《Forever》 1 - My World Once, there was a beautiful woman. She sat, alone, staring off into the infinite horizon with her crystal blue eyes. They seemed... melancholic. The shade of the oak tree gave was comfortable. With each gust of wind, the leaves would rustle and grass wave, creating a pleasant din, not unlike the gentle ebb and flow of an ocean''s waves. Yet, the woman was not appeased. She sat still and uncontented in paradise. The reason why could only be wondered after. Then it happened. A blinding whitelight exploded into existence, not seven yards away from the tree. Accompanying it was an intense, radial burst of wind. Grass near the epicenter was uprooted violently and some of the tree''s leaves fell as a result of the whirlwind. A single second hadn''t passed before the blast resolved itself. In the center of the still smoking, charred crater was a crouching humanoid, whose appearance was concealed by the heavy smoke. The silhouette rose fluidly, immediately affixing its attention on the woman. Nonplussed, the woman inspected the figure as leaves lazily drifted to the dirt. After a moment, her plump lips morphed into a smile. She rose, clapping her hands slowly, mockingly. "Quite an entrance", her melodius voice complimented, "Those are usually unique to each person. You must have quite the flair for the dramatic." A deep, distinctly male voice emanated from the crater in response, "Interesting. I knew that Virtual Realitywould be life-like, but this level of detail is... astounding." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I almost confused you for a human." The smoke cleared, revealing a rather tall man. He was unkempt, with long black hair sticking out in random directions and unshaved stubble on prominent display. His frame was wiry, yet toned. He wore a plain white cotton t-shirt and blue denim jeans. Both of them regarded each other for a moment. "Quant", she intoned. Unpeterbed, shewaved her arms in a grandiose fashion, saying, "Welcome to Libertas Online. You are about to enter a world made for freedom in its truest and rawest form. Though that means great privileges, italso means great danger. Death lurks in this world, whether it be in the form of a simple goblin or painful starvation. Do you understand?'' He nodded. "Very well", she said, lowering her arms, "That being said, we must set up a few things before you can start playing. First of all, what is your expected loggedhours per day? Different bonuses will be allocated depending on how long you stay logged in a day. If your average time dips below your answer here, the appropriate changes will be made to compensate."Stolen novel; please report. "24 hours", he replied instantly. Her eyebrow raised. "Are you certain?", she asked. He nodded again. Sighing lightly, she continued, "Alright. Next on the list, your race." He looked down at his tanned arms for a moment before looking back up at her, questioningly. "Not thatkind of race", she said, unamused, "I mean the particular type of sentient being you wish to spawn as. The ones you are eligible for are: pixie, elf, beastkin, human, orc, goblin, skeleton, kobold, hobbit, naga, shade, mer folk, dwarf, or half-elf. Each one holds unique talents and cultures, leading them to be more fit for certain archetypes, though no race is entirely barred from any certain path. For example, an Elf is particularly talented in the magical arts, yet it is entirely possible for them to be barbarians. Hidden races are also available, but you must unlock those later on. I''ll tell you the details of any race you are interested in." The man considered this for long time. He stood as still as stone, contrasting the scenery of waving grass. "Skeleton", finally hesaid. "Hmm. That is avery difficult raceto begin your adventure with. Although they don''t need food, water, or sleep, they are also vilified by most other races, disallowing entry into most cities. This means you will be cut off from merchants to sell your loot to, and trainers to sharpen and harness skills with", she said with some concern, strangely. "Alongside goblins and kobolds, they are the only ones able to evolve. Into what, you''ll have to find out yourself, but each hold the potential to become extremely powerful beings, given the right circumstances. Of all the races, skeletons are the only entirely element-neutral beings, holding no true strengths nor weakness, magically. Though that might change, depending on what path you choose." "Where do their talents lie?", he questioned. "Skeletons are magically formed beings and as such, they hold some talent in the arcane, particularly in destruction magic and necromancy. Otherwise, they can become quite skilled in physical warfare, especially with polearms and shortswords. However, skeletons are most famous for their archery", she answered. "I''ve decided", he said, "I choose Skeleton." "An unusual choice, but one that I think fits, somehow", she said, tilting her head, "You may customize your character now." An apparition materialized between them. It was an upright Skeleton, of the exact height and size as the man before it. The matte finish of the white bones was pristine, showing not even a slight chip or crack. In what should be empty eye sockets levitated green irises. They were startlingly intelligent. "... Make the irises gray. Otherwise, it''s perfect.", he stated simply. In a moment, the color washed away, leaving ash gray were lively green once was. "Alright", she said, "That concludes character creation. For additional information, refer to the in-game tutorial which lasts for your first threedays. Other than that, we prefer to keep UI to a minimum, allowing for a more immersive experience. To see your character sheet and set a point-allocation system for when you level up, find a scryer." She lazily rose her hand and pointed at him before her eyes widened in suprise. "Oh, I almost forgot. What will your name be?", she asked. "Gray", he said, as he started to disappear in motes of light. The motes started to appear more frequently and brilliantly, soon eveloping his entire body. It wasn''t long before he was gone completely. She stared off again, this time lost in thought. "... Gray, huh?", she almost whispered. 2 - Spooky There was nothing. Immediately after my conversation ended with that AI, I was engulfed in darkness. There wasn''t even enough light to see the nose on my face. Without warning, a white box materialized, blinding me temporarily.
