ã€ŠStratus Online: Awakeningã€‹


 Chapter 1

    ¡°You¡¯re going to die in eight seconds!¡± Gaz screamed in my ear. He was right.

    The Minotaur in front of me had broken through my defenses, and all my abilities were on cooldown. Oh, and I was bleeding profusely. Gaz cursed as he continued to pour light magic into my failing body. We were all low, and we didn¡¯t have much time. I pivoted my feet and threw my body to the side as the beast charged, narrowly dodging the rush attack.

    If I could smell in Sakarn Online, I''m sure the Minotaur would have smelled horrible. It was a large, stocky, muscle-bound creature with glowing red eyes. Its matted fur was tangled in thick knots that acted as dense armor. The fur and natural brawn led to a very tanky, hard-hitting boss. It wasn''t the most terrifying monster in Sakarn Online, but my heart was pounding a lot harder than it normally did when I played since no one had killed the Minotaur yet. The stakes were much higher now. For all we knew, we were the first to encounter the boss.

    The haptic sensors on my arms and legs vibrated intensely, and a warning flashed across my HUD. Of all things, in addition to my sundered armor, I sprained my ankle during the fall, and my movement speed was now halved by the debuff. Damn.

    ¡°Less than that,¡± I growled as the Minotaur whirled around to charge again. Gaz tried to draw its attention and attempted to cast something from his bulky tome, raising his glowing mace with the other hand. His dwarven frame was larger with his plate armor, but he was tiny compared to the huge monster we were fighting. The ploy didn¡¯t work, and the Minotaur kept its attention on me.

    One of my cooldowns refreshed, and I castDivine Aegison myself before the beast could hit. It was one of the cheaper spells available to me with my Paladin kit, but the cooldown was two and a half minutes.

    I was low on mana to cast spells, and my health was below the ten percent mark.Divine Aegisgave me a slight armor boost and gave me a small chance to block all damage from attacks for the next ten seconds. I timed it to mitigate the Minotaur¡¯s charge completely and use my remaining stamina to take a large chunk of its health with a critical hit to the head.

    I hefted my great axe and took a swing at the beast as it hit me, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Even with the bonus armor from my ability, I probably wasn¡¯t getting out of this alive.Divine Aegisblocked some of the bleeding leeching my health but didn¡¯t stop the main charge attack. The haptic sensors covering my body buzzed violently before going still, and my screen faded to black as Gaz cursed again.

    A few seconds later, Gaz returned to the public lobby with John and Kirsten. We had failed the encounter for the fourth time this morning and still needed to adjust our strategy. It wasn¡¯t my best attempt, but I wasn¡¯t ready to give up on tanking with my Paladin build just yet. It was my best class, and I didn''t really want to switch it up for a different tanking style.

    ¡°Edwin, come on man. I told you to saveSmitefor the berserker phase. You need to stun it before it stacks attack speed. It¡¯s shredding through your armor, and I can¡¯t keep up with my heals,¡± Gaz grumbled. ¡°The fight is too hard to make mistakes like that; the Minotaur is one bad ass boss and will punish us if we mess things up.¡±

    I wanted to argue that John and Kirsten weren¡¯t doing enough damage, but there was no point starting a fight. It was my fault and I knew it. ¡°Sorry, guys. My head isn¡¯t in it today,¡± I said. It was the truth.

    I had barely gotten any sleep, but we needed to clear this boss before other players found it. Maybe it had some good loot worth some real-world cash. It sure was one hell of an adversary to fight, and if I knew one thing from Sakarn Online, tough enemies dropped good, valuable loot. This was our eighth time fighting the Minotaur, and it still displayed as level??? opponent. The four of us were maxed out in Sakarn Online in almost every class collectively, and this Minotaur was proving more difficult to beat than most of the end-game bosses and dungeons we could clear with ease. The game was our religion, and when we weren¡¯t working to put food on the table, we were playing.

    I was probably playing more than I should be, and even after three years at my crappy job at Burger Planet, things hadn¡¯t improved. The food was greasy and it sucked, but the small burger joint was packed on a daily basis. My boss, a 40-something by the name of Gary, always seemed to be on me and never had anything better to do than snack on the fries in the kitchen and flirt with Rachel, a 19-year-old manipulative tease with long, curly hair who knew Gary would let her coast through her job if she unfastened an extra button on her shirt. Meanwhile, Gary made my life in the kitchen hell and didn¡¯t bother helping me when we were understaffed. Needless to say, I hated my job.

    I sighed and rubbed the skin between my eyes after lifting off my VR headset. ¡°I have to log out guys. I work in thirty minutes.¡±

    ¡°Seriously? Can''t you make one more attempt? We¡¯re close, and the longer it takes, the more likely someone is going to sweep this away from us. Think about the money,¡± Kirsten said.

    She was right. People spent a lot of real-world money in Sakarn online. One of my biggest gripes with the game was that people could replace skill with money. They could bankroll their characters and pimp them out with the best gear in exchange for a fat wad of cash. If the Minotaur dropped some sweet swag, we might be able to sell it for real-world money or find some new piece of equipment to boost our character in one of our classes. My group of friends was great at the game, we each had pretty high-tier gear for a few of our favorite classes, and we didn¡¯t spend any money other than our initial investment in the hardware needed to play. We easily covered our monthly subscriptions with in-game gold, and John was the business guru behind it.

    John noticed a distinct lack of suppliers for certain raw materials used by the cooking profession in Sakarn Online. In fact, one of the best dishes in the game for agility-based DPS, or damage per second, classes used a certain type of salmon from a remote part of the game world that was hard to access. With a large gold loan from the rest of us, he built a processing factory, stocked it with NPCs, and contracted some of the few players that played Sakarn Online for fishing to supply all the raw materials. The end result of the supply chain, after all the shipping logistics were worked out, was a salmon empire that funded each of our subscriptions for life without the need for John to step in and run the business himself.

    We¡¯d tried to set up more automated businesses like this, but since we were so busy actually playing the game and adventuring, someone else usually beat us to the market. In-game businesses like this were often outsourced to China or other countries where player labor and building a warehouse gaming center was cheap.

    Gaz sighed. ¡°Come on, man. You need to find another job. Gary made you work a double shift last night, and he¡¯s having you open today? You didn¡¯t get home until what? Two a.m. and he¡¯s having you come in at eight in the morning the next day. Not cool, man.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, but I have bills, and he¡¯s going to owe me some serious overtime pay,¡± I said, pulling off my VR goggles and setting them on my desk. I did have bills, and they were getting worse.

    I was already in a bad mood from lack of sleep and losing to the Minotaur again, but thinking about my debt soured my mood even further. The stack of late bills was piling up on my entryway table, and I knew I¡¯d be short again this month even withall thebullshit overtime I was putting in. I pulled the chat lobby from my desktop to my phone and walked through my messy apartment to my bedroom where my uniform was waiting. It always smelled like burgers no matter how many times I washed it. I set my phone to speaker mode and laid it on my bed while I changed.

    Gaz continued to press me. ¡°We all have bills, man. Doesn¡¯t mean you should be content with Burger Planet. Sure, you make a mean double galactic burger that can bust any hangover, but Gary promised you assistant manager after your first year. Last I checked,you¡¯re nineteen and still slinging patties. Seriously, come work at the Hut with me.¡±

    ¡°Leave him alone, Gaz. You¡¯re twenty and still work at Pasta Hut,¡± John retorted.

    I couldn¡¯t help but grin. Burger Planet sucked, but at least it wasn¡¯t Pasta Hut. Even though I would have loved to have Tony, the owner of Pasta Hut, as my boss, the stench of garlic followed Gaz around like an aura of death. We were all 19 or 20, and all lived by ourselves on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas.

    ¡°All right, all right. I¡¯m looking for new work, but you know the job market sucks right now. Burger Planet is the best I can do. Unless one of you wealthy high rollers wants to put me up in your apartment so I can play Sakarn Online full-time,¡± I said, laughing. I had tried streaming, but my stream never really took off, and we sure as hell weren''t going to broadcast the Minotaur encounter when it seemed like no other players knew where it was located. We had to be the first to kill it.

    ¡°Not me. I can barely play Sakarn Online with my VR rig in my apartment. It¡¯s certainly not going to accommodate two players, and I don¡¯t want my couch smelling like burger grease or garlic,¡± Kirsten said.

    ¡°Come on, Kirsten. He¡¯d do it for you if you needed a place to stay. I¡¯m sure you could convince him to take a shower. Besides, maybe it¡¯s time you live with a guy again,¡± Gaz crooned.

    ¡°Watch it, Gaz,¡± Kirsten said, her voice cold. I knew Gaz better back off.

    Fortunately, he mustered some brain cells and did the right thing and kept quiet. A few months ago, Kirsten ended a long-term relationship with a jerk named Brad and, so far, she lived on her own and didn¡¯t seem to have any romantic prospects. Sure she was attractive, but I¡¯d been friends with her for so long that I wouldn¡¯t want to blow it on a relationship if things went bad. My core group of friends was my life, and I didn¡¯t know what I¡¯d do without them. Besides, it seemed like John and Kirsten might be forming a romantic connection.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mess with her, Gaz,¡± I warned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fight any of you one-on-one anytime,¡± Gaz boasted. He was an exceptional duelist with almost every class and excelled in player versus player, or PvP, combat. He could even work PvP miracles with a lot of the healing classes he played, and it was never short of astounding.

    ¡°No, thanks. You¡¯ll cheat. I¡¯m off to work. Catch you guys later,¡± I said before cutting the call. I loved taking jabs at Gaz like that and disconnecting before he could respond. It was one of the small things I could do to mess with him on a daily basis for fun.

    I finished getting dressed in my crappy uniform and threw on some deodorant before brushing my teeth. I needed a haircut soon, but Kirsten would do it for me for free if I asked. Grabbing my bagged lunch I made when I came in last night, I threw it in my backpack with my water bottle before exiting my apartment with my bike and locking the door behind me. I lifted the junky two-speed and carried it down the stairwell from the fourth floor before setting it on the pavement and pedaling my way down the street. Over the last 50 years, Dallas had an influx of bicycle users. Now, almost every street in the city has a dedicated double-wide bike lane. My bike sucked, but skipping out on all the costs associated with owning a car kept more pennies in my pocket.

    There was a steady stream of bikers in the complicated traffic pattern converging toward the heart of the city. The first stretch of my ride was fast and downhill, but the middle stretch closer to downtown was always slower before averaging out on the last portion of my commute. Cars honked and moved forward in small, insignificant strides as brake lights flared and glowed red angrily like the Minotaur¡¯s eyes in the early morning light. Damn I was tired.

    The sun was still rising over the distant Dallas skyline. It was just after six a.m. on a Thursday, and I had gotten a grand total of eight hours of sleep this entire week. It was taking its toll on me, and I didn¡¯t know how much longer I could do this, even with gallons of coffee. Either way, something had to give, and I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to give up Sakarn Online. The MMORPG was the only thing keeping me sane; well, that and my friends. I didn¡¯t know what I would do if Gary asked me to work another double or triple shift. I¡¯d probably experience some kind of psychotic breakdown and try to get a job at Pasta Hut¡ªgarlic smell be damned.

    Thankfully, today was my last day at work until Monday, and I planned on catching up on my sleep and finally clearing the stupid Minotaur boss with my friends. Maybe I¡¯d try to play my custom Defender class instead of my Endurance Paladin. Yes, I was a great Paladin, probably the best in Dallas, but maybe the extra armor and resistance to the numerous debuffs the Minotaur inflicted would give us some more leverage if I played my Defender.

    I usually favored the tank classes in games, the big, brawny characters that soaked up all the damage from the enemies while my friends either healed me or focused on damaging our foes. Out of mygroup of friends, I almost always tanked, and Gaz almost always healed. The tank and healer were arguably the most important part of a well-rounded party. Our jobs were essential to keeping everyone alive in fights, and we were responsible for calling the shots. Gaz and I worked well together and had known each other since we were six years old.

    My thoughts were always drifting to Sakarn Online. I thought about it while I flipped burgers, and while I rode my bike, always trying to formulate new strategies and class builds for my character. I was good at zoning out while my sweat dripped onto the sweltering burger griddle.

    Sakarn Online was unique from other MMORPGs in that it let players play every class they wanted and change their attribute points, even character race and appearance, with a Sakarn Scroll. The scrolls were pretty expensive, but they also weren¡¯t too hard to come by, and players got a free scroll every week with their subscription to the game itself. I usually tried not to change classes more than once a week, but Gaz had the habit of cycling through classes and characters builds every few days, often asking us to borrow our additional scrolls when we were far away from some of the major cities and trading hubs of the game world. It was frustrating, but somehow he always paid us back in either scrolls, gold, or his hard-earned dollars from Pasta Hut. Praise be to the Hut.

    I passed through the final traffic light of my journey and pulled into the alleyway of Burger Planet like I always did. I chained my bike to the rusted bike rack behind the dumpsters and the grease bin before walking into the kitchen and putting my backpack with my lunch in my locker.

    Rachel and Gary were in the back, and Rachel was leaning against the counter smiling flirtatiously at the balding man. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my Burger Planet cap from the hook next to the lockers, then pulled on my apron with my name tag before walking over to the sink and washing my hands.

    ¡°Good of you to join us, Edwin. You¡¯re late,¡± Gary said.

    Rachel turned to face me as well, giving me a flat look and smacking her bubble gum which was in clear violation of numerous health code regulations. Of course Gary didn¡¯t care about the bubble gum when her shirt was unbuttoned that far.

    I sighed and tried to remain calm. ¡°I¡¯m two minutes late. There was traffic, and I didn¡¯t get home until two a.m. this morning.¡±

    Gary grimaced. ¡°Yeah. You know what, it¡¯s not that big of a deal. Rachel and I were just having a good conversation, and you can go ahead and get to work while we wrap it up.¡±

    Rachel flashed me a bitchy wink while Gary was facing away from her, and I nodded grudgingly at the man before walking to the prep station, grabbing my worn knife and the huge plastic tub of ¡®fresh¡¯ produce that always seemed to just barely clear the minimal health inspector regulations. It surprised me each and every time when Burger Planet passed health inspector checks, but it was probably because I was actually doing my job and half the people on the small staff were actually competent. I even liked a few of them, just not Rachel or Gary, who I despised.

    ¡°Oh. Edwin. Sorry to do this, but we¡¯re going to need you to close tonight. Ben called in, and he¡¯s sick again. Wouldn¡¯t want him sneezing on the customer¡¯s food now, would we?¡±

    ¡°No, we wouldn¡¯t,¡± I said, struggling to keep my voice level. Ben was Gary¡¯s son, and I had the strong suspicion he was getting paid time off, probably still playing Sakarn Online. He was online when we were fighting the Minotaur, but I supposed that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t sick.

    ¡°So I can head home and catch some sleep after I finish up prep?¡± I asked.

    Gary winced. ¡°No. I need you here. We¡¯re going to be short staffed all around, and you¡¯re going to be cooking all day. I¡¯ll give you overtime, and you can have an hour lunch instead of twenty minutes.¡±

    How generous,I thought bitterly. ¡°Look, Gary. I¡¯ve already worked fifty hours this week before today. You¡¯re going to owe me some serious overtime, and I don¡¯t think I can work from seven a.m. to two a.m.; it¡¯s not physically possible. Can¡¯t you call in someone else?¡±

    ¡°Oh. Didn¡¯t you read the new policy? We¡¯re only paying overtime after sixty hours in the work week now. But the good news is you¡¯ll earn an extra fifty cents an hour for normal work hours,¡± he said, grinning and trying to sell it like it was a good thing. I didn¡¯t know if it was even legal, but I was done putting up with his shit.

    Rachel was smiling now. She never worked overtime and got a raise for it while my paycheck suffered. She sat in the corner doing nothing but flaunt her tits to Gary while I got screwed and did all the work. It was too much. My mind was splitting.

    ¡°You know what, Gary? I think I¡¯m done here. I quit. You can find someone else to cook today, or maybe get Rachel to do something other than let you stare down her shirt,¡± I fumed. ¡°I¡¯ll be by to pick up my last paycheck on Friday.¡±

    I walked over to the locker and grabbed my backpack, throwing my apron and hat onto the floor before storming out into the alley where my bike was waiting. It was clear Gary wasn¡¯t going to try to stop me. We had never gotten along well; he just never had cause to fire me. Since I quit, he wouldn¡¯t have to pay severance now. The door closed behind me and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I was surprised to see a man wearing an expensive custom-tailored gray suit waiting next to my bike. He grinned when he saw me.

    ¡°Are you lost?¡± I asked, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice. I knew how horrible it was to have people channel their inner turmoil on me when the situation wasn¡¯t my fault. This man looked like he worked in some top-level executive suite in the heart of the city. A man like him had no business in the grimy alleyway behind Burger Planet.

    The man shook his head. He was in his late thirties and had short, slicked back hair along with a kind face and black stubble. ¡°No, I¡¯m not lost. Not the ideal place to meet you, Edwin, but my employer has taken an interest in you. I was about to leave a note on your bike, but this works much better. How long do you have before you need to get back to work?¡±

    I moved over to my bike and started unlocking the lock. Something was fishy, and I wanted to get out of here, but I was also curious. ¡°I just quit. How do you know my name?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Oh wow, it¡¯s my lucky day. You¡¯re the EdX-wing on Sakarn Online, right?¡± he asked, emphasizing the ''the'' as if I was some kind of gamer celebrity. I was far from it.

    I nodded hesitantly, slowing down and watching him carefully. My username was a stupid combination of my name and Star Wars I had created when I was in middle school, but I¡¯d been too lazy and cheap to pay the gold to change it. I knew I was well known as one of the influential player versus environment, or PvE, players in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but I didn¡¯t see why a man like this would be interested in me. Maybe he read my blog.

    ¡°We¡¯d like to talk to you about an employment opportunity. Let me tell you, it pays better than flipping patties. I do admit you make a mean Galactic Burger, though. I like mine with extra onion and some mustard and ketchup. I think this establishment fairs we¡ª¡±

    I cut him off. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just sort of quit my job and I¡¯m freaking out about how I¡¯m going to pay my bills. This all seems so random and, no offense, but it¡¯s more than a little sketchy you approached me in an alleyway and you knew where my bike was.¡±

    The man smiled. ¡°Sure. Sure. Where are my manners? My name is Kenneth Struhl. I¡¯m working with a new game startup in the Dallas Incubation program. We¡¯re designing a new game we believe can overtake Sakarn Online and become the world¡¯s new premier VRMMORPG.¡±

    ¡°No offense, Mr. Struhl, but Sakarn Online has almost a billion players now. It¡¯s a worldwide phenomenon and has thousands of fully playable planets that are each entirely unique in terms of content, lore, and everything else in between. You really think a small startup can dethrone the king?¡± I asked.

    He grinned. ¡°I do. What are your plans now? Joining your friend Gazwald at Pasta Hut, working at Burger King or McDonald''s? We haven¡¯t even talked salary.¡±

    ¡°Salary?¡± I asked, trying to ignore the fact that he knew where my friend worked. He was coming off as a bit creepy, but I was bigger than him. As long as he didn''t pull a gun or knife on me or something, I probably wasn''t in physical danger. Besides, I had barely any money in the bank and nothing worth much in my pockets if he tried to mug me.

    He nodded and smiled. ¡°Oh yes, you wouldn¡¯t be paid hourly. We want you full-time. How about I buy you lunch and we talk about it? If you¡¯re not interested after we talk, then I won¡¯t bother you again.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little early for lunch,¡± I said, checking my cheap Casio watch. It wasn¡¯t even seven in the morning yet.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do breakfast, then. Leave your bike here. I¡¯ll bring you back to pick it up later. I¡¯ll drive; I know a good place,¡± he said, leading me out of the alleyway to the small parking lot.

    I followed hesitantly, mostly just to get out of the alleyway in case he tried something. If I were to be mugged, Gary and Rachel wouldn''t come to my aid even if I screamed.

    Kenneth was driving an expensive Tesla, amodel I had never seen. It was matte orange, had sick rims, and looked expensive as hell. It was basically my dream car. Kenneth unlocked the door, and I climbed in after deciding someone who drove a car like this had to at least be semi-legit. I glanced into the window of Burger Planet. Rachel and Gary were both staring with their mouths wide open in disbelief. I smiled coldly and waved to them as Kenneth raced off. I was now very interested in what this man had to say and to learn more about this new game.

 Chapter 2

    Kenneth pulled into the expensive diner in Downtown Dallas. I had never been here, but then again, it wasn¡¯t the sort of place I¡¯d ever visit. Even if I didn''t like what Kenneth had to say, I was in for a nice breakfast and, hopefully, a good cup of coffee.

    A man wearing cargo shorts and a polo working valet took the keys for the car and handed Kenneth a sheet of paper, which he pocketed. We got out of the car, walking into the restaurant where a pleasant-looking woman took us to a table. The interior of the restaurant was lavish and well decorated, and I was feeling self-conscious in my Burger Planet polo and black work pants. There were others in the restaurant staring at me, but they looked away as soon as I made eye contact. Yes, I wished I had brought a change of clothes, but then again, this was the sort of place where people paid 30 dollars a plate for breakfast. It was way out of my price range for breakfast which normally consisted of leftovers from the night before or some Leggo my Eggo waffles doused in cheap syrup.

    The waitress came and took our drink order, then returned with two cappuccinos. I was tired as hell and didn¡¯t mind getting a little fancy with my coffee, especially since I wasn¡¯t paying.

    ¡°So, Edwin. I¡¯d like to tell you a little bit about our game, then maybe give you the opportunity to take a test dive and play it for yourself before you consider my offer.¡±

    ¡°Dive? Is it full immersion?¡± I asked.

    He smiled and nodded. ¡°It is. We have some pretty cutting-edge hardware back at the lab, and we think it will be the next big thing in gaming.¡±

    ¡°Some other companies have already tried full immersion VR,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s too costly for your target market. Assuming you¡¯re going for the same group of customers as Sakarn Online, a lot of players won¡¯t be able to afford the tech unless you can make it way more affordable. I myself could barely afford to build a junker PC and buy the haptic VR gear to run Sakarn Online, even with the advertising I earn on my blog.¡±

    My blog only made about $300 dollars a month from the advertisements I ran alongside the content I wrote on a weekly basis. Class guides, my current class builds, what I was testing, and things like that. I had fun writing it, so I almost never minded putting time into the project.

