, a boy in Francis’ class when he was still trapped in the English education system. Clark was an awkward kid who always seemed nervous – he was different, and to Henry Boyd the local bully, this meant he had to be punished. Clark never had a peaceful day at school. If he wasn’t being tortured by Henry he was teased by everyone else. Francis talked to him once, and he genuinely enjoyed their conversation. Francis would always regret that he just stood by and watched it all happen. I mean you’d never think it would be your school that was on the news, for some kid hanging himself in his room one evening because the only human contact he’d experience that day was another child’s boot or knuckle. You’d never think it was your school. Francis reminded himself that there was nothing he could do for Clark now, and he might just be doing this to make himself feel better about the past, or he might enjoy Jun’s company. He didn’t know which, but what he did know was that he made a friend. Francis took a deep breath and stretched his arms, as he did so a conversation between two nearby warriors crossed his ears.<br><br>“I heard he was there for the whole four weeks.”<br>“No way! That’s impossible!”<br>“Yup, exactly what I said.”<br>“How can anyone beat a scarecrow for four weeks!”<br>“Yeah man, non-stop too.”<br>“Holy shit! Why would anyone do that?”<br>“Heard it gave stat boosts?”<br>“For real? Then why don’t we do that!”<br>“Seriously? Waste four weeks hitting scarecrows?”<br>“...”<br>“Yeah that’s what I thought.”<br><br>-‘Stat boosts eh?’-<br>And with that Francis marched to the Training Ground.<br>***<br>A few wrong turns and awkward conversations with strangers pointing him to the right place, Francis eventually found his way to the Training Ground. He had never been to any sort of Training Ground or Hall so he didn’t know the first place to look. No one usually goes to these places unless their trying out a new skill or lost.<br><br>After walking through the entrance all he could see were scarecrows. All of them lined up on one side of the grounds and dotted along the walls were racks of wooden training swords. Surprisingly people were actually here. Characters of different levels and classes were equipped with wooden swords and stationed by a scarecrow – beating it mercilessly as if it said something about their mothers.<br><br>“A fine sight isn’t it boy? Never seen anything like it, have you? This, my boy, is what this continent needs,” a barbarian towered above Francis. His scarred Herculean arms crossed against his worn black leather breastplate. A long dark brown curl escaped his ponytail and ran to the corner of his chin. A distant look occupied his eyes. A slight smile danced on his lips. It was the look of a content man satisfied with his life.<br><br>“Looks like an anger management class that use wooden swords instead of words to express themselves,” Francis thought out loud. He had never felt uncomfortable around NPC’s. It was probably because he’s spent more time around the than real people.<br><br>“Forgive me stranger, but your speech is unfamiliar to me. I am the Instructor of this place, do you need my assistance?” The instructor looked down at Francis with an inquisitive look, “are you perhaps an admirer of the Long blade?”<br><br>“Ah sorry, I’m not big fan of swinging big-ass swords around. Not really my style.”<br><br>“Worry not young traveller! I’m sure we can accommodate your fighting needs here at the Seaford City Training Ground, the second largest training area on the Kanluran Continent!” The Instructors voice echoed as he ended his sentence.<br><br>-‘So this is what it would sound like if a less persuasive Billy Mays was reincarnated as game character. Sick Unicorn bastards.’- Francis smiled at the thought.<br><br>“I’m better with knives actually. Got any?”<br><br>“I’m sorry stranger we do not specialise in the way of the daggers here,” the instructor replied with a genuinely disappointed look, “however you may check the chest behind the scarecrows. Adventurers such as you sometimes leave weapons that are of no use to them in there.”<br><br>“Alright, thanks.”<br><br>The chest was hidden (well not really hidden, it was more like they didn’t know where else to put it) behind a few lonely scarecrows. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and smelt like it had died. With low expectations, Francis opened the chest. After a coughing fit, which surprised Francis – virtual games think of everything – and the disappearance of a dust cloud, the chest revealed scrap. As in scrap metal.<br><br>-‘No wonder no one’s ever looted it.’-<br> <br>After searching through heaps of rust-eaten, jagged, blunt-edged metallic objects, Francis had managed to find something that could recognised as a weapon, although just barely.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rusty Knife</span><br>Durability: 5/30<br>Damage: 1 – 5<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">A once useful knife, worn away by the elements.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>Pocketing the rusty knife, Francis kept looking. After a few more minutes and the realisation that two rusty knives were enough for him he set out to find a scarecrow. Equipping the two knives Francis began to practice the Eskrima techniques he had learnt once upon a time.<br><br>Wielding two weapons were very popular when Francis started to play Royal Road, it looked awesome and it felt awesome just to do it, but eventually people found out that’s all it was. No classes were discovered, nor were there any bonuses from using two blades. It was discovered that eventually the additional speed and damage that came with using two swords was compensated for by the class bonuses warriors and similar classes gave you. Soon everyone gave up on looking good, and instead inflating their stats.<br><br>*CLANG**T-TING* *THUD*<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-style: italic;">The durability of Rusty Knife has fallen to zero. Weapon is now unusable.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-style: italic;">The durability of Rusty Knife has fallen to zero. Weapon is now unusable.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>-‘Phew, it’s been a while since I’ve had a good sweat,’-<br><br>The last of the rusty knives broke in succession, unable to cope with Francis’ complex techniques. Having raised no stats Francis decided he’d give up such a barbaric training method. He left the broken knives on the floor and made for the entrance.<br><br>“Hail stranger! Why do you retire in such a short time?” the Instructor called after Francis, “Are you dissatisfied with our services? Or do you lack the determination of these adventurers?” He gestured at the Scarecrow disembowelment team.<br><br>“My knives broke. I’m gonna look for better ones. You know a place I can go?”<br><br>“Rusted they may be, but they are not weak enough to break in the hands of a greenhorn, even if they’re against a scarecrow!” The instructor puzzled as to how this might’ve happened, “You must be strong stranger! I am disappointed you will not take up practice with a long blade, you have such potential. But if it is the way of the short blade you wish to follow, I suggest you venture to the Rogue’s place! There are many who can help you there.”<br><br>After being given directions he bid farewell to the instructor, he wondered how strong he had become. He thought of how easily those knives broke in his hands.<br><br>-‘Well he did say they don't break that easily, I guess I am pretty strong!’- Francis laughed at the absurdity of his strength, -‘Hahahahaha... wait... maybe that's it!’-<br><br>“Stats!”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Fluxe</td><td width="25%">Type</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">01</td><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">None</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">None</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">100</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Inteligence</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Luck</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leadership</td><td colspan="3">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Offense</td><td width="25%">5</td><td width="25%">Defence</td><td width="25%">5</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Magical Resistance</td><td colspan="3">0</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br><br>“Holy crap... Five stats!”Francis couldn’t take his eyes away from the small pop-up in front of him, “Are they being serious? After they lose a character that took days and days of grinding and sleepless nights from doing quests to become strong, this is all I get?” Francis’ disbelief turned into anger, “Unicorn bastards.”<br><br>After a moment of raging in silence and a quiet prayer, hoping that all Unicorn employees responsible for this end up with bird faeces on their shoulder by the end of the day, Francis made his way to the Rogue’s guild.<br><br><br>***<br>After years of countless wars, disputes over land and rights of ownership, the Kanluran continent has separated into four different Quarters: North, East, South and West. While the continent has reached a point of stability compared to the blood-shed exhibited in the past, various conflicts still occur between neighbouring countries in their respective Quarters. The Fulborne Kingdom itself is fairly new and thanks to aggressive military expansion and slave labour, in the past, it now dominates two thirds of the Eastern Quarter with no major threats, an amazing achievement by the Fulborne Monarch in just three-hundred years.<br><br> As well as the Fulborne Kingdom, there are currently three other countries in the Eastern Quarter: the Vallentin Republic, the Independent State of Canys and the Langbourg Kingdom. The three most popular guilds in the kingdom would usually be found in the town square of each city. In the case of the Fulborne Kingdom, the most popular guilds consist of the Magicians Guild, the Warriors Guild and the Rogues Guild and therefore those guilds will be found in the town square of each city in the kingdom. Seaford City is based on the south-eastern coast of the continent and is one of the larger cities in the Eastern Quarter, starting out as a small fishing village and eventually becoming a popular metropolis; it houses tournaments of all kinds, from jousting to pie-eating as well as the largest free market in the Fulborne Kingdom. Seaford City’s current guardian, Lord Byron is renowned as a skilled military officer and has won many battles at sea; earning him the title Keeper of the Coast.<br><br><br>***<br>After another round of getting lost again and again, taking even more wrong turns and a few more awkward conversations with strangers to ask for directions only to walk in the opposite way of where he was told to go, Francis pushed past the last crowd of gamers to find himself in front of the town square.<br><br>-‘Finally!’- Francis sighed in relief.<br><br>It was a beautiful sight. Stone bricks tessellated to cover the entire area of the floor, and eventually circling around a gargantuan seven-tiered fountain that stood as tall as a house and was topped with a small statue Francis couldn’t make out. In-game couples walked in pairs or sat on the many benches dotted around the fountain, as the crashed droplets would catch the sun’s rays and miniature rainbows would break out here and there. Oh it was beautiful.<br><br>-‘Ah the freaking fountain’s in the way’- Francis thought to himself annoyed.<br><br>Francis made his way to the Rogues Guild which was, apparently, just past the fountain. As he got closer to the centre of the square he noticed a spiral tower on his far right, layered with huge stone windows from top to bottom. A single wooden door sat on top of an array of stone steps and above the door was a Caduceus carved in the stone, the snakes on either side of the staff would curl around it and each other while flicking their tongues, their beady eyes locked in a trance. It was a tower that practically oozed of the black arts – the Magicians guild.<br><br>He immediately turned to his left and scanned the area to look for another building. A gold and marble barn-like mansion stood out from the rest of the buildings like a watermelon among apples. A set of giant swing doors made from steel were swung open slightly, the ring knockers hung off the mouth of beasts: a wolf’s jaws on one and a bear’s teeth on the other. A silver statue of a growling bear half the size of the door stood on one side and a similarly large marble statue of a snarling wolf stood opposite, both of which were facing towards the centre of the square and Francis. It was a hall that exuded of intimidation –the Warriors Guild.<br><br>Francis soon lost sight of both buildings as he walked further past the fountain. Francis kept walking until he found himself in an area full of run down pubs and derelict buildings, finally admitting that he’d gotten himself lost again, he looked around for some help. An absentminded guard stood not too far away in front of the largest dirty building within the vicinity.<br><br>“Hello,” Francis spoke to the guard.<br>“You alright mate? You need anythin’?”<br>“Can you point the way to the the Rogues Guild for me?”<br>“You sure you’re okay?” the guard chuckled.<br>“...”Francis wondered if it was possible for NPC's to troll players.<br><br>-‘Maybe he didn’t hear me properly’- Francis assumed.<br><br>“Where’s the Rogues Guild?” Francis repeated.<br>“You’re not making any sense kid,” the guard laughed.<br><br>-‘This guy... does he want a headbutt that badly? Is he deaf? A glitch maybe?’- Francis thought, beginning to get annoyed.<br><br>“WHE-RE I-S TH-E RO-GUES GUI-LD?” This time Francis made sure to say his words slowly and clearly to help the poor guard.<br>“Ha...”the guard stopped laughing, “oh, you were serious?”<br>Francis gave a sharp nod.<br>“Well kid, look no further! Let me present the Rogues Guild!” he gladly raised his voice, “Tada!” The guard stepped aside and used his arms to point at the building he was guarding, “There’s a sign right there mate!”<br>“...”<br><br>-‘What the...’-<br><br>As Francis took a closer look, a large dusty wooden plank was nailed across the front of the building; in faded red paint it read “Rogues Guild.” The building itself mimicked the style of an old western saloon, one that had been abandoned years ago, which was now occupied by squatters. Above the door way a carving of two knives crossing each other with their bladed tips pointing downwards, the handle of the left knife had a fashioned ram’s head on it’s end while on the end of the right knife’s handle, an opened mouthed snakes head was carved.<br><br>All of a sudden a raggedy man, unshaved and unwashed, wearing a dirty poncho, burst from the entrance.<br><br>“What’s with all the commotion huh? Don't the slums know the word quiet anymore?” the raggedy man shouted into thin air, “Guard! What’s the meaning of this? You get paid to stand there and scare unwanted people away! Not to wake me up! It’s like you’re asking for a beating!”<br>“Sorry sir!”<br>“You better be you little...” the raggedy man looked towards Francis, “And who are you then?”<br>“I just wanted to see some knives,” Francis spoke morosely.<br>“No way... a customer?" The man beamed, "Come inside! Come in, welcome to the Rogues Guild!”<br><br>Francis followed the man inside.<br><br>“I’m Drait, by the way. I run the Rogues Guild here in Seaford. Sorry about earlier we don't get many people coming through that way so I usually sleep around there,” Drait explained, “so what kind of knives are you looking for?”<br>“Sharp ones.”<br>“Ah, simplistic, I like that.”<br><br>Inside the building was unlike its outer appearance. Francis gaped at the interior of the place. Leather seats, animal rugs, a bar (equipped with a fully functioning bartender), weapons hung from the walls.<br><br>-‘Is this really the same building?’- Francis had to ask himself whether or not he believed what he was seeing.<br><br>“Hahaha!” Drait laughed, “Can’t believe what you’re seeing, can ya?” he said with a grin, “As I said normally we don't get people coming from the back entrance anymore, we used that when we were still an up and coming guild that recruited using posters and picket signs. You see, nowadays nearly all of the recruits teleport here straight from the Intelligence guild. We’re not as poor as you think boy.”<br><br>-Aw crap! Why didn’t I do that? Wasted a lot of time-<br><br>Drait led Francis down a spiral staircase into the deeper levels of the guild. As they walked Francis began to hear faint noises. The further down they got the louder the noises became. Eventually he could hear echoes, the sound of steel clashing against each other became apparent, and he could hear the whistling of something cutting the air and finally the heavy breathing of players began to reach his ears.<br><br>They walked through the entrance of the basement and Francis could finally see the source of all that noise. The basement resembled the Seaford City Training Ground only with fewer scarecrows. He could tell most of the Rogue’s were new since they still wore their Novice Hoods, a piece of equipment given to them after joining the guild. Players were lined up behind some sort of shooting range holding bows of different shapes and sizes, Francis saw a player string an arrow as thick as his arm onto a bow as long as he was tall and release it into the air. A high-pitched whistle pierced the noise in the basement ever so slightly, and even though Francis couldn’t see it, he heard the arrow crash into its target and probably rip it into splinters.<br><br>-‘Doubt I can get used to that after all of the triggers I’ve pulled.’-<br><br>Across the room from the shooting range were a number of rogues either paired with each other or with a practice dummy the size of a human. Each of them also carried a specific type of weapon – knives. Francis could see a variety of different knives being used: straight edged, curved, and serrated and many others he had never seen before. Some players even carried two knives just like Francis, while others carried one knife traditionally. Sparks came and went as hooded figures clashed here and there, the sound of panting creating a rhythm amongst the chaos.<br><br>“See anything you like kid?”<br>“Uh-huh”<br>“Well joining the Rogues Guild does get you a lot of perks, anything you buy from us is cheaper than if you bought it elsewhere, and we give you free stuff until you can do things yourself, and we’ll teach you ways to kill monsters and people if you’re into that kind of thing. So how ‘bout it, would you like to learn the ways of the Rogue?”<br><br>*Trring!*<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Class Change!</span><br><span style="font-style: italic;">You can now convert to a class: Rogue. If you accept, you will be able to learn skills limited to this class and any available class advancements.</span><br><br>Do you want to become a Rogue?</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>“I’ll think about it.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">You have declined the class change offer.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>[/tbody]</div><br><br>“Well whatever floats your boat kid. If you’re looking for knives talk to that guy, if you need anything don't be shy just ask.”<br><br>Drait pointed to a man with a pointy nose, lean eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacle and long black hair with grey streaks in a pony-tail that went halfway down his back. He sat behind a desk with his feet on the table, reading a book. Francis did as he was told and walked towards him.<br><br>“Excuse me,” Francis began timidly<br><br>“Mmm?” The man replied, not looking away from his book with a look of disinterest glued to his face.<br><br>“I’m looking for a couple of knives to use.”<br><br>“Yeah sure we got that, two silvers please. If you’re available for a guild discount it’ll be half-price.”<br><br>-‘Crap I’m broke,’- Francis cursed.<br><br>“Have you got any you’re throwing away?” Francis asked.<br><br>“Huh? No we don't, if you don't have any money then scram,” A look of annoyance rippling across his features.<br><br>-‘Why this rude little...’- But before Francis could start assaulting the laid-back clerk with his bare fist, a deep voice boomed behind him.<br><br>“Don't worry kid, I got this,” One silver coin came from behind and towards the clerk, a quick flick of his wrist and the clerk palmed the coin and put it in his pocket.<br><br>“Nothing, good ever comes from charity. You should know that by now Clay,” A hint of content in his voice as he pocketed the coin and handed the knives over.<br><br>“You should try being nice every now and then, Spencer. Who knows, you might even find it fun and we’ll finally get to see that smile eh?” Clay spoke with a cheeky grin as he took the knives off him.<br><br>“Twat,” And with that he returned to his book.<br><br>“Don’t mind him kid, he’s a real softie on the inside,” Clay said as he gave the knives to Francis.<br><br>-‘Doubt it. Looks like scum to me.’- Francis thought, as he accepted the gift.<br><br>“It’s alright. Thank you,” Now that Francis was finally facing him, he could see that Clay was player who was quite a few levels above Francis and had a higher rank than Novice within the Guild since he had a different coloured hood on his shoulders.<br><br>“What brings you here anyway? Not here to join up, are you?”<br> “Nope, just for these,” Francis held up his new weapons.<br><br>“Oh, okay. Anyways gotta go kid! See ya around!” Clay left as left as quickly as he appeared.<br><br>"Item Stat Window!"<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steel Knife</span><br>Durability: 35/35<br>Damage: 5-9<br><br>A sturdy knife that’s useful for everyday use. Part of Rogues Guild Starter Kit.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>-‘Finally something that won’t break after a few swings’- Francis smiled to himself. Done with his business, Francis headed for the entrance where Old man Drait stood.<br><br>“Sure you don't want to be a Rogue? I can teach you how to be really fast with those knives.”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Class change!</span><br>Become a Rogue?</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“Don't worry old man, I’m already pretty fast,”<br> <br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">You have declined the class change offer.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>[/tbody]</div><br><br>After deciding being a rogue wasn’t for him, Francis left with his new knives.
</div> | Chapter 2: New Start
Francis sat on his mattress watching his capsule whirr into life. He moved the machine into his bedroom so that everything he owned that was of importance was in the same place. After completing the Yoruzuya application form he practically tackled his capsule. Anyone standing witness would be struggling to decide on whether he was hugging the capsule or they were witnessing foreplay between man and machine.
As he waited for the start-up procedure to finish he looked back on all of the adventures he had a year ago. It all seemed so distant when he thought about it, like it happened in another life time. He remembered his days trekking through the rough virtual terrain, just to get to an unexplored dungeon or cave or tunnel. He remembered the many close calls he had with death and the frightening creatures that almost succeeded in ending his virtual life, as well as the monsters that did. He remembered friends and foes and companions. He remembered his father.
*BEEP*
A sharp high pitched sound pierced the air, clearing Francis’ thoughts, and signalling the machine was ready to be used. Francis opened the lid letting the trapped air escape and fill his nose with the familiar scent of plastic and metal. He stepped into the machine and lay down, closing the lid behind him. The hiss of air escaping the pod as the door shut reminded him of his old refrigerator, threatening to leak even more memories from his past. The nostalgic darkness enveloped his body as he lay there thinking of the amount of time he’s spent in the dark this year and not thinking of the happy life he led before.
The scan on your iris and veins has determined that you are a registered user.
Welcome back to Royal Road.
Hearing the familiar female voice again, made Francis’ heart race. Of all the feelings and memories that were related to this voice, excitement was the most common. Not long after, a skinny boy dressed in extravagant clothes stood before Francis. The boy had had eyes that were permanently droopy as if everything in life was meaningless and bored him. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles and the look on his face showed that the only problems he ever faced was with his internet connection. His skinny frame practically protested against any form of exercise, the gem slathered staff he held and the golden-lined robes he wore showed his materialistic attachment.
“Pfft! Haha no way! I really did look like a noob,” Francis insulted his past self, fully knowing he hardly changed a bit.
Would you like to continue playing with this character?
“Yes.” Before he deleted his old character, Francis wanted to say goodbye one last time to his old friend, to see if any of his friends were still around, and to take a glimpse at his last adventure.
Error.
Data corrupted. Character unavailable.
Francis panicked. His long awaited reunion was going to be cut short by something he had no control over. Francis stood in despair, wondering how such a sweet voice can deliver so much despair and not show a hint of pity. Tears began to swell in his eyes.
Unable to load character, data has been corrupted. Data is cannot be retrieved.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
-‘Inconvenience? This, is an inconvenience?’- Francis erupted with emotion, feeling regret for the first time for not saying his goodbyes earlier.
Francis’ was never the most sociable child. It was a challenge for him to even talk to other people, let alone befriend them. So when he did make friends in the limitless world that is Royal Road, it genuinely made him happy. He found people who would be there to share in his joy as well as his sadness. He found comrades. Saying goodbye was the least he could do before turning over a new leaf. Now he was unable to give the people who helped him a last courtesy. He only hoped that he might run into them in-game and have adventures once again.
New avatar will receive bonus stats as compensation. You may choose stat allocation once the game begins.
-‘Huh?’-
He knew it. Even though Royal Road was built on a system that could handle most of the world’s population and boasted the greatest security, it wasn’t foolproof. Like a cleaning detergent that says ‘Kills %99.99 of bacteria’, Francis, like the unlucky few, had just experienced that %0.01 of bacteria that just won’t die. But he knew Royal Road would never let him down. Even though it wasn’t a fair trade, he decided that bonus stats at the start of the game weren’t too bad either.
Please select your avatar name.
“Fluxe.”
Select your gender from male, female or neutral.
“Male.”
Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty nine.
A list of the many races that inhabited Royal Road and the perks that came with picking them as well as their strengths and weaknesses, flashed into existence. From Elves and Dwarves to Orcs and Barbarians, they were all there.
“Human,” Francis said, shuddering as he imagined himself as being an Orc.
Would you like to alter your appearance?
“No.” Francis never thought about whether or not he was good-looking but if he went with all the compliments he got from his aunt when he was a child, then he’s have to say he’s drop dead gorgeous, even though he wasn’t.
You have created a new avatar. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.
Please select the city and kingdom you want to start in.
Francis saw more names than he remembered. The world of Royal Road had continued to grow in his absence, and it’s nowhere near stopping. He wanted to start somewhere new, someplace brimming with adventure.
“Somewhere new and filled with adventure!” he shouted hoping the AI would know just the place to take him.
You have chosen Seaford city, Fulborne Kingdom.
I hope you enjoy your game, good luck.
Little did Francis know that getting your game data corrupted wasn’t just a very rare occurrence in this day and age, but it was an almost impossible thing to happen naturally, especially for a virtual game like Royal Road. The only way in which game data from a virtual game like Royal Road would be if someone wanted it to happen. A great amount of skill and resources are required to accomplish such a thing and even then not many people in the world are capable of such a feat.
***
A bright flash blinded Francis. Whispers and faint smells began to fill the air. Whispers became shouts and smells became odours. Soon a picture of a busy market place was being painted by Francis’ sense. All he had to do was open his eyes. As he did so, and his eyes began to focus and the blurry shapes of Players sharpened. Warriors walked tall and proud, armour on their back and sword by their waist; they paraded their strength and status, from jewel encrusted swords to sticks. Rogues treaded in silence, the initiates: face hidden by a hood, basking in the glory of their new found powers, the veterans coated in black as if merged with their shadows. Newly ordained magicians ran around with robes longer than they were tall, the ones of a higher level marched with a purpose as if everything they did was of great importance. The market was busy as usual: players bartering with shopkeepers to make that sword a few silvers cheaper or to buy this shield for a bit more copper. Newbies running all over the place talking to NPC’s no doubt doing some sort of menial quest for a measly reward. It was home sweet home.
Nostalgia, excitement, anxiousness, all of these feelings clashed within Francis. He could practically taste the adventure. A smiling Francis caught the sight of a slightly chubby boy next to him. The look on his face could only be described as happiness, the sort of happiness that only wishes can bring to a person. All of that disappeared in a split second. A quick turn of the boy’s head made him face to face with Francis. And judging by the fear in the boy’s eyes and the frightened look in his face, Francis had scared him. Francis laughed. He’d never thought of himself as a scary person but evidently he was. The sound of his joy made the colour drain from the boy’s face.
“Hey don’t worry man. I’m not gonna do anything to you,” Francis smiled down at the boy.
“Y-yeah, it’s alright. It’s just that you were staring at me, and I didn’t know what I did wrong. I thought you were going to hurt me. Plus you were smiling so I thought you were a masochist and enjoy stuff like that and you’re a big guy so, you know, I was... not that I’m saying you actually like to hurt people! I just thought you were gonna give me a beating, like people usually do...” He looked up at Francis, “Ah! Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just please. Don't.”
Francis felt pity well up inside him. “No worries bro. I said I wasn’t gonna do anything,” Francis smiled, “You just reminded me of how I was when I started playing this game. Brought back some nice memories, you are new right? What’s your name?”
“Err yeah I am. I just started,” the boy stood up and brushed himself off, “I-I’m Jun, Jun Inosanto, nice to meet you.”
“Haha it’s my pleasure. Not a lot of people use their real name as their character name Jun,” Francis claimed cheerfully, “Well to make it even, I’m Francis. Keep that to yourself though!” Francis said with a wink, “Hey Jun! Let’s be friends.”
“Sure!” Jun blurted.
With his new friend in tow Francis started his new adventure. He explained the dynamics of the game, a few rules to follow and some hints and tips that should help him along the way. After their short meeting Jun decided to run some errands and raise funds for stuff he’ll need when he leaves the city walls, while Francis decided to look around the city a bit more and see what new things Royal Road had in store for him. After a promise to meet again when they could leave the city the two boys parted ways.
“If you run into any trouble just whisper me and I’ll come help you.”
“I’ll remember,” Jun said gladly, “See ya around Francis!”
Francis stood there watching his new friend disappear into the crowd. He had never thought it would be this easy to make a friend. Jun reminded him of Clark Wilson, a boy in Francis’ class when he was still trapped in the English education system. Clark was an awkward kid who always seemed nervous – he was different, and to Henry Boyd the local bully, this meant he had to be punished. Clark never had a peaceful day at school. If he wasn’t being tortured by Henry he was teased by everyone else. Francis talked to him once, and he genuinely enjoyed their conversation. Francis would always regret that he just stood by and watched it all happen. I mean you’d never think it would be your school that was on the news, for some kid hanging himself in his room one evening because the only human contact he’d experience that day was another child’s boot or knuckle. You’d never think it was your school. Francis reminded himself that there was nothing he could do for Clark now, and he might just be doing this to make himself feel better about the past, or he might enjoy Jun’s company. He didn’t know which, but what he did know was that he made a friend. Francis took a deep breath and stretched his arms, as he did so a conversation between two nearby warriors crossed his ears.
“I heard he was there for the whole four weeks.”
“No way! That’s impossible!”
“Yup, exactly what I said.”
“How can anyone beat a scarecrow for four weeks!”
“Yeah man, non-stop too.”
“Holy shit! Why would anyone do that?”
“Heard it gave stat boosts?”
“For real? Then why don’t we do that!”
“Seriously? Waste four weeks hitting scarecrows?”
“...”
“Yeah that’s what I thought.”
-‘Stat boosts eh?’-
And with that Francis marched to the Training Ground.
***
A few wrong turns and awkward conversations with strangers pointing him to the right place, Francis eventually found his way to the Training Ground. He had never been to any sort of Training Ground or Hall so he didn’t know the first place to look. No one usually goes to these places unless their trying out a new skill or lost.
After walking through the entrance all he could see were scarecrows. All of them lined up on one side of the grounds and dotted along the walls were racks of wooden training swords. Surprisingly people were actually here. Characters of different levels and classes were equipped with wooden swords and stationed by a scarecrow – beating it mercilessly as if it said something about their mothers.
“A fine sight isn’t it boy? Never seen anything like it, have you? This, my boy, is what this continent needs,” a barbarian towered above Francis. His scarred Herculean arms crossed against his worn black leather breastplate. A long dark brown curl escaped his ponytail and ran to the corner of his chin. A distant look occupied his eyes. A slight smile danced on his lips. It was the look of a content man satisfied with his life.
“Looks like an anger management class that use wooden swords instead of words to express themselves,” Francis thought out loud. He had never felt uncomfortable around NPC’s. It was probably because he’s spent more time around the than real people.
“Forgive me stranger, but your speech is unfamiliar to me. I am the Instructor of this place, do you need my assistance?” The instructor looked down at Francis with an inquisitive look, “are you perhaps an admirer of the Long blade?”
“Ah sorry, I’m not big fan of swinging big-ass swords around. Not really my style.”
“Worry not young traveller! I’m sure we can accommodate your fighting needs here at the Seaford City Training Ground, the second largest training area on the Kanluran Continent!” The Instructors voice echoed as he ended his sentence.
-‘So this is what it would sound like if a less persuasive Billy Mays was reincarnated as game character. Sick Unicorn bastards.’- Francis smiled at the thought.
“I’m better with knives actually. Got any?”
“I’m sorry stranger we do not specialise in the way of the daggers here,” the instructor replied with a genuinely disappointed look, “however you may check the chest behind the scarecrows. Adventurers such as you sometimes leave weapons that are of no use to them in there.”
“Alright, thanks.”
The chest was hidden (well not really hidden, it was more like they didn’t know where else to put it) behind a few lonely scarecrows. It was covered in a thick layer of dust and smelt like it had died. With low expectations, Francis opened the chest. After a coughing fit, which surprised Francis – virtual games think of everything – and the disappearance of a dust cloud, the chest revealed scrap. As in scrap metal.
-‘No wonder no one’s ever looted it.’-
After searching through heaps of rust-eaten, jagged, blunt-edged metallic objects, Francis had managed to find something that could recognised as a weapon, although just barely.
| Rusty KnifeDurability: 5/30Damage: 1 – 5A once useful knife, worn away by the elements. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
Pocketing the rusty knife, Francis kept looking. After a few more minutes and the realisation that two rusty knives were enough for him he set out to find a scarecrow. Equipping the two knives Francis began to practice the Eskrima techniques he had learnt once upon a time.
Wielding two weapons were very popular when Francis started to play Royal Road, it looked awesome and it felt awesome just to do it, but eventually people found out that’s all it was. No classes were discovered, nor were there any bonuses from using two blades. It was discovered that eventually the additional speed and damage that came with using two swords was compensated for by the class bonuses warriors and similar classes gave you. Soon everyone gave up on looking good, and instead inflating their stats.
*CLANG**T-TING* *THUD*
| The durability of Rusty Knife has fallen to zero. Weapon is now unusable. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The durability of Rusty Knife has fallen to zero. Weapon is now unusable. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
-‘Phew, it’s been a while since I’ve had a good sweat,’-
The last of the rusty knives broke in succession, unable to cope with Francis’ complex techniques. Having raised no stats Francis decided he’d give up such a barbaric training method. He left the broken knives on the floor and made for the entrance.
“Hail stranger! Why do you retire in such a short time?” the Instructor called after Francis, “Are you dissatisfied with our services? Or do you lack the determination of these adventurers?” He gestured at the Scarecrow disembowelment team.
“My knives broke. I’m gonna look for better ones. You know a place I can go?”
“Rusted they may be, but they are not weak enough to break in the hands of a greenhorn, even if they’re against a scarecrow!” The instructor puzzled as to how this might’ve happened, “You must be strong stranger! I am disappointed you will not take up practice with a long blade, you have such potential. But if it is the way of the short blade you wish to follow, I suggest you venture to the Rogue’s place! There are many who can help you there.”
After being given directions he bid farewell to the instructor, he wondered how strong he had become. He thought of how easily those knives broke in his hands.
-‘Well he did say they don't break that easily, I guess I am pretty strong!’- Francis laughed at the absurdity of his strength, -‘Hahahahaha... wait... maybe that's it!’-
“Stats!”
| Status Window | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Name | Fluxe | Type | Neutral |
| Level | 01 | Class | None |
| Title | None | Fame | 0 |
| Health | 100 | Mana | 100 |
| Strength | 15 | Agility | 15 |
| Vitality | 15 | Wisdom | 15 |
| Inteligence | 15 | Luck | 15 |
| Leadership | 15 | | |
| Offense | 5 | Defence | 5 |
| Magical Resistance | 0 | | |
“Holy crap... Five stats!”Francis couldn’t take his eyes away from the small pop-up in front of him, “Are they being serious? After they lose a character that took days and days of grinding and sleepless nights from doing quests to become strong, this is all I get?” Francis’ disbelief turned into anger, “Unicorn bastards.”
After a moment of raging in silence and a quiet prayer, hoping that all Unicorn employees responsible for this end up with bird faeces on their shoulder by the end of the day, Francis made his way to the Rogue’s guild.
***
After years of countless wars, disputes over land and rights of ownership, the Kanluran continent has separated into four different Quarters: North, East, South and West. While the continent has reached a point of stability compared to the blood-shed exhibited in the past, various conflicts still occur between neighbouring countries in their respective Quarters. The Fulborne Kingdom itself is fairly new and thanks to aggressive military expansion and slave labour, in the past, it now dominates two thirds of the Eastern Quarter with no major threats, an amazing achievement by the Fulborne Monarch in just three-hundred years.
As well as the Fulborne Kingdom, there are currently three other countries in the Eastern Quarter: the Vallentin Republic, the Independent State of Canys and the Langbourg Kingdom. The three most popular guilds in the kingdom would usually be found in the town square of each city. In the case of the Fulborne Kingdom, the most popular guilds consist of the Magicians Guild, the Warriors Guild and the Rogues Guild and therefore those guilds will be found in the town square of each city in the kingdom. Seaford City is based on the south-eastern coast of the continent and is one of the larger cities in the Eastern Quarter, starting out as a small fishing village and eventually becoming a popular metropolis; it houses tournaments of all kinds, from jousting to pie-eating as well as the largest free market in the Fulborne Kingdom. Seaford City’s current guardian, Lord Byron is renowned as a skilled military officer and has won many battles at sea; earning him the title Keeper of the Coast.
***
After another round of getting lost again and again, taking even more wrong turns and a few more awkward conversations with strangers to ask for directions only to walk in the opposite way of where he was told to go, Francis pushed past the last crowd of gamers to find himself in front of the town square.
-‘Finally!’- Francis sighed in relief.
It was a beautiful sight. Stone bricks tessellated to cover the entire area of the floor, and eventually circling around a gargantuan seven-tiered fountain that stood as tall as a house and was topped with a small statue Francis couldn’t make out. In-game couples walked in pairs or sat on the many benches dotted around the fountain, as the crashed droplets would catch the sun’s rays and miniature rainbows would break out here and there. Oh it was beautiful.
-‘Ah the freaking fountain’s in the way’- Francis thought to himself annoyed.
Francis made his way to the Rogues Guild which was, apparently, just past the fountain. As he got closer to the centre of the square he noticed a spiral tower on his far right, layered with huge stone windows from top to bottom. A single wooden door sat on top of an array of stone steps and above the door was a Caduceus carved in the stone, the snakes on either side of the staff would curl around it and each other while flicking their tongues, their beady eyes locked in a trance. It was a tower that practically oozed of the black arts – the Magicians guild.
He immediately turned to his left and scanned the area to look for another building. A gold and marble barn-like mansion stood out from the rest of the buildings like a watermelon among apples. A set of giant swing doors made from steel were swung open slightly, the ring knockers hung off the mouth of beasts: a wolf’s jaws on one and a bear’s teeth on the other. A silver statue of a growling bear half the size of the door stood on one side and a similarly large marble statue of a snarling wolf stood opposite, both of which were facing towards the centre of the square and Francis. It was a hall that exuded of intimidation –the Warriors Guild.
Francis soon lost sight of both buildings as he walked further past the fountain. Francis kept walking until he found himself in an area full of run down pubs and derelict buildings, finally admitting that he’d gotten himself lost again, he looked around for some help. An absentminded guard stood not too far away in front of the largest dirty building within the vicinity.
“Hello,” Francis spoke to the guard.
“You alright mate? You need anythin’?”
“Can you point the way to the the Rogues Guild for me?”
“You sure you’re okay?” the guard chuckled.
“...”Francis wondered if it was possible for NPC's to troll players.
-‘Maybe he didn’t hear me properly’- Francis assumed.
“Where’s the Rogues Guild?” Francis repeated.
“You’re not making any sense kid,” the guard laughed.
-‘This guy... does he want a headbutt that badly? Is he deaf? A glitch maybe?’- Francis thought, beginning to get annoyed.
“WHE-RE I-S TH-E RO-GUES GUI-LD?” This time Francis made sure to say his words slowly and clearly to help the poor guard.
“Ha...”the guard stopped laughing, “oh, you were serious?”
Francis gave a sharp nod.
“Well kid, look no further! Let me present the Rogues Guild!” he gladly raised his voice, “Tada!” The guard stepped aside and used his arms to point at the building he was guarding, “There’s a sign right there mate!”
“...”
-‘What the...’-
As Francis took a closer look, a large dusty wooden plank was nailed across the front of the building; in faded red paint it read “Rogues Guild.” The building itself mimicked the style of an old western saloon, one that had been abandoned years ago, which was now occupied by squatters. Above the door way a carving of two knives crossing each other with their bladed tips pointing downwards, the handle of the left knife had a fashioned ram’s head on it’s end while on the end of the right knife’s handle, an opened mouthed snakes head was carved.
All of a sudden a raggedy man, unshaved and unwashed, wearing a dirty poncho, burst from the entrance.
“What’s with all the commotion huh? Don't the slums know the word quiet anymore?” the raggedy man shouted into thin air, “Guard! What’s the meaning of this? You get paid to stand there and scare unwanted people away! Not to wake me up! It’s like you’re asking for a beating!”
“Sorry sir!”
“You better be you little...” the raggedy man looked towards Francis, “And who are you then?”
“I just wanted to see some knives,” Francis spoke morosely.
“No way... a customer?" The man beamed, "Come inside! Come in, welcome to the Rogues Guild!”
Francis followed the man inside.
“I’m Drait, by the way. I run the Rogues Guild here in Seaford. Sorry about earlier we don't get many people coming through that way so I usually sleep around there,” Drait explained, “so what kind of knives are you looking for?”
“Sharp ones.”
“Ah, simplistic, I like that.”
Inside the building was unlike its outer appearance. Francis gaped at the interior of the place. Leather seats, animal rugs, a bar (equipped with a fully functioning bartender), weapons hung from the walls.
-‘Is this really the same building?’- Francis had to ask himself whether or not he believed what he was seeing.
“Hahaha!” Drait laughed, “Can’t believe what you’re seeing, can ya?” he said with a grin, “As I said normally we don't get people coming from the back entrance anymore, we used that when we were still an up and coming guild that recruited using posters and picket signs. You see, nowadays nearly all of the recruits teleport here straight from the Intelligence guild. We’re not as poor as you think boy.”
-Aw crap! Why didn’t I do that? Wasted a lot of time-
Drait led Francis down a spiral staircase into the deeper levels of the guild. As they walked Francis began to hear faint noises. The further down they got the louder the noises became. Eventually he could hear echoes, the sound of steel clashing against each other became apparent, and he could hear the whistling of something cutting the air and finally the heavy breathing of players began to reach his ears.
They walked through the entrance of the basement and Francis could finally see the source of all that noise. The basement resembled the Seaford City Training Ground only with fewer scarecrows. He could tell most of the Rogue’s were new since they still wore their Novice Hoods, a piece of equipment given to them after joining the guild. Players were lined up behind some sort of shooting range holding bows of different shapes and sizes, Francis saw a player string an arrow as thick as his arm onto a bow as long as he was tall and release it into the air. A high-pitched whistle pierced the noise in the basement ever so slightly, and even though Francis couldn’t see it, he heard the arrow crash into its target and probably rip it into splinters.
-‘Doubt I can get used to that after all of the triggers I’ve pulled.’-
Across the room from the shooting range were a number of rogues either paired with each other or with a practice dummy the size of a human. Each of them also carried a specific type of weapon – knives. Francis could see a variety of different knives being used: straight edged, curved, and serrated and many others he had never seen before. Some players even carried two knives just like Francis, while others carried one knife traditionally. Sparks came and went as hooded figures clashed here and there, the sound of panting creating a rhythm amongst the chaos.
“See anything you like kid?”
“Uh-huh”
“Well joining the Rogues Guild does get you a lot of perks, anything you buy from us is cheaper than if you bought it elsewhere, and we give you free stuff until you can do things yourself, and we’ll teach you ways to kill monsters and people if you’re into that kind of thing. So how ‘bout it, would you like to learn the ways of the Rogue?”
*Trring!*
| Class Change!You can now convert to a class: Rogue. If you accept, you will be able to learn skills limited to this class and any available class advancements.Do you want to become a Rogue? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
“I’ll think about it.”
| You have declined the class change offer. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
[/tbody]
“Well whatever floats your boat kid. If you’re looking for knives talk to that guy, if you need anything don't be shy just ask.”
Drait pointed to a man with a pointy nose, lean eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacle and long black hair with grey streaks in a pony-tail that went halfway down his back. He sat behind a desk with his feet on the table, reading a book. Francis did as he was told and walked towards him.
“Excuse me,” Francis began timidly
“Mmm?” The man replied, not looking away from his book with a look of disinterest glued to his face.
“I’m looking for a couple of knives to use.”
“Yeah sure we got that, two silvers please. If you’re available for a guild discount it’ll be half-price.”
-‘Crap I’m broke,’- Francis cursed.
“Have you got any you’re throwing away?” Francis asked.
“Huh? No we don't, if you don't have any money then scram,” A look of annoyance rippling across his features.
-‘Why this rude little...’- But before Francis could start assaulting the laid-back clerk with his bare fist, a deep voice boomed behind him.
“Don't worry kid, I got this,” One silver coin came from behind and towards the clerk, a quick flick of his wrist and the clerk palmed the coin and put it in his pocket.
“Nothing, good ever comes from charity. You should know that by now Clay,” A hint of content in his voice as he pocketed the coin and handed the knives over.
“You should try being nice every now and then, Spencer. Who knows, you might even find it fun and we’ll finally get to see that smile eh?” Clay spoke with a cheeky grin as he took the knives off him.
“Twat,” And with that he returned to his book.
“Don’t mind him kid, he’s a real softie on the inside,” Clay said as he gave the knives to Francis.
-‘Doubt it. Looks like scum to me.’- Francis thought, as he accepted the gift.
“It’s alright. Thank you,” Now that Francis was finally facing him, he could see that Clay was player who was quite a few levels above Francis and had a higher rank than Novice within the Guild since he had a different coloured hood on his shoulders.
“What brings you here anyway? Not here to join up, are you?”
“Nope, just for these,” Francis held up his new weapons.
“Oh, okay. Anyways gotta go kid! See ya around!” Clay left as left as quickly as he appeared.
"Item Stat Window!"
| Steel KnifeDurability: 35/35Damage: 5-9A sturdy knife that’s useful for everyday use. Part of Rogues Guild Starter Kit. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
-‘Finally something that won’t break after a few swings’- Francis smiled to himself. Done with his business, Francis headed for the entrance where Old man Drait stood.
“Sure you don't want to be a Rogue? I can teach you how to be really fast with those knives.”
| Class change!Become a Rogue? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
“Don't worry old man, I’m already pretty fast,”
| You have declined the class change offer. | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
[/tbody]
After deciding being a rogue wasn’t for him, Francis left with his new knives. |
{
"title": "Short Stories by Vielfras",
"id": 49,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Stolen Goods",
"id": 30,
"next": 31,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Stolen Goods<br>I've been wanting to write a bunch of short stories for some time now. I have plenty of ideas I'll probably never use in my fan-fic but I'd still like to share them. <br><br>I'm posting this under the title RR:Short Stories, meaning there is no particular plot or theme and anyone can add their own short stories. It is even encouraged :P<br><br>This one was posted a while back on the Jcafe forum but I didn't see the point of sharing it on the blog as well. However I have accumulated a bunch of short stories since then and I'm posting it now as this was the one that made me decide to write them.<br>__________________________________________<br><br>Royal Road.org<br>Quest Log forum.<br><br>Topic name: "Stolen Goods"<br>Uploaded: 2 days ago.<br>Username: ShafiS7<br><br>Day 1<br>of the "Stolen Goods" quest.<br><br>We've come back from hunting wood sprites in the nearby forest. Tired and thirsty, we entered the local tavern and ordered a drink and a snack.<br>Sesil, being his usual self, flirted with the barmaid. I've never expected the harmless flirting to yield results. He may flirt all the time but it never gets him anything but a slap in the face or a drink on his shirt.<br>This time though, the lovely girl with her ample bosom, surprised us both when she offered him a quest.<br>The expression he made sent me to the floor laughing.<br><br>Anyway, it turned out to be a simple quest.<br>Goblins stole the poor girls panties and since they were magical panties she wanted them back.<br>She told us the direction the goblins ran of too and offered a very attractive reward, if we managed to bring the panties back.<br><br>Day 3Finally we managed to find the goblin layer.<br>A dozen of those ugly creatures crammed themselves inside a small crack in what looked like a hundred year old tree.<br>We found them thanks to the rotten smell they were giving off.<br>Strange enough though, the closer we got to their lair the weaker the smell became.<br>I wanted to go in and take care of them at once but Sesil started arguing again. I still don't understand why he became a warrior if he always wants to do things sneakily.<br><br>This time I won and he walked, clearly annoyed, to the entrance of the lair. I gave him the signal that my magic was finished and he lured them out.<br>He managed to kill two of them before they completely surrounded him. By that time though, I finished targeting and the arcane bolts that came flying from my hand turned the goblins into shining pincushions.<br><br>Day 4 <br>The hole in the tree was much bigger than expected but eventually we managed to find what we came for.<br>Their color was simple beige and they looked nothing but ordinary.<br>On our way back to the tavern our curiosity got the better of us and we foolishly checked the stats on the panties.<br>Neutralizing Panties<br>Armor: 0 Durability: 10/10<br>This simple panties were charmed by a strong mage to neutralize harmful odors.<br>Even the vilest of odors will become unnoticeable when this panties are put on.<br><br>It is needless to say that after returning the stolen property we turned down the reward and never returned to that tavern.<br>I just wish that Sesil would've learned his lesson. His my best friend but this is the first and last time I go along with his flirting...
</div> | Stolen Goods
I've been wanting to write a bunch of short stories for some time now. I have plenty of ideas I'll probably never use in my fan-fic but I'd still like to share them.
I'm posting this under the title RR:Short Stories, meaning there is no particular plot or theme and anyone can add their own short stories. It is even encouraged :P
This one was posted a while back on the Jcafe forum but I didn't see the point of sharing it on the blog as well. However I have accumulated a bunch of short stories since then and I'm posting it now as this was the one that made me decide to write them.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Royal Road.org
Quest Log forum.
Topic name: "Stolen Goods"
Uploaded: 2 days ago.
Username: ShafiS7
Day 1
of the "Stolen Goods" quest.
We've come back from hunting wood sprites in the nearby forest. Tired and thirsty, we entered the local tavern and ordered a drink and a snack.
Sesil, being his usual self, flirted with the barmaid. I've never expected the harmless flirting to yield results. He may flirt all the time but it never gets him anything but a slap in the face or a drink on his shirt.
This time though, the lovely girl with her ample bosom, surprised us both when she offered him a quest.
The expression he made sent me to the floor laughing.
Anyway, it turned out to be a simple quest.
Goblins stole the poor girls panties and since they were magical panties she wanted them back.
She told us the direction the goblins ran of too and offered a very attractive reward, if we managed to bring the panties back.
Day 3Finally we managed to find the goblin layer.
A dozen of those ugly creatures crammed themselves inside a small crack in what looked like a hundred year old tree.
We found them thanks to the rotten smell they were giving off.
Strange enough though, the closer we got to their lair the weaker the smell became.
I wanted to go in and take care of them at once but Sesil started arguing again. I still don't understand why he became a warrior if he always wants to do things sneakily.
This time I won and he walked, clearly annoyed, to the entrance of the lair. I gave him the signal that my magic was finished and he lured them out.
He managed to kill two of them before they completely surrounded him. By that time though, I finished targeting and the arcane bolts that came flying from my hand turned the goblins into shining pincushions.
Day 4
The hole in the tree was much bigger than expected but eventually we managed to find what we came for.
Their color was simple beige and they looked nothing but ordinary.
On our way back to the tavern our curiosity got the better of us and we foolishly checked the stats on the panties.
Neutralizing Panties
Armor: 0 Durability: 10/10
This simple panties were charmed by a strong mage to neutralize harmful odors.
Even the vilest of odors will become unnoticeable when this panties are put on.
It is needless to say that after returning the stolen property we turned down the reward and never returned to that tavern.
I just wish that Sesil would've learned his lesson. His my best friend but this is the first and last time I go along with his flirting... |
{
"title": "Soul-Link by Zapper",
"id": 47,
"author": "zapper",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Soul Link - Chapter 4",
"id": 225,
"next": 545,
"prev": 170,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 4 - Floor 1 -<br><br>Xandit and Sanni were back in the game. Xandit was dazzled by what had happened.<br><br>"Sanni, I woke up for a few seconds in reality."<br><br>"How did that happen? Was it because we died?"<br><br>"That would be the only logical explanation. Then we will die again."<br><br>"Teleport: Dungeon F1"<br><br>They died once again, but nothing happened this time. So they decided not to die any more. Back in the game, they thought it was impossible to kill the Cobalts, since the difference in level was too high. Once again, they had a problem. They needed to become stronger in order to defeat the enemies. So they went to Cliff for more guidance. But he refused to train them, saying, "The basics are all I will teach you. However, what I can do is de-buff the enemies."<br><br>"Your help would be appreciated." <br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>Quest change.<br><br>Fight for experience<br><br>Clear floor 1 of the dungeon<br>With the help of Cliff (Will lower enemy stats)<br><br>Quest difficulty: D<br><br>Quest reward: (reduced) unknown, (reduced) increased friendship with Cliff.</blockquote><br><br>Once again, they teleported to the first floor. <br><br>"I will need to infuse my AX light into one of your weapons so that that person can channel my AX."<br><br>"You can use my weapon,” Sanni said.<br><br>Cliff started transferring his AX to Agni. It took a few minutes. When it was done, her weapon felt warm and it had a light-colored aura.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Angi Stats<br>*Ting<br><br>Agni (with Cliff)<br> <br>Agni weapon level 3.00% - Cliff level 1<br>Durability: 100/100<br>M. Damage: 30-45<br>AX: 5000/?<br><br>Special area effect:<br>All dark element monsters within a 100 meter radius will be weakened by 20% <br>Light walls(1) extra effect: Special area effect is tripled. Monsters are weakened by 60%.</blockquote><br>This time, Xandit looked around carefully. They were in a very large dome which had a lot of obstacles, good places to hide and areas to ambush. They saw a pack of Cobalts running towards them. <br><br>Xandit said, "We need to hide in that hole behind the rubble."<br><br>After carefully scouting and sneaking around the dome for 4 hours, they knew the layout of the dome. <br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>You learned the skill Sneak & peak<br> <br>Sneak & Peak skill level 1.29%<br>10% less chance to be detected<br>10% better at detecting monsters</blockquote><br><br>"I found the exit but it's locked."<br><br>"Locked? Then how do we open it."<br><br>"Cliff?"<br><br>".........."<br><br>"Cliff’s not responding." <br><br>"Can't you hear him Xandit?"<br><br>"Hear what.....?"<br><br>"Cliff, he is talking to me." <br><br>Cliff told Sanni that Xandit could not hear him because he was infused into a weapon that could only be wielded by her.<br><br>"Xandit, you can't hear him because he is in my weapon."<br><br>"Oh well. What is he saying?"<br><br>"We need to kill every monster in here for the gate to open."<br><br>"WHAT......."<br><br>"SSSSTTTTTH.."<br><br>"...But..there...are..around.... 3000 cobalts here!"<br><br>"Don't whine, think about a way to take care of them."<br><br>"Then we need to find places to hide. Scan everywhere for a hiding spot."<br><br>They started to look around for nice spots. They found some good spots and found spots that needed some work. If took them 9 hours to find 300 potential hiding spots.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>Scan skill level 3.01%<br>You can now Scan monsters to level 90.<br>Improved chances of finding hidden spots.</blockquote><br><br> A lot of the spots needed to be improved to hide them from the Cobalts. So that was what they were going to do. Five days of hard work later, the work consisting mostly of Xandit’s hard work, since he could be logged in 24/7. Sanni needed to attend to real life stuff. They made around 270 hiding places in the dome. When Sanni logged back in, they started to discuss how to take care of the Cobalts one by one. <br><br>"The best thing we can do is to make traps in their walking routes and ambush them one group at a time."<br><br>"Why don't we start with some Stragglers first, Xandit?"<br><br>"That would be safer, but their walking paths are more complex. It would take more time to figure out where their paths are."<br><br>"It's safer and I like to stay alive." <br><br>"Then we do it your way."<br><br>After observing one Cobalt sneaking from one spot to another for some time, he decided to make some traps and ambush it. Xandit tried to make some traps in the time he had before the Cobalt would come. He then remembered the time he went hunting with his father. His father made small holes in the path that the deer would run, and that would trip them up. So Xandit wanted to use the same trap. <br><br>As the Cobalt came close, Xandit said to Sanni, “Use your fireball attack at the same time I use Scan. After I have Scanned him, I will attack”. The Cobalt walked into the trap and lost its balance. <br><br>"Scan...”<br><br>“Fireball...."<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br><br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/ch4stats1.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/685/ch4stats1.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg10.imageshack.us%2fimg10%2f685%2fch4stats1.png"></a></blockquote><br><br>*Cobalt received 150 Damage<br><br>The Cobalt was confused about what had happened and didn’t notice Xandit going for its legs and head at the same time.<br><br>*Hit 250 Damage to head.<br>*Hit 100 Damage to the Cobalt’s legs. Movement speed reduced by 50% until legs are healed. <br><br>As the Cobalt was a monster that was made for speed, it tried to run away, even with it’s movement speed reduced, it was faster than Xandit. Luckily, Sanni casted another fireball and killed the Cobalt. The EXP they got was enormous. The loot was also not bad. <br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>LEVEL UP. <br>LEVEL UP.<br>Fur hide</blockquote><br><br>This process went on for 2 weeks.<br><br>Within this time period, they had killed around 70 Cobalts and got to level 23. Their skills also improved. <br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>Sword and Shield skill level 3.42%<br>You are more efficient with Sword and Shield<br>Damage increased by 9%<br>Can block 12% more damage<br> <br>Counter skill level 2.93%<br>You are more efficient with Counter<br>When Counter is initiated, 10% of the opponent’s attack will be returned<br> <br>Fireball skill level 2.48%<br>Fireball uses 8% less MP<br>Deals 14% more damage<br>Casting time reduced by 20%<br><br>Lots of loot<br> <br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/404/ch4stats2.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2566/ch4stats2.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg404.imageshack.us%2fimg404%2f2566%2fch4stats2.png"></a></blockquote><br>Now they were ready for the Cobalt groups. The group sizes varied from 8 to 20. They were going to ambush a group of Cobalts, so they made extra traps in preparation. They made some large holes, placed stone spikes in them and covered the holes up so that when you walked to it, you don’t see the trap hole.<br><br>"Now we need to wait for them."<br><br>[10 min later]<br><br>"Here they come."<br><br>"Okay. Attack once they walk into the trap."<br><br>Two Cobalts fell into the hole and died immediately, and twelve Cobalts remained.<br>Xandit ran in as fast as he could, but the Cobalts this time were much more aware of their surroundings. Two Cobalts attacked him at the same time, but he managed to block them and countered immediately.<br><br>*Critical hit 600 damage <br>*Critical hit 600 damage <br><br>The moment his blades pierced the throats of the two attacking Cobalts, he was attacked by another Cobalt. <br><br>*received critical hit 1241 damage <br><br>Xandit stepped back for the incoming fireball which instantly killed the Cobalt.<br><br>"Heal," Sanni recovered 800HP.<br><br>Once again, Xandit rushed at the remaining Cobalts. Angry that he had to back down so that his health could be restored, he subconsciously started to absorb AX from the Cobalt’s life force and add it to his own.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>Skill Killing Intent evolved with the use of Aoxtz<br>Killing Intent level 4.26%<br><br>Effects<br>Lowers opponent’s defense by 4.5% <br>Absorb your opponent’s life force by 2.5 HP/sec<br><br>uses 10 MP/sec and 10 STA/sec</blockquote><br>As the fight went on, Xandit was hit a few times but was healed up instantly with the use of his skill and Sanni's heals. Only 2 Cobalts remained after 3 minutes of fighting. He didn’t notice that one Cobalt had gone to get help. After killing the remaining 2 Cobalts, they wanted to rest up. But they saw around 50 Cobalts coming at them.<br><br>"Sanni, keep spamming Fireball. We have enough MP for 30 fireballs. Once your MP reaches zero, run away to a hiding place. I will do the same." <br><br>"Okay."<br><br>After taking out 25 Cobalts, they were out of MP and STA and were left with only a little Health, so they escaped to a hiding spot. The hiding spot, was nothing more than a hole in the ground covered by rubble. <br><br>They kept to this strategy until all the Cobalts were killed.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*Ting<br>Sword and Shield skill level 8.42%<br>You are more efficient with Sword and Shield<br>Damage increased by 15%<br>Can block 22% more damage<br> <br>Counter skill level 6.93%<br>You are more efficient with Counter<br>When Counter is initiated, 18% of the opponent’s attack is returned <br> <br>Fireball skill level 9.48%<br>Fireball uses 16% less MP<br>Deals 34% more damage<br>Casting time reduced by 40%<br><br>Heal skill level 6.02%<br>Heal uses 16% less MP<br>Heals 26% more health<br>Casting time reduced by 32%<br><br>Killing Intent (Aoxtz) level 9.06%<br>Lowers opponent’s defense by 8.5% <br>Absorbs opponent’s life force at 4.5 HP/sec<br><br>Uses 25 MP/sec and 25 STA/sec <br><br>Lots of loot<br>Iron key<br><br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/ch4stats3.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2710/ch4stats3.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg12.imageshack.us%2fimg12%2f2710%2fch4stats3.png"></a><br><br>Brandr<br> <br>Brandr weapon level 51<br>Durability: 100/100<br>P. Damage: 74-86<br>AX: 0/?<br> <br>Agni (with Cliff)<br> <br>Agni weapon level 51 - Cliff level 1<br>Durability: 100/100<br>M. Damage: 74-86<br>AX: 5000/?</blockquote><br><br>"Pffff.... That took a long time. About 2 weeks, 3 weeks, Sanni?"<br><br>"I think it took us 2 and a half weeks."<br><br>"We got them all, that's all that matters. But there is a little problem. All the loot that we have... How are we going to get it to the storage in the base?"<br><br>"Hmmmmm..... maybe we can teleport it to the storage? We can teleport our self, so why not items?"<br><br>"Teleport items." <br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>*System<br>Too much to teleport all at once, estimated time to teleport all items H16:32<br><br>*Ting <br><br>Learnt skill Item Teleport<br>Item Teleport skill level 0.01%</blockquote><br><br>"If you’ll take care of the items, I will go look around for resources."<br><br>"Okay Xandit."<br><br>After 17 hours, Xandit came back.<br><br>"Did you find anything useful?"<br><br>"Yeah I did. I found some iron ores, wood, a little diamond stone and a big black lump...Some kind of ore."<br><br>"Nice, let’s open the door and clear this floor."<br>-END- V1CH4<br><br>*Teaser* Next chapter will be the boss battle of Floor 1<br><br>(1)The light from the little cystals in the walls of the dungeon
</div> | Chapter 4 - Floor 1 -
Xandit and Sanni were back in the game. Xandit was dazzled by what had happened.
