《Sod's Law (Dropped)》 Prologue Prologue skipping thing ¨C I was excited for it to be over. I am not normally one to skip, especially not around my workplace at four in the morning. Very different. minor uproar among video game fans everywhere. After that announcement a further ten months had passed before Atashi entertainment announced it was searching for Beta Players. Ahem, Not really. The first hundred to apply were accepted. Damn them button mashers! And damn Atashi Entertainment for being based in Japan of all places! Japan. noo. this morning that is - by a drone delivering the game chip to my basement flat, assuming I managed any sleep that is.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. someone drew things on my face using a permanent marker, and when I figure out who it was, well, payback is a bitch and all that. still hadn''t fixed the light outside and I''d stubbed my toe. Again. Ugh. Stuck up old prunes, the lot of them. Yeowch. Yes to allow me into the game as soon as possible. *
Arrival I Arrival I Hi there, Welcome to Elmeron! Umm... we''ve sent you this message as a quick apology and explanation. Normally you''d ''wake up'' in a moderately friendly environment to help get you going or one of our representatives would appear to guide you through your first steps. In fact that almost happened to you. We can detect new arrivals and glean a sense of their power, and you are powerful, normally that''d mean you''d be talking to a rep. Not having this helpful message sent to you! Fortunately we read your Traits first. Phew! Just about got away with that one. *Cough* anyways... where was.. ah yes. We were in the midst of transferring you to one of our pre-prepared locations when we read the description of your trait (I know that''s kinda personal and all. Soz.). We had to throw you out mid transfer. I have no idea where you are! Hopefully it''s a good location! Oh also this is all totes real. Like did you even read the terms and conditions? Oh well. I''m sure you''ll figure it out soon enough. Good luck! (You''re so gunna need it). - Excixn, Imp of the Abyss. What the fuck kind of welcome message is this? I''d just gone through all the logging in stuff and was expecting to see some kind of character generation screen, when suddenly, a horrible impression of a rope tied to my centre came over me. Impression being the operative description, it both felt there, but not. Not quite physical but also so very real. Moments after this thoroughly unpleasant sensation I felt as though I was yanked down by the rope. Almost as though I''d been lying flat across a hole and had collapsed into the middle of it, only the hole kept going down. My insides kept trying to get outside. Not something I''d ever felt before, and not something I''d recommend to anyone, except perhaps my worst enemies, maybe. How long this lasted I couldn''t say. Only that if I''d been in possession of a body; my paltry breakfast would''ve made an attempt to resurface. And just when I''d kind of got a handle on this I''d stopped. Just as sudden as it had started it was over. Mostly over anyway. I could feel a breeze flowing over my decidedly naked body. It was a cool breeze which was good because where ever I was it was warm here. Because despite the breeze I felt a hot sweat coming on. Most of the heat appeared to be coming from my feet, which seemed to be submerged midway up my shins in scalding water. Obviously the source of the heat. All of this went right out of my head the moment I started reading the message. Including what sounded like a person shouting at me. I didn''t start reading the message because it was the best possible path forward. It was simply all I could see. A giant screen of black with a pulsing red border and words that seemed to be written in blood. It blocked my entire vision and even once I''d finished reading it, it didn''t go away. After I''d finished reading through it twice, and was making my way through it a third time- because I couldn''t make heads nor tails of such a strange opening to such an acclaimed game, and I was trying to figure out what the fuck the people who created Elmeron were trying to accomplish, my feet continued to get practically boiled in the water I was standing in. My body started sweating in earnest and that damned shouting continued to increase in volume. I should probably be doing something about all that shouting. I could figure out the ramifications of the message - and probably send a ticket to the mods to try and figure out if this was a standard introduction - after dealing with whatever was occurring to my avatar right now. What, you thought it was normal for me to stand in boiling water without a care? Not at all, it was only because despite what the message attempted to convey, this was all clearly just an illusion. A VR simulation. And I was very good at ignoring simulated pain. I had to be, I played as a Dwarven Shieldbearer, in other words a tank in AoH. I stood at the front and took the brunt of the attention and damage. There was no pain filter In AoH. My determination to do something about my situation came a little late, however, because what felt like a bus suddenly ran me over and sent me flying from the pool of steaming water, to land on what felt like a stone floor. A very smooth and slippery stone floor. My first attempt to stand up failed. So did my second. I finally managed on my third. Once I got my bearings. What bearings I could, since I still couldn''t see anyway. I began an exploration of the area around me, to try and find out what the hell just hit me and also a way to escape it if it tried again. After a couple of minutes of searching I finally found something. By the process of tripping over it and smacking my face straight into the very hard floor. Like extremely hard. Like if you''d mixed two hard stones together and they''d hooked up and produce an even harder... y''know what? Scratch that. It was hard. And my face hurt. A lot. Whatever I''d tripped over moaned slightly. It was at this point I realised the shouting had stopped when the bus had hit me, and groans and panting had been my soundtrack during my search. Clearly whomever had been shouting had jumped into me and caused my first flight onto the hard stone floor. Had I mentioned how hard it was yet? That person. Because it was a person, I realised once I pulled myself into a sitting position and began exploring with my hands. And very female too. Don''t ask how I figured that one out, let''s just say my fingers were suddenly sticky. And ewww. Getting back to the woman dying on the ground, because she was, dying I mean. The panting, moaning and groaning had lessened considerably in the minute or so after I tripped over her. Discounting the very disconcerting moan she''d made when I found out she was a she anyway. Enough. I''ve had enough. Let there be light! - Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? First I attempted to swipe the screen away like you would do to screens in AoH. After a frantic few moments spent franticly waving my hands around in front of my face, I determined it wasn''t working and decided upon a new approach. I simply willed it to go and it did. Just like that. Damn it all! Why hadn''t I tried that sooner! My self chastisement soon ended when I took a look around and saw where I was. I was in a bathing room. Not just a bathroom mind you. A true bathing room. A room dedicated solely to lying in a bath in comfort. First off was the bath, which wass as large as it was gaudy. A monstrosity of a thing. It looked like someone had dug a pit into the centre of the room, about two feet deep it forms an oval of about ten feet long and 3 feet wide. Not quite big enough or deep enough to swim in, but definitely bigger than any bath had a right to be. After this person had crafted what had to be a perfect oval they, or more likely someone else, then lined it with white marble tiles. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Not pleased with this glittering perfection they then gilded them with what ¨C to my untrained eyes ¨C looked like gold. Real gold. Gold that forms patterns and shapes that flowed smoothly from one tile to the next, uninterrupted apart from the very fine seams. Still not happy with their creation, they then used these marble tiles to line the whole floor of the room. Obviously the source of the hardness that kept smacking me was these marble tiles. I decided then and there that I hated marble. It clearly hated me so the feeling was mutual. Still unhappy with their creation and obviously with money left to burn, this person had then inset various gems ¨C diamonds, emeralds rubies and their ilk around the edges of the bath and at intervals in the bath itself. The walls of the room appeared to form massive and mostly lewd mosaics that looked so real I can''t help but wonder if someone had just taken a photo and then rendered it into the wall. Or I would have done if some of the things the mosaic showed, no human - or not quite human in some cases - would be able to manage, no matter how flexible. My perusal of the ostentatious room came to a sudden halt however, when my eyes came to rest upon the woman dying on the floor. Actually, on further scrutiny, it appeared she''d stopped breathing already. Something that I was surprised hadn''t happened earlier, as what appeared to be a spear was stuck point down in the centre of her chest. This clearly, was how she died. There was no-one else in the room. Just me and a corpse with a spear stuck in it. I had no idea how this had happened. "I am totally getting the blame for this, no-one will believe that not only did I not pierce that woman, but also that I didn''t even see it happen!" I lamented. I looked over the now dead woman to see if I can discern anything about her ¨C other than the obvious ¨C she''d probably be about six feet in height if she were still among the living, and so light of skin as to seem almost lacking in pigmentation, very similar to my own complexion actually, though I doubted hers was because of a night job and being a perfect example of a shut-in. No, her skin tone was likely so pale for the same reason that her ears were so pointy. Namely, that, from the tips of those aforementioned ears, to her brilliantly golden hair, her - still perky in death - breasts, her lithe and taught body she looked like the very definition of a tolkien-esque elf. All of this could be summed up in three words: "Damn, she hot!" I exclaimed aloud, thankful that there wasn''t anyone else around. Yeah... being caught ogling her body right after I apparently killed her wouldn''t be a very good idea... As much fun as it is ogling her, however, it wasn''t helping me come up with a solution to my predicament, especially if I were being observed. Actually if I was being observed then I was already fucked so I decided to ignore that possibility until, or if it comes back to fuck me from behind later. A life Skill I had long since mastered. Ignoring things that is, that second thing, well... So I made my way to my feet, careful to avoid slipping on the slick marble tiles again, and once I was sure of my balance, I gripped the spear jutting out of the elf''s chest like a spit in pigs chest... no umm, a majestic flagpole atop a pile of bodies after a hard fought battle that... no. Never mind. On second thoughts I have never been that good at the whole ''simile'' thing. Once I finished ripping, nay ¨C respectfully ¨C removing the spear from between the elf''s impressive bosom, I began inspecting it. The spear, not the bosom ¨C impressive though it was. The spear shaft looked to be exactly six feet from the bottom to the point that the leaf shaped blade was attached. The shaft appeared to be carved from a silvery wood that seemed to glow from within, leaves and vines in various shades of dark green looked to be literally melded to the shaft itself. When I ran my thumb over the spear I could just barely make out the ridges the greenery made over the silver-like wood that was its base form. As for the blade at the tip, well, it didn''t just appear to be a blade shaped as a leaf, rather, I guessed it was an actual leaf. Just how big is the tree that produced this thing?! A humongous leaf that glowed with a silver light from within. The same light as the wood that made up the shaft. Judging from the way it tapered at the edges it would make for a very sharp blade too, one that when twirled, formed ghostly after images in its wake. A fitting weapon for an elven maiden. Assuming she was actually an elf that is. Or a maiden. Picking it up hadn''t given me a pop up window or a notification of some sort, so I wondered if there was some form of analysis skill I could perform on it to find out. "Analyse!" ... Nope. Nothing happened. Except a slight breeze caused by spinning the shaft around reminding me that I was still as naked as the dead elf. After Analyse didn''t work I thought back to the various games I played in the past and the different words they used for the skill: "Appraise!" ... Nope, still nothing... Then how about- "Inspect!"
Congratulations! You have gained the Skill: Inspect. Bargaining +1, Control +1.
Success! I almost did a victory dance at the acquisition of my first [Skill], but barely stop myself in time as I''d nearly forgotten upon which floor I was standing. Fucking marble, I''ll get you back one day! I spent a few seconds glaring at the marble that covered the room, and shaking my fist in anger. Yeah, maybe I haven''t adjusted as well as I thought... Crisis averted, I promptly focused on the ''inspect'' part of the window, hoping to get some more information about my new Skill.
Inspect. You can now Inspect a variety of Arms, Armour and other Miscellaneous items. Further levels in this Skill will allow you to garner more information and Inspect higher end items.
I turned my attention to a blinking notification in the middle right of my periphery. This caused the notification to expand outwards, to fill the centre of my vision.
?????????????????????? Spear ?????????????????????????????????????????????? Quality: ????????? Rarity: ????????? Weight: 0.5-1kg Durability: 1????/????? Enchantments: Improved Durability, ???????????????????????????????????
Right. Like I couldn''t already tell that it was a fucking spear already. I guessed I deserved that for getting my hopes up about my shiny new Skill. Oh well. It wasn''t a total disappointment, I did learn a couple of things while inspecting the spear - other than that it was, y''know, a Spear. I now knew I could learn Skills just by performing the required actions or saying a keyword or something... actually maybe I didn''t quite have that bit down yet but it wasn''t something a little experimenting couldn''t solve. I also learnt how item descriptions worked in my new world ¨C the permanency of said world being something I was doing my darnedest to ignore ¨C and lastly a little about the spear itself. Though honestly, it wasn''t actually much more information compared to when I was just staring at it before using [Inspect]. I mean obviously it''s fairly light, a spear and has some enchantments on it. Even a child could figure that much out. Having finished with my musings I decided it was about time for a change in scenery. I had found nothing other than the elf and the spear in the bathing room ¨C and what was a naked woman doing taking a spear to her bath anyway? - so I made my way over to the only exit to the room I could see. The doorway was located on the wall on the left face of the dead elf, it actually kinda looked like she was pointing in that direction. Huh, weird. The doorway was perhaps seven feet tall, and almost the same width too, it was also really thick. Maybe three feet in depth. A little excessive for a doorway if you ask me, then again nothing about this place so far screamed austerity... Nope, actually this whole room screams opulence and riches so maybe it is about right... Oh and there wasn''t an actual door. No, on the other side of the exit was what looked like a white silk draping barring my way. I poked it with my shiny new spear to make sure it wasn''t dangerous. You totally would have too if you were in my sh- err, skin... Who am I talking to again? This place has completely scrambled my brain... Mmm scrambled eggs, I could really go for some right now... After stabbing it a dozen or so times I determined that it was in fact just a holey silk draping. Well, holey when I was done with it anyway! Hah! Ahem. Once I gathered up the tattered shreds of my dignity, and holding my chin high I batted aside the draping and strode purposefully into the adjoining room. * Arrival II Arrival II I growled in frustration, then froze momentarily, hoping that the guards outside the door didn''t hear me. When all I heard was low conversation and the occasional creak of armour I realised I was still safe. For a given understanding of safe anyway. My new abode was a dressing room. And following the theme of the bathing room, it was over the top in its decor. Planks of light oakwood panelling covered the walls, larger in length and width than I would''ve expected to see on Earth. Still, they are mostly hidden behind massive tapestries, one on each wall that didn''t have a door. The tapestries follow the theme of the previous room''s mosaics. I did my best to ignore them. It was difficult, they were everywhere and there was always a new scene that caught my eye. I finally managed to tear my eyes away and continue my exploration of the room. The exit from this room was directly across from the bathing room and thankfully it was made from the same wood as the panelling on the walls. Two massive blocks of wood that, frankly, looked like they could stop a bullet. Or a rhino. Assuming there were bullets here, or Rhinos for that matter. From behind the massive double doors I could hear the whispers of conversation. I tried to eavesdrop but even as close to the doors as I dared to get, I could only catch maybe one word in 10. It is nonsensical and I gave up on trying to make anything out quickly. The rest of the room was mostly bare. Excepting a massive mirror in the corner to the left of the bathing room. It was on a dark wooden stand, and keeping with the theme, it was the largest mirror I''d ever seen that wasn''t nailed to a wall. It almost reached the three metre high ceiling and it was almost two metres in width too! - I held my spear sideways next to it for comparison. Oh yeah, and then there''s the dress. It was on a stand to the right of the bathing room. I couldn''t quite make out what it looked like. Not because I had trouble seeing, but because of it constantly changing its form; pure white with a long ass trail with a veil and tiara one moment; then, when I think it has solidified on a form it shifts, a myriad of colours rippling across the surface, the headdress shifting from a tiara to a cowl with massive peacock feathers along the band, the trail pulls in and it has a bell like skirt ¨C like you see in Victorian period dramas. The only thing that always stayed the same was the veil, though even then, the colour of it changed alongside the rest of the dress. I tore my eyes away from it as it began transforming into a black form fitting number. As fascinating as watching it was, it was giving me a headache. My [Inspect] attempts were met with failure too. Apparently I needed to be holding the item at my level to get any information on it. And I didn''t want to touch it. It gave me the creeps. ''Course, I may not get a choice, it is the only piece of clothing in this place and I don''t really want to confront the guards outside in my skinnies. I leant against the wall beside the mirror, facing the door ¨C I wanted to keep an eye on the door in case it opened ¨C then slid down to the ground. Unsurprisingly the floor was very comfortable, a shag carpet, deep burgundy in colour covered the floor of the room. These carpets would normally be hell to clean, but of course there was not a speck of dust in sight. Likely Magic at work. Or perhaps taking the surroundings into consideration, some form of overworked-underpaid labour. I felt a small flash of pity if it was the latter, I would not want to be cleaning a place like this. I doubt they''d be lenient if One were to miss something. I was busy trying to come up with a plan, but honestly, whatever happens, I had to get out of this room and deal with the guards. Somehow I didn''t think they''d trip over me and impale themselves on their own weapons. No one is that lucky. Not twice in one hour... Wait. Lucky. I thought back to the message I received just a few minutes ago. That imp said something about luck. And about traits. He seemed to hint that I was powerful because of these traits, but reading between the lines only a little bit, he also seemed to hint there was a price for that power. With nothing else to do I decided it was time to have a look at my status screen. In AoH, you had to say ''[Status]'' when in a non-combat environment for the window to appear. Here, well, here I tried just thinking it. I didn''t want to give the guards any excuse to look inside. [Status].
Status HP: 385 (+1.1/s) MP: 278 (+1.0/s) ST: 355 (1.1/s) EXP: 0 Total Level: (N/A) Class Level EXP Req
Name [Insert Name Here] Mental Stat Physical Stat Social Stat Traits [Error ¨C no Race] N/A N/A
Age 26 Control 59 Agility 62 Bargaining 61 Regeneration
Race [Race Options] Resistance 48 Dexterity 51 Charm 42 Status Quo
Party N/A Spellpower 44 Strength 60 Leadership 52 Sod''s Law
Guild N/A Willpower 58 Vitality 55 Luck -500
I Hmmm as I look through my Status screen, it looked pretty standard for a fantasy based game. For the most part anyway. The First Column was something you''d see in almost every MMORPG. Though I did briefly wonder where the dividing line was between a Party and a Guild. The second Stat column ¨C Physical ¨C was a direct copy from AoH. AoH was a Physical based game only, there was no Magic system or social Skills system. Pure combat only. The third Stat column ¨C Social ¨C was something I was expecting, during beta testing it was known they only had access to the Physical and Social aspects of the game. The Magical stuff was left out until launch. Only tested in-house by the developers, this was to ensure it remained a secret until it was available to the general public. And in this they succeeded. No-one, not even the beta testers knew how the Magic system was going to work. As such the first Stat column was new to me and like the Social Stats, the Mental Stats were somewhat unusual. Usually in a game you''d get something akin to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma with maybe things like Willpower added into the mix on occasion. This was not the case for Elmeron the VRMMORPG and I saw it was not the case for Elmeron IRL ¨C still trying to ignore that part. Stupid brain! After whacking my head on the wall to quell any disturbing thoughts attempting to make their way to the surface, then spending a couple of minutes trying not to breathe too hard as I had forgotten where I was for a moment, I got back to scanning my new self. My [Status] screen. I skipped past the Stats, they are mostly self explanatory despite their unusualness¨C is that a word? Words can be so weird... - and while they were also a lot higher ¨C barring one ¨C than I expected, I suspected one of my three Traits would be the cause of this. I focused on the first one. [Regeneration].
Regeneration ¨C Trait You gain an additional (+1.0/s) Health Regeneration for every Total Level you have.
Wee-ell, that is pretty damned awesome. Self-healing was always a problem in any game I played, but with this I wouldn''t need to worry about it. And the Trait would improve and get stronger as I did. Of course, so would my healing needs, as the damage I took would no doubt get higher as I fought stronger and stronger monsters. Even so, I couldn''t be anything but happy about this Trait. It was totally Awesome and almost broken by any gaming standards. This wasn''t a game though. As much as I might have been pretending otherwise ¨C for my sanity as much as anything. Nothing I had gone through so far was conducive to a stable mind. I suspected, having seen my Stats, that the abnormally high Mental Stats were the cause of me not curling up in the corner and gibbering incessantly. As I was, sitting in the corner and terrified of what comes next, was not really much of an improvement. I moved onto the next Trait in the hopes of finding something that could help my predicament.
Status Quo ¨C Trait Your body will always revert to its Status Quo no matter what happens to it. In effect this means your body will no longer age, feel fatigue or require sustenance. Scars will not remain for long and any loss of body parts will regenerate over time rather than require a spell, potion or other to regrow. In addition one negative Status affect you are under will be removed with a 50% chance every hour. This could be ¨C but not limited to ¨C any of the following, loss of vision/hearing, poisons, diseases, magical constraint or social Skill effects. Other Effects that can be removed will have to be learnt ¨C and remembered - at your displeasure
"Holy Shit!" I shouted. If the previous Trait was almost broken by gaming standards then this Trait was extremely broken by, well, pretty much any standard. I almost suffered whiplash when I whipped my head up to look at the door, someone was knocking on it. The sound of metal striking wood ¨C probably a gauntlet covered fist. Apparently they heard my shout. "Is everything okay in there Your Grace?" a hesitant voice sounded from the direction of the knocks. Your Grace? "Err, just fine thanks..." I replied, sounding as confident as I possibly could. Which all things considered wasn''t very confident, not at all. There was a slight pause before the next reply, as if the person talking ¨C probably one of the guards ¨C didn''t really want to interrupt whatever the now-dead Elf was supposed to be doing ¨C which if the lack of any other item in the room was an indication, was bathing then putting the creepy looking changeling dress on. "As you say, Your Grace." Yep. Whoever this was, he didn''t want to be talking to ''Your Grace'' any more than I wanted him to be. "However I should warn you, you will need to leave for the Ceremony in the next quarter of an hour. I''m sure you know this already, but umm, your father ordered me to make sure you get there in time... and didn''t try and run away again. As such I will have to come in there and..." Here he stopped completely, his diction getting both softer and more hesitant as he finished. Obviously, though having to come in, and possibly force a probably very naked and beautiful Elf into a dress, then drag her to the Ceremony was not a thought he really wanted to even consider. Let alone enact. Especially as the Elf in question was in possession of a freakin'' spear. Again, who the fuck takes a spear with them to a bath!? "Don''t worry, I''ll be with you in time." This time I sounded more confident. The guard''s reluctance for this conversation spurring me on. He grunted something that almost sounded like another ''Your Grace.'' I waited another minute on baited breath, before the low murmurs of the guards started up again. I brought up my [Status] again. I needed to get this whole Trait thing ¨C among others - sorted before I confronted the world outside. If I was reading [Status Quo] correctly, which I was, because I read it a few times to make sure I had all the information I could glean from it, then it was way overpowered. Dismissing the fact that I could no longer age ¨C and its ramifications ¨C everything else about the Trait was all good, all of the time. And really, being ageless wasn''t necessarily bad, it was just like everything else that had happened since I arrived here. It was all too big to process in one sitting. Way, way too big. In fact it was something that would normally require One to sleep on. Which apparently, was something I no longer needed ¨C assuming that no longer feeling fatigue would end the need for sleep anyway. I did wonder however, if, I could still sleep if I wanted to. I also sincerely hope that while I no longer need to eat or drink, I still could if I wanted too, otherwise that''d be too sad. Fine food and drink was one of the greater pleasures in life after all. And it seemed as though mine might be a bit longer than I ever expected.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Assuming I could get out of here alive that is. It also looked like any negative Status Effect I ever gain would eventually be removed, even if it took a while. Though, I knew from my gaming experience, anything that could hold me even for a few seconds could be devastating. It wasn''t quite a get out of jail free card. It was, however, the next best thing. And also not something that could be considered so negative that the imp''s bosses threw me here during a transport because they didn''t want anything to do with it. Or me. No, considering the name of the final Trait, I figured I had saved the worst till last.
Sods Law ¨C Trait Sod''s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong and with the worst possible outcome. Your Luck Stat starts at -500. Due to the disparity an additional 500 Stat Points have been distributed to your other Skills at random. You will gain positive Luck at a rate of 3 Luck per 1 gained. This will show on your status as decimals. Only whole numbers count towards the total. You will gain negative Luck as normal.
I just barely held back the expletive, one that would have been far harsher and louder than the previous one. Definitely a negative Trait, this one, I quickly skipped past the first sentence, the ramifications thereof giving me shivers every time I glanced at it. I practised my new skill, steadfastly ignoring anything that would make me have nightmares ¨C assuming I could still sleep ¨C and moved onto the rest, which was more than bad enough. I didn''t know how Luck would work in Elmeron, but surely starting with such a low, low amount of it could only be considered a bad, bad thing. A very bad thing, I''m so screwed.. Not only that but apparently it would be basically impossible for it to improve and would be extremely easy to decrease. This is bad, bad bad bad bad bad... I let out a small cry of frustration followed quickly by a sob. Which once started, was like opening the floodgates, all of a sudden I was crying so hard I couldn''t see anything but blurs. Fortunately, despite some louder mutterings and a bit of shifting around, the guards didn''t try and talk to me again ¨C clearly they had decided to wait out the fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes that were swiftly falling by the wayside. Nothing had gone well since I clicked that blinking Yes, accidentally transporting myself to a fantasy world, and, according to some random Trait, this, this damnable system gave me, it wouldn''t be getting much better. In fact it was likely to only get worse, then end in my death. If I was lucky. Which I''m not. I stifled my tears as soon as I could however. I''d only just gotten here after all. No use in giving up at the first hurdle. No, I would try and be optimistic ¨C something I struggled with at the best of times, I was a realist at heart ¨C and see if I could come out of this situation better off than I started. Which, let''s be honest, hasn''t exactly been a walk in the park up till now either... I rubbed the tears out of my eyes with one hand, then looked at the spear I was still clutching in the other. I smiled slightly as I rested my eyes on it, it was a hesitant smile, a forced smile, but it was a smile nevertheless. There was one positive to come out of my start in this world after all. If I could keep on seeing the positives and not the negatives then, maybe, just maybe, I could get out of here with my head on my shoulders, and hopefully the rest of me still attached too. On account of my new outlook on this situation, I decided I needed to choose my race before I went anywhere. In fact, I got up and looked in the mirror and yup, still same old boring human me. I still had that annoying mole on my upper lip too. The one that everyone told me is ''cute'' then proceeded to stare at instead of looking me in the eyes. Was it really too much to ask that it be removed when transported to another err, dimension? Universe? Plane? Ahem. I derailed that train of thought before it could take hold again. I settled back down on the floor and focused on [Race Options] on my [Status] screen.
Racial Options All new Arrivals will be allowed to choose a Race based on what and who their interactions have been since arriving in Elmeron. Your options are as follows: Human Half-Elf Elf (High) Elf (Planar)
Four options. More than I was expecting. Clearly accidentally killing an Elf counts as ''interacting'' in the systems mind. I wondered if I could leave my Race choice to another time. See if I could interact more and gain more options, but when I attempted to dismiss the screen nothing happened. At least at first. After a few attempts however, it soon started to blink incessantly at me and the glow increased, causing a mild headache. At least until I stopped trying to get rid of it and then it just returned to the normal harmless screen it was to begin with. Apparently, now that I had chosen to choose my Race I wouldn''t be getting any more options and I had to do it post-haste. Ugh, if I''d known that I probably would have left it longer. Then again maybe not, if the [Status] screen was any indication, I didn''t actually have a Class or any levels, which could not be a good thing. All things considered, maybe doing this now is the better option ¨C optimism, see I can do it, if I try! It was time to check out my options, then hope a Race change didn''t take very long, I likely had less than ten minutes at this point to make my choice. So saying, or thinking as this case was, I brought up my first choice ¨C [Human].
Human Humans are the most average of Elmeron''s sapient races. This is not a bad thing. Humans may get no Racial Bonus Skills but their affinities for the many Skills in Elmeron are often higher than any of the other races. Humans gain 8 Stat points of their choosing during the 10 Base Class Levels and 5 Stat Points to spend at will during any of their chosen classes thereafter, in addition to the Stat Points provided by the Class.
About what I''d expected for a Human. Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none had always been our niche in games. I scanned over the hints at how the levelling and class systems worked. As much as I''d love to nerd out, I simply didn''t have the time. Instead I focused only on the other aspects of the Race. No Racial Bonus Skills was a bit of a bummer, but I didn''t really expect any. Humans rarely get any bonus''s and usually make up for it with their versatility. I couldn''t tell if the amount of Stat points per level was a good thing or not without looking at the others so, as time was still ticking I focused on: [Half-Elf].
Half-Elf Half-Elves vary greatly depending on which type of Elf Sired them. You choices are (High) or (Planar). Even Half-Elves of the same Racial Heritage differ vastly, as such what you Stat bonus''s are and any Skills and/or Affinities won''t be generated until you choose the Race.
This was... surprisingly unhelpful. I could''ve guessed at my Racial Heritage without this screen and it wasn''t really telling my about anything else I could get. In fact, reading between the lines, I suspected the bonus''s, Skills and Affinities being positive or negative, was something that would be based completely on luck and considering my Luck Stat, this was not something I''d ever feel comfortable doing. So as cool as a Half-Elf might be, it was definitely not something I''d be choosing. From this day forward I''ll either remain a Human or a full Elf. Assuming there wasn''t another way to change your Race. And really in a place with Magic and a game-like system I suspected there was. I focused on my first Elven option: [Elf (High)].
Elf (High) The High Elves of Elmeron are the City-Born of the Elf-kind, and are generally perceived to be an ''upper class'' of Elves by outsiders. This is not always the case. High Elves have an aristocracy, but no more or less so than most of the other Elven variants. Due to their Nature and usual upbringing High Elves are normally better suited for the magical arts and/or for Craftsman roles. Their Racial Skills, Affinities and Stats reflect this. High Elves get two Racial Bonus Skills at Level 10 of their Base Class. Low-Light Vision (available to all elf variants excepting the Dark and Aquatic variants who get a stronger vision option) and either Nimble Fingers or Elven Meditation. High Elves gain a boost in affinities in the Artisan crafts and in Magical Skills ¨C varying by individual on which ones in particular. High Elves gain 5 Stat Points of their choosing and + 1 Control, Willpower and Dexterity during their 10 Base Class Levels and 3 Stat Points to spend at will during any of their chosen classes as well as + 1 Control and Dexterity thereafter, in addition to the Stat Points provided by the Class.
In comparison to the Half-Elves and even to the Humans, this was quite a lot of information. Then again, Half-Elves were apparently random by nature in how they turned out and I had spent the last twenty-six years of my life as a human, so I probably had a pretty good idea of what one was. High elves were a very tempting class choice. Cool bonus Skills, especially in Magic. And Magic was something that I planned on getting handle on, if I could at all. I mean I had been transported to a new world and I planned on getting the most out of it! In my case getting the most out of it meant Magic. Lots of Magic. And High Elves, according to my summary screen here, were good at Magic. Sure they weren''t as flexible as a vanilla Human would be, which was always the draw of Humans in such settings, but being a High Elf would give me some bonus Mental points every level and increase my Affinities] for Magic. Plus if my general knowledge of games was any indication [Elven Meditation] was probably something that would increase my passive Mana Regeneration while active, another positive for this race. Honestly if these were my only three options, I''d have already chosen to be a High Elf. Instead however I had one more option left. Something also told me that the best may have been saved for last. I decided being a High Elf would be my fallback option. I focused on: [Elf (Planar)].
