《Conflagration - A Fantasy Haven Series part 1》 Chapter One Rev. 1.0 There was a period of time, back in 1990¡¯s to 2000¡¯s, where rumors were heard about people suddenly catching on fire. Spontaneous combustion is the technical term that was given. People catching on fire for no apparent reason, whether in crowds, at home, shopping with friends, or even at work behind a desk. Nothing but ash and a small amount of bone was all that remained. The scariest part of the rumor? Just how quickly it happened. Like the fabled phoenix of myth and legend, the combustion occurred and ended in less than a few seconds. Rumor and superstition have a tendency to stubbornly cling to society, told as ghost stories or to set children straight through fear. I remember my mother and father doing the same for me when I was a tiny cherub on their knee. But those rumors and superstitions occurred hundreds of years ago now and had no noticeable link between the victims when those incidents happened. Or so I thought. ¡°... ir? Sir? Mr. Randal, I know this news comes as a shock, but are you alright?¡± My doctor asks with only the slightest sympathy, acting more clinical and robotic rather than warm and caring. ¡°Terminal cancer, huh?¡± I questioningly state, knowing I¡¯m slipping into shock. ¡°My time remaining?¡± ¡°If we had caught it sooner, you would have treatment options. Given how far along it is, you have three to six months depending on how aggressive it becomes and your general health. More stress and unhealthy living shortens the time frame. I¡¯m truly sorry.¡± The doctor was more robot than human at this point, dead looking eyes unblinkingly staring at me while he issues my death sentence. I nod slowly, letting my mind recede while going on autopilot for the rest. Signing papers, nodding in response to questions, normal morning hospital check-up routine - except they somehow missed the cancerous growth that is now my harbinger of doom. My name is Gram D. Randal. My wife, Claire, and unborn child were brutally taken from me in a drunk driving accident two months ago. The same old ¡°the driver was drunk, again, and driving out of control.¡± Apparently this will be his ninth DUI, not including the two counts of vehicular manslaughter. So much for the justice system meting justice. Add to that my debilitating injuries incurred during military service and being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, my outlook on life is now very bleak. So, color me surprised when I see in front of me a semi-transparent blue screen that read:
¡°Congratulations! You are one of a few hundred to be selected to participate in the Fantasy Haven Migration Event! Participation is mandatory and you will be transported in 23 hours 59 minutes.¡±
And counting, it would appear. I can honestly say I think I¡¯ve gone mad. I glance around the hospital lobby, where I was just told I would have less than six months to live and to ¡°enjoy what time you have left with your family.¡± Talk about twisting the knife, there is no one left to spend my remaining time with. My mother was taken from us by some weird, rare disease of the brain called Prion, which even the CDC knows little about. My father followed shortly after, dying from a broken heart. My wife¡¯s parents died in a car accident when she was younger, before I met her. Both our grandparents had passed when we were mere babes. No siblings, cousins, or aunts and uncles. Claire and I were hoping to have a large family to fill the void we grew up in... No one is paying me the slightest bit of attention, so I¡¯m thinking they do not see the screen floating in front of me. I chuckle bitterly as I leave the lobby to return to my empty home, in more than a little bit of shock with all that¡¯s been dealt to me. ¡°Fantasy Haven¡­¡± Sounds like that massive online game that hit the market a decade ago. The online gaming community had a massive surge when full immersion technology exploded on the scene fifteen years ago. Over half the world population, of all ages, jumped on the bandwagon as it rolled into market. A shame I was never in any position to join as well. I call it full immersion, but there is a more technical term for it that I never cared to learn. I was too busy hunting insurgents and terrorists since I was eighteen, having been drafted at sixteen due to the near non-existent applicants of military personnel - largely due to the ability to make fortunes on the virtual games that sprang up with the newer gaming technological platform. Starting the routine trip back home, I let my mind wander back. Since my honorable discharge from service, I went for regular medical check ups due to the injuries I accrued defending our country in the military. Started as an Army grunt and managed to work my way into Spec. Ops. with my uncanny ability at exfiltration and infiltration skills. I was always good at hide-and-seek and sneaking around the nosey neighbors growing up. I¡¯m guessing it transferred to my adult life. Add in the over the top training and I became a lean, mean, black ops machine. The pay was good, though I still have problems sleeping at night. Kind of a moot point now, what with my six months or so left to live.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Claire and I grew up in a comfortable middle class family. Neither of us went without food or clothing and always had a roof over our heads. Claire had it rougher when her parents passed in her early teens, becoming a ward of the state. She pulled herself together well enough to obtain scholarships for the stricter higher learning institutes, which is where we met almost two years before I was drafted. Whirlwind romances are aptly named and many told us we were too young to marry, ignoring that I was going to be deployed shortly after basic training. But we both stubbornly fought and obtained our marriage. We meshed so well upon meeting each other that neither of us could imagine being without the other as we grew up. Waiting until we were both sixteen helped tremendously and it also affirmed our decision to become man and wife. One of the nicer things about higher education institutes is that you learned at your own pace. Both of us were nearly completing our masters degrees by the time I was drafted and given notice that I had three months to ready for my recruitment. Claire mastered psychology while I started in forensics and finished with mechanical engineering. Who knew that the knowledge of both fields would be so beneficial in my military career? I certainly had no plans to enlist, but the theoretical and practical information and skills were very useful during my time defending our wondrous country. During my down time, we spent every moment we could together. We would stay up late under the stars making our long term plans for a large family and living quietly away from the massive multi-layered cities. Away from the world that took so much from us. Away from the crazy that the world had steadily became. I¡¯ve put the car away, sent out emails, called my lawyer to settle my living will, and all the while I can see a timer in the top right corner of my vision. Am I hallucinating? Did I break and not realize it? I manage to cram a meagre bit of food into me and grab the remaining bottle of scotch in the pantry that my grandparents saved. I take my time admiring the massive desk my great-grandfather had personally made when he was running his own business. Real polished wood with marble inlays, an incredibly rare thing in this age where trees have more rights than most human beings. No more wood-anything is made anymore due to the regulations put into place, ¡°for the safety of the trees¡±. Running my hands over the smooth desktop, I start preparing my thoughts. I set the bottle aside for the moment, I need to be coherent enough to record these last thoughts and then I can let it all go behind the haze of intoxication. Several hours later, I put away the stationary and close the folder. I¡¯ve penned a short blurb of what happened in the past year and ended it with the Screen and little timer I see in the corner of my eye. I made to sure to write out what I sent my lawyer for the living will and made sure that my meagre possessions will be donated to the necessary locations. Will they think I¡¯m crazy? Not that it matters, there is no one left to care if they thought so. Resigned, I tip the bottle of scotch back and let my mind wander some more while the alcohol takes effect. 17 hours and 37 minutes remain. Too early to drink? Nah, it¡¯s five o¡¯clock somewhere. I was taught to be a decent person while growing up. Respect your elders, don¡¯t lie, all the normal things that decent parents teach their children. Yes, normal. After you grow up and experience life, you realize just how good you have it compared to some others. Starvation, negligence, abuse, and that¡¯s not including the more horrific side. I do have a fixation for shiny things, ever since I was a kid. That never went away. More ideals and concepts grew in me as I aged, most of them good. The latest one I acquired was one of the easiest to accept, summed up as - fiercely protect what is yours and destroy the opposition. With that one, I feel like I¡¯m floating in the ocean without oars or sail. I no longer have anything to protect, let alone to protect it fiercely. Destroying obstacles though... I don¡¯t recall falling asleep, but I do recall the dreams of my wife and child as I awoke with tears streaming down my face. ¡°I truly understand you now, dad...¡± I mutter to myself as I get up from the couch, my heart aching, and head to the shower. Daylight is barely peeking above the horizon when I finish. Not much sleep for me, again. The timer is still present in the corner of my eye. If the translucent screen was not a figment of my imagination, then in the next seven hours and change I¡¯ll be ¡®migrated¡¯ to this haven place. I grin slightly and shake my head, thinking it won¡¯t matter since I still have cancer. All that relocating me to a new place will do is allow me to sightsee a bit before keeling over. At this point, I have nothing better to do, so I¡¯ll go along with this fantastical LSD trip. I spend the remaining time to gather a few things I think I may need and tidy up the already clean house. I grab my service issue 9mm sidearm, a few spare ammo clips, hunting knife, wind-up pocket watch, backpack of essentials and spare clothing, and a little bit of pocket money. Not sure if the money will be any good, but it can be burned if nothing else. Anything else I may need will have to be obtained as I go. Only so much planning can be done for an event you have no knowledge of. Finished with my meagre packing, I sit on the couch and attempt to finish the bottle of scotch. While alcoholism runs in my blood, I¡¯m a light-weight. A little over half of the bottle remains and it had been opened before I consumed what I did last night. I take the time to browse the interweb, looking into this Fantasy Haven and wonder if the notice and the game are related in some way. Typical MMORPG or massively multiplayer online role-playing game styles. Nothing amazing with the battle engine - real time action and strategy based fighting, seeing as they¡¯ve made the turn-based systems relics and a rare thing to find in this age. Dozens of races to choose from, factions, different worlds and hundreds of cities to start playing in. Massive raid functions, Kingdom versus Kingdom battles, the works. Honestly, other than the full immersion, there is nothing at all appealing with this fantasy game for me. Having experienced the horrors of real life war, the games I used to play have lost all appeal, even as a means of escapism. To imagine living in a fantasy world where might makes right, magic is the rule of the day, and being king of the castle is what makes the players rabid with fervor¡­ Meh, I¡¯d rather go hunt or fish in the real world. At least then I won¡¯t have to worry about everyone trying to kill me for the clothes I wear or for some item in my pack. That¡¯s not to say I wasn¡¯t a gamer when younger. I played and competed with the best of them, playing hard enough to at least make the top 10 of the scoreboards in either single or multiplayer. Being gifted in the intelligence department had its perks. Game on, my brethren. Game on. 00:07:12 left on the timer. I spend the remaining minutes making peace with God and Jesus, thinking that even if this a hoax I¡¯m still looking forward to seeing my wife and whatever my little unborn jellybean would have been. I wonder at times if the shock is so great that I can¡¯t be angry yet or if the fight was sucked right out of me with their passing. Having experienced war and the effects it can have on the people, I just can¡¯t seem to work up the effort to hate the slimeball that took my family from me. What¡¯s the point? Sure, I could call in some favors to have the waste of space taken care of or even set it up to do it myself. But there would be no satisfaction. My wife and unborn child are gone. Even killing millions will not bring them back. 00:00:17 remaining. I set the bottle on the table, close it up, grab my things and stand. Timer hits zero. I then count to five after. ¡°Oh well, guess it was¡­¡± I don¡¯t get to finish, as I¡¯m suddenly spouting flames all over my body. To anyone else in the room, spontaneous combustion would be an apt description. In just a few seconds, Gram¡¯s body became so much ash while leaving behind his personal effects. Chapter Two Rev. 1.0 White. All round, all I see is white. Not like a white room, where you can make out a definiable boundary. No, solid white. I normally would have panicked, but I¡¯m almost eagerly awaiting what comes next. Ready to run towards my death. I¡¯m slightly disappointed that there were no angels or bells ringing, but also grateful their opposites weren¡¯t present. After what feels like hours, but is likely a few minutes, a semi-translucent screen appears:
¡°Congratulations! The Fantasy Haven Migration event has been successful! You may now customize your character. Note: you will experience a lack of skills and abilities while transitioning to your new location.¡±
What?! What does that even mean? A display pops up, several tabs were available like race, gender, and class. Still confused, I examine the character modification screen in front of me. ¡°Huh, I could totally remake my appearance¡­ nah.¡± Most of what is shown is already how I was previously. Scars, disfigurement, even my dimples were all present for the nude display of my body on the character mod screen. Dials to make all manner of adjustment were present, allowing someone who was completely unhappy with their appearance to change anything and everything. If I had any inclination, I could become a woman with a classic hourglass figure. Change it so my muscles were huge. Change my height to over two meters tall (over 6.5 feet). Become an elf or dwarf or any of the twenty plus races available. Even increase all the dimensions of my¡­ well, while I never wanted to be a porn star, I could become one if I made those particular changes. I do change my eye color to a luminous emerald green to go with my red hair. Irish genes, my father used to say. My eyes were originally a much duller green-brown. There was also an option for night vision, which is too good to pass up if it could be chosen now, so I select it with no small amount of glee. I glance to the stats tab, sadly noting that if I didn¡¯t remove the damage I accrued from my time in the military, there would be negative numbers attached to the overall stat points I could gain. There were no values next to each stat, just dashes, but due to my injuries there were negative numbers in parenthesis to the right of those dashes. The stats listed were: Strength, Endurance, Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Luck. In my excitement, I did not check what each stood for - though I¡¯ve played enough games I have a pretty good idea. Not sure what the crossover or modifiers will be yet, but I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll be simple enough to figure out. Math, bitches.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°This is so bizarre.¡± I talk aloud to make sure I can still hear, that I¡¯m not dreaming. I click my tongue to an old pop tune and then change to a different one that was popular when my grandfather was a child. ¡°Nope, not dreaming then.¡± I mumble as I go back to the character mod tab. I remove my injuries but keep the scars. Surprisingly, Claire liked them and that¡¯s ignoring the whole ¡®chicks dig scars¡¯ thing. Nothing else in the character mod tab or stats tab stand out. I suppose that the stats will be sorted after the transition, but I¡¯m not overly worried about it. I mean, what''s the worst that could happen? I¡¯ll die in about six months anyway. The class tab is basically a long list of jobs from an RPG. The standard warrior, thief, healer, as well as the not so standard mechanical engineer, serial killer, or pilot. Surprisingly, there is no limit to the number of jobs you can choose from. There are some really exotic ones too and not just the dancing kind. To keep it simple, I chose soldier. I don¡¯t know that I¡¯ll continue that job or simply branch out. Just noting that you can have them all makes me think there are no limitations as long as you work towards them. Whether that will be true or not will be determined as my remaining time passes. Why didn¡¯t I take thief? Given my shiney kleptomania, that would be the logical choice for a fantasy based ¡°game¡±, right? I¡¯ll pass, as I know more about how to catch them than to actually BE one. Besides, stealing is simple enough. Enter room, make sure no one is watching, then take what you want. You don¡¯t need a class or title for that. Now, I can see if people wanted to make a profession out if it they would take the class, but I¡¯m not interested in wandering back alleys and waiting for some chump to walk in so I can take them for what they own. I¡¯d rather travel in peace and explore new lands without having to worry about my next score or have angry people I¡¯ve stolen from hunt me down. ¡°But Gram, if you do it right, they will never know it was you!¡± Yeah¡­ Magical fantasy world, remember? I¡¯m sure someone has protection or a means of tracking lost goods. Or finding the thief. No thanks, hard pass. There is an equipment tab, which is throwing me for a loop. That¡¯s not a standard deal when starting a game. You are typically given nothing to start or the bare basic to get by on during a tutorial or some such. Looking through the list shows a wide array of equipment you can start with, though nothing that would be a cheat item from the looks of things. There are daggers, swords, spears, maces, clubs, and oh so much more. Splitting them are additional tabs for melee, ranged, armor, and even more. Talk about complicated. Thankfully, not all of the selection is from the dark ages. There are more current weapons to choose from, like firearms. Not knowing what to expect, I fall back on my training. I select twin double bladed daggers, two 9mm handguns of which there is no manufacturer name, three sets of garotte wire, and a large survival knife with a serrated back. The fact I could choose all that was pretty amazing, even more amazing was that I could add more. Not knowing what to expect but wanting to travel light and still be well armed, I left the rest alone. Having a shotgun or grenade launcher would be cumbersome and I¡¯d likely appear in a village. Being seen fully decked out for a war, I don¡¯t think that would go over well with any locals. The rest of my loadout consisted of body equipment. Steel toed boots that looked like they¡¯d be sturdy and comfortable, heavy duty black cargo pants, dark green t-shirt, standard camo flak jacket with pockets and webbing, and metal plated fingerless gloves that took a while to find. A dark grey messenger pouch was added so I could carry a few things if needed. There were dozens of other things that could have been added other than equipment. Things like earrings, bracelets, necklaces, even tattoos. I did notice that my wife¡¯s wedding ring was listed, with mine shortly after, so I had both of those put on a short titanium necklace. That¡¯s a memento I didn¡¯t want to lose. I noticed my old dog tags listed, so I made sure those were on the necklace as well. Eager to see what else awaits me in this new location and not seeing anything else that I absolutely had to have, I selected the ¡®End¡¯ tab. The Screen popped up again:
¡°Are you sure you wish to continue?¡±
I think I managed to nod my head, then the world turned off the white light. Chapter Three Rev. 1.0 Darkness. Then, a whirl of color, spiraling around me like a chaotic tornado. Almost gives the impression I¡¯m falling but it feels as if my feet were set on the ground. Slowing down, the colors start to stabilize into a picture. Before me, the remnants of a once tall and proud city. Buildings crumbling, walls cracked and falling apart, the streets littered with craters. Two people, one a woman in her 20¡¯s and the other a young girl in her early teens, were huddled together. Before I could puzzle anything else out, the picture fractures and then shatters around me. The Screen pops up,
¡°Welcome to Fantasy Haven! You are in Sector %#&*, your guide will be with you shortly to explain your new world! Enjoy your stay!¡±
Dismissing the screen causes the picture I saw before to become my new reality. In the split second the world washes over me, I notice I¡¯m about 7 meters away from the two girls. I hear them breathing heavily and there is a rustling sound - like many footsteps slowly moving towards me. Looking at the girls, I can see that they are sweating. Tears trickling down their faces and it looks like they are trying not to sob. Their heads and eyes jerking to and fro, frantically looking for... something? Above their heads, there are names and their corresponding level? It¡¯s blurry, but if I squint I see Josefina is the name above the older womans head, with lvl 7 following it. Madeline is the younger of the two, with lvl 3 next to hers. I glance around but I¡¯m right inside where an alley would have been, so my view is obstructed to each side. My pulse starts to quicken, remembering scenes like this during my tours in the military. I step forward, arm outstretched to catch their attention. That¡¯s when the younger girl lets out a keening, wounded, ¡°Noooo!¡± Dozens of screaming voices follow the young girl¡¯s cry, reverberating all around, and I realize - they¡¯re being hunted. Grotesque, emaciated bodies with open wounds, and dangling flesh in varying places were sprinting towards the girls. Zombies, my mind and eyes provide, with various different levels next to the names above their heads. Their levels are blurry and since they¡¯re moving to attack the girls, I don¡¯t take the time to try to examine something so arbitrary. By the time my thought passes and I start to reach for my guns at my hips, it¡¯s too late. The horde have already piled on top of the girls. Their screams are brief. Josefina, the older one, made eye contact with me and I could see her terror and sadness in the one lone eye amongst the sea of undead on and around her. My eyes dilate, adrenaline flooding my system. A small smile works its way on my face. It¡¯s too late for the two girls, but I can destroy their killers. Training, instinct, countless hours of practice all snap into place as my body relaxes and readies itself for war. Destroy the opposition. There are over thirty in the mob, with more streaming in. Who wants to live forever? The bizarre circumstances leading to my arrival here, the levels, the names, actual zombies - none of that matters to me at this moment. All I can think about is: there were two girls horrifically killed in front of me and I am living on borrowed time. I have the training, the ability, the weapons, and the confidence - now it¡¯s time to force my reality on them. Memories of games, movies, and stories about zombies bolt through my mind as I finish taking the two 9mm handguns out of their holsters. I¡¯m in a corridor, I glance behind for a split second to gauge possible sneak attack angles - walls two meters high on either side, a few entry ways dotted either side like a residential or commercial alleyway would have. I have no knowledge of this place, so I¡¯ll have to make it up as I go. Looking towards the feasting horde, I notice a small infinity symbol next to a handgun at the bottom right of my visual. Not quite a HUD, but that information alone sends a tingle up and down my spine. Infinite ammo, perhaps? Let¡¯s find out! I begin firing on the stragglers who were slowly approaching the mass of broiling flesh, aiming for the head and hoping the same principle everyone who¡¯s heard of zombies know - take out the head to kill the undead. The two shots I fired simultaneously blow the heads apart like ripe melons. Not expected, but I can work with that. There was a brief moment when my vision was blocked by The Screen, but I unconsciously eliminated its presence. Later, I would regret this unconscious action I took. For now, it¡¯s time to fight with all I have and see where this takes me.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Having fired off two more shots per gun, four more heads explode - the coordination for such a technique having been instilled during my intense training. I vaguely notice the bodies started to fade away after the heads were blown off. By now, the rest of the horde is aware of the loud noise maker in the alley way and they start to stand back up to eliminate my party crashing. From this point, I start edging back to keep some distance for easy kills. Occasionally sweeping behind me to make sure no other guests are arriving late to the party. Less than two minutes later, I¡¯m in the middle of the alleyway with only a few remaining stragglers of what once was a horde. Good news: infinite ammo is a thing. The last zombies that would have been accomplice to the murder in front of me were dead. More screams, both near and distant, could be heard after I finished firing. Time to start survival mode and then work on my exfiltration of this undead city. Not having any familiarity with this place, I glanced around quickly for a tall building I can use to get a lay of the land. I head back to where the girls were before they were killed, not seeing a suitably tall viewpoint while surrounded by walls in the alleyway. Exiting said alley, I look for any other stragglers. Knowing time was short, I move over to the young girls bodies. Like all other zombie topics, I¡¯m going to assume they will turn into zombies themselves. I take one of my twin daggers out, take a deep breath while detaching my mind further, and stab both through each of their eyes. As the dagger blade was over fifteen cm long (over six inches), I still wanted to be sure the brain damage was enough to prevent them from turning. Their bodies fade away, just like all the other zombies I killed, so I must have succeeded. I noticed a faint outline of what looked like a small bag for a split second after the bodies fade, but that disappears too after a second or so. ¡°Rest in peace.¡± I mutter while making the sign of the cross. I then glance around again, spotting a building tall enough to suit my purposes in the distance. Quick and quiet, I traverse the nine or so blocks to the derelict eighteen story building. Keeping an eye on my surroundings, listening to the yelling of the zombies as they rush to where they heard the gunshots, I duck in and out of cover to avoid any further confrontations until I at least have an idea of where to go. I notice that sound is what attracted the zombies to the girls. I won¡¯t assume that¡¯s their only method of detection, but it appears the most keen of their senses. Keeping in mind the occasional dangling eyeball, it¡¯s likely to be the only sense they use. Still, better to err on the side of caution until tested. Based on how the sun is setting, I¡¯m going to safely guess that it¡¯s now late afternoon. While working in the cover of darkness didn¡¯t bother me before, now that I hopefully have night vision, things will be much easier. Even if zombies are supposedly more active at night. The front of the building is worn down. Chunks of debris that used to be the other floors of the building lay scattered around the base. I look for an entry point, of which there are many. Most of the ground floor must have been glass windows or similar back when the building was whole. Glancing inside the darkened interior, there is no noticeable movement or bodies shambling around. Hopefully my skirmish earlier dragged them all out. I creep along the interior, looking for the staircase that will lead me higher for a better view point. The open floor design and tall ceilings makes me think it was a business or maybe a hotel. After getting an idea of my location, I decide to check for anything that may have been left behind. Finding the staircase up, I start the slow climb to hopefully get some idea on where I¡¯m at. Carefully opening the tattered door on the eighteenth floor, I¡¯m surprised it opens without so much as a squeek. The last functional floor, now a mostly open roof of the building I was in, had more debris than inside the rest of the place. I gingerly start to make my way around the perimeter, testing every step before committing my full weight. I¡¯d hate to fall through if it could be avoided. The rest of the building was quiet. While I didn¡¯t search floor by floor, there was no one else present as I walked up the staircase to my present location. Noting that there were no zombies or other possible enemies present, I mumble to myself, ¡°Just need a police uniform and a hot sidekick with a tube top, then it¡¯d be like those ¡®Evil¡¯ games my father fangirled about.¡± The sun is truly setting now, casting long shadows amongst the remnants of the sprawling metropolis. Eerily quiet, no chirping of crickets or even birds calling out. No noticeable air traffic of said birds, no planes, or even helicopters. No flashing lights, neon signs, whirring gadgets, nothing. The city sounds abandoned, except for the occasional shuffling I¡¯ve associated with the zombies. I make sure to take my time looking around my surroundings, trying to find places of residence or maybe even a grocery store. I can check those places for sustenance and a place to hole up for a bit while I work on getting out of wherever it is I ended up. Yes, wherever. Because there was no guide or what not to ¡®assist¡¯ me upon arrival. I doubt very much the two girls had been given that task, as being a guide also means being able to handle themselves. Maybe my logic is skewed, but that¡¯s what I¡¯m going with. Not that I¡¯m worried about despairing, this is a similar situation I was trained for. Just without the, you know, zombies. I¡¯m basically near the middle of a sprawling metropolis, this building being one of the taller existing points to use for sightseeing. Debris, ruin, the occasional shambling undead, and skeletal buildings are all that remains as far as my eyes can see. Oddly, no vehicles were present. I half figured there would be hundreds littering the streets, but not a single one was present. Getting a good look around, I start to note directions, landmarks, possible places with sustenance, possible locations for a hiding spot. I take time to mark it all out in my head, gauging distances and plotting routes. ¡°Let the games begin.¡± I muttered as I make my way back down. Two obvious ways to handle this: the first being stealth. I¡¯m good at it, been doing a lot of it in my career and rarely did things go FUBAR. The second choice is going in loud. Given my career, I rarely ever got to go this route for my missions. Those times I could were fun, obviously loud, and extremely planned out to eliminate most of the chances of being terminated. Wouldn¡¯t want to fail the mission after all. The third option, being a mixture of both, is what I will be using. Since my enemies are zombies and they are likely only attracted to sound, I¡¯ll be popping a few of their heads then making for cover while the rest of the surrounding hoard is frenzied by the sudden sound. Let them all come running while I slip away to look around with a modicum of peace and less chance of being molested. Exiting the broken tower, I begin the hunt. The hunt for zombies, the hunt for food, the hunt for survival. Chapter Four Rev. 1.0 The week passes, the end of seven days in this hell hole being marked by the setting of the sun. Given the vastness of the city and not being in any real hurry, I spiraled out from my starting location. Popping zombie heads a couple at a time like that one bunny, but without the good fairy coming in to bother me. My purpose? Look for anyone else that may have survived, like those two girls. And, you know, survive. Thinking about those two young girls, I recall they weren¡¯t wearing clothing I was familiar with. Now, that¡¯s not saying too terribly much as my wife had the fashion sense between the two of us. I will say I don¡¯t remember seeing that line of clothing style when browsing for my gear a week ago. ¡°Beating a dead horse here, leave it be.¡± I mumble, staving off any possible madness that may be creeping up on me. The silence, while Golden, is starting to wear on me. Fraying my mind a bit. Thinking myself in circles about events that really don¡¯t impact my current situation is asking for trouble I don¡¯t need right now. And it¡¯s only been a week. I managed to find the food and water needed to get me by as I looked for any potential survivors. Some gadgets too, though they were more trinkets than gadgets. Nothing really useful was found in my search so far. I¡¯ve been hoping to find something like a police or fire department, but no such luck as of yet. Unless I didn¡¯t know what I was looking for, which is totally plausible. In my search, I also find my fair share of zombies. At first, I left them alone and studied them. Sudden noises, noises that aren¡¯t a part of this silence that permeates the dead city, has a remarkable means of ¡®waking¡¯ the zombies up. They stay in a dormant state, barely moving around, unless a sound brings them to attention and they start hunting. Unless the sound continues, they typically settle down again after a few minutes. I¡¯m guessing that since there isn¡¯t a guiding sound, they lose all interest. I¡¯ve also found I can stand right in front of one and it will not notice me. They are attracted to motion though, if they have eyes at all to use. Almost got bit finding that out. They don¡¯t hunt using smell, which is good since I¡¯ve barely had the occasional wipe down with a wet cloth to keep my nose from falling off. Humans can stink worse alive than dead, after some time. After my arrival, I didn¡¯t bother keeping a kill count. Between my daggers, garrote wire, and the occasional use of my pistols, it¡¯s been a massacre - for them. ¡°This isn¡¯t fair,¡± I mumble with a smile, ¡°They should have brought more men.¡± That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t have difficulty. While I can sneak around with the best of the best, the zombies acute sense of hearing is borderline supernatural. If my breathing and movement isn¡¯t regulated to near silence, they hone in on me within seconds. Many, many, a fight has broken out due to me breathing a little harder than normal or just walking casually into a room. I¡¯ve taken my fair share of injuries from those battles as well. Whether it¡¯s the game mechanics or something similar, I¡¯ve noticed I don¡¯t stay injured for long. Even a broken arm healed overnight, coincidentally after I managed to find a decent hole in the wall to sleep in for a time. As I roved around, I finally took the time to examine the zombies levels. After getting a good look around and starting my survival search for food, water, and secure shelter - the starting level was mid-fifties for the zombies I took the time to closely monitor. As time passed, the average level kept increasing, with the highest being a pair of whooping ninety eights that I ran into last night. That one threw me for a loop, as I stumbled on them in an apartment complex, sequestered away from all the others by at least five floors. They huddled by each other in one of the living rooms, almost making me think they were married or close enough to leave a residual connection before they were zombified. With being stuck in the middle of a massive city and surrounded by enemies, I hadn¡¯t given much thought to the mechanics of the screens I saw when I arrived here. Levels associated with a person, name¡¯s above people''s heads, the number in relation to myself, The Screen appearing in front of my eyes and no one else being able to see it. It¡¯s all so bizarre, almost like a video game. I¡¯ve only managed to search a few blocks away from tower I decided to make my temporary home. The buildings for each city block averaging ten to twelve stories each, with as many as twelve buildings per block. An extreme amount of square footage to cover while keeping lookout for zombies and taking it slow to prevent a horde attack. Can¡¯t forget the clearing of each room to prevent myself from getting a nasty surprise later. Most of the buildings had canned food and bottled water available, almost as if these zombies appeared recently. I haven¡¯t managed to find any newspapers or magazines, or even a calendar on the wall to give me an idea of a reference point. Just like the missing vehicles, this is noted in my mind as a very strange occurance.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well Marty,¡± I talk to the recently splattered zombie, ¡°I think I¡¯ve stockpiled enough material to last a bit. How¡¯s abouts we go take a real look for things other than necessities?¡± I mosey back to the tower and finish stockpiling the last bit I found, pack up a few days worth of food and water in my messenger bag, then head in what I think is a North direction. I tag the walls with spray paint I managed to find in order to keep track of my distance, like the massive broken finger that is my tower jabbing into the sky isn¡¯t enough of a reference. Maybe it¡¯ll lead people to me, if there are any left alive. The last rays of light have long since departed. Night vision allows me to work very well at night, leaving me colorblind but able to see with little difficulty. That took some getting used to, but adaptability was always one of my strong suites. I keep my path straight, following the road North (I think) and not taking the side streets yet. I¡¯m basing the directions on my world¡¯s sun rising from the east. This is a new world, so it could be completely different. I glance around the area and side streets to see if there are any signs or indication of the types of businesses I¡¯m looking for. Electronics stores, banks, police and fire departments, jewelry stores. Yes, jewelry stores. The shiny will need to be liberated! Cough... As the night progresses, I see nothing of interest. No signs, no red carpets, no shiny anything. Keeping in mind that most central metropolis businesses were more of the corporate type rather than consumer type, I break out into a full blown jog. Time to gain distance. Whether I like it or not, the next two days pass this way. I make a certain distance from my tower, tag the area and then head back. I¡¯ve hit the cardinal points with some side streets, but all I see is the remnants of buildings and loose materials. At least food and water are plentiful, on top of the uncountable undead I¡¯ve slain. Bored out of my gourd, I ransack dozens of places for household chemicals. While not a chemist, ops training does teach you to be unconventional. The explosives won¡¯t pack the power of C-4, but the firecrackers I¡¯m making will certainly attract notice and do at least some damage to the hordes. Of the numerous odd things I¡¯ve noticed, I manage to find a time piece of some type in each dwelling. I say that with some uncertainty due to the fact that I cannot make heads or tails of what¡¯s written on them. They¡¯re not in the normal numeric system I was taught growing up. Using those timepieces as the detonation trigger, I litter several blocks with the home made explosives. I even manage to place a few in the wandering undead that try to reach out for me as I pass them, giggling like a schoolgirl as I place them in torn shirts or sagging britches. Back in the safety of my tower, I sit on the ledge with a bottle of water in my hands and look out over the city. While not alcoholic, it¡¯s the only drink I have available while I get ready to watch the show I¡¯ve engineered. I made sure each explosive group had a five second difference between each individual makeshift bomb, for a more rhythmic beat as they go. Spread between eight groups, this promises to be highly entertaining, the loud noises will bring the undead en masse to the fire crackers I¡¯ve made. I¡¯ve approximated where a majority will gather and set a dozen or so to go off in their midst. Holding my water bottle up, I salute the city. ¡° To you, sprawling metropolis, who bored me to tears in these last days I remain living. To the undead, while dangerous and entertaining, you guys need a better script writer.¡± I take a swig and the fireworks start. With the sun having set an hour ago, you can see the flare of light as the bombs go off and light the dead of night. After the first, you can hear the moans and screams of the more active undead shrilly calling out. After the third one went off, you could see the most active of them sprinting towards the ruckus I set off. ¡°Really wish I had popcorn. This is definitely a popcorn moment and I hate popcorn.¡± I keep watching as the finale approaches. I laugh when I watch one of the bomb carriers runs into the mix of a large crowd and sends them all flying when the bomb goes off. Limbs and viscera coating the walls and streets, zombies being rocketed around by the crude explosives I put together. Screeching, moaning, the zombies are rushing about. The remaining explosives go off around and amidst hundreds gathered. A large flash and several reports herald the end of my musical ensemble. Sighing, I get back up and start my way back down. ¡°Always good manners to clean up the mess you¡¯ve made.¡± Whistling as I work, I methodically remove the last zombies that survived. ¡°That had to be the most entertainment I¡¯ve gotten since getting here. Fighting to the death is good and all, but there are only so many ways you can take the head off a zombie before it becomes droll.¡± I tell the surrounding horde, conversing with them as they are decimated, hunting knife in my left hand and one of the paired 9mm in my right hand. ¡°Even the parkour obstacle courses I set up through you guys lost their entertainment value, I either get the uber aggressive ones or the lazy shufflers. There doesn¡¯t seem to be an in between with you delinquents.¡± I half yell at them as I finish the last batch. I may have gone around the bend a bit. ¡°Any of you happen to be psychologists before turning? That would at least make me feel better with all the talking out loud I¡¯m doing for some sort of conversation.¡± The last reports of my guns echo up and down the streets. No more undead in my immediate vicinity. ¡°Sigh. I¡¯m so taking out whole buildings next time. That ought to get a good laugh out of me as well.¡± So stated, I get back to gathering and cooking. The morning of the second week dawns with me back at my ledge. I feel I planted enough explosives to knock down an entire row of buildings for miles, dominoeing them into each other to help things along. ¡°Maybe demolition was my calling in life? I¡¯m damn sure it wasn¡¯t zombie killing¡­¡± I finish muttering as the bombs go off. Spectacular doesn¡¯t fully describe it. I set the main charges in the building to the north of my tower which will continue in that direction. I¡¯ve set more charges intermittently in the buildings heading north to see if that will be enough to knock them down as the falling buildings gain momentum. The falling buildings did gain tremendous momentum, thus ¡®spectacular¡¯ not being able to fully describe this fantabulous wrecking of buildings in front me. Building after building, the charges timed just well enough to weaken the foundations and lean it. Then the impact of the falling building preceding it. Quite awe inspiring. And the ruckus it kicked up! Crashing buildings generate lots of noise, excluding the bombs exploding. Zombies wail and screech as the buildings continue to domino away from me. ¡°Homemade explosives for the win!¡± Yelling exuberantly as more and more buildings fall. ¡°I don¡¯t think it was on my bucket list, but demolishing a city gets a check beside it now!¡± I sigh contently, watching the dust fly up from all the falling buildings. The horizon is blotted somewhat, eventually spreading out and around the surroundings. I watch for half an hour or so, more and more dust clouds erupting into the air as the buildings continue to domino, when the most peculiar thing occurs. The world glitched. Chapter Five Rev. 1.0 Now, when the world glitched, it didn¡¯t turn all pixelated - no, the world stopped. The dust hung frozen in the air, collapsing buildings stopped mid-fall, debris decide to defy gravity and hang right above the ground. I glance around in wonderment, curious as to why I¡¯m able to keep moving in this silent, unmoving panorama. Nothing obvious makes an appearance. Shrugging, I move to gather a few things to test. I¡¯m able to pick things up and move them as normal. What wasn¡¯t normal is when the item in question was released - it froze in that position. Grinning, I pull one of my guns and aim over the ledge at one of the adjacent buildings. I fire, once, but don¡¯t move the gun or my hand. The gun fired and reloaded, but I don¡¯t see¡­ Ah. I move the gun away from the location I fired it to see the bullet hanging in the air at the end of where the barrel was. ¡°This could be epicly fun or dreadfully dull.¡± With nothing to lose, I make my way to each zombie and fired at point blank range at each individual head. While this takes me quite some time, time is relative at the moment - it being frozen and all. After a few hundred rounds fired into unsuspecting zombie recipients, I hear a noise that is completely foreign. The fact that there is a noise different from the normal zombie shuffle has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. A dull whumping sound starts to echo down the stagnate rows of broken buildings. Slowly moving in my direction. Curious, I quickly make my way back up my lone tower amidst the derelict city. Clearing the final shattered door to the open eighteenth floor, I freeze. Not frozen in time freeze like everything else, well¡­ like most everything else now. An absolutely massive black dragon is flying low over the buildings - and it¡¯s heading this way. Veeeeery slowly. Not taking the time to admire or estimate its size, I duck back into the building and sprint back to the ground floor. Leaping down the staircases, more than four steps at a time, I slow at the ground floor and start to listen again. Sweat starts to pour down my face and back as I try to start thinking of a plan. Try being the key word here, as I have no working knowledge of dragons other than the old games and C&C that my grandfather and father used to play with their friends around a table. Write up character sheets? Who does that anymore? Dragons supposedly have incredibly tough armored scales, often breath some kind of fire or similar breath type area of effect, very intelligent, they like gold and other assorted shiny treasure, can sometimes speak or even transform into a different form. Also very magical, though I remember hearing from somewhere that they weren¡¯t magically delicious. Random thoughts scatter through my mind, panic starting to heavily set in. I take a slow, deep breath and relax. Arrows and swords had a very difficult time penetrating the armor like quality the dragons scales take. But I have something better than any sword or arrow. My paired 9mm¡¯s are capable of penetrating at least a quarter of an inch of steel, based on the velocity of the round. So I have a final stand option, though I really don¡¯t want to chance it - at all. In comparison to this dragon, my mighty 9mm¡¯s are nothing but pea shooters - infinite ammo or no, I highly doubt my chances of fighting and winning. After an indeterminable amount of time passes, the dull whumping sound becomes fainter and fainter. Sprinting back to my perch on the top floor, I get my bearings and watch as the ginormous dragon slowly flies back the way it came. From the North. ¡°Huh¡­ I wonder if I made a building fall on it. Definitely need to check that¡­¡± I mumble while nervously patting myself down, making sure I didn¡¯t lose anything in my mad dash inside and out the building. I take the time to pack for an extended trip, not sure how far I¡¯ll need to go before I find that giant monstrosity. Definitely nervous as well. I mean, dragons! Zombies are one thing, lots of people talk about what to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse. No one ever mentions what to do in the event of a dragon-anything. Well, other than run for your life. I finish inventory and note that I¡¯ve only got a few days worth of food and water unless I ration it out. Sighing, I resign myself to more scavenging before tracking down that black monstrous aberration. After what feels like days pass, I finally make my way back to the tower to rest a bit. Whenever this glitch resolves itself, I either cleared square miles of undead or just wasted time and bullets on a whim for no gain. The only positive I can see from this is that I didn¡¯t need to eat or relieve myself, as if I was supposed to be frozen as well but somehow wasn¡¯t. On top of that, other than mental fatigue, I didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit tired. After sleeping until I awoke naturally, I decided to review my situation. Other than food, water, and those weird timepieces; there was sadly little to scavenge. No shiny jewelry, no tech, no cars, no computers, no tools. I did raid more chemicals to fiddle with if this unnatural frozen state continued past this day. That all by itself is weird. So many things are weird about this. So. Many. Things. No people. Zombies everywhere. Food, water, even household chemicals, but no tools or tech. Time at a standstill. Oh, let¡¯s not forget the infinite ammo and the fact I¡¯m on a completely new world. Can¡¯t forget those. After making sure to fire a bullet at any other zombies I came across during my building inspections, I continued doing my search. I tried to keep a spiral search pattern going but it¡¯s easy to get bored finding the same things over and over with no change up. Hell, even written reports left behind by the assumed corporate offices would have been a fantastic distraction at this point. Mile after mile, my search broadened. Absolutely nothing. I kept trying to recall if I said or did anything that might have caused the frozen state of the world I was in, but I kept drawing blank. There was nothing special in my actions as I watched the building fall. I even examined each site of the demolished buildings in hopes of finding a crushed body that caused this or an item. Absolutely nothing was found beyond the rubble, even moving a majority of it around to check for anything I may have missed turned up nothing. ¡°Well, with time halted, I¡¯m stuck waiting to join Claire. I¡¯m not sure what to think of that at the moment. Hey Phil!¡± I yelled at the zombie near me, ¡°What do you think about all this? Should I be eager for time to resume or enjoy this quiet stillness that prolongs me from my very likely painful death?¡± Of course ¡®Phil¡¯ doesn¡¯t answer me, but I feel slightly better just talking AT someone. The quiet is really getting to me now. Well, there is a dragon waiting to be found. Given that it could move, even in this unnatural stillness, I could meet my death that way¡­ Hm. Singing as loudly and out of tune as I could, I started singing all manner of songs that my parents taught me as a child. I went back to Swinging on a Star quite often, as I made funny faces and dance moves around hordes of zombies and blasting bullets at their faces to the tune. Unknowing of the amount of time that passed, I finally encounter a new area. That, all by itself, was exciting! Glancing back, I try to gauge how far I am from my tower when I notice I don¡¯t see it peaking at the horizon at all. Working myself up the nearest and tallest building, I still don¡¯t notice it on the horizon. One of the tallest buildings in the area and I don¡¯t see even a hint of it¡­ I must have walked dozens of miles to lose track of that building based on the curvature of the planet. Or it was deleted. Heh. The destruction from my domino effect is still obvious and it still continues off into the far distance. How fast was that dragon flying and how long did I stare at my handiwork before the world stopped? More buildings for this new area. Slightly different architecture, coloring, and not as overly tall as where I started are really the only indicators that I¡¯m in a new area. There wasn¡¯t a clear change of decor, it all blended well together. I just happened to notice the changes more as they became more predominant in the area. Other than the external decor changing, the interior changed a bit as well. No change to the items available to scavenge however. That left me a bit depressed. The volume of undead really didn¡¯t change either, remaining fairly constant to what I¡¯ve been seeing. Here¡¯s hoping those bullets are worth the effort expended. In my boredom, I decided to run full bore following the rubble of destroyed buildings for as long as I could. Let¡¯s just say that was a very long time, cycling songs I knew by heart and their times led me to believe that I ran for over twenty eight hours without stopping or getting even the slightest bit tired. I also noted only a slight change in scenery with nothing else changing. I didn¡¯t waste my time looking for every zombie to shoot a bullet at either, just at those I encountered on my way towards the giant fireball in the sky. Changing things up, I went parkour over the rooftops. They were fairly level for miles around, so I enjoyed that bit of added challenge - bouncing around rooftops, bounding over air conditioner units, tuck and roll through windows. Good times.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I¡¯ve found that my knives and garrote wire were both poorly effective. With time remaining frozen, I can¡¯t seem to affect the zombies with my sharp hardware. Sawing with the garrote wire did nothing, not even generate heat from friction. Even my homemade bombs were useless, they no longer blew up. I pouted pretty hard after finding that out. ¡°Don¡¯t judge me Anna! Even the bombs quit working for me now, how am I supposed to find any entertainment?!¡± I could pick the zombies up and maneuver them around. That was a very nerve wracking moment when I first tried this, half afraid the zombie would come to life and begin our normal dance to the death. Being that close to start the fight with them would have made me feel like I needed lightning fast reflexes if I wanted to survive. Thankfully, I think, that didn¡¯t happen. When I figured out the unmoving undead wouldn¡¯t spontaneously jump at me, I took the time to model several areas. Zombies stacked around, upside down, floating over the edge of tall buildings. I always made sure to put bullets to their head or set explosives on them. I also got some experience judging vectors based on their fall trajectory. Time has lost all meaning. That Gump fellow my father mentioned a time or two, I¡¯m starting to feel like him. Running all over the place, randomly talking to people, really wanting chocolate. Didn¡¯t he have a fascination with shrimp? Bah, unimportant. More running and jumping now. Running while mentally asleep is a strange state of being. It took a long while to get to that point without waking up shortly after, but I managed it. Sure saved my mind a few times, to be able to just turtle up and let my body continue towards the sun. Blinking up at the sky, I wonder why I stopped. Wait, why am I looking at the sky? I look around to see I¡¯m somehow on top of water. Not in water, on top of it as if it were solid. Frozen time is something else. I stomp and kick and swing at the water, with no visible effect to it. Trying to submerge myself does me about as good as trying to submerge in the concrete. Talk about the ultimate water bed. All this trouble and I still haven¡¯t found the damn dragon! Looking back at the buildings, I see the many dust plumes from the wrecked domino effect I caused. Now that I¡¯ve found the end of the catastrophe I made, there are still a few buildings in the process of being knocked over. ¡°OK! I give! What the fuck is going on and why the fuck am I moving in a frozen world?! You assholes didn¡¯t give me my guide, fucked up my destination, and ruined whatever enjoyment I had kicking the shit out of those undead freaks that saturate this Godforsaken city! Even the damn dragon has disappeared! Fuck you all and the camel you rode in on!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but throw a temper tantrum. ¡°I can¡¯t even check on my health status for fucks sa¡­.¡± I don¡¯t even finish as the blue screen I thought would never appear again suddenly snaps into view. ¡°...No words. I have no fucking words for this.¡± I mutter as I see the utterly massive log of messages that were waiting for me when the status screen finally appeared.
