《God-Slayers》 Prologue Jake looked through his mail before releasing a sigh as yet another day passed without him getting mail from his ailing uncle. It had been nearly a week since his birthday, and his uncle always sent him some sort of card. He tossed the mail on the counter before taking a seat at his tiny kitchen table to work on homework. He was really starting to be worried about his uncle¡¯s health. His condition had been deteriorating and he¡¯d recently put an extra strain on his college funds in order to put his uncle in the hospital so that he could make sure that he didn¡¯t die from a sudden heart attack like his grandfather had nine years ago. Unlike his crazy father, his uncle had always cared for him. Finishing his homework, he checked the clock to see that it was already past ten. Changing into some nightclothes, he hopped into bed, ready to call it a night. Just as he was dozing off, he was startled awake as the doorbell rang. Looking at the alarm clock, he saw that it was 11 o¡¯clock. Who would be visiting at this hour? Going to the door, he opened it to see his uncle in a wheelchair, a young nurse pushing him around, and two men carrying a box larger than him. Moving out of the way, he quickly invited them in. ¡°Uncle, what are you doing here? You should be resting in the hospital¡± he said, reaching down to give him a hug. ¡°I had to be here to give you my gift.¡± He said, waving his hand at the box, ¡°A Phantastar capsule.¡± He gasped, Phantastar was the VR game that had been released four months ago, ¡°But, those cost thousands of dollars apiece.¡± ¡°I know, but I felt that it would be something that you would like to have, and it was well within my price range.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. As we were talking, the two men who were carrying the box went to the main living area and started setting it up. ¡°What is this for, you should be using your money on treatment, not video games!¡± ¡°Treatment only goes so far. This is for when I can¡¯t continue with treatment. I want you to go in, get the lay of the land, and set something up for me so that when I run out of time, I can simply have my mind transplanted to Phantastar.¡± ¡°So you want me to go in and make sure that you won¡¯t start out with nothing?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, I want to have just a little to start with.¡± ¡°OK, now that you¡¯ve had it delivered, go back to the hospital so that I don¡¯t have to worry about you dying in front of me.¡± ¡°One last thing, before you go, I also have your fathers gift,¡± he said, handing him a game card. ¡°Phantastar Random Promo Pack?¡± ¡°It gives you one of the hundreds of promo packs out there, which can be anything from extra eye colors to additional race options for your character to giving you a unique starting location which can cost anything from a hundred dollars to ten thousand dollars.¡± ¡°Be sure to remember to thank him for me,¡± he said sarcastically, as his father was never particularly generous with his gifts. ¡°Be easier on your father, he never really was the kind of person to have children.¡± ¡°Then why did he have me?¡± ¡°Because he refused to accept that until long after you were born.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve distracted me. You need to get back to the hospital now. I¡¯ll get it set up, you just need to stay alive as long as possible since it¡¯ll probably take me some time to get you completely set up in there.¡± ¡°Oh, alright since you insist, I¡¯ll be going,¡± he said as the nurse helped him wheel out the door, ¡°The two men will leave as soon as everything is set up with the capsule.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I will have everything set up, now go.¡± Just a couple of minutes later, the men left as well. He picked up his father¡¯s gift and inserted the card into one of the slots on the top before lowering himself in and shutting the lid. Character Creation Welcome to Phantastar Character Setup Menu. He blinked as he saw the words scroll across his vision. You have inserted a Random Promo Pack card. Your unique Promo pack is [The Final Hope of the Gods]. This pack has the unique character ability set [Last Scion of the First God]. This pack has the passive ability [Faith in Your Ancestors]. This set has the passive ability [Divine Aura]. This pack gives you the Unique starting point: Ancient Crystal Caverns. This pack gives you the Uncommon ability [A Dime a Dozen]. This pack gives you the Nearly Worthless ability [Money Exchange]. Attention! Your Promo Pack has locked your race as Gray Elf. Attention! Your Promo Pack has locked your Secondary Job class as High Priest of all the Gods. Would you like to choose a Primary Job Class? Yes, he thought at it, annoyed at the lock. Choose a name Nox, he thought, choosing one of his old