《Kill 10 Rats》


 Volume 1: Prologue

    It was the pain in my back that woke me. I pried open my eyes to see blurry dark gray stone. As my eyes adjusted slowly I could make out stone walls speckled with green moss, rather than the off-white textured ceiling of my bedroom. I groaned loudly,  rolling over in my half conscious state and flailing my arms halfheartedly in search of my pillow. My head was pounding and my vision seemed to waver as I came awake. As I rolled, a hard knob poked into my hip and the sharp pain brought me back to the world.


    I looked around in bafflement. My bed for the night had apparently been the floor of a shallow cave. The walls were rough stone, limestone maybe? The floor was scattered with detritus, animal droppings, sticks, leaves, and a good amount of dirt.  Cool air and the faint sound of wind came from the entrance above. My nose was filled with the smells of moss, earth, and stone. A far cry from the stale coffee, old carpet, and dirty laundry of my apartment.


    ¡°Musta been one hell of a bender¡± I muttered darkly as I attempted to wrangle my limbs under me. I climbed to my feet and staggered, putting my hands against the cool stone as the world around me wobbled and my stomach tried to empty itself. I groaned again as the world swirled crazily before slowly coming into focus. My brain searched for what I¡¯d done last night and came up empty. It wasn¡¯t that I couldn¡¯t remember at all, but there seemed to be an odd fog over the memories. I had a few vague impressions of being home but nothing to clue me in on on how¡¯d I¡¯d apparently ended up passed out in some cave, in the middle of who the hell knew where.


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    I¡¯d been drunk but I¡¯d never been this drunk. My first night in college I¡¯d overindulged enough to throw up but not enough to blackout. This was a first, and honestly I couldn¡¯t imagine why I¡¯d done it, or even where I¡¯d done it.  Drinking was all fine and good in it¡¯s place, but I¡¯d personally always been more of the ¡®having a few brews with the guys¡¯ type, than ¡®hitting the parties and getting plastered¡¯ type. Some assholes had likely thought it damn funny to pack me up and leave me out here.


    It was then I noticed my clothes¡­.. Or lack of clothes as it were. My pants were  coarse canvas shorts, tied with frayed string. Other than that I wore nothing. Leaving my broad shoulders, flabby stomach, and rather epic tan-lines exposed to the cold morning air.


    I took another look around the cave searching for clues and finally spotted the object that had awoken me. On the ground was a rusty looking knife with a crude wooden handle. Apparently, I¡¯d been laying on it and that¡¯s what had dug into my hip when I rolled. Shaking my head I left the knife and walked up the small incline and out into the bright sunlight. It was time to get moving and get back home.

 Volume 1: Chapter 1

    The landscape outside the cave was utterly breathtaking. Trees dotted the landscape in every direction with knee-high grass of a vivid green interspersed with the vivid yellows, reds, and purples of wildflowers. A stream gurgled cheerfully a few yards away, and there was absolutely no sign of human habitation anywhere. No litter, no sounds of cars or airplanes in the distance, not even a field. It was like I¡¯d wandered into a game-preserve. The whole scene had a hard-to describe surreal quality. Everything was just a shade too¡­ vivid. Like one of those camera filters they use in fantasy shows. The grass was too green, the stream too blue, and the mountains in the distance too picturesque.


    I walked over to the steam and looked down into the water. My reflection looked back at me.  My hair was a thick thatch of mud-brown, and my eyes were a bright vivid green. I was tall and broadly built, but a good deal of the muscle I¡¯d cultivated during high-school sports had gone to fat. It was a consequence from sitting in class during the day, sitting at my desk at work, and sitting at my computer when I got home from work.


    I sighed heavily then splashed water on my face to chase away the last remnants of sleep. I was thirsty but drinking water from some random stream was about as wise as eating two-week old lunch meat. Sure you¡¯d probably be fine, until you weren''t. Then you¡¯d be miserable.


    I stood up and walked along the stream, growing more and more puzzled by my surroundings. Wind rustled through the trees while bird chips and the cries of other unidentified animals filled my surroundings. Just how far out of town had those idiots dumped me?


    As minutes ticked by I¡¯d worked up a decent sweat. The weather was warming but the the chill wind on my sweating body was likely going to leave me sick. I scowled as my chagrined attitude changed to anger. My hang-over had fled in only a few minutes and I¡¯d mostly been feeling fairly indifferent about the whole thing. I¡¯d done something dumb and someone had played a prank. I was a college guy, it was pretty much required at least a few times. However, I still had no idea where the hell I was, I couldn¡¯t see anything that might even vaguely hint about getting back to the city, and my hunger and thirst were building.


    The first tinge of worry entered my mind. Where was I and how was I going to get back? Since I was practically naked It¡¯s not like I had any food and I¡¯d already counted the water out. As if to punctuate that thought a loud splash came from the creek. A decent sized fish had jumped a few paces away. It¡¯s silver-body caught the sun making a dazzling reflection.


    ¡°Mocking me are you fish? You just volunteered for breakfast duty.¡± I said out-loud. Although, I knew catching the thing with my bare hands would be impossible. I hadn¡¯t been fishing since I was a teenager and dad had taken me. The memory made my smile, and blunted the edge of worry.


    We lived in a city, but he took us out quite a bit. When I left for school I ended up in¡­.¡­.. I searched for the memories of where I¡¯d gone to school. Nothing but the fog again. I started to panic as I shuffled through memories. I remembered being accepted, remembered moving in,  remembered taking classes. What the hell school was it? More fog.


    My hands started to shake as I wracked my brain. The faint sense of unease I¡¯d been feeling intensified. What city was the school in? Fog. What state was it in? Fog. Where had I grown up? Fog.  My whole body trembled as I tried to remember something, anything. Dad¡¯s name? Nothing. I could see his face clear as day, his stubborn jaw, grey-peppered beard and kind eyes, but no name. It seemed to be blurred just out of reach. Mom¡¯s name? nothing.


    My panic crystallized into a melt-down. Dreading the outcome I searched for one more name calling up my reflection in the water  from earlier¡­.. Nothing.  I fell to my knees gripping the sides of my head, as if trying to force the fog aside. I could remember my apartment, the color of the tiles in the kitchen, and the stain on the stove I¡¯d never bothered to clean when the chilli ran-over last week, but not the address.  I could remember my job. I worked part time at a computer-repair shop while going to class. But I couldn¡¯t remember the name of the company. I had all of my memories, but it seemed that anything that might tell me who I was, or information that might help me puzzle it out was completely gone¡­ Well not gone, but covered up by that damn fog.


    I¡¯m honestly not sure how long I laid there trying to put my thoughts together, but it had to have been hours. The sun was nearly full overhead when I finally stood back up. I¡¯d decided that laying around wasn¡¯t going to accomplish a great deal. Adding up the facts it became pretty clear what had happened. I hadn¡¯t gotten drunk,  I¡¯d apparently been drugged. Although what kind of drug could selectively block memories I had no idea. Why would they have left me in the cave? Why had they taken my clothes, but then let me keep my modesty with these crappy pants? Why would anyone have even bothered in the first place?


    ¡°Enough of that for now.¡± I was getting used to speaking to myself. It seemed a bad-sign but compared to everything else it was a small worry. My hunger from before had groan teeth while I was despairing. I was lost in a strange woods. I had no idea where I was, what direction I needed to go, or anything else that would help me get back to wherever the hell it was I was from.


    That meant it was time to cancel the ¡®get back to town ASAP¡¯ plan, and swap it for the ¡®survive and use your head¡¯ plan. I think it was time to risk the water. Honestly, it looked so clean and fresh I couldn¡¯t resist, and letting thirst wear me down while I had no idea how long I needed to last was a bad Idea. I¡¯m sure someone would start looking for me eventually. Those survival shows, always said you needed to secure three things in times like this, water, food, shelter. I was pretty sure shelter was supposed to be first, but I was starving, the day was warm, and exceptions needed to be made occasionally.


    I walked out into the clear water. Cupping my hands and drinking a few gulps. The water was heaven, clean, crisp, and perfect. Objective two, that damn fish. The creek was was only two or three feet deep.I could see a number of small fish swimming around, but the ones that were decent eating size didn¡¯t come by too often. So I stood in the hip deep water and waited for my time to strike.


    Turns out hand fishing is a great deal more complicated than it looks on TV. After nearly an hour, I¡¯d fallen in the water twice, cut my foot on a sharp rock, and managed to catch nothing. I hadn¡¯t even come close.  The water wasn¡¯t too cold at first but after an hour my feet felt like ice-cubes. I sat on the bank in sullen silence while my hunger gnawed at me. Then an idea struck.


    ¡°I knew I shoulda picked up that damn knife.¡± I grumbled as I looked around for a tool. I was human after all, tools were our bag. Looking for inspiration I picked out a fist-sized smooth rock on the stream bottom. I fetched it then brought it over to a larger rock on the side on the bank. Then gathering myself, violently smashed the small rock down on the large rock. It took a few tries but finally the small rock broke.


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    Blip


    The electronic sound was so incongruous to the pristine nature setting I just sat there stupidly for a moment.


    ¡°What the hell was that!?¡±


    I looked in every direction for ANYTHING that could have made the sound, but finding nothing I went back to what I was doing. Had I imagined it? The whole scenario was so strange, not to mention all the mental stress I was under. The fact I was talking to myself and hearing things seemed a bad sign, but there wasn¡¯t much point is worrying now. Besides giving myself a task had helped distract me from my lost memories. Breaking down again wouldn¡¯t help. I took the broken rock and looked at it happily, one side was now jagged, and could be used for a bit of rough cutting.


    Next I walked into the woods. It didn¡¯t take long to find what I was searching for. A log had fallen off an old oak tree, and it still had a couple branches attached. I used my foot for leverage and broke them both off. One was fairly thin and about three feet long. The other was longer and thicker. I wasn¡¯t sure what I¡¯d use the long one for but it would make a decent walking stick  if nothing else. I then took my now jagged rock and started to hack at one end of the thin stick. It took a while, but eventually I was able to sharpen one end into a rough spear.


    Blip


    This time I was so hungry I didn¡¯t pay attention to the noise. I quickly ran back over to the stream and into the water.


    ¡°Alright you little bastards come to daddy.¡±


    This time it only took me ten tries to get a fish. My aim turned out to be surprisingly good, and although my spear wasn¡¯t particularly well made it proved to be good enough for the fish. I stabbed down and caught one right through one side and out the other, like some textbook illustration in a boy-scout manual.


    Blip


    Blip


    I howled like a mad-man with glee.¡°Ug make spear and kill fish! Ug make fire and eat fish!¡± I shouted, laughing as I  savored my moment of victory. Not too bad for a city-boy.


    Now for the cooking. The fire proved to be a bit tricky. I¡¯d been in cub scouts and they¡¯d taught us how it was done, but I¡¯d never bothered much with actually learning. The whole thing had mostly seemed like an excuse for the adults to go camping and drink beer while pretending to watch us, so I hadn''t put much effort into the whole scouting thing. However, I knew the general idea. Rubbing makes friction, friction makes heat, heat makes fire.


    I went back over to the dead-log I¡¯d found earlier and used the larger rock to bash off a couple of pieces. Luckily it was hollow or It would have been a much harder task. Then I searched around the area for something to use as tinder. I got some dried bark from the tree and finally found a clump of dead grass after a few minutes of searching. I grabbed a couple handfuls, then moved on to bigger sticks and finally a few large chunks of the dead log. Then I bought them all back to where I¡¯d left the fish flopping on the bank.


    By the time I finished the sun was getting low, and my stomach was constantly rumbling. Finally I was ready to try my luck at the fire. I used a large curved piece of the log and began to rub it with the blunt end of the spear I had fashioned.


    Rub...Rub...Rub...Rub¡­ ¡°This¡±


    Rub...Rub..Rub..Rub.. ¡°Really¡±


    Rub...Rub..Rub.. ¡°Sucks¡±


    I muttered as I frantically rubbed my stick against the slab of wood I¡¯d cut. The wood finally started to smoke, I rubbed for a few more seconds then placed the now red-hot- end of the spear against the dead grass. The grass started to smoke almost immediately. Then I blew gently until it caught fire. I quickly built the sticks I¡¯d gathered into the pyramid shape it shows in the cub-scout book, and sure enough the fire took and started to crackle merrily.


    Blip


    ¡°Ok, That one I know I didn¡¯t imagine¡± I said into the night.


    What was that sound? This really was going to drive me crazy assuming I wasn¡¯t already. I searched around again, but the sound seemed to come from everywhere. My stomach took that moment to make another anguished rumble, and I quickly decided to cook the fish I¡¯d caught. It took a while, and because of the uneven heating of the fire I ended up burning one side, but I was so hungry I didn¡¯t even care.


    I took it off the fire, and bit into one side with it still on the spear. I¡¯m usually not a fish guy, but I was starving, and filling an empty tank always tastes way better than topping off a pretty full one.


    Ba-ding Blip


    ¡­.


    I froze for a moment at the new sound, then just laughed, too relieved by finally finishing my task to care about the stupid noises. It didn¡¯t take me long to finish off the fish and night had fallen. It had taken me most of the day to prepare my camp without tools. Tomorrow I was definitely going back to the cave and getting the knife. With that thought in my mind I rested my back against the log and shut my eyes. Exhausted as I was, sleep came quickly.


    _____________________________________


    Note: I know it wasn''t the most exciting chapter but fear not. Things will be picking up soon...... Very soon.

 Volume 1: Chapter 2

    I awoke instantly, becoming fully aware of my surroundings. It was still dark and the fire had burnt down to embers. The air was chilly in my half naked state but my mind was sharp and I could feel my heart slamming against my chest. My adrenaline was in full gear. Something was watching me.


    Humans have lost a great deal of their instincts due to civilization, but mine were still working well enough to wake me up when danger was near. I didn¡¯t make any sudden movements, but slowly inched my hand nearer to the fire where I¡¯d laid my improvised spear. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to do with it. I¡¯d never seriously fought anyone or anything in my whole life. The closest I¡¯d ever come was punching some idiot frat-boy at a kegger.


    Apparently, my stealth techniques left a lot to be desired because I¡¯d no sooner wrapped my hand around the spear, when I heard a loud bark and a mountain of grey fur leapt at me from the darkness.


    It hit me square in the chest and it¡¯s momentum sent us sprawling in a tangle of limbs. I could see nothing in the scuffle but fur and teeth. I managed to get my hands under it¡¯s head and pushed back enough to bring the thing into focus. It was a wolf. A REAL wolf, not one of those domesticated quarter-breeds some people keep as pets, but an honest to god wolf with fangs, jaws, and the whole mess.


    I panicked for the second time today. It had probably smelled the fish cooking and come to investigate, the fire must have kept it at bay but when it died down to embers I¡¯d lost my shield and he¡¯d come to find his supper. Luckily, I¡¯d woken up or it would have had my throat before I even knew what happened.


    We continued our struggle on the ground. I was stronger and had the weight advantage, but it had fangs, claws, and a lower center of gravity. It clawed my legs, but I managed to keep it away from my vital parts.  Finally I got some decent leverage and used my shoulders and hips to hurl the thing off me.


    I scrambled to my feet and grabbed up my spear. I had no plan and no thoughts. I was running on pure primal urge and my adrenaline told my inner cave man to smash. Ug was getting a workout today. The wolf jumped again and I met it with my spear tip. The spear gouged into the wolf, but I¡¯d made it for fishing, not fighting. The thin stick broke with a snap, and left me weaponless as the beast came again.


    This time I could only get my arm in the way of it¡¯s jaws. It bit deep, and blood poured from the wound as I fell to my knees. I leaned my weight against the beasts rush, locking us into another brute struggle.  My right hand landed on my walking stick and I grabbed it as a life line. It was longer and thicker and although it wasn¡¯t sharp, I could at least use it as a makeshift club. I jabbed it into the wolf''s belly one handed. It wasn¡¯t going to do much damage, but It must have hurt, because the wolf yelped and let go of my now mangled left arm.


    I rolled away and came up on one knee as the wolf rushed back in. This time I had a solid base and managed to get both hands on the stick. I swung in a wide horizontal arc with all the strength I could manage. I¡¯m not a bodybuilder, and I¡¯d be caught dead before going to a gym but I¡¯m am a big guy, and baseball was always my sport. The stick whistled as it split the air and hit the wolf square. I missed it¡¯s head but connected with it¡¯s right-rear hip A loud CRACK echoed through the forest as my stick broke. This time however it WAS a real weapon, and the damage had been done.


    The wolf let out a sharp whine as it plowed into me. I fell on my back and could feel it¡¯s breath on my face as we struggled in the dirt. I defended my face and neck with my arms, but it attacked my exposed stomach with it¡¯s front claws. I felt a red-hot pain in my stomach and more blood left my body. The sound of my beating heart seemed to amplify as my vision started to dim.


    I will not die here¡­.


    I used both my hands and clamped down on the wolf. I let out a roar and used all the strength in my shoulders and back as I lifted the wolf off of me. Then I rotated my hips and slammed it back down on the ground while I rolled on top of it. Releasing the grip of my right hand, I put my forearm across its throat and pressed all my weight and strength down.  It¡¯s struggles became manic and it clawed wildly at my arms, legs, stomach, and anything else it could reach. I ignored the wounds and pressed down even harder.


    The sound of my pounding heart grew louder as the wolves struggles became weaker but I didn¡¯t let up, I was filled with rage, pumped full of adrenaline, and my mind was going blank. There was nothing in the world but me and the wolf.


    I¡¯m not sure who lost consciousness first.


    *****************


    I awoke around mid-morning to the sounds of birds and the gurgling stream. I groaned and rolled over before my mind caught up and I stumbled to my feet and looked around frantically. The motion made my wounds pull and I cried out as pain racked me.


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    The wolf was gone. I could see the claw marks and ruts in the ground where we had fought, and both of the broken sticks were still laying on the ground, but the wolf had completely vanished. There wasn¡¯t even a trace of blood, mine or the wolves.  Shaking my head in confusion I relieved myself against a tree,  then limped over to the stream. I took a few good gulps of water out of my cupped hands, then washed myself in the stream. The cold water brought me back to life and although I didn¡¯t have any soap, washing off the sweat and dried blood felt nice.


    I took stock of my injuries. My arm and stomach were a mess, the blood had clotted but the wounds were still mostly open. My back and abs twinged every time I moved my legs, and I was covered in more minor wounds. The wolf must have torn my abs and I likely strained my back when I took that huge swing. Honestly I was amazed I could even stand. Hell I was surprised I hadn¡¯t bled out. I¡¯m was pretty sure I had almost died.


    After I finished gingerly bathing, making sure I didn¡¯t start bleeding again, I took the time to make myself another spear, and hunt up another fish. With my wounds the process was a great deal more time consuming and painful. The fire was easier, as I managed to dig some still live coals out of the ashes. It only took a few minutes and some more grass to get it going again.


    I just leaned up against the log and sat staring at nothing. With my injuries walking back to the cave was going to take forever and be extremely painful. Besides,  who knew what other crap was in this forest. With my luck I¡¯d probably run into a mountain-lion or a grizzly bear next. I didn¡¯t even know where I was. I might run into a Siberian tiger or a damn Sasquatch. I wasn¡¯t going to rule out anything at this point. Feeling depressed and lacking ambition I drifted back off to sleep.


    It was mid-afternoon when I woke. I opened my eyes feeling surprisingly energetic. I stood up gingerly, and my back and abs twinged again, but the pain from the wounds had mostly gone. I supposed the torn abs, and strained back weren¡¯t going to change much from an afternoons rest. The wound on my stomach looked a lot better,  too good really. The claw marks looked a great deal smaller, and it appeared some skin was even growing back. My arm looked almost fully healed, and it had full range of motion.


    ¡°This is too weird.¡± I muttered. It looked like I¡¯d been laid up for a week, but I couldn¡¯t have slept more than three or four hours. The fire was still burning. Trying to pry my brain away from thoughts that were just going to depress me again, I decided it was time to continue with my plan for the day which was getting my knife back. I was apparently going to need the thing after all, and it would save me a lot of time in the future while I walked my way back to civilization.


    It took me two hours to get back to the cave. Luckily I hadn¡¯t left the creek, and after yesterday¡¯s events I was going to stay close. With no way to store water, and no way to store food staying close to the small stream made too much sense. Besides since I didn¡¯t know where I was anyway, wandering through the forest blindly would just get me lost. This way I could at least follow the river until I found a road. I might even run into a town. The knife was exactly where I had left it. So with my goal already accomplished and still feeling full from lunch I set off exploring, heading north along the stream.


    It was near nightfall when I finally found a road. Although ¡°road¡± might be a bit of a stretch, It was more a dirt path. Although, someone had managed to build a crude bridge out of rocks and raw timber. It might have been possible to cross the thing in a car, but I wouldn''t wanna chance it in my old ratty Carolla. Since it was getting close to sun-down and I still had no idea which way to go, I set about rebuilding my fire and making some dinner. It was harder going than last time because I couldn¡¯t find any dead logs, but I managed. The fish were just about done, when I heard a rattling in the distance.


    I couldn¡¯t see anything but the sound was growing louder.My fish going to burn if I wandered off to check, so I opted to wait. Sure enough, a few minutes later a cart trundled down the road pulled by a mangy looking mule. A small plump man sat on the driver''s seat, chewing on a cat-tail and wielding a long light pole. Occasionally he give the mule a tap, but the animal seemed docile enough. He was wearing, some kind of old fashioned clothing, with a pair of high boots, and a purple linen shirt that was sporting white ruffles at the sleeves and neck. It looked like something out of a renaissance fair.It once again made me question the events of the past two days. I¡¯d tried not to think too hard about my situation today. I wanted to avoid getting depressed, and the long walk, my injuries, and the work of setting up camp had kept me properly distracted. Seeing this man brought it all back and I struggled to keep my calm when as he crossed the bridge and stopped his mule next to my fire.

 Volume 1: Chapter 3

    ¡°Greetings stranger!¡± The pudgy man called in a jovial voice. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve run into a bit of a rough patch.¡± He was nearly round but his movements were quick and his blue eyes twinkled with kindness and humor.


    ¡°Evening, and you''re right¡± I replied ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m a bit lost. Do you know which way the nearest town is?¡± I asked trying to be polite. I still wasn¡¯t sure how to approach this man. I had no idea what was going on. Things were more screwed up than I initially imagined and I needed information if I was going to puzzel anything out.


    The stranger smiled, and nodded sagely ¡°S¡¯bout three leagues west ¡®long the road, Headin¡¯ there myself, but this damn mule¡¯s too slow, and now we ain''t gonna make it till tomorrow. I don¡¯t fancy tryin¡¯ the road at night. There¡¯s wolves in these woods ya know?¡± His accent was unrecognizable to me but held a hint of a southern-drawl.


    I nearly snorted at that.


    Ya don¡¯t say? I thought darkly.


    ¡°Well you''re welcome to camp with me tonight, You can even have the other fish if you let me ride in your cart tomorrow.¡±


    The man didn¡¯t even think it over for a second. He stretched out his pudgy hand and we shook.¡°Ya got yourself a deal! Name¡¯s Willard by the way. I¡¯m a peddler headed to Shadesgrove to pick up some goods.¡±


    Blip


    I¡¯d never heard of a Shadesgrove but I hesitated to ask something like ¡®What country is that in?¡¯. I had a feeling I wouldn¡¯t get an intelligible answer anyway. ¡°Is that the next town?, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m new to these parts.¡±


    He chuckled as he took the bigger fish off the fire. ¡°I can tell. You¡¯ve the look of a wildman, and no, the next towns a small one called Valor¡¯s Crossing, Shadesgrove¡¯s another week''s travel to the east, but this road runs all the way there,so it¡¯s not too bad a journey. By the way what¡¯s your name stranger?¡±


    I froze. I¡¯d expected the question but I still hadn¡¯t prepared an answer. ¡°Uhhhhhhh¡­. John¡± I replied lamely.


    Willard raised a skeptical eye before shrugging his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s alright, there¡¯s plenty o¡¯people who¡¯d rather not give out their name.¡±


    We ate while Willard chatted on about his mule and his business. He¡¯d sold his goods in a town in the east called Wild¡¯s Reach and was heading to Shadesgrove to buy more goods, before heading south.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous traveling on the road with no escort? Aren''t you worried about getting robbed?¡± I asked, curious.


    He just laughed heartily. ¡°What good¡¯s it do to rob a peddler with an empty wagon? I suppose you could take old Milly but she wouldn¡¯t sell for a wood ram, and who¡¯d risk the noose for horse thievin¡¯ for the likes of her?¡±


    I raised an eyebrow  ¡°But if you¡¯ve sold your goods  and are headed somewhere to buy, doesn¡¯t that mean you''re carrying a bunch of money? Seems like the best time to rob someone.¡±


    Williard paused for a moment then looked at me askance. ¡°You aint a bandit are ya?¡±


    I burst out laughing, God it felt good to laugh, and although my abs protested it seemed like It been a year since I¡¯d been light hearted rather than two days.  ¡°I¡¯d be a pretty poor bandit if I couldn¡¯t even steal myself a shirt.¡±


    Willard continued to look at me for a few seconds, then joined in the laughter. ¡°You do look a mess, and you seem a decent sort, offern¡¯ me a fish, when you aint even got a pair a shoes.¡±


    The atmosphere relaxed again and I took the time to gather more firewood. I piled it up pretty high, as I didn¡¯t want a repeat of last night. Then I settled down for bed.