Elf (Planar) Planar Elves are one of the rarest variants of Elf-kind. These Elves are rarely born, even a child of two Planar Elves will usually be born as one of the parents original Sub-race, though not always. Planar Elves are usually an upgrade of sorts chosen by those that explore the many different planes available in this universe, the energies that their continued exposure during planar crossings accumulates and can sometimes mutate an Elf into this variant. Due to their Racial Heritage Planar Elves are well suited to Magic of any kind, especially Magic of the Planar, Transportation or Spatial inclination. Their Racial Skills, Affinities and Stats reflect this. Planar Elves get two Racial Bonus Skills at Level 10 of their Base Class. If they are a mutation then these Skills become additions to previous Racial Skills, unless already owned. Low-Light Vision (available to all elf variants excepting the Dark and Aquatic variants who get a stronger vision option) and either Mana Sense or Planar Resistance. Planar Elves gain a boost in any affinities that pertains to Magic Skills and Resistances of any kind. Planar Elves are an Advanced Race, as such they gain 6 Stat Points of their choosing and +1 Resistance, Willpower, Vitality and Luck during their 10 Base Class Levels and 3 Stat Points to spend at will during any of their chosen Classes as well as +1 Resistance , Willpower and Luck, in addition to the Stat Points provided to the Class.
Dayum. Apparently my whacky transportation and introduction to this world had given me an Advanced Race option. I had no idea what an Advanced Race was, but if this was any indication it was definitely something everyone should be aspiring toward. Access to rare Racial Skills, a boost to all Magical Affinities ¨C whereas the other Elven option would only be a boost to some ¨C alongside a boost to all resistances. Of course I still had no idea what an Affinity was but it sounded like something I''d want. If all that wasn''t enough I''d get almost as many ''free'' Stat points during my first 10 Base Class levels as a Human would. It wasn''t quite as flexible after that, but it was still actually more Stats overall. Definitely a number worthy of being called an Advanced Race ¨C at least in comparison to the others. This was however a life changing decision and probably permanent ¨C even if there were other ways for a Race change I doubted they''d be easy. I needed to spend some time making sure I got this right. I didn''t want to screw myself up right out the gates. Not when I had a choice at least. So, vanilla Human. A Race I was intimately familiar with, one that would allow me to follow whatever path I chose ¨C mostly at any rate, I still needed to figure out these Affinities ¨C alternatively I had two Elven Races, both with their up and downsides. I mean sure, the Planar options look better and being an Advanced Race, it probably is. However it''s almost completely focused on Magical traits and not much else. On the other hand I could choose to be a High Elf, a Race with slightly more flexibility but would be slightly weaker overall. Hmmm, decisions, decisions... I hear a knocking on the door, then a voice calling out ¨C deeper and more assured than the last, likely the previous speakers partner ¨C telling me, or ''Your Grace'' anyway, that I only had a couple of minutes until it was time to get a move on. He put it more politely of course. With lots of ''Your Graces'' and flowery language ¨C clearly this guard was more experienced talking to the upper class ¨C but the meaning was more than clear; the ''Emperor'' required my presence at the Ceremony. Deliberation time was over. I got up and look in the mirror. I wondered if this was the last time I''d see my current visage. I wondered what will change in me. I wondered what would happen next and if I would survive. I wondered if it would hurt because really there was one thing I''d noticed when reading through the [Race Options] and honestly it made the other options superfluous. I was, however, afraid. Deathly afraid. In fact I was completely terrified. I was trying to put off my decision until later, a learned reaction I had to the unknown. There was no later. Not this time. This time, I could not put off a hard decision until later, as I was so practised at doing. I took a deep breath and made my choice, committing to my decision before I could hesitate any longer. I hope this is not a mistake. * Arrival III Arrival III
Congratulations! You have gained the Skill: Disguise. Charm +1. EXP + 100
I let a smile cross my lips at this window. The dress I put on before leaving the dressing room worked. I allowed the tension in my body escape and I relaxed a bit. The first hurdle had been passed. Countless more stretched before me though. "Well," I said imperiously "Lead on then!" At my command the two guards pulled their helmets over their heads then followed that action by slamming their right fists to the emblem on their chests, an obvious salute. They turned and faced the open doorway on the right of the room. Waiting for me to lead. Alright then. Let''s do this! I took another deep breath to steady myself then stepped forward. Doing my best to glide and project an air of surety around me as I did so. I almost stumbled on the hem of the dress as it continued to shift its form around me. It would be hard enough to walk in a normal dress, let alone this changeling one ¨C I once wore a dress to party at my friends urging, she claimed it was a fancy dress party and everyone would have one on. She was wrong, while certainly not the only one in a dress, there were still plenty without and I stood out. Not in a good way. I''m not entirely sure why I let her talk me into it, but I haven''t worn a dress since. The attention I received wasn''t quite what I would ever want. Neither did I go to another party for that matter ¨C not because I wasn''t invited, I wasn''t that much of an introvert at least, but because I much preferred locking myself in my room with the newest computer game or novel. This meant I hadn''t had much practice in the way of walking in such clothing. Each step I took had to be small and measured to avoid stumbling, something that would surely give the game away. Walking in this manner did help with the stately presence I was trying to emit, however. I made it to the doorway without any problems. Two more guards cut from the same cloth as the ones behind me greeted me there. Although there were some small variances in build, eye and hair colour, they could easily pass as brothers. Which begged the question; were they related or did whomever it was that did the hiring have a template he or she required the guards to conform to? A cough from one of the guards behind me broke me from my musings and I realised I had come to a stop in the doorway, almost causing a collision. "Your Grace," said one of the guards behind me. I spun around to look at the speaker. "I know you hate being parted from that spear of yours, but I''d be remiss if I did not remind you: you cannot bring a weapon to this ceremony." He must then be the veteran and likely leader of the group. I pegged him for a corporal or sergeant ¨C or whatever equivalents they have here ¨C due to the ease he showed when addressing his charge apparent. I was sure he''d be less polite if he knew who it was actually hiding beneath the shifting folds of my garment. "I would suggest, Your Grace, that you remove it from your inventory and leave it in your rooms here. I''m sure the Emperor''s servants will ensure it is not lost." This caused me to glance briefly to the two attendants standing by the tea table in the sitting room. I would really like to keep hold of my spear, not just because of its shininess, nor the fact that it was still my only weapon, no, it was actually because it was the first thing I found when I arrived here, it was the first tangible thing I grasped, the first thing I ever owned in this world. It felt like it had already become a part of me. Still, I also knew I had little choice if I wanted to keep up this charade, so I only hesitated momentarily before opening my [Inventory], and remove the only item within. The [Inventory] is something that I gained access to after choosing my Race, I still hadn''t gotten a handle on its use yet ¨C the only previous use was to store the spear inside ¨C so it took a few moments to retrieve the spear. Moments in which the guards watched on impassive, a state of affairs that did not help my racing heart and nervousness at the situation one bit. The younger elf accepted the spear and set it to one side. I made my way out the suite without any further delays. Waiting outside the rooms were four new guards, armed and armoured similarly to the four who were now following behind. There were a few key differences, however, the first two had large crossbows strapped to their backs in place of shields, shields that on the next two were rectangular in shape. Their gambesons were also a deep purple and on their chests was the form of a griffin embossed in gold, a sword point down in the background. Their helmets were also of the open faced variety, and here the final difference was found, these guards were human. I assumed then, these were the ''Emperor''s'' guards, or perhaps the palace guards, whereas the guards behind me were the bathing elven Lady''s guards. With a curt "follow me" from one of the crossbow-wearers, they all spun on their heels in unison and marched off. Clearly expecting ¨C and not waiting ¨C for me to follow. I had to scurry a bit to catch up to them, this caused me to trip on the extending hem of the ''effing dress. An action that was arrested by one of the guards behind me. In fact his grip on my arm allowed me to increase my speed slightly as he half carried me along. I muttered a quiet thanks as I regained my treacherous footing. "Of course, Your Grace," he responded, chuckling slightly under his breath, "I''m surprised you didn''t trip earlier. That dress looks like hell to walk in." I offered a weak laugh in response. He took the hint and stepped back in line with his partners behind. We followed the four human guards down a dizzying array of hallways and through numerous walled-in courtyards ¨C allowing me my first glimpse of a clear blue sky ¨C each more ostentatious than the last. We passed through hallways gilded in gold. The walls covered in endless tapestries and paintings, depicting great battles between various armed forces ¨C most of whom were clearly inhuman in nature ¨C as well as scenes where a small group of people fought against monsters of many types, from massive fire breathing dragons to hordes of small green folk ¨C likely goblins. Occasionally however there were peaceful scenes, great landscapes of places that look fantastical, but did quite possibly exist, somewhere. My concealed nature allowed me to sight see ¨C as best I could during the guards ceaseless pace ¨C which I counted fortunate. Someone of my supposed position would likely find it all commonplace. A reaction that I couldn''t help but feel saddened by, so many pieces of amazing artwork, all the effort put forth by numerous master craftsmen and women, only to have it largely ignored. Their best works gracing the unending hallways of a palace where the residents had no appreciation of what they had. Perhaps I was assuming too much, but I doubted it. Such places existed back on my world too, great treasures left unappreciated for centuries, often lost to time. Our passage through the hallways was not interrupted once, the only other people we saw were those in servants'' garments - who were no doubt used to being ignored - swiftly flattened themselves to the walls so as not to be trampled underfoot. Something that I felt was all too prudent. I didn''t think the guards even noticed their existence. When we arrived at our destination it came as a small shock. We made a turn down yet another hallway that looked just like all the others, when I realised that this one was not quite the same. This one held an open doorway at the end. The guards in front stepped aside to let me through, my supposition that this was our destination clearly correct. I allowed myself a few minutes to compose myself and to catch my breath, then I made my way forward. A short elven male stood in the doorway to the next room, blocking any passage into the space behind from those not deemed worthy of entry. Which apparently included my elven entourage, they broke off and lined the hall near the door, two to a side. The humans turned without a word and marched off into the palace, other palace guards flanked the doorway facing outward, on both sides. Breath caught, heartbeat slowed as much as it could, I walked no, glided forward until I was face to face with the elven male. Contrary to expectations he was shorter than me, much shorter. I may have grown slightly since my transformation ¨C though I wasn''t sure of the exact amount ¨C but I was confident he would have been shorter than my previous height of 5''5. His clothes and his bearing made up for any height deficiencies he may have had, he wore robes of flowing royal blue, the hems stitched in silver and the insides ¨C from what little I could glimpse ¨C were made of a soft cream fur. He held a staff that didn''t quite reach his own height, the top of which had a sun-yellow orb set in. The wood ¨C red oak? - of the staff growing up around the orb so as to hold it in place. "Nice of you to make an appearance Your Grace," he said, eyes practically flashing with glee at my social blunder. This was apparently not the sort of thing you could be fashionably late to. He stepped aside, allowing me passage into the room beyond.
Congratulations! You have increased to level 3 in the Skill: Disguise! EXP +25
I paused in the entryway, not because I was surprised by leveling my newest Skill ¨C something that I was sure would continue happening until I took the shape-changing dress off ¨C but instead because I was thrown off by the d¨¦cor of this new room. Or more specifically, the lack thereof. The room, while large, in keeping with the rest of the palace, was otherwise completely bare. Boring beige walls greeted my eyes wherever I turned them. If, however, I felt any disappointment about the decorations, then the people meandering through the room surely quelled that notion.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. They all wore outrageous outfits, grand things in garish colours that hurt the eyes to look upon for any length of time, outfits that I''d say I would not be caught dead in, but, when that thought crossed my mind I noticed my own outfit was shifting into something similar to the others. With one last glance to the elf on my left, I stepped into the room, preparing to bullshit my way through pleasantries on topics and people that I would have never heard of, or about. What''s the worst that can happen? "Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Evendale, Countess of Illiandor, Aelwinel A''Esille A''Meilleri D''Illiandor." A booming voice announced my presence to all in the room. The sound caused all whispers of conversation to die away and everyone within turned, almost as one, to stare at me. Right. I just had to think that didn''t I? At least now I knew the name of the person I was impersonating. I just hoped I could remember ¨C and pronounce ¨C the tongue twister. Why couldn''t the woman have had a simple, easy to say name? My pause was only a minor one, before I attempted to sidle off to one side. The courtiers moved back to their conversations for the most part, the echoes of chatter bouncing off the walls around us. This time however, I caught brief snippets, the occasional sentence or word spoken slightly louder than intended. It should come as no surprise that I was the main topic of converse. Surprisingly none approached and I was allowed to slink off to one side. I found myself a nice clear section of wall and proceeded to help hold it up. A server passed by, a tray of unfamiliar appetisers balanced on each arm, they almost offered their goodies to me, but clearly thought better of it when they realised I had no way of eating ¨C or drinking ¨C as the ever changing dress covered my head, and entire body, completely, concealing anything beneath. This obviously was why no one had noticed my deception as of yet and also why my [Disguise] Skill was slowly progressing, trickling in new experience points on each level up. It had jumped straight to 5 when the room first turned to me and was fast approaching 7. I used [Inspect] on the dress again, in an attempt to ease my tensions, and ignored the stares boring into to me from all directions.
Seraloai''s Ceremonial Garb. Seraloai was supposedly the wife of a long forgotten king in a place and time lost to memory. It is said this Ceremonial Garb was crafted and enchanted for her after a rival kingdom attempted to mind control her to kill her husband during a ceremony, she wanted something that would allow her to keep her mind free of influence. As a perhaps unintended side effect, it shifts to match every culture''s various Ceremonial garbs, within whichever country it is worn. Quality: Masterwork Rarity: Artefact Weight: Varies depending on form. Durability: 100,000/100,1000 Enchantments: Unknown. Effects: Wearer is hidden from all sight, magical and mundane, wearer cannot be influenced by any magical effect, including social Skills. Magic cannot be used whilst wearing this Garb, most other general and combat Skills will be unusable or have their effects drastically reduced. Once donned this dress cannot be removed under any circumstances until the time limit (72 hours) has passed, this is an automatic process. Time Remaining: 71 Hours, 33 Minutes and 12 Seconds.
My original plan had been to wear the dress, or ''Ceremonial Garb'' until I could escape any watchers, then leave it behind to sneak from the palace walls. Putting it on was a process I did not care to repeat. I only touched it with the tip of my finger and it crawled over my new form on its own accord, it felt as though dozens of snakes were slithering along my skin, covering me entire, I shivered slightly at the memory. Once ''donned'' I could finally [Inspect] the thing and that was when I realised my mistake. While the Ceremonial Garb was absolutely amazing at disguising whomever was beneath its folds, its very nature was inimical to sneaking. Its changing form drew the eye far too easily. I had to throw my burgeoning plan out the hypothetical window almost before it was formed, and that meant I no longer had any tangible plans on how to get out of this. I wasn''t sure that appearing naked before the elven guards would have been a good idea, but I wondered if it would''ve been a better one. I had no idea how in the hell I was going to pull off being an Elven Duchess for 70+ hours. At the end of which I would have to be alone, so as to make my escape unnoticed. If I was in company of any sort when the time ran down: I would be screwed. It was only because the Garb changed the look and voice of the wearer every time it shifted,that I had not been discovered yet. If the sometimes ''tight'' fitting Garb showed my true body beneath, then the game would have been up long ago, and I, no doubt, would be dead. The conversations around me had finally moved on to other topics, my entry no longer the event that the courtiers were gossiping about. While a few people did start manoeuvring in my direction, they broke off well before they would arrive. The Garb, among other things, was great at halting a conversation before it started, they were clearly unsure how to approach. Something I was highly thankful for. It gave me time to peruse the notifications I minimised after my change was complete. I barely had time to skim-read them before the guards were knocking again, telling me my time was up. I was in what appeared to be a waiting room of some sort, one that I could not see an easy escape from, but also one where, despite the room being packed with people, I was on my own. I had a bit of time to myself. So I opened the notifications one at a time.
Congratulations! You have chosen the Race: Elf (Planar)! Planar Elves are often formed in the membrane between Planes, this transformation is not always pleasant, often taking place over many days or even weeks and as such most Planar Elves have massive scarring due to this. Your transition and Racial heritage are somewhat different, as such the transformation is swift, though painful.
Indeed, the actual metamorphosis had taken only a couple of minutes, a couple of minutes where my body was racked in pain as various parts of my body shifted and changed, I''d had to bite down on my knuckles to keep from crying out as I collapsed onto the floor. A quick glance in the mirror told the story of my outward changes. It was not such a massive change as I had feared. My hair was a bit shinier, though still the same raven-black. My ears had of course grown slightly and now tapered to points, I had also grown in height a fair bit ¨C thankfully, even though my body was changed, my balance was not affected, I still felt in full control ¨C the biggest changes however, were my skin and eye colour. Before the transformation I had the pale skin of someone that spends all their time indoors and rarely, if ever, saw the sun. Afterwards my skin was alabaster in outlook, no hint of any blemishes, spots or yes, moles in sight. My few scars, left-overs from an active childhood were also gone. The eyes were the most obvious change. The sclera had turned into a pure black, and if I watched long enough, the blackness seemed to absorb light ¨C yeah I had no idea how I could see such a thing either ¨C the pupils, in contrast, were now a pure white, and opposed the rest in effect ¨C yup, my eyes now looked like they were stars shining in the blackness of space... Go figure. The other changes felt mostly superficial in nature ¨C though I was fairly certain my organs shifted around a bit inside ¨C but the eyes, the windows to our very souls, they were very different. Alien. I began to wonder if a Racial change was the correct option. That maybe I was better off remaining the human I was born as. It was too late though. This was my new self and, for better or worse, I had to deal with it. Plus elves are cool. I would find a nice corner to cry in, to wail at the unfair universe when I was sure I had made my escape from the palace. I wasn''t able to wipe my tears away because I couldn''t access my face while wearing the Garb, ¨C which begged the question, if I still required food and drink how would I manage it? I guess this is one positive side affect of [Status Quo] I hadn''t accounted for ¨C instead I blinked them away as best I could and moved on to the next notification while I still had some time.
Your Base Class has been set to: Elf (Planar)! Skills that were locked have now been unlocked. You now gain Experience Points as normal. Your affinities have been overhauled to better suit your new Race. You receive double inventory space due to the nature of your Race!
I mourned the huge amount of EXP I would no doubt have gotten from the bathing Duchess if I had had access to my Class at that point. There was nothing I could do about it anymore though. I checked my Skills page but apart from the [Inspect] Skill and the ever increasing [Disguise] Skill I still had nothing else. Something did catch my eye though, something that I had been wanting answers on ever since I first saw mention of it in the [Racial Options] menus. I opened up the Skill description for [Disguise].
Social Skill (c,b,l). Disguise. Trainee, Level 7: 63% Affinity: Average You can now Disguise yourself and others using various techniques to hide your true visage. Further levels will allow you to learn new and better techniques.
Despite what the Skill window may have been implying, I really only knew how to disguise myself by wearing an Artefact-grade dress. I suspected you were supposed to learn new techniques yourself and the act of learning better and more effective techniques would allow you to level the Skill easier. This assumption was based on the fact that I was getting no new knowledge forced into my mind like you sometimes saw happen in books and films. My continued experience gain was simply because the disguise in question was highly effective in its current form. I could now see that Affinities were an important part of ones Skills. Focusing on the ''Affinity'' part however brought up no new information. I would have to find out what this meant somehow, without giving away my own ignorance on the subject. I pushed this problem onto a future me, something I was extremely adept at doing. I opened the last window in the chain of notifications I received from my Racial changes.
You now have access to other Menu Options other than your Status Page, your Options include: Status; Skills; Spells; Inventory; Misc. More Menu Options may become available at a later date.
The [Spells] tab was greyed out and I was unable to select it. This wasn''t too surprising, I had gained no spells since my disastrous arrival to this world. My [Inventory] was an extra-dimensional storage space that ¨C keeping the game theme ¨C had two ''squares'' for items, the spear had taken up both slots before it was removed and left in the Duchesses rooms. I didn''t know why the spear took two slots instead of one and I still needed to figure out how items stacked, among other things. The [Misc] tab had further options, [Resistances], [Languages Known] and [Status Afflictions], among other greyed out options. Options I struggled unsuccessfully to make out the wording of. Like everything else I had found since coming here, it seemed I would only learn what they did when they system decided. I was broken from my musing by a newcomer to the waiting room. The first since I, myself had arrived here. Aw crap, my disguise is going to be tested to the extreme with this guy. I composed myself as best I could when he turned his head and locked his eyes on me. * Arrival IV Arrival IV "His Imperial Highness, The High Duke of Ellikir, The Earl of Illiandor, Sarian K''Lestior K''Damurill D''Illiandor." The newcomer wore a robe of royal blue, a silver tree, a replica of the elven guardsmen''s, grew across his torso, the leaves spreading without end, yet the tree did not get bigger. Did not leave the bounds of the robe. Magic was at work here, used as a mere decoration. It almost distracted me from the circlet on his brow. A simple band of silver, a small sapphire set in the centre. What is it with these elves and their silver? - In fact, I realised his hair was silver, cascading freely around his shoulders. Someone needs to introduce these elves to diversity, too much of a good thing and all that... His eyes never wavered as he approached and the courtiers parted before him, like the red sea before Moses, their inane chatter quieted by his entrance. He stopped his advance just inside my personal space. Right at the point where you want to step back. The wall behind pressed into me. Trapping me. His eyes roved my form, searching for something, something that this Garb would block from him. And at that I let out the breath I didn''t realise I was holding. Right. He didn''t know who I was, he thought I was someone else. He thought I was this ''Duchess''. I could do this. Bluff my way through this confrontation, and maybe a few after. Find a way to escape. "Daughter." A statement. filled with meaning, memories, a past shared, a past I had no part of. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit... Who was I kidding? I can''t do this. There''s no freakin'' way this man will miss my ruse. Anyone else, maybe I could bullshit it, but family? This man? I should just come clean, explain what happened, it was just an accident after all. I can''t be blamed! I breathed deeply, prepared to do just that, but I met his eyes before anything came out. I said earlier that the eyes are the window to the soul. After looking into this man''s eyes, I believe it. This man, this elf, was a good man. A good father. A good leader. He would understand what happened. He would know it was an accident. He wouldn''t blame me. I knew this from just a glance, a small peek at what makes him, him. I also knew he would never forgive me. I knew I couldn''t survive his retribution. I killed someone he loved, and if he ever found out I would suffer for it. I let out my breath. The room was still quiet. The wall was taking a turn holding me up. A small part of me, hidden beneath the terror, the uncertainty, thanked it. And now I was feeling gratitude towards inanimate objects. Wonderful. What next? "I am... sorry, daughter," thankfully he interrupted my internal gibbering. "I know this is not what you wanted. I know you fought against it. I am sorry..." he broke off at this point. His eyes finally left me, his form sagged, collapsing inward. Gone was the warrior, the leader of men. All that remained was the father. And he was grief-stricken. I wondered what he had asked of his daughter to cause the man who commanded the room just moments before to transform so. I was overcome by worry for this ''Ceremony''. Another major unknown on my list of scary things. A list that had become way too long since arriving here. Not for the first time I hoped the welcoming message was just a grand joke being played upon the first players. Or maybe that someone had hacked the game, and we were stuck in here for a while. I could live with that. I wouldn''t like it. But I could live with it. Unfortunately this place, even with its pop-up windows, fantasy creatures and magic, felt all too real, even for a supposed virtual reality. Another flash of gratitude washed over me for the wall behind. I must stand tall. I must not wallow in self pity. If this is real then I must survive. I have to get through this, so I can keep on living - and if it''s fake? All just part of a video game, a joke or hack of some kind. Then, well, I''ll just keep playing. It''s nothing if not interesting. Once finished with my internal pep-talk, I noticed my ''father'' had also recollected himself, his back straightened, his shoulders squared. "But," he continued, voice even. As if nothing had happened. As if I had not seen his moment of weakness. No, I realised as the noise in the room built again, awoken by his resolve, as if they had not seen his moment of weakness. A chink in his armour he could not allow them access to, lest they strike, faster and deeper than any blade. "It is necessary, for our family. For our people, and for the Empire." He paused, eyes finally flicking back to me. "Thank you for finally seeing this, daughter. Thank you for following your duty to your family over your own desires." He broke off again to grab a drink from a passing waiter. "Gah, that is terrible. What is it- no, never mind, I don''t want to know," he put the glass back on the tray and picked up the last two drinks, downing them in quick succession. He placed the empty glasses beside the first before turning back towards me, a wry smile on his face. "Ancestors." he cursed, "I needed that." "Still won''t speak to me?" he said once the waiter had left. "I don''t blame you, I wouldn''t want to speak to me if I were you, either." He turned and stood beside me, surveying the room as the room surveyed us. "I''ll just wait right here, if you change your mind." Well, that wasn''t so bad. I didn''t even need to say anything ¨C I thought my luck was supposed to be bad? I did my best to ignore the shivers that crawled down my spine at that thought. "Ho- ahem- how much longer do you think?" I asked, hoping for more information on this ''Ceremony''. "Ah, so she can speak," he chortled. "Shouldn''t be long now, see," he pointed at the entrance he''d just come through. "The Master of Ceremonies has just started moving people out." I saw he was correct, I''d lost track of the room when he spoke to me and I had had a minor panic atta- no, a crisis of... ah who am I kidding, I totally had a panic attack, ugh - the Master of Ceremonies ¨C hereafter to be known as MoC, because he deserved to be mocked, wearing that robe. Pretentious sod ¨C was wandering through the room, seemingly at random, and occasionally whispering a word a two to one of the courtiers. Immediately afterwards the courtier would make their way out the doorway. In this manner the room was steadily clearing. "He seems to have some sort of order he''s sending them out in," I said, finding my voice again. "Of course, he''s sending them out in rank order, lowest to highest." He answered my question lightly, seemingly happy to have his ''daughter'' talking to him. "Of course," I said, and taking a guess, "then... we''ll be last..." it seemed likely after all, I doubted there were many of these ''High Dukes'' or ''Duchesses'' after all. He nodded his head slightly in response. "However, remember, this time I will be preceding you, for you are more important for this Ceremony." The wry smile returned at this statement. "I''m sure you''ll enjoy one-upping your father, eh?" "Right, because normally you''d be last in." I said, attempting to probe for more information. "Right." He gave me a funny look at this, then sighed and shook his head. "Time to go." And indeed it was, The MoC was headed toward us, the room cleared out masterfully ¨C heh, see what I did there? Aaand I''m talking to myself again. I took a turn shaking my head as the High Duke stepped forward. The MoC bowed artfully, gesturing to the exit, then spun on his heel and strode off. Great, another person who didn''t believe in walking at a proper pace. Are you bastards all trying to make me trip? I began breathing deeply again when I followed my ''father'' out the room. More guards closed in around us as we left the room, the purple-wearing guards assumed the lead again, and my guards followed behind. Four more guards in royal blue - like that of my ''fathers'' robe and of the bottom part of my guards gambesons - joined us. Two in front, two behind. Sandwiched in the middle was the MoC, the High Duke, then me a few paces behind, struggling to keep pace.
Congratulations! You have increased to level 10 in the Skill: Disguise! You are now a Novice in Disguise! Charm +2. EXP +250
The Skill level-up window almost caused me to yelp in surprise. I managed to stifle the noise before it passed my lips, however. Unfortunately this made it sound like I''d strangled myself. The High Duke turned his head briefly at the noise, but after ensuring that I was fine, he turned forward again. Damn was I jumpy right now. Happy with the large boost of exp, I checked my [Status] page... Yup, seems I was right. That boost from becoming a Novice in [Disguise] ¨C whatever that means ¨C brought enough exp for me to unlock my next level. I mentally hit the level up button for my base class before I could deliberate too long, perhaps leveling up while navigating the winding halls wasn''t a good idea, but I figured doubling my level before the ''Ceremony'' would be a good thing.
Your Elf (Planar) Class has increased to: Level 2! You gain 6 Free Stat Points and +1 Resistance, Willpower, Vitality and Luck. You receive a bonus inventory space due to the nature of your Race!Stolen novel; please report.