Welcome to Libertas Online Configuring: 1% (1 hour remaining) You may leave your capsule during configuration
''Like that''s going to happen'', I thought. I had promised myself that I never would leave my capsule again. The protein harness system and static rejuvenation field installed in my pod ensured that I wouldn''t ever need to either. The world had scorned me, I was simply returning the favor. Shaking my head, I decided to not focus on that, there were better things to do with my time. After openingmy Capsule''s internet browser, I pulled up some info on Libertas Online. Aegis, the company who developed the game, was a fledgling corporation, not having released a single title beforehand, yet it was the only company to have Government Approval to make a VRMMORPG, much to their competitor''s dismay. The Government had to approve of every single VR program before release in order to "protect the psychological state of the consumer". It was a bunch of bull. All they really cared about was full control of the market, not safety. I guess that was just all the more reason to leave. The general public had little idea what Libertas Online was even about. Aegis was extremely secretive, enforcing a strict ban on information leaks. No matter where I looked beforehand, there wasn''t a single iotaof info online besides the release date. I was amongst the first wave of gamers to play, so I didn''t expect to find much. To my surprise, Aegis had revoked their ban of leaks the moment that the game released. The internet was flooded with speculation riddled here and there with a few specks of truth. Luckily, I had a few reliable sources to go to. Most of it was lore related: pantheons, kingdoms, myths, etc. But what caught my eye was the levelling system. On first glance, it was pretty standard fare for an RPG: you kill something, level up, kill something stronger, and the cycle continues. What made Libertas Online unique was the talents system that used what your mind was talented at in order to decide whether you could acquire a related skill. Supposedly, as the game was configuring, it piecedtogether a full brain scan from your capsule''s history. I glanced up at the now-ominous white screen, wondering if it was a good idea for me to be in my capsule during configuration after all. ''I hope my talents are useful'', I thought, ''I''d hate to be a manual laboreror something.'' I also knew that most of this information was tentative at best. Obviously, there was no way for the game to prevent someone from defending themselves, even if they had no talent for combat. At least, I hoped so. Engrossed in my thoughts, I didn''t notice the Configuration Box slowly approaching 100% until a second box appeared, snapping me out of my reverie.
Configuration Complete Welcome, Gray
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I only had a moment to read the message before the box expanded wider and wider, engulfing the entirety of my vision.
Would you like to enter the public or private tutorial?
