《Silas the Black》
‘He’s not a bad guy, just a little overeager to bash heads and poke holes in rats.’
Clyde Baumont shook free of the clinging gel of the dive tub, shaken and reeling from the forced ejection after the steel-sheathed teeth of the Rat King ripped his guts from him, leading to a forced cooldown. Freed of the chill of the gel, Clyde sat on the bare floor with his back against the smooth, rounded wall of the dive tub, head in hand. He was so close, but then that idiot healer slipped and was taken down in a pile of smaller rat-men, the Rat King had lunged at his exposed torso, and the rent leathers had offered all the protection of paper-mache.
Dammit.
Another real-world, one-hour mandatory cooldown before respawn and another four hours wasted in-game. He¡¯d have to get with Shawn and Sara and talk tactics for their next try at the Rat King¡¯s den. Maybe talk about checking the boards for a more experienced Cleric or White Mage. Their current Cleric, Hugh Melville, didn¡¯t know how to stay in formation, drew way too much aggro, and didn¡¯t have the sense to let his party members draw it back. Should¡¯ve rolled a rogue or warrior, that guy didn¡¯t have it in him to hide behind anyone.
Honestly, that¡¯d be great if they hadn¡¯t been depending on him throwing heals and keeping up the buffs. The more he thought about it the more convinced he became they should encourage him to re-roll his character; even offer some power-leveling to get him his lost levels.
He focused on the left, bottom corner of his screen and pulled the icons for Shawn and Sara into chat with him.
¡°Hey, guys! That didn¡¯t go so well. I think we need to rethink a few things about our approach,¡± he subvocalized - an unnecessary addition but a habit he found hard to break.
Sara was first to respond, ¡°Yeah, this is sucking hard. What are you thinking, Clyde?¡±
None of them used their character¡¯s names outside of the game. It would feel weird calling Sara, a level 12 wood elf and rogue assassin, Lyra or even worse Blood Princess. He snorted, that sounded emo and played hard into the stereotypes of nerd gamers in his small town. If anyone ever heard Sara refer to him as the Left Hand or Shaper, he¡¯d have to leave town, preferably slipping out under cover of darkness.
¡°You¡¯re gonna suggest we ditch his holiness, Shaper?¡± Asked Shawn, the fucker.
¡°Dammit, Shawn, or Clint Badass, should I start calling you by your in-game moniker? Then again, that was a different life, or game, whatever.¡±
¡°You know it¡¯s Clint Baudass, but yeah badass works, so go for it. I think my parents¡¯ll be fine with it. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anyone else even knows I¡¯m down here. My building¡¯s mostly empty except for me, my folks and few others too stupid or too poor to get out.¡±
¡°Still Shawn, I¡¯d really appreciate keeping to real names. I¡¯m cringing just imagining the shit I¡¯d have come for me if one of the local assholes sneaks a snoop into our chat. Even after last week¡¯s patch I¡¯m going to figure the encryption is still broken, or someone will break it soon. You only hear about the security failures after what? Weeks, months after our accounts are compromised?¡±
He paused, taking a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts.
¡°Sorry, man. Kinda still pissed off over wiping again.¡±
¡°I know, and it¡¯s fine.¡±
¡°Shawn¡¯s right, though, isn¡¯t he? The cleric fucked up again. He¡¯s the weak link,¡± Sara offered.
¡°Fuck yeah he¡¯s gotta go,¡± Shawn was more emphatic in his agreement.
¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking, guys, but¡¡± Sara got to scanning the forum for a replacement. ¡°I¡¯d love to go again after the cooldown, but I could stand waiting a bit for the right fit.¡±
¡°Getting on it.¡±
¡°Thanks. Here¡¯s the thing, though. I¡¯d like to ask Hugh to re-roll his character. He¡¯s not a bad guy, just a little overeager to bash heads and poke holes in rats. I think he¡¯d make a good rogue, warrior, or berserker.¡±
There were a few moments of silence before Shawn said, ¡°I can see that, I guess. We¡¯ll have to see what he says. But what about the lost levels? He¡¯s what, level 9? Just about to level 10 and a chance to sub-class.¡±
¡°Right, which is why I think we offer to power-level him to level 10 no matter if he sticks with us if he will re-roll. A kind of severance package to maintain goodwill. Don¡¯t need him popping over to a PK guild and showing up on our six at the worst possible time.¡±
Sara rejoined the chat, saying, ¡°Got a couple leads, and a possible candidate for you to look over. And I agree with you Clyde. As much as I wanna healer I can trust in melee I def don¡¯t wanna make an enemy. Want me to talk to him?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯d be better coming from me?¡±
¡°Usually, yeah, you¡¯re the party leader. But I¡¯ve noticed him checking out my cute Elven ass in the last rat battle. I think he¡¯ll take it better coming from me. LOL.¡±
She sent a blushing emoji followed by a cucumber and a sly wink which worked to lessen the heavy mood that had persisted since the total party wipe.
¡°Okay, okay. You¡¯ve got me convinced, now go seduce our ass-obsessed holy man, and let me know how it goes. Oh, and have you forwarded me the candidate?¡± He checked his inbox and saw she had. ¡°NM, I see it. Thanks, babe.¡±
She gave him a thumbs-up, and then after a moment, flipped him off with a GIF3D.
He laughed before pulling over the healer¡¯s profile from the inbox, the player¡¯s avatar floated up from the icon, rotating lazily before him. He stopped himself before he checked out the ass of the avatar, a smile stealing over his face. The healer was classed as a Monk, with higher strength than wisdom, a small mana pool - WTF Sara? He frowned. Sara was as competent a player as they came unless this was an attempt at humor there had to be more than he was seeing.
Honestly, he was unfamiliar with Monks. The frown morphed to focused concentration as he pored over the class¡¯ description.
The Monk is unique amongst classes in performing as a hybrid warrior-healer class with modest but effective buffs outside of combat. With an alchemy or herbalist subclass, the Monk increases their effectiveness as a support class with added buffs and heals. Parties dependent on combat heals and buffs are better served by traditional support classes. For more forward-thinking parties, Monk is the superior choice as they are less exposed to zerging or back-stabs.
Pro-tip: if you¡¯re finding your healer is rat chow more often than a productive support class, Monk deserves some hard consideration. (I¡¯m looking at you, party leader!)
Sweet. He knew Sara wouldn¡¯t let him down. The small mana pool was of less concern than it seemed at first glance. The Monk class relied more on Willpower than Wisdom, and even Strength and Constitution were more important than Intelligence. This was a strange class. He appended his approval for Sara to engage the Monk¡¯s service on a probationary basis as soon as she had taken care of Hugh.
He shouldn¡¯t have been so surprised. His own Rogue Duelist dual-class was shaping into the rough equivalent of a quad-class with his developing stealth, tracking, and lock-picking skills supporting both a thief build and synergizing with aspects of his Duelist class to unlock hidden potential as an assassin. He focused and brought the Duelist class description.
The Duelist class is perfect for the city dandy, youngest son of nobility, or a hothead with a few dozen scores to settle. This is a combat class specializing in piercing damage with stacked bonuses for the rapier, dagger, stiletto, or other stabby stabby weapons. With care and the right mindset, it is possible to gain bonuses to stealth and backstab with this class. Under-handed tactics such as poisoned blades and throwing knives are also encouraged with bonuses in this class.
The Duelist class plays to win and live to crow another day, honor be damned! Only fools play by the rules, and only the living live long enough to tell tales.
Honestly, why are you even looking at this class? You¡¯re a party leader. Waht? You already chose this class? You sly dog, you. I hope your party members remember to look over their shoulders when you¡¯re around - and especially when you¡¯re not.
Related classes: rogue, assassin, royal guard
He chuckled, remembering when he showed Sara his new class. They¡¯d agreed they would do things differently this time around, play a little with the lesser-used classes. Aside from the standard fighter build from his virgin campaign, he¡¯d chosen Paladin without fail, the class just seeming to fit him better than others. Sara, of course, was your typical Elven Sorceress, engaging in the eldritch as easily as he related to the holy and divine. Shawn had nearly been the lone hold-out in the long-time group. He was the tank and loading up on Strength and Constitution with the standard Fighter class just seemed to make sense. It wasn¡¯t until Sara had shown him an obscure class, Grey Mage, that he wavered from his standard build and finally relented and committed to choosing a new class.