    ¡°You¡¯re not the first person to bring that up, and we managed to alleviate the concerns of some very wealthy, influential investors. We¡¯re still a couple years away from launching the game, but we want to do our initial launch with standard VR rig support. The game will be playable through the new full immersion tech we¡¯ve developed, but will also have full legacy support for older VR equipment while we continue to develop lower cost full immersion tech with fewer features than the premier version.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s a good answer, but how does your game differentiate itself from others on the market? Especially Sakarn Online. If it feels like a cheap clone, people aren¡¯t going to want to play.¡±

    He smiled. ¡°It¡¯s completely different. I think you will appreciate the character development, combat, and the world itself. We¡¯ve built our game from the ground up, and the AI running the game is impeccable. What we¡¯re looking for is to hire full-time game testers to stay with us on site at the lab and spend up to a year play testing Stratus Online. Of course, before we get you in-game, you¡¯re going to need to sign some standard NDA agreements to protect the confidentiality of our project.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been playing Sakarn Online since I was nine years old, and a lot of the game¡¯s community has a similar story. People who play Sakarn stick with Sakarn,¡± I said. ¡°While I have my doubts your company can compete, I¡¯m still interested in hearing about your game and perhaps testing it. Let¡¯s talk financials, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Kenneth said, taking a sip from his cappuccino. ¡°I¡¯m only going to tell you what¡¯s guaranteed. We can offer you a starting salary of seventy k per year. We¡¯ll hire you for up to one year, depending on your fit with the game and how you fare, and you¡¯ll be eligible to earn certain one-time bonuses along the way for meeting certain objectives.¡±

    I almost choked on my coffee at the figure. I made a little over minimum wage at Burger Planet, and this was more money than I expected to make for a very long time. ¡°You¡¯re aware I don¡¯t have a college degree, right?¡± I asked.

    He nodded. ¡°That¡¯s not an issue. We¡¯re interested in people passionate about games, and from what we¡¯ve seen from your blog and watching your progress in Sakarn Online, we think you¡¯d be a great fit.¡±

    The waitress took our breakfast order and returned to the kitchen. I folded my hands across the table, trying to remain calm. It seemed too good to be true. ¡°What if I think your game sucks?¡± I asked.

    Kenneth laughed. ¡°We¡¯re looking for honest feedback on the game from our playtesters. We genuinely want to make our game better, so we expect you to be honest and transparent as you play. If it sucks, we want you to let us know. It won¡¯t impact how much you¡¯re paid for the work you do. That being said, we¡¯re looking for a diverse cast of playtesters from all over the world. Being Texans ourselves, we want to stay true to our Dallas heritage and include a few testers from our home city in the program. You¡¯re one of the more influential PVE players in Sakarn Online in the Dallas Fort Worth area, so my company sent me to talk to you.¡±

    ¡°This sounds great and all, but I¡¯d really like to try your game before I commit. When could play it, and how soon could I start with the paid play tester position?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You can play today. We can leave right after breakfast,¡± Kenneth said.

    I was eager to play, but wanted to be sure I wasn''t going to be led to some dump of a building and have my organs harvested. ¡°Where is your company located?¡±

    Kenneth took a sip of his cappuccino. ¡°We''re in the heart of downtown in a skyrise on Main, not some shoddy building on the outskirts or anything. I assure you we''re a legitimate company.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± I was eager to play, and I¡¯d know very quickly whether this was a bogus offer or not once we got to the building. Words were exciting, but the proof was in the pudding. The pudding being Stratus Online. There hadn¡¯t been any developments in full immersion virtual reality, also known as FIVR, because it was expensive, and the versions of the tech released to the public had been more than a little uncomfortable. I was excited to see what this company was building and even more excited by the prospect that I could be making some sweet cash while gaming.

    The waitress returned with our food, and we ate. I settled on some blueberry pancakes and, surprisingly, they were better than the kind my mom used to make. There was something delicious about blueberry pancakes, and they remained one of my favorite breakfast foods of all time. Kenneth had eggs benedict.

    After we finished eating, I thanked Kenneth for breakfast and we retrieved the sleek Tesla from valet. As it turned out, we weren¡¯t far from Stratus Labs, the company working on Stratus Online.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there. We¡¯ll get you settled with our legal team, and you can start playing Stratus Online today in a test dive. You¡¯re going to love it,¡± Kenneth said, grinning. He revved the almost silent engine.

 Chapter 3

    On the short drive over, I Googled the company and didn¡¯t find much at all. No announcements about the game, nothing about the company other than the address in Dallas, and they didn¡¯t even have a website. It wasn¡¯t a good start, and things were starting to feel fishy. Kenneth pulled the car into a dark parking garage attached to a tall building in Downtown Dallas. He parked his car in front of a spot with a sign that read: ¡®Stratus Labs parking¡¯ before turning off the car. We walked over to an elevator, and it took us up to the 40<sup>th</sup> floor of the building after Kenneth punched in a pin number on the elevator button panel. The doors opened to reveal a sleek office with a modern design.

    There was an attractive secretary at the front desk, and she smiled at us as we walked in, welcoming Kenneth and me. There was a fancy Stratus Labs sign with the company logo behind her mounted on the wall and illuminated by bright orange light. Kenneth led me past her desk through one of the two glass doors behind her to a hallway. It looked like this company was leasing the entire floor, which wasn¡¯t cheap real estate, especially considering the location.

    ¡°So, how long have you been in this building?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s our second year leasing this floor, but we¡¯re considering buying the entire building. You¡¯ll see why we¡¯re interested in a second,¡± he said.

    There were multiple doors along the hallway, but all of them seemed to be closed. I hadn¡¯t seen anyone else since we¡¯d walked through the front door, and it was unusually quiet aside from the rush of cold air from the vents overhead. ¡°How many employees work with Stratus Labs?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to need to sign the NDA before I disclose more information on the company and the game, I¡¯m afraid. Between you and me, Mr. Anderson, our CEO is a little paranoid when it comes to others learning about what we¡¯re doing here and with good reason. We¡¯re developing some pretty cutting-edge stuff, and it¡¯s going to take the market by storm.¡±

    We kept walking, and I wondered if I¡¯d see anyone else. It seemed like if this game was as great as Kenneth said it was, there would be a lot more people here. It was bugging me. Kenneth knocked on a door and opened it. The office was huge, and a nameplate on the front of a desk read ¡®Jerry Anderson, CEO.¡¯ The man behind the desk looked to be in his fifties and was also wearing an expensive suit. He had a friendly smile under a black goatee and medium-length gray hair slicked back with gel. His desk surface was a holo projector, and he pressed a button on the side to conceal whatever he¡¯d been working on to display the Stratus Labs logo instead.

    ¡°You must be Edwin Morris,¡± the man said. ¡°I¡¯m Jerry Anderson, but you can just call me Jerry. Did you have breakfast? Can I get you anything?¡± he asked me.

    ¡°Hi Jerry, it¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± I said, shaking the man¡¯s hand. I liked him already; I wasn¡¯t getting any weird vibes, and his office was beyond impressive. The view from the extra wide windows behind him was staggering. I could see almost the entire city from this floor, and it was beautiful. ¡°No sir, Kenneth just took me to breakfast, and we talked a little about your game and what you¡¯re interested in having me do,¡± I said.

    ¡°Good man!¡± Jerry exclaimed, winking at Kenneth. Kenneth Struhl nodded to Jerry. ¡°Kenneth, I¡¯ll call if I need anything. Thank you for bringing Edwin in.¡±

    Kenneth smiled, patted my shoulder, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

    ¡°Now, I want you to play our game today, but you¡¯re going to need to sign an NDA first. Boilerplate stuff, really.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m looking forward to playing. Are you planning on making me an offer for employment today if I¡¯m interested after my play test?¡±

    Jerry looked amused. ¡°Straight to the point. I like it. Yes, we are. We want to make sure you¡¯d be a good fit, and we¡¯ll have a pretty good idea after your initial test. If it goes well, we¡¯re prepared to make you an offer today. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have a nice one-time bonus for you and send you on your way. I don¡¯t know how much Kenneth told you, but we¡¯re looking to assemble a diverse cast of team leaders for our testing period, and you fit the bill. You¡¯re one of the first we¡¯ve had for an initial play test because you¡¯re so close to home.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Team leader?¡± I asked.

    He smiled again, punching in his passcode and opening the holo projector on his desk. He pulled up the NDA agreement and slid it across the screen toward me. ¡°Please take a few minutes and read it over. It¡¯s basically just an agreement that you won¡¯t disclose anything about our game, company, or any of our assets to anyone until our official launch or the start of an open beta testing period.¡±

    I flipped through the pages, reading quickly then signing my name digitally at the end of the document. I hit the green check mark in the corner and it disappeared.

    ¡°Great. Now we can get you playing. I want you to play first, then we can talk. It will be a lot easier to explain after you¡¯ve seen what we have to offer. From your blog, I can tell you normally like to play tank class characters. Would you prefer to test with a tank class today?¡± he asked.

    I nodded. ¡°Thanks for reading my blog,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d love to test out one of your tank classes.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I want you to play the core game mode first. It¡¯s the standard experience that we expect seventy-five percent of our player base to play first. It will probably have the most players at any given time.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the other game mode?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hardcore. You¡¯ll be able to try your hand at it should you so choose, but it¡¯s an entirely different game. We¡¯ll stick to the core game mode for now,¡± he said, laughing lightly.

    I was interested. Sakarn Online did have a hard mode in certain dungeons and raids that allowed players to push their groups to the limit. Only the best geared, most experienced players did well on these difficult counters, and I was proud to say my group of friends and I were among them.

    ¡°Great. When can I get started?¡± I asked, eager to jump in.

    ¡°Now,¡± he said. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Jerry stood from his desk and led me out of his office through the hallway we¡¯d been in before. This place was strangely empty, and it was really bothering me. It was a Thursday, and it seemed like the place should be on full blast. I decided to ask about it.

    ¡°How many employees do you have working here?¡±

    ¡°Just over fifty. Our developer team is in a meeting right now, I believe. I assure you we aren¡¯t a ghost ship. Aside from Kenneth, my personal assistant, office manager, and a few executives, the remaining forty-three employees are all developers for the game,¡± he said. ¡°All the engineering and hardware development is outsourced in China.¡±

    We continued walking and passed a large windowed wall where a lot of people were sitting at a table discussing something. It explained why the office had looked so empty.

    Finally, we came to a small room labeled ¡®Room 1¡¯ and entered. There was a fancy chair in the center wired to the floor, and a counter with a small desktop computer and a rolling chair for a technician or someone else. It was way too simple. ¡°No haptic gear?¡± I asked.

    Jerry shook his head, walking over to the desktop and powering it on. ¡°No. You don¡¯t need it with FIVR. The headset we use simulates everything, and a few sensory augmentations handle the rest. It will look, feel, and seem like your body is physically in the world of Stratus Online, and you can modify the sensitivity perimeters of your game experience from your in-game user interface. I¡¯m sure it will all be very intuitive to you.¡±

    ¡°And my starting class and location? Are you starting me off as a level one player?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to start you a little past the beginning areas of the game. Normally, players will build their classes themselves, but we¡¯re going to give you a pre-made for your demo. You¡¯ll be able to go through the full customization process if you sign to work for us after you play.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha. So how does this work?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Just take a seat. I¡¯m just getting your demo setup. Do you need to use the restroom? You can play for as long as you want up to eight hours at a time, but we expect most players to take regular breaks to use the restroom, eat, and perform other parts of life that can¡¯t be avoided. We¡¯re working out a system to accommodate these needs, but the game world is a very real, living thing that can¡¯t be paused. You¡¯ll see what I¡¯m talking about when you play.¡±

    I sat in the chair and waited while Jerry continued to type on the keyboard in front of him. I couldn¡¯t see his screen, so I relaxed and calmed my breathing. I was nervous, but I was also excited to try out FIVR. I really wished I could tell my friends all about the experience, but with the NDA, it was impossible.

    ¡°All right, Edwin. Here we go,¡± he said as a helmet descended from the ceiling. It was attached to cables and a mechanical servo that lowered the helmet. I placed it over my head, and the chin strap latched closed automatically. A visor descended to cover my face, and vents on the side of the helmet opened to make it easy for me to breathe.

    ¡°Just close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You¡¯ll be in the game in no time.¡±

 Stratus Online: Awakening Summary + Stratus Online: Godsworn

    Stratus Online: Awakening Summary

    Only read if you don''t plan on reading book 1 or want to freshen up before reading chapters from the second book which will be uploaded here. for the best reading experience, please purchase the full professionally edited book on Amazon (link above).

    Edwin Morris is a 19-year-old living on his own in Dallas. He, along with the rest of his friends have been playing Sakarn online, a premium VRMMO almost their entire lives. All while trying to take his game to the next level and earn a living following his passion, Edwin''s job at Burger Planet is getting worse than ever, and he''s finally pushed over the edge and quits.

    The same day, a man named Kenneth Struhl approaches him and offers the opportunity to test a new game called Stratus Online with the potential for a great job after a year-long testing competition in Dallas consisting of professional gamers, streamers, and other influential people. Edwin and his friends John, Gaz, and Kirsten test the game, fall in love and sign up for the competition.

    With no information going into the game, the team builds their characters and jump into the world in what seems like a remote location. Soon after, they discover a small village where a traveling goblin merchant mage named Clarence is having trouble with the locals. The group helps Clarence andbefriends him. The group soon discovers something is wrong with the village and some sort of beast has been terrorizing the livestock and demanding blood offerings in exchange for peace. Content on taking the only quest that seems to be available in the area, the group soon discovers they were in way over their heads when the giant construct they find in the woods begins killing the NPCs in one hit. Clarence appears after suspecting something was off and helps Edwin and his friends fight and defeat the giant construct.

    The construct was guarding what appeared to be some kind of ancient tower or crypt, and the group finds a set of magical, heavy armor that they''re unable to identify. Kirsten, the mage of the group, is able to discern the name ''Ectos'' from the armor, and Clarence reveals that it is the name of one of the seven gods of Stratus who hasn''t been seen on the continent of Thrael in hundreds of years. Clarence is also able to determine that the construct they fought was a Titanspawn: a creation of dark, Titanic magic of the Titans which are the sworn enemies of the Gods.

    After their play session for the day, the CEO of Stratus Labs tells all the players in Edwin''s branch of the competition that Jason, one of the other competitors, defected to the Titan-aligned faction after killing all of his former teammates. After speaking with one of Jason''s former teammates, Edwin becomes worries that Jason is after them and the new armor they found.

    Clarence tasks Edwin and his friends to help him return the armor of Ectos to one of the God''s shrines which is about 100 miles away. Monica, the developer assigned to Edwin''s group has been dropping cryptic hints that something is wrong at Stratus Labs and with Jason. With information about Jason from Monica, Edwin becomes increasingly paranoid and wants to look for a way to keep Jason from tracking them in-game. Clarence suggests they visit Boom-Boom, a friend of his in the Westguard Township that can create anti-enchantments to block the tracking ability. When the group is in the town, Jason appears with two massive Titanspawns and decimates the city. Edwin and hisfriends narrowly escape the city in Clarence''s wagon.

    When logging out of the game, Monica informs them that there has been a security breach and that armed men are coming up the building to infiltrate Stratus Labs. All of the competitors and staff from Stratus Labs are moved to a safe room to wait it out. While in the safe room, Jason approaches and holds Edwin at knife-point where no one can see what he is doing. Edwin reveals that his group is on the way to the shrine of Ectos. Jason stabs Edwin and leaves him bleeding on the floor. When Edwin''s friends manage to bring the CEO and armed guards into the smaller room isolated from everything else, there is no blood, and no stab wound from Jason''s knife even though all of Edwin''s friends saw what happened.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Edwin confronts Monica about it, but she remains cryptic and doesn''t give information. Having no choice but to continue and try to return the armor to Ectos, Edwin decides to wear the armor and practice with it because he knows Jason is coming for them. Clarence is under the impression that if Edwin wears the armor, he will die as it isn''t meant for mortals.

    Edwin learns some of the powers associated with the armor but falls unconscious. When he wakes up, he sees his friends are under attack by a party of bandits that were camping on a nearby hilltop out of sight. Edwin helps his friends defeat the bandits and their leader. Right when the fight is ending, Jason appears on a nearby hill with both of his massive Titanspawns.

    Edwin is somehow pulled into a separate instance of the game where Jason reveals he, Edwin, and everyone else in the competition are AI clones of themselves, and once they know the truth, they can''t leave the game. It explains how Jason was able to stab Edwin in what seemed to be the real-world and get away with it. Edwin tries to leave but finds he can''t log out. As soon as he returns to the game world with his friends, game time is paused for him and he receives a letter from Stratus Labs about his situation. If he plays and beats the game in a year he can return to the real worldand re-merge with his actual self. His friends don''t know the truth, and he decides to get through the fight with Jason without telling them.

    The fight with Jason is long and hard, and Edwin and all his friends almost die. Jason Kills Clarence before he is killed himself. Death for players like Jason isn''t permanent, and Edwin knows he will be back seeking revenge. Taking Clarence and the armor of Ectos to the shrine, Ectos appears and thanks the group. They are rewarded for the core crystal the armor contained, and Edwin is given a token to learn a legendary class and gets to keep the armor, though it isn''t as powerful as before. Before Ectos can leave, Kirsten stops him and demands he brings Clarence back to life.

    Ectos explains that in order to do so, Kirsten would have to become Godsworn to him, completing a favor of his choosing when he calls on her. Failure to complete the favor within the allotted time will result in permanent death. Edwin tried to warn her that they are AI clones and that permanent death could actually be permanent now but is stopped by the Storyweaver AI, the entity pulling the strings. Kirsten accepts without knowing the truth and becomes Godsworn to Ectos in exchange for Clarence''s life.

    Ectos tasks Edwin and his friends with traveling to Brigstone to talk with the priests in the temples of the Gods of Stratus. Ectos wants Edwin and his friends to recover core crystals, the powerful sources of energy from the Otherworld Realms where the Gods and Titans live. The Gods and Titans have been at war for hundreds of years, but the people of Stratus still think the Gods are in the middle of their own civil war amongst one another. Ectos explains that the core crystals can help swing the war in the favor of the Gods and can help them prevent the Titans from breaching and destroying the Otherworld Realms and the planet of Stratus itself.

    Soon after, Edwin''s friends learn the horrible truth about their existence within Stratus Online and commit to beating the game to reclaim their lives. Monica sends Edwin a player message, and it seems as though she is also an AI clone like Edwin and the rest of their friends and not only in the real-world (or what they believed was real). Monica asks for their help since she only has seven more months to beat the game and gives a location where they can meet up. It''s the same city Ectos was sending them to advance in their end-game objectives to aid the Gods of Stratus.

    Edwin accepts his legendary class and becomes a Warpguard and book one ends with the group heading to Brigstone to meet with Monica and find the Temple of Ectos for more information on how and where to recover Core Crystals to aid the Gods. The true gravity of their situation hasn''t quite hit home yet, but they''re all set on beating the game and recovering their real lives for the time being.

    Stratus Online: Godsworn

    Chapters of book two, Stratus Online: Godsworn are coming to RRL soon and will be updated directly in this book so stay tuned!

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 1

    A gentle clash of metal on metal woke me from my light sleep. Other sensations began flooding in. The sliver of light from the covered window of Clarence¡¯s wagon. The aroma of coffee. I rubbed my eyes and started the process of waking up.

    The first night after realizing we were nothing more than AI clones was the worst. Sleep should have been comforting, and it was, but waking up in Stratus solidified everything. It was real and terrifying now. Each day that past marked one day less to escape Stratus Online and slightly more reassurance that this wasn¡¯t a sick prank by Stratus Labs. Jerry and his company were actually content with creating and trapping sentient AI clones for personal gain. I shivered at the thought and threw off my blanket, pushing myself out of bed and walked out of Clarence¡¯s newly upgraded wagon.

    Clarence was stirring a copper cauldron of coffee over an open flame, and he was still wearing his pajamas. No matter what time it was, Clarence was always well dressed. Now, he wore orange silk pajamas in the same style as his suit, though he wasn¡¯t currently wearing a tie.We were camped in a nice clearing in a field. After a week of travel, Thrael had become more mild, and things weren¡¯t so dry and the grass was mostly green along the lonely road we traveled. Large shady trees blanketed most of the morning¡¯s sunlight and kept Clarence¡¯s wagon in the shade.

    ¡°Good morning, Edwin!¡± the fancy goblin declared as I emerged. With a little bit of magic and hardware, Clarence¡¯s wagon could expand to three times its size, and when fully expanded the wagon actually had functioning bedrooms for the whole party. Clarence had spent the better part of a day modifying his wagon with the help of Kirsten who was quickly honing her arcane magic and artificing craft under his expert guidance.

    I stretched my arms back and yawning. At least I had decent clothes and shoes now. I couldn¡¯t stand wearing the heavy armor suit when we were traveling, but it also meant I was less prepared for an ambush while we were traveling, not that I could actually play my class regardless of wearing the mystery armor or not. I couldn¡¯t even see the attributes the suit of armor was giving me and I had the strange suspicion the attributes were actually changing randomly on their own, and not always for the better. Wearing the armor made me feel different each time, and it was altering physical and mental attributes of my being. That, or there were bugs in the fundamental code supporting me as an individual. None of my friends experienced any of the same feelings though, so I chalked it up to the armor. ¡°Morning, Clarence. I¡¯m the first one up?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but fortunately for you, the coffee is almost done and you''ll have first grabs. I¡¯m so glad Ectos gave us some extra gold to buy coffee, it¡¯s one of those things that makes life on the road a lot easier. Even after the upgrades to the wagon, new clothes for everyone, and of course the repairs and retailoring of my prized suit, we''re still holding over seven hundred gold.¡±

    ¡°We seem to be doing quite well financially. I drank a lot of coffee back on Earth as well and it''s really good to have it again. I didn''t realize how much I missed it until it was gone,¡± I responded, taking a seat by the fire as the goblin continued honing his caffeinated creation. Over the past week, we had explained a lot more about Earth to Clarence, and it seemed he had a working understanding of how things on our planet were for us. He knew Stratus wasn¡¯t our real home and wanted to work with us on our quest from Ectos. Conveniently, Clarence¡¯s former mentor, Palghar had specifically mentioned ancient magical artifacts that would likely call dangerous deep dungeons their home, the same places core crystals would be hiding. Clarence had every intention of recovering some of these artifacts for himself while also gathering core crystals for Ectos so Stratus wouldn¡¯t be destroyed by the Titans. It was a win-win.

    Green magic flared between Clarence¡¯s fingers, twisting and weaving into a vibrant green vine that snaked down into the ground. With his other hand, Clarence poured some water onto the budding plant as it nestled itself in the rich soil. The vine drank the water greedily and sprouted a budding bulb which rapidly grew and flourished in waves of prismatic color, shifting from green to orange. The bulb took shape into a pumpkin and Clarence set the waterskin down. Using arcane magic, Clarence sliced the pumpkin and extracted some of the gooey interior, dropping the glob of freshly grown pumpkin goop into the boiling coffee, seeds and all. Finally, Clarence mixed in several sticks of cinnamon from a jar in one of his supply crates and finalized his creation. The final product was essentially the equivalent of a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, but much better.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Clarence took a deep breath right above the coffee cauldron, obviously pleased with himself. ¡°Nature magic still feels weird, but I think the Grow: Fruit spell is well worth the effort.¡±

    ¡°You do make the best coffee I¡¯ve ever had,¡± I agreed. ¡°And you¡¯re sure learning that spell doesn¡¯t affect your ability to learn more arcane magic?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Pretty sure, yeah. Obviously it takes time to learn new things, but I find I learn new spells in different schools a lot easier since I¡¯m so good with arcane magic. I can learn low-level spells in only a few minutes and don¡¯t have to waste a lot of time on practice or buy spellbooks.¡±

    As far as my friends and I could tell, Clarence was bound to the same game rules we were, and despite not being able to see or access his character sheet, he was learning new abilities and was quite powerful already. He was a great friend and a tremendous asset as a teammate.

