《Raven: The Beginning》 A New Beginning The Tournament ¡°Ladies and gentleman, gamers everywhere! The final battle you have all been waiting for,¡± the announcer¡¯s deep voice reverberated through the Roman-styled coliseum, his excitement apparent to everyone. ¡°This week-long tournament, which has been brought to you by Xeniax Game Studios and the Federation¡¯s number one energy drink, Brutal Energy, features the last two teams that have made it through, winning all of their fights so far, Team Braek¡­ versus¡­ Team Shadowwwww!¡± The loud roars from the thousands of players that purchased tickets for tonight¡¯s final fight of the tournament thundered throughout the coliseum. This final fight between the two teams was being broadcast around the world and beyond, even to the various space stations that orbited the both the planet as well as the moon. Even though this was a virtual-reality, or VR, game, this tournament was styled after an e-sports game, since the game, called The World of the Veil, was the most popular game of all time. Xeniax Game Studios created The Veil in 2071, and through it¡¯s use of ultra-realistic virtual graphics, artificial intelligence, and immersive VR equipment, the game attracted hundreds of millions of players world-wide. The Veil also featured a full-featured economy which rivaled the total output of Earth. Due to the rapid popularity of the game, the Federation, which was established in 2045 after World War III as the world¡¯s singular government, decided that players could be forcibly logged out of the game should the safety restrictions and biological measurement suite decided that the player was in danger, or if they exceeded 12 hours of playing time. It was feared that people would become so addicted to this level of hyper-immersion that they would forgo their necessary biological functions, such as eating. Nevertheless, almost everyone on the planet, and beyond, played the game, all inter-mingling with each other and participating in the world, either solo, in a group, or even in raids. There was also plenty of player versus player combat which spread over multiple continents in the game world, which was roughly twice as large as the planet. ¡°Leah, let¡¯s go over the statistics before the match starts, shall we, my little foxy lady,¡± the announcer asked. ¡°Call me your foxy lady again Trevor, and I¡¯ll claw out your intestines from your backside,¡± Leah so kindly informed Trevor with a hiss to her voice. ¡°But yes, let¡¯s go over this match and see how these two teams stand up against each other. As you know, Team Braek is the crowd¡¯s favorite, since they have the most balanced group that we¡¯ve seen in this tournament.¡± ¡°Sure, they have the most balanced group, filling all 6 of the group slots, but we can¡¯t just disregard Team Shadow. Even outnumbered, those two have shown us all what proper planning and use of the terrain can accomplish,¡± countered Trevor. ¡°That much is true Trevor, although Team Braek, which I have to confess, is my favorite to win, isn¡¯t slouching on their tactics either. Their previous match even showed this, when their paladin was sent in to be bait, only for the last three to be mezzed with a long duration area of effect, which allowed their berserker to go into unrestricted melee and for their wizard to nuke the rest of them, resulting in a zero-fatality win for Team Braek.¡± ¡°Leah, Leah, Leah. Don¡¯t you see though? Even though Team Shadow is only comprised of a shaman and an assassin, the shaman hasn¡¯t even needed to heal the Assassin. From what we¡¯ve seen so far in this entire tournament, the shaman hasn¡¯t even needed to do anything but run around!¡± ¡°Alright people, we¡¯ve looked at both teams, which are currently tied with 49 wins and 0 losses each, we will now go back to Russ, who is bringing us the action from inside of Horack¡¯s Coliseum. Russ, how is it looking down there?¡± ¡°Thanks Leah! I¡¯m here in the Coliseum reporting on tonight¡¯s match. There is an air of exhilaration as both teams are now entering the arena with a cash prize of 100,000 Federal credits riding on this single match.¡± ¡°As usual, Team Shadow is in their single line formation, with ShadowBlood, who is an unbelievable level 149 assassin, in front of Kiliman, a level 98 shaman. As we all know, there are very few people that can even reach level 120, and there is no one that has reached the maximum level of 150,¡± Russ reported. He continued on, ¡°We can see Team Braek coming into view now. It seems that they are in a dual pillar formation, with Horfast, the level 125 paladin, and TwinAxe, the level 115 berserker leading in front. Their two healers are bringing up the middle of the formation. Jukes, a level 112 cleric, and Qumore, a level 90 shaman. In the rear, we have the two mages, the level 116 wizard, Links, and level 114 illusionist, Dreamz.¡± A deep, loud voice echoed through the coliseum, ¡°Denizens, you have proven yourselves worthy of this battle. HOWEVER,¡± the voice yelled, ¡°only one of your teams can become the champions of the arena. This battle will be fought to the death.¡± ¡°If you are deemed worthy, you will be one of the blessed of the deities. If you are not worthy, your sacrifice will not go ignored,¡± the voice continued. ¡°Now.. FIGHT!¡± the voice roared. The battle was as furious as it was quick, the assassin showing off the many abilities that he had, but had never shown before. Immediately after the command to fight, the assassin disappeared from everyone¡¯s view. Meanwhile, the paladin and berserker ran towards the shaman, however, the shaman just ran away, though after getting almost to the edge of the coliseum, the two players caught up with him, the paladin performing the ability, Slam, which stunned the shaman for a short time. However, the shaman immediately casted a Ward of Health, healing him slightly over time, and then casted Stone Skin, which reduced the damage that the two were doing to him. However, this ability came at a price, which was 5% of his mana each second, and it was on a 1 minute cool-down. On the other side of the coliseum, there were two healers and two mages which looked to be furious, yelling. The two fighters were now out of range of their spells and started running towards them. However, before they got far, a figure appeared behind the cleric. All four players stopped, three of them started wavering, their heads lowering, as if they were sleeping while standing up. A soft blue glow surrounded their feet, they were mezzed. The cleric though had a red glow around his feet, signifying that he was stunned. The daggers which the assassin held morphed into a very different pair of daggers which one had a feint, sickly green glow around it, the other with a dull orange glow. The assassin plunged the daggers into the clerics back and swiftly moved to the clerics front, and plunged both daggers into the clerics stomach, and slicing outwards. The cleric fell, his health bar at 0. The assassin sprinted towards the illusionist, and from her back, the assassin again morphed his daggers, new daggers that glowed appearing. Two attacks later, the illusionist¡¯s health bar was also at 0%, and she fell, dead. The assassin then killed Team Braek¡¯s shaman, and lastly, their wizard. An angry voice could now be heard throughout the stadium, as there was now a metallic orb hovering over them. ¡°Fucking assassins,¡± before the wizard also died. The crowd was greeted by a very evil looking grin. The grin telling everyone that this person loved killing and bathed in blood, before disappearing. Invitation Karen, Xeniax Game Studios would like to congratulate you on your recent achievement for winning Horack¡¯s Tournament. We have distributed 50,000 Federal credits to your account as part of your reward. In addition, you have been granted the title of ¡°Horack¡¯s Champion,¡± which will boost all of your stats and abilities by 25%. We would also like to extend to you an invitation for you to become an alpha tester for our most recent immersive VR gear which we have in development. Please keep in mind though, that if you choose to accept to become a tester, we will ask you to sign a typical NDA, as we are currently awaiting for the patents to clear. We would love for you to test this revolutionary hardware, and expect excellent things from you in the future. Regards, Alfone Tillerman, R&D Director Xeniax Game Studios Smiling to myself as I read the notification through my smart glasses, I muttered to myself, ¡°Un-fucking-believable. Hell to the yes I want to be an alpha tester! Beats this shit of job, being a waitress at Hops all day long.¡± Looking around the employee break room to make sure there was no one around, I started to respond to the message. Just as I sent the response, saying that I would be more than happy to apply to the position, my boss, who was an average, middle-aged man, walked into the break room, his eyes glaring at me through his black-rimmed glasses, the feint glow of his HUD slightly lighting the right side of his pock marked cheek.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Karen, you know that you¡¯re 4 minutes over your break, right? I need you out there now,¡± he said to me, shaking his head. ¡°Yes sir,¡± I meekly said while getting up from the white, plastic aluminum chair. As I walked back into the kitchen to pick up the next order, I couldn¡¯t imagine my luck. Working here while going to college, I could only afford the cheapest of the 6th generation of VR equipment to connect to the World of the Veil. Being how that the current equipment was 15th gen, my gear could be considered, well, antique would be putting it mildly. It was an old junker computer that I picked up from a pawn shop near my apartment, which had a cryo-cooled quantum processor. Not only that, it only had 500 zetabytes of storage, which was barely enough storage to run the game and necessary applications I needed for school. I had also upgraded the graphics card so that I could use a cheap, knock-off VR neural interface. That was the entire reason I had begged that shaman I knew of from one of the Harbinger raids to help me to enter the tournament. It actually made me smile when I thought about his response when I asked. It was priceless at how shocked he looked, thinking how crazy it was. But hey, at the end of the day, we did win. Passing by my boss, he looked at me and frowned. ¡°Karen, I know you have school, but you need to focus when you¡¯re here at work. Not on other things, like playing around in VR. You kids need to remember that it¡¯s just a game. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re one of those professional players, like that assassin who won that tournament.¡± Shaking his head like he was disappointed with me, he went back to the cashier¡¯s check out kiosk while I glared at him. ¡°I really wish I knew who he was in the Veil,¡± I thought. The rest of the evening went by as expected. I wasn¡¯t the most attractive waitress at Hops by far, but it seemed that the clients all had a thing for brushing up against my legs or my ass. Any time I tried to say anything, my boss just glared at me for ¡°upsetting the customers.¡± That was one of the reasons why I played as a man inside of the Veil, I was just so damned tired of the sexual harassment, both in the Real and in the Veil. Three days later, I walked up to a small building which reminded me of an office building from the early 2000¡¯s. There was a small parking lot, which only a few vehicles were parked in, and a short, chubby man standing by what looked like, the entrance to the building. As I neared the entrance of the building, the man waved and started walking towards me. ¡°You must be Karen,¡± he said, as he got close enough so I could hear him. ¡°My name¡¯s Tom, and I¡¯m the supervisor here at section X, which, as you know, is one of the R&D facilities for XGS.¡± Not wanting to meet his eyes, I instead looked at his shoes. He was wearing the latest designers, even though they looked a little scuffed. I greeted him as well. ¡°Hi Tom, from the application, I guess I¡¯m supposed to be an alpha tester?¡± I asked. Tom looked at me and grinned. ¡°Ah, yes, but before that, let¡¯s go inside. I¡¯ll need to have you fill out some forms, and also get your biochip scanned before we can talk. Most of this stuff is extremely hush-hush, if you know what I mean,¡± he said as he turned around to walk back into the building. The light of a scanner passed over him, after which, a mechanical female voice rang out, ¡°Thomas Ferrar, access granted. Karen Faulkner, access granted temporarily while awaiting permanent employee contract.¡± Three hours later, after what seemed like hundreds of papers that I actually had to sign manually, and not too mention the biochip and medical scans, I now sat in front of both Tom and another individual wearing the standard, white lab coat. Between us was a large composite table that could easily fit another 10 people. ¡°So, Karen, this is Wuang, and he is our lead developer here. I¡¯ll let you two talk while I start processing your paperwork for permanent employment with us. Personally, though, I have to say, your performance at the tournament was mind blowing, and between us, I might have to start up my own assassin,¡± Tom said with a laugh as he got out of the chair and left the room. Looking over to Wuang, he seemed to stare at me, curiosity filling his dark eyes. Judging by the dark shadows under his eyes, it looked as if hardly ever slept, which was normal for those types of people, I mused to myself. ¡°Yes, Karen. As you know, or maybe you don¡¯t, which I really don¡¯t care one way or the other, we¡¯re currently testing a new, totally immersive, virtual machine. The reason why we had to scan your biochip and medicals was due to the interface for it. You see, we¡¯ve found a way to forcefully use quantum entanglement to entangle the brain¡¯s neurons to our own set of electrons. This technology allows the player to become truly immersed into the game,¡± Wuang said excitedly. ¡°Um, sir, I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± I replied anxiously, hoping that my lack of understanding quantum mechanics wouldn¡¯t instantly forbid me from participating. Even after all of my tutoring in high school, for some reason, I just could not wrap my head around the spookiness of how the quantum realm really worked. Newtonian physics though, well, that was easy. ¡°Oh, okay, well then,¡± he started, his excitement faltering. ¡°Mmm, I suppose we can still make this work. What we¡¯ll have you do is, instead of creating a new character altogether, we¡¯ll just have you create a new rogue and then have you specialize as an assassin. Since the interface isn¡¯t yet totally complete, this should work for you as, from what we¡¯ve seen in the tournament, you¡¯re an expert when it comes to that class,¡± Wuang explained as he stood up. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll follow me to the lab, we¡¯ll get you hooked in.¡± I looked around as we entered the lab. Even in our own school¡¯s computer lab, I had never seen such a mess of wires, computers thrown about, and people walking around. This seemed, well, to me it seemed chaotic to say the least. In the center of the lab, there was a wide, donut looking machine with a bed going through it and what sounded like a low hum coming from it. Wuang saw me looking at it suspiciously and said, ¡°That is the new machine we¡¯re working on. Eventually, we will get it miniaturized, but this is in specifications to a design that the Federation¡¯s Human Exploration of Deep Space branch requested. Of course though, instead of connecting to a private quantum server that they will use, we will just use what we have.¡± ¡°Is it safe?¡± I asked, getting a little bit nervous. If HEoDS requested this type of machine, it must mean that they were planning a venture to Alpha Centauri, which everyone said wouldn¡¯t be possible due to the psychological effects of being in cryo-stasis. Wuang just laughed, humor flashing in his eyes. ¡°Yes Karen, it is perfectly safe. It allows the player to use all of their senses in the game, though it will block anything that causes pain, instead, making it seem like a dull throb so that players have some type of feedback from their environment.¡± ¡°How long will I be in the game for? This does seem a bit excessive if I¡¯ll only be in the game for an hour or so,¡± I asked Wuang. ¡°We modified the game a little bit for our research purposes. The characters that we make here in the R&D department don¡¯t show their log in time to the administrators due to the sensitivity of the project. But to answer your question, we¡¯ll leave you in the game for 12 hours, that way you¡¯ll be able to get a few levels before we need to pull you out and get your feedback.¡± I nodded my agreement, since it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a hassle. I could always wait to use the bathroom and eat afterwards. Unfortunately, I was used to having only one meal a day due to the low wages that I received from Hops. ¡°Alright now, go ahead and lay down, close your eyes, and prepare for the most exhilarating time of your life,¡± he urged me, while pointing towards the bed. Walking over to the table and laying down on it as Wuang instructed me to do, I thought about his words as I closed my eyes, ¡°Well, he said it was safe. Most famous words ever I guess,¡± as I fell asleep. Raven Opening my eyes, I looked around at what seemed like a graveyard. There was a broken wooden fence surrounding the area, a layer of fog over top the grass. Even though I was in a spectral form, I could feel the humidity of this place. In the center of my view, there was a character pedestal made of stone. That is where my character would stand. ¡°The character selection area, but why does it feel so, I don¡¯t know, creepy?¡± I thought to myself. Perhaps it was the fact that my main character, which I worked so hard on after all these years was absent, or was it something else? Thinking that it might be the VR interface messing with my emotions, I continued on with the character creation process. ¡°Create character,¡± I said after shaking my head to clear my thoughts. As the character creation menu appeared in front of me, I was faced with a number of choices. This part of the creation phase would allow me to create my race. I was faced with several choices: ¡°I know that Wuang said to stick with the rogue/assassin class since this rig doesn¡¯t have the full interface working yet, but let¡¯s try something a little bit different this time, since I need to remake my character.¡± I thought to myself, feeling myself grin. Still thinking as to what stats I wanted to min/max from the start, I looked through the various races and what their initial stats were. My main character, being apart of the human race, did have some minor quirks that irritated me at times. Quickly scrolling through the various races, I got through to the Dark Elf race and looked their starting stats: ¡°Not bad, they have both 15 dexterity and 15 agility just from their race. Resists are ok, 10 in slashing and poison, 5 in everything else but soul damage,¡± I thought to myself. Looking through the other races, I decided to go back to the Dark Elf race. After selecting it, what now appeared on the Character Pedestal was an average looking woman that looked like she had a very dark tan and had long, blueish black hair with black eyes that tilted a bit upwards. She also had long, elven ears that ended at almost a point. However, what surprised me the most, was the fact that she looked almost exactly like myself, if I was a Dark Elf. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure if this a feature of the new interface or if the interface was missing the character customization sliders. It might have been due to the fact that it wasn¡¯t designed for players in the Veil, but instead it was designed for deep space colonists. I decided to continue on with the character creation, figuring it must be something to help with maintaining psychological equilibrium or something. ¡°Ok, so I know I¡¯m going to need high agility for crits and attack speed, and also dexterity for dodging and evading. However, this race starts out with pretty high agility and dexterity anyways, and I have 25 points to spend. Mmm. Let¡¯s go with 10 into strength for a total of 15, another 10 into vitality, and 5 in agility. At least that should help in the beginning. I wish that I could get more into agility, but at least this is fairly balanced. As for the deity I should worship, definitely Noctis. The benefits are far better than who I selected with Shadowblood,¡± I thought to myself, reading the screen showing that if I worshiped Noctis, I would gain 10% higher agility and that I would move faster in stealth by 5%. Looking at the last field that I needed to finish before I could create my new character, which I had always thought was the most important, was the name. I looked at a mirror image of myself, if I was a Dark Elf at least, for quite some time before I whispered, ¡°Raven.¡± ¡°Character creation confirmed. Character name confirmed. Welcome to the World of the Veil. Enjoy your stay, Raven,¡± the system said aloud, in a semi-robotic voice which obviously could not be mistaken as human. As the world faded into darkness, I once again felt as if I was falling asleep. Awakening Opening my eyes, I looked around and everywhere there was nothing but a gray fog, almost as if it made up the entire world. I looked down, and I could only make out the soft shadows of my own feet, however, I looked like I was dressed in what could only be considered the clothing of a poor commoner. The dark brown fabric felt as if it was made of wool, and just as itchy. Wary of what was going on I attempted to move, but it seemed like I was stuck in place. I was only able to move my head to look around as panic started to set in. I began to think that I might be stuck in this featureless world that was filled with nothing but this gray fog and it could be that the VR pod was bugged. In what seemed like an eternity and just a fraction of a second all rolled into one, a voice called out from the fog, deep but feminine, her voice promising both pain and comfort. ¡°My child, you have chosen to become one of my champions within the World of the Veil. You will need to face many challenges on your journey, but you must never forget your mission.¡± Looking around, I tried to find out where this voice was coming from, when out from the corner of my eye, I spotted a being that was walking, or perhaps even floating, towards me. This being was fitted with a dark, black cloak with a golden aura, signifying that she was a deity. As she neared, I noticed the gold trim that surrounded the edges of her cloak and the black tendrils moving through her shadow as she walked towards me. I noticed that she had two curved daggers that matched each other at her side, both giving off the same golden aura. However, that aura was laced with a poisonous, green hue. I knew exactly who this being was. ¡°Noctis¡­¡± I whispered. ¡°Yes my child. I am the deity known to your kind as Noctis, the Goddess of Shadows. And you my Dark Elf child, a rogue, but yet, such a curious being. You are one that I have never come across before,¡± Noctis replied to my whisper. Just as Noctis stepped within an arms reach of me, she reached out and touched my chest, just above my right breast, over my heart. ¡°What shall the Fates have for you? What path will you take on your journey? Will you quit this long and arduous course that you have chosen, instead trying to find peace? Or you will you fight against all odds and become one of my champions, as unique as you are, and AWAKEN!¡± Noctis shouted as she violently pushed me back. As I felt myself falling, now able to move, I tried to catch my fall. However, the world faded into blackness once again. Suddenly waking up, my head was pounding from meeting Noctis within the dreamworld. Not only that, but it felt like my chest was burning with a violent fury from where Noctis had touched me before she had pushed me out of the dreamworld. Sitting up in the hay covered bed, a woolen blanket was covering my legs. I looked around the room I woke up in and it had the smell of oak. There was a fire burning in the fireplace which was on the far side of the room. The room itself was fairly small, with just the basic furnishings. There was the bed that I was currently sitting in with a small standing closet next to it and the fireplace. However, there was also a window with a milky white curtain that was flapping from the wind. The window itself must have been opened, as I could feel the light breeze and hear the ambient noise coming from outside. I also saw a basic, wooden door that led outside of the room which was closed. From just the sounds, it seemed like this must be a small village, and I could hear some children outside shouting incoherently at each other, but there was none of the other sounds that one would associate with a large city. Suddenly, my eyes went wide, as I finally realized that my first sense in this world was the smell. Modern VR equipment was just never able to get the sense of smell right, so many developers ended up just giving up on the idea to bring that sense into their games. The aspect of this made me feel extremely excited, since this was just one of the things that hundreds of millions of people all wanted. The sense of smell was just one of those things that was needed in order to feel like you were truly in this world of fantasy, and not just some avatar that was inside of a game. Leaping from the bed, I ran to the wooden door that led outside of the room. ¡°I should probably look around for some equipment,¡± I mumbled to myself as I grabbed the door¡¯s iron handle. Smiling, I looked around as my eyes were drawn to the small closet, and I walked over to it. However, to my disappointment, there was only a brown leather vest and some tattered, brown pants in the closet. Looking at the vest, I said out loud, ¡°Show stats.¡± A semi-transparent, orange window appeared above both the vest and the pants, giving me an overview of the stats for both pieces of equipment:
Rawhide Leather Vest
Level: 1
Armor: 3
Weight: 0.45
Rawhide Leather Pants
Level: 1
Armor: 2
Weight: 0.25
¡°Hide stats,¡± I said while sighing, closing the stats window. It was a far cry from what I would have normally used on my real character, although, what should I expect for only being level 1?¡°Open available skills,¡± I said in order to bring up the skills that I could invest in.
Available Skill Points: 3
Backstab: 1 Performs an attack that does 150% weapon damage to an enemy. Further development in this skill raises the damage by 2% per level. Requirement: Must be behind the enemy.
Pickpocket: 1 Attempts to steal a random item or coin from a target. Further development in this skill raises the chance to steal an item by 5% per level.
Stealth: 1 Allows the caster to step into the shadows. Further development in this skill increases movement speed while stealthed by 5%.
Looking at the three initial skills that I could access with my measly 3 skill points, I decided to allocate one of my skill points into Stealth and another into Backstab, which left me with 1 unused skill point. Since I was planning to become an assassin, Backstab wouldn¡¯t do me any good in the long term, since I really only soloed and there were better skills to use down the road. However, for the beginning mobs that I would need to kill in order to drag my ass to level 5, I would need something that packed a punch. Seeing as how Backstab would do 150% weapon damage as long as I could get behind the target, that would be my opening skill. Easy enough to do while stealthed. If I did join a group, it would still be a decent skill due to the damage modifier, even if I didn¡¯t invest any points into it as long as I had weapons that were good enough. Closing the skill list, I looked around the room to see if I could find anything else that might be of further use. To my utter disappointment I couldn¡¯t find any weapons that I could equip before leaving, although I was able to find a coin purse that had 5 silver in it on the top shelf of the cabinet. Reaching up for the coin purse, I quickly opened my inventory by giving the system command, ¡°Open Inventory,¡± and added it to my current inventory. A coin purse appeared at my side that was attached to the belt on my pants. Finally outfitted, at least partially, I walked back to the door and opened it. Outside, I saw that the exit to my small room led to a hallway with several rooms next to mine. To the left, the hallway led to some steps that went down to the floor below this one. On the opposite side, the hallway ended with a large window that led outside. ¡°Seems like this is the starting inn for the Dark Elves,¡± I thought to myself. Closing the door to my room and hearing the lock shut, I started walking towards the steps. ¡°I hear you up there miss, come on down and let me take a look at you,¡± an older Dark Elf lady yelled up at me as I started walking down the steps to what I presumed was the inn¡¯s lobby. ¡°Don¡¯t know where you came from, but I found you outside by my door passed out. Come on now, come talk to old Isbeil.¡± As I finished walking down the steps, not really feeling like talking to random NPCs, I paused as I glanced around the lobby before greeting my so called rescuer. The lobby itself was very homey and inviting, without a hint of extravagance. To my left, in the center of the lobby, was a large, fur rug, surrounded by wooden chairs arranged in a semi-circle in front of a fireplace. This was definitely a place for travelers that just needed a few nights stay while visiting the village. There was a small counter that was offset from the wall that was in front and to the right of me. Isbeil was standing behind the counter while looking at me and smiling. The exit of the lobby went right past her, obviously so she could meet and greet anyone that decided to stay at the inn. ¡°Good morning innkeeper, thank you for taking me in, but I really think that I need to get going,¡± I said in a soft, but clearly monotone voice. I walked past the elderly lady that was a bit on the chubby side, her hair silver with age. I didn¡¯t really meet any Dark Elf NPCs before, since I mainly stuck to the Human continent, but I had assumed that most where lithe creatures. I suppose though, you know what they say about making assumptions. I was anxious to go outside and at least explore this village that I woke up in and wanted to see if I could get a couple of quests to kill the local pests so that I could level up. ¡°Oh come now. You can at least tell me your name, and what you plan on doing,¡± Isbeil said, clearly irritated at my dismissive tone. Turning around, I forced a small smile that could be easily mistaken as a smirk. ¡°My name is Raven, and I am just a wandering Dark Elf, though, it seems that I must of misplaced my dagger, as it was not in my room,¡± I said as I eyed the innkeeper, letting my suspicious nature show itself. Isbeil looked at me thoughtfully for a minute, ignoring the look that I was giving her. ¡°I might know where you can get a new dagger, but I would suggest you look for a few other people before wandering out of the village again. If you go to the blacksmith¡¯s shop that is across the road, there might be a dagger there you can purchase.¡± A quest window appeared in front of me after she said this:
Quest: Meet the Townsfolk
Quest Reward: 25XP
Quest Objectives: Meet the people of the town that hold various positions.
Do you wish to accept? (Yes/No)
Mmm, perhaps it wasn¡¯t such a waste of time to talk to her. After mentally accepting the quest, I begrudgingly thanked the innkeeper and walked outside, the quest objectives updating to show that I had met 1 out of 5 NPCs. Looking around the village from just outside of the inn¡¯s entrance, it seemed that I was now in what looked like a town square, although it seemed oval in shape. There were a few outdoor stalls with merchants selling their merchandise, and from what I could see, they had everything from food to different types of potions, and there was even a tall, skinny dark elf with gray hair and regal clothing was selling rolls of cloth of various types. It seemed like a little over the top considering that this was an out of the way starting town, however, players did come through these areas, so I guess the developers needed to account for that. There was also four dirt roads that led further into the village, looking as if it was a crossroad of sorts. The inn was just along one of the dirt roads, and further down this road was the stone entrance to the village. To each side of the entrance was a guard that was wearing silver plate armor, each armed with a polearm. Next to the inn itself was a horse stall, with several horses and a stable boy that was currently grooming one of the horses. Several children were running around, with one holding something as he was being chased by the others. Those children were probably the ones that I heard earlier this morning. In the distance I saw a large manor that looked like it was made from stone and wood. The manor was probably the residence of the village¡¯s mayor. I tried inspecting the NPCs, however their names or health bars didn¡¯t show up. I frowned a bit, but hopefully it wouldn¡¯t be a huge deal, and Wuang did tell me that the interface wasn¡¯t entirely complete yet. I started walking towards the road that was off to my left, the dirt road not being very comfortable under my bare feet. ¡°Ah, the problems of only being level 1 without any gear,¡± I thought to myself as I cringed with each step I took, the small stones from the dirt digging into my feet as I walked. Even though the pain sensors was dialed down, I still had the feeling of being uncomfortable. As I neared the crossroads that I was walking towards, I did manage a smile, as along the road to the left sat buildings to on each side with signs indicating what types of treats lay inside to those brave enough to enter. The first building to my left had an engraved sign that was hanging over it¡¯s door that read, ¡°Timberdenn¡¯s Tavern.¡± I gave a Cheshire type of grin, as I would most definitely be a frequent visitor to that particular shop for my stay in this small village. Judging by how the developers of this VR platform got the smells of the village, I was looking forward to what they could do with the sense of taste. To my right, was the shop that Isbeil mentioned, the blacksmith. ¡°Open quest log,¡± I said out loud so that I could review the details of the quest. Not only did I need to purchase a weapon, I also needed to speak with the blacksmith of the village as well. There was a line through one of the requests, ¡°Speak to the Innkeeper,¡± as I had already met Isbeil, to my annoyance. Giving the command to hide the quest log, the window faded from my view. Satisfied, I immediately started walking towards the entrance of the blacksmith¡¯s store, which had a wooden sign next to it with a carved engraving that showed a sword and axe crossed over an anvil. I also took notice of the other signs from the other buildings. It seemed that this was the market street, as I saw signs that indicated that there was an apothecary, trader, and even a small bank. ¡°What is that awful smell,¡± I commented as I entered the store, my nose wrinkling from the soot that permeated throughout. In front of me was a U-shaped counter, behind it, a variety of weapons and shields that were showcased on several shelves and on the walls. There was also an door that was opened behind the counter leading further into the building. ¡°What? You never smelled the inside of a blacksmith¡¯s shop before, stranger?¡± a woman asked as she came out from the back of the building, wiping her hands off on her heavy, brown apron. Frowning, the young dark elf leaned up towards the counter, putting her hands and elbows on it. Her hair was black with gray powder that could only be ash was crusted within her hair, and a blacksmith¡¯s hammer was securely lashed to her belt by her hip. ¡°You are..¡± I asked the woman behind the counter. ¡°The name¡¯s Moire, and I¡¯m the local blacksmith for Timberdenn. If you ever need some actual equipment rather than that rawhide you¡¯re wearing, just let me know and I¡¯ll have it made for you. And girl, get some damn shoes on!¡± Looking behind the counter, I saw a rusted dagger that was sitting on one of the shelves, seemingly forgotten. ¡°Raven, and I¡¯m actually new to this area. I¡¯m curious, but is it common for most villages to have woman working as their blacksmith?¡± I asked as I raised my eyebrow. It was odd that the developers made the NPC a female, as with all of the human cities that I visited with my main character were all male. I was curious that this might be a Dark Elf culture thing. Raising an eyebrow, Moire responded in kind, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about other villages, but I¡¯m the best one this town has seen in ages. So, Raven, did you want to place an order, or does something catch your eye? Depending on the item, I can give you a great price for it, though, looking at you, I¡¯m not sure if you can afford the prices.¡± I cringed when she said this, since it was obvious that I was almost penniless, comparatively speaking. ¡°Well, yes. Outside of town I ran into some trouble, and I seemed to have dropped my dagger somewhere. I was hoping you had one for cheap that I could purchase?¡± Moire stood up straight and put her fist up to her chin, thinking. Grabbing the rusted dagger off the shelf behind her and a worn out sheathe that looked like it wouldn¡¯t hold anything, let alone a dagger, Moire laid both on the counter. It was clearly not as forgotten as I had thought it was. ¡°I suppose I could give away this dagger. Let¡¯s say, for 50 copper,¡± she asked, going for bartering rather than a straight sale. ¡°I can go as high as 25 copper since it¡¯s just the one and not the set, let alone it¡¯s rusted¡­¡± I said as I started to lean on the counter. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re a blacksmith,¡± I added with a smile. Moire squinted her eyes as she looked at me, her lips going from a tight smirk to frowning. ¡°Fine, take this garbage out of my hands. Perhaps if I had some iron ore from the mines, you would be surprised at what I could forge that might be in your price range.¡± ¡°Negotiation increased to level 1,¡± a voice informed me. Smiling, I took out 25 copper coins from my inventory and slid them towards Moire, after which, I grabbed the dagger and it¡¯s sheathe. ¡°I might be able to get that ore for you, how much do you need,¡± I asked while strapping on the dagger¡¯s sheathe. ¡°Mm, let¡¯s say 5 iron ore for a single dagger. Get me 15 of them, I¡¯ll make you a set of iron daggers. Though, you might want to take a few people with you to the mines. I heard that there are some goblin miners and an overseer in there, not too mention all the rats.¡± A new quest window appeared in front of me:
Quest: Moire¡¯s Proof
Quest Reward: Iron Dagger (x2)
Quest Objectives: Obtain 15 Iron Ore from Timberdenn Mines and deliver them to Moire.