¡°Congratulations you complete and utter asshat! You are only now checking your status screen after 3 months, 12 days, 14 hours, 37 minutes, and 16 seconds! Completely ignoring the notifications that would have appeared to help you on your way, you have managed to now waste a ton of time having to go through all of them - one by one. Every. Single. Message. And. Prompt. In reverse order, so that nothing makes any sense. Like you. Have fun!¡±
¡°Ugh.¡± My drill sergeant is the only one who would have received the look of utter disgust and loathing this message put on my face. ¡°Reminds me of my first girlfriend.¡± Except her, she was batshit crazy. Information dump like nothing else occurs, messages are overlapped like a bad Skylight operating system. To sum up in the correct order, I had the initial stats of:
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 1 Exp: 0 To next lvl: 1000
Race: Human Stat points: 0
HP: 50 MP: 50 SP: 50
HP Regen/min 2.5 MP Regen/min 2.5 SP Regen/min 2.5
Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Intelligence: 5
Endurance: 5 Dexterity: 5 Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 5 Luck: 1
Talk about puny as all hell. If that¡¯s the average baseline for an adult in this reality, basic training would have sucked sooo much. Thankfully, my world baseline was transferred over during the migration, so my level one stats would look like:
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 1 Exp: 0 To next lvl: 1000
Race: Human Stat points: 0
HP: 490 MP: 620 SP: 530
HP Regen/min 24.5 MP Regen/min 31 SP Regen/min 26.5
Strength: 32 Agility: 32 Intelligence: 42
Endurance: 34 Dexterity: 38 Wisdom: 29
Charisma: 28 Luck: 2
¡°Tadaa! Now we¡¯re talking!¡± This is a muuuuch nicer baseline. While I¡¯m no gaming guru, I do know my math and almost seven times the base stats to start is pretty damn decent if I do say so myself. ¡°Pretty damn decent! There, I said it. Myself.¡± Yup, dipping into crazy. Definitely not getting the benefits from it though. Claire would have had my head for that comment. Heh. Based on all the backlog of windows, each zombie was at least fifty levels above me - at all times. So as I progressed, so did their level. Given that they were zombies, there was an experience penalty of half the normal experience I normally would have gained. This run of five and half months has still catapulted me into a very comfortable starting level. On top of that, all my actions cumulatively add towards my stat progression. If I do one hundred push ups, I get experience towards increasing my strength and endurance stat. From all my running, jumping, lifting, dodging, shooting¡­ well, the little blue screen sums it up well - any action under duress or in a battle to the death will culminate in personal growth. That means all that fighting and shit I did since I got here? Boosted me up like a champ. More so since I wasn¡¯t dumping stat points from leveling up into my stats, which resets the counter for each stat to zero. One thousand push ups for a strength point? Well, if I did nine hundred and then boosted my strength even one point with my stat points - back to zero percent I go. The ninety percent experience towards an increase in strength is totally wasted. The best part of all that mess? When time froze, I was STILL getting stat gains. I might have shit luck but my base stats before adding points for leveling will be OP! I hope¡­ Status!
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 25 Exp: 325,124 To next lvl: 25,876
Race: Human Stat points: 125
HP: 920 MP: 960 SP: 930
HP Regen/min 46 MP Regen/min 48 SP Regen/min 46.5
Strength: 75 Agility: 84 Intelligence: 76
Endurance: 74 Dexterity: 97 Wisdom: 60
Charisma: 55 Luck: 2
Holy hell. If you subtract the base five stat points, ignoring my shitty luck, that¡¯s 486 stat points gained from the migration and fighting and doing crazy shit. If I¡¯m level twenty five and I have 125 stat points to spend, that is equal to five stat points a level. At five stat points per level, if I gained 486 stat points then that would equal a little over 97 levels in growth without spending stat points! Hot damn! ¡°That would put me at an average level of 75 and I¡¯m only a third that level in reality! Why level 75 Bob?¡± Because I¡¯m now in the habit of talking to the frozen zombies around me, ¡°Level 75 because warriors or those in their specific class will do more than just use stat points! That¡¯s right Bob, they would be working hard too with their class training and life or death struggles. At least, that¡¯s what the little blue screen tells me. Oh, and the price is wrong Bob.¡± Crazy train, whoo whoo! ¡°So, sober moment Felicia. That means if I save these wonderful points and keep on working, I¡¯ll earn towards higher rewards later on! Felicia! Put some damn clothes on! They¡¯re all torn and totally inappropriate to be out in public!¡± Yelling is very cathartic. Chapter Six Rev. 1.0 Now that the blue-screen hell is over and done with, we can get back to examining things properly. Like how to get the fuck out of this cesspit of a city and maybe, just maybe, see something other than stinky undead ass before kicking the bucket. Like that dragon I¡¯m unsuccessfully hunting. Damn my shitty luck. ¡°Look at those tabs¡­ Bubba Jean! This is going to take me awhile to figure out, man. Go find your pants and shoes while I slog through this horrible mess.¡± Tabs appear, each holding a touch of hope that I may be able to progress now. Quests, map, notes, skills, status, equipment, inventory, options, and system messages are listed. Well, I¡¯m glad I can go back and look at all those blue-screen messages that popped up. A lot of those were really sarcastic and demeaning, it might be worth looking back on them later for a laugh. Quests tab brings up what I was afraid of. I have to find my guide that was supposed to be provided to me upon arrival. Worse yet, it is listed as ¡®part one of ??¡¯. ¡°Find any survivors, find out what happened to the world, escape desolate planet, kill X amount of zombies. Wait, that one should be done and over with as many as I¡¯ve killed.¡± I sigh as I see a bunch of smaller fetch quests. At least it shows that I completed the find shelter and food stuffs to survive quests. Thankfully, no time limits are given. ¡°What¡¯s this? An epic level quest? ¡®Exterminate the undead from the planet or find and destroy the cause for the zombie horde¡¯? That could be fun. Not sure I have enough chemical though.¡± I suppose I could head back and grab the massive stockpile I¡¯ve accrued. Don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be enough though. Why these quests don¡¯t list the rewards or experience gained upon completion kinda sucks though. Can¡¯t have it all I suppose. ¡°Ya know Bubba Jean, other than being one of the more popular zombies I¡¯ve talked to, I just realized one thing I¡¯ve missed - noise. There is none. Especially now that the world is all still and such. You¡¯d think there¡¯d be a music selector button or background theme music if this is modeled after a game.¡± I take a glance back at my myriad of tabs and see¡­ yup, options! Maybe, just maybe this will work. Options tab opens, and sure enough, there is the music-on tab. Slide that on! Serene background music starts to play, giving the world an ambiance it never had before now. Low volume, soft music like you would hear in all the towns across all the games ever made could be heard. ¡°My sanity, you have been saved!¡± I make sure to take a close look at my few options in this tab. Log out is grayed out, so that is a no go. Not sure where I¡¯d log out too, but there it is. Auto-loot is a thing! Hot damn, no wonder I never saw any items after the undead buggers faded away. Hide level, hide HP bar, Hide name, and Hide damage counter were all on. How does that work? I could sorta see those things before, granted I had to look really hard to catch even a glimpse of them. Ah well, tab slide to off for all! Looking at Bubba Jean, I see Zombie (Bubba Jean) level 75 and a red bar that¡¯s full. Huh. Looking at the zombies around him, they are only listed as - you guessed it!, Zombie and their level. ¡°Bubba Jean, I made you a named mob! Oh, congrats to you, you rotting sack of human flesh, you.¡± Adding two more bullets to the queue that will hopefully destroy his cranium, I turn from the soon-to-be-dead-again zombie and mosey off while pulling up the map tab. The map tab listed what I was afraid to see - a massive, almost worldwide, metropolis of grey buildings all over it. The devs did a poor job of this one. The other possibility is that this is a real world and they over domesticated the hell out of it. The regulators on my world would have had a shit fit at this level of civilization with nothing other than concrete jungle. Located in the center of the map, there was an icon of myself. I¡¯m going to guess that is where I am. Follow back South and yes, there are the red dots that I was supposed to be dealing with while I was in the area. I hover my finger over one of the red blinking dots and a title pops up. This title corresponds with a quest, so that¡¯ll work out fine. Zooming in works too, get to see all the bland and boring detail of the grid like pattern for the city. Zooming back out, I get an idea of scale and distance. I¡­ ran a pretty far distance. Seeing as I had no actual way to determine the exact amount of time I spent traveling as far as I did, I¡¯m so not looking forward to having to trek all the way back. ¡°Is fast travel a thing?¡± I feel a bit foolish asking aloud, but since I get the option to do so I¡¯m ecstatic!
¡°Do you wish to fast travel to this location?¡±
¡°Hell yes I d¡­¡± Cut off again, as I suddenly appear at the marker I had chosen. Thankfully, it was right near my tower, which I can see a few blocks away down the road. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d say I missed that hunk of concrete and steel. I sorely missed you tower!¡± I wave and yell at the tower. I take a glance at my surroundings and note that all the zombies are still present and still are frozen with bullets poised to enter their frontal lobe and wreck shit. Glancing at my map again to find out which quest I picked, it was for a fetch quest. Get X amount of X and turn in to X at X. Blah blah, yadda yadda. Poking more blinking red lights, I finally found the one for my guide. Poking my finger through it, I get my bearings as I glance around. Looks like I¡¯ve got a minor HUD effect going. As I turn my head to and fro, I see a red dot at the center of the bottom of my vision that moves like a compass as I shake my head side to side. That¡¯ll make tracking things much easier. Setting off at a casual stroll, I¡¯m excited and more than a little giddy. I finally have a direction and purpose again! The mini vacation was nice and all but it lacked anything truly meaningful. Always checking to see if more bullets need to be fired and dancing around the mobs, I make my way to grandmoth-, erm, to my destination. A twenty minute stroll leads me to the same scenery I¡¯ve been bored out of my mind with the entire time I¡¯ve been present. It has me in the middle of a street, the exact middle, with nothing else noticeable present. ¡°Cliche much? Look down and save us all the trouble Gram.¡± Suiting words to action, I look down and there it is! The manhole cover I NEVER noticed the entire time I was here. Granted, I wasn¡¯t looking for one either, but that¡¯s besides the point. I reach down and hoist the oversized manhole cover up then move it above the nearest undead¡¯s head. Least that one won¡¯t splatter upwards if the head blows. I peek my head down through the manhole to get an idea of what I¡¯m dealing with. Dark, damp, completely unmoving. I hop down, waiting to see if time restarts, and brace myself for anything. Which turns out to be nothing. Moving down the tunnel, I keep an eye on the little red dot that¡¯s leading me to who knows where. I occasionally bounce off the walls, mainly to avoid the poo and other nasties that are stuck in time as I mosey through the tunnel system that is likely the sewer. ¡°¡®A pig is an animal with dirt on his face, his shoes are a terrible disgrace¡¯ and there are no mobs down here that I¡¯ve seen for the past however minutes I¡¯ve been walking. I knew I should have broken out into song the moment I dropped into the sewer!¡± More bouncing and kicking off walls and definitely singing. I finally come to an intersection, the little red dot moves left. I move left as well. ¡°Walk this way, but don¡¯t talk this way!¡± I crab walk for no other reason than I can. ¡°That hatter has nothing on this soldier boy. Tea? I would prefer coffee, thank you very much!¡± With time stuck, there is no echo of my voice or steps while traversing the labyrinth. After a brief time, I finally arrive at an interesting location. An underground grotto, with sunlight streaming through the clutter of leafy foliage above. Green grass and flowers litter the intersection with a very attractive tree set smack in the middle. In the center of the tree is an orb that¡¯s glowing a white and pink.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°If that¡¯s what I think it is, I sure as hell do not need a Nav light to accompany me on my journey telling me to listen. I call bullshit.¡± I pout for a minute while staring and hoping it¡¯s not what I think it is. Sighing, I make my way towards the glorified night light. Still grumbling as I approach the base of the tree, which is taller than I thought it¡¯d be. ¡°I don¡¯t even have blonde hair or pointy ears.¡± Aware of what is likely about to occur, I step back and take the time to examine my surroundings. I walk around the tree and the whole perimeter of the grotto to make sure there are no obvious threats that will jump at me the moment I make contact with the little flashlight. Sighing again when nothing is found, I head back to the tree and prepare for the oncoming trouble. I pause and think a moment. I step back and grin. Opening my map, I see what I was hoping for; a quick travel dot to this location. Grinning wider, I fast travel back to my lonely tower and proceed to grab as many bombs and chemicals to make as many more as I can. Another indeterminable amount of time passes again and I¡¯m stocked up with my explosives. Why? I¡¯m about to activate a major quest. Game logic dictates that a boss will appear shortly after the pink pixie awakens. While I¡¯m not eager to blow up the only tree I¡¯ve found on this miserable world, I¡¯m also not going to run face first into a boss without some preparation if I can help it. Seriously, time is stuck still. I¡¯ve been abusing that and I plan to continue this trend! Fast traveling back to the grotto, I start to slowly explore properly. There is the path I came from and another path sequestered behind the tree. Moving through this new tunnel shows nothing at first. Slight bend, turn, straightaway, turn, turn, bend¡­ Massive cave of undead¡­. Massive slow-motion moving dragon behind said undead¡­ Stopping to observe in the shadow of the corridor and thankful beyond belief that there is no sound generated from this still-time situation, I watch the dragon move about so slowly it appears I¡¯m watching a frame by frame representation of this scene on a movie screen. The fact there is any movement at all has me mesmerized. The sheer majesty of this beast, so massively scaled, does inspire awe in me. And tremendous fear.
Fr?nir - Level ??? Tremble and fear mortal! You have encountered a Legendary beast, capable of destroying civilizations and rending continents apart! Bow before them and beg mercy, for you shall not receive any otherwise...
Fuck. Me. I swear I pissed myself a little after reading that. Tremble indeed¡­ Shaking myself and knowing this will be a bad idea, I start to plan my route around the cavern. I have over three hundred explosives in my tiny ass messenger bag. Guess it was a secret bag of holding or some such. I¡¯m not examining this gift bags thread¡­ Sounded so much better in my head. Not second guessing myself, I start my sprint. Starting on the left hand side, I¡¯ll make clockwise circuits around the room and focus a majority of my homemade explode tubes around the massive scaled lizard with wings. Completing two outer circuits around the room, I notice Fr?nir lifting its head up. A deep rumbling, ¡°Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii¡­.¡± Ohshitohshitohshit! Running faster, I start to sharply spiral inwards to target a massive amount of the undead as well. ¡°Sssssmmmmeeeellllllll¡­.¡± Down to ninety eight bombs left, I sharply veer to the underside of the dragon and drop all but fifteen bombs. I then high tail it back to the small opening I came in from. ¡°Yyyyyooooouuuuu¡­.¡± Ahhh I forgot to unload on the damn thing! Cursing myself, I turn back around and start another circuit around the room as fast as I can while pulling the triggers of my 9mm pistols faster than I¡¯ve ever pulled the triggers before. ¡°Hhhhuuuuummmmmaaaannn!¡± And with that I dead spring back down the tunnel to the luminescent fluff ball by the tree, dropping bombs behind me as I high tail it. Dashing into the grotto, I stop in front of the fairy and take a minute or two to catch my breath and listen. If nothing else, I will have greatly pissed off this Legendary dragon. At best, I gain a kill for the ages. At worst, I get to see my Claire again. Win-win as far as I¡¯m concerned. Bracing myself for the expected backlash, I reach up and poke a finger at the glorified strobe light. The moment my finger makes contact, time resumes running again. By the time I finish breathing out, I get several dozen notifications via blue-screen of harassment.
Congratulations! You¡¯ve completed the quest ¡® Kill X amount of zombies¡¯ part 1!
And part 2. And 3. All the way to part 10. Whoo me, zombie killer extraordinaire. Feel the exuberance. ¡°¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡±
For completing the ¡®Kill the zombie¡¯ quest, you are awarded a complimentary thank you! You do good work, keep it up! Oh and you also get this shiny ring. Enjoy.
Shiny ring of the Zombie Slayer. Awards wearer +5 to all stats. Increase damage to zombies by 30%. Increase reputation with slayers of the supernatural that see this ring. Put those undead back in their grave!
A reputational ring huh? I have nothing to compare it with so I¡¯ll go with the bet that it is pretty decent, what with all the stat boosts. I mean, for a base state of fives, an all around addition of five more stat points doubles the might of a level one person. Good times. I put it on and glance at the other notifications, of which there is nothing else of note. Just a few thousand end of battle reports and experience gain windows. ¡°¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨{¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡± ¡°Are you seriously ignoring me?! Hey, Listen!¡± I glance up, blinking, and look at the flying headlight. ¡°You did not just say that.¡± I utter flatley with a deadpan look on my face. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know you. I don¡¯t know your situation. I will say I have been stuck in this world and stuck in time for over three months looking for you. Given all that I¡¯ve seen so far, I honestly don¡¯t give a flying fuck about what this place is or what damsel needs saving. Hell, the world can burn for all I care.¡± ¡°I have about two or so months left to live and I genuinely do not want to do that running all over this concrete slab of a planet trying to solve any bullshit quests you, or any other people that may be here, need me to do.¡± Having said that while looking straight at the flying glow light, I turn around and start to head back the way I came. ¡°¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡± ¡°Now before you go all righteous womanly fury on me, My name is Gram and my wife and unborn child were recently killed in an accident. I have a terminal disease that is eating at my body and I will die in about two months. I have no fucks to give right now.¡± I enter the tunnel to head back to the surface and stop. Tilting my head, I notice nasty smells and echoing noises coming down the tunnel towards me. The dull roar in the background is steadily getting much louder as well. Continuing my narrative, ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯m not grateful though, because I am extremely grateful to be able to just talk to someone again. But I have enough baggage to deal with, I don¡¯t need everyone else¡¯s accumulated baggage piled on top of mine just from talking to them.¡± Pointing into the tunnel, I turn and ask, ¡°What is your name and are there any other exits? I have a feeling the welcoming committee is on it¡¯s way and I¡¯ve already killed enough zombies to finish the quest for this world. Add to that, there is a huge ass dragon likely barreling it¡¯s way towards us¡­ If it¡¯s not dead.¡± ¡°Wha, what?¡± The light pink flashlight sputters and flickers. ¡°You¡¯ve done all ten parts of the quest?! DRAGON?!?¡± Nodding slowly like I¡¯m dealing with a small child, I reply, ¡°Yeeeeees, I did. Got a name to go with that pink afterglow?¡± ¡°¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡± ¡°Mab.¡± ¡°Pffft. Hahaha!¡± I sputter and laugh a minute. ¡°Like Queen Mab, of the faeries? Shakespeare?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how you knew I was a queen, but I do not know of this¡­ Shakespeare.¡± Mab fluttered around my head a few times. ¡°Now that we are introduced, we can bond and then we can leave this sewer. That rumbling is making me¡­ anxious.¡± I stare incredulously at Mab for a moment. ¡°Bond? Listen, while I¡¯m not completely sure what that means to you, I¡¯m a widow and I¡¯m still mourning my lost wife and unborn child. No ¡®bonding¡¯ for me, thank you very much!¡± Mab flies in front of my face and stops, flaring a darker pink. ¡°Imbecile, it¡¯s to finalize the guide contract we were supposed to initialize after you arrived. But you had to go all barbarian and slaughter thousands of undead and apparently piss off a dragon of all things. Accept the prompt so we can be on our way, moron.¡±
Mab has initiated The Guide Contract - accept? Y/N
¡°¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¡± With all the splashing and rumbling heading our way and not even the slightest bit eager to tangle with the denizens of the undead again or Fr?nir, I sigh and accept. Cue pretty and dazzling light show. A noticeable aura of power surrounds both of us for a moment, then flickers away after an arm sized band appears to join us. ¡°Thank you, now we can head to the hub for a proper bath and assessment. You stink so bad, I have no way to properly describe it.¡± Mab utters daintily with a sniff. Blinking in slight shock with my jaw partially opened and eyes partially crossed. ¡°I better not have married you.¡± Those were my last words on this planet that day. Chapter Seven Rev. 1.0 Pulsating light blinding my eyes, screeching white noise assaulting my ears. A sudden flash and I''m standing in what looks like a futuristic room with metal walls. I blink a few times and take a few steps forward, then fall to my hands and knees. ¡°Blarg!¡± Projectile vomit away! Mab practically teleports away from me. ¡°That is revolting! Why can''t I have a normal guide contract!?¡± Wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I turn to Mab, ¡°Well if you would have warned me we would be traveling via disco ball at a trance festival, I could have braced my guts for the rising rebellion.¡± ¡°You humans, always so demanding. Take, take, whine, grumble, pout!¡± I shake my head and chuckle, ¡°Do you even listen to yourself? Take that brush and paint your species with it as well.¡± I''ve finally gotten my legs under me, leaning on one of the metal walls. A hissing sound catches both of our attention, we turn and brace for trouble. Yes, we. Little Mab flew over to above my head, ready to juke in the event of projectiles. Whether she has any offensive capability, I¡¯ll only hope to find out later. The hissing sound is the sliding door system opening and admitting a smartly dressed man in an adult, nylon looking onesie. Mainly white, with gold trimming and no noticeable seam. No hat, but a small gadget on his right ear with a visor going over his right eye. At least he isn¡¯t a red shirt. ¡°Welcome to th- What is that disgusting smell?!¡± Whatever greeting he was going to give was thwarted by my awe-inspiring BO. ¡°Lieutenant Scott, I¡¯ve found my Contract and need to get him cleaned up. Would you mind getting us a room where we can clean up and discuss the situation?¡± Mab saves the day as I can only stare and try not to laugh. ¡°Yes, your highness. Private Mann will escort you to your rooms.¡± Said Private saluted and started to head towards our designated room. I follow, while holding in a chuckle, eager for an hour long soak in a giant bathtub. A shower will do, but it¡¯s been almost half a year since I¡¯ve had a decent bath. Deployment to Japan for Ops training spoiled me something fierce when it came to bathing. I love me some onsen. I can hear Lt. Scott as we head down the hallway, ¡°...nd get this room sanitized ASAP! We can¡¯t have any other dignitary show up with the room in this condition.¡± I guess I made an impression with my amazing stench and vomit puddle. After traversing down several hallways and what I think is an upward direction on a lift or futuristic elevator, we arrive at another set of unremarkable doors that I¡¯m guessing are our quarters. How do people navigate in all this dreary monotony? Seriously, there is next to nothing that can be used to identify the hallways and rooms. Maybe I need an aid or something, like their fancy eyepiece with colored lense that registers over 9k. ¡°The bathroom is down the hall, that way. Throw your clothes in the bin by the door, those nasty things need to be incinerated.¡± Mab orders with a degree of majesty while fluttering around a smaller home-like layout near the ceiling of the massive room. I stop before entering the hall, ¡°I¡¯m rather partial to these. They¡¯re comfortable, with lots of pock-¡± Mab cuts me off, rather rudely. ¡°No, they are soiled beyond an industrial cleaning. Just toss them and I¡¯ll order you some new ones. You certainly have the credits for new clothes if you beat the world quest.¡± ¡°Mab.¡± My reply is flat and without emotion, ¡°There is only one person that shops for me besides myself and she¡¯s dead. Don¡¯t push me on this, you will not like where it goes. Just talk me through what needs to be done while I clean up. I need to take a look at what I¡¯ll be dealing with now anyway. You are supposed to guide me, right?¡± Slightly subdued, she acquiesces as I make my way into the bathroom. Huge! Like my own personal onsen, with water in the bath already steaming away. I shuck my stained and nasty clothes, as Mab requested. Going to miss those, they¡¯ve been with me since I got here¡­ Yup, best to burn them. Thinking about Mab a moment, I¡¯m grateful she doesn¡¯t have a really high pitched young girl voice. That would drive me nuts. She¡¯s about the size of a baseball, with what looks like fairy wings. I could be mistaken, since she¡¯s a flying night light and all. Maybe one day she¡¯ll turn off the glow and I¡¯ll be able to see if she has anything approaching a human figure. Just... tinier. While I¡¯m not crazy about sitting still after dealing with the frozen time status, the background music is soothing and appeals to a calm mind. After scrubbing myself raw, I take a few moments to check on the shape of my body. No other scars or scraps than what I re-entered into the customization screen way back when. I¡¯m a little leaner than before with pretty good muscle tone, but I don¡¯t look emaciated from lack of sustenance. My hair could use a cut though, it¡¯s gone all shaggy and long. Definitely in need of a shave too. Shrugging, I sink blissfully into the hot bath with a contented sigh. ¡°Finally in the bath?¡± I hear Mab from the other side of the door. ¡°Yup, come on in.¡± Being in the military, you lose your sense of shame in a hurry or be ridiculed for it - fiercely. Mab buzzes in through a smaller entry above the door I through, flitting about the room for a perch. Getting comfortable, she starts in on the lecture. ¡°When you are in a safe zone or a hub, you can access the Shop. Just say aloud or think Shop and you should get a screen pop up with what is available to you. Delivery is free to the room you are staying in so long as the item in question is available at the store you have accessed.¡± ¡°Before that though,¡± Mab interjects before I can finish processing the Shop info, ¡°Send me your stats so I can take a look at what I¡¯m dealing with and offer any advice to you.¡± ¡°Uhh.¡± I stall for a moment, trying to figure out in my head how to do that. Giving up, ¡°How do I do that?¡± ¡°Of course, you¡¯ve been crashing around like some drunk behemoth while in world XZ-545. Think status and poke your finger through the window, then swish it at me. Think about sharing it with me.¡± Mab calmly explained, surprising me a bit as I figured she¡¯d lord it over me for not knowing something everyone should. I quickly pull up the notes real quick and add the planet name to it so I don¡¯t forget it. The epic quest did pique my interest after all, but I¡¯m sincerely hoping Fr?nir isn¡¯t the cause. ¡°Also, you can share any screen you have access to with anyone you give permission to view it. You just say or think ¡®I give permission¡¯.¡± She continues to explain as I take a moment to stare at my new stats. Something obviously changed. ¡°Since we are Contracted, I already have permission, but you still need to send it to me to look at.¡± You could hear the capitol C when she said contracted. I swish the status screen at her after perusing it. My stats and experience went up, but my level did something funky.