"Sanni, I woke up for a few seconds in reality."
"How did that happen? Was it because we died?"
"That would be the only logical explanation. Then we will die again."
"Teleport: Dungeon F1"
They died once again, but nothing happened this time. So they decided not to die any more. Back in the game, they thought it was impossible to kill the Cobalts, since the difference in level was too high. Once again, they had a problem. They needed to become stronger in order to defeat the enemies. So they went to Cliff for more guidance. But he refused to train them, saying, "The basics are all I will teach you. However, what I can do is de-buff the enemies."
"Your help would be appreciated."
> Quote:*Ting
> Quest change.
>
> Fight for experience
>
> Clear floor 1 of the dungeon
> With the help of Cliff (Will lower enemy stats)
>
> Quest difficulty: D
>
> Quest reward: (reduced) unknown, (reduced) increased friendship with Cliff.
Once again, they teleported to the first floor.
"I will need to infuse my AX light into one of your weapons so that that person can channel my AX."
"You can use my weapon,” Sanni said.
Cliff started transferring his AX to Agni. It took a few minutes. When it was done, her weapon felt warm and it had a light-colored aura.
> Quote:*Angi Stats
> *Ting
>
> Agni (with Cliff)
>
> Agni weapon level 3.00% - Cliff level 1
> Durability: 100/100
> M. Damage: 30-45
> AX: 5000/?
>
> Special area effect:
> All dark element monsters within a 100 meter radius will be weakened by 20%
> Light walls(1) extra effect: Special area effect is tripled. Monsters are weakened by 60%.
This time, Xandit looked around carefully. They were in a very large dome which had a lot of obstacles, good places to hide and areas to ambush. They saw a pack of Cobalts running towards them.
Xandit said, "We need to hide in that hole behind the rubble."
After carefully scouting and sneaking around the dome for 4 hours, they knew the layout of the dome.
> Quote:*Ting
> You learned the skill Sneak & peak
>
> Sneak & Peak skill level 1.29%
> 10% less chance to be detected
> 10% better at detecting monsters
"I found the exit but it's locked."
"Locked? Then how do we open it."
"Cliff?"
".........."
"Cliff’s not responding."
"Can't you hear him Xandit?"
"Hear what.....?"
"Cliff, he is talking to me."
Cliff told Sanni that Xandit could not hear him because he was infused into a weapon that could only be wielded by her.
"Xandit, you can't hear him because he is in my weapon."
"Oh well. What is he saying?"
"We need to kill every monster in here for the gate to open."
"WHAT......."
"SSSSTTTTTH.."
"...But..there...are..around.... 3000 cobalts here!"
"Don't whine, think about a way to take care of them."
"Then we need to find places to hide. Scan everywhere for a hiding spot."
They started to look around for nice spots. They found some good spots and found spots that needed some work. If took them 9 hours to find 300 potential hiding spots.
> Quote:*Ting
> Scan skill level 3.01%
> You can now Scan monsters to level 90.
> Improved chances of finding hidden spots.
A lot of the spots needed to be improved to hide them from the Cobalts. So that was what they were going to do. Five days of hard work later, the work consisting mostly of Xandit’s hard work, since he could be logged in 24/7. Sanni needed to attend to real life stuff. They made around 270 hiding places in the dome. When Sanni logged back in, they started to discuss how to take care of the Cobalts one by one.
"The best thing we can do is to make traps in their walking routes and ambush them one group at a time."
"Why don't we start with some Stragglers first, Xandit?"
"That would be safer, but their walking paths are more complex. It would take more time to figure out where their paths are."
"It's safer and I like to stay alive."
"Then we do it your way."
After observing one Cobalt sneaking from one spot to another for some time, he decided to make some traps and ambush it. Xandit tried to make some traps in the time he had before the Cobalt would come. He then remembered the time he went hunting with his father. His father made small holes in the path that the deer would run, and that would trip them up. So Xandit wanted to use the same trap.
As the Cobalt came close, Xandit said to Sanni, “Use your fireball attack at the same time I use Scan. After I have Scanned him, I will attack”. The Cobalt walked into the trap and lost its balance.
"Scan...”
“Fireball...."
> Quote:*Ting
>
> [](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/ch4stats1.png/)
*Cobalt received 150 Damage
The Cobalt was confused about what had happened and didn’t notice Xandit going for its legs and head at the same time.
*Hit 250 Damage to head.
*Hit 100 Damage to the Cobalt’s legs. Movement speed reduced by 50% until legs are healed.
As the Cobalt was a monster that was made for speed, it tried to run away, even with it’s movement speed reduced, it was faster than Xandit. Luckily, Sanni casted another fireball and killed the Cobalt. The EXP they got was enormous. The loot was also not bad.
> Quote:LEVEL UP.
> LEVEL UP.
> Fur hide
This process went on for 2 weeks.
Within this time period, they had killed around 70 Cobalts and got to level 23. Their skills also improved.
> Quote:*Ting
> Sword and Shield skill level 3.42%
> You are more efficient with Sword and Shield
> Damage increased by 9%
> Can block 12% more damage
>
> Counter skill level 2.93%
> You are more efficient with Counter
> When Counter is initiated, 10% of the opponent’s attack will be returned
>
> Fireball skill level 2.48%
> Fireball uses 8% less MP
> Deals 14% more damage
> Casting time reduced by 20%
>
> Lots of loot
>
> [](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/404/ch4stats2.png/)
Now they were ready for the Cobalt groups. The group sizes varied from 8 to 20. They were going to ambush a group of Cobalts, so they made extra traps in preparation. They made some large holes, placed stone spikes in them and covered the holes up so that when you walked to it, you don’t see the trap hole.
"Now we need to wait for them."
[10 min later]
"Here they come."
"Okay. Attack once they walk into the trap."
Two Cobalts fell into the hole and died immediately, and twelve Cobalts remained.
Xandit ran in as fast as he could, but the Cobalts this time were much more aware of their surroundings. Two Cobalts attacked him at the same time, but he managed to block them and countered immediately.
*Critical hit 600 damage
*Critical hit 600 damage
The moment his blades pierced the throats of the two attacking Cobalts, he was attacked by another Cobalt.
*received critical hit 1241 damage
Xandit stepped back for the incoming fireball which instantly killed the Cobalt.
"Heal," Sanni recovered 800HP.
Once again, Xandit rushed at the remaining Cobalts. Angry that he had to back down so that his health could be restored, he subconsciously started to absorb AX from the Cobalt’s life force and add it to his own.
> Quote:*Ting
> Skill Killing Intent evolved with the use of Aoxtz
> Killing Intent level 4.26%
>
> Effects
> Lowers opponent’s defense by 4.5%
> Absorb your opponent’s life force by 2.5 HP/sec
>
> uses 10 MP/sec and 10 STA/sec
As the fight went on, Xandit was hit a few times but was healed up instantly with the use of his skill and Sanni's heals. Only 2 Cobalts remained after 3 minutes of fighting. He didn’t notice that one Cobalt had gone to get help. After killing the remaining 2 Cobalts, they wanted to rest up. But they saw around 50 Cobalts coming at them.
"Sanni, keep spamming Fireball. We have enough MP for 30 fireballs. Once your MP reaches zero, run away to a hiding place. I will do the same."
"Okay."
After taking out 25 Cobalts, they were out of MP and STA and were left with only a little Health, so they escaped to a hiding spot. The hiding spot, was nothing more than a hole in the ground covered by rubble.
They kept to this strategy until all the Cobalts were killed.
> Quote:*Ting
> Sword and Shield skill level 8.42%
> You are more efficient with Sword and Shield
> Damage increased by 15%
> Can block 22% more damage
>
> Counter skill level 6.93%
> You are more efficient with Counter
> When Counter is initiated, 18% of the opponent’s attack is returned
>
> Fireball skill level 9.48%
> Fireball uses 16% less MP
> Deals 34% more damage
> Casting time reduced by 40%
>
> Heal skill level 6.02%
> Heal uses 16% less MP
> Heals 26% more health
> Casting time reduced by 32%
>
> Killing Intent (Aoxtz) level 9.06%
> Lowers opponent’s defense by 8.5%
> Absorbs opponent’s life force at 4.5 HP/sec
>
> Uses 25 MP/sec and 25 STA/sec
>
> Lots of loot
> Iron key
>
> [](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/ch4stats3.png/)
>
> Brandr
>
> Brandr weapon level 51
> Durability: 100/100
> P. Damage: 74-86
> AX: 0/?
>
> Agni (with Cliff)
>
> Agni weapon level 51 - Cliff level 1
> Durability: 100/100
> M. Damage: 74-86
> AX: 5000/?
"Pffff.... That took a long time. About 2 weeks, 3 weeks, Sanni?"
"I think it took us 2 and a half weeks."
"We got them all, that's all that matters. But there is a little problem. All the loot that we have... How are we going to get it to the storage in the base?"
"Hmmmmm..... maybe we can teleport it to the storage? We can teleport our self, so why not items?"
"Teleport items."
> Quote:*System
> Too much to teleport all at once, estimated time to teleport all items H16:32
>
> *Ting
>
> Learnt skill Item Teleport
> Item Teleport skill level 0.01%
"If you’ll take care of the items, I will go look around for resources."
"Okay Xandit."
After 17 hours, Xandit came back.
"Did you find anything useful?"
"Yeah I did. I found some iron ores, wood, a little diamond stone and a big black lump...Some kind of ore."
"Nice, let’s open the door and clear this floor."
-END- V1CH4
*Teaser* Next chapter will be the boss battle of Floor 1
(1)The light from the little cystals in the walls of the dungeon |
{
"title": "Necromancer by Halosty",
"id": 25,
"author": "Halosty",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "Necromancer - Chapter 4",
"id": 165,
"next": 177,
"prev": 113,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Necromancer<br>A Royal Road Fan Fiction<br>By: Halosty<br>Chapter 4<br> <br> Quietus arrived at the back door of the assassin’s guild at exactly the appointed time. Well, maybe. He’d really only been told to be there at night. It was night, so he was exactly on time by his count. He stared at what he could see of the door in this shadowy alley. Yes, this was probably the right door. It was unmarked, unlike the front door, but that would only make sense for truly clandestine activities. Quietus decides that he had spent long enough staring at the stupid door, and performed the secret knock. Well, he would have, but he couldn’t remember it. In fact, he didn’t remember learning a secret knock at all.<br><br> Quietus knocked on the door. He heard a voice from the other side.<br><br> “Password?”<br><br> “I wasn’t given a password,” replied Quietus. He hoped they wouldn’t kill him for forgetting the password. Forgetting the secret knock and the password was very embarrassing. He usually had a good memory for these things.<br><br> “No password? ... Ah good you’re not someone we sent to get killed then. Come on in.” The door would have creaked open, but the hinges were rather well oiled so it just opened quietly.<br><br> Inside was a man who was obviously some kind of warrior- armor, weapons, broken nose. Quietus had expected someone dressed in black and whispering from the shadows. There were actually very few of those inside as well. Shadows, that is. It looks like they understood that people need to be able to see to walk around.<br><br> “I was sent here by Frank,” Quietus explained after the door was shut behind him to keep out the cold.<br><br> “Sure, he’s in that room over there, waiting with the other new recruit. Go on in, he’ll explain.”<br><br> Quietus wondered about the other recruit. Suddenly, a strange sense of fate rose up inside him. Could it be that the person he had been looking for this whole time except when he was stalking that bard would show up here, when he wasn’t looking? On stepping into the room, he knew his feelings were true. He saw short, blond hair, and a thin build. <br><br>The hair was a bit different though. Actually, wasn’t this a male? He really looked nothing like Solara except the hair color being a bit similar. When he saw the man’s face, he was sickened at the thought of even considering that this person was Solara. He kept his face neutral though. He didn’t want to aggravate a possible future guildmate. Although he wasn’t really convinced on becoming an assassin. Still, he also didn’t want to make assassins angry at him.<br><br>Frank started with an explanation, “Welcome, potential recruits, welcome. We have gathered all of you” he put an emphasis on the all of you, as if to say he was well aware there were only two people listening, “all of you here today, based on your demonstrated skills and proclivities. Your inclination for our trade, and the mettle to pursue it. Will you skyrocket through our ranks, or be yet another disappointment? It is up to you to decide! Also, your natural talents. Plus, whoever you have connections with will help greatly. Luck will be a deciding factor for some of it. Oh, right. If either of you are here because you think this is an introduction to the assassin class, just leave. That’s not what this is about. We have a front door and operating hours for that.”<br><br>Quietus was surprised, but somewhat relieved, to hear this. He didn’t want to be the assassin class. He still felt the draw of magic, even though he was acutely aware of the lack of magic guilds in the city. He was also surprised to see the other player walk out- had the man no sense of curiosity? Quietus was then surprised a final time to hear the player scream unpleasantly after they were out of the room. <br><br>“Umm...”<br><br>Frank answered the unspoken question, “We are not above being petty. It disappoints us to have promising recruits end up being uninteresting people. Now then, to the matter at hand. Be aware that you are forbidden to speak what transpires after this, upon penalty of death, to anyone not involved in it. Also, we are aware that foreigners have the nasty habit of coming back to life, so be aware that we will kill you a lot if you let any of our secrets out. We’re petty. Last chance to leave without hearing our dark secrets, and since you’re such a nice young lad we won’t even kill you on the way out.”<br><br>Quietus wanted to cover all his bases. “If I hear your secret, and don’t join you, but also don’t tell anyone, what happens then?” <br><br>“Then we kill you once out of pettiness. Any further questions?”<br><br>Quietus had none, so he just shook his head. He also stayed in the room.<br>“Right, well then, here it is. We kill people.”<br><br>Quietus stood there waiting for the secret.<br><br>Frank stood there staring at Quietus.<br><br>The silence was getting awkwardly long, so Quietus said, “Ok, but what’s the secret?”<br><br>“That’s the secret. Well, not really. The secret is that we don’t just kill monsters. We are hired out to kill people as well, although those who become ‘assassins’ generally just hunt monsters. However, if you join the real guild, be you a warrior, wizard, or even a painter, you will kill people. On commission, or sometimes on the whim of a high ranking member. Always for profit.”<br><br>“I don’t really see why that has to be much of a secret, seems like something any assassins guild should do.”<br><br>“Interesting. Have you no qualms about killing people? Not just vile monsters, but the shopkeeper down the street, or the knight in his castle?”<br><br>Quietus, even if you ignored the fact that he may have been somewhat of a sociopath, found nothing wrong with killing people. It was, after all, just a game. Players respawned. NPCs stayed dead, sure, but they weren’t really sentient or anything, so he had no reason to feel bad for them. He did have to take the chance to make a snide remark, however. “Well, I am a bit ill-equipped to kill a knight. I think I’ll pass on that for now.”<br><br>Frank smiled. Not entirely the kind of creepy smile you would expect from a professional murderer, but a genuine smile. Slightly creepy as well, but truly happy.<br><br>“Then, how would you like to join the true order of assassins?”<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have been offered a position as a novice in the Order of Silence.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>“Well, I’ll get paid, right? Sounds great.” And it did.<br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have joined the Order of Silence as a novice. Do jobs for the guild to earn reputation and infamy.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><br>*Ting*<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>The True Nature of the Guild<br><br>Quest Completed!</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br>*Ding* <br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You have gained a level!</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br> Quietus was happy to have his very first level up. He distributed 5 points into Agility, since he felt that would be useful. He also distributed 5 points to luck. It couldn’t hurt to have that.<br><br> “Now then, how would you like your first assignment?” Frank didn’t actually wait for Quietus to answer, “This man here,” he gestured to a sketch of a rather plain looking man’s face, “has annoyed someone with money. His name is Marcus Phinx, and he is a beginning merchant. He has been in this country some time longer than you, but has no combat skills to speak of, so you should be capable of carrying out this job. No specifications on how he should be killed. No time limit given, but he is likely to be leaving the city within a few days, after which the difficulty will significantly increase. Here is an advance. If you fail to complete the job, we have ways of obtaining it back. Any questions?”<br> Quietus didn’t really have any questions. All he was thinking about was the shiny dagger the advance would buy him, and how he couldn’t wait for this guy to be dead.<br><br> <br>*Ting*<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>Assassination<br><br>Kill Marcus Phinx.<br>Specifications: None<br><br>Estimated Difficulty Level: E</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You accepted the quest.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br><br> Quietus automatically accepted the quest. Not that he was planning to refuse it. Now he had something about this game that he was, unexpectedly, looking forward to.<br><br>End Chapter 4<br><br>Previous Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=123&p=129#p129">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=123&p=129#p129</a><!-- l --><br>Next Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=198">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=198</a><!-- l -->
</div> | Necromancer
A Royal Road Fan Fiction
By: Halosty
Chapter 4
Quietus arrived at the back door of the assassin’s guild at exactly the appointed time. Well, maybe. He’d really only been told to be there at night. It was night, so he was exactly on time by his count. He stared at what he could see of the door in this shadowy alley. Yes, this was probably the right door. It was unmarked, unlike the front door, but that would only make sense for truly clandestine activities. Quietus decides that he had spent long enough staring at the stupid door, and performed the secret knock. Well, he would have, but he couldn’t remember it. In fact, he didn’t remember learning a secret knock at all.
Quietus knocked on the door. He heard a voice from the other side.
“Password?”
“I wasn’t given a password,” replied Quietus. He hoped they wouldn’t kill him for forgetting the password. Forgetting the secret knock and the password was very embarrassing. He usually had a good memory for these things.
“No password? ... Ah good you’re not someone we sent to get killed then. Come on in.” The door would have creaked open, but the hinges were rather well oiled so it just opened quietly.
Inside was a man who was obviously some kind of warrior- armor, weapons, broken nose. Quietus had expected someone dressed in black and whispering from the shadows. There were actually very few of those inside as well. Shadows, that is. It looks like they understood that people need to be able to see to walk around.
“I was sent here by Frank,” Quietus explained after the door was shut behind him to keep out the cold.
“Sure, he’s in that room over there, waiting with the other new recruit. Go on in, he’ll explain.”
Quietus wondered about the other recruit. Suddenly, a strange sense of fate rose up inside him. Could it be that the person he had been looking for this whole time except when he was stalking that bard would show up here, when he wasn’t looking? On stepping into the room, he knew his feelings were true. He saw short, blond hair, and a thin build.
The hair was a bit different though. Actually, wasn’t this a male? He really looked nothing like Solara except the hair color being a bit similar. When he saw the man’s face, he was sickened at the thought of even considering that this person was Solara. He kept his face neutral though. He didn’t want to aggravate a possible future guildmate. Although he wasn’t really convinced on becoming an assassin. Still, he also didn’t want to make assassins angry at him.
Frank started with an explanation, “Welcome, potential recruits, welcome. We have gathered all of you” he put an emphasis on the all of you, as if to say he was well aware there were only two people listening, “all of you here today, based on your demonstrated skills and proclivities. Your inclination for our trade, and the mettle to pursue it. Will you skyrocket through our ranks, or be yet another disappointment? It is up to you to decide! Also, your natural talents. Plus, whoever you have connections with will help greatly. Luck will be a deciding factor for some of it. Oh, right. If either of you are here because you think this is an introduction to the assassin class, just leave. That’s not what this is about. We have a front door and operating hours for that.”
Quietus was surprised, but somewhat relieved, to hear this. He didn’t want to be the assassin class. He still felt the draw of magic, even though he was acutely aware of the lack of magic guilds in the city. He was also surprised to see the other player walk out- had the man no sense of curiosity? Quietus was then surprised a final time to hear the player scream unpleasantly after they were out of the room.
“Umm...”
Frank answered the unspoken question, “We are not above being petty. It disappoints us to have promising recruits end up being uninteresting people. Now then, to the matter at hand. Be aware that you are forbidden to speak what transpires after this, upon penalty of death, to anyone not involved in it. Also, we are aware that foreigners have the nasty habit of coming back to life, so be aware that we will kill you a lot if you let any of our secrets out. We’re petty. Last chance to leave without hearing our dark secrets, and since you’re such a nice young lad we won’t even kill you on the way out.”
Quietus wanted to cover all his bases. “If I hear your secret, and don’t join you, but also don’t tell anyone, what happens then?”
“Then we kill you once out of pettiness. Any further questions?”
Quietus had none, so he just shook his head. He also stayed in the room.
“Right, well then, here it is. We kill people.”
Quietus stood there waiting for the secret.
Frank stood there staring at Quietus.
The silence was getting awkwardly long, so Quietus said, “Ok, but what’s the secret?”
“That’s the secret. Well, not really. The secret is that we don’t just kill monsters. We are hired out to kill people as well, although those who become ‘assassins’ generally just hunt monsters. However, if you join the real guild, be you a warrior, wizard, or even a painter, you will kill people. On commission, or sometimes on the whim of a high ranking member. Always for profit.”
“I don’t really see why that has to be much of a secret, seems like something any assassins guild should do.”
“Interesting. Have you no qualms about killing people? Not just vile monsters, but the shopkeeper down the street, or the knight in his castle?”
Quietus, even if you ignored the fact that he may have been somewhat of a sociopath, found nothing wrong with killing people. It was, after all, just a game. Players respawned. NPCs stayed dead, sure, but they weren’t really sentient or anything, so he had no reason to feel bad for them. He did have to take the chance to make a snide remark, however. “Well, I am a bit ill-equipped to kill a knight. I think I’ll pass on that for now.”
Frank smiled. Not entirely the kind of creepy smile you would expect from a professional murderer, but a genuine smile. Slightly creepy as well, but truly happy.
“Then, how would you like to join the true order of assassins?”
| You have been offered a position as a novice in the Order of Silence. |
| --- |
“Well, I’ll get paid, right? Sounds great.” And it did.
| You have joined the Order of Silence as a novice. Do jobs for the guild to earn reputation and infamy. |
| --- |
*Ting*
| The True Nature of the GuildQuest Completed! |
| --- |
*Ding*
| You have gained a level! |
| --- |
Quietus was happy to have his very first level up. He distributed 5 points into Agility, since he felt that would be useful. He also distributed 5 points to luck. It couldn’t hurt to have that.
“Now then, how would you like your first assignment?” Frank didn’t actually wait for Quietus to answer, “This man here,” he gestured to a sketch of a rather plain looking man’s face, “has annoyed someone with money. His name is Marcus Phinx, and he is a beginning merchant. He has been in this country some time longer than you, but has no combat skills to speak of, so you should be capable of carrying out this job. No specifications on how he should be killed. No time limit given, but he is likely to be leaving the city within a few days, after which the difficulty will significantly increase. Here is an advance. If you fail to complete the job, we have ways of obtaining it back. Any questions?”
Quietus didn’t really have any questions. All he was thinking about was the shiny dagger the advance would buy him, and how he couldn’t wait for this guy to be dead.
*Ting*
| AssassinationKill Marcus Phinx.Specifications: NoneEstimated Difficulty Level: E |
| --- |
| You accepted the quest. |
| --- |
Quietus automatically accepted the quest. Not that he was planning to refuse it. Now he had something about this game that he was, unexpectedly, looking forward to.
End Chapter 4
Previous Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=123&p=129#p129">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=123&p=129#p129</a><!-- l -->
Next Chapter: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=198">viewtopic.php?f=47&t=198</a><!-- l --> |
{
"title": "Exodus™ Online by B4DDI3Z",
"id": 58,
"author": "Baddiez",
"rating": 5
} | {
"title": "Stats",
"id": 154,
"next": 161,
"prev": 153,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
This post will update with stat, and a small description as they are aquired/unlocked in the book.<br><br><br>Health: Obviously how much life you have :)<br><br>Mana: Used to cast spells and activate certain skills.<br><br>Stamina: Used for certain melee attacks, arduous tasks,basically almost anything requiring physical activity.<br><br>Strength: Determines Damage, and the maximum load a character can handle( armour weight, item weight ect.)<br>Dexterity: Quickens speed of strikes, helps better skills using the hands. ( skinning, fletching, jewlcrafting etc)<br><br>Intellect: Increases mana 3 mana per point, and .1 mana regen per second per point.<br><br>Wisdom: Increases spell power, and allows more advanced spells to be cast.<br><br>Agility: Increases probability of dodging, and slightly increases movement speed.<br><br>Vitality: Increases max health by 2 per point.
</div> | This post will update with stat, and a small description as they are aquired/unlocked in the book.
Health: Obviously how much life you have :)
Mana: Used to cast spells and activate certain skills.
Stamina: Used for certain melee attacks, arduous tasks,basically almost anything requiring physical activity.
Strength: Determines Damage, and the maximum load a character can handle( armour weight, item weight ect.)
Dexterity: Quickens speed of strikes, helps better skills using the hands. ( skinning, fletching, jewlcrafting etc)
Intellect: Increases mana 3 mana per point, and .1 mana regen per second per point.
Wisdom: Increases spell power, and allows more advanced spells to be cast.
Agility: Increases probability of dodging, and slightly increases movement speed.
Vitality: Increases max health by 2 per point. |
{
"title": "Shard's of Destiny By Renshiku",
"id": 95,
"author": "Renshiku",
"rating": 0
} | {
"title": "Shard's of Destiny - Prologue",
"id": 478,
"next": 479,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Watson Toshiba</span><br> <br><br> When I was a kid, I was always left alone, I was always abandoned by other children in school, I was abnormal, each and every day I dressed, acted and thought myself of being somebody who had super powers, making myself the center of attention. Doing this for years after years, I was shunned by mostly everyone, including my own family who I loved and with my innocent mind, I wanted to protect them ,but acting this way only made them ignore and despise me. <br><br>3 years has passed and still no change to my behavior, my mother then had any choice but to send me to a mental hospital. But attending to the hospital and taking therapy, only made me feel that I was the only person in the whole wide world with powers, until one day I was so confident in myself, I took up a dear from a friend in the hospital to fly. After I prepared, I went to my room window and climbed outside onto the hospitals outer walls edge. As I stood there, I felt the cold winds whistle and snapped at me, I saw the birds flying in harmony, I took a deep, long breath ,looked up to the sky then jumped.<br><br>To my greatest demise, I never flew that day, I was lying on the ground motion less, I felt sever pain coursing through out my whole body. When I managed to raise my head and look around, there was nobody to help me. I yelled out for help, half dead on the ground, but my words were only said in my mind, until my friend came rushing down with nurses to aid my dying body. This day I finally realized the truth, that I never had powers, that I was only making a fool of myself, but I never gave up the thought, that one day everybody on this planet we called earth shall find our true being. And thus 45 long and painful years later, I created the Life step technology, which now plays a game that brings forth the dream in everyone, The Royal Road.<br><br><br>Rebecca- “Hello there and welcome to IXM world news, I Rebecca Akisa am here in New York Interviewing Mr. Watson Toshiba ,head of the company KMC and the Creator of the new upcoming mmo rpg virtual reality playing game, Royal Road !”<br><br>Rebecca-“Everyone is excited for this upcoming new style of gaming, so Mr. Toshiba we’ll all like to know how and what gave you the ideas to make this Grand Masterpiece! ”<br><br>Toshiba-“Well let me start of like this , This idea was given to me by a dream, a dream that one day we will all experience what it is to be our own self , our true being, a person we always wanted to be in our fantasies . A Hero! ’’ <br>Toshiba- “It took me 40 years to gain this new technology, Blood ,sweat and tears were all shed into making a virtual reality playing technology. This technology will be known as The ‘Life Step’. And as most of us will know the 1st game to be launched on the life step technology will be Royal Road!”<br><br>Toshiba- “From children to adults , ever nation, every creed and every race shall engulf and buy the capsules of the world’s latest technology! , The game royal road will be based on similar mmo rpgs styles , such as world of warcraft , royal road will be a massive multi-player, fantasy and action Game. With many skills, classes, character choices just you will be able to sit down and enter a vast virtual world filled with fantasies and mystery! <br><br>“ Toshiba- “In the vast world of Royal Road Lies 3 Massive Countries Anticia , Lorast and Ventork each holding from 5-10 kingdoms each! All races will be divided into these countries, and there will be things such as jobs, Guilds, secret dungeons, and a WONDER in every kingdom being its massive attraction for the kingdom. These wonders can be from a life form to a structure from a tree to a lake, you will never know until you have seen for your own self! But be warned some can be hard to find and some can be right in front of your eyes !”<br>Toshiba-“ A other great thing about royal road is that guilds can own lands even kingdoms by themselves, they will rule the land, taxing players ,building shops ,and building the kingdom itself to be the best one out there ! Also guild members can be increased in rank. After major increase of a guild member, they can have duels with the current guild master to see who will become the future guild master! After wards other guilds can try to attack and claim the kingdoms for themselves which will bring in Massive Guild vs Guild action!”<br>Rebecca-“OH …my …God! We just can’t wait for the release of this! But what will the price of life step and royal road be?”<br><br>Toshiba- “This was taken into major consideration… the price of the life step technology will be $700 us and there will be apps on the life step to download Royal Road for a free trial of 2 days. The game royal road will be paid monthly via credit cards at $18.00 us a month or $100 us for the year!”<br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="color: #4000FF;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Project Zero first story, enjoy! dont flame us.</span></span>
</div> | Watson Toshiba
When I was a kid, I was always left alone, I was always abandoned by other children in school, I was abnormal, each and every day I dressed, acted and thought myself of being somebody who had super powers, making myself the center of attention. Doing this for years after years, I was shunned by mostly everyone, including my own family who I loved and with my innocent mind, I wanted to protect them ,but acting this way only made them ignore and despise me.
3 years has passed and still no change to my behavior, my mother then had any choice but to send me to a mental hospital. But attending to the hospital and taking therapy, only made me feel that I was the only person in the whole wide world with powers, until one day I was so confident in myself, I took up a dear from a friend in the hospital to fly. After I prepared, I went to my room window and climbed outside onto the hospitals outer walls edge. As I stood there, I felt the cold winds whistle and snapped at me, I saw the birds flying in harmony, I took a deep, long breath ,looked up to the sky then jumped.
To my greatest demise, I never flew that day, I was lying on the ground motion less, I felt sever pain coursing through out my whole body. When I managed to raise my head and look around, there was nobody to help me. I yelled out for help, half dead on the ground, but my words were only said in my mind, until my friend came rushing down with nurses to aid my dying body. This day I finally realized the truth, that I never had powers, that I was only making a fool of myself, but I never gave up the thought, that one day everybody on this planet we called earth shall find our true being. And thus 45 long and painful years later, I created the Life step technology, which now plays a game that brings forth the dream in everyone, The Royal Road.
Rebecca- “Hello there and welcome to IXM world news, I Rebecca Akisa am here in New York Interviewing Mr. Watson Toshiba ,head of the company KMC and the Creator of the new upcoming mmo rpg virtual reality playing game, Royal Road !”
Rebecca-“Everyone is excited for this upcoming new style of gaming, so Mr. Toshiba we’ll all like to know how and what gave you the ideas to make this Grand Masterpiece! ”
Toshiba-“Well let me start of like this , This idea was given to me by a dream, a dream that one day we will all experience what it is to be our own self , our true being, a person we always wanted to be in our fantasies . A Hero! ’’
Toshiba- “It took me 40 years to gain this new technology, Blood ,sweat and tears were all shed into making a virtual reality playing technology. This technology will be known as The ‘Life Step’. And as most of us will know the 1st game to be launched on the life step technology will be Royal Road!”
Toshiba- “From children to adults , ever nation, every creed and every race shall engulf and buy the capsules of the world’s latest technology! , The game royal road will be based on similar mmo rpgs styles , such as world of warcraft , royal road will be a massive multi-player, fantasy and action Game. With many skills, classes, character choices just you will be able to sit down and enter a vast virtual world filled with fantasies and mystery!
“ Toshiba- “In the vast world of Royal Road Lies 3 Massive Countries Anticia , Lorast and Ventork each holding from 5-10 kingdoms each! All races will be divided into these countries, and there will be things such as jobs, Guilds, secret dungeons, and a WONDER in every kingdom being its massive attraction for the kingdom. These wonders can be from a life form to a structure from a tree to a lake, you will never know until you have seen for your own self! But be warned some can be hard to find and some can be right in front of your eyes !”
Toshiba-“ A other great thing about royal road is that guilds can own lands even kingdoms by themselves, they will rule the land, taxing players ,building shops ,and building the kingdom itself to be the best one out there ! Also guild members can be increased in rank. After major increase of a guild member, they can have duels with the current guild master to see who will become the future guild master! After wards other guilds can try to attack and claim the kingdoms for themselves which will bring in Massive Guild vs Guild action!”
Rebecca-“OH …my …God! We just can’t wait for the release of this! But what will the price of life step and royal road be?”
Toshiba- “This was taken into major consideration… the price of the life step technology will be $700 us and there will be apps on the life step to download Royal Road for a free trial of 2 days. The game royal road will be paid monthly via credit cards at $18.00 us a month or $100 us for the year!”
Project Zero first story, enjoy! dont flame us. |
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"title": "The Alliance with Rosenhein Kingdom by nooborto",
"id": 35,
"author": "nooborto",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Alliance with Rosenhein - Part 3",
"id": 55,
"next": 56,
"prev": 54,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
“Alex, you’re leaning forward too much when you do that strike! When you strike with your right hand you have to make sure that your legs have a solid foundation and that your left shoulder leans backward to help balance the sudden change. Understand?”<br><br>“Yes sir!!"<br><br>"Yo, Becker!! Looks like you're doing well after all this time."<br><br><br><br>The royal knight turned his head around slightly and then went into shock. His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped, and some of the color in his face was drained.<br>The armored knight screamed "Commander!" in a loud voice before rushing toward Weed and hugging him.<br><br>"Hahaha, looks like you're as strong as ever. Now would you mind putting me down? I’m having a little trouble breathing already."<br><br>Becker quickly withdrew his arms back and put one of his hands behind his head "Sorry commander....it's just that it's been so long. Ah! I should tell the others that you're here!"<br><br>"Don't worry don't worry, I was planning on finding them after taking a walk around. So what're you doing here?" asked Weed in a somewhat amazed voice as he pointed at the field.<br><br>They were standing in a massive area that was about the size of three foot ball fields. The architects made sure that the ground was all dirt rather than cement so that it felt like one was out in the wild, and if someone fell during training it would hurt less. There were armored soldiers practicing their formation, recruits training their swings on a scarecrow, and a few dozen knights sparring with each other.<br><br>"I've been ordered to train some of the new Centurions so that they're fit for combat. Right now we're re-practicing some of the basic formations like circle and phalanx. But I feel that it's going to be a long time until they're really combat ready. All of them have trouble coordinating with one another and prefer to run off and fight on their own..."<br><br>"If they're Centurions then that means they're all over level 100 right?"<br><br>Becker was a bit dumbfounded at Weed's question. What did their level matter when they can't even hold a proper formation? But after several seconds he decided to just answer him since he must have some reason for doing so.<br><br>"Yes, all of them have completed the basic training and have completed a puntive force mission for Fafnir's pit."<br><br>"Fafnir's pit?"<br>"Yes. You need only walk half an hour west of the Lair of Litvart. It's an area filled with Minotaur’s and cave trolls ranging from the level 120 to 140. They had managed to maintain their formation and somehow make it through the mission but their teamwork has crumbled just three weeks after the quest was completed!"<br><br>Weed replied "Hmm....Well then, how about I train them for a little bit? I can promise some immediate improvements." as a rotten smile crept up on his face<br><br>If they're Centurion level then I'll be able to gain quite a few public value, and charisma points for training them. Also, I've been needing to relieve some of this anger that’s been building up ever since those guys built the royal palace without my permission kukuku.<br><br>"If you're alright with it sir...To be honest, I'm having quite a bit of trouble them myself..." said Becker with a dejected look<br><br>After a quick slap on the back Weed told him "Heh heh don't worry about a thing. They'll come to an understanding after going through my special training regimen. Just assemble them and tell them the news so I can get started."<br><br>"Alright then. All soldiers form ranks!! We have an announcement!"<br><br>Surprisingly enough, all of the soldiers stopped what they were doing and assembled in only in less than 3 minutes.<br><br>"Not bad....but still not good enough to meet my standards." muttered Weed<br><br>"This man will be temporarily be taking command of your training as I have to go to a meeting. Anything he says is to be taken as an order and you are to follow them to the letter. Am I understood?"<br>"Sir, yes sir!"<br><br>A majority of the knights were confused. Their new superior was a man wearing only the basic cloth armor and had dirt all over his face.(It should be noted that Weed decided to take off his armor because it was too heavy and has dirt on his face because he saw a squirrel with a silver coin in its mouth and climbed one of the trees to get it.)<br><br>After checking to see that Becker was out of earshot Weed cracked his neck a little and answered their clamoring complaints by saying "I am your new lord and master. I have no intention on going easy on all of you like Becker. All of you will be worked down to the core, until you're bloody, beaten, battered, and on the verge of death. This, I can promise you. All those who want to quit are free to do so after beating me in a fight."<br><br>After the shock had set in, the warriors began to whisper amongst one of them and eventually one of them spoke out.<br><br>Ian, Soldier 1 "This is bullshit! You think you can just waltz in here and tell us what to do?!"<br>Elliott, Soldier 5 "Yeah!!"<br>Jacob, Soldier 3 "I'm not going to take this....I'll beat you down and show you who the real master is."<br><br>Weed just said curtly "Is there anyone else that feels this way? Speak now and forever hold your peace."<br><br>There was a total of 35 Centurions who stood up out of the 300 who were in the arena.<br><br>"Good! You there, say when to begin and we'll start the fight." said Weed as he pulled the Saint's staff from his backpack and set his things down.<br><br>Eric, Soldier 45 "But um...I don't think this is such a good idea sir."<br>Ian, Soldier 1 "Just say start already you idiot!"<br>Andreas, Soldier 19 "Do it now! This guy's arrogance is seriously ticking me off. He's facing 35 people but all he takes out is a stick??"<br><br>"Sir??"<br>"Go ahead. It'll be over in a few minutes anyway."<br>"Um....Begin!"<br><br>With that all of the knights raised their swords above their shoulder and rushed straight toward Weed.<br>"Bah, amateurs. You’re suppose to maintain a low stance or maintain your center of gravity when charging. Meh, guess I'll just have to show you."<br><br>With that, Weed took hold of the Saint's Staff and angled it so that his right leg and right arm was facing the mob coming toward him. Then he began to side step by moving his left leg to his right and then slipping his right leg out giving the image that he was gliding along the ground. When he was in range he let loose a straight thrust at one of the soldier's faces and then swung right to block the incoming sword. Thrusts require far less preparation but the amount of power applied varies depending on your aim since if you angle it wrong you'll just end up poking them instead of actually causing them damage.<br>But thrusts are the best attack for stopping your opponent in his tracks and possibly knocking him over. After that, Weed moved swayed his body from side to side and attacked their ribs after slipping through their wide swings and began to slip into his rythym. Faster, faster, slower, faster, stronger, slower, stronger, faster, stronger! After about 10 minutes 17 of the knights were on the ground and the rest were grouped together wheezing.<br>"Guess I should finish this already, after all, there's still more training to be done."<br><br>Harn charged at the one more time and dodged their attacks by moving from side to side, but this time he lowered his body from time to time to include a swipe at their knees. None of them were able to get up anymore because of their heavy armor and low stamina. Some of them tripped over the bodies of the othe fallen soldiers while the others were grouped together afer the barrage of attacks.<br>"Monster....." uttered some of the warriors on the ground.<br><br>"THIS IS SPARTA!!"(I had to lol)<br>Weed leaped toward the knight in the front and then spartan kicked him in his chest causing everyone behind him to fall down like a stack of dominos.<br><br>"Now then, is there anyone else that objects to my being your trainer?"<br>All of the Centurians shook their heads rapidly from left to right as they apologized.<br><br>"Good. Then we'll start with something simple. Run 20 laps around this field in under 120 minutes and all those who take even a second longer will need to run another 10 laps."<br>The color drained from the knights faces and some even dropped to their knees. "That....that's impossible!! 20 laps alone is already 5 miles, and to run it in that time frame is just..."<br>"119 minutes and 56 seconds...55 seconds...54 seconds...."<br>All of them began to accept their fate and started getting ready to sprint when Weed announced<br>"Don't forget to have all of your equipment on when you're jogging."<br>"But that's...!"<br>In response Weed just lifted up his cane and said "119 minutes and 40 seconds."<br>"Argh! Screw it, let's just do it and get out of here!!"<br><br>After the hellish run was over about 13 were throwing up, 5 passed out, and the rest lying on the ground.<br>"Oi, what are you doing lazing about. Get into Phalanx formation now!"<br>"Are you serious? You want us to walk and get into phalanx formation after that hellish running regimen???"<br>"WRONG! I want you to run and get into formation! If you don't get into formation within 30 seconds then I'll just have to beat the basics back into you over the course of my stay here."<br>The soldiers scrambled to their feet after pouring cold water on their passed out compatriots.<br><br>"Utterly horrible, you all took 44 seconds to get into formation. Enter Circle formation and then form a wall with 7 columns! Come on, hurry up the lot of you!"<br>All of their soldiers began to accept their fate as they dragged their feet and got into formation.<br><br>"March toward the scarecrows and then encircle them and begin attacking!"<br>"Rah!"<br>"Die damn you!!"<br>All of them began to take out all of their anger on the scarecrow until there was nothing left and then continually moved to the next one. This cycling from Phalanx, circle, Wall for moving, then encircling for attacking repeated itself for over 50 times before reaching Weed's acceptance.<br>"Mm close enough, their breaths are more synchronized now."<br><br>By the time Becker had returned with Hosram and the other 27 knights he had trained, it had already been 3 hours since Weed had taken over.<br>"Commander! When did you get here? I thought for sure you'd be fighting against another army somewhere!"<br>"Well, I had some free time so I thought I'd visit my hometown since it's been so long. I also had some business to attend to while I was here. Didn't Becker tell you all?"<br>A couple of the knights elbowed Becker in the ribs for surprising them like this. "All he told us was that there was a surprise waiting for us a courtyard, but what a surprise this is haha!"<br>"I'll say. Had I known that the commander was visiting I would have worn something better."<br>"Heh Heh I doubt it'd do any good you're the messiest out of everyone here. Have you guys ever scene his hair after just woke up? I swear, it's just like a raccoon went and made a nest in his head."<br>"Bah says you. Being roommates with you isn't a pleasure cruise either. You're damned snoring is loud enough to wake the dead!"<br><br>During this one moment Weed was completely happy. The soldiers that he had trained from recruits were now well respected Royal Knights in the Rosenheim army and could hold their ground against just about any foe now.<br>"So what in Freya's name are you doing here?" asked Hosram as he pointed at the pile of passed out knights.<br>"It’s just some basic training to help get them ready for combat. But enough about, how about some dinner?" asked Weed in a sarcastic tone for he already knew their answer<br>"Of course!"<br>"Woot! We get to taste the commanders incredible cooking again!!"<br>"Careful guys, this person eats just like a pig."<br>"Hmph, can you really blame me given how delicious the Commander's cooking is?"<br>Incidentally, none of the knights could come up with a comeback as this was pretty much a fact all of them accepted ever since the Lair of Litvart.<br><br>"Don't forget about my share." said a a large man from the back of the Royal knights<br>Weed's eyes went wide as he saw that old yet nostalgic face "Sword instructor!!"<br><br>"Haha it's good to see you again as well Master Weed. Now how about we get to eating eh? I've had train a bunch of recruits since morning and have worked up quite an appetite."<br>"Of course, of course." said Weed with a laughter.<br>At this time a light bulb went off inside of Harn's head. I can make use of this and give those Centurions a little more training.<br><br>Within minutes a feast for the eyes was assembled. There was Boar, Rabbit, Bear, and Wolf meat along with Salmon, curry, garlic noodles, and fried rice.<br>"Okay everyone. Eat up!!" The sword instructor and all of the royal knights at the table begin to dig in while the Centurions were still attempting to lift up their arms.<br>"Food...food....So hungry....must eat."<br><br>Oh no you don't. "Fighting Spirit activate!"<br><br>-----------------------------------------------<br><br>-Fighting Spirit<br><br>"You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or even bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alon. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar's action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level."(from oddsquad LMS site)<br><br>-----------------------------------------------<br><br>Weed's Fighting Spirit stat had risen significantly since his novice days because of his constant battles. (Ex: Fort Ohdein I think was the name, where Weed forced Zephyr and Hwaryung to hunt monsters with him for over 12 hours.)<br><br>An overwhelming pressure overcame the Centurions as they were about to lift the food into their mouths. The sword instructor and the royal knights didn't feel anything because their levels were relatively high but the recruits were frozen in their seats.<br><br>Kuut, what is this?? Thought Ian as he focused on raising his arm even a millimeter closer to his mouth.<br><br>As if sensing what all of them were thinking Weed replied "What's wrong? If you guys don't hurry then dinner time will be over and all of the food will be gone." as a smirk came over his face<br><br>"It's this man! He's the one exerting this force on us!"<br>"But how??? I've only felt this kind of pressure in front of Lord Midvale or the Sword Instructor." said Elliott in utter disbelief.<br><br>Does this mean that he's even stronger than those two men who are respected in all of the Rosenheim kingdom?<br><br>Weed was completely ignoring the soldiers suffering and focusing on the food in front of him. "Wahh Hosram, save some of the Salmon for me!"<br>"Bahahahhaha first come first served Commander!"<br><br>It took nearly half an hour before the Centurions finally got used to the pressure and could eat, but more than half of the food was already gone<br>"Hurry, hurry, we have to get at least some of this food!"<br><br>Hmm....They actually overcame the pressure before all of the food was gone. Well, they did clear a puntive mission prior to their retraining so it should be expected.<br><br>"Commander do you really need to go so soon? Why not stay a little longer and tell us of your adventures?"<br>"Apologies everyone but I have a promise to keep with someone else."<br>"Hmm I see....Make sure to come and visit us again before leaving though, please?"<br>"It's a promise then."<br><br>When Weed was about to turn around to leave a thought had dawned on him.<br><br>Their garden should have a fair amount of sculptures that I can use to boost my art stat. I could share some of my herbs with them since we are allies now.<br>"Hosram, would you mind introducing me to the palace gardener? I was thinking of giving him some of my herbs so Serabourg can grow their own and be better be prepared during combat."<br>"Surely. The gardener should be at the very back of the palace at this time."<br>"Please lead the way. Well then everyone, I'll see you later."<br><br>"That's the palace gardener over there commander. I have to go deliver these notes to the library so I'll be leaving now. It was great to see you again commander!!"<br>"Likewise Hosram. I'm glad I came back to Serabourg if only for a while."<br><br>With that they parted ways and Weed went off to see the gardener.<br><br>"Honorable gardener, I've come to offer you a gift."<br><br>The gardener looked over Weed twice before judging that he couldn't possibly have anything of worth to offer him.<br>"The training grounds are on the opposite end of the palace, now go away I have work to do here." said the gardener as he trimmed some of the trees.<br>"I see that I am disturbing your work. I guess I'll just take these rare herbs and be on my way." told Weed as he raised a bag of herbs from his personal garden.<br>"Rare herbs? Please don't try and fool me I have been a gardener and can tell that a......." the old gardener fell over in surprise as he saw what was held in Weeds hands "That....That's the yellow herb! By Freya...I thought that these were extinct by now. To think I'd one day see it with my pwm eyes. Please excuse my earlier rudeness and come closer great adventurer."<br>Weed gave the gardener the bag of herbs and the horticulturist began to examine them.<br>"My word....these Red and Blue herbs are fantastic, just look at how sharp their ends are and that deep shade of color. The green herbs are also very durable, and don't crumble like most of the others I've seen. And just where did you find these yellow herbs?"<br>Weed told the old man of all of the locations he retrieved the herbs from, the knowledge of herbs he learned from Prospect in the City of Heaven Lavias.<br><br>-ttring! Friendship formed between player Weed and Craig the palace gardener.<br>With that Weed could finally achieve what he wanted.<br>"This is such a beautiful place. Would you mind showing me around?"<br>"It would be an honor to guide a great man such as yourself." the old man said solemnly<br><br>During the tour Weed arranged some of the flowers so that he could get an increase in his affinity with nature stat.(stat used for sculpture catastrophe aka unleashing natural catastrophes on his foes)<br>Afte all of the flowers in sight were arranged he decided to ask where the sculptures were so he could finally increase his art stat.<br><br>"It's strange; I haven't seen any sculptures at all yet."<br>"Oh! They're farther in the back. This way, this way."<br><br>Harn was amazed. Past the tall pine trees was a large assortment of sculptures and fountains. There were four fountains which formed a square and in the center stood an array of infantry knights in a phalanx formation. They were perfectly organized except for the fact that one of the shields were slightly tilted to the right. The left Wing had a Royal Knight on horseback clutching a Battle axe while on the right wing was a barbarian warrior holding both of his arms in the air in a screaming pose. At the center back stood a King with a spear in his hand and next to him stood a beautiful woman in a dress with a katana in her hands. She was in a sideways stance with her right arm held the katana while her left leg and arm were in the front giving the impression that she was getting ready to do a thrust(think of the Shinsengumi guy's pose from Rurouni Kenshin)<br>-ttring! You have observed an exceptional piece of artwork. Art stat increased by 30!<br>"Wahhh so much? Oh well guess I can't complain heh heh."<br>"Excuse me, did you say something?"<br>"No no I was just observing how beautiful the sculptures were and how the fountains and hedges compliment it."<br>"Thank you. To hear such a fine compliment brings me great joy. To be honest, out of all of the sculptures in Rosenheim I find this the most pleasing."<br>"Oh? And why is that?"<br>"Why, because of the force it seems to emit. When I look at this from the front I can't help but feel that it's moving toward me. These sculptures have also withstood the testament quite well, it's been said that they were made by the first king! Can you believe it?"<br>"Indeed it’s a magnificent set of sculptures. Well I had best get going; I have an engagement with some of my friends."<br>"I see...I had been looking forward to talking with you more but I shall not hold you back. Take care on your journey great adventurer and may Freya bless your path!"<br>"Thank you."<br><br>With that Weed began to walk to the front gate where some people were gathered.<br><br>"Ho, Master Weed. Leaving so soon?"<br>"Yes I promised to meet someone after my visit to the palace."<br>"Haha, very well Master Weed. I look forward to seeing you.I still have to train these idiots in their basic forms."<br><br>The Centurions that the Sword Instructor had ordered to practice their swings on the scarecrows at the front of the palace had stopped in their tracks and were all staring at the front gate<br>"Such beauty....Who is that woman? She seems to be waiting for someone." asked Jacob<br>"She must be here to see me! hahaha" said Elliott aka soldier 5 in a joking manner<br>"As if." replied several of the Centurions in the back.<br>After some thought Andreas decided to make a move. "Craig, Jacob you guys come with me and be my wingmen."<br>"Okay??"<br><br>"Exscuse me is there someone you're waiting for? We could help you find them."<br>"We're Centurion rank soldiers!"<br>"Would you like a tour of the palace? We know this place like the back of our hand."<br><br>Seoyoon just shook her head then lifted her left hand and pointed her finger at the man who was next to the the rather large Sword Instructor.<br><br>"Hm? Who are you pointing a....." Andreas voice trailed off after he noticed that she was pointing at Weed<br>"Kuuk.....Why's that guy still here? No, more importantly, why is she pointing at him??"<br>"Impossible! This must be a lie! I mean....he's just a novice. Look at his equipment!!"<br><br>Weed had finally noticed that he was being stared at and turned his head towards the front gate.<br>"What are you guys staring at? Can't you see that I'm talking with the Sword Instructor....EH???? Seoyoon!? What on earth are you doing here?"<br>In response Seoyoon took out a small basket from behind her back and raised it so that everyone could see the blanket and sandwhiches inside of it.<br>"....Picnic...?"<br><br>Before Weed could respond a large hand grabbed ahold of his shoulder and gripped it tightly.<br>"Master Weed I'll be expecting a full explanation on this later on. I would also like to know why I wasn't invited to my own little sister's wedding."(Remember the Sword Instructor thinks of Seoyoon as his little sister. This was mentioned at the dinner during the oddsquad translations.)<br>"Um....I don't know what you're talking about hahaha." told Weed as a cold sweat ran down his back<br>"Don't bother lying I can see perfectly well that both of you have the same ring on your ring fingers."<br>"Ah.....hahahahaha."<br>An awkward smile broke out along Harn's faces as he could not deny this fact and couldn't come up with a plausible excuse. So he just ran up to her and tried to get away as soon as possible.<br><br>"Sorry did you wait long? Let's get going."<br><br>As they walked away all of the soldiers began to break into tears and scream things like "Why!! Why not me?? How is he better than me?"<br><br>"Honorable instructor just who is that man! He's well respected by Becker who is regarded as a legend for having fought in the battle with Shire in the Plains of Despair and is even married to such a beautiful woman. Just who is he???"<br>"Hm? Oh that's Master Weed. Surely you have heard of him? He was the one who lead the fight against the battle against the undead legion you speak of and recently cleared the said to be impossible Rodrick's Labrinth."<br>"You mean the Lord of Mora??"<br>"One and the same." answered the instructor<br><br>All of the knights had no choice but to accept that he was a great man and began to take out their anger on the scarecrows once more.<br>"Just you wait...I'll one day be a Master swordsman show you what I'm made of!"<br>"Yeah! We'll show you!" ("Yes young grass hopper one day you will be a master. And at that time I shall be a grandmaster." quote my friend said and it just works so well in this XD)<br><br>"Hmm looks like they're motivated now. I wonder what happened?" said the Sword instructor who was oblivious to what just happened.<br><br><br>Weed had wanted to run away while walking about was conflicted about ignoring a chance to get free food. They had arrived in a small park while Harn was still distracted and considering the benefits and losses of leaving.<br>"I never knew there was a park here." (Remember Weed didn't go anywhere other than the training hall, Instructors house for food, the market street for shopping and setting up a vendor, and Rodriguez's home for the job change information)<br><br>Seoyoon set up the blanket underneath one of the trees and they ate the sandwhiches while gazing at the stars.<br>Weed: "so peaceful...I can't even remember the last time I did this."<br><br>Harn had always been working consistently in order to earn money to support his family so he rarely if ever stopped to take a look at the sky.<br>The citadel of Serabourg is located near the center of the continent so it's much easier to see the stars. Moreover, there were no bright lights like the cities in real life so it was much easier to see the night sky in all its glory.<br>Both of them just lied down on the ground like that for about an hour.<br>Weed was on the verge of falling asleep when Seoyoon grabbed his arm and began to drag him to one of the nearby vendors set on the street.<br>"Gah...How's she so strong." said Weed as he strained all of his muscles to resist being dragged.<br><br>Seoyoon had begun pointing at a circlet frantically.<br>"What?? All you wanted was that? I could easily make one for you if I was given the materials." sighed Weed<br>In response, Seoyoon gripped harder on his hand and stared more at Harn. She was unwilling to budge on this matter.<br>"Agh....Okay,okay I'll help bargain for it but you're the one paying. Now please stop crushing my fingers....ouch...Play along and we'll be able to get a discount on it as well."<br><br>"Shop keeper, how much for that circlet?"<br><br>The shop keeper’s eyes came alive as he finally had another customer.<br>"This one? It's an antique I recovered a while back. For the beautiful lady I'm willing to lower the price to as much as 50 gold."<br>"47 gold." answered Weed as a matter of factly<br>"Dear customer....that's far too cheap. This is a precious thing that has been handed down in my family for several generations."<br>"Oh? And what's the story behind it?"<br>"Well, my great great aunt was a maid who had worked in the palace. My family has been here since the founding of Rosenheim and we've been here since. One day there was a fire in the old castle and she found the queen passed out one of the hallways and carried her to safety. Most of the royal families valuables had been lost during the great fire but the Queen still wanted to reward the brave lady for rescuing her. So she took off her own crown and gave it to the noble lady. According to the queen herself, it was a heirloom given to her by her mother and her mother had also recieved it from the previous generation. So this is indeed a great treasure."<br>"Then why are you so willing to part of it?"<br>"Well...that's because it's dire times now. We have no choice but to sell some of our valuables in order to survive."<br>"It still sounds very questionable to me. How about 44 gold for it?"<br>"But...sir! It's a treasure in itself-"<br>"How so? It's made of low purity gold and it's quite obvious that there are dents on the side of it."<br>"Please, I have a wife and child to support! Besides, those dents can be easily be fixed."<br>"I see...you do have a point. I've re-evaluated its worth."<br><br>The merchant’s smile brightened up immediately but then turned bleak at Weed's next words.<br><br>"45 gold then. You yourself admitted just how old it is so it's liable to break at anytime."<br>The merchant was in disbelief "That...I can not agree to this. I can not part with this item for such a price."<br><br>"Very well. I guess we have no choice but to give up on getting this object. Come on dear, let's finish eating and then go shopping elsewhere." Said Weed as he led Seoyoon back to the picnic grounds.<br>"But….ugh....Please wait good sir! I'll sell it for 45 gold so please come back!!" cried the Vendor<br><br>After the exchange the vendor decided to close his shop for the night, strangely enough.<br>"It's been so long since I bargained for something other than food." laughed Weed as he stretched his arms<br><br>Back at the picnic grounds Weed decided to polish, fix, and check the object which he had just helped buy.<br><br>"Feelings"(basically the identification skill Weed got)<br><br>---------------------------------------<br><br>Item: Grand Circlet: A crown that once belonged to Queen Sira of Rosenheim kingdom. This treasure has been guarded for generations but some of it's splendor has faded in the passing years. This is made of pure gold so it should sell for 1000 gold under normal circumstances.<br>Durability: 20/50 Defense 10 Resitrctions: female Level 300<br>Options: Intelligence +2 Strength +3 Attractiveness +10 Maximum Health +200 Maximum mana + 100<br><br>---------------------------------------<br><br>"Wow, so he wasn't lying about it being a treasure. Too bad it's only for girls."<br><br>"Repair!" (Repairs back to maximum durability so less likely to break)<br>"Polish!" (Polishes it so defense benefits are increased and it looks nicer)<br><br>After Weed was done he placed the circlet on her head and took a step back to look at how it looked on her. Needless to say, Seoyoon shined all the more with that crown on her head.<br>-ttring! Art +5<br><br>Before Weed could finish eating his sandwich a cold chill and a sense of heaviness came over him. His instinct which had been honed through countless battles was now screaming at him, telling him that danger was approaching and that he had to get away. Harn didn't doubt his instinct for a second. He had always been overcome with this sense of dread right before it happened, like when those loan sharks came to the hospital to take away his hard earned money. In an instant, the money that he was going to use to build a better future for his family.<br><br>"I sense a disturbance in the force."(I can somehow see Weed doing this lol, and yes I had to put this here XD feel free to ignore it though. Sounds a bit better with it gone but I'm doing this fanfic so everyone has fun and a couple of laughs every now and then :D)<br><br>Weed grit his teeth and clenched his fist at the thought of that horrible memory.<br>-Everyone gather at the Central Plaza right now!! Be prepared for combat! This is an order. I repeat, this is a order.<br><br>"Pale, what's going on?" asked Maylon worriedly<br><br>Most of the girls had grouped up together and shopped together in the eastern district while Zephyr and Hyeon were having dinner together at one of the restaurants.<br>"I'm not sure but I'm going to go to the Central Plaza. Weed has never steered us wrong and this is the first time I've heard him speak like that."<br>"Okay, I'll go as well."
