《Questing》 Chapter 1 Into the game. Questing Chapter 1 I was excited, my new virtual reality gaming cube had arrived and after spending some time setting it up, I was ready to go. I had saved for a couple of years and during that time the games had been getting better and better. I had the latest game as it was included with the cube in a bundled deal. Virtual reality gaming cubes had taken the world by storm and I was just one of many millions who would log in and play for the full 12 hours before I would have to log out. With the time compression that amounted to 3 full days of adventure and quests. I was eager to get in on the new game as most of the other games were now full of gold farmers or alternates, these alts were the second or third characters that many players had made. They ruined the economy and made questing difficult as the player''s main character would give them gold or have a high-level friend run them through quests and dungeons. It really was a pain in the ass for players with only a low-level character to try to level or skill up with any of the professions. This new game was supposed to deal with that, you were allowed one character, and you had to experience the game world and do a few quests before you could choose a class at level 5. The classes were pretty much the same as in all the games. Warriors, paladins, mages druids, rogues, priests, merchants, monks, hunters, and warlocks. Several of the classes would split into subclasses as you leveled, the game would allow some leeway in the leveling path. I am just excited to get into the game I figured after I did a few quests I would know what class I wanted to play. I had made sure my weekend was free and I would not be disturbed, I was as ready as I would ever be. Popping the lid on the cube I entered and sat down in the reclining chair, then putting on the neural helmet I closed the lid and powered up the cube. The visor kept the lasers that were constantly firing at me out of my vision. They recorded the minuscule physical movements that would be translated into action within the game. The head-up display flashed green and a sequence of commands scrolled by too fast to see. Finally, a voice spoke and asked, ¡°Are you ready to travel to a new realm, full of magic and myth?¡± I hit the enter button and then relaxed and got as comfortable as possible. Soon a pleasant hum filled my ears and a feminine voice began to talk to me, ¡°Are you comfortable, do you need to shift positions before we begin? At this time please choose a name.¡± I answered, ¡°No, I am fine, my name will be Anon and let¡¯s enter the game.¡± With that, everything went dim and then black. After a minute light began to appear and in seconds I was standing in front of a large temple, with a couple of dozen folks running around. Glancing left and right, I could see that a large forest was off to my right and on my left was a group of tents, each had an icon that displayed one of the classes. In front of the temple was a large knight on a horse, he would greet everyone that ran up to him and then give them a scroll. All the players receiving a scroll would instantly read it, some smiled some did not. Then they would all turn and run off. Guessing it was the first quest I walked over to the knight and waved, once he looked at me I asked, ¡°Sir knight I see that you are busy but wondered if you have a quest that I can do?¡± ¡°You are a polite one, unlike most of these travelers who have shown up, stand still and let me look at you.¡± After a minute of the knight ignoring all the other players he reached his hand to his hip and removed a small scroll from a purse and handed it to me. ¡°If you can complete this quest then come see me when you are finished, I will be glad to discuss your future at that point and offer some guidance if needed. Now be off with you, I have this mob to deal with.¡± With that, the knight ignored me and began handing out scrolls from the satchel attached to his saddle. Clutching my scroll I turned and headed towards a large tree and sat down with my back to the trunk and opened the scroll. I had noticed all the other scrolls were from the satchel but mine came from a small purse on his hip. A little strange, I thought and then began to read the scroll.
Quest Stranger, your willingness to help the kingdom of Craigellachie has been noted. If you are willing, this quest needs to be completed. There will be danger and risk but the rewards are scaled to the quest. If you proceed you must travel west past the forest and go across the barren fields till you hit the mountains. Once there you must explore the old mine. Reports from hunters have stated that Trolls have been sighted coming from the mine. Investigate and return with your report to receive your reward. Do you accept?
I thought for a minute, this was more than the usual go kill some scrawny low level wolfs or rats. It should be possible for a level one to complete as game quests were handed out based on level. I could probably even level up on the journey if I managed to kill some wolves or rats. Accepting the quest I walked over to the tents and made my way to the merchants. All new players started the game with 2 gold. Most players would not spend it on low-level gear, at least not until they knew what class they would go into. I had my own plan to play the game, I was not in a hurry to level, my goal was to enjoy the game from level 1 to 100. The merchant looked bored standing there and as I approached he forced a smile on his face and asked, ¡°How may I help you, young sir?¡± I smiled back and said, ¡°I am looking for a basic defense weapon, something that will help keep me safe till level 5. What would you suggest?¡± The merchant looked at me with surprise and said, ¡°You are the first person to ever ask me what I think. Most of the new folks who come here scurry off so fast they miss out on a lot of stuff. Tell you what, If you can do me a favor I will reward you with a complete set of leather gear. It is not fancy but will do in a pinch, I will also throw in this staff and this training manual on staffs.
Quest The quest is simple, head out west till you reach the river and then scout downstream for a few miles. My brother headed out a week ago, on a fishing trip and has not returned. What do you say?¡±
I nodded it was a great quest but the problem was I needed the gear now, not after the quest. Without trying to sound rude I mentioned that I needed the gear now not later. The merchant frowned at me and then sighed, and said, ¡°You are right, but if I give you this stuff and you don¡¯t return?¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I nodded, I could see his predicament but he was not the one heading into the wild. After some discussion, we agreed that I would pay for the gear but once I returned he would refund my money or upgrade the gear. It was a compromise that worked for both of us and we sealed the deal with a handshake and the exchange of money. I now had 1 gold and 25 silver. The kingdoms currency was 1 gold equals 100 silver and 1 silver equals 100 copper. 100 gold equaled one platinum but I doubted that I would see that kind of money before level 50. After receiving and equipping the gear I read the manual on staff fighting. As I read the book the knowledge was transferred to my brain and body and once done the book turned to dust and faded away. Using magical books to learn is a great thing, I thought as I mentally reviewed my new knowledge. Opening up my skill tab I noted that I now had something called Bo staff skill level 1.
Bo staff skill Level 1
Trying not to gloat, I looked at the other players running around ignoring all the non-playing characters and missing out on some of the hidden quests. In a month, I knew that the forums would be full of them but for now, I was the only one to find a couple and I hoped that it was enough to help me get better gear. While I was not in a hurry to level, I knew the game was dependent on gear and if you wanted to succeed you had to have good gear. Grasping my staff, I made my way westward, ignoring other players as they killed or were killed by mangy wolves and flea-bitten rats. Soon I had walked past the other players as the battled the animals, and once past them, I observed the trees as I tried to walk silently through them. I was expecting an attack and when it happened I was prepared. A level 2 gray wolf came bounding at me, with snarling foam-flecked jaws he closed to within 3 feet of me. I swung my staff down in a direct hit, his hit points went down 45 and he staggered, but then shaking off the hit he gave a howl and lunged up at me. Spinning sideways I connected with the back of his head for 55 hit points. As he dropped down I leaped onto his back and spinning around again I slammed the staff down at his neck. Critical hit for 66 hit points flashed across my view and the wolf was dead. I breathed in deeply, the realism of the game was astounding, and having a wolf try to turn you into supper was a bit nerve wracking. Waving my hand over the wolf I looted 1 large wolf fang, 1 silver, 2 pieces of wolf meat and 1 wolf hide. Not bad, I thought as the remains faded away, it beats leaving bloody messes all over the world as you killed things. I continued to travel through the woods my gaming map slowly brightening up as I covered new territory. After several hours, I reached the river, more of a stream than a river but it has some deep pools on the bends and if I fished I bet it would be a great place to cast a line. I began to follow the river downstream and after a couple of miles, I came to a camp. The fire had been out for a long time, but the tent still stood, yet the place felt abandoned. Making my way towards the tent I peered in and noted it was empty. A couple of blankets were on the floor with a pack next to them, but there was no sign of life. I quickly walked around the camp but saw nothing. Heading towards the river I could see the imprint of many feet in the soft muddy soil. This is not good, I thought as I stared at the prints in the soil. It was clear that Travan, the merchant''s brother had been attacked and then carted off. I could see no blood on the ground so there was a chance that he might not be hurt, but it was clear he did not leave on his own power. Suddenly hearing a noise, I ran back to the tent and hid between the tent and the group of trees it had been placed against. Peering out from under some shrubbery I observed 2 strange creatures appear. They looked vaguely like Dwarfs but with misshapen faces, their noses were broken and their ears were what boxers developed from years of being pummeled in the side of the head. Cauliflower ears I had heard them called once and it fit. Their bodies were barrel shaped with arms long and out of proportion and feet that were covered in thick skin that looked like armor. They had on little more than a loin cloth that barely covered them. I watched one of them scratch himself and it was clear he was a male, I had not been able to tell before he scratched. The final thing I noted was they smelled bad if you were to combine sneakers that had been worn all summer without socks and mix that with gym clothing that had been left in a locker all year, that was what it smelled like. I was literally trying not to gasp as they walked into the camp. I watched as they stood by the fire pit and then observed as they both began to pee onto the ashes. Seeing that they were both level 3 I decided to attack, I would not have a better chance. Creeping forward I managed to get behind them and then I thrust out my staff and connected with the back of the right knee of the closest thing, he went down and banged his knee on the rocks ringing the ashes. Hit for 54 hit points. As he tried to stand he stumbled and tripped on the rocks and landed in the fire pit with his head hitting the rocks on the other side. Critical hit for 72. I noted he had about 50 hit points left but by then the second thing was attacking, I danced back as my staff swung in a lazy arc. He tried to grab it and when he did I reversed it and then cracked him on the arm. Hit for 45. As he went to cradle his arm, I spun around and cracked him on the left side of the neck. Hit for 68. I continuing to attack by reversing my motion and thrust the hardened end of the staff into his throat. Hit for 88 hit points. He was dead but the first thing was struggling to his feet so I ran forward and went to whack him on the noggin. The bloody thing managed to grab the staff and with a grin full of bad teeth he pulled me towards him. I knew that I would only have one chance at this so I gave it my all. Leaping forward I used my staff to swing my feet up and drop kicked him in the face. Kick for 53 hit points. As he fell I pulled my staff out of his grasp. Taking a quick look around I noted that they were both now dead. The battle had lasted less than a minute and I felt both exhilarated and exhausted. I went to the nearest corpse and looted him for 2 silver then turning towards the other I looted him for 3 silver. I was glad when they both faded from sight, the smell had left with them. I noticed that my energy bar had dropped pretty fast during the combat. All players had three bars, one for health, one for energy and one for mana. Combat seemed to empty the energy bar at a rate more than triple that of normal play. Gear would help that as would leveling up. For now, I would have to wait a few minutes to allow my energy to restore itself. Cooking would help but I did not have the cooking skill yet. Making my way towards where I had seen the trolls emerge I noted a hidden game trail. I did not know if these things were trolls but they sure as hell were ugly and stinky. I was facing a choice, to proceed or to go back and inform the merchant I had found the camp but not his brother. The fight had been easy, but the energy depletion worried me, based on what I had seen I thought I would be able to take on 3 or perhaps 4 of the trolls as long as I had the element of surprise. Once I was out of energy, I would be done. If a player reached zero energy he would gain a 10-minute debuff that slowed his movements by 50 percent. It was death in a battle. All players start with the bars at 100 percent, basically 100 points, and for each level gained the bars would increase by another 100 points or 100 percent. It was a fair solution that encouraged players to get good gear as that was the only way to change the base stats. These base stats after level one would determine how much energy, mana and health players had. I did not know the ins and outs of the formulae, but I did know items that had stats would make a difference in health energy and mana. Opening my stats tab I noticed my base stats were the same as all level one players, with one exception, defense was slightly higher. This being due to the leather armor I was wearing.
Charisma 25/100
Defense 30 /100
Will-power 25/100
Strength 25/100
Agility 25/100
Wisdom 25/100
Knowledge 25/100
As the player evolved in the game world the stats would become personalized but for the first 5 levels, they were standard. The idea was that not one class would be overpowered at the beginning of the game, and at the final level, gear acquisition would be the determining factor for stats. Shrugging to myself I decided to continue on the trail and hopefully find and rescue Travan. After walking for several minutes I came to a small clearing and across from my position was Travan. He looked battered and bruised but was still alive. Sitting in front of a fire were three more trolls, they looked sleepy and were yawning and stretching. I could try to sneak around them but the bush was pretty thick. The only way to get to Travan was through the trolls. Chapter 2 Love Sucks Chapter 2 The air was warm and humid with a smell that reminding me of camping, fires, rain and rotten shit mixed with old gym shoes. The trees and plants were thick and helped block the view of the trail which was a damn good thing or the trolls would have seen me. I was staring out at the clearing where Travan was sitting, he was the brother of a merchant who had given me the quest to find out what had happened to him, he was an npc who had gone fishing and was now captured by trolls. My quest had been to find out what happened to him, however once I saw he was captured I decided to change the parameters of what I was supposed to do and make this a rescue mission. If I could describe just how bad these things smelt, anyone would have understood the urgency of rescuing the poor man. So here I am watching 3 trolls pick their noses, scratch their butts, fart and otherwise do what trolls do when they relaxed. I was waiting for them to all fall asleep and then I would attack, hopefully, the element of surprise would be enough before I ran out of energy. Combat burnt energy super-fast. And at level 1 I did not have a huge reserve. Finally, it was time, they were asleep and I had a chance to creep up on them. I made it as far as the fire and took a moment to wipe my sweaty hands on the staff. Travan observed my approach with a surprised look but nodded when I gestured that he should keep quiet. Once I was sure he would not wake up the trolls I concentrated on what I was about to do. Taking in a couple of deep breaths I tried to slow my heartbeat and then I attacked. My staff connected with the scrotum of troll 1 with as much force as I could summon. Critical hit for 87. His eyes opened wide and then he whimpered and tried to curl up in a ball. Having your stones crushed like that has to hurt, I thought as troll number 2 tried to sit up. I was ready and swinging my staff like a bat I connected with his throat. Critical hit for 79. I could hear a gurgled gasp of pain as he went over backward, holding his throat and trying to breathe. The third troll was rolling onto his side, using his long arms to help him get to his feet. I swung the staff and connected with his left wrist as he was pushing upwards. Hit for 65. It was not a crit but I observed that his wrist was now broken as he fell onto his back. Half shouting, ¡°Casey is up to bat.¡± I thrust the staff at troll 3 and connected with his face. I continued to attack until he was dead, then turning to the middle troll who was still gurgling and coughing up blood I began to beat him on the head. After several hits, he died and was no longer a threat. Glancing at the first troll who was still curled in a ball and whimpering I quickly walked over to him and ended his agony with a few accurate hits. It took a moment for it to sink in, I had actually defeated the trolls and could now rescue Travan. My screen suddenly flashed green and a trumpet sounded in the distance while my vision lit up with the words,
Congratulations, you have achieved level two.
Your base stats have been increased.
Opening my stats tab I saw,
Charisma 45/100
Defense 35 /100
Will-power 45/100
Strength 40/100
Agility 45/100
Wisdom 30/100
Knowledge 35/100
My energy, health and mana bars had also doubled and I now had 200 points in each and with the leveling, up they were all topped off. Nice, I thought, it is great that I leveled before I rescued Travan, that quest¡¯s xp will help me in getting to level three. The game mechanics must have increased my stats based on my performance in the game as well as my level. I had heard that the game leveling would become fluid once it began at level 2. I quickly looted the trolls for 7 silver and then went to Travan, as I untied him I asked, ¡°Are you ok, can you walk? We should get the hell out of here before more of these things come. What the hell are these things, trolls?¡± Travan rubbed his hands back and forth to restore circulation and said, ¡°Yep they are trolls, ugly, fucking, stinking bastards, they managed to grab me at my camp. There was no wind and I could not smell them. I was too far from the shore to dive in the river when they caught me, they will not get wet for anything and won¡¯t follow anyone into water. Probably why they stink so much. Anyway, just glad to meet you and be rescued.¡± I replied, ¡°No problem man, your brother had sent me out to see why you had not returned, and once I saw the trolls I thought I should investigate a little more. Glad that I did or you would be up the creek.¡± About this time, we both heard a crashing coming from further down the trail and Travan went white, he then whispered, ¡°We have to get the hell out of here now, that is the matriarch and she is coming to get me. Let¡¯s go, if that bitch gets me she will,¡± at this point he could not say anymore but began to run across the clearing and go up the trail as fast as he could. I followed him and just managed to get out from view when a loud wail sounded in the clearing behind me. Turning I stopped to have a look and see what the hell we were running from. The sight was hideous and disgusting, it was a female troll, and if anything, she was even more ugly than the males. The only difference that I could tell was that she had breasts and they were huge. Now most guys will see a set of boobs and focus on them and not the face of the girl especially if the boobs were large and the girl ugly. This female troll made that impossible, she was ugly right down to her boobs. I quietly stepped back and then began to make my way up the trail as fast as I could without making noise. I knew that she would probably continue up the trail after us but for now, she was grunting and groaning while looking at the fire in the clearing.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I finally caught up to Travan and asked, ¡°Why the hell is she after you?¡± as I spoke we both heard a loud wail from behind us and we both began to jog even faster heading towards his camp. Travan looked sick and muttered something that I couldn¡¯t hear, so I said, ¡°Look man speak louder I can¡¯t hear you, why is that thing after you?¡± Looking at me with fear in his eyes he said, ¡°That ugly bitch wants to have sex with me, alright. It is troll mating season and they look for any male they can find. Once the dirty is done they kill the males if the sex already hasn¡¯t.¡± I stared at him somewhat shocked but I could not help find the situation somewhat funny. ¡°So, let me get this straight, your girl back there wants to do the horizontal bebop with you because she wants a baby and you are having trouble with that.¡± Seeing Travan glare at me I chuckled and continued to run. Once we made it to Travan¡¯s camp he reached into the tent, grabbed his pack then ran over to a tree and picked up a fishing rod leaning against it. Looking at me he said, ¡°We have to keep going, that crazy troll will follow us for a while because she is in heat. If she captures us we are done for, so it is every man for himself if she gets to us. No offense to you and I appreciated you saving my ass which is why I am giving you this warning.¡± Shrugging I gestured for Travan to lead the way, I thought he was being a bit of a prick with his attitude. Still, I recalled seeing that female troll and I shuddered. It would be best if she could be avoided. We continued to jog up the trail following the river, eventually reaching a place where the river could be crossed. ¡°we will cross here,¡± Travan panted as he walked into the water. I followed him and soon we were in the middle of the river. The water felt cool and was about a foot and a half deep. The bottom had a few rocks and stones but was basically sandy. It was clear all the way down to the bottom and fish could be seen darting around. As I looked I noted a strange looking rock covered in algae and sand. Passing by this rock I happened to glance back and saw what appeared to be a handle on the backside of the rock. Stopping for a minute I turned around and reached down and grasping the handle pulled the bag, for that is what it was up. Once in my hands, I continued to cross the river, reaching the other side just as a scream was heard. Turning around Travan and I saw the female troll standing on the far riverbank screaming as she saw not one but two prime examples of males out of her reach. We watched as she worked herself into an emotional frenzy yelling and screaming, at one point she even dipped her toe into the river. Quickly pulling it back she burst into tears and literally threw herself on the ground kicking and punching the air. I looked over at Travan and said, ¡°Dude, you had better change your aftershave if this is the impact you are having on the ladies.¡± Travan replied, ¡°Let''s go her cries might bring others, god forbid they might be on this side of the river. Travan shuddered as he spoke, he truly had an intense fear of sex with a female troll. I did not blame him, even if you were to cover the trolls face its smell would be enough to make you sick. We once again began to walk up the riverbank looking for a game trail to take us farther into the forest on this side of the river. Glancing over at the other side of the river I noted that the troll was pacing as, never letting us out of her sight. ¡°Travan, we had better get into the forest to get out of sight, your girl is still following us, and we will have to cross back through the river at some point. I don¡¯t want to run into her loving arms if you know what I mean.¡± After I had spoken Travan looked over at the troll and then swore, suddenly turning he ran into the bush, I followed him and we quickly faded from the view of the troll. The trees were closer together on this side of the river and many shrubs were growing in any spot that received enough sunlight. The earth had a smell that reminded me of fall, it was actually relaxing but that might have just been the tension release from once again getting away from the troll. Seeing a small clearing ahead I called for a break, I wanted to see what I had found in the river. We stopped and I used handfuls of fallen leaves to clean the gunk off the bag I had scooped up from the river. It was made of leather and it must have been waterproofed because once the bag was clean it showed no signs of damage or deterioration. It was held shut with a simple clasp, I opened the clasp and then opened the bag. Looking in I could see that it held a few coins and several other items. I pulled out the coins and counted them, 8 gold 5 silver and 3 copper. Adding them with what I had gave me 9g 37s and 3c. I would not be considered rich but it was better than being broke. I then reached into the bag and pulled out a couple of daggers, still sheathed. I stared at them with surprise, they were bind on equip items. Most games had boe items they were pretty common but what made these rare was the fact that they had no level caps. They could be used from level 1 to 100. Most named items within the game had a level cap that covered about 5 levels, for example, if the Dagger of Stone a named item, had a level 15 to 20 level cap once the player hit 20 the dagger would do so little damage it was not worth keeping. Again, it was a feature designed into the game to encourage players to constantly upgrade their weapons and gear which would help to improve the stats. Both of the daggers I had found were named items, both were boe and both had no leveling cap. The amazing thing was that without a leveling cap the stats on the two daggers would increase to match your level. Basically, you would not have to constantly upgrade your weapons, this would save a player a lot of gold. I pulled the first dagger out of the sheath noting that it was dry and the edge had a wicked sharpness to it with the blade tapering down to a needle point. It was called Dagger of Night and it had some great stats.
Night vision 100/100
Base stats increased by 10 100/100
All poison damage doubled 100/100
I could hardly believe my luck, it was an amazing find and would be worth a lot of gold if sold at the Auction House. I carefully sheathed the dagger and put it down. Grabbing the second dagger, I pulled it free from its sheath and observed that it was physical the twin of the first. It was called Spell Blade which seemed a strange name for what would be a warrior or a rogue weapon. I glanced at the stats and was impressed but puzzled.
Generates mana ,10 ticks every 3 seconds 100/100
Dagger can hold 3 enchantments 100/100
Instant cast 100/100
Travan who had been looking over at me asked, ¡°What the hell did you find, those two daggers are pristine, my brother will pay good gold to get his hands on them.¡± Ya, that is not going to be happening, I thought. I glanced over at Travan just in time to see him reach for the first dagger. I gently poked his hand with the one I held and said, ¡°I have a rule, no one touches my stuff, not my armor, not my weapons. So please don¡¯t try, or I will take you back to that troll bitch and dump you.¡± It sounded rude and mean, but I had not equipped the dagger to myself and the fact was I did not know this npc. What I did know was the look of avarice and greed I had seen on his face. Scowling at me Travan swore and said, ¡°They are probably stolen items, I will be reporting this when we get back.¡± The little prick was trying to get back at me, what an asshole, I was beginning to regret rescuing him. Thinking fast I decided to equip the daggers, that should stop his greedy little mind from dwelling on them. Once I had fastened the sheaths to my arms, as they were a type that was concealed by shirt sleeves, I picked up the bag I had recovered from the river and fastened it around my waist with the long leather straps. I had a quick glance at my stats now the daggers were equipped and was pleased to see the increase,
Charisma 55/100
Defense 45 /100
Will-power 55/100
Strength 50/100
Agility 55/100
Wisdom 40/100
Knowledge 45/100
I could feel a small but solid difference in my character with the stat increase. It felt like I was physically a little bit larger, my muscles just a little more defined. It felt good. Chapter 3 The Mine

