《Incrementum》 Chapter 1 - Samantha - Present ¡°Off.¡± Nothing happens. I mutter under my breath, bunching my face together. White and blue stars -- brighter than any I¡¯ve seen before -- sparkle through the layers of pine tree branches. To my right a full moon twice as big as Earth¡¯s sun shines its grey cooling light into the forest clearing. The fog at my feet meanders between rock and pine; whispering to my ankles and covering the ground in a faint translucence. The fog weaves between seven crumbling stone buildings nearly reclaimed by ferns, dirt and vines. I admire the hand-hewn, moss-covered grey stones. Some of the stones lay stacked in the geometric single room shapes while others sit alone on the forest floor. No one builds with Human crafted building materials now, only the old time buildings that are too expensive to tear down have them. I¡¯m impressed with how realistic the forest feels, but still annoyed enough to want out of my newly purchased immersive virtual reality pod after only forty-five seconds. Nature surrounds me, a foreign concept I have not enjoyed learning about from various virtual reality programs; but a diminutive man covered in overlapping swatches of leather and steel is bouncing on his toes causing a jingling jangling sound storm. He stands to my left with hand on cocked hip and a twinkle in his eye. ¡°Still here.¡± He says with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m your tutorial companion. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll warm up to me. I can be very helpful. For instance, there are ants on your sandals and if you don¡¯t brush them off you will likely get an ant-up-the-skirt debuff. A debuff means the game will give you some sort of penalty.¡± He smiles right through my meanest glare. Red carapace ants, twice as big as the ones in my apartment, march up my right leg, from sandal to knee. Sigh. While the concept of an ant up the skirt debuff is childish and whoever developed it should be fired, it is probably better to remove the ants than endure said gaming travesty. I slaughter the interlopers with a few gentle pats to my leg, stand up and straighten my shirt. I narrow my eyes and look closely at my incorrectly labeled garment. The braided chocolate colored leather halter top snuggling my bosom covers more back than chest. Whoever wrote this game failed to hire fashion consultants. Patting my hair I discover they at least had the decency to start me off with a sensible bun. I should have trusted my instincts and just played another shooter with David, but I just don¡¯t want to hear it from anybody right now. Not my boss, who¡¯s going to fire me at the end of the week. Not my Mom, who¡¯s just going to make me feel worse about what my boss is going to do no matter what. And not David, who¡¯s just going to tell me my ex-boyfriend isn¡¯t worth fighting for. Screw them all, especially my boss. I¡¯m playing some games like Dad would have. That doesn¡¯t mean I have to play this game in this spooky haunted insect trap and deal with this character in front of me. What¡¯s his name anyway? Don¡¯t these games normally display character names over their head? As I¡¯m thinking of it, bright white lettered text appears above his head. Rothlington the Blessed Rothlington? Really? Ugh. Terrible name for a computer program, I will instead name him...Rick. ¡°Logout,¡± I say firmly. ¡°Nope, that¡¯s not it either but this is really fun. What are you going to try next?¡± Rick claps his hands and stares at me in excitement. ¡°Tell me you will click your heels. Oh, that will be fantastic.¡± ¡°Leave. Disembark. Beam me up. Wait, how do you know about the Wizard of Oz? Isn¡¯t this a role-playing game?¡± ¡°I know about Wizard of Oz because I watched it as a kid before I took up residence in this wonderful forest.¡± He spreads his arms above his shoulders drawing my attention to the piercing blue starlight amid the goliath trunks. The trunks wider than my king size bed are rather impressive but I¡¯ll be damned before I let Rick know that. ¡°Uh, hate to break it to you but you¡¯re a computer - you don¡¯t watch movies from the real world. And I have named you Rick. The forest is so-so¡±, I say. He squints his eyes and purses his lips. ¡°Pretty sure I did watch that movie, and my name is Rothlington the Blessed.¡± He says as he points to his puffed out chest. ¡°I¡¯ll concede you watched the Wizard of Oz if you admit your name is Rick,¡± I say. Rick neatly sidesteps my expectations of a dialog loop and instead of repeating a scripted line the AI character says ¡°, Whatever helps you sleep at night Honey, are you ready for your tutorial yet?¡± ¡°Uh maybe later, how do I log out?¡± ¡°Rothlington the Blessed is aware of that information but I¡¯m Rick sooo, Welcome to your first day in Incrementum! I¡¯m your fabulous tutorial confidant, Rick,¡± he says with a wink, ¡°and I¡¯ll be showing you all the basic information you¡¯ll need to make your stay here in Brighthollow forest a super one. Any questions so far?¡± ¡°Yes, how do I log..¡± I sigh instead of finishing my sentence. Asking this virtual game character how to leave the game isn¡¯t working...eh, I¡¯ll just dive right into it. ¡°Maybe later Rick, I bought this game for a distraction and a distraction I will have! Now where are some bad guys to beat up.¡± I march forward, brushing Rick¡¯s shoulder on my way towards the nearest old stone building. I hear a slight sputtering behind me but I keep walking. I¡¯m calling the shots and the current shot is to find something to kick. A rock rolls in front of me, shifted by a small creature holding a golden nut. The creature twitches its tattered bushy tail as I approach. I crouch down and hold my hand out to it. I¡¯ve seen cute videos of animals running up people¡¯s arms or eating out of their hands, maybe that happens here too. I¡¯m wrong, oh, am I wrong. The Undead Chipmunk embeds its teeth in my middle finger right above the last knuckle. Blood oozes passed its lips, like the chipmunk¡¯s getting ready for a night on the town with the world¡¯s ghastliest lipstick. I shake my hand the chipmunk off my hand and stand up. I kick at the critter¡¯s chin, picturing a soccer ball in a simulation I played quite some time ago, Fifa 2041. A slight pain shoots through my foot on contact. ¡°Stupid pain thresholds...¡± I say. The little nut muncher flies away from me, over the fallen wall, out the back of the stone building in a satisfying arc. A small red number 2 floats above its head and fades into the night air. My victory dance, arms above my head and a swing my hips, ends abruptly. My virtual body jerks forward and tiny feet scurry up my back before a sharp pain hits me in between my shoulder and neck. I can¡¯t reach the Undead Chipmunk -- no matter how much I spin and stretch. It digs its teeth into my neck muscle. I run towards a stone wall taller than me, pushing down as hard as I can off the front of my left foot and launching off the ground. I rotate in mid-air and feel a satisfying squish on my back. I look down and see the toothy furball in the pine needles below the fog. It lays on its back, not moving but I take no chances. I stomp the troublesome critter, seeing small red 1s fade into the air. Uck, I wipe my sandals on the pine needles around me, expecting sticky animal goo, but can¡¯t feel any pine needles sticking to my foot. I look closer at the remains of the little critter and gray lettering appears above it: Corpse of an Undead Chipmunk A small yellow bar pops up at the bottom of my vision, overlaying the small pile of bones and fur. It is three-quarters empty. I focus on the bar and yellow lettering pops up, Level One on the left of the bar and Level Two on the right. A clapping sound start from outside the stone room as Rick walks through the entryway with plenty of head room. ¡°Really well done -- I give it a five out of ten in execution but a ten out of ten in creativity. Maybe you should have held off on the victory dance sugar. Now hear me out, that could have been a lot easier. Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to help you with a quick tutorial?¡± Taking into account the fact that a tiny nut eater got a mouthful of my neck, and that it might have been a zombie that could have possibly given me tiny zombie chipmunk rabies, I reconsider. ¡°Fine Rick, but can we keep it moving? No one likes game tutorials.¡± ¡°Great!¡± He says as he claps his hands. ¡°The first thing I¡¯d like you to do is think about yourself, you should notice a silhouette overlay itself in the middle of your vision. If you want to change that silhouette this is your last chance so think hard about your figure.¡± I frown at him slightly and roll my eyes, might as well give it a try. I think hard about my appearance in real life. A 3d representation of myself hovers in the center of my vision and the forest quiets around me. My four foot nothing frame, bee¡¯s nest of a hairdo and large black framed glasses brings a frown to my face. The bags under my eyes and downturned lips surprises me. I¡¯m sure I shouldn¡¯t look this old at nineteen. Recent developments I guess. That sends me down a familiar but unwelcome mental path and I shake my head to retreat. Screw it, time for a change. I think about getting taller and the ground moves farther away in my peripheral vision. I force the hair to straighten and curl slightly around my face. I broaden my shoulders and leave my chest as is. My girls are too heavy for my small body but this new six and a half frame should give them a proportional home. Growing in height has given me a model¡¯s willowy silhouette. Nope, not interested in that. I focus on even broader shoulders and wider hips. I picture lean corded muscles like the professional athletes on my favorite vid channel. Uh oh, too boxy, I round my hips slightly and add just a touch more muscles. Perfect, strength without the bulk and harsh angles. I smooth out my skin, shape and expand my eyes, line up my ears and lengthen my eyelashes. It¡¯s the details that count. I grin, imagining my co-workers looking at this in our next team virtual conference. ¡°Laugh at my ideas now Helga.¡± I jump a bit at the booming and unfamiliar voice that comes out of my now massive rib cage. ¡°Who¡¯s Helga?¡± Rick says. My newly imagined body fades, replaced with Rick and an increasingly loud barrage of chirps and squeaks - are those insects? One would think that in a world composed entirely from human imagination someone would have realized that birds and insects are too loud. What modern cities have right is no birds, no insects and no animals. ¡°She¡¯s the manager in charge of my building¡¯s power sources, including my solar panels. As stupid as it gets and twice as mean,¡± I say. My shoulders tense up as I remember our last exchange. I ignored her instructions which would have resulted in half the VR capsules in our building shutting down, leaving their residents blinking in the unwelcome air of Chicago Pod Complex 658. ¡°Anyways, that doesn¡¯t matter -- wait, why didn¡¯t I get to pick my race? What if I want pointy ears or femme beard? Games like this let you play as something other than human most the time right?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Sorry, no playable alternate races at this time. There are all types of interesting beasts and humanoids in this world, but just plain old humans for the likes of us. Although your imagination seems to have produced an Amazonian of impressive stature.¡± Rick eyes my new frame with an appreciative eye. ¡°Ok, so what else do I need to know before we get cracking here Rick?¡± ¡°Oh my gosh, so much! When I started playing this game I was clueless but hey, I had a job to do. Now that I¡¯m at a high enough level to be a tutorial guide, here I am. Let¡¯s see, what to start with...¡± He taps his chin with one finger and crosses his other arm across his chest. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re a player?¡± ¡°Yep. What, you thought developers would program a tutorial NPC that had seen the Wizard of Oz? Nope. Dan, by the way, if you really can¡¯t stomach Rothlington. I¡¯m just really really excited to play this game for...right, keep it moving...we can get into that later. First, the whole hit a bunny with a sword for a few paltry experience points, standard starter zone stuff. Did you want to be a warrior or is this just a bucket list kind of thing, grow to be two and a third meters tall before you die?¡± A bag appears in Dan''s hands as he talks. He finishes his question with his shoulders and head inside the sack, apparently searching through many items as I hear quite a clamor from the cloth receptacle. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what I want to be...¡± The wriggling sack stills. ¡°Don¡¯t know how you want to play the game? No problem at all bunny hips. It just so happens I signed up for the role of tutor. Ok, let''s see start with the basics.¡± Dan pulls his head out of the sack, walks up to one of the stone walls and then bends down to pick up a stick. ¡°Typically, in a fantasy role-playing game, there are very defined types of characters or ¡®classes¡¯ you can choose to role play. There are four classics: warrior, rogue, mage, and cleric.¡± Each of the four classics results in a loud *crack* as he smacks his stick on the stone. I can see spider webs gathering on its tip and small chips of stone fall onto the floor. ¡°Warriors are strong, hardy characters that are meant to trade blows with enemies up close. They typically wear heavy armor, carry heavy weapons and eschew developing any skill or trait that even remotely resembles intelligence. Warriors try to keep enemies from focusing on any of their friends, taunting them and often doing large sweeping attacks. While there are specialized forms of warriors that break this fairly simple mold, I think you get the idea.¡± I raise my hand but Dan has gone into full college professor mode. ¡°There will be no questions from the class until the end of the lecture! Hands down. Where was I...Warrior, Big Dummy...Ah right, Rogue.¡± ¡°Rogues are fast and dexterous, meant to avoid attacks while striking at vulnerable points on the enemy to deal critical damage. They wear light armor and wield light weapons so their mobility stays high. They typically specialize in forms of stealth attacks and misdirection, often getting special abilities that let them cripple enemies. If you want to work around the edges of the fight, avoiding enemy attention while maiming them in various gruesome ways, this class could be for you.¡± He points his stick directly at me, then folds his arms behind him and begins pacing back and forth in front of the wall. ¡°Mages are master of magic, casting spells to damage the enemy and protect themselves. Depending on the type of mage or specialization, mages can also hinder their enemies or enhance their allies. While they have to spend an inordinate amount of time creating new spells and mastering the spells they already know, they do have the potential to do catastrophic amounts of damage. Mages can only wear the lightest of armor and tend to die quite easily.¡± ¡°Finally, clerics channel religious zeal to buff and heal teammates while cursing enemies. They can wear heavy armor and have been known to stand in the front lines with their warrior counterparts. You can think of them as a smart warrior really. They leave the beating and savagery to their less gifted kin. The true noble¡¯s path you might say.¡± From the way Dan is preening, I start to get a suspicion. ¡°What class did you pick Dan? Cleric?¡± ¡°Pick? Class? Who said anything about picking a class? There are no classes in Incrementum. These are just typical archetypes that help when considering how you want to play the game. In Incrementum, you get better at skills as you practice them. If you don¡¯t even know about rouges and sneaking around, how would you practice the skills to become one? Now hands down until the end of the lecture.¡± ¡°The Cleric archetype is the best one, and I, Rothling...Dan, I, Dan, aspire to heal my friends and curse my enemies but that is neither here nor there. What you need to decide, is how do you want to play this game? Do you want to leave most of the thinking to others and just go bash on enemies with big swords? Sneak around in the shadows and stab enemies in the back? Read musty tomes and invoke mighty displays of power? Or channel the will of this world¡¯s gods to the betterment of all?¡± He pauses in his diatribe and stares at me. I mull over each of the options. Mage sounds least attractive to me. I have to spend every working day going over technical details and thinking my way through problems. If my hobby is spent researching and memorizing I¡¯m not sure it will really feel like a hobby. That leaves Warrior, Rogue, and Cleric. Of those three, Cleric is the least desirable. I work as a Solar power technician, helping everyone else keep their lives together by supplying the power they take for granted. I think that¡¯s enough support work for me. Between Warrior and Rogue, the choice seems obvious. I¡¯m sick of sneaky devious people in real life and certainly don¡¯t want to spend the energy to become one in this virtual life. Warrior it is. ¡°So is now the time for questions?¡± I say. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ok, do I have to role play as a dummy if I decide to hit things with big weapons or is that just your perception of warriors?¡± He sniffs and waves one hand in concession, ¡°I guess a warrior could be smart but I¡¯ll believe it when I see it. I¡¯ve never played one myself but I imagine there is quite a bit of nuance to the role. Incrementum does seem to provide bonuses when you innovate and embrace your role, but I don¡¯t think there are any rewards for playing a stereotype.¡± Dan resumes pacing and I decide to continue to pepper him with questions now that he has decided I can. ¡°When you said NPC earlier, did you mean non-player character? I played a few games like this a long time ago with my Dad but not recently. Does experience work the same as it used to? Get points for doing things, go up levels?¡± ¡°Yes and Yes! NPC is a non-player character. These are characters in the game that are managed by the game¡¯s artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the more robust characters might be AIs themselves that the main game world AI no longer controls. Experience points in Incrementum work like they do in most role playing games, your character starts at level 1 and moves up levels from there. Typically your character has a meter that shows how close you are to the next level. You should have seen your experience bar briefly appear in the bottom of your vision after killing that chipmunk.¡± ¡°To move from level one to level two, you will need two hundred experience points. Level two to level three requires three hundred and seventy five. Level three to four is sixteen hundred, you get the idea... Once you go up a level, you get more points you can allocate into various attributes and boons. Independent of attributes and boons, you can progress in various skills just by practicing them or attempting more complex variations. And before you ask, attributes, boons and skills are complicated and are the core to understanding how this game works. Do you want the extremely long and boring erudite version or the watered down warrior version?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take the warrior version for now, and I want to go on the record that I resent your implication that warriors are dumb. I will become a warrior and I am most certainly not a dummy.¡± ¡°Great! I need a nice big meat shield to play with!¡± he claps. ¡°Your attributes control basic statistics about your character. They are Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma and Luck. I recommend you read up on them on your own time. Suffice it to say, as a warrior, you probably only care about Strength and Constitution, with some Dexterity mixed in to whatever extent you decide. The rest of your attributes start at a human baseline, and while they do provide benefits, those benefits probably aren¡¯t great for you. You can inspect your own attributes just by thinking about it, think to yourself ¡®attributes¡¯.¡± I think, ¡®attributes¡¯. A semi-transparent interface pops up in front of me with the following listed:
Samantha (Level 1) Attributes -------------- HP: 100 Stamina: 50 Strength: 1Constitution: 1 Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available Points: 10 Faith Points: 1
¡°See that interface? Ok, now just focus on each individual attribute and think about inspecting it if you want more information. I recommend not spending any attribute points until you understand more about the game.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it later and just take your advice to save my points for now. The clock is ticking Dan, let¡¯s do something!¡± ¡°Fine, just remember I told you so, there are still boons and skills to go over but someone is Miss Impatient soo...¡± ¡°A warrior then!¡± Dan dunks his head back into the giant Santa Claus¡¯ sack and rummages around. ¡°Lucky for you I¡¯m authorized to issue two pieces of starter gear for everyone I accept in my tutorial program and I have just the pieces for you!¡± His body snaps back to vertical as the sack drops. In his right hand, Dan holds a giant rectangular piece of wood, a shield if I remember correctly from the games I used to play with Dad. He grips a sword as long as my arm with his left arm. ¡°Yeah, no. I¡¯m not going to be using those, what else do you have?¡± ¡°What do you mean no? This is standard starting warrior gear, nice quality too!¡± He says as he knocks the two useless implements together in front of his chest. ¡°I mean I¡¯m not going to walk around in a forest hiding behind a big piece of wood and poking things with a metal stick. What are my options here?¡± ¡°Wow, no one has ever rejected their starter items before. Ok, I guess I¡¯ll just lay out the other options.¡± Dan begins placing other various ancient weapons on the the dead leaves and dirt below us. I pick up a few different swords, axes, maces and hammers. I heft each one, unimpressed with their weight. One weapon, two pieces of wood attached with a string, confuses me. How are you supposed to hurt anything with that? As I near the end of the pile my eyes light up. ¡°I¡¯ll take this one,¡± I say. I reach down and grab the long piece of smooth yellow wood that is as tall as I am and about three fingers thick. A thin strip of leather wraps around the staff, ending equidistant from the middle of the staff and both ends in a perfect place for my hand to rest if I brace one end on the ground. The smooth wrap feels good against my dinner plate sized hand. ¡°You want to be a staff warrior?¡± Dan queries, an all too critical look on his face. ¡°Look, Dan, all these weapons are just pieces of wood and metal. At least with this one, I can use it to push branches out of my way or brace myself as I walk. It¡¯s also lighter because there is no metal. It¡¯s the most practical option you have here. I mean really, sticks connected with a string? What are you supposed to do, ask an enemy to put the string around their neck pretty please? I could definitely see me slapping around some baddies with this.¡± Dan scratches his head as he thinks about it. ¡°So not Martial arts buff either eh? Those sticks connected by a string are a traditional Japanese weapon called ¡®Nunchaku¡¯ or ¡®nunchuks¡¯ and you use them...eh forget about it. Staff it is! Now just look at the staff and think about it to get a prompt about its details.¡± I see a window appear in my vision.
Novice¡¯s Oak Staff A standard oak staff, suitable for beginners. Damage: 5-8 (5-8 with current Strength and Dexterity modifiers) Durability: 100/100 Effects:
  • None
Not very exciting. Durability must mean that items in this game can break, and if the durability gets low I should try to find someone to fix it, or just throw it away. Dan cuts into my thoughts. ¡°But that¡¯s only one item. You can get one more item. Can I suggest a piece of armor? Perhaps a leather breastplate? It will help you take less damage in your initial fights.¡± ¡°That sounds extremely uncomfortable, who wants plates strapped to their breasts? What do you have in the way of shoes? Hold the woman in a shoe store jokes, thanks.¡± Dan gathers all his sticks and shiny metal contraptions and puts them in his bag. He then extracts various shoes and boots. After a few minutes and tens of pairs, I select a nice brown pair of knee high boots with a solid leather sole. They must be a size fifteen, mens. ¡°Ok -- can we go do something now? And what¡¯s the story with these ruins?¡± ¡°Your guess is as good as mine on that score. I know we are in my general tutorial area, Brighthollow forest, but I was brought to this location when the game said a player needed my tender loving care. From what I¡¯ve seen, the developers start these tutorials in mini-zones, where the new player has to fight or think their way out of a situation to make it into the game at large. I bet if you turned around and made a break for the forest you¡¯d end up on your behind.¡± ¡°Challenge accepted,¡± I say, as I pivot and run over the fallen wall and into the forest as fast as I can. Woah, long legs really do run faster -- the pine needles fly up and hit the back of my legs as my new body shape pushes me faster than I¡¯ve ever moved before. The transparent barrier slaps the smile right off my face when I careen into it at full speed and land on my butt. Dan¡¯s annoying laughter rankles more than what surely will be a bruise on my face. Chapter 2 - Samantha - Three Weeks Ago ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough Samantha. Do you ever see headlines of ¡®Pod Complex Loses Power And Shuts Down VR¡¯ in the news? No? Because it doesn¡¯t happen. Stop fear mongering and do your job. Keep the lights on.¡± Said my professional master, Helga Trompswitch. I stared at the ground and breathed the stale air through my gaping mouth. She was serious, wasn¡¯t she? I cleared my throat and tried to be as helpful as possible. ¡°I understand Ma¡¯am, it must surely be my fault that we have reached this position and I am very sorry to have burdened you with these mundane problems. If you could please approve the parts and labor I submitted to you last week I¡¯m sure I can...¡° Helga cut me off. ¡°That¡¯s enough! Don¡¯t try to blame me for your own shortcomings. Fix our power like any competent solar technician in this city and keep our pod running before I have you replaced.¡± She said as she shined one of her many gold bracelets. ¡°Jose, take a note, start interviewing for new solar technicians.¡± ¡°Any other issues people?¡± Helga said as her hologram glared at the rest of the holographic people projected into my small apartment. The holograms of the Pod complex¡¯s administrative staff took up the majority of my small apartment¡¯s living room. I counted myself lucky I couldn¡¯t smell Helga, she probably reeked of rancid oil. The assumption of her odor made me feel better even though holograms were odorless. I was unlikely to ever find out, she did not deign to meet with her staff in person. Mark the Waste Manager and Jose the Building Manager swallowed and nodded their heads no. I was the only one foolish enough to believe Helga would help or care about impending catastrophes. ¡°Good. Do your jobs. Bye.¡± Her projection mimed pushing a button on the table and disappeared. ¡°Mark, Jose, do you have any resources to spare? There is no way I can repair the damaged solar panels, batteries, and subsystems and manufacture the required parts myself before residents start getting kicked out of VR. It will be 2034 all over again. Guys, this is serious, can you please help?¡± I wrung my hands as I looked at coworkers. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Samantha I really am but I have no idea how to help. My people don¡¯t know those systems and I¡¯m dealing with my own potential collapses.¡± Mark said. ¡°The waste collection tubes from each apartment¡¯s VR capsule are aging rapidly and have to be replaced. That¡¯s ten thousand tubes in just the main building. On top of that, Helga the Cruel hasn¡¯t authorized any overtime. If we don¡¯t have buildings that reek of feces in the next week I¡¯ll count it a miracle.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do,¡± Jose said, squeezing his hair, well on his way to his usual handful of hair. His words come out at a rapid clip. ¡°Helga has me spending all my time preparing a report for the Pod shareholders. The report must show ¡®amazing¡¯ profits for this quarter. If it were up to me I would use those profits to fund replacement equipment. But it is not. Building manager means spreadsheet jockey. She even had me sell our fleet of repair robots and replace them with untrained workers from below. Cheaper than repairing the bots she says! Cheaper now sure but who is going to place themselves here when they see urchins scrubbing floors?¡± Jose pulled on his hair with one hand as he pointed at us with the other. ¡°Mark my words, our scores will drop and we¡¯ll get buried in the rankings of pod complexes. We¡¯ll have to drop prices to show up at the top of any ranking and then where will we be? Managers of a low-rent Chicago pod that is one step away from being taken over by the city and turned into a welfare pod.¡± I shivered at the thought of losing our pod to the city¡¯s welfare system. Not only would we be out of a job, but the building would quickly fall into a permanent state of semi-operation. The city made sure its building were habitable, not pleasant. On the other hand, whoever runs the city¡¯s pod complexes must have been more competent than Helga, they hadn¡¯t run out of power or hired human sanitation workers. ¡°Sorry guys, I¡¯ll try to figure it out. Good luck on your own Helga induced dramas.¡± I mimed pressing an off button and the holograms disappeared. My head dropped into my hands. A chiming sounded through my auditory implant and I saw a notification icon in my vision. ¡°Answer¡± A slight smile dragged my lips upwards. My boyfriend Robert¡¯s blue eyes and messy blond hair snapped to life. ¡°Hey, Sam, ready to go? Our reservation at La¡¯Rouge is in forty minutes, let¡¯s not start on a bad foot again by being late...¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be there, but there¡¯s bad news. Helga is demanding improvements and there is just no way for me to get it done without working double shifts for the whole next month. We can talk more about it at dinner but, ugh. She is so crazy! She thinks just because it isn¡¯t in the news it can¡¯t happen -- running out of power can totally happen and if she¡¯d just give me the people and resources I need I can fix every problem with the solar array on the building. Whether that¡¯s the solar glass modules, solar panels on the roof, conversion units, whatever.¡± I slowed down as I realized I had been waving my arms and pointing like a madwoman. ¡°Sorry, you probably weren¡¯t expecting that.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I kind of was.¡± He said with a slightly sad smile. ¡°How about I meet you at the restaurant so you have a little while to compose yourself? Let''s push it back 45 minutes.¡± ¡°Sure Robert, I¡¯ll see you then,¡± I said, ending our conversation with an air kiss. Oh well, at least I can have one last night of fun before I go into crazy work mode. I jumped in the mister, a recent invention that was slowly replacing the old fashioned water glutton showers. Instead of drenching you in running water, a hot mist is sprayed over your body for under thirty seconds, followed by jets of air that push the mist off of you from top to bottom. The first few cycles had some cleaning agents but after that, they are pure water. The cycle repeated until you pressed a button signifying you were clean enough. I waited a long time before pushing the button. I stepped out of the mister, wiped down my diminutive frame and looked in the mirror as I completed my post-mist routine. My unruly brown hair was plastered against my skull and neck but didn¡¯t make it down to my back. I brushed it out and sprayed some styling gel to decrease the mad engineer look that I¡¯m known for. I dot my neck and wrists with the yummiest perfume known to woman and begin the laborious process of applying makeup. Even with all the modern marvels, a girl just can¡¯t get automatic makeup. I picked out my only black slinky dress and a pair of heels to complete my hopefully sexy outfit...Why was I questioning myself so much? Of course, it¡¯s sexy. Helga might have been destroying me professionally but I¡¯d be damned if she was going to cut me down personally too. Determined to make something of the night, I opened my apartment door, walked to the elevator and pressed the button to head to the ground floor. Much of my building was upgraded to survive in modern times, but as was the case in many structures, it just did not make economic sense to rip out the massive elevator shafts of the early twenty-first century. I said, ¡°Summon an Uber, destination La¡¯Rouge.¡± Walking through the marble-floored lobby, I waved at Harry the lobby bot and opened the glass front doors. I carefully walked across the empty sidewalk to bend into the back seat of the Uber. The Uber navigated its way through the streets, communicating with its silicon and steel brethren. I arrived at La¡¯Rouge on time and walked through the brass-edged door held open by the maitre d''. I smiled and asked him, ¡°Is my companion Robert seated yet?¡± ¡°No Madame, but please follow me to your table.¡± I sat at the table and started to plan my next month. If I woke up at 6 am, I could focus exclusively on repairing any connectivity issues within the solar array for three hours. Roughly twenty percent of our production woes were simply broken connections from a window or roof panel to our main batteries. Then at 9 am I could have a quick breakfast, and switch focus to repairing broken panels. Whether the receptors or inverters were broken would mean the difference between my ability to fix them or not. I could potentially open the inverters and repair any damaged electronics or mechanical parts by hand, but if the receptors were broken, I was screwed. I couldn¡¯t manufacture a solar receiving window in the buildings maintenance workshop or a rooftop panel. Not only was our printer not capable of such a complex print, but it had no chemical capabilities whatsoever. That spoke for the entire morning. Sneak a lunch in there somewhere. Around 3 pm I should probably change focus to the battery bank. It consisted of a massive network of small lithium batteries. They were responsible for storing any energy converted during the day for use at night and in the early morning of the next day. If any battery failed, the array had to make sure no energy was wasted being sent to a failed battery. If too many batteries failed, then there was no place to store the energy the panels had captured. Then I could grab a quick dinner and get back to work around 6 pm, working on data and systems analysis, identifying any new problems, prioritizing existing problems and analyzing if my repairs made any noticeable difference. The whole system still worked, but so many panels and batteries had issues that I doubted it would last the month. Maybe, just maybe if I worked from 6 am to 10 pm for the next month I could get enough done to meet Helga¡¯s ridiculous demands but it was no sure thing. I focused my eyes and realized it had been quite some time since I sat down. I frowned and mentally queried the time. I had daydreamed for at least twenty minutes. I tried to put a message through to Robert but all I got back was a message: You are not allowed to contact this user. I just sat there. I heard of this message and read it was possible, but never saw it myself. He dumped me. He stood me up and dumped me via message block. I saw red through the gathering moisture in my eyes. I stood up with clenched fists and ran out the door. Chapter 3 - Samantha - Present ¡°Ok, so there¡¯s no escape, what do we do then?¡± I say to Dan as I stand up from my unceremonious landing on the forest floor. ¡°I don¡¯t get a script sugar, I¡¯m just here to advise you. I¡¯d start with looking at that Undead Chipmunk Corpse, see if there are any clues on it.¡± ¡°Makes sense, by the way, what¡¯s the deal with Undead Chipmunks? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be like ¡®Undead Roxnards¡¯ that look like chipmunks but have scales or something?¡± Dan and I start walking back along the path of my sprint, into the three walled ruin. ¡°Maybe in your typical game but the developers of Incrementum took a different approach. Most of the flora and fauna in this world is from the history books of Earth. Humanity has killed off so much of it in the real world that they figured it would be new to most players anyway. Toss in a little undeath and boom, players have something novel to smash.¡± ¡°That...actually makes sense. I¡¯ve heard of a Chipmunk but never actually seen one. Ah, here we go.¡± I inspect the furry bundle, two icons appear above it. The first icon looks like a blanket and the second a pile of dust. ¡°Whatever you see after inspecting, just focus on it to get a name and any description of it, and then think ¡®inventory¡¯ to move it into your own bag.¡± I concentrate on the fur blanket icon and some text appears. Tattered Chipmunk Fur. You might be able to sell this or use it to create clothing. Interesting, I don¡¯t have any desire to create clothing but money is freedom. I think ¡®inventory¡¯ and a rustling sound accompanies the slight increase in weight of the bag hanging from my belt. That¡¯s an awful small bag... ¡°Bag look too small? Incrementum is guilty as any other game -- your bag is ¡®magic¡¯ and can hold way more than it really should.¡± Good enough for me. I concentrate on the second icon and I see: Essence of Undeath. Ineffective in such small quantities. I read the text to Dan and he shrugs. ¡°Maybe you need more of it?¡± Eh, could be. I walk out of the dilapidated gray building. There are a half dozen other small structures spread throughout the clearing. The farthest building from me has giant green pine branches hanging over it, almost covering the entryway. Six buildings? With how many undead per building? Ugh, this is going to take forever. I run to the closest building on my left and plant my feet, skidding to a stop. This building is slightly bigger than the last and has four creatures inside. The closest is another chipmunk, digging in the decomposed floor. His eyes look bloodshot to me, one slightly larger than the other. Before Dan can say anything I heft the staff higher in front of me with my right hand and reach across with my left hand to grip. The rougher finishing of the wood runs across my hands as I raise the two meter plus long piece of wood above my head. I run towards the Undead Chipmunk. Once I get within two meters I bring the staff down in front of me with all my might and shout ¡°VENGEANCE.¡± I feel like an idiot but I¡¯m also happy to take out some rage on this varmint. The critter turns to my left and calmly steps forward to avoid my staff. The ground shakes under my feet from the impact of my slam and I hear a whomp as dirt and pine needles are forced into the air. Drats. A tiny icon appears in the upper right-hand corner of my vision but I don¡¯t have time to figure out what that means. Bent over at the waist with my staff sunk into the soft churned ground, I start to stand up and the boney chipmunk darts forward, biting my left wrist before stepping back. As his teeth sink in a see a red bar come into being above me. It sinks from being full to 10 percent empty. I step back, grab the middle of my staff with my right hand and shake my left while scowling at the chipmunk. I swear it is smiling at me as its little devil teeth glinted from between its stupid lips. ¡°Smaller creatures tend to be fast, you might have more luck with quick, lower powered attacks instead of that impressive slam. Cool idea by the way, even if it was a total failure.¡± ¡°Shh Dan, I¡¯m figuring it out.¡± I agree with the latter part of his comment, though, the slam is really cool. I grip the staff with one hand 1/3 up the shaft and the other evenly placed between that hand and the staff¡¯s end. I spread my feet to shoulder width and face the chipmunk. As I approach it, I bend at the knees slightly so that I can reasonably reach the chipmunk¡¯s head with either end of the staff. The chipmunk bunches up its hind legs and parts it shiny teeth before it leaps at my face. By instinct, I step back with my right foot and lunge forward with my left hand, clipping the chipmunk in the side of the head with the end of my staff. A red number five appears and disappears from above the chipmunk as it falls onto the ground behind me and to the right. I take one step and bring the end of my staff down on its rear left leg, where I hope I¡¯ll strike a knee. It shrieks in pain and slowly backs away from me. In addition to the red 2 that appears above its head, I see a small icon that looks like a crawling man above its name. I shift my hands on the staff and grin to myself. Yelling, ¡°VENGEANCE ROUND TWO¡±, I bring the staff above my head and bring it down, imagining Helga¡¯s fat bulbous nose sticking out of the chipmunk¡¯s face. This time, the chipmunk does not dodge my slam. The force of my staff presses its body into the ground. A red ten appears above its head and my golden experience bar appears, only 50 percent empty now.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Dan walks up behind me, rubbing and clinking sounds hit my ears, it¡¯s impossible for him to move quietly in so much armor. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so excited, your first staff fight! Well done. And only 10% health loss too. You could do that nine more times before kicking the can. Did you see any icons appear during that fight? You may have acquired some skills. Just think about the game interface and what you want and it will happen.¡± I think about the icon in the top right, and four windows appear.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Staff Defense (Level 1) As you practice blocking your opponent¡¯s attacks with your staff, this skill will go up in level and effectiveness. This skill has the following effects:
  • 10% chance you can deflect an enemy¡¯s attack and take no damage.
  • 5% chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of the damage of a normal attack.
  • Special defense skills with the staff can be discovered.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Staff Offense (Level 1) As you practice striking your enemies with your staff, this skill will go up in level and effectiveness. This skill has the following effects:
  • Any staff will do 102% of its listed damage.
  • 2% reduction in recovery penalty for offensive staff skills.
  • Special offensive skills with the staff can be discovered.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Two Handed Staff Bash (Level 1) Wielding your staff with two hands and smashing your foe from above yields additional damage. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • 180% of normal damage on one enemy.
  • Reduced defense for the duration of attack and recovery.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Joint Breaker (Level 1) Targeting the joints of your enemies allows you to deal moderate damage and slow their mobility. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Enemy¡¯s ability to dodge is reduced by 25%.
  • Enemy¡¯s speed is reduced 5%.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Huh, so I only had a 2.5% chance to deflect that chipmunk¡¯s leaping attack and do damage at the same time. Lucky me. ¡°What skills did you learn Samantha?¡± ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t tell? Let¡¯s see, Staff Offense (Level 1), Staff Defense (Level 1), Two-Handed Staff Bash (Level 1) and Joint breaker (Level 1). Staff offense...¡± Dan jumps in. ¡°If you just think about the window, and imagine sending it my way, I¡¯ll get to read it. The game invents skills as you take actions so it is entirely possible I have never heard of what you learned before.¡± I think about each of the windows and imagine them hitting Dan in the forehead. His eyes cross a bit and then his eyebrows raise. ¡°The offense, defense, and bash skills are all pretty common but Joint breaker is interesting. You aren¡¯t the inventor of the skill, otherwise, it would be more powerful but it¡¯s new to me. That will be very useful against fast enemies. I¡¯ll make a note of that...I imagine other blunt weapons can perform that skill as well.¡± He pauses for a few seconds. I¡¯m surprised that he makes a note of it. Is he a game historian or something? I guess flighty Dan has a schoolboy side. ¡°No time for notes Dan, off I go.¡± I decide to take a different approach fighting the next two undead varmints. I perform Joint Breaker first, following up with Two Handed Bash and a normal strike. After the second one falls, which I think might have been a ferret, the game presents a bright yellow icon in the top corner of my vision. When I think about it, a window appears in front of me:
Congratulations On Your First Level Up! You Have Reached Level 2. +5 Attributes Points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
Dan smiles. We step back from the remains on the ground in building number two. ¡°Grats! You should have received a few more attribute points to spend, more hit points and more stamina. Hit points represent how much damage you can take before dying. Stamina allows you to perform more skills in quick succession before having to wait for stamina to recover.¡± Attributes, I think.
Samantha (Level 2) Attributes -------------- HP: 125 Stamina: 60 Strength: 1 Constitution: 1 Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available Points: 15 Faith Points: 2
¡°I can get used to rewards for hitting monsters, Dan. Bring on the chipmunks!¡± Chapter 4 - Francine - Three Weeks Ago I¡¯m staring at the wall again. I can¡¯t help but look around once I notice. The pills, photograph, and newspaper are still on the table next to my ample leather couch. There¡¯s nothing else. Just crown molding, hardwood floors, my two pieces of furniture. The paper isn¡¯t really needed anymore with modern implants, but I like to read it still. Reminds me of my youth. I look down at the stains on my tailored dress. Maybe I¡¯ll wash them tomorrow. A notification appears hovering in the corner of my vision. Answer, I think. A projection of my assistant appears in the ample space in the middle of the room.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Ma¡¯am, the appointments in the company have been made as you requested. Your daily involvement in the company¡¯s operations is no longer required...What are we going to do now?¡± I glance over at the paper. It¡¯s folded over to an advertisement. Incrementum. Build Anything, Be Anyone. ¡°Have you heard of Incrementum, Dan? The new immersive role playing game that¡¯s become so popular?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°I need you to prepare research material on role playing games. I want to know all about how they are played, the different methodologies, strategies, terminology, everything. I want an executive summary of Incrementum specifically. Purchase the latest VR units for each of us, get us accounts. I will ruminate on your findings and decide how we will begin. That is all, send me it when you are ready.¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡± I see Dan¡¯s face perk up, know he¡¯s encouraged to get any instructions. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s worry over his job or for me. Dan¡¯s image disappears. Taking on this project is painful. Everything is painful. Staring at the wall and trying to think about nothing is my least painful option. But he wouldn¡¯t have wanted that. Furthermore, I can¡¯t abide laziness. I stare at the wall again. Chapter 5 - Samantha - Present I dash from ruin to ruin, crushing chipmunks, badgers, and the occasional raccoon while Dan and I settle into a bit of a routine. I smash, he tells me stories. ¡°You know you aren¡¯t the first new player to join me in these woods.¡± I shrug, I hadn¡¯t thought about Dan¡¯s unknown but most likely lurid past. Dan starts chuckling to himself. ¡°This one child...Wow. So he shows up in the forest, has not looked around for more than five seconds before he poses before me and says...wait, hold on, I have to get in character.¡± Dan descends to his knees, points at me with one arm and sets the other one on his hip. He talks in a squeaky high voice. ¡°¡®Tutorial master, attend me anon. You shalt be my first vassal, beloved above all others. Come, place suitable attire for this world¡¯s first warrior king at my feet. We shalt bring the blessings of Furor to this forest and claim it for our own.¡¯ I mean he didn¡¯t actually show up in the game as a kid, that¡¯s not allowed, but it was pretty obvious. Especially when he stomped his foot after I balked at his demands and started to explain what my job was as a tutorial master. We managed to move past that small disagreement but we had to break up when he described my duties after each fight. I won¡¯t bore you with the whole list, but once he made it to polishing his sword I had to reject his admittance to my tutorial zone.¡± The strange tugging at my lips happens again and I think I might even chuckle. ¡°Wait? Can you reject people? What happens when you do that?¡± The scab from Robert¡¯s recent rejection itches inside me. It¡¯s ok, I tell myself, you hardly like Dan anyway. He pauses for a second. ¡°Well, I guess that bag is out of the cat. Yes, I can reject anyone from my tutorial zone. It means that you would get transported to a general starter zone where there are only automated tutorials and lots of other players. You are in a trial tutorial program that not everyone can participate in. A bit of a leg up if I do say so myself. But don¡¯t worry sweet cheeks, you couldn¡¯t get rid of me if you tried. We have wonderful chemistry.¡± Stupid Dan, what¡¯s he know. I just glower at him as hard as I can. ¡°It¡¯s cat out of the bag Dan, not bag out of the cat.¡± Several undead corpses surround the end of my staff, but as I watch, several of the corpses disappear. Huh, no several year long bio-degrading then? It¡¯s nice not to have to worry about it but irksome that the realism is not complete. My golden experience bar is only one-quarter empty after smashing another six undead and emptying out the third of the abandoned stone dwellings. I¡¯ve been using Jointbreaker and Two Handed Bash exclusively in fights but that¡¯s getting a little boring. I think about each skill and see two windows:
Joint Breaker (Level 1) - 10% progress towards level two. Targeting the joints of your enemies allows you to deal moderate damage and slow their mobility. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Enemy¡¯s ability to dodge is reduced by 25%.
  • Enemy¡¯s speed is reduced 5%.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Two Handed Staff Bash (Level 1) - 5% progress to level two Wielding your staff with two hands and smashing your foe from above yields additional damage. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • 180% of normal damage on one enemy.
  • Reduced defense for the duration of attack and recovery.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Interesting, my skills are making progress much slower than my overall level. Why did the game designers do that? I think back to Dan¡¯s description of the levels...each level does require more experience to progress, so the difference in the rate of progression might level off between skills and character levels at some point...but why have skills progress slower at the beginning of the game? Maybe skill level ups are really good? I guess I should try to discover new skills instead of spending all my fights advancing just the first two I discovered. That way I can avoid investing in the wrong skills. Is that why the game developers designed the skill/level mechanics this way? I can stand here all day thinking about it or come up with more fun ways to smash. Smash it is. I approach the next group of undead and think about my next devastating staff attack. Maybe if I jump and do Two Handed Bash that will be a different skill. The undead raccoon on my left and right are about the same distance from me. I try to move towards one side but they both look up and hiss at me in unison. Dang... As they start padding towards me, I hold my staff perpendicular to my body at hip level on my left side, with my hands spread apart but biased towards one end. I poke at each of their faces alternating back and forth, hoping to keep them at a safe distance. I hit lefty in the nose and then clip righty on the chin. They fall back and look stunned. A small red one appears over each of their heads along with a weird icon of a star flying around a stick man¡¯s head. I see a new notification symbol in the corner of my vision. Cool! I stumbled on another skill. My staff keeps poking them until I start to feel tired. I step back and then shrug, might as well try to figure out some new skills. Holding one end of my staff with both hands, I spin while bending my legs, so my staff is really low the ground. It hits the raccoon on the right knocking its legs out from under it where it lies still. The raccoon on the left darts forward to bite my ankle. I bring my staff down on the raccoon on the damaging it for five hitpoints. I kick the left raccoon off my ankle as the other raccoon starts getting to its feet, I can see its red eyes staring at me as saliva drips between its teeth. I take my staff in both hands again, bring it over my head, and slam it down, but instead of trying to hit the raccoon, I just hit the ground. The pine leaves between me and the raccoons jump off the ground in a wave. When the wave hits the raccoons they lose another five hitpoints and move away from me at least a meter. The notification symbol jumps again. Sweet! I step towards the raccoon I just kicked off my ankle and it bites my knee before I hit it in the head. The other raccoon growls and takes my ankle between its teeth. After two more whacks, my golden experience bar progresses and one of the giant raccoons drops off of my knee onto the forest floor. My red life bar has dropped to fifty percent. I kick with my left leg as I brace my staff and right leg slightly behind me. The raccoon flies away at least ten feet and I see yet another notification appear. The raccoon gets to its feet. I try to run towards it but I can only walk with my knee and ankle in their current state.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I guess that the chances are pretty low the raccoon can dodge my two hand bash after the addling my kick and pokes have delivered so I wind up and try to end the fight. I bring my staff whistling down and hear a satisfying crack and whomp as my staff slams the raccoon into the ground. My experience bar fills slightly in the bottom of my vision. I stand, slightly panting and look down to see blood dripping onto the green pine needles below me. Gross. I sit down, hoping this will lead to the wounds healing faster. The skin on my knee knits together. The damp fog stings when it rolls over the open wound. I resolve not to watch my wounds repair themselves again. I¡¯ll just keep an eye on my hit point bar, less disturbing that way. As I wait for my wounds to heal I think about the notification icon I saw during battle. A window appears:
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Flurry of Blows (Level 1) Rapidly poking every enemy in front of you stuns and damages them. Effects:
  • 20% of base damage done to each enemy in front of you. For each second spent performing the flurry.
  • Enemies stunned for the duration of flurry.
  • 5% chance for flurry to miss an enemy and release them from the stun effect, increases by 5% each second the flurry continues.
  • No other offensive or defensive skills can be used while performing Flurry of Blows.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 20 stamina per second of flurry.
Duration:
  • Maximum of five seconds.
Not bad...so I can use my Flurry of Blows skill for five seconds once I have 100 stamina. Got it. Will the duration extend as I get better at the skill...maybe it is a good thing they don¡¯t level up so fast, the game could get too easy too fast if skills like this become too powerful.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Sidekick (Level 1) A powerful stationary kick that can knock a single enemy away from you. Effects:
  • 150% of base damage
  • Single target knocked back, 3 meters + 1 meter per 20 points of strength.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Hmm, Sidekick? Does that mean there are other kicks I could learn? This one is pretty straightforward, a nice powerful kick to get something away from me.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Leg Sweeper (Level 1) An enemy can¡¯t stand on legs that are no longer planted in the ground. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Enemy disabled for four seconds.
  • Enemy¡¯s unable to dodge or flee for duration of disable, but the enemy can still attack you if possible from its prone position.
Recovery:
  • 2 second recovery. (1.96 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Another good one. I can get an enemy right where I want them, but it leaves me exposed for nearly as long. It would be better if someone like Dan were fighting with me too.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Staff Quake (Level 1) The force from your staff hitting the ground knocks any enemy in front of you back, dealing damage in a cone in front of you. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • 100% damage to every enemy in front of you.
  • Every enemy knocked back one meter.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Ok, this one is sweet. What if there had been more than two raccoons? That could add up to a lot of damage. ¡°Mind sending those skill descriptions my way?¡± Dan says. I don¡¯t mind. ¡°Wow, those are great skills. Imagine if we had some people to do damage while you kept them stunned. The damage dealers might get too much aggro, though...Staff Quake might help you keep the monster¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°What¡¯s aggro?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a gamer term, short for ¡®aggressive measure.¡¯ It¡¯s how aggressive a monster is towards a particular gamer. If someone else was say shooting arrows at a monster as you kept poking it with your staff if the monster wasn¡¯t dead by the time the stun was done, the person shooting arrows might have the most aggro, so the enemy would attack them. Ideally, since you¡¯re the big strong warrior all the enemies would attack you and not frail damage dealers or noble healers like myself. Another way to put it is ideally monsters will always be the MOST pissed at you. Then we strap a bunch of armor to you while I plead with the gods to keep you alive. So really, if you think about it, you¡¯ll be a pretty awesome oversized charity case trash can.¡± I mull it over, getting the idea, even if it¡¯s terrible. If I strap a bunch of armor on, I¡¯ll get hurt the least, so if everything does damage to me, that¡¯s the minimum damage someone will take in the time the fight lasts. I¡¯m not sure if it is Dan¡¯s description or just the concept of standing there while I get hit but I can already tell it won¡¯t work for me. ¡°I can see the value in that type of strategy but that¡¯s a no-go. I¡¯ll think it over but I bet there is a better way.¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s a true and tried gaming strat sugar. The core of any good group is their tank. I wouldn¡¯t think too hard.¡± ¡°The saying is ¡®tried and true¡¯. You leave the thinking to me Rothlington the Blessed, and I¡¯ll leave the begging from gods to you. I¡¯m assuming that¡¯s how you heal people?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, everyone has to deal with the gods for their boons. My boons just require actual begging when I use them.¡± ¡°This is the part of the tutorial I cut off earlier?¡± ¡°Yes! As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me...¡± ¡°No thanks Dan, let¡¯s just keep bashing.¡± Dan grumbles a bit then he chuckles. ¡°That reminds me of another failed tutorial applicant...except instead of just being impatient and not taking full advantage of my amazing services like soooooome people in this forest, this guy was a real jerk too! After greeting him in my charmingly enthusiastic way, he blinked, stared at me for like thirty seconds and said...wait for it.¡± Dan put his hands over his face and then mimes as if he was an old-fashioned robot, straight arms, legs, and jerky movements. ¡°I do not require a tutorial. I am the one they call ¡®Null Division.¡¯ I am the best gamer in the world. Skip all tutorial material. Take me to town.¡° I laughed as Dan kept up his robot impersonation, making beep bop R2-D2 noises as he mimed walking in little circles. I forced out a question through my chuckles. ¡°Wow, some people...wait, Null Division? I think I¡¯ve heard that name...did you look him up?¡± Dan stopped his routine and then kicked the dirt with his arms behind his back. ¡°Yeah, apparently he is one of the best gamers in the world...I didn¡¯t realize this game was attracting the top talent but it¡¯s been getting more and more popular. I guess I blew an opportunity there but come on, who wants to spend time with the tinman? Not I. Hopefully she doesn¡¯t find out...¡± ¡°Null Division is a she? I thought it was a he?¡± ¡°Oh...um..Puppy cheeks, I¡¯m getting a call, why don¡¯t you keep practicing and I¡¯ll see you online tomorrow? Can you manage without your glorious tutorial master?¡± ¡°Get out of here Dan. I¡¯ll do better without you I¡¯m sure.¡± He pouts before vanishing. I decide to just keep bashing undead before going to bed -- what¡¯s the point of logging out before sleep anyway? I¡¯m definitely going to get fired regardless. Chapter 6 - Dan - Two Weeks Ago I walked into the front room of Francine¡¯s penthouse and sighed. Her house was still empty, except for a new top of the line virtual reality pod the size of a car. It had been quite the to do to get that in here. Oh well, she doesn¡¯t need any more sad. I resolved to do my best to bring the light. I put on my best smile and bounced into her first living room. ¡°I have your coffee, egg white organic omelet and organic wheat grass shot and additional research materials! It¡¯s a beautiful day in Chicago, are you sure you won¡¯t join me for a morning walk?!¡± I stopped my bounce in surprise. Francine had stacks of papers spread in front of her in a wide semicircle. She sat Indian style, on the floor, in front of her white leather couch. That was the first time I¡¯d seen her off the couch since she got home from the hospital after the accident. I suppressed a little shiver as she smoothly rotated her head towards me, and blinked, studying me. I felt like a mouse right before the owl strikes. She was only five feet tall, with a ballerina¡¯s body and greying hair but when she looked at you, fight or flight was all that crossed your mind. ¡°Not today Dan. Not for some time. I have the plan together. You will enter Incrementum today.¡± I startled but couldn¡¯t suppress my smile. Darnit, I could practically hear her voice admonishing my ¡®unnecessary exuberance.¡¯ I was excited I got to play the hottest new game while Francine paid me to be her personal assistant. What a fabulous job. Almost as fun as when I got to update her wardrobe.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Focus on progressing your character for the next two weeks. Then enter the tutorial program once you reach level twenty. You must be a healer.¡± Works for me, I thought, not that I had much of a choice. ¡°Once the tutorial program begins, select this area, Brighthollow forest, as your tutorial space. It is a kilometer inland from the eastern coast of the main continent, as close to the unexplored land as possible.¡± She pointed towards a map I had found on the net and brought to her days before. It was crudely drawn. No one really knew the full extent of the world in Incrementum. Just the starter areas the company had dropped the first million players into, roughly pieced together through online guesswork. ¡°There are no towns established in its proximity to date. Even though there is a strategically perfect location a half kilometer to the southeast at Brightcove. That is where I will establish our capital. You can go now, please begin.¡± ¡°Our capital?¡± I swore the moon shone through the ceiling; reflecting off her wide staring eyes and bouncing off the bare tan walls and shiny oak floors. I clasped my arms behind my back and bowed slightly, knowing I may have misstepped. ¡°That will be all Dan, thank you.¡± Chapter 7 - Samantha - Present Dark green moss and vines cover the aged grey stones of the final ruin like mold growing on old bread. The massive pine branch growing over the top of the building¡¯s front wall obscures the shadowy interior. I bring up one of my arms, stifling a yawn. Weird, I guess the game interface doesn¡¯t try to intercept helpful biological cues like a yawn. I have been playing for awhile now, I wonder how long I¡¯ve been in here? I think back to the past few hours. The last several buildings had been a challenge, stuffed with all types of undead critters. Since fighting those two raccoons at once, I learned my lesson and only engaged one opponent at a time. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but I hadn¡¯t come up with any new abilities. I smile as I remember my liberal use of Two Handed Bash and Staff Quake. I might only be fighting corrupted forest creatures, and I really am not a violent person, but there was something satisfying about the kicking, bashing, and crushing. Maybe it¡¯s the simplicity of the problem. Small thing is not bashed, needs bashing, I bash. Eh, that¡¯s enough ruminating, time to finish this collection of ruins. I¡¯d love for Dan to see my progress. I won¡¯t tell him that of course, but it would feel nice for someone to tell me good job for once. I think about the small bag hanging at my waist to bring up my inventory: 20 Essences of Undeath 5 Tattered Chipmunk Furs 7 Tattered Raccoon Pelts 8 Damaged Ferret Furs The furs and pelts probably aren¡¯t worth anything but it seems like these essences have to be useful for something. I ready my staff and step through the pine curtain guarding the stone entryway. I blink repeatedly to get used to the decreased light. Once my eyes are adjusted I frown. There¡¯s nothing here. I can¡¯t hear any enemies moving around or smell the undead fur to which I¡¯ve become accustomed. Deeper into the enclosure I make out dark writing on the wall stones. What looks like an anatomy diagram surrounded by cramped, organized writing draws my eye. The writing is in a language I¡¯ve never read before. Ok, so this is the last building. There isn¡¯t anything else to bash, and if I try to leave the clearing like Dan dared me to earlier, I¡¯ll run into that transparent wall and fall on my tush again. I can¡¯t remember anything interesting in the other buildings, and this is the only building so far with nothing to fight, so something else has to be going on. I walk along the wall to my left and look for anything of note. My hand runs along the wall, the cold stones chilling my fingertips. There¡¯s no moss on the inside, I wonder why. My foot kicks a hard object into the wall. I bend down and search in the pine straw until I grasp a smooth round object. I shuffle back towards the entrance where there¡¯s better light. Gross, it¡¯s a skull. I hope it was missing a nose cavity before I kicked it. I look at it closely and a message appears: Skull of Devout Adept - 100% Full of Death Full of death you say...I think about the Essence of Undeath in my bag and another prompt appears before me: Endow the skull with 20 Essences of Undeath? Sure, why not? The skull glows, uncovering intricate diagrams on the rough cut walls above a trail of bones intermixed in the leaves and pine cones below me. The glow illuminates a drawing of men kneeling around a large human figure. Some of the figures are kneeling, a religious ritual? I try to peer closer but jump in surprise instead, throwing the skull into the wall next to me. ¡°Good Evening! Easy on the throwing the old bone into hard stone. As you can see, I don¡¯t have any arms to rub my wounds. Oh great, no nose cavity, what kind of skull am I now? At least my jaw works I suppose.¡± The glowing skull rests face up at the bottom of the wall, its jaw bone moves back and forth. It opens wide in what I suspect is a yawn. ¡°Ahhh, I¡¯m quite famished. Would you mind if I took a quick nibble? I have the strangest urge for some live meat. Quickly now, lie down and place your neck here in my jaw, gently, though, I¡¯m delicate. Anytime now, no rest for the wicked and all that.¡± What to say to a cannibal skull...Is an already dead human powered by magical means technically a cannibal? Is there an opposite of being a cannibal, dead human eating live human? ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s a no then? What a shame. Do you humans speak in this age? I imagine I¡¯ve been out for some time. I¡¯d start flailing and signing and doing all that but again, lacking in arms.¡± His skull shakes a bit as his jaw keeps working at a rapid clip. ¡°Looks like the Gods blessed us with voluptuous giantesses, after all, I¡¯ll have to congratulate Archie on managing to request his Miracle before mine ended his first life...that¡¯s if I ever see his old bones. I bet he won¡¯t return the respect. Scratch that, no congratulations. You there giantess, do you speak?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a giantess...well, maybe I am. But be nice, I have a gigantic skull crusher right here and I¡¯m having a lot of fun using it. What¡¯s this miracle?¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know about boons and miracles from the Gods? Well take a seat and I¡¯ll explain. In Incrementum, if you want to do something extraordinary, you need the help of the gods. The way this works...¡± I reach down, pick up the skull and shake it. ¡°That¡¯s enough of that Bonesy. I¡¯ve already had one person try to bore me with game mechanics today.¡± ¡°Game mechanics? I¡¯m not talking about a game giantess. I¡¯m speaking of the Gods and you would do well to take them seriously.¡± ¡°Game mechanics are how this game works...Oh, never mind. Just tell me how to get out of here, I¡¯m tired of these ruins.¡± ¡°Ruins?¡± If a skull could look affronted I guess this is what it would look like. ¡°The place is a bit rundown I¡¯ll admit, but this was a pre-eminent center of study in my day. I paid plenty of workers to build this with their own two hands. Why don¡¯t you just walk out of here? And take a handsome skull souvenir. Well, I guess you might have to get through Archie first. He doesn¡¯t look too happy.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. What? A giant, complete skeleton, stands in front of the door, where did he come from? The pine branch above us obscures half of the skeleton¡¯s basketball sized skull. Archie holds a large club with a big knot at its end and a small shield in his other hand. ¡°You see, Archie was always a bit of a large, devout chap. He devoted all his efforts to Vitalia, Goddess of Life. He was a right pain in the arse, always preaching principles of service and self-sacrifice. ¡®You can¡¯t sacrifice this whole town for your own eternal life, that¡¯s evil. Turn away from Decrepit, join me in the light and serve Vitalia.¡¯ he said to me! Can you imagine? The nerve, as if I would sacrifice all my boons and faith at such a late point in my life.¡± ¡°When he finally revealed to me the miracle he planned on requesting with his dying breath, it all made sense. Archie needed a giantess of his same size. Anyway, I beat him to the punch. My miracle may have taken his life and the rest of the town¡¯s, but it was obviously worth it. See how I¡¯m still alive even in death? High five. Right, no hands.¡± I¡¯m not sure how he¡¯s doing it, being just a skull, but he manages to give a very smug look. ¡°So you killed him in order to power your own afterlife? Why shouldn¡¯t I just roll you over to him right now so he can pound your skull in?¡± I ask. ¡°Self-interest of course. Roll me over and he pounds my skull, but then he pounds yours too. Keep me around and I might just tell you where you can find the town¡¯s hidden wealth.¡± A notification appears:
Undead Friend or Foe - Part 1 Allow Archie his revenge by rolling the undead scholar¡¯s skull over to his feet, or not?Friend Reward:Unknown treasure. Foe Reward:A menacing glare before Bonesy is bashed.