    ¡°I¡¯m still trying to learn how to use my new abilities, it¡¯s so complicated,¡± I grumbled as Clarence poured me a mug of coffee from a hefty ladle. The town we stopped in a few days ago didn¡¯t have cream or sugar, but with the cinnamon and pumpkin added in, the coffee was actually quite good by itself.

    ¡°We¡¯ll keep working on it,¡± Clarence agreed. ¡°From what you¡¯ve told me about your abilities, you seem to need to balance your stance in addition to managing your astral power. I also think you need to train and upgrade your abilities. Kirsten seems to think you¡¯re holding yourself back and refusing to learn.¡±

    In a way, he was right. I still hadn¡¯t spent any of my character points, and I was terrified of messing my build up from the start. I had no idea what the max level in Stratus Online was, but I figured if I just kept playing how I had been, everything would be okay. I had never been more wrong in my life.

    I didn¡¯t have the resources to use my new spells and abilities, and I constantly found myself juggling dissonance and resonance incorrectly, feeling the intense sensation of vertigo and car sickness when quickly shifting from heavily aligned to one phase to the other. It was a part of piloting my class, but it still didn¡¯t click for me and felt about as natural as riding a bike backward. On paper, Warpguard looked like it would grow a lot stronger as I leveled, but I had no idea how to actually build the class and didn¡¯t know what kinds of spells and abilities I was missing and had yet to learn. There could have been something crucial I was missing from my starter kit that would render me useless later if I didn¡¯t have points to spend on upgrading it right when I learned it.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I need to upgrade my abilities soon.¡±

    Clarence was deeply rooted in the world, and he didn¡¯t have a user interface or seem to understand how the stats and the math behind ability modifiers worked when we tried to talk to him about it. He did seem to think that training was the equivalent of character points though. Perhaps all of his points were invested automatically as he lived his life. I envied his comfort and acceptance of Stratus. I wished I could accept my new life in Stratus as he had and quit stressing about the deadline to beat the game and how I was actually going to do it. The more I thought about it, the more daunting the task became. I shook the thoughts from my head, I needed a lot more coffee before it was a good idea to think about our quest from Ectos, Monica, and everything else.

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll have to learn soon. I feel terrible and know I¡¯m holding the group back,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just so frustrating and I don¡¯t want to mess up my spells and abilities and be stuck with something that won¡¯t be able to defeat the enemies we¡¯re bound to face while we look for the core crystals in the depths of Stratus.¡±

    Clarence took a thoughtful sip of his coffee. ¡°Don¡¯t disrespect your stew recipe. You¡¯re trying to master power from a God, Edwin. That¡¯s not an easy task, and I¡¯m sure when you actually resonate with your training, no pun intended, that you¡¯ll be an incredibly formidable ally on the battlefield. I¡¯d offer to teach you some magic, but it really doesn¡¯t seem like your forte.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not. I¡¯m more of a hit things as hard as I can while still taking a beating kind of guy,¡± I said. Clarence laughed, and I was about to say more but was interrupted. A system-wide message flashed across my UI, glowing an angry red.

    New Global Admin Message from: Jerry.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 2

    Hello, players.

    While a good portion of you have been playing the game to our standards and are providing meaningful data, there are some players who are refusing to participate in the festivities. We would like to encourage cooperation, but would also like to encourage competition at the same time. Simply put, only one faction can win, but it¡¯s entirely possible that neither faction can beat the game (According to unique faction objectives) within one year¡¯s time.

    I have taken the liberty of modifying the Storyweaver AI¡¯s parameters to encourage and facilitate a more balanced game-state in terms of power for both the Gods and the Titans. In the near future, the Titan faction will receive a much-needed boost to level the playing field. In terms of immediate benefit to the Titan faction, Jason (the only Titan aligned player at the moment) will be given a free Guildstone to found his guild. This leads me into the guild update.

    We feel it is important that players work together, but also understand that different players will have different personal motivations that may or may not align with that of their faction. This is why I¡¯m excited to introduce the guild system, our first and only major patch coming to Stratus Online for the year-long period of your testing session. Players may now form guilds within their user interface for either 1,000 gold or a rare Guildstone which can be found in some of the more treacherous regions of Stratus. Once a guild is formed, the guild leader will need to declare allegiance to either the Gods or the Titans. This decision is final, and the founder of the guild will be bound by this decision unless changed by an in-game entity. Rest assured, we won¡¯t allow players to flip-flop sides right before the game ends. Players that join a guild will be automatically aligned with the guild¡¯s faction of choice.

    If you do decide to start a guild, there is a helpful tutorial that will walk you through the basics of constructing a settlement, attracting settlers and players, and obtaining helpful guild perks and assets for your faction.

    We want this to be a fair experience, and with the help of the Storyweaver AI have devised an intricate system to determine a player¡¯s contributions to achieving the end-game goal states of their faction. Players who do not contribute meaningfully will be left behind even if their faction achieves victory before the deadline.

    To ensure you are eligible to reclaim your real-world life, you will find a weekly quota of faction renown, guild renown, and fame in the newly added ¡®Goals¡¯ tab of your user interface. When you kill monsters, complete quests, and do work for your guild, you will gain points in each of these attributes depending on what category the task fits into. Your status on the ¡®Goals¡¯ tab will show whether you are eligible to leave Stratus if your faction is triumphant, so be sure to contribute meaningfully throughout the rest of the year as we move forward. Failure to meet weekly point floors will result in penalties at the end of the game which could prevent you from leaving Stratus.

    Faction renown caps at 100 points, guild renown at 200, and fame at 300. If a player decides not to join a guild, they are eligible to fill their guild renown with faction renown or fame instead. We understand some players would prefer to play alone with the help of only NPCs and will allow you to play without a guild. To give everyone a fair start, the weekly quota of points in the ¡®Goals¡¯ tab will reset one week from today. You have all been given max points for this week as a gift from me.

    Finally, to facilitate these changes effectively and to make Stratus a smaller place for the players all over the game world, we¡¯re implementing a player mail feature. Players can send personalized instant messages to one another (without item or currency attachments) for 10 gold. You¡¯ll find the messaging feature in the ¡®Social¡¯ tab of your user interface.

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Jerry.</li>

    </ul>

    I finished reading and re-read the entire letter again. Jason was getting a boost, and that was the last thing we needed. It made sense that Jerry would want to boost the Titan faction, after all, we had just dealt them a crushing blow by killing Jason and returning the first core crystal to Ectos. There was no telling what the other player groups had done to help the other Gods and Goddesses as well. For now at least, my faction was winning. With the first and only guild in Stratus and the promise of a much-needed buff, it seemed like Jason would get started on his building his guild right away. There was no reason not to, and while it sucked he¡¯d be sweeping out potential allies from us, it would be nice to have a little breathing room without constantly worrying Jason would be skulking around a corner with more of his Titanspawn pets. The last thing we needed right now was to fight him. I had a feeling he¡¯d be a lot more powerful the next time we met up.

    I checked my Goals tab and wasn¡¯t surprised to see I was automatically faction aligned with the Gods, the same was probably true for my friends as well.

    ¡°What is it, Edwin? You¡¯ve had a horribly blank look on your face for the past few minutes,¡± Clarence questioned.

    ¡°Uhh, I can¡¯t really explain it. We just got a message from the forces running this world. The Titan faction is going to get stronger, and there are also new guild features coming to Stratus. If we have 1000 gold or a Guildstone, we¡¯ll be able to found a guild and build our own settlement to benefit us and our faction,¡± I said.

    Clarence scratched his chin. ¡°I see, I¡¯ve heard of the guild system, but there haven¡¯t been any real guilds with links to the Otherworld Realms in hundreds of years. You¡¯re sure they¡¯re coming back? That would mean both the Gods and Titans are gaining a greater foothold on Stratus which is both good and bad. Perhaps the Titans found a new way to access the continent of Thrael. We don¡¯t have the funds to start a guild right now, and even if we did, it seems like Ectos would prefer we go to Brigstone for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, but it¡¯s something to look into for the future. Once we meet up with my friend and get the location of the next core crystals, we might consider forming our guild. Jason, that Titanic creep that killed you was gifted a Guildstone from the Titans and is probably forming his faction as we speak,¡± I said, once again returning to my coffee.

    ¡°Edwin, did you see this letter?¡± Gaz called as he jumped down from his room in the massive wagon. Kirsten and John followed behind him.

    I nodded. ¡°Grab some coffee and we can talk about it.¡±

    My friends took mugs and Clarence happily filled their mugs with steaming coffee. While it was already hot outside, it wasn¡¯t too hot for coffee, and it was better than any of the rations we had on hand. I reached down to my belt at my Bag of Breading. The bag was crafted from simple, double-stitched linen and was infused with just the right amount of magic. I pulled up the item description.

    Bag of Breading

    Magical. Bag.

    Dur: 100/100

    Once per day a character can pull one loaf of bread from this bag. The bread magically appears and varies in type. Any non-living thing placed inside of the Bag of Breading will be covered in a delicious golden-fried breading when retrieved.

    I reached in and grabbed my loaf for the day--sourdough. As far as I could tell, my weight was actually shifting on a daily basis depending on how much I ate. Since Clarence¡¯s mules couldn¡¯t pull all of us extremely long distances, we were doing a lot of walking and eating a lot. Surprisingly, the upgrades to Clarence¡¯s wagon which basically turned it into a mobile home weighed even less than my suit of heavy armor. I munched on the bread absently and even considered dipping it in my coffee.

    ¡°Are we close to any towns or villages?¡± John asked. ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of the road and not seeing anyone for days.¡±

    ¡°A couple days out from the town of Briarthorn,¡± Clarence said. ¡°We¡¯ll probably stop there for the night and see if there¡¯s anything worth buying other than just more rations and drinking water, but I wouldn¡¯t expect too much. We still need to get you upgraded, and Edwin seems to want a new sword so he can use a shield as well.¡±

    ¡°What he needs to do is spend his damn points and actually upgrade his class,¡± Gaz grumbled. I shot him a flat look, too tired to put up with his nagging right now. He''d been nagging me all week.

    ¡°I told you I¡¯m going to spend some soon. You¡¯ve seen my notebook, I¡¯m trying my best to optimize my build and I¡¯m waiting to see if I learn new abilities.¡±

    Gaz shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s so simple, Edwin. Just put a few points into your astral power and couple other anchor skills you want to base your kit around. Regardless, no matter what you learn, you¡¯re going to need astral power to fuel it. At least a couple points.¡±

    ¡°Again, I want to optimize my class, and if I don¡¯t build this right then I¡¯m really going to mess everything up for later when it¡¯s more important. Until we¡¯re actually facing dangerous content, there¡¯s no reason to rush into things and spend my points,¡± I said. It sounded better in my head, but when I said it, I could start to see the cracks in my argument. In a way, I suppose I was holding back because of how terrified I was of our situation. Gaz had always been the cornerstone of our group, leading us through fights, yet I was hesitant to trust him after how horribly things had almost gone with the first fight with Jason. Now, Kirsten¡¯s life was really at stake in a way worse than ours. If we messed up and didn¡¯t see her through her oath, she would die for good, and really be lost forever. I didn¡¯t want anything to do with that, but it seemed like not doing anything with building my character wasn¡¯t the correct thing to do either.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°I swear, Edwin. We¡¯re trying to get our lives back, and you¡¯re seriously holding us back. You¡¯re normally a better gamer than this,¡± Gaz shot.

    ¡°Really, Gaz? This is hardly a game anymore, our lives are at stake here, and Kirsten here is in even more danger than the rest of us. You think we can afford mistakes?¡±

    ¡°You think we can afford to do nothing?¡± he yelled. ¡°This isn¡¯t a game, so you need to stop being a bitch and spend your points. Anything is better than the walking liability you are on the battlefield right now. You get sick when you fight, can¡¯t manage your abilities or resources, and almost died from a couple kobolds using pickaxes. Or did you forget about the pickaxe that went through your stupid face? The miniature bastards actually held you down and pried your helmet open while you flailed on your back like a helpless turtle. I had to spend all of my mana healing that wound, it was horrible and shouldn¡¯t have happened in the first place. You left me without any mana to heal the rest of the party, and that¡¯s a big no-no. I even had to tank for the rest of the fight because you were too busy writhing in your own blood on the ground from a bunch of low-level xp fodder. If you aren¡¯t going to spend your points, we¡¯d be better without you.¡±

    ¡°Come on, Gaz, that isn¡¯t fair,¡± Kirsten urged, trying to defuse the situation, but it was only getting worse.

    ¡°You know what? I¡¯m going to take a walk before I decide to kill you, Gaz.¡±

    Gaz laughed. ¡°You do that, Edwin. Think about how to spend your damn character points and decide if you want to fight me. I¡¯ll probably tap you with my hammer and you¡¯ll fall over and bleed to death on the ground. Good thinking,¡± he huffed.

    I stormed off and grabbing my two hand sword from my room in the wagon and attaching it to my back, not caring to say anything else. Kirsten was talking with Gaz, probably about me while John hurried after me. ¡°Edwin, wait up!¡±

    ¡°John, just leave me alone, I don¡¯t want to talk right now, I need to cool off.¡±

    The lanky Klor effortlessly ran to catch up with me. Even if I wanted to outrun him, there was no way I could. His agility was insanely high, and he was by far the quickest in our group, even as an unconventional, range/melee hybrid. "Even if you just spend a couple character points on astral power, it would go a long way in making things better with Gaz. Everyone is stressed out about this whole situation and we¡¯re all handling it in different ways. We need to stick together now more than ever.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not spending anything yet, I¡¯ve almost figured it out, I promise,¡± I said.

    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s been over a week, and Gaz does have a point about you being a liability to the entire group in fights. I also see where you¡¯re coming from. All the rest of us only have one primary stat with endurance acting as a secondary stat. You have three primary stats. Sure cunning and luck can influence a couple of my abilities, but I really only have to worry about maxing my agility, and I might put some points into intellect later if I decide to go the mage-blade route. I¡¯m normally not a ranger, but this crossbow is fun to use.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. I don¡¯t see why Gaz doesn¡¯t get that. I need willpower, strength, and endurance. I don¡¯t know if I should max willpower and tank with Astral Armor, or just go the traditional route of stacking endurance and strength at the cost of willpower. It¡¯s a triangle, and I¡¯m not sure I can have everything and play my class well. It seems like building in the middle would really limit me, and if I pick a corner, then I¡¯m either going to be really squishy when my Astral Armor is down, or I¡¯m not going to do any damage. I need some willpower no matter what for astral power to spend on abilities, and it influences most of my other abilities as well. I would never have taken this stupid class if I knew how complicated it would be to build. It makes you miss things like build guides from pro players.¡±

    ¡°Well, we do have a lot of pro gamers stuck in the world with us. I know we¡¯re good, but I understand why you¡¯re struggling with your build. What if we looked up a pro and pay them a consulting fee to build your class for you? I think even Gaz would be willing to cough up a couple hundred gold for that if it meant getting you back in on the action in a meaningful way.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so,¡± I agreed. ¡°Then again, that¡¯s a ton of gold we might need for later, and we¡¯d need to be sure whoever we hired wasn¡¯t aligned with the Titans. The last thing we need is to be funneling gold to their cause.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, how do you think the cities and kingdoms of the game are going to get involved in all of this? Do you think they¡¯ll finance guilds and factions to try to fund what they believe is a favorable outcome to all of this?¡± John asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s a question for you,¡± I said, laughing. ¡°You¡¯re kinda the macro economics guru of the group. In my opinion, everyone in this world, including the NPCs, seem to have their own goals, ambitions, and values. They all want something different, and I think our two or three hundred gold to pay a pro to build your class would be a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of gold that¡¯s going to go into this war.¡±

    John nodded. ¡°If I didn¡¯t want to get my life back so badly, I probably would take up profiteering and try to play both factions off of each other. I¡¯m just trying to do right by Kirsten, you know? I hate that Stratus Labs would do that to her, and it¡¯s so messed up that they stopped you from telling her we¡¯re all AI clones.¡± John shook his head. ¡°So messed up.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m really sorry about that. You know I would have told her if the Storyweaver AI didn¡¯t stop me, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course I know that, Edwin. You¡¯re a good friend. Gaz is too, and I know he means well, but you and I both know how he gets when he¡¯s stressed or frustrated and thankfully that doesn¡¯t happen very often. Could you please put a couple points into Astral Power? It really would do more than you think, and after looking over your class kit with you a few times, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to need some more astral power no matter what route you decide to go. Don¡¯t worry about the attribute points and save most of your character points if you want. Just please upgrade Astral Power to rank two.¡±

    ¡°I can do that,¡± I said, pulling up my character sheet. 32 unspent character points, 7 unspent attribute points. I examined Astral Power.

    Astral Power (Rank 0):Each rank in Astral Powergives the character extra points in astral power equal to their willpower modifier, 1% higher astral power regeneration, and 1% stronger spells and abilities for each point of astral power spent in an encounter.

    Taking a deep breath, I spent three of my 32 character points to bring Astral Power up to rank two and raise my astral power resource bar from five points to seven. ¡°I only gained two astral power from that,¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°Hmm. Move your willpower to seven, it should cost you two attribute points. Save the rest, but that should bring you up to nine astral power instead of seven. The modifier for the lowest tier of a stat seems to be one, and if you move willpower to Seven which is the next tier up, you will double your willpower modifier.¡±

    I nodded and spent the attribute points, not wanting my initial investment to go to waste. My astral power climbed to nine points after I finalized the spend. John was probably right, it was worth investing at least that, even if I didn¡¯t know which direction I was going to go on building my class. Now that we were starting to level and gain access to new spells and abilities, I envied my friends and their classless progression. They seemed to be free to build whatever they wanted while I was more or less trapped within the confines of my Warpguard class. Maybe I had just been doing so terrible in combat that I hadn¡¯t discovered anything new yet. I still had my fighter-like Second Wind ability and learned Swords and Heavy Armor as well, but those felt a lot more general and things like that wouldn¡¯t be restricted by my new class.

    ¡°Great, looks like it worked! That will buy you some time with Gaz,¡± John said. ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll even feel better when we¡¯re fighting too. Willpower seems to be really important to your class, and maybe using your abilities taxes your willpower and mental endurance as you use them.¡±

    ¡°Maybe so,¡± I agreed.

    ¡°You two ready to hit the road?¡± Clarence asked. The goblin mage was suddenly behind us.

    ¡°God, Clarence! I hate when you do that!¡± John shouted, sheathing the dagger he¡¯d instinctively drawn.

    ¡°Sorry. Teleportation is the fastest way to get around, you know.¡±

    ¡°That being the case, you could at least do us the courtesy of teleporting in front of us so you don¡¯t get your throat cut by mistake,¡± John said.

    ¡°That¡¯s no fun. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t let that happen. I¡¯d sooner turn you into a --¡±

    ¡°Pumpkin. Yeah, got it,¡± John said, shaking his head and laughing. John was trying to act angry, but he was clearly amused by Clarence¡¯s character quirks.

    ¡°Sorry about that, Edwin,¡± Gaz said as we returned to the camp. ¡°Thanks for spending a couple points on astral power and upping your willpower. I saw the changes on the party overlay.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, too. I¡¯ll work on spending more points as we go. John and I discussed trying to find a pro gamer to build my class for me.¡±

    That set Gaz in a foul mood. I should have seen it coming. To him, he was just as good if not better than anyone else in the competition. He shook his head, clearly about to get into it again. ¡°Seriously? I already offered to build your class for you and you turned me down. What makes any of our opponents better than me at building your class? And you¡¯d spend our hard earned gold to do that when I¡¯ll do it for free?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying there are some good theorycrafters in the game, and as long as they¡¯re aligned with our faction, the gold would probably be well spent.¡±

    ¡°Not all of us have the gear we want. Ectos didn¡¯t give us a bunch of handouts like he did to you. Now you want to spend all our gold after you¡¯ve already been gifted a badass suit of full plate armor and a legendary class? What have you done with your gifts, Edwin? You¡¯ve done nothing. I for one want something better than this chainmail and maybe even want to start our own guild once we have the coin.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m tired of this bullshit, Gaz. I don¡¯t want to fight with you. Believe it or not, you¡¯re not the best gamer in the competition, and you never can seem to admit it when someone is better than you,¡± I seethed.

    ¡°Enough!¡± Kirsten yelled. ¡°We¡¯re getting back on the road, and you two need to keep your distance until you¡¯re ready to play nice. I¡¯m not going to make you apologize to each other because I know you won¡¯t mean it. We¡¯re not going to get anywhere if our party is in shambles, and all this fighting is making me sick.¡±

    I nodded. I felt bad for what this was doing to Kirsten, and Gaz did have some good points. So did I. Neither one of us was 100% right, and we were both too stubborn to admit it. I¡¯d never fought with Gaz before like this, and I hated it. I never questioned whether or not we¡¯d be friends for the rest of our lives before now, but I was now. There wasn¡¯t even a clear path to recovery, and our fights were getting worse and laying a trail of shattered bonds through our friendship which felt like it was coming to an end. Trying and failing to put the thoughts and emotions behind me, I helped the others pack up our camp and get the wagon ready for travel. It was going to be a long day.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 3

    Gaz downed the last of his beer, slamming his wooden mug on the counter as a massive burp erupted from his gut. Kirsten grimaced at the sound and sipped on her mixed drink, vodka and some sort of berry juice while she talked with Clarence. A dwarven bard played the lute and sang songs of a mountain mistress in the background.

    The tavern in Briarthorn was a lot nicer than the one we visited before confronting the Terror of the Woods, and according to Clarence, it was as good of a place as any to celebrate him coming back to life and us returning the armor to Ectos. Only it wasn¡¯t a celebration for the rest of my friends and me. Things had been tense between us as we struggled to deal with our new reality, and Gaz and I still weren¡¯t really talking after our big fight a couple days ago. I still hadn¡¯t spent the vast majority of my character points. ¡°One more round for the lot, please,¡± Gaz declared as one of the barmaids walked over. She nodded and scribbled something down on a pad of paper with a stick of leadbefore disappearing in the back, gracefully weaving her way through the packed tables of patrons.

    I tilted my old mug back and downed the remaining contents, froth and all so I would be ready for my next and final drink. The alcohol was taking control, and as much as I wanted to let it, it wouldn¡¯t be good to let my guard down. I couldn¡¯t stop worrying about Jason even though I was certain he was busy building his new guild and wouldn¡¯t concern himself with petty revenge when he could effectively bar our faction from victory from the start if he pressed his newfound advantage. There was no telling how many players and NPCs he¡¯d managed to recruit so far, and we still didn¡¯t even have a working understanding of what types of perks and abilities guild ownership gave him. We didn¡¯t have the coin to form our own guild, and it seemed like a Guildstone would be very difficult to find.