Name:Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 1 (37) Exp: 721,124 To next lvl: 19,876
Race: Human Stat points: 185
HP: 980 MP: 1060 SP: 1030
HP Regen/min 49 MP Regen/min 53 SP Regen/min 51.5
Strength: 81 Agility: 92 Intelligence: 86
Endurance: 84 Dexterity: 99 Wisdom: 66
Charisma: 62 Luck: 2
¡°Why did my level go back to one?¡± I ask in a confused tone. ¡°Hmm.¡± Mab starts flitting about, her version of pacing the room I suppose. ¡°You¡¯re stats are really good for what they are. To answer your question; since you have not spent your stat points, the system will not recognize you as level thirty seven. For most people who observe you, they will only see your name and level one. In low population worlds, that isn¡¯t an issue. On hubs and high populations worlds, you may be hunted for a perceived low level.¡± ¡°I¡¯m honestly not sure how to take that. Even in this fantastical game world, there are still player killers.¡± I slowly shake my head in dismay. ¡°System?¡± ¡°Player killers? No, just killers.¡± Mab explains. ¡°People kill people all the time. All races do it, for one reason or another. Whether greed or religion, there is always a reason or justification for killing others.¡± With that bit of philosophy shared, my mind is put back at ease. People are people, after all. Nothing special changed when ¡®migrating¡¯ over. No special rules or limitations were in place, other than normal law and order. I was half afraid this ¡®system¡¯ would collar things like that, not to say I¡¯m going to go on a killing spree. Definitely a weight off my mind there though. ¡°The system is what we call the screens you see, as well as everything that comes with it. Level, experience, actual stats for physical and mental ability. The strangest two, when they were encountered, were both charisma and luck. Not really quantifiable if you really think about it, but there it is.¡± Mab was fairly absent minded as she explained that bit. Wonder why. ¡°Good to know, thank you Mab.¡± I imagine there will be a lot of ¡®thank yous¡¯ handed out, but information about the unknown is priceless to me at the moment. ¡°Now, what¡¯s the deal with the jobs? During the migration, I noticed that there really wasn¡¯t a limitation of which I could choose from. Are they fancy titles or is there meaning to them?¡± Back to more important questions! ¡°Very astute question, Gram.¡± Slight praise, maybe she¡¯ll be a decent partner after the dust settles. Always good to have someone watch your back. ¡°Jobs accrue experience, just like your stats do when actions are completed pertaining to that job. The more actions taken for the job, the better the perks gained from it.¡± Fidgeting in the tub a moment, I think of how to ask my next question. While I did a lot of scavenging, there wasn¡¯t a lot of taking orders or completing missions accomplished in XZ-545 - Now dubbed Zombie world, since the designation is bland and hard to remember. Pre-emptively, I think skills. A window pops up that¡¯s totally blank. Narrowing my eyes, I sight on Mab and ask, ¡°My skills window is blank. Any reason for that?¡± ¡°Toss it here and I¡¯ll take a look.¡± Putting words to action, I swipe it over to her. She makes speculative sounds as she looks at the screen. ¡°It¡¯s not blank, you are just unable to see it for some reason.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s just funderful. The system hates me so much it¡¯s hiding my own skills and perks from me.¡± I tilt my head back on the rest and put an arm over my eyes. Mab stops and hover in place. ¡°Why would you think the system hates you?¡± ¡°You mean besides the snarky comments, no experience gains, or loot from completed quests?¡± I ask her like she should know while settling my eyes on her. ¡°Back when I got here, I think I accidentally turned off the notifications. So I half thought this was all a bad fever dream, except that it took over three months. Too long for a nightmare.¡± I shudder, something like that would suck, bad. ¡°Then I happen to say status while complaining out loud. Enter snarky comments galore in my thousands of blue screen notifications.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever heard of snarky comments from the system. Maybe it¡¯s a Migrant thing? We¡¯ll ask if we come across any others.¡± She sounded so sure of herself. I honestly enjoyed the snark, I just don¡¯t like the hiding of things. Especially the hiding of my things. She goes back to flying about the room again, muttering and making odd sounds. Turning to me (I think she did?), ¡°You do have skills, perks, and even a few abilities. I can see them plain as sol-light. What¡¯s odd is every time I go to tell you what they are, I get a system message that states it¡¯s part of your quest and not to share them with you. You have a quest like that?¡± She started slowly but sped up near the end there. Pulling up quests, I see nothing other than for Zombie world and I tell her as much. ¡°So mysterious! I like mysteries. I wanted so badly to be a detective when growing up, but obviously that didn¡¯t work out.¡± Excited turns to whining real quick. I wonder if I need to watch her around sugar or make sure she doesn¡¯t get any at all. ¡°Back to the jobs, the perks and stats bonus per level are both really good for you. Especially if you want to make it a profession.¡± Back to Fantasy Haven 101. ¡°To answer the unasked question, a profession is combining several jobs into one. This allows more stat gains per level and gives access to rare, legendary, or even unique perks. But you have to qualify for it by having the requisite perks gained from each job you are wanting to join and have a competence with said perks and job class.¡± If Mab had arms and legs she would have taken lecture pose #4. ¡°A perk, or perquisite as it¡¯s formally called, is a beneficial increase to a skill or skills. A skill is an ability that can be learned from someone and taught to another person. An ability, while not limited or unique, is a talent or skill that cannot be learned or taught. Extremely rare, almost viewed as legendary, barely a quarter of the universal population has one or will be able to get one. The percentage of people is likely lower, but I¡¯m not an expert in who all has or will get one. The Archivists record any and all they can, while trying to determine the full capabilities and limitations of said ability. Quite fascinating really.¡± And it was. While a large info dump, it was very informative and useful. She was either asked about this often enough to include it all together or she figured out I was going to ask. Either way, win for me. ¡°Before I get too pruney and wrinkled from the bath, guide me through the buying of stuffs?¡± The only reason I¡¯m asking is more for her sake. The room is comfortably temperature controlled, so I would walk around nude if she wasn¡¯t present. ¡°Can do!¡± Back to hyperactive. ¡°First, think inventory so you know how much you have to spend. Then I¡¯ll guide you through buying clothes and selling anything you don¡¯t want hanging around your inventory.¡± Nodding, I think inventory. Typical blue screen pops up, giving a large grid system filled with an extreme amount of things. My eyes bulge a bit and Mab notices. ¡°If you have a lot of items, there is an auto-sort feature at the top right you can select. It¡¯ll stack similar items and then sort by importance and rarity.¡± ¡°Thanks Mab.¡± Sorted, now there isn¡¯t an innumerable amount of junk cluttering up my display. Items stack at one hundred per similar item, so that could be useful. Not interested in the junk I¡¯ve collected yet, I look questioningly at Mab. ¡°Oh, right. Your credits total should be on the top left.¡± Glancing there, I tilt my head to the side. That can¡¯t be right, too many digits. ¡°You sure Mab? Cause that number looks too big. What is a credit worth or give me a good comparison?¡± Skeptical is how I¡¯m feeling at the moment. ¡°Yes, yes, that¡¯s where it¡¯s at. A credit is worth¡­ eh, that would take way too long and take an extreme amount of history and explaining to fully understand. Hmm¡­¡± Back to the flying around the room again. Definitely sure that it¡¯s her version of pacing. ¡°So it¡¯s like this: a normal person earns an average of one to two thousand credits in a month. A loaf of bread is worth about five credits, a poor quality shirt is worth about thirty credits, a decent steel sword is worth about six hundred credits¡­ Does that give you a good baseline?¡± I nod slowly. One last thing to check, then I¡¯ll know if I¡¯m decently well off or just an average joe. ¡°What is a house worth?¡± ¡°Weeell. There are factors to consider; like the safety of the world, the location in said world, and the overall size of the house and land. There are more factors, but that should be a decent start.¡± Take lecture pose #7. ¡°So a mostly safe planet, about fifty acres equivalent of land, a decent sized lake, and the house being two stories tall with eight rooms and a nice bathing area. That would run about 125,000 credits. Now tell me how much you have!¡± Should I be honest with her? She hasn¡¯t done anything overt to earn my trust¡­ but then she hasn¡¯t really done anything to make me wary either. I swipe the screen to her and wait to see her reaction. I wasn¡¯t disappointed. ¡°What is this ridiculous number?! You have got to be kidding me! I¡¯m a freaking queen and barely make over a hundredth of that!¡± Cue melt down. Having a figure of 1,376,444 credits on my screen, I pull up the shop while she¡¯s off on her rabid tangent. Chapter Eight Rev. 1.0 Minutes later, Mab is still doing her tangent, while I''m stuck trying to understand the shop. It would seem that not all things are universal, written language being way different. ¡°Mab. Mab!¡± I actually have to yell to get her attention. ¡°I can''t read anything listed in the shop, what''s the deal?¡± Thankfully, she stopped her tantrum to help me. Who knew having more money than her would have made her go off the deep end like that. ¡°Oh yeah, the universal language chip. Here you go, accept so it''ll upgrade your nanos and you can get some clothes.¡± She swiped a screen to me:
Mab has sent a transaction request for - language upgrade. Do you accept? Y/N
I accept, yes. The world goes out focus for two seconds and then all is normal again. I pull the shop list up and I can read what''s listed! I make sure to jot a note about nanos for later. ¡°Thank you Mab. Now, is the shop supposed to look all busy like this? Are those ads intermingled with all the possible store options?¡± Like any man, I get a chill down my spine as I begin the dreaded shopping of clothes while around a female. I''m really glad the bath is still warm, that helps. ¡°That''s just other shops showcasing their deals on the main load screen. There are filters that can be added, but there are usually really good deals listed. Not many bother with the filters when they can save credits.¡± Shopping is universal, practically a Concept all by itself, good to know. I double check my credits as a habit, noting only one hundred was traded for the language mod. If it''s that easy, are there more? ¡°Mab, are there more mods like the language mod I can get?¡± ¡°Clothes first.¡± Nodding, I¡¯m able to read through and locate the search function. Thinking towards it, I do a search for male clothing and get a substantial return. Sighing, I just order a single set so I can get out of the bath soon. Brown shirt, pants, and briefs are binned and bought. Lounging clothes, cost me all of 58 credits. I didn''t get footwear since I saw some pink fuzzy slippers outside the bath. Those will be fine for now. A flag went up in my mind when I saw them, but it''s more subconscious frowning at them then conscious recognition. ¡°How long for delivery?¡± I don''t even get to fully finish before we hear a chime in the main room. ¡°Huh, is that them?¡± ¡°Yeppers, I''ll go get them.¡± And she''s off. Well that was stupid fast. Mab flits back in with a package almost as big as her, drops it and flies back out. ¡°I''ll be in my room, let me know if you have any questions!¡± She sing-songed down the hall. Dry off, get dressed in mostly fitting clothes, walk to the main room. There''s a big fluffy couch I plop on and bring back up the shop to look things over. I find out I can use multiple screens at the same time, which is good since I can''t seem to find scratch paper or anything to write on. Or write with, for that matter. With the notepad open to figuratively scribble down what I like, where it''s from, and the cost, I start browsing for my next set of combat gear. Keeping in mind my job of soldier and my past experience is spec ops, I look for clothes that let me blend in or will help me hide completely. Since I can''t access my perks or abilities for whatever reason, I can only guess at what skills or abilities come with the job. Clothes that provide a chameleon effect, activated blend-in-the-shadows or invisibility, sound dampening, odor eliminating, wall clinging, anything that¡¯ll give me an extra boost for tricky situations. There are shirts, shoes, pants, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, headbands, capes, cloaks, glasses, and even underwear that¡¯ll provide such boosted stats or skills. That¡¯s not including any actual armor to be placed over it all. On a lark, I check to see what the Shiny ring of Zombie Slaying would sell for. Hmm, nothing. It¡¯s a reputational ring awarded to me through the system. Cannot be given, traded, sold, or lost. Lost? ¡°Mab, question for you,¡± I make sure to raise my voice a bit so she can hear me. ¡°When an item says it cannot be lost, what does that mean?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t lose it if you die. It¡¯ll respawn with you. It¡¯s called Soul Bound and items with that ability are rare.¡± Her voice was muffled but discernible through her little cottage. Pulling up a search for Soul Bound items, nothing appears. Rare and likely high in demand, if they are sold at shops at all. ¡°Anything like a blackmarket or a place that sells goods most people would want to see or buy illegally?¡± ¡°... Yes, but I will not be showing you where it is or taking you there. It¡¯s a very dangerous place and they will likely kill you for being there. It¡¯s more of an ¡®invite¡¯ only type place and I don¡¯t have that kind of invitation.¡± She sounded slightly concerned as she explained. ¡°Thanks Mab!¡± Back to looking the shops over. Another flag popped up in the back of my mind, but did not make itself immediately known. I shrug and keep browsing. Since I know I have night vision, it is likely an ability or even a racial ability rather than a skill, I look for clothes and light armor with the camouflage and chameleon effects. I¡¯m working under the impression these skills will allow me to fully blend in regardless of lighting or environmental effects. I don¡¯t particularly like the idea of being in a position that would require medium or heavy armor, so light on my feet is the way to go. Thankfully, I can get my flak jacket back since it wasn¡¯t so filthy it was unrecoverable. That gives me a sense of familiarity and comfort. I¡¯ll need to see if it can be upgraded in the future. As I browse, I see a huge disparity in price between some of the selections I¡¯ve made. Taking a moment to really examine them, I see the much higher priced articles have bonuses to stats on top of the effect I¡¯m wanting. ¡°Mab, why are there stat bonuses on clothes?¡± ¡°Enchantment!¡± I blink. Blink again. ¡°Like runes and such? The ability to enchant something and positively affect it?¡± ¡°You got it!¡± I actually drool for a moment. ¡°Oh, I want me some of that! Mab, how do I get me some of that?!¡± Excited barely begins to describe my feelings at the moment. Like Christmas and my birthday as a child, all in one, multiplied by ten! This is the point where I learn this universe is much more advanced than mine ever was. Skills, modifications, fighting styles, techniques, crafting, and so much more at my disposal - just need credits for them. The only downside is that they won¡¯t be unique, so others can purchase the same and match you. If they have the monies to do so. With a slight smile on my face, I search for a laser sword. Just to see if they exist. My mother would have squealed like a schoolgirl if they exist, being a huge fan of the movies that had them. My father was always strangely supportive and pushed for this obsession with my mother. When I was old enough to finally ask why, he explained very seriously that it was so much better than her having a fixation on things that ¡®sparkle in the daylight¡¯. Whatever that means. Sadly, no such sexy laser beast exists. That would have been so broken, swing that laser sword and decimate the opposition. ¡®Wall or door blocking your way? Army of enemies obstructing your path to save the princess? Cut them all down with your handy, dandy, laser sword! Now in multiple colors!¡¯ Back to serious matters, I bin and buy two sets of the matching gear without the stat bonuses. I¡¯ve always been a bit thrifty and I want to see if I can learn and enchant things myself. The interesting side effect of a matched set is the bonus ¡®full concealment chameleon¡¯ effect it grants. This way, I¡¯m not mostly blending in with my feet or head exposed.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Boots of Hidden Clinging Flight: Light weight armor, adds the skills Cling and Increased Movement speed 25%. Black, Armor rating +5
Cargo Pants of Concealment: Light weight armor, adds the skill Chameleon. Dark green, Armor rating +12
Steel Back-Plate Gloves of Hiding Spider Cling: Light weight armor, adds the skill Cling. Black, Armor rating +5
Padded Long Sleeved Shirt of Concealment: Light weight armor, adds the skill Chameleon. Camo-patterned dark green, Armor rating +5
Horrible naming sense, but it is effective at getting an idea of what each does without closely reading the effects. Both sets of equipment sets cost me just shy of 8k credits. I¡¯ve got plenty left to spend, though I keep in mind to set aside at least 20k for emergencies and travel. I pull up my equipment screen to take a look at my weapons, being uncertain if I¡¯ll need to buy new ones or not.
Unique Artifact Handgun (pair): Infinite ammunition - JHP. Ammo and handgun can both be enchanted.This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used
Good grief. No way am I getting rid of these, even if I wanted to. The ¡®system killer¡¯ tag has me more than a little worried, but I do like that physics is applied rather than an arbitrary number damage system for these damage dealers. Simply put, if I shoot a mob in the foot, they will lose mobility but not immediately die. They might eventually bleed out, but not immediately die. Headshots, heart shots, or other such critical damage will cause immediate termination - if penetration and critical functional damage occurs. Example: If the mob has an armor rating of +60 to their helmet and I land a headshot, if the helmet isn¡¯t at least quarter inch steel then it will be an immediate one shot kill. For this instance, armor rating helps but it¡¯s the material the helmet is made of that will determine the efficacy of my bullets. The bullet was able to penetrate the helmet, thus it would be like a large hammer blow to a watermelon. If the helmet was steel or a stouter metal, then it may incapacitate them or knock them out, but it will not penetrate or be immediately fatal. If I shoot their arm or leg and their armor is not at least steel, I just wrecked wherever I shot them. If the limb isn¡¯t torn off, there should be enough internal damage that they will not be able to use said limb. Not immediately fatal, but they might bleed out if they¡¯re not finished off and they don¡¯t receive aid of some type.
Monofilament Garrote Wire: Extremely capable of removing heads or limbs. +15 physical armor penetration
Hmm. As this is more of a tool rather than an actual weapon, so it makes sense why it does not have a damage rating. Still gets the job done though.
Steel Knife: Standard cutting and stabbing knife. +45 base physical damage, +10 physical armor penetration. Capable of being enchanted.
Boo, need better cutting implements if these guys are standard.
Steel Survival Knife: Hollow handle allows for storage of survival necessities. +55 base physical damage, +10 physical armor penetration. Capable of being enchanted.
Always need a survival knife. I¡¯ll look to see if there is a better one, but this one hasn¡¯t failed me yet. Last, but not certainly not least, the flak jacket!
Flak Jacket: +20 armor rating. Camo green.
Having an idea how she¡¯ll react, I mischievously call out, ¡°Hey Mab? What¡¯s an artifact?¡± She bolts out of the tiny home so fast I expect a sonic boom and appears before me. ¡°Where?! Where did you find an Artifact?! Is it for sale?! Can you lend me money to buy it?!¡± I laugh, a deep belly-aching full body laugh. ¡°Fine! Be a jerk, I¡¯ll look myself!¡± I think I made her a little upset. Calming down, I pull the gun from my inventory to show her. ¡°This is what I¡¯m asking you about Mab. Don¡¯t be upset.¡± She hovers over it, moving side-to-side trying to examine it from all angles. ¡°Send me the screen on it.¡± She all but demands me. I swish the screen to her and she does something I never would have expected. She fainted. The light pink glow that suffused her winked out and she started to fall to the ground. Time slows as my eyes dilate, I gauge her vector and my hand is below her before she falls an inch. Gently, I move her beside me on the couch and set her on the pillow. I take a moment to examine her without being creepy about it. Her basic figure is likened to an elf; just a miniaturized, one foot tall version. Attractive and regal facial features with a slight upturned nose. Milk white skin, Elf-like ears, blonde hair with faint pink highlights that goes to her shoulders, fairy wings on her back. A simple white dress with a dipping back for her wings. No shoes. I don¡¯t check on the status of her pantsu, that¡¯s just all manner of perverted. This ain¡¯t no anime and I¡¯m sure as hell not some harem protagonist. I go back to looking at the shop, putting my gun away. Looking for the enchant skill, I find only one listing. 50k for that alone, but I buy it up with no hesitation. Not knowing what to expect, totally caught unaware, I kept on shopping when - suddenly, my mind becomes bombarded with all manner of information. I find out much later that what I¡¯m about to experience is not at all normal and completely unheard of. But I¡¯m unaware of that and consider it the norm for all transactions of similar purchase. Skills that can be purchased start processing after the transaction takes place. Memories that become mine as if I were the one learning. Years of study and experimentation pass by, then decades, then a few centuries. Nothing but the knowledge and experience of a master enchanter, from the start of their learning to their greatest masterpiece at their deathbed. It¡¯s all in my head now, as if I were the one who lived that life. The time piece next to Mab¡¯s little suite shows barely a few minutes passed while I processed all that accumulated knowledge and experience. I take a deep breath, hold it in to the count of ten, then let it out slow. I can now make master work level enchantments or expand on all that I¡¯ve learned through experimentation. Materials for the enchantment may be an issue, but with this skill I could make a very lucrative life for myself just enchanting for a living. From the accumulated memories, the lowest and most basic enchanter can make over 100k credits in a year. Taking their time and being picky about who they are enchanting for. Master work? I can likely bring in over 700k a year, depending on the complexity of the enchantments and the quality of the equipment. A simple ranking system is made for all crafting. Rank one is the lowest, rank ten is mastery. Hungry for more, I start searching for more knowledge. Runes, smithing, leatherwork, metallurgy, jewel craft, clothier, physiology of the myriad races. I took the time to purchase martial ability techniques and skills, learning a conglomeration of close quarters combat, sword, spear, knife, and bow. The martial masteries were based on only a few styles each, but were refined to such a high level that they each personified amazing grace and extreme destructive ability. There were no listings for guns, which was more than slightly odd. Shrugging, I make sure I haven¡¯t pissed away the day. Barely thirty minutes have passed since I started my shopping spree. Mab is still passed out on the cushion beside me, my body isn¡¯t telling me to eat or take care of other bodily functions. I check back over my notes to determine how much I¡¯ve spent and note that the enchanting skill was the highest cost by far. All the others were barely totaling in at 20k. I crack my knuckles and get back to it, knowledge is power after all. Having seen the amount of wood used for damn near most of the equipment, I make sure to add the woodworking skill to my list. Having seen a dragon, I start to look up lore on mythological beings and magic. Finding several skills for both of those, I add that to the bundle and hit the big purchase button. Mab finally stirs as I finish processing the mess I just purchased. Yawning in a cute manner, she sits and stretches up. ¡°Welcome back, little lady. Have a decent nap?¡± She gaps at me, jaw down and eyes comically wide. I chuckle and am about to get back to shopping when she finishes recalling recent events. ¡°You have a fucking artifact and you didn''t think to mention it to me?!¡± Fluffy light pink cloud takes form again and she''s off! Zipping around the room, roaring in fury and indignation. This continues for about five minutes while I sit back and watch her. ¡°...and another thing! Why haven''t you said anything this entire time?¡± I shrug and reply, ¡°What would you have me say? I didn''t think it was a big deal and I am still learning the what''s what in this universe. If I knew everything right from the get go, would I need a guide at all?¡± Not quite a rhetorical question, but she gets my meaning as she hovers back to the cushion next to me. She''s quiet for a few moments, then says, ¡°I won''t apologize for what i said, but I will apologize for how I said it. That was extremely rude and I''m sorry.¡± I only nod and thank her. Pulling the shop back up, I ask, ¡°Suggestions for what else I''ll need, oh magnanimous guide of mine?¡± She starts her mid-air pacing anew. ¡°General introduction to magic, purchase a few basic spells to learn in order to get experience spell casting, maybe a basic craft to pick up as you experience the Haven. What else¡­¡± she starts muttering to herself as she buzzes around. ¡°Grabbed the intro to magic, figured it¡¯d be useful.¡± I can¡¯t help but interrupt. Mab nods and continues on, deep in thought. I smile a bit when she mentioned picking up a basic craft. That''ll be a big surprise for her when she finds out I''m a master level enchanter now. Even says so on my skills, which is another weird thing. The way she acted, you should only be introduced to it, not become a master at it. Yet another flag raised. ¡°What job or designation were you in your old world?¡± Simple enough to answer. ¡°After ten years of mandatory education, I was drafted into my worlds military and proceeded to a special operations unit. I was a professional soldier for twelve years. So, I didn¡¯t change my job at all.¡± Sobering when I vocalized my duration in service. I didn''t fully realize the length of time I''d spent in the army. ¡°Whoa, seriously? Is that why you had all those scars? That''s amazing!¡± She''s perhaps a bit TOO impressed with my service record. ¡°I''d like to think I did a damn good job and I take pride in serving.¡± I reply while looking at her with a slight smirk on my lips. ¡°I wish I had more soldiers like you, we would be much better off with proudly serving and dedicated troops in our military.¡± I get a prompt, but reject it before fully reading it. I already told her I''m not in any physical or mental state to be cleaning up others shit through fucking bullshit quests. I''m not going to be their gopher or whipping boy. While she goes back to muttering and flying, I turn the shop back on and check for more theoretical information I can use. I come across engineering and buy that up, as well as construction and architecture. Maybe I''ll build a plane or flying saucer one day. Maybe even try for a laser sword. Because, why not? Chapter Nine Rev. 1.0 I wake up to an angrily growling stomach. I slowly take stock of my surroundings, trying to figure out when or how I fell asleep. Nothing appears to be missing or out of place, so I put it out of my mind as I get up and try to figure out how to tame my growling beast of a stomach. ¡°Guess I didn¡¯t eat much yesterday.¡± I yawn, stop by the bathroom for my morning constitutional, then head to the kitchen to hopefully figure out how to get or make food. I glance at the timepiece as I walk towards the food station. ¡°Mab, you awake?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s about time, sleepy head. I was half afraid you died and I¡¯d have to figure out how to get your decaying corpse out of here.¡± So cheerful and supportive. I may yet grow fond of her. ¡°You say the nicest things Mab. Now, I need food. How do I do this?¡± I¡¯m half expecting a smart ass reply to my question. Getting food proves to be simple. Push this, yank that, twist that dial, and viola! Porridge. Seriously, porridge. Mab must be trolling me. ¡°This it? I was hoping for something more substantial. Like meat and potatoes or eggs and ham.¡± ¡°Well why didn¡¯t you saaaay so?¡± She giggles. Yup, definitely trolling me. She shows me the menu, which shows me how to get what I want. After satisfying the monster that is my belly, I take a quick shower and put on my new duds. They have an auto fit feature for first time use, which makes it uber nice. No going to the tailor or sewing it up myself. I also note that the items I¡¯m wearing can be quickly swapped for other gear or layered. My inner gamer rubs his hands in glee at all the ¡®macros¡¯ I can set or more commonly, quick switching gear that¡¯s been preset depending on the situation. With my seemingly unlimited storage space, I can be a walking armory. Outfitted in my new gear, I walk into the main room. Mab¡¯s already waiting on me, having given me an overview of what she wants to get done today. Mission to assess my skill for the job class I have and maybe pick up a few nice things along the way. Remote rich planet, low risk, above average population. The goal? ¡°Just to be sure Mab, the only thing I need to worry about is taking an item at this Duke¡¯s main estate and not get caught?¡± I¡¯m very skeptical about this if you hadn¡¯t noticed. It seems like she¡¯s setting me up as a thief. But given my background, infiltrating and such should be easy. ¡°Yeppers, the Duke has acquired a rare fairy item he keeps locked in his trophy room. Sneak in, get it, sneak out. Can¡¯t be seen, get caught, don¡¯t bungle finding and retrieving the item, and get out without being seen and caught. Easy peasy.¡± A Fairy Queen said that. I give a laugh as we head to the transporter. ¡°Oh, before I forget again, Lt. Scott sent a message to me - he wants to have a chat with you. He¡¯s supposed to vet all new comers to the hub since he¡¯s in charge of security.¡± The glow stick absently states as she leads me down the tunnel. I jot a quick note down for this, I¡¯ll get to it when we get back. As we walk, I can¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Mab, are we going to discuss the events leading to our meeting? I mean, there was this ginormous dragon and all¡­¡± My thoughts continue to come back to the outrageous scenario I¡¯d intruded on. Massive dragon in an underground sewer that was surrounded by undead and could still move, albeit very slowly, while in what appeared to be a frozen in time moment. ¡°I honestly have no idea what you mean. You finally appeared before me and started to yell gibberish like a mad man. I thought I heard something echoing through the halls though. No idea what it was.¡± I¡¯m honestly speechless. She¡¯s either telling the truth or being willingly ignorant. Neither bodes well for me. I make a note to travel back and check. After all, it¡¯s not everyday you not only run into a dragon, but unload the equivalent of a small armies worth of jacketed hollow points at it. We finally walk into a room similar to where we arrived on the hub when Mab transported us. It could be the same room as well, they all look the same to me so it¡¯s hard to say. Without fanfare, Mab transports us to a new world. I had braced myself for the sudden teleport this time, so no projectile vomit from me! Blue skies stretch across the horizon, a single sun glaring down from above. Green grass like a carpet spread all over the ground, trees in full vigor of health swaying gently in a breeze. I would think this is my planet if not for my fairy guide and the wooden cottage village down in a small valley a distance away. ¡°Right then, here are a few things I should have given you when we arrived at the hub. We got sidetracked though, better late than never.¡± Mab hastily sends me a prompt to trade.
Mab has initiated a trade with you! Trade: Reconnoiter eyepiece, Facemask (of the Ashura), Belt of Onkyo. Trade for 1 Credit?
That¡¯s a no brainer, those sound pretty cool. Accepting, I pull up the description of each item;
Reconnoiter Eyepiece: Attaches to ear and covers a single eye. Will allow for translation of written and spoken languages not known, allows verbal and visual communication between paired devices. This item will aid in the discovery of hidden items or areas, be able to determine the honesty of a person, help to properly gauge the strength of the observed, and give you a cool and classy look of a race long extinct. Clear lense and matte black exterior. Cannot be stolen or looted.
Facemask (of the Ashura): Protects face from being seen. When equipped, the user will have no issues with breathing, smelling, or sight limitations. Becomes clear to the user while obstructing any discernible features of the wearer. (Warning! Cursed item, use with caution.)