New level get! I wiped away the level up window and the [Status] page without adding the free Stat points, I didn''t have the time to consider my options properly. I also ignored the still blinking [Insert Name Here] as I was terrible with names ¨C I would be keeping my first name, as changing it would just confuse my brain more, but my last name of ''Jones'' was boring - and I wanted some breathing room before I made more life changing decisions - though, my rushed Race choice did seem to turn out well ¨C also, due to my low starting luck, the rest of my Stats were crazy high compared to my level, an extra six probably wouldn''t make much of a difference, so I held back on adding those too. It took almost ten minutes to reach our destination. The halls we walked through were covered in the same ostentatious art as my previous journey, I''m pretty sure I recognised a few, but most were new to me. We only went down one set of stairs, one of those massive marble things that fill a whole room and can fit a dozen people side by side and not feel cramped. It made me question the size of this place, we weren''t exactly walking slowly and I reckoned we''d walked through over a mile of hallways ¨C including my first trip ¨C by this point. And apart from the occasional walled-in courtyard, we''d yet to leave a building. This place is monstrous, clearly the residents are compensating for something! The guards peeled off and lined the walls of the hallway, once we reached our destination ¨C including the purple-wearing ones this time ¨C they joined a multitude of other guards, wearing an array of colours, each split diagonally with royal blue at the bottom. There was clearly some kind of theme at play here. The MoC walked up to the archway at the end of the hall and stood opposite an elf who could almost be his twin, excepting that he was, perhaps, two feet taller - well over 6 and a half feet in height. His Robes also differed, following the theme I was starting to cotton onto, his robes were a deep purple, in-line with the palace guards, trimmed in gold. I could see what looked like black fur at his collar and the inside of his sleeves. His staff, too, was a step above the man who''d led us here''s, some kind of white wood, gilded with golden spirals. The orb at the top was the same sun-yellow however, and the staff was much longer ¨C as befitting an elf of his stature. The two elves scowled at each other, then settled into a staring match. Clearly they were not fond of one another... The High Duke turned to face me, "While we still have some time, I just want to reiterate how much I love you, and how proud of you I am. And-" "Time!" Barked the taller elf, the staring match broken off so he could turn his glare on us. "Can you not just give me a minute or two to spend with my daughter before we enter?" The High Duke questioned, his voice, however, was resigned. He was not expecting his request to be received positively. "You know well, Your Imperial Highness, that the Emperor waits on no man! Not even one of your stature." His glare intensified at this, and with a huff The High Duke acquiesced. Not that he had much choice in the matter, the tall elves gaze was not something you wanted to be focused on you. "Very well, we will delay no longer. Come, daughter, let us enter the killing floor, eh?" With this ominous statement he strode forward into the room beyond, not looking back. "His Imperial Highness, The High Duke of Ellikir, The Earl of Illiandor, The Earl of Ellikir, The Earl of Beroit, The Marquess of Karilnor, The Viscount Monyei, The Viscount Ilye, The Baron Elrington, The Baron Fotiz, The Baron Alros of Bainbridge, The Baron Eaglemont, The Baron Isslebrook, The Baron Melsz, Sarian K''Lestior K''Damurill D''Illiandor." How did a man even think straight with that many titles!? I lost count after six and the tall elven man announcing this cascade of noblesse did not even hesitate once, nor trip over any of the alien ¨C to me ¨C names. He didn''t even pause to breathe. These Masters'' of Ceremony must train their lungs incessantly to keep up with the demands of this type of crazy. That and their memories, for; if everyone has that many titles then I can only commend his mind, and his training. I''ve already forgotten most of it after all... The Elf, finished with his announcement, turned to me in expectation. As the echoes of The High Dukes passage into the next room faded, I pushed away my inane ramblings about his title ¨C that I was using to distract myself of what was to come ¨C and stepped forward. I stumbled as I crossed the threshold into the next room, not just because the Garb, in the moment of imperial fanfare, decided to shift into a tutu of some-kind ¨C wtf?! - but, instead, because of the crowd waiting for me. "Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Evendale, Countess of Illiandor, The Countess of Eeyersmar, The Viscountess Idlessweir, The Baroness Kealsbor, The Baroness Edwick-upon-Szir, The Baroness Bearsfoot, Aelwinel A''Esille A''Meilleri D''Illiandor." Haha, The Baroness Bearsfoot... Bearsfoot... hehehehe... I could barely contain my laughter. In fact, a snort escaped me before I could strangle it, the sound echoing around the room, quelling the already dying echoes of ''my'' announcement. This caused me to sober up faster than a donkeys fart. I didn''t really find the name all that funny, but it was laugh¨C snort like a pig ¨C or find myself a nice corner to curl up in. I chose the former option of course, I was trying to be optimistic after all, and I''d thought I''d excised all thoughts of panic in the previous room. Being confronted with a room filled to the rafters with people ¨C some alien in visage ¨C almost broke my resolve though. That''s... that''s.. a lot of.. um.. people.. eep.. stop staring at me... please... I surveyed the room as I turned to my right and followed in the footsteps of the High Duke. The ''killing floor'' as The High Duke named it ¨C a quite an apt description I decided, upon seeing it ¨C was probably big enough to fit two tennis courts end-to-end, inlaid in the floor was a mural of an island ¨C the land I was in, I assumed ¨C and while it was quite large ¨C it encompassed the entire floor after all ¨C there was no sense of scale, nor was there any writing. I did not give it much more than a cursory glance, my attention mostly focused on the bleachers and the people standing there. Here, I found the courtiers that left before me, and many more besides. The benches on either side rose up almost to the ceiling, stretching over 50 metres in height, the benches the courtiers were standing upon reached from the back of the room to about 10 metres before the dais that I was walking toward. I figured there was literally thousands of people rammed into those stands. I guessed that almost half were human, the next most common being elves. After that it was a general mix-up of races. The most recognisable of which looked like Dwarves, Gnomes and Orcs. But, I could also spot the odd individual with feathery wings, a few with only one eye and a few with three or four. There was also space for Centaurs at the front, standing side-by-side with a race that had a massive ant body for their bottom halves. I didn''t spot any spider hybrids, fortunately. Lining the stairways, the back rows, the front rows ¨C a line facing inward and one facing out ¨C were countless guards, each in full armour, purple gambeson and holding a pike of some sort in their right hand. All the guards were humanoid in nature, of varying sizes. The amount of guards must have equalled everyone else in the room, or ¨C I corrected myself, noticing more guards wielding crossbows, stationed in the parapets above the stands ¨C even outnumber them! Thousands of eyes watched my progress across the ''killing floor'', progress almost halted when I realised my Garb had swiftly shifted through a tutu into a dress that rippled like water, it flowed down me, the hem extending with every step forward, growing longer and heavier as I progressed to the dais, and the half-dozen men and women waiting there. Fortunately, when I reached the first step up to the dais, the hem ¨C which, at this point, still extended all the way back to my place of entry ¨C rolled back in, the material shrinking and changing yet again. God damn, I hate this thing. Reaching the dais, I studied the people waiting there. There were six in total, four men and two women ¨C at least I''m pretty sure the dwarf is a woman, it''s hard to tell under all that armour ¨C who stood in a circle along the edge, flanking me. Immediately to my left, Sarian ¨C my ''father'' - was standing impassive. Feet shoulder-width, hands clenched behind his back, and eyes staring straight ahead. He did his best to remain stoic, in keeping with the situation, but didn''t seem to be doing a great job of it. To his left, the middle of the three on my left, was another male elf, he wore robes similar to his elven brethren ¨C in fact, apart from the dwarf, they were all wearing identical robes, only the colours and insignias differed. Are these all High Dukes? His robes were emerald-green, the hems done in gold, the insignia on his torso was that of a horse galloping. Poor thing, wonder if it gets a rest when he''s not wearing it? To his left, at the far end of the dais was a human woman, going by looks I''d normally say she was the oldest here, but with the other races standing beside her it seemed unlikely. She wore her age well, standing tall despite her weathered skin and stick-figure proportions. Her robes were a sunset-orange, the hems black and the insignia that of a sailing ship. "I still say my people would have managed it if that damned-" a gnome, standing centre right, was cut off from his exclamation by the dwarf he was conversing with ¨C even after my entrance - elbowing him. "Shush now, Geral, the duchess is here," she ¨C and I was certain she was a she now... Her voice! Just the right combination of husky and sultry to pierce my chest and set my nerves afire ¨C admonished. "Now you shush me," he huffed, "when you know you''re about to be shown to be a thief-" he cut off again when the armoured dwarf threatened to elbow him again, causing him to massage his ribs in remembrance. Good choice buddy, I wouldn''t want her elbowing me either... She could do some other things to me though, I wonder if she has a body to match her voice hidden under all that metal... The dwarf''s armour was polished silver and what looks to be a phoenix flew around the surface, flitting in and out of view. The gnome had a robe of sky blue with white highlights, a bubbling cauldron sat beside a roaring forge on the front. "Hey! Watch it!" I shouted, as the purple-robed MoC barged past me. I stumbled and fell towards the last man on the dais, a young human wearing red, I didn''t notice what his insignia was as he caught me. I stammered out an apology when he stabilised me and helped me back to standing, thankfully the Garb was being cooperative, for now. "Not a problem" he whispered to me, then winked as he continued, "Belloff is a complete dick..." I snorted, and opened my mouth to offer my gratitude, but my words died in my mouth when I met his eyes. Mmm, such dreamy eyes, a lovely sky blue... And those lips... so full and kissable... A shiver ran down my spine, and I had to shake my head to clear it of my thoughts. Not the time or place for this, first the dwarf, then this man... What is wrong with me? My common sense recollected, I walked forward to ''Belloff'' - and isn''t that just an unfortunate name, what were his parents thinking?! - as he gestured for me to join him before the throne. I came to a rest on his left as he turned to speak to the room. He rambled on and on about the history of the empires founding, a no doubt exaggerated tail of how the Emperor''s distant forefather conquered the lands through righteous conquest, astounding diplomacy; making the previous monarchs into the High Dukes they were today. I blocked off most of it as he somehow made the fantastical tale long winded and dry. Also, I was way too busy formulating, then discarding escape plans to listen to his pompous ass. I lost track of how long he spoke for, but when he finally came to a close, it felt as though an age had passed and I was surprised the old woman hadn''t keeled over. Actually, after a closer inspection, I noticed her eyelids were closed. Did she just sleep through that? Wish I''d thought of that.... actually, can I sleep now? As I watched, the elven male to her right reached over and gave a her a poke, giving her a start and which caused her eyes to flutter open. I felt a small pang of jealousy at her ability to shut off the world around her. I didn''t have that privilege anymore. In the silence following the MoC''s tirade, a door - previously hidden from my sight ¨C creaked open behind the throne and a figure strode out. "All rise for His Imperial Eminence, Emperor Terrius Mius Belbair The Third!" The MoC boomed unnecessarily, for as far as I could tell, everyone had already been standing from before I entered the room. The Emperor waved his hand when he reached the dais, causing everyone not on it, and not a member of the ever increasing guards ¨C apparently another contingent of guards had filled the ''killing floor'' during the Emperor''s entrance - to sit down on their benches, an action that set off a sigh of relief that echoed around the room. The Emperor faced me on the dais, my view of the old woman blocked by his large frame. I didn''t mean to imply he was overweight ¨C though I guessed it was possible ¨C he was simply a very large man. He was probably of a similar height to the MoC who stood to my right ¨C his left ¨C before he put on his eye-catching armour, the gold and purple monstrosity reflected the light so well he seemed to have brought a part of the sun inside with him. My more sensitive eyes ¨C even before the [Low-Light Vision Skill] I would get at level 10 - had definitely improved since my ''Race-Up'' and could barely take in his grandeur, my vision filled with spots and I attempted to blink them away. Due to this I missed the first part of the MoC''s newest oration, and after listening in for a few seconds, I ignored him again, I could barely follow his flowery words and overbearing prose. Besides, considering the matter of his previous speech, I doubted it was that important anyway. Nope, not as important as those guards disappearing from the parapets above, and being replaced by guards wearing similar-looking, but not-quite-the-same outfits. The hell is going on here? When I considered interrupting the tall elven MoC''s speech I realised he had already stopped and was staring at me, waiting impatiently for something. "Uh..." I muttered eloquently and looked around in a slight panic. What''d I miss? What''d I... My eyes fell upon my ''father'' The High Duke Sarian, who was nodding his head at me emphatically. Well then, thanks ''dad''. "Err, yes?" I said, questioning. "Very well." He replied, and my shoulders slumped with relief, apparently that was the right response. Crisis dealt with, I turned back to my observation of the parapets and the funny-business afoot. Actually, they all seem to have been replaced, how did they manage that without an alert sounding? I turned back to the Emperor, planning, again, to voice my concerns, when he responded to a question from the MoC. "Yes, it would be my pleasure." "Very well, I now pronounce thee husband and wife!" I... WAIT?! WHAT?! * Arrival V Arrival V Woah there cowboy, I know we''ve just got hitched an'' all but this seems a little... over-the-top... Besides, when this Garb finally comes off... Well let''s just say you''ll be in for quite the surprise... ¡° As it bloody well should be, the hell were you thinking? ¡°More importantly can anyone be okay when you''re crushing them to death with your body! Wait, are those tusks!? ¡° Also isn''t it a bit early to talk about love, we''ve just met after all! ¡° ¡° Right... before I was rudely interrupted by my marriage ¨C another thing I''d have to shove to one side and deal with later ¨C I was going to warn him about the strange actions of the guards in the parapets... ¡° Wow, it really is a ''killing floor'' now. Wait, six? Where the fuck did that Imperial floozy that married me run off too? Indeed, the tall Master of Ceremonies had disappeared at some point between ending my life for the second time in one day ¨C No I''m not being overly dramatic! Anyone would think their life was over if they got married without their say-so! ¡­ Okay so maybe I hadn''t quite pushed that situation to one side after all... - and the Emperor pushing himself off me¨C no, not like that, dirty brain! - I''d just have to track him down later so I could introduce my foot to his face. And his groin. Until they were both unrecognisable. It was the least he deserved after all! ¡° Right.. that''s me... ¡° ¡° ¡° Hearing him in this situation he sounds like he''s barely out of his teens... if even that... wonderful, yet another good reason to run away from my ''husband''... Yeah... I guess self-preservation is a good motivator... ¡° ¡° Had I mentioned how much I hated this thing yet? ¡° ¡° ¡°So that Elven Lady had such an impressive title, huh? Guess it explains why she took a spear with her to the bathing room... no, actually, it probably just showed she was a bit off in the head... ¡° ¡° ¡°If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Try just before they were married... heh... maybe I can find a way to escape during all this confusion... and before the Garb removes itself and my ''husband'' gets the shock of his life... ¡° ¡° Dilly-dallying? Really? Who even says that? ¡­ Actually are we even speaking English right now? ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° More of this lovey stuff?.. Please.. just.. stop? It''s embarrassing... for you... ugh... ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°look from Verrick spurred him on, ¡°err, I''ll make sure you all get medals... for erm... valour... or something...¡± His attempts at mollifying them barely lessened the looks of hurt on the guardsmen''s faces. Thankfully, Leris interrupted before the awkward atmosphere could get any more strained. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° I think I''ll take this moment to reiterate how much I fucking hate this thing!! ¡° ¡° Arrival VI Arrival VI ¡° ¡°How did I drink that without the veil getting in the way? Has the Garb been removed... nope still there and covering me entire. Then, I wondered, what had happened? If the covering had disappeared then surely my companions at the table would''ve noticed. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° As enlightening as that was, I now have even more questions than before! and how does he look... rrrrr... I could get lost in those eyes for hours... God-damn was that man distracting, still he barely looked twenty right now, but if his claim was true and he fought side-by-side with the previous Emperor then I doubted he did it as a babe-in-arms. That and the fact he was level 100 in at least one Class let me now there was a lot hiding behind those beautiful baby-blues of his... ¡°This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. What... nonono... I felt a blush come over me as I was caught staring, made worse by the smirk that crossed over his weary features. ¡° I''m right here you know! Please stop talking like I''m unable to hear you! I was glad the Garb ¨C currently shifted into some form of shear nightdress that was only just concealing my body, much to my increased mortification ¨C hid my face, and not just because I was obviously not who they thought I was ¨C not even close ¨C but also because I''d look very much like a tomato right now.
Status Quo Activated. Congratulations, one negative Status Affliction will now be removed! Negative Status Affliction: Caffeinated. Has been removed!
Nooooo... stupid world, stupid System! Being caffeinated isn''t a negative effect! I can''t survive without coffeeeeee!! ¡° No, that''s still not an exaggeration! Liquid Life no longer works for me, the Elixir of the Gods denied to me forever! ¡­ Okay yeah, maybe I am over-reacting... fuck it, I don''t care... my beautiful coffee... ¡° ¡­ ¡° ¡°We''re not... nevermind,¡± Verrick did a poor job of denying the accusation, before quaffing the rest of the coffee... nooo not my coffeeeee~?! ¡°I feel more refreshed than I have in hours... I think I''ll go for another scouting trip, let Fenrick have a couple of hours sleep while I try and find us a way out of here.¡± He announced to the room at large, then slipped out the door into the secret passages beyond. Leaving me to my woes. Mmm, yes, her body really does match that angelic voice of hers, her large bosom and derri¨¨re working delightfully for her short figure. Maybe if I talk to her she''d be interest- I slammed my head back down on the table as hard as I could, causing one of the chairs leaning against it to fall over. What is it with me since arriving here? I''m not normally so ruled by my hormones. It''s like my body has reverted to that of a horny teenager... I wondered whether it was a side affect of my Race change, or if [Status Quo] had decided I should remain randy until the end of time. ¡° Gods, just how young is this Emperor anyway? He''s blushing like a bride! Heheh.. I was clearly correct about my assumptions. Seeing him up close, now that he''d removed his helmet, I could see that his puppy fat had yet to leave him, softening his orcish features. He had pale blue skin, almost like ice, and violet eyes. I''d guessed right about the tusks too, though they were somewhat smaller than I''d have expected for an orc. ¡° Really? You''re the flippin'' Emperor, stop mumbling and feeling sorry for yourself already! ¡° Errr, you wouldn''t be saying that if you had any inkling of who was actually sitting next to you... ¡° ¡°entertained. It was boring in here after all, but I''d still prefer to be bored than deal with his whining. ¡°Someone high up clearly betrayed you. Someone close enough to you to hide what was happening.¡± ¡° ¡° excitement of my latest kill. I couldn''t let him know that, of course. Damn. I''d always enjoyed a good fight during my AoH days but it hadn''t felt quick the same as the real thing. I wondered if my new-found blood-lust was something that had always been hiding away in my psyche or if it was another side-affect of my Racial change. I also felt worried that I didn''t feel worried about killing, that wasn''t normal. ¡° ¡° Yeah okay, I lied. I totally responded. Bastard. It''s lucky we''re only playing with bits of wood and not the much heavier coins... ¡° ¡° Damn it, wasn''t I just complaining about my hormones? If I don''t get this under control it could give the game away! Especially if I keep getting so... errm... excited... when presented with the sight of blood, brains and boobs... ¡° ¡° ¡°Ow, Fuck! That hurt!¡± I shouted, rubbing my temple where the gnome had thrown the wooden chit back to me. ¡°forthwith. I really hoped this was temporary. I didn''t want to have to live for eternity, so ruled by my emotions. ¡° ¡° Arrival VII Arrival VII A couple of hours later, when we were well into our third game ¨C Leris cleared us all out in the first two ¨C Verrick slipped back into the room. We, including the Emperor who''d joined us during the second game, all turned to see what he had to report this time. ¡°Good news,¡± he said, a smile crossing his weary features. ¡°I made contact with a small contingent of Watchtower Guards, they''ve been clearing the Palace of invaders for the last few hours, though unfortunately, they entered on the opposite side of the Palace from us. As such there are still plenty of enemies between us and them. I''d normally suggest waiting for them to finish removing the intruders, but with their counter-attack, I''ve noticed the number of enemies using the secret passages has increased, no doubt using them to flee. ¡°This includes the remaining Crimson Edgedancers, I worry that their top fighters would be able to discover our hideaway if they passed through the tunnel outside.¡± He''d ensured everyone was awakened before giving us a report, waiting long enough to brew everyone a cup of coffee from the remaining unspoiled beans. I''d taken one in the hopes that [Status Quo] wouldn''t activate this time, or at least, not so soon. All of us ¨C excepting the still delirious one-legged guard ¨C were sitting around the rickety table in the centre of the room. Looking like a low-budget version of the knights of the roundtable. Though I suspected even the most budget-conscious Hollywood producers would be able to cough up something better than this. The ¨C currently shifted into a nun''s habit ¨C Garb eschewed all things nasty, blood and guts sliding off it almost before it landed. No one else was so fortunate, however. Even Freylder, they only one of us who''d bothered to clean her armour, was still covered in dried blood and other bodily fluids. Thankfully, I''d long since grown accustomed to our collective stenches. ¡°So,¡± Fenrick said, following on from Verricks trail of thought after he realised he''d finished his report. ¡°You''re suggesting we need to break through their lines, so we can return to our allies sooner?¡± ¡°Is that wise?¡± Sarian chimed in, ¡°We''ve remained hidden here for almost eight hours now, and we only found this place when Geral fell asleep standing up and slumped against the hidden catch...¡± ¡°I weren''t asleep! Was just resting... my eyes... is...all...¡± We all stared at him as he said this, and his denial grew less vehement as he trailed off. ¡°Right,¡± Verrick said, glossing over the gnome''s continued grumbling. ¡°And that only proves my point, if a sleeping gnome could find this room without access to any combat Classes then our undetected state can only be attributed to luck, rather than the failing, ancient enchantments hiding this room.¡± Considering my luck ¨C now -499 after my leveling ¨C I half expected the invaders to burst through the door at that ominous statement. When they didn''t I feared what the System had in store for us instead. ¡°If you managed to contact our allies on the other side of the Palace, surely we could also reach them without needing to do any breaking through?¡± I asked, almost wishing that we couldn''t. I was looking forward to stabbing my latest spear into some heads after all. ¡°For myself, yes Empress. My Abilities, if not my Mana or Stamina, have almost all returned to me. But I was always better fighting alone than in a group. The only reason I got through was due to my [Shadow-Walk] Ability. I could take one other with me for a short hop, but even if I was at full capacity I couldn''t manage the whole group before someone noticed us.¡± ¡°And my [Flash-Step] Ability is unable to bring anyone else at all, and its cost is much higher at my current level,¡± Fenrick added. ¡°So it''s back to our previous flight, sneaking around them when we can, and fighting when we can''t.¡± ¡°That''s right, Sire. Though with us all rested and our seals almost fully removed it should be somewhat easier, especially with a goal in mind.¡± I''d asked the Emperor about the seals the High Dukes had worn in the Ceremony, during one of our rest stops before finding our current abode. He''d explained that almost a decade ago, Verrick''s predecessor of the High Dukedom of Craddock, had betrayed his father at a similar ceremony. Using banned Soul Magics he''d struck the Emperor and his wife in an attempted coup, killing the Empress immediately. The Emperor, through a combination of his personal Abilities, rare magic items and the tireless work of his personal healers, had survived the attempt. Once recovered, and upon finding out what happened to his wife, he''d struck back. Wiping out the man''s family line, even distant cousins hadn''t escaped his wrath. It''d taken him almost a year to raze all their properties to the ground, and search down the last of his bloodline. During that time he had the sealing rings crafted, so such an accident could never occur again. It had been too little too late, however. The Soul Magic proved to be too much for his Abilities, items and healers ¨C even after promising an outrageous reward to anyone outside his domain who could heal him ¨C and he passed away almost five years later, hanging on until the last moment possible, the Magic wasting away his body, and finally, his mind. Of course, he''d also explained that there was a way to remove the seals without causing such drastic side-effects. Unfortunately, the item to do so was locked in a vault on the other side of the Palace, lest one of the High Dukes gets hold of it. Ripping it off them had been a last-ditch measure they''d all enacted, as trying to flee with all their powers sealed would have been impossible. It had almost proved to be too much anyway. ¡°What about Alfred?¡± Deliza asked, obviously worried about her companion. ¡°Is it safe to move him?¡± ¡°Even if it''s not, I''m afraid we''ll have to take him with us. It is far too risky to leave him here, especially in his condition.¡± Sarian answered after it appeared no one else wanted to answer the distraught guard. ¡°Don''t worry my dear, once the Palace is cleared I''ll personally ensure he gets top priority with the healers.¡± His assurances helped alleviate her worries a bit, and she perked up. Ready to do her duty in the fights to come. ¡°Aye,¡± Geral added, ¡°me n'' Leris will carry ''im. We''re not much good in this situation, else.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself, gnome!¡± Leris said, archly. Clearly referencing her [Weak-Heal]. She sidled up next to the still unconscious guard anyway. The matter at hand settled, Verrick took control of the conversation once more. Ensuring we all knew our roles in the coming flight, and wherein the formation we''d be. Verrick would, of course, be scouting the way ahead and fighting any of the trickier opponents we''d encounter. Freylder and Deliza would be leading the rest of the group, trading off the front position as necessary, or fighting side-by-side if the passage opened up. I was third in line, wielding my latest acquisition; an almost 8-foot long spear, that I figured I wouldn''t have been able to wield back on Earth. My new capabilities ever more obvious as the days passed. I''d pretty much accepted this was real by now. The people surrounding me acted like no computer generated characters I''d ever seen. Spears, along with the lovely sound they made when thrust into a skull, also allowed me to do it at a distance. I''d discovered that keeping those who deemed me harm as far away from my vulnerable self as possible ¨C while still being able to strike them ¨C did wonders for my health. Leris and Geral would be taking up positions in the centre, supporting the one-legged guard as best they could. Fenrick would act as our rear-guard, his sensory capabilities granting him the ability to sense anyone trying to sneak up on us. Sarian would be directly in front of him. His various defensive and offensive Spells would allow him to back Fenrick up directly if required, he could also cast the defensive ones around the vanguard, his Lightning Spells a bit too dangerous to cast over our heads for him to assist them in that capacity. His position also meant he was closest to the Emperor, putting him in range of his more powerful [Wardcrafter] Abilities. Much to Terrius''s continued consternation. In this manner, we progressed into the tunnels, Verrick reporting back to us every five minutes, one time after dealing with an enemy patrol. The tunnels were dimly lit by some softly glowing lichen, giving off enough light that I could only see perhaps 10 feet past the group on either side, despite my slightly-improved eyesight. It was almost half an hour after we''d left our hidey-hole. A tense half hour, all of us on high alert in these creepy tunnels, the slightest noise causing us to jump and freeze in place, ears perked, eyes straining in the dark, anticipating an enemy ambush. Our breathing harsh and heartbeats pulsing, as we waited. Until inevitably we''d have no choice but to continue onwards. Waiting for an attack that may not even be approaching would not see us to safety. We''d discussed moving into the wider hallways of the Palace, as Verrick had not noticed as many invaders as before out there. However, after some thought, we''d decided that while it''d allow us to move quicker, the wider halls would allow any large groups to surround us. If perhaps everyone had had a combat Class, or if the seals had completely fallen away, then perhaps it would have been a more tantalising option. As it was we could only continue our slow progress through the cramped passages. When the first attack arrived, it came with little notice. A cry of warning echoing down the passages from Verrick mere seconds before a group of Ashbringers stepped out from an adjoining hall just a few paces ahead, already charging toward us. Six members of the opposing force crashed into Deliza, the Imperial Guard who was currently taking a turn leading our formation. They pushed her back a few paces with built-up momentum before her heels dug in and their forward progression was halted. Freylder gripped the back of her amour and was forced to one knee as the two woman attempted to hold back three times their number. In an attempt to alleviate the pressure, I shifted the grip on my weapon to an overhand grip and thrust it into their ranks. I aimed for the lead Ashbringer''s open-faced helm, one of the few weak points I could reach from my position, unfortunately, he saw the spear point moments before it struck, his head wrenching to the side in his dodge. Aww, no squelchy. His companion behind was less fortunate, however. The man in front blocking his view of the oncoming spear until it was far too late, he''d barely had time to take in the sight of the man''s head disappearing from his view before my spear point pierced straight through the base of his neck. A fatal injury he wouldn''t have time to regenerate from. With his death, their push paused momentarily, as they removed his body from their line, so they could resume pushing forward without the obstacle getting in their way. Deliza and Freylder used their respite wisely, shuffling forward a couple of steps and resetting themselves in a better stance, to allow them to fend off the Ashbringers greater numbers easier. An arrow, covered in crackling lightning thumped into my chest, right above my heart. Thankfully [Seraloai''s Ceremonial Garb] blocked the intrusive magic before it could gain a purchase and electrocute me. The material itself also stopped the piercing power of the arrow, its Magics denying any attempt to damage the Garb by any means. It didn''t stop the kinetic force of the arrow, however. The punch of the arrowhead sending me spinning and crashing into one of the walls. Thankfully my regeneration, boosted beyond all reason by my Trait, kicked into full power, my insane recovery rate already healing the blunt force trauma as I clambered back to my feet. The bruise fading so quickly that it almost seemed time had been reversed in that area. I grunted through the pain, and turned to Sarian, wondering why he hadn''t managed to block the [Archer]s magical strike with one of his Wards. He was distracted, however, with an equal number of Ashbringers that had managed to circle behind us, and the Magic-user that stood directing them, who sent blasts of Magic-infused sonic waves at the straining barriers of the still recovering [Wardcrafter], forcing Sarian to focus entirely on protecting the Emperor behind him. Fenrick was left to fight his half-dozen opponents on his own. I turned back to my own fight, trusting Fenrick and Sarian to guard our rear until we could deal with our current opponents and turn back to assist them. The [Archer] at the rear of the attackers was firing Magically infused arrows as fast as he could draw his bow, each strike now weaker as he didn''t take the time to charge them. Now that my allies were aware of his attacks, however, Deliza was able to block or deflect most of his attacks., and I was able to dodge the remainder. How much longer she could do that, with our opponents readying their next charge, I wasn''t sure. Not until I noticed Freylder''s actions anyway. The buxom dwarf was crouched down, an Imperial Guard''s kite shield held in front of her, blocking her from our enemies view. A faint green glow was emanating from her, as she readied an ability I''d already witnessed numerous times in the last couple of days. Deliza jumped out of the way in a well-coordinated manoeuvre, as the dwarf activated her [Shield-Charge] Ability. Yelling incomprehensibly as she bowled down the recently reformed ranks of the Ashbringers. Dealing them countless blunt force injuries as she trampled over their bodies, and knocked them into the walls in her countercharge. I rushed forward with Deliza, the two of us finishing off the dazed bodies Freylder had left in her wake. One man at the back of their group had seen what was coming towards him and had managed to flee. Turning and lifting his shield a few paces in front of the [Archer]. An arrowing flashing by me and skittering off the walls reminded us of his presence, Deliza lifting her shield to protect us once more. ¡°Keep close, Empress,¡± she grunted. Voice harsh, as her lungs strained to draw in oxygen to fuel her frantic defensive efforts. ¡°Freylder should be able to deal with those two herself.¡± ¡°What about the men behind us? Shouldn''t we go back now and assist them-¡± ¡°Trust in your father, Empress.¡± She interrupted, ¡°he will hold them off long enough for us to take out these pieces of trash.¡± Indeed, during our short exchange, Freylder had already disarmed her opponent of his shield, apparently by dropping her weapon and yanking the shield out of his grasp. As I watched she mercilessly bashed his face in with her gauntleted hand. I shivered, remembering I''d recently been flirting with the blood-soaked dwarven terror, though if it was out of fear or something else I couldn''t say. The [Archer] ran in the face of such brutality, a decision that he''d come to far too late. Freylder picked up the broken half of one of the Ashbringer''s spears and threw it into his retreating body. Whether by luck or skill, the spear penetrated the back of his helm, thrusting through a small crack in the metal and piecing the brain within. I let out an unconscious moan at the noise. ¡°What was that Empress?¡± Deliza asked, breathily. ¡°What was what?¡± I responded, far too sharply. ¡°Shouldn''t we go back and help the others now?¡± I continued, voice calmed slightly as I changed the subject. Getting excited at such a noise was decidedly not normal after all. She grunted in acquiescence but her questing gaze clearly meant her acceptance of the subject change was only grudging. Should a guard really be so brazen with her Empress!? She was unable to read my facial cues, however, thanks to the currently compliant Garb. A Garb that still disguised my true visage from these people. [26:11:09]. Almost 48 hours wearing this thing and those closest to the dead Duchess I was impersonating were none the wiser. Including her own father. My [Disguise] Skill itself had stopped leveling after reaching the Novice rank. Apparently, my artefact level cheating was no longer paying dividends. I now had just over 24 hours to concoct my own escape plan. My current thoughts were along the lines of finding a change of clothes and just walking out. I hoped that I would be able to find my way out in the confusion, and if caught I could just explain I''d been transported here by some Imp during the attack and had no idea what was going on. A state of affairs that was uncomfortably close to the truth. Shaking off my thoughts, I followed Deliza in barging past the angst-riddled Emperor, so we could assist the flagging [Monk] and the ailing [Wardcrafter], who was still far from recovered. I threw my spear at the Magic-user standing at the rear, hoping to catch him off guard and free up the high elf to use more offensive Spells. Unfortunately, along with many other things the ¨C currently a swan-dress ¨C Garb denied me from learning any new Skills. [Disguise] being the only one that had worked so far, and [Inspect] was only effective when used on the Garb itself. I assumed it was the Garb anyway, I could have just been crap at everything I''d attempted thus far. I sorely hoped not, however. In any case, my lack of any throwing or spear related Skills, coupled with my horrible luck meant that not only did I miss the spell thrower by a wide margin, I almost hit Fenrick, who, now that Deliza had picked up the defensive duties, had thrown himself into the fray, sowing confusion in their ranks, as he used his various Abilities to flip and roll off the floor, walls and ceiling. He was in the middle of an impressive mid-air spinning kick thingy when he noticed the askew flight path of my spear. In a feat of impressive aerial acrobatics, he arched his back into an inverted ''U'' shape ¨C wait, isn''t that simply an ''n''? - causing the spear to fly past, mere millimetres from his skin. The spear flashed by him and smacked into an axe-wielder who''d been about to swing her weapon at him. The force of my throw sent her flying as it smacked into her breastplate. It did not penetrate her defences though. The point of the spear long since dulled through my unskilled use. ¡°You''re welcome!¡± I shouted cheerfully at a scowling and grumbling Fenrick. Pretending that I''d intentionally hit his assailant. Thankfully he was either too wise or too busy to question his Empress''s aim. I cast about for another weapon, finding only sub-par options ¨C not a squelch-stick in sight! - I sighed and picked up a likely looking axe, that glowed red in obvious enchantment. I hefted it in my hands and stepped up to join Deliza, who, after giving me an odd look, carefully angled herself so I couldn''t accidentally hit her. I wanted to deny her obvious unspoken accusation, but considering that it was unspoken, I felt speaking about it would only draw attentions to areas of my character that I''d prefer to remain as the odd strange glance, or whisper. Rather than outright questioning. I knew nothing about the Duchess I was supposed to be after all. Barely a minute later our reinforcement of the rear-guard bore fruit. With Fenrick''s continued distractions, Deliza and I cut a swathe through their lines. Okay, maybe it was mostly Deliza. Though I did manage to use my axe a few times. Those scratch marks on the back of her armour? Well, I only caused one of them... okay, okay it was two of them but they were only glancing blows! Promise! Her glare didn''t diminish in the slightest in the face of my denials, but she shook it off in the face of our continued opposition, the [Sonic Mage] we were facing and our [Wardcrafter] were engaged in a furious battle of Spell and Counter-Spell. Our party had hunkered down behind the overlapping shields of Deliza and Freylder as they two magic-users faced off. Fenrick had run down the passage behind, searching for the bow and arrows the enemy [Archer] had dropped, so he could make use of his second combat Class and assist the beleaguered High Duke. Before he returned with the weapons, however, a chill-inducing ''snick'' cut through the sounds of spell-casting, followed by a deathly silence within the hidden passages, as we all held our breaths. ¡°I leave you guys alone for just a few minutes and look what happens to you!¡± Verrick said, in mock consternation, as he approached. Gliding past the ravaged bodies of the Ashbringers as if the uneven and slick footing wasn''t something he needed to worry about. I soon realised he was actually floating above the dead, carried on the shadows he so effortlessly controlled. The pitter-patter of running feet echoed down the tunnel towards us, announcing Fenrick''s late arrival. Something he didn''t seem too perturbed by, as he simply dropped his newly acquired bow and collapsed against the uneven wall. ¡°How did they sneak by you? We barely heard your warning before they reached us!¡± Sarian accused wearily, as he stumbled towards the [Shadowdancer]. ¡°Sorry about that,¡± he flashed a sudden grin, the expression briefly lightening up his downtrodden appearance. ¡°But I ranged a bit further afield this time as I felt the presence of someone I recognised!¡± He paused there, clearly expecting some kind of response, perhaps a ''well-done chap'' or ''who was it'' or even a ''go on''. If this was the case, he was met only with disappointment, as we all simply stared at him, waiting for him to finish his report. Causing him to let out a small sigh, before continuing. ¡°Fine, fine. It was an Imperial Guard Captain from the Watchtower division. I recognised him from our adventuring days. I was about to approach when I realised I''d strayed further than intended and sensed you were about to come under attack. ¡°I sent a warning through the shadows and quickly ambushed their strongest member. Being a [Rogue] of some kind himself, he dodged my initial strike and it took until now for me to finish him.¡± I left the others to question Verrick further, and engaged in the time honoured tradition, apparent in battlefields everywhere. Namely, looting the bodies of the dead! Free stuff! Oh, spear! Where art thou? A grinning and blood-spattered Freylder joined me in my search, and I figured I wasn''t the only deranged member of our little group. Considering the small and practically useless [Inventory] I had, which at my current level of 4 was just five squares worth, I couldn''t fit much inside. As far as my limited experimenting could tell, items didn''t stack either. That or I had only found unique items to test it with. I had already squirrelled away a couple of the shiniest coins I could find during our earlier fights, now I added a spare spear which used up two slots, and Freylder passed me an interesting hook-bladed knife to take up the last slot. I also found a replacement for my last spear, though this one was more of a halberd, with an axe-like blade on one side, and a backward facing hook on the other. It was of a similar length, around 8 feet. Which meant, like the other one, I had to be constantly careful about scraping the tip along the ceiling. Perhaps the reason why my last spear had been so dull. Taking a break from the looting, I glanced through the windows that I''d set up to be auto-minimised during the fighting and discovered I had enough EXP to level up. Seeing no reason to delay, I swiftly stabbed the level-up button.