Chapter 3 The Mine

After I had equipped my daggers we continued on through the forest, gradually going in an arc to the right. Soon the wails and cries of the troll were gone and we traveled in silence. I was not sure what to make of Travan he was not talkative, and I did not feel like trying to start a conversation. After an hour, we arrived back at the river and seeing it was shallow we crossed. Soon we were among other players who were busy killing wolves and rats, it did not take long to pass them and the starting zone was soon in sight. Once at the merchant I pointed to Travan and said, ¡°Quest complete, let''s get this done.¡± I was not trying to be rude but I wanted to head out again, I was hoping to make it to the mine before dark. Travan had walked over to the merchant and was whispering in his ear, I watched as the merchant gave me a thoughtful look and then said, ¡°Alright, you finished what I had asked from you, what do you want, to upgrade your gear or get some cash back?¡± Walking back had given me a lot of time to think about what I wanted, having some extra gold now meant that I was not concerned about getting my money back. What I had realized was I needed better gear, I had enjoyed success but that was by luck more than skill, if one of the trolls had been able to successfully attack me I would have been in big trouble. Looking at the merchant I pointed at the tent and said, ¡°Let''s see what you have as an upgrade.¡± We walked into the tent and started looking at what was displayed. It was all low-level gear and once a player hit level 5 would be discarded, but at level two it might make the difference. I choose to upgrade my gear with a leather outfit, it increased my armor by 30 for shoes, pants, belt, and chest as well as shoulders. I also found a cloak that made me look somewhat like a monk with an attached hood. My armor was now at 150 and once covered by the cloak it looked like I was still running around in the starting gear. The cloak also allowed quick access to my daggers which I considered more of a backup set of weapons. Thanking the merchant I dropped 2 gold on his table and went to leave when he spoke up. ¡°My brother said that you found a rare set of daggers and that you did not want to show them to him, is this true?¡± I glanced back at the merchant and said, ¡°I treat other people''s property with respect and I encourage others to do the same with mine. Your brother tried to grab one of my daggers without permission and I discouraged him if he has a problem with that he had better learn to deal with it.¡± The merchant threw up his hands and said, ¡°Yes I know he is impulsive and sometimes lacks common sense, I was not trying to take you to task in how you treated him. What I am trying to say is you seem to have the luck with you, and I want to make you an offer. In the city, my cousin runs a shop called Enchants Weapons and Gear. If on your travels you discover rare or unusual items bring them to his shop and he will evaluate them for you and make you a very fair offer. What do you say?¡± A quest window suddenly opened up and I read,
You have been given a faction reputation quest with the merchants of the city. Bring them any rare or unusual items you discover.
If you accept you will receive reputation and 25 percent off all items plus a selling bonus.
Do you want to accept this reputation quest?
It was a great deal and I accepted it right away, then I turned and looked at the merchant and said, ¡°Nice deal why did you not offer it to me before I bought my gear?¡± He looked at the sky and then smiled and said, ¡°A man needs to make some money around here, most of you new folks don¡¯t buy anything. This is a tough marketplace and a sale is a sale.¡± I snorted and then laughed, he knew what he had done and I could tell he thought it was funny. What the hell it was kind of funny, I would not hold a grudge. The deal would be worth the price of my gear many times over as I leveled up. I turned around again and slowly made my way out of the starting zone, I traveled as the early afternoon sun faded into dusk. It was strange one minute the light was there, the next it was dark. Except it was not dark for me, having equipped the daggers, I was now seeing in complete darkness, the Dagger of the Night had given night vision. I could now see in the pitch dark, it was like predawn light, a little dim and gray but light enough to read a book by. Deciding to continue I walked on until my map showed that I was about to enter into the barren fields. Stopping at the tree line I observed the land in front of me, wild grass grew tall and blanketed the landscape, there were gentle ridges and small hills but for the most part, it looked flat. It reminded me of the wild grasslands of Montana, there were clumps of trees scattered around and I was sure that there would be a lot of small valleys and creeks. It was deceptive in that while the land looked empty, it could hide thousands. As I thought of this it reminded me of Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He to had ridden out on the barren plains and suddenly found himself surrounded but thousands of warriors from the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho nations. The lesson to be learned from that history is to not underestimate whoever might call this land home and to proceed with caution, while this was still supposed to be a level 3-5 area, I had no doubts that there could be some extremely powerful nps¡¯c here. Somewhere. Shaking my shoulders I made my pack a little more comfortable and began to cross the barren fields. It was easygoing for the most part with the occasional gully or fast moving creek or both. The clumps of trees began to fade away, it was apparent that I was leaving a woodland belt and entering into a different biosphere. I continued on until I felt like I needed a break, a bite to eat and a drink. Stopping at a gully I descended down and entered a wooded valley. There was a creek flowing down the middle and several deer like creatures were drinking. Once they saw me they scattered and I was left alone. Going to the creek I filled my water bottle and took a long drink. It was cold, clear and tasted great. Refilling my bottle I made my way over to a deadfall, a tree that had been knocked down in a storm. I snuggled up near the roots and was soon dozing, the morning sun was what woke me up. I relaxed against the tree and slowly opened my eyes, the music of the creek tumbling down some rocks and the birds singing was very relaxing. Glancing around I saw nothing that caused me concern. Slowly standing up I was amazed at how I felt no stiffness of discomfort, the game was geared to make the experience pleasant for players, as long as you were not in a scenario or combat. I could live with that, I thought. Putting down my pack I took off my cloak and began to stretch, and limber up, while I felt no stiffness from sleeping on the ground against a tree, I had a theory that the game was like real life if you worked your body you could improve your stats, strength, agility, heck maybe even health. After doing some situps and pushups as well as stretching I felt much more awake. Grabbing my pack I shouldered it onto my back and made my way down the valley following the creek. The valley was heading in the direction I needed to go and it was pleasant walking in the shade of the trees. After a couple of hours of travel time, the valley opened up onto the barren fields again. I could now see a mountain range in front of me, the distances were wonky, in real life, it would have taken me about a week to hike to the mountains. Here I knew I would be there by mid afternoon. Continuing on I tried to keep myself alert to any danger, but the monotony of hours hiking wore on me. Thankfully I encountered nothing and was once again in a treeline after arriving at the mountains. My map had expanded to cover some of the barren fields and also a bit of the mountain range. This was helpful as it now showed a small mine on the mountain. I began to make my way to the mine and finally arrived at a spot where I could see it. The damn thing was about 200 feet up a slope of scree which is comprised of loose stones and dirt and would have been almost impossible to get to if not for the remains of tracks. At one time the miners had ore cars going up and down the slope. I made my way to the bottom and the using the tracks like a ladder I began to climb up the scree.Stolen novel; please report. It took a while a while to get to the top but once there the view of the barren fields was amazing, I could make out the woodland belt across the fields, they were a dark green blur, the fields themselves were beautiful, the long grass blowing in the wind looked like ocean waves. I could also see what looked like small stone building on a larger hill to the east, in all honesty, it looked like some kind of burial mound. The kind that might have a quest or two as well as gear. I would be making a stop there on the way back. Turning I looked at the mine entrance, it was dark. I suppose most mines are dark, but this one seemed dark, and foreboding. It gave a vibe that said, come on in and die. Maybe it was my imagination, after all, this world was so real. I was as ready as I would be, so sucking in a breath of air that smelled of pine trees I walked into the entrance. My night vision activated and I saw a mine shaft, it sloped downwards and was about 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall. Walking forward I began to descend, the shaft continued on downwards until it came to a large chamber, in this chamber, there were 5 more shafts that spread out in the shape of a hand. I noted some old benches against a wall and sat down for a minute to think this through. If the mine continued to split into other tunnels and perhaps even other levels it would be easy to get lost. I did not fancy spending my gaming time lost in a mine. Thank God I had night vision, I would have been lost without it. Standing I grabbed a rock and then scratched an x on the floor of the tunnel I had just come out of. Choosing the left tunnel I and forward, if I always stayed left I would at least have a general idea of where I was. The tunnel continued downwards until it widened out in revealed a large underground body of water. I could not see the far side, but the lake seemed to go to the left. I was on a small beach with a wall of rock on my right side. Turning around I went back up the tunnel and once at the central room wrote water on the tunnel floor. I then turned and went down the next tunnel. After one hundred feet the tunnel dead-ended in a small room with a hole in the floor. A wooden ladder poked above the hole in the floor several feet, making decent easy. I was not sure how old the ladder was so going down was not on my list of things to do. A broken leg at the bottom would mean game over, and I did not want to be trapped there. Or respawn. Going back to the central room I explored the remaining tunnels, the first two yielded no results, but the third went down and then switchbacked several times. I would guess that the miners had found a good vein of ore and had mined it downwards. I finally arrived near the bottom and noted that it ended on a natural rock overlook that had a small trail that led down to a natural cavern. It was quite large and I could see that the far end was lit up with several torches and a large fire. Unfortunately, I could make out no details, I would have to go down and creep closer. Thinking about the quest led me to wonder if any female trolls would be present. I did not want to find out, but a quest is a quest. Going as quietly as I could I went down the trail and once at the bottom began to make my way over towards the fire. Fortunately for me, the area was covered in stalagmites and stalactites, large ones that provide me with abundant cover as I approached the encampment. Reaching an area that afforded me the best view of the camp was not as difficult as I had thought it would be. The total darkness of the cavern, as well as the abundant cover, made it easy to hide. I was glad of the darkness as I observed the camp, I had been expecting trolls but what I saw was much worse. Rattacans, an entire camp of Rattacans. I have nothing against rats, they are clean animals that make a nest to sleep in and choose a private area to shit in. At least the domesticated rats do, but these were not domesticated rats. These were Rattacans a half humanoid half rat chimera that stood about 5 feet tall and was covered in brown fur. They used weapons, I saw several swords and daggers as well as spears. I also noted that they had at least one mage type, so they had access to magic. They were busy barbecuing a large chunk of meat, and as the spit turned I saw that it was a man. He looked like one of the newbies that had just started the game, judging by what I could see of his gear. Poor bastard he had probably gone exploring, maybe he thought it would give him an advantage. At any rate, the Rattacans had captured him and now were cooking him. What made it even more horrendous was the fact that he was still alive, I could see his mouth move as he screamed soundlessly. Shit just got real, I thought as I began to make my way back to the pathway that led up. I was feeling pretty confident about escaping when my foot slipped on a wet patch of ground and I fell against a stalagmite which broke with a loud crack. Holding my breath I strained my ears to hear if the Rattacans had heard the noise. The Rattacans had heard and I was aware that several were now making their way towards my general direction. I started running towards the path, silence took second place to speed in the hierarchy of my safety. Once at the path I began to scramble up and soon was at the tunnel but by now the evil Rattacans were halfway up the slope. Catching a glow coming at me from directly below I saw a ball of fire coming at me at the speed of a fast thrown baseball. I ducked and felt the heat as it sailed past me and hit the entrance to the tunnel. It broke into several small flames which illuminated the area for a second, just long enough for the Rattacans to spot me. Hearing their high-pitched warbles and cries I felt a shiver go up my back. The fact that they were all level 5 to 10 did not help. I ran up the tunnel with them close behind me and upon entering the cavern I entered the tunnel that led to the underground lake. I knew that they would catch me if I continued up to the surface and I hoped that they would check that tunnel first thinking I was escaping. Turns out I was right, I made it all the way to the water before I heard them approaching. This is going to suck, I thought and stepped into the water. To my surprise, it was not cold, not really warm but I would not get hypothermia from being exposed. I began to walk out and to my right following the wall of the lake. It protruded out and I hoped once I was far enough away from the beach I would be out of sight. Gradually the sound faded and soon I could not see the beach, the water was about 5 feet deep and the bottom was sandy. I continued to walk the lake looking around constantly hoping to see something, a small island or another beach. What I saw was a tunnel that had enough headroom for me to walk into. Upon entering it I walked upwards and to the left at a gentle angle, after about 15 feet I was out of the water. I sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief, walking into an underground lake escaping from a bunch of flesh eating Rattacans was not what I had hoped for. At least I had not encountered any water monsters in the lake. Grabbing a drink from my water bottle I stood and began to walk the tunnel. The damn thing snaked around up and down but generally going down and to the left after about an hour of walking I arrived at a small ledge, looking down I realized I was back in the natural cavern and in fact, I was directly above the Rattacan camp. They were busy, discussing my escape I guess and chowing down on the poor guy whom they had barbecued. The unlucky bastard smelled a bit like burnt pork. The Rattacans apparently loved it and would go back for seconds, but eventually, they were all done and were now sitting in a group with what looked like the mage and some kind of leader, he might be the king, or the war commander, shit he might be the dishwasher for all I could tell. All I knew was that he was talking and spitting and generally swishing his tail around, clearly in an agitated state. I continued to watch the show, until it round down with most of the Rattacan bedding down near the fire. What interested me was the fact the chief and the mage both headed back to the cliff face and entered tents. Which were almost directly below me. After several hours had passed, the fire had died down to a warm red glow and everyone appeared to be sleeping I made my move. One of the purchases I had made at the merchants was some knotted rope. I fastened one end around a large rock outcropping and slowly let out the far end. Once it was at the bottom I made sure my cloak and hood were on and began to climb down the rope. It seemed to take forever but in a couple of minutes I was at the bottom. Just to the left of where I was standing was the first tent, the mage had entered it and judging by the snores I could hear he was sleeping soundly. Pulling out my dagger I made a slit in the material and then slowly wiggled in. Against the far wall was a cot with the mage on it. He, oops she judging by the two rows of boobs going down her chest was in a deep sleep. I glanced around and spotted a chest near me, it had been put against the wall of the tent to make some room in the interior. I inched my way over and examined it, wooden about 2 feet tall and a foot wide it was 8 inches deep. There was no lock or clasp on it just a small rope handle to open it. This was my Carpe Diem moment, a phrase written by the latin poet Horace, it was generally known to mean, seize the moment. How do I know all this, the answer is simple, I am a book loving nerd and have played and read almost every historical and world building game that has ever been produced. On a side note Civilization 5 sucked, but most of the others were pretty good. I stopped my chain of thoughts as I realized I was mentally rambling to myself, it was like talking to yourself only inside your head. Sometimes I felt like I was talking to others sometimes just myself, go figure. Grasping the rope handle I lifted upwards and opened the chest. There was no strange glow, no fabulous jewels or great treasure. Just a bunch of old scrolls. I began to transfer the scrolls to my bag being very careful not to make any noise. Suddenly I froze, I had heard something so strange so unexpected I had to turn around and look. The little Rattacan mage had farted, not just a squeaker but an earth rumbling noise that heralded a soon to come bowel movement. Shit, and I mean that figuratively, I need to get out of this tent. The awful smell helped to encourage my exit. Putting the last of the scrolls into my bag I closed the chest and then slid out the opening I had cut. I debated going to the chiefs tent, but my bags were full of old paper and I did not want to risk it being damaged if I tried to stuff something else into them. Grasping the rope I began to climb the cliff wall and soon arrived at the ledge. Going into the tunnel I emptied my bags and then turned around, why the hell not, I thought. Dropping my rope down again I made my way down the cliff and slowly walked over to the chief''s tent.