Belt of Onkyo: Allows the skill Sound Dampening. Agi +5, Dex +5, +2 to Armor rating
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Uhhh, Mab?¡± I won''t lie, I¡¯m more than a little nervous about having a cursed item in my inventory. ¡°Why did you give me a cursed item?¡± Mab is suddenly still, then slowly turns towards me. ¡°Gram, I am a lot of things, but I don¡¯t try to kill my Contracted. Now that you know this, why do you think I gave you a cursed item?¡± She doesn¡¯t know. Maybe that¡¯s why the parenthesis around the cursed part? I pull out the mask and swipe the description screen to Mab. ¡°I¡¯ll assume you¡¯re not pulling a joke and ask the obvious, again - why do you think this is cursed? I see nothing to that effect listed here.¡± I tilt my head in confusion. ¡°Not even the info in the parenthesis of the screen I swiped you?¡± ¡°No, Gram. I¡¯m still not seeing anything like that.¡± She replies in the negative. She¡¯s becoming more agitated, which is causing me to react the same. Looking over the facemask, I think it may be tied to all the skills I¡¯ve picked up recently. I start closely examining every little bit of the mask, trying to figure out why I would be getting that kind of notification when she doesn¡¯t. I¡¯ve already equipped the eyepiece and belt, so neither of those items allowed for this information to be made available to me. I glance back at Mab while pointing to my eyepiece, ¡°You have one of these too?¡± ¡°Yes. Are we going to conclude this insult to me or are you going to drag it out longer?¡± Wow, she¡¯s really getting upset about this. Flipping the mask over, so it looks as if I were going to put it on, I start to move my face closer to inspect it. When it¡¯s close enough to my face to look like I¡¯m about to place it there, a rune starts to shine in a nasty purple/red about where the forehead would be once on. ¡°Mab, fly close to my face and look at this.¡± I¡¯m examining the rune and digging through my accumulated knowledge about them. Mab flies closer and with a gasp, she notices the lit rune. ¡°Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! I¡¯msosorry!¡± She talks so fast it all blends together. The rune is a dark madness rune, designed to slowly warp the users mentality to - you guessed it, genocidal mania. The user won¡¯t notice anything, as it¡¯s a slow acting conversion and pollution of the spirit and mentality. Morals and ethics will corrode and they begin sliding down the slippery slope to casual killing and madness. ¡°No worries Mab, I caught it before it became an issue. Sorry if I insulted you, I was genuinely curious is all.¡± I¡¯m sincere in my statement. No harm, no foul. I pull the mask away from my face. The rune goes dormant. I charge my finger with mana and strike the rune with an almost sideways slash. The rune appears again, a dull blood-red with a line through it where my finger went. I smudge the rest of the rune off since it¡¯s just ink or blood now. All is right again. Re-examining the mask shows the cursed status went away. I pop it back into inventory since I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be good to equip it now. That bit of drama done, we mosey on to our destination for my ¡®mission¡¯. A few hours pass as we casually head to the cottages I saw in the distance. Turns out that the valley was deeper than I thought and the cottages were just the outskirts to a fairly large city. Walls that span about 5 meters in height made of sturdy stone, it all looks like the beginning of a castle city or capital for the area. There were no travelers on the path we were taking. Said path is well worn from travel, so it¡¯s not as if we are trail blazing cross country to the city. Birds and insects twitter and chirp, I see sectioned land plots full of varied crops next to the road and in the distance. This is a nice rural area, though my guard is never lowered. This is a fantasy world, bandits and other cutthroats are a thing. Let¡¯s not forget that I¡¯m in an unknown area with what amounts to a large number of potential hostiles. Yeah, no. Not letting my guard down. Nuh-uh. Nope. No way. Traffic into the city through the gate is not stopped for inspection. There must not be any wars or battles or such to have them on higher alert for spies and the like. The guards are all in shiny heavy plate with helmets. The visors up for better field of vision. The chatter and bustle of the city can be heard well before entering the gate. The gate itself spans about 5 meters wide and arches up to the top to allow a greater flow of traffic. Heavy wooden doors are on the outside, being able to swing in towards the city for extra structural support against invaders. It¡¯s much harder to try to pull than push when attempting a quick entry after all. A smattering of wood and stone buildings all around. Streets filled with people, refuse, horse dung, and that¡¯s a drunk man pissing on the wall. Lovely. Either plumbing doesn¡¯t exist here or they don¡¯t care about hygiene. I look closer at peoples clothing, noting their poor make and ragged appearance. All of them appear human. Simple folk, from a time likened to the dark ages of my world. Wonder if a plague is on the way to ravage these unprepared or uncaring villagers. A prompt appears and I decline without reading it, I¡¯m not doing any quests here right now - thank you not. It was either mid-morning or late afternoon when we arrive, but it looks like the day is ending since the sun is setting. That¡¯s good, I don¡¯t really want to spend any more time here than necessary. I keep following Mabs lead, looking around as we go. Casually, Mab flits closer to my ear a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll be showing you where your target is located. I figured it would be good for you to take in the sights as we go, for any plans you may come up with latter.¡± It¡¯s a good thing she¡¯s practically whispering in my ear, talk like that could land us in a heap of trouble I¡¯d rather not have to deal with. The Duke resides in a manor near the city center. I large three storied manor, that sits almost dead center of the equivalent of a city block. Stone walls almost as tall as the city walls cover the perimeter. Fancy pants either inherited it or made major moves to gain property like this. We walk past an open gate, not slowing in the slightest. I glance inside, a casual look of a sightseer walking the town. It was a long enough look to see the sprawling open yard with only the occasional knee high hedge or planted flowers. I guess he¡¯s not a fan of trees or he¡¯s savvy enough to limit cover and hiding spots for infiltrators or thieves. A few squads of guards look to patrol the grounds. I manage to see three groups, with four guards in heavy plate in each group. Likely more behind and inside the building. The manor has numerous tall windows on all sides that I can see, on each floor. If they are left unlocked, that¡¯ll be an easy means of entry. Mab didn¡¯t tell me where the trophy room was and asking now will only start trouble. We continue on, sightseeing the city. It¡¯s really a decent size, covering an estimated two and a half square kilometers or a little less than a square mile. Truly impressive for the technology level and the poor hygiene of the people in this place. I¡¯d figure the population would be much lower due to higher sickness. Guess I¡¯m missing something. We stop at a tavern, I don¡¯t even pay attention to the name. I find a seat by the fireplace. Chatter and cheer, people drinking and eating, crammed around tables or standing by the walls, all over the main floor. Steps leading up to a second floor are near the back of the tavern. A long bar table takes up most of the back where the stairs are at. A barkeep is taking orders and cleaning wooden mugs behind the bar with a trained casual air about him. Several waitresses jaunt about with platters held above their heads, wearing simples dresses that show a surprising amount of cleavage. Likely to sell more. One of those waitresses takes my order of an ale and returns shortly. I take a sip, making sure to keep a decent poker face on when the sour taste hits my tongue. I¡¯m not impressed. At all. Horrible quality beer is insulting to my palate. ¡°How will I pay for this?¡± I mutter at Mab, who¡¯s rotating around like a pinata during a child''s birthday. ¡°Just reach your hand into your inventory and think about how many credits you want to take.¡± Simple enough. I take my time and very slowly nurse the very unappealing ale. Blending in, taking in the sights, getting a gauge on the people. Good ole reconnaissance. The sun sets, I pay my tab with a tip and a smirk. Nothing I overheard really caught my interest, mostly being gossip or discussing the coming harvest. The ale was too weak to even faze my ability to function, so I don¡¯t have to worry about sobering up. We leave, slipping out just as more people start clamoring inside. We meander back to the area the Duke resides. The houses in the area are single story tall to as high as three stories tall. Using the chameleon skills for all my clothes and the cling skills of my gloves and boots, I shimmy up the side of a three story building not far from my target location. The boots and gloves activate through will, so I¡¯m not constantly sticking to things everytime I touch them. It took a bit of trial and error to make sure I can climb up without falling on my ass if I get slightly distracted. The chameleon effect was the same way, though it would be funny to have only partially hidden parts. It¡¯d make a great party gag. As each skill is part of a shared enchantment, they each draw from my SP pool. Because of that, there is a constant drain on my SP. When all enchantments are activated, I consume more SP than I replenish per minute so I need to make sure I don¡¯t run out. I half figured it¡¯d draw from the MP pool, but I won¡¯t complain much since my SP pool is only slightly the lesser of the two. I spend the next four hours quietly traversing the rooftops surrounding the the Dukes place, paying attention to the guard rotation and patrol path. More habit than anything else, I imagine I will have little problem with the clothes I¡¯m wearing and skills they provide. I also become used to using my enchantments on the move and gauge the amount of SP is consumed by them so I don¡¯t run out or get myself in a bind. I slip on the face mask and turn to Mab. ¡°I¡¯m about to begin, anything you need to tell me?¡± ¡°Nope, just don¡¯t be seen or caught. I¡¯ll be able to see and hear all that you do. I¡¯ll be silent except for when something needs to be said, so act like I¡¯m not even available for this. I want to see what you are capable of.¡± With her piece said, she zooms off to the extraction point while dimming her flashlight effect. I¡¯m glad she didn¡¯t want to be flare in the night sky, giving everyone who looks a means of easily tracing her trajectory. Watching her for a minute or two after she leaves, I shake myself and prepare for some good old infiltration - also known as criminal trespass. Chapter Ten Rev. 1.0 With a running start, I make my way off the building I¡¯m on. I run down the wall, across the street, up the wall to the Dukes property, and then I¡¯m inside. I don¡¯t stop running, activating my sounds dampening to limit the noise I make as I sprint towards the manor. I¡¯ve timed it right, I run a straight path between two of the roving patrols. Up the wall and avoiding windows, I head for the roof. It¡¯ll give me a chance to determine if I was spotted, recover my spent SP, and scout for any rooftop access I couldn¡¯t see from the distance. The roof has a flat center sitting or recreation area, arches from the roof and windows make the rest of the rooftop. Luckily, there is a rooftop access. I slow and drop my enchantments, the sound dampening being the last I stop. I don¡¯t see any hidden traps and my eyepiece confirms it. No outcry or alarm goes up, so no one spotted me make my entrance. I check the roof hatch that¡¯ll let me into the manor proper. Locked, of course. My shit luck couldn¡¯t let this be too easy. Fortunately, the hinge is on the outside and it¡¯s basic in construction. I take one of my knifes and pull the hinge bolts out so I can yank the door off. Barely any noise made, I glance inside to make sure there wasn¡¯t a guard waiting for me. Empty hallway, no one present. I slip inside, setting the access door back into place to prevent obvious cause for alarm. I remain still and count to thirty in my head, calmly checking if there is anyone heading my way or active. No noticeable sounds of movement, I think I¡¯m in the clear. Since I¡¯m not being timed, I¡¯ll search room by room to help my job possibly gain experience. A soldier has many facets, so I¡¯m hoping that my infiltration ability will be added to. I¡¯m also going to liberate any shiny I come across, which should help with the experience and financial gains as well. The hallway cuts through the middle of the manor, rooms located up and down the hall. I¡¯m pretty much in the center of the house on the third floor, so I pick the closest room and slowly open it. The hinges make no noise, so they must oil them regularly. I peek my head in, no one present. Slipping through and leaving the door open a crack, I pull an empty can from inventory. Leftover supplies from Zombie world, I had a snack while doing recon. Since I didn¡¯t see anything even remotely like the empty can littering the streets, I chucked it into inventory to avoid cultural contamination. If that is even a thing in the universe. The empty aluminum can will make a great alarm while snooping through rooms. I set it in front of the door, by the swinging corner, so it¡¯ll scrap the ground or fall over and rattle. Glad I kept it now. This is one of those times it pays to not litter. Not a large or small room, my eyepiece not spotting anything of any significance just laid out for all to see. I check drawers, closets, containers, even under the bed. Nothing. Shrugging I do this up and down the hall. Each room not having anything worth removing from the premises. All were clean and tidy, likely guest rooms or were family rooms before they grew up. Not too interested in the details, just a bit disappointed there was nothing to be found. There is only one staircase leading up to this floor. No hidden rooms or trip wires, though this floor did have a cleaning supply closet. Bet the kids put that to use with hide-and-seek, not to mention the more adult things that could happen in there. I stand at the top of the stairs and listen for thirty seconds. That is the average time it takes for people who may have heard something to spike their adrenaline and then think it was nothing if no other sounds were heard. Adrenaline makes people think time flows faster than it really does, the whole ¡®it felt like an hour but was actually a minute¡¯ thing. I glide down the stairs, not literally - I just move that damn smoothly it makes it appear I was gliding. Took me forever to master that. On this floor, I can faintly make out snoring. People are present somewhere, so I¡¯ll need to be a bit more cautious in the rooms now and be more alert for patrols inside the manor. The first room I dip my head in through the door, my heart nearly leaps into my throat. We got a live one, folks! She¡¯s undressing, facing her vanity and giving me a side profile. I¡¯m grateful I have the chameleon effect on and slip back out while being extra quiet. This isn¡¯t peeping hour, after all. The next room must have belonged to a woman or was used as a quick place to role in the proverbial hay. All I found was a very sexy and very crusty pair of pantsu. I cringe and quickly vacate. And no, I did not take them with me. Only one other room had a person in it out of the eight on this floor. An elderly man fiercely cutting them logs in his sleep, the eyepiece registers him as the Duke. With him being dead asleep, I make doubly sure there are no traps or trip wires about and slowly ease my way inside. No empty can used for this one, as it would likely wake the Duke as well. Keeping the sound dampening skill on, I start looking for nice things. Finally find something in his underwear drawer, a knotted bag - likely a coin purse or similar. I slip it into my inventory and keep on looking. Nothing else of note in his room, talk about a boring person. Wait, my luck could be so shitty they may have had everything locked up for the night for no other reason than ¡®I felt like it¡¯ and it would be legit since I¡¯m here. Dammit all. I move to the staircase to the first floor and pause only for a moment. No sense waiting on this one. Full enchantment activation and I¡¯m moving down the stairs while listening for anyone actively moving in the vicinity. Still no trophy room yet, meaning it¡¯ll likely be in a basement or something since I started at the roof. I scour the first floor relatively quickly, of which only one more coin purse looking bag was all I found. I stuffed that into inventory and started looking for the basement access. Locked double doors at the farthest point from the staircase, they ease open quietly and show a circular stair heading down. Off we go down the rabbit hole. *Graphic content ahead - you have been warned* About halfway down, I start to hear noises. As I get closer to the basement door entrance, I can faintly make out what sounds like grunting and a rhythmic skin-on-skin sound. The muffled crying raises all manner of flags in my head and my eyes narrow. I ease the door open to a decently lit corridor and quickly check for anything that will bring attention to myself. The muffled crying and slap of skin on skin continue. The corridor opens into a massive well-lit room. Wall hangings, paintings, sparkling lit candle holders, and the mounted heads of various beasts decorate the walls. Pillars that are the foundational support for the rest of the manor are spaced equally apart. Thick fur rugs cover a majority of the floor, leaving very little of the cold and barren stone exposed. Couches, tables, desks, and displays take up the center part of the basement. Bent over one of those couches is a woman, hands held behind her back while a man rocks back and forth into her from behind. My eyes dilate and time slows to a crawl. I try to think about this objectively; there are many people in the worlds who are into this kind of thing. Maybe it¡¯s consensual and I¡¯m the one who¡¯s rudely interrupting. No reason to take the life of a man if you don¡¯t know for sure, right? The man is a guard, his helmet is off and his armored pants are around his ankles. The maid has a dark dress that¡¯s flipped up over her back, underwear around her right ankle. Her mouth is gagged and she has tears streaming down her face, horror and despair etched on her features. A bloody lip and bruising eye give me a really good idea this isn¡¯t what she wants. Her dress has a few tears, the fabric fluttering from movement. Hand prints, deep red, can be found up and down her arms. My mind halts, eyes in full dilation. Just don¡¯t be seen or caught, Mab¡¯s words reverberate through my head. I may not have any fucks to give, but this is beyond the pale. I will not allow a rapist to live if I can manage it.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Mab chimes in, speaking as if through molasses - very slow and drawn out. ¡°There she is! On the table, get her and mission accomplished.¡± Is what she¡¯ll end up saying when I get back to normal processing time. I pull my survival knife from inventory, activate all enchantments including the increase of movement speed, and move behind the man. Why the survival knife? Because it has a blade almost thirty cm long or almost a foot in length. Just the blade. Yeah. Casually, I stab the knife into the right side of his neck, angled for his heart so it severs through the carotid artery and his trachea all in one go. No screaming out for help, no one to save you from a quick bleed out. The blood shower that is about to start will cause the woman to flee. Whether she goes to get help or just escapes is no longer any concern to me. This rapist is dead and that¡¯s all that matters to me. I yank the survival knife out, whipping it to the side so there is little blood left on it and place it back in my inventory. By the time the guard realizes he¡¯s mortally wounded, I¡¯ve already made it over to the table that has a large glass container. A fairy is flying around inside, I faint purple hue to the strobe light. Not caring of gender or their health, I scoop up the container. I¡¯m halfway up the stairs out of the basement when the first spray of arterial blood hits the ceiling. *Graphic Content over, you may resume reading* With my mind still processing at accelerated time, I¡¯ve made it back to the roof in less than twenty seconds. I replace the hinge bolts then head off to the extraction point. Nothing eventful occurs while traversing the city. I bound up and cling to the wall surrounding the major community. Utilizing the same method I circumvented the Duke¡¯s wall with, I¡¯m on the other side and sprinting away through the plains. With the enchantments still active, burning through MP and SP, there would have only been a slight blur of motion if anyone happened to looking in my direction. I just want this done and over with. I drop the enchantments before I lose the last 30% of SP I have, still running at a dead sprint to the extraction point. Mab has not tried to contact me, only breaking radio silence that one time. Fifteen minutes later, I stop in the clearing we arrive at. My eyepiece clearly showing this as the exfiltration point. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here Mab. I¡¯m already tired of this bullshit.¡± I¡¯m moody, just not missing-an-eye kind of moody. ¡°Well boys, looks like we¡¯ll have a second fairy to sell to the Duke! We hit pay dirt tonight!¡± Oh, you have got to be kidding me. I glance in the direction of the talking dead man and sure enough, there¡¯s Mab in a glass container like the one I have in my arms. Thirteen soon-to-be-dead men start to surround me from the lightly forested sides. I sigh and set the container on the ground. ¡°Giving up already? I¡¯m not sure we can let you do that. You might have something else me and the boys might like.¡± Dead-leader decides to keep running his mouth. I¡¯ll give them a chance to run off, try to be civil about things. ¡°Properly, it¡¯s ¡®the boys and I¡¯, not ¡®me and the boys¡¯.¡± The dead-leader¡¯s face sneers harder. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll be civil and ask that you set the fairy on the ground and calmly walk back to town. You can even joke around and talk amongst yourselves as you do.¡± ¡°...or else what?¡± Sneer harder, dead-leader. Come on, you can do it! ¡°... you know what? Fuck this noise, I¡¯m done.¡± I take my hand guns out of inventory and take aim. Thirteen shots in less than two seconds later, a mass of thuds can be heard as I let the bodies hit the floor. Two more shots ring out, destroying the glass containers and tinkling glass to the ground. ¡°Get your shit together and search the bodies. We¡¯re leaving in five.¡± I put my guns back in inventory and start to search the closest body. Rummaging through their stinking clothes, I don¡¯t find anything on the first body. Then I remember. ¡°Gah, if I cared about being cool, I would have ruined it with that shit. Stupid auto-loot. Now I¡¯ll have to sort through my inventory later to see if I got anything good.¡± Grumbling to myself, I walk to the center of the clearing and look for my Contracted. Light pink and light purple glow lights are flying around each other at an extremely high pace. ¡°¡°...EEEEeeeee! I missed you so much!¡±¡± In stereo. Their squealing was so high pitched that I only caught the end of it as they were about to finish their sentence. ¡°Ahem.¡± I cough, loudly, into my hand. ¡°Look, not to ruin the moment or anything, but you two can do that later. Leave now, squee later. Let¡¯s move, people!¡± The fairies join me in the center and Mab transports us back to the hub. I sigh, eager for a bath and quiet time so I can process the shit I had to deal with. Walking through the hissing doors, we walk right into the middle of hell. A yell to my left has my eyes dilating, my gaze shifting to the offensive person. They¡¯re about to get an ear full of toxic vitriol that¡¯s ready to spew from my mouth. Instead of spewing anything, I¡¯m ducking a knife aimed at my head. I spin around the man wildly wielding his stabbing implement and plant a bullet in his head. As I take stock of the situation, a female voice speaks out. ¡°Holy shit, mom! I didn¡¯t even see him move.¡± Mom? My left eye twitches as I look around. Blood smears the walls and ceiling. Bodies lying on the ground, the puddles beneath them and their lack of of movement tell me they¡¯re dead or damn near. ¡°Mab?¡± My voice and eyes are flat. ¡°Are you going to tell me why you based my assessment on a rescue mission for your daughter?¡± ¡°Is that a rhetorical question?¡± Timid paints Mab wonderfully. ¡°I think you misheard me.¡± My right arm comes up and sights another man running towards me waving his knife. ¡°When this all calms down, you will tell me why you based my assessment on a rescue mission for your daughter.¡± Another head is evacuated with a bang. ¡°Wah! He¡¯s scary!¡± Hiding behind your mother won¡¯t save you from my ire either, little girl. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting away without explaining yourself either. But we seem to have a situation, so this will have to wait.¡± I¡¯m rather eager to find out why she was caught in a glass cage. From what I¡¯ve seen, fairies are very agile. Yet they¡¯ve both been caught, on the same planet no less. ¡°Mab, patch us through to Lt. Scott¡¯s channel if you have it. I want to know what the deal is here.¡± I¡¯ve started to walk towards the running knife wielders. Guns in hand, this looks to be another massacre. ¡°...sskzztt -his is Lt. Scott, who just ran all over my encrypted channel?¡± Sounded more like an order and not the question it was. Was that a growl at the end? ¡°Lt. Scott, this is Gram and Mab. We just got back from¡­ Mab, you need to tell me where we¡¯re going next time.¡± Slightly embarrassing, I bull on. ¡°Regardless of the planet, we¡¯re back and we just encountered hostiles when walking out of the transport bay. Mind cluing me in on who fucked who here? ¡°No fucking involved.¡± You can hear grunts and yells in the background, Lt. Scott has definitely got a growl going on as well. ¡°Just your normal hub coup-event. Soon as we have this station locked down, it¡¯s just a matter of cleaning up the remnants.¡± ¡°Copy, we¡¯ll eliminate hostiles while making our way to you. Out.¡± I pick up the pace to a run, knowing the fae can keep up. Bringing knives and swords to a gunfight always ends badly for the sharp-edge wielders. I blitz through the corridors, Mab yelling out directions as we go. By the time we get to the station door, I¡¯ve put down eighteen other morons who decided I was fresh meat - most of them were banging on the door to the station. Pulling up the comm, I call out to Lt. Scott. ¡°We¡¯re at the door, corridor is clear.¡± ¡°Gram, Lt. Scott is a were-¡± The door opens and a hulking, furry cat-man stands in front of the door. My gun is in his face when I register he¡¯s wearing the white and gold trimmed onesie. We blink at each other for a moment then I put my guns away. ¡°-tiger. Oh good, you didn¡¯t shoot him.¡± Mab couldn¡¯t sound more relieved. Glad I was run through so many situational development courses, otherwise that could have ended badly. Not sure for who though. ¡°Ok, kitty-man,¡± I get growled at, how precious. ¡°What¡¯s the sit-rep?¡± He leads us into the station. What¡¯s the station? ¡°And what¡¯s this station?¡± Rumbling as he replies, Lt. Scott gives us the details. ¡°The situation is better now since we don¡¯t have those dead-beats trying to bum rush us through the door. We¡¯ve tagged another seventy-two who are opposing our control of the hub. We¡¯ve got them mapped over here, live feeds to their locations. As for what the station is, it¡¯s the control point for this hub. All vital and necessary systems are controlled and accessed here. If you have control of it, you control the hub.¡± More than I was expecting but really lacking in detail there kitty-man. ¡°Right, so I understand you wanted to talk to me about something?¡± I remember Mab mentioning he wanted to see me for something. ¡°...Right, it was for a security assessment. I think you¡¯ve passed anything I could think of for you to do, seeing as you¡¯re here and not killing us for control.¡± My left eye twitches again. ¡°All good then? I¡¯m off to take a nice long bath. Toodles!¡± I about-face and march towards where our rooms are at. I hope. ¡°Mab, where¡¯s our room at again?¡± She does something because my eyepiece is suddenly showing me a path to follow. ¡°Ah, thanks.¡± ¡°...are we really going to just leave them?¡± The younger of the two timidly asks. ¡°Not my business. But if any get in my way to our room, they won¡¯t long for this life anymore.¡± My guns are in my hands again. I want my bath dammit! More than that, I want the quiet time to assess just what the hell kind of skills or abilities I activated in the basement. Several detours later, we are approaching our room. The comm opens up before we get to it. ¡°Gram? I¡¯m not sure why, but all the remaining hostiles are moving to your position. We¡¯re already enroute, giving you a heads up.¡± I sigh and look at the ceiling for a moment. ¡°Mab, is there an open area nearby?¡± She doesn¡¯t reply, just bobs a bit then heads off. I¡¯m quick to follow. ¡°Let kitty-man know where we¡¯re going, would you? We run down several corridors and go up a lift. Entering a small atrium, I nod and look for a good place to play snipe-the-bandit. Ledge, second floor. I¡¯m there in a few seconds and I plop my ass down with my guns in my lap. Checking my gear, I realize I never took off my facemask. I wonder why no one called me on it? Eh, not that important. My gear is all good, not a drop of blood on me. There is a bit of dirt and grass on my shoes, but I think I¡¯ll live. ¡°Gram?¡± Mab has been acting timid since she reunited with her daughter. ¡°Are you sure you disabled that rune?¡± Ah, that makes sense. ¡°Yes, Mab. The rune was disabled and wiped away before I put the mask on. I¡¯m in, what I jokingly call, battle mode. I¡¯ve been trained to turn it off and on at a whim.¡± I take the mask off to look at Mab. ¡°Why did you kill everyone then?¡± The daughter flutter over and asks. ¡°Why not? They were aiming to kill me. That made them my enemy. Simply put, enemy is for killing.¡± I nod sagely after giving such great advice. ¡°What about where I was being kept?¡± Hesitant, they both have been. Is the situation that stressful to them? ¡°I will not allow a rapist to live if I can help it.¡± I shake my head a moment. ¡°Look, I¡¯m no saint. I murder people and in turn, they try to murder me. That was my life before I got too injured to keep doing that. Then, I¡¯m migrated here. But in all my travels, with all the wrong things I did for the right reasons, rape was never acceptable to me. Forcing your will on another in a sexual way and to derive pleasure from that control? No, I¡¯ll put them down like the rabid dogs they are.¡± Clapping starts. As soon as the first clap occurs, my mask is back on and I¡¯ve sighted the clapper. ¡°Well said! You must be a Migrant as well! So good to meet you, ¡®brother¡¯.¡± Male, caucasian, short brown hair, goatee. Stands about two meters tall, heavily muscled and wide shouldered. Has an assortment of guns located about his person. Eyepiece registers level 24. No armor to speak of. Name: Meanrock Destructicon. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± I reply flatly. ¡°You the reason this place turned into a butcher shop?¡± Seriously, what kind of name is that? It¡¯s probably worse than Trogdor the Fire Breathing Dragon. Chapter Eleven Rev. 1.0 The way Mab freaked out about my guns and the fact they are listed as artifacts, I have the feeling that each one in Meanrock¡¯s possession is an artifact as well. That cranks my worry up a bit, based on the specs my handguns listed. That doesn¡¯t include the uneasy feeling I had at the rest of the description - system death. While assessing the danger level of Meanrock, he replies, ¡°Hah! I¡¯m just sprucing up the area a bit.¡± ¡°Definitely not to my liking. So are we going to throw down or can I get back to my bath? It¡¯s been a day.¡± I casually reply, not overly worried yet about how this will all go down. A lot of faith is being put into this slow-time ability that happens when I surge with adrenaline. That and the fact I¡¯m apparently showcasing a level of one to everyone with the capability of scanning me. Underestimate me, bitches! ¡°Hoh, no fear huh? We have you surrounded and we¡¯re all heavily armed.¡± Poser, this guy. ¡°And? You haven¡¯t shot at me or tried to attack me here. Until you decide to, I¡¯m more inclined to go enjoy the massive bath back in my room.¡± I¡¯ve lowered my gun, staying by cover while we chat. A slightly incredulous look appears on Meanrock¡¯s face. ¡°A bath? Why not go get laid, man? I¡¯m sure there are plenty of women around, with our power and abilities they can¡¯t really say no.¡± A leering grin, creepy. Wait, ¡®can¡¯t say no?¡¯ I frown behind my mask. ¡°You mean to tell me you¡¯ve forced those women to have sex with you?¡± ¡°Haha! They weren¡¯t saying no by the time I was done!¡± Hip thrusting while he talks, I¡¯m more than a little disgusted. ¡°So, you waltz in here and tear the place up. Why?¡± I try to get back to the root of the issue, since he only hinted at rape. Again, there are some people out there who like to be dominated. Let¡¯s try not to judge too quickly. More information is needed. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s simple. Taking over a planet is too much work and would take too long. Taking over a hub though? Much easier to accomplish.¡± He¡¯s actually gloating a bit, like he figured out some major secret. ¡°We can tax incoming and outgoing traffic, get our share of any goods, and sample the ¡®finer¡¯ patrons goods who visit. We just need to get the station and it¡¯ll all be ours.¡± ¡°Then why did you suddenly haul ass towards me? I¡¯ll admit I shot some of your goons down, but they attacked first. I¡¯m not just going to roll over and let them kill me after all.¡± This will really decide whether I kill him or not. ¡°Simple. You are the wild card here and likely the most powerful. So you can join us or you can die with the rest.¡± Arms crossed, Meanrock delivers his ultimatum with a smirk. ¡°Uh huh.¡± I lean my left side against the corner of my cover spot in a relaxed pose. Most inexperienced combatants would have tensed up at the blatant threat, but the key to combat is staying relaxed and ready to react. Tense muscles slow the reflexes of a person and slow is often dead. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t much care for getting involved with this. I¡¯ve already expressed my desire of being left alone. Now, are you going to leave or are you going to try to kill me?¡± Smirk turns into a large grin with teeth. ¡°If you¡¯re not with us, you¡¯re against us. Time to die, newbie-one.¡± Oh, the gall of this douche. I¡¯m slipping behind cover when the wall beside my left eye sprays shrapnel from the missed gunshot to my head. Said shrapnel perforates the mask, reconnoiter eyepiece, and my eye in short order. I roll behind cover, trying not scream. Teeth gritted, tears flowing down both closed eyes, I see red. Time goes to a stand still, my MP and SP start to drain quick. The only thought in my head is to terminate the lot of them. I get up and proceed to aim headshots at all the goons as I make my way quickly to Meanrock. In pain and not giving a damn about letting enemies monologue, I¡¯ve set eight bullets to destroy Meanrock¡¯s head as soon as I let go of this time dilation. I¡¯m already behind new cover and taking shots at all I can see with my lone eye. MP and SP low, I take a deep breath and something unclinches inside. Time resumes and all the shots I made can be heard like a machine gun rattling off it¡¯s payload. Heads explode, bodies drop, blood fountains and spurts. Breathing heavily, I assess the remaining goons. Quick headcount shows thirty-three visible, freaking out wastes of human flesh. No one else has a gun, so I start to wade through them, careful to cover my new blind spot with the nearest wall. Mab and her daughter have flown to the middle of the room near the ceiling, so they haven¡¯t been caught in the crossfire or in any randomly appearing glass containers. I take out eleven more when the doors bust open all around the atrium-type room. Reinforcements pile in hot and heavy, decimating the remaining goons in a handful of seconds. I slump over to the corpse of Meanrock. Without hesitation, I start stripping the visible guns from his cooling body and placing them in my inventory. I only half note they didn¡¯t auto-loot, but was in too much pain to care. A quick check of the remaining deadbeats shows they were already picked clean by the system. Lt. Scott heads towards me, I turn to get him fully in sight of my remaining right eye. His mouth is moving. I shake my head slowly and point at my ear. He motions for someone in a white robe, I¡¯ll guess a cleric or healer. A flash of light and I can hear again. ¡°Can you hear me now?¡± If I wasn¡¯t hurting so bad I¡¯d chuckle. Nodding only slightly, my head pounds and the vision in my right eye dims a bit. ¡°Good, only a small cluster remain and we¡¯re hunting them down. How badly were you injured and did you take out all the others before we got in here?¡± ¡°Worse than I care for.¡± My voice is slightly slurred. Frowning I reach up and remove the partially broken facemask and dislodge the remnants of the eyepiece. Lt. Scotts eyes widen for a moment, then nods. ¡°As for the rest, yes I killed them. We going to have problems?¡± ¡°No, if anything you have my thanks and the thanks of the princess.¡± Arms crossed and somehow I can tell he¡¯s smirking, though he has a tiger face. Weird. ¡°She¡¯s not in a different castle?¡± I couldn¡¯t help it, I didn¡¯t even know there was a princess here. Looking at me oddly, like I¡¯m a special needs child, he replies, ¡°No, we kept her in the secured safe bunker at the backend of the station. It¡¯s the standard shelter area for VIP¡¯s to head to during events like this.¡± Like I knew any of that. ¡°Newly Contracted, remember?¡± I say while checking for the fae. The two faeries were flitting about all the bodies, having come down once the dust settled and some bit of order was restored to the room. Another flash of light, aimed at my ruined left eye, has a gun in the clerics face. He pales and slowly raises his arms in front of him, palms towards the ceiling. Frowning, I put the gun away in inventory. ¡°We done? I need to get cleaned up and check on this.¡± This, being a vaguely motioned hand at my shredded face. Lt. Scott was frowning and so was the cleric. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re done. Thank you again, Gram.¡± Nodding, I whistle at the girls and head back to the room.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Actually knowing where I was going this time, I walk fairly quickly back to the room I only recently obtained thanks to Mab. Less than two days and already up to my neck in bullshit. I need a vacation. Not caring or checking if they followed, I¡¯m already halfway down the hall to the bathing room when the door slides open again to admit Mab and her daughter. ¡°...-ever seen anything like that before in my life! One second he¡¯s leaning against the wall and then he¡¯s over on the floor below shooting at the other guys! And all the blood! That was sooooo amazing!¡± I should worry about the fangirling Mab¡¯s daughter is doing, but I don¡¯t care right now. ¡°Mab, I¡¯m taking a bath.¡± I comment half-heartedly over my shoulder before closing the door and stripping. The water is already steaming, not sure if it¡¯s automated or always on. I¡¯m grateful either way. I wipe the condensation covered mirror off with my hand to assess the damage to my face. Shrapnel from my gear is still sticking out of my face all around my left eye and cheek. I take a few moments to slowly pick those out, blood starting to ooze from the open wounds. Pulling the last piece that was lodged inside what remains of my left eye, I sigh and start cleaning up. Past the initial pain, I was told that wounds to the eye don¡¯t usually hurt too much. So far, they¡¯ve been right about that. I set back and enjoy the large onsen style hot bath. A quick glance at my inventory shows that I did get some drops from Meanrock. I glance at the guns I took from him and compared them to the items that auto-looted from his body. Each gun is showing artifact grade with the same descriptor as my paired hand guns while the items were all below that on the scale. I¡¯ll have to ask Mab about that later. Frowning to myself, I pull up a note partition. I¡¯ve been putting things off long enough, what with all the excitement going on since I got here. Now that I have a means of getting information from a willing and intelligent person, I may be able to try to make some sense of this new existence of mine. Though it¡¯s more out of a deep need for control, most of what I¡¯ve been doing has been flying by the seat of my pants since I don¡¯t expect to live much longer. Starting a list, I work my way through my thoughts. First, I need to know how this system works. Very general, but the more info I get, the better I¡¯ll be prepared for later. Second, I need to figure out my skills and determine why my abilities were hidden. Third, go through my inventory and determine why the hell it¡¯s so big, because it doesn¡¯t seem to have a limit. Before I can ponder much more, I¡¯m interrupted by a notification:
For careful consideration and thought, you gain: +1 to intelligence, +3 to Wisdom.
Well, okay then. That¡¯s quite the ball buster. Makes sense, you work your muscles and you gain stats based on that. Working through your thoughts and flexing your mind, get stats accordingly. I can work with this, though it does make me realize just how much there is for me to learn. Sighing, I get out of the bath and dry off. Second set of clothes go on, the first pair go into the laundry hamper looking apparatus by the door. Time to get some grubb and see if the two fae are up for some questions. I walk into the main living area, glancing about for the two glow lights. I faintly see light reflecting from the mini- condo, so I head to the kitchen area to fiddle with the nobs. A decent spread set before me, I sit and dig in. Ten or so minutes of quiet contemplation and eating pass. The clink of cutlery on plate intermittently disturbing the seeming solemn atmosphere. The background music I craved for at the start of this mess was gently playing in the background of my mind, staving off the madness that had taken root during the time-freeze episode. The unnatural stillness of that time still has me off balance. So long without interaction, without sound, without a purpose. Then suddenly, so much at once is happening, leaving me reeling and prone to mistakes. Taking the time to review the past twenty-four hours alone shows just how bad things are. Quick to anger, quick to kill, and seriously lacking information of this new existence. While I¡¯m not a saint, I¡¯m not a mass murderer either and that¡¯s what weighs on me at this moment. But it doesn¡¯t weigh on me for too long. There are things that could have been done differently, sure, but that doesn¡¯t mean they would have been a better path. Each of the deaths on my hands this past day, except the rapist, all had a chance to turn away. They made the decision to attack me, so I met force with greater force. ¡°Not the best of justifications, but my conscious is clean.¡± I state aloud for my own peace of mind. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to convince myself, right?
By settling the turmoil in your mind, you have opened the passive ability: Peace of Mind. This ability grants added bonuses to HP, MP, and SP. Increases Regenerative effects.
I slowly let a breath out. I know of at least one ability now. This could be a massive gain or just barely put me about the normal range for the natives here. Doing the math in my head and using the notes I kept from previous checks to keep track, I get a pretty good idea of how the changes have been made. Pulling up my stats, the changes are noticeable.
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 1 (37) Exp --- To next lvl: 16,419
Race: Human Stat points: 185
HP: 1820 MP: 1760 SP: 1840
HP Regen/min 172 MP Regen/min 157 SP Regen/min 176
Strength: 81 Agility: 96 Intelligence: 87
Endurance: 84 Dexterity: 102 Wisdom: 69
Charisma: 65 Luck: 2
The most obvious change is the lack of Exp. I¡¯ll have to go check the system notifications I¡¯ve been ignoring to see why that went away. My HP, MP, and SP are determined by my strength, intelligence, and endurance stats respectfully and multiplied by ten. Each of the three had a modifier from the migration, I¡¯m guessing my baseline from my world. The regeneration per minute was originally five percent of each corresponding stat. Now, regeneration has an added modifier - HP regen is five percent of my HP plus my strength stat, Mp regen adds wisdom, and SP adds endurance. For HP, MP, and SP itself - HP and SP are my strength and endurance stats added together, then multiplied by ten plus the baseline mod. MP is intelligence and wisdom added, multiplied by ten then the mod added. It looks like agility and dexterity are both action modifiers. I¡¯ll have to determine how these stats affect anything later. I imagine the guns that came with me eliminate a lot of the action mods due to overwhelming damage and their weird descriptors. Other than landing critical damage, I don¡¯t think my stats will be able to directly modify the damage of the bullet once it is fired. Knowing I¡¯ve got a tremendous amount of notifications waiting for me and reflecting on how much I¡¯ve likely auto-looted, I want to avoid slogging through the inventory and system message logs. I take a peek at the system messages anyway, to see if I got anything from killing another Migrant.
Congratulations! You are the first to kill a fellow Migrant! For completing this action, you are awarded an upgrade to one of your abilities! The Lesser @$&#%*^@$% is now Greater @$&#%*^@$%.
Greater? I suppose that¡¯s nice, but I still can¡¯t see what the ability is. Pulling up the abilities tab, it¡¯s still blank. Fuck you, System. Quit trolling me, asshat. I lay back on the couch in the living area, letting my thoughts wander. I can faintly hear the two fae chatter in their abode, obviously excited to be reunited. I still need answers from them. I must have fallen asleep. I startle awake, the remnants of my dreams fading. Tears stream down my face and my heart aches, I must have been dreaming of Claire again. Sitting up, I wipe my eyes and try to remember my last thoughts before entering the Land of N.o.D. My left eye itches, so I head to the bathroom to check on it. Glancing at the timepiece as I head that way, I note that the time appears to be late and I no longer hear the fae chattering away. I frown slightly at the missed opportunity, but shrug and take it in stride. It¡¯s not so important I need answers this very moment. While time is short, there is no hurry. Glancing in the mirror, I do a double take at my eye. Before, there was just an empty socket due to the shrapnel. Now, there is a milky eye growing back. I blink to make sure it¡¯s not an illusion, wave my arms and start acting like a fool. Everything seems legit, I¡¯m not much for prodding my eyeballs to see if they¡¯re working or present. I lean closer, noting a pattern appearing in the milky white of the new eye. Turning my head this way and that, I can¡¯t make it out. Shrugging, I¡¯m grateful for what little I get since it would be a pain to keep it covered and clean. Pulling Up my notes, I add a few more things.
  1. Learn about the system, it now rules your life.
  2. Figure out skills and why abilities are hidden.
  3. Sort inventory and determine why it¡¯s so damn huge.
  4. World transport - how does that work?
  5. No more exp? Why?
  6. Browse shops more in-depth, got money to burn!
  7. Figure out why I was chosen out of billions to migrate over.
That last one ought to be sent to the top, but I get a feeling it won¡¯t be an easy question to answer. I almost wish I¡¯d have thought to ask about it when Meanrock appeared, but he was a douche and needed to die. Damn poser, thinking he could threaten me. I stop and process that a moment. I add ¡®monitor behavior¡¯ to the list as that was rather out of character for me. ¡°Back to the grindstone, better get Mab up.¡± Time for answers, she can sleep later. Chapter Twelve Rev. 1.0 I walk back into the living area calling out to Mab. There is no answer. Peeking into the little abode she stayed in shows no one present. I glance around, finally seeing what looks like a note on the counter in the kitchen area. Frowning, I go and investigate. As soon as I make contact with the paper, a notification pops up:
Gram, Thank you for finding and retrieving my daughter. By completing the assessment early, my obligations to you are finished. In my capacity as Fae Queen, We owe you a debt - from myself, my daughter, and our race. If ever you are in need of help, we will gladly meet your call. Queen Mab
That makes it official: I¡¯m screwed. If she was so eager to help me, then why would she up and leave? I get that she wasn¡¯t exactly the best mentally put together person/fae, but to jump ship while leaving me high and dry? For fucks sake, Mab. You can be a really ungrateful bitch. Sighing, I resolve to myself to never ignore the notifications again. I could have seen this coming and asked the questions I needed answers to without being all anti-social. Shaking my head, I know this is just as much my fault as it is hers so there is no one else to blame but myself.
For accepting the situation and growing from it, you gain: +2 to Intelligence and +5 to Wisdom.
Stat gains are good. Minor consolation, all things told. I take the time to eat, then sit down to begin the tedious work of reading through the backlog of events. Based on the timer of my HUD, a little over three hours pass while I deal with the minutia. That was another massive backlog. In summary: I defeated a lot of enemies, gained a decent amount of loot, had several notifications where my skills increased but those skills were not identified, and I received several quest starters. There were notifications during my run through the Duke¡¯s residence indicating severe penalties if I were identified and caught, the completion of my assessment and obligation with Mab, and my encounter with Meanrock. One of the more interesting notifications was back when I was learning skills. There was a countdown on each of them. The timer indicates time remaining for full integration of knowledge and memories, which makes so much more sense now. I thought I got a nerfed set of skills or something, though the enchanting skill was somehow skipped or missed for the integration. Maybe it was due to the being the first one I chose? In that vein, then I¡¯m still processing the massive life history of whoever I purchased this from. To avoid the annoyance of missing the important things, again, due to combat - I go back to the settings and change the priority on messages not pertaining to combat to appear after combat. This way, I won¡¯t miss them as easily. I make sure to toggle off the unimportant messages like damage dealt or enemy defeated, while leaving the more important messages from loot, experience, or even general system messages - all so I don¡¯t miss the important bullshit.
For careful thought and consideration, you gain: +2 to Wisdom.
