《The Party Life》 First Into the Breach Atticus was tired of working two full-time minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, tired of applying to jobs in his prospective field, tired of scrapping every creative project he started because he was too exhausted to work on it. Mostly he was tired of his life. When he got the text from the hiring agency he signed up for (in hopes of having an agent might help him find a job) he didn¡¯t immediately call them back. It took a second text from them to get him to call them. It didn¡¯t help (or hurt, he would begrudgingly admit) his aunt was a manager there so he got a family discount. ¡°Hey Atticus, I found a job for you! I¡¯ve already sent them a resume and they are very interested in hiring you. They wanted to set a time for an interview, do you have a day or morning off this week?¡± ¡°Hey aunt Claire, not this week, but I do have Thursday afternoon open. I¡¯m supposed to do a raid with my guild, but I can get one of the others to sub in for me this week if I need it.¡± ¡°Perfect, can you do Thursday at 4? Does that give you enough time to get home, change, and get to Burbank?¡± ¡°Better make it 5, I¡¯d like that extra hour in case I run into any issues with the metro or any of the buses.¡± His first interview for a real job, he was so excited. His boss, in a rare stroke of kindness, allowed him to leave work half an hour early to prepare. As he predicted there was a delay with the orange line. They were doing construction along the route where he was heading. The position was only an entry level game tester position, but it was in the game design field and he wasn¡¯t going to look down his nose at it, even if he had never heard of Allied Realms Interactive. As with most gaming studios the outside of the building looked like any other corporate office building. But once the elevator doors opened to the top floor Atticus was treated to the lobby of the studio, adorned with VR headsets, monitors showcasing the incredible graphics, and speakers piping in ambient noise of the various landscapes. The man at the security desk waved for him to approach. ¡°Can I help you, son?¡± the man asked, fully focused on Atticus. ¡°I¡¯m here for an interview at five o¡¯clock.¡± ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Atticus Jones.¡± ¡°Have a seat next to the door, someone will come get you.¡± Despite being nearly forty minutes early, someone promptly came to greet him, saving him from waiting in boredom as he didn¡¯t want to be seen playing on his phone and he didn¡¯t want to anger the security guard by looking around at all the cool stuff in the lobby. The young woman was wearing a cool comic tee shirt and jeans which made Atticus feel overdressed in his khakis and button-up shirt with a tie, still better to be professional at first and relax down to the standards later. He was lead past a series of low-walled cubicles, light blue and grey in the late summer afternoon light. ¡°Wait in here and the overseers and interviewer will be here momentarily,¡± she said as she escorted him into a sterile white room and closed the door behind him. There was a couch and a couple of plastic chairs all arranged facing a lone plastic stool. He took a seat on the stool, almost immediately his back started to protest his upright posture. His wait wasn¡¯t long, as the door opened and a group of people his age sat in various seats. The interviewer was the only one who wasn¡¯t looking at him like he was a used car. The rest were looking at notes on clipboards and then at Atticus and back again, as if verifying his appearance matched his resume. It was strange and unsettling, because it seemed they weren¡¯t looking at him but at who he was. Something about the way their eyes focused, but before he could say anything the interviewer started speaking. ¡°Is it alright if I call you Atticus?¡± ¡°Sure, may I ask your name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Henry, I¡¯ll be conducting your interview, the group behind me are evaluating my skills as an interviewer and making their own notes on you as a candidate as well, but ignore them unless they ask you a question.¡± ¡°Do you play a lot of role playing games Atticus?¡± ¡°Sure, table-top to MMOs to ARPGs and Looter Shooters. I¡¯m a big fan of the genre.¡± ¡°Excellent, when playing with other players what role do you play; are you a tank, a damage dealer, a healer, or utility player?¡± ¡°I like being in the thick of things, you know? I¡¯m never one to back down from a fight and I¡¯ll put myself in harms way to protect or attack.¡± ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re a tank then?¡± ¡°Sorta, but I like being the kind of tank that can deal damage back at my foes up close and personal. I¡¯m not an evasive tank like you see in some games, nor do I like being slowed down by heavy armor, but I¡¯ll wear it if it doesn¡¯t interfere with my ability to dish out damage.¡± ¡°So a hybrid tank melee DPS then?¡± ¡°Yeah, I like being crunchy and able to smack people around.¡± ¡°Cool, in a group setting are you able to take the lead in a situation, do you prefer to leave strategizing to others and following orders, or are you the kind of player to ignore the strategy in favor of attacking recklessly?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good with strategizing or following orders so long as the orders make sense, but if there is too much squabbling about tactics or general bickering I¡¯ll force the issue by just attacking if we¡¯re just wasting time. I prefer to know ahead of time whether I am leading or if I¡¯m following, and if I¡¯m following I need to see all the steps.¡± ¡°That very fair. You seem to be holding up alright with the questions so far, but I can switch back to corporate lingo if you feel that would fit the situation better.¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re getting the data you need from these questions I¡¯m fine with however you want to phrase the questions.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s say you have two time sensitive quests you need to complete and no other details on them, how do you determine which you handle first?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I would probably ask the quest giver which they wanted done first, but if there were multiple quest givers or the quest giver couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t tell me which to do first I¡¯d look at the details and see which would make sense to complete first. I wouldn¡¯t replant a farmer¡¯s lettuce field before killing the rabbits who eat his crops.¡± The interview continued like that, Atticus was enjoying himself and forgot about the people behind the interviewer until one spoke up, ¡°If the king asked you to kill a noble, promising to protect you from repercussions would you kill the noble?¡± ¡°Only if I had a signed and sealed contract from the King granting me clemency, or if I were a member of the nobility already and there were rules in place for dueling to the death. Although, honestly, I would be the wrong choice for any sort of assassin work.¡± The interview continued on for a while, the others started asking questions more and more frequently with some getting up and leaving after certain questions were answered until finally only two people sat across from him. After a few more questions even the last extra person got up, but instead of leaving she leaned down and whispered into Henry¡¯s ear. Atticus strained to hear what she said, but he would swear she wasn¡¯t making any noise. Henry stood up and offered his hand. ¡°Atticus, thank you for your time. If you would stick around for a few more moments someone will be with you to discuss what to expect moving forward. Thank you so much for your time here today!¡± ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you,¡± Atticus said out of habit, but was surprised to realize he actually meant it. The lights in the room dimmed a bit, instead of being a blinding white, it was a softer reddish hue being projected through the room. Atticus moved to the couch, the soft cushions were inviting and the hard stool was killing his back. He waited for about ten minutes, before the last of the overseers to leave came back into the room. ¡°I¡¯m Emily,¡± she said as she plopped unceremoniously down next to him on the couch. ¡°Nice to meet you, Emily. What happens next?¡± ¡°Well that depends, we have an offer for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sensing you want to say ¡®but¡¯ don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°How astute, you could be an observer!¡± she laughed. ¡°You¡¯re right of course there is a but involved. The thing is, it isn¡¯t really what you applied for. You applied for the general QA tester, which is fine and we need those. But what we are really looking for right now, and what we feel you fit the mold for is as an in-depth fully immersed tester. It is a lot more involved and a lot higher paid, along with higher benefits and a few restrictions. Chief among them, you¡¯d have to live here on site.¡± **** Atticus was in shock, he gave two-weeks notice to his bosses, he paid his portion of the rent for the following month and told his roommates they would need to spend that time finding a replacement. The job he would be doing was next level, no one he knew had ever heard of, outside of novels, the technology to create full sensory immersion technology, not that he could share info either. He was warned that the tech was unstable and could cause medical complications, but they had a staff of highly trained doctors on standby. Still the pay was outrageous and he was offered a signing bonus. Atticus couldn¡¯t keep the nervous anxiety from showing as he arrived at Allied Realms Interactive. He walked in and went to the top floor again. This time the guard waved at him and just said, ¡°Have a seat, man I¡¯ll send Emily to com get you.¡± Emily escorted him back to the elevators and down a floor getting him a badge and a room assignment. ¡°Did you know, you are the very first person to qualify and accept the full immersion tester position? Most people were too wary of the potential issues, which is fair, but not very brave. You don¡¯t seem like the kind to be timid or to let fear dissuade you.¡± ¡°It seems like a dream come true, honestly.¡± With his employee badge in hand they made their way back to the elevators and down to the underground levels (which if Atticus was being honest with himself, he didn¡¯t notice before). Down on sub-4 were the housing suites for the full immersion testers. He chose a corner room, being the first one to arrive and matched it to his employee badge. The suite he was in was a shared common area with a kitchen and dining room and six rooms along the sides. By a random coincidence the corner room had the largest amount of space in the bedroom, bathroom, and closet. The bed was also a queen, compared to the full sized in the other rooms, though he didn¡¯t get the large bookshelf and desk he had a combination unit that fit well with the rest of the blank decor. He was excited to find out that each room also had a built-in combo washer-dryer so he didn¡¯t have to worry about wasting quarters or arguing over whose turn it was to wash clothes. He looked at his new home for the near future and was excited to see what came next. Emily escorted him to sub-1 the next level up and set him up with an office to work from, his immersion pod would be delivered later that day so in the meantime he was given a tour of the facilities. Sub-3 had the gym and recreational areas for those inclined to stay in shape, sub-2 was off limits to him because it was where the servers were kept and even Emily didn¡¯t have the key. He asked if he was confined to the premises, but he was assured he was allowed to leave whenever he wanted, so long as he spent the required amount of time ¡°working¡± each week. The building was within walking distance of downtown Burbank and thus plenty of good food options. According to Emily, there were some delays with getting the equipment into his office so he had the rest of the day off. She would text him when they got everything ready to go. The next morning around 10:30 he got the text from Emily, ¡°You¡¯re all set head on up to your office, I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± His office, once empty, now was cluttered with wires and cords sprawling across the floor like spiderwebs. A path was cleared to the center where a heavily modified dentists chair sat. next to the chair stood Emily and a woman in scrubs and a lab coat. ¡°Atticus, this is Dr. Wi. She will be on hand during the calibration process and to monitor your first day in immersion.¡± After exchanging pleasantries, he sat on the chair and was reclined back. He was handed a helmet as his legs were strapped into place. All the while Dr. Wi was talking him through what was happening. ¡°We¡¯re strapping your limbs down because until the helmet is calibrated to you your body may still interpret signals that your mind is sending. Don¡¯t worry this is for your protection, as well as ours and the equipment¡¯s safety.¡± After getting the all clear from Dr. Wi, Emily started the calibration process. The darkness from the helmet disappeared and was replaced by blinding white letters ¡°Calibration In Progress¡­¡± Several disorienting minutes later Atticus was dropped into a character creation screen. Unlike a typical RPG setting he was overwhelmed with racial options. From the fantasy tropes like elves, dwarves, and halflings to monster races like werewolves and vampires to avatars of elder gods, there were even options to build your own race. One thing he noticed was that the more powerful the race, the less XP they earned. He ended up being torn between being a dragon and being a wolfkin. Dragons had serious abilities and strengths, but it would take forever to grind between levels, and while the wolfkin were beastial humanoid they didn¡¯t have the insane XP requirements to level up since they were a lesser type of werewolf. He made himself a mana-less variant, cutting himself off from wielding magic but giving a bonus to his physical skills. Once he settled on the race, he gave himself red, black, and silver fur, a giant scar across his muscular torso, smaller scars across his snout and the backs of his hands and arms. Then he got to build his stats up. He put his strength, endurance, and luck as primary stats, his agility and charm as secondary, leaving his wisdom and intellect as tertiary. In the end his stat block showed : STR: 18 AGI: 14 END: 16 INT: 10 WIS: 10 CRM: 12 LCK: 14 The next phase of character creation had him choosing a weapon, he was limited to melee weapons and throwing weapons. He was drawn to the wildly impractical for a beginner kursari-gama, a chain with a weighted end on one side and a curved blade on the other. The versatility it offered was something he thought he could use, especially since it extended his already considerable reach. He picked up the weapon to get a feel for it, just to try it out before choosing a more practical weapon for his skill level, like a club or a spear. The system acknowledged his choice and locked his proficiency with the weapon. ¡°Good job, noob. Why not pick the hardest weapon to use in a lifelike virtual reality as your starting weapon,¡± he told himself. A pop-up blocked his vision reading ¡°Calibration complete.¡± The screen faded to black shortly after and he was brought back to the real world. ¡°How are you feeling Mr. Jones,¡± Dr. Wi asked as she unstrapped him. ¡°I¡¯m fine, a little disoriented but I expect that is normal for testing new hardware that hijacks my brain¡¯s signals.¡± She chuckled and motioned for Emily to come over. ¡°Atticus, bold choice for the weapon. I approve.¡± ¡°It was an accident I just wanted to get a feel for it, but since it is my weapon type, I¡¯ll own it. Quick question though. There¡¯s an auto-attack feature right? I don¡¯t have to actually know how to use the weapon out here to be proficient with it in the game?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait and see,¡± was all she said in response, ¡°But now that it¡¯s calibrated to you you can dive right in and get started if you want or if you need a break to catch your bearing that¡¯s fine too. You¡¯re only required to spend thirty-two hours in game this week.¡± ¡°Well, no time like the present to hop back in.