Chapter 4 Glitching Out

Chapter 4 Glitching Out

I was on my way down the rope, the knots spaced about a foot apart made it easy to descend or climb. I am not sure why I looked up, a sudden premonition, a stiff neck or just curiosity about what the roof looked like. Whatever the reason was it was a mistake, I froze as I watched several figures scurry on their hands and feet across the roof, they seemed to be heading towards the main group of Rattacans who were sound asleep. I froze, hanging on the rope about 40 feet above the ground I continued to watch what was about to happen. Suddenly the figures dropped down from the roof a distance of damn near 75 feet. Once they had landed they went to work and by work, I mean they killed everyone. The cries of the Rattacans woke up both the mage and the leader, who came running out of their tents and instantly died. There were only five of the attackers, but they moved with supernatural speed, far faster than a normal man could move. I have heard that once players make it to the higher levels and start stacking agility it dramatically can increase attack speed. However, this was conjecture, as the game had not been out long enough for the forums to display any real data. As I hung there I was glad that the color of my cloak and the fact it had a hood was enough to allow me to hide in plain sight. Once all the Rattacans were dead two of the strange men began to walk through the camp, once they reached the tents they both went into the two tents and then came back out right away. The fact that they did not seem to find what they were looking for made me want to have a close look at the scrolls I had taken from the chest. Within minutes all the strange men were congregated near the glowing coals of the fire. As I stared at them I began to make out their race and level. These things would be displayed over npc¡¯s and player¡¯s heads for a few seconds when you first looked at them. What I read shook me and for the first time, I began to wonder if the game was glitching. Vampire level 12. This was very unexpected for two reasons; one I was supposed to be in a level 5 zone and two I had heard no mention of a Vampire class or race in any of the forums or online announcements. The problem with Vampires was simple but complex, in every game that had Vampires teenage emo girls and guys would flock to play that class. I blame the whole Twilight series of books and movies. They had started a trend that persisted to this day, a forbidden love that sparked the dark passion between the undead Vampire and the Lycanthrope or Werewolf as it is commonly known. Technically it was a cross between necrophilia and bestiality in my opinion. These Vampires, however, had not looked like they would sparkle and glitter in the sunlight. They had moved like bad ass killers five against a whole camp of at least twenty-five Rattacans. I did not want to encounter these vamps, they would end me in about one second and then not look back as they left. They would be an extremely overpowered class and I really hoped that they game gurus would not open this class to the general public. I hung out literally for about half an hour after the Vampires had left, I did not want to take any chances on being discovered. I had watched in amazement as the Vampires had literally run up the stalagmites and stalactites to reach the roof. Once on the roof, they had dropped to hands and knees and had scurried off towards the far wall. It was like a scene from a horror movie, one in which I just hoped that I would not end up the victim. I began to descend again and once on the ground I slowly made my way towards the chief¡¯s tent. I slowly edged around the corner of the tent and walked to the tent flap, opening it up I entered. The tent was laid out identically to the mages tent with a cot on one side and a chest on the other. The chest lid was open, the Vampires had not bothered to close it. I walked over and looked within, there was a medium sized hip bag, it was called the bottomless bag. I quickly grabbed it and fastened it to my belt then reached into the chest and pulled out a purple velvet bag, opening it I saw it was full of gold and silver with a few copper coins. I dumped it into my main bag and it was sorted and I could see a running tally appear in the upper left corner of my vision. 157g, 78s, 23c, that was a large haul, I was probably the richest level two player in the game. I reached back into the chest again and pulled out a map, once I had looked at it the map turned to dust, but I now had a new icon on my map. Selecting it I was surprised to see a three-dimensional view of the map. My location was highlighted with a golden icon. All around were red icons that were crossed out. The dead Rattacans, can¡¯t say I felt too bad about that as I recalled the player they had barbecued alive for their supper. As I looked at the map I noted that the mine itself was only three levels deep but the maze of natural tunnels and caves continued on for several levels. This underground warren stretched for many miles in all directions, it would be very easy to get lost down here, clearly, I had been lucky. I also noted that the map showed an enclave many miles distant, and I could see the group of Vampires who had taken out the camp were heading there. It might be their home or perhaps it was where the Rattacans had originated. I did not know or care, I was just glad that they were leaving the area I was located in. Really the only concern I had was the one lone figure that the map revealed to me, he was hiding on the roof keeping out of sight. I was fucked if it was a Vampire. I had two options I could make a run for it climb the path and head out of the mine as quickly as I could or I could scale my rope and make my way to the lake and then exit the mine. I did not want to leave the scrolls I had discovered without reading them so the choice was made. I took one more look in the chest, seeing it was empty I left it open, then making my way to the back of the tent I slit a small hole in the fabric and slid out. It was pretty much pitch dark, my night vision allowed me to see but I did not know if the Vampire could. I made my way to the rope and began my ascent to the ledge. I took my time and once I reached it I curled up the rope and put it away. Making my way into the tunnel I kept my eye on my map of the cave and was relieved to see the Vampire had not moved. I grabbed the scrolls and put them into the bottomless bag, they all fit and the bag seemed to have a lot of room left, it really was a bottomless bag. That alone was worth several thousand in gold, once I was at a safe location I would have to inspect the bag and look at its properties, I also wanted to adjust my stats view and set up the heads-up display option. But first I wanted to get the hell away from the cavern with the lone Vampire sitting on the roof. Making my way down the tunnel I reached the water and then the exit. Glancing at the map I saw that the lake extended for about two miles to the left in a gentle crescent shape. I could see a small island almost right across from where I was and at the far end was another Island and on it was a ruined temple. The map, unfortunately, did not reveal any more details about the temple but it piqued my interest. As I stood in the chest-deep water I realized I had to get to a dry location, once there I could have a look at the scrolls and rest. I had one more day to play, and I wanted to make the most of it if I could explore the temple and make it back to the starting zone to collect my quest reward I would be pumped.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Having decided to head to the nearby island I began to walk away from the shore exploring the lake bottom with my feet. I did not want to unexpectedly hit the drop off and dunk myself so my speed was slow as I felt out every footstep. The water slowly became deeper but never went past my chin at the deepest point and soon it began to turn shallow. As I approached the island it became apparent that it was no more than a couple of hundred feet across at the widest and that the far end narrowed down to a point. Once I made it onto the dry land I began to walk the circumference of this little island. It had sandy beaches around most of it with the point of the island being hard rock. I walked out on the point it was about thirty feet long, and the water seemed deep. The thing looked like a dock made out of stone and I looked for evidence of it being artificial. Seeing none I walked back onto the island proper and began to walk into the interior. It was strange but the island had trees on it, they emitted a soft green glow and stood about fifty feet high. I found what might have been the remains of an old path that made walking in the trees easier and it led me right to the center of the island. It was a clearing about forty feet across and on one side was a small brook bubbling its way into the trees, on the other was a structure, it was about twenty feet by fifteen. It was made of the trees that covered the center of the island, and it looked like a trapper¡¯s cabin from two hundred years ago, it had been deserted for a long time and had an air of abandonment. I circled the cabin and noted that there was what once might have been a garden plot behind the structure. It was puzzling and I wondered who had lived here in this underground place. Shrugging I entered the cabin, the door swung open easy enough, glancing around I noted that it had what appeared to be a kitchen area located in the middle. Across from that was a living area which had a half wall blocking the rear of the cabin. Going past the wall I saw a bed and shelves built into the wall above the bed. Directly opposite the bed was another wall this one joined the kitchen wall, opening the door I noted that it was a bathroom, with a toilet shaped rock and a basin that had water constantly flowing through it and then going into a pipe that led to the toilet. This caused the toilet to be in a constant state of having water rushing through it. It was clever, and while I did not know where the fecal matter would end up this system was practical and after who knows how long of being abandoned was still working. As I made my way into the living area I received a message notification, opening the message I read,
Greeting Anon, you have traveled further and explored more than most people. You have seen strange and wonderful sights. This has culminated with your finding the abandoned Hunters Cabin, which has opened up a new story arc, do you wish to claim ownership to the cabin and the lake surrounding it to proceed with the new story arc? If you do know that to maintain ownership you must pay two gold per month in taxation. Do you want to claim this sight?
I would have to be a fool not to claim the cabin and enter into this new story arc. But the description you have seen strange and wonderful sights did not sit well with me. If the Game Ai meant seeing a level one player being roasted alive was wonderful than I think they system needs a reboot. I accepted ownership of the cabin, island, and lake. It now appeared on my map as Anon¡¯s land and I would guess it would be the same on the map of any other player. I sat down on the bench near the wooden table and opened my bag, then pulled out all the scrolls I had taken from the mages chest. Putting them in no particular order I began to read the first scroll, they were written in Common which was the universal game language, each race had a language but all races could speak and read Common. This meant that two elves could talk about you in elvish and you would not understand but if they spoke Common then everyone would know what they really thought of you. Examining the scroll showed that it was a magic scroll, it taught fireblast level one. I went and looked at the four remaining scrolls, Iceblast, Health, a spell that would cause a light to appear which would then heal the target for 60 percent of their health. Stun, a spell that would stun a target for up to five seconds and Portal, a spell that would teach the magic of summoning a portal, the portal at level one would direct you to your starting zones capital city. These were spells that mages and warlocks would be taught once the reached level five. I stared at the scrolls and double checked, they had no level or class requirement. These scrolls could be sold for a huge amount of gold, all classes and races had a mana bar, but not all classes could use magic. The mana would be used in special attacks, which were a form of magic but not the traditional battle magic that spell casters used. However, with these spells any class could double as a battle mage. I would be dishonest if I did not say my greed for gold struggled with my greed for power. This battle went on for several seconds before I finally decided to take charge. I read each spell one by one and felt a change occur within me. Looking at the interface I now saw that I had a row of five buttons on the left side of the screen, each button was one of the spells. I decided to use this time to also fix my interface so with a little experimentation I added my energy, health, and mana to my interface.
Charisma 55/100
Defense 45 /100
Will-power 55/100
Strength 50/100
Agility 55/100
Wisdom 40/100
Knowledge 45/100
Energy 200/200
Health 200/200
Mana 200/200 + ten ticks/ 3 seconds
I also had a look at my gear stats,
Night vision 100/100
Base stats increased by 10 100/100
All poison damage doubled 100/100
Generates mana ,10 ticks every 3 seconds 100/100
Dagger can hold three enchantments 100/100
Instant cast 100/100
No changes but the extra mana generation was nice. I then worked on having my spells included in the interface, as I leveled I was sure I would be learning more and swapping them around but for now this is what I had.
Fire blast Does 55 to 75 fire damage
Ice blast Does 55 to 75 ice damage
Health Heals up to 60 percent of targets health
Stun Stuns target for up to 5 seconds
Portal Creates a portal to the starting zones capital city
It was pretty damn impressive at level two, I would be keeping these abilities hidden, I just wanted to play the game my way and not have people hounding me to join some guild. Once I was done I gathered my stuff and prepared to leave, now that I owned the lake I knew I would be back and that is when I would explore the other island. For now, I wanted to get out and make my way down to that burial mound I had spotted. Once I explored that I would head back to the starter zone and turn in this quest. Chapter 5 The Burial Mound

Chapter 5 The Burial Mound

The darkness surrounded me as I walked through the lake, I walked slow and quiet, while nothing appeared on my map I was taking no chances. To be honest the sight of those Vampires ripping through the camp of Rattacans had left a strong impression on me. These were not little sugar puff vampires that glittered in the sun, these were killers who had abilities that I had not heard of before. I approached the tunnel leading up to the cavern and eventually to the outside world. I would be glad to get the heck out of here, even if I could see in the dark, everything was grayed out, there is no color with night vision. I also was beginning to feel a bit trapped, illogical but the constant darkness and the mountain overhead was taking a toll. I continued on and finally reached the surface, taking in deep lungsful of fresh air I noted the time. It was approaching evening, it was easy to lose track of time underground. I began to make my way down the slope of scree and onto the barren fields. I had left a waypoint on my map which corresponded to where I had seen the burial mound. I was very curious as to what the ruins were, they looked like burial mounds from pictures I had seen but they could be anything. I was on the alert as I made my way through the barren fields, but nothing appeared, and eventually I arrived at the spot on my map I had marked, I was close, about forty yards off was the structure. I began to circle it as I drew closer. It stood about ten feet tall and was about twelve feet across. The stones it was built from were cracked and aged, it had been built long long ago. Once I was at the structure I continued to go around it looking for a doorway or any sign of a buried ramp that led to a lower level. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see, it was frustrating but a good reminder that not all things come easy in the game. I had been lucky so far, but luck is a fickle lady who quickly turns her attention to others leaving you alone. So here I am alone in the middle of the barren fields without a clue on how to proceed with getting into this stone structure. Bending down I once again circle the building, this time I notice that one of the stones has a deep crack running across the face. The stone is thirty-six inches wide and twenty-four high. Grabbing my water bottle I dribble water into the crack then I grab several handfuls of grass and stuff them in. I repeat the process pushing the wet mass further into the crack till it will go no more. I then cast Icy Blast directly into the crack, it takes thirty mana for the spell and has a one second cast time. I repeat the process over and over until the rock is covered in ice and I am out of mana. On my last attempt, the rock cracks into five smaller pieces. I sit back and let my mana recharge after a couple of minutes it is topped back up. Reaching out I grab the smallest chunk of rock and begin the slow process of wiggling it out. This takes a while and by the time I have all the rocks removed night has fallen. My look into the chamber had shown that there were several items visible, but to see what they were would require entry through the hole I had made. Pushing my arms ahead of my body I wiggled into the small hole. It was a tight fit and I had a moment of doubt, but with some effort given and skin lost I made it. Once I dropped into the chamber I began to cough, I had stirred up a fair amount of dust that had settled over the centuries. Once I managed to stop coughing I turned around began to look at the chamber. Maybe that was my mistake, I should have not looked around, but who can tell the future. As my gaze swept the room I saw what appeared to be a stone statue of a man, judging by his armor and gear a warrior. I did not have a lot of time to evaluate who he was or what kind of gear he had on because in a blink of an eye he attacked. I would like to say that I pulled my daggers out and defeated him or that I managed to think out a clever ploy to escape him, but I didn¡¯t. I took one hit and was thrown against the far wall, I could feel my bones breaking and my breathing suddenly became very difficult. I gazed up at the man as he walked towards me, and I knew this was it, the end, I would respawn at the starter zone. Feeling resigned to my fate I still wanted to let this creature know that I was not going out with a whimper. I raised my right hand and slowly extended my finger in the universal salute. The manlike creature stopped and for a moment and stared at me then with a snarl on his face he advanced, I guess it really is a universal symbol, I thought as I prepared myself for the end. As I saw the creature raise his arm there was a blur of shadows and a loud crack, and suddenly the manlike thing was no longer in front of me. What now stood in front of me was a girl, maybe seventeen years old with pure white skin, dark wavy hair and a figure that I had fantasized about as an adolescent. It was clear that she was an angel of some kind, who had been tasked with keeping an eye on me. I managed to smile past my pain and wave my hand at her, she smiled back at me and I knew I was fucked. Her teeth were perfect including the Vampire fangs that were clearly visible. My plans were not going the way I hoped. My sight was beginning to tunnel, and I was fading fast but I could still see the girl slit her wrist with a finger nail and then I felt her push her wrist against my lips. I tried to pull back but had no strength and as the blood pooled into my mouth I involuntarily swallowed a mouthful. It should have been abad experience the taste and sensation of drinking blood like that but it tasted of cinnamon and cherries and it immediately took the edge off the pain I was feeling. I looked at the girl and heard her say, ¡°Drink more, my blood will heal you.¡± She pushed her wrist against my mouth and I sat there drinking in her blood with every pulse of her heart. After several minutes, she pulled her wrist away and then spoke once again. ¡°Young mortal, I have saved you from death, but there is always a cost, if I were to have drank your blood first and then had you drink mine you would have become a Vampire. However, I have allowed you to drink my blood, untainted and pure, to heal you. This will cause a change in you,but have no fear you will not be turned into a Vampire but you will not be a mere human.¡± She looked sad as she spoke and I had a bad feeling but then her words sunk in. I interrupted her at this point and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be a Vampire?¡± seeing her shake her head I felt a sense of relief, I really did not want to go around twinkling in the sunlight. I knew I was losing it as a sudden wave of pain arose from within me, and I could tell that this pain felt different, I felt like I was being pulled into tiny parts. The girl looked down at me and then said, ¡°The little death, soon you will sleep and when you awaken you will be changed. I will see you again Anon.¡± With that, I faded away, and when I awoke I was in my house, the VRGC had punted me out of the game as I had exceeded my time allotment. I reached my arms out and hit the exit button, with a hiss the lid began to open, letting in the light of day. I slowly stretched out then took off my helmet and climbed out of the pod, I had to go to the bathroom. I had been in the game for twelve hours and I needed to piss like a racehorse. Once I was done at the toilet I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I looked the same, but my eyes had a wary look to them. Getting almost killed by some kind of monster will do that, I thought. I turned around and started the hot water in the shower, it always took longer to heat up than the sink¡¯s faucet. Once the steam was starting to appear I dropped my undies and climbed into the shower.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I took my time scrubbing and somehow was not surprised to find that my ribs, arms and back were a little sore, that was where I had been injured. I had read that there would be a little crossover, the mind was powerful and the input of data was so strong and life like in the VRGC that people could expect to feel ghost sensations, the experts hired by the gaming manufacturer assured everyone that it was a minor thing and any sensations would fade within minutes of exiting the game. Once done my shower I put on a pair of sweats, Walmart specials. I loved them, cheap, comfortable and warm. They helped to keep me warm as I kept the heat down in my house, it was a tiny house about 640 square feet, I had managed to reinsulate it and then put in an energy efficient furnace. Still, the windows and the roof needed to be replaced, the triple pane thermal windows cost a huge amount and I really wanted to buy the new solar shingles that Elon Musk¡¯s Tesla power company sold. With the advanced tech in solar products his company had developed I could cut my energy cost almost in half once I managed to get three of his Tesla Powerwalls. These are the lithium-ion electric battery for homes. You hang them on the house wall and wire them in and boom, power. The cost was the problem, they were not cheap. Nothing is cheap in the modern world, and the cost keeps going up. I was lucky that I could be self-supporting, while I would not be getting rich I made enough to live a simple and comfortable life. I had a small inheritance, which I had reinvested with some wise advice and had done all right at least up to this point. I also had a private business, I detailed cars, my back yard had a two-car garage and enough room to park three or four other vehicles there, I had taken the time and spent the money to plant a lot of perennials and flowers in the back, and had even put in a couple of those little park benches you can purchase. Then I painted the garage inside and out and made it look as best I could. It had taken a couple of tight years to actually grow the business, and I had made some mistakes, but people appreciated having a clean car for a reasonable price and I was actually starting to make some money instead of breaking even. It was a good feeling, and while I had worked hard to get to this point I knew that lady luck had favored me, the location of my house, the garage, and large backyard were all contributing factors. I went to the fridge and pulled out a Hungry Man meal and grabbed a coke and a red bull. I microwaved the Hungry Man and chugged the energy drink down in one long pull. Going to my little liquor cabinet I grabbed my bottle of Crown Royal Northern Harvest and poured a shot into my glass of coke. Putting everything away I was ready to eat within a couple of minutes which is about when the microwave dinged and the phone rang. I had made sure that my weekend was free, I normally took two weekends off each summer, and I had let my few friends know I would be busy. I glanced at the call display as I cradled the hot tray with my dinner on it, chicken strips, corn and mashed potatoes with some kind of a cherry desert. Yummy. The display showed a number I did not want to see, it was my ex-girlfriend. Her name was Mandy and she had been my one true love, we had graduated high school together and had continued to date for a couple of years as she went to college and I worked at my car detailing business. It had all come to an end about three months ago, I had been out back finishing off a 73 Corvette for a customer, I had taken some extra time to really make that old girl shine. She was a beautiful car and looked great when I was done. The owner had actually slipped me an extra fifty as a tip and I was in a great mood as I entered the house. Once inside I could hear moans and yelps and a rhythmic thud, thud as the headboard of my bed was pounded against the wall. I walked over to my bedroom and looked in seeing Mandy, my Mandy with her legs up around some dude¡¯s shoulders as he thrust himself deep into her. She was moaning and clutching at his back as he finally dumped his load. They both held still for a moment and then Mandy reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him. I observed them for a couple of minutes as they tongue wrestled and then I spoke up. ¡°Sorry to interrupt you but you have a minute to get out of my house, if you do not go I will assume this is a home invasion and shoot you.¡± I then pulled my little plinker out of the dresser near the door and waved it at them. It was empty but I did not share that with them. The guy swore and threatened me until I pointed the gun at him. ¡°Listen up you asshole, you are in my home doing my girlfriend and you think you can threaten me, that is not going to be happening man, now grab your shit and get the hell out.¡± He took one look at my face and got out. Returning to the bedroom I saw that Mandy was sitting on the bed crying, I gathered her things and put them beside her. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the hell you were thinking and at this point, I don¡¯t care. Get out.¡± I tried to yell but I could not, the feeling of rage had changed to a deep regret and sadness. I watched as she continued to cry as she dressed and then once she was ready to leave I snagged her keys from the old ashtray I always put keys in and removed my house key from the metal ring. ¡°You won¡¯t be needing this.¡± I waved my house key at her. ¡°I truly do not want to see you again Mandy, so don¡¯t make this difficult, you fucked up here and it is not repairable. I don¡¯t hate you, and I hope that your life becomes what you want it to be but now get the fuck out of my house.¡± I watched her as she continued to cry as she left, after all of our years together she knew that I was not joking around. I could not understand how someone could throw away almost five years of dating and good times but I guess people do this shit all the time. That was then and this was now, and she was still trying to contact me, about once a week I received a phone call from her, it always started and ended in tears, with many pleas for me to pick-up the phone and answer. That was not going to be happening, I can forgive almost anything but seeing my girl squeal as some dink banged her in my bed was past my limit. I sat down to eat my meal slowly taking my time, in truth these frozen dinners were not that bad, they filled the body up and gave the needed calories, and most times they tasted all right. I slipped on my running shoes and made my outside, it was a beautiful night, the warm June air carried the scent of lilacs. The lilacs grew in most of the alleys of my area of the city, I lived in Dieppe, a subdivision of Rosemont city. This warmth would not last and soon it would be cold, the summer went by fast. My area Dieppe was older built in the forties and was filled with many small homes. Fortunately, the yuppie crowd had fallen in love with it and bought almost everything up. There were many small shops and boutiques, open air cafes and small trendy pubs. I began to jog, I try to do about ten miles a day, it helps to keep my limber and trim. I returned a couple of hours later in a sweat but feeling relaxed. I grabbed a quick shower and then went over my business accounts if the business continued I might be able to get those windows next year. For now, I had food on the table and drinks in the fridge. Laying down I set the clock to go off in six hours and faded asleep. I awoke feeling refreshed, it had been a strange night for dreams, the Vampire girl I had seen had been in my dreams, she was calling me to help her. Other Vampires were around and were clearly not friendly, we had managed to escape to my island in the lake, but were being pursued. I awoke to the sound of Slick Black Cadillac blaring from my clock radio. Have to change it from the 8o¡¯s hair channel I thought as I stumbled out of bed. Taking my time, I did some light stretches and then one hundred push-ups and one hundred sit-ups. Turning the Keurig coffee machine on I had a fast shower then ate a bagel washed down with some morning blend single shot serving I had in the kitchen drawer. I was ready to get back into the game. Glancing at the clock showed me it was 4:00 am this was a great time to log in, not as many others would be on right now. Closing the VRGC lid I slid on the helmet and hit the enter button, within a moment the verbal confirmation was complete and I faded into blackness only to open my eyes to find I was on the floor of the old tomb in the barren fields. Chapter 6 The Tomb and The City