Oddly, the Mage class was well-suited to tanking. The Class passives alone ensured he¡¯d be the one to soak up the damage and gain aggro. When linked up with a party, a Grey Mage took a percentage of all damage taken by party members, a number that increased with levels. At level 11, Shawn was getting hit with 15% of party damage. As a result, the optimal build revolved around Wisdom for mana regen and Constitution for a strong damage pool. Charisma was an automatic dump stat. No one really cared, and there was always a round of ale waiting for him and his party at the end of a raid.
As a result, self-heals were of equal importance to party heals. His buffs were narrow-focused with his go-to being a buff that equally absorbed damage and healed his damage for a set amount of hit points.
Sara broke into his reverie with an alert and said, ¡°Clyde, you still with us? I¡¯ve got Simon waiting for a party chat invite if you would.¡±
He started, adjusting himself against the back of the dive tub until he was sitting upright. ¡°Right, firing off the invite now. Thanks, Sara.¡±
¡°You know it, boss.¡±
He sent off a googly-eyed emoji along with the party chat invite to their healer candidate.
¡°Simon, it¡¯s good to have you. That¡¯s an interesting class choice. How¡¯d you come by it?¡±
Simon joined the chat, and after a moment longer than was comfortable answered, ¡°That¡¯s a long story. Can I save it for later?¡±
¡°Sure, sure. That¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t wait. Honestly, you¡¯d be a great fit with our tank. Shawn also took an oddball class, one that Sara uncovered. He¡¯s a Grey Mage, and he¡¯s our tank. LOL. That always gets some odd looks in the middle of a raid¡±
Another longer than comfortable silence, a beat or two too long, and Simon responded, ¡°I can see that. But the class description is interesting. Not quite a White Mage with the constant stream of heals and blessings. No, but that passive skill is wow, yeah, that¡¯s interesting. Insta-heals substituting for armor, the game sees it the same and he aggros as well as any tank. Nice.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± Shawn quips. ¡°I¡¯m Shawn, btw. Nice to meetcha. We¡¯ve been having some problems with our healer. Hope you can fill the role, Monk, and maybe we¡¯ll finally get past the damn Rat King.¡±
¡°Hi, Shawn. Nice build. Yeah, Sara¡¯s been telling me about your Cleric issues. Guy definitely fits a fighter role better, heck, maybe even the Monk class I¡¯m playing.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Sara seems surprised by that, interjecting, ¡°Simon! You¡¯re right. Why didn¡¯t I think of that? I mean, I don¡¯t want to step on your toes, and you shouldn¡¯t feel threatened. OMG, that would be incredible! Imagine two Monks in our party.
Guys, I¡¯ve got to go. Everyone make nice. I¡¯ve gotta get back to Hugh. Honestly, he¡¯s a little butthurt over the whole thing. He gets it. But still butthurt. Be back soon.¡±
He laughed and replied, ¡°Go. It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll all get acquainted. You did great.¡±
¡°LOL,¡± said Simon. ¡°Thanks, Sara.¡±
¡°You go, girl,¡± Shawn threw in, already too late as Sara was gone from the party chat.
¡°Don¡¯t rly wanna get into it but Monk was kinda pushed on me by my ex. No drama. It¡¯s all in the past. But if I wanted to deal with a reroll, I¡¯d choose this class again no questions, except maybe I¡¯d take the Dark Monk path. It¡¯s interesting. There¡¯s more of a mana requirement, less strength and warrior there. From what I understand the Dark Monk chooses an entity with a dark alignment - nothing demonic, but maybe a lesser divinity with a dark side, you know what I¡¯m saying? They pick up some useful dark-aligned spells and skills so you almost get a mage-monk-healer thing going, though with that kinda spread they¡¯re not especially strong in any category.¡±
He relaxed against the dive tub again, falling into a relaxed-focused space as he thought about the possibilities such a class represented. While two Monks might be nice, it¡¯s almost overkill. There¡¯s no kill like overkill, he thought, laughing inwardly. Hugh might be a nice add to the party with a class like Dark Monk. Versatility over specialization, the more he thought about it the more it made sense.
¡°Mierda! That¡¯s genius, Simon. Hold on, guys, gotta get with Sara.¡±
He focused and alerted Sara before ripping off a message: Sara, our new Monk is recommending Hugh consider Dark Monk and I agree. Pull up the class description with me and share with Hugh.
The Dark Monk is perfect for the young Jedi considering the dark side. Choose a side, young padawan! Sith may sound like a lizard hissing his sibilants, but it¡¯s also a great place to find your inner badass and nurture the killer in you. Ichi has nothing on the Dark Monk and you never know what that dark entity you pledge your soul to will demand to show your everlasting loyalty. Honestly, the Dark Monk is probably more of a lone wolf, but he can get along with a group so long as their goals align. Murder and loot, that¡¯s the operating principle of the Dark Monk - kinda like a goblin, really.
TBH, the perfect Dark Monk is likely a goblin. But anyhoo, where was I? Yeah, the Dark Monk is the perfect addition to a party focused on the traditional gamer¡¯s goals of murder and loot, so welcome the dark disciple aboard without fear of betrayal or losing your life to a well-placed dagger in the back. The Dark Monk can buff a party with the dark blessings of their dark benefactor, heal with the power of the night, and kill with the blessings of their dark overlord. What¡¯s not to love?
Pro tip: don¡¯t do it. Never. I mean it. The Dark Monk is bad news. You will be sorry. No warranty, guarantee of satisfaction, or any implied assurance of satisfaction. We have warned you.
Hmmph. That was hardly a confidence builder. Still, there had to be a reason Simon had recommended this class. Had he been too impulsive in recommending this class without researching it? Yes, probably. Dark side sounded so cool he¡¯d been onboard the moment he heard the Dark in Dark Monk. Dammit. He needed to learn to think before making decisions. Still, he didn¡¯t want to come across as indecisive to the others. Better look into the fine details of the class.
The basic Monk was more a general spiritualist without divine blessings or infernal curses and emphasizing the physical boosts of the fighter aspect of the Monk class. Then there are the Dark and Light variants of the Monk class which gain boosts from the divinity (or, gods forbid, the infernal) entity to which they are pledged. A Dark Monk pledged to a suitable dark aligned entity has boosts equivalent to those gifted by a light aligned entity. It''s really not a huge difference. The main differentiator is the alignment, and therefore the interests of the concerned entity. Honestly, a player-based party is nearly always going to be more aligned to the dark, or possibly neutrally aligned - murder and loot were the credo of player characters as well as goblins. It is vastly harder to play a light aligned character.
Now that he has abandoned his light aligned Paladin character class, he is seeing less downside to having a Dark Monk in their party. It all came down to the interests of the dark entity. If Hugh went Dark Monk and chose an entity that came into conflict with their party it could be a shitshow.
A quick alert and he had Sara¡¯s attention.
¡°Yeah, boss. I¡¯m talking to Hugh. You want me to bring him into the party chat?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± he agreed.
¡°Hey, Clyde. Sorry about the wipe, man. Totally my fault. But I¡¯m onboard this re-roll thing. Great idea, and I¡¯m seeing the benefits of the Dark Monk class. This could be great for me going forward.¡±
He winced, feeling the guilt of asking another player to re-roll. ¡°Yeah, man, about that. I¡¯d have kicked you to the curb except I¡¯ve respect for the way you eat up all the damage of our rat friends. Honestly, man, you¡¯re more tank than a healer. If I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be a terrific member of this party, I wouldn¡¯t be extending this offer to you. Wait, that doesn¡¯t sound right. What I mean is, we all value you as a team member. Ya know, you just suck as a dedicated healer, dude.¡±
Hugh lolled and replied, ¡°I get you, man. And I agree. I see red every time those damn rats start nibbling on one of our team members. So, yeah, I get it. Reroll, and I¡¯ll take Dark Monk without a qualm. Really, I¡¯ve gotta thank you, guys. This is an amazing opportunity. I¡¯ve never even heard of the Monk class, and this is gonna be amazing. Sara has me fully on board, and I¡¯m stoked to power-level with you guys.
¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me going anywhere, either. I can already sense where this thing is going and you know I¡¯m all about the loot. We¡¯re going places with this party, boss.¡±
He was taken aback by his teammates¡¯ enthusiasm. He had expected a bit of snark, even some barely masked vitriol, but what he was getting was unabashed giddiness, almost like they had given the guy an unexpected present. This worked out far better than he would have thought possible. Maybe getting wiped that last time wasn¡¯t the worst thing. This day was like waking up to a snow day when you thought it was a school day.
¡°All right, then! Let¡¯s get this shit started. Hugh, you get with Sara and reroll your character. If I¡¯m understanding your new class right, you need to concentrate on Willpower, Strength, and Constitution¡hmm, but maybe put some ability points in Wisdom, too. Your choice of dark entities will be the biggest decision you make in the game. For you and the party. If you don¡¯t mind, get with me and Sara before you make that choice. There¡¯s a real chance of you going Judas with the wrong choice.¡±
Sara came back quickly with, ¡°Yeah, Clyde, me and Hugh have been talking that one over for a while. There are a lot of dark entities he could go with, but only a few we¡¯ve agreed upon that¡¯ll be good for the party.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t tell you how much I appreciate your thinking about this guys. The Dark Monk class sounds so cool I almost wanna re-roll myself, but the possibility of betrayal by a party member is scary AF. The last thing any of us need is an in-combat backstab by a member of our party.¡±
¡°Right,¡± she replied, ¡°and so this is the shortlist of dark and malevolent deities we¡¯ve come up with, boss.¡±
He mentally flicked his way through the list of entities, brushing past those starting with A, then those with names beginning with B. He really didn¡¯t know what he was looking for, there were just so many names with their associated block of text summarizing the nature of the entity, the nature of the compact, and the skills and, sometimes, spells gained through the bond. He stopped near the bottom of the list of dark creatures with C names.
Cton The lesser vestige of an Elder God from the time before the current epoch, before humans were pulled from the aether and given form. Cton is a dark entity of chaos and, in the time of his power, it was focused on unraveling the secrets of dark magic. Cton rarely enters a compact with a human, seeing little use in such weak creatures. Of those few chosen by Cton all but one have ascended to great heights (or depths, depending on your perspective) of dark power, and have made tremendous impacts on the world. The most recent of the chosen of Cton was the high wizard of the last Emperor of Grangath, though his name was lost to history.
You should note that while access to dark magic is a sure path to power the simple fact that the names of Cton¡¯s chosen are unknown in our time should be enough to give anyone pause.
Abilities: Dark Sight, Minor Drain Touch, Confusion, Lower Morale, Fear, Black Blade (or Fists), Pain (gain higher levels to expand list)
Spells: Instill Bloodlust, Berserker, Mana Drain, Ignore Exhaustion, Ignore Mind Effects, Ignore Pain
The benefits seemed obvious at a glance, and without examining the skills and spells in depth. Not only were the odds terrible for a match with the dark entity, but it seemed as this might place them pretty solidly in the bad guys camp. He was not sure about Sara or Shawn, but that had never appealed to him.
Moving on, he scrolled more slowly now that he¡¯d seen the value in a compact with a dark entity, even with the risks involved. He saw the alert from Sara in the corner of his vision immediately and ticked it to bring her message into focus.
¡°Have you seen this one? Nasty stuff, but something tickles the back of my mind like maybe we should give it a closer look.¡±
Nyarlathotep Known as the Crawling Chaos, a straight-up rip from Lovecraftian nightmare, he is, unlike many of the elder dark gods and dark entities, active and walks the land in the guise of a tall, thin, ebon-skinned and humorous man, clad in a loose-fitting robe with wooden sandals that clicker and clatter upon the ground, even upon soggy, slurping mud. He cannot be trusted as it is said he wants for the eradication of all sentient races in the land. Conversely, he honors any compact he enters into to the absolute last letter. (Really, lawyer up - to the last letter.)
Abilities: Dark Sight, Mesmerize, Speak with the Dead, Cult Following, Despair, Insanity (gain higher levels to expand list)
Spells: Beseech the Gods, Summon Nyarlathotep¡¯s Familiar, Hallucination
¡°I don¡¯t know, Sara. These dark entities are kinda, no not kinda, they are scary as fuck. That said, I¡¯m guessing most of those skills are amazing for crowd control. Those spells, though, what¡¯s up with Beseech the Gods?¡±
Sara responded, ¡°You want safe you shoulda stayed in the kiddie pool hah. This Nyarlathotep guy is some kind of messenger for the elder, really, really scary gods. Fortunately, most of them are supposedly asleep or at least not active in the land, so he¡¯s pretty much on his own. But this power would allow our Dark Monk to call upon the power of one of these sleeping gods once a month, in-game time. There¡¯s not much said about what that power would be but I mean it¡¯s gotta be pretty badass for it to be a once a month spell, right?¡±
He nodded to himself before replying, ¡°You know you¡¯re right, Sara. I worry about side effects. Like what messing with this kind of dark power might have on Hugh, let alone what the consequences might be for our group.¡±
Shawn must have been listening in because he messaged, ¡°Don¡¯t be a pussy, Clyde. I¡¯m liking this Dark Monk more and more. You both need to check these fuckers out.¡±
Shub-Niggurath A perverse fertility goddess, she appears as a stomach-turning mass of tentacles, mouths dripping with slime, and - most oddly - short, goat legs. Small, twisted creatures of darkness are constantly boiling forth from her miasmic form and being subsumed moments later. She is worshipped by many non-human races, druidic cults, and cults centered on blood sacrifice.
Abilities: Dark Sight, Perverse Tongue, Unending Despair, Unending Insanity (gain higher level to expand list)
Spells: Summon Perverse Creatures, A Perverse Goddess¡¯ Blessing, End Life, Drain Life, Terror
The fertility goddess seemed more mana-intensive with only a few abilities listed (though more could apparently be had at higher levels). The trade-off seemed to be access to more powerful spells but with the Dark Monk¡¯s smaller mana pool, accessing the spells would come less frequently than the less powerful innate abilities.
Yog-Sothoth Yog-Sothoth is a composite being composed of thirteen orbs each with their own identity. In order, they are Gomory, Zagan, Sytry, Eligor, Durson, Vual, Scor, Algor, Sefon, Partas, Gamor, Umbra, Anaboth.
Abilities: Dark Sight, Perverse Tongue
Spells: Perfect Knowledge (once a month), Infernal Gate, Resurrection
Wow. That was it. There was nothing else. The power implied by these few short words had Clyde gobsmacked. He didn¡¯t know how to respond. What the hell had they stumbled upon in these short moments since being forced back into the real world outside of their dive tubs? This class alone was game-changing. Their weakest player could suddenly transform into their most potent overnight. Hell, these revelations had him reconsidering his own class choice. Should he re-roll his character? What about his promises to Hugh? The more he thought about the possibilities this class offered the less he felt willing to share with the Cleric that had led to his team wiping over and over.
He PM¡¯d Sara, ¡°Sara, I don¡¯t know about this. Hugh is a good guy, but he¡¯s not part of our core group. We¡¯d be handing him more power than the rest of us can bring combined. I don¡¯t know if this is such a good idea anymore.¡±
¡°Pfft, Clyde. You¡¯re getting greedy, aren¡¯t you?¡±
He could hear the snickers even through the party chat. ¡°You effin know it, babe. This. This is too big to waste on a guy we¡¯ve only partied with for, what, the last week?¡±
Her pause was a little too long, but she responded with, ¡°You¡¯re probably right, boss man. Dammit. What do I tell Hugh? I¡¯ve already given him the heads-up with the Dark Monk class.¡±
¡°Shit. Yeah. Fuck. Let me think.¡±
There was no way in hell he¡¯d let a new party member take this class. He couldn¡¯t stop him; not really. But Dark Monk was too much of a wild card to go to the former Cleric. The core group was solid. There was a trust there built up over time, even though none of them had ever met in real life. They knew each other, whether goofing off or reacting fast in the heat of battle and afterward when there was loot to split, the trust was there. They knew each other like siblings or lovers.
