《Xion (A LitRPG Fantasy)》


 Chapter 1

    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    Please enter your name


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">


    First: Brak


    </td>


    <td colspan="4">


    Last: Iznutri


    </td>


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    </table>


    There was nothing else, just darkness, and the bright blue dialog box before him.


    He¡¯d been staring at it for a long time, how long exactly he couldn¡¯t say. Something about this was bothering him. It wasn¡¯t the box itself that seemed strange to him, in fact it seemed rather normal, natural even. It definitely looked like some sort of game. What bothered him was those bottom two boxes.


    He didn¡¯t know who Brak Iznutri was. Seemed like a kind of weird name, if he was being honest about it. The thing was, he didn¡¯t know what to replace it with. He assumed he must have a name, but nothing came to mind.


    I suppose it will have to do, maybe I can change it later. Accept.


    The system accepted his mental command, as he somehow had known it would, and the dialog box disappeared. A few moments later, a new one took its place.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    Choose your race:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Human


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    *#&^$


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Elf


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2"></td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Dwarf


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    $^9@(^#


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    &8#Xato*@!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I mean, human right? I¡¯m clearly human. Human. Accept.


    Human. The most common race in Xion. No particular strengths, but no weaknesses either. 5% increased xp gain. Are you sure you want this race?


    Yes.


    The dialog box disappeared. Then a few moments later, another popped up.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    Choose your race:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Human


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    *#&klz^$


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Elf


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2"></td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Dwarf


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    LOCKED


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    $^9@tr(^#


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    &8#Xato*@!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Wait, he had seen this one before. Maybe he had accidentally canceled the choice. Human. Accept.


    Human. The most common race in Xion. No particular strengths, but no weaknesses either. 5% increased xp gain. Are you sure you want this race?


    Yes.


    The boxes vanished again, then returned as they had before. What the hell? Human feels like the right choice.


    He tried two more times, with the same result each time. Guess I don¡¯t have much choice. Elf. Accept.


    Elf. Lithe and graceful forest folk. Long lived, Bonuses to DEXTERITY and INTELLIGENCE, penalties to STRENGTH and FORTITUDE. Are you sure you want this race?


    Yes.


    Same result as when he had tried human. Dwarf. Accept.


    Dwarf. Stout and hardy mountain folk. Bonuses to STRENGTH and FORTITUDE, penalties to INTELLIGENCE and DEXTERITY. Are you sure you want this race?


    YES!


    No success. He started to panic a bit. Is this broken, am I trapped in some sort of broken system?


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The rest of the options were either locked or gibberish.


    No wait, maybe there was something to that last one. Xato? What the hell was a Xato? Well it was worth a try, at least he only had to think it, and not try to pronounce it. Xato. Accept.


    Xato.


    Are you sure you want this race?


    Well that was helpful. Yes.


    You have chosen Xato.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">


    Name: Brak Iznuti


    </td>


    <td colspan="4">


    Class: Unguided


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">


    Race: Xato


    </td>


    <td colspan="4">


    Level: 1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Is that correct?


    I have no idea. Yes.


    Very well. Welcome to Xion.


    Brak threw his hands up as light filled his vision, and he turned his head down and closed his eyes. Hands. Eyes. I have a body!


    Once his vision began to clear, he took a look at his hands. Deeply tanned, and smooth looking, he was likely fairly young. He took in a breath of clean, fresh air. He hadn¡¯t taken a breath in¡­ well he didn¡¯t know how long. One thing at a time. Where am I?


    He stood upon an open grassy plain, a light breeze carried the faint scent of¡­ was it oak?


    What¡¯s an oak?


    No it wasn¡¯t that. Similar though, certainly pleasant. Some sort of short golden grass rose halfway up his calves, and seemed to stretch out in every direction, unblemished except for a curious looking stone protrusion sticking out of the ground nearby, maybe a hundred feet off. The plains extended beyond his vision in three directions, and up to a cool, inviting looking forest in another. The sun rose high in the sky above him, and the temperature was pleasant. It felt like home.


    Wherever that was.


    Well anyway, he seemed safe enough for the time being, maybe he had time to get his bearings, and take stock of what he knew. He didn¡¯t know his name, so Brak would have to do for now, but he was pretty sure he was human. Certainly not a Xato, whatever the hell that was. He wasn¡¯t from here, but it seemed similar to wherever it was he was from.


    Well if it was a game, he could probably bring up some menus to help him sort things out. He began to try mental commands, like in the darkness.


    Status.


