《Greenblood》 Prologue: A lucky man Like most days, Drake Castro sat in front of his plasma screen TV, watching his absolute favorite show on the E-Sports channel. Today, however, was not most days. Today a lottery would be drawn, and the winner would receive Drake¡¯s most desired prize in the world: VR technology. VR had come a long way, and instead of helmets that only simulated virtual reality, there were now capsules, which contained the user while they played. The reward for this lottery was a brand new VR capsule, that allowed players to stay in the game longer by having them sleep while they played. Drake relaxed in his plush recliner while he waited for the drawing, and reminisced on the first time he won the lottery. 3 years ago Drake had just turned 18, and on a whim bought a lottery ticket. That must¡¯ve been one hell of a whim; that ticket turned out to be a winner, worth over 800 million dollars! Drake immediately had the realization that he didn''t need to work ever again, and he had enough money to comfortably support him for the rest of his life. As such, he had decided to pursue his favorite pastime, video games. "Attention all viewers, and welcome to the raffle!" the host opened as Drake slipped back into reality from his daydream. "For all of you joining us to see the raffle draw, we have good news! The corporation "Natura" has offered a bonus prize to the winner of this raffle: there is now a new grand prize¡­ If you win the runner-up prize, you will receive the previous reward of 1 brand new NVR capsule. However, if you receive the grand prize, you will get not just one VR capsule, but FOUR MORE to share with friends and family! And, as sponsored by Natura, the grand prize winner will also receive five premium packages for Natura''s new game "GreenTree Online" that will allow you to start off with any basic class and any race, while others will have to play to unlock them!" The announcer beamed gleefully at the screen, showing his radiant white smile.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Drake''s thoughts reeled at the idea. Whoever won this raffle could get a huge boost against other players depending on what race they picked! He quickly poked his head around the corner of the staircase and in his loudest voice, he called his friends downstairs. ¡±Guys! Get down here and look!" With that yell four other men of varying ages from 21 to 34 came downstairs. First came Matthew Dixon, an English youth who moved to America when he was 8 and had lived next door to Drake for the ten years before Drake had turned 18. Next came Nikolai "Nick" Maximovich, a 34-year-old Russian who had moved to America on Drake''s insistence and funding. After him came Kyle "Kai" Gekko jumping down the stairs three at a time. At 25 years old Kai was far more energetic than even Matthew was, and was always cheerful and ready for excitement. Lastly came Jason Easton, Drake''s best friend and next door neighbor since birth. The four of them huddled up next to Drake as he explained to them the new reward for the drawing, and watched eagerly as the announcer drew the tickets. "And the runner-up of our great raffle is..." the announcer paused, before finally exclaiming "Ivy Hartfield! Congratulations! Your new capsule will be brought to your home within the next few days! And now, for the draw that you''ve all been waiting for, the grand prize winner!" The announcer reached in and fumbled around before finally pulling out a ticket. Drake could feel his breath stop and his heart skip a beat. ¡°Drake Castro! Congratulations on your win! You will receive your capsule, as well as the other four if you should want them right away, at your house in only a few days! Thank you very much to our viewers at home, and good night!" Drake sat stunned in his chair. "I won?" he asked. Then it set in. "I WON, GUYS!¡± he proclaimed in delight, and the cheers and celebrations echoed down all the hallways. "This calls for a party!" Kai exclaimed, and nobody disagreed. Chapter 1: Creation Three days after the lottery and party, Drake was overseeing the installation of his brand new VR capsules. While VR wasn''t a new technology, these capsules were a lot different, in that they transferred some of the physical improvements he would get inside the game to his real body. It also allows him to sleep and eat ingame, and have it still count as food in real life. As the delivery men carried the old VR capsules out of Drake''s house Drake couldn¡¯t help but sigh. His moment of melancholiness was quickly dispelled as all of Drake''s friends came in with him to their collective game room to see the setup. "Well holy shit," said Matthew with a satisfied tone. "This looks awesome!" Indeed it did. The VR pods were a nice silver tone, and were lined up in a row, plugged directly into the power lines in the wall. The group milled around them for a while, before each person picked their own capsule. They looked at each other. "Now what," Nick asked. "We still have a day before GreenTree Online is released, what do we do until then?" Drake gave a wry smile and replied, "You didn''t look at the deluxe key features, did you? We get to create out characters a day early, which means we get to get to claim our usernames and whatnot earlier than everyone else." With that Drake got in, and booted up the VR pod. His friends stared at him for a minute before exchanging a collective shrug and following suit.
Initializing VR Capsule. Registered user recognized as Drake Castro
Drake smiled until suddenly everything went black. Before he could react he was standing in a giant white space, with nothing around for what appeared to be miles. That was until he heard a voice. "Hello." Drake whirled around to see a tall man in a nice suit standing behind him. The man smiled and said, "I am the AI of this game, Jonas. Welcome to the character creation. I assume you are one of the five premium players currently logged on?" Drake nodded and replied, "Yes, I''m here to create my character early. The other four are my friends." Jonas smiled at that statement, before saying "I can bring them here so you can strategize if you want. However know that no matter what, if you don''t select the same or a similar race you won''t be able to start in the same area or meet up until you are level 5." "No thanks, I''m ok. We made sure to strategize beforehand." "Very well then." Jonas proceeded to step back, and then a screen appeared in front of Drake with over a hundred different Races. After looking at it for about thirty minutes, Drake had narrowed his choices down to three different races.