¡°Sara, there¡¯s no real alternative. Tell Hugh we¡¯re happy to have him in the party and support him in his reroll, as promised, but a solid no to the Dark Monk class. There are too many variables and too little time to process. Encourage him to go straight Monk and sweeten the deal with some tasty equips. If we have nothing in the guild vault, we¡¯ll offer to put some coin in the mix, say, up to 10,000 gold on class appropriate gear.¡±
¡°Will do,¡± Sara said, ¡°but keep in mind the repercussions if you suddenly show up as a Dark Monk. Maybe wait on that reveal, okay?¡±
¡°You¡¯re right again, Sara.¡±
¡°Hey! Don¡¯t I get a say in this,¡± Shawn interjected.
¡°NO!¡± Sara and Clyde responded at the same time.
¡°Fine,¡± Shawn harrumphed. ¡°But don¡¯t blame me when this shit goes pear-shaped.¡±
Waxing his own wood for the profit of a succubus
Hugh was distinctly uncomfortable with the Dark Monk class and was relieved both at having the opportunity to reroll to the Monk class, but also with the generous offer of funding class-specific gear. He was, in short, a happy camper. Crisis averted and a possible class reroll in the future for Clyde. Unlike Hugh, all he saw in the Dark Monk class was an endless sea of possibilities.
On the other hand, it was also a more than likely shitstorm in the making. The dark entities they¡¯d focused on so far were all terrifying, with no exceptions. At the minimum, he owed it to his party members to scour the lists of evil meanies to contract with for the least possibly inimical.
Returning to the top of the list, beginning again with entities whose name began with A, he noted Azathoth. Another Lovecraftian nightmare, he realized after a less-hurried perusal of the elder god¡¯s description, this unholy demon was not a match for him.
¡°¡ancient legends of Ultimate Chaos, at whose center sprawls the blind idiot god Azathoth, Lord of All Things, encircled by his flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers, and lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demoniac flute held in nameless paws.¡±
HPL, "The Haunter of the Dark"
He needed to stretch out from these friggin¡¯ nightmare gods to something a little less end-of-the-worldish.
Bubak The Bubak is a creature of old Czech folklore. They describe it as a monster with the vague appearance of a scarecrow though one with the body of a skeleton. It is known to cry out in the manner of an infant, luring its victims into their deaths.
Useless, and not worth the effort of delving further into its other characteristics.
Bake-kujira Translated, loosely it meant Ghostly Whale, the Bake-kujira is a massive, ethereal whale skeleton accompanied by a host of other-worldly birds and fish. They appear on rainy nights near coastal Japanese whaling villages scaring the villagers and delivering a powerful curse to any who spot it.
These were far less inimical but useless creatures that would scare a child but were hardly a threat to a thinking adult. There had to be a middle-ground if he could just find it. He noted a menu item for a random selection, focused, and selected it.
Ardat Lili A Sumerian night demon taking the form of a succubus, or a young female spirit associated with children and pregnant women, also a storm demon. One in the demon-triad formed by the male Lilu, the female Lilitu, and the handmaid Ardat Lili.
Ardat Lili is a dangerous storm spirit originating in ancient Sumeria, a vampiric succubus who visits men at night. She inspires them to masturbate as she conceives other demons from men¡¯s nocturnal emissions. She is very ancient: surviving information is limited and unclear. She may be an ancient incarnation of Lilith, Lilith¡¯s handmaiden, or a closely related spirit.
Titillating, for sure, but not so useful for his purposes. He didn¡¯t fancy a succubus whose only purpose was to collect his semen after a thoroughly healthy session of self-pleasuring. Nope. That was for his eyes only. Weren¡¯t succubi supposed to pleasure men for whatever they got out of it? Waxing his own wood for the profit of a succubus was not on any list of fetishistic pleasures he had ever conceived.
One more time in the breach he focused on a random result.
Empusa A shapeshifting female originating in Greek mythology. She is said to possess a single leg of copper. She was in the command of Hecate, a Greek goddess. The empousai has been described as a phantom or specter, similar to the lamia and mormolykeia, and want to seduce and feed on young men.
Hecate. That name was familiar and worth a search and deeper examination. Something nagged at him hearing the name. Focusing, he selected the list of entities with names beginning with H and scrolled down until he landed on Hecate.
Hecate A goddess in three parts, a trinity of divinity. This lovely goddess has her origins obscured in antiquity. While the main claim is for her origins in the Greek pantheon, others would claim her to have originated in Egypt as Heqet, the goddess of birth and fertility. Both Heqet and her possible Greek form were and are associated with magic, with ¡®heka¡¯ meaning magic in Egyptian. Hecate has been worshipped as a powerful goddess among the Carians of Anatolia into more recent times at the cult site of Lagina.
She is known as a goddess of boundaries, of the underworld, and of witchcraft and sorcery. Hecate has been, and will be again, a powerful force in the world. While she has primarily had dealings with women seeking power and influence, she is not opposed to dealing with men providing they are not assholes.
Abilities: unknown (gain higher level to expand list)
Spells: unknown (gain higher level to expand list)
What the hell? ¡®Provided they are not assholes¡¯? What is that even doing in the description? He was taken aback, nonplussed, and floored. All at once. And then he laughed, the laughter spilling forth until he couldn¡¯t stop himself. The complete team wipe, the stress of negotiating with a team member over a reroll, along with the revelation of a new character class that could be game changing for him and his party - all of it rolled off his shoulders as he gasped and shuddered in tension relieving bouts of laughter that brought him nearly to tears.
And then he reflected on the last part: unknown (gain higher level to expand list) and he felt himself grow calm as a creeping sense of unease filled him. Unknown. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and forced himself to calm.
Hecate was not demonic, nor a nightmare from outside reality. There were no red flags except for that concerning note of ¡®unknown¡¯. Yet he had this feeling that he should take the chance. After all, should shit go pear-shaped, as Shawn would say, he could reroll again. It¡¯s not like this was a permanent choice. It¡¯s just a game, after all.
He couldn¡¯t help but think: famous last words. But then he did the unthinkable: he committed to rerolling his character. Damn, Sara would have his balls for this when she found out. As fast as he thought and committed to the change, it presented him with the usual beginning character screen.
Name? A blinking cursor rested alongside that simple prompt.
Left Hand, Shaper - these weren¡¯t names he¡¯d gone by so much as titles he¡¯d earned as a Paladin, but they had been an enduring part of his character for so long they might as well have been the names he had chosen. Those that referred to him by his chosen name were few and far between.
Neither name suited his new class, however, so it was time to choose another. Clyde the Dark Monk went about as well as Charlie Brown the Dark Sith, so that was out. He almost focused on the randomizer but then inspiration struck and he quickly input his new name and mentally pressed enter.
Silas. Silas the Black. A bit, just the teensiest bit pretentious, but that was the name he selected. It fit his new character build. A Dark Monk, one in service to the trifected goddess Hecate, or so he hoped.
It would work.
His beginning attributes chart appeared next.
|
Silas the Black
|
|
|
Race
|
Human
|
|
Class
|
Dark Monk
|
|
Level
|
1
|
|
Profession
|
none
|
|
Deity
|
none
|
| |
|
|
Strength
|
10
|
|
Dexterity
|
10
|
|
Constitution
|
10
|
|
Intelligence
|
10 (+2)
|
|
Wisdom
|
10 (+2)
|
|
Charisma
|
10
|
|
Luck
|
10
|
|
Health
|
100/100
|
|
Mana
|
120/120
|
|
Health regen/sec
|
1.0
|
|
Mana regen/sec
|
1.2
|
Nine attribute points remaining. Class bonuses: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom
A race change didn¡¯t appeal to him. He knew many people rushed to choose the Elven or dwarf race but this had never sparked his interest. Sure, he¡¯d switched gender enough, playing a female virtually every time he rolled a character, but that was for the simple pleasure of playing a curvaceous, boobalicious babe. Somehow playing a female Paladin made sense to him, but rolling a female Dark Monk didn¡¯t work. That made the choice to play as a human male simple.