</div> | “Alex, you’re leaning forward too much when you do that strike! When you strike with your right hand you have to make sure that your legs have a solid foundation and that your left shoulder leans backward to help balance the sudden change. Understand?”
“Yes sir!!"
"Yo, Becker!! Looks like you're doing well after all this time."
The royal knight turned his head around slightly and then went into shock. His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped, and some of the color in his face was drained.
The armored knight screamed "Commander!" in a loud voice before rushing toward Weed and hugging him.
"Hahaha, looks like you're as strong as ever. Now would you mind putting me down? I’m having a little trouble breathing already."
Becker quickly withdrew his arms back and put one of his hands behind his head "Sorry commander....it's just that it's been so long. Ah! I should tell the others that you're here!"
"Don't worry don't worry, I was planning on finding them after taking a walk around. So what're you doing here?" asked Weed in a somewhat amazed voice as he pointed at the field.
They were standing in a massive area that was about the size of three foot ball fields. The architects made sure that the ground was all dirt rather than cement so that it felt like one was out in the wild, and if someone fell during training it would hurt less. There were armored soldiers practicing their formation, recruits training their swings on a scarecrow, and a few dozen knights sparring with each other.
"I've been ordered to train some of the new Centurions so that they're fit for combat. Right now we're re-practicing some of the basic formations like circle and phalanx. But I feel that it's going to be a long time until they're really combat ready. All of them have trouble coordinating with one another and prefer to run off and fight on their own..."
"If they're Centurions then that means they're all over level 100 right?"
Becker was a bit dumbfounded at Weed's question. What did their level matter when they can't even hold a proper formation? But after several seconds he decided to just answer him since he must have some reason for doing so.
"Yes, all of them have completed the basic training and have completed a puntive force mission for Fafnir's pit."
"Fafnir's pit?"
"Yes. You need only walk half an hour west of the Lair of Litvart. It's an area filled with Minotaur’s and cave trolls ranging from the level 120 to 140. They had managed to maintain their formation and somehow make it through the mission but their teamwork has crumbled just three weeks after the quest was completed!"
Weed replied "Hmm....Well then, how about I train them for a little bit? I can promise some immediate improvements." as a rotten smile crept up on his face
If they're Centurion level then I'll be able to gain quite a few public value, and charisma points for training them. Also, I've been needing to relieve some of this anger that’s been building up ever since those guys built the royal palace without my permission kukuku.
"If you're alright with it sir...To be honest, I'm having quite a bit of trouble them myself..." said Becker with a dejected look
After a quick slap on the back Weed told him "Heh heh don't worry about a thing. They'll come to an understanding after going through my special training regimen. Just assemble them and tell them the news so I can get started."
"Alright then. All soldiers form ranks!! We have an announcement!"
Surprisingly enough, all of the soldiers stopped what they were doing and assembled in only in less than 3 minutes.
"Not bad....but still not good enough to meet my standards." muttered Weed
"This man will be temporarily be taking command of your training as I have to go to a meeting. Anything he says is to be taken as an order and you are to follow them to the letter. Am I understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
A majority of the knights were confused. Their new superior was a man wearing only the basic cloth armor and had dirt all over his face.(It should be noted that Weed decided to take off his armor because it was too heavy and has dirt on his face because he saw a squirrel with a silver coin in its mouth and climbed one of the trees to get it.)
After checking to see that Becker was out of earshot Weed cracked his neck a little and answered their clamoring complaints by saying "I am your new lord and master. I have no intention on going easy on all of you like Becker. All of you will be worked down to the core, until you're bloody, beaten, battered, and on the verge of death. This, I can promise you. All those who want to quit are free to do so after beating me in a fight."
After the shock had set in, the warriors began to whisper amongst one of them and eventually one of them spoke out.
Ian, Soldier 1 "This is bullshit! You think you can just waltz in here and tell us what to do?!"
Elliott, Soldier 5 "Yeah!!"
Jacob, Soldier 3 "I'm not going to take this....I'll beat you down and show you who the real master is."
Weed just said curtly "Is there anyone else that feels this way? Speak now and forever hold your peace."
There was a total of 35 Centurions who stood up out of the 300 who were in the arena.
"Good! You there, say when to begin and we'll start the fight." said Weed as he pulled the Saint's staff from his backpack and set his things down.
Eric, Soldier 45 "But um...I don't think this is such a good idea sir."
Ian, Soldier 1 "Just say start already you idiot!"
Andreas, Soldier 19 "Do it now! This guy's arrogance is seriously ticking me off. He's facing 35 people but all he takes out is a stick??"
"Sir??"
"Go ahead. It'll be over in a few minutes anyway."
"Um....Begin!"
With that all of the knights raised their swords above their shoulder and rushed straight toward Weed.
"Bah, amateurs. You’re suppose to maintain a low stance or maintain your center of gravity when charging. Meh, guess I'll just have to show you."
With that, Weed took hold of the Saint's Staff and angled it so that his right leg and right arm was facing the mob coming toward him. Then he began to side step by moving his left leg to his right and then slipping his right leg out giving the image that he was gliding along the ground. When he was in range he let loose a straight thrust at one of the soldier's faces and then swung right to block the incoming sword. Thrusts require far less preparation but the amount of power applied varies depending on your aim since if you angle it wrong you'll just end up poking them instead of actually causing them damage.
But thrusts are the best attack for stopping your opponent in his tracks and possibly knocking him over. After that, Weed moved swayed his body from side to side and attacked their ribs after slipping through their wide swings and began to slip into his rythym. Faster, faster, slower, faster, stronger, slower, stronger, faster, stronger! After about 10 minutes 17 of the knights were on the ground and the rest were grouped together wheezing.
"Guess I should finish this already, after all, there's still more training to be done."
Harn charged at the one more time and dodged their attacks by moving from side to side, but this time he lowered his body from time to time to include a swipe at their knees. None of them were able to get up anymore because of their heavy armor and low stamina. Some of them tripped over the bodies of the othe fallen soldiers while the others were grouped together afer the barrage of attacks.
"Monster....." uttered some of the warriors on the ground.
"THIS IS SPARTA!!"(I had to lol)
Weed leaped toward the knight in the front and then spartan kicked him in his chest causing everyone behind him to fall down like a stack of dominos.
"Now then, is there anyone else that objects to my being your trainer?"
All of the Centurians shook their heads rapidly from left to right as they apologized.
"Good. Then we'll start with something simple. Run 20 laps around this field in under 120 minutes and all those who take even a second longer will need to run another 10 laps."
The color drained from the knights faces and some even dropped to their knees. "That....that's impossible!! 20 laps alone is already 5 miles, and to run it in that time frame is just..."
"119 minutes and 56 seconds...55 seconds...54 seconds...."
All of them began to accept their fate and started getting ready to sprint when Weed announced
"Don't forget to have all of your equipment on when you're jogging."
"But that's...!"
In response Weed just lifted up his cane and said "119 minutes and 40 seconds."
"Argh! Screw it, let's just do it and get out of here!!"
After the hellish run was over about 13 were throwing up, 5 passed out, and the rest lying on the ground.
"Oi, what are you doing lazing about. Get into Phalanx formation now!"
"Are you serious? You want us to walk and get into phalanx formation after that hellish running regimen???"
"WRONG! I want you to run and get into formation! If you don't get into formation within 30 seconds then I'll just have to beat the basics back into you over the course of my stay here."
The soldiers scrambled to their feet after pouring cold water on their passed out compatriots.
"Utterly horrible, you all took 44 seconds to get into formation. Enter Circle formation and then form a wall with 7 columns! Come on, hurry up the lot of you!"
All of their soldiers began to accept their fate as they dragged their feet and got into formation.
"March toward the scarecrows and then encircle them and begin attacking!"
"Rah!"
"Die damn you!!"
All of them began to take out all of their anger on the scarecrow until there was nothing left and then continually moved to the next one. This cycling from Phalanx, circle, Wall for moving, then encircling for attacking repeated itself for over 50 times before reaching Weed's acceptance.
"Mm close enough, their breaths are more synchronized now."
By the time Becker had returned with Hosram and the other 27 knights he had trained, it had already been 3 hours since Weed had taken over.
"Commander! When did you get here? I thought for sure you'd be fighting against another army somewhere!"
"Well, I had some free time so I thought I'd visit my hometown since it's been so long. I also had some business to attend to while I was here. Didn't Becker tell you all?"
A couple of the knights elbowed Becker in the ribs for surprising them like this. "All he told us was that there was a surprise waiting for us a courtyard, but what a surprise this is haha!"
"I'll say. Had I known that the commander was visiting I would have worn something better."
"Heh Heh I doubt it'd do any good you're the messiest out of everyone here. Have you guys ever scene his hair after just woke up? I swear, it's just like a raccoon went and made a nest in his head."
"Bah says you. Being roommates with you isn't a pleasure cruise either. You're damned snoring is loud enough to wake the dead!"
During this one moment Weed was completely happy. The soldiers that he had trained from recruits were now well respected Royal Knights in the Rosenheim army and could hold their ground against just about any foe now.
"So what in Freya's name are you doing here?" asked Hosram as he pointed at the pile of passed out knights.
"It’s just some basic training to help get them ready for combat. But enough about, how about some dinner?" asked Weed in a sarcastic tone for he already knew their answer
"Of course!"
"Woot! We get to taste the commanders incredible cooking again!!"
"Careful guys, this person eats just like a pig."
"Hmph, can you really blame me given how delicious the Commander's cooking is?"
Incidentally, none of the knights could come up with a comeback as this was pretty much a fact all of them accepted ever since the Lair of Litvart.
"Don't forget about my share." said a a large man from the back of the Royal knights
Weed's eyes went wide as he saw that old yet nostalgic face "Sword instructor!!"
"Haha it's good to see you again as well Master Weed. Now how about we get to eating eh? I've had train a bunch of recruits since morning and have worked up quite an appetite."
"Of course, of course." said Weed with a laughter.
At this time a light bulb went off inside of Harn's head. I can make use of this and give those Centurions a little more training.
Within minutes a feast for the eyes was assembled. There was Boar, Rabbit, Bear, and Wolf meat along with Salmon, curry, garlic noodles, and fried rice.
"Okay everyone. Eat up!!" The sword instructor and all of the royal knights at the table begin to dig in while the Centurions were still attempting to lift up their arms.
"Food...food....So hungry....must eat."
Oh no you don't. "Fighting Spirit activate!"
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-Fighting Spirit
"You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or even bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alon. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar's action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level."(from oddsquad LMS site)
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Weed's Fighting Spirit stat had risen significantly since his novice days because of his constant battles. (Ex: Fort Ohdein I think was the name, where Weed forced Zephyr and Hwaryung to hunt monsters with him for over 12 hours.)
An overwhelming pressure overcame the Centurions as they were about to lift the food into their mouths. The sword instructor and the royal knights didn't feel anything because their levels were relatively high but the recruits were frozen in their seats.
Kuut, what is this?? Thought Ian as he focused on raising his arm even a millimeter closer to his mouth.
As if sensing what all of them were thinking Weed replied "What's wrong? If you guys don't hurry then dinner time will be over and all of the food will be gone." as a smirk came over his face
"It's this man! He's the one exerting this force on us!"
"But how??? I've only felt this kind of pressure in front of Lord Midvale or the Sword Instructor." said Elliott in utter disbelief.
Does this mean that he's even stronger than those two men who are respected in all of the Rosenheim kingdom?
Weed was completely ignoring the soldiers suffering and focusing on the food in front of him. "Wahh Hosram, save some of the Salmon for me!"
"Bahahahhaha first come first served Commander!"
It took nearly half an hour before the Centurions finally got used to the pressure and could eat, but more than half of the food was already gone
"Hurry, hurry, we have to get at least some of this food!"
Hmm....They actually overcame the pressure before all of the food was gone. Well, they did clear a puntive mission prior to their retraining so it should be expected.
"Commander do you really need to go so soon? Why not stay a little longer and tell us of your adventures?"
"Apologies everyone but I have a promise to keep with someone else."
"Hmm I see....Make sure to come and visit us again before leaving though, please?"
"It's a promise then."
When Weed was about to turn around to leave a thought had dawned on him.
Their garden should have a fair amount of sculptures that I can use to boost my art stat. I could share some of my herbs with them since we are allies now.
"Hosram, would you mind introducing me to the palace gardener? I was thinking of giving him some of my herbs so Serabourg can grow their own and be better be prepared during combat."
"Surely. The gardener should be at the very back of the palace at this time."
"Please lead the way. Well then everyone, I'll see you later."
"That's the palace gardener over there commander. I have to go deliver these notes to the library so I'll be leaving now. It was great to see you again commander!!"
"Likewise Hosram. I'm glad I came back to Serabourg if only for a while."
With that they parted ways and Weed went off to see the gardener.
"Honorable gardener, I've come to offer you a gift."
The gardener looked over Weed twice before judging that he couldn't possibly have anything of worth to offer him.
"The training grounds are on the opposite end of the palace, now go away I have work to do here." said the gardener as he trimmed some of the trees.
"I see that I am disturbing your work. I guess I'll just take these rare herbs and be on my way." told Weed as he raised a bag of herbs from his personal garden.
"Rare herbs? Please don't try and fool me I have been a gardener and can tell that a......." the old gardener fell over in surprise as he saw what was held in Weeds hands "That....That's the yellow herb! By Freya...I thought that these were extinct by now. To think I'd one day see it with my pwm eyes. Please excuse my earlier rudeness and come closer great adventurer."
Weed gave the gardener the bag of herbs and the horticulturist began to examine them.
"My word....these Red and Blue herbs are fantastic, just look at how sharp their ends are and that deep shade of color. The green herbs are also very durable, and don't crumble like most of the others I've seen. And just where did you find these yellow herbs?"
Weed told the old man of all of the locations he retrieved the herbs from, the knowledge of herbs he learned from Prospect in the City of Heaven Lavias.
-ttring! Friendship formed between player Weed and Craig the palace gardener.
With that Weed could finally achieve what he wanted.
"This is such a beautiful place. Would you mind showing me around?"
"It would be an honor to guide a great man such as yourself." the old man said solemnly
During the tour Weed arranged some of the flowers so that he could get an increase in his affinity with nature stat.(stat used for sculpture catastrophe aka unleashing natural catastrophes on his foes)
Afte all of the flowers in sight were arranged he decided to ask where the sculptures were so he could finally increase his art stat.
"It's strange; I haven't seen any sculptures at all yet."
"Oh! They're farther in the back. This way, this way."
Harn was amazed. Past the tall pine trees was a large assortment of sculptures and fountains. There were four fountains which formed a square and in the center stood an array of infantry knights in a phalanx formation. They were perfectly organized except for the fact that one of the shields were slightly tilted to the right. The left Wing had a Royal Knight on horseback clutching a Battle axe while on the right wing was a barbarian warrior holding both of his arms in the air in a screaming pose. At the center back stood a King with a spear in his hand and next to him stood a beautiful woman in a dress with a katana in her hands. She was in a sideways stance with her right arm held the katana while her left leg and arm were in the front giving the impression that she was getting ready to do a thrust(think of the Shinsengumi guy's pose from Rurouni Kenshin)
-ttring! You have observed an exceptional piece of artwork. Art stat increased by 30!
"Wahhh so much? Oh well guess I can't complain heh heh."
"Excuse me, did you say something?"
"No no I was just observing how beautiful the sculptures were and how the fountains and hedges compliment it."
"Thank you. To hear such a fine compliment brings me great joy. To be honest, out of all of the sculptures in Rosenheim I find this the most pleasing."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Why, because of the force it seems to emit. When I look at this from the front I can't help but feel that it's moving toward me. These sculptures have also withstood the testament quite well, it's been said that they were made by the first king! Can you believe it?"
"Indeed it’s a magnificent set of sculptures. Well I had best get going; I have an engagement with some of my friends."
"I see...I had been looking forward to talking with you more but I shall not hold you back. Take care on your journey great adventurer and may Freya bless your path!"
"Thank you."
With that Weed began to walk to the front gate where some people were gathered.
"Ho, Master Weed. Leaving so soon?"
"Yes I promised to meet someone after my visit to the palace."
"Haha, very well Master Weed. I look forward to seeing you.I still have to train these idiots in their basic forms."
The Centurions that the Sword Instructor had ordered to practice their swings on the scarecrows at the front of the palace had stopped in their tracks and were all staring at the front gate
"Such beauty....Who is that woman? She seems to be waiting for someone." asked Jacob
"She must be here to see me! hahaha" said Elliott aka soldier 5 in a joking manner
"As if." replied several of the Centurions in the back.
After some thought Andreas decided to make a move. "Craig, Jacob you guys come with me and be my wingmen."
"Okay??"
"Exscuse me is there someone you're waiting for? We could help you find them."
"We're Centurion rank soldiers!"
"Would you like a tour of the palace? We know this place like the back of our hand."
Seoyoon just shook her head then lifted her left hand and pointed her finger at the man who was next to the the rather large Sword Instructor.
"Hm? Who are you pointing a....." Andreas voice trailed off after he noticed that she was pointing at Weed
"Kuuk.....Why's that guy still here? No, more importantly, why is she pointing at him??"
"Impossible! This must be a lie! I mean....he's just a novice. Look at his equipment!!"
Weed had finally noticed that he was being stared at and turned his head towards the front gate.
"What are you guys staring at? Can't you see that I'm talking with the Sword Instructor....EH???? Seoyoon!? What on earth are you doing here?"
In response Seoyoon took out a small basket from behind her back and raised it so that everyone could see the blanket and sandwhiches inside of it.
"....Picnic...?"
Before Weed could respond a large hand grabbed ahold of his shoulder and gripped it tightly.
"Master Weed I'll be expecting a full explanation on this later on. I would also like to know why I wasn't invited to my own little sister's wedding."(Remember the Sword Instructor thinks of Seoyoon as his little sister. This was mentioned at the dinner during the oddsquad translations.)
"Um....I don't know what you're talking about hahaha." told Weed as a cold sweat ran down his back
"Don't bother lying I can see perfectly well that both of you have the same ring on your ring fingers."
"Ah.....hahahahaha."
An awkward smile broke out along Harn's faces as he could not deny this fact and couldn't come up with a plausible excuse. So he just ran up to her and tried to get away as soon as possible.
"Sorry did you wait long? Let's get going."
As they walked away all of the soldiers began to break into tears and scream things like "Why!! Why not me?? How is he better than me?"
"Honorable instructor just who is that man! He's well respected by Becker who is regarded as a legend for having fought in the battle with Shire in the Plains of Despair and is even married to such a beautiful woman. Just who is he???"
"Hm? Oh that's Master Weed. Surely you have heard of him? He was the one who lead the fight against the battle against the undead legion you speak of and recently cleared the said to be impossible Rodrick's Labrinth."
"You mean the Lord of Mora??"
"One and the same." answered the instructor
All of the knights had no choice but to accept that he was a great man and began to take out their anger on the scarecrows once more.
"Just you wait...I'll one day be a Master swordsman show you what I'm made of!"
"Yeah! We'll show you!" ("Yes young grass hopper one day you will be a master. And at that time I shall be a grandmaster." quote my friend said and it just works so well in this XD)
"Hmm looks like they're motivated now. I wonder what happened?" said the Sword instructor who was oblivious to what just happened.
Weed had wanted to run away while walking about was conflicted about ignoring a chance to get free food. They had arrived in a small park while Harn was still distracted and considering the benefits and losses of leaving.
"I never knew there was a park here." (Remember Weed didn't go anywhere other than the training hall, Instructors house for food, the market street for shopping and setting up a vendor, and Rodriguez's home for the job change information)
Seoyoon set up the blanket underneath one of the trees and they ate the sandwhiches while gazing at the stars.
Weed: "so peaceful...I can't even remember the last time I did this."
Harn had always been working consistently in order to earn money to support his family so he rarely if ever stopped to take a look at the sky.
The citadel of Serabourg is located near the center of the continent so it's much easier to see the stars. Moreover, there were no bright lights like the cities in real life so it was much easier to see the night sky in all its glory.
Both of them just lied down on the ground like that for about an hour.
Weed was on the verge of falling asleep when Seoyoon grabbed his arm and began to drag him to one of the nearby vendors set on the street.
"Gah...How's she so strong." said Weed as he strained all of his muscles to resist being dragged.
Seoyoon had begun pointing at a circlet frantically.
"What?? All you wanted was that? I could easily make one for you if I was given the materials." sighed Weed
In response, Seoyoon gripped harder on his hand and stared more at Harn. She was unwilling to budge on this matter.
"Agh....Okay,okay I'll help bargain for it but you're the one paying. Now please stop crushing my fingers....ouch...Play along and we'll be able to get a discount on it as well."
"Shop keeper, how much for that circlet?"
The shop keeper’s eyes came alive as he finally had another customer.
"This one? It's an antique I recovered a while back. For the beautiful lady I'm willing to lower the price to as much as 50 gold."
"47 gold." answered Weed as a matter of factly
"Dear customer....that's far too cheap. This is a precious thing that has been handed down in my family for several generations."
"Oh? And what's the story behind it?"
"Well, my great great aunt was a maid who had worked in the palace. My family has been here since the founding of Rosenheim and we've been here since. One day there was a fire in the old castle and she found the queen passed out one of the hallways and carried her to safety. Most of the royal families valuables had been lost during the great fire but the Queen still wanted to reward the brave lady for rescuing her. So she took off her own crown and gave it to the noble lady. According to the queen herself, it was a heirloom given to her by her mother and her mother had also recieved it from the previous generation. So this is indeed a great treasure."
"Then why are you so willing to part of it?"
"Well...that's because it's dire times now. We have no choice but to sell some of our valuables in order to survive."
"It still sounds very questionable to me. How about 44 gold for it?"
"But...sir! It's a treasure in itself-"
"How so? It's made of low purity gold and it's quite obvious that there are dents on the side of it."
"Please, I have a wife and child to support! Besides, those dents can be easily be fixed."
"I see...you do have a point. I've re-evaluated its worth."
The merchant’s smile brightened up immediately but then turned bleak at Weed's next words.
"45 gold then. You yourself admitted just how old it is so it's liable to break at anytime."
The merchant was in disbelief "That...I can not agree to this. I can not part with this item for such a price."
"Very well. I guess we have no choice but to give up on getting this object. Come on dear, let's finish eating and then go shopping elsewhere." Said Weed as he led Seoyoon back to the picnic grounds.
"But….ugh....Please wait good sir! I'll sell it for 45 gold so please come back!!" cried the Vendor
After the exchange the vendor decided to close his shop for the night, strangely enough.
"It's been so long since I bargained for something other than food." laughed Weed as he stretched his arms
Back at the picnic grounds Weed decided to polish, fix, and check the object which he had just helped buy.
"Feelings"(basically the identification skill Weed got)
---------------------------------------
Item: Grand Circlet: A crown that once belonged to Queen Sira of Rosenheim kingdom. This treasure has been guarded for generations but some of it's splendor has faded in the passing years. This is made of pure gold so it should sell for 1000 gold under normal circumstances.
Durability: 20/50 Defense 10 Resitrctions: female Level 300
Options: Intelligence +2 Strength +3 Attractiveness +10 Maximum Health +200 Maximum mana + 100
---------------------------------------
"Wow, so he wasn't lying about it being a treasure. Too bad it's only for girls."
"Repair!" (Repairs back to maximum durability so less likely to break)
"Polish!" (Polishes it so defense benefits are increased and it looks nicer)
After Weed was done he placed the circlet on her head and took a step back to look at how it looked on her. Needless to say, Seoyoon shined all the more with that crown on her head.
-ttring! Art +5
Before Weed could finish eating his sandwich a cold chill and a sense of heaviness came over him. His instinct which had been honed through countless battles was now screaming at him, telling him that danger was approaching and that he had to get away. Harn didn't doubt his instinct for a second. He had always been overcome with this sense of dread right before it happened, like when those loan sharks came to the hospital to take away his hard earned money. In an instant, the money that he was going to use to build a better future for his family.
"I sense a disturbance in the force."(I can somehow see Weed doing this lol, and yes I had to put this here XD feel free to ignore it though. Sounds a bit better with it gone but I'm doing this fanfic so everyone has fun and a couple of laughs every now and then :D)
Weed grit his teeth and clenched his fist at the thought of that horrible memory.
-Everyone gather at the Central Plaza right now!! Be prepared for combat! This is an order. I repeat, this is a order.
"Pale, what's going on?" asked Maylon worriedly
Most of the girls had grouped up together and shopped together in the eastern district while Zephyr and Hyeon were having dinner together at one of the restaurants.
"I'm not sure but I'm going to go to the Central Plaza. Weed has never steered us wrong and this is the first time I've heard him speak like that."
"Okay, I'll go as well." |
{
"title": "A Second Reality by Masadeer",
"id": 31,
"author": "Masadeer",
"rating": 2
} | {
"title": "A Second Reality - Chapter 4",
"id": 21,
"next": null,
"prev": 20,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
To be... or not to be....... a fugitive<br><br>Sitting around the war table were, the crown prince, the royal guards, and the three of the 12 knights of the church of light were assembled; The Judge Knight, Lesus Judge, The Storm Knight, Theo Storm and The Sun Knight Roland Sun.<br><br>Klaus came to the table with Intel on the enemy, but the first to speak was the crown prince. "My apologies on behalf of the king, who couldn't be here today due to official matters. He wishes to convey his feelings to the Brave ones assembled here to rescue the princess."<br><br>All around the table I heard mutterings. "Official matters? Hah, I bet he's Pigging out in the throne room because he's too fat to move."<br>"His feelings? We all know he couldn't care less about the princess, and only slightly cares about the prince, because without him that fat pig would actually have to do work."<br>"I bet the prince added that last bit in himself, without him our kingdom would've burnt to the ground a hundred times over!"<br><br>Almost everyone was quietly whispering some slandering message about the king, except for the holy knights and one royal knight who was gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were turning white. I think his name was Elijah, He was shaking, You could practically feel the rage emanating from him. What a loyal knight to get angry on behalf of the king. Then I caught something he murmured under his breath; "Damn that Fat pig King, it's his own daughter that's been kidnapped and he can't even get off the throne. Filthy piece of human waste, I'll save the princess even if I have to sell my soul thrice over!".<br><br>Sensing revolt Immanent I started panicking *Can we please slander the king later? If this quest fails it's MY head that's going to have a huge bounty on it!*<br>With timely intervention Klaus came forward to share what he discovered. "Duke Stenn and his forces have revolted, since the King has seized his lands and demanded him to turn over all his assets, because *Duke Stenn did not kiss my daughter's hand on her birthday*, Duke Stenn is now holding the Princess and milady hostage at the Sun tower, and will execute Rinslet in 2 hours, and the princess half an hour after. He is demanding the crown be abdicated to either him or the prince in exchange for their safe return."<br><br>This duke Stenn seems like a pretty good guy actually, despite kidnapping two girls and holding them hostage while threatening their lives. As if reading my mind more mutterings were heard.<br>"I really got no motivation, Duke Stenn saved my life when he was still a knight."<br>"That fat bastard king really went too far, Stenn wasn't even in the kingdom during the princess' birthday he was repelling an uprising at the southern border."<br>"Stenn is lady Laurenfrost's uncle there's no way he'd kill her, or the princess for that matter"<br>........................I get the feeling that this quest is getting more difficult by the second, with all these unmotivated knights. Relief washed across the faces of The Prince and Elijah. That is until Klaus revealed the piece of intel that would send us all flying into panic.<br><br>"That's what the situation has been made to appear however, this is all a ruse in order assassinate the prince and effectively take over the kingdom." Bringing up the proof Klaus opened the large sack he had brought with him into the room, It contained the corpse.<br>"N-No way, that's Duke Stenn!"<br>"It can't be! Who did this to him!"<br><br>Attempting to restore order, Klaus explained. "Duke Stenn and his men were completely annihilated in a border skirmish with the kingdom of Kissinger. He and his soldiers were all replaced with fakes, regular soldiers of Kissinger disguised using magic from the church of chaos. And had an assassin waiting in place next to the king, waiting for a chance to assassinate both the king and the prince."<br>"While leaving the princess and the next in line for the throne(Rinslet) to be killed by the fake duke Stenn. With nothing to stand against him, the fake is the next in line for the throne and the kingdom of Forgotten sound would be in the hands of Kissinger Royalty." the prince realized.<br>"Correct, It's also important to know that in the kidnapping of the princess, the enemy fielded Several battle mages, to attack Reverend. It would be safe to assume that those same mages will be included in their defences."<br>*Oh so Rembrandt was ganged up on by a group of mages, that makes more sense*<br>"How on earth did you discover all that Klaus?" The information I was handed just couldn't have been uncovered by one man.<br>Pulling up a second bag, Klaus revealed another man. This one dressed in the clothes of a royal poison tester, and was still alive, but bound and gagged. "This Kissinger assassin was more than happy to spill all the secrets in the Butler academy punishment room."<br><br>All of a sudden I pitied the man. "Klaus what ARE you?"<br>"I am just one Hell of a butler."<br>With that concluded we're still back where we started, the Princess and Rinslet are still in danger.<br><br>Desperate for some way of completing this quest I look through my skill list for anything useful.<br>Cooking - Intermediate level 1<br>Polishing - Intermediate level 2- additional options availible<br>Elementary heal- Level 6 -Heals a target by 20 life plus your INT x 1.5 mp cost: 12<br>Intermediate heal- level 1- Heals a target by 220 plus your int x 4 mp cost: 40<br>Handicraft- Intermediate level 3<br>Mirage step- level 1- Be completely invisible players npcs monsters and animals. mp cost 20/second.<br>*Mirage step? when did I ever learn that?* Recalling when I was mistaken for the cloud knight I suddenly understood why that connection was made. *THIS is the reason why I was called the cloud knight???............. hey this could be useful*<br><br>Standing up to gain the attention of the group, I explain my plan "I have an idea. I can sneak behind the enemy lines and enter the tower, silently killing any guard or mage I come across."<br>With that rose a wave of protests.<br>"The Apprentice is getting ahead of himself."<br>"He may be a butler but he's still just an apprentice."<br>"He's only level 4 what can he do?"<br><br>Instead of explaining to them I simply Activated Mirage step.<br>"What happened? He just vanished."<br>"Glory be the sun god, where did he go?"<br>"........ sorry Judge................ 6 all nighters in a row are getting to me"<br>Both klaus and I said at the same time. "I Haven't moved!" "He hasn't moved."<br><br>Before I could even say anything Klaus answered "That skill won't work on highly attentive people such as professional butlers."<br>Suddenly the room went quiet, and I understood what everyone was thinking. "You mean monsters right? You're clearly not human."<br>Moving on with my plan " When I reach the room where the hostages are held, I'll barricade the room and throw a torch out a window. That'll be the signal for all the troops to attack."<br>Although some seemed to have slight issues with the plan, no one voiced any objections. At that point Klaus let me go prepare for the mission. "Sebastian you are excused."<br>*Is it too late to protest my name?* With that I left to go prepare Mysterious tea<br>**********************************************************************************<br>you have drank Mysterious tea<br>Effects: +50 life, +350 mana, +5 Str +30Dex +40 Int +60 Wis<br>Your thoughts become sharper, your comprehension speed and ability to learn skills are doubled.<br><br>With a higher cooking Level more stats were added when compared to a noble girl just adding in leaves to some high quality tea.<br><br>I Entered the tower easily. Even if there's an army against you, if they can't notice you they're powerless to stop you. The tower had a rather simple design, It had 4 floors total, and was completely cylindrical in shape with a spiral staircase going along the wall. Constructed almost entirely of stone, this building was meant to be a storehouse for the upper nobility, needless to say it was full of food supplies.<br>On the inside of the tower a few guards reached for their weapons when I walked through, but lowered then when they saw no one walk in. I planned to let them turn their attention away from the door then kill them off one by one, but one person pointed out. "Hey what's with that bird?"<br>*Bird what bird?* Turning around I saw............Charles. Not that I wasn't happy to see him, that just wasn't a good time. *He must've been hiding in the bushes and followed me inside.... damn*<br>"It's..... so cute........" It was a female archer standing beside the table at the back of the room. Because of that one line I very much wanted to spare her life. But I had a mission to do.<br><br>While everyone was still distracted by Charles I quickly barred the entrance, and drew my dagger. There were seven enemies on this floor, since they weren't prepared for a battle none of them wore heavy armor, and either wore light leather armor or simple cotton clothes. I had 22 seconds of mirage step and my time was dwindling down, quickly I slashed the throat of the man closest to me.<br>-Critical hit-<br>Eyes wide with shock, he would never know what killed him. Staggering slightly, he collapsed on the stone floor in a pool of his own blood.<br>Level Up!<br>Level Up!<br>Level Up!<br>Level Up!<br><br>Before they could realize what was wrong, I ran up to the next closest soldier and stabbed him in the ear. Starting to realize something was attacking them, one man shouted " ITS THE BIRD THE BIRD"S USING SOME WEIRD MAGI-"I didn't let him finish that sentence. Feeling intense rage that Charles would be put in danger I threw my dagger at the soldier.<br>-Critical hit-<br>He quickly found my knife lodged in his throat, filling his lungs with crimson liquid. I gained another 3 levels from the kills.<br>You have learned the Throwing Skill<br>Accuracy and damage when throwing Daggers, Rocks, vegetables and other light objects is increased by 10%.<br>At that moment a system message popped up<br><br>-Mana consumption of mirage step has doubled-<br>Meaning that my 10 remaining seconds had been shortened to five. With 3 of their companions dead the remaining three soldiers(plus one archer) charged at Charles.<br><br>I drew my sword and desperately ran towards him, but I couldn't make it. The nearest one raised his sword overhead, about to commence the dreaded strike that would end Charles life.<br><br>To my surprise(and immense relief) he picked up a sword from one of the fallen soldiers and with amazing speed, slashed the enemy across the chest. Following up I finished him off with a slash across the back, as his HP dropped to zero, he too collapsed in a bloody heap.<br><br>Then I noticed the archer nock an arrow, immediately I pushed Charles out of the way, and the arrow struck my shoulder. It didn't draw blood, thanks to my surprisingly defensive suit, but at the very least it left an apple sized bruise.<br>At that moment my mana ran out and I became once again noticeable. It was a pretty bad situation, there were two enemy swordsmen and one archer. Before the archer could do anything I dived towards the ground and scooped up a fist sized rock and threw it at as hard as I could. The system assist told me when I needed to let go.<br>Luckily the archer was too preoccupied with nocking her arrow to notice the projectile fly towards her head. The rock struck her left temple and she fell unconscious.<br><br>It seemed like it would be a one on one duel for each of us, but the reality of the situation was, these soldiers are between level 25 and 40. While on our side me and Charles are a level 11 Butler and a Rappy.<br>Growing desperate I tried intimidating my opponent, with my bloodstained hair and clothes, I glare at him, and let out a growl. He cringed, for just a moment, but that was all I needed.<br><br>Taking advantage of that one instant, I kick him in the un-armored groin(yes I know it was cheap but I was desperate), followed up with a slash across his face, and ended him with a thrust through the neck.<br>Looking over to see how Charles was doing, he and his opponent, were circling each other, watching for any opening the opposition could make. It would have been comical, if you didn't notice the blood on his sword and feathers.<br>I tried to attack him from behind, but this one was different from the rest, his leather armor appeared to be of higher quality, and his swordsmanship was better than the sloppy show of the one I just offed. With that, he deflected my blow and turned sideways so that his back was exposed to neither of us. Even so he couldn't win against two of us, I cut him in the side; slicing through the hard leather armor, and drawing blood. Seeing the opportunity, Charles ended the fight with a stab through the chest.<br><br>Level up!<br>Level up!<br><br>Panting, I heard the rush of footsteps upstairs. The sound of our skirmish attracted the attention of those upstairs. Hurriedly I grabbed Charles and hid behind a stack of flour. In total there were 12 or 13 more soldiers that ran down the stairs.<br><br>In response I slashed open a large sack of flour and threw it against the roof, flour spread everywhere, with a lot of it suspended in the air. While the soldiers were still confused I tore a torch off the wall and threw it into the dust cloud, then hit the dirt(stone whatever. you get the idea) with Charles.<br><br>The resulting explosion was something spectacular.<br>The walls shuddered, and dust fell from the roof afterwards, but thank the god of Light that the tower didn't collapse.<br><br>The intense heat instantly shaved off 10% of our hp, while the soldiers who were upright in the center of the blast got off much worse. At least two died, and the one who was wearing plate mail was definitely roasted alive. Most of them were unconscious, but three of them were simply stunned, but only one managed to keep on his feet.<br>*That one has to be the commander* I picked up a claymore off the ground and handed it to Charles, and the two of us executed the stunned warriors. * why didn't I try this earlier?* We only killed the ones still conscious and hid behind another stack of flour waiting for more enemy soldiers to show up, but oddly enough, none came. Giving in to my desire for exp and loot, me and Charles mercilessly ended the rest of the downed soldiers, earning 8 more levels , 18 silvers and some armor. I also salvaged two daggers and a broadsword.<br><br>Running up stairs we encountered no soldiers and nothing of note, on the second and third floors.<br>At the door to the fourth floor I drank some more mysterious tea to somewhat boost my mp and calm myself down, and then had Charles wait outside. Before entering I activated Mirage step, It leveled up during the fighting.<br>Mirage step Level-2 Mp cost 18mp/second, Mana usage increase due to heightened emotions is decreased slightly. Chance of being noticed by target, after an attack :78%When attacking an enemy while Undiscovered Critical hit rate +1%<br><br>During the fighting so far I realized one thing. There were no battle mages.<br>****************************************************************<br>Entering the room there was a slack jawed man in light plate mail harassing The princess and Rinslet. "Hehehehehe ...... Forgotten sound kingdom sure has some high quality girls, You two are going to be killed anyways, So before that I'll turn you two into adults eh-heh-heh-heh" The next instant I had my blade at his throat, and mirage step disengaged. "Life's short, yours is about to get shorter".<br><br>* cool entrance-check, sword at the bad guy's throat-check, awesome line- check. What's that? It's not an cool entrance, I only walked up to him while being unnoticeable? ...... shut up(oh please just let me have my two minutes of randomness, at the rate this is going, without Charles, I can't even tell if this is my fan fic anymore!)*<br><br>I swung my blade at his neck, trying to decapitate him, but I didn't put enough force behind it, so the blade got lodged in his spine.<br>"Sebastian!" *oh please not this again* " Watch out there's another one!"<br>*Another one?* Taking the cue, I tore my sword out of the corpse's neck, and raise both swords, just in time to parry an incredibly heavy hit.<br><br>The attacker....................... Was a butler. This was most definitely the guy that beat Rembrandt. Rembrandt was level 176, this new butler was 214 *How the hell is this a rank D quest?*<br><br>"That's Stefan the Butler of Duke Stenn!" -Rinslet<br>Trying to end this I called out "Stefan don't you know that your master has been replaced with a fake?"<br><br>The tall elegant man holding me down, using only a light Rapier(the gentleman's weapon) responded with a tortured voice. "Of course I know, my loyalties lie with the current head of House Stenn, Duke Stenn's son, who is held captive in Kissinger. My apologies your highness, lady Laurenfrost, however I require all of you to die here."<br>Stefan's Strikes were fast and precise, but above all they were insanely powerful. For using such a light sword it felt as if i were getting hit with a sledge hammer. Even though I was blocking each and every hit my hp was still dropping 4-5% per hit.<br><br>Waiting for the chance to counter, I reversed my grip on the swords. Just waiting for that one attack that would let me fight back. There it is! That horizontal slash. seizing the chance, I dived sideways towards Stefan using the rolling motion to drive my left arm in an upwards slash, to deflect the enemies weapon, while simultaneously slashing downwards with my right.<br><br>I first used this attack sequence in a freestyle swordsmanship competition in the real world. Eventually It would become my signature counter attack, only...... I lost that match. Maybe that should've set off some warning signals to me.<br><br>Stefan easily sidestepped my downward slash, and kicked my exposed side. All those easy victories on the first floor must have really inflated my ego. How could a level 21 possibly win against a level 214? Stefan's kick defied the laws of physics, I flew and crashed into the wall, my hp down to 20%.<br><br>Stefan approached to deliver the final blow, desperately I raised my swords.<br>The blades shattered in my hands.<br><br>Resigning to my fate, I prepare mentally for a quest fail, and me spending the rest of my 4 weeks hiding from royal guards.<br>Suddenly Charles attacked swinging his claymore, saving my life. I was seriously touched by all the loyalty he's shown so far, and we only met at two days ago.<br>Stefan disarmed Charles with a single stroke of the sword, and kicked him, flying straight at me. My hp dropped to a dangerous 12%, and my vision started fading. It didn't look like Charles could get up either. It was then that I decided to let out my last words. "pl....please...........spare...................charl-.........."<br> I blacked out.
</div> | To be... or not to be....... a fugitive
Sitting around the war table were, the crown prince, the royal guards, and the three of the 12 knights of the church of light were assembled; The Judge Knight, Lesus Judge, The Storm Knight, Theo Storm and The Sun Knight Roland Sun.
Klaus came to the table with Intel on the enemy, but the first to speak was the crown prince. "My apologies on behalf of the king, who couldn't be here today due to official matters. He wishes to convey his feelings to the Brave ones assembled here to rescue the princess."
All around the table I heard mutterings. "Official matters? Hah, I bet he's Pigging out in the throne room because he's too fat to move."
"His feelings? We all know he couldn't care less about the princess, and only slightly cares about the prince, because without him that fat pig would actually have to do work."
"I bet the prince added that last bit in himself, without him our kingdom would've burnt to the ground a hundred times over!"
Almost everyone was quietly whispering some slandering message about the king, except for the holy knights and one royal knight who was gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were turning white. I think his name was Elijah, He was shaking, You could practically feel the rage emanating from him. What a loyal knight to get angry on behalf of the king. Then I caught something he murmured under his breath; "Damn that Fat pig King, it's his own daughter that's been kidnapped and he can't even get off the throne. Filthy piece of human waste, I'll save the princess even if I have to sell my soul thrice over!".
Sensing revolt Immanent I started panicking *Can we please slander the king later? If this quest fails it's MY head that's going to have a huge bounty on it!*
With timely intervention Klaus came forward to share what he discovered. "Duke Stenn and his forces have revolted, since the King has seized his lands and demanded him to turn over all his assets, because *Duke Stenn did not kiss my daughter's hand on her birthday*, Duke Stenn is now holding the Princess and milady hostage at the Sun tower, and will execute Rinslet in 2 hours, and the princess half an hour after. He is demanding the crown be abdicated to either him or the prince in exchange for their safe return."
This duke Stenn seems like a pretty good guy actually, despite kidnapping two girls and holding them hostage while threatening their lives. As if reading my mind more mutterings were heard.
"I really got no motivation, Duke Stenn saved my life when he was still a knight."
"That fat bastard king really went too far, Stenn wasn't even in the kingdom during the princess' birthday he was repelling an uprising at the southern border."
"Stenn is lady Laurenfrost's uncle there's no way he'd kill her, or the princess for that matter"
........................I get the feeling that this quest is getting more difficult by the second, with all these unmotivated knights. Relief washed across the faces of The Prince and Elijah. That is until Klaus revealed the piece of intel that would send us all flying into panic.
"That's what the situation has been made to appear however, this is all a ruse in order assassinate the prince and effectively take over the kingdom." Bringing up the proof Klaus opened the large sack he had brought with him into the room, It contained the corpse.
"N-No way, that's Duke Stenn!"
"It can't be! Who did this to him!"
Attempting to restore order, Klaus explained. "Duke Stenn and his men were completely annihilated in a border skirmish with the kingdom of Kissinger. He and his soldiers were all replaced with fakes, regular soldiers of Kissinger disguised using magic from the church of chaos. And had an assassin waiting in place next to the king, waiting for a chance to assassinate both the king and the prince."
"While leaving the princess and the next in line for the throne(Rinslet) to be killed by the fake duke Stenn. With nothing to stand against him, the fake is the next in line for the throne and the kingdom of Forgotten sound would be in the hands of Kissinger Royalty." the prince realized.
"Correct, It's also important to know that in the kidnapping of the princess, the enemy fielded Several battle mages, to attack Reverend. It would be safe to assume that those same mages will be included in their defences."
*Oh so Rembrandt was ganged up on by a group of mages, that makes more sense*
"How on earth did you discover all that Klaus?" The information I was handed just couldn't have been uncovered by one man.
Pulling up a second bag, Klaus revealed another man. This one dressed in the clothes of a royal poison tester, and was still alive, but bound and gagged. "This Kissinger assassin was more than happy to spill all the secrets in the Butler academy punishment room."
All of a sudden I pitied the man. "Klaus what ARE you?"
"I am just one Hell of a butler."
With that concluded we're still back where we started, the Princess and Rinslet are still in danger.
Desperate for some way of completing this quest I look through my skill list for anything useful.
Cooking - Intermediate level 1
Polishing - Intermediate level 2- additional options availible
Elementary heal- Level 6 -Heals a target by 20 life plus your INT x 1.5 mp cost: 12
Intermediate heal- level 1- Heals a target by 220 plus your int x 4 mp cost: 40
Handicraft- Intermediate level 3
Mirage step- level 1- Be completely invisible players npcs monsters and animals. mp cost 20/second.
*Mirage step? when did I ever learn that?* Recalling when I was mistaken for the cloud knight I suddenly understood why that connection was made. *THIS is the reason why I was called the cloud knight???............. hey this could be useful*
Standing up to gain the attention of the group, I explain my plan "I have an idea. I can sneak behind the enemy lines and enter the tower, silently killing any guard or mage I come across."
With that rose a wave of protests.
"The Apprentice is getting ahead of himself."
"He may be a butler but he's still just an apprentice."
"He's only level 4 what can he do?"
Instead of explaining to them I simply Activated Mirage step.
"What happened? He just vanished."
"Glory be the sun god, where did he go?"
"........ sorry Judge................ 6 all nighters in a row are getting to me"
Both klaus and I said at the same time. "I Haven't moved!" "He hasn't moved."
Before I could even say anything Klaus answered "That skill won't work on highly attentive people such as professional butlers."
Suddenly the room went quiet, and I understood what everyone was thinking. "You mean monsters right? You're clearly not human."
Moving on with my plan " When I reach the room where the hostages are held, I'll barricade the room and throw a torch out a window. That'll be the signal for all the troops to attack."
Although some seemed to have slight issues with the plan, no one voiced any objections. At that point Klaus let me go prepare for the mission. "Sebastian you are excused."
*Is it too late to protest my name?* With that I left to go prepare Mysterious tea
**********************************************************************************
you have drank Mysterious tea
Effects: +50 life, +350 mana, +5 Str +30Dex +40 Int +60 Wis
Your thoughts become sharper, your comprehension speed and ability to learn skills are doubled.
With a higher cooking Level more stats were added when compared to a noble girl just adding in leaves to some high quality tea.
I Entered the tower easily. Even if there's an army against you, if they can't notice you they're powerless to stop you. The tower had a rather simple design, It had 4 floors total, and was completely cylindrical in shape with a spiral staircase going along the wall. Constructed almost entirely of stone, this building was meant to be a storehouse for the upper nobility, needless to say it was full of food supplies.
On the inside of the tower a few guards reached for their weapons when I walked through, but lowered then when they saw no one walk in. I planned to let them turn their attention away from the door then kill them off one by one, but one person pointed out. "Hey what's with that bird?"
*Bird what bird?* Turning around I saw............Charles. Not that I wasn't happy to see him, that just wasn't a good time. *He must've been hiding in the bushes and followed me inside.... damn*
"It's..... so cute........" It was a female archer standing beside the table at the back of the room. Because of that one line I very much wanted to spare her life. But I had a mission to do.
While everyone was still distracted by Charles I quickly barred the entrance, and drew my dagger. There were seven enemies on this floor, since they weren't prepared for a battle none of them wore heavy armor, and either wore light leather armor or simple cotton clothes. I had 22 seconds of mirage step and my time was dwindling down, quickly I slashed the throat of the man closest to me.
-Critical hit-
Eyes wide with shock, he would never know what killed him. Staggering slightly, he collapsed on the stone floor in a pool of his own blood.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Before they could realize what was wrong, I ran up to the next closest soldier and stabbed him in the ear. Starting to realize something was attacking them, one man shouted " ITS THE BIRD THE BIRD"S USING SOME WEIRD MAGI-"I didn't let him finish that sentence. Feeling intense rage that Charles would be put in danger I threw my dagger at the soldier.
-Critical hit-
He quickly found my knife lodged in his throat, filling his lungs with crimson liquid. I gained another 3 levels from the kills.
You have learned the Throwing Skill
Accuracy and damage when throwing Daggers, Rocks, vegetables and other light objects is increased by 10%.
At that moment a system message popped up
-Mana consumption of mirage step has doubled-
Meaning that my 10 remaining seconds had been shortened to five. With 3 of their companions dead the remaining three soldiers(plus one archer) charged at Charles.
I drew my sword and desperately ran towards him, but I couldn't make it. The nearest one raised his sword overhead, about to commence the dreaded strike that would end Charles life.
To my surprise(and immense relief) he picked up a sword from one of the fallen soldiers and with amazing speed, slashed the enemy across the chest. Following up I finished him off with a slash across the back, as his HP dropped to zero, he too collapsed in a bloody heap.
Then I noticed the archer nock an arrow, immediately I pushed Charles out of the way, and the arrow struck my shoulder. It didn't draw blood, thanks to my surprisingly defensive suit, but at the very least it left an apple sized bruise.
At that moment my mana ran out and I became once again noticeable. It was a pretty bad situation, there were two enemy swordsmen and one archer. Before the archer could do anything I dived towards the ground and scooped up a fist sized rock and threw it at as hard as I could. The system assist told me when I needed to let go.
Luckily the archer was too preoccupied with nocking her arrow to notice the projectile fly towards her head. The rock struck her left temple and she fell unconscious.
It seemed like it would be a one on one duel for each of us, but the reality of the situation was, these soldiers are between level 25 and 40. While on our side me and Charles are a level 11 Butler and a Rappy.
Growing desperate I tried intimidating my opponent, with my bloodstained hair and clothes, I glare at him, and let out a growl. He cringed, for just a moment, but that was all I needed.
Taking advantage of that one instant, I kick him in the un-armored groin(yes I know it was cheap but I was desperate), followed up with a slash across his face, and ended him with a thrust through the neck.
Looking over to see how Charles was doing, he and his opponent, were circling each other, watching for any opening the opposition could make. It would have been comical, if you didn't notice the blood on his sword and feathers.
I tried to attack him from behind, but this one was different from the rest, his leather armor appeared to be of higher quality, and his swordsmanship was better than the sloppy show of the one I just offed. With that, he deflected my blow and turned sideways so that his back was exposed to neither of us. Even so he couldn't win against two of us, I cut him in the side; slicing through the hard leather armor, and drawing blood. Seeing the opportunity, Charles ended the fight with a stab through the chest.
Level up!
Level up!
Panting, I heard the rush of footsteps upstairs. The sound of our skirmish attracted the attention of those upstairs. Hurriedly I grabbed Charles and hid behind a stack of flour. In total there were 12 or 13 more soldiers that ran down the stairs.
In response I slashed open a large sack of flour and threw it against the roof, flour spread everywhere, with a lot of it suspended in the air. While the soldiers were still confused I tore a torch off the wall and threw it into the dust cloud, then hit the dirt(stone whatever. you get the idea) with Charles.
The resulting explosion was something spectacular.
The walls shuddered, and dust fell from the roof afterwards, but thank the god of Light that the tower didn't collapse.
The intense heat instantly shaved off 10% of our hp, while the soldiers who were upright in the center of the blast got off much worse. At least two died, and the one who was wearing plate mail was definitely roasted alive. Most of them were unconscious, but three of them were simply stunned, but only one managed to keep on his feet.
*That one has to be the commander* I picked up a claymore off the ground and handed it to Charles, and the two of us executed the stunned warriors. * why didn't I try this earlier?* We only killed the ones still conscious and hid behind another stack of flour waiting for more enemy soldiers to show up, but oddly enough, none came. Giving in to my desire for exp and loot, me and Charles mercilessly ended the rest of the downed soldiers, earning 8 more levels , 18 silvers and some armor. I also salvaged two daggers and a broadsword.
Running up stairs we encountered no soldiers and nothing of note, on the second and third floors.
At the door to the fourth floor I drank some more mysterious tea to somewhat boost my mp and calm myself down, and then had Charles wait outside. Before entering I activated Mirage step, It leveled up during the fighting.
Mirage step Level-2 Mp cost 18mp/second, Mana usage increase due to heightened emotions is decreased slightly. Chance of being noticed by target, after an attack :78%When attacking an enemy while Undiscovered Critical hit rate +1%
During the fighting so far I realized one thing. There were no battle mages.
****************************************************************
Entering the room there was a slack jawed man in light plate mail harassing The princess and Rinslet. "Hehehehehe ...... Forgotten sound kingdom sure has some high quality girls, You two are going to be killed anyways, So before that I'll turn you two into adults eh-heh-heh-heh" The next instant I had my blade at his throat, and mirage step disengaged. "Life's short, yours is about to get shorter".
* cool entrance-check, sword at the bad guy's throat-check, awesome line- check. What's that? It's not an cool entrance, I only walked up to him while being unnoticeable? ...... shut up(oh please just let me have my two minutes of randomness, at the rate this is going, without Charles, I can't even tell if this is my fan fic anymore!)*
I swung my blade at his neck, trying to decapitate him, but I didn't put enough force behind it, so the blade got lodged in his spine.
"Sebastian!" *oh please not this again* " Watch out there's another one!"
*Another one?* Taking the cue, I tore my sword out of the corpse's neck, and raise both swords, just in time to parry an incredibly heavy hit.
The attacker....................... Was a butler. This was most definitely the guy that beat Rembrandt. Rembrandt was level 176, this new butler was 214 *How the hell is this a rank D quest?*
"That's Stefan the Butler of Duke Stenn!" -Rinslet
Trying to end this I called out "Stefan don't you know that your master has been replaced with a fake?"
The tall elegant man holding me down, using only a light Rapier(the gentleman's weapon) responded with a tortured voice. "Of course I know, my loyalties lie with the current head of House Stenn, Duke Stenn's son, who is held captive in Kissinger. My apologies your highness, lady Laurenfrost, however I require all of you to die here."
Stefan's Strikes were fast and precise, but above all they were insanely powerful. For using such a light sword it felt as if i were getting hit with a sledge hammer. Even though I was blocking each and every hit my hp was still dropping 4-5% per hit.
Waiting for the chance to counter, I reversed my grip on the swords. Just waiting for that one attack that would let me fight back. There it is! That horizontal slash. seizing the chance, I dived sideways towards Stefan using the rolling motion to drive my left arm in an upwards slash, to deflect the enemies weapon, while simultaneously slashing downwards with my right.
I first used this attack sequence in a freestyle swordsmanship competition in the real world. Eventually It would become my signature counter attack, only...... I lost that match. Maybe that should've set off some warning signals to me.
Stefan easily sidestepped my downward slash, and kicked my exposed side. All those easy victories on the first floor must have really inflated my ego. How could a level 21 possibly win against a level 214? Stefan's kick defied the laws of physics, I flew and crashed into the wall, my hp down to 20%.
Stefan approached to deliver the final blow, desperately I raised my swords.
The blades shattered in my hands.
Resigning to my fate, I prepare mentally for a quest fail, and me spending the rest of my 4 weeks hiding from royal guards.
Suddenly Charles attacked swinging his claymore, saving my life. I was seriously touched by all the loyalty he's shown so far, and we only met at two days ago.
Stefan disarmed Charles with a single stroke of the sword, and kicked him, flying straight at me. My hp dropped to a dangerous 12%, and my vision started fading. It didn't look like Charles could get up either. It was then that I decided to let out my last words. "pl....please...........spare...................charl-.........."