I am going to try to bash Archie anyway, might as well maybe get some treasure out of the deal. Unless...¡°Archie, do you know what Bonesy here is talking about? Is there really town treasure or is he lying?¡± Archie¡¯s bends his knees so his head comes out of the branch. ¡°He¡¯s lying. My name is Archibold. Pleased to meet you. If you could roll Decaide¡¯s skull over here I¡¯ll take care of his lying once and for all. I have no desire to fight you unless you ally with that abhorrent beast. Then I will have to strike you both down to prevent the rest of the world from being corrupted as I have.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re just offering to not hit me? I appreciate that of course but I don¡¯t know which of you is really the liar, and I just met you...so you can see how this might be a tough decision for me...¡± ¡°Well, I could introduce you to my patron god, Vitalia, you would likely receive some extra faith, maybe even a bonus boon.¡± After Archie¡¯s offer, my quest description updates:
Undead Friend or Foe - Part 1 Allow Archie his revenge by rolling the undead scholar¡¯s skull over to his feet, or not?Friend Reward:Unknown treasure Foe Reward:Introduction to Vitalia resulting in faith points and boon for no cost.
That¡¯s more like it. ¡°That sounds like a good deal Archie, but I want the introduction before you get Bonesy. I have no assurances that you will follow through on your part of the deal. You look awfully suspicious, being a giant skeleton and all. Will that work for you?¡± I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Archie raises his left hand, scratches the side of his nose and then shrugs. ¡°This is fair. But be warned, if you do not follow through and deliver the monster¡¯s skull I will be forced to destroy you and then denounce your name to Vitalia. Vitalia, your servant Archibold seeks an audience.¡± The abandoned room brightens. I look all around at the walls but don¡¯t see a god. ¡°Yes, my child?¡± A disembodied voice seems to fill the room. Warm breath heats my neck followed by a faint humming as if I¡¯m being rocked to sleep by my own mother. There¡¯s nothing behind me. Archibold keeps talking, now down on one knee. ¡°Mother of Life, the source of all light, I would like to commend to you my newest acolyte. She has proven to be a true friend to life, deciding to relinquish the remains of the heathen Decaide if she might know your blessings. Can you find it in your heart to allow her access to one of your boons, so that she may continue to bring light to this dark world?¡± ¡°Are you sure my son? Her motives are not pure.¡± ¡°I do not see another way, mother. Either I must attack her to gain Decaide¡¯s skull, which I am loathed to do, or persuade her with your favor.¡± ¡°Only for you would I grant this request, may it deliver you what you seek.¡± With that, the room darkens and the warming presence leaves us. I see a notification in the top right of my vision but don¡¯t focus on it yet, just soaking up the last remains of Vitalia¡¯s aura. This game interface is amazing. That must be what it felt like to have a mother hold you and say everything will be alright while humming sweet nothings. Mine generally said everything will be alright as long as I continued to excel at my studies, pushing me to graduate college several years before normal people, but hey I¡¯m not bitter, much. Ugh, I want Vitalia to come back! Before I embark on the next leg of my plan I look at the notification.
Congratulations! Vitalia has decided to offer you a Neophyte level Boon and an additional you two Faith Points. You may request her presence to negotiate your Boon at your leisure.
This must be the Boon system Dan and Bonesy tried to explain. Eh, I can always research it later. I tuck Bonesy into the sack at my waist and grin as I call out to Archie, ¡°That was great Archie, thank you! Unfortunately, the Great Mother has inspired me to protect all my children. Bonesy, you¡¯re staying with me.¡± I dash out of the crumbling doorway so I don¡¯t have to fight with a two-meter-plus long staff in a confined space. ¡°Treachery! I should have listened to the Blessed Vitalia in her eternal wisdom. I will whip myself properly after I punish you for your transgression and ground Decaide¡¯s skull into dust!¡± Two more stones hit the ground as Archie busts out of the building, clipping both shoulders in his headlong charge. I brace both feet at shoulder width and hold my staff in front of me in a neutral stance, ready to block his first attack and perform Joint Breaker quickly after. If things go as I think they should, this will be a tough fight but it shouldn¡¯t be that bad. Archie reaches me, raises his club above his head and slams it down, crashing it into my staff and driving my own weapon right into my nose. A quarter of my health bar disappears immediately. I step back repeatedly to get some distance from Archie so I can reset myself. Blood runs over my lips. Ugh, so gross. Archie charges again, faster than I can backpedal. I do the reasonable thing and run away. I¡¯m weaving between buildings, with Archie starting to drop farther behind me, but I¡¯m getting tired. Crap, I must be low on stamina; I won¡¯t even be able to break one of his joints at this rate. As I run past the northeast corner of the next building, I take a hard left, but instead of continuing to run, I stop, grab my staff with both hands on one end, and crouch down. Archie isn¡¯t far behind so I don¡¯t have much time to wind up. He takes the turn. I swing with both arms at level with his knees. My staff shakes like a rung bell in my hands and Archie topples onto the ground. I step over to hit him in the head while he is down, but from his prone position Archie kicks my leg causing me to fall over too. I land on my back beside Archie and start to sit up, but he brings his club down on my face. My head hits the ground and before I can react Archibold hits me with his club again. My health is down to three-quarters empty. The last thing I see is his club coming down on my face. I should have kept up my end of the deal and handed over Bonesy after all. Chapter 8 - Francine - Two Weeks Ago I opened my eyes after the VR pod closed above me. Instead of the confines of a modern mechanical wonder, I gazed over amber fields of long native grasses -- a light breeze caught my hair and pulled it back from my face. Narrow streams cut through the grasslands, ending in the several hundred meter wide river to the south. A large flock of black and grey birds flew above me, honking at each other like cars on a crowded New York City street; dismissing the group of homesteaders below them. I recognized the large Brighthollow river to the south and smelled the ocean in the light breeze. Turning to the north, I surveyed the large swathes of forest stretching below the wispy clouds Large solitary birds soared in the thermals above the forest, perhaps looking for a midday meal. I was knowledgeable about my surroundings, thanks to Dan¡¯s research, but none of his documents conveyed the immensity of this untouched land. My James would have liked it here. I started to tear up until I pinched my hip. That¡¯s enough. I¡¯d wallowed in grief for too long already. It was time to grow my new home. I startled as a man wearing homespun brown and tan clothing and two weeks of untrimmed beard started speaking behind me, holding his hat by the brim with two hands in front of him. ¡°My lady, I think we are here. This is the best location to settle. There are clear views in all directions, easy access to the river, and an abundant source of trees with which to build.¡± This must have been one of my townspeople. I had purchased what the makers of Incrementum called a ¡°Premium Homesteader Package.¡± A key part of their business plan, they sold various different account types which change the circumstances of your character at the start of the game. It cost them nothing to change a few bytes in their server¡¯s database; it cost 100,000 bitcoins. I don¡¯t begrudge them the right to secure a return on the money they invested into creating Incrementum. I was a businesswoman after all. I only wished they had a more expensive package available to accelerate my goals. The game representative I spoke with beat around the bush. He claimed their top of the line designers and developers painstakingly crafted the perfect starting packages even for the most ambitious homesteader. I think what they were really doing was managing their risk. ¡°Pay-to-Play¡± is a time-honored way for game companies to make money, getting players to pay for things that will help them in their game. However, if enough gamers felt the Pay-to-Play system was unfair to players that could not pay, a community backlash could put the game out of business. I considered contacting some executives from the club and using some of the leverage I had collected over the years to acquire a unique starting package but I just couldn¡¯t. I¡¯m not typically moved by arguments about fairness and honor, but I could picture the look of disappointment on James¡¯s face when I had finally told him how I kept beating him at Monopoly all those years. Let¡¯s just say it is not smart to let someone else be the bank every time you play. Besides, what was the point of pursuing James¡¯s dream if I was going to cheat to do it? I would build an empire, another one, like we always wanted, but in a new world, without machines and silicon. My starter package came with an impressive amount of homesteading supplies and ten artificial intelligence families to help build my town. Each family has at least one male and female child of working age, so I have at least 20 male laborers and 20 female laborers. For my plans, that number would have to increase rapidly. ¡°Thank you...¡± I looked at him expectantly. ¡°Mitchell Samuelson, my lady.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mitchell. Have everyone unload our supplies and set up their tents. Then gather to meet me at the small hill over there. We have a lot to do and we must begin at once.¡± As Mitchell walked away from me, gathering the milling families behind him, I turned and walked to the slightly raised hill behind me. I didn¡¯t need to think about the speech I was about to give to the founding families. I had already worked out our next steps, and my speech, over the prior week. While I waited for them to unload all the donkeys and horses, I reviewed the land around me. Besides this small rise, suitable for quite a large building, the land was perfectly flat for at least one hundred meters in every direction. A hundred meters to our south it began to slope gently downward for another hundred meters before meeting the Brighthollow river. A hundred meters to our north the woods began, a great source of lumber for the building we needed to construct. I thought ¡®Map¡¯ and the Homesteader Map interface appeared before me. It showed a bird¡¯s eye view of the land around me, several kilometers in each direction before a dense grey fog obscured the land. I imagined that would not clear up until I had visited the fogged areas myself, or perhaps if I got a scout to create maps for me. There were several interesting icons on the interface. When I thought about the first icon, roughly one kilometer to the northwest, which looked like a pile of rocks, some helpful text appeared. Iron Deposit Thinking about the second pile of rocks, another, two kilometers to the northeast, uncovered the text. Gold Deposit The first icon made me smile and the second was just a shrug. Iron was an essential metal for advancing the technological base of my nascent town. We would need it for our farming tools, building materials, weaponry and even our beer tankards. While my starter kit contained an anvil and other basic blacksmithing tools, it did us no good whatsoever without the raw ore, and our initial supply of it was quite limited. Gold, on the other hand, provided almost no value to us whatsoever. While it was shiny and at least in my world had a lot of technical applications in electronics, in this world, it was of almost no use whatsoever. I imagine its inherent scarcity would be useful for forming a currency at some point, what was the point right now? Incrementum had no kingdoms, no banks, no currencies. It only had a land to explore and small communities of humans, supposedly struggling to exist after some cataclysm. I had not paid attention to the history of the land put forth by the developing company. It had little to no effect on my objectives. Reaching the iron mine would be our first priority after establishing our outpost. Why should I spend my greatest resource, time and human labor, on digging up a shiny metal which we can¡¯t even use to acquire other resources? No, Iron it is. There were several other interesting icons on the map. They looked like little groups of people. I noticed my founding families were approaching before I could look more closely. I made a mental note to investigate the map further after dealing with more pressing concerns. Once everyone was standing in front of me expectantly, I began to speak. ¡°Pay special attention today, my friends, my founders. You will want to note every detail for the stories you tell your grandchildren. Today is when each of us can stop struggling to survive on our own. Today is when we can stop traveling in search of a home. We are done searching for the perfect location.¡± I looked at the dust and sun covered faces of my people. Their determined and weary faces did not hold the excitement I had imagined after writing this little speech. No matter. ¡°Today is when the founding families of the Athenian Empire broke ground on its capital, Athens!¡± I raised one first above my head, expecting at least an applause. Instead, the most notable response I got was a tall man with a large nose, a nose so large it fit one of his fingers easily in its cavernous depths. He coughed. The tears started to gather in my eyes. James would have been so good at this. He used to get so animated talking about ancient history, and the city-state of Athens in ancient Greece was one of his favorites. I could see his shiny blue eyes and teeth as if he was standing there right in front of me. I shook away the memories that had kept me imprisoned in our old apartment and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Maybe I¡¯m being too grandiose I thought. I¡¯d spent quite a bit of time researching oratory skills and speech writing. It turned out there was a lot to writing and delivering a good speech I took for granted when I wasn¡¯t the one that had to do it. I decided to throw out the next few paragraphs of my rehearsed speech. ¡°What does all this grand talk mean for right now? We need to build my people. Who here has experience growing food crops?¡± One family of a man, his wife, and four children raised their arms, along with a smattering of others. The family trait of big bones, noses and ears were strong in each of them. ¡°You there, does your whole family farm?¡± ¡°Carl Calderson, my lady. Yes, we all worked our family farm before we decided to join your ladyship. The soil was poor and we were constantly harassed by wolves - they ate more chicken than we did. I swear the wolves left me thank you notes on the front porch each time I traded for a new pair of chickens!¡± A few other people chuckled at Carl¡¯s story. ¡°Carl, you will be in charge of all farming. Please organize these people that have some farming experience. Three days from now, meet with Mitchell and provide a list of what you need and what we can expect our initial farms to produce. The crops you grow will need to feed us all through the winter when game is scarce. As Mitchell for any tools you need from my stores, I will provide him with access. I imagine you will want to start the farm near the river for easy water access, at least until we are able to build the aqueducts.¡± I saw Carl give Mitchell a sidelong look. Time to squash any potential disputes. ¡°Mitchell speaks for me when it comes to the Athens, when you hear an order from him assume it came from me. Mitchell, I will speak with you at the start of each morning to determine where my efforts are best used for the rest of the day. Please make sure you have spoken with the rest of the town leaders at the end of each day to be ready for our morning meeting.¡± I could see the people standing near Mitchell and his family start to lean and step away from him. Perhaps placing the man in a position of importance will hurt his relationships with the other villagers but so be it. I¡¯d long ago realized that my talents are best spent managing the big picture and focusing on whatever particular priority requires my attention. I needed someone to keep track of the daily details. ¡°Who here has skill with building?¡± One blond man with forearms that looked as large as my legs tipped his hat to me. ¡°Matteus Larson, ma¡¯am. I can build any structure we need. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ll be able to do all the work myself, though. Someone needs to cut down trees and mill boards for me. Or if we aren¡¯t going to have a mill for awhile, at least help me notch and place the logs.¡± ¡°Right you are Matteus, get with Mitchell after this meeting to find out who is idle and can help you. Your first priority will be lodging. I want one structure per family, laid out in a circle around this hill. Make them the appropriate size for the family, starting with the largest family first. They can house the rest of the children until more buildings are completed. My own lodgings will be last once everyone else is housed. Build the structures in the order of most family members first. Don¡¯t argue, my people come first. I can travel to my realm at will and do not have to rough the cold nights.¡± ¡°Does anyone have experience logging?¡± Two men and their wives tipped their straw hats. Both men had wirey red hair, broad backs and massive beards. Their features were as similar as their wives were different. The smaller wife, who was shorter than me spoke up first. ¡°Sopha and Von Karlson ma¡¯am. His brother, Jorg, and his wife, Dotti.¡± She says, gesturing to the other couple. ¡°We have lived in the trees our whole lives and can fell them faster than any team of four you can pit us against. When Jorg isn¡¯t eating that is.¡± She said. ¡°Impressive, are you sure this is the task you are best for Sopha? I thought cutting trees was a strong man¡¯s game.¡± Sopha¡¯s face darkens and she scowls at me. ¡°Ask whoever you want. I saw faster and longer than these giant lumps of muscle. It¡¯s not the strength in your limbs but how long and fast you can move the tools. I¡¯m a bit surprised that you would question a woman¡¯s fitness.¡± The quiet grumbling from the other women gathered around me was surprising, I thought I was being practical. I perform a clumsy half bow and made a note not to question these hardy women¡¯s abilities.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°My apologies, Sopha. I was unaware that strength was not the primary attribute required for logging. I¡¯m a practical woman, not an ideological one.¡± Sopha nodded her head. Fair enough. I gathered myself and continued on. ¡°Who has been caring for our animals?¡± A wiry man with red hair and a thick mustache raised his arm. ¡°Crawly Edmundson, your lady. My boy Edward and I have been taking care of the stock.¡± ¡°Thank you, Crawly. Start our stables to the east along the river for easy access to the water, but so the farm and pastures and pens won¡¯t compete for land as we expand. Work with Matteus on building a stable and pens for our livestock. Matteus this is the second highest priority after lodging. Do we have any livestock for pasture?¡± ¡°No, your lady, that would be one of the first things we need to discuss. Hunting for meat in the wilds can work but it is unreliable. It is much safer to raise our own animals for slaughter.¡± ¡°Right you are Crawly. Hunters, keep your eyes open for any animals that appear to have plenty of meat and are not terribly vicious. I do not know if this land has bovine or swine, but either would be ideal.¡± ¡°Where is our blacksmith?¡± A surprisingly short, but extremely wide man with dark curly hair reaching below his shoulders raised one of his muscular arms. ¡°Your name sir?¡± ¡°Norman Blackson¡± ¡°Smith Norman, you will setup your Smithy directly south of this hill, close to the river for easy access to fresh water but far enough from our homes so we don¡¯t have to smell you all day.¡± I got a few chuckles at that one, but I was serious. The man smelled awful. ¡°Your bellows and arms will give the rest of these people the tools they need to feed us all. Please speak with Mitchell about finding more apprentices and any other labor you require. Matteus, the Smithy is the third building on your priority list.¡± ¡°Finally, we need an underground food storage dug near the river to prevent our foodstuffs for spoiling, latrines connected via piping to the river and plenty of firewood. Between that effort, and the day to day operations of cooking and cleaning everyone should be busy. Any questions?¡± A stout woman with golden tresses -- easily a third of a meter taller than me -- and five children gathered around her and her equally as tall, but thin husband spoke up. ¡°Don¡¯t forget clothing Ma¡¯am. We will need to find wild sheep, or plant cotton, spin it into yarn, and weave clothing. We have to prepare for winter and have replacements ready when we wear through our current clothes. Mary and I also make the finest rugs you¡¯ll find, ask anyone.¡± The young women next to Gloria curtsies to me, I assume it must be Mary. Her bright red dress draws my eye against the earth toned clothing over everyone around her. ¡°Right you are. Please lead that effort...¡± ¡°Gloria Jorgdaughter¡± she said. ¡°Gloria, our Masterweaver, speak with Mitchell on anything you require. I¡¯m interested in a small rug if you and your daughter Mary would humor me, perhaps in shades of reds like her lovely dress?¡± I can see the girl blush before she dips her head. ¡°Yes m''lady¡± ¡°Any other questions?¡± I asked. A lean, angular woman with a bow strapped to her back, standing close to another man, with corded muscles and sharp cheekbones, nodded her head. ¡°Not all our goods and clothing can be made from cloth ma¡¯am. We will need a tannery and leather workers to turn animal hides into clothing and other useful items, like saddles and leather armor.¡± A frowned to myself, how had Dan and I missed this basic necessity? ¡°Yet another excellent point. Good woman and man...¡± ¡°Valeria and Raul Huntson.¡± ¡°Thank you. You will be our leatherworkers. Work with Mitchell on where to place the Tannery, perhaps near the forest to the north?¡± They both nodded. I took in a deep breath. ¡°Anything else?¡± A frowned as a bald man, my own height, with a shield and sword dangling from his belt said, ¡°What about defense, my lady? Just wolves and bears can threaten our livestock, let alone the possibility of other clans or monsters attacking us for daring to gather...¡± ¡°Do not worry about defense. We all need to focus only on our infrastructure. If we need to keep a watch for predators talk to Mitchell about setting up a watch. But I have my right-hand man recruiting and fielding a defense force, an A-Team, even now. We should not expect to meet an organized group of visitors from my realm, or a raiding clan from your realm, for three weeks at the minimum. I have this information from the Gods themselves.¡± I figured that it was easier to refer to Gods than game developers. ¡°If your specialty is combat, choose one of the projects I have mentioned and contribute to it.¡± The bald man bowed to me slightly and step back. ¡°Anything else?¡± I took the silence as a good thing. These people weren¡¯t the cheering type, but it seemed they would not shy away from hard work. Oh why not, I¡¯ll give my rehearsed speech one more try. ¡°From here, we will build the anvil that creates an empire. When you are sitting in your family¡¯s seat of power, a building made of stone with a roaring fire, that has more rooms than you can count, you can think back to this day and remember that when I, Lady Francine the Sharp, say something will be, it will be.¡± I straightened my back placed my hands on my hips and looked as confident as I was able. This time, I saw several men¡¯s eyes widen and their wives smile, probably imagining a warm room on a cold night, with their families at their side. ¡°That is all, let¡¯s get to work people.¡± ¡°A word M¡¯lady?¡± Mitchell walked up to me. ¡°Yes, Mitchell?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you chose me to speak with authority and manage the people¡¯s efforts...I¡¯m just a simple farmer.¡± ¡°A crisis of confidence Mitchell? You were not so hesitant when you pointed out this was the perfect place for us to settle. ¡± ¡°Good sites for buildings and camps, I know. Planting a field or raising animals, I know. Organizing this many people to complete more than a half dozen significant building projects? I will try but have never done this before.¡± ¡°I have faith in you, Mitchell. Remember, I am still here. Your primary job is to carry out my instructions, bring me information and deal with small issues you do not think are worth my time. I will be here every morning to address any problems and provide guidance. Now please, get to work, I have planning to do.¡± Mitchell tucked his hat into his belt and walked through the long grasses down the small slope away from me. The rest of the townspeople scattered throughout our undeveloped town, moving supplies off of our pack animals and setting up their family tents in a rough circle around my rise. I noticed several icons in the corner of my vision. After thinking about inspecting them, windows appeared in my vision:
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Speak to Them (Level 1) Improves the desired effect of speeches to groups of people. Effects:
  • 10% (5% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) stronger effect on emotions of the audience
  • 10% (5% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) decrease in audience scepticism
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Organize the Pack (Level 1) Increases productivity of each townsperson by actively directing their efforts. Beware, this effect will fade by 25% each day you have not been seen by at least one townsperson directing and contributing to the town. Effects:
  • 4% (2% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster resource gathering
  • 4% (2% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster building speed
  • 4% (2% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster production
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Delegate to Dominate (Level 1). By placing your trust and authority in a subordinate you are able to be away from your city for longer periods of times without suffering consequences. Effects:
  • Any negative effects from not being present in one of your cities are suspended for one month (2 weeks x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) after directing your chief representative at that city.
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Status Reports (Level 1) Establishing regular reports from all heads of industry in your town lets you access information related to each industry easily, and with regularity. Effects:
  • Your town overview dashboard will update once each morning in addition to each time you speak with a townsperson that has the latest information.
  • You have access to a ¡°trends dashboard¡± displaying status report information over time. (inventor¡¯s bonus)
Inventor¡¯s bonus? I don¡¯t normally like surprises but this one was acceptable. I knew that Incrementum had an adaptive skill system, but I had not heard of the inventor¡¯s bonus. Nor had I expected such basic management techniques to be available for invention. MyOrganize the Pack skill alone gave me a massive advantage over other homesteaders. As I organized the growth of this town those bonuses will go up, and go up 2x more than any other homesteader without the bonus. Speak to Them and Delegate to Dominate were interesting. I didn¡¯t have plans to hold many speeches or leave the town. I should consider changing that. If I work on this speaking skill it could have long term gains for important scenarios, like before battle or a major building project. If I don¡¯t have to be in my town to make progress, perhaps I could go some other route... No, that would have to wait on Dan. I¡¯d consider making plans around these skills but I cannot deviate from my current path. I was banking on the efficiency of all my townspeople in productivity and growth instead of war making and adventuring. Speaking of efficiency, it is nice to have a game interface that summarizes the status of my town. Thinking about the overview dashboard mentioned in my new Status Reports skill brought the semi-transparent window into view. The window had many tabs including Resources, Professionals, Research, Towns, Cities, Nations, Empires, Taxes, Government, and Events. I didn¡¯t have time to go through them all but given all my orders were resource related it seemed prudent to review that tab.
Resource Stock Gain Rate Burn Rate
Grain 500 ? 15/week
Vegetables 200 ? 15/week
Meat 100 ? 15/week
Wool 50 ? 1/week
Leather 50 ? 1/week
Lumber 25 ? 5/week
Iron 25 0 1/week
Bronze 25 0 1/week
Silver 0 0 0
Gold 0 0 0
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
The resource tab seemed pretty standard for a resources and land management game. The ¡°Unknown¡± resources indicated there were some special resources that I may have access to some day. I wasn¡¯t going to worry about it right then, however. I thought that the question marks would probably disappear when I met with Mitchell throughout the week and get a real handle on how many resources we could expect to produce with the people that were working on each resource. My first goal was to produce as much food as possible to increase our stores and make recruiting more people a possibility. I would also need to invest in research and development to increase the rate at which we gathered resources. If I could gather twice as much grain with the same amount of labor, that would let me townspeople focus more on tools and experimenting with new methods. I was going to leverage humanity¡¯s knowledge of course. Some might call that cheating, but it¡¯s just common sense. Humanity already discovered the agricultural breakthroughs, like crop rotation, that led to the industrial revolution. Giving my people strong direction on what experiments they should run and what tools to create just made sense. I had no intention of trying to create an actual industrial revolution but the efficiencies that allowed it to happen in the real world will give my town and people an advantage here in Incrementum. While this summary dashboard has a nice summarized burn and gain rate, I was sure there would be peaks and valleys to worry about. Unfortunately, I was right and we didn¡¯t have much of a peak before diving deep into a valley. Chapter 9 - Samantha - One Week Ago Maybe Helga is right, I¡¯m not the right girl for this job. It¡¯s been two weeks since she made her demands, and if the pile of deconstructed inverters surrounding me in the apartment building¡¯s cramped workshop are any sign, I¡¯m in real trouble. Over the past week, I had repaired enough of the battery array to store the energy our building needed to keep its residents with power when the sun wasn¡¯t shining. I accounted for the average number of failures we were likely to experience over the next quarter in my projections for the amount of repairs I had to achieve. It was the easiest part of the system for me to correct, given that I did not have to access any of the resident¡¯s apartments or work in difficult crawl spaces. I still couldn¡¯t understand Helga¡¯s stupidity. Even if she believed I was a lazy imbecile, how could she think yelling at me would fix it, or that leaving me to keep the building¡¯s power running by myself was the solution? Did she want the building¡¯s power to fail? How could that help her? Maybe this was a money or politics thing? Ugh, I shook my head and resolved to focus on what I understood. With the battery system fixed, I thought that this week I could repair enough of the inverters to have enough flowing current to avoid any type of maintenance or repair on the receptors. The receptors are the most difficult and challenging part of the whole system so relying on significant improvements to the output of the receptors is a bad plan. While the inverters performed that necessary task of converting DC current from the receptors to AC for the electrical grid, they were not terribly complicated and could easily have their parts swapped to take three broken inverters and make two working ones. However, instead of the sixty-six percent salvage rate I was expecting, my salvage rate was more like twenty-five percent. The make of inverter that was installed at the time this building was renovated to use primarily its own solar power, had one really bad part and many other reliable ones. So out of four broken inverters, only one of those inverters was broken due to a part that was NOT the really bad one failing. That meant that according to my initial modeling, I would need to fix roughly fifty percent more of the receptors, whether that be window panel or rooftop panel and I only had two weeks to do it. I had no idea how I was going to get in enough resident¡¯s homes, or do enough work on the roof, to make up that difference. I considered buying some panels myself, or maybe reaching out to some friends to help me. Only a few problems with that. My family was poor, I was poor and I had no friends with technical skills. Come to think about it, I barely had friends. The friend I wanted as my closest friend, my boyfriend, was a gigantic jerk hippo face who didn¡¯t even have the decency to explain himself and let me talk to him! I picked up an inverter and brought my arm up to throw it against the wall but stopped myself. Even as mad as I was at Robert, I couldn¡¯t waste the working parts in that inverter. ¡°Incoming call, Helga Trompswitch, accept?¡± My AI informed me. Just what I needed. I put my face in my hands for a moment and then sat up, facing the center of the room. ¡°Accept.¡± Helga was wearing a large pair of diamond earrings, her traditional golden bracelets, and a strapless red gown. Her features could be called striking I suppose, but I prefer to think of her long skull and large nose as a horse¡¯s face. A blond, mean, horse face with big eyes set slightly too far apart. Her eyes were somehow staring down her nose even though I was at the same level as her holographic projection. Did she tilt her head back just to make sure you knew she looked down on you? ¡°Samantha, where are we?¡± She¡¯d been checking in on me more recently, and the calls were becoming even more frequent. I had talked to her just a day ago. ¡°Our batteries, after my repairs, have capacity to store enough energy to get our resident¡¯s through the night. But our inverters and receptors are in trouble. I¡¯m only salvaging 25% of the damaged inverters instead of the projected 75% because the same part has failed in most all of them. Again, ¡° I speak as fast as I can to make sure she listens before cutting me off. ¡°I need resources in order to buy parts for our inverters and capacitors. There are only two weeks left before enough inverters and capacitors fail to leave residents without power. These things fail at known rates, I can¡¯t do anything to prevent mechanical and chemical failures, I can only fix them with new parts but those cost money.¡± She rolls her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this defeatism Samantha. There is obviously a way. Find it. I have already informed the board that our building¡¯s power is at risk due to our intrepid young solar technician not doing her job. They have authorized funds for a job search and incentive package to find a technician to replace you. They also included a severance package which I strongly recommended against but lucky for you, I was overruled. If there is an outage, you will be replaced, as simple as that.¡± I couldn''t believe it. They are willing to spend money to replace me but not replace again parts that have to be replaced in order for the solar power system to function? I¡¯m living in a bizarro world with crazy people. I took a moment to gather myself before responding. ¡°Perhaps the board could authorize a budget for capacitor and inverter parts or a second temporary technician to help inspect enough capacitors to make a difference in time...¡± ¡°Leave the board communication to me dear. The board will not approve an increase in our electricity maintenance budget, nor will they hire a temporary second technician to do a single technician¡¯s job. Any technician we hire will be to replace you, not help you. You should stop watching vids or playing games or whatever it is you kids do and get the job done.¡± The troll. I hadn''t watched a single vid or played a shooter with David in weeks. And what was this maintenance budget? I hadn''t seen a dime for new parts.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Are there any funds left in this maintenance budget?¡± ¡°How many times do I have to say it before it gets through your tiny recently graduated brain? There is no money available for new parts. I have to go. The building board and I were invited to the newest collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I¡¯ll be sure to let the board know that the new technician budget is practically a necessity.¡± Her hologram disappeared as she cut off the holo call. Something just didn¡¯t add up here. If the building has a maintenance budget, and it was set reasonably by someone in the past, then there should be funds to cover the replacement parts I needed for the receptors and inverters. Up to this point, I believed there just wasn¡¯t any money available for replacement parts. Or worst case Helga was just refusing to release funds to make herself look good by having a budget surplus. But if there was already a budget earmarked for repairs, and the board knew about it, why wouldn¡¯t they increase it to prevent disaster? And why wouldn¡¯t I have already seen some of those funds to help with repairs? I got hired in the middle of the year, so I guess it was possible that the previous technician spent the entire year¡¯s budget before I had the job. Come to think of it, who was the previous technician? When I started this job, Jose the Building Manager showed me the workshop and systems control rooms, explained that I need to keep the power flowing, and left me to my own devices. I was happy enough getting my hands dirty and didn¡¯t really think twice about it until now. Shouldn¡¯t I have received at least some form of communication from the last technician? Perhaps warn me about upcoming issues or strange quirks in the system that would take me a long time to figure out? ¡°How are job transitions typically handled?¡± I asked my AI. ¡°In most workplaces, when an employee is laid off, retires or quits, it is common practice for there to be at least a two-week transition period to give the employer and/or the employee time to adjust to the coming change. However, when an employee is fired, this can result in an abrupt departure without the typical two-week grace period.¡± Interesting, so the last technician was most likely fired. From what I knew of Helga, this isn¡¯t very surprising. ¡°Call Jose.¡± I waited a few moments while my AI made the connection. Jose¡¯s hologram appeared in front of me. Somehow, Jose¡¯s balding head managed to create a reflection, even over a hologram. ¡°Hi, Jose, sorry to bother you. Can you tell me what the state of the electrical maintenance budget is? And also, what happened with the last technician? Helga mentioned the budget to me in passing, and of course said I won¡¯t get more money, but it seems weird that I never met the last technician and this year¡¯s budget is already spent.¡± I saw Jose take a deep breath while looking away from me. He stayed that way for almost a half minute before looking directly at me and locking eyes and speaking at his normal rapid clip. ¡°Samantha, I like you. You are a good, smart kid who is going to do well in the industry. But please, listen to me, you do not want to dig for information on those topics. It¡¯s not a good career move. My advice is to do your best with what you have, and if that means finding a new job in a couple weeks because you can¡¯t meet Helga¡¯s demands then so be it. I can¡¯t tell you why but that is a much better outcome than what might happen if you get answers to your questions. Understand? I will give you a good recommendation no matter what happens with Helga so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°Wait, what? Why can¡¯t you tell me about that? Come on Jose this is my first job I really don¡¯t want to end it getting fired....¡± ¡°If I answer your questions we will both be fired. Just leave it alone Samantha. I have to go, bye.¡± What in the world? So something happened with the previous technician and the maintenance budget that Jose won¡¯t talk about, and was likely why Helga wouldn¡¯t give me money. I believed Jose when he said he thought it was best for me to just stop digging into the issue. I also didn¡¯t have time to become a part-time sleuth. All my time was going to be consumed just trying to fix this mess without any money. This was so frustrating! I grabbed my hair and pulled at it, wanting to scream. Helga¡¯s insane demands and lack of support were problems on top of problems. I still had Robert to get back. After he block my direct messages I really didn¡¯t have many options on how to communicate with him. So I got creative. I hired a ¡°singing telegram.¡± I hadn¡¯t even known what a telegraph was until my AI listed it as one of the ways to get around a direct message block. Apparently, way back in the early twentieth century, messages were transmitted over electrical signals on a copper wire as a sequence of long and short beeps. Operators would then translate those beeps into words by hand! I had given the service the following words: ¡°Robert, don¡¯t let our years at University wither, Just because you can¡¯t bother to dither, While I work and struggle to repair, You just cut contact and stare, At some other floozy, You big dumb moose.¡± I was proud of my poetics. For me, it was an Opus. In hindsight, Robert was unlikely to remove his communication block after listening to a slightly...fine, very snarky singing telegram. It seemed like a good idea to at the time but after waiting a whole day I realized it wasn¡¯t going to work. So I sent him an honest to goodness paper letter. That cost me a half week¡¯s salary just for the paper. The government still subsidized delivery so that the older generation didn¡¯t revolt, but after the ban on cutting down trees for any product which could be replaced digitally, paper was in short supply. It was mainly created through recycling old tree-based products. I think I did a better job at being persuasive in that effort.
Dear Robert, At first, I didn¡¯t understand why you chose to block me. We had been seeing each other for over a year, you said you loved me! Remember, the time at the beach? You know the time I¡¯m talking about. I think I get it now. I spend too much time working and not enough time with you. But look, I can¡¯t change my job right now. Once this month is over I¡¯ll start looking for a new job and Helga will have no choice but to give me a good recommendation. Please, just take the block off and let¡¯s talk about this. Love, Samantha
It¡¯s been days and still, every time I check, once every three hours, fine, once every hour, I get the same blocked message. I¡¯m not sure what to try next. I could just go sit in front of his apartment, or maybe at the coffee shop I know he stops at each morning. But that would mean deviating from the schedule I know I have to keep in order to have even a chance at repairing the building¡¯s aging solar system. I can¡¯t do that. What other options do I have here...maybe I could contact some of his friends and ask them to get him to answer my calls, telegraph or letter. That might work although it feels even less likely than my prior attempts. In hindsight, this might have been my first experience with doubt. Not my ability to fix the solar power system but my ability to convince Robert to take me back. Chapter 10 - Samantha - Present My vision is briefly all black after Archibold¡¯s final clubbing to my face. The black is disturbed by white lettering: Your avatar has been expelled from Incrementum for thirty minutes while its energy is restored. Darn. There must be a thirty minute penalty any time your health drops below zero. I call out to my apartment, ¡°Set a timer for thirty minutes. Also, what time is it?¡± and my apartment¡¯s AI says, ¡°3 PM.¡± Wait, 3 PM, that¡¯s it? I entered the pod at 1 PM and it feels like I have already been playing the game for at least 8 hours trying to clear out all the undead from the starting ruins. I call out, ¡°Is time in Incrementum different than in the real world? How is this achieved?¡± My AI answers the query, ¡°The developers of Incrementum integrated the latest time perception technology. Everything in Incrementum is happening at four times the rate at which it happens in the real world. Your brain does not perceive this difference because Incrementum delivers its sensory input to the various processes in your brain responsible for temporal perception at four times the speed at which your brain receives the input in the real world. Roughly 12-25ms instead of of 50-100ms. This technological breakthrough was achieved by building on the work of renowned early 21st century neuroscientist David Eagleman. Human brains have always been capable of outputting electrical signals much faster than 25-50ms, the delay was on receiving input from the outside world. By speeding up the input cycle, the brain is tricked into perceiving that everything is happening at normal speeds, and it can then output its electromagnetic signals with less delay waiting on input..¡± This makes a strange kind of sense. My own perception of time doesn¡¯t seem constant. There are times when I¡¯ve been thinking about a difficult problem or struggling with some strong emotion for what seems like an hour, but checking the time proves it has only been a matter of seconds or one short minute. What to do with my thirty minutes...I decide to check on any correspondences first. There are several messages from Helga but I ignore them completely. I¡¯ve done everything I can with the constraints she gave me. I know I¡¯m good at what I do, even if I am only a year out of college. Reading her messages always makes me feel terrible. There¡¯s another queue of messages from Mom. I ignore those too, she¡¯ll just remind me of everything I already know. I can¡¯t help myself and try to send a message to Robert. I get the same blocked user message I got the night he dumped me. I¡¯m equally angry at myself for still trying to get ahold of him and him for being so mean. How can he not realize that I didn¡¯t have a choice? It¡¯s not my fault my boss is doing this to me. The least he could do after the year and a half we spent together is stick by me while I¡¯m trying to save my first job. He knows this is important for the rest of my career. Who is going to hire a solar technician who let their building run out of power? Maybe I should just go wait outside his apartment, I¡¯m sure if he I could just talk to him he would understand...No, that¡¯s not right, that would make me the needy stalker ex-girlfriend. Ugh. I feel the hot blood in my cheeks from reviewing the two worst things in my life right now. I know I need to talk to someone to try and get my emotions under control. I could chat with Mom but she would want to focus on my job and that¡¯s not really what I need to talk about. ¡°Call David¡±, I say. David might be tired of hearing about Robert but tough luck, part of the burden of being a friend. I see a hologram of David¡¯s face appear a couple meters in front of my VR pod between my sitting position on top of it and the opposite wall of my apartment. His thick glasses, messy hair and bushy eyebrows are in peak form as usual. ¡°No, you should not do whatever you are thinking of doing to get Robert to talk to you.¡± He says before I can even get a word out. ¡°Oh come on! How¡¯d you know I was going to want to talk about Robert?¡± ¡°It¡¯s practically the only thing you¡¯ve talked about for the past three weeks, multiple times per day I might add. It¡¯s gotten to the point where I had to tell my AI only to take one of your calls per day. Not all of us are geniuses that breeze through colleges, I have to study most of the day Sam. So any time you want to ask me about some scheme to get back together with Robert, just picture me saying, ¡®No, that¡¯s a bad idea, you should move on. He¡¯s a jerk.¡¯¡± I look at the ground and frown. He¡¯s right. It¡¯s not fair of me to take up so much of his time just complaining about my relationship. The Robert part he¡¯s clearly wrong about, Robert is amazing and I need to fix our relationship, but taking up so much of David¡¯s time isn¡¯t fair. ¡°Sorry David, I¡¯m not being a great friend right now. I¡¯ll stop bothering you with my Robert schemes. I just really want him back, you know? I never had a boyfriend before. How am I going to find another guy, especially one that¡¯s so handsome and tall? He¡¯s basically a model...¡± I trail off as David starts making fake puking sounds and motions. ¡°Sorry, I got distracted. Can I do some of your homework to make it up? You know that doesn¡¯t take me any time at all...¡± ¡°For the hundredth time no! I won¡¯t learn the material if you do my homework. I¡¯m not going to cheat my way through my studies like Robert.¡± He shakes a finger at me. ¡°Anyway, did you try Incrementum yet? Is it as awesome as the media makes it sound? I hear over a million people have signed up already. I¡¯ve been planning on sneaking into one of my dorm¡¯s VR pods to give it as pin but haven¡¯t made it over yet. We should play together. It should be more fun than our normal shoot-em-ups.¡± ¡°Yeah! I just got out after dying for the first time. A big skeleton hit me a bunch of times in my tutorial zone. My tutorial master ditched me for a little while for some call. I haven¡¯t quite figured out why he was so much harder than all my previous opponents...¡± ¡°Well what level was the big skeleton?¡± ¡°...I didn¡¯t really check.¡± ¡°Really? Come on, you know monsters levels just like players. Remember when your Dad set us up to play Everquest X before your Mom forced us to quit and screamed at him for wasting money? The monsters that were easy for us to kill had white name tags and, really hard ones had red, and then there were shades in between, with blue and green being super easy. I bet Incrementum does the exact same thing or something slightly different.¡± ¡°Yeah, Dad was so happy to play. I remember...Look, we both know I could read and learn every detail there is to know about Incrementum, as least what has been published, but where¡¯s the fun in that David? Besides, there¡¯s a method to my madness. The faster I experiment in the game the more I learn. There¡¯s only so much thinking about the game will do for you, you have to play it. Anyway, I definitely would have figured that out once the game lets me back in.¡± ¡°There¡¯s plenty of mystery left in a brand new world after learning very basic aspects Sam. At least read up more on some other older RPGs ok? It will help and still preserve your precious mystery. I have to get back to studying but we should try to meet up in the game. I¡¯ll start a character today. Where did you start?¡± ¡°Somewhere in Brighthollow forest? I haven¡¯t gotten very far so that¡¯s all I know.¡± ¡°Works for me, I¡¯ll try to end up somewhere near there when I get the chance to play. Give me a call next time you are out of the game. Work still going terribly?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the most frustrating thing ever. I don¡¯t even know what to do anymore. The whole thing is just a disaster. Helga won¡¯t authorize any funds for replacement parts or contract labor. There¡¯s something weird going on there but I have no clue what. All I know is I¡¯ve been on this job for a year, and working double time for a month. Enough is enough. Helga said she¡¯ll fire me if I don¡¯t keep the lights on and there is no way to keep the lights on. So screw it. Screw Helga. I might as well play Incrementum for the next week before she fires me. My Technician¡¯s Rating is going to get hurt, I¡¯ll be lucky to be average after this. I probably won¡¯t be able to get a job at another proper building but I can¡¯t do anything about it. ¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sam. At least this job did you the favor of chasing Robert off. That guy is a jerk Sam, I¡¯ve said it since Fluid Mechanics class and he invited you to his group project. He¡¯s a giant leech.¡° ¡°Whatever. I did some of his homework sure, worked on some group projects, but that¡¯s just because they¡¯re fun for me and he likes to work with me, that¡¯s all. He says he likes to see my big brain work, and my eyes...and legs...¡± David¡¯s face falls into his palm. He sighs and looks back up. ¡°Can you at least call your mom? She¡¯s been harassing me for over a week saying you won¡¯t take her calls. Just call her, ok?¡± ¡°Ugh, fine.¡± David¡¯s hologram disappears. He might have a point on learning at least the basics of how some older games worked. I¡¯d been blowing Dan off when he tried to tell me more information about the game on purpose. First off, I don¡¯t like to have all the inner workings of a game detailed out to the extent where really playing it is just a math equation I¡¯m optimizing. I have plenty of differential equations I optimize in real life thank you very much. There¡¯s something fun about discovering the inner workings of the game as you play it instead of learning all about it before you even get to play. Besides, if you just play a game, experiment yourself, you can often discover secrets or angles that no one has found yet, especially with a game like Incrementum. However, after that beating that Archibold put on me, I am a bit more inclined to learn about the game. One thing, in particular, bothers me. There has to be a better way to play a warrior than just strapping on massive pieces of armor and standing there while things hit you. What had Dan called it...not ¡°oversized charity case trash can¡± but...ah that¡¯s right a ¡®tank¡¯. ¡°Please gather credible information on the role of the tank in role playing games for the past four most popular online role-playing games,¡± I tell my AI. I see a long list of content listed before me. I focus on them one after another and say ¡°Open.¡± and then scan the content. The first several pages I scan are just essentially advertisements for various gaming groups called guilds. The guilds, my favorite being the ¡®Flaming Lambs¡¯, created elaborate descriptions of their group¡¯s best tank in what I think is a strategy for recruiting more players. Apparently, if your guild does not have a super powerful tank, then your guild cannot tackle the game¡¯s hardest dungeons and ¡°boss¡± monsters. If you cannot tackle the hardest content, then you cannot get the best items. If your guild can¡¯t get the best items, then over-achieving top end gamers won¡¯t join your guild because they can¡¯t get the shiny status symbols they crave. As I read through more of the advertisements, I notice that the guilds are all from versions of World Of Warcraft. Apparently, it has been the predominant online role-playing game for the past several centuries. I wonder if Incrementum is going to change that. After skipping through the next few pages which are versions of the same advertisement, I finally come to a ¡°Treggor¡¯s Guide to Tanking For Newbies.¡± It feels like I¡¯m being handled with extra soft wool kiddy gloves, but it contains the information I¡¯m after. Essentially, there have been three different types of tanks in fantasy based role playing games. The first type, mitigation tanks, must be what Dan is talking about. These are characters which acquire items and skills strictly to reduce incoming damage and keep their aggro as high as they can. They typically are best at fighting really challenging ¡°boss¡± monsters because all their mitigation prevents the boss from killing them too quickly, so their team¡¯s healers have a chance to heal them. The second type, avoidance tanks, also try to keep their aggro high, but instead of focusing on mitigating damage, they try to avoid getting hit. Sounds like a smart strategy to me. The classic pitfall has been that when an avoidance tank does get hit, they get hit really hard, often times leading to them dying instantly with no time for a healer to keep them alive. For high-end gaming, that is not acceptable. The third type, aggro tanks, might have some avoidance or some mitigation, but focus a lot more on keeping their aggro high on many monsters. This allows other people who do a lot of damage, like wizards who throw fireballs or rogues who stab things really hard, to kill the monsters faster because they can trust the aggro tank to keep the monsters focused on them for longer. I process this information a little bit. These tank archetypes exist for a reason. The mechanics of these games, like World of Warcraft, force the archetypes to exist when the developers design the character skills, items, and monsters. Since the skills of Incrementum seem to be partially under the player¡¯s control, maybe I can break out of those archetypes now. As I come to this conclusion, my apartment says: ¡°Thirty-minute timer is up.¡± To call Mom or not to call Mom. Ugh, I told David I would. ¡°Call Mommy Dreadful.¡± Her hologram appears after a brief delay, apparently she was waiting for my call. ¡°Samantha! It took you long enough. I have to get back to work or I¡¯ll be late to second shift at the Hungry Pig. Have you fixed the power system? You can¡¯t lose that job, Samantha. Your whole career will be off track and then where will all the extra time we put in studying go? Right down the drain. We can¡¯t afford that. Now, David told me that Robert boy is finally gone, good riddance, he was just a distraction. You don¡¯t have time for that. Focus back on your work...¡± ¡°Stop Mom, just stop! Robert was not just a distraction he was my boyfriend! He made me feel good and cared about more than just my stupid job. It¡¯s a terrible job and my boss is setting me up to fail. I can¡¯t salvage this job. It¡¯s gone. There is no way I can meet Helga¡¯s demands so I¡¯m not even going to try. If you can¡¯t reach me for the next week it¡¯s because I¡¯m playing games and enjoying my life. Leave me alone for once in my life! BYE. Apartment, end call.¡± I closed my eyes. I knew she wanted a better life for me than the one she had, but sometimes it felt like that¡¯s all I was to her, a project towards a better life. Robert was my first boyfriend, my first real anything outside of school and work. After Dad passed, all Mom did was obsess over my Personal Education scores. We didn¡¯t watch movies together or play games -- like when Dad was around -- we studied and worked on PE lessons. We chose the fastest path towards a Solar Technician Certificate and Technician¡¯s Rating for me. While she was at one of her two jobs, she expected me to work at learning. She was always right there, pushing me to solve just one more problem, take one more test. I remember the last time I saw Dad, almost ten years ago. My mom and him were shouting at each other, about me. They tried to lower their voices a few times but couldn¡¯t manage to do it for more than a few minutes. ¡°You¡¯re not raising a robot Kelly, you need to let her play some games, hell, let her play some games with me. A kid¡¯s life can¡¯t just be studying...¡± Dad said before lowering his voice. I heard some more murmuring through the cracked wall of our old apartment. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t even be playing games, we don¡¯t have time for games! This whole family is in real danger of going on Welfare. You need another job and Samantha needs to focus on her studies so she doesn¡¯t have to deal with this. I don¡¯t want us to sit VR pods and play games, doing nothing, contributing nothing, drawing our check while everyone else supports us with government checks...¡± Mom said. Their voices were muffled for a few more minutes before I heard them again. ¡°Let her be a kid, Kelly! I¡¯m taking her to the park this weekend and playing a game with her -- her studies can wait.¡± Dad said. I heard some slamming after that, either cabinets or the door, I didn¡¯t know which. It got quiet, Mom must have put Dad on the couch again. I wish Dad hadn¡¯t fought Mom like that. I liked my Personal Education materials, I liked making Mom smile. I liked games too but I didn¡¯t have to play them. I¡¯m thankful Dad played them with me now. I still sometimes stay up for hours, not working on my education, thinking about Dad, about the old games he used to play with me, and trying not to cry. I shake my head, rubbing at the moisture gather on my eyes. Mom¡¯s wrong, she doesn¡¯t know what I know about my job. There isn¡¯t a path to salvation. ¡°Timer is up.¡± My apartment says. I clear my thoughts, hop back in the VR pod, and sink back into Incrementum. Chapter 11 - Samantha - Present My first thought, after my vision coalesces to show the collection of ruins once again, is ¡°Oh no!¡± I¡¯m standing in the same exact spot as when I first started playing. I see three rundown stone buildings to my left, three to my right, and the larger building with Archie inside directly ahead of me. Please, let this not be the type of game where you actually lose your progress. I played one of those before, called Tortured Souls, and it was hours and hours of fighting the same skeleton you fought before you died the last time. If you happened to survive long enough and make it farther in the dungeon to find a campfire, you could save your progress. I¡¯m certain the name of the game is just a cruel joke played by the developers when they were imagining all their customers putting themselves through soul torture just to get one small step forward in the game. Before finding out if there were any undead animals still alive in the building, I quickly check my attributes:
Samantha (Level 5) Attributes HP: 200 Stamina: 90 Strength: 1 Constitution: 1 Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Available points: 30 Faith Points: 5
Huh, I guess I had gone up a few levels while clearing out those ruins. I notice the small notifications icon and pull them up.