¡± No Pain, No Gain Congratulations on entering the Realm of Training. Here you will learn to use your class core and your chosen weapon! Congratulations on earning your first trait, your Class Core. You have received the Tank Class Core! By Unlocking the Class Core you have activated your first Trait. Stalwart Defense (Uncommon, Requires Tank Class Core) To look at the benefits of your Class Core and Trait, go to your Traits Page. Atticus blinked in surprise as his vision faded from the dark helmet to a field divided by a gravel road way, wide enough for a single small cart to travel along. The words hung in the air in front of him. He said and thought Traits Page, wondering if he needed to say it aloud every time. Welcome to your Traits Page Unlocked Traits: Tank Class: You gain a percentage damage reduction equal to your level, max 10%. You generate aggro equal to the amount of damage you mitigate. Stalwart Defense (Passive): The next time you would take damage that damage is reduced by 10%. This effect can happen once every ten minutes. While this effect is active your damage reduction can''t be bypassed. You have two empty subcore trait slots open: 0/2 Atticus whooped with joy, ¡°Hell yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± He remembered he was in a new place and probably shouldn¡¯t be shouting, especially since he was a wolfkin in an unknown land. He was all too aware of how much trouble not being the accepted race in the world. His skin tone made others quick to judge him and accuse him of being a problem. He ducked his head down and inspected his interface. It was a clean and simple two bars HP/XP, a little row of icons for buffs, Stalwart Defense had an icon there, which was nice, that way he could check and see if it was procced quickly. There was an empty section on the opposite field of vision for debuffs and a section for cooldowns across the middle of his vision each thing had unique transparencies but he could make them opaque by focusing on them. He remembered, once again, he was standing in the middle of the road when a mounted rider traveling at full sprint barreled past him knocking him to the ditch. ¡°Clear the road, filthy beast,¡± was shouted down to him over the clatter of hooves on the gravel before the rider and mount were gone into the distance. He had never before been so mad, the primal instincts of his wolfkin race flared and he sped off in pursuit of the one who insulted him. Congratulations on unlocking your first subcore! You unlocked the subcore Barbarian¡¯s Rage! Check your Traits Page for more information on your new subcore! The notifications meant little to him in his enraged state, pursuit and justice were the only thing that mattered. His high agility, strength and endurance along with his inherent ability to run on all fours had him closing the gap between him and his insulter. They both reached the gates of a small village, Atticus having launched himself upon the back of the horse raking the rider off and throwing him to the ground. The gate guard strode forward, unsure as to what just happened as he had been napping and was too young to have seen any combat, his weapon still in its scabbard and helm leaning against the wall where he had set it for his respite. ¡°Ha-halt! State your business!¡± He said as his voice squeaked nervously. Atticus ignored the guard and leapt down to the ground standing over the prone form of the rider, ¡°Who did you call a dirty beast, you arrogant prick?¡± ¡°You dare attack a Blood Noble, you flea ridden werewolf? I should end you, but as it is I¡¯m late for training. Don¡¯t cross my path again,¡± The rider said, her voice more obviously feminine now that it was quiet. ¡°Call me a filthy or flea ridden beast or werewolf one more time and I¡¯ll show you what it means to fight a wolfkin. You¡¯re just begging me to end you here and now, but since you are already on the ground, I¡¯ll accept an apology and we can forget this ever happened. You don¡¯t speak to me ever again and I don¡¯t speak to you. Deal?¡± ¡°You want to duel? I acce-,¡± the blood noble woman began before the guard interrupted them once again. ¡°Halt, in the name of the Lords of the Allied Realms, state your purpose in coming to the Training Village! Please?¡± The woman rose from the ground and dusted herself off, ¡°I¡¯m Zari the Blood Noble ascended from the royal family of Shadow Elves and I am here to train.¡± Atticus, who was still glaring at the woman, said ¡°I am packleader Atticus, son of the wolfkin chief Sirius the III, known to all who defend those in need. And I, too, am here to train.¡± He wasn¡¯t going to let this woman intimidate him into subservience or treating him as a second class citizen so he made up some fancy backstory for his character as well. Two could play that game. The guard looked between them and said, ¡°Well met adventurers, welcome to training village. Here is a list of the generalized rules of the village. You should note,¡± his voice was getting squeaky again, ¡°that unauthorized dueling and fighting is prohibited within the sight of the village walls and within the village walls. Adventurers who disregard this rule are faced wi-with fines gold and, um, XP along with jail time.¡± Atticus immediately cooled off. He couldn¡¯t afford to lose any XP and he saw Zari turn a dusky lavender, in an obvious blush. She turned to him, ¡°I may have misjudged you, wolf. I don¡¯t like you, and I don¡¯t think you should cross my path outside of the walls, but within the village I¡¯m willing to call a truce. I apologize for speaking the truth when I called you a filthy beast and my accusation of you being a flea-ridden werewolf.¡± ¡°What kind of shit apology is that? You would be lucky if I didn¡¯t catch your scent while I hunt, but in the village for the sake of the peace of this Training Village I¡¯m willing to agree to a truce you vile vampire.¡± ¡°You know, for a mangy wolf I think we might be able to get along after all,¡± She said with a deadpan smile. Atticus chuffed and rolled his eyes, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re one of those. I¡¯m not sure about that. I¡¯m not one to react well to the friendships that needle and poke vulnerable places. It would dishonor my ancestors to allow such insults stand. But, let there be clean wind between us and our prey never smell us approach, so that there may be peace here.¡± He walked in the gate leaving the guard and the woman standing in shock. To be fair, he was really getting into character. That one semester of improv he took to impress women might finally be coming in handy after all. The gate opened up to a bustling avenue lined with shops and inns each designed to catch the eyes of a weary adventurer. On the inside of the gate was a much more aware and attentive of his surroundings, ¡°A moment of your time adventurer. As this is your first time in Training Village allow me to assist you in finding where you should be headed. It looks like you have the Tank Core and your weapon is a kursari-gama. Oh, and would you look at that you have already unlocked a subcore. You can confirm it at any time, but it is inactive until you confirm it and once you confirm it you can¡¯t change it. The later rule only applies after you have left the Realm of Training, here you can unlock multiple subcores and their various subtraits to see if you can find a combination you like best. Now, let¡¯s see about finding your trainer. Hmm, there are a couple of options, some of which might be too far out of your element, but we won¡¯t know unless I suggest them! There¡¯s Alice the Agility based tank trainer at The White Hare Inn; Miss Elizabeth Rey the Endurance based tank trainer at the Pain Emporium though there are probably more appropriate and certainly easier places to get the same type of training-- Malagak at the Labyrinth, for example, is another highly regarded Endurance tank trainer, but he might have trouble teaching you to wield that weapon still he is likely the safest bet for your training; lastly are the Siblings Voska who teach Strength based tank skills. Each one might be able to teach you something, you never know what you need to learn until you learn it! So check in with all of them. Here is a map of the Training Village to help guide you. Oh, and whenever you decide to begin your true adventure place your hand upon the stone in the center of the village say ¡®transport¡¯ and you will be teleported to a dungeon town or city at random in the Allied Realms that is in need of assistance, but be warned only do this if you feel you have nothing more that you wish to learn here in the village because you will never be able to return. Also, don¡¯t think you can dawdle and slouch around getting trained forever because once you hit level 15 you won¡¯t be able to gain any more levels while at the training village nor will the villagers teach you any new skills, traits, or subcores.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Another part of Atticus¡¯s user interface came into being, a minimap showing his location and with way markers pointing to each of the trainers. So far the game was holding his hand just enough to let him get used to the world. Soon, he figured he would be able to navigate on his own from memory and intuition. *** Phen sat at their desk, dusk was settling over the office and still they had stacks of paperwork to fill out for the annual budget report. Their phone screen lit up, one text message from an unknown number ¡®Is your life stuck in a rut? Tired of your same career? Exciting opportunities await at Allied Realms Interactive, call back to see if you qualify to interview for a position now!¡¯ As far as scams went, this one was pretty well targeted-- almost as if destiny or fate were calling out to Phoenix telling them to leave the stacks of papers on their desk. But Phen, while on the fence about leaving their work, they decided to humor whatever spammer had tracked down their number. They called the number, fully intent to let the other party dig an inescapable hole of flawed scam logic until whomever they were speaking to got so frustrated they hung up the phone. The phone rang three times before it was answered by a voice that presented on the feminie side, ¡°ARI, how may I direct your call?¡± ¡°I received a text about a potential position within your organization, I just wanted to get more details.¡± ¡°Oh sure, let me pass you over to Henry in recruiting and hiring. Hold on one moment please.¡± Soft music started to come over the phone, and Phen could¡¯ve sworn they had heard this song in the trailer for a new fantasy movie or game, but they couldn¡¯t quite place it. ¡°Hey, this is Henry. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Like I told the first person I spoke to, I received a text message saying I might qualify for a position in your organization, exciting opportunities to be specific.¡± ¡°Cool, do you mind if I get your name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Phen, spelled p as in pardon, h as in hotel, e as in endangered, and n as in nope.¡± ¡°Cool, thanks Phen. Do you play many table-top or video games?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve played a few. Not many really appeal to me though, unfortunately.¡± ¡°What is your take on the role-playing game genre?¡± ¡°I prefer to play table-top RPGs because I can make my character a more accurate representation of who I am.¡± ¡°Cool, do you have any free time this week to do a group interview? Also do you have a way to take down the address and time?¡± ¡°Sure, I can create an event on my phone. I don¡¯t have any availability until Friday afternoon, does that work for you? I don¡¯t want to keep you late on the start of the weekend.¡± ¡°No, my schedule is pretty flexible at the moment. Do you think you can make it to Burbank by 4 pm on Friday?¡± ¡°Sure thing, just give me the address.¡± Friday was here before Phen knew it and they were nervous. They had finished the annual reports in record time to be able to make the interview and left before their boss could add more work to their plate, as he often did. Arriving with minutes to spare, Phen was ushered into a white room with several chairs facing a single stool, they grabbed a spot on the comfy looking couch and waited for the rest of the ¡®interviewees¡¯ or ¡®candidates¡¯ or whatever the multilevel marketing scheme wanted to name the suckers who ended up signing up for the bullshit. The whole thing was still incredibly shady, but a wide variety of people started filtering in, most exchanging strange looks as they sat down. Once the remaining seats had been filled the presenter finally sauntered in, he glanced around the room, before his eyes landed on Phen. The man shrugged and took the stool. ¡°Hi, my name is Henry. Wait, no I can¡¯t do this properly. Phen will you switch places with me please?¡± When none of the other candidates stood, Phen realized that Henry meant them and promptly stood. Once they were settled back in their chairs, did Phen come to the understanding that they had misinterpreted when Henry said group interview. They had to readjust their approach to the interview. Maybe this was an actual promising lead, maybe, just maybe, their luck was finally changing. ¡°We¡¯ve gone over the basics, on the phone but I just want the rest of the team,who you can just ignore unless they speak to you, get a feel for you. Let¡¯s start back at the top shall we? Can I get your first name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Phen or Phoenix. Either is fine, and to avoid any confusion or issues down the road, please use they/them pronouns when talking about or to me please.¡± ¡°Excellent, thank you Phen. Now, as we discussed over the phone you prefer table-top RPGs correct?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can make them an adequate representation of who I am, a reflection that often is overlooked or under-respected in the real world.¡± ¡°What kind of characters do you like to play?¡± ¡°I prefer casting spells and being far, so very far away from combat.¡± ¡°Because if your characters were in the middle they would be squishy, correct?¡± ¡°Yeah, I like being far away, because I recognize that death loves being in the middle of the action.¡± ¡°When playing a spellcaster what roles do you play, are you a DPS, a healer, someone who does crowd control?¡± ¡°Honestly I love having life and death in my hands, to distribute as I see fit. I like being able to heal and harm equally. The current game I am playing in is a gestalt game and I¡¯m a holy scion of knowledge and a sorcerer descended from the Goddess of Knowledge herself. I have arcane spells to blast my foes and I have healing spells to heal my allies. Plus, since they are both charisma based I get wicked bonus spells per day. It is my favorite game I have ever played.¡± Several more people left the room and the two remaining non-interviewers had moved to the couch and were whispering furiously to each other. ¡°Interesting, is there a particular reason you went with charisma based classes?¡± ¡°I feel like if I had as much charisma in real life as my character does in game, I would be unstoppable.¡± One of the two other interviewers looked up and asked, ¡°If, say for example, you were offered the choice between healing an ally and killing an enemy, which would you choose?¡± ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯d have a way to do handle both at once. A life transference spell to siphon the enemy¡¯s life and use it to heal my ally.¡± The interviewer went back to whispering with his companion. The began gesticulating furiously and finally tapped Henry on the shoulder. ¡°One second please Phen,¡± he said. They began whispering furiously, fingers pointed at each other, though no sound other than a dull indiscernible murmur escaped the trio. Finally, Henry had enough and silenced them with a wave. His back was to Phen and they weren¡¯t sure what he was saying, but the looks of outrage one their faces slowly faded into actual consideration for a moment before the two unnamed interviewers shook hands and nodded. Henry turned back to Phen and the pair left the room, ¡°Sorry about that Phen. I think you are a solid candidate. Does two weeks from Monday sound good for a start date?¡± Phen could only nod, unsure if any coherent thoughts could be spoken aloud. They left the building in a daze. What a weird company. It wasn¡¯t until they got back to their car that Phen realized no job responsibilities or pay had ever been discussed, the scam alarm bells started ringing again. Maybe this was an illegal gold farming operation that needed legitimate looking members. Phen shrugged the thought off, too curious to let anything hold them down. *** Atticus had been training for the better part of a week with the bull headed minotaur Malagak. He had unlocked a plethora of traits, but only two really called to him: Bloodstained Blades and Barbarian¡¯s Cleave. A combo that was sure to come in handy, especially if he could build it up from lower-level enemies and carry them over. They were a solid pair of skills for damaging and drawing aggro on multiple targets. He had only barely reached level three when he flopped to the ground exhausted. Malagak approached and towered over Atticus¡¯s prone form. ¡°There is one last skill I would teach you, but I do not believe you are ready yet. Go seek other trainers and if you haven¡¯t found a path you like, come back and see me.