Race Description Bonuses (the stats only affect starting stats, nothing else)
Dragonkin Proud descendants of Dragons and Humans, these Dragonkin are a strong race, but not the smartest. They do seem to have more luck than most other races. +20% STR, VIT, LUK -20% INT, WIS, CHA Ability: Dragonblood, Dragon''s lungs
Void Elf Descended from the regular Elves, Void elves are Elves that have mastered the art of magical teleportation, and through their constant travels through the void have evolved into a new species.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. +20% WIS, INT, DEX -20% STR, VIT, CHA Waypoint teleports can be paid for with mana Abilities: Blink
Human The most common and populous race on Terra, Humans are an adaptable race that has shown itself to be capable of surviving anywhere. +20% EXP No bonuses or penalties on rough terrain
Drake thought his options over, before finally making his decision.
Race selected. Dragonkin
Please select a class
Class Description
Gunner A class focusing on dealing either high damage at a slow pace or low damage at a fast pace. This class focuses on DEX, LUK, and VIT to keep moving and hitting while dodging and rolling
Warrior The standard hack and slash class, this class focuses on STR, VIT, and DEX in order to dish out as much damage at close range as possible while taking hits in return
Guardian The classic yet powerful tank, this class focuses almost solely on STR and VIT in order to keep itself strong enough to take any hit and stay standing
Rogue Hiding in the shadows and hitting from behind, this class focuses on DEX, CHA, and LUK to sneak up on its enemies and disarm traps
Priest A devout worshipper of the gods, this class focuses on WIS and INT in order to heal its friend and defeat its enemies.
Wizard Destroyer, manipulator, and conjurer, this class focuses on raising its WIS and INT to devastate the battlefield with powerful attacks.
Ranger Nature expert and hunter, this class focuses mostly on DEX and WIS to snipe its enemies with the bow.
Warlock Demon summoner and master of darkness, the warlock focuses on its VIT and INT in order to fuel its dark sacrifices
Drake didn¡¯t think too hard, as he had already decided beforehand.
Congratulations, you have unlocked the Gunner Class
Please enter your Username for other players to know you by:
Drake took a couple of seconds, but he had thought of his name before entering the pod, and he had no intention of changing it.
Welcome, Player ¡°Grim¡±. Due to the nature of your name, creating a name for NPCs to call you by is deemed unnecessary. Would you like to do so anyway?
Drake thought about it, before deciding against it. In his mind it would be far cooler to be called Grim by everyone he passed by, regardless of whether they were an NPC.
For the final step, please customize your character.
¡°Oh yeah, shit¡¯s about to get real¡± This is what Drake was waiting for. He quickly changed the Drake-resembling draconian into a slightly taller build, with a more pronounced chin and less crooked nose. He made sure not to change too much, as he knew it would make it hard to adjust. Soon he had a full character set up. He clicked confirm. ¡°AHH SONOFA BITCH¡± he shouted as a bright light blinded him, followed by darkness. ¡°What the hell? Jonas? What happened,¡± Drake asked while slightly panicking. Fortunately, Jonas was still there. ¡°Relax,¡± he said, ¡°Its part of the transformation process, just give it a minute.¡± Drake relaxed, and shortly afterwards he could see again. He looked down and found himself in his avatar¡¯s body. ¡°Holy shit! This is awesome!¡± Drake quickly began to do various stretches, then he began to run around and test out his new body. Finding it satisfactory he walked back over to Jonas. ¡°So what now,¡± He asked. Jonas looked at him. ¡°Now you wait,¡± he said before waving his hand.
Time until GreenTree Online servers are active: 12:35:57 real-life hours.
As Drake watched he noticed that the timer was ticking down about once every five seconds, which seemed to fit with GTO¡¯s supposed 5:1-time acceleration ratio. He sighed, there was nothing to do for another 12 hours, so he logged out. Chapter 2: Skills and elders.
Welcome to GreenTree Online Grim! This is a game based purely around how you play. Your subclass and advanced classes will be determined by your playstyle. Note that there is no alignment in this game. NPCs will react to you based on how you treat them and how famous/infamous you are. Good luck! You¡¯ll need it.
After reading through the text box appearing on his screenDrake dismissed it, and called up his character sheet instead
Grim
Level: 1 Race: Dragonkin Title: None
Achievements: None
STR: 12 VIT: 12 DEX:15
INT: 8 WIS: 8 CHA: 8
LUK: 17
Passive Skills: Weapons Mastery (Pistols, Rifles) Deadeye Steady hand Dragonsblood Active Skills: Deadshot Speedload Dragon¡¯s Lungs Traits: None
Drake looked at his skills, and then became curious. He called up the description of all his skills.