    ¡°What are you staring at me for?¡± Gaz demanded, glaring at a human man sitting at the bar. Gaz¡¯s voice was slurred. He¡¯d had a few too many already and didn¡¯t show any signs of slowing down. He was one step away from a brawl.

    ¡°I¡¯m not staring at anyone, dwarf. Mind your own business,¡± the man barked, sipping his ale and setting it down on the table before resting his hand on the hilt of a sword at his waist.

    ¡°Yeah? My hammer seems to think otherwise,¡± Gaz said, pointing a drunken finger at his warhammer which rested against the wood panel of the bar. Even if he could stand at this point, which was doubtful, I could imagine how horribly it would go if Gaz decided to start swinging his heavy hammer around. The tavern was packed, and I had little faith in his ability to hit his intended target. The man across from Gaz narrowed his eyes and started to draw his weapon.

    Clarence quickly stood to defuse the situation as I considered the possible outcome of Gaz getting into a full fledged fight with weapons. No one had armor, and the mortal body was really a lot more fragile than it looked. Something as small as a dagger could turn into a blender of death in moderately proficient hands.

    ¡°Dear sir, my friend has had a few too many beers and we¡¯ve had a very long day on the road. We¡¯ve been traveling from the Westguard Township and my friend here had a business venture in the town. Bad luck to say the least. Let me buy you another ale for your troubles.¡± The well-dressed goblin walked over and bought a mug of ale for the man and said a few more kind words before turning back to Gaz. ¡°We¡¯re not here to fight, we¡¯re here to relax,¡± he hissed.

    ¡°Just chill, man. No one likes an angry drunk,¡± John said to Gaz, the amber light of the lanterns lining the walls illuminating his dark blue skin.

    ¡°Chill? Apparently I¡¯m not even real. I¡¯m no different than all these NPCs and you tell me to chill?¡± Gaz took a deep pull on his ale and cried out for the new ale he¡¯d ordered a while back. He was downing them way too fast and had already had at least eight drinks.

    John sighed. ¡°Gaz, come on. Don¡¯t ruin the evening. Besides, I doubt you could even walk right now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a lie!¡± Gaz slurred. ¡°Liars get the hammer of justice from me, the judge and executioner of the light!¡±

    ¡°Are you actually serious right now?¡± Kirsten yelled. A horrible, tense silence followed. ¡°You may not care if you get stuck in this world for the rest of your life, but I might not even get that chance. If I don¡¯t complete Ectos¡¯ mission when he calls on me, I¡¯m dead. Gone. I simply cease to exist. I need all of you now more than ever, and if you aren¡¯t going to help me, then I¡¯m leaving with Clarence and you can go off by yourself, Gaz.¡±

    Gaz looked shocked. ¡°Me? I¡¯m the problem? Edwin can¡¯t even use his new class and he refuses to spend his points. We all thought he was supposed to be overpowered and lead us through this, but guess what? He¡¯s holding us all back and the rest of you know it. We constantly have to babysit him in fights and I¡¯m burning through so much mana just trying to keep him alive. Clarence and I are carrying this party, and without us, you¡¯re nothing. Kirsten, I have every intention of helping you with whatever crazy shit Ectos decides to pull, but I can¡¯t kick back and enjoy a few rounds of beer from time to time and at least try to have some fun in the face of a shitty situation? Are you serious?¡± Gaz demanded. ¡°I¡¯ve even offered to fix Edwin¡¯s situation and help him build his class, as have you and John. Guess what? He keeps refusing, and now I¡¯m told he wants to spend a large portion of our gold to pay someone else to do it! Someone we don¡¯t even know if we can trust. Oh, and get this. We¡¯d also have to pay ten damn gold just to send the message to see if that player would be interested in the job without even knowing if they¡¯re aligned with our faction. What happens if they let Jason know Edwin is useless now? He won¡¯t even bother coming here himself, he¡¯ll just send some of his new lackeys in his shiny new guild and walk all over Edwin while he continues to get further ahead in Stratus.

    A sinking feeling congealed in my gut. I took a moment to collect myself before responding. Kirsten was taking in long, slow breaths and trying to collect herself as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

    I set my mug down. ¡°Gaz. Calm down. I¡¯m going to ignore what you said about me. Kirsten has been our friend for a very long time, and she¡¯s right. We need to constantly work on progressing and get out of this game. We all want our lives back, and until we get them, we need to be as serious as possible about how we go about doing it. You¡¯re right that we should be able to enjoy a few beers from time to time, but until we get further or have a real means to celebrate, we can¡¯t be drinking like this. We need to be fresh in the morning so we can get the most out of our time.¡±

    ¡°Guys,¡± John whispered, his voice little more than a rasp.

    ¡°I¡¯m not giving up my drinking nights. I¡¯m a better gamer than all of you, and it¡¯s not fair to me,¡± Gaz huffed. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°You should lay down and we can talk about this tomorrow, it¡¯s way too late and you¡¯ve had too much to drink. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re thinking clearly,¡± I said, trying to stop things before they could get any worse.

    ¡°Not happening! Where are my Drinks?!¡± Gaz bellowed, forcefully standing and grabbing three mugs of ale off the tray of a different serving girl. The ale wasn¡¯t even his, and she wore an exasperated expression on her face as she hurried back to the kitchen, probably to grab a bouncer to force Gaz out of the tavern.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you right now, Gaz,¡± Kirsten said, her voice a mixture of anger and sadness. She looked like she wanted to cry, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen.

    ¡°Guys,¡± John repeated again, but he was so quiet no one paid any attention to him.

    ¡°Gaz. You really need to stop,¡± I said, my voice more firm this time as he guzzled more ale as quickly as possible. ¡°Think about how you¡¯re hurting Kirsten right now. You¡¯re way too drunk and this is getting out of hand.¡±

    ¡°Guys,¡± John choked again, loud enough to draw our attention our attention this time.

    Richard the orc from the Westguard Township was holding the tip of a blade to John¡¯s neck. He had already taken the liberty of taking back his crossbow and quiver from John and had also relieved John of his other weapons, all without us noticing.

    ¡°Now,¡± the orc bellowed. ¡°Now that you¡¯re done fighting amongst yourselves, do you have any idea how hard it was to escape the Westguard Township with seven broken ribs? All I wanted was my crossbow back, but because of what you did to me, you¡¯re going to pay.¡±

    ¡°Richard, please, we have some gold and can pay you to leave quietly. You can even take your crossbow and quiver,¡± Clarence offered, obviously mad at himself for failing to notice Richard in the first place, but the rogue-like orc was surprisingly stealthy for his size, and my friends and I were more than a little drunk. Magic under the influence of alcohol was not only a bad idea, but it could also be potentially lethal. Clarence and Kirsten were effectively out of the fight, and Gaz was too drunk to stand.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m afraid of you, Clarence? I took measures to make sure you can¡¯t beat me again. In fact, the Yellow Oysters seem to be after your head. Sound familiar?¡± Richard demanded as he pressed the tip of the knife further into John¡¯s neck, breaking the skin and smiling once a thin stream of purple blood began sliding down the edge of the straight blade.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t ever dealt with the Yellow Oysters before, Richard. I¡¯m not involved with crime, and wouldn¡¯t ever knowingly deal with one of the syndicates on Stratus. As far as you and everyone else is concerned, I¡¯m a law-abiding mage with a traveling license that¡¯s valid all over the Greater Kingdoms of Thrael. Now, you¡¯re outnumbered, and if you kill him, you¡¯re going to die.¡±

    Richard laughed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t face your group alone. Not again.¡± Richard signaled, and multiple goons circled around with weapons drawn, pushing their way through the crowd and making themselves known to us. Most were human, but there were a couple dwarves, an old-looking kobold gripping a wooden staff topped with a lit candle, and what appeared to be some sort of mechanical humanoid laden with gears and a steam exhaust chimney propped up on its well-polished brass shoulder which coughed out small sooty clouds of smoke from the internal furnace smoldering from within.

    Richard laughed. ¡°As a member of the Green Oysters, I happen to know for a fact that you¡¯re wanted by our sister syndicate, the Yellow Oysters. Their most wanted board happens to feature a well-dressed goblin who is obsessed with pumpkins! Apparently you swindled them out of a lot of gold and put a lot of people out of work. The Oysters don''t forget those who wrong them."

    Clarence smiled. ¡°Who the hell thought naming syndicates after different colored oysters was a good idea? Do you know how stupid those names sound? They''re not scary or intimidating at all. How do you even have self-respect with membership to an organization like that?¡± he started cackling wildly, and I wished he didn¡¯t. Richard didn''t seem like the type of person to stay calm under ridicule. ¡°A group of seafood is trying to kill me, the mighty Arcane Goblin, apprentice of Palghar the Wise and Mighty Arcane Wizard of Great Bell. Seriously?¡± Clarence continued laughing.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Richard roared, flexing his arm and driving the point of the blade further into John¡¯s neck. The tall klor winced as more blood poured from the wound. His health bar was dripping down slowly now.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted. We don¡¯t want trouble. What¡¯s the bounty on Clarence? I¡¯m sure we could pay you more than what you¡¯d get from taking him in.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s five thousand gold!¡± Richard roared. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay me more than that right now? Hah, I don¡¯t think so.¡± Richard was done talking. He pushed the blade all the way into John¡¯s neck, twisting it savagely like some kind of morbid drill. Kirsten screamed and shot an arcane missile, but in her drunken state, it hit John right in the gut, exploding in a cloud of hyper-charged blue sparks. John¡¯s body sagged, and his health bar plummeted. He desperately tried to claw at the potionssecured by the small loops on his belt, but Richard saw it coming from a mile away and pinned John¡¯s arms behind his back, pushing the klor¡¯s head forward so he would bleed faster and choke on his own blood. The tavern was growing chaotic as people screamed, fled, and cheered while they watched the fight go down, all in what seemed to be equal numbers. No one had bothered to intervene on either sides'' behalf yet.

    Blood was pouring from John¡¯s wound at an alarming rate, and Gaz was trying to muster the mental ability to cast a heal spell, but he was failing miserably.

    Reaching down, I grabbed Gaz¡¯s hammer and charged forward without a plan, feeling cloudy and unbalanced on my feet as I dashed forward with the hammer cocked. Richard laughed and made a gesture to the others to begin their brutal assault. We were outnumbered, outclassed, and John only had seconds to live.

    New Ability Learned!

    Dimensional Recall

    Quickly casting my Temporal Control ability which didn¡¯t cost any of the nine astral power I had in reserve for my abilities, I slowed my perception of time so that everything appeared to be moving only centimeters per second. I put the point generated by the ability into dissonance, boosting my movement speed, evade chance, and hit speed by 3.33%. There was no reason to use the point for resonance since it would give defense rating which seemed to rely heavily on armor I wasn¡¯t wearing.

    I had learned the hard way that I couldn¡¯t enter player time and be on my own game clock while I was in combat. Temporal Control had a 10 minute cooldown, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again after the ability stopped working. Player time lasted up to 20 minutes, but in this situation, I would only get a couple minutes of significantly slowed perception of time with the ability.

    I quickly pulled up Dimensional Recall in my abilities tab to appraise my new ability.

    Dimensional Recall (Rank 0): Temporal. Matter. 10 minute cooldown. 0 points. The character summons or stores their armor from/to the Astral dimension, instantly equipping or unequipping all pieces worn. If the character unequips their armor, they will instantly equip all previously worn non-armor clothes. Requires Warpguard armor.

    Perfect. I cast the spell, and my heavy armor instantly materialized on me. It was weighing me down, but it would at least offer some protection against Richard and his goons. Taking a deep breath, I dismissed Temporal Control and the world sped to motion around me.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 4

    4

    The brass-coated automaton sputtered to action, its arm mechanically opening to reveal what looked like a multi-barreled minigun¡ªand it was pointed right at me. The machine rooted itself in place, looking like it was preparing to mitigate recoil. Instead of bullets its horrible weapon sprayed crossbow bolts with surprising accuracy. the stream of projectiles slammed into my armor and forcefully drove me back as I struggled with traction on the slick wood floor. Had it not been for my armor, I wouldn¡¯t have survived the deathly barrage. The crossbow minigun had an insane firing rate, but it couldn¡¯t seem to pierce through my armor and wasn¡¯t doing any damage to my fairly large health pool.

    The automaton quickly adjusted its battle plan and decided to pick new targets from our group. It didn¡¯t even bother to stop shooting as it readjusted its aim¡ªmaybe it couldn¡¯t. Trying to move into the stream of bolts, I pushed myself to the side while still moving forward, but a lot of innocent people were dying as the automaton mindlessly fired at unarmored flesh. There was little I could do to prevent it. Crossbow bolts found unintentional targets, but my friends quickly flipped over one of the tables in the tavern to use as temporary cover from the onslaught of bolts. The rest of the Green Oyster goons were trying to swarm me so they could protect their automaton which somehow hadn¡¯t run out of ammo yet.

    Gaz was trying to come to my aid, but as soon as he stood, he toppled to the side unevenly and almost fell. The automaton tracked his motion and adjusted its aim, sending a line of bolts toward Gaz and forcing him back behind cover. He was probably going to be useless in this fight, so it was all up to me. At least until I could take down the automaton. Richard shouted commands to his thugs, pitching his voice so that it would carry over the screams of the crowd, most of whom had decided fleeing was now the better option after the wake of carnage from the automaton. Before the shooting spree, it had probably been an interesting, entertaining spectacle for an otherwise uneventful town, but now, it was nothing more than a bloodbath.

    Richard dove forward, dropping John to the floor in an unconscious, bleeding heap. The swift orc was obviously giving up on his crossbow for the time being after witnessing how protective my armor was. He was now dual-wielding daggers, and imbued his weapons with burning shadow-like energy, jumping forward and twisting in the air in a vicious bladed spiral. I quickly cast Warp to avoid the attack, fully anticipating the rush of vertigo and motion sickness from using my ability even though it didn¡¯t cost any astral power to cast. For some reason, that blast of sickness didn¡¯t come, but I was still feeling unsteady from all the ale that sloshed around in my stomach.

    I appeared in front of the Automaton safely out of Richard¡¯s reach for the time being. Following through with my momentum, I smashed the head of the machine with Gaz¡¯s hammer right before I crashed into the automaton with my body. My two-handed hammer strike crumpled its head like a tin can, and I flew across the room, tangled up with the enemy as we hit the wood floor and tumbled and scratched along the surface, coming to a stop after hitting a table and reducing it to splinters.

    Somehow, the automaton was still functioning despite its mangled head, and I scrambled to my feet, raising the warhammer above my head and bringing it down into the center of the machine¡¯s reinforced chest before it could escape. The strike was true, and the inner workings of the machine exploded, sending burning coal, metallic shrapnel, and small powder-like crystals skittering across the floor of the tavern. The automaton was out of the fight for good, but the red-hot coals were still spilling out of the husk of its body, and they started to ignite the floorboards after burning through the varnish.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Clarence yelled to me from across the room as he and the rest of my friends emerged from the toppled table they were using as makeshift cover.

    I looked up too late. One of Richard¡¯s goons snuck up on me while I was dealing the final death to the automaton and drove a blade into my shoulder, somehow making it through the plate and inflicting a minor puncture wound. Pain lanced through my shoulder and arm, and I felt the distinctive wetness of blood trickling down my skin toward my hand. I tried to raise Gaz¡¯s hammer, but the blade lodged in my shoulder locked my arm, and any movement sent spiking pain shooting through my joint. ¡°Save John!¡± I yelled back, too preoccupied with my attacker to do anything about my dying friend.

    The slender attacker was dual-wielding two short swords, and while he struggled to pull his first blade free from my shoulder, he tried to drive the second blade through my helmet. Before he could, I activated Astral Armor, spending two of my nine astral power and imbuing my armor with a 21 hp energy shield while shifting to a +1 resonant state. With one point of resonance, I boosted my defense rating and strength by 5% since my willpower modifier had moved up to the next tier. The assassin¡¯s blade bounced off my helmet and he recoiled in surprise when my armor suddenly ignited in a blanket of cosmic energy when struck.

    The enemy¡¯s second strike was well placed, and my Astral Armor dipped 14 hp, leaving only seven points left on the shield. Fortunately, my health was still at 32 out of 38, and the bleeding from my shoulder wound was minimal. Even better, I wasn¡¯t feeling sick at all from using my abilities yet, and it seemed like having a higher willpower made the world of difference in using my class and not feeling like I was going to throw up at any second. If we made it out of this alive, I was going to get a huge ¡®I told you so¡¯ from Gaz once he recovered from what was going to be a disgusting hangover.

    Seizing my moment of opportunity, I pressed myself up, wrapping a heavy gauntlet around the attacker¡¯s blade which was still stuck in my shoulder. I pulled it out and slammed the hilt into the man¡¯s nose, feeling the satisfying crunch of cartilage and watching his health bar drop 10%. He reeled backward, trying to reposition himself to attack me again, but I threw his sword at him as hard as possible. The short weapon wasn¡¯t balanced for throwing and hit him with only minor damage. Using the distraction, I repositioned my grip on Gaz¡¯s hammer and rushed forward, swinging it in a low arc with all of my strength. The hammer struck the assassin¡¯s leg as he was trying move away from me, and something that wasn¡¯t Gaz¡¯s hammer broke irreversibly.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Another attacker rushed to try to help his friend, but a ball of arcane magic from Clarence slammed into his chest and sent him cratering into the back wall of the building in flash of blue light. The goblin mage doubled down and sent another missile into the man he had hit with the first spell, dropping his health to zero. Clarence nodded to me, and started casting more spells now that almost all of the villagers were out of the tavern and out of harm¡¯s way. It was clear Clarence was struggling under the influence of alcohol, but he was doing his best. Smoke was rising from below as the burning coals of the automaton ignited the floor, furniture, and walls, spreading dangerous flames and creating an interesting battleground.

    With the opening, I rushed forward and hit the downed assassin in front of me again with the hammer, ending his life with a series of gruesome noises that sounded like putting bubble wrap and ice in a rusty blender.

    Overkill! +1 bonus xp

    John was dangerously close to death, but Gaz managed to hit him with a Sphere of Light, barely keeping him alive as the dwarf struggled to balance himself and actively heal our party. Richard was going after Kirsten now, and Clarence was actively trying to ward him back with magic, but it seemed like Richard¡¯s weapons were absorbing most if not all of the magic Clarence was casting, including his signature Polymorph: Pumpkin spell. I blinked over to Richard with Warp and tried to take a heavy swing at his head right before materializing. The big orc ducked under my swing and extended both arms rapidly, sinking his twin ethereal daggers through my armor, completely ignoring my 7 hp Astral Armor and dealing 10 damage all while leaving no visible damage to my armor when he ripped the blades out of my stomach. Icy fire burned in my gut as I tried to suck in a fresh breath of air.

    The pain was sharp, but the adrenaline from the fight was helping me focus on what really mattered. I staggered back and moved away, using my last charge of Warp to blink right behind an unsuspecting human who was trying to get to Gaz and Kirsten before Richard could follow up on his advantage.

    I hit the human with my hammer, watching with sick fascination as his head exploded in a cloud of red gunk as if it was a rotten melon stuffed with cheap firecrackers.

    Extra gore! +1 bonus xp

    I tossed Gaz his hammer while taking the short sword from the man I had just killed. The hammer wasn¡¯t really my style, especially with the excessive blunt force trauma it inflicted, but I could see why Gaz liked it. If he was able to do anything at all other than keep John alive, it wouldn¡¯t be unarmed or with a sword; he¡¯d need a weapon he was familiar with.

    I was still trying to pace myself with my abilities to avoid feeling sick, and so far it was working. Warp didn¡¯t feel taxing at all, but Richard¡¯s attention was glued to me, and he decided to charge after me with his daggers instead of targeting Kirsten and the others. He knew he could bypass my armor and energy shielding, and that made him extremely dangerous.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back! Getting alcohol flush potions from the wagon. Hold them off!¡± Clarence yelled, teleporting out of the tavern. If they worked quickly, the potions might give Kirsten and Gaz a better chance at being effective in the fight. I was too preoccupied with Richard to take the time to down a potion. Even with the speed of the short sword I was wielding, I still felt like Richard outclassed me significantly. Things were looking grim.

    The kobold who was in the back line of the attackers made his appearance, and it was a mistake to ignore him as long as we had. He twisted his staff over his head in a vortex, chanting as the candle crowning the weapon splashed hot wax all over the floor and what was left of the tavern''s crushed and smoldering furniture. Suddenly, the fires from the spilled coals of his automaton friend started hovering in the air, zooming over into the swirling motion of his staff and creating an incredible ring of burning flames that orbited around him. He weaved his fiery creation, accelerating the flames which grew furious as they consumed more oxygen. The ring expanded and shifted shape, contorting into something that resembled a dragon in form and function.

    The old kobold wasn''t heavily armored. He was wearing a simple cotton robe tied to his body with a coarse piece of rope, burned at the ends so it wouldn''t fray. Despite his ascetic and ancient appearance, the kobold was clearly talented as some kind of pyromancer. The mage stopped the building from burning down for the time being, but our situation had degraded further now that there was a huge dragon made entirely of flames flying around the room. The monster belched flames, sending a spray of liquid fire splashing across the room in a straight, lethal line. I dove away, narrowly dodging the attack as I scrambled to my feet, shoving broken furniture out of my way.

    I tried to position myself in a way that would make it difficult for the kobold to hit me with the dragon, but I had no idea how he planned on using the controlled entropy he wielded. I didn''t plan on finding out how hard the dragon could hit. Between all the broken furniture, the bodies, and the flames, navigating the tavern was becoming increasingly difficult.

    Kirsten and Gaz tried to retreat into the doorway of the kitchen, but Richard''s thugs were moving to prevent that from happening. I couldn''t cast Warp again for another 10 seconds, and once I did have another charge up and ready to use, I¡¯d probably need to use it to bait out the Kobold¡¯s spell and evade the massive hit at the last moment. For now, my friends were on their own while I dealt with Richard.

    ¡°Fight me! Richard yelled, once again circling me with his blades raised, crouching low and preparing to leap. There was no choice. If I turned my back on him he would kill me.

    Readying myself, I gripped my new sword and jumped forward, trying to go on the offensive and use my sheer bulk to overpower the muscular orc. It was a horrible plan. Pivoting, Richard evaded my poor attempt at tackling and stabbing him, and sunk a blade into my stomach, the shadowy metal passing through my armor effortlessly. I exhaled sharply as my insides burned and seemed to turn outward. I tried to get away, but he twisted his weapon and used my momentum against me, wrapping an arm around my hip and tossing me through the air.

    I landed on top of a chair which shattered on impact, splintering across the floor and doing little to dampen my painful, bleeding fall. With a swimming head and rush of vertigo, I tried to stand and make sense of what was happening, but I couldn¡¯t manage to get myself up. I was down to only seven health, but I still had Second Wind ready which would bring me up to full health if my health reached zero, at least in theory. Richard¡¯s previous attack silenced me, and I was unable to cast spells or activate abilities for five more seconds. The silence would probably prevent Second Wind from triggering, but I had no intention of finding out if that was the case.