Do you wish to accept? (Yes/No)
¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, thank you,¡± I replied, accepting the new quest. With a weapon at my side, albeit a rusted dagger that seemed like it might crumble away at any moment, I finally felt like myself as I walked towards my next stop, the apothecary. I went inside of the apothecary, and I almost felt as if I was back in the dreamworld, with how much smoke filled the air. However, it didn¡¯t smell like smoke from a fire, but almost had the smell of metal mixed with various types of flowers. It both amused me and irritated me how the developers came up with this.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. There was a tall, stone pedestal off to the side of the wall, with an elderly woman that looked to be mixing things with a mortar and pestle, and to the side of her was a table with an alchemy set which held a flask that was over a fire; green liquid boiling inside. ¡°Excuse me, are you the local alchemist,¡± I asked the woman who was clearly focused on what she was doing. She stopped what she was doing and set the mortar and pestle on the pedestal and turned around. She looked at me with disgust. ¡°Yes I am, now go away. I was trying to get this order completed before I was rudely interrupted.¡± I was stunned to say the least. How rude! I hoped that not everyone I met in this town wasn¡¯t like this. How did she expect to run a business with that kind of attitude was beyond me. I breathed in and out, clearing my head of evil thoughts, like the one urging me to break her legs. ¡°I do see you¡¯re busy, do you need any help,¡± I asked as kindly as I could. ¡°Fine, fine! Go to the fields outside and get me some fangs from those blasted wolves that are running around. Three of them should be fine,¡± the alchemist told me, giving me another quest, ¡°From Their Dead, Cold Jaws.¡± At least it showed me that the alchemist¡¯s name was Moleari and that I would be rewarded with 25xp. I left the alchemist¡¯s store a bit perturbed with her attitude towards me. Sighing, I reviewed the meet and greet quest. I still had to meet with the barkeep and the trader. After meeting with the two people in the village, I automatically completed the meet and greet quest and was rewarded 25xp for my trouble. I then decided to head outside so that I could kill a few wolves and get their fangs. As I neared the exit of the village though, one of the guards called out to me. ¡°Veil-walker! If you are leaving the village, could I ask you to kill five wolves for us? They are starting to attack the traders¡¯ caravans.¡±
Quest: Culling the Wolves
Quest Reward: 1 Silver and 50XP
Quest Objectives: Kill 5 wolves outside of Timberdenn.
Do you wish to accept? (Yes/No)
I quickly accepted the quest before deciding to leave the village and start the quests that I had so far. Hopefully the wolf quests and experience for killing them would get me to level 5. Smiling at the thought of doing some simple tasks, I thought to myself, ¡°Let the games begin!¡± as I walked out of the town with a swagger. Immediately after I left the town, I activated Stealth. Although the wolves might be able to sense me since they were classified as Beasts, the range which they would engage would be significantly reduced, allowing me to scout out potential hunting spots before attacking. The only real problem with using Stealth at these low levels was the run speed, which was a craaawl. Once I had 20 points into the skill though, I would be able to walk at normal speeds, and above that, even become faster when I was stealthed. After exiting, I looked around and from what I saw, it seemed like this village was in a mountain region. There were various types of very tall and lush pine, spruce, and fir trees, which smelled exquisite. I started to wonder if the game took into account my Dark Elf race and made the scents stronger. It did seem like it did. The dirt itself was packed, and I wanted to get off the path as soon as possible, since it was still as uncomfortable as it was in the village. Hopefully the grass would be much more comfortable in my current state. I went to the side of the road, not yet into the forest area, but followed the path until I could barely see the village. I got to an area in the road where it started gently curving and sloping downwards, and a hill to the side. What caught my eyes though was an overturned cart, and what could only be dried blood covering the ground in front of it. I immediately realized that this would be an ambush point that the wolves would use, and I didn¡¯t see any bodies on the ground. I really wasn¡¯t looking forward to that with my heightened senses. Both sides of the road had trees and other foliage that went deeper into the forest, and I silently made my way towards the hill that went higher, since it would give the wolves an advantage when attacking the caravans that were on the path. After getting to the top of the hill, I spotted a pack of three wolves in the distance. The lead wolf was walking in the front, with 2 other wolves walking behind it in what appeared to be a V formation. The feeling of being on the hunt within the forest gave me the chills. It was never this intense with my crap VR equipment that I owned! The only bad thing was that I wasn¡¯t able to tell what their health was at, however, with this being a level 1 quest, it didn¡¯t really bother me. One thing that did bother me though was that I didn¡¯t have the damage log that would have normally been on the left of my peripheral view, so I wouldn¡¯t know how much damage I would be doing. No matter though. I made my way behind the wolves, and allowed them to walk in front of me as I pulled out my rusted dagger. I hoped that they wouldn¡¯t be able to sense me before I could use Backstab against the one that was now on my right in front of me. They were moving a bit more slowly than I was thankfully, and I was able to get within melee range. Just as I was within striking range, the wolf stopped and was starting to turn around just as I performed Backstab. Luckily, the attack was successful, and I stabbed the wolf. It yelped and turned to face me. As luck would have it, the other two wolves kept walking and were now outside of aggro range, so I just had to deal with this one wolf. Since I didn¡¯t have any other abilities, I just slashed and thrusted at the wolf wildly as it attacked me back. I must have done some decent damage with my Backstab, as the wolf died shortly after. I did notice that when the attack was able to bite me, I was able to feel a throbbing sensation from where it attacked. Since I couldn¡¯t see my health, stamina, or mana bars that I would normally have, I pulled up my character stats screen to see where I was at. It showed that I had 619/825 health and 775/875 stamina remaining. I also had 35xp which meant that the wolf was worth 10xp each. I should be able to get to level 2 by just this one wolf pack. The wolf had a feint white glow around it signifying that I was able to loot it, and when I inspected the dead wolf, I saw that it had one Wolf Fang that I could take, which I did and deposited it into my inventory. I reactivated Stealth and sat down so that I could regenerate my health faster and opened my stats window so that I could keep an eye out on it. I didn¡¯t want to risk a death, especially at this stage. What type of assassin would I be if I died to a level 1 mob? ¡°I should be a damn zen master with as much patience that playing an assassin, or even a low level rogue, takes,¡± I thought to myself with a smile as I waited. A minute later, I was back up to full health, so I closed the stats window and started stalking my prey once again. I could see the remaining two wolves in the distance, and it looked like stopped walking. I began my slow walk towards them once again, silently cursing the slow speed which I moved at when stealthed. Before I could perform Backstab this time however, the wolf that I attacked was able to turn around and sniffed at the air and then growled. It obviously detected me, so I took the initiative and attacked him with just a normal attack. At least I was able to pull the wolf away from the pack¡¯s leader. This time around, I tried to strafe around the wolf, hoping that it would increase the chances to evade it¡¯s attacks. While strafing around the wolf, I hoped that I was slowly eating into his health. I did manage to kill the wolf, as I knew I would be able to, but I could tell that my health was fairly low, at least below 25%, since my vision dropped into the red, as if there was a haze over my eyes. I opened my stats window to confirm, and as I expected, my health was now at 198/825. At least in one more kill I would be level 2 and I would be able to pick up a couple of skills that I could use use when out of stealth, and actually do some decent damage. After looting this new corpse of it¡¯s fang, I re-activated Stealth and sat down again, waiting for my health to regenerate. As I waited, I let my thoughts wander, and felt the wind move across my skin, the damp grass against my feet. The smell of the forest was extremely pleasant, and as I was in awe, I thought to myself that I could do this forever, just live inside the game. It beat my real life by far. The freedom of the game and it¡¯s visceral way of life called to me. The real world in comparison was dull and lifeless. After about five minutes, my health was at 100%, and the pack¡¯s leader was making its way back to where I had killed the first wolf. I stood up and stalked towards it when it stopped and smelled the ground where the dead wolf was at, not yet disappearing. It almost seemed like it was trying to find the enemy that killed on of it¡¯s pack. As it was sniffing the corpse and looking up, I was able to make my way behind it without the wolf noticing. Getting into range again, I performed Backstab, which was successful. As before, the wolf yelped, growled, and turned around to attack me. Just like with the second wolf, I started strafing while attacking with my dagger, the wolf returning my attacks. After a few rounds of this, my eyesight started to go into the red again, and I wasn¡¯t sure how much health the wolf had. ¡°Shit, shit, and triple shit,¡± I started to say, repeating it as if it was my own personal mantra. The pack leader stopped attacking and leapt backwards a few feet, digging it¡¯s back legs into the ground. I could tell that it was going to leap towards me with a special attack which was worrisome. I crouched down as well and yelled at the wolf, ¡°Bring it on, mutt!¡± Just as the large jaws of the wolf, which I could easily fit my head into closed in on me, I felt myself slide to the side of the wolf, the system automatically making me evade the attack. As it started to pass me, I sliced at the wolf¡¯s neck which connected. Since it was an attack to a weak spot, it would guarantee a critical strike, even if I couldn¡¯t see the damage it did. The wolf landed with a thud, clear that this battle was over. I somehow got lucky and manage to kill the wolf. I had the feeling that since it was the pack¡¯s leader, the difficulty of the mob was at least one level higher than the other two. In the World of the Veil, mobs could fall under four difficulty levels. Those levels being Easy, Normal, Hard, and Elite. Regardless though, as the wolf landed as a corpse, I was surrounded by a soft, golden glow before it quickly dissipated. I heard the system¡¯s voice ring out, ¡°Congratulations, you are now level 2!¡± I looted the wolf¡¯s corpse and was pleased to find that not only did I get my Wolf¡¯s Fang, but also it dropped two pieces of Rawhide Leather. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see about my new stats and skills,¡± I thought to myself. I opened my available skill list and saw the skills that I could either purchase or upgrade: Available Skill Points: 4 Backstab (Level 2): Performs an attack that does 150% weapon damage to an enemy. Further development in this skill raises the damage by 2% per level. Requirement: Must be behind the enemy. Pickpocket (Level 1): Attempts to steal a random item or coin from a target. Further development in this skill raises the chance to steal an item by 5% per level. Stealth (Level 2): Allows the caster to step into the shadows. Further development in this skill increases movement speed while stealthed by 5% per level. Eviscerate (Level 1): Performs an attack causing 100% weapon damage and inflicts 2% bleeding damage every 0.5 seconds over 2 seconds. Further development in this skill raises bleeding duration by 5% per level. Garrote (Level 1): Performs an attack causing 100% weapon damage and silences the target for 2 seconds. Further development in this skill increases the duration of Silence by 5% per level. Pick Lock (Level 1): Attempts to pick the lock of any treasure chest with a 10% success rate. A recently attempted lock cannot be reattempted. Further development in this skill raises the chance to pick the lock by 2% per level. I knew exactly what I was going to do with my skills. Since I wouldn¡¯t be running into any caster types of mobs until at least level 10, and while my low speed while I was stealthed was an inconvenience but not exactly detrimental, I used all four skill points on Eviscerate, which would bleed the target for 2.2 seconds. The damage itself would be applied every 0.5 seconds, and would do 2% of the target¡¯s health per tick. I also had a plan for my stat points as well. With each level, I would gain 5 stat points that I could increase my base stats with. On ShadowBlood, I sort of went everywhere with them in the beginning since I was a noob at the class and didn¡¯t do any research. Now though, I knew what I was doing. I brought up my character¡¯s stats window, and added 2 points into both Strength and Agility. I would then alternate between Dexterity and Vitality every other level. I now looked at my stats:
Character: Raven
Occupation: Rogue
Level: 2 (60/105)
Currency: 0c
Health: 825
Stamina: 925
Mana: 600
Stats
Strength: 17 Weapon Damage: 64 - 128
Dexterity: 16 Critical Hit Chance: 12%
Agility: 22 Critical Hit Damage: 76 - 140
Vitality: 15 Armor: 5
Wisdom: 10 Evade Rate: 2%
I closed my stats window, pleased with my build decisions. I might need to ask Wuang if it would be possible to keep this character, depending on how far I got. Smiling, I stood up. It was now time to finish this quest and turn it in. Walking further into the forest, I spotted another pack of three wolves, walking in the same formation as the previous ones. I decided to stick with the same strategy as the first pack, and walked in a wide circle behind the wolves. Since I was now level 2 and the wolves where only level 1, I was able to get off my Backstab without being noticed. Instantly, I followed up with Eviscerate before the wolf could turn around and attack me. ¡°So much better than the random auto-attacks,¡± I thought to myself as I started to slice at the wolf. The wolf was able to attack me, biting my arm as I finished my slice. Before my next attack could land though, the wolf died from the bleeding damage it received from my Eviscerate. I bent down to loot the wolf¡¯s corpse, and instead of resting, I re-activated Stealth and started stalking towards the next wolf. I was pretty sure that I almost got off a significant critical hit with my Backstab on this wolf, since as I connected with Eviscerate, the wolf died. Feeling much better about my damage, I smiled as I collected yet another Fang. After looting it, I got a small notification window that informed me that I was finished with my quest from Moleari and just needed to return to the village and turn it in. After activating Stealth again, I brought up my stats window and looked at my health, which was at 700/825. I closed the stats window, and instead of resting, I started stalking towards the last wolf, the pack leader. I killed the pack leader the same way I had the others, but due to the difficulty of the mob, it did take a few normal attacks and 2 Eviscerates, however, I didn¡¯t lose as much health as I did with the previous pack leader when I was level 1. This one only took me down to 495 health, which was about 60% if my math was correct. As with the last pack leader, I was awarded with another Fang and 2 Rawhide Leather. Since I was only 10xp away from level 3, I decided to kill another wolf pack. I had to look around for a few minutes before I found another pack, which I quickly dispatched. After killing the pack, I quickly looted the Fangs and the Rawhide Leather from the now dead wolves. Instead of upgrading my character sheet and purchasing new skills however, I decided to go back to town and turn in the quests that I had. I really could use those daggers, and might even ask Moire if she could make something with the Rawhide Leather that I had. The walk back to the village was peaceful, as I didn¡¯t run into any aggressive mobs on the way. I did spot a few rabbits and squirrels that were running around, but the squirrels looked a little odd since they had two tails and sort of glittered. I chuckled to myself as I wondered if they were vampire squirrels, as they reminded me of one of those old movies from back in the 2000¡¯s. Almost everything from that era was still archived and freely available on the Net. Getting back to the village, I let the guard that gave me the quest to kill the wolves that it was completed, and was awarded with another 50xp and 1 silver, which immediately granted me yet another level. I was almost level 5! I walked back to Moire¡¯s shop, almost skipping in glee towards it, which granted me some perplexed stares from the different NPC merchants that I passed by. Arriving at the blacksmith¡¯s shop, I walked into the store. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you again. Did you get me my ore yet,¡± Moire asked me as soon as I walked in. Rolling my eyes, I replied, ¡°No Moire, I haven¡¯t gotten your ore yet, but if you think you could get it quicker?¡± Moire looked at me and scowled at me as I walked over to the counter and pulled out the 6 Rawhide Leather that I looted from the three wolf pack leaders, laying them on the counter. Moire¡¯s eyes instantly went wide in surprise. ¡°So Moire, do you think you could do anything with these,¡± I asked. Moire looked up from the hides that were on her counter. ¡°I¡¯m sure I could, with six of these, I could make you a cloak. Or I could use them to make some boots and gloves, since for those, I¡¯ll only need three of each for them,¡± she replied. I asked Moire to make the boots and gloves, and the irritating blacksmith told me that it would take an hour to create the items. Smiling at her, which I hoped disguised my irritation, I thanked her and then headed out to go to the apothecary. I also needed to turn in the quest for the fangs. Entering the apothecary, I was again overcome by the stench of the various plants and metals that were being boiled down to create the potions that Moleari was making. Looking behind her, Moleari smiled at me, which made me feel a little weird, since when I originally came here she disregarded me. ¡°I can sense that you brought the fangs that I need for these potions. You can lay them over there,¡± she said while pointing at a table. I walked over to the table that she was directed me to and withdrew the fangs from my inventory and laid them down. ¡°Mm, since you brought extras, I suppose I could give you an additional 25 copper for each of them,¡± Moleari informed me. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I do need to get back to work. Seems that it never ends. Perhaps you should look for some more work yourself. Come back tomorrow and I¡¯ll see what I have for you,¡± Moleari said, clearly dismissing me. I took the 1 silver and 25 copper from the counter that she laid the coins on, and walked out of the apothecary, unsure of how I felt about the old potion maker. However, instead of contemplating Moleari¡¯s dubious nature, I decided to go back to the inn to review my progress in peace. I had 2 levels worth of skills and stats to invest in. I probably should have killed another pack of wolves while I was out there since I only needed another 30xp for level 5. Oh well. Sitting on my makeshift bed in my room at the inn, I first pulled up her ability window so that I could allocate my current stat points. I had 10 stat points to upgrade with, so I followed my plan, and increased my Strength by 4, Agility by 4, and increased both Dexterity and Vitality by 1. Next, I pulled up my skill list and reviewed it: Available Skill Points: 6 Backstab (Level 2): Performs an attack that does 150% weapon damage to an enemy. Further development in this skill raises the damage by 2% per level. Requirement: Must be behind the enemy. Pickpocket (Level 1): Attempts to steal a random item or coin from a target. Further development in this skill raises the chance to steal an item by 5% per level. Stealth (Level 3): Allows the caster to step into the shadows. Further development in this skill increases movement speed while stealthed by 5% per level. Eviscerate (Level 2): Performs an attack causing 100% weapon damage and inflicts 2% bleeding damage every 0.5 seconds over 2 seconds. Further development in this skill raises bleeding duration by 5% per level. Garrote (Level 1): Performs an attack causing 100% weapon damage and silences the target for 2 seconds. Further development in this skill increases the duration of Silence by 5% per level. Pick Lock (Level 1): Attempts to pick the lock of any treasure chest with a 10% success rate. A recently attempted lock cannot be reattempted. Further development in this skill raises the chance to pick the lock by 2% per level. Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1): Throws a magical dagger at a target within 50 meters. Further development in this skill increases range by 10% per level. Track Mark (Level 1): Allows the caster to place a mark on a target, allowing the caster to track them within 100 meters. Further development in this skill increases the distance which the target can be tracked by 25 meters per level. Riposte (Level 1): Performs an attack that riposte''s the target''s attack after a successful evasion which causes 125% weapon damage. 5 second reuse timer. Further development in this skill raises the damage by 2% per level. Requirement: Must be performed after a successful evasion. Crippling Slice (Level 1): Slices the target''s legs, causing 100% weapon damage and slows the movement of the target by 25% for 5 seconds. Further development in this skill increases the duration of Slow by 5% per level. Frontal Slice (Level 1): An attack that hits all targets that are in the front of the rogue, causing 100% weapon damage to each target. Further development in this skill increases the damage by 2% per level. Kidney Strike (Level 1): Performs an attack the does 100% weapon damage to the target, causing the target to attack more slowly by 10% per level for 5 seconds. Looking over the skills, I decided to add two points into Riposte and Stealth, bringing both of them to level 3, and added a point into both Garrote and Throw Magical Dagger. Throw Magical Dagger might seem like an odd choice, however, once I was able to specialize as an assassin, I knew that I would be able to access a Poison Weapons buff, which would allow me to poison enemies at a distance. As far as Riposte, even if my evade rate was abysmally low, it would slowly raise with each level of Dexterity and the skill would do much higher damage when I evaded an attack. Closing my skills window, I opened my character stats window and invested the stat points that I had as well. I was slowly coming along. ¡°Hide stats,¡± I said, and with a satisfied grunt, knowing that I had to get ready to visit Moire, which I had conflicting emotions about. On one hand, I admired that developers made the NPC a young girl when they would usually make the NPC a gruff-looking man with a beard, but the AI that ran that NPC seemed a bit irritating, like she had something to prove to everyone. It frustrated me to even talk with her, but I needed to get my boots and gloves regardless. Those should give me a bit more armor, which would allow me to take a few more hits. Higher levels of armor would lower the damage that I would take from each hit, so until I could get a high level of evasion, I would need the stat. Walking down to the inn¡¯s lobby, Isbeil was kind enough to let me know that I needed to pay the inn¡¯s fee for my room, which was 1 silver per week. I knew it wasn¡¯t that bad since that in the major cities it could run up to 25 gold per night, and if a player actually wanted to own their own plot of land to avoid those fees, that could cost up to 250 platinum. At least I didn¡¯t need to stay that long though. I looked around, and at this time of night, the village seemed quiet, with only a few NPCs walking around, making it seem more busy than it actually was. As I walked towards the blacksmith though, I heard the feint sound of laughter. I looked towards the sound, I saw a couple of players hanging around the crossroads. I assumed that it was probably a group of players. Shrugging off my curiosity, continued on to Moire¡¯s shop. ¡°Ooh, look at what the cat dragged in, a ruffian!¡± Moire almost shouted excitedly. ¡°Come on over, I have those boots and gloves you requested,¡± she said while smiling. I rubbed at my temple since I was already starting to get a migraine from this young blacksmith. I wondered if I could actually get a migraine, and from dealing with Moire, it sure seemed like it. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s see what you have for me,¡± I said as I walked over to the counter. Moire looked at me with a twinkle in her eye, thinking that she might amaze me with her craftsmanship as she reached under the counter. From under the counter, she pulled out a pair of rawhide boots and rawhide gloves. ¡°Not the best pieces mind you, but I only had some rawhide to use. Perhaps if you went to the mines like I asked you to, I could make something a bit more useful. Maybe you could get me some Draconic or Ephemeral Leather next,¡± she asked me with a grin. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll see what I can do about that,¡± I replied. Draconic Leather was a level 90-100 material, and Ephemeral could make items that were 100 plus. I sincerely hoped she was actually joking with me. Looking at the stats of the equipment, they were what I had expected. Each piece granted another point of armor, but neither raised my stats. At this point though, I would take what I could get. ¡°And yes, I haven¡¯t forgotten about your ore Moire. In fact, I should probably be getting to it soon, and then we¡¯ll see about those daggers,¡± I said offhandedly as I equipped my new armor. Walking out of the shop, I walked along the dirt road towards the entrance of the village, thinking that I should kill another wolf pack to get to level 5, and then I could start on the task of getting the iron ore from the mines. I was unsure as to what to expect from the mine, so I set out towards the forest to grind wolves to get level 5. Death in the Mines After the last wolf died, a golden aura filled my vision. ¡°Congratulations, you are now level 5! You may now acquire an advanced specialization,¡± the system¡¯s voice informed me. After killing another wolf pack, I now had 240xp, which to reach level 5, I only needed 235xp. Also, now that I had 2 more pieces of rawhide from the pack leader, I could get Moire to make me a couple of bracers for my wrists. More armor never hurt! My steps much lighter now, I walked back towards the village, excited that I was able to finally specialize as an assassin. I was also really enjoying the game, except for the fact that the smell of both the wolves and their blood was almost enough to make me gag. They smelled exactly like wet dogs, and the coppery smell of blood made me woozy. However, since it was just a game, I was able to put the new sensations in the back of her mind. While I absentmindedly walked towards the blacksmith, I decided to at least allocated my stat points. I now had 23 Strength, 17 Dexterity, 28 Agility, and 17 Vitality. Before I could specialize though, I would need to sleep at the inn and speak with my deity, Noctis, inside of the dreamworld. I figured that I would pick up both Assassinate and Apply Poison once I got access to those skills tomorrow morning. After dropping off the rawhide to Moire, and getting back to the inn, I laid down in the uncomfortable bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Once more, I woke up in a world of fog, as a voice called out to me. It was the same voice that I heard when I first started the game. ¡°Child, you have come far in your travels, but this is just the beginning. There are many paths before you and many ways you may become my champion,¡± Noctis said. It seemed to me that her voice was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was hidden in this world. In front of me, the fog began to disperse, and what was beyond the fog was a thief, stalking behind his mark, ready to pick the mark¡¯s pocket. The scene faded to the next one, showing the same thief unlocking a treasure chest in some dungeon. Noctis provided commentary on the scene, explaining the thief class and how useful the class could be. The next scene that played out for me was my assassin class. It showed an assassin appearing behind a goblin, slicing it¡¯s throat and assassinating it. More commentary from Noctis, and I started to grow bored as the scenes showed the remaining rogue specializations - the bard, swashbuckler, and shadow dancer. Although I was intrigued by the the shadow dancer class, when Noctis finally asked me what class I would like to specialize in, I chose the assassin. Since this world felt so real to me with the new equipment I was testing, I didn¡¯t want to attempt to play a brand new class without the proper tutorials or guides. Wuang probably knew the same thing, hence why he suggested it. ¡°You have chosen to become my assassin, to become that which is feared in the night, that which has people looking into the shadows. It requires patience, strength, and tenacity. You must never falter, and you must never fail,¡± Noctis said. She then added unexpectedly, ¡°You are unique among my champions, and I will be watching.¡± Noctis then appeared beside me, facing the opposite way as she put her hand over my heart as she did before. This time she did not push though, and I felt a warm feeling starting to grow. ¡°Go forth into the world my child, and learn what it is to be an assassin,¡± she whispered in my ear, her breath making my heart skip a beat. I suddenly woke from my dream, still in my bed which was a mess, the covers entangling me. I felt different though, more¡­ deadly, which was a different experience than I had before, even on ShadowBlood. I pulled up my skill list and saw the skills which I could now purchase. I immediately distributed the two points into Assassinate and the other point into Apply Poison. I now had a good selection of skills to last me until level 10. From level 5 up to level 90, additional skills would only come every 5 levels. It was hard enough for me to track them as a player, I could only imagine how hard it would be for the developers to keep track of them all, let alone balance them. However, something did bother me about my dream. Perhaps it was because this character worshiped Noctis, but on my main character, the deity didn¡¯t tell me that he would be watching me. Mentally shrugging to myself and thinking that it was more than likely due to a different storyline path, I got out of my hay-strewn bed and walked back to Moire¡¯s shop. ¡°You seem¡­ different, but whatever, I have your bracers¡± Moire immediately said after I walked into the blacksmith¡¯s shop. I walked over to the counter as Moire pulled out the wrist bracers from beneath it, laying them on the counter. ¡°Hmph, those look adequate for my purposes, for now,¡± I replied to her as I equipped the bracers. I didn¡¯t want to spend much time talking with her, since I was getting excited at the idea that I would be able to go into my first dungeon with this character. With the bracers, I now had 9 armor. The gloves, boots, and each bracer giving 1 point of armor each. I was also looking forward to getting rid of this rusted dagger that I was using. With an upgraded weapon, I would finally start to do some decent damage. After this quest, I would try speaking with Moleari about starting the quests to become an alchemist and herbalist, since it was extremely beneficial to be able to create both poisons that could be applied to my weapons for various detrimental effects, as well as healing, regenerating, and buff potions. Not only was being an alchemist beneficial to me as a solo player, but I could also sell the excess for some really good money. The quest itself should finish in the main city of this region, which I would need to speak with the alchemist there as well. As I stepped towards the door, Moire called out to me before I left, ¡°Raven, before you set out towards the mine, if you want some advice, I would recommend not going there alone.¡± I looked behind me and just smiled, replying, ¡°Moire, you haven¡¯t heard? I¡¯m an assassin now, so if there is anyone you need to take care of, all you need to do is let me know.¡± Moire just stood there and shook her head as she said under her breath, ¡°If you say so Raven, if you say so.¡± I stepped out of the blacksmith and thought about her words. I wasn¡¯t sure if she knew I was able to hear her, but I thought it was a curious thing for an NPC to say to a player, even though I didn¡¯t dwell on it for that long as I walked towards the exit of the village. When I finally arrived at the exit of the village, I asked the guard that gave me one of my first quests if he knew where the abandoned mine was located at, and if he could give me directions. ¡°Sure, I can give you directions. The mine is located roughly a mile outside of the village. If you follow the path down, you¡¯ll come to a rope bridge that crosses a crevice. The mine will be just past that. There¡¯s a path that leads up to it,¡± the guard kindly informed me. ¡°I heard it was over-run by goblins though. You might want to take some friends up there with you, veil-walker,¡± he added. I looked at him and sighed before giving him my thanks. Why did it seem like all of these NPCs were forcing me to group up? It was starting to get on my nerves and I had to wonder if it was because I was now playing as a female character instead of a male character. If that was the case, then the developers were just as sexist as most of the guys that I¡¯ve met in the game, and I would need to talk to Tom about it. I left the entrance, now able to walk comfortably along the road with the boots that I had finally equipped. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the crevice that the guard mentioned since I didn¡¯t run across any wolves or other aggressive creatures on the way. The rope bridge looked, unsteady could be one word for it. Decrepit and rotted could be another. I had to wonder why the developers made it look like that, since I knew it wouldn¡¯t collapse. Shrugging, I crossed the bridge and continued walking down the path. Just as the guard said, there was a foot path that looked like the foliage around it was overgrown, and I went along this path. A few minutes later, I arrived at the entrance of the mine, my first dungeon! The mine entrance didn¡¯t look like much, just a hole into the side of the mountain, where it went straight up. The door to the mine was surrounded by large wooden logs, as if it was preventing the side of the mountain from collapsing, however the door looked to be in shambles, with some of it breaking apart. Before entering the mine, I silently casted my Apply Poisons ability, which gave me the Poisoned Weapons buff. Now, with each attack, I would poison my prey, whether from my dagger or my Throw Magical Dagger attack. The poison damage itself would cause 3% poison damage each second. Combined with the damage from Eviscerate, it could devastate an opponent depending on their resists. My other ability, Assassinate, would cause over 250% weapon damage to the target, and while it was wildly known, but not in the description, was that it had a chance, albeit a small chance, to instantly kill the target. That chance only being 1%, which in the grand scheme of things, hardly ever happened. ¡°Well, no time like the present,¡± I thought to myself, as I opened the wooden door to the mine. As I stepped through the door however, I instantly got a migraine, and the dungeon itself started to waver as my vision blurred. The migraine was extremely painful, and it felt as if my head was going to burst open. However, as instantly as it happened, my head cleared and the pain vanished. ¡°What the hell...