Chapter 6 The Tomb and The City

The tomb was still the dust had settled hours ago, I strained my ears but could hear nothing, looking around I could see the shattered remains of the Warrior golem. The girl was gone, but for a moment I tasted her blood on my lips and I remembered her dark eyes looking at me, she had been saying something about a cost but all I could remember was that I would not change into a Vampire. It was time to get up, and with a smooth movement I stood up, there was no pain or stiffness, I felt good actually, very good. Glancing over the room I saw a stone sarcophagus in the middle of the room and aside from the broken golem, the room was empty. Walking over to stone coffin I noted that it had an inscription carved into the stone face. My message icon began to blink and I opened it to see I had received another quest it read,
You have discovered the tomb of a long-forgotten King, and have survived the attack of its defender
Do you have the strength to reveal what is hidden, or will you leave and return to safety
For those willing to risk all, much will be gained
I accepted without a second thought, I had gone too far to be scared off from vaguely worded warnings. The stone lid looked heavy it was at least four feet wide and seven feet long, with a depth of six inches. I knew that it must weigh at least half a ton or more. I grasped the edge and with a surge of strength I tried to push the lid to the side. I am not sure what was more of a surprise, the fact that it slowly moved or what I found within the coffin. With the stone finally pushed over I could see the skeletal remains of a man, not much was left of him just a skeleton and near his feet a small wooden chest. When I reached down to pull out the wooden chest I brushed against the chainmail he wore and watched in amazement as the whole skeleton turned to dust. Putting the wooden chest down I gently began to pull out the armor, starting with the boots. I then lifted out the grieves and then the chainmail pants and the belt. I then took out the gauntlets and the vambraces along with the pauldrons. I finally lifted out the hauberk and gorget and placed them gently on the floor. The last thing to come out was a longsword, it was unblemished the long years of being hidden away had not damaged it. I took my time and cleaned the gear, carefully shaking out the dust back into the sarcophagus and once that was done I once again applied my strength to the rock cover and slowly moved it back to its resting place. I gathered all the gear and began to place it in the bag I had found at the creek. I watched in amazement as it all went in, in some ways the game was so lifelike and in other ways, it was just unbelievable. Taking one final look around at what had almost become my tomb I wiggled my way out of the opening into the daylight. I slowly made my way over the barren fields and through the woodland belt into the forest proper, as I approached the river my gaze was constantly flickering, I was not in the mood for some Troll love if I encountered that Troll female. Fortunately for me, I crossed the creek without a problem and continued on eventually encountering more and more low-level players out grinding up their levels. Once the temple was in view I saw that the knight was still present handing out the starter quests. There was no real line to approach him, just people grouping up, occasionally shoving each other out of the way. I could feel my lips tighten, I did not like crowds or rude asses but here I would have to deal with them. After several minutes, I am close enough to approach the knight and as I make eye contact with him he nods at me and then gestures to the temple. I nod back and begin to walk towards the entrance. Once there I am greeted by a monk who asks, ¡°What can we do to help you stranger?¡± I point at the knight who had dismounted and is handing his horse to a page who had come running to him. ¡°I am waiting for him, he indicated I should wait for him here.¡± As I spoke I could see the monk look at the knight and then back at me. ¡°If Sir Langshank wants to meet you here then please feel free to wait, I only ask that you wait here for him, the temple is off limits to all but monks and invited guests.¡± Once the monk finished speaking I nodded and watched as he walked away. I could hear Sir Langshank approach and turning to greet him I spoke, ¡°Sir I have completed the quests you have asked me to do and I think that you will be satisfied by what I have found out.¡± Sir Langshank spoke and said, ¡°Well done lad, I had a feeling when I saw you that you were a capable one. Unlike most of these strangers to the realm.¡± I could hear the undercurrent of irritation in his voice and I could not blame him, to have to hand out simple quests all day long to rude people, it would piss me off. ¡°Enough about those outside, speak and tell me of your adventures. From when you left here to when you returned. I want to know everything.¡± I started with the rescue of Travan which Sir Langshank found very funny, having a Troll female in heat chasing to humans to breed with was pretty uncommon. Once I began to tell of arriving at the mine and exploring it his attention was totally focused. When I mentioned the Rattacans he was startled but the anger that glowed in his eyes when I mentioned the barbecue death of a new player was startling. He asked several questions about the poor man but I could not provide answers. I had never been close enough to really see and details. I then told of my near escape and the finding of the other tunnel at the lake and how I had managed to steal into the mages tent and retrieve the scrolls and then the Vampires. At the mention of Vampires, Sir Langshank looked startled and stopped me. Sir Langshank quickly spoke, ¡°Follow me lad, and do not tell anyone of what you saw into I tell you.¡± We turned and entered the temple, Sir Langshank leading the way we traversed several corridors and stairs until Sir Langshank stopped in front of a door. Banging on it until he heard a shouted enter he opened the door and led the way into the Prior¡¯s office. The man seated behind the desk was large and muscled not what I would have thought the head of a group of monks would look like. He had a scowl when we walked in but on seeing Langshank he stood and walked over and gave the knight a hug. ¡°Brother, it has been too long, come you must share a bottle of wine with me.¡± Then looking at me the Prior said, ¡°Who is this young man who stands with you, I can see he has seen what many of the newcomers have not, personal death and pain.¡± Sir Langshank said, ¡°This young man went on a quest for me, and upon his return, I knew I had chosen well. He explored the old mine across the barren fields, I sent him there expecting him to find wolves or rats. What he found was a nest of Rattacans which is bad enough, but then he witnessed a clan of Vampires attack and destroy the Rattacans. This boy was lucky enough to escape and bring us the word, as well he found several scrolls.¡± ¡°The Prior looking eager said, ¡°The scrolls, give them to me.¡± Something about the way he demanded I give him the scrolls bothered me, but I replied politely enough, ¡°The scrolls are no more I read them and received what they had to give.¡± I was watching the Prior carefully and I could see the angry glint in his eyes for a moment before he recovered. ¡°That is truly unfortunate, those scrolls could have helped us here, tell me what were they. Teaching scrolls, or combat scrolls?¡± The Prior finished asking me about the scrolls and waited for my reply, unfortunately, he would be waiting for a long time, I had no attention of telling him anything about me, there was something about him put me on edge. As he waited I glanced over at Sir Langshank and said, sir I have completed your quest, I would now like to receive my reward and then be on my way, I have a lot to do yet.¡± Sir Langshank looked surprised but the Prior looked angry, and with a muttered oath he said, ¡°Boy do not test my patience, now answer my question.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I was beginning to feel a deep anger start to smolder within my being but I simply smiled and gave the Prior the universal symbol that had worked so well on the stone golem in the tomb. I could tell that it really was a universal symbol as the Prior began to snarl at me and then reached out to grab me and pull me towards his desk. The Prior was a large man dressed in a simple robe, without any visible weapons, but he was level twenty-five and very powerful. As he thrust me at his desk I kicked him as hard as I could in the stones. I watched as his face turned white and he fell to the floor grabbing at his manly bits of bruised flesh. Without thinking, I had pulled both of my daggers and was advancing on the writhing Prior. I was going to finish this dude off, his attitude and the fact that he had laid hands on me was enough, this starting zone was supposed to be pvp free and there was no way an npc should have been able to attack me like that. Another glitch in the game. I stopped when I felt Sir Langshank¡¯s sword press against my neck. ¡°It would truly be a pity if I were to have to kill you, I would not like that at all, but you can¡¯t just go around attacking the Prior, it is not proper. However, the fact that you at your level managed to immobilize a level 25 is very impressive. So, put away your daggers and relax, you and I are going to go to the city, there is a man there that you will be seeing.¡± ¡°Suppose I don¡¯t wish to go to the city, Langshank. For fun and giggles let¡¯s say I want to stay here and level up, slowly working my way to the next level and so forth.¡± I looked at Langshank as I spoke and I knew that my words had little impact on him. ¡°Lad you have somehow become involved in something that is larger than you think, and because you have shown courage and resourcefulness I am going to be speaking on your behalf to a few people in the city. I have not a doubt that you will thrive, and level quickly.¡± With that Langshank grabbed my arm and hustled me out of the Prior¡¯s office, looking back he said, ¡°Do stop rolling on the ground man, get a grip and get up, I will speak with you soon.¡± Ignoring the curses that came out from the office we left the temple, Langshank mounted his horse and then gripping my arm pulled me up, I rode behind him as he set off down a wooded pathway, we traveled for several hours slowly climbing a series of small hills until we stood before a large city wall with a huge open gate that led into the city itself. After entering the city Sir Langshank dropped my off at the city square after telling me to meet him at the Lion¡¯s Head pub in three days. I stared at him as he rode off sitting tall and proud on his horse. I was pissed, I had been dragged from the starting zone to the Kamak the capital city of man. Sure I had completed the quest he had given me and on the ride here and I had leveled up twice with the xp I received. The problem was this was not my plan to level nor how I wanted to play the game. Sighing I looked at my stats now I was at level four,
Fire blast Does 55 to 75 fire damage
Ice blast Does 55 to 75 ice damage
Health Heals up to 60 percent of targets health
Stun Stuns target for up to 5 seconds
Portal Creates a portal to the starting zones capital city
Charisma 80/100
Defense 100/100
Will-power 85/100
Strength 200/300
Agility 200/300
Wisdom 85/100
Knowledge 95/100
Energy 400/400
Health 400/400
Mana (dagger equipped) 500/500 + ten ticks/ 3 seconds
Gold 167g 8s 31c
I found a bench and stared at my stats, there was no reason for some of them to be so high at level four. Something had happened when I drank the blood of the Vampire girl, it had changed me, I felt the same yet I also felt different, more focused and aware of what was happening all around me. My hearing was sharper and my vision seemed more acute. I was stronger, a lot stronger and judging by my stats more agile as well. What I needed to do was find a bank, deposit the contents of my bag and then find an Inn. Having decided on what I should do I stood and walked towards the center of the square where I map of the city was place along with a board that had a number of available quests. By studying the map all the information was transferred to my map. I was curious about some of the quests but I had seen something on the map that had caught my attention. There were two Weapon Masters in the city, one located at the Hidden park and the other located on the Warrior¡¯s terrace. The first Weapon Master taught Daggers, Swords and Maces. The second Weapon Master specialized in axes, polearms, staffs and spears. I would be visiting both of them to upgrade my weapons skills, I thought as I headed to the bank. Once I arrived I stood in line for a couple of minutes before I reached the bank teller. She was a human with a figure to die for and a smile that lit up the room. I was not sure if she had been hired to bedazzle customers but she certainly worked her charm on me. Her being an npc did not even cross my mind as I stared at her. I finally tuned back in when she whistled at me and then asked, ¡°Sir how may I help you?¡± ¡°I need to make a deposit please, I don¡¯t have an account yet can we set it up?¡± I sounded lame even to my ears but for some reason, this girl reminded me of going on dates, and dancing at clubs and walking home in the early morning light. I stepped back and pinched the back of my hand hard. I was not sure why I was being so stupid, while I appreciated a pretty girl, I had not bothered to date anyone since Mandy and I broke up. Shaking my head I finished the transaction and left the bank with my bags empty and a puzzled look on my face. The city was active with more and more players arriving, most of them were at level ten or higher. I would have to level up but I was not in a hurry, getting a game first achievement for hitting the level cap meant nothing to me. I just wanted to explore and quest. Walking into the Inn I was greeted by a barmaid who gave me a key to a room on the second floor. Thanking her, I walked up and entered my room. Locking the door, I put my gear on the table and stretched out on the bed. Setting the in-game alarm clock for an hour I closed my eyes and was asleep almost instantly. My dreams were troubled, during my sleep I was flying in the body of a crow, circling a large building, a palace on the highest hill within the city. The crow landed and looked down from the open window set high in the wall. It was a room that held two men, Sir Langshank and a man who could only be the King, he wore a Crown and his level was a clearly visible one hundred. The crow leaned forward and listened to the men as they spoke. Langshank was explaining, ¡°This newcomer exceeded my expectations sire, I sent him out to explore an old mine, as we had received reports of wolves and rats nearby. It was a dangerous journey across the barren fields to the mine at his level but he managed. He found the mine to have an infestation of the filthy Rattacans, but that was dealt with before he left the mine.¡± The king asked, ¡°How did one level two manage to defeat a camp of Rattacans? It seems an impossibility to me.¡± Langshank nodded his head and said, ¡°It is impossible sire, Anon did not defeat the Rattacans a group of Vampires did, he was the witness to the massacre.¡± The King was silent for a moment and then he spoke, ¡°Vampires, I thought we had destroyed the last of them during the jungle war of Enoca, damn I was told they were gone. How did this lad manage to escape from the mine?¡± Langshank answered with a simple statement, ¡°Luck, the boy has the luck of the Goddess of Cards, and then something. There is something about him that is unusual, I took him to the Prior to let him hear the tale and the two did not get along. The Prior attempted to physically dominate Anon and probably due to pride left himself open to attack. I had to stop the lad from permanently ending the Priors life. The boy moved with grace and power, far beyond his level.¡± The crow continued to observe as the two men fell silent, and when the King finally spoke, both the crow and I heard every word. ¡°Langshank, has the boy been turned, is the horror back amongst us.¡± The Kings'' voice was little more than a whisper as he asked the question. ¡°Sire, the boy is human, I rode with him through the day to arrive here, he is warm and the blood flows within his veins. He is not a Vampire.¡± ¡°Thank the Gods.¡± The king replied, ¡°I would have destroyed him if you had any doubt, but still what would you have me do with him, there is a reason for you to bring him here to my city, what do you want to be done with him, my friend?¡± Langshank smiled and said, ¡°You know me, sire, nothing escapes you, my thoughts are for the lad to be made a King''s squire and then assigned to the master of the tunnels, sewage, and water works department.¡± The King began to laugh and the said, ¡°You want him to become part of the department of dirty jobs. Is it wise to give him that kind of training, I prefer that my spies and assassins show their loyalty to the Crown over the course of years, not days.¡± ¡°Very true sir, however, his training does not need to be completed in all areas, I would have him level up and then start working in the field for me. If he survives the training and my assignments, we will have a notable asset on hand. I have a feeling about this one, I think he is special.¡± The king nodded and then they stood and left the room, the crow also left, flying over the city, he gave me a panoramic view. Suddenly I was back in my body with the alarm softly chirping in my ear. It was time to get up, get some food and do some exploring, it is always good to know where an escape hole is, I had a feeling I would need one soon. Chapter 7 Exploring