Clyde fidgeted with the appearance controls unsure how he would prefer his male character to appear. Sliding the skin color from light to dark, and back to a more neutral beige, and then tapping the slider a few nudges towards lighter skin tone was his first decision. For hair he chose shoulder-length black straight hair, parted down the middle, but pulled back into a short tail. The eyes similarly would be dark, as close to black as the slider allowed him. He gave his nose a distinctive hook with a smidgen more size than his actual nose. His lips narrowed into a severe, serious looking mouth, one that rarely smiled. The jawline and chin took on a sharp appearance, thinner, and he looked more sinister and befitting of the name Silas the Black.
He gave himself a slender body with a lean, toned musculature devoid of any chest or stomach hair. He allowed himself more height than the average, a modest two inches added to put him at six feet in height.
He accepted the changes to his appearance and moved on to his attributes.
Playing a rare class, one he had never encountered before, had its disadvantages. He did not understand how to apply his attribute points. The class had a mana pool, so Wisdom and Intelligence seemed obvious choices. On the other hand, he was still a monk, and that class excelled in unarmed combat which pointed to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Except for Charisma and Luck, that covered the bases. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Min-maxing this character build was probably out of the question but he felt he needed to emphasize the build towards either close-quarters combat or more of a mana-based character. His Dark Monk class was already showing its advantages with a healthy class bonus for two of his attributes. Monks are masters of unarmed combat, though, so he¡¯d need to throw in a couple points each into Strength and Constitution. He then placed one more point in Intelligence and three points in Wisdom; he tossed the last in luck because you can never have too much luck.
He looked at his character sheet after applying the changes.
|
Silas the Black
|
|
|
Race
|
Human
|
|
Class
|
Dark Monk
|
|
Level
|
1
|
|
Profession
|
none
|
|
Deity
|
none
|
| |
|
|
Strength
|
12
|
|
Dexterity
|
10
|
|
Constitution
|
12
|
|
Intelligence
|
11 (+2)
|
|
Wisdom
|
13 (+2)
|
|
Charisma
|
10
|
|
Luck
|
11
|
|
Health
|
120/120
|
|
Mana
|
130/130
|
|
Health regen/sec
|
1.2
|
|
Mana regen/sec
|
1.5
|
Class bonuses: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom)
Skills: Unarmed Combat: 1, Inspect: 1
Abilities: Create Compact, Heavy Fist: 1, Shadow Blend: 1
Spells: Stone Skin: 1
Skills, abilities and spells were all standard for the class. No options there, though he did note the Create Compact ability with interest.
Are You Ready to Play?
There was no way to accept this outside of the dive tub. Clyde considered whether to notify his party members or go in solo while he familiarized himself with the Dark Monk class and his character Silas the Black. Cringing at the thought of facing his friends, and in particular, Sara made the choice simple.
He stripped down to his skivvies and eased into the cool gel of the dive tub. He relaxed into the molded foam padding lining the bottom of the tub. A tone sounded acknowledging his presence and the heavy lid lowered until the tub fully enclosed him. There was a soft hissing sound as the seals locked. A firm pressure at the base of his head was all he felt as the neural connector pressed into place, slotting into the slim connecting port.
His visual field changed subtly, becoming more vibrant and deepening from the flat interface he used when out of game. Now the prompt asking if he was ready to play was selectable, and he focused and agreed.
A light grew until its brightness flooded his eyes and just as quickly dissipated and he found himself at the standard starting point for new characters, the wooded glade mired in the deep murk of early evening. He cast about to his left and right. Seeing no one else near, he withdrew a little past the edges of the tree line, seeking some shelter from any passers-by. He leaned against the rough bark of a thick tree and brought up his character screen.
With scarcely a thought, he activated Create Compact. The words necessary to invoke the dark entity came unbidden to his lips.
¡°Hecate, I beseech you to listen to my entreaty. I wish to form a compact with the dark goddess, the goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, the trifected perfection of the goddess of the underworld, of boundaries, and the one to whom I would enter a compact. Hecate, I ask you to answer my summons. Hecate, I ask you thrice, appear.¡±
His mouth was dry, gummy, and he felt utterly unable to so much as whisper another word. An immense and frightening presence pressed on him from every direction at once. He felt as if he might be crushed and then the pressure pulled back, the murky night lit up to near the brightness of early morning, and she appeared before him.
The woman held an allure he had never felt from any woman. She consumed his vision with avarice that felt physical. His balls tightened, the feeling intense and bordering on painful. She was lithe and womanly, her hips curving outward from a slender waist, her breast uplifted and generous with puffy nipples that could be seen beneath the gauzy, sheer cloth of her simple gown, nipples that were erect and pressing against that same fabric. His gaze drifted down to her navel and lower, though her the fabric was not so revealing and he started at the realization he was predatorily staring at her sex or trying to, and he jerked his eyes up to meet hers.
Her visaged flickered, one moment showing a woman possessing three separate heads, all beautiful with bright, flowing brown hair, and the next moment Hecate was represented by only one head, her face lovely beyond compare. A murmur in the back of his mind tried to interject with the observation there was nothing particularly unique or transcendent about her face; she looked fairly ordinary. And then he felt that tiny voice fade to the background, and her stunning beauty transfixed again him.
Enough, he thought, this is a glamour. He pushed and fought free long enough to form the next step in the compact.
¡°Hecate, heed me. I wish to form a compact with you, to bring you power in this world even as I benefit from your power.¡±
The glamour¡¯s effect lessened enough to allow him some freedom of thought and movement as she shifted forward, leaning in to gaze at him with slight interest.
¡°This world, you say. And what world is this, servant? I am neither known to this world nor do I know this world. It is strange to me and growing stranger by the moment. You are a strange one to summon me thinking to form a compact, and yet I am intrigued. My power has waned across many worlds and planes. Too many have forgotten my kind.¡±
¡°This is the land of Illanir on the continent of Salur. The world has no name I know. Never thought too much about it. How about Uurth? That¡¯s as good a name as any.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she laughed, ¡°as good a name as any other if you know not the true name.¡±
¡°That I do not,¡± he replied.
¡°Mortal, I do not enter compacts easily, and only with those that serve as my agents in the world. I sense that you are known as a dark monk, though there is only a vague sense of what that means. You seem able to summon one such as me, and you purport to be able to form a compact. There may be the limit of your own understanding if what I see in your mind is true.¡±
¡°You have the truth of it, goddess,¡± Clyde said.
¡°And so this world¡¡±
Hecate extended the last syllable, and as she did, he found his mind turning inward as he contemplated the intricacies of the gaming world found within the bits and bytes of The Kingdom of Illanir. For long minutes he was lost in reverie until Hecate gasped and sputtered.
¡°This can not be true. What is this falseness? I am the goddess Hecate. I am true and, yes I know this to be so, I am no construct of artificial intelligence, I am no mere construct of a thinking machine. Oh, I am of a mind to wipe you from the face of this false plane little human. Do you seek to entrap me in this false place?¡±
Her voice had risen as she spoke, turning strident and heated until she all but yelled the final question, her face leaning into his, turning his will and his knees to jelly. His mind balked, unable to form a coherent thought in the face of her immense presence that once more pressed in on him like a massive vise, the screw turning as its embrace tightened and tightened, stealing his breath and leaving him unable to answer.
He managed a single shuddering gasp.
Hecate pulled away from him, smoothing her hands down the curves of her body. She calmed herself and the pressure of her presence receded, allowing him to pull in a deep breath, thought returning to his shaken mind.
¡°I am sorry, goddess. No, never. This is a game. I don¡¯t understand what you ask. How could I entrap a goddess? Why? Wait, are you a real goddess? Aren¡¯t you part of the game? I think I have a headache.¡±
He groaned.
¡°Yes, you speak truly. Yet I feel my anger justified, and my wrath justly provoked. You will serve me in this world. I will accept your compact. But first, there is a small matter of this game world of yours. This will not do. I can not accept the service of anything less than a man of flesh and blood, nor is there power to be had in an artificial world.
¡°From this moment your life and your power are tied to me. As for this world of electricity and fancy, there is only one way forward.¡±
Her light waned and fluttered until an absolute and obsidian night dominated his vision, leaving him sightless in a world bereft of sound and, as even the cool night air dropped away, his skin was numb and unfeeling. He tried to open his mouth, but no sound came, nor could he feel his mouth, nor his tongue. He drifted in a no-world for a time beyond his reckoning until the world skittered and stuttered; the night returned along with his awareness of the wooded dale in which stood a confused, terrified man with a thudding heart, flushed skin, and eyes that darted nervously trying to take in everything at once.