names Choose your job class After thinking about what he¡¯d read online for a couple of seconds, he eventually decided on the [Battle Mage] job class. Customize your appearance With a bit of consideration, he made himself a tall, 25-year-old dark haired elf with jet black eyes and well-tanned skin. You have 25 attribute points. Please distribute your attribute points Strength: 5, the weight you can carry, 15 lbs per point Vitality: 4, HP and regeneration, 25 HP per point Intelligence: 4, Mana storage, 50 mana per point Wisdom: 5, Mana Regen and efficiency Luck: 0, Chances of getting less common drops, chances of landing a critical hit Speed:2, How quick you can move Agility:1 Your race has granted you a few bonus points He distributed the points mostly evenly, trying to account for everything. Afterward, his stat screen looked like this: Strength: 7 Vitality: 7 Intelligence: 9 Wisdom: 9 Luck: 6 Speed:5 Agility:3 Satisfied with the result, he selected the Finish Character Customization button. Are you sure you want to exit? Yes, he thought at it. Exiting Character Creator in 5¡­ 4¡­Stolen story; please report. 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Welcome to the Ancient Crystal Caverns. Congratulations, you¡¯ve discovered an unmapped location. You received a reward: +1 to Luck. Bring a map of the location to the Cartography Guild for a reward. You¡¯ve received the Unique skill [Creator] from the Unique skill set [Last Scion of the First God]. Skill: [Creator] Type: Unique, Legendary, Divine, Primordial Mana Usage: Varies, dependent on the size and complexity of the object created Description: You have the power of creation literally at your fingertips. With time, you will be able to make whatever you desire. But first, you must master the basic creation of the four basic elements and the complex element of Mind. Note: For you, this is the first step of learning many difficult skills such as Golem Making. It is recommended that you do your best to level it up. You can find masters of each element in most major cities. Earth: 0/100 Water: 0/100 Fire: 0/100 Air: 0/100 Mind: 0/20 You¡¯ve received the unique ability [Summoner of the Gods] from the Unique skill set [Last Scion of the First God]. Ability: [Summoner of the Gods] Type: Unique, Legendary, Divine Description: You can summon gods back into this world as long as you have a temple dedicated to them. Restrictions: Must reach level 25 in the job of High Priest You¡¯ve received the unique passive ability [Faith in Your Ancestors] from the Unique skill set [Last Scion of the First God]. Ability: [Faith in Your Ancestors] Type: Divine, Passive, Unique Description: Your prayers are 3x more likely to get a noticeable response. You¡¯ve received the unique passive ability Divine Aura from the Unique skill set [Last Scion of the First God]. Ability: Divine Aura Type: Divine, Passive Description: Others will be able to detect your divine blood. This will affect their perception of you. This may make it more likely for monsters to target you. You¡¯ve received the common passive ability [A Dime A Dozen]. Ability: [A Dime A Dozen] Type: Common Description: You get an additional silver coin for every 12 enemies you kill You¡¯ve received the Nearly Worthless ability [Money Exchange] Ability: [Money Exchange] Type: Nearly Worthless Description: Allows you to convert 10 copper coins to 1 silver coin and 100 silver coins to 1 gold coin Due to your primary job class, You have received the spell [Fireball (minor)] Spell: [Fireball (minor)] Type: Occupational (Battle Mage) Due to your secondary job, you have received the High Priest skill set You receive the occupational skill [Ordain] Skill: [Ordain] Type: Occupational (High Priest) Description: You can nominate a person to the position of priest of a god Restrictions: Must reach level 15 in the job of High Priest before use You receive the occupational skill [Excommunicate] Skill: [Excommunicate] Type: Occupational (High Priest) Description: You can make someone a direct enemy of the gods. This can mean anything from not receiving their blessings to Kill on Sight orders for all who follow the gods Restrictions: Must reach level 18 in the job of High Priest before use You¡¯ve received the occupational skill [Mass Blessing] Skill: [Mass Blessing] Type: Buff, Occupational (High Priest) Description: A group buff, effect dependant on the size of the group and faith level of the group Restrictions: Must reach level 6 in the job of High Priest before use Congratulations! You are the first person to take the post of High Priest in 5,000 years! You¡¯re a legend! You¡¯ve received the title [His Holiness]. You receive the following bonuses: +2 to Vitality, +3 to Intelligence, +2 to Speed, +100 to Fame, +100% increase in faith points received. All members of any team that you join will