¡± With that the minotaur turned and left Atticus on the ground. Probably another barbarian or berserker style skill. That was his last night in the Labyrinth, He bought a round of beers for the folk gathered in the inn. It was strange, the inns were more like communal housing for like minded villagers. Sure there were innkeepers and barmaids, but they were also helping run the training center, even Malagak tended the bar once. The next morning a hangover the likes of which all the gods-- past, present, and future --wouldn¡¯t have gotten out of bed with found Atticus, by his will alone, getting up and heading to the next site for training. The Pain Emporium was nestled in the richer side of Training Village, or at least the more well constructed side. He staggered inside and found a plush booth to collapse into. ¡°I don¡¯t recall giving you permission to sit there,¡± a firm commanding woman¡¯s voice said far too loudly at a normal indoor volume. ¡°Speak softer.¡± ¡°You come into my establishment and sit at a reserved table reeking of booze and sweat and have the audacity to tell me to speak softer?¡± ¡°Yeah, that about sums it up. I¡¯ve got a hangover and I¡¯m here for training. This place is the Pain Emporium, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Now, remove yourself from that booth or I will have you thrown out.¡± ¡°Listen, I just got done training with ol¡¯ horns in the labyrinth. You¡¯re not scary and I won¡¯t give you an inch of power over me until proper introductions are made. And before you try to twist this into being my fault, keep in mind I drank Malagak under the table last night so, I¡¯ve earned some leeway.¡± ¡°Well now, this I have to hear. Let me help you to one of our rooms upstairs and you can tell me about it while we arrange a more,¡± she paused, ¡°hospitable stay.¡± ¡°I can work with that, by the way. I¡¯m looking for Miss Elizabeth Rey.¡± ¡°You can call me either Mistress or Misery, I¡¯ve earned both.¡± ¡°Misery, listen lady. I¡¯m already miserable. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± The Pain Emporium was much more lavishly furnished, it even had a fancy magical elevator that Atticus in no way threw up in. Over the side, that is possible, but there was no vomit in the elevator. ¡°Well, if you want to learn to fight past the suffering, the nausea, and the inability to form whole thoughts, you¡¯ve come to the right place. If, that is, you are willing to endure. I¡¯m sure you know the mantra. No pain¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°No gain,¡± Atticus said trying not to retch again. No Need to Suffer in SIlence The chain crashed against his snout, knocking lose several teeth. Debuff acquired: Broken Jaw. You cannot use your mouth for any attacks or spells until healed. Duration: 3 hours Miss Elizabeth Rey was living up to her title as every moment Atticus spent with her was pure misery. He would have left but she had assigned one of her acolytes, one in a full gimp suit no less, to instruct him on how to wield his kursari-gama. Those brief hours of training were a welcome respite from her painful ministrations trying to unlock the endurance based subcore. She tsked at him, ¡°Come now, you can use the pain can¡¯t you? You can channel it into the destructive power to crush your foes. I know you can. You don¡¯t want to disappoint your mistress do you?¡± The only thing that saved Atticus from suffering more pain was the fact that he couldn¡¯t move his jaw to speak. He whirled the weighted end of his weapon in a defensive pattern, with his left hand while keeping the bladed end firmly gripped in his right. He did however snort blood from his nose to breathe easier. She whipped the chain in his direction, but it was only a feint, she expertly reeled it back in and wrapped it around her waist before she drew her glass-tipped bullwhip. The weapon was monstrous, it was designed for inflicting pain and not a whole lot more. She wielded it like a maestro, she left gashes on his calf, his arms, and then she flicked it casually. The sudden shift in demeanor caught him off guard so he wasn¡¯t prepared for the glass shard to embed itself into his eye. She pulled the whip and his eye went with it. Debuff acquired: Partial Blindness (Left Eye) You have lost sight in your left eye. Duration: 3 hours. He growled with anger through his broken jaw and lashed out with his weapon. ¡°Now you¡¯re starting to get it. Embrace the pain, use it to fuel your attacks. Inflict suffering on your foes,¡± she said, a bit of pride coming through her nonchalant facade. Still she danced around to his left side and switched to yet another weapon, a red-hot iron rod. She stabbed him between his ribs, the heat burning his fur and the flesh beneath it. Luckily she didn¡¯t puncture his lung, but he knew that was because she was in control. The iron rod was left hanging from the wound, burned into the melted skin but he channeled the pain into a destructive force and lashed out in a sweeping circular attack to clear space around him. The blade of his weapon caught something and he heard a giggle. ¡°Ouch, you got me. Good job. You¡¯ve taken the first step to unlock the subcore of my training school.¡± Let¡¯s call it a day. I¡¯ll send a healer in to get you patched up and get rid of those debuffs. Once you¡¯ve unlocked the subcore I can teach a technique that has a chance to get rid of them all on your own. *** Phen was shown to her living space at the ARI headquarters and was warned that the common area would be shared with six other people, according to Emily only two other people had been assigned to the space already. Emily hadn''t said anything more about the roommates so Phen was interested in meeting them and getting to know them, maybe they could join up in the game if they weren''t all the same type of player. Who needs a party full of glass-cannon mages? After getting settled and picking a room, they decided to go ahead and create their character. Emily escorted them to their office on sub-1 to meet with Dr. Wi, one of the lead researchers and medical staff on site, to begin initial calibration and character creation. After introductions and explanations, Phen was strapped into the chair and the VR immersion began. Phen looked at the highly in-depth character creation racial options and decided they were going to try and become their name sake, only to be discouraged by the heavy XP requirements, still it was a starting point. They added in some djinn blood to the mix which gave them more magical flexibility and reduced the leveling requirements a little. Then a dash of dragon blood (but only a dash) to further augment their magical boosts and finally to bring it down to normal levels they made their character a quarter Arcane Elf blooded. That done, they actually got to customize their appearance. Phen choose to go with silver feathers for their wings, glowing purple eyes, a lithe muscular body that could be adorned in men or women''s clothes if they desired. Their hair was a slightly darker silver than their feathers. Their teeth, they made sharp like a dragon''s. They also made themselves close to 2.5 meters tall. Phen put their charm, wisdom, and intellect, as primary stats, luck and endurance as secondary, leaving his agility and strength as tertiary. In the end their stat block read: STR: 8 AGI: 12 END: 12 INT: 16 WIS: 16 CRM: 16 LCK: 14 Stacked to be a powerful mana wielder, Phen was taken to choose a weapon. There were wands and staves and orbs and grimoires and more musical instruments than they had ever seen, but they skipped all of those. None were calling out to their soul so they left the room without picking, and offered no justification as they sat down and meditated. ¡°Calibration complete.¡± Flashed in front of their vision before the screen went black. ¡°Well done, Phen. How are you feeling?¡± Dr. Wi asked as she started unhooking Phen from the machine. ¡°When can I test out my magic?¡± ¡°Already to head into the game, huh?¡± Emily asked as she offered Phen a hand to get out of the chair. ¡°You can hop back in in a little bit, but why didn¡¯t you pick a weapon?¡± ¡°My character wouldn¡¯t need to use one. Nor, do I feel, would they need a magical focus to enact their will on the world, plus I looked at one of the pages and it was a soulbinding contract to a demon, and that is definitely not me. This way I have less strings.¡± ¡°An interesting decision. Well, I know I am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish. Once I¡¯m done clearing the equipment you¡¯ll be all set to go,¡± Dr. Wi said. ¡°I¡¯m ready to cast some spells.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Well hop back on the chair, and I¡¯ll show you how to dive in without assistance,¡± Emily said. Getting into the game was smoother this time, their limbs weren¡¯t tied down and they just had the helmet on. There was no login, according to Emily the helmets detected the user automatically and it was impossible for someone to access another person¡¯s character. Welcome to the Allied Realms! The first stop on your Journey is the Realm of Training Here you will find all the tools necessary to become the greatest adventurer the Realms have ever seen. But fear not if you don¡¯t want to spend all of your time training you can still become powerful out in the realms as a whole. Though be warned, skipping training is not recommended and can hamper your ability to go far as there are rare opportunities to be found in a greater abundance here. Congratulations on entering the Realm of Training. Here you will learn to use your class core and your chosen weapon! Congratulations on earning your first trait, your Class Core. You have received the Magic DPS Class Core! You have been sponsored by multiple gods! You have received the Support Caster Class Core! By Unlocking Class Cores you have activated your first Traits. Mana Veins (Passive, Requires Ranged Magic DPS Class Core, Rare) Multi-Casting (Passive, Requires Support Caster Class Core, Rare) To look at the benefits of your Class Core and Trait, go to your Traits Page. The world began to materialize around Phen, a narrow path carved through the forest around them. Light filtered through the leaves, illuminating the path before them. The wind stirred around them, and Phen could hear a whisper, almost as if the world around them were revealing its secrets. The loamy smells hit their nostrils and Phen felt connected to this world more so than the mundane reality they were from. Quick Tutorial: As a magical being coming from a non-magical world you might be unaccustomed to how to use your magical abilities. Most people have some sort of focus object or contract with a higher authority to provide them with guidance. But magic requires (at least at this time) four things:
  1. The will of the caster (can¡¯t cast a spell if you don¡¯t know what you want to do)
  2. Words of Power (telling the universe what you want)
  3. Arcane gestures (provided direction for the spell)
  4. Material components (focuses can be used in place of material components if you have a focus, otherwise each spell requires certain specific links to the material world)
Phen spread their wings letting the breeze fill them before noticing that they were drifting in the direction of the breeze. Phen looked down, confused. Their feet weren¡¯t actually touching the ground instead they were floating just above the surface. It was a surreal experience, but a welcome and freeing one nonetheless. Phen decided to try flying, what better time to learn than now. It took Phen the better part of an hour to get the hang of flying, but it took Phen the rest of the day to figure out how to control their natural levitation. They didn¡¯t want to appear so incredibly out of the ordinary, at least at first glance, when they made their way into town. As twilight descended on the forest, the shadows gave way to a faint luminescence, the mana flowing through the world. It gave Phen a path through the darkened woods. The forest gave way to plains and the plains gave way to farmland which finally gave way to a large wall protecting the village. Phen was stopped at the gate by a sleepy looking guard, but since it was the middle of the night, anyone would be sleepy. ¡°Welcome to the Training Village adventurer! Here is a copy of the laws in our fair town. Some of the most relevant involve not stealing and not fighting or dueling in or near the village. Training inns have their own rules that can supercede the rules of the village, but only while you are actively training in that inn. That being said my counterpart on the other side of the gate will get you squared away and pointed in any relevant directions.¡± The gate opened and Phen was treated to the sight of a city, not merely a town or village as they had been expecting. The main boulevard was wide enough for several large wagons to fit side by side there were lots of large expansive buildings along them, some nearly as tall as skyscrapers from back home. There was a late night bustle as various peoples scurried from one inn to the next, or maybe some were headed home for the night. The guard inside the gate was much more attentive to his surroundings than his counterpart had been. ¡°Welcome Phen of the Arcane Elves, descendant of the immortal Phoenix, the mighty Djinn, and the Powerful Dragons. It seems like you have been blessed by two gods and have two class cores, that is very rare, so you should keep that information close. You chose to enter this realm without a weapon, well I can point you in the right direction for training. There are plenty of good places for you to train you magical arts at, but you will have a strong affinity for fire and wind elements based on your lineages, though you will be proficient in all of them. I recommend checking out the Chapel Inn and the Magi Collegium for training. Oh, and let me not forget, also check out the Mana Font, it¡¯s less of a training ground and more of an experience. It¡¯s a place where pure mana flows into a pool, they say that people with mystical blood can find greater power there, but I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m from common human stock myself. Well, best let you get to your training. Good luck, Phen.¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be crossing paths soon enough. I plan to test my abilities as soon as I figure them out.¡± ¡°I look forward to it.¡± *** Mistress Rey sliced Atticus¡¯s arm off at the elbow. Blood spurted on the ground from the wound, joining the blood from his other wounds, and his dragging entrails. Still he had a sliver of health left and he was going to strike back, even if it cost him his life. He mustered the last dregs of his strength, the majority of it long since faded, and struck out with his weapon, the bladed end barely scratching the armor of his foe, but somehow it still managed to draw blood. ¡°Very good, you¡¯re learning well. Let¡¯s get you healed up and start again. You are so very close to earning my subcore. I beg you to stick around and learn the traits I can teach to go along with it. They are some of the most potent and powerful traits I have ever seen, and I¡¯m not just saying that because they are mine. In our line of work they are some of the most valuable.¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t think this was worth it, I will come back here and tear this building down brick by brick and I will rip you limb from limb until I feel like I¡¯ve repaid all the suffering you put me through. I¡¯m trusting that this is all relevant training, but it you are just doing this because you get a kick out of making people suffer I will end you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, you¡¯re already able to turn your pain into anger, you¡¯re so close. Let¡¯s get you healed up and try one more time for today. I¡¯m confident you¡¯ll get it this time.¡± ¡°Please, let¡¯s be done with training today. I don¡¯t know if I can mentally withstand another round.¡± ¡°Nonsense, you can¡¯t make any breakthroughs if you don¡¯t push yourself. I believe in you, just one more and if you don¡¯t get it, you can take the whole day off tomorrow.