"Private", I said instantly. No doubt the public tutorial rooms were clogged with people meeting up with "friends". I couldn''t stand their disgusting smiles, their ugly laughter. The words faded out of existence, leaving me alone for a split-second. The world warped, twisting and contorting wildly for what seemed like an eternity. Just as I thought I would lose my stomach, the motion abruptly stopped. I found myself sitting on a red couch in the center of a sterile white room.Nothing else was in the room, not even a door. A motion below me caught my eye. It resolved to a skeletal foot, with pronounced, chalkwhite bones. Each bone was clearly in contact with another, yet just how they stayed attached without tendons or muscle wasn''t apparent. My eyes naturally flowed from bone to bone, tiny to large and back again. Eventually, my sight rested on a skeletal hand. ''...I didn''t think something so beautiful would be in a human'', I mused. The hand was delicate, yet also held a dangerous aura, reminiscent of a venomous spider. The metacarpals looked much longer than they would clothed in flesh. Slow realization poured over me. With trepidation, I tried to clasp the skeletal hand into a fist. The motion was smooth, silk-like, reinforcing mymental image of a spider. With excitement, I noted that the bones made no noise when they came into contact with each other. Stealth would be that much easier. Even more importantly, I could "feel" the contact. The fact that I had not lost my tactile sense was wonderful news. The bones felt smooth and comfortable to the touch, making the fist easy to accomplish and comfortable to hold. For a while, I experimented with my new body, noting the subtle differences frommy old one. The first thing to get used to was the new timing when touching things. After all, with no flesh, mybody would come into contact with things a fraction-of-a-second faster than my humanmuscle memory would remember. In the short term, that meant going slower, lest I stumble over myself or grab at nothing. I would get used to that soon enough. Second was my lack of bodily functions. Even as I analyzed myself, I had to constantly remind myself that I didn''t need to blink, as I had no eyelids. The lack of lungs also made it difficult to breath. Yet, once I acclimated to this body, that would become a huge boon. I would always perform at peak efficiency, no hunger, thirst, tiredness, or discomfort would ever stop me. After my inspection was done, I was elated. Not only did my body hold great potential, it was also very much different from a human''s. No longer being part of the human race would provide me with a huge psychological boost. I was aware of my misanthropy, and was willing to accept both its pros and cons. That was the path I had chosen. With a start, I realized that I hadn''t tried speaking yet. Just as I was about to attempt it, I heard a loud pop. Looking up, I saw something strange: a very small, winged humanoid, hovering a few inches from my face. It was unclothed, yet had no discernible genitalia. ''A pixie'', I thought, awestruck. A creature straight from legends, from movies, books, and games, was right in front of me. Their appearance, powers, and even temperament varied wildly from iteration to iteration, but one thing always held constant: they were troublemakers. Its tiny eyes scrutinized me, sending a shiver down my very visible spine. Something about the creature made me intensely nervous. "You.. you''re Mr. Gray, right?", a squeaky voice inquired. I nodded slowly, not taken in by its attempts to be cute. "This one is Hanna. Hanna is very sorry she couldn''t come sooner, there are many more travelling spirits than the World Tree thought there would be", she apologized, pointed ears drooping. ''World Tree must refer to Libertas Online''s controlling AI, and travelling spirits to the players themselves'', I thought. I had read enough webnovels to know that. "So", she exclaimed, tiny countenance brightening, "is Mr. Graygetting used to hisnew body? Many travelling spirits said that it was a strange experience." I paused for a moment before replying. "Yes", a thrumming baritonevoice emanated from my teeth. My words reverberatedwithin the confined space of the white room. ''Huh, I thought it would be gravelly and coarse'', I silently rejoiced, ''I don''t even need to move my jaw to speak.'' "Good! Great even! I hadhoped Mr. Gray would be comfortable. Lady Endvil told Hanna to keep an eye on you", the pixie said happily. That was concerning. "This... Lady Endvil, was shethe one I spoke to to create my avatar?", I questioned hesitantly. Hannanodded with a huge grin on her face. "Mr. Gray was the only oneof the travelling spirits to catch the Lady''s interest", she said animatedly. That was bad. Very bad. I couldn''t afford to get on an A.I.''s bad side, especially one that was capable of flawlessly handling millions of character creations at the same time. With that level of computational capacity,I would essentially be a sinner in the hands of an angry god. On the other hand, having "her" favor would be nice in the short term, but would inevitably lead to quite a bit of attention directed my way by news coverage, pvp''ers, and players in general. That was thecompletely opposite of my plans. "Anyway", Hanna said bubblingly, "We only have three days together, so why don''t we make