Chapter 7 Exploring

I stumbled to my feet with my head still full of the fog of sleep, the dream of being a crow and spying on Langshank and the King still real to me. The vividness and the casual way they had been discussing me had me believing the dream to be a reality. Taking a moment, I cleaned up and went downstairs to the pub and ordered something to eat and a drink of ale. The room began to fill up with a mixed crowd, both workers and merchants came and ate. Some lingered on over drinks, others headed home or perhaps to work, the city slowed down during the evening but I suspected it did not really ever stop. Looking around the room I noted that several men of the city watch had appeared and while they had made their way to the bar and were having a mug of ale one, in particular, was observing me. When we made eye contact he looked down and then made sure to avoid looking at me. Not sure what the hell that is about, I thought as I stood up and started to leave. Once I was clear of the door I made my way to a nearby alleyway and stood in the shadows and waited. Was I paranoid, yep I sure am, maybe? I know the game had several story arcs to assist in progression, and a few hidden things as well to keep the game interesting, but I felt that my free choice of progression in the game was being compromised. I had not been offered a quest to accompany Langshank to the city, and now I suspect I won¡¯t find many quests here. As I waited I sent a game-master a message detailing what had happened and that I was wanting to get some quests and play the game I wanted. Once that was sent off I waited for a few more minutes, but the city watchman who had been eyeing me did not step out of the Inn to follow. He might have been strolling for some companionship. The game was very advanced and relations between npc¡¯s and players could develop. Unfortunately for him, I did not roll that way. In real life one of my friends was gay, he was athletic, good looking, well dressed and charming, the girls flocked to him, and when they discovered he was not interested, I the ever-loyal wingman had received more than my fair share of phone numbers. Sadly, I was attached to Mandy back then and I trashed them all. Memory is a funny thing, I had no idea that I would be standing in an alley and thinking about my old buddy Charles. He had moved to Boston and married one of the city counselors. He was hobnobbing with the rich and powerful while I was playing a game wondering why it was glitching. Turning I made my way down the alley, following the directions displayed on my map. I had been walking for about two hours getting a general idea of the city. Seeing something on a map just did not give you a feel for what a place is really like. You have to take the time to walk around, smell the air, see the sights and talk to people. After all that is done you will begin to understand and feel what a city is about. This city was full of energy, it had a feel of determination to it, but it also had a feel of secrets, of old things untouched and unseen. Eventually, I made my way over to both of the Weapon Masters and after spending some gold I now had several skills. They had both taken the time to explain how it all worked, first, you read the scroll and when the understanding of the weapon skill was gained you would know the basic forms of fighting with that weapon. The hard part came afterward, the practice, in order to achieve any measure of competence, you needed to practice. Thankfully this was a game and not real life so if a player would spend a day on the practice dummy the skills would develop into muscle memory and your ability to use the weapon would become much greater. The same went for strength and agility, really all of the stats could be improved on. Each level would increase the player''s baseline stat but with the extra effort that baseline could grow. I would imagine that most players would ignore that fact just as they did weapon skills, once they had learnt a class based attack that is what they would use, eventually almost all of the damage per second would be class based attacks with basic weapon damage, commonly known as white damage only contributing a small amount to the overall numbers. In a lot of the other games, people would spend a lot of time going through what they would have to do to get top dps from what they called a rotation. I was not interested in being at the top of a dps meter once I started doing dungeons and raids. The fact was I just wanted to explore the game world, do some buying and selling, run a few dungeons but most of all have fun. I was hoping that the fun would continue once I had heard back from the game-master. In the meantime, I was enjoying exploring the city and I appreciated the basic weapon training I had received. I would have to make sure that I spent at least three hours each day on training. As I walked along the canal located in the middle of the city I noted that most of the people were fair skinned and had blond or red hair. My dark complexion and short curly hair stood out, it was interesting that most people changed their appearance after they had successfully logged in. We all started with a digitized image of what we looked like in real life but then could access a beauty panel and change our appearance. It looked like most people had changed their appearance to look like an Olympic athlete with the face of a Gentlemen''s Quarterly (GQ) male model. What was really interesting was that they were all white, no darker skin tones visible anywhere. I am not racist, at least I try not to be, but what I was seeing showed a very interesting demographic developing. I wondered if the game studio had allowed this to happen on purpose, as all of the npc¡¯s I had seen so far were all fair skinned not one was dark complexioned. Putting the thought I might be playing in a racist game on the back burner I found that the canal had begun to wind through a graveyard. It was a lovely looking graveyard with lanterns lit and flower beds spaced around a well laid out walking path that meandered past gravestones, tombs, and fountains. I continued to walk down the path, and to my surprise, I saw a small boy sitting on a tombstone, he looked up as I approached and waved at me, I waved back but he was gone and in his place, a statue of the boy was sitting on the gravestone. I glanced around and saw that there were several other people walking around but when I blinked they all disappeared. This was somewhat startling and I was not sure how I felt about this strange turn of events. I was turning to leave when I saw her, she was the girl from the bank and she stood there looking sad as she stared at the gravestone beneath her. I approached and once close enough I called out, ¡°Miss are you alright, you seem upset?¡± She turned to look at me and I could see the tears on her face, clearly this was an emotional time for her. Looking at me with surprise she said, ¡°I am fine, just feeling the regrets of the past roll into the present.¡± She then stared at me as I stared at her, she was not the girl from the bank but looked a lot like her. I could feel my heart begin to race, I was not sure why I was feeling this way, but as I looked at the girl I knew I wanted to know her. After a minute the girl spoke, ¡°My name is Tavana, and I am surprised that you are talking to me. Most people just look right through me and ignore me, it has become lonely for me these last few months.¡± Before I could engage my mouth, it began to speak and I listened in amazement to the words that came forth. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that people would ignore you, you have such a presence, in fact, you are beautiful. It would be easier for an elephant to climb a tree than for me to walk away from you.¡± As I was speaking I had slowly walked closer, reaching out I grabbed her hand and held it. It felt slightly cool and I felt a thrill go through me as I held Tavana¡¯s hand. She looked startled and then a blush came to her face as we stood there. I watched as her other hand came up and softly rubbed my cheek and then she said, ¡°I can feel you, you are real, you are alive.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I watched as she began to cry and then I pulled her to me and let her cry on my shoulder. We stood for several minutes with me holding her and breathing in the scent of her hair. I finally looked up and saw that we were surrounded by several figures, mainly women but a few men stood there also. I must have stiffened up for Tavana asked, ¡°What is wrong?¡± as she pulled back from me and looked around. Seeing the small crowd of people gathered around us did not seem to bother Tavana she simply looked at them and then looked at me. ¡°I am sorry, these folks are protective of me and seeing me here with you, they are simply concerned for me.¡± She turned and waved at the crowd and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright, I am fine, please don¡¯t worry.¡± Turning towards me she smiled and said, ¡°We all have too much time here and have a tendency to be curious about new things.¡± I was hearing her words but my gaze was focused on the people as they began to disappear in a very literal fashion, some faded away while others slowly sunk into the earth and a few floated up and began to fly towards different parts of the graveyard. There was no doubt they were ghosts that lived in the graveyard. It all made sense in my mind, why would ghosts not live in a graveyard. That meant that Tavana was probably a ghost also. Suddenly my mind shut down and I turned and looked at Tavana. She had a tentative smile painted on that was covering up a face that was afraid to show the pain of rejection. As I stared at her something in my body gave off a jolt of electricity and I knew what to do. Reaching out I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close, then I kissed her. She stood silent, surprised, maybe shocked but then she kissed me back. Boy, that girl could kiss, I know it had been a while but the passion and emotion in her kiss felt like I was being splashed with cold water, it was invigorating and as my hands began to drift down on her back I knew that this ghost had a power over me that I had never felt with Mandy. I managed to stop myself from doing more that rubbing her back but it was hard. Still, I managed and I finally broke the kiss to say, ¡°Tavana, there is something about you, I want you to know that I normally don¡¯t run up to girls I do not know and kiss them. But you I would kiss anytime.¡± What the fuck, I thought as I stared into her dark gray eyes. I am falling for a ghost, but how the hell can I touch her, how can I feel her breath on me. I had no answers just a feeling about what I was doing and it felt right. We stared at each other for a moment and then Tavana said, ¡°Somehow you have entered the Kingdom of Death while still being in the Kingdom of Life. I have never heard of such a thing, but here you are.¡± I held her hand as we talked for the rest of the night, it seemed that she had been attacked and robbed a few month ago, and before the assailant fled he had used a poisoned dagger on her which had caused her body to freeze up and then as her lungs and heart finally stopped working due to the poison she died. She was sad that she had died, but the kicker was that she had recognized the thief. It was her boyfriend and standing at the corner was her sister, the girl from the bank. The last living sight she had was the two of them looking down at her, kissing each other and then walking away while holding hands. Tavana began to cry as she recounted the story, and I could understand her feelings, both her boyfriend and sister had betrayed her. Suddenly my message icon flashed and opening up the message I read,
You have found the hidden quest, revenge is best-served cold, help the ghostly girl show the truth
You have stood on the line of life and death, now is the time to show the killers the line they crossed
Exact revenge on Tavana¡¯s killers, for a ghostly reward
I accepted the quest and turned to look at Tavana, she was lovely in the early morning light, but I was aware that she was fading away, taking her hand I said, ¡°I will return at night if I am able.¡± Before I could finish she smiled at me and gave me a kiss as she faded away and then was gone. I stood up and made my way to my Inn, I needed some sleep and the perspective that a bit of time would bring. I could not deny my feelings, but somehow, I felt like I was being manipulated. Also, how the hell could I see ghosts? Once at my room I was asleep in an instant, my dreams haunted by a crow that was trying to guide me through a maze of tunnels that ran under the city. We were being chased by something large, something that had no use for the living and not much use for the dead. It had a special interest in me, it could tell that I walked between the Light of the living and the Shadows of the dead. Fucking crazy dreams, I thought as I woke up. Deciding that I wanted to have a long soak in the hot water I went to the Inns bath and asked the attendant to heat me some water. He spoke in a guttural language and the said, ¡°Give it ten minutes and it will be hot.¡± It was near lunchtime and he left the room to collect a bowl of soup and a mug of ale. I meanwhile had undressed and was sitting on the bench watching the large tub. As I glanced down I was surprised to see a small red figure, he had two horns and a tail and was red. It was an Imp and he stood about one foot tall and was glaring at me. He began to speak and I heard a garble of sounds that suddenly became clear. ¡°You big Fookin dummy, look at ya, sitting there with ya dong all hangin out like ya think ya gonna win a prize. Humans, ye all make me sick ya shithead ya.¡± Wow, I was not going to win his popularity contest but still my dong was not on display, I was simply sitting waiting for the water to heat up. ¡°Listen up you ugly little two horned bitch, stop the insults or I will give as good as I get, you understand?¡± I had not raised my voice but there was no doubt that he had heard what I said and was surprised, in fact as he dove under the tub I could hear him ask me, ¡°How the Fook did ya see me, ye is no Warlock?¡± It was another question that I would be searching an answer for after I had my bath. ¡°Listen is that water hot enough yet, or do you need to do something?¡± I was sure that the Imp was how the water was heated and after hearing a moment of cursing I was told the Fooken water was good enough for the likes of me. Sweet, I had an Imp with an attitude about to watch me wash my jiggly bits. Does life get any better than this? I had to admit that the water was perfect and that by the time I was ready to come out I was feeling pretty relaxed. I had even had a talk with the Imp, his name was Wazzic and he had been captured when the junior Warlock had summoned him and the tricked him into his service. I do not know anything about Warlocks or demons but something seemed fishy. Once the Warlock came back I hopped out of the tub and began to dry off while listening to the Imp tear the Warlock a new one right beside the old one he had torn into the Warlock a minute ago. I turned to the Warlock and asked, ¡°Does that Imp never shut up?¡± ¡°Only when there are people around who can¡¯t see him, then he hides.¡± The Warlock looked tired as he explained that Wazzic could not control his tongue and he was actually thinking of getting rid of him to summon a new Imp. Upon hearing this I had an idea, speaking to the Warlock I asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you sell Wazzic, and then get a new Imp. I would hate to see a sentient being sacrificed. Tell you what I will give you one gold for the little bugger, but you must bind him to me and my commands.¡± The Warlock looked startled and then nodded, licking his lips he asked if I was serious, when I said yes, he grabbed my hand and then rubbed it on his hand while chanting a brief spell. My hand felt like it was on fire for a moment and then a black mark appeared. Looking somewhat like a tattoo it was the mark of ownership and by its power Wazzic now had to obey my commands. Thanking the Warlock, I paid him and then went to leave, I told Wazzic to attend me, and watched him fade from view, I knew he would be close by, invisible to all but other demons. It was time to find some quests. Chapter 8 Just Doing My Job

Chapter 8 Just Doing My Job

I had a few hours left to play before I would have to log out and I wanted to make full use of my time, I wanted to quest and earn some xp but in the city, the quests all led out into the wilds or other areas. I cursed Langshank for bringing me here and continued to walk towards the open garden market. I was just in time to see two carts collide and a bunch of potatoes fall to the ground. One of the drivers cursed and kept going, the other driver, a boy just stood there with a horrified expression. Some of the other players who had witnessed the accident laughed and walked on. I stopped and after a moment asked the boy, ¡°Are you going to stand there and let these potatoes get ruined, or are you going to start picking them up?¡± The boy looked at me and quickly said, ¡°Yes sir,¡± and continued to stand there. Sighing out loud I bent down and began to pick up the spuds, it was not hard but there were a lot of them. The kid quickly bent down and began to help and we soon had the spuds back in the cart. The boy looked at me and said, ¡°Thanks, I sure appreciate your help. That other guy he rammed his wheel into my cart and then he took off what a, a, I don¡¯t know what he is.¡± ¡°An asshole is the term I would use,¡± I said and heard a quiet snicker, Wazzic clearly found this to be amusing. The boy flushed bright red and said, ¡°Mam does not like us to use that kind of talk.¡± I heard another snicker and felt it was time to move on. ¡°Good luck kid, keep your eyes on the road.¡± I continued to walk towards the market looking at all the items on display. There was the fruit I am familiar with as well as other items I did not recognize. Booths were set up that sold all kind of items, they were located on the outer parameter of the market, then going inwards were stalls selling food, a sort of open-air restaurant with many different things being offered. The middle of the square was loaded with tables that were loaded with anything that could be grown or pickled or canned. It was impressive and I was looking forward to grabbing a bite to eat and looking at everything when I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. Turning around I saw a guard detachment waiting with a young lady leading them. It was she who had touched me, and while her touch had been gentle I saw that she was in full armor and seemed at ease leading the guards. ¡°Sir, are you Anon, the visitor to our realm, brought here by Sir Langshank?¡± The steel in her voice left no doubt that she knew who I was and that any funny business would not be considered funny. I was tempted to sigh again but I knew it would be a wasted effort so simply said, ¡°Yes.¡± Her voice was polite but it was not a question when she asked, ¡°Would you come with us please?¡± ¡°Do I have a choice?¡± I asked. Seeing her shake her head confirmed my opinion that I was about to go somewhere I was not sure I wanted to go. Somehow, I had no choice in the matter, again. ¡°Lead on Sarge,¡± I spoke with a little irony in my voice but it was lost on the lady. We set off and moving in a rather roundabout way made it to the palace. I think our route had more to do with avoiding the large crowds then getting to the palace fast. Eventually, we arrived and then I was given off to someone who looked a lot like a butler. After an hour of waiting for the butler to return, he showed up and asked me to follow him. We ended up in a small meeting room, me, Langshank and the King. I immediately bent the knee and said, ¡°Your majesty.¡± It was only a game but being in the presence of the King at level two was an achievement as far as I was concerned. The King smiled and said, ¡°Have a seat, Anon and tell me of your adventures so far in my Kingdom. I recalled my dream and decided to be cautious as I spoke, I began to tell of my adventures and with a little misdirection, I managed to avoid mentioning the tomb on the barren fields and the Vampire. Both the King and Langshank were very interested in my extensive map of the mine and the connected caves. After promising to copy it onto parchment Langshank started to speak. ¡°We have decided to offer you a position as a King''s squire, it is a great honor and it will afford you the ability to receive special training and access to resources that will make your efforts to level much easier.¡± As soon as he stopped speaking a message icon flashed and opening it I read,
You have been offered a position as a Kings squire, this will open up further story arcs and quests
Rewards will vary depending on your training and missions
I accepted, finally, I was getting somewhere. Both the King and Langshank looked pleased but wasted no time in swearing me in as a squire, the bonus was I would be paid two gold a month and have free room and board at the castle. Unfortunately, before I could arrange to have my belongings sent up to the castle both Langshank and I were leaving, heading out to meet the man that Langshank informed me would be my Governor. When I pressed him for details all he would say was that squires had to start somewhere and not everyone would be leading a charge of knights into battle. We made our way down through passageways and tunnels finally emerging in a tavern located down from the castle. Making our way out of the cellar we went into a back room where a secretary was waiting, she nodded at Langshank sniffed at me and then said, ¡°The master is waiting,¡± and pointed to the door. Entering the brightly lit office I was introduced to master Redpath. He was the man in charge of the tunnels Waterworks and sewage. It actually was a pretty important post; any city produces large amounts of waste and that needs to be dealt with before sickness and filth can occur. The department of dirty works it was commonly called and the name had more than one meaning. This was the man who ran the King''s spies, and assassins as well as other stuff I did not want to know about. He was to be my Governor. Langshank spoke first, ¡°Good to see you, Redpath, I have brought you a new recruit, this is Anon he is a newly made Kings squire and has been sent down to you for some training. Treat this one well, we have high hopes for him.¡± With that Langshank excused himself and I was alone with my Governor. Why the hell is he called my Governor, this is like a bad British detective novel. I guess my face must have revealed some of what I was thinking as Redpath looked at me and shook his head and said, ¡°I can see that you have your doubts about being here, rest assured you will be trained to the limits of your abilities. For now, we will get you established at the training grounds, take this paper and go to the Watermill terrace, there you will find a large round stone water building called the Waterworks. Give this to the man at the front office and he will take care of the rest.¡± It was clear I was dismissed, so standing up I did the only thing I could do, I thanked him and turned and left. The secretary gave another sniff at me as I walked by and it really irritated me. Stopping I spun around and walked to her desk, then leaning over I looked into her eyes and said, ¡°I get the feeling you don¡¯t like me and that is too bad for you look like a hell of a woman, perhaps in another world, we might have been friends.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She looked startled and glanced wildly around but eventually looked back at me, which is when I grabbed her hand and kissed it. The shocked look on her face was priceless as was the red blush that instantly appeared. ¡°Duty calls,¡± I whispered as I stood and made my way outside. Once outside I highlighted where I had to go on my map and proceeded down the road. What the hell was I thinking back there, I normally would never do anything like that, something was changing within me. My thoughts continued to run in circles until I found myself at the water building. It must have been three hundred feet around with a small square office building fitted to the front of it. I walked over to the entrance and knocked twice then opened the door and let myself in. It was an open room with several desks in it. There was a central corridor that led to a door in the back wall. Other than that, it was surprisingly ordinary. One of the men writing something at a desk stood up and walked over to me, ¡°Can I help you?¡± He asked. I held out the note I had received from Redpath, I had read it, nothing special, just an introduction and command to have me set up for training and evaluation as well as starting to do some quests. Once the man read it, he looked at me and said, ¡°Call me Meragol, so you are the latest recruit, welcome to the Dirty Deeds department.¡± He was looking closely at me to see if I would react, to see if I would recognize the double entendre he had just spoken or would I be ignorant of what he had really meant. Safety first, it was like a mantra to me in my detailing business, and it could be applied here also. If I acknowledged that I knew what this department really did there was a real chance I would not make it out of here. Playing dumb was the only response so I said, ¡°I did not think to be a squire would mean I would be cleaning shit out of some tunnels.¡± I looked Meragol in the face as I said this, and saw a small smile appear. ¡°Well my son, we do a wee bit more than that, but consider this everyone has to start somewhere.¡± He began to laugh and then said, ¡°Follow me, we will get you set up in your room, and then I will give you the 5-copper tour.¡± He led me through the door in the back and I found myself in a corridor that circled around the building. He showed me the dining hall and the library as well as the baths and towards the interior of the building the gyms and training halls. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and he gave me a key to my room. ¡°You can have the rest of the day off to collect your belongings and bring them here, I will have a schedule sent up to your room with details for your training which will begin tomorrow. Welcome to the department.¡± Meragol finished speaking and left, I turned and unlocked the door. The room was long and narrow with a desk and table at one end and a bed and end table at the other. A wardrobe was placed against the foot of the bed which gave the illusion of privacy. I sat down at the desk it was simple and solid the wooden surface had several marks carved into it. I opened the desk drawers, finding ink and quills along with some parchment. There was a shelf built into the bed as a headboard which had several large candles on it. I noted three small window high up the wall that allowed enough light to enter during the day to read. The wardrobe was empty and the bed had a clean stack of sheets and two thick woolen blankets placed on it. I made the bed and then explored a bit more. Finding my way to the dining hall I snagged a fresh bun with a hunk of cheese a bit of onion and some beef along with a larger mug of cold water. I sat down and began to eat, during my meal, several others showed up and grabbed some food. They all seemed cordial if not warm towards me. I had the feeling that they were all pretty busy with both physical and classroom training. Lunch was simple and filling and the desire to have a nap hit me as soon as I stood up. I decided to grab my gear from the Inn first and then explore the library here. Making my way through the city I stopped at several parks and fountains, the city was remarkably well designed and laid out with many small parks and squares. Statues and fountains were to be found along most of the larger streets. As well, many outdoor markets were present. It seemed there were different markets each day, and I had the impression that they moved around the city. Finally arriving at the Inn I went and grabbed my gear and then handed in the key, the barmaid, a perky redhead smiled at me and thanked me for staying with them. Giving me a wink she twirled away to take the food order from a group sitting at a table. For some reason, I was in a great mood, having a pretty lady smile and wink at you was contagious. I walked out of the Inn with a grin which lasted about half way home. Approaching one of the crossroads, I could see the young boy I had helped out in the morning, he was being brutally beaten by an older man. I ran up to the old guy and grabbed his hand, he turned around and kicked me, Kick for 30 damage. At this point, I decided I was not interested in having him use me as a punching bag and I open hand slapped him on the face. At the same time, my invisible Imp Wazzic suddenly became visible as he fired off a fireball which hit the man about a second after my slap. Slapping a man does two things, it humiliates him and it hurts him almost as much as punching him. Also, being hit on the face causes the average person to feel a little disorientated for a few seconds then add to that having a fireball impact in your tummy, it will knock you on your ass. That is what happened and when the man fell I reached out and grabbed him, then banged him against the wall for good measure. I had heard the approach of feet running at us and letting the man go I turned to find the same guard detachment that had led me to the palace earlier was now surrounding me. Wazzic had faded away at the sounds of the guards which made me happy, I did not want to explain him. The girl in charge recognized me and holding up her hand asked, ¡°What the hell are you doing, assaulting a free citizen of the realm? This is a serious offense and can lead to you being in a lot of trouble.¡± Looking at the girl I pointed to the older man and said, ¡°This miscreant was assaulting this boy, I merely stepped in to stop that ass from beating a child.¡± The girl gave me a funny look and then walked over to the boy and began to ask him several questions, during which she would give me a look or two. Once she was done she made her way over to me and said, ¡°His story corroborates with yours, so we will be hauling this fellow into the gaol (jail) for tonight.¡± Whistling at her men she picked two and they reached down and clamped chains on the guy then not being too gentle with him they frogmarched him up the street heading towards an unpleasant night. Thinking I was free I waved at the girl, mistake number one and then tried to leave, mistake number two. She narrowed her eyes and bit her lip, which was remarkably attractive and then she spoke. ¡°And where do you think you are going pumpkin, I will tell you where you are going, you are going with me till I find out a little more about you. Trouble seems to like you and I don¡¯t like seeing trouble on my shift. You are coming with me to the watchtower and there my Governor will be having a word.¡± I tried to say that I was expected at the Dirty Deeds department but she held up her hand to signify that our conversation was at an end. I was then surrounded by a bunch of burly guys all dressed in leather and chainmail then off we went marching to the watch tower. It did not take long to arrive and then governmental bureaucracy kicked in and we waited. When I say we I mean the girl and I, the others had all vanished, probably looking for coffee and donuts. I was feeling a little sour and out of sorts, this was not how I wanted to play the game. The door finally opened and we walked in, after sitting down the girl went right to the point, explaining how she had escorted me to the palace earlier and then finding me brawling with a citizen. It sounded a little funny to hear her but she essentially told the truth. Her Governor looked at me and then asked. ¡°Do you have anything to add?¡± Thinking quickly, I decided to tell the truth and said, ¡°Sir Langshank and the King met with me this morning, after which I was made a King¡¯s squire and sent down to the department of Water and Sewage for some training.¡± When I had mentioned both Langshank and the King, the girl had sucked in her breath and when I said I was now a squire her face started to turn red. This was interesting but the real show began when I mentioned where I had been sent for training. Her Governor suddenly paled and whispered, ¡°The department of Dirty Deeds.¡± Turning to me he said, ¡°You are free to go and do try to stay out of trouble,¡± then gesturing me off he pointed towards the doors. I glanced down at the girl as she sat there and to my surprise, her face was now bright red with embarrassment. I gave her a smile that she did not return and let myself out. Taking my time, I strolled through the city until I arrived back at the Waterworks building, entering it I made my way through the office and then up to my room. Unpacking my view belongs took only a minute and then I headed downstairs to eat. Chapter 9 Compulsions