¡± Atticus didn¡¯t argue as he had passed out from his wounds. ¡°Ah, you are at the threshold I wouldn¡¯t push you this hard if I didn¡¯t think you had it in you,¡± she said as she picked him up with one hand and slung him over her shoulder. ¡°But we need to get you healed so we can unlock this subcore for you. You will thank me for it later.¡± She carried him to the Chapel Inn where the best healers, and her former teammate Arakin, could be found. He would understand why she brought him there and see to the wolfkins¡¯ treatment, and best of all he would be quick about it. Atticus awoke in a cozy bed, his arm had been regrown and his wounds had all been healed. He no longer felt faint, nor did he feel the bone-weary exhaustion he had been feeling previously. At the foot of the bed Mistress Rey was talking quietly with a strange man in robes. With his keen hearing he picked up what they were saying. ¡°Thank you for healing him so quickly, Arakin.¡± ¡°Oh, Liz, you know I could never say no to you. I¡¯ve seen you in worse shape than he was. I hope he can find the strength that you have, for his sake and yours. But he seems determined to learn from you. Most of your other students gave up long ago and they are suffering for it. But he¡¯s waking up now. You should see to him.¡± ¡°Thank you, Arakin,¡± She moved to Atticus¡¯s side, ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Well, there is no pain left, but I¡¯m confused by something,¡± Atticus said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Since we¡¯re in a house of healing, I assume, why didn¡¯t you get that scratch healed?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re confused about, not how did I get here, or where am I? You¡¯re concerned that I didn¡¯t get a small scratch healed?¡± She laughed, ¡°You¡¯re rather refreshing Atticus of the Wolfkin. Come back to the training hall and I¡¯ll show you why I didn¡¯t get it healed.¡± He groaned, but got himself out from the comfortable blankets. The room he was in was decorated with white and gold and very few shadows were cast as it seemed like every piece of furniture and every inch of wall cast a faint light that illuminated the entire room with warm light. It felt peaceful and vaguely nostalgic, like childhood memories. He shrugged the feeling off and said, ¡°Well, I guess let¡¯s get to it before I change my mind and run away screaming from you. You are incredibly scary sometimes, Liz.¡± She turned to him, slowly almost casually, but he could smell the anger coming off of her, ¡°You haven¡¯t earned the right to call me that, you foolish boy. You¡¯ll pay for that. But come, we¡¯ve got your training to finish,¡± she smiled but it was the single scariest smile Atticus had ever seen. Not even when he made his abuelita mad by breaking one of her favorite childhood dolls did she smile at him like that. ¡°Shit.¡± Misery just laughed. Downtime 1 Atticus logged out. The subcore he received from Mistress Rey was potentially powerful so long as he could keep leveling up. But holy shit could they not turn down the pain sensitivity. He still felt phantom twinges of pain in his everywhere from his trainer¡¯s ¡®tender ministrations¡¯ and he was pretty sure he needed to talk about filtering some of the gore out of the game. Seeing his flesh rent and his organs was not something he felt was viable for mass market if they intended to sell more than just token copies of the game. Still, he was looking forward to getting leveled up and actually fighting enemies instead of training, but according to his trainer if he wanted to maximize himself he needed to get just a little more training to unlock the traits associated with his new Sadomasochism subcore. He found the name a little off putting, but it described the function pretty well so he wouldn¡¯t complain. The elevator was empty as he rode down to his apartment. His beard was a bit scruffier than he remembered it being before he logged in so he wanted to shave. He pointedly didn¡¯t look at his watch he didn¡¯t want to be reminded he had been in the game for close to sixteen hours straight and as such a shower was on his agenda as well, but his stomach reminded him that food should be a first priority. He had bought some steaks to cook up on the gas grill. It was no charcoal, but at least it would be much faster. The door to the common area unlocked with his employee badge and he could smell lingering traces of food having been cooked. His stomach rumbled again so he went to the kitchen and lit the grill part of the stove. He didn¡¯t notice the meat juices that were already in the basin. He washed his hands and went to the refrigerator to grab one of his steaks. He closed the door and opened it again. He opened the drawers, maybe someone rearranged and that was why he couldn¡¯t find his steaks. Nope, not in the drawers. Maybe he accidentally put them in the freezer? He was a bit careless sometimes and his mind was otherwise occupied. But they weren¡¯t there either. Then he looked back at the grill and noticed the stains on the grill. He began to get angry. ¡°Hey, who the fuck ate my steaks?¡± When no one answered he began banging on doors. The only door to open was answered by a petite slip of a girl in a camisole and baggy anime pajama bottoms. She had several piercings in each ear, an eyebrow and a lip ring in. ¡°What the fuck are you banging on my door at three in the goddamned morning for you maniac?¡± ¡°Did you eat the steaks that were in the fridge?¡± ¡°Hmm, oh yeah. They were delicious I put ketchup on them and everything.¡± ¡°Who the fuck gave you permission to eat my goddamed food you muchnkin. And did you just say you put ketchup on them? What kind of monster are you?¡± ¡°Well if you didn¡¯t want me to eat them you shouldn¡¯t have left them in the fridge, and why wouldn¡¯t I put ketchup on them? It is divine.¡± ¡°Where the hell else am I supposed to put my food if not the fridge you inconsiderate pipsqueak? It¡¯s common fucking courtesy to not eat other people¡¯s food. We¡¯re getting paid to live here so the only thing you have to spend money on is food. But, if you come with me to the store and buy me steaks right now to replace the ones you ate, I¡¯ll call us square. Put on some clothes, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Who do you think you are, ordering me around like this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the guy who¡¯s going to make your life miserable if you don¡¯t listen to me right now thief.¡± ¡°Oh the big scruffy man thinks he so scary. Fuck off,¡± she slammed the door in his face. Atticus continued to pound on the door, but music began blasting from the room at an incredibly loud volume. He sighed, but he wouldn¡¯t give up. This little wisp of a girl slighted him and he was hangry. Still, there was no other food in the fridge so he decided to shower quickly, let his scruffy beard be and drive to the nearest fast food restaurant still open this late. Unsatisfied with his tiny burger, one that he was pretty sure had been sitting under a heat lamp for at least three hours, Atticus drove back to the Allied Realms Incorporated building. The night security guard, whom he had a pleasant conversation with was gone and his surly partner was still manning the desk. Atticus waved cheerfully and hopped on the elevator down to his bed it was time to crash. The next morning artificial sunlight filtered in through his fake window and woke Atticus up. He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow trying to recapture the last vestiges of the dream he was having. It was a pleasant dream where he was choking the girl who ate his steaks, very satisfying. But he knew it was just a dream. The smell of bacon and eggs cooking helped provide motivation for him to get out of bed. ¡°Good morning, I¡¯m Phen. Care for some breakfast?¡± ¡°Sure thing, thanks. Be careful not to leave food you don¡¯t want other to eat in the fridge. The girl in that room,¡± Atticus pointed to the door of the girl he met last night, ¡°ate my steaks that I was going to eat and didn¡¯t even apologize or seem remorseful that she ate them. Oh, and I¡¯m Atticus by the way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, and thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ll be sure to keep that in mind. Did you happen to catch her name?¡± ¡°Nope, but she¡¯s a grade a pain in the ass who owes me two steaks, and she needs to clean the grill since that is her mess.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I¡¯ll clean it this time since I¡¯m already going to be cleaning the rest of the stove. Are you playing in the Allied Realms,¡± Phen asked ¡°Yeah, I am. What about you?¡± ¡°I am. I guess all of us living here will be playing the game. What do you think of it so far?¡± ¡°Well, my trainer is extremely sadistic, but I¡¯m pretty sure the training I¡¯m getting is worth it. I¡¯ve already unlocked a few subcore options and their traits. I think I¡¯m going to be in a good position once I get leveled since what I got scales to my level.¡± ¡°Interesting, I¡¯ve only recently begun training and didn¡¯t want to stay too late into the game, but I did watch a petite black leather clad woman carrying a near-dead wolf person into the inn where I am training. That was a bit exciting. ¡°Maybe for you. I¡¯m pretty sure that wolfkin you saw was me. Are you a healer?¡± ¡°I can do healing, though I also want to learn a few offensive spells because I want to be able to explore on my own as well.¡± ¡°Cool, I¡¯m a tank. We should meet up in game and add each other in case you need a meat shield. I know I will probably need a healer at some point,¡± Atticus said.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The door Atticus had pointed to previously opened and a wild shock of hair poked itself out of the doorway, ¡°Do I smell breakfast?¡± ¡°Kid, you already ate my food. Stop trying to mooch,¡± Atticus said. Phen, however, replied, ¡°It sure is, you¡¯re welcome to some if you promise to apologize for eating Atticus¡¯s food and pay him back. Also, you have to promise never to eat someone else¡¯s food without permission if you want some breakfast.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. Nevermind, it probably won¡¯t be that good anyway,¡± the girl replied, shutting her door. ¡°Told you she¡¯s gonna be trouble,¡± Atticus said. Phen ran a hand through their short cropped hair and sighed, ¡°So much for roommate cohesion.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we can get her moved to a different unit if she continues to be a problem. We have to be professional after all. By the way, Phen, I¡¯m digging the David Bowie vibes you¡¯ve got going on with the hair and outfit. You¡¯re like an ¡®80s rock icon, but it does present an issue for me. I have zero clue as to your gender. I don¡¯t want to misgender you, my sister transitioned and so I¡¯ve learned to ask when I don¡¯t know because it is the first step in not being an asshole.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. I usually included it as part of introducing myself. I am genderless, I prefer they/them pronouns. Though if you have trouble and slip up I will forgive you so long as you don¡¯t make a habit out of it.¡± ¡°No need to apologize. I will do my best. That being said, this breakfast, mmm, delicious. I can¡¯t stop shoveling the bacon into my mouth and what kind of sausage are these?¡± ¡°Those are just regular sausages from the grocery store. I just cooked them in the bacon grease.¡± ¡°Well, they are divine. Aside from gaming, what are your hobbies, what are you interested in?¡± ¡°As you can taste, I enjoy cooking. I also enjoy reading and running marathons.¡± ¡°Time consuming hobbies, no doubt. I recently got my scuba license and I love to travel, but I haven¡¯t had the money to get out of the country yet. I¡¯m hoping after I earn some vacation days here I can go see the world. Although this game is realistic enough I might not need to.¡± ¡°Have you encountered many issues traveling, the way your voice changed when you spoke of traveling made me think you have had bad experiences,¡± Phen asked. ¡°Yeah, my skin color is just the right shade of brown to get me frequently pulled for ¡®random¡¯ inspections. I¡¯m half Indonesian and half South American. I was adopted by a white couple who did their best to care for me, but I was never going to fit in anywhere. I¡¯m too dark to be seen as handsome. I just slipped through the cracks in society.¡± Phen came around the counter and put an arm around his shoulder, ¡°I know the struggles of being an outcast. It isn¡¯t something I would wish on anyone. If you need to talk. I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Thanks, Phen. I greatly appreciate it.¡± The door to the girl¡¯s room had been opened a crack and she heard the end of their conversation. It closed on its own and neither Phen nor Atticus noticed. Later that morning, after Atticus did the dishes and passed out on the couch. The door to the girl¡¯s room opened and she came out. This time her hair was brushed and covered one eye, though she was still wearing her pajamas. Phen had gone to get more time in the game, trying to unlock more subcores to find the perfect build for their character. The girl looked down upon the dozing Atticus and debated whether or not she should wake him up. She felt kinda bad for eating his food, but on the other hand the steaks were delicious. Still, if she were going to be sharing a common space with the man it wouldn¡¯t hurt to make peace with him. ¡°Hey, dude. Wake up.¡± Atticus sat up groggily and wiped the little bit of drool pooling at the corner of his mouth, ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Hey, just wanted to say sorry for eating your food last night it was kinda a dick move. Tell you what, let me take you out for lunch somewhere. But not somewhere super expensive because I don¡¯t have a lot saved up just yet.¡± ¡°Okay, there¡¯s a couple of burger joints on San Fernando closer to downtown. But I¡¯m still digesting Phen¡¯s amazing breakfast so I might need a rain check. You should join us next time, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever had a better breakfast.¡± ¡°Oh, umm¡­ yeah okay. What¡¯s your name by the way? I¡¯m Zari.¡± ¡°Did you say your name is Zari? Do you play a vampire elf?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± Atticus chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m the filthy werewolf, Atticus.¡± Zari turned a bright glowing red. ¡°Sorry, I was just really into the game. I get too caught up into roleplaying that I tend to look down on everyone else. I had sort of a shitty childhood and I take it out on others.¡± ¡°You know what they say, admitting you have a problem is the first step in overcoming it. I won¡¯t let you walk all over me, but I¡¯m willing to cut you a little slack. Besides, if I¡¯m being honest? You nailed your character¡¯s RP.¡± ¡°Thanks, you weren¡¯t too bad with the RP yourself. You seemed to get into Mr. Son-of-a-Chieftan.¡± ¡°Haha, thanks. I kinda forgot that I said that. What kind of character are you playing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m playing a spy type character. I can deal extra damage from behind or distracted opponents, but my main purpose is to get into places I shouldn¡¯t be and to avoid being detected while I¡¯m there. Being a Blood Noble helps because it opens a lot of doors, but it also gives me a wicked boost to moving quietly and blending into the shadows. What kind of character is your wolfkin?¡± ¡°I¡¯m playing a tank melee hybrid. I plan on being able to soak damage and turn it into powerful attacks. I¡¯d love to play with you, but only if we can RP like we detest each other. I think we could have some fun.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not get too hasty, I¡¯ve yet to find an encounter where I need a tank.¡± ¡°Well, if you change your mind find me in game. I think it would be fun to be unwilling allies. And Zari, thanks for apologizing. I have a feeling that things could get out of hand if we don¡¯t resolve them sooner. I¡¯m not saying we won¡¯t get on each other¡¯s nerves. I¡¯ve had plenty of roommates so I know that there will be friction, but I appreciate you not making harder on the rest of us.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Stuff it. I just felt guilty, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Whatever you say kiddo.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me kiddo.¡± Atticus chuckled, ¡°Sure.¡± The door to the apartment opened up and Emily stepped in escorting a wide-eyed young man in an ill-fitting suit. This is the apartment where you¡¯ll be staying. Here are two of your roommates, Atticus and Zari.