I blacked out. |
{
"title": "Elementarem Vim by Saxenas1",
"id": 66,
"author": "saxenas1",
"rating": 4.5
} | {
"title": "Vol 1: Chapter 3 - Starting from Scratch",
"id": 235,
"next": 236,
"prev": 234,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The VRMMORPG world was in frenzy, Unicorn’s media department just announced the closure of “Royal Road.” The oldest running game, the oldest virtual reality game, the classic, the must play game of the century! It had so many titles. With nearly some ex-3 billion players. The news of it shutting down took the world by surprise. Those who knew, Royal road was ranked somewhere in the late twenties. Most games would never shut down even if they fell below top 100 ranks.<br><br>Every major game developer was glued to the TV. Unicorn had pretty much defined VRMMORPG, every time they released a title, counter measure teams were created to ensure they never succeeded. So even if it meant Unicorn was shutting down, it didn’t mean the developers could take it easy. There would be 10 million players released and no matter how you look at it, it is a huge number.<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol was on TV as he announced, “It is with deep regret that we will be closing all our titles, including our most popular title Royal Road, by the end of the year.”<br><br>11 months till all titles are removed? Jin Hyuna thought to herself. Time to look for another job?<br><br>Cameras glared at Jin Cheol as he read out the terms of the closure statement. “All ex-player related data can be accessed during this period and exported in a virtual reality format. All items collected can also be exported. Players who have paid for premium accounts will receive complete refund for their subscription….I will now take any questions.”<br><br>Every reporter raised their hands.<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol sighed, this was so not going to be easy. “Yes lets begin with the lady in pink.”<br><br>“Is Unicorn Corporation shutting down?”<br><br>“No. Next.”<br><br>All the reporters were puzzled if you aren’t shutting down, then why the heck would you close the only source of cash inflow you have?”<br><br>“If you are not shutting down, then why would you close all titles with 10 million players.”<br><br>“We are cost cutting.”<br><br>The reporters were somewhat disappointed, Kang Jin Cheol usually gave more descriptive answers. This did not explain anything.<br><br>“Then will you be firing employees?”<br><br>“We are not sure at this moment.” He really wasn’t sure. Lee Hyun only told him to make a few<br>announcements as soon as they left Pinnacle (where they didn’t order anything to eat).<br><br>Questions were asked one after another, but most answers were, “we are unsure at this moment.”<br><br>Frustrated some reporters got up to leave. At this moment, Kang Jin Cheol requested them to sit and listen to more announcements from their company’s new CEO.<br><br>“Did he say new CEO?” people whispered to each other. Nobody, not even the employees of Unicorn were aware that they had a new CEO.<br><br>Once again all camera’s were focused on Kang Jin Cheol.<br><br>“Please let me introduce to you, Lee Hyun.”<br><br>Who? Most reporters asked each other? They had never heard of a Lee Hyun. Even most of the veteran reporters and experts were confused. They had never heard of any such Lee Hyun in the last 20 years. Who was he? Just as reporters ask, game developers around the world pondered. Most people knew the player name Weed, and some knew from professional gaming lectures at university of Professor Weed. But no one knew Lee Hyun. Lee Hyun – the name was a forgotten relic lost in an older era. This new world had no idea Lee Hyun’s existence.<br><br>An elderly man dressed in a cheap suit walked up in front of the stage. He smiled, shining his dentures and spoke, “I am Lee Hyun.”<br><br>Smart camera’s began running a database match of Lee Hyun’s face against all known people in Korea. It took ten minutes but little by little confirmations started flowing in. Reporters pressed the ear pieces tightly against their ear to reconfirm who stood in front of them. “I repeat this person was Royal Road’s greatest player, his in game character is Weed.”<br><br>Now the name Weed on the other hand was mentioned as reference in history sections in every<br>professional gaming course as a successful player known to have made money through professional gaming. During his tenure as professor, some of the best professional gamers and guilds were born. Even the real exploits of Weed in his quests were stories that grandparents told their grandchildren (of course they would claim to be the main protagonist in these stories, so the name was often changed). Everything changed the moment reporters knew that this was “the legendary Weed” who stood in front of them.<br><br>The VRMMORPG world went for a toss again. Game developers who were celebrating just moments ago the downfall of Unicorn were left numbed by the revelation that Weed had joined Unicorn. Students of Weed watched the news closely, their teacher was nothing short of brilliant. He taught them how to explore dungeons to finishing impossibly difficult quests. He was their living inspiration. They too (like rest of the world watching the news) were surprised to see how much he had aged. It was a true testament that over time everything ages.<br><br>“Professor Weed?” Asked a female reporter.<br><br>“I am not a professor anymore.” Smiled Lee Hyun.<br><br>“Yes, I apologize. Mr. Lee, you were Royal Road’s greatest player. Why would you shut down Royal Road?”<br><br>“Because its too old. I played that game for a long long time and I think it has been running for 40 years. I think we can do with something new.”<br><br>“Does this mean Unicorn is releasing a new game?” asked a male reporter, while typing down notes on his pad.<br><br>“Yes.”<br><br>“Can you share some more details with us about this game.”<br><br>Lee Hyun thought for a while. “Yes, I think it’s best if I explain it little by little.”<br>Kang Jin Cheol eyes were popping out. “New Game?? When did he think of that? They only just got back from the Pinnacle!”<br><br>“The new game structure will be designed by me.”<br><br>Silence encompassed the room. One of the most brilliant professional gamers just declared he would be designing the game. The difficulty would be incalculable. Some were dismayed by the idea of Weed making a game. Professional gamers often developed their own games, however such games were usually never all that popular. In fact, more brilliant the gamer, the harder were the games in difficulty, and thus only attracting a niche segment of players. Lee Hyun could understand their dismay, but he was only going to make it more interesting.<br><br>“As you know, all current VR titles will be removed within the end of the year. We have additionally provided players with an option to export their characters. I would like to inform you all, that these characters / items will be encashable in the new game.”<br><br>Some reporters were slightly puzzled, encashable?<br><br>“Yes. Encashable. You can trade your characters and items collected for real money or base points or other items offered at the time for the new game.”<br><br>Some reporters nodded. Of course, this was a gimmick, Unicorn undoubtedly needed some way to entice players to the new game. Offering money was clearly a good way but every company has limited amount of money and if everyone encashes the prices of that particular item or character (class and level) would fall. Given the fact Unicorn is nearly bankrupt, some experts logically concluded that each user was worth US$0.01 on an average. Just reactivating accounts would cost $10. No one would encash their characters. But the so called experts of this era didn’t know Lee Hyun had a knack of proving experts wrong.<br><br>“Unicorn will offer $10 starting price for any character encashed and based on the level we will adjust the prices accordingly.”<br><br>US$ 30 billion! Is what Lee Hyun would need to make such an offer work. Yes some players passed away and can no longer encash their accounts. But if they have children then those children can inherit and encash them! So technically the amount encashable still remains at $30 billion.<br><br>Kang Jin Cheol was sweating uncontrollable. The firms current market value was a little over $500 million, Lee Hyun’s investment was US$ 50 million. There was no way for them to provide that much cash even with loans. Jin Hyuna fainted as Lee Hyun’s business strategy was beyond her.<br><br>Murmurs broke out throughout the room. No company ever offered to pay cash. Even in gaming events, the prizes were usually in game oriented – skill points etc. Actual money! Unheard of. Pretty much every professional gamer around the world was glued to their TV set. There was a possibility to make money and lots of it.<br><br>Lee Hyun spent the next half hour explaining possible tentative rates for various characters (based on class and level) and items. The media teams offsite were number crunching. At the end of Lee Hyuns explanations, it appeared Unicorn would shell out as much as $300 billion for encashing. There were huge questions as to how this would be funded, but Lee Hyun only replied saying that an investor agreed to put lots of money in the company. He gave no more details than that. Most reporters finally decided to write off Unicorn and their new CEO, Weed, as liars and the entire news announcement to be media attention grabbing gimmick. Stock analysts just proved them right when they showed that Unicorn just didn’t have the money in its bank account to back what Weed said.<br><br>They weren’t entirely wrong. Lee Hyun, did plan to use the media to set up anticipation for the new game but he wasn’t lying either when he said the player characters and other items were encashable. Whatever the truth maybe, Lee Hyun managed to pique the interest of every professional gamer. ProGaming companies started religiously following all news related to Unicorn and Weed. Even solo players, started reading up about Weed, his exploits and tried coming up with theories of what type of game could he be developing. People had learnt over time, that information was key to beating VR titles and Lee Hyun knew this.<br><br>That day, at the end of the news announcement, Unicorn’s stock price closed 50% higher. It was trading at $750 million. Lee Hyun just made everyone richer by $250 million overnight. Was it all planned? The world would never know. But Lee Hyun smiled as he saw his lifetime earnings increase to $75 million in a single night – clearly a better option than gaming.<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Authors Note:<br><br>1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs<br>2. Share prices do fluctuate with what a CEO says in RL, even if it borders absurdity.<br><br><br>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=283" target="_blank">Yes</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348" target="_blank">No</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</div> | The VRMMORPG world was in frenzy, Unicorn’s media department just announced the closure of “Royal Road.” The oldest running game, the oldest virtual reality game, the classic, the must play game of the century! It had so many titles. With nearly some ex-3 billion players. The news of it shutting down took the world by surprise. Those who knew, Royal road was ranked somewhere in the late twenties. Most games would never shut down even if they fell below top 100 ranks.
Every major game developer was glued to the TV. Unicorn had pretty much defined VRMMORPG, every time they released a title, counter measure teams were created to ensure they never succeeded. So even if it meant Unicorn was shutting down, it didn’t mean the developers could take it easy. There would be 10 million players released and no matter how you look at it, it is a huge number.
Kang Jin Cheol was on TV as he announced, “It is with deep regret that we will be closing all our titles, including our most popular title Royal Road, by the end of the year.”
11 months till all titles are removed? Jin Hyuna thought to herself. Time to look for another job?
Cameras glared at Jin Cheol as he read out the terms of the closure statement. “All ex-player related data can be accessed during this period and exported in a virtual reality format. All items collected can also be exported. Players who have paid for premium accounts will receive complete refund for their subscription….I will now take any questions.”
Every reporter raised their hands.
Kang Jin Cheol sighed, this was so not going to be easy. “Yes lets begin with the lady in pink.”
“Is Unicorn Corporation shutting down?”
“No. Next.”
All the reporters were puzzled if you aren’t shutting down, then why the heck would you close the only source of cash inflow you have?”
“If you are not shutting down, then why would you close all titles with 10 million players.”
“We are cost cutting.”
The reporters were somewhat disappointed, Kang Jin Cheol usually gave more descriptive answers. This did not explain anything.
“Then will you be firing employees?”
“We are not sure at this moment.” He really wasn’t sure. Lee Hyun only told him to make a few
announcements as soon as they left Pinnacle (where they didn’t order anything to eat).
Questions were asked one after another, but most answers were, “we are unsure at this moment.”
Frustrated some reporters got up to leave. At this moment, Kang Jin Cheol requested them to sit and listen to more announcements from their company’s new CEO.
“Did he say new CEO?” people whispered to each other. Nobody, not even the employees of Unicorn were aware that they had a new CEO.
Once again all camera’s were focused on Kang Jin Cheol.
“Please let me introduce to you, Lee Hyun.”
Who? Most reporters asked each other? They had never heard of a Lee Hyun. Even most of the veteran reporters and experts were confused. They had never heard of any such Lee Hyun in the last 20 years. Who was he? Just as reporters ask, game developers around the world pondered. Most people knew the player name Weed, and some knew from professional gaming lectures at university of Professor Weed. But no one knew Lee Hyun. Lee Hyun – the name was a forgotten relic lost in an older era. This new world had no idea Lee Hyun’s existence.
An elderly man dressed in a cheap suit walked up in front of the stage. He smiled, shining his dentures and spoke, “I am Lee Hyun.”
Smart camera’s began running a database match of Lee Hyun’s face against all known people in Korea. It took ten minutes but little by little confirmations started flowing in. Reporters pressed the ear pieces tightly against their ear to reconfirm who stood in front of them. “I repeat this person was Royal Road’s greatest player, his in game character is Weed.”
Now the name Weed on the other hand was mentioned as reference in history sections in every
professional gaming course as a successful player known to have made money through professional gaming. During his tenure as professor, some of the best professional gamers and guilds were born. Even the real exploits of Weed in his quests were stories that grandparents told their grandchildren (of course they would claim to be the main protagonist in these stories, so the name was often changed). Everything changed the moment reporters knew that this was “the legendary Weed” who stood in front of them.
The VRMMORPG world went for a toss again. Game developers who were celebrating just moments ago the downfall of Unicorn were left numbed by the revelation that Weed had joined Unicorn. Students of Weed watched the news closely, their teacher was nothing short of brilliant. He taught them how to explore dungeons to finishing impossibly difficult quests. He was their living inspiration. They too (like rest of the world watching the news) were surprised to see how much he had aged. It was a true testament that over time everything ages.
“Professor Weed?” Asked a female reporter.
“I am not a professor anymore.” Smiled Lee Hyun.
“Yes, I apologize. Mr. Lee, you were Royal Road’s greatest player. Why would you shut down Royal Road?”
“Because its too old. I played that game for a long long time and I think it has been running for 40 years. I think we can do with something new.”
“Does this mean Unicorn is releasing a new game?” asked a male reporter, while typing down notes on his pad.
“Yes.”
“Can you share some more details with us about this game.”
Lee Hyun thought for a while. “Yes, I think it’s best if I explain it little by little.”
Kang Jin Cheol eyes were popping out. “New Game?? When did he think of that? They only just got back from the Pinnacle!”
“The new game structure will be designed by me.”
Silence encompassed the room. One of the most brilliant professional gamers just declared he would be designing the game. The difficulty would be incalculable. Some were dismayed by the idea of Weed making a game. Professional gamers often developed their own games, however such games were usually never all that popular. In fact, more brilliant the gamer, the harder were the games in difficulty, and thus only attracting a niche segment of players. Lee Hyun could understand their dismay, but he was only going to make it more interesting.
“As you know, all current VR titles will be removed within the end of the year. We have additionally provided players with an option to export their characters. I would like to inform you all, that these characters / items will be encashable in the new game.”
Some reporters were slightly puzzled, encashable?
“Yes. Encashable. You can trade your characters and items collected for real money or base points or other items offered at the time for the new game.”
Some reporters nodded. Of course, this was a gimmick, Unicorn undoubtedly needed some way to entice players to the new game. Offering money was clearly a good way but every company has limited amount of money and if everyone encashes the prices of that particular item or character (class and level) would fall. Given the fact Unicorn is nearly bankrupt, some experts logically concluded that each user was worth US$0.01 on an average. Just reactivating accounts would cost $10. No one would encash their characters. But the so called experts of this era didn’t know Lee Hyun had a knack of proving experts wrong.
“Unicorn will offer $10 starting price for any character encashed and based on the level we will adjust the prices accordingly.”
US$ 30 billion! Is what Lee Hyun would need to make such an offer work. Yes some players passed away and can no longer encash their accounts. But if they have children then those children can inherit and encash them! So technically the amount encashable still remains at $30 billion.
Kang Jin Cheol was sweating uncontrollable. The firms current market value was a little over $500 million, Lee Hyun’s investment was US$ 50 million. There was no way for them to provide that much cash even with loans. Jin Hyuna fainted as Lee Hyun’s business strategy was beyond her.
Murmurs broke out throughout the room. No company ever offered to pay cash. Even in gaming events, the prizes were usually in game oriented – skill points etc. Actual money! Unheard of. Pretty much every professional gamer around the world was glued to their TV set. There was a possibility to make money and lots of it.
Lee Hyun spent the next half hour explaining possible tentative rates for various characters (based on class and level) and items. The media teams offsite were number crunching. At the end of Lee Hyuns explanations, it appeared Unicorn would shell out as much as $300 billion for encashing. There were huge questions as to how this would be funded, but Lee Hyun only replied saying that an investor agreed to put lots of money in the company. He gave no more details than that. Most reporters finally decided to write off Unicorn and their new CEO, Weed, as liars and the entire news announcement to be media attention grabbing gimmick. Stock analysts just proved them right when they showed that Unicorn just didn’t have the money in its bank account to back what Weed said.
They weren’t entirely wrong. Lee Hyun, did plan to use the media to set up anticipation for the new game but he wasn’t lying either when he said the player characters and other items were encashable. Whatever the truth maybe, Lee Hyun managed to pique the interest of every professional gamer. ProGaming companies started religiously following all news related to Unicorn and Weed. Even solo players, started reading up about Weed, his exploits and tried coming up with theories of what type of game could he be developing. People had learnt over time, that information was key to beating VR titles and Lee Hyun knew this.
That day, at the end of the news announcement, Unicorn’s stock price closed 50% higher. It was trading at $750 million. Lee Hyun just made everyone richer by $250 million overnight. Was it all planned? The world would never know. But Lee Hyun smiled as he saw his lifetime earnings increase to $75 million in a single night – clearly a better option than gaming.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors Note:
1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs
2. Share prices do fluctuate with what a CEO says in RL, even if it borders absurdity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter? | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Yes](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=283) | | [No](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=348) | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
{
"title": "Clash of Gods",
"id": 68,
"author": "docmeister",
"rating": 3.3
} | {
"title": "Re: Story",
"id": 488,
"next": 585,
"prev": 318,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
I really like what you've written so far; it really draws me into the story. <br><br>For your main character's personality and motivation, I really see him as someone who will endure a lot of hardships without complaining, and will do anything for his sister (who's the only person he loves, as his parents are dead, and he's been secluded in the orphanage for his whole life).<br><br>If you ever decide to rewrite the prologue, I would suggest that you go deeper into the emotional and physical pain of being experimented on, and maybe highlight that his determination to do well and persevere in all his training is so that one day, he could get out of the orphanage and find his sister, so that when he gets adopted, it's like his wishes were suddenly granted. You could also make any scenes where he gets lost a little funnier (like him wandering around in circles, while bystanders wonder what he's doing).<br>A little proofreading would also help enormously.
</div> | I really like what you've written so far; it really draws me into the story.
For your main character's personality and motivation, I really see him as someone who will endure a lot of hardships without complaining, and will do anything for his sister (who's the only person he loves, as his parents are dead, and he's been secluded in the orphanage for his whole life).
If you ever decide to rewrite the prologue, I would suggest that you go deeper into the emotional and physical pain of being experimented on, and maybe highlight that his determination to do well and persevere in all his training is so that one day, he could get out of the orphanage and find his sister, so that when he gets adopted, it's like his wishes were suddenly granted. You could also make any scenes where he gets lost a little funnier (like him wandering around in circles, while bystanders wonder what he's doing).
A little proofreading would also help enormously. |
{
"title": "Soul-Link by Zapper",
"id": 47,
"author": "zapper",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Soul Link - Chapter 1",
"id": 102,
"next": 143,
"prev": 101,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Chapter 1 -The beginning-<br><br>Shara went to the hospital with her mother.<br>Once there she walked to the information desk.<br><br>"Hello, can you tell me which ward Mr. Andre is in."<br><br>"One moment miss. Mr. Andre is located on floor 5 room 5.36.<br>Take the elevator on the left. When you’re on the fifth floor, turn right, and walk straight down the hall. The room is to your left."<br><br>"Thank you."<br><br>She went inside the opened elevator and waited for her mother to get in.<br>She pressed number 5 on the control panel multiple times until the door closed.<br>The elevator stopped on floor 2 and 4 for people to get on.<br><br>Finally at the 5th floor she got out of the elevator, went right and rushed to the end of the hall while looking at the room numbers.<br><br>Almost at the end of the hall, was room 5.36.<br><br>Tensely she opened the door and as she walked in, the sun blinded her for a moment. Looking at the bed, she saw Andre lying down, connected to some machine to monitor his condition.<br><br>She walked to the chair next to him and sat down, took his hand and started praying for him in her mind .<br><br>At that moment Shara's mother walked in the room. She was looking at Shara holding Andre's hand. It was the same as 15 years ago when she had lost her husband. He was brain dead for 6 years and after 10 years, they finally decided to pull the plug. She was once again reminded of that painful time. It took her almost 2 years to overcome the grief of losing her husband. Not wanting her daughter to experience the same pain as she did, she decided to support her daughter's relationship with Andre, instead of canceling their family agreement. She walked to the statistic machine and looked at it for 5 minutes, then took out her phone and walked outside.<br><br>Shara was thinking about how happy he was on their date yesterday.<br>The good time she had. The smile on his face was now gone, laying almost lifeless on the bed. She got even more sad and then she noticed her mother returning to the room.<br><br>"Shara, there is a way you can talk to him."<br><br>"What...! Really? How? "<br><br>"You have heard of the game Royal Road right? "<br><br>"Yes! "<br><br>"The Unicorn Corporation wants to try out a dual capsule.<br>Although Andre is in a coma, his brain is more active than normal coma patients, so the Unicorn Corporation capsule should have no problem connecting him to the game. That could maybe help him get out of his coma. "<br><br>"Are there any risks? "<br><br>"Theoretically there is no risk but it will be the first time they use it on a person that's in a coma. In the tests on animals they did not have any problems or side effects. "<br><br>"Very well I'll do it. "<br><br>[2 weeks later]<br><br>Royal Road is now the most popular VRMMORPG in the world.<br>The first day 50 million people registered and in 2 weeks 1/5 of the world population was registered.<br><br>(Shara's home)<br>Todays the day Andre was brought from the hospital to Shara's house.<br>There was a special room prepared for Andre, and in that room was a machine for Andre to be placed in. The machine would feed him and move his body for his muscles. The machine was a modified capsule for him to connect to his local network and Royal Road. Once activated he could see what was happening in his surroundings thanks to the cameras that were placed around the room. He could also search the internet because his brain was linked to the computer.<br><br>Shara woke up and checked here phone for messages. As she was popular at her University she had a lot of messages, asking how she was doing. She was hopeful because today at 2 o'clock Andre would be here to be connected to the machine. She went to the kitchen to make herself some food, sat down on the couch and watched TV for news about Royal Road.<br><br>*Ting Dong *Ting Dong<br><br>Shara walked to the door and opened it.<br>Her mother was there with 4 people from the hospital and 2 from the unicorn corporation.<br><br>"Do you need any help mother? "<br><br>"No dear you can just wait in the living room".<br><br>2 men from the Unicorn Corporation went inside. Shara's mother guided them to Andre room. Once in Andre room, they looked at the machines and placed Andre in it. As they were preparing the machines to start they also ran a few diagnostic programs. Once it was done they re-booted the computer, installed the correct software and updated the software. This was a process that took a few hours.<br><br>Shara was waiting impatiently. The moment she heard the work was done she rushed to Andre's room. She saw Andre laying in a glass capsule that was connected to a lot of computers.<br><br>"I wonder what kind of specifications the computer has".<br><br>But at the moment she was not interested in asking the Unicorn Corporation Employees. All she wanted was to jump into her own capsule so she could talk to Andre again. She got inside the capsule, closed the door, and the capsule turned on.<br><br>Her screen went black and after a few seconds she materialized in a white empty void. Andre also appeared in the white void. She ran to him and hugged him and they both fell on the ground. Andre was surprised when Shara ran to him not noticing the white void, but after a few seconds he noticed a white void.<br><br>"Shara, where am I? What is this place? And why is this place so white? "<br><br>"You have been in a coma for the last three weeks. My mother was asked to try out a new dual capsule from the Unicorn Corporation and as that was my only way to be with you, I accepted it. "<br><br>"Okay, but where are we then. "<br><br>"At the moment we are in our local network. You can monitor the camera’s and watch us in your room. You can also design this place to your personal preference like adding a chair or couch or computer to surf the Internet."<br><br>"But I'm awake now. Can’t I get out of the capsule and be with you in real life?"<br><br>"I don't know but my mother said you will wake up when your body feels like it. As we don't know how long that will take we were given the opportunity to play Royal Road, on the condition that we had to give them the test results of the dual capsule. So do you want to try Royal road out?"<br><br>"It's not like I've got anything better to do. "<br><br><br><br>Connect to Royal Road<br>Yes / No<br><br><br><br>"Yes."<br><br>Scanning.<br>The scan on your iris and vein has determined -Error-.<br>Recalibrating software, updating, loading, 10%, 60%, 100%.<br>Loading special AI. 100%<br>System update complete.<br>Verifying system updates, complete.<br><br>Rescanning.<br>Scanning has determined two persons in capsule.<br>The scan on your irises and veins has determined that you're an unregistered user. Do you want to create your accounts?<br><br>"Of course we want to."<br><br>Starting player one avatar creation.<br><br>-Please choose a name for your avatar.-<br><br>"Xandit. "<br><br>-Select your gender up from male to female or neutral-<br><br>"Male. "<br><br>-Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races.-<br><br>"Human. "<br><br>-You may alter your appearance.-<br><br>"Keep it the way I am. "<br><br>-Please wait for player two to start creating avatar.<br>-Starting player two creation-<br>-Please choose a name for your avatar.-<br><br>"Sanni. "<br><br>-Select your gender up from male to female or neutral-<br>"Female. "<br><br>-Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races.-<br><br>"Human. "<br><br>-You may alter your appearance.-<br><br>"Keep it the way I am. "<br><br>-Loading two player starting places.-<br>-Only one starting place available.-<br>-Before starting in the game do you want to start the tutorial.-<br><br>"No thank you. "<br><br>With a FLASH of white light, they materialized in a small dark room. After a few seconds, they saw tiny little crystals on the wall lighting up.<br><br>Xandit started to look around, and the first thing he saw was a table in the middle of the room. Looking further he saw some more objects. A bed, some chairs, a fireplace and a whole lot more. But the one thing he didn't see was an exit of this room.<br><br>Sanni, also looked around. Looking around her eyes were drawn to a book on the table in the middle of the room. It had a yellow glow to it and she knew from when she had researched Royal Road that books with a yellow glow were rare. She went to the table, took the book and started reading. After a few seconds of reading the first page she called Xandit.<br><br>Xandit walked to Sanni and asked her what there was. Sanni showed him the book and he started reading it.<br><br><br><br>* Reading.<br>Introduction book part one.<br><br>Welcome to part one of 12 stops between the exit of this dungeon.<br>As you might have noticed there is no exit in this room; that's because there isn't one. The only way to get out of here is by teleporting. So you need to acquire the skill teleporting, and the only way to do that is by finding two rings in this room. The rings will link your characters together and you will learn the skill “Teleport”. Once your characters are linked you can no longer separate the soul link, but if you don't want to soul link your characters then you're out of luck because without soul link, you won’t get out. Read this book again when the rings are found. Then the hidden part of this book will appear.<br><br>*Ting.<br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>Finding a soul link<br><br>Find the two rings within this room to become one.<br><br>Quest Difficulty: E<br>Quest requirements: Need a male and a female.<br>Quest reward soul link and ???.<br>Time limit 24 hours.<br>If Quest fails you’re disconnected for 48 hours.<br>When you log on you can try again.</blockquote><br><br>Xandit and Sanni started searching the room, from left to right, up and down but with no luck. After four hours they took a break.<br><br>"We need to look a lot harder, let's try and divide the room up in sectors and then go from one sector to another to be sure we haven't missed anything. "<br><br>“Where could the rings be hiding?”<br><br>After three hours of searching they were only done for 40% of the room.<br><br><br>*Ting.<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>For searching in an organized manner for a long time.<br>Hidden paths will now be visible<br>you learned the skill Scan<br><br>Scan skill level 0.01%<br>level 0 cool down of skill 60 sec</blockquote><br><br>As the skill scan helped, Xandit and Sanni searched the room faster. In one hour they had already cleared 70% of the room.<br><br>"Pfffff...... I never had to search this much in my life, what about you Sanni?"<br><br>"Sometimes when I don't know where I put my phone. "<br><br>"Well let's take another short break."<br>Xandit let himself fall on the floor. He hit the floor too hard and got the message<br>-7 HP. "Dammit this game is too realistic, system show stats."<br><br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/stats1p.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9859/stats1p.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg20.imageshack.us%2fimg20%2f9859%2fstats1p.png"></a><br><br><br>Looking at his stats screen he noticed his health went down by 7 points.<br><br>Lock HP, MP, Hunger and stamina on iris field on the left corner at the top and always show these stats.<br><br>He also recommended Sanni do the same.<br><br>She did what Xandit recommended.<br><br>System show stats.<br><br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/stats2s.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/148/stats2s.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg716.imageshack.us%2fimg716%2f148%2fstats2s.png"></a><br><br>Lock HP, MP, Hunger and stamina on iris field on the left corner at the top and always show these stats.<br><br>As they both noticed, the hunger bar was almost empty.<br><br>System open inventory.<br>They saw they had a canteen and 10 pieces of rye bread. They both ate one bread. As Xandit was looking around in the room he saw something shiny in the wall. He walked up to it and used the skill scan.<br><br><br>*Scanning<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>You found your first soul link ring!</blockquote><br><br>"Sanni, look..! look....! I found one! "<br><br>Sanni went over to Xandit to watch the ring. But when she was walking towards him she fell over a stone on the floor. The whole stone came out of the floor.<br>Again Xandit saw something shiny by the stone.<br><br>"I think we found another one."<br><br><br>*Scanning<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>You found a second soul link ring!</blockquote><br><br>*Ting<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>Scan skill level 1.07%<br>Skill level up.<br>You can now scan below level 30 enemies/NPC/Players.<br>+1 luck.</blockquote><br><br>"At least I didn't fall for nothing, we found the rings. Let's go to the book and see the hidden part."<br><br><br>*Reading<br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>Introduction book part one (hidden)<br><br>Congratulations on finding the rings, you now have to soul link the rings.<br>To do this you have to place both rings in your hands, and say Link!<br>Give the rings to your soul partner and say Link again.<br>When that is done both take one ring and place them at the same time around your finger. At that moment you will be soul linked<br>and you will learn the skill Teleport.</blockquote><br><br>"Well let's do it," Xandit and Sanni followed the instructions of the hidden part from the book. The moment they put on the ring.<br><br>*Ting<br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>Quest complete.<br><br>Level up.<br><br>Soul linked.<br><br>NEW Class: Soul-Link<br>Class bonus effects:<br> -5% Exp rate gain, will increase when leveling up.<br>You can learn all skills, but you can only select 10 primary skills, you will be able to select more skill when leveling up. All other skills will be 1/6 as effectively will increase when leveling up.<br>Increase drop rate 1%, will increase when leveling up.<br>Increase drop rate rarity 1%, will increase when leveling up.<br>You learned the skill teleport.<br>Cooldown 4 hours<br>Teleport skill level 0.01%.<br>You can now teleport to your HQ.<br>All stats, skills and inventory except hunger are now shared with each other.<br>Loading new stats.<br><br><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/stats3t.png/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/8380/stats3t.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fimg853.imageshack.us%2fimg853%2f8380%2fstats3t.png"></a></blockquote><br><br>At the moment's they closed their stats window they were teleported.<br><br>-END- V1CH1
</div> | Chapter 1 -The beginning-
Shara went to the hospital with her mother.
Once there she walked to the information desk.
"Hello, can you tell me which ward Mr. Andre is in."
"One moment miss. Mr. Andre is located on floor 5 room 5.36.
Take the elevator on the left. When you’re on the fifth floor, turn right, and walk straight down the hall. The room is to your left."
"Thank you."
She went inside the opened elevator and waited for her mother to get in.
She pressed number 5 on the control panel multiple times until the door closed.
The elevator stopped on floor 2 and 4 for people to get on.
Finally at the 5th floor she got out of the elevator, went right and rushed to the end of the hall while looking at the room numbers.
Almost at the end of the hall, was room 5.36.
Tensely she opened the door and as she walked in, the sun blinded her for a moment. Looking at the bed, she saw Andre lying down, connected to some machine to monitor his condition.
She walked to the chair next to him and sat down, took his hand and started praying for him in her mind .
At that moment Shara's mother walked in the room. She was looking at Shara holding Andre's hand. It was the same as 15 years ago when she had lost her husband. He was brain dead for 6 years and after 10 years, they finally decided to pull the plug. She was once again reminded of that painful time. It took her almost 2 years to overcome the grief of losing her husband. Not wanting her daughter to experience the same pain as she did, she decided to support her daughter's relationship with Andre, instead of canceling their family agreement. She walked to the statistic machine and looked at it for 5 minutes, then took out her phone and walked outside.
Shara was thinking about how happy he was on their date yesterday.
The good time she had. The smile on his face was now gone, laying almost lifeless on the bed. She got even more sad and then she noticed her mother returning to the room.
"Shara, there is a way you can talk to him."
"What...! Really? How? "
"You have heard of the game Royal Road right? "
"Yes! "
"The Unicorn Corporation wants to try out a dual capsule.
Although Andre is in a coma, his brain is more active than normal coma patients, so the Unicorn Corporation capsule should have no problem connecting him to the game. That could maybe help him get out of his coma. "
"Are there any risks? "
"Theoretically there is no risk but it will be the first time they use it on a person that's in a coma. In the tests on animals they did not have any problems or side effects. "
"Very well I'll do it. "
[2 weeks later]
Royal Road is now the most popular VRMMORPG in the world.
The first day 50 million people registered and in 2 weeks 1/5 of the world population was registered.
(Shara's home)
Todays the day Andre was brought from the hospital to Shara's house.
There was a special room prepared for Andre, and in that room was a machine for Andre to be placed in. The machine would feed him and move his body for his muscles. The machine was a modified capsule for him to connect to his local network and Royal Road. Once activated he could see what was happening in his surroundings thanks to the cameras that were placed around the room. He could also search the internet because his brain was linked to the computer.
Shara woke up and checked here phone for messages. As she was popular at her University she had a lot of messages, asking how she was doing. She was hopeful because today at 2 o'clock Andre would be here to be connected to the machine. She went to the kitchen to make herself some food, sat down on the couch and watched TV for news about Royal Road.
*Ting Dong *Ting Dong
Shara walked to the door and opened it.
Her mother was there with 4 people from the hospital and 2 from the unicorn corporation.
"Do you need any help mother? "
"No dear you can just wait in the living room".
2 men from the Unicorn Corporation went inside. Shara's mother guided them to Andre room. Once in Andre room, they looked at the machines and placed Andre in it. As they were preparing the machines to start they also ran a few diagnostic programs. Once it was done they re-booted the computer, installed the correct software and updated the software. This was a process that took a few hours.
Shara was waiting impatiently. The moment she heard the work was done she rushed to Andre's room. She saw Andre laying in a glass capsule that was connected to a lot of computers.
"I wonder what kind of specifications the computer has".
But at the moment she was not interested in asking the Unicorn Corporation Employees. All she wanted was to jump into her own capsule so she could talk to Andre again. She got inside the capsule, closed the door, and the capsule turned on.
Her screen went black and after a few seconds she materialized in a white empty void. Andre also appeared in the white void. She ran to him and hugged him and they both fell on the ground. Andre was surprised when Shara ran to him not noticing the white void, but after a few seconds he noticed a white void.
"Shara, where am I? What is this place? And why is this place so white? "
"You have been in a coma for the last three weeks. My mother was asked to try out a new dual capsule from the Unicorn Corporation and as that was my only way to be with you, I accepted it. "
"Okay, but where are we then. "
"At the moment we are in our local network. You can monitor the camera’s and watch us in your room. You can also design this place to your personal preference like adding a chair or couch or computer to surf the Internet."
"But I'm awake now. Can’t I get out of the capsule and be with you in real life?"
"I don't know but my mother said you will wake up when your body feels like it. As we don't know how long that will take we were given the opportunity to play Royal Road, on the condition that we had to give them the test results of the dual capsule. So do you want to try Royal road out?"
"It's not like I've got anything better to do. "
Connect to Royal Road
Yes / No
"Yes."
Scanning.
The scan on your iris and vein has determined -Error-.
Recalibrating software, updating, loading, 10%, 60%, 100%.
Loading special AI. 100%
System update complete.
Verifying system updates, complete.
Rescanning.
Scanning has determined two persons in capsule.
The scan on your irises and veins has determined that you're an unregistered user. Do you want to create your accounts?
"Of course we want to."
Starting player one avatar creation.
-Please choose a name for your avatar.-
"Xandit. "
-Select your gender up from male to female or neutral-
"Male. "
-Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races.-
"Human. "
-You may alter your appearance.-
"Keep it the way I am. "
-Please wait for player two to start creating avatar.
-Starting player two creation-
-Please choose a name for your avatar.-
"Sanni. "
-Select your gender up from male to female or neutral-
"Female. "
-Royal Road has 49 races. You may select your race from the primary 29 races.-
"Human. "
-You may alter your appearance.-
"Keep it the way I am. "
-Loading two player starting places.-
-Only one starting place available.-
-Before starting in the game do you want to start the tutorial.-
"No thank you. "
With a FLASH of white light, they materialized in a small dark room. After a few seconds, they saw tiny little crystals on the wall lighting up.
Xandit started to look around, and the first thing he saw was a table in the middle of the room. Looking further he saw some more objects. A bed, some chairs, a fireplace and a whole lot more. But the one thing he didn't see was an exit of this room.
Sanni, also looked around. Looking around her eyes were drawn to a book on the table in the middle of the room. It had a yellow glow to it and she knew from when she had researched Royal Road that books with a yellow glow were rare. She went to the table, took the book and started reading. After a few seconds of reading the first page she called Xandit.
Xandit walked to Sanni and asked her what there was. Sanni showed him the book and he started reading it.
* Reading.
Introduction book part one.
Welcome to part one of 12 stops between the exit of this dungeon.
As you might have noticed there is no exit in this room; that's because there isn't one. The only way to get out of here is by teleporting. So you need to acquire the skill teleporting, and the only way to do that is by finding two rings in this room. The rings will link your characters together and you will learn the skill “Teleport”. Once your characters are linked you can no longer separate the soul link, but if you don't want to soul link your characters then you're out of luck because without soul link, you won’t get out. Read this book again when the rings are found. Then the hidden part of this book will appear.
*Ting.
> Quote:Finding a soul link
>
> Find the two rings within this room to become one.
>
> Quest Difficulty: E
> Quest requirements: Need a male and a female.
> Quest reward soul link and ???.
> Time limit 24 hours.
> If Quest fails you’re disconnected for 48 hours.
> When you log on you can try again.
Xandit and Sanni started searching the room, from left to right, up and down but with no luck. After four hours they took a break.
"We need to look a lot harder, let's try and divide the room up in sectors and then go from one sector to another to be sure we haven't missed anything. "
“Where could the rings be hiding?”
After three hours of searching they were only done for 40% of the room.
*Ting.
> Quote:For searching in an organized manner for a long time.
> Hidden paths will now be visible
> you learned the skill Scan
>
> Scan skill level 0.01%
> level 0 cool down of skill 60 sec
As the skill scan helped, Xandit and Sanni searched the room faster. In one hour they had already cleared 70% of the room.
"Pfffff...... I never had to search this much in my life, what about you Sanni?"
"Sometimes when I don't know where I put my phone. "
"Well let's take another short break."
Xandit let himself fall on the floor. He hit the floor too hard and got the message
-7 HP. "Dammit this game is too realistic, system show stats."
[](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/stats1p.png/)
Looking at his stats screen he noticed his health went down by 7 points.
Lock HP, MP, Hunger and stamina on iris field on the left corner at the top and always show these stats.
He also recommended Sanni do the same.
She did what Xandit recommended.
System show stats.
[](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/stats2s.png/)
Lock HP, MP, Hunger and stamina on iris field on the left corner at the top and always show these stats.
As they both noticed, the hunger bar was almost empty.
System open inventory.
They saw they had a canteen and 10 pieces of rye bread. They both ate one bread. As Xandit was looking around in the room he saw something shiny in the wall. He walked up to it and used the skill scan.
*Scanning
> Quote:You found your first soul link ring!
"Sanni, look..! look....! I found one! "
Sanni went over to Xandit to watch the ring. But when she was walking towards him she fell over a stone on the floor. The whole stone came out of the floor.
Again Xandit saw something shiny by the stone.
"I think we found another one."
*Scanning
> Quote:You found a second soul link ring!
*Ting
> Quote:Scan skill level 1.07%
> Skill level up.
> You can now scan below level 30 enemies/NPC/Players.
> +1 luck.
"At least I didn't fall for nothing, we found the rings. Let's go to the book and see the hidden part."
*Reading
> Quote:Introduction book part one (hidden)
>
> Congratulations on finding the rings, you now have to soul link the rings.
> To do this you have to place both rings in your hands, and say Link!
> Give the rings to your soul partner and say Link again.
> When that is done both take one ring and place them at the same time around your finger. At that moment you will be soul linked
> and you will learn the skill Teleport.
"Well let's do it," Xandit and Sanni followed the instructions of the hidden part from the book. The moment they put on the ring.
*Ting
> Quote:Quest complete.
>
> Level up.
>
> Soul linked.
>
> NEW Class: Soul-Link
> Class bonus effects:
> -5% Exp rate gain, will increase when leveling up.
> You can learn all skills, but you can only select 10 primary skills, you will be able to select more skill when leveling up. All other skills will be 1/6 as effectively will increase when leveling up.
> Increase drop rate 1%, will increase when leveling up.
> Increase drop rate rarity 1%, will increase when leveling up.
> You learned the skill teleport.
> Cooldown 4 hours
> Teleport skill level 0.01%.
> You can now teleport to your HQ.
> All stats, skills and inventory except hunger are now shared with each other.
> Loading new stats.
>
> [](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/stats3t.png/)
At the moment's they closed their stats window they were teleported.
-END- V1CH1 |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E07: Banditry is not an Occupation",
"id": 160,
"next": 173,
"prev": 156,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The long caravan meandered its way along the snaky trail, the wagons constantly jolting up and down as the drivers tried to steer the horses around the many potholes that littered the road that was in a horrible state of disrepair due to the fact that the Royal Engineers safety could not be guaranteed by the region's garrison. And now some of the holes had become as large as the openings of wells and those were the hardest to navigate around, the procession almost always grounding to a halt as the men tried to make sure the wheels didn’t get disastrously caught by such hazards. The constant whinnying of horses and the curses of the men laced the air, many clearly complaining about the horrible start to their morning whilst the wagoners set to their tasks with resignation.
<br>
<br>It was then that the atmosphere changed like a rumbling before a storm, voices could be heard from the woods all around them and the wagoners tensed, suddenly becoming apprehensive before the woods exploded all around them with the giant figures of vicious Orc raiders, charging towards the narrow road with ululating battle cries. The men yelled in panic as they tried to run away towards the front of the column…. only to gather into a tight circle around the lead wagon and flinging their dusty grey cloaks aside to reveal the uniforms of the Rosenheim Army, the soldiers instantly pulling out their swords as one.
<br>
<br>"SHIELD WALL!", the order rang out as Gerhard stood up from the lead wagon to which a clattering of shields shuddered and locked tightly against their neighbours before the men rested their long swords on top of the metal reinforced rims of their kite shields, pointed edge ready to thrust into the faces of their enemies.
<br>
<br>The orcs were in too much of a bloodlust to care or noticed that the caravan was actually a trap before they barrelled into the shields of the soldiers, hammering rusty swords or glaives with wild abandon at the humans while some with more sense of mind tried to pull the shields forward to get to the men behind them. For their efforts, many of the orcs lost their fingers, were struck in the eye or grabbed their throats in reflex to stop the sudden gush of bleeding as the 22 soldiers responded like a well drilled machine, their hearts swelling as one as Gerhard sang above them, striding back and forth on the edge of the wagon while lashing out his sword over their heads with deadly results.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">" Drei Lilien, drei Lilien,</span> < Three lilies, three lilies,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Die pflanzt' ich auf mein Grab, </span>< are growing on my grave,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Da kam ein stolzer Reiter</span> < there comes a proud rider, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Und brach sie ab." </span>< and picks them up.></div>
<br>
<br>To which the soldiers responded to him, voices raised in song as they felt themselves gaining courage and becoming stronger.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"::Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
<br>:: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
<br>Da kam ein stolzer Reiter </span>< There comes a proud rider>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Und brach sie ab. </span>< and picks them up. >"</div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard was smiling wide, feeling fully in his element as he nimbly stepped out of the way of a glaive chop before loping the head off the weapon and then the owner.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Ach Reitersmann, ach Reitersmann, </span>< Oh rider, oh rider, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Laß doch die Lilien stehn, </span>< let the lilies be, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Die soll ja mein Feinsliebchen</span>< they should my sweetheart>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Noch einmal sehn". </span>< once more see .>
<br>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">":: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
<br>:: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
<br>Die soll ja mein Feinsliebchen</span>< They should my sweetheart >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">Noch einmal sehn."</span> < once more see .></div>
<br>
<br>As they sang the refrain, already Gerhard could see movement in the trees behind the Orcs and he smiled almost savagely as he tried to rouse his men to sing louder, to drown out the roars and cries of the orcs, to draw all attention only to them.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"WAS SCHERT MICH DENN DEIN LIEBCHEN,</span> < WHAT DOES YOUR SWEETHEART MATTER, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">WAS SCHERT MICH DENN DEIN GRAB! </span>< WHAT MATTERS YOUR GRAVE TO ME, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">ICH BIN EIN STOLZER REITER </span>< I AM A PROUD RIDER, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">UND BRECH' SIE AB.</span> < I AM GOING TO PICK THEM UP.></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>The men didn’t let him down, roaring the refrain into their enemies' faces and making several of them recoil back, the sheer numbers of the fierce orcs unable to dampen the spirits of the completely outnumbered and surrounded humans.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">":: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
<br>:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
<br>ICH BIN EIN STOLZER REITER </span>< I AM A PROUD RIDER, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">UND BRECH' SIE AB."</span> < I AM GOING TO PICK THEM UP. ></div>
<br>
<br>Gerhard kept singing, mastering his emotions and memories, singing to drown out the voices and echoes of the past, singing to reaffirm his presence in the here and now as he pointed his sword at the forest.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"UND STERBE ICH NOCH HEUTE, </span>< AND I'LL DIE THIS VERY DAY, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">SO BIN ICH MORGEN TOT, </span>< AND TOMORROW I'LL BE DEAD, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">DANN BEGRABEN MICH DIE LEUTE</span>< THEN THE PEOPLE WILL BURY ME,>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">UMS MORGENROT!" </span>< IN THE MORNING-RED! ></div>
<br>
<br>Suddenly, explosions rippled in the rear of the Orc’s ranks, huge area of effect flame magic igniting the clothes of the nearby Orcs and turning several in its epicentre to cinders instantly , followed by the appearance of the remaining squads, roaring the final refrain back to their surrounded comrades in response as they charged.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
<br>:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::</span>
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">DANN BEGRABEN MICH DIE LEUTE </span>< THEN THE PEOPLE WILL BURY ME, >
<br><span style="font-style: italic;">UMS MORGENROT!</span>< IN THE MORNING-RED! ></div>
<br>
<br>Caught in a pincer, the orcs began to buckle under the enormous double pressure before Gerhard leapt down into their midst and began to cut his way forward to link up with the reinforcements. The shield wall suddenly shifted and formed into an arrowhead formation with Gerhard as its violent tip, carving their way step by bloody step over the corpses of the orcs, as accurate explosions rained down all around them, Lydia providing invaluable fire support. For once helping out…
<br>
<br>Receiving constant devastating AoE spells, surrounded on both sides and being cut to pieces rapidly… the courage of the Orcs finally fell as hundreds lay dead, the mobs attempting to break out of the encirclement in blind panic to which Gerhard shouted, "Remember your orders!"
<br>
<br>The men around him nodded and even though he couldn’t see their replies, Gerhard grinned as he felt it, knowing that the men would take prisoners to be questioned later. And to this, the scene drifts slowly upwards to the sky, fading to white as a song begins to play in the background…
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ding!</span>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>You've leveled up!
<br>
<br>Leadership has risen by 20 points (+20 LS)
<br>Charisma has risen by 14 points (+14 CHR)
<br>Fighting Spirit has risen by 13 points (+13 FS)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>The overwhelming victory rewarded Gerhard with a wealth of exp as the men clanged sword hilts against shields in a thumping rhythm, over and over again as they chanted repeatedly, "EAGLE! EAGLE! EAGLE! EAGLE!"
<br>
<br>It was a nickname given to him as he brought them victory after victory, the title stemming from the fact that the men viewed him as the successor of Ernst Rommer, the current Eagle of the East and it was only a matter of time before he inherited the rights and titles of a true knight. Over the past two weeks of brutal ambushes and expeditions into the forest, this latest plan was set in motion as Gerhard recounted his own experiences of countering guerrilla warfare…often with intensely bad memories that it helped resurfaced.
<br>Orc prisoners were being tied and rounded up in a long single file, guarded by a single squad on either flanks as Denarions went up and down the line, questioning the Orcs in the hope of locating their stronghold. Gerhard left them and walked towards the edge of the road, gazing out into the wide forest below, the canopies of the trees spreading out far and wide as the eyes can see.
<br>
<br>"Do you always look so gloomy after winning?", Lydia complained as she stood next to him, "I mean, look at all the loot we got! Fufufufu, I can soon buy a new dress and staff with this collection".
<br>
<br>"As usual take my share and divide it amongst the men"
<br>
<br>"As your personal accountant, I object!"
<br>
<br>"Wait what?", Gerhard turned to look at her, "Since when did that happen?"
<br>
<br>"Since you couldn’t EVEN save a copper coin let alone maintain your own gear! THAT’s when!", Lydia scolded, "I still can't believe you refused the reward from that last quest, the muffins that mute Sister Angelica bakes is made to boost your stats by 30% for an hour! Do you know how much money you could have made if you sold it at the auction house!?"
<br>
<br>"…but the children needed it more than I. They have few things to enjoy eating as it is".
<br>
<br>"Grrrr…. How many times must I tell you this! They are NPCs! THEY don't FEEL or NEED anything like we players do. At least you got a ton of fame for doing so or else I would have gone crazy!"
<br>
<br>Gerhard shrugged as he returned his gaze back over the roof of the vast forest below him, dismissing her worries as another concern still lay across his mind: Where was Eric the Red now?
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Max surveyed his surroundings as he lugged the knapsack with all his belongings in it and sighed, wondering how he was going to get to his grandfather safely without getting jumped by every monster on the way due to how weak he was. Max had chosen the blacksmith profession due to the fact that he was a mechanical engineer student in university and wanted to try his luck with the unlimited supply of materials that can be found in the virtual world… only to his horror he realised, he was overwhelmingly weak. Fragile as a glass cannon, only he wasn't even a cannon. More like a rabbit could out DPS(Damage per second) him against another mob. So he decided to do what his grandfather did and went to train at the hall to make up for his insufficiency… only to find a large crowd of women moping around and asking passing players if they had;
<br>
<br>"…seen a beautiful man with a voice like an angel"
<br>
<br>"… who makes you want to leave your current husband and elope with him"
<br>
<br>"…no no he makes you want to cook meals for him..", a blushing man said.
<br>
<br>"…lets see if I could compare him with something, I would say perfection."
<br>
<br>"…if you find him please tell us… but if you touch or fall in love with him we will break your fingers. Teehee", the woman smiled scarily.
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">UWAAAAH! GRANDFATHER HOW CAN I BE AS POPULAR AS YOU!? TEACH ME, DAMNIT! None of the girls in my class would even look at me'</span>, Max sobbed internally as he raged at the straw target, hitting it to vent his frustrations.
<br>
<br>Faced with that kind of situation everyday for weeks… Max went berserk. When the instructor finally went to give him his new sword for completing the course, Max's eyes were glassy and out of focused as he muttered, "Women are blind, women are blind, women are blind…….fufufufufu grandpa you will teach me your secrets won't you? Fufufufufuhuhuhuhu".
<br>
<br>"Haha, you are a funny one, aren’t ya?", said a voice behind him.
<br>
<br>Max turned around, only to be floored by the sight of a young beautiful girl who was actually TALKING to him. He ogled at her, her petite figure covered in a red silk dress with patterns of Japanese style gold coins under a rose red segmented armour where two katanas were strapped to her hips, her long luscious pink hair tied up in a topknot under which a face of a <span style="font-style: italic;">Yamato Nadeshiko </span><a Japanese beauty> gazed at HIM with mild interest.
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">……YAHOOOOO! Mother! Father! Your son is about to become a man</span>!', Max celebrated in his head although he didn’t show this on his face as he said, "Only because I find it strange that the gods themselves do not descend from the heavens to proclaim your beauty, my dear", he gave her his best smile.
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">TAKE THAT! MY SURE ONE HIT FALL IN LOVE WITH ME LINE! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME!</span>', he projected mentally to her with all his might.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">N..nee-san </span><sister>, that man is making a weird face", replied a soft pitched voice from a person who was almost the spitting image of her only that this other half had glasses with black hair tied in a pony tail and whose armour was pure white under which a simple dark blue gi and hakama was worn. The way the person moved… must be a boy. No way he was going to fall for a trap. All those special dating games from Japan he played secretly in the early hours of the mornings has given him a trained eye for this sort of thing.
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">Must be the brother</span>', he thought as he promptly ignored him and returned his attention to what the girl was saying.
<br>
<br>"Maa.. maa.. isn’t that ok Masumi? He's exactly what we need", she smiled at her sibling before she turned back to Max.
<br>
<br>"My name is Mayumi and this here is my twin, Masumi. You look like you are going on a journey. Mind if we ask where?"
<br>
<br>"…East? Out into the frontier", Max prayed that they were going there too, to which she smiled widely, making his heart beat like crazy.
<br>
<br>"Really? Us too. Want to travel together? We are going to visit a friend"
<br>
<br>"Eh… ehhhhhh, why me too! Haha, can't leave friends alone now can we?", Max laughed robotically.
<br>
<br>Mayumi clapped her hands fast and repeatedly in joy, "Excellent! I hope we will be good friends too!", as she replied leaning in close to him, the scent of her perfume wafting up into his nostrils.
<br>
<br>'…..<span style="font-style: italic;">Thank you god for this wonderful bounty</span>….', Max thought dreamily to himself before he realised that his back was kinda heavy….EXTREMELY HEAVY.
<br>
<br>Finally, he realised that there was luggage stacked almost twice the height of him tied around his body with rope as Mayumi skipped away ahead whistling happily. Masumi stood in front of him and bowed slightly.
<br>
<br>"S..sorry. My sister knew you were strong enough to carry our entire luggage since she saw you complete the basic training course, when that NPC awarded you the sword."
<br>
<br>"Eh… that’s ok, I am use to it".
<br>
<br>"R..really? You kinda look like you are crying?"
<br>
<br>"Oh this? Its just the sewerage flushing out along with all my hopes and dreams. Nothing to worry about"
<br>
<br>"Haaa… Ok we better catch up with her. And don't worry, we know a shortcut to get to the frontier quicker so you can go meet your friend sooner".
<br>
<br>The words jolted Max for a moment as he realised what he was really supposed to do in this world. Surprise grandpa with a gift entrusted to him by his parents. That was the reason why he didn’t contact his grandfather to tell him that he was in this world, he didn’t want the old man to be suspicious of his motives. In saying so, Max touched the pocket of his shirt lightly where the treasure now sits and just resolved himself to a few weeks of minor inconvenience.
<br>
<br>And thus he set forth, following the Samurai Twins into the east.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>Eric knelt in the centre of the road, analysing the recent flow of events that had befallen this place. With his keen eye, taking note the strategy that was implemented and what the force had then decided to do. For some reason he was sure that MAN was leading this group, not because of the signs of devastating efficiency marked in the terrain everywhere based on the tracking skills he had gained in the game… but purely his soldier’s instinct ...
<br>
<br>
<br>The force must have found what they were looking for, as only a single squad led away a long line of prisoners towards whence they came and the rest proceeded onwards, Eric traced their footprints with a finger and knew that they were travelling with an increase in burden, perhaps extra rations for the journey. Which meant speed was of the essence.
<br>
<br>One can't help but admire the decisive and straightforward manner of this commander… before Eric lightly shook his head to remove all such feelings as his face resumed the lifeless cast that had become second nature to him. He was here for only one purpose. To finish their duel.
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqFE/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Gentle Light</span></a></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Ending_zpsbc81b361.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...81b361.jpg"></div>
</div> | The long caravan meandered its way along the snaky trail, the wagons constantly jolting up and down as the drivers tried to steer the horses around the many potholes that littered the road that was in a horrible state of disrepair due to the fact that the Royal Engineers safety could not be guaranteed by the region's garrison. And now some of the holes had become as large as the openings of wells and those were the hardest to navigate around, the procession almost always grounding to a halt as the men tried to make sure the wheels didn’t get disastrously caught by such hazards. The constant whinnying of horses and the curses of the men laced the air, many clearly complaining about the horrible start to their morning whilst the wagoners set to their tasks with resignation.
It was then that the atmosphere changed like a rumbling before a storm, voices could be heard from the woods all around them and the wagoners tensed, suddenly becoming apprehensive before the woods exploded all around them with the giant figures of vicious Orc raiders, charging towards the narrow road with ululating battle cries. The men yelled in panic as they tried to run away towards the front of the column…. only to gather into a tight circle around the lead wagon and flinging their dusty grey cloaks aside to reveal the uniforms of the Rosenheim Army, the soldiers instantly pulling out their swords as one.
"SHIELD WALL!", the order rang out as Gerhard stood up from the lead wagon to which a clattering of shields shuddered and locked tightly against their neighbours before the men rested their long swords on top of the metal reinforced rims of their kite shields, pointed edge ready to thrust into the faces of their enemies.
The orcs were in too much of a bloodlust to care or noticed that the caravan was actually a trap before they barrelled into the shields of the soldiers, hammering rusty swords or glaives with wild abandon at the humans while some with more sense of mind tried to pull the shields forward to get to the men behind them. For their efforts, many of the orcs lost their fingers, were struck in the eye or grabbed their throats in reflex to stop the sudden gush of bleeding as the 22 soldiers responded like a well drilled machine, their hearts swelling as one as Gerhard sang above them, striding back and forth on the edge of the wagon while lashing out his sword over their heads with deadly results.
" Drei Lilien, drei Lilien, < Three lilies, three lilies,>
Die pflanzt' ich auf mein Grab, < are growing on my grave,>
Da kam ein stolzer Reiter < there comes a proud rider, >
Und brach sie ab." < and picks them up.>
To which the soldiers responded to him, voices raised in song as they felt themselves gaining courage and becoming stronger.
"::Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
:: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
Da kam ein stolzer Reiter < There comes a proud rider>
Und brach sie ab. < and picks them up. >"
Gerhard was smiling wide, feeling fully in his element as he nimbly stepped out of the way of a glaive chop before loping the head off the weapon and then the owner.
"Ach Reitersmann, ach Reitersmann, < Oh rider, oh rider, >
Laß doch die Lilien stehn, < let the lilies be, >
Die soll ja mein Feinsliebchen< they should my sweetheart>
Noch einmal sehn". < once more see .>
":: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
:: Juvi valle ralle ralle ralle ra::
Die soll ja mein Feinsliebchen< They should my sweetheart >
Noch einmal sehn." < once more see .>
As they sang the refrain, already Gerhard could see movement in the trees behind the Orcs and he smiled almost savagely as he tried to rouse his men to sing louder, to drown out the roars and cries of the orcs, to draw all attention only to them.
"WAS SCHERT MICH DENN DEIN LIEBCHEN, < WHAT DOES YOUR SWEETHEART MATTER, >
WAS SCHERT MICH DENN DEIN GRAB! < WHAT MATTERS YOUR GRAVE TO ME, >
ICH BIN EIN STOLZER REITER < I AM A PROUD RIDER, >
UND BRECH' SIE AB. < I AM GOING TO PICK THEM UP.>
The men didn’t let him down, roaring the refrain into their enemies' faces and making several of them recoil back, the sheer numbers of the fierce orcs unable to dampen the spirits of the completely outnumbered and surrounded humans.
":: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
ICH BIN EIN STOLZER REITER < I AM A PROUD RIDER, >
UND BRECH' SIE AB." < I AM GOING TO PICK THEM UP. >
Gerhard kept singing, mastering his emotions and memories, singing to drown out the voices and echoes of the past, singing to reaffirm his presence in the here and now as he pointed his sword at the forest.
"UND STERBE ICH NOCH HEUTE, < AND I'LL DIE THIS VERY DAY, >
SO BIN ICH MORGEN TOT, < AND TOMORROW I'LL BE DEAD, >
DANN BEGRABEN MICH DIE LEUTE< THEN THE PEOPLE WILL BURY ME,>
UMS MORGENROT!" < IN THE MORNING-RED! >
Suddenly, explosions rippled in the rear of the Orc’s ranks, huge area of effect flame magic igniting the clothes of the nearby Orcs and turning several in its epicentre to cinders instantly , followed by the appearance of the remaining squads, roaring the final refrain back to their surrounded comrades in response as they charged.
:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
:: JUVI VALLE RALLE RALLE RALLE RA!!::
DANN BEGRABEN MICH DIE LEUTE < THEN THE PEOPLE WILL BURY ME, >
UMS MORGENROT!< IN THE MORNING-RED! >
Caught in a pincer, the orcs began to buckle under the enormous double pressure before Gerhard leapt down into their midst and began to cut his way forward to link up with the reinforcements. The shield wall suddenly shifted and formed into an arrowhead formation with Gerhard as its violent tip, carving their way step by bloody step over the corpses of the orcs, as accurate explosions rained down all around them, Lydia providing invaluable fire support. For once helping out…
Receiving constant devastating AoE spells, surrounded on both sides and being cut to pieces rapidly… the courage of the Orcs finally fell as hundreds lay dead, the mobs attempting to break out of the encirclement in blind panic to which Gerhard shouted, "Remember your orders!"