Your Elf (Planar) Class has increased to: Level 5! You gain 6 Free Attribute Points and +1 Resistance, Willpower, Vitality and Luck.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. You receive one additional inventory space!
I had hoped I''d get access to some additional stuff at level 5, but it appeared that the earlier descriptions had told the tale in full, I''d have to wait until I reached 10 for my goodies. I now had 24 Free Points, but I left them alone as I still had no idea where to spend them. Once we had finished looting the bodies of anything interesting, and we''d rested as best we could. We made our way to where Verrick had spotted his old friend, the [Shadowdancer] now leading us, rather than scouting ahead. We came across two separate groups of Ashbringer''s, as they scurried through the secret passages, now looking to escape the Palace as the Watchtower Guards cleansed the halls of their presence. With us doing the ambushing, the fighting went far smoother. Verrick would begin by manipulating the shadows. The dark tendrils reaching out at his command, plunging them into darkness, the shadows pushing the slight glow of the lichen-covered walls away from the area they were in. The shadows Verrick used not only darkened their sights but dampened all their senses. He mentioned it was akin to suddenly being dropped to the bottom of a deep lake or sea, you''d be unable to see so far down, your sense of touch and sound distorted by the crushing pressure of the water. Cut off from friend and foe alike, the invaders suddenly found themselves under attack by people who danced past them, people who were unaffected by the foul presence and sense-depriving distortion they were under, barely felt or noticed as they took their last breaths from them. I was disallowed from partaking in the felling. The others all agreeing ''The Empress'' had no reason to be risking herself unnecessarily. So I stood next to my ''husband'' both of us barely holding ourselves back from joining the fray, held back only by the disapproving glares of my ''father'', Sarian. We, of course, were unaffected by the sense-depriving effect because we had joined Verricks Party, ''The Handsome Devils''. My scowling at his choice of names had deterred him not at all ¨C perhaps because he''d been unable to see my scowling?. Being part of a Party, I''d found, would allow people to extend Buffing Spells much easier, and perhaps more importantly, to exempt Party members from AoE Debuffs. It did nothing for damaging Spells, Abilities, or physical attacks, however. Much to my disappointment, there was no Party chat of any kind. And any and all loot sharing options were restricted to Dungeons, there was also no hide nor hair of any mini-map options for me, something I knew that Verrick had access to, so I knew it was possible. EXP however, could be shared at the Party Leader''s discretion. Verrick had opted to leave it at default, as we were focusing on fighting our way through an encirclement, not on EXP grinding. Some thirty minutes later we finally left the secret passages for the first time since entering them just after leaving the Throne Room. It was an eerie experience, almost like stepping into another world ¨C maybe not quite like that, actually, but close enough ¨C in comparison to the dimly lit passages we left, our new surroundings were filled with light, magical sconce''s dotting the corner of ceiling and wall all along the wide-open hallway. The walls were filled with the same grandiose art I''d seen before, tapestries, murals, and paintings lined the walls of the hall, the beautiful artwork acting in strange dichotomy to the dried and drying blood that covered the walls and floor in some areas. In chilling realisation, I noticed there wasn''t any of the bodies that produced the blood in sight. I hoped they''d simply been carried away, rather than one of the other of the terrifying prospects I considered. ¡°Come,¡± Verrick commanded, not giving us time to readjust or to become complacent. ¡°If anyone has been waiting to ambush us, now is the time for them to do it. Stay vigilant. Captain Carras should be just down this way.¡± He nodded down the hall to the right of our exit, and putting action to words, he strode down the hall, once more gliding above the bloodied floor, the rest of us forced to trudge through it. We all variously skipped, tripped or jumped forward at his words - I managed a strange combination of the three, thanks to the latest machinations of my Garb. Turning left at the next junction, I tensed, seeing another contingent of the invaders marching towards us, a grey-haired human in full plate and a purple half-cloak leading them. Verrick''s greeting caused us all to let out sighs of relief, however. ¡°Carras, ye old bastard, you''re a sight for sore eyes!¡± His voice was filled with the relief we all felt, as he stepped forward to exchange a quick hug with his old adventuring buddy. ¡°Verrick! As I live and breathe!¡± The man, who was obviously Carras exclaimed. ¡°You look terrible! How are you? I half expected to find you all dead.¡± ¡°I feel dead old friend, it''s been a trying few days, but we are all still alive and kicking.¡± He turned and gestured to the rest of us at this, the Emperor stepping forward to greet his Guard Captain as he did so. ¡°Captain, report. How goes the defence of the palace?¡± The Emperor ordered, disregarding any pleasantries. ¡°Emperor! Forgive me, I did not spot you there.¡± He responded, dropping into an elaborate bow, made even more impressive by his full plate armour. The score of his men behind him all bent over in a more perfunctory bow. ¡°The fighting goes well, we began our counterstrike almost six hours ago, the Watchtower and the City Guard acting in tandem to pincer the invaders and cut off any avenue of escape. That was the plan at least, unfortunately, they''d anticipated such an action and had stationed one of their legions outside the Palace entrance, and drew the City Guards into a fight before they managed to enter the Palace. ¡°We couldn''t afford to delay any longer, however. The Watchtower forces have worked tirelessly to clear your abode of your enemies, Sire. There are only a few isolated packets still fighting, most attempting to flee. A tricky proposition, as all the exits were magically sealed, barring the points of entry for us and the City Guard, none would make the mistake of assaulting the Watchtower of course, and most will be unable to make it through the fighting at the front gates.¡± ¡°Very good Captain. Consider you and your men detached under Our leadership until further notice. Lead us to the nearest safe room.¡± The Emperor''s youth apparent in his tenor, as he understandably ordered the newcomers to take him to safety. ¡°Of course Sire,¡± Carras said with a quick affirming glance to Verrick, unnoticed by Terrius. ¡°Please, follow me.¡± The new guards flanked our Party fore and aft. The Watchtower Guards all wore better-looking equipment, though still similar to the normal Guards I''d seen before. The symbol on their chest also had an addition, a large spire and the usual sword flanked the Griffon on either side. The other members of the Party ¨C I am not using that stupid name ¨C were all walking lighter, spirits lifted by our new Guards, the end in sight. I was not, I was getting a worrying feeling that these new Guards wouldn''t be letting their ''Empress'' out of their sight. I figured the attack by these ''Ashbringers'' would make them a tad overprotective for a while, hopefully, I could find a way to escape their notice in about 24 hours, otherwise I''d be screwed, and not in a good way. Captain Carras lead us down yet more unending hallways, I soon noticed that, in agreement with my earlier thoughts, I was barely taking in the artwork that lined the walls. The fantastic depictions had gained yet another uncaring purveyor. I felt a little sad at this realisation, but I was far too worried about my predicament to truly care. A few minutes and a dozen turns later we arrived in front of a well-guarded set of double doors. A safe room the Watchtower Guards had set up a command post in, one of the doors was open and I could see the hustle and bustle of those inside, as they made and enacted their plans to bring the Palace back under Imperial control. The Guards that had brought us here parted in front of us, letting our Party through, and then reformed along the walls with the Guards who had brought up the rear. The Captain stuttered and stumbled just before we entered the safe room, falling into the Emperor, blood dripping from his eyes and ears, ¡°My... lie... tr..a..¡± he broke off, coughing up huge goblets of blood. ¡°Everyone back!¡± Verrick screamed, causing us to spin around to flee. After taking just two steps back the way we came, I halted. The Guards who had escorted here had formed into ranks, five wide and four deep and were now blocking our only way out. As we watched their impressive armour, faded and shimmered, the symbol on their chests losing the tower as their appearance reverted to the ill-fitting Imperial Guard armour they had stolen. ¡°Colloc,¡± Verrick growled, as a grey-haired man walked out of the room behind us, ¡°you shouldn''t have shown yourself so easily cur. I will not hesitate to end you this day.¡± The man, obviously Colloc, the leader of the Adventurers Guild ¨C the Crimson Edgedancers - leading this attack Verrick had mentioned earlier, only snorted at this. ¡°Verrick, Verrick, Verrick,¡± he tsked, shaking his head, ¡°you have grown complacent in your old age. The man I fought beside on the Fields of Antror would never have been taken in by such a simple ruse. Still, I guess I shouldn''t complain, your complacency will allow me to finally finish this.¡± Verrick ignored the insult, ¡°Colloc, the man I fought beside on the Fields of Antror, was fighting against the Ashen Regiment, not with them! What happened?¡± Colloc shrugged, the motion showing his disdain for the [Shadowdancer]. ¡°They offered me more money.¡± ¡°That''s it? You loyalties were so easily bought? Is that how they escaped destruction on that day? Did you and your illusions hide their escape?¡± Colloc frowned at this, seemingly offended by the question, ¡°not at all, Verrick. I would never betray a contact, they came to me only recently, asking for my assistance in this. Even then I was hesitant but in the end, they offered me a deal I couldn''t refuse. I don''t know how they fled on that day, I was confident they were utterly defeated until they contacted to me.¡± ¡°I guess it does not matter now,¡± Verrick said, drawing a short sword he''d re-appropriated from one of his fallen foes. ¡°Let''s get this over with.¡± Colloc laughed at his threat, ¡°old man, haven''t you realised yet? It is already over with. You are just too stubborn to have accepted it yet. Your young Emperor will die on this day.¡± Verrick lunger forward as shadow wrapped around his body, cutting straight through Colloc, parting the half-elf in two. Wisps of smoke rose off the two ends of the body as the illusion unravelled. Verrick''s attack broke the stalemate, the Ashbringers behind marched forwards, as more charged at us from the ''safe room'' behind. ¡­ Maybe I need to worry less about escaping later, and more about surviving now... Verrick''s shadows swirled around us, plunging the hallway into darkness. It was an odd experience, being able to see through his shadows. It was like watching the night vision on the CCTV cameras at my old place of work. Everything was a shade of grey. Our opponents were barely affected by his shadows this time, after an initial few seconds of confusion, where they all ground to a halt, small runes of yellow-glowing magic grew around their eyes. They marched forward once again. We hadn''t been idle during those few seconds, however. We''d planted ourselves in the corner to the left of the doors, our backs to the wall behind. Fenrick, Freylder and Deliza stood out in front, a couple of paces apart. There being too many of us to hide behind the two shield-users, they''d instead opted for a more open formation, giving them more freedom to swing their blades and bodies. A formation I figured, that would be completely ineffective if Sarian wasn''t available, forming Wards and Barriers to create a double layer of protection around us, forcing the Ashbringers to attack through the channels he created, channels that led straight to our defenders. I passed my spare spear to the Emperor, as we set ourselves up behind them, ready to strike past them, to help hold off the tide. Leris and Geral crouched at the back, over the ever-weakening form of Alfred, his breathing ragged as he clutched to the last shreds of his life, slowly passing away despite Leris''s attempts to keep him alive. Verrick had disappeared, rushing into the room to confront the [Illusionist]. The attackers approached warily, keeping careful eyes on the Barriers around them, their mages at the back preparing Spells to bring them down. As the first Ashbringers reached us, the three in front of me unleashed the Abilities they''d been charging up during the approach. Deliza stomped her right foot forward, her Longsword glowing red as she slashed the air in front of her, the red glow flying off her blade, cutting through her opponents with ease. The three slashes travelled through four of the men in front of her, before one of the mages'' hastily cast Spell diverted the strikes into the ceiling. Deliza reset herself with her shield angled in front once more, her blade held behind as her feet and lower legs starting glowing green, in preparation for another of her [Swordsman] Abilities. Fenrick left behind bright after images, that managed to cut through the shadows briefly, causing me to wince every time he [Flash-Step]ped. He''d activated an Ability that allowed him to use multiple [Flash-Step]s back to back, he flashed through their ranks, each appearance accompanied by an elbow to an unprotected throat. He disabled close to a dozen before his last [Flash-Step] brought him back to his starting position, waiting for more opponents. Freylder, of course, activated the [Shield-Charge] Ability I''d already seen. Her body glowing a faint green as she barrelled through the men and women in front of her, once her charge was over she dashed back to her starting position, axe spinning and chopping through the broken bodies as she finished off those that hadn''t died in the initial charge. I covered her retreat by thrusting my halberd at a man who''d followed a little too closely on her heels for my liking, the point halting his run forward. Unfortunately for him, his armoured boots slid on the blood-slicked floor as he tried to stop his forward momentum, causing my weapon to enter through the bottom of his jaw as he slipped over, legs flying forward as he tried to bend over backwards out of the way. The thrill of battle surged through me as I removed the spearhead with a ''shuck'' and backed away, waiting to assist my companions as needed. And so the battle continued the hallway ahead of us a sea of helmeted Ashbringers trying to break through our defences. Our three fighters grew ever more weary as they beat off assailant after assailant, various wounds covering their bodies as the occasional strike or Spell got through their defences, the countless injuries too much for their regeneration and the few [Weak-Heal]s Leris could manage. Still, they fought back, their higher levels telling as they felled countless assailants in the almost endless stream of men. Too, was their defending their Emperor telling, allowing them to shrug off attacks that should have finished them, just managed to dodge or deflect the blows at the last moment. A few minutes into the fight, the three on the front line struggling to hold back the tide, a shout from Terrius gave them renewed hope. That tall orc able to see over their ranks, and he saw the last rank of Ashbringers slowly making their way forward, as the ones in front stepped over or dragged aside the bodies of their fallen. ¡°Keep it up! Almost half-way there!¡± He called, his youthful voice filling us with hope. Still, the same number again? I''m not sure we''ll be able to keep going for that long. Is this it? A flash of light coupled with a shout of anger shot out from the room to our left, reminding me that if we held out long enough for Verrick to defeat the [Illusionist] then he would be able to cut through the lower leveled Ashbringers with ease. Assuming that he was rested enough to defeat the half-elf who almost reached his high level, that was. A massive one-eyed man wielding a two-handed axe broke me out of my contemplation as he struck down a tiring Deliza, her abused shield cracking apart as she fell backwards. The cyclops raised his frost-covered greataxe high, the top almost reaching the ceiling. I felt a pang of despair at the sight, I was far to far away to save the woman''s life. I stepped towards her anyway, intent on both revenging her, and plugging the gap that would soon be in our lines. I underestimated the Emperor, however. He lunged forward, dropping his borrowed spear, rapier drawn from the sheath at his side, his armour and sword glowing harshly in a golden light once more as he activated one of his [Duellist] Abilities. The tip pierced through a gap in the cyclop''s armour under his armpit, the blade easily sliding through the flesh, unhindered by any defences as it pierced the axe-wielder''s heart. The massive weight of his greataxe, held so high above his head caused the cyclops to teeter and fall backwards, wrenching the rapier from the Emperor''s grasp. Leaving himself completely exposed, much to their collective glee''s, their target finally in sight. A half dozen spells shot towards his armoured form, as he stood there, frozen in shock. As if he''d forgotten where he was. With a groan of effort, a blue shimmering barrier rose in front of my ''husband'', holding just long enough to deflect or halt most of the spells. Unfortunately, Sarian''s hastily cast Spell was much weaker than the other Barriers and Wards that he''d been reinforcing continuously during the fight. A [Shadowbolt], cast a couple of seconds after the others by a mage who''d either anticipated such a defence or took longer to notice the opportunity. Whether luck or design, however, it did not matter. The outcome was the same, and the dark bolt of magic drilled into the glowing armour, dimming the light it was emitting considerably. He fell backwards with a cry of pain, barely missing a scrambling Deliza. I stepped forward to fill the gap as the entire battlefield fell into silence at the sight of the Emperor falling. Or maybe it was the giant chicken wielding a halberd that did it? Fucking Garb. ¡°Cluck, cluck, cluck,¡± I said, making the most of my appearance, ¡°don''t tell me you''re all scared of little old me?¡± I set myself in preparation for their charge. ¡°Let''s get on with it then!¡± God, that has got to be the worst ''come at me, bro'' ever! I feel ashamed of myself. I stood poised, weapon at the ready. Waiting for them to charge at me, something that could happen at any second, I needed to remain vigilant. Aaanny second now.... Nope, they''re totally ignoring me. I would have found them ignoring me in this situation a massive relief, instead I something far different They were somehow ignoring the massive polearm wielding chicken shouting insults at them. I felt highly insulted, how could they ignore my majesty?! Dastards! I tracked their gazes, I needed to find what they found more interesting than chicken-me after all. Standing on the massive cyclops I gained enough height to see over the crowd. A sight I soon wished I could unsee. Reinforcements were arriving by the score, their tight-knit ranks gleaming with unmarred armour. They had clearly avoided any hints of combat so far, fresh troops here to finally finish us off. Hey, wait a sec... is that... A man stepped into the hallway, and I frowned in recognition. Are these... actually... My half-formed thought proved true, a couple of paces from the Ashbringer''s backline the reinforcements hefted their spears and dropped the points, stabbing them straight into the unprepared ranks of the Ashbringers as they charged forward. I lifted my spear in exultation and started doing the chicken dance. Only to realise the Garb had already shifted into something more akin to a summer dress. Oh, for the love of... I coughed, ignoring the stares of friend and foe alike as I sidled over to the Emperor. I ignored the burning shame that filled me at my actions. Why did I do that? Sarian had erected flickering Barriers all around us, blocking the Ashbringers from trying to bring us down in their last moments. They were only temporary, hence why he hadn''t erected them before, but their transient nature wouldn''t matter, as the real Watchtower Guards made easy work of their combatants. ¡°How are they?¡± I asked Leris, as she tended to our fallen. ¡°Deliza will be fine, probably broke her arm trying to block that greataxe instead of deflecting it...¡± She broke off muttering about her poor technique, completely ignoring the fact that the guard had been fighting practically non-stop for the last couple of days. ¡°And Terrius?¡± I interrupted when it became apparent that she wasn''t going to stop, even though the woman in question was sitting against the wall nearby, rolling her eyes at the older woman. ¡°Oh, he''ll be fine. Silly boy, standing in the gap like that. He should know that''s what his guards are for. It''s a good thing he was wearing his armour. It blocked the worst of the Magic. I''ve already healed what little damage he suffered, we need only wait a couple of minutes for the sleep effect to wear off.¡± I let out a small breath of relief hearing that, if the Emperor died I''d never manage to get away in time, not to mention as Empress I''d probably expected to run things, at least in the short term, and when this Garb finally came off that''d be utterly disastrous. There would be no way I could continue my deceit at that point. Verrick stumbled out the safe room just as the Watchtower Guards were finishing off the last of the Ashbringers. He was mostly unmarked by his fight with the [Illusionist] but he was struggling to walk straight, and there was evidence of dried blood that had run out his nose and ears, along with the occasional fresh droplet. ¡°Ah! High Duke Loslire, I trust you have finished off the scum leading this dreadful rabble?¡± Rabble? I see you''re already trying to spin this in as best a light as possible. I looked around the blood-filled hallway, the metallic scent overpowering the sweat and grime covering my companions. The Garb, of course, eschewed any such things. Good luck with that, I can''t see this being reported as anything other than a disaster. Still, I guess all the important people survived... Well most of them anyway, and the Duchess''s death was hardly a part of the attack... Verrick, or ''High Duke Loslire'' shook his head at Belloff''s question, signifying perhaps, that the [Illusionist] had managed to escape, or perhaps, giving to his condition, that Verrick had been the one to escape. The Imperial Master of Ceremonies had of course been the individual I''d seen at the back of the Watchtower ranks, that''d led me to believe that they were our reinforcements, not vice versa. It led me to wonder what the unfortunately named individual had been up to ever since he''d disappeared at the very moment of the attack in the Throne Room. Verrick''s non-committal response caused the MoC to flap about in disarray, sending pointed questions at the back of the retreating High Duke. He just barely refrained from questioning his competence, the High Duke was his superior after all. Seeing no answers forthcoming the lanky elf made to enter the safe room, then obviously thinking better of it, instead turned and snatched the nearest two Guards. Shoving them into the room ahead of him. Only following when a shout of ''all clear'' was heard. ¡°Oh System, my head... what happened?¡± The cracking voice of the armoured man beside me broke me from my observations. ¡°Well, the short version is you did something stupid and almost died. I did an awesome dance. Some Watchtower Guards rescued us. Oh, and Sarian collapsed from over-using his Magic again.¡± He paused as he was pulling himself up, like he couldn''t make sense of my amazing explanation... Nah, probably just the Spell not having completely worn off yet. ¡°Oh yeah, and that Purple-robed guy made an appearance at some point.¡± I added, thinking that the Emperor might consider his presence important. Or something. ¡°Oh really?¡± he said voice lifting after he spent a few moments frowning at my description. ¡°Where is he?¡± What, no concern for your ''wife''? Not even a single question to ask how I am? In response, I only pointed to the safe room. He got up, before slipping on the uneven footing. I stepped forward, catching him beneath the shoulder, then assisted his progress into the room next door. The Garb shifted into what could optimistically be called a nurses outfit, thankfully still disguising my body. But only just. I was thankful the Garb''s material grew thicker or thinner as needed to ''enhance'' the image it was attempting to portray. I deposited the still recovering Emperor in one of the few complete chairs in the room. I was unsure how a fight between an [Illusionist] and a [Shadowdancer] would work, but I could see the aftermath. A few light scratches on the walls and floor, and lots of smashed chairs. Oddly the tables, bookcases, cupboards and the small wine rack all remained untouched. Belloff sat in one of the two remaining usable chairs, a massive leather cushioned armchair, that clearly belonged in front of the unlit fireplace, not behind the desk he was sitting behind, scanning the documents that the Ashbringers had been using to plan the battle. He gestured to a wine bottle he had clearly removed from the wine rack behind him, ¡°Shall we make a toast to the Emperor''s continued health?¡± He said, gesturing me to the bottle, and the three matching glasses there. A drink, just what I need after all that. I quickly poured us all a full glass of the dark red wine, then handed them to the other two, Belloff standing to accept the glass, and to make the toast. ¡°To the Emperor,¡± he toasted, as the rest of the Party entered the room, excepting the unconscious Sarian and one-legged Alfred of course. ¡°To victory.¡± Terrius returned. Belloff gave me an odd smile at that, obviously still wanting to spin it into something less than it was. He lifted his glass to his lips as Terrius and I downed the contents of the glass. Or, I did anyway. It took the Emperor a few gulps to get it all down, some spilling and trailing down his damaged golden armour. I grimaced as I lowered the glass. This is the best they can manage for an Emperor? Yuck. I noted that Belloff had given it barely a sniff before lowering it, clearly agreeing with my unvoiced opinion. I felt a bit dizzy as the last couple of days caught up to me. My muscles aching from the fatigue of continued use. I stumbled towards the armchair Belloff had been sitting on, but I didn''t quite make it, collapsing on the desk. Perhaps the wine had been much stronger than I originally thought?
Status Quo Activated. Congratulations, one negative Status Affliction will now be removed! Negative Status Affliction: Soul''s Rest Poison. Has been removed!
The window flashed in front of my eyes just as I was losing conciousness, reminding me that I no longer felt fatigue, and probably saving my life as the overpowered Trait removed any trace of the poison from my body. Wait, what about the others?! I pushed myself back to standing, feeling fine once more. Verrick, poised over the fallen body of the Emperor, blood pouring out of the cracks of his ruined armour, gave me a concerned glance, but seeing I was okay, went back to trying to save his Emperor. I glanced toward the wine bottle, one full glass sitting beside it, in horror. My eyes flickered back to the Emperor, his body wasting away before our eyes, and the MoC kneeling over him. As if feeling my eyes resting on him, the elven man turned to look at me, his left eye twitching briefly, before turning his gaze back to his liege.
Congratulations! You have gained a new Title! You have gained the title: Perpetrater of Imperial Regicide! Would you like to display your new title publicly? Y/N?
Aw, shit. *
Status HP: 410 (+6.1/s) MP: 282 (+1.0/s) ST: 359 (1.1/s) EXP: 1800 Total Level: (5) Class Level EXP Req
Name [Insert Name Here] Mental Stat Physical Stat Social Stat Traits Elf (Planar) 5 4000
Age 26 Control 58 Agility 62 Bargaining 60 Regeneration
Race Elf (Planar) Resistance 52 Dexterity 51 Charm 45 Status Quo
Party The Handsome Devils Spellpower 44 Strength 60 Leadership 52 Sod''s Law
Guild N/A Willpower 62 Vitality 59 Luck -499 Stat Points: 24
Dungeons & Demons I Dungeons & Demons I ¡° screwed, less than three full days after being transported to a new world, a magical world. A world where I could let my newfound blood-lust go free without any worries, and I''d already managed to accidentally kill two members of royalty. ¡° ¡° Perhaps I can foist the blame on to him? An option that could prove easy, if I was right about him being involved in the first place. Though, if he was, why would he be winking at me about it. Or more specifically the long-dead Duchess. ¡° Oh wait, that''s me they''re shouting at, isn''t it? Oops. ¡° ¡° ¡° He looks... more concerned than accusatory... ¡° ¡° ¡° I guess someone of such a high and mighty title of ''Duchess'' would need to have some knowledge of so dangerous a poison... ¡° ¡­ Shit... I can''t very well explain away my survival by way of a Trait that the actual Aelwinel would not have had- ¡° Ahh.. Thank you, thank you, you swimming-suit shaped Ceremonial Garb! You''ve saved me once- Wait? How am I still covered while wearing a swimming costume? It makes no fucking sense! I hate this Garb! Ahem! Ignoring my somehow still disguised form, as everyone else was, I returned my thoughts back to the conversation around me. Which had moved on to other topics. How do I get away from the watchful eyes of all these guards? ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°he paused. Clearing his throat, ¡°We need to discuss the problem of the Watchtower.¡± ¡° ¡° ¡° Empress,¡± he said, managing to make the title sound like an insult. ¡°We must claim it in the next 24 hours unless you''d prefer to start generating continent-wide quests again. With our luck, it''d be some scrawny beastkin street-rat that managed to complete it. The Watchtower seems to prefer those type of ''Zero-to-Hero'' stories.¡± ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°Fuck''s sake Garb, can''t you help me out at least a little?! ¡° ¡° ¡°Almost? ¡°Though I suppose the poison was the best solution, it made certain his soul was irretrievable.¡± How to use this to my advantage though? ¡° ¡° ¡° If only she hadn''t killed herself... ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Dungeons & Demons II Dungeons & Demons II I thought I was supposed to be unlucky? It sure doesn''t seem that way thus far... ¡° ¡° ¡°
Status Quo Activated. Congratulations, one negative Status Affliction will now be removed! Negative Status Affliction: Hormonal imbalance. Has been removed!