    We set off the next morning, and after a full night''s rest my abs were almost completely healed, although the soreness of the torn muscles persisted, and my back was still tender. This really was surreal. A wound like that should''ve landed me in the hospital for two weeks at least. Christ, I shouldn¡¯t even have been able to stand up afterwards, but I¡¯d been able to walk a few miles hours after it happened with only minor pain. Hopefully when we reached town I¡¯d be able to find some answers, or at least be able to figure out where I was. I was beginning to suspect we weren''t in Kansas anymore.


    It was nearly noon when the inevitable happened. A scraggly looking man, with a long knife walked out in front of the wagon, while a taller and broader man with a big cudgel approached from the side.


    ¡°Give us your coin, and you can be on your way.¡± the smaller one said in a reedy voice.


    I looked over at Willard and raised an eyebrow with the best ¡®I told you so¡¯ expression I could muster. He didn¡¯t even blink at my look, and a look of terror suddenly materialized on his face.


    ¡°P-P-Please sir, don¡¯t be violent now, I¡¯m just a humble puddler, just take the coin and be lemme go.¡±


    The tone of his voice was so different than before. I was confused for a moment before I realized it was an act. He reached for his belt, and took off the coin purse he had hanging there before tossing it weakly into the road.


    The skinny man went for the purse as the larger brute covered us with his cudgel. I just watched puzzled trying to figure out Willard¡¯s game. The thief took the coin purse then opened up his prize.


    ¡°Aint nothin¡¯ in here but copper, and a couple bits o silver. This all you got fatty?¡± He asked angrily.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a p-poor peddler sir, I managed to sell a¡¯bit in the last town, but my wagon axle broke, after gettin it fixed that¡¯s all I got.¡± He looked truly pitiful, I had to admit his acting skills were grade-A.


    The bandit looked skeptical. ¡°Search ¡®em hoss¡± The large man lumbered over and pulled Willard out of the wagon. I went along without prodding. The large man patted us down, He found my knife, but merely sneered at it and gave it back. Willard wasn¡¯t carrying anything else, so the brute searched the cart but found nothing.


    ¡°Notin¡¯ boss¡± The large man replied thickly. The skinny man sneered, but waved us back into the cart.


    ¡°Get outta here then, you lot are worse off than we are.¡±  He said as they ran back off the road. Willard and I climbed back into the cart, and with a tap of Willards stick, Milly started to plod west again.


    We were a mile or so down the road when I asked the question. ¡°So where''s the rest of your coin?¡±


    Willard looked at me for a moment then answered with a grin. ¡°One a¡¯the boards in back is hollow. I aint tellin ya which one though.¡±


    I just laughed. ¡°I figured you were lying last night when you asked who would rob a merchant with an empty wagon. I have to admit though your acting skills are pretty good.¡±


    He grinned without an ounce of shame. ¡°The trade business is actin¡¯. Even honest dealin¡¯ requires a bit a posturnin¡¯ on both sides What gave me away?¡±


    ¡°You weren''t upset enough when they robbed you.¡± I replied honestly. ¡°You looked scared, but you didn¡¯t look devastated. A trader''s money is his life, with no money and no cargo your back to nothing. Those two were idiots but a smarter thief might have been able to sniff you out. Although, I suppose he¡¯d have had a hell of a time finding the coin, if it really is in a hollow board.¡±


    Willard snorted. ¡°Those half-wit whoresons, They¡¯re a ram¡¯a dozen, I¡¯ve been robbed three times since I left. The trick is  keepin¡¯ just enough coin in the pouch to be believable. Then they won''t go lookin¡¯ too hard.¡±


    I just nodded at his words and leaned back against the wooden slats in the cart. It had been a long couple of days, and I was still injured. I closed my eyes while listening to the birds, the rattle of the cart,  along with Willard''s constant chatter. It was honestly a rather pleasant feeling. It was the first time I¡¯d felt at ease in three days. It was nice to just relax and let the world slowly roll by.


    We reached Valor¡¯s Crossing just before evening. As I¡¯d suspected when I¡¯d run into Willard it looked nothing like a modern city. Village would be a better term, or even hamet. The buildings were all rough wood dwellings and only a couple were two stories, the rest all appeared to be functional single room affairs. I could smell wood smoke and cooking meat as we approached.


    I was baffled. It really looked like some quaint European town had it been 400 years earlier. The facts kept adding up, but I honestly had no idea what the answer to all this strangeness was. I hopped off the back of the wagon and stretched. The wagon wasn¡¯t terribly comfortable and the day¡¯s log ride had stiffened up my joints. However, I was still in a good mood. I¡¯d survived in the woods for two days on my own. It was a pretty good accomplishment for someone who¡¯d spent his whole life in one city or another. Aside for the almost being killed by a crazed wolf It wasn¡¯t a bad go. With this scenery it¡¯d have even been a great place to go hiking.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The state of the town confirmed my suspicion that it was likely I wasn¡¯t on earth anymore. I guess it could be some elaborate hoax with paid actors, but my memories, the setting, and the sheer strangeness of it all made me think it was unlikely. Which in itself is a terrifying thought. How does ¡°I¡¯ve been transported to some other place or time, by some unknown method¡± become the most logical explanation of one''s surroundings?


    The question then became where the hell was I, and how did I get here to begin with? I¡¯d gone over the facts again while drowsing in the wagon. I had memories of going to work three days ago. I had memories of coming home, then the Fog came in. After that the first thing I remember was waking up in the cave. Was I kidnapped? Was I Dreaming? Did I somehow slide dimensions like that old sci-fi show? I needed more clues and the only way that was going to happen was to talk to people and explore.


    Willard spoke up as I was thinking. ¡°Well, I¡¯m gonna go find the general store, maybe there¡¯s somethin¡¯ decent to buy round here. After that it¡¯s a room at the tavern before setting off tomorrow¡± He flipped a silver coin to me and I caught it. ¡°Use that to buy yourself a meal, you¡¯ll likely have to sleep on the floor, but I¡¯ve been through here a time or two, and the Innkeep is a decent sort. It¡¯s been a pleasure.¡± He finished speaking then tapped his mule with his pole and headed farther into town.


    I looked around for a moment before headed into the inn. If you called it ¡®generic fantasy inn¡¯ you¡¯d be pretty close to the mark. A wooden sign that read Froliking Foal hung above the door. The smell of roasting meat and the sound of voices spilled out from the inside.


    I pushed open the door to reveal a large common room filled with tables and chairs. A large stone hearth sat in the center of the room, and a large pot of stew bubbled over the fire. There were quite a few people inside drinking out of wooden goblets while eating stew and dark bread. There were all dressed in coarse earth-tone fabrics and the simple styles you¡¯d expect from the peasants in some fantasy movie. I walked up to the barkeep and laid my silver on the counter.


    ¡°Can I get something to eat?¡± I asked the middle aged man at the bar. He was a plump man with a balding head and huge forearms. His eyes were sympathetic as he took in my appearance and the coin on the counter.


    ¡°Sure son, just sit there and we¡¯ll fix you up.¡± He rummaged behind the counter then walked to the pot in the middle of the room. Soon there was a loaf of the dark break, a bowl of stew, and a tankard of ale next to me. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve had a rough go of it.¡±


    I slid onto a bar stool and started shoveling in the food. ¡°That¡¯s one way of putting It¡± I replied around my mouthful of bread. It was coarse rye, nothing like what I was used to but after nothing but fish for three days it was so good it made we want to weep. The stew was even better and soon I¡¯d eaten it all it and took a big gulp of my ale to wash it down. I nearly choked on it. I¡¯d always heard that the mass produced stuff we drink now was nothing to what they used to drink. They had to keep the alcohol content high to keep it from spoiling. I found there to be truth in those words as I forced myself to keep from spitting it up all over the bar. It tasted like I¡¯d just put a handful of spoiled hops in my mouth and poured two shots of whisky on top of it.I coughed as I swallowed and looked up at the bar-keep with watering eyes.


    He just smiled happily and slapped me on the back. ¡°That there¡¯s the house stout lad, You looked like you could use a bit of a pick-me-up.¡±


    ¡°That seems a bit more of a knock-me-down than a pick-me-up.¡± I wheezed. If I drank the rest of that I was going to end up passed out in a cave again.


    ¡°Nonsense, It¡¯ll put some hair on your chest.¡± He refilled the mugs of a couple other patrons before returning to me. ¡°You just got into town right?¡±


    I slowly took another small sip of my ale. ¡°Yeah, Been lost in the forest for a couple days Had a run-in with a wolf, but other than that it wasn¡¯t too bad, the fishings pretty good around here.¡± The good food and the booze was lifting my mood. So I bragged a bit, ¡°Was a close call though.¡± I said smiling.


    His eyes went wide. ¡°You killed a wolf with your bare hands, maybe you don¡¯t need more hair on you chest after all.¡± He rummaged around under the bar again and sat a cup of water next to my ale.


    ¡°My liver thanks you¡± I replied before taking a big gulp of the water.


    He then leaned forward with a serious expression on his face. ¡°Say, If you could handle a wolf, would you mind takin care of something for me? There¡¯s a buncha rats that¡¯ve taken up in the cellar, we don¡¯t go down there much, but I need to bring up a new keg soon, and I don¡¯t wanna deal with em. They¡¯re right big bastards, and I ain''t as fast as I used to be. You mind clearnin¡¯ em out for me? I think there¡¯s ten or so down there.¡±


    Blurp


    I just stared at him blankly for a good five seconds.


    You cannot be serious. I thought, stunned.


    ¡°You want me to kill¡­. ten rats.¡± I replied in a flat voice. The truth hit me like a ton of bricks. It all fit. The cave, the too-pretty landscape, the electronic sound effects, the wolf disappearing, all of it. It was so obvious I wanted to cry. It was the answer I¡¯d been looking for and it had been in front of me the whole time. Like most good answers, it brought up a bunch of other questions though.


    ¡°Yeah, if you would It¡¯d be a great help.¡± The bar-keep continued oblivious to my inner turmoil.


    I shook my head in disbelief before bursting out in half-hysterical laughter that made my abs and back hurt terribly, the pain made me laugh even harder. I laughed like a mad-man, I couldn¡¯t stop and the strange and concerned looks from the other patrons made me laugh harder. I don¡¯t know how long I laughed, but the tears were rolling down my cheeks, and all the muscles in my body ached when I finally calmed down.


    The barkeep was staring at me with a worried expression but I smiled, I waved my hand as if to pacify him. ¡°Sorry about that It¡¯s been a long couple of days. I¡¯ll take care of the rats for you tomorrow.¡±


    Ba-Ding


    I stood up from my stool, and walked outside into the cool evening air. I wandered through the small town until I found a place without anyone else around. Then I enunciated in a clear voice ¡°Open Character Sheet.¡± A bright blue window projected onto the air in front of me. The window was transparent but the clear black letters made it easy to read.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Enter Name</td><td>Level: 1</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Select</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 13</td><td>LBStr: 11(-1) 10</td><td>HP: 15/15</td><td>Mana: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td>End: 9(-1) 8</td><td>Con: 14</td><td>Stam: 9/9</td><td>Panic: 3/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:8(-2) 6</td><td>Cord: 11</td><td>Hunger: 99/100</td><td>Thirst: 92/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:12</td><td>Wis:11</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Torso: (Moderate) Torn Abdominals(-25% agi)


    Torso: (Moderate) Strained Back(-10% Lbs and End)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Volume 1: Interlude I

    ¡°Subject 13617 has breached the fourth wall and opened his character sheet.¡± An excited voice announced. The doctor was wearing a white lab-coat, and waving a report at the man seated behind the desk. The doctor¡¯s hair was messy and his horned rim glasses were slightly askew.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first of the new batch correct? How long did it take him.¡±  The man behind the desk asked. In contrast to the doctor his blond hair and dark suit were impeccable. His blue eyes were calm and calculating as he questioned the doctor.


    ¡°Just under two weeks. That puts him in the top 2%, number 147 to be exact.¡± The doctor was clearly very excited as he chirped happily to his boss.


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­. What tipped him off.¡± The voice was cool but tinged with a hint of interest.


    ¡°I¡¯d have to check the logs to be 100% sure, but the timeline coincides almost exactly with receipt of his first quest.¡± The doctor replied.


    ¡°Seems likely, I keep telling the engineers they need to iron out the quest giving subroutine of the NPC behavioral program.¡± He stood up from his desk then took the report from the doctor and threw it in his briefcase. He shut it then he headed for the door ¡°I¡¯ve got a meeting to get to. Keep an eye on the subject, hopefully he¡¯ll get us some good data.¡±


    ************************************************


    Jasmine absently clicked through the reports she was supposed to be reading. She¡¯d been hired by Nexus six-months ago as a Data Analysis Assistant. It was a crummy job.  She spent all day every day reading play-logs from the game Otherworld looking for ¡®anomalies¡¯ and answering ridiculous questions. The questions were utterly ludicrous and what exactly an ¡°anomaly¡± consisted of was pretty vague. That was apparently the reason they needed a person to do it. Computers are great at finding patterns, but they need precise instructions. The problem was there were just too many variables in human behavior. It might take a computer 1000 years to churn through the data in one of these reports and go through every possible iteration of anything that might possibly be ¡®anomalous¡¯, but a human could look at the same report and find it in five minutes. And the questions¡­.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°In your estimation what prompted Player 8740 to exclaim ¡°Holy Shit-Nuggets!¡± when MOB 174F518B946 used Master IV Rank Spell ¡°Pyrocalamity¡± to destroy his party.


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>He mistook Item 876684 ¡®Goblin droppings¡¯ for a religious relic.</li>


    <li>He was surprised at the special effects that the spell created.</li>


    <li>He was in awe of how his party was defeated by a single spell.


    </li></ol>


    That was what she was being paid for. To be a biological data sieve and some sort of arm-chair shrink. It was honestly the worst job she¡¯d ever had but the pay was good. Since she hadn¡¯t gone to college and her band had never panned out she needed the cash. The perks weren''t bad though, and honestly some of the logs were pretty funny reads. She changed to her ¡®favorite¡¯ folder and skimmed over a couple.


    Man gets eaten by were-shark.


    Woman falls off cliff after eating magical mushroom.


    Man drowns after boat runs ashore because lamia takes her top off.


    Man dies after falling off flying griffon while drunk.


    She¡¯d never known her sense of humor was so dark until she¡¯d taken this job. All the people in the reports were real people, and when their characters died, they had to re-roll. The thing was though, because of the games ¡®Full Immersion Technology¡¯ they couldn¡¯t actually remember they were playing a game, and the game would somehow erase the memories of the last play though, so everyone had to start all over knowing nothing.


    Modern humans weren¡¯t terribly resourceful either. So she read a lot of reports where people starved to death or were killed by a wild animal after a few minutes of play. Some people would go weeks or months doing nothing but dying over-and-over again. It was honestly a pretty awful life. She wondered why they¡¯d signed up to be testers at all.


    _______________________________________


    Author''s Note: Alright! First major story milestone reached. Hope you guys have been enjoying things so far. I hope you''ll continue reading now that he''s out of ''Caveman'' phase and starts exploring the games mechanics. Also we''ll be introducing some new characters as well as another POV soon.

 Volume 1: Chapter 4

    Wind rustled through the trees of Valor¡¯s Crossing while the sounds of clucking chickens and the occasional hooting of an owl added to the rural ambiance of this artificial place. It was still early evening and I stared at the bright blue illusion superimposed over the world with interest.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Enter Name</td><td>Level: 1</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Select</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 13</td><td>LBStr: 11(-1) 10</td><td>HP: 15/15</td><td>Mana: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td>End: 9(-1) 8</td><td>Con: 14</td><td>Stam: 9/9</td><td>Panic: 3/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:8(-2) 6</td><td>Cord: 11</td><td>Hunger: 99/100</td><td>Thirst: 91/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:12</td><td>Wis:11</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Torso: (Moderate) Torn Abdominals(-25% agi)


    Torso: (Moderate) Strained Back(-10% Lbs and End)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Iiiiiintersting¡­..So that was why I couldn¡¯t remember my name. I was supposed to pick one. Although what¡¯s the point? Who uses their real name in game anyway? For that matter, how does it even accomplish anything. You have to figure out your playing a game before you would even think to look at the character sheet to decide on your name.¡± I mutted to myself as I scanned the boxes. I knew I wasn¡¯t the sharpest tool in the shed, but I got good grades and my test scores were always fairly high. My background as a gamer had let me figure out I was in a game pretty quickly. How long would it take a non-gamer to put it together? Would they ever? How long would I have taken to figure it out if they hadn¡¯t given me something so obvious as a quest. The thoughts swirled one after another, but none of the facts seemed to fit together properly.What was the point of any of it?


    ¡°Oh well, Let¡¯s get it over-with.¡± I pushed the blue ¡®Name¡¯ box. The view shifted and another smaller box popped up over-top of the main one.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>What Is Your Name?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°That¡¯s the million dollar question isn¡¯t it.¡± I sighed. Brooding over my lost identity wasn¡¯t going to accomplish a lot, I¡¯d done plenty of that the first day. If I was going to figure it out I¡¯d need to play along and cobble together what clues I could.


    But what to pick? Should I go with something funny? Epic? Ridiculous? Or should I be serious¡­¡­.. Definitely not serious.


    ¡°My Name¡­.. Is Noob Slayer!¡± I said in the most epic and over-blown voice I could muster.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name Accepted</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I smiled. then pushed the Race box.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Select Race</td></tr><tr><td>Human</td><td>+10% Skill Gain</td></tr><tr><td>Dwarf</td><td>+15% Con, Dark Vision, +10% Crafting</td></tr><tr><td>Elf</td><td>+15% Agi, Dark Vision, +10% Animal Empathy</td></tr><tr><td>Orc</td><td>+15% UBStr and LBStr, Rage Racial Feature</td></tr><tr><td>Teifling</td><td>+15% Diplomacy, Demonic Flames Racial Feature, +5% Faith</td></tr><tr><td>Celestial</td><td>+15% Wis, Angelic Light Racial Feature, +5% Faith</td></tr><tr><td>Halfling</td><td>+5% Cord, +5% Con, +5% Stealth, +5% Agi</td></tr><tr><td>Gnome</td><td>+15% Int, Gnomish Perception Racial Feature, +5% Agi</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The list went on, and on, and on. I scrolled through them in growing astonishment. By the time I got to the end I was in shock  There were forty-five playable races.  FORTY FIVE. That was more than five times most games and at least three times as many as any game I¡¯d ever heard of.


    They really pulled out all the stops for this didn¡¯t they.


    ¡°Select Human¡± I replied absently. Best to keep things simple. Besides I didn¡¯t even know what half those races were, what the hell was a Svirfneblin anyway, or a Nyanrian? I didn¡¯t want to grow a bunch of tentacles out of my head.


    Beeeeep


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning This Choice is Permanent and Cannot Be Changed. Do You Wish To Continue?</td></tr><tr><td>Y/N</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Yes¡± I confirmed.


    Blip


    Class was the next option and this was going to be the important one. If I got stuck with a crappy class it would be a pain to navigate the world and I needed to be powerful to figure out what was going on. Judging by the forty-five playable races, I expected the class list to be absolutely colossal. I pushed the button.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Basic Classes</td><td>Unlocked Classes</td></tr><tr><td>Fighter</td><td>Ranger</td></tr><tr><td>Priest</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Theif</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Wizard</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>


    That¡¯s it? I expected there to be a hundred classes at least. Although the ¡®unlocked¡¯ column made me a bit curious. How many locked classes were there? When did I unlock ranger? How did I unlock more? Could I change classes? Too many questions as usual and far too few answers.


    I pressed fighter just to test the waters. If I got stuck with it, it wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world, but I figured there¡¯d be another confirmation box.


    Beeeeep


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning This Choice is Permanent and Cannot Be Changed. Do You Wish To Continue?</td></tr><tr><td>Two Hundred Forty-Nine Classes Remain Locked. Do You Wish To Continue?</td></tr><tr><td>Y/N</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY!¡± I shouted. I¡¯d been expecting it, but honestly it still caught me off-guard. How the hell was I gonna unlock two hundred fifty classes? And I only get one choice and it¡¯s permanent. ¡°What kinda shitty game design is this?¡± I said incredulously.


    ¡°Cancel¡± I denied. The pop-up closed leaving me with the class list. ¡°Close Window.¡± the class window closed and I looked at my updated sheet again. Enough with classes for now. I inspected the rest of the sheet.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 1</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 13</td><td>LBStr: 11(-1) 10</td><td>HP: 15/15</td><td>Mana: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td>End: 9(-1) 8</td><td>Con: 14</td><td>Stam: 9/9</td><td>Panic: 3/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:8(-2) 6</td><td>Cord: 11</td><td>Hunger: 99/100</td><td>Thirst: 91/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:12</td><td>Wis:11</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Torso: (Moderate) Torn Abdominals(-25% agi)


    Torso: (Moderate) Strained Back(-10% Lbs and End)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Hmmmmmmm¡­. I assume UB and LB are upper body and lower body, but what¡¯s the point of separating that out?¡± I mused aloud. Everything about this game seems so needlessly complex. I pushed on ¡®UBstr¡¯ hoping for a pop-up but nothing happened. Apparently, only the blue buttons were pressable. End was likely endurance, Con was constitution, Agi was agility, and when had agility become my dump stat? I supposed at 6¡¯3,  240 I¡¯d left agile behind 6 inches and a 100 pounds ago. But what was Cord, coordination?  Wasn¡¯t that the same as agility? Int was easy. Wis, easy. Res? Faith was likely some sort of stat for priests or clerics, but Res I had no ideas at all for. I supposed it could be resistance but that didn¡¯t really make sense as a main attribute.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I switched over to the status window. Hp, Mana, and Stam were common enough. Although I wasn¡¯t sure how I was supposed to get mana.  Panic was in some old-school games, but I hadn¡¯t ever played one with it. Hunger and Thirst were interesting but It made sense with how detailed the game was.


    The wounds window was pretty telling. That¡¯s why all my injuries had healed but, my abs and back still hurt. I¡¯d regenerated the HP passively, but the actual wounds hadn¡¯t been healed. How did I go about healing them? This game was ludicrous.I was starting to get a headache.


    Blip


    My sheet updated before my eyes and I chuckled darkly after reading the change.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Torso: (Moderate) Torn Abdominals (-25% agi)


    Torso: (Moderate) Strained Back (-10% Lbs and End)


    Head:  (Minor) Headache (-5% Int and Wis)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Well, at least they are consistent.¡± I shook my head then continued my self-examination. Deciding to skip the rest I pushed the ¡®Inventory¡¯ Link at the bottom of the sheet. The pane had a paper-doll that was blank in all slots but pants. Below that was a large box with one entry ¡®Small Rusty Knife¡¯. Again I couldn¡¯t see any specific stats on either item. There had to be a way to pull the information.


    ¡°Help¡± I said trying to find out some more info.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Help Disabled While Full Immersion Mode Is Active</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Full Immersion Mode eh?


    Then it occurred to me I should have tried something else when I first discovered I was in a game. Typical gamer, ignoring the obvious when something interesting is happening. ¡°Logout¡± I said although I didn¡¯t think it would work.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Logout Disabled While Full Immersion Mode Is Active</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Who woulda thunk it¡± It was as I suspected. Again I wondered how I¡¯d ended up in a game that was at least 20 years ahead of anything ever offered before and was apparently trapped here under the guise of ¡®Full Immersion Mode¡¯. It was honestly incredible. Had I not been apparently kidnapped, I would have signed up for this. Although, maybe I did sign up for it?


    I again searched my memories. I could remember the days leading up to when I¡¯d arrived here.  Nothing I could remeber pointed to me agreeing to anything like this. Although the memory could have been fogged over, but only specific information seemed to be. There weren¡¯t any large obscured spots aside from the night right before I¡¯d woken up here.


    Oh well, I had made progress but In terms of figuring anything out, I was effectively back where I started. I knew WHERE now, but the HOW and WHY still eluded me.


    First things first. I needed to figure out this damn game.  ¡°Open Command List¡± I spoke firmly. Another pop-up window appeared on my screen. Now we''re getting somewhere.  There was 40 or so commands, most of them were cryptic and a good number were dithered out. But there was a Details command. Which was exactly what I¡¯d been hoping for. Finally, I¡¯d cracked the code. I was honestly starting to run out of Ideas, so it¡¯s a good thing that one had worked. I closed my inventory, and went back to my char sheet. ¡°Details¡±  I commanded. All of the various Subsections of the sheet started to glow with a blue outline. I started with Attributes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes define the fundamental abilities of your character. These represent your Physical, Mental, or Magical aptitude.Your attributes will increase as you level based on your actions. They will also decrease passively if you do not use them.</td></tr><tr><td>UbStr: This is your arm, shoulder, pectoral and upper back strength.


    It affects your physical damage, as well as your carry weight, and applies bonus to a number of skills.</td><td>LBStr: This is your legs, hips, abdominals, and lower back strength.


    It affects your physical damage, carry weight, jumping ability, and applies bonus to a number of skills.</td></tr><tr><td>End: This is your physical stamina, this represents how long you can run, fight, or use physical skills without tiring.


    Increases users ability to survive without food or water.</td><td>Con: This is your physical hardiness. This represents your ability to ignore injury, poison, disease, and other negative physical effects.


    Increases user''s HP. Also increases your Hunger and Thirst maximum values.</td></tr><tr><td>Agi: This is the speed in which your body is able to move.


    Determines your ability to make fast precise movements.


    Increases run and attack speed.</td><td>Cord: This you your bodies hand-eye coordination, as well as fine motor skills.