receive the equivalent of half of each of your bonuses for the duration of your stay in the group WARNING!!! This is the entrance to a very high-level elite dungeon. It is recommended that you only attempt this area with a group of at least 6 players level 82 or higher. He finally managed to blink the messages away and took a look around. He was underground, as expected, and the cave ceiling and walls were covered in both luminous and nonluminous crystals. From his current position, he could see several offshoots of the main cavern, all of them looking like they would be loaded with loot. He took a step forward, ready to search for the way out, tripped over a rock, smacked his head against the ground, and everything went black. You¡¯ve been knocked out. You will wake up in 5 minutes. Hired Help As his vision returned, he received a notification. Warning: due to uneven terrain, it is not recommended that you explore any mountains, ruins or caves until you have upped your Agility to at least 15 This can be done by using your current Agility, or by using stat points from leveling up ¡°Now it tells me,¡± he said to himself. Crawling around, he discovered that the lack of agility didn¡¯t affect him nearly as much now. Opening the map interface, he found that it was empty except for a compass. You cannot view the map until you have reached level 10. Waving the notification out of the way, he crawled towards the tunnel to the north, as it appeared to have the evenest terrain and an upward slope. Just before he reached it, he got yet another notification. Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill Crawling. Rewards: +10 XP (90 remaining to level 2), +10% crawling speed, +1 agility. Level:1 Thankful for that small blessing, he made it the rest of the way to the north tunnel. Taking a break from crawling in order to let his stamina bar recharge, he noticed a flashing message icon at the very edge of his vision. Willing it to open, a message window appeared, saying: Due to the difficulty of your quest given at such a low level, you have been given a weapon to assist you in its completion. Item: Adamant Dagger of Life Stealing Type: Organic, Divine, Enchanted, Scalable, Soulbound Damage: 13 (3n +10, where n is your current level) Info: This dagger will steal life from any creature equivalent to n/2, where n is the target creature¡¯s level, which must be less than double your level. This dagger will stay with you if you die. Due to the divine material it is made of, it has 24 enchantment slots. 4 of these are already used. 20/24 slots remaining. The space directly in front of him opened up, showing a void-like space, and the dagger fell into his hands, already in a plain-looking sheath. Analyzing it brought up another window. Item: Enchanted Dagger Sheath Info: This basic leather sheath was enchanted so that it would be undamaged by adamant. Figuring that it was enough to get him started, he attached the sheath to his belt, though he kept the dagger out in order to be ready if a mob attacked. Getting up, he made his way along the tunnel, glad for the glowing crystals. After another couple minutes of walking, he reached an area without light and chose to keep going, using the wall for guidance. After the third time he nearly tripped going forward, he scraped his arm on a crystal growing from the wall and got a notification Your arm was scratched by [Dormant Mana Crystal] for 3 damage. You will take 1 bleeding damage every 30 seconds for the next minute. As he read the notification, an idea came to him and he nearly slapped himself for not thinking of it previously. Returning the lighted portion of the caverns, he used the dagger to cut one of the glowing crystals out of the wall. You have found [Mana Crystal (Charged)] Item: Mana Crystal(Charged) Type: Magic, Crafting Material Charge: 56/100 (56%) Information: Can be used for Mana storage and retrieval. He immediately tried it, filling it to the maximum. As it filled, the glow got brighter until it extended about 20 feet. Happy that he now had a light source, he got to work cutting a few other gems from the walls, hoping that he would be able to sell them in a city. He realized he had gotten carried away when he looked at his inventory as he walked back along the tunnel several hours later. 