¡° Weirdness. ConsidSod''s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong and with the worst possible outcome.'' I had expected things to go downhill much sooner and with far more consequences. I mean sure, it hadn''t exactly been perfect thus far, but it didn''t seem like it''d been too bad either. Stupid emotional imbalance. Hmm, I wondered if I would stop being ruled by my libido now. Thinking back over the two people who''d been getting me riled up, I decided that I still found them attractive and I''d definitely shag them if I could get away with it. But I didn''t feel the insatiable need to jump on them that I''d felt before. Thank god, or System. Whatever. Back to number four, killing people. I''d never killed anyone before and I''d been getting worried about my reaction to it. Getting turned on by the noise of a skull breaking open was not normal. Now that I was no longer affected by my Race change I could break down my previous actions analytically. A cold feeling of relief settled over my body when I reviewed my memories of slaughtering my opponents. Partly because I''d come to the conclusion that I didn''t really feel any guilt over ending another person''s life ¨C apparently I really was fucked up a bit. Oh well. This was probably a good thing in this world, as I was sure I''d have to do it again. And partly because I no longer became aroused at my memories of head squelching. Being able to kill without remorse, and feeling pleasure while doing so were entirely different things after all. Hitting someone in the head was still the best way of finishing someone off, and I still felt that a spear would be the best way to go about it, keeping those that were trying to kill me as far away as possible seemed like a good way to keep living, but I doubted I''d get off on it anymore. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Wait... the fuck is that? As the quartermaster, Felix, retreated from my view I finally came to terms with what I''d seen. Glad that the Garb stopped him from seeing the shock on my face. Felix was decidedly not a hobbit of some type. Nope, far from it. He was, in fact, closer in form to the centaur healer I''d seen earlier. ¡° ¡° ¡° Dungeons & Demons III Dungeons & Demons III ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°
You have received a new Party Invitation. Felix de Reklo Etrallinger has invited you to join ''[Inspect] sharing''. Do you accept? Y/N
¡° Join the club brother. I hate this thing too. ¡° ¡°
Ring of Minor Blood-Dart A simple silver ring enchanted by a Novice [Enchanter] many years ago. Quality: Poor Rarity: Uncommon Weight: 5 grams Durability: 17/20 Enchantments: Minor Blood-Dart. Magically infuses Blood to Dart at your opponent. Charges: 10/10. Charge Regeneration: 1 per 5 minutes.
Well, shit. I realised, with some consternation. That''s not coming off anytime soon. Yay, how fun! ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°Fucking Garb. ¡° ¡°Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°
Into The Fire A Frying Pan crafted by a Journeyman [Blacksmith]. Then enchanted by a Master [Enchanter] some years later, for reasons unknown. Quality: Well-Crafted Rarity: Legendary Weight: 1.5 KG Durability: 8649/10000 Enchantments: Improved Durability, Improved Bludgeoning, Burning, Scatter-fire. Upon activation fires 2-5 fireballs out of the base. Charges: 1/1. Charge Regeneration: 1 per hour.
So, that''s how I found myself some twenty minutes later, awed by finally setting eyes on this ''Watchtower'' while trying to ignore the snickers of the nearby guards that milled around near the entrance. I ignored them, instead taking in the sheer majesty, height, and impossibleness of the Watchtower. As a reference, the tallest artificial structure in my world at the time I left was the Burj Khalifa, a structure that had held the title for almost thirty years, topped out at an impressive 829.8 metres. As a side note, the Japanse were in the process of building a set of triple towers that would be mutually supporting and would reach just over 1200 metres in height. These towers, in order to reach their impressive heights, had built their bases as a threeway buttress. In comparison, the Watchtower was perfectly round at its base and shot straight up, without tapering until it reached the tip. I asked a nearby guard in a moment of forgetfulness ¨C ''I'' should have already known the information ¨C how high the tower was. He claimed that it was precisely 1km tall and 10 metres in diameter, with 100 floors total. Those were some tall ceilings... Also, the whole thing was a dungeon. I figured it for a blatant rip-off of a similar structure from a certain anime. Only, I wondered if it were the other way round? This Watchtower must have been here for years. Once I was done inspecting the impressive structure I made my way over to the group of people waiting near the wide marble steps that led up to the impressive ¨C but sealed ¨C double doors of the tower I was supposed to be ''claiming''. "Empress, I hope you don''t expect to cook your way through the dungeon!" The nasal tones of The Imperial MoC reached me as I approached. I glanced down at the frying pan held in my right hand and the blood-filled wineskin in my left. "Nope, besides," I said lifting the wineskin, "this has blood in it. Not a very appetising cooking ingredient." I gave him a toothy grin to accompany my words ¨C not that he could see it. "Also, I hope you don''t expect to talk your way through the dungeon, Belloff!" The courtyard quietened at my words. At first, I thought it was shock at what filled my wineskin, but after scrutinising Belloff''s face, I figured that maybe it was something different. It had progressed through arrogance and annoyance to sheer rage and murderous intent. "You know full well I despise that disrespectful and frankly insulting nickname!" He screeched in my face. Wait... You mean your name isn''t Belloff? Crap... It seems I''ve done another oopsie. I turned my glare to Verrick, who was standing alongside the Master of Ceremonies, and was trying ¨C and failing ¨C to hold back his smirk. Damn you! This is all your fault! Indeed, I didn''t remember anyone actually using his given name in conversation, only using his title when appropriate, as such my only indication of his name came from just before I was married. Verrick''s failing attempts to hold back his smirk, turned to outright laughter as his gaze drifted down to my torso. The nearby guards also breaking their own silence as I heard various forms of giggling, snorting, braying and guffawing fill the air around me. Holding on to my fraying dignity, and ignoring the purple-face MoC before me, I looked down to see what the Garb had transformed into that caused so much laughter. Once I had fully taken in my new look, I also failed to hold myself back and I let out my first laugh since my dreadful arrival to my new world. The Garb, in a fit of insanity that could only be explained by my terrible luck, had copied the MoC''s purple ceremonial robes exactly. Barring two very obvious differences. The first being the head covering, I was still unidentifiable by anyone around me, thankfully. The second, however, was the cause of all the mirth. On the front of his robes was a massive Griffin in flight, the magically enchanted embroidery looking like it was moments away from attacking you, in the background lay a longsword point down. This image was bereft from my robes, however. Nope, instead, there was a massive cock and balls on the front. Perhaps the Garb was just saying what we were all thinking? In any case, it didn''t look like it wanted to shift its form any time soon. "My apologies," I said once I''d calmed down a bit, and thankful that I wasn''t required to keep a straight face. "What would you prefer to be called?" He sputtered and growled at me, getting a fair amount of spittle on the Garb ¨C it dripped off almost immediately ¨C and finally responded, finally calmed down enough to talk in even tones. I knew the next time we were alone and without prying eyes, he was going to be quite angry with me. Oh well, it had been totally worth it. Besides, Verrick had been the first to laugh. "You may call me whatever you wish, Your Imperial Majesty," he said. Though his tone said otherwise. "You are the Empress. However, I would prefer to be called by my given name, Elbellkioff, or as ''My Lord''." Yep, I''m totally getting an earful when we''re next alone. I decided to throw the still grinning Verrick under the bus ¨C so to speak ¨C as best I could when that happened. Also, there was no way I was going to call him by his given name, it was almost worse than the terrible nickname. "As amusing as this little reprieve is, it''s far past time for us to enter the tower," Verrick said, cutting through the tension, reminding us of our true purpose here. "Come along, kids." I grumbled at the ¨C perhaps apt ¨C description as I followed him. The MoC did far more than grumble but Verrick studiously ignored him. Instead of going up the steps to the impressive double doors, that was the clear main entrance to the dungeon, Verrick went down a massive ramp to left. Following many crisscrossing rails along the ground. At the bottom of the ramp, there was a cavernous opening that led into a massive cave. I paused in the entrance as I felt a hint of surprise at the size of the cave beyond. I knew I probably should''ve expected it, it being a dungeon and all, but the cave inside was far, far larger than the diameter of the tower we''d entered. It made me wonder just how large this place truly was. There was a terminal of sorts at the far side of the cavern, a hub for the many mine cars that dotted the tracks. Dozens of passages were connected to the hub. And dozens more too small for a mine cart littered the walls. Few if any, of the mine carts, had any material in them, the place obviously fully cleared before we arrived. There was also no sign of any miners. Off to the right, I could see another large cavern, that connected to this one through a short but wide passage, inside the flow of lava could be seen. Its flow manipulated to pass through and past the many forges that were scattered, seemingly at random throughout that area. That cavern, too, was empty of life. So," I said, stopping Verrick in his tracks, as he clearly had not intended on halting his forward march. "Remind me why we''re going into this mine, instead of the dungeon entrance above?" He let out a resounding sigh, lips rippling impressively, "did you not listen to any of the planning session, Empress?" Err.. maybe I was too busy inspecting your handsome features... I blushed slightly remembering my inattentiveness. I was normally far more circumspect about checking people out. Plus I wouldn''t normally be so distracted during such a discussion. Fucking hormonal imbalance strikes again. "Like... some of it?" I said, trying not to give away too much of my ignorance. "I know I''m supposed to claim the Watchtower''s keystone and become the Warden of the Watchtower. Which lets me grant entry to adventurers and the like up to the 100th floor, you''re here to become Guardian of the Watchtower, letting you grant entry up to the 75th and.. Err... His Lordship, here, will become Gatekeeper of the Watchtower, allowing him to grant entry up to the 50th. As normally entrants would not be able to pass the 25th floor, else. And not enter at all without a Warden ¨C I don''t understand why this is the case though. Nor do I understand why we''re down here, instead of entering upstairs?" He facepalmed. I''d rarely seen anyone actually do such an action in real life, and never one of his station... "Well, let''s see... The Watchtower is pretty unique as dungeons go, and we don''t rightly know why a Warden is necessary, but then very few dungeons have the same scaling system in place either. In any case, the reason we''re down here is because the Quest to claim the tower is different each time. All we know about the entrance to it is that it''s always located somewhere in this mine and that it is a three-person restricted dungeon with five floors. Plus the solo floor at the end where you face your individualised trial for whichever Title you''re attempting to claim. Now, time is limited, so I suggest we split up and search for the entrance. Don''t worry about needing to be vigilant down here. The mine is notorious as a non-combat area. Extremely rare for any dungeon. More so even than the scaling system." Ah... Right... Thanks, very informative. I really should have paid more attention earlier. We split up a little further in, the MoC and I retrieving one of the flickering torches from the walls as we each entered one of the many tunnels leading out of the mine''s entrance area. "Are we sure this is the entrance?" I questioned, hoping Verrick would deny the evidence before us. It''d taken me an hour of searching to discover this tiny crack in one of the side passages and hoping I was wrong in my assumptions I''d left it behind to try and find anything else out of place. Another hour had passed with me searching frantically, hoping against hope that I''d hear the echoing calls of one of the others, saying they''d found the entrance. Instead, I''d finally come to the conclusion that this tiny gash in the rock wall was, in fact, what we''d all been searching for. "Unfortunately, it appears it is so." Verrick had thankfully not questioned that I''d missed this on my first exploration of this tunnel. Whether because he believed me or just didn''t want to confront me, I didn''t know. "Perhaps we should search a bit longer? I do not think I can fit down there." The MoC espoused. His size would indeed make it difficult for him to enter the hole. It was perhaps only just wide enough for me to fit in sideways, standing upright, but was only around three feet in height. I figured me and Verrick could probably manoeuvre ourselves down the twisting passage, but the lanky Moc would definitely struggle. "Don''t worry about it, My Lord. I can simply [Shadow-Walk] us all inside until we are in the dungeon proper." Ah right, I''d forgotten he could do that now that he was better recovered. Still, judging by the massive bags under his eyes, he''d still yet to sleep. Meaning we were about to enter this dungeon of a trio that consisted of an exhausted level 100 [Shadowdancer], a slimy politician that I was unsure would be of any help, and a level 5, who was still learning how this new world worked, and would likely be of less help than the sneering slime-bag. Even if I was undoubtedly stronger, thanks to my mismatched Stats. "I will scout ahead first, one moment." In a flash of dark... uh, no that didn''t make sense, a blaze of darkness? An eruption of darkness? No. Hmm. A burst of darkness? Ah yes, that one. In a burst of darkness, Verrick disappeared from our sight, searching for where the passage ahead opened up again. Or to perhaps discover if it was another dead-end and we''d have to go back to searching. [07:38:22]. I was running out of time. We all were. I dearly hoped this was the way forward, as depressing as it looked. Verrick reappeared an another, uh, burst of darkness. His lips upturned in a smile. "This is the place. Empress, my [Shadow-Walk] won''t work on you due to the Garb, so you''ll have to worm your way in. We''ll meet you at the other end. And with that, he disappeared in another burst of darkness, taking the MoC with him this time. "Aww, fuck. I hope you''re not just fucking with me, Verrick." After I''d let out a few more expletives I squatted down and eked myself into the restricting confines of the passage. The all-encompassing Garb, somehow not stopping the rough and jagged walls of the tunnel from bruising and scraping my skin. None of the scratches were serious, of course, but such minor injuries always took longer to fully regenerate for some reason. When I finally made my way out of the twisting tunnel sometime later, I stood up to inspect the real entrance to the dungeon. The passage opened up just before the entrance to allow us to stand side-by-side. Contrary to my disappointment at what I''d percieved to be the dungeon entrance, I was instead satisfied. It looked like a proper dungeon entrance, a replica of what I''d come to expect from my various games. The tunnel walls smoothed just ahead of us, and the tunnel led into a pulsating mass of darkness. "No time like the present." And with that cliche, we stepped into my first dungeon. * Dungeons & Demons IV Dungeons & Demons IV
The Cockatrice''s Egg 1/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. Make your way through or past the goblin patrols and defeat Shaman Kertstk, one of the five people responsible for raiding the Cockatrice''s lair, and stealing its Egg. Difficulty: Easy, Scaling. Level recommended: N/A. Reward: 100 EXP/TL.
"Well, that''s depressingly simple," I muttered, dismissing Quest prompt. "This is only the first of five, Win. Don''t let yourself get too complacent," Verrick berated me. "And don''t forget about the scaling part, the monsters will be just as tricky for each of us. And neither of you are exactly well equipped for a dungeon dive." "I remember, you kill things, I stop things from killing our friend here..." I meant ''Belloff'', of course. During our planning sessions, he''d told us his Classes were [Imperial Cryer], [Aristocrat] and [Imperial Scribe]. None of which would be useful in a dungeon. From what little I''d picked up, the non-combat Classes would also play no part in the dungeon''s scaling. I was only level 5 myself, without any Classes at all. The monsters would be scaled for each of us, instead of dealing damage as we normally would, our attacks, abilities and spells would all deal percentage damage. As Verrick had just implied, his higher level wouldn''t be as much of a boon as I''d been hoping. Thankfully my Stats were disproportionate to my level. This should allow me to dispose of monsters that would normally have been out of my reach. That didn''t mean it''d be a breeze, however. Verrick would make short work of most of them, I hoped. He''d had time for the seal to fully disperse, although it appeared he''d been unable to find time to rest. He had, however, had time to pick up his normal adventuring gear. It looked quite impressive. Smokey grey leather armour covered his body entire. Swirls and eddies of shifting shades of grey smoke slithered around the leather, making it look alive. I could make out the hilts and sheaths of numerous daggers dotted throughout his armour, no doubt there were plenty more weapons that I couldn''t see. There was a short-sword on each hip, both hilts were dull and unassuming, not like the gaudy hilts I''d seen on some of the courtiers'' swords. A larger sword could be seen, handle poking up just above his right shoulder, the sheath hidden behind the shifting grey cloak he wore. A cowl had been pulled up once we''d entered the dungeon, hiding his face from our views. If I''d seen him in a dark alley somewhere I''d have tried to run away screaming. I didn''t doubt, though, that if I''d seen him it would only because he wanted me to, and that I would no longer be running or screaming. In his adventurer equipment, he looked more like an [Assassin] than a [Shadowdancer]. I found it hard to believe that they didn''t hold similar roles. I almost pitied the goblins. Almost. "Wait here, I shall sneak ahead." Verrick disappeared in a burst of his trademark shadows. Causing a shiver to run down my spine, due to my previous thoughts. Now that Verrick had left us, Belloff ¨C I had to remember not to say that out loud... - had visibly paled, his calm demeanour shattered. The traitor was far outside of his comfort zone here. He had slumped against the rocky walls of the damp and dingy tunnel we''d found ourselves in, the torch he''d brought with him held in a slack grip, almost fallen to the floor. He was still wearing the purple robes of his office, apparently, they were well enchanted and he''d refused to wear any armour as he was unused to its bulk. Or some such nonsense. He had accepted a sword from one of the guards before we entered, the weapon looked odd resting at his side. I wondered if he''d even be able to draw it. I stood ready, facing down the tunnel that led from the portal''s entrance. Legendary frying pan held down by my right side, torch in my left. The skin full of blood was looped over my right shoulder diagonally and rested down by my left hip. The Garb had yet to shift out of its mockery of the quivering elf behind me, so I figured it''d be fine there for now, though, I knew I''d have to drop the torch during combat to make any use out of my only ranged option. Unless I wanted to hit my own armpit of course... "All clear ahead." The whispered words, coming from the hooded man right in front of my face caused me to trip and stumble backwards, falling on my arse. "Shit! A little warning next time!" Verrick had appeared inches in front of me, without warning. I probably would''ve pissed myself in fright, if it wasn''t apparent that I didn''t need to any longer. "Sorry Win, forgot that your senses were dulled due to the Garb." Yeah, that shit-eating grin says otherwise dickwad. It was quite disconcerting seeing him grinning now, I could only vaguely see the edges of his shimmering form but his white teeth seemed to shine from within the folds of the cowl. I ignored his apology in favour of rubbing my sore rump. Belloff asked, nay, demanded a report. His voice, already naturally high pitched, squeaked out his obvious terror. "The initial route is pretty much a straight shot through to the goblin''s village. I found a few singles out patrolling that were easily dealt with, and a couple mining in a minor side passage. "There was a Ward protecting their village, however, as soon as I crossed its boundary my concealing shadows were dispelled. Fortunately, no one was near my entry point, unfortunately, I don''t doubt there was some form of alarm linked to the Ward. They will know were are coming." "Humpf, seems like you messed up our approach, you should not have let yourself be caught. You''ve put me and your Empress in danger due to your failure." The MoC''s reprimands fell on deaf ears. "I did not expect to approach stealthily, [Shaman]s are known to be well connected to the land around them, and as we''re underground, a Shaman will naturally have an advantage over us. Honestly, I''m surprised I wasn''t noticed earlier. In any case, my shadows will still be effective within the village, I will just be unable to hide us from the Shaman''s sight. "You''re welcome to wait here while the Empress and I dispatch our enemies?" Unsurprisingly when we finally arrived at the main cavern, hiding in the shadow of a cramped tunnel high up in the wall, located just outside the Ward''s range according to Verrick. The MoC was still with us, panting harshly due to his low physical stats, we''d moved fairly slowly, but getting to our current location had required a fair amount of climbing. Verrick had declined the MoC''s plea''s of assistance, citing the fact that he needed as much of his power as possible for the fight ahead as an excuse. Fortunately, Belloff''s nasally whining had cut off before we came within hearing range of the goblins roaming the cavern floor below. "So," I whispered, sidling up next to the [Shadowdancer], "how do we approach this?" "Carefully." Well, duh... I gave him a look, which caused him to crack a smile and share his plan a bit. "I felt that, even if I could not see it, Empress." He shuddered theatrically, causing me to roll my eyes. Clearing his throat when he saw I had no intention of responding, he continued, "I''ll hop down there and get the attention of all those mobs and you''ll sneak down after. Hopefully, that''ll draw the attentions of the [Shaman] and you can tank him while I deal with the others." "So, you want me to hold off the boss while you deal with all the easy ones..." "Yup," he grinned his toothy grin at me again. "Alrighty then." I''d been a tank in AoH, I figured I could manage here, and with my high regeneration and OP stats, I guessed I''d be fine until Verrick had finished off the others. This was supposedly an easy level, our plan needn''t be any more complicated. Verrick glanced at the MoC, "you will remain here and stay quiet unless anything shows up that we missed, then you scream as loud as you can. Got it?"A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Of course Your Imperial Highness, I will be ready and waiting to do my duty." Despite his concise words, Belloff was shaking like a tree in a storm, eyes squeezed shut and sword handle held in a death grip by his side. He still hadn''t drawn it. I also wondered he would manage to warn us about anything if he couldn''t see. I guessed it didn''t matter though, his job was to stay alive while Verrick and I dealt with the monsters ¨C in this case, goblins ¨C that we''d come across in the dungeon. I hoped he wasn''t as stupid as those suicidal NPC''s that cropped up in escort quests in RPGs. I''d always end such a quest hoping that I would have an opportunity to kill them myself. I already kinda wanted to kill Belloff, so it was in his best interest to be smart. Without any further discussions Verrick [Shadow-Walk]ed down to the floor below, a globe of darkness expanding from the location he touched down at, the screams of the goblins within making clear what was happening inside. The goblins not within the globe of darkness wisely held themselves back, and were instead whizzing pebbles out of their slings into the darkness but a slightly larger goblin, coloured a sickly yellow as opposed to the dank green of his fellows and wearing what appeared to be the only full set of armour in the whole encampment barked an order I was unable to hear, and the whizzing sound of the slings ceased. I had not been idle whilst Verrick had performed his distraction, carefully climbing down the vertical wall of the cave, ensuring that I didn''t fall and break something. An action that I found difficult to prevent due to the stupid frying pan I held in one hand. We''d left our torches behind us, lest their glow give away our position above their heads. After much cussing, scrapes and bruises, I finally finished my descent. Dropping the final six feet and landing like a ninja. Okay fine, that was a complete lie, my foot slipped and I fell, twisting and halting my fall with my face. It took a good while before I recovered from the stunning impact ¨C literally, a little symbol had appeared next to my Vital bars on my HUD, a cartoon head with small stars orbiting it and a countdown timer that began at 12 seconds. "Fuck," I growled as I pulled myself to my feet, "that could have gone better." I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach at those words. Not from any premonition, but from the short-sword the three foot and very naked goblin, had attempted to put in there. Thankfully, the Garb wouldn''t tear from such a blunt and rusted implement, unthankfully, it still hurt like a motherfucker, and I was propelled backwards onto my arse with a grunt. The goblin''s ugly mug screwed up in confusion as he looked between the point of his sword and my unmarked torso. I couldn''t allow myself to be too caught up on the goblin in front of me, however, as I could see with a quick glance that a few of his buddies were coming up behind him to help him. I also noticed a couple of smarter ones sneaking around behind me. Including the one scrutinising his sword in confusion, there were seven in total, three rushing towards me from behind the confused goblin, one rushing in from my left and two attempting to sneak around behind me to my right. Apparently, Verrick''s antics hadn''t been as distracting as we''d hoped. There was also still no sign of the goblin [Shaman]. I wrenched the cork out of the bloodskin under my left armpit and awkwardly oriented it on the goblin, letting loose a dart of blood that made the poor goblin a eunuch in the messiest way possible. He fell backwards with a "gwark" in an amusing parody of my own fall a few moments before, though, he was clutching a little lower down. He''d definitely not be doing any penetrating anytime soon. I left the dying dickless goblin on the floor as I turned to face my left, just in time to sidestep the screaming goblin, and trip her over so she landed face first in the mess I''d made of her friend. I took the time to bend over and retrieve the enchanted frying pan I''d dropped during my fall and then took a few steps to position myself properly for my attack, then I swung it with a grunt right into the bloodied face of the goblin girl as she blinked owlishly from above the ruined groin of her now-dead friend. Her face squelched in satisfactorily and dropped back down into its previous position, the ruined body parts of the two goblins joined in a horrific death pose. I didn''t have time to admire the artistry of my handiwork and instead took a few moments to survey the battlefield once more. In the brief time it had taken to deal with the two goblins, the three charging me had closed half the distance and were perhaps only ten metres from my position, one of the goblins that had been sneaking up on me had changed his mind, probably enraged by my actions, and had joined the charge, coming from almost directly behind me now, he was a little further away than the three to my right, but he was also running a lot faster. If I didn''t do anything they''d all reach me at a similar time. Worryingly, the other sneaking goblin had disappeared from my sight, I guessed it was either sneaking around one of the decrepit mud and straw huts that littered the floor of the cave or had gone off to find itself some more allies. I put its whereabouts from my mind as I turned to my right and began my own charge at the three goblins that were clumped together. My seemingly irrational decision caused the goblins to falter momentarily, which allowed me to close the gap even further. At the last second, I angled my run to my left, my frying pan swinging in from chest height, just the right height to squelch another goblins head. I barely broke stride as I charged past their line, sprinting a dozen or so metres to a nearby hut that looked even more run-down than its fellows. I was breathing evenly as I turned to face the goblins, [Status Quo] keeping me from feeling any fatigue. I made sure to check my Vitals bars, my health had dropped a measly 10% it seemed, but was rapidly regenerating thanks to another of my Traits, my stamina had dropped 25%, and was regenerating much slower. I had to be careful not to use too much in this fight, I still had to search for the [Shaman]. I unslung the bloodskin from under my armpit and instead held it in my left hand, frying pan now held one-handed in my right hand. I wouldn''t get as much power from its hits now, but it allowed me to use my ranged weapon. By the time the three goblins had sorted themselves out and ran back to my location, I had managed to fire off three darts, unfortunately, none of them hit a critical, so I only brought down one and a half of the goblins. How do you kill half a goblin you ask? Why by blowing one of its legs off of course! I didn''t quite understand how that one wasn''t enough to finish him off, but he was still crawling weakly towards me. Ignoring him for the moment, I shifted diagonally forward and left as the remaining goblin swung a massive, barb wire covered club at my head, the club skittered across my right shoulder as I mistimed the dodge, [Into The Fire] came up and smashed into his head as he stumbled past me off balance. Due to his stumbling, I didn''t manage a clean hit to his head and he was still standing, though he looked a little woozy. Before he could get his bearings I fired off another dart that smacked into his neck and finished him off for good. I shifted the bloodskin slightly, the blood sloshing about inside and I figured I''d already used up half of what had been in there, I''d fired off ten darts back in the armoury and five during this fight, so I figured the skin held enough for thirty shots when full. I looked at the crawling goblin, smiling as an idea of how to refill it crossed my mind. I ambled over and casually kicked her in the head, knocking her out but not killing her, this allowed the blood that had been spurting out of her severed left leg to keep pumping, as her heart had not stopped just yet. I set the mouth of the bloodskin by one of her arteries and waited patiently for it to refill. Once done, I re-corked the blood skin and then stomped on her head a few times to finish her off as well. I looked around one last time, hoping to see the missing goblin but I had no such luck, no doubt he''d come back to bite me in the arse later. I shrugged and moved on. I had a goblin [Shaman] to find. I snuck past a few lonesome goblins as I skirted the edges of Verrick''s ongoing battle, he''d dropped the globe of darkness and was now putting his twin blades to good use by mowing down the goblin ranks that had been waiting outside, all while holding off the skillful yellow-skinned goblin''s falchion, neither were able to make it past the other''s defences, but the [Shadowdancer] was more focused on the countless goblins that came in seemingly unending streams from the huts around us. I left him to it as I finally found what must be my target. A hut three times larger, though no taller ¨C about five feet in height ¨C than the others came into view, there were two well-muscled goblins standing out front, each with a spear in hand and a small shield ¨C a buckler ¨C strapped to their left forearms. Both also wore ragged leather armour. The first I''d seen on any goblin since the yellow-skinned one. This hut obviously held someone of great importance to the goblin tribe, and that fit the description of the [Shaman] I was searching for perfectly. Unfortunately, my approach was far from stealthy and the two goblins spotted me immediately, one turned and let out a cry of warning into the well-maintained hut. The other spun his spear so he held it in both hands, the left side of his body angled towards me, allowing his buckler on that side protect as much of his small body as possible. My first and second darts both crashed into said buckler, damaging it slightly, but not doing any damage to the goblin cowering behind. Then he was upon me, spear leading. I dropped the bloodskin, blood squirting from its mouth as it fell to the ground, and gripped the rim of the frying pan with my left hand, holding it across my body as a shield of sorts. The goblin''s spear smacked into the centre of the pan with a clang. I had not set myself properly for his charge as I had expected to hit him with the darts and then finish him off with the frying pan if needed. Instead, he''d blocked my ranged attacks and closed to melee range. Caught flat-footed my successful block sent me flying, as the momentum of his strike was passed on to me. Eager not to fall on my arse once again, I rolled as best I could ¨C not very well ¨C and came to a stand just in time to deflect another thrust of his spear. I didn''t have time to spar with him if I wanted to be ready for his gaurdmate and the [Shaman] that would no doubt finally be joining the battle, so I took a gamble and threw the frying pan at him, causing him to scramble comically as he tried and succeeded in stopping it from reaching his body. My attack had also succeeded, however, as it had only been a distraction to cover my rush forward, I caught him off guard as I copied a move I''d seen Fenrick do the day previous, and slammed the point of my left elbow into his throat, crushing his windpipe. I stomped on his head a few times when he fell over clutching his throat, then looked back up just in time to take a spear point right over my heart. I took a step backwards and absorbed the blow as best I could, but still felt the sharp stabbing pain that accompanies broken bones. Fucker had broked my ribs, and if the Garb hadn''t prevented the point from penetrating me, he''d probably have killed me too. As it was I''d dropped to a little over 50% health, and my stamina was even lower, having dropped just below the 30% marker. My mana was still full as I was still unable to use it. Out of options and weaponless, I jumped on the smaller creature, taking another blow to my stomach for my troubles, and grappled with it. I sat him his chest once I knocked him over and stabbed my thumbs into his eyes. This, unfortunately, was not a fast way of killing someone but, I was unable to think of a better solution in the heat of the moment. My position on top of him allowed him to bash me on either side with the haft of his spear and the metal rimmed buckler. My vision narrowed as I hung on with everything I had left, driving the points of my thumbs deep into his eye sockets. It took until I''d dropped below 15% Health before he finally stopped struggling. A crackle and snap of ozone from the hut in front of me announced the presence of the [Shaman], the bolt of lightning throwing me from the dead goblin''s body and dropping my health down to 3%. It was regenerating quickly, 6.3 points per second at my current level, a staggering regeneration rate, but I knew if I was hit with another bolt now it''d all be over for me. Getting back up to continue the fight was surprisingly easy, despite the tight feeling in my chest that was causing me to breathe in short, sharp breaths, I still felt no fatigue. I was on the edge of death, and if it wasn''t for the pain spiking out from my chest I''d feel like I''d just woken up from a satisfying sleep. My hand skipped over a hard cold object as I stood up, and I felt a small curl my lips as a plan formed in my mind. Battered and bruised though I was, I was far from out of this fight. * Dungeons & Demons V Dungeons & Demons V ¡° ¡° ¡°Kertstk, Kertstk hurt yoo! C''me ''ere!¡± Fruit? What''s the Garb done now? ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 1/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. After a trying battle, you and your Party defeated the evil Shaman Kertstk. Reward: 500 EXP Bonus Reward: Total Kill count: 9 Contributions: 2 Bonus EXP awarded: 166 Total EXP awarded: 666 Due to special actions, you have gained: Agility +1, Vitality +2.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 2/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. After searching Shaman Kertstk''s shabby abode, you were unable to find the egg, though you did find a clue. Perhaps those hooligan Orc brothers, Terk and Tirk have it? They were part of Kertstk''s Party. Even if they do not have it, maybe you can find another clue. Difficulty: Easy, Scaling. Level recommended: N/A. Reward: 150 EXP/TL.