Skill: Weapons Mastery Lvl 0
Mastery with listed weapons. Allows use of the following weapons Rifles Pistols Combat Knife
Increases damage with the mastered weapons by 2% per level
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Deadeye Lvl 0
You can see farther than anyone else
Allows you to zoom in your vision. Distance increases with zoom. Unlock new modes as this skill levels up
Steady Hand Lvl 0
When aiming you never flinch
When focusing on aiming your hands will be steady and your aim will not sway. Lowers concentration needed for this as it levels up
Dragonsblood Lvl N/A
Your blood is that of the dragon¡¯s race
Immune to the acidic effects of pure Dragonsblood. All weapons specialized against dragons work against you at 75% effectiveness. Weapons that can not hurt dragons will deal 75% less damage to you
Deadshot Lvl 0
Take a careful shot, ensuring a swift death to anyone it hits
Aim for 2.5 seconds to deal a shot dealing 120% damage. Percentage increases by 20% per skill level
Speedload Lvl 0
Reload your guns faster than any professional
Instantly reloads your guns. 45 second cooldown. Cooldown lessens as this skill improves
Dragon¡¯s Lung
Channel the blood of the dragons of old to use an elemental breath attack
Breathe out a cone of a random element. Deals 100% magic damage, with additional effects based on element. Higher levels improve range, damage and will eventually allow you to choose the element you breathe
Having looked over his skills, Drake found himself smirking. He doubted his friends had anything of the sort with their classes. This brought up good memories for him of how he had first met his friends, and the adventures they had. Matthew and Jason had been Drake¡¯s friends for almost his whole life. Jason had been born two weeks before Drake, and the two had grown up as next-door neighbors for their whole life. The two of them were inseparable, and many of their teachers had complained about how the pair made trouble in class. When Drake was 8 years old, another boy joined their group. Matthew was a soft-spoken kid, who was far more polite than either Jason or Drake. However the three found themselves bonding quickly, and soon Matthew joined their group as well. It was then the three got into gaming, each picking a class suiting their style. Drake would always pick a gunner or ranger of some kind, while Jason preferred healing roles like a paladin or a healer, as well as summoning roles and necromancers. However the two were both surprised when Matthew had picked the tank role. Matthew was shrewd enough that they had expected him to be a druid, or some other tactical class, and not a straight up face tank. As the trio played together they found themselves two more group members for their bigger raids. Nikolai and Kyle had been partners for about a year before the trio had found them, and signed on readily with Drake and his friends. After a few months the five had bonded to a near inseparable degree, despite two of their members never having seen any of the others face to face. After Drake had won the lottery he had invited both Kai and Nick over to California, where he bought a large house for the five of them to live in. Drake shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. He sighed and said, ¡°Enough reminiscing. It¡¯s time for me to start this game!¡± Almost as if on cue, a red draconian walked up to him. Drake looked at the draconian curiously, as he had never seen an old draconian before. The old man looked evenly back and said ¡°Greetings traveler, welcome to Nogoth.¡± Drake looked back and said, ¡°How did you know I was a traveler? I said nothing of the sort.¡± ¡°Your scales are black, a trait that only travelers have.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Drake said. He had wondered why his scale color wasn¡¯t a customizable trait. Well now he knew. ¡°My name is Karit, I am the elder of this village,¡± said the old draconian. ¡°Greetings Karit, I am Grim,¡± replied Drake, ¡°Would you know where the hunting grounds are? I wish to test my mettle against some of your weaker monsters.¡± Karit nodded, completely unsurprised. ¡°Simply follow the road out of the town. There will be some slimes and fire slugs outside which you may hone your skills on.¡± Drake nodded his thanks and set off. As he went he looked at his current gear, only to find a notification waiting for him.
Would you like to acquire a starter set of dual pistols or a starter set of a rifle?
Drake thought for a second, then decided. Chapter 3: Boom Headshot ¡°A rifle seems like it would fit better with my plan,¡± Grim said, and after picking the rifle choice, what seemed to be a musket dropped into his hand, and he got a pair of notifications.
You have received the Starter¡¯s Rifle!
You have received 500 rifle crystals!
Grim read the second message curiously, before inspecting his rifle
Starter¡¯s Rifle
Level Requirement: N/A
Attack: 2-14 PHYS Durability: N/A
Shots per crystal: 5 Shots remaining: 5
Grim nodded, now he understood. Instead of metal slugs, this rifle shot mana bullets in order to deal damage. Despite the magic, the damage was considered physical damage. As Grim walked down the road to the outskirts, a large board caught his eye. He walked up to it, and saw that it was a job board. Grim quickly looked over the list of quests, before accepting two of them.
Smithing components: slime cores
A blacksmith wants 20 destroyed slime cores for special weapons. Slime cores gathered: 0/20
Rewards: 1 silver, increased reputation with the blacksmith.
Fire slug pacification
The fire slugs are getting out of hand. Exterminate them and bring back their antennae as proof Fire slug antennae: 0/20
Reward: 4 silver pieces
Grim then walked out of the town and into the fields outside of town. There he saw two creatures. The first was a slime. They were bright green, which contrasted harshly with the brown and dead ground, and had a happy smile on their face. The second was a lava slug. These were ugly red creatures that looked like an oversized banana slug, but completely red. Grim smiled, it was time to hunt.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He walked over to just under 20 feet away from the slime and proceeded to take aim. He activated Deadshot, and fired. The slime was hit hard, and flew about 10 feet back, with a pained and sad expression on its face. Then it looked at him with anger, before hopping toward him. ¡°What the heck? It¡¯s a level 1 slime! Why did it not die from one shot?¡± Grim shouted with surprise. He then shook his head. ¡°No matter, I¡¯ll just shoot it until it dies then.¡± Grim then proceeded to carefully open fire on the slime, which was knocked back with every shot, until his rifle stopped shooting. ¡°What?¡± Grim asked as he looked at his gun. Then he slapped a hand to his face, and groaned ¡°Reload!¡± To his surprise, upon saying that the rifle¡¯s crystal popped out, and a new one appeared in his hand. Grim took the hint and slotted the crystal into his rifle, which then closed the compartment. Grim smiled, and took aim again, only to be hit by a mass of goo. ¡°Ow! Shit!¡± Grim yelled as he fell over. Despite being made of a Jello-like slime, the little creature had hit him hard enough that he had fallen over and taken some damage. Grim unfocused his eyes and a little screen appeared.