the most of it?" ...The pixie was right. It was no use worryingabout something I couldn''t change. I had to focus during those three days, otherwise... I wouldn''t be able to survive in this world. After all, you have to know the rules to play a game. 3 - Days Hanna hated the skeleton she was sent to. Despite being a Travelling Spirit, he acted almost nothing like one. Lady Endvil had told her that they were strong, eloquent, funny, and most of all interesting.Hanna had been so excited to meet a travelling Spirit before, but now was frustrated beyond belief. Hanna had to struggle to keep up the conversation. ''Ugh, he barely speaks at all'', Hanna mentally grumbled, ''And I have to put up with three days of this?'' The only time she got a reaction out of him was when she told him that the Lady had taken an interest in him. It was a blatant lie, of course, one meant to spice up the conversation. The skeleton took the bait beautifully. Despite having no facial expression to read, Hanna could tell by how his eyes flickered that he was affected by her announcement. ''Oh? Maybe he''s got a little crush?'', Hanna estimated. After another moment had passed, she dismissed the idea. That look wasn''t one of embarassment or fond thought. It was of fear. ''I wonder what the good Lady did to him. Maybe take his soul? That would explain his lack of a personality'', she quiped, giggling a bit at her own joke. The skeleton look up and locked eyes with Hanna, staring her down for a moment with his charcoal gray eyes. "Where do we start?", he asked. Ugh, whenever he spoke the air vibrated around Hanna''s wings uncomfortably. That wasn''t unique him, however. All skeletons'' voices had the annoying effect on pixies. "Well", Hanna began, attemptingto be pleasant, "First, we havea questionnaire to fill out! How you answer will determine your stat point allocation, so try to be honest, okay? "...Oh! does Mr. Gray need an explaination for what stat points are?", she finished, trying to appear forgetful. "No, I''m fine", Gray said simply. Of course, what kind of idiot would need an explanation for that? Even for Travelling Spirits, that was probably basic information. "Alrighty then! First question: A man stops you on the road and asks for some spare coin, but you''re in a rush, what do you do?", Hanna asked. "Walk past him but be prepared to retaliate in case he attacks me", Gray answered without pause. "Second: You''re tasked with killing 10 wolves but killing more more may garner you a bigger reward, but maybe not. How many do you kill?", Hanna continued. Keeping pace, Gray answered, "As many as I am able to, taking care to pelt their fur, defang their mouths, and preserve their meat, selling my stock when I return for my reward." Nodding, Hanna then proposed another question, "Three: You are invited into an adventuring party that is famous for the sheer amount of gold they rake in, but infamous for their practice of killing civilians. What do you do?" "Deny them", Gray said flatly, "Killing their entire party for the bounty they no doubt accrued." "Four: How would you go about doing that?", she asked. "If they are weaker than me, bystraight combat. If they are on the same level, through ambushes and other guerilla tactics. If they are stronger, slowly, by poisoning their drinks and empowering their enemies", Gray replied. ''I can respect that'', Hanna thought approvingly, ''They are killers after all, why would theydeserve mercy themselves?'' "Alright. So, five: what is your priority in spending money?", the pixie asked, starting to genuinely become interested in the skeleton''s answers. "In weapons, building materials, and books", Gray said evenly. "Oh? What kind of books?", Hannaenthusiastically inquired. "...Historyandarchitecture. If information regarding magic and its various applications are available to purchase in this world, then I will readily buy them. Also, if skill books exist, then I would also prioritize them", he said after a moment. "That''s smart", she complimented, "So, next... "... and that concludes the questionnaire!", Hanna congratulated. "Was.. was all of that necessary?", Gray asked, an tingeof weariness showing through. "Nope!", she cheerfully replied, "Your Statistic Scan was completed by question two. I just made up a fewquestions to have a little fun." ''A few'' had turned out to be sixty-three. The skeleton sat, unmovingand silentfor an uncomfortably long time, staring in disbelief at the pixie. "Oh, come on! It was just a joke!", Hanna desperately tried to appease Gray, "Besides, I got to know you much better! That''ll help us make more progress on your tutorial!" If anything, his eyes grew sharper. Apparently, the skeleton didn''t take being manipulated well. "...Fine! I''ll give you some extra statpoints!", Hanna said desperately, "Just calm down!" Immediately, Gray''s glare softened from steel down to his usual stone. Hanna could swear she detected a hint of mirth as well. Had she been the one who was manipulated? ''Oh, I was definitely wrong about you. These three days will be much more fun than Iexpected'', the pixie thought. "Okay, here''s your Level 1 status screen. The question marks are areas you need to fill out yourself", she explained with pride. A two-dimensional rectangle materialized in front of Gray, very similarly to the game''s notification boxes, but colored black.