¡± The young man¡¯s eyes locked onto Zari and he said, ¡°Oh man, I think I¡¯m in love.¡± Zari stood up and said, ¡°On that note, I¡¯m going to get changed and head to my office. I¡¯ll consider your offer Atticus. And new kid? Don¡¯t get any funny ideas you don¡¯t know me and if you keep talking like that you¡¯re going to regret knowing me.¡± Emily looked at the new kid with a flat stare, ¡°James, this is a professional environment. If you can¡¯t behave professionally your employment will be terminated. I¡¯ll be keeping an eye on you.¡± ¡°Sorry Emily. She¡¯s just my-,¡± ¡°Dude, if you say she¡¯s your type I¡¯m gonna have to put my fist through your teeth on principle. You don¡¯t know her and you¡¯re being fucking obnoxious. I don¡¯t even like her that much, but I¡¯ll be damned if I let some creep live with us without teaching him a lesson in how not to be a creep,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Um, sorry bro. Sorry Emily. I will try to be better.¡± ¡°Seems like a common theme of the day. Your room is going to be that one,¡± Atticus pointed to the room on the other side of his door from Zari, ¡°You make any problems and you¡¯ll have me to deal with. Emily, do you mind showing him to his office I need to cool down and if he stays here I¡¯m gonna get more angry.¡± ¡°Sure thing Atticus, you were up rather late and it is still early. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re just grumpy for the intense training you did yesterday.¡± ¡°You have no idea, but thanks for being accommodating. It was brutal, also, is there an option to reduce the sensory inputs? It really felt like I got my arm hacked off.¡± ¡°Nope, sorry not in the version you all are playing. It¡¯s something we are working on, but the engineers are having a hard time figuring it out.¡± ¡°Let me know as soon as they get it taken care of please?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be the first to know,¡± Emily said. ¡°Thanks. It was nice to meet you James. Try not to be such a tool the next time we meet.¡± James stalked out of the door, ¡°What a load of bullshit. ¡®Try not to be a tool next time blah, blah, blah.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right you know. You need to get it together. You¡¯re treading on thin ice. You might think you¡¯re slick shit because your step-dad is a lawyer, but we have enough money we can crush him in court if you try to throw his weight around. You¡¯ve already earned one strike this morning. You should learn from it. You only get one more before we let you go. We are going to be keeping an eye on you. You¡¯re not as slick as you think either, James. So shape up,¡± Emily scolded. Atticus laughed, damn she could be one stone cold killer if she needed. Hopefully the new kid took it to heart. He didn¡¯t want another problem child to deal with. Zari was already a handful enough. Still, he knew Zari could take care of herself but she shouldn¡¯t have to deal with an asshole living with her. He had seen too many creeps like the new kid to trust him. He flipped on the television and put on a sci-fi movie to cool off. Who Said a Girl Cant Troll Bella had been in the ring shadowboxing, prepping for her morning training session when the desk phone rang. She let it go to voicemail since the gym didn¡¯t open for another thirty minutes. The only people who would be calling would be her members or her debt collectors, though the latter probably wouldn¡¯t be calling at three-thirty. She went over to the speed bag and unleashed a flurry of blows speeding up as she went until the bag was a blur. Then she moved onto the heavy bag and unleashed attacked with power and precision as she worked around it; throwing basic one-two combos and working her way up to savage unrealistic combos that were designed to attack the monsters her gaming characters fought, she ended with a leaping punch that would¡¯ve knocked an orc unconscious. She was breathing heavily and the bag was gyrating erratically from her strikes. In the office the voicemail finally picked up the call. ¡°Hey Bella, I¡¯m under the weather and I won¡¯t be able to make it in today. Tell Emily I¡¯m sorry and we¡¯ll just have to spar again next time if she wants to take her shot at beating me.¡± The voice was interrupted by some very wet coughing. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not doing so hot this morning. I¡¯ll see you next week.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Bella muttered. The voicemail meant she would be late on the rent, again, which meant she might actually lose the gym to that rich fucker who wanted to turn it into a chic bar. ¡°Damn, damn, damn.¡± Bella went back and kicked the heavy bag hard with a roundhouse. The seams, which had barely held up under her initial assault, split and sand began pouring all over her floor. ¡°Fuck!¡± The phone rang again, ¡°What now,¡± Bella growled. Tugging at her braid in vexation. She answered the phone, ¡°Trailblazer Gym.¡± ¡°Hey Bella, I¡¯m running a little late. I had a long day at the office,¡± she stretched out the word long, ¡°so I¡¯m headed straight from there. You really should come do an interview. I guarantee that you will be more than happy with the job I have in mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that. I think today¡¯s gonna be the last sesh her anyway. Bill is down for the count with a flu or something and I¡¯m not gonna be able to get the landlord the rent on time. Which means I will take whatever life line your offering since I sleep here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you get the hook-up, you¡¯ve always been good to me.¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t so cute I might not have been,¡± Bella laughed. ¡°I knew you were attracted to me. Bill owes me $20,¡± Emily shouted into the phone. ¡°You guys are terrible. But I thought I was hiding it pretty well. I¡¯m not one to get involved with my clients.¡± ¡°You did fine most of the time, but when I would catch you staring, sometimes you would blush. And¡¯ I¡¯m pretty sure you never hit me as hard as you hit Bill.¡± ¡°Haha, nah. I don¡¯t pull my punches, not even for you. But, since you¡¯re one the way let¡¯s chat more about that job when you get here.¡± She hung up the phone and began sweeping the sand up. After she got it into a pile she pulled the punching bag down and began to refill it. Time seemed to pass in a strange manner. The individual seconds seemed to take hours, but the minutes flew past, the clock was playing tricks on her. She looked around the warehouse turned gym. The wooden beams giving a certain charm, much preferable to iron supports. This one felt like it had been pulled from a different era, specifically for her. The boxing ring in the middle was a relic she had painstakingly restored, vintage it would be called. She had bought it from a failing gym that didn¡¯t care to train fighters anymore. The ring reminded her of her grandfather, a boxing coach from Brooklyn who retired in Los Angeles after training some actors for a boxing movie. It was time, she guessed, to find a legacy of her own. This dream of hers was clearly not a viable way to live, it was time to put down the gloves. By the time Emily arrived the punching bag had been set-up again and no trace of Bella¡¯s earlier outburst remained. She was collected and ready to move on and definitely interested in what Emily was offering. Still, that would come after the training. Drenched in sweat, the two women sat at a counter at a local coffee shop. ¡°Bella, I¡¯d really like you to come in and do an interview at Allied Realms, the pay and benefits are great and if I recall from an earlier conversation you used to love playing rpgs with your parents as a kid, this will be right up that alley.¡± ¡°What kind of job would pay me to play rpgs? I haven¡¯t touched a rule book or picked up a video game version in years. The only thing I¡¯m good at anymore is punching, and I¡¯m not even good enough at that to earn rent.¡± ¡°This is a different kind of opportunity. We¡¯re looking for people from all backgrounds who enjoy role playing games to test our new virtual reality game. You¡¯ll only get the one character if you do it so you better make it a character you can feel comfortable playing, but if you get the job you won¡¯t have to worry about rent or health care or any of that. We provide housing in one of the sublevels of our office building. Just swing by around ten this morning after you shower and get changed. Ask for Henry, he¡¯s our interviewer,¡± Emily slid a card over to Bella. ¡°The address is there and my office number is also listed in case you are running late, give me a call.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Thanks Emily, I don¡¯t know what I would¡¯ve done without you.¡± Bella arrived at the address on the card it was nondescript as far as skyscrapers went. There were no external indicators for who owned it and it wasn¡¯t a fancy shape. Just a tall building nestled in amongst other tall buildings. She took the elevator to the top floor and was surprised at the cool displays they had in the lobby. There were scenes of epic battles being played out on monitors and a few cool statues of heroes fighting monsters or posing dramatically. It took her back to the days with her family. Her interview was strange it started out with a large group, but then by the end only two people remained. People getting up and leaving midway through was disconcerting , but the questions were nothing at all like she was expecting. They all revolved around strategies for playing role-playing games and what her behavior would be. It was very different and very bizarre. She went back to her gym and began listing the various items for sale. She had scant few things left to sell as this wasn¡¯t the first time she needed to come up with rent money at the last minute. Still it pained her to sell any of it. It felt like she was abandoning her grandfather¡¯s legacy. In the end she managed to get enough from selling the boxing ring to a props department to get a hotel room for a couple of nights since she her landlord finally had enough and kicked her out. Still, it would be a couple of days, according to Emily, to get fully hired, so she made the best of it. She finally got a call from Emily to come back to the studio a couple of days later. She went through the tour she was shown her room, which apparently she would be sharing a common area with a few other people. There were only two guys there, one named James she caught checking her out and he seemed sleazy from that moment, the other introduced himself as Eric and he looked at her like he was assessing a threat. He nodded a greeting and turned back to the meal he was cooking. There was only one bedroom left and it was nestled in between two others. James kept stealing glances at one of the doors, but it never opened. She used her new employee badge to register the room as hers before Emily escorted her to the office that she was assigned. ¡°Just a heads up, we¡¯ve already had an issue with James harassing one of the other girls. I know you can handle him, but because of the unique environment I¡¯d appreciate it if you kept an eye on him. I don¡¯t want him causing problems. It isn¡¯t your job to rehabilitate him, we have a therapist who, if he doesn¡¯t start behaving, will come in and help get him back on track. Don¡¯t hesitate to use force if you have to but obviously try not to inflict any permanent damage.¡± ¡°Thanks for the heads up. You mentioned before that I¡¯ll be locked into the character I create, any tips you can give me on that front?¡± ¡°Nope. That is all secret information. But I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine. Trust your gut and you can¡¯t go wrong.¡± ¡°You¡¯re so very helpful, thanks,¡± Bella deadpanned. ¡°You know me, I am to please,¡± Emily shot right back. They made it to the office with only a few more jokes cracked between them. This is where you¡¯ll be spending a lot of your time in the near future you have your own private bathroom through the door on the far side, all of the data and reporting that needs to be done is handled automatically your job is to generate the data by playing the game. In case of emergency medical is down the hall through the double doors. Mostly it is there in case you are suffering from disorientation or nausea from playing the game too long, but there are doctors for all other emergencies on hand just in case. But I¡¯ll introduce you to Dr. Wi so we can get started with calibration.¡± Bella sat through the spiel and was strapped into the chair, ¡°This may feel weird at first, but once it gets calibrated you should be fine,¡± Dr. Wi said as she put the helmet on Bella¡¯s head. Character creation was a breeze since Bella was focused on four stats Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Luck. Her stats ended up: STR: 18 AGI: 18 END: 14 INT: 10 WIS: 8 CRM: 10 LCK: 16 She was going to be a dodgy puncher for sure. Though she would eventually need to bring her endurance up more and likely get rid of the wisdom handicap that she gave herself, but still for a melee focused character she liked her stats well enough. Picking a race was harder because she wanted something that had better Agility and Endurance, but also that gave her options for escaping situations that she inevitably misjudged. Most of the races were either fast or hardy, but sifting through the dross she found a gem-- Flurry Troll. Flurry Troll was a species of troll that gave her attacks more power and let her hit faster and the troll regeneration, sure it would take her a little longer to level up but she was fine with the trade offs. Plus with a little tweaking she gave her character denser bones at the cost of claws making her look more humanoid. She couldn¡¯t do anything about the color of her skin, not that she would, the midnight-blue was cool and she added darker splotches to it giving her a sort of camouflage if she were in shadow. She did her best to reign in her maw getting her teeth to look somewhat aligned and shaped the actual tusks that she had so that they would stab into her when she closed her mouth all the way. She ended up being on the smaller side for a troll as her specific subrace was smaller and but that didn¡¯t bother. She didn¡¯t want to crouch in every building and just over six feet gave her arms plenty of reach. With her character finalized she moved on to weapon selection. One of her exes had been into historical swordsmanship and had shown her various sword forms, but she wasn¡¯t feeling a sword, she stayed true to her nature-- punching things --and picked up a spiked gauntlet. The spikes were short allowing her to open and close her hand, but still wicked looking along the fingers. It was well made and looked like it had been designed by someone who knew how to throw a punch to maximize damage. The thing was practically calling her name by the time she grabbed it. Her proficiency was locked into punching weapons which was interesting as she could¡¯ve chosen the pair of brass knuckles to the left and probably received the same. Still, it was open ended enough to give her future flexibility. With her choice she also received a notification saying calibration was complete. She was pulled from the system and fought a wave of nausea as the color drained from the world around her and reverted to the inside of the helmet. Her retching and struggling against the straps holding her down alerted Dr. Wi in time to pull the helmet off and get a trashcan next to Bella¡¯s mouth. ¡°So graceful, as always there Bella,¡± Emily joked. ¡°Are you sure you want to go down that road?¡± Bella said once she had finished dry heaving. ¡°Good point.¡± ¡°You should take it easy for the rest of the day. Get some rest while I take a look at the charts to see if we can prevent you from being sick when you log out in the future,¡± Dr. Wi said to Bella. ¡°Good idea doc, please hurry. I¡¯ll suffer through it if I have too, but I¡¯d rather not.¡± ¡°Agreed, I¡¯ll make it my top priority. Since you¡¯re the last one in my group I don¡¯t have to worry about any other candidates coming in and getting calibrated.¡± Wherein Everyone Meets Each Other and Almost No One Dies Atticus had finally figured out how to access his character sheet after Phen kindly explained how to do it, explained as if they were explaining to a small child who was bad at paying attention. Despite the condescending manner in which they explained the steps to access the character sheet, literally, just think ¡®view character sheet¡¯ and it will pop up in front of you, it was very simple and he felt stupid for not thinkg of it. He checked his progress.