The men around him nodded and even though he couldn’t see their replies, Gerhard grinned as he felt it, knowing that the men would take prisoners to be questioned later. And to this, the scene drifts slowly upwards to the sky, fading to white as a song begins to play in the background…
[INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
*********************************************************************************************
*Ding!
| You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! You've leveled up! Leadership has risen by 20 points (+20 LS) Charisma has risen by 14 points (+14 CHR) Fighting Spirit has risen by 13 points (+13 FS) |
| --- |
The overwhelming victory rewarded Gerhard with a wealth of exp as the men clanged sword hilts against shields in a thumping rhythm, over and over again as they chanted repeatedly, "EAGLE! EAGLE! EAGLE! EAGLE!"
It was a nickname given to him as he brought them victory after victory, the title stemming from the fact that the men viewed him as the successor of Ernst Rommer, the current Eagle of the East and it was only a matter of time before he inherited the rights and titles of a true knight. Over the past two weeks of brutal ambushes and expeditions into the forest, this latest plan was set in motion as Gerhard recounted his own experiences of countering guerrilla warfare…often with intensely bad memories that it helped resurfaced.
Orc prisoners were being tied and rounded up in a long single file, guarded by a single squad on either flanks as Denarions went up and down the line, questioning the Orcs in the hope of locating their stronghold. Gerhard left them and walked towards the edge of the road, gazing out into the wide forest below, the canopies of the trees spreading out far and wide as the eyes can see.
"Do you always look so gloomy after winning?", Lydia complained as she stood next to him, "I mean, look at all the loot we got! Fufufufu, I can soon buy a new dress and staff with this collection".
"As usual take my share and divide it amongst the men"
"As your personal accountant, I object!"
"Wait what?", Gerhard turned to look at her, "Since when did that happen?"
"Since you couldn’t EVEN save a copper coin let alone maintain your own gear! THAT’s when!", Lydia scolded, "I still can't believe you refused the reward from that last quest, the muffins that mute Sister Angelica bakes is made to boost your stats by 30% for an hour! Do you know how much money you could have made if you sold it at the auction house!?"
"…but the children needed it more than I. They have few things to enjoy eating as it is".
"Grrrr…. How many times must I tell you this! They are NPCs! THEY don't FEEL or NEED anything like we players do. At least you got a ton of fame for doing so or else I would have gone crazy!"
Gerhard shrugged as he returned his gaze back over the roof of the vast forest below him, dismissing her worries as another concern still lay across his mind: Where was Eric the Red now?
*********************************************************************************************
Max surveyed his surroundings as he lugged the knapsack with all his belongings in it and sighed, wondering how he was going to get to his grandfather safely without getting jumped by every monster on the way due to how weak he was. Max had chosen the blacksmith profession due to the fact that he was a mechanical engineer student in university and wanted to try his luck with the unlimited supply of materials that can be found in the virtual world… only to his horror he realised, he was overwhelmingly weak. Fragile as a glass cannon, only he wasn't even a cannon. More like a rabbit could out DPS(Damage per second) him against another mob. So he decided to do what his grandfather did and went to train at the hall to make up for his insufficiency… only to find a large crowd of women moping around and asking passing players if they had;
"…seen a beautiful man with a voice like an angel"
"… who makes you want to leave your current husband and elope with him"
"…no no he makes you want to cook meals for him..", a blushing man said.
"…lets see if I could compare him with something, I would say perfection."
"…if you find him please tell us… but if you touch or fall in love with him we will break your fingers. Teehee", the woman smiled scarily.
'UWAAAAH! GRANDFATHER HOW CAN I BE AS POPULAR AS YOU!? TEACH ME, DAMNIT! None of the girls in my class would even look at me', Max sobbed internally as he raged at the straw target, hitting it to vent his frustrations.
Faced with that kind of situation everyday for weeks… Max went berserk. When the instructor finally went to give him his new sword for completing the course, Max's eyes were glassy and out of focused as he muttered, "Women are blind, women are blind, women are blind…….fufufufufu grandpa you will teach me your secrets won't you? Fufufufufuhuhuhuhu".
"Haha, you are a funny one, aren’t ya?", said a voice behind him.
Max turned around, only to be floored by the sight of a young beautiful girl who was actually TALKING to him. He ogled at her, her petite figure covered in a red silk dress with patterns of Japanese style gold coins under a rose red segmented armour where two katanas were strapped to her hips, her long luscious pink hair tied up in a topknot under which a face of a Yamato Nadeshiko <a Japanese beauty> gazed at HIM with mild interest.
'……YAHOOOOO! Mother! Father! Your son is about to become a man!', Max celebrated in his head although he didn’t show this on his face as he said, "Only because I find it strange that the gods themselves do not descend from the heavens to proclaim your beauty, my dear", he gave her his best smile.
'TAKE THAT! MY SURE ONE HIT FALL IN LOVE WITH ME LINE! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME! LOVEME! WANTME!', he projected mentally to her with all his might.
"N..nee-san <sister>, that man is making a weird face", replied a soft pitched voice from a person who was almost the spitting image of her only that this other half had glasses with black hair tied in a pony tail and whose armour was pure white under which a simple dark blue gi and hakama was worn. The way the person moved… must be a boy. No way he was going to fall for a trap. All those special dating games from Japan he played secretly in the early hours of the mornings has given him a trained eye for this sort of thing.
'Must be the brother', he thought as he promptly ignored him and returned his attention to what the girl was saying.
"Maa.. maa.. isn’t that ok Masumi? He's exactly what we need", she smiled at her sibling before she turned back to Max.
"My name is Mayumi and this here is my twin, Masumi. You look like you are going on a journey. Mind if we ask where?"
"…East? Out into the frontier", Max prayed that they were going there too, to which she smiled widely, making his heart beat like crazy.
"Really? Us too. Want to travel together? We are going to visit a friend"
"Eh… ehhhhhh, why me too! Haha, can't leave friends alone now can we?", Max laughed robotically.
Mayumi clapped her hands fast and repeatedly in joy, "Excellent! I hope we will be good friends too!", as she replied leaning in close to him, the scent of her perfume wafting up into his nostrils.
'…..Thank you god for this wonderful bounty….', Max thought dreamily to himself before he realised that his back was kinda heavy….EXTREMELY HEAVY.
Finally, he realised that there was luggage stacked almost twice the height of him tied around his body with rope as Mayumi skipped away ahead whistling happily. Masumi stood in front of him and bowed slightly.
"S..sorry. My sister knew you were strong enough to carry our entire luggage since she saw you complete the basic training course, when that NPC awarded you the sword."
"Eh… that’s ok, I am use to it".
"R..really? You kinda look like you are crying?"
"Oh this? Its just the sewerage flushing out along with all my hopes and dreams. Nothing to worry about"
"Haaa… Ok we better catch up with her. And don't worry, we know a shortcut to get to the frontier quicker so you can go meet your friend sooner".
The words jolted Max for a moment as he realised what he was really supposed to do in this world. Surprise grandpa with a gift entrusted to him by his parents. That was the reason why he didn’t contact his grandfather to tell him that he was in this world, he didn’t want the old man to be suspicious of his motives. In saying so, Max touched the pocket of his shirt lightly where the treasure now sits and just resolved himself to a few weeks of minor inconvenience.
And thus he set forth, following the Samurai Twins into the east.
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Eric knelt in the centre of the road, analysing the recent flow of events that had befallen this place. With his keen eye, taking note the strategy that was implemented and what the force had then decided to do. For some reason he was sure that MAN was leading this group, not because of the signs of devastating efficiency marked in the terrain everywhere based on the tracking skills he had gained in the game… but purely his soldier’s instinct ...
The force must have found what they were looking for, as only a single squad led away a long line of prisoners towards whence they came and the rest proceeded onwards, Eric traced their footprints with a finger and knew that they were travelling with an increase in burden, perhaps extra rations for the journey. Which meant speed was of the essence.
One can't help but admire the decisive and straightforward manner of this commander… before Eric lightly shook his head to remove all such feelings as his face resumed the lifeless cast that had become second nature to him. He was here for only one purpose. To finish their duel.
*********************************************************************************************
[Ending Song: Gentle Light](http://picosong.com/FqFE/)
 |
{
"title": "Short Stories by Vielfras",
"id": 49,
"author": "Vielfras",
"rating": 3
} | {
"title": "Everything Was Grey – Chapter One",
"id": 33,
"next": null,
"prev": 32,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
There weren't many clouds but the usually clear blue sky was less vibrant, almost grey. It made the sky look sad, and as though the whole island grieved for the sky, it too looked a shade of grey darker.<br>A man was standing on the tallest cliff in the south side of the island. He wasn't old but no one would think he was young either. Although he was still a man in his prime, only twenty-six, the sad expression turned even sadder by large and deep wrinkles made his face appear much older than he actually was. He wasn't sad though, not for some time now. For about half a year, a month and a half in the real world as Royal Road's game speed was four times faster than normal, he was happy.<br><br>Well, happy is a bit of an overstatement, content would suit him more.<br>"You're right. It's getting colder." He spoke in response to a shiver he felt on his leg from a small creature pressed against it.<br>The creature, about the size of a small dog, looked like a seal but with a long, almost white fur. And though he had four legs, whenever it stood still, as it did now, the back legs would bend behind under its small and round behind, and would resemble a dolphin's tail. It was a monster named Tziffir. The man knew that because the system notice told him so when he accepted the creature as his pet. He planned to read on it on the internet but something always came up whenever he logged out, so eventually he gave up on the idea. Still, from time to time he would look at Zif and wonder how big he would grow and how ferocious it would someday become. Since Zif had a set of sharp teeth, capable of slicing a leaf in half he couldn't help but think that one day Zif would use these teeth on him. A round flat horn was also growing on its forehead, partly hidden under a mane which only grew long around the horn.<br>-'If it keeps growing so fast I'll have to take care of it again soon.'- The man thought.<br>It was unpleasant, thinking about filing the creature's horn. It didn't hurt the creature but grinding it down until it was flat enough was long, and as the beast rarely cooperated it was also very tedious work.<br><br>He didn't want to dwell on the unpleasant thought so he took a deep breath of fresh sea air instead.<br>"It's sweeter than usual," he spoke to his little friend again.<br>He wasn't much of a talker and kept to himself most of the time, however, Zif was an exception. Zif never answered but from time to time would look at the man with the purest eyes, as if he could understand everything.<br>"Somewhere, it must be raining. No wonder the atmosphere is greyish." He looked behind him for a moment before turning back to stare at the horizon. "It's probably raining over on the mainland. I hope it doesn't reach us." A flat dark shape on the horizon could be seen from where he was standing. The cliff was the only place where this shape, the mainland, was visible and the man liked to look at it in the mornings. Zif didn't like coming here because of the sea breeze which was strong here. But it was either this or staying at home so he bore with it as it meant spending more time with the sweet, strong and always kind man he considered to be his father. <br>"I like rain and I enjoy this grim atmosphere it comes with. It makes me feel like something magical is about to happen, even in the real world. But if the rain is strong enough to change the air here it must be quite the storm," he reached down to scratch Zif behind the ear. "Wouldn't want it to tear down the fence we've finally finished putting in place." Zif's eyes were closed in pleasure and he was trying to stretch his neck as far as possible so that there would be more space to scratch.<br>"Can you imagine Jee-sar's face if something happens to the fence? Eh? Can you?" He smiled to himself as he scratched Zif with both hands now.<br>The man straightened up to look at the distant land again; a ship was heading in the island direction.<br>"A big one. Must be a trade ship."<br><br>There was a strong sea current that surrounded the island. It started near the mainland, headed towards the island where it would make a circle and come back to the mainland on the other side. Whenever the man had business there he would navigate his small sail boat to the current, which together with a strong back wind would bring him to land in less than a day.<br>It was a rare occasion for him but other ships used it all the time. The current slingshot them towards the open sea where another current ran, thus saving them time on their travels.<br>"Let's go." The man started to walk away but stopped as Zif didn't follow. "No, Zif, it's cold today. Come on." Zif looked back with puppy eyes. His pink tongue hung out from his mouth and his lips curled up just enough to reveal a row of pin sharp teeth. It almost looked like he was smiling.<br>"Ok. I'll meet you down at the b…" Zif didn't wait for the sentence to end. He ran and jumped from the cliff. As he fell through the air his legs flattened to his stomach while his chin touched his torso. Air caressed his fur back and drew wave patterns in it as Zif accelerated. In this position his body resembled a missile where at the tip was the horn on his forehead. The horn would hit the water first, breaking the waters surface and absorbing the impact from the high dive so that his body could slip underwater with ease. The man was used to it already but the first time Zif jumped, head first, off of the cliff he almost dived after him.<br><br>Instead of watching Zif playing around in the water the man headed down the way he came from. His small wooden shack was visible between a few growing trees and a barely visible path led to it through tall grass. The path started at the shack and split into many ways. The one he followed would lead him to the rocky beach under the cliff.<br>The weather was to his liking and there was no task that needed to be completed, a perfect time he thought, for a little sculpting.<br>The short walk warmed him up enough to take off his thin cloak. He stopped for a moment to tuck it into his inventory and straighten the hammer that hung from the back of his pants. When he continued walking the hammer began waving back and forth, hitting the back of his leg with each step. A sheet of metal covered in leather was strapped to the place the hammer hit, so with every step a muffled clank was produced. He never noticed it anymore, but at one point this tapping sound had earned him a nickname amongst the players of Royal Road. A nickname from a time he wished to forget, and ever since he came to the island he managed to keep the memories out of his head quite well. The secret, it turned out, was to keep himself busy. That way he didn't need to think of the past and the bad memories woud eventually be replaced with good ones, or even better, become insignificant.<br>It was working fine for him but ever since the last of the fence was put in place there wasn't much left to keep him busy. Jee-sar and his wife Jee-Ra, took care of the little daily chores there were and so he now spent his days playing with Zif and teaching Fae-na.<br>On one of the long walks he took with Zif he found a small cove where the sandy beach was littered with hundreds of boulders. That day he had fun smashing the boulders with his hammer and working up a good sweat. It was something he hadn't done for some time and it was a nice change of pace. One of the rocks he hit crumbled in such a way that resembled a face and the rest of the day was spent trying to make the faces features more prominent. The next day was spent on breaking apart the base of the stone so that it would resemble a neck and shoulders. When he backed away and looked at the crude bust, thinking to himself there was nothing else he could do a system message popped up informing him that he has acquired "Sculpting Mastery".<br>On his next trip to the mainland he bought a few sculpting tools from a small shop near the docks and began to take regular walks to the rocky beach from then on. He worked slowly but he had already completed four statues and raised his mastery to level two.<br><br>An extension of the cliffs wall closed a boulder scattered beach from sight, but once you circled around it you could see the whole span of the beach with one glance. The face, his first statue, stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the beach. What once looked to him as a masterpiece was now nothing more than a rough representation of facial features, but he kept it as it was. He liked to look at it and see his progress.<br>After taking off his boots to enjoy the feel of water between his toes, he walked a bit more next to the waters edge until he saw the second statue he made. It was nothing more than a boulder with eyes and stripes on it but to him it looked like Zif. Two more statues were next to it, almost in a row. They too were supposed to be Zif, but only the last one actually looked like an animal and not a blob.<br>In his last session he finished working on the outline form of the statue and today he planned to texture fur patterns. He had a special tool for the job with a small hammer for it but he never used a different hammer except the one he had strapped to his hip at all times. The same hammer he found more than a year ago when his level was still in the two digit numbers.<br><br>It was a simple looking metal hammer, not much longer than his forearm. A leather grip and a small harness with a loop at the end were placed at the bottom of the handle. The grip looked completely worn-out but whenever the man grabbed the hammer and swung, it never tore or moved. The small harness kept the hammer firm in its place on the belt.<br>Only when the man raised the hammer to begin work on the statue it became clear this was no ordinary hammer. A large gemstone was imbedded firmly at the striking edge of the hammer. The quality of the precious stone was high and the way it shone in the weak sunlight of that day could be seen even from sea.<br>The first hit landed on the chisel he held in his other arm and although the strike was very gentle there was no visible backlash from the hammer.<br>The edge of the man's mouth curved a little upwards as he enjoyed the weight of the hammer in his palm. Out of his entire inventory the hammer was the only thing he was emotionally attached to. He even invested a huge sum of money to have an arch mage bind the hammer to him, so that no one else but he himself could use it. He had no need for any other weapon as the hammer leveled up alongside him.<br>It was hidden in an abandoned underground dwarven fortress and surrounded by stone golems. A month was spent on exploring the catacombs, but in the end he found the hammer held in the skeleton hands of a long dead dwarf . After identifying it he became the proud owner of the legendary hammer "Lonely Shine". Its legendary trait was the ability to absorb kinetic energy. In the weapons description was an exp bar that filled a little with each hit made with the hammer.<br>No matter how strong the strike was there was never any recoil from it. The perfect weapon for the man at that time. The anger that filled him finally found an outlet. And as the anger slowly left so did the hammer grow stronger. Until a day came when one of his quests had brought him to this island. A little longer than six months had passed since then but the quest remained incomplete and the thought of leaving has yet to cross the man's mind.<br><br><br>The sounds of the hammer hits on the chisel were lost amongst the sound of breaking waves. It was noon, when the sun was supposed to be the brightest, but the greyness from the morning got darker instead of disappearing. The wind was gaining strength and a drop of rain fell from time to time, leaving a small dark circle on the stones or sand.<br>The water got colder as well, yet the small, white creature kept playing in the waves as if nothing changed. It rode the waves and dove under them only to shoot high into the air a second later. It heard the man's voice coming from the beach but ignored it and dove under once again, looking for fish. When it came up the voice came again, this time it sounded a bit angry so the small beast turned towards the beach and caught a wave.<br>-'I hope daddy isn't mad,'- it thought as it rode the wave back to the beach.<br><br>"Hurry up! I don't want to get wet."<br>The man was standing on the cliff's extension, which entered the sea and hid the road back up from the stone riddled cove. Zif walked on the wet sand with difficulty. His feet and fur were sucked into the mud and refused to come out. When he finally got to the dry sand and looked up the man was no longer visible.<br>Scared, Zif sprinted foreword. His wet fur slowed him down, sending drops of sea-water in all directions as his butt wobbled up and down in a funny way. It jumped to where the man was last standing and tried to find the man's smell but the strong wind made smelling anything but his wet fur impossible.<br>Zif snarled at the evil wind, trying to scare it away so that it wouldn't delay finding the most important person in his life. Disappointed it didn't work, ZIf jumped down and started to run up the road, looking everywhere for the one he loved most.<br>The wind was weaker here and he got a whiff of the smell he was looking for, but the weak drizzle that started seemed to make the smell come from all the directions at the same time.<br>"Let's go, before the rain gets stronger."<br>The man seemed to appear next to Zif as if out of thin air. It made Zif jump sideways and his fur puffed up to make him appear more menacing. However, when he saw who it was he completely forgot about everything that happened and ran up to the man to try and climb up to his shoulder.<br>"No! no, stop it." The man lifted the small creature with great difficulty and put him back on the ground. "You can't climb on me anymore, you've grown too heavy!"<br>Zif scowled and whimpered as he followed the man.<br>"It's not your fault. I want to carry you as well but I can't, I'm too weak."<br>This shocked Zif to a stop. He looked at his almighty daddy and couldn't believe what he heard.<br>"Yes, yes. Just like that. I'm getting too old." He crouched to scratch Zif behind the ears. "That's life, nothing we can do about it."<br>Zif closed his eyes so he could concentrate better on the pleasure. All the tension disappeared from his body and his tongue fell out of his open mouth.<br>"You'll need to grow big and strong, ok? Then you will be the one to carry me." The man laughed out loudly when he saw Zif slowly realize what he just said. Zif began jumping up and down in circles around the man as if inviting his best friend to try riding him now.<br>"It will have to wait a little, let's go eat first. I can see the smoke rising from Jee-Ra's house." He stepped over Zif who was blocking the narrow road. "I think I heard her say something about fish for tonight."<br>At the mention of fish Zif made a sound like a dog's bark and a parrot's shriek mixed together. Fish were his favorite food and when it was cooked it tasted even better. He ran past the man's legs up to a bend in the road, where he turned and looked at the man as if trying to convey: "Walk faster, you slowpoke. How much longer are you going to make me wait?"<br>"Go ahead, I'll catch up. Make sure to save some for me though."<br>When things concerned fish there was no need to tell Zif twice, like an arrow he shot up the road, disappearing in between the trees.<br>-'I wonder how far you will get this time?'- thought the man while a faint smile covered his face.<br>-'Oh? I did it again? Didn't even notice.'- He thought.<br>Whenever Zif left his side the man's mouth seemed to clamp up. Not many people knew what his voice sounded like and even less could say they had a real conversation with him.<br>-'I probably talked more in these past few months than I did my entire life. But now that Fae-Na finishes books faster than I can get her new ones there's little need for me to talk.'-<br>He stopped to fix the noose on the hammer so it wouldn't snag on the low branches.<br>-'I wonder if there are any sweets left in the storage chest.'- He was heading to the small wooden shack he and Zif lived in.<br>-'Maybe I'll take Zif fishing tomorrow. Jee-Sar probably has some bait I can borrow.'-<br>The road he was following, more an animal track than any real dirt road, passed between trees and thick bushes. He had his right arm raised the whole time to protect his face from stray leaves and branches, but when a low branch scratched his left forearm all the color left his face.<br>-'I'm in my third year of playing and I still can't get used to this. Almost a year in the real world and I still get scared whenever something touches it.'- The man put his left hand in his pocket and continued walking as if nothing had happened, yet his body unconsciously turned to put his left side farther away to protect it.<br><br>The man was not so different than anyone else. Sure he had his quirks, everyone had a few, but his never made him stand out from the crowd. On the contrary, most of the times people would ignore him because of his small quirks. He was introverted and preferred to keep his thoughts to himself. He had a few close friends and even a girlfriend he married right out of high school, but none of them ever said or showed that they enjoyed his company.<br>He was a good friend to have. Quiet, loyal and always willing to help and as such the few people who knew him well never said a bad word about him and always respected him.<br>Married and with a child on the way he didn't have time for college and began working at a factory close to home. For two years life was bearable. He's wife always nagged him about not having enough money but other than that things were good. He loved his two daughters and didn't hate his job.<br>However good things are, they are not meant to last, not for long. <br>The factory had an accident in which he lost his left arm. There was no way to reattach it because there wasn't really any arm left to save. It didn't hurt at all actually as he lost his consciousness the moment it happened. So when he came back, lying in the hospital bed, no strong emotions were triggered in him when he saw his left sleeve lying flat against his chest. All he remembered was feeling a little regret which he thought was understandable.<br>The worst came a few months after the accident. He was back at the factory, they made him shift manager in hopes he wouldn't press charges, which always made him laugh because he never had any intentions of doing that. It was an ordinary day and everything was going well until a loud sound passed through the building. It sounded like metal grinding against metal, and it made the man writhe in pain. He could feel his missing left arm and it hurt like hell.<br>"Phantom Pain" was what the doctors called it and there was nothing to be done against it they said. The man accepted it and went back to work the next day; however his wife saw it as an opportunity and hired a lawyer to press for compensation. The man told his wife there was no need for that but she threatened him with divorce if he didn't go through with it.<br>In the end they won and became filthy rich. And now that the wife got the taste of the easy life she couldn't bear with the slow and quiet way of life her husband enjoyed so much. So in the end she divorced him and took most of the money together with the kids.<br>Left with nothing but the pain of his missing left arm the man wanted to run away from everything and everyone but wherever he went, there always seemed to be people around him. So instead he hid in his room and refused to leave. He had enough money left to live comfortably like that for the rest of his miserable life, and he probably would have done that if one of his acquaintances didn't suggest virtual reality games.<br>These games appealed to him and gave him an outlet to the anger that was starting to build up inside him. Still, none of the games held his attention for long until Royal Road was released into the market. To his surprise when he logged into the game he was presented with an option of regenerating his left arm in the character creation menu. He began playing without any real goal, simply enjoying the feeling of being whole once more, while to his great pleasure the phantom pain that had been bothering him ever since the accident disappeared.<br><br>His way of playing was peculiar. He didn't care if he died. When a month passed and he was finally allowed to go outside the town into the wilderness, he picked up the first weapon he could find and headed outside. He was helping in the construction of a building at the time so what he took with him was a simple nail hammer.<br>As he didn't have any goal and for getting quests there was need to talk, which he tried to avoid as much as possible, when he came out of town with a hammer in his right hand he felt lost. He didn't like that ,so he looked at the road that passed through the town and saw how it disappeared behind the horizon and without any second thought decided he would follow it until it ended.<br>So he began walking, fighting monsters, bandits and other players along his way. He lost count of how many times he died but when the road came to a dead end, at some rural village on the edge of a tall mountain range; he had become one of the one-hundred strongest players in Royal Road. It was at this small village that he had received the quest that led him to the island he settled in.<br>The island wasn't part of the quest but when he saw how isolated and peaceful it was he just never left. And just like that, the strongest one-handed hammer user of Royal-Road, a man with no useful skills but those required for killing and not being killed, with the only quest he had ever taken still unfinished left civilization and began a new life alone on an uninhabited island.<br>Two weeks later he met Zif and smiled for the first time since the day the accident occurred.<br><br><br>Raindrops were falling all around.<br>They weren't the heavy and cold drops storms were made out of but rather small and fickle rain drops one could encounter in rare summer rains. The strong sea wind scattered them with ease, so as the man exited the cover the small trees provided, the rain didn't hit him from where one would expect to be hit by rain drops.Instead of the top of his head getting wet, the right side of his body was slowly getting a shade darker than his left. He was close to his small home already and if he hurried he could reach it before the wetness penetrated his coat.<br>It was probably his imagination but the wooden shack seemed to sway under the force of the wind. He made it with his own two hands and while it looked rundown he knew it was sturdy and more important, comfortable. He paused before entering to wipe some mud of his feet and shot a glance at the horizon as he did that. A huge black cloud blocked out the sky. As if it were alive it was slowly moving towards the small island, devouring the blue sky in front of it as it progressed. He could see lightning, bright against the black mass but it was still too far away for the thunder to be heard.<br>-'I should barricade the windows and maybe take something with me to sleep at Jee-Sar's place. I hope the storm passes over us fast.'-<br><br>Inside the house was eerily empty, as if it had been abandoned in a rush years ago. Only the lack of dust indicated the place was still inhabited.<br>A low one-person bed was placed in the far left corner from the door and a small chest lay adjacent to it. A small table with a chair next to it was in the middle of the room while a medium sized cupboard and a stool were placed alongside a fireplace on the right side of the one room house shack.<br>The man cast a small log into the dying coals, sending sparks flying and making the shadows in the room dance. He quickly closed the two small windows and secured them in place with a metal stick. With the windows closed the dancing shadows became darker and actually seemed to move in unison.<br>-'Now that the fence is finished with, I should clean this chest up a bit.'- His upper body was inside the chest and he was moving things around with his extended hands.<br>-'Where are they? I know I put them next to the shields.'- He dropped to his knees to get a better view.<br>-'There they are! How did they get so far?'-<br>The man rose and jumped into the chest. He disappeared inside and sounds of him moving things around were heard.<br>A hand grabbed the edge of the chest and then another. With some difficulty the man pulled himself upwards and jumped out of the chest with a small knapsack held between his teeth.<br>-'I could've just put it in the inventory,'- he thought as he straightened. -'Funny, how this game gets to you.'-<br>-'I got used to the weirdest things... yet some things still stay the same.'- It was too dark to see clearly but he held his left palm in front of his face.<br>-'It's my old hand, no matter how I look at it... even the scars I got as a kid are there...'-<br>-'Huh?'- The man stiffened.<br>His "Sense Presence" skill alerted him that someone or something has come into his range. By pulling up the mini map menu he could see two small dots moving on the trail towards his cabin. One was moving strangely, zigzagging and circling around the second dot. He could tell it was Zif which meant the other one must be Fae-na, which would explain the grey colored dot, usually reserved to Npc's.<br>-'Probably here to ask for another book.'- His tensed muscles relaxed once he knew it wasn't an enemy. -'I just hope I still have some left.'- He thought and jumped back into the chest.<br><br>The wooden door opened, almost silently, but before it could open completely Zif crashed inside. Wet and muddy he left footprints on the wooden floor.<br>"Zif!" A high pitched female voice said, "Do it outside."<br>The small creature looked at the small child, barely taller than him, standing outside the open door with her feet spread apart. With one hand held firmly at her hip and the other pointing at the ground beside her she could almost pass for a grown-up.<br>When Zif didn't listen and looked like he was ready to continue what he started, the little girl stamped her foot down like she saw her mother do so many times before. Not saying anything, she glared at Zif as he crawled obediently outside and began to shake his fur from side to side. When the child was satisfied at how dry he was she patted him on the head and scratched him behind his ear, which was something she knew Zif adored.<br>"Ok." she spoke to Zif and clapped her hands together.<br>"You go in first and I'll come in after I cancel the magic barrier." Zif joyfully jumped inside and disappeared in the shadows of the room.<br>The girl mumbled a few words before following him and closing the door as fast as her little strength allowed her.<br>"You're back." A voice said pausing for a moment in which scratching noises could be heard, "So? Have you eaten some fish?"<br>A low pitched ramble followed by what could only be described as a cat's bark answered the question.<br>"No? Are you sure you asked nicely?"<br>"Mama said no one eats until everyone sits at the table." The little girl walked up next to Zif, who was playing with the hammer swinging from his caring father's belt. She looked up at the man's eyes and extended her left hand forward.<br>"Ho... what's this?" The man asked as he crouched to be closer to the girl's eye level.<br>"A greeting." The girl said with a proud smile on her face.<br>"I see that. But where did you learn such a greeting?"<br>"A book."<br>"It was probably a very hard book."<br>"It was, but not for me." Pride could be heard in her squeaky kid voice.<br>She moved her hand to make him notice it was still hanging in the air, yet her smile still grew larger at the compliment making a dimple appear on her right cheek.<br>"Oh, right, how silly of me." The man grasped the small and fragile hand in his rough callused palm, firmly and gently at the same time.<br>"Hello." He said.<br>"Hello," answered the child with a shake of her tiny arm.<br><br>Zif sat and looked at the two people with curiosity and a bit of annoyance at the fact that he was being ignored. He licked their hands while they were still held together which made them laugh, and to him laughing meant that this was a game and he loved games almost as much as he loved fish.<br>-'Now I just need to figure out this new game rules,'- he thought and tried to give another lick, but the palms were already apart.<br>"Here, give me your paw."<br>"Good. Now we shake and greet each other like we haven't see each other for a looooong time. Ok? Ready? Hello."<br>"Mroof."<br>"Very good." She giggled.<br><br>While the girl played with Zif the man made sure the windows were secured once more. Satisfied they wouldn't budge even if the storm hit full force he gathered the coals at the back of the fireplace and closed the opening.<br>-'Wouldn't want the wind to scatter them and start a fire.'-<br>He tried to ignore the playing children and listen to the outside but Zif was just too loud.<br>-'Doesn't sound like the rain got stronger. But what am I gonna do about him? He's not going to get sick but he'll get everyone else wet...wait... can't say the same about her though...'-<br>"Fae-na, where's your coat?"<br>She looked at him with a pair of large round eyes. He couldn't see her well now that the coals were no longer coloring the room with their red light, however he could feel her stare upon him and see a faint glow. Her golden eyes were shining orange, as if they absorbed the light from the coals.<br>"Don't need one."<br>"Even though it's raining?"<br>It was hard to tell but she probably nodded. The man took her word for it and opened the door slightly, just so he could assess the situation.<br>"Whatever reason it is you don't need a coat, can it also keep Zif dry?"<br>"It can. But only if he's close to me."<br>Sensing somehow that they were talking about him Zif ran up to the man and rubbed himself on his legs.<br>"Can you show me? Please." Said the man and opened the door just enough for the small girl to pass. The child stood up and mumbled a few words before leaving the cabin. Zif was trying hard to go outside as well but the man held him firmly.<br>"So?" She swirled around herself, showing how she was completely dry.<br>"Wow."<br>"It's a spell I learned from one of the books you gave me."<br>"Aren't you the little mage."<br>It was clear that she wanted to be praised and there was a good reason to.<br>"And how does it work?" The man asked with an exaggerated impressed tone of voice.<br>"Well..." she spread her arms apart, "it's a protection spell that puts a barrier around me. I was practicing my magic, like you taught me, when the rain began. So I ran home but I wasn't wet. The rain couldn't touch me. It wanted to make me wet but the barrier wouldn't let him."<br>"How very useful."<br>"Mhhem. That's why mom said I can come here to ask fo..." she looked down at her feet suddenly.<br>-'Haha, finally she remembers.'- he smiled.<br>"Well... you see... I... ehhhm... I finished the book you gave me... and..."<br>-'It's so easy to forget she's still a kid with the way she usually acts.'-<br>"Yes?"<br>"I wanted to... ehh... ask if you have another book you can lend me?" She said and lifted her eager eyes from her feet to look at the man.<br>"I might have one or two left." -'Though it's actually getting hard to find books for your level.'-<br>"Can I have it please?"<br>"Of course you can." The adorable look on her face made it impossible to say no even if the man wanted to. "Here you go. It's about a witch who saved a village of fairies a very long time ago. Have you ever met fairies, Fae-Na?"<br><br>"Zif! Walk beside me." He said, more than a little annoyed.<br>There wasn't much more than a drizzle but their destination was still away to go.<br>Fae-Na was sitting on the man's shoulders and reading her new book on his head. The barrier she cast kept the three of them dry but Zif kept running to smell things and coming back inside the barrier with a fresh layer of rain drops on his fur.<br>Something resembling a smile was on the man's face and though Zif refused to listen it wasn't enough to ruin his mood. Walking in the rain was a habit of his even in the real world. Sure, out there he used an umbrella instead of magic, but both places felt equally real.<br>-'I wish I could take my own girls on a stroll in the rain.'- The faint smile he had, disappeared for a moment but reappeared as suddenly as it left.<br>-'Jinny will be five soon. She's probably the same size as Fae-Na.'- He heard the sound of a page turning and felt the book being moved around a little as it shifted his hair around.<br>-'We celebrated Fae-Na's eleventh birthday three months ago but looking at her she doesn’t look any older than six. I kind of hoped that with living here and eating well she might grow up being taller that her parents, but I guess she'll be around her mother's height.'-<br>"Zif! To me!"<br>-'A meter forty is just too small… too bad…'-<br>A small hut became visible in the distance. Smoke was rising from it only to be scattered by the wind.<br>-'At least she has the magic affinity her golden eyes give her.'- He could see in his mind her large eyes and the way they would look at him, as if they could read his mind.<br>"Look, Fae-Na, your mom is waving to us."<br>"Hhm."<br>-'Give her a book and she forgets there is a world outside of the pages…'-<br>"Come on… I'm holding you so you'll have to wave for the both of us."<br><br>"Hey. I hope we''re not intruding?"<br>"No, no. Never. You always welcome here."<br>"It is you are always welcome here, mama."<br>"Not now sweetie, go help with table."<br>"But… I want to read the boo…"<br>The small woman put her hand on her hip and gave her daughter the same look the small child gave Zif not so long ago when he was disobeying.<br>"Please come in." She turned to the man after her daughter came inside. "This your home too."<br>"Zif, shake yourself dry before coming in."<br>It was warm inside.<br>A fire was burning in the fireplace and a strong but pleasant smell of cooking fish hung in the air. There were two doors opposite each other that lead to the bedrooms and kitchen, but both were closed at the moment to keep the heat from leaving the round room they were in. Animal furs hung from the wall and a lantern filled with home made candles was hanging from the ceiling.<br>The man helped build the house with his proportions in mind but in the end he still had to bend when standing inside.<br><br>Because of the rain they had to use a smaller table instead of the usual one placed outside. Sitting next to it and with the family of three as company he felt like a giant. Zif was at his usual spot near him so he could feel part of everyone. He was eating his share of fish but would, like always, eat all the leftovers as well.<br>-'Never stopped him before, but I hope its okay for him to be eating the bones…'-<br>Fae-Na had her new book beside her. It was closed but she kept stealing glances at it nonetheless. Jee-Sar and Jee-Ra were discussing how they should deal with the coming sheep wool harvest. Jee-Ra wanted to take it all for household use but Jee-Sar said they should sell it and buy a cow instead. There was something else but it was hard to follow since they kept reverting to their native language.<br>-'I'll ask Fae-Na later. They'll ask me to decide what to do with the wool anyways so might as well be aware of all their concerns.'-<br>"Can I have some more?"<br>"Yes, yes. Here, eat all you want."<br>"Thank you. It is really good."<br>Jee-Ra couldn’t have been happier at that moment.<br>-'What is it now? Almost five months since they came… and they still treat me as their master, ughh…'- he tried to ignore Jee-Ra looking at him eating.<br>A little more than four months ago the man saw Jee-Sar and his family in the sea trying to reach the safety of the island.<br>At that time Zif was still small and they would take regular walks around the island together. Zif would sit on his shoulder or hide himself inside his shirt where it was warm.<br>-'I miss the way he would stick his small head out and look at the world with awe.'-<br>Zif was the one who noticed them first. The sea was calm that day and the ripples they were causing attracted his attention.<br>-'The water was pretty cold for such a sunny day.'-<br>The man jumped into the water and swam towards them to help.<br>-'I grabbed Fae-Na and Jee-Ra because I thought they were the youngest. Man was I surprised when I found out it was a family and not a bunch of children.'-<br>Jee-Sar made it to shore by himself and began to weep. All three of them wept.<br>Fae-Na's older brother didn't make it. Turned out he used up all of his strength to keep his sister from drowning, and when he saw she was safe in the hands of the man who came to their rescue, his muscles gave out and he went under water. He didn't struggle or scream for help, most likely didn't want to risk his parents coming back for him, the fool.<br>-'I felt responsible for his death at the time. I kept thinking that if I didn't idle around looking for the ship they fell from and instead jumped into the water right away he would've made it to shore.'-<br>When they finally stopped crying a different problem presented itself. It turned out they didn't speak his language but spoke some weird Npc one instead.<br>-'Luckily... I guess... being a slave race, they had an uncanny ability for learning new languages.'-<br>It took them less than a month to learn enough for them to be able to understand each other and another two to be able to converse casually. But unlike the parents, the daughter was a real surprise.<br>-'She's the one that told me their story. The parents refuse to talk about it even today.'-<br>In three weeks she could already make simple conversation and by the end of the first month she had already read her first book. The man bought her dozen of children fairy-tale books and very quickly she was already teaching her parents. Around the end of the second month on the island, while the man and her father worked on a fence for a small flock of sheep that lived on the island, Fae-Na began to learn magic.<br>-'When I was helping her with her first spell she shared with me their story. I had a hard time looking in their eyes after...'-<br><br>Originally from another continent than the one he started playing in, Fae-Na and her family were part of a slave race of Npcs. Sold to both players and other Npcs, they never had any choice with what to do with their lives.<br>-'But life wasn't so bad for her parents and brother she tells me. "Not until I was born" she says, like it means nothing.'-<br>Her father, at only a meter sixty, was among the tallest of her race and also one of the strongest. He worked in the king's stables and managed to get Jee-Ra work as a cook in the palace. Children were considered subject of their parents' master from the moment they were born, and so, the eldest son began working in the stables as well.<br>The day she came into their world was the day her family's life fell into ruin. Telling everyone the girl died during labor they hid her and kept her a secret. They knew that if anyone found out it would mean her death.<br>-'It was her golden colored eyes. They were a sign that she possessed a sharp mind and a strong affinity to magic.'-<br>Children with gold eyes were rare and if one was born it had the good fortune of being a personal slave of the king himself. However the king already had golden eyed slaves. The first was an old man who grew up together with the king and has served the family for more than sixty years. While the other was a young girl destined to stay next to the king for the rest of her life and be passed from father to son.<br>-'Apparently it wasn't the first time such a thing happened and since the king didn't need another golden eyed slave, Fae-Na was to be handed to the royal mage'-<br>This was the cause of her parents' fears. It was common knowledge that mages lusted the power hidden in the golden eyes. They would nurture the young slaves and raise their magic power only so they could harvest it for themselves later.<br>In the old texts it is written that golden eyes were once a common trait amongst their race, but mages craving more power hunted them down to extinction. While many of the side effect of consuming the eyes were unknown there was one trait that no mage would pass the chance at getting.<br>-'Eating the eyes permanently doubled a mage's Mp. Even for a warrior like me it's quite tempting… and god knows I've done worst things to get stronger.'- <br>With great difficulty Fae-Na was kept a secret.<br>But when she was ten, she somehow wandered outside and was seen by another slave. Jee-Sar, scared the secret was no longer safe, killed the slave and ran away together with his family. No one bothered following them, especially not for killing one slave, and they managed to get away from the citadel and reach a port town.<br>-'Their goal was the land I came from; however things didn't go so smooth…'-<br>Hiding the girl's identity on a small ship turned out to be impossible and so the father killed once more. They took the small dinghy the ship carried and let the vassal disappear in the distance before following the same direction. They thought they were safe until the little dinghy started filling up with water from numerous cracks. At the last moment they noticed land in the distance and swam towards it.<br>And at this small island they had been staying since.<br>-'They're free now, but I guess it's written in their programming or something, because they keep treating me like I own them. Good things Fae-Na is different... maybe it's her golden eyes?'-<br>"The rain is done."<br>The man looked at the window and sure enough the stars were visible and the window was dry.<br>"I go start fire there. Fae, you go get the book, sweetie."<br>-'It's already night time? I should get back home before the rain starts anew.'-<br>"Zif, come. I got sweets in my room." The girl whispered in the sleeping animal ear, careful so her mother wouldn't hear.<br>The man laughed at the drowsy Zif following her, falling twice on his behind. His belly grew a few sizes and what he wanted to do most of all at the moment was sleep near the fireplace, but at the mention of sweets he somehow summoned the will force to wake up.<br>-'I guess we can stay a bit longer. Plus Fae-Na is one hell of a story teller.'- The man stood up, careful not to hit his head on the ceiling, and went outside to help Jee-Sar start a fire while Jee-Ra cleared the table.<br><br>Sitting outside by the fire with a full stomach felt heavenly. There was just enough wind to make the flames dance without making one cold and looking for cover.<br>The man looked at the fire in a daze. He could hear Fae-Na's voice in the background but he tried to concentrate on the crackling of the firewood instead. Zif lay by his side and without even noticing his hand was patting him on the head.<br>-'So nice.'- Was the only thought in his head at the moment but even that was gone as he looked up at the stars.<br>The rain cleared away all the dust in the air and the stars were shining brighter than ever.<br>"What doe0s residence mean?"<br>"It means a place where someone or something lives. Like that," he pointed at the small house behind him, "is your residence."<br>She explained to her parents in their native language and went back to reading the story out loud. The man returned to watching the stars and patting Zif.<br>-'It's almost impossible to see the stars in the real world anymore. Too many bright lights wherever you go. No wonder more and more people are vacationing inside Royal Road instead of in the real world.'-<br>A falling star shot through the sky for an instant.<br>-'So beauti…!'-<br>The man jumped up to his feet. A message appeared in his field of vision alerting him that his "Sense Presence" skill had found something.<br>He started to open the map menu but didn't bother to continue. Whoever it was he was heading towards them without trying to hide. A bright light was hanging in the air down the dirt road that headed to the sea.<br>-'A werelight! Whoever those guys are there's a mage amongst them.'-<br>"Sir, is all okay? What happen?"<br>"Jee-Sar! Look! Guests!" Shrieked Jee-Ra and ran inside the house.
</div> | There weren't many clouds but the usually clear blue sky was less vibrant, almost grey. It made the sky look sad, and as though the whole island grieved for the sky, it too looked a shade of grey darker.
A man was standing on the tallest cliff in the south side of the island. He wasn't old but no one would think he was young either. Although he was still a man in his prime, only twenty-six, the sad expression turned even sadder by large and deep wrinkles made his face appear much older than he actually was. He wasn't sad though, not for some time now. For about half a year, a month and a half in the real world as Royal Road's game speed was four times faster than normal, he was happy.
Well, happy is a bit of an overstatement, content would suit him more.
"You're right. It's getting colder." He spoke in response to a shiver he felt on his leg from a small creature pressed against it.
The creature, about the size of a small dog, looked like a seal but with a long, almost white fur. And though he had four legs, whenever it stood still, as it did now, the back legs would bend behind under its small and round behind, and would resemble a dolphin's tail. It was a monster named Tziffir. The man knew that because the system notice told him so when he accepted the creature as his pet. He planned to read on it on the internet but something always came up whenever he logged out, so eventually he gave up on the idea. Still, from time to time he would look at Zif and wonder how big he would grow and how ferocious it would someday become. Since Zif had a set of sharp teeth, capable of slicing a leaf in half he couldn't help but think that one day Zif would use these teeth on him. A round flat horn was also growing on its forehead, partly hidden under a mane which only grew long around the horn.
-'If it keeps growing so fast I'll have to take care of it again soon.'- The man thought.
It was unpleasant, thinking about filing the creature's horn. It didn't hurt the creature but grinding it down until it was flat enough was long, and as the beast rarely cooperated it was also very tedious work.
He didn't want to dwell on the unpleasant thought so he took a deep breath of fresh sea air instead.
"It's sweeter than usual," he spoke to his little friend again.
He wasn't much of a talker and kept to himself most of the time, however, Zif was an exception. Zif never answered but from time to time would look at the man with the purest eyes, as if he could understand everything.
"Somewhere, it must be raining. No wonder the atmosphere is greyish." He looked behind him for a moment before turning back to stare at the horizon. "It's probably raining over on the mainland. I hope it doesn't reach us." A flat dark shape on the horizon could be seen from where he was standing. The cliff was the only place where this shape, the mainland, was visible and the man liked to look at it in the mornings. Zif didn't like coming here because of the sea breeze which was strong here. But it was either this or staying at home so he bore with it as it meant spending more time with the sweet, strong and always kind man he considered to be his father.
"I like rain and I enjoy this grim atmosphere it comes with. It makes me feel like something magical is about to happen, even in the real world. But if the rain is strong enough to change the air here it must be quite the storm," he reached down to scratch Zif behind the ear. "Wouldn't want it to tear down the fence we've finally finished putting in place." Zif's eyes were closed in pleasure and he was trying to stretch his neck as far as possible so that there would be more space to scratch.
"Can you imagine Jee-sar's face if something happens to the fence? Eh? Can you?" He smiled to himself as he scratched Zif with both hands now.
The man straightened up to look at the distant land again; a ship was heading in the island direction.
"A big one. Must be a trade ship."
There was a strong sea current that surrounded the island. It started near the mainland, headed towards the island where it would make a circle and come back to the mainland on the other side. Whenever the man had business there he would navigate his small sail boat to the current, which together with a strong back wind would bring him to land in less than a day.
It was a rare occasion for him but other ships used it all the time. The current slingshot them towards the open sea where another current ran, thus saving them time on their travels.
"Let's go." The man started to walk away but stopped as Zif didn't follow. "No, Zif, it's cold today. Come on." Zif looked back with puppy eyes. His pink tongue hung out from his mouth and his lips curled up just enough to reveal a row of pin sharp teeth. It almost looked like he was smiling.
"Ok. I'll meet you down at the b…" Zif didn't wait for the sentence to end. He ran and jumped from the cliff. As he fell through the air his legs flattened to his stomach while his chin touched his torso. Air caressed his fur back and drew wave patterns in it as Zif accelerated. In this position his body resembled a missile where at the tip was the horn on his forehead. The horn would hit the water first, breaking the waters surface and absorbing the impact from the high dive so that his body could slip underwater with ease. The man was used to it already but the first time Zif jumped, head first, off of the cliff he almost dived after him.
Instead of watching Zif playing around in the water the man headed down the way he came from. His small wooden shack was visible between a few growing trees and a barely visible path led to it through tall grass. The path started at the shack and split into many ways. The one he followed would lead him to the rocky beach under the cliff.
The weather was to his liking and there was no task that needed to be completed, a perfect time he thought, for a little sculpting.
The short walk warmed him up enough to take off his thin cloak. He stopped for a moment to tuck it into his inventory and straighten the hammer that hung from the back of his pants. When he continued walking the hammer began waving back and forth, hitting the back of his leg with each step. A sheet of metal covered in leather was strapped to the place the hammer hit, so with every step a muffled clank was produced. He never noticed it anymore, but at one point this tapping sound had earned him a nickname amongst the players of Royal Road. A nickname from a time he wished to forget, and ever since he came to the island he managed to keep the memories out of his head quite well. The secret, it turned out, was to keep himself busy. That way he didn't need to think of the past and the bad memories woud eventually be replaced with good ones, or even better, become insignificant.
It was working fine for him but ever since the last of the fence was put in place there wasn't much left to keep him busy. Jee-sar and his wife Jee-Ra, took care of the little daily chores there were and so he now spent his days playing with Zif and teaching Fae-na.
On one of the long walks he took with Zif he found a small cove where the sandy beach was littered with hundreds of boulders. That day he had fun smashing the boulders with his hammer and working up a good sweat. It was something he hadn't done for some time and it was a nice change of pace. One of the rocks he hit crumbled in such a way that resembled a face and the rest of the day was spent trying to make the faces features more prominent. The next day was spent on breaking apart the base of the stone so that it would resemble a neck and shoulders. When he backed away and looked at the crude bust, thinking to himself there was nothing else he could do a system message popped up informing him that he has acquired "Sculpting Mastery".
On his next trip to the mainland he bought a few sculpting tools from a small shop near the docks and began to take regular walks to the rocky beach from then on. He worked slowly but he had already completed four statues and raised his mastery to level two.
An extension of the cliffs wall closed a boulder scattered beach from sight, but once you circled around it you could see the whole span of the beach with one glance. The face, his first statue, stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the beach. What once looked to him as a masterpiece was now nothing more than a rough representation of facial features, but he kept it as it was. He liked to look at it and see his progress.
After taking off his boots to enjoy the feel of water between his toes, he walked a bit more next to the waters edge until he saw the second statue he made. It was nothing more than a boulder with eyes and stripes on it but to him it looked like Zif. Two more statues were next to it, almost in a row. They too were supposed to be Zif, but only the last one actually looked like an animal and not a blob.
In his last session he finished working on the outline form of the statue and today he planned to texture fur patterns. He had a special tool for the job with a small hammer for it but he never used a different hammer except the one he had strapped to his hip at all times. The same hammer he found more than a year ago when his level was still in the two digit numbers.
It was a simple looking metal hammer, not much longer than his forearm. A leather grip and a small harness with a loop at the end were placed at the bottom of the handle. The grip looked completely worn-out but whenever the man grabbed the hammer and swung, it never tore or moved. The small harness kept the hammer firm in its place on the belt.
Only when the man raised the hammer to begin work on the statue it became clear this was no ordinary hammer. A large gemstone was imbedded firmly at the striking edge of the hammer. The quality of the precious stone was high and the way it shone in the weak sunlight of that day could be seen even from sea.
The first hit landed on the chisel he held in his other arm and although the strike was very gentle there was no visible backlash from the hammer.
The edge of the man's mouth curved a little upwards as he enjoyed the weight of the hammer in his palm. Out of his entire inventory the hammer was the only thing he was emotionally attached to. He even invested a huge sum of money to have an arch mage bind the hammer to him, so that no one else but he himself could use it. He had no need for any other weapon as the hammer leveled up alongside him.
It was hidden in an abandoned underground dwarven fortress and surrounded by stone golems. A month was spent on exploring the catacombs, but in the end he found the hammer held in the skeleton hands of a long dead dwarf . After identifying it he became the proud owner of the legendary hammer "Lonely Shine". Its legendary trait was the ability to absorb kinetic energy. In the weapons description was an exp bar that filled a little with each hit made with the hammer.
No matter how strong the strike was there was never any recoil from it. The perfect weapon for the man at that time. The anger that filled him finally found an outlet. And as the anger slowly left so did the hammer grow stronger. Until a day came when one of his quests had brought him to this island. A little longer than six months had passed since then but the quest remained incomplete and the thought of leaving has yet to cross the man's mind.
The sounds of the hammer hits on the chisel were lost amongst the sound of breaking waves. It was noon, when the sun was supposed to be the brightest, but the greyness from the morning got darker instead of disappearing. The wind was gaining strength and a drop of rain fell from time to time, leaving a small dark circle on the stones or sand.
The water got colder as well, yet the small, white creature kept playing in the waves as if nothing changed. It rode the waves and dove under them only to shoot high into the air a second later. It heard the man's voice coming from the beach but ignored it and dove under once again, looking for fish. When it came up the voice came again, this time it sounded a bit angry so the small beast turned towards the beach and caught a wave.
-'I hope daddy isn't mad,'- it thought as it rode the wave back to the beach.
"Hurry up! I don't want to get wet."
The man was standing on the cliff's extension, which entered the sea and hid the road back up from the stone riddled cove. Zif walked on the wet sand with difficulty. His feet and fur were sucked into the mud and refused to come out. When he finally got to the dry sand and looked up the man was no longer visible.
Scared, Zif sprinted foreword. His wet fur slowed him down, sending drops of sea-water in all directions as his butt wobbled up and down in a funny way. It jumped to where the man was last standing and tried to find the man's smell but the strong wind made smelling anything but his wet fur impossible.
Zif snarled at the evil wind, trying to scare it away so that it wouldn't delay finding the most important person in his life. Disappointed it didn't work, ZIf jumped down and started to run up the road, looking everywhere for the one he loved most.
The wind was weaker here and he got a whiff of the smell he was looking for, but the weak drizzle that started seemed to make the smell come from all the directions at the same time.
"Let's go, before the rain gets stronger."
The man seemed to appear next to Zif as if out of thin air. It made Zif jump sideways and his fur puffed up to make him appear more menacing. However, when he saw who it was he completely forgot about everything that happened and ran up to the man to try and climb up to his shoulder.
"No! no, stop it." The man lifted the small creature with great difficulty and put him back on the ground. "You can't climb on me anymore, you've grown too heavy!"
Zif scowled and whimpered as he followed the man.
"It's not your fault. I want to carry you as well but I can't, I'm too weak."
This shocked Zif to a stop. He looked at his almighty daddy and couldn't believe what he heard.
"Yes, yes. Just like that. I'm getting too old." He crouched to scratch Zif behind the ears. "That's life, nothing we can do about it."
Zif closed his eyes so he could concentrate better on the pleasure. All the tension disappeared from his body and his tongue fell out of his open mouth.
"You'll need to grow big and strong, ok? Then you will be the one to carry me." The man laughed out loudly when he saw Zif slowly realize what he just said. Zif began jumping up and down in circles around the man as if inviting his best friend to try riding him now.
"It will have to wait a little, let's go eat first. I can see the smoke rising from Jee-Ra's house." He stepped over Zif who was blocking the narrow road. "I think I heard her say something about fish for tonight."
At the mention of fish Zif made a sound like a dog's bark and a parrot's shriek mixed together. Fish were his favorite food and when it was cooked it tasted even better. He ran past the man's legs up to a bend in the road, where he turned and looked at the man as if trying to convey: "Walk faster, you slowpoke. How much longer are you going to make me wait?"
"Go ahead, I'll catch up. Make sure to save some for me though."
When things concerned fish there was no need to tell Zif twice, like an arrow he shot up the road, disappearing in between the trees.
-'I wonder how far you will get this time?'- thought the man while a faint smile covered his face.
-'Oh? I did it again? Didn't even notice.'- He thought.
Whenever Zif left his side the man's mouth seemed to clamp up. Not many people knew what his voice sounded like and even less could say they had a real conversation with him.
-'I probably talked more in these past few months than I did my entire life. But now that Fae-Na finishes books faster than I can get her new ones there's little need for me to talk.'-
He stopped to fix the noose on the hammer so it wouldn't snag on the low branches.
-'I wonder if there are any sweets left in the storage chest.'- He was heading to the small wooden shack he and Zif lived in.
-'Maybe I'll take Zif fishing tomorrow. Jee-Sar probably has some bait I can borrow.'-
The road he was following, more an animal track than any real dirt road, passed between trees and thick bushes. He had his right arm raised the whole time to protect his face from stray leaves and branches, but when a low branch scratched his left forearm all the color left his face.
-'I'm in my third year of playing and I still can't get used to this. Almost a year in the real world and I still get scared whenever something touches it.'- The man put his left hand in his pocket and continued walking as if nothing had happened, yet his body unconsciously turned to put his left side farther away to protect it.
The man was not so different than anyone else. Sure he had his quirks, everyone had a few, but his never made him stand out from the crowd. On the contrary, most of the times people would ignore him because of his small quirks. He was introverted and preferred to keep his thoughts to himself. He had a few close friends and even a girlfriend he married right out of high school, but none of them ever said or showed that they enjoyed his company.
He was a good friend to have. Quiet, loyal and always willing to help and as such the few people who knew him well never said a bad word about him and always respected him.
Married and with a child on the way he didn't have time for college and began working at a factory close to home. For two years life was bearable. He's wife always nagged him about not having enough money but other than that things were good. He loved his two daughters and didn't hate his job.
However good things are, they are not meant to last, not for long.
The factory had an accident in which he lost his left arm. There was no way to reattach it because there wasn't really any arm left to save. It didn't hurt at all actually as he lost his consciousness the moment it happened. So when he came back, lying in the hospital bed, no strong emotions were triggered in him when he saw his left sleeve lying flat against his chest. All he remembered was feeling a little regret which he thought was understandable.
The worst came a few months after the accident. He was back at the factory, they made him shift manager in hopes he wouldn't press charges, which always made him laugh because he never had any intentions of doing that. It was an ordinary day and everything was going well until a loud sound passed through the building. It sounded like metal grinding against metal, and it made the man writhe in pain. He could feel his missing left arm and it hurt like hell.
"Phantom Pain" was what the doctors called it and there was nothing to be done against it they said. The man accepted it and went back to work the next day; however his wife saw it as an opportunity and hired a lawyer to press for compensation. The man told his wife there was no need for that but she threatened him with divorce if he didn't go through with it.
In the end they won and became filthy rich. And now that the wife got the taste of the easy life she couldn't bear with the slow and quiet way of life her husband enjoyed so much. So in the end she divorced him and took most of the money together with the kids.
Left with nothing but the pain of his missing left arm the man wanted to run away from everything and everyone but wherever he went, there always seemed to be people around him. So instead he hid in his room and refused to leave. He had enough money left to live comfortably like that for the rest of his miserable life, and he probably would have done that if one of his acquaintances didn't suggest virtual reality games.
These games appealed to him and gave him an outlet to the anger that was starting to build up inside him. Still, none of the games held his attention for long until Royal Road was released into the market. To his surprise when he logged into the game he was presented with an option of regenerating his left arm in the character creation menu. He began playing without any real goal, simply enjoying the feeling of being whole once more, while to his great pleasure the phantom pain that had been bothering him ever since the accident disappeared.
His way of playing was peculiar. He didn't care if he died. When a month passed and he was finally allowed to go outside the town into the wilderness, he picked up the first weapon he could find and headed outside. He was helping in the construction of a building at the time so what he took with him was a simple nail hammer.