    Now that I was far enough away from the ringleader of the surprisingly proficient enemies, the Kobold sent his inferno dragon into the action. It was flying right toward me.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 5

    5

    As the massive dragon slammed into me, I awaited a fiery, painful death. It didn¡¯t come, not right away at least. The fire sweltered around my armor, blazing around me as the dragon passed through the ground where I was downed on the floor from Richard¡¯s last counterattack. The floorboards beneath me gave out from the combustion, but thankfully my armor didn¡¯t. The Emphyrical gel was also working wonders in protecting me from the heat of the flames, reducing the damage from what should have been certain death to something a lot more manageable and less lethal.

    The dragon still hurt a lot, especially on my shoulder where the flames worked their way through the hole in my armor created by the thug. For the time being, the point or two of damage every few seconds wasn¡¯t my biggest concern. In fact, it bought me enough time for Richard¡¯s Silence debuff to fade away, once again allowing my passive Second Wind ability to activate if my health dropped to zero. Suddenly, my health climbed back up, raising from four points to eight. My health then held steady as the remainder of the inferno dragon passed over me, leaving nothing but fire and sooty residue on everything it passed. Gaz had hit me with a Sphere of Light. In addition to the instant heal, it gave a nice heal over time which would restore half my total health over 30 seconds. The pain relief was just as important as the numerical heals themselves. The numbing sensation made it easier to think and breathe.

    Richard seemed genuinely amazed I was alive. ¡°Klayor, once more! Let the others taste your flames this time, the warrior is mine,¡± he barked to the kobold who began twisting the staff once again, chanting and beginning the process of once again collecting the flames that burned freely around us. Richard jumped to attack me, but I saw the attack coming. He tried to pounce while I appeared lodged between a hole in the floorboards. Just before his blades could cut into me, I used my newly regenerated charge of Warp to try to position myself behind him. Unfortunately, after blinking away, I was still in a lying position as I reappeared five feet above him. Gravity did its work, and I fell down, slamming into a surprised Richard who cried out in shock and pain.

    I tried to twist my body so my stomach wasn''t facing the ceiling, but Richard was already muscling me off, using his broad back to press me off of him and try to free up his arms so he could inflict some damage. I flailed my arms wildly, trying to punch and pummel him, but the orc was just too tough. A wave of vertigo washed over me, and it seemed like everything I had done in the fight was starting to catch up to me. Worse, the Kobold was almost done gathering and shaping the flames into another dragon.

    Richard finished pushing me off of him and turned to attack me as I gained my feet. I used my short sword to deflect one of his lunges and lashed out with a Dimensional Strike to deal 240% weapon damage and add a second point of resonance while draining my astral power to five. Richard was surprised by the sudden surge of power, and his dagger slipped to the side as I swung. My sword sliced along his arm, opening up a deep gash in his skin and spilling his blood. He roared in fury and vanished in a puff of smoke. It seemed like an obvious trick, and I tried to spin around to block his strikes, but his knives were already sinking into my back, dropping my health to zero.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Fortunately, Richard¡¯s attack didn¡¯t silence me, and my Second Wind triggered instantly, bringing my health back up to a full 38 points. The excruciating pain I had felt only moments ago evaporated into sweet bliss and clarity.

    Richard was still bleeding, but my attack had only maimed him, and he still seemed to have plenty of mana or whatever else was fueling his abilities to imbue his weapons with shadowy fire. He spat and snarled at me, trying to charge again with a new fighting style. He held one of his daggers with a reverse grip, and used a standard grip with the other, pacing forward and slashing with one of his daggers to test me. I batted the weapon away, surprised to see that my weapon came into contact with it. For some reason, I was able to deflect his weapons now, but I didn¡¯t know if he could still bypass my armor. Either way, I didn¡¯t want to find out, and didn¡¯t care to waste any of my five remaining astral power on another Astral Armor which might have been a waste.

    Just as Richard was about to kill me, a black knife sliced through the air, sticking into the kobold¡¯s stomach and draining his blood. It was John¡¯s Reaper¡¯s Throw and while it didn¡¯t kill the kobold instantly, the ancient creature was staggering backward and cried out as his creation of flames overhead fell around him and burned, ending his life in an uncontrollable blaze.

    Richard screamed in fury as Klayor the kobold died, turning his attention back to John and raising his crossbow from the hook on his belt. I tried to get up, but my nausea and the super dense physics of being in my resonant state left me feeling heavy and sick. Kirsten saw the attack coming and tried to fire a barrage of Sparks, but it went wide as Richard pulled the trigger. John¡¯s health was abysmally low when the bolt hit him in the head. There was nothing we could do as it punched through his skull. John¡¯s character icon was removed from our party. Clarence teleported back with the potions, but it was already too late.

    Kirsten screamed in fury, the blue tattoos on her neck and arms igniting into a brilliant blue as she raised her hands and created a bright, diamond-like prism of pure energy. The nova of light was blinding, and I turned my face away from the construct as its intensity skyrocketed and washed out the tavern room in impossible light. Richard and the few surviving goons were screaming something I couldn¡¯t make out. Everything was going fuzzy, and I felt myself re-align with the base dimension of Stratus as I came out of my resonant state. My armor started rattling, slowly at first, then it vibrated intensely, singing out as the metal buzzed like a saw. Everything was in motion, and things were starting to float in the air, like the gravity was switched off.

    Suddenly, there was a sonic boom and what sounded like thousands of shards of glass raining down from above. Whiteness. Blackness. Then nothing.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 6

    6

    When my eyes opened, I quickly noticed that I was surrounded by darkness. Slivers of light bled in from above. As I moved, heavy waves of vertigo rocked through my body. Something was splitting in my head, right behind my left eye, a merciless headache that showed no signs of relenting. I coughed, feeling a dry cracking sensation in my mouth. I tried to move my tongue around my mouth to wet it, but it felt like dragging a wad of cotton over the interior of my mouth. My helmet was still on, and it was blocking my vision now. Normally, I wouldn¡¯t have any problems seeing with the enchantments. Now, I was all but blind.

    I took a second to check my quest log. Things from last night were a little fuzzy. Both the Hostage Rescue and Oyster Bar Brawl quests displayed as failed in my quest log, the text crossed and grayed out.

    I tried to lift an arm to twist off my helmet, but there was something on top of me, heavy and unmoving. Twisting under the solid mass, I struggled to position myself in a way that would allow me to lift an arm, freeing it for motion. My armor felt heavy though, and it was a struggle to move the freed limb to whatever was on top of me. The thing on top of me was too big to wrap a single hand around. I heaved with all the strength I could muster and tried to move the stubborn object. My efforts were in vain, it wouldn¡¯t budge.

    ¡°Help!¡± I croaked. My voice came out little more than a dry wheeze. No one responded, and I strained again against my makeshift prison. I was surprised to see my health at full, especially with the headache. Magic in Stratus could heal wounds to the point where it was impossible to tell they happened in the first place. The best example, and one I was happy about, was the fact that I had all of my teeth again despite losing quite a few during the fight against Jason. My armor on the other hand was getting worse with each fight, and if we kept it up, I was going to need some serious repairs which wouldn¡¯t be cheap, if they could even be done at all.

    My helmet started twisting, and someone pulled it off. Bright afternoon sunlight burned through my vision, temporarily blinding me as I adjusted from the cloistering darkness of my helmet.

    It was Gaz who was helping me, or at least trying to. His beard had chunks of food, dried blood, and other unidentifiable matter accenting it. He looked and smelled worse than I felt. I started wondering how that was possible, but then remembered how much he drank the night before. ¡°Need a hand?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    With our combined strength, we managed to topple over what turned out to be a large, rectangular support beam of the building to the side. The massive piece of wood was charred to a crisp, and when we moved it, my armor was stained a sooty black where it had pinned me. ¡°John?¡± I asked. I remembered his character dying, him being removed from the party, but maybe he made it somehow, even if he wasn¡¯t showing up in my UI. In fact, Gaz was the only one in my party right now, perhaps Kirsten and Clarence were too far out of range to register.

    Gaz shook his head, his features sinking. ¡°He didn¡¯t make it. We¡¯re going to send him a letter through player mail¡ªtry to meet up with him in Brigstone or somewhere along the way. It just sucks because he lost all his stuff when he died and we have no idea where he is going to respawn.¡±

    His words confirmed my fear. ¡°Kirsten? Clarence?¡± I asked, fighting off the sinking dread pitting in my stomach.

    ¡°They¡¯re okay. Most of Richard¡¯s goons are dead, but Richard is missing. Kirsten farmed a crap ton of xp for us with her nuke. We got another level off it.¡± Gaz reached down and helped me to my feet. My legs wobbled beneath me, and it took a second before I was able to move.

    ¡°Any good loot from the kills?¡±

    Gaz nodded. ¡°Kirsten took the kobold¡¯s staff, it¡¯s magic, but the rest of what they had on hand isn¡¯t so great. Clarence was excited about that automaton, but you smashed it up to the point where it¡¯s only good for scrap. We¡¯ll probably try to sell almost everything we looted here eventually, but the town isn¡¯t happy about what went down last night.¡±

    I sighed. ¡°I can imagine they¡¯re not happy, but this isn¡¯t our fault. The Yellow Oysters were the ones who started the killing spree. Clarence is right, that is a really stupid name for a gang.¡±

    ¡°Ha. We didn¡¯t start it, but Kirsten sure ended it.¡±

    The wake of destruction caused by whatever Kirsten did last night was staggering. There wasn¡¯t much left from the tavern. Well, that wasn¡¯t right. Remnants of burned wood were strewn all over the street in a wide radius from the skeleton of the building. The entire town seemed surprisingly empty now. Even in an agricultural town like Briarthorn, there should have been people in the market, people walking the streets. The market stalls were empty aside from a few discarded wooden crates and half-rotted cabbage. The homes that were still intact from last night¡¯s explosion had their shutters drawn closed, their doors no doubt locked. ¡°How is Kirsten?¡± I asked.

    Gaz rubbed his temples. ¡°Not so great. God, I feel like an ass, and you wouldn¡¯t believe this headache.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just your fault. Look, I¡¯m sorry I haven''t spent my points. I¡¯m going spend them,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t want to fight with him, not anymore. The easy thing to do would be to blame him for John¡¯s death, for becoming belligerently drunk to the point of carelessness, but we needed to remain a team, now more than ever.

    ¡°Thanks, Edwin, but this one is my fault. If I hadn¡¯t been so drunk, we would have never been fighting in the first place. Then that green creep wouldn¡¯t have been able to sneak up on us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just your fault, Gaz. We didn¡¯t even have reason to think Richard was after us. Seems like he was more after Clarence than the rest of us, and that seems like something the goblin didn¡¯t bother sharing with us. What happened to all the bodies?¡±

    ¡°They took them out to bury. They wanted to bury you, apparently, but thanks to our handy party icons, we knew you were still alive and well, even if you were unconscious and pinned under a support beam. It was too hot to lift, so we had to leave you to sleep for a while.¡±

    ¡°Uggh, you were still conscious for that?¡±

    Gaz shrugged. ¡°If I was, I don¡¯t remember it, I only remember what I was told this morning.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    Gaz gripped what looked to be a structurally sound chair and sunk into it. Had it not been for the terrible night, it would have been a very comical scene. A hungover dwarf sitting in a charred chair in the middle of a building which in a sense, no longer existed.

    ¡°So hey, if you know how Kirsten and the others are doing, what took you so long to get me?¡± I asked, more curious than angry.

    ¡°They sent me to get you sometime in the morning. By the height of the sun, it looks like I may have fallen asleep on the job. Anyway, Clarence and Kirsten were talking to the mayor of Briarthorn to get this situated. They said they would come back when they were finished.¡±

    I considered this. ¡°And they haven¡¯t come back yet? You don¡¯t think that¡¯s a little strange?¡±

    ¡°Edwin, my head isn¡¯t in the most pristine of conditions at the moment. Thinking isn¡¯t really working for me right now.¡±

    ¡°Take a breather, buddy. I¡¯m going to cast Temporal Control and spend most of my points so we don¡¯t waste time. After that we¡¯ll go see what¡¯s going on with Kirsten and Clarence. You still think building tanky with some damage is the way to go, right?¡±

    Gaz nodded. ¡°You may want to save a couple character points in case you learn something new you want to upgrade right away, but I¡¯d say you should spend at least twenty CPs in addition to the rest of your attribute points. You saved most of our asses last night, though, so thank you. I¡¯m glad to see the extra astral power and willpower is helping you.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡± I cast Temporal Control and Gaz froze as I pulled up my character sheet, taking a deep breath to calm myself. It was weird being able to bend time like this, but it was another certainty that made me sure I really was trapped in this game. Tanky with some damage, got it.

    I would need endurance, strength and willpower for my kit, so it made sense to use my six attribute points to boost each one of them up one rank. We had yet to discover where tier 2 attributes ended and moved into tier 3, so I wasn¡¯t surprised to see my modifiers remained constant as I hit eight endurance, eight willpower, and seven strength. Next, I spent five character points to upgrade my heroic ability, and the cornerstone of my class, Phase Shift. I could have used my hero point, but it seemed a lot rarer than the character points we were raking in, although we didn¡¯t know if there was a hard limit to the number we would be able to apply to our characters as we approached whatever the max level was in this game. I pulled up my upgraded ability.

    Phase Shift <Heroic Ability> (Rank 1): Phase shift is a passive ability fueled by other Warpguard spells and abilities. Phase Shift is a sliding scale that begins at 0 and can move to <u>-4 (fully dissonant)</u> or <u>4 (fully resonant)</u>

    <ul>

    <li>When using dissonant abilities, the character gains dissonance. For each point in the dissonant state of being, the character gains evade chance, player speed, and hit speed equal to their <u>willpower modifier in percent</u> (5%). When fully dissonant, the character gains evade chance, player speed, and hit speed equal to <u>2x</u> their willpower modifier in percent (10%) for each point in the dissonant state.</li>

    <li>When using resonant abilities, the character gains resonance. For each point in the resonant state of being, the character gains bonus defense rating and strength equal to their <u>willpower modifier in percent</u> (5%). When fully resonant, the character gains bonus defense rating and strength equal to <u>2x</u> their willpower modifier in percent (10%) for each point in the resonant state.</li>

    <li>Phase Shift charges will decay toward 0, 1 point at a time every <u>15 seconds</u>. Using an ability that gives a point of dissonance or resonance resets this timer.</li>

    </ul>

    A through scan showed only one change, but it was a big one. Instead of a charge of resonance or dissonance decaying every 10 seconds, they would now last 15, a pretty substantial increase which would allow me to be a little more flexible on how I spent my astral power on abilities. Content, I leveled the skills and abilities that were most important to me for the time being, wanting to get a few of them ranked up higher rather than putting one rank into a bunch of different skills that might not be as important now that I had decided my play style and what my role should be for my team. I went with what Gaz and I had planned out, allocating the points quickly in my character sheet.

    I spent all of my remaining character points moving Warp from rank 0 to 3, Astral Armor from 0 to 4, Dimensional Strike from 0 to 2, Matter Mastery from 0 to 1, Resonance from 0 to 1, and Astral Power from 2 to 3. When it was done, I was out of character points, but I was sure my new kit was going to be great. And if not, there was probably a way to refund my spent points, even if that came with a cost. I pulled up my updated character sheet.

    Edwin

    Level 11 Human Warpguard

    44 HP (40+4 <u>Brawn)</u>

    11/11 Astral Power

    129/485xp

    0 Unspent Character Points.

    0 Unspent Attribute Points.

    1 Unspent Hero Point.

    Base Attributes

    <u>Endurance: 8 (7+1 Brawn)</u>

    <u>Agility: 5</u>

    <u>Strength: 7</u>

    <u>Intellect: 5</u>

    <u>Willpower</u>: 8

    Cunning: 5

    Luck: 6

    Charisma: 5

    Traits

    <u>Brawn:</u> Character has an additional point of Endurance, 10% extra health, and plus 1 base defense rating.

    <u>Devotion</u>: Character discovers new non-magical abilities 25% faster.

    Abilities

    Second Wind (Rank 0): Physical. Instant. <u>8 hour cooldown</u>. The character is returned to <u>full health</u>. Character gains <u>2X</u> base defense rating for the next <u>30 seconds</u>. Character cannot be affected by Second Wind again in the same encounter. Second Wind will automatically trigger if able when the character is reduced to 0 base health.

    Warpguard

    Astral Armor (Rank 4): Matter. Resonant, <u>1 point</u>. Instant. <u>2 astral power</u>. <u>45 second cooldown</u>. The character imbues their armor with astral power, absorbing 28 damage <u>((willpower*strength)/2)</u>. For each rank in Astral Armor, the character has a 5% <u>(willpower modifier)</u> chance to refresh the shield when using other resonant abilities.

    Dimensional Recall (Rank 0): Temporal. Matter. <u>10 minute</u> cooldown. <u>0 points</u>. The character summons or stores their armor from/to the Astral dimension, instantly equipping or unequipping all pieces worn. If the character unequips their armor, they will instantly equip all previously worn non-armor clothes. Requires Warpguard armor.

    Dimensional Strike (Rank 2): Temporal. Matter. Instant. Dissonant/Resonant, <u>1 point</u>. <u>2 astral power</u>. <u>20 second cooldown</u>. The character infuses their next weapon strike with astral power, dealing <u>200%</u> + <u>10X</u> the character''s willpower modifier in percent weapon damage (50%) and generating either <u>1 point </u>of resonance or dissonance.

    Phase Shift <Heroic Ability> (Rank 1): Phase shift is a passive ability fueled by other Warpguard spells and abilities. Phase Shift is a sliding scale that begins at 0 and can move to <u>-4 (fully dissonant)</u> or <u>4 (fully resonant)</u>Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    <ul>

    <li>When using dissonant abilities, the character gains dissonance. For each point in the dissonant state of being, the character gains evade chance, player speed, and hit speed equal to their <u>willpower modifier in percent</u> (5%). When fully dissonant, the character gains evade chance, player speed, and hit speed equal to <u>2x</u> their willpower modifier in percent (10%) for each point in the dissonant state.</li>

    <li>When using resonant abilities, the character gains resonance. For each point in the resonant state of being, the character gains bonus defense rating and strength equal to their <u>willpower modifier in percent</u> (5%). When fully resonant, the character gains bonus defense rating and strength equal to <u>2x</u> their willpower modifier in percent (10%) for each point in the resonant state.</li>

    <li>Phase Shift charges will decay toward 0, 1 point at a time every <u>15 seconds</u>. Using an ability that gives a point of dissonance or resonance resets this timer.</li>

    </ul>

    Temporal Control (Rank 0): Temporal. Instant. Dissonant/Resonant, <u>1 point</u>. <u>10 minute cooldown</u>. The character enters player time for up to <u>20 minutes</u>, pausing the game world for them (dissonant) or slows (resonant) their perception of time by <u>100%</u>.

    Warp (Rank 3): Temporal. <u>4 charges</u>. The character consumes a charge of Warp to teleport up to <u>40 feet</u> away, instantly appearing in the new location. The player generates <u>1 charge</u> of Warp every <u>25 seconds</u>.

    Skills

    [-]Weapons

    Swords (Rank 0): Each rank in Swords boosts the character¡¯s damage and critical strike chance while using a sword by 1%. Critical strikes with swords have an additional 1% chance to apply a debuff on hit for each rank in Swords.

    [-]Armor

    Heavy Armor (Rank 0): Each rank in Heavy Armor improves the character¡¯s defense rating by 1% for each piece of heavy armor worn (Torso, Legs, Bracers, Greaves, Gauntlets, Helmet). In addition, for each rank in Heavy Armor, the character has a 1% chance to ignore a single source of damage while wearing a full set of heavy armor.

    [-]Magic

    Astral Power (Rank 3): Each rank in Astral Power gives the character extra points in astral power equal to their willpower modifier, 1% higher astral power regeneration, and 1% stronger spells and abilities for each point of astral power spent in an encounter.

    Dimensions (Rank 0): Each rank in Dimensions improves the power of being either fully dissonant or resonant by 1% and gives a 0.1% chance each second to enter a superstate of existence, doubling all player attributes for 20 seconds and instantly refreshing all cooldowns.

    Dissonance (Rank 0): Each rank in Dissonance increases the power and duration of effects of dissonant abilities by the character¡¯s willpower modifier in percentage (3.33%). For each rank in Dissonance, the character has a 1% chance to gain 10% additional evade for 30 seconds when spending astral power while fully dissonant.

    Matter Mastery (Rank 1): Each rank in Matter Mastery improves the power and duration of matter abilities by 1% and gives the character a 1% chance to recover all astral power spent on matter spells and abilities.

    Resonance (Rank 1): Each rank in Resonance increases the power and duration of effects of resonant abilities by the character¡¯s willpower modifier in percentage (3.33%). For each rank in Resonance, the character has a 1% chance to gain 20% additional strength for 30 seconds when spending astral power while fully resonant.

    Temporal Mastery (Rank 0): Each rank in Temporal Mastery improves the power and duration of temporal abilities by 1% and gives the character a 1% chance to recover all astral power spent on temporal abilities.

    [+]Non-combat

    I canceled my active Temporal Control, resuming my perception of time. Gaz hadn¡¯t even sat back down yet. ¡°Points are spent just like we worked out. It feels really relieving that they¡¯re gone, actually. Let¡¯s go find the others.¡± My body ached more than it had any right to, and the interior of my armor was actually quite comfortable. It would be so easy just to close my eyes and go to sleep again, but there wouldn¡¯t be time for that until we were back on the road¡ªif we were going to press forward with getting to Brigstone to meet up with Monica and try to advance our quest with Ectos instead of waiting for John. Monica had given us a week to get to her before she would move and send her new location. We received her letter five days ago.

    New Quest: A Wild Night in Briarthorn

    New Objective: Find Clarence and Kirsten.

    Bonus Objective: Learn more about Kirsten¡¯s power.

    ¡°Glad to hear it. Let¡¯s go get the others and see if we can get out of here,¡± Gaz said, following behind me as we navigated through the broken ruins of the tavern toward the cobbled street.

    I looked down at my charred armor, trying to brush some of the soot off to inspect the damage. As I expected, there was a hole in the shoulder plate where I was stabbed by the short sword. There was also denting all over the chest and abdomen plates from the automaton¡¯s crossbow minigun. Richard¡¯s attacks, the source of most of the damage I had taken in the brawl didn¡¯t leave any lasting holes in the plates, but it was terrifying that his blades had bypassed all of my defenses. He wasn¡¯t dead, either, and now had more reason than ever to come after us again with greater numbers.

    The stables next to the tavern were actually in pretty good condition considering what had happened right next door. There were the sounds of horses and mules moving around in their stalls as we passed. Gaz still had his hammer and was awkwardly using it to ease his wobbly walking, but my sword, the super evil one we looted from Jason when we had killed him was locked up in the wagon before the fight went down last night.