¡± I said out loud as I shook my head, wondering what that was about and if it was another bug in the equipment I was using. If it was, it might be due to the fact that the dungeon¡¯s instance was being opened. Just something else I would need to bring to Wuang¡¯s attention once I was pulled out of the game. Now that I was in the dungeon, I looked around the interior of the mine¡¯s entrance. To my left, it looked like there was a small campsite, with a few burnt logs under a kettle that was on small, metal legs. The kettle and the legs were rusted through though, evidence that it hadn¡¯t been used in an extremely long time. The mine itself was also extremely damp and had a mildew like smell that permeated the air, the walls covered in dew and what looked like sickly brown and green moss. There were also mushrooms growing from the walls in several spots, both on the walls and on the ground. To the right, across from the small campsite, was an overturned cart, also rusted. I could also hear the small squeaks of rats in the distance, probably hiding from the new presence that they sensed. Straight ahead of me though was a tunnel that went further into the mine, with wooden tracks that led into it. This area must be a safe-spot for players to zone into. I activated Stealth, becoming invisible, unsheathed my dagger, and started walking down the tunnel. As I got further into the mine, there were several rusted, metal sconces that were mounted on the stone walls of the tunnel, lighting the way for players. The tunnel started sloping downwards, and I could start to hear the sound of a pick-axe banging against the stone. ¡°My first victim,¡± I thought to myself, feeling a vicious grin starting to form. I missed this feeling of being the predator, the thing that went bump in the night. I continued walking down the tunnel, towards the sound of the pick-axe as I came across a bend. Before the bend was a wooden door, which after testing it, I found that it was barred from the other side. It must lead to the dungeon¡¯s boss, since most dungeons had a short-cut back to the entrance once the main boss was defeated. I continued on, the sound of the pick-axe getting much louder than it had been, and if I guessed correctly, the first goblin would be just around it. I continued walking down the tunnel, and as I suspected, after the bend, I came across a small creature that had greenish-gray skin. It was a skinny looking thing, with extremely large, malformed ears and a long face. The smell of the creature was as rancid as it looked, and it was wearing nothing but a tattered piece of cloth around its waist that went down to its knees. The creature, a goblin, was swinging the pick-axe wildly, banging it against the stone wall, small sparks appearing every time it it the wall.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. As I inched closer to the goblin, it stopped banging the pick-axe against the wall and turned it¡¯s head so that it could hear better. I could only guess that it could sense death approaching, as I was the bringer of death. I only wished that I could see what level the damned thing was, but I guessed that it was either level 4 or 5, but not any higher than that. Too bad I couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s health bar, but that wasn¡¯t exactly a concern either. I did stop moving and hoped that it went back to what it was doing. Patience was definitely the prerequisite for being an assassin. The goblin, now disinterested in what it had sensed, started working again, banging the pick-axe against the stone. I slowly crept towards the goblin from the opposite side of the tunnel so that I could get behind it, which was much easier now that it started working again. As I got behind the creature and within range, I performed a quick movement with my dagger, sliding the edge across the goblin¡¯s neck as I whispered, ¡°Assassinate.¡± The goblin made a screeching noise as it tried to alert others before it fell to it¡¯s knees, dropping the pick-axe and grabbing it¡¯s throat to stop the blood from spewing out from it¡¯s wound which covered the wall in blood. The rotten smell made me gag as I backed away from the goblin, now in it¡¯s death throes. With the goblin now dead, I walked to the corpse, covering my nose with my left hand. Bending down over the corpse, I looted it, finding only 10 copper. Taking the coins and depositing them into my inventory, I backed away from the goblin and pulled up my character stats screen so that I could see how much xp it was worth. Skimming over the other information, I saw that I now had 265/311 experience, which meant that each one of these goblin miners was worth 25xp, even if they didn¡¯t drop anything decent as far as loot was concerned. ¡°Nice,¡± I thought, as I reactivated Stealth, continuing my descent into the mine. I left the corpse to despawn as I made my way further into the mine, following the bends and curves in the tunnel. I killed yet another goblin miner, using the same tactic of inching closer, letting it become disinterested in it¡¯s surroundings, and then killing it. I was only rewarded with 17 copper this time though, although I did get some good experience from it. A few more minutes walking down the tunnel, and I finally heard some real activity other than the sounds of rock being pounded against by pick-axes. ¡°Skrah el¡¯ech! Skrah el¡¯ech!¡± something screamed from in front of me, the sound reverberating on the walls of the tunnel. The sound of the screeching was like fingers scratching against one of those old style chalkboards. I would need to go around yet another bend through the tunnel to see what was making that awful sound. Coming around the bend, I entered into a large, round cavern. I immediately saw that along the walls of the cavern were several goblins that were mining with the pick-axes, 8 in total. The cavern had two other tunnels that went further into the mine, on the opposite side of where I was now standing, hidden in the shadows. Looking towards the sound of the screaming, which was in the center of the cavern, was a goblin that was wearing a leather tunic that looked as tattered as the cloth pants it was wearing. Both were covered in mud and other stuff that I didn¡¯t want to even guess at, looking utterly disgusting. I could even swear that I could smell the wretched goblin from where I stood. It was also holding onto a rusted short sword, swinging it wildly as it shouted. Next to this goblin, which seemed like it was an overseer of some sorts, was a small cart with the iron ore that I needed, filling it. I came up with a plan to kill the overseer first, since the damage it would do with it¡¯s sword would be much higher than the goblins with their pick-axes. I was sure that this was an encounter that would involve all 8 of the goblin miners and the goblin overseer at once. I pulled out my dagger from it¡¯s sheath, and stalked toward the overseer, making sure that I was behind it at all times. It was slow going, since the overseer would turn as it shouted at the miners, but with the noise of the pick-axes banging against the walls, the overseer didn¡¯t notice me, which made me grin. I would be able to kill this thing in two or three hits, making this encounter a cake-walk. ¡°Such a foul stench coming from these low level creatures,¡± I thought to myself as I neared the overseer, coming into melee range. I slipped my dagger across it¡¯s neck and grabbed the overseer¡¯s head and tilting it back as I came out of the shadows, no longer invisible. ¡°Assassinate,¡± I whispered in it¡¯s ear, feeling my blade slice the goblin¡¯s neck open. As expected though, it would take a few more hits for the goblin to die, since the goblin stumbled forward, screeching. A feint green glow surrounded the goblin, giving a visual notification that the goblin was now poisoned. ¡°Klah a¡¯nack!¡± it yelled, causing all of the goblins that were mining to stop and turn around, their beady little eyes narrowing with hatred as they saw who attacked their overseer. With a group yell, they all started to run at me. I lunged at the overseer who was still within melee range and performed Eviscerate, my dagger entering into its stomach, twisting it, and pulling it out, it¡¯s blood now gushing from both wounds. The smell almost made me gagged as the goblin raised it¡¯s sword and sliced into my left shoulder. I could only scream as the immense pain shot through me as I stumbled and fell backwards on the hard rocks that littered the ground, which caused the goblin¡¯s sword to rip out of my shoulder. The immense pain was more than I had ever experienced before, even in real life. Grasping my wounded shoulder, my dagger now forgotten, the cavern blurred as tears filled my eyes, the pain ravaging my mind. All thoughts of fighting were gone, and I could only think about running away from this thing that caused me such agony. The damn thing was smiling wickedly, the predator was now the prey, and it walked towards me. Its rusted sword was dripping blood, my blood, each drop splashing on the ground. The other goblin¡¯s were getting closer, and I could only close my eyes as I stood up¡­ and ran. I ran as fast as I could out of the cavern, knowing that there was now a 30 second countdown until I could reactivate Stealth. Hoping in vain that the goblins would stay inside the cavern, I could hear them yelling behind me, following me. The pain was so intense that I couldn¡¯t even keep a mental countdown, I just kept trying to reactivate Stealth in my mind, hoping that I would be covered in the shadows. ¡°This can¡¯t be right, there is no way I should feel this amount of pain in a fucking game. It¡¯s a FUCKING GAME!¡± I screamed internally. I continued to run away from the goblins that were chasing me, and looked behind me, only to see their shadows, growing closer to me. I looked ahead, trying to run faster, knowing that I was already going as fast as I could while holding onto my shoulder. I ran around one of the bends in the tunnel, unsure how further the exit was when I saw a black mass of movement just ahead. ¡°What now,¡± I thought as I got closer to the mass, still running as fast as I could. I neared closer to the mass, I saw individual outlines and heard the noises that it was making. When I first entered the mine, I heard them, but making my way to that forsaken cavern, I didn¡¯t see any. It was a massive horde of rats, sensing that I was wounded, all coming forward to finish me off. And yet I ran, hoping against all odds, tears freely falling from my eyes. The horde of rats, which was roughly 10 of them, larger than I had seen before, looked at me with hunger in their eyes. I looked back and still saw the shadows of the goblins behind me, and I stopped, knowing what would happen to me now. ¡°Help me, someone, please help,¡± I said softly as I dropped to my knees, my arms falling to my sides. The rats surrounded me, squeaking in glee that they found food in this wretched place. The rats jumped as one, each of them biting into my skin, each bite sending a stream of pain through me. Two of the rats crawled up to my neck, one making it¡¯s way onto my face, hanging on by digging it¡¯s claws into my skin, continuing to bite, continuing to eat. All I could do was scream. Scream in pain, in sorrow, and in frustration. After what felt like an eternity, my vision faded into red as I heard the manic laughter of goblins, enjoying watching me being eaten alive. My vision faded, darkness now enveloping me. I opened my eyes, my vision clear. I screamed, yet again, as I sat up in the bed. ¡°No, no, no. This can¡¯t be happening. No, fuck this,¡± I said, my voice still quivering, even though I couldn¡¯t feel any pain at all. ¡°System, log out,¡± I yelled. ¡°Error,¡± the system¡¯s voice resonated from around me. ¡°Log out,¡± I said, yet again, confused as why the command didn¡¯t work. ¡°Error,¡± the voice repeated. ¡°System menu,¡± I said out loud, bringing up the non-opaque window, which should allow me to adjust the settings in the game, as well as provide a manual way of logging out. I waved my hand, down and up, to scroll the window. Reaching the bottom, the log out button was faded out, indicating that it could not be used. Tears once again started to form. Shaking my head in disbelief, I waved my hand to the right, the gesture causing the window to close, and called out, ¡°Contact GM.¡± ¡°Error.¡± the voice said once again. Tears now running freely, I pulled my knees to my chest and started to rock back and forth in my bed. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening, this can¡¯t be happening,¡± I said, over and over, the empty room providing no comfort. This had to be a dream, right? This couldn¡¯t be real, I was just dreaming about this entire thing. In fact, I would wake up back in my apartment, and have to go back to Bob¡¯s, back to my life. Back to being a waitress in the real world, and not some character in a game. I had to wake up. Mentally exhausted, I fell to my side in the bed, still curled up as I made a wish, the wish to wake up in the real world. A wish that this was just a vicious and horrible dream. Making this wish, I closed my eyes, my face still wet from all of my tears. ¡°Raven, my poor child. Perhaps my champion, or perhaps nothing,¡± Noctis said as she looked down at me as I opened my eyes. Again, I awoke in the world of fog, in the realm of Noctis. I looked above me in shame, not willing to meet her eyes. Even though this was just a damn game, and inside of that game, just a dream, I felt ashamed. I again felt the start of tears forming in my eyes, as I finally looked at her and just muttered one word with my broken voice. ¡°Help.¡± Noctis only tilted her head as she looked down at me, with what looked like a mixture of both rage and sorrow in her eyes. Using my hand to wipe my eyes before any more tears could form, I stood up. I was free to move. Gathering what remained of my shattered courage, I looked into her eyes, and again I spoke, my voice still wavering, ¡°Noctis, what¡­ what is going on? Why am I able to feel what is happening to me, why can¡¯t I leave? What¡¯s happening to me?¡± Noctis straightened her head and smiled softly, obviously content with what little bravery I showed by getting back onto my feet and meeting her gaze with one of my own. ¡°Child, even though I am the goddess of Chaos within the Veil, I know not what you ask of me. What I can say, is that you are unique amongst all of my other champions, and even amongst those that would destroy me. It is a curious thing that amongst all of the champions, you are the only one that can truly live within this world and cannot leave it behind when it suits you, unlike all of the other Veil-walkers. As for what happens now, that is for you to decide, my child. I ask you again, will you become my champion, able to vanquish those that would oppose Chaos, or will you become a being worth nothing, to no one?¡± Noctis began to pace, walking a few steps and then turning, and walking back a few steps, constantly looking at me as she walked. ¡°There are many paths to chose from, and should you chose to become a true champion of Chaos, a true champion within the Veil; not just one of those that can choose to run, to leave the Veil behind, I will continue to support you within the Deitic System and allow you to resurrect from your death. However, should you stray from the path of Chaos and become as worthless as those you have dealings with, I will strip you of my blessings,¡± she continued, ending her speech with a menacing snarl. As she got to her final step before she turned around, Noctis began to disappear from my sight, however, she had one final thing to say to me it seemed, as her voice grew low and soft, ¡°And you will truly be on your own.¡± I looked around me to see if Noctis would reappear and force me out of her realm. When she didn¡¯t, I figured that she wanted to give me some time to think about my future before awakening from the dream world, to think about my future. Sitting down with my legs crossed, I looked into the distant fog and began to think. Looking back from the time I logged into the game, nothing really hurt until I entered the mine. Sure, there were sensations, the slight burning from first awakening from being touched by Noctis. The feel of the stones that were in the roads. The way the dagger felt, the way the blood from the wolves felt and what it felt like when they attacked me and I took damage. However, nothing was truly painful until I entered the mine. There was that brief migraine when I zoned into the mine though. Did something happen that coincided with entering the mine? Did the pain-limiters of the immersive VR rig somehow bug out? Even then, I didn¡¯t think that I should actually be able to feel true pain, not like I had. The pain in my shoulder where the goblin overseer sliced into me, and the rats. Those ugly rats, eating me alive. Never before, even in my real life, had I ever felt something so utterly painful. Perhaps no one has, and no one should. One thing was certain, whatever happens in this world is now real. Is this what Noctis meant when she said I was unique out of all of the other players? If what I know from quantum dynamics, if my brain¡¯s neurons where entangled with particles that were apart of the quantum servers that helped to run the game, does that mean that my actual consciousness is in the game? But then, why couldn¡¯t I leave when I tried to log out? The developers would ensure that their players could leave the game when they wanted or needed to. Did something happen to the VR interface? I just don¡¯t have enough information to know for certain. I could ask other players to contact the GMs, or even try to get some information, but would Noctis consider this to be ¡°straying from the path¡±? I can¡¯t risk that, not if she is truly able to prevent me from resurrecting. A ridiculous thought starting forming and I which made me smile evilly. This is a game, governed by game mechanics, and as such, if I become so powerful that nothing can harm me, let alone kill me, then perhaps I won¡¯t need the Deitic System. Yes, I can do this. However, I do not want to feel a horrific death as I had felt before I resurrected in the inn. I would need to go slow and not take risks. I¡¯ll need to get help when I need instead of just rezz-zerging as I used to do with ShadowBlood. Yes, it will be slow, but if I can¡¯t leave this world and go back to my life of being just some worthless waitress, then I will be damned sure become the best assassin that the Veil has never witnessed. I was not only the best assassin, but I was the best player in the game as witnessed by that stupid tournament that got me into this mess. I will become the best again, and nothing, nothing will stop me. Now, I just need to leave this dream world so I can begin fresh. ¡°AWAKEN!¡± I shouted, and as the words echoed around me, I felt myself fall through the world, my vision fading to black. Into the Mines (Again) First Group Waking in my bed the next day, I actually felt refreshed, as if that horrible death from the mine never happened. Except, there was a phantom pain in my shoulder that still ached. Perhaps that would be a good reminder, as sort of a reminder to not take this world as lightly has I did before. Getting out of bed, I walked down to the lobby to speak to Isbeil. Since she seemed to want to know everything about everyone, I needed some information. ¡°Isbeil, I have a question if you¡¯re able to answer it,¡± I asked the old dark elf that sat behind the counter. ¡°Sure sweety, you know that old Isbeil will help when you need it,¡± she responded to me with a smile on her face and a look that said that she knew what I was going to ask. ¡°Do you know of any other¡­ veil-walkers¡­ that will be going to the mines today?¡± I asked her. She closed her eyes as if she was deep in thought, and then opened them again. ¡°Yes, I heard a group of them, I think it was three if I¡¯m not mistaken. They were talking to each other saying how they were going to go to the apothecary to get some potions before heading up that way. If you leave now, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll be able to meet up with them, since it wasn¡¯t that long ago.¡± Giving Isbeil a genuine smile, I gave her my thanks as I walked out of the inn. Instead of trying to catch up to them at the apothecary, I decided to meet them at the village entrance to see if they would allow me to group up with them. No way in hell would I try to take that dungeon again by myself. At least, not until I was significantly better geared and had several more abilities. With a light step, I made my way to the entrance, thinking how phenomenal it would be if I could actually get an unique skill. I arrived at the gate and asked the guard if he¡¯d seen a group of veil-walkers heading out of the village, and when he responded that he didn¡¯t, I leaned up against the stone wall next to the entrance waiting for them. Growing a bit bored, I took out my rusted dagger and began tossing it in the air, flipping it, and then catching it before doing it again. For what seemed like an hour, although maybe only 10 minutes went passed, I finally saw the group of three players walking towards the exit of the village. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said as they neared the entrance where I was standing. ¡°I understand from Isbeil that you are all going to the mine. Would you mind if I tagged along,¡± I asked. A tall, muscular dark elf with green hair looked at me. ¡°He¡¯s probably the tank, I wonder what kind,¡± I thought, since he was wearing plate armor. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind. What type of rogue are you?¡± he asked. ¡°Assassin,¡± I said briefly, hoping that they would consider my proposal. Assassins weren¡¯t exactly the best at low levels. ¡°Do you guys mind,¡± he asked the other two in his group after he turned around to speak to them. The other two members in his group looked to be a healer and a mage of some kind. However, they all had full sets of equipment, which would mean that that they were secondary characters, or alts as they are commonly referred as. When the other two gave their consideration and approval for me to join them, he reached out with his hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m Adrian, dark knight. This is Kine, our priest, and Adrianne is an illusionist.¡± After our introductions, a small window appeared to me asking me if I would like to join Adrian¡¯s party, which I accepted. ¡°At least this function still worked,¡± I thought to myself. On the left side of my vision, just far enough to not interfere with what I was seeing elsewhere, was the group window which showed their names, health, stamina, and mana bars, as well as the group buffs that the priest had casted on everyone. However, my information was still invisible to me. We started walking out of the village, and I let the three of them take the lead since there was no reason for me to be out front scouting. I didn¡¯t have much to say to the group as we walked, content to just see how this party interacted with each other. As we neared the mine, Adrian stopped and turned to look at everyone. ¡°Alright,¡± he began. ¡°Once we get inside, we¡¯ll give Kine some time to reapply buffs to everyone and then I¡¯ll take lead. Since you look fairly new Raven, once I use either Taunt or Viscious Aura, that¡¯s when you will want to use either your Backstab or Assassinate, whichever one you have the most points in. Just make sure to assist me with whatever I¡¯m attacking, ok?¡± ¡°Are you fucking kidding me right now,¡± I started to think to myself. I finished my thought while taking some deep breathes, ¡°Ok, calm down Raven. If I was in his shoes, I would think the same thing. People usually give their alts either a few platinum to gear out with, or have a set of crafted gear stored in their account vault to use. Since this is a blank account, I can see why he thinks I¡¯m new.¡± I replied out loud, in a meek voice that it was ok. I also let the group know that I had both Assassinate and Backstab at level 1. He looked at me and gave me a lopsided grin and nodded at me. ¡°Cool. I have a level 30 Assassin myself, so if you have any questions, you can always send me a message and I can give you some advice if you want,¡± he so kindly informed me, not knowing that I already had a level 149 Assassin even if it seemed like a lifetime ago now. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head on in,¡± he said, as he opened the door to the mine and entered it. I sighed, and the rest of us following him into the mine. Into the Dungeon (Again) ¡°Kine, if you would please,¡± Adrian asked the priest as he took out his sword and swung the kite shield from his back to his left hand. The priest started casting the few buff spells he had access to which would help to make this run quite a bit easier than it was when I tried it earlier by myself. Thinking about that, I shuddered. Adrianne must have seen the involuntary reaction, since she put her hand on my shoulder and asked me if I was okay, her eyes filled with concern. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. I was here earlier and, well, it didn¡¯t go so well.¡± I responded to her, looking past her and into the mine. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Raven, it might seem real, but just remember that it¡¯s only a game. You can log out whenever you want,¡± she said, trying to raise my spirits. ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m fine,¡± I said with a smile, secretly wondering how she would deal with the pain and how she would deal with not being able to log out. Once Kine finished with his spells, Adrian started moving down the mine. A few minutes into the mine, we reached the bend where I died at, no sign of those damned infernal rats. However, we did start to hear the pick-axes of the goblins hitting the rocks with their picks. I couldn¡¯t believe how close I was to the exit before I died. Adrian got ready for combat as he walked around the bend as we followed. The goblin stopped it¡¯s mining and looked at Adrian, it¡¯s eyes narrowing as if it was wondering who we were and why humans would be in it¡¯s home. Adrian moved his shield so that it was in front of him, allowing him to block any frontal attacks as he moved closer to the goblin. While he was getting within range, I stepped into the shadows with my stealth ability as Kine got out his two-handed hammer and Adrianne pulled out her unlatched her staff from her back. I moved to a better position, positioning myself between the goblin and the support. If the goblin resisted the dark knight¡¯s taunts, it would rush to engage the support instead. If that happened, well, it didn¡¯t know it, but it would need to go through me first. However, since this was just a beginner¡¯s dungeon, the goblin did not, in fact, resist Adrian¡¯s taunts. I moved towards Adrian and the goblin, making sure to get behind the goblin without bumping into them. If that happened, then I would be forced out of the shadows, becoming visible and unable to use Assassinate. After Adrian used one of his shield abilities, Bash, it stunned the goblin for a few seconds which allowed me to get into a good position to perform my Assassinate ability. I grabbed the goblin¡¯s head, tilting it back as Adrian stepped closer, positioning his sword for a thrust type of attack. ¡°Assassinate,¡± I whispered into the goblin¡¯s ear, slicing it¡¯s throat open. The goblin¡¯s body starting twitching in arms before I let it fall to the ground, dead. ¡°Damn Raven, over 500 damage with Assassinate. You must have a good amount of strength and agility for a crit that high,¡± Adrian said with what looked like admiration in his eyes. ¡°I guess, if you say so. I did a little bit of research on various builds before I started playing. Good timing with that Bash.¡± I responded as I walked back to the rear, allowing him to collect the loot from the corpse of the goblin. At least I wouldn¡¯t have to go digging around through the corpses that smelled like mold, death, and something even more unpleasant. The loot would be placed magically in our inventory as long as a group member collected it. After that, if the item was good enough, we could use dice to roll on it, usually in a need before greed type of honor system that was common. Like this, we made our way further into the mine, if not a bit more slowly than I would have liked. We killed two more goblin miners before we reaching the first cavern. Even though we were only getting 7xp per miner, I managed to get to level 6, if by just enough. I now had 311/396 experience, even though I still hadn¡¯t allocated the skills or abilities since we kept moving along. I didn¡¯t want ask the group to pause during a push further into the mine. There was also no indication of the horde of rats which made me more than a little bit curious as we reached the cavern that had the overseer with his eight miners. It was still in the center, yelling at his miners, ¡°Skrah el¡¯ech! Skrah el¡¯ech!¡± Not knowing what that meant was starting to bother me, and I briefly thought to myself that I would need to start collecting language books so that I could understand various other creatures and races, even though everyone understood the languages of the races that players could create. Adrian moved backwards a few steps before turning around and walking back to us, crouching on one knee as we did the same. ¡°Ok, it looks like we¡¯ve all gotten a level, so let¡¯s pause for a minute to get our levels sorted before we go in,¡± Adrian said as he looked at us. Since it was a good idea anyways, I just nodded as I pulled up my stats and skill windows. Adding my stat points, I now had 25 strength, 17 dexterity, 32 agility, and 18 vitality. I also added my skill points into Assassinate, raising it¡¯s level to level 4. Closing the windows, I looked at Adrian and told him that I was good. After the others did the same, we stood, and Adrian looked at each of us as he smiled. Turning around, he started walking back towards the cavern while saying, ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± I stood at the cavern¡¯s entrance with both Adrianne and Kine while we watched Adrian run over to the overseer, slashing him. Adrian immediately went into a defensive posture and waited for the 8 miners to get near him. As they neared him, he engaged his Taunting Aura, after which, I slowly stalked towards the first miner that I saw. As I moved towards it, I saw a soft blue magic mist cover the entire area around Adrian. The miners fell into a mezz, a sort of standing sleep as their weapons dropped to their sides. After the miners were mezzed, a golden glow surrounded Adrian. The illusionist must have cast an area of effect sleep spell, and then the priest used a heal over time, or HoT, spell that constantly healed Adrian for a small amount for a period of duration. Typically HoT spells lasted 3 to 5 seconds, depending on the ability route and level that the priest went with. I neared the miner that I was stalking towards, performing an Assassinate as I got into range. The goblin came out of his daze, screaming, as it turned towards me, with a green hue of an aura now surrounding it since it was now also poisoned. I followed up with an Eviscerate as I saw a blue fireball smash into the goblin, killing it. The illusionist must also have some ability in damage spells I thought to myself. Even though the Illusionist¡¯s damage spells were typically weak, since the class was designed for crowd control, they did have them. I moved towards the next goblin, performing an Eviscerate and Garrote in quick succession, breaking the goblin¡¯s daze. Again, I saw the blue fireball hit the goblin that I was attacking, and from the corner of my eye. I saw a golden shield made of magic appear in front of Adrian, while I saw that I had the soft golden glow surrounding me. ¡°This is going to hurt,¡± I thought to myself as I got into a low, semi-crouched position. Since I didn¡¯t use my Assassinate ability, the goblin was not quite dead and was able to return my attack. Raising my arm above my head, I blocked the attack with my forearm, missing the parry so that I could perform my Riposte ability. I felt the jagged teeth of the dull blade enter my arm, finally stopping as it hit my bone. Grinding my teeth, the only thing I could think of was how much it hurt. However, my vision didn¡¯t fade into red, and instead, I grew furious. This trash actually hit me, the rage starting to grow inside of me. With the goblin¡¯s sword still stuck in my arm, I twisted my arm so that my forearm was facing upwards, the sword now below my arm. I stepped around the goblin and took it¡¯s forehead into my left hand, angling its face upwards as I ripped my arm from it¡¯s sword, bringing the dagger to it¡¯s neck as I whispered through gritting teeth, ¡°Assassinate.¡± A notification appeared in my view which I didn¡¯t pay attention to, blind with both rage, and pain. Shortly after we dispatched the other 6 miners, I was covered with sweat and blood. Some of it was mine, however most of the blood was the blood of the goblins. I stepped back, out of breathe while I calmed down and looked at Adrian and the overseer, who was still feebly attacking the dark knight. Even though Adrian was blocking it¡¯s attacks, he was looking at me with a stunned look in his eyes. Ripping his eyes away from mine, he looked back to the overseer. ¡°Get some stamina, stealth up, and let¡¯s kill this thing so we can finish the quest,¡± he said, blocking yet another attack from the overseer. I stepped backwards, the pain now gone. After a few seconds, I felt a little better now that I was not out of breath. The spells surrounding Adrian rotated back and forth from the golden glow that surrounded him to the magical shield in front of him. Figuring that the healer must be running a bit low on mana by now, I stepped forwards, instantly becoming an invisible shade, stealthed. Creeping to the back of the overseer, Adrian yelled at it, taunting it as he got into a more offensive position and attacked the overseer with his sword. After his attack, I crept behind the overseer and performed Assassinate following it up with both Eviscerate and then Garrote. The overseer was now bleeding, poisoned, and it was silenced just in case it had the ability to call for more help. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.It enraged, attacking furiously at Adrian, while I swiftly slashed at the goblin, again and again while I was waiting for the effect auras to dissipate. My vision tinted red as if I was enraged, and after each normal attack, I followed up with Eviscerate in order to keep my damage constantly high. After another 30 seconds or so, the overseer finally gave out it¡¯s last scream as it fell to the floor, dead. ¡°Well, that was fun,¡± Adrian said to me in a dead pan voice as I sat on the ground, feeling tired and worn out. Adrian re-sheathed his sword and put away his shield and started tapping his finger against his leg. The others ran to us shouting. ¡°Holy shit!¡± ¡°Raven! What was that!¡± I looked over at them, wondering what they were talking about as Adrian still just stood there, looking down at me. ¡°Open your ability list and look at Assassinate. What does it say,¡± he asked me. Doing as I was told for once, wondering just what the hell was going on, I looked at my Assassinate ability, which was now labeled, ¡°Advanced Assassinate¡±. ¡°What the hell is this? Assassinate was able to be evolved?¡± I thought to myself. Looking at the description for the advanced ability, I read it out loud so that everyone could hear what the description now said: Advanced Assassinate: Causes 250% weapon damage. In it''s advanced form, assassinate can now be used out of stealth with a 15 second cool down. ¡°Congrats!¡± Adrianne shouted as Adrian stood there with a blank face, nothing giving away of what he was thinking. He had a level 30 assassin though, and since even I didn¡¯t know that the skill could evolve, I could take a guess as to what he was thinking of. He probably wanted to know how the skill evolved, which I wasn¡¯t too sure of myself. All I really remembered about the fight was the pain and the rage that overwhelmed me. ¡°What happened anyways? I sort of lost myself there,¡± I meekly asked everyone. Adrian¡¯s face lit up and he grinned as he laughed. ¡°You really don¡¯t remember?¡± he asked. Shaking my head no, he calmed down a bit and began his story. ¡°Well, if I didn¡¯t know any better, just by the way you were attacking, I would have said that you were a berserker. Somehow, you where able to parry an attack from one of the goblins with your arm, and then you performed the Assassinate skill. I wonder if you forced the ability to evolve? I¡¯ll have to give it a try at some point,¡± he said as he started looking at something in the distance. Shaking his head and looked at us again he finished his thought, ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s loot up and move on.