Name Race Level XP XP Modifiers
Atticus Wolfkin (Modified) 3 3600 x0.8
Stat Scores: Bonuses Modifier HP HP/h Racial Abilities
STR 20 20 +5 180 6 HP/h Lupine Movement Savagery Lupine Endurance Weakness to Silver
AGI 16 18 +4 Mana Mana/m
END 20 22 +6 N/a N/a
INT 10 10 +0 Armor Dodge Cores, Subcores, & Traits
WIS 10 10 +0 0 1%
CRM 12 12 +1 Damage Reduction Tank Class Core (2/4)
  1. Stalwart Defense
  2. Taunting Yell
Barbarian¡¯s Rage Subcore (2/4)
  1. Bloodstained Weapons
  2. Barbarian¡¯s Cleave
Sadomasochism Subcore (2/4)
  1. Punishing Strike
  2. Pain Reflection
LCK 16 16 +3 9% (19% Stalwart Defense)
Weapon & Armor Proficiencies Skills Titles
Kursari-Gama Heavy Armor Athletics Nature Knowledge Manaless
He had other options he could slot in other subcores, but this combination provided him with the greatest potential for damage reduction and the greatest potential for damage dealt, he calculated. He was glad to finally get numbers associated with his health bar, though he wondered if there was a way to calculate stamina because he wanted to learn better stamina usage through his fights. He thought he could optimize his attack patterns to not run out of energy midway through a fight. Luckily the enemies he had been fighting all had been fairly easy to dispatch, slow and relatively harmless. If they weren¡¯t spawning so fast and destroying crops he¡¯d feel bad about slaughtering them. He had a quest to rid the farm of 50 of them. They gave like 5 XP a piece, but the quest was worth 750 XP for a grand total of a 1000 XP. It also gave him confidence with his weapon of choice. He was starting to get the hang of it without having to rely on luck to land shots where he wanted. The bladed end still gave him a little trouble to get the blade at the correct angle to be useful, but he was improving. Another of the weird bunny-cow creatures wandered into his area. He taunted the creature to attack him, and after it hit doing little damage, He struck back with a [Punishing Strike] dealing 66 damage to the level one creature. It died instantly and Atticus was healed for 5. He discovered the creatures had 36 HP earlier that day so he had been slowly building up his pain absorption to be able to carry damage over on subsequent strikes with [Bloodstained Blade] procced. It was slow going at first as he had to sustain large amounts of attacks and subsequently damage to deal more than 10 points of damage with a single [Punishing Strike]. But now that it was working, man it was a breeze, especially if he waited ten minutes for his [Stalwart Defense] to proc and give him more damage reduction. It was a really cool combo, and if he started to take too much damage his [Barbarian¡¯s Rage] would boost his damage output as well. He taunted another one using his [Taunting Yell] but before it struck him it was killed in a single hit. A girl¡¯s laughter echoed from the tall grass around him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you warn me to watch my back, Mr. Big-Bad-Wolf?¡± ¡°Zari,¡± Atticus growled, ¡°Why don¡¯t you come out and play?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fine where I am. I can steal all of your kills and you can¡¯t stop me,¡± Zari said. ¡°Do you even have the quest for these,¡± Atticus asked.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Well, no but I¡¯m getting experience.¡± ¡°Tell you what, join my party and I¡¯ll share the quest with you and we can tackle them together. Maybe we¡¯ll both get the same amount of XP.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Nah, I¡¯m having fun stealing your kills.¡± ¡°Your loss. I¡¯ve got other quests I can tackle if you insist on being this immature,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Immature? You¡¯re the one who can¡¯t take a joke,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, because kill stealing is a joke. It would make a fine prank between friends I suppose and only when used slightly. But you clearly don¡¯t want to be my friend so I¡¯ll go play elsewhere. Your fun isn¡¯t my problem.¡± ¡°So grumpy. It¡¯s not like you can hurt my feelings with your words. Watch your back Wolfie or you¡¯ll find my dagger in it.¡± ¡°I still think we should group up. I¡¯m willing to be your friend if we team up. But your idea of fun being toying with me isn¡¯t my idea of fun. We could make a pretty good team if I was getting credit for taunting them and you killing them. It would be more fun than wandering around by myself, but it¡¯s on you now.¡± ¡°Fine, I guess I¡¯ll join your group. But just because you¡¯re too right that it is soooo boring being by myself out here,¡± Zari said. ¡°By the way, Did you get any cool subcores from training yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got a couple of good ones for getting into places I don¡¯t belong and for staying unnoticed. I also have an attack that does extra damage against distracted opponents. I can also make attacks that deal less damage and give me the chance to pick my opponent¡¯s pockets, not that it¡¯s a great chance mind you, but still when it¡¯s maxed out I have a 50% chance of being able to steal something. And I get better deals at merchants and better chances of fencing stolen items.¡± ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve got quite a head for mischief, but doing extra damage to distracted enemies can be great. I¡¯ve got a decent combo going with damage reduction that powers up my strikes and any excess damage after landing a killing blow is saved for my next attack and I get healed for a portion of it. Plus you¡¯ve seen my taunting ability first hand. Right now I can only taunt up to 3 creatures, but that will go up as I level.¡± ¡°Oooh, that sounds fun. You are definitely crunchier than I am how much health do you have like 120 or something?¡± ¡°Try 180 hit points,¡± Atticus said. ¡°No way, that¡¯s a hundred more than I have!¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. Being a tank has its perks.¡± ¡°That would explain it. I should¡¯ve put that together sooner. You are super crunchy, no wonder you didn¡¯t buy armor. You don¡¯t really need it yet, best to save your money.¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly. Plus up until level ten i get 3% damage reduction each level. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever really need armor with my build. It would just reduce my effectiveness. I think at level 50 I could probably solo end game bosses if I could kite them well enough.¡± ¡°Wow really? Is your build that powerful?¡± ¡°Potentially, but that sounds lonely as hell.¡± ¡°Yeah, but still that is insane,¡± Zari said. ¡°If I do end up that powerful I¡¯ll need someone to help me get the best deals, for a profit of course,¡± Atticus said and winked at her. ¡°Well shit, count me in Dogbreath.¡± Atticus laughed and said, ¡°You¡¯re losing money every time you call me names.¡± ¡°Gah, you¡¯re no fun.¡± He just laughed all the harder. Dusk was closing in on the pair as they were closing in on level 4. The game punished Atticus for being in a party by reducing the experience gained from the monsters. The two of them together really mowed down all of the slow moving monsters. But once Zari killed her 50th monster they started to head back to the farm when they came across the bizarre sight of a slow moving battle between two groups of the bunny-cows. Four of the monsters savaged one of their brethren causing the herd to attack the four. It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion. Atticus and Zari heard a familiar voice say, ¡°Yes, you stupid animals attack your family. Dumb bunny-cows.¡± Zari turned to Atticus, ¡°Ugh, James.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try and go around him. I don¡¯t feel like getting in a fight,¡± Atticus replied. They tried to skirt wide around the area where they thought the voice was coming from. Zari had dropped into her shadowy-stealth skill. They miscalculated because sitting in a chair on the patio gesturing like a composer (or a mad man) was James. Luckily the darkness prevented him from noticing either of them right away and when he did look he only saw Atticus. ¡°Woah there, Wolf-Man. Don¡¯t sneak up on me like that.¡± ¡°I was moving at a normal pace and not sneaking. Maybe you need to pay more attention to your surroundings and not get caught up in whatever that is,¡± Atticus gestured to the monsters who were now in a free for all. ¡°Yeah, whatever. There¡¯s a tax to get through here. Two gold coins,¡± James said holding out his hands. ¡°Nice try, don¡¯t make me break you,¡± Atticus replied. James muttered a spell under his breath and threw a pinch of dust in Atticus¡¯s direction. Atticus got a notification that he was paralyzed, but it wouldn¡¯t take affect for three minutes. He walked right up to the small human, leaned over him, and asked, ¡°Did you just try to paralyze me?¡± ¡°I--, um, that should¡¯ve worked!¡± ¡°Wrong answer,¡± Atticus said and stabbed James in the neck with the bladed end of his weapon. He dealt 55 damage to the jackass. Killing him instantly and, miraculously enough, transferred the paralyzation debuff, which Atticus hoped would trigger on respawn. ¡°God I hate punk,¡± he said as he got experience from the kill. He left the loot, but he did kick a pile of the bunny-cow poop over it preventing Zari who was eyeing it from taking anything. ¡°Let this be a lesson to him. Don¡¯t fuck around with me.¡± ¡°Damn, I¡¯ll learn that lesson too.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t come anywhere near as close to pissing me off to the level he has.¡± ¡°Between attacking me unprovoked and the way he treats women he deserves much worse. Still, hopefully he can figure this out and correct himself.¡± ¡°He is a creep. I don¡¯t think I ever thanked you for sticking up for me back at the apartment.,¡± Zari said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I¡¯m sure you can handle it, but if I let it happen I¡¯m part of the problem I gotta call men out for their shit behavior when I see it otherwise I¡¯m not living up to who I want to be.¡± The door to the patio opened and a winged elf and a troll exited the house, ¡°You really can fly? That¡¯s damn impressive. I wish I had thought to get some wings when I was creating my character.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s really great. I have incredible range on my spells, pretty much line of sight is all I need if I can see you I can heal you and there is very little that can hit me if I¡¯m up high so it works out,¡± the winged elf was saying. ¡°Oh hey, more people!¡± Zari shouted and ran off to meet the new players. Atticus shook his head as he watched Zari introduce herself to the pair. ¡°...and that wolfkin over there is Atticus. Be warned he doesn¡¯t like wolf related nicknames.¡± ¡°I never said that, I just said you couldn¡¯t call me them.,¡± He said. ¡°Seriously, you¡¯re zero fun. Luckily, I¡¯ve made new friends and will never have to be in your party again.¡± ¡°Haha, very funny. I¡¯m sure the troll would make a decent tank, but you can give up on your first friend like that, can you? Do you really want me to be lonely soloing those bosses and selling all that sweet loot by myself?¡± ¡°Fine, you have your uses,¡± she reluctantly admitted. ¡°Glad to know I¡¯m useful. Now, I didn¡¯t get your names, could you repeat them for me,¡± he said as he turned to the new players. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m Bella and I might be able to off tank, but I don¡¯t generate much aggro so tanking is better left to others, but if you need someone punched into the ground? I¡¯m your girl,¡± the troll woman said. ¡°And we¡¯ve met on the outside, but I¡¯m Phen. I¡¯m liking the loincloth only wolfman look. It suits you.¡± Atticus blushed, but he was pretty sure his fur did a good job of hiding it, ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m a tank as you probably gathered. I am definitely interested in teaming up with a healer and more damage dealers never hurt if we get overwhelmed. That pile of literal shit over there is covering James¡¯s corpse but from what I saw of his abilities he is crowd control. We¡¯re just missing ranged damage to round us out as a full party. Not that I¡¯m suggesting teaming up with that pile of crap, but if he chills out and stops being an asshat I¡¯m willing to reevaluate.¡± ¡°Good call. I hate guys like him. I heard from Emily that he is a complete misogynistic tool. I¡¯m Eric by the way,¡± A man said from through the doorway, well it sounded like a man and it was even vaguely man-shaped, but it was definitely not a human male. ¡°My race is doppelganger that I tweaked to be a little less monstrous. I¡¯m a ranged weapon expert and have some infiltration and diplomacy skills.¡± ¡°Welcome to the team, if you all are agreeable to be a team. I feel we can get through levels and such much faster if we work together,¡± Atticus said. Everyone agreed, well everyone who wasn¡¯t waiting to respawn so they could do a corpse run from the graveyard, agreed. James was just pissed off. *** James waited, fuming that he was killed by that dumb fucking dog. How did it shrug off his paralysis spell? Something was fishy. He was being toyed with and that shit wouldn¡¯t fly. It probably was a glitch because stupid women were working here. Everyone knew that they belonged at home cooking and cleaning. The only other thing they were good for was sex, but only for him. If they slept with anyone else they were obviously sluts. The timer counted down the last few seconds and James was thrust from the ¡®spirit realm¡¯ back to the Training Village¡¯s graveyard. He respawned and instantly fell face first into the muddy grave dirt. He couldn¡¯t move and the way his face was buried, he couldn¡¯t breathe either. He looked and saw he had a paralysis debuff on him and he had lost all the XP he had earned today. What the fuck was going on. Someone fucked up and they were going to pay. He died from suffocation before the paralysis wore off and watched as he lost an even larger chunk of XP. *** Atticus was pleasantly surprised to get another small boost to his XP. When he checked what it was for he laughed out loud. He had somehow gotten credit for James¡¯s character dying again. When the others asked him what he was laughing about he just waved them off, ¡°It¡¯s a surprise, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be hearing about it when we log-off.¡± Zari tried to weasel the info out of him, ¡°C¡¯mon you laughed pretty loud. You won¡¯t even tell me, your first and best friend here?¡± ¡°Why would I tell you? You just tried to ditch me.¡± She huffed in annoyance. The group laughed at how he turned the tables on her and they all joined Atticus¡¯s party. They went back out into the field to slay more bunny-cows since the new members of the group had just received the quest. It was a fun experience Atticus would taunt a group of them and then it was a race by his new teammates to kill them off. Meanwhile Phen was keeping his health from depleting too much and she was even able to take a pot shot at a few of the further out bunny-cows bringing them into the group to be slaughtered. After everyone got credit for killing 50 of the creatures it was closing in on midnight. The group was at the far edge of the fields and started the trek back to the farmhouse when a roar resounded from the woods nearby. Birds flew away from the roar in massive flocks. ¡°That sounds like a boss, anyone wanna take bets,¡± Eric said calmly. ¡°No takers, it¡¯s probably the leader of the bunny-cows angry that we¡¯ve killed so many of their lessers,¡± Phen said. ¡°Yeah, could be. Or it¡¯s a monster that preys on them and is angry because their food supply is short,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Now there are betting options,¡± Zari said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to side with Atticus on this one. It definitely sounded like a predatory roar,¡± Bella said. ¡°No way. That was totally an angry momma-bear bunny-cow¡¯s roar,¡± Zari said. They bantered back and forth for a bit before deciding to investigate. *** James was furious. Who the fuck did these assholes think they were messing with. He was going to get his dad down here to sue the ever-living-shit out of these people. He had never been more humiliated in his life. First he gets one shot by that dumb dogman and then he suffocates from a paralysis spell. But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it. No, that was reserved for the fact that his corpse from his first death was covered in bunny-cow shit and was missing all of his items. According to the tool-tip he received when he found his grave marker, ¡®All items vanished back to the aether after dying a second time before recovering them.¡¯ But to see that message he had to dig through the shit and find his body. Fuck these people, he was going to call his dad as soon as he logged out, but first he would get revenge on that asshole who killed him. He was following the path of dead monsters, though it was less of a path and more the entire field, but eventually he heard the wolf yell its dumb taunt. He was getting close. Then out of nowhere the ground shook and he heard the most terrifying roar he had ever heard. If anyone was looking they would¡¯ve seen him quivering in fear, though he would later claim the shockwave from the roar knocked him into a pile of bunny-cow dung which was why he was smelly. Whos the Boss Now? Eric heard Jason¡¯s whimper of fear after the second roar echoed from the forest. He leaned over to Zari and said, ¡°Hey drop into stealth and circle behind us. I think we¡¯ve developed a tail.