    I didn¡¯t have anything other than my armor which still wasn¡¯t functioning correctly. My helmet enchantment wouldn¡¯t adjust and provide better vision, and the rest of the suit felt like it was made of solid lead.

    I remembered the spell I learned last night, the stroke of luck that had saved my life. I cast Dimensional Recall, storing my armor in the Astral dimension. That was the theory at least. Now, for the next 10 minutes, I wouldn¡¯t have my armor if I needed it, but it wasn¡¯t working correctly anyway. Perhaps storing it would automatically repair the damage, that was my hope at least. Fortunately, I was back in what I¡¯d been wearing last night at the tavern, a simple tunic, some pants, and my traveling boots. Gaz wore similar attire, and until we could revisit Clarence¡¯s wagon, we wouldn¡¯t have access to the rest of our stuff.

    ¡°Oh, I thought I saw you do something like that last night,¡± Gaz commented. ¡°That makes a lot of sense, actually. Ugh, where the flying hell is Clarence? I need him to brew me a potion for my head or something. Oh no¡­¡±

    Gaz lurched off to the side and sunk to his knees, spraying the street with a fresh round of vomit. I waited for him to finish before I helped him to his feet, grimacing. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll take it easy on the booze next time.¡±

    ¡°Whoever said dwarves can drink a ton of alcohol and not get hungover is an idiot. And I¡¯m an idiot for drinking as much as I did last night.¡±

    I tuned him out. There was something strange happening in Briarthorn. Since we¡¯d left the remnants of the tavern, we hadn¡¯t seen a single person as we walked toward the center of the town toward the largest building in the cluster, the town hall. Now that I thought about it, I hadn¡¯t remembered walking past a cemetery on our way in. Maybe it was located outside the town¡¯s immediate proximity and the people of the town were still burying their dead. ¡°When¡¯s the last time you saw someone here, Gaz?¡±

    ¡°I told you, it was this morning. They sent me to dig you out of the rubble and I fell asleep. That must have been hours ago.¡±

    ¡°Okay, do you know where the cemetery is?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°If they told me, I sure as hell don¡¯t remember. Let¡¯s just see if anyone is in the town hall.¡±

    We reached the center building and pulled on the heavy wood door. It was locked. The windows to either side were dusty, but the inside was dark, and it looked empty.

    Gaz started to ready his hammer, looking like he wanted to bash the door in, but I raised a hand to stop him. ¡°Let¡¯s not do that just yet. Come on, let¡¯s go knock on some doors.¡±

    Fifteen minutes of knocking on the doors of houses and storefronts yielded no sign of life. All of the doors and windows were locked, and what buildings we could see inside were all dark and empty. I was getting a really weird vibe from this place that seemed to meet most if not all of the fantasy tropes associated with small agricultural towns in MMOs. ¡°Gaz, why is it always the small towns in games that have something weird going on?¡±

    He staggered to the side, bracing himself on the side of a building and somehow managing to keep himself from falling. ¡°Kirstin sort of blew up the busiest building in what was probably a pretty peaceful town. I think this probably has something to do with that rather than anything specific to the town.¡±

    I frowned. ¡°It feels like more than that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re complaining about quests and easy loot?¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m not, but I want to get to Monica in Brigstone. We¡¯re running out of time to make it to her before she leaves.¡±

    ¡°Unless we send her a letter asking to wait,¡± Gaz suggested.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know what she¡¯s up to, and that¡¯s a lot of gold to spend when Clarence seems to think we¡¯ll make it on time.¡±

    We reached the edge of the town which was empty to the point where I was creeped out. The dead silence was palatable¡ªthe only thing breaking it was the wind blowing through the town.

    There were no guards at the gate, and the heavy wooden doors, standing at least 15 feet tall on a stone and mortar frame, were wide open, held in place by two log stumps wedged at the bottom of the two door halves to keep them in place.

    ¡°It¡¯s ridiculously quiet,¡± I said.

    ¡°A lot of people died last night. It would make sense that the whole town would go to bury them.¡±

    We walked past the gate, searching the expanse of fields sprawling in every direction. Off in the distance, there was a large mass of people gathered at what must have been Briarthorn¡¯s cemetery. Clarence¡¯s wagon, along with several others from the town, was drawn on the side, acting like some kind of morbid taxi for the dead. The cemetery was probably a half mile out, and I wasn¡¯t really feeling up to the walk, though we didn¡¯t really have a choice.

    ¡°See? Just burying their dead. Let¡¯s go try to help and then get out of here. Maybe you¡¯ll have better luck than me when you try to talk to Kirsten.¡±

    My UI flashed as we approached the cemetery, and text rolled down my vision.

    Quest Updated: A Wild Night in Briarthorn

    New Objective: Learn the aftermath of the previous night.

    Easy enough, I thought grimly.

    We finished the walk to the cemetery, joining Kirsten and Clarence who were both plastered in sweat. Things were a lot worse than I had initially expected after counting 23 freshly dug graves. Briarthorn¡¯s headstone maker was the only one who looked even moderately okay with what happened the previous night. The depth of emotion and pain on the faces of everyone from the town was a little too much to bear. They looked at me with confusion, anger, and pain. There was little I could do to protect the people who had been in the tavern against Richard and his goons, and I felt a spike of anger at the Storyweaver AI for making me feel like this. This wasn¡¯t real, the deaths weren¡¯t real. Yet one of my best friends was gone, and there was no assurance we¡¯d ever see him again. I wasn¡¯t exactly eager to take anything Jerry Anderson said at face value.

    One hundred feet away from the cemetery a sinister fire coughing out acrid black smoke was stacked high with the bodies of the Yellow Oysters goons who had died in the tavern last night. The flames licked at the hot summer air, scattering whirling flakes of ash and burning matter across the plains. Thankfully, it was downwind from us.

    I didn¡¯t like that Richard wasn¡¯t burning in the stack with the rest of them¡ªhe would be after us now more than ever. The Oysters, however stupid their name was, were now a legitimate enemy, and they seemed to be pretty influential to be putting up such a massive bounty on Clarence¡¯s head. We needed to tread carefully, and it didn¡¯t seem wise to stay in this town any longer. The Yellow Oysters could be back at any moment with reinforcements, ready to take the town by storm and avenge their dead.

    Kirsten lowered her eyes as Gaz and I passed her and took our positions in the crowd. Clarence also wore a solemn expression, so uncharacteristic against his usual fun, quirky mood. There was something else about the demeanor of the townsfolk¡ªit resembled subdued fear, maybe even toward us.

    The families of the fallen each took a turn to say a few words over their loved one¡¯s graves, some doing better than others. The Storyweaver AI was making me feel like crap, even as I actively reminded myself none of these people were real. They would probably just respawn in some other part of the game world completely unaware of their deaths or previous existence. In a way, it was as dark and convoluted as the situation my friends and I were facing with Stratus Online.

    We remained at the cemetery until the last of the families left. The man I presumed to be the mayor of the town stared at me with glossy eyes, lowering his head and wrapping an arm around a grieving friend as they walked away. He had no anger¡ªnot toward us at least. The Yellow Oysters were responsible for this, not us. I reminded myself that we did our best to save the innocent civilians, that we were dealing with powers beyond our control. Kirsten was powerful¡ªprobably a lot more powerful than me, even with a legendary class.

    Kirsten had yet to say a word to Gaz or me, and her silence said more than anything else could. We had let her down, let John down. She was right, and it sucked that it took all of this for me to realize just how much danger Gaz and I were putting her in by refusing to cooperate with one another. After talking with Gaz earlier, I knew we both had learned our lesson. Anything other than full cooperation would result in failure.

    I decided to attempt the first of what would likely be many apologies to Kirsten. The guilt was congealing in my gut like a glob of acid. ¡°Kirsten, I¡¯m so sorry. We¡¯ll find John, and Gaz and I won¡¯t be fighting each other anymore.¡±

    She looked away, suddenly taking an intense interest in an ant pile on the edge of the dirt road.

    I took a breath to say something else, but Gaz put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. She needed time, and it wasn¡¯t fair for me to expect her to forgive me anytime soon. A wave of determination washed over me, powerful and resolute. I would help her through this, we would claim our lives back.

    Quest Updated: A Wild Night in Briarthorn

    New Objective: Talk with Mayor of Briarthorn or leave the town.

    The two-day deadline on meeting Monica loomed. Briarthorn would be the last settlement we¡¯d visit before getting to Brigstone, and if we left soon, we would be able to get to Monica on time and get some answers. I found fragments of her letter to us looping in my head, the letter I had read so many times I now knew it by heart. We had an objective from Ectos, one that was taking us to Brigstone already. Having been in the game a lot longer, it was reasonable to expect Monica to be a higher level than the rest of us¡ªassuming she was real and this wasn¡¯t some sort of trick to lure us into a dangerous situation.

    The walk back to town was quiet and awkward. Gaz and I didn¡¯t try to say anything to Kirsten, giving her the space she needed to work through whatever she was going through. We would need to get her recount of the previous night¡¯s events eventually, to take a mental inventory of the power she had channeled on our enemies with such lethal might.

    ¡°What happened to John¡¯s body?¡± I asked Clarence, keeping my voice low enough so that Kirsten wouldn¡¯t hear me.

    ¡°Buried with the others. Richard reclaimed his gear. The crossbow and quiver are gone, but he left the rest of John¡¯s gear behind. It¡¯s loaded in my wagon. Speaking of which, where is your armor? You were still wearing it this morning.¡±

    ¡°New ability, I can store it in the Astral Dimension and instantly equip it, I¡¯m hoping it will self-repair while it¡¯s there, but that might be a bit too much to ask.¡±

    ¡°A powerful ability indeed. I believe that will prove quite useful.¡± Clarence gave me a brisk nod, speeding up to talk with Kirsten while I slowed to walk the rest of the way with Gaz.

    ¡°Did you get that quest update?¡± Gaz asked me as we neared Briarthorn¡¯s main gate.

    ¡°Yeah, probably better to just leave, I don¡¯t think there is anything left for us here anymore.¡±

    I nodded, and we walked into the town, now showing signs of life and habitation where there were none earlier. Though I wanted to leave as fast as possible, the thought of Richard waiting on the road to ambush us was unsettling. How had he found us in the first place? I continued to run through the mental scenarios in my head as we followed Clarence and Kirsten into the town¡¯s general store.

    Though hesitant to sell us anything after the previous night, the store clerk sold us three big bags of coarse flour, half a pound of salt, a coil of thickly wound rope, and a crate of fresh apples. We refilled our drinking water barrels and filled them at the center well of the town, giving us plenty of water for the rest of the journey. Gaz rested in the back of the wagon, downing a concoction Clarence mixed him for his hangover while I loaded our newly acquired supplies into our spacious vehicle.

    As I finished and wiped sweat from my forehead, Kirsten walked over to me, meeting my gaze with her crystalline blue eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t want your help, or Gaz¡¯s.¡± Her voice was harsh.

    ¡°Kirsten, I¡ª¡±

    She raised a hand to cut me off. The expression on her face said it all. I clamped my jaw. ¡°But I need it. What happened to John was terrible, but it wasn¡¯t just on you and Gaz. We¡¯ve got to be more careful going forward. All of us.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I know Gaz is too.¡±

    ¡°I forgive you both, and I¡¯m sorry as well. You and Gaz are stuck here too, and it¡¯s not your fault that I¡¯m at risk of permanent death. The Storyweaver AI is responsible for that.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all in this together,¡± Gaz called from the back of the wagon. I wasn¡¯t aware he could hear us, and by the look on her face, it didn¡¯t look like Kirsten was either.

    ¡°Thank you, Gaz,¡± Kirsten replied. ¡°About the letter to John. I think we should save the gold. He knows where we¡¯re heading, he¡¯ll know that if we don¡¯t message him then we¡¯re just trying to save the gold. He¡¯ll be heading to Brigstone as soon as he can, I really believe it.¡±

    Ten gold was more or less a drop in the bucket compared to our chest of over 700 gold, but ten gold was also ten gold. I knew John would travel to Brigstone, the letter always was about making Kirsten feel better more than anything else. ¡°If you¡¯re certain. I think the same thing, but we can afford to spend the gold if you¡¯d like, it¡¯s really no trouble,¡± I said, watching her face to try to get a better read on her.

    Kirsten nodded. ¡°I¡¯m certain, we¡¯ll see him soon, and if we need to leave Brigstone for whatever reason before we meet up with him, then we¡¯ll send a letter.¡±

    ¡°I hate to interrupt, but are we ready to leave?¡± Clarence asked, returning the bag of oats he had just used to feed his mules to its slot on the side of the wagon.

    I looked at Kirsten and she nodded. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything else left for us here. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    With everything loaded into the wagon, we departed Briarthorn, wanting nothing to do with whatever quests we might be leaving behind.

    Quest Complete: A Wild Night in Briarthorn

    Quest Objective Transferred: Learn more about Kirsten¡¯s power.

    New Quest: The Power of the Godsworn

    New Objective: Learn more about Kirsten¡¯s power.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 7

    7

    As we took a break to let Clarence¡¯s mules rest, Kirsten let Gaz and me inspect her gear. Along with her robe, her new staff was one of the few pieces of equipment she owned that gave stats or beneficial effects. The staff was a lot more intricate than it appeared from a distance. The wood was hard and polished and had the feel of marbled stone. There were no cracks against the matte surface, somehow sleek despite the fact it didn¡¯t look glossy. The candle affixed to the top was simple in every way imaginable, nothing more than a misshapen mound of wax, and a heavy-gauge wick running down the center toward the base of the iron cage mounted to the top. In the kobold¡¯s hands, the staff looked massive and unwieldy. For Kirsten, it was just the right height.

    <u>Robe of Minor Magic</u>

    Magical. Robe.

    Dur: 98/100

    Armor: 2

    Weight: Light

    The wearer of this robe gains 1% increased critical chance when casting spells, 1% less magic fatigue when casting spells, and 1% higher mana regeneration while wearing Robe of Minor Magic.

    Ability: Mage Armor: Once per day, Robe of Minor Magic will automatically prevent one source of damage that would deal over half of the wearer¡¯s maximum health in one hit. This ability blocks only the damage, not any additional effects from the attack. 24-hour cooldown once triggered.

    <u>Ring of the Pumpkin Sycophant</u>

    Magical. Ring.

    Dur: 100/100

    Weight: Light

    The wielder of this ring proudly declares their allegiance to the mighty pumpkin, the most sovereign of all fruits and vegetables.

    While wearing this ring, the wielder gains double the effect from consuming pumpkin-based consumable items.

    <u>Trinket of Anti-Tracking</u>

    Magical. Oddity.

    The bearer of this trinket cannot be tracked through the use of Tracking.

    <u>Klayor¡¯s Grand Candleholder</u>

    Magical. Staff. Archaic.

    Dur: 96/100

    Damage: 4-6 Crushing.

    Speed: Slow.

    Elemental Affinity: Fire +1.

    Maximum Mana +2.

    Requires Strength 5, Intellect 7, Willpower 5.

    Passive Ability: Archaic: Archaic items never lose durability through normal means. Instead, imbued Archaic abilities can be used at the cost of durability. Archaic items can only be repaired by persons with Archaic Artificing.

    Passive Ability: Wisdom¡¯s Flame: When the wielder casts a fire spell, this item¡¯s candle ignites for 10 seconds. When lit, Wisdom¡¯s Flame increases the duration of the wielder¡¯s channeled fire spells by one second for the duration of this effect.

    Archaic Ability: Pyretic Conjecture: 2 durability. The wielder consumes all their remaining mana, generating half that amount (rounded up) per second for five seconds. While affected by Pyretic Conjecture, the wielder suffers fire damage equal to their intellect modifier every second for the duration of this effect. Non-heroic fire spells have their cooldowns halved (rounded down) for the duration of this effect. Casting a fire spell during this effect extends the effect by one second. If this effect lasts more than 10 seconds, the durability cost of this ability is refunded. 10 minute cooldown.

    The text of the staff was in purple, an item rarity color we had yet to see and one commonly associated with epic items in a lot of MMOs. It was also the first item we had seen with requirements for use. Though I didn¡¯t have the intellect to wield the weapon, nothing stopped me from holding it. I just assumed it would be little more than a meaty piece of wood in my hands. Though my armor was still unidentified, this was the second-best item we had looted so far. I clicked on the elemental affinity line of text, trying to expand it and see the mechanics of the effect, but nothing happened. I assumed it gave bonuses with either some or all fire-based spells.

    Though Kirsten wouldn¡¯t be using the staff¡¯s archaic ability regularly while negating the durability cost, I was fascinated by the mechanic itself and a strange, but interesting alternate cost to activate the ability. With the nice boost to mana generation and the ability to spam additional spells during Pyretic Conjecture without having to worry about taking too much damage, this staff would be very powerful in Kirsten¡¯s hands. With the quality of the item, Kirsten would have to consider learning some fire spells to get the most out of the weapon.

    Gaz was equally impressed with the weapon, and both of us now had a new understanding of how the staff was in such good condition compared to everything else, ourselves excluded, that was more or less demolished in the explosion that saved us all from what was likely certain death.

    Eventually, the road widened and it was paved with smoothed over flagstone, worn from ages of use. It was drastically different than the narrow roads choked by tall grass and neglect we had used up until this point. The seemingly endless expanse of uninhabited countryside was slowly giving way to distant farms set on large, well-maintained plots which must have fed the city.

    The smell of brine tinged the cool air as we neared Brigstone, the massive city built right on the edge of Thrael. White seagulls flew overhead, surging ahead of us toward our destination. The Colos Ocean was a massive thing, branching along the entire eastern coast of the continent according to Clarence. Fishing, trade, and travel were all made possible from Brigstone¡¯s massive port system which served as one of the main economic engines of the city.

    As dusk approached, Clarence lit lanterns and hung them from hooks. He mended a frayed leather horse harness that had suffered years of hard use for a farmer traveling near us.

    ¡°Free of charge for a friend of the road,¡± Clarence said.

    The farmer, a male elf named Wraeorlin seemed out of place in this part of Thrael where humans seemed more rampant than any other race. He was tall and thin, but well built for what mass he did have. ¡°Thank you, friend, that harness has been giving me trouble for years. How much longer do you plan on traveling this evening? I wouldn¡¯t mind someone to share supper with.¡± Wraeorlin had a strong accent, soft, soothing, and deep. Now that I thought about it, Kirsten had a slightly similar accent in-game as well, slightly draped over her normal voice but far less distinguished than this man.

    Clarence looked to the rest of us. Though I wanted to reach Brigstone as soon as possible, we wouldn¡¯t make it to city tonight, and exhaustion from a day¡¯s worth of walking was taking its toll. ¡°I¡¯m fine with stopping whenever, as long as we reach the city tomorrow,¡± I offered.

    Gaz, who had spent most of the day in the wagon. ¡°Not really my say, especially since I¡¯ve been in this wagon all day.¡±

    Clarence peered up into the sky, appraising the position of the sun. ¡°I figure we¡¯ll stop a little before nightfall to give us enough time to set up camp and get a fire going.¡±

    ¡°Perfect for me,¡± Wraeorlin replied, pulling his wagon alongside Clarence¡¯s. The farmer¡¯s horse acknowledged Clarence¡¯s mules for a brief second, then ducked its head back down and continued to haul the farmer¡¯s cart forward. Wraeorlin moved the burlap cover to the side, digging through his inventory.

    ¡°What do you have in mind for supper?¡± Clarence asked. ¡°I¡¯m a fan of stew, but then again I am a Goblin.¡±

    Wraeorlin seemed to consider this, scratching the stubble on his angular chin. ¡°I have potatoes, yams, cabbage, onion, and freshly smoked jerky. A stew would be lovely.¡±

    We broke camp half an hour later, moving Clarence¡¯s wagon off the road to a designated resting area where tents were perched on the grass and wagons were parked on the extended stone lot neighboring it. The clamor of conversation, distant resonation of instruments and singing, and a tapestry of different smells created a welcoming, cozy atmosphere that I soaked in after yet another day of long travel.

    Wraeorlin prepared the cauldron and fire while Clarence tended to the animals, treating Wraeorlin¡¯s horse after his mules were taken care of.

    The stew was good, more filling than what we usually ate with the plethora of fresh veggies. It was more or less just a jumble of ingredients and spices we mixed in, but it was a hearty meal. I reached toward the cauldron, scooping out another ladle and refilling my bowl, still not quite full. Better to overeat then not eat enough when you¡¯re on the road.

    ¡°So, what are you traveling to Brigstone for?¡± Wraeorlin asked through a mouthful of stew.

    Clarence answered. ¡°Business mostly. Hopefully we¡¯ll sell some wares and find some interesting things to take back west.¡± It was the answer we had all rehearsed, the exact sequence of words we thought would draw the least suspicion. We didn¡¯t need anyone to know that we were helping the Gods with some sort of mythical quest, nor did we need the attention that might bring trouble. The seal of Ectos, the emblem that would apparently allow us to recruit the help we¡¯d need in Brigstone was safely locked away in Clarence¡¯s wagon, but it was so important for how easy it would be to lose.

    ¡°I understand, I¡¯m just here to sell my produce too. The local coalition charges a hefty cut, so I try to sell my produce myself. I¡¯m not one for city life honestly, but my family can use the extra money.¡±

    ¡°You live nearby?¡± Kirsten asked.

    ¡°Fifteen miles past Briarthorn. Brigstone buyers pay a premium on quality produce, and the extra profit makes the journey worth it. Say, did you hear the rumors about Briarthorn? Some kind of bandit attack at the tavern. Some elf mage with burning blue eyes blew up the building.¡± Wraeorlin stopped talking and closed his mouth, a wave of worry washing over his face, only for a second before he recovered and renewed his friendly smile. It was as if he was seeing Kirsten for the first time now, putting the pieces together. She wasn¡¯t wearing her robe, but the fading night sky painted with dark purples, oranges, and grays highlighted the soft radiant glow of her blue eyes with the power Ectos had imbued in her.

    ¡°Yes, it was me, but you don¡¯t need to be afraid. We¡¯re not the bandits. We were attacked, and we¡¯re peaceful people,¡± Kirsten said.

    Wraeorlin studied her intently. The tension in his body washed away, and he looked around our campsite, apparently content that no one was within earshot. ¡°Rumor is that Inquisitors of the Faith from Brigstone were riding west to investigate. There are whispers that a Godsworn is awoken. I¡¯d imagine that they¡¯re going to come looking for you if they don¡¯t hear everything they¡¯d like to from the people of Briarthorn.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an arcane mage, I¡¯m not sure why they¡¯d think I was a Godsworn,¡± Kirsten said. She never was a good liar, and I was worried Wraeorlin might take offense at the fabricated lie.

    Clarence grimaced. ¡°We didn¡¯t see any riders, and we left Briarthorn yesterday. I assume by the fact that you¡¯re not screaming for help or fleeing that you¡¯re not scared of us.¡±

    Wraeorlin shook his head, taking another bite of hot stew. ¡°I¡¯m not scared of you, no. You strike me as very well educated, the lot of you. So, I don¡¯t need to tell you that you don¡¯t want to be involved with the Inquisitors and their methods of accomplishing tasks.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell us that,¡± Clarence replied.