I''d hardly call my brief time in the [Shaman]''s hut a thorough search, but whatever. I dismissed the Quest prompt and moved on to the most important part of any dungeon dive. Looting. The [Shaman]''s totem had looked pretty cool, and I wondered if it had any special effects like the frying pan''s [Scatter-fire]. Even if it didn''t, loot was loot, and I decided I wanted it. I reached down a scooped up the totem, only to stumble off balance as my hand passed clean through it. Concerned that I was losing my grip on this realm, I quickly slapped myself but realised that even if I was slipping away, I''d still feel solid to me. So I kicked a nearby rock, hard. And it hurt. It hurt a lot. More laughter rang out, from two sources this time. One of which was trying to smother it, the other most definitely was not. "What was that about, Empress?" Verrick wheezed, not quite done with his snickers. I folded my arms and pouted at him unseen, "I really wanted that totem!" "Hah! We all want dungeon mob''s gear, but I''ve never known anyone to get it, unless you are lucky enough to pick it up in the chest at the end of each floor, look it fades already." I turned and glared at the totem as it faded from view. Right. The totem had been slipping away, not me. To be fair something similar had happened to me not long ago. I gave one last longing look at the totem before I turned away ¨C with my luck I was never going to loot that thing from a chest - and followed the still snickering Verrick and the pale Belloff towards one of the cave walls. "We sure this is the way?" I asked, hoping to change the subject, and gloss over any inadequacies about my dungeon diving knowledge, knowledge that I should have had, but didn''t. Honestly, I was half surprised Verrick hadn''t figured out I was an imposter yet, he was a capped out [Shadowdancer] and his stats must be glorious. It seemed the concealing nature of the Garb was still managing to keep him fooled. And I hoped this would continue to be the case. "Yeah, I spotted a largish tunnel back this way, most of the tunnels around here are only just large enough for the goblins to stand upright, but this one would easily accommodate an orc." "You spotted the corpse I left in the hut then?" "Of course," he snorted, "the orcs stench was easy enough to pick out." I trudged forwards, following the two men to the tunnel Verrick had found earlier, dispirited and chagrinned. But when I saw the mouth of the tunnel my spirit soared and I bounced up and down a couple of times, then skipped ahead of the other two. "Looooot! My precious, precious looot!" I was pretty sure they were sniggering at me again, but I didn''t care, I couldn''t wait to get my hands on some shiny precious loots''! The chest was suitably archaic in looks, dark wooden planks bound together by iron bands, the top arched. It was perhaps three feet wide, one foot long and two feet high, plus a few inches for the arch. My first proper dungeon chest! I was so excited, I could feel bubbles of pure joy exploding in my chest, fighting to free themselves. I held them back, barely. I felt like squee''ing. I''d never squee''d before, thinking it was just for those idiots who went to whichever boyband was ''in'' at the time. Looking at the chest, drool escaping my open smile, I almost understood what they felt. Almost. This was about as far from a boyband as you could get. Unless there was drugs and a blackened withered heart inside, but I hoped not. That''d be bad loot. I wanted shinies! Glinting, scintillating coins from an ancient kingdom! Lost tomes of Magic! Treasure Maps! My anticipation built, and built and built. Then, when I''d reached a crescendo, dreams of rolling in riches, discovering old Magics and uncovering ancient treasures I reached out and flipped the lid! "What... happened?" "I''m not entirely sure..." "Well, you''re the adventurer, can''t you like, check on her or something?" "It does really work like that, My Lord." "How does it work then?" "It... actually, this looks a lot like she ran out of Stamina again, which is silly. She should be well on her way to recovery now." "Could the chest have been trapped?" "Hmm, the chests found at the end of each floor are rarely trapped, though I suppose it is a possibility. Though, if she was under some kind of effect we should also be able to see it in the party window." Verrick stepped forward to inspect the chest. "Nope, nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing at all, which is very odd. It''s extremely rare to get a dud chest. Especially in this dungeon. Oh well, nothing doing. We were just unlucky is all." And with that dismissive word, my brain, which had come to a screeching halt at the sight of the empty chest, kickstarted itself again. Silly me, anything that relies on RNG will always go against me. I stood up, shrugging off my woes and crushed dreams. "Let''s go." The two men shared a look, and with a muttered "women" from the MoC, they followed. I heard that, bastard. And I resent that, why, I knew plenty of women who''d sock you one for that. I stomped off down the tunnel to the next floor, eager to put what just happened behind me, and hopefully, discover new shinies! I soon found myself knee deep in shit, fighting off massive rottweiler-esque beetles. It was an odd combination, the face looked exactly like the German dog and was the size of one. However, the rest of the body was covered in carapace. Considering our location ¨C within some tunnels that the orcs used to dump their waste ¨C I figured they were meant to be some kind of mutated dung beetle. I swung [Into The Fire] downwards once more, the burning effect cooking the insides of the ''[Metzscarab]'' at the same time as the pan crushed the carapace. Blunt weapons worked much better on these buggers, the carapace deflected piercing and slashing attacks, much to Verrick''s chagrin. He''d quickly put his short-sword''s away and retrieved twin extendable batons from somewhere within the folds of his cloak. "Ack," I scrunched up my nose and surveyed our little battleground. "Was that the last of them?" "Not- ahah, gotcha!" Verrick cut himself off and spun, kicking a beetle that had jumped out at Belloff from the piles of shit we were standing in, the beetle bounced off the wall straight into the cross-swing of the [Shadowdancer]''s batons. "Okay, that should be all of them now." "Please tell me we''re almost at the end! I thought we went down here to avoid fighting? I didn''t sign up for this!" Belloff''s nasally whine had grown worse after he''d put a clothespeg on his nose, to block the stench. I had no idea where he''d produced one from, and when asked he claimed he had no more. "No plan survives contact with the enemy," I muttered, a quote I''d used often in my days as a raid leader in AoH. "Indeed, Empress." Verrick agreed, "none of us foresaw oversized dung beetles. Even so, this was far less fighting than if we''d gone ''topside''." With plenty of more grumbling and whining, and a bit of cajoling from Verrick and me, the MoC retreated from his perch and we moved on. Further into the depths of the shithole we were wading through. We''d walked down the twisting tunnel leading from the goblin''s encampment as it descended to the floor below for almost half an hour before we''d found the first sign of the orcs. A small guardpost, more of a way station really, in a small cave off the main passage, the first offshoot we''d seen during the descent. Verrick had gone on ahead and cleared the place for us. He needn''t have bothered though, the two orcs inside had been dead to the world already, the countless grimy bottles strewn over the dirt-stained table were undeniable proof of their dereliction of duty. To be fair, they were guarding the passage towards their goblin allies, but still, they should have remained vigilant should the worst happen. Not that it would have mattered, the [Shadowdancer] would have made short work of them either way. Pinned to one of the cramped space''s walls had been a crude map of the floor, we ¨C and by we I meant Verrick ¨C had parsed it well enough to see the sewer and waste tunnels they used that crisscrossed the cavern floor beneath the fairly large fort they''d built. We ¨C Verrick ¨C had figured out we could follow one of them to the commander''s quarters ¨C likely where the two orc brothers would be found. And that''s how I found myself staring up at the shit-stained shaft that must be the outflow of their toilet. I hoped they didn''t feel the need to go anytime soon. "Any ideas?" "I''ve got a rope, I''ll just climb up and drop it down to you guys, if you hook it around your armpits then I can just haul you up." "Up? I''m not going up there!" We both ignored the whiny elf. "Sounds good, need a boost?" "For this trifling climb?" Verrick answered his rhetorical question by leaping straight up about eight feet, then wedging himself in the shaft above. He quickly shimmied his way up the ''shit-chimney'', until he''d left our sights. A few moments later when a piece of rope dropped down with a loop in the end, I made my move, grabbing the loop and flipping it over Belloff''s shoulders before he could protest. I tugged it a couple of times, yelled "all set," and the struggling and flailing MoC was yanked up the shaft, his robes getting smeared in dried orc shit as he swung about, hitting the sides. A warm fuzzy feeling built in my chest at the sight. That had felt good. I ascended the shaft a few moments later, with much less swinging and only one minor scrape against the wall. Did Belloff''s floundering make things worse for him, or did Verrick do that on purpose? My Garb, back in its parody of the MoC''s robes, remained as clear as ever despite my surroundings. Something I was very thankful for. Though, it wasn''t long now until I lost its protection. [06:12:49]. I hoped we''d be out of here and I could find a spot to have another ''chat'' with Belloff before it came off. Though, if not I''d deal with it. I was in a position of power either way now, they didn''t have time to restart the dungeon claim before it''d start sending its quests out. Eyes enhanced by some spell Verrick had cast on us earlier inspected the room we''d arrived in. Calling it a room was a bit of a stretch really, it was a closet, about the size of the stalls you get in public toilets. I didn''t see any method of wiping or cleaning your hands after using the hole-in-the-ground-with-a-grimy-plank-over-it either. Yuck. I was perched over the hole in question, Verrick and Belloff taking up the only floor space available in the room as they argued. Verrick finally won and Belloff agreed to remain in the shithole. One problem dealt with. Now to find the two orcs Terk and Tirk. Verrick eased the door open slowly, all of us wincing at the creaking sound the wooden hinges made and dropped into stealth before moving into the hall beyond. I waited for his whispered "all clear," before I followed him out. Finger held to lips, he gestured me down the hall in front of us, the poophole was situated at the end. A few flickering torches lit our way down the stuffy passage, dirty and mouldy drapings hung on the walls around us. We came across a couple of doors before we reached the end of the hall, each time Verrick eased it open carefully, before shaking his head and moving on. We turned right at the end of the hall, stepping into another hall that was a copy of the first. At the end we found another rotting door, after peeking through the [Shadowdancer] shook his head and gestured for us to turn around. "Not in there? I thought I heard voices..." I whispered as quietly as I could, causing him to pause and glance my way. "Just some guards, this way should lead deeper into the commander''s quarters." "Should?" "Well either that, or we''re on the wrong side of the guards and we''ll have to fight our way through them." I gulped and nodded. As much as I liked EXP, not fighting led to less pain. Less pain was always good. We followed the hall to the end, after a shake of the head at the only other door, we came to the end. Verrick giving me a curt nod of the head before he stood up and ambled into the room beyond. I followed him through, confused. I''d thought we were trying to sneak in. But, upon entering I soon worked it out. We''d found the brother''s bedchambers, a large room covered in yet more drapings and as badly lit as the halls behind us. Two huge mounds of cushions and throws rested on the floor on opposite sides of the room. There was nobody else inside. "We wait until they turn in then?" "That''s the plan." "What about Elbellkioff?" He sighed as if hoping I''d forgotten about that nuisance. "I''ll go retrieve him, he can hide in here too. Just in case they use the loo before bed." With Belloff back with us, we wormed our way under the cushions and throws under one of the beds. The idea was to wait until they''d fallen asleep, then for me and Verrick to ambush this one, then he''d [Shadow-Walk] to the other, hopefully before he woke up. If not we''d double-team that one until it was done. With time ticking down past the five and a half hour mark, and with my face mashed into what I was fairly sure was orc semen, they finally returned. But they didn''t go to sleep right away. Oh no. They''d brought company. The female kind. More than one each as well from the sounds of it. I gritted my teeth and bore through as the orc brother above us had his fun. Never fucking hiding under someone''s bed again. Never. Fucking. Ever. * Dungeons & Demons VI Dungeons & Demons VI That''s an hour of my life I''ll never get back. Laying there, crushed under the weight of an orc and his bedmates, dried semen pressed into the veil over my face, I wondered how fucked up my life was now that this wasn''t close to the strangest thing to happen to me in the last day or so. Still, with my hormones restored, I wasn''t unhappy with my current position. Sure, it wasn''t exactly what I''d imagined doing if I was lucky enough to be transported to another world, but I didn''t have too many complaints. Well maybe one or two, but that was neither here nor there. Wait, we didn''t agree on a signal of when to strike... guess I''ll just have to wait until Verrick makes his move. It wasn''t until about twenty minutes later, with the lumps above my head far into dreamland, that I heard the first noise that wasn''t a grunt, moan or a snore in a while. It was the sound of Verrick slitting a throat. I''d recognise it anywhere. Time to move. By the time I''d levered myself out from my hiding place ¨C some of the cushions, and now dead bodies had shifted slightly making my egress harder ¨C Verrick had already killed the three orcs and one yellow goblin ¨C I was guessing these ones were hobgoblins ¨C that lay naked and intertwined upon the bed. Damnit, late to the party! Looking around, I took stock of the situation. Verrick had already made his way over to the other bed, either by [Shadow-Walk]ing, or just plain sneaking and was engaged in slaughtering the bleary-eyed women that the awakened orc was throwing at him. Apparently, we hadn''t been stealthy enough assassinating the first group. ¡°Hold the door!¡± Verrick yelled. The dying screams of the orc''s concubines had drawn his guards to his quarters. The bone-chilling screams a marked difference to the shouts of pleasure they heard earlier in the night. Heavily armoured boots clashed against the ground as the troop of guards Verrick had seen earlier ran towards us. I made it to the door just in time to brace myself in front of it. I was thrown back a couple of feet into the room as their charge hit the door. Thankfully, they must have fallen back too as I had time to scramble to my feet and press my shoulder into the door before they had a chance to capitalise on their success. Looking back to check on Verrick''s process I winced, it seemed we''d been unlucky in our choice of targets. The brother ¨C I had no way of knowing if it was Terk or Tirk ¨C was clearly another stealth type, likely why he''d had time to respond to Verrick''s attack in the first place. The High Duke danced in the shadows, darkness enveloped his form as shadowy tendrils seemed to whip about at random, following some rhythm only he could hear. The dangerous looking tendrils appeared to do no damage to his inert surroundings, but I could see that any time they licked the flesh of one of the cooling bodies, it left pale and withered flesh behind. I was thankful the room was as large as it was. As even in a Party friendly-fire was anything but. The blurred figure that was his target was rolling, flipping and swaying around, past and away from the tendrils. His dodging leaving him unharmed thus far. Though, he was also unable to even consider making an attack on my Partymate. My distraction cost me dearly, I was unprepared for the axe that cut right through the door''s hinges, leaving me propping up a slab of wood, rather than bracing a door. Moments later they charged through the doorway, almost trampling me under the unhinged door. Seeing that it was a lost cause, I rolled back just in time. Using my dodge to bring myself to my feet as quickly as possible, I came up, [Into The Fire] swinging base first as I willed [Scatter-fire] to activate. Two [Fireball]s shot out, the tennis ball sized spheres of fire spitting and spinning towards the orcish guards, catching them off-guard and exploding in the faces of the first two through the breach. The first was killed instantly as both the balls of fire sandwiched his head between them. The second barely survived, staggering out of the dying fire screaming and clutching his burnt and scarred face. That still left me to face another three heavily armoured and armed orc warriors, and with Verrick still dancing with the blurred figure of our target, I knew I would be getting no support. I had two options before me, charge or retreat. My body reacted before my mind could insert a bit rationalism into it. ¡°Yaaaargh!¡± I ran smack into the first orc in line and quickly bounced off. Apparently, my body had forgotten that I was no longer a stout dwarf wearing heavy full plate and was instead a slim elf wearing a meat dress. Damn you, Lady Gaga! The orcs stopped in the entryway. ¡°Hah! Look Grurk, the puny thing knows its place!¡± ¡°Meat on meat?! Best supper ever!¡± ¡°Drerk Smash!¡± Their banter gave me time to reset myself in preparation for their attack. It was now far too late to fight them one on one as they came through, now I had to make sure they didn''t surround me. I angled myself back towards the bed I''d been hiding under, hopefully, the uneven footing would cause the heavily armoured orcs some problems. Plus if they accidentally squished Belloff then that''d be a massive bonus! Okay, maybe not. We''d have to cease our claim attempt if one of us died, but in the heat of battle, I found I didn''t care about that all that much. ¡°Enough, look, it''s trying to escape!¡± ¡°I still think spit-roasting it would be better than a barbeque!¡± ¡°Drerk smash!¡± Stumbling back onto the corpse-infested bed, I popped the cork off my bloodskin ¨C I''d forgotten it in my rush for loot, thankfully, Verrick had not ¨C and willed the blood to hit the orc who seemed to be in charge. It spattered ineffectively against his chest plate, only succeeding in diverting their full attentions to me, their banter finally stopped. Oops. It was only a [Ring of Minor Blood-Dart], I should''ve guessed it would be of no use against someone wearing breastplate. Even if it was dented grime-ridden. Plan B it was then. As they approached I racked my brain for a plan B, and unable to come up with one I went with the tried and true plan Z. ¡°Yaaaargh!¡± Yeah, I needed to come up with a new battlecry. Or, even better, a new battleplan that didn''t involve me charging my opponents. I ran in the opposite direction of the ¡°Drerk Smash!¡± guy, as he was about a foot taller than the other two and was wielding a massive lump of mishappen metal on the end of a pole. Clearly his smash-stick. I didn''t want to get smashed by the smash-stick. Instead, I lined up a swing at the guy who was still trying to convince the others to spit-roast me. I actually agreed with the other guy, I''d much prefer to be at a barbeque right now. I was almost surprised with the ease that I bought the first guy down, leading with the pan, I whacked him one in the knee, tripping him over, then jumped on him as he fell and mauled his face. The pan''s burning effect causing painful blisters to break out on his face. Before I could celebrate my victory, I found an axe buried in my flank, the sheer power of the blow deforming my torso, even as the Garb denied it entry. That one blow removed around a third of my remaining health, reminding me that sneak attacks were a thing. I''d thought I''d kept an eye on his movements but I definitely hadn''t seen that blow coming. I groaned as I folded around the axehead, but I was getting used to the pain now and I was still able to move my left hand to grab a hold of the axe shaft before he could retrieve it for another attack. In fact, pulling back for another swing actually help pull me up and gave extra momentum to my blow. He got his hand up in time to block the swing before it hit his head, unfortunately, he got caught out by [Into The Fire]''s effect and let go with a scream as his hand burnt and blistered around where he''d touched it. Sensing an opportunity, I leant forward, still gripping his axe, and headbutted him in the face. ¡°Ooowww!¡± Yeah, maybe that hadn''t been a good idea, his skull was way harder than I expected. We both stumbled backwards from the blow, my frying pan knocked loose from suddenly weakened grip as his flailing limbs clipped it. I managed to keep hold of his shabby looking axe though. I dove to my right, landing on the soft bed cushions as I barely dodged the hunk of metal that came from almost nowhere. His battlecry of ¡°Drerk Smash!¡± was the only reason I''d noticed it coming and had been able to dodge in time. I lost the grip on the axe as I crab-walked backwards, doing my best to escape the bone-crushing blows of the enraged orc, slip-sliding over the blood-soaked and corpse-riddled bed. Weaponless and out of options, I could only hope he''d trip and fall on one of the bodies or perhaps that Verrick was done with his fight. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell I wouldn''t be finding any assistance from that quarter, he had the final orc brother on the ropes, strips of his flesh paled from the earlier strikes of Verrick''s shadows. The shadows were gone now and the orc had produced twin daggers from somewhere ¨C probably his [Inventory], and they were fighting blade to blade. While Verrick clearly had the upper hand, my fight would be over long before he''d be able to help. Wait... [Inventory]... that''s it! I still have the Duchess''s spear in there! I quickly flipped through my options and opened the [Inventory]. Five spots were filled, two taken by the spear and three with potions Felix had provided me with, two healing and one an agility booster. Neither would be of help here, however, so I willed the spear to appear in my hands. The mass of metal smacked into the bed just below my groin as I was forced to move, the action interrupting my [Inventory] retrieval. I had to dismiss my [Inventory] and any hopes of using the spear with it, turned out the five seconds it took to retrieve an item was far too long in combat as it required you to be completely still while you accessed it. I briefly wondered how the orc had managed it but pushed such concerns from my mind as I had far more pressing matters to deal with. When my hand landed in yet another pool of sticky fluid, I remembered that I actually did have another weapon on my person, one I could not remove due to the Garb. Unlike the other two, this gigantic orc wore no metal armour and was instead covered in dark fur of uncertain origin. I willed my ring to activate as he lifted the hammer above his head, ready to crush me once and for all. And crush me he would, I would be unable to dodge while I activated the ring and I was sure a hit from that thing in my prone position would count as a critical hit. My Health had regenerated back above 80%, but I wasn''t sure if that would be enough to survive his deadly attack. The Dart shot from a nearby pool of blood, coalescing a few inches above the pool before spitting out towards the orc. As the Dart neared his form, I realised my aim had been off and it would miss my target. I looked towards the lump of metal as it descended to end my short existence in this world, when a hint of movement caught my eye and I felt hope again.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. While the Dart had surely missed my target ¨C his chest, the largest part of him I could aim at ¨C it might not miss him entirely, the arc of his attack, the semi-circle the lump of metal was making was bringing my own attack into the range of his arms. Time seemed to slow as the two arcs met, then passed each other, the Dart missing his arm by a hair''s breadth and instead landing on the outside of his clenched fist, his reaction, borne by instinct, was to shy away from the blow. His grip slackened, the oversized sledgehammer flying from his grip and landing somewhere behind me, lost from sight. Time sped up again, and I knew I didn''t have time to wait for the cooldown so I could send another blood-dart at him. He was, however, in the perfect position for an entirely different sort of attack. I lifted my leg straight up as hard as I could and struck him squarely in his balls, a high pitched whine escaped from between his tusks as he toppled backwards. The dying screams of the burning orc began again, a terrifying background track to my fight. I ignored it, too focused on the task at hand to deal with the ear-bleeding screeches. Though I was slightly surprised that he still lived, his screams had cut off a while back, leading me to conclude ¨C obviously incorrectly ¨C that he''d perished. There was also a slight concern that the sound could draw more guards, but honestly, if that were the case I reckoned it would have happened by now. So, doing my best to ignore the distraction, I stalked toward the massive orc, keeled over from a blow to his family jewels. He was still clutching them as he said his last words, ¡°Drerk.... sm..ash..¡± and I neatly removed his head in one blow from the axe his friend had dropped earlier. Or at least, that''s what I''d planned on happening. Turns out, the neck isn''t as easy to chop as Hollywood and certain VR games would lead you to believe. Or perhaps, the axe was just dull. Either way, it took me a good few whacks to remove it, his Vitality allowing him to survive until the final blow. Ugh, who knew killing would be so messy. Hefting my newest weapon ¨C I''d have to find the frying pan again, dropping it in combat was becoming a worrisome theme ¨C I decided it was time to end the screams once and for all, then I could finally give Verrick some assist- ¡°What are you doing?!¡± ¡°What does it look like, Empress?¡± ¡°Well, it looks like you''re lounging on the body of a burnt orc.¡± ¡°Ah good, your vision is unimpaired, I was worried for a moment there.¡± ¡°... Is that your sword you''re lea- nevermind.¡± I growled in frustration, it seemed Verrick had finished off his opponent when I was busy, and he''d decided to rest on a screaming orc- Wait, he already killed that orc. It''s obviously unable to breathe with that sword in his lungs... Actually, he''d probably be dead without it. So where are those screams coming from? ¡°Uh, Verrick,¡± I asked, as I slowly turned around, following the sounds of the screaming. ¡°Yes my dear Empress, what is it?¡± ¡°Is that... Are those... Belloff?¡± I finished lamely, unable to see the MoC, but it appeared that all the other orcs were very much dead. ¡°Why yes, I do believe you are correct.¡± ¡°Shouldn''t we, um... do something about it?¡± ¡°Something?¡± ¡°Yes, Verrick, like maybe finding out why he''s screaming so loudly, and perhaps removing whatever it is that''s doing it.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Probably.¡± He made no move to get up from his relaxed position, though. Seemingly unconcerned about our Partymates situation, whatever it was. I pinched my nose in frustration ¨C as best I could with the Garb in the way. ¡°Get on with it then!¡± ¡°Oh, you want me to...¡± He flicked a lazy hand toward the direction of the screams. ¡°Yes please, unless you have something more pressing to attend to?¡± I finally checked the Party Vitals on my hud and saw that whatever had damaged Belloff was still doing it, his Health ticked down one point from 19% as I watched. Verrick took his time looking around the room we were in, taking in the dead bodies surrounding us, he sighed in obvious disappointment. ¡°Guess not.¡± He stood up and dusted himself off, and seeing me watching, threw me a wink before stretching slowly. Damn that man, how does he pull off looking so good in this situation? Stretching done, he ignored my growls as he slowly cleaned the blood off his sword before sheathing it at his side. I assumed he was finally done, but he paused after taking a single step. Holding his hand out, finger pointed up in a ¨C apparently universal sign ¨C for ''wait a sec'', he pulled out a hand mirror from somewhere within his cloak, joining that item with a toothpick he then rooted around in his mouth for a few moments, before finally finding whatever he was looking for and tossing it randomly into the room beyond. ¡°Finally! That seed has been bugging me for hours!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Right-o, let''s do this then. Don''t you realise our dear friend is taking damage as you just stand there doing nothing.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You know Verrick, you don''t act like any High Duke I''ve ever heard of... Or met...¡± He chuckled, ¡°right back atcha, Win.¡± With a final wink, he finally ambled over to help. If I had been on the fence about his feelings four our ''dear friend'' before ¨C which I hadn''t been ¨C I certainly wasn''t now. I hadn''t been tarrying as Verrick delayed his help for as long as he could. However, Belloff''s predicament wasn''t something I could deal with on my own. The hammer the massive orc had dropped earlier, had apparently landed on top of the cushion Belloff had been hiding under, the cushion cushioning the blow enough that he survived, but he was trapped and unable to move. The massive hammer had been far too heavy for me to shift on my own, hence Verrick''s assistance was necessary. ¡°If you finished your fight so early you could''ve helped...¡± ¡°I am helping.¡± I ignored his grin, ¡°you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Eh, you looked like you could manage on your own, and I was right!¡± I groaned and wondered what was more likely to kill me and Belloff; the dungeon, or Verrick? When the MoC ticked down to the 10% marker, Verrick finally reached out a languid hand and plucked the hammer up like it was one of those hammer-shaped balloons instead of a couple of tons of unshaped metal on the end of an eight-foot steel pole. Once the massive weight had been tossed aside with the same ease as a toothpick, Belloff crawled out from his hiding place, completely pale and leaking blood. He ignored our polite queries about his ongoing Health, and chugged a potion he removed from his inventory, the potion restored his Health to full in one shot, but it did nothing for he bedraggled look, pale skin, nor the bloodstains on his robes ¨C as a minor side-note, the Garb was back to mocking the MoC. After weathering the pale elf''s tirade, and placating him as best we could, we proceeded to search the entire place top to bottom for the damned egg. We did find a few chicken eggs, but no Cockatrice egg. It took until we finished searching the final room for the quest prompt to appear once more.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 2/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. Despite your best efforts, the search for the egg continues. You did, however, manage to deal with the troublesome twins, Terk and Tirk. Reward: 750 EXP Bonus Reward: Total Kill count: 17 Contributions: 8 Bonus EXP awarded: 860 Total EXP awarded: 1610 Due to special actions, you have gained: Luck +1(reduced), Dexterity +1.
I was far more pleased with the rewards for the second floor, not only did I gain a point in Luck, but I just managed to gain enough experience to pick up my next level! The next quest prompt blocked me from leveling just yet, however.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 3/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. After searching the Commander''s quarter''s, you were unable to find a clue to its whereabouts. However, all is not lost. The last two members of the raiding Party reside within the walls of the orc town Grinkdor. Search High Priest Ledrik and his associate, Paladin-Captain Erbwick''s quarters for the missing egg. Difficulty: Normal, Scaling. Level recommended: N/A. Reward: 250 EXP/TL.
All five of the raiders were found in the first three levels? That was odd, I''d assumed they''d each act as a boss fight on separate floors. An assumption already debunked by the twins on this floor. Still, it did leave the final two levels as a complete blank. I went back and retrieved my frying pan and bloodskin from where I''d left them, in the orcs'' bedchambers ¨C I hadn''t wanted to lug them all over the place and I was confident Verrick could deal with any surprises. Not that there had been any. I took the brief time I had apart from the other two to level up.
Your Elf (Planar) Class has increased to: Level 6! You gain 6 Free Stat Points and +1 Resistance, Willpower, Vitality and Luck. You receive a bonus inventory space due to the nature of your Race!