I smirk. Now that I¡¯m not ignoring the notifications, the snarky comments are back. A seed of worry starts to take root though, it¡¯s almost as if I¡¯m being monitored by an intelligent being rather than an impersonal system. The notifications done, I settle to go through my inventory. This doesn¡¯t take as long as I feared, with the sorting capability that Mab showed me. I have a lot of junk. Thankfully, the typical RPG rarity system has it¡¯s color coding accompaniment to the items. Common items are grey, uncommon are green, rare are red, epic is a yellow/gold, legendary is orange, and the last is artifact being a royal purple. Other than the artifacts I picked up and the gear that was gifted or brought with me, all the other items are grey. All of them. Kinda disappointing really. But I¡¯ve been fighting basic mobs and goons, so it¡¯s not like I can complain too much. That and my abysmal luck stat. Leat my charisma isn¡¯t my dump stat, I have enough problems navigating the social norms as it is. Having a piss poor charisma stat on top of that would make this the worst living/gaming existence ever. Pulling up the shop, I go to the sell option and lump all the white items together. Basically looking at a credit per item, so I just sell it all to free up space in my, apparently, unlimited inventory. I wonder if I can put a building in there¡­ Moving on, I check up on the materials I need to make enchantments in the shops available to me. Looking at the credit cost per material, I¡¯m not sure if it would be better to go farm the items myself. Based on the enchantment memories, the materials I¡¯m looking to use for the high end enchantments are definitely higher in cost. Typically though, a master of that level is making more than enough credits to not even flinch at the costs to make the new enchantments, so I suppose the logic sticks. I take a moment to think to myself - do I really want to stay here? Drab, plain walls. No scenery, no new locations to explore, just one relatively massive and uniform location that people can come to for trade and transition. Decision made, I start to look at the more in-depth info on the materials and make my way to the comm station each room has. Pressing the comm button, I say aloud, ¡°This is Gram, could I speak to Lt. Scott?¡± Uncertain of the etiquette involved, I just speak my mind. A female voice responds, ¡°Transferring you now.¡± I blink. Is it like the old rotary phone days? Should I call her a smooth operator? ¡°Gram, what is it you need?¡± Brusque, but at least he responded. ¡°Listen, I know you¡¯re likely busy, but you¡¯re the only one I actually know on this hub.¡± I take a moment to explain to him that Mab left, her obligation completed but leaving me high and dry. I also explain to him that I want to get into enchanting, not letting him know about my apparently vast knowledge on the subject. ¡°That¡¯s the short of it, would you know where I can get the essences, crystals, and purified water base? Are they all located on one world?¡± There is a pause, long enough that I wonder if he walked away while I explained my situation. Thankfully, it appears I worried for not. ¡°...Because you helped defend the station without asking for a reward, I¡¯ll get that info to you shortly. Frankly speaking, I don¡¯t think you realize just how much you helped us, and indirectly helped the princess. You will have a package delivered to your room within the hour.¡± Thanking him, the connection was terminated and I went about gathering anything I may have left out. I browse the shops for things I would need for an extended stay on a hostile planet. Typical items needed for survival and some for my own peace of mind. Might as well get some of the materials to play with enchanting as well. No telling how long it will actually take to get to the locations for said materials and that doesn¡¯t include all the ¡®farming¡¯ for ¡®mats¡¯. I didn¡¯t buy any of these items before hand due to the sudden mission Mab wanted to go on to save her daughter, I was busy spending all my time looking for skills and knowledge. Clothing took a priority as well, since I didn¡¯t want to walk around nude in front of Mab, but she¡¯s gone now. Not like I¡¯m suddenly going to strip and lounge au naturale right this moment though. I find a trap setting tool kit, which is filled to the brim with materials and tools to make all manner of traps. Rope, twine, bear traps, caltrops, flammable liquids, poison, these kits are filled with a large assortment of trap making materials.What¡¯s nicer is I can use the items for other things, it¡¯s not a consumable item that will only make traps. I have to have the skill and ingenuity to make them myself. I buy fifty of them. The kits take care of a lot of incidentals needed for everyday survival and I get the option to help secure a location much easier with these. If I gain the skill for them. I¡¯m much more used to planting explosives for traps rather than these mundane toys. Browsing more, I find several different hygiene based kits as well. Most are geared towards women, but there are basic kits that contain odorless soap and such. Going over five months without a bath or soap makes having these essential to my well being. I buy fifty of those as well. For clothing, I buy ten more sets of what I¡¯m wearing - without any enchantments on them. I plan to do those myself. More underwear and socks, I also look for a method to clean the clothes I¡¯m purchasing. There is a tiny robot available, about the size of a five gallon drum. Apparently this ¡®little¡¯ bot can do laundry, cook, clean, and generally pick up after me. Shrugging, I grab the little bot since it¡¯ll make my life easier. My own little robotic waifu¡­ My heart clenches a moment before I push that thought away with a small and bitter laugh. Not wanting to head out and desperately need something, I take a few minutes to plan the situation out to the best of my ability. I¡¯ll need food, drinks of some sort, armor, some containers and glass vials to store finer materials. I have ammo and a small arsenal of guns to sort through, so I¡¯d best see about explosives to add to my inventory as well. The most important bit will be transportation. Let¡¯s hope they¡¯ll have something that I can use.
Careful forethought and planning has awarded you with: +5 Intelligence and +5 Wisdom. Starting to wisen up now, aren¡¯t you?
I can¡¯t help but wonder if those notifications pop up like that to distract me from my thoughts. It works really well in that regard, but I¡¯ve already resigned myself to look them over as they come. Besides, stat gains are good, though it makes me feel remarkably stupid at times. Ego, hang in there buddy. My packages arrive with a chime. I go retrieve them and get back to browsing the store. I do note that I haven¡¯t received the one from Lt. Scott yet, though I haven¡¯t been paying attention to the time either. The food stuffs I purchase look a lot more appealing than the MRE¡¯s I¡¯ve had to put up with in the field. Assortment packs that contain different jerky types, berries, nuts, and oatmeal. Reminds me of trailmix from home, but a lot fresher. I try not to look too close at each of them, as they are far different from home, but they wouldn¡¯t be sold for consumption if they weren¡¯t edible, right? Let¡¯s go with that and keep on, purchasing another fifty of those so I don¡¯t have to fear starving right away.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. For armor, I chose brigandine for its flexibility and lighter weight. Making sure the coverage is good, for when I have no choice but to battle it out, I select the types with shoulder guards, half sleeves on the arms, and that go down to my knees rather than just the solitary chestpiece alone. Looking over the different types available, I make sure it¡¯s made of a higher grade cloth-like material similar to my flak jacket. I flag the assortment I found, since I¡¯m not sure what kind of world I¡¯m headed to. It¡¯d be funny to have standard camo colors and be in a winter world or snowy climate. I¡¯d stick out like a sore thumb, no doubt. Looking at the drink section, I find a flask that catches my eye.
Flask of the Never Ending. This flask is imbued with the essence of water and saturation. Never runs out of pure drinking water.
Knowing I could enchant one like this but being short on time and lacking materials, I purchase it. Following this thread of thought, if they make drinking water flasks, will they have a flask of Purified Essence of Water that is used for enchanting? The quick search feature displays absolutely nothing. Dammit. Oh well, that¡¯d be too convenient. I find a wide assortment of containers and glassware that can be sealed. I grab two hundred fifty of the glass vials and seventy assorted sized sealable glass containers like Mab and her daughter were caught in. Browsing for the next to last item on my mental list ends up with nothing. There are no explosives available for purchase through the stores here. If they exist, they are likely available on the blackmarket or it¡¯s equivalent here on the hub. I do notice a skill book for explosives engineering and snatch that up. After the short processing time for the skill, I remember Mab mentioning skill books on magic. Looking that up again brings quite the wide variety to my attention. I notice that the timer for the intro, intermediate, and advanced books on magic were combined and about to zero out. I fangirl a moment, but without the squee. I¡¯m going to learn magic! Cough. Ok, there was a bit of squee in there. But, Magic! The timer hits zero and I¡¯m not disappointed. I¡¯m taken through the life of a student, learning the mysteries of magic in a school setting. Theoretical application of magic as it was investigated and researched on that particular planet and compared to the overall results to the the other known systems that is this universe. The skill touches on the use of magic for everyday use, applications in battle, strategic use during war, and the intricacies of personal gain from use. The learner also picks up studies of so-called deities that inhabit the world and others. I have my doubts about said deities, seeing as I¡¯m becoming powerful myself - if I¡¯m not already. I¡¯m more inclined to think they are very skilled users who have gained enormous experience and levels, increasing their power and longevity. Powerful compared to the common man a deity this does not make. My Faith doesn¡¯t even feel a tremor of doubt while taking this knowledge in, as there is only one Creator. How He relates to this System I¡¯m within now is yet to be seen, however. The magic system itself is fairly simple. Words of power, of meaning, and gestures impose the Will of the caster onto the world around them. From the skill, I intuit that there are many different schools of magic and each has their own dividing branch from the main skill through deeper understanding and experience. The premise is still the same though and the skill eventually comes down to personal interpretation and Willpower. There is the standard RPG element wheel for strong/weak damage against each element, but they only discuss the four basic elements fire, earth, water, and air. Nothing of light, dark, or lightning for example. Is that due to the skillbook being about the basics or is it something else, something more advanced? Seeing as the movie reel hasn¡¯t stopped, I may yet find out that answer. Intermediate magic primarily touches on the battle aspects for magic use. More strategy, tactics, situational conditions that appear common sense but since its magic¡­ In other words, don¡¯t expect a fireball to be very effective during a massive rainstorm. Even channeling heat of the level of the sun will eventually get smothered by the massive volume of water raining from above. Once the combative use of magic is finished, the instructional tutorial is covering the more advanced elements. Light, Dark, Lightning, and combinations leading to elements like Ice or Magma. The reason the additional elements are deemed as more advanced is the amount of willpower needed to combine two basic elements together or use Dark, Light, or Lightning. But nothing was actually said about willpower itself, simply implied with very long lectures leading up to control and techniques to control the combining of elements. The advanced magic tutorial aims at large scale battles, theoretical spells from ages past that were so massive and potent they were and are deemed weapons of mass destruction, magical warfare, and supporting the troops during bombardment. The knowledge tapers off as the final subjects of affinites, combinations, and spell joining rituals are covered. I¡¯m genuinely surprised at just how much time and effort has been taken to learn and then teach this subject. I mean, yes it''s magic, but the sheer depth of the subject reminds me of how deeply down the rabbit hole our scholars and military went in their pursuits for knowledge in my own world. Glancing at my stats when the knowledge dump is complete, I stare at the screen and wonder if there are hidden stats just like my hidden abilities. Willpower isn¡¯t listed and I¡¯m unsure how else a person would have it in a quantifiable way. I¡¯m fairly certain that willpower is a hidden stat since luck and charisma are both quantifiable and used. Shrugging, I put that rumination off till later. I look up and purchase the basic spells for four elements - wind, water, earth, and fire. This way I can fiddle with them when I have down time.
You have obtained the basic Wind spell: Gust. Using MP, a small gust of air is generated in the direction that is willed. Can become stronger with use and understanding. Cost 5 MP per use.
You have obtained the basic Earth spell: Stone Fist. Using MP, a small fist of stone shoots away from the caster in the direction that is willed. Can become stronger with use and understanding. Cost 5 MP per use.
You have obtained the basic Water spell: Water spout. Using MP, a small water spout shoots away from the caster in the direction that is willed. Can become stronger with use and understanding. Cost 5 MP per use.
You have obtained the basic Fire spell: Ember. Using MP, a small ember of fire shoots away from the caster in the direction that is willed. Can become stronger with use and understanding. Cost 5 MP per use.
I frown at the spells for a moment. Yes, spells. They have their own tab, separate from skills. Maybe due to the MP use rather than SP? This will involve more thought, but later. I¡¯m eager to get on the road, so to speak. I glance at my Credits and do a double take. That¡¯s higher than it should be¡­ Oh right, Meanrock was carrying quite the stash on him when I killed him. Even with all my purchases, I still have over one million credits. At least I won¡¯t have to worry about money any time soon. I take the time to finish my shopping by looking into means of transportation. Unlike my previous, exotic, searches, there is such a thing. Wheeled vehicles a plenty, from single wheel agile single seaters to twelve wheel massive behemoths that can seat a small platoon comfortably. Various designs, paint schemes, and configurations for just the wheeled section and then there are the exotic options. Anti-grav mobile units, aquatic, vehicles capable of atmospheric flight or space flight. Or both. That¡¯s where my eyes wander until I see the lowest credit cost and I shudder a bit. I thought with my million plus credits I was loaded. Well, the starting cost for full atmo and space vehicles begins at ten million. Yowza. I browse back to the full atmo flight units and cringe again. A simple two seater flying unit would still wipe out most of my fortune. Pass, for now. I lean back in thought while I pull open the anti-grav tab. The prices are more reasonable compared to my pocket depth. I¡¯ll have a means of quick mobility, comfort, transport over water, and a smooth ride. Interested, I start looking at combinations. The first one that pops up is listed as a bargain buy, having the base unit of ten meters long and three meters wide. This includes the equivalent of a motorcycle in the back, but anti-grav instead of a fuel based engine. Fast, reliable, quiet, has a small living quarters in the middle of the thirty foot monstrosity and it shows it can be stored! All for half a million. Not hesitating in the slightest, I punch the order in and close the shop screen. Way too stressful and I¡¯m not even sure I¡¯ll need most of that. Sigh. The door chimes, must be the last of my orders. I get up and head to the door, it slides open as I approach and two uniformed guards march in. My guns are up and I¡¯m taking aim, not wanting to take any chances. The guards freeze, their eyes going wide for a moment. ¡°Lt. Scott did warn me you were jumpy, but I didn¡¯t expect to this extent.¡± A very attractive blonde haired woman enters, hair going past her shoulders. Petite and decently endowed in the three figures most otakus yearn to know, she¡¯s wearing an ornate dress, colorful and well made. She stands at a little over a meter and a half, or five and a half feet tall. Unarmed, an impish smile on her face. Regal features, similar to Mab. A light perfume diffuses into the living area, flowery and fragrant. I¡¯m neutral in my response, ¡°Where I¡¯m from, visitors announce their presence before entering. Commonly called manners, last I checked.¡± The two guards eyes bulge and their jaws drop a bit. The woman giggles, a hand comes up to cover her mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. I¡¯m Princess Leanna. You must be Gram?¡± I nod as I put the guns back into inventory, my arms falling to my sides as I make eye contact with the princess. There is a pause, slightly awkward. One of the guards coughs. I roll my eyes. ¡°To verbally answer your question, yes I¡¯m Gram. To what do I owe this honor of a visit from you Princess?¡± Might as well get the ball rolling. ¡°Oh good. I had heard from Lt. Scott that you asked for some information and I decided that it would be best to deliver it myself as thanks for unwittingly defending me from the insurgents.¡± She flashes a pretty smile and gives a slight curtsy. An eyebrow arches up. ¡°I hardly think a parcel of information begs your attention for delivery, Princess. I thank you for such consideration.¡± I reply with a slight nod of my head. No bowing or other such signs of servitude from me, she¡¯s not my princess after all. There¡¯s that impish smile again. ¡°Oh, it is not only information I bring. I felt it necessary to reward you, even if you acted in my defense unintentionally.¡± She motions behind her to another guard carrying a small parcel. I give a strained smile and wait for her to continue. Royalty is quickly becoming a pain in my ass, but I¡¯ll humor her for the moment seeing as she brings free gifts. She opens the parcel and removes a finely crafted pair of leather boots. ¡°These were made by the royal craftsmen, to reward you for your aid. I heard from Lt. Scott that you were in dear need of a good set of footwear, so I commissioned this set made just for you.¡± She tells me and steps towards me, boots held out for me to receive them. I take them from her with another slight nod. ¡°Thank you for this gift.¡± ¡°You are most welcome. Thank you for saving my life and for defending the hub.¡± Another smile, genuine and radiant. ¡°The planet you will want to visit for the materials is addressed in this letter. I hope to see you again in the future.¡± She hands me an envelope, smelling faintly of her perfume. I nod and step back. They leave there-after, with no fanfare or excitement. The Princess does look back at me before the door slides shut, a slight look of longing? I let out a sigh of relief then look at the boots Princess Leanna gave me.
Finely crafted leather boots of the Sky Dragon. These boots allow the wearer to fly with the consumption of MP. Increases movement speed by 40%, grants the wearer Haste. Armor rating +100 to physical and magical defense. Soulbound item.
Wow, a yellow Epic item. This is something else. The boots are a grey/blue with a shimmer to them. Looking closer, you can see fine scales on the outside. These boots allow the user to fly, huh? That¡¯s really exciting. I quickly examine the enchantments, so I can try to replicate them later. Haste and movement speed are present, fairly straight forwards as far as enchantments go. There are a few added pieces that lower the activation costs, refining the skill, spell, and energy use. But no indication of the flight¡­ Huh, looking at the material itself, there is an activation enchantment and about a dozen refining enchantments covering the boot. Tied within are the Haste and movement enchantments. This is definitely a masterwork piece, the ability for flight being inherent to the material rather than an enchantment by itself. I quickly swap the my boots out, feeling like a child on Christmas day. This is an amazing gift. While I¡¯m not prone to selfless acts of heroism, this time it unwittingly paid off. Though they attacked me¡­ Eh, don¡¯t over complicate it. You got loot, enjoy it. A random thought occurs to me. The music never changed when she arrived. I frown and think on that for a few moments. I don¡¯t recall the music changing when Meanrock appeared either. Is it because I¡¯m on a hub? I faintly recall the music changing slightly when Mab was captured on the world I grabbed her daughter from, but I decimated them before things could get serious. Ah well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to intentionally put myself in harms way for an extended period to find out. It¡¯s not that important. Shrugging, I open the envelope and pull the letter out. The princess definitely sprayed it with her perfume. I frown at that realization, not wanting to have anything to do with any royalty if I didn¡¯t have to. A notification appears when I go to read the letter:
To my savior, The planet you wished to find that contains the materials for Enchantment is located at the coordinates FV-749. This planet is hostile, though it does have several hundred large settlements throughout the world. The technology level is 3, meaning they are still using crude metals for weapons and armors. Magic level is 5, they have a firm grasp of their magical abilities, but nothing catastrophic or capable of decimating large settlements. The enemies you seek for the required materials are deep within the hostile territories, so plan for long treks abroad. I look forward to our next meeting. Stay safe and keep away from the women on that world, they are very unclean. Princess Leanna Novosa
The letter has a lipstick printing of her kiss below her name. A massive shiver runs up and down my spine. That¡¯s so fucking creepy, she never met me before - just a few minutes ago in fact. Granted, she is attractive and appears to be intelligent, but those stalker tendencies and the psycho vibe I¡¯m getting when I read the part where she warns me away from other women - freaks me out. A lot. I¡¯m hit by a massive, full-body, shiver. Geh. Chapter Thirteen Rev. 1.0 Once I have the shivers under control, I go back and purchase three sets of Brigandine armor from the shop. Camo green, camo blue, and a pitch black with the studs to match.
Brigandine Armor: Uncommon, grants the wearer +70 physical defense to covered areas.
With the armor taken care of, now I just need to wait for it and my spiffy new transport to arrive and then I can move on to greener pastures. Hopefully without royalty barging in every five minutes and giving me bedroom eyes. If I wasn¡¯t still grieving, my pants would have likely jumped off with eagerness. Such is not my case. Pulling up the note I made, I can now knock a few of those items off the list.
  1. Learn about the system, it now rules your life.
  2. Figure out skills and why abilities are hidden.
  3. Sort inventory and determine why it¡¯s so damn huge.
  4. World transport - how does that work?
  5. No more exp? Why?
  6. Browse shops more in-depth, got money to burn!
  7. Figure out why I was chosen out of billions to migrate over.
  8. Monitor behavior
So, three and six can go away. Well, six can definitely go, but three is edited as I haven¡¯t figured out why it¡¯s so damn huge. I¡¯m about to go learn and follow through with the fourth one - world transport. Once on the new world, I¡¯ll have to assess things and determine my best route to the materials needed for enchanting. Maybe it¡¯ll be simple or I¡¯ll have most of the world hunting me down in a short time. Depends on who I talk to and my mood, I suppose. The door chimes and I cautiously approach it. Thankfully, there is no one present except my packages. I shuck them into my inventory and proceed to the transport room I first arrived at here on the hub. It¡¯s funny, even though it¡¯s only been a few days I still don¡¯t know the name of this place. Maybe I should ask? Nah. A short jaunt to, what I will call, the outgoing teleport room and a quick tutorial later - ¡°This spell activates the transport node and can only be used to arrive at certain locations so be damn sure you know where you want to go!¡± with the following of, ¡°This spell allows the user to return to this hub node, but you need to locate the exact coordinates or the spell will launch you into the stratosphere of whichever world you are at!¡± Such cheerful advice and so precise too! These guys are going to get a major customer service critique sent later. An obviously negative one, that is. Having put things off long enough and honestly having nothing better to do for the time being, I set the coordinates to return to XZ-545 - which is basically my origin or starting world. Apparently everyone gets one and it sticks with them. ¡°Wait!!¡± The guy I was harassing for instruction on the hows and whys of hub transport screams at me with a note of hysteria in his tone. I slowly turn to face him and raise an eyebrow while waiting for him to finish with whatever it is he thinks is so important. More than a little wide eyed, he asks me, ¡°Are you seriously going there? To XZ-545?¡± I nod slowly, waiting rather impatiently. Going back is something I need to finish, if only to determine just what the fuck actually happened when I left. I mean seriously, when I first arrived as a new Migrant, there was no actual designation for my location and other than the two young ladies that died in front of me - I found no one alive other than a dragon and a very annoying faery. Then, I left after unloading an arsenal and a half into said big ass dragon while picking up said annoying fae. The transport guy coughs nervously into his hand a moment before standing at attention and states, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you go, sir. That world has been listed as off limits for several decades now and is so hostile that only legendary teams of twelve or more are allowed on world.¡± My eyes narrow for a moment, my finger still raised above the acceptance button to transport me out. It would take but a flicker of my hand to get on my way, but my curiosity delays me. ¡°And just what is it about this world that it was blocked as forbidden to transport, especially to a man who migrated to it as my origin planet?¡± Seriously, what gives? Mab was even there waiting for me and I know she isn¡¯t legendary. I think. The transport attendants eyes open wider, if that were possible, and he pales considerably. He stutters for a few moments then pulls up the comm link and shrilly demands the presence of Lt. Scott to the transport room with all due haste. I frown and step away from the node used to activate transport. I make sure my guns are holstered and ready for use while I wait for the coming confrontation. I make sure not to move too far from the node in case I need to exit most hastily. Either it was the tone of the attendants voice or there is a protocol in place that when called to the node they haul ass, it didn¡¯t take Lt. Scott long to arrive with an escort of armed personnel. Taking a moment to assess the room after walking in, I give the kitty-man props for calmly entering into the unknown situation that apparently erupted. Looking towards me for a moment, he nods in greeting before staring at the clerk? Attendant? Transponder room control official? I still have no idea what this particular position is, not that I really care. Lt. Scott finally addresses the minion, ¡°I¡¯m here, what¡¯s the situation?¡± Still standing at attention, right arm perpendicular to his chest, said minion replies, ¡°Sir! This guest is attempting to access world XZ-545. Following protocol, I notified him that it was a forbidden world. The guest then claimed it was his Migrant Origin, Sir! Being unable to allow the guest to access the world but being instructed to allow all Migrants to access their Origin world has placed me at odds, Sir!¡± The minion didn¡¯t relax once, being extremely nervous the entire time. Lt. Scott frowns heavily while turning to face me. ¡°Is this true, Gram? You¡¯re Origin is XZ-545?¡± Still relaxed, I nod. ¡°It is. If you have a way to check incoming logs, you will notice that Mab and I both arrived from that world.¡± The were-tiger nods while placing a quick call in through his headset. Likely to verify what I just told him¡­ Yes, he already has confirmation. He sighs, shoulders drooping a touch. ¡°This complicates things.¡± He stands up straight again, looking me in the eye. ¡°You will be allowed access to the world, as is your right. But I heavily caution you from going at this time. Massive amounts of activity have been recorded in the past few days, so you will be putting yourself in extreme danger if you go now.¡± That¡¯s a political answer, allowing me to go but removing any blame if I went and died. Huh, things like this exist here too. Politics. I shrug, ¡°In that case, I suppose I¡¯ll hold off visiting back for a bit. Given how I left, I was curious about the state of things, but not curious enough to make an incident over.¡± I bring a hand up and rub my chin in thought. ¡°Just make sure I¡¯m allowed access when I want from this time forward. I¡¯d appreciate it.¡± Lt. Scott turns to look at the minion, who then looks to be typing something into the holographic in front of him. The minion then nods to the tiger man, who then looks to me and nods as well. ¡°Then, all is taken care of. Safe travels, Gram.¡± With that, Lt. Scott left the room and I turned back to the transponder access. I guess I¡¯m off to FV-749, which I will now affectionately call the enchanting world for the moment, since I can¡¯t check on the state of my Origin world. Entering the coordinates, the floating screen in front of me is displaying an accept or deny option while asking if I really want to go to FV-749. This time, I leave without issue. Having braced myself, the arrival wasn¡¯t anything like my first foray into the teleporting scene. No projectile vomit or hugging the ground. Hallelujah. At first glance, the world looks similar to the one Mab took me to for the extrication of her daughter. Why is this one different? Two suns in the sky, one is a normal hue of my old world and the other is much whiter in contrast. Otherwise it¡¯s very similar in rich greens, browns, and blues. Mountains can be spotted in the distance, which direction that is I¡¯m not sure yet. ¡®Over there¡¯ works fine for now since I have no idea on my geographical location and which directions are what in relation to the sun, yadda yadda. Just because I can, I pull up the map tab. Which is all greyed out except a very small portion around the blinking dot that is me. Should have hunted for a map while I was shopping¡­ Taking scope of my surroundings, I make a slow three hundred sixty turn around. Opposite of the direction I was facing upon arrival is a decent smoke streamer, wafting gently in the slight breeze. The terrain appears to be sloping down, so I¡¯m likely to find water to go with whoever has a controlled fire going. Shrugging, I easily decide that that is the direction I will need to head in order to find any sort of civilization. Taking another glance around, there are no noticeable landmarks present to help me identify this spot as my entrance point. I cast that sense spells the minion taught me to determine the location of the transportation spots. Not feeling anything, I glance around and spot two different colored curtains or shrouds just hanging in the air. Good, both are near to each other, so that makes things convenient. Now then¡­ I need a landmark. I sink down to the soft grass and kneel while I think over the magic theory I picked up. All that accumulated knowledge can be summed into: Willpower and imagination. I hold my hand out and cast the earth spell I picked up.
You have obtained the basic Earth spell: Stone Fist. Using MP, a small fist of stone shoots away from the caster in the direction that is willed. Can become stronger with use and understanding. Cost 5 MP per use.
Just like the description, a piece of the soil lifts from the ground and hovers in front of my hand for a moment while shaping itself into a fist. Then it shot off in the direction my hand was pointed. Willpower and imagination. The spell that was purchased already had all the work done for me, becoming a point and shoot elemental spell. The imagination was taken care of by making this schematic and the willpower is invoking the spell the activate. Invoking or evoking? Ugh, while I¡¯m intelligent I was never interested in the particulars of the magic system games came up with. The system isn¡¯t giving a helping hand either, so I¡¯ll just ignore it. I glance down at the ground again and hold me hand out, palm up. Falling back on the acquired knowledge again, I start to channel my mana to my hand - just like the students did in my new memories. Then I will the mana into the ground and use my imagination. Closing my eyes, I envision a simple and small four walled building with a roof and open entry for shelter from the rain. Once the image and details are locked in my mind¡­ Well, shit. Now what do I do? I open my eyes and see the simple building right in front of me. Eyes slightly wide I stand and walk around the simple hut. Just like I envisioned. Huh. I walk up and give a solid punch to one of the walls, to check how durable it is. Solid stone, though I don¡¯t know what kind of stone it is. Isn¡¯t there supposed to be a notification of what I¡¯ve done? Stupid System¡­ Having a landmark to reference now, I make my way in the direction of the small smoke plume. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The temperature is a comfortable twenty-one degrees celcius or about seventy degrees fahrenheit. Critters that look like squirrels are jumping about in trees, bird like shapes flit about while chirping away. A rather calming background noise in a nature scene. The music in my head is calm, having changed since I left the hub. No other potentially violent noises reach my ears and I see no obvious signs of conflict as I move towards the smoke. After a short bit of sedate walking, I appear at the start of a wide valley. Guessing it¡¯s several kilometers wide, the valley terminates on each side by broken mountains that look more like big hills. Either erosion or someone was explosively happy to knock these down. Small streams seem to flow down the hills in several places. They meet, spreading throughout the valley and continue on past what my eyes can see in the far distance. It looks like they become a good source of freshwater further on ahead. A large rock juts out not far from the mouth of the mountain pass. I stroll over and hop on it. Sitting down with my legs crossed, I take the time to admire the view for a bit. The breeze weaving through the grass, sending the green stalks waving to and fro. Holding a hand over my eyes and squinting, I can just make out the tops of trees in the far distance. If there is a decent settlement nearby, I may see about land rights in this area. Depending on where the mobs with the materials are, anyway. Hopping off the giant rock, I start an easy trot down into the valley. Rather than use my spiffing new transport, it¡¯s time to check my new hard limits. Glancing at the time on my hud, the read out is a little after one in the afternoon. Using that as a reference point, I start to speed up to a full blown sprint. My SP gauge starts to lower, showing me that strenuous activity does indeed affect my stamina bar. Keeping up the momentum, I start to add flips, rolls, and cartwheels to break up the monotony of flat running while doing my best not lose any momentum. A grin starts to squiggle up my face. After twenty minutes, I''m approaching the treeline. Nothing else really stood out on the run over, so I blast into the lightly wooded area. Taking care to keep an eye out for mobs and creeks, I start bouncing between trees and keep the rough location of the wafting smoke in my mind. Local wildlife scatter in a panic at my passing. Yes, passing. I''m moving quietly and quickly enough they don''t notice me till I''m almost on top of them as I belt through the woods. A little over seven minutes and I''m clearing out of the wooded area into a flatter plain in the valley. I can see some kind of tall grass about a hundred meters or so from the treeline. My fast approach also brings shoddily constructed fences to my attention, as I need to hop over the initial encounter lest I bull through it. The smoke is heavier now, thicker. I''m nearing the location of what I¡¯m pretty sure is a controlled fire and hopefully some manor of civilization. Emphasis on the civil. Looking around, I spot a post that sits two meters or so above ground. I manage a leap to the top and I''m able to halt my momentum so I stand atop the post for a moment. I see a dirt path a little ways away that intersects with several more. This is definitely a farming area with animal trails to and from a living area. I leap off the post and break into an almost run as I approach the dirt trail. Intercepting the trail, I keep on towards the smoke. I''d be pissed if some stranger was trampling all over your hard earned labor without a care in the world. Best to use the trails available. Five minutes from the treeline, taking into consideration the time atop the post, I finally make out a crude building. I''ve found the source of the smoke. I waited for a notification, but none came... A cobbled building of rock, mud, and straw greets me as I crest a slight hilltop in the massive valley. Smoke happily puffs out of a good sized chimney on the side of the rough building in the distance. Taking a moment, I look around. Sightseeing is fast becoming a pleasure for me, what with all the colors and critters. Soothing balm to my weary soul. An open yard, with what looks like some kind of livestock wandering around, surrounds the cobbled house. A muscled figure is beating at the ground with some kind of tool a decent ways from the house. Closer to the building is another figure, hanging what looks like linens on a rope between tall posts in the ground. Still a hundred meters or so away, I start to walk towards them. Hands at my side, keeping a non-threatening posture, and a slight spring to my step, I hope they''re an easy going sort. Once I''m close enough I feel they''d hear me if I yelled in greeting, I do just that. ¡°Hello, the house!¡± As I do not know them, using the location as a means of identification will help them realize I''m talking to them. I hope. Otherwise, I¡¯m just another idiot out wandering the valley. Sure enough, they both turn to me as I greet them. No hurried motion, no apparent worry or anxiety, they wave and call back. ¡°Greetings stranger!¡± A knot I didn''t even know had developed eases in my back. Friendly, for now. Waving back, I stop a respectful distance and wait to see if they''ll wave me forward or meet me. They start approaching, the obviously male figure wiping his hands on his trousers as he moves to intercept me. I give a nod, which is returned by both. ¡°Hello, I''m passing through. Might I trouble you a moment?¡± ¡°With manners like that, I think there''d be no trouble at all.¡± The woman replies, a pleased look on her face. She is fair looking, standing about a meter and a half tall, shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin, slender looking. A loose dress hangs off her frame as she wipes her hands on a towel. A slight dusting of freckles cross the bridge of her nose, faint but noticeable. The male stands at almost two meters, taller than my six feet and change or 1.8 and change meters. Short black hair, five o¡¯clock shadow dusting his face, hazel green eyes peer at me in curiosity. He wears a loose tunic and what looks like cotton breeches. Neither have shoes. I must look a sight, dressed as I am in comparison. ¡°What can we do for ya, stranger?¡± The male starts the conversation with a relaxed air to him. ¡°I was hoping for directions and information. I''m not from here, but I''m looking for materials to further my craft.¡± Generalized info, not giving anything important away. ¡°And perhaps a place to call my own while I work.¡± You can be vague while being honest. The male nods, a hand coming up to his chin in thought. ¡°What materials do you seek?¡± The woman lightly slaps the males arms in exasperation. ¡°Really, Bo? I''m sorry for for my husband and his apparent lack of manners. My name is Amelia and this oaf,¡± Amelia casually pats Bo on the arm with affection, ¡°is my husband Bo. If you follow the road out yonder, it''ll take you to the village. You can meet with mayor Bloomspot and he''ll be able to answer your questions better than we could. We''ve lived here all our lives without setting foot outside the village.¡± Nodding graciously, I thank them, ¡°Thank you both. I''ll go see the mayor then. Hope you have a pleasant rest of your day.¡± Walking around them, I start down the path to the village. I glance back when I faintly hear Amelia start to chastise Bo and my jaw practically hits the ground. They have tails. Catching myself, I turn back around and continue on without bringing attention to myself or getting caught staring. I knew there were other races, having had such a wide selection to choose from when I first migrated over, but seeing is believing and I was not prepared for that. I mean, sure, Lt. Scott is a were-tiger. My mind interprets that more as an addition to a human being rather than a distinct and different race. I could be wrong, but that¡¯s how viewed it. So, surprise! New races. I¡¯m not sure what I was expecting or anticipating. This just showed me that people are still people, regardless the physical attributes and colors. Until I¡¯m proven otherwise, of course. I make a note that it took me about thirty-five minutes for the trip at near full speed to arrive at Bo and Amelia¡¯s home from the neck of the valley. It might be useless info for later, but I have it available to me for now. Sadly, I have no idea how fast I was moving in relation to the distance. At a casual walk, it takes me another twenty minutes to arrive at the village. Wooden walls that stand over three meters high greet me, I¡¯m uncertain of the total circumference of the town yet. The walls sprawl fairly evenly in a circle away from me and I lose sight of when the walls curve further away. Two guards stand at loose attention on either side of a gate that the trail I¡¯m on meanders up to. There are more patrolling the tops of the wall and a few in groups of six or more patrol the outside wall. Talk about heavy security. I wonder if they experience attacks often or if they are doing so well they can afford the extra guards on their payroll. Shrugging at the thought, I continue on and hail the guards with a wave as I approach. ¡°Yo, how¡¯s the guards this day?¡± I¡¯m slightly awkward using such plain communication, but there is little interpretation or doubt to what I¡¯m saying. They only grunt and nod lightly as I continue into the village without being bothered. Either they¡¯re not the legitimate guards or they don¡¯t have any fucks to give. It¡¯s all good, cause I¡¯m still pretty much at that point myself. Particularly dealing with random ass quests that I have absolutely no interest in completing. I take the time to examine my surroundings and look for any shops that may be present in the village. Rather than ask the mayor if the materials I want are present, I can ask a shopkeeper after browsing their wares. It¡¯s easy to earn goodwill when you purchase from the shop, the owners are more likely to invest their time into paying customers. The village is larger than I thought. I¡¯ve barely wandered in and I can tell it stretches for at least a kilometer to either side. There is no sign of the opposite side from where I stand yet either. Slightly better building construction than Bo and Amelia¡¯s home, a mixture of cobblestone, mud, wood, and straw make up the majority of the buildings within my line of sight. Wooden shutters for window coverings, straw or wood roof tops, mostly stone walls with planked wood doorways. It¡¯s like I¡¯m in the dark ages of my world. The people going about their business on the cobbled streets are dressed plainly. Most males and females have at least a knife visible on their person, some have short or long swords on their hip or back. Simple tunics and breeches for the men and most women wore plain dresses, though a few were dressed as the men were. I notice a pair of children in tattered clothes running down the street, their long cat-like tails waving behind them. I flag them down and they approach with some caution. ¡°Mind helping a stranger find a few shops?¡± I ask the kids as I take out a handful of credits. Their eyes widen in surprise. After a moment of hesitation and looking at one another they nod excitedly, ¡°Sure thing mister! We¡¯ll show you to the shops!¡± I hand them the credits, making sure to split them equally for both. They quickly guide me to the first shop and I nod, asking them to continue on. As we travel, my map fills out and I¡¯m able to find those shops later when I¡¯m not touring the village. They took me to the potions shop, armorer, swordsmith, several general stores, three inns, an apothecary, a specialty goods store, the mayor¡¯s house, the leatherworker, and two tailors shops. There were quite a few food shops as well, but I just noted them on the map and continued on. They guide me around for the better part of an hour and I make sure to grab them some food from a stall along one of the heavier traffic corridors. Quite the decent spread of stores, all told. I¡¯m rather impressed. They bring me back to where we met and I make sure to grab another handful of credits to hand to them in thanks. They seem like good kids, no sense in not rewarding them for their time. It¡¯ll likely all be spent on sweets anyway. After parting with the kids, I make sure to actually visit each of the shops and talk to those running the counters. Their wares are all basic and crudely made. I keep notes of their prices for the wares they have on display and subtly ask if there are more goods available for a higher paying clientele. No one catches on to the subtlety, so I continue on with only a slight bit of disappointment. I was either asking the wrong way or they genuinely did not have anything for the richer customers that may pass through. I save the specialty goods store for last, even though it took me out of my way a bit. No one else had any crafting materials available for sale on their shelves and rather than risk asking for them, I just kept my mouth shut to prevent possible gossip for later. As I walk into the specialty store, I notice a different fragrance in the store than any of the others. Sure, they all had their unique smells but I¡¯m looking for materials to craft with - not already manufactured goods. Behind the counter stands a fairly stunning brunette with a low cut dress, emphasizing her ¡®assets¡¯. Other than the low cut, the dress was rather unremarkable in it¡¯s pale blue coloring. The young lady stands about the same height as all the other women I¡¯ve encountered thus far - around five and half feet or a little over 1.6 meters tall. Fair skinned, with an almost hourglass figure that¡¯s decently filled out. She smiles and greets me, ¡°Hello and welcome to Stragnoff¡¯s specialty goods store. Let me know if I can help you with anything.¡± She finishes with a shallow bow. ¡°Thank you, I will. I¡¯ll just browse for the moment.¡± I reply with a slight smile and start to look over the shelves for anything interesting. Right off the bat, I notice materials used for lower tier enchanting and other vocations available on the shelves. Excited but keeping a poker face, I continue browsing unhurriedly. Sadly, I browse the rest of the shelves with no luck. They didn¡¯t have any of the three materials I was looking for available for sale. Thinking to ask the young lady at the counter, I glance up and notice more shelves on the wall behind her. Guess what I found?