    Determining attribute for many crafting professions. Increases hit chance.</td></tr><tr><td>Res: his represents your body''s ability to access and channel arcane energies.</td><td>Faith: This is your ability to access and channel divine energies.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I was hoping for some actual numbers, but this at least give me some info. Res, must be resonance or something? it was odd seeing a magic stat that wasn¡¯t Int, but I supposed it was for classes like Sorcerer, who didn¡¯t normally use int. I wondered how you learned magic. I¡¯d have to do some testing later.


    I decided to skip the rest of stuff for now. I could look at my skills later and the sun had set so it was getting chilly out here. With my luck I¡¯d catch a cold out here while gawping at my stat sheet. There was one last thing I wanted to check though.


    ¡°Open Log¡± A single window opened that contained a giant block of text. Every time anything had changed, from my position to my hunger, weather, air pressure, temperature, all of it was listed. There was so much data it was unreal. I¡¯d only been in the game for 3 days, and there must be  three hundred pages worth of raw text. At the top was a series of tabs. I quickly touched the ¡®Default Filter¡¯ Tab and the window shrank to a few hundred lines. I quickly scanned it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><ul>


    <li>User has Logged In</li>


    <li>User has Awakened</li>


    <li>Calibration Started</li>


    <li>Calibration Completed</li>


    <li>User has Panicked</li>


    <li>User is now Hungry</li>


    <li>User has Recovered from Panic</li>


    <li>User has Crafted Jagged Rock</li>


    <li>User has Crafted Primitive Spear</li>


    <li>User has Caught Small River Trout</li>


    <li>User has Gained Skill Fishing</li>


    <li>User has Gained Sub-Skill Spear Fishing</li>


    <li>User has Crafted Primitive Camp Fire</li>


    <li>User has Gained Skill Camping</li>


    <li>User has Cooked Small River Trout</li>


    <li>User has Gained Skill Cooking</li>


    <li>User has Gained Sub-Skill Fish</li>


    <li>User Has Gained Secret Skill Outdoorsman!</li>


    <li>User Has Unlocked Ranger Class!


    </li></ul>


    </tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    The rest of the log had my various fishing and camping attempts as well as the battle with the wolf logged. Turns out I¡¯d dropped to -4 Hp from bleeding, and had nearly died. You apparently passed out at 0 hp. Although I was unsure about how low you had to get before you actually died. It seemed useful knowledge, but I had no real way of finding out without killing myself. Which until I knew exactly what the death penalties in this game were seemed a chance I¡¯d rather not take.


    Time to get moving though. For now though I¡¯d found answers to my most pressing questions, and the rest could wait for tomorrow. I yawned then trudged back to the bar. The common room was less crowded but more lively. Most people had gone home and only the heavily inebriated remained. I walked up to the barkeep to gain permission for a spot on the floor tonight. HE he agreed, and I spent the night getting to know the locals and chatting with the barman. I finally managed to get to sleep sometime in the early morning.


    Tomorrow my first quest awaited.


    _________________________________________________


    Note: The worst part about all those tables was I wrote this in Google Docs originally. So I spent forever making all the tables there, then had to turn around and make them all over again in BBcode.

 Volume 1: Chapter 5

    It was my stomach that pulled me up out of sleep . The smell of baking bread filled my nose and I was salivating before I¡¯d even opened my eyes.  I stood slowly and stretched carefully waiting for the twinge in my ribs and back. Fortunately none come. A quick check of my sheet informed my both of my lingering wounds had healed. Apparently good food and rest were the solution to wounds. Granted I¡¯d slept before, but maybe my camping skill had to be higher, resting in an inn to recover after battle was a pretty common MMO-trope. I suppose I could read the unfiltered log to find out, but just the thought of trying to plow through it filled me with dread.


    I walked up to the bar and flagged down the bar-man. ¡°Mornin!¡± He greeted me cheerfully. I just smiled wanting to get on with it. I was actually fairly excited about attempting my first quest. Even if it was the most ridiculously cliched one imaginable.


    ¡°You want me to go take care of those rats now?¡± I asked getting straight to the point.


    ¡°Sure if you want, but don¡¯t cha want breakfast first?¡± He asked, curious.


    ¡°Na, If I eat now It¡¯ll be a loan, if I eat after it¡¯ll be compensation. I don¡¯t like being in debt to people.¡± I really just wanted to get moving but it was true. I really did hate owing things to people. My freshman year of college I¡¯d worked full time trying to avoid the loans. It ended up not mattering. At the end of the first semester both my grades and my bank account were suffering too much to continue. I¡¯d ended up caving. I got a loan and cut my work back to part time. My grades had improved dramatically, and I¡¯d had time to get back to gaming. It still bugged me though.


    ¡°Alright, suit yourself, the doors over-there. Don¡¯t get yourself-killed. It¡¯s too damn hot today to dig a hole.¡± He teased with a wide grin.


    ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence¡± I replied dryly. I smiled and went down into the cellar.


    It was dark but not overly musty or dank. There was a strong animal smell which I assumed was coming from the rats in the place. I could hear a bit of faint rustling.I took out my rather sad knife and proceeded forward with caution. My stealthy approach didn¡¯t really last long however. The last step was uneven and I tripped. I stepped forward missed the step and fell flat on my face. I groaned as I sat-up and started to stand. ¡°There¡¯s that six agility, and eleven Coordination  coming through in the clutch.¡± I muttered. Before I could stand the first rat was already on me.


    It caught me completely off-guard and had already sunk it¡¯s teeth into one of my calves before I¡¯d even saw the thing. It hurt¡­ ALOT. Forgetting my knife entirely, I just punched the thing in panic. It let out a squeak but didn¡¯t realise my leg. This time I remembered the knife and jammed the blade into the rat¡¯s back. It squeaked louder and released my leg. I turned to face it fully, and waited for it to lunge again. When it did I stabbed again but missed, and it drew blood on my other leg, before scampering back into the shadows. ¡°Damnit!¡± This rat was owning me. I was supposed to kill nine more of these things?


    I¡¯d no sooner had that thought when something hit me in the middle of my back. I felt claws and teeth as I frantically spun trying to grab the thing. As I continued the turn a thought struck me and a twisted back to where the first rat had vanished. Sure enough it was just starting it¡¯s attack. I caught it again with my knife, and this time I managed to kill it.


    Blip


    The rat stuck on my back took another bite, and I slammed myself back against the cellar wall. The impact finally broke it¡¯s grip, and I turned in a blind fury kicking the thing as hard as I could. The kick crushed it against the wall and I heard a rather disturbing crunch. .


    Blip


    I turned facing the shadows but nothing stirred. I heard a new notification.


    Bleep-be-deep-Bleep


    A flash of blue light accompanied the sounds and the scratches on my back and legs instantly healed. A wolf¡¯s smile crossed my face as I turned to face the depths of the cellar. It was time to own some rats.


    My elation over leveling up only lasted a second before three more rats came out of the darkness. They attacked in a frenzy, two going for my legs and the third jumped straight at my chest. I blocked it with my forearms, and managed to push it off me before it could latch-on. That however gave the rats attacking my legs free-shots.


    I lashed out with my knife, managing a decent stab on the rat I¡¯d knocked down before it could gain it¡¯s balance. Another rat came in, and I gave it a stab as well. The third rat took this chance and clawed at my thigh. This wound was deep, and a could feel blood soaking into my pants.


    I snarled and tried to finish off one of the wounded rats. I managed to get one, but the others closed in and landed more hits. I was panting heavily and my pants had been torn to shreds. I had multiple wounds on my calves and the wound on my thigh was bleeding heavily. This wasn¡¯t going well. At this rate I was going to get killed on the ten rat quest. Which would be not only embarrassing but possibly life threatening. What if this one like some Japanese anime and if I died while stuck in the game I¡¯d die in real life? I¡¯d decided to risk it to do this quest because I¡¯d imagined it would be easy. Then I could decide what chances I was willing to take adventuring to discover what had happened to me. This game, much like life, had apparently decided to make up my mind for me.


    I straightened my shoulders and calmed down. I needed to stop flailing around and become a real fighter. Maybe they had attack patterns I could pick up on. I concentrated and watched their beady little eyes as they kept their distance. Then the two remaining rats charged forward.


    I read the trajectory of the one that leaped and stabbed it square in the chest. The knife went in all the way and the rat died instantly. The other rat got another piece of my already wounded leg, but I used my free leg and delivered a solid kick then stabbed down with my knife before it could recover. ¡°Five down¡± I wheezed triumphantly.


    I moved back to the stairs climbed up and slammed the door behind me. I stood there gasping for breath while a few drops of my blood fell and patterned to the floor. The barkeeper turned when he heard the door slam. He took one look at me and burst out laughing. I glowered at him while I stumbled over the bar and collapsed onto a stool. He slid a plate in front of me piled high with fried potatoes, some eggs, and accompanied with a mug of ale. I quickly dug into the food and took a small sip of the ale. Fortunately, it was a much less potent brew and actually went with the food rather well. The bar keep waited until I had eaten a bit before asking.


    ¡°So¡­. How¡¯d it go?¡± I could hear him trying to restrain his laughter.


    ¡°Honestly it coulda been worse. I got run through the wringer but I got five of em. I¡¯ll go back for the rest after a break.¡± I sat and tried to relax. I¡¯d done better towards the end, but even with the level up I was feeling pretty weak. I needed to get some armor and weapons as soon as I could but to do that, I had to finish this quest and hopefully make some money


    ¡°You sure you''re gonna be ok?¡±  He asked, worried.


    I wanted to tell him I just needed to wait till I healed up a bit but I wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d react. He was an NPC but it was hard to anticipate the behavior of an AI when confronting it with something like that. To him he might not think it strange that I¡¯d be back to full health after a few hours rest. Or it might make him hostile towards me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, I just need to catch my breath a bit.¡± I said, then whispered ¡°open character sheet¡±. The sheet popped up immediately.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 2</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 16</td><td>LBStr: 12(-1) 10</td><td>HP: 6/22</td><td>Mana: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td>End: 11</td><td>Con: 16</td><td>Stam: 3/13</td><td>Panic: 4/11</td></tr><tr><td>Agi: 9</td><td>Cord: 13</td><td>Hunger: 100/100</td><td>Thirst: 100/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:13</td><td>Wis:12</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Leg: (Minor) Gash(-10% Lbs)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Not bad, I¡¯d gained three in my strength stats and two in some others. My mental stats weren¡¯t going up much but I was planning on playing a bruiser class anyway.  I browsed the sheet while enjoying my breakfast.  It was nice that leveling healed all your HP and mana to full. That wolf must have been level four or five since I¡¯d leveled off just two rats afterwards. Shrugging, I closed the window and opened my Log. I¡¯d heard a Blip and I wanted to see what it meant. I scanned the default tab quickly. It must have been when I acquired the Daggers skill. Since I had nothing else to do while I waited to heal up a bit I decided to use the details command and finally check out my Skills.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Weapon Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>One Hand and Shield<ul>


    <li>Daggers:


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Two Hand Weapons     <ul>


    <li>Spears:                           </li>


    <li>Staves:


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Hand-to-Hand:<ul>


    <li>Wrestling:                         </li>


    <li>Striking:


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>General</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Camping:</li>


    <li>Outdoorsman:                    </li>


    <li>First Aid                              </li>


    <li>Diplomacy


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Crafting</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Cooking:                           <ul>


    <li>Seafood


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Fishing:                                <ul>


    <li>Freshwater             </li>


    <li>Spear Fishing


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Woodworking                    <ul>


    <li>Primitive


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Stonework                         <ul>


    <li>Primitive


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I</td></tr></tbody></table>


    So the game has both skills and subskills. I remembered from my Log that Outdoorsman was apparently a secret skill. I called the Details command and expanded it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Outdoorsman</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>This skill is unlocked when a character manages to catch, cook, and eat an animal without any outside assistance. This skill improves the effects of various Nature and Survival related skills. Including, Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Skinning, Medium Armor Proficiency, Nature-Magic, Archery, and various other abilities. Bonuses are only valid while in Forested outdoor areas.


    This skill will gain mastery as a player survives in the wilderness.


    Gaining this skill unlocks the Ranger Class</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow. That was like a cheat skill. What an awesome skill system. I had to admit the convoluted rules of this game were starting to appeal to me. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what other skills and classes I could unlock. First though I had to deal with those damn rats.


    It took about three hours for my wounds to heal. Since I¡¯d woken up so early It was still only mid-morning when I decided to descend once more into the rat infested cellar. This time I was ready for the step and didn¡¯t fall on my face.


    I crept forward slowly, eyes wide as I slunk through the gloom. I made it through the first room unaccosted and continued into the back. Salted meat hung from the ceiling, and large kegs lined the walls. The rats attacked, all five at once. I took numerous wounds, but managed to get a few licks in. I backed myself into a corner so they couldn''t get at my back, then stood my ground.


    I lined up attacks and ignored the mounting damage. I focused on making solid well aimed thrusts against one rat after another. I once more heard the sound of my heart-beat amplified.Apparently it was a low HP warning.   It was going to be close. I¡¯d done for four and the last rat was starting to waver. It came back in and my arm flashed upwards to meet it. The strike was a good one and I managed to hit it¡¯s neck with the blade.


    I leaned against the wall panting as the last rat died.  I really needed to work on my endurance.  I quickly opened my char sheet and checked on my HP. I was down to four and I still bleeding. Deciding my pants were ruined anyway. I used my knife to cut the legs off and used the cloth to try and bind my wounds. I had no idea what I was doing but since it was a game I was guessing it was mostly the effort that counted.


    Blip


    I met with limited success but the familiar sound let me know I¡¯d likely unlocked a first-aid skill of some sort. If I was going to be out adventuring I¡¯d need to put in some time skilling it up. The bleeding finally stopped at two HP. Luckily my Con score was high for a lowbie or I likely would have died.


    Now for the best part. I explored the room looking for loot. The rats didn¡¯t seem to drop anything but I was hoping there might be something stashed in their nest. I¡¯d be damned if I completed my first quest without getting any loot. I crept around behind barrels, looked under every object in the room, and came out with nothing.


    What a rip off.


    I almost died twice and didn¡¯t get a single copper.


    I moved the last barrel with a grunt and peered behind it. There was tunnel in the dirt wall about 30 inches around. Looking into the darkness I couldn¡¯t see anything beyond a few meters. The nest must be back there. However, I¡¯d completed the quest and at two HP I didn¡¯t have enough health to go exploring a dark tunnel.


    Instead I headed back upstairs.


    ¡°So the glorious hero returns!¡± The inn keeper announced jovially. ¡°Did you get the rats?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, finally. Although they were a lot tougher than I was expecting.¡± I replied, exhausted.


    ¡°Well here¡¯s your promised reward, and your welcome to stay here for a few days. I¡¯ll even throw in room and board.¡± He produced a small coin purse and placed it on the table. That¡¯s five silver bulls, you should be able to buy yourself some clothes at least.


    Bing


    Five silver was pretty good for a first quest. Well, at least I thought it was. Although since a meal had cost me a silver I supposed, that was only a couple days worth of eating.I still need to buy tools, weapons, armor, clothes, boots, and who knew what else. It was a start though and I still had some investigating to do.


    ¡°There seems to be a pretty big-hole burrowed into one of the walls down there. I was planning on going in to have a look after another rest. There still might be more rats hiding back in there.¡± I was hoping to get the chance to explore some more. Not to mention I needed money.


    The Inn-keeper agreed to let me check it out and even promised me some more coin if there was more to be done. We chatted for a bit as I waited for my wounds to heal. It seemed the inn had some aura that let me heal much more quickly than I would out in the wilderness. I used the time to chat with the barkeep who finally told me his name. He was Sten Fogal a rather jovial man and had the perfect personality for a barkeep. When I told him my name was Noob Slayer he didn¡¯t even bat an eyelash. Apparently NPC¡¯s weren¡¯t supposed to question such things. Although truth be told I liked Sten. It was odd to think he was an NPC and for all purposes didn¡¯t really exist. However, my existential musings were interrupted when someone stomped into the bar swearing like a sailor.


    ¡°Get me a pint o¡¯ your best stout Sten! Aint even noon, and the whole damn days ruined. Damned things, got my potatoes my boots, and a swear to gods they ate Tess¡¯s cat. I aint ever seen her so mad. She damn near brained me with her frying pan before I could run off.¡± The man shouted belligerent as he sat two stools down from me.


    ¡°I aint sure getting going off to the tavern and coming home half-drunk is gonna cheer her up.¡± Sten commented dryly. He did however pour a mug of his ¡®Special¡¯ stout and slide it to the man. Good advice was one thing but business was apparently another.


    I however sensed an opportunity for monetary gain. ¡°What ate your boots?¡± I asked curiously already knowing the answer.


    ¡°Them damn rats, I had a couple move in last month, but they didn¡¯t bother much and I left em be, but when I went down the the seed bin the damn things had chewed through the wood. Then my good hog¡¯s-hide boots got eaten through, and Tess¡¯s been asking me to find her cat for three days, well, I think I know what happened to it now, but when I told her she done lost it.¡± He replied, his anger now turning sulky.


    ¡°Well, If you need someone to take care of em, I can do it this afternoon. I took care of Sten¡¯s this morning.¡±  I replied with feigned sympathy. It was a shame really but I never liked cats and was unable to muster any real empathy. If it had been a dog I¡¯d have done it for free¡­. probably.


    The man looked at Sten for confirmation and the barkeep nodded. ¡°Noob Slayer¡¯ll get the job done. He came back looking like the nine-hells but he did clean em out. There was damn near a dozen downstairs too.¡± He gave me a wink to let me know he was helping me out.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± He replied, hope creeping into his voice.¡°Maybe that¡¯ll cheer up the old lady. I¡¯m four houses east o¡¯ here. Common over when you''re ready.¡± He took one more gulp of his beer, then stood a left after tossing a few coppers on the bar.


    Sten picked up the mug and drained it with one pull. ¡°No sense wasting the stuff¡± he said with a grin. With that he disappeared into the back, where I heard him cooking, and doing various chores. I opened stats window and started fiddling with my character sheet some more. There HAD to be a way to see some numbers. I¡¯m sure there was a command for it somewhere but honestly without some explanation it was impossible to judge what they did. Then it hit me¡­.. ¡°You Idiot¡± I chastised myself. I called my next command mentally crossing my fingers. ¡°Open Command List¡­ Details¡±


    The command list I¡¯d seen before populated. This time with a small explanation next to each command.


    SUCCESS!


    It was apparently the ¡®Expand¡¯ command I was looking for. When I¡¯d seen it the first time I thought It was just to zoom the various windows In. I brought up my char sheet again then said ¡°Expand Attributes.¡±


    Nun-na


    Nothing happened. Apparently I needed to be more specific. ¡°Expand Upper Body Strength¡±.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Upper Body Strength: 16</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>


    Increases chance to hit with melee weapons by 2.34867591 %


    Increases carry capacity by 3.1346824%


    Increases physical strength by 3.1346824%


    Base hand to hand damage set at 3.25


    Attribute Synergies: <ul>


    <li>LBStr: Increases effectiveness by 1.7643%</li>


    <li>Agility: Increases Agi weight gating to 24.47 lbs</li>


    <li>End: Increases effectiveness when using upper body by 4.5476%


    </li></ul>


    Skill Synergies:<ul>


    <li>Weapon Skills<ul>


    <li>Daggers: adds damage multiplier at .246</li>


    <li>Hand-To-Hand: adds damage multiplier at 1.468</li>


    <li>Wrestling: adds damage multiplier at 1.8679</li>


    <li>Staves: adds damage multiplier at 1.468</li>


    <li>Spears: adds damage multiplier at .8469


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>General Skills<ul>


    <li>Fishing: adds to catching rate when fish is medium sized or larger by 1.237 %


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Holy¡­¡­.Hell¡± It was the most ludicrous stat pane in any game I¡¯d ever seen. Sure most MMO¡¯s were effectively giant spreadsheets but this one definitely took the cake. It was mind boggling. I apparently had a lot of reading to do, and the familiar Blip sound let me know I¡¯d managed to give myself another headache.


    ¡°No help for it then¡± I had a couple hours to kill anyway, so I may as well work out my brain a bit. Maybe I could gain more than one point in INT and WIS next time I leveled. With that I sat about learning everything I could about my skills and attributes.


    ________________________________________


    Note: WOOOOT! Longest Chapter Yet. This puts us about 1/3 of the way through Volume I.

 Volume 1: Chapter 6

    Jasmine watched the clock with hawk-eyes as the second hand slowly ticked towards 12.


    Three¡­


    Two...


    One¡­


    Finally


    She stood up from her desk and shut down her computer. This job was seriously going to send her over the edge. She ignored her co-workers took out her key-card and waved it at the reader on the door. Feeling utterly exhausted she left her section of the building and walked through the long sterile hallways of the Nexus office toward the parking lot.  She passed by a picture window where a technician was working on a large machine. It had a bunch of straps and wires as well as a large circular frame. It looked like some cross between a torture device and an exercise machine.


    She stood there and watched for a few minutes while a technician made adjustments with a hand-held. She was trying to figure out what the thing was. The technician finished what he was doing and turned around to grab something off his desk.


    He smiled faintly when he saw her watching then walked toward her and opened the door.. ¡°Can I help you?¡± He asked politely.


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to figure out what you were working on.  I didn¡¯t mean to bother you. She answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the new prototype consoles for Otherworld. I¡¯m reconfiguring this one for office use.¡± He said proudly.


    ¡°That¡¯s what people play in? How does it even work?¡± She was honestly baffled. It had never occurred to her how people actually played the game. She just imagined they plugged in somehow,\ and laid on the couch or something while playing.


    ¡°It¡¯s basically a Gyrosphere for motion capture, combined with a nuanced force-feedback device. The player straps in their arms, and legs, then the machine activates and they enter the game. The machine then records all of their movements with sensitive force measurements and transfers that data into the game to make their character move.¡± He replied with the air of someone talking about something they knew a great deal about.


    ¡°So when they run and fight, They actually have to run and fight?¡± She¡¯d always imagined it as a game for lazy people but that honestly sounded like fun.


    ¡°That¡¯s the just of it. Obviously the game modifies the data. An accountant isn¡¯t going to be able to pick up a sword and use it effectively in a few days but we¡¯ve actually found that over-time the game data and the raw input merge. Excluding the players attribute gains of course. Meaning that the players will eventually learn  as they would in real life. We¡¯re really excited about the possibilities.¡± The technician explained.


    ¡°Can I try it out? Sounds kinda fun and I¡¯m stuck reading these reports all day. It¡¯d be interesting to see it from the other perspective.¡± Jasmine asked. She wasn¡¯t sure why she did it. She really just wanted to get home but then again what was she going to do? Watch some crappy network tv show until it was time to cook dinner, then surf the net till it was time for bed. Rinse and repeat until friday.This might at least be amusing.


    He raised an eyebrow then shrugged. ¡°I suppose so, We¡¯ve always got a couple machines sitting around and this one was supposed to be for some new employee testing project anyway. Who¡¯s your boss? I¡¯ll E-mail them and let them know I¡¯ll be stealing you tomorrow afternoon. If it goes well we might even be able to have you change jobs. I honestly don¡¯t know how you report readers stay sane that sounds like the dullest job imaginable.¡±


    **************************************************************************************


    Sweat dripped off my nose as I inched down the small tunnel. I had very little room to maneuver and I prayed that the tunnel wouldn¡¯t narrow as I¡¯d have to back all the way back out. I held a guttering torch in my left hand and my knife in my right. I¡¯d killed my second batch of rats yesterday afternoon, and after collecting another five silver, and finding another tunnel I¡¯d decided to go spelunking today . I could feel the sweat on my back and arms turning the earth I brushed against into mud. It clung to my body, and I knew regardless of the outcome I was going to need a week''s worth of showers by the time I was done here. I¡¯d been crawling for a good twenty minutes. Luckily I wasn¡¯t claustrophobic or there would have been no way I could navigate the narrow space. The tunnel suddenly opened and I emerged into a small cavern. The ceiling wasn¡¯t tall enough for me to stand, but I could at least kneel and stretch my legs a bit.


    Bleep


    I raised an eyebrow. I hadn¡¯t done anything to warrant a game update. Seeing nothing around I opened my log. I found the answer at the top after filtering the text.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Discovered A Dungeon</td></tr><tr><td>You Have Entered The Rat King''s Tomb</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°That seems ominous¡± I muttered looking around with renewed focus. Unlike most games I couldn¡¯t see the status of the monsters I fought. So I had no way of knowing how powerful an enemy was. I got the feeling I was in no-way prepared to take on a dungeon at level two. Even it was just rats.


    I¡¯d no sooner had the thought when something out of a nightmare entered the small circle of light my torch was casting. It slunk forward on four powerful legs tipped with long dark claws. It had a long lean body that was slung low to the ground as it moved. It¡¯s snout was pointed like a rats and two enormous rodent fangs protruded from it¡¯s dripping maw. Horns and bits of bone grew out from it¡¯s body in random places and a double set of horns curled out from it¡¯s neck and around it¡¯s head pointing straight at me. It was the size of a large hound, and looked like some horrific cross between a bull and a lovecraftian ferret.


    ¡°What the fuck is that?!!¡± I cried horrified. It was just¡­. wrong. On so many levels. Seeing something like that in a movie would have made me laugh but it was just feet from me and true to life. I knew every one of those horns would hurt like hell if they got into me.