    Wraeorlin wiped his mouth with the makeshift bib cloth he wore tucked into his shirt. ¡°I might not look it, but I¡¯m ninety years young. The only business I have with Inquisitors is if they want to buy my yams. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be speaking with them. Your eyes though, I¡¯ve never seen anything like that before, you might want to take measures to lay low during your time in Brigstone, at least until this can blow over, even if you¡¯re not the Godsworn they¡¯re looking for.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea. It¡¯s been fifteen years since I¡¯ve visited Brigstone,¡± Clarence admitted. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t think the Inquisitors of the Faith were still prevalent.¡±

    ¡°Most of them are nothing more than glorified city guards these days, but I have a feeling that might change soon.¡± Wraeorlin looked around again, making sure our conversation was still private. ¡°Are the Gods really coming back? Is it true?¡±

    Clarence answered before Kirsten could. ¡°This stays between us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m prepared to make a blood oath of confidence if you require it, otherwise, I offer my word as my bond.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re fighting with the Titans in the Otherworld Realms. Edwin here,¡± Clarence said pointing to me, ¡°Found the armor of Ectos. We returned it, defeating a servant of the Titan Xanrath along the way. We are trying to help Ectos and the other Gods win their battle in the Otherworld realms so their battle doesn¡¯t come to Stratus.¡±

    Wraeorlin leaned back, looking stunned. ¡°My days of the military life are long behind me now. I have a family, a home to keep me cool and warm throughout the year, and all I could ever need. But if there is something I can do to help you, please let me know.¡±

    I was concerned Clarence would give up such vital information to a friendly stranger, but maybe he had his reasons. Clarence finished off his third bowl of stew, setting it down and leaning back against a wheel of his wagon. ¡°Your delicious contributions to this stew and your secrecy are more than enough.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Perhaps a meeting with the king would be beneficial to you, though I don¡¯t know how you would go about arranging that.¡±

    ¡°We will seek aid from the Temple of Ectos first, branching out from there,¡± Clarence said. ¡°This issue is immense enough on its own without the addition of Thraelian politics.¡±

    We finished eating the meal, cleaned up and distributed the remaining stew to other nearby travelers, then settled in for the night, content with finishing the journey to Brigstone at sunrise.

    ¡°Why did you tell him all that?¡± Gaz asked, seemingly irritated with Clarence.

    Clarence grinned. ¡°He¡¯s not going to tell anyone, you can count on that. Did you see his tattoo, left forearm?¡±

    Gaz shook his head. ¡°What does that have to do with any¡ª¡±

    ¡°He was Vol¡¯Lor Honorguard, protector of kings and ancients in Lunevale. His word is worth gold. He would be a useful ally as well, one we might wish to acquire later.¡±

    Gaz relaxed, the anger draining from his body. ¡°How does a man like that become a farmer?¡±

    Clarence shrugged. ¡°I would be very interested to hear that story. For now, we will enjoy his company on the road.¡±

    ¡°These Inquisitors of the Faith, who are they?¡± Kirsten asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let their name fool you, they¡¯re entirely secular, and their decree is to prevent the spread of Otherworldly power through the sovereign kingdoms at any cost. We¡¯ll be avoiding them during our visit.¡±

    Conversation faded, and I tried to fall asleep. Despite physical exhaustion, sleep evaded me. I was anxious to meet up with Monica, scared that this was all some sort of trick, scared that it wasn¡¯t. This whole situation was too much to think about. After an hour of tossing and turning on my sleeping mat, I threw off my blanket and walked into the cool night air, savoring the strong breeze coming from the east. I found myself on the edge of wanting my blanket as the wind blew over my skin, sending gooseflesh across the exposed surface of my arms. I sat down on one of the large logs surrounding the remnants of our fire, little more than smoldering coals now, burning through their last bit of life.

    ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± It was Kirsten. She walked over and sat next to me, wrapped up in her blanket.

    ¡°No. You?¡±

    She shook her head, scooting closer to me and resting her head on my shoulder. Her brown hair was hard to see in the darkness of night, but her eyes still glowed with that light-like intensity. I wrapped an arm around her back, giving her a light squeeze. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Monica, this situation, Jason, the list goes on,¡± I sighed. ¡°What¡¯s keeping you up?¡±

    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll ever see him again? John, I mean. I¡­ I love him.¡±

    ¡°I know. And yes, we will see him again. We all knew death was part of this game, like it is any game. He¡¯ll find his way to Brigstone, we have to trust him to do that.¡±

    Kirsten¡¯s voice was shaking now. ¡°Jerry lied about so much, how do we even know we respawn if we die? What if he¡¯s already gone?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t, but between the letter Monica sent us and everything else we¡¯ve gathered, it¡¯s safe to assume that we really will respawn. It wouldn¡¯t provide good data for Stratus Labs if we just ceased to exist.¡± I regretted the words the second they left my mouth.

    ¡°Like I¡¯m going to cease to exist if I fail Ectos.¡± She didn¡¯t ask it as a question, she was treating it as a statement of fact. ¡°Is that bad data? The Storyweaver AI sure wants me to be scared for my life, more than the rest of you apparently.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. We¡¯re going to do everything we can to save you, Kirsten. There¡¯s no question. We will get you out of this.¡±

    ¡°I miss so much. I miss John. I miss my job at Walmart, I miss my parents and my sister. I miss my apartment. And I¡¯m scared I¡¯m never going to see any of it again.¡±

    I kissed the top of her head. I loved Kirsten. Not in a romantic way, but as one of my best friends in the world. I would get her out of this situation. I chuckled. ¡°I miss Gary and Rachel and Burger Planet the most.¡±

    That got her to laugh. ¡°Oh stop, anything is better than Burger Planet. You¡¯re having fun here. In a way, we all are. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that our lives were stolen from us, this would be a really great game,¡± she considered.

    ¡°I guess it is.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what we¡¯re doing in real life right now.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Who knows? The more I think about it, the more utterly mind breaking it becomes to comprehend, so I¡¯m just focusing on taking this one day at a time. Are you excited about that new staff you looted from the kobold?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s good, I just don¡¯t know how to go about trying to learn a fire spell or two to get the most out of its abilities.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your health up to anyway now?¡±

    ¡°Thirty-five health now with fifteen mana.¡±

    The number caught me off guard. As a tank character, I had 44 health, and that was with my <u>Brawn</u> trait. Kirsten had much more health than I expected, especially as a mage. ¡°You moved your endurance all the way to seven?¡± I had seen her gear, moving endurance to seven was the only way she could have that much health.

    ¡°Yeah. Pyretic Conjecture will deal five damage every second to me while it¡¯s active. The ability is too good not to use in hard fights, and this way I should be able to stay alive without Gaz needing to focus me so hard with his heals.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and you won¡¯t have to up your endurance again for quite a while. Did you talk to Clarence about learning fire spells?¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t teach me. I¡¯ll need to try to learn them myself, find a new mentor in Brigstone, or buy a spellbook. From what I¡¯ve gathered, the spellbooks are a one-time consumable that teaches the imbued spell. Some of the rarer ones even come in higher ranks from the start without costing points to upgrade.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s huge,¡± I said, considering. Somehow I got the feeling there wouldn¡¯t be many Warpguard spell or ability books lying around.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to use Pyretic Conjecture with Starspike for hard fights. If I can eventually learn a useful fire spell and depend on Gaz to heal me, the archaic durability cost of the ability will be refunded and I¡¯ll only have to worry about the cooldown.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the instant arcane missile that applies that curse?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± She shared the ability with me.

    Starspike (Rank 2): Arcane. Instant. <u>4 mana</u>. The character launches an arcane missile dealing <u>6 damage</u>. Upon hit, Starspike applies <u>Astral Fire (Rank 0)</u> to its target.

    Astral Fire (Rank 0): Arcane. Instant. Godsworn-Influenced. <u>0 Mana</u>. The afflicted character is cursed for <u>5 seconds</u>. While cursed, the character takes an additional <u>10%</u> arcane damage from all sources. Additional afflictions of Astral Fire renew this curse¡¯s duration. <u>Astral Fire</u><u> cannot stack</u>.

    It was the first spell or ability I¡¯d seen with another spell imbued within it. Interestingly enough, Kirsten couldn¡¯t cast Astral Fire by itself. Starspike was the first and only spell she had learned since becoming Godsworn to Ectos.

    I reviewed her revised character sheet which hadn¡¯t changed significantly since the last time I saw it. Kirsten was listed as a Godsworn Elf, almost as if it was a class like the one I had acquired. Only there never was a prompt for her to accept the class, it was simply given to her when she had accepted Ectos¡¯s deal to bring Clarence back from the dead. Kirsten spent a few minutes looking over my character sheet as well, but at this point she was familiar with my build, having worked with Gaz and John for hours with the information we had on hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to try to get to sleep now,¡± I said through a heavy yawn, the exhaustion finally catching up with me.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Me too. Thanks for talking with me, Edwin.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I gave her a hug before we climbed back into the wagon.

    As we returned to our sleeping places and settled in for the night, the sound of buzzing insects and waning conversation in the distance lulled me into a deep, peaceful sleep.

    We were up before sunrise. The sun, not quite topping the horizon was casting a dull amber glow on the fleeting night sky. Clarence, unwilling to skip out on morning coffee and breakfast despite only a few hours travel remaining, was already hard at work on his cauldron. He conjured his Grow: Fruit spell, conjuring the pumpkin to enhance his brew. I couldn¡¯t blame him for wanting the coffee so badly. Despite an incredibly nice night of rest, I was craving it myself. It was incredible how Stratus Online captured the subtle nuances of my entire being.

    After we had finished our breakfast with Wraeorlin, Clarence gave out the remainder of the coffee to other campers in our vicinity. We weren¡¯t even close to being the first ones up, and many travelers had already departed, prepared to finish their trek to Brigstone while the morning was still young. Had it not been for the small fortune we held, Clarence might have sold the coffee instead of just given it away, but he seemed especially cheery this morning.

    ¡°Thank you for the coffee. I must be going, but I wish you all the best on the road, and I hope our paths intertwine again,¡± Wraeorlin said, bowing before us ceremoniously.

    ¡°You as well, friend. Safe travels. If you ever decide to take up the adventuring life again, look for us. We¡¯d be happy to have a man of your talents in our party,¡± Clarence offered.

    The tall elf smiled with humble appreciation. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s likely, but anything can happen. Be safe out there.¡± With that, he flicked the reins to his horse and pulled back onto the road and toward our mutual destination. It was only after he had left that we realized he had left a note affixed to Clarence¡¯s wagon.

    My sincerest gratitude for your companionship and for making the road to Brigstone a welcoming place. May we meet again.

    <ul>

    <li>Your new friend, </li>

    </ul>

    Wraeorlin.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get some new gear after we meet up with Monica,¡± Gaz said, finishing his bowl of porridge. He was looking much better now, like the hangover had worn off. We all needed a bath from days of travel, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen until we could get situated in Brigstone, preferably at the Iron Calf Inn where Monica would be waiting.

    ¡°You and me both,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to sell Jason¡¯s sword and get a one-handed weapon and decent shield. Might try to get my armor repaired as well if I can find someone willing and able to work on it.¡±

    ¡°If we divide the gold five ways then take a twenty percent hold for the company coffers, we should have plenty to gear up for whatever comes next. Hmm, might want to make that thirty or forty percent we hold so we can save up for our Guildstone.¡±

    Kirsten walked over, stowing her dishes in Clarence¡¯s magic dish box, the Stratus equivalent of a modern-day dishwasher. ¡°That includes John¡¯s share?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, we¡¯ll safeguard his gold until he can make it back to us. I wish they gave us an in-game calculator,¡± Gaz grumbled.

    I did the math in my head, welcoming the opportunity to put my mind to use. With 700 gold and change, 700 to make it easier, we¡¯d hold 40% to save for the party. That math was easy enough: 280 gold withheld. With 280 out of the pot, that left 420 gold to split five ways. 84 gold each, John¡¯s share included. ¡°I¡¯m getting eighty-four gold each if we¡¯re saving forty percent, two-hundred-eighty gold withheld,¡± I reported. ¡°Whatever change is left after that can just go into our savings.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m getting too,¡± Kirsten said.

    ¡°Clarence, would you say that¡¯s enough gold to get some good magic gear?¡± Gaz asked.

    Clarence pondered this. ¡°Perhaps. It¡¯s just a matter of finding exactly what you¡¯re looking for. Brigstone is huge, but despite that, magic items aren¡¯t that common amongst most traders. What rarities we do manage to find will likely be held by collectors or merchants that know the worth of their items. Powerful, non-magical gear should be easily accessible though.¡±

    Gaz seemed happy enough with the answer. ¡°We¡¯ll do the best we can with what we have. Either way, we¡¯re over twenty-five percent of the way to founding our Guild Charter. Jerry didn¡¯t include instructions on how to purchase a Guildstone, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll figure that out before we raise the thousand gold.¡±

    Kirsten grinned. ¡°That¡¯s assuming we don¡¯t find our own Guildstone and skip out on the cost of buying it outright. Jerry did mention that was a possibility in his letter.¡±

    That would be an incredible windfall. 1,000 gold seemed like a fortune. It was a fortune, especially to low-level characters like ourselves. With no idea on the level-cap of Stratus Online, it was safe to assume we were nowhere near the level cap having only played for a fraction of the time we were allotted to complete the game. Despite losing John temporarily, I had the feeling we were a lot better off than most other groups in the game with us.

    Getting a Guildstone as soon as possible was a huge priority though. It would allow us to attract other player groups to our cause and increase our chances of winning this twisted competition. I didn¡¯t like the idea of anyone left stranded after the dust settled, even the likes of Jason, but he had already made his decision.

    The sun rose over the horizon by the time we were packed up and ready to leave. We would have plenty of time to meet with Monica and start exploring the city. Ideally, Monica would have a ton of information and quests to embark on. We could get her to go with us to the Temple of Ectos for some extra muscle if we needed it as well, especially if these Inquisitors were running rampant and searching for Kirsten. It seemed like a stretch, but I didn¡¯t like how many people were still talking about the incident in Briarthorn. It was spreading like wildfire throughout the travels on the road with us, and Kirsten decided to spend the remainder of the trip in Clarence¡¯s wagon to avoid suspicion.

    As we walked alongside Clarence¡¯s wagon, trade carts farther in front of us pulled to the side, clearing the way as a group of riders passed with discourteous speed. They wore large-brimmed leather hats stained midnight black and composite plate mail in the same style. Weapons were tied to the saddles of their horses, and they wore swords, daggers, and maces on heavy belts. They paid little attention to the travelers and merchants as they raced toward Briarthorn at a reckless pace.

    ¡°That was your first look at the Inquisitors,¡± Clarence said once all of them had passed.

    ¡°What do you think they¡¯re doing?¡± Gaz asked.

    Clarence grimaced. ¡°Investigating. Talking to witnesses, maybe other things. We need to blend in once we¡¯re inside Brigstone though. They¡¯ll be looking for us, and I¡¯m sure the Mayor of Briarthorn will be more than happy to give them our physical descriptions and tell them we were on our way to their beloved city.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like someone kicked the hornet¡¯s nest,¡± Gaz grumbled.

    A little shaken by the encounter, we traveled onward, trying to formulate a plan to hide Kirsten once we were in Brigstone. Somehow, I didn¡¯t feel like it would go well if the Inquisitors found her. Her eyes, no matter how beautiful, were a dead giveaway as to her identity that matched the rumors proliferating through the trade route and undoubtedly through the city of Brigstone. Clarence would stick out like a sore thumb too. After all, how many well-dressed goblin mages do you see running around civilized parts of the game world? For us, that number was one.

    The city walls materialized in the distance, small and shrunken against the ocean lining the outside. It was only after traveling for another fifteen minutes that I began to appreciate the true scale of Brigstone. It wasn¡¯t getting bigger, at least not yet. The city walls, looking small before, were impossibly tall now that we were less than a mile out. The empty country-side was replaced by numerous farmsteads, separated only by crudely hewn fences.

    ¡°Is this normal?¡± Gaz asked, looking at the line of carts forming in front of us. We must have still been a quarter mile away from the entrance.

    Clarence frowned. ¡°Getting in was easy last time. I fear they have a security checkpoint set up. We¡¯ll never get passed. Inquisitors can¡¯t be bribed, not in such a public place. Kirsten and I will never make it through. You two, on the other hand, shouldn¡¯t have an issue.¡±

    ¡°No way, we¡¯re not splitting the party,¡± I said.

    Gaz didn¡¯t look happy about it either. ¡°We might not have a choice. Clarence, do you think you can find another way into the city?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. You need to meet with Monica then go to the Temple of Ectos. Tell them we¡¯re outside of the city and need help getting in. Perhaps they have connections that can assist us. In the meantime, I¡¯ll work on a way to disguise us for entry. Let¡¯s get you ready.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay with this, Kirsten?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll figure this out.¡±

    Clarence took my two-hand sword, stowing it back in the wagon before I could strap it to my backpack. ¡°You can¡¯t take anything with God or Titanic influence into the city in case the Inquisitors running customs can detect the magic. You¡¯ll want to stick to your broadsword, I¡¯m afraid. Edwin, don¡¯t pull your armor out of the Astral Dimension unless you absolutely need it.¡±

    He was right. I pulled up the item¡¯s stats as I strapped the sword to my belt, tightening it an extra notch so the weapon¡¯s weight wouldn¡¯t pull down my traveling pants. The blade wasn¡¯t as sharp as it had been. There were chips along the edge, and the handguard felt loose.

    Steel Broadsword (Battered)

    Non-Magical. Sword. Versatile.

    Dur: 40/100

    Damage: 4-11 Piercing. 6-13 Slashing.

    Speed: Moderate

    -10% damage while battered.

    No Attributes.

    It was far from ideal, and without repairs, I would be at a noticeable disadvantage in my damage-dealing capabilities. Clarence drew his dining knife from the sheath on his belt, carving a slot into a stale loaf of bread. He put the Seal of Ectos into the slot, stuffing the segment of bread he had cut back into place. Concentrating, he ran his hands over the surface, casting a modified version of Mend to make the bread whole again. It was as if the seal was baked into the loaf. Clarence wrapped the resulting combination in burlap cloth, and I added it to my backpack. Gaz had taken the liberty of equipping his chainmail armor in case we ran into trouble in the city. My armor was more conveniently stored for immediate use if I needed it.

    After a few more minutes, we were ready to go. I checked my bag¡¯s contents one last time: the bread hiding the Seal of Ectos, three packs of dry rations, a large waterskin, 84 gold, my Anti-Tracking talisman from Boom-Boom, my Bag of Breading, and two pieces of magic parchment and a cheap quill and splotchy inkwell. The parchment was by far the coolest of the items we carried. Clarence had taken four pieces of it and cast a spell on them: Mirror Entity. in this case, anything written on one copy of the linked items would appear on the other. Clarence wasn¡¯t sure on the exact range the magic would stop functioning, but he seemed confident that we¡¯d be able to use the parchment to communicate without needing the costly player mail function while we were in Brigstone. It would be an invaluable tool if it worked as planned.

    To illustrate the function, Clarence sketched a symbol on one of his pieces of parchment. ¡°I¡¯ll use the copy with the symbol to write messages to you, and you¡¯ll write on the copy without it to write messages to us. Got it?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°So, the plan is meet with Monica first, then go to the Temple of Ectos and see if they have a way to get you in?¡± I asked, reconfirming.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kirsten said.

    ¡°What are you going to do while we¡¯re gone?¡± Gaz asked.

    ¡°Lay low, hopefully stay in range so the Mirror Entity spell still works. We¡¯ll find a nice place to camp well off the main road and I suppose I¡¯ll try to teach Kirsten some more magic, though I suspect I¡¯ll be learning a thing or two from her eventually, especially with her new powers.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, both of you.¡± Kirsten wrapped us in a hug.

    ¡°We always are,¡± I said, flashing her a reassuring grin. ¡°Even more so now. We¡¯ll try to give you guys a status update once we¡¯re inside and have met with Monica. We should have a better idea of how active the Inquisitors are too. I¡¯m thinking the Temple of Ectos will be willing to try to give us the assistance we need to get you both into the city safely.¡±

    ¡°Travel through separately. It¡¯s a bit paranoid, but we can¡¯t be too careful,¡± Clarence said.

    It wasn¡¯t a bad idea, especially since Gaz and I were likely mentioned in the rumors of Briarthorn that had put Brigstone into a frenzy. A human and dwarf traveling separately wouldn¡¯t draw much attention, especially in a place like this. We said our final goodbyes and started toward the city, walking to the left with the rest of the pedestrian traffic.

    The travelers with carts and wagons alongside us were starting to complain about the delay, especially since this was one of the only ways into the city. The foot traffic was moving much faster than the wagon line, presumably because the Inquisitors and city guard were being especially thorough with their searches of vehicles entering Brigstone.

    Now that we were closer, the city walls were a spectacle to behold, at least a hundred feet tall and built from orange and gray stone. Archers and guards walked along the tops of the walls, spectating the wagons entering the city and whatever waited for us on the inside. The portcullis, a behemoth mass of ironwork was drawn up into the middle of the reinforced wall, well-oiled and lethal-looking spikes with locking mechanisms hanging menacingly overhead. The gate must have weighed thousands and thousands of pounds, and it was a wonder how it was being held in place. Two massive door halves were swung and locked back at the entrance which was about fifty feet across, presumably acting as a second line of defense for the city if the portcullis failed.

    There were city guards all over the entrance, directing wagons and carts to inspection stations where more of the Inquisitors wearing their strange hats and armor stood, searching with critical eyes. The inspection stations were thorough. As we passed, I saw guards sifting through barrels and crates, hounds sniffing for chemical contraband, and Inquisitors conducting full body searches on people who looked utterly forgettable and unthreatening.

    Gaz and I had split up fifteen minutes ago, now at least fifty people apart in the line. Most of the people entering the city with this entrance were simple, most of them presumably farmers or humble merchants from the more remote parts of Thrael. A few wagons stuck out amongst the median theme of simplicity, the craftsmanship, size, and horses pulling them exuberating an aura of captured wealth.

    ¡°Prepare to have your bags and pockets inspected! Please cooperate fully and we will get you into Brigstone as quickly as possible!¡± a portly guard called out in a gruff accent, more similar to the region of Thrael we started in than Briarthorn strangely enough. The guard gripped a hefty spear in one hand, leaning on it, presumably from being tired, bored, or both. He had sweat beading down his forehead, staining the black iron edges of his helmet with white streaks as it evaporated. Rust and brine coated his armor in which looked like simple chain mail in uneven splotches of disunity. He wore a green and black tabard draped over the chain, tied at the waist with a length of dyed cord.

    Most of the guards wore similar armor and wielded a similar spear, but a few stood out with nicer helmets, swords instead of spears; these men were presumably higher ranks. Aside from one dwarf, one elf, and one man of a race we hadn¡¯t encountered, the city guard consisted almost entirely of humans as we had come to expect after probing Clarence for all he knew about this city.