I dropped the first point straight into Luck without bothering to consider any other options, this brought it down to the still depressingly low number of -495. I didn''t spend too long deliberating on my next four points, bringing both Agility and Vitality to 65, both stats were vital to my survival. The last point took me a bit longer to figure out, but with time of the essence I dropped it into my lowest stat ¨C Spellpower ¨C bringing it up to 46, in the hopes that it would increase the damage of the [Ring of Minor Blood-Dart]. I also noted that unlike previous level ups, the exp for next level remained unchanged, still sitting at an even 4k EXP needed. I confirmed my choices and hurried back to the other two, one eye on the clock tick-tocking down in the corner of my hud. [04:26:01] I hadn''t expected time to run down so quickly and we still had to get out of this floor and complete three more in the time left, before we even entered the individualised quests to actually claim the place. We ¨C I ¨C were going to be cutting this close. "So," I said cheerful about my new level, "how are we leaving this place, there''s still plenty of orcs outside." In response, Belloff nodded his head at the open door we stood before, and at what lay beyond. "Not..." "Yep," Verrick had picked up on my cheer, or perhaps stolen it as a sinking feeling came over me, "back down the shitter we go!" "Please never utter that sentence again." The [Shadowdancer] was far too happy about diving back down the shithole. "Is there no other way out of here?" Belloff, the voice of reason. What had this world come to? "Nope," still far too cheerful, "not if you want to be out of here and to this town of theirs before the time runs out, by my reckoning we have only three and a half hours left, we spent far too long in this floor, Empress?" "Hmm, oh yeah, that looks about right." Shit, I''d forgotten that the time to get to the end of these five floors was actually an hour before the Garb came off. Apparently, once we were in we could spend as long as we liked staking our claim, but we still had to get there before time ran out. Belloff let out a long-suffering sigh and with one last look at his already shit and bloodstained robes gave a reluctant nod. As I descended the shaft on the end of Verrick''s rope, I wondered what other crappy trials awaited us on the floors below. * Dungeons & Demons VII Dungeons & Demons VII Grinkdor was technically the first town I visited in my new world, it was located in a vast cavern that was a few miles in diameter, multiple dim crystals filled the ceiling, washing the entire place in an eerie violet hue. Orcs and goblins usually had some form of dark/low-light vision in lore, so I figured it was enough for them to see by, though I could see sputtering torches dotted about the warren-like streets at random, so maybe it wasn''t quite enough? The town itself was located at the peak of the small slope that rose up to our right, the back end of the town ¨C where I could see the richest and largest buildings had been built ¨C was backed up next to the cavern wall on that side, a massive waterfall could be seen crashing down, splitting the town in two with its river. The underwater river meandered out through the walls of the town and down the small slope, as it travelled through the cavern, the banks expanded, the river getting both wider and faster, picking up speed once more. Speed it had lost when it pooled in the small lake at the bottom of the waterfall. The water also got much dirtier and debris-ridden the further downstream it got. Starting at the beautiful almost clear violet coloured lake ¨C there were more of the glowing crystals at the bottom of the lake, though, I could not see any others that weren''t on the roof of the cavern ¨C and progressing down the spectrum to a murky, viscous black gunge at the point it flowed from our view. The reason for this wasn''t just because of the waste produced by the town, ¨C Verrick reckoned there must be about ten thousand orcs inside its walls ¨C in fact, it was far more likely the run-off from the fungal farms were the cause of it. The orcs, in a fit of genius, had opted to farm the massive ¨C almost two stories tall in a few cases ¨C mushrooms that littered the cavern floor, obviously their main source of sustenance. There was also hog farms dotted about in small clearings in the fungal forest, their run-off perhaps even worse than that of the mushroom farms. We followed a path Verrick had discovered in a more inclusive map he''d found in the orc Commander''s ready room ¨C there had clearly been just one Commander, but none of us were sure which brother it had been, and in the end it hadn''t really mattered anyway ¨C and we''d traversed through a few cramped disused tunnels, until we''d come out the back of the fortress and found ourselves overlooking this oddly stunning vista. There were no guards in sight or any other orcs for that matter. They obviously figured the massive fortress guarding their flank to be more than enough. Apart from the fortress to our backs, we could see no other points of ingress or egress, except the rivers two, of course. As we made our way down towards the river in front of us, veering slightly to the left, I wondered if this were normal for a dungeon in Elmeron. The goblins'' encampment had been slightly odd for a dungeon, in my opinion, the orc''s fort and been even stranger, having a similar number of beings inside it ¨C around 600 according to a list in the Commander''s ready room ¨C but this was insane. There was no way the dungeon had created all this in the brief time it took for us to enter it, right? How could it create this location instantly, with its obvious wear and tear ¨C some of the sewer tunnels had clearly been ancient and were obviously of a different design than the more frequently used ones. They''d clearly built their fortress on top of a previous structure, or perhaps built upon what had already been there. I couldn''t make heads nor tails of it. Was the dungeon godlike to these creatures, creating histories, memories, lives for these creatures out of nothing, or was each intelligent being we came across just a small spark, a tiny particle of its mind? I struggled to conceive of any mind that could handle that much information at once. Even the limited AI''s of my world, run on quantum processers, would be far from reaching the processing power required to manage it all. Heck, even though they technically had more connections than a human brain, and ran a fair bit faster at that, they were far from sapient. They still couldn''t think for themselves, still single-minded and obstinate. Though, I guessed the dungeon didn''t necessarily have to be sapient at all. Of course, the other options that came to mind were far more likely than that of a godlike being either creating everything at once or controlling everything at once. The simplest option was that the portal into the dungeon had actually transported us to somewhere else in the world, and the dungeon had just given us a quest that was relevant to the location. I was hesitant to believe this to be true, however, my experience may have just come from fantasy books, games and various other media, but dungeons were usually thought to be strictly limited to a singular area, with perhaps the ability to grow outside its bounds. No, it was far more likely that we were still inside its walls, that the dungeon was not both omnipresent and omnipotent. That concluded, there were only two real theories left, and they basically amounted to the same thing. Either the dungeon had created this society long ago, either as part of one of its 100 floors, or in preparation as just such a claiming run as ours, or a group of orcs, goblins and other such creatures had made a contract of sorts with the dungeon. Without more information on this world, and specifically dungeons, I couldn''t speculate further. But one, or perhaps a combination, of the last two options, seemed the most likely options. My thoughts about the nature of dungeons and how they worked, unfortunately, came to a close at this juncture. Unfortunately, it was because Verrick had led as down yet another shit-filled rubish-ridden cramped sewer tunnel that he''d found at the river''s edge, one that should lead us undetected into the rear of the town, where the Priest''s quarters were located. Interestingly, both Verrick and Belloff had been surprised at the notice of a [High Priest] and a [Paladin]. Their conversation a very informative insight into the history of the world I was now living in. Basically ¨C and for a reason they didn''t explain, despite my wishes otherwise ¨C a long time ago the gods of this world ¨C yes, they had actually existed here, in some form or another ¨C had disappeared. It had been thousands of years since anyone''s prayers had been answered, and only slightly less time than that since widespread worship of the god''s petered out completely. Not that it didn''t happen, apparently, in some pockets ¨C reading between the lines, out in the boonies ¨C worship of the gods still did occur. Whether they still existed or not was apparently a hot topic among scholar''s, historians and priests everywhere. What they didn''t debate, though, was the fact that holy magic still did exist. And various combat and non-combat Classes were available to be chosen, even if the gods you worshipped seemed to have faded into the void. It all made me extremely curious about how this world worked. The more I learnt, the less I knew. Thankfully, there weren''t any Metzscarabs in this sewer, nor were there any other real monsters so my distraction didn''t cost me. Though we did spot a few grotesque oversized rats but they skittered away when we get too close. Verrick left me and Belloff down in a surprisingly clean and open sewer ¨C perhaps a storm drain of some kind? If they even had such things as floods underground ¨C as he went to the surface to procure disguises for us. And by us, I, of course, meant him and Belloff. They''d have to scout ahead and ensure the path was safe for me on the surface. We couldn''t afford to set off any kind of alarms on this floor. Not only had it taken us around twenty minutes to get here, but there was no way we''d be able to fight off all the orcs above us, even if we''d had plenty of time to spare. So stealth was our best bet, stealth and disguises. I may have had a great disguise for blurring my person entirely, but it was no good at blending in, in any situation other than the one in which I''d found myself in the last few days. So they''d be doing the scouting and the disguising, and I''d be doing the running and the hiding, which was fine by me. ¡°We''re in the right place,¡± Verrick announced when he returned, trying to alleviate any worries we had. Seeing as I thought he''d led us unerringly to the correct location thus far, I hadn''t been at all worried that he''d done otherwise this time, until he said that. He was holding up two large brown pieces of clothing, I was unable to tell what they were until the other two put them on. They were very simple monk''s robes, a loose brown cloth that covered the entire body, barring the head when the hood was down, even the elf''s gangly arms were hidden within the folds of the loose billowing sleeves, the robes were cinched together loosely at the waist with a simple piece of hemp rope. Fortunately, the sewer we were in was a dry one, otherwise, the hems that dragged along the ground would have quickly been covered in the various waste products the orcs threw down here. It was a good thing, too, that orcs were generally well over six foot in height, as the lanky elf would normally stand out but was of the right height here, whereas the somewhat shorter human would actually be more conspicuous due to his shorter stature. I followed them up and out of the sewer here, as this exit led into the tight confines of a well-swept alley. I found the lack of rubbish a bit disconcerting considering my most recent surroundings, and my ¨C perhaps racist ¨C presumption that orcs, like goblins and other such creatures, usually wallowed within their own filth. Then again, the Emperor had been an orc himself, and he clearly had never wallowed in any filth. Not until his death at least. It took until the third such almost identical alleyway for me to realise why the streets were so quiet. Though to be fair, the violet crystals above didn''t seem to ever change in luminosity, so it wouldn''t be obvious to an outsider such as myself that it was actually their ''nighttime'' as we infiltrated their town. At first, I thought it was a lucky coincidence, but then I figured the dungeon had probably done it on purpose, there was no way it would expect us to sneak in here during the busiest part of their day? Actually, considering we were closing in on the end of the 24 hours, perhaps if we had found it earlier it would have been daytime here and made our current progress so much harder. After all, the reason the last level had been so easy ¨C partly at least ¨C was because we waited for them to go to sleep. Our destination had been obvious from the moment we entered the vast cavern the town was situated in, on the right side of the waterfall was the largest building in the town, the bell tower reaching up almost three stories higher than the castle that was its neighbour on the other side of the waterfall. It was, obviously, a cathedral of some sort, and it appeared to have been mostly hewn out of the cavern wall that formed one of its sides. The bell tower rose up above the ledge from whence the water came, that structure also made from the same stone, but obviously artificial in nature. The castle beside it stopped when it reached the ledge, though, it seemed like there was a small guardhouse of some sort that poked up ever so slightly. Gaining access to the cathedral was surprisingly easy, the massive doorway at the front of the structure was wide open for all. The priests obviously accepting supplicants at all hours. Verrick and Belloff simply walked in through the front door, then came and opened a side door we''d found in yet another well-scrubbed alley that was indistinguishable from the last. The side door opened into a small corridor that led to a washroom of sorts, massive vats were worked into the floor of the room, currently empty of any liquids, and of people. There were plenty more of the brown robes that my Partymates wore, alongside other similar outfits and bedspreads. Obviously, this cathedral was far from empty. The walls and ceilings were covered in tiny chips of crystal, smaller cousins of the ones on the cavern''s roof. My eyes had adjusted somewhat to the odd light but colours still felt slightly off, wood and stone and other such mundane things felt slightly mystical due to the violet hue. ¡°Where to?¡± I whispered, wondering how we were going to find an egg in this massive building. ¡°Up.¡± ¡°Up?¡± ¡°Yep, the higher one''s position, the higher and more removed the offices usually are in the building. I doubt a High Priest is any different. So we go up, and follow the scent of prosperity.¡± I nodded in agreement with Verrick''s assessment, rich people were the same everywhere it seemed, always surrounding themselves in luxury and lording it over their fellows. Not that I blamed them, not for their wealth anyway, if I was rich I''d surround myself with luxury too.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Or I would have in my previous world, here though, I wanted to do some exploring first, as long as I wasn''t killed I figured I''d have plenty of time for lazing about later, once I''d actually built up some wealth. Not ageing really changed how you viewed your future, and your prospects. We only had to dodge a couple of groups of orcs on our way through the cathedral, despite it being open there wasn''t actually that many people up and about at this time. And considering it''d be around midmorning outside, I figured dungeon time was slightly out of sync, which harkened back to my previous thoughts on the nature of dungeons, but just left me with more questions to add to my ever-growing list. Our passage through the building may have been unhindered, but it was still a massive structure, and it took two separate false leads before we finally found ourselves standing outside the [High Priest]''s office. We hoped it was his office anyway, otherwise, we''d have to accept our conclusion about his stature being incorrect and he was one of those godly followers that both preached and practised austerity. With an almost unheard click, Verrick removed his lockpicks from the old-fashioned ¨C for my world ¨C lock, and pushed the door open slowly, checking for any tripwires or other similar magical alarms as he did so. ¡°All clear,¡± he breathed, finding none. I took a step forward, intent on entering the room beyond when an unseen force kicked me in the chest, my ribs cracked, broke, then shattered as the force radiated outward from its point of origin at the centre of my breastbone. My skin, flesh and bones did little to deter the body shattering force, and it travelled unhindered through the centre of my body, ripping apart and flaying the organs in my chest. My scream died in my throat as I lost all of the air in my lungs, along with the lungs themselves, the force was fairly contained as it ripped through my body, mostly missing my struggling and soon to be oxygen deprived heart as the cylinder of destruction burst out the back of my body, taking the remainder of my lungs and a small section of my spine with it. This act of wanton destruction took bare fractions of a second to pass through my body and out into the hall beyond, its path, and any further destruction it would cause, was left unknown to us. As my body tipped backwards, the crushing pain halted due to the removal of the nerves in the centre of my spine, the pain that I''d barely begun to recognise, and I felt just the dull ache of its passing, only the memory of the pain that no doubt still wracked my decimated body. All this, however, was left behind, almost forgotten as the world shifted into shades of grey, the ever-present violet light washed out. A new body, greyscale to fit with the world beyond, slipped from my still falling body and completed the step I''d begun, and once the last molecule of my new form had removed itself from the shell behind, the world ground to a halt. But only momentarily, as two more shadows, grey ghosts in a grey world, stepped from the frozen forms of my partymates, and as my new existence took a second step, I felt growing horror as I realised I was just along for the ride. A passenger in my own body, my new transparent form moved to its own whims, no matter how long and how hard I struggled. Ghost-me and its ghost friends stalked carefully into the [High Priest]''s office, ignoring their counterparts they left frozen in the hall behind. ¡°There it is!¡± Ghost-me whispered, the sibilant sound echoing off the very fabric of the world around us, sounding as though it was only heard within my soul. It clearly wasn''t hower, as a similar but more nasally voice echoed from Belloff''s ghost self, his lips, as mine had been, remained unmoving as he spoke. ¡°Finally, let''s grab it and go.¡± The ostrich-sized egg was situated in pride of place on a pedestal to the right of the door. ¡°Wait,¡± Verrick''s voice joined the hissing whispers that resounded in my soul, ¡°let me check it for traps first!¡± But his warning came far too late, as it''d taken him a few seconds to process what the MoC had said, too busy studying a campaign-type map that was spread across the wall directly in front of us. Belloff lifted the egg from its pedestal, and after a few seconds paused, smiled. ¡°See, nothing happened. It wasn''t trapped, now let''s get out of here.¡± Verrick frowned, ¡°why would the [High Priest] leave such a valuable object out for anyone to grab without leaving a single ward behind to protect it? It makes no sense.¡± Belloff shrugged and espoused their luck, and the [High Priest]''s apparent arrogance as grounds for his lapse in security. Verrick frowned, but finding nothing to dispute it, turned back to the map, to find another way out of here, and to discover our next destination. I, however, could see what the others had missed, I was facing Belloff as he spoke to Verrick, his position not allowing him to see what I could. Verrick himself had his back to the cause of my newfound dread. My body turned, facing the glint of metal it had seen out of the corner of its eye, a piece of metal that should not be there. A piece of metal that had not been there when we had entered the room. I screamed, trying to warn the others of the new threat, but I was still but a passenger, unable to control the ghost body I was riding in, unable to voice my warning, even as I mentally shouted as loud as I could. I felt words bubble up in my ghost body, as it finally realised what I had already seen and worked to give its own warning, but it was far too late. Far, far too late. I cringed, attempting to dodge the fate of ghost-me, still fighting to control this body in a world gone mad ¨C or madder anyway ¨C but I was again, unsuccessful. An orc stood in the doorway, as grey as the rest of the world, helmless but wearing well-fitted plate armour, he could have been a twin to the ¡°Drerk Smash¡± guy, from the floor before. Excepting for the obvious intelligence I could see in his eyes, eyes that glowed a faint misty light, the same light that abounded from the strange looking runes on his armour. The same light the shone from the massive greatsword he was swinging, though the light of the sword was far harsher, far brighter than the rest. So bright, in fact, that I could only just make out the form of the sword, the lines of it blurring as the harsh light burnt my eyes. My cry rose from my lungs to my throat in its attempts to escape, to warn the others of this orc. An orc that had appeared from nowhere. That cry was cut off long before it escaped, dying in my throat just as I did. Cut off just as my head was. As the blazing greatsword sliced through my neck, I felt nothing, no hint of metal kissing flesh, no hint of that shining light affecting my body in anyway. And then all was light. A faint ache spread from my breastbone once more, the leftover remnants of an attack that I never saw coming as I suddenly felt myself residing in my normal body was more. The world was still frozen around me, though, as time passed, the violet light began its invasion of the dull grey around me. My body began its slow descent to the ground once more. Time, once frozen, was starting up again. And, looking at my vitals, I knew what I had to do. When time finally sped up to its normal passage once again, I''d already opened my [Inventory]. When Verrick and Belloff turned, concern on their faces as my Health dropped to critical levels, my insane regeneration unable to keep up with the damage, a potion dropped into my waiting hands. I willed my body to move, to remove the stopper from the potion so I could drink it. So I could regain health once more, and heal. But, my hastily formed plan to save my life failed due to one simple fact. I could no longer feel pain because my nerves in my brain were no longer connected to those in my body, but the pain-relieving effect had a far worse outcome. I could no longer control my limbs. I couldn''t remove the stopper from the potion vial. I could no longer lift that same vial to my mouth and swallow the life-saving liquid within. Verrick, however, was a seasoned adventurer, no doubt used to seeing team members injured and dying, and his instincts, honed through countless battles and dungeon runs, kicked in. He knelt, questing hands seeking the vial that rested in my limp hand, and the unstoppered vial was tipped into my mouth, his movement so quick and assured I was unable to follow them. The life-saving red liquid dripped down my throat and as it spread it halted the injuries from progressing further, then as it reached my lungs, it finally began repairing them. Targeting the worst injuries first, the high-level potion repaired my body in seconds, and I was glad that I had access to only the best of medicines as Empress. I groaned as I finally pulled myself to a seated position a minute later, my body still wracked with phantom pain, but already fully repaired. And as I did, bits of metal clinked to the ground below, falling from my body and the Garb that covered it. ¡°What in the System just happened!¡± Belloff whisper-shouted, getting far too close for comfort. Verrick pulled the irate MoC out of my personal space, much to my gratitude. ¡°Are you alright, Empress?¡± He asked a far more reasonable question. ¡°I... I think so...¡± He let out a sigh of relief, ¡°thank System for small favours.¡± He shifted back onto his haunches, ¡°and if you are feeling whole once more, I, too, would like to know what just happened.¡± ¡°I...¡± I ran my hands over my head and face, then down to my chest. Checking to ensure what I felt was true, that I really was whole once more. As I did so, another piece of metal dropped out of the Garb, the material practically pushing the foreign object out, and as I inspected the item, a growing understanding came over me. ¡°I can''t remember if I explained the third item Felix gifted to me, but I think it just activated and saved my life, and probably yours as well.¡± ¡°Well forgive me for saying, but it looked like it almost killed you, not saved you.¡± The MoC sneered. ¡°No, I don''t remember you mentioning such an item,¡± Verrick said, ignoring the MoC. ¡°Well, um, I kind of forgot about it, Felix had been unsure if it would even work when he gave it to me, so its existence just dropped from my mind.¡± ¡°So you just had an item equipped that had unknown effects as we entered a dungeon that the completion of, was paramount to the ruling of our country?!¡± Belloff, it seemed, was unable to let it go. I winced, ¡°yeah... I guess... I just trusted Felix, the quartermaster, wouldn''t give me something harmful.¡± ¡°That trust was misplaced then wasn''t it!¡± ¡°Ignoring its obvious detrimental effect, could you explain in your own time, why you think it saved our collective lives?¡± Verrick''s tone was soothing, and though I could see the reprimand in his eyes, he was willing to wait until I explained what happened before he passed judgement. ¡°Okay, well, um... ahem... When [The Amulet of Foresight] activated-¡± ¡°Exploded and almost kill you, you mean.¡± Belloff corrected, sneer in full force. But after a glare from Verrick, he agreed to remain quiet until he was done with my story. ¡°So, as I was saying, when [The Amulet of Foresight] activated, time stilled and froze. Then ghostly forms stepped from our bodies, like a strange after-image of sorts. Though, I guess it was more of a pre-image, a future-image?¡± ¡°Pfft, that sounds ridiculous.¡± ¡°No, not all. I have heard of similar things before, do go on, Empress.¡± Verrick defended me and glared at the MoC again. Quelling him once more, for a time at least. ¡°A-anyway, these ''future-images'' entered the office beyond, inside we found the Cockatrice''s egg, and a map pinned to the wall... I''m sure there were other things, but it''s all kind of blurred.¡± I paused, getting my ducks together as I thought through how best to explain what happened next. ¡°The egg was sitting in a pedestal to the right of the door, and seeing no obvious traps, Elbellkioff removed the egg from its position, and we were about to study the map to figure out where to go next, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Or at least, my future-image did. I was kind of along for the ride in my own body, it was a weird feeling... ¡°And when it turned, it- I saw an orc. He was wearing full plate and glowing with a strange white mist. He had a greatsword held in both hands and was in the process of swinging it at me. It glowed with the same light as his armour, though much brighter and harsher. When he finished his swing and removed my head my ghostly future-image, I reappeared in my actual body once more. And I had a few seconds before time restarted again, so I took that time to open my [Inventory] and began removing the potion vial... And that''s it really. I''d say it all took a minute or so to occur.¡± My story told, Verrick proceeded to interrogate me further, intent on discovering any other bits that I''d missed or glossed over in my retelling. Once done, he formed a plan of sorts, and I entered the [High Priest]''s office again. It looked just as it did before, except instead of shades of grey, the room was now resplendent in shades of purple, the room far more brightly lit than any other we''d entered in our search. The was an altar situated to the left of the door, bare stone with a small rug lying on the floor beneath, just large enough for one person to kneel upon. In front of that was a fairly large wooden desk ¨C I wondered where these people got all the wood from, it clearly hadn''t grown down in the caves ¨C with all manner of papyrus, scrolls and religious memorabilia scatted on its surface. The wall opposite the door was covered with a massive map, on that I could not make sense of, squiggling lines overlapped everywhere, the confusing mess obviously showing the tunnels we were in. Verrick spent some time in front of the massive map, working out an escape from the cavern we were in. Once an escape route was found, and his plan explained we finally picked up the egg. Verrick had been unable to discover the alarm that had been placed on the egg or the pedestal. So, instead of disabling it, he used my knowledge of what would happen to make a plan of attack. Belloff hid down the hall outside, far from the range of any attack, as I stood alone in the room, the most vulnerable position, and picked up the egg. Moments later, as he did in my vision, the orc [Paladin] appeared in the doorway, massive and glowing greatsword held in his hands, he scowled at me when he saw the egg held in my hands, and the light grew brighter as he prepared to charge. He didn''t have the chance to repeat his previous actions, my head remained safe atop my shoulders. Verrick had positioned himself in the shadows of the hallway, a massive sword of his own in his hands, it too was covered, but unlike the [Paladin]''s glowing sword, Verrick''s was covered in writhing shadows, shadows that lashed out and flicked at the air around it, a sensation of cold dread emanating from the blade, one that I could feel from the other side of the room as Verrick stepped from his shadows. The [Paladin] felt the blade too, of course. But he didn''t have any time to react as Verrick lashed out and removed the orc''s unarmoured head from his shoulders. ¡°Huh,¡± Verrick said with a small amount of surprise, ¡°well, that worked.¡± ¡°What do you mean, ''well that worked''. You assured me your plan was foolproof, that I was in no danger!¡± ¡°Not entirely foolproof... I was kind of expecting a fight, but I''m glad it ended as it did, that armour of his looks almost as well enchanted as my own.¡± ¡°...Right...¡± We left the dead [Paladin] behind in the office, locking the door as a minor delaying measure as we did so, then fled. Running to the escape route Verrick had discovered that led through a tight passage behind the waterfall. The [High Priest] would no doubt be hot on our heels as we entered the next floor, it was unlikely that the alarm had only notified the [Paladin], but we didn''t have the time to hang around and deal with him. Especially as it was likely he''d be bringing friends. However, if we escaped in time, we''d get away without any further repercussions. * Dungeons & Demons VIII Dungeons & Demons VIII
The Cockatrice''s Egg 3/5. Search for the Cockatrice''s Egg. Congratulations, you have found the Cockatrice''s egg! This is not the end, however, despite dealing with the pesky Paladin-Captain, you left the High Priest alive and well, behind you, be careful of pursuit! Reward: 1500 EXP Bonus Reward: Total Kill count: 0 Total EXP awarded: 1500 Due to special actions, you have gained: Luck +1(reduced), Vitality +2.
No kills or contributions meant no bonus EXP for me and I ended up gaining less EXP for the third floor than I did on the second, another increase in Luck and two more in Vitality ¨C no doubt for surviving what was basically a killing blow ¨C made me quite satisfied with the conclusion.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 4/5. Deliver the Cockatrice''s Egg. Now that you have found the Cockatrice''s egg, it is time to return it. Before you can enter her lair, however, you must make your way through the tunnels she has trapped in an attempt to halt the orcs continued raids. High Priest Ledrik is in hot pursuit, intent on retrieving the egg you stole from him once more, and on getting revenge for his Paladin friend. Difficulty: Hard, Scaling. Level recommended: N/A. Reward: 500 EXP/TL.