Gray Level 1 Skeleton
Alignment ? PVP ?
Class ? Sub-Class N/A
Titles N/A Fame 0
Attributes: 0 points to assign
Physical ( x1 ) Mental ( x1 )
Agility 10 Charisma 1
Strength 10 Intelligence 10
Endurance 10 Wisdom 10
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Grey shot Hanna a lookafter he saw his charisma stat. The pixie busied herself with her nails, whistling innocently. "Why are the stats subdivided into mental and physical?", Gray asked, surprising Hanna. "Well, several items and skills just adda specific bonus, likeBoots of Agility, but others just amplify one general side, likeCrown of Mental Strength", the pixie answered. Gray nodded. Obviously the items and skills that amplified a whole side would be much rarer. After reading the initial screen, Gray examined his options, carefully deciding which to choose. All choices were final and he, no doubt, was a careful planner.
Alignments are your stated intentions to the world. Choose wisely.
Good Synonymous with righteous mercy. Those who choose this alignment advertise their loyalty to morality and the rule of law. Charisma bonus of 10% when speaking to another person of Good alignment. Receive a 5%experience bonus when in an area controlled by the forces of Good. Collecting bounties will increase your standing with the forces of Good. Repeated Evil action will lead to an alignment shift.
Neutral Synonymous with survival. Those who choose this alignment advertise their dedication to staying alive and out of conflict. Most often, Neutral Aligned people are artisans or laborers, valued highly by all alignments. They may choose one of the following bonus packs: 1. 10% penalty to Charisma, 15% bonus to distribute amongst other stats at your discretion. 2. 1% bonus to all stats. 1% bonus to experience. 1% bonus to skill growth. 3. 10% bonus to experience. 7% penalty to all stats.
Evil Synonymous with selfishness. Those who choose this alignment advertise their loyalty to the pursuit of power, regardless of morality, law, or ties of affection. 3% experience bonus, regardless of area, and 7% experience bonus when in an area not controlled by the forces of Good. Evil actions increase your bounty. The higher your bounty, the higher your critical hit rate.
After some thought, Gray chose Neutral''s second option. He wanted an avatar that could utilize all of the stats in tandem; become a warrior of perfect balance. Such a person would have no weaknesses. Getting Charisma up to par may be a bit of a challenge, though... Next, he began to pore over his PVP options.
PVP is how you deal with other players when words fail. Choose wisely.
Enabled You may attack and be attacked by other "Travelling Spirits".
Disabled You cannot directly harm other "Travelling Spirits", but they cannot harm you either.
Immediately, Gray chose Enabled. PVP, in his experience with MMORPGs, was an excellent source of experience. Choosing Disabled would be like willingly stunting your growth for the sake of ''safety''. ".. the only true way to be safe is by your own strength..", Gray mumbled inaudibly. The next decision was his class, and, after discussing with Hanna, Gray realized that this was perhaps his most important decision. "Yup! Your class will determine what stats are increased after level up. Of course, you''ll have some unassigned points as well, but classes determine whatis manditoraly risen. Everybody has access to five classes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Artisan, and Bard, but every now and then, the World Tree sees fit to give a Unique class. These are often similar to a regular class except that they offer a very powerful ability. No two are like", Hanna spoke in reverence. "In fact", sheboasted, "Yours truly is a Wayfarer,a way awesome unique class!" The pixie fluttered her wings pridefully, soaking in all her glory before continuing. "Also, Classes often upgrade themselves into more powerful versions. The triggers for an upgrade vary, but some are stronger than others. For example the Mage can upgrade to a Warlock when you reach 50 Intelligence." Nodding seriously, Gray began to examine his options.
A Classis the path you have chosen in life. Choose wisely.
Warrior Truly built for battle, aWarrior never shrinks from a good fight. Upon level-up: +3 to Strength, +2 to Vitality, and +1 to Agility
Mage Ready and able to uncover the mysteries of the arcane, a Mage is amaster of the elements Upon level-up: +3 to Intelligence, +2 to Wisdom and +1 to Charisma
Rogue Silent and deadly, a Rogue can either be your best friend or worst enemy. Upon level-up: +3 to Agility, +2 to Intelligence, and +1 to Strength
Artisan Creators of fine art and fierce tools of war, an Artisan''s true passion is their craft. Upon level-up: +5to Wisdom, and +1 to Charisma.