Health: 117/120 Mana: 75/80
Grim relaxed. The slime had dealt nearly no damage, and he now had the perfect opportunity to see if his plan to game the system would work. He grabbed his rifle by the barrel, before turning it around and smashing it into the slime with all his strength. The slime gave a hurt expression while flying a solid 6 feet into the air. Grim took aim with Deadshot, and fired before it hit the ground. The bullet managed to hit the slimes core and the slime immediately gave a shocked look, before losing all of its consistency. Upon impact with the ground, the slime seemed to splatter. Grim looked at his notifications.
You have defeated 1 slime
+10 exp, +3 copper
Items received: Broken slime core
Achievement unlocked: First Kill
Congratulations! You''ve killed a monster! Here have a coin as a reward
Requirements: Kill 1 monster
Reward: 1 silver
Grim sighed in relief. ¡°Who would have thought it would be this hard to kill a slime?¡± He asked the air. ¡°Well at least now I know to go for the cores, that way the slimes should die in only 1-2 hits each. I guess they¡¯re there for the magic users, while the slugs are better for those who use physical damage.¡± Grim looked down at his rifle. ¡°I wonder if I could get a bayonet or something similar on this? It would certainly work for my idea of a close combat gunner. Combat snipers aren¡¯t a common idea I bet, but I¡¯m sure I can make it work. After a shrug, Grim stood up and took aim at another slime. With a single Deadshot he managed to kill the slime, which quickly collapsed. After another 18 kills Grim had all the cores he needed, but more importantly, he had leveled up to level 2 and gained a new skill!
Bash Lvl 2
Hitting something hard has always been a tactic in fights
Hit your opponent with a blunt weapon. Small chance to stun any living animal. Stun chance and damage increase with level
Grim had also leveled up Deadshot to level 4, Deadeye to level 2 when a slime had run away, and Steady Hands to level 3 in order to shoot the running slime. Grim then turned to the lava slugs, before aiming at where he thought the head was on one of them. He used Deadshot, and immediately killed the slug. He did not, however, expect to get another skill notification.
Headshot Lvl 0
Normally a creature needs its head. That¡¯s why shooting it off is a good idea.
Aim for 5 seconds to shoot your enemy in the head. Deals critical damage, and always hits the head. Time aiming reduced per level. Damage percentage increases as Deadshot¡¯s level increases.
Grim smiled. Now he was a real sniper! He then turned to another slug and went back to work. Im not dead! (not a chapter) Hi friends! Unfortunately, I''m being assaulted by a bunch of things in real life, from ACTs to Subject tests to a minor cold. As such, I haven''t had much time to write recently. Fear not! I will eventually, hopefully within the next week, publish another chapter. I just have to deal with life first. That being said, I want to get the opinion of my readers. As you may have noticed (if you''ve read the book so far) Drake like guns. What kind of weapons is your favorite in a game (or in real life if you want to do it that way)?If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Chapter 4: Quest complete! Thirty minutes later, Grim was cheerily walking back to the city, ready to turn in his quests. He had leveled up another time during his hunt, and had also leveled up his skills. Deadshot now dealt a solid 200% damage at level 6, and headshot now only took 4.9 seconds to aim at level 2. At this rate Grim was looking forward to becoming a beast. As he walked back to town, he noticed a few players walk by him. He hadn¡¯t seen many other people at the hunting grounds, and to him it seemed that the draconic races weren¡¯t too popular. However, he personally paid it no mind, the buffs were cool, and seemed to hold a lot of potential. He was still a little apprehensive about trying his Dragon¡¯s Lung attack, since it was making use of a function that the human body could not properly replicate. As Grim walked back to the city, he walked over to the guards. ¡°Excuse me,¡± he said to the guard, ¡°I have a bunch of lava slug antennae for a quest?¡± The guard looked at Grim for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Thank you young traveler, you have done us a great service, we don¡¯t have time to deal with those damn slugs, and they keep breeding to no end!¡± The guard, sighed, but Grim noticed something, and his gamer instincts prompted him to ask, ¡°Is there a way to stop the breeding? Do they have a nest somewhere?¡± The guard scratched his head before replying, ¡°Aye, there is a nest. It¡¯s a breeding ground for both the slimes and the lava slugs, but it¡¯s a large cavern. Even if you were to get to the main nesting area, I¡¯m not sure how you would actually deal with the sheer amount of eggs and larvae there. Also, you¡¯d have to deal with all the boom slimes.¡± ¡°Boom slimes?¡± Grim asked? ¡°Nasty type of slime. If you hit their core, they explode, and deal a decent amount of damage. It doesn¡¯t damage the core, but it is far too easy to set off a massive chain reaction that¡¯ll leave you burnt to a cinder.¡± Grim smiled. ¡°Perhaps I can still lend a hand with this breeding situation anyway, I think I have a plan.¡± No sooner did Grim finish saying that than a window popped up in front of his face, followed by another one, and one shortly after.