    Nothing. I thought for sure that would work.


    Attributes.


    Nope.


    Characteristi¡­


    Before he finished the word, a translucent blue menu popped up before him. Ah, character, so it is a game.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">


    Name: Brak Iznuti


    </td>


    <td colspan="4">


    Class: Unguided


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="4">


    Race: Xato


    </td>


    <td colspan="4">


    Level: 1 (0/90)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    HP:


    </td>


    <td colspan="6">


    10/10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    MP:


    </td>


    <td colspan="6">


    0/0


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    Attributes:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    STR


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    INT


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    FORT


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    WILL


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    DEX


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    CHA


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    SPD


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    CHM


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well I don¡¯t think I need to know a lot about this world to know that a bunch of 1¡¯s isn¡¯t great. I wonder what all of this means?


    He looked towards the class block, and another, smaller block popped out, with a small description.


    Unguided: Blessed by and beholden to no Archon. Triples Potential per Level.


    Triple? That sounds quite good.


    Turning his attention to the Race block, he got:


    Xato: +1 All Stats per Level. Triples Potential per Level.


    I guess that means potential isn¡¯t a stat? But both my class and race triple it, so does that mean I get 9x potential per level? That sounds amazing!


    He was pretty sure he understood most of the rest of it, except for CHM, which he focused on. A smaller box popped out.


    Charm: Your ability to beguile, convince, or otherwise entrance others.


    Brak dismissed the menus. ¡°Guess I¡¯d better take a look around.¡± He said out loud. HIs voice was quite a bit deeper than he had expected, but he kind of liked it. It sounded¡­ powerful. He grinned.


    He started heading towards the closest stone protrusion, since they seemed to be the only thing of note in his immediate vicinity. Once he got closer, he could see it looked liked a grave marker of some sort, rounded on one side and flat on the other, with words carved into the stone towards the top:


    NO WOODS FINDOTHERSTONES


    Odd, and not very well formatted.


    At the base of the stone, slightly obscured by the grass, was a small wooden box, about two feet wide and a foot deep, and coming up to his shins. He bent down and reached for the lid. There was an odd tingling sensation that went through his arms before he touched it, and he began to recoil, but it quickly dissipated.


    Was it some sort of trap? I really don¡¯t know what I¡¯m dealing with here.


    He seemed to be fine though. Cautiously, he reached again, but felt nothing this time.


    Well I¡¯ll just add it to the list of shit I don''t know.


    He gently pushed back the lid, revealing a small, crude looking dagger made out of some sort of glassy stone. It reminded him of obsidian, but it was gray, rather than black.


    Might be useful. He took the dagger, then paused. Where do I put this, what am I even wearing?


    He looked down at his clothes. It appeared to be some sort of soft gray woolen tunic, with a well oiled leather belt cinching it about his waist, and supporting a small pouch on his left hip. Below that he wore green breeches and some brown woolen socks, tucked into a pair of simple brown leather boots.


    The pouch looked pretty sturdy, and the dagger didn¡¯t look terribly sharp, so he figured it would probably be alright in there. He opened the pouch up and slipped the dagger in, then snapped his hand back as it disappeared into thin air.


    Of course he thought. These games always have some sort of storage system for the characters.


    A faint translucent blue box in the corner of his vision caught his eye, looking more solid as he concentrated on it, revealing the text written within.


    Stone Dagger added to inventory


    I wonder if there is anything else in there?


    Inventory


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="8">


    Inventory


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Trail Ration (5)


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    Waterskin (Full)


    </td>


    <td colspan="2">


    Stone Dagger [LQ] (1)


    </td>


    <td colspan="2"></td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    He looked at each item in turn.


    Trail Ration: Enough food to sustain a person for a day. Rather bland.


    Waterskin: Can hold enough water to sustain a person for 5 days. Or enough wine to keep you piss drunk for about a day.


    Stone Dagger [Low Quality] : A rudimentary dagger made from bladestone. Crafted by Brak Iznutri. Equip? [Y/N]


    Yes.


    He didn¡¯t feel anything different, but the entry for Stone dagger did have an [E] next to it now. More importantly, why did it say he had crafted it? Maybe it was a typo, some kind of localization error or something.


    Brak climbed up on top of the tombstone to get a better view, it was a bit slippery, but he managed to maintain his balance. He spotted what looked like another tombstone a quarter mile or so closer to the woods, and a third about the same distance in the opposite direction.