    My first thought was to try and escape but I quickly dismissed it. That thing would be able to move freely in the tunnel while I¡¯d be a sitting duck. My one chance was to fight it here where I at least had semi-free movement. It didn¡¯t give me the chance to decide. It charged forward with a shriek that echoed in the small chamber. The flickering light of my torch sending shadows against every wall giving the whole scene a sense of unreality.


    I managed to dodge it¡¯s horns but it caught me with it¡¯s claws across one side of my chest. Blood mixed with the muddy slime and sweat that coated me and I frantically flailed with my knife. I tried my best to keep it at bay and use my reach.


    I managed a slight scratch on it¡¯s leg but I paid for it with another rake from its long claws. I shuffled backwards trying to keep away but soon my back hit the wall. The monster lunged forward deceptively fast and I struck out at it¡¯s throat with all my strength. My knife hit a bone plate and I heard a loud SNAP as the puny weapon broke. The thing went for my leg and managed to gore me badley. My left leg was left trapped between its four horns and within reach of it¡¯s teeth. It bit savagely and twisted its head. I heard a loud POP and white fire shot up my leg as my thigh bone broke.


    I let out a roar of pain and grabbed at the thing as I  tried to pry it loose from my maimed leg. It shook its head again and I screamed in agony as it jangled the bones of my broken leg. My hands found holds on its horns and I used all the strength I had to force it away. I only moved it a few inches but it freed my leg. It had the leverage and it¡¯s claws gave it plenty of traction, while I had the wall to my back to push again. We were locked in the struggle with both of us unable to overcome the other.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    It let out another unearthly screech and shook its head again but it was unable to loosen my grip. As dangerous of a weapon as the horns were they also provided a perfect place to grapple the thing. Getting desperate I shifted my grip slightly then wrenched its head counter-clockwise with all the power in my arms and shoulders. I heard bones crack and the monster lost all it¡¯s fight. The motion threw me off balance and jostled my leg badly. The pain was indescribable and I threw up my breakfast as the world around me darkened and pitched while the familiar sound of my heart-beat came to my ears.  I tossed the rat off me and whimpered as the motion moved my leg again.


    I had broken my wrist in 2nd grade jumping out of a swing but this time It had been the thigh bone. The two feelings were on an entirely different level. The pain was so real and every motion that jostled it brought on a fresh wave of agony. I just sat slumped against the wall unable to move.


    The monster didn¡¯t return and after a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself I stretched out a hand and managed to get a grip on my fallen torch. Luckily It hadn¡¯t gone out or I¡¯d be in complete darkness.


    I tossed it across the room in the direction I¡¯d pushed the monster. The light illuminated the creature but it didn¡¯t move. Weak wheezing sounds came from the thing. I must have broken its neck but it hadn¡¯t died and I was too hurt to go finish it off. My head began to ache and I felt disgusted as I sat there unsure how to proceed. With nothing else to do I opened my char sheet.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 2</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 16</td><td>LBStr: 12(-11) 1</td><td>HP: 3/18</td><td>Mana: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td>End: 11(-6) 5</td><td>Con: 16(-3) 13</td><td>Stam: 1/7</td><td>Panic: 9/11</td></tr><tr><td>Agi: 9</td><td>Cord: 13</td><td>Hunger: 64/100</td><td>Thirst: 23/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:13</td><td>Wis:12(-2) 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Leg: (Severe) Broken Femur(-70% Lbs)


    Disease: (Severe) Rat Fever(-50% End, -20% Con)


    Leg: (Moderate) Deep Gash(-20 LBStr)


    Mental: (Moderate) Rattled (-20% Wis)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I groaned again. Great, I¡¯d broken my leg and got a disease and all because I¡¯d wanted some loot. The thought of trying to crawl out of here made me even more nauseous. The pain would be unbearable. I looked across the small cavern at the rat and felt sick again. The things breathing was getting weaker. It was a slow horrible way to die even if the thing was an abomination. The worst part was I couldn¡¯t move away and even trying to turn my body sent horrible pain shooting through my leg. I was alone in the dark with monsters. A fever chill shot through me and I shuttered sending pain through my leg once more.


    When I¡¯d first discovered I was in a game I¡¯d honestly been excited. Who doesn¡¯t want to be a hero? Who doesn¡¯t want to save the village, find that epic sword, and slay dragons? That¡¯s why I¡¯d started playing MMO¡¯s to begin with. As I sat here in this reeking cave listening to some demon rat suffocate to death because I¡¯d broken its neck it brought the whole thing into new perspective. I really didn¡¯t want to be a hero. By the time the things eyes glazed over I just wanted to go home.


    Ba-Ding


    Bleep-be-deep-Bleep


    The scratches on my sides and chest healed instantly as the flash of blue light occurred. Unfortunately my wounds were not healed. So I now had full HP, with a horribly broken leg and a fever coming on.  That left me unable to move, sick, but no longer in danger of death. I sat there a while longer trying to muster my courage to face the horrible agony that awaited me if I crawled back through the tunnel dragging my broken leg.


    I decided to procrastinate. I checked my log to see what the other alerts had been. My wrestling and Hand-to-Hand skills had apparently skilled up to Novice II. I honestly hoped to not use them but as things were going it would be a useful skill. Oh well, time to see how much trouble I was in.


    ¡°Details Rat Fever¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Rat Fever</td></tr><tr><td>A common disease carried by many members of the Rattus genus. Usually transferred through contact with the blood or saliva from an infected animal. Onset is very rapid and an infected body will develop a high fever almost immediately. Subject will experience fever chills and muscle fatigue. As the disease progresses they are likely to grow delirious and lose consciousness.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Great


    The corpse across the room suddenly disintegrated into a black cloud. Where it had lain a moment before a large set of familiar fangs remained. My curiosity finally did what my ambition could not. I slowly dragged myself across the room toward the fangs and torch trying to move my wounded leg as little as possible. By the time I got there I was panting with exertion, gritting my teeth against the agony in my leg,  and sweating while cold-chills wracked my body. But I had my prize.


    ¡°Inventory¡­. Details¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Dire-Rat Fangs


    (Uncommon)</td></tr><tr><td>Crafting Ingredient


    Dire rats are a vicious species. They start life as normal rats but due to the influence of dark magics, cursed objects, or other anomalies are warped into abominations who crave blood and violence. Usually they inhabit large cave complexes but occasionally make their way into more inhabited areas.


    The fangs are rather sharp and nearly as hard as steel. They are useful to blacksmiths and other craftsmen as they can be used to make quality tools and weapons.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I raised an eyebrow. Maybe I could sell them to the smith for a decent bit. God knew I needed the coin. I could only run around in a pair of shorts for so long the and ones I was wearing now were basically rags. I needed to purchase a new weapon, some armor, tools, a pack, and a laundry list of other supplies. Being brought the edge of death every fight could not continue. Resigned to my fate I began to slowly drag myself back down the tunnel towards Sten¡¯s inn, feeling sick, miserable, and depressed.

 Volume 1: Chapter 7

    The morning had been a blur for Jasmine. She¡¯d always had to use a great deal of willpower to comb through the endless reports and now that there was a chance she might not have to anymore she was even less motivated than usual.


    When lunch time came she wolfed down her pasta in a extremely unladylike manner and rushed down to the room she was supposed to use for her testing. When she arrived she discovered a small grey room that lacked any furniture or decor.


    ¡°You could have at least put a table or something in here.¡± She said to the technician waiting for her. He was the same-one that had been working on the machine yesterday. He introduced himself as Mike.


    He looked apologetic. ¡°Sorry, it used to be a storage room. We just moved all the stuff out of here and put in the machine. It won''t be too bad though once you get in game you won''t notice it.¡±


    She snorted mentally. Typical male response. They all seemed to think that as long as you couldn¡¯t see a problem there apparently was no problem.


    ¡°So what do I do?¡± She looked at the contraption rather apprehensively. Why had she thought this was a good idea again? She was going to look ridiculous in that thing.


    ¡°Just climb into the circle there and place your arms and legs into the holders. The machine¡¯s gyro stabilizers will provide resistance to keep you upright once I power it on.¡± With that he pushed a switch on the side and it hummed to life.


    She climbed into the machine and put her hands and feet inside the holders. They reacted automatically and retracted until they were snug. Soon she stood there, as if on a floor suspended a foot or so off the ground.


    ¡°Now what?¡± she said feeling even more apprehensive.


    ¡°Now you just tell it how long you wish to play, and activate the Imersifier. I¡¯d start with two hours or so It¡¯ll send you a pop-up in game to tell you when the time is up, then just say. ¡®Logout¡¯. Also, when you get in call you your character pane by calling. ¡®Open Character¡¯. That¡¯ll let you start adjusting your avatar. I¡¯ve adjusted the code so you¡¯ll have an easier to start. Oh and use the ¡®Details¡¯ command so you can see what all the stats and everything do, and don¡¯t pick a class at first, all the good ones are locked. And¡­.


    ¡°I got it, I got it.¡± She said, trying to head him off before he built up too much steam. ¡°It¡¯ll be better for testing if I figure stuff out for myself.¡± She had no idea if that was true, but he was going full nerd on her and she just wanted him to leave. No way she was activating the machine alone with him in the room when she¡¯d be oblivious to everything around her. The thought gave her the creeps.


    He looked slightly embarrassed at his long speech.¡±Good point, Well I¡¯ve got work waiting. I¡¯ll leave you to it. This door locks so you won''t be disturbed. Let me know if you have any questions.¡±


    ¡°Will do¡± She said with a friendly smile as he left the room. She heard the door lock.


    ¡°Like hell¡± she muttered rolling her eyes. Let¡¯s just get this over-with. She was regretting her impulse to try it out. The whole thing had turned into a much bigger deal than she was expecting.


    Too late now


    Then said. ¡°Set time two hours¡­. Activate¡±


    There was a flash of light and she woke up on a grassy plain. Her vision was fuzzy, and her limbs didn¡¯t seem to move properly as she tried to sit up. A small blue pop-up window appeared in front of her eyes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Calibration Complete</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Her vision cleared and her limbs started to move naturally. She then closed the pop up and sat up. She knew that players didn¡¯t usually see the pop-ups. This must have been part of the modifications they¡¯d made for her.


    She looked around in wonder. Tall grass swayed slightly in the breeze surrounding her and in the distance she could see ever-greens against a back-drop of mountains. It was utterly breathtaking scenery.


    ¡°This is too strange.¡± She walked a few paces then moved her arms around. She then took a look at her body, and noticed she was practically naked. ¡°Oh that¡¯s nice¡± Her breasts were bound with a coarse linen wrap, and a pair of shorts covered her bottom bits other than that she wore nothing. She had never been too embarrassed about her body but this was a bit much.  She wasn¡¯t exactly in great shape and she¡¯d eaten too much dessert this winter. She didn¡¯t normally fret about it like most women but on the other hand aside from the pool she¡¯d never been this naked outside in the middle of the day before.


    She couldn¡¯t do much about that for now in any case so she continued to study her surroundings.  ¡°It¡¯s so life-like, how is this even possible?¡± She likely spent ten minutes just gaping at the landscape and wandering aimlessly before she remembered Mike¡¯s advice. ¡°Open Character¡± She said in a commanding voice not knowing what to expect.


    A large translucent pane appeared before her. It was full of numbers and information that may as well have been Greek to her. ¡°At least the top part is pretty straight forward.¡± She set her name as Jasmine to start with. She realized glumly she was going to have a lot of reading to do to figure out how to play this game. For the time being though she could just get her race set up.


    She opened the race list. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± She didn¡¯t even know what a quarter of the races even were. She was going to just select human, but then thought.


    What the hell? If I don¡¯t like my race I can just die and re-roll.


    With that she scanned the list. Looking for something interesting. She knew that bard was a class and she liked music but honestly she didn¡¯t know what race would even make for a good bard. Who was she kidding anyway? She just wanted kill things.


    ¡°Select Orc¡±  This should be fun for a trial run she thought laughing.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning This Choice Is Permanent and Cannot be Changed. Do you wish to Continue?</td></tr><tr><td>Y/N</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes¡± She confirmed. There was another flash of light and her body felt¡­. Odd. She looked down at herself in wonder. Her skin was now shaded a light green. Her arms, legs, and stomach had gained a good bit of muscle tone as well. She laughed and her voice came out slightly deeper than she was used to. Her mouth also felt strange and she gingerly touched her face.


    ¡°Oh my god. I have tusks.¡± She laughed and spun in a circle giggling like a schoolgirl.


    I wish I had a Mirror.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Employee Equipment Pack: Orc


    </td></tr><tr><td>Deploying</td></tr></tbody></table>


    There was a shimmer in the air a few feet from her and a bundle dropped to the earth. It contained a sleeveless linen undershirt, leather pants, leather armor, two small axes, a backpack, and a bunch of other supplies. Including food, water, and other essentials


    ¡°Very nice¡± She¡¯d read enough reports to know that dehydration and starvation were the most likely way for new players to die. There we hundreds of players who had never even saw a monster or another person. Luckily with this she had a pretty huge head-start.


    She quickly dressed and donned her armor. It was a little odd but it beat being half-naked. She then stuffed all the other stuff into her pack, feeling confused as it vanished, but at the same time making the pack heavier. Slinging it onto her shoulder she set-off towards the woods in the distance. She knew that to play the game you needed to level up and to level up you needed to kill things.


    She got her chance not too long afterwards. She was wandering through the woods an hour or so later when a small creature appeared in front of her. It was humanoid but very skinny with dark-green skin. Large yellow-tinted eyes protruded comically from it¡¯s head and long pointed ears jutted out from bristly black hair.


    ¡°Awww, your kinda cute.¡± Jasmine said, pausing to inspect the creature. The monster then produced a crude hooked knife from the tattered rags it wore and opened it¡¯s mouth smiling with malicious glee. The smile revealed long needle-like teeth and a long black tongue. She heard a rustle from nearby and two more of the creatures appeared, both armed with crude knives.


    The three creatures slowly stalked forward apparently eager for violence. However instead of seeing their victim cower in fear they instead were treated to a smile so cheerfully evil that it put theirs to shame.


    Jasmine waded forward with her twin axes hacking merrily at anything that moved. Her movements were crude but enthusiastic and black blood flew in all directions. The world tinged pink and her speed increased as she gave herself over to the thrill of combat.


    By the time it was over she was panting with exhaustion and spattered with blood both green and black. She smiled as she looked at the carnage she¡¯d wrought. She still wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to continue playing but the game really did make for excellent stress relief.


    **************************************************************


    ¡°Is the new batch prepared?¡± The boss asked in his normal cool tones from behind his desk. His desk was a masterpiece. Heavy mahogany was covered with masterful carvings of fantastic beasts and the top was polished and lacquered to a mirror shine.  The CEO waited patiently while sweat beaded the face of the man across from him.


    ¡°Not quite Sir. We¡¯re having trouble getting enough participants our recruiting efforts have slowed. Although we¡¯re supplementing the numbers with our new employee testing initiative.¡± The doctor prevaricated.


    ¡°What initiative? By all accounts you¡¯ve recruited ONE person. We¡¯re still in no position to launch. III¡¯s demanding a thousand more Full Immersion Testers before he can finish the NPC behavior program. Get your ass back out there and get me some more testers. I expect there to be at LEAST Fourteen-thousand players in Otherworld by Friday or I swear to god YOUR going to be testing and your assistant will be recruiting.¡±


    **********************************************************


    I awoke to soft sheets and the smell of baking bread mixed with a tantalizing hint of wildflowers and the merest touch of a darker richer scent. The feel of the bed beneath me was unfamiliar, and I smiled as I stretched languidly as my muddled brain assembled the facts into a clearer picture. There was only one explanation. I was in a woman¡¯s bed.  I rolled over and splayed out my limbs soaking in the comfort while feeling rather pleased with myself.  God it had been too long. Since at least last year, I¡¯d dated a girl last fall but after winter break we¡¯d never really picked things back up. Then there was this stupid game, hell it¡¯d been days since I¡¯d even slept in a decent bed.


    ¡­¡­..


    ¡°Awwwww dammit¡±  Finally it all came back. The game and the super-rat. My wounds and the hellish crawl with my broken leg. I must have blacked-out from the pain, or the fever. I hadn¡¯t gotten lucky last night.  I sighed and slumped down with my eyes still closed. That revelation brought up another important question though.


    Who¡¯s bed is this?


    The question was answered a moment later when a creak and footsteps let me know someone had opened the door. I reluctantly opened my eyes.  I was in a small bedroom with the ceiling slanted to one side. I must be in one of the rooms above the Sten¡¯s Inn. The room was a simple one with only a small dresser and a bed. A pot of flowers on the dresser and the floral pattern on the bed-spread gave it a feminine feel.


    The apparent owner came in through the door holding pitcher of water and a wooden tray piled with food. She was a young woman likely close to my own age or a couple years older. She had dirty blonde hair that was tied in a knot behind her head. Her figure was a full one that nicely filled out the simple working-dress she was wearing. Her facial features were a touch too masculine to be classically beautiful but she had a hearty country girl air to her that I found rather charming.


    It brought the smile back to my face as I stretched again and sat-up in her bed.


    ¡°No use smirkin¡¯ at me like some lordling after a night¡¯s conquest. I had to carry yer heavy ass all the way up from the cellar covered in mud, blood, and gods know what else. Far as I¡¯m concerned Pa¡¯s been too nice to you anyways. You can get your ass outta my bed and leave.¡± The woman said with a scowl.


    The tirade only heightened my amusement and my smile grew from a smirk into a full blown grin. ¡°That¡¯s some excellent bedside manner you¡¯ve got going.¡± I replied trying not to laugh at her expression. Her face flushed and I could see her take a breath to launch into another tirade when I raised my hands. ¡°Peace, I¡¯m too exhausted to argue.¡± I said as I slumped back down to the bed.  It was a lie, I felt great,  but playing the invalid was a rather strong tactic against most women.


    Her face softened immediately and she brought the plate of food over to me. I accepted it, then started to eat gingerly. Making sure not to get food in her bed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know Sten had a daughter¡± I said, around a mouthful of buttered bread. I¡¯d never seen her in the inn before. I¡¯d assumed Sten was a career bachelor.


    ¡°I¡¯m his niece really but he¡¯s raised me since I was little. I moved out a few years ago but I still help when he needs some extra hands.¡±She replied. That would explain it. I¡¯d only been here a couple of days. I supposed she only stayed her occasionally.  Her attitude had done a complete 180 and I wanted to find out some info before she got angry again.


    ¡°I¡¯m Noob Slayer by the way.¡± I said extending my hand. It bothered me that I couldn¡¯t give her  my real name but it seemed a silly worry since she was an NPC.


    ¡°Hannah¡± She replied, then continued. ¡°What happened? Pa said you were going to find the rat nest, but we found you past out down-stairs covered in blood and filth without a scratch on you. You were burning up with fever and it looked like you¡¯d broken your leg. We cleaned you up and I brought you up here. Sten keeps a room for me here encase I need to stay over for something.¡±


    That was a complicated sort of question. I couldn¡¯t tell her I¡¯d stumbled into a dungeon. Then gotten beaten to hell, killed the beast, leveled up to restore all my HP. Then dragged my broken leg back through the tunnel and passed out.


    ¡°Well, I found where all the rats were coming from but they proved a bit too much for me to handle.¡± I replied truthfully while glossing over the details. ¡°I¡¯m prolly gonna have to go back in there if I wanna stop the rat problem in town.¡± I said. Although, with the memories of that place still fresh in my mind I had no desire at all to return.


    The girl looked really worried this time. ¡°Ya can¡¯t go back in there after what happened, You¡¯ve been unconscious for two days.¡± Her concern raised my opinion of her a notch. However her proximity was derailing my thoughts. I knew she was an NPC but It was a rather small room, and she was rather lovely, and I was in her bed. She noticed the direction of my thoughts because her scowl returned to wipe away her worried expression, which of course made me smile again. She had a great scowl, it made her eyes sparkle.


    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± I said as I rose from the bed. ¡°I¡¯m getting up.¡± Her eyes went wide as I rose. Wondering at her expression I looked down. I was very very naked. And¡­. in pretty good shape. My mostly flabby arm muscles had swelled and gained tone,  and my stomach which had been right on the border of fat, had tightened up considerably. I looked like I¡¯d been hitting the gym every day for a month.


    Not Bad¡­¡­


    I looked like I had back when I played high-school sports. Apparently, 20 attribute points can make anyone look decent. I smiled to myself before remembering the situation. I looked back up into Hanna¡¯s shocked honey-brown eyes.


    ¡°Can I have my Pants back?¡±


    **********************************************************************


    She didn¡¯t give my pants back. Although with how little of them were actually left it wasn¡¯t very surprising. Turns out Hannah was something of a seamstress and she¡¯d taken it upon herself to commission a set of clothes for me. Of course the silver for them still had to come out of my pocket. Which put me back at flat broke. However I couldn¡¯t be too mad. I really did need a set of clothes, and the ones she made me were heavy-duty work clothes and provided some minor defensive bonuses.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Heavy Linen Shirt


    (Common)</td></tr><tr><td>A solid working shirt made with heavy stitches and rough fabric, not much to look at, but perfect for doing hard work.


    Armor: +1


    Class: Clothing


    Durability: 25/25</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The pants were similar and after putting both on I headed out to run some errands. I whistled as I strode down the main street of Valor¡¯s Crossing. I was in a good mood. The inn had once again healed me back to fighting-fit. I¡¯d got a new set of clothes, although I was still barefoot. I found out my stat increases were getting me into shape and I had loot to sell.


    I¡¯d asked Sten about the rat fang and his eyes had widened. He¡¯d informed me such drops were worth a good deal of coin to craftsmen. So I was off to meet with the village smith for a bit of bartering. Hopefully I could find myself a weapon.


    The smith was on the other end of town. It was just a lean-to attached to a small house. A man was working a pair of bellows while a chunk of red-hot iron sat near him on an anvil. He moved from the bellows and used a pair of long-handled pliers to bend it. On closer inspection the Iron was a horse-shoe that looked malformed. Apparently, he was trying to bend it back into shape. It took him another few minutes to fix it and not being in any hurry.  I waited patiently for him to finish.


    ¡°Can I help ya?¡± The smith asked as he finished on the shoe. He was a burly balding man in his late-forties. He wasn¡¯t particularly friendly but also didn¡¯t seem unduly hostile.


    ¡°I¡¯ve come for some business. I was wondering what I could get for this?¡± I said producing the fangs from my pocket. The man looked surprised but his tone remained gruff.


    ¡°Well bring it over-here and let''s have a look¡± He laid the fangs on a workbench and studied them with a practiced eye. ¡°What are they off of?¡± he asked has he tested a metal file against one.


    ¡°Dire rat¡± I said. I had no idea what they were worth but I was at least hoping for twenty-five silver or so. That would hopefully let me get a weapon or some armor and give me some savings to fall back on. Much like the real world being broke made everything a great deal more complicated.


    ¡°Hmmmmm¡­.¡± He tapped the teeth with a hammer and performed a few other tests while I stood and waited for the results. ¡°I¡¯ll give ya two eagles¡± He finally said when he finished his inspection. There were eight copper rams to a silver bull, and twelve bulls to an gold eagle. So he¡¯d just offered me twenty four bulls, a little less than I was hoping for.


    ¡°Thirty-two bulls¡± I countered shamelessly. I needed the money. Otherwise I¡¯d be sleeping on the floor and eating fish for every meal again.


    The smith scowled at me, then said. ¡°Twenty-eight.¡±


    ¡°Sold!¡± I extended my hand and the smith grunted as we shook. ¡°You don¡¯t have any weapons for sale do you.¡± I knew he likely would this was a game after all.


    Blip


    Instead he just shook his head. ¡° Ain''t much use for making weapons. Been here 10 years, and ain''t never had one request for a single sword. I guess I could make ya something, but I doubt I¡¯d be much good. I ain''t made a sword since I was an apprentice.¡±


    I was honestly shocked. Granted, Most blacksmiths wouldn¡¯t ever make a weapon, even the ones in games. No-one ever really bought anything from. Besides selling weapons to new players everything they sold was always terrible compared to monster drops or player crafted weapons.  As such they were mostly used to dump all the junk that players picked up from adventuring.


    As a consequence this guy had forsaken the sale of weapons all together and actually made horse-shoes and other useful items for the people in town. He¡¯d apparently graduated beyond being an NPC merchant and had become a real blacksmith. The implications of that were a little worrying. Either someone had been a great deal too clever when they designed the AI routines, or they were really going for a full immersive experience. Either way it needed some more thinking on. In the mean-time I still needed a weapon.


    ¡°Do you have anything I could use? An axe, a sickle? Hell, just an Iron bar?¡± Anything would be better than trying to fight bare-handed.


    ¡°Well¡­.. I might have a few things. Lemme take a look.¡± The man sounded rather put-upon, but I detected a bounce in his step as he went into his house. I was about to give him back a good portion of the money he just spent after-all.


    The man returned with a small hatchet, a lumber axe, a spade, and a.. something. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked curiously It looked like an odd cross between an axe and a hammer, although the axe side of it didn¡¯t look very sharp.


    The man looked at me as if I¡¯d just asked what color the sky was. ¡°Ain''t ya never seen a splitting maul before.¡± I hadn¡¯t, but then again, I¡¯d lived in the city all my live and although I couldn¡¯t remember what city I did know I¡¯d never needed to split firewood.