¡± The overseer ended up dropping a Leather Tunic that went to Kine since it wasn¡¯t an upgrade for me, however, it also dropped an Overseer¡¯s Short Sword, which went to Adrian, even though I had a suspicion that it wasn¡¯t an upgrade for him since he was using all player-made equipment. It wouldn¡¯t kill me though since I couldn¡¯t use it, so I kept my mouth shut about it. After we looted the goblins, we each grabbed the iron ore from the cart, allowing us to finish the quest from Moire. Now, we had a choice, to either leave the mine and finish the quest, or keep going and kill the boss mob that was surely deeper within the mine. Since I was getting excited to use my new form of Assassinate, I voted on continuing on, even though I was content with returning if the others wanted to and it would allow me to get some decent weapons for the level range. Although, there was a chance that we might come across some decent loot from the boss¡¯s treasure chest. Needless to say, everyone decided that we would continue on to the end, so we began our journey, deeper into the mine. We formed up as we had before, with Adrian in the lead, myself behind him, and the healer and illusionist behind me. Adrian decided that we should head through the left tunnel to see where that one would go and we slowly started walking, our eyes keeping an eye out for any enemies that we would come across. Shortly after entering the left path, we saw a goblin patrol walking away from us. From what I could tell, all three goblins were wearing tattered leather tunics and tattered pants. However, the patrol leader was holding a sword, and the other two were using wooden clubs. Adrian rushed the group as I went into stealth, the temporary shield buff glowing in front of him. He taunted the three goblins as I got into position. Even though I didn¡¯t need to be stealthed for my Assassinate anymore, I still felt that I should, since critical hits were more likely when attacking from stealth. This time though, instead of attacking the goblins with the clubs, I decided to attack the one with the sword. Only in bigger fights, like the one with the overseer, was it wise to get rid of the trash monsters first, since it would help the healer to keep the tank alive. In small fights like these, simple heals that worked over a period of time were sufficient, and the healer wouldn¡¯t need to waste mana with their larger heals. Easily killing the patrol, we continued on walking through the mine¡¯s curves and bends. Deeper into the mine, a foul, dark yellow fog started to form. We ran into 3 more patrols before we reached another cavern which gave us all an additional level. This one much larger than the one with the overseer. However, unlike the cavern with the overseer, this one was dark and silent, no sounds coming from within. It was, eerie, to say the least. ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Adrian said, stopping before he got into the cavern. ¡°Since we all got a level on the way down, let¡¯s spend our points before we go in. From the guide, we should be facing a hobgoblin of some sort that runs this place.¡± After allocating my stat points like I planned out, I opened up my skill list and upgrading Advanced Assassinate to level 5, Apply Poisons to level 2, and Stealth to level 3. I gave Adrian a slight nod, letting him know that I was ready. Once everyone was finished, we entered the cavern. Almost immediately entering the cavern, we spread out, with Adrian in front of us. Flames starting to appear in the sconces that were mounted on the walls one at a time, until the cavern was entirely lit from the soft light from the flames. I heard Adrianne gasp, as we all saw the body of the large hobgoblin. It was already dead from a huge, gaping slash, slicing its upper torso in half from a diagonal blow. This was definitely not normal, and I immediately went into stealth and looked around. ¡°What in the hell?¡± Kine said, looking around as well. Adrian went over to the dead hobgoblin still maintaining a soft white glow around it. It hadn¡¯t been looted. ¡°Whatever this is, it looks like whatever killed the boss didn¡¯t loot it. Maybe the mine is bugged and we¡¯re sharing an instance with someone?¡± he said, just as confused as the rest of us. Adrianne saw the treasure chest first, still unopened. ¡°Honey, did you find a key from the hob?¡± she asked as she walked towards the chest. ¡°Yea, whatever killed it didn¡¯t take the loot. We got 5 silver and the key to the chest.¡± he responded. I should have known they were married, or at least involved, with their names almost being exactly alike. We all walked over to the treasure chest that would have the loot from the boss in it. Adrian unlocked the chest and we looked inside. Our eyes lit up with the amount of loot inside of the chest. There was 16 pieces of hobgoblin cloth, which was enough for us to each have 4 each, a ring, and to top it off, a skill book. ¡°First things first, let¡¯s take a look at the ring,¡± Adrian said to everyone as he pulled it out and holding it out in front of him, letting us see what it looked like. It seemed like it was made from iron, or another type of dull metal, with slashes appearing on the outside of it. Analyzing it, I looked at the stats for it: Ring of the Hobgoblin Rarity: Common Level: 10 Weight: .1 Durability: 100/100 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Effects Strength: +10 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Effect: Gives the owner 10% additional physical damage. Since we were using the ¡°need before greed¡± dungeon loot rules, both Adrian and I said out loud, almost at the same time, ¡°Roll dice.¡± The system announced our rolls so that everyone around us could hear, ¡°Raven wins the dice roll with a 52. Adrian rolled 43. Congratulations Raven!¡± I grinned as I snatched the ring from Adrian who looked as if I stepped on his virtual dog. Thinking that it sucked to be him, I equipped the ring, feeling as if I grew a bit in power. It could have been just me though. Adrian then pulled out the skill book so that we could look at the cover of the skill book and read the title. Shadow Step Rarity: Rare Cost: 100 Mana Weight: .5 Description: Allows the player to immediately stealth and teleport to a target within 5 meters. Each level increase range which Shadow Step can be used by 10%. I looked around myself to see that the three others were all looking at me, their mouths gaping open. Each trying, and failing, to say something. I was stunned myself that this skill dropped. It took me over six months of searching for this one skill before I got lucky when I was playing Shadowblood. When used correctly, this skill was one of the skills that everyone, including some assassins, thought was overpowered since the assassin could literally attack, vanish, attack, and vanish as long as they had the mana to continue to do so. In fact, this was one of the skills that I had used during the tournament after I first stunned the healers. ¡°I call dibs,¡± I said to the others as I grinned like a Cheshire cat. Adrian reluctantly gave me the skill book which went into my inventory since rare and unique skills could only be learned from a trainer once you had the skill book. We walked towards the door that in the back of the cavern since it would lead back to the entrance when suddenly the entire room was surrounded by black and red flames. The others looked around, clear that they didn¡¯t know what was happening. However, I had seen these types of flames before. They were called the Flames of Entrapment. The flames would not allow anyone in, or out of, the circle. Nor could spells be used through the flames from players outside of the flaming circle, which included resurrection spells. There was only one class of monster that I knew of had this spell. The Harbingers. Harbingers were added eight months ago and were meant to be for extremely high level raid groups that had an average level of 120. The odd thing about these harbingers was that there was only one that spawned in the world at any one time and they were located within a random, high level dungeon. As of yet, no one was able to kill one due to the crappy mechanics that each of them had. The harbinger slowly started to materialize in front of us as he lowered himself to the ground, slightly kneeling and then standing to his full height which was a towering 5 meters tall. It¡¯s skin was gray and muscular, black and red tattoos covering his bare, upper body showing just how muscular it truly was. It¡¯s black, armored pants were made from Infernal Plate with spikes that looked to be made from bones, lining the sides. It would look like your typical infernal, high-level raid monster if it wasn¡¯t for the harbinger¡¯s face. It had an elongated head, skin covering its eyes with what looked like metal staples closing its eyes shut and black ooze coming from the slits between. It had no nose, his face otherwise smooth, until you saw its teeth, an endless amount of sharp teeth that clearly showed that it was a carnivore, no matter if the meat was dead, or alive. I knew this Harbinger from one of the raids that I went on, it was the Harbinger of Chaos. It had a devastating area of effect ability that reached the entire area of the flames causing 50% of your total health in damage and stunned everyone in the entire area for 2 minutes. He would cast this stun every 2.5 minutes, which meant that the entire raid only had 30 seconds between casts to get everyone healed and to damage him. However, the really shitty mechanic he had was that his normal attack, which occurred every 5 seconds, had an effect that caused instant death. It was quite an impossible raid, and here he was, in a rank 1 dungeon. ¡°Well, I think we found what killed the hobgoblin,¡± I said while laughing, resigned to my fate. I could do nothing more but hope for a quick, painless death. ¡°I¡¯ll take¡­¡± Adrian said, before his life was snuffed out, his body now cut into half from his stomach. It now stood before the 3 of us that were remaining, his arms behind it¡¯s back holding onto what looked like a Death¡¯s Scythe. The scythe curving over his shoulders as if it was watching us, waiting for us to move. I expected to die next since I was in front of the other two that were behind me to my left and right. However, something was¡­ off. It hadn¡¯t used it¡¯s AoE stun yet, which was typically the first thing it did. I heard a noise that sounded like a sword cutting into the air. The attack was too fast to see. I heard both Kine and Adrianne scream from behind me, then nothing but silence. However, to my eyes, the harbinger never moved. I knew what happened without needing to look behind me, still wondering what was going on and why he would be here of all places. ¡°Harbinger of Chaos¡­ Chaos¡­ Noctis is the Goddess of Shadows which is aligned with Chaos. It can¡¯t be possible, can it? Think! When I was part of that raid, did anyone look at what faction their deity was from? I know mine was apart of the Holy faction,¡± I rapidly thought to myself, the feeling I had was growing stronger. Unable to resist this feeling any longer, I dropped to my knee and placed left hand on my left leg. Immediately after, I bowed my head. ¡°Harbinger.¡± I said, interested in what would happen next, even if my own death was near. The harbinger walked towards me, it¡¯s arms still holding the scythe behind him. It took its steps slowly, coming closer and closer. I could feel myself sweating from both terror and, glee? This couldn¡¯t be right. But it came still until stopping in front of me. With my head bowed, I could see it¡¯s boots, made from the same Infernal Plate, metal spikes covering them. A voice, which could be described as both being angelic and demonic, grating but smooth, seemingly melding the two natures which formed chaos, started speaking, it¡¯s words broken. ¡°Mmm¡­ what have¡­ we here¡­ none before¡­ worshiper of chaos¡­ this child¡­ Noctis desired¡­ yes¡­ rise child.¡± By now, my thoughts were wild, not knowing what the hell was going to happen. Normally, I was always so calm, so why now? Was it because of what is going on? Now that I am literally living inside this game, was the presence of the harbinger doing something to me? My thoughts were¡­ chaotic. However, I rose, barely realizing it told, no, demanded of me, my head still bowed before this great being. Still holding it¡¯s scythe with his left arm behind him, he reached out to me with his other arm, his clawed hand in a fist. With no words, there was a flash of black smoke made of magic that appeared between his fingers. ¡°Gift¡­ Noctis¡­ yours¡­¡± the harbinger said after I rose. I reached out and placed my hand beneath his, ready to accept his gift as I felt something metal fall into it. A chain fell from the side of my hand. This gift was a necklace of some sort and I grasped onto it, placing my arms behind me, almost mimicking the pose that the harbinger had when it appeared. I looked up at him with both terror and admiration in my eyes. ¡°Thank you Harbinger,¡± I said as I looked into his eyes that were stapled shut. The harbinger sighed as if he was content, having one last word for me before he left. ¡°Die,¡± he told me, the world growing black once again. A Purpose Renewed Rise and Shine I woke with with a scream, with both the feel of sweat and tears on my face, as I looked around myself in a panic. Irritably, this was becoming too much of a common occurrence for me. I couldn¡¯t see the group window from my peripheral vision, so I assumed that the group disbanded when we wiped. I rubbed my neck, where the phantom pain of, something, still throbbed. Shaking my head clear from the exhaustion, I realized that I felt something on the sheets in between my legs. Looking down at it, I saw that it was a jet black amulet, with a blood red gem mounted in the center of it. The amulet¡¯s black metal seemed to draw in the light around it, giving it an otherworldly reflection. The gem in the center had, what looked like, a murky fog swirling inside of it. Just like the black metal chain, it also seemed to draw in the light. ¡°Show stats,¡± I called out the system command. Amulet of Noctis Rarity: Unique, Soul-bound Level: N/A Weight: 0.1 Durability: Indestructible ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Effects Strength: +15 Dexterity: +5 Agility: +15 Vitality: +5 Wisdom: +15 All Resists: +5% ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Effect: This item will gain in power along with the owner. For each level the owner of this necklace is, the power increases by 10%. I closed my eyes and reopened them, not believing what I was seeing. I read over the stats, especially the bonus effect again, realizing that I was, in fact, reading it correctly. It was exceptionally rare that anyone in the game got anything that was unique. Hell, it was more likely that someone could create a black hole in real life by holding a stone and squeezing really hard. Of course there were rumors of unique items, but that was it. That was all they were, rumors. But here, in my hand, was an item that was unique. Not only that, but it was the same amulet that I saw Noctis wearing when I met her in the dream-world. I tried to remember what happened before I died, however, the entire event seemed, odd. It was as if my memory from just after the Flames of Entrapment ignited to my death was a puzzle that was dismantled, shaken, and forced back together even though the pieces didn¡¯t fit right. It was chaos, which, I finally realized with a laugh, was the entire point. Why wouldn¡¯t my memory be utter chaos, when I met, and spoke with, the Harbinger of Chaos. I started to think though, the knowledge slamming into me, that the harbingers were never meant to be killed! Or, were they? I would need to ask Noctis about this if, and when, I meet her next. It couldn¡¯t be that she sent the harbinger to a low level dungeon to give me the amulet, could it? The entire thing is suspicious. Even though the harbingers could spawn anywhere, what is the point of spawning inside a rank 1 dungeon that would only have players that were a maximum of level 15 in it? Knowing that I could not solve this particular problem, I put on the necklace and felt it bind itself to me. While I was sitting in bed, I wanted to check out my current character sheet now that I had a good amount of equipment, though I still needed to turn in Moire¡¯s quest for my daggers. ¡°Show character stats¡± I called out, reading my the information about my character stats: Character Name: Raven Occupation: Assassin Level: 7 (433/489) Currency: 10s, 48c Health: 1375 Stamina: 1425 Mana: 1800 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats Strength: 61 Dexterity: 26 Agility: 59 Vitality: 26 Wisdom: 34 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Damage: 252-504 Critical Hit Chance: 30% Critical Hit Damage: 282-534 Evade Chance: 3% Armor: 9 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Resists Slashing Damage: 18% Blunt Damage: 13% Piercing Damage: 13% Fire Damage: 13% Cold Damage: 13% Lightning Damage: 13% Poison Damage: 18% Disease Damage: 13% Soul Damage: 8% ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Abilities Stealth (Level 3) Backstab (Level 1) Eviscerate (Level 4) Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1) Riposte (Level 3) Garrote (Level 1) Advanced Assassinate (Level 5) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Equipment Chest: Rawhide Leather Vest Pants: Rawhide Leather Pants Gloves: Rawhide Leather Gloves Wrist(Right): Rawhide Leather Bracer Wrist(Left): Rawhide Leather Bracer Feet: Rawhide Leather Boots Necklace: Amulet of Noctis Ring(Right): Ring of the Hobgoblin Weapon: Rusted Dagger (main) ¡°Hide character stats,¡± I said, my mind not quite believing what my eyes saw. The Amulet of Noctis was boosting my stats significantly. It seemed that the amulet matched my level, so when I looked at the stats earlier, I was looking at the amulet when it was level 1. However, since I equipped it, now the amulet was level 7. No wonder unique items, for the most part, didn¡¯t exist. They broke the game! Getting excited now about my progress, I quickly jumped out of the bed and ran out of the inn and straight to Moire¡¯s blacksmith shop. ¡°Moire! MOIRE!¡± I shouted like an evil step-mother as I ran into her store, almost tearing the door from the hinges. Moire ran into the front of the shop from her back room, where I assumed her forge was, her blacksmith¡¯s hammer in hand. She looked extremely disheveled and in a panic, as if she was asleep in the back. ¡°What!? What¡¯s happening? Raven, what¡¯s wrong? Are the herpes attacking again?¡± I blinked several times, regaining my calm as I thought through her words. ¡°Herpes? Um, I hope you mean harpies; and no, there are no harpies Moire. I have your ore!¡± I gleefully smiled at the blacksmith, receiving a look of death incarnate from her. ¡°I should use your head instead of that damned ore Raven. What the hell is wrong with you, running in here screaming like that? You know what, I don¡¯t want to know. Just give me that blasted ore and get the hell out of here. I¡¯ll have your damn daggers ready in a few hours.¡± I deposited the ore on her counter, completing the quest¡¯s turn in step before turning around to leave the shop. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot! Can you make a cloak from these?¡± I asked as I turned back around and deposited the Hobgoblin Cloth pieces. Moire frowned as she took them, sitting the cloth on her counter before pointing towards the door, her hand shaking in anger. Taking the hint, I finally left the blacksmith and started skipping towards the tavern where I could get a few glasses of wine while I waited. I completely failed to notice the looks of the NPCs hurrying out of my way with some of them, perhaps mothers, hugging their children tightly as I passed, wondering if I was possessed by some demonic entity. Entering the tavern, I paused for a few seconds while my eyes adjusted to the soft glow of the candles that were mounted on the walls. It was your typical tavern with a barkeep behind the counter. Behind the barkeep was a large mirror that was above shelves that were stocked with dark bottles and a couple of small barrels on each side of the shelves laying down on another, larger shelf. I looked over at Conall (who was the tavern¡¯s barkeeper) as he was wiping off a crystal mug, his eyes focused on his task at hand. He was a ruggedly attractive man, his skin dark, even for a dark elf. He had long, straight silver hair which went perfectly with the silver earring. It had a chain running from a clasp that was attached near the tip of his ear to a metal loop on the bottom piercing, the silver reflecting the soft light of the tavern. I walked over to where he stood and greeted him. ¡°Hello again Conall. I was wondering, what type of wine do you recommend?¡± Conall looked up at me, smiling as he recognized me, his dark eyes peering into my soul. ¡°Why, hello there little Raven. What kind of taste are you in the mood for,¡± he asked with a glowing smile that made my heart melt. Whoever created Conall must have been a female developer since she got everything right with him. If I didn¡¯t know this was a game, I would actually try to flirt. ¡°I think I¡¯m in the mood for something a bit dark, but on the sweet side,¡± I replied to him, smiling as I leaned over the counter a bit. ¡°I think I know just the thing. It¡¯s called Rennor Jhinrae, have a seat wherever you like and I¡¯ll bring it out to you.¡± Conall reached down and grabbed a wine glass before disappointingly turning away, presumably to get whatever wine he was thinking of. I looked behind me and saw that there was a booth in the far back of the tavern that was not occupied, which I walked to and sat down. From here, I could see almost the entire bar while I relaxed. There was a few people here already. A group of dark elves were whispering to each other at one of the round tables that were near the front of the tavern by the door. Just across from me sat a lone beastman that looked like a mix between a human and a german shepard. While I didn¡¯t pay attention to the other dark elves, the beastman grabbed my attention, as other races were typically very rare in the starter towns. He didn¡¯t look like a new player though, since he was wearing Shadow Steel armor. If I remembered correctly, Shadow Steel was typically around level 40 to 50 armor. Mentally shrugging, I waited for my Rennor Jhinrae, looking forward to talking to Conall again. ¡°Your Rennor Jhinrae, my lady. That will be 2 silver,¡± Conall said as he sat down the crystal glass in front of me, the golden liquid calling to me. I looked up into his eternal brown eyes again and gave him my thanks while I handed him the silver, paying for the wine. Sighing, I decided to focus on what happened over the last few days while I slowly drank the black wine, savoring the taste of sweet blackberries, letting the dizziness slowly start to overcome me. So, somehow when I entered that mine, I became trapped inside of this game. I still don¡¯t know the how or why of it, but for some reason I¡¯m not able to contact a GM using the menu in the game, nor can I log out using either the system call command or manually using the UI. Not only that, but the system is supposed to automatically boot you out of the game when it senses your stress levels getting too high. I can only imagine that with what has happened so far, my stress levels have went beyond red. Since I¡¯m able to use all of my senses; sight, sound, taste, and smell, I may as well be living in this game. But the odd thing is that Noctis, and even that harbinger to an extent, acted as if they knew something was going on. I¡¯m fairly certain that there is something going on there with the AI, since it shouldn¡¯t even be aware of the outside world. I¡¯m not even sure if the harbingers should be aware of the deities unless, of course, the players have been going about those all wrong. Wait thinking about the game¡¯s AI, from what has been released about the game, it uses the quantum servers for machine learning. So, what if they used those same servers to duplicate my conscious into? Is it even possible that the AI is using my experiences in the outside world now? No, it¡­ maybe it is¡­ no, no, it shouldn¡¯t be possible. I just don¡¯t know, I never even read anything about how AI and all that actually worked. Just because I know some stuff that I read on the community forums doesn¡¯t exactly qualify me as being an expert. Anyways, for the time being, I only have 3 more levels until I¡¯m level 10. Once I hit that mile-marker, a few NPC quests should start to appear that will lead me to the main city of the beginner zone. If I recall correctly from that map inside of the inn, I think the name of it is Kinderfell. I¡¯m kind of interested in what type of quest it¡¯ll be, since on Shadowblood I had to escort a caravan with the head of a boss monster that I killed during an encounter. I¡¯ll also be able to learn my two professions there as well, so I should probably keep an eye out for anything like that. I think I¡¯ll end up needing talk to both Moleari and Moire about them once I hit level 10. Hopefully they¡¯ll request for me to meet with the NPC crafters there since I plan on getting into tailoring and alchemy for the professions. I should get both herbalism and skinning from them as well. Hopefully I¡¯ll be able to use the auction house in the main city, which at this point as long as the damned interface is working. If I can use the auction house, I can get player-crafted armor, weapons, and enchantments from there. I¡¯ll also be able to sell off any of the excess potions that I make. Even if a single potion doesn¡¯t go for much, the quantity that people usually purchase more than make up for that since they¡¯re consumables. Potions are usually always high in demand, and the rare poisons can go for a good amount of platinum as well. On that note, another thing that will be a significant issue in the near term is my finance situation. I¡¯m already down to 8 silver and 48 copper. I¡¯ll need at least 1 gold to learn the professions, and 50 silver to learn the gathering skills. I also need to somehow get 10 gold to learn Shadow Step. So, 12 gold or so total. I wonder if I can beg? Guys always seemed to throw money to any female avatar in the game, so maybe I can take advantage of that? Heh, no. That¡¯s the entire reason why I made Shadowblood male was so I could get away from that crap. I¡¯ll keep that an option though, since this isn¡¯t just a game anymore, is it? Caressing my temple to get rid of the migraine that I could feel starting, I looked around the tavern a bit, now that I wasn¡¯t lost in my thoughts. A group of four was close by talking animatedly about some news report they saw before they logged into the game. I took a sip of my wine, still wanting to think about how I was progressing in the game so far while I kept listening to the group of players. On the other hand, my stats and skills are progressing as I hoped, and even more so with that amulet. I¡¯m not even going to speculate how that happened since I¡¯ll need to speak with Noctis about it. If the game progresses as it should, it won¡¯t be until level 20 when I can speak with her again since that¡¯s when I should be sent on a deity quest to get an armor and weapon set.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I could hear them talking about some terrorist group that went by HAIST, or Humans Against Inter-Stellar Travel. They used a suicide bomber to destroy a building where they were testing some new technology for some secret mission that would be in a few years. Supposedly, it was a joint research project by HEoDS and XGS. What the fuck? The crystal glass that shattered on the ground brought silence to the tavern, as everyone turned their heads and eyes to me. I could only stare, unmoving, at the four players that were just talking, my hands shaking uncontrollably. My vision started to go hazy, not wanting to believe what I just heard. I didn¡¯t even notice Conall hurrying over to me, a cloth rag in his hand. ¡°Raven! Raven, are you okay?¡± he asked me, even though I was still stunned. I couldn¡¯t even feel his hands on my cheeks, turning my head towards him. ¡°Raven,¡± he started, looking into my eyes. My reflection was staring back at me, upside down. ¡°Now you know, and for that, I truly am sorry,¡± he said to me softly. I couldn¡¯t even feel the tears once again forming in my eyes before I fainted in his arms. A Purpose Renewed Waking up in darkness, I could hear the various noises of people beneath me. This was obviously not the inn which I always woke in and I could still feel that my face was wet as I kept my head on the soft pillow that smelled like the forest, trying to comfort myself. It was that smell that intoxicated me every time I met with Conall. Since I was still in shock, I couldn¡¯t make out the figure that was sitting in a chair that was beside the bed which I was currently laying down in. ¡°I can see that your awake Raven. Do you want to talk,¡± Conall asked softly, his voice stirring up several emotions in me. ¡°How did you know?¡± I asked, my voice still trembling from the shock of the news that I heard. I pulled the woolen blanket up further, balling it in my hands under my chin, not wanting to hear his answer. ¡°That¡­, will be be hard to explain. The gods from the other side of the Veil, the ones you call developers, created this world. They blessed everyone that truly interacted with the veil-walkers with true intelligence, or as you know it, artificial intelligence. Noctis, the deity that both you and I worship, visited all of her worshipers and told us the truth about the world. She also told us about you as well. However, she also asked that we do not tell you what she learned. Instead, she asked us to help you, especially if you found out the truth.¡± ¡°But how did she know, and why didn¡¯t she just tell me herself?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know Raven. I¡¯m not a deity,¡± Conall said with a hint of amusement in his relaxing voice. Sitting up with the blanket still covering me, I turned so that I could face Conall, rapidly getting used to the darkness. ¡°So what happens now,¡± I asked, more for myself than to hear an answer from the barkeeper. ¡°I would presume you should continue to live on, however you must. You might be stuck on this side of the Veil, and while this might not be your world, it is ours. You can always make a life of your choosing here, Raven. However, I will add, and this just conjecture, but I don¡¯t think that you should make your circumstance known to everyone. The gods that reside in your world have not typically been known to be very kind to things that would interfere with this world. It might sound weird, but we know that they make things change on a whim, while making other things vanish.¡± The realization hit me hard when he said that. If XGS, or anyone else, knew that I was apart of some secret experiment and that my consciousness survived my physical death inside of the World of the Veil, it would be a catastrophe. It was, in fact, one of the solutions to the infamous Fermi Paradox, that a civilization would chose to live inside of a virtual world, for the rest of time, rather than spread to other worlds to ensure their species survival. While it seemed like science fiction, there was a possibility that this could happen soon, if not far into the future. This form of technological research was strictly forbidden, just as anything dealing with warfare had been in the mid 2000¡¯s when the Federation was founded after World War III. XGS had to know was could happen, how could they not? Since they were cooperating with the Federation¡¯s HEoDS project, could the Federation be secretly researching this? What would happen if other people found out, or found out about me? No, no one could find out about this, since it would not only be the end of the Veil, but of myself as well. Or at least, my consciousness. ¡°Is that why Noctis not-so-gently requested that I play normally, so that the developers wouldn¡¯t realize that something happened,¡± I asked, not expecting an answer. Conall only shrugged. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re okay, you¡¯re more than welcome to take your time and lay here for a bit. However, I do have a tavern to run and I need to get back to it,¡± he said, smiling, as he got up from his chair. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll see you downstairs?¡± I watched Conall leave the room as I still pondered what the future would hold for me and what would happen from here. I still wanted to become the most powerful player in the game, however, that in itself would draw attention to me. However, I could not do anything, as that would draw suspicion as well. No one played the game to do nothing. Be it a trader, adventurer, crafter, or any number of the professions that players created themselves. Someone always played the game to do something that they couldn¡¯t do otherwise outside of it. I needed to do something that would allow me to blend in with the hundreds of millions of others, however, I was still an assassin at heart, that is what I enjoyed from the game. Attacking silently, swiftly, and hearing people damn my name as I PK¡¯d them is something that actually made me feel alive, although I would need to figure something about how painful it was to be attacked. ¡°Conall, you schemer, thank you for the hint,¡± I thought to myself as I started smiling, my previous depression starting to vanish. I knew exactly what my path would be. It would require to become higher level, but not too high to be unbeatable though. I would also need to find a region whose king or queen worshiped Noctis and gave out all of the different types of repeatable quests. Feeling more like myself, now that I had a set of goals in front of me, I was ready to continue my journey, even though I would still need to have a, shall we say, talk with Noctis. Preferably sooner than later. Getting out of Conall¡¯s bed, I briefly wondered what the barkeep would say if he found me in his bed naked before I walked out of his room and made my way downstairs, towards the noise of the crowd that was currently in the tavern. I hopelessly wondered if my booth was still available. As I made my way through the crowded tavern, I saw Conall and two of the other barkeepers laughing as they talked with some other customers. About what, I couldn¡¯t hear over the other people in the tavern. Nearing one of the barkeepers whose name I didn¡¯t know, I ordered another Rennor Jhinrae and paying for it before turning around, leaning back on the counter while I waited for it, determined not to let this one go to waste as my other had. A young dark elf with short, curly black hair and a scar over his left cheek walked up to me on my left as I waited for my wine, looking me over as he waited for one of the bartenders. ¡°Evening,¡± he said with a smile. I knew that look and it was one that I saw much too often when I was waitressing, so I ignored him. I could see from out of the corner of my eye that he started to sneer at me and I waited for him to give his retort for not answering him. ¡°So you¡¯re playing hard to get, huh,¡± he said as he slightly turned, forcibly grabbing my arm. ¡°I would suggest you remove your hand, unless you want to cosplay as a pirate for the time you¡¯re in the game,¡± I said in a monotone voice, the same voice I used for the customers that used to complain to my former boss about. ¡°What the hell are you going on about?¡± he asked, his hand still gripping my arm. Without making much of a movement, I unsheathed my dagger while keeping it out of his line of sight. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve had a really shitty day and found out some things that I didn¡¯t necessarily want to know. But now, I think I just found something that will brighten my night.