8 x [Small Diamond] 5 x [Small Mana Crystal] 6 x [Small Amethyst] 1 x [Compact Mana Crystal] 2 x [Mythril Ore Chunk] He also got the mining skill up to level 3, which got him a boost to his mining speed. He hadn¡¯t even realized that he had gotten the mythril. Reaching the end of the tunnel, he found it was blocked by what appeared to be centuries worth of overgrowth, which explained why it hadn¡¯t been previously discovered. Cutting through the vines, weeds, roots, brambles and who knew what else proved to be an effortless task for the knife, which was still as sharp as when he began, regardless of all the jewels he had been mining. As he got through the plants, he found himself in a ravine on a mountain. Realizing that it would be painfully obvious that there was a passage there if he didn¡¯t hide it, he turned around, went back and gathered all the plants he had cut up and piled them up over the hole, placing them so that it looked like a bush had managed to grow there. Congratulations! You have unlocked the [Cache Making] Skill. Rewards: +10 XP (20 remaining to level 2), +5% chance that your cache will remain undiscovered. Level:1Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Glad that he could safely leave it alone, he made his way along the ravine, and upon reaching the end, he saw a city that, based on pictures he¡¯d seen, he believed to be the human capital city, Electria. It was about a mile down the mountain slope, within easy walking distance. He was not challenged upon reaching the gate and was just swept in with the crowd of people. Looking around, he realized that he hadn¡¯t even the slightest clue where to find the market where he could sell his goods. Spotting one of the city guards, he approached him, figuring that he would know. ¡°Sir,¡± he called, ¡°Could you direct me to the market?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the guard said, turning towards him, ¡°The market square is down this road, just a quarter mile away. But, should Your Holiness really be traveling without an escort, especially in a place as crowded as the market?¡± ¡°Your Holiness?¡± he asked. ¡°That is your title, right?¡± the guard asked, checking above his head. Checking the settings, he saw that his title was set to display above his head and that it couldn¡¯t be turned off, though it could be switched for High Priest of the Gods, which he did immediately. Checking what would be displayed, he was relieved to see that it had been changed to say High Priest Nox. Leaving his settings screen, he realized that the guard, whose name was Jorgen, was still waiting for an answer to his question. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my title. Why do you think that I need an escort?¡± ¡°The gods have many enemies who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to strike the high priest in order to prevent their return,¡± Jorgen explained. ¡°Would you be able to escort me for the day, then, since I will not have the funds to hire an escort until after I make a visit to the market to sell some goods?¡± ¡°Of course, High Priest Nox.¡± You have entered into a temporary alliance with City Guard Jorgen. He will guard you for the day so long as you hire protection using your money that you make selling goods. You¡¯ve received a quest: Priestly Personal Protection Type: Unique Requirements: Hire an escort to protect you while in this region of the world or until you should reach level 100 Rewards: Protection, the passive ability [Peace of Mind] Accept? Y/N Selecting yes, he said, ¡±It¡¯s a deal.¡± Leading the way toward where the guard indicated, he did his best to acknowledge everyone, knowing that reputation could be increased by the slightest thing in games like this. Reaching the market square, he walked over to a nearby smithy, where a stocky dwarf was working. The guard stopped just inside the door, prepared to defend him. While he waited for the dwarf to finish whatever it was he was working on, he took a look around the shop, hoping for a few good pieces of armor that he could equip with his mage and priest class. The best light armor there was a leather and chain breastplate which was just barely light enough to qualify as such. Item:High Priest''s Spirit Leather Breastplate with True Silver Chain Meshing Type: Divine, Spirit, Organic, Celestial, Crafted, Scalable Quality: Masterwork Durability: 12000/12000 Weight: 6.98 kg Armor: 55 + ((Faith/10) + personal level) Info: Recently repaired by the Dwarven Master Smith Korbin, this chest plate is enhanced by Divine and Celestial magic and imbued with ectoplasm for defense against spirits Requirements: 500 Faith, Elite Magical Class, level 5, 3 Strength, 8 Wisdom Bonuses: Doesn¡¯t impede the casting of divine or celestial magic. +1 Vitality per level, +1 Intelligence per level, +1 Wisdom per level, +1 Agility per level, +? Strength per level, Grouped players get 33.3% of bonus He was so distracted with reading the stats on this armor that he hadn¡¯t realized that the dwarf had finished the stuff that he was working on until he heard a gruff voice right behind him say, ¡°That¡¯s 7000 gold pieces.¡± Jumping, he spun around to find that the dwarf smith had managed to get to 3 feet away without him noticing. Looking at the tag above the dwarf¡¯s head, he saw that the dwarf was the same one thatrepaired the armor. ¡°Master Smith Korbin, I came in to sell some materials that I gathered.