Quest Complete!
Fire Slug Pacification
Rewards: 4 silver, expThis story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Destroy the breeding grounds
Destroy the Fire slug and Slime breeding grounds to slow down the onslaught of mobs
Rewards:
  • Increased reputation with guards
  • 10 gold
  • Large amount of exp
  • Fewer monsters will spawn
Consequences:
  • Reduced reputation with guards
  • Monsters in the area will be automatically hostile against you for 24 hours
  • More monsters will spawn around you
Congratulations on reaching level 5!
Rewards: 5 bonus stat points and access to the transcontinental waypoint system. You may now teleport to any waypoint within the continent. Reach level 20 to be able to teleport to other continents.
Grim shrugged, he saw no reason to not accept the quest. It seemed like a dungeon crawl, and he had been hoping for a dungeon so that he could get some better gear. But before he went off to go commit creature-genocide, he first needed to turn in his slime core quest, and also see if he can¡¯t get a bayonet or something put onto his gun. So after asking for directions, Grim set out to see the blacksmith. The smithy was a far different sight than what Grim had expected. Instead of a large area with a forge and anvil, it appeared to be a mixture of a steampunk workshop and a weapons store. A single red-scaled draconian stood hunched over a table, focused on some delicate work. Grim waited patiently for the man to finish, but there seemed to be no end in sight. Finally, Grim decided to make some noise, so he sharply rapped on the counter. ¡°Be right there!¡± was the reply from the man, and after another half a minute of fiddling, he stood up and walked over. ¡°Hello there traveler, my name is Liaron, how can I help you today?¡± asked the draconian as he took off his gloves. ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver some slime cores, and if possible also learn a bit of blacksmithing so that I can eventually make my own guns¡± Grim said politely. He didn¡¯t want to accidentally antagonize a potential teacher or useful ally. ¡°Excellent! I¡¯ve been waiting for those slime cores for days. Now I can finally start making those extended rifle cores!¡± Liaron was practically jumping for joy as he grabbed the cores from Grim''s hands. As he was about to walk away, he looked back at Grim and said, ¡°well? Come on! If you want to make your own guns and gun-cores, you¡¯re gonna need to learn from the master!¡± Grim stared for a moment, before shrugging inwardly and following along. He had nothing to lose from watching, and who knows? Maybe he¡¯d learn something! With those thoughts buzzing through his head, Grim walked with Liaron towards a workbench, ready to learn his first craft. Chapter 5: A friendly conversation Grim stumbled out of the blacksmith shop nursing a new headache. ¡°Who knew it was so much work for blacksmithing and artificery¡± he muttered to himself. However Grim¡¯s complaining was largely pointless, for he had gotten what he was looking for.
Profession learned: Blacksmithing
Profession learned: Artificery
Grim then looked at the weapons that the old artificer had forced Grim to create. In Grim¡¯s opinion they were good weapons, but Liaron had called them ¡°Shit quality, but about what I expected from a complete rookie."
Iron Gunblade Rifle
Level Requirement: 5
Attack: 7-20 PHYS Durability: 100/100
Shots per crystal: 8 Shots remaining: 8
Gunblade: +100% slashing damage when blade is extended
Iron Pistols
Level Requirement: 5
Attack: 2-10 PHYS each Durability: 50/50 50/50
Shots per crystal: 20/20 Shots remaining 20/20
Manaload: Can instantly use speedload for 20 mana (does not activate speedload).
Iron Combat Knife
Level Requirement: 5
Attack: 15-20 PHYS Durability: 100/100
Bleed: 10% chance to inflict bleeding
Grim was quite satisfied with his new weapons, and with his new rifle, he didn¡¯t have to worry about switching weapons mid-fight. Shaking his head, Grim walked towards the gates, and said goodbye to the guard as he left. As he walked out he opened up his friends chat, and created a group chat with everyone. Chat room: Grim, BeoWulf, Prizrak, Armageddon, Helios Grim: So guys, I figured we might want to do a quick checkup on how everyone¡¯s doing. First of all, names. I¡¯m Drake BeoWulf: Matt Armageddon: Kai Helios: Jason Prizrak: Nikolai Grim: Prizrak? What¡¯s the context Nick? Prizrak: It¡¯s the Russian word for wraith, but in English letters Grim: Alright sweet. Anyways, where¡¯s everyone at in terms of levels? I¡¯ve hit level 5, and I¡¯m on my way to a dungeon nearbyIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Armageddon: You¡¯ve got a dungeon already? BULLSHIT! I¡¯m level 8 and I¡¯m still looking for basic quests, let alone a dungeon! BeoWulf: He¡¯s right Drake, getting a dungeon quest is at your level is surprising Grim: Well excuse me for being enterprising. I can¡¯t help it if I¡¯m good at sniffing out quests. Also let¡¯s stick to our ingame names, makes it easier. Helios: You¡¯re really lucky Grim. First two lotteries, then a dungeon quest... probably the FIRST dungeon quest, anyone¡¯s gotten? Come on man Grim: Well excuse me for being awesome :p Armageddon: I¡¯ma warn you right now. When I next see you in game, I¡¯m going to fireball you. > Grim: Good luck with that >.