    Guess I¡¯ll trust the tombstone, since I have literally nothing else to go on. You¡¯d think there would be a tutorial or something.


    He hopped off the tombstone and headed off towards the stone away from the woods. He¡¯d made it about four steps before screaming out in pain and stumbling forward, as needle-like teeth sank into his right calf.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Shit, Shit, SHIT!¡±


    Brak reached back and grabbed at where he felt the pain, grasping firmly around something thin, scaly, and wriggling. He rose to one knee and flung the thing, which could now see was a brownish yellow snake of some kind, back towards the tombstone, which it struck with a weak thud before falling back into the golden grass.


    I quickly slithered into the grass, but just before he lost sight of it, he caught a glimpse of another blue translucent box floating above it¡¯s head.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 45%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6971%; text-align: center">Brown Prairie Snake (Juvenile)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6971%; background-size: 80% 100%; background-image: linear-gradient(90deg, rgba(255, 0, 0, 1) 0, rgba(255, 0, 0, 1) 80%); background-repeat: no-repeat">HP: ???/???</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Some other blue boxes seemed to be doing something in his peripheral vision, but he brushed them off. I¡¯ll look at those when I get a moment.


    Well that¡¯s something at least. Was it already hurt, or did I damage it when I threw it?


    He looked around the area, trying to spot the creature before it could attack him again.


    I really need a weapon, oh right! The dagger.


    The moment he thought about wanting the dagger, it immediately materialized into his hand.


    Well that¡¯s handy.


    No sooner did the thought cross his mind than a brown flash erupted from the grass to his right. Without thinking, he dove to his left and swung the crude stone blade in a wide arc towards where he saw the movement, the dull edge pushing aside a few blades of grass, but otherwise hitting nothing but air.


    He winced in pain as his left shoulder bashed into a rock on the ground, but he managed to continue with his momentum and roll himself to his feet, somewhat awkwardly. It always looks so easy in movies.


    I¡¯ve got to get out of this grass, I¡¯ll never be able to see this thing in here.


    He started running towards the tombstone he had spotted that was further from the woods. Hopefully there would be some clearer ground along the way, and if not, he could always climb on top of it and get above the grass.


    He ran about 20 feet before giving up on that idea. I guess that SPD stat translates directly into my movement, which means I¡¯m slower than snail shit right now.


    He stopped and crouched low, holding his dagger out in front of him and listening to the grass. Where are you, you little bastard?


    A faint rustling caught his attention, followed shortly by that vicious little brown streak, darting up towards his face. This time he managed a more controlled swing, and felt the dull edge of the blade slam into the creature¡¯s scaly hide. His victory was short lived, however, as the blow knocked the snake only slightly off trajectory, and it sank it¡¯s fangs into his left shoulder instead.


    ¡°Goddammit!¡± Brak shouted, dropping the dagger at his feet and grabbing the snake in his right hand, gripping it close to it¡¯s head and ripping it free from his shoulder. The snake hissed and tried to wriggle free from his grip, as Brak pressed its head towards the ground, reaching about awkwardly with his off-hand for the dagger.


    He found the blade and gripped it in his left hand, pain shooting from his shoulder as he moved the arm about.


    ¡°You just couldn¡¯t let it alone, could you.¡±


    The snake hissed in response, and Brak began bringing the blade down awkwardly on the snake¡¯s head point first, nearly slicing his own hand open in the process. The dull blade didn¡¯t even pierce the skin, but after three strikes or so, the sheer blunt force of it drove the life out of the snake, and it went limp on the ground.


    Brak held onto the snake for a moment to make sure it was dead, then released it and sat down on the ground beside it, rubbing his aching shoulder and trying to ignore the pain in the back of his leg.


    I sure hope that thing wasn¡¯t poisonous. He thought, then he remembered the other boxes he had seen. He turned his attention to the one in the top left corner of his peripheral vision.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 45%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6971%; text-align: center">Brak Iznutri</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6971%; background-size: 10% 100%; background-image: linear-gradient(90deg, rgba(0, 150, 0, 1) 0, rgba(0, 150, 0, 1) 10%); background-repeat: no-repeat">HP: 1/10</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Holy shit, I¡¯m almost dead?¡± His body ached, but he certainly didn¡¯t feel like he was on death''s door. He turned his attention to the other box that he had seen moving, this one center left. There were a lot of messages, so he scrolled to the top and started reading.


    Achievement Obtained: Welcome to Xion. {Common}


    The first one¡¯s always free.


    Reward: None.