"Damn, now I wish we''d had the time to kill the [High Priest] as well." "Yes, but time is not something we''ve possessed since we entered this dungeon, we''ll have to hope he''ll struggle with the traps more than we do, and perhaps perishes in the attempt." Belloff''s superior tone riled me up to no end. "Hope in one hand and wishes in the other does not a sandwich make." "Err, what''s that Empress?" Verrick asked, curious. "Oh... er, just something someone I once knew said, basically it means we should just deal with what we have and what we know. We have to get through this floor, and the next, to claim this dungeon. We know there are traps, and the [High Priest] has passed through the traps before to get this damned egg. Therefore it seems unlikely he''ll perish in them, instead, it is far more likely he''ll circumvent them faster than we can. This means we should prepare to fight him at some point down here." That person I once knew had been my father, he''d always been a big believer in using what you had to hand, not wishing for something better, and dismissed anything philosophical as whimsical bullshit. I felt a hint of grief over the fact that I wouldn''t be seeing him again now, but I pushed it aside, knowing he''d hate for such an inconsequential thing to get in the way of my problems. He was a very direct man. "Well said Empress, though, we should not dismiss any attempts at completing the traps faster than the [High Priest] can before we even start. I for one always like to have some hope in my life, it''s not worth living otherwise." "I never claimed hope was a bad thing, just that we should prepare for the worst." "A viewpoint I can get behind if we''re all done resting I suggest we put words into actions and keep moving." Belloff had dismissed our conversation after he''d ''put me in my place'', and ignored our discussion but once we had moved forward a few steps he''d quickly scampered to catch up. The tunnel we were in was far different than any of the ones we''d been in above, most of those had been natural gaps in the earth or hand-made, and as such the walls had all been rough and chipped. Here, however, the tunnel had clearly been formed over countless years by the slow erosion that water caused, the tunnel was smooth and uniform. I wondered how long it had been since water how flowed where we now walked, and I wondered if someone had diverted the flow over the river overhead so they could explore these tunnels, or if it had been the natural shifting of earth and water that happens gradually over time. Or, if it were something the dungeon had done. It wasn''t long before we found our first trap. Verrick''s hand shooting out and grabbing Belloffs and my shoulders, halting us in our tracks. "Pit trap, careful." "Are you sure?" I asked, "I can''t see any hints of it." "Your senses probably aren''t enhanced enough due to your restricted state, but I can tell the echoes of our footsteps are slightly off just ahead. Indicative of a hollow space. It seems someone has tunnelled in underneath and weakened the floor at some point. Could be anything down there, but it''s probably spikes. Usually is, they''re the cliche for such traps, but very effective nonetheless." "How do we approach this then?" Belloff asked, face pale at his near-miss. "For you and I? Quite easily, I''ll just [Shadow-Walk] us across. For the Empress, it''ll be slightly tricker. The floor may still be strong enough to allow one person to cross, making it seem safe for any following, but we have no way of guaranteeing that. Not without an [Earth Mage] or something similar." Hoping for the best with my Luck was not something I was keen to try. "What do you suggest then?" Verrick held up the rope we''d used earlier to gain entry to the orcish fort. "Quite simply, I''ll tie this to some rocks on either side, then you''ll walk across holding it. If the floor falls out, you''ll just have to rope-climb the rest of the way. Easy." Easy... Right... I did see one obvious floor in his plan. "What rocks? The tunnel is completely smooth here." In answer, Verrick removed one of his short-swords and began making chipping away at the wall, each strike was enhanced by his stupendous strength and he soon had a spike of rock he could loop on end of the rope around. Once done, he tossed the rest as far down the tunnel as he could, then [Shadow-Walk]ed himself and Belloff to the other side. Once he''d made a similar anchor on the far side, and with some trepidation, I tentatively tiptoed forward, attempting to keep my weight even, and not stomp down on the floor too hard. Unfortunately, my attempts were for nought and I''d barely taken two steps before the floor fell away beneath me, giving me a terrifying look down at the massive rock spikes below. I had to hug the rope and crawl along the bottom side of it, doing my best to ignore what would no doubt be a painful death below if I were to fall. I had a few choice words for Verrick when I made my way to the other side, but he just left me to Belloff as he went back for his rope. The next two traps were practically identical to the first, though the third such trap marked the end of our easy progress forward, for, instead of spikes, bubbling lava waited at the bottom of the trap and I took some minor heat damage as I rope-crawled across the pit. After that we faced a few more cliche dart traps, a few swinging axe traps and even a massive rolling boulder we had to run from, I say we, but actually, only I did the running, Verrick simply [Shadow-Walk]ed himself and Belloff to the end and then waited for me there. Him skipping the traps with Belloff in tow became a distressing theme as we continued through the dungeon. We went through timed fire trapped tunnels where Verrick would discover the pattern then talk me through it from the other side, crumbling staircases where a single slip or misplaced step would drop you into lava, a turning beam where if you lost your balance you''d be thrown into a vat of bubbling tar. Swinging trapezes, obstacle courses that forced you to jump from tiny pedestal to tiny pedestal, all while under threat by football-shaped blobs of lava.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The traps felt less like traps after a while and more like trials, trials where the reward was yet another timed run over rickety swinging bridges suspended over viscous acid. I passed all such trials by the skin of my teeth, often with the liberal use of Verrick''s rope and the occasional [Shadow-Walk]ed flying save. I had to swallow the Agility potion Felix had provided me about halfway through, the additional 100 Agility making all the difference for the thirty minutes it was active. At the end of each trying obstacle, I''d be met with Belloff''s slight sneer and the reminder that we couldn''t afford to waste our time. Ragged and thoroughly pissed off by my Partymates'' ease at overcoming the obstacles I had to work my way through, we finally passed the final trap, at the end of which I found I hated the Garb with a vengeance. The magic negating aspect of it anyway. We entered a cavern, which according to Verrick''s mini-map ¨C one updated with our objective through analysing the map in the [High Priest]''s office ¨C was the final step before we entered the Cockatrice''s Lair. I was still kinda annoyed about finding out that a mini-map was only possible through special dungeon-related drops, and that I''d have to get gods-be-damned Lucky to loot one for myself. Thankfully, this was information Felix had provided when I''d asked him about such an item, and when pressed he admitted such items were always bound to the finder, and no one had been able to find a way to transfer it. Even after the person in question had died. The cavern was far smaller than the one in which Grinkdor was located, being only a few hundred metres in diameter. This one was also covered almost completely in lava, a small stone bridge extended to an outcropping of rock in the centre, then another bridge extended to the only other opening. Verrick [Shadow-Walk]ed to the island with Belloff, leaving me to traverse the precarious walkway alone. When I was halfway to them, the shouted warning of my companions alerted me that our pursuers had finally caught up with us. Wasn''t this another cliche? A backs to the wall battle against overwhelming numbers whilst surrounded by lava? The [High Priest] was easily recognisable due to the mitre he wore, and because he was giving some kind of rousing speech to the numerous followers he had brought with him as he chased us. A few of those followers bore obvious wounds and injuries from the traps they''d passed through to get here so quickly, unfortunately, too few of them had such wounds for my liking. We discussed the merits of retreating to the next floor, but we decided that it was unlikely we''d find a better spot there and that it was far more likely that we''d only find ourselves trapped between two enemies. Orcs weren''t known for their ranged capabilities, and these ones were no exception. Whatever ranged options they may have had were insufficient and were unable to travel the two hundred or so metres from the entrance to the island where we waited for them to approach. A few minutes after reaching the cavern, and the organised to the [High Priest]''s satisfaction, they began their assault. We hadn''t been idle as the [High Priest] organised his troops, I removed [Into The Fire] and the refilled bloodskin from my [Inventory], I''d stashed them there earlier as I needed my hands free for the various obstacles and my use of two of the potions had given me the free slots necessary. Technically speaking, I actually had four free slots after that but the Duchess I was impersonating should only have access to five. I had to leave the other two empty. Not that I had anything to fill those spots with anyway, the chests we''d opened at the end of levels two and three had been just as empty as the first, my terrible Luck kicking in once more, but Verrick just assumed it was because our goal was to claim the dungeon itself, so the dungeon wasn''t giving out rewards. That didn''t really explain why the chest was present in the first place, but they didn''t really understand this dungeon much better than I did ¨C it was similar to using a holo-phone but having no clue how they were built, I assumed ¨C and they didn''t find it too unusual. Belloff drew his borrowed longsword, almost cutting himself when the sword got stuck part way out and he fought to get the rest of the blade out in time. Our plan was quite simple, we would use the narrow confines of the bridge to our advantage. Verrick would use his throwing daggers to decrease their numbers before they reached us and I would use the [Ring of Minor Blood-Dart] to do the same while its charges lasted. The [High Priest] had brought about two hundred orcs with him, according to Verrick''s mini-map, the vast majority wore boiled leather jerkins and trousers and wielded a variety of weapons, their army was clearly expected to arm themselves and most of them did not look after their weapons properly. I saw many blades with nicks and dents in them, maces and hammers were little better ¨C and sometimes worse ¨C than the larger hammer the giant orc I''d fought earlier had used. Axes were tarnished, still stained with the blood of their previous foes. Not all weapons were in such disrepair, of course, but many were. There were a dozen orcs wearing chainmail that stayed with the [High Priest] as a personal guard of sorts. They all wielded the largest one-handed sword I''d seen and a slab of metal that I was hesitant to call a shield due to its massive proportions. We''d have to deal with the cannon-fodder ¨C err... dagger-fodder? - that made up the vast majority of their troops before we could deal with the [High Priest] and his guards. The platform we stood on was perhaps ten metres in diameter and was completely flat, there were no natural features we could use to assist in our battle, so we waited at the edge of the platform, intent on using the bridge to funnel them to us one at a time, we boxed the space around the bridge off, Belloff and I standing on either side with Verrick standing directly in their way. I waited until they were in range before I fired off the darts of blood, I had to make what little I had count. Out of the ten shots, eight splashed into the ranks of the orcs charging us, of those eight, three were deflected harmlessly by the smaller shields some of the orcs had strapped to their arms. In all, three of my targets were knocked down into the lava below, and two sustained injuries. Verrick faired little better, due to the scaling the orcs were probably around Level 4-5, scaled appropriately for my low Level of 6, but for Verrick, who was a Level 100 [Shadowdancer], the very same orcs were the equivalent of level 90+''s, or thereabouts. He still out-leveled them, as I did, and he also had superior equipment, skills and fighting experience, but nevertheless, it was no cake-walk. "Out of daggers?" I asked when the nearest orc was perhaps twenty metres from us, I''d lost count of the number of throws he''d made, but was dozens. He''d only killed about twenty to twenty-five of the orcs though. "Nah, they all had the [Returning] enchantment. I haven''t hit any for the last few attacks, though. They''ve managed to get a few with some kind of projectile deflection skill to the front, continuing would only waste my energy." He drew his longer blade from over his shoulder, and without shadows writhing upon its surface I could see it was a whipsword of some kind. It more like what a Japanese anime would call a whipsword than the Urumi that was used in India in the past ¨C there''d been similar weapons used in AoH and I''d researched them and many other exotic weapons so I wouldn''t be surprised as a tank. The Urumi was a flexible blade that was normally worn coiled around the waist like a belt. Verrick''s sword was made of many dagger-shaped blades pushed together. When he activated it to the daggers slipped free of each other and formed three separate ''whips'', each piece of metal was joined by shadows. The blade would have been entirely too dangerous to use in combat in my world, not even the most skilled individual could have avoided harming themselves. But, considering it was one of the strongest individuals I''d met since coming here that was wielding the weapon, I guessed the flexible shadows that joined each blade to the next would allow him full control over the weapon. Once it had fully activated in its tri-blade configuration, darkness extended from the [Shadowdancer]''s body, first cloaking his form in shifting, writhing shadows, then extending down his arms and on to cover the whipsword. He then cast the [Globe of Darkness] to cover the platform, just as the orcs arrived, sending fear skittering through their ranks. They''d just seen a deadly exotic weapon readied to do battle with them, then that same person had hidden himself and his allies within a magical darkness that the orcs'' natural [Darkvision] could not penetrate. As Verrick''s Partymembers, both Belloff and I could see our opponents just fine. Though, the grey that overcame my vision caused me to stumble as the painful flash-back of my pseudo-death not long before almost overwhelmed me. I shrugged it off as the joy of battle pushed back the dark feeling. It was a slaughter, the darkness kept the orcs outside from seeing what happened to their friends, but the darkness did nothing to halt the blood-curdling screams of the dying orcs as Verrick flayed them with his whipsword. He''d been holding out on us until this point, held back first by the seal on his powers then because he had to save his strength during our earlier fights. He wasn''t holding back now, the three bladed-whips danced about as if they had minds of their own, sliding past defences and removing limbs and heads with ease, keeping the orcs off-balance and left guessing where their death came from. Belloff and I took a step backwards as we realised we were surplus to requirements in this fight, left dealing with the ravaged and almost dead orcs that were lucky enough to stumble out of his range. Those few orcs didn''t live much longer than their fellows and were met with either my frying pan or the borrowed blade of the elf opposite. Neither of us were particularly skilled with our weapons, but skill wasn''t necessary when all you had to do was deliver a coup de grace to orcs that practically begged for their end to come, to end the pain of their last moments. We didn''t hesitate to carry out our grim work. "Good luck. Gotta go." The [High Priest] hadn''t been idle as we slaughtered his followers, he''d been steadily growing brighter and brighter as we fought and killed the unfortunate orcs. When there were only a half-dozen orcs remaining, the light got bright enough to dispell the [Shadowdancer]''s [Globe of Darkness] and with two short sentences, he disappeared, snapping out of existence as he left us to deal with the rabble he''d left behind. Verrick was going to go deal with yet another boss monster while we were left behind. How annoying, I''d been hoping to get another chance after my failure to defeat the [Shaman] on the first floor. Left behind with the useless MoC was quite frustrating, though, at the same time, I was glad I didn''t have to face the elite orc guards. "Step back!" I yelled, then waited for Belloff to do so before I activated [Scatter-fire]. I''d saved the frying pan''s ranged enchantment until I really needed it, instead of using it at the start of the battle. A decision I was happy to have made. The twin [Fireball]s ¨C still no Luck in getting more ¨C cleared the first few metres of the bridge, knocking a few orcs off the sides as the flaming spheres battered through their ranks. I followed the attack with two hasty activations of [Ring of Minor Blood-Dart], the two shots throwing another orc off the side, and giving us some breathing room as the two remaining orcs scrambled to keep their footing. I dropped the frying pan, it would just get in the way if I held onto it for my next attack, and I couldn''t spare the time to store it in my [Inventory]. "Make sure I don''t fall off!" I ordered Belloff, I was unsure how he''d manage to do so but I figured I should have some sort of safety net as the Duchess''s leaf-bladed spear dropped out of my [Inventory] into waiting hands. I''d spent some time testing it with Felix before I entered the dungeon, and he''d shared the [Inspect] screen with me.
D''ellikir Royal Guard Spear A Spear crafted from Elmsilver by the Royal craftsmen of Illiandor, before they bowed to the Imperial forces and became a Dukedom. These weapons are wielded exclusively by the D''ellikir guards, a sect of guards that trace their histories back to the time that Illiandor had a High King of its own and was not merely a High Duchy in service to the Emperor. Quality: Exquisite Rarity: Legendary Weight: 0.5 KG Durability: 11866/12000 Enchantments: Improved Durability, Improved Penetration, Blinding Flash, Deflect Projectiles, Returning.
The Legendary spear had proved to be of even higher quality than the [Into The Fire], and its Enchantments were of a similar level. However, those impressive Enchantments were soon discovered to be inactive when used in conjunction with the Garb, all except the first which only really made it harder to break anyway. Even without those Enchantments, however, it was still a very sharp spear, and perhaps more importantly in this situation, could be used like a pole to push and trip the orcs off the sides of the bridge. It didn''t take long for me to force the terrified and almost broken orcs off the bridge to join their fellows. I rushed forward to join Verrick, to assist my ¨C probably temporary ¨C ally and get a chance at killing the [High Priest]. And more importantly, recieve the no doubt impressive EXP for doing so. I delivered a few more coup de grace''s when I arrived, finishing off the last couple of guards that hadn''t been killed during the [Shadowdancer]''s initial attack. I arrived far to late to be of assistance to said [Shadowdancer], however, the blinding magical energies of the orc priest were being contained by shadowy chains, their battle almost over, though, the [High Priest] refused to accept the outcome, blood pouring from his ears, his eyes, his nose as he fought with everything he had to stop the unstoppable as the shadowy chains finally closed in around his flesh and sucked his remaining life force away from him, leaving behind only withered, bleached skin. With one last whimper of denial, the [High Priest] coughed his last and fell silent. And with that, we completed the fourth floor. * Dungeons & Demons IX Dungeons & Demons IX ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° Woe is me. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° somethings that had caused her harm. It was the spinning tail that one of the clones didn''t fully track, the powerful flexible appendage whipped out and clipped one of the clones'' legs, sending it flying off balance. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. blind. Even if it had been more intelligent and more skilled it would not have been able to take advantage of what it could not see. Without access to my sight, I would have been dead long ago in its place. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° too much in the way ¨C and the second was that the ''vulnerable'' [Shadow Clone]s Verrick had made clearly had a bit more health than I did. Each time I was hit I had to sprint to get away so I could heal up in time. After one particularly bad such instance, when I''d tried to take out one of its eyes and misjudged my attack slightly, I''d had to use my final healing potion, only just removing it from my [Inventory] in time before the Cockatrice caught up again.
The Cockatrice''s Egg 5/5. Deliver the Cockatrice''s Egg. You delivered the Cockatrice''s egg but she wasn''t too happy when she detected the evidence of the High Priest''s rituals. With the High Priest and his allies nowhere in sight, the enraged beast took her anger out on you! But, you were able to defeat her and her mates. Reward: 5250 EXP Bonus Reward: Total Kill count: 0 Contributions: 1 Bonus EXP awarded: 1000 Total EXP awarded: 6250 Due to special actions, you have gained: Agility +1, Strength +1.
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The Warden''s Trial. Complete the Warden''s Trial. Difficulty: Legendary, Scaling. Level recommended: N/A. Reward: 1000 EXP/TL. Title: Warden of the Watchtower.
How... descriptive. Not. The Screen had appeared in my vision the moment I emerged from the inky black portal, and I wasn''t pleased with how little it explained, nor was I pleased with the difficulty rating. I dismissed the screen and turned to inspect the room I''d found myself in. Light marble covered the floor and walls, the walls appeared to have a black stone inset within ¨C obsidian perhaps? - that formed flowing, linked runes. The room had five walls, and once the portal that transported me here disappeared, I could see it had no windows and no doors either. Creepy, I shivered at the thought of being trapped down here. There was clearly some airflow in the room as I could feel a slight breeze coming from the also-marbled ceiling above. Glow stones were set in sconces in each corner of the room, lighting the whole place up in a harsh off-white light. I''d come in at the junction of two of the walls, and directly in front of me on the other side of the large and sparse room, I could see an amber gem inset in the wall, the runes were spiralling out from it. It was about the side of my head. Halfway between me and the gem, a red circle had been painted on the floor, a pentagram painted within that, and between the two diagrams, more tiny runes had been written. From the coppery taste in the air and from its colour, I could tell it had been painted with blood, though there was no obvious source in the room for the blood. In fact, other than myself, the gem and the summoning circle there was only one other thing in thing of note in the room. It was also why I could tell it was a summoning circle. A man stood within the circle, he was perhaps seven feet tall. He wore a black suit that wouldn''t have been out of place in the upper echelons of society back on Earth, a white shirt and red tie finished his clothing ensemble. He was barefoot. Or barehoofed, whichever term better applied, he was red skinned and black-eyed. No hair sat upon his head, instead, two dark bronze ram''s horns curled back over his bald pate. "Hi," his voice was deep and pleasant. "Errm, hi," I responded, this wasn''t quite what I''d expected, "who... who are you?" "Me? I''m Demon Prince Zzeltrakrixz Ryitrakzi Nerbrolg, but you may call me Zel, pleased to make your acquaintance." He held out his hand as if expecting me to come over and shake it. * Dungeons & Demons X Dungeons & Demons X ¡° A flash of something passed through his eyes and I guessed I''d hit a nerve, oops. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°Alrighty then, ta-ta,¡± I waved flippantly at the Demon Prince and wandered over to the runestone, keeping a close eye on him as I did so. But, true to his word, the Demon Prince did nothing.
Congratulations! You have gained a new Title! You have gained the title: Warden of the Watchtower! Would you like to display your new title publicly? Y/N?
¡° ¡° Something crawled over my Garb and time seemed to slow around me, my next step felt as though I was walking through jelly and the one after that like I was walking through liquid cement. Oh shit. ¡°is interesting. You''re not the Empress at all are you?¡± Right. The Demon Prince was still here, I''d just been ignoring his gaze until he spoke, forcing me to recognise his continued presence. ¡°did marry the Emperor, I believe that does make me the Empress. But no, I''m not Duchess Aelwinel whatsherface.¡± My response surprised me, the words forming and leaving my unmarked lips before I could consider them fully. I was still reeling from my ordeal but I had a Demon to deal with, I forced my shaking limbs to bring me to my feet and faced him, unbowed. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°
The Warden''s Trial. Complete the Warden''s Trial. Reward: 8000 EXP Bonus Reward: Total Kill count: 0 Total EXP awarded: 8000 Due to special actions, you have gained: Resistance +1, Willpower +2. Luck -3.
I dismissed the quest completion prompt that appeared when I exited the dungeon, as I had more pressing concerns, namely that Verrick, Belloff, Sarian and all the other High Dukes stood in front of me and the Demon Prince I''d brought back, and I was very much not the woman they were expecting to return, not even close. "Err, hi guys," I waved nervously, "so it''s kind of a funny story actually..." I was so fucked. It went about as well as I expected. Which is to say, not at all. Thankfully, there was a seven-foot-tall horned Demon Prince available for me to shift the attention to. I took advantage of that fact, especially as whatever mind control effects he''d had me under had ceased the moment we stepped out from the inky portal. Apparently, I had to earn the right to be his minion on my own merits or something. Ugh. No thanks. Obviously, the reason he''d been able to mind control me without all that torture and without me noticing was that the Garb with its magic resistant effects had timed out and removed itself from me. I was very thankful that I no longer considered him handsome. I shuddered at the memory of those last few minutes in the dungeon. The demon had been very demanding, first off ordering someone to find him a woman with ''grapes growing out of her head and wine dripping from her nipples'' and to take him to the Throne Room as being Emperor sounded like it could entertain him for a little while. And wasn''t it such fun being free? Disregarding his first ''request'' ¨C was such a thing even possible? Because that did sound like it could be fun ¨C I''d apparently, somehow, gotten a Demon Prince crowned Emperor, a much worse option even than the traitorous Master of Ceremonies. Thanks very much [Sod''s Law]! Anyway, Leris and Belloff had led the jubilant Demon out of there, probably with the hopes of distracting him with his first demand so much so that he forgot about the second. Their interaction with the Demon made it obvious that the Imperials didn''t want to clash with the Abyssal Prince. This led me to believe he was far stronger than he appeared if he could cow Verrick and even the boisterous dwarven High Duchess. I was ''escorted'' to a nearby office just outside the recently claimed Watchtower by an even-dozen Watchtower guards and an oddly calm Fenrick. He rebuffed any attempts at conversation. The guards remained stoic, too, as they practically shoved me inside what seemed to be a strategy planning room. Wasn''t I technically still the Empress? I had married the Emperor before he died... From the moment I''d stepped from the dungeon, however, they hadn''t been treating me as such. There wasn''t much in the room, bare stone walls surrounded a large conference table, made of some kind of grey slick stone. Sturdy oak chairs lined the walls around the table. On closer inspection, I could see a map inlaid on the surface of the table. The table was perhaps twelve feet in length and four feet in width. At the ''top'' of the table, the word ''Eddersland'' was gilded in brushed bronze. I was finally getting a look at the land I was now living in. The top and bottom tips of the land brushed the edges of the table at either end, the sides were about a foot from either edge. It was surrounded by light blue, obviously water, ''Ald Lake'' was inlaid on either side, confirming my suspicions. On the land, glowing borders representing the colours of the six High Dukes divided up the country. A seventh colour, about a third of the way to the top, glowed purple and marked the much smaller borders of the Imperial Capital, Edderton, and the Watchtower, which bordered the northern tip of an inland lake, Eddersloch ¨C they really want all out on the naming theme... - The high dukes each controlled roughly equal sections of the land, in the north-west was Flink, in Geral''s colours, in the north-east was Craddock in Verrick''s colours, in the middle section Inglsemar the west was held by Leris while Deburrow and Freylder held the east. The two elven Dukes were neighbours in the south, Sarian ruled Ellikir in the west and Fenrick ruled Vernekstow in the east. The Imperial Capital was nestled in the four corners where the central Dukedoms met the Northen ones. I could tell this map was magically enchanted to be interactive as when I pressed my hand to one of the Dukedoms the borders would glow brighter briefly but then dull without any change. I didn''t have the permissions to change this map at all, which was a shame because there wasn''t any cities currently marked on the map, nor any significant landmarks. A mountain range split the north-east of the land off from the rest, the mountains lining the map from Flink in the north-west to Denburrow in the east. A forest filled most of the south-west of the map, bordering the plains that Fenrick ruled over. The rest of the map was fairly evenly split between hills, plains and woodlands. I studied the map for perhaps half an hour before getting bored and sitting in one of the chairs, twiddling my thumbs. After another half an hour I finally got up and knocked on the door, a gruff and blushing guard opened it for me and I convinced him to bring me some supplies so I could make myself some socks. so I had something to do. He returned with those items, and a fairly basic robe that reminded me that I had been naked up until that point, I''d gotten too used to not worrying about such things because of the Garb. This action led me to acquire my first skill since I''d donned the Garb.
Congratulations! You have gained the skill: Crocheting. Dexterity +1.
And that was how I learnt my grandma had taught me how to crochet and not to knit. I''d increased it to level 3 and received 50 EXP ¨C I was holding off on leveling for now - before someone finally came to see me. Verrick led Sarian and Geral into the room. Two guards followed them and stationed themselves just inside the door after they shut it behind them. I put my lumpy creations into my [inventory], which caused me to pause in shock as the items I''d left in there earlier had disappeared. "That''s right, someone removed everything that wasn''t yours from your [Inventory]," Verrick smiled grimly, "which was, of course, everything. I''m sure you can keep your scarf, though." "Uhh... it was a sock actually..." He was being surprisingly genial, no yelling or screaming. Not yet at least, considering Sarian''s lobster-like visage, I figured we''d get to that soon enough. "Let''s ignore your dubious creations," he smiled and winked slightly, trying to put me at ease. He collected himself as Geral whispered something to Sarian, obviously trying, and failing to calm the fuming high elf. "Let''s start with your name, shall we?" "M-Martha." I stammered, Sarian''s glare causing me to stammer. "Okay, Martha. How exactly did you get here?" "I''m not entirely sure, I think someone in the Abyssal Plane kicked me out of a teleportation while I was travelling from my world and I ended up here." "So you are a new arrival from the Physical Plane then." Geral said, looking like he''d won a bet of some kind. "And what did you do to my daughter!" Sarian yelled, standing up and sending the oak chair crashing into the wall behind. I was glad I was seated on the opposite side of the table from him. Once he''d calmed down a bit and promised not to interrupt Verrick''s interrogation any further, he sat back down. His glare never subsided. More yelling and screaming, along with a little spittle when I explained what happened to Duchess Aelwinel, Geral interrupted a spell he had begun to cast and dragged him from the room for about twenty minutes, before returning. Verrick and I sat in silence the whole time I waited. He was practically foaming at the mouth when he returned, but he didn''t try and attack me again, so in fits and starts, and with Verrick''s encouragement, I began explaining my story of the last few days. They were very interested when I explained about Elbellkioff''s betrayal, and Sarian had to be escorted from the room again when he found out that it was his daughter who had approached the traitorous Master of Ceremonies, he didn''t believe me at first but, all I had to go on was what Belloff had told me. When he returned, he still refused to believe his daughter hadn''t been an innocent that was pressured into the MoC''s plans, but at least he''d stopped with the yelling. When I got to what I''d done with the Duchess''s corpse, Sarian did attack me, lunging over the table and grappling with my robe before anyone else could react. I was thankful that he was far too angry to use any of his spells by this point, otherwise, I probably would''ve been electrocuted on the spot. The Geral and the two guards dragged him kicking and screaming from the room before he remembered he was a spellcaster, leaving me and Verrick in peace. I continued my story, telling of what happened in the Warden''s Trial. As I spoke of the horrors I saw, of what I still felt and that time, Verrick''s demeanour softened. He handed me a handkerchief to wipe my eyes and waited until I was ready before allowing me to continue in my own time. "And then I was left to wait in this room for a few hours, I was only given clothes when I asked the guards for some crocheting supplies." "Yeah, sorry about that... We were a bit distracted when the demon threw a fit because we couldn''t procure a girl with wine coming from her nipples-" Wait, so you could find one with grapes on her head instead of hair?! "-and killed a few of the nobles that had survived the Ashen legions'' attack. "Then, he remembered his other demand and made his way directly to the Throne Room. And I mean directly there''s a bunch of walls with a demon-sized hole in it leading straight to the Throne." "Wait... He didn''t... Did he?" I almost didn''t want Verrick to answer me, unfortunately, he grimaced and rubbed his brow with his hand. "I''m afraid so, as soon as he sat upon the Throne, the System recognised him as Eddersland''s new Emperor by Might." "By Might?" "Ah yes, as a newcomer you wouldn''t know how this works... Basically, there are three ways to rule over a populace, and thus to succeed the Throne. This first, and most common is Rule by Right, this is when there is an obvious heir that steps up when the previous ruler died, and that''s how it used to work here. The next most common is Rule by Might, where someone is so strong, either in personal Might or via their alliances, that nobody can oppose them. The third, and least common, is Rule by Vote-" "Ah, I think I can guess how that one works, thanks." He nodded, "right, I heard your world had started going that way a few centuries ago. The nature of this world and the dangers it possesses makes Rule by Vote far less common, and it is even rarer for it to last even through its first generation. "But this information is hardly important right now. Not for you at least." He got up and opened the door, pausing to look back at me, "I''ll endeavour to get your current position resolved as soon as possible, I understand a lot of people, especially Sarian will be vying for your death whatever the consequences. But, I think you were put into a hard position with few options. You could have done better. You should have done better, but I don''t blame you." He winked at me, "plus you somehow gained control over the Watchtower, that''s given you a good position to negotiate from. "I suspect the best outcome you can hope for is leaving the Palace with your life intact." And then he was gone, the door swinging shut softly behind him, and I let out the breath I''d been holding. I wasn''t dead yet, half of my had expected me to be killed shortly after I was discovered, but here I was, still alive and kicking. Opening the door left me face-to-face with a hall full of grim-faced guards. Yes, still alive and kicking, but definitely a prisoner, even so. I sat back down in my chair and pulled out my at attempts at sock-making. I sighed, and pulled the ruined footwear apart and started over ¨C Verrick was right, it did look more like a scarf. More hours passed, enough that I''d finished my third pair of socks, the mustard yellow creations were the first ones that looked wearable. When I finished them, I reached level 5. During this time I finally dealt with the flashing [Insert Name Here] on my Status screen, I was already outed and the flashing was getting kind of annoying every time I reflexively checked the screen ¨C probably once every ten minutes or so, having stats in real life was kinda cool. Someone knocked politely on the door and waited until I came over and opened it myself. I was surprised that they hadn''t just barged in, I was basically a prisoner here, after all. I blinked in shock when I saw who''d come to retrieve me, I hadn''t seen her since before I entered the dungeon. "Hi." I managed and blinked again when I noticed the empty hallway behind her. Where did all the guards go? "Follow," she grunted, her face forming a grimace. It was clear I was no longer considered a friend. "So, um... How''s Alfred?" The woman was the guard who I''d spent well over a day hiding from invaders with, protecting each other''s backs. Trusting each other with our lives. There was no sign of that camaraderie now, in fact, Deliza ignored my question entirely, her ears twitching in annoyance. Wait, her ears? "Wait... Where are we going? And are you a beastkin?" I blushed, as she turned to glare at me, "s-sorry, I didn''t mean to be rude but you''re the first beastkin I''ve seen... those ears... are you a bearkin?" I guessed, causing her to growl in annoyance. Not a bear then, how was I to tell the difference?" "A boar..." She finally muttered, "I am a boarkin. As for where I''m taking you... It''s where I''ve been ordered to take you, where you deserve, traitorous scum." Gulp. I wasn''t getting any sympathy here. Nevermind, I hadn''t really expected to get any, but it had been worth a try. I followed her down empty hallway after empty hallway, each turn causing more goosebumps to form on my arms and the hair on the back of my neck to rise. Where is everybody? I tried to ask her that question, but I was just ignored. I didn''t try to run either, I''d seen her fight, I wouldn''t get more than a couple of steps away at most. The hallways we''d been following were the dull grey stones of the servants'' halls, we walked for perhaps fifteen minutes before we descended a large stairway, the smell rising up below causing me to wrinkle my nose in disgust. Think rotting meats and dead rats and you''d be pretty close to what I was smelling. The smell didn''t seem to affect the boarkin in the slightest and she led me right at the bottom of the steps and stopped before a large opening from which the nasal-destroying smell was coming from. "What is this place?" Instead of answering me she just muttered something under her breath and shoved me into the rubbish pile beyond, a massive metal door crashed down from the ceiling behind me. The walls of the room I''d found myself in were made of the same metal, surprisingly clean considering the pile of trash in the middle of the room. I could see more of the squiggles that made up runes covering the walls in here and I felt a sinking feeling as my brain finally recognised the words she''d spoken. The words, not spoken in the Imperial Edderslandi language I was becoming accustomed to, but instead in a local beastkin dialect, were, "good riddance to bad rubbish." And looking around at my current location I could see I was taking part in a bad cliche. Someone had decided to ''take me out with the trash''. And considering the walls around me, I guessed I was in a trash compactor. "God damn it!" I ranted to whoever must be watching my demise, railing them on the terrible cliche they were perpetrating, and how as ''Warden of the Watchtower'', they couldn''t kill me, otherwise, a quest for the position would form. But, whoever was watching, if anyone was, ignored my ranting, then the pleas that followed. Finally, after a bout of self-deprecating begging, my voice grew hoarse. Whoever had sentenced me to death obviously didn''t care about the consequences. A little while later, as the tears started to evaporate from my face I finally looked up to see my environment had changed. The runes on the walls were glowing a harsh yellow-orange colour, a colour that was reminiscent of the lava I''d almost fallen in countless times in the dungeon, and the room was heating up, the air growing almost too hot to breathe as the liquid around me began to boil. Finally, after a tortures few seconds, with my lungs burning from the inside and the blood in my body beginning to boil, the rubbish around me caught on fire, and the incinerator I was in killed me.
You have died! Spend the last few moments until your Soul passes-on to reflect on your actions during your life! Better Luck next time!
*
Status HP: 0/490 (+9.4/s) MP: 319 (+1.1/s) ST: 421 (1.3/s) EXP: 10951 Total Level: (8) Class Level EXP Req
Name Martha Anwcus Mental Stat Physical Stat Social Stat Traits Elf (Planar) 8 4500
Age 26 Control 58 Agility 70 Bargaining 60 Regeneration
Race Elf (Planar) Resistance 56 Dexterity 59 Charm 50 Status Quo
Party N/A Spellpower 51 Strength 70 Leadership 53 Sod''s Law
Guild N/A Willpower 64 Vitality 71 Luck -496
Announcement Hi guys, When I started writing this it was an experiment, I''ve never pieced together more than a few thousand words into a story before, and this took off quite quickly. Unfortunately, I never really planned ahead more than a chapter or two and I found myself going off my original plan after the first few chapters, and while it wasn''t intentional, I can see there was a lot of fluff in the story that was quite unnecessary. Looking back now the first two arcs are over (it was originally planned to last about 5-6 chapters) I realised to get the story back on track I''d need to do a rewrite, and honestly, I''m not really feeling any inspiration for the story any longer. In fact, as I wrote two chapters ahead of what I posted (until the last two) I actually last wrote anything about two weeks ago. I struggled to "fix" what had happened and put it back on track, but after scrapping three different versions of the next chapter I''ve decided to stop banging my head against the wall and leave it where it is.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. So, thank you all for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it. The ending may be a bit abrupt but I think it actually works as an okay stopping point. I''ve learnt a lot from this web novel, mostly that I need more structure in my writing process. I do have other stories I wish to write, perhaps even one set in the same world as this one. We''ll see what happens I guess. Thanks again for reading and apologies for writing yet another dropped fiction on RRL. - DT