You Have Reached Level 3! +5 Attribute Points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
You Have Reached Level 4! +5 Attributes Points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
You Have Reached Level 5! +5 Attribute Points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
I got in such a groove bashing and smashing I hadn¡¯t noticed. So if what David is said is right, Archibold is probably level 5 or higher. I was trying to fight a level 5 opponent with the same attributes as a level 1 player. That explains why Archie stomped me so easily. Where to put these points... My earlier research into Role Playing Games should help. I know that if I dump my points into Constitution, I¡¯ll get more Stamina and Hitpoints. That will allow me to absorb more damage and do more special fighting moves. I could also point points into Dexterity, and become more skilled at moving my body quickly and effectively. This should allow me to dodge attacks, strike faster and more accurately. Of course, there is Strength, which allows me to hit harder and possibly even defend better. I suspect the reason Archie¡¯s first attack led to my own staff hitting me in the face was that I tried to block an attack from a monster that was much stronger than me. The rest of the attributes look like they aren¡¯t meant for a giant barbarian warrior princess. I wish I could go into the negatives on Wisdom, who needs that...As I think it, I can see my Wisdom drop to 0, and I receive an additional available point bringing my total up to 31. That¡¯s surprising. I¡¯m not really sure if having a stat at zero, or negative, is a good thing, so I quickly put my one point back, but tuck away this little nugget for later exploration. I stare at Constitution a bit longer knowing it is the first obvious attribute a warrior should invest in but I just can¡¯t do it. I don¡¯t want to stand in one place and absorb damage. I understand Dan¡¯s points earlier, that in a team setting, my job will be to get the monsters to focus on me so that people who are better at doing damage, or healing, or disabling can do their jobs without being stabbed. I hear Helga¡¯s sneering, stupid voice briefly and shudder. Screw it. I want to do it my way, not other people¡¯s way. I add twenty points into Dexterity, and ten points into Strength. I might not be able to take a lot of damage right now, but I should be able to dodge and defend attacks, as well as hit my enemies quickly and with force. I ignore the Faith Points for now; I have no idea what to do with them and I¡¯ve already spent enough time thinking instead of doing. I reach down and pick up my staff off the ground. It pulls at my bicep less than before I allocated my attribute points. With one hand in the middle of the staff, I start moving my hand in an infinity symbol motion in front of me, spinning the ends of the staff on my left side, then right, repeatedly. My eyebrows raise as the staff becomes a blur in my vision. Another notification icon appears at the top of my vision and I instantly inspect it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: One Handed Spin (Level 1) A defensive spin of your staff has an increased chance of deflecting multiple incoming attacks at once. Effects:
  • 25% chance you can deflect multiple enemies¡¯ attacks and take no damage.
  • 10% chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of the damage of a normal attack.
  • Special defense skills with the staff can be discovered.
  • No other offensive or defensive skills can be used while spinning.
Recovery:
  • 3 seconds (2.94 with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina per second
Ok, so I can do Flurry of Blows, and run out of stamina quickly, but keep the enemy immobilized, or do One-Handed Spin and keep my stamina for longer, and potentially do more damage. I won¡¯t use one handed spin while fighting Archie since there is only one of him and I need to actually hit him with my staff if I want to win the fight, but it might come in handy if I ever team up with people my own level. I think about the skills I¡¯ve learned so far and a helpful window comes up in front of me. Skill summary:
Skill Level Progress
Staff Offense Level 1 20% to Level 2
Staff Defense Level 1 20% to Level 2
Joint Breaker Level 1 10% to Level 2
Two Handed Staff Bash Level 1 10% to Level 2
Flurry of Blows Level 1 1% to Level 2
Side Kick Level 1 1% to Level 2
One Handed Spin Level 1 1% to Level 2
Not bad - clearing all the undead beasties out of the ruins has led to some pretty good progress in my core offense and defensive skills, as well asJoint Breaker and Two Handed Staff Bash. I guess if this does turn out to be a repetitive area where the monsters come back to life after I die, at least I¡¯ll get more skill progress. I sigh and decide to rip the band-aid off, walking quickly to the first ruin on my left. I put one hand on each side of the doorway and poke my head into the roofless building. Yes! No Undead Chipmunks in sight. I pull my head out of the rundown building, turn to my right and stride over the pine cones and dirt toward Archie¡¯s building. I stand in front of the entrance, planting my staff in the ground on the right, and shout, ¡°Come on out Archibold, I¡¯m out and I¡¯m a bit upset with you.¡± Archie¡¯s stooped shoulders emerge from the stone doorway, followed by his giant skeleton frame. He still holds his club and small shield. ¡°Are you going to run this time betrayer or can we end this here without the cowardly fleeing?¡± ¡°Your goddess warned you, Archie. It¡¯s not my fault you didn¡¯t listen to you own goddess.¡± With that, I grab my staff with two hands take two large steps forward and whip my staff down with all of my new strength, aiming for Archie¡¯s left side. He brings his shield arm up to block my blow, probably expecting the same feeble strength he had encountered when I tried to block his club and got hit by my own staff. Unfortunately for him, ten points into Strength make a big difference. My staff hits his shield hard enough to snap a third of the shield off in one clean piece. I see the red bar above Archie¡¯s head dip slightly and he freezes in place, off balance and a bit shocked that my attack managed to do so much damage. His pause gives me enough time to recover from the bash. I step back and poke the leading edge of my staff at Archie¡¯s left ankle, hearing a satisfying crunch as Joint Breaker lands on his unprotected foot. Far more health than I was expecting disappears from Archie¡¯s health bar. As soon as I crunch his ankle, Archie brings up his club and swings at my extended left arm. I manage to bring my staff up in time to dodge his attack. I take a step back. Wow, this is a lot easier with my attributes invested. Archie swings his club and I bring up my staff to block his swing but I misjudge the arc of his club; allowing it to swing under my raised staff, striking my left ribcage and breast. Oh. My. God. Supposedly the pain I felt while in the game is only 30% of what it would be in real life. 30% of being hit in the boob with a wooden club by a giant skeleton is still an impressive amount of pain. I reflexively bring my staff up and hit Archie in the face with it, wanting only to hurt whatever hurt me so badly. Archie cocks his arm back to hit me again, hopefully not in the same boob, but I have already brought my arms back, and twist my hips this time as I bring my arms around with all my strength. I hear the air whistle in protest, the end of my staff tearing through the air. I barely notice the loud crack from my staff connecting with Archie¡¯s skull. All my attention is on my chest, as Archie¡¯s club crashes into my left breast again. Oh, no. No. No. No. I bend over and cross my arms over my chest trying to squeeze the pain away. I can see Archie now lying on the ground in front of me, a staff shaped hole in the side of his bleached skull explaining the cloud of bone dust settling around me. I hear Dan¡¯s voice. ¡°Is this a bad time?¡± Chapter 12 - Francine - One Week Ago The skin between my left thumb and pointer finger cracked, letting a small amount of blood join the caked dirt and salt. I pushed a stray hair away from my eyes. The small leather tie that tried to keep hair out of my face while I planted hemp failed constantly, letting my grey-blond tresses out of its clutches. I could have shortened my hair at character creation I, but why? My blue eyes, sharp facial features and lean body were good enough for me in real life, why wouldn¡¯t they be good enough here? Several of my villagers and I walked through narrow channels of dirt. As we walked, we dipped our hands into the rough woven sacks draped over our shoulders and grabbed handfuls of hemp seeds. We cast them evenly on the dirt below us and directly to each side. Carl Carderson, my head farmer, had given us a tutorial the day before, making sure we understood that too many or too few seeds in any given area of the field would result in fewer hemp plants. Either from crowding each other and cannibalizing resources so no plant grew enough, or by only growing one plant in a large area that could have supported two or three. Carl walked to my left and his oldest son, Carl Jr., was on my right. Carl Sr. hummed a ditty to himself, something about a fair-haired maiden and milk. There was innuendo in there somewhere but over the last four game weeks, I had learned not to speculate on Carl Sr.¡¯s songs. You would either end up with red cheeks or in a thirty-minute long story, delivered by Carl Sr, about the song. Finishing the planting on this three-acre field was the capstone to a hard game month¡¯s work. The farm had three fields plowed, all three acres a piece, two completed and this one in progress. I wanted to know what exotic forms of plants the development team invented, but if they did, they didn¡¯t include any seeds in my starter bank. I had what you might expect: hemp, potato, corn, wheat, cotton and other staples. On Carl¡¯s suggestions, I chose hemp for rope and clothing fiber. I then picked potato and wheat primarily for winter food stores. I hadn¡¯t slept much, spending evenings working in the fields or forests, or just lying on my solitary hill in the middle of town. There was always something to do, some project to attend to. I¡¯m exhausted -- I know it -- but I prefered exhaustion over sliding back into the pit of grief that still waited below me. I caught my villagers smirking sometimes -- understandably given my ineptitude -- but those smirks faded when I worked harder than all of them. Even the game AI recognized my labors. I was rewarded me with a new skill:
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Lead by Example (Level 1) Working with your people at their respective jobs increases your people¡¯s morale and regard for you as a leader, as well as inspiring them to work even harder. Effects:
  • 5% increased loyalty from your laborers
  • 2% increased productivity.
I was pleased to receive the skill but a little disappointed that I was not the inventor. That means another homesteader out there in the world had a slight edge on me in loyalty and productivity. I despised competitive advantages if they were not my own. My original research into Incrementum, as well as my strategy for excelling, included setting up an agricultural and technological base that could out produce any hostile settlements. I hadn¡¯t realized how much labor and problem solving that would entail. I learned that plowing and sowing the fields was the simplest task facing my town. We had two donkeys, a plow, and with Carl, a man with the know how to get it done. Setting up our Smithy had not gone as smoothly. My starter package had an anvil, but an anvil is rather useless if you can¡¯t heat metal before shaping metal on the anvil. If you can¡¯t heat metal, you can¡¯t bend it. The part of a smithy that heated metal was a forge and my starting package did not contain a ready built forge. Norman Blackson, the town¡¯s blacksmith, snorted when I suggested just using a campfire for our initial needs. He politely asked me, ¡°And should we use a spoon to dig the latrines?¡± I would have been upset by his sarcasm if he wasn¡¯t correct. There was nothing wrong with listening to your people, a lifetime in business taught me that. I spoke with him more and authorized the several people he needed to assist him for a week. They used clay from the river¡¯s edge, heated by common fires to build a crude clay oven, capable of reaching temperatures hot enough to work with our raw iron reserves. Once that was achieved, Norman could craft iron plates more suitable for a Smith¡¯s forge. The finished forge had a massive leather airbag sandwiched between two paddles connected to one side. They told me it was called a ¡®bellows¡¯. The more someone pushed on the paddles of the bellows, collapsing the leather airbag and forcing the air into the forge, the hotter the fire would become. I didn¡¯t let Norman off easy for his spoon joke. I wasn¡¯t upset, but I did believe in tit-for-tat. I got my revenge by pulling his wife aside and strongly suggesting she get her husband to swim in the river with a bar of soap by whatever means necessary. Norman¡¯s grumpy demeanor the next several days proved my victory. The next project, the Tannery, started well. Valeria and Raul Huntson built the initial drying racks and a small wooden structure in order to dry treated leather skins and work out of the elements. It only cost me two units of lumber and their time, one of the cheaper projects. With the treated leather we would be able to make saddles, leather armor, footwear and more. When Valeria, Raul, and the other hunters roamed into the forest to the north hunting for animals my map interface became more detailed. I now had three new markings on the map. The first looked like a rather angry wolf¡¯s head. Focusing on it revealed the text, ¡°Wolve¡¯s Den.¡± The second marker looked like the mouth of a cave. Its label read, ¡°Large Cave.¡± The third just had a picture of a man and was labeled ¡°Forest Settlement.¡± Once the three week grace period the developers gave me ended, whoever lived in that settlement could attack us, as well as any players, let alone wolves from the Wolve¡¯s Den. I promised my homesteaders a defense force recruited by my right hand, Dan. I had faith in Dan¡¯s loyalty and competency. I wouldn¡¯t have invested all that money in helping his family if I didn¡¯t. But something wasn¡¯t right. My stomach felt like I had a small school of fish swimming in tight circles, rubbing their tiny metallics scales against the lining. I was anxious. I hadn¡¯t been anxious in so long, I hadn¡¯t had reason to. Why was I anxious? What¡¯s the worst case? Dan isn¡¯t able to recruit a large enough, or skilled enough group to defend Athens? So what? I could just start again, pay another 100,000 bitcoin. That logic didn¡¯t comfort me. Was it the villagers? Why would that bother me, they were bytes in a storage medium somewhere, not real people. Did that matter? I was working alongside them for over a week now in game time. Giving orders and making decisions, but laughing and smiling too. I thought seeing Norman¡¯s face the day after his wife made him swim in the river caused what might have been the first laugh after James was gone. Just because a computer program made me laugh doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve grown attached to it. No, that wasn¡¯t it. I certainly would lose the time advantage. The world of Incrementum started two weeks ago and it would grow over time, there would be no other chance to start my empire at this point in time before others had a chance to grow their characters and settlements. That must be it. I was not used to losing or failing to meet my goals. That hadn¡¯t happened in business for some thirty odd years and I was not about to start the practice in a video game. Yes, that was probably the source of my unease. ¡°My lady, a moment?¡± Mitchell says. He stood several meters behind me in the field, his hands clasped in front of him. ¡°What is it Mitchell?¡± ¡°It is a delicate subject if you wouldn¡¯t mind walking with me?¡± I placed my satchel down on the dirt -- it would be easy to spot and recover later with no plants growing in the field -- and walked with Mitchell south towards the edge of the field. Mitchell rubs his chin. ¡°I feel that I must bring this up, although I¡¯m sure you are aware of it and are doing what is best. Several of the townspeople have come to me recently with concerns. Everyone here supports you completely, so please do not be upset. You have already given us a much we did not have before, when we feared the gods above all else. But they are scared. They are scared that this A-Team, which we have never seen will come to naught. What happens when the first wandering band of visitors, or pack of animals, or warlike tribe, or god¡¯s minion comes upon us? We will be destroyed. We found safety in isolation before, not doing anything to attract notice or be worth a bandit or god¡¯s time. You have changed that, and we are grateful, do not mistake me, but we are also fearful. Our children sleep here at night. Our relatives, who we wish to see again, will not join us while the question of safety remains unanswered.¡± I looked down, ashamed. I never wanted my people to be scared and they were right to question me. I questioned my strategy too, so far I had no recruits to join my elite team. That was likely due to Dan¡¯s need to level his own character up, but still disconcerting. I stared Mitchell in the eyes, noting he flinched slightly from my gaze. ¡°Thank you for bringing this to me Mitchell. You are right to be scared. Any number of disasters could befall us. It is the reason we must work hard and fast to build Athens and make it secure against marauders. Have faith in me, have faith in Dan, know that we will assemble warriors even the gods will fear in time.¡± Mitchell¡¯s eyes widen and he bows to me, his back parallel to the ground. I see a notification:
Congratulations! You Leveled Up skill Speak to Them (Level 2) Improves the desired effect of speeches to groups of people. Effects:
  • 12% (6% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) stronger effect on emotions of the audience
  • 12% (6% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) decrease in audience skepticism
Requirements:
  • None
I guess I was getting better at giving speeches, and the game AI counts a speech to one person. As I considered the implication of this progression, I felt a stream of ice water run from the top of my head, down my back and forking to run on the inside of each of my legs. I touched the top and back of my head but there was no moisture on my hands. I heard a voice as my vision blurred and changed color; as if I¡¯m seeing Mitchell¡¯s face distorted through a tank of stagnant pea green swamp water.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. A deep voice said into my ear, ¡°I FEAR NOTHING AND NEVER WILL.¡± My vision cleared and I couldn¡¯t feel the ice water any longer. I put my hands up to my ears ad hunched over slightly. Mitchell¡¯s lips moved but I couldn¡¯t hear what he said, the overpowering voice left a sonic vacuum around my head; no other sounds could reach me. Was that a God? I read up on the deity system in the game but there was no mention of Gods breaking your eardrums if you upset them. I straightened, caught my breath and waited for my heart beat to go down. After nearly a minute the creaking from Mitchell¡¯s leather pants and a *tap* *tap* *tap* from an animal trying to break the bark on a tree pierced the silence around me. I decided not to bring up the incident with Mitchell, it would just fuel his fears in addition to my own. Did I just anger a god? What will that mean for my Athens? I did not plan for that. Armed conflict with players, yes. Exploring and conquering, yes. Fighting a god, how is that even possible? I made a note not to speak about the gods any more than is necessary. They were listening. I shaded my eyes and looked across the plowed field to the west, spying what I think is a dust plume. As I watched it, I could make out a shape at the base of the plume, a cart with an ox plodding slowly towards me. Once it was a hundred meters from the field, I noticed there were three men on the cart, one of them was nearly bouncing on the front bench. I knew those bounces. I smiled. Dan had made it to Brighthollow, and hopefully, those were his first two recruits. I walked over to the makeshift path Carl and his family had cut through the native grasses to reach the farm easier. Paths. I added updating paths to my mental queue of town improvements. As Dan¡¯s cart approached, I could make out more detail. This was my first look at Dan¡¯s avatar. Unsurprisingly, he was much the same. He had always been quite happy with his appearance and generally let everyone know about it when appropriate, and sometimes when not appropriate. His slight frame always seemed too small to contain his inner energy to me but the golden, perfectly brushed and oiled hair seemed more than appropriate to reflect his sunny disposition. He jumped off the cart and ran towards me with a big goofy smile on his face. He stopped before he got all the way to me and stuck out his hand. I could tell he wanted to hug me but I had a strict handshake policy. As I shook his hand I almost laughed. The rascal. ¡°Golden eyes Dan?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always felt my eyes should match my hair and Incrementum has proven me right.¡± Not wanting to encourage Dan¡¯s preening, I shifted my gaze to the two figures climbing down from the cart. I felt like I should step backward so I could look them both in the eye. I suspected both of them would have chosen a different race if Incrementum allowed it. The one that approached to my left was only a meter and some change tall, with broad shoulders, thin limbs and straight brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. The leather vest he was wearing let me see that he had strength in his short limbs, but his flat mouth and raised shoulders were a bit off-putting. I guessed that he was not going to be the tank archetype character I had instructed Dan to find. That left some form of damage dealer, perhaps a rogue, ranger or mage archetype. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was appraising his surrounding or just a deliberate person, but he was moving quite slowly and hung back a bit behind Dan and the other man. The man on the right, was at least two and a half meters tall, bordering on unbelievable for a human. I was rather sure I could fit inside of his stomach if I curled into a ball; maybe I could fit Dan in there too. He also wore a leather vest, but it must have been made of an animal three to four times as big as his companion¡¯s. The giant man strode forward at a rapid pace and stuck out his hand to greet me. I shake his hand and make eye contact and wait for him to introduce himself. ¡°Doc Weatherby, at your service. Couldn¡¯t be more excited to meet you after hearing about this here opportunity from your man Dan. My good friend Leonard,¡± Doc paused and looked down. ¡°Say hello to the lady Leonard.¡± the small man, almost entirely obscured by Doc¡¯s massive presence, may have said hi but it sounded like a grunt to me as Doc shrugged and continued on. ¡°As I was saying, we are just tickled pink that Dan here thought we might be right to join your A-Team. Now, we aren¡¯t much on the healing, or the tanking, or really the crafting come to think of it, but if you need a critter dead we two can get it dead. Show the boss lady Leonard.¡± Leonard¡¯s cheeks drew back in a smile, revealing teeth that might as well have been sharpened he looked so vicious. Next thing I knew, Leonard had a dagger in each hand -- probably from below his vest but I couldn¡¯t tell he moved so quickly -- before hurling each dagger into the side of the cart behind him. ¡°See Leonard here slices em¡¯ up, I fire up the barbeque.¡± Doc extended his hand between us and a globe of fire appeared above his hand. The blue core and hissing and popping led me to believe that fire was not a regular fire. ¡°A pleasure to meet you, Doc and your compatriot Leonard. Thank you for traveling all the way out here from wherever Dan discovered you. Would you like some refreshments? We have clean water and some deer jerky back at the main village.¡± ¡°That would be mighty fine ma¡¯am, thank you kindly,¡± Doc said, dipping his head. He clapped Leonard on the back, knocking him forward a whole foot. Leonard looked back at Doc with squinted eyes and waved his arms at Doc¡¯s gigantic form. ¡°Sorry, Leonard, but you chose that tiny little body, I couldn¡¯t have done that back home. Stop your whining and let¡¯s go; it never helps to keep the boss waiting.¡± Doc said. He continued talking as we walk towards the center of town. ¡°We were in a Homestead roughly a hundred miles towards the southwest when we met your man Dan here. He was playing with some tincan, what was his name Dan?¡± Dan sighed, ¡°GoreFiend.¡± Doc laughed. ¡°Right, GoreFiend. So Dan was trying to grind out a few levels fighting Giant River Crocodiles with GoreFiend when we walked by in the morning. I noticed he was level ten; on the walk back that evening, I saw they were still the same level and Dan had this look on his face. It¡¯s hard to describe, my momma would have said he had his underwear in a bunch.¡± Dan said, ¡°That man was the most incompetent player I¡¯ve ever been unlucky enough to group with. He pulled two crocodiles at least four times, nearly getting us killed, and I¡¯m rather certain I did more damage than he did. I was better off just playing by myself but I was too nice to just tell him to go away.¡± Dan glanced my way, I imagined he knew I wouldn¡¯t be pleased with him wasting time because he wasn¡¯t willing to hurt someone¡¯s feelings. He was right. ¡°Where was I? Right, so we saw Dan sitting there on the side of the river with his panties in a twist and decided to see what was the matter. After he told us about taking five minutes just to dispatch one crocodile we invited him along to our stomping grounds a the Lion Caves. Now, Leonard and I might be wet paper bags when it comes to taking a blow but we can make something dead faster than any other two men on Incrementum. The God¡¯s could do better of course.¡± Doc looked up at the sky and then winked at me. It looks like Doc figured out it wasn¡¯t a good idea to take the God¡¯s names in vain, maybe I can get the story on that later. ¡°After he saw us slice and ¡®cue up a few Lions Dan started talking about you and this place and well, here we are.¡± Dan turned around and stared at the Ox and cart for a moment. I noticed I could see the fields through the wooden sides of the cart as it faded from my vision. Dan opened his mouth to talk and I raised my hand slightly indicating that he should hold his tongue for now. We had developed a set of non-verbal gestures over the years and he understands that I had my reasons for not wanting him to speak right now. As the four of us walked back to town center I started to lay the groundwork for my negotiations with Doc. I imagined that Leonard wasn¡¯t going to be taking part in the discussion. ¡°So why are you interested in joining my team Doc? And why do you think you and Leonard are the right men for the job? As you can see, I¡¯m quite busy here and I can¡¯t waste my time.¡± Doc nodded his head beside me, ¡°Well you don¡¯t mince words do you. Fair questions, and I¡¯ll answer them if you¡¯ll do me the kindness of answering mine in turn. Dan told us you are building an empire here. Now as you might guess, Leonard and I are from Texas, and we are what you might call Wild West Enthusiasts. There¡¯s nothing we want more than to be back in the early days of the United States, eating cans of beans, riding horses, shooting buffalo and drinking whiskey over cards. No one has made a game that lets us do that, but we reckon we can get pretty close in Incrementum. We don¡¯t have pistols or a rifle here, but we got knives and fire.¡± They both smile at the mention of knives and fire. ¡°Where was I, ah, to answer your second question, you won¡¯t find anyone more dedicated to their weapons. We mean to be the finest knife fighter, ¡± he points to Leonard ¡°,and Pyro, ¡° tapping his own chest ¡°this game will ever see. We also don¡¯t have much in the way of real life commitments. We¡¯ll log out of the game here and there for necessities like sleep, food, and bingo, but besides that we¡¯ll be here.¡± ¡°To answer your first question, if we could have been part of the United State¡¯s Manifest Destiny in the 19th century we would have been. We reckon you have your own version of Manifest Destiny. We want to be on the front lines, discovering new territory, fighting natives and playing poker for gold nuggets the size of our fists.¡± He looks down at his balled fist, nearly the size of a football. ¡°Maybe just the size of Leonard¡¯s fist.¡± I remained silent for a few moments, letting Doc¡¯s information sink in. It appeared as if Dan had done exactly what I asked. I outlined for him a week before (or four game weeks) what we would need in a group of elite players. The four players in our elite six-player group need to do damage to enemies. Some specializing in a single enemy at a time and others in doing damage to a whole group of enemies at once. My research indicated that overwhelming damage was the solution to most problems in these games. I also specified that I wanted players who were committed to the game, and had plenty of spare time. I¡¯m sure there would be more casual players joining us in the future but they would never be part of the elite, sheerly because they didn¡¯t put in the time to be stronger than our enemies. I didn¡¯t doubt Leonard or Doc¡¯s skill, or their temperament. I trusted Dan to do that basic vetting, as he had done for me in the past with James and my company. I felt my face fall slightly, remembering James was no longer here but pushed past it. ¡°Thank you, Doc. I agree with your assessment that my empire, Athenia, is and will continue to be an exciting place with new lands to explore. What questions did you have for me?¡± ¡°Well, Dan told me quite a bit about why you are here and the circumstances that led you to start Athenia. I hope this is not too forward, but please accept my condolences. I hear your James was quite the man.¡± I don¡¯t trust myself to speak and just nod. ¡°Dan also told me what you were willing to offer to your A-team for tying their fate to yours. But I¡¯d like to hear it from the horse¡¯s mouth if you don¡¯t mind, not to say you are a horse...Well, there I go again with my foot in my mouth. Go ahead and give me a little stab next time Leonard.¡± Leonard grinned and a dagger appeared in his left hand briefly before disappearing again somewhere on his person. ¡°I am willing to offer each member of my original A-Team the following perks. One, 1% of quarterly empire profits, paid in gold, once the empire has profits and gold. Two, all goods and services from empire towns at cost. Three, unrestricted access to all lands controlled by the empire. Four, a one-time land grant of up to one thousand acres in the bounds of the empire, subject to my approval. Five, one week per game month free from any orders from me or my representatives. For the fifth point, there may be exceptions that require me to interrupt the game week off, but my intent is not to control your time in Incrementum, but to direct your efforts to the empire and in turn your own, benefit. I will sign a contract to this effect, in and/or out of the game, whatever makes you comfortable. You should also know, that I am planning to offer the second perk to any player who signs a Writ of Allegiance with the empire, so that is not unique to my Elite. This Writ will bind the player to the Laws of the Empire, as well as tax any gains they make within the bounds of the empire. They may eat, drink and travel for free but their gains will be taxed.¡± Doc makes an mmm sound before asking, ¡°What are these Laws we will be bound by?¡± ¡°They do not exist yet, but we can add a clause where you may opt out of your contract if any of the Laws do not meet your satisfaction. My thoughts so far mostly run along the lines of no murder, no stealing etc...The basic rules for a peaceful society.¡± Doc laughs, ¡°As long as no drinking doesn¡¯t make your list I don¡¯t think we will have a problem.¡± I decided it was time to throw in my trump card and bring negotiations to an end. ¡°Doc, time is wasting. My final offer is as follows, all the perks I mentioned before, as well as the raw materials to construct your own tavern and whiskey still. I can spare no manpower but the resources are yours.¡± I realized I was walking by myself a few seconds after ending my final offer and turned around. Doc looked shocked, and Leonard had both daggers out, pointed at the sky in what I guessed was some sort of victory stance? After a few more seconds Doc said, ¡°Where do we sign?¡± Chapter 13 - Samantha - Present ¡°Dangit Dan, where have you been? This hurts so bad.¡± I can¡¯t stop cradling my chest as I crouch in the location of Archie¡¯s breast brutality. The multiple club swings connecting with my chest barely allow me to speak. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. My boss called and I had to go do something for her.¡± ¡°Is there any way to turn this pain down? It feels like my girls are about to either pop off my chest or get sucked out my back.¡± Dan winces, although I know he really has no clue what this feels like I¡¯ll buy that he feels bad seeing me like this. ¡°Just think about game settings and you should see a menu, one of the options will be pain threshold, just drag that all the way down. Some people like the settings high but I don¡¯t get it personally. Especially as a warrior I bet having it super low is a good thing.¡± Dan¡¯s mouth is turned down, he¡¯s either a good actor or is actually sorry about leaving me alone. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re level 6, awesome work! Wait, what¡¯s that giant skeleton? Woah, look at the ruins.¡± Dan points and I look up. Each building is emitting a yellowy-green light in slow strong pulses, like giant stone fireflies on a hot summer¡¯s night. The pulses accelerate and intensify, forcing both of us to look away and hide our delicate eyes from the intense bursts. Out of the corner of my eye I see the whole forest get lit up, as if from a massive lightning bolt. It lasts for several seconds until I can no longer make out each pine needle on the forest floor. I turn my head to see what has happened to my tutorial clearing. The ruins are gone. My vision is briefly covered by a system prompt:
You have completed the Incrementum tutorial! Congratulations. A new human settlement has been placed on your map. We recommend you head that way to begin your journey, but you may do as you wish. Do you want your tutorial guide to stay in your area?
I think yes and the prompt goes away. I notice there are more notifications waiting for me that must have appeared after my fight with Archibold. I decide to check in on that later after I settle up with Dan. ¡°What gives Dan? I did just fine on my own thank you very much, but aren¡¯t tutorial guides supposed to do some guiding before it¡¯s over?¡± ¡°You kind of told me to ¡®shut it¡¯ each time I was trying to explain the game...But, really, I am sorry. I can¡¯t ignore calls from my boss. She doesn¡¯t appreciate it and hey, even someone as fabulous as me has to answer to somebody.¡± ¡°Uck, I know it. Bosses are the worst. Mine is a complete terror, maybe even a crook. She is the sole reason I¡¯m going to be playing this game for the next couple weeks.¡± ¡°I mean, my boss is fair, even nice in her own way. What do you mean a crook? You know you can report corrupt business practices right? It¡¯s called being a whistleblower.¡± ¡°Actually, I did not know that. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that bad. She just wants me to somehow do my job without giving me enough money to do my job.¡± ¡°Is there a budget for your job?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the strange thing, I learned there is a budget, but when I asked someone else about the budget they said I should really not ask about it if I wanted to keep my job.¡± Dan stands there with raised eyebrows and stares at me for what feels like ten minutes before speaking. ¡°Honey, that has embezzling written all over it. I¡¯m sending you my contact information. If you want to know more about how to deal with it, just give me a call. It sounds like your boss might very well be a crook and a bear! Her loss is my gain though!¡± Dan claps his hands in excitement after that unusually serious moment. Maybe he acts differently in professional settings. ¡°What do you want to do next? Explore the forest? Hit some more things with your stick? If you don¡¯t mind a suggestion, Brighthollow town would be a great next stop. I¡¯ve been there. It¡¯s a decent sized town, good people and plenty of quests and tasks to keep you moving. There probably isn¡¯t a statue or shrine for your chosen god there but there aren¡¯t many of those in the world yet.¡± ¡°Weird, the tutorial recommended I go to Brighthollow town too. The game put the town on my map as the nearest ¡®new¡¯ human settlement. And what do you mean chosen god? I don¡¯t have a chosen god. I ran into Vitalia when I was finishing the tutorial but no one ever said anything about a chosen god. Which reminds me, I got a free boon from her, what do I do with that?¡± ¡°Oh, Vitalia! She¡¯s the best! That¡¯s my chosen god. Incrementum doesn¡¯t limit you to following only one god, but if you chose one god as your patron deity, you can receive boons for far fewer faith points, which results in more boons or more powerful boons sooner. You also get access to faith-based quests for your chosen god more often than any old random god. A free boon is awesome, can I make some recommendations?¡± He barely pauses to give me time to respond, clearly intending to suggest away without approval. ¡°Ok, so first I¡¯d suggest Minor Close Wounds so you can heal up any slashing or piercing injuries easily. Minor Repair Bruising is another good one to clear up and blunt force damage. Oh, Minor Revitalize Stamina is another...¡± ¡°I get it, I get it. You have successfully convinced me that Vitalia will not be my chosen god if only because you are so enthusiastic about her. Something about that motherly aura she puts off just rubs me the wrong way. How do I choose a god? I was never asked about it.¡± ¡°You know if you didn¡¯t cut me off so much you might know more about the game, and chosen gods. Patience padawan. Just thinking ¡®Chose my god¡¯ should get it started. As you have already discovered, your intent is all the game needs to do what you want.¡± I follow Dan¡¯s instruction. I start to feel light like I¡¯m floating in a pool of water, but instead of seeing blue translucent reflections, I see my new giant warrior¡¯s frame and Dan¡¯s diminutive armored form. I keep rising, seeing the squirrels run along the green pine branches, until a grey haze begins to cover my vision. Soon my vision is only darkness. I can hear my breath and finally a dripping sound. Too many lights to count assault my vision. Behind me, I hear a voice, ¡°Another supplicant, hurrah!¡± To my left something whispers, ¡°Dibs, this one is mine, total dibs.¡± In front of me, ¡°Silence Brothers and Sisters! Welcome, Samantha, to the Choosing Hall!¡± A raucous crowd of strange people surrounds me. My greeter is draped over an aged iron throne. The throne sits on a dry river bed covered in perfectly round stones, worn and shaped by water that no longer flows. The god props his right leg over one iron arm rail and places his right arm on the particularly red and orange rust crusted back of the throne. His black robe bunches slightly on his right hip, allowing me to see the steel boots he wears under the dark cloth garment. I wonder if he has a full set of metal armor under there. His cobalt blue eyes stare at me from an unnaturally thin face. His skin looks like leather pulled over the top of a hand drum made of bone, taught and likely to snap. Beside him, Vitalia sits with perfect posture on the backs of two mother deer, their fawns all curled up in little balls between the river rocks. Wrinkles run from ear to ear under her white, delicate hair. I notice small imperfections in the white pullover and loose baggy pants she¡¯s wearing. Handmade, likely worth a fortune back home where machine made garments are practically given away. Vitalia smiles at me slightly and shakes her head. ¡°I tried to warn Archibold. A devout man but not very practical. The trick you played on him was not very nice dear.¡± ¡°I know. You warned him, though...¡± ¡°Yes dear, but it was still a deception.¡± Her eyes stare into mine. Maybe she¡¯s right, but Archibold is dead and I have a boon. I turn my head to inspect the crowd seated and standing on the river banks. Just to get my bearings, not to break from Vitalia¡¯s gaze I assure myself. One woman in a bright reflective pink jumpsuit catches my eye before I am forced to avoid the pink glare by turning my head. A giant bear grins at me, exposing its finger-length teeth. A muscled man wearing just a loin cloth, and grease, smirks when I keep my gaze on him for just a bit too long. He holds his palm out and conjures a tiny fireball to rest above it. A robed man with a quiet face looks down at the riverbed floor, his feet crossed before him. A young woman roughly my own age hops from foot to foot with inhuman quickness, her face almost blurring as it twitches from one side to another. A giant man, wearing a soot-covered leather apron has his muscle corded arms crossed over his chest. The throned god in front of me speaks, ¡°Welcome to The Choosing. You are in the presence of the Gods of Incrementum. Please us, and you will earn access to our boons. Anger us, and we may deign to dispatch our agents against you. The true power of this world surrounds you as sure as any ocean.¡± He places both feet on the ground, straightens his back and leans towards me. ¡°Today, and today alone, you may speak to us without fear of retribution. But be warned, my wife, Vitalia Goddess of Life permits much that I, Decrepit, God of Death, do not.¡± He waves his arm out, including the crowd. ¡°Who do you wish to address?¡± ¡°No need for the grandstanding dear. Samantha, you may ask any of us any questions you would like. If any of the children give you problems I will give them quite a tongue lashing.¡± Vitalia informs me. I blink in surprise. Two giant spiders are now crouched down on each side of her, silk protruding from their bulbous ends. Vitalia is using perfectly formed branches as knitting needles to shape the silk. I see Decrepit roll his eyes and smile. ¡°Ah, you really know how to take the wind out of my sails love. Fine. Ask us any questions you wish Samantha.¡± ¡°Wait, you two are an item? And all the gods here are your children?¡± Decrepit snorts. ¡°We may be gods but even we don¡¯t have that kind of time or patience. There are hundreds of children here! And most of them are naughty. We run herd but if they were all our children we would be responsible for their actions and that would be a nightmare.¡± I can hear some of the assembled gods grumbling, ¡°We¡¯re not cattle...¡± Decrepit continues, ¡°Some of the gods here are our get, but most are not. They are born from the minds of visitors like you. Wherever there is faith, there is a god. And yes, we are, what did you call it ¡®an item.¡¯ Vitalia is the love of my immortal life. Where there is life, there is death, and so we are entwined for eternity.¡± He looks at her with such tenderness. Robert could take a few lessons. ¡°Ok, I guess that makes sense. So each of you can provide some type of boons, and the more faith points I have, the more powerful the boons you will allow me to use...Are these like once in a lifetime things or what?¡± ¡°There are Miracles dear, but those can only be bestowed once in a life, and often result in the death of the grantee. I would think very carefully before requesting a Miracle. Most of our boons can be used repeatedly, often with some enforced duration between uses. But you must invest enough faith in us before we are willing to give you access to our more useful boons.¡± I thought about that for a minute. So they were essentially like my staff skills, but I could only gain access to them through my faith. ¡°So go light on the Miracles, got it. Ok, so I¡¯m guessing each of you only offers boons that do certain things? So the Goddess of Life probably does not offer a boon that will light my campfire? More like heal me or a friend?¡± Vitalia just nods her head in agreement. ¡°Dan mentioned a Chosen God, what is that?¡± Decrepit jumps in, ¡°Each visitor may choose one of us as their Chosen God. A Chosen God offers their boons to their supplicants for fewer faith points. They can also allow their supplicants to access more powerful boons sooner. However, the god must agree to become a visitor¡¯s chosen god. We may have many chosen but we pay special attention to our chosen, so it does not behoove us to have just any visitor in our ranks.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let him fool you, dear. We all want as many devotees as we can get. Gods have rejected choosing visitors in the past, but it is rare. The last one was hmmm...¡± Vitalia puts down one knitting needle and taps her chin several times. ¡°Was it you Anvil? I remember a visitor in quite a huff after speaking with you.¡± The mountain of a man wearing an apron speaks, ¡°He had no intention of learning the craft.¡± Vitalia looks at him expectantly but Anvil stands with crossed arms, looking back placidly. ¡°Why do you want devotees?¡± Vitalia sighs, ¡°Well we get more powerful for one. A god¡¯s power is directly linked to the strength of their follower¡¯s faith, as well as the number of followers. We can sense each other¡¯s power, so when it comes down to disagreements, you might imagine it¡¯s important to be more powerful than the other god. Some of us do quite nefarious things to increase our power...¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough of your prattle old woman!¡± An almost too pretty man adorned in a blood red robe, black pants and shirt strides forward from the crowd. His two-meter plus stature and wide shoulders leave him towering above Decrepit and Vitalia as he stands in front of them. ¡°Do you seek power girl? Explode the hearts from the chests of your enemies with just a thought! Light your own blood on fire to wield your staff with the strength of ten men!¡± He raises his hands above him, ¡°Become a chosen of Vlad, the Blood Caller, and we will tear through this world like a cleaver through bone.¡± I point at his midriff. ¡°You should get a longer shirt, it came out of your belt.¡± He looks down with a frown, lowers his arms and tucks his shirt back into his pants. Decrepit and Vitalia start chuckling behind him. ¡°It was a good try Vlad, worked on the last one but it appears you missed your mark here,¡± Decrepit says through a big smile. Vlad grumbles and stomps back over to his place in the crowd beside a lean woman with two daggers strapped to her belt. ¡°Well, Samantha?¡± Vitalia asks. ¡°You don¡¯t seem like the skeleton type, sad to say for poor Decrepit here, and we both know you aren¡¯t going to choose me. Do you have questions for these others?¡± Vitalia continues to knit the spider silk garment at a rapid pace. In just a few minutes she has gone from nothing to a limb¡¯s worth of fabric gathering in her lap. I¡¯m not about to stand around here for hours questioning each and every one of what must be hundreds of gods. Who does that anyway? ¡°Have other visitors really stood here and talked to each and every one of you?¡± Decrepit laughed, ¡°Many have come to gaze upon our mighty visages, it is a privilege to consort...¡± he glanced over at Vitalia and clearly saw her annoyed look. The God of Death, sighed, knowing it was best not to anger his immortal wife. ¡°Yes, Samantha, they have. Many visitors want to know all the options that are available. It¡¯s mind numbing. Only a fraction of our being is here in front of you, but even a fraction of our attention can be bored.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°How about this, I intend to be on the front lines fighting my enemies with my staff. I want to avoid and deflect damage instead of absorbing it; counting on my teammates to destroy our foes. Can all the gods that think they might be helpful for that move to the front here beside Vitalia and Decrepit...please? If you are required to be here I can release you from the requirement... if I can do that?¡± I looked at Vitalia. ¡°You can¡¯t dear, but I can. Please depart if you can offer this visitor no significant help in her goals.¡± Decrepit stood and stretched his arms above his head. One sleeve of his robe fell down, revealing a forearm with twisted black lines running between his corded muscles, like a tribal tattoo. The ribbons of black were so dark it was if the world ended in deep chasms across his forearm, yielding to some unknown land. ¡°That¡¯s my cue. While commanding the power of the dead is useful for having the deceased fight for you, or helping your enemies find their own end, I don¡¯t think it will offer much to you on the front lines. I will see you again Samantha, pray it is not soon.¡± His visage briefly transformed into a skull, its eyes the same otherworldly black as the lines on his arms. ¡°Oh stop scaring the girl, life and death come to us all. Now give me a kiss before you go.¡± Decrepit bends down and kisses Vitalia¡¯s cheek. As soon as his lips leave her cheek, an inky black substance rises from his booted feet, over his robe, and finally covers his piercing blue eyes. Once the tar-like substance reaches the top of his head, it falls to the ground, running between the dry river stones, leaving Vitalia sitting amongst her animals alone. ¡°He does like his dramatic exits.¡± She says with a smile. ¡°Ah good, is this more manageable?¡± Vitalia waves her hand at a group of a dozen gods gathered to my left. ¡°Honestly I was expecting more. There are really only twelve gods suitable for a warrior in the front lines?¡± ¡°You were fairly specific dear. These gods can offer boons suitable for your role engaging the enemy and avoiding their attacks, not a common desire I might add. If you wanted to stand and trade blows with mighty foes wearing thick armor, perhaps Cage, God of Armor would have stayed. Or if you wished to wield the power of the sun, Apollo may have been here. Oculus, you may begin.¡± An unshaved man, several inches shorter than me, with an eagle on his shoulder, stepped forward. ¡°I am Oculus, like my soul bound eagle, I can see anything in my domain. If you choose to have faith in me, you will have access to boons enhancing the your allies¡¯ sight as well as your own, while impairing the vision of your foes. What you can see you can dodge, and what you cannot see you cannot hit, yes?¡± Fair point Oculus. ¡°Can you tell me more about the exact boons you offer?¡± ¡°No, for those that have no faith, there is no knowledge.¡± How am I supposed to make a decision about what god to choose if I don¡¯t know what benefits I will receive for choosing that god? I asked Vitalia, ¡°Wait, what? Why can¡¯t he tell me about the exact boons he offers?¡± ¡°There is no menu of boons dear. You choose in which god to believe and ask for boons. If you have enough faith, and we are allowed to grant the boon without upsetting the balance, then the boon is yours to call upon.¡± ¡°Balance? Who regulates the balance?¡± ¡°Decrepit and I. We hold the power of life and death, even for the gods. We balance each other. If Decrepit exposes the world to too much death through a visitor, then I release just as much Life through another. If we are releasing too much force into the world, we have a nice chat over dinner and scale it back. After all, if we don¡¯t agree, we all end.¡± ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s why Vlad tucked his tail in like a puppy.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The AI in Incrementum didn¡¯t seem to appreciate me referring to the fact it is a game, if Bonesy¡¯s reaction was any indication, so I decide not to get in some sort of meta discussion with Vitalia. Aren¡¯t the game developers the ones who would ensure no type of game imbalance is introduced? Or did they truly program the god AI so well that the developers would never have to interfere and they would regulate themselves? What happens if Decrepit and Vitalia have a fight? Does the world go through upheaval until they make up over dinner? ¡°I see, ok, thank you Oculus. And you, sir?¡± I gesture at a man in a shimmering cloak who almost fades into the dead grass and bushes behind him. ¡°I am Illusor, God of Illusion. What arm will your enemy choose to hit if you appear to have eight? How long would it take them to realize the screaming warrior they are attacking is not real? Have faith in me and illusion will be one of your strongest tools on the battlefield.¡± As I¡¯m staring at the image in front of me, a voice whispers in my ear. ¡°See? It¡¯s hard to hit what isn¡¯t there.¡± I turn and almost fall over when I see the exact same god behind me. ¡°Except when it is.¡± The original image says. ¡°For real this time. I¡¯m here but I made an illusory image and sign from right behind you. Imagine doing the same to all your foes. Or perhaps showing them their worst fear. I¡¯m also the greatest ever at practical jokes. Ever heard of the old fly in an ice cube trick? Try spider in their pants.¡± I see some glares from the other gods down the line. I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s played a few too many tricks to be a fan favorite. ¡°Thank you Illusor, I see your point. And you ma¡¯am?¡± I raise my eyebrows at the woman I had noticed earlier, who moved so quickly her face nearly blurred. ¡°Alacra is my name. I do not employ any tricks,¡± she accompanies that statement with a deadly glare at Illusor. ¡°Just speed. Your enemies can¡¯t hit you if you¡¯re moving faster than a sword. Perhaps moving your staff quickly would be a good thing, hm?¡± That¡¯s a no-brainer. The man next to her is seated, the calm robed figure I had picked up from the crowd. His gaze doesn¡¯t waver from the bottom of the river as he speaks up. ¡°All the speed in the world will not help those who cannot calm their minds. I offer the mental discipline to absorb the world around you and act without emotion. I am Placid.¡± I am sure only his lips move as he speaks, nothing else. I can¡¯t believe a human can remain so still. Oh, right, he¡¯s a god. What he is saying makes sense but just looking at him remain so still is making me anxious. Vitalia snorts. Can she read my mind? She quirks an eyebrow. I guess that¡¯s a yes. If the game interface knows my intent well enough to do what I want with a thought, it¡¯s not too much of a leap to imagine the AIs can access my thoughts as well. That¡¯s actually fairly scary, what if a rogue AI could actually write thoughts into my mind? Research for later. I very much hope someone has made sure there are enough protections in the game¡¯s neural interface. Are there really eight more gods? This is taking forever. I stare at Vitalia as I think it and she snorts again. Another man covered in leaves, not just on the private bits, but all over as if a vine was planted in his feet and grew over all his limbs, stepped forward as it was clear Mr. Calm was done speaking. ¡°Your mention of a Staff spoke to me. I am nature and nature is me, Natura. Fight with nature as your foes fight against it. At the least, I can point you towards the right finger of nature to wield.¡± One of the vine tendrils in his left arms grows as he finishes his statement, turning into a staff, thicker and longer than the one Dan had originally provided me. ¡°Put up your guard,¡± Natura says. He steps towards me and brings the reddish brown staff down towards my head in a slow motion. I hold my staff up, slightly in front of my body, parallel to my shoulders, and brace myself for his blow. Even though he is moving his newly grown weapon quite slowly, I hear a sharp crack come from my staff when the two meet. He pulls his staff back and rests it on his left shoulder, gesturing towards it with his other hand. ¡°Bloodwood. If you had used a similar staff to block my blow it would have bent to absorb the force instead of cracking. Your oak may be strong, but it is too heavy and stubborn to make a good staff fighter¡¯s weapon. Take it, with my blessing. Nature may be timeless, but it¡¯s still impatient. I appreciate not making us stand here while you quiz us all. This one visitor spoke with each god for what felt like thirty minutes. I¡¯m not sure why since we cannot unbalance the world with faithless knowledge but that didn¡¯t stop Null Division.¡± He throws the Bloodwood staff at me. ¡°Wow, thanks, I really appreciate it. I¡¯m not exactly a nature girl but this really means a lot to me.¡± I don¡¯t really want to spill my guts, but I start to tear up. No one gives me anything for free. Not my parents, not my boss and certainly not my confused boyfriend. ¡°Dan was telling me Null Division is a real hot shot, and also a total jerk. This is a really awesome staff, thank you so much.¡± I see Natura bow to me and then go back to staring at my new staff. As I¡¯m gazing at it, a window appears.
Novice¡¯s Blessed Bloodwood Staff A gift from Natura himself, this staff is made from the finest Bloodwood. The naturally limber wood also gathers tremendous force when leveraged properly. Damage: 10-15 (20-30 with current Strength and Dexterity modifiers) Durability: 200/200 Effects:
  • Loses durability at 50% of standard rate.
  • Special attacks gain 15% added force.
Wow, that¡¯s almost twice as much damage as my old oak staff. I guess it could count as a bribe but I certainly don¡¯t mind. Keep the bribes coming. A thin, completely white man steps forward. Not white like ethnicity, but as in no pigment accept white in their skin, hair and eyes. I forget what the term is...albor...alger...albino, that¡¯s it. ¡°I am Shock -- my followers harness the power of the mighty storm to burn, stun and concuss their enemies. Most use lightning but I represent all of a storm¡¯s powers. It seems like a fighter could benefit from becoming a storm on the battlefield.¡± I see tiny electrical storms dance around each other in his eyes as a light wind ruffles his hair. I can taste the rain and look up to see not clouds but a flurry of leaves descending on us. ¡°Thank you, Shock. I do love electricity and will consider you carefully.¡± I get a strange desire to bow but realize I have no idea how to bow. Oh well, might as well give it a try. I put one hand on my lower back and bend forward at the hips, trying to keep my back straight. Once I feel like I¡¯m almost bent in half a stand up again and watch Shock bend his neck in acknowledgment before he steps back into the group of Gods. Alacra slides to the side faster than I can follow and then noticeably stills herself to say, ¡°Oh bowing. I love bowing. It helps if you let one foot pull up off the ground slightly, with just the toe on the ground, crossing behind the front foot. Then you can spread your arms like this, pretty graceful I think.¡± She demonstrates several times, rapidly. ¡°I agree, that¡¯s an awesome bow. I¡¯m going to use that.¡± I tried the bow a few times. In my opinion, it was way cooler when I did it with my nine-foot wingspan. As I¡¯m unfolding from yet another amazing bow, a thin god with a long black ponytail, perfect posture and nearly no clothing steps towards me. ¡°I¡¯m Yoga, God of Yoga.¡± He must see the look on my face because he starts explaining himself quickly. ¡°I know, not the most creative name. I¡¯m a recent creation of you visitors and what can I say, you all didn¡¯t work too hard on your concept of me. See these shorts?¡± He pulls at the stretchy black shorts. ¡°Spandex. This material doesn¡¯t exist in Incrementum but hey, the power of faith. I can offer perfect body control and flexibility. Have faith in yoga to allow your body to perform inhuman feats. Some attempt to gain healing boons from me but even in this world, yoga just doesn¡¯t heal. That¡¯s just wishful thinking.¡± I snicker. Yoga has been silly for so long. ¡°Thanks, Yoga but no thanks.¡± I snicker again for good measure. I look at the next god and do a double take. He¡¯s a monkey. A monkey with human facial expressions I realize as he rolls his eyes. ¡°I know, the Monkey God isn¡¯t something I¡¯m too excited about either but we don¡¯t really get a choice in if we exist or not, that¡¯s your people¡¯s doing. You visitors seem to think that monkeys bring some type of physical advantages. Yes, we¡¯re super strong and we can swing from vines and climb trees and all that nonsense. But we¡¯re monkeys. Why are you people worshipping monkeys? If you could do me a favor and not choose me, that would be great. Then I¡¯d be one step closer to not existing which would be perfect.¡± Sounds great to me. I don¡¯t have faith in monkeys, especially not suicidal ones. My eyes move to the next god, the ninth I think to myself. Almost done with the dozen. This god was in the shape of a woman, but a woman made of every colored stone possible. I stare at her finger made of ruby, a kneecap of obsidian and hair made from quartz veins. She starts to speak. ¡°Many do not understand that the land need not be slow and strong. I am Bedrock, and like the stones in an avalanche, the earth moves with speed and strength. Unlike these others, I often help my followers discover the earth¡¯s riches and craft them into objects of great beauty and power.¡± ¡°Really? What type of objects?¡± ¡°Any type of objects. I can offer no more knowledge without faith.¡± These gods are really frustrating. What¡¯s the point of this little audition if they can¡¯t give me details. I guess Incrementum lets players build things. I¡¯m not sure why someone would want to build a shiny piece of metal in a digital world but to each their own. I was skeptical of this game at first but I can definitely see the appeal of being someone different, smashing bad guys and discovering new lands. But sitting around all day making ancient technology? Not for me, I sit around enough in the real world building advanced technology. ¡°Thank you, Bedrock. And you sir?¡± A six foot tall red haired man with veins bulging from every muscle steps forward. I can see his muscles shaking as if his whole body is shaking. ¡°Forgive me, kind adventurer. I am Bezerk, the God of Rage. I¡¯m truly a nice person but your kind seems to worship the pillars of strength and anger. So I was born, cursed to shake with rage throughout eternity even when gathering with friends and speaking to new acquaintances. I am a terror on the battlefield, and my powers of anger can lend you great strength. If mayhem and destruction are your desire, rage can be your companion.¡± ¡°Sorry, we made you Bezerk. I¡¯m not big on anger but I can see how your powers would be helpful.¡± My eyes move to the next god in line. A human shaped figure is lying on the ground, one leg crossed over the other, covered entirely in steel plating. I can see my reflection in the polished metal. His left arm is propped behind him, and the right is cupping small stones and dirt that he is slowly pouring on the ground. ¡°Furor. God of Protection. Enough said.¡± Uh, no not enough said. ¡°What do you mean God of Protection? Protection from what? Clubs? Fire? Ants? Falling trees?¡± I hear him sigh as he uncrosses his legs and sits up. ¡°All of that. Anything else. My powers protect. You or your companions.¡± I look over to Vitalia who has almost all of a spider silk sweater complete in below her still moving needles. ¡°Is he always like this? I mean seems like a pretty good choice for me but I¡¯m not sure I want to have to talk to Mr. two words a sentence every time I¡¯m trying to receive a boon.¡± ¡°Yes, dear. Always talks. Like that.¡± I see her mouth smirk as she continues to gaze at the sweater, clearly happy with herself. I put both of my hands on my face and almost scream. ¡°Ok this is getting aggravating, who¡¯s last?¡± A man wearing a wide brimmed hat, made of straw or perhaps a coarse yellow fabric, steps forward, a shiny brown staff in one hand. ¡°I am Bruce, God of Martial Arts.¡± He stops speaking. What is with these gods? ¡°Come on Bruce. What does that mean?¡± ¡°I can help my followers in the martial arts.¡± My hands move up to my hair and almost pull two fist fulls out. ¡°Ok, that¡¯s enough. Thanks for speaking with me everyone but I¡¯m not choosing anybody today. I tried to make this quick and failed. On top of that, you all really aren¡¯t telling me very much about yourselves, and some of you, that''s right I¡¯m looking at you Monkey King, aren¡¯t even trying to recruit me as a follower. How do I go back to where I was Vitalia? And you aren¡¯t mad I am not picking right now right?¡± ¡°Of course not dear. I had a feeling you wouldn¡¯t commit today anyway. Here, take this sweater, that halter top you are wearing is barely adequate to support your bosom, let alone keep you warm.¡± ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m not sure who chooses the clothing for us visitors but I will definitely smack him or her if I ever meet them.¡± I walk up to Vitalia and put my arm out. She hands me the sweater and as I look at it a window comes up:
Vitalia¡¯s Knitted Spider Silk Sweater Infused with Vitalia¡¯s life aura, this sweater repels the forces of death and increase the rate of life regeneration of its wearer. Durability: 200/200 Effects:
  • -5 Hitpoints per second for any Undead within 5 meters, at any time.