¡± ¡°Well, get on with it then.¡± the dwarf said impatiently. ¡°I don¡¯t have all day.¡± Bringing up his inventory screen, he retrieved one each of the diamonds, amethyst, mana crystals and mythril ore. As soon as he brought out the mythril, the dwarf grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him to a back room. Once there, the dwarf calmed down considerably, ¡°Don¡¯t carry things like this in the open! That¡¯s a good way to get yourself mugged!¡± the dwarf said, barring the door, ¡°If you had mentioned how many valuable materials you were carrying, I would have brought you back here to begin with.¡± ¡°I take it mythril is more valuable than I thought?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s worth an easy 200 gold to the ounce!¡± the dwarf exclaimed. ¡°And I have a pound and a half of ore, which when refined will be worth around 4000 gold,¡± he said slowly. ¡°Exactly. And you just took it out in the main area of the shop. I¡¯ll give you 100 gold for each of the diamonds, 75 gold for each of the amethysts, and 150 for each of the mana crystals.¡± ¡°What if I charge the Mana Crystals?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay an extra 20 gold each.¡± ¡°40.¡± ¡°10, but I¡¯ll hold the breastplate you were looking at in the storeroom for two weeks.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a deal,¡± he said, reaching over to charge them. Pulling out the compact Mana crystal, he asked: ¡°How much can I get for this?¡± ¡°500 gold for the compact one.¡± the blacksmith told him. ¡°Say, if you only sell this kind of material to my shop, I¡¯ll give you a permanent 5% discount.¡± Trade agreement: In exchange for only selling smithing materials to Korbin, Korbin has offered a 5% discount on any and all Items for sale in his shop. This agreement will last the duration of one year Do you accept? Y/N Selecting yes, he saw that the dwarf was practically beaming, and got the feeling that he had been played by the NPC. ¡°Can I buy some basic armor so I can defend myself?¡± he asked, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t do you any good if I was ripped to pieces while getting materials.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you some basic iron armor free of charge.¡± Accepting the armor, he thanked the smith before leaving the shop to go and find Goodman Square, an area of the city that the guard had said was where most honest people went when they were looking for employment. Arriving at the square, he only saw two warriors there. Seeing that one of them was a player, he immediately steered himself in that direction, figuring that a player would be more open-minded about a job with high chances of death. As he got closer, he saw that the player¡¯s name was Nychta. He was 6 feet tall and looked to be a light elf, with blonde hair and green eyes. ¡°Hey, Nychta, would you be interested in a job?¡± Looking me over, he replied, ¡°You couldn¡¯t afford to hire me.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Nox asked, taking out out a couple of gold coins. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°I need someone who can guard me indefinitely, paid monthly. How much do you want?¡± ¡°400 gold per month.¡± ¡°250.¡± ¡°375.¡± ¡°300 paid for the next two months in advance, and a 33% share of all loot and experience.¡± ¡°Make it 315 gold a month and it''s a deal.¡± ¡°Done.¡± With a handshake, he transferred the 630 gold. You''ve completed the quest: Priestley Personal Protection. Rewards: [Peace of Mind], a passive ability Ability: [Peace of Mind] Type: Passive Info: You¡¯re sleep is 10% more restful when a guard at least 10 levels above your own is nearby. Last Will and Testament Turning, he scanned the crowd for the guard that he had gotten the quest from. Spotting him in the crowd, he walked over with Nychta following behind. ¡°Jorgen, I got myself some protection.¡± he said, ¡°You can go now. But, first, can you direct me to the largest church in the city.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Jorgen said, giving a long and rather detailed set of directions to follow to get to the church. Two hours later, he finally arrived at the church. The extended amount of time was largely due to it being in the noble section of the city and was held up by the guards at the entrance. Looking at the church, he was impressed with the size of the place, around 50,000 square feet, though it wasn¡¯t in the greatest condition. Entering, he found that despite the condition of the exterior, the interior was extremely clean. ¡°Hey, Nychta, can you help me find the office?¡± he asked, walking along the wall. Nychta followed him, and before long they found the office. As he went to open the door, Nychta stopped him. ¡°The door could be trapped,¡± he said, ¡°As your protector, it is my job to take these risks.