    ¡°I¡±ll take that one.¡± I said enthusiastically. It wasn¡¯t much of a weapon, but honestly, who wanted a sword when you could just use a big freaking hammer? After some more battering, I got him down to eighteen bulls for the maul. Which left me with a good bit left in my pocket. I also wanted some armor but if I couldn¡¯t find a sword, I knew there was no way I could get my hands on armor in this small village. Shoes were of course a priority, but after stopping by the cobblers shop, I found out I¡¯d need more money for a good pair of boots. I bought up the stats of my maul while I loitered in town.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Splitting Maul</td></tr><tr><td>A Heavy two handed tool used to split firewood. Much more of a tool than a weapon. It¡¯s main utility is in it¡¯s sheer weight allowing for powerful crushing strikes.


    Damage: 4-10


    Family: 2h Mace


    Damage: Crushing


    Speed: Very Slow


    Durability: 50/50


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Errands run and with money to spare in my pocket, I was left with nothing in particular to do. All of my most immediate needs had been seen to and I could live for a week or two off the remainder of my item drop.  I was now faced with the choice I¡¯d been putting off for days. Should I take it easy, spend my days fishing, killing small rats, and generally enjoying myself. Or I could brave the dungeon, likely be horribly wounded again, possibly die, but also level up a few times, and make a bunch of money.


    Honestly, It was a question that took a lot of thought. If I died in game would I really die? That didn¡¯t seem likely, but honestly the odds were pretty high of my demise if I went back into the dungeon. Risking my actual life on that chance seemed foolish. On the other hand, If I was indeed stuck inside this game, The only way I was likely to get out again was by continuing the story. If I even could get out. Maybe I¡¯d died from a blood-clot or something and they¡¯d just uploaded my consciousness into a game. Maybe reality as I knew it was merely a dream and this was actually the real world. Maybe I¡¯d spent too much time reading crappy sci-fi novels as a boy, and it was starting to affect my world-view. The memory of watching the rat slowly die while I nursed my broken leg made up my mind.


    I sighed. I needed more information if I was going to make an informed decision, but I had no idea how to get it. Would the game somehow reveal information to me if I kept playing? The setup of the various menu¡¯s lead me to believe there were human hands in this. Following that assumption however lead me to dead end. If humans really did build this world, what was it¡¯s purpose? Was it just a video game they meant to market? If that was the case, why all the cloak and dagger with memory modifications? This game had to be the single greatest game on the market. Not years ahead of it¡¯s competition but  decades. They could have easily had ten million players¡­ Maybe they did have Ten Million Players. How the hell would I know?


    UGH¡­.


    More questions, and as usual no answers. My train of thought was derailed only when someone called out to me. ¡°Noob Slayer what are you staring at so intently?¡± I blinked and realized I¡¯d been standing in the middle of the street staring at nothing as I thought.


    I turned and found Hanna walking towards me. ¡°Nothing, in particular, I was just thinking about what I should be doing. Thanks for the clothes by the way. They are just what I needed. I was going to buy some when I got some money, but you took care of it for me.¡± I really was thankful. She and Sten had apparently drug me all the way up from the basement while I¡¯d been passed out and sick. They had cleaned me up and taken care of me.


    Luckily with the healing effects of the inn it had only taken two days to heal up. A broken leg in two days was pretty astounding. I again wondered what Hanna thought about that. She hadn¡¯t said anything, had she not noticed his leg was broken? or did NPC¡¯s also get the same bonus from the inn. She said she thought it was broken. Maybe she just didn¡¯t think it was worth noting because that¡¯s the way it always worked in the game. Too many things about the NPC¡¯s in the game were strange.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, There¡¯s not much work in the village for a newcomer, but you might be able to pick up some more odd-jobs. I¡¯ve heard more people talking about rats lately. I¡¯m heading over to Old Gerta¡¯s place now. She says some things gotten into her cellar as well. It seems to be a pretty big problem.¡± She said  as we stood in the street.


    ¡°That¡¯s not surprising.¡± I said honestly. ¡°I guess I never told you what I found and how I got beat up.  When I followed that tunnel out under the inn, it ended up in this big cavern. I fought a dire-rat. I killed it but it hurt me rather badly. I get the feeling there is a big nest in there. That¡¯s likely why everyone is having so many rat problems.¡±


    Hanna frowned as she listened. ¡°Something like that¡¯ll cause alotta problems. It don¡¯t seem like much of a deal for now, but come winter all those seeds, and stored food¡¯ll be missed. I better go check on Gerta¡± she said turning and heading down the street.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with.¡± I volunteered. I didn¡¯t have anywhere in particular to be, and if there we more rats, they might need my help. Besides Hanna was pleasant company when she wasn¡¯t yelling at me.


    Hanna frowned as I fell into step beside her but shrugged as we crossed the village. Gerta¡¯s hut was a small ramshackle thing on the edge of town. Her husband had apparently died years ago, and she mostly kept to herself.


    It was midday and the sun was a pleasant warmth on my now clothed shoulders. A warm wind blew in from the west as we we approached the small cottage. I¡¯m not sure what it was that tipped me off but I put out an arm to stop Hanna¡¯s progress as she approached the door.


    ¡°Hold up a sec.¡± I said as I scanned my surroundings, unsure of what I was looking for.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±, Hanna asked suspiciously. Her trademark furrowed brows returning to her face. ¡°And you talk oddly? Where exactly are you from?¡±


    ¡°Hell if I know.¡± I replied absently as I continued to search for whatever it was that had raised my hackles. ¡°When did you talk to Gerta last?¡± I asked as I shifted my new maul off my shoulder and into my hands.


    ¡°Would ya stop ignoring me? What¡¯s goin'' on?¡± She said in a huff.


    Continuing to ignore her I opened the door. The cabin was surprisingly clean on the inside in contrast to it¡¯s run down exterior.. Although it was clear the old-woman was poor she kept the place clean and tidy. I scanned the small abode looking for trouble.


    ¡°Is anyone here?¡± I called out. Wondering at the source of my unease.


    I got a small whimpering cry in response and I rushed toward the source. A small trap door was open and a set of rickety wooden stairs lead down into darkness. I hurried down the stairs and entered a small root cellar. A body lay on the floor with a number of rats attacking it.


    I ran over to it and let out a few kicks at the rodents trying to scatter them. As they ran I lifted the body of an old woman and hosted her over a shoulder before running upstairs.


    Hanna was  standing in the cottage looking at me with wide eyes. ¡°let me have a look at her¡± She said in a calm tone at odds with the look of surprise and confusion on her face. I laid the woman down, and shut the trapdoor with a kick, before sliding a nearby table over-top of it.


    ¡°That¡¯s Gerta I presume?¡± I asked as Hanna tended to the woman. He hands were surprisingly deft and although they shook slightly, she seemed like she knew what she was doing.


    ¡°Yes, and she¡¯s in bad shape. We need to get her to Pa¡¯s inn as quick as we can. I¡¯m afraid she won¡¯t last long.¡± She responded in the same forced cool tone from earlier.


    ¡°Give her here. I¡¯ll carry her.¡± I walked over and picked the woman up carefully. She was light as a feather. I carefully navigated the small room and headed out the door, with Hanna trailing Behind.


    ¡°What do you think you need to carry her just because you''re a man?¡± She replied with venom, while we hurried across town. I rolled my eyes. Weren¡¯t women in medieval times supposed to be submissive? Although, I supposed that didn¡¯t hold up all that well in video-games. It¡¯s hard to justify the superiority of the male gender when there are women who can pick up boulders to smite dragons and others who can level cities with magic. That lead me to the thought it didn¡¯t hold up all that well in real society either.


    ¡°Are you ignoring me again?¡± Came another barbed volley from behind me.


    ¡°Yes¡± I said not turning to look at her. Not wanting to get into an argument while a woman was dying in my arms I continued toward the inn breaking into a jog. We arrived in the inn a few minutes later, and I headed upstairs. A few more steps and I laid the women in the same bed I¡¯d been in a few hours earlier.


    After I unloaded my burden,  it occurred to me it had been Hanna¡¯s idea to bring her here. ¡°Why did we bring her all the way here anyway? Wouldn¡¯t have been easier to just use the bed in her house?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°Because everyone always heals fast in inn¡¯s.¡± She said as if I had asked something to which the answer would be obvious to a child.


    I had assumed that was the reason but I was unsure if the inn¡¯s healing aura would work on NPC¡¯s. I had never thought about what the ramifications would be of a group of people who had lived all their lives in an environment in which the nonsensical rules of a videogame applied.  Would they ever learn anything about healing when they could just take everyone to the nearest inn and even the most grievous wounds would be healed in hours instead of months? It was an interesting question and would likely make a fairly interesting study for some psychologist if this game was ever released to the public.


    ¡°Thank you for bringing Gerta here. Although, I really wish you¡¯d stop ignoring me all the time.¡± She said in a voice that sounded very little like thanks.


    ¡°Well I really didn¡¯t want to get in a verbal fencing match with you while I had a woman dying in my arms.¡± I said as I left the small bed-room. I walked down stairs and plopped onto a bar-stool. While Hanna followed berating me the whole way.


    ¡°What do you mean get into a verbal fencing match? I just wanted to know why you wanted to carry her?¡± She asked sounding baffled.


    Blip


    My headache was back with a vengeance. I sighed and ordered a beer from Sten. He delivered it with a blank expression but gave me a mile-wide grin as Hanna looked away for a moment, while she continued her hen-pecking.


    _____________________________________________


    Note: Whew, another long one.


    Edited for some minor grammar.

 Volume 1: Chapter 8

    I was lounging around the bar nursing another ale when the door of the inn banged open and the smith I¡¯d bought my hammer from entered the bar with a stout dark-haired woman in tow. ¡°Sten we heard about Gerta what¡¯s going on? Tess told Helen that there was some lad in town and him and Hanna were carrying Gerta this way.¡±


    ¡°That would be young Noob Slayer over here Branford. He helped me and Henry with some rats yesterday. Gerta got attacked and they brought her here. She¡¯s upstairs with Hanna.¡± The inn-keep responded.


    I spoke up. ¡°There¡¯s a big cave that¡¯s full of rats. I bet there¡¯s more people in town with the same problem. I¡¯m gonna go take care of the ones in Gerta¡¯s house tomorrow. Think I¡¯ll ask around and see if there¡¯s anyone else who needs help.¡± It seemed the right thing to say. Not to mention the possibility there might be more some money in it.


    I heard footsteps on the stairs and Hanna spoke up as he came down. ¡°That¡¯s not gonna do anyone any good. There¡¯s already been someone nearly killed. This whole thing is getting out of hand. You need to go into the cave and destroy the nest. Otherwise the town won''t survive the winter.¡± She explained.


    Blurp


    I had a feeling I knew what that sound meant. Where the hell was the ¡®You can¡¯t go down there it¡¯s too dangerous¡¯ she was preaching this morning. The moment someone she actually cared about was in danger she was willing to send me into that death trap.


    The memories of that horrible place assaulted me, and a phantom pain shot through my leg as my mind replayed the rat biting my leg and shaking its horrible head. I was not going back down there. I didn¡¯t give a damn what these people said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I can fight those things. I almost died against one. I¡¯m willing to clear your cellars, but I won''t be ready to take on their nest for weeks. If you give me a while, then maybe.¡± I conceded, mostly to pacify them.


    Ba-Ding


    Great¡­. I just accepted a quest on accident.


    I opened my log to see the details.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Tomb Of The Rat King


    </td></tr><tr><td>


    The people of valor¡¯s crossing are under siege by rats from the Tomb of the Rat King. Delve the depths of the Tomb, Defeat the Rat King and restore peace to the village, before the rats destroy too much of their winter stores.


    Recommended Level: 15


    Difficulty: Dungeon


    Rewards: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°So you¡¯ll Help us then Noob Slayer?¡± The smith asked his eyes hopeful.


    No¡­ I wont


    I thought as I looked around the tavern and noticed every eye in the place was on me. The stares so full of hope, fear, and expectation. I didn¡¯t need this. I didn¡¯t want this. I was stuck here. In some game world and now these people wanted me to risk my life for them? Who the hell were they, and why should I care? They were NPC¡¯s for Christ sake. They weren¡¯t even people. Shaking my head I walked for the door.


    ¡°Noob Slayer! Wait!¡± I turned to see Hanna running out of the Froliking Foal behind me. ¡°Stop a second. What was that about? Why¡¯d you just run out of there?¡± She asked coming to a stop next to me.


    ¡°Why¡¯d I just run out of there? Because you''re all willing to send the new guy off to get himself murdered over some damn rats!¡± I said furious. That fight had left deeper scars than I thought and Hanna had just pulled off the scab.


    ¡°So you''re gonna run?¡± Her voice filled with sudden contempt. Something much sharper than her normal angry tones. He eyes blazed and I saw disgust in her eyes for the first time.


    ¡°Oh, so now I¡¯m a coward?¡± I said incredulously.  ¡°You¡¯ve got a whole village full of people yet I¡¯m the one that has to fix things. Why don¡¯t you crawl down that tunnel. Look into one of those monsters eyes while they''re taking a chunk out of you. Then you can come back here and tell me I¡¯m a coward. ¡± It was a pretty nonsensical situation.  This was exactly what a quest was supposed to be about. Saving the people, basking in their thanks and happiness. Watching as the town comes back to live, making money, getting the girl. It was everything a great RPG quest should be.


    Funny that, It was easy to act the hero when you had nothing to risk. If you died in a game you came back to life a few seconds later. Hell, in most modern MMO¡¯s they didn¡¯t even have death penalties. You could just pop back up and be on your way.


    Maybe I could pop back up and be on my way. I didn¡¯t know. Maybe I could just plow my way through every rat, die twenty or thirty times, and nothing bad would happen at all. I somehow doubted it. To be honest I was scared. That dire rat had rattled me. It was horrible, and terrifying, and the pain¡­. I couldn¡¯t go back there, down into the dark again. Not now, maybe not ever.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t. Not now, Give me a month.¡± I said defeated my anger bleeding away.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a month. These people need you.¡± She said looking at me with her honey-brown eyes.


    I snapped. My anger returning to burn hotter than ever. ¡°YOU''RE NOT PEOPLE!¡± I shouted. The sound echoed off the nearby houses and Hanna flinched away from me like I¡¯d struck her. She looked at me for a moment with the most heartbreaking eyes before turning and storming back into the Inn. I ran both hands through my hair then stalked off into town. I was done with this place but I had an errand to run.


    **********************************************************


    I banged on the door of the small shop. It was getting late and the store had closed hours ago.It was a quaint little place filled with to the brim with various clothes and packs. I knocked again harder.


    ¡°Common open up. I have gold.¡± Well I had silver anyway but this wasn¡¯t the time for semantics. A few moments later some loud stomping from inside silenced me.


    ¡°Stop that racket already! Were closed dammit! What the hell do you want?¡± A tall skinny man opened the door with a thunderous scowl on his face. His eye¡¯s were small black beads and a hawk-like nose protruded from his face.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disturb you so late, but I¡¯m heading out of town and I need a traveling pack.¡° I said amiably jingling my coin purse. The man¡¯s scowl deepened further.


    ¡°Fine come in, but you''re paying extra!¡± He waved me inside. I glanced through the various piles of cloth looking for something in my price range. I found it a few moments later. A simple pack with a square wood frame. It had a few straps to hold it on my back but It was a long way from a  modern sport pack from the real world. It would have to do for now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take this one. How much?¡± I showed the man the back I wanted and he scowled at it¡¯s cheapness.


    ¡°You woke me up for that? Two Eagles at least.¡± He narrowed his eyes and crossed his bony arms.


    ¡°Two Eagles for that? It¡¯s barely worth five silver.¡± I replied in disbelief. The man¡¯s scowl darkened.


    ¡°You came to my shop in the middle of the night. Two eagles or get the hell out.¡± He scowled pointing toward the door.


    I grimaced. He had a point. ¡°I only have fifteen bulls.¡± I said looking apologetic. That was all of my money from selling the teeth and killing all the rats. The man¡¯s face grew dark and he pointed toward the door.


    ¡°Common, I need it. Wait , Wait¡­... Rats! You got Rats I bet. In your cellar, eating up your fabric, crapping all over the place. I¡¯ll kill them for you and give you all my silver.¡±


    The man scowled deeper. I was beginning to think his face was going to get stuck that way. He looked into my eyes for a moment and must have seen something he approved of. He nodded.


    Ba-Ding Blip!


    ¡°Log¡± I said confused. I had no idea what the latest sound was.


    The man looked confused and asked. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± I relied quickly scanning the info as it appeared between us.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Log Default Filter


    </td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Diplomacy has increased to Novice II</li>


    <li>Bartering has increased to Novice II</li>


    <li>User Has Unlocked Merchant Class!


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Merchant eh? That¡¯s interesting. Could even be fun. Although Personally I think a fighting class would work better. Especially since I still didn¡¯t know what the death penalties were. Which why I was in this mess to begin with. Too many uncertainties and I needed to get away to clear my head.


    ¡°Show me to the cellar. I¡¯ll get started.¡± I said shouldering my maul.  The man walked me to a door in the back and pointed. I opened the door, grabbed a candle nearby, and descended into the darkness.


    The cellar was as cramped as the shop upstairs. Tables filled the space piled high with fabrics of various colors and cuts. A faint skittering came to my ears and I sat the candle down and hefted my maul.


    I crouched down and scanned the room looking for movement. It didn¡¯t take long. They came from under the tables, leaping from the stacks of cloth, and dropping from the ceiling. A wave of brown fur and sharp teeth hit me from every angle, at least a dozen of them. Blood flew from me and I screamed as I flailed around. I crashed into a table and fell rolling on the ground as I tried to knock them off me. I ran into more table legs knocking bolts of fabric to the ground and trying to get my feet back under me.


    Coming to a knee I lashed out with my hammer swinging in wide arcs to try and keep the rats at bay. It was a terrible weapon for fighting such small and fast creatures. Although it¡¯s reach and damage were excellent it was simply too big to use effectively against their small bodies in such a cramped space. My crappy old dagger would have served me better if I still had it. Instead I shortened my grip on the haft and swung it into a rat that leapt at me from the side. The blow landed square and the rat went flying against the wall.


    I struck out with the haft as more rats snapped at me. Knocking them aside but doing little real damage. The rats kept swarming and the damage kept adding up. Wounds piled up on my calves, legs, and back as I frantically tried to to create some space. I kicked out at the nearby tables, pushing them together and creating a wider space for myself where I could wield my hammer. I put my back against the wall and struck at anything that got close.


    The fight fell into a pattern with me leaning back against the wall and playing whack-a-rat. I managed to kill about half of them but the damage getting to me. My legs were torn to shreds and I collapsed to the ground. Screw this place. Screw these people, and damn all rats to hell.


    I tossed my hammer aside. It was of little use sitting on the ground anyway, as I had no leverage to swing it. I was furious, at this game, at myself, and this whole fucked up situation. I had plenty of anger to vent.


    The rats came on and a grabbed the first by the scruff of the neck and simply smashed it into the wall behind me. I roared as two more lunged at me. I punched one away, but the other made it in clawing at my chest. The familiar sound of my heartbeat started pounding in my ears as my vision started to darken. I grabbed the rat on my chest with one hand and another as it launched at me from the side. This time I just squeezed using my new rank in wrestling and my level three stat boost. I felt bones break and their struggles stopped. I flung their broken bodies into the rest of the swarm. They collided, but the motion sent me falling forward on my hands and knees. I knelt there panting, covered in wounds, and filled with fury. I was sick of this game. Sick to death of it. The rest of the rats apparently weren''t willing to risk it with me in this state and I heard them skitter away back into their holes.


    Ba-Ding


    I pulled myself back to my feet and limped slowly up the stairs. My legs were a mess. I could barely stand but I willed myself up the steps. I threw my shoulder against the door and it opened revealing the shopkeeper. I must have looked the hell itself because the man stayed silent as he looked at me with terrified eyes. I fumbled at my belt and threw my coins into his chest before grabbing the pack and limping out the door.


    The town was empty this late and there was no one to see me as I left Valor¡¯s Crossing. The night was clear when I left but soon after I started a light drizzle started to fall. I looked up at the sky as the rain hit my face and and laughed in sheer bitter misery. The rain was cold and I shivered as I trudged through the softening earth. I was still barefoot and the mud began to suck at my feet as I walked further into the forest. I had no fire, no boots, no shelter, and nearly no hope. After a few miles I found two tall trees that leaned against each other. I threw my maul down and huddled up under the boughs, shivering in the cold and the rain while I waited for the sun to rise.

 Volume 1: Chapter 9

    To: Jasmine Olivia Martinez


    From: David F. Carr


    CC:


    BCC:


    Subject: Otherworld Employee Testing Initiative


    Dear Jasmine,


    We have recently learned of your interest in company advancement. Initiative is an attribute we like to cultivate among our employees, and in light of your interest both in Otherworld, as well as our employee testing we are offering you an advancement opportunity.


    Unfortunately, we cannot currently move you away from your current position. However, we have worked out a compromise that will allow you to move forward with testing on a temporary basis until a more permanent position can be established. As such we would like to install a Nexus Horizons Mk IV entertainment console into your home so that you can use it after work and in your spare time. This will allow us to keep you in your current position as well as monitor the quality of data your testing provides. To compensate you for your effort will be giving you a four dollar an hour raise with additional compensation possible based on your performance in testing as well as your continued excellence in the Data and Research Department.


    Please respond to this e-mail in the affirmative, and we will begin your new duties as soon as possible.


    David Carr


    Testing Project-Lead


    Nexus Corp.


    ***************************************************************


    The morning dawned a dreary grey and a cold wind blew through the forest. My clothes were damp and dirty and I stumbled to my feet as I woke from my fitful sleep. My wounds were still bad although it seemed I regenerated a few HP while I¡¯d been out. My legs were still a mess and I had woken up last night coughing. With nothing else to do I started fiddling with my menu¡¯s as I headed back towards the stream.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Leg: (Moderate) Torn Calf Muscle (-40% LBStr, -10% Cord)


    Leg: (Minor)Deep Gash (-10% LBStr)


    Leg: (Minor)Deep Gash (-10% LBStr)


    Leg: (Minor)Deep Gash (-10% LBStr)


    Leg: (Minor)Vicious Scratch (-10% Agi)


    Disease: (Minor) Common Cold(-15% End)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Well, I¡¯d taken quite the beating and as I¡¯d feared I caught a cold.


    It¡¯s going to be one of those days.


    ¡°Log, Default Filter¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Log Default Filter</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Rat has dealt 2 Physical Damage to User</li>


    <li>Player has entered Critical Status</li>


    <li>Rat Has Dealt 2 Physical Damage to User</li>


    <li>User Has Dealt 8 Physical Damage to Rat</li>


    <li>User Has Killed Rat</li>


    <li>User has Gained 12 XP</li>


    <li>User Has Dealt 9 Physical Damage to Rat</li>


    <li>User has Killed Rat</li>


    <li>User has Gained 12 XP</li>


    <li>User has Left Combat</li>


    <li>User has Learned Two Hand Maces</li>


    <li>Hand to Hand Has Increased to Novice II</li>


    <li>User has Learned Secret Skill Fury</li>


    <li>User has Unlocked Berserker Class</li>


    <li>Player has gained Shoddy Back-Pack


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Seems I had a new skill and new class to look at. Berserker might be right up my alley.  I had sorta lost it at the end there. Throwing aside my weapons and fighting five rats with nothing but my bare hands. I really was mad. In the daylight it seemed a very foolish thing to do.


    ¡°Skills, Details, Fury¡± I¡¯d learned that you could substitute voice commands for pretty much everything in the Menu. All you had to do was say whatever window you wanted open and poof. It was damn handy and made me wonder why I¡¯d never shelled out for one of those voice recognition programs for my Home PC.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Fury</td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when a Player becomes enraged as they near death. Fury allows a player to stay in fights longer and power through at the end. Increases damage dealt and decreases damage received when player enters critical condition.


    This skill gains mastery as a player fights in Critical Condition.


    Gaining this skill unlocks the Berserker Class


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Class, Details, Berserker¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Berserker</td></tr><tr><td>


    This Class is the epitome of a shock trooper. Berserkers are terrors on the battlefield, able to both receive and deal large amounts of physical damage. As the fight progresses they increase in power, able to regenerate life, shrug off wounds, and cut down the opposition.


    This class is unlocked by gaining the Fury Skill</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Very tempting indeed. I was in desperate need of a power boost and taking a class seemed to be a good way to get it done. Berserker was interesting, and sounded pretty fun, but I was hesitant. I wanted to see some actual numbers. ¡°Expand¡±


    Nun-Nun


    Well, damn. Looked like they wanted to keep me in the dark until I actually picked the class. It seemed silly in the internet age. If this game ever did go public everyone would know exactly what all the classes did anyway as soon as someone posted it online.


    I decided I wasn¡¯t willing to commit on a class yet. There were still hundreds of classes left to unlock, and honestly I wanted something a little different. Berserkers, although fearsome, were a bit too run of the mill for me. Besides, I could always take it later if I changed my mind.


    It was nearing mid-morning. The rain had stopped and the sun was starting to burn off the mist. It seemed it might turn into a decent day afterall. Although I was hungry thirsty and injured, at least it was warming up. I really just needed to start a fire, but I wanted to make it back to the stream before I camped. The easy access to food and water would make survival much simpler and it would give me time to level. It would also give me to solitude I was craving. I wasn¡¯t proud of what I¡¯d done, and even less so of what I¡¯d said. I had been a coward but I really had no hope in a level 15 dungeon at level 3.