The dale was familiar and alien, mundane, and thrumming with an exotic feel of mystery. The air was packed with energy, and the goddess was gone. Where she stood before him an interminable time ago there was only grass, and behind him stood tall, thick trees that cast him in a deeper shadow than the now moon-lit inner glade. He felt he was alone in the night. The goddess seemingly having abandoned him.
And then the slimmest shade of the goddess caressed his mind causing him to shudder and still. Her voice whispered in his mind, and he perked ethereal ears to listen more closely.
¡°Of the game world I have only managed to preserve the continent of Salur. The land of Illanir is where you stand. The people and creatures, the many beasts and monsters, and all other beings are real and part of the world as you are, being all of flesh, blood, or formed of whatever energies that were required for their existence. I have brought to existence a hale world of adventurers and NPCs, as you have known them till this moment, into which you may venture forth and spread my influence and domain.
¡°I am weakened by my efforts, my servant, and you will be on your own for a time while I regather my strength, and you draw to yourself a coven of equals, women of beauty and sensuality, of grace and intelligence, and a fierce determination and will to match your own. Or if you feel yourself the lesser of the sexes, perhaps greater than your own. No matter.
¡°To this end, I will grant you what gifts I may. When near a woman you find attractive, you will gain +5 to your Charisma. This will aid you in drawing women to your coven, and why should they not also be attractive?¡±
She laughed lightly, the musical notes of her laughter dancing on his spine as if motes of lightning.
¡°I sense you approve, and yet you are also disturbed. You will need to leave behind your world¡¯s odd sense of morality. A coven must be close, is always led by a warlock, and the women are as tightly bound to you by their sexuality as by the oaths made before you and me.¡±
He groaned inwardly. He was stuck in a harem story. What would Sara and Shawn think of him? For that matter, where were Sara and Shawn? Would he see them again?
He focused on his visual interface which appeared little different, cast a glance at the log out icon and attempted to log out. As he both suspected and feared nothing happened.
¡°Ah, no, my servant. There is no escape from your compact. As I have said, you are tied to me. Your life and power are tied to me, such that should you succeed so shall I and if you fail me, you too shall suffer even as I suffer.
¡°This might not be what you intended when you entered your game world to summon me into a compact, but this is what is and will be. The die is cast, the decision made, the compact entered into, and so forth. As they say in your world, man up, don¡¯t be a pussy, don¡¯t cry over spilled milk, and that ship has sailed.¡±
Her laughter again danced along his spine. He winced before straightening and drawing himself up to his full height.
¡°You are correct, goddess. I apologize. This is a lot to take in, and I¡¯m uncertain, will I ever see my world again, my friends? Are there other players in this former game world? How in the hell did you do this?¡±
His voice rose some at the end and he realized he was yelling into the otherwise still night. If anyone could see him, they would assume he had lost his mind. Perhaps sensing the danger of a deranged madman alone in the woods, they would slip from the dale before being sighted by him.
¡°You are more right than you know. If your friends Sara and Shawn were to see you at this time they would rightly consider you mad. Only you can hear me, and when I come to you in the future in this manner, you would do well to consider that before you gibber to yourself. Send your thoughts to me, do not speak them aloud.¡±
Damn, she was reading his mind. And she knew the names of his friends. He guessed that meant¡
¡°Yes, I know everything there is to know about you. You¡¯re quite the pervert. You should thank me for the opportunity to experience the perversion of your mind with real women, rather than pictures of women or your waifu. That last would get you serious prison time if she were flesh and blood, Clyde. You have no such worries with me, however. Mine is the morality of a goddess, of will and of power; you may do as you will so long as you serve me faithfully.¡±
¡°Goddess! I would never. Ohmigod, a waifu is an anime character, she¡¯s not even real. I¡¯ll admit Rin Tosaka is in High School, but c¡¯mon she¡¯s so hot! Those thigh-high stockings are, ahem. And she¡¯s an anime character,¡± he added hurriedly, ¡°Ugh, why am I even justifying something weebs do for fun? Even you have to admit though that Rin is best girl, right?¡±
He laughed weakly and realized that he had again spoken aloud. He resolved to take greater care because now he sounded like a pervert, hentai in Japanese. So he had a thing for tsundere, did that make him a bad person? Clyde did not agree that it did. The presence of the goddess had cooled, and he thought to himself maybe he needed to focus on more pressing matters.
¡°Too right, my servant. As I have stated, I care not that you are a pervert.¡±
He cringed and almost began again with a spirited defence of his moral uprightness within the ranks of neets and weebs. Catching himself before he put another foot firmly in his mouth, he quieted his mind, taking deep, cleansing breaths.
¡°You are generous, goddess.¡±
¡°Indeed, I am. Now, as to your questions, and before we get back to bestowing much needed gifts. I have no idea how you will survive in this world. Perhaps I chose too hastily in selecting my champion. Ah, well, ships and spilled milk. I must work with what I have been dealt with in this world.
¡°Where was I? Oh, yes, your friends were not logged in and so are not part of this world. Except for the one named Hugh. He was logged in so he could finish his reroll as a Monk. As you have a prior obligation to him I have situated him in an inn in the nearby town. As my representative in this world I will expect you, no I will require you, to honor all commitments you make. I will not have you dishonoring me or yourself in any manner. Tomorrow you will meet up with Hugh and together you shall seek to grow stronger. Your obligation ends when he reaches level 10, of course.¡±
You have been given a Quest
Honor Your Commitment to Hugh
Success: the favor of the goddess Hecate
Failure: you really do not want to anger the goddess; do not fail
¡°You must strive to think of this world as your world, as that is the case. As it was your will that summoned me, and it was your will to form a compact with a powerful and beautiful goddess, I will feel no remorse for separating you from your friends and family. You should be grateful beyond words for this and other gifts I will bestow upon you.
¡°Which brings me to my next gift: you will need to get stronger and quickly, my servant, and to this end I will double the experience you receive for the first woman you bring into your coven, and into service to me. For each woman you bring into your coven I will grant additional experience so as to hasten your leveling. This is a gift containing more gifts and within these more gifts yet. As you gain in experience and levels, so will you gain attribute, skills and abilities, and you will level these, as well.
¡°Grow your coven, Clyde, and reap the rewards. Grow stronger than any other this world has known.¡±
You have been given a Quest
Grow Your Coven
Success: receive double the experience for the first woman you add to your harem, ahem, coven, and an additional .25 experience given for each woman added
Failure: continue on as a weak, perverted waifu-obsessed weeb
¡°Additionally, I am gifting you with a small bag of coins. I can not abide an impoverished servant. From time to time the bag will replace some of the coins you have spent. Oh! I need to make a slight adjustment, there, it will also act as a bag of holding. No adventurer worth their salt goes anywhere without a bag of holding, is this not correct, Clyde?¡±
The goddess quieted and waited for his answer. His head swum with gifts, quests, lost friends and family, a world he¡¯d never see again, and a question awaiting an answer.
¡°Uh, yeah, absolutely, a bag of holding is absolutely something an adventurer must have. Um, though I¡¯ve never had one before in Salur. I¡¯m not even sure they are a thing in this game.¡±
He frowned, and considered silently, trying to recall if anyone on any of the forums had ever mentioned finding a bag of holding.
¡°Tsk tsk, Clyde. You are forgetting this is no longer a game. Forget this simple fact at your own peril.¡±
Peril? Wait, what? He felt panic rise in his gut, threatening to overwhelm him.
¡°What happens if I die in this world? Goddess? Can I still respawn?¡± His panic overcame his caution, and he sputtered and asked his questions audibly so any could hear if any were nearby. The presence of the goddess pulled away from his mind. Only the barest whisper answered his queries, and he detected a hint of humor.
¡°My time has run out, my servant. Go forth and prosper. Let the world feel your might. Worry not about death. I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll barely notice it when it comes.¡±
Her laughter faded along with her presence from his mind, and he was alone.
Im gonna say we need to be careful not to die in this world.
He slept fitfully on a thin mattress laid atop a wooden pallet in, he supposed, the same inn Hecate had deposited Hugh. Waking at every small noise during the night, when the sun rose and arrowed into the east-facing room, Clyde was already awake, laying on his back and pondering the bare ceiling.