¡± ¡°Who traps their own door anyways?¡± he asked. ¡°Someone with something to hide. Or who didn¡¯t anticipate a quick return. Or they could just be paranoid and have access to lots of power. I¡¯d think that the local office of the High Priest would qualify for at least two of those conditions.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right. I still don¡¯t like it though.¡± Nychta moved forward, and got in front of the door with his shield, ¡°Move to the side of the door, about ten feet. Most traps will affect the area directly in front of and beside the trap.¡± After he had moved, Nychta carefully turned the doorknob. When nothing happened, he quickly swung the door open, jumping back. A single fireball shot through the doorway at waist height and was easily blocked by the shield. ¡°That was rather melodramatic,¡± he said, moving forward to look through the door. There was a large array of wands pointed towards the doorway, but when he inspected them, they were all listed simply as [Wand (Uncharged)]. ¡°None of them have any charges left.¡± ¡°Well, It has been a couple thousand years since the last high priest was here. It makes sense that some of the mana would leak and that would eventually result in them being unable to fire. It¡¯s surprising that that one managed to last as long as it did.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. They entered the office and found that, contrary to what he expected, there wasn¡¯t a single speck of dust on any of the surfaces. The desk in the center of the room was completely clear of items with the single exception of a scroll with an intricate wax seal on it. Approaching the desk, he used [Identify] on it. Item: The Last Will and Testament of High Priest Vaylorn Type: Unique, Legal Document Quality: High Durability: 243/250 Weight: 0.14 kg Description: This document states the final wishes of the previous High Priest, Vaylorn, concerning what to do to his possessions if he is found to be dead or missing. It must be opened before a government official currently in good standing, else the contents are legally considered null and void. It is sealed with the seal of the gods, with the symbol of creation on top (a seven-pointed star), destruction on the bottom (an hourglass within a circle), light on the left (a prism with light flowing through it), and dark on the right (A waning crescent moon with a velvety black background). The seal is carried by the High Priest at all times and cannot be removed, even after death, by any but the next High Priest. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll need to find a trustworthy government official so that we can read the scroll,¡± he said. ¡°Will it even be valid after all this time?¡± Nychta asked, ¡°It has been 5,000 years, after all.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Nox said, thinking, ¡°This might not even be the same kingdom as that time. It may have been conquered or have seceded from a larger kingdom since then. However, the description indicated that it is still a valid legal document, so I think that we should obey the instructions.¡± ¡°So we need to find a government official. Who would qualify?¡± ¡°No idea. Is there a general information office somewhere around here?¡± ¡°Perhaps we could use the information building at the entrance to the city,¡± Nychta suggested, ¡°if that doesn¡¯t help, we can always search the forums for more information.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯ll work,¡± he said, storing the scroll in his inventory, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± * * * * * ¡°The highest government official that you can meet without setting up an appointment weeks beforehand is the Minister of History, Korby,¡± the woman at the desk said in response to their question. ¡°What is his job?¡± ¡°Maintaining an accurate record of the city. He mainly just reads all of the weekly reports and cleans them up before filing them,¡± She responded, ¡°No-one really ever has a need to see him unless they have questions considering the distant past.¡± ¡°Then thank you for your help, madam,¡± Nox said, glad that it was that easy to find the information they needed, ¡°Could we trouble you to get directions or even a map to wherever he might be found?¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy to tell you. If you were to head a couple blocks down the main street, you¡¯d find a large library on the left side of the street. He can be found in the Archives, which is in the basement of the library. Simply ask one of the Librarians for directions once you get inside. He only ever leaves to eat, so you can find him there at almost any time of the day.¡± ¡°Thank you again,¡± he said, flipping her a silver coin, before leaving the building in search of the library.