Wind Essence (Major): A highly concentrated Essence of wind that was taken from a local monster. High grade crafting material.
Purified Water (Major): A highly pure water, used as a base for many crafting professions. High grade crafting material.
Mana crystal (Major): A highly concentrated mana crystal, used in many crafting professions. High grade crafting material.
My shitty luck panned out for the better this time. I¡¯m sure the other shoe will fall when I go to ask where the materials were obtained, but this is at least a step in the right direction. I approach the young lady and request to look at the three materials. She reaches up and grabs them, placing them on the counter for me to examine closer. ¡°How much are you asking for these?¡± I can¡¯t help but ask, that way I know what to expect from this world in the future. ¡°And do you happen to know a Roy Mustang?¡± I had noticed some alchemy supplies and couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°The mana crystal is going for 450 credits, the purified water is 400 credits, and the wind essence is selling for 900 credits. You¡¯re in luck too, as they are far cheaper here than most other villages. There is a plentiful supply in the area and the materials are not so hard to obtain that they are asking for higher prices. I also have not heard of this Roy Mustang.¡± The young lady, Teena, was very helpful. ¡°I¡¯ll purchase all three. I¡¯d like to start exploring my craft, is there anyway you can supply a map of the locations where these are found? I¡¯m willing to sell excess materials at a discounted price for the information.¡± Counter-productive for business, for both of us if she accepts, but I can¡¯t help but ask. She pauses, tilting her head. After a few moments, she says, ¡°Let me go get my father, he is more capable in making these decisions. Please wait a moment.¡± I nod and she heads up a very nicely hidden stairwell. I stay at the counter, closely examining the materials I will be using in the future. Based on the memories the skill provided me, each is very high quality. The purified water has a very nice blue tint to it, an indication of its purity and concentration. The mana crystal is almost the size of a twenty ounce bottle of soda or six tenths of a liter, it glows a very solid royal purple. The wind essence is almost the same size, but a very clear quartz like crystal with a large amount of green veins spread throughout the crystal. Each has a very high quality, which makes them very much desired for crafting as each is potent in their properties. If this is any indication of the materials present in this area, I¡¯ll be parking my ass at this village and going on a massive killing spree. Teena and her father, Tepindo, come back down the stairs. It should go without saying that their names are floating above their head, along with their level. Teena is a level seven while Tepindo is level seventeen. ¡°Greetings, I¡¯m Tepindo. My daughter, Teena, tells me that you would like to know the location of these materials. In exchange you will provide materials you do not need at a discounted price to us. Is this correct?¡± Straight and to the point. If everyone is like this, I may grow to enjoy this world.
You have offered an agreement to Tepindo Stragnoff. In exchange for the locations of each: Essence of wind (major), Mana crystal (major), and purified water (major) - you will bring back all materials you do not need and sell them to Tepindo at a discounted price of 75% off their sale value. Agree? Y/N
I make no movement for a moment as I read the notification over, then two more times to be sure I knew there were no hidden loopholes. Looking in Tepindo¡¯s eyes, I reply, ¡°To be clear - I will bring you the materials I do not need. My craft is not limited to one. Is this still agreeable?¡± While I don¡¯t have any other crafts open yet, that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t later or that he has to know that. With a smile on his face, he nods. ¡°Very agreeable. You look strong and the materials you want the locations for are not for the weak of heart. I will accept, if you will.¡± I nod and accept the agreement.
Notice! You have entered into an agreement with Tepindo Stragnoff to bring back all unneeded materials and sell them to him at 75% off the normal sale price in exchange for the locations of the materials mana crystal (major), purified water (major), and wind essence (major). If this agreement is broken, you will be known as a liar and your reputation with: Tepindo, Teena, the village of Sarnico, and the Kingdom of Filucia will all fall to - distrusted. Keep your word and flourish! Break your word and perish!
I nod and make eye contact with Tepindo, ¡°System bound agreement. Not quite what I had in mind, but I agreed and will not shy away from this. I honor my words and agreements, I hope we will have a fruitful relationship.¡± I stick my hand out, out of habit. Tepindo has a slightly confused look to him as he smiles at me. Realizing it¡¯s due to my hand extended, I catch myself and pull it back. ¡°Sorry, cultural thing from my world. We typically shake hands after a deal is struck.¡± I shrug, only the slightest bit embarrassed at the faux pas. Old habits and all. ¡°Very interesting.¡± His eyes are practically glowing with interest, his smile never leaving. ¡°Sadly, with the hygiene around here - you really don¡¯t want to be shaking other people¡¯s hands.¡± Sage advice given, I have a brief shudder run down my spine. I guess the princess wasn¡¯t lying after all. I thank him as I leave, the system already providing me with the information and locations for the materials after we struck the agreement. I pull up my map after leaving his shop. There are multiple highlighted areas on the greyed out map, showing that I have not been to any of the locations to have access to the topography. Nodding to myself, I head off to see the mayor. It¡¯s time to see if I can get a place to stay while I work. Chapter Fourteen Rev. 1.0 Having already been shown where the mayor lives, backtracking to his home wasn''t too much of an issue. The late afternoon is starting in, more people flocking into the streets. Vendors advertising their wares, more colorfully clothed people prancing and dancing the streets to the occasional bard. Children running rampant, bounding to and fro through the throng of the crowds. Arriving at the mayor''s home, the door stands open. Entering, I see a fairly bland decor with minimal decoration or splendor. Suits me fine, since he is less likely to be an uptight nut job. There is a dual staircase, one leading up and the other leading down. The occasional art piece hanging from painted walls, the paint peeling away in some sections and in desperate need of several new coats. At a small desk in the foyer, there is a young woman. Seated, it''s difficult to gauge her height. She wears round rimmed glasses that enhance her eyes, a light blue. Reddish blonde hair to above her shoulders, a few pieces braided. No noticeable make-up, a cute button nose, and she has a slight frown gracing her features. This barely detracts from her physical appeal but its there all the same, whether from work or life in general is yet to be seen. She looks up from the paperwork on the desk in front of her and finally grants me her attention. I''m not in such a hurry to demand her attention the moment I arrived, waiting for her to reach a point she can greet me. ¡°Good afternoon, what can I help you with?¡± Courteous, though the frown hasn''t really gone away. ¡°My name is Gram. I''d like to see mayor Bloomspot, if he is available?¡± ¡°You don''t have an appointment, do you?¡± Slightly accusing, but expected. ¡°I''m afraid I do not. If that''s a problem, would you be able to point me to the person who I could purchase land and possibly a house?¡± Explaining the purpose of my visit, round about though it is, may help me getting information on anyone else that has that level of managerial power. ¡°Ah, in that case, I can help you. My name is Maria. Please have a seat.¡± The frown went away to be replaced with a very slight smile. I thank her and sit. Apparently, the world is advanced enough to have records and to keep track of the actual property lines as well. This gives me a better idea of where they are at culturally. Imposing order and tracking the land usage, not to mention having units of measure to keep track of said property management, goes a long way. So rather than ¡®from the tree on the hill beside the gorge to the opposite hill¡¯, they have a coordinate system and city managed markers to keep up with what is where and the how''s, why''s, and what''s that is city management. Though why Maria is the only one I see doing this is a mystery. Having explained what I''m looking for and stating I need the land or residence outside the city, she replies, ¡°I''m afraid I truly don''t understand why you would want to be outside the city gates, Mr. Gram. We have many personal and business residences that would be able to accommodate you here within the city.¡± She¡¯s acting slightly concerned, the frown back on her face. Arching an eyebrow, I take a moment to think on that. ¡°Maria, I value my privacy. Being around all these people would only distract me from what I''m here for.¡± Maria tilts her head slightly, ¡°And what are you here for?¡± I wonder if she''s a gossip or just used to being blunt when discussing business deals? Either way, being honest isn''t going to hurt me. ¡°I''m wanting to pursue my crafts. There are many materials that can be obtained in the surroundings. Rather than commute daily or stay at an inn, I want to purchase a place I can stay in that is nearby.¡± Having only a few months left to live, I''m eager to make at least one good thing with my name on it. A minor ambition, all considered. I get to see the sights, craft something meaningful, and hopefully leave behind several notebooks with my memories and skills I purchased. Not quite a legacy, but it''ll be enough for me. I had seriously contemplated delving into the system mechanics. Figure out the who''s and why''s, but with my limited time - I figured I''d be selfish and enjoy myself. I may even figure things out as I go, but it''s low on the priority list. We manage to find a few places that meet my criteria - large living space, workshop, large amount of land, close to fresh water. The two I decide on, surprisingly given my upbringing, was a large manor near Bo and Amelia¡¯s place and a large plot of land adjacent to said manor. That works out well since that''s the area I wanted to reside anyway. The manor is three stories tall, with a basement for food and wine storage. There is a workshop behind the house a short ways away. A horse stall, a second housing unit for servants, and a whopping two square kilometers of land. Given the valley we''re in, that''s a mighty generous portion of land. Some of the area covered by the managerial markers indicates land above the valley, in and on the hilltops surrounding the valley, belonging to the property owner as well. The land adjacent to the manor is just as large, with no work done to it. That makes it ideal for anyone rich to come in and build. The agreed upon price was surprisingly low, not even 100k credits for both. When I asked what was wrong with the house and land, Maria said there were reports of it being haunted. I only shrugged at that and finalized the purchase. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Signatures and credits change hands, a receipt is given, to which I thank Maria for being so thorough. A slight blush and smile is all I get for that bit of flattery. With it being late afternoon and the house being a distance away, I make sure to drop by several more places for quality linens, new bed frames, and mattresses. The quality of the frames and mattresses really surprised me, no where near the same construction style of my old world but comparable in comfort and quality finish. The manor still has most of the furniture left inside, though likely dusty from disuse. A new bed mattress is mandatory, in my most humble of opinions, because hygiene. Maria had mentioned there were many families that would be willing to be hired as servants to help with the upkeep of the manor. I told her I''d consider it, though I was uncertain yet of the scope of work I''d need help for yet. What I didn''t tell her was that since I didn''t have long to live, I wasn''t certain if that would be a good idea. As I walk towards my new home, I dive into my thoughts for a bit while admiring the scenery. My abilities and perks were hidden from me. My experience is no longer being shown. I get random or sassy system messages¡­ given those problems alone, I don''t want to look into the system mechanics much. My other purchased skills have a constantly fluctuating timer for integration on each one, so I''m not sure if I''ll get those before I pass either. Even though I didn''t have a choice in this migration, I didn''t think it would an uphill battle from the get-go. But that''s life in general, so no use crying about it. The assortment of guns I picked up from Meanrock and my own handguns are a crutch. Sure they have a high damage value, but they don''t grow as I do. I''ve played enough games to know about scaled weapons and these guns are not scaled. If they can''t grow with me, later they''ll be a situational only type weapon rather than my main. So I''ll have to bank on the skills I purchased and honing those into muscle memory. A bit of a moot point though, the constant reminder of my expiring mortality is more than a little depressing at this point. So many things hinge on having the time to explore and learn them, time that is no longer available to me. It''s all been quite the fantastical show so far, though being stuck in zombie world was a major let down. That was most of a month of my remaining time gone. Unless my biological system was time locked with everything else there. My time with Mab was extremely short and I didn''t really learn near as much as I feel I should have. But that was just as much my fault as it was hers for using me to get her daughter and completing the assessment early. That very situation is why I know I¡¯d never make it as a hero, in any way or form. I''m simply too selfish to be able to do a task and not expect some kind of reward, if I do that task at all. While I certainly want some compensation for doing any of the tasks I take on, I certainly do not want the acclaim or notoriety that would come with any of the deeds. Want me to save a princess? So long as I¡¯m paid in some manner, I will do so of my own free will - unlike what happened on the hub, I didn¡¯t even realize there was a princess present to save. Want me to save a city or fight a giant horde of monsters? Normally I¡¯d just shrug and walk away, the people need to learn to grow stronger themselves. But if a large paycheck or other compensation is provided, then I¡¯m more likely to consider the task. To sum it up - I¡¯m more mercenary than hero. The unsung heroes of my world always had my respect. Policemen, firefighters, emergency medical personnel - they all had my respect. My brothers and sisters in the armed forces had my respect too. Well, most of them. Like many other organizations or entities, there are bad apples that are rotten to the core among all the good. That¡¯s a part of human nature. Power corrupts and all that. For now, I''ll take my time and see if I can make something useful to another, something meaningful to this local society that I¡¯ve encountered. I have a really good idea of what that might be, given the way the world is at the moment. Tepindo and Teena are the ones who really gave me the idea - make a large bathhouse and give the recipes for soap. It''s a money maker, increases the hygiene of the people, and makes a huge city attraction for travelers. I''ll just have to institute a business deal before I pass to make sure that the bathhouse won''t be taken advantage of and charge outrageous sums in order to use. While I''m sure many universe travelers have used this idea, there is also the selfish aspect - I like bath houses too, dammit. So on top of getting the materials I''ll need for enchantment, I''ll need to explore the magic spells I purchased as well to see if their use will make the construction of a bathhouse easier and less expensive. Definitely got some grinding ahead of me in the very near future. Given the small hut or house I constructed with mana when I arrived for a landmark, this may be easier than I think. I crest the last hill before coming to my newly purchased and massive property. The manor isn''t centered on the land plot, being closer to the road more than any other area. That suits my purposes fine, especially so if I decide to hire on a family to help with the manor. They''d be able to run the bathhouse and become very comfortable in life, assuming politics or greedy individuals don''t try to interfere. And yes, the bathhouse would be nearby, I want to use it too without walking back into the city. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s that far of a walk to get here. The manor looks only a slight bit worn on the exterior. Some of the paint is faded but not outright peeling or in desperate need of being redone. Muted browns and reds are the main colors on the outside, making me cringe a little bit. Red was never really my color, easily associated with blood, pain, and death. That color will have to go, if I get the time to change it. The weeds and grass are much taller than they should be, leaving me wondering if it should be cut or if I should get livestock to keep it down. Given how the place has been abandoned, it really shouldn¡¯t be a surprise that an untamed jungle would start to grow. Given what Maria told me about the place being haunted, I take the time to slowly check the perimeter. I¡¯m more of the thought that bandits or smugglers inhabit the house and scare off possible buyers and peasants this way. Most everyone has a fear of the supernatural, more so in this universe - after all, ghosts are a real thing and they can kill you. The perimeter checks out clean - no worn paths in the tall grass, no trampled grass, no tracks in the dirt. So that means they either have a method of traveling in the house or it really is haunted. I check the horse stall, the workshop, and the secondary living quarters. All turn up clear of foot traffic, the dust of many months left undisturbed. The horse stall is capable of housing at least eight large horses, being mostly covered. Three walls make up the enclosure for the stall, leaving one of the wide side towards the manor open. The stall is about three to four meters wide by about three meters deep and almost four meters tall. The secondary living quarters is two stories tall, with a base of about one hundred fifty square meters or about sixteen hundred square feet. A very decent secondary quarters, the area not including the second floor. This can definitely handle a growing family with some room to spare, not including all the play and work area that would need attending. I definitely need to consider livestock. The workshop is basically the same as the living quarters, but with tools, shelves, workbenches, and cabinets instead of a place to live in. A blacksmithing forge and smelter is attached to the back and completely made of a heavy and thick brick with an open window frame and several vents in the roof. Both the smelter and forge have chimneys going up and out to help with air flow. Purely a work area with lots of room to store things. Briefly wandering through, I did not find anything except the tools left behind. Pity. Having the tools present will make things much easier in the future though. Investigating the manor is last. I slowly make my way in, noting the hinges do not squeak. The light coming in through the doorway shows no tracks in the accumulated dust, making me frown. I slowly start to explore the first floor for any sign of habitation, wandering from room to room. At the moment, I don¡¯t care what each room could be, I¡¯m looking for anything hostile and keeping an eye on my hud. Straining my senses, I come back to the staircase. The left side goes upstairs, the right side heads down into the basement. I head down the basement first, taking each step slow incase they creak. I¡¯m trying not to give my presence away if there is anyone present. The basement is about half the size of the main floor above. Instead of wooden pillars for support, the previous owners went all out and invested in sturdy marble pillars. Round, almost half a meter or a foot and a half wide, they could be white or a similar color. Given my night vision, I won¡¯t know for certain until I get lighting set up down here. There are several large casks alongside the wall opposite the staircase, shelving on the walls to either side. No other tracks are present, making me frown a little more. I wander up to the second floor with the same results, no visible sign of foot traffic. I finally get results when I make it to the third floor. The third floor has a corridor to the opposite side of the house, this floor being for the bedrooms and master bedroom for the manor. At the very end of the corridor, I find my answer to whether this place is haunted or not. It is. Chapter Fifteen Rev. 1.0 When people think of ghosts, two things come to mind. The first is a likeness to a person or animal. The neighbor died and came back as a ghost, people catching the ghostly neighbor in the backyard or in the house - kind of thing. Maybe a pet or even the deer that you shot and ate later. The second type that comes to mind is usually of the eldritch horror style. Abominations with tentacles, floating in the air, often causing terror. The mind associates the being with the closest concepts and ideas it can, but they are usually beyond understanding. The apparition that I¡¯m looking at down the hallway is a mixture of both. A dessicated looking ghost, jaw and tongue missing, floating about a foot off the ground. A slight light emanating from it, catching the eyes, and the remaining clothing ruffling in an unseen and unfelt breeze. This is the only ghost visible. All the bedroom doors were closed, limiting natural light into the hallway. As the ghost is floating, no sound is being made from movement. Having no enchanted gear, my only means of causing damage to these guys will be the mostly untested magic I¡¯ve recently purchased. This is definitely not the time to be experimenting and hoping for the best. Not to mention the damage done to the manor I purchased... On a lark, I inspect the floating apparition.
Jacob Walnorf - Ghostly remains of anger and regret. Level ???.
Which gives a prompt for a quest that I almost immediately canceled out of habit.
Jacob Walnorf has become a ghost of anger and regret! The previous owner of this manor, he was brutally murdered for reasons unknown. Investigate his murder and bring his killer to justice!
I frown. As the previous owner of this house, the only way he would pass on would be to take the quest or outright kill him. Given the level was hidden, he must be of a much higher level than mine. At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to go with - seeing as that¡¯s how it worked in most other games and that damn dragon. Three question marks hints at a level of one hundred or greater. Or the system is fucking with me again and this guy is so much canon fodder. Without an enchanted weapon or trusted useable magic, it¡¯s still a fool''s errand to pick a fight when not necessary. As usual, there was no indication of experience or monetary reward for completing the quest. I would normally just walk away, but I did purchase this place as my own. Sighing, I resolve myself to get this ghost out of here properly. I guess Maria will be seeing me sooner than she thought. She should have information on the previous land owner and have at least an idea of what happened. It¡¯s stereotyping, but women and gossip... I slowly start to walk towards the ghost and inspect his appearance in more depth. The missing jaw and tongue, his eyes are missing, the remaining rags of his clothes appear torn or cut. Can¡¯t really go off that as I have no idea how long he¡¯s been a ghost or if his appearance reflects the damage he sustained during his murder. Getting ready to bolt out of the house, I¡¯m preparing to do something stupid. ¡°Jacob?¡± I call out to the ghost, only a few meters away from him. The ghost rotates to face me fully but does not take any hostile action. My hud is not showing him as an enemy either, though that could change. Jacob hovers in place for the moment, not taking any action except staring in my direction. After a few moments, I shrug and continue with my stupid plan. ¡°Jacob, I¡¯ve been informed that you were murdered. I was hoping to explore the rooms on this floor to see if I can find anything that will help me to help you.¡± I spoke somewhat slowly, as if talking to a child. ¡°I recently purchased this property, I hope that doesn¡¯t bother you.¡± That last statement was a gamble, I was waiting for a negative reaction. Other than a nod from the ghost, nothing else happened. Hopefully that wasn¡¯t a nod of ¡®I will eat you while you sleep because you bought my house¡¯ kind of thing. During times like this, rarely does anyone have the opportunity to ask the victim for help to catch their killer. Usually, it¡¯s not until the end of the chase or episode does this tactic come into play, if at all. I think I¡¯ll take the chance and see if he¡¯s willing to help - or able to for that matter. ¡°Before I explore this floor, Jacob - is there anything you can do to help me find out who killed you?¡± Tentatively asked, it¡¯s not everyday you ask a ghost to help catch their killer. I¡¯m not some psychic detective after all. The ghost nods once, then fades into the door it was in front of. Come to find out, it¡¯s the master bedroom. Unless all the other rooms are this massive or larger. The door opens without even the slightest sound, once again making me wonder about that. If this had occurred recently, then Maria would have had more information about this. A murder of a manor owner would have been a big thing, unless there was a massive cover up. Now there¡¯s a thought. Putting aside hinges that have not squeaked from disuse, I slowly walk into the bedroom. Likely to be my bedroom, I idly think as my eyes rove all about. Nothing is really out of place in the bedroom. The massive canopy bed has it¡¯s covers all nice and neat, tucked in and ready for bedtime. The windows are left uncovered, allowing the sun to shine in from the assumed west side and more windows on the assumed east side of the bed. Nothing looks to have been knocked over or disturbed. Dust coats all the surfaces of the smaller sitting tables, armoire, and chest at the base of the bed. No blood stains on the carpets or bodies littering the floor. I take the time to examine the ceiling and walls for blood spatter and then take a glance under the bed. Hey, just because my parents told me there were no monsters under the bed in my world does not mean there aren¡¯t any here in this world. That could be a huge thing that would bite me on the ass later on - death by monster under the bed. Eh, I don¡¯t think so. Too lame of a way to die. Jacob¡¯s ghost hovers by a fairly large bookshelf located in the corner closest to the entryway. Hidden passage in the master bedroom? I take the time to explore the other two doorways inside the bedroom, each adjacent to the entryway. One leads to a massive walk-in closet that Claire would have loved. Clothes still hanging, an assortment of shoes and boots lay neatly tucked against the wall. Closing the door, I go check the door on the opposite side of the room, which leads to a very large bathroom. Tiled, the bathroom sports a big bathtub in the center of the room with an actual toilet in the back corner. The toilet is more of a chair over a hole rather than like the plumbing of my world, but it¡¯s a sight better than a bucket or pisspot. No blood or damage present. Curiosity sated and nothing else noteworthy found, I make my way back to the ghost that¡¯s been patiently waiting for me to come over to the bookshelf. I¡¯m guessing at the patient part, the ghost not making any other movement except hovering in place.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I stare at the bookshelf a moment, wondering how I will be able to activate what is very likely a hidden passage. Jacob saves me the time, pointing at the corner at about chest high. Jacob then slide back a bit as I move closer to inspect what he pointed at. This corner is one of the darker areas of the room, the sunlight not quite making it this far. With the books helping to block the remaining ambient lighting, it makes a very nice place to hide things. Located at the topmost of the corner on that row, there is a small circular knob. I glance back at Jacob¡¯s apparition with a raised eyebrow for a moment. Forgetting he has no eyes, I roll mine and push the knob. Sure enough, the bookshelf is the access for the hidden passage. The bookshelf doesn¡¯t swing inward or outward, but actually slides down into the floor. Fairly advanced, as far as hidden doorways go. I¡¯d love to get the blueprints of this place. After all, if there is one hidden room or passageway, there is bound to be more. The doorway opens to a circular staircase leading down. Taking a glance, it doesn¡¯t appear to be a short distance either. Being on the third floor and with the house having a basement, it may lead down that far. Only one way to find out. I glance back at the ghost, ¡°Heading down, there are no surprises waiting or traps set?¡± Jacob shakes his head, no. Shrugging, which I do a lot of, I hope the smidgen of trust I have in the ghost pans out for the better. I don¡¯t even guess how far down I traveled. There were no other access points that I could see with my night vision, so having another means of getting to this staircase will depend on where it leads. The staircase ends at a landing, my hud showing that I¡¯m facing West and I entered the staircase at the top facing East. Not quite under the house, but pretty close to it. The landing slopes down, the walls and floor are smooth carved stone of some kind. Torch sconces line the path but I have no need for them. After walking a few feet, Jacob appears and starts to lead me through the corridor. Not being in a hurry and staying observant, I let my mind estimate the distance I¡¯ve traveled. Each step was about twenty centimeters or about eight inches tall. I roughly counted about two hundred seventy five steps, so that¡¯s about fifty five meters after conversion or about one hundred eighty feet. Based on the four meter tall ceilings or about thirteen foot tall, even with the basement I went well over one hundred feet below ground. How peculier. Jacob¡¯s ghost lead me down the corridor about the same distance as the stairwell before the slight downwards slope leveled out. Another fifty or so meters passed that and I¡¯m lead into a huge room. With the walls being so smooth, I¡¯m fairly sure they were carved. No natural cave will have such smooth walls and almost ninety degree corners What is going on here? Seriously, this much effort for a hidden cubby is rather extravagant and wasteful in my opinion. Who does this, other than this dead rich guy, and what was he hiding? More torch sconces line the sides of a large rectangular room. The ceiling is still about three meters tall, but the room is about the size of a football field. Pillars are erected at equidistant points to support the room and further towards the center it looks like there is a circular area. Slowly making my way there, I come upon a horrific sight. The remnants of a body, ravaged brutally, lies in the center of the circle. Runic script squiggles along the floor, pillars, and ceiling of the circular area. I stop on the outside, not daring to walk into the ritualistic scene just yet. I take the time to walk around the circle, getting different angled views on the body. I also take the time to experiment a bit. I toss a rock over the threshold of the circle to see if there is any reaction. Then a small bit of meat, I tentatively extend my pinky finger through the perceived threshold. All come back with no reaction. ¡°Time to put these fancy flying boots to work, methinks.¡± There I go talking to myself again. It must be the quiet, even the BGM in my head is silent. That¡¯s eerie all by itself, like a prelude to a boss fight. Heading back to the entrance I came in through, there should now be plenty of room to conduct my experiments - somewhat safely, I¡¯m hoping. I seat myself facing perpendicular to the circle, but not in the corridor that lead me here. The activation for the boots is simple enough, though I still have no real practical ability with magic in this world yet. The boots are safe enough to experiment with, I hope. Knowing that the activation of any enchantment requires mana, I first start trying to gather some on the tips of my fingers. Focusing on just a little bit of mana, I keep the hud in my periphery to monitor how much I¡¯m consuming. Several minutes pass and only three units of mana have been expended. Sweat beads my forehead as I strain to keep consumption low and try to gain some control over this foreign substance that resides within me. There is a faint glow on each of my finger tips. I tug some more, still straining to prevent waste or a catastrophic error. Several more minute pass, sweat trickling down my back. I swear, willpower is a hidden attribute. Likely inherent to the person and their experiences in life. A steady glow pulses on each of my fingertips now, almost comparable to a weakly burning candle flame that pulses with a weak heartbeat. Approximately ten units of mana was used to get to this point, though I¡¯m having to guess since my regen has easily restored the meagre bit I¡¯ve used for this experiment. Between the games I played in my youth, my forced but amazing education, and the fact that critical thinking, logic, planning, and just plain old common sense was hammered into my head with spec ops training - I¡¯d otherwise just be a meathead stumbling around trying to figure things out. Worse off than I already am, anyway. So the mana is now where I want it to be. I don¡¯t want to absorb it, though that might be an interesting trick to check in a minute, so I look at the wall in the distance. I hold my hand up and flick it, as if to remove water droplets from the tips. The good news is my hand is no longer glowing with mana. There is no bad news, but I was hoping that the result would have been more offensive in nature - like sending a sickle of mana outward. Instead, the mana left a residual light behind, like I was painting and the air itself was my canvas. Five streaking lights hang horizontally in the air, still lingering. Each as wide as my fingertips and about a foot long, shorter than the swipe I took. I swipe my other hand vertically through the existing lines. The mana expended, my hand returns to its normal not-glowing state. The lines overlap for a moment, then meld together where they intersect. So, I can paint the air with pretty light. Due to my night vision, I¡¯m unable to tell what color of light or if there is a color to the light. Hopefully it¡¯s not some ugly color or red, I don¡¯t think what little bit of vanity I have can take that. Continuing the experiment, I quickly set ten units of mana to head to my index finger on my right hand. A slight jolt of energy is felt as the mana quickly moves from my core, through my arm, and to the tip of the finger. A small ball of mana, no bigger than a small marble, sits above my index finger. Moving my hand around, the mana does not discharge or color the air. We¡¯re back to willpower and I¡¯m thinking intent. Narrowing my eyes, I stare at the far wall and flick my finger at it. My mind and intent was to carve a line in the wall. Sure enough, a sickle of light fires from my finger and impacts the wall. To be sure, I do this several times with different angles fired. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal. I walk over to examine the damage, curious to know what ten units of mana can do against a rock wall. Solid damage. Each swipe caused a five centimeter or about two inch deep gash into the rock, about two and a half centimeters tall or an inch. The gash doesn¡¯t taper off, but is a solid strike that spans half a meter or a little over a foot and a half. Each of them does this. I go back to where I originally sat and think of what this could mean for the future. At my fingertips, I now hold a very deadly weapon. A weapon that can grow with me, that is only limited by my mana capacity and imagination. What¡¯s even more odd is I haven¡¯t received any notifications for any of this. I check my notifications system tab to be sure. Nothing. I frown to myself, but push that off for later. The painting in the air technique I¡¯ve stumbled on is tickling the back of my head a bit. ¡°Runes. I could paint runes in the air with my mana!¡± Maybe that intelligence stat has some use after all. I can¡¯t say I¡¯d be able to work that out on my own in my old world. Excitedly, I get ready to write the rune for water in the air, but stop a moment. Let¡¯s think about this before hastily inscribing runes. The water rune by itself would only change from writing into the element it represents. I glance around, noticing there is no ready source of water nearby. I take a deep breath through my nose, noting that there is some moisture in the air, but it¡¯s not heavily humid. I shudder a moment in realization. Water would not, could not, have been created from nothing, the rune would have pulled from the most readily available source of water near it. Myself. I shudder again. There was no limiter placed or even thought of when I went to write that rune, so it would have been driven by the amount of mana I placed into writing it. Until the capacity was met, the rune would have kept draining until full. Fuck me, that could have been a disaster. A painful, potentially deadly, disaster. Granted, the rune could be marred and ruined. This would cancel the effect, but would I react in time and not fatally injure myself in the process? Let¡¯s never find out. Pulling from the knowledge that is my overpowered skill of enchanting, I take a moment to clearly think of what I want to test. Simple, but effective, a small low-light sphere that will float and be controlled by my thoughts. The runic scheme clear in my mind, I recall that only ten units of mana was originally used for all ten of my fingers - yes, I can count, thank you very much. Using only a single unit of mana to my right index finger, I keep the supply steady at that output as I start to inscribe on the air. A rune for the light itself, which would make physicists scream at me since I¡¯m in a room that has no light available. I know it will work though, as light is paradoxically energy and matter. So long as energy is present, the Concept that is light will shine through - pun intended. A rune added for control, linked to myself. This way it pulls from my mana reserves and I can move it around to my will. Not to mention control the overall brightness. The control feature is broad for a reason, that way I can modify it on the fly. A volumetric rune added at the end, to limit the size and prevent accidents or over consumption of my mana reserves. That would suck, to do this first experiment and have all my mana consumed in a second. Not sure if I¡¯d die from that, but I imagine that it would still be painful. I¡¯m not a masochist, thank you very not. So the scheme is: Light, control, size. There could be many more added, increasing the complexity of it, but I¡¯m just trying this out. Biting my lip in concentration, I prepare to enact this little experiment. The runes hover in the air, waiting to be linked and activated. My finger loops around to complete the chain¡­ And there was light. Chapter Sixteen Rev. 1.0 When the light came, it wasn¡¯t a modulated flicker or a slow build up. No, it was a blinding ball of supernova fury, searing into my one remaining eye and causing me to shout out in pain. As soon as the pain abated somewhat, I realized I forgot to add the enchanters ¡®default setting¡¯ rune to the chain. This would have prevented my eye from being solar blinded. The enchanters of decent experience oh-so-lovingly call it that when someone got tired of the ¡®max setting¡¯ being the default when any enchantment was activated. Much experimentation was put into this particular rune, which led to the discovery of a low output default as well. How kind of my predecessors. Swearing to myself, I negate the rune chain with a mana infused fist swiping through the lines hanging in the air. The good news is that it worked. The bad news is it¡¯ll be a few minutes before I can even try to see again, my eye sockets leaking tears. Running through the runic chain again in my head, I can¡¯t help but chuckle to myself. Even with all this accumulated knowledge from a well bought skill, I¡¯m making rookie mistakes one after another. Of course, I¡¯m going to blame my childish excitement. It¡¯s not every day you manifest mana or even set that mana to code light into being. Man-child gets a new toy, he has to play with it and damn the instructions. Minutes pass as I slowly regain my sight back. Once I¡¯m able to see, I remake the runic chain and be sure to add the low luminescent default at the end. Don¡¯t want to blind myself again. Once I¡¯ve written the code in the air, I turn my head and close my eyes before completing the chain this time. Light, the equivalent of a weakly powered sixty watt incandescent light bulb in my old world flickers to life. Using the control modification I added, I send the light further away before opening my eyes. The little ball of light, about the size of a baseball, hangs about chest high about three meters away or so. Flexing my will, I start to control the little ball to zoom all about the area, adjusting the speed and height as it flies merrily along. I started with hand gestures, but after a few moments decided that was too silly. Putting my hands in my pockets, I will the little ball all over the place in order to practice control. With it further away from me, I also increase the brightness and light up more of the area. While I¡¯m tickled to death that this worked, I¡¯m sure someone else has figured out an actual spell for this little light ball. If not, great for me. If so, it was a good bit of practice for more advanced attempts later. Other than making this an attraction for entertaining children, this had no real purpose - except for my own childish entertainment. The crux of the matter was to get control of my mana so I could use my fancy flying boots, without caving in my skull while in this manufactured cave. Finding I could infuse that mana into the air was a mega bonus, learning to focus my will and intent to determine what that mana does¡­ That¡¯s so fucking priceless. Experimentation for the win! Deciding to try a few more things before getting back to the reason this all started, I try to will the little light ball to shift colors. Light, pure light, has all the colors in the spectrum except black. Following that train of thought and science, I figure will and intent could change the existing parameters of the generalized enchanted floating light ball. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, the light does not change colors. Thinking on it for a moment, I start to reason out the why. Color is seen due to absorption of the other colors into a substance. For instance, the main three colors of red, green, and blue. If you see green, then red and blue were absorbed with the green colored light being reflected off. Different hues of color are displayed based on the color reflective properties of any given substance. Black light is a different frequency of light, most of which is not within the human visible spectrum, while black is the absence of all color or light. Since I do not have a filter or prism in place to change the color or even the elemental properties of the light, it will be a very pure ¡®white¡¯. With nothing to reflect or absorb certain colored wavelengths, the color of the little light ball will not change. Like it or not, I¡¯ve found a limitation for the will and intent affecting an existing enchantment - without introducing additional energy or runes. I suppose that I¡¯ve already found something new in my foray into the world that is enchanting. The memories of the enchanter I received didn¡¯t have any thoughts or explorations into what I¡¯ve just done. They were all about better enchantments for equipment or tools, not drawing their mana on the air and making something from it. They didn¡¯t care about color filters or the light spectrum or little floating balls of light. Go me. While this is very minor in the grand scheme of things, it still ties back into the use of mana itself as a weapon. So further exploration and thought is merited, though it will take a back seat for now. Willing the floating light ball back near me, I head over to the circle of runes and the dead body. Halfway there, I stop for a moment to play with the flying boots. Slowly increasing the mana units sent to the boots, I start to float above the ground at about twenty units. Side to side, forwards and backwards, I can will myself to move while floating. The mana expenditure doesn¡¯t increase, so I decide to try floating up. I slowly start to float higher off the ground, the cost doesn¡¯t increase yet but I¡¯m also not moving fast either. This is not where I¡¯m wanting to play with that aspect yet, since I¡¯m enclosed and could cause severe damage to myself. I do have a bit of self-preservation, thank you very much. The floating movement is jarring to my senses, particularly my inner ear and balance. I¡¯m moving forward without moving forward, so that¡¯s definitely throwing me off. Getting a bit queasy, I set myself back on the ground. That¡¯s going to take some getting used to. Approaching the circle, I finally start to check a few things. Using the ball of light, an enchanted magical construct, I send it over the boundary. This will help me determine if the circle is still mana sensitive, if it¡¯ll activate if I cross the threshold. The light ball doesn¡¯t dim or act differently, the runic circle does not light up or activate. I¡¯m not sure what the purpose of the runic circle is yet, but I¡¯ll take a closer look after examining the body. I use my boots again, to float up about a foot or so above the ground. I slowly move my way forward, hovering closer to the body. This is definitely one of those times I¡¯m glad I have a light source available. I¡¯ll be able to determine more detail than the grey tones my night vision provides. See in the dark? Night vision is awesome. Determining colors and details of what looks like a murder scene? Night vision sucks. I set myself over the body and crouch down. Using one of my knives, I start to move the shredded clothing around to check for wounds. The light moves as I will it to help see the best at different angles, like a flashlight without holding it. Heh, here I am able to enchant on the very air itself with my mana and I make a glorified flashlight. The rending and cutting of the flesh is a really close match to what I saw on Jacob¡¯s ghost, so I¡¯m working on the assumption that this is Jacob. Making sure my gloves won¡¯t expose me to the body, I reach down and grab the corpse. The mana expenditure increases as I start to float up with the body in my hands. I¡¯m tense, waiting for a flash or for the runes to spark to life. Thankfully, that doesn¡¯t happen and I make it outside the circle without incident. I set the body down on the side of the circle that I entered the cavern from, so I don¡¯t confuse myself later, and really take a closer look at the remains. If this was Jacob, it looks like he was tortured badly before whatever the circle did finished him off. He may have bled out, but there was no pool of blood or even a drop remaining in the circle. I check what remains of his clothes for anything he may have left there or was missed if he was frisked and searched. Of course, there is nothing to be found in the torn remains. I take a moment to glance around, noticing that Jacob wasn¡¯t present. I¡¯m not sure where he went after I entered the cavern, I¡¯ll call for him when I¡¯m done looking at the circle. Said circle is massive and filled with hundreds of runes, all linked together. I float back over to the center and start working my way through this puzzle. Every enchantment has a starting and end point, the center of the circle on the ground isn¡¯t making much sense to me. It could be something custom and complex, but runes are runes and the memories are telling me that you write a story every time you use them. Every time, even if it doesn¡¯t make sense immediately - a story is told. If the runes on the ground don¡¯t make sense, how about the ceiling? Glancing up at the center of the circle, I see the start of the story - a larger rune set right in the center. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Sacrifice. Following the swirling and flowing lines, the story comes to light - so to speak. This circle is meant to empower the recipient with a sacrifice. The sacrifice being vague on purpose, so that more runes don¡¯t have to be added for willing or unwilling, dead or alive, or dozens of other required runic placements for the desired effect. I start at the beginning again, I need to find who or where the recipient is. If there wasn¡¯t one, then the circle would have continued to glow, the sacrifice having nowhere to go. Contained and waiting for an outlet. As far as empowerment runic circles go, my memories are telling me this is about average. Since it was left so vague, the sacrifice only imbues about twenty to thirty percent of the overall life force towards whomever this recipient is. The rest is bled off to power the circle itself. I look closer at the inscribed walls, casting the light about back and forth. Sure enough, the lines were all cut into the rock. This is permanent until destroyed or eroded. That means this circle is likely to be used again. Meaning I will likely be a target once this murderer finds out their lair has been sold. That would jeopardize their means of growing stronger, faster. Frowning, I keep reading over the runes. Bit by bit, I¡¯m seeing that a majority of the scheme is set to empower the recipient at another location. That seems way too complicated, since it would be easier to set a receiving circle on the other side of the room. Blood and death are the qualifiers to activate the circle. Once activated, it spends about seventy percent or so to send the remaining life force to a destination predetermined with exquisite detail. Altitude, distance, even time are all taken into consideration. The time is the oddest of them all, since this will send the sacrificial life force at midnight two days after the body has expired. Tremendous detail was given to this part, to ensure the murderer had time to get to the location and get their boost. Why make it so unrefined then? This circle could be made more efficient, so that over eighty percent of the life force is sent to empower the designer. Looking it over once again, I start to see what I was initially missing. There are segments basically cut out and then pasted to the scheme. Looking at the finer details, you can see the difference in quality. The distance, altitude, and particularly the time modifiers are all master work level. The rest is about middle ground, with the empowerment being the lowest quality of the bunch. This was put together by an amatuer. So be it. Let¡¯s start here for now. I think up an alarm scheme pretty quick, using the idea of infrared lasers from my world. I go to each entrance to the cavern and enscribe the runic work into the stone itself, facing in towards the caves center and add a light negation rune as part of the chain. This way the runes aren¡¯t visible to the naked eye when loaded with mana. The concept is simple, set up a massive infrared laser network that, when breached, sets off an alarm rune inscribed on the inside of my left arm piece. The inscription is in blood, so once it activates, it¡¯ll fade away. Once someone activates one of the trip lasers, I¡¯ll be notified with a little light and sound show. Similar to a system notification... I set up the whole underground cavern and made sure to set up the equivalent of an on/off switch at both entrances. Having covered the place, I make sure to add a transformative rune cluster set on a time delay. This way the entrances are sealed over with solid stone over three meters deep. I ended up using my blood as a substitute for proper enchantment materials, but that¡¯ll serve my purpose well enough for what I¡¯m doing. I¡¯m working this all out on the assumption (yeah, I know the saying for that particular word) that the murderer is working alone. This should trap them here. If the killer is working with more people, then whoever brings the sacrifice will be caught inside as well. This is a stop-gap at best, I¡¯ll need to go look for the actual murderer or try to set another elaborate trap. I frown as I start to massage my temples. Political intrigue and spy games were never really my forte. While I excel at infiltration and exfiltration, actual spying or dealing with dignitaries in a diplomatic way is a bit beyond me. In other words, I¡¯m more of a ninja assassin rather than a James Bond. Activating the enchantments as I set to finish exploring the tunnel, I try to set a mental reminder that the enchantments will need to be recharged in about a week. Hopefully, I won¡¯t need to recharge them and this mess will be resolved. Walking a ways down the unexplored tunnel, I make sure to extinguish the little light ball enchantment. I¡¯m slightly impressed it lasted the hour or two I was down here looking things over and enchanting. My night vision restored, I make my way through the weird and utterly blank tunnel. After a bit, there is a ninety degree turn to the right and I finally find Jacob again. He¡¯s hovering a few meters after the turn. I stop and look around for anything that might stand out. Seeing nothing, I make my way to Jacob and call out to his ghastly ghostly self. ¡°Yo, found your body. I pulled it from the circle but wasn¡¯t sure if you wanted it buried or not. Did you want it buried?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing as I wouldn¡¯t care one whit either way if I was in his metaphorical shoes. Jacob shakes his head in the negative, so I put it out of my mind. ¡°Is there anything else you can show me to help find your killer?¡± Maybe he can take me right to them, though he may be excorcised before getting that far. Another shake in the negative. ¡°Is there anything else you want to show me?¡± Last ditch effort. If this doesn¡¯t pan out, then I¡¯ve exhausted all the help he can give me. The last shake in the negative. My horrendous luck strikes again. ¡°Ok, well hang out for a bit. I need to get settled in the manor and try to figure this all out. Try to stay out of trouble in the meantime, yeah?¡± With those parting words and a nod in the positive, I mosey on out of the tunnel. I don¡¯t bother keeping track of time or distance this time, just move out. The tunnel slopes upwards a bit but doesn¡¯t deviate past that one turn. The exit is a carefully constructed series of rocks that camouflage the entrance. Multiple large rock walls half cutout at angles prevent anyone from seeing the entrance from the distance or even close up. You¡¯d have to know where it is and walk into the first set of half walls to figure anything out. It¡¯s also located on the land secondary large plot of land I purchased with the manor. Suspicious much? This is way too elaborate. Either built for Royal blood to escape or for it to never be found. Jacob may not even be the first victim either. If I ask for anyone specializing in this level of construction, I wager they have gone missing - and I¡¯d have a massive target on my back by figuring that out. Best to keep the investigation benign for now, let them come to me and underestimate what I have figured out so far. I absentmindedly head back to the manor and start the glorious task that is housekeeping during the scant remaining daylight. I let my mind wander as I go through motions most adults know by heart now. Instead of candles, I set several dozen of my little floating flashlight enchantments light the house. The master bedroom is where I will be staying, so I make sure that it¡¯s ready for habitation. After that, I have a dozen or so rooms to clean. Joy. My hud registers the time being after midnight as I stop. Not all done, but I¡¯ve made some progress. I¡¯ve also decided to go see Maria about that family to help take care of the place. Otherwise, I¡¯ll waste my remaining time cleaning. ¡°Fuck that. Guess one lucky family is about to win this worlds equivalent of the lottery. I get to play with spells tomorrow and then hunt for materials as well.¡± There¡¯s the talking to myself again. Meh. I pass out for a few hours, no dreams or nightmares visit while I¡¯m out. I wake before the sunrise, try out the bath in the master bathroom, and finish as the sun starts to peak over the horizon. Dressed again, I make my way back to the village or city - I¡¯ll figure that out when I get there again. I¡¯m humming to the tune of secret agent man as I walk through the gates into the village proper, the BGM in my head playing soothing tunes that I¡¯m not really wanting at the moment. I won¡¯t complain though, I¡¯ve missed that once before and I¡¯ll be damned if I fuck that up and fall into madness - even more than I have. Why that song? Because my great-grandfather was a massive music lover and then it was passed down to each generation there after. If I wasn¡¯t raised on the good old songs of an age past, I¡¯d likely be brainwashed into thinking the shit being made before I left was amazing. My platoon often played the oldies while we were deployed, hating the new age shit that was made as well. A word or phrase repeated a dozen times - a song it does not make. Heinous. My hud shows it¡¯s a little after six in the morning local time, so I hunt down some grub and take my time people watching. Those tails that everyone here apparently has is throwing me off a bit. I can¡¯t tell what origin they may be, like cat or monkey or something. Another question to ask and hopefully it doesn¡¯t offend whoever I ask. While people watching, I luck out when I notice Maria walking by. Which is incredibly weird all by itself and I glance around quickly for trouble. A few heartbeats later, and it all seems ok. I wave at her and beckon her over. It¡¯s barely seven, so she has a bit of time to spare before work. She notices me, her eyes widen a fraction and a slight smile appears. She looks tired, bags developing under her eyes and her shoulders drooping a bit. She waves back and heads my way. ¡°Morning Maria. I¡¯m glad I caught you here, mind doing a bit of business before work? I¡¯ll buy breakfast.¡± I cut right to the chase, no sense beating around the bush and possibly sending mixed or creepy signals. While she¡¯s very attractive, I¡¯m not sure when or if I¡¯ll be interested in another woman. Especially given my time limit. Smiling a bit more, she replies, ¡°Why, Mr. Gram, are you asking me on a date?¡± She¡¯s teasing me, I can tell. She¡¯s made her way over and sat across from me while I reply, ¡°Sorry to burst your bubble. While very attractive, I¡¯m not looking for a partner of any sort at the moment. I wouldn¡¯t mind a bit of conversation though.¡± I was never very good at seduction or social interaction either. Another fail on the road to being a double oh agent. I think I fidgeted. If anything, a twinkle appears in her eyes. Trouble on the horizon, mayday, mayday. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re offering breakfast, I won¡¯t say no. What did you want to discuss before business hours?¡± I think I blush a little bit. Is that a charisma check I failed? Flagging a waitress over, I reply, ¡°We discussed having a family reside in the secondary housing yesterday. I¡¯d like to go ahead and hire a group. Trying to keep up with all that myself is going to greatly cut into other projects I¡¯d like to attempt.¡± She¡¯s quiet for a few minutes after ordering her morning meal. A contemplative silence. That¡¯s good, gives me a moment to get myself together. I¡¯m slightly weirded out that I reacted to her that way, but I brush it off and get back to matters at hand. Over the next thirty minutes, I keep a portion of my mind in a metaphorical box. We hash out the details and costs for the family being hired. I told her that I wasn¡¯t too worried about the who¡¯s and why¡¯s, that I¡¯ll leave it up to her judgement. The cost was a little less than I thought, but given what Mab told me about yearly income I wasn¡¯t overly surprised so little was requested. I would also be providing them a roof over their heads and income towards food and essentials. The family would essentially become my vassals. I also asked about what the designation of this place was - city or village. She said that the mayor claims it¡¯s a city, but in reality it¡¯s a village. The population and area which they reside determines those definitions. Village it is then. When carefully asking about the tails, she out right laughs at me. A full belly laugh, which caught me off guard. When she calmed down, her reply was simple. ¡°Everyone without one asks that question. We¡¯ve long since gotten over getting offended by such simple questions.¡± The tail is not based on any animal I know. She claims that their ancestry is unknown to them, so they do not know the exact reason why they have tails. What she does know is that everyone on this world has one. Losing their tail is like losing their limb, it affects balance and can be used to grasp light things. So, prehensile tail. She also blushed a slight bit when she mentioned it was incredibly sensitive. When I jokingly asked if the full moon did anything for them as a people, she blushed a bit harder. ¡°Think of it as mating season. When all three moons are out and full, our hormones go into overdrive. It makes things difficult for those without a partner, as you say.¡± Mind. Blown. At least they all don¡¯t turn into gigantic, energy blast flinging monkey people. Cue shudder. When asked when this happens, innocently of course, she said it¡¯s a seasonal thing. It will happen again in about three to four weeks, so I won¡¯t be around to worry about it. This will influence the bath house I¡¯m planning to make though. I¡¯ll need to make it a full blown inn, with heavy sound proofed walls for those times the moons play merry havoc on their hormones. Our breakfast comes to an end. I discreetly hand her the required money to hire the family to help upkeep my manor. I don¡¯t want to seem desperate or negatively impact her reputation with the people around us. She does live here after all, I don¡¯t want to make it look like I hired her or anything. If that¡¯s even a thing here. Which I¡¯m sure it is, it¡¯s pretty much universal. Go go red light district. My business done in the village, I make my way back to the manor. It¡¯s time to explore my magic and then hunt me some materials for proper enchanting. Chapter Seventeen Rev. 1.0 So. Magic. Amazing thing, it is. I made it back to the manor without issue, not even bothering to head back inside. I¡¯m very intent on exploring this new toy of mine and I¡¯m not willing to let anything distract me - again. Having played with my mana some while down in the cave with Jacob¡¯s shredded corpse, making the hut landmark, and the single flying earth fist I sent soaring - I¡¯m excited to push myself a little harder, especially now that I¡¯m in a semi-safe environment to play with said mana. I pull up my stats, as a reminder of what I¡¯m dealing with.
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: Soldier
Level: 1 (37) Exp --- To next lvl: 16,419
Race: Human Stat points: 185
HP: 1820 MP: 1950 SP: 1840
HP Regen/min 172 MP Regen/min 178.5 SP Regen/min 176
Strength: 81 Agility: 96 Intelligence: 94
Endurance: 84 Dexterity: 102 Wisdom: 81
Charisma: 65 Luck: 2
It¡¯s still strange that my experience has stopped. Same thing could be said for stats gains and skill gains. I should have acquired a skill for dicking with my mana in that cave or making a hut. Maybe the system admin was taking a long piss break? Anywho, most games I¡¯ve played have the intelligence stat as the main damage modifier for damage output when using spells of one sort or another. That¡¯s not to say that there are not spells that require other stats as their modifier, but that¡¯s typically the main go to stat. Still not having a good baseline for where my stats compare to the majority, I¡¯m just going to work with what I got and not care too much for the time being. Looking over my meager spell list, the four spells I have all have a base mana requirement of ten units. I don¡¯t know yet if I can charge them with more or if I can even change something fundamental about the spell itself - I haven¡¯t even used any of them, yet. Creating the hut proved that I now can manipulate at least earth outside of the single spell I have, but experimentation is required for the rest. Not to mention determining limits. Very important, since this isn¡¯t some half-baked anime or comic where I miraculously pull a major win out of my ass or spend a few episodes fighting and powering up. Ember, Gust, Stone Fist, and Water Spout. Let¡¯s start with the easiest one of the lot - Gust. Making sure to move to the back of the manor and facing away from any buildings in the vicinity, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for adding another elemental branch of magic to play with. What? This is a big deal. After all, it¡¯s not everyday just anyone can start spamming spells. At least, that¡¯s the case back home. Having the ¡®Intro to magic¡¯ skill at my disposal, understanding the lore behind the spell is easier. Using words of power and gestures, you are essentially causing an area in front of you to be overly pressurized with air. Once it reaches the spell frame limit, the release is triggered. This is typically done pointed away from the caster, but accidents can happen with improper chanting and/or gestures. Intoning the strange words and making the silly gestures, what looks like a ball of swirling wind appears and then shoots off. What''s that? A swirling ball of wind? How could that possibly be seen, right? Well, the mana imbues the air element itself while it''s being shaped. That imbuement causes a color to be seen, thus making the swirling ball of high pressured air to be visible. Magic, bitches! Ahem. Moving on, that spell only caused the equivalent of a really strong gust of wind to impact wherever the little ball makes contact. A really strong gust being like a weak start of a category one hurricane. Nothing amazing, but it could throw off someones balance off if hit at the right moment.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I cast the spell a few dozen times to be sure I have it comfortably down. As comfortable as one can be with the funny gestures and talking in tongues. Ember is like a thimble sized fireball, Water spout is just like it sounds - basically shooting a stream of water, like a water gun. Stone fist is the most useful of the lot, again being just as it sounds. Stone gathers in front of the caster and then launches at about the speed as the Gust spell towards wherever you¡¯re facing. All in all, nothing spectacular. Having taken the time to cast each spell at least a few dozen times, I attempt to fiddle with the casting. Gestures are eliminated and I manage to cast the spells without too much issue, though I feel a strain and I break out into a sweat after the third cast or so. Again with that possible hidden willpower stat? Can¡¯t be arsed to care right now. Now that I¡¯m not having to do the macarena with every cast, I work on adding more mana to each cast. Took a bit of effort to get to that point, but when I did the results were a little more satisfying. Doubling the mana output for each spell allows for doubling the capability of said spell. Each spell is launched faster, with more impact and power. Seems pretty academic, right? But all I¡¯m doing is supercharging an existing frame or design. This system appears flawed and very time consuming compared to the pure mana manipulation I was doing down in the cave. Taking a moment and checking the time, I note only a few hours have passed since I started experimenting. Feeling that I have a bit more time before needing to go hunting for materials, I think more on what each spell does. Gust is a condensed and super charged ¡®ball¡¯ of air that is launched. Ember super heats the molecules in the air and consumes oxygen to stay lit at a central point. Water spout condenses the water molecules in the air, with an outlet formed once pressure is met. Stone fist is a rocky fist launched forward. I¡¯m still working on how its launched though. I may need some equipment to determine that one, though magnetism comes to mind. Adding more mana only increases the size and velocity. More mana doesn¡¯t necessarily increase the overall damage. So, I focus on the element aspect itself. The wind ball is condensed more, the mini-fireball becomes more excited, the water gun¡¯s pressure is increased, and I compact the rock fist even more. It works, very well. A tree that was a good distance away can attest to the veracity of that claim. What¡¯s left of it anyway. Basic manipulation done, I now move on to the meat of the subject. Namely, pure elemental manipulation. As stated before, each element has its own flavor or characterization. Wind blows, fire burns, blah blah blah. Taking a small chunk from the now decimated tree target, I make sure there is nothing else flammable nearby and set the small chunk on the ground about a meter in front of me. I focus and start to excite the air around the wood piece, as if I¡¯m casting the ember spell. After a minute or two, the chunk of wood finally bursts into flames. I take a deep breath and attempt to make the existing fire bend to my will. I have it sway back and forth, towards and away from me in order to determine if I¡¯m actually manipulating it. Nodding and feeling confident with the results, I take a portion of the flame and have it swirl up and away from the burning chunk on the ground. After a minute or two of straining, I take a break and wipe my head. No result. Hand to chin, I pace around the block and think. The fire is already existing, merrily burning away at the organic piece I set alight. What¡¯s the parallel between this existing flame and ember? Ah, the core of what fire is. The fire tetrahedron: heat, fuel, oxidizer, and chain reaction. Heat and oxygen are already present, but I forgot that I needed to add the fuel and chain react it. Magic is the core and fuel. I forgot to add mana to the manipulation as I didn¡¯t use a single mana point in all the flame swaying I had done before. Concentrating, I channel mana and will the fire to swirl. Result: I¡¯m blown on my ass by channeling too much mana into the small fire and essentially exploding it in my face. Patting myself down, I go grab another piece of wood and set it on fire too. This time, I manage to get a small swirl dislodged from the main burning piece on the ground and have it flutter around like a butterfly. Somehow or another, my mental imagery influenced the shape of the little ball of fire, becoming a wondrous butterfly of fire that is now wisping about. Smiling softly, I go about extinguishing the flames and start accumulating a water puddle with a low powered water spout spell. Next thing you know, I have the small courtyard fluttering with dozens of various elemental butterflies. Each of the independent of the other but still within my control as I guide them about. To and fro they wander, dancing to some unknown beat. A tear flows down my face, my heart aches over Claire and my unborn child. Steeling myself, I snuff all mana and manipulation to the elementals fluttering about. The small clearing is bereft of company again. Nodding to myself and happy with my results, I make sure to grab a bite to eat and check out my map. There are three areas shown for the materials I need to finally be able to play with the enchantment skill, courtesy of Tepindo. The three materials are dropped by monsters, or so the details I received say. The Wind essence is obtained by killing mobs near the peaks of a near mountainous area, meaning that most in that area will have the essence I need as opposed to hunting a single type. Mana crystals are dropped by mobs in an area highly saturated in mana, typically by a leyline or similar font of mana concentration. The Purified water is the odd one. It only has a single mob listed - Undines. Of the three materials, the Wind essence and the purified water are both capable of being changed out with other types of essence. The essence determines the types of attributes that can be added to the enchantment process. The only material absolutely required is the Mana crystal, as it will hold the enchantment together and keep the mana charge active. While there are other materials that can be used, like blood, the quality of the enchantment will be greatly diminished. Now, blood can be treated and alchemically refined to work as well as or better than the mana crystals, but that would take time and ability I do not have. These three materials I¡¯m hunting will work more than well enough for master level enchantments and I¡¯m not having to overcomplicate things to obtain higher grade materials. Only need to go on a massive killing spree. I wonder¡­ I try to pull up the market like I would at a hub. Viola. The shops I visited yesterday are available and several more that I didn¡¯t go visit with my little guides. On top of that, they have an Adventurer¡¯s guild and a job posting as well. I browse through the ads that are listed, looking to see if there are any rewards for the areas I¡¯m heading to. If I¡¯m going to be culling an area, I may as well see if I can get paid for it on top of getting my materials. Keeping in mind the Contract I have with Tepindo, I only look for and accept listings for proof of death. While I could get away with trading in the materials and parts for the rewards, I¡¯d feel better if I honor my word to the store owner rather than attempt to make a few extra credits for myself. Nodding to myself, I decide it¡¯s time to play with my newly purchased Vehicle of Doom and Destruction in order to get to those places faster. This world is unknown to me, so I have no idea how far each location actually is compared to my present location. Using my new ride to to hasten my travels is expected and I can relax while traveling. Well, to a point. While heavily armored and fast, there are no weapons on my vehicles. But first, a quick and dirty use of my spiffy Dragon boots that the creepy princess gave to me as reward for ¡®rescuing¡¯ her. I still don¡¯t know why she gave them to me, her excuse rang hollow when she uttered it. Meh. Dragon boots of flying. ¡®Nuff said. I grin, excited to fly through the air. I glance up and around for a moment to be sure I¡¯m not going to impact anything on my ascent and I dump a hundred units of mana into my boots. In hindsight, I realize I should have added mana gradually to control my ascent into the skies. The moment the mana hit the boots, in such a concentration, I¡¯m airborne. Shooting up so fast, the pressure squeezes the air from my lungs. The wind causes my eyes to shut tight and I¡¯m sure I black out for a moment. Why? Because I¡¯m falling back to terra firma and I don¡¯t even remember reaching my top height. Panicking for a moment, I almost shunt more mana into my boots. Thankfully, I pause for a moment and control the mana into smaller amounts so I¡¯m not dashing up and down like a demented yoyo. Getting control of my impromptu rocket man impersonation, I realize I¡¯m going to need some kind of eye protection if I want to travel at any decent speed. The air resistance and wind in my eyes will greatly slow my travels otherwise. Unless I want to fly blind¡­ Nope. Not happening. I use the boots to travel to the village again, gaining control and understanding as I travel. The flight ability is generated on the soles of the boots, meaning I¡¯ll have to angle myself and constantly correct my altitude as I travel. The scenery passes by. The trip that takes about ten to fifteen minutes at a sedate walk takes about three minutes as the crow flies. I make sure to land a decent distance from the gate and enter the village proper like any good law abiding citizen. Heh. Infiltration just got a lot easier. Why? Because people rarely look up. Add to that the cover of darkness and low visibility, I can be hundreds of feet above my target location and drop down with nary a sound. Exfiltration, too, is easier. So long as I have access to open sky, I can pull off another rocket man and be out of sight in a second or so. But these are conditional, though it is pretty broad. I can make an exit to leave through as well with my Water spout spell, increasing the pressure output to cut through most materials and ¡­ Right, eye protection. One of the shops I didn¡¯t go to has what I need, according to the¡¯ shopping app¡¯. One quick purchase later and I¡¯m back on the road. Now that I can keep my eyes open and see during flight, I decide to pull out my VoDaD to take a closer look at what I actually purchased. Fifteen meters long or about fifty feet, three and a half meters high or eleven and half feet and three meters wide or almost ten feet, this thing is a monster. No wheels, it uses hover technology and can hover a maximum of twenty meters or about sixty five feet above flat surface. Single person driving seat with additional seating available for twelve other people. That barely takes a third of the overall length of this beast. Three entry points, armored up with ten centimeters or about four inches thick armor plating to take quite the beating and keep on ticking. No weapons or weapons systems were available, which was odd. I didn¡¯t buy this to make waste to small cities though, so no big deal. Midway through the monstrosity, there is a small living quarter with a bed, bathroom, and a small kitchen. Then the back end can be used to transport more personnel or like it is used now, additional transport in the way of a two seater hover bike. The rear compartment can hold four of those hover bikes without issue, six to eight if they¡¯re all crammed in there and someone¡¯s willing to dig them out. Like I said - a beast. Quiet too, as I start it up and get ready to see what kind of performance specifications it has. Hopefully it has a decent travel speed, otherwise I wasted a LOT of spare change for this tin can. If it goes fast enough, I guess I can run over and kill anything in my way. It IS large and heavy¡­ Now then, first target - Wind essence. Chapter Eighteen Rev. 1.0 Travel time to the mountain range was about two hours. Once there, I take the time to fly up and observe the area. Fun fact: Mythological creatures are real in this new universe. Harpies, Gryphons, lesser Wyverns, the occasional elemental of wind and a few of earth. Not to mention the droves of goblins, direwolves, and some kind of large cat. Haven¡¯t been close enough to tag one of those and examine it yet. There are others types of prey available, but I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll be actively hunting them. If they cross my path and drop something neat - all bets are off then. I¡¯m betting that the flying mobs are the ones I will need to cull are my targets for the Wind essence. The elementals may yield a decent harvest too. Given the numbers against me, I figure now would be a good time to see what other weapons I picked up from Meanrock. Of which, I¡¯m genuinely surprised since my own handguns are soulbound to me. Shouldn¡¯t they have been soulbound to him? Something wiggles in the back of my mind, demanding attention for a moment. Then it¡¯s gone. I take out my own handguns and examine them again.
Unique Artifact Handgun (pair): Infinite ammunition - JHP. Ammo and handgun can both be enchanted.This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used.
They both look like Glocks. Jacketed hollow point ammo, so I won¡¯t have to worry as much about other people getting injured once the bullet enters the target. Physical damage only, so if there is a high resistance or in the case of the elementals - pure physical resistance, I¡¯ll need to take advantage of the ability to enchant the ammo and guns themselves. Putting my handguns back into my inventory, I start to pull out the small cache I picked up from Meanrock.
Unique Artifact Submachine Gun: FN 5.7¡Á28mm equivalent. Infinite ammunition - JHP. Ammo and submachine gun can both be enchanted. This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used.
Looks almost like an FN P90. Jacketed hollow point rounds like my hand guns. USG low light reflex sight, with suppressor. This will be great for when I need close quarters high damage output. Putting it back, I note that the next weapon is another set of two.
Unique Artifact Submachine Gun (pair): 4.6x30mm equivalent. Infinite ammunition - FMJ. Ammo and submachine gun can both be enchanted. This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used.
Hmm. They look very close to H&K MP7A1¡¯s. Full metal jacket ammo, same low light reflex sights and suppressors on each. These will be crowd control, likely best when I go after the goblins in the area. The infinite ammo makes these dangerous, capable of taking out small armies with ease in this new universe. Putting those back, I find the weapon I was hoping for next.
Unique Artifact Semi-automatic Rifle: 5.56¡Á45mm NATO equivalent. Infinite ammunition. HPBT. Ammo and handgun can both be enchanted. This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used.
Like a SIG516, this one has a scope, secondary handle, targeted laser, and flashlight. Hollow point boat tail ammo makes for great long range accuracy. The burst round makes for great stopping power, assuming I can control the burst. This is my short to mid-range rifle right here, just what I need for most of the targets around here. Strapping this mean machine around my back, I look at the last piece I picked up.
Unique Artifact Sniper Rifle: .50 BMG equivalent. Infinite ammo. Anti-material rifle, API. Ammo and handgun can both be enchanted. This is a gun, physics apply - not standard damage modifiers. Soul Bound. Note: damage is done to local impact area. Warning: System killer - permadeath when used.
This one brings a tear to my eye. Looks like a Zastava M93 Black Arrow, with armor piercing incendiary rounds - when I go back to my Origin world, that overgrown lizard will be the first I try this bad ass piece of death dealing fuckery on. Add on some enchantments, this may be a complete show stopper. Getting myself back under control, I start to scope out my targets. The harpies are just as disturbing as they were portrayed in literature and in games. C-cup breasts and larger, with a body that¡¯s very attractive, but with massive talons for feet and wings for arms. Their face though, ugh. Double bag it if you¡¯re desperate, otherwise leave it the fuck alone. Feathers cover a majority of their bodies and they vary in color from red, to green, to brown. The gryphons and wyverns are portrayed fairly accurately. Some variations in color and size being the only major differences I see compared to games and literature. The elementals are comprised of their element swirling around a core, which is some geometric shape or another or varying shades of color and composition. The earth elemental has dirt and rocks floating around it while the wind elemental is completely comprised of colored air - sometimes green, sometimes a bluish silver. The goblins are nasty looking. Green skin, pug-like faces smushed onto their tiny heads. Average height of about a meter or three feet, some half again as tall - which are likely important members or leaders. They situate themselves around cave entrances and have crude tents or lean-to¡¯s surrounded by shoddy wood and rock perimeters. The direwolves are interesting. The average pack size is about twelve, so I¡¯m thinking that¡¯s their hunting parties. They stand a little under two meters or six feet tall at their shoulder and just as long, meaning they¡¯re massive. One of their parties could take me down, if I didn¡¯t have the OP guns that I do. Probably. It¡¯d hurt to find out, so let¡¯s not. Making sure auto-loot is on, I prepare to cull the mountain range. The nice thing about my hand guns and the semi-auto rifle is that they are loud. So loud, they are likely to attract a lot of attention very quickly. Yippee ki yay - you know the rest. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Three hours later, I finish cleaning up the area. Being able to fly and having a quicker mobility in this terrain makes for a quick killing spree - relatively. There were several thousand mobs in the area and the lowest level I had seen, when I cared to look, was fifty two. My experience counter did not change, no level ups, no notifications - nothing. That could be worrisome, but again - I can¡¯t be arsed to care at the moment. The MP7¡¯s worked beautifully, taking out multiple targets per shot. Full auto and one in each hand means a lot of dead goblins. Infinite ammo really broke these weapons and I loved every second of it. As I arrived around noon, it¡¯s a little after three when I finish. That¡¯ll give me an opportunity to make for the next spot on the map. Said spot is more west than north of where I¡¯m at. Travel distance estimated about an hour, based on the trip to this mountain range. Stretching, I make sure my mana is in good shape and pull a little jerky from my pack to eat as I travel. Rocketing away, I pull up my inventory and take stock of my newly acquired goods. I was spot on about the flying types having the essence I wanted and was pleasantly surprised when I got earth and fire essence from the goblins and direwolves.
Wind Essence (Major): A highly concentrated Essence of wind that was taken from a local monster. High grade crafting material.
Earth Essence (Major): A highly concentrated Essence of earth that was taken from a local monster. High grade crafting material.
Fire Essence (Major): A highly concentrated Essence of fire that was taken from a local monster. High grade crafting material.