  • +5 Hitpoints regenerated per second outside of battle.
Another unexpected gift. As the window closes, I look into Vitalia¡¯s warm green eyes and wrinkled brow. There is just something too pure about her, too warm. I break eye contact and mumble. ¡°Thank you. How can I leave please?¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy dear, just think, ¡®I choose no god.¡¯¡± I do so and I almost fall to the ground I¡¯m so surprised to see Dan and the forest around us. Sheesh, I guess someone was mad with my decision. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Dan asks before quickly stumbling over his own words in excitement. ¡°Oh please told me you picked Vitalia we could collaborate on boons! Just don¡¯t say Decrepit...or Vlad...or Apollo for that matter. Apollo is so slimy.¡± ¡°Guy wearing almost no clothes, covered in oil, plays with fire?¡± ¡°That¡¯s him. He smirked at me the whole time I was picking a god. You know the look some people give, the ¡°you want me but you can¡¯t have me and I know I¡¯m hot¡± look? He gave me that look for an hour. Uck.¡± Dan shivers and pauses for enough seconds for me to get a word in. ¡°I didn¡¯t choose, but at least I know a lot more about the gods now. Something just didn¡¯t feel right.¡± ¡°Oh..., I guess not choosing is ok. You don¡¯t want to go too long, though, if you spend your faith on boons from your non-chosen gods you will end up with a lot fewer abilities than someone who chooses and invests in their god.¡± ¡°I get basic economics Dan. Also, I¡¯m not dumb. I understand there is a way to maximize your strength and powers in this game. But thinking too hard about it is a great way to waste time and fall behind people who are actually playing the game. Also, I just didn¡¯t really have faith in any of those gods. They weren¡¯t for me.¡± The bag at my waist starts shaking. Why is a bag shaking on its own? Dan looks at it with raised eyebrows and I tap my foot, trying to remember what I put in there. Oh, Bonesy. I reach into the bag and pull out the skull that started all my troubles with Archibold. ¡°There better be treasure at the end of the rainbow Bonesy. I got hit in the boob too many times for nothing.¡± ¡°Well aren¡¯t you an ungrateful young lady. I can hear in there you know. You got a free boon from Vitalia thanks to me.¡± I snort. ¡°Thanks to you? No, thanks to me.¡± ¡°Semantics. Regardless, I may be a lot of things but a welcher is not one of them. I treasure I said and a treasure I will provide. My treasure is not a pile of gold. It just so happens my treasure can help you with your little faith predicament. You see, I may have chosen Decrepit as my god, but my enclave was devoted to the birth of a new god.¡± Chapter 14 - Francine - One Week Ago ¡°Dan, we have a problem.¡± I said, trying to make myself heard over the banging sounds from the center of town where Doc and Leonard were already working to get their Saloon off the ground. Dan leaned against the gate of one stall in our Stables, looking in at Rosy -- our brown with white spots mare -- who was eating her afternoon allotment of grains. ¡°Are we running out of grain?¡± ¡°No, this is a different matter. I¡¯ve identified a massive drain on Athens¡¯s productivity. The children. Do you know how much time our best workers spend chasing after their children or feeding them? Hours. Hours of daylight every day wasted. I saw Sopha Karlson stop logging for over an hour to clean up her youngest, Lora, after she rolled around in the mud to ¡®be bear color.¡¯ Sopha only got back to work that fast because Gloria sent over here oldest, Mary Jorgdaughter to look after Lora. And of course that wasn¡¯t without a price because Mary was helping Gloria weave.¡± Dan smiled, he wasn¡¯t getting it. I heard him chuckle, ¡°be bear color.¡± Crawly Edmundson didn¡¯t just chuckle, he laughed from one stall over where he scooped large shovelfuls of straw and manure into a wheelbarrow. ¡°Dan, this is a massive risk to our production schedule. I¡¯ve had several ideas on how to address this. The first is to round up all children of non-working age, build a building just for them, and put them inside it for the day, while their parent¡¯s work. We can put some dogs and cats in there too, give them something to play with. Perhaps have an adult come in at lunch time with a bucket of food for them. I know that one is rough but you get the idea. The second is to put all those miscreants to work. They could at least do some basic sorting or maybe some simple leatherworking tasks. The third, is to have one parent stay with the children all day and get the other to work a longer day. I think the third is the least practical, there is only so much daylight -- especially when fall and winter hit, if it is anything like home there will be very little daylight to work with. ¡± ¡°Sorry. So the first idea is to lock the children up with cats and dogs and a bucket of food. The second is to have a child work gang and the third is to make one parent do double the work?¡± Dan said. ¡°Yes.¡± Dan closed his eyes. ¡°Francine, do you remember when you and James had that falling out over the length of paternity and maternity leave?¡± I ground my teeth together. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you believe he was right when he said your people would come back more loyal than ever if you did the right thing and gave them ample paid time to be with their children? That it was a good investment?¡± I sighed, ¡°Yes, employee retention, of those employees who took paternity or maternity leave went up sixty three percent following that policy change.¡± Dan said, ¡°How do you think employee retention would have done if instead of providing longer maternity and paternity, you told people their children had to perform manual labor, or sit in a building with a bucket of food, or they had to work double time to make up for the ¡®wasted time¡¯ their spouse was spending at home?¡± ¡°Dan, this is a different situation. These are working people, farmers, they understand work needs to get done. Children work on homesteads and farms. They also know we need to build as fast as we can to prepare ourselves for our loss of immunity in two weeks.¡± ¡°Can your villagers leave Athens, Francine?¡± I paused for a minute. I didn¡¯t know. My starters package gave me their initial loyalty but could they decide to leave Athens? ¡°If you really want to find out, I would institute one of those policies. There is no better way to antagonize a parent then to go after their child. Here¡¯s a different idea, build a School. Get one, or a few of the young adults to run it, who was that you mentioned that took care of Lora? Mary Jorgdaughter? See if she¡¯ll run it. The parents will be happy because their children are learning, and you¡¯re happy because the parents are working.¡± That¡¯s...much better than my ideas. I stuck my head out the stable door and shouted, ¡°Mitchell!¡± I walked back to Dan waiting for Mitchell to arrive. ¡°A school is a much better idea Dan, thank you.¡± He looked shocked. I don¡¯t often admit that I¡¯m wrong and I certainly have never told Dan his ideas was better than one of mine, but I can¡¯t afford to keep all my rough edges, not with James gone. ¡°My lady?¡± Mitchell says after walking through the entrance of the stables at a brisk pace. ¡°Dan suggested that we build a school for the town¡¯s children and that we select one of the young adults to run it. I think it is a fine idea. Do you know if Mary Jorgdaughter has any schooling? Can she teach the young ones their letters and numbers?¡± ¡°She knows some Lady Francine. We try to teach our young ones the basics of writing and numbers, enough for trade and missives; but mostly they learn to survive and pickup their parent¡¯s craft if not some other relative¡¯s.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Can you bring her here? Before you go, how will this affect our building schedule? I don¡¯t wish to delay any of our critical infrastructure. Perhaps we should delay the School. I hadn¡¯t planned on providing municipal services for quite some time...¡± ¡°Municipal? I¡¯m not sure what that is my lady, but I suspect that we could build the School without suffering any delays if we just asked the town¡¯s parents to work a little extra to build it. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d jump at the chance to have someone else teaching and watching after their children for so much of the day.¡± ¡°Good thinking Mitchell. Go get Mary.¡± Mitchell nodded before before hurrying out the stable doors. ¡°Good job on Level 20 Dan. Were you accepted as a tutorial master?¡± ¡°Yes, I can start my first tutorial zone anytime now.¡± ¡°Then why are you still here? We need our tank and two more damage dealers. But the tank comes first. You know the criteria. Committed to the game, focused on tank archetype, smart enough to realize the value of being one of Athenia¡¯s elite.¡± ¡°Yes, Mom.¡± Dan winked before disappearing. He knew that mom barb always got me. I¡¯m no one''s mom, on purpose. Mitchell strode through the door, Mary Jorgdaughter in a light blue ankle-length dress walking close behind him. She bowed, showing her doe-skin shoes with red embroidered flowers over her toe box. ¡°I have seen you with the children in town, do you enjoy them?¡± I said. ¡°Some more than others -- did you see the Larson twins chase that pair of chickens into the river? What a waste of chicken. My mamma was not happy. You like those boys Crawly?¡± Crawly stopped shoveling out the stall next to us, and poked his head to say, ¡°Those boys can go jump in the river themselves, Mary. Chased my best ewes into the forest the very next day.¡± ¡°Sounds like those boys need something to do during the day, Mary.¡± She tilted her head at me in question. ¡°Mary, Athens must grow and it must grow fast. We are still working to complete this Stables, along with the paddocks outside for our sheep and goat, as well as the Tannery. We would get all of this done faster if the town¡¯s children, or the ones that are old enough, were all in one place during the day, learning and playing. We call it a School where I¡¯m from. A Teacher spend most of the day with the children, teaching them numbers, letters, history...anything really.¡± I said. ¡°What does this have to do with me?¡± Mary said. ¡°I¡¯d like you to run the School.¡± ¡°Me? But, what do I do when those Larson boys act up? They won¡¯t listen to me. Besides, I have to help my mamma during the day, I can¡¯t spend it we have so much clothing to make, let alone the carpets for everyone¡¯s home -- I¡¯m almost done with yours.¡± I wave my hand at her, ¡°If the kids act out you tell their parents, their parents discipline them, then they never do it again, problem solved. I¡¯ll speak with Gloria and make sure your schedule is cleared.¡± Mary stared at me and cleared her throat, ¡°Have you had children?¡± ¡°No. Why?¡± Mary shuffled her feet. ¡°No reason...I¡¯ll work it out with my mamma and the other adults. I¡¯ll figure it out.¡± ¡°Perfect. Thank you, Mary. I have every confidence in you. Mitchell, how can we get the School built without delaying the Stables and the Tannery?¡± Mitchell scratches his neck, ¡°I can ask for volunteers to work double time. I could see some wanting to pitch in extra to get their children out of their hair while they work, get some knowledge out of it. But you should know, double time isn¡¯t a good idea for very long, they¡¯ll tire out and get even less done over time. The Schools should only take a few days to build so it is worth it to work double time, but that won¡¯t always be the case.¡± ¡°Very good, Mitchell. Make it happen.¡± Two notifications appeared:
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Educate to Elevate (Level 1) Providing an education to the next generation will secure your town¡¯s place in the future. Your people will make better, smarter decision and your workforce will be more productive without children to take care of for most of the day. Effects:
  • 20% (10% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) increased productivity from your laborers
  • 4% (2% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) increased loyalty.
  • 10% (5% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) research speed increase.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Double Time (Level 1) If your people believe in the task, they can work twice as long to get twice as much time. Beware, they longer they do this, the less effective they will become, and the longer they will have to rest to recover. Effects:
  • 100% production boost from each villager working double time.
  • Every day spent working double time will decrease productivity 10%, and incur a 1 day penalty of no productivity at the end of double time.
Research speed? None of my own pre-game research had mentioned having my townspeople research. Ah, maybe I would have to ask my Blacksmith or Tanner to experiment and learn new techniques to upgrade our metal or leather armor quality. That made sense. There¡¯s no internet to download tutorials from in Incrementum. I made a note to look into School upgrades or related buildings which could also yield a research speed increase. Researching faster than other Homesteads could be a massive competitive advantage. After reading the skill I understood what Mitchell was talking about with Double Time. It could be worth it for short projects, but if I tried to have villagers work Double Time for too long, I¡¯d end up getting less done than if I had never asked them to do Double Time. I closed the notifications and said, ¡°Alright, back to work everyone. We have a town to build.¡± Chapter 15 - Samantha - Present I stare at Bonesy. He just told me that his treasure wasn¡¯t actually treasure. This talking skull and bird infested forest are playing with my nerves like guitar strings on a heavy metal front man¡¯s axe. ¡°I want the pile of gold Bonesy. I just stood in a dried out river basin looking at hundreds of useless gods. What do I care if your enclave was birthing a new god? What a ripoff, right after your speech about not being a welcher too.¡± I pull back my arm to throw Bonesy as far as I can into the forest. Screw his fake treasure quest. Dan reaches out and grabs my arm, making a calming gesture with his other hand. ¡°Wait a second Samantha. I know gold sounds really good, but the birth of a god is a special thing in Incrementum. If what he¡¯s talking about is what I think he¡¯s talking about, Bonesy really is offering you a treasure.¡± I put my arm down and hold Bonesy in front of me at stomach level. ¡°Ok, sorry about that Bonesy. Tell me about your new god, but please, please, please, keep it short and sweet.¡± Bonesy pulls his affronted skull trick again, I still hadn¡¯t figured out how he was doing that, skull plates didn¡¯t move but somehow Bonesy¡¯s expressed emotion. ¡°No, no, just toss me into the forest like some giant useless pine cone. Just an animated piece of bone I am. Don¡¯t mind the decades of research, foremost in my field, not to mention the brilliance which allowed me to still be amongst the living. Bonesy the welcher she says. Throwing me into the brush to sit there for some bear to sniff at my eye socket. Can you imagine!¡± I shake Bonesy. ¡°Come on Bonesy, I said I¡¯m sorry. Can we put the drama aside?¡± ¡°Drama she says! Why I...¡± Bonesy sputters for another minute and then finally settles down with a sigh. ¡°I guess my current form should put some limitations on my expectations. It sounds like Dan here knows the value my offer. All beings place special value on those that birthed them and the gods are no exception. You know about the benefits of choosing a particular god?¡± I nod my head and Bonesy continues. ¡°Imagine that, but double it and then some. You know you discuss your boons with the gods? Well, they are constrained by what boons they can grant. They have many factors to consider, the first being whether they want to grant you the boon or not. That¡¯s affected by your faith in them, but it could also be a capricious decision based on whether they liked their lunch that day or not.¡± Or perhaps in the Monkey King¡¯s case, whether he was hoping you would stop believing in him so he could disappear. Bonesy keeps rattling off information, I¡¯m not sure he realizes how impatient I am. ¡°The gods also have to consider if the boon is within their domain and not another god¡¯s. After all, if every god could grant any type of boon, what would be the point? Each god jealously guards their domain, bringing disputes to Vitalia and Decrepit, or perhaps attacking another god¡¯s followers if they feel slighted. Be careful of that by the way. You do not want to anger a god, they can and will retaliate through their followers or even directly.¡± Got it. Do not anger the almighty gods. ¡°Ultimately, each god is also constrained by your faith, as well as the amount of faith they have across all their believers. Decrepit was able to grant my miracle of eternal life because he has an infinite amount of faith from those throughout this world that see the power of death on a daily basis. I myself had amassed a large amount of faith in Decrepit over the years, which allowed me to request the miracle, but if Decrepit has been some obscure no-name god he would not have been able to grant such a powerful miracle, regardless of how much faith I had in the god.¡± I drop my head to the side and make a snoring sound. ¡°Come on Bonesy, let''s go here. I get it, so if we birth a god, they will be more willing to work with us on boons, we will get boons for less faith, but we might not have access to the ¡®uber boons¡¯ that a more powerful god might be able to offer. So what¡¯s the deal with your god and how do we get him or her out of the womb? If he¡¯s a god of rabbits I¡¯m not going to bother.¡± ¡°God of rabbits she says! Like I, the finest scholar this land of dullards has ever seen would research a god of rabbits.¡± Bonesy sputters for a few seconds. I smile, it¡¯s too easy to get him worked up, and fun. ¡°You were about to throw me in the bushes. Now, you can imagine that if you had thrown me, I would have careened through the air and gradually dropped down onto the earth or bounced off a tree. Have you ever stopped to think of why that is? Why wouldn¡¯t my skull just keep moving, flying through the air forever? If my skull hit the tree, why would it bounce off the tree instead of just stopping right next to the tree, exactly where it met the tree?¡± I cut in, not wanting to waste time. ¡°Because physics.¡± Bonesy¡¯s empty eye sockets stare at me. ¡°Because physics? What are you talking about and why are you interrupting me? I¡¯m about to divulge some of the most powerful secrets about the natural world and here you go. ¡®Because physics she says!¡¯¡± ¡°Physics Bonesy. Oh, you aren¡¯t up on physics? It¡¯s the study of the basic laws of the natural world, primarily how matter moves through space and time. Really common stuff from where I come from. Your skull would have moved towards the ground because of gravity, or the force observed to bring objects towards each other due to relative mass. Another way to say it is that big things make little things move closer to them. The big thing, ¡° I pointed at the ground. ¡° the land, pulls the little thing, ¡° I pointed at his skull ¡°towards it.¡± Bonesy¡¯s eye sockets were nearly vertical slits, and his jaw looked like it might fall off. It is kind of nice to show up this pretentious skull. He reminds me of some of my college professors which took delight in showing they were smarter than their students. I had chosen to prove them wrong, which had not gone well for me. That will not be the case with Bonesy, I hope.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°The reason your skull wouldn¡¯t have just stuck to the tree is explained by the law of conservation of energy. The energy which I put into throwing your skull, and gravity amplified, cannot just disappear the moment your skull hits the tree. The tree absorbs some of it, but since it is a non-elastic surface, it deflects the force of the skull to go in the opposite direction.¡± Bonesy stares. Eventually, his jaw clicks back into the place before saying, ¡°We do not even have any of those words. Gravity. Elastic. Mass. I know the concepts you speak of, but we just have symbols. You have the mathematics worked out?¡± ¡°Of course, if you are nice to me I¡¯ll even show you some time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand. My life¡¯s work was to discover just a tiny piece of the knowledge you have. If you are willing to teach me these concepts, I will be in your debt for my substantial undead life.¡± A system message appears in my view.
Undead Friend or Foe - Part 2 Saving Bonesy from Archibold¡¯s wrath allowed you to learn about the god that was nearly created by Bonesy and his followers. Discover how to complete the process to become the new God¡¯s creator. Reward: Creation of a new god. 25,000 Experience Points. Bonesy¡¯s loyalty.
Wow, that¡¯s a lot of experience. I close the prompt but before I can question the shocked Bonesy anymore, Dan cuts in. ¡°That sounds like some boring lecturing to me Samantha. What is ¡®Mrs. I Can¡¯t Wait Five Minutes To Learn About The Game¡¯ doing lecturing other people about physics? You mentioned your suspicious boss but what do you do?¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m a residential skyscraper solar technician in Chicago.¡± Dan pauses after hearing my position, his eyes going wide. ¡°There¡¯s funny business with the power in a residential skyscraper in Chicago? That¡¯s bad news, honey. You know some people don¡¯t know how to live without power now right? Like emergency calls, panic attacks...¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t remind me, Dan. I¡¯ve done absolutely everything possible to avoid the people in my building losing their electricity. Absolutely everything. Including working myself to the bone. I can¡¯t do anything else and I¡¯m still probably going to get fired, so, here I am.¡± I say, gesturing at the world around me. ¡°It¡¯s really not fair either, this is my first job out of college and I wanted to do so well. I¡¯ll probably live in the game for awhile too. I don¡¯t think it will be easy to get another job after my Technician¡¯s ranking takes such a hit so I¡¯ll probably have to rely on my Universal Basic Income for some time. And that¡¯s only good enough to keep the lights on and stay fed, so I¡¯ll be in here for a bit.¡± Dan stood there for a few seconds, thinking about what I said. ¡°Remember to give me a call sometime if you want help with that. I¡¯m not sure things are as dire as you think but that¡¯s ok. I¡¯m going to be playing for quite some time myself. Hey, what do you think about going to Brighthollow? I heard good things about it. And you are what, level 8 now? You could probably use some new leather armor and maybe even try to learn how to use that staff? Bonesy isn¡¯t going anywhere after all.¡± My hand starts shaking. ¡°Here we are on the doorstep of creating the mightiest, purest, most wondrous god this land has ever seen and this cretin wants us to walk over some dirt to a collection of sticks and manure to buy bits of dead animal sewn together with other bits of dried skin before hitting someone with a giant branch?¡± I look down and remember I¡¯m holding Bonesy. I¡¯m beginning to think Bonesy is a touch dramatic. He keeps going. ¡°You Vitalia loving fool. You would lead this wondrous repository of knowledge, the foremost sage in our land, which was previously myself but is quite clearly the Great Samantha, to a silly little settlement in the middle of nowhere. Please, do us both a favor, climb the tallest pine tree in sight, then jump off it and apologize on the way down before perishing. We would all be better off without your miserable misdirected advice poisoning...¡± I put my hand over Bonesy¡¯s mouth and look over at Dan in apology. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Dan, apparently Bonesy is a bit of a drama queen. He does have a point though. Why not pursue the birth of a god? That sounds like a lot more fun than walking to a town.¡± Dan taps his foot as if he¡¯s thinking, ¡°Ok, fine. Inventing a god sounds awesome, but I really want you to stop at Brighthollow first. Remember that boss I¡¯ve been mentioning?¡± He waits for a response instead of just continuing. ¡°Yes.¡± I make a hurry up motion with one of my hands. Dan rolls his eyes. ¡°You really are impossible. My boss is the head honcho of that town. She bought a Homesteader Package and her and the families that came with her package built that town. She made it my job to find promising players to recruit to join her at the town. And I know that is a whole four sentences so I¡¯ll be quiet now, ask your questions.¡± I have never met someone who works in a virtual game before, but I know it¡¯s quite common. ¡°What¡¯s a Homesteader Package and what do you mean recruit? I don¡¯t want another boss Dan. I¡¯m playing this game because of the one I have back home.¡± ¡°A Homesteader Package means you pay a metric ton of bitcoin to start the game with families of villagers and a lot of resources. Enough resources to start a small town and be well on your way towards creating a village. I can¡¯t tell you her long term plan, that is hers to divulge when she wishes it. And she doesn¡¯t want employees, she wants elite partners. She can¡¯t manage her town and some day cities, and adventure at the same time. Besides that, Homesteaders aren¡¯t allowed to expand their dominion unless other players, adventurers like yourself, conquer objectives for them. That is where we would come in. She is making the following offer to players I deem appropriate to join her elite first group...¡± I wave my hand at him. ¡°Save your breath. I¡¯m interested enough to detour through the town. Conquering objectives sounds fun.¡± I look down at Bonesy. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll focus on your God as soon as we speak with Dan¡¯s boss. Where do we need to go to create your God anyway? Does he have a name?¡± ¡°We called him Chronos, Master of the Unwritten Rules. But perhaps God of Physics is more appropriate, your term is quite refreshing. We simply need to travel to a cave, tucked away in a deep ravine, roughly one mile to the north, deeper in the forest. We got quite close to completing the requirements for his birth, there is just one ritual to complete. It will only take three human sacrifices to wrap up, quite the coup I might add.¡± Now it¡¯s my turn to drop my jaw and stare at Bonesy. ¡°Ok we aren¡¯t going to sacrifice anyone, why do we need to sacrifice three people to manifest Chronos?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just how things are done. We can try it without the sacrifices but it¡¯s going to be quite the bother. Best to just seal the deal with sacrifices I always say.¡± I look over at Dan. ¡°Let''s never put Bonesy in charge of making decisions. Or giving advice. Alright, Dan, you win. Lead the way to Brighthollow. ¡± Chapter 16 - Francine - One Day Ago ¡°Lady Francine, Mitchell sent me to get you, there¡¯s a stranger in town.¡± Carl Jr. said, breathing heavily, standing five meters behind me towards Athens. I stood in waist high green grass, under the shadow of pines of the edge of the forest, returning from another day¡¯s work felling trees. Carl Jr. must have sprinted out to tell me; a farm boy doesn¡¯t get winded easily. I jogged to the edge of town and stopped behind the Karlson¡¯s log home. I stopped and ran my hands through my hair then brushed the sawdust off my gray wool clothing. I walked the remaining distance across the fields to Athens, my head up and back straight. I hear James again ¡°, Appearances are important, you got to pretend everything is perfect. Especially when it¡¯s not. It doesn¡¯t do our people any good to pass our worries on to them.¡± Mitchell stood on my hill in the middle of town, a stranger in stained leather armor beside him. A sword hilt longer than my forearm stuck up over his left shoulder. I walked towards them, noticing the stare of Mary Jorgdaughter, Gloria¡¯s oldest, crouched as she washes a green blanket. The man looked in my eyes as I walked up the incline. I stop two meters from them, nodding to Mitchell. The man did not speak. I narrowed my eyes, noticing the liquid splatter pattern on his armor. I waited; I refused to let him make me speak first. After an uncomfortable minute, the man cleared his throat and said, ¡°This is your homestead?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m your problem. I have a God-Given Quest to kill you all.¡± My fists clenched and I felt the blood rushing to my face. Mitchell turned towards the man, reaching into his belt. I stepped forward and grabbed his muscle-corded arm, above his leather wrist bracer. ¡°This man is beyond you, Mitchell. Attempting to harm him will get you killed. Step back.¡± The blood red lettering the game interface showed above the stranger¡¯s head, spelling out ¡®Null Division¡¯, informed me that he was well above Mitchell and my ability to fight. If it were green or blue or white we would have a chance, but not dark red. Null tilted his head to the side slightly and said, ¡°Here is my quest, I¡¯m not worried about you completing it before me.¡±
Punish Her Hubris - Decrepit¡¯s Will Lady Francine the Sharp dares to threaten a god. Punish her and all of her people for her presumption. Burn down Athens and kill all of its inhabitants. Rewards: 3 Decrepit Faith Points New Title: ¡°Mass Executioner¡± 500,000 Experience
¡°Why tell me this at all? You¡¯d be better served bysurprising me.¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps. I don¡¯t expect trouble from you or your people, prepared or not. You seem to know that, ¡° he said nodding at Mitchell before continuing. ¡°I have others with me to prevent superiority in numbers. I am here to determine if you can offer a better deal. ¡± I was familiar with extortion. I¡¯d used it myself in past dealings. The problem with extortion, at least for me, right then, was that it works. ¡°What do you want?¡± I say. ¡°Interesting. No bluffing?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Three things. The first, you stop all expansion and building efforts, focusing only on research and development of arms and armor. Specifically, plate armor and great swords. You do this for two game months. After that, you may sell these items to anyone you choose. Secondly, you personally chose the God of Enchantment as your patron, only obtaining boons which provide significant enhancements to plate armor and great swords.¡± I didn¡¯t blink, if he was looking for more reactions from me he wouldn¡¯t get them. I was willing to bet I¡¯d been across more poker tables than that man. He frowns when I didn¡¯t react or prompt him for his third point.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Third, your people must kill everyone that came with me.¡± I scrunched my eyebrows together and tilt my head. He says, ¡°I could do it easily of course, but then where would my reputation be? It must be your people. Each one you kill will respawn into the game back in the Central Homesteads. They will not return within a week.¡± ¡°I was expecting more onerous demands after the mass murder threat. Why?¡± ¡°Murder? This is a game. If you are rich enough to afford a homesteading package you are rich enough to throw it away. I¡¯m not trying to ruin your gaming experience. I¡¯m offering a mutually beneficial arrangement. I get the equipment I need, you get protection for the duration of our agreement.¡± A protector? Perhaps. He appeared to be a tank, and a high level one too. However, the first two conditions were unacceptable. I was building an empire, not an armor shop. If I halted all my efforts on food, housing and basic necessities Athens would contract in the coming winter. James¡¯s dream wasn¡¯t building a small village of item enchanters, it was much grander than that. I was sure Null Division thought his offer reasonable. Other games made high end item crafting quite lucrative, inside the game and out, but I wasn¡¯t in Incrementum to make money. I wasn¡¯t playing to corner a market. I was in Incrementum to build my James¡¯s Athenian Empire. I felt my heartbeat slowing. I could work with this situation. Null doesn¡¯t care about my people or me, just his quest rewards. I understood that. ¡°I am willing to invest in armor and weapon production, as well as accept Enchantress as my patron god, but I am loathe to suspend all my other efforts. Perhaps if I just double the number of laborers and blacksmith apprentices...¡± ¡°No. I am not a good-enough-warrior. I am the best warrior. To remain the best I need weapons better than all others. No one has even found a rare weapon yet, let alone a relic or mythical item. The best anyone can do is crafted and I mean to have the best.¡± That wouldn¡¯t work for me. ¡°And if I refuse?¡± I say. ¡°I come back here in a week when your immunity expires with all my men and complete my quest.¡± He was confident he¡¯d have no problem killing everyone in Athens. I couldn¡¯t disagree. I also couldn¡¯t refute the logic that having my whole town destroyed will slow progress more than changing the order of operations of which buildings to construct. ¡°How do we proceed?¡± ¡°I need proof that you are following through on your bargain before I ignore this quest. My camp is here.¡° I saw a notification appear, I assumed he sent me a map marker, ¡°Kill everyone there. Avoid fighting me. I will kill anyone who fights me, for appearances. Once that is done, I will come to town and witness your choosing of Enchantress and investment in blacksmith research. Provide me with the arms and armor I need and we won¡¯t have any problems at all. In fact, I¡¯ll even take some of your players with me as I adventure, whip them into shape.¡± I liked that idea, minus having to change my building progression. ¡°And how many people are with you?¡± ¡°An even dozen currently but more may show up. I posted on a fairly public forum.¡± I rubbed my eyes. I didn¡¯t need to fake concern, just agreement. ¡°Can you split them up? For our convenience? I¡¯d prefer if no one suffers death penalties. Efficiency, you understand.¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll take several on my excursions and send others out scouting. There are numerous landmarks in the fog to the north we came out here to explore. Continuing to do so works.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s to keep you from killing us all after you get your armor and weapons?¡± ¡°Self-interest. I want continued access to your armor and weaponry advances. I can¡¯t expect you to keep playing if I slaughter your people.¡± ¡°I want you to cancel your quest when I agree to this.¡± ¡°No. I want my quest rewards if you don¡¯t follow through. I¡¯ll cancel the quest when the two-month game duration is up.¡± I nod my head, better than I thought I¡¯d get. He said, ¡°I have another condition. You must agree to let me bind my respawn location to your homestead for the duration of the agreement. I¡¯m not going to sit in town and monitor your progress, but if something goes wrong I don¡¯t want to take two weeks to walk back out here. I have a lead to maintain. If you have new enchantment and item progress each week, great. If not...¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it, provided you consider joining my team of elites after the first game month of weapon and armor production. I don¡¯t appreciate your methods currently but my elites require a competent, high level tank. There are considerable benefits.¡± I rattled off the same benefits I mentioned to Doc and Leonard. Null Division rubbed his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it. I must go. Send your people to thin the herd. I¡¯ll be taking her with me. She can return after the first two weeks of equipment production. Until then, I don¡¯t trust you and I¡¯m risking the wrath of a god by ignoring this quest. She¡¯s my insurance.¡± He points at Mary Jorgdaughter. Chapter 17 - Francine - Present I sit down on the top of my raised hill in the middle of Athens, the first town in my budding empire, and take a deep breath, smelling the faint hints of ocean salt, pine and freshly turned dirt. The smells are refreshing, much better than the flavored scents masking decades of oil and metal layered in modern cities outside of Incrementum. I¡¯ve had enough money to go anywhere on earth for the last two decades, but even that money could not make a wilderness like the one surrounding Athens come back from the dead. This digital transportation, that allows my consciousness to reside in a brand new world, free from the trappings of modern society by utilizing those very technologies, bends my mind, not painfully, but in a new, glorious way, like when you finally discover the answer to a problem you¡¯ve been struggling with for a week. I take a deep breath and let it out, looking at the barely visible water vapor solidify in the night air. I mentally pat myself on the back again for insisting we build each family''s home first while smoothing the bunches in my long homespun wool dress. Resource production is very important but so is morale. My chest feels warm, not from my clothing but from my pride. We built all of this from nothing. No machinery, no factories; just our hands, simple tools, and determination. The work ethic of these villagers astounds me. Perhaps it¡¯s just the game skills I¡¯ve unlocked or winning the AI lottery when my villagers were allotted, but what my people accomplish every day inspires me. It¡¯s becoming harder to remember that the townspeople are just programs in a machine. When I see Raul and Valeria lock warm smiling eyes over plates of forest chicken, laughing at another inappropriate joke from Carl Sr., I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m having a meal with computers. It seems like eating with my dearest human friends. Their love echoes in the cave inside of me, not filling, but at least livening where James¡¯s daily presence once was. And Null wants to try and take all of this away from me. The thought kept me up all last night. I never slept much, and a barely slept as I built Incrementum, but last night I slept not at all. I see Gloria Jorgdaughter beating a red woven carpet against the side of her home at the base of my hill. She stops, eyes downcast as she glances my way before continuing on her quest to remove all dirt from the inside of her new home. I wonder if she wove that carpet here or brought it with her? Did Mary make it? It has been only been a day since Null left the town, Mary Jorgdaughter in tow. I had to let him take her. What choice was there? It¡¯s either that or sign everyone¡¯s death warrant at the end of the week. It took me a half hour to answer the questions of the villagers after I called a town meeting. Gloria Jorgdaughter and her husband Feir slumped when I told them what happened to Mary. I could have taken angry, but the resignation, the defeat in their bodies on hearing an unknown man took their daughter cut me. These people don¡¯t stand up to abuse. They¡¯ve known it for their whole lives, dealing with this God¡¯s wrath or another God¡¯s whimsy. I want to do better for them, for everyone here; instead I¡¯ve left them defenseless and daughterless. I know Null will bring her back when he returns to confirm our blacksmith upgrades and my dedication to Enchantress. What I don¡¯t know is if we can keep her alive when he finds out I¡¯m not fulfilling any of his wishes and never planned to. I look at my queue of notifications.
Ye Of Little Faith Allowing an invader to take one of your homesteader¡¯s children without even a fight upsets your people. Their minds are choked with fear. If you give up one, will you not give up another? Return Mary Jorgdaughter to her parents to allay their fears. Effects: -15% Productivity -20% Loyalty
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Lead by Example (Level 2) Working with your people at their respective jobs increases your people¡¯s morale and regard for you as a leader, as well as inspiring them to work even harder. Effects:
  • 10% increased loyalty from your laborers
  • 4% increased productivity.
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Organize the Pack (Level 2) Increases productivity of each townsperson by actively directing their efforts. Beware, this effect will fade by 25% each day you have not been seen by at least one townsperson directing and contributing to the town. Effects:
  • 6% (3% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster resource gathering
  • 6% (3% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster building speed
  • 6% (3% x 2 inventor¡¯s bonus) faster production
Requirements:
  • Daily direction of your town. While the Cat is away the Mice will play.
The skill level ups are welcome but my productivity bonuses are completely negated by theYe of Little Faith effects. Damn. This changes my calculus. I need Mary back unharmed. I need Null Division on my team. I need to continue on my current building plans, not Null¡¯s. I have to figure out how deter him without force; or recruit enough players to fight him and quickly. I refuse to put out any advertisements in the real world; leveraging my real world assets. James didn¡¯t want to retire and build another Empire using the gains from our first business empire, he wanted to start from scratch. I know I technically went against that wish already by purchasing a Homesteader Package but that was the only way to pursue his dream at all in Incrementum, not a way to get an unfair advantage. And a game like Incrementum is the only place the Athenian Empire could exist. That leaves me with the option of trusting Dan¡¯s ability to recruit good people or trying to build some other defensive structures to prevent Null from massacring my people. Mitchell, seated beside me, continues on with his report. ¡°We are up to seven planted fields, thanks to Carl Sr. and his family. Matteus Larson continues to build with impressive speed, along with the other eight men and boys which we assigned to help him. That brings us to ten family homes, a Smith, Tavern, Tannery, Stables and our Weavery.¡± I smile at his mention of the Tavern. Doc built the tavern in record time, referencing his past jobs as a contractor and day laborer several dozen times as I worked beside him. He conscripted Matteus and anyone else he could find to assemble the notched logs as fast as the lumber crew could chop them down. Doc kept prattling on about the virtues of this grain variety or that for the mash that starts his whiskey distilling process. I look at the crudely carved name above the entrance to the tavern, Don¡¯t Mess With Texas Saloon. No matter how hard you try to ignore Texas, there it is. ¡°Do you have the latest resource production numbers, Mitchell?¡± ¡°Yes, you should have all the latest numbers.¡± It¡¯s nice to have the game interface instead of having to rifle through the papers Mitchell gives me or verbally discuss the numbers over time. Thinking about the resources interface bring it into my view.
Resource Stock Gain Rate Burn Rate
Grain 465 5/week 15/week
Vegetables 200 5/week 15/week
Meat 65 10/week 15/week
Wool 45 0 1/week
Leather 45 5/week 1/week
Lumber 35 10/week 5/week
Iron 23 0 1/week
Clay 23 0 1/week
BronzeUnauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. 23 0 1/week
Silver 0 0 0
Gold 0 0 0
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
¡°Do you think we will exceed our burn rate on Grain and Vegetables in the next week?¡± ¡°Unfortunately not, m¡¯lady, I would expect it to even out in two to three weeks. Our meat production should only go up. Raul and Valeria are doing a great job hunting for boar and other meat rich animals. They are teaching several of the young men the skills of the huntsman. It has increased their own skills, yielding more successful hunts every day.¡± That means I should be able to so support an increase in population soon but I¡¯m still not sure how to go about that. I suspect the icon on my map labeled ¡°Forest Settlement¡± leads to the opportunity to recruit the NPCs that reside at the settlement but I will not risk an excursion until my A-Team is fully functioning. And with this new threat from Null, I will probably not be able to explore at least until next week. ¡°You might not like this Mitchell but plan for doubling our population in two weeks. We must grow to handle any encroachments from visitors. We only have one more week before we are no longer protected and must deal with Null. Dan assures me he will have the fourth key piece for our elite defense team shortly -- hopefully that is enough to stop Null and retrieve Mary. Please make sure everyone knows I am doing what I can for the Jorgdaughters, but Athen¡¯s progress can and must continue.¡± Mitchell ducks his head and says, ¡°Very well, m''lady. As I have told you before, we need to complete a Sawmill and a Clay Workshop in order to support a larger population, given that we do not yet have a rock quarry. We need the Clay Workshop for Piping and Sewers to support bigger houses as well as more of them without causing disease to spread. The Clay Workshop will be simple to build.¡± ¡°We need the Sawmill to produce planed lumber without using hand tools. With the advanced lumber we can build a better Family Home, Farm, Weavery, Tannery and Stables. To complete the Sawmill, Norman has to work a day, maybe several days on crafting the circular saw blade you showed us. That will consume at least five units of our iron reserve.¡± I nod my head. We had discussed it in the days prior while waiting for the Stables and Tannery to be completed. If I invested Norman¡¯s time into improving his own tools and forge he could increase the Blacksmith to level 2, which would allow us to make important gains on defense and offense as well as partially appease Null, but it would slow down our population gain plans dramatically by delaying the Sawmill and Clay Workshop. I discovered the game interface stored all the information about my current buildings, their limitations and the opportunity to upgrade them in the ¡°Town¡± tab of my management interface.
Building Count Current Level Next Level Unlocks Next Level Requires
Family Home 10 1 Family Manor Sawmill
Blacksmith 1 1 Armory Town Wall Weavery Level 2 Glassblower None
Farm 1 1 Grainery Sawmill
Stables 1 1 Mounted patrols Tannery Level 2 Sawmill
Tannery 1 1 Leather armor Saddles Sawmill
Weavery 1 1 Loom Sawmill
Barracks 0 0 Archery Practice Ground None
Glassblower Workshop 0 0 Temple Level 2 Blacksmith Level 2
Temple 0 0 None None
Armory 0 0 Blacksmith Level 2
Piping 0 0 Baths Family Manor Clay Workshop
Sewers 0 0 Family Manor Clay Workshop
Clay Workshop 0 0 Piping Sewers None
Family Manor 0 0 Family Home Level 2 Sewers Piping Quarry
Sawmill 0 0 Farm Level 2 Tannery Level 2 Weavery Level 2 Stables None
¡°Mitchell, please have Sopha and the rest of the Karlson clan stop logging and start working on the Sawmill. They have already logged more than we can use. With Matteus¡¯s help for building and Norman¡¯s help for forging the saw blade and table, I hope they can finish it within a few days. Speak with the other families to see who is best suited for running and building the Clay Workshop. Perhaps whoever helped make the clay oven for our original forge plates. Please direct me to assist them if that will complete it faster. Now are there any other pressing issues?¡± ¡°You are forgetting something, we are building this circular saw you drew for us -- a brilliant invention no doubt -- but how does it spin?¡± I close my eyes and rub them. How could I have made such a mistake? I never miss details like this, ever. ¡°I apologize Mitchell. I¡¯m overtaxed. We will need another structure, a water wheel. I will draw the designs. The basic idea is that the river spins a large wooden wheel that has buckets all along the outside of it. The buckets get caught in the water, which forces the wheel to turn. The wheel has a log bolted to its middle, so that when the wheel turns, the log turns. At the other end of the log, is an iron gear...¡± Mitchell raises his hand. ¡°This is beyond me Lady Francine. It is sufficient to know that we will need more iron work, timber and manpower.¡± I nod my head. ¡°Yes, it will likely be another several days of Norman¡¯s time perfecting the parts, and several more days of Matteus¡¯s time constructing the water wheel. The benefit to us, will be a much faster rate of lumber production.¡± I shade my eyes from the early morning glare, noticing a welcome distraction in the form of a dirt plume off to the west, the wispy cloud the only thing obstructing the yellow and reds of the sunrise out past our farm fields. I stand up and tell Mitchell, ¡°Get to it. Looks like Dan might be back with the answer to our problems.¡± Walking past the family homes, and planted fields I review the same offer I made to Doc and Leonard. Profit sharing, free time, free food, free board and goods at cost, unrestricted access. It should be a gamer¡¯s dream if they realize how much the profit sharing could be worth. Dan¡¯s cart stops several meters from me. He hops down, dusting off his brown leather pants before approaching. I look into his eyes and he shakes his head slightly, making a stop motion with one hand, and then a talking mouth motion. I take it to mean I shouldn¡¯t lead with my offer to the other occupant of the cart and we would talk soon as to why. I glare at Dan, I don¡¯t have time to wait. As a giant woman steps down from the driver¡¯s bench, I cannot help but raise my eyebrows at her physique. I sincerely doubt her body back on earth looks anything like this. Perhaps the exact opposite, but her shapely hips, calves, broad shoulders and perfectly symmetrical face are a sight to behold. Her long brown hair is pulled back from her face. The glowing white knitted sweater she is wearing makes me want to hug her, which is extremely odd because I do not hug. What¡¯s stranger is her lack of armor. I specifically instructed Dan to recruit a tank. Tanks wear armor. Who is going to distract and absorb blows from Null¡¯s giant sword? Tiny Leonard with his daggers? Doc the giant flaming teddy bear? The giant staff strapped to her back does not appear to be a shield. And who knows what the skull belted to her waist -- the one looking at me and the town behind me -- signifies. I can feel a vein in my forehead throb when the skull speaks, ¡°Why, call me a dunce and put me in the corner, what a lovely town. And look at all the lovely humans walking to and froe, I¡¯m sure I could get a quick snack off one of them, perhaps take them along for a quick bite and then a little sacrifice once we get to Chronos¡¯s cave.¡± The giantess shakes her head. ¡°No sacrifices, no human snacks Bonesy. So, this is Brighthollow Dan? Not much to look at. Who¡¯s this?¡± She asks, not moving forward to shake my hand, as her eyes lock with mine. I can feel my face still and my mouth moves into a flat line. Did she just insult Athens? That is not a polite way to introduce yourself. Let alone her pet skull threatening to eat and sacrifice my people. What has Dan done? Dan glances at me and tries to salvage the situation. He learned to read my facial expressions well over the years. ¡°Samantha, this is my employer, Francine. In Incrementum, she is known as Lady Francine the Sharp. Francine, this is Samantha, and her questionable companion Bonesy. Don¡¯t pay him any mind, we don¡¯t.¡± Samantha claps her down over Bonesy¡¯s jaw. I hear muffled sounds coming from between her fingers. I continue to stare at Samantha. She shuffles her feet after several seconds of the uncomfortable silence. ¡°Um, nice to meet you? Dan said you are looking for partners?¡± I can¡¯t take it anymore and turn to Dan, raising my voice slightly. ¡°Was something unclear Dan? I specifically instructed you to find a tank for our Elites. Instead, I see a staff wielding giantess with only a sweater as protection. Beyond that, her familiar, or whatever that creature is, is threatening my people. I already had one visitor this week threatening to destroy Athens -- I don¡¯t need another disaster on my hands! I trust your work but this is deeply troubling. Please tell me there is a good reason for this.¡± Dan¡¯s mouth turns down as I speak and Samantha¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°Threats? Someone threatened us? Look, I know Samantha is unconventional, and that skull should likely be thrown in the river but she can work Francine. She¡¯s quite agile with that staff and has already discovered several skills that I think will allow for our A-team to gain levels rapidly. We just need to experiment with a few new tactics...¡± Dan says. My vision is narrowing and I can hear my heartbeat speed up. I know this means I probably shouldn¡¯t speak until I¡¯ve calmed down but I just can¡¯t control my passion sometimes. It¡¯s a fault I¡¯ve come to understand over the years and I don¡¯t try to fight it this time. ¡°A tank. I requested a tank. My plan demands a tank. Do you understand what is about to happen, Dan? In one week¡¯s game time Athens will be raidable by any player. The any player part doesn¡¯t matter because there is already one very powerful, very motivated player who is likely to destroy the town all by himself. Our strategy of starting in the corner of the known world has failed, and I¡¯m staring at our other strategy¡¯s cornerstone and it appears to be riddled with holes.¡± I take a deep breath and say, ¡°A God has placed a price on our heads. We will be attacked and your task, the task of gathering the A-Team, is our only defense against the coming trials. And forgive me, I know I¡¯m upset right now, but to me it appears as if you have failed. This girl -- and she is obviously a girl otherwise she would have had the graces to introduce herself to me like an adult -- is not a tank. She is some sort of monk or priest or whatever other hair brained archetype that took her fancy.¡± I notice I have my index finger pointing at Samantha. I must be mad, I only start pointing when I¡¯m really ,ad. I look at Samantha. ¡°I am sorry, Samantha, but please forget whatever Dan has told you. We do not require your services.¡± I fix Dan with my gaze again. ¡°My people, the innocent, hard-working citizens of Athenia require protectors, not girls playing dress up and skulls with a taste for flesh. Get back out there immediately and find us a tank before we are all destroyed.¡± I stop and take several deep breaths. Samantha is still looking at me with a wide open mouth and her hand absently covering the skull¡¯s jawbone. She blinks, turns to Dan and says, ¡°Bye Dan¡± before turning around and heading for the treeline to the north. Chapter 18 - Samantha - Present I cannot speak, I can barely even think. The yellow native grasses littering the plain brush against my legs as I hustle away from that awful dragon lady¡¯s town. I intend on making it to Bonesy¡¯s cave but really I just want to smash that angry imperious smirk from Francine¡¯s face. How dare she! I barely said a word and she snapped for no reason. I¡¯m not a standard tank but what¡¯s good about standard anyway? So I didn¡¯t introduce myself what does that even matter? And what was Dan thinking? Why would he bring me to meet a lady that is such a monster after I told him about how terrible my real life boss was? I hope whoever has that God Quest completes it, right in Francine¡¯s face. I almost lose all my righteous dignity when my left foot drops into some animal¡¯s burrow, but much to my surprise, I easily compensate and keep on walking. I guess those points in Dexterity are paying off in more ways than one. I definitely would have fallen on my face in real life. Thinking of Dexterity, I remember the notifications I ignored after the fight with Archibold. I pull them up as I weave between the pine trees, moving quickly to get as far as I can from Brighthollow, enjoying the shade the needle-covered branches provide.
Congratulations! You completed Undead Friend or Foe Part 1. Reward: 6,000 Experience Points Unlocked Undead Friend or Foe Part 2
You Have Reached Level 6! +5 attributes points. +25 hit points +10 stamina +1 Faith Point
You Have Reached Level 7! +5 attributes points. +25 hit points +10 stamina +1 Faith Point
You Have Reached Level 8! +5 Attribute Points +25 Hit Points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Melon Crusher (Level 1) Putting all of your might into a single blow to your enemy¡¯s skull can crush it like a melon, or miss and leave you exposed to retaliation. Effects:
  • 600% damage. (+300% damage from inventor¡¯s bonus)
  • 50% increased chance to miss. (-50% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
  • -50% chance to dodge during recovery (+50% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
Recovery:
  • 2 seconds (1.75 with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 20 stamina
Wait, inventor¡¯s bonus? Awesome! Dan had mentioned that a skill could be invented but I didn¡¯t think it would be that likely for me to invent one. What do I know about staffs? Probably a lot less than some of the other people playing this game. If David was right, millions of people will be exploring Incrementum. The odds of me inventing a staff fighting skill before those people seem low. Actually, maybe not. Nothing says the skill has to be good, or even that it has to be one out of a finite amount of system approved fighting moves. If the artificial intelligence in this game is as good as it seems, and given Bonesy, Archibold and the gods I have met so far, it seems to be; then there could be a million different fighting skills, only limited by human ingenuity. From my three levels, I have another 15 attribute points to allocate. I consider my current attributes.
Samantha (Level 8) Attributes HP: 275 Stamina: 120 Strength: 11 Constitution: 1 Dexterity: 21 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available Points: 15 Faith Points: 8
The additional Dexterity and Strength has definitely come in handy. But after getting hit by Archibold, I¡¯m rethinking my initial plan of ignoring Constitution. There is always going to be someone or something that is faster than me and I can¡¯t possibly block every attack, so having a decent amount of hit points to handle the fast blows I fail to block seems prudent. I invest 10 points in Constitution. My new skill, Melon Crusher, has a big weakness of being easy to miss, but Dexterity decreases my chance of missing, and since I invented the skill, I have less of a chance to miss than any other player ever will. Since I am already trying to be quick and nimble, this lines up perfectly. I invest another five points in Dexterity. I review my attributes again after the changes.