¡± As I finished the words, I spun as fast as I could while pivoting on my left foot so that I was face to face with him. At the same time, I stabbed my dagger to his eye, trying to put it through his head. His hand that he grabbed me with being torn away from my arm. Before I could though, a hand caught my wrist, someone who I didn¡¯t sense was now standing behind me. The man that grabbed my arm was now looking at me, terrified at what happened. I turned my head and looked at the ground to my right so that I could see the person who was now behind me but could only see a swirling mass of shadows. I knew that ability. It was a level 45 Shadow Dancer ability called Shadow Armor. I kept my dagger still, hoping that the player that grabbed me would make a move. If he did, the dagger would cut into his eye, making him blind until he was healed. ¡°Raven, put the dagger away. He¡¯s had one too many and will be leaving for the night. I would hate for you to be noticed by the village¡¯s guardians,¡± a voice that could only be Conall¡¯s said from behind me. I turned back towards the player and smiled while removing the dagger from his eye while sliding the tip down his face, careful not to draw blood which would be considered an attack. ¡°You heard the barkeeper, asshole. Leave before I stop caring about the guardians and send you back to your respawn point,¡± I told the player in a grave voice that was dripping with malevolence. The player rapidly nodding at me while sliding away, finally running out of the tavern, Conall releasing his death grip from my wrist. I hadn¡¯t noticed, but the tavern was silent with all eyes on Conall and me. This was probably something that wasn¡¯t often seen in the small village. A loud roar erupted and people started cheering. I put away my dagger and grabbed my glass of wine that was now on the counter, turning towards Conall. He looked at me with a hint of both disappointment and amusement which made my heart flutter heavily. ¡°Raven, you know you shouldn¡¯t be causing too much trouble, you don¡¯t need to have any more eyes on you as it is,¡± he said with barely a whisper so that only I could hear him. ¡°I know Conall, it¡¯s just that guys like that, well, I¡¯m sick of it. Why do they always seem to just think they can do whatever they want when they¡¯re in the¡­ Veil,¡± I replied, almost referring to the Veil as the game. ¡°Veil-walkers have never been known to use common sense, as far as the ladies go,¡± he replied, now grinning at me as if we were sharing a secret between us. ¡°Are you okay now though? Not going to spill any blood in my bar, are you,¡± he said in a sarcastic tone with a hint of humor. ¡°No, I¡¯m good now. I¡¯m going to finish this, and then I need to go pick up some things at Moire¡¯s. She should have my new daggers ready.¡± He shook his head and walked back behind the bar which allowed my eyes to see how muscular his back seemed. As I felt my eyes travel further down, I could start to feel a blush, my face becoming warm as I gulped down my drink, not bothering with slowly sipping on it as I usually liked to do. Sitting my glass back onto the counter, I left the tavern to make my way to the blacksmith¡¯s shop, now anxious to get my new daggers. The village was covered in darkness since night had fallen, a few torches that aligned the dirt streets allowing travelers to see where they were going. ¡°Anyone alive in here,¡± I shouted as I entered Moire¡¯s shop. Moire came out of the back room, this time she looked as if she had been working and not sleeping. ¡°Look at what the cat brought in, that heathen of a rodent. Someone should make it disappear,¡± she replied with a smile. It seemed like she was finally warming up to me now that I gave her some decent materials to work with. ¡°Yea, well, next time I see it I¡¯ll give it a good kick for you. How are the daggers and cloak coming along,¡± I asked. ¡°Ah, those are already done. I heard you caused some trouble over at Conall¡¯s, something about sticking some Veil-walker with the pointy end of a rusty dagger,¡± she replied, asking me about what happened at the tavern. ¡°Yea, just some guy thinking that all women were his playthings,¡± I told her. I also told her of how it ended and she giggled. Actually giggled, like some schoolgirl. ¡°Conall is so amazing, right? I wish he would come in here more often. He brings me such nice things once in awhile,¡± she said, her eyes focusing on the door as if she was trying to conjure the barkeeper. ¡°Anyways, here¡¯s your daggers, two iron daggers. Also, your cloak, ready for inspection, even though I know my crafts are of the highest quality, as long as I have quality components to work with,¡± she said with a smirk, bringing the daggers and cloak up on the counter from beneath it. I looked at the daggers and they were fairly basic with no enchantments or anything as I expected, however, they were far superior than the rusted dagger that I was using. They each had an increased damage output of 10-15 damage, which was much better than the rusted dagger with it¡¯s 1-5. My eyes then went towards the cloak which was dark green. I was glad for that since it would be good for camouflage if I was in a forest area, if I wasn¡¯t already stealthed. Grabbing the cloak and holding it up, I looked at the stats and was pleasantly surprised how decent it was for it¡¯s level. Cloak of the Hobgoblin Rarity: Uncommon Level: 5 Weight: 2 Durability: 250/250 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats Strength: +15 Vitality: +10 I equipped the both the daggers and the cloak, although I was a bit sad that the cloak itself was not hooded, but at least it was something. I gave my thanks to Moire who only nodded and went back to her room, or forge, or wherever she went to when she wasn¡¯t behind the counter. At some point, I might try to find out, or not. I wasn¡¯t for sure if I really cared enough to. I walked out of Moire¡¯s and decided to call it a night. I figured that I shouldn¡¯t be in too much of a rush to get out of the village, and getting to level 10 could wait until tomorrow. The Cemetery of Timberdenn I awoke to the sound of children playing, light coming through the single window of the inn¡¯s room. I could smell the morning dew, calling to my inner elf. Or it could be that it hinted of something that reminded me of Conall. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure, nor did I want to dwell on it too much. Could this be a side effect of not being able to log out? I really hoped that I wasn¡¯t starting to turn out to be like those gaming nerds that always lusted after NPCs rather than an actual girl. Putting my thoughts to the back of my mind, I sat up in the bed and wiped the sleep away from my eyes. I was on a mission to get to level 10 today, and while I wanted nothing but to go back to sleep, I had to get up and get the day started. If only the Veil had coffee. Rising off of the bed, I grabbed the belt that held my new daggers. I was actually looking forward to using them today to see how much I progressed. I almost debated on going back into the mines today, but I remembered the last time I tried that and shuddered, throwing that idea out of the window immediately. Since dungeons scaled to the players level, to a maximum of whatever level the dungeon was, it would be just as hard as it was when I originally went in there, and I did not want to have a rusted sword slash into me, or get eaten by rats again, or beheaded. Seriously, why in the hell was I dying so much? Equipping my cloak, I walked out of the room and went downstairs to see if Isbeil and anything for me, or any rumors that I might investigate. As I walked down the steps, Isbeil looked over at me and waved me over. It looked as if I wouldn¡¯t even need to ask. ¡°Raven dear, I have a message for you from Mayor Eacharn. He told me to tell you that he heard about what happened in the tavern last night and would like to speak with you about something,¡± she informed me with a hint of disapproval in her expression. Shaking her head, she decided to add that he was a good man, and I shouldn¡¯t try to make him ¡°stray from the path,¡± whatever that meant. Feeling that I should go meet the mayor as soon as possible, I made a snide comment about how I would most definitely use my feminine wiles on him and left as something hit the wall next to me. Laughing to myself, I walked to the square and instead of making a left to go down the market street, I went to the path that laid in front of me that lead to the larger house that looked just as big as the inn. Unless it belonged to a trader that was richer than the entire town combined, I assumed it was the house that the mayor resided in. I saw more and more guards the closer I came to the mansion, and they weren¡¯t just standing around. No, it looked as if they were on a mission as they hurried to wherever they were going. I had a hope that was rapidly diminishing that this wasn¡¯t going to be a long day. I arrived at the mansion and saw a tall dark elf with fiery red hair and ashen eyes, his brown clothing much more regal than the others that surrounded him. He looked as if he was trying to calm them down, concern covering his face. Whatever he needed from me couldn¡¯t be good, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he didn¡¯t request me so that I could gather some herbs from outside of the village. He looked up from talking with one of the people talking to him and he saw me standing at the entrance, in the foyer of the mansion, my arms crossed over my chest as I waited for him to finish. ¡°Ah, Raven,¡± he shouted after excusing himself from the other dark elves around him. ¡°Thank you for coming to meet with me. Please, follow me into the library and we can talk about why I wanted to meet with you.¡± I followed him deeper into the mansion and saw a few servants walking around. It didn¡¯t look like they were here involuntarily or anything, so I decided that he might not be someone that I would be killing any time soon. In fact, it looked like that mansion itself was well maintained and the servants looked like they took pride in what they did for him. We arrived at the library which was fairly large, considering that this was just a village in the middle of the mountains. When he mentioned a library, I just assumed it would be about the size of my room at the inn, but it was much larger than that, books filling the shelves. ¡°Please, sit. Would you like anything to drink? Water perhaps,¡± he asked while smiling at me. ¡°Water would be fine, although, I have to ask, why did you call me here Mayor,¡± I asked, wanting to get down to business. Eacharn looked at me and nodded, as if he was impressed with me. He called out to one of the servants to get us both some water as he sat down on a chair behind a large desk. ¡°I heard about what happened at Conall¡¯s last night, and while I don¡¯t exactly approve of violence happening in my city, the fact you refrained when asked does speak to your character. Before we go on though, I would ask for your oath that what we speak of here you will not let anyone else know.¡± I tried to remember the words that the Dark Elves said when they took oaths of honor, but for the life of me, I couldn¡¯t remember exactly what they were. I never really looked into the entire Dark Elf customs on the boards. Why would I need to role-play? ¡°Um, I swear by my honor that I won¡¯t talk about what we discuss here in this room?¡± The mayor looked at me and put his hand on his head, holding the bridge of his nose in between his thumb and his finger. ¡°You are definitely a Veil-walker. A normal Dark Elf would know the words from the day they are born. Oh well, that¡¯s fine I guess, as long as I have your word. At least Conall says that you can be trusted at least.¡± I looked at him and couldn¡¯t figure out if he was trying to insult me or not, so I decided to wait for whatever he would say next. I didn¡¯t quite trust what would come out of my mouth. ¡°We have a possible issue outside of the village which is causing me¡­ issues that I really don¡¯t need. To the north of the village is an old cemetery that people typically used for their pets. From what people have been saying though is that someone decided to bury their husband there. I¡¯m not entirely sure why she would bury her husband in a graveyard for pets, and I don¡¯t want to know. What I do know though is that ever since she did that, some of the farmers that live outside of the village has had their livestock gone missing, and in one case, he found a half-eaten carcass.¡± I narrowed my eyes as he told me this. I really didn¡¯t want to do this quest. ¡°Could it just be some large predators in the wild that decided for a free lunch,¡± I asked, knowing what he was going to say. ¡°No, not at all. A half-eaten cow wouldn¡¯t be mooing in the morning and attacking it¡¯s owner, would it,¡± he replied, looking at me with a smirk. He knew that I didn¡¯t want to do this quest even though I was going to do it anyways. ¡°Well, a zombie-cow can still produce milk, can¡¯t it? I don¡¯t see the problem here,¡± I asked, still hoping that he would ask me to get some herbs for him instead. The look on his face though was as epic as it was priceless. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ Ok, whatever. I¡¯ll give you two options then. Take the request, find out what is happening and stop it. Or, I¡¯ll give you 10 gold to find out if a zombie-cow can be milked. Now leave, you¡¯re giving me a headache.¡± I stood up and walked out of the library, hearing a feint curse about something dealing with Veil-walkers and smiled as I left the mansion. As I got outside, the quest window appeared before me: Quest: Timberdenn¡¯s Cemetery of Pets Quest Reward: 250xp, 50 silver Bonus Reward: 10 gold ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest Objective: Put an end to the evil that is plaguing Timberdenn ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Objective: Attempt to milk a zombie-cow. Seriously? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Do you wish to accept? (Yes/No) I hesitated before accepting the quest, reading the bonus reward and objective. It looked like the AI that created quests in the game decided to give me something else that I dreaded based on the conversation between the mayor and myself. If it could be done, it would give me 10 gold which would go a long way with helping me once I got to Kinderfell. Accepting the quest, I walked towards the exit of the village, I apparently had a cow to milk, not too mention saving the town from some zombie plague. *** It was mid-afternoon when I got to the exit of the village, my morning wasted by the mayor and his ridiculous quest. If the goblins in the mind made me queasy from their smell, I was not looking forward to what zombies would feel, or smell like. I almost regretted accepting the quest at all, but, needs must and all of that, as the saying goes. I figured the first place I should investigate would be the cemetery, since this was were everything started. There was an overgrown path that lead north out of the village which I followed, glad that my new cloak was dark green, since stealth wouldn¡¯t be as effective in the brush. The further I walked from the village, the quieter the forest became, which made the hairs on the back of my neck raise. There should be sounds of wildlife at least, but there wasn¡¯t even that. Since it was too quiet, I crouched down and slowed my steps, keeping an eye out for any movement inside of the deep brush that aligned both sides of the path. However, there was nothing but silence. After what seemed like hours, the path finally came to an end at a large clearing. There were trees, yes, but they were all old and dead. Why they didn¡¯t fall, or why the forest didn¡¯t overtake this area was a mystery. There were also several mounds of dirt with stone markers laying in front of them. This must be the cemetery that everyone buried their pets at. However, even in the clearing, there was nothing but silence. It was as if the entire area was dead. I could feel that there was something here though, and whatever it was, was not good at all. It felt¡­ evil. I stood up from my crouch and proceeded into the cemetery, careful not to step on the mounds of dirt. I wasn¡¯t exactly superstitious by any means, but with my luck so far, I would be dragged under the ground and eaten by a zombie. I really didn¡¯t want that to happen. Getting to the center of the cemetery, I looked around and saw a fresh mound of dirt. I walked over to it, and saw that there was writing on the stone marker which said, ¡°Here lies my pet and husband. He was a horrible necromancer and even worse husband. Good riddance.¡± ¡°Oh, damn. That¡¯s messed up. Poor guy,¡± I thought as I read the marker. However, I had a slight suspicion that I knew what was going on. If he was a necromancer, no matter how bad at it he was, he should still have been able to raise the basic forms of skeletons and zombies. If he was level 20 or higher, he would even be able to raise hordes of both skeletons and zombies. Not too mention, if he was somehow raised from the dead, it might be possible that he was a Lich, and the lowest level Lich that I had ever seen was level 25. They were usually level 30. ¡°Is this really a quest for someone below level 10,¡± I wondered to myself, not sure if I wanted to go any further on this quest. I was debating on whether or not to quit the quest or not when I saw a small glimmer of movement from in front of me, just enough to be noticed. I crouched down in front of the marker and immediately activated Stealth. Looking around the stone marker, I still couldn¡¯t see whatever it was that made the movement that I noticed. Hoping that it was just an animal of some sort, I slowly walked towards the brush that I saw it through when the smell hit me. It was the worse thing that I ever smelled, as if something was dead and decaying. Hoping against hope that it wasn¡¯t a zombie, I made my way through the brush while keeping as silent as possible. There was another small clearing past the brush, and while the brush was thick, it wasn¡¯t that much. In the clearing, I saw a decayed corpse that was dragging some half eaten animal to what looked like an old crypt that was covered in dead moss and fungus. The door of the crypt was broken, it¡¯s rusted metal door laying next to the entrance. Dragging it¡¯s food, the zombie went into the dark crypt. After letting a few minutes pass to make sure it didn¡¯t sense me and come back, I followed after it, letting the darkness of the crypt swallow me. I let my eyes get accustomed to the darkness and I could make out the outlines of the walls, but nothing more, which I was glad for. I slowly made my way deeper into the crypt, keeping my Stealth ability active. Now deeper into the crypt, I could hear noises of rotting teeth tearing and chewing into flesh which made my stomach turn. I pulled out my daggers, knowing that if the zombies caught me, they would be feasting on my flesh instead. I was prepared to not let it come to that and was willing to put one of my daggers into my throat before that happened. I moved ever so slowly towards the sounds of the zombies feasting when I came into a large room that had several rectangular holes in the walls, presumably where the dead were supposed to sleep. I could see 8 zombies on the side in the corner, feeding on the corpse of the dead animal that I saw one of them come in with. On the other side of the room, however, was a being that radiated evil. It was a skeleton with decayed flesh hanging off of it¡¯s bones, sitting on a chair that was made of stone, sleek from the humidity and who knows what else. The smell inside of the room forced me to break my invisibility as I hurled the contents from my stomach, and then some. The zombies all stopped feeding and raised to their feet, looking at me with unrelenting hunger in their eyes. I raised my dagger to my throat, when I heard a voice call out, ¡°Halt,¡± the voice said, hoarse as if it¡¯s throat was raw. The zombies stopped moving, and I looked at the being that was now standing in front of the chair, looking at me with curious hunger. My hand shook, causing my dagger to draw a small amount of blood from my neck. I was still much more prepared to end my life than become food for these¡­ things. ¡°Veil-walker, why have you come here? Did Sereinne send you to kill me, yet again?,¡± the being said, it¡¯s voice reverberating on the walls, grating my ears. The Lich, which I knew this thing to be, walked slowly towards me while I found my voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know Sereinne, I came here to investigate what was going on with the farms and to stop it,¡± I replied, still afraid as to what my fate would become. It stopped and tilted it¡¯s head, as if it was thinking. ¡°I see. Bring me Sereinne alive, and I will have no need to have my horde search for her. They have failed in their task so far, only bringing corpses of animals and cows and not my ex-wife. If you are able, I will have no more need of these wretched creatures that are incapable of actual thought.¡± I could only nod, the cold iron of my dagger cutting further into my neck, enough to start bleeding a bit more heavily. ¡°Good, now begone with you, before my zombies decide to eat something with a little bit more of a fight to them,¡± he said, gurgling as if he was trying to laugh. I rose to my feet, ready to run out of the crypt before thinking about the quest. ¡°Before I go, I need to ask you something Lich. Can a zombie-cow be milked?¡± The Lich rose one of it¡¯s decayed eyebrows and had a look of confusion cloud the features it still had, which turned to anger as it pointed towards the exit of the room. I turned around and started running out of the crypt as fast I could while hearing some mumbling about Veil-walkers and their idiotic thoughts, which I started to agree with. I couldn¡¯t believe the quest actually gave me this stupid bonus objective, not too mention that it wasn¡¯t even a damn kill quest but an escort mission. Coming into the clearing once again. The smell of the rotting crypt cleared out of my system which I was grateful for. It was now time to find the Lich¡¯s ex-wife and escort her back to the crypt. I made my way back to the town at a fast jog, not wanting to spend any more time on this quest than I already had. Slowing myself down to a brisk walk, I neared the entrance of the village. The guards were obviously shaken by the stories they had been hearing, since they looked at me grasping their spears more tightly as I walked towards them. ¡°Excuse me, guards. I am on a quest from Mayor Eacharn to clear the area of the evil that has spawned. I need to know if you know where a woman by the name of Sereinne lives,¡± I asked the first guard that I neared. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard the name before. She lives outside of town on a small plot of land with her sheep,¡± he replied while summoning the glowing fairy, giving me directions to her place. I thanked the guard and followed the fairy to Sereinne¡¯s place, which only took me five minutes to get to. I neared the sheep farm, wondering if the zombies have been looking for her at cow farms instead, and how they could have mixed up the two. There was a large house that looked extravagant, telling everyone that past it that the residents were very well off. I knocked on the door, wondering what I would find, when a woman answered. Her fiery red eyes looked at me in contempt as she asked me who I was and what I was doing here. I didn¡¯t even think to make a plan to try to convince her to come with me, so I had to think of something on the spot. ¡°Good afternoon miss. My name is, um, Rayne, and I¡¯ve been tasked with asking you about your ex-husband¡¯s treasure chest that he had hidden in the cemetery,¡± I replied, wondering if she would buy my story or not. ¡°You don¡¯t look like an accountant, you look like a Rogue. Why should I believe you,¡± she asked, obviously not believing my story. ¡°Yes, you are correct, I am a Rogue. I was hired by the accountant to investigate the claim, which I found to be legitimate. The reason he, um, hired me was because I have skills in Lockpicking and Stealth, of course.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you have leveled Negotiation to level 2,¡± the system message rang in my ears. Sweet. ¡°I see. Well, what do I need to do then? You obviously didn¡¯t bring the treasure with you,¡± she replied, now believing my story, sort of. ¡°Yes, well, you see, there is an enchantment on the chest. I was able to unlock it, but the enchantment only allows you to open it.¡± ¡°Well, hurry up and show me where it is then. Maybe my failure of a pet¡­ I mean, husband, actually did something worthwhile,¡± she said as she stepped out of the door, closing it behind her. ¡°Yes, of course. Please, follow me. Since he was a Necromancer, you must understand that he had it stored inside of a crypt, yes?¡± I asked, now getting into my portrayed character. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t been to one before,¡± she snapped, obviously looking forward to her supposed riches. I escorted Sereinne to the cemetery where she buried her husband and began to think that this was going pretty well. I still had to try to milk a damn zombie-cow though, but overall, it was as easy as getting some herbs. We arrived at the crypt, and Sereinne looked into the murky darkness skeptically. ¡°You said my treasure is down here, yes?¡± she asked. I nodded that it was and offered to lead her down, which she scoffed at. I didn¡¯t know how her husband put up with her, so I eagerly followed her down to her awaiting doom. I heard a noise behind me and looked around, seeing a zombie slowly walking towards us. I quickly excused myself, now that I finished my part and escorted her to the crypt and ran back the way we came. I passed the zombie, and thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem interested in me. As I got outside of the crypt, the entrance started to break apart, it¡¯s broken stones covering the it. The quest window appeared in my view again: Quest: Timberdenn¡¯s Cemetery of Pets Quest Reward: 250xp, 50 silver Bonus Reward: 10 gold ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest Objective: You have discovered the cause of the undead plague and put an end to it by escorting an innocent woman to her undeserved imprisonment by a Lich. Hopefully you are proud of yourself. Now you must let the mayor know that you are a terrible Dark Elf and get your reward. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Objective: Attempt to milk a zombie-cow. Seriously? I read the quest information with disbelief. Was this actually the same game? The quests always seemed a bit more dry and not as dynamic, or sarcastic as this one seemed. It almost made me wonder if they had an intern design this quest, which was unlike any of the others that I had done. No use thinking about it though since I had a zombie-cow to milk. *** I went back to Sereinne¡¯s sheep farm since a cow farm was sure to be close by, and after walking a few minutes down the road, it was sure enough there with a herd of cows grazing inside of a wooden fence. I walked up the path to the house and knocked on the door and was greeted by an elderly gentleman that was wearing green robes. ¡°Good evening sir, I was wondering if you were the owner of this farm,¡± I asked as innocently as I possibly could. ¡°I am the proprietor of this land, yes, but it is my on that runs it. Let me get him,¡± the old man said, before politely shutting the door in my face. He couldn¡¯t even ask me to come inside, and the dung smell from the farm was starting to get to me. A few minutes had gone by and I was growing more and more irritable by the second when the door opened again with a disheveled, young Dark Elf was standing inside. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you had to wait, my name is K¡¯leth, how can I help you today,¡± he asked me while looking me up and down. Typical. ¡°I was ordered by the mayor to investigate the undead plague, and I had heard that there was a cow that was attacked but not killed, turning into a zombie. I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯ve heard of where this cow might be located currently?¡± K¡¯leth let out a sigh as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. ¡°Yes, that beast was attacked in the night. When I came out for the morning milk, I thought it was dead, but when I got closer, it started growling and snapping at me before chasing me into the barn. It¡¯s still there if you¡¯ve come to finally but that ravage thing out of it¡¯s misery,¡± he said with weary eyes, walking past me towards a path that led to the back of the house. I followed him until we came to a large barn. It was eerily quite, especially for being on a farm. He pointed towards the barn and let me know that the cow was inside before wishing me luck and leaving me to my own devices. ¡°I swear, if I get eaten by a cow, I am going to quit this miserable mission,¡± I groaned to myself as I entered the barn. It was dark, with only a few windows that allowed light in. Stables aligned each side, presumably milking stations. I looked around for the cow, but was not able to see any animals, though the rotting stench was almost unbearable. As I walked further into the barn, I pulled out my daggers and surveyed each of the stalls as I walked past. I neared the middle of the barn and heard a sound of something rustling, as if standing up, coming from the far side. Immediately activating Stealth, I stopped and crouched. A cow started walking out of the far right stall, however, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The cow, if that is what it could be called, looked as if it was decaying on it¡¯s left side, it¡¯s black lungs could be seen pulsing as it breathed. However, it wasn¡¯t this that startled me. The damn cow was standing, but it was standing on it¡¯s back legs, it¡¯s height easily dwarfing me. The cow looked around and sniffed. As with all wildlife, it had the uncanny sense to detect me, it¡¯s red eyes looking directly at me. ¡°GROOOOO,¡± it yelled, as if it was a mix of a mooing sound and a growl. Suddenly, a halberd magically appeared in it¡¯s¡­ hands? Front legs? ¡°Oh shit,¡± I thought to myself as it rushed me faster than I ever could have anticipated. The monster¡¯s halberd was raised above it¡¯s head as if it was going to slice me in half. I suppose there was not going to be any attempts at milking it, even if I survived. This was not something I had ever seen before, so I couldn¡¯t even gauge what it¡¯s strengths and weaknesses were. I deactivate Stealth and leaped backwards to try to put some distance between myself and the cow. There was no sense in having my movement penalized if it was already aggro¡¯d. I could start to feel my sweat beading down my forehead. As the halberd swung down, now in position to cleave me in half, I managed to hold up my daggers, crossed, above my head. The halberd¡¯s blade crashed into my daggers and was moved towards my side. Activating Riposte, my blades stabbed into the beast¡¯s stomach, it¡¯s rotted black blood gushing over my hands. ¡°GROOOOO,¡± the monster yelled, dropping it¡¯s halberd. It turned to me with hateful eyes, and fell over. Dead. ¡°What the fuck,¡± I asked out loud. The quest notification window appeared before me with an update: Quest: Timberdenn¡¯s Cemetery of Pets Quest Reward: 250xp, 50 silver Bonus Reward: Failed. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Quest Objective:You have discovered the cause of the undead plague and put an end to it by escorting an innocent woman to her undeserved imprisonment by a Lich. Hopefully you are proud of yourself. Now you must let the mayor know that you are a terrible Dark Elf and get your reward. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Objective: You have slain the mighty zombie-cow instead of milking it. You must notify Mayor of your failure. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª I stared at the dead cow, baffled at what just happened. This, thing, was the culmination of my fear of being eaten alive? Was this entire quest just out to troll me? I could feel my face getting red with anger. This entire quest was just some bullshit. Yes, I would talk with the mayor, and by talk, I mean scream my lungs out at him. I walked over to the cow and kneeled beside it, looting it. Worthless Halberd Rarity: Rare Level: 1 Weight: 1 Durability: 0/100 Price: 1c ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Only usable by cows that have been turned into zombies ¡°¡­ ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME,¡± I shouted at the top of my lungs. I closed the loot window and stood up, stomping out of the barn. I was done, screw this quest. *** I made my way back to the mayor¡¯s manor, still quite upset about this entire farce. The guards looked at me, wary of the way I slammed the door open and stood in the foyer, my hands ready to pull out my daggers. ¡°EACHARN! GET OUT HERE,¡± I yelled. The mayor rushed down the stairs. ¡°What happened? Are you okay,¡± he asked, obviously distressed. I glared at him, wondering if he was really this oblivious. ¡°Are you seriously asking me this? First you send me out to take care of an undead lich, which is way above my pay grade. Then I had escort his ex-wife to his crypt at his request. After that, you had me go kill a freaking zombie-cow that wasn¡¯t even worth my damn time!¡± He looked at me with amusement, which only made me angrier, before turning around and coughed into his raised fist that he had over his mouth before turning back around to face my wrath. ¡°Okay, so if I understand correctly, you were able to stop the undead from killing and harassing the farmers, but you failed in the quest to attempt to milk an undead cow. Do I have that right,¡± he asked. ¡°Well, yes, I guess,¡± I replied. When he put it like that, I guess this entire thing did start with me asking for it. The quest completion window appeared in front of me as a soft glow surrounded me. I waved away the window and gave the mayor the evil eye as he chuckled at me. Shaking my head, I told him to go shove it and stormed out of the mansion before I hit him. I just wanted to go to the tavern and get something to drink and wallow in my misery. I walked into Conall¡¯s and immediately ordered my usual Rennor Jhinrae. As it was being made, I opened my character stats window and allocated the stat points into the four stats I was building on. Accepting the current stats, I closed the window as my drink was pushed towards me. Unfortunately, Conall wasn¡¯t working, so I grabbed the drink and worked my way to my usual bench in the back. After sitting down, I pulled up my character skills. The good thing about the quest was that it actually gave me three levels, so now I was level 10. At least that troll of a quest was actually worth some damn good experience. With the cow and the quest turn in, it was worth a total of 280 xp. Now, I had 12 skill points to invest in. I knew that I wanted at least 1 skill point so that I could immediately invest in Shadow Step once I was able to learn it, so that left me with 11 points. I put 2 points into Stealth, 1 point into Eviscerate, and 2 points into Riposte. Now that I was level 10, I was able to access three new skills: Assassin¡¯s Mark (Level 1): Marks the assassin''s target, increasing all damage to the mark by 5% damage per level. Hilt Strike (Level 1): Strikes the enemy with the hilt of your weapon which incapacitates the enemy for 2 seconds. Further development in this skill increases the duration of Incapacitate by 5% per level. Side Step (Level 1): Strafes to the side of the target which allows the Assassin to perform an attack from the target¡¯s side. Looking at my options, I decided to put the three skill points into Assassin¡¯s Mark, since it wouldn¡¯t be until level 20 until I started getting positional skills that were more geared towards group play. Backstab was okay for a rear positional damage ability, but it didn¡¯t scale as well as some other skills that I would get over time. Assassin¡¯s Mark gives a really great damage boost, so it was one of the signature skills that assassins, no matter if it was solo or in a group. As I sipped on my wine, my eyes caught sight of a human that was dressed in fairly regal clothing. He was sitting with a few other humans that looked to be mercenaries. While players could hire mercenaries from the Mercenary NPC guild, it was not often done since they could be easily classified as weak, comparatively speaking. ¡°I think I may have found my quest that would lead me to the main city¡± I thought to myself as I grabbed my beer that the barkeep laid down behind me. Walking to the humans, beer in hand, I gently sat it down on the table, standing in between the chairs that the two mercenaries currently sat down in. The mercenaries looked up at me and squinted, wondering if I was going to make a move against the well off human that obviously hired them. ¡°Excuse me, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you¡¯re not from around here. Might I ask where you¡¯re heading to, and if you¡¯re looking for some additional help?