As he didn't have any goal and for getting quests there was need to talk, which he tried to avoid as much as possible, when he came out of town with a hammer in his right hand he felt lost. He didn't like that ,so he looked at the road that passed through the town and saw how it disappeared behind the horizon and without any second thought decided he would follow it until it ended.
So he began walking, fighting monsters, bandits and other players along his way. He lost count of how many times he died but when the road came to a dead end, at some rural village on the edge of a tall mountain range; he had become one of the one-hundred strongest players in Royal Road. It was at this small village that he had received the quest that led him to the island he settled in.
The island wasn't part of the quest but when he saw how isolated and peaceful it was he just never left. And just like that, the strongest one-handed hammer user of Royal-Road, a man with no useful skills but those required for killing and not being killed, with the only quest he had ever taken still unfinished left civilization and began a new life alone on an uninhabited island.
Two weeks later he met Zif and smiled for the first time since the day the accident occurred.
Raindrops were falling all around.
They weren't the heavy and cold drops storms were made out of but rather small and fickle rain drops one could encounter in rare summer rains. The strong sea wind scattered them with ease, so as the man exited the cover the small trees provided, the rain didn't hit him from where one would expect to be hit by rain drops.Instead of the top of his head getting wet, the right side of his body was slowly getting a shade darker than his left. He was close to his small home already and if he hurried he could reach it before the wetness penetrated his coat.
It was probably his imagination but the wooden shack seemed to sway under the force of the wind. He made it with his own two hands and while it looked rundown he knew it was sturdy and more important, comfortable. He paused before entering to wipe some mud of his feet and shot a glance at the horizon as he did that. A huge black cloud blocked out the sky. As if it were alive it was slowly moving towards the small island, devouring the blue sky in front of it as it progressed. He could see lightning, bright against the black mass but it was still too far away for the thunder to be heard.
-'I should barricade the windows and maybe take something with me to sleep at Jee-Sar's place. I hope the storm passes over us fast.'-
Inside the house was eerily empty, as if it had been abandoned in a rush years ago. Only the lack of dust indicated the place was still inhabited.
A low one-person bed was placed in the far left corner from the door and a small chest lay adjacent to it. A small table with a chair next to it was in the middle of the room while a medium sized cupboard and a stool were placed alongside a fireplace on the right side of the one room house shack.
The man cast a small log into the dying coals, sending sparks flying and making the shadows in the room dance. He quickly closed the two small windows and secured them in place with a metal stick. With the windows closed the dancing shadows became darker and actually seemed to move in unison.
-'Now that the fence is finished with, I should clean this chest up a bit.'- His upper body was inside the chest and he was moving things around with his extended hands.
-'Where are they? I know I put them next to the shields.'- He dropped to his knees to get a better view.
-'There they are! How did they get so far?'-
The man rose and jumped into the chest. He disappeared inside and sounds of him moving things around were heard.
A hand grabbed the edge of the chest and then another. With some difficulty the man pulled himself upwards and jumped out of the chest with a small knapsack held between his teeth.
-'I could've just put it in the inventory,'- he thought as he straightened. -'Funny, how this game gets to you.'-
-'I got used to the weirdest things... yet some things still stay the same.'- It was too dark to see clearly but he held his left palm in front of his face.
-'It's my old hand, no matter how I look at it... even the scars I got as a kid are there...'-
-'Huh?'- The man stiffened.
His "Sense Presence" skill alerted him that someone or something has come into his range. By pulling up the mini map menu he could see two small dots moving on the trail towards his cabin. One was moving strangely, zigzagging and circling around the second dot. He could tell it was Zif which meant the other one must be Fae-na, which would explain the grey colored dot, usually reserved to Npc's.
-'Probably here to ask for another book.'- His tensed muscles relaxed once he knew it wasn't an enemy. -'I just hope I still have some left.'- He thought and jumped back into the chest.
The wooden door opened, almost silently, but before it could open completely Zif crashed inside. Wet and muddy he left footprints on the wooden floor.
"Zif!" A high pitched female voice said, "Do it outside."
The small creature looked at the small child, barely taller than him, standing outside the open door with her feet spread apart. With one hand held firmly at her hip and the other pointing at the ground beside her she could almost pass for a grown-up.
When Zif didn't listen and looked like he was ready to continue what he started, the little girl stamped her foot down like she saw her mother do so many times before. Not saying anything, she glared at Zif as he crawled obediently outside and began to shake his fur from side to side. When the child was satisfied at how dry he was she patted him on the head and scratched him behind his ear, which was something she knew Zif adored.
"Ok." she spoke to Zif and clapped her hands together.
"You go in first and I'll come in after I cancel the magic barrier." Zif joyfully jumped inside and disappeared in the shadows of the room.
The girl mumbled a few words before following him and closing the door as fast as her little strength allowed her.
"You're back." A voice said pausing for a moment in which scratching noises could be heard, "So? Have you eaten some fish?"
A low pitched ramble followed by what could only be described as a cat's bark answered the question.
"No? Are you sure you asked nicely?"
"Mama said no one eats until everyone sits at the table." The little girl walked up next to Zif, who was playing with the hammer swinging from his caring father's belt. She looked up at the man's eyes and extended her left hand forward.
"Ho... what's this?" The man asked as he crouched to be closer to the girl's eye level.
"A greeting." The girl said with a proud smile on her face.
"I see that. But where did you learn such a greeting?"
"A book."
"It was probably a very hard book."
"It was, but not for me." Pride could be heard in her squeaky kid voice.
She moved her hand to make him notice it was still hanging in the air, yet her smile still grew larger at the compliment making a dimple appear on her right cheek.
"Oh, right, how silly of me." The man grasped the small and fragile hand in his rough callused palm, firmly and gently at the same time.
"Hello." He said.
"Hello," answered the child with a shake of her tiny arm.
Zif sat and looked at the two people with curiosity and a bit of annoyance at the fact that he was being ignored. He licked their hands while they were still held together which made them laugh, and to him laughing meant that this was a game and he loved games almost as much as he loved fish.
-'Now I just need to figure out this new game rules,'- he thought and tried to give another lick, but the palms were already apart.
"Here, give me your paw."
"Good. Now we shake and greet each other like we haven't see each other for a looooong time. Ok? Ready? Hello."
"Mroof."
"Very good." She giggled.
While the girl played with Zif the man made sure the windows were secured once more. Satisfied they wouldn't budge even if the storm hit full force he gathered the coals at the back of the fireplace and closed the opening.
-'Wouldn't want the wind to scatter them and start a fire.'-
He tried to ignore the playing children and listen to the outside but Zif was just too loud.
-'Doesn't sound like the rain got stronger. But what am I gonna do about him? He's not going to get sick but he'll get everyone else wet...wait... can't say the same about her though...'-
"Fae-na, where's your coat?"
She looked at him with a pair of large round eyes. He couldn't see her well now that the coals were no longer coloring the room with their red light, however he could feel her stare upon him and see a faint glow. Her golden eyes were shining orange, as if they absorbed the light from the coals.
"Don't need one."
"Even though it's raining?"
It was hard to tell but she probably nodded. The man took her word for it and opened the door slightly, just so he could assess the situation.
"Whatever reason it is you don't need a coat, can it also keep Zif dry?"
"It can. But only if he's close to me."
Sensing somehow that they were talking about him Zif ran up to the man and rubbed himself on his legs.
"Can you show me? Please." Said the man and opened the door just enough for the small girl to pass. The child stood up and mumbled a few words before leaving the cabin. Zif was trying hard to go outside as well but the man held him firmly.
"So?" She swirled around herself, showing how she was completely dry.
"Wow."
"It's a spell I learned from one of the books you gave me."
"Aren't you the little mage."
It was clear that she wanted to be praised and there was a good reason to.
"And how does it work?" The man asked with an exaggerated impressed tone of voice.
"Well..." she spread her arms apart, "it's a protection spell that puts a barrier around me. I was practicing my magic, like you taught me, when the rain began. So I ran home but I wasn't wet. The rain couldn't touch me. It wanted to make me wet but the barrier wouldn't let him."
"How very useful."
"Mhhem. That's why mom said I can come here to ask fo..." she looked down at her feet suddenly.
-'Haha, finally she remembers.'- he smiled.
"Well... you see... I... ehhhm... I finished the book you gave me... and..."
-'It's so easy to forget she's still a kid with the way she usually acts.'-
"Yes?"
"I wanted to... ehh... ask if you have another book you can lend me?" She said and lifted her eager eyes from her feet to look at the man.
"I might have one or two left." -'Though it's actually getting hard to find books for your level.'-
"Can I have it please?"
"Of course you can." The adorable look on her face made it impossible to say no even if the man wanted to. "Here you go. It's about a witch who saved a village of fairies a very long time ago. Have you ever met fairies, Fae-Na?"
"Zif! Walk beside me." He said, more than a little annoyed.
There wasn't much more than a drizzle but their destination was still away to go.
Fae-Na was sitting on the man's shoulders and reading her new book on his head. The barrier she cast kept the three of them dry but Zif kept running to smell things and coming back inside the barrier with a fresh layer of rain drops on his fur.
Something resembling a smile was on the man's face and though Zif refused to listen it wasn't enough to ruin his mood. Walking in the rain was a habit of his even in the real world. Sure, out there he used an umbrella instead of magic, but both places felt equally real.
-'I wish I could take my own girls on a stroll in the rain.'- The faint smile he had, disappeared for a moment but reappeared as suddenly as it left.
-'Jinny will be five soon. She's probably the same size as Fae-Na.'- He heard the sound of a page turning and felt the book being moved around a little as it shifted his hair around.
-'We celebrated Fae-Na's eleventh birthday three months ago but looking at her she doesn’t look any older than six. I kind of hoped that with living here and eating well she might grow up being taller that her parents, but I guess she'll be around her mother's height.'-
"Zif! To me!"
-'A meter forty is just too small… too bad…'-
A small hut became visible in the distance. Smoke was rising from it only to be scattered by the wind.
-'At least she has the magic affinity her golden eyes give her.'- He could see in his mind her large eyes and the way they would look at him, as if they could read his mind.
"Look, Fae-Na, your mom is waving to us."
"Hhm."
-'Give her a book and she forgets there is a world outside of the pages…'-
"Come on… I'm holding you so you'll have to wave for the both of us."
"Hey. I hope we''re not intruding?"
"No, no. Never. You always welcome here."
"It is you are always welcome here, mama."
"Not now sweetie, go help with table."
"But… I want to read the boo…"
The small woman put her hand on her hip and gave her daughter the same look the small child gave Zif not so long ago when he was disobeying.
"Please come in." She turned to the man after her daughter came inside. "This your home too."
"Zif, shake yourself dry before coming in."
It was warm inside.
A fire was burning in the fireplace and a strong but pleasant smell of cooking fish hung in the air. There were two doors opposite each other that lead to the bedrooms and kitchen, but both were closed at the moment to keep the heat from leaving the round room they were in. Animal furs hung from the wall and a lantern filled with home made candles was hanging from the ceiling.
The man helped build the house with his proportions in mind but in the end he still had to bend when standing inside.
Because of the rain they had to use a smaller table instead of the usual one placed outside. Sitting next to it and with the family of three as company he felt like a giant. Zif was at his usual spot near him so he could feel part of everyone. He was eating his share of fish but would, like always, eat all the leftovers as well.
-'Never stopped him before, but I hope its okay for him to be eating the bones…'-
Fae-Na had her new book beside her. It was closed but she kept stealing glances at it nonetheless. Jee-Sar and Jee-Ra were discussing how they should deal with the coming sheep wool harvest. Jee-Ra wanted to take it all for household use but Jee-Sar said they should sell it and buy a cow instead. There was something else but it was hard to follow since they kept reverting to their native language.
-'I'll ask Fae-Na later. They'll ask me to decide what to do with the wool anyways so might as well be aware of all their concerns.'-
"Can I have some more?"
"Yes, yes. Here, eat all you want."
"Thank you. It is really good."
Jee-Ra couldn’t have been happier at that moment.
-'What is it now? Almost five months since they came… and they still treat me as their master, ughh…'- he tried to ignore Jee-Ra looking at him eating.
A little more than four months ago the man saw Jee-Sar and his family in the sea trying to reach the safety of the island.
At that time Zif was still small and they would take regular walks around the island together. Zif would sit on his shoulder or hide himself inside his shirt where it was warm.
-'I miss the way he would stick his small head out and look at the world with awe.'-
Zif was the one who noticed them first. The sea was calm that day and the ripples they were causing attracted his attention.
-'The water was pretty cold for such a sunny day.'-
The man jumped into the water and swam towards them to help.
-'I grabbed Fae-Na and Jee-Ra because I thought they were the youngest. Man was I surprised when I found out it was a family and not a bunch of children.'-
Jee-Sar made it to shore by himself and began to weep. All three of them wept.
Fae-Na's older brother didn't make it. Turned out he used up all of his strength to keep his sister from drowning, and when he saw she was safe in the hands of the man who came to their rescue, his muscles gave out and he went under water. He didn't struggle or scream for help, most likely didn't want to risk his parents coming back for him, the fool.
-'I felt responsible for his death at the time. I kept thinking that if I didn't idle around looking for the ship they fell from and instead jumped into the water right away he would've made it to shore.'-
When they finally stopped crying a different problem presented itself. It turned out they didn't speak his language but spoke some weird Npc one instead.
-'Luckily... I guess... being a slave race, they had an uncanny ability for learning new languages.'-
It took them less than a month to learn enough for them to be able to understand each other and another two to be able to converse casually. But unlike the parents, the daughter was a real surprise.
-'She's the one that told me their story. The parents refuse to talk about it even today.'-
In three weeks she could already make simple conversation and by the end of the first month she had already read her first book. The man bought her dozen of children fairy-tale books and very quickly she was already teaching her parents. Around the end of the second month on the island, while the man and her father worked on a fence for a small flock of sheep that lived on the island, Fae-Na began to learn magic.
-'When I was helping her with her first spell she shared with me their story. I had a hard time looking in their eyes after...'-
Originally from another continent than the one he started playing in, Fae-Na and her family were part of a slave race of Npcs. Sold to both players and other Npcs, they never had any choice with what to do with their lives.
-'But life wasn't so bad for her parents and brother she tells me. "Not until I was born" she says, like it means nothing.'-
Her father, at only a meter sixty, was among the tallest of her race and also one of the strongest. He worked in the king's stables and managed to get Jee-Ra work as a cook in the palace. Children were considered subject of their parents' master from the moment they were born, and so, the eldest son began working in the stables as well.
The day she came into their world was the day her family's life fell into ruin. Telling everyone the girl died during labor they hid her and kept her a secret. They knew that if anyone found out it would mean her death.
-'It was her golden colored eyes. They were a sign that she possessed a sharp mind and a strong affinity to magic.'-
Children with gold eyes were rare and if one was born it had the good fortune of being a personal slave of the king himself. However the king already had golden eyed slaves. The first was an old man who grew up together with the king and has served the family for more than sixty years. While the other was a young girl destined to stay next to the king for the rest of her life and be passed from father to son.
-'Apparently it wasn't the first time such a thing happened and since the king didn't need another golden eyed slave, Fae-Na was to be handed to the royal mage'-
This was the cause of her parents' fears. It was common knowledge that mages lusted the power hidden in the golden eyes. They would nurture the young slaves and raise their magic power only so they could harvest it for themselves later.
In the old texts it is written that golden eyes were once a common trait amongst their race, but mages craving more power hunted them down to extinction. While many of the side effect of consuming the eyes were unknown there was one trait that no mage would pass the chance at getting.
-'Eating the eyes permanently doubled a mage's Mp. Even for a warrior like me it's quite tempting… and god knows I've done worst things to get stronger.'-
With great difficulty Fae-Na was kept a secret.
But when she was ten, she somehow wandered outside and was seen by another slave. Jee-Sar, scared the secret was no longer safe, killed the slave and ran away together with his family. No one bothered following them, especially not for killing one slave, and they managed to get away from the citadel and reach a port town.
-'Their goal was the land I came from; however things didn't go so smooth…'-
Hiding the girl's identity on a small ship turned out to be impossible and so the father killed once more. They took the small dinghy the ship carried and let the vassal disappear in the distance before following the same direction. They thought they were safe until the little dinghy started filling up with water from numerous cracks. At the last moment they noticed land in the distance and swam towards it.
And at this small island they had been staying since.
-'They're free now, but I guess it's written in their programming or something, because they keep treating me like I own them. Good things Fae-Na is different... maybe it's her golden eyes?'-
"The rain is done."
The man looked at the window and sure enough the stars were visible and the window was dry.
"I go start fire there. Fae, you go get the book, sweetie."
-'It's already night time? I should get back home before the rain starts anew.'-
"Zif, come. I got sweets in my room." The girl whispered in the sleeping animal ear, careful so her mother wouldn't hear.
The man laughed at the drowsy Zif following her, falling twice on his behind. His belly grew a few sizes and what he wanted to do most of all at the moment was sleep near the fireplace, but at the mention of sweets he somehow summoned the will force to wake up.
-'I guess we can stay a bit longer. Plus Fae-Na is one hell of a story teller.'- The man stood up, careful not to hit his head on the ceiling, and went outside to help Jee-Sar start a fire while Jee-Ra cleared the table.
Sitting outside by the fire with a full stomach felt heavenly. There was just enough wind to make the flames dance without making one cold and looking for cover.
The man looked at the fire in a daze. He could hear Fae-Na's voice in the background but he tried to concentrate on the crackling of the firewood instead. Zif lay by his side and without even noticing his hand was patting him on the head.
-'So nice.'- Was the only thought in his head at the moment but even that was gone as he looked up at the stars.
The rain cleared away all the dust in the air and the stars were shining brighter than ever.
"What doe0s residence mean?"
"It means a place where someone or something lives. Like that," he pointed at the small house behind him, "is your residence."
She explained to her parents in their native language and went back to reading the story out loud. The man returned to watching the stars and patting Zif.
-'It's almost impossible to see the stars in the real world anymore. Too many bright lights wherever you go. No wonder more and more people are vacationing inside Royal Road instead of in the real world.'-
A falling star shot through the sky for an instant.
-'So beauti…!'-
The man jumped up to his feet. A message appeared in his field of vision alerting him that his "Sense Presence" skill had found something.
He started to open the map menu but didn't bother to continue. Whoever it was he was heading towards them without trying to hide. A bright light was hanging in the air down the dirt road that headed to the sea.
-'A werelight! Whoever those guys are there's a mage amongst them.'-
"Sir, is all okay? What happen?"
"Jee-Sar! Look! Guests!" Shrieked Jee-Ra and ran inside the house. |
{
"title": "The Right Hand Of God by Chimeara18",
"id": 29,
"author": "chimeara18",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Chapter 16: Ancient Skulls and Cursed pasts",
"id": 459,
"next": 460,
"prev": 455,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Arthe and Frith had been in the Fort of the Oath-breakers for about 2 hours and in that time they had slain 21 Dullahans, 14 Specters and 9 Skeleton Knights. In fact if they had been killing the ghouls as well then they would have killed over 100 monsters by now, trouble was they were bored almost to tears with this dungeon. It was so easy, especially with Arthe's holy magic, so the two of them had made a pact. For the next floor of the dungeon Arthe would rely solely on his sword skills and Frith would only use her epee and not her stiletto, this was of course only until they came up against monsters that couldn't be beaten without using Holy magic. Death Knights were one of these foes, they had seen a couple of them already and had studiously avoided them, even though they were at level 131 and level 129 respectively they had decided to steer clear for the time being. <br><br>On the second floor of the dungeon the main opponent were skeletal knights and the occasional skeletal mage, Arthe stuck to his word and only used the buffs he had obtained prior to becoming a paladin. He dispatched the first couple of skeletal knights using his targeted thrust skill to shatter their spines and from then on stuck to using blade dance repeatedly, mainly because it distracted the mages and enabled Frith to sneak up and decapitate them from behind. As they traveled through the floor Arthe's sword skill began to level up at an extremely fast rate, he was fighting monsters above his level and making sure that every time he used them it was to inflict a fatal strike.<br><br>This tactic served to accumulate experience for his sword skills and his Analytical blade passive, which was now at Intermediate 2, his sword skill had reached Beginner 9 and was ready to level at any moment. Arthe was hoping that it would provide some sort of epic bonuses when it did reach intermediate as most of the skills he had learned had done so, but if it didn't he would just go back to using his holy magic more in the future.<br><br>By this point the two adventurers were at the final room on this floor and were taking a brief rest before pushing on, Arthe was barely sweating and hardly even hungry whereas Frith was sweating heavily and shoveling food into her mouth as fast as she could. Arthe had managed to keep steadily upgrading his cooking skill because of Frith's enormous appetite so he didn't really mind that it cost a lot of money to keep her fed, she on the other hand was beginning to get a little bit irritated about Arthe's seemingly never ending stamina and always full belly.<br><br>"What the hell is with this, here i am sweating hard enough to fill a bath tub and hungrier than a pregnant she-wolf but you're just sat there like we've been taking a leisurely stroll in the park. Seriously must be nice to be a whatever class you are and not get tired or hungry."<br><br>"Hahaha it's not like I don't get tired or hungry, it just takes double the amount of physical exercise to affect me in that way. Freya sustains me in the lean times so that I may sustain others in the prosperous times." Arthe responded with a chuckle and a pat on Frith's back.<br><br>"Yeah well you could give me some of that sustenance occasionally you know, instead of watching me when I'm looking my worst."<br><br>Privately Arthe thought that Frith looked beautiful covered with a sheen of sweat and he found it difficult to tear his gaze away from her lips when she was eating, but he could never tell her these things because she'd batter him and have him arrested quicker than he could apologize.<br><br>When Frith was rested and was feeling better the two of them gathered their gear and entered the last room on floor 2. It appeared to be empty except for a couple of sarcophagi in the center of the room, as they drew closer to them the lids of the coffins began to shake.<br>The left hand tomb burst open and a skeletal hand appeared over the side of the sarcophagus, as this happened the lid on the right hand coffin flew off and a low moaning issued from it.<br><br>The monster in the left hand coffin finally heaved itself out just before the right hand monster also appeared. On the left was a named Skeletal Knight and on the right a named Dullahan, each was wielding a long sword but where the Knight had a shield the Dullahan had his head. Captain Edward the Betrayer was the name of the Skeletal Knight and the Dullahan was called Sir Garrik the Deceiver, normally players under level 150 would be scared at this point however Arthe was not normal and Frith was probably programmed without fear.<br><br>The two of them just looked at each other and mouthed 'Ancient Equipment', before charging straight into battle. Frith engaged Garrik because he was still covered in flesh which provided better opportunities for her stabbing attacks, this left Arthe facing Edward not that he minded as Dullahans smelt bloody awful and he'd had more than enough of their stench. Arthe blocked Edward's first attack with his shield and followed up with a Targeted Thrust to the head, unfortunately it was blocked by the monsters shield. His next attack was done using the 5 Courageous steps of Asgarde, this put him in place behind the enemy where he used the one sword skill he had never used before.<br><br>"Splintering of Yggdrasil!"<br><br>After Arthe cried out the name of his skill his sword turned bright blue and cleaved downward at almost supersonic speed, cleaving through bone and armor alike as though they were made of paper. The skill cut Edward the betrayer in half and even created a deep chasm in the floor where the sword struck it, the sheer devastation of the skill shocked even Arthe and distracted the Dullahan Garrik so much that Frith was able to stab its head and cut off its legs before it could even realize. As the two died both Arthe and Frith leveled up and he received a couple more notifications as well.<br><br>Sword Mastery has increased to Intermediate 8.<br><br>Sword Skill of Ancient Numenor has increased to Intermediate 1. New effects applied.<br>Using the Sword skill now costs less Mana. <br>Breath of Ymir now provides 15% Magic resistance as well.<br>Footsteps of Asgarde have increased from 5 steps to 7<br>Fatal strikes has increased from 4 blows to 5<br>Splintering of Yggdrasil may now cleave through any magical barrier of lower level.<br>Targeted thrust may now be used to slash your opponents.<br><br>Analytical blade has increased to Intermediate 3.<br><br>Arthe read through the additional effects and improvements to his sword skills and was happy to see that he could now use an increased number of moves for most of the skills, but he was most happy to discover that he could now use his favorite sword skill to slash as well as thrust. Thrusts dealt great damage but could leave the user wide open to counter attacks, now that he could use Targeted thrust as a slash he had more options in combat. <br><br>When he had finished looking at his skills he saw Frith inspecting the equipment that had been dropped by the two named monsters, there were 5 pieces of loot in total. 2 pieces were armor and the other 3 were miscellaneous items, the armor looked extremely old and the items didn't appear to be much newer. Frith handed the armor pieces to Arthe whilst she identified the other items.<br><br>Ancient Breastplate of the Forsworn:<br>Durability: 15/120<br>Defense: 25<br>This breastplate was worn by the once proud captain of the guard at an important border fort, he was cursed to wander the world as an undead because he betrayed his oath when called upon to fulfill it.<br><br>Equip:<br>+20 STR<br>+15 STAM<br>+15 Affinity with undead<br>Curses the wearer by cutting their Mana pool by a third.<br>If purified and repaired the effects of this armor will change<br><br>Requirements:<br>Level 150<br>STR +100<br>STAM +80<br><br>The second piece of armor was a set of intricate chainmail.<br><br>Chainmail Hauberk of the Ancient Adjutant:<br>Durability: 12/100<br>Defense: 19<br>This chainmail once belonged to a famous military adviser, he encouraged the betrayal of an entire border fort and so was cursed for all eternity to never ending torment.<br><br>Equip:<br>+20 AGI<br>+20 STR<br>+10 WIS<br>+10 Affinity with Undead<br>+15% chance to deflect arrows.<br>If purified and repaired the effects of this armor will change<br><br>Requirements:<br>Level 150<br>+75 STR<br>+50 END<br>+60 WIS<br> <br><br>Whilst Arthe had been looking over the armor Frith had finished identifying the other 3 items; one was a necklace, the second a ring and the third was a small key. The necklace was typical of such things and provided a small boost to vitality and strength whereas the ring was a rare type which increased Mana regeneration by a whopping 18 points per second, the key however was a mystery.<br><br>Small silver key:<br>Durability:20/30<br>This key is similar to ones used to open locked desks or small lock-boxes<br><br><br>The description was pretty vague and so Arthe and Frith spent 10 minutes looking around the room for somewhere to use the key, needless to say they didn't find it. They were slightly disappointed by the drops but Arthe was sure that once he had purified and repaired the Ancient armor pieces then he and Frith would have more than made up for the effort of cleansing the dungeon, plus they still had yet to find the information on the whereabouts of the Justicar's Sword.<br><br>And so they continued on up to the next floor where they encountered several more named skeletal knights and even larger numbers of Dullahan, as they cleared the monsters out they each gained another 10 levels and obtained more pieces of Ancient armor. By the time they had reached the fourth and final floor of the fort Arthe was level 152 and Frith had just reached 150, on top of this Arthe had leveled his sword skills another couple of times and had also got his shield mastery up to Intermediate 7 and his sword mastery to Intermediate 9. If he kept hunting and leveling at this pace then the majority of his skills would be in the advanced state by the time he got over level 200, this was only possible due to consistently honing his combat skills and little else. The only craft skill he was increasing at the same rate as his combat skills was his repair skill, this was because most of his equipment was junk and he had to keep repeatedly fixing it or it would fall apart.<br>As Arthe and Frith fought their way across the final floor they began to fight any death knights that they came across, the first couple of times were very near things and he had to resort to using some of his holy spells in order to win but as they gained vast experience from killing them they both attained levels of over 160 by the time they came to the boss room. Both Arthe and Frith had made the Assumption that the final boss was likely to be a named death knight with a couple of other monsters with him, therefore they had decided to abandon their no holy power deal and go all out from the beginning. To that end Arthe had buffed both of them with his strongest spells and had even cast Divine Armaments on their weapons to give them any extra advantage, they had decided that Arthe should engage the boss monster whilst Frith distracted the mobs. This plan would allow Arthe to quickly dispatch the boss with holy spells and then aid Frith in cleaning up the guards.<br><br>Unfortunately they hadn't realized that there would be quite so many guard monsters, when they opened the door to the boss room they saw 8 guards and one gigantic death knight standing at the far end. Right there and then they decided to swap roles, Arthe would kill all the guards and Frith would distract the boss. Since she had higher agility than Arthe there was a lower chance of her getting hit whilst distracting him, this also meant she couldn't deal quite as much damage to him and that she would run out of stamina quicker as well. Arthe would have to hurry and dispatch the mobs so that he could quickly go to Frith's aid.<br><br>The battle began with Arthe firing a couple of Holy bolts and a Holy smite at some of the guard monsters; the mob consisted of 2 skeletal mages, 2 skeletal knights and 4 Dullahans. The guard mob rushed at Arthe in retaliation even though some of them were badly burnt by his holy attack, he fired more Holy Bolts at the lead monsters and managed to disintegrate 2 of the Dullahans almost instantly. Then he had to use his shield to block some of the magic fired at him by the mages, they appeared to be using mainly ice spells so he activated his Breath of Ymir skill and dove into battle. He used his sword to cut the legs of another Dullahan before activating blade dance when he was stood in the middle of the group, the skill killed the last Dullahan and one of the Skeletal Knights before Arthe finished off the crippled Dullahan with a downward thrust. Now he only had to deal with the two mages and the final skeletal knight, he looked over at Frith and saw that she was leading the boss in a merry dance away from him but also noted that she was breathing quite heavily.<br><br>Arthe then used Holy smite on each of the Skeletal mages, stunning them, before dispatching the remaining Knight with a Targeted slash to the skull. Charging at the mages before they recovered; he activated one of his special aggressive holy spells, Blade of Purity, this skill coated his sword in a dense layer of holy power that would cut through the very souls of the undead disregarding their body or armor.<br>The strike went clean through the bodies of the two skeletal mages and the crumpled to the floor, Arthe then carried on his charge straight at the back of the death knight that was currently trapping Frith in a corner.<br><br>Arthe didn't have time to kill the death knight using his sword as it was about to bring its weapon down on Frith's head so he used his Wrath of the Heavens spell and directed its full force towards the death knights back, the beam of light scythed through the spine of the death knight to bathe Frith in its healing warmth. The death knight burst into white flames and collapsed to the ground screaming in agony, eventually it burned out and only a pile of white ash remained.<br><br>Wrath of the Heavens skill increased to level 2<br><br>"Phew that was a close one, thought I was gonna get crushed for sure by that one." Frith didn't even seem slightly scared as she inspected the remains of the death knight and poked at it with her sword.<br><br>"So why haven't you used that skill before now, it could have killed all the monsters in the dungeon in pretty much one go couldn't it? I mean I'm not complaining because you let me get loads of experience but surely it would have been faster to use that before now."<br><br>Arthe scratched his head and wondered how to respond.<br><br>"Well it's a bit of a Mana drain and it only has an area of effect of 5 meters so we would have had to attract every monster in the castle to the same place if i was to get them all in one go, plus you weren't the only one that needed the experience. I needed to improve my individual sword skills and other skills as well, I can't always rely on being able to insta-kill everything with that move."<br><br>Frith looked thoughtful after hearing this and then nodded at him in understanding, then she began to collect all the loot off of the corpses while Arthe headed over to the large desk that the Death knight had been stood in front of before the battle began.<br>On the desk were rotting map fragments and black candles lit with green flames, Arthe put the candles out and summoned a light globe instead. Green flames on black candles were obviously not a good sign and so he wanted to be sure that there was no dark magic still in play, the light globe bobbed happily in the center of the room casting its rays into every corner. By its light Arthe could see a small locked compartment on the underside of the desk he took out the silver key they had obtained earlier and tried it in the lock, the lock opened but the key fell apart at the same time. He opened the drawer and found a small book and long handled knife inside, taking a look at the knife first he saw it had a stiletto blade and put it on top of the desk for Frith to take a look at. The book was remarkably well preserved and appeared to be a diary of some sort, many of the entries were worn and illegible but some were still clear.<br><br>The first readable entry was about various supplies being brought into the fort and the second spoke of new recruits, it wasn't until the third entry that Arthe's interest was peaked.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">3rd day of summer.<br><br>Today a new adviser appeared at the front gates, he had been sent to help me with a problem I had recently become aware of.<br>Many of my new recruits had dark tendencies but i was unable to get rid of them at the present time due to the recent undead attacks, the adviser has assured me that their tendencies are nothing more than harmless jokes.</span><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">6th day of summer.<br><br>How did I ever get along without my new adjutant, he has been extremely helpful in creating strategies to deal with the undead and is also very popular amongst the recruits. He has told me that finding a secure hiding place for the artifact should be our top priority, I am unsure as i have long been ordered to keep the artifact inside the fort at all times.</span><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">12th day of summer.<br><br>I don't know why I resisted Garrik for so long on the matter of the Sword, now that I have moved it to a safer location I feel so much more at ease. Garrik helps me make most of the decisions and he has been teaching me about his religion, it seems harmless enough although a couple of the older soldiers have been trying to persuade me that Garrik is up to no good. I don't know why they don't like him he has been providing me with some truly excellent meals and has been casting magic on me to relieve the headaches i get sometimes.</span><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">31rst day of summer.<br><br>I have executed 3 of the veterans today for insubordination, they tried to murder Garrik and i cannot allow that. He has become the most important member of my staff and assures me that he will continue to help, tomorrow he is taking some troops to go and force a local village to pay more tax. He says it is to help defend our borders better but I have some minor misgivings, I'm sure its nothing to worry about. Before he leaves he is going to baptize me as a full member of his religion, by dawn I shall be a member of the Embinyu church. </span><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Date unknown<br><br>What have i done, I have abandoned my duty. I have betrayed my kingdom and failed its people, my blood burns in my veins with the curses of a thousand dead souls. I have been tricked but that is no excuse, my only hope is that someone will find this book and discover where the Sword is hidden. I leave these instructions to its location; head west from the front gate until you find a large blue snake, head towards its mouth and you will come across a cave, that cave hides the sword of the most holy.<br><br>May Freya forgive me......</span><br><br>You have discovered a clue to the location of the Justicar's Sword!<br><br><br>Arthe put the book down and crossed his chest, he knew the story was part of the game but he still felt sorry for the non-existent Captain, tricked by his adviser and cursed for all time. While he had been reading the diary Frith had finished identifying the items and had stacked them according to type, there was a pile of armor and small pile of junk items and a pile of materials.<br><br>Arthe picked up the dagger and gave it to Frith to look at before showing her the diary, when she finished looking at it she first offered a quick prayer to Freya and then gave Arthe a brief hug. He was a bit unsure what to do at this point but he needn't have worried, she was back to her usual self straight away and had pulled out a map of the local area. <br><br>"Okay if we head west from here there is a river about 2 days away, I can only assume that's the blue snake and that we have to head down stream to where the mouth of the river is. Hopefully we'll come across a cave at some point where we'll find that sword for you, but before we do that you are going to repair and purify all these items so that we are more than ready to sell them." <br><br>Frith offered Arthe a grin before handing him the first piece of armor to repair.
</div> | Arthe and Frith had been in the Fort of the Oath-breakers for about 2 hours and in that time they had slain 21 Dullahans, 14 Specters and 9 Skeleton Knights. In fact if they had been killing the ghouls as well then they would have killed over 100 monsters by now, trouble was they were bored almost to tears with this dungeon. It was so easy, especially with Arthe's holy magic, so the two of them had made a pact. For the next floor of the dungeon Arthe would rely solely on his sword skills and Frith would only use her epee and not her stiletto, this was of course only until they came up against monsters that couldn't be beaten without using Holy magic. Death Knights were one of these foes, they had seen a couple of them already and had studiously avoided them, even though they were at level 131 and level 129 respectively they had decided to steer clear for the time being.
On the second floor of the dungeon the main opponent were skeletal knights and the occasional skeletal mage, Arthe stuck to his word and only used the buffs he had obtained prior to becoming a paladin. He dispatched the first couple of skeletal knights using his targeted thrust skill to shatter their spines and from then on stuck to using blade dance repeatedly, mainly because it distracted the mages and enabled Frith to sneak up and decapitate them from behind. As they traveled through the floor Arthe's sword skill began to level up at an extremely fast rate, he was fighting monsters above his level and making sure that every time he used them it was to inflict a fatal strike.
This tactic served to accumulate experience for his sword skills and his Analytical blade passive, which was now at Intermediate 2, his sword skill had reached Beginner 9 and was ready to level at any moment. Arthe was hoping that it would provide some sort of epic bonuses when it did reach intermediate as most of the skills he had learned had done so, but if it didn't he would just go back to using his holy magic more in the future.
By this point the two adventurers were at the final room on this floor and were taking a brief rest before pushing on, Arthe was barely sweating and hardly even hungry whereas Frith was sweating heavily and shoveling food into her mouth as fast as she could. Arthe had managed to keep steadily upgrading his cooking skill because of Frith's enormous appetite so he didn't really mind that it cost a lot of money to keep her fed, she on the other hand was beginning to get a little bit irritated about Arthe's seemingly never ending stamina and always full belly.
"What the hell is with this, here i am sweating hard enough to fill a bath tub and hungrier than a pregnant she-wolf but you're just sat there like we've been taking a leisurely stroll in the park. Seriously must be nice to be a whatever class you are and not get tired or hungry."
"Hahaha it's not like I don't get tired or hungry, it just takes double the amount of physical exercise to affect me in that way. Freya sustains me in the lean times so that I may sustain others in the prosperous times." Arthe responded with a chuckle and a pat on Frith's back.
"Yeah well you could give me some of that sustenance occasionally you know, instead of watching me when I'm looking my worst."
Privately Arthe thought that Frith looked beautiful covered with a sheen of sweat and he found it difficult to tear his gaze away from her lips when she was eating, but he could never tell her these things because she'd batter him and have him arrested quicker than he could apologize.
When Frith was rested and was feeling better the two of them gathered their gear and entered the last room on floor 2. It appeared to be empty except for a couple of sarcophagi in the center of the room, as they drew closer to them the lids of the coffins began to shake.
The left hand tomb burst open and a skeletal hand appeared over the side of the sarcophagus, as this happened the lid on the right hand coffin flew off and a low moaning issued from it.
The monster in the left hand coffin finally heaved itself out just before the right hand monster also appeared. On the left was a named Skeletal Knight and on the right a named Dullahan, each was wielding a long sword but where the Knight had a shield the Dullahan had his head. Captain Edward the Betrayer was the name of the Skeletal Knight and the Dullahan was called Sir Garrik the Deceiver, normally players under level 150 would be scared at this point however Arthe was not normal and Frith was probably programmed without fear.
The two of them just looked at each other and mouthed 'Ancient Equipment', before charging straight into battle. Frith engaged Garrik because he was still covered in flesh which provided better opportunities for her stabbing attacks, this left Arthe facing Edward not that he minded as Dullahans smelt bloody awful and he'd had more than enough of their stench. Arthe blocked Edward's first attack with his shield and followed up with a Targeted Thrust to the head, unfortunately it was blocked by the monsters shield. His next attack was done using the 5 Courageous steps of Asgarde, this put him in place behind the enemy where he used the one sword skill he had never used before.
"Splintering of Yggdrasil!"
After Arthe cried out the name of his skill his sword turned bright blue and cleaved downward at almost supersonic speed, cleaving through bone and armor alike as though they were made of paper. The skill cut Edward the betrayer in half and even created a deep chasm in the floor where the sword struck it, the sheer devastation of the skill shocked even Arthe and distracted the Dullahan Garrik so much that Frith was able to stab its head and cut off its legs before it could even realize. As the two died both Arthe and Frith leveled up and he received a couple more notifications as well.
Sword Mastery has increased to Intermediate 8.
Sword Skill of Ancient Numenor has increased to Intermediate 1. New effects applied.
Using the Sword skill now costs less Mana.
Breath of Ymir now provides 15% Magic resistance as well.
Footsteps of Asgarde have increased from 5 steps to 7
Fatal strikes has increased from 4 blows to 5
Splintering of Yggdrasil may now cleave through any magical barrier of lower level.
Targeted thrust may now be used to slash your opponents.
Analytical blade has increased to Intermediate 3.
Arthe read through the additional effects and improvements to his sword skills and was happy to see that he could now use an increased number of moves for most of the skills, but he was most happy to discover that he could now use his favorite sword skill to slash as well as thrust. Thrusts dealt great damage but could leave the user wide open to counter attacks, now that he could use Targeted thrust as a slash he had more options in combat.
When he had finished looking at his skills he saw Frith inspecting the equipment that had been dropped by the two named monsters, there were 5 pieces of loot in total. 2 pieces were armor and the other 3 were miscellaneous items, the armor looked extremely old and the items didn't appear to be much newer. Frith handed the armor pieces to Arthe whilst she identified the other items.
Ancient Breastplate of the Forsworn:
Durability: 15/120
Defense: 25
This breastplate was worn by the once proud captain of the guard at an important border fort, he was cursed to wander the world as an undead because he betrayed his oath when called upon to fulfill it.
Equip:
+20 STR
+15 STAM
+15 Affinity with undead
Curses the wearer by cutting their Mana pool by a third.
If purified and repaired the effects of this armor will change
Requirements:
Level 150
STR +100
STAM +80
The second piece of armor was a set of intricate chainmail.
Chainmail Hauberk of the Ancient Adjutant:
Durability: 12/100
Defense: 19
This chainmail once belonged to a famous military adviser, he encouraged the betrayal of an entire border fort and so was cursed for all eternity to never ending torment.
Equip:
+20 AGI
+20 STR
+10 WIS
+10 Affinity with Undead
+15% chance to deflect arrows.
If purified and repaired the effects of this armor will change
Requirements:
Level 150
+75 STR
+50 END
+60 WIS
Whilst Arthe had been looking over the armor Frith had finished identifying the other 3 items; one was a necklace, the second a ring and the third was a small key. The necklace was typical of such things and provided a small boost to vitality and strength whereas the ring was a rare type which increased Mana regeneration by a whopping 18 points per second, the key however was a mystery.
Small silver key:
Durability:20/30
This key is similar to ones used to open locked desks or small lock-boxes
The description was pretty vague and so Arthe and Frith spent 10 minutes looking around the room for somewhere to use the key, needless to say they didn't find it. They were slightly disappointed by the drops but Arthe was sure that once he had purified and repaired the Ancient armor pieces then he and Frith would have more than made up for the effort of cleansing the dungeon, plus they still had yet to find the information on the whereabouts of the Justicar's Sword.
And so they continued on up to the next floor where they encountered several more named skeletal knights and even larger numbers of Dullahan, as they cleared the monsters out they each gained another 10 levels and obtained more pieces of Ancient armor. By the time they had reached the fourth and final floor of the fort Arthe was level 152 and Frith had just reached 150, on top of this Arthe had leveled his sword skills another couple of times and had also got his shield mastery up to Intermediate 7 and his sword mastery to Intermediate 9. If he kept hunting and leveling at this pace then the majority of his skills would be in the advanced state by the time he got over level 200, this was only possible due to consistently honing his combat skills and little else. The only craft skill he was increasing at the same rate as his combat skills was his repair skill, this was because most of his equipment was junk and he had to keep repeatedly fixing it or it would fall apart.
As Arthe and Frith fought their way across the final floor they began to fight any death knights that they came across, the first couple of times were very near things and he had to resort to using some of his holy spells in order to win but as they gained vast experience from killing them they both attained levels of over 160 by the time they came to the boss room. Both Arthe and Frith had made the Assumption that the final boss was likely to be a named death knight with a couple of other monsters with him, therefore they had decided to abandon their no holy power deal and go all out from the beginning. To that end Arthe had buffed both of them with his strongest spells and had even cast Divine Armaments on their weapons to give them any extra advantage, they had decided that Arthe should engage the boss monster whilst Frith distracted the mobs. This plan would allow Arthe to quickly dispatch the boss with holy spells and then aid Frith in cleaning up the guards.
Unfortunately they hadn't realized that there would be quite so many guard monsters, when they opened the door to the boss room they saw 8 guards and one gigantic death knight standing at the far end. Right there and then they decided to swap roles, Arthe would kill all the guards and Frith would distract the boss. Since she had higher agility than Arthe there was a lower chance of her getting hit whilst distracting him, this also meant she couldn't deal quite as much damage to him and that she would run out of stamina quicker as well. Arthe would have to hurry and dispatch the mobs so that he could quickly go to Frith's aid.
The battle began with Arthe firing a couple of Holy bolts and a Holy smite at some of the guard monsters; the mob consisted of 2 skeletal mages, 2 skeletal knights and 4 Dullahans. The guard mob rushed at Arthe in retaliation even though some of them were badly burnt by his holy attack, he fired more Holy Bolts at the lead monsters and managed to disintegrate 2 of the Dullahans almost instantly. Then he had to use his shield to block some of the magic fired at him by the mages, they appeared to be using mainly ice spells so he activated his Breath of Ymir skill and dove into battle. He used his sword to cut the legs of another Dullahan before activating blade dance when he was stood in the middle of the group, the skill killed the last Dullahan and one of the Skeletal Knights before Arthe finished off the crippled Dullahan with a downward thrust. Now he only had to deal with the two mages and the final skeletal knight, he looked over at Frith and saw that she was leading the boss in a merry dance away from him but also noted that she was breathing quite heavily.
Arthe then used Holy smite on each of the Skeletal mages, stunning them, before dispatching the remaining Knight with a Targeted slash to the skull. Charging at the mages before they recovered; he activated one of his special aggressive holy spells, Blade of Purity, this skill coated his sword in a dense layer of holy power that would cut through the very souls of the undead disregarding their body or armor.
The strike went clean through the bodies of the two skeletal mages and the crumpled to the floor, Arthe then carried on his charge straight at the back of the death knight that was currently trapping Frith in a corner.
Arthe didn't have time to kill the death knight using his sword as it was about to bring its weapon down on Frith's head so he used his Wrath of the Heavens spell and directed its full force towards the death knights back, the beam of light scythed through the spine of the death knight to bathe Frith in its healing warmth. The death knight burst into white flames and collapsed to the ground screaming in agony, eventually it burned out and only a pile of white ash remained.
Wrath of the Heavens skill increased to level 2
"Phew that was a close one, thought I was gonna get crushed for sure by that one." Frith didn't even seem slightly scared as she inspected the remains of the death knight and poked at it with her sword.
"So why haven't you used that skill before now, it could have killed all the monsters in the dungeon in pretty much one go couldn't it? I mean I'm not complaining because you let me get loads of experience but surely it would have been faster to use that before now."
Arthe scratched his head and wondered how to respond.
"Well it's a bit of a Mana drain and it only has an area of effect of 5 meters so we would have had to attract every monster in the castle to the same place if i was to get them all in one go, plus you weren't the only one that needed the experience. I needed to improve my individual sword skills and other skills as well, I can't always rely on being able to insta-kill everything with that move."
Frith looked thoughtful after hearing this and then nodded at him in understanding, then she began to collect all the loot off of the corpses while Arthe headed over to the large desk that the Death knight had been stood in front of before the battle began.
On the desk were rotting map fragments and black candles lit with green flames, Arthe put the candles out and summoned a light globe instead. Green flames on black candles were obviously not a good sign and so he wanted to be sure that there was no dark magic still in play, the light globe bobbed happily in the center of the room casting its rays into every corner. By its light Arthe could see a small locked compartment on the underside of the desk he took out the silver key they had obtained earlier and tried it in the lock, the lock opened but the key fell apart at the same time. He opened the drawer and found a small book and long handled knife inside, taking a look at the knife first he saw it had a stiletto blade and put it on top of the desk for Frith to take a look at. The book was remarkably well preserved and appeared to be a diary of some sort, many of the entries were worn and illegible but some were still clear.
The first readable entry was about various supplies being brought into the fort and the second spoke of new recruits, it wasn't until the third entry that Arthe's interest was peaked.
3rd day of summer.
Today a new adviser appeared at the front gates, he had been sent to help me with a problem I had recently become aware of.
Many of my new recruits had dark tendencies but i was unable to get rid of them at the present time due to the recent undead attacks, the adviser has assured me that their tendencies are nothing more than harmless jokes.
6th day of summer.
How did I ever get along without my new adjutant, he has been extremely helpful in creating strategies to deal with the undead and is also very popular amongst the recruits. He has told me that finding a secure hiding place for the artifact should be our top priority, I am unsure as i have long been ordered to keep the artifact inside the fort at all times.
12th day of summer.
I don't know why I resisted Garrik for so long on the matter of the Sword, now that I have moved it to a safer location I feel so much more at ease. Garrik helps me make most of the decisions and he has been teaching me about his religion, it seems harmless enough although a couple of the older soldiers have been trying to persuade me that Garrik is up to no good. I don't know why they don't like him he has been providing me with some truly excellent meals and has been casting magic on me to relieve the headaches i get sometimes.
31rst day of summer.
I have executed 3 of the veterans today for insubordination, they tried to murder Garrik and i cannot allow that. He has become the most important member of my staff and assures me that he will continue to help, tomorrow he is taking some troops to go and force a local village to pay more tax. He says it is to help defend our borders better but I have some minor misgivings, I'm sure its nothing to worry about. Before he leaves he is going to baptize me as a full member of his religion, by dawn I shall be a member of the Embinyu church.
Date unknown
What have i done, I have abandoned my duty. I have betrayed my kingdom and failed its people, my blood burns in my veins with the curses of a thousand dead souls. I have been tricked but that is no excuse, my only hope is that someone will find this book and discover where the Sword is hidden. I leave these instructions to its location; head west from the front gate until you find a large blue snake, head towards its mouth and you will come across a cave, that cave hides the sword of the most holy.
May Freya forgive me......
You have discovered a clue to the location of the Justicar's Sword!
Arthe put the book down and crossed his chest, he knew the story was part of the game but he still felt sorry for the non-existent Captain, tricked by his adviser and cursed for all time. While he had been reading the diary Frith had finished identifying the items and had stacked them according to type, there was a pile of armor and small pile of junk items and a pile of materials.
Arthe picked up the dagger and gave it to Frith to look at before showing her the diary, when she finished looking at it she first offered a quick prayer to Freya and then gave Arthe a brief hug. He was a bit unsure what to do at this point but he needn't have worried, she was back to her usual self straight away and had pulled out a map of the local area.
"Okay if we head west from here there is a river about 2 days away, I can only assume that's the blue snake and that we have to head down stream to where the mouth of the river is. Hopefully we'll come across a cave at some point where we'll find that sword for you, but before we do that you are going to repair and purify all these items so that we are more than ready to sell them."
Frith offered Arthe a grin before handing him the first piece of armor to repair. |
{
"title": "The Legend of JaWal by WarWalker",
"id": 22,
"author": "Warwalker",
"rating": 4.3
} | {
"title": "The Legend of JaWal - Chapter 3",
"id": 5,
"next": 6,
"prev": 4,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
Failarièl stood right next to me. I couldn’t believe it. I never had a friend in my entire life before.<br>I never had a friend before. It was a shock for me to realize that I never had any friend before. And now on my first day in this second reality I made my first friend. Fucking good for a start.Just look at her. <br>“Hey Jawal, what did you get for the quest? I mean it was definitely not a high grade quest but it was still a quest where you had to interact with a high level and famous person out of RoyalRoad. And I am a little interested what you get for such a quest.”<br>Failarièl looked into my eyes and saw pure irritation. In my happiness I didn’t realize that I the quest wasn’t completed.<br>“Uhm, I didn’t get a quest reward yet. Weird. Maybe we forgot something.”<br>Failariél looked at me. She was just as irritated as me.<br>“Then let’s go in again.”<br>They found Arug in the same position as he was when they left him. No one else was there.<br>“Arug, somehow I didn’t complete the request the trainer gave me.”<br>Arug didn’t turn around. I went over to him. Somehow this entire situation was extremely weird. The quest wasn’t completed. Arug saying nothing and now this silence. With shock I realized that Arug didn’t swung his hammer. As I turned him around I almost screamed. I could hear Failariél’s scream from behind. A high shriek which went through blood and bone. A long black sword was stuck in his chest. Long rails of blood ran down his body and all signs of wisdom had left his eyes. They were hollow. People came around to see where the commotion came from. I heard more screams and gasps. Who would do something like this? Arug was a friendly person. He was a blacksmith who could do no harm to anyone.<br>I saw that Arug hold something. It was a crumpled up sheet of paper. I took it. It was my weapon recommendation.<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Obtained: Arug’s evaluation<br>“Jawal, a peredhel, who is slim and has basic musculature is a katana-style type. He reminds me of “The Silencer”. Hopefully he won’t end like him.”<br>Bring this to the trainer of the trainingscenter.<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Completed quest: Blacksmith Arug<br>You got your weapon-recommendation. Arug was found dead inside his temporary blacksmith.<br>Reward: Experience, Quest, unidentified Dagger<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Level up<br>Level up<br>The system windows popped up one after another. It was too much information at once. 2 levels? Is that much? And what dagger? Which quest?<br>More and more people entered. One of them was the leader of the guild which I recognized through Failariél’s clapping on my shoulder. He was broad shouldered and sturdy. Plate mail covered his body. Black steel. Hard grip on his sword hilt which hung from his jewelled belt.<br>“What’s this commotion?” He said at first but then he saw Arug.<br>“What the hell. Arug!” He ran to him and checked his pulse. He couldn’t believe it.<br>“Who did this? Who! Tell me.”<br>The people crowded. Nervosity grew.<br>“The 2 elves over there were here first.” Said one of them to break the silence.<br>The leader looked at us. It seemed like he recognized Failariél.<br>“Failariél? What happened here?”<br>“Master. We were on a quest and wanted to speak with Master Arug about it but we found him dead. Jawal - she pointed at me - got the quest from the instructor of the trainingscenter.”<br>His mood lightened up a bit as he realized that we weren’t the culprits.<br>“Which quest? And who are you?”<br>I was under pressure. That guy was strong. He had a great aura.<br>“I am a new player. I just began to play. And it was a difficulty E quest. I had to get a weapon evaluation from Arug.”<br>He was a bit shocked as I said the fact that I am a new player. Just like Failariél was before.<br>“So you are a new player? That’s definitely weird. Failariél. Where did you find this guy?”<br>He was wary.<br>“As a guide of the warrior guild I found him at the entrance. I offered him my help for the quest because he made a good impression on me. He told me everything while we were on the quest.”<br>He accepted the answer but still looked skeptical.<br>He searched through the body of Arug. He noticed that every possession was stripped from him. Even the notebook. Only a dagger and the sword in his chest remained. He drove it out of him and Arug vanished to thousand of little blue particles. Data remains. He analyzed the sword.“Weird. It’s the sword which Arug wanted to make for me.” He put it into his inventory.<br>After that he looked at the dagger. He analyzed it as well and gave it a lingering look.<br>“Here, take it. It is your quest reward isn’t it? I can still see your windows. Too bad that I can’t have it. It’s definitely worth something because I can’t identify it.”<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>Obtained: Arug’s rune engraved dagger<br>Damage: 10-22 Durability: 30/30 Level requirement: 15<br>Extras:???<br>Description: ???<br>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>I couldn’t believe it. That dagger had more than four times more damage than the wooden sword I possessed. And on top of that are their extras which aren’t identified yet.<br>“Thank you. I really appreciate it that you gave it to me.”<br>Something was still on his mind.<br>“We still haven’t found the culprit. I give up a quest for everyone in the guild who wants to find the culprit.”<br>He went out and the crowd slowly ebbed away. This will be great rumors. A starter quest’s follow up kills the famous dwarf Arug. Wonderful.<br>“Hey Jawal. I have to go. It’s late already. You know the friends list? You can contact me via it. And Jawal.”<br>“Yeah?” My heart began to beat even louder than before.<br>“Today was really something. I feel great to have met another elf here in town. And on top of that someone like you.”<br>“Same goes for me. Let’s meet again sometime. And you know I leveled up 2 times. By the way do you know where I could identify this dagger?”<br>Failariél thought about it some moments. She really looked beautiful.<br>“Not really. If Garen couldn’t identify it then it will be difficult to find someone else. Maybe someone from the mage guild. You see Garen is above level 200.”<br>“Hmm. Thanks anyways. Well, see you around.”<br>On one hand I wanted to get this situation passed as fast as possible but on the other hand did I really like her and I feared that I won’t see her again. My first friend.<br>“Yeah. See ya.”<br>Something changed in her tone over the day that I couldn’t categorize. Did she like me as well?<br>She vanished in thin air. So, that’s a logout.<br>Ahhh. I totally forgot about time. I logged out as well.<br>Zhim, zhim, zhim<br>I was inside the capsule again. My body was stiff. I opened up the airlock.<br>Shuuu<br>I looked around. I was perplex. So late already? It seems like I really forgot about time. Now I know why no one wants to go to school anymore.<br>I took out my mobile phone. It was already past ten. No missed calls? Weird. Looks like my mother is really not thinking about me.<br>Behind me the machine went quiet. Silence. I inhaled deeply.<br>Wushhh, ahhhh, wushhh, ahhhh, wushhh, ahhhh<br>So still here. No disturbing noises nothing. Just me. Perfect time to think.<br>But I didn’t use the time to think. I wanted to get home fast so I packed my bag, stuffed it with some magazines and went out. I looked the door and ran down the corridors. Really amazing what you could do when you are alone in school. Breaking rules ain’t that bad. It feels great to be so free.<br>It seems like not everything has changed. The bus just drove away when I arrived at the station. Great. My bad luck again.<br>I took a deep breath again and began to jog home. I needed sleep as much as I wanted to play further. But tomorrow will be a long day. School is over for the next few days. We had winter holidays. Funny that the teachers didn’t even mention it.<br>I didn’t go the same way as normal. I went through the small alley and stopped by the door. I pinned a sheet of paper against it. I wanted to thank the old man who laughed all the time and who changed my life completely but I couldn’t do it personally. He said that he didn’t want to see me before I am strong enough and only then inside the game but he didn’t mention that I couldn’t give him my thanks on paper.<br>The block I lived in was dark. All lights were out. Seems like everyone went to bed already. I sneaked up the stairway and opened the door carefully. I heard a loud snoring noise from the living room but went straight to my room. I stripped my clothes off and went to sleep.<br>I dreamed of RoyalRoad and Failariél.<br>I didn’t see the message my mother had laid down on the table.
</div> | Failarièl stood right next to me. I couldn’t believe it. I never had a friend in my entire life before.
I never had a friend before. It was a shock for me to realize that I never had any friend before. And now on my first day in this second reality I made my first friend. Fucking good for a start.Just look at her.
“Hey Jawal, what did you get for the quest? I mean it was definitely not a high grade quest but it was still a quest where you had to interact with a high level and famous person out of RoyalRoad. And I am a little interested what you get for such a quest.”
Failarièl looked into my eyes and saw pure irritation. In my happiness I didn’t realize that I the quest wasn’t completed.
“Uhm, I didn’t get a quest reward yet. Weird. Maybe we forgot something.”
Failariél looked at me. She was just as irritated as me.
“Then let’s go in again.”
They found Arug in the same position as he was when they left him. No one else was there.
“Arug, somehow I didn’t complete the request the trainer gave me.”