He asked himself the same question he had asked himself time and again over the long night: how the hell had he gotten himself into this position? He had been impulsive, this was true. Yet the decision to reroll his character and explore this fascinating rare class was not one that should have had such devastating and far-reaching consequences. He couldn¡¯t argue that being the champion of a powerful dark goddess was not hella cool, some straight-up gangsta shit, and possibly the most amaze-balls thing that had ever happened to him. No, he would not be ungrateful to the goddess lest she decides to snack on his balls and feed him his intestines. Nope. Very, very grateful, thank you mysterious goddess of the underworld, witchcraft, and sorcery.
Whew. That out of the way, he would also be remiss in not mourning the loss of his friends, family, online acquaintances, anime club buddies, online forum nemeses, and the countless trolls that had littered his inbox and PMs. All gone before he had so much as the merest chance to consider his decision to enter the game world alone to enter into a compact with a dark goddess that had seemed - and likely was - the better choice out of a bevy of twisted, nightmarish beings, most of which were not part of this or any world, but were rather outside. Gawd but he would miss cheeseburgers and pizza; not to mention chocolate.
He started at a hard knock at the wooden door to his room. Sitting up, he flung the thin blanket from him and answered, ¡°Yeah, what do you want?¡±
¡°Clyde, um, is that you? She said you¡¯d be here. I hope that¡¯s you.¡±
He recognized Hugh¡¯s voice even as it quavered and broke through the thin planks of the door. Clyde got up, still clothed in the plain, homespun clothes of a beginning character, and pulled open the door. Hugh was hunched over and even took a half-step back. He was taking this transition even harder than him, Clyde thought.
¡°Come in. It¡¯s fine. I was awake, anyhow,¡± he said a bit gruffly.
There was nowhere to sit so Clyde sat at the end of the bed closest to the open window, the shutters never having been closed the night before, and gestured for Hugh to take the other end. Hugh brightened at the courtesy and slumped onto the edge of the bed.
¡°So you met Hecate?¡± he asked, peering at Hugh and trying to catch his eye as the young man dipped his head and cast his eyes on the floorboards.
¡°Hecate? Is that who that was? I mean, yes, I guess so,¡± Hugh replied with a stammer.
¡°Yeah, but, I mean, I guess I should make sure we¡¯re talking about that same thing. You know Hecate¡¯s a goddess, right? I guess I took the Dark Monk class for myself, pure impulse and probably not the smartest thing I¡¯ve ever done, and logged in. She answered my summons, accepted the compact - she was raving about how she couldn¡¯t accept anything but a servant of flesh and blood, that this digital world would never do - and the world went dark. Hugh, I¡¯m assuming she already let you in on this, but maybe I¡¯m wrong. She changed everything, turned the game world into the real world. We¡¯re stuck here and we¡¯re real people, everyone is.¡±
He knew he was rambling, but despite Hugh¡¯s suddenly horrified expression, he continued to vent until he ran out of breath. Hugh hadn¡¯t known, he realized then. What had Hecate told him other than where to find Clyde in the morning?
¡°What the fuck do you mean?¡± Hugh asked, anger lining his face and lighting his eyes on fire. ¡±Clyde, I logged in last night. Instead of spawning in the glade, I found myself in a room with a staggeringly beautiful woman. I¡¯m not gonna kid. She was the most gorgeous woman I¡¯ve ever been alone in a room with by orders of magnitude. I was like a fifteen-year-old, standing in front of the class, and I had a boner. But I wasn¡¯t embarrassed - can¡¯t tell you why not. If she had asked me to cut my dick off and hand it to her, I would have. A goddess? Yes, that makes sense. That does, but not any of the other nonsense you spouted off about.
¡°Dude, this is a game. We are playing a friggin¡¯ game. It¡¯s not real. What have you been smoking?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
He shook his head, seeming more assured of himself, but also giving off a feeling of disgust and regret as he pulled back and relaxed.
¡°Have you tried to log out, Hugh? If you haven¡¯t, try right now.¡±
Hugh¡¯s silver eyes glazed over as he accessed his visual interface. Then his eyes widened, and his shoulders tensed. Hugh shot forward and grabbed Clyde¡¯s shoulders.
¡°Don¡¯t mess around with me, dude. This is not cool. How are you doing this? I can¡¯t log out.¡±
He pulled Hugh¡¯s hands from him and stood, facing outwards and looking out the open window. Hemsbrooke was a small village, more a hamlet, and the inn was the tallest building. What he saw was the dense thicket of trees bordering the village, a few small buildings including the roof of the stables directly below his room, and the wispy smoke of an early morning fire rising from the stone chimney of a thatch-roofed hut. The sky was clear of clouds, bright with the morning sun, and a cool breeze wafted lazily through the window.
¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed it yet? It¡¯s the same, yeah, this game is amongst the most advanced in the world - but it¡¯s different now. I can feel the faint warmth of the early morning sun, Hugh. The slight wind is cool against my bare arms, and you can see and I can feel the goosebumps there. My teeth ache a little like I need to brush them. I¡¯m squinting, my god, I¡¯ve never had to squint in-game. The sun is too bright. Frankly, as beautiful as the world outside is I want to close the shutters to hold in what warmth is left in the room. Maybe go downstairs for breakfast and see if the fire in the hearth is lit so I can get warm.
¡°This is the world now, Hugh. Hecate, she is a goddess - the real thing - and she transformed the game world into a real world, and we, we are stuck in this world along with any gamers that were logged in when she did whatever she did to make it all real.
You can¡¯t log out because this is our life now.¡±
Hugh hit him in the back of his head. The feeling was strange. He jerked forward, pushed by the blow to his head, and he knew someone had hit him, but it was all so weird. Clyde caught himself on the windowsill and twisted around in time to block Hugh¡¯s next haymaker. He sunk his fist into Hugh¡¯s stomach, eliciting a grunt and forcing the breath from his lungs. Hugh grunted and fell back on his ass.
¡°What the fuck, man?¡± Clyde asked, stunned at the sudden violence.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Hugh gasped, arms tightening around his midsection. ¡°Just what the fuck did you do? A compact with a goddess? Are you insane? How are we supposed to get back to the real world? Man, I¡¯ve got a girlfriend, I¡¯ve got a few friends and I¡¯ve got my family. Not to mention my fucking dog. What are you saying? Is all that, what, gone? We can¡¯t get back to it?¡±
Clyde paced back to the window, turning from Hugh despite the possibility of another attack. He stared blankly out the window before grasping the shutters and closing them firmly, latching the shutters to prevent them from flying open unexpectedly.
¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m sorry. I wasn¡¯t really given a choice, ya know? Hecate, she¡¯s a goddess, apparently the real thing, and she didn¡¯t ask for permission. I¡¯d offered her a compact, and she said she accepted, and the next thing I knew I was back in the glade but everything felt different, alien, and thrumming with strange energies.
¡°She assigned me some quests, told me to start a coven, and sent me packing. And here I am,¡± he said, looking at the spare room.
¡°Quests? Like what kind of quests?¡± Hugh asked.
¡°First off, to get with you and fulfill my commitment to help you regain the levels you lost in rerolling your character?¡±
¡°Levels? Character? I thought you said this wasn¡¯t a game,¡± Hugh seemed exasperated at the end of his rope.
¡°Right, and it¡¯s not. But Hecate gave me quests, we still have our interfaces, and she gifted me +5 Charisma when I¡¯m around a woman I¡¯m attracted to, to help me form a coven. So, I guess, not a game, but all the game stuff still applies. Except I¡¯m not sure if we still respawn. I asked, and she said she¡¯d run outta time and didn¡¯t exactly answer. I¡¯m gonna say we need to be careful not to die in this world.¡±
¡°Fucked. We¡¯re fucked, aren¡¯t we? This is insane.¡±
¡°Well, I know it¡¯s not, um, optimal, but there¡¯s a bright side, of sorts,¡± Clyde said, smiling faintly if not with his eyes as he tried to inspire some confidence in the young Monk.