Chapter 9 Compulsions

I awoke to a pounding on my door, getting out of bed I opened the door and looked at the servant who was waiting for me. ¡°Young sir, I am here to make sure you are up and ready to begin your training.¡± With that, he turned and walked down the hall stopping to bang on another bedroom door. I stared at him for a minute and then turned and gathered my stuff and headed down to get cleaned up and have some breakfast. I was one of the first to wash up and enter the dining hall. The smell of the food was tantalizing, with my mouth watering I grabbed a plate and scooped up some butter fried potatoes. Making my way down the buffet style food line, I grabbed four soft poached eggs and about ten pieces of bacon along with five pieces of sausage. Topping it all off was three thick cut pieces of bread that had been fried in hot butter on both sides. Finally, I grabbed a large mug of chilled milk and made my way to a table. I slowly began to eat, enjoying every bite. One of the things that I liked about the game was that no matter how much you ate you never felt like you were suffering lead belly, that heavy feeling in the middle of your tummy that came from eating too much food or eating at fast food restaurants. Once I was done I gathered my dirty dishes and put everything in the dirty bin and the pulled my schedule out and read it once again. My first class was an introduction to the history of the city, then the second was physical training, level one. Each class lasted about an hour and a half, then a lunch break. Afterward another class, something called Identification and then a class called Basic Weapons training. In the evening, there was a finally class called Skill Pathing then supper and study time. I followed the directions and arrived at my first classroom. Not surprisingly I was the first one there, what was surprising was that after the instructor showed up no one else did. He was a bit of a foppish looking npc who greeted me with a hello and a yawn. ¡°I am not much of a morning person,¡± he said. After waiting for a few more minutes, he stood up and said, ¡°Alright, this class is about the history of the city and that means we are going for a walk. Go fetch your cloak, and meet me at the entrance.¡± The next hour and a half were actually interesting, the instructor knew many of the stories of the city, and as we went he told them to me. It was a little like being on a walking tour of the city with a knowledgeable guide. The one place we did not go into was the Catacombs, they spread for miles directly under the city. I was told that later on in my training I would have to enter them but for now, it was just a walk in the city. Once we made it back to the Waterworks I made my way to the gym. There were a number of others all working out, I was handed a change of clothing and shown the change room. Once I returned to the gym the instructor, master Pym started me off with running laps. After ten minutes, we switched to and obstacle course. I was timed and the challenge was to get as far through it as you could. I managed about thirty seconds, that time was impressive for having never done it before. At least that is what Pym said. The next challenge was doing some strength training, Pym started me on a bench press using free weight. I lifted and then he added more weights. Rinse, wash and repeat. Eventually, I was lifting all the free weights that were there and Pym was staring at me with a shocked look on his face. Once that was done we began to do some stretching and limbering up. It reminded me of seeing Yoga on the television. Pym had been writing some notes down as we proceeded and at the end of the class he told me that I had done quite well, quite well indeed. Lunch came and went and I was back in a classroom this time with several other students. The instructor was a small man with a cold look in his eyes as he surveyed us. All of the other students were at least level 10 with a few even higher. I was the low guy at level 4, and I attracted some stares. The instructor called us to attention and then went on to explain the basic premise of the class, to be able to look at a person and not just see the class and level but evaluate if the person could fight, if he had concealed weapons and if he knew how to use them. I never heard his name, but he was very good at what he did, it involved a lot of role play and carrying concealed weapons as well as dressing up and down. I actually enjoyed the class and looked forward to more. The time passes quickly and then the class was over. I was excited about the next class, Basic Weapons training. I had the feeling I was going to find out just how much I did not know and I was right. It all began well enough, the first part of the class involved filling out a form indicating what weapon skills you had, and how much experience you had with them, basically what level you were at with the weapon. Since I was only level five and had not chosen my class yet the instructor would pair me up against as many opponents as he could this meant I was beaten with almost every weapon there. It was an experience and while painful it really showed me that I had a lot to learn. Near the end, the instructor asked me to choose a weapon and start practicing with it. I picked daggers with the dual wield specialization. He showed my several basic forms, how to place your feet and move your arms and then I was attacking the wooden leather clad dummy. It was harder than it sounds the dummy would spin around and occasionally launch daggers at you or throw a net on you. No rhyme or reason to it and it kept you on your toes. I was physically worn out by the end, my energy bar was down to 15 percent. I could feel the skill developing within me as I practiced, the scrolls had given me the knowledge and my body was learning the muscle memory. The class ended with a small lecture about fighting, and I learned something I had not known. Any act of violence will cause people to freeze, some for just a few seconds¡¯ others for longer. With proper training, a person could be taught how to react and not stop and try to think or freeze up. The faster the reaction the better the chance of success, the important thing was to be able to react instantly under any circumstance. Sudden violent circumstances give you very little time to be aware of what is happening, so being vigilant and keeping situational awareness is important as it could mean the difference between life and death. The class ended so I went to my next class the last one of the day. I was tired sore and my brain was trying to process all that I had been taught. The class began with an older female npc introducing herself as Mrs. Tuka. She had us all sit down in a circle and discuss the leveling path that everyone was on and what they had learned at their current level. I was somewhat surprised to learn that npc¡¯s also would choose a leveling path and acquire the skills and spells of that class. When the discussion finally came to me I said, ¡°Hi folks, being level four I have not chosen a class or leveling pathway yet. To be honest, I am not sure what would be a good fit, however seeing the different classes in action today has given me a lot to think about.¡± Mrs. Tuka nodded and said, ¡°Keep an open mind, not all classes are suited for everyone but most people will be drawn to the one that is the best for them.¡± The discussion continued on and I listened to the debates on spell damage as opposed to physical damage. It was a very relaxed class with Mrs. Tuka keeping everyone in line but making sure they if they said something they knew what they were talking about.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After the class ended I went to the dining hall and grabbed some supper, a thick stew with fresh baked rolls and tons of butter along with clear cold water and a steaming mug of sweet tea. Most of the other students were all grouped up and discussing the day and what they had learned. No one was unfriendly but no one invited me to join them, it did not bother me I would not have a lot to add to any discussion taking place anyway. Taking my dirty dishes, I dumped them in the tray and then went to the library, I found several books on the city and began to read. It was interesting, one of the books mentioned that the city had been built near the ruins of an ancient city that had been long abandoned, eventually the city expanded and covered the whole area. The only remnants of this old city were to be found in the Catacombs, deep underground. This idea of an underground city reminded me of the old temple at the underground lake. I wondered if they were somehow connected. At about mid evening I left the library and headed to the park I was eager to see Tavana, it was like a pressure within me, it was something I had to do. This pissed me off, it felt like I was losing control, having some kind of artificial pressure put on me, I had been tracking my actions trying to figure out what was me and what was the game. The only thing I could think of was perhaps the natural inhibitions that people had in dealing with other people were gone. Perhaps I was not the only one doing things that they would not do. After I logged out in the morning I would scour the forums and watch any videos that had been posted. I was still waiting for the GM to contact me also. I wanted to know a bit more about these scenarios/ cut scenes. I know they had been a staple in most MMO''s to help explain and advance the storyline, but in a VR game having your avatars acting without your control just seemed wrong. I eventually made my way over to the graveyard and looked around, there were a few ghosts strolling around, but not Tavana. I approached one apparition and asked she knew where Tavana was. The lady ghost told me, ¡°She can only manifest about once a month, she has not been with us long enough to have built here energy up. Come back in thirty days and you will see her, I will tell her you were asking.¡± With that, the lady just faded from sight. Damn, the pressure I was feeling to somehow see Tavana did not go away. I was beginning to actually feel uncomfortable and decided to deal with this. Making my way to the magical district I looked around hoping to find a seer. I was not expecting one to be open but one shop had the door open and the light on. Knocking I entered the shop to see a Gnome sitting on a couch with a bottle of stout on the table beside him. Looking at me he said, ¡°Leave the Imp outside and sit down, I have been waiting for you while you pouted at the graveyard. I want ta get this done so I can do some real drinking, now sit down, shut your trap, and gimme me your hand.¡± I was stunned but said, ¡°Wazzic, wait outside.¡± Wazzic replied, ¡°Ye fooken humans, with all the secrets ye hide¡­¡± I closed the door to muffle him out and sat down on the couch. Holding out my hand I felt his hand holding my hand up towards his face, then he swore. ¡°There be no doubt, you have had a spell cast on you, and it is working it¡¯s magic even as we speak. Did you know that this would happen, no I can see that you did not. I will stop the spell but you will have to do a small job for me.¡± The message icon blinked and I knew I had a new quest, opening it up I read,
You are being given a quest, you must accept before the details will be made known. It is probably illegal in nature and could impact your reputation with various factions if you are caught
Rewards, to be free from the spell you have been put under
I accepted the quest and waited for the Gnome to speak. Looking at me he nodded his head and said, ¡°I knew you would accept, my thanks, lad. What I want you to do is get into the Catacombs and find my son or his remains.¡± The Gnome was silent for a minute and then spoke again, ¡°He went down there to try to find some fungi I needed for a spell, it only grows down there and is very costly. That was a year ago, and I would like to bring some closure to his momma. I won¡¯t give you a time line but sometime within the year would be good. Now let¡¯s fix this damn spell you are under.¡± I watched as the Gieran the Gnome, he had told me his name just before we began, started to prepare. He brought out a what looked like a chalkboard and several powders and a length of gold chain, the kind rappers would have on their wrists in the real world. ¡°Looking at me he said, ¡°You will be paying for the gold lad, and it is not cheap.¡± After he had drawn a circle on the board and traced several complex symbols around the circular outline. He lit a small fire pot and added in a mixture of powders and fragrant oils, then cutting off a lock of my hair and trimming one of my fingernails he dumped them into the pot. Giving me a small chalice he pointed to the back and said, ¡°First door on the right, pee in the chalice not on it.¡± I looked at him, but he was not joking, so I headed back and did my duty. Bringing it back to Gieran, I noted he now had on leather gloves. He took the chalice and added it to the mixture then took the gold chain and began to swirl it around the pot mixing everything. Eventually, he stopped and then taking my hand he began to speak and with a sudden whoosh sound I saw something go flying from around me into the pot. Letting of me Gieran continued to chant and then stopped as a small cracking noise came from the pot. ¡°Everything is done lad the compulsion you have been under is now gone, I placed it into the gold chain after I bonded the chain to your soul. Here now, go take this pot o the sink in the back and wash it down, do a good job, it has been peed on. This was not a low-level spell and it has been on you for a few days, can you tell me what you have been up to, lad?¡± I thought for a minute, why not tell him, at least he has been honest with me. Taking my time, I began to speak and by the time I was done washing out the pot and cleaning the chain, I was halfway through my story. Sitting on the couch I was playing with the chain as I explained how Langshank had brought me to the city and how I was now a Squire and being trained by the department of dirty works. Once I mentioned the ghostly girl Tavana and how I had felt the compulsion to see her, Gieran stopped me and then said, ¡°Oftentimes these compulsions work on who we really are, and in this case, a lonely young girl meets a single young man, who wants to help her. It may have influenced you, but deep within something about the girl caught your fancy, so not all of it was a compulsion.¡± I felt relieved at that, I was attracted to Tavana and it was a relief to know it was not something artificial. Gieran also pointed out that it was probably Langshank who had cast the spell on me, it was something only an advanced level practitioner could do. I questioned this as he was a Knight, not a mage, but Gieran explained that even knights knew battle magic and certain other spells. As he was explaining this I noted that the gold chain was now moving on its own and eventually wrapped itself around my wrist. I looked at Gieran and he said, ¡°The chain is now semi-sentient, it will be the repository of any spells directed at you. In the case of compulsions, charms and attempts at influencing you the spells will all be contained within the chain, and the sender will not realize that the spell has not worked, for it has, the chain is you magically. As the chain is now magically alive it will change as you change, it will attempt to help you as it recognizes that you are the chain.¡± At any rate, my advice is to not trust anyone, get your training done and get the hell out of the city. But first bring me back something of my boy.¡± I nodded and thanked him then turned to leave. Waving from the door I could see he was already working on the bottle of stout on the table. He was a strange little man, a seer and a wizard I would guess but most of all I thought he was a heartbroken father. As I made my way back to the Waterworks I knew I had to train hard and get some questing done, then I was going to leave the city and find my place in this world. At least that is what I hoped for. Chapter 10 Odds and Ends

Chapter 10 Odds and Ends

My training at the Waterworks had been going on for about a week and I had learned a few new things. The only real interesting thing that had happened was when I logged out of the game for the required break. My avatar had been discovered in my room floating in what looked like an energy sphere, unreachable and untouchable which had faded away after an hour. When I returned to the game I was questioned about what happened. Not having any answers I could give to an npc, I simply said, ¡°My spirit was summoned back to my home realm.¡± I had the feeling that this did not satisfy the instructors but what could I say. I knew there would be reports of this happening to the other visitors. Also, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) running things should be toning down the curiosity of the npcs. If that was not happening it was not my problem. Once I was out of the game I realized I would only be available to play for about 5 hours of real time each day after working Monday to Friday. After looking at my schedule and then looking at the bookings for my car cleaning and detailing business for the last 6 months, I decided to continue to work Saturdays and Sundays as they were my busy days. I would take off Mondays and Tuesdays, they were my slow days and that would give me more time within the game. Also, weekends were when the game would be crowded and full of players, I wanted to avoid that. My plan gave me 2 full days plus 5 evenings, it was about all I could handle, while still running my business. Once I had my timetable sorted out I began to peruse the forums, players were constantly adding information and asking questions. I discovered that several other players had managed to enter special story arcs, but no one mentioned having a compulsion spell on them. One of the interesting things I read was how the game AI was tweaking people''s xp rewards and speed of leveling. Many players had questions about this and several of the game developers actually got together and posted replies to some of the questions. The game AI was basically developing and learning, and the game dynamics were becoming more lifelike. The example given was that the game did not require a player to earn 1500 xp in order to level up from 7 to 8. Instead, the AI would look at all you had done, how you had achieved success or failed any quests if you had given up or had continued on trying to grind out the challenges. It then would determine your rewards, if a lazy player did nothing he would get nothing. I also had a close look at the different classes and leveling pathways, and it became clear that the game was much more open ended than I had thought. All the classes could learn spells and skills that were based on other classes, they would just have a cap on them. In other words, a warrior could learn to cast a firebolt but the same fire bolt from a mage at the same level would be more effective. The only downside was the cost, it was 10 times costlier to learn other classes spells. It made me realize just how lucky I had been. Still, the ability to mix and match spells from the different classes was pretty amazing, and that also explained how Langshank had been able to put a compulsion on me. I was sure the man was playing at something and I felt like a pawn on his chessboard. The only other thing of note was an actual email from one Ghandara, gm and level 100 mystic. He briefly greeted me with the standard greeting and then went to the meat of the matter. The game had only been out for several days, and they were finding bugs and glitches, some apparently more serious than what I had experienced. A patch was coming, that would address all the issues discovered so far. When I logged back into the game, I would be credited the xp I should have received and also my rep status would be updated. That was good news for me, I had hope that I would end up level 5 when I returned to the game and could start to choose my class and pathway. That is pretty much what happened, I logged back in and found that I immediately leveled up to 5 as well as received a couple of reputation increases. Factions
Nobility Neutral
Merchants Friendly
Guards Neutral
Citizens Neutral
Ghosts Friendly
The reputation was set up with 5 levels both positive and negative, Reputation
Unknown Unknown
Neutral Neutral
Friendly Disliked
Honored Detested
Loved Hated
In order to change your reputation, you had to do something that on a small scale would work slowly with individuals like personal quests or something on a large scale that would impact many people like building a new shrine. It was not easy to build up rep, but the rewards were worth it in the long run. I had been lucky in dealing with the merchant at the starting zone that had given my rep a big boost to friendly. Having leveled up I checked my stats, I was interested in seeing how the AI had graded my performance so far. I did not expect much but now that I was at level 5 things should be kicking in, my base stats would increase as normal but now I could get a bonus on top of the base stat if I had worked hard enough. Basically, the players xp and stat bonus were now based on gameplay. It worked for me, a fair system I thought, but it was not written in stone if there were too many problems things could be changed by a hotfix at any time.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. My stats and spells now showed, Stats and Spells
Fire blast Does 55 to 75 fire damage
Ice blast Does 55 to 75 ice damage
Health Heals up to 60 percent of targets health
Stun Stuns target for up to 5 seconds
Portal Creates a portal to the starting zones capital city
Charisma 180/200
Defense 170/200
Will-power 165/200
Charisma 220/300
Strength 350/400
Agility 360/400
Wisdom 155/200
Knowledge 210/300
Energy 450/500
Health 450/500
Mana (dagger equipped) 700/700 + 10 mana/ 3 seconds
Night vision (dagger equipped) See in the dark
Gold 167g 8s 31c
I was pleased, my growth was happening, slow but steady. I decided that I would spend any of my free time while in the game, trying to find quests within the city and generally doing what I wanted, having a weekend that was free from learning or work. The last 2 days of game time had been interesting, I had received a lot of advice on the class to choose, and the spells pathway that would work best for each class. It was amazing how everyone becomes an expert and starts throwing out free advice. I had my own thoughts, once I bailed from the game for the weekend of work I would be checking the forums and a couple of the new sites that had just gone live, they had calculators that would help you get the most out of your class. I just had a sneaking suspicion that the best leveling path would be hidden, it would be interesting to see what kind of hybrid could be built, but that, of course, was dependent upon gameplay style. Some like to group up and others like to play single, the same is true for dungeons and raids, some people love them others don¡¯t. I was not fond of pugs myself, but running dungeons is the best way to upgrade gear. Crafting was a long and expensive time sink. The gear was some of the best in the game but almost impossible to get. This was something that was true for every vrmmo that had ever existed. Get the player hooked on making something that will take years to produce and then he will pay to play for years. I had hoped that this brand-new game would not fall into that trap but it was becoming clear that this game was like all the others in that regard. Fortunately, I was sure that there were shortcuts for crafting, the game seemed to be full of hidden arcs and secret quests. I am sure some of them would relate to crafting. In the meantime, I had to decide if I would take up a crafting or gathering skillset. I had originally thought would do so later in the game but having seen some of the game world, I was sure I could make some progression while running around and questing. Even in the city, there were herbalists hitting the parks day and night. My choices were limited to 5 gathering and 5 crafting options, more would be coming in later patches I had read. For now, this is what I had to work with in gathering, Gathering
Mining Copper
Herbalism Wildflowers
Skinning Random drops
Elements, fire, water, earth, and air Random occurrences
Information Study of occurrences
The crafting option also had 5 choices some of which went hand in hand with the gathering choices, Crafting
Smithing Weapons or plate armor
Herbalist Potions or Beer
Jewel crafter Rings, trinkets, and necklaces
Leatherworker All armor except plate
Enchanter Use of elements to make enchants
I was still not sure what I wanted to do, it would have to wait until I choose my class, some of the gathering and crafting choices worked better with certain classes. I was done trying to determine what I should do next when a pounding began on my door. Not the steady knock of my wake-up call but a frenzied hammering that left no doubt the person on the other side of the door wanted my attention now. Opening the door, I gazed with surprise at a level 10 student, he was wearing his full gear and it was clear he was in a hurry. I think his name was Toma and we shared a class but before I could say hello he began to speak, ¡°Hurry damn you, and get dressed, we have been selected to go on a mission, into the Catacombs. We are to meet in half an hour in the gymnasium, in full gear, hurry or you will miss the briefing.¡± His enthusing was apparent by his glittering eyes and the fact he was jumping from foot to foot as he spoke to me. Clearly, he wanted to go both from my room and to the Catacombs. I waved him out and grabbed my gear. After putting it on I also made sure that my pack was empty, how knows what might be found down there. I then left my room and stopping at the dining hall grabbed several skins of water and some cheese and smoked sausage along with bread. If I was down there for a while I did not want to go hungry or thirsty. Also, I was pretty sure I would be with a group of 4 of the other students, and if Toma was an example of how they would act I had the feeling I at least had better be prepared. Making my way to the gym I entered and stood near the back of the group of students. I was in time to hear the breakdown of the mission. One of the senior students had been tasked with going through the Catacombs to an area called the sunken city, where he was supposed to retrieve a scroll from the library. Something had gone wrong and he had not returned, and this was a problem. Doing these simple missions was supposed to be a final test before leaving the Waterworks and actually doing work. It was a tough assignment but not something that anyone would fail. Our job was to make our way through the Catacombs and get to the sunken city and then using the map that they provided us with, go to the library find the student, and the scroll and return. If we did not find the student there we were to return with the scroll. That was it, I found myself bundled together with 4 other students, all level 10 and then we were off. One of the instructors led us out of the Waterworks and down through the city, finally arriving at a rundown area of the city that had a building that bore the mark of a sewage entrance. We all trooped inside and the instructor gave us torches and then left. The big blond guy assumed leadership, with the tank at the front and then a rogue and an archer with the healer behind them and me last. I could tell he was not thrilled to have me in his group, I did not blame him I would not be adding much to this party. After he laid down the law he asked if everyone was ready and I received the mission as a quest. The rewards were unknown but the fact it was a quest made me happy. With a groan, the leader opened the doorway and we began to go down a flight of stairs. Once we had all entered the passageway the door closed with a boom. That is when it became interesting, in any city of size, it is amazing what can end up in the sewage system, much more than sewage and waste end up washed down there. At least that is what I thought when I saw the first ghost. Chapter 11 Making Friends and Influencing People