Bard A Bard can melt afrozen heart, rally a mob, and sing lullabies, all whiledancing merrily. Upon level-up: +6 to Charisma
Dread Scryer (Unique) The Dread Scryersees all and mortals tremble at his passing. Upon level-up: +1 to all stats Special Ability: 10% bonus to all stats when they are all equal. Scrying skill is granted.
"One of these things is not like the others..", Gray said. "Hmm?", Hanna hummed inquisitvely, still focusing on her own class. "I got a unique class, theDread Scryer", Gray continued. ... ... "WHAT?!", Hanna screamed. "Whuh, how, you.. you''re..", the pixie was at a loss for words. It took a moment for her to collect herself. "That''s incredibly lucky!According to the Lady, you are the first Travelling Spirit to be granted a unique class!", Hanna said. Gray noted that Hanna could communicate with the Central AI instantaneously before listening on. "Also, that''s kind of strange. The Scryer is a sub-class, only unlockable by someone who chose Mage as their main class. They''re the only ones who can show you your status screen after the tutorial ends. Why the World Tree gave a stronger version to you as a main class is a good question... Anyways, hurry up and pick it", Hanna exclaimed, brushing aside her worries. Gray did so, after only a moment''s consideration. The classes'' bonuses and ability coincided with his intended playstyle perfectly. Now he didn''t have to rely on Scryers to view his status screen and assign his earned points. That excited Gray to no end, though his skeletal visage showed none of it. Immediately after he chose it, another popup appeared, this time white.
Congratulations! You choseLibertas Online''s first unique class! Would you like to announce your accomplishment? (+9 Charisma, +1,000 fame)?
If he could wrinkle his nose in distaste, Gray would. He immediately closed the box. Even if they gave him twenty free levels, he wouldn''t take the award. That would be completely contrary to his goal of anonymity. "Okay, now that character creation is over, how about we get started?", Hanna asked excitedly. Gray nodded. One second he was sitting on a couch in the white room, the other, he was sprawled out on the floor of a cavern. The rough limestone beneath him felt so... real. The texture was incredibly lifelike, completely suspending Gray''s disbelief. Surveying his surroundings, Gray sat up as quietly as he could, not knowing whether there were enemies nearby. Gray felt that the cavern should''ve been much darker, but attributed it to a Skeleton''s natural darkvision. The cavern, while very massive, held nothing but a large amount of stalagtites and stalagemites, with a medium exit a few hundred yards away. The stalagtites slowly dripped water down, creatingthe only noise discernible. "This", Hanna said, completely out of sight, "Is your tutorial. The goal is simple: get to the surface. There will be monsters and other obstacles along the way, but I will be here to give advice." "What if I don''t finish in three days?", Gray asked. Hanna paused, her voice hesitant, "You lose your class and have to reset to the bottom. You''d have to go classless forever." Well... no pressure. 4 - Me It wasn''t long before I discovered that getting to the surface would be no simple task. The cavern that I ''spawned'' in seemed to be the smallest and least complex to navigate. The further I went, the longer it took for me to find the exit of each individual cavern. It was silent, save for the tiny sounds of my skeletal footfall. "This is Gorg''s Tomb", Hanna said, expelling the silence, "A cave system not usually explored because of, you guessed it, its sheer sizeand complexity. There are rumors that it holds vast treasures in its depths, but any young fool stupid enough to look into those rumors has never returned." As soon as she finished speaking, I reached the exit of yet another cavern. I paused as I did so, sensing that something was amiss. Peering around the corner, I found out why: the cavern was connected to a corridor that seemingly stretched into infinity both directions. It seemed as if the caverns that I was traversing were just another section of Gorg''s Tomb, as there seemed to be entry-ways upon entry-ways along the corridor. Glancing from left to right, I pondered which way I should go. ''... Might as well follow the left-hand rule'', I decided. As I travelled down the corridor, I noted something eerie: some of the entry-ways seemed clean cut, unnaturally so. "Seems as if I''m not the first one here", I said with trepidation. Still out of sight, Hanna hummed in confirmation. ''Could this damn pixie help out a little?'', I grumbled. Suddenly, I had a powerful premonition of danger. I leaped into the closest corrider as quietly and quickly as I could manage. I had barely landed in a crouching position when I heard the shuffling of fabric just up ahead. Barely leaning from my position, I peeked out at the source of the noise. Luckily, it had entered the corridor with its back to me. It was a short, hunched humanoid colored a snot green and splotched here and there with a mottled brown. Its armswere elongated, reaching all the way down to its shins. Its long, greasy black hair obscured the majority of its face, save for its glittering browneyes. The loincloth it wore, if you could call it that, wasn''t hiding anything. It was clearly a male. It was holding a dimly glowing blue crystal, about one inch wide, with its disturbingly long fingers as it shuffled down the corridor. ''Good. It relies on artificial lighting'', I thought, ''I can probably get behind him without any trouble.'' "Hey, Gray", Hanna whispered urgently, "This is probably a good time to use a skill. Just think of the word ''skills'' and the screen will pop up. Don''t worry, it''s only visible to you and me." Skills
Skills
Darkvision (Passive) Lv. 7 You may see in low-light areas.