> Prizrak: Can we tone it down until we hit level 20 at least? Save the arguing for later. Grim: Alright Comrade Wraith. Prizrak: *sharpens daggers menacingly while staring at Grim*. Grim: q.q BeoWulf: I¡¯m going to go ahead and say we move on now, what¡¯s our plan? Helios: Agreed, let¡¯s scope things out. Grim: Well until level 20, we¡¯re farming, after that, I think we head to the human lands and do stuff there. Armageddon: I¡¯m not allowed in the human lands. Or anywhere except the Dragonlands and the Demon Islands really. Grim: Why? Armageddon: Demonspawn Grim: Goddammit Armageddon. Ah well, we¡¯ll just murder anyone who tries to stop us. Helios: Human guards are up to level 100, we aren¡¯t ready for that. Grim: Then we¡¯ll fake slavery... put a slave collar on Arma, but give him the command of ¡°You have free rein and can remove the collar at any time without permission.¡± Armageddon: I¡¯m not necessarily against it, but I¡¯d rather not be enslaved by you guys. I don¡¯t like where it could lead. Prizrak: Stop being such a bitch and man up. If we go to the human lands, you¡¯ll have to deal with it anyway. BeoWulf: Oh yea I remembered. Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, but have any of you noticed something different about all the other players in comparison to us? Grim unfocused from the chat for a second, looked around at the players near him who were grinding as he walked past, then looked back at the chat. Grim: Now that you mention it, I¡¯m the only Draconian with black scales. All the other players have silver ones BeoWulf: Yea, and I¡¯ve got pitch black fur. I¡¯m sure we all have some trait of that sort. Prizrak: I have no pupils, just black eyes Helios: I have a halo Armageddon: Seriously? Aren¡¯t you planning to be priest? That¡¯s ironic as fuck Helios: Yes, and what do you have Arma? Armageddon: I have wings >.< Grim: Can you fly? Armageddon: Yes, but it¡¯s 5 mana a second, and it¡¯s really only gliding. I still use it a lot because if I level it up, it¡¯s supposed to get better. It was 10 mana a second when I first got it. Grim: Anything else? Armageddon: Apparently brothels are a thing. Grim: Let¡¯s not go there BeoWulf: We should make a guild. Grim: We¡¯re gonna have to be together for that, so we can sign the charter. BeoWulf: Well we have a goal now, I¡¯m going back to grinding. BeoWulf has left the chat Prizrak: Well I see no reason to continue this conversation, goodbye. Watch your back Grim Prizrak has left the chat Grim: Q.Q Helios: Well that¡¯s ominous. Helios has left the chat Armageddon: Watch your front to, or I might burn it off Grim: ;_; Armageddon has left the chat Grim shook his head, and crossed his fingers. ¡°I swear to god if they ACTUALLY kill me I will be so fucking mad...¡± He shrugged. He didn¡¯t have time for this, for he had arrived at the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t all too impressive, just a hole in a mountain, but in front of it was a slime, which seemed to be bright red, and glowing faintly. Grim shrugged, took aim and activated deadshot. The shot hit the Slime¡¯s core, but instead of it dying. The slime simply started shaking. After a couple seconds, Grim cried out in surprise as an extremely loud BOOM washed across him as the slime exploded into goo. Grim sighed as he realized that it was a boom slime. Then he shrugged to himself, again, and walked past the gooey remains of the slime. He walked into the cave, and stopped. He read the notification that appeared in front of his face
Welcome to the Breeding Grounds Dungeon! As the first to discover the dungeon, you gain the following bonuses: +100% Drop rate +100% Experience First monster of each type killed will drop the best drop it can Any boss killed will drop the best drop it can These boosts will last until you exit the dungeon
Drake grinned. Now this was what he was talking about. He readied his rifle, and walked further into the depths. Chapter 6: Dungeon Run ¡°I HATE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW!!!!¡± Grim was not happy. Mostly because he was running away from a horde of magma slugs. These slugs were essentially stronger lava slugs, but what really was an issue was that unlike lava slugs, magma slugs were pack-mobs. When Grim had killed one, the rest had aggroed on him. Fortunately for Grim, he wasn¡¯t without his own tactics. Mostly because when he had killed the first mob of every type, they gave him some good loot. He planned to put it to good use.
Sticky Slime Boots Type: Leather
Level requirement: 7
Defense: 10 Durability: 50/50
Sticky: User can stick to walls (not ceilings)
Lava pants Type Leather
Level requirement: 7
Defense: 15 Durability: 75/75
Burning: Creatures that attack the wearer take 5% fire damage in return
While the gear was good, the drops Grim had gotten from killing a boom slime and the magma slime were much better. He had gotten skill books.
Skill book: Flash Grenade
Level requirement: 5 Class requirement: Gunner
Create a ball of mana that explodes in a blast of light. Stuns anyone who sees it for 5 seconds. Does not work on constructs, undead, or blind creatures. Stun time increases with skill level
Skill book: Explosive Shot
Level requirement: 7Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Class requirement: Ranged-weapon user
Fire off a mana-imbued projectile that explodes in a fireball on impact. Damage increases with level.