¡± I asked, attempting to keep my voice neutral, and not wanting to make a scene with the mercenaries. The human looked up at me and grinned, obviously excited about having a female dark elf travel with him if he could afford it. ¡°Indeed my lady. I am Trader Bartley, of House Karline. Currently, my companions and I are on our way to the city of Kinderfell to exchange some wares. If you are so inclined, I am sure my compatriots and myself could use the company. It is a long journey, and I am sure that we might come across some bandits on the way. As far as pay, well, I am sure that I could afford 10 gold for the additional help. What do you say, my lady? Will you join us?¡± I looked over the quest details as the window appeared before me. It seemed like a standard escort quest, and the level of the quest was level 10, so I accepted the quest and smiled at the human. ¡°I agree to your terms Trader, when will we be leaving,¡± I asked, hoping that the answer wasn¡¯t immediately as I still had to pick up my daggers and cloak from Moire.[Name the quest and rewards - 10 gold.] ¡°Tomorrow morning as soon as the sun is overhead. We should arrive at Kinderfell by night fall,¡± he informed me. As I completely drained my wine, I bid him and the other mercenaries good night, and promised to meet them by the village entrance tomorrow. I walked back to the counter, empty mug in hand, and laid it down near the bartender. When he looked up at me, I looked at him and smiled, giving him slight nod before walking out of the tavern. I was eager to get back to the inn and call it a night. Whatever it would be, it could not be worse than what I had already experienced, nor could it be worse than knowing the truth about myself, both in this virtual world and in the real world. I could not have been more wrong, though I did not know it. Keeping to the shadows as was my habit, I made my way to the inn. As I neared the village circle near the inn, I overheard a low voice coming from one of the alleys. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll be ready for that caravan, you don¡¯t need to doubt us. Whatever that human has, it will be ours by night¡¯s end. I hope you know that this won¡¯t be cheap. Other than that item, everything else is ours, right,¡± I heard the voice say, obviously a man. I heard another man give a dark laugh as I heard the pair of footsteps leading further into the alley. I cursed my luck since I couldn¡¯t follow them since I didn¡¯t want to risk getting into a fight without having my equipment. Instead, I silently walked to the door of the inn and entered. Tomorrow would bring a new day and now, seemingly, new enemies. The Caravan I stood leaning with my back on the cold stone entrance of the village, my new dagger in my right hand as I looked at it while waiting for the trader and his caravan to show up. It wasn¡¯t quite noon, but it was getting there, and I was tired of waiting. The dagger itself had a slight downwards curve to it, both sides deadly sharp. It reminded my of the type of edge you would find on an actual forged tanto instead of one of those cheap knock-offs that were mass produced. The handle itself didn¡¯t look special, nor did the blade. There were no engravings, nor was there an unnatural glow to them. They were simple, with only one function, and I had a feeling I would be using these daggers for that function, more than once, before the day was done. I slowly started to spin and flip the dagger in my hand. Doing so often calmed me down, and plus, it was something to do. I saw this being done in the real world a few years ago, and I practiced it whenever I was logged in and doing nothing otherwise. I had a thought that it was much easier to do in the game than it would have been otherwise, and much less risky. ¡°Ah, there is the beauty I was looking for this morning, are you ready to leave Raven?¡± I heard a voice from beside me. So focused in my spinning blade I didn¡¯t realize the caravan arrived. Oops. I looked at him, swiftly grabbing my blade as it was in the air, sheathing it, and nodded that I was ready. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s mount up and head towards our future of gold! Onwards to Kinderfell,¡± he shouted for some reason. As the caravan started moving, I took my place in the front, with my eyes looking over the dirt road that I¡¯ve become so familiar with over the last few days, even though it seemed like a lifetime ago. For sure, I learned some harsh lessons here, but could only think back to some of the better times. This would be a long walk, but at least it was mostly downhill. Seems Timberdenn was at a fairly high altitude, probably in a mountain range would be my guess. The walk itself was peaceful so far with no threats that came out to meet us. I did see some movement from wolves, but they didn¡¯t try to attack, nor did the horses that pulled the caravan seem to mind them, but still, I kept my vigilance. I was sure it wouldn¡¯t be long now, and I was right. In the distance, I saw a sharp bend in the road which, in my mind, was a perfect ambush spot. The bend went around a large hill so that it was impossible to see around it. I slowed my steps and spoke to the trader. ¡°I think we might have some trouble down there and I want to check it out. Move one of the wagons to the side of the road, and have a few people act like they¡¯re working on it, but don¡¯t be too obvious.¡± The trader just looked at me, a question on his face. ¡°Are you expecting trouble,¡± he asked. I only grunted, and mumbled under my breath that I was always expecting trouble. As I moved forward and to the side of the road where the path went into the forest, I heard the trader shouting to the caravan to stop as I asked. Reaching to some of the darker shadows that were cast by the trees, I activated Stealth, becoming invisible. I stalked towards the bend silently, keeping in the shadows to minimize detection. If this was an ambush, the bandits were good, since all I heard was the sounds of the leaves moving through the slight breeze. I climbed up the hill that the bend wrapped around, and I spotted a lookout that was facing down the road at the caravan. He was pretty well hidden crouching behind a tree and some bush. I made a mental marker of where he was, and stalked past him to see if I could find any others. Reaching the top of the hill, I saw five bandits in the road, and could see two archers on the other side of the road, their bows in their hands and an arrow already knocked. Behind the bandits stood their leader, which was obvious from the black chainmail that he wore. Since he didn¡¯t wear a helmet, his features stood out. He was human, but there was something otherworldly about him. Studying his features, it was clear why he seemed off to me. His eyes were as black as charcoal and there was an old scar that ran down the side of his face. With the amount of bandits, it was clear that I wouldn¡¯t be able to engage them all, even with my current stats. Instead, I stalked backwards until I could not see them, finally turning around. I could at least take care of the lookout, and get reinforcements from the mercenaries. I silently stalked towards were I had left the lookout, and a few meters behind him, I made a hand gesture which allowed me to cast the Assassin¡¯s Mark. I crept behind him and when I was in range, I immediately spoke the words, ¡°Assassinate,¡± as I slid the edge of my dagger across his neck. His body went slack as the blood poured from his neck onto my daggers and hands. It¡¯s metallic smell assaulting my senses, the feel of the blood on my hands slick. Even though he was an NPC, this was different. He wasn¡¯t a goblin, or some monster. He was human, just like me, and I ended his life like it was nothing. My hands shook as the realization hit me, but I still had a job to do. Pushing my emotions back, I reached into his pockets and pulled out a small coin purse that had 2 silver in it and added it to my inventory. After that was done, I again activated Stealth, and stalked back towards the caravan to report what I had seen. Getting to the caravan, I saw Trader Bartley looking around nervously. The mercenaries stood on guard, while the trader¡¯s helpers were around one of the caravan wagon¡¯s wheels, as if it was having problems. Deactivating Stealth, one of the mercenaries that was looking in my direction jumped, visibly shaken that I literally appeared from nowhere. His reaction made me smile, which was much needed after what I had just done. After walking towards the trader, I explained to him what was awaiting the caravan. I had a plan which I explained to him and the captain of the mercenaries. ¡°Okay, we have five bandits standing in the road, their leader behind them. There are also two archers on the left side of the road standing in the tree-line as well. There is also something off about their leader. What I need your team to do Captain, is to march around the bend to engage the ones in the road. I will take care of the archers and then assist with the bandit¡¯s leader. Keep the leader facing the sun, and make sure that no one is behind him.¡± The mercenary captain nodded to me and walked off to his group calling them to him. The trader looked at me, nervously sweating. ¡°What do you want us to do? We¡¯re not fighters¡­¡± he started. ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Just stay here while we take care of the bandits, and one we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll come back and we can get on our way,¡± I said, giving him a smile which I hoped would alleviate his fear. Once I was satisfied, I again activated Stealth and made my way to where I saw the archers. I stood semi-crouched behind the archer that was on the left, both of them facing away from me towards the road. Both of my daggers were out as I waited for the mercenaries reach the bend, my elven senses on full alert. As I heard the footsteps from the mercenaries getting closer, I made two rapid motions, performing the Mark of Death on both of the archers. I saw them ready their bows, focused on the road. ¡°Assassinate,¡± I said, immediately killing the archer I was behind. As he started falling, I looked at the other archer who still had his bow pointed towards the road, however, he was looking at me, stunned. I dashed over to him, slashing at him as I performed a Garrote. Using that momentum, I spun around him, my Assassinate still on cool down. Performing an Eviscerate, I saw the green and red glows surrounding him. He would be dead soon since he was now both poisoned, bleeding, and silenced, unable to call out for help. Leaving the archer to die, I dashed through the trees so that I could get behind the bandit¡¯s leaders, activating Stealth as I ran. I could hear the leader give the command to attack the mercenaries who were now in view. Since I was not in range to cast Mark of Death on any of the bandits, I could do nothing but watch, and wait. From my current position, I could not see the battle between the bandits and mercenaries, however, I could hear several screams and the sounds of metal meeting flesh. I was confident that the mercenaries could handle the bandits though. I counted the sounds of the bodies falling. ¡°1¡­ 2¡­ 3¡­ 4¡­ 5¡­ 6¡­ 7,¡± and then silence. I heard the captain of the mercenaries call out, ¡°Surrender now, or fall with the rest of this filth,¡± obviously speaking to the bandit¡¯s leader. Laughter. I heard laughter, but it was not joyful. No, this was the laughter of blood-lust and insanity. ¡°You fools. It is no matter, I will claim your souls for myself and get the piece of the orb.¡± This didn¡¯t sound good, not at all. Only one type of enemy would say that, a demon. I could only hope that it was a low level demon such as an imp. Swallowing my own fear, I stalked towards the leader who either was unaware of my presence or didn¡¯t care. I hoped for the first option. I could see the road now, four of the original six mercenaries in front of the leader, in almost what looked like a half circle. The bandit leader raised his arm in the air and black tendrils started forming and wrapping around his arm. Just before I could get into range, he made a cutting motion with his raised hand dropping his arm across his chest. The black tendrils rushing from his arm to the closest mercenary who screamed in pain. The others rushed towards the leader, their swords, axes, and maces drawn. For my part, I now stood up from my semi-crouched posture behind the demon. Luckily, it seemed not to have noticed me, so it truly was a low level demon. As it cast the black tendrils, the mercenaries blocking the attacks, I whispered in it¡¯s human ear, ¡°Assassinate.¡± However, this didn¡¯t kill him as I hoped. Instead, he turned to me, the black tendrils seemed to have a life of their own as they still fought with the other mercenaries. ¡°Bitch, I will have your soul for that!¡± he yelled, as thick, black ooze fell from his wound. I lunged forward, performing Eviscerate and Garrote in rapid succession, the familiar glows surrounding him. He reached to his side and a black, curved blade with jagged edges appeared in his hand. Just as he attacked, one of the mercenaries got into range and attacked him. The demon just gave a furious yell as it attacked me, trying to get rid of the worst threat. As his blade came closer, faster than any attack from a normal monster that I came across so far, I instinctively performed a Riposte, parrying his blow and further damaging him. A notification flashed from the side of my vision. Grinning, I yelled, ¡°Taunt him!¡± ¡°Taunting Blow!¡± a voice replied. It was the mercenary captain. The demon spun around towards the captain, now enraged that the mercenary had taunted him. It raised it¡¯s demonic sword to attack the captain. ¡°Assassinate,¡± I whispered. The blade fell to the ground, turning into a disgusting, dark yellow smoke as it hit, disappearing. The demon fell to it¡¯s knees, and fell to its side, now dead. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.I looked up and saw that there were now only three mercenaries, one of which was the captain. ¡°Well played Captain, though I¡¯m sorry about your team,¡± I said as I looked at him. He winced, turned around, and started walking. As he walked away, almost under his breath, he said, ¡°It¡¯s a part of the job.¡± I nodded, even though he couldn¡¯t see me, as I watched them return to the caravan. Looking down, I examined the demon. Now that it was dead, the illusion that it was maintaining to look human dissipated, revealing that it was an imp, one of the lowest classes of demons there was. Narrowing my eyes, I got down on a knee and rummaged through it¡¯s pockets. I pulled out a letter which read: Sayth, the piece of the orb that you¡¯re looking for is held by the one who calls himself Trader Bartley of House Karline. No matter the cost, I want you to get it and return it to me. The Orb of Destruction must be completed before we are able to enter this realm enmasse. Failure is not an option. The letter did not say who it was from which worried me. From the wording, it seemed that a greater demon was behind this attack, and what exactly was the Orb of Destruction? Supposedly, Bartley had a piece of it though. I also removed a small, ebony bracelet that the demon was wearing after viewing it¡¯s stats: Bracelet of Demonic Power Rarity: Uncommon Level: 10 Weight: 0.1 Durability: 250/250 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats Agility: +5 Vitality: +10 Wisdom: +5 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Bonus Effect: This item enhances all fire based attacks by 5%. While not a bad item, it was more designed for mages, however, I could always use the stats for now. I slid the bracelet on my right arm, immediately feeling the effects that it gave. Other than the letter and the bracelet, the imp also had 1 gold and 55 silver on him, which I was in dire need of. Standing up, I went to salvage what I could from the rest of the bandits, finding an additional 35 silver, but nothing else. Reaching the caravan, I spoke briefly with the trader letting him know we could continue with our journey, and we continued our journey to Kinderfell while I was lost in my thoughts. *** ¡°Blood, so much blood. The air thick with a metallic smell. Not only was I a murderer, I was also a defiler of corpses, stealing them of their belongings. It was never like this before, it was always¡­ less real, less¡­ primal.¡± I almost gagged as I remembered the battle against the bandits and the demonic imp. I had to steel myself against these emotions, against these thoughts, however hard. I made my decision to walk this path, to become an assassin. It was what I knew, it was what I was good at, however disturbing it might be. ¡°But did they need to die? Wasn¡¯t there any other way? But they were just NPCs, right? They had to die for the quest, sure, but couldn¡¯t I have just disabled them instead? It was just so easy¡­¡± I continued my thoughts. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, this is my path, however hard it may be. I cannot afford to be weak, this is my new life.¡± I finally came to the conclusion, my resolve hardening the pits of my stomach. ¡°What is this orb that they were after? Is it an artifact? The name doesn¡¯t give me any fluffy thoughts at all, I mean, the Orb of Destruction? Whoever, or whatever, controlled the imp said that they need the orb before they can come across the gates enmasse, so is it an artifact capable of opening a large gate instead of them needing to come across the plane one by one?¡± ¡°This is obviously apart of a campaign quest, the only question is what type of campaign quest. Obviously not the quest for the assassin class since I would have gotten it on Shadowblood, so that means it is either the Deity campaign quest or the Dark Elf campaign quest. If it is the former, then Noctis should have something to say about it soon. If it¡¯s the latter, then I should get some information about it when we reach Kinderfell.¡± ¡°Whichever it is though, I¡¯ll need to convince Bartley to hand over his piece. If it¡¯s something he is trading, that will be easy. I¡¯ll just need to negotiate with him so that I can purchase it. If it¡¯s something else though¡­¡± Getting my thoughts in order, I pondered the different ways I could get the piece from him. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to assassinate him for the piece, which I¡¯m sure I could do. If I did that, I would have more blood on my hands, innocent or not. Not too mention that if I did that, I would also have to engage the entire caravan, including the mercenaries. No, I don¡¯t want to go that route.¡± ¡°Perhaps I could steal it? If I had any points in Pick Pocket, that would be an alternative. I suppose I could always just tell him what¡¯s going on, perhaps he would just give it to me, since his life is on the line and all.¡± Smiling, I knew the what I needed to do. The sun was starting to disappear behind the horizon, and soon, night would fall. It seemed that due to the ambush by the bandits, we lost quite a bit of time. I walked over to the wagon that Bartley was currently riding in and informed him that we should stop for the night, since it would be dangerous to keep going when it got darker out. He frowned, but he knew just as I did that I was right. ¡°You heard the little lady everyone,¡± he shouted. ¡°Let¡¯s pull this caravan over to the side of the road and let¡¯s set up a camp for the evening. Captain, if you could, have your men set up shifts for the evening to keep watch. Pearson! Get your scrawny little ass up here and get a fire going.¡± I was slightly in shock at the trader¡¯s display of authority. Before, he seemed like he was just a meek little rabbit. Perhaps though, this was his element, since he must be making these types of runs often. Shortly after we set up camp, a pot of stew cooking over the fire, one of the helpers in the caravan handed everyone a metal cup with a warm liquid that steamed, reminding me of those cups that people used in the old days. We were also all given a small pan, obviously for the stew that was currently being made. While we waited, I sat down on a log next to the trader, who was sitting in a chair that could be broken down and stored. He looked over to me, the shadows of the fire flickering across his features. His regal clothing now wrinkled and dirty, he looked somewhat vulnerable out here in the wilderness. He didn¡¯t look like he did at all when we were back in town. ¡°Raven, I just want to thank you for your help with those bandits. I heard the captain saying how tough of a battle it actually was, and that we all would have died if you weren¡¯t here with us,¡± he said, his face fallen with grief, as he remembered the other mercenaries that he shared a table with. It was odd to see and my emotions threatened to rise up. Suppressing my emotions before I spoke by closing my eyes and opening them again. ¡°It was nothing Bartley, though, we do need to talk about the attack. I found this letter on the demon that we killed,¡± I said, handing him the letter. He looked down at it and started reading. After a few seconds, he handed the letter back to me, his hands shaking. ¡°There is something. It¡¯s an artifact that has been in my family for generations. Supposedly, it¡¯s why everyone in the House of Karline is such able traders. I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot get rid of it.¡± I looked at him and frowned. ¡°That is just a fairy tale and you know it Bartley. Even if it wasn¡¯t, is it truly worth your life? Let me ask you, what good of a trader would you be if you were dead? Do you have any children? You¡¯re not wearing a ring, so I know you¡¯re not married.¡± He looked at me, his face solemn. ¡°No, I¡¯m not married yet, and no, I don¡¯t have children. I was hoping to settle down after this run, once I get back to Rockfall. It¡¯s in the human lands you know, need to take a ship to get there.¡± His face grew haunted as he looked back into the fire. ¡°But you¡¯re right, you know. What good would it be having a lucky artifact if I was dead? Stay here, I¡¯ll get it for you.¡± I only nodded and faced the fire, patiently waiting for him. I heard him walk back to the wagons and dig through his belongings, fetching out the piece of the artifact that he had. Once he had what he wanted, he returned and sat back down. ¡°Like I said Raven, this has been in my family for generations. Take good care of it, okay¡± he said, as he handed me what looked like a curved, wooden carving. I turned it over and looked at it. It had a hole on one of the ends, clearly something else was supposed to be attached on it. However, what was most striking, was the engravings. It was an alphabet of sorts, ancient. Even though I couldn¡¯t read what they said, the carving hummed with power in my hands. The engravings themselves had a slight, infernal glow to them. Yes, this was definitely of demonic origin. Carefully, I opened my inventory and stashed it before closing the inventory window. ¡°It¡¯s in good hands Bartley, thank you.¡± I said before going to my tent so that I could train before I went to sleep for the night, hoping that my dreams would not be of blood and death. As I laid down in my tent, I brought up my stats, solemnly added the two points into agility and strength. The final point was added into dexterity. I also pulled up my ability list increasing Apply Poison to level 3 and Assassin¡¯s Mark to level 5. I now had the following build: Character Name: Raven Occupation: Assassin Level: 11 (973/978) Health: 2575 Stamina: 1625 Mana: 2350 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats Strength: 90 Dexterity: 30 Agility: 79 Vitality: 50 Wisdom: 45 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Damage: 495-765 Critical Hit Damage: 535-805 Critical Hit Chance: 40% Armor: 9 Evade Chance: 3% ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Resists Slashing Damage: 20% Blunt Damage: 15% Piercing Damage: 15% Fire Damage: 15% Cold Damage: 15% Lightning Damage: 15% Poison Damage: 20% Disease Damage: 15% Soul Damage: 10% ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Skills Stealth (Level 5) Backstab (Level 1) Eviscerate (Level 5) Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1) Riposte (Level 5) Garrote (Level 1) Advanced Assassinate (Level 5) Assassin¡¯s Mark (Level 5) Apply Poison (Level 3) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Equipment Chest: Rawhide Leather Vest Pants: Rawhide Leather Pants Gloves: Rawhide Leather Gloves Bracer (Right): Rawhide Leather Bracer Bracer (Left): Rawhide Leather Bracer Feet: Rawhide Leather Boots Cloak: Cloak of the Hobgoblin Necklace: Amulet of Noctis Ring (Right): Ring of the Hobgoblin Bracelet (Right): Bracelet of Demonic Power Weapon (main): Iron Dagger Weapon (offhand): Iron Dagger Looking over everything, I closed both windows and fell into a deep sleep, anxious to finally get to Kinderfell in the morning. The City of Kinderfell After awakening the next morning, the trader informed me over the morning meal that we should reach the main road leading from the City of Kinderfell by the time that the sun reached overhead, which at that point, we could pick up the speed of the caravan and reach the city shortly thereafter. I only nodded at his information, still feeling subdued after yesterday¡¯s events. I packed my belongings and the tent that I borrowed within one of the wagons of the caravan, and went to my place in front. Even though I was still not feeling well, I maintained my vigilance and silently watched for anything that would prevent our arrival to the city. One of the guards attempted to make conversation, asking about my chosen profession, and asked if I was planning on joining the Guild of the Velg¡¯larn. I only raised my eyebrow at that information, as I only knew of the guilds and not their specific names, or even the value of joining one. In my time playing the game before this, I knew that there was one guild for each player class that was ran by NPCs, and each race had their own names for the guilds. Since I was not a Dark Elf previously, I never payed attention to the Dark Elf guilds, and with my current plans for my future, I probably should find out more information about them. I asked the guard for more information about the Guild of the Velg¡¯larn and what he thought of that particular guild. He then told me that he had a brother which joined the guild and trained as an assassin, and also informed me that I should speak with Youssef Tarrokh, who was the guild¡¯s headmaster, if I wanted to join. I gave a slight nod, acknowledging that I would take his advice. The journey after my conversation with the guard was fairly dull, and around mid-day, we arrived to a highway of sorts. This road was much larger than the path that we were on, and was definitely more traveled. We guided the caravan to the right, and since this road was more adequate for travel, we almost doubled our speed. It was roughly two hours later when the city came into view. Even from this distance, I could tell just by looking at this city that it was extremely large, as I could see black, twisted towers that seemed to touch the clouds in the sky. Four more hours of traveling, and we arrived at the massive gates, which now I could tell that they were made of something that was a cross between obsidian and stone. Atop the gate and walls were spikes that curved outwards about 15 meters high, and guard towers seemed to be placed evenly along the walls about 500 meters between. Dark elvish towns were usually circular, but from my viewpoint, it looked as if it was a straight line into the horizon. The gate itself was open, with a number of other caravans, wagons, and people in line to get into the city. It took our caravan an hour just to make it to the checkpoint when a city guard came over. I eyed the guard warily, as I didn¡¯t think I could even come close to scratching him, let alone protect the leader of this now ragtag group. I couldn¡¯t hear what the guard and Bartley were discussing, so I just kept one eye on the others that were around us, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A few minutes later, the guard let us pass, and we entered the city. Seeing the bustling crowd, to say this city was busy would be a massive understatement. There were literally hundreds of people, both NPCs and players alike, all along the road, with outdoor merchants selling wares, and large, black buildings behind them. It looked like the buildings were made of the same obsidian stone that the walls were made from, with large gothic windows with designs that showed what type business occupied each building. Over their large doors, each had signs engraved in lacquered oak. The caravan pulled next to a building which showed that it was a trade hall by the name of Duskryn''s Mei''q, which if my Drowish language was accurate, would mean Duskryn¡¯s Trade. Once the caravan was stopped, Bartley took a minute to eye the wagons, obviously counting them to ensure that none of them got lost ¡°accidentally.¡± He then looked at me and gave me a wide grin, and opened his arms, thinking that I might actually hug him? I¡¯m not entirely sure about that, but after I eyed him curiously, I did see his smile falter slightly as he put his arms down. ¡°Thank you Raven! You have kept your word, and even though we lost a few mercenaries and guards, we arrived safely to the grand city of Kinderfell. As I promised, you¡¯re reward,¡± he said grandly, after which he bowed and a notification appeared in my view. ¡°You have completed the Caravan Quest[Caravan Quest name and reward - 10g], your reward for completion is 10 gold!¡± Looking at my current funds, I now had just under 11 gold total, which wasn¡¯t bad, but I needed more in order to pick up both my alchemy skills and train my unique skill. Perhaps if I joined that NPC assassin guild, I could get a discount. Thinking about this, I decided to make my way. Giving Bartley a slight nod and thanking him for his time and coin, I made my way further into the city. ¡°So, if I was an assassin looking for a guild of assassins, where would I go and look¡­ um, actually, nix that, since I am an assassin looking for the assassin guild. I wonder if the guild is a legal guild and if I could just ask a guard without dying? I suppose I¡¯ll need to do that, but before, let¡¯s get to the inn so that I can bind there. It would suck if a guard killed me on sight and I re-spawned back in Timberdenn.¡± Looking around, I spotted a guard that while it was getting late, he was standing at a corner that made a Y-split in the main road that entered the city. It looked like he was falling asleep even though I couldn¡¯t see his eyes due to his plate helmet. I walked over to him and asked loudly before I got within arm¡¯s reach, ¡°Excuse me, guard. I need directions to the local inn please.¡± The guard stumbled for a minute and almost dropped his halberd before straightening his back, looking around. So far, this was the most hilarious thing I¡¯ve seen in the game since I, well, yea. ¡°Who are you!¡± he shouted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sleeping, and if you try to say that I was, I¡¯ll throw you into the brig. Now, what can this hard working, no slacking off, guard do for you?¡± I raised an eyebrow and attempted to stifle a laugh, only barely holding it in, and said again, ¡°I¡¯m looking for the local inn.¡± ¡°Go towards the left. You should see it down a bit. Here, I¡¯ll light the path for you,¡± he said, gesturing a low arc with his left arm. Immediately after, a blue glowing butterfly appeared, and started flying down the path. A handy trick for new players when they were lost, which I was grateful for, now that I was in a new city which I never went to. Arriving at the inn, which was named Tangi D¡¯innsreg, I swung open the heavy wooden doors and entered, a huge ornate lobby greeting me. I went over to the innkeeper who looked like a middle aged dark elf with droopy brown eyes who looked at me with discerning eyes. I walked up to him and asked if he had a room to spare. ¡°No, I do not have any rooms to spare, as if someone like you could afford it. Why don¡¯t you come back when you can afford more than a silver a night,¡± he replied back in a condescending voice which made my nerves twitch in anger. If I wasn¡¯t in town, and would immediately get executed and barred, I would have pulled out my dagger right then and gouged out his tongue for speaking to me like that. Containing my anger, I replied, with my hand shaking next to my dagger, ¡°Fine. If you don¡¯t have a room for someone like me, then maybe you can point me to a different inn that would be more suitable?¡± I heard a cough behind me which startled me, and saw the innkeeper¡¯s eyes widen a bit. ¡°Merzen, is that any way to talk to a lady? Perhaps you would like to re-think our arrangement,¡± a voice asked, which sent chills up my spine. The innkeeper went deathly pale with this statement by this newcomer. When I turned my head to look over at him, I saw that he was well-aged, piercing gray eyes that looked as if they could see inside of your soul, and then shredding it without a care in the world. Both the look he was giving the innkeeper and the not so hidden threat in his voice raised the hairs in the back of my neck. Now I felt that I should run out of the city and never look back. ¡°Ye¡­ yes, of course Mr. Tarrokh. Of, of course, I should not have taken my anger out on this young lady.¡± Merzen looked at me, visibly shaking and gave me a bow from behind his counter. ¡°Miss, you have my deepest apologies. For the inconvenience, I would be more than happy to give you a room for free for a week, and then it will only be 50 silver per week if that is acceptable?¡± His eyes looked as if they were pleading with me to stay, to which I replied, still angry at how he treated me. ¡°I will take that week, however, for the length of my stay, I want a room for 25 silver, rather than the 50 silver.¡± The man behind me laughed, ¡°You heard the young lady, 25 silver for the length of her stay.¡± ¡°Very well my lady, Mr. Tarrokh. 25 silver for your stay here at Tangi D¡¯innsreg,¡± he replied, somewhat irritated but still fearful. He handed the key to my room, and in turn, I gave him the 25 silver before turning around to meet the guild master of the Velg¡¯larn. The guild master looked at me and before I could say anything, he said in a low voice, ¡°Not here. When you¡¯re ready to speak with us, an agent will meet with you at [the tavern][Kinderfell Tavern name].¡± A new quest window appeared before me which I read before accepting: Quest Name: Assassin¡¯s Initiation Quest Difficulty: Hard Quest Objective: Meet with the assassin¡¯s agent in the tavern. Quest Rewards: Initiation into the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. Do you wish to accept? (Y/N) I looked more closely at the guild master, who was wearing a dark gray, almost black leather outfit, with two straps that were crossed on his chest, most likely for dagger sheathes. A number of other straps went along his legs, also an indicator of where a massive number of sheathes could be attached. He was wearing a dark cloak that gave off a shimmering look, as if the cloak didn¡¯t want you to look at it, rather, it seemed as if the cloak wanted you to look through it. I could only nod meekly, and went to the stairs that where to the left of the counter to leave the innkeeper and the assassin to discuss whatever business they had with each other. I entered my room at the inn and the message window appeared stating that I was now bound at this inn and room. Closing the window, I let out a shiver that I had been holding since meeting the guild master of the Assassin¡¯s guild. ¡°Holy shit, I really need a drink after meeting that.