    ¡°You there!¡± a guard shouted. In a huge crowd of people, everyone seemed to become ¡®you¡¯ for a split second. ¡°I don¡¯t have all day and neither do the rest of these fine people.¡± By the tone of his voice, he was becoming irritated and impatient, and I wondered what inconsiderate jerk was holding up the line until I realized it was me. Grimacing, I walked forward, apologizing as my focus was pulled away from the sights of the city gate and toward the singular guard barking out concise orders. ¡°Bag on the table please and turn out your pockets. Sword off too, I¡¯ll need to inspect it for contraband. You¡¯re coming from the west. Did you pass through Briarthorn?¡±

    ¡°I passed through, didn¡¯t stay though. I¡¯ve only heard what everyone else on the road is talking about.¡± For a second, I was worried the weapon was outlawed in Brigstone, but I realized he was just searching for anything out of the ordinary. Even a common guard would be able to spot that Jason¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t normal by any means. It was a good call to leave it with Clarence for the time being.

    I unbuckled my belt, pulling off my sword and setting it on the table in front of him with my bag. I was worried about having such a considerable sum of gold, I realized it would attract attention. Maybe it would have been best to leave the majority of it with Clarence, but he had seemed so thorough with everything else and apparently was concerned about this part.

    The guard turned out my bag, spilling the contents across the table and sifting through. He picked unwrapped the loaf of bread from its cloth bundle, knocking his fist against the hard, unappetizing surface. As he opened my gold pouch and fingered through the coins, he looked at me with a new found interest, as if he was just seeing me for the first time. ¡°What is your business in Brigstone this morning, Mr¡­¡± he waited for me to supply my name.

    I needed an Alias, and I didn¡¯t have time to be especially creative. Clarence and Kirsten had likely told the Mayor of Briarthorn our names, probably not thinking there was any harm in the truth. These guards might be looking for an Edwin, a Kirsten, Clarence, and Gaz. ¡°Ben,¡± I supplied, keeping a straight face. An internal monologue started forming in my head, the things I would tell this guard if I was telling the truth instead of the onslaught of lies I was about to fabricate.

    My name is Edwin, and I¡¯m one of the ones you¡¯re looking for.

    The name didn¡¯t faze him, and he didn¡¯t seem suspicious. ¡°And your business, Mr. Ben?¡±

    ¡°Meeting a woman to discuss business, maybe pleasure if I¡¯m lucky.¡± I flashed him an easy smile. It was truthful for the most part. It wasn¡¯t a secret to any of my friends that I had a crush on Monica. If she was as hot in-game as she was in real life, I was sure that crush, at least in part, would transfer to the world of Stratus Online.

    ¡°Anything you¡¯d like to tell me about this gold you¡¯re carrying? From the look of your clothes, it looks like it might not belong to you.¡±

    It was given to me by the God Ectos as a reward for returning a core crystal to him in a temple a little less than a week¡¯s travel away from Brigstone.

    I was prepared for the question to some extent. ¡°It¡¯s my gold. The woman I¡¯m meeting isn¡¯t cheap.¡± From what I said, I accidentally made Monica sound like a common whore rather than a woman I respected. It was too late to alter my answer now.

    ¡°Ha. The only cheap woman is a dead woman.¡± I was somewhat taken aback by the guard¡¯s incredibly sexist remark but decided it would be best not to confront him about it. ¡°And the sword? Not such a great weapon for personal defense on the road,¡± he continued. From what I had gathered from earlier, my interrogation, or whatever this was at this point, was taking longer than most. The people behind me shifted from foot to foot impatiently, anxious to get past security and get on with their business in Brigstone.

    ¡°I have the sword, but the truth is I¡¯m not so great with it. I prefer to underdress so people don¡¯t take an unhealthy interest in me while I¡¯m on the road, especially as a solo traveler.¡±

    I¡¯m actually infused with the power of a God, the same sort of energy all of you are out here looking for. Oh, and I can summon a full suit of mystical plate armor out of thin air like some kind of parlor trick.

    ¡°A good strategy, but this blade looks like it¡¯s seen plenty of use.¡± He didn¡¯t phrase it as a question, but I could see he was interested in my answer. He had a look of cautious disbelief on his face, disbelief he likely expected me to dispel or I would graduate to whatever security procedure was next if I didn¡¯t pass this test.

    My real sword is cursed by the Titan Xanrath, you wouldn¡¯t believe how I acquired it.

    ¡°It has, and that serves two functions. First, I got a good deal on the blade because it¡¯s in such bad shape, I¡¯m quite frugal you see. Second, it goes along with the humble appearance I¡¯m trying to maintain and helps me avoid attention.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± the guard said, looking somewhat content with my answer. ¡°And this bread? Hardest loaf I¡¯ve seen in a while, wouldn¡¯t be much good for eating. Tell you what, I¡¯d be happy to take it off your hands and feed it to the horses, what do you say?¡± From the look on his face, it looked like he would be more than happy to take it from me for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps he was onto me. I sighed internally. Why stop lying now when I was in this deep? I sized the guard up, scanning the nearby reinforcements and trying to calculate my chances of escaping if this man tried to arrest me. Without my armor, they weren¡¯t even close to good.

    ¡°It was cooked in Western Thrael, a gift for the woman I¡¯m meeting. It might seem stale, but the interior is quite delicious, I can assure you.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned how good the bread was, I didn¡¯t need to give this guard any reason to confiscate the loaf, especially due to the importance of what was stowed in it.

    ¡°Gennin, would you come here for one moment? Bring your hound, please,¡± the guard called to another man holding a bulky dog with a long snout and droopy ears on the end of a short leash.

    Gennin obliged, walking over. He took the loaf of bread and held it in front of the dog¡¯s nose, giving the animal time to sniff it from end to end. Apparently content it wasn¡¯t stuffed with drugs, the dog turned away, surprisingly uninterested in the food. Maybe the bread was just that stale.

    ¡°Normally we¡¯d cut this open to see if it¡¯s holding something it shouldn¡¯t be, but since it¡¯s a gift for your lady, I think it¡¯s best we leave it intact. Have a nice stay in Brigstone and thank you for your cooperation.¡±

    I was whisked through, and the guard who had questioned me waved the next person to him for inspection.

    New Skill Learned!

    Persuasion

    New Skill Learned!

    Deception

    I would check my character sheet later, sure that both of my new skills would be filed in the non-combat section. I was interested in seeing how non-combat skills worked in regards to progression, but it would have to wait. As I walked through the gate, the complexity and life of Brigstone¡¯s interior blew me away.

 Stratus Online: Godsworn Chapter 8

    8

    The immediate interior of Brigstone looked to be some kind of shopping district. Tall, two and three-story buildings with big signs hanging off the sides to advertise their functions. Wagons and carts moved in a steady flow on the right side of the road while foot traffic and horses made their way through much faster. Iron pennies clinked in rusted cans as beggars swished them around, seeking more coins from passing pedestrians. Young men and women called out from the porches of buildings, advertising their patron¡¯s special deals. Guards patrolled routinely, walking in tight clusters and scanning the streets for any signs of misconduct.

    I made my way through a torrent of people, waiting at a street corner for Gaz to join me¡ªhoping he would clear customs just as easily as I had. I took the opportunity to check my new skills.

    [-]Non-combat

    Deception (Rank 0) (<u>Next rank in 90%</u>): Each rank of Deception improves the plausibility of lies by a percentage equal to the character¡¯s charisma attribute. Some uses of Deception can be modified by other attributes other than charisma.

    Persuasion (Rank 0) (<u>Next rank in 95%</u>): Each rank of Persuasion improves the likelihood of influencing another being to do or believe something by a percentage equal to the character¡¯s charisma attribute. Some uses of Persuasion can be modified by other attributes other than charisma.

    I toggled the opacity of my character sheet, bumping it down to 50% to do a quick scan of the crowd. Still no sign of Gaz, but I also couldn¡¯t hear any shouting or signs of outright disaster over the noisy clamor of city life. I bumped up the opacity to 60%, making it easier to read the text while still being able to see the people around me with ease. Just as I suspected, I wasn¡¯t able to rank up either skill with the use of my single Hero Point which was available to assign into any other ability on my sheet.

    It was a little strange that I had just unlocked Persuasion and Deception, though thinking back, we¡¯d had few NPC interactions and none where I had tried to press for better quest rewards or lied to people. In MMOs and RPGs, I tended to enjoy combat in bulk, but also tended to play a neutral or good aligned character without the lust for innocent bloodshed. I rarely played characters where I devoted development resources into things like talking, trading, and things of that sort. It was more of John and Kirsten¡¯s forte actually, but with Clarence in our group, they hadn¡¯t needed to upgrade their charisma at all.

    I clicked the ¡®<u>Next rank in 90%</u>¡¯ button, underlined and highlighted like text that would expand and give me some kind of tooltip insight on how non-combat abilities worked.

    Non-combat abilities rank up through use rather than the investment of character or attribute points. Progress is tracked in percent remaining variable track to the next rank rather than an implicit xp count.

    Furthermore, some non-combat skills can improve a character¡¯s non-combat attributes through ranking up without the need of attribute points. If this occurs and a character¡¯s attribute that is higher than their race¡¯s starting stats is ranked up, the character will be refunded attribute points equal to the difference following standard attribute leveling rules. Attribute points refunded in this manner still count toward the character¡¯s overall attribute point cap of 200. A maximum of 10 non-combat attribute levels can be gained this way.

    I was perplexed. More from the fact that I just learned more about the overall leveling structure of the game. At level 11, we were still gaining one attribute point each time we leveled.

    I still couldn¡¯t see Gaz, but I didn¡¯t want to walk closer to the gate and potentially draw suspicion from the guards, not yet at least. A quick search of the ¡®settings¡¯ tab of my UI allowed me to filter out a lot of the visual clutter, removing the ¡®???¡¯ text floating above all the NPCs¡¯ heads as they moved around the city. The city felt organic, unscripted, like it was some kind of mechanical masterpiece, wound up and set loose to run through an incalculable amount of permutations. There had to be some kind of loop I wasn¡¯t seeing, something to ease the computational strain of trying to calculate infinity. If the authenticity of this place was cheapened by coding parlor tricks, I wasn¡¯t seeing how

    Dressed like a commoner, I wasn¡¯t attracting attention to myself, but I was growing more concerned and anxious. I played with a loose cobblestone beneath my boot, wriggling it around as I waited beside a tall wooden building in clear sight of the gate.

    A man approached me, walking up slowly from one of the side roads. He wasn¡¯t human, but I couldn¡¯t identify his race either I toggled the information feed from my UI, trying to get a quick read on him. I focused intently and more information than normal floated above him, though it wasn¡¯t helpful.

    ???

    Level: ???, ???

    HP: ???

    Potential Occupations: Ruffian, Mercenary, Rogue, Criminal

    New Skill Learned!

    Quick Analyze

    I dismissed the notification, prepared to read my new skill later and talk to this man now.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you, Edwin.¡± His voice sounded familiar, and I knew I had heard it before.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, resisting the urge to place my hand on the crappy sword on my belt. A better look at this man told me that was a bad idea. Even with my armor and full suite of abilities, I might¡¯ve had trouble dealing with this guy.

    He wore a gray cloak over baggy clothes that struggled to mask armor below against his slender frame. His skin, pale and chalky, was accented by high cheekbones that arched and pointed outward in a sharp, unnatural angle. The pupils of his eyes were a vibrant purple with a supernova pattern seared around his corneas. His long black hair was gathered in a bun that made him look like some kind of necrotic samurai. There were daggers on his belt, two of them on opposite sides, sheathed on the black leather in reach. He wore a sword as well across the back of his belt, strapped horizontally. From the sword¡¯s unique looking sheath, the weapon looked like a cross between a cleaver and a katana, an interesting weapon to say the least.

    He shook his head as though just remembering something. ¡°Oh right, sorry.¡± He disabled something, and information materialized, almost as if he was actively blocking it before.

    Player: Jun

    Level 9 Catalyst Barrowblade

    HP: 35

    Essence: 10/10

    Runes: 0/0/0

    Faction: ???

    The familiarity in the voice was well placed. His race, catalyst apparently, was changing his tone, adding a layer of grit to his usual subtle Asian accent. For losing a week so early in the competition after being killed by Jason, I was surprised to see he was only two levels behind me and the rest of my party. ¡°And before you ask, I¡¯m not here to kill you or attack you, I¡¯m not an asshole that gets off on killing other players,¡± Jun said.

    I relaxed immediately. Jun was Jason¡¯s former teammate, one of the ones Jason had killed to gain his powers from the Titan Xanrath. Jun warned us about Jason and fed us information that helped save our lives in that first terrifying encounter, and that wasn¡¯t something I had forgotten.

    ¡°How did you know it was me?¡± I asked.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°My race. You couldn¡¯t see I was a player until I let you. The Catalyst are an oddity. In fact, if your willpower wasn¡¯t so high, I¡¯d probably appear as a normal human. My kind isn¡¯t really liked, but the benefits far outweigh the cons.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m confused, that wasn¡¯t a playable race when we created our characters. It also looks like you have a class: the Barrowblade, whatever that is.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m not entirely corporeal or organic anymore either. Something between a zombie and a Shade to give you an idea. It¡¯s a long story, but it¡¯s also one I¡¯d love to discuss later if your group would like to meet.¡±

    I nodded hesitantly, trying to decide whether or not I should be concerned with Jun¡¯s sudden appearance. This didn¡¯t feel like a chance encounter, not in the slightest. It also didn¡¯t feel like he had just arrived in the city. Jun either knew I was coming, had some way to detect other players with surprising range. The Anti-Tracking trinket in my pocket seemed to eliminate the second option. I decided to address it head-on. ¡°How did you find me, Jun?¡±

    ¡°My Perception skill is Rank 12, you wouldn¡¯t believe the way my vision works with this race. I was walking through Brigstone and spotted floating blue text. In the distance With my Rank 5 Analyze skill, I knew who you were immediately and thought I¡¯d say hello. Thank you for killing Jason by the way.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°What happened to the other two girls in your party?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re in Brigstone with me, I was just off checking on a contract by myself. As I said, there is probably a lot we have to learn from one another. Where is the rest of your group?¡±

    ¡°Gaz should be coming through the gate any second now, and Kirsten is laying low outside the city until we can find a way to get her in. John died a couple days ago, but we expect him to make his way here and meet with us.¡± I didn¡¯t want to go into specifics with him, not in a place so open and public. Two guards walked passed us, engrossed in their own conversation and paying us no mind.

    Confusion, then recognition and understanding flashed across Jun¡¯s skeletal face. ¡°So you¡¯re the group of players who caused all the trouble in Briarthorn.¡± Jun took another look at me, appraising my traveling clothes and the crappy sword I wore on my belt. ¡°No offense, but it doesn¡¯t look like this is the type of gear that gets a character to level 11 without a hard carry from an NPC, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case since the system announced your kill on Jason. I¡¯ve seen what that jerk can do first-hand, and I know it would take some serious skill or luck to take him down.¡±

    I looked around, lowering my voice. Jun didn¡¯t look even slightly uncomfortable discussing this stuff in public like we were. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to draw attention from the guards, especially since we were coming from Briarthorn.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the rumors. If even half of them are true, then your group is well off, even if you did piss off some powerful people.¡±

    ¡°Please tell me you have something to keep Jason from tracking your location. He can do that now, you know.¡± My group had almost killed another group of players for this very reason before, but we weren¡¯t necessarily in a position to do it again.

    Jun shook his head. ¡°I know why you¡¯re concerned, but it isn¡¯t an issue while we¡¯re in Brigstone. I heard about what happened in the Westguard Township¡ªthat can¡¯t happen here. Brigstone is too big, there are too many powerful and influential people here for Jason to try something like that. He¡¯s probably too busy building his Guild to worry about the likes of us right now anyway.¡±

    I nodded, Jun was probably right. ¡°Have you considered which side you¡¯re going to take in all this?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m sure we have a lot to talk about, but I¡¯m also not sure the Gods would be so inviting with my current predicament. Like it or not, there¡¯s Titanic Energy flowing through my blood because of this race I¡¯m playing. I chose to become this before we learned we were stuck here, but I have no intention of joining Jason any time soon.¡±

    ¡°How are you holding up with everything?¡± I asked.

    Jun shrugged. ¡°Better than I should be, honestly. This game is fun, and honestly, my life here is more interesting than it was on earth. Let¡¯s meet later and talk more. I¡¯ve got some work to do today, and I imagine you¡¯ll want to get settled into the city.¡±

    New Player Quest: A Chance Reunion

    New Objective: Meet up with Jun for further conversation.

    I looked back to check on Gaz, but still couldn¡¯t see him. As I turned back to talk to Jun, I was surprised to see he was already gone. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll find me,¡± I mumbled, more perplexed than anything at the strange encounter. It was a strange encounter, but the more information we could get, the better, and I had very little reason to be distrustful of Jun, especially since he could have just slipped a dagger through my spine when I hadn¡¯t expected it and walked away. His race and class were still a mystery from the snippets of his character sheet he allowed me to access with my Quick Analyze skill, it was apparent he was using two resources for spells and abilities my group had yet to encounter: Essence and Runes.

    ¡°Who was that man you were talking to?¡± Gaz asked, walking up to me. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts that I hadn¡¯t noticed him clear security or approach.

    ¡°Geez, what took you so long? That was Jun. Did you see his eyes and skin?¡± I asked.

    Gaz shrugged. ¡°Just looked like a pretty normal dude to me. Well, he obviously didn¡¯t try to kill you, so what did he want?¡±

    We could talk about how or why Gaz couldn¡¯t tell Jun was far from human later. ¡°He wants to talk more, compare game notes, maybe more,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s playing a different race than the starting ones we had access to, I¡¯m not exactly sure how that happened yet. He¡¯s level nine.¡±

    Gaz shrugged. ¡°Maybe we can meet him later after we find Monica. Did he give you a good spot to find him?¡±

    ¡°No, but he had no trouble finding me this time, and I¡¯m certain he isn¡¯t using Tracking.¡± I produced the Anti-Tracking talisman from my pocket, showing it to Gaz who looked uncomfortable with the fact Jun found me so quickly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just be careful. This place is huge, I have no idea where to start.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, sir,¡± I said, trying to get the attention of a common-looking man carrying a basket of goods from one of the nearby shops.

    ¡°Ehh?¡± he asked, stopping in his tracks.

    ¡°Do you know where we could find the Iron Calf Inn?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Artisan District, north of the forges. Better taverns all across the city. The smoke from the forges makes the beer taste like sulfur.¡± The man spat on the ground, looking at us with impatient kindness.

    ¡°Could you point us in the direction of that district? It¡¯s our first time in Brigstone,¡± Gaz added.

    The man¡¯s expression softened, and whatever hurry he was in seemed to dissolve. ¡°Oh, right. Just walk down Guthen Street and follow the signs. If you go straight through, you¡¯ll get there a lot faster, but you¡¯ll also be going through the Ghost District which you¡¯ll probably want to avoid.¡± He turned and pointed. ¡°See that smoke rising into the sky? That¡¯s in the Artisan District. Just follow the sulfur smell and you can¡¯t miss it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± I thanked the man, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a couple copper coins to give him for his help.

    When he saw the coins, he waved his hand dismissively. ¡°Happy to help, welcome to Brigstone.¡± He walked away, and we started down the main street, passing stores, a diverse cast of citizens, and all kinds of strange, unique sights. Had it not been for our rush to meet with Monica as soon as possible, I would have loved to stay and shop around, looking for new and useful items and gear to aid us on our quest. According to Clarence, magic items would be hard to come by at prices we could or would want to afford, but the unknown still beckoned to be explored.

    Brigstone was bigger than we expected, and what seemed like a short walk ended up being much longer. Traffic on Guthen Street thinned as we approached the Artisan district 20 minutes after starting our walk. The city scape had morphed and opened up, the well-maintained appearance of the Western entrance of Brigstone twisting into something old and forgotten. Where buildings were cramped in the entrance we used, the city was more open here, less maintained. The homeless sat in makeshift camps in alleyways of neglected buildings, peering out at us with detached interest. Even the road was in terrible shape here.

    The yellow-hued smoke from the forges was getting closer, and I could smell it now. Tinged, burning sulfur mixed with a burning smell accented by the ever-present scent of the ocean.

    ¡°Why is it so empty out here?¡± Gaz asked.

    I shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s just hurry, we¡¯re almost there.¡± As we reached the top of a hill, there was nothing but a long, stretch of more faded buildings leading to what must have been the Artisan District. Large smokestacks and industrial buildings towered into the sky, coughing out the sickly clouds of smoke we had seen from the entrance of the city. The structures didn¡¯t look like the modern factories from Earth, but something closer resembling industry in a fantasy world with the conveniences of magic.

    A figure darted into an alleyway ahead, instantly drawing my attention. Now that I was paying attention, Gaz and I were the only ones on this road within three hundred feet. Most of my abilities didn¡¯t function unless I was wearing Ectos¡¯s armor, but Temporal Control and Dimensional Recall were two I knew I could use without it. I considered activating Temporal Control to assess the Quick Analyze skill I had gained from trying to size up Jun¡¯s character as he approached, but there was nothing around us, and I could read as we walked and save Temporal Control in case I needed it for something more pressing.

    I was about to ask Gaz about the man up ahead, but he spoke before I could. ¡°You saw that guy, right? I think he¡¯s up to something. I don¡¯t remember seeing him in front of us from the start.¡±

    ¡°I saw him,¡± I said. We¡¯ll just keep walking, we¡¯re almost there.¡± But the Artisan District was still about half a mile away. I pulled up my character sheet at half opacity, sifting through and finding my new skill which was filed in the non-combat section.

    Quick Analyze (Rank 0) (2%): Instant. The character attempts to analyze a character or object, potentially discerning information. This skill can be boosted by other skills for better results.

    Analyze (Rank 0): Passive. Channeled. Linked. Analyze¡¯s rank is equal to the character¡¯s rank in Quick Analyze. The character may spend more time attempting to analyze a character or object, increasing their chance of discerning more information. This skill can be boosted by other skills for better results.

    So it works on items too, that¡¯s cool, I thought. I would have to tell Kirsten about it, especially since she would be able to use this skill along with her Magic Identification skill for better results if she was able to learn in. She seemed to have a natural affinity for identification that surpassed even Clarence¡¯s ability. In most games, magic items had to be identified by scrolls or other consumables, and some of the rarest, most powerful artifacts needed other players that had spent countless hours honing the skill. In all likelihood, Stratus Online would work the same way.

    I closed my character sheet, focusing on the walk ahead. We passed the alley the figure in front of us disappeared in, but they were gone now. Broken windows in the buildings on either side of this abandoned road started out at us, the insides seemed stripped of anything and everything useful or valuable.

    A figure appeared on the roof of one of the buildings to our left, wearing a small cloak over their bulky body. I immediately identified them as an orc. The orc raised a crossbow.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I yelled.