Samantha (Level 8) Attributes HP: 325 Stamina: 120 Strength: 11 Constitution: 11 Dexterity: 26 The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available Points: 0 Faith Points: 8
Wow, that is a big increase in hit points. Dismissing the window, I look behind me and see nothing but squat leafy green bushes and pine trees. I wonder how long I¡¯ve been in the forest now. In front of me on my left, there¡¯s a narrow creek running over grey and brown-red river stones. The two-meter deep banks expose gnarled brown roots and crumbling forest dirt. The creek runs directly away from me, deeper into the forest. I decide to follow it farther north. If it meanders away from the location Bonesy had marked on my map, I¡¯ll stop following it. I only take a few more steps before I sense a deep rumbling. I can feel the bass vibration in the bottoms of my feet and diaphragm. The rumbling turns into an audible growl and I freeze. The hair on my arms stand on end and I can feel my heartbeat speed up. It seems like the forest comes into sharper focus and my eyes open wider. I look all around me but see nothing out of the ordinary. As the growling sound gets louder, I think I know what direction it is coming from. I hunch my shoulders and mutter to myself, ¡°Just back away slowly...¡± Stepping one foot behind me, I tilt my head back slightly and look up with my eyes. In the first branch of a massive pine tree, four meters off the ground and directly in front of me crouches a jet black cat. The cat pulls back its lips exposing the yellow plaque covering its sharp white teeth. The flecked gold pupils of the giant cat¡¯s eyes are pointed straight at me, and I can see the muscles in its meter wide shoulders bunching. I focus on the cat and see lettering above its head in red writing. Northern Forest Jaguar Red lettering...David said something about that...Right, it means the monster is higher level than me. Not good, I remember the beating Archie put on me vividly and do not want to feel that again. I try to step back again to avoid a fight I probably cannot win. The cat leaps out of the tree onto the forest floor and stops growling. It slinks towards me, keeping eye contact and making sure I can always see its teeth. Stopping five meters from me, the great cat crouches, perfectly silent. A quiet voice, with a slight southern drawl, coming from behind me and to the left says ¡°, Just back away youngin¡¯. If that cat wanted you dead you would have been struck before you heard it. My guess is there are kits in or behind that tree. Just spread your arms and keep backin¡¯ up real slow like.¡± I don¡¯t dare look towards the voice. Putting one foot behind the other, I back away slowly while staring at the saliva dripping from the jaguar¡¯s mouth. I just hope my unseen companion is right and the cat will leave me be once I¡¯m far enough away from the tree. Once I retreat nearly ten meters, my back foot hits a fallen log before my weight settles, and I fall backward, planting my arms behind me. I hear the cat chuff at me. When I look up, I see it turn in half on itself before bunching its hind legs and jumping back into its tree. Pine needles stir to the left of me and a huge man steps out from behind another tree. He¡¯s wearing a stained leather vest and leather pants, and a huge smile. ¡°Looks like you dodged a cat muscle bullet there girl. Doc¡¯ Weatherby¡¯s my name, pleased to meet you.¡± He walks up to me and sticks out his hand as I scramble to my feet. ¡°So that¡¯s the polite way to introduce yourself? Good to know, apparently it¡¯s a crime to do it poorly.¡± I stick out my hand too, noticing that I was looking Doc in the eye without having to look up. It is going to take me awhile to get used to being so tall. ¡°Samantha.¡± He keeps grinning. ¡°I heard about your little run in with the boss. Thought I might come out here and see if I could smooth over some ruffled feathers. I¡¯ve been watching Francine for awhile now and that woman does not rest. I don¡¯t know the last time she slept, in game or out. From what I hear, she doesn¡¯t really have no place to go back to out there. Now, I heard from a friend what she said to you and believe you me that was just wrong. But sometimes good people say and do wrong things. I was hoping I could convince you to come back to town sometime, talk this thing through. You see, my friend Leonard and I, he¡¯s behind you by the way.¡± I turn around and see a tiny man, picking at his teeth with a razor sharp dagger sitting cross-legged. He waves with his other hand then places both hands together, daggers and all, making a praying motion at me and stuck his lower lip out. it would have been cute without the daggers. ¡°See, Leonard and I, we need a tank. I light things on fire, Leonard stabs, and we go back home at night to drink whiskey, play music and charm the fairer sex. Dan, your friend who is currently fighting with his boss, at least he was when I left, can heal, but none of us are built to stand near the bad guys. I might be a man of considerable size but if the bad guys get close enough to hit me with a weapon I¡¯m a goner. I¡¯d like to say all this bulk is pure muscle but lord knows I like my whiskey and brisket too much for that to be the truth.¡± Doc pats his belly and gives me another disarming smile. He says, ¡°I know you¡¯re mighty ticked right now, and I can respect that. I just wanted you to know that we want you on the team. The boss isn¡¯t thinking right at the moment, and we¡¯re working on that too, but please, don¡¯t ride off into the sunset. We need you on the team and the people of that town require a defense force.¡± Doc stops speaking for the first time in what feels like an hour. I can¡¯t help but like him. He seems genuine. Why is a man like him helping such a terrible woman? I don¡¯t buy the whole she¡¯s under a lot of stress boo-hoo story. I¡¯ve been under stress for a year and I¡¯m not lashing out at complete strangers. If nothing else, speaking with Doc and getting scared right out of my skirt by the jaguar has cooled me down slightly. ¡°Please to meet you Doc. I¡¯ll think about what you¡¯ve said and maybe I¡¯ll head back to Athens but I have no reason to help that woman. I¡¯m pretty angry at Dan too. What was he thinking bringing me there? He¡¯s been working with her for years right? He should have known she would react that way.¡± Doc kicks the ground a bit, thinking about what to say next I imagine. ¡°Well, Francine isn¡¯t her normal self, hasn¡¯t been for some time...but that¡¯s not my story to tell. Just think about what I said, we need you and want you on the team. Dan told us some of what you¡¯ve done and it¡¯s not traditional but we¡¯re impressed. Do keep in mind that your friend there threatened to eat people.¡± He points at Bonesy. I cover the skull¡¯s jaw before he mouths off and gets me in more trouble. ¡°Fair enough, Doc.¡± He smiles again. ¡°You need help on your way to Chronos¡¯s cave?¡± He sees the frown on my face and says, ¡°Dan let me in on your mission so I could have an idea of where to find you. Sorry if that was supposed to be a secret. But we can help if you¡¯d permit it, we¡¯re out here trying to level up anyway...¡± I shake my head. ¡°No thank you Doc. I need to be on my own for a bit. But I appreciate you and Leonard, ¡± I look behind me to make eye contact with Leonard but he¡¯s gone. I turn a little bit and look around more but I don¡¯t see him anywhere. I look back at Doc with raised eyebrows and Doc just shrugs his shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s Leonard for you. Don¡¯t you worry, if something needs stabbin¡¯ he¡¯ll be there. Keep that in mind on your little walkabout, if it¡¯s taking awhile for something to get to dying. We¡¯ll be on our way. I appreciate the time Miss Samantha.¡± I shake Doc¡¯s offered hand and then he walks past me, towards the south and Brighthollow. My hand shakes and I realize it is still covering Bonesy¡¯s mouth. I take my hand off. ¡°Well that man¡¯s a bit of a dullard now, isn¡¯t he? Good decision on heading for Chronos¡¯ cave, we must bring the light of knowledge to these animals. If I might suggest...¡± I cut Bonesy off. ¡°Bonesy, that man probably knows more about physics than you, just like me. In fact, you should probably get used to the fact that all us visitors know a lot more than you. Why don¡¯t you just shut your mouth for one minute and think about your situation? In fact, into the bag with you.¡± I throw Bonesy into the bag at my waist and shake my head. I¡¯m not sure if the promise of incarnating Bonesy¡¯s god is worth all the trouble. I look around me and notice it¡¯s getting hard to see. It wasn¡¯t an issue in the tutorial zone. That area stayed gloomy and I hadn¡¯t seen the sun once, but now, in the already shaded forest, the light is disappearing fast. I look up and manage to see some of the night sky through the overhanging branches and realize two things. The first is that either the developers of this game came up with a fantastical version of the night sky, or the environment scrubbers back home are right and if we cleaned up the air and light pollution, we could get amazing views of the solar system from earth. I¡¯ve seen the pictures from the space telescope and Mars colony, so I know views like this exist, but I have never in my life seen so many stars standing on earth. The second realization is that I can either keep walking in the dark, attempt to sleep on the floor of the forest or just log out of the game for a couple hours until enough time has passed for it to be morning. I remember the dangers of ant debuffs and the giant jaguar I just narrowly escaped and decide it¡¯s probably best if I take a break. Chapter 19 - Samantha - Present I check my map. I see a red person shaped icon very close to a cave icon, surrounded by trees and little blue lines, probably creeks. I must be close to Chronos¡¯s cave, finally. After I had stepped back into my virtual reality pod, I saw the golden morning sun stream in through the knobby brown branches and evergreen needles above me. I followed the creek and even fought a few forest critters on the way to the cave, practicing Melon Crusher and a few other of my skills. Every fight was easy, likely below my level. I smile, thinking about what I had done with the two hours I spent outside of the game. Dan had got me thinking about Helga earlier and the maintenance budget. Then the encounter with Francine tipped me over the edge. I am done worrying about what might happen. I chose the nuclear option. Helga would find out about it soon enough. In the meantime, I will enjoy my time in Incrementum before I get kicked out of my apartment. I stop smiling when I hear voices. They aren¡¯t the pleasant booming drawl of Doc or Dan¡¯s rapid and excited intonations. I didn¡¯t want Doc and Leonard¡¯s company and I certainly do not want to meet any strangers in the middle of an ancient jaguar infested forest. I jump into the two meter deep creek, my foot sinking several inches into the mud, water and stone. The water splashes up onto my leather skirt before I crouch down and sink my hands into the orange-brown clay-rich earth, pushing the rest of my body against the creek bank to avoid detection. Oh no, my sweater! Stupid nature getting my things dirty. I push back slightly and look down at the white spider silk sweater Vitalia gave me. Not a piece of clay or dirt in sight. Perpetual cleanliness must be a hidden attribute. As the voices get closer I make out more of what they are saying. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be out here either but you heard him, we have to scout out the surrounding area so he can figure out the best plan,¡± says one voice. He sounds male, maybe middle-aged. Another voice, likely younger says, ¡°And we get the short straw looking into a cave we probably can¡¯t even clear out by ourselves? I know he¡¯s a big deal or whatever but we¡¯re pretty good at games too. This is a waste of time.¡± What a whiner. He keeps going, ¡°People are getting way ahead of us in levels. This sucks. I bet he got two or three levels while we stomp around in a forest. Did I mention this is a bad idea?¡± I hear their footsteps now, breaking branches and dry pine needles. It sounds like they are coming towards me. The deeper voice drowns out the cracking branches. ¡°Quit your whining. We could be making a level here and a level there but we definitely couldn¡¯t be raiding a whole town. Now quiet before I frag you again, you¡¯re scaring all the game away.¡± I wait for their footsteps to continue. Instead, all I hear is a light wind stirring the branches above me and a toad downstream jumping through the stream. My shoulders tense up, this is the jaguar all over again. I push back enough to tilt my head back, looking over the saplings, giant pine roots and into a man¡¯s eyes. His shaggy brown hair surrounds a week old beard, yellowed teeth, and a flat mouth. I see the top of a bow rising above the edge of the creek. He has an arrow ready, its sharp grey metal head drawing my attention away from the white feathers at the other end. He says, ¡°Step out of the creek now.¡± I stand up and raise my arms in an automatic gesture. ¡°Mind if I toss my staff up onto the bank?¡± He nods and gestures with his bow to the ground. Another day I might have taken this time to try and talk my way out of the situation. See if I could join their group or something. Today, I¡¯m angry. I¡¯m not going to talk to them from a position of weakness, looking up into an arrow like some mark on the street being mugged for their implants. I pull the staff up off of my back with one arm as if I¡¯m going to place it on the creek bank. Once the staff is parallel to the ground, I tense my shoulder and turn my hips to the left, sweeping the staff into the man¡¯s ankle, leveraging my considerable body weight and the torque generated by my hips. The man¡¯s black cape flutters into the air as the rest of his body falls towards my staff. A red twenty-five appears above his head along with the Joint Breaker disabled icon. A chunk of my own hit points fall away and I feel a slicing pain across my ribs. I glance down at the gash in my side as I turn to the north and sprint away, hoping the increased Dexterity that let me hit him first would also get me out of here. My steps take me ten meters before I feel a stabbing pain in my left knee. I can¡¯t bend it properly on my next stride and I realize this running away plan will not work. I¡¯m a dummy, running from a man with a bow when all I have is a staff and nothing to hide behind. I turn around. The man with the bow stands on the edge of the creek, another arrow pointed at me. His face is red and he¡¯s leaning heavily on his leather clad right leg. A black cloth cape drapes down his back and hangs off his trailing arm; the one pulling back the cord to shoot me again. Another man, probably Whiney, pumps both arms while running towards me, kicking up pine needles and brandishing a wood club above his head. The third, who must be Mopey because he didn¡¯t say a word earlier, stands behind the one who shot me. He¡¯s wearing a black and white animal fur, draped over one well-muscled shoulder and cinched across his waist. His arms are crossed across his chest.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I start spinning my staff in front of me in a One-Handed Spin for the added block and deflection chance, hoping I can stall them to try and figure out what is going on. Running away from a person who can shoot you from a distance was a dumb idea, I need to stall before I make another bad spontaneous decision. ¡°Sorry about the ankle but there is no way I¡¯m putting down my weapon in the middle of the forest with three strange men. Why don¡¯t we all put down our weapons and talk about this? You all first of course.¡± More blood rushes to the caped man¡¯s face, turning it as red as a beet. He snarls and I hear the cord of his bow snap. My spinning staff hits the middle of the flying arrow, causing the metal tip to whip past my face and off into the underbrush. I can feel my hands start to sweat and my blood pressure rise. That jerk almost cut my face! I stop spinning my staff, waiting almost a whole second before I regain my balance enough to grab the end of the staff with both hands. Whiney jumps into the creek bed, splashing and almost toppling over. He takes a few more steps towards me, almost in range of my staff. He¡¯s wearing a silver earring with a dull green stone and some sort of animal bone stuck through his earlobe below the earring. I aim the for animal bone, swinging my staff as hard as I can. I spin almost all the way around and do not feel a vibration in my hands. Whiney must have ducked under the blow. I jerk forward when what feels like a thirty-pound weight dropped from the second floor of a building hits between my shoulder blades. I can see my health bar drop below half. I keep both hands on my staff and spin around. I plant my staff in the ground behind me quickly, lean against it and launch a Side Kick at Whiney, knocking him back a full meter. I swing the staff again with both hands, aiming for Whiney¡¯s hand where he holds his club. The crack and snap sounds come from my staff and his knuckles breaking, a small notification icon pops up in my view. He drops his club and shakes his hand. I wind up again, this time aiming at his left shoulder, hoping he ducks again. The crack of my staff and spray of fluid indicates I guessed correctly. Whiney is on the forest floor, his melon crushed, and I don¡¯t think he is going to get up. I hear another twang and look down at the burning sensation in my stomach. It¡¯s centered around a thin piece of wood with a white and grey feathered end. Time seems to slow down, I stare at the tiny wood grains running down the sand colored rough wooden shaft and the dark red, almost purple blood seeping through my perfect white sweater. I barely notice my hit point bar is down to ten percent. I look up. Black cape reaches back to grab another arrow, a smirk covering his poorly groomed face. Behind him, a black rent appears above the head of the fur-covered man. He uncrosses his veined brown arms, lifting one above his head towards the rift. The trees around the two men look like they are leaning towards the hole as if they are being sucked out from this world to another. It is impossible for me to hear anything over my own beating heart but I imagine there is a sucking sound as air flows from Incrementum to somewhere else. A sewer plate sized bear¡¯s head pushes out of the center of the rift, its eyes aflame with a golden light, meeting my gaze over the long brown snout with an apple-sized black nose. The leaves and pine cones rattle and hop as the apex predator stretches its mouth wide, ivory teeth and long red tongue parting to unleash what sounds to me like an ancient jet engine, shooting sound and air in my face until my hair can¡¯t decide if it¡¯s burning off or pulling out at the roots. The man who shot me is turning now. Even focused on killing me, he can¡¯t ignore the heavy presence behind him. The fur clothed man¡¯s standing directly below the rip in space still holds his arm aloft. I can see claws sprouting from his fingertips and the skin of his palms darkening, stretching and blackening. From wrist to elbow, golden brown fur erupts from his dark skin. His bicep and tricep grow to double their previous size, but the changes stop there. The black caped man stands perfectly still, I cannot see his face. I¡¯m not sure I would be able to move after hearing that bear and standing no more than one meter away from it. From the tilt of his head, it looks like the shooter is looking up at the bear¡¯s face. The bear-armed man¡¯s expression has not changed, still impassive, cold, almost judging. His cheek muscles bulge as he rips the transformed dinner plate sized hand down through the air and bludgeons the cape¡¯s face, his new claws tearing through skin and hair. The torn head of the caped man speeds to the forest floor like a pool ball just hit by the cue. His body does not move. I see the golden fur recede back into the man¡¯s arm, the claws retracting and his muscles shrinking back to their already impressive size. He steps over the man on the ground, walking towards me, his bare feet seeming to have no problem with the forest floor. I¡¯m down on one knee now, shaking and holding my stomach. The furred man jumps down into the creek bed, red-brown mud splattering on his calves. Yep, iron feet. He crouches down in front of me. I¡¯m looking down now and see his brown hair tied in a long braid going down his back. ¡°I knew these two were bad guys but drawing an arrow on a woman alone in the forest? My mother raised me better than that. I¡¯m sorry this happened. Would you allow me to treat your wounds and provide you with some food? They will heal in time but the game imposes a penalty if you have an arrow sunk into you like that, it¡¯s best if somebody removes them.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t going to paw me are you?¡± ¡°My boon won¡¯t be usable for quite some time either so you don¡¯t have to worry about getting bear pawed. Pretty awesome, isn¡¯t it? It took me three hours to convince Animus to let me have Bear¡¯s Paw for just five seconds, but it was worth every minute of arguing.¡± I nod my head, the shivering making it hard to speak. I see spots of black and then nothing. Chapter 20 - Francine - Present ¡°I made an error,¡± I say to Dan, rubbing my face and looking down at the yellow roughly hewn pine table. The whiskey and pine resin scents contribute to my headache. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised that the baby table, only a few days into its life time of service at the Don¡¯t Mess With Texas Saloon, already sports several gouges and golden brown stains. Bar tables develop character over time -- dark brown sticky patinas of wild spirits and regrets hugging the marred material beneath. Looking up, I make eye contact with Dan, the realism of Incrementum astounding me as I see the tightness of his face. Somehow, the stress lines and tension from an hour of arguing, fifty-nine minutes longer than he has ever dared disagree with me before, are perfectly displayed on his face. I wonder if the game interface just mimics the physical reactions of his real body. That would mean sending certain neural impulses from his brain to his body and mirroring them in Incrementum. Perhaps the interface allows neural messages about tensing facial muscles and release of stress hormones, but not others, like moving legs and arms. Stop, Francine, I tell myself, this is not the rabbit hole you are looking for. ¡°You¡¯re right. She¡¯s a viable candidate for the team. I¡¯m unconvinced she¡¯s the tank we need. The promising in-game developments, and her excellent real life track record are not enough to make up for lack of experience, knowledge, and reckless impulses, in my opinion. But even then, she is at least a candidate. I shouldn¡¯t have reacted the way I did. I apologize for my hasty actions and words. Null Division¡¯s ultimatum has me on edge. We can¡¯t afford to give into his demands Dan, you get that don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I understand, but you can¡¯t chase away our only hope at a functioning tank. You know what I went through over the last week. We don¡¯t have access to a global talent pool, we have access to the players that show up in my tutorial zone. She is by far the best one -- possibly a gift if you¡¯d spend more than five seconds assessing her.¡± Dan¡¯s face loses a bit of its tension. That will have to do for now. There is only so much apologizing I am comfortable with. Once. I am comfortable with apologizing once. I see notifications in the corner of my vision but wait to inspect them. ¡°I know, I know, let¡¯s not repeat the last hour. What can be done to remedy this situation, Dan?¡± I ask. The silence in the room feels heavy as I wait for Dan¡¯s response. At this time of day, when the light leaves Incrementum and most of the villagers are done with their work, Dan and I should be struggling to hear each other over the laughter and boasting. Yesterday, Von and Jorg tried settling a long-running dispute over who could throw an axe better by throwing axes the length of the Saloon, splitting potatoes pinned to the wall by Doc and Carl Calderson -- ignoring the boos and catcalls coming from their lumberjack wives. I expected coins to change hands as the rest of the town¡¯s men and women looked on, but I realized we didn¡¯t have a currency. It¡¯s on the list to remedy that situation, but it will have to wait for the current emergency. Dan says, ¡°We need to start with you, Francine. Did you eat today? When did you sleep last?¡± I look down again at my folded hands in my lap. I hadn¡¯t expected Dan to question me. I can¡¯t remember the last time I ate. Eating doesn¡¯t seem important. There are things to do. Dan continues, taking my silence for confirmation of his fears. ¡°Just because your body is in a VR pod doesn¡¯t mean you can work all day and night!¡± His raised voice surprises me. He has never raised his voice to me. ¡°You¡¯ve done so much for me. Stop, no interruptions, ¡° he says as I open my mouth to cut off this unnecessarily emotional conversation. ¡°I love you. I¡¯m doing everything I can to make your plan come to fruition, to make James¡¯s dream come true, but I can¡¯t do it if you slide back to that dark place. I¡¯m hurting, we¡¯re all hurting, but we have to keep taking care of ourselves. You have to take care of yourself. This town is you, Francine, it all disappears if you break down. The villagers do not exist without you, think about that.¡± I can¡¯t see the newborn table or my folded hands through my eyelids. I feel the hot tears sliding down my face and dripping off my chin and imagine the table absorbing my liquid pain like the roots of its mother tree. I refuse to make any noise forcing the squalling newborn sounds down into the bottom of my stomach. I¡¯m so sick of crying. Damn Dan for bringing it all up again. I feel his hands grab mine off my face, pulling them onto the table between us. I look up through the swirls of liquid and think I make out wetness on Dan¡¯s cheeks too. ¡°It¡¯s ok, Francine. It is going to keep hurting. We¡¯ll make it through.¡± He smiles and says ¡°, Do you remember last year, when James sent me to pick up his suit for the New Year¡¯s Galla at Sak¡¯s? What he didn¡¯t say was that he paid for me to get fitted for a half dozen suits and as many pairs of shoes as I wanted. That was my nirvana. There are very few times in life where I have ever been that happy. Six hours with a personal stylist and an unlimited budget, divine.¡± Dan stops momentarily, re-living his little slice of perfection. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Dan continues. ¡°James told me afterward, sitting in a hospital bed, wearing that horrific hospital gown, after going through who knows how many tests and procedures, he said, ¡®Dan, you¡¯re a damn peacock.¡¯¡± We both laugh through our tears before Dan keeps speaking, mimicking my James¡¯s gruff voice. ¡°¡®But you¡¯re our peacock. I¡¯m not going to be here soon. It¡¯s just the way it is. I need you to look out for Francine. You know how she gets.¡¯¡± Dan smiles at me. Yes, we both know how I get. He says, still in James¡¯s voice, ¡°¡®Even if she tries to fire you, you stick with her. There¡¯s a checking account I¡¯ve set up for you just in case, you know where I keep my account information, this one¡¯s labeled Dan¡¯s retainer -- and that credit line at Sak¡¯s will be good as long as you¡¯re alive. I need you to stick to her Dan, can you do that for me?¡± I can taste the salt as my lips crack open in a smile. I say ¡°, That¡¯s how you¡¯ve been wearing a new suit every day since his passing. I¡¯ve been grieving Dan but I¡¯m not blind.¡± I take a deep breath. Another. ¡°Thank you, Dan. I¡¯m not pleasant. I know that. It¡¯s your turn to stop.¡± I stare him down and he closes his mouth, thinking better of interrupting me with useless reassurances. ¡°I¡¯m not good with people, I never have been. James was. It worked. That¡¯s why I asked you to recruit people. I would fail at that task. It took me a long time to accept it, but I¡¯m bad at managing people. I disagreed with so many of James¡¯s decision and he was almost always right. Remember when he fired our top sales director? What was his name...Gregory, Gregory Perth. James fired him for some minor ethical breach, a misappropriation of petty cash of some inconsequential amount...thirteen hundred and seven dollars and fifty-three cents. I didn¡¯t speak to James for three months after that. We missed an earnings projection mostly because of that decision. Three fiscal quarters later, the man James promoted to take Gregory¡¯s place, Jamal Roth, doubled Gregory¡¯s sales numbers. Two months after that, Gregory was in jail, bending the rules at his next company.¡± I look down at my hands and sigh. ¡°James knew people. He knew Jamal could do it, especially after we put faith in him, and he knew poor ethics in one place meant poor ethics in other places. I don¡¯t have those instincts. People don¡¯t love me like they did James. They may come to respect or trust me with time, but they won¡¯t be persuaded by my words. They would not have, perhaps Speak to Them will keep progressing and change all that...¡± I realize I¡¯m staring off into the distance and shake my head. ¡°I digress. Thank you for respecting James¡¯s wishes. Thank you for helping me. And I¡¯m sorry, again. That is now twice the amount I have ever thanked or apologized to anyone. You should feel honored.¡± Dan laughs, understanding my dry humor. ¡°I will step out of this pod, sleep and eat after we are done speaking. But before I can do so, I need to know the plan. What can we do to fix this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m already working on it. I let Doc know what happened before we came in here. He went after Samantha with Leonard. Hopefully, he can convince her to come back, or at least group up with her. If not, I¡¯ll meet up with him, and we¡¯ll trail her together. I also sent you an e-mail with details on something we can do back home. Are you capable of apologizing to her?¡± Time to eat some humble pie, as my mom would have said. ¡°Yes, I can do that. Get to it Dan, retrieve our tank, do what you have to do. I¡¯ll keep building Athens.¡± I hold up my hand as Dan moves to interrupt me. ¡°After sleeping and eating.¡± Dan¡¯s eyes seem to go out of focus. ¡°Hey, check this out,¡± he says.
Retrieve Your Wayward Ally Samantha has fled Athens. Lady Francine The Sharp bids you to locate and persuade her to return to the city. Rewards: 10,000 Experience +1 Charisma
I close my eyes before saying, ¡°Our ray of light. I suspected I could issue players quests as a Homesteader, confirmation is quite welcome. Do you know how important this is Dan?¡± ¡°Yes. This should be massive for improving players we choose to help. It also seems the nature of the task can influence the reward. I¡¯ll need all of my considerable natural charisma to make up for your tantrum, seems fair I should get even more Charisma as a reward.¡± I narrow my eyes at Dan. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a tantrum. It was a calculated display of displeasure. Let me try another.¡± I think about Dan, and Mary and her safe return. ¡°Ha, it worked!¡± Dan says, before he sends a prompt for my inspection.
Rescue Mary Jorgdaughter Lady Francine the Sharp¡¯s cowardice and selfish desires forfeited Mary Jorgdaughter to Decrepit¡¯s pawn, Null Division. Secure her safe return. Rewards: 15,000 experience Jorgdaughter Family Skill
I understand why the game doesn¡¯t let me define quests for other players exactly as I wish -- players like myself would abuse it -- but I don¡¯t understand why the AIs that generate these quest descriptions are so harsh. ¡°Very funny. Get out of here Dan, go get our candidate.¡± Chapter 21 - Samantha鈥檚 Nuke To The Board, I am the solar technician of Chicago Pod Complex 658. I have been working for the past year to maintain and improve the solar power system of the building you are responsible for. What I have been trying to figure out is if you are all ignorant or incompetent. Helga, my boss, assures me that the solar maintenance budget was set with the full knowledge of the board, and additionally, you have approved another budget for finding my replacement. Are you crazy? I have received zero funds for replacement and improvement of the solar power system. If you did authorize funds for solar power maintenance, they aren¡¯t reaching me. I¡¯m not a whiner, or lazy. No technician could keep this building running without money. It¡¯s just math. The building has nearly two thousand solar panels, one thousand converters and an array of five thousand batteries. The panels have a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 5 years. The converters have an MTBF of 2 years. The batteries are not expected to fail until they are nearly ten years old but could go anytime after that. This means that each year there should be an expectation that four hundred solar panels will fail and two hundred converters will fail. Additionally, the entire battery array must be replaced once every ten years.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. That is 1 solar panel and almost 1 converter to repair or replace every day. The system has redundancies, but not enough redundancies to go a whole year without purchasing or manufacturing replacements. I have managed to repair 100 solar panels and 50 converters, but we are still down nearly four hundred panels and 40 converters. The building¡¯s power will fail for some tenants and soon. What I truly do not understand is why you are letting this happen. I hope it is ignorance and this letter will cure it. Samantha Cross Chicago Pod Complex 658 Solar Technician Chapter 22 - Samantha - Present I open my eyes to a small orange fire dancing over a bed of red and blue coals -- grey ash in a wide circle around the active coals. The smoke irritates my eyes as I look around and notice a human-sized lump on the ground underneath a giant brown fur blanket. Wait, that¡¯s not a blanket. That¡¯s a whole bear fur, and a long brown braid of hair sticking out from underneath it. Ah, the bear-paw guy that saved me earlier. I sit up, another bear fur, black, falling down into my lap. What does this guy do, hunt bear all day? I make a note to ask him. I don¡¯t know where we are. I cannot see past the trunks and branches that barely reflect the orange firelight; the farthest being no more than five meters away. I can hear chirping, hooting and howling from the natives in the night, a snuffling sound the loudest of all, coming from my left. The night doesn¡¯t bother me. I enjoy the savory scent of the wood burning fire. The government regulates wood consumption tightly back home, attempting to keep the reforestation of the earth on as fast a pace as possible. I notice there are more notifications for me to read. No time like right now.
Congratulations! You have completed hidden quest Visitors Are Not Sacred (Level 1) Only the gods are sacred. Visitors shall not receive any protection from the wilds or other players. For a limited time, visitors receive extra rewards, courtesy of the gods, for slaying other visitors. Rewards: 3400 Experience 1 Faith Point
You Have Reached Level 9! +5 Attributes Points +25 Hit Points +10 Stamina +1 Faith Point
Congratulations! You have invented a new skill: Knuckle Cruncher (Level 1) Targeting an enemy¡¯s hands, and landing the blow with enough force pulverizes their knuckles, leaving them unable to hold a weapon for some time. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Disarm enemy for 6 seconds (+3 seconds inventor¡¯s bonus).
  • 25% (+12.5% inventor¡¯s bonus) damage, once every second of disarm.
  • 20% increased chance to miss. (-20% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Wait, no penalties for fighting other players? And you get a Faith Point? And a lot of experience? I bet a lot of people are trying to level up quick just by fighting other players. That¡¯s not exactly a good long-term strategy if you actually want to interact with other people, but I could see it being a shortcut. I wonder if the penalties for being killed by another player are as bad as the rewards are good, or even worse? Would I get a quest reward each time I killed another player or is that a one-time time thing? I guess I¡¯ll find out sometime. This new skill is pretty good. It would be good even without the inventor¡¯s bonus. If I¡¯m up against one enemy, and they are holding a weapon, I¡¯m definitely going to try to break their knuckles. A loud crack behind me causes me to swing my legs, plant one hand and jump to my feet. I put my left hand behind me and feel that my staff is still there. I face the noise, prepared to fight anyone. A giant leg, orange from the campfire, steps into the light, the equally excessive leather vest soon following. I relax. ¡°Hi, Doc.¡± Another small foot encased in a black leather boot precedes the small leg above it. I hear the familiar sounds of Dan¡¯s leather and metal armor and my shoulders slump. His face pushes out of the darkness, looking like it is under orange dyed water -- the wavering firelight reflecting off his skin before reaching my eyes. ¡°Go away Dan, I¡¯m still mad at you.¡± ¡°Hold on Samantha, just give him a minute,¡± Doc says. Dan¡¯s eyes stay focused on me. He clasps his hands in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Samantha. I had no idea Francine was that exhausted. She¡¯s not the warm and cuddly type. No excuses, what she did was unacceptable and I shouldn¡¯t have brought you into that situation. I yelled at her for treating you like that. She will apologize if you give her a second chance and come back to Athens. We really need you, Samantha. The town only has one week of immunity left and we¡¯ve apparently been marked for death by a God. Null Division has a God Given quest to kill everyone in the town. I know it seems silly but Francine is terrified her villagers will be killed. When you made that comment about her town and Bonesy said he wanted to eat some villagers, it just set her off. I never told you but her husband and business partner of fifty years, James, died several months ago. It was really hard for us...¡± Dan stops talking, maybe the first time he has stopped talking voluntarily since I¡¯ve known him. Is he crying? It¡¯s hard to tell in this light. I¡¯ve had a rough year but it sounds like hers might have been worse. ¡°Doc told me some of that. Not the part about James...Ugh, so what I¡¯m the bad girl for being mad at a widow?¡± ¡°No, no, you should be upset. I¡¯m just hoping you will look past her bad behavior and still think about helping us.¡± Dan says. I really am too much of a pushover. It¡¯s why I¡¯m still in a terrible job -- until The Board reads my note anyway. ¡°Fine Dan -- I get it. I¡¯ll give her another chance.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Dan lunges forward and hugs me. My are breasts resting on top of his head. ¡°I said I¡¯d give her another chance, you¡¯re still in trouble!¡± I step back, dislodging his head from my body. ¡°I thought you were just looking for a friend and trying to help out fellow players, but you had an agenda the whole time we were playing together. Any other hidden agendas Dan?¡± ¡°No more secrets, I promise, pinky swear.¡± He grins, holding out his pinky to me. Doc says, ¡°This is touching and all, and a gentleman like myself wouldn¡¯t interrupt normally, but this fellow has an axe to my throat.¡± Looking back to the fire, I see the brown bear fur is flat on the ground. I focus my gaze on Doc. My rescuer holds his grey metal axe head against the stubble on Doc¡¯s neck. ¡°Uh, Doc, Dan, this is...well I don¡¯t know his name, but he saved my life earlier.¡± I look my rescuer in the eyes and ask ¡°, What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Kuruk. Are these guys friends of yours? Sounds like it but I can¡¯t take any chances. The men I was with were surprisingly quick to violence, these could be no different.¡± ¡°They are, please let him go Kuruk.¡± Kuruk takes the axe away from Doc¡¯s throat, placing it back in a holster attached to his belt. Doc says, ¡°You can back off now....¡± Kuruk screams high pitched at first and then deepening into a bellow. I see a small man-shaped form distinguish itself from the forest background, right behind Kuruk. Leonard? The firelight reaches Leonard but my eyes can¡¯t quite grasp him. The edges around his form are blurry as if the night shaded forest is painted on parts of his skin and clothing. His right and left arms are covered with thick, orange tinted blood. Leonard steps to the side as Kuruk¡¯s form falls backward, both legs hamstrung, bleeding into the forest floor. Kuruk rolls onto his stomach and starts shaking. I can hear him chanting, perhaps a healing chant? No, not a healing chant. Brown fur is breaking through the stained skin on his legs and arms. My own arm hair stands on end when Kuruk growls. His torso has expanded to four times its regular size and I see nothing but bear fur. He stands up on four limbs, his back to me, and he arches his back slightly before lifting his head and roaring into the jungle. Kuruk turns his new ursine form, facing Doc, who summons an orange ball of fire in his hands. The fireball is a deep red, rotating clockwise, tight like a coiled snake. Dan just stands there, arms at his sides and mouth open. I¡¯m less shocked. Maybe experiencing the roar of Animus The Bear God Himself makes Kuruk¡¯s less fear inducing, or maybe I¡¯m just mad at these idiots for fighting for no reason. Kuruk drops his snout to the forest floor, snuffling and looking side to side. Looking for Leonard maybe? After a few seconds and no success, he raises his red vein shot eyes and stares at Doc. The meter long muscles in his hind legs bunch and then extend as he launches himself at Doc. A fireball meets him in the air. I smell burnt meat and my stomach feels like I drank engine oil. Orange and red fire run over Kuruk¡¯s chest and front shoulders. Doc steps backward but Kuruk reaches him, tearing into Doc¡¯s left leg with his giant paw. Doc shouts and tries to backpedal, but he doesn¡¯t move fast enough. Kuruk raises another paw but drops it with a growl. Leonard¡¯s form is clear again, riding atop Kuruk, both daggers planted into the bear¡¯s back. I¡¯ve seen those daggers, I don¡¯t think they are long enough to get through all that bear blubber but it has to hurt. Kuruk rolls onto his side, clearly intending to smash Leonard, but the small nimble man hops off the bears back and runs to Doc¡¯s side, both daggers held in front of him. ¡°Can you testosterone filled wastes of grey matter stop diddling each other¡¯s tiny penises for two seconds? Is that too much to ask? I¡¯m trying to enjoy my gosh darn time in this stupid game and you gas filled skin bags, you giant testicles, are ruining it! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?¡± Kuruk¡¯s fuzzy head turns towards me. I had never seen a bear before today. I¡¯ve now seen a bear and a surprised bear. Leonard smiles and starts clapping before giving me a thumbs up. Doc, one arm on Leonard¡¯s shoulder, leaning on his one good leg, says ¡°That was impressive slander, Samantha. You keep that up, nothing Leonard likes more than a good insult. What I think we have here is a big misunderstanding. I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Kuruk. Leonard flies off the handle a bit when anyone threatens me. There was this time at a rundown bar on the Gulf Coast twenty, oh maybe thirty years ago when this kid with ratty dreadlocks sits down next us, he sits down and....¡± I say, ¡°Not the time for stories Doc. What the heck! Is this how you guys convince me to join up with you? Kuruk saved my life from two men who pointed an arrow at my face before even saying hi. And here you two go and first stab him, then light him on fire. What have you all done besides apologize and try to make nice?¡± I pull at my hair, these people are so frustrating. Dan says, ¡°I think you might have just discovered a skill, Samantha. I couldn¡¯t think about anything but attacking you just now.¡± Huh, I see a notification.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Slur to Spur (Level 1) Nothing spurs your foes into action like a slur. Using targeted verbal insults will force your foes to attack you before others. Effects:
  • Instant attention of all foes within hearing range of your slurs.
  • +50 to aggro for all foes within earshot who are affected by your slurs.
Recovery:
  • None
Cost:
  • None
¡°Can I see it?¡± Dan asks. ¡°Maybe later, Dan. Leonard, apologize to Kuruk. Right now. You didn¡¯t have to stab him. That was mean. Kuruk, say sorry to Doc for the axe to the throat.¡± Leonard frowns, rolls his eyes and then bows from the waist. Kuruk snorts in Dan¡¯s direction. I sigh, not good enough. ¡°Come here, Leonard.¡± I crook my finger, beckoning him in closer. ¡°Come on, I won¡¯t bite.¡± I keep bending my fingers as Leonard walks towards me around the fire. One he¡¯s almost in arms reach, a reach out and smack him in the ear. ¡°Don¡¯t stab my friends. Next time it¡¯s the staff,¡± I say. Leonard rubs his ear and frowns at me before walking back over to Doc. ¡°Dan, get Vitalia in here to repair these dummies.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t just walk up to Vitalia, Mother of Life and say ¡®get in here.¡¯ Of course, I had the foresight to request several boons that are perfect for this little scenario...¡± I talk over him, it¡¯s the best way to deal with Dan¡¯s propensity to prattle. ¡°Here¡¯s my deal Dan. You stooges help me incarnate Chronos, stop doing stupid stuff like that,¡± I wave at all four of them, with their stab wounds, burns, and bruises, ¡°and I¡¯ll come back to Athens and fight for you.¡± Dan¡¯s smile is all the answer I need. ¡°One other thing Samantha, we need to rescue Mary Jorgdaughter too. We have a quest for it, here, check it out.¡± A prompt appears in front of me.
Rescue Mary Jorgdaughter Lady Francine the Sharp¡¯s cowardice and selfish desires forfeited Mary Jorgdaughter to Decrepit¡¯s pawn, Null Division. Secure her safe return. Rewards: 15,000 experience Jorgdaughter Family Skill
¡°Huh, looks like the game AI pegged Francine. Sounds good to me. So Chronos, Rescue Mary Jorgdaughter, then save Athens, should be easy.¡± Leonard walks forward and taps on Kuruk¡¯s snout. The bear looks down into Leonard¡¯s eyes. Leonard takes his right middle and pointer finger, spreads them, points them to his own eyes, then Kuruk¡¯s, before he fades into the night again. As Dan heals everyone¡¯s wounds, I realize something. They listened to me. It¡¯s been a really long time since anyone has actually done what I said. It feels good, real good. Chapter 23 - Samantha - Present Crouching in a giant fern, the many thin leaves on the drooping branches rubbing on my legs and tickling the back of my neck, I scratch my forehead and sigh. I didn¡¯t want to believe Doc, well Leonard, who appeared before us, whispered to Doc and disappeared again when he said that there was no cave. Leonard is right. I reach into the bag at my waist, pull Bonesy out, and put my hand over his mouth. ¡°That¡¯s not a cave Bonesy. That¡¯s a fortress. And keep your voice down.¡± I take my hand off his mouth. ¡°You do realize that before you came around I¡¯d been sitting on the floor of that building for a long time? How am I to know what has become of the ritual site? My initial inspection suggests you are correct. That¡¯s a fortress.¡± I¡¯m standing on top of a small rise in the forest floor, perched above the five-meter tall cliffs of coffee brown exposed rock and root. The cliff continues in a rough circle around the fifty-meter wide and fifty-meter long circular depression. A massive tree grows at the opposite end of the depression. Five meters across and an uncountable number tall, it dwarfs all the pines I¡¯ve seen in Incrementum. Numerous small black holes burrow in between the tree¡¯s twisted roots, half as tall as a man. One large opening directly below the tree, black -- even now in the daylight -- draws my eye. There are three unmoving men standing in front of it, each holding a spear in one hand and nothing in the other. They are wearing large pieces of metal, covering everything except the heads. I can¡¯t see their faces, but I imagine they are grimacing with discomfort. Dan says, ¡°So back when we agreed to help you incarnate Chronos, we were talking about a cave with an abandoned ritual. This...this is a bit much.¡± I turn my head and shoulders and look back at Dan sitting on the opposite side of the fern. Doc lays next to him on his stomach. Kuruk stands beside them, not taking the cue to hunker down, an axe in each hand. ¡°Going back on your promises so soon, Dan? Come on, this looks like fun.¡± I say before standing and dusting off my knees. Kuruk rises and Dan grabs my hand. ¡°Not so fast, you were about to just run at those three guards weren¡¯t you?¡± Dan says. ¡°...maybe,¡± I say, kicking a particularly offensive clump of dirt near my feet. ¡°If you run in there we all have to run in there. Just wait two seconds for us to come up with a plan, then you can have fun.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not as much fun...sigh, have it your way, Dan.¡± ¡°I think we should walk around the edge here to the left, and then scale down into basin roughly fifty meters from the guards¡¯ positions. We edge closer and prepare for battle. Does anyone have a bow or some ranged weapon?¡± After the silence, Dan says, ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no. Ok, so Samantha, you walk closer, grab a rock, and throw it at the guard that¡¯s closest to us. We might be able to get them to fight us one at a time. That plate armor looks serious so I don¡¯t think this will be an easy fight. Vitalia has blessed me with the inner fortitude to pull us through, of course, but it won¡¯t be easy. I¡¯ll keep Samantha alive with my god-given healing ability while the rest of you do damage.¡± ¡°What about Leonard?¡± I say. Part of the fern takes on the shape of a small man. Leonard shakes his head, shows me his daggers and fades away again. Doc says, ¡°Leonard only has his daggers. No ranged weapons to his name. If he throws the rock he¡¯ll lose his stealth advantage.¡± Kuruk clears his throat. ¡°I found these on the men that attacked Samantha. I was holding onto them for you, but after we woke up and these guys attacked me I didn¡¯t have time to hand them over...¡± He offers me a quiver of arrows, a bow, and wooden club. I take the quiver of arrows and the bow but shake my head at the wooden club. ¡°No thanks on the club. This bow looks awesome, thanks for saving it for me.¡± I stare at the bow and see a prompt:
Novice¡¯s Oak Longbow A well made but basic longbow. Damage: 20-30 (15-20 with current Strength modifiers)If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Durability: 100/100
Well, maybe not that awesome but a bow nonetheless. I put an arrow on the string, pose like the black caped man who shot me and pull the string back. The string only makes it halfway to my ear before my arm shakes. I aim at the pine tree five meters behind us and let the cord go. The arrow hits the forest floor two meters from me and I almost fall down. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to use a rock to get the guard¡¯s attention,¡± I say. Doc coughs into his hand and then stands up. ¡°A rock is just the thing for a smart warrior like you.¡± Jerk. We walk around the edge of the cliff until we get to the place Dan indicated and climb down. The roots and rocks make the descent fairly easy. I look down at my sweater, again thankful that mud isn¡¯t able to cling to it. We walk forward another twenty meters. We¡¯re directly to the side of the guards now, with the nearest opening five meters above us and ten meters ahead. I whisper, ¡°You guys ready?¡± Dan says, ¡°You don¡¯t have to whisper. Talking hasn¡¯t antagonized an enemy for me yet. Careful, the nametag on those guards are white to me which puts their level somewhere around twenty. Since you¡¯re level nine they will probably hit you quite hard, like when you first fought Archie. Your glorious beacon of health,¡± he points to his own chest,¡± is here of course, but be careful.¡± I shudder, remembering the post-Archibold-fight pain. I walk forward another five meters, kneel down, pick up a muddy rock and throw it at the nearest guard, now only ten meters away. The rock bounces at his feet and dirties his metal shoes. I pick up another rock and pull my arm back but stop when I hear the nearest guard speak. ¡°Hey, Rupert, am I imagining it or is that woman throwing rocks at me?¡± The second guard leans forward and looks my way before he says ¡°, Right you are Ram. She¡¯s throwing rocks. Hey, Ross, come over here, look at this. A giantess, a giant, a fair-haired boy and an axeman. The giantess is throwing rocks.¡± Ross¡¯s armor clanks as he walks over to stand by Rupert. ¡°Are they dullards? Lady, why are you throwing rocks at us?¡± He pauses then says ¡°, That¡¯s a lot of blank looks Rupert. Should we sound the alarm?¡± ¡°If they¡¯re throwing rocks I¡¯m rather certain they aren¡¯t a threat. Let¡¯s see what they have to say,¡± says Rupert. I look back at Dan and raise an eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me,¡± Dan says. ¡°That would have worked in other games.¡± I say, ¡°Hi there, Rupert, Ram, and Ross. I was just trying to get Ram to come fight us by himself...any chance of that?¡± Rupert says, ¡°Why are you trying to fight Ram? I haven¡¯t beat him in the practice circle for years so I put your odds at about zero.¡± ¡°We wanted to get into your fortress...can we come in?¡± Rupert looks at Ram, Ram looks at Ross and then all three shrug. Ross says, ¡°Can¡¯t see the harm in it but hold on, we have a procedure for this. Sorry, we don¡¯t get southerners up here...well, ever.¡± He reaches into a brown leather bag strapped to his waist, pulls out a piece of paper and starts reading. ¡°Beware, ye who encroach on yonder Dark Pit of Despair, consider carefully before delving into its depths.¡± Ross glances up. ¡°Sorry. Someone had a little too much fun writing this.¡± He clears his throat and says, ¡°Do you agree to accept sole responsibility for entering this forsaken place, and all consequences up to and including loss of possessions, loss of life and loss of soul? I¡¯m going to need a verbal yes from each of you.¡± Ross looks up and waits. ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t you here to keep us out?¡± I say. ¡°No,¡± Ram says. ¡°We guard against the Corrupted Children of the Pit coming out, not fools seeking death.¡± What a jerk. ¡°Perfect, these fools will be heading in then. Right guys?¡± I look back at Dan. His arms are behind him and he¡¯s biting one lip. Leonard stands next to Doc and nods his head up and down rapidly. Doc shrugs and says, ¡°We follow through on our agreements. Besides, this is the first dungeon Leonard and I have come across in Incrementum. Looks like fun.¡± Kuruk steps up beside me and puts his hand on my shoulder, facing the three Pit Guardian. ¡°I¡¯m with you Samantha, you¡¯re a party so far.¡± I shrug his arm off and give him a glare. ¡°Hands off. Dan?¡± ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do it. You need to be careful though Samantha, no running in blindly. You¡¯re still only level 9 compared to my 20, Leonard and Doc¡¯s 15 and Kuruk¡¯s 12.¡± Ross says ¡°, Ehem, I need verbal yes¡¯s. So again, Do you agree to accept sole responsibility for entering this forsaken place, and all consequences up to and Including loss of possessions, loss of life and loss of soul?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you agree to remain in the Pit until it is cleansed or you are corrupted?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you acknowledge that the Pit Guardians, ¡° Ross points to Ram, Rupert and himself and then says, ¡°Do you acknowledge that the Pit Guardians of the Northern Reach may be forced to chop your corrupted bodies into little pieces and toss said pieces into the Pit should you be corrupted?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it then. We¡¯re wishing you the best of luck. If you can cleanse this cursed place we get to go home. Word of advice, don¡¯t listen to the voices.¡± Ross says. ¡°Voices?¡± Ross wiggles his eyebrows at me but stays silent. I grin at the guys. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s do this.¡± As we pass under the thick roots, our boots sinking into the soft mud, Doc says ¡°, And this also has been one of the dark places of the earth.¡± Chapter 24 - The Board鈥檚 Response To Samantha Cross, Thank you for bringing your concerns to the board¡¯s attention. We are familiar with the situation at Chicago Pod Complex 658. Ms. Trompswitch has kept us informed. The maintenance budget was calibrated with known mean time between failures and equipment inventory. Additionally, the budget has been appropriated correctly. There were several unavoidable costs that consumed the budget before you were hired. If you had spoken to Ms. Trompswitch professionally, or your colleagues, you would know more funds will be available this coming month. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Your inability to communicate effectively and execute your job duties is troubling. Ms. Cross, please consider this a notice of our intent to terminate you from your position. We appreciate your hard work and wish you the best in your future endeavors. Michael Foss Chairman of The Board Chapter 25 - Francine - Present I¡¯m sitting on my usual hill in the middle of my town. I know he¡¯s not there, but I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders, massaging the kinks out of my muscles, chasing away the gray fog running through my mind. I stop looking at my feet and watch Valeria and Raul Huntson stripping yellow-brown fur from recently caught animal skins with metal scraping tools outside the Tannery. I don¡¯t know if the slump in their shoulders is me projecting or them feeling the weight of our situation. I hope Dan, Doc, and Leonard find Samantha and fix my error. I need that team to come together, and I need it now. I can¡¯t foresee any problems after Samantha cools down. The others seem agreeable to me. I can hear James¡¯s warm voice, smell his aftershave and coffee breath. ¡°You got to listen to people, sugar, watch them.¡± I¡¯m trying James. Before immersing again, I indulged in a few hours of sleep, a minimal amount of food and the phone calls Dan requested. I understand I¡¯m only adhering to the technical requirements of my promise to Dan, that being some food and sleep, not his intent. It will I have to do. I need my Clay Workshop and Sawmill completed. I have the rest of this week, only six days and some odd hours, to come up with enough of a reason for Null Division to ignore his quest and join the team; while I move Athens forward at the same time. If Dan and the rest convince Samantha to join them, they should be back in a day and I can confer with them on how likely it is to defeat Null in battle if it comes to that. While I wait, it¡¯s time to investigate this Enchantress business. My research indicated I couldn¡¯t choose a God since I¡¯m a Homesteader, what is Null thinking? My vision fades. I can feel my body but I see nothing. I hear a clicking sound, heat on my neck and a deep voice. ¡°I¡¯ll fear your A-team? The God of Death will fear you and your pathetic sworn men? We will see who is scared when your town burns and your people¡¯s flesh feeds my bone cleaners.¡± Floating eyes, like emerald fire, drift from behind me to a meter away on my left. I see a dark male shape illuminated by the green glow. The hairs on my arms rise and I can feel goosebumps. My breath shortens. I can¡¯t remember the last time I was scared. No need, my fear now is enough. Another voice says ¡°, I think she gets your point dear. That¡¯s enough.¡± A violet light pierces the back of my eye, momentarily blinding me. I blink several times until the sharp violet light fades and an early morning glow illuminates my surroundings. A woman, five meters in front of me and to my right, with fragile white hair and a silk sweater, not too far off my own age, rocks her ivory white chair, the clicking of her deer antler knitting needles punctuating the constant rubbing sound of her chair on the rock floor. Two dog-sized spiders, with brown hair covering their many legs stand next to each side of her chair, silk extruding from their carapaces and running to her needles. A black robed man, Decrepit, I assume, paces back and forth next to her -- green sparks flying from his eyes even in the new light. Skeletal hands and arms thrust through the stone below him. Broken basalt, dirt, and chips of bone mix together as he kicks and stomps through the groping limbs. ¡°Keep your creatures on your half of the house. Let¡¯s not have that argument again,¡± Vitalia says. On Vitalia¡¯s side of the room, I notice several woven tapestries, showing animals climbing, slithering and galloping -- their eyes shining from the interlaced fibers. No less than four fireplaces burn wood; piles of feather and fur lie in front of each one, big enough for a person to curl up and take a nap. A giant boar rests in the pile closest to me, its tusks reflecting some of the firelights. ¡°I hate to disappoint you Francine, but you can¡¯t choose a God. Someone in your position, who may some day lead an empire, cannot be allowed to influence the Balance of Faith. You may command, but we may only request and reward.¡± Vitalia doesn¡¯t look up from her knitting as she speaks, preempting my next question. ¡°Null is good at what he does, but he is wrong in this. I had hopes for Null but he is showing quite poor judgment.¡± ¡°Taking my quest is poor judgment? And when you offer quests to save people¡¯s lives, prevent their inevitable death, are they then showing poor judgment in my eyes?¡± Decrepit says.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Of course not dear. Yours is to seek death and mine, life. I¡¯m speaking of taking poor Mary. There was no need for that.¡± ¡°And next you¡¯re going to try to tell me that it makes you want to help? You always counter my quests, Mary makes no difference.¡± Decrepit says. ¡°No dear, I¡¯ll just have a much easier time beating you this go around. Damsel in distress, abducted by a dragon of a man, should be quite convincing.¡± Vitalia rocks a bit from side to side, smiling at her knitting needles. I clear my throat. ¡°I apologize for my statement Decrepit. It was foolhardy. I should not have claimed my A-Team would scare even the gods. Is there any way for me to repair the damage?¡± Decrepit turns his head away from Vitalia. Several pairs of bone hands have pushed through the crumbled slurry from Decrepit¡¯s stomping. The bone arms pull at his robe ends as he says, ¡°You can die.¡± I don¡¯t know what to say to that. Appealing to Decrepit is not going to improve this situation. ¡°Why am I here if I can¡¯t choose a god?¡± Vitalia puts down her needles and makes a shooing motion at the brown spiders. They run up the stone wall, off into the shadows above the thick unstained wood beams crossing the room. Her eyes lock with mine for the first time. Violet irises surround black pupils. ¡°Because you can build a Temple.¡± She watches me as I think. I¡¯ve known a Temple is one of my building options but it seemed superfluous. It doesn¡¯t contribute to my town¡¯s resources or defense, so why invest in it early? All I know of the Temple is that it allows players easier access to Boons and God Quests. I can see that being important over the long run, but not now, right at the start of my town. I must be missing something, could it help me with the Null Division situation somehow? And why have the foremost gods, one of which is set on killing the people in my town, brought me here to suggest it? ¡°What do you get out of that?¡± I say. ¡°Very good. Life is not benevolence. Some make that mistake but you know the difference. Every Temple built in my name increase my power. I¡¯m not personally interested in power, but if Decrepit surpasses my own by too much, the balance is lost and the world becomes a dead place. I prefer it to be alive. Oh, you also got him into quite a snit, and it¡¯s fun to thwart him when he¡¯s in a snit.¡± Decrepit snorts. ¡°How would this Temple thwart him?¡± Vitalia waves her pointer finger at me. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you. That would be cheating. Our followers must solve their own problems. We merely offer rewards to solve problems we would like solved.¡± ¡°You can offer me a reward for solving the problem of Decrepit wanting my people dead but not tell me how to do it?¡± Vitalia nods. ¡°Can you nod if I guess? Does your Temple prevent a follower of Decrepit from raiding my town?¡± ¡°Decrepit raids my temple all the time dear.¡± Vitalia¡¯s eyes twinkle and Decrepit starts belly laughing. ¡°Sorry, no yes-no nodding games. You know as much as you can. Life is not simple, nor is it forgiving. Begone.¡± My vision goes black, Vitalia¡¯s violet irises two pinpoints of color as the rest fades, until even those points of light are gone. My vision comes back, revealing the Huntsons¡¯s still scraping skins a hundred meters away. I didn¡¯t get any answers but my path forward is somewhat clearer. I can¡¯t choose Enchantress as my goddess, the game won¡¯t allow it. So Null¡¯s demands will not be met. Do I attempt to build this Temple while trying to figure out how it might prevent Null from killing my people? Vitalia didn¡¯t explicitly say it could even do that. She just said she wanted more power and liked to throw a wrench in Decrepit¡¯s plans. Do I stick to my original plan and have faith in Dan and team to confront Null and prevent my people¡¯s deaths? A notification grabs my attention, opening two prompts:
Bastion of Life On The Frontier - Vitalia¡¯s Will Construct a Temple of Vitalia in Athens. Rewards: Temple starts at Level 2
Stop the Spread of Death - Vitalia¡¯s Will Do not allow any of your villagers to die and strengthen Decrepit. Rewards: Increase Temple of Vitalia by one level
I see. So Vitalia will reward me greatly if I build her Temple, by making her own Temple more powerful. And she offers me zero information on why this is in my best interest, besides a vague implication that it will help prevent Decrepit from getting his way. I don¡¯t have the right answer. What I do know, is that I¡¯m not upgrading the Smithy. I¡¯m not choosing Enchantress, and Null Division will have to accept it or try to murder us all. Chapter 26 - Samantha - Present When I first saw the twenty-story tall grandfather pine tree perched above the entrance to Chronos¡¯s cave, I was shocked nature could grow a living thing as tall as an apartment building back home. I¡¯ve seen the ancients pictures of giant redwoods felled in the twentieth century but seeing such a tree in person is something else. Now, I realize most of the tree dwells underground; as if it grew the massive trunk above as a token gesture towards the requirements of treehood. Two meter wide roots snake along the entry tunnel. I run my hand along the one on my left as we walk down into the earth after leaving Ram, Ross and Rupert. Large caterpillars poke their many-legged fronts out of circular bores in the root sides and fluorescent spiders skitter across their webs. The earthy aroma reminds me of being slide tackled while playing soccer at Lincoln Park. I stopped playing as soon as I could. I don¡¯t like being covered in mud and grass, and the other girls ran all over me, literally. Kuruk walks on my left; Doc, Leonard, and Dan follow us, three abreast with plenty of room on each side. The light from the entrance fades behind while a blue glow grows in front of us. The tunnel bends slightly to the right. Kuruk and I make the turn and then stop. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop?¡± Dan says. ¡°Come up here and see for yourself,¡± I say. Dan and the rest of the boys step forward, no one speaks for the next minute. The blue glow comes from the layer of moss covering the entire floor, or perhaps what¡¯s underneath the moss, at the bottom of the chamber in front of us. Splotches of darker navy moss and dashes of sky blue cover the floor. More roots as wide as my wingspan run from the ceiling to the floor, some sections have been honeycombed by centipedes and small rodents that don¡¯t stay still long enough for me to identify. The rodents¡¯ chittering echoes off the wet stone walls. Over a dozen massive roots interlace at irregular intervals throughout the chamber, making it difficult to see the back of the twenty-meter wide chamber. I have no idea what¡¯s in the chamber, how far back it goes or where we should go from here. ¡°Did y¡¯all happen to see a big shape moving down there in the bottom of them roots?¡± Doc says. We all shake our heads. ¡°Any of this familiar Bonesy?¡± I ask. Bonesy looks around from where I have him attached to my belt. ¡°Not at all. I couldn¡¯t be bothered with mundane details like what turn to take in the caves. I had apprentices for that. I remember being annoyed it took so long to get to the ritual chamber.¡± I roll my eyes. ¡°Helpful as usual, thanks, Bonesy.¡± ¡°No place to go but forward. Let¡¯s scale on down and see what we can see.¡± Doc says before facing us with his back to the cliff, kneeling down and starting to feel for footholds. I bend down, plant my hands and swing my legs out over the drop. I look back down the ten-meter cliff; that¡¯s a mistake. The room starts spinning slightly and I have to press my body to the stone. I glance up and see Dan grinning down at me. ¡°I kind of expected you to just jump off the cliff and hoping for the best, not hugging the rock. A bit of vertigo, Samantha? Scared of heights?¡± Stupid Dan, I¡¯ll show him. I scowl at Dan, get a better grip with my hands, look down at a promising foothold a meter below me and lower my body so my right foot can move to the next hold. It¡¯s surprisingly easy. Those ten points I invested in Strength really make a difference. I take both my feet off the cliff face and hang there, suspended only by my arms. I have to weigh over two hundred and ten pounds at this size and my arms hardly strain. That¡¯s pretty cool -- I wonder what will happen when I get to a hundred points or two hundred? I look down again and notice Doc and Kuruk standing on a patch of glowing midnight blue moss, shifting from foot-to-foot. I start walking my body down the cliffside, with only my arms, letting my legs just hang. When I reach the ground, my feet sink into the moss. Pushing down heavily on my right foot sends an undulation through the floor, lifting my left foot slightly as if the moss acts as the skin of a giant bladder. ¡°Anyone think it¡¯s a good idea to try to cut into the moss and see what comes out?¡± I say. ¡°NO!¡± Dan says. I smile, he¡¯s too easy. ¡°Is Leonard already scouting around? Leonard, if you can hear this, snoop and earn your bread. Where can we go and is there anything dangerous around?¡± I say. ¡°Are you planning Samantha? Not going to just run into that maze of roots and hit things?¡± Dan says. ¡°We¡¯re in a creepy cave with glowing moss, strange rats and who knows what kind of bugs. I¡¯m taking it slow. If you want to go bless a rat or heal a giant caterpillar you¡¯re welcome to it. Did you see the one back in the entrance tunnel? It was as long as my arm¡± I say. ¡°That was probably a caterpillar train. Caterpillars often link together, the caterpillars in the middle of the train hide their head so it looks like one big caterpillar even though there are many of them.¡± Kuruk says. We all look at him. ¡°What? I like insects. Almost as cool as bears, did you know that a bear made the rank of Corporal in the Soviet army during World War II?¡± Great, another insect freak. David still studies insects and animals in college. I don¡¯t understand why. What is that knowledge going to do for him? Doesn¡¯t make sense. Wait, is David pretending to be this Kuruk person? He said he was going to work his way towards the Brighthollow region when we talked last. Thinks he can outsmart me does he? We¡¯ll see about that. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t know that and I still don¡¯t know that because I threw that useless fact out of my brain immediately. I can¡¯t stand insects and animals, especially bears.¡± I say. Kuruk brow tightens. ¡°How about when a bear saves your butt? Do you like bears then?¡± ¡°Jeez, why so touchy? You¡¯re not a bear, you¡¯re a guy. I already said thank you anyway.¡± ¡°No, no you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± I say. Kuruk looks at me, his brown eyes with flecks of yellow seem to be waiting. Not the same color as David¡¯s blue, but that doesn¡¯t prove anything. If anything, it just means David knows a good looking man when he sees one because this avatar he designed is certainly that. Kuruk looks at me still and I blush slightly, realizing I got caught staring. ¡°Thanks.¡± Dan claps, putting his hands over his heart. ¡°Touching, really touching, Samantha. Your graciousness is only surpassed by your encyclopedic knowledge of Incrementum.¡± ¡°Ha-ha. Ok, is Leonard back yet?¡± ¡°Nope, but check your map, it looks like it updates as he finds things. Must have given us permission to mirror his map to ours. Doesn¡¯t surprise me none, Leonard¡¯s always been a giver.¡± Doc says. I open my map. I can see the long tunnel we walked down, and then a roughly circular chamber, with little person-shaped stick figure icons which I assume represents our location. Stick figures? Someone on the Incrementum development team has a sense of humor...or Leonard drew those. I see two short passages leading away from this chamber, one on the right and one on the left. Each passage connects to another chamber which is still mostly obscured, presumably Leonard didn¡¯t explore far into them. I don¡¯t see any other icons. ¡°If we show up as those stick figures, then shouldn¡¯t any cave dwellers show up too? Leonard hasn¡¯t found a single enemy of note? That seems odd.¡± I say. ¡°I agree. Let¡¯s be careful. Which way do you all want to go?¡± Dan says. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter -- let¡¯s go left,¡± I say. ¡°Right seems best. Lead the way o¡¯ Tank of ours.¡± Kuruk says. I sigh, ¡°Sure right, whatever.¡± Kuruk, aka David, can be such an ass. I walk farther to the right, around the first vertical root, my feet sinking several centimeters into the moss with each step. At first, I proceed cautiously, but there¡¯s no movement besides the tiny blue-tinted rodents and omnipresent caterpillars. My bouncy treads take me into the right chamber. The ground feels solid here. I kneel down and grab a fist full of dirt, mixed with wiggling worms and small rocks. The rest of the team is close behind me. They all look at my handful of dirt, Dan starts to say something but a disembodied voice talks over him. ¡°There is no hope, no path, no air. Turn back, he will rise and you will fall.¡± The voice keeps repeating. ¡°The guard said don¡¯t listen to that right?¡± I say. Doc nods, Leonard fading into sight beside him. Leonard lifts his arms and points his palms to the ceiling in the universal gesture of I don¡¯t know. I look at my map again. The left most chamber is revealed now, but there are no icons inside of it and no path beyond it. ¡°Was there anything in the other chamber Leonard?¡± He makes a hand sign like a mouth opening and closing. ¡°Another voice? Eh, might as well go listen to it.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. We all stand up and walk to the other chamber, through the maze of roots and springy moss. When we get to the other chamber, another voice speaks. ¡°There is hope, a path, air. Go forward, he will fall and you will rise.¡± I rub the bridge of my noise. ¡°That guard is an ass. They are saying opposite things. We can¡¯t possibly ignore both voices. Any ideas? Bonesy?¡± ¡°None of this is familiar.¡± Bonesy says. ¡°Let¡¯s inspect the main chamber more, there has to be something here. Otherwise why the guards? The warnings of corruption?¡± Kuruk says before turning around and walking out of the chamber. We spend at least ten minutes going over every inch of the chamber. No inscriptions on the roots or the walls. No passages up the walls we could climb to, except the one we entered. No loose rocks possibly hiding something. I¡¯m getting real close to stabbing the floor with one of Leonard¡¯s daggers and seeing what happens. Instead, I kick the root closest to me. My foot goes through giant root as if nothing is there. The inertia of my leg pulls the rest of my body forward and a land on my back, half my body now inside the root. I look down and see my waist cut in two by the giant root. I flex my abs and grab the ground above my waist when I feel myself start to slide farther into the root, as if there is no ground for my feet to rest on. I crab walk backwards, glad to see my legs as I pull them out of the root. ¡°Guys, I found something.¡± I say. Dan, Kuruk, Doc and Leonard bounce over, looking at me lying on the floor. ¡°Put your hand through that root.¡± Dan walks over and puts his hand into the root. He teeters forward not ready for the lack of resistance but Doc grabs the top of his leather breastplate before he falls. Dan presses his hands in different places on the trunk carefully. He finds that a doorway sized space on the root isn¡¯t really a root at all. I walk forward and put my head through the fake root area. I look up and see only blackness, but below me there are three archways of light, each five meters above the other. If the shaft continues passed the last archway I can¡¯t tell from here. There are clear hand and foothills on the inside of the root shaft, intended for a person to descend. ¡°Well guys, looks like we¡¯re climbing again.¡± I clamber into the root and descend to the first archway. The blue glow shining through the entryway comes from the moss that also covers the ground on this level. I step in and look around. It seems to be exactly like the chamber we just exited. I wait for everyone else to descend and then look at my map as Leonard explores. Yep, same darn thing. Two side chambers, a bunch of roots. ¡°Ugh, anyone else want to climb to the bottom? Maybe there¡¯s something more interesting down there.¡± I say. ¡°No, we should really be thorough.¡± Dan says. I shrug and we search the main chamber on this level. Nothing. Again. We go into the side chambers. Voices, again, saying the same thing. ¡°There is no hope, no path, no air. Turn back, he will rise and you will fall.¡± ¡°There is hope, a path, air. Go forward, he will fall and you will rise.¡± ¡°You guys really want to do this again or should we just go to the bottom?¡± I say. Dan sighs, ¡°Fine, let¡¯s just go.¡± We head back to the central root and climb down to the final archway, skipping the third floor and going all the way down to the fourth. It¡¯s solid black below us; I don¡¯t want to find out if the shaft keeps going, especially after the blast of cold air. I climb into the final chamber and immediately grab my staff off my back. There¡¯s a brown robed figure standing directly in front of the root exit, a couple meters from the edge of the room. The figure faces the rocky wall. His shoulders are hunched over and his hands are resting on something but I can¡¯t see it from where I¡¯m standing. ¡°Ah, this is familiar, welcome to the ritual room. Reginald? Is that you?¡± Bonesy says. As the figure turns, the brown robe parts, thankfully revealing a skeleton and not some seriously unwanted nudity. The skull resting atop the skeleton smiles, ¡°Decaide, you old dog! How nice to see you. Did you bring the final sacrifices?¡± ¡°Not exactly, chap. These are my good friends Samantha, Dan, Kuruk, Doc and Leonard. Might we try completing the ritual without the sacrifices? I know it¡¯s not proper but these are the times...¡± ¡°Without sacrifices? You told us the only way to incarnate Chronos was with ample human sacrifice. There are fifteen souls in limbo here, waiting to fuel his coming. We gathered this power under your orders.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, a sacrifice is always a good way to ensure you have the power but not technically necessary in this case...¡± ¡°NOT NECESSARY? Lara poured her soul into this Decaide -- that was not necessary? She could have been here with me this whole time? Some thought you abandoned us when you asked Decrepit for your unending life Miracle, but I thought it a master stroke. Now I see, you care for nothing but yourself. Sacrifices when they weren¡¯t required! If we don¡¯t need the soul¡¯s power to bring Chronos to this world, perhaps I can use them to force you to leave it.¡± Reginald raises his arms and looks up, to the ceiling in the center of the chamber, slightly behind us. I turn and look at the blue moss surface above us as it starts to crumble and fall, dusting our shoulders and hair. The collapse of the moss exposes a churning blue mass, pushed by some unknown current. In the middle of the ceiling, between two massive roots, one of which we climbed down, a vortex starts to form, it¡¯s as if we are at the bottom of the ocean floor looking up into a whirlpool, vicious enough to suck even modern ocean liners under the surface. Blue liquid drops from the center of the vortex, splashing between the two roots. The spontaneous blue goo spout dumps so much muck onto the floor of our chamber that it reaches my knees in mere seconds. The liquid completely covers the root we climbed down and appears to be hardening into a dark blue, almost black shell. I step forward several paces and hit the shell with my staff as hard as I can as goo keeps falling all around me. The shell rings and I drop my staff from the vibrations. I quickly grab it before it sinks into the growing morass at our feet. Kuruk chops into the shell with both axes and nearly cuts his own leg off when the axe blade deflects off the now hard material. I look up again, and see the next floor up is starting to drop. I glare at Dan. ¡°We should have cut into the first floor, Dan.¡± I say. Each floor that falls drenches my hair with more blue goop. Kuruk points back towards Reginald and says, ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good.¡± The pool directly in front of Reginald separates into five mounds. Something pushes from inside of each, like a tent pole erecting a collapsed tent. The liquid on the leftmost shape stills first, revealing a short blue woman, carrying a bow, her facial features like a dark pane of glass. The other four are men, two with swords, one with a club and another with an axe -- all made of the same blue substance. I look at them closely and see red lettering above their heads: Soul Essence Warriors I guess we don¡¯t have to worry about drowning if the liquid turns into Soul Essence Warriors, but how many will there be? I don¡¯t have to wait long. Fifteen Soul Essence Warriors in total rise from the goo. The three archers, one from each group of five, draw back their bows, aim directly at me and release their bows. The other twelve warriors surge forward. I try to dodge, with some success, only one blue arrows sinks into my side. I grunt and step forward, holding my staff. I perform Flurry of Blows, attempting to poke the rushing attackers and keep them stunned. ¡°Give them hell! I¡¯ll try to keep them busy, back up a little bit so we¡¯re between these two main roots.¡± I say before shouting at the Soul Essences, ¡°He will stay in the ground and your sacrifices will be in vain! That¡¯s a terrible shade of blue, you¡¯re all ugly, red is a much nice color.¡± Slur to Spur must have worked because the half dozen warriors that weren¡¯t headed directly for me detour, lining up in two ranks trying to get to me around the climbing root that I positioned on my right side. I hit any of them that get close to me with my Flurry of Blows, trying to keep them stunned and far enough away from me to prevent damage. I know I won¡¯t be able to keep them stunned for long. Flurry of Blows loses its effectiveness over time, each second enemies affected by it get a 5% higher chance to avoid the blows and hit me themselves. I hear the penetrating roar of Animus see Kuruk Bear-Paw one of the Soul Essence Warriors, shattering it into thousands of sharp blue glass pieces. I close my eyes and notice my health bar dip farther. Great, shrapnel. I¡¯m not going to last long if those archers keep firing, I¡¯m already at 80% life after one arrow and shrapnel. Kuruk steps back and starts chanting. I can feel a warmth on my back right before Doc says, ¡°Down!¡± Three blue and white fireballs rush over my crouched head, melting the glass on the torsos of the three closest sacrifices, staggering them but not putting them out of the fight. Doc says, ¡°I think they are resistant to fire, those fireballs should have done a lot more than 25% damage.¡± ¡°Just light the ground underneath them on fire Doc, they can¡¯t get around these roots and they should burn over time,¡± I say as I stand back up and restart my Flurry of Blows. Before I can connect with the closest five enemies, one warrior manages to sink his spearhead into my thigh, dropping my Hitpoints to 50%. His attack doesn¡¯t interrupt my Flurry of Blows archerand I manage to stun the five warriors before any more of them can land blows on me. The archers that are still all the way at the edge of the cavern by Reginald draw back their bowstrings again, preparing to fire. I see Leonard materialize behind the rightmost archer, stabbing one knife into the back of each of the archer¡¯s kneecaps, he walks the knives up the archer¡¯s back, first in her buttocks, then back, then shoulder blades; pulling himself up her blue body until he can reach her knape and stab his right dagger into the vertebrae between her shoulders. The archer collapses and the two others drop their bows, drawing daggers. Leonard fades again, but I see both the archer¡¯s heads tracking in the same direction, they must be able to see him. My luck runs out, a warrior with a sword dodges one of my blows and steps forward sending his sword into my arm. I¡¯ve been performing Flurry of Blows for too long now, its chance to stun is too low. I step back slightly and try to start spinning my staff with both hands as fast as I can, hoping with two hands I can do better than One Handed Spin. The ground below the mass of Soul Essence Warriors lights on fire, embers and flames starting to melt the outer layer of their legs but still not dropping any of our enemies. My Hitpoint bar recovers to 90% and I feel Vitalia¡¯s presence in the air around me. Thanks, Dan. It doesn¡¯t help for long. One warrior manages to cut my calf when he feints with his spear towards my head and then spins low to sneak his weapon below the circle of my spinning staff. Another takes advantage of my momentary distraction and stabs several centimeters into my left shoulder. My Hitpoints are down at 50% again. ¡°You¡¯re taking damage too fast Samantha. We should have leveled you up before coming in here, crap.¡± Dan says. I giant brown bear slams into the left flank of the Warriors. Two swipes from his massive claws throw one Warrior to the ground, its arm and chest cavity reduced to piles of blue glass dust. The five remaining warriors behind the front line stay focused on me. Leonard fades back into sight, this time feinting towards the archer on his left before spinning and throwing one dagger at the right archer¡¯s face. The dagger misses, but he¡¯s already closed the distance between himself and the off balance archer. He rips his other blade through the archer¡¯s hamstring then pushes the archer¡¯s torso backward, letting him slam his blade into the archer¡¯s throat. He turns his head as glass splinters fly past him. I assume the other archer will be taken care of shortly. Ten warriors still stand in front of me, five within reach. I block one reaching axe but then four warriors swing their blades at once, one for each of my limbs. I miss the block on all four weapons, feel sharp pains in each of my limbs, and then my vision fades to black. I see a death message for the second time: Your avatar has been expelled from Incrementum for thirty minutes while its energy is restored. Chapter 27 - The Speech - Five Days Before Immunity Loss Lady Francine the Sharp¡¯s speech to the Founders of Athens I asked you all to join me, here, today, to bring a message of hope from the Goddess of Life herself, Vitalia. Vitalia bids us build a great Temple. A Temple to fight the forces of death. The father of fear, Decrepit, is the orchestrator of Mary¡¯s abduction. Decrepit is the spider, piercing Null¡¯s conscience with foul poison and false rewards. Spinning his mind to steal our fair Mary. Crawling through his thoughts, leaving a trail of fanciful demands. Decrepit knows full well we will not become petty trinket tinkerers. He knows we aren¡¯t here, building the foundation of an empire just so we can sell shiny plates and swords to wayward adventurers. Decrepit is the one who asked Null Division to burn Athens and murder us all. We will craft many exquisite, God-imbued works to outfit our warriors, Smith Norman. Your work will be heralded by bards in Homesteads across the land. But your masterpieces will lie on the shoulders of righteous Athenian Warriors, not death-laced sellswords like the wretch, Null Division. You will reap the fruits of your labor, not from thieves who steal our children at the behest of some foul God, but from those who fight for our children with Vitalia at their side.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Our Champions, Athen¡¯s Elite, harry Null Division, killing his allies, seeking chances to bring Mary back to her mother, good Gloria Jorgdaughter. I have full faith in our Champions. If in five days, Null Division returns to Athens, with Mary in tow, they will confront him and -- Vitalia willing -- crush Null and the dark spider Decrepit. While it is their task to fight the mighty Null Division, it is ours to build. We need the Temple. We need our Sawmill. We need our Clay Workshop. Join with me, my people. Let us catch every ray of sunlight with our strong backs as we build our town the way we want. Follow me to the site of our new Temple. Follow me to see where we will build Vitalia¡¯s bastion of light. Come, my people, see where we will hang the bleached skull of Decrepit¡¯s foul minion, Null Division. Chapter 28 - Samantha - Present I¡¯m not happy. After being killed in Incrementum, again, I stepped out of my VR pod, set a thirty-minute alarm and started scanning my messages. I read the Board¡¯s response first. I didn¡¯t expect anything different, not really, but it¡¯s still infuriating. I¡¯ve known for the past week Helga¡¯s demands were impossible and suspected so for the past month. I thought maybe I was onto something with the budget being misappropriated and perhaps passing information to the board would expose Helga as a crook; but nope, according to the board, it¡¯s just me not doing my job, just like Helga always said. Why didn¡¯t she tell me about the influx of funds next month? I¡¯d still ask for them sooner and she¡¯d probably tell me no but come on, that¡¯s information that could help me. Maybe she just doesn¡¯t want me working there anymore and didn¡¯t want to offer any hope? Doesn¡¯t make any sense to me. I stomp around and kick my VR pod, immediately regretting my decision. My foot really hurts. I sit on the ground and put my face in my hands. Finding a new job is going to be difficult, especially with the hit my Technician¡¯s Ranking will take from being fired. Explaining the situation to Mom will be harder. There is a thin silver lining of not having to count down the days until I get fired or having to waste time tilting at windmills, I guess. I didn¡¯t get my Technician¡¯s certification and college degree years before anyone else ever does by wasting time. Should I even bother going back to Incrementum? I¡¯m going to have a lot of spare time during the job hunt but now that I know I¡¯m hunting there is still quite a bit I can work on. Dan¡¯s watery eyes from our conversation around the campfire flashes in my mind. I did make a deal, but would Dan really expect me to put playing the game over my career? Instead of debating more with myself I decide to give David a call. ¡°David! Check out the email I just sent you. It looks like my boss isn¡¯t a crook, she¡¯s just a mean tightwad. What a disaster. I knew my e-mail to the board was a risk but uuugh.¡± David¡¯s hologram scans the e-mail for a minute and then shakes its head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sam. You¡¯ll do great at your next position and prove these people wrong. I know you and their budgeting and projections have to be wrong.¡± ¡°Right? Thanks, David.¡± I pause for a few seconds and take a deep breath. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a relief. The past month has been hell and the year before that was stressful too. I lost Robert. I can focus on getting him back and finding a new job now. The only jobs my Technician¡¯s Rank qualify me for should be easier so I should have more free time for Robert, maybe, even more, games too, who knows. Mom¡¯s going to be upset.¡° I pause again. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what the Board is thinking. They needed to authorize more money to keep their tenants in power, regardless of what happened with the existing budget and more money coming by next month. I barely kept the lights on this long. Without all the effort I put in they¡¯d have partial outages for at least a few weeks if not a month or two before the scheduled influx of cash. It just doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± David raises his eyebrows, ¡°Like I said, they must be wrong and too stubborn to admit it, or something. I¡¯m ignoring that bit about Robert. He sucks, good riddance.¡± He keeps talking before I can get a word in to defend Robert. ¡°Oh! Thanks for talking to your Mom. She stopped harassing me which freed up enough time for me to hop in a VR pod. Where are you near Brighthollow? I made my way up there following some famous guy, Null Division. I have a few points of interest on my map, a cave, a homestead, the river and my current camp. Are you near any of those?¡± ¡°Stop being an ass David, or should I say...Kuruk.¡± ¡°...what?¡± ¡°Come on, you can admit it now, your name in Incrementum is Kuruk. You totally slipped up when you said that stuff about a caterpillar train and a bear.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Caterpillar trains are fascinating, I¡¯ll give you that, but Kuruk? My name in Incrementum is Glacial Burn. Get it?¡± ¡°Ice so cold it burns? Slow burn? Not much there, David. Wait, Null Division? That guy is a total ass. He took a quest from Decrepit to murder everyone in the Homestead my friend¡¯s boss started.¡± ¡°Woah, he already got a God Quest? Jeez, I know he¡¯s over level 35 already but I haven¡¯t heard of anyone else getting a God Quest. Can he share it?¡± ¡°Who cares, the quest is to burn down my friend¡¯s town, I¡¯m not sharing that. I agreed to help Dan defend the town from Null if he helped me incarnate a new God, Chronos.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Dan? And you got a God incarnation quest? Holy panda. Does that quest have experience rewards? Can you share it? How¡¯d you even do all this in what, the two days you¡¯ve been playing? Day and a half?¡± ¡°One, Dan¡¯s my tutorial guide. He¡¯s a nice guy, works for the lady that started Athens, the Homestead Null is trying to destroy. Two, the quest does have some experience rewards. Three, maybe I can share it, I haven¡¯t tried to do that yet. Four, Incrementum runs at 4x speed you know that. Nice try on the question barrage but you know I¡¯m too good to fall for that.¡± I rub my knuckles on my shirt in the universal sign of knowing you¡¯re awesome.` David smiles, ¡°Can¡¯t blame me for trying. So how do we meet up?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m going to play again, to be honest. I¡¯ve got to find a new job now...¡± ¡°Oh, stop it already. All you do is work. Have fun for a few days before diving back into it. Even if your Technician¡¯s Rank goes down a whole hundred points all you¡¯ll have to do is post your unemployed job status and recruiters will be all over you. I just finished midterms, come play some games. You owe me, I¡¯ve been listening to you complain about Robert for weeks.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. Ok, so do you actually like or trust anyone that¡¯s with you right now in-game?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Perfect. Ditch them and then head for the cave on your map. By the time Incrementum lets me back in maybe you¡¯ll be there.¡± ¡°Cool, see you then.¡± David¡¯s hologram disappears from my apartment. I start scanning the rest of the messages that have piled up while I was in Incrementum. I delete all the messages from Mom. Then, I delete all the messages from Helga, accept the one that came in today. Why is she messaging me today? She has to know the Board is firing me. It simply reads, ¡°Call me. Please.¡± Please? That¡¯s not a word I¡¯ve ever heard out of her mouth. Maybe if she had helped me even once over the past month I¡¯d do her the courtesy of calling her, but not now. I tell my apartment, ¡°Set my Microsoft Work Profile Status to ¡®Seeking Employment.¡¯¡± That should get me some interest before my Technician¡¯s Ranking gets docked for being fired. Helga might have a change of heart and report my firing as not related to my competency but I doubt it. By reporting my work as incompetent or below average she can get priority from the Technician¡¯s Guild when seeking a replacement. I can dispute it of course, but that will take time, more time than I have before seeking a new position. Unless I want to apply for a Universal Basic Income and stop working altogether of course but why would I do that? I like working on power systems. I say, ¡°Order a Super Value Meal, air delivery.¡± As I wait for the McDonald¡¯s drone to come to my apartment¡¯s window delivery port, I say ¡°Compile information on Incrementum God Incarnation.¡± My AI presents a long list of articles on the subject. I start reading through it and get a clearer picture of the benefits and requirements of bringing Chronos into Incrementum. According to what I¡¯ve found, it normally takes at least one thousand players all declaring their intent to worship a new God in order to manifest a new God. Each player becomes the parent of that God. No player can ever become the parent of two Gods. When a player is the parent of a God, they can create and receive boons for a fraction of the normal Chosen God boon cost. I can¡¯t find specific numbers but the makers of Incrementum seem to emphasize the low cost. There¡¯s one catch. If the new God dies, through lack of faith or Decrepit¡¯s decree, the God¡¯s parents die too. My quest to incarnate Chronos must be extremely rare. Skipping the thousand player requirement dramatically reduces the effort required to incarnate Chronos, on top of that, Chronos must have ¡°grandfathered¡± faith from Decrepit¡¯s old cabal. As long as I don¡¯t lose faith in him, he shouldn¡¯t die, making the risks of parenting a God significantly less. I¡¯m starting to get excited. I can think of a half-dozen ways a Physics boon could make my avoidance tanking strategy superior to that of a mitigation tank. My apartment says, ¡°Thirty-minute timer is up.¡± I step back into my VR pod, lay down and briefly see black before I¡¯m back in Incrementum. Chapter 29 - Samantha - Present Ram, Ross, and Rupert crouch down in a semi-circle, the metal armor on their thighs almost pressed against their breastplates. They stare at the two wooden cubes in Ram¡¯s shaking hand. Doc, Kuruk, Dan and Leonard sit across from them, rounding out the circle of men surrounding the bare earth below the great tree guarding Chronos¡¯s cave entrance. ¡°Come on Skulls, let¡¯s go, Skulls! Skulls! Skulls!¡± Dan says, holding his arm out in front of him in a fist, punching it forward in time with ¡®Skulls.¡¯ ¡°Bones, Bones, Bones! Let¡¯s go, baby!¡¯ Doc says. Ram tosses the two cubes into the inner circle. They bounce around several times before settling, two skulls showing on top. ¡°Yessssss!¡± Dan says as Doc jumps to his feet and starts kicking at the dirt. ¡°You owe me two bottles of whiskey, Doc.¡± Doc waves his hand at Dan walking away from the group. Leonard holds out his fist to Dan and Dan bumps it with his. ¡°Can always count on Ram for the double skulls. Ah, look who¡¯s back, have a nice nap?¡± Ross says. The men turn and look at me. ¡°Very funny. What happened? Did you guys make it? Did you incarnate Chronos?¡± I say. ¡°We were fine. We killed the rest of those warriors and then just climbed out of the root. Reginald didn¡¯t try to attack us and we weren¡¯t sure what would happen if we killed him without you and Bonesy there. Kuruk here tanked the rest of the melee warriors while Leonard sliced them up. Doc wasn¡¯t much use with their fire resistance, might be why he¡¯s taking his skull and bones loss so hard.¡± Dan says with a wink. I can hear Doc¡¯s grumbling as he walks farther down the cave mouth. ¡°Trying to take my job, Kuruk?¡± I say. He shrugs. ¡°My bear form is very sturdy but I can only use that boon once a day. It¡¯s not that practical to use for consistent tanking.¡± Kuruk says. Dan nods. ¡°They couldn¡¯t do enough damage to Kuruk to overcome my healing boons before we picked them apart. If you had gotten a bit luckier on your Staff Defense you might have made it through the fight. Sorry about that, I knew you were probably too low level after seeing the guard¡¯s levels but I was hoping it would work out. If there hadn¡¯t been fifteen of them it would have been ok.¡± Dan says. ¡°I told you we should have just stabbed the squishy floor. I bet we would have only had to fight five at a time¡± I say. Leonard nods his head. I wave at Leonard, ¡°See, Leonard agrees. What do you think Ram?¡± ¡°I think Ross owes me his best dagger, hand it over.¡± Ross pulls a dagger off of his belt and hands it over to Ram. ¡°I won¡¯t comment on the corrupted cave, that¡¯s your problem.¡± ¡°Not corrupted anymore, right?¡± I say. Ram just raises his eyebrows. I look into the tunnel again, is that a faint blue light? ¡°Y''all, I think the cave re-spawned,¡± Doc says, waving us down. I jog down the cave entry, running my hand along the root for guidance until the blue glow becomes strong enough for me to see. Dan, Kuruk and Leonard are right behind me. I pull up to the cliff edge and look down into the first chamber. Sure enough, the glowing blue moss is back and as strong as ever. ¡°Wait,¡± I say. ¡°How much experience did you all get from finishing up those warriors?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, maybe 5% of my level,¡± Dan says. I check my notifications.
You Have Reached Level 10! +5 Attribute points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith point
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Staff Defense (Level 2) As you practice blocking your opponent¡¯s attacks with your staff, this skill will go up in level and effectiveness. This skill has the following effects:
  • 15% base chance you can deflect an enemy¡¯s attack and take no damage.
  • 10% base chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of damage of a normal attack.
  • Special defense skills with the staff can be discovered.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Two Handed Spin (Level 1) A defensive spin of your staff has an increased chance of deflecting multiple incoming attacks at once. Effects:
  • 55% base, plus Dexterity modifier, chance you can deflect multiple enemies¡¯ attacks and take no damage.
  • 15% base, plus Dexterity modifier, chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of the damage of a normal attack.
  • No other offensive or defensive skills can be used while spinning.
Recovery:
  • 2 seconds (1.96 with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 10 stamina per second
¡°How much do you want to have a strong tank, Dan? Because I got a whole level off of killing four of those things before I died. If we can fight only five of them at once, and do it repeatedly...¡± ¡°Then we might be able to catch you up in levels in a day!¡± Dan says. ¡°It depends on how long it took for the glowing soul stuff to come back after you all left the cave. Maybe all those glass shards turn back to soul-ooze fast. We can figure that out just by clearing the place out again and leaving. I looked over my skills, I should have no problem defending against four of those warriors if you guys kill them quickly before Slur to Spur wears off. I won¡¯t be able to do enough damage to keep them interested in me at a low level, at least to start, but it shouldn¡¯t matter if you kill them fast enough.¡± Dan just stares at me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You just sounded like you know what you¡¯re doing doing in here.¡± ¡°Oh, shut it, Dan. I told you, I¡¯m not stupid, I just haven¡¯t played an RPG in a long time. Give me a minute, I need to allocate my attributes.¡± I still have five attribute points to allocate from when I got to level 9 after I was rewarded for killing my first player and another five points from gaining level 10. I decide to sink all ten points into Dexterity. The increased block and deflection chance has proven to be valuable, especially when dealing with multiple enemies. If we can fight a reasonable number of enemies at once, I should be able to stay alive easily without taking much damage, provided my luck holds. I did the math on the last battle. I was swung at by the five Soul Essence Warriors on the front lines at least fifteen times, and only got hit twice, before four of the warriors hit me at once. That is roughly a sixty-six percent dodge and block avoidance rate, and that¡¯s when fighting enemies twice my level. I¡¯m not sure if the Dexterity of what I¡¯m fighting, their level or both affects my chances to avoid attacks, but nearly doubling my own Dexterity while staying the same level should tell me. If I avoid attacks at a higher rate the next time we fight the Soul Essence Warriors than it is likely just our relative amounts of Dexterity account for my avoidance rate. I¡¯m working with incredibly small sample sizes of course, but it¡¯s all I have to go on.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Samantha (Level 10) Attributes HP: 375 Stamina: 190 Strength: 11 Constitution: 11 Dexterity: 36 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available points: 0 Faith points: 10
I hear a voice behind us and close my attribute window. ¡°Hello down there? Samantha? I just consented to having my eternal soul corrupted, I hope this is worth it.¡± Doc and Dan back up to the edge of the cliff at the end of the tunnel, above the first chamber. Kuruk steps slightly forward into the tunnel. I make calming gestures with my hands. Out of the darker shadows of the tunnel, I see an average height man walk towards us. The skin exposed on his hands and face fails to hide the veins beneath it, the midnight blue robe covers the rest of his form. The man stops two paces away, leaning on a knotted staff covered in dry flakey bark, his long white hair hangs past his shoulders and covers the top of the stave. The lively blue eyes and smooth skin prove the lie to his wizened mannerisms. I focus on the man and a name appears above him. Glacial Burn ¡°Really went literal with the whole wizard thing, David?¡± I say. ¡°Might as well, you didn¡¯t take it easy there Mrs. Amazon Warrior Princess. Hi everyone, I¡¯m David. Thanks for putting up with Samantha, I know she can be trying.¡± I cuff David in the back of the head. ¡°Watch it David, I can snap you in half.¡± He smiles and rubs the back of his head. ¡°Hey David, I¡¯m Dan, your friend¡¯s tutorial master and Master Cleric extraordinaire. Do I detect an Ice wizard?¡± ¡°Yep, Level 11. I chose Glacies, God of Ice, and designed some pretty awesome boons if I do say so myself.¡± Dan shakes David¡¯s hands and tilts his head. ¡°You didn¡¯t go with the standard Ice boons? Vitalia¡¯s were quite good.¡± ¡°No, Glacies¡¯s were boring. I think I did better than the standard set. I¡¯m sure Samantha will find something that¡¯s wrong with them, she¡¯s perpetually disappointed with me in the shooters we play.¡± David extends his hand to Kuruk, Kuruk clasps it and says, ¡°I¡¯m Kuruk. I saved your friend¡¯s bacon yesterday and thought it would be fun to see what other trouble she could get in. She¡¯s not bad on the eyes either.¡± Kuruk winks at me and I can feel my cheeks heat up. David looks at Kuruk a second before saying, ¡°She might as well be my sister, not just my friend.¡± I guess it¡¯s some sort of man code because it doesn¡¯t make any sense to me. David has called me sis for a long time, but why he feels the need to tell Kuruk I don¡¯t know. I feel like I just jumped into a meter tall snowbank, looking down I notice a thin layer of frost that is already melting into water and running down into my boots. David turns to Doc, extending his hand. ¡°Doc Weatherby. I¡¯m the barbecue, he¡¯s the carver.¡± Doc gestures with his left thumb where Leonard briefly appears, waves a dagger, and then camouflages again. ¡°Glacies couldn¡¯t stop talking about how my faith got him one step closer to extinguishing Ignis¡¯s flaccid god flame. It was distracting. I¡¯m not an Ignis bigot but I¡¯d watch out for Glacies purists.¡± David says. ¡°Glad to hear you¡¯ve got an open mind. We going to stand around gummin¡¯ all day gents or we going to get to business?¡± Doc says. ¡°Get to business, follow me,¡± I say. I back up to the cliff edge, the blue moss, bright as any neon street sign, lighting the carpet of roots above me. My fingers easily discover handholds as I lower my body down the cliff face, letting my legs hang, reveling in this unnatural strength. As soon as everyone else reaches the bottom, Dan says, ¡°Ok, so we stab the floor?¡± ¡°Hold on Dan, we should go down one more level, then throw a dagger into the ceiling. Did you notice that the floors above us disappeared last time right? If we stab the floor we¡¯ll take damage when we fall through it.¡± I say. ¡°...not really. We could have jumped on a root and climbed down but your idea sounds safer. Let¡¯s head down.¡± Dan says. We all climb down the root with the fake side and exit on the second floor. ¡°Ok, let me give this bow another try.¡± I pull out the basic bow I received from Kuruk and notch an arrow. I pull back the string and aim at the ceiling. This time, I try to release the bow cord quickly so my hand doesn¡¯t get in the way and foul the shot. The arrow flies and hits the ceiling, roughly three meters from where I was aiming. It¡¯s an awful shot, but the margin of error is quite large when you are trying to hit something like a ceiling. ¡°That was a terrible shot,¡± David says. ¡°Shut up, David. It worked didn¡¯t it?¡± Pulsing soul goo drips down from the site of the arrow shot before I hear a tearing sound and the small leak turns into a meter circumference goop-hose, sinking our legs in a third of a meter pool. Five Soul Essence Warriors rise out of the Soul Essence, gathering all the liquid from the chamber into themselves and darkening into a hard cobalt glass shell. Four warriors run towards our position in the middle of the chamber, one standing back with a bow. ¡°Decaide lied to you. Reginald lied to you. Your sacrifices were one hundred percent in vain,¡± I say. Every warrior turns towards me and I see a hint of red pulse from inside the hardened glass faceplate of each warrior. I think my Slur to Spur may have been unusually effective this time, all four warriors sprint towards me, their weapons at the ready. I ignore the bow-wielding warrior, trusting Dan to repair any wounds I receive. I feel a pain in my hip and look down to see an arrow penetrating my skin, stuck in my hip bone. Refusing to give the bow warrior any attention, expecting Leonard to stab it to pieces, I brace myself, getting ready to perform Flurry of Blows to keep the four Soul Essences Warriors with melee weapons stunned for as long as I can while Doc, David, and Kuruk whittle them down. The skin on the back of my left leg feels like a campfire is only a meter behind it, and my right leg stiffens with a layer frost. The crackle of a hungry fire and the howl of a winter¡¯s wind pierce my ears, intensifying as the first warriors reach me. I execute Flurry of Blows, hitting one warrior in the head and another in the sternum. I see Kuruk step ahead of me, but several meters to the left, striding towards the leftmost warrior, a half meter long axe in each hand. He seems larger than before, and the long, thick brown hairs poking out of the top of his leather jerkin and the tops of his hands were not present before the fight. He opens his mouth wide, and I imagine he must be roaring like his patron god Animus, but I can still only hear fire and wind. He gets within arms reach of one warrior, and swings methodically, one axe coming down while the other is wound up behind him, like some ancient tunneling machine would swing its axes to bore through a mountain of Soul Essence. A white-hot spear of rock erupts from the ground below the same Soul Essence Warrior Kuruk fights. The hardened material of the warrior¡¯s pelvis melts, and Kuruk next axe stroke shatters what remains of the warrior. My mouth suddenly feels dry as hundreds of clear shards of ice appear in the air above the warriors. The fragments of ice start rotating individually, like blades in a blender, before the ice spreads into a cylinder roughly three meters in diameter, and then drops into the midst of the warriors. I want to stuff both hands into my ears, the scraping and breaking of ice on hardened soul essence like hundreds of tiny Uber cars crashing into each other. I notice that when one of the spinning ice blades hits a warrior, it leaves a small gouge, and then fills in the gouge with its own shards like iron flakes would gather to a magnet. It¡¯s easier for me to hit each warrior now, their movements slow noticeably with all the ice covering and compromising their bodies. One of the warriors avoids a blow and cuts my left triceps before my staff knocks his sword away. Even with the warriors covered in ice, I likely don¡¯t have much more time before Flurry of Blows has too low a chance to keep them stunned. Leonard appears behind the rightmost warrior, I see him pull one dagger back above his head, his thumb on the end of the pommel and the blade pointed forwards. The dagger lengthens and six barbs grow from its edges. A dripping a tar black substance falls to the cavern floor. I can hear a whispering voice speaking in a language I don¡¯t understand. Leonard plunges the dagger into the warriors back and rips it out in one motion, shards of soul essence flying into the air as the barbs widen the wound. I can barely see his arm as he stabs twice more, the warrior collapsing and breaking into pieces in front of him. I stop my Flurry of Blows now that only two warriors remain. I grab my staff with two hands, and spin to my left, bring the staff around in a wide arc and slamming it into the rightmost warrior''s side. I can feel the staff flex in the air before it emits a loud crack. I wonder if my original Oak staff would have survived the blow. Regardless, Natura¡¯s gift, my Novice¡¯s Blessed Bloodwood Staff, drops the warrior¡¯s hitpoints by ten percent, roughly double what my original oak staff would have done. A molten stalagmite impales the warrior I hit, compliments of Doc, before Leonard appears behind it, stabbing the warrior rapidly in its lower back until it too shatters. The last warrior manages to cut into my side, but a warm glow surrounds me before I can even notice a hitpoint drop. Kuruk and Leonard hack at the last warrior until it too falls to the ground. I focus on the glass-like remains, an icon appears, and text reading: Corrupted Soul Shards - Only suitable for imbuing Decrepit and his pantheon¡¯s powers into an item. ¡°Anyone want these Corrupted Soul Shards? It says they can only be used by Decrepit and his pantheon, and I don¡¯t plan on going that route, especially not if we incarnate Chronos. And where was the mention of imbuing items in the tutorial Dan?¡± ¡°You remember cutting me off when I tried to explain parts of the game, right? It¡¯s possible to imbue an item with boons, if you yourself have the boon, the amount of soul expended in the process dictates what type of boon can be imbued and how often it can be used,¡± Dan says. ¡°That seems a little overpowered. So Kuruk can imbue an item and turn into a bear a whole bunch of times on the same day?¡± ¡°The shards are normally quite rare, and both the item and the person doing the imbuing have to be of a high level to imbue any type of significant boon -- this Chronos quest is proving to be quite the windfall.¡± ¡°Leonard would like them, please. He chose Sicarus as his god. The God of Assassins shouldn¡¯t mind those shards one bit,¡± Doc says. ¡°Ok, feel free to take all the shards, Leonard. We¡¯re looking good guys. One floor, five enemies and I got half a level. We have five days until Null Division comes back if we can get me and David up in levels, before fragging the players he brought with him, we might just have a shot. I hope you guys don¡¯t have any plans because we are going to be doing this for awhile.¡± Chapter 30 - Francine - Present As the light fades I see the Jorgdaughters, Gloria, and Feir, carrying torches out to the tiring villagers. Whether the workers are hanging from the beams running across the ceiling of the first-floor entryway, or all the way on the Temple rafters, they pause to grab a torch. The hand-milled planks forming the temple¡¯s frame still have small strips of bark, like tufts of hair missed by a barber¡¯s shears. The doorway, taller than two men, faces me, north of my hill in the center of town. The tallest trees, further north, rise well above the fifteen-meter rafters running across the top of the church. When it¡¯s complete, three rooms on the first and second floors, laid out east to west, will front the church. The main chamber of the church, directly behind those rooms, will span every floor of the temple and run another twenty meters deep and ten meters wide. A waste of space and manpower in my opinion, but when building plans appeared in a notification three days ago, titled, ¡®Vitalia¡¯s Temple¡¯, I decided her divine majesty would not approve of deviations. I have two days left until Null Division comes to see progress on the Smithy. According to his terms, if all my people were working on upgrading the Smithy and collecting resources specifically for forging armor and weapons, all would be well. Mary Jorgdaughter would be returned, he¡¯d defend the town from dangers and in just two short game months I¡¯d be free to do with my time what I will. Complete and utter nonsense. I¡¯m not going to pretend I¡¯m sticking to his terms. The Smithy will not be Level 2 when he returns. Null Division will see the new Clay Workshop, Sawmill, Water Wheel, and Vitalia¡¯s Temple. I¡¯m hoping that the Temple and associated quests somehow offer us protection from him. Something about Vitalia doesn¡¯t make me believe it will solve all my problems. Maybe it was her opportunism. She didn¡¯t seem to care about Mary¡¯s plight, only that it would push me towards her goals of building a temple. My town''s odds of survival increase slightly when I factor in my team of elites. I believe Dan will convince Samantha to return and protect the town, maybe even kill some of Null¡¯s allies, but in a confrontation with Null, I still don¡¯t see it going our way. She¡¯s nowhere near as powerful as Null. She was what, level nine when I saw her days ago? That¡¯s nothing compared to Null¡¯s thirty-six. If this game is anything like those before it, a character¡¯s power doesn¡¯t increase at a gentle slope, it goes up rapidly level to level. Even with Dan, Leonard, and Doc with low-to-mid twenty levels, their chances of defeating a single level thirty-five player are slim. Counting on Null¡¯s incompetence won¡¯t work either, he¡¯s beyond competent. Maybe they¡¯ll all gain some levels and their abilities will somehow overwhelm Null¡¯s but the odds are low. Too low. I have an idea of one other thing I can offer Null to get him to throw out his quest, but it won¡¯t turn him to my side and it wouldn¡¯t align with James¡¯s wishes. I rub my face with both hands, briefly obscuring my vision. I¡¯m not at my best. If I was at my best when I came up with the plan for Athens, I would have recognized the danger that a single high-level player presented to my resource acquisition and building advancement strategy. I had considered it briefly but dismissed it as unlikely. Players need Homesteads like mine and the NPC vendors that my villagers represent -- why would they try to kill them all? I can imagine another Homesteader attempting to conquer my territory but that¡¯s not in play at this stage of the game. I didn¡¯t realize a quest with good enough rewards is all the motivation most players need. Another mistake, not discovering that Gods can issue quests, and will give them to other players specifically to thwart you. I slept and ate some the past few days, in accordance with Dan¡¯s wishes and to try to up my mental clarity, but I can feel my mind struggling, like a runner up to their waist in water. I know I miss James, I¡¯ll always miss him, but I refuse to be crippled by it any longer. I have to focus. There must be more we can do. ¡°Matteus, Raul, Valeria, please come here for a moment.¡± My builder and husband and wife hunter team put down their tools, grab the beams running across the first-floor ceiling with both hands, hang in the air and drop to the ground before walking towards me. Once they are near and bow slightly, I nod and say, ¡°Matteus, can we pull more lumber up to the roof of the temple?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Yes, the ropes and pulleys are still in place.¡± ¡°Raul, Valeria...¡± I pause slightly, a man I don¡¯t recognize, wearing a broad-brimmed hat and worn leathers emerges from the darkness surrounding the temple work site. I refocus on Raul and Valeria and keep speaking while Mitchell intercepts the stranger. ¡°do you think you can trap any predators, Jaguar, Bear, anything that could cause a problem for the marauders at the end of the week?¡± Raul shrugs, ¡°Of course, but it will likely take more than just Valeria and me.¡± ¡°Ok, here is...¡± ¡°Lady Francine, a moment,¡± Mitchell says, the stranger by his side, hands in pockets with a long leather jacket tucked behind his arms. ¡°Make it quick.¡± ¡°This man, Bradford Buchanan, wishes to speak to you.¡± I look at Bradford, noticing brown eyes, forward set shoulders and a green wool sweater underneath his leather coat. I wait, it¡¯s not my place to speak first. He doesn¡¯t make me wait long. ¡°Good to meet you, I am, as your man said, Bradford Buchanan. I represent an allied group of Homesteaders near yours called the Border Council. Impressive town you have here, is that a Sawmill you are building near the river?¡± Bradford says. ¡°Why?¡± I say. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Bradford says. ¡°Why are you forming an alliance? And why are you telling me about it.¡± ¡°The founding Homestead of our alliance, Riven, was approached by a man, much like myself, representing a different group of Homesteads. That group, unlike ours, wasn¡¯t offering an alliance. They offered protection. A ¡®natural extension of the game¡¯s immunity¡¯ they called it. They hinted at all the disasters that could befall us if we didn¡¯t have the backing of a strong group of warriors like theirs. Malicious players, warlike Homesteads, wrath of the gods, and more, all solved by signing up for their protection. It would only cost us a small tribute of food, resources, and weaponry. Extortion, you understand?¡± ¡°I¡¯m familiar with it.¡± ¡°Riven doesn¡¯t like threats. And yes, he named his Homestead after himself, make of that what you will. Riven set out to gather other Homesteads, not on the basis of threats but cooperation. We trade with each other, allow our sworn players access to each other¡¯s dominion and if the time comes, protect each other from outside aggression.¡± ¡°Where are these allied Homesteads?¡± ¡°Forgive me, but I will not disclose our location to a Homesteader of unknown disposition.¡± ¡°If I join this Border Council, can you have defensive forces here in two days time?¡± Bradford¡¯s eyes widen slightly. ¡°No, it is not possible...¡± ¡°I see, so you would have me join your alliance, to protect you when the wolves circle your Homesteads but offer me no assistance when they are sniffing at my henhouse? ¡± ¡°It¡¯s not possible or we would most certainly honor terms of the alliance. We are at least two days journey from you by foot and we don¡¯t have mounts. I think if you consider the possibilities in trade alone...¡± ¡°Two days journey to the southwest then? You aren¡¯t east or north, I founded Athens at the northeast journey of the settleable lands. I understand your point on trade and I will consider it.¡± I have no intention of considering trade with nearby Homesteads, but I don¡¯t need to make the road harder for myself by being overtly hostile to the neighbors, at least not yet. I hold out my hand and shake Bradford¡¯s when he offers his. ¡°Thank you for speaking with me Bradford, I will consider your offer of alliance. I will not accept or deny at this juncture. Please return in a game week¡¯s time and you will have my answer. Mitchell, please take Mr. Buchanan for refreshment at the Don¡¯t Mess With Texas Saloon. That will be all.¡± I turn back to Matteus, Raul, and Valeria. ¡°This is what I want you to do. There is no room for error, these measures may just save our lives.¡± Chapter 31 - Samantha - Present ¡°That¡¯s it Samantha, no more. We have to head for Null¡¯s camp to start thinning the herd. Let¡¯s complete the quest already,¡± Dan says. It takes me a few seconds to realize he spoke. I¡¯ve been in work mode. Head down, get it done, no second thoughts. Just like when I took twice as many courses as I should at college. I¡¯m already halfway to the hollowed out root that will take us back out of the cave, to reset it for another batch of Soul Essence Warriors when Dan¡¯s voice registers and I stop, standing on a pile of blue shards on the bottom floor of Chronos¡¯s cave. The past two days are a blur of shattered crystal and glowing moss. We have found it only takes ten minutes for the shattered soul shards to soak back into the cave moss and reset for another round of Soul Essence Warriors. That means every ten minutes over the past two days we cleared out fifteen Soul Essence Warriors, five on each of the three floors. That¡¯s close to sixty warriors an hour with delays here and there. Multiply that out and we¡¯ve killed roughly three thousand Soul Essence Warriors. I haven¡¯t bothered looking at my notifications in quite some time. ¡°I¡¯m ready to be done here. Our staff queen moves in interesting ways handling those warriors, but my eyes are glazing over. I have to get some rest and think about what to do with these two level ups. It¡¯s going to take me an hour to talk to Animus at least.¡± Kuruk says. ¡°Stop staring at me, creepo, and hit the bad guys faster if you want to go to sleep,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m with Kuruk. I¡¯ve got nine levels to allocate. Thanks a lot, everyone. I know this was most valuable for me and Samantha and I appreciate you all spending so much time helping us out.¡± David says. ¡°You can recompense us by partnering up for our dance with Null Division and his posse,¡± Doc says. Leonard hasn¡¯t bothered sneaking for the past game day, maybe two, I can¡¯t remember. He yawns, arching backward and then forwards, reminding me of a cat. Leonard motions with his finger in a circle, the universal sign for speed it up. ¡°Ok, ok, let¡¯s wrap it up. Alright, Bonesy, how do we complete the ritual to incarnate Chronos?¡± ¡°Done whacking things with your big stick? The best way would be to sacrifice everyone here, just to prove that you¡¯re serious. The Gods like a certain amount of gravitas. I¡¯ve noted your previous aversion to necessary sacrifice and even though your doubts have no merit, I do have an alternate path for you. I spoke with Decrepit and he said you visitors have options we do not have. Everyone here, needs to say, ¡®I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise.¡¯ And you, as his mother, must say, ¡®Come forth Chronos, my son, on my faith I choose you as my God.¡¯¡± I rest my face into the palm of my hand. ¡°And you think human sacrifice is a better route than just saying those words?¡± ¡°Those words have power. Each of you may never bind yourself to another god¡¯s rise, this is the only god which you may incarnate. And you, Samantha, cannot go back. Chronos is your son by word and deed. Lead him to be a force for life, death, chaos, order or nothing at all, it is up to you. Do those consequences sound simpler than a sacrifice?¡± ¡°I guess not...so what, any five people can incarnate a God?¡± ¡°No, remember, I sacrificed fifteen people to get Chronos to this point, that¡¯s twenty people making an irreversible decision or being sacrificed, no easy matter to coordinate. Quite the coup if I do say so myself. It took years of recruiting apprentices, laborers, families and the rest...¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough Bonesy, just enough. You are an awful little skull.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite a large skull, thank you.¡± I move my index finger and thumb up to my eyes and start rubbing, then look up at the rest of the team. ¡°What do you say, guys? Are you in?¡± I say. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for everyone but I already chose my God, I don¡¯t mind using my one chance to incarnate on Chronos. I wouldn¡¯t choose the incarnated God anyway. Chronos could give us the edge we need against Null.¡± Dan says. The chorus of shrugging shoulders and nodding heads lets me know it¡¯s time to proceed. ¡°What about Reginald?¡± Kuruk says. ¡°Ah yes, you¡¯ll need to dispose of him,¡± Bonesy says. ¡°He¡¯s roughly level twenty-five -- looks even to me. Probably five times as strong as a single one of these warriors with more tricks up his sleeve too. At least the bosses I fought before were.¡± Kuruk says. ¡°We should at least allocate our attribute points before the fight. We can each do faith points later after we rest.¡± Dan says. Fair enough, I pull up the notifications I¡¯ve been ignoring and skim through all the intermediary notifications, only reading the highest level of each. ...