Sadly, the Magma slugs were blind, and resistant to fire, so neither ability would help him here. However Grim had one last trick up his sleeve. He turned around, crossed his fingers, and activated Dragon¡¯s Lung. To his surprise, nothing happened, until he opened his mouth. Upon opening his mouth to swear, a large cone of frost came out instead of a cuss word. The magma slugs were closely clustered, and as a result were all frozen, and damaged severely. Grim took the advantage provided by the gods of RNG (Random Number Generator for those who don¡¯t know, it¡¯s a gaming thing) by slaughtering the magma slugs left and right. After finishing off the horde, he moved deeper into the tunnels, until he came to what he assumed were the major breeding grounds. This was mostly due to the fact that there were eggs everywhere, as well as large quantities of lava slugs, magma slugs, slimes, and boom slimes. ¡°Alright, well at least destroying it will be easy...¡± Grim muttered to himself, as he noted the boom slimes. They seemed to be scattered around the whole area, but in high enough quantities that they would still blow up from each other. Grim got in a position near the exit, and took aim. *BOOM* Grim waited for the shaking to subside, but then almost jumped in shock when a window appeared.
Angered at the destruction of their breeding grounds, the Slime Queen and Slug Matriarch are coming for you!
Not even a minute after that message had appeared, a slime three times the size of Grim, and a Slug as long as Grim was tall, appeared around a cave bend, coming towards him. Fortunately, Grim was experienced enough to not just turn tail and run from two bosses that could easily outrun him. Instead, he immediately shot the Slug Matriarch with a Headshot, before running in with his gunblade rifle, doing an acrobatic flip over said Slug, and cutting all the way down it with the blade. Apparently that counted as enough damage for a kill, as the Slug Matriarch vanished into a cloud of dust. Grim didn¡¯t have enough time to celebrate however, as the Slime Queen whipped out the ball on her head into him at full force, sending him flying about 5 feet back. He rolled to his feet, and quickly fired an Explosive Shot, at the Slime Queen¡¯s core. It was then that he got a good luck at the Slime Queen, and the fact that she had a lot of cores. Grim sighed, before pulling out his two pistols, and unloading them into the Queen¡¯s cores. Every time the Queen tried to attack, he would shoot a Flash Grenade at her, until the Queen finally fell dead. Grim heaved a sigh of relief, before sitting down, and looking at his loot.
Slime Egg Percent to Hatching: 0%
An egg dropped from the Slime Queen. Upon hatching, will grant a slime pet. Type of slime is randomized.
Lava Slug Knife
Level Requirement: 9
Attack: 30-50 PHYS Durability: 100/100
Dripping Lava: On hit 10% to give enemy Lava Coated Debuff: take 10 fire damage per second for 10 seconds.
¡°This... this is AWESOME!¡± Grim was ecstatic. Both these drops were amazing. Slimes were supposed to be amazing front-line pets due to their resistance to physical attacks, and if he got lucky, he could get a magic-resistant slime that was nearly unkillable as a pet. The knife was miles better than any of his weapons, which got him thinking if he could put it instead of the current blade in his gunblade. Since Liaron was the one who had made the actual gunblade attachment, Grim was hoping the old dragonoid had factored in the fact that Grim might want to switch it out. Fortunately, Liaron had accounted for that, so Grim quickly switched out the basic iron blade for the Lava Slug knife, making his gunblade ever more dangerous. He left the caves with a wide, shit-eating grin, ready to take on whatever this world could throw at him. ¡°Come at me world!¡± He said as he left the cave JONAS took that personally, and decided to oblige Grim in his request. I promise Im not dead! *pulls self out of stack of papers 10 feet high* GASP! Hey everyone, as you can see I''m not dead. I have some finals coming up (one''s tomorrow, *shivers*) and after that I''ll be able to finally get back to writing, since I''ll be out of the metric fuckton of work I had. However, my continued living isn''t the only reason I''m writing this. During my ahhh... "Hiatus" I realized something about Greenbloods. I REALLY REALLY don''t like making tables, the formatting of one in google drive is too annoying. Also, I had a really interesting book idea, that isn''t litRPG but instead superhero based (there isn''t a superhero tag on royalroad for books... strange). Now I''m too much of a rookie and too busy preparing for college apps to actually write two books at once, so you guys have two choices.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Choice #1: I continue Greenbloods, but with practically no tables. That means that things like Items, Stats, and all of that get a text description instead of an item box. It also makes my excel spreadsheet far less complicated, since I don''t'' have to keep track of people''s stats mathematically except when I give minor updates (which I''ll do every once in a while). I will still do things like Achievements and important world notices through tables, but that''s about my limit. If I pick this option, I''ll probably have a new chapter out in a week or two depending on some stuff I''m working on Choice #2: I drop Greenbloods (it''s kinda pathetic 6 chapters in but whatever) and start my new book idea. This choice lets me drop the tables completely (whoo) but does run the risk of me running out of steam pretty quickly. To give a small synopsis of the book, the superheroes are all government lackeys, the government is tyrannical, and the main character(s) are (a) supervillain(s). Other than that, I''ll flesh out the idea if the choice gets picked. So do the voting thing now! Chapter 7: Oh the Human-city! Grim sat down. Well it would be more accurate to say, he plopped down. After a grueling grind and a few achievements, he had finally hit level 20. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t hit it first but also not last. That honor had gone to Helios because surprise surprise fighting people as a healer isn¡¯t easy. Grim looked at his achievement briefly. He had 2 achievements for hitting levels 10 and 20 that rewarded 10 and 20 bonus stat points respectively, as well as a different achievement.