Chapter 11 Making Friends and Influencing People

We had been tramping through the tunnels of the city sewage system, when I had an epiphany, the game could be too real at times. Usually, I loved the realism of the game, with its vibrant colors tastes and textures. Even the subtle smell of flowers and an incoming rainstorm were brilliant and showed that a great detail of attention had been put into the game. The sewers, however, were wet, cold and full of dirty water that smelled of shit. We were trooping through the tunnels with the water often knee high and little clumps of matter bumping into our legs when the leader held up his hand. We had reached the point where the sewers accessed the catacombs. The leader pointed back and gestured, the bugger was pointing at me. I slogged over to him and waited, he quickly spoke, ¡°Listen, I want you to climb up this ladder, go down the passageway and then climb down the other side, check and see if the route is clear if it is come back and let us know.¡± The big blond dummy was smirking as he spoke, I knew what he was thinking if there is a problem let¡¯s get rid of this useless git before we continue. Bastard, I might have done the same thing but at least I don¡¯t think I would have smirked. I glanced around at the group I had been placed with and being honest, I was not impressed. We had the big blond dummy, our fearsome leader, he was useless. The others were not much better, I could not see them making it through this mission if problems arose. I resolved to stay back, way back and perhaps disassociate myself from this group. I had a feeling that when the going gets tough, the tough won¡¯t get going at least not with these guys. By now I was halfway through the small passageway and was now thinking about the Catacombs. The place where the dead of the city had originally been buried, stacked up like kindling, the years erasing any sign of who or what was buried down here. All this was game lore, but it made for some interesting thinking, the Catacombs were supposedly haunted and had evil people doing evil things down below the city. I climbed down and looked around, aside from sneezing a couple of times from the dust the area was empty of life, but full of death or at least dead people. The bones of the departed were everywhere, all the walls had niches carved into them and the niches were full of bones, probably whole families were stuck together down here. It was a Necromancers wet dream, and a Death Knight would probably get a woody from it all but I just felt sad, sooner or later the great sleep will claim us all. After making sure the area was secure I climbed back to the others and told them to come on over, the leader tried to question me about what I saw but I was pretty much done with him by now and just turned around and ignored him. The reality was he was annoying as hell, the type of guy who walks in and just assumes everyone will do exactly what he wants. I normally just ignore people like that but something was off with me today, I had felt out of sorts ever since I had been woken up. I reached out to scratch my wrist and suddenly realized that the golden chain had become tight on my wrist and was gently pulsating. I recalled the warning I had received that the chain would stop compulsions from affecting me by absorbing them. I stroked the gold links as I realized what was happening, now that I knew someone nearby was trying to cast a compulsion on me the chain relaxed, it was a part of me on a level the transcended the physical and was probably more spiritual in nature. I was glad that I had the chain on, I would have to try to explore more of what I could do with it, I am sure that it was more than just a spell-buffer. We finally all made it down to the Catacombs and stood around in a loose group while the BBD (big blond dummy) once again did the alpha male thing, I was watching closely and saw that he whispered to the Priest and then the both looked at me before turning away. Gotcha, you bastards, I thought. The leader was having the Priest work a low-level compulsion on me, probably to use me for cannon fodder if the shit hit the fan. We continued downwards as we followed the map given to us, eventually we would hit the sunken city. After traveling for an hour in the dim light that the priest had summoned, I began to see my first ghosts. They were congregating near some of the side tunnels and I decided to go see what was happening, I was planning on leaving the group soon and this was a great excuse. I turned left when the pug turned right and I walked over to the ghosts, they were dressed in styles that had been fashionable a long time ago and had the look of nobility about them. This was probably an area that the nobles had been placed in, I was sure the catacombs were segregated, the living would make sure that their loved ones would not have to sleep next to someone of lesser station. I elbowed my way to the center of the group and ignored the surprised looks from the ghosts, I guess they were not used to the loving being able to touch them. In the middle of the group the body of a young gnome, a male that still had a sack in his hand and a surprised look on his face was on the ground. I gently looked at the ghost of the young man who was standing there with the surprised look still on his face. ¡°Kabor,¡± I called out. The boy was still unmoving, staring down at the shell that had been his body. I had to do something to get his attention, so I reached down and grabbed the bag, it was full of something and heavy. Once I had it in hand I noticed the Kabor was now looking at me, and he looked angry. ¡°Put that down,¡± he shouted. ¡°I gave my life for what¡¯s in that bag and you¡¯re not going to take it.¡± His face was red with rage, or at least as red as a white ghost face can get. I noted his hands were trembling and he clearly was upset, this was good I now had his attention. What was bad was the sudden discharge of energy from his hands at me. I felt the energy hit me and then go through me, but it still knocked me on my ass and I was stunned for a minute. I had never felt anything like that and I wondered if it was something I could learn. I watched as Kabor walked over to me and demanded I return the bag or else. I raised my hands and slowly stood and then started to speak. ¡°Kabor, your dad sent me down here to find out what happened to you, when I saw your remains, I knew that your dad would want this bag as proof that I had found you. Settle down, and talk to me, what the hell happened to you?¡± I watched as his mouth opened and closed and then he looked down, and asked, ¡°Did Da really send you here to find me?¡± I nodded and was surprised to see ghostly tears form as Kabor sat down beside me. The ghost slowly rocked back and forth his gnome body drawn tight with tension. ¡°I am dead, right, I mean I know I am but it seems so unreal. I was down here collecting some rare plants and stuff for Da, I know he has always told me not to come down here but I knew I could do it and I did.¡± Here Kabor pointed at the bag tied to my belt and then he hesitated before continuing. I was starting to make my way back when I suddenly felt a coldness creep up to me. I had my torch going and it shoulda been good for another hour or two, but suddenly it was black all around me like I was in a sea of shadows. My torch was still burning but the shadows wrapped around it, around me and then suddenly they were going in me, my mouth, my eyes, my ears. I felt a darkness inside me and then I was sitting on the ground looking at me body. What the hell happened to me?¡± ¡°I think that once the shadows entered you, death came swiftly and you died. Because it was sudden and unexpected, your spirit has lingered on, although to be truthful I have no idea if that is bullshit or not, it is just something I have heard. The fact is you died and are now a ghost and your Dad sent me down here to find out what happened and retrieve something of yours.¡± I stopped talking because it is a harsh thing to confront the dead with their death, it takes time I think for it to fully sink in. I felt a little bad for the kid but decided I would keep him from dwelling on it by asking what he had done to me when he attacked me. ¡°I don¡¯t know he said, that was weird, I just became angry and lifted my hands and pushed out all the luminiferous aether I could at you,¡± Kabor spoke slowly his mind still dwelling on his death. I wanted to keep him going and I was curious, ¡°what is luminiferous aether,¡± I asked? Kabor paused for a moment and then facing me he responded, ¡°Luminiferous aether is the light energy of magic, it cannot be seen but can be used and handled. I suppose I can see it now, as I was able to pull some from around us and then push it at you.¡± I stopped him and asked, ¡°How do you see it, what does it look like to you?¡± I was curious because I had not come across any class based spells that used or even mentioned luminiferous aether. There might be another quest here, I thought, or at least some new knowledge of the game. I listened as Kabor began to describe what luminiferous aether looked like to him and how it felt. Finally, he spoke of how he could just grab it and then fling it at me. I listened intently, I knew that I would be practicing the visualization of seeing and grabbing this magical energy.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Once he was done speaking he stood up and then turned around carefully looking at everything, he seemed subjectively sad, and it bothered me. ¡°What¡¯s the problem man? You look like someone stole your favorite breakfast.¡± Kabor just looked at me and then shook his head and said, ¡°I guess this is going to be home now, pretty bleak place, a bunch of bones and some snooty ghosts, not much fun here.¡± He was looking at me like a dog watching people at the local dog pound, he wanted to ask if he could come with me but just could not. I stared at him for a minute and then said, ¡°All right why don¡¯t you tag along Kabor. We are going to the submerged city to find another lost person, he is probably dead by now. He was sent to get a scroll from the library but never returned, if he has the scroll we take it and run, if he does not, we get to the library loot it for the scroll and anything else we can and then get the hell out. You with me on this, or do you want to stay here?¡± Kabor squared his shoulders and thrust out his diminutive chin and said, ¡°I am with you, what do I have to lose now. Let¡¯s go, I will lead and you follow, I will act as a scout. By the way, why is there an imp near you making faces at you?¡± Damn it I had forgotten Wazzic the imp. Telling him to become visible I pointed to a spot right in front of me and said, ¡°Come here Wazzic, I have a couple of questions for you.¡± Once he approached I squatted down and tried to look at him from his level. ¡°Wazzic, you have heard everything, have you ever encountered or heard of anything like this black shadow?¡± The little imp was given me a dirty look and I was expecting to hear some cursing but to my surprise, he spoke with perfect elocution and accent. ¡°Anon, you have a problem here, so listen very carefully. This Black Shadow as you call it was once all over the land, it was the spirit of the people who were here before you humans. We demons do not fully understand what happened, we avoided the Fae, the early ones and they avoided us. They were a magical race, with the power of their magic connecting everyone at some level. At some point, they decided to leave the physical realms and enter this Shadow, and they did as a race, abandoning the land and their places of power.¡± ¡°Once they were gone the Shadow disappeared and life continued, races came to the land and conquered, wars were fought and people lived, loved and died. But now the Shadow had returned and its very nature is inimical to life. I believe that the time of Humans, of all the races that live on earth, is coming to an end. There is an old prophecy that spoke of this time.¡± ¡°When the Shadows gather below the place of man, all will die who have not walked in the valley of death. The light will flee from the sky and darkness will come, the end of the day will call forth the Shadow of dark. The light will slowly dim from land to land as the time of the dark arises. Only one who has walked through the Shadows can call back the light, and there are none found, no not one.¡± That was depressing, the realism was such that I felt the hairs standing on the back of my neck, I was a little spooked and did not want to show that to Kabor or Wazzic. Thinking fast I said, ¡°Hey that is interesting but what happened to your foul-mouthed accent Wazzic?¡± the little imp looked at me and shook his head and said, ¡°Fook it, he is too stupid to see the wart on his nose. Idiot.¡± With that, he stopped talking and I did not bother to try to get him to continue. I pointed at the Kabor and said, you go scout with him and if you see anything let me know. Wazzic nodded his head and started walking down the tunnel with Kabor by his side, I slowly followed them wondering what we would find. The pathway zigged and zagged but eventually we ended up in a large cavern with the remains of an old road the led across a vast expanse to an ancient city. The old walls still stood in places along with several of the towers and buildings, there was some evidence that a river or canal had cut through the city at some point. We slowly made our way to one of the smaller gates that led into the city. I was not following the direct route that my map showed, but as I explored more areas were becoming visible and I thought I would be able to find the library easy enough. Once at the city, we made our way slowly deeper into a maze of streets and alleys. At one time fountains tinkled and water had run but now all was shrouded in dust and silence. It was still and quiet with a sad feel to it. We had been proceeding for about an hour and were close to the library when the first scream rang out. It sounded like the BDB and I knew the group had just failed, I listened to several more screams and a pitiful cry for help which ended in a gurgle. Both Kabor and Wazzic had drawn close to me and I gestured to them to stay still. After several minutes, I said, ¡°I need to continue you two stay about 25 yards in front of me and let me know silently if you see something.¡± Once they both nodded we set off as silently as we could, heading in the general direction of the library and the screams. After a couple of turns, we were facing what looked like a park, with the library off to the left side. Immediately in front of us were the remains of the BDB and party. They looked undamaged except for the look of terror on their faces. I turned around and witnessed what looked like a black fog, it was rolling down the road, looking almost like mist on a fall day twirling covering the ground. Once it was out of sight I gestured and we walked silently to the bodies. The dead have a look to them that says I am dead, be glad you are living. That is what I felt anyway, and I was glad to be alive. I stopped at each body and looted it, for my efforts I received 10 gold and a handful of silver. I decided to leave the gear, I did not want to fill up my bag with stuff I would not want. I took a swig of water as I finished it was dry down here and then glancing down saw much to my shocked surprise, a tendril of black mist forming over the eye socket of the BDB and then slowly slide down his cheek. Without thinking, I put the empty wineskin on the path and watched as the blackness slowly poured itself into the skin. Once it was all inside I capped the opening and put the skin in my bag. Kabor had been observing me and once the skin was safely secured he asked, ¡°Is that what I think it is, by the Gods you have balls Anon, that stuff just killed these guys and you captured some of it. What the hell are you going to do with it?¡± I responded, ¡°I am going to have your dad look at it, and give me his opinion, he seems pretty knowledgeable about all aspects of magic.¡± As soon as I spoke my message icon flashed and I saw that I had just been given a quest,
Take the Black Mist to Kabor¡¯s father and ask his opinion while sharing all you know
Rewards xp and information
It was about time I had another quest, I thought. Looking around I motioned to my companions to continue on and we slowly made our way across the park towards the library. Eventually, we arrived at the entranceway and I saw the missing student. He was sitting with his back against the wall with the same horrified look on his face. I searched him but did not find the scroll. Looking at my map I saw it was now displaying the floor plan of the library with a marked trail for me to follow. I told Wazzic to stay by the door and the Kabor and I entered the old building. Following the pathway on my map we stopped in front of a shelve that held several scrolls, the game conveniently had a soft glow coming off the one I was supposed to pick. Grabbing it I put it in my bag and then began to gently look at other scrolls, with Kabor calling out his finds as he too went down the shelves. Soon I had grabbed another dozen scrolls and began to make my way towards the doorway with Kabor by my side. We had almost reached the entrance when Wazzic came racing in, seeing me he stopped and then whispered, ¡°The damn Shadow is back and about to come into the library, hide master or you will join the ranks of the dead.¡± I glanced around there really was no place to hide, turning to Wazzic and Kabor I said, ¡°Fade from sight, and go to the far wall, stay hidden till the Shadow is gone, then if I am dead stay here, I will return.¡± Ignoring them I pointed to the back wall and when they started to walk there I turned and walked to the front. It was a calculated move, I would rather die on the steps, that way if the Shadow was in the library I would have a chance to loot my body without attracting its attention. I was not worried about death, this was a game and I would be back, but the look of horror I had seen on the faces of all the Shadow had killed did not make me feel good. I arrived at the entrance and saw the Shadow was almost at the top of the stairs that led into the building, I glanced at it curiously it really was like a dark mist that could move and then I stepped into the middle of the darkness. It recoiled around me for a moment and then it swarmed over me, I had time to lay down before I felt the coldness enter my ears and eyes, it made its way into my mouth and nose and down deep into my body. I could feel my golden chain tighten up in a painful contraction and then suddenly it felt like a thousand voice were speaking, all wondering why I was alive, why I had not succumbed to the cloud of black death. One voice was louder than the others and it acknowledged that I was not really living nor was a dead, but somehow, I was in-between and could walk with both Shadows and Light. At that point, it all faded away but I could still feel the golden chains contractions as it somehow diffused the magic that the Shadow was casting on me. I awoke sometime later with both Kabor and Wazzic hovering near me. When I gasped and then coughed they both gave me a look. Ignoring them I grabbed a waterskin and after making sure it had water in it greedily drank the whole thing. Standing up I stretched and then said, ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here.¡± As we began to make our way out I heard Wazzic say, ¡°Pay up, I told you he was not dead, how could he be when he is not really alive like a human.¡± What the hell, I would be having a talk with that imp about what he was talking about as soon as we got out, ate something and slept. Chapter 12 Banished