    I¡¯d no sooner had then thought when two goblins stepped out of the trees in front of me. They had to be goblins, long noses, big bulging eyes, dark green skin. I sighed and pulled the hammer from my back. I had no idea how challenging they¡¯d be and I was at less than half HP still. Along with my wounded legs I really didn¡¯t want to fight them. I pulled the maul off my shoulder where I¡¯d been resting it and gripped it in both hands.


    I¡¯d decided I was done letting things attack me. I needed to start taking the offensive if I was going to survive. I took one step forward and jammed the head of my maul into the first goblins stomach just as they started to attack. The thrust doubled the creature over and I twisted my arms bringing the end of the handle around and into the now stooping goblins face. He shrieked a spit out a mouthful of yellow teeth and black blood as he stumbled backwards.


    The second Goblin buried a dagger in my side, but I twisted and pushed him away with my Hammer''s handle. That bought me a moment and I took a hop on my good back leg and swung my hammer in a full diagonal Arc. The blow struck the goblin in the shoulder and bone shattered as he fell to the ground. The first goblin was back and he dodged another thrust towards his belly. He came inside my guard and landed a sharp slice with his knife. My echoing heartbeat let me know I was down in critical condition again but I kept on.


    Instead of pushing the goblin away, I looped the handle of my maul over his head, holding it in both hands. I twisted and fell backwards forcing the goblin to turn with me and pinning him against my chest with the handle. My plan worked and the goblin ended up against my chest facing away from me  with the shaft of my hammer across his throat. I pulled with all my strength and the goblin became frantic as I cut off his air. I rolled us over, putting the goblin on the bottom, and letting my weight add to the choke. Soon the goblin stopped fighting, and after maintaining the hold another few seconds I leveled up.


    Bleep-be-deep-Bleep


    Du-Do


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Combo Would You Like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The familiar flash of light let me know I''d hit level 4. That was odd though. That¡¯s was the first time I''d ever gotten a pop-up.  I imagined the reason nothing ever popped up was because I was in full immersion mode and having transparent screens popping up all over wasn¡¯t terribly immersive. Which combo were they talking about anyway? I¡¯d done a few impressive things that fight and I felt fairly proud of myself. It was the first fight since I¡¯d arrived here I¡¯d actually been in control. I¡¯d need to get more consistent results if I expected to grind up a few dozen levels.


    ¡°Details¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have created a custom combo, The combo is a modified hafted weapon/hand to hand combo allowing you to slip behind an opponent in close melee range, tackle them and engage them in a choke hold. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ahhhh, that combo. I¡¯ll call it¡­ ¡°Hug of the Noob Slayer.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name Confirmed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The goblins actually dropped some copper coins, so I collected them, threw them in my new fancy pack, and took off. I walked for the rest of the day. The sun shined  brightly and the world began to dry once more. I hoped I¡¯d be able to get a fire going by evening.


    It was late afternoon when I finally made it to the stream. Fire was the first task. The camping skill would help my wounds heal and I needed to be back to fighting fit encase more goblins showed up. I walked out into the stream and took out my hammer, then using the ax end I dug down into the mud.


    Blip


    What was that blip about? ¡°Open Log?¡± I said puzzled.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>User has Learned Mining</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Mining was a bit of the stretch but I¡¯d take it. Skills are always good after all.  I knelt down and used my hands dig through the muck. It took a while but I finally found what I was looking for. I washed the small stone free in the creek and held the piece of flint up in the sunlight. Now for the test. I was hoping this would be as simple as it always looked in movies. I spent the next hour or so collecting dead grass and twigs then found a flat spot where I could start up a decent fire. Another pyramid of sticks then I used the piece of flint against the head of my maul to send sparks down onto the dried grass. It worked surprisingly well and soon a had a fire crackling merrily. I managed to fish up another trout, and spent the evening relaxing around the fire and watching the stars. This world had three moons apparently, I hadn¡¯t actually noticed before. It seemed stupid in retrospect. I could have figured out I wasn¡¯t on earth the first night here. It had never actually occurred to me that ¡®not earth¡¯ was a possible destination, and after I¡¯d found out I¡¯d spent every night in the inn.


    It felt so good just to relax. With no crazed rats. Nowhere to be and no NPC¡¯s looking at me with those hopeful brown eye¡¯s. I sighed heavily.


    Women¡­¡­.


    Apparently men can¡¯t even find peace in video games anymore. She was cute though. I groaned as I spread myself out on the cold ground. It wasn¡¯t nearly as comfortable as Hanna¡¯s bed.


    The next morning I spent fishing and lounging by the fire. Just taking in the scenery and enjoying the new world I found myself in. It really was a beautiful place. The smell of grass and forest. The soft gurgle of the stream. The mountains far to the north. It would have made an awesome game, had I not been stuck here, but I wasn¡¯t so angry at my situation that I couldn¡¯t appreciate the beauty of the place, or even the fun of it.


    I wasn¡¯t naive enough to think that I would have been able to actually spear fish had the game assist not been helping me. Like the flint last night. Flint was common enough and I could have found some near a stream easily, but they used a special substance for flint and steel, normal steel didn¡¯t make a spark hot enough to catch most tinder, and my hammer head wasn¡¯t even steel, it was just iron. I couldn¡¯t remember enough about chemistry to decide if that was worse or better. Either way though I had fire. My cough and all my minor leg wounds had healed. My calf still wasn¡¯t right but walking wasn¡¯t a chore any longer.  Having frittered away the morning it was time to embrace my MMO destiny. I was off to brutally murder goblins and small woodland creatures to become a stronger force for good.


    **************************************************


    I sat on the ground with my legs crossed trying to empty my mind. The stream next to me murmured it¡¯s enchanting song, and wind played through the trees around me. I¡¯d left Valor¡¯s Crossing a week ago and had spent most of that time leisurely farming xp, fishing, and relaxing. The vacation had Improved my outlook considerably. I¡¯d reached level 7 by killing dozens of goblins, wolves, and one very pissed off badger. It was my first real grind session and had lead me to a few interesting observations about this world.


    First, nothing in this game dropped actual items. I had about a dozen drops and all but one was common quality. They were all semi-precious stones, claws, or other curios. Not a single knife, sword, or any other usable item. Then goblins had them, I¡¯d been stabbed by enough of them to know, but they always disappeared when the battle ended.


    I¡¯d been baffled at first but after thinking about the problem a bit it made sense in a way. It allowed craftsmen to play a larger role in game. With orcs not dropping thousands of useless axes everyday you could actually make decent money as an ax craftsmen. Without bosses dropping swords twice as good as any crafted items at the same level it gave them much more value. Instead the items the monsters did drop allowed craftsmen to imbue their items with various effects when they created them. I hadn¡¯t tried it myself as my crafting skills were terrible and the smith would pay me well for them.


    Secondly, non-stop grinding was a terrible way to level your charter. I¡¯d killed about 40 goblins the first day. Even at level four they hadn¡¯t been much of a challenge. The only real fight I got was when the goblin boss spawned after hours of farming. The problem was my level up to 5 had only gained me a hand-full of attribute points. I hadn¡¯t really noticed until I¡¯d hit level 6 and the same thing happened. I¡¯d only gotten about half the points I did for my first few levels. Last level I decided to supplement my goblin slaying with actual exercise to see what would happen. It had been horrible but two hundred sit-ups, a hundred push-ups, and a half-hour jog every day had netted me a better catch for level 7.


    Today I was trying to tackle another project. My physical attributes were coming along nicely, but I wanted to try my hand at magic. I concentrated on my breathing leaving all else behind me. I could feel the wind on my face, the ground under me, and feel the water in the air as the stream gurgled nearby. I sat serene as the world moved around me.


    Blip


    I opened my eyes and smiled. ¡°Open Log, Skills¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>User Has Learned Secret Skill Meditation</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I pressed on the window.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Meditation</td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when a character makes a mental effort to clear their mind and connect with the world around them. Increases a character''s mana regeneration when meditating.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    This skill will gain mastery as a player meditates.


    Gaining this skill grants user +10 Max Mana</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Only a partial success. I¡¯d been thinking about how to unlock magic. There was obviously the Wizard basic class but there HAD to be more magic classes. However with 0 mana how were you supposed to unlock them. Short of finding a spell book laying around, I¡¯d been looking for a way to get some magic going. I mean really who doesn¡¯t wanna use magic? It¡¯s a freaking magical fantasy world. If I was going to be stuck here I was going to make the most of it.  ¡°Open Character.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Enter Name</td><td>Level: 7</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Select</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 26</td><td>LBStr: 22</td><td>HP: 64/64</td><td>Mana: 10/10</td></tr><tr><td>End: 19</td><td>Con: 23</td><td>Stam: 46/46</td><td>Panic: 1/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:13</td><td>Cord: 18</td><td>Hunger: 85/100</td><td>Thirst: 77/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:18</td><td>Wis:18</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 10</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: N/A</td><td>Fame: 0</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I smiled as I noticed my mana counter. I had mana now. That opened up a whole variety of new options. Assuming I could figure out how to actually do magic. How did one go about magic? Did I have to say some spell. Did I just have to will it? The fury skill description said it unlocked when I got angry. Was that true? How did the game even know? Was it monitoring my brainwaves somehow? I assumed all the menu¡¯s were voice activated. Were they just thought activated? Deciding to test my theory I thought as loud as I could.


    Open Character Sheet


    The menu popped up and I closed it, astonished. I knew this game was advanced but brainwave reading? That was way too Sci-Fi. Alright then, this demanded more tests. I sat cross legged near the water''s edge right hand palm up. I willed the water into my palm but nothing happened.


    ¡°Water¡± I said in a commanding voice, but nothing happened. ¡°Auga, Eau, Aqua, Mizu, ¡­. Work damn you.¡±


    Still nothing. I experimented with various things for about an hour with no luck. How difficult can it really be? It was a freaking game after all. A ludicrously complicated and ridiculous game but still¡­.But what if it wasn¡¯t a game? What if I embraced this games ludicrous detail. If i was actually trying to do magic in real life. How would I go about it?


    I grabbed a rock sitting nearby and drew a pentagram in the dirt. It wasn¡¯t particularly straight or will drawn, but it wasn¡¯t terrible. I then concentrated on the symbol, trying to funnel my mana into it. I had no idea what I was doing but after straining my mind a bit in various ways the pentagram began to glow with a faint blue light and I felt dizzy for a moment.


    Blip


    Ba-Ding


    Success! I mentally opened my log. Then Inspected the new Skill


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User Has Gained Secret Skill Witchcraft!</li>


    <li>User Has Unlocked Witch Class!


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Witchcraft</td></tr><tr><td>This discipline of magic Involves the drawing of magic circles and performing of complex rituals. Allows user to brew potent potions and poisons. Used to create barriers, blessings, and curses over wide areas. Also includes familiar magic. Passively increases user''s skill at herbalism and alchemy. Beware practicing witchcraft will lower your fame with most NPC¡¯s if you are discovered.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    That¡¯s not exactly what I was going for. Although I suppose I should have known. They must have four or five different magic systems in this game at least. That brought up another question though. How many different skills could I Actually learn? I¡¯m sure I couldn¡¯t master everything. You never could in games. It was a simple yet effective way of forcing social interaction between players. If you make it so players can¡¯t be fighters and healers. You give them a reason to work together. You make it so I player can¡¯t be both a master hunter and  master cook. Then you¡¯ve given them a reason to trade. I was sure there would be a limiting factor somewhere, I¡¯d apparently just not run into it yet. If I kept filling my skill list with with stuff like witchcraft though, I was sure it wouldn¡¯t take long until I had to start trimming the fat.


    I used my foot and messed up the circle. A faint pop reverberated through the air, and blue energy swirled around the area. Flowers shot up to twice their normal size, while others withered and died. I dove to the ground to avoid a tendril headed my way covering my head while the swirling energy dissipated. I laughed out loud. ¡°Oops.¡±


    Apparently it was best not to just break a spell and let the magic run wild. Over the next few seconds the grass evened back out. The withered flowers grew back and the ones that had grown shrank to their original size. I only had 10 mana I knew there was no way I was capable of changing anything for too long. Although It made me wonder what would happen if some super-mage screwed up a ritual with 10,000 mana. He could easily level a city.


    I¡¯d managed to actually get a magical skill. Not the one I wanted but it would let me train my mental stats while I did more experimenting. I¡¯d fiddle with magic more later. I¡¯d been sitting too long and my legs had started to cramp. I stood and decided to go for a jog.


    Funny, I hated exercising in the real world and almost never bothered. Which likely had a great deal to do with me being overweight and single. The fact I was be able to see the fruits of my labor numerically here added a rush to the experience.  In contrast to my real body, my avatar was fighting fit. I wasn¡¯t skinny by any means, but I wasn¡¯t nearly as flabby as I had been at level 1 and my muscles had grown quite dramatically. By level twenty I was going to look like a bodybuilder if my strength scores kept going up so much. I didn¡¯t want to think about what I¡¯d look like at level 60. I¡¯d be like a tan-lined Hulk.


    I took off at a decent clip into the forest, jumping over fallen logs, and enjoying the feeling of stretching my legs. I ran for a half hour or so before I saw a squirrel near a tree nearby, and spent the next ten minutes chasing it through the forest. It eventually ran up a tree. Which left me panting in an area of the forest I¡¯d never been in before. I wandered around a bit noticing a cave entrance on the side of a nearby hill.


    ¡°What have we here?¡± I moved forward investigating. It looked a little too obvious to be a real cave, but it was a video game. The environment was laughably generic medieval fantasy. Beautiful and detailed to be sure, but no one would call it realistic. I stuck my head in the cave but it was fairly dark and I couldn''t see very far.  I needed a torch if I was going to try any real exploration. I took a single step forward into the cave when the silence of the woods was shattered with an electronic beep, followed closely by a thunderous roar.


    Blurp


    I turned and fled running out into the clearing and readying to fight. I was getting better at recognizing the games various sounds, and I was fairly certain that was the quest alert. I gave my menu a mental nudge.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ol¡¯ Graypaw</td></tr><tr><td>You¡¯ve Entered Ol¡¯ Graypaw¡¯s den. He¡¯s come to greet you.


    Recommended Level: 10


    Difficulty: Solo


    Reward: + 5 Fame


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I turned to see a giant bear chasing me. It was freaking huge. Well at least it seemed like it.  I¡¯d never actually seen a bear before, but good god. I planted a foot, spun and unleashed an overhead swing with all the power I could summon. I missed it¡¯s head and the blow landed on it¡¯s back with a dull thump. The bear never even slowed and it smashed into my chest sending me to the dirt. Thank god the ground wasn¡¯t too hard. I rolled quickly and stumbled back to my feet. Lucky the thing hadn''t stepped on my or scored with it¡¯s claws. I turned in time to see the thing standing above me on it¡¯s hind legs, bastard must be 14 feet tall. A clawed paw came down in a swipe, and fire licked my chest as a long gash opened along my torso. I swung again, this time getting a shoulder and managing to at least stagger the thing for a second.


    I needed to limit his mobility so i could wear him down. Like someone trying to box in a heavier weight class, I couldn¡¯t match his power, so I had to chip away at him. I danced out of reach of his next swipe, and ran along his body, trying to force the monster to turn on the shoulder I¡¯d Injured. It didn¡¯t bother trying to turn and just pushed its bulk sideways into me. I was sent sprawling once more, and the bear took the opportunity to turn itself and ready another attack. I only managed to get to a knee and brought my hammer up across my body trying to defend. The bear batted me aside like a kicked puppy. I rolled over and over, until my back hit a tree. I could feel my ribs give and breathing became agony.


    I struggled to my feet. This was bad. I was on my last leg and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d even managed to inconvenience the damn thing. This was exactly the type of situation I¡¯d been trying to avoid, I was tired of having to fight to the death all the damn time. It was mentally exhausting.


    I gritted my teeth and charged,Ignoring bears torso. That tactic hadn¡¯t accomplished anything. Time to stop trying to kill the thing and start trying to maim it. It reared up to swipe again, and this time I tried to roll under it. I was too slow, and I felt the claws score on my back, and my vision darkened as it knocked me into critical health. I timed my next blow to the amplified beating of my heart and swung my maul into it¡¯s back knee right as it started to shift its weight to turn. The join gave and the bear roared and fell, as I moved back out of reach. It struggled back to it¡¯s feet but the damage was done. A dog can manage ok on three legs, but bears are just too heavy. No way it could fight now. I could feel the blood oozing down my back, and the pain turned into blazing white anger as I raised my hammer once more. This blow was aimed right between it¡¯s eyes and this time it was too slow to dodge.


    Bla-Blip


    I sat down exhausted. I hadn¡¯t leveled, and my wounds were bad. I just hoped I didn¡¯t bleed out.  I have the menu a mental poke and inspected my wounds.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Torso: (Moderate) Torn Abdominals(-20% UbStr)


    Torso: (Moderate) Broken Ribs(-40% End)


    Torso: (Minor) Vicious Slash(-10% Agi)


    Torso: (Minor) Deep Gash(-10% UBStr)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I sighed. I wasn¡¯t exactly the most subtle of fighters. After every bad fight I always ended up beat to hell. No wonder my constitution was going up so high. The HP was nice though. I laughed and immediately regretted it as I felt by ribs scream in agony. At this rate I¡¯d had over 100 hp soon.


    I¡¯d realized I gained exactly half my Con score in Hp each level, and it was starting to add up pretty fast. If I had some real armor I¡¯d be a super tank. Although I¡¯m not sure where I was going to get armor. Maybe I should take up smithing. Although everyone always took up smithing. Mining was where the money was at. That way all the blacksmiths are competing for your business instead of against your business. Next trip to town I was getting a mining pick, a skinning knife and some cooking tools. More than all that though I needed some boots, I was level 7 and still barefoot it was getting a little sad. I waited for another few seconds, and the bears body dissolved into smoke. A large grey bear-paw was left in it¡¯s place.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Greypaw¡¯s Paw


    (Uncommon)


    </td></tr><tr><td>Crafting Ingredient


    The namesake of Ol¡¯ Graypaw. This paw was supposedly imbued with earth magic. Give to any crafter to enhance the creation of any weapon or armor.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Not bad, another uncommon drop.. I should have a good three gold worth of drops now, and with all the coppers and silver I¡¯d taken off the goblins I had a hair over another gold in loose coin. Things were finally starting to turn a bit for me. I was definitely more powerful. Hell, I¡¯d just fought a bear and owned it.  All I was really missing was a sexy cat-girl healer to follow me around and top my HP off after every fight.One step closer to MMO heaven.


    It took me most of three hours to get back to camp back and the sun had started to set. I¡¯d gotten my camping skill up to Novice III over the last few days, and now it didn¡¯t take all night to heal my HP. I was back to fighting fit after four or 5 hours, although It still took a full 24 to heal a moderate wound. My ribs were not going to be impressed.


    I think it was time to brave Hanna¡¯s ire and head back to the village. I needed to sell stuff, and I¡¯d had ample opportunity to clear my head. I still wasn¡¯t planning on going back to the dungeon, but I was willing to apologize to Hanna. Although she wasn¡¯t a human I still regretted our parting words. After all, she didn¡¯t know she wasn¡¯t human. Apparently I was just a humanity bigot. As with so many things I¡¯d discovered since I ended up here  I needed to do some soul searching.


    I spent one last night listening to the stream and watching the stars. I had to admit I loved how peaceful this world was. Humanity really had done a fabulous job of screwing up our planet. It was so relaxing to be in a world where you could hear nothing but nature.. I had come to an important conclusion though. I was completely fed up with fish.


    The next morning was another dreary day and I walked barefoot through the forest. It was wet, cold, and my ribs pained me every single breath.I finally made it to town a little after lunch, and headed directly the smith. I wanted some lunch at the inn, but to be honest I was trying to avoid Hanna as long as possible. I knew I was being a coward but I didn¡¯t feel bad about it. I walked up to the shop and ducked under the awning to get out of the rain.


    ¡°Hey Branford!¡± I shouted over the clank of metal and the drumming of the rain. The smith looked up and gave a wave before pushing his ore back into the fire.


    ¡°What can I help ya with?¡± He asked, while he took of his heavy gloves and walked over to me.


    ¡°Business¡± I shucked off my pack and fished inside. It was sort of odd, the pack itself was always empty, but when I wanted to grab something It always just came out. I could open my inventory window and see what was inside, but none of the stuff in it ever seemed to take up any space, It just made the pack heavier, which was a great deal more disturbing than you¡¯d think it would be. I pulled my drops of of the bag. Laying them all on the table in front of me.


    The smith whistled through his teeth and grinned. ¡°Not a bad take this time eh? Been having a tough time of it out in the woods?¡± He examined each piece carefully. His massive hands surprisingly dexterous. Then he stood up, and rubbed his full beard before saying. ¡°Three¡±


    ¡°Three? Those are worth at least four, you shoulda seen the size of that bear. That claw is worth three by itself.¡± I replied offended.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. They aint worth a copper more than three and five, and that¡¯s only ¡®cause you¡¯ve been weed''n the goblin¡¯s outta the woods for us.¡± He fired back. His brow furrowing.


    I was pretty sure they were worth more, but I wasn¡¯t willing to spoil a good business relationship over it. ¡°Fine, fine you win. Three and five then, but you have to fix my hammer.¡± I handed over my maul, as he fished the coins outta his pouch. It had seen better days. The week spent of beating on goblins as well as using it to spark flint had taken a toll, which sorta made sense but I wasn¡¯t going to tell the smith that.


    ¡°Say what would it cost to make that bear paw into a hammer for me?¡±  I asked curiously. The smith frowned, thinking.


    ¡°You honestly want me working on weapons? I told ya¡¯ I ain''t no weapon-smith.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a hammer not a rapier, It¡¯s not exactly precision work, just make something big and heavy.¡± I told him honestly.


    ¡°Six gold, It¡¯ll take alotta iron for the head, and that bear-claws worth three gold by itself.¡± He said grinning. I could tell he wanted to do it, He¡¯d spent too many years making horseshoes and fixing wagon axles. All smiths really wanted to make weapons. Speaking of which. I still had more stuff to buy.


    ¡°Can¡¯t afford that for now, but I¡¯ll have it eventually. In the meantime, I want a pick-ax and a decent knife for skinning and gutting.¡± We haggled a bit, then he went to work on my hammer. It was early evening by the time I departed with everything I wanted. And I was still up two gold. Although after I got my boots and picked up a couple water skins,  I was back down to just silver. They were pretty nice though.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tough Leather Boots


    (Common)</td></tr><tr><td>Not much to look at but these boots have been made with durability in mind.


    Item Class: Boots


    Armor: +3


    Durability 60/60</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I was ecstatic I wasn¡¯t barefoot anymore but the happiness from by boots was unable to overshadow my dread as I walked toward the inn with a heavy heart. Women really can take the fun out of everything.


    I walked over to the inn, but found the doors locked. That was odd, when was an inn ever closed? I banged on the door. ¡°Hey Sten open up, What¡¯s going on?¡± I banged on the door again, and heard footsteps before the door flew open. Sten was looking very upset and very drunk.


    ¡°Sssshe¡¯s gone¡± He sobbed falling into my arm¡¯s.


    ¡°Whoa, Easy there killer. Where¡¯d she go.¡± Who she was was fairly obvious. The question was where she had run off to any why.


    ¡°Ssshe said¡­. Sssshe said, that Noob wasssh a coward. and that if he, If he wassshn¡¯t man enough to fight, then ssshe would.¡± He slurred out. ¡°I¡¯m gonna lose my babyyyyyyy.¡± He broke down falling into the nearest chain, and sobbing with his head in his hands.


    My eye¡¯s widened in horror. She didn¡¯t. Oh god, but she totally would. Was that girl mad? How the hell was getting herself killed going to prove I was a coward. I knew I was a coward, I didn¡¯t need anyone to prove it to me.  Bloody hell.


    Granted she was an NPC and she would probably re-spawn, but even I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself If I pansied out that much. Besides It was a video game dammit. If saving a buxom village wench was the only way I was going to have a shot with a girl, then risking my life was a pretty suitable trade. I decided I was coming home with my shield or on it.


    I went in the back and stocked up on food and water, shoving an entire ham, and few loaves of bread and some cheese into my bag. The most impressive part was I was able to throw my knife, and the entire pick-ax in there as well. I had to test out just how much stuff it could actually hold at some point.


    That could wait. I apparently had a damsel that needed saved. I made my way down into the cellar, grabbed a few torches off the wall, then started back through the tunnel and into hell itself.


    _____________________________________


    Note: Got my buddy to make me a book cover finally. Lemme know what you guys think.

 Volume 1: Chapter 10

    The first thought I had when I entered the cave was that crawling with broken ribs is really, really painful. The second thought was that the smell of charred dire-rat is utterly nauseating. I wasn¡¯t sure how Hanna had done it, but she¡¯d apparently burned the hell outta the first dire rat she¡¯d come across. The whole cavern reeked of it.


    Puzzled I continued forward. The passages were tight but it was obvious this was a dungeon designed to be plundered. Rooms were connected by narrow channels that one had to squeeze or crawl through but they always opened back up into stone caverns with space to negotiate where the mobs likely were.


    None of the mobs seemed to be here, however.  Every room was empty aside from the overwhelming scent of burnt rats. I grew more curious as I crawled, squeezed, and struggled forward. How was she managing all this? Did she bring a bunch of pitch or something? Wasn¡¯t she just a seamstress? If I judged her by the cut and stitches of my clothes. She wasn¡¯t even a particularly talented one. She certainly looked intimidating when her temper was up, but I had the sneaking suspicion I¡¯d made a few false assumptions.


    I continued forward for a couple of hours stopping occasionally to grab a sip of water.