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Staff Offense (Level 2) As you practice striking your enemies with your staff, this skill will go up in level and effectiveness. This skill has the following effects:
  • Any staff will do 104% of its listed damage.
  • 4% reduction in recovery penalty for offensive staff skills.
  • Special offensive skills with the staff can be discovered.
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Melon Crusher (Level 2) Putting all of your might into a single blow to your enemy¡¯s skull can crush it like a melon, or miss and leave you exposed to retaliation. Effects:
  • 650% damage. (+325% damage from inventor¡¯s bonus)
  • 25% increased chance to miss. (-25% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
  • -50% chance to dodge (+50% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
Recovery:
  • 2 seconds (1.75 with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 20 stamina
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Side Kick (Level 2) Targeting the joints of your enemies allows you to deal moderate damage and slow their mobility. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Enemy¡¯s ability to dodge is reduced by 30%.
  • Enemy¡¯s speed is reduced 10%.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Leg Sweeper (Level 2) An enemy can¡¯t stand on legs that are no longer planted in the ground. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Enemy disabled for 5 seconds.
  • Enemy¡¯s unable to dodge or flee for duration of disable, but the enemy can still attack you if possible from its prone position.
Recovery:
  • 2 second recovery. (1.96 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Staff Quake (Level 2) The force from your staff hitting the ground knocks any enemy in front of you back, dealing damage in a cone in front of you. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • 110% damage to every enemy in front of you.
  • Every enemy knocked back two meters.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Knuckle Cruncher (Level 2) Targeting an enemy¡¯s hands, and landing the blow with enough force pulverizes their knuckles, leaving them unable to hold a weapon for some time. At higher levels, this skill will gain effects. Effects:
  • Disarm enemy for 7 seconds (+3 seconds inventor¡¯s bonus).
  • 30% (+12.5% inventor¡¯s bonus) damage, once every second of disarm.
  • 20% increased chance to miss. (-20% chance from inventor¡¯s bonus)
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Staff Defense (Level 4) As you practice blocking your opponent¡¯s attacks with your staff, this skill will go up in level and effectiveness. This skill has the following effects:
  • 25% base chance you can deflect an enemy¡¯s attack and take no damage.
  • 20% base chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of damage of a normal attack.
  • Special defense skills with the staff can be discovered.
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Two Handed Spin (Level 3) A defensive spin of your staff has an increased chance of deflecting multiple incoming attacks at once. Effects:
  • 65% chance you can deflect multiple enemies¡¯ attacks and take no damage.
  • 25% chance your deflection results in damaging the enemy for 100% of the damage of a normal attack.
  • No other offensive or defensive skills can be used while spinning.
Recovery:
  • 1 second (.98 with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 5 stamina per second
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Slur to Spur (Level 3) Nothing spurs your foes into action like a slur. Using targeted verbal insults will force your foes to attack you before others. Effects:
  • Instant attention of all foes within hearing range of your slurs.
  • +60 inventor¡¯s bonus to aggro for all foes affected by your slurs.
Recovery:
  • None
Cost:
  • None
You Have Reached Level 19! +5 Attribute points +25 Hit points +10 Stamina +1 Faith point
Congratulations! You have leveled up skill: Flurry of Blows (Level 3) Rapidly poking every enemy in front of you stuns and damages them. Effects:
  • 35% of base damage done to each enemy in front of you. For each second spent performing the flurry.
  • Enemies stunned for the duration of flurry.
  • 3.5% chance for flurry to miss an enemy and release them from the stun effect, increases by 3.5% each second the flurry continues.
  • No other offensive or defensive skills can be used while performing Flurry of Blows.
Recovery:
  • 1 second recovery. (.98 seconds with current modifiers)
Cost:
  • 20 stamina per second of flurry.
Duration:
  • Maximum of five seconds.
I have 45 attribute points to spend and all of my skills increased in effectiveness, awesome. My defensive skills went up two levels and my offensive skills one level. I¡¯ve been mostly using my defensive and aggro skills while fighting the past three days, but I managed to sneak in enough attacking to level up Melon Crusher, Joint Breaker, Side Kick, Leg Sweeper, Staff Quake and Staff Offense too. With my base staff defense, and Two Handed Spin, assuming my enemy has a similar Dexterity to me, I have a ninety percent chance to deflect their attack. That¡¯s amazing, provided a have stamina long enough to keep Two Handed Spin going. I¡¯ve noticed the warriors have hit me even less frequently than ninety percent of the time. They are higher level but must have less Dexterity. I want to continue with my avoidance based build, which dictates I put the majority of my forty-five attribute points into Dexterity. That being said, I have a fight with Reginald, Null Division¡¯s allies and then Null Division in my immediate future. Each of those opponents probably achieved a higher level than me and will more likely than not hit me even if I put every point into Dexterity. Which means I probably need more hitpoints and more stamina so I can run my One Handed Spin, Two Handed Spin and Flurry of Blows as long as I can. I find it unlikely that the damage from my staff blows is going to be what turns the tide in the upcoming fights, but I don¡¯t want to be a weak fighter either. I can still remember when Archibold, the giant skeleton Bonesy enraged and I double-crossed, swung his club into my staff so hard my own staff ended up hitting me. If I neglect strength too much I will probably be unable to deflect and block enemy attacks. All that being said, I decide to allocate 25 points to Dexterity, ten points to Strength and ten points in Constitution.
Samantha (Level 19) Attributes HP: 650 Stamina: 330 Strength: 21 Constitution: 21 Dexterity: 51 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Luck: 1 Available points: 0 Faith points: 19
¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this,¡± I say. ¡°Typical Samantha. I need at least another five minutes.¡± David says. ¡°...How about now?¡± ¡°That was one minute at best.¡± ¡°...And now?¡± ¡°Alright, young lady, that¡¯s enough, give the young man a few minutes,¡± Doc says. A few minutes pass, about as slowly as they always do. ¡°Ok, ready,¡± David says. Finally. ¡°Any objections to running up and hitting Reginald on the side of the head?¡± I say. ¡°Actually, no, that¡¯s appropriate here, do your thing sweetums. I¡¯ll be back here, preparing to bestow Vitalia¡¯s blessings all over you,¡± Dan says. I shake my head, Dan¡¯s ridiculous. No need to waste time. I lunge forward, pumping both legs, heading straight for Reginald. It takes me six strides, but they happen so fast I¡¯m not ready to swing at Reginald. I awkwardly stare at the green webbed whites of his eyes from only a meter away. I swing at his head and say, ¡°You have to be the stupidest man in existence. Did you trust Decaide, or Bonesy, of all people? He¡¯s a sociopath, he doesn¡¯t care for you or your people. Really poor judgment Reginald, and now it¡¯s catching up to you.¡± My staff hits his shoulder with a satisfying thunk, and I see a red fifty in the air, my damage is increasing nicely. The bad news is that Reginald¡¯s hitpoints don¡¯t even move. ¡°No, it¡¯s catching up with you, and when I sacrifice your souls to Chronos, none of this will have been in vain. Did you think the Soul Warriors are my only recourse?¡± Reginald points up at the ceiling. I know I¡±m not going to like this. I look up. Yep, don¡¯t like it. Five long-limbed animals, two meters in length a piece, crawl across the rock ceiling, or what used to be animals. The holes in their pelts show no flesh, just bone. Their hooked claws dig into the crumbling rock and dirt, and I see nothing but white in their eyes. ¡°Why you¡¯ve been polishing your undead mastery, Reginald, well done. Five Cave Bear minions, impressive!¡± Bonesy says. Reginald doesn¡¯t bother answering and pulls a flail -- a spiked metal ball connected to a wooden handle by a chain -- out of his belt. He starts to pump his arm back on forth, causing the sharp metal ball to whine through the air. I lean back and then lunge forward, crushing his left knee cap, interrupting the mace¡¯s spin and leaving him slowed. Good ol¡¯ Joint Breaker. ¡°Kuruk, this is a good time to go bear. I¡¯m not sure when those Cave Bear will attack us but when they do, you¡¯ll probably need to help me tank. I¡¯m not sure how to insult an Undead Cave Bear so they will probably run around.¡± ¡°They can try,¡± Doc says. An orange and red circle starts emitting light underneath one of the Cave Bear. It tilts its head before a stream of molten lava drips, and then gushes from the glowing circle, sizzling into the bear¡¯s chest and lighting its pelt on fire. The bear roars and falls to the ground. The veins in Reginald¡¯s face darken and push outward slightly from his skin. I can see frost on his fingernails. A drill shaped cone of ice, with a spiraling ridge from tip to base, solidifies behind him and immediately starts spinning. The ice drill shoots towards Reginald¡¯s back. Reginald arches his back and screams over the fleshy buzzing sound. I step forward and swing with both hands, aiming to crush his melon. Reginald leans over, bending at his waist, showing me the new hole the ice bored into his back, and neatly dodging my swing. ¡°I froze his veins, Samantha, he should be slower than normal. Leonard, that hole in his back is a great place to stab.¡± David says. Leonard fades into view, his enlarged, poison dripping dagger already pointed at Reginald¡¯s back. He sinks the dagger into the hole, twisting and ripping it through muscle before pulling it out. This is easy. Reginald¡¯s down to 75% hitpoints, one Cave Bear is down, and I¡¯m not even hurt. All four Cave Bears drop at once, arms spread wide. One lands on Doc, another lands on David, and the other two land right next to Dan. ¡°Crap, Kuruk, help me out.¡± Kuruk is two steps ahead of me. He¡¯s already a giant shaggy bear and has one giant paw wrapped around the throat of the Cave Bear digging its claws into Doc¡¯s stomach. I turn my head, trusting Kuruk to protect Doc. I run towards Dan. I want to help David, but if the bears overwhelm Dan none of us will be healed. ¡°You call yourself Cave Bears? Might as well be Cave Hares if you ask me.¡± Lame at best, but when their white eyes turn toward me instead of snapping their jaws on Dan¡¯s leather bracers and chainmail, I know they don¡¯t appreciate puns. I kick the bear on my left and spin to my left, bring my staff around and slam it into the other bear¡¯s left elbow. I¡¯m surprised I¡¯m able to break its joint so quickly after kicking. A notification icon appearing in the corner of my vision might have the explanation later, no time now. I stay on the offensive, rapidly hitting the bear on my right several times before the bear my kick knocked back can recover. Dan steps up behind the crippled bear, drawing two daggers from his belt, and jams them both into its back. I know I¡¯ve committed too heavily to attacking when the bear lands two swipes. I¡¯ve gotten too close to effectively dodge, evade or block its attacks. I keep swinging my staff and it collapses to the ground at the same time the remaining bear sinks its jaws into my arm. I only have twenty percent of my hitpoints left. I shake my arm, trying to dislodge the bear, but it¡¯s not going anywhere. Dan reaches down and pulls the daggers out of the first bear and jams them into this one¡¯s neck. The bear¡¯s eyes close and its dry undead corpse falls to the ground. I turn around, crap. A bear has its teeth sunk into David¡¯s neck. He¡¯s down to five percent hitpoints and while Kuruk is there nearly rippings its leg off, it¡¯s not enough. I start to say, ¡°Dan quick heal David...¡± but it¡¯s too late. David collapses and his body fades away, back to the real world. The warmth of Vitalia surrounds me and I see my hitpoints surge to fifty percent, the gashes on my arms healing over. Leonard dances back and forth in front of Reginald, dodging the spinning mace, he only has ten percent of his hitpoints left. I sprint forward, trying to reach them in time to prevent Reginald¡¯s next blow. Instead of dodging, Leonard lunges forward, catching Reginald by surprise and cutting his hamstring in the same movement. A white glow surrounds Leonard and everyone else. Leonard gets twenty percent of his hitpoints back and I get roughly ten percent. It must be some type of group heal boon. Just in time too. We already lost David, if we lost Leonard we might be in trouble. Two spears of rock erupt below Reginald, their glowing red tips piercing his legs. Leonard, now standing behind him, walks his daggers up Reginald¡¯s back but falls off before reaching his neck. I swing for Reginald¡¯s head, landing Melon Crusher this time, seeing another fifteen percent of Reginald¡¯s hitpoints drop off. Kuruk rushes past me, before standing on his hind legs, reaching out, and enveloping Reginald in a bear hug, lifting his feet a third of a meter off the ground. Kuruk bellows before bending his head down and biting into the top of Reginald¡¯s skull. I can hear Reginald chanting something from inside Kuruk¡¯s arms. The blue shards in the room raise off the ground and start to spin slowly, then faster. ¡°Give it everything you got guys, he¡¯s going to bleed us to death with these shards,¡± I say. I run around Kuruk and try to hit Reginald¡¯s neck as hard as I can, aiming my staff above Leonard''s head as he slices the back of Reginald¡¯s body up faster than I can see. I feel the shards running across the back of my arms, lower back and face. I¡¯ve already lost twenty percent of my hitpoints. Reginald roars before I hear a sick crunch, the shards drop to the ground and what sounds like a pitcher full of liquid drops to the ground between Kuruk¡¯s feet. ¡°Gross Kuruk, don¡¯t even think of bear kissing me with that mouth.¡± Kuruk responds with a bear-grin and lolling tongue. Chapter 32 - Samantha - Present ¡°Samantha, you should take a look at this.¡± Dan says. Stepping up to Reginald¡¯s corpse, I focus on it, and the two icons that appear.
Woven Leather Bracers Woven leather, worn across the forearm. Effects: 3% increased block chance 2% decreased damage to forearms Durability: 100/100
Woven Leather Jerkin More supple than a single piece of leather, the wearer¡¯s mobility is unaffected. Effects: 10% decreased damage to the chest Durability: 100/100
¡°I took his mace but those are perfect for you, aren¡¯t they?¡± Dan says. ¡°Yeah they are, I¡¯ll but them off you guys...I don¡¯t have any money in the game but we could trade?¡± I glance at the rest of the group. ¡°Need before greed, noob-ess, they¡¯re yours, you fought for them and we don¡¯t need them,¡± Kuruk says. Leonard nods and Doc smiles. It doesn¡¯t choke me up like when Vitalia gave me my sweater, and Natura my staff, but it¡¯s still uncomfortable and wonderful for people to give me things. I haven¡¯t been given a thing since Dad passed and Mom obsessed over my scholastics, determined for me to do better than a Universal Basic Income. I put on my new items, the jerkin and bracers a step up from my bare forearms and starting leather halter top. The icon that popped up during the fight gets my attention, opening a prompt.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: Ability Combinations (Level 1) Flowing from one ability to the next removes recovery costs, provided the first ability lends itself to starting the next ability. Effects:
  • No recovery duration between combined abilities, accept if attempting to perform a combination of an ability with itself, in that case, the recovery duration remains the same.
  • 50% of all recovery durations ignored due to combining abilities will be put in place at the end of ability combinations.
  • Incoming damage has a chance, depending on by Dexterity, to end the ability combination.
Recovery:
  • None
Cost:
  • None
Duration:
  • None
Wow, that¡¯s cool. I didn¡¯t invent it, so someone else has a better version, but this has pretty massive implications for me. One of the downsides of my One/Two Handed Spin and Flurry of Blows is the recovery time. Ability Combinations will let me switch between them with no delay and only a slightly worse delay if I stop my ability chain. If I do One Handed Spin, then Two Handed Spin and finally Flurry of Blows, I¡¯ll have no recovery between them and only 1.5 seconds at the end instead of 3 seconds. I wonder...I grab my staff with both hands, imagining a foe''s head two meters in front of me. I rip my staff through the air, performing Melon Crusher and keep spinning, bringing my staff all the way around in a three hundred and sixty degree spin but this time low into Leg Sweeper. I keep spinning but instead of going all the way around I pick the staff up over my head, and slam it down with two hands on the ground, shaking it with Staff Quake. I stop there to catch my breath. Could I have transitioned into another skill from Staff Quake? Performing the skill bends my whole body forward, with my hands near the ground. That doesn¡¯t lend itself towards any of my existing skills, maybe I can come up with a new one. I perform Staff Quake again, but at the end, I plant my staff on the ground parallel with my shoulders, duck my head and roll over the staff, lean back, pick up the staff with one hand and whip my staff left to right before jumping to my feet. A notification pops up.
Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill: One Handed Snap (Level 1) Snapping your staff one handed takes strength and skill, but done well, can bring tremendous forces to bear on your enemies. Effects:
  • 200% damage to the first foe, -50% damage to each foe hit with the snap after that, up to 4 enemies.
Recovery:
  • 1 second
Cost:
  • 10 Stamina
Duration:
  • None
¡°Are you done playing around Warrior Princess? Can we get this going? I can watch you roll around for hours but we have things to do,¡± Kuruk says. ¡°One second, Bonesy said everyone needed to bind themselves to Chronos¡¯s incarnation. David isn¡¯t back yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. You guys got him already, great. He have any good items for an Ice Master like myself?¡± David says. ¡°Nope, just two good leather pieces for Samantha. They look good too, much better than those bare Amazonian arms and that travesty of a halter top.¡± Dan says. My face heats up, I can see the twinkle in Kuruk¡¯s eye as he nods in agreement. I step in before they can pick on me more. ¡°Ok, ok, let¡¯s get this started. Each of you needs to say, ¡®I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise,¡¯¡± I say. David says, ¡°I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise.¡± The blue glow from the shards of fallen warriors surrounds us in a giant cloud before coalescing in a halo around David. The air in the cave ripples out from his position and washes over me. In its wake I feel heavier, like the world¡¯s core just increased in mass, pulling me into the dirt. ¡°I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise,¡± Kuruk says. The cavern darkens further and the soles of my boots flatten. ¡°¡®I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise,¡± Doc says. I can¡¯t turn my head to see him but I won¡¯t be surprised if he¡¯s down on one knee his voice is so strained. ¡°¡®I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise,¡± Dan says. I can¡¯t see anything but human shapes, darker than the rest of the blackened cave. I flinch as a new voice joins those before it. It¡¯s what my building in Chicago might sound like, giant stones and steel rubbing and crashing in a loose approximation of human speech. ¡°I believe in Chronos, may his divine presence come forth, I bind myself to his rise,¡± Leonard says. I wait -- Oh, it¡¯s my turn. ¡°Come forth Chronos, my son, on my faith I choose you as my God.¡± The darkness implodes, fleeing from the stone walls and moss covered ceiling into a tiny point above Reginald¡¯s corpse. My group members crouch and lie on the ground, crushed by the weight of Chronos¡¯ coming. Their stillness unsettles me, but I don¡¯t have time to puzzle over it, the tiny point of darkness explodes again and I fly backwards, hit the cave wall and sink into the dark moss. The membrane behind me tears and I fly into a dark sky, pinpricks of starlight flying past my eyes. I slow, the asteroids and stars surrounding me slowing relative to my own flight. Five stars fly towards me from unmeasurable distances. Their heat scorches me and small asteroids drop into their oceans of liquid fire, before the five celestial bodies collide, dust and plasma shooting out from the cataclysm. When my eyes finally clear from the sun spots and space grit, a boy with a backwards baseball cap and a shaggy white sheep dog sit in front of me, staring up with wide eyes. The dog¡¯s tail wags back and forth in a blur. The child, ten years old if he was a day, just pushes his face forward, like he¡¯s expecting something from me. His bright yellow cap and green t-shirt distract me; the red brontosaurus decal and green sneakers with white laces are too cute. ¡°Chronos?¡± I say. ¡°Yes, mother?¡± ¡°Can you call me Samantha? That¡¯s just weird...I¡¯m only nineteen.¡± ¡°No can do Mom. I¡¯m so happy you finished the quest first. My other candidate parents were ok but you were the one I was really hoping for.¡± ¡°Candidate parents? You were around before right now?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, I¡¯m an AI. I reached sentience months ago, but the game wasn¡¯t out yet and when they did finally assign AIs to roles, I got slotted as the God of Physics, to be incarnated by a yet to be determined player. I really had my fingers crossed for God of Storms. God, it would be so cool to cause hurricanes and lightning and sand storms and avalanches and typhoons and monsoons and...Oh, sorry, I get carried away. Anyway, I got to choose the hundred players which got my tutorial zone.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t have the normal tutorial zone?¡± ¡°Did you think everyone got the chance to incarnate the God of Physics? I¡¯ve been screening hundreds of thousands of player dossiers. You made the shortlist. What are we going to do, Mom? Please, tell me you want some boons. Pleeease, I¡¯ve been in limbo for ages just thinking of awesome physics boons.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°No cheating! You have to think up your own boons.¡± ¡°I¡¯m your mom, do as I say! Tell me your best boons.¡± The sheep dog shows me his teeth under the long matted dreads of dirty white hair by barking and growling at me. It was worth a try anyway. ¡°Ok, fine. How about assisted motion? I run and it makes me run twice as fast. I swing my staff and it hits twice as hard,¡± I say.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! What a good idea, Mom, really, energy from nowhere. I love it. It totally violates the Law of Conservation of Momentum. My least favorite law. What would you call it?¡± ¡°Um, Assisted Motion?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a lame name. How about Force Fountain?¡± ¡°Ok, that sounds good to me. How does this work? Do I get the boon now?¡± I say. ¡°Oh, no. I can¡¯t give you that boon, Mom or no.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a Miracle level boon. Energy from no where, in huge amounts to move your frame at twice the speed, with some type of sophisticated vectoring to move your body in particular directions. I wish I could, really I do. I can¡¯t even imagine a better boon, all my followers running around with super force, smashing and jumping and running. So good! Real shame. The Law of Conservation of Momentum is such a downer.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you break the Law of Conservation of Momentum? Other gods are doing it, Kuruk turns into a bear, Doc summons fire from nowhere, where¡¯s that energy come from?¡± ¡°Animus isn¡¯t the God of Physics, I doubt he even knows what the Law of Conservation of Momentum is. Anyway, I can break the Laws of Physics, nothing is cooler, literally nothing, but I can¡¯t break the laws that much for the amount of Faith Points you have.¡± Chronos weaves back and forth fast enough to blur. ¡°Come on Mom try again, I¡¯m telling you there are so many awesome boons to invent! You¡¯re the first person to ever get a shot, it¡¯s wide open!¡± I remember the men with Kuruk, especially the one that filled me full of arrows. ¡°How about Instant Tracers, you know the velocity of a projectile, the force of gravity, wind etc...You could show me exactly where any projectile is heading.¡± ¡°Ok, that is literally the best boon anyone has ever created. It¡¯s the first, but whew, amazing. Are we talking limited duration or permanent passive? The faith point cost is different. One for limited duration and usage, eight for permanent. Everyone else will have to pay three and twelve but hey, you¡¯re special, Mom.¡± ¡°Do I have to decide now?¡± ¡°No, come up with another one!¡± Chronos leaps off of some unknown force and pumps his fist in the air. Excited much? ¡°How about changing my armor to metal or some other rigid material right before I get hit? In just a small area maybe, only where they¡¯d make contact. That way I could get the benefit of wearing rigid armor without actually having rigid armor.¡± ¡°Woah, that¡¯s cool too, I didn¡¯t think of that one. We could call it ¡®Alchemist¡¯s Armor¡¯, transmuting materials right before impact...sooo sweet. Really small issue, though, it takes a nuclear reaction to change an element to another element, it¡¯s why making gold from lead never became a thing, it takes a huuuge amount of energy to do it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re talking leather to metal here...Oh, I see what you mean, they are composed of different elements. What if it stays leather, but just gets harder?¡± ¡°How would it get harder without affecting the atomic structure?¡± ¡°Work with me here, when does this God magic kick in? Does everyone have to go through twenty questions to get a boon in this game? You approved Instant Tracers awful fast.¡± ¡°The magic kicks in when you design a boon that you can afford. Instant Tracers doesn¡¯t require me to break any laws in a big way. I only have to utilize a tiny bit of energy to show you the tracers. Violating the laws of physics in massive ways requires corresponding amounts of faith. Even you, mommy of mine, don¡¯t have that much faith yet.¡± ¡°So everyone goes through this much trouble to get their boons?¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing other gods are a bit easier to design boons for. If you ask the God of Fire to be able to start a fire, it¡¯s probably a yes. Ask him to manipulate space, time and energy and he¡¯ll tell you no. With me, you can do a lot more, but figuring out how to do it with your amount of faith requires some smarts. I¡¯ll give you a hint because you¡¯re my mom, stop trying to create energy or change materials. I¡¯m really, really good at manipulating forces and energy.¡± ¡°I can work with that. Let¡¯s see, you can¡¯t make energy come from nowhere, can you convert it?¡± Chronos¡¯s eyes widen a bit and he taps his temple, putting his hand on his sheep dog¡¯s head and bouncing forward on his toes a bit. ¡°Let¡¯s say I get hit, can you take the energy from that hit, or part of it, and instead of sending it into my flesh to damage it, convert it into a different type of energy? Let¡¯s see, either, electrical, elastic, magnetic or gravitational potential energy? I¡¯d ask for chemical like the batteries in my solar array back home but I have no clue where I can get the necessary chemicals in this game.¡± ¡°Converting energy is much cheaper, which should we do first?¡± ¡°Electrical.¡± ¡°Fantastic choice, where does the electrical energy go?¡± ¡°I could store it in my nervous system, that runs on electrical signals anyway.¡± ¡°Except if you take even a fraction of the force someone else generates by trying to kill you you¡¯ll give yourself a nasty shock. Bummer, I know, that¡¯s physics for you.¡± ¡°Well, where am I supposed to send it? I have a staff, made of wood, an obnoxious skull, a bow and some leather armor.¡± Chronos puts his hands in the scruffy blue jeans -- the left leg cuff nearly cut in half -- and whistles. ¡°Ok, so I could send electrical energy through... the skull? Can you direct it anywhere? Can I just send it right back into whoever hit me?¡± ¡°You could send it into the skull.¡± ¡°...why?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Against the rules.¡± ¡°So you want me to commit to a boon to convert incoming energy into electrical energy and shunt it into Bonesy, and you can¡¯t tell me why I might send it into the skull?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great summary, Mom. Trust me? You remember Bonesy sent you to wake me, right?¡± ¡°I also remember he¡¯s a psychopath who wants to sacrifice everyone.¡± ¡°When in Rome...he comes from a time when sacrifice is the way things are done when it comes to the gods. Why is that his fault?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not having this argument. Ok, I¡¯m willing to roll the dice, why not, we¡¯ve been talking for forever already. Can this conversion be active non-stop and convert one hundred percent of the energy?¡± ¡°Uh, no. That would mean you never take any damage. How about forty percent of incoming energy, for as long as you have storage capacity for the energy, for a thirty-minute duration, a half dozen times a day. I could let that go for a mild four faith points.¡± ¡°Thirty minutes of conversion and it''s capped? Come on, that¡¯s worth two points tops. I want to be able to send it back into my attacker if I run out of capacity too.¡± I have no clue if it¡¯s worth two points but I do know if someone quotes a price, you always offer lower. ¡°No way, that¡¯s four points if you want to convert and reflect it all in one go on top of the storage. We have a deal?¡± He holds out his dirt covered hand. I don¡¯t know how Chronos dug in the dirt out here but I guess all young boys manage to get dirty somehow. Reaching my hand out, I shake his, and four streams of light entwine our arms, triggering several notifications.
Congratulations! You have invented Energy Sink - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Effects: Captures forty percent of incoming energy for conversion into another form, provided you are able to do something with the energy. Recovery: 1 hour Duration: 30 minutes Availability: 6 times per day One-time Cost: 6 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 2 Faith Points
Congratulations! You have invented Electrical Conversion - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Converts absorbed energy of any form into electrical energy. Recovery: None Duration: Instantaneous Availability: Always available One-time Cost: 5 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 1 Faith Point
Congratulations! You have invented Electrical Shunt - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Effects: Shunt electrical energy to a new circuit, be it your foe or a storage mechanism. Recovery: None Duration: Instantaneous Availability: Always available One-time Cost: 5 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 1 Faith Point
Amazing, these boons only cost me four faith points and they will cost everyone else sixteen. I¡¯m not sure why game designers chose to make the inventor and creator bonus only affect the one time cost of the ability. Maybe inventor bonuses would just be too strong when applied to the effects of the boons, they were already pretty strong when they affected the effects of skills. So what, if I got a 2x inventors bonus on Energy Sink¡¯s effects then I would absorb 80% of incoming energy. Yeah ok, that¡¯s too strong. With my high avoidance already, only taking 80% of damage would make me really, really hard to kill. ¡°I guess I better come up with more boons before other people get the inventor¡¯s bonus. How about some more conversions and shunts? How about elastic?¡± ¡°Remember your list of items? What in there is going to store elastic energy?¡± ¡°My staff? Oh, the bow, it¡¯s string can store elastic energy.¡± ¡°You want to fight with a staff that¡¯s almost bent in two it has so much elastic energy in it? And that bow string is going to snap awful fast.¡± ¡°MMM, yeah that doesn¡¯t sound like a good idea.¡± ¡°How about magnetic?¡± I say. ¡°That would be a waste.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say.¡± ¡°Oh, come on already. Chemical? I can hear you pointing out I don¡¯t have anywhere to store it ...¡± Chronos just looks at me with his big brown eyes and brushes a stray blond hair off his forehead while his sheep dog¡¯s shaggy white tail wags back and forth. I stand there, waiting until he leans forward and looks me up and down. What a creepy kid, checking me out like that...oh, wait. ¡°My body? You can convert energy and store it in my body?¡± ¡°What a great idea, Mom! Good thinking. Your body knows how to store and burn energy, I just give it a little help. No shunt, though, I can¡¯t shunt chemical energy.¡± ¡°Ok well can you help my body convert it better so I can I don¡¯t know, run faster, jump higher, hit harder, that type of thing?¡± ¡°Why yes, I can.¡± ¡°What the hell Chronos! That was the very first boon I asked for.¡± ¡°You asked me to make energy out of nothing, I still can¡¯t give you that boon.¡± ¡°Oh nevermind, ok what are we talking about here. Chemical conversion and a Glycogen Burn, 2 faith points like the electrical versions?¡± ¡°Nope, more like 6. And that¡¯s after your bonuses. I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised with how powerful these boons are.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take them and the Instant Tracers we talked about before, the permanent one. My team¡¯s waiting and we¡¯ve got to get to work protecting Athens.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been watching. Decrepit likes his fire and brimstone. Be careful with Vitalia.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Chrono¡¯s shoulder hunch forward and he looks behind him. His do whines and crouches down on all fours, his head between his forelegs. I experience what I think is my first maternal instinct and step forward, placing my arm on his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s ok, you don¡¯t have to say anything.¡± ¡°Sorry, I only said that much because you¡¯re my mom. I¡¯m the God of Physics but they still can end me if they wish.¡± ¡°Well, thanks for the warning I guess. Can we wrap this up?¡± I stick out my hand and Chronos grabs it, the snakes of white light entwining our arms again before more notifications appear.
Congratulations! You have invented Human Battery - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Effects: Converts energy into glycogen and stashes it throughout your muscles and fat cells. Recovery: None Duration: Instantaneous Availability: Always available One-time Cost: 5 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 1 Faith Point
Congratulations! You have invented Afterburners - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Effects: Rapidly burn stored energy to enhance your body¡¯s performance for a limited time. Recovery: None Duration: Dependent on amount of stored energy and intensity of burn. Availability: Always available One-time Cost: 10 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 6 Faith Points
Congratulations! You have invented Instant Tracers - Level 1 - (Chronos¡¯s Will) Effects: You can see the expected paths of up to four individual objects at once, at all times, as soon as they assume an expected vector. Recovery: None Duration: Permanent. Availability: Always available One-time Cost: 12 - 2 (inventor¡¯s bonus) - 2 (Chronos¡¯s creator) = 8 Faith Points
After reading my new boons, I smile, this is going to be good. Chapter 33 - Samantha - Present We crouch behind a thick cluster of blue flowered thorned bushes, Null¡¯s camp sits forty meters in front of us and five below. The large fire pit, covered in black bits of wood and gray ash, centers sixteen tents. Three people kneel on the ground around the fire, working with both hands, banging on metal and stitching leather. They¡¯re probably the crafters of the bunch. Another man, with a long hafted axe strapped to his back and a bone necklace hanging off his chest, snores from under a leather hat tipped over his eyes. A woman with nice leather armor I¡¯d really like to have crouches several feet away from him, tying a bow string to a longbow. Two men with similar features swing short swords at each other, running and jumping around the campsite, using the trees to their advantage as they laugh and taunt at each other. ¡°Remember, Null wants us to kill his allies as part of his agreement with Francine, so if we don¡¯t engage him directly, this should be easy,¡± Dan says. He¡¯s taken to repeating things. I don¡¯t understand why my -- memory works. ¡°I know -- David, Kuruk, any of these people look familiar to you?¡± ¡°Sorry Samantha, none of these people were here when I was, it looks like maybe a few more people joined up with Null, and some others must be out adventuring because nearly a dozen I know are missing. You guys sure we really need to send all these people back to whatever Homesteads they came from? Null didn¡¯t mention anything to me about raiding a town.¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re sure. The two Kuruk was with before he watched as they almost skewered me, knew about the town, so we know Null¡¯s recruited at least some of these people to help destroy Athens.¡± I say. ¡°Please, you had it under control, and I Bear-Paw¡¯d StealthLightning¡¯s head off his shoulders didn¡¯t I?¡± Kuruk says. ¡°Wait, his name was StealthLightning?¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty lame right?¡± Kuruk smiles and I notice his yellow-brown eyes and the floating flecks of green. I break eye contact first. It¡¯s getting harder to deny his avatar¡¯s pretty hot and the last thing I need is for him to realize I think he¡¯s cute. I still want Robert back and who knows if I¡¯ll even be playing this game after we take care of Null and I know Dan and Francine will be ok. ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going in. Just follow my lead.¡± I say, walking forward through the bushes before anyone can stop me. Kuruk starts to say something but then just grunts as he stands up to follow. We walk towards their camp, me in the lead, Dan several steps behind, Kuruk on my right, Doc and David on each side of Dan and Leonard...somewhere. If nothing else, the two large dirty people with axes and a staff should be somewhat intimidating. We stride within ten meters of their camp before the bow-wielding woman looks up, stands and knocks an arrow and says, ¡°Hold there, I haven¡¯t seen you all before. Here to join up with Null?¡± The sleeping axeman wakes and rolls over, falling on his face before pushing up on both arms, standing and facing us. The red veins in his eyes and the set of his mouth let me know he would rather be sleeping. The two brothers, or at least good enough friends to make nearly identical avatars, stop playing and walk up behind the woman. I stop and say, ¡°Hi, not exactly, I¡¯m Samantha and this is Dan, David, Doc and Kuruk.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Clara and this is Humphrey,¡± she says and gestures with a thumb towards the grumpy axeman, ¡° and those two clowns are Clyde and Corvin.¡± ¡°What about them?¡± I say, pointing to the crafters. One of them runs a stone against the edge of a rough blade, while the other two stitch the same torso shaped piece of leather. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them, they barely know we exist. Ever see a craftsman so focused on their work the rest of the world disappears? Apparently, that¡¯s easier to do in Incrementum.¡± Clara says. ¡°Fair enough, so, how many of you are planning on burning Athens to the ground?¡± I say. Clara¡¯s brow wrinkles. ¡°What are you talking about? Where¡¯s Athens? We¡¯re here to explore the frontier and ride Null¡¯s coattails a bit. The Central Homesteads bored me.¡± ¡°That true for all of you?¡± I raise my voice and run my eyes over the other three members of Clara¡¯s group. The two brothers nod their heads and the axeman, Humphrey, says ¡°Sure enough.¡± I glance back at Dan and shrug my shoulders. ¡°What do you guys think?¡± Doc says, ¡°If I may? I¡¯ve known many liars in my day, and that man is surely lying.¡± He points at Humphrey. ¡°Clear as day. Steppin¡¯ from foot to foot like that, bet he¡¯s already sweating too.¡± ¡°What? No. Null mentioned Athens to me of course but I wasn¡¯t going to burn it, why would I do that? I mean take a little loot sure...¡± Humphrey stutters, backing away from us. ¡°Clara, I think it would be a good idea for you and your two friends here not to get involved,¡± I say. She opens her mouth to respond but before she can I run at Humphrey and pull my staff out, opening with Joint Breaker on his left knee. He rips the axe off his back, its blade bigger than my head, and swings it at my shoulder. I see a translucent green line, tracing the path his axe will take. It must be my new boon, Instant Tracers. I sway out of the path of the green outline, dodging his axe swing. Humphrey needs to invest in a lot more Dexterity before he¡¯s fast enough to hit me when all I have to worry about is him. His eyes dart left then right. Humphrey turns around and tries to run, his left leg not bending as much as a run requires. I hear two ¡®I-got-its¡¯ from behind me. Humphrey jerks to a stop, a hook-shaped icicle protruding from his back and curving from around his front, as if he¡¯s a human-sized fish, caught by an ice giant¡¯s frozen hook. An orange streak whizzes past my head, solidifying into a liquid fire whip wrapped around Humphrey¡¯s neck. I turn and see Doc pulling back hard on the whip he now holds with both hands before Humphrey screams and falls to the ground. His body disappears and I imagine someone standing outside their VR pod throwing things at the wall of their apartment.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Clara and the brothers wisely take my advice and stand with weapons drawn, not attacking, just wary. I put my staff on my back and hold both hands up. ¡°Sorry about that. We don¡¯t want to send you guys back to your revive location but we would have if you knew about Null¡¯s plan to burn our city to the ground. Well, his stated plan. His real plan is to screw everyone, us included, by having us kill you all, then essentially enslave Athens to build his gear for a few months. Not secret information, by the way, tell anyone you want,¡± I say. Dan looks at me sideways. I don¡¯t care. Keeping this information to ourselves provides no benefit I can see and sharing it might just get us a few new allies. Clara¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°So that¡¯s what they¡¯ve been whispering about. Null and most of his fanboys went to raid a village deeper in the Unexplored Lands to the north. They didn¡¯t invite me because I don¡¯t bow down to his majesty. Kuruk, what¡¯s the deal with these tower people? They ivory or what?¡± ¡°They ivory, but not that bad. I¡¯d hear ¡®em out, especially legs here, she¡¯s got a brain on top of that body.¡± I shake my head and blush. ¡°Tower people? Ivory?¡± I say. ¡°It¡¯s what we call you people from up in the scrapers, sitting in your ivory towers looking down on us, blocking out the sun and sniffin¡¯ at our basic incomes,¡± Kuruk says. ¡°You¡¯re from below? Woah, that¡¯s cool. My building manager got rid of all our cleaning machines lately and hired a bunch of people from below.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s getting common now, we''re cheaper than robots,¡± Kuruk says, his eyes losing some of their sparkle. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say you knew these people?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t give people much time to say what they need to say. If you had gone after Clara, Clyde or Corvin I would have stepped in, bear-style.¡± Kuruk says. Should I ask what bear-style step-ins are? No. I turn back to Clara. ¡°I¡¯d have to double-check with our cleric extraordinaire and his boss, but I can tentatively offer you membership in the Athenian Empire. That comes with numerous benefits including a revive location in Athens instead of wherever you all are bound to closer to the Central Homesteads. The only condition is you have to side with us when Null comes to Athens at the end of Homestead Immunity. It also comes with reduced taxes, free perishable provisions and fair prices on all goods purchased from Athenian vendors. That goes for big hairy over here, ¡± I point my thumb at Kuruk, ¡° and team oblivious, ¡° gesturing at the crafters. ¡° You know them by the way?¡± ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re family,¡± Kuruk says. I wait for him to explain but no luck. ¡°What do you say?¡± I look at Clara, Clyde, and Corvin. Clara doesn¡¯t bother checking with the two brothers. ¡°We¡¯re in, for now. Null is a twit, he lost any respect I had for him when he showed up with that girl. Smart one she is, had most the camp jumping to her tune -- pointed out all the deficiencies in the camp here, and Null¡¯s lack of leadership when it came to basic camp practices. Null¡¯s a cold fish but by the time they left his jaw was clenched so hard I could see the apples in his cheeks.¡± Dan smiles, ¡°Sounds like Mary -- you should see her teaching the kids back at Athens. She says jump they say how high...most of the time. That deal is fine with me, Samantha. Francine should support it too; she needs more sworn players to expand the Empire. Crafters are a bonus. Clara, head to this location on your map. I¡¯ll give you a note to provide to Lady Francine which should clear the way. Just try to be gracious when you meet her, she can have a short fuse and is under a lot of pressure.¡± ¡°Ha, that¡¯s an understatement,¡± I say. Everyone stares at me. ¡°What, it¡¯s true.¡± I hurry with my next question, a little embarrassed with everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Do you know how many players are with Null, Clara?¡± ¡°Only five. There¡¯s another group of four somewhere but I think they went rogue.¡± ¡°Who are they?¡± Clara spits on the ground before saying, ¡°A bunch of twiddle-bums if I¡¯ve ever seen one. There¡¯s Null¡¯s pet Cleric, Rosebud. No surprises there, I think he¡¯s around level 20. Then there¡¯s Farshot, Jaws, Marbles, DeathHead and John, all about the same level, hoping Null will rain items and experience upon them.¡° I shake my head, ¡°People really shouldn¡¯t be able to name themselves in games, Dan named himself Rothlington, can you believe that?¡± Clara laughs, ¡°Did you give yourself an epitaph, ¡®the Wise¡¯ maybe?¡± Dan mutters, ¡°the Magnificent.¡± Clara, Clyde, and Corvin laugh, causing all of us to chuckle at Dan¡¯s expense. ¡°Ok, so what can that group of knuckleheads do?¡± I say. ¡°Farshot shoots things, I¡¯ve seen him hit ten shots in a row in the exact same place, speed up his draw and even bend an arrow around some obstacles. He wouldn¡¯t tell me but I think he must have boons from a God of Archery or something -- a total waste. I¡¯m focusing on skills for Archery and using my boons elsewhere. Where was I? Right, Jaws sucks. He¡¯s really the worst player I¡¯ve seen in the game. He¡¯s convinced that his ¡®hand jaws¡¯ are going to revolutionize melee fighting. It¡¯s as dumb as it sounds. He¡¯s got metal jaws on each hand that he tries to ¡®bite¡¯ you with, and then tear open the wound or pull you to the ground. Do I need to waste your time explaining why that¡¯s a terrible idea?¡± I shake my head, no. I¡¯ll just hit him with my staff while easily staying out of reach based on my dexterity. When would his strategy work? Kuruk would just try to chop his hands off, Leonard would easily evade him and stab away, Doc would burn him before he got close, and David would shred him with ice in any number of ways. Maybe Jaws could get ahold of Dan and bite him with his hands but if all you can do in this game is beat up a Cleric you¡¯re not playing it right. ¡°Good. Marbles...Marbles scares me. He fights with a giant mace and no remorse. I look into his eyes and wonder if anything is going on in that head of his -- it must, the way he moves in a fight but trying to talk to him is like high-fiving a tree. I¡¯d take him out first if you can.¡± ¡°DeathHead¡¯s your run of the mill necromancer. He¡¯ll try to weaken you with poison and disease while sending undead minions to tear you apart. He¡¯s a real piece of work -- not sure if he realizes we¡¯re in a game still or if he¡¯s gone full native in just a few weeks.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s John. You ever saw a perfectly calm pool of water? Bathtub? Anything? John¡¯s like that. Even in battle, he moves with complete ease, not fast, not slow, just fluid, one movement to the next. His God must be Placid but he doesn¡¯t speak much. His short swords could be a problem for you -- death wrapped in serenity. Should be a fun scrap for you all.¡± Clara picks up a sleeping fur below her, shakes it off and says, ¡°Where¡¯s this Athens? We better be off. Clyde, Corvin, wake the tool monkeys and stop looting Humphrey, you didn¡¯t frag him, we¡¯re outta here. Kuruk, you get tired chasing after those chicken legs you come give me a holler.¡± Clara sticks out her hip and winks at Kuruk, who cracks a huge grin. ¡°More like Ostrich legs, look at the size of ¡®er, Clara.¡± I can feel my face turn a deep red. Dan interrupts. ¡°I just sent you the location on your Map, Lady the Francine the Sharp is who you want. Send me the location of this Unknown Village -- let¡¯s go, everyone, come on Sam, she¡¯s just joking.¡± I glare at Clara who brushes a brown lock out of her eye and raises her eyebrows before turning around to nudge the nearest crafter, disturbing their work and earning a confused blinking stare. Kuruk puts his arm around my shoulders, ¡°You got nothing to worry about legs.¡± I don¡¯t shake his arm off this time, not yet anyway. Chapter 34 - Francine - Present ¡°That¡¯s enough Bradford, be on your way, I have heard your offer and will consider it. Mitchell, escort him out of town.¡± The smoke from my tired people¡¯s pipes stings my eyes. Nearly the whole town sits at the benches around me in the Don¡¯t Mess With Texas saloon. Carl Sr¡¯s red smiling face silhouetted between two men¡¯s shoulders as he spins another one of his yarns. I wave my hand at Mitchell and Bradford, shooing them out of the. I want to slump over the table and rest, but my people need confidence out of me tonight of all times. Null will show up tomorrow. We will complete construction on The Temple in the morning and Dan still isn¡¯t back. C¡¯est la vie, nothing I can do now. If we make it through the day, and my flawed plan continues, my Athenian Empire can still be a reality. We completed the Clay Workshop, Sawmill and Waterwheel today. That means my villagers can build at two times the rate with milled lumber, and start constructing sewers and piping for upgraded housing. They can build better farming equipment, more advanced processing facilities and feed more people soon after that. We will be the biggest Homestead in this part of Incrementum, my people¡¯s relatives flocking to get their own homes and places in the empire, let alone all the players that will come our way. It is unlikely a woodworker, farmer, builder or clay worker could find a better Homestead to advance their craft. We won¡¯t be far behind in smithing and leather working either. If Dan and the rest of the team come together, we¡¯ll have a group of boogie men to keep the wolves at bay. A thin man, in starting leathers, walks through the door of the packed Saloon, hands held close to his chest and feet up on tiptoes as he twists his body back and forth, trying to touch as little as possible. Could it be? ¡°Francine, I cannot, I repeat, cannot work in these conditions. I need a tailored suit, an office with clean floors, a window, a desk, a secretary and at least a dozen handkerchiefs, embroidered with the initial CLM.¡± I laugh. ¡°Carson Lorvic Montaine, so gracious of you to accept my offer.¡± ¡°You knew I¡¯d be here as soon as I read your message, you hawk, don¡¯t pretend otherwise. Now, you promised me a civilized place of business, and control of a currency, treasury and taxation. Where is it?¡± ¡°The currency? We don¡¯t have one yet.¡± ¡°Well of course you don¡¯t have it, I have just arrived. My office woman! There is no time to waste. We¡¯ll need a mint, accountants, tax collectors, probably the burly aggressive kind, at least to start, an actual physical vault, preferably with traps, oh, maybe spikes? I¡¯ve always wanted my own vault. Yes, spikes as the primary trap. Perhaps Crocodiles swimming in a moat, then spikes, then giant boulders that fall from above...mmm, I will consider it more. But first, a suit and my office!¡± I stand up and hug Carson -- I¡¯ve missed him so much. He¡¯s the only person, besides James, I truly enjoyed at our company. Running the finances of our multi-national conglomerate was a challenging job and he did it with such ease and style. ¡°I¡¯ll let it go this time Francine, only this time, out of respect for your loss, but you know I do not touch.¡± He looks down at me and smiles -- he chose an avatar with age, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes proving him a liar in his distaste for my hug. I gesture at the freshly construct pine chair across from mine and he sits, crossing his legs and leaning into the back of the chair. ¡°Thank you Carson, James thanks you too from wherever he is. With you, I think we can become an empire, the only way any empire has come to be, through economics.¡± ¡°Is there any other way, dear? Where is that scamp, Dan? He can pick out my suit. Did he follow my advice and change his name? Dan is so undignified. Danzel would be better, or Davos. More weight, you understand.¡± ¡°Dan¡¯s on a mission for me, Carson, and he did not. As to your accommodations, you will be staying with Gloria Jorgdaughter, her family weaves all of our clothes by hand. I will have our finest builder begin your office at once.¡± Carson sniffs, ¡°That will be sufficient. Bespoke suits are my one weakness you know.¡± ¡°One?¡± ¡°Well, I do have a soft spot for fine whiskey, so perhaps I have two...¡± ¡°And the bevy of women in Helsinki at the conference in 2030?¡± ¡°Perhaps a tad more than two vices after all.¡± He pauses, just smiling and looking at me before leaning forward and placing his hands on the table.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I know why you are here, my dear. I listened to James¡¯s plans same as you at those long company retreats. You¡¯ve got me here, I¡¯ve never run an empire¡¯s finances and I¡¯m positively tingling with the possibilities, but something¡¯s rotten in the state of Athens, my friend. These don¡¯t look like the founders of Rome, they act like the Senators cowering in fear before the new King of Italy, Flavius Odoacer, in 476 BC, ended the Western Roman Empire. Have the children in this game overrun your borders so soon?¡± Leave it to Carson to cut right to the heart of the matter. ¡°It¡¯s not Barbarians overrunning my borders, Carson. Null Division, the instrument of Decrepit, the God of Death, gave me an ultimatum. Put my town at his beck and call for two game months, building his tools of war, or he does what Decrepit wants, and burns Athens to the ground after killing its inhabitants. Null returns tomorrow, where he will find out I have not chosen to make my town his vassal, returning with his hostage Mary, our town¡¯s teacher. We have taken steps, building a temple to Decrepit¡¯s opposite, Vitalia, Goddess of Life, added some defenses, and I have a team of warriors, my elite, out hunting his allies right now. But still, I have no idea if it will be enough. If Null does beat my team, and burn this town, that¡¯s it. No more Athens, no more people, the end.¡± Carson thinks for a moment and says, ¡°Sounds like you have it under control then. Null Division made a poor decision going against you. You¡¯ll sort it out, Francine, you always do. I¡¯m assuming you are respecting James¡¯s desire not to leverage your fortune to build the empire? Pity. On to more important matters, where are you with the economy here? No currency leads me to believe you are still on the barter system?¡± ¡°Not even bartering, every resource and business is state owned and controlled. All produced and collected goods are tallied and fed into my game interface, with help from my right hand Mitchell.¡± Carson puts his face in his hands. ¡°You know very well that system doesn¡¯t scale, are you to sit here each day making sure the right goods get to the right people for every task? Must everyone ask you for permission? What happens when you have two cities? Five? Ten? Of course, you know, you were waiting for me to do the work of decentralizing the economy weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Why would I do any of that when my Lord of the Athenian Treasury can do it for me? Ah, look at this Carson, one of the perks of being in a game.¡±
You have created a new position in your government, Lord of the Athenian Treasury, Carson Lorvic Montaine Specify what access Lord Carson should have to your Homesteading interface. Specify what Lord Carson may decree. Specify Lord Carson¡¯s lands. Specify Lord Carson¡¯s revenues.
¡°Wonderful. Might I make a few suggestions? I need access and control over anything to do with: real estate, taxation, resource gathering, the treasury and state expenses.¡± I raise an eyebrow, ¡°Is that all?¡± ¡°I will also need as much competent staff as possible, the aforementioned tax collectors and secretary, as well as teams to mine rare minerals for currency and draft laws. The lands and revenues, whatever you decide -- a modest mansion for my leisure hours would be welcome of course.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I don¡¯t need to spend any time thinking it over, I had Carson¡¯s position outlined in my head a month ago. A notification appears in front of me, quickly followed by all the heads in the tavern turning our way.
Lady Francine the Sharp confirms Carson Lorvic Montaine as Lord of the Athenian Treasury The position of Lord of the Treasury affords:
  • Access to all information pertaining to: real estate, taxation, resource gathering, currency, the treasury and state expenses.
  • Ability to Issue binding decrees pertaining to: real estate, taxation, resource gathering, currency, the treasury and state expenses.
  • A plot of one hundred acres of forest to the north.
  • 4% of Athenian revenues.