Arug didn’t turn around. I went over to him. Somehow this entire situation was extremely weird. The quest wasn’t completed. Arug saying nothing and now this silence. With shock I realized that Arug didn’t swung his hammer. As I turned him around I almost screamed. I could hear Failariél’s scream from behind. A high shriek which went through blood and bone. A long black sword was stuck in his chest. Long rails of blood ran down his body and all signs of wisdom had left his eyes. They were hollow. People came around to see where the commotion came from. I heard more screams and gasps. Who would do something like this? Arug was a friendly person. He was a blacksmith who could do no harm to anyone.
I saw that Arug hold something. It was a crumpled up sheet of paper. I took it. It was my weapon recommendation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obtained: Arug’s evaluation
“Jawal, a peredhel, who is slim and has basic musculature is a katana-style type. He reminds me of “The Silencer”. Hopefully he won’t end like him.”
Bring this to the trainer of the trainingscenter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Completed quest: Blacksmith Arug
You got your weapon-recommendation. Arug was found dead inside his temporary blacksmith.
Reward: Experience, Quest, unidentified Dagger
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level up
Level up
The system windows popped up one after another. It was too much information at once. 2 levels? Is that much? And what dagger? Which quest?
More and more people entered. One of them was the leader of the guild which I recognized through Failariél’s clapping on my shoulder. He was broad shouldered and sturdy. Plate mail covered his body. Black steel. Hard grip on his sword hilt which hung from his jewelled belt.
“What’s this commotion?” He said at first but then he saw Arug.
“What the hell. Arug!” He ran to him and checked his pulse. He couldn’t believe it.
“Who did this? Who! Tell me.”
The people crowded. Nervosity grew.
“The 2 elves over there were here first.” Said one of them to break the silence.
The leader looked at us. It seemed like he recognized Failariél.
“Failariél? What happened here?”
“Master. We were on a quest and wanted to speak with Master Arug about it but we found him dead. Jawal - she pointed at me - got the quest from the instructor of the trainingscenter.”
His mood lightened up a bit as he realized that we weren’t the culprits.
“Which quest? And who are you?”
I was under pressure. That guy was strong. He had a great aura.
“I am a new player. I just began to play. And it was a difficulty E quest. I had to get a weapon evaluation from Arug.”
He was a bit shocked as I said the fact that I am a new player. Just like Failariél was before.
“So you are a new player? That’s definitely weird. Failariél. Where did you find this guy?”
He was wary.
“As a guide of the warrior guild I found him at the entrance. I offered him my help for the quest because he made a good impression on me. He told me everything while we were on the quest.”
He accepted the answer but still looked skeptical.
He searched through the body of Arug. He noticed that every possession was stripped from him. Even the notebook. Only a dagger and the sword in his chest remained. He drove it out of him and Arug vanished to thousand of little blue particles. Data remains. He analyzed the sword.“Weird. It’s the sword which Arug wanted to make for me.” He put it into his inventory.
After that he looked at the dagger. He analyzed it as well and gave it a lingering look.
“Here, take it. It is your quest reward isn’t it? I can still see your windows. Too bad that I can’t have it. It’s definitely worth something because I can’t identify it.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obtained: Arug’s rune engraved dagger
Damage: 10-22 Durability: 30/30 Level requirement: 15
Extras:???
Description: ???
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn’t believe it. That dagger had more than four times more damage than the wooden sword I possessed. And on top of that are their extras which aren’t identified yet.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it that you gave it to me.”
Something was still on his mind.
“We still haven’t found the culprit. I give up a quest for everyone in the guild who wants to find the culprit.”
He went out and the crowd slowly ebbed away. This will be great rumors. A starter quest’s follow up kills the famous dwarf Arug. Wonderful.
“Hey Jawal. I have to go. It’s late already. You know the friends list? You can contact me via it. And Jawal.”
“Yeah?” My heart began to beat even louder than before.
“Today was really something. I feel great to have met another elf here in town. And on top of that someone like you.”
“Same goes for me. Let’s meet again sometime. And you know I leveled up 2 times. By the way do you know where I could identify this dagger?”
Failariél thought about it some moments. She really looked beautiful.
“Not really. If Garen couldn’t identify it then it will be difficult to find someone else. Maybe someone from the mage guild. You see Garen is above level 200.”
“Hmm. Thanks anyways. Well, see you around.”
On one hand I wanted to get this situation passed as fast as possible but on the other hand did I really like her and I feared that I won’t see her again. My first friend.
“Yeah. See ya.”
Something changed in her tone over the day that I couldn’t categorize. Did she like me as well?
She vanished in thin air. So, that’s a logout.
Ahhh. I totally forgot about time. I logged out as well.
Zhim, zhim, zhim
I was inside the capsule again. My body was stiff. I opened up the airlock.
Shuuu
I looked around. I was perplex. So late already? It seems like I really forgot about time. Now I know why no one wants to go to school anymore.
I took out my mobile phone. It was already past ten. No missed calls? Weird. Looks like my mother is really not thinking about me.
Behind me the machine went quiet. Silence. I inhaled deeply.
Wushhh, ahhhh, wushhh, ahhhh, wushhh, ahhhh
So still here. No disturbing noises nothing. Just me. Perfect time to think.
But I didn’t use the time to think. I wanted to get home fast so I packed my bag, stuffed it with some magazines and went out. I looked the door and ran down the corridors. Really amazing what you could do when you are alone in school. Breaking rules ain’t that bad. It feels great to be so free.
It seems like not everything has changed. The bus just drove away when I arrived at the station. Great. My bad luck again.
I took a deep breath again and began to jog home. I needed sleep as much as I wanted to play further. But tomorrow will be a long day. School is over for the next few days. We had winter holidays. Funny that the teachers didn’t even mention it.
I didn’t go the same way as normal. I went through the small alley and stopped by the door. I pinned a sheet of paper against it. I wanted to thank the old man who laughed all the time and who changed my life completely but I couldn’t do it personally. He said that he didn’t want to see me before I am strong enough and only then inside the game but he didn’t mention that I couldn’t give him my thanks on paper.
The block I lived in was dark. All lights were out. Seems like everyone went to bed already. I sneaked up the stairway and opened the door carefully. I heard a loud snoring noise from the living room but went straight to my room. I stripped my clothes off and went to sleep.
I dreamed of RoyalRoad and Failariél.
I didn’t see the message my mother had laid down on the table. |
{
"title": "Battle Maiden",
"id": 73,
"author": "fazwick",
"rating": 4.8
} | {
"title": "Battle Maiden: Book 1 Chapter 4",
"id": 316,
"next": 320,
"prev": 310,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #FFBF40;">Battle Maiden</span></span><br>Book 1 : Into the Gates of Hell<br>Chapter 4 : Lion's Dance</div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite><span style="font-style: italic;">“Tomorrow will be the examination which will determine the fate of our allowance. Hopefully all the hard work and sacrifices will pay off. It’s been a while since I’ve logged on to Royal Road. Once the test is over, I’ll play to my heart’s contents. But for now, I hope the goddess of good grades is smiling on me.”<br><br>“The goddess must be playing tricks with me. Just as I was feeling motivated for a last push of studying, my brother barges in my room and asks me for a favor! He is actually lowering his head!!<br><br>He’s asked for favors before, but NEVER lowers his head!<br><br>How can I say no to that? Now, I have to log on Royal Road instead of studying!<br>Goddess of good grades, are you rewarding my hard work with a brief moment of recreation? Or did you forsake me and force me away from studying?”</span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Excerpt of Steve Journal-</span></span></div></blockquote><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br>“So, what is it that you need?”<br><br>It was Steve’s avatar, or better known as Lightning in Royal Road. Lightning is a bit taller than Spoon. Sporting leather armor lined with small mithril plates, which was designed to optimize speed while not forsaking defense. On his back hung two scimitars forming an X. On his head, a pair of clear goggles of high workmanship. Other than height, he resembled himself in real life.<br><br>“I need antidotes, lots of them. I need them quickly!” Spoon begged from his twin.<br>“Antidotes? I have a few left over from my last quest. Let me check.”<br><br>Lightning rummaged through his knapsack, and took out 5 bottles of antidotes, and 2 health potions. Potion and antidotes, however expensive, were good to have in case of an emergency. Due to their price, they were kept only for emergency, and not for grinding. Grinding while downing bottles of potions was counterproductive in Royal Road. Resting and meditating was more effective in the long run.<br><br>“Why the hell does a level 1 like you need antidotes?” Lightning was curious of what made his brother lower his head to him.<br>“It’s a quest, expires in about a day. It involves lots of poisonous rats.” Spoon was pressed for time; he tries to keep his explanation short.<br>“Then take the potions too. I won’t need them till next week. I’ll give you some gears, but I have nothing a level 1 can equip.”<br><br>Lightning handed over all antidotes and health potions to Spoon. He already reached level 86, which is not bad as the highest leveled player at that time was level 137. Higher leveled player seldom keep low leveled equipment around. But Lightning still searched his bag for anything useable for his brother.<br><br>“So, are you doing this quest alone?” Lightning asked while rummaging his inventory.<br>“There is this one other person. It seems like the quest have a certain requirement in order to be given. I think in this case it's people who passed the basic training, I'm not sure.” Spoon answered, diverting his gaze.<br><br>Realization struck Lightning, his hand stopped rummaging through his inventory.<br>“It’s the girl!” Lightning exclaimed, grinning wide.<br><br>“Now that, answers everything. My brother is in love!!” He continued, all the while holding his laughter in.<br><br>Spoon hadn’t responded to his brother’s antic. He did not know how to respond to it. He was very embarrassed, even just standing there felt awkward.<br><br>“I don’t even know if it’s love. It’s just that, she felt different..” Spoon scratches his head, ruffling his blue hair, making a mess of it.<br>“That there, my brother, is a very good sign of love.” Lightning regained his composure, trying not to make fun of his brother.<br><br>“Well, this calls for a celebration. I’ll treat you on something!” Lightning grabs Spoon’s leather tunic and dragged him down to the local blacksmith.<br><br>The difference in their strength made any resistance futile. Spoon had no choice but to give in to his brother’s wish.<br><br>“You have no idea how many times I tried to hook you up but to no avail. Now that you’ve found someone, there is no way I’ll let you go unprepared.”<br><br>Lightning was in a very good mood, he started to talk nonstop as he dragged his twin along the streets. He did not even give him time to reply to his rambling.<br><br>“By tomorrow, you will be a man!”<br>“...”<br><br>That escalated way too quickly.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Will he come back?’<br></span><br>Sera pondered as she sat in the back alley of Salty Rose; the restaurant she was employed at. She got a quest that was way over her head. It forced her to ask for help from others. She was lucky that the guy she found was good friends with the husband of Mrs. Graham, the owner of the Salty Rose. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have allowed him to also participate in the quest, as she did not trust others with the dark secret of the restaurant. There was a rat infested dungeon right under the restaurant!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;"> ‘If he doesn’t come back, my chances of completing this task is zero.’<br>‘Failing means losing my job.’<br>‘Losing my job, I won’t be able to survive in this city.’</span><br><br>She began to think of an alternative place she could work at. It was not an easy thing, as NPC react to a person based on their reputation. With her low relationship points with the instructor and being fired from the library for not doing her job, she already have a bad reputation. Failing the quest will result in getting fired and reduced friendship with the owner of the restaurant. Adding them all up, she won’t recover from that. Not in this city.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br>“Sorry, I made you wait.” Spoon’s voice shook Sera from her deep thought.<br><br>Spoon arrived with a knapsack filled with potions and antidotes. He was briefed by Sera of the general situation; he knew that without preparation they were bound to fail. He had to convinced Sera to wait for him as he ‘prepares’. By asking favors from his high leveled brother, but he did not want to tell her that. <br><br>“It’s okay.” Sera responded, her eyes on the cold stone pavement. She felt bad that she doubted him earlier.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Why is she avoiding eye contact? Did I take too long? I rushed as fast as I could!’</span><br><br>Spoon really did rush, as the time he went offline is 4 times the time lost in the game. He even bowed to his brother instead of explaining things to save time.<br><br>“Here, take this. It’ll come handy.” Spoon handed over 3 antidotes and a health potion to Sera on round wooden tray.<br><br>Sera took the potions and the wood tray along with them. As she held the tray, she found out that it was not a tray at all but rather a buckler, a wooden buckler lined with metal around its edge. The face of the shield was carved with the face of a lion, roaring and baring its fangs. A golden lion with silver mane, ember eyes that would intimidate small beast who looked at it. She shot a look at Spoon, who just smiled back at her.<br><br> “You said that you’re not that good at fighting. Perhaps the shield will help you protect yourself.” Spoon had recovered from his earlier shock, having the girl of his dreams asking him for help. While still unsure how to approach her, he is still the gentle Scott inside.<br><br>“I can’t take this..” <br><br>Sera, by nature, always earns the thing she has. She did not like the idea of getting something for free, getting favors she can’t repay. It reminds her of people who accuses her of having everything without working for it. <br><br>She refuses to be the person people accuse her to be.<br><br>“I don’t have the money for this. I can’t accept it.” Sera tried to hand the buckler back to Spoon.<br><br>“I got the buckler for free from someone I know. It is not my style to fight with a shield. Since I had them, you can use it. Simply keeping it in my bag is not very smart don’t you think? You can return it to me after we complete this quest.” Spoon insisted that she take the buckler.<br><br>At the blacksmith, all the swords usable by their level on sale were not up to par with their current sword. Since his brother offered to buy any one equipment he wanted, the next best thing for him is a shield. The buckler was the best shield the blacksmith had for those levels are under ten.<br><br>Sera reluctantly agreed and equipped the buckler.<br><br><blockquote><cite> Wrote: </cite><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #0000FF;">Wooden Buckler of Lion’s Might</span></span><br>Defense rating: 10<br>+ 6 Str<br>+80 Hp<br>The buckler is made by a highly skilled blacksmith using high quality materials. <br>While small in size, it is very easy to handle.</blockquote><br><br>“Shall we go then?” Spoon was glad he was able to convince her to accept it.<br>“Sure.” Sera answered.<br><br>Both of them proceed into the kitchen through the back door. They formed a party with Sera as the leader. She hesitated, but gave in to Spoon’s reasoning that she was the one who discovered the quest.<br><br>Spoon offered to take the lead, and rappel down the chute using the rope. He had done this before in real life with his brother. They went to a survival camp which taught them the basic survival skills including rappelling from a height.<br><br> “Clear!” Spoon signaled to Sera that it is safe to go down.<br><br>Sera was already halfway down the chute when Spoon gave her the signal. She was still struggling with handling the rope, but fared much better than her first descent. As she slowly made her way down, Spoon lit two torches and kept watch for any rats. <br><br>“So what is the plan now?” Spoon asked.<br>“The rats are smart; they will try to surround us using their numbers.” Sera explained.<br>“They will come to us, including the rat that has the ring.” She continued.<br>“Basically, we kill all rats we see until we find the ring?” Spoon was not convinced with her plan.<br><br>Trying to find the ring-wearing rat in that place is going to be harder than anyone would imagine. It also posed a huge risk, since they are not accustomed to the layout of the place. Even Sera only managed to reach the second chamber before being surrounded. Venturing about may force them into a dead end, cornered by thousands of rats with no hope of escape. Sere planned to make their stand here, near the exit. They will lure them with food, and hoped that the one with the ring will take the bait.<br><br>With the plan explained, Sera set down the bait; an assortment of fruits. It was the food she swiped from the kitchen. She crushed the fruits to release the sweet aroma, hoping the rat’s keen sense of smell will pick it up. Sure enough, the sound of rats’ squeak started to echo in the caverns, increasing in volume with time.<br><br>They readied their weapons, while carefully eyeing the openings that lead to the chamber. This would be their first real battle, a proper battle. An opponent that can move, attack, evade and kill them. Their heightened stats from the training can only help them to an extent. <br><br>“Here they come!”<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.’</span><br><br>Scott tried to remain calm, hiding the fact that he was shaking in his boots. It was a combination of excitement, nervousness, fear, and also the fact that Sera were watching him.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Evade their attack and hit them back. Every beast has their attack pattern.’</span><br>That was his brother’s only advice, since even Steve has yet to encounter a rat mob.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Easier said than done.’</span><br><br>Sweats ran down Steve’s face, down to his chin where it dropped off his face without a sound. He gritted his teeth as his eye spotted glimmers of reds in the darkness. The number kept on increasing, showing no sign of slowing down. Pairs of eyes waited at the edge of darkness, as if amassing their ranks before rushing in a wave of black death.<br><br>“Don’t die.” <br><br>A voice, so sweet to his ears, coming from behind him. All hesitation left his body, he no longer can afford to fall. He will prevail.<br>“You too.” Two syllables, it is all that he can muster; but his feelings are true.<br><br>A sea of black now begins their true march. Their squeak is deafening, but the two intruders can’t afford to shield their ears.<br>The battle has begun.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br>Sera swung her sword low, trying to hit the small targets. The rats were huge if compared to a normal rat; they were bigger than cats. When compared to a normal human, however, they are still considered small, even for Sera’s small frame.<br><br>The rats are agile, they quickly jumped out of the path of Sera’s sword. Sera hoped that with their huge numbers, they wouldn’t have the room to evade her attack.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘This is just a repeat of before! I can’t hit them!’</span><br><br>“Hyahh!!”<br><br>Leaving a dull silvery trail behind his sword, Spoon’s attack caught the rats that evaded Sera’s attack in mid air. A single strike, the rat’s number dwindled by three. Not much, but it was a start.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘That’s it! They can’t evade mid air!’</span><br><br>Spoon’s attack did not stop there. Having experimented with many sword styles in the training hall, he quickly connects his first slash with another. This time, his sword did not meet its mark, the rats it was aimed at jumped aside at the last minute. Only to be skewered by Sera’s sword and reduced to grey flame.<br><br>The two exchange look, understanding quickly of how to proceed. One of them would create an opening for the other.<br><br>Two torches were planted into the pile of bones and rotten food as their source of light. The two figures worked together, striking one after the other, like a perfectly choreographed dance. Instead of cheering, the sound of shrieking rats is heard. Instead of flowers, loots and coppers dropped all around. <br><br>A dance of two, in a dark cave lit by open flame. If you ignore the deaths, its beauty was almost divine.<br><br>Still, it is not a smooth sailing for them. It is a battle of endurance. For each rat they fell, another quickly replaced it. Even though they were gaining levels in record speed, they did not even have time to allocate their stats. If they could, the battle might be getting progressively easier.<br><br>Almost an hour come to past. Sera felt the strength had left her arms; she couldn’t swing her sword anymore. Spoon, still going strong, had slowed down, sensing his partner’s fatigue.<br><br>Both of them had passed the basic training, but Sera took her time; almost over the duration of three months before finally passing. As such, her stamina is far less than Spoon’s; who rushed through the training and completed it in less than half her time.<br><br>Sera now only could focus on blocking the relentless attack of the rats with her shield. They showed no intention of letting the invaders rest. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #FF0000;">“Focused Strike!!”</span></span><br><br>Focused strike, a skill that is gained by Spoon during his training is a simple yet devastating skill. In the hands of an expert, a well time focused strike on a weak spot is very deadly. The skill works by chanelling stamina and mana to focus on one mighty blow. This apply on almost all physical strike from any weapons. In a sense, a simple skill which is very versatile can outshine a strong complicated flashy skill when used right. With higher skill level, one can infuse more stamina and mana into a strike, making them a possible nuke skill by power user.<br>Sharp bones that littered the ground flew as Spoon’s attack struck down. The bones buried themselves into the flesh of nearby rats. The sound of the impact, amplified by the surrounding echoes even stunned the rats. <br><br>“Come!” Spoon shouted, grabbing Sera by her waist, lifting her over his shoulder.<br><br>Spoon carried her, in a not so gentlemanly manner, to the entrance during the confusion. As he put her down gently, he took her sword from her tired hand. He responded to Sera’s puzzled look with a simple smile.<br><br>“Get some rest, I can handle this.” Spoon said, showing his strong back to Sera.<br>“None shall pass by me.” He continued, while equipping Sera’s sword in his left hand.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘She seemed tired. If we continued like this, we will lose our life.’</span><br><br>Spoon remembered the skill that he learned in the training hall, capable of destroying a training dummy. He formed a rough plan in his head, and hope that it will work.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #FF0000;">“Focused Strike!”</span><br></span><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Boooom!!*</span><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘That worked better than I thought!’</span><br><br>He quickly turned and grabs the tired Sera, lifting her over his shoulder and made haste for the entrance.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Shit, I should at least do a princess carry. I look like a kidnapper carrying her like this!’</span><br>When he reached his destination, which is not that far away, he set her down gently. It was the least he could do, after his rude treatment.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I can do this! I’ve been planning for this day during my training in the training hall. Be cool.’</span><br>He grabbed her sword with a smile on his face. As he slowly turned around to face the oncoming rats’ assault, he said his line.<br><br>“Get some rest, I can handle this.”<br>“None shall pass by me.”<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Damn, I’m so cool!’ </span><br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘He took my sword..’</span><br>“Get some rest, I can handle this.”<br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Oh god no.’</span><br>“None shall pass by me.”<br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘That is so cheesy.’</span><br><br>Sera was not convinced at all.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Maybe I can still bash the rats with the shield..’</span><br><br>Always have a backup plan and a contingency plan.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Alright, same shit. Disrupt them with one hand, finishing blow with the other.’</span><br><br>Spoon swung his swords one at a time. With the first strike easily evaded by the agile enemies, the second home into the openings created by the first. While the power of his attack is reduced, the speed of his strike is increased. It was thanks to his experimenting in the training hall, he did not feel awkward using two swords.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘That on is going for my face.’</span><br><br>Non-stop fighting allowed Spoon to memorise the attack pattern of the rats. During the first 30 minutes, he’d gone through all his potion and antidotes. Now he was able to predict and evade the rat’s attack from instinct alone. He simply pointed one of his swords in the path of the rat’s lunge. The rat’s momentum from its lunge is used against it as the sword easily pierces through its body.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Shrrrreeeeek*<br></span><br>The sword went into the rat’s mouth and exited through its stomach. Barely alive, it’s soon reduced to a gray flame when Spoon swings his sword toward another attacking rat, killing both rats in the process.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Hit, and not get hit.’</span><br>Waves after waves of rats keep on coming in; gray flames constantly burning in front of Spoon as the pair of swords is never short on rats to kill. While some rats did manage to get near him, they were soon sent flying back by his kick. In VR, everything goes!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘There is no end to this!’</span><br><br>Something shined which caught his eye, a rat was watching from a distance on top of a rock. It only looked at them, as if mocking them. On its head is a ring, it’s the rat Sera had mentioned to him. He broke eye contact to stomp down a rat that is trying to bite his shin, reducing it to mush. As much as he wanted to break the neck of that arrogant rat, he couldn’t afford to do so.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘Once she’s rested, we’ll have to make a run for it.’<br>‘For now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me.’<br></span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br>Spoon was so absorbed in the battle; concentrating hard for survival, he failed to see a couple of rats going past him. They are trying to go after Sera, who seem less menacing. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Squeaaaakkk!*</span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Thump!*</span><br><br>The first rat’s skull is smashed in as Sera swipe it away using her equipped shield. The second rat did not slow down and jumps toward Sera. She had fully expected this.<br><br>The rats have a habit of going after people’s face. A fact that Sera has found out, and used it against them.<br><br>Sera moved her head out of the way, causing the rat to miss its attack. She then grabbed its tail just as she evaded the attack, and flung the rat hard on the wall. <br><br>“Ewwwww…”<br><br>Holding the rat’s tail was not a pleasant experience for Sera. She prefers handling rotten food more than handling slimy rats. Sadly, she was in no position to complain. With the two rats taken care of, she pointed the lion’s face on her shield forward, hoping that it would deter any incoming rats.<br><br>Sera knew even Spoon couldn’t last forever, she had to do something. All she had with her now is her shield. The first thing to do is allocate the stats she had gained. She had gained an astonishing fourteen levels in the past hour, thanks to the free flow of experience giving rats and double experience bonus. <br><br>It was absurd how fast they're gaining levels. With great teamwork; one making a distraction and the other giving the finishing blow, they are killing rats in a very fast rate. At one time, they even manage to kill 5 rats in one swing thanks to the densely packed area. They are killing between forty to sixty rats a minute. A heaven for grinding, if not for the fact that they can't even spare any moment to rest. Not even enough time to allocate stat points earned. I exchange for a record breaking leveling rate, they are slowly drained of their stamina and life. Potions do help, but normally rookies can't afford any at all.<br><br>She put 20 point in strength and vitality respectively. 30 points is poured into agility. By the time she was done, there is only 5 points unallocated.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I can increase intelligence and wisdom by reading books anyway. Agility is harder to increase.’</span><br><br>The sudden increase in stats was very noticeable. She could feel her movements becoming more limber. It’s way better than her real life body. She was not very athletic in real life, unless you consider running on a treadmill as athletic.<br> <br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘This feels good!’</span><br>Happy with her increased capabilities, she decided to test it out. Not having any weapon, she were being resourceful and picked up a small bone from the ground.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘It is all in the wrist..’</span><br>Still maintaining her shield facing forward, her right hand flicked like a whip, sending the bone flying towards a rat. The sharp edge of the broken bone dug deep into the rat’s eye, killing it with a critical hit.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘The game is amazing! There is no way I can do that in real life!’</span><br>Surprised at what she did, she began throwing everything around her to support Spoon from behind. It gave Spoon more room to breathe as rats stumbled being hit by sharp bones. Sera’s attack did not kill each time, only those that hit critical spots. Even then, it creates enough opening for Spoon to finish them off.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Ttring!*</span><br><br><blockquote><cite> Wrote: </cite>-You have learned a new skill : Throw-</blockquote><br><br>A system notification rang, informing Sera that she had learned a new skill. She ignored it, thinking that she can read it later. It’s about throwing, what is there to read? Although she did feel her throw get stronger and more accurate after gaining the skill.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘I guess it’s about time I switch in with him.’</span><br>“Sword!” Sera shouted.<br><br>Spoon skillfully lobbed the sword, hilt first toward Sera. She caught the sword and rushed forward to join Spoon.<br><br>“Switch. Get back and rest. Allocate your skill point.” Sera instructed Spoon.<br><br>Spoon refused, but soon changed his mind as he saw a group of rats were sent flying as Sera sweeps the area in front of her with her shield. Some of them even ended up dead!<br><br>“That’s what 20 point in strength can do. I’ll buy you time.” <br><br>Today, Sera broke her record of the amount of words spoken in a day. It felt weird, but somehow satisfying. If only it was not due to the fact that they’re fighting for their life against a legion of disgusting, disease ridden pest.<br><br>Sera fighting style is more passive when compared to Spoon. She forces the rats to back away with the threatening swing of her swords, and sending those that come to close flying with her shield. The rats, who had never seen a lion before in their life soon learned the terror of such beast. Her shield, adorned with lion carvings, brought death with each strike.<br><br>It was not long before Spoon joined her. His face full of worry and guilt for hiding behind Sera’s back. As soon as he allocated all the stat points, he quickly joined back in. <br><br>“2 o’clock! The one with the ring!” Spoon shouted, trying to ensure that the message gets through all the rats’ squeaking.<br>Sera nodded, she already saw the rat before. They needed to act now, before their stamina fails them. Sera thought up a plan.<br><br>“Can you do the focused strike again?”<br>“Twice more with my current stamina.” Spoon answered.<br>“That’s enough. As soon as you get my sword, execute it.”<br>“Your sword? What do -” Spoon was cut off as he saw Sera’s sword flying toward his face<br>“Woah!!!”<br><br>Spoon barely managed to catch the sword a few inches away from his face. He saw Sera ducking down low on the ground with her shield up. She looked so tiny in that position.<br><br>“Now!” Sera shouted, bringing Spoon back to his senses. <br><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br><span style="color: #FF0000;">“Focused Strike!!”</span></span><br><br>Spoon struck the ground as he did before, but this time with two swords. It created a shockwave which killed nearby rats and stunned the others. The effect is greater than before, as his strength is now almost doubled after he allocates his skill point. <br><br>“Follow after me!” Sera explodes forward from her position from a crouching start.<br><br>The reason Sera put herself down low before was two-fold. The first is to easily shield herself from any flying debris resulting from Spoon’s skill, the second is to easily sprint forward as soon as the skill is executed.<br><br>Her shield firmly set in front of her, leaning forward and keeping her center low; Sera plowed through the group of stunned rats making way towards the rat with the ring. Spoon, who quickly under stood her intentions, followed closely behind. He slashed left and right killing any rats that stray to close.<br><br>“We’ll end this now!”<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br>The rat, noticing their advance, tried to flee. It jumped down the rock it was on, but before its feet could hit solid ground, a piece of bone pierced its stomach. Instead of a smooth landing, it crashed down rolling in a pile of rotten food. <br><br>Still alive, it tried to crawl into the safety of the dark caves. Despair comes as it spies a sword heading its way. <br><br>“Squeaakkk!!!!”<br><br>The rat said its last word as the sword dug through its body. Where it lay limp and lifeless, a ring was seen. It’s a golden ring, with emerald stone. The ring the two were supposed to find and return.<br><br>“Grab it quick!” A female voice rang out, urgency in her voice.<br>“I got it!” A male voice responded.<br>“Now we need to fight our way out.”<br>“No problem, use the same strategy we used to get here. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #800000;">F</span><span style="color: #BF0000;">oc</span><span style="color: #FF0000;">use</span><span style="color: #FF0040;">d St</span>r</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">iaaaaaaaaaaagahkah</span></span>!!!!!!!”<br>“What’s wrong??”<br>“One bit me!!”<br>“Where?”<br>“You don’t want to know…”<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><br>Steve logged off from Royal Road. He was tired, having to deal with so many things at once.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">‘So it’s tomorrow, the first day of the examination.’<br>‘I should go to bed; I’ve done all I can.’<br>‘When this is over, I can continue playing normally again.’ </span><br><br>Before retiring to his bed, he updated his journal entry for the day. A smile and a sigh later, his room went dark as he silently fell asleep.<br><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite><span style="font-style: italic;">“….with a brief moment of recreation? Or did you forsake me and forces me away from studying?<br><br>It seems like the goddess’ smile was not meant for me after all. It was for my brother, he is in love! Finally! I was worried that people thought that he had a twin brother complex.<br>Hopefully this will work out. He is very clueless about girls. No worry though, he have me. I shall be the cupid! Although this cupid will be busy for his mid terms starting tomorrow. Why did Scott get all the smart genes!”</span><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">-Excerpt of Steve Journal-</span></span></div></blockquote><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*****</span></div><br><br><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><<Prev</span><span style="color: #BFFFBF;"> - - - - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Next>></span><br><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=366" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/xcc1QEF.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fxcc1QEF.png"></a><a href="http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=387&p=1587#p1587" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/HF3aiKG.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fHF3aiKG.png"></a></div><br><br><blockquote><cite>Author Wrote: </cite>Credits to HikaruMichi for correcting grammars and spelling mistakes. Also to all the kind and magnificent people in chat for giving feedback for this chapter, especially the battle scene.<br>Tomorrow chapter will be the side story, which I planned to post today. I changed it to tomorrow because a certain soul in the chat said I should at least finish the rat thing first.<br>Thanks for reading, feedback is highly appreciated. It is my first fanfic, but no need to go gentle on me.</blockquote><br>
</div> | Battle Maiden
Book 1 : Into the Gates of Hell
Chapter 4 : Lion's Dance
*****
> Quote:“Tomorrow will be the examination which will determine the fate of our allowance. Hopefully all the hard work and sacrifices will pay off. It’s been a while since I’ve logged on to Royal Road. Once the test is over, I’ll play to my heart’s contents. But for now, I hope the goddess of good grades is smiling on me.”
>
> “The goddess must be playing tricks with me. Just as I was feeling motivated for a last push of studying, my brother barges in my room and asks me for a favor! He is actually lowering his head!!
>
> He’s asked for favors before, but NEVER lowers his head!
>
> How can I say no to that? Now, I have to log on Royal Road instead of studying!
> Goddess of good grades, are you rewarding my hard work with a brief moment of recreation? Or did you forsake me and force me away from studying?”
>
> -Excerpt of Steve Journal-
*****
“So, what is it that you need?”
It was Steve’s avatar, or better known as Lightning in Royal Road. Lightning is a bit taller than Spoon. Sporting leather armor lined with small mithril plates, which was designed to optimize speed while not forsaking defense. On his back hung two scimitars forming an X. On his head, a pair of clear goggles of high workmanship. Other than height, he resembled himself in real life.
“I need antidotes, lots of them. I need them quickly!” Spoon begged from his twin.
“Antidotes? I have a few left over from my last quest. Let me check.”
Lightning rummaged through his knapsack, and took out 5 bottles of antidotes, and 2 health potions. Potion and antidotes, however expensive, were good to have in case of an emergency. Due to their price, they were kept only for emergency, and not for grinding. Grinding while downing bottles of potions was counterproductive in Royal Road. Resting and meditating was more effective in the long run.
“Why the hell does a level 1 like you need antidotes?” Lightning was curious of what made his brother lower his head to him.
“It’s a quest, expires in about a day. It involves lots of poisonous rats.” Spoon was pressed for time; he tries to keep his explanation short.
“Then take the potions too. I won’t need them till next week. I’ll give you some gears, but I have nothing a level 1 can equip.”
Lightning handed over all antidotes and health potions to Spoon. He already reached level 86, which is not bad as the highest leveled player at that time was level 137. Higher leveled player seldom keep low leveled equipment around. But Lightning still searched his bag for anything useable for his brother.
“So, are you doing this quest alone?” Lightning asked while rummaging his inventory.
“There is this one other person. It seems like the quest have a certain requirement in order to be given. I think in this case it's people who passed the basic training, I'm not sure.” Spoon answered, diverting his gaze.
Realization struck Lightning, his hand stopped rummaging through his inventory.
“It’s the girl!” Lightning exclaimed, grinning wide.
“Now that, answers everything. My brother is in love!!” He continued, all the while holding his laughter in.
Spoon hadn’t responded to his brother’s antic. He did not know how to respond to it. He was very embarrassed, even just standing there felt awkward.
“I don’t even know if it’s love. It’s just that, she felt different..” Spoon scratches his head, ruffling his blue hair, making a mess of it.
“That there, my brother, is a very good sign of love.” Lightning regained his composure, trying not to make fun of his brother.
“Well, this calls for a celebration. I’ll treat you on something!” Lightning grabs Spoon’s leather tunic and dragged him down to the local blacksmith.
The difference in their strength made any resistance futile. Spoon had no choice but to give in to his brother’s wish.
“You have no idea how many times I tried to hook you up but to no avail. Now that you’ve found someone, there is no way I’ll let you go unprepared.”
Lightning was in a very good mood, he started to talk nonstop as he dragged his twin along the streets. He did not even give him time to reply to his rambling.
“By tomorrow, you will be a man!”
“...”
That escalated way too quickly.
*****
‘Will he come back?’
Sera pondered as she sat in the back alley of Salty Rose; the restaurant she was employed at. She got a quest that was way over her head. It forced her to ask for help from others. She was lucky that the guy she found was good friends with the husband of Mrs. Graham, the owner of the Salty Rose. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have allowed him to also participate in the quest, as she did not trust others with the dark secret of the restaurant. There was a rat infested dungeon right under the restaurant!
‘If he doesn’t come back, my chances of completing this task is zero.’
‘Failing means losing my job.’
‘Losing my job, I won’t be able to survive in this city.’
She began to think of an alternative place she could work at. It was not an easy thing, as NPC react to a person based on their reputation. With her low relationship points with the instructor and being fired from the library for not doing her job, she already have a bad reputation. Failing the quest will result in getting fired and reduced friendship with the owner of the restaurant. Adding them all up, she won’t recover from that. Not in this city.
*****
“Sorry, I made you wait.” Spoon’s voice shook Sera from her deep thought.
Spoon arrived with a knapsack filled with potions and antidotes. He was briefed by Sera of the general situation; he knew that without preparation they were bound to fail. He had to convinced Sera to wait for him as he ‘prepares’. By asking favors from his high leveled brother, but he did not want to tell her that.
“It’s okay.” Sera responded, her eyes on the cold stone pavement. She felt bad that she doubted him earlier.
‘Why is she avoiding eye contact? Did I take too long? I rushed as fast as I could!’
Spoon really did rush, as the time he went offline is 4 times the time lost in the game. He even bowed to his brother instead of explaining things to save time.
“Here, take this. It’ll come handy.” Spoon handed over 3 antidotes and a health potion to Sera on round wooden tray.
Sera took the potions and the wood tray along with them. As she held the tray, she found out that it was not a tray at all but rather a buckler, a wooden buckler lined with metal around its edge. The face of the shield was carved with the face of a lion, roaring and baring its fangs. A golden lion with silver mane, ember eyes that would intimidate small beast who looked at it. She shot a look at Spoon, who just smiled back at her.
“You said that you’re not that good at fighting. Perhaps the shield will help you protect yourself.” Spoon had recovered from his earlier shock, having the girl of his dreams asking him for help. While still unsure how to approach her, he is still the gentle Scott inside.
“I can’t take this..”
Sera, by nature, always earns the thing she has. She did not like the idea of getting something for free, getting favors she can’t repay. It reminds her of people who accuses her of having everything without working for it.
She refuses to be the person people accuse her to be.
“I don’t have the money for this. I can’t accept it.” Sera tried to hand the buckler back to Spoon.
“I got the buckler for free from someone I know. It is not my style to fight with a shield. Since I had them, you can use it. Simply keeping it in my bag is not very smart don’t you think? You can return it to me after we complete this quest.” Spoon insisted that she take the buckler.
At the blacksmith, all the swords usable by their level on sale were not up to par with their current sword. Since his brother offered to buy any one equipment he wanted, the next best thing for him is a shield. The buckler was the best shield the blacksmith had for those levels are under ten.
Sera reluctantly agreed and equipped the buckler.
> Wrote: Wooden Buckler of Lion’s Might
> Defense rating: 10
> + 6 Str
> +80 Hp
> The buckler is made by a highly skilled blacksmith using high quality materials.
> While small in size, it is very easy to handle.
“Shall we go then?” Spoon was glad he was able to convince her to accept it.
“Sure.” Sera answered.
Both of them proceed into the kitchen through the back door. They formed a party with Sera as the leader. She hesitated, but gave in to Spoon’s reasoning that she was the one who discovered the quest.
Spoon offered to take the lead, and rappel down the chute using the rope. He had done this before in real life with his brother. They went to a survival camp which taught them the basic survival skills including rappelling from a height.
“Clear!” Spoon signaled to Sera that it is safe to go down.
Sera was already halfway down the chute when Spoon gave her the signal. She was still struggling with handling the rope, but fared much better than her first descent. As she slowly made her way down, Spoon lit two torches and kept watch for any rats.
“So what is the plan now?” Spoon asked.
“The rats are smart; they will try to surround us using their numbers.” Sera explained.
“They will come to us, including the rat that has the ring.” She continued.
“Basically, we kill all rats we see until we find the ring?” Spoon was not convinced with her plan.
Trying to find the ring-wearing rat in that place is going to be harder than anyone would imagine. It also posed a huge risk, since they are not accustomed to the layout of the place. Even Sera only managed to reach the second chamber before being surrounded. Venturing about may force them into a dead end, cornered by thousands of rats with no hope of escape. Sere planned to make their stand here, near the exit. They will lure them with food, and hoped that the one with the ring will take the bait.
With the plan explained, Sera set down the bait; an assortment of fruits. It was the food she swiped from the kitchen. She crushed the fruits to release the sweet aroma, hoping the rat’s keen sense of smell will pick it up. Sure enough, the sound of rats’ squeak started to echo in the caverns, increasing in volume with time.
They readied their weapons, while carefully eyeing the openings that lead to the chamber. This would be their first real battle, a proper battle. An opponent that can move, attack, evade and kill them. Their heightened stats from the training can only help them to an extent.
“Here they come!”
*****
‘I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.’
Scott tried to remain calm, hiding the fact that he was shaking in his boots. It was a combination of excitement, nervousness, fear, and also the fact that Sera were watching him.
‘Evade their attack and hit them back. Every beast has their attack pattern.’
That was his brother’s only advice, since even Steve has yet to encounter a rat mob.
‘Easier said than done.’
Sweats ran down Steve’s face, down to his chin where it dropped off his face without a sound. He gritted his teeth as his eye spotted glimmers of reds in the darkness. The number kept on increasing, showing no sign of slowing down. Pairs of eyes waited at the edge of darkness, as if amassing their ranks before rushing in a wave of black death.
“Don’t die.”
A voice, so sweet to his ears, coming from behind him. All hesitation left his body, he no longer can afford to fall. He will prevail.
“You too.” Two syllables, it is all that he can muster; but his feelings are true.
A sea of black now begins their true march. Their squeak is deafening, but the two intruders can’t afford to shield their ears.
The battle has begun.
*****
Sera swung her sword low, trying to hit the small targets. The rats were huge if compared to a normal rat; they were bigger than cats. When compared to a normal human, however, they are still considered small, even for Sera’s small frame.
The rats are agile, they quickly jumped out of the path of Sera’s sword. Sera hoped that with their huge numbers, they wouldn’t have the room to evade her attack.
‘This is just a repeat of before! I can’t hit them!’
“Hyahh!!”
Leaving a dull silvery trail behind his sword, Spoon’s attack caught the rats that evaded Sera’s attack in mid air. A single strike, the rat’s number dwindled by three. Not much, but it was a start.
‘That’s it! They can’t evade mid air!’
Spoon’s attack did not stop there. Having experimented with many sword styles in the training hall, he quickly connects his first slash with another. This time, his sword did not meet its mark, the rats it was aimed at jumped aside at the last minute. Only to be skewered by Sera’s sword and reduced to grey flame.
The two exchange look, understanding quickly of how to proceed. One of them would create an opening for the other.
Two torches were planted into the pile of bones and rotten food as their source of light. The two figures worked together, striking one after the other, like a perfectly choreographed dance. Instead of cheering, the sound of shrieking rats is heard. Instead of flowers, loots and coppers dropped all around.
A dance of two, in a dark cave lit by open flame. If you ignore the deaths, its beauty was almost divine.
Still, it is not a smooth sailing for them. It is a battle of endurance. For each rat they fell, another quickly replaced it. Even though they were gaining levels in record speed, they did not even have time to allocate their stats. If they could, the battle might be getting progressively easier.
Almost an hour come to past. Sera felt the strength had left her arms; she couldn’t swing her sword anymore. Spoon, still going strong, had slowed down, sensing his partner’s fatigue.
Both of them had passed the basic training, but Sera took her time; almost over the duration of three months before finally passing. As such, her stamina is far less than Spoon’s; who rushed through the training and completed it in less than half her time.
Sera now only could focus on blocking the relentless attack of the rats with her shield. They showed no intention of letting the invaders rest.
“Focused Strike!!”
Focused strike, a skill that is gained by Spoon during his training is a simple yet devastating skill. In the hands of an expert, a well time focused strike on a weak spot is very deadly. The skill works by chanelling stamina and mana to focus on one mighty blow. This apply on almost all physical strike from any weapons. In a sense, a simple skill which is very versatile can outshine a strong complicated flashy skill when used right. With higher skill level, one can infuse more stamina and mana into a strike, making them a possible nuke skill by power user.
Sharp bones that littered the ground flew as Spoon’s attack struck down. The bones buried themselves into the flesh of nearby rats. The sound of the impact, amplified by the surrounding echoes even stunned the rats.
“Come!” Spoon shouted, grabbing Sera by her waist, lifting her over his shoulder.
Spoon carried her, in a not so gentlemanly manner, to the entrance during the confusion. As he put her down gently, he took her sword from her tired hand. He responded to Sera’s puzzled look with a simple smile.
“Get some rest, I can handle this.” Spoon said, showing his strong back to Sera.
“None shall pass by me.” He continued, while equipping Sera’s sword in his left hand.
*****
‘She seemed tired. If we continued like this, we will lose our life.’
Spoon remembered the skill that he learned in the training hall, capable of destroying a training dummy. He formed a rough plan in his head, and hope that it will work.
“Focused Strike!”
*Boooom!!*
‘That worked better than I thought!’
He quickly turned and grabs the tired Sera, lifting her over his shoulder and made haste for the entrance.
‘Shit, I should at least do a princess carry. I look like a kidnapper carrying her like this!’
When he reached his destination, which is not that far away, he set her down gently. It was the least he could do, after his rude treatment.
‘I can do this! I’ve been planning for this day during my training in the training hall. Be cool.’
He grabbed her sword with a smile on his face. As he slowly turned around to face the oncoming rats’ assault, he said his line.
“Get some rest, I can handle this.”
“None shall pass by me.”
‘Damn, I’m so cool!’
*****
‘He took my sword..’
“Get some rest, I can handle this.”
‘Oh god no.’
“None shall pass by me.”
‘That is so cheesy.’
Sera was not convinced at all.
‘Maybe I can still bash the rats with the shield..’
Always have a backup plan and a contingency plan.
*****
‘Alright, same shit. Disrupt them with one hand, finishing blow with the other.’
Spoon swung his swords one at a time. With the first strike easily evaded by the agile enemies, the second home into the openings created by the first. While the power of his attack is reduced, the speed of his strike is increased. It was thanks to his experimenting in the training hall, he did not feel awkward using two swords.
‘That on is going for my face.’
Non-stop fighting allowed Spoon to memorise the attack pattern of the rats. During the first 30 minutes, he’d gone through all his potion and antidotes. Now he was able to predict and evade the rat’s attack from instinct alone. He simply pointed one of his swords in the path of the rat’s lunge. The rat’s momentum from its lunge is used against it as the sword easily pierces through its body.
*Shrrrreeeeek*
The sword went into the rat’s mouth and exited through its stomach. Barely alive, it’s soon reduced to a gray flame when Spoon swings his sword toward another attacking rat, killing both rats in the process.
‘Hit, and not get hit.’
Waves after waves of rats keep on coming in; gray flames constantly burning in front of Spoon as the pair of swords is never short on rats to kill. While some rats did manage to get near him, they were soon sent flying back by his kick. In VR, everything goes!
‘There is no end to this!’
Something shined which caught his eye, a rat was watching from a distance on top of a rock. It only looked at them, as if mocking them. On its head is a ring, it’s the rat Sera had mentioned to him. He broke eye contact to stomp down a rat that is trying to bite his shin, reducing it to mush. As much as he wanted to break the neck of that arrogant rat, he couldn’t afford to do so.
‘Once she’s rested, we’ll have to make a run for it.’
‘For now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me.’
*****
Spoon was so absorbed in the battle; concentrating hard for survival, he failed to see a couple of rats going past him. They are trying to go after Sera, who seem less menacing.
*Squeaaaakkk!*
*Thump!*
The first rat’s skull is smashed in as Sera swipe it away using her equipped shield. The second rat did not slow down and jumps toward Sera. She had fully expected this.
The rats have a habit of going after people’s face. A fact that Sera has found out, and used it against them.
Sera moved her head out of the way, causing the rat to miss its attack. She then grabbed its tail just as she evaded the attack, and flung the rat hard on the wall.
“Ewwwww…”
Holding the rat’s tail was not a pleasant experience for Sera. She prefers handling rotten food more than handling slimy rats. Sadly, she was in no position to complain. With the two rats taken care of, she pointed the lion’s face on her shield forward, hoping that it would deter any incoming rats.
Sera knew even Spoon couldn’t last forever, she had to do something. All she had with her now is her shield. The first thing to do is allocate the stats she had gained. She had gained an astonishing fourteen levels in the past hour, thanks to the free flow of experience giving rats and double experience bonus.
It was absurd how fast they're gaining levels. With great teamwork; one making a distraction and the other giving the finishing blow, they are killing rats in a very fast rate. At one time, they even manage to kill 5 rats in one swing thanks to the densely packed area. They are killing between forty to sixty rats a minute. A heaven for grinding, if not for the fact that they can't even spare any moment to rest. Not even enough time to allocate stat points earned. I exchange for a record breaking leveling rate, they are slowly drained of their stamina and life. Potions do help, but normally rookies can't afford any at all.
She put 20 point in strength and vitality respectively. 30 points is poured into agility. By the time she was done, there is only 5 points unallocated.
‘I can increase intelligence and wisdom by reading books anyway. Agility is harder to increase.’
The sudden increase in stats was very noticeable. She could feel her movements becoming more limber. It’s way better than her real life body. She was not very athletic in real life, unless you consider running on a treadmill as athletic.
‘This feels good!’
Happy with her increased capabilities, she decided to test it out. Not having any weapon, she were being resourceful and picked up a small bone from the ground.
‘It is all in the wrist..’
Still maintaining her shield facing forward, her right hand flicked like a whip, sending the bone flying towards a rat. The sharp edge of the broken bone dug deep into the rat’s eye, killing it with a critical hit.
‘The game is amazing! There is no way I can do that in real life!’
Surprised at what she did, she began throwing everything around her to support Spoon from behind. It gave Spoon more room to breathe as rats stumbled being hit by sharp bones. Sera’s attack did not kill each time, only those that hit critical spots. Even then, it creates enough opening for Spoon to finish them off.
*Ttring!*
> Wrote: -You have learned a new skill : Throw-
A system notification rang, informing Sera that she had learned a new skill. She ignored it, thinking that she can read it later. It’s about throwing, what is there to read? Although she did feel her throw get stronger and more accurate after gaining the skill.
‘I guess it’s about time I switch in with him.’
“Sword!” Sera shouted.
Spoon skillfully lobbed the sword, hilt first toward Sera. She caught the sword and rushed forward to join Spoon.
“Switch. Get back and rest. Allocate your skill point.” Sera instructed Spoon.
Spoon refused, but soon changed his mind as he saw a group of rats were sent flying as Sera sweeps the area in front of her with her shield. Some of them even ended up dead!
“That’s what 20 point in strength can do. I’ll buy you time.”
Today, Sera broke her record of the amount of words spoken in a day. It felt weird, but somehow satisfying. If only it was not due to the fact that they’re fighting for their life against a legion of disgusting, disease ridden pest.
Sera fighting style is more passive when compared to Spoon. She forces the rats to back away with the threatening swing of her swords, and sending those that come to close flying with her shield. The rats, who had never seen a lion before in their life soon learned the terror of such beast. Her shield, adorned with lion carvings, brought death with each strike.
It was not long before Spoon joined her. His face full of worry and guilt for hiding behind Sera’s back. As soon as he allocated all the stat points, he quickly joined back in.
“2 o’clock! The one with the ring!” Spoon shouted, trying to ensure that the message gets through all the rats’ squeaking.
Sera nodded, she already saw the rat before. They needed to act now, before their stamina fails them. Sera thought up a plan.
“Can you do the focused strike again?”
“Twice more with my current stamina.” Spoon answered.
“That’s enough. As soon as you get my sword, execute it.”
“Your sword? What do -” Spoon was cut off as he saw Sera’s sword flying toward his face
“Woah!!!”
Spoon barely managed to catch the sword a few inches away from his face. He saw Sera ducking down low on the ground with her shield up. She looked so tiny in that position.
“Now!” Sera shouted, bringing Spoon back to his senses.
“Focused Strike!!”
Spoon struck the ground as he did before, but this time with two swords. It created a shockwave which killed nearby rats and stunned the others. The effect is greater than before, as his strength is now almost doubled after he allocates his skill point.
“Follow after me!” Sera explodes forward from her position from a crouching start.
The reason Sera put herself down low before was two-fold. The first is to easily shield herself from any flying debris resulting from Spoon’s skill, the second is to easily sprint forward as soon as the skill is executed.
Her shield firmly set in front of her, leaning forward and keeping her center low; Sera plowed through the group of stunned rats making way towards the rat with the ring. Spoon, who quickly under stood her intentions, followed closely behind. He slashed left and right killing any rats that stray to close.
“We’ll end this now!”
*****
The rat, noticing their advance, tried to flee. It jumped down the rock it was on, but before its feet could hit solid ground, a piece of bone pierced its stomach. Instead of a smooth landing, it crashed down rolling in a pile of rotten food.
Still alive, it tried to crawl into the safety of the dark caves. Despair comes as it spies a sword heading its way.
“Squeaakkk!!!!”
The rat said its last word as the sword dug through its body. Where it lay limp and lifeless, a ring was seen. It’s a golden ring, with emerald stone. The ring the two were supposed to find and return.
“Grab it quick!” A female voice rang out, urgency in her voice.
“I got it!” A male voice responded.
“Now we need to fight our way out.”
“No problem, use the same strategy we used to get here. Focused Striaaaaaaaaaaagahkah!!!!!!!”
“What’s wrong??”
“One bit me!!”
“Where?”
“You don’t want to know…”
*****
Steve logged off from Royal Road. He was tired, having to deal with so many things at once.
‘So it’s tomorrow, the first day of the examination.’
‘I should go to bed; I’ve done all I can.’
‘When this is over, I can continue playing normally again.’
Before retiring to his bed, he updated his journal entry for the day. A smile and a sigh later, his room went dark as he silently fell asleep.
*****
> Quote:“….with a brief moment of recreation? Or did you forsake me and forces me away from studying?
>
> It seems like the goddess’ smile was not meant for me after all. It was for my brother, he is in love! Finally! I was worried that people thought that he had a twin brother complex.
> Hopefully this will work out. He is very clueless about girls. No worry though, he have me. I shall be the cupid! Although this cupid will be busy for his mid terms starting tomorrow. Why did Scott get all the smart genes!”
>
> -Excerpt of Steve Journal-
*****
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[](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=366)[](http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=387&p=1587#p1587)
> Author Wrote: Credits to HikaruMichi for correcting grammars and spelling mistakes. Also to all the kind and magnificent people in chat for giving feedback for this chapter, especially the battle scene.
> Tomorrow chapter will be the side story, which I planned to post today. I changed it to tomorrow because a certain soul in the chat said I should at least finish the rat thing first.
> Thanks for reading, feedback is highly appreciated. It is my first fanfic, but no need to go gentle on me. |
{
"title": "Blut und Eisen: Blood and Iron",
"id": 55,
"author": "ShrimpSamurai",
"rating": 4.4
} | {
"title": "S1 E11: It's Whats On The Inside That Counts",
"id": 203,
"next": 224,
"prev": 185,
"prev_info": "",
"next_info": ""
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
"Hmmmmm, quite peaceful isn't it?", Lydia stated.
<br>
<br>"Yeah, it sure is", Gerhard agreed whilst lying down on a straw mat, hands under the back of his head with a grass stalk between his lips, twirling back and forth. The boy from the orphanage, William, was watching this with rapt attention, chin on his hands and squatting a respectful distance away from the 'angel'. He seemed to have grown quite attached to Gerhard.
<br>
<br>"… really very peaceful".
<br>
<br>"Yeah, it sure is", he agreed again, still with his eyes closed and not really paying much attention to her words.
<br>
<br>In the background, the little boy William went, "Ooooooh!", as Gerhard completed a series of loops and counter swings more akin to a circus gymnast… with just the straw stalk.
<br>
<br>"… why are we relaxing so peacefully?"
<br>
<br>"Hmm? Isn't it because it is relaxing and peaceful?"
<br>
<br>"… don't you think this scene is kind of strange?"
<br>
<br>"Hmm? What is?", Gerhard almost yawned un-gentlemanlike, as he stretched his arms over his head, turning to the side to give William a wink. To which having been noticed, the boy scurried off to hide shyly behind the dress of Lydia.
<br>
<br>"… seriously, why are we relaxing when we are in a pinch?", becoming agitated, and without realising it had reached down to gently stroke the top of William's head.
<br>
<br>Gerhard look at her in surprise as he asked, "Can you define 'pinch' for me?"
<br>
<br>"… we are LOCKED up in a cell"
<br>
<br>"Eh?"
<br>
<br>"Don’t 'EH' me! WHY DID WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO GET CAPTURED?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation.
<br>
<br>"Are you sure? I thought we were invited for dinner?"
<br>
<br>"There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that statement, because…", she turned abruptly and bowled little William over in surprise, "WE ARE THE DINNER!", she exclaimed, pointing her arm out of the cell door towards a pair of Forest Giants stirring a relatively massive iron pot. Hearing the commotion, the pair looked up from their work and cheerfully waved back at them, while the boy looked up at her in disappointment, wishing she would continue patting his head.
<br>
<br>"Lydia… why are you judging people based upon their appearance? I mean, look at Eric here", Gerhard flicked his thumb over to the silent brooding figure, leaning against the stone wall, who only glared back at Lydia, "he is actually a kind hearted man".
<br>
<br>"… WHAT TYPE OF KIND HEARTED MAN SENDS DEATH BEAMS FROM HIS EYES?! And speaking of which", Lydia inhaled her breath deeply and slowly, "WHY IS HE STILL FOLLOWING US?!!"
<br>
<br>"It's only until that Player Killer status you keep mentioning fades away. That's no problem, right?"
<br>
<br>"... no, no, I mean, WHY with US?!"
<br>
<br>To which Eric growled low, still unable to shake the persona he had acquired whilst playing Royal Road for so long, "Where he goes, I go".
<br>
<br>"Gerhard… does that sound like someone intending to leave eventually?", Lydia pointed out… from behind the back of William.
<br>
<br>Gerhard turned to Eric and said crossly, "Eric, please don't frighten Lydia. We already had a hard time convincing the boy that you are not scary"
<br>
<br>Having been spoken to, Eric clicked his heels together and stood to rigid attention, replying, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Jawohl, mein Kommandant!</span>" <As you willed, My Commander!>
<br>
<br>"… please don't", Gerhard waved a hand in irritation, "We all know that I am unfit for that title..."
<br>
<br>"I beg to differ", the giant countered, "you achieved a great victory against impossible odds".
<br>
<br>"Yes, but at what cost? The total destruction of my command…"
<br>
<br>"They were willing to die for you, that is all that matters"
<br>
<br>Lydia looked at the pair of them in bafflement, "… weren't the two of you killing each other weeks ago… HOW CAN YOU GUYS PULL THAT 'UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER THROUGH BLOWS' CRAP ON ME?!"
<br>
<br>The two men looked at each other and chuckled, Eric showing a rare smile as Gerhard spoke for the both of them, "It's… how do you say it… we both also came from the same line of work. Kind of like a bond that comes from being in the same company"
<br>
<br>"… Are you sure you are not a Japanese company employee...?", she sighed, "... the only thing missing is you volunteering to work over time. Oh wait", she placed a fist on the top of her palm, "you ARE working overtime!"
<br>
<br>"Well, I was asked by the local villagers to locate the whereabouts of their missing cattle", Gerhard explained slowly to her, "after all, I was also a former detective".
<br>
<br>"… it doesn’t take a detective to realise that", Lydia pointed to the giants again, "THEY ARE THE ONES EATING THEM!"
<br>
<br>"Again with judging a book by its cover", Gerhard tsk tsk at her.
<br>
<br>"Uuuuu if only my spells worked, I would have so incinerated them by now… and singe you a little bit", she chuckled evilly at the barely heard last words. Except William did and began to back away fearfully, step by step as he realised that maybe… she was probably scarier than Eric.
<br>
<br>"Well, it can't be helped, apparently this forest is very Tolkien-ish, what with the absence of magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Elves here too, like in The Lord of the Rings", Gerhard took the scared boy unto his lap and brushed William's hair to calm him.