¡°And what would that be, Clyde? Is your goddess gonna offer free hand jobs? Send us buxom succubi to fulfill our every fantasy before sucking our souls from our bodies?¡±
Clyde replied, ¡°Whoa, grim dude. Really grim. No, definitely no on the hand jobs. Probably no on succubi. I¡¯d have to ask, really. She is a goddess of the underworld, so maybe?¡±
He shifted his feet nervously and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve got a quest to start a coven. Technically, I¡¯m the warlock leader of the coven, and I just need to find women that will swear an oath binding them to a life of service to Hecate. For every woman I bring into my coven Hecate will double the experience I receive. Okay, not much of a bright side to you at first glance. But the stronger I get the more that promise I made to help you level will be of value to you.
¡°Right now, I¡¯m the same level as you, nadda. If I can start filling the coven, I¡¯ll level up quickly and I¡¯ll be able to help you more.¡±
Hugh lifted his head from his hands and glared at him. ¡°I really want to hit you again. You¡¯re a fucking warlock and I¡¯m a monk? What the fuck, man? That is really not cool.¡±
Clyde chuckled, ignoring Hugh¡¯s displeasure, and said, ¡°Yeah, guess you¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t intend for any of this to happen. Hell, I figured, I¡¯d log in to the game, experiment with the Dark Monk class build, maybe even level a bit, and worse case scenario I¡¯d admit I fucked up and reroll as a Paladin again. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but also I wouldn¡¯t have brought the hurt to my party.¡±
He glanced around the room and smirked. ¡°Instead, I¡¯ve got a crazy goddess in my head. The game world is now the real world, we¡¯re all stuck here for good, and I¡¯m guessing everyone is gonna hate me when they discover I am the one responsible for this massive FUBAR.¡±
Hugh grinned - there was something almost feral in that grin - and he responded with a light chuckle, ¡°That may be the smartest thing you¡¯ve said this morning, you daft idiot.¡±
‘Keeping with the outrageousness of the scenario, the hostess was clad in six-inch fuck-me heels...
Breakfast was eye-opening, a surprise in a world that had been a game only hours past. The hostess - yes, hostess - offered a simple menu from which both he and Hugh selected the Great Breakfast: a sampling of the inn¡¯s morning fare including pancakes, sausage, bacon done to your liking, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy. The pancakes came with pats of butter and a warm carafe of maple syrup. They provided an ample mug of orange juice, on the house. The orange juice itself made no sense; he couldn¡¯t recall an appropriate climate for producing oranges in Sarul and neither of them had ever encountered an orange in the game world before.
Not that they were complaining.
The inn had always offered stew, stew and more stew whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The basic starter town had little to offer in variety. The hostess was also new, more something you¡¯d expect from an earth-side diner than a fantasy inn.
Not that they were complaining.
Her ample bust spilled out of the low-cut bodice and the hang of her purple and red dress complimented her curves. Keeping with the outrageousness of the scenario, the hostess was clad in six-inch fuck-me heels that would not have been out of place in a nicer strip club. In short, this had to be the work of Hecate.
When she brought the food over to their table, overburdened by large oval platters and generous earthen mugs, the hostess smiled at him, her eyes catching and locking onto his while ignoring Hugh. She leaned forward when placing his platter before him, pointedly pushing her cleavage towards him, smiling all the while.
He felt a stirring in his crotch that he tried to ignore as she circled around the table, whisking a pure white cloth from a dark belt encircling her slim waist, coming up from behind him while brushing her breasts against his arm, and smoothing out the napkin across his lap, seeming to brush against the growing erection there several times, much to his pleasure and agony.
He almost, but didn¡¯t, let out a small groan, glancing up embarrassedly to look across the table at a grinning Hugh, who took in his discomfort with a look of contentment. She patted his cock one more time - she was definitely taking notice of his disturbingly hard erection - and he decisively whipped his head to the side to meet her gaze. Her eyes were an azure blue against a chaste white, and they met his own eyes with an earnestness that all but announced to the room that she wanted more than anything to rip his clothing from him and pleasure him with her lush body.
So, he thought, this was both the workings of Hecate and the benefit of an unseemly Charisma for a small starter village. Only, what was her Charisma that all he could think about as their eyes connected was pushing away from the table, pulling her up the stairs to his room, and getting his dick very, very wet? She had an incredible body, this much was true, but he could barely restrain himself and, somehow, he knew that restraining himself was important. The moment passed, and she looked a bit disappointed. With a flounce and a sway of her hip, the buxom hostess sauntered back to the kitchen. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Once out of sight, he could turn his attention to the unprecedented spread of delicious and aromatic breakfast foods. Glancing at Hugh for but a sliver of a moment, he tucked into the morning repast and spared not a thought to the sexy hostess until his stomach was almost painfully full.
No sooner had he pushed away the platter and the crumbs it contained then the young, nubile woman appeared before him as if by an act of magic, or a goddess, and she was removing the platters from the table. All he saw of her was her magnificent ass as she disappeared into the kitchen. Hugh guffawed from his side of the table, meeting Clyde¡¯s glance and grimacing.
¡°You¡¯d have to be an actual monk, asexual, or a complete idiot to not notice that woman wants to fuck you, and I don¡¯t believe you are any of those things.¡±
They both shared a laugh, before Clyde begrudgingly admitted, ¡°Yeah, I know. The way she was all but giving me a hand job with the napkin on my lap made it obvious. I¡¯m guessing Hecate placed her here so I could find the first member of my coven.¡±
Hugh looked at him dubiously. ¡°You¡¯re not complaining. Tell me you¡¯re not complaining. That woman is the second most gorgeous woman I¡¯ve been in the same room with. I¡¯d cut off my left hand to be with her. Hell, she might convince me to cut off my right hand, and that¡¯s my d hand.¡±
Clyde laughed, his eyes shining at that moment, ¡°I¡¯d give my left nut to be with her. No, I¡¯m not complaining. Maybe a little uncomfortable with feeling manipulated. But no worries, my friend. You head upstairs. I¡¯ll take care of the bill and close the deal. I¡¯m not a complete idiot.¡±
Hugh agreed on principle that he may not be a complete idiot, stood, and took to the stairs without another word. As if on cue, the busty waitress slipped from the kitchen and slinked over to his table.
¡°I hope everything was to your satisfaction, sir. If it wasn¡¯t I¡¯m sure I can help with satisfying you,¡± she said, her voice low and sultry, but he felt she was trying too hard, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder why.
So he asked her why she seemed to be trying so hard.
Briefly, she looked offended and hurt, but her face smoothed, and she met his eyes evenly. For the first time, he felt as if he was seeing the woman behind the sultry mask.
¡°Hecate told me you¡¯d be here, master. I wish to join your coven and ascend to power alongside you if you¡¯d have me. She said you were kind of a pervert.¡±
Clyde grimaced, shrinking back into his seat. ¡°And did she tell you anything else? Oh, I¡¯m Silas. Nice to meet you.¡±
She curtsied, which was adorable and sexy, replying, ¡°I¡¯m Trixy. Yes, that¡¯s my real name. Everyone always asks me, but that¡¯s what my ma named me. No, Hecate only told me that if I wanted to find true power, and to get out of this stupid starter town, that I¡¯d seek old man Hubert, get a job as the hostess here and serve your breakfast on this morning.¡±
¡°Well, congratulations. Those are some damn specific instructions. You¡¯re already better off than me in that department.¡± He laughed. ¡°It really is nice to meet you, Trixy. I¡¯m not really a pervert. I think I¡¯m a nice guy.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± she laughed and brought a hand to her chest, ¡°they always do. You¡¯ll remember I felt your hard cock under that napkin, Sir Warlock, so I know you¡¯re every bit the pervert the goddess made you out to be.¡±
As if to mock his intentions and to verify her own claim his cock firmed in his loose pants, tenting the fabric within seconds. She peered over the table, catching sight of his erection and murmured, ¡°Mmmhmmm. That''s what she warned me about. You¡¯re as horny as a fifteen-year-old, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s okay, Master. We can go upstairs after I let Cookie know I¡¯m quitting this dead-end job and take care of that right away. I¡¯ve just the right ointment to ease your affliction. I keep it between my thighs.¡±
Her earthy laugh set his mind afire, and he woodenly paid for the breakfast, rising from the table, and moving up the stairs to his room. Trixy promised she¡¯d follow him soon after.