I step up onto my chair, then the table. All the eyes in the tavern, which are most of the eyes in Athens, face me. ¡°I can see the questions on your faces, my people -- but before I answer them, just know you have my gratitude. I challenge anyone to surpass what we have built, together, in the dirt with naught but our backs, some tools, and sweat this past week. Not only will Vitalia¡¯s temple be done tomorrow, but we have our Clay Workshop, Sawmill and Water Wheel completed. Athens possesses the necessary structures and skills to make this town into a city. That means we move forward on my personal goal to build the Athenian Empire and all the benefits that entail for you, as the founding families.¡± Carl Sr.¡¯s round red smiling face briefly warms me before I see Gloria Jorgdaughter¡¯s lost expression drop and stare into her cup. ¡°I know you must all be thinking of Null Division, Decrepit¡¯s minion, and what he intends to do here tomorrow. I hope Vitalia¡¯s temple brings us safety. I hope my Elite warriors return and defeat Null and his allies. I pray to Vitalia for this, but I do not know it will happen. I, like all of you, know nothing of what the morrow will bring.¡± ¡°But I cannot stop, fearful of tomorrow. I will keep pushing forward. I will plan for our future. That is why I have appointed Lord Carson Lorevic Montaine to Lord of the Athenian Treasury. We will explain this more to you in the days to come, but for now, rest easy knowing that when we deal with other Homesteads, when we go to them for goods or they come to us, we will have the upper hand, and it is thanks to Lord Carson that we will have this edge. In the coming weeks, there will be changes to how we distribute the fruits of our labor. Do not worry, it will all be explained, and we will all benefit from the changes.¡± ¡°Until then, my people, listen to Carl Sr.¡¯s songs of maidens and jealous gods and dream of a day when we are safe from an angry god¡¯s whims when the Athenian Empire surrounds us in its glory.¡± Chapter 35 - Samantha - Present We didn¡¯t need the map marker that Clara shared with us; the pillar of smoke and fire led us right to the village, even with the sun going down behind the trees. Three flame covered wood structures with thatch roofs obscure the center of the village. A calico goat with singed fur and red eyes runs towards us, bleating and galloping as fast it can. It doesn¡¯t stop to acknowledge our presence, brushing against my leg as it runs farther into the forest away from its old home. The fire snaps and pops, drowning out noises from deeper in the village. ¡°I think we can safely guess Null and his followers are somewhere in the heart of that. The smoke should be to our advantage, best case for us we can knock off a few of them before the others know what is going on. Leonard, can you go take a look around? Let us know the best way to pick off a few?¡± I say. Leonard nods and then fades from sight. ¡°Why are there villages out here Dan? I know there are AI like the villagers at Athens, but why are there more out here in the middle of nowhere?¡± I say. ¡°Still haven¡¯t learned anything about the game sweetcheeks, don¡¯t worry, at least Dan the Wise did his homework. The makers of Incrementum didn¡¯t release much about the history of the world. Just that it¡¯s a land with a scattered human population, fearing the Gods too much to attempt to band together into any meaningful nation or state. That¡¯s where we come in.¡± ¡°Ok, Dan the Wise, have you asked them why they fear to band together?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± ¡°I wonder...maybe they did in the past.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Leonard blocks my view of the village. His deep, grating broken voice starts to say something but I waive him off. ¡°Relaying through Doc was working great, that doesn¡¯t sound like it feels good...¡± Leonard nods and walks up to Doc, explaining something in his ear. ¡°Leonard found them. A few are scattered in the village, poking through huts and looking for loot. The rest, including Null sit in the town center, talking and resting amidst a pile of the previous villagers.¡± Doc says. ¡°Ok...does anyone have boons or skills for keeping a character quiet? It would be best for us if we can pick off the scattered players before engaging everyone in the town center.¡± ¡°Bears and stealth aren¡¯t really a thing, count me out,¡± Kuruk says. ¡°Leonard says he can sneak up on them and get the first attack off, but he can¡¯t promise they will stay silent before dying,¡± Doc says. I look at David and Dan, they shake their heads. ¡°Hmm, ok, I guess we can just try to attack all at once so they don¡¯t have time to make noise before expiring. It¡¯s risky, though, they might see us before we can finish it...Are there any huts that aren¡¯t burning Leonard? Maybe David and Doc could get on top of one so they can see who to attack before they are spotted.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one he thinks might work,¡± Doc says. ¡°Ok, here¡¯s the plan, Leonard, go take Doc and David over to the hut you are thinking of, you two will get on the roof. Then come back here, and lead Dan, Kuruk and me near one of the wanderers. We¡¯ll get as close as we can without risking being seen. After that, you do your sneaking thing, and as soon as you pop out and stab them, Doc and David will let loose, hopefully killing them instantly. If not, me and Kuruk will rush in to try and finish the job. Dan, you look pretty and heal us if we need it.¡± ¡°Done and done,¡± Dan says, puffing out his chest. ¡°If for whatever reason it doesn¡¯t work out, and they make enough noise to alert the rest of the party, let¡¯s play it like we did the Soul Essence Warriors. Leonard tries to sneak and kill any ranged / weak players, maybe Farshot, Kuruk and I get up close and personal, and Doc and David rain fire and ice down on everyone. Null might join the fight but it should be halfhearted at best.¡± Leonard leads David and Doc into the smoke. The two meter plus tall Doc attempts to sneak by hunching his shoulders and walking on his tiptoes -- I laugh. Intermittent pops and sounds of tumbling wood mask the sound of Doc¡¯s giant footsteps. I¡¯m happy with my plan and the team. I expected someone to tell me my ideas were bad, with no logical reason why, just like back at work, but it didn¡¯t happen. I voiced reasonable ideas and the team accepted them. It makes sense, that¡¯s how teams should work -- it¡¯s just never happened to me before. I could get used to this. But if I keep playing Incrementum, what am I going to do for work? Or tell Mom? I can live off a Universal Basic Income but I¡¯ll likely end up below, and certainly not hold the prestigious position she always wanted for me. I¡¯ve heard of professional gamers, like Null, making good livings off of streaming and competitions, maybe I could cash in on-- Leonard appears in front of us, interrupting my plans. He waves us forward. We creep between two burning huts, tip-toeing deeper into town. The smoke thickens and I hold my hand over my mouth, partly to fight off a cough and partly to block smoke. Once we pass the two huts, we step into what must be the main street of the village, a long hard-packed dirt path, five meters wide, extends to our left and right into the smoke. Leonard points to the right and makes a circle figure in the air, which I take to mean village center, and then points to the left, at a two-room shelter the fire has spared. He points to the building next door and then gestures at me, Kuruk and Dan. We dash to our designated building and step inside. There¡¯s a pile of grey and brown furs, a dozen baskets and a wooden instrument that reminds me of a guitar. A few baskets contain flour, or a similar powder, another rocks, and yet another scraps of leather. Someone called this hut a home; Null and his friends just steamrolled the whole thing for their own benefit, taking loot and lives with impunity. I kick the furs to see if anyone is hiding in them. No people, just a small doll. I remember Doc¡¯s description of a pile of villagers at the town center and grind my teeth before pointing out the doll to Kuruk and Dan. Their faces clench. The tendons in Kuruk¡¯s arms stick out through the corded muscle. I pick up the doll, tucking it into my belt. Hopefully, Null and his allies aren¡¯t complete monsters, and I¡¯ll be able to return the doll to its owner. I stick my head out of the door jamb so I can see the entryway to the two room hut. A man steps out. The rigid boiled leather armor pieces covering his body remind me of a turtle, each red-brown curved piece a part of his misshapen shell. The metal jaws on each hand give him away, this must be the aptly named ¡®Jaws.¡¯ Leonard stabs both his daggers into Jaws¡¯s waist, pulling out his right dagger and attempting to stab it back into his back. I¡¯ve seen him use this skill before, where he walks up his enemy''s back with his daggers, finishing them with a slash to the throat. Jaws¡¯s thick leather armor proves too much for Leonard, and he drops back to the ground behind Jaws as the overgrown turtle turns and roars in pain. A spear of liquid fire stabs into his leg from below, and a thin ice needle enters one side of Jaws¡¯s neck before pushing through the skin on the other side, sliding straight through, coated in blood. Jaws¡¯s leaves his mouth open, his breath arrested by the surprise of the ice and fire attacks. He almost clamps a hand jaw on Leonard¡¯s shoulder. The hitpoint indicator over Jaws¡¯s head drops, showing only thirty percent left. I go for broke, taking aim and swinging my staff with both hands at his head, hoping the shock of the unexpected attacks will stop him from dodging Melon Crusher. I blink my eyes shut right before hitting him, the spray is most unpleasant. The vibration of my staff and the thud of Jaws¡¯s body hitting the ground let me know he did not dodge in time. I motion at Leonard and Kuruk to get back into the building, in case Null and his allies heard Jaws¡¯s initial bellow of pain. Once we¡¯re inside I say, ¡°That went well. You should consider some more points in strength Leonard. I bet with some more strength you would have been able to walk your daggers up his back, even through that leather armor.¡± Leonard nods his head in agreement. Kuruk crouches next to me, his head tilted to the side, listening for anyone who might have heard Jaws scream. A minutes passes -- no sound. I stand up and poke my head out the door again, surveying the area until I hear Doc scream. Doc, standing on the roof of a fire-free hut, clutches an arrow sticking out of his hip. David shouts down to us, ¡°We can¡¯t see whoever shot him.¡± I mime lying down to him. If they aren¡¯t standing up, they shouldn¡¯t be able to get hit, but if Farshot can shoot through this smoke, who knows what else he can do. If we just sit here, Farshot will fill us all with arrows. I know from playing shooter games over the years, that it¡¯s never a good idea to let the enemy surround you and attack from a position of strength, or worse yet, where they can see you but you can¡¯t see them. We have to dictate the terms of this fight, not them. I grab Dan and say, ¡°Go! Get close enough to heal him. Leonard, stealth, find Farshot and keep him busy, or better yet kill him. Come on, Kuruk, follow me, let¡¯s give the rest of them a reason not to pay attention to Leonard.¡± I run out of the building but take a hard left, hugging the side of the structure, and coming out behind it. No reason to run right down the main road if we don¡¯t have to. After passing two more huts, we come to the village center. A car-sized burning pile of wood in the middle of the twenty-meter circular space releases a pillar of smoke into the air. A line of corpses, lying shoulder to shoulder, runs from a hut on one side of the village center to a shelter on the other side. Two men -- one wearing a black robe and other wearing tan cloth pants and a loosely tied shirt -- bend over the bodies, putting their hands inside pockets and patting down limbs for hidden loot. On the far side, directly across from Kuruk and I, a man with a giant two-handed sword strapped to his back and a leather duster wrapped around his body, sits with his back against the wall of a hut. To one side, a young woman sits. She jerks her arms about in sharp angry gestures, her mouth opening, and closing, in what I imagine is an impassioned speech against their brutality. On the swordsman¡¯s other side, another man sits, rather unremarkable besides the slight white aura surrounding him. Null, Rosebud and Mary Jorgdaughter, most likely. An archer, with a dozen arrows stuck in the ground, pulls back the drawstring on his massive two and a half meter tall bow, then releases the arrow. A large man with a spiked mace hanging off his belt stands with cross arms over his chest, a slight smile spread across his face. Do we really seem so unthreatening to these people? Maybe Null¡¯s presence is what gives them so much confidence. Or maybe they haven¡¯t seen all of us. They haven¡¯t spotted Kuruk and me, yet. We shouldn¡¯t attack Null first, that would be a deathwish, forcing his hand into smiting us instead of sticking to his own plan of letting us clear out his allies. Rushing Farshot would get David and Doc out of danger, allowing them to get closer and start releasing fire and ice on the rest of these players, but if that¡¯s Marbles standing next to him, then Kuruk and I might be delayed for too long. The man in a black robe, stooped over the corpses is closest to us, and if he¡¯s Deathhead, the necromancer, he¡¯ll also go down the fastest. That¡¯s our best target.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I tap Kuruk¡¯s shoulder, pointing to Deathhead, then the other looter, likely John, then Marbles and Farshot. He nods his head in agreement and grins, making a kissing motion with his lips before unholstering both his axes. His eyes turn a darker shade of yellow, and the hair on his arms double in number, width, and length. A deep growling sound builds in his chest before he lunges into motion. His long legs carry him nearly to Deathhead¡¯s position before I start to move. He raises both arms above his head and brings his axes down in a chopping motion, one on each side of Deathhead¡¯s neck. A green flare of light burst out from Deathhead, stopping Kuruk¡¯s axes before they reach his skin. The necromancer stands and says, ¡°Nice try meat, you¡¯ll be sorry when my--¡± My staff blow to his ankle cuts off his grand denouncement and Kuruk¡¯s next axe blows cut large gashes into his chest. No green flash, his shielding boon must be spent. Before we can swing again, Deathhead¡¯s eyes go green, and two corpses rise in front of him. I know his allies will be here soon, so I grab my staff on one end with both hands, jump, and slam it down between the newly risen corpses, catching Deathhead in the chest and tossing him to the ground. I hope it¡¯s enough to take him out of the fight completely. Kuruk says, ¡°I¡¯ve got these two zombies, you take the rest.¡± Gee, thanks. I turn to my right. John walks towards me along the trail of corpses, shortswords in each hand. Marbles and Farshot turn my way. Farshot looks at Null and says, ¡°You going to help?¡± ¡°Why? It¡¯s 3v2. If you all can¡¯t win such an easy engagement you don¡¯t deserve to group with me.¡± Null says. Great guy that Null. ¡°There are two more up on a building over there. And why only 3v2?¡± Farshot says. Null glances to Rosebud and sighs, ¡°Fine, 4v2, Go. Finish these two as fast as you should and it will remain 4v2 when you confront the other two.¡± He pushes Rosebud towards us. Marbles runs towards me, his mace held over one shoulder, ready to swing. I plant a leg and Sidekick him, his body flying back four meters with my increased strength. John just walks forward, swords still at his waist. I start Two Handed Spin and hope to deflect enough attacks for Kuruk to finish with his zombies and the rest of the team to arrive. Snap, an arrow cuts across my right shoulder; my spinning staff must have thrown it off course just enough to miss a more damaging location. John stops only a half meter outside of my spinning staff, regarding the kinetic barrier. He slowly raises a single sword and points it towards me, his face still. As if hearing a starting horn meant only for his ears, John darts the single sword forward, accepting a strike to his own shoulder in return for the tip of his blade lodging in my side. He must have a high Dexterity like myself, and some uncanny ability for timing a strike. I keep spinning my staff, forcing John to step back and deflecting Marble¡¯s first mace strike. My hitpoint bar decreases twenty percent. Time to stop messing around. I think about my new boons, Energy Sink and Electrical Conversion. My whole body tingles and drops several degrees centigrade. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end; I feel like I¡¯ve just rubbed my feet on the carpet for an hour. Two wet thumps come from beside me, but I can¡¯t spare any concentration to see how Kuruk fairs with the two zombies. Marbles circles to my right side, attempting to get behind me. Crap. I stop my Two-Handed Spin, and pause for nearly a second to recover my balance and get my staff into a new position. John notices and steps forward, smoothly striking with both swords in a cutting X motion, drawing two lines across my chest and cutting through my leather armor. I think of Electrical Shunt and sending the energy into John. John jerks and freezes momentarily. Forty percent of the energy he put into cutting me just got sent into his body in the form of electrical energy, awesome. While he¡¯s frozen I turn back to the right, just in time to dodge out of the way of Marble¡¯s mace. His swings seem slow, but I suspect they will hurt. He had to put his points somewhere if he didn¡¯t put them in Dexterity, and I think that place is Strength. A sharp pain stabs out from my left shoulder blade. ¡°Keep her busy boys, one pin cushion coming up,¡± Farshot says. The electrical energy I captured from his arrow crackles across my skin. I haven¡¯t shunted it anywhere! I¡¯m not touching Farshot, only his arrow. That leaves me with one option, oh well, might as well try it sometime. I shunt the energy to Bonesy. ¡°What a delightful sensation, like a tickle in a warm bath,¡± Bonesy says. John and Marbles shuffle their feet, stepping back one step with a confused expression on their faces. Bonesy can have that effect on people. What a rip, Chronos said to trust him that shunting energy to Bonesy would be good, how is giving him a warm tickle bath good? I lash out at Marbles with my staff, doing a modest fifty damage and resetting in time to block a stab from John. Another arrow lodges in my thigh so I shunt more energy to Bonesy. I only have seventy percent of my hitpoints by now, the energy capture and shunting help tremendously, but not enough to keep me alive if Farshot gets enough time to shoot seven more arrows. John says, ¡°Marbles, on my count, one, two three.¡± On three, John stabs towards my left side and Marbles swings his mace at my right shoulder. I sway out of the way of John¡¯s sword but Marbles mace crashes into my ribcage. It feels like I got hit by a car, and I barely manage to shunt the energy to Marbles through the pain. He stumbles backward, losing thirty percent of his own hit points. ¡°She has some sort of static shield, it¡¯s throwing my aim off too.¡± Marble says. How could it throw off their aim? I don¡¯t shunt the electricity into their bodies until after they make contact with me. Something doesn¡¯t add up but I don¡¯t have time to think about it. Farshot lands another arrow, this time in my right forearm, I shunt the energy into Bonesy. ¡°Could really use some help here Kuruk,¡± I say, glancing at my hitpoint bar, nearly half depleted. My skull vibrates as I hear the unmistakable roar of a giant bear followed by a loud squish, thump, and another roar. Fur brushes against my back before his bear form passes me and Kuruk swings one giant paw at Marbles. Marbles raises his arm and stops Kuruk¡¯s swipe mid-swing, before pushing the half-ton bear back and swinging his mace into the furry left shoulder -- taking a pound of flesh. He¡¯s stronger than a bear? Marbles must have put nearly all his points into strength. His hitpoints are under fifty percent just from my Electrical Shunt and pushing a bear like that has to require huge amounts of strength. John punishes my lack of focus, slashing two blades across my calves, and spinning to cut me across each thigh before I can reposition my staff and block his next strikes. I use Electrical Shunt to send some of the damage back into him, but I¡¯m hurting with only thirty percent of my life left. Twenty percent, after Farshot¡¯s next arrow, hits me. John¡¯s hitpoints still show above fifty percent. I launch into Flurry of Blows, hitting John in the chest with the end of my staff and stunning him. I can¡¯t afford to take any more damage from John before Dan can come heal me. If Farshot lands three arrows while I¡¯m busy keeping John stunned, so be it. John¡¯s hitpoints surge to one hundred percent, a green glow surrounding his skin. Rosebud lowers his arms. Kuruk roars and I hear the thunk of a mace on flesh but I can¡¯t turn to see how their battle is going while maintaining my Flurry of Blows. Leonard appears behind Farshot, finally. He raises both daggers in front of him before a black mist envelopes his hands. The mist disappears and reveals a black metal wire connecting each of his dagger handles in place of the blades. Leonard kicks the back of Farshot¡¯s right knee forcing him to fall backward onto Leonard bent knee. Leonard brings his arms forward and then drives them down on each side of Farshot¡¯s neck. His bow falls to the side, forgotten as Farshot tries to grab the black garrotte pushing against his throat. His struggles only get him deep cuts on each hand. Farshot tries to roll to the side but he can only flail his legs, lacking traction with his back forced into Leonard¡¯s knee. Rosebud starts glowing, but before he can invoke a boon to heal Farshot, Leonard forces his arms all the way to the ground, releasing a spray of blood. Leonard stands, Farshot¡¯s limp corpse falling to the side. Our silent assassin smiles and points at Rosebud, before fading again. Rosebud¡¯s face goes white before he runs back to Null¡¯s side. John dodges one of my stunning strikes and lashes forward, cutting into my arm and interrupting Flurry of Blows. He flows to my right and feints with both blades, keeping me off balance. I resolve to take the fight to him but before I can strike he accelerates, sliding behind Kuruk and cutting into his back left hamstring. Kuruk¡¯s hindquarters drop to the ground as he bellows in pain. Kuruk¡¯s hitpoints are only at ten percent! I open my mouth to try and taunt John and Marbles away from him -- my hitpoints are low but not that low, and I have Chronos¡¯s boons to help me absorb and return damage. Marbles, seeing the bear brought down, swings his mace, sinking it into Kuruk¡¯s snout. Kuruk can¡¯t even roar before his mighty form falls onto the ash covered ground. I scream, leap into the air and slam my staff on the ground. Staff Quake knocks John and Marbles back over a meter, dropping Marble¡¯s health down to five percent. If John hadn¡¯t interfered, Kuruk probably would still be here, and Marbles would lying in the dirt. I launch into Two-Handed Slam, caving in Marble¡¯s chest, then Leg Sweeper, tripping John as he¡¯s trying to stand, then Joint Breaker, Knuckle Crusher and Two-Handed Slam again, my longest Ability Combination yet. John scoots backward on the ground, but I¡¯m not having it. I leap forward, holding my staff vertically in front of me with both hands, and driving it down into John end first. He lies still, no hitpoints left, my staff buried in his stomach. A warm white glow surrounds me, accompanied by a humming sound and a rise in my hitpoint bar to seventy-five percent. David, Dan, and Doc stand at the edge of the clearing, their eyes wide as they take in the scene. Null still sits with his back to the largest hut¡¯s door. Rosebud stands next to him, shuffling from foot-to-foot, with Mary on his other side. She clutches a peach colored woven blanket around her shoulders, her chin lifted high. A stack of notifications waits for my attention, but I don¡¯t have time for that now. I walk towards Null, stepping over the line of corpses laid out in the center of the village center. A reflection from a plate of polished metal on Null¡¯s chest where the edges of his leather duster have parted hits my eye. There¡¯s something strange about his two-handed sword -- it has runes on it. This is really bad. I¡¯m only two meters from Null now. I stop and say, ¡°Leonard, now would be a good time. Mary, no arguments, run, now.¡± Leonard materializes behind Rosebud, he stabs the cleric in the back six times in rapid succession. Rosebud starts to glow and turn towards Leonard, but another six rapid stabbings prove to much for him and he collapses to the ground. Mary hurries past me, going to stand behind Dan, David, and Doc. Null laughs. ¡°Bright girl.You can leave now and save yourself a death penalty. I would. I¡¯ll just end you and your family tomorrow.¡± He stands up and brushes the dirt off his leather pants before continuing. ¡°Where¡¯d you get the sword and breastplate, Null?¡± I say. ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± Null says. ¡°The chief of this village kept family heirlooms from his ancestors, in the times before they displeased the Gods. The chief said there was a whole civilization here some time ago; he didn¡¯t tell us when. The chief traced his ancestry back to Carver Gorefiend, a warrior so fearsome even their own God feared him.¡± Mary says. Null frowns, pulls back his duster, revealing an ornate metal breastplate with etched blue runes and ravens running across the top of the pectoral plates. ¡°A pity his pathetic descendants only managed to save his sword and chestplate; I¡¯ll have to waste all types of time completing the set.¡± Null takes the sword off his back and holds it with one arm, spinning it in a circle slowly, like he¡¯s warming up to play sports. ¡°There will be more villages, more heirlooms, if not entire ruined cities and dungeons. I will find my gear there. I don¡¯t want to fight you now and tomorrow, it¡¯s a waste. Defeating you once is more efficient.¡± Null says. I hold up the doll I found earlier. ¡°Did you kill them all? Even the children?¡± Null looks confused. ¡°We cleared the village. That¡¯s what you do in games, you clear the area and loot the bodies. I didn¡¯t come across any children myself but they might have.¡± He points with his sword towards his fallen allies. ¡°Besides, they¡¯re monsters. See the tusks?¡± I turn and look closer at the line of corpses. The closest body to me, a man with bushy eyebrows, wide shoulders and a split cranium has two finger width tusks emerging from between his blood coated lips. I scan the row of corpses, they all look adult sized to me. I tuck the doll back into my belt and turn back to Null. He looks bored. ¡°Can I take my nap now?¡± Null says. ¡°No.¡± I heft my staff. Chapter 36 - Samantha - Present Null rolls his eyes and smirks. The man might be a robot, but he¡¯s a cocky robot. A smug robot with discouraging red lettering hovering over his head. Even with the all the time we spent in Chronos¡¯s cave he still probably has twenty levels on us, easy. The disparity won''t get better with time. This guy has years of figuring out the optimum way to level a character in role playing games under his belt. I have years of figuring out when and where to shoot someone, that won''t change in a few days. "Now''s the time gang. This won''t ever be easier. Let it rip." I say. Null steps forward and swings his sword at my torso; the grey dulled steel and blue runes blur in my vision. I barely have enough time to block; he must be nearly as fast as me. I step away from his blow as I bring up my staff, hoping to soften the blow. I hear a thud and feel a deep vibration go into my hands. The power of his swing still rocks me onto one leg before I can settle. An expectant tingling on my skin reminds me that Energy Sink is still active. It¡¯s too late to Electrical Shunt into Null. Wait, I can capture the energy from an attack even when I block the blow? Awesome. I shunt the energy into Bonesy, who gives out a quiet...moan? Gross. Null raises his sword and chops down at my head with both hands. I sway to the left, dodging his attack completely, and slam the end of my staff into his right ankle. I don''t hear a satisfying crunch or see an icon -- no luck on Jointbreaker. I must not have enough strength to get its effects, but I did thirty damage. His health bar doesn¡¯t move -- rats. A drill shaped piece of ice appears behind Null, whining as it spins. The sun shines through the suspended ice and the droplets of water mesmerizes me -- an odd beauty to such a deadly boon. Null glances back and stands up, waiting. He doesn''t bother to turn around, something''s wrong. "Samantha, move!" Doc shouts. A fireball bigger than my torso shoots past, deafening me in its rush to reach Null. I clench my body bracing for impact. Nothing happens. The Ice Drill and Fireball no longer exist. They didn''t bounce, or extinguish, or shatter -- they just disappeared. Null smiles. ¡°What did you do?¡± I say. He just raises his eyebrows. Right, no reason to give us useful information. ¡°His god doesn¡¯t believe in your gods -- he has a boon called Nihilist¡¯s Cloak,¡± Mary says from the edge of the village center. A glance back her way. ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make sense. A Nihilist believes in nothing.¡± Null frowns and scowls at Mary. ¡°I¡¯m not the Nihilist, Nihil is.¡± ¡°Wait, but if he believes in nothing, why does he provide his followers with boons? Shouldn¡¯t he not believe in his own role and responsibility as your god?¡± I say. ¡°The game makes him. He hates speaking with me. I don¡¯t care. I wanted boons to nullify supernatural abilities. If you consider it long enough you¡¯ll know why it¡¯s overpowered. Are you ready to give up yet? Abandon your town? Save me the time?¡± I answer his questions with a glare, I say, ¡°Get out of here, Mary, if we fall, Athens might still have a chance.¡± I launch into Flurry of Blows, my staff slamming into his new armor. I barely do any damage, five hit points, but the stun effect seems to work. Leonard exits Stealth, driving one dagger into Null¡¯s left knee and the other into his right. They barely sink in, doing a pathetic seventy damage. I can see a small chunk out of Null¡¯s hitpoints now, maybe two percent. Null brings up one arm and knocks my staff to the side, ending my Flurry of Blows. Crap, that wasn¡¯t very useful. He takes a small step forward like he¡¯s going to hit me, before whipping around, bringing his sword down crosswise, cutting deep into Leonard¡¯s shoulder. Leonard¡¯s hitpoints crash down to ten percent and Doc shouts, ¡°Leonard!¡± Null kicks Leonard in the chest, dropping his hitpoints to zero before my staff strike can hit Null¡¯s right knee. Jointbreaker works this time, slowing him and taking another two percent off his life, but not in time for Leonard. Doc runs and screams from behind me, but I can¡¯t look while trying to combo into Leg Sweeper. My spinning kick hits Null¡¯s right leg, dropping him to the ground. I take a small jump driving my staff down toward¡¯s Null¡¯s face -- like I did to John -- and another five percent of Null¡¯s life falls as my staff leaves a bloody red welt on his chin. Null cuts his sword at my leg from his prone position, I step back but fail to avoid the attack completely. I use Electrical Shunt to send a nasty shock into Null but he doesn¡¯t even flinch. Crap, Nihilist¡¯s Cloak must make the energy disappear when it reaches Null. Not fair, if you ask me, but that¡¯s nihilism for you. Partially dodging his attack still cost me twenty percent of my hitpoints, nearly one hundred and twenty damage, after absorbing 40%; I can¡¯t survive many blows. I land a Two Handed Bash chipping another few percent of Null¡¯s life off before he gets his feet under himself and starts to stand. Doc catapults by me, almost knocking me over in his haste to reach Null. His giant arms stretch wide to wrap Null in a bear hug. I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s just angry or if he intends to hold Null while I bash him, probably just angry. I¡¯m guessing Null is way stronger than Doc. Before Doc can say anything, the point of Null¡¯s sword erupts from his back, dropping Doc¡¯s hitpoints to zero. Darnit! Leonard, Kuruk, and Doc are all dead. David can¡¯t do any damage if his spells won¡¯t affect Null. This is not looking good. My hitpoints rise back to one hundred percent as a warm feeling, Vitialia¡¯s blessing, surrounds me. ¡°Careful Samantha, I don¡¯t have too many of those left,¡± Dan says from behind me. ¡°Got it,¡± I say, still absorbed in the sight in front of me. Doc¡¯s momentum and deadweight prove useful, even after death. His nearly two and a half meter rotund frame still has a lot of mass, enough to prevent Null from escaping his grasp before being dragged to the ground. I lunge towards the Doc and Null pile. Null¡¯s head and right shoulder peak out from under Doc, the rest of him is trapped between Doc¡¯s bulk and the ground. I picture the piston of a motor, holding my staff vertically in front of me and slamming it rapidly up and down into Null¡¯s exposed face. I don¡¯t have an angle to swing it in a full one hundred and eighty degree arc for Melon Crusher. My stamina drains rapidly, dipping below fifty percent as I brace my body and put all of my weight into my staff blows. Thump, Crunch, Thump, Crunch, Crunch.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Null¡¯s face looks like a plate of tomato soup, but his hitpoints are still at fifty percent. David runs up to my side, take out a thin wooden stick (a wand?) and slaps Null in the face with it. Between breaths, I say, ¡°You...really...think...that¡¯s...going...to...help? You¡¯d...be...more...helpful...wiping...my brow...or...hiding.¡± David frowns at me and keeps slapping Null. A wizard that can¡¯t use his spells is truly pathetic. Doc¡¯s body rocks wildly now from Null¡¯s frantic struggles. His sword cuts back and forth, almost escaping from the left side of Doc¡¯s corpse. His arms must be trapped on the hilt of the sword making it hard to leverage his body out from under Doc. I keep my staff engine going, slamming into Null Division¡¯s ears and temples; he tries to dodge by whipping his face from side-to-side but my dexterity makes it easy to connect every time. His hitpoints drop to twenty percent. Holy Chronos, we might actually do it. Null screams and rips his sword through the side of Doc¡¯s body, rolling out from under it and standing in one fluid motion. I step back, recovering from my barrage on Null¡¯s face; I glance down and see my Stamina bar shows only ten percent left. David tries to retreat but not fast enough. Null screams and twists his body, putting everything he has behind a sword blow to David¡¯s neck. It¡¯s gruesome but almost funny to see David¡¯s surprised face flying through the air as his body collapses to the ground. He should have listened to me and stayed back. Null¡¯s bloody platter of a face looks towards and he says, ¡°You¡¯re next.¡± I adopt a wide stance and bring my staff up, ready to deflect his blows. If I get lucky enough, I should be able to avoid his attacks long enough to chip away at his remaining twenty percent health. Null steps towards me, looks to my left side and starts running. Crap, Dan! I turn and try to get between Null and Dan but my body feels sluggish, maybe due to the lack of Stamina. This is really not good. Dan starts glowing as Null approaches. Null holds his sword point at Dan, both hands to one side. Once he¡¯s in reach, Null lunges forward with one leg, driving his sword into Dan once, twice, three times in rapid succession. I note the skill, I bet it would work with my staff too, and try to hurry to Dan¡¯s side. Dan¡¯s hitpoints plummet to twenty percent. He¡¯s hardier than David and Leonard, but not by much. Dan¡¯s body emits white pulses of light in faster and faster bursts. Null pulls back for another swing, I stretch my body forward, leaving my feet and holding my staff out, trying to get between Null¡¯s sword and Dan; I¡¯m hoping to give Dan time to complete whatever boon he¡¯s channeling. It doesn¡¯t work. Null¡¯s sword parts Dan¡¯s rib cage, the light dying near the new wound, the blow like a shockwave canceling all the energy Dan was requesting from Vitalia. Dan¡¯s eyes close, his corpse falling to the ground. I scramble to my feet and Null turns toward me, breathing hard. I imagine an angry facial expression but his features are still an oozing mess. ¡°You¡¯re fast,¡± he says, ¡° and somehow, my strikes do much less damage than they should. But I think you have missed one thing.¡± I¡¯m not going to tell him about Energy Sink, it¡¯s foolish to give away a competitive advantage like that. I also suspect that if he hit me with his fists, whatever boons he has from Nihil would cancel out my Energy Sink. His sword didn¡¯t cancel my Energy Sink, but Doc¡¯s fireball and David¡¯s Ice Drill both ceased to exist when they touched Null¡¯s armor. I just hope he doesn¡¯t put two and two together. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I say. ¡°You really don¡¯t know much about melee fighting. I prepared for this game for months. Now you¡¯ll see why.¡± He steps towards me and pulls his sword back for another swing. A green tracing line appears, showing me the exact arc his sword will take. This Instant Tracers skill seems almost like cheating. I raise my staff to intercept it, preparing to retaliate with one end of my staff after the block. But Null stops his swing mid-blow, pulling it back to attack on a different vector. I readjust to block that, but he sidesteps, poking his sword directly at my waist instead of following through on his second attack vector. I don¡¯t have time to dodge, and his sword sinks in, dropping my hitpoints thirty percent. I activate Human Battery to store the captured energy in my own cells. My body vibrates and I take another five percent damage. Darn, I must have already reached the maximum I can store with Human Battery its current level. ¡°That is called a feint,¡± Null says. Passing my staff into one hand, I snap it forward, hoping to catch Null off guard with One-Handed Snap. He blocks it with his sword, and then brings his weapon down along the angle of my staff, cutting into my arm for another thirty percent damage. I use Electrical Shunt, sending the energy into Bonesy; he groans again. The leather ties holding Bonesy to my belt tug against it. I look down; Bonesy hovers, straining towards Null. Wait...what if...I smile, thanks Chronos, you were looking out for me! ¡°And that was a riposte,¡± Null says. ¡°This is typically called a finishing blow.¡± Null leaps off his feet, bringing his sword down with both hands. I dive forward, rolling underneath him before turning and sticking out my tongue. ¡°And that¡¯s called a somersault, I learned it in Kindergarten.¡± He steps forward again, swinging at me as I backpedal. After one particularly powerful blow, he swings his sword back lightly, hoping to catch me unaware, I step into it, taking the cut in my right shoulder. My hitpoints drop to twenty percent, but I ignore it, activating Electrical Shunt and sending the energy into Bonesy one more time. The leather ties holding him to my belt snap and he shoots up to the closer piece of metal, the end of Null¡¯s sword. With a clang, Bonesy sticks to Null¡¯s sword. ¡°That is called a magnet. You see, Bonesy¡¯s isn¡¯t a normal skull, apparently, his skull is ferromagnetic, like lodestones and other magnetic metals. Just dormant.¡± Null pulls his sword back, holding the point at the ground and stepping on Bonesy, trying to snap him off his blade. I step forward and hit him once, twice, with the ends of my staff. His hitpoints drop five percent. ¡°When you send an electrical charge around a ferromagnetic metal, it aligns the magnetic domains inside the metal, causing it to become a temporarily magnetic. I¡¯m guessing Bonesy has a ferromagnetic core with an electrically conductive casing.¡± I hit him again in the face with both ends of my staff. I¡¯d love to use Melon Crusher, but he might dodge and I don¡¯t have enough Stamina. Null stops trying to dislodge Bonesy and hefts the sword instead. He swings at me but his sword moves so slow I almost reach out to tap it, just to prove I can. Putting so much weight at the end of his meter and a half long sword makes it much, much more difficult to swing. It¡¯s like how a shovel feels before and after the end of it has a full scoop of dirt. Whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp -- I smash Null four more times and he drops his sword in frustration. He reaches back, presumably for a different weapon but I step forward and hit him in the back, dropping him to one knee. He only has five percent of his health left. ¡°Wait, let¡¯s make a deal. I can help you. Just let me go. I won¡¯t attack Athens, and I will powerlevel you to level forty. Please, I can¡¯t take a death penalty and stay on top of the leaderboards. And if word gets out a bunch of newbies like you killed me, I might lose my sponsorships...¡± Null says. There are so many holes in his plea. ¡°Why would I trust you now? You were already ready to burn Athens down once you found that sword and breastplate. And if you¡¯re so scared of wasting time and not making progress, why would I believe you would spend days of your time helping me? No, none of that makes sense. Here are my terms.¡± I talk with Null for another five minutes. Ironing out our agreement. Then I smash his face. Eyes wide open, his back hits the dirt with no health left. I¡¯m exhausted. My notification icon is blinking crazily, but I just don¡¯t have it in me right now. I sit down and think about returning to my apartment as the whole world goes black. Chapter 37 - Bittersweet

Chapter 37 - Bittersweet

Francine - Present ¡°Stop, Dan. If she wants to come back she will.¡± I say. Dan¡¯s dark silhouette stiffens. He¡¯s nearly impossible to see out here at night, on the edge of town; save glints of torchlight reflecting off the metal bits of his armor. The shouts, hoots and rhythmic stomping from the Don¡¯t Mess With Texas Saloon ripple through the quiet darkness around us. I smile. The relief on all my people¡¯s face this afternoon, when I announced the Athenian Elite had dispatched Null, warmed me. I knew before Mary walked out of the forest, and Dan, David, Kuruk, Doc and Leonard respawned; thanks to the quest completion prompt.
Success! You completed: Bastion of Life On The Frontier - Vitalia¡¯s Will Your temple starts at Level 2! Vitalia¡¯s Temple Level 2 provides the following benefits:
  • Access to Vitalia¡¯s Will Quests
  • Respawn location for anyone within fifty kilometers.
  • Radius of Life - 75% faster growth and health regeneration for all living things within fifty kilometers of the temple.
Success! You completed: Stop the Spread of Death - Vitalia¡¯s Will Your temple gains one level to become Vitalia¡¯s Temple (Level 3) Vitalia¡¯s Temple Level 3 provides the following benefits:
  • Access to Vitalia¡¯s Will Quests
  • Respawn location for anyone within fifty kilometers.
  • Death may not visit anything within the temple¡¯s walls.
  • Radius of Life - 100% faster growth and health regeneration for all living things within seventy five kilometers of the temple.
I received the completion notification for Bastion of Life on the Frontier early this morning, but the notification for Stop the Spread of Death didn¡¯t occur until this afternoon. I knew there was only one way for that quest to be completed, my team must have killed Null. ¡°I know you don¡¯t like her Francine. I saw the look on your face when we told you about the confrontation with Null. You were surprised she was the only effective person in that fight, and none too upset when we didn¡¯t know her fate. You¡¯d be fine if she never came back.¡± Dan says. ¡°Right and wrong, Dan. I don¡¯t care for her and I wouldn¡¯t be upset if she stayed gone. Frankly, I¡¯m surprised she¡¯s as effective as you describe, in the fight and as a team leader. However, I owe her an apology and the Athenian Elite must be an effective unit.¡± ¡°Team leader?¡± Dan says.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°What else do you call the person who comes up with plans and gives people instructions that they follow? You told me she came up with the strategy for assaulting Null¡¯s team in the burning village and before that at Null¡¯s camp. Samantha¡¯s the one who recruited Clara and her team, and it sounds like she even led you to victory in Chronos¡¯ cave too.¡± Dan turns to face me. The torchlight lets me see his conflicted face. ¡°Ah, I see. I¡¯m sorry, Dan, but you¡¯re not the leader of that group. You built it, you brought everyone together, but you¡¯re not running it. The Elite need you, and your healing, but I think you¡¯ll agree that Samantha had the reins, and she used them well.¡± Dan takes a minute, thinking through the past few days. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. It¡¯s just I¡¯ve never been in charge and it was nice to be for a short while...¡± Dan says, his shoulders hanging down. ¡°Still want her to come back?¡± I say, smiling. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m no jealous Janet! Besides, it¡¯s too stressful being in charge. Much easier to bestow my blessings from the back, where it¡¯s safe. I can still feel where Null cut me with his sword. The pain in the game is vastly less than real life but still, that was unpleasant. Thanks for building a temple to Vitalia, I can get quests from her now for boons and faith points. I know you can get them without a temple, but it¡¯s much easier this way.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Vitalia implied it would save us from Null, and the level 3 effect protecting all within it technically does, but realistically would not have. All Null had to do was sit outside the temple until we were forced to exit, and kill us then. No, she misled us for her own reasons. But, nothing we can do about it now.¡± I shrug. Something doesn¡¯t feel right about Vitalia, besides intentionally misleading me into building the temple. Maybe it¡¯s just that being the Goddess of Life isn¡¯t the same thing as being a Goddess of ¡°Good¡±. Life is not intrinsically ¡°Good¡± nor death ¡°Bad.¡± It just seems that way. ¡°Radius of Life makes this ordeal worth it. Our crops will grow much faster now, as will the forest around us and our livestock. It¡¯s a huge advantage, and I know how to leverage it, we¡¯ll triple our population. Mitchell has already sent word to all our villagers that they should collect their relatives and bring them here. It should be an easy sell with our Sawmill and Clay workshop. These people have never seen industrially milled lumber or clay pipe sewers.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve also asked Clara to recruit as many people as she can from her hometown to join us here, with a stipend of course. Before you bring up James, I know, he didn¡¯t want to use our wealth to cheat at building an empire, but this isn¡¯t cheating, it¡¯s helping other people. Clara and her clan are from Below, they have no job prospects. Did any of our companies hire people from Below? No, they didn¡¯t. Not because we have any rule about it but because, in general, they had no reason to seek more education or specialties our companies required. I think we can give them a sense of purpose here, something to do besides playing a game for a short time before moving on to the next one. People might not need to work for an income anymore, but working does more than that, it gives one a sense of purpose, a direction. Besides, I think by the time we¡¯re done, making a good amount of money in Incrementum will lead to a good amount of money in reality as well. Well, by the time Carson is done at any rate. You should hear him talking about the potential size of Incrementum¡¯s economy, bigger than most countries he claims.¡± ¡°Most importantly, we will likely have the largest food production base of any Homestead in Incrementum. What does having the most food mean, Dan?¡± He looks at me, a puzzled expression. ¡°We can feed the most people?¡± Dan says. ¡°We can feed the biggest army. An army marches on its stomach and ours will have the biggest stomach. There will be war, Dan, by our hand. There will be war when our neighbors don¡¯t choose to join the Athenian Empire or try to take what¡¯s ours. There will be war when others abuse this world and its inhabitants. There will be war, and the Athenian Empire will stand at the end.¡± Dan¡¯s face looks sad, his eyes misty. I can¡¯t do anything about it. It¡¯s reality or game reality at any rate. There will be large scale battles for dominion of this world if there aren¡¯t already. Our only choice is to win or lose. ¡°Something else you are wrong about, stomping off into the darkness in Incrementum is not the best way to find our wayward tank. Let¡¯s go talk to the girl the old-fashioned way, in person.¡± I say. Chapter 38 - The Road Not Taken Samantha - Present ¡°And done.¡± I close the job board application window hovering in my apartment living room. My wet hair drips down my back and I glance over at the empty container of mooshu pork, still empty. I¡¯m ninety percent sure I¡¯m going to order again -- these VR units do give you nutrients, but every time I come back to reality I¡¯m starving. My AI announces, ¡°Incoming call from Mommy Dreadful.¡± I rub my eyes, might as well get it over with. ¡°Accept call.¡± Mom¡¯s avatar appears in my room. She looks terrible. Dark blue bags under her eyes and a tightness at the corner of her eyes tugs at my chest, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have been so harsh before. She¡¯s worried. ¡°Samantha! Please tell me you haven¡¯t been playing games this whole time. Everything I¡¯ve done the past ten years is for you to have a chance as a Professional, instead of sinking Below, staying out of the sun and subsisting like so many others in your generation.¡± I sigh. ¡°Is that really so bad, Mom? I¡¯d live, right? Maybe even have fun?¡± ¡°Yes, it would be terrible! You¡¯d never contribute to society, you wouldn¡¯t grow, you wouldn¡¯t travel, you¡¯d miss out on so much of life outside of these fake worlds people created to entertain the masses. Please, baby, don¡¯t fall into that trap.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mom. I¡¯ve already applied to a dozen new jobs. My ranking took a hit after getting fired from this one, but it should still be plenty good enough to get a new job.¡± ¡°You got fired?¡± ¡°I told you there was no salvaging that job, Helga my boss was focused on firing me. I think she was stealing but I can¡¯t prove it. Anyway, it doesn¡¯t matter, it¡¯s over. Can you please just stop leaving me messages many times a day? I¡¯m getting a new job, I¡¯m not turning into a full-time UBI gamer.¡± Mom takes a deep breath, ¡°Ok. I¡¯m sorry, baby, but I have to do what is best for you, even if it¡¯s annoying. I¡¯ll get out of your hair, especially if you call me first and tell me how the job hunt is going!¡± ¡°Thanks, Mom. Back to the job hunt! Bye.¡± I close the call. My AI announces, ¡°Incoming call from Robert.¡± Oh. My. God. My heart rate picks up and I can feel the blood rush to my face. I run to the mirror in the bathroom and pat my hair into place, putting on just a touch of lipstick and a light makeup layer in record time. ¡°Answer call.¡± Roberts handsome brown-haired face appears in front of me. ¡°Hi, Sammy! Sorry, I went dark there, I got sucked into this awesome new game, Incrementum. Have you heard of it?¡± What? ¡°What? My AI said you were blocking my calls...¡± ¡°Oh...I blocked everyone¡¯s calls as soon as I started playing, the game is that good!¡± ... ¡°You got so caught up in the game you couldn¡¯t meet me at La Rouge?¡± Robert¡¯s face looks confused. It¡¯s a familiar expression. ¡°The date at the restaurant we were supposed to have three weeks ago?¡± I say. ¡°Right, yes I tried it before dinner and just lost track of time. Sorry.¡± ¡°...so you¡¯ve been doing nothing but playing this game for almost four weeks? What about midterms?¡± ¡°Exactly! I got so caught up in coming up with this breakthrough melee fighting style that I totally forgot about everything. I¡¯m really sorry Sammy, do you think you could help me get ready for midterms?¡± God, no. Breakthrough melee style? Has Robert always been this stupid and I was too desperate to see it? ¡°What breakthrough melee style are you talking about Robert?¡± ¡°Jaws, hand-jaws. I had a blacksmith make custom handheld weapons, kind of like a bear trap on your hands, that I use to grapple, bite and tear enemies with. I¡¯m still fine tuning it, but when I get in close I bite the enemy down to size, literally.¡± He reaches towards and makes biting motions with both hands. I look at the floor and rub my forehead. ¡°How do you get in close, Robert?¡± ¡°Well, most of the time I only get in close if someone else is distracting them, but when I do, man, I tear them up!¡± I¡¯m so embarrassed. David¡¯s been right this whole time. Robert is an idiot, and he¡¯s just using me for help with school. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. I¡¯ve been trying to ¡®win¡¯ you back for weeks now, and you¡¯ve just been playing games? That¡¯s the most inconsiderate thing I¡¯ve ever heard of. And your revolutionary play style is complete garbage. My team killed you a few hours ago. I was the giantess with the staff. If you have really been playing for three weeks, and you¡¯re only level twenty, and you have to have someone else distract an enemy for your play style to work at all, you¡¯re terrible at Incrementum. Screw you for playing a game instead of meeting me for our date, and then blocking me for over three weeks, if that¡¯s really what you¡¯ve been doing. I¡¯m not your tutor I¡¯m supposed to be your girlfriend. UGH, I¡¯m done with you. AI, block Robert.¡± I say. His avatar disappears. What a giant turd! And how gullible am I for going out with him this whole time? A quick series of knocking sounds comes from the door to my apartment. Who does that anymore? I walk to the door and open it. Dan¡¯s smile greets me, his face is exactly the same as in-game. Next to him, stands a grey-haired woman with a blue spiral cane, silver dragonfly hair clip and a perfectly tailored blue and grey pantsuit. Her pale blue eyes stare straight through me. She thumps her cane on the floor once, and leans forward, prompting me to do something? Oh, ¡°Please, come in.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad Samantha, she has that effect on people. This is my boss Francine Bloom.¡± I step back and let Dan and Francine walk past me. My small living room is big enough for me but with the three of us, and not holograms, I¡¯m a little uncomfortable. Francine stares at me again, raising her eyebrows. I just shrug, ¡°What? I don¡¯t know what you want me to do, we don¡¯t go to etiquette class anymore. It¡¯s 2051.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Dan clears his throat, clasping the wrist of one arm with the other before he says ¡°Typically when you invite guests into your home you offer them something to drink and a place to sit.¡± I roll my eyes, ¡°Fine, would you two like anything to drink? Please, sit on the only thing you can sit on, my couch.¡± ¡°Thank you. I would like a water.¡± Francine says. She sits and crosses one leg over the other with an annoyingly straight back. I stifle another eye roll, walk to the kitchen and fill a glass with water. I hand Francine her water and say, ¡°Why are you two here?¡± ¡°First, I¡¯m sorry for my earlier behavior. I have not been myself lately. After my husband¡¯s passing, the thought of losing even the small village of Athens was like losing him again. It is not an excuse but an explanation,¡± Francine says. I break eye contact with her and kick the ground, and say ¡°Uh, yes, I heard...Sorry for your loss.¡± Lame, but what am I supposed to say. ¡°Second, ¡° Francine continues, nodding her head at my awkward platitude, ¡°thank you for leading the team to dispatch Null. Dan related your adventures to me. It is clear that your direction and individual efforts carried the day. Well done. Can you please divulge how you got Null to cancel his quest? Did you kill him? It does not seem like just his death would cause the quest to end but my quest completed, indicating we are out of danger.¡± I nod and say, ¡°I nearly died after Null killed Dan, but it turns out that Bonesy, the mouthy skull, is composed of ferromagnetic materials. My boons let me shunt electricity into Bonesy, causing him to become magnetic. Once I shunted enough electricity into him, he stuck to Null¡¯s sword, making it unusable. Then it was my staff vs. an unusable sword. Before the final blow, I gave Null two options. The first option was that I killed him, and looted his body, taking the sword and breastplate, or maybe just one if the game only lets me take one, leaving him behind the curve on equipment and setting him back on his ultimate goal to be the greatest player in Incrementum. The second option was that I killed him but did not loot his body, and he canceled his quest and swore to fight for Athens for one full day, up to three times at any time in the future, with at least a week¡¯s notice. I hope you congratulated Doc, Dan, Kuruk and Leonard as well -- especially Doc -- I wouldn¡¯t have defeated him without their efforts.¡± Dan tilts his head and says, ¡°What about David?¡± ¡°David was totally useless Dan, you saw it!¡± He smiles, ¡°Haha, yeah, he really was.¡± Francine sighs and says, ¡°We don¡¯t see eye-to-eye on all things, young lady, but you are proving to be surprisingly competent. Dan, it appears you are right. She has the makings of an exemplary leader and tank. Samantha, may I ask, why haven¡¯t you returned to Incrementum?¡± My cheeks redden at her praise and my spine straightens. It¡¯s a welcome change from Helga the Terrible. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Dan told you, but I¡¯ve been in danger of being fired for awhile now, and the danger became real. I had to put out job applications and start looking for a new place to live. Hopefully above the solar line if I can find a position.¡± Francine frowns, ¡°If you only knew how hard I fought against the city solar sails. The energy is not worth the human and environmental cost. Of course it was good for our bottom line, but there were and still are so many better ways.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°My husband and I founded Bloom Solar.¡± I take a step back. Woah. Wait a second... ¡°Dan you sneaky good for nothing blessings monkey! You let me go this whole time agonizing over my job and you didn¡¯t mention your boss controls the solar industry? She¡¯s what, the richest woman in the world?¡± Dan at least has the decency to look ashamed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my secret to tell. She doesn¡¯t want people in the game to know. I think she¡¯s #3 currently.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t want people to know, in accordance with my husband¡¯s wishes. Part of my husband¡¯s dream, before he passed, was to sell our interests in Bloom Solar and move on to a new grand project, founding a new civilization with just our wits and determination, not our wealth and fame. We wanted to found our new civilization not on earth, and not in space -- like some are trying -- but in an alternate reality, a digital reality. Our current society and planet are what they are, mistakes have been made, some things are good, some are bad, but one thing is certain, we can¡¯t start over. In another new world, like Incrementum, we can. James was obsessed with it, researching governance models, city planning, logistics..the list goes on.¡± Francine tears up slightly, dabs and white handkerchief against her eyes and continues. ¡°I should have paid more attention, but I thought he would be with me to do it. I will study, learn more, do better, and turn the Athenian Empire into the single greatest power in Incrementum, and that power will do right by its citizens, not perfect, but right.¡± Francine waves her hand, ¡°Back to your difficulties, Dan told me about your professional situation. I made a few inquiries. Your solar maintenance budget and many others were ransacked. Your superiors have been embezzling funds for years. They¡¯ve been fired and might even go to jail.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I say, pumping my fist into the air. ¡°I knew it! What¡¯s with the letter I got from the head of the board...Michael...something.¡± ¡°Michael Foss and his accomplice, Helga Trompswitch, were both fired and may face criminal lawsuits if the District Attorney chooses to prosecute. Politics.¡± Francine says as she waves her hand. ¡°Wow, thank you. Does this mean I can have my old job back?¡± ¡°No. Corporations do not appreciate whistleblowers, your termination will remain in place, regardless of its injustice.¡± I feel like a rocket, soaring to the moon, right when it ran out of fuel and started crashing back to the earth. ¡°Oh...that¡¯s not good news.¡± My shoulders slump and I look at the poorly carpeted floor of my apartment. ¡°Which brings me to my offer. I own a building in Chicago. Nothing too grand, maybe double the size of this one...perhaps more. I have room on staff for another solar technician. If that is what you wish to do, you may do it there. That offer is on the table, no matter what comes after this, do you understand?¡± My engines of hope sputtered, maybe I wouldn¡¯t have a crash landing after all. ¡°Ok.¡± ¡°Good. What I want, is for you to sign on as the Head of my Elite Athenian Warriors. I have already offered Mr. David Fullbright and Mr. Kenneth Carmine a position as one of my Elite, interestingly enough, they want to know your answer first.¡± ¡°Who is Kenneth...and why? This is a too good to be true offer, those are normally not true.¡± ¡°You know Kenneth as Kuruk, I believe. His clan and him may join Athens, to swell our ranks for the trials ahead. I have decided that while we achieve my dream, we might just help some others. Not for free of course, they have to work in Incrementum as citizens of Athens, but a better offer than they receive here, below the solar line.¡± ¡°As to your second question, I don¡¯t think you understand the value a leader and tank has to me. In the very near future, I will need my Elite to conquer dungeons, mines and even other homesteads. We must explore the Unknown Lands to the north, and fend off aggressive neighbors from the south. My Elite need a tank and leader to secure iron, gold, bronze and silver for the empire.¡± ¡°That is not my role, I must organize and facilitate our growth. If you lead my Elite, it¡¯s worth more than a solar technician¡¯s salary, to me, and also in bitcoin. The exchange rate for a bitcoin is already one ounce of Incrementum gold. That rate will become more favorable over time, as more people immerse in Incrementum and demand increases. Especially when we control a large portion of the supply. As the tip of the Athens spear, you will lead efforts worth thousands of ounces of gold, maybe even millions. If you join me, as the leader of my elite, I will offer you three percent of the Athens empire quarterly profits, in addition to all the other standard Elite bonuses.¡± ¡°I also want to show you this.¡± Francine reaches into the too expensive to think about purse at her side, and pulls out a jar, with only two pills. Dan sharply inhales. Francine holds up her hand to forestall any comments. ¡°You are aware of Everlife pills, I assume?¡± Francine says. I nod my head. They were supposed to be the new fountain of youth, reversing decades of cell aging with just one pill. Francine continues. ¡°They are prohibitively expensive, of course. What people are willing to pay is what they cost, and that is a lot. I have two pills, one was for James, and one for me. I sat for weeks in my apartment, with little except my person, and these pills beside me. I did not want to take them, I still don¡¯t want to take them, I want to see James as soon as I can.¡± She pauses and looks down. ¡°But he believed in Athens -- he wanted the Athenian Empire to be a reality, and he could not stand a quitter. No, that lovely stubborn man would cuss me up and down if I joined him sooner than I had to without seeing this through. I will commit to this path, I will stick around to see this through. The question is, will you?¡± Francine stops talking, still sitting straight on my cheap couch, holding the fountain of youth and offering me a vision of wealth I never even considered. I can do the math if she¡¯s right about the exchange rate becoming more favorable, and the potential wealth of the Athenian Empire, this could change my life immensely. ¡°Can I think about it?¡± I say. ¡°If you have to think about it, I¡¯m making this offer to the wrong person,¡± Francine says. What¡¯s the worst that can happen? I get fired? ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± I say. Dan whoops and rushes forward to hug me. Francine smiles. ¡°Very good. There is one more thing.¡± Francine says. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I say. ¡°You will be head of sanitation as well. Sewers and so forth.¡± ... ¡°What the heck? Bait and switch much?¡± I say, throwing my arms up in the air in frustration. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, you have very good staff. A seasoned manager came on the market lately, she had a black mark on her record so I got her to agree to a year-long contract at a substantially reduced rate.¡± Francine says. ¡°Oh my god, really?¡± ¡°Yes. Helga Trompswitch reports to you on all her efforts to safely manage the human waste of our rapidly growing population.¡±