    How big is this place?


    I must have passed through twenty rooms or so already but I heard something in the distance so I hurried onward. I found my answer after crawling out from a particularly tight tunnel. The cave opened up into a large cavern. The ceiling was at least 12 feet high and the walls were wide apart leaving plenty of space for the pitched battle taking place.


    Hanna stood confidently against two rats dressed in a plain working dress but with a rich green hooded cloak over-top that concealed most of her form. Her voice rang out strident in the space and echoed off the stone walls ¡°Wa Et Saa!¡±


    The air seemed to thrum for a moment and a bolt of red fire flew from a slender wand griped in her right hand. The bolt struck a circling dire-rat and smashed it to the floor. The force of the bolt sent the rat rolling away shrieking and burning.  She stalked forward, seemingly unaffected by the carnage around her like some valkyrie descended to a human battlefield. A dainty boot kicked the burning and broken rat out of her path, while another spell formed on her lips.


    ¡°Tirg Na Ver!¡± The floor cracked and thick green vines burst from the stone binding the second rat. It added it¡¯s cries to that of the first, these less pained and more angry. The shadows at the edge of the room boiled and four more dire-rats raced across the stone.


    Hanna¡¯s lip curled in a sneer and she pointed her wand into the middle of the approaching pack. The air seemed to warp as she bent reality to her will. ¡°Wa Et Aar Ka Olm!¡± A blinding flash of blue-white light and a peal of thunder had me ducking for cover. One of the approaching rats simply blew apart as it was struck with a bolt of lightning. The explosion filled the cavern with chunks of smoldering rat and the smell of ozone. The volume of the thunder in the enclosed space had me covering my ears.


    However, for all her power she was just merely mortal. Her next step faltered and I could see her gasping for breath as sweat ran down her face. That last spell had apparently taken it¡¯s toll but she never flinched as the three rats continued their charge.


    ¡°Holy hell¡± I whispered before shaking myself out my my stupor. I raised my hammer and dashed across the room trying to reach her before the rats did. I wasn''t very fast and beat them by only a step. I flung myself forward in a tackle, trying to block them with my momentum.


    I plowed into the mass of dire-rats and the four of us went sprawling across the floor in a tangle of limbs, claws, and gnashing teeth. I rolled away, trying to clear a line of fire. Magic users needed space and it was the job of us bruisers to buy it for them. That and I wasn¡¯t exactly certain of my reception. I didn¡¯t want to give her an easy excuse if she felt like flinging another of those lightning bolts my direction.


    A bolt of fire hit the mass of squirming rats, but this one was much more feeble than the first. I recovered my balance, and struck out with my hammer, taking advantage of the rats divided attention. Bones broke and a short brutal scuffled ensued. I traded blows with them, with Hanna taking the occasional pot-shot. Soon all three rats were dead, and I walked over to the still entangled rat ending the fight with a crushing blow.


    I wiped the blood off my hammer then raised an eyebrow as I turned to the girl. ¡°Fancy meeting you here.¡± I said giving her my best ironic smile.


    She scowled but I could tell there wasn¡¯t much fight left in her. She looked bad. Her skin normally had a sun-kissed healthy look, but it was now pale and sallow. Her eyes were sunken and I saw her wipe a small trickle of blood away from her nose.


    ¡°What do you want coward?¡± She snapped.


    The effort threw off her shaky balance. I stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. She tried to shake off my grip but she wasn¡¯t able. ¡°Get yer hands off me!¡±


    ¡°If you really want to have this argument now, you should at least sit down first. Passing out while telling me you don¡¯t need my help will undermine your point.¡± Her scowl deepened but she did let me help her down. I stepped back and sat a few paces away facing her. I¡¯d gotten a couple bad scratches in the fight, but for me that was practically unharmed. I rooted around in my pack and pulled out a loaf of bread. I broke it in half and handed it to her along with a water skin.


    She accepted the food and we sat in silence while we ate. She was the first to speak.. ¡°Why are you here?¡± She said around a mouthful of bread.


    ¡°Your uncle sent me or at least I think he tried to. He was a bit of a mess when I left, sobbing into his beer.¡± Her expression finally thawed a bit and I could see worry in her eyes.


    ¡°So you''re a wizard? Here I thought you were a simple village girl." I continued. ¡°Nice work there, although I think you may have overplayed your hand a bit with that lighting.¡±


    This time she smiled a bit, half-satisfaction and half-self mockery. ¡°Wizardess, and I was trying to make an impression. My mother was pretty powerful and she made me a spell book with some basic stuff in it when I was small. She died before she could teach me much, but I¡¯ve been able to puzzle out some myself.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was impressed if that counts for anything,¡± I said, then stuffed more bread in my mouth.


    ¡°That was something I came up with. Not sure how much you really know about magic, but there are a bunch of different types. Wizards combine rune words into spells. The more runes you know, the more powerful and complex spells you can create. The more runes you use in a single spell, the more power but more costly. I only know about twelve, and honestly I hadn¡¯t messed with my magic in years but something needed done.¡± That statement seemed to remind her of how mad she was at me and another glower came my direction.


    I met her eyes and apologized. ¡°Look I was angry, and scared, and I said something unforgivable. I don¡¯t expect you to forgive me but I stick with what I said about this place. I¡¯m really not strong enough to clear it.¡± It wasn¡¯t much of an apology but I did feel bad for what I had said. ¡°So what¡¯s the play? We gonna head back?.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do, I¡¯m staying.¡± She said.


    ¡°Of course you are, but why didn¡¯t you offer to help before?¡± I asked baffled. The whole thing would have sat a lot better had she offered her help in the first place.


    She looked at me oddly, as if not understanding the question. ¡°Because it¡¯s one of the rules.¡±


    I was just about ready to ask ¡¯What rules?¡¯. But I figured it out.. She was an NPC¡­. Kind of. Of course she wasn¡¯t supposed to help. She was just supposed to give the quest and send me off like an errand boy to take care of her dirty laundry. That¡¯s how the thing always worked. She however had overcome her programming in some way.


    I sat digesting the information for moment but the consequences of that knowledge were so huge I had no idea where to even begin. Shaking my head I tried to wrangle my stampeding thoughts back the to conversation.


    ¡°Fine then, I''ll help but we need to coordinate. I¡¯ll pull and draw aggro, you provide the ranged deeps.¡± I finally said.


    ¡°You¡¯ll do what? I''ve got no idea what any of that means.¡± She looked at me puzzled and I grimaced. ¡°Ya know, you''ve a very odd way of speaking. Yer accent is  strange and you say things sometimes that don''t make sense.  Where exactly are you from?¡±


    That was a rather interesting statement as well. She apparently knew on some level that I was a player and thus wasn''t supposed to help me on a quest. However, players apparently had no designated status in her worldview. Which was odd, most games gave players special status with the NPC''s and labeled us a foreigners or adventurers. This game apparently made no such distinction.


    ¡°Not from here, although honestly I¡¯m not sure where from, I have very few memories beyond a couple of days before I made it to Valor¡¯s Crossing.¡± It was mostly the truth and good enough to be going on with.


    ¡°What I meant was that I will charge in and engage the rats while trying to hold their attention. You stay in the back and throw fireballs or whatever other magic you can dig up.¡± It would be better if I knew exactly what spells she could cast, but this was good enough to start with. ¡°How long do you need to rest. You look bad.¡±


    She raised a blonde eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯ve a way with words Noob Slayer, anyone ever tell ya that.¡± I just grinned. Then her expression became more serious. ¡°At least a couple of hours, A full nights sleep would be better. I really shouldn¡¯t have tried a five rune spell.¡±


    ¡°Then sleep, I¡¯ll keep watch. I have a feeling we are going to be down here for a while.¡± I stood up and walked over to where the dire-rats had all disappeared. Unfortunately only one had dropped anything, it was another set of teeth although these were just common quality. Looking utterly exhausted Hanna pulled her cloak up over her head and was asleep almost instantly.  I shook my head, filled with even more questions.


    We had a problem. Well, we had a lot of problems really but we had a couple of things we needed to deal with right away. This dungeon was much bigger than I had anticipated. This was apparently the first room with any real resistance and this was slated as a level 15 dungeon. Which likely meant it was made to be tackled by a full party of level 15¡¯s. I had no idea what Hanna¡¯s level was, if she even had levels, but I was a whopping 7. I was close to 8 and my first few levels had provided large attribute gains but I guessed that still put us far below the power curve.


    The second problem was we couldn¡¯t make a fire. Even if I could get wood down here the smoke wouldn¡¯t vent, and I didn¡¯t really want to suffocate to death. That left me with no way to make camp, which meant no way to regenerate HP quickly, and no way to recover from wounds. I''d been leaning on my camping skills for healing, and hadn''t leveled first-aide at all.  What I needed was a substitute fire or someway to designate this area as a camp location without one.


    I gave my menus a mental nudge, and opened a detailed skill description.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Camping</td></tr><tr><td>The ability of player to make a secure and comfortable camp  The skill provides bonus HP, Stamina, mana regeneration, wounds healing,  skill resets, and other bonuses. The bonuses provided are dependent upon the security of the site, skill level of the user, and the effort made to create comfortable sleeping place, including things like blankets, a camp-fire, seating, bedding, etc¡­.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I glanced around the room looking for options. The stone floor and walls were made of grey stone, interrupted by the occasional rock or stalactite, but other than that the place was barren. I had a my pack, a few torches, a couple of rocks, my ratty clothing, and very little else to work with.


    Hmmmmmm¡­.


    I spent the next few minutes collecting small rocks around the room. Once I had a decent pile, I hurried over to the side of the room a lugged over a decent size boulder to sit on. It was a strain and I was glad I was in my MMO body instead of my actual one. I¡¯d have never been able to lift it otherwise. I placed it down near the small pile of rocks then lit another torch then used the rocks to prop it up. I stepped back to examine my work.


    It had to be the saddest campsite I¡¯d ever seen, but hopefully it would suffice. ¡°Open Log, Search, Camping¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User has used Camping Skill</li>


    <li>User has Created Camp</li>


    <li>Camp Quality 2


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I looked though the log a bit more and saw that 67 was as I high as I¡¯d ever gotten my camp quality which meant that this had just barely qualified as even being a camp. . I guessed it was likely a scale to 1000 but it might be as high as 10000. Too much of this game was a mystery.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Regardless I had actually managed to make a camp, albeit a very poor one. Hopefully Hanna would be alright after some shut-eye. I was down about ? of my HP from the fight which, while fairly minor for me, would still  require a couple of hours. So now I had time to waste and very little to do.  I decided to play with more magic.


    I grabbed a rock off the ground and used it to scratch another circle. Then paused unsure how to proceed. What was I even trying to accomplish? Was I going to try and make a blessing of some kind? Should I try to discover a new magic system or play with witchcraft more? What would happen if I screwed it up. I might injure myself or Hanna.


    ¡°Nothing ventured nothing gained.¡± I muttered to myself then picked my brain for ideas. What did I know about magic circles? I¡¯d read a lot of fantasy, and even knew some people from school claimed to be wicca, although I guessed they were mostly just trying to be trendy rather than true believers.  However, that only gave me some general knowledge, assuming the creators of this place we''re staying consistent. Wizardry seemed to be significantly different from anything I¡¯d heard of before.


    The circle was supposed to a represent of a barrier. It acted as a container for the magic. Where it could be worked on and focused before being released.  The pentagram, or five pointed star, represented the five elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Spirit or Life. If the pentagram was inverted, the fifth point represented Death, or Darkness. Which was the one used in satanic cults, dark rituals, and what not. Other than that, I knew basically nothing other than symbolism was very important.


    Best to start with something simple. I only had a single rank of witchcraft and a whopping 10 mana, so it¡¯s not like I was going to be able to do anything impressive. I didn¡¯t really need all five elements, so thought I¡¯d try starting with just three. I hoped that would simplify the process. I drew a triangle inside the circle. Making sure the top point was away from me, so it would be white magic, at least that was my assumption.


    Now what....?


    The skill description said witchcraft was supposed to be good at barriers so I thought I¡¯d s try some basic protection for the camp.  Earth and Air seemed decent choices for that. Then another Idea struck me. I grabbed a small stone off the pile holding up the torch and placed it next to one of the points. That would work for Earth. Next I tore a piece of my white shirt and dabbed it into one of my wounds that was still slightly bleeding. I  placed that above the point at the top of the circle.  Blood was about as good a symbol for life as I could think of.


    What about Air though?


    I looked around the cave and could come up with nothing before my eyes landed on the torch.


    ¡°Fire it is then.¡± I said aloud. I reached into my pack and took out another torch. I didn¡¯t want to waste the pitch, so I used another rock and broke off a small piece of the handle. Next question; How to choose the area to protect? In books they always just sort of imagined that part or worked it into the spell somehow.


    I wasn¡¯t real clear on what that would entail though. I decided on something more tangible. I took the rock away from the circle. Then used it to scratch a bigger circle surrounding our little camp. I connected the big circle to the little circle with another scratch. I was probably supposed to put some arcane symbols or something along the connecting line, but I didn¡¯t know any, so It was just a line.


    I put the rock back near the my circle. Then I lit the small piece of wood with the torch and used it as my last focus. I then closed my eyes and willed my mana into the circle as I done before. I felt the magic drain out of me, and my head swam as I opened my eyes. The circle before me glowed, however instead of the light blue color it had had before this one pulsed white, red, and brown. The colors raced along the lines I¡¯d scratched, overlapping and combining, before separating again. It was some pretty damn awesome special effects I had to admit.


    Now for the tricky part. How to actually form a spell? This was even more guesswork than the other had been. I closed my eyes again and tried to mentally reach out to the circle. At first I couldn¡¯t feel anything but as I concentrated harder I could feel a faint sort of..... something in front of me.


    It was a very odd experience. It was if I¡¯d gained a sixth sense, as if I¡¯d just grown a third arm or now had some organ that could sense magnetic waves or something. The world seemed to shift slightly as I reached out toward that something. A bolt of splitting pain crashed through my head but I gritted my teeth against it. Then I could see the magic in my mind''s eye. The circle before me swirled with it¡¯s contained elemental power. I got the feeling something rather fundamental had just changed within me.


    Too late now.


    I still had no idea what I was doing, but I had a new found confidence. I opened my eyes still connected to that odd new sense of the world. The picture in my mind and my vision overlapped each other, super imposing my magical vision on top of my regular vision. It was very odd, but cool.


    Then I pictured what I wanted, visualized those energies racing down the line I had drawn and forming a dome over our little camp, one that would protect us if something tried to enter. I flexed my new sense, and the colors in the circle swirled faster, My head started to pound and a felt a small trickle of blood leave my nose. I reached forward with a trembling hand and broke the circle. There was a faint pop, and the room filled with a kaleidoscope of colors as the magic raced down the line I had drawn and into the larger circle. The colors outlined the dome I had imagined and swirled together into complex patterns before fading from site.


    Blip


    Du-Do


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Spell. Would you like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I lost my balance and fell onto my hands and knees panting. That had been work. Now I knew why Hanna had looked like such a wreck after slinging all that magic around. I¡¯d likely just created one of the weakest possible spells in the game, and I¡¯d nearly blacked out. That didn¡¯t stop me from being pleased with myself though. I¡¯d done actual magic. With no guidebook, no trainer, no help from the forums or a wiki. I¡¯d discovered something awesome completely on my own. I smiled as I brought up details on my new spell.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have created a custom witchcraft spell. This ritual forms a protective barrier around a small area reinforced with Earth and Fire magic. Any non-group member who attempts to enter the designated area will have to break the dome, and doing so will trigger an attack with moderate fire damage. The strength of the dome and the amount of fire damage received will scale with the amount of mana used and the area protected.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Name: Minor Protection Dome¡± I said feeling slightly drunk. I was both giddy and woozy.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name Confirmed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I wanted to sleep so badly, but I promised I¡¯d keep watch. I needed to add Hanna to my party as well. ¡°Add Party, Hanna.¡± I said. Hoping that would be close enough.


    Ding


    It seemed to work. I popped open a couple more menus to distract myself. My witchcraft had leveled to Novice III and I¡¯d unlocked the Barrier sub-skill, both of  which were awesome. I¡¯d skipped over Novice II entirely.  Witchcraft was kinda of fun.


    Maybe I should become a witch. I still wanted to be a bruiser though. Besides how was I supposed to fight as a witch. The rituals were cool and all but not exactly something you could whip up in a fight. I¡¯m not sure how long I¡¯d spent making the dome, but I thought It had been at least an hour. My sense of time had gotten a bit odd while I¡¯d been trying to shape the spell. I opened another menu and smiled broadly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User has used Camping Skill</li>


    <li>Camp Quality Increased to 53


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    That was almost as good as my best ever camp, and I had nothing but a rock and a torch. The extra security of the protection spell must have done it. If I could keep up numbers like this, maybe this dungeon would be possible. At least we¡¯d be able to rest and recover. Everything else would be up to skill and blind luck. I got comfortable then closed my eyes and slipped into meditation.  I blanked out my mind, trying to recover my mana and hoping I wouldn¡¯t fall asleep.


    *******************************************


    ¡°Well, what is it this time?¡± The Ceo of Nexus Corp asked from behind his massive desk. His blue eyes were as chilly as ever as they raked the man across from him. The scientist standing before him looked worn, but triumphant.


    ¡°We¡¯ve acquired several hundred new testers sir. The newest capsules were just brought online bringing us to 14125 active testers. Aside from that we¡¯ve had new activity. Subject 13617 has unlocked a secret magic skill. That makes him the seventh tester to ever do so.¡± The scientist reported happily.


    ¡°Indeed?¡± The Ceo¡¯s face thawed for a moment and he looked pleased. ¡°Seven seems a rather low number . We¡¯ll have to get those numbers up. A fantasy world needs magic after all.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already on it. I¡¯ve talked to the designers and gotten approval from III. We¡¯ll be rolling out a patch late tomorrow that will add sorcerer to the list of basic classes. That should provide some more diversity and get more players introduced the the magic system.¡± The scientist replied.


    ¡°Anything else to report?¡± The Ceo asked as he looked at his watch.


    ¡°Just two things. III reports that he is 92% complete with the NPC behavioral fabrication algorithms. He gave us the go ahead to start scaling up for launch. That puts our projected launch date in 25 days.¡± The doctor said smiling.


    ¡°What? He was at 70% a few days ago. What the hell happened?¡± The CEO asked angry. ¡°Our launch projections were still months away. How the hell are we going to be ready in 25 days? What if his progress accelerates again?¡±


    The doctor looked at him wide-eyed.¡°Should we delay the launch sir?¡±


    The CEO sighed. ¡°No, Our investors have spent the better part a of billion dollars on this project. If they find out we delayed on seeing some actual income they¡¯d have me for breakfast. Start the marketing campaign and begin taking pre-orders. What else did you have?¡±


    "Secondly, Subject 13617 experienced an episode last night that coincided with the creation of his first spell. ¡° The scientist winced as the CEO turned a glare on him.


    ¡°Nelson¡­. You told me you¡¯d taken care of that problem after the first person to unlock a secret magic skill died. ¡° The CEO¡¯s voice turned dangerous.¡±Bodies are bad for business.¡±


    ¡°Yessir, sorry sir. We did. I mean I thought we did. After subject 831 died, we lowed the mental synchronization necessary for magic use by 40%. That bought our projected estimates well within safe levels, but with so few magic users we¡¯ve had little actual data. Subject 13617 is expected to make a full recovery, his temperature spiked to 104 for a about 10 minutes and he bled from the ears for a while¡­...¡± His voice started to waver as he saw the CEO¡¯s expression darkening with every word. ¡°But The doctors arrived quickly, and they say he¡¯ll make a full recovery in a few days.¡± Nelson cringed at the look in his boss''s eyes while he finished his report.


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to launch in less than 30 days we can¡¯t have kids out there blowing blood vessels, a single person landing in the hospital will waste years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars. Lower the values more!¡± The CEO raged.


    ¡°Errrr yes sir, right away sir.¡± Nelson nodded frantically as he turned to leave.


    ¡°And Nelson,¡± The CEO¡¯s words stopped the scientist before he could flee. ¡°Excellent job, You¡¯ve accomplished a great deal while under mountains of pressure. One screw-up does not undermine all you¡¯ve accomplished. Get this last thing straightened out. The end is finally in sight.¡± The man man looked and his watch again and stood up from the desk.


    ¡°Oh, and give subject 13617 a bit of reward. If we¡¯re making magic easier to come-by those that braved the dangers deserve a bit of special treatment. ¡±


    Nelson¡¯s shoulders slumped in relief and a smile touched his lips as he quickly left the room.

 Volume 1: Interlude II

    Jasmine smiled as she sat on the small wooden bench near the village well. She fiddled with the tuning knobs on her new instrument and plucked a string experimentally. The note was flat so she tightened the knob slightly and plucked again. This time the mellow note sounded right to her ear and she strummed all sixteen strings letting the chord fill the village square.


    She¡¯d spent the first few days in game slaughtering goblins, wolves, and pretty much anything else she could catch. It had started off as a blast but she¡¯d soon leveled to the point where only the bosses that spawned after killing dozens of the things provided any real challenge.


    That had lead her to a near-by village to sell the drops she¡¯d collected and re-supply with food as well as purchase some new items. She had seen the lute hanging from the wall on a wood-workers shop and it had instantly caught her eye. The storekeeper had shown her the proper way to hold it and pluck the strings. It was a long way from the electric Fender she owned, but she¡¯d found learning the new instrument an interesting distraction.


    Thus she¡¯d spent three days staying in the village, sitting on this bench, and practicing with her lute. Yesterday she¡¯d actually managed to weave some magic into the song. It had been completely on accident and she honestly had no idea what she¡¯d even done but it had given her such an awful migraine she¡¯d logged out. To her surprise she found her head was pounding even in the real world and her nose bled for nearly a quarter hour. Fortunately,  the headache had gone after a nights rest and she had felt fine all day.


    She had logged back in after work and was back on her bench. She was getting pretty good. Children ran around the square or sat against the buildings and stalls far away from her listening. Their parents wouldn¡¯t let them near. Which she imagined was because she was an orc. They slowly crept closer, hiding or pretending to be playing until their parents caught them and chased them away again.


    She spotted her favorite in his usual spot. The boy was hiding in an alley about twenty yards from her. He¡¯d been there since the very first day and had shown up every day after. He couldn¡¯t have been more than eight and his coal-black hair and cute blue eyes had charmed her instantly. She smiled at him as she started to play.


    Suddenly, a black-cloaked figure crept up on the boy from behind him. Jasmine watched in horror as a small pale hand covered his mouth and nose. There was a flash of steel and the light faded from his blue eyes as his life¡¯s blood soaked into his homespun shirt.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Cultists in Northwick</td></tr><tr><td>A worshiper of the dark gods has has killed a village child. Catch them before they can escape and bring justice to the village.


    Recommended Level: ???


    Difficulty: Solo


    Reward: 50 Fame + 200 Fame with NPC¡¯s in Northwick</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Jasmine let out a feral roar. The sound scattered the villagers and she raced into the alley. A glimpse of a flapping dark cloak caught her eye as it darted around a corner. Jasmine chased, pounding her feet against the rough dirt of alley. The cultist was agile as a cat, it¡¯s body slight and nimble as it darted around obstacles that Jasmine had to jump over or run through. However, her legs were longer and stronger and she gained on the cultist.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    They rounded another corner. This one blocked by a large brewers cart. The figure in front of her never slowed. It ran at one of the walls, took two steps up the wall, and launched itself into a high jump clearing the top of the cart.


    Jasmine reacted instantly. She pulled an axe from her belt, took a single hopping step and threw it as hard as her could. The axe tumbled end over end and slammed into the figure¡¯s back at the height of it¡¯s jump. The blow sent the cultist into a spun and it¡¯s face slammed into the roof¡¯s edge. There was a high-pitched cry of pain, and the the figured tumbled sprawling out of sight.


    The cultist was still climbing to it¡¯s feet as Jasmine clambered over the cart.  She gave it a vicious kick. The blow sent the cultist slamming into the side of a house and they let out a whimper as they fell to the alley floor once more. Jasmine lept onto them, turned the body,  and ripped back the hood.


    Bright green eyes eyes looked back at her filled with tears. Rich red-hair was pulled back into a braid revealing two lovely pointy ears. The girl couldn¡¯t have been more than eighteen. She would have been beautiful had it not been for the split lip and obviously broken nose. Jasmine shook her roughly.


    ¡°What the fuck was that for?¡± She shouted into the girl¡¯s face. The girl started to sob harder attempting to cover her face with her hands still covered in the boys blood.


    ¡°He said¡­¡­.. I could remember.¡± The elf blubbered. She was almost intelligible with her sobbing and rapidly swelling lips. Jasmine cocked her head puzzled.Was this girl a tester? That thought made her even more furious. What kind of twisted human could murder a child? That was beyond unforgivable, even in a game.


    ¡°I just wanted¡­¡­. to remember my name¡­..¡± The girl sobbed harder, now beyond reason. Jasmine had no idea what the girl was talking about but she was furious. Red started to bleed into her vision as her anger grew. She grabbed the nearest thing she could and stuck the girl with all her orc born fury. Her lute shattered and the girl stilled. Jasmine looked down on the body disgusted as it vanished to black mist.


    Ba-Ding


    Ba-Ding


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Completed Quest: Cultists in Northwick</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked Class Bardbarian</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Bardbarian</td></tr><tr><td>A Specialized Class only available to the Orc Race. This class combines the enchantment magic of bards with the fury of the Orcs. This class focuses on inciting anger, power, and prowess into their songs rather than the normal illusion and charm magic of most Bards.