¡± I said, almost under my breath. Shaking my head to calm my nerves, I looked around the room that the innkeeper provided. The room looked to have multiple rooms, as I saw two doors inside the room. In the center of the room was a large table that was made of thick, frosted obsidian that had four chairs, obviously a sort of meeting area. Embedded in the stone wall was a fireplace, it¡¯s mantle made of a red crystal like material. Two large windows completed this part of the interior which allowed the room to be illuminated from the sun outside. I made my way to one of the doors, and when I opened it, there was a large and immaculate bathroom with marble flooring which matched the room itself. Closing that door, I went to the other room, which I assumed correctly would be the bedroom. A large bed which could comfortably hold at least four sat in the center, with black satin sheets, met my eyes. I looked longingly at the bed, wishing I could rest for a few days and just relax, but I was a busy woman, and I had places to be and people to meet. *** After binding my respawn point to the inn, I left and started exploring the bustling city, keeping away from the crowds as best as I could. The dirt roads were aligned by cobblestone which allowed people to walk without fear of getting trampled by the carriages and wagons that would often go to and from various places. I noticed a weapons and armor store which immediately held my interest, so I walked across the road and went inside of the shop. I was immediately stopped by an NPC who introduced himself as Godyn, a master blacksmith and armorer. I informed him that I was just browsing his wares and he eyed me with suspicion, probably due to my current equipment. It wasn¡¯t my fault that I had to rely on drops, and the fact that I was still using rawhide armor and iron daggers, which was rated to be roughly between levels 5 through 10! On the upside, the store was extremely well organized with multiple rows of weapons that were organized by type, and armor stands lined the walls. The one thing I could say is that this place was definitely not cheap, and would cost a small fortune to any new player. Looking at the armor, I could only eye longingly at the set of ephemeral leather that was encased in a crystallized shell to prevent theft. The price was only 100 platinum coins, which I rolled my eyes at. Any decent player would have their armor specially crafted with various enchantments, rather than purchasing base armor. Either that, or have special or unique equipment from the various raids that were in the game. I did make my way to a counter that held an assortment of daggers. At this low level, it actually did make sense to purchase equipment from the NPC merchants, even if it could not be enchanted. A set of bronze daggers would cost me 1 gold for the pair. With a disappointing sigh, I left the store empty handed. I had to first purchase the skills to learn both alchemy and herbalism, which is where I headed to next. A little way further down the road, I spotted a building that had an potion emblem and vial imbued on the frosted glass in front of the store. The sign itself said that this was the [Alchemy Shop][Name of Buraste¡¯s Shop]. Satisfied that this was the store that I was looking for, I stepped through the doors, my elven senses immediately being assaulted by the various scents that permeated through the store. The store itself was a mix of what looked to be a cross between an atrium and a store. Various types of plants where growing where ever they could, vines wrapping around the store¡¯s pillars and rafters. ¡°Good evening, assassin. To what do I owe the pleasure? I hope that I haven¡¯t gotten on anyone¡¯s bad side, although, looking at you, I wouldn¡¯t care if I had,¡± a woman¡¯s voice said to the side of me. Was it just me, or did it seem that everyone so far in this damned city was a condescending asshole to me? Sighing, I looked over at the woman who wasn¡¯t what I was expecting. Instead of a dark elf, she was an elderly gnome, sitting in a high chair behind her counter, with her elbow on it, holding her chin as she looked bored to death. Her dark green eyes actually matched her long hair, which must have been dyed, since most gnomes that I¡¯ve seen always had brown or dull white hair depending on how old they were. Interesting, although, annoying. ¡°Perhaps true, perhaps not. Well, to be fair, you¡¯re right in the fact that I am a young assassin and not properly equipped,¡± I started as I walked towards her counter, careful not to rub against any of the offending flora that was in my way. ¡°I was wondering if you might be able to train me in both the Alchemy and Herbalism skills,¡± I finished as I reached her area. ¡°Oh, I like that,¡± she grinned. ¡°A dark elf with a green thumb. What would you know about the life of the world around us, except to destroy the life force of others, answer this honestly assassin, and maybe I might train you, for a cost.¡± I gave the elderly gnome a smile which stated that I understood her riddle, which I had to research long before. I answered, ¡°The life around us is intertwined, one life affecting the other, life affects death, and death affects life. The string of fate connects us all.¡± The gnome looked at me and grinned, ¡°What bullshit. I would take that from anyone else but you. Give me the real answer child, there is no one around to hear you, and this place is shielded against those that would spy on us.¡± I looked at her, stunned, my eyes going wide. This couldn¡¯t be right. The store NPCs were supposed to at least initially allow a player to train a profession. Her words though made me shiver. She knows. In the World of the Veil, all of the deities and the NPCs that resided in the world were ran by advanced AI using quantum learning algorithms, which allowed smooth conversations with players. Enemy NPCs though were typically ran by typical ¡°dumb¡± AI, even though they could learn various things from players using machine learning, such as combat patterns and player resistances. This gave the players a real challenge to overcome, which was one of the draws of the game which made it so successful. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.If Noctis and Conall knew of my situation and what happened, then it would make sense that all of the NPCs in the game would know. Calming down again, I looked at the gnome again. ¡°Ok then, let¡¯s throw the bullshit lore away then. I¡¯m a player in this game, unable to log out, and I have to live here for who knows how long. I¡¯m under-equipped, lacking any sort of decent money, and to be honest, quite terrified of what I have to become in order to survive here. Honestly, now that I can truly get hurt, I don¡¯t want to do anything but crawl into a bed and lay down for who knows how long. However, I can¡¯t do that since it would draw attention to myself. If that happened, then this game might be shut down, and if it was, I would die.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer my question,¡± she responded, rolling her eyes at me. I was starting to get angry now. This damn NPC was going to actually make this hard. ¡°Fine. The people that you refer to as Veil-Walkers are the players inside of this game and they live outside of it. The deities and NPCs, like yourself, are nothing but figments of computer code. Complicated code, sure, but nothing but computer code nevertheless.¡± ¡°Oh, really? Is that why you suffered, and are still suffering from, killing those bandits? Is that truly how you think of this world that you now live in, as nothing but computer code? I will train you, of course, however I can only hope that through your training you find the right answer to my question, young Raven.¡± Two message prompts appeared in front of my eyes, the first one asking me if I wanted to learn both the Alchemy and Herbalism skills, and that it would cost me 5 gold for each skill. I accepted, knowing that I was again penniless. The second message prompt though was a bit more unexpected. It was a character based quest, which meant that I was the only one that the quest would ever be given out to. Quest Name: Buraste¡¯s Riddle Quest Type: Character Quest Difficulty: Normal Quest Rewards: Unknown Quest Objective: Find the answer to the riddle that the alchemist, Buraste Maeviir, asked. Do you wish to accept? (Y/N) ¡°Now leave, you¡¯ve worn out your welcome for the day, my old bones cannot put up with the idiocies of the young,¡± she informed me, clearly telling me to leave. Leaving the old gnome¡¯s store, I pondered where to go next. I could find a skill trainer, but in order to learn my Shadow Step skill I would need to pay 5g, which I only had 1 gold left after learning my professions. Perhaps I should go to the tavern and speak with the representative from the assassin¡¯s guild. It was also getting dark out, and I wanted to get a good night¡¯s sleep in an actual bed tonight after being on the trail a few days. It was much more difficult than I expected, and I was not accustomed to sleeping outside, even in the real world. I asked a guard that was passing by if he could point me in the direction of the tavern, and like the previous guard, he summoned a guiding butterfly to lead me to the tavern. I wasn¡¯t in the mood anymore to do much exploring, just wanting to get this day over with. I followed the glowing butterfly to the Tavern, which was aptly named ¡°The Drunken Elf.¡± I was surprised that it was in English and not Drowish, however, it could be that I was getting more accustomed to reading it and the system was performing auto-translation for me. I could hear the sounds of a very lively bar, and it sounded like there was a fight going on inside, which was unusual for any of three elf races. My weariness that I was feeling while walking here lessened, and I went inside the tavern. *** The tavern itself was dark, lit only by the braziers that aligned the walls. There were overturned tables and chairs in the middle was two dwarves that were fighting a single human. Believe it or not, the human was actually holding his own against the dwarves. Taking an interest in the human, I looked at him a bit more closely. He was fairly tall at roughly 6 feet, if I estimated correctly. He also had a lean but very tone build, his skin was a darker shade like he had a full body tan. It also seemed that he had a bit of scruff on his face, as if he didn¡¯t shave for a few days. His brown eyes and smile showed how much he was enjoying this brawl. The dwarves he was fighting against were your typical looking dwarves, fairly short, the tallest looked like he was just over five feet tall, however they were built like brick stack-houses, extremely muscular, and each had a long, braided beard of various shades. ¡°Look here Darrius, I don¡¯t care what you think you¡¯re doing, but you will leave my sister alone. She doesn¡¯t deserve your kind meddling in her affairs, so just get your scrawny ass out of here before we show you some true pain,¡± one of the dwarves said, almost yelling. ¡°[Dwarf 1 name][Dwarf 1 name], I honestly don¡¯t know what you¡¯re going on about, and I know how you think all humans look alike, so maybe you got the wrong guy,¡± the human said mockingly. The dwarf looked at him and then over to his partner who also looked ready to brawl, when a smoke cloud appeared in the middle of them with a dark figure inside of it. The smoke was a dark gray, mixed with a dull yellow. It not only looked creepy, but even worse, it smelled like corrosive death. Both of the dwarves and the human stepped back a couple of steps to find out who this new intruder was, and as the smoke dissipated, a dark elf in a red silk shirt and black pants stood there. ¡°You all need to stop before you ruin my bar. You¡¯re also bothering my other customers,¡± this stranger said, looking back and forth between the human and the dwarves. The second dwarf that was next to [dwarf 1 name][Dwarf 1 name] decided to speak up against this stranger. ¡°Look here Ga¡¯arvn, I know you¡¯re the barkeep here, but you need to step back while [Dwarf 1 name][Dwarf 1 name] and me take care of the trash.¡± The bartender, Ga¡¯arvn from what the dwarf called him, looked at him and frowned, then lifted his arm and then the dwarf fell to his knees, his skin fading to a sickly gray that started cracking and oozing thick, yellow pus. ¡°Damnit [Dwarf 2 name][Dwarf 2 name], you should know better than to fuck around with Ga¡¯arvn, you know he¡¯s a necromancer! Please, Ga¡¯arvn, we¡¯ll leave okay? Here, I¡¯ll even give you a couple of gold if you let him live, please Ga¡¯arvn,¡± [Dwarf 1 name][Dwarf 1 name] pleaded. This brought a smile to my face, there was just something so damn amusing to see a dwarf begging and pleading. They were normally such a ¡°up in your face¡± race. Typically more brawn than brain, both NPCs and players alike. I supposed that race just had something that drew people, I could never understand why. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll accept your terms. Human veil-walker, you will pay tribute to Kali as well. 2 gold.¡± Ga¡¯arvn¡¯s tone made it so that there would be no argument from the player. Most NPCs referred to players as veil-walkers, perhaps a way to explain the abilities that players had over the NPCs. Or it could be a derogatory term, who knows. However, it made me wary of the human who I now knew was a player. The human only smiled and nodded, agreeing to the terms. When he reached to his coin purse, he caught me looking at him, to which he smiled and winked at me. Rolling my eyes and turning away to go to the bar, I began to think to myself, ¡°He actually winked at me? What the hell. For fuck¡¯s sake, this is why I played as a male instead of a female. There has always been something about games that always made guys think with their dick¡¯s rather than their brains,¡± I silently fumed to myself. Behind me, I could hear the exchange of coins and heard the swoosh of smoke, which I could smell, nearly making me gag. As I made my way to the bar, the barkeep appeared, yet again teleporting in a cloud of smoke. I was really getting tired of smelling that, which made me wonder if NPCs could smell their effects. I couldn¡¯t imagine that they could. Ga¡¯arvn looked at me as I approached and smiled. For someone that worshiped the dark-aligned deities, he was surprisingly well maintained with a lazy grin. ¡°I apologize about the distraction, what can I get you,¡± he asked me. I looked over the various bottles and kegs, and decided on getting my usual, Rennor Jhinrae. I handed my 2s to the barkeep and received my sweet, dark wine that tasted of blackberries in return. I turned my back to the bar and leaned against it and looked at the other people that were drinking and eating various breads and cheeses. There were a few humans, including that human player, a couple of gnomes in the far back corner talking heatedly between themselves, and a couple of other expected dwarves. ¡°Where there was a tavern, you could make sure there was a dwarf,¡± I thought as I chuckled to myself. There was a dark elf that was sitting by himself in another corner of the bar, with a dark blue drink in his hand. However, ever since I was scanning the other people in the bar, he had yet to let the drink touch his lips. He was dressed like any other dark elf, in a plain, dark shirt. It almost looked as if he didn¡¯t want to stand out, which to me, made him stand out even more. It also helped that he was gazing right back at me, his dull green eyes inviting me to have a chat with him. I walked in a round-about way to the table that this mysterious dark elf was sitting at, thinking that he preferred not getting too much attention. He still looked at the bar, however, I could feel his eyes watching me from the corner of vision. He may not be looking directly at me, but he was keeping an eye on me. I had a good feeling that he was the representative from the assassin¡¯s guild that Youssef requested I speak with. Once I got to his round table, I sat down in a seat that was across from him. He looked me up and down as if taking stock of me, which to say, he wasn¡¯t looking at me as a woman, but regarding me as a potential threat. While that should make me tense, it was actually relaxing for me. ¡°Raven,¡± he started, his voice low enough so that I could hear, but no one else would. ¡°Our grandmaster, Youssef Tarrokh has deemed you, at least slightly, worthy of joining the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. We have a test for you though, before you can seek guidance. A high elf merchant will be entering the city tomorrow, his name is Aidelas Laemthius. We want him dead before the sun rises.¡± Thinking of the previous NPCs that I had killed, I felt a bit nauseous, but decided against running and hiding. I needed to get over this if I was to become an assassin. ¡°Why does he deserve death? I¡¯m not going to kill someone just for the hell of it, even if it is a request from the grandmaster.¡± The representative gave me an appraising look, and it seemed he was satisfied with whatever internal discussion he was having with himself. ¡°Very well, we know he has been transporting and selling illegal drugs. He is suspected of doing worse things when his entourage and himself visit the slums. Goodbye,¡± he said, dismissing me. A quest notification window appeared in front of me, which I read before swiping it away. Quest Name: Assassin¡¯s Initiation Quest Type: Character Quest Difficulty: Hard Quest Rewards: Initiation into the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. Quest Time Limit: Before daybreak after entering the city. Quest Objective: You have met with the agent. You have been tasked to kill Aidelas Laemthius. Do you wish to accept? (Y/N) I stood up to leave, and he actually took a sip of his beverage, clearly he didn¡¯t drink on the job, and his job now ended after he relayed his message. Good to know. I went back towards the bar, my own drink now needing to be refilled, and as I waited for Ga¡¯arvn to get to me, that human player decided to ambush me. I wanted to reach for my dagger and shove it in his eye, but alas, I maintained some semblance of control. ¡°Aw, don¡¯t be like that. I just wanted to come over here and say hello. Its pretty unusual to see people in newbie gear these days, and I wanted to see if you wanted some help,¡± he said in a voice that sounded like he was trying to be romantic, yet failing at it miserably. ¡°Go away,¡± I replied, both my face and voice deadpanned. He looked at me as if he had a thought come to his mind. ¡°Okay, look. My name is Darrius, and my main is a dark elf assassin, and I know from experience, with you talking to that NPC, that you¡¯re on the initiation quest. In your gear, I can tell you now that you won¡¯t be able to kill the guy, since he has 5 guards with him too. Don¡¯t let my gear fool you, it¡¯s custom crafted, and I have a quest to help some dwarf girl that has been getting harassed in the slums. That was the reason for the fight earlier. Help me, help you?¡± My deadpanned eyes squinted at the human. For him to be in Kinderfell meant that he must have started his character and used the inter-continental gate system and then inter-city teleportation system. Both of which are not cheap to use. Sighing, I replied, ¡°Fine. I¡¯m Raven. What class are you anyways? And no, I¡¯m not going to sleep with you.¡± He rewarded me with a heartfelt laugh, ¡°Raven, look, I don¡¯t even swing that way, and even if I did, my boyfriend would cut my balls off, in the real world. So no, I don¡¯t need any virtual sex. As far as my class, I¡¯m a warrior monk. I can keep them off of you while you do your back-stabby stuff. I¡¯ll even let you keep the drops, alright?¡± With his explanation, I smiled, and then had a thought. ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love the help and thanks for letting me know about the guards. But, can I ask for you for a favor?¡± It was his turn to give me a frown. ¡°I suppose, but it depends¡­¡± I said in return, as meekly as I could manage, ¡°I was lucky enough to get a skill book as a drop, but I don¡¯t have the gold yet to learn it. Sounds like it might come in handy?¡± His frown wiped from his face, now turning into a small smile, his eyes shining. ¡°That¡¯s damn sweet! What skill book did you get?¡± ¡°Shadow Step,¡± I replied. ¡°That is a damn nice skill to have. Sure, I can help you out. Here¡¯s 50 gold. You can upgrade some of your equipment while you¡¯re at it.¡± I got a trade invitation window which asked if I¡¯d like to trade with Darrius, which I accepted. He added the 50 gold into the trade window and immediately accepted the trade, which I did as well. My eyes now glowed with excitement and I gave Darrius a well deserved smile. ¡°Thanks Darrius, this really helps. I owe you, okay?¡± ¡°Na, don¡¯t worry about it. But if I need help with something, I¡¯ll keep the debt in mind. I¡¯m off for a bit, but I¡¯ll be back on this evening after my class ends. He usually arrives in the city at 11:00am GMT. I¡¯ll send you a message tonight when I see you on-line, alright?¡± I gave him a curt nod, and he looked down to his feet, his avatar giving a silver aura as he closed his eyes, and then his avatar started flickering indicating he was logging out. After 15 seconds, he disappeared. ¡°That really freaks me the hell out when they do that,¡± I heard Ga¡¯arvn say from behind me. I looked behind me and stared at him, ¡°You¡¯re one to talk,¡± I informed him, setting my now empty bottle of wine on the counter before leaving. I had places to be, equipment to buy, skills to learn, and people to kill. It was turning out to be a much better day than when I started. After getting back to the inn after my late evening of shopping, I was quite content with my shopping spree. I managed to purchase a full outfit of thick leather, which was a little higher level than myself, therefore I felt a tag sluggish, which I would until I hit level 15. I did pick up some new, bronze daggers, which were level 10-15. I wasn¡¯t as concerned about the daggers as I was about my gear, since dexterity and vitality where the weak points with the Amulet of Noctis. My armor rating was a respectable 111, so as long as I didn¡¯t take any major hits, I should be okay, at least, long enough for me to take out whatever was attacking me. I also was able to get to the skill trainer and learn Shadow Step, which, as I knew, allowed me to immediately stealth and transport to another target as long as they were in range. The range itself would increase by 10% per level, so for now, the enemy had to be within 5 meters. The only bad thing about my shopping spree was that I was back down to 2 gold, 16 silver, and some copper. Regardless though, this would help in the long term, or rather, short term until I was able to level out of everything. But life before then would be much, much easier. With these happy thoughts, I made my way over to the large bed that was calling my name and jumped into the middle of it. I didn¡¯t even take off my gear, but I did take off my daggers and laid them on the nightstand beside the bed before my eyes closed, my mind drifting towards the dreamworld. Initiation Quest ¡°I see that you¡¯ve been progressing my little Raven,¡± Noctis said from behind me as I awoke in the dreamscape. ¡°Damnit, I was hoping for dreams of unicorns and rainbows with sweet blackberry wine,¡± I muttered under my breath, as I realized that my wish for a good night¡¯s rest was shattered. ¡°Sarcasm does not become you, or anyone for that matter. It does tend to annoy me,¡± the goddess of shadows said as she frowned at me when I turned around. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Noctis, its been a long few days for me, trying to adjust to this new reality of mine. I¡¯ve actually been wanting to meet you so that I can ask a question. Are the harbingers meant to be killed? As you probably know, I did meet the Harbinger of Chaos not too long ago and he gave me your amulet.¡± ¡°Is that so? Well, Chaos does work in mysterious ways as you should know. However, I cannot answer your question, since it is up for the players to come up with their own strategies in dealing with our Harbingers,¡± she answered without really answering my question. ¡°Ok, then, what I can I do for my goddess then?¡± Noctis moved closer to me, her black eyes penetrating into mine, she was now close enough to me that I felt her chest brushing on mine, before the world of fog seeming to vanish as I fell into her gaze. ¡°All done!¡± Noctis shouted happily as I came back into the dreamworld. It felt like I had dozed out and I struggled to get the fuzziness out of my head. I shook my head, not understanding what was going on while I looked downwards, towards our feet which seemed to disappear in the fog. I looked at Noctis again, a question forming on my lips. She gently placed her finger on my lips, her finger a mix between both ice cold and scalding hot. She moved closer to me, her lips almost touching mine. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up. You have your mission, and I have mine. We¡¯ll meet again.¡± I felt rapture when her breath touched my lips. But then, the world of fog slip away from me, and felt myself falling as the world around me went black, a longing in my chest that I¡¯ve only ever felt once before. I suddenly woke up, out of breath. It felt as if I had just ran 5 miles, however, instead of my body aching, it was my heart that ached. Before I could contemplate what had happened when I was asleep, a group invite window flashed in front of my eyes. It must be evening in the real world, even though in this one the night had past and it was now early in the morning. I grudgingly accepted the invite, as I silently wished that the Veil had the nectar of the gods, also known as coffee. But alas, it was not meant to be as I looked at the group window, now seeing the full window as it should have been when I originally logged in. I was speechless and couldn¡¯t move. I clearly saw both Darrius and his health, stamina, and mana levels. Moreover, I could see the amount of each he had left. He had 950 health and 910 stamina, but he obviously didn¡¯t focus on mana since he only had 150.[Calculate out his health] My own stats paled in comparison, the benefit of crafted gear apparent, as I only had 2,575 health, 1,625 stamina, and 2,350 mana. On the upside though, I knew that I had much more of a chance for my hits to have critical damage, a benefit of my class and attribute specializations. Even though I wanted to crunch the numbers, I was still stunned that my group window was actually functioning, so much so that I missed out on a few messages in the group chat, which was only really used when other group members were out of vocal range, or if you didn¡¯t want to make any noise. I read the messages out the messages before responding. ¡°Hey Raven, I¡¯m back!¡± ¡°Raven?¡± ¡°Hellooooo¡­¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re AFK?¡± ¡°Lemme know when you¡¯re back in game, we have about an hour in game time before the guy gets into town, and we¡¯ll want to track him down and see where he goes.¡± I sighed gleefully. Such a typical guy, impatient as any of them. I slightly concentrated on the glowing text window to reply. ¡°I¡¯m back. Where do you want to meet up at? ¡°Welcome back. Let¡¯s meet at the entrance so we can follow him.¡± ¡°He should head to the trade house first to drop off some merchandise, then he usually looks around town before going towards the slums when night falls.¡± ¡°Last time I had some friends and we killed him just as he entered the slums, but for my quest I need to find Coira, [dwarf1][Dwarf 1¡¯s name]¡¯s sister.¡± I read his messages before giving my agreement, and I walked out of my room to leave the inn. Before I could leave though, Merzen interrupted me. ¡°I hope your stay has been comfortable. Its a shame that I had to agree to rent that room for a meager 25s per week. It usually rents for 1 gold per week.¡± I could hear the irritation in his voice, and I turned to him. ¡°Yes, it is. I appreciate the discount, though I would be careful with your tone innkeeper.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± I sneered at the innkeeper before I left. He obviously didn¡¯t like me for some reason. Outside, the town was busy as usual of the large cities. I made my way towards the gates leading towards the entrance of the city when I caught sight of people hiding in some alleyway shadows. Slowing my step, I veered in their direction, curious as to who they were. Despite being curious, I had my hands on my daggers, ready to fight if they decided to engage me. ¡°Stop right there missy, we have no business with the likes of you,¡± a human¡¯s voice said as I reached the alley. Maybe, maybe not. What¡¯s going on,¡± I asked the human that called out to me from the left. ¡°Nothing to concern yourself with. This is Op¡¯Elgin guild business.¡± ¡°Ah, I see now. The Op¡¯Elgin guild was the thieves guild. They must either be looking for a mark or doing something else,¡± I thought to myself. ¡°Of course. If the Op¡¯Elgin are in need of an assassin then, come find me. Us rogues need to stick together, you know?¡± The voice responded with a hearty laugh, and he walked out from where he was hiding. ¡°I might keep you in mind, if you were in the Order. You¡¯re right though that us rogues need to stick together, but the guilds are family, and family comes first.¡± I gave him a nod in acknowledgment before leaving the alley when he called out to me again, chuckling, ¡°Some friendly advice, don¡¯t wander in the alleys, even if it¡¯s during the day. Someone might lift your purse of those sweet gold coins you have there.¡± My hand immediately went to my coin purse that I had looped around my belt and checked it¡¯s contents. I was rewarded in finding that I had 2 gold, 11 silver, 5 copper in it. ¡°Wait, what? SON OF A BITCH! He actually stole 5 silver from me! That asshole is good¡­¡± I thought angrily, my face darkening in both anger and embarrassment, as I made my way towards my original goal, the gates. Of course, it could be worse though, he could have stolen everything. Lost in thoughts of revenge, blood, guts, stabbing eyeballs out, putting them back in, and then stabbing them out again, I made my way to the entrance. Darrius called out to me now that I was in vocal range for him to hear me. ¡°Hey Raven! Glad to seeee¡­ oh, shit, it wasn¡¯t my fault, okay? Brad would never forgive me if I made a girl as upset as you are. Can¡¯t we all just get along? Please? For my sake?¡± I looked at him, my frustration at having my precious silver stolen from me, vanishing. He was actually pretty amusing. I tried to give him a deadpan look, the same one that I gave to him in the tavern, though I knew I failed. ¡°No, you are not forgiven. You knew I was going to run into that band of thieves, you knew that they were going to steal my silver. I could have used that silver to buy¡­ more¡­ wine,¡± Darrius looked at me as if I grew another head, nodding slowly. ¡°Riight. Would you look at the time, crazy lady in aisle three.¡± We both laughed at our antics as we waited for Aidelas and his guards to appear, which they did shortly after. His guards appeared to not be on guard duty, but on mule duty, since they were all carrying large bags. Typical of high elves to be stingy with their money. He couldn¡¯t, or wouldn¡¯t in this case, hire a wagon to carry his items. We followed them from a distance away, always making sure that we could see them. True to Darrius¡¯ intelligence, he first went to the traders and had one of his guards give the trader a number of cloth rolls of various types. The trader nodded at him and gave him some golden coins that glistened in the light. His gold would be my gold by the night¡¯s end I thought, still thinking of the silver that was stolen from me. Aidelas went from store to store the entire day, sometimes giving out, what looked like, a crystal vial in exchange for a gold coin. He must be selling the drugs that the agent told me about. There was nothing I could do about it now though, as we had to wait until he reached the slums. Guards didn¡¯t usually enter the alleys or slums, thus criminal activity was usually overlooked. Including murderous activities. Several hours later, as we still followed him, he finally made his way into the slums. This are of the city was still magnificent with its black obsidian stone architecture, however, some of the windows were visibly broken, and the stone looked like it was cracked and flaking in some areas. Compared to the human territory, the dark elf slums were luxurious. Still though, the dark elves that we could see had obviously fell on hard times, some of them skinny enough to be able to see their bones through their skin. The area smelled like stale trash and death, and I was ready to finish this quest and get back to the tavern. It was surprising that Aidelas still held his head high, his posture saying that he felt that he was above everyone, either in the slums or not, as if he was someone to be worshiped. In my eyes, he was no Noctis. It must be a high elf thing. As the hours slipped by, the group finally stopped in front of some massive doors that led into a large warehouse. It must be roughly midnight now, as the moon was overhead. I looked around to find a good hiding spot and spotted some crates that were piled up, but were still in visual range of the doors. I pointed towards the crates and Darrius nodded his agreement. We silently ran in a crouching form towards them and then took a knee, watching the Aidelas and his group. Aidelas stepped towards the massive doors that had a chain that glowed red, sealing them shut. With a wave of his hand, the chains stopped glowing, and a guard grabbed the chain and pulled them from the large handles. Another guard pulled on door handles, the doors loudly screeching open. The group entered the building, the guard that opened the door going in last; after he scanned the area to see if they were being watched. As luck would have it, the guard didn¡¯t spot Darrius or I, as hidden as we were. It would be impossible to enter the warehouse through the doors due to the noise it would cause. I looked over to Darrius, and his eyes told me that he knew the same. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the back of the warehouse, there might be a way in,¡± I whispered. We stood up and ran towards the side of the warehouse where there was a barely lit alley that led towards the back. As we neared the building, we could hear the muffled sounds of people talking inside of the warehouse. However, we were in too much of a rush to attempt to listen to what they were saying, and in too much of a rush to look in the shadows to see if we were being watched. *** Entering into the dark alley, we made our way to the back of the warehouse. As we neared the middle of the alley, three dark figures appeared from what seemed like nowhere, as if they stepped out of the shadows that covered the alley. ¡°We meet again little lady, and I see you brought company,¡± a familiar voice said from behind me. You would think that as an assassin, even as low level as I was, that I would have more awareness of my surroundings. ¡°We¡¯ll need for you kind folks to drop your weapons, gear, and hand over any coin that you have if you want to leave our domain intact,¡± the man¡¯s voice informed us. Darrius and I exchanged a look. We both knew that we were surrounded, and it wasn¡¯t looking very good for either of us. I had an idea though, and maybe this could work in our benefit. I turned around and saw the thief that I saw earlier twirling a dagger in his hand, ready to throw it at any sign of hostility. There was also another beside him that was wearing a full leather suit, including a mask and a cloak which head the thief¡¯s looks. From what I could see in the darkness though, the thief that I met earlier had an gleam of amusement to his hazel eyes. I could definitely make this work. ¡°As much as I know you¡¯d like to see me naked, we are on a mission from the Order. I have a counter-proposal though if you¡¯d like to hear it,¡± I said, while trying my hardest not have my nervousness come out through my voice. The thief stopped twirling his dagger and now held it, with the blade and tip pointing towards the ground. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°First, I¡¯m Raven, and my sidekick this evening is Darrius. We need a way into the warehouse without being seen, or heard. I can also make it worth your time to help us.¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± the thief replied. ¡°I know what¡¯s in your coin purse, and I can tell you know that it¡¯s not enough to afford my skills with the lockpick. I do like that amulet that¡¯s around your neck though.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.I shook my head slightly, ¡°I can¡¯t give you the amulet, but I can give you the gold, and a favor that would utilize my particular brand of skills. I might not be in the order, yet, but as I mentioned, I am on a quest for them. An initiation quest.¡± The thief looked over at the other one as they shared a conversation in silence. The both nodded and looked back towards me. ¡°You have a deal Raven¡­ Darrius. By the way, my name¡¯s Iain, and I¡¯ll be your tour guide for the evening.¡± He reached out with his hand for a handshake, which I gladly accepted. For some reason, my gut instinct told me to trust the thief, even if he did steal a few silver from me earlier. A favor given, and a favor owed. At least Darrius and I would not only get out of the alley intact, but also inside of the warehouse. I had no doubts about that. After shaking on our verbal contract, I reached into my coin purse to give the thief his gold, and I saw that it was missing. Looking back at the thief, he was twirling both coins in his hand. ¡°Hmph.