Given the high number of mobs killed, I have over two hundred fifty of each essence. This alone tells me something important about my luck - luck doesn¡¯t affect the amount of drops I get, just the quality level of the drop. If the mobs were dropping the high quality materials to start, my luck would only change the quality level of the other few drops I received. Common, uncommon, blah blah. That and luck fucks with my interactions with others. To continue, the rest of my drops included: wyvern scales, meat, claw, teeth, blood. Goblin ears, teeth, blood, bones, and the occasional bits of weapons and armor that weren¡¯t worth a spit. Dire Wolf pelts, meat, teeth, claws, bones, and blood. Gryphon feathers, claws, meat, and blood. Same thing for harpies too. Auto-loot was kind enough to take all their organs as well. Each material gained was over one hundred, I¡¯ll do a proper tally when I¡¯m finished. All told, I made off with quite a bit of high quality materials. Tepindo will be most pleased, after I drop by the adventurers guild to close out a few bounties. Having gotten back into my VoDaD for leisurely travel, I arrived at the edge of the forest far quicker than anticipated. From this point, I¡¯ll have to rely on the spiffy boots that stalker-princess gifted me to navigate the forest quickly. The forest is old, the trees span over fifty meter or one hundred fifty feet in height. The canopy is tightly knit, so I won¡¯t be able to easily fly in and out of the forest. Given the height of the trees though, I¡¯ll still have mobility between the trees. I¡¯ll have to be more aware of branches and ambushes while traversing the air in there though. Because of the size of the forest, I make sure to fly near its approximate center, otherwise I¡¯ll spend days here trying to find the highest concentration of mana for the crystals. I slowly ease myself down into the canopy, making sure to take my time and not scratch myself up. Obviously look for enemy mobs as well. After making it to the ground level of the ancient forest, I keep catching shifting colors out of the corner of my eye. My left eye, which was lost due to shrapnel during my minor skirmish with Meanrock. As the days passed, I had noticed that a milky eye with something like a design was growing back in. I didn¡¯t think much of it, attributing it to the water or the food. Maybe I should have taken a closer look and paid more attention - eyes don¡¯t just regrow after all. Putting it out of my mind, I start my hunt. The forest is overflowing with wildlife. Deer, rabbit, boar, or at least the local variety of such. The names make no sense to me when I examine them, the level is averaging at sixty, but the names are a mishmash of my known alphabet and I don¡¯t even know where to begin in order to pronounce these names. They all look like prey to me, so we¡¯ll stick with that. I chance upon the occasional Dryad as I wander through the forest, but I leave them alone. Gorgeous, petite, and very, very female. More human-like than tree, they had a varying external appearance. Greens, browns, golds, and a hint of red compose their outer ¡®attire¡¯ - which is very little and accentuate their bodies nicely. I wave or smile at them and continue on, making sure not to depopulate the local wildlife so bad as to impact this little eco-system. I wiped clean the mountain range, I don¡¯t intend to do that here. Fortunately, every kill drops a score of Mana crystals. I get about eight to twelve crystals per kill, so I¡¯ll make out like a bandit with this crucial enchantment material. Even better, they¡¯re all high grade. Score! I¡¯m getting ready to wrap things up when a fucking Treant strikes at me. Level eighty two, the tall bugger almost got me with it¡¯s branches when I walked beside it¡¯s trunk. Dodging out of range, I pull up the suppressed P90 I was using for my hunt here in the quiet forest and unload all the way up one of it¡¯s trunks. An eerie wail issues forth while I¡¯m pumping the walking tree with so many bullets, I quickly lose count. Swinging the submachine gun around my back, I focus a moment before chanting out a concentrated Gust. With forty mana units and condensing it down to a little smaller than its base form, I let it loose at the base of the tree. One of its trunks-for-legs cave in, causing the mighty tree to start falling. ¡°Tiiiiimmbeeeeeerrr!¡± I couldn¡¯t resist. I barely resist pulling out a super charged, two hundred mana unit Ember to blow its ass up. For the sake of the forest, I manage not to give in to my pyro tendencies. Aiming about mid-way up its main trunk body, I cut loose a concentrated burst to saw the trunk in half and terminate this offensive bush on legs. I¡¯m being derogatory, it has a height of about thirty meters or about a hundred feet. My prize for felling the shrub? A few dozen pieces of wood that will have to be identified - all it has in the description is question marks. Weird. Shrugging, I set myself to blast off and navigate myself through the canopy and away. My last destination is purified water, though I could likely make due with the earth essence I acquired. I¡¯m a completionist though, so off we go. The location is a little farther away from the village than the mountain range was but south east of the village. This sets me up for a longer travel time, but getting at two of the materials needed in such a close proximity to each other was too great to pass up. Pedal to the metal, I hardline this new transport of mine to see what kind of travel time I can make. For the most part, I just need to avoid trees and large boulders. All told, easy travel so long as I pay attention. Thankfully I make it to the last area before the sun sets. This way I can make out the location far easier than stumbling around in the dark. Hopping out of the VoDaD and placing it back into inventory, I take to the skies. What an amazing place this is. A massive valley, deeply carved by constantly flowing waters. Waterfalls all over, more water than not in this area. It¡¯s not a swamp, as the water is flowing and crystal clear in its purity. I take a few minutes to admire the stunning sight as water refracts the waning light and portrays a dazzling rainbow scene. I float down to a clearing that isn¡¯t submerged with water to recoup any of my spent mana and pull up my map. I¡¯m roughly in the center of the area that was marked for me, so the Undines should be in this approximate area. I hope I won¡¯t have to wander too far to¡­ ¡°...an doing here?¡± ¡°A man! Oh they haven¡¯t visited in ages!¡± ¡°Oooh he looks so handsome!¡± ¡°Did he really just fly here?¡± Many voices talking, overlapping each other. I blink and look around, my night vision kicking in as the last vestiges of light fade from the world. Surrounding the clearing are dozens of mostly nude women. Varying heights, hairs styles and lengths, and three measurements every shut-in hentai lover craves to know - I think I may be in trouble. ¡°Uhh, hi?¡± I¡¯m more than a little sheepish, I wasn¡¯t expecting this level of intelligence. Hell, I don¡¯t even know what I was expecting for this leg of the journey. I¡¯d already looked at many different sources of water in hopes that they were what I needed, which they weren¡¯t. But if the information claimed the Undines had what I was looking for, I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m going to do now. Meaning - unless they attack me, there is no way I can justify killing them for the purified water. I double check my HUD, just in case I¡¯m missing something. No red, no enemies. Every one of them is neutral to me. While I¡¯m assessing all of this, a tall and extremely curvy Undine makes her way towards me. Focusing on her, she stops about three meters away and stands there for a moment. I can see her eyes taking me in, almost judging. I frown slightly, making sure to keep my posture neutral and unassuming. ¡°Human male, what brings you to the heart of our lands?¡± Her voice has a lyrical, soothing quality to it. I cough to clear my suddenly tightening throat. ¡°I was told I could find purified water at this location. I¡¯m an enchanter and I was looking for my own materials to use rather than paying for materials someone else gathered.¡± I maintain eye contact the entire time, though the hot-blooded male in me wanted to stare at the rest of her. Murmuring breaks out all around the the clearing, the other Undines talking quietly to their neighbors. The, I¡¯m guessing leader, narrows her eyes at me for a moment. Her arms cross and she juts a hip out a bit. ¡°And just how were you going to get the purified water?¡± She¡¯s become confrontational. Why? I don¡¯t bother to hide my confusion, either from my face or voice as I reply, ¡°I came to look for it. I honestly don¡¯t know where it is yet. All I know is that the Undines, which I¡¯m guessing is you all, have it.¡± The murmuring gets louder. The leader stares for a few moments before replying. ¡°... you speak the truth. I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t know where the purified water comes from or how to get it.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question, so I just give a half shrug and remain as I am. The leader sighs and shakes her head. ¡°This will take time to both explain and obtain the purified water. Follow us back to our encampment, we will discuss this there.¡± I nod and fall into step behind her, conscious of my gaze and trying not to stare at her glorious ass as she walks in front of me. That makes me pause a minute and wonder. Every since I got to this world, my long forgotten hormones have kicked in with a furious vengeance. I pull up my status to check if there is anything affecting me - nothing beyond the normal. I frown. What the hell is going on? Chapter Nineteen ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you must have me confused with the local yokels. You want me to do what, again?¡± I can¡¯t help but question the Undine leader as my pinky swirls around in my left ear in the hope it was clogged and I misheard her statement. Marla, the newly introduced Undine leader, sighs in exasperation. ¡°You heard right the first time. In order to obtain the purified water you seek, you must mate with us.¡± Well, this is a situation I never thought I¡¯d be in. For all hot blooded males, the idea of rutting with multiple partners without strings or reprisal has always been a fantasy. I can even admit to myself, before I married Clair, that said dream was one of mine. Now, I have the option to make that dream a reality - and all I can think about is my departed wife. Love makes men into sappy creatures, particularly when said love of their life is their best friend as well. That and any experienced man will know that more than one woman is too much trouble. Seriously. Rubbing my eyes in frustration and not a little sexual frustration, I can¡¯t help but reply sarcastically, ¡°So, to be clear, the reagent I¡¯m looking for is the bodily fluid excreted from an Undines reproductive orifice?¡± A nod is my reply, Marla¡¯s face slightly darkened from what I¡¯m guessing is the equivalent of an Undine blush. ¡°And the men from the village stopped coming here to collect over a decade ago, with no explanation as to why?¡± Maybe I should have been an inquisitor or detective. Another nod is my reply. ¡°And every Undine here is more or less clamoring to be first for this?¡± Another nod and the blush appear to be approaching atomic levels. Strange, since Marla does not appear to be young or a virgin. I¡¯m guessing on the latter part. I start pacing slowly around the room we adjoined to. Apparently, the Undines don¡¯t live in or even on the waters but in carefully grown and constructed trees. Trees that have been grown and shaped into houses that are elevated over one hundred feet in the air. Feels like I¡¯ve fallen into Tolkien lore or something. Just waiting for the elves and dwarves to show up, muttering about rings. I stop pacing and turn back to look Marla in the eyes, because damned if I didn¡¯t want to oogle the rest of her. Undines apparently ooze sexuality, literally and figuratively. The pheromones are starting to set me on edge. Deep breath. ¡°Ok. Are men required to produce the purified water other than to sexually stimulate you?¡± I¡¯m trying my best to keep cool, perhaps too hard. Shaking her head, Marla replies, ¡°No, men are not required. But the urge to mate during, ahem, production of the purified water is extreme.¡± Marla readjusts her sitting position, very obviously embarrassed and turned on. ¡°While we can take care of each others needs, there is something about a males, uh¡­¡± She stutters for a moment before taking a deep breath herself. ¡°The ejaculation of a male inside us quenches the need to fuck anything and everything that moves.¡± Cue atomic blush.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Glad that there is only one Undine present, as the room is becoming more and more unbearably saturated with her need, I force myself to keep thinking about the issue without getting all squicky with them. I¡¯m not a prude, just mourning¡­ that is slowly sounding more like an excuse than a legit reason. Ugh, damn it all. ¡°Let¡¯s adjourn for the moment, I need time to think without being influenced. And no, I¡¯m not accusing you.¡± I can¡¯t help but add that when her expression falls. ¡°Whether you know it or not, you are saturating the room with your need. I¡¯m only human and don¡¯t want to fall into a lust induced fucking frenzy.¡± So stating, I leave her quaint tree-house and float my way back to the clearing I arrived in. I make sure to flex my mana and will by quickly cycling the air around me like a mini vortex, which helps to clear my nose of her scent and need. I spend the next thirty minutes pacing in the clearing, thinking on ways to solve a problem with an extremely obvious solution. Seriously, I¡¯m about to kick the bucket and I¡¯m going to turn away the opportunity for an epic orgy the likes of which everyone on Earth would be extremely envious of. Personal morals can suck so bad at times. So, the orgy is ruled out in order to obtain what I want. To solve the problem, the Undines have to get themselves off while I keep a safe distance to prevent a lust induced fucking frenzy. To accomplish this, they will need either help or a tool. As I¡¯m present and extremely male, the Undines will be surly with me for ignoring their needs. Going back to the village to draft help would be a solution, but time consuming and I have nothing to offer except the opportunity for hot, carnal sex with another species. Sure, there¡¯d be some takers, but when they figure out what I¡¯m having them do this for - the greed of all sapients will rear its ugly head. Or is it anthropomorphic? Ugh, not the time for philosophical musings. That leaves me with¡­ My skills. And what do I have the ability to do that many others do not? Sigh. I never thought my first real enchantment work would be centered on the porn industry. Knowing this decision will likely haunt me for the rest of my short life, I set down in the clearing and start crudely scribbling runes into the dirt while my mind attempts to work out what I want. Idly, I remember my wife keeping a jack rabbit for the times I was away - which was more often than not due to work. Not something I¡¯m proud of, but she has needs too and she never shared her bed with another. Male or female. It may come as a shock to some, but not all military wives were quick to jump into another man¡¯s bed for comfort while their husband was out fighting the good fight and defending their home and freedom. I was definitely blessed with her. So, crude phallic shape of ¡­ of what? I look around the clearing and frown. Nothing obvious of use. I reach my slowly growing sense of mana manipulation out and I ping on the bedrock not far below me. Nodding, I reach out to the bedrock and using my mana, pull. I bring up a decent sized slab, about four feet long, one foot wide and half a foot thick. Flexing my will and mana, I start to seperate and shape as many as I can with the resource in front of me. Several minutes pass and I finish with seventeen jack rabbit shaped phallic objects. Shaking my head, I start on the meat of the work. Pulling the components I need out, the mana crystals, and two particular essences - fire and earth, I prepare for a stimulating enchantment experience. Why fire and earth? Earth is simple, to keep the object hard and to limit breakage. Fire will be used to warm the stone I shaped and help give a more realistic feel. The fact I could walk away from this with the essences I have already acquired has passed through my mind, several times. If the components are interchangable, why not leave the purified water behind given all the trouble it¡¯s going to give? Because I¡¯m a stubborn ass and a completionist. Made gaming a chore sometimes with all the farming required in one shape or another. While it seems silly to actually give a reason to stay, I could have gone with the simple reply of: reasons. Now the runes and configuration. The essences will seep into the stone with my intent for their function, the runes will form from those essences, and the mana crystal will bind the enchantment while dissolving into the stone in order to hold said enchantment. Rigid, unyielding, vibration, warmth. Basic set up that will feed off of the mana of the individual using it. Simple set up, but I wonder if this idea will work¡­ Adding a slight water accumulation build up and then discharge at orgasm, with mana variant added to imitate ejaculation¡­ With a slight ping noise, the enchantment is complete. I now can say I can make a vibrating dildo from stone. Whoo, go me. Wrapping up the rest takes about fifteen minutes, then I float my way back up to Marla¡¯s Treehouse. Santa Claus is coming, bearing gifts for both the naughty and nice. Chapter Twenty While I wanted to slam the door open to Marla¡¯s tree house, screaming ¡°Ho, Ho, Ho, bitches!¡± I abstained. Not sure that Christmas is even a thing in this universe and I greatly doubt the time is even appropriate to even guess. Not cold, no snow, no lights, nor cheer. Holiday shenanigans aside, I made sure to drop off the enchanted dildos for the Undines to use with an added enchanted container that will ¡®contain and absorb¡¯ the liquid castoffs from their pleasure. After a brief explanation, I very quickly made myself scarce. I ended up camping out in the living compartment of the VoDaD for the rest of the night, which wasn¡¯t too terribly bad. I definitely made sure the doors and any other entry were locked, as I did not particularly want to invite a raping. With the morning dawn also came a happily exhausted Marla, carrying the enchanted container with her. Looking her over, I smile slightly at the smiling and relieved look on her face. ¡°I take it my tools worked to satisfaction?¡± I can¡¯t help but want confirmation, even if it is a dildo. I still made it. Large smile still in place, Marla happily replies, ¡°Quite so, the others are eagerly awaiting their turn with those marvels you made.¡± She hands over the container, which hold several hundred samples worth of purified water and asks if another is needed. ¡°The.. finishing touch was greatly appreciated. It greatly helped tame our... needs.¡± Nodding at the appreciation of my dirty creation, I think it over and cannot honestly think of a reason not to make another container. I tell her to wait a minute while I head to the back to fashion a portable one. No sense having to constantly return if I don¡¯t need to. An hour, several dozen hand-washings, and seventeen recalibrations later, I bust out of their territory like it was on fire with the plague. I did mention I would attempt to determine why the men stopped coming. Pun intended. After arriving back at the mansion I purchased, I am again reminded of the fact I will need help taking care of such a large place if I plan on getting anything constructive accomplished. Nodding to myself, I fly off to a nearby spot by the gate into Sarnico. This village is slowly becoming familiar to me, with all the time I¡¯m spending here. Making a brief mental list, I know I need to drop by Tepindo¡¯s and offload any excess materials I picked up. I¡¯ll have to talk to him about possible buy-back at the same price in the event I need them later¡­ Anywho, I then need to hire a family or two for the mansion and what I hope is a hot spring resort or hotel. That means talking to Maria at the Mayor''s office. Hopefully the money I passed on to her will cover the first and that there will be a second family readily available for hire. If not, I¡¯ll have to make contingencies, but I¡¯m not so horribly pressed for bodies that I absolutely need a second family right this instant. I still need to build the damn hotel or resort, not to mention the hot spring itself.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Deciding to take care of Tepindo first, lest my contract somehow come into play, I mosey on towards his shop. With a ding from the bell on the door, I make my entrance known. Teena is present at the counter and smiles at my entrance. I raise a hand and wave as I walk towards her. ¡°Teena, do I deal with you in regards to the excess items I have or your father?¡± I don¡¯t bother to beat around the bush or butter her up. Time is money and all that, we also have an agreement and I¡¯d rather get back to my projects now that I¡¯m free from the Undines. ¡°Gram, it¡¯s good to see you again so soon. I¡¯ll go get my father, as he is the one you struck a deal with.¡± So saying, she gives a slight curtsy and makes her way upstairs. It was all of a minute before Tepindo comes bustling down, obviously eager to see what I¡¯ve brought. For him, the list is not small nor is the volume of each item. Thanks whomever for broken unlimited gaming inventory. Tepindo¡¯s eyes are shining when we return from the back, a few minutes after entering and myself depositing the bulk of what I don¡¯t need. He¡¯s beyond happy at the surplus he¡¯s acquired and at such a discounted price as well. Thankfully he is willing to let me buy back at the same price if I ever need to and it won¡¯t void the contract we¡¯ve agreed to. Quite relieving, given I¡¯ve wiped out a lot of the surrounding wildlife. Safer for the people and adventurers, but no materials available or greatly limited due to my massive slaughtering of the countryside. Slightly more credits than what I came in with, still over 400k. I¡¯m sitting on a nice nest egg and I¡¯m about to enchant like ¡­ well, like an expert enchanter. That was so lame¡­ Derogatory self comments aside, I mosey off to see Maria. Stepping quietly inside the Mayor¡¯s office, I notice a few people waiting to talk to Maria. She¡¯s calmly explaining something to the couple in front of her, but I¡¯m not paying much attention and I can¡¯t say I much care. I will need to mention the lack of Undine attention to¡­ Well, shit. I should have mentioned that when I was offloading my goods to Tepindo. Need to make my way back there when I¡¯m done here. Being lost in my thoughts, I didn¡¯t notice that the three couples and Maria were all looking at me until the silence got almost oppressive. I do a quick glance at them all and sure enough they all are looking at me. ¡°Uh.. what?¡± I¡¯m so eloquent at times. Maria apparently asked me a question which I obviously ignored, thinking she was talking to the other couples. Slightly exasperated, she attempts again, ¡°Gram, these are the families I found interested in working for you. They have some questions, to which I have no answers. Since you¡¯re here, would you mind filling them in?¡± I flinch the slightest bit, not expecting to be reprimanded. If I wasn¡¯t used to it from my commanding officer, I¡¯d likely be more of mewling mess. ¡°Er, right. Ask away?¡± So. Eloquent. Damn Undines have me wound up in a bad way and I was stupidly abiding by my personal moral code to not clean my pipes. With some hesitance, the couples start asking their questions. Simple things like living arrangements and food, length of employment, guarantee of paying work. Normal questions asked by people desperate for work but jaded on their outlook of life and how good the deal I¡¯m offering is. Thirty minutes of playing twenty questions later, there is a pause as each couple communicate silently to their significant other. Then they each look at Maria and give a nod, almost exactly at the same time. Maria frowns slightly, then looks to me. ¡°Instead of one family, you now have three interested. You¡¯ll have to pick the one you want Gram.¡± I didn¡¯t hesitate even a slight bit, ¡°Hire all three families. I take it they¡¯ll each need the same amount we discussed yesterday?¡± Everyone else¡¯s eyes became comically wide when I said that. I chuckle slightly while tossing two more bags at Maria and turn to address the families. ¡°Ask Maria for the details and directions to the mansion, I¡¯m heading there to get started on my projects. I¡¯ll leave the decision of which family does what to you all and Maria. One family to tend to and upkeep the mansion and grounds and the other two will be attending a hot spring inn. I hope to see you before the day is over.¡± ¡°What hot spring inn? Gram, what madness are you spouting?¡± Maria has a confused and slightly hysterical edge to her voice. Smiling at her, I state rather enthusiastically, ¡°Why, my dear Maria, the hot spring inn I¡¯m about to go build.¡± Chapter Twenty One So. I made a thing. What normally would have taken months of hard labor, not to mention the planning time and hiring of help, only took a meagre hour to construct and finalize. With the help of that awesome thing called ¡®magic¡¯ and a healthy dose of imagination. Some willpower was needed for this construction as well. Pretty sure it was.... Why an hour? Because I couldn¡¯t make up my damn mind about the layout and the enchantments for the open bath itself. Four stories tall with a basement, highly detailed with additional spots to expand the inn in the future and places within the building walls and floors for added wooden inlays for decor, I made an inn. Not just any classic wooden constructed inn, either. Inspired by the Romans and Greeks, I made the inn out of a basalt and several different hues of veined marble. Aesthetically pleasing, long lasting, easy to clean, and best of all - functional. Then, behind the inn I dug three rough forty foot square plots varying from two to three feet deep. Each pool is scattered with an assortment of boulders and flattened rocks to sit on all throughout. All three pools were mostly lined with solid bedrock to prevent seepage and erosion, then filled with water. This is the part that actually took the longest time to finish, needing to enchant the accumulation of water that will then exhibit not only the properties of a classic outside hot spring bath (also known as an onsen for those heathens not in the know) but have additional minor healing qualities and overall health boosting effects. Obviously, it has a proper scrubbing and cleaning area before entry. This will prevent too much contamination, though part of the enchantments takes care of this. Thankfully, with my experience concerning these outdoor baths, it was really simple. Unlike a sento, which is basically a large enclosed heated bath, the onsen is supposed to not only be open to the air, but have a natural hot spring water source. Unfortunately, there was no such source present. At least from what I could sense. Fortunately, enchanting is a marvelous thing and made this possible. Each pool has several hovering rock clusters that the water emits from, hovering an oscillating half a foot to three feet above the pool water level, giving a small waterfall effect to go with the pleasant heated bath. Most of the enchantments are tied to those hovering clusters, with filtration and transportation enchantments at various spots in each pool to lower the magical strain of constantly generating new water. Being proactive, I made three pools for varying tastes. One each for male and female, the last being for those who don¡¯t care or are adventurous enough for mixed bathing. As the onsen was traditionally used for socializing and so called ¡®skinship¡¯, the mixed bathing wasn¡¯t a spot for those looking for a cheap thrill. The onsen allowed all people to gather and just be human beings, to ¡®let their hair down¡¯ so to speak. Finally, each bath is separated and surrounded by tall bedrock walls for privacy and security.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Decorations and fine details are going to be left to the attending families, as I hope they make this place and the mansion a livelihood and legacy for their children, grand children, and beyond. Smiling and supremely satisfied that my own legacy has been left for the future, I head back inside to leave the notes on how to run the place, and idea of what to charge for use, and how to make the last bit necessary for a most pleasant onsen experience - especially for a world that apparently doesn¡¯t know an iota about hygiene. The creation of soap. I left instructions on how to make several simple soaps, while giving notes on how to further expand and make more complex and specific types - from scented, to scrubbing, to antibacterial. I¡¯ll leave it to the families to determine whether they sell the secret or monopolize it in the future. Feeling satisfied, I magic up a simple sign to advertise what the place is and slowly meandre back to my mansion. With the day ending, I¡¯ll try for some R & R. The dawn finally peeks through the window as I lounge in bed, having been woken by my heartache. Rather than become immediately active, I had taken the time to ruminate. I¡¯ve been brought to an entirely new universe, along with several hundred others, with no explanation for the whys or whats. I appear on a world where urbanization is so extreme, there is little to no nature present, not to mention apparently watching the last two living humans die in front of me and then battling an army of undead. Seeing a dragon for the first time, nearly pissing my pants from the experience, and damn near busting my gut laughing when I finally remembered the dragons name while recalling the legend it belongs to. My appearing there may not be a coincidence, given my name. Most likely a horrible sense of humor, given the legend. All I need now is to meet a Sigurd and that will almost be a full reenactment, although I¡¯m not sure Fr?nir is dead. Meeting the faery Mab, her daughter, and that short whirlwind of an acquaintance. The guy who took my eye, the fact it¡¯s growing back, my short recovery times, the lack of notifications or even acknowledgement from this mysterious System that exists in this universe. The odd effects from purchasing skills, which is way weird all by itself. The inability to see or even know my perks and abilities. The fact there are several things in the back of my mind that bother me but I¡¯m not realizing what they are. My weapons, which will stagnate as I grow stronger and encounter stronger adversaries. The inconsistencies between each world or just the hub I¡¯ve been to all by itself. My magic, the abilities that I¡¯ve been using, again lacking feedback from this System. The fact I haven¡¯t died yet from my cancer or feel bad at all from it. The cancer not being present in my status, no ill effects from it, no detrimental status changes on my character screen. Nothing. What to do next. I mean, the drive I felt to accomplish a lasting legacy has been sated. I¡¯ve accomplished several enchantments my memories that I bought had no inkling about. I¡¯ve avoided damn near every quest marker that¡¯s appeared, only taking the one for the house and reaching a dead end of needing to search for more clues but with no direction to search for said clues. In that regard, the only one I can even think to talk about all this with is Maria, but to investigate properly I can¡¯t just start a conversation that way with a person who is likely to be completely unrelated or even unknowing of the situation. That¡¯s not including my weird behaviour around her and the Undines. For fucks sake, I¡¯m an adult, not some hormone driven teenager seeing a naked woman for the first time! I give a brief yell of frustration and hop out of the bed I¡¯ve been lying on for hours now. ¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d pick it back up again, but I guess I need to go see if the village has tobacco of some type. I¡¯m getting too wound up.¡± Putting action to words, I quickly get ready and book it to the village¡­. Or I¡¯m about to. ¡°Sir?¡± There is a knock at my bedroom door. My eyes widen and my jaw drops a bit while my hand reaches for my hip, which is where I usually keep my gun, and I stare at the door for a second in incomprehension. Ohhhh, duh. I have house sitters. Clearing my throat, I call out, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Sir, you have a guest. Madam Maria is in the sitting room and would like to see you.¡± The unknown, female voice notifies me. ¡°I¡¯ll be down shortly, please make sure she has refreshments.¡± I respond absently while wondering why Maria is here to see me. Shrugging to myself, I wager it¡¯s best to go find out rather than waste time vainly attempting to figure out why. Suiting actions to words, again, I head down to see my first guest. Then, I¡¯ll go check on getting some tobacco. Chapter Twenty Two Butterflies. Nervous anxiety. Slight blushing. All occur when I see Maria in my sitting room. She¡¯s not dressed particularly different and I¡¯m not close enough to smell her. Dressed plainly that shows only a slight amount of cleavage, her dress covers almost all of her exposed skin, and fits her extremely well. Gah! Seriously, this is bullshit. Maybe I should wank after this meeting, before going to the village. Beyond fucking ridiculous. Maria smiles brightly at me when I enter, causing my heart to stop for a moment and my stomach to twist itself into knots. ¡°Gram! I¡¯m glad you could see me so early, I need to¡­¡± She doesn¡¯t get to finish as I interrupt her by holding up a hand. ¡°It¡¯ll have to wait a moment.¡± I say over my shoulder while heading for the back and rear exit to the mansion. ¡°Wha¡­¡± Slightly shocked, Maria gapes and then I¡¯m completely turned away from her. A few moments later, I¡¯m by my damaged experimentation tree. I take a deep breath, let it out, then supercharge a fireball with three hundred MP. Having made sure I was compressing it while charging it, a watermelon sized ball of fire is floating above my hand. I then decide to act on a cliche from all the games I¡¯ve played and reading I¡¯ve done in the past - I let my emotions surge and focus them towards the floating ball of destruction. There comes a time where enough is enough. I¡¯ve never been a hero, never claimed to be and never wanted to be. I¡¯ve fought and killed for my country, for my freedom, for my wife¡­ and the child I¡¯ll never meet but always wanted. I¡¯m not even a nice guy, to be honest. As I finish channeling all my negative thoughts and utter frustration at these teenage like, hormonally driven reactions, the bright ball of floating death darkens to a deep vivd purple and swells to a beach ball in size. Heh, guess this follows the cliche as well. I sight my gaze to the rocky wall that encompasses the valley off in the distance, while still aiming within my property line to prevent any incidents. No wind up, no yelling, not even a grunt of exertion, just simple will and determination - and it¡¯s off. Watching it accelerate away, leaving streamers behind in a dazzling display, I can¡¯t help but mutter a nostalgic reminder of times long gone but still cherished. ¡°Dragon¡­¡± Impact. Flashy explosion. Sound wave, followed by a decent amount of heat. Even at a distance of over a thousand feet, that was pretty impressive. ¡°... slaver.¡± Not much in the way of debris, most being pulverized to fine dust from the magical explosion. A crater in the side of the tall cliff, over fifty feet by my guess, remains and leaves a decently curved slope to the top of the cliff. It might be easier to climb now. Any tall grass around the epicenter lays flattened. ¡°What in the name of the moons was that all about?!¡± Looks like I have an audience. Glancing behind me, I note the family that¡¯s house sitting and Maria are all present and gaping at my magically fueled tantrum. I don¡¯t feel even a shred of shame or embarrassment from that, but rather than admit the true cause for such an expressive venting, I just keep it simple. ¡°I had an idea I was about to try when I was told you came by, I didn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity to experiment and possibly forget it.¡± Slight smirk almost arrogantly pasted on my face, I turn to face the small crowd properly. Stunned reactions, those were expected. I imagine the people here were not used to seeing such blatant displays of power, especially near their village. I do note to myself that I need to make that spell properly if I¡¯m going to do it justice in the future. While I won¡¯t be chanting to a deity, or chanting at all, I ought to be able to construct the infamous spell with more credibility than just using fire. Maybe adding plasma¡­ ¡°But, I thought you were an enchanter?¡± Still stunned, Maria is gazing at me with a bit of awe. I think? I shrug in response while walking closer. ¡°So, what did you want to talk about?¡± No butterflies, no anxiety. Did I purge it all out? Strange. Maria shakes herself slightly, then smiles that beaming smile of hers. ¡°Oh, right. I needed to talk to you about that hotel and bath you made. You made that right?¡± Nodding in the affirmative, I patiently wait for her to continue as I¡¯m sure that was a mostly rhetorical question. Clasping her hands together in front of her chest, she continues, ¡°Do you realize what you¡¯ve done? You made such a grand building and made a bath that even nobles would be envious of!¡± She¡¯s really getting expressive in her excitement. ¡°Do you have any idea of the amount of money you could make with this? You could be richer than even the kings of this world if you op-¡± Holding a hand up to interrupt her again, I state, ¡°I didn¡¯t make it for profit. I made this for a lasting legacy and to ensure that the families running it will be taken care of for generations to come.¡± I cross my arms. ¡°I¡¯m also hoping it¡¯ll improve the quality of life for people here.¡± Maria is puzzled, a slight tilting of her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean.¡± Half statement, half question. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you are consciously aware of it, but nearly everyone reeks. Based on my explorations, hygiene barely exists here.¡± Maria is an intelligent woman, she has to be for her job. I imagine she can put things together without me giving a twenty minute lecture about why I did this.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Thankfully, I was right in that regard. ¡°Ah, by introducing a cheap method to bathe and clean ourselves, we improve our health and daily life.¡± She¡¯s nodding thoughtfully while she slowly speaks. She must have already seen the proposed prices for using the bath, which is a steal given the quality and amount each enchantment is worth. The price is so low, even beggars could bathe there. With no payments of any kind to make, the families running the inn will make pure profit from every transaction there. Whether people staying the night, to people coming in to bathe - any monies gained puts them in the black. Granted, there are some things they will need to either purchase or make; like beds, linens, towels, and the coveted soap. This way there will be a greater appreciation for what they have rather than everything being handed to them. Or so my thought process goes. ¡°You could always travel and open up more.¡± Maria is apparently a bit of an entrepreneur, her thoughtful face giving credence to the depth of her musing. ¡°I¡¯m a stranger to this world, I wouldn¡¯t even know where to begin. That aside, I¡¯d have to have families run the place and a whole slew of other details - just like for this place. Purchase land, people to manage it, build the places, ensure security¡­¡± I shake my head. ¡°No, way too much trouble.¡± ¡°I get it. You practically stumbled onto the idea here and with this being your property, you¡¯ve guaranteed protection for the inn. No one would attempt a hostile takeover if the property the inn is on already belongs to you.¡± Maria replies, apparently still deep in thought. Maria appears to be about to continue with another attempt at commercializing my bath house when I interrupt her again. ¡°Look, if you want to attempt to try to get me to open these all over then we¡¯ll have to talk about it another time. Why don¡¯t you take the time to think it through and compile it all together for later. I¡¯m not against listening, but right now I¡¯m not interested and there is way too much to be done for each building than I care for right now.¡± She nods, then changes the subject. ¡°Ok. That aside, how are you so powerful? I¡¯m seeing you are only a level one enchanter, how could you make that massive explosion without passing out?¡± Insert arrogant smirk. ¡°Trade secret, perhaps another time.¡± Bloody hell, I¡¯m flirting. The smirk falls from my face like a rock off a cliff. I was going to ask her if there was a place in the village that sold tobacco products, but I think I need to get as far from her as possible right now. Trying to get away without being out right rude, I say, ¡±Well, if that is all, I have some things to accomplish and more experiments to run. I imagine you still need to get to the mayor¡¯s place, so I won¡¯t keep you any longer.¡± Maria¡¯s face blanks for a second, then a gentle smile appears on her face. ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯ll get the notes together and try to persuade you again later. Bye, Gram.¡± I nod and almost powerwalk back to the house. Once I¡¯m back inside my room, I take another deep breath and try to relax. Another niggling thought in the back of my mind. Brushing it off since those thoughts apparently never make themselves obvious, I curiously check to see if anything has changed in my stats.
Name: Gram D. Randal Age: 29 Job: S01di3r
Level: !#$^% Exp --- To next lvl: *#%^&
Race: hUmaN Stat points: 0
HP: 1820 MP: 1950 SP: 1840
HP Regen/min 172 MP Regen/min 178.5 SP Regen/min 176
Strength: 81 Agility: 96 Intelligence: 94
Endurance: 84 Dexterity: 102 Wisdom: 81
Charisma: 65 Luck: 2
What. The. Fuck. You know what? Fuck this, I¡¯m done with you System who¡¯s done nothing but bullshit me since I got here. Fuck you and the camel you rode in on. I make my way back into the mansion proper, looking for one of the sitters. After a few minutes of searching, I found the young woman who notified me about Maria arriving and ask her about the tobacco. She doesn¡¯t know where or if they have such a thing in the village. Thanking her, I make my way to Sarnico and exercise my flying boots for a quicker trip. Best to see Tepindo first, seeing as he¡¯s been there for a bit. Hopefully he knows what I¡¯m talking about and can point me in the right direction. It¡¯d be a damn shame if I can¡¯t indulge in a bad habit or five. I¡¯m supposed to be enjoying myself, right? Right. Short jaunt through the village later, the bell above the door chimes when I enter Tepindo¡¯s shop. Teena is still a bombshell but wearing a drab dress, standing behind the counter as usual. Waving in greeting, I query, ¡°Morning Teena, is your father around? I have a question for him.¡± ¡°Good morning Gram. My father is upstairs, I shall see if he is available.¡± Bowing slightly, she makes her way to the back and I guess upstairs. Formal much? Taking a moment to glance around, I notice a lot of the materials I brought to Tepindo are present on shelves and the counters. I don¡¯t even bother to look at the prices, as they don¡¯t matter to me given I could ask for said items if I have need. Tepindo makes his way past the counter and greets me. I ask him about the tobacco and he gets a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°I believe I know what you speak of, but I myself don¡¯t use it. I hear that the capitol sends adventurers into the labyrinth nearby for a host of items every month. If I recall, that may be one of them.¡± There is a gleam in his eyes, apparently I¡¯m making the entrepreneurial spirit in people rear its head. ¡°So¡­ I need to go and get it myself and¡­ You want some too, don¡¯t you?¡± He smiles. Ugh. I set myself up for my own fetch quest. Sigh. I physically sigh while pulling up my map. ¡°Show me, I¡¯ll get some for you as well. But, it depends on the amount I gather.¡± ¡°Excellent! No need for an agreement then, I¡¯ll honor your words since you¡¯ve done so much for me already.¡± Tepindo is apparently very pleased with all the odds and ends I¡¯ve brought him from my material gathering spree. He marks my map, showing that travel to the capital city Fleetingval would take a normal person the better part of a month to get there. Talk about a vast kingdom¡­ Oh yeah, I forgot about the the undines¡­ ¡°Tepindo, do you happen to know why visits to the undines stopped a decade ago?¡± Might as well be direct as possible. Clearly puzzled, Tepindo actually stops and thinks for several long moments before replying. ¡°I hesitate to say anything regarding this as I honestly had no idea such a thing occurred. I only know of their location due to a traveling merchant selling me what you saw on the shelf.¡± Hmm¡­ this is likely a flag. I¡¯m not really that interested to figure out the how¡¯s and why¡¯s of this fuck up, or lack thereof in this case. ¡°When I encountered the undines, they said they haven¡¯t had any visitors for a decade from this village. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s important or not, but you may want to pass the word on to anyone interested.¡± Metaphorically patting myself on the back for not only avoiding a troublesome quest but also likely getting it resolved by someone else, I feel like I¡¯ve done my good deed for the day. Nodding in agreement, he replies, ¡°I will pass this on, agreements like this are usually very important for relations between our parties. Thank you for passing this on, Gram.¡± I give Tepindo a thumbs up and then exit his shop. Time to visit the capitol: Fleetingval.