Favor (Passive) Lv. 0 ?
Scrying (Active) Lv. 1 Observe a living being''s position in the World Tree. All attributes are visible if target is at most 1 level higher than you. Higher leveled targets reduce detail.
Scrying (Passive) Max level Your eyes are opened.
Saving the other (more confusing) skills for later, I quickly used Scrying on the creature.
Shorna Level 3Hobgoblin
Alignment Evil PVE Aggressive
Class Laborer Titles N/A
Sub-Class N/A Fame -5
Attributes
Physical ( x0.5 ) Mental ( x0.5 )
Agility 7 (3) Charisma 0 (0)
Strength 6 (3) Intelligence 2 (1)
Endurance 4 (2) Wisdom 3 (1)
''Why areits attributes so low? Isit supposed to be some kind of minion-type?'', I thought, confused. Shrugging the questions off for later, I crept low to the ground behind the hobgoblin, just barely faster than its pace. I had to adjust the normal way I sneaked to suit my skeletal feet. Rather than distributing my whole weight evenly along a sole and transitioning feet smoothly, I relied on shifting my weight from big toe, to pinkie toe, to heel at varying intervals.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. It took a few minutes, but I finally caught up to it. ''God, it stinks'', I thought, ''But that confirms that I can still smell.'' Close up, I saw that the hobgoblin stood at a little under five feet tall, hunched over and emaciated from lack of nutrition. Its ribs were clearly visible and I couldtell the look of ravenous hunger in its eyes, universal amongst species. Alongside its meager stats, that convinced me that I was more than capable of killing it. Resolving myself to action, I pounced forward. I swept my leg low, solidly connecting with the back of its knees. As it fell, forced into a kneeling position, I clasped my right hand over its mouth and left behind its neck. It didn''t even get a chance to grunt in pain. "Do not scream, Hobgoblin", I whispered menacingly, "Or you will taste death... nod if you can understand." After a tense moment, it begrudgingly did so. "Good", I said, no less malice in my voice, "Answer one question and I will free you: where are you going?" I loosened my grip just slightly in order for it to respond. "T.. the Chieftain''s cave, master", it said, cowed into submission, "It is the seventh cave from here." ''So, these beasts are ordered into some kind of governance?'', I pondered, ''Interesting...'' I had almost drifted off into thought when the hobgoblin I still had in my grip shifted nervously, snapping me from my reverie. ''Oh yes'', I remembered, unpleasantly, ''...you.'' Redoubling my grip, I snapped itsneck. The sudden crack resounded loudly for a moment before silence once again fell. I let the body go, and watched as it crumpled forward and landed on the stone floor with an audible thump. Its neck, twisted 120degrees clockwise, forced its face towards me, displaying disgusting features, worsened by its expression of terror. In particular, I hated how large and crooked its nose was. "... I thought you said you would free him", Hanna said with an edge of fear. Wordlessly, I slung the body over my shoulder and, after inspecting the cavern it came from, tossed it behind some stalagmites. There was nothing valuable to take from it. The glowing gem would compromise my position and I had no way to store it. Some boxes popped up immediately after I killed it and, only after checking my immediate area for threats, I read them.