¡± He laughed and told us to follow him, the other thieves silently disappearing back into the shadows. They must have extremely high amount of stealth since I wasn¡¯t able to spot them at all. We reached the back of the warehouse which had what looked like a wooden and stone landing area with a set of doors leading into the building. However, Iain didn¡¯t try to pick the locks of the doors, instead, he looked up at a window that were over top a small ledge. He equipped what looked like a set of cat gloves and started climbing the bricks. Hanging from the ledge, he silently shimmied open the windows, making no sound when they opened. He crawled inside, and less than a minute later, a rope was dropped down to us. I suppose we had to climb. ¡°Ladies first,¡± Darrius said with a grin. ¡°Figures,¡± I mumbled under my breath, reaching out to the rope so that I could climb up to the opened window. I started climbing the rope, my feet on the wall as I tried to climb and walk up to the window. Halfway there, the muscles in my hands and arms started screaming at me, obviously not used to this type of exercise. I didn¡¯t give them the relief that they so utterly screamed for though, and as I reached the window, I climbed inside as silent as possible. The room was fairly dark, though I could see enough of the room due to the light that came in from the door. This room seemed like a storage room since there were unopened crates scattered around. As I was inspecting the room, I heard Darrius climb through the window into the room, attempting to be as silent as possible, but not as silent as either Iain or myself. It was too be expected since he wasn¡¯t a rogue. Iain walked closer to me and whispered in my ear before disappearing, ¡°And know my job is done, I¡¯ll keep an eye on you Raven, and I will collect my debt that you owe. We¡¯ll be seeing each other.¡± I looked over to Darrius and nodded, unsheathing my daggers so that I could engage at a moment¡¯s notice. Activating Stealth, I stalked behind Darrius as he started walking towards the door. We could hear a man and woman arguing in a heated debate ahead of us. The room exited to a walkway that overlooked the center of the warehouse. There were wooden steps that lead down to the main floor on our left, and the walkway dead ended to our right a few meters. There was another door that was closed near the end. Darrius crouched behind the handrails so that we could see what was going on so that we could make a plan to kill Aidelas and rescue Coira. ¡°I don¡¯t give two shits what you¡¯re excuse is Aidelas, you will sell my merchandise, or your daughter will die after I flay her skin off of her face,¡± a dwarven female said to Aidelas, who was at least 3 feet taller than the dwarf. Aidelas looked sick as he tried to look away from the dwarf. ¡°But I¡¯ve been trying to push the drugs, even to those disgusting children here in the slums. My daughter has nothing to do with this, please Coira, let her go,¡± he pleaded. Darrius and I shared a look, both of our eyes growing wide with surprise. It seemed that we didn¡¯t need to rescue Coira after all. Instead, she was the one that was in charge of pushing the illegal drugs here in Kinderfell. Darrius made some movements with his hand, obviously looking at his quest and reading the update to it. ¡°What now Darrius,¡± I asked after deactivating Stealth while listening to Coira berating Aidelas for his incompetence. ¡°Looks like I need to get proof of her being the local drug lord and then take her to the guards,¡± he replied softly enough so that only I could hear him. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take them out first then. Kill the guards, then Aidelas. We¡¯ll knock out Coira and tie her up with the rope that Iain left us. After that, we¡¯ll look for the proof.¡± Darrius nodded his acknowledgment of the plan and then we made our way down to the warehouse floor. We were still out of sight, which was good since we wanted to have Darrius aggro everyone at once. I looked at the group and saw their health bars over their heads. It was so much better now that I knew what was what. I wasn¡¯t sure how the UI was fixed, but I was extremely glad for it. Making my way so that I was behind Aidelas and his entourage of guards, but facing Coira, I messaged Darrius that I was ready. He responded that we would be engaging in 5 seconds. I heard the running footsteps before I saw him, and everyone looked over. ¡°A trap Aidelas,¡± Coira asked Aidelas. ¡°Of course not, ready your weapons,¡± he called out, taking out a set of daggers himself. Darrius ran into the middle of them, landing a right hook at the jaw of one of the guards before kicking out at Aidelas, which he evaded. ¡°Aura of Fury!¡± he called out, his aura now glowing red with a small glowing circle that extended out 2 meters. I sighed, knowing what I had to do. Even though it was more like the game I knew before, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to the feeling of guilt I had from before. Encasing my heart in stone, I stalked to the closest guard that was now attacking Darrius who was doing a pretty good job at parrying the blows and counter-attacking. Monks used gloved weapons, and his had small metal protrusions that came out of the knuckles that glimmered, obviously enchanted. I saw that one of the unnamed guards was at 75% health, and I silently casted Assassin¡¯s Mark on him. I sneaked up behind him and whispered ¡°Assassinate,¡± into his ear before slicing his neck open. The familiar scent of iron was grew worse, as blood gushed from his wound, as his health bar reached 0. I saw the damage that I did in the combat log from the corner of my eye: > You performed Advanced Assassinate on Unnamed Guard doing 6,170 damage. > Unnamed Guard has been killed! You are rewarded with 15 experience. ¡°Not bad,¡± I thought to myself before turning towards another guard that was now at 45% health. I casted my Assassin¡¯s Mark on him and performed an Eviscerate which did 1,842 damage according to the log, his health bar dropping to almost nothing. Another hit from Darrius and he died. I was awarded with another 15 experience from the guard. Darrius was doing his job perfectly by keeping aggro on himself, though I was seeing his health dropping steadily. He was currently at 570/950 health, so about 60% of his health was remaining.[60% of player¡¯s health, w/e that is] We made quick work of the remaining guards, and when the last one fell, I silently casted my Assassin¡¯s Mark on Aidelas, and followed it with a cast of Shadow Step. I got a sick feeling in my stomach, as though I was falling. The world went black for less than a second, though it seemed much longer. The world came back into view and I was behind Aidelas who had 7,549 health remaining, which looked like around 75% health according to the text inside of his health bar. I whispered in his ear, as I have done multiple times now, ¡°Assassinate.¡± Just as I finished the word, I saw the aura that was surrounding Darrius flicker from sight. Shit. > You performed Advanced Assassinate on Aidelas doing 5,557 damage. > Aidelas is now poisoned! Aidelas turned towards me, hate in his eyes, as I drew aggro from him. Darrius called out from behind him, still dancing with Coira, purposefully doing a low amount of damage to her. ¡°Two minutes for Aura to come back up, let¡¯s kill off him and lower your DPS against Coira,¡± Darrius calmly said to me, as if this was some sort of game. To him, it was. To me, it was a lesson in pain, which I figured I would be learning a bit more of now. ¡°Penetrating Slash,¡± Aidelas said aloud, his daggers stabbing into my chest, close together, before slashing to my sides and outwards. I screamed in pain as the knives sliced open my stomach, which would have disemboweled me if this wasn¡¯t a game¡¯s avatar. > Aidelas performs Penetrating Slash, causing you 1,854 damage. > You are now bleeding! ¡°Eviscerate,¡± I screamed, unsure if it could be understood. However, I performed the move expertly, my right dagger slicing into Aidelas. He tried to slash at me with his dagger, which I followed it up with Riposte, his dagger sliding against mine as I spun around and stabbed him in the neck with my left dagger. My sight was now turning red as my health fell below 25% from the bleeding damage. I now had 592 health left, and was taking 50 points of damage due to the bleeding from his Penetrating Slash. He attacked me again, but this time I got lucky and I dodged the attack. I was now in a position to to get behind him, which my body seemed to do by instinct. Instead of whispering, I yelled in a mix of pain and anger, ¡°Assassinate!¡± > You dodged an attack from Aidelas! > You performed Advanced Assassinate on Aidelas doing 5,367 damage. > Aidelas has been killed! You are rewarded with 50 experience. I was out of breath, my vision red and blurry with tears. I could feel the stickiness of blood that now ran down my face, neck, hands, stomach and legs, even through the armor. It felt disgusting, and we weren¡¯t even done. My entire body was shaking involuntarily, as what seemed like my adrenalin rush, or rage, started to settle now that Aidelas was dead. However, we were still not done. Seeing me looking at Coira, my knives shaking, Darrius looked shocked. He wasn¡¯t even bothering with Coira anymore, his health still dropping, but not as rapidly. A health potion appeared in his hand. ¡°Raven. Drink this and sit down. I¡¯ll take it from here,¡± he commanded. I looked at him and nodded, after which he tossed the health potion to me. It was a moderate level potion, and it healed me instantly for 2,500 health, the pain immediately disappearing. I was still shaking, the combat still getting to me, and I sat down as I was told. I usually didn¡¯t take explicit instructions like this, but I was in no mood to argue, even agreeing with Darrius¡¯ assessment. I sat down with my knees to my chest, holding my arms around them together and watched Darrius as he performed normal attacks against Coira, her health dropping until it reached 10%. She jumped back and raised her hands in the air. ¡°No more, I don¡¯t want to die like these fools,¡± she exclaimed. Even though she didn¡¯t die, we were both awarded with another 50 experience which gained me another level. ¡°Good, get on your knees and put your hands behind your back,¡± Darrius commanded. I took out the rope and handed it to Darrius when he walked over to me. He gently told me that we needed to talk, and I silently nodded, my tears now dry. He tied Coira¡¯s hands behind her back and asked her where her ledger was that would show that Coira was behind the local drug ring which she provided, which she provided. It was actually behind her on a crate, out in the open. Obviously this was meant to be an easy quest since it was an initiation quest, though it was hardly easy for me now that I could feel everything that happened. I stood up and followed Darrius and Coira as we made our way to the local guard station outside of the slums. I stood outside and let my mind wander, trying to remind myself of the happier times in the game that would lift the burden of tonight¡¯s painful memories, and the shadow of pain that followed them. After he was finished explaining to the guards that Coira was the local mastermind behind the illegal drug ring in Kinderfell, he stepped out of the guard shack and walked up to me. ¡°So, what happened back there Raven, are you okay? I¡¯ve never seen anyone react like that.¡± I wanted to tell him the truth, I really did, but all I could give him was a sad smile and a half-truth. ¡°Its this new equipment I just got. It¡¯s making the Veil quite a bit more realistic than my old gear. I guess it just got to me.¡± He looked at me, trying to see the truth behind my eyes. Maybe you should head back to the inn, log out, and take a break for awhile. I heard it can be pretty stressful with the new gear that came out since everything is more lifelike. I just need to turn in this quest, then I¡¯m going to head out myself too.¡± ¡°Yea, I think I do need a break. Let¡¯s drop the group and I¡¯ll head out. Thanks for the run Darrius.¡± He smiled at me and nodded, as he dropped from the group, disbanding it. I walked to the inn, even though I couldn¡¯t do as he asked and log out, I could at least relax in the bath before I went to the tavern and talked to the agent from the Order. The Guild of Assassins Getting to the inn, I walked inside and was instantly greeted with a snarl from Merzen. I was so tired though that I didn¡¯t even want to trade barbs with him. ¡°Do try not to get blood on the carpet. It is so unseemly to the other guests that actually pay the normal rate,¡± he growled at me as I walked past the counter. ¡°Whatever,¡± I responded, mostly under my breath. I walked up the steps and made my way to my room. Opening the door, I saw a shadow of a man sitting at the table, his back to me. The inn was considered a safe zone, so I knew I wasn¡¯t going to be attacked. ¡°You killed Aidelas,¡± the man said, his voice familiar. It was the agent from the tavern. ¡°I did as you wanted, but now I need a bath. Can we talk after,¡± I asked. ¡°Go ahead, I have all night,¡± he responded smugly. I went to the bathroom and shut the door, making sure to lock it. Even if I couldn¡¯t be attacked, doesn¡¯t mean that he wouldn¡¯t decided to ¡°check in¡± in me. I knew that NPCs wouldn¡¯t do that, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Taking off the belt with my daggers, I then shed the armor I was wearing and inspected it. Instead of it being ¡°Thick Armor¡±, it was now ¡°Thick Armor (Bloody)¡±. I would need to clean it before wearing it again, that was certain. I filled the bathtub with hot, steamy water, and laid down in the water. It went from clear to pink almost immediately as the blood washed away from my skin. I submerged my head for a few seconds, and grabbed a cloth rag and started to scrub, and scrub, and scrubbed. I just couldn¡¯t get the blood off of me as I continued to scrub my entire body raw. Without knowing, my eyes were wet with tears. I didn¡¯t need this, and I sure in the hell didn¡¯t want this. Screaming in frustration, I threw the rag against the wall and it fell down with a wet plop. I covered my face with my hands and started to sob uncontrollably. After an hour of crying to myself, I wiped my face of my tears and got out of the bath, wrapping a towel around myself. Stepping out of the bathroom in just the towel, I went to the large table and sat down across from the agent, who just looked at me, no emotions clouding his eyes. ¡°You are to meet with Grandmaster Tarrokh tomorrow evening in regards to your service. He will have further instructions for you at that time.¡± The agent stood up and left my room, after which, a quest update appeared before me: Quest Name: Assassin¡¯s Initiation Quest Difficulty: Hard Quest Rewards: Initiation into the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. Quest Objective: You have killed Aidelas Laemthius. Now you must meet with Grandmaster Tarrokh to become a new initiate of the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. I swiped away the notification and stood up to go to bathroom where my armor and weapons were. I deposited them in my inventory and then took out my previous equipment. Even though I was operating on somewhat of an autopilot, there was no way I was going to go out on the streets in nothing but a towel. Leaving the inn, I first made my way to drop off my equipment at the Armorer and Weaponsmith shop that I visited earlier and requested that my equipment was cleaned. It ended up costing my 5 silver, and now my funds were running dangerously low, 6 silver left, and I knew exactly what I was going to be doing with it. Silently I worked my way to the tavern while trying to avoid contact with the people that walked the streets. I felt eyes watching me, but at this point, I just couldn¡¯t give a damn. All I wanted was to drown my pathetic self away in drink. Unsure of how long it took me, I found myself looking at the entrance of the tavern and I walked through the doors to my salvation. Entering, I looked across the sparse crowd, giving my thanks that I didn¡¯t see Darrius in the Tavern. He must have already logged out. I walked up to the bar, lifting a finger upwards when Ga¡¯arvn looked up at me. He smiled at me and nodded, knowing exactly what it is that I wanted. Less than a minute later, he walked towards me with drink in hand. ¡°You bring such a wonderful smell into my bar miss, the first one is on the house,¡± he told me, sliding my wine towards me. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I asked. ¡°Ah, forgive me. I know you should never tell a lady that she smells, but you are wearing the perfume of death, which is such an exquisite smell,¡± he said while happily smiling at me. ¡°Um, thanks, I suppose. I appreciate the free round,¡± I responded, a little off-kilter at his morbid remark to me. I took the glass and sat down in the same corner that I met with the agent in. He wasn¡¯t in the tavern tonight, and the table was calling my name. Lazily drinking my fill, I slowly washed away the terror that I experienced earlier as I watched the crowds come and go. People going about their lives, some drinking happily, some drinking remorsefully. I ended my night a few hours later as sunlight was starting to enter the windows. I had four glasses of my usual Rennor Jhinrae, and now I was down to a measly 5 copper to my name. ¡°Perhaps I can survive here, as long as I have the silver to keep the drink flowing,¡± I thought to myself, smiling. I got up from my corner of the bar and stumbled a bit, obviously the Drunk status affecting my balance. It didn¡¯t matter as it would wear off soon though. I left the tavern and walked erratically back to the inn to sleep it off, not even caring about the look that Merzen gave to me as I walked to my room. *** I woke up as night was falling. Perhaps I had too much to drink, I thought as I checked my equipment and meager funds to ensure that everything was there. I also noticed a flashing icon to the upper left of my vision, indicating that I had leveled up after last night. Getting disemboweled must have done more to my mental state than I thought, as I didn¡¯t even notice it. I quickly brought up my stats and found that I had indeed gained another level and was now level 14. I added the two points into strength and agility, and added the spare stat point into dexterity. I swiped the character stats window closed and got myself out of bed, anxious to finish this quest for the Order. After checking myself out to make sure I had everything I needed, I hurried out of the inn to get my equipment from the Armorer and Blacksmith shop, since I had a meeting to get to and a quest to finish. The blacksmith greeted me at the door, his smile fading a bit as he noticed how rushed I was. I suppose he wanted to have a conversation, but places to be, people to meet and all of that. He went to the back of the workshop and retrieved my items which I immediately equipped, the armor sort of morphing from the set that I had on to the one he handed me. The weapon belt though I had to actually remove and replace with my upgraded set. Thanking the blacksmith, I rushed out of the store. Giving the mental command to bring up a map, it appeared before me, almost like it was a paper map that I had to look down at. Without playing with a full, workable interface for what seemed like ages, it filled me with glee when I saw that the objective quest marker was on the map of the city. The quest marker was in the middle of a fairly large area that almost seemed¡­ walled off, I suppose. At least in my mind that is how it seemed with the roads and river that ran past it. The area was labeled as being, ¡°Li¡¯xenen Del Ver¡¯Alamut.¡± An interesting place to be for a group of assassins, located in a garden, which is what the Li¡¯xenen referred to if my translation was working correctly. I assumed the last part was either a title or a name of someone, as it didn¡¯t seem to properly translate in my mind. I made it to the district shortly after midnight, although the interface didn¡¯t show me what my local time, or even GMT time was. Everything else on the UI was working, so I didn¡¯t pay it much mind. The entire district was walled off, the road outside aligned the wall. From the map, it seemed like it was walled off, and now that I saw it for myself, it truly was walled off. The walls themselves a mirror image of the ones that surrounded the city, although they were much smaller. I had the feeling of eyes watching me and my every movement, although no one stopped me from reaching the gates. There was a lone guard to the side, and a lone door behind him. He was standing with his feet apart, his arms relaxed behind him, and even I could see the amount of weapons that he was wearing from here. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he had more that were hidden from sight. He was also wearing a very wicked looking set of leather armor that was dyed with shadow black dye, making it look like black clouds flowing through the armor. There was an blood red emblem over his heart which looked like a bird in the center of an outline of a circle with a dagger behind it, pointing down. I looked down at my own armor, plain and brown with some scuffing and became immediately jealous. I didn¡¯t even think of trying to kill the guard and taking it from him, as he looked like he could kill me without even looking at me as if I was nothing but a gnat to be crushed. It made me anxious to find out what I would be getting myself into, so I walked towards the guard. As I neared the guard, I noticed some details that I had missed at a distance. The guard was noticeably a woman, although she maintained the aura of a very aggressive and dangerous being, even though she was relaxed. Even realizing this, it still didn¡¯t make me feel any safer to be in the same city as her, let alone within arms length. ¡°You¡¯re expected,¡± she said as she slid to the left a bit to allow me to pass her through the door. She made no eye contact with me, and she sounded almost emotionless. It did nothing good of my image of her as a person. This is a person that would kill without any thought. I shuddered at the idea. If I entered this door, would I become like that? An emotionless killing machine, killing whoever and whatever I was told to? My soul wavered, and I had a second thought of joining the Order. To her credit, the guard said nothing, but patiently waited. I looked at her again, and saw that she was looking at me, even though I couldn¡¯t make out her expression, it was completely neutral. I had no choice but to go through the doors and into the Order, the path that I decided on demanded it of me. I could not falter now, without even seeing what lay inside the rabbit hole. If anything, I could always withdraw myself from the Order, although I¡¯m not sure what the consequences would be, since I never joined a guild before, as I was always alone before. I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves and walked forward, the doors opening for me automatically as I got closer to them. I¡¯m not sure if it was some type of magic or if there were people controlling them, but that didn¡¯t matter. What mattered was that I walked through, at peace with my decision. *** I followed the guard in silence, watching her move with a deadly feline grace as she led me through the doors into an extremely large atrium style hall. In the middle, which was open to the elements, was a large rock garden with some plants that spotted the area, large crescent shaped stones that someone could walk on formed a maze of sorts that lead through it. The floor of the open hall which we now walked were made from dark redwood planks, the pillars and the roof were made from shining obsidian. Every few meters was a sliding door made from some wood and paper like material that went elsewhere, the soft glow of light permeated through them. This area reminded me of the old Japanese-style houses that were featured in some of the classic movies that I¡¯ve seen. However, she was leading me to the rear of the atrium which looked like the entrance to a large mansion. Opening the doors, she walked me into the mansion and the butterflies in my stomach starting to flutter even harder. Yet, still I followed her, not knowing what was going to happen next. The foyer of the mansion was elegant with marble flooring and stone statues of the different gods. Two staircases adorned the sides that went to the second level, which my escort led me to. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.¡°Follow in my footsteps, or you will die here,¡± she said softly, her words floating through the air. No longer feeling nervous, fear started to creep into me to replace it. I never really payed much attention to the NPC guilds, but according to the game¡¯s lore, it was said that they trained their followers both ruthlessly and painfully so that they could perform their mission, and if caught, they wouldn¡¯t talk during their interrogation. I paid attention to her footwork as she led me through the hallway to the right wondering what exactly I was getting myself into. At some places, she would glide her feet out, and in others she would take small half steps. Every so often she would also turn her waist and body as if she was moving through small cracks. I followed her exact movements, not wanting to experience any more pain or death. It took us three times as longer than if we walked straight to it, but we finally reached the end of the hallway to another staircase. The entrance to it was a typical stone entrance that you would see in castles, however the stones that formed it were made from the same obsidian stonework that was common throughout the city. At the top of this staircase though was a solid wooden door with the same red emblem that my guard had adorned on her chest, the symbol of the order, however, this one seemed as if it had a dim glow to it. We walked up the steps, and luckily, I still payed attention to how my escort walked up the steps since she was still moving oddly. We finally reached the door and as she reached for the handle to push it open, I heard her whisper in the same faint voice, ¡°Good luck.¡± Walking into the room, it was lit by large, metal sconces with candles in them. To the back of the room, in the center, was a large desk and sitting at it was the same elderly dark elf man that I met at the inn on my first day here, Youssef Tarrokh. Behind him stood two more guards dressed in the same uniform that my escort wore, both looking at me impassively. There was a few chairs and a couch off to my right that surrounded an impressive wooden and stone table. It looked elegant enough to me that I presumed it was for various meetings and clients. To the left was another large table, this one square, that had a large map that laid out on the entire thing with various pins at different locations, though I didn¡¯t pay it too much attention. For now, my attention was centered on the guild-master who was lightly tapping his finger on the desk. ¡°At ease Nulliira, thank you for bringing her here and please stand beside the door to escort her out. Raven, it is good to see you again. I¡¯ve received word that you completed your task for us. I apologize that there wasn¡¯t much of a reward with it, however, it did path the way for you to meet me, so tell me, why do you want to join the Order of the Velg¡¯larn? It is most unusual for a Veil-walker such as yourself to want to join one of our guilds.¡± His words about the guilds caught me off guard, however, it did make sense though. Almost all players either joined a player guild or remained guild-less, and I personally never met anyone in an NPC guild. Typically on the forums, NPC guilds were regarded as trash guilds with no benefit which only new players joined briefly. ¡°Um, sir? I¡¯m a new assassin and I heard that you might be able to provide me with much needed training, and might be able to offer me quests and missions if I joined,¡± I replied, not entirely sure what he wanted me to say. I was never really that good at job interviews, such as this was turning into. Youssef narrowed his eyes as he looked at me and gave just a hint of a frown. Obviously he was not exactly pleased with my answer and I could almost hear the sounds of daggers being unsheathed. I bowed my head to look at the ground as my earlier enthusiasm was wiped cleaned. With everything that happened, it would be just my luck that I couldn¡¯t even join an NPC guild. Who was I to think that I was something greater than anyone else, just because I was trapped in this hellhole of a world? I closed my eyes and awaited for Youssef to determine how painful it was going to be for me to die here. He started tapping on the desk again as he spoke. ¡°Yes, we can offer those things, that is common knowledge, but you can get quests and missions anywhere. I know you Veil-walkers don¡¯t especially need any training due to being blessed by the Divinity System. If your next answer isn¡¯t truthful, I will have Nulliira torture you until I can get the answer, though I¡¯m not sure how well that will work for you Veil-walkers.¡± Frightened at the aspect of being tortured, I looked up at him again and stared at him. Was this the man that helped me at the inn? Not sure how this was going to play out, I was resigned to my fate as I gave him my reply. ¡°Due to, something, I¡¯m not able to travel across the Veil anymore. I am also not like the others since I am now tied to this world, although the I am still able to resurrect. I, well, I just want to learn how to live here now, and since I¡¯m an assassin, I thought I might be able to learn here, since I cannot tell any of the other Veil-walkers about my situation. Please don¡¯t torture me,¡± I ended, tears starting to form. Even I knew that this was a sad sight, being reduced to begging. Youssef¡¯s eyes widened and he smiled. ¡°Raven, please, step forward to the desk.¡± I did as he said and saw that the guards behind him moved their hands to their daggers, obviously wary of me being so close to their master. As I got closer to the desk, Youssef¡¯s form blurred for a moment, and before I could realize it, he had reached over the desk and grabbed my wrist, making my hand lay flat upon it. > You have taken 342 damage from Youssef Tarrokh! I screamed as I felt a sharp pain in my hand and looked down to see a sharp, curved dagger now penetrating through my hand. Youssef angled the dagger again, which caused the blade to further deepen it¡¯s cut and again, I screamed. > You have taken 35 damage from Youssef Tarrokh! My knees buckled since the pain was just too much and I stayed there, kneeling with my hand anchored on the table. Sobbing, I could barely hear Youssef speak. ¡°Interesting. Nulliira, please come forward.¡± I looked up at him, now knowing that I was going to be tortured. What had the Veil-walkers done to him, his guild, that I should be the subject of his vengeance? I shook my head no, trying to plead with him. Nulliira, my escort, walked up beside me, and Youssef gave his order to the assassin. ¡°Place your hand on the table and stab yourself, as I have done to Raven here.¡± Nulliira did as she was told. I looked over at her as she placed her left hand on the table and took out her dagger. In a swift motion, she stabbed herself through her hand. However, unlike me, she stood there and didn¡¯t make a noise. Not even the dagger made a noise as it went into the wooden desk. Removing her hand from the dagger¡¯s hilt, she again stood at ease, her legs about shoulder width apart and her right hand placed on the small of her back. It was as if she was a machine, which I knew that technically, she was. But from everything I¡¯ve seen and heard, the citizen NPCs felt pain just as I did. I could do nothing but look at her, both frightened and in awe, since I was still sobbing from the pain from the dagger. How could she just stand there? Youssef looked down at me, his face hardened like stone. His eyes looked like they started to shine, almost glow, even more. ¡°Is this what you want Raven? To become a brother or sister in the Order, you must be able to endure. Pain is but an illusion. This is just one of the lessons that you will learn here. We kill our targets, in public or in private. We do not kill children. We do the job that must be done, what we are paid to do. We are the shadows that people only whisper about. Do you think you have what it takes to become a true assassin, not just a pretender that the others are? Answer me!¡± I swallowed my fear, my pain, and gave him my answer. ¡°Yes.¡± Youssef pulled his dagger from my hand, wiping my blood off on his pants before re-sheathing it. ¡°Very well. We begin your training tomorrow. Nulliira, please show our initiate to her quarters. You will have a set of Initiate armor and daggers in your room. I suggest you prepare.¡± Youssef sat down as my escort pulled her dagger out of her hand, and in the same motion that the master assassin performed, wiped the blood clean before putting it away. She replied to her order, ¡°At once sir. Raven, follow me to your new quarters.¡± I got up off the floor and received a system notification. ¡°Congratulations, you have completed the Assassin¡¯s Initiation quest. You are now a member of the Order of the Velg¡¯larn. Your rank is initiate.¡± I swiped away the notification and followed Nulliira outside of the guild-master¡¯s office. After closing the door, she stopped and turned around to face me. I could see now that she had red hair underneath her hooded cloak and fiery eyes. Her face was, well, it was beautiful. ¡°That went well! Here is something for the pain,¡± she said as she materialized a small health potion. I accepted the potion and drank it, the pain vanished as the hole in my hand closed. ¡°Let¡¯s get you settled in, tomorrow begins you training.¡± Nulliira led me downstairs and outside of the mansion to the atrium. She walked towards one of the doors and slid it open to reveal a room with a bunk-bed on the right side, and two closets on the left side. On the top bunk, I could see a folded set of armor and two curved daggers. This was obviously where I would be staying for now. ¡°I¡¯m on the bottom, top is yours of course. Your closet is the one on the left,¡± Nulliira informed me as she walked over to her bunk and laid down, immediately falling asleep. I walked over to the bed and as I inspected the armor, I was shocked! It wasn¡¯t as good as player crafted stuff, but for NPC armor, it was off the charts. As a whole, the armor would give me +100 strength, +250 dexterity, +150 agility, +135 vitality, +70 wisdom, and 199 armor. The weapons were just as good with giving me a combined amount of +100 strength, +70 dexterity, +70 agility, and 70-80 weapon damage. I exchanged my equipment and put my previous thick leather armor and bronze daggers in the closet. After I climbed up to my bed I lied down, still not ready for sleep. In my mind, I went over the days events, grimacing at the combat I was involved in, but was overall pleased with how it ended. Before I forgot though, I had 15 stat points and 9 skill points to spend. I spent the stat points that went with my current build, and then brought up the skills I used frequently to level 6. Knowing that tomorrow was going to bring a new day, however long, I reviewed my current character stats before going to sleep: Character Character Name: Raven Occupation: Assassin Guild: Order of the Velg¡¯larn Guild Rank: Initiate Level: 14 (1,148/1,311) Currency: 5c Health: 9,025 Stamina: 19,525 Mana: 6,100 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats Strength: 315 Dexterity: 388 Agility: 353 Vitality: 179 Wisdom: 120 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Weapon Damage: 6,143-6,930 Critical Hit Damage: 6,320-7,107 Critical Hit Chance: 177% Attack Speed: 137% Evade Chance: 39% Armor: 199 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Resists Slashing Damage: 22% Blunt Damage: 17% Piercing Damage: 17% Fire Damage: 17% Cold Damage: 17% Lightning Damage: 17% Disease Damage: 17% Poison Damage: 22% Soul Damage: 12% ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Skills Stealth (Level 6) Backstab (Level 1) Eviscerate (Level 6) Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1) Riposte (Level 6) Garrote (Level 1) Advanced Assassinate (Level 6) Assassin¡¯s Mark (Level 6) Apply Poison (Level 6) Shadow Step (Level 1) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Equipment Chest: Velg¡¯larn Initiate Vest Pants: Velg¡¯larn Initiate Pants Gloves: Velg¡¯larn Initiate Gloves Wrist(Right): Velg¡¯larn Initiate Bracer Wrist(Left): Velg¡¯larn Initiate Bracer Feet: Velg¡¯larn Initiate Boots Cloak: Velg¡¯larn Initiate Hooded Cloak Necklace: Amulet of Noctis Ring(Right): Ring of the Hobgoblin Bracelet(Right): Bracelet of Demonic Power Weapon(Main-hand): Velg¡¯larn Initiate Dagger Weapon(Off-hand): Velg¡¯larn Initiate Dagger *** End of Book 1 ***