    Achievement Obtained: Schr?dinger¡¯s Tombstone {Common}


    You have discovered your own grave!


    Reward: Existential dread.


    So I¡¯ve already been here before, and died. So those words were a warning, from me to myself? Alright, my head¡¯s already starting to hurt. He continued reading.


    Brown Prairie Snake struck you for 4 piercing damage! You are in combat.


    Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Brak Iznutri¡¯s Tombstone!


    Achievement Obtained: Improvise! {Uncommon}


    Anything is a weapon if you try hard enough.


    Reward: Improvisation skill unlocked.


    You¡¯ve taken 1 crushing damage from falling!


    Health ¡Ü 50%


    Brown Prairie Snake struck you for 4 piercing damage!


    Health ¡Ü 10%


    Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.


    Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.


    Achievement Obtained: Switch Hitter {Uncommon}


    Chirality is for chumps, why limit yourself?


    Reward: Ambidexterity skill unlocked


    Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger.


    Brown Prairie Snake took 1 crushing damage from Stone Dagger. Brown Prairie Snake was defeated. You have gained 3 Potential!


    Achievement Obtained: First Blood {Common}


    You have defeated your first enemy in the world of Xion, well done!


    Reward: Title [Prefix] - Rookie Adventurer (STR +1, INT +1, DEX +1, CHA +1) {Common}


    Achievement Obtained: The Brink {Rare}


    You survived a battle with 1 HP remaining. You are either very stupid or very brave.


    Reward: Title [Suffix] - The Fortunate (+1 to all primary stats) {Rare}


    Passive Skill - Defy Death (If your HP is reduced to ¡Ü 0, it is instead reduced to 1. 48hr cooldown) {Rare}


    Healing Draught (Minor) x1 {Common}


    Brak stared at the plethora of information before him, trying to process it all at once.


    Well if I¡¯m at 1 HP, I¡¯d better use this Healing Draught. He opened up his inventory and inspected the item.


    Healing Draught (Minor) - Restores 200 HP instantly upon consumption.


    200 for a minor potion? Then why is my max HP so damn low?


    He hated the idea of wasting so much potential healing, but he couldn¡¯t exactly sit around at 1 HP. He summoned the draught from his inventory into his hand. It was a small glass vial that fit between his extended thumb and forefinger, filled with an iridescent red liquid that shimmered in the sunlight. He downed the bottle in one swallow.


    You have recovered 19 HP.


    19? I thought my max was 10. Maybe some of those titles I got modified my HP somehow, I really need to figure out what all this crap means.


    Brak brought his status sheet back up.


    <table style="table-layout: fixed; font-family: Arial; border-collapse: collapse" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><colgroup><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"><col width="100"></colgroup>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="4" rowspan="1">Name: Rookie Adventurer Brak Iznutri, the Fortunate</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="4" rowspan="1">Class: Unguided</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="4" rowspan="1">Race: Xato</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="4" rowspan="1">Level: 1 (3/90)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">HP:</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="6" rowspan="1">20/20</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">MP:</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="6" rowspan="1">0/0</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="8" rowspan="1">Attributes:</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">STR</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">3</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">INT</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">FORT</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">WILL</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">DEX</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">3</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">CHA</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">SPD</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">CHM</td>


    <td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2" rowspan="1">2</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Huh, maybe my Fortitude determines my HP? I suppose that makes sense. And the prefix and suffix titles, I can probably only have one of each of those equipped at a time. It seems like gaining those will be useful, especially early on.


    He was beginning to suspect he was exceptionally weak, based on the strength of the healing draught and the fact that his life had doubled from a single point FORT increase.


    Odd though, I don¡¯t see any sort of potential stat.


    He glanced over the sheet again, and then the number next to his level caught his eye.


    Level: 1 (3/90)


    He focused his attention on that box, and another smaller box appeared beneath it.


    Level: 1


    Current Potential: 3


    Potential for Next Level: 90 [10 (Base) x 3 (Xort) x 3 (Unguided)]


    He stared at it, dumbfounded.


    So potential is like experience, and I don¡¯t gain 9x as much per level, I need 9x as normal to gain a level?!


    He tried to do some quick math in his head, but for some reason it seemed very difficult for him.


    Maybe because of my INT stat?


    He used his dagger to clear some of the grass away, then wrote the problem out in the dirt.


    90 Potential / 3 Potential per Snake = 30 Snakes.


    30? He had barely been able to kill one!


    He threw his dagger down in front of him, scattering the marks he had made.


    ¡°This is some bullshit.¡±