Slime massacre
Kill 1000 slimes
Well at least this isn¡¯t Boston -JONAS
Reward: +10% damage to slimes
¡°Well that explains why the last few slimes on the grind died so easily¡± Grim said to himself. Then he stood up. Having finally hit level 20 while being stuck in a zone where the strongest monsters were about level 5 was exasperating, but he was finally ready to use the global teleport waystone to teleport to the human continent. Grim then walked up to Karit, who was standing in the town center. ¡°Hello Karit, I am ready to leave Nogoth for the human lands¡± Grim said to the old draconian. ¡°Ah well done young one, but beware, if you plan to head towards Trawor, that is, the human continent, you should remember that the humans are very xenophobic, and very arrogant. Expect a lot of bluster¡± ¡°Thank you elder¡± Grim bowed, ¡°how do I teleport there?¡± ¡°Simply step on the waystone and focus your energy, you will be able to teleport after that¡± Karit said, ¡°Now off with you, you have adventures to get to!¡± Grim took the hint, stepping on the waystone. Immediately, a GUI (Guided User Interface) popped up, asking him where he wanted to go. Grim selected Trawor, and was engulfed in a blinding light. When the light cleared, Grim found himself in a grassy area. Upon looking around he noticed that he was standing in a big ornate stone circle, that reminded him of a stereotypical D&D summoning circle (I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s not D&D, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN). In front of him were some players hanging out, including his friends. ¡°Hey Grim! Glad you finally got your ass over here¡± BeoWulf said as Grim approached the group. ¡°Helios is on his way, he hit level 20 even after you did¡±. ¡°I mean, grinding level 5s to level 20 is very annoying and very very tedious.¡± Grim gave BeoWulf a hard glance.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°You dumbass, did you actually bother venturing out? There¡¯s a ton of higher level mobs if you actually bother wandering outside of the safety of your walls.¡± Armageddon finally spoke up. He was wearing a slave collar, and when Grim focused on him, it showed him as property of Prizrak. Grim shook his head and then looked at Prizrak, ¡°Goddammit, I knew something was off. Anyway, Prizrak, I assume you¡¯re gonna be the owner of Geddon, so he doesn¡¯t get murdered or arrested for being a demon in a xenophobic land?¡± Prizrak just nodded, before suddenly teleporting behind Grim and trying to stab him. Grim¡¯s gamer instincts saved him from the stab, and he rolled away, straight into a weak fireball from Armageddon. ¡°AH FUCK. I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE KIDDING¡± Grim yelled after spitting out the ash that had mysteriously appeared in his mouth. ¡°We were, and then we weren¡¯t after you were so late¡± Armageddon laughed. ¡°Also we got an achievement for it... and the reward is 10 infamy. Cool!¡± Grim shook his head, and was about to shoot Armageddon when Helios ran up to them. ¡°Hey guys! Sorry I¡¯m late! I got caught up turning in some quests¡± The group exchanged greetings with Helios, before the five of them set out towards the capital and main town of the human city. As they walked they chatted, and after only about an hour, the group came to the city gates, where some guards were conversing with anyone who entered. As the group approached, one of the guards shouted at them. ¡°Halt! State the reason 5 inhumans, one of which is a demonspawn are attempting to enter the glorious capital city Highmore?¡± the guard asked them with a suspicious glare. While Helios politely conversed with the guard to allow them entrance to the city, Grim scanned the walls, making sure no itchy trigger fingers were being pointed at them. Helios eventually got access into the city, and the group walked inside. Prizrak pointed out a map, and the five of them walked over to it. Grim pointed out the tavern, and the group walked over to the tavern. Coming over the tavern the group was greeted by a horde of other players, all sitting drinking and eating. On the wall was a job board, with a few quests that could be taken by players. However, when the group walked through the door, all eyes turned on them. While there were plenty of races in the bar, most of the groups that were around were of the same race, so such a diverse group did bring some stares. In fact, a group of three humans stood up, and sauntered over to Grim, who was standing as the leader of the group. ¡°Well well well, look what we have here¡± The leader of the humans, a mustached man who appeared to be a warrior, drawled out. ¡°Some more inhumans, tainting our town, and these ones don''t even try to resemble the dominant race¡± ¡°Well well, look what we have here. A guy who got fed up with being a Neo-Nazi in the real world and decided to be one in this one instead¡± Grim replied cooly. The man made a very angry look, and went to draw his sword, but Grim simply looked at him and said ¡°None of that now¡± before activating his dragon¡¯s lung skill, and breathing a debilitating frost breath onto all three humans. When the skill finished, the men were frozen in thin blocks of ice, which were already melting. ¡°What the fuck was that Grim?!¡± Helios asked amazed. ¡°You can breathe ice?¡± ¡°I can breathe all the elements¡± Grim replied, ¡°I just can¡¯t control which ones. Now then, shall we go see what quests are available to us? I¡¯m sure we all want to get to level 30, and get out subclasses. There are supposedly unique ones that aren¡¯t like anything we¡¯ve seen in other games, so let''s get to grinding.¡± With those words the party walked over to the job board, looking for work to do, and for interesting quests that might lead to a chain or something else.