You have slain a monster two levels higher than you! +100% Experience
Level up! +1 to all stats Currently Unassigned Points: 6
You have learned Sneak (Active)! Muffling noise and hiding your presence can be very rewarding. Attacking while hidden will lead to a critical hit. Higher levels will allow for a greater degree of stealth. *Increases Agility with effective usage
You have learned Fear (Active)! You can now produce an aura of terror around you. Higher levels allow for a larger radiusand stronger effect. *Increases Charisma with effective usage
Most of that was good news, but I still had aproblem. "Hanna, is there some way for me to disable stat gains associated with skills?", I asked. She didn''t answer. "Hanna, answer me", I calmly said. ".. You didn''t answer me before", Hanna said, audibly angry, "You said you would free him!" I shook my head. ''Figures'', I thought, ''I have to explain myself to something a preteen girl would doodle.'' "Gray!", she shouted. I looked over at exactly where her voice originated from. A small shimmer in the air was my response, a pixie-shapedshimmer. "I did free it. You saw it just as well as I did, Hanna. It was starving and exhausted. At most, it would have lived a week. A horribly painful and slow week. Death was inevitable either way. By my hand or by nature''s. Even if I did lie, it was to ease itsmind before itsdeath. Is that so evil?", I asked evenly. It was quiet for a long time as we stared each other down. Finally dropping her camouflauge, Hanna looked at me warily before saying, "Okay, fine Gray, I believe you. But what you really need to convince is the World Tree. Actions that can be construed as evil can shiftalignments." "Actually, that''s not quite the case", I countered, "Only in Good''s alignment descriptiondid it specify that Evil actions cause alignment shifts. Once you''re Evil or Neutral, you stay that alignment for life. Now, can youdisable stat gains associated with skills or not?" Hanna blinked in shock. "Um, yes you can", she said, digesting the new information, "Skills increase that specific stat because the higher that stat is multiplied by your skill level is how effective the skill is overall. Like the higher your Charisma is, the better you''ll do when using theBarter skill. Here, I''ll set it so that you''ll receiveunassigned points instead on skills." "Good", I said. Immediately, I poured all of my unassigned points into Charisma, for a total of 8 after the level up. ''Not much longer before they''re all equal and I can enjoy that 10% bonus'', I thought excitedly. If that minion was any measure to the strength of the monsters in Gorg''s Tomb, then one of two things was the case: there would be an overwhelming amount of weakling mobs or a steady progression of increasingly powerful but few mobs. From my gaming experience, I was leaning toward the second. ''Damn, I really need to get stronger, either way'', I strategized, ''I want to make it out of here, but I want to leave in one piece. As it stands right now, I''m probably not ready to face this Chieftain.'' Immediately, I activatedSneak and started to scout out the adjacent caverns from my position, taking care not to get lost. Other than earning a level inSneak and an unassigned point (promptly putto Charisma), it was entirely uneventful. What was probably minutes felt like hours. I was getting bored of the constant sight of bleak gray cave-wall. ''Hmm, just one level inSneak has made me noticeably quieter. Maybe... maybe I can scout out the Chieftain''s cave. If anything goes wrong I can just activateFear and bolt'', I considered. Eventually curiosity won out over self-preservation and I slowly inched toward the largest entry-way, both excited and wary. As I came closer with each step, I began to hear the dull clank of iron against stone more and more often until I was right at the entrance and the noise was almost unbearable. I peered in. The cavern was the largest I had ever seen, in the game or not. Three, maybe four football fields in area, its height was twice that. And it wasn''t empty. There were thousands, tens of thousands of hobgoblins mining away at all the walls, except for the wall that lined the corridor. They even had rudimentary scaffolding, allowing them to chip away at even the highest of areas. The massive loads of rock were immediately collected and carted up by gargantuan sickly-yellow humanoids. The shortest one dwarfed a hobgoblin by seven feet. Their biceps were as wide as a tree trunk, easily hefting tons upon tons of stone into massive wheelbarrows. With each step, they produced a heavy rumble, adding to the clamorous din. They were bald and had dangerously sharp tusks. Overall, there were a few score of them. The giants dropped the loads of rock into a gapingpit in the center of the room. No matter how much was tossed down, it didn''t seem to fill up at all. Even with myDarkvision, I couldn''t see the bottom of it. ... "And this is the tutorial?", I asked dryly.