    Class is Unlocked by killing a monster or player with a musical instrument while under the effects of Orcish Rage.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Volume 1: Chapter 11

    Pain exploded in my broken ribs and I gasped as my eyes popped open. My world swirled crazily before I came awake realizing where I was. My eyes finally settled on the wand a few inches from my nose. Lighting crackled up and down it¡¯s length and concentrated on the tip. I followed it¡¯s length to the hand holding it, up the arm and met Hanna¡¯s furious brown eyes.


    ¡°What did you do!¡± She shouted.


    I honestly had no idea what the hell was going on, but my shock was quickly turning to anger and my sarcasm kicked into gear before my reason.


    ¡°Errrrrr¡­.  That¡¯s a rather broad question to ask someone after they first woke up. Especially someone you just kicked in the BROKEN RIBS!¡± I shouted back.


    Jesus that hurts.


    She tried to kick me again but I caught her foot and twisted, forcing her body to turn with the motion until she fell. I wound my legs around hers trapping her knee and putting her into a figure-four leg lock.


    ¡°Now can we discuss this like reasonable adults?¡± I asked panting. While I gritted my teeth against the agony rocketing through my chest. I had no idea what had happened. She hadn¡¯t been friendly yesterday but I¡¯d at least thought we were on the same team now. She struggled and I applied a bit of pressure on her knee causing Hanna to yelp in pain.


    ¡°Just stop¡­.¡± I commanded.  ¡°Other wise I¡¯m going to make sure you don¡¯t kick anyone ever again.¡± She snarled and her eyes narrowed. That wasn¡¯t the reaction I was going for.


    ¡°So be it, Witch¡± The wand tip still pointed in my direction began to brighten.


    ¡°What?! Are you Cra¡­...¡± I started, but my words were interrupted by a blinding flash of white.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.


    I awoke to warmth and the faint smell of wildflowers. My eyes felt gummy and my brain scrambled. I shifted my weight, trying to take stock of my surroundings and felt soft curves beneath me. I moved subconsciously sniffing until I found what I was looking for. I pressed my nose against soft skin and inhaled deeply.


    Woman¡­.


    The thought rattled around my dazed brain, and I wrapped my arms around the body under me, while pressing a kiss against the soft skin. It felt so good, I just wanted to revel in the warmth and that sweet smell, ignoring the pain my chest and the smell of burnt flesh¡­¡­.


    Burnt Flesh?¡­..


    My eyes popped open and I found my face buried in Hanna¡¯s neck. I rolled off her. I stood up then inspected myself. My shirt sported a wide hole in the middle of my chest. The edges of the hole blackened and I could see blistered and burned skin beneath.


    That crazy woman had blasted me with a lighting bolt from a foot away. I opened my game log and inspected the damage.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Hanna McCray has dealt 70 Lightning damage to User</li>


    <li>User Has entered Critical Status</li>


    <li>User is Unconscious</li>


    <li>User had Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User is now Sleeping


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    She¡¯d almost killed me. 70 damage had taken me down to -6 HP. That was the lowest my HP had ever gotten.


    Crazy Bitch¡­..


    I reached over and checked her pulse. I thought I remembered her breathing while I was on top of her but it never hurt to make sure. I shook my head. She was lucky she hadn¡¯t killed both of us. I¡¯d had  her in a leg lock when she¡¯d thrown the spell. She must have gotten a good dose of damage as well.


    What the hell was she thinking?


    I thought we¡¯d been getting along at least. Then she wakes me up with a kick in the ribs, calls me a witch, and proceeds to blast me. The witchcraft skill said it would lower my reputation with NPC¡¯s but it was hard to reconcile the whole thing. She was an NPC but then again she wasn¡¯t. She had thoughts, feelings, and a complete personality as far as I could tell. Seemed off that a game skill would sour things so quickly.


    Shrugging I sat down on the ground and opened more menu¡¯s. It appeared I was back where I started last night. Although the extra hours had finally healed my ribs, but the burnt skin on my chest hurt like hell.


    I was sorting through the menu¡¯s when I found something interesting in the log. Judging by the time stamps it had apparently happened last night while I was unconscious.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Server Update Complete. Patch V0.9827e Online.</li>


    <li>Sorcerer Has been Unlocked as a Base Class</li>


    <li>User Has Earned Achievement First Witch!</li>


    <li>User Has Been Granted Title Father of the First Circle</li>


    <li>User Has Gained 100 Fame!</li>


    <li>Witchcraft is now a Secondary Skill!</li>


    <li>User has Gained Item Witchcraft for Noobs


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Interesting¡­...


    So they¡¯d rolled out a patch last night and apparently made sorcerer a base class. That made sense considering what I¡¯d gone through to cast my first spell. I¡¯d been the first person to ever unlock witchcraft. They must have added the achievement with the patch as well, which was odd. Were they watching me? That was a rather disturbing thought.The title was certainly nice, but I had no idea what a Secondary Skill was or did. I got up off the ground and sat on the boulder I¡¯d drug over last night.


    I pulled the new Item out of my bag and read the title Witchcraft for Noob¡¯s. I cracked the first page and started to read. It was a rather interesting book and outlined the basics of the craft. How to draw a basic circle, what the elements were most useful for, some objects you could use as foci. I¡¯d done pretty well with my spell and had basically guessed all the main points.


    There were some symbols I could have added for more strength, but you needed regents to power those, which I had none of. The most useful part of the book was the list of magical ingredients and their properties for potion making and spellcraft. When I got back to the forest I¡¯d have some hunting to do. There were even some mushrooms listed I might be able to find down here.


    I was absorbed in my book when I finally heard Hanna stir. I turned to her as I slipped the book back into my bag.


    ¡°Mornin¡¯ sunshine.¡± I said with false cheer. I was still pissed. Putting an angry wizardess into a leg-lock was not the best plan to diffuse the situation, but that was a long way from justifying deadly force.


    Hanna looked up at me confused, then grabbed her head as if in pain. ¡°What happened?¡± She asked groggily. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes obviously puzzled.. I just stared at her.


    ¡°Well someone, not to mention any names, decided that she would repay a certain person''s assistance in saving her life by waking him up with a kick to his broken ribs. Then proceeding to almost kill herself and said person by blasting him with a five rune lightning bolt.¡± I spat out my voice icy.


    She grimaced. ¡°I¡¯m sorry alright, I woke up and saw you asleep next to that circle. I didn¡¯t know what you¡¯d done, but I know enough magic to recognize witchcraft when I see it.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not alight. You almost killed both of us over a stupid spell. I don¡¯t care If I was drinking the blood of virgins,or sacrificing babies to fucking Cthulhu. I saved your life.¡± I shot back, my anger still seething.


    She frowned, but her response was unheated. ¡°What Cthulhu?¡± She looked baffled. ¡°I said was sorry, you can can keep yelling if you want, but we¡¯ve already wasted enough time on my account. Let¡¯s go if you still plan on helping me.¡±


    ¡°That at least we agree on.¡± I said, getting to my feet and slinging my pack back onto my shoulders. We we packed up our meager camp and sat off. I pointed to the right tunnel out of the room and while while we walked Hanna broke the silence.


    ¡°So you''re a witch?¡± She asked conversationally. I could tell she was upset but trying to hold it in. So I decided to give her the same courtesy.


    ¡°Not exactly. I know very little witchcraft. In fact, the barrier I put up last night around our camp was the first thing I¡¯d ever actually cast. It¡¯s more of a hobby than an occupation.¡± I replied truthfully.


    She frowned at my reply yet looked curious despite herself. ¡°That¡¯s a very nasty branch of magic. I¡¯ve heard of entire villages under curses that lasted for generations. How did you learn?¡±


    ¡°Mostly self taught. I didn¡¯t even know it was witchcraft until yesterday.¡± I hedged. ¡° I¡¯m not sure what the fuss is about though. It¡¯s also got some very powerful blessings and a lot of powerful protective charms. It¡¯s like anything else, It¡¯s about what you use it for. If we are keeping tallies of whose magic has done the most evil, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll take the vote by a landslide.¡±


    She scowled ¡° I said I was sorry. That was poorly done of me. ¡° Her words and tone were very apologetic and she seemed honestly sorry.


    Ugh¡­.


    This was why I hated women. A few minutes of being properly abashed and you¡¯d forgive them for almost murdering you. The world was not a fair place. ¡°Fine, you win. You don¡¯t say anything about my witchcraft, and I won''t say anything about your almost killing me. ¡°


    ¡°Deal¡± she said.  ¡°By the way. Were you nuzzling my neck while I was asleep?¡± She asked looking stern.


    This time I looked chagrined. That was not where I¡¯d expected the conversation to go, and unless I was mistaken she looked like she was enjoying watching me squirm. She apparently did have a sense of humor albeit a rather sadistic one. ¡°Urrrr¡­. can we add that to the list of things you can¡¯t talk about?¡±


    She furrowed her brow ¡°No, And I thought I felt something tickling my neck.¡±


    ¡°In my defense I had just woken up from having my brain scrambled, and we were tangled together, and well¡­..¡± I trailed off grimacing.


    She shook her head but her eyes seemed to gleam with a hint of playfulness. It was a side of her I hadn¡¯t ever seen before. ¡°Nope. you already banned topic. You can¡¯t just bring it back up to make a point. Invalid excuse.¡± Her tone was serious but her eyes sparkled. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d EVER seen her in a good mood. It was odd but not unpleasant. Apparently causing me serious bodily harm put her in a good mood. That seemed a bad omen for the future but I¡¯d never really bantered with a woman before. It was a new and interesting experience.


    We continued our verbal sparring as we squeezed through narrow tunnels, interrupted only during the desperate fights in the main rooms. I hit level 8 on the second room, and we made it through about four fights before we had to stop and rest again. Having a ranged class along made things a good deal simpler. I just had to concentrate on fighting defensively, while Hanna provided most of the damage.


    I sat up camp and fired up another barrier while Hanna mediated. Then I sat off looking for some mushrooms. It took a while but I found a pile of dire-rat dung with some mushrooms growing out of it. I picked them happily, taking special care not to get any of the nastiness on my hands.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>User has unlocked Herbalism</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I walked back to our camp and started flipping through my book trying to identify the mushrooms I¡¯d picked. That¡¯s when I saw something glitter in the rocks next to me. I used another torch and took a better look before smiling broadly.


    ¡°Double Jackpot!¡± I cried happily. Digging in my pack and pulling out my pickaxe.


    ¡°What are you so excited about?¡± Hanna asked opening her eyes and standing up.


    ¡°Copper!¡± I said grinning like an idiot.¡±Sweet, sweet copper.¡± I ignored Hanna and started to mine happily. This was going to be great. It was literally perfect. I could train my Str stats and my endurance in the camp where my stamina would constantly regenerate. All the while mining tons of ore which I could sell in town for more money. Game exploited!


    The process of mining was a fairly simple one. I just bashed on the wall with the pick. My str score let me knock chunks out of the wall pretty effectively. Although, I could tell I had a lot of skilling up to do. I managed to get copper ore on about 1 of 10 hits. Which was interesting since I could see the ore vein. Most of the ore turned into stone to moment It broke loose. It made the process exceedingly inefficient.


    We fell into a pattern. We¡¯d blast our way through rooms until Hannah''s magic ran out. Then set-up our very make-shift camp. I¡¯d cast my barrier over us to boost our camp rating while Hanna would regenerate her mana and I would hunt up mushrooms or mine. I¡¯m not sure How long we past like that but soon our rations as well as our patience were growing thin.


    ¡°How many verses does that ridiculous song have!?¡± Hanna suddenly shouted causing my swing to miss and my song to falter. I¡¯d been mining for an hour or so while singing I¡¯ve been Workin¡¯ on the Railroad. ¡°You can¡¯t possible have any room left in your bag, and what the hell is a railroad?¡±


    She was right, I¡¯d ran out of room in my bag some time yesterday. I¡¯d found out I could only carry 50 pounds in it. I¡¯d started carrying my pick with me all the time just to fit in more copper.


    ¡°That would take a very long time to explain.¡± I replied sorting through all the copper ore I¡¯d managed to mine. All the ore had a quality value. So instead of just leaving all my extra ore. I¡¯d sort through it all picking the best pieces to swap for poorer pieces in my bag. It was boring and horribly tedious, but money was money and our constant rests left me with tons of time to kill.


    ¡°Well, if you haven¡¯t noticed we don¡¯t have much else to do. I wasn¡¯t expecting this place to be so huge.¡± She replied laying down and staring at the boring stone ceiling. All of the rooms were pretty much the same, the shapes, sizes, and contents were different, but it was all just gray stone.


    ¡°Me either, We¡¯re running low on supplies, If we hadn¡¯t found that pool of water We¡¯d have already been forced to leave. We must have been down here down here for days by now. Another day and we¡¯ll be out of food.¡± I said grimly. ¡°I guess I could try cooking up some dire rat.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even joke about that.¡± She shuddered visibly. ¡°When are you going to tell me where  you¡¯re from? The East? The Wildlands? Where?¡± She sat up catching my eyes.


    That was a question I¡¯d been expecting her to ask eventually. There wasn¡¯t any real reason not to tell her something, but I still wasn¡¯t sure how much truth was too much truth.  I sighed. ¡°Neither, another land altogether.¡± How to phrase this in a way should we understand. ¡°Another plane.¡± That was as good an explanation as any.


    Her eyes widened. ¡°You''re an outsider?¡±


    That was an odd way to put it but she was a wizard. ¡°Yes and no. I was transported here against my will and ended up in a cave a few miles outside Valor¡¯s Crossing. With no-way of getting back.¡± I explained.


    ¡°And you wish you return?¡± She asked her voice sounding a touch regretful.  Figures, first girl I have a shot within a year and she¡¯s an NPC. And an unreasonably angry one to boot.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t my home. I do love it here and would be more than happy to spend time here, it¡¯s more about the fact that I can¡¯t return.¡± It was true. If I could buy this game and actually play it¡¯d be awesome. This game was every MMO players wet dream but I wasn¡¯t playing. I was trapped. This wasn¡¯t my world.


    She looked crestfallen and gave me a sad smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. You¡¯re right, we don¡¯t have much more time before we¡¯ll have to head back. If we can even find the right tunnels anymore.¡±


    With that we headed deeper into the dungeon. It was after the next cycle of fighting and resting that the situation changed. Hanna had finally managed to level up which I found highly odd. She never acknowledged it but the same blue light that occurred when I leveled surrounded her and her mana came instantly back to full. She also informed me she thought she¡¯d learned a new rune and she might be able to try a seven rune spell now in a pinch. When I¡¯d pressed her on how she¡¯d learned it she told me she honestly didn¡¯t know but was confident in her abilities.


    We¡¯d come out of the narrow passageway and entered a massive chamber. The ceiling must have been 70 feet high, and ancient looking pillars were scattered around the room. A stone structure stood directly across from us, and in the middle of the room was a rat the size of a bull. My eyes widened and I grabbed Hanna and drug her back into the tunnel.


    ¡°How the hell are we supposed to fight that?¡± I whispered furiously.


    ¡°The same way we fought everything else In here. You distract it and I¡¯ll cast spells.¡± She said reasonably.


    ¡°Are you out of your mind? There¡¯s no way we could fight that.¡± I responded frantically.


    We¡¯d managed to survive down here mostly by taking our time and resting often. A full group at appropriate level, could have likely cleared the dungeon in twelve hours or so. I wasn¡¯t sure how long we¡¯d been down here, but it had to have been over 40 hours. That wouldn''t help us against a creature who was built to be a tough challenge for 5 or 6 level 15¡¯s. It would simply have too much hp and do too much damage.


    Blip


    Baffled I opened my log. I could not imagine what I¡¯d done to warrant a skill up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>User has Unlocked Secret Skill Dungeoneering!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Eh¡­.?


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dungeoneering


    </td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when a character spends 50 consecutive hours living in an underground environment. Skill improves the effects of various survival skills including, Mining, Camping, and Earth Magic. Also improves a player''s ability to see in the dark.  Bonuses are only valid when in underground areas.


    This skill will gain mastery as a player survives underground.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I snorted. We had been down here for days. Interesting skill, but not as useful Outdoorsman just because of how little underground terrain there was compared to forested terrain. Of course that was just an assumption. Maybe this game had tons of underground locations, there might be entire kingdoms down here.


    ¡°Errr¡­ Sorry what were you saying.¡± I asked Hanna, seeing her expression.


    ¡°Why do you zone out like that all the time? I¡¯ve seen you do it before.¡± She asked with a worried look.


    ¡°It¡¯s a quirk of people from my world.¡± I lied smoothly. ¡°Anyway, My point stands there¡¯s no way in Hell the two of us can fight that thing. It¡¯ll tear us limb from limb in about 10 seconds.¡± I explained. The damn thing had to weigh at least a ton. It was bigger than that bear and had all the crazy bone spikes and plates of the dire-rats.


    ¡°Well I didn¡¯t spend all this time in here to get to the end and then go back home without even trying. So you better find a way to kill it in less than 10 seconds.¡± She crossed her arms across her ample chest and glared at me.


    Since when am I in charge?


    She¡¯d been happy enough to lead the way all this time. She had a point though. I didn¡¯t really want to go back empty handed either. We needed a plan and it had to be a good one. What did we have to work with? I opened all my menus looking for a trump card.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 9</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Select</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 32</td><td>LBStr: 28</td><td>HP: 91/91</td><td>Mana: 21/21</td></tr><tr><td>End: 26</td><td>Con: 28</td><td>Stam: 62/62</td><td>Panic: 1/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:17</td><td>Cord: 24</td><td>Hunger: 64/100</td><td>Thirst: 85/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:23</td><td>Wis:23</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 15</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 0</td><td>Fame: 105</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Weapon Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>One Hand and Shield:


    </li></ul>


    <ul><ul>


    <li>Daggers


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>2 hand Weapons:<ul>


    <li>Spears</li>


    <li>Staves</li>


    <li>Maces


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Hand-to-Hand: <ul>


    <li>Wrestling</li>


    <li>Striking


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice V


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice IV


    Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice IV</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Magic Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Witchcraft:


    </li></ul>


    <ul><ul>


    <li>Barriers


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Meditation:


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice II</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>General</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Camping:


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Outdoorsman:</li>


    <li>Fury:</li>


    <li>Dungeoneering:


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice IV


    Novice I</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Crafting</td></tr><tr><td>


    <ul>


    <li>Cooking:<ul>


    <li>Seafood


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Fishing: <ul>


    <li>Freshwater</li>


    <li>Spear Fishing


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Diplomacy: <ul>


    <li>Bartering


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Mining</li>


    <li>Herbalism


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice III


    Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice III


    Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice II


    Novice V


    Novice IV</td></tr></tbody></table>


    My skills and stats had grown significantly. Our long chain of hard battles and the ludicrous amount of mining I¡¯d done had given me one of the best levels I¡¯d had yet. I was guessing I had the stat points of someone closer to level 14 than my meager 9, but that still wouldn¡¯t allow me to trade blows with something as large as that boss. My skills had gone up quite a bit as well although I¡¯d not managed to break the Novice ranks on any of them. Still progress was progress, though none of that would help me over-much against something so massive.


    I noticed my titles page was now clickable. I¡¯d forgotten about it completely. Giving it a mental nudge, I opened the window.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Titles</td></tr><tr><td>Current Titles:  N/A


    Available Titles:


    Father of the First Circle    -  Add¡¯s 15% to the Potency of all Blessings and Curses while Active. Lowers your relations with most NPC¡¯s while active.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow that was a pretty huge buff. Then again, I was the first player to unlock witchcraft. Problem was I didn¡¯t have any buffs or curses. Something to work with, but not enough to tip the tides. What I needed was a class.


    I activated my title. Then opened my class sheet to see what I had to work with.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Basic Classes:</td><td>Unlocked Classes:</td></tr><tr><td>Fighter</td><td>Berserker</td></tr><tr><td>Priest</td><td>Merchant</td></tr><tr><td>Sorcerer</td><td>Ranger</td></tr><tr><td>Thief</td><td>Witch</td></tr><tr><td>Wizard</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Well I had managed to unlock a few classes. No where near as many as I wanted, but a few decent ones at least. I wanted to be a bruiser type, but I did like magic. Priest,Thief, and Ranger were out automatically. I already had a wizard in the group, and wizard was too over-played anyway. Although the rune magic they used in the game was an interesting take on the class, it just didn¡¯t spark my interest. Merchant would be fun, but I needed power, so that was out. That left me with sorcerer, witch, fighter, and berserker. Witch would also be fun but I already had a few buffs to it and again I wanted to be a fighter. I crossed witch and sorcerer off my mental list. Fighter and Berserker then. Well, by all rights Berserker should be a more powerful class since you had to unlock it. Alright, I pushed on the menu.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Warning This Choice is Permanent and Cannot be Changed</td></tr><tr><td>Two Hundred Forty-Six Classes Remain Locked. Do you wish to Continue?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    My finger hovered over the button. I just couldn¡¯t quite make myself do it. Something held me back. I slammed my hand on the no option, then ran my fingers through my hair frustrated. What the hell was I going to do? We had to kill this stupid boss, but if I was going to be stuck here for years or something I didn¡¯t wanna force myself into a class I didn¡¯t really want just to kill some lowbie dungeon boss.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Alright, what did I know? Fact: We needed to kill this boss. Fact: We could not do it with our current power levels. Fact: Selecting a class was likely to give me a significant boost: Fact: I didn¡¯t like any of my classes. Fact: I needed to unlock more skills to unlock more classes. Fact: I didn¡¯t know what skills were available, so I had nothing to start with. I paused. That last part wasn¡¯t exactly true. They had just added a class to the base list. It seemed unlikely that something as basic as sorcerer hadn¡¯t been available before. So it must have been a locked class. Which means that it was able to be unlocked through one method or another. Most likely thought the acquisition of elemental magic. Elemental magic would certainly be useful. Even a few low-powered spells could help a great deal.


    Resolved, I assumed my normal position for attempting magic. Sitting on the ground with legs crossed and eyes closed. I cleared my mind and gently nudged my magical senses. I could feel nothing really. I could faintly sense the remnants of the spell I¡¯d cast in the last room, but it was so far away I could just barely notice it. It was like a voice coming from a great distance.


    Elements, I needed elements. I reached in my pack and took out the last torch. We¡¯d already used it a bit but it should still suffice for an hour or so. I lit it using my flint and took my seat again. I held the torch in front of me. Focusing my senses on it. I could feel it¡¯s heat, it¡¯s light. It felt good in this cold-dank space. I flexed my magical power focusing on that flame as hard as I could. My head started to pound.


    There!


    I could feel the flame now on an entirely different level. The power of it. It¡¯s desire to consume, to run wild, to burn. It was fundamentally different from what I used for witchcraft, more savage, more alive, almost sentient. I held out my right palm and willed that power into my hand. It resisted. It wanted to burn the torch not move over to my hand.


    I changed tactics, I willed the fire to burn the air over my hand trying to coax it. It wavered but still wanted the torch more. I pushed out my mana like I was powering a circle, but this time just shoved it out into the world. It was raw potential,mystical fuel, but with no form and no spark. I shaped it into a trail leading from the torch to my palm. I willed to fire to consume it. The fire took the bait, jumping from the torch and burning up the trail of mana until it was in the space above my hand. I kept the mana flowing, feeding the fire and keeping it where I wanted. I slowly opened my eyes. A small ball of fire sat burning happily above my hand.


    Blip


    I cut off the mana and the fire flickered and burnt out.  I smiled opening my log.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User has Unlocked Secret Skill Elemental Magic</li>


    <li>User has Learned Sub-Skill Fire Magic


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    No new class though. I imagined I¡¯d have unlocked sorcerer had I done this yesterday. Oh well, I had more sub-skills to go through. Next I grabbed a water skin and repeated the process. Water felt very different from fire. The problem wasn¡¯t getting it to flow where you wanted. The problem was keeping it there. It just wanted to flow away all the time and I had to burn mana like crazy to keep to from running all over the place. I tried air next, but couldn¡¯t seem to connect to it. There was just too much stone down here. That made sense. This wasn¡¯t really a proper place for communing with air.


    Earth was last. It was easy to connect to, but I couldn¡¯t get it to do anything. Earth just wanted to stay still. I tried to coax, prod, and plead with it, but it simply refused. It wanted nothing more than to remain still for the next billion or so years.


    Frustrated I poured every ounce of mana I had into the ground below me shouting. ¡°Move damn you!¡±


    The ground started to tremble slightly, slowly gaining intensity until I had to put my hands down or risk falling over. The ground shook for twenty seconds or so, before subsiding.


    Blip


    Ba-ding


    ¡°What the hell are you doing over there?¡± Hanna asked incredulous. She¡¯d also been meditating and hadn¡¯t said anything when I¡¯d tamed fire and water. An earthquake had apparently been too much for her to keep her silence.


    ¡°Experimenting.¡± I said grinning.


    ¡°So you thought it a good idea to start messing with earth magic while we''re in an underground cave system. Your lucky you didn¡¯t make the ceiling collapse and bury us alive in here.¡± She said, her voice sharp.


    She had a point. I hadn¡¯t thought of that. We were also luckily I hadn¡¯t knocked over a pillar in the boss''s room and woke it up.


    Wait, that was it. If we could knock one of those big pillars over on the boss, it had to be worth at least 200 damage or so. It wouldn¡¯t kill the thing, but we might be able to break a bone or two. Combine that with a