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it?¡± ¡°You¡¯re better suited to strike from behind. If there is trouble I can always turn and shoot easier than you could close the distance.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she agreed and disappeared around a tree. No one noticed that the second roar was different from the first. It was an easy mistake to make, a fatal one to be sure, but easy enough to make. Luckily, the party had the two most important members when fighting a boss: a tank and someone to heal the tank. Without those two the coming fight would be very different. They trekked through the lightly wooded outskirts of the forest looking for a clear path inward. Unfortunately the only path they found was riddled with bunny-cows with red glowing eyes and who were moving much faster. The first bunny-cow to attack caught Atticus by surprise. It slammed into him and would¡¯ve knocked him down if Bella hadn¡¯t been right behind him. ¡°You aren¡¯t getting weak on us, are you wolfboy,¡± she whispered in his ear as she propped him back on his feet. ¡°These are not like the ones in the field. That one, as you saw, moved faster and I can tell you it definitely hits harder. I¡¯m betting they are elite versions sent here to guard the boss. Phen, looks like you were right. If they are frenzying like this, it is probably due to the killing a whole bunch of them and that means the roar was some bunny-cow boss. I¡¯ll tank it and try and grab the adds in case I can get my one shots going to keep myself healed up. You all need to focus the boss down. I¡¯ll taunt if it tries to go after someone else, but I¡¯m going to need Phen to keep an eye on my health. I don¡¯t want to die out here. Where¡¯s Zari,¡± Atticus said trying to regroup. ¡°She¡¯s checking on something for me. She shouldn¡¯t be too much longer,¡± Eric said. As he was speaking, the team, minus Zari and Atticus froze from paralysis and James sauntered out of the forest. ¡°Not so smug now that you assholes can¡¯t move. It takes you whole team to fight these weak monsters? Pathetic. I should just kill you all now for the disrespect you gave me.¡± Atticus stepped forward, ¡°Did you learn not to mess with us last time? Do I need to teach you how not to be an asshole again?¡± ¡°How, how are you not paralyzed? I made sure you were targeted. You have fucking hax don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Shut up kid. Release the others and run away or I¡¯ll kill you again.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t scare me, you were just lucky last time. You must¡¯ve scored a critical hit or something,¡± James said, his voice cracking with fear. Atticus strode forward, ¡°You sure you want to test that out. I would be more than happy to one-shot you again.¡± James paled and before he could turn and run Zari stabbed him in the back and said, ¡°This is for looking at me like I¡¯m a piece of meat shithead. Also, did you shit yourself because you reek.¡± His health was very low and he fled from the group. Zari let him run, laughing at his awkward gait, ¡°Look at him run, he definitely shat himself. What a loser.¡± ¡°Enough, he shouldn¡¯t bother us again. Let¡¯s finish strategizing,¡± Atticus said, ¡°Zari, once I grab aggro for the boss slip behind it and do your thing. But please for the love of god do not attack it until I¡¯ve grabbed aggro solidly. I¡¯ve had too many boss encounters go sideways because the DPS didn¡¯t let me grab aggro in time.¡± ¡°You can count on me, shaggy dog.¡± She saluted. They entered a clearing after Phen cleared the paralysis off everyone with a dispel. They found another reason to love their build as they didn¡¯t need to move to cast thanks to their [From Thought into Being] trait. The only downside was they didn¡¯t think to dispel Atticus who froze as soon as he taunted the very large bunny-cow in the middle of the clearing. *** ¡°What a bunch of haxxor noobs. People like them ruin the game. Partying up and pretending to be friends. Oh and I¡¯m going to get that bitch back. Mark my words you stupid little c-,¡± A large brown snake chose that moment to drop on his head from the trees. It wrapped itself around his neck and bit his face. And once again, he found himself staring down a respawn timer. *** Atticus was confused. He should be able to move, but he was frozen in place. It wasn¡¯t fear that was holding him back. He knew this was just a game. He glanced at his debuffs. Fuck, the paralysis took hold, and at the worst time too. That James kid might even get credit if he died because of this. What a twist of irony if that happened. Two of the enraged bunny-cows flanked the massive one. No one had any identification abilities yet so they didn¡¯t know what it was called. But everyone was expecting Atticus to hit one after he got hit by the boss. Not one of them expected him to be trampled over and get knocked prone by the monster. Phen dropped a heal over time on him and then one on themselves to keep them from killing themselves while casting. The others tried to rally and pull aggro, but Atticus¡¯s taunt combined with his natural aggro boost from reducing damage made it nearly impossible for them to pull aggro from him. Zari took the initiative and backstabbed the adds killing them quickly to give the team¡¯s tank a better chance to stay alive. Shortly after the battle began, the loudest roar any had ever heard came from the forest across the clearing and a massive bear-like creature with a huge rack of antlers charged out and slammed into the boss bunny-cow. This freed Atticus, who was still paralyzed, from the bunny-cow but was a complication they weren¡¯t ready for. A few more of the crazed bunny-cows joined the fight against the big bear monster but he wasn¡¯t going to let them go to waste. He tried to activate his [Taunting Yell] but since he couldn¡¯t open his mouth, he couldn¡¯t shout. His health kept ticking up every couple of seconds and he was grateful that Phen was healing him. The timer for the paralysis was ticking down, but he still had close to a minute to go. That James kid had way too much power if he could paralyze people for over a minute. Thankfully Phen noticed that he wasn¡¯t getting up and threw a dispel his way just in case. Finally free of the spell that caused him so much trouble he used his taunt to regain aggro on the enemies. Thanks to his time being pummeled while on the ground he had a lot of damage to deal with his [Punishing Strike] the two smaller bunny-cows had already died to the bear monster, so he taunted both bosses. He let them both land a few more hits on him before he attacked the bunny-cow boss. Man he really needed a way to identify the creatures of this world. But his attack did over 250 points of damage and killed the already injured boss. He almost used his [Barbarian¡¯s Cleave] ability, but decided to save the extra damage for another [Punishing Strike] since the other boss was still focused on him. Meanwhile, Eric was launching crossbow bolts three at a time into the bear-monster¡¯s flank on one side and Bella was unleashing rapid combo punches on the other. Zari was still trying to get in position but there were a few remaining bunny-cows trickling in from the forest that she was dealing with. Atticus swung the bladed end of his weapon at the boss¡¯s face but the monster moved at the last second causing his weapon to get tangled up in the creature¡¯s antlers.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fuck. I¡¯m going to have to get up there and untangle my weapon,¡± he shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll get it, just drop another taunt when I get close. I don¡¯t want him focusing me,¡± Phen yelled down at him. He gave a thumbs up and tried not to get jerked around by the thrashing monster. He taunted it again, just to make sure he still had aggro as Phen landed gently on it head and began untangling his weapon. Phen succeed it freeing the weapon but didn¡¯t get away fast enough when it thrashed and caught them with an antler sending them crashing into a nearby tree. Atticus had seen enough, and been hit enough by the creature¡¯s massive paws that he felt it was a good time to unleash his final [Punishing Strike]. He ran in and sliced at the creature¡¯s neck while he activated the ability. He only did 90 damage with his attack, but it was enough to kill the boss. A notification popped up on his screen as soon as the enemy died.
Congratulations!
You landed the final blow on the two bosses that were competing for territory outside of the Training Village in a single battle. You have earned the activated title ¡°Who¡¯s the Boss Now?¡± granting you the ability to take over and become the boss of a certain zone (bosses have several tiers and each tier controls a larger zone, all the way up until a boss is the realm raid boss) . Be warned, if you choose to activate this title you can¡¯t venture to other realms until you¡¯ve cleared your current realm of all bosses before any respawn becoming the realm raid boss in the process. Also, once it¡¯s activated your stats increase by 50% and your XP modifier drops by 50%. Once you clear your current realm of bosses you receive a bonus random racial upgrade that synergizes with your class core and subcores without an additional penalties, this can happen once per realm. If you leave the realm before activating the title you will lose it and not be able to regain it in the future.
¡°Uh, guys? Did any of you just receive a title,¡± he asked. ¡°Nope, not me¡¯,¡± Eric said. The others echoed him and Atticus decided to play it safe for the moment, ¡°Damn I was hoping we would get a world¡¯s first or something. Let¡¯s see if they dropped any loot.¡± ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Bella shouted and threw a fist into the air. ¡°Loot!¡± After finding the loot sacks, Eric skinned and harvested various bits from the bosses, ¡°I can turn these into armor and probably use the rest to make myself a better weapon.¡± ¡°Hell most of us probably need to upgrade our weapons after this fight. My rapier is starting to crack,¡± Zari said and then gestured to Atticus, ¡°and it looks like you¡¯ve got a few links that are close to breaking.¡± ¡°Who knows, maybe in the loot sacks there are replacements for both of you. Some of us don¡¯t need weapons or armor for that matter,¡± Phen said. ¡°You never know it could drop magical items that boost attributes, though that¡¯s probably a few levels away from us. Speaking of, what are everyone¡¯s levels?¡± Atticus asked. They shared their character sheets as they walked. Not a single one of them was below level seven with Atticus and Zari closing in on level 10. They went back to the farmhouse to turn in the now obsolete quest. Eric wanted to pick up an identification trait that he thought might help his build and others wanted one too. It never hurt to know what you were up against. ¡°Guys, I¡¯m really close to leveling. Like I¡¯ll only need around 400 XP after we turn in the quest. Anyone want to stick around and help me get to level 8,¡± Bella asked. Phen shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we get anything for killing the bosses before we worry about that. I have a hunch we just completed the next step in the questline.¡± Phen was right of course. They received and completed three more quests from the farmer. They each got a level and Bella got two for killing the bosses and completing the associated quests. As they were leaving, Atticus pulled aside the farmer and asked, ¡°How long do the bosses usually take to respawn?¡± ¡°Oh, about a week or so. But never longer than two weeks,¡± the old woman replied. He thanked her and followed after the others. ¡°Planning on farming some bosses, Flea-Brain?¡± Zari asked. ¡°Could you not? You about gave me a fucking heart attack,¡± he said jumping. She chuckled evilly, ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°If I decide to share with the class I promise you will be the first to know. But until then I¡¯ve got some thinking I need to do.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it, Atticus.¡± ¡°Thanks, Blood-Sucker,¡± he said teasing her. ¡°Oh, it is on now.¡± They all made it safely back to the village. Exhaustion had caught up and they stumbled into the nearest inn to the gate. Once safely in their rooms they logged out. *** Atticus had a decision to make. Was he going to activate his new title and possible get stuck forever in the training realm or would he move on and lose the benefits. It seemed like a no brainer, extra power was always welcome. But he was pretty sure he would be stuck at level 15 until he met the requirements and he wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think that any experience he earned past it he would keep. Another factor for his decision were the others, would he tell them and enlist their help or would he pretend like nothing changed. He figured since he was living with them it would be hard for him to keep it a secret forever. The next morning he was the first one up. He made a large breakfast spread. Bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes, hash browns, the whole works. He hoped by making this much food he could get on the groups goodside before sharing his secret. That way they might not be so mad at him. Zari was the last one to wake up, but it was hard to resist the smells of delicious food cooking. She hated whomever it was that was torturing her with false promises and hope. Still, her stomach wouldn¡¯t stop demand she investigate so she got out of bed and pulled an oversized sweater on over her pajamas. She was surprised by the veritable feast Atticus made. ¡°All of that isn¡¯t just for you, is it,¡± Zari asked. ¡°Nope, and now that you¡¯re up everyone can begin getting food.¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± After breakfast but before anyone got up to do dishes Atticus said, ¡°I hope you guys enjoyed breakfast. I actually had something I wanted to talk to you guys about.¡± Everyone looked over to him. He paused, gathering his words, ¡°I misled you guys after the boss fight last night. I got a title from landing the two final blows on the bosses. I haven¡¯t activated it yet because I would be trapped in the training realm until I completed certain requirements which would mean I would be stuck at level fifteen for who knows how long until I can complete the required task for the quest.¡± ¡°Do you get any bonuses from the title and what is the quest,¡± Phen asked. ¡°Well, the quest is I have to kill every single boss in the Training Realm before any respawn. But I get a fifty-percent increase to my stats and I can challenge bosses to take over their zones. It does come with another drawback that my XP modifier drops down to point four. And if I don¡¯t activate it before I leave the realm I lose it and can never regain it,¡± he answered. ¡°Hmm. That is a pretty interesting thing. I wonder if other titles give benefits like that, maybe that is a good way to get stronger aside from leveling,¡± Eric said. ¡°I can answer a little of that since I have a different title already. I have the ¡®Manaless¡¯ title but it doesn¡¯t do anything for me other than let other people know that I don¡¯t have mana,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Still, that could be an outlier. I¡¯ll investigate when we get back into the game and see if I can¡¯t turn up any more information,¡± Eric responded. ¡°Why tell us this though? You could¡¯ve just kept this a secret and done your own thing,¡± Bella asked. ¡°Well, that¡¯s because if I decide to go for it you guys will need to find a new tank,¡± Atticus said. ¡°You can handle yourself. I want to get past my training stage and see the other realms. But I¡¯d hate to split up the team if some decide to join you. This might be the fastest way to get to level fifteen and get out of here,¡± Phen said. ¡°It seems like the best option, honestly,¡± Eric said, ¡°I say go for it. I¡¯m sure we can meet up later once you make it. ¡°Count me out, your fleabitten wolfkin can do his own thing. I¡¯ve got to see the rest of the game,¡± Zari said. ¡°I¡¯m with Phen on this one. They have the right idea. Plus, I can off-tank for the others though I don¡¯t generate much aggro.¡± Bella said ¡°Don¡¯t worry about aggro, it¡¯ll probably all be on me. I might not have been completely honest with you all at the beginning,¡± Phen said, ¡°You see, I have two class cores I¡¯m also a powerful pyromancer and aeromancer. I¡¯ve just been healing since that was what the team needed. With my subcores and traits combined with my flying I can pull and hold aggro outside of their range.¡± ¡°Wow, lots of bombshells being dropped in here,¡± Zari said, ¡°Anyone else have a secret to share or a lie they want to come clean about?¡± Everyone shook their heads. Atticus said, ¡°Well that settles it then. Thanks for all of your help and I hope to see you after I get done hunting the bosses. Good luck with your training everyone.