<br>
<br>"Wow. I am surprised you watched the movies, considering how much of an old geezer you act sometimes", she said in genuine surprise.
<br>
<br>"Movies? What movies? I read the books when they first came out. Perhaps the only British author worth reading at the time", he smiled as Gerhard reminisced about the first copy of the book he received from his wife as a gift.
<br>
<br>Lydia sighed to herself as she mumbled, "Stupid over enthusiastic role players..."
<br>
<br>"But!", she pointed her finger at Gerhard accusingly, "Why didn’t you!", then to Eric, "Or you!", before crossing her arms under her ample chest, "At least put up a fight when they grabbed us out of nowhere!"
<br>
<br>Eric just shrugged while Gerhard took a moment to ponder on it, before replying, "They can hide surprisingly well can't they?"
<br>
<br>"… HOW CAN YOU MISS A FOUR STOREY TALL GIANT!"
<br>
<br>"… didn't you fail to notice it too?"
<br>
<br>"… t.. that's beside the point!", Lydia blushed as she yelled, "You're suppose to notice these sort of things!"
<br>
<br>Gerhard looked to Eric and the two men somehow managed to exchange a few words with their gaze.
<br>
<br>'………..<span style="font-style: italic;"> incomprehensible</span>'
<br>
<br>'<span style="font-style: italic;">I know, right</span>?', Eric's eyes managed to communicate back, '<span style="font-style: italic;">My wife does that to me sometimes, too</span>'.
<br>
<br>They both nodded solemnly to one another to which Lydia noticing turned even redder. "And furthermore", she continued to barrel forward to hide her embarrassment, "is it just me, or have you become even weaker recently", looking at Gerhard critically.
<br>
<br>"Hmm, now that you have pointed it out, I guess you are right", Gerhard agreed, "Foes used to be much easier to slay… those 'mobs' as a generic term for enemies of all sort as you explained… it seems that they have either gotten faster, or I can't seem to inflict substantial damage on them at all"
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Kommandant</span>"<Commander>, Eric piped in, "Might I be able to see your Avatar Window? I have some experience in bringing out great performance in our alter bodies".
<br>
<br>Gerhard laughed, "Yes, I have kind of experienced it with your heavy fists. Alright then", he set William aside unto the mat as Gerhard stood up, "how do we do this?"
<br>
<br>Eric walked until he was side by side with Gerhard before saying, "First call out your Avatar Window"
<br>
<br>"Character info!", Gerhard did as told, "Now what?"
<br>
<br>"With purpose say, 'Share info with Eric'"
<br>
<br>"Share info with Eric!", Gerhard scratched the back of his head, "Doing this… is kind of embarrassing"
<br>
<br>"It's only for a moment... and I can see it now. Excellent, let's see a Sword Singer? A new class...?", to which Eric stopped abruptly, his face becoming an unreadable mask that made Lydia very curious.
<br>
<br>"Sir… how long have you been playing like this?", Eric enquired in a low voice.
<br>
<br>"Hmmm? Since I first came into this world, I suppose"
<br>
<br>"I see…"
<br>
<br>"What, what?!", Lydia, her journalistic core going into overdrive from her curiosity, as she began to hassle Eric, overcoming her natural fear of him, "Did he allocate points into something useless like Charisma or Intelligence? After all", she turned her nose up at Gerhard, "he sure needs every help he can get".
<br>
<br>"Sir…", Eric said with absolute respect in his voice, "Can you please share it with her, too".
<br>
<br>"? Alright", Gerhard sighed, as she came over and stood next to him, "Share info with Lydia! Damn… this is way too embarrassing".
<br>
<br>"Time to laugh at your horrible build", she teased… before her eyes almost bulged out of her head when his Avatar Window became visible.
<br>
<br>"Well… what is it?", Gerhard asked in consternation.
<br>
<br>"You……", Lydia began, "you, you, you IDIOT!", she grabbed the back of Gerhard's head and almost slammed him face first into the Character Window, pointing at a figure glowing red at the bottom of the screen, "WHAT IS THIS?!"
<br>
<br>"Lydia, you are hurting me…"
<br>
<br>"WHAT is THIS?!", she tapped the image repeatedly.
<br>
<br>Sighing, Gerhard shifted his gaze to read what was on the screen.
<br>
<br>"It says: ‘unused stat points’"
<br>
<br>"No…. what is with this figure!"
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">CHARACTER INFO</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Avatar</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">Gerhard von Natzmer</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Alignment</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">Good</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Level</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">83</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Class</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">Sword Singer</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Title</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">Knight</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Fame</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ff9933;">280</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Stats</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Health</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">3460</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Mana</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">140</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Strength</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">60</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +25</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Agility</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">50</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +25</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Vitality</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">89</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +25</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Wisdom</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">10</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Intelligence</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">10</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Stamina</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">90</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Fighting Spirit</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">90</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Singing</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">34</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +80</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Charisma</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">78</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Leadership</span></td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">108</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Luck</span></td><td colspan="2"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">14</span><span style="color: #BF0000;"> +20</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Offence</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">50</span></td><td width="25%">Defence</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #ffcc33;">50</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Magic Resistance</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fire</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td><td width="25%">Water</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Earth</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td><td width="25%">Air</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Light</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td><td width="25%">Dark</td><td width="25%"><span style="color: #3399ff;">0%</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"><ul><br><li>All stats are added extra 20 points.</li><br><li>Singing stat is added extra 80 points.</li><br><li>When singing all stats increase by 20%.</li><br><li>Increases Attack Power for Sword Song.</li><br><li>Decreases Mana Consumption for Sword Song.</li><br><li>Enables you to learn secret skills based on your performance to the Gods.</li><br><li>Increases Fame by performing in front of an audience that's more than 1000.
<br></li></ul><br></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Unused Stat Points:<span style="color: #ff3333;"> 410</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>"It says 410?"
<br>
<br>"YOU HAVE ESSENTIALLY BEEN PLAYING WITHOUT ALLOCATING YOUR STATS, YOU IDIOT! PLEASE PUT IT ALL IN INTELLIGENCE!", Lydia cried out in a voice filled with despair.
<br>
<br>"Hmm", Eric said from the side as he analysed the data, "you basically got the other stats from completing basic training, the 5 extra from equipment… and your class change."
<br>
<br>"Did I do something wrong?", Gerhard looked to the both of them in bafflement as Lydia went to a corner and sat down woozily.
<br>
<br>"….No, Sir… you have been doing something amazing…"
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/Fqhb/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Intro12_zps34cb1304.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...cb1304.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>As soon as Eric made sure that Gerhard spread his points out and to be doubly sure he didn’t missed anything, he made Gerhard open his skills window as well. True to form, another oddity greeted Eric's sight.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4">SKILLS WINDOW</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Passive</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Forced March (Intermediate)</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1<span style="color: #ff3333;"> (57%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, movement speed is increased to all members due to your motivating song
<br>+ 10%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Herald of the King (Intermediate)</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #ff3333;">(57%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, your leadership is increased temporarily.
<br>+ 5 mins</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Lord of Battles (Intermediate)</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #ff3333;">(57%)</span></td><td colspan="2">When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, attack power is increased to all members due to your motivating song. Additional effects on your sword mastery.
<br>+ 10%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Endurance</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.8 <span style="color: #ff3333;">(78%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy.
<br>- 5%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Sword Mastery (Intermediate)</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.4 <span style="color: #ff3333;">(18%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Increases attack power and speed for equipping a sword.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Active</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Sword Song</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1 <span style="color: #ff3333;">(0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Increases attack speed and critical chance. If leadership higher than opponents, additional effect of 'slowed' is applied on enemies.
<br>Mana consumption: 40 per second</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #BF4000;">Words of Iron</span></td><td width="25%">Lv.1<span style="color: #ff3333;"> (0%)</span></td><td colspan="2">Chance to turn enemies or convince NPCs to do the unreasonable for a limited duration.
<br>Mana consumption: 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4">Rare Skills Achievement</td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><span style="color: #FFBF00;">True Warrior</span></td><td colspan="2">"To a real warrior, power perceived may be power achieved."
<br>
<br>You are a strangeness in this world, unbound by the laws that dictate the lives of its denizens. You have relied on nothing but what was given at birth, and triumphed over great foes, never tasting the sleep of death.
<br>
<br>Survived the first 50 levels without allocating Bonus Stat Points, used an Active Skill or suffered Death. Once per day, you may choose to augment any single attack for 4x extra damage. [Please choose mode of activation: Spoken or Motion]</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>'Rare skills achievement?', Eric read the title to himself, 'I have never seen or heard of this before', his eyebrows arching up as he also noticed that Gerhard had never once used his active skills. Turning to the crouching figure of Gerhard, who was busy playing rock-paper-scissors with the little boy, they were all interrupted by a scream.
<br>
<br>"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa! L… let me go!!!!", Lydia squealed as she was lifted into the air in the fists of one of the Forest Giants, "I am not tasty, I swear! Look at that red armoured man over there!!!", she pointed to Eric, "Doesn’t he look like a tasty lobster!!!!!? He also has a lot of muscle, so he is lean and healthy for you!"
<br>
<br>A visible vein began throbbing on the side of Eric's head before Gerhard clapped him on the shoulder, "Well… she is always like that. You will get used to it"
<br>
<br>"… should we help her?"
<br>
<br>It was Gerhard's turn to look up at Eric with an arched eyebrow, "You and I both know they are not going to harm her", before walking away, taking the hand of William in his as they both waited for their turn to be picked up by the giants.
<br>"True", Eric shrugged his shoulders.
<br>
<br>Lydia continued to struggle vainly, until she was deposited onto the table, before running about in a blind panic, reaching the table edge and peering over… only to realised it was too high to jump down from. Sitting back on her bottom, she could only hug her knees to her chest as Lydia swayed back and forth whilst crying, "Uuuuuu, I never wanted to know what it feels like to be eaten".
<br>
<br>She felt a tug on her shoulder, Lydia continuing to ignore it, but it was so insistent that finally she lost her temper and looked up in annoyance, "WHAT?!"
<br>
<br>William took a step back, looking fearful before raising a hand to point behind her. Sighing in resignation, she turned… only to be greeted by an amazing sight.
<br>
<br>Sitting down cross legged in front of a spoon as long as a car, Gerhard was leaning over it with a metal cup taken from his bag. Scooping the hot steaming liquid into the cup and blowing gently on it, he brought it to his lips before drinking it down slowly.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Fräulein</span><Miss>… this is delicious!", Gerhard complimented towards one of the Forest Giants, both almost distinctly unrecognisable from the other, however, one of them placed their hands on their cheeks and blushed.
<br>
<br>"T...THANK YOU", she replied, the voice so loud that the air pressure threatened to burst the puny humans' eardrums. She promptly placed her hands over her mouth and somehow managed to look apologetic.
<br>
<br>"I see why you don't speak often", Gerhard rubbed his ears gingerly, "Well, come here, William, I will cool some for you. You too, Eric, come try it as well", the little boy already sitting down on Gerhard's lap happily.
<br>
<br>"…. why aren't we eaten yet?", Lydia confused, walked towards Gerhard, warily keeping an eye on the giants.
<br>
<br>"Hmm? It's because they are vegetarians".
<br>
<br>"… and how do you KNOW this?"
<br>
<br>"Obviously, from their teeth, of course"
<br>
<br>Lydia switched her gaze from the giants to Gerhard as she exclaimed in surprise, "What?!"
<br>
<br>Sighing, Gerhard lifted the now cool liquid towards William's lips and then wrapped the boy's hands around the cup as he finally looked up at Lydia.
<br>
<br>"They are vegetarian because of their teeth", Gerhard pointed toward his own, "We are omnivores because we have different sets of teeth to eat both plants and animals. Herbivores and carnivores only have one set of teeth, due to the reason that they are specialised for their preferred food"
<br>
<br>Looking at Lydia with a gaze that seemed to say 'go back to primary school', "Carnivores have long canines… herbivores have….?", Gerhard waited for her to come up with the right answer.
<br>
<br>Eventually, it clicked for her and she finally noticed that the giants had massive flat molars, which was shown as they talked to one another in low hushed tones, although it was still so loud that the humans could hear them quite well.
<br>
<br>"The reason why we never fought back was because they never had any intention to hurt us in the first place", Gerhard finished.
<br>
<br>Lydia fell to her knees as she stammered, "so… so I was the only one worrying for nothing!"
<br>
<br>"Well, truthfully there was always a chance that I was wrong, however", Gerhard smiled, "neither me nor Eric felt any killing intent".
<br>
<br>"And now we come to the crux of our situation", he raised his head up to catch the attention of one of the giants, "Why exactly have we been brought here? I don’t think kidnapping us just to share some dinner was your primary goal?"
<br>
<br>The two giants looked to one another, before one embarrassedly bow their head, and said in a low voice so as to not hurt the human's ears again, "Well… me and my missus rarely have guests around the home… and you little people tend to run away screaming, ya see. But this time we needed some help, ya see. So, that’s why we went looking for little people, and", the creature pointed towards the cell "put you'se lot inside our bird cage, so that you can fulfil our request", it finished in a rush, almost sheepishly.
<br>
<br>"Wow… this game has some very big birds", Gerhard said, intrigued.
<br>
<br>"IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE FOCUSED ON?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation, "More like the fact that we might be given a dangerous quest!"
<br>
<br>To which Gerhard asked the giants, "So, what is your request?". In the background, the sound of Lydia groaning could be heard… which is an understatement, because she was actually screaming and Eric was forced to silence her... by placing a hand over her mouth.
<br>
<br>"Wells’sar, something has been leaving dead carcasses of cows all around our home. And I managed to follow the trail but it ended in a cave", the giant looked sad, "little people always blame us for everything and we were chased out of our last home. Please, find what did it and stop it. Save the little people's cows"
<br>
<br><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Tring!</span>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto"><table><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quest Updated: Dang Cows Gone Walkabouts
<br>
<br>You have found a clue as to the possible whereabouts of the farmers missing cows. Stumbling upon the giants, they have given you new leads that points towards a creature feeding on the livestock and leaving a blood trail towards a nearby cave.
<br>
<br>Difficulty: D
<br>
<br>Quest Reward:
<br>20 Fame
<br>10 Gold coins</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>
<br>
<br>
<br>"Well then", Gerhard stood up and turned to his friends, "shall we get going then?"
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>"Hermann?"
<br>
<br>"Hmm? What is it dear?"
<br>
<br>"Do you think that Max is actually doing what he is supposed to in that game of his?"
<br>
<br>"You mean meeting papa? I am sure Max is being a good boy….I hope", he furrowed his brow in worry.
<br>
<br>"I do wish he is not being naughty and chasing after girls", she said in worry, chin on her hand as she leaned over the back of the chair Hermann was sitting on.
<br>
<br>Hermann almost spluttered out his coffee as he tilted his head upwards to look at his wife, "You don't have to worry about that dear", he chuckled.
<br>
<br>"True… the girls might be chasing him instead", she looked at Hermann, annoyed.
<br>
<br>"Huh? What did I do?"
<br>
<br>"Hmph!"
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">Dear Miss von Natzmer…. please be reassured, that such a thing will never happen. Unless he owes them a considerable amount of money…. BECAUSE THEY <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LENT</span></span> IT TO HIM… not those other things people are imagining….AHEM *cough* *cough*, back to the adventure…</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>"Waaaaait for meeee!", Max cried, chasing after the departing backs of the Samurai twins.
<br>
<br>"Masumi, do you hear something?"
<br>
<br>"No, <span style="font-style: italic;">nee-san</span><sister>. Could it be the wind?"
<br>
<br>"Hmm, I don't think so. It almost sounded like someone we used to know…"
<br>
<br>"Eh...?", Masumi decided to listen closely, "You could be right, <span style="font-style: italic;">nee-san</span><sister>"
<br>
<br>Spinning around sharply, Mayumi exclaimed, "WHY, isn't it our AIR friend, Max?!"
<br>
<br>The words like daggers impaling his heart, he stuttered, "Wait, I can explain.."
<br>
<br>"No, no it's fine", Mayumi said sadly, pretending to wipe away fake tears, "we had always known you were lonely… but we are so happy that you have managed to make an AIR friend".
<br>
<br>"Guuuh!", another mortal blow to his fragile heart as Lorelei whispered in his mind.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Are you ok? You seem to be having heart pains</span>", she asked in worry.
<br>
<br>"I..I'm fine… just suffering from critical strikes", he replied unwittingly before freezing and returning his gaze to Mayumi.
<br>
<br>Sure enough, there was an expression of deep pity on her face. The misunderstanding happened just a few days ago, when he was caught apparently talking to himself. Max didn’t know why Lorelei wanted to be kept a secret from the others, but he made a promise and, as his father and grandfather always said, 'we should always honour our words’. Hence his problem at this moment as he struggled to come up with an explanation. And kind of failing.
<br>
<br>Sighing, Max gave up as he replied, "Yes, I understand. Mayumi, Masumi", he gestured vaguely to his right, "Please, meet my air friend, Jessica".
<br>
<br>The twins gave him a sad smile as they both bowed at his imaginary companion, replying, "How do you do?", in unison.
<br>
<br>Suddenly, he got a sharp throbbing headache as Lorelei said, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Who is Jessica, hmm</span>?", sounding annoyed.
<br>
<br>Gritting his teeth, he replied in a low voice, "I will explain later".
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Hmph</span>!", before he somehow heard the sound of an imaginary door slamming inside his head, followed by another expanding wave of a headache.
<br>
<br>"So uh… how did you and Jessica meet?", Masumi asked politely.
<br>
<br>'Give me a break, Masumi!', Max yelled inside his head as he struggled to smile, "Oh um, in High School, I suppose?"
<br>
<br>"Ahhh, I see", Mayumi nodded her head in understanding, "So, she is your childhood sweetheart, huh"
<br>
<br>Inside Max was weeping an ocean worth of salty tears, as he replied vehemently, "No, no! We are just friends right, Jessica?"
<br>
<br>"Oh my god!", Mayumi cried, "What have you done Max! There there, I understand that he is insensitive", she began stroking the air where a human's back should be.
<br>
<br>"Eh?", Max looked at her startled.
<br>
<br>Mayumi glanced up at Max as she continued to comfort the air friend,"… Jerk..".
<br>
<br>"Eh?"
<br>
<br>To which Masumi also gazed steadily at Max, "… Jerk…"
<br>
<br>"EHHHHHHHHH?!", Max yelled out in incredulity as his mind struggled to process the situation, 'WHAT THE HELL! AM I THE CRAZY ONE?! REALLY?! IS JESSICA ACTUALLY THERE?!', he looked wildly to his right.
<br>
<br>Even Lorelei joined in, "<span style="font-style: italic;">How can you be so mean to your friend?</span>", sounding quite disappointed.
<br>
<br>"Oh… oh my god, I am so sorry, Jessica…", Max began until Mayumi gave a whelp.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Eeeeeee</span>, see what you have done!?", she cried.
<br>
<br>"Wait, what?!", he asked baffled.
<br>
<br>"GO CHASE AFTER HER YOU FOOL!", as she gave him a light push.
<br>
<br>Not knowing what is going on anymore, eyes spinning, he ran desperately after the imaginary friend who was supposedly far off in front of him now.
<br>
<br>Behind his back, Mayumi winked at her twin.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>Eric knelt down as he studied the tracks whilst Gerhard endeavoured to remember the minor forensic skills he had acquired in his time in the Austrian Police Force, trying to gauge how large the animal was by the size of the bite marks on the rotting carcass. Lydia was… tying ribbons in William's hair. She claimed it was her vital duty…
<br>
<br>"… you know, I did say to look after him…", Gerhard said slightly annoyed, "… away from danger…"
<br>
<br>"Isn't it fine? After all, I can't even cast any spells in this forest, so I might as well use my hands for something"
<br>
<br>"… tying ribbons?"
<br>
<br>"Looks cute, right?", she cradle the boy in her arms and spun around in a circle, as though doing a fashion show.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/LydiaandWilliam_zps92aa6224.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...aa6224.jpg"></div>
<br>
<br>The ribbons were… actually quite impressive, tied into the shape of flowers and Gerhard sighed, "If only you used your skills for more productive things"
<br>
<br>"Oh, you mean, except for being so beautiful?"
<br>
<br>"… is that a skill that I am unaware of?", rubbing the corner of his eyes tiredly. Still feels strange not having to wear his reading glasses after all these years.
<br>
<br>In hindsight, maybe it would had been better to leave the two non-combatants with the Giants… then again she would had followed anyway, mentioning something about 'the world's loot is mine!', and the child would for some reason follow her. Gerhard sighed again, more times today than he could ever remember, 'At least they are in my sight', he consoled to himself quietly.
<br>
<br>"<span style="font-style: italic;">Herr Kommandant</span> <Commander>", Eric stood up, "the directions the Giants gave us are accurate. If we keep heading North-West we are bound to find the cave as well".
<br>
<br>"… I guess we should end this soon then", Gerhard looked up at the darkening sky, "before we lose all light".
<br>
<br>They were to follow along a trail that only Eric could see, and it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that they stumbled upon a clearing, a fairly large opening leading into the earth could be seen in the distance, vast sections of it obscured by outgrowth from the surrounding bushes.
<br>
<br>"Yaaaay! We are finally here!", Lydia cheered, the rest looking to one another unsure of what to think.
<br>
<br>"You do know we are going to be doing most of the work… again", Gerhard pointed out…
<br>
<br>"Ehhhh? It's fine, 'All for One and One for All', right? All the loot for me, and me for all the loot!"
<br>
<br>"… I don’t think that phrase was meant to be used like that…"
<br>
<br>There was a rustling from the bushes, and instantly Gerhard and Eric reached for their weapons. But to their surprise, a fury little creature tumbled out, turning its white head from side to side in apparent confusion and sniffing the air.
<br>
<br>"…Kyaaaaaaaaaa!", Lydia screamed as she rushed forward, "It’s a baby PANDA!"
<br>
<br>"Lydia!", Gerhard yelled, "GET BACK HERE!", he and Eric having drawn their weapons already.
<br>
<br>She whirled around with hands on her hips, pouting, "Eeeeeeh, but I want to tie ribbons-", was what she wanted to say, till Lydia heard a low growl from behind her. Turning back, she saw that the 'baby' panda was rapidly increasing in size till it towered over her, "Ooh… what nice long canines you have", she gulped.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/Pandadoom_zps1f9d568a.png" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...9d568a.png"></div>
<br>
<br>To which the creature only roared, followed by Lydia screaming again only with a different undertone, "KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!", as she dashed back towards the group, her running style that of a professional sprinter. If this was the Olympics, she would have won Gold.
<br>
<br>Both Eric and Gerhard raced forward, each taking position on either flank of the monster and began initiating their attacks, as Lydia ran by in the middle. Gerhard felt…. incredible, almost stumbling and mistiming his strikes as his newly adjusted stat points enhance every single movement he made, forcing him to consciously make an effort and concentrate three times as hard as he would normally do. In the space of several minutes of intense fighting, of blind dodges and wild circling of the creature, Gerhard finally showed the full potential of his newly tuned body. Chasing, racing along the ground to leap high into the air and landing a strike at the forehead of the creature. The blow was so heavy that the creature reeled back, momentarily stunned.
<br>
<br>Gerhard's body was now moving in sync with his subconscious, as he let out a yell, landing on the Death Panda's chest and thrusting down with the tip of his sword into its soft underbelly. The creature let out a painful roar; swinging an overlarge paw to swat Gerhard off, only for him to have already disappeared, having leapt backwards with such force that he almost crashed into the trees. '<span style="font-style: italic;">T-this is insane!</span>', Gerhard grinned inwardly, '<span style="font-style: italic;">so, this is what it feels like to play a VRMMORPG. No wonder Max is addicted to this</span>', the world appearing in slow motion to him as he sidestepped the monster's overhead strike with its arms, '<span style="font-style: italic;">I feel like Þunraz!</span>' <Dunraz, God of Thunder>.
<br>
<br>To the side, Lydia could only look on stunned. Where before she thought Gerhard's swordsmanship was a graceful gentle breeze… he was now a violent storm, striking again and again and again in so many different directions that she felt dizzy even trying to keep up with his movements. Eric continued to drop the monster's HP with his savage and higher damaging blows, hacking away at the Death Panda's legs… but for sheer amounts of what appeared to be critical strikes, Gerhard was unmatched. It was true that his damage was low, due to his equipment and level… but to the untrained eye, it appeared that Gerhard was the focal point of bringing the monster staggering to its knees. Lydia shivered as she thought to herself, '<span style="font-style: italic;">What would happen if he did have the right gear to fight</span>...'
<br>
<br>However, they must have hit some sort of event trigger, because once the creature had all four limbs on the ground, it suddenly began to rapidly expand larger, before turning away to crash back into the cave. The two men gave chase, as Lydia hitched up her robe and chased after them shouting, "OI! COME BACK, LOOT!"
<br>
<br>As they ran in, the creature seemed to have stopped abruptly and it soon became apparent why. A puffing man was standing in shock at this unexpected encounter, but none more so than Gerhard, as he noticed the figure on the opposite end of the cave tunnel. The brown haired man also gaped as the two recognised one another instantly.
<br>
<br>"Eh? Max?!", Gerhard exclaimed in astonishment.
<br>
<br>Max stood stunned as he replied, "Gran-..", to which he was abruptly cut off as Mayumi threw him backwards, the paw of the Death Panda narrowly missing crushing Max's skull as he stumbled and rolled along the ground.
<br>
<br>The creature roared in frustration, the walls visibly reverberating to the extent that rocks and stalactites broke loose from the ceiling to plunge haphazardly around the two parties. Max lying groggily upon his back could only look up helpless as a section of the ceiling came crashing down towards him.
<br>
<br>"Oh, crap", Max said aloud, as the voice of his Grandfather could be heard in the background shouting out in warning.
<br>
<br>Gerhard ran towards Max, as fast as his enhanced body would allow, stretching out with his hand, powerless to stop what was happening before him.
<br>
<br>In that brief moment, Max and Gerhard's eyes met. And then there was darkness.
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************************************************</div>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://picosong.com/FqF9/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 1.7em;">Ending Song: Promise You</span></a></div>
<br>
<br>
<br><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk285/black_ferrus/Blut%20und%20Eisen/OnlyaDream_zpsdf5558ad.jpg" border="0" alt="http%3a%2f%2fi283.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fkk285...5558ad.jpg"></div>
</div> | "Hmmmmm, quite peaceful isn't it?", Lydia stated.
"Yeah, it sure is", Gerhard agreed whilst lying down on a straw mat, hands under the back of his head with a grass stalk between his lips, twirling back and forth. The boy from the orphanage, William, was watching this with rapt attention, chin on his hands and squatting a respectful distance away from the 'angel'. He seemed to have grown quite attached to Gerhard.
"… really very peaceful".
"Yeah, it sure is", he agreed again, still with his eyes closed and not really paying much attention to her words.
In the background, the little boy William went, "Ooooooh!", as Gerhard completed a series of loops and counter swings more akin to a circus gymnast… with just the straw stalk.
"… why are we relaxing so peacefully?"
"Hmm? Isn't it because it is relaxing and peaceful?"
"… don't you think this scene is kind of strange?"
"Hmm? What is?", Gerhard almost yawned un-gentlemanlike, as he stretched his arms over his head, turning to the side to give William a wink. To which having been noticed, the boy scurried off to hide shyly behind the dress of Lydia.
"… seriously, why are we relaxing when we are in a pinch?", becoming agitated, and without realising it had reached down to gently stroke the top of William's head.
Gerhard look at her in surprise as he asked, "Can you define 'pinch' for me?"
"… we are LOCKED up in a cell"
"Eh?"
"Don’t 'EH' me! WHY DID WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO GET CAPTURED?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation.
"Are you sure? I thought we were invited for dinner?"
"There is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that statement, because…", she turned abruptly and bowled little William over in surprise, "WE ARE THE DINNER!", she exclaimed, pointing her arm out of the cell door towards a pair of Forest Giants stirring a relatively massive iron pot. Hearing the commotion, the pair looked up from their work and cheerfully waved back at them, while the boy looked up at her in disappointment, wishing she would continue patting his head.
"Lydia… why are you judging people based upon their appearance? I mean, look at Eric here", Gerhard flicked his thumb over to the silent brooding figure, leaning against the stone wall, who only glared back at Lydia, "he is actually a kind hearted man".
"… WHAT TYPE OF KIND HEARTED MAN SENDS DEATH BEAMS FROM HIS EYES?! And speaking of which", Lydia inhaled her breath deeply and slowly, "WHY IS HE STILL FOLLOWING US?!!"
"It's only until that Player Killer status you keep mentioning fades away. That's no problem, right?"
"... no, no, I mean, WHY with US?!"
To which Eric growled low, still unable to shake the persona he had acquired whilst playing Royal Road for so long, "Where he goes, I go".
"Gerhard… does that sound like someone intending to leave eventually?", Lydia pointed out… from behind the back of William.
Gerhard turned to Eric and said crossly, "Eric, please don't frighten Lydia. We already had a hard time convincing the boy that you are not scary"
Having been spoken to, Eric clicked his heels together and stood to rigid attention, replying, "Jawohl, mein Kommandant!" <As you willed, My Commander!>
"… please don't", Gerhard waved a hand in irritation, "We all know that I am unfit for that title..."
"I beg to differ", the giant countered, "you achieved a great victory against impossible odds".
"Yes, but at what cost? The total destruction of my command…"
"They were willing to die for you, that is all that matters"
Lydia looked at the pair of them in bafflement, "… weren't the two of you killing each other weeks ago… HOW CAN YOU GUYS PULL THAT 'UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER THROUGH BLOWS' CRAP ON ME?!"
The two men looked at each other and chuckled, Eric showing a rare smile as Gerhard spoke for the both of them, "It's… how do you say it… we both also came from the same line of work. Kind of like a bond that comes from being in the same company"
"… Are you sure you are not a Japanese company employee...?", she sighed, "... the only thing missing is you volunteering to work over time. Oh wait", she placed a fist on the top of her palm, "you ARE working overtime!"
"Well, I was asked by the local villagers to locate the whereabouts of their missing cattle", Gerhard explained slowly to her, "after all, I was also a former detective".
"… it doesn’t take a detective to realise that", Lydia pointed to the giants again, "THEY ARE THE ONES EATING THEM!"
"Again with judging a book by its cover", Gerhard tsk tsk at her.
"Uuuuu if only my spells worked, I would have so incinerated them by now… and singe you a little bit", she chuckled evilly at the barely heard last words. Except William did and began to back away fearfully, step by step as he realised that maybe… she was probably scarier than Eric.
"Well, it can't be helped, apparently this forest is very Tolkien-ish, what with the absence of magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Elves here too, like in The Lord of the Rings", Gerhard took the scared boy unto his lap and brushed William's hair to calm him.
"Wow. I am surprised you watched the movies, considering how much of an old geezer you act sometimes", she said in genuine surprise.
"Movies? What movies? I read the books when they first came out. Perhaps the only British author worth reading at the time", he smiled as Gerhard reminisced about the first copy of the book he received from his wife as a gift.
Lydia sighed to herself as she mumbled, "Stupid over enthusiastic role players..."
"But!", she pointed her finger at Gerhard accusingly, "Why didn’t you!", then to Eric, "Or you!", before crossing her arms under her ample chest, "At least put up a fight when they grabbed us out of nowhere!"
Eric just shrugged while Gerhard took a moment to ponder on it, before replying, "They can hide surprisingly well can't they?"
"… HOW CAN YOU MISS A FOUR STOREY TALL GIANT!"
"… didn't you fail to notice it too?"
"… t.. that's beside the point!", Lydia blushed as she yelled, "You're suppose to notice these sort of things!"
Gerhard looked to Eric and the two men somehow managed to exchange a few words with their gaze.
'……….. incomprehensible'
'I know, right?', Eric's eyes managed to communicate back, 'My wife does that to me sometimes, too'.
They both nodded solemnly to one another to which Lydia noticing turned even redder. "And furthermore", she continued to barrel forward to hide her embarrassment, "is it just me, or have you become even weaker recently", looking at Gerhard critically.
"Hmm, now that you have pointed it out, I guess you are right", Gerhard agreed, "Foes used to be much easier to slay… those 'mobs' as a generic term for enemies of all sort as you explained… it seems that they have either gotten faster, or I can't seem to inflict substantial damage on them at all"
"Herr Kommandant"<Commander>, Eric piped in, "Might I be able to see your Avatar Window? I have some experience in bringing out great performance in our alter bodies".
Gerhard laughed, "Yes, I have kind of experienced it with your heavy fists. Alright then", he set William aside unto the mat as Gerhard stood up, "how do we do this?"
Eric walked until he was side by side with Gerhard before saying, "First call out your Avatar Window"
"Character info!", Gerhard did as told, "Now what?"
"With purpose say, 'Share info with Eric'"
"Share info with Eric!", Gerhard scratched the back of his head, "Doing this… is kind of embarrassing"
"It's only for a moment... and I can see it now. Excellent, let's see a Sword Singer? A new class...?", to which Eric stopped abruptly, his face becoming an unreadable mask that made Lydia very curious.
"Sir… how long have you been playing like this?", Eric enquired in a low voice.
"Hmmm? Since I first came into this world, I suppose"
"I see…"
"What, what?!", Lydia, her journalistic core going into overdrive from her curiosity, as she began to hassle Eric, overcoming her natural fear of him, "Did he allocate points into something useless like Charisma or Intelligence? After all", she turned her nose up at Gerhard, "he sure needs every help he can get".
"Sir…", Eric said with absolute respect in his voice, "Can you please share it with her, too".
"? Alright", Gerhard sighed, as she came over and stood next to him, "Share info with Lydia! Damn… this is way too embarrassing".
"Time to laugh at your horrible build", she teased… before her eyes almost bulged out of her head when his Avatar Window became visible.
"Well… what is it?", Gerhard asked in consternation.
"You……", Lydia began, "you, you, you IDIOT!", she grabbed the back of Gerhard's head and almost slammed him face first into the Character Window, pointing at a figure glowing red at the bottom of the screen, "WHAT IS THIS?!"
"Lydia, you are hurting me…"
"WHAT is THIS?!", she tapped the image repeatedly.
Sighing, Gerhard shifted his gaze to read what was on the screen.
"It says: ‘unused stat points’"
"No…. what is with this figure!"
| CHARACTER INFO | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Avatar | Gerhard von Natzmer | Alignment | Good |
| Level | 83 | Class | Sword Singer |
| Title | Knight | Fame | 280 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Stats | | | |
| Health | 3460 | Mana | 140 |
| Strength | 60 +25 | Agility | 50 +25 |
| Vitality | 89 +25 | Wisdom | 10 +20 |
| Intelligence | 10 +20 | Stamina | 90 +20 |
| Fighting Spirit | 90 +20 | Singing | 34 +80 |
| Charisma | 78 +20 | Leadership | 108 +20 |
| Luck | | 14 +20 | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Offence | 50 | Defence | 50 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Magic Resistance | | | |
| Fire | 0% | Water | 0% |
| Earth | 0% | Air | 0% |
| Light | 0% | Dark | 0% |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| * All stats are added extra 20 points. * Singing stat is added extra 80 points. * When singing all stats increase by 20%. * Increases Attack Power for Sword Song. * Decreases Mana Consumption for Sword Song. * Enables you to learn secret skills based on your performance to the Gods. * Increases Fame by performing in front of an audience that's more than 1000. | | | |
| Unused Stat Points: 410 | | | |
"It says 410?"
"YOU HAVE ESSENTIALLY BEEN PLAYING WITHOUT ALLOCATING YOUR STATS, YOU IDIOT! PLEASE PUT IT ALL IN INTELLIGENCE!", Lydia cried out in a voice filled with despair.
"Hmm", Eric said from the side as he analysed the data, "you basically got the other stats from completing basic training, the 5 extra from equipment… and your class change."
"Did I do something wrong?", Gerhard looked to the both of them in bafflement as Lydia went to a corner and sat down woozily.
"….No, Sir… you have been doing something amazing…"
*********************************************************************************************
[INTRO SONG: Kono Sekai e Moeru](http://picosong.com/Fqhb/)
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As soon as Eric made sure that Gerhard spread his points out and to be doubly sure he didn’t missed anything, he made Gerhard open his skills window as well. True to form, another oddity greeted Eric's sight.
| SKILLS WINDOW | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Passive | | | |
| Forced March (Intermediate) | Lv.1 (57%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, movement speed is increased to all members due to your motivating song + 10% | |
| Herald of the King (Intermediate) | Lv.1 (57%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, your leadership is increased temporarily. + 5 mins | |
| Lord of Battles (Intermediate) | Lv.1 (57%) | When singing whilst in an allied group of more than 5, attack power is increased to all members due to your motivating song. Additional effects on your sword mastery. + 10% | |
| Endurance | Lv.8 (78%) | Reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy. - 5% | |
| Sword Mastery (Intermediate) | Lv.4 (18%) | Increases attack power and speed for equipping a sword. | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Active | | | |
| Sword Song | Lv.1 (0%) | Increases attack speed and critical chance. If leadership higher than opponents, additional effect of 'slowed' is applied on enemies. Mana consumption: 40 per second | |
| Words of Iron | Lv.1 (0%) | Chance to turn enemies or convince NPCs to do the unreasonable for a limited duration. Mana consumption: 10 | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Rare Skills Achievement | | | |
| True Warrior | "To a real warrior, power perceived may be power achieved." You are a strangeness in this world, unbound by the laws that dictate the lives of its denizens. You have relied on nothing but what was given at birth, and triumphed over great foes, never tasting the sleep of death. Survived the first 50 levels without allocating Bonus Stat Points, used an Active Skill or suffered Death. Once per day, you may choose to augment any single attack for 4x extra damage. [Please choose mode of activation: Spoken or Motion] | |
'Rare skills achievement?', Eric read the title to himself, 'I have never seen or heard of this before', his eyebrows arching up as he also noticed that Gerhard had never once used his active skills. Turning to the crouching figure of Gerhard, who was busy playing rock-paper-scissors with the little boy, they were all interrupted by a scream.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa! L… let me go!!!!", Lydia squealed as she was lifted into the air in the fists of one of the Forest Giants, "I am not tasty, I swear! Look at that red armoured man over there!!!", she pointed to Eric, "Doesn’t he look like a tasty lobster!!!!!? He also has a lot of muscle, so he is lean and healthy for you!"
A visible vein began throbbing on the side of Eric's head before Gerhard clapped him on the shoulder, "Well… she is always like that. You will get used to it"
"… should we help her?"
It was Gerhard's turn to look up at Eric with an arched eyebrow, "You and I both know they are not going to harm her", before walking away, taking the hand of William in his as they both waited for their turn to be picked up by the giants.
"True", Eric shrugged his shoulders.
Lydia continued to struggle vainly, until she was deposited onto the table, before running about in a blind panic, reaching the table edge and peering over… only to realised it was too high to jump down from. Sitting back on her bottom, she could only hug her knees to her chest as Lydia swayed back and forth whilst crying, "Uuuuuu, I never wanted to know what it feels like to be eaten".
She felt a tug on her shoulder, Lydia continuing to ignore it, but it was so insistent that finally she lost her temper and looked up in annoyance, "WHAT?!"
William took a step back, looking fearful before raising a hand to point behind her. Sighing in resignation, she turned… only to be greeted by an amazing sight.
Sitting down cross legged in front of a spoon as long as a car, Gerhard was leaning over it with a metal cup taken from his bag. Scooping the hot steaming liquid into the cup and blowing gently on it, he brought it to his lips before drinking it down slowly.
"Fräulein<Miss>… this is delicious!", Gerhard complimented towards one of the Forest Giants, both almost distinctly unrecognisable from the other, however, one of them placed their hands on their cheeks and blushed.
"T...THANK YOU", she replied, the voice so loud that the air pressure threatened to burst the puny humans' eardrums. She promptly placed her hands over her mouth and somehow managed to look apologetic.
"I see why you don't speak often", Gerhard rubbed his ears gingerly, "Well, come here, William, I will cool some for you. You too, Eric, come try it as well", the little boy already sitting down on Gerhard's lap happily.
"…. why aren't we eaten yet?", Lydia confused, walked towards Gerhard, warily keeping an eye on the giants.
"Hmm? It's because they are vegetarians".
"… and how do you KNOW this?"
"Obviously, from their teeth, of course"
Lydia switched her gaze from the giants to Gerhard as she exclaimed in surprise, "What?!"
Sighing, Gerhard lifted the now cool liquid towards William's lips and then wrapped the boy's hands around the cup as he finally looked up at Lydia.
"They are vegetarian because of their teeth", Gerhard pointed toward his own, "We are omnivores because we have different sets of teeth to eat both plants and animals. Herbivores and carnivores only have one set of teeth, due to the reason that they are specialised for their preferred food"
Looking at Lydia with a gaze that seemed to say 'go back to primary school', "Carnivores have long canines… herbivores have….?", Gerhard waited for her to come up with the right answer.
Eventually, it clicked for her and she finally noticed that the giants had massive flat molars, which was shown as they talked to one another in low hushed tones, although it was still so loud that the humans could hear them quite well.
"The reason why we never fought back was because they never had any intention to hurt us in the first place", Gerhard finished.
Lydia fell to her knees as she stammered, "so… so I was the only one worrying for nothing!"
"Well, truthfully there was always a chance that I was wrong, however", Gerhard smiled, "neither me nor Eric felt any killing intent".
"And now we come to the crux of our situation", he raised his head up to catch the attention of one of the giants, "Why exactly have we been brought here? I don’t think kidnapping us just to share some dinner was your primary goal?"
The two giants looked to one another, before one embarrassedly bow their head, and said in a low voice so as to not hurt the human's ears again, "Well… me and my missus rarely have guests around the home… and you little people tend to run away screaming, ya see. But this time we needed some help, ya see. So, that’s why we went looking for little people, and", the creature pointed towards the cell "put you'se lot inside our bird cage, so that you can fulfil our request", it finished in a rush, almost sheepishly.
"Wow… this game has some very big birds", Gerhard said, intrigued.
"IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE FOCUSED ON?!", Lydia yelled in exasperation, "More like the fact that we might be given a dangerous quest!"
To which Gerhard asked the giants, "So, what is your request?". In the background, the sound of Lydia groaning could be heard… which is an understatement, because she was actually screaming and Eric was forced to silence her... by placing a hand over her mouth.
"Wells’sar, something has been leaving dead carcasses of cows all around our home. And I managed to follow the trail but it ended in a cave", the giant looked sad, "little people always blame us for everything and we were chased out of our last home. Please, find what did it and stop it. Save the little people's cows"
*Tring!
| Quest Updated: Dang Cows Gone Walkabouts You have found a clue as to the possible whereabouts of the farmers missing cows. Stumbling upon the giants, they have given you new leads that points towards a creature feeding on the livestock and leaving a blood trail towards a nearby cave. Difficulty: D Quest Reward: 20 Fame 10 Gold coins |
| --- |
"Well then", Gerhard stood up and turned to his friends, "shall we get going then?"
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"Hermann?"
"Hmm? What is it dear?"
"Do you think that Max is actually doing what he is supposed to in that game of his?"
"You mean meeting papa? I am sure Max is being a good boy….I hope", he furrowed his brow in worry.
"I do wish he is not being naughty and chasing after girls", she said in worry, chin on her hand as she leaned over the back of the chair Hermann was sitting on.
Hermann almost spluttered out his coffee as he tilted his head upwards to look at his wife, "You don't have to worry about that dear", he chuckled.
"True… the girls might be chasing him instead", she looked at Hermann, annoyed.
"Huh? What did I do?"
"Hmph!"
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Dear Miss von Natzmer…. please be reassured, that such a thing will never happen. Unless he owes them a considerable amount of money…. BECAUSE THEY LENT IT TO HIM… not those other things people are imagining….AHEM *cough* *cough*, back to the adventure…
"Waaaaait for meeee!", Max cried, chasing after the departing backs of the Samurai twins.
"Masumi, do you hear something?"
"No, nee-san<sister>. Could it be the wind?"
"Hmm, I don't think so. It almost sounded like someone we used to know…"
"Eh...?", Masumi decided to listen closely, "You could be right, nee-san<sister>"
Spinning around sharply, Mayumi exclaimed, "WHY, isn't it our AIR friend, Max?!"
The words like daggers impaling his heart, he stuttered, "Wait, I can explain.."
"No, no it's fine", Mayumi said sadly, pretending to wipe away fake tears, "we had always known you were lonely… but we are so happy that you have managed to make an AIR friend".
"Guuuh!", another mortal blow to his fragile heart as Lorelei whispered in his mind.
"Are you ok? You seem to be having heart pains", she asked in worry.
"I..I'm fine… just suffering from critical strikes", he replied unwittingly before freezing and returning his gaze to Mayumi.
Sure enough, there was an expression of deep pity on her face. The misunderstanding happened just a few days ago, when he was caught apparently talking to himself. Max didn’t know why Lorelei wanted to be kept a secret from the others, but he made a promise and, as his father and grandfather always said, 'we should always honour our words’. Hence his problem at this moment as he struggled to come up with an explanation. And kind of failing.
Sighing, Max gave up as he replied, "Yes, I understand. Mayumi, Masumi", he gestured vaguely to his right, "Please, meet my air friend, Jessica".
The twins gave him a sad smile as they both bowed at his imaginary companion, replying, "How do you do?", in unison.
Suddenly, he got a sharp throbbing headache as Lorelei said, "Who is Jessica, hmm?", sounding annoyed.
Gritting his teeth, he replied in a low voice, "I will explain later".
"Hmph!", before he somehow heard the sound of an imaginary door slamming inside his head, followed by another expanding wave of a headache.
"So uh… how did you and Jessica meet?", Masumi asked politely.
'Give me a break, Masumi!', Max yelled inside his head as he struggled to smile, "Oh um, in High School, I suppose?"
"Ahhh, I see", Mayumi nodded her head in understanding, "So, she is your childhood sweetheart, huh"
Inside Max was weeping an ocean worth of salty tears, as he replied vehemently, "No, no! We are just friends right, Jessica?"
"Oh my god!", Mayumi cried, "What have you done Max! There there, I understand that he is insensitive", she began stroking the air where a human's back should be.
"Eh?", Max looked at her startled.
Mayumi glanced up at Max as she continued to comfort the air friend,"… Jerk..".
"Eh?"
To which Masumi also gazed steadily at Max, "… Jerk…"
"EHHHHHHHHH?!", Max yelled out in incredulity as his mind struggled to process the situation, 'WHAT THE HELL! AM I THE CRAZY ONE?! REALLY?! IS JESSICA ACTUALLY THERE?!', he looked wildly to his right.
Even Lorelei joined in, "How can you be so mean to your friend?", sounding quite disappointed.
"Oh… oh my god, I am so sorry, Jessica…", Max began until Mayumi gave a whelp.
"Eeeeeee, see what you have done!?", she cried.
"Wait, what?!", he asked baffled.
"GO CHASE AFTER HER YOU FOOL!", as she gave him a light push.
Not knowing what is going on anymore, eyes spinning, he ran desperately after the imaginary friend who was supposedly far off in front of him now.
Behind his back, Mayumi winked at her twin.
*********************************************************************************************
Eric knelt down as he studied the tracks whilst Gerhard endeavoured to remember the minor forensic skills he had acquired in his time in the Austrian Police Force, trying to gauge how large the animal was by the size of the bite marks on the rotting carcass. Lydia was… tying ribbons in William's hair. She claimed it was her vital duty…
"… you know, I did say to look after him…", Gerhard said slightly annoyed, "… away from danger…"
"Isn't it fine? After all, I can't even cast any spells in this forest, so I might as well use my hands for something"
"… tying ribbons?"
"Looks cute, right?", she cradle the boy in her arms and spun around in a circle, as though doing a fashion show.
The ribbons were… actually quite impressive, tied into the shape of flowers and Gerhard sighed, "If only you used your skills for more productive things"
"Oh, you mean, except for being so beautiful?"
"… is that a skill that I am unaware of?", rubbing the corner of his eyes tiredly. Still feels strange not having to wear his reading glasses after all these years.
In hindsight, maybe it would had been better to leave the two non-combatants with the Giants… then again she would had followed anyway, mentioning something about 'the world's loot is mine!', and the child would for some reason follow her. Gerhard sighed again, more times today than he could ever remember, 'At least they are in my sight', he consoled to himself quietly.
"Herr Kommandant <Commander>", Eric stood up, "the directions the Giants gave us are accurate. If we keep heading North-West we are bound to find the cave as well".
"… I guess we should end this soon then", Gerhard looked up at the darkening sky, "before we lose all light".
They were to follow along a trail that only Eric could see, and it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that they stumbled upon a clearing, a fairly large opening leading into the earth could be seen in the distance, vast sections of it obscured by outgrowth from the surrounding bushes.
"Yaaaay! We are finally here!", Lydia cheered, the rest looking to one another unsure of what to think.
"You do know we are going to be doing most of the work… again", Gerhard pointed out…
"Ehhhh? It's fine, 'All for One and One for All', right? All the loot for me, and me for all the loot!"
"… I don’t think that phrase was meant to be used like that…"
There was a rustling from the bushes, and instantly Gerhard and Eric reached for their weapons. But to their surprise, a fury little creature tumbled out, turning its white head from side to side in apparent confusion and sniffing the air.
"…Kyaaaaaaaaaa!", Lydia screamed as she rushed forward, "It’s a baby PANDA!"
"Lydia!", Gerhard yelled, "GET BACK HERE!", he and Eric having drawn their weapons already.
She whirled around with hands on her hips, pouting, "Eeeeeeh, but I want to tie ribbons-", was what she wanted to say, till Lydia heard a low growl from behind her. Turning back, she saw that the 'baby' panda was rapidly increasing in size till it towered over her, "Ooh… what nice long canines you have", she gulped.
To which the creature only roared, followed by Lydia screaming again only with a different undertone, "KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!", as she dashed back towards the group, her running style that of a professional sprinter. If this was the Olympics, she would have won Gold.
Both Eric and Gerhard raced forward, each taking position on either flank of the monster and began initiating their attacks, as Lydia ran by in the middle. Gerhard felt…. incredible, almost stumbling and mistiming his strikes as his newly adjusted stat points enhance every single movement he made, forcing him to consciously make an effort and concentrate three times as hard as he would normally do. In the space of several minutes of intense fighting, of blind dodges and wild circling of the creature, Gerhard finally showed the full potential of his newly tuned body. Chasing, racing along the ground to leap high into the air and landing a strike at the forehead of the creature. The blow was so heavy that the creature reeled back, momentarily stunned.
Gerhard's body was now moving in sync with his subconscious, as he let out a yell, landing on the Death Panda's chest and thrusting down with the tip of his sword into its soft underbelly. The creature let out a painful roar; swinging an overlarge paw to swat Gerhard off, only for him to have already disappeared, having leapt backwards with such force that he almost crashed into the trees. 'T-this is insane!', Gerhard grinned inwardly, 'so, this is what it feels like to play a VRMMORPG. No wonder Max is addicted to this', the world appearing in slow motion to him as he sidestepped the monster's overhead strike with its arms, 'I feel like Þunraz!' <Dunraz, God of Thunder>.
To the side, Lydia could only look on stunned. Where before she thought Gerhard's swordsmanship was a graceful gentle breeze… he was now a violent storm, striking again and again and again in so many different directions that she felt dizzy even trying to keep up with his movements. Eric continued to drop the monster's HP with his savage and higher damaging blows, hacking away at the Death Panda's legs… but for sheer amounts of what appeared to be critical strikes, Gerhard was unmatched. It was true that his damage was low, due to his equipment and level… but to the untrained eye, it appeared that Gerhard was the focal point of bringing the monster staggering to its knees. Lydia shivered as she thought to herself, 'What would happen if he did have the right gear to fight...'
However, they must have hit some sort of event trigger, because once the creature had all four limbs on the ground, it suddenly began to rapidly expand larger, before turning away to crash back into the cave. The two men gave chase, as Lydia hitched up her robe and chased after them shouting, "OI! COME BACK, LOOT!"
As they ran in, the creature seemed to have stopped abruptly and it soon became apparent why. A puffing man was standing in shock at this unexpected encounter, but none more so than Gerhard, as he noticed the figure on the opposite end of the cave tunnel. The brown haired man also gaped as the two recognised one another instantly.
"Eh? Max?!", Gerhard exclaimed in astonishment.
Max stood stunned as he replied, "Gran-..", to which he was abruptly cut off as Mayumi threw him backwards, the paw of the Death Panda narrowly missing crushing Max's skull as he stumbled and rolled along the ground.
The creature roared in frustration, the walls visibly reverberating to the extent that rocks and stalactites broke loose from the ceiling to plunge haphazardly around the two parties. Max lying groggily upon his back could only look up helpless as a section of the ceiling came crashing down towards him.
"Oh, crap", Max said aloud, as the voice of his Grandfather could be heard in the background shouting out in warning.
Gerhard ran towards Max, as fast as his enhanced body would allow, stretching out with his hand, powerless to stop what was happening before him.
In that brief moment, Max and Gerhard's eyes met. And then there was darkness.
*********************************************************************************************
[Ending Song: Promise You](http://picosong.com/FqF9/)
 |
{
"title": "Our Party by Pavel",
"id": 37,
"author": "Sonivitus",
"rating": 4
} | {
"title": "Our Party - Prologue",
"id": 63,
"next": null,
"prev": null,
"prev_info": null,
"next_info": null
} | <div class="chapter-inner chapter-content">
The Bard<br><br><br>While waiting in the dark, our group was yet to be spotted by the enemy. But with those numbers of goblins lurking around us, it would be always too soon, no matter the time. Waiting for the reinforcements, we unaccidentally imitated the manners of those trees around us, silently standing under the shining stars.<br>,,Hey, so what now? You would be better off creating new character, since you are the only one so far there.“<br>,,I know, i know.“ I really wanted to play with my friends, but still, it was a hard decision to make.<br>,,We’re really sorry, we had no clue you were playing the RR, too.“<br>,,It’s okay. Since you just started, i will catch up with you rather easily.“<br>There he came. One would say he is almost fluorescent, so vivid were the colors of his clothes.<br>,,So, what class are you?“<br>,,I am a bard.“<br>,,Oh.“<br>,,But wait, if it’s him, he might be of some use, still.“<br>,,If nothing else, i at least know the class really well. My deleted character was a bard, too.“<br>The math class was really good. I just thought of new calculations to make. There are times, when it is better to pick up drops from the monsters even during a fight. And there are times to start running away sooner than later.<br>This was such a time. I know it was. And they know the me in real life, so the goblins were the only ones not knowing. Following us from behind, the sounds of their furious footsteps did lure the wolves. They did. And finally, our picturesque monsters turned around, as we did few seconds later.<br>Wolves have this „pack of wolves identity“. When they are attacking, they attack as one man. One lone wolf would not attack different kind of enemies on his own during a fight.,,Heal their leader, so that he won’t die.“<br>,,Hm, ok.“<br>This way, we either kill a wolf, who does not retaliate, or just one, two goblins, thanks to the cleric. We repeated this many times. As did the numbers in my head.<br>,,Should we go to Magdalene? He’s out of arrows and i think i am in the mood a little rest,<br>so how about you guys?“<br>,,Magdalene would be okay. Last time i almost managed to make her blush.“<br>,,You think?“<br>,,I think so.“<br>Magdalene was a shop owner. A really succesfull one. Maybe it was due to the low prices,<br>but my guess would be her nickname. She was commonly known between players as >Mysterious Magdalene<, since no one really knew, if she was an npc, or not.<br>I have a theory, that the more you just have to know her identity properly, the more of an idiot you will become. Our knight was the proof.<br>,,My lady!“<br>,,Oh, if it’s not the sir…“<br>,,Escarlet was my name, milady. Escarlet.“<br>,,Oh, i forgot, i am so sorry.“ I think if he was chasing after you, you would have to.<br>,,I wrote a new poem for you, milady!“<br>,,Oh!“<br>Oh! Uff! Again the same verse?! They just might be to themselves the worst which could have them ever met.<br>Come to think of it, i repeat the same verse again and again, too.<br>,,Please, five…“<br>We had all packed up. Only just one answer was left to be carried with us.<br>,,And, what… what would you wish for me to bring you, milady?“<br>,,I don’t know…“<br>,,A hanky, perhaps? I thought about it and it’s such a shame, that lady of such noble upbringing as you does not have one.“<br>,,Yes, i would be really grateful for one.“<br>,,Oh!“<br>Oh, man!
</div> | The Bard
While waiting in the dark, our group was yet to be spotted by the enemy. But with those numbers of goblins lurking around us, it would be always too soon, no matter the time. Waiting for the reinforcements, we unaccidentally imitated the manners of those trees around us, silently standing under the shining stars.
,,Hey, so what now? You would be better off creating new character, since you are the only one so far there.“
,,I know, i know.“ I really wanted to play with my friends, but still, it was a hard decision to make.
,,We’re really sorry, we had no clue you were playing the RR, too.“
,,It’s okay. Since you just started, i will catch up with you rather easily.“
There he came. One would say he is almost fluorescent, so vivid were the colors of his clothes.
,,So, what class are you?“
,,I am a bard.“
,,Oh.“
,,But wait, if it’s him, he might be of some use, still.“
,,If nothing else, i at least know the class really well. My deleted character was a bard, too.“
The math class was really good. I just thought of new calculations to make. There are times, when it is better to pick up drops from the monsters even during a fight. And there are times to start running away sooner than later.
This was such a time. I know it was. And they know the me in real life, so the goblins were the only ones not knowing. Following us from behind, the sounds of their furious footsteps did lure the wolves. They did. And finally, our picturesque monsters turned around, as we did few seconds later.
Wolves have this „pack of wolves identity“. When they are attacking, they attack as one man. One lone wolf would not attack different kind of enemies on his own during a fight.,,Heal their leader, so that he won’t die.“
,,Hm, ok.“
This way, we either kill a wolf, who does not retaliate, or just one, two goblins, thanks to the cleric. We repeated this many times. As did the numbers in my head.
,,Should we go to Magdalene? He’s out of arrows and i think i am in the mood a little rest,
so how about you guys?“
,,Magdalene would be okay. Last time i almost managed to make her blush.“
,,You think?“
,,I think so.“
Magdalene was a shop owner. A really succesfull one. Maybe it was due to the low prices,
but my guess would be her nickname. She was commonly known between players as >Mysterious Magdalene<, since no one really knew, if she was an npc, or not.
I have a theory, that the more you just have to know her identity properly, the more of an idiot you will become. Our knight was the proof.
,,My lady!“
,,Oh, if it’s not the sir…“
,,Escarlet was my name, milady. Escarlet.“
,,Oh, i forgot, i am so sorry.“ I think if he was chasing after you, you would have to.
,,I wrote a new poem for you, milady!“
,,Oh!“
Oh! Uff! Again the same verse?! They just might be to themselves the worst which could have them ever met.
Come to think of it, i repeat the same verse again and again, too.
,,Please, five…“
We had all packed up. Only just one answer was left to be carried with us.
,,And, what… what would you wish for me to bring you, milady?“
,,I don’t know…“
,,A hanky, perhaps? I thought about it and it’s such a shame, that lady of such noble upbringing as you does not have one.“
,,Yes, i would be really grateful for one.“
,,Oh!“
Oh, man! |