Chapter 12 Banished

It had taken a while to make it back to the sewers, I was not moving fast and would have to often stop. My body would start shaking and the world would go gray as my vision tunneled. I also felt an icy chill that seemed to have settled in my bones, if felt damn uncomfortable. I gritted my teeth and waited for the shakes to stop and the pain to subside and we would continue on. Not a fun journey, but as I thought about the others who would not be coming back I was happy to be able to walk out of here. Once we made it to the sewage system the smell and the feeling of cold slimy water was enough to help me to dig deep and keep going. The brickwork of the sewage tunnels was stained a dark color by the water and other things, and the whole thing had an atmosphere that combined with the sound of the water to make me noxious on a whole new level. All things come to an end was my mantra and eventually we made it to the exit. Once finally out of the sewage system I had a look at myself, the smell was terrible, and my clothing was filthy. It needed to be disposed of but walking naked through the morning crowds would get me arrested and hauled up to the gaol again. Fortunately for me and any who could see or smell me there was a bath area nearby. I was walking there, hoping to avoid the busy streets by using the alleys. In one such alley, I was accosted by a rough looking man with one eye the other eye was nothing more than a terrible scar. He had a mean look in his eye and a dagger in his hand, but as he began to talk and walk over towards me he suddenly stopped moving and said, ¡°By all that is, you stink like you have been rolling around in shit, go, go get away from me, get out of my alley you smelly bastard.¡± I watched as he stepped away from me, his knife waving at me to get away. I knew I had to be smelling bad if a thief would retreat instead of robbing me. I left the alley and continued on, finally making it to the public wash. I entered the building thankful that it was empty, and went directly to the showers. I walked under the cool stream of water and let it sluice of me as I slowly undressed. Once stripped I grabbed the large bar of soap and began to scrub after about twenty minutes I felt clean, and my skin was pink from the rough body brush. I stared at my clothing I had attempted to wash it but it still had a stench to it. Drying myself I went to the front and called the girl working the counter, looking at her I said, ¡°Can you have my clothing sent out and cleaned, while I am in the baths?¡± The girl nodded, it was not uncommon for people to have the clothing cleaned while they had a bath. I nodded back at her then entered the bathing area, it was a series of 3 pools, they each were about 20 by 30 feet, cold, warm and hot. I spent the next couple of hours swimming, soaking and floating on my back. It felt good, even if I could hear both Wazzic and Kabor making snide comments. The baths were clearly a nod to the Romans and I was glad that the game developers had included them. After just relaxing and soaking for an hour I called Kabor over, I had a few questions that I wanted to be answered. How he could have the free range yet Tavana could not leave the graveyard, hell she could only appear once a month. Once I asked Kabor to explain it he obliged by sitting on the water cross-legged near my head as I floated on my back. Kabor began by asking, ¡°How did the girl die?¡± I explained what I knew of the betrayal of her boyfriend with her sister and how they had murdered her. Kabor nodded and then suggested that ¡°Her spirit is still here because of her violent end. The problem with her only appearing once a month and not being able to leave the graveyard is due to her being buried in the graveyard, a blessed and sanctified plot of ground.¡± ¡°You mean because your body is down in the Catacombs you¡¯re not tied to any particular area?¡± I asked. ¡°Yep, I think that is how it works, I mean I am no expert, but from what I have heard and now experienced that seems to fit how things work. For you girlfriend to be able to materialize and roam around will take years, possibly centuries. Tough luck for you, eh.¡± Kabor finished talking with a smile. Ghostly bugger. I sighed to myself, things could be worse, at least I knew she would be around. I paddled over to the edge and hopped out of the pool, wrapping a towel around my waist I went to see if my clothing was back. It was and with a smile and a handful of silver, I went to get dressed. It was amazing, the gear smelled fresh and was clean. The cleaning ingame was better than in the real world, not one stain to be found for which I was grateful. After dressing I pulled the hood over my head and left the baths and started down towards the Waterworks. I enjoyed the city as I walked, it was reminiscent of a medieval city with canals and parks and baths in a climate that had the temperature around 70 Fahrenheit. The city was built on a series of rolling hills with a forest that had been thinned centuries ago surrounding it. The forest I had learned was called the wildwoods and had most of the land except the central plains and the mountains near the coast. When Humans had begun to arrive, they had found an abandoned wild land, with ruined cities that had been empty for thousands of years. Humans had slowly spread across the empty land and over time they had settled much of the western continent, the eastern areas still remained wild and wooded. The distances were vast and no one had yet explored that far east. Who knows what treasures could be found, but until people managed to get there it was a mystery. Along the western coastline were islands, many of them large and unexplored, the wildwoods covering them in an impregnable blanket. The game had only been live for a short while and much was still unknown about everything. I had let my thoughts wander as I walked and soon I was at the Waterworks. I stepped inside and made my way to what I called the staff office, knocking on the door I entered once I heard a muffled voice say, ¡°Come in.¡± Walking into the room I immediately had the attention of all present, pulling out the scroll I placed it on a table and then sat down. I raised my hand as I was bombarded with questions and said, ¡°One at a time please.¡± That was ignored and the questions came fast at me. I resolved the situation by just stopping and after a couple of minutes, they all stopped too. ¡°Now, if we can start again, one at a time with the questions or I can just tell you what happened and then you can ask any questions.¡± I finished talking and looked around at the instructors, several were looking a little pissed at me, but that did not bother me. Most were waiting for me to tell the tale and so I began. I did not spare the memory of the BBD, he was stupid and had cost 3 other people their lives. Once I was finished the story there was a stunned silence, broken by someone saying, ¡°What rubbish, pure BS, a black shadow that kills.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. After listening to the debate that broke out I stood up and said, ¡°Hey my quest reward please.¡± The discussion stopped and one of the instructors walked over and held up his hand. Speaking softly, he said, ¡°The quest is completed, you returned the scroll and brought us news that we needed to know. You will receive 500 xp and a bag of tools from the armory. Thank you, Anon, you are dismissed.¡± I left as fast as I could, I went straight to the armory, they were already expecting me, once inside I was handed a large bag and then shuffled back out. Fast and efficient, was what happened, ungrateful bastards is what I thought. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed to my room, I was tired and wanted to sleep. Opening the door who should I see waiting for me but my old friend, the cute sergeant from the city watch. I looked at her and she looked at me and we stared at each other for a moment. Now I like to think I am reasonably attractive to the fairer sex, but I doubt that is what she is here for. Sadly, I was proven correct when she threw a hastily packed bag at me and said, ¡°I have grabbed you gear, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Listen we have to stop meeting like this¡± I said, and then said, ¡°I am not going anywhere but to bed, now you can sit and wait for me, or tell me what this is about, or come for a cuddle, at this point I am too tired to care.¡± Unfortunately, there was another option which I found out as she cast a powerful stun on me and then had two of her goons pick me up and carry me out of the waterworks. As we left the room she threw a blanket over me, which hid the fact two men were carrying another from everyone, except for those who looked. Man, this sucks I thought and then to my surprise I fell asleep. I awoke laying on a rough bench, in the background, I could hear Langshank and the King embroiled in a discussion that once again involved me. The King wanted to make me disappear, the forever afterlife kind of disappearance. Langshank, however, had other plans and eventually the King agreed. It would seem I would be transferred to one of the colony islands farther north up the coast. Apparently, it had been settled a while back, but the settlers would disappear fairly often and eventually they stopped arriving at the island. The crown had managed to establish a garrison at the port, and a couple of small villages near the coastline. The rest of the island was covered with a remnant of the Wildwoods. Once the decision was made I was half carried half dragged down the halls till we hit a small room attended by two Mages. There was also a portal there that led to my destination. Langshank pulled out a scroll and pressed it into my pocket and said, ¡°There is a good lad, not to worry you are expected there, remember you are a King''s Squire. Off with you now.¡± With that he pushed me through the portal and with a bang I fell against a table in the room I had materialized in. I glanced around as I staggered to my feet, there was one mage and a young page waiting. He seemed both surprised and afraid when he saw me. Coming up to me he said, ¡°Are you Squire Anon, sent from the capital?¡± I nodded and spoke hoarsely, do you have some water here, I have not had a drink in hours.¡± The page nodded and said, ¡°Follow me, we will hit the kitchen first and get you a drink, the damn water is terrible to many minerals in it, but we have some pretty good mead here.¡± We left the room and I asked, ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°My name is Belgrad, son of Hoover the islands regent and watch commander.¡± ¡°Pleasure to meet you, I hope we can share a bottle someday,¡± I said. I was watching him carefully, measuring his reaction to my friendly overtures. Something was a little off, this being sent to the island and his reactions since meeting me. He shrugged and said, ¡°Perhaps, here we are, this bottle here, take it, it¡¯s mead. Now we must go to my father and introduce you, then assign you a room here at the keep.¡± I followed as he led the way, it was bad form, if I was an assassin he would be dead, guess I had picked up a few things from the Waterworks I thought. We arrived at a solid looking door, the guards on duty banged on it and then opened it up, I followed Belgrad in and stopped a couple of feet from the dais that had a small throne on it. I bowed my head and greeted the regent who was looking at me with careful eyes. Hoover then pulled a scroll from his arm pocket and read, ¡°Hoover, Regent of the Green Island Caraway. We have sent you our Squire Anon, he is on break from his studies as a reward for completing a difficult quest, accord unto him all civility as befits his station. We will inform you when it is our desire for Anon to return to the capital, in the meantime allow this young man to explore the island and enjoy his time away from the capital. With fond regards Langshank, Knight of the Kings privy circle.¡± Hoover looked at me and then asked, ¡°So whom did you piss off young man, this scroll is a letter of banishment and I would not expect that you will return anytime soon, by all that is, your only level 5, have you even chosen your class or pathway? We do not have trainers on the island if you have not you well be classless until you return to the mainland. This is an uncommon punishment for completing a difficult quest don¡¯t you think.¡± I stopped and thought for a moment, he was right I was so screwed, without access to class trainers, the best I could hope to do was increase my weapons skill, and the 4 basic spells I had learned. I bowed my head and spoke, ¡°Do you want to hear the truth knowing it has banished me, or should we pretend this is a reward?¡± I glanced up at Hoover and saw a small smile appear and then vanish. ¡°Well-spoken Squire, you are one with your wits, perhaps it is best to simply take the message at its token value. Enough of that now, Belgrad will show you to your quarters, as a king¡¯s squire you are my guest, and will sup at my table with my knights. Your days are free although I may call upon you for your, wisdom at times.¡± He nodded and that was that I was dismissed. Belgrad led me down to the area near the dining hall and showed me my room, a simple room not unlike what I had enjoyed at the Waterworks. The keep had a bathing area one level down and had some kind of central heat system. The meals were at 8 bells in the morning, 12 at noon and 6 in the evening, if I was in the keep I was expected to show up. For the evening meal. Other than that, my days were free. I thanked Belgrad and then slowly unpacked my bags which had been delivered while I met the regent, Hoover. I did not have much to show for my time playing so far, only level 5 with no hope of choosing a class or pathway. I was also banished to an island far from the capital, and would apparently be here for a while. I think I understood why, if what I had seen was made public there would be panic, really the only option would be to evacuate the capital, but that would never happen. All I can do is make the best of it I thought as I sat there. I glanced around and noted that Kabor was absent, I was not sure I would see the young ghost again, could he find me away from the capital? I called out ¡°Wazzic and was not surprised to see him materialize on the bed, he was sitting cross-legged with his back to the wall. ¡°Wazzic, do you know where Kabor is,¡± I asked. Seeing him shake his head, I smiled and said, ¡°That being the case, get off your red ass and go find him, if at all possible lead him here. Now.¡± With a scowl, he went poof and disappeared, I hoped he could find Kabor and bring him to me, I liked the gnomish ghost. Sitting back in the bed I began to meditate and think on how Kabor had attacked me, I really wanted to see what I could do with this unrecognized magic. It might be all I had. The days went by, I met all the locals at the keep and slowly got to know Hoover, he was a good guy and it was a damn shame he was stuck here, in this backwater. Wazzic remained gone and my practice continued. One night after struggling with it for an hour I suddenly saw golden motes floating through the air all around me, I had my daggers put away and had no night vision, yet my dark room was lit up with a soft golden glow from the motes, I could actually see better than with my dagger equipped. I slowly began to concentrate on gathering the motes of magic, and then once I had a small handful I pointed my hand at the far stone wall and fired. The golden discharge slowly left my hand and drifted towards the wall, once it hit it I heard a soft pfft sound. I started to smile and then laugh, I had done it, not enough power to kill a flea but it was a beginning. Tomorrow the training would begin in earnest, weapons in the morning and spells in the afternoon. Chapter 13 Family

Chapter 13 Family

The morning had begun with a simple but tasty meal of cheese and roast meat on fresh bread, with clear cold water to wash it down. I had left the dining hall to go explore both the keep and the town of Caraway port. I was literally free of any responsibilities, I had food shelter and a status that was above the common person. I was a King''s Squire, not quite a knight, but not a commoner. This status afforded me to have my physical needs met, but I was not content to remain at level 5 and that meant I would be leaving the keep to explore the Island sometime soon. My self-set schedule was to become proficient in weapons skill and spell prowess, along with trying to master the life magic I had discovered. I had to make it all fit into a schedule that included trying to find some quests here. I explored the keep, only keeping out of restricted areas, it was not that large but built to last. Unfortunately, I found no quests available at the keep so my hope was in the port of Caraway. The port was built into a natural harbor that offered shelter to the large ships, it could almost be called a fiord, but the mountains were actually small hills. The harbor was wide and deep with a beach on the right side and the docks on the left. The docks had clearly been built with a busy ship trade in mind, however with only three ships in port, I would guess that the distance, danger and lack of resources had effectively stopped most of the traffic. Up from the docks were the warehouses, along with several of the Inns and Pubs that sailors frequent. Further uphill, the business district laid claim to several blocks and then past that the homes of the populace, with the more well to do homes located near the top of the hills and the poorer dwellings located closer to the business area. At the top of the largest hill was the Keep, strong and defensible with a running stream that began in the courtyard and flowed down through the city in a series of manmade canals and dams. The city itself was surrounded by the Wildwood with several areas that had been cleared for agricultural use. There was only one road that left the city, it went into the Wildwood and was built to service the two forts that had been established about 20 miles deep into the forest. The road went out about 10 miles and they split like the letter y with each arm going another 5 miles. There were cart trails that led off the main road that serviced some of the farms that were located closer to Caraway, the ones farther out had been abandoned. I discovered all this information by buying a round at a pub while looking for a quest. Of quests, it quickly became apparent that there were none. This was not good news for me as the two main ways to earn xp was to complete level appropriate quests and run dungeons. No dungeons had been found on the Island but it had not really been explored. I had one old retired sailor regale me with tales of a ruined city on the east side of the island. His ship had apparently beached on that side of the island to affect some repairs during a low tide and several of the men had gone inland to stretch their legs. They had come over a ridge and discovered an abandoned city, ruined by years of neglect. I gave him 1 gold and received his map, scanning it I added it to my interface map and then had a closer look at it. The ruin was about 35 miles along the coast, and I judged it to be about 25 miles by foot. Slugging through what looked like dense rainforest was not going to be easy. The beasts were all supposed to be level 5 to 10 but I had heard that before. Still, this gave me something to think about, I could not just hang out at Caraway, I needed to work at leveling. I was still not in a hurry but I suspected that trouble was coming to the human Kingdom probably in the first big patch that the game would introduce. The shadowy presence I had encountered was at least a world boss and would take a serious effort by a lot of players to defeat it. I had seen this before, a call to arms to defend hearth and home, it would probably wait until at least half the players made level 50 and began to gear up in blue and purple gear. I wanted to get in on the action when it happened, I was really getting into the game and was amazed by all that I had seen and done so far. There were bugs and glitches but what game does not have them especially at the beginning. Most games were released at what some internet trolls would call beta testing. The gaming company would make money and the players would find all the problems. My problem was I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Having moped and sulked enough I walked back to the keep and made my way towards the barracks, behind the building a number of dummies were set up to be attacked, there was also a ring for dueling and the armory was nearby. Stepping up to the dummies I noted that they were made with wood, I did not recognize it but judging by the scorch marks it did not burn. Walking back 30 paces I began to work on my rotation, I had two offensive spells and one stun along with a heal. I discounted the portal spell, in order for it to work you had to key yourself to the portal pillars located in all major cities, foolishly I had not done that before I was banished. They were all level one spells and the only way to level them up was practice. The Icy and fiery blast spells had a 1 second cast time and 1-second cooldown, but it was not concurrent, I could spam them until I ran out of mana and then I would use my physical dps on the target until my 700-mana regenerated. Considering that each spell used 50 mana at level 5 I was able to cast off 7 attacks in 10 seconds, with practice I would get it down to 7 seconds. Using the interface to cast spells was possible but players could also verbally say the spell and point at the target. Eventually, I hoped to be able to simply think about my attack and have it work, it was how my life magic seemed to function and it should work for every spell in the game. I was gaining 10 ticks of mana every three seconds along with the natural mana regen of 300 mana a minute at level 5 I should be fully recovered with mana in less than two minutes. I began to experiment with both Icy bolt and Fiery blast, and immediately felt frustrated. If I cast Icy bolt the Fiery blast would melt it, if I cast Fiery blast the Icy bolt would extinguish the flames. I had to admit the two spells looked cool as hell, Fiery blast would produce orange flames which would envelop my hand and then be instantly propelled out at the target at the speed of a fastball, the same with Icy bolts, my hand would turn an icy dark blue color and mist would appear than a sharp icicle would fly out and hit the target, enveloping it in mist and freezing a layer of ice half an inch thick on the bottom of the target. The problem was they canceled each other out. The damage meter on the interface showed that the average was equal for both spells. In one on one combat, I would have to choose one or another depending on what I was fighting, if I was in combat with multiple targets than strategy could take place with me immobilizing one target while finishing off the other, hopefully. The day was drawing to a close and I had not leveled either spell, but I was at the point where I could just point and say Fiery or Icy to cast the spell. As I turned around to grab my cloak I noticed that Belgrad was leaning on the fence and watching me. ¡°Hey,¡± I said as I walked up to him, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Belgrad smiled and said, ¡°Man, you sure were working those spells, and then doing white damage with your daggers in between mana regen. I have not seen anyone take their skills so seriously.¡± ¡°Yet that¡¯s me, Mr. Serious,¡± I laughed as I spoke but I was not joking I had to do this, it was the only way to improve myself. Being banished sucked. Belgrad laughed and said, ¡°What are you doing tomorrow? If you have some time I can show you around Caraway, I know you wandered around town for a bit but there is more to this little town than can be seen by a stranger.¡± Why not, I thought and nodded then said, ¡°That sounds great, I am planning to do weapons practice in the morning and then spell work in the afternoon, maybe at lunch we can go?¡± Belgrad smiled at this and said, ¡°That sounds good, I will meet you at the portcullis at 12 bells, I think you are going to have fun.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I left him to go wash up before dinner, it was a semi-formal affair with his father and all the lesser nobles from the keep and a few from town. I enjoyed a brisk wash up in the baths and then made my way to my room, I did not have any semi-formal clothing but resolved to grab something when Belgrad and I went to town tomorrow. Dinner was alright, nothing to write home about, I was briefly questioned by the nobles but once it became apparent I was banished they lost interest, I did not blame them, I had nothing I could tell them really, except that the world that they lived in might be under attack by a shadowy world boss sometime soon. I recalled the old saying ¡°Loose lips sink ships.¡± It was from WW2 but still could be adapted to my particular situation. I suspected if I began to talk I would receive a visit from a graduate of the Waterworks. No thanks. After supper, I retired to my room and lit a candle and then made myself comfortable. I began to try to clear my thoughts, I started with my toes and began to mentally visualize and push my bodies energy up. From the toes to the waist, it was a mental game but at some point, I began to feel something. I continued and finally arrived at the top of my head, my skull was somehow buzzing and I felt little electrical discharges coming offmxy body. With a final effort, I pushed the energy out of my head and for a moment I seemed to hang above my body, floating like a ghost myself. I blinked at this strange occurrence and suddenly I was back in my body, it was cold and shaky but felt somehow purified. After a moment, I opened my eyes and could see the golden motes of energy, magic, of life, I did not know what they really were. It all seemed Star Wars like, with the midichlorians and all that but this was somehow a part of the game and I could see feel and use them. Maybe I was becoming a Jedi, I laughed to myself. Magic, I loved it, no matter what you called it, it was one of the reasons I loved gaming. Focusing my thoughts, I began to call to the motes and compress them in my hand, it took some willpower if my thoughts ran off I lost them all, but it was easier than it had been. I fired off the motes in what I decided to name the golden boom attack. It was still not much of a boom more of a fizz this time but I was using magic in a way not mentioned in the forums. I may have found something that no one else had yet or it might be another glitch, for now, I would keep this to myself. I practiced for a couple of hours until the candle faded and the room went dark. Waking up I felt a tingling throughout my body and when I opened my eyes the room was filled with the golden motes, I could see well enough in the dark and as I stood I watched the motes swirl around me like dust in the sunlight, I could feel a light play of energy as the moved. Leaving my room, I walked to the Baths and cleaned up, everywhere I went I could see the motes, and have a sense of motion and distance. As I approached others heading towards the dining hall I felt them if I concentrated their movements stirring up the motes which almost seemed to be sending out little charges to other motes until I felt them. This was interesting and I wondered if somehow the motes could be bound to a weapon or a piece of gear like an enchantment. If that could happen would it be a magical battery or could it be used as a defensive item as well as a weapon? I would try to experiment tonight, I thought as I shoveled in the last of the sausages and eggs on my plate. Leaving the dining hall, I made my way to the entrance and then out to the city. I walked to the edge and greeted the guards there, explaining that I was going for a run left them shaking their heads and muttering about damn fools from the city. I had decided to run each morning, I ran in the real world and it kept me in shape, by running virtually I hoped it would help increase some stats and provide a boost to me. It could not hurt and it was something I liked to do. Besides this gave me a chance to look at life outside the city walls. I needed some preliminary information if I wanted to travel to that ruined city. I began to stretch to the guard¡¯s amusement, but once I felt limber enough I set out and quickly found my pace. The sun felt warm and the first two miles went by fast, I could see where the small farms were located, they looked pretty defensible, with a tall fence surrounding the main yard. I suspected the building had thick walls and narrow windows they were built for defense. Once past the farms, I settled into my distance lope and began to cover some ground. As I ran I could see the golden motes, they would fade from view unless I tried to see them, they were everywhere. As I ran past the Wildwood I could see even heavier concentrations of them all around all the trees and bushes. After I hit what felt like ten miles, I turned around and began to head back. I had decided to go down one of the trails to an abandoned farm and check it out. I felt confident and safe, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. I turned left and went down the overgrown trail until I reached the gated farm yard. Time had taken its toll and the gates hung broken and crooked. The house itself had the main door open and dirt had blown into the entrance. The barn was still in good shape, the first 10 feet were stone, then the timbers began. I walked the perimeter of the yard, noting that at the back of the house there were 4 graves, I read the stones, a young farmer, and his wife, with their son and daughter. A patrol had found them, it was a weekly check in with all the farmers that had been going on from the beginning of the settlement. The graves were covered in wildflowers, a pretty mixture that made the sad sight somehow more bearable. It may have only been a game but it was strangely moving, at least that is how I feel. I went back to the house and entered it, the dust had made its way into all the rooms. The personal belongings were still all there, in fact, it looked like the supper preparations had just begun when whatever happened occurred. Seeing nothing in the house to explain what had happened I went to the barn and opened the door. There were a number of stalls that lined one side of the barn with a small forge and workbench on the other. Out here if a tool broke you fixed it or did without. As I stood there I could hear a gentle murmur, it seemed to be coming from the far end of the barn in the last stall. It was dark in the barn, but my vision was clear. I walked over to the stall and looked in, there was a young woman with two children snuggled close to her, she was covering their faces and looking scared herself. It was the young mother and the two children but the husband was not there. I stopped and stared at them for a minute, finally the woman looked at me. As we stared at each other she began to weep. I hunkered down onto my heels to be at her level and said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, you have nothing to cry about. My name is Anon and I am here to try to understand what happened to you. Do you understand what I am saying?¡± Seeing her nod, I smiled and said, ¡°You can let the children peek at me, I won¡¯t bite. I am pretty harmless actually, just a low-level explorer looking for adventure.¡± The young mother actually smiled at that and I slowly began to coax her story out. She had been preparing supper with the kids in the kitchen, she had seen her husband in the yard and then heard him as he came into the kitchen, her back was turned so she did not see what happened but she heard her son yell out, ¡°No Daddy no.¡± then she saw blood falling from her head to the floor as she keeled over and that was all she could remember. The boy, who was about 8 interrupted and said, ¡°Daddy was bad, he hit mommy with the short shovel, over and over, then he smiled and he came over and hit us.¡± His sister then said, ¡°It was not daddy, it looked like him but it was not him. I heard the voice and it said, ¡°I am not your daddy, then it laughed and laughed as it hit us.¡± Wow, this was almost too much, a tad surreal, an evil spirit that had taken over the young farmer and had him murder his family. Did the spirit kill the farmer or did it leave him and once he realized what had happened did he kill himself? If so where was his ghost? I asked, ¡°Have you seen your husband''s ghost, or have you been all alone here?¡± The poor thing responded with tears but said, ¡°We have not seen Jebul here, it is only us three hiding in the barn.¡± I nodded, and began to stand up, seeing me standing the mother quickly stood up also and then begged, ¡°Take us with you, I don¡¯t want to be here like this with my kids, they deserve better, please help us?¡± I looked at her tearful face and the faces of the two kids trying to be brave for their Mom. I thought for a moment and then said, ¡°Roll with it Anon. They need your help.¡± Turning to the mother I said, ¡°All right you can come with me, but you might meet two other characters, an Imp, and a ghostly gnome. If you come with me I expect that you will listen to me, hellerrrheck even obey me if I need you to. If you can do that then you can come with me. We good?¡± They all nodded and we turned to leave, I led the way out of the barn and away from the house, and as we followed the path I felt a shiver go across my back. I had the feeling I had just done something that would have an impact, I could only hope it would be a good one. We made it back to Caraway and I showed the ghosts, Mara the mother, Sian, the daughter and Gudok the son my room. I told them they could explore but not to be seen and no scaring the guards. I was running late for my lunch with Belgrad and left as soon as I cleaned up from my run, the kids were already running around the keeps halls, and Mara was laying on my bed resting. A fricken ready-made family I thought.