¡± He left them with the pile of dishes. Once he arrived in his office he picked up his helmet and stared at it. His hopes for getting them to help him with his quest had been dashed. Well, they at least supported him going for it and meeting up later. Hopefully, they didn¡¯t find a permanent replacement for him before he was finished. Separation Anxiety Once Atticus was back in the game he woke up in the basic inn at the training village. There were no trainers at this inn unlike most of the others. This one solely existed to help weary adventurers find rest after questing in the wilds. He made his way over to the Pain Emporium. It was empty, none of the usual servants running around on various errands, no cires of failure or success. It was strange. At the bar, Mistress Rey sat nursing a large pour of some amber liquor. ¡°What¡¯s going on; where is everyone?¡± ¡°Ah. Welcome back Atticus. I¡¯m glad to say that I am no longer stuck being a subcore trainer here in the village. I¡¯ve passed my arts on to a student. One who actually learned their importance and stuck through the training no less. So now I have fulfilled my obligations and I¡¯m returning to the other realms where my team has been patiently waiting.¡± ¡°But Mistress Rey, I still have so much left to learn.¡± ¡°You will have to find your own path from here. Though if you ever find me in the future I might offer to hone your techniques if you wish. And please, call me Liz. You¡¯ve earned it. You are one of the most stubborn and pain tolerant beings I¡¯ve ever encountered. I have no fears that you will progress far through the realms.¡± ¡°Thank you, but before you go, I do have one more thing I would ask you about.¡± ¡°And, what would that be?¡± ¡°Do you have any special techniques to identify monsters?¡± ¡°Special techniques? No, but you don¡¯t want or need anything fancy. Go ask the guard where you can learn [Threat Assessment]. I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t have anything like this before. How did you know what to fight when you were questing?¡± ¡°I just sorta looked for the things closest to the descriptions I was given and then killing until I completed the quest and had to go turn it back in.¡± ¡°Effective, but an inefficient solution,¡± She said. ¡°I am very aware. Thank you again for your help.¡± *** [Threat Assessment] was much harder to learn than any of the other class traits. Taunting call had been easy it was just yelling practice. Sure his throat hurt for a little bit when he first started. But learning this class trait was migraine inducing. Literally. He had to take a break because after an hour of trying to learn it he became dizzy and sensitive to light. It happened after he first identified his first monster, a tiny little insect that had been separated from a deadly swarm called a {Flesh Locust}. The small insect was about the size of his thumb, which he realized was larger in game than his normal body, it had a set of intense mandibles that looked like they were designed for ripping chunks of flesh out of just about anything they came across, there were smaller mandibles that reduced the large chunks into smaller ones that were more easily eaten. According to his tool tip, this type of monster could get as large as his hand, usually came in swarms numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands and laid their eggs in the ground. The eggs hatched once every two years or so while the average lifespan of it was roughly eight months. Atticus was terrified. He had no way of defeating a swarm of these on his own. Luckily the realms had a standing order for anyone with area of effect attacks were required to help eradicate the swarms when they popped up. They weren¡¯t his problem, but he needed to recover so he could finish unlocking the ability and hopefully it would stop giving him insane headaches and nausea. *** Phen watched as Bella flirted non-stop with Zari. It was both entertaining and irritating because they needed to finish the quest they were on before the timer ran out. Escort quests were the worst. Eric had tracked down the missing messenger for the group and they rescued her from a pack of {Gnoll Cultists} who had captured her and were planning on sacrificing her to their god and eating her flesh to become stronger. Zari was supposed to be sneaking behind the cultists to take advantage of Bella¡¯s distracting entrance. Except, they hadn¡¯t closed the distance to the encampment and Phen was pretty sure that Bella was successfully seducing their teammate. ¡°Hate to break you two up, but we¡¯re on a timer and you need to move your asses into position.¡± They flew down to the pair and said. Both of the women glared at Phen for a moment before realizing that there was a time and place for flirting and leaving someone¡¯s life on the line to do it wasn¡¯t the best idea. Zari bowed her head in shame while Bella nodded at Phen. The pair finally got into position and Phen sent the signal to start by channeling a healing spell onto Bella. Bella rushed in, past the guard who had been shot by Eric as she dashed forward. She dodged around several startled gnolls before punching the {Gnoll Cult Leader} in the face. He was speaking in the gnoll¡¯s yipping tongue; probably something about how their god would bless them for sacrificing their prey or someshit. Bella didn¡¯t care and was glad to interrupt his monologue. She rained a few more blows onto him before the crowd of gnolls scrambled for their weapons. The cult leader however had his sacrificial knife ready to go and took a swipe with it at Bella. She dodged and hit the priest with a cross-counter. She followed the strike up with a snap-kick to the chest. While she forced the cult-leader back and off-balance she continued to stay close and make strikes. She activated her [Chained Strikes] for a rapid 5 hit combo dealing 115 damage. Before it had a chance to recover she followed up with a [Flurry of Blows] hitting nine more times in the space of a single attack. These combos were her main form of DPS since her regular attacks were still somewhat limited by reality. Not that it mattered because she dealt another 1,320 damage to the gnoll and it only had a sliver of health left. She wasn¡¯t going to let it rally. Before she could follow-up with another strike to keep her [Combo Chains] and [Living Weapons] damage buffs active, her opponent stabbed itself through its own heart. The teal sky changed to a sickly pale yellow. The gnoll somehow still had enough life left to wipe a bloody paw across the altar at the base of their god¡¯s life-sized statue. There was a crack of thunder as a rent in reality was torn and a beam of energy struck the statue. Phen watched reality warp and shred She watched the beam of light strike the statue. She watched as color bled into the stone and it began looking like flesh. Then she cast a [Lingering Channel] [Mana Perfectionist] boosted spell. The spell wreathed the statue in a web of electricity, stunning it for a brief moment. It was their most intense spell. It did 45 damage twice per second for 15 seconds and it had a 33% chance of causing a 3 second stun every tick of damage. The only downside was that they poured a good 400 RP into the spell for the lingering and stun chance, leaving them with only 124 RP left. Luckily they regained RP at a prodigious rate. Phen dropped a lingering healing spell on themselves increasing their RP regeneration even more. Having the Mana Reborn subcore was a caster¡¯s wet dream it combined their health and mana into reality points. It was a single pool, but one that was much deeper than either would be separately. The only downside was that casting spells was literally burning away their life giving them a greater chance of being killed.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Zari was crouched behind the statue waiting to strike when Bella came in swinging like a maniac. Zari didn¡¯t even have the time to attack before the cultist sacrificed itself. Now the statue she was hiding behind was turning into a living creature. Then it started sparking. She backed away from it thinking it was about to do an AOE attack, but no attack came. She closed the distance again and struck the back of its leg just above its digitigrade ankle. Her [Backstab] ability triggered and she landed a rare critical hit dealing 900 damage to the statue turned creature. It was finally corporeal enough to scream in rage and pain, then in a sheer stroke of luck as it was reaching for the stone weapon resting at its hip the stun from Phen¡¯s attack procced. Bella and Eric were busy clearing the camp of the remaining gnoll cultists. Bella, surrounded by the furry monsters dodging and weaving their strikes and killing with every third or fourth hit. Eric sniped with a crossbow. His targets were all gnolls who were about to hit Bella as she attacked their packmates. He was using [Multishot] dealing 65 damage per arrow dropping each of his targets with one attack. There were so many of the monsters though he couldn¡¯t stop all of them from hitting Bella. Her health was dipping at a steady pace. Phen dropped another lingering heal on their melee fighter. Their spellcasting generated enough aggro from the {Awakened Statue Avatar of Y¡¯grithan}. The avatar was still stunned but they could feel its attention on them. When the stun ended the statue dispelled the remaining having only suffered 450 damage. It turned to Phen and reached out for them with a magically enlarged hand. They tried to dodge, but they weren¡¯t fast enough and didn¡¯t have Bella¡¯s boosted dodge chance. Phen was grabbed by the arm and thrown into the closing tear in reality. The only thing that prevented them from going through was their ability to fly. They swerved at the last second but plowed face first into a tree. Phen lost another 87 RP from the attack, with their previous healing they had 81 remaining. Bella rushed to their side and threw a punch at the statue avatar, trying her level best to draw aggro away from Phen. Phen had been knocked unconscious from hitting the tree and made an easy target for the Avatar of Y¡¯grithan. It swung its axe toward her head, intending to strike a fatal blow, but Zari chose that moment to strike again, this time at its kidney for a second critical hit dealing another 900 damage. It was now below 75% HP and its fur started glowing red like embers. A wave of bloodlust crashed over the party members. Bella turned and looked at the unconscious arcane elf and red gleam in their eyes. Eric targeted Zari with a [Multishot] hitting her twice for 60 damage each. Before Bella could strike an oversized wolf trampled into her, knocking her off balance. The wolf attacked the avatar with a chained weapon. Bella began to lose the rage that had overwhelmed her. It took her a few moments to connect the dots that the wolf was an Atticus. She watched as he took an attack on his muzzle from the awakened statue¡¯s axe. He shrugged off the damage and lashed out. His kursari-gama glowed faintly with a dark iridescent red and took the enemy down to a quarter of its HP. ¡°Brace yourselves it is going to be doing another special attack,¡± Atticus said as the avatar¡¯s axe took on the yellow of the sky. The glow sank into the blade and it no longer glowed but the color remained, but it was oozing and dripping from the weapon. The droplets splashed on the ground and leeched the color from the where they hit. With a mad cackle the gnoll avatar swung its axe horizontally and created a wave of pus colored light that flew out along its path. Atticus prayed under his breath that whatever hit him was a debuffing attack and not some other kind of attack. The attack caused him to double over in pain as it drained the majority of his remaining health and ignored his pain absorption. His paws curled into the loam as he struggled to rise and attack his enemy. The others all fell to the ground writhing in pain drained of almost all of their HP. Atticus readied his weapon again for another [Punishing Strike]. The attack struck taking the enemy to 12% of its total HP. It took a swipe at Atticus with its axe, though it no longer looked empowered. Atticus braced himself, he wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge. Eric, from his position on the ground launched his most powerful attack [Ammo Storm]. The air between Atticus and the boss monster was suddenly filled with a hail of crossbow bolts. The bolts pierced the avatar interrupting its attack momentarily. The pause was long enough though. Phen had regained consciousness before the boss lashed out with its debilitating attack and she was able to drop a lingering healing spell on herself. After the wave they needed a moment to continue their recovery, but Atticus needed their help or he was dead. When Eric unleashed his ability it bought enough time for Phen to recover back up enough to help Atticus. Then they remembered their [Multi-Casting] trait that let them, for no apparent extra RP cost add more targets to their single target spells. Phen cast lingering heal again on all of the party members using the trait, and it didn¡¯t drain their mana any more than it would have if the spell only targeted one person. A refreshing feeling flowed through Atticus. He braced himself, he didn¡¯t have a lot of offensive power until he was attacked again, but he did lash out with the weighted end of his weapon in an attempt to wrap it around his opponent¡¯s leg. He managed to hit one of its toes.
Congratulations
You have learned the special attack Stub Toe. Stub Toe deals reduced damage (10% of weapon attack) but generates 10000% aggro and causes the enemy to enter a blind rage for 10 seconds where they abandon all weapons and strategy to attack the person who used Stub Toe.
The avatar dropped its axe and rushed forward through the last bits of the crossbow bolts raining down between it and Atticus. It clawed at its new most hated foe. Atticus let the attacks hit him, letting the enemy build up damage for his next [Punishing Strike]. Phen¡¯s healing kept him from losing too much HP. When the anger faded from the avatar¡¯s eyes Atticus struck out with his attack. With all the damage from his [Pain Absorption] added to it; he finished off the creature and it crumbled to dust. It was only a statue after all. The others rose to their feet and looked around them. ¡°Thanks for the assist,¡± Bella said, ¡°I thought we were gonna wipe.¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks for coming. But why are you here. I thought we were going our separate ways,¡± Eric asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you guys were here until I got here. I got an alert from my title that said a rare boss was spawning and so I rushed over as fast as I could. I didn¡¯t kill anything so I didn¡¯t have a good [Bloodstained Blade] procced which is why it took me so long to kill,¡± Atticus responded. ¡°Did you get credit for the kill then,¡± Zari asked with an expression of impending doom on her face. ¡°Yes and no. I got credit for landing the final blow, but since the creature was your enemy first you all got the XP and loot rewards. I got what I needed for my title, but I can¡¯t stay and chat, I¡¯ve got to look for the rest before I run out of time and have to start over again. Great to see you all,¡± he said and waved rushing back towards town. ¡°He¡¯s different now, right,¡± Phen asked. ¡°Still a mangy werewolf,¡± Zari muttered under her breath. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know, I¡¯m still new to everyone. But we do have a quest to finish,¡± Eric said. They nodded and rescued the messenger. Zari cut the ropes binding the woman and offered her hand, ¡°Here, let me help you. Do you have any injuries?¡± ¡°I am suffering from a poison of weakened body and my ankles were damaged,¡± the woman responded. ¡°Phen, get over here and heal the messenger so we can get this show on the road,¡± Zari yelled. Phen flew over and cast and to remove the two debuffs. Once she was able to stand again the messenger said, ¡°We must hurry and warn the village council. I¡¯ve already lost too much time. We might be doomed.¡± ¡°Slow down, what¡¯s going on? What is so important that the village council needs to know,¡± Zari asked and then gestured at Phen, ¡°Phen here can fly really fast so if you tell us your message we can pass it on to the council saving time and if you don¡¯t trust us to deliver it you can still go after you¡¯re done telling us.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt to get the message out. The world raid boss is stirring. It hasn¡¯t woken since the end of the last apocalypse. Other places can call in higher leveled adventurers to deal with their raid boss, but here the only high level members are the trainers and the council so they must be warned.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll track down Atticus,¡± Eric said and sprinted off in the direction their friend ran. ¡°I¡¯ll fly to the village and alert the council, Zari can your steed carry passengers,¡± Phen asked. ¡°It can only hold one rider at a time, but if you want the messenger to get to safety then I¡¯ll send her to the city on it. There isn¡¯t a whole lot between here and there that would threaten a dread steed. She¡¯ll be safe.¡± ¡°Please see to it. You and Bella make your way back to the city on foot please. I¡¯m flying ahead. Hopefully Eric can catch up with Atticus and let him know what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Who is Atticus?¡± ¡°He¡¯s our tank friend, and with enough preparation, and just a little luck, he might be able to one-shot the boss,¡± Bella answered. ¡°One-shot?¡± ¡°Kill with one hit. He¡¯s got a pretty overpowered set of abilities that if he leverages them properly he has no real damage cap. It¡¯s quite useful for situations like this.¡± ¡°He¡¯s just a mutt. Stupid wolfman,¡± Zari muttered. ¡°No need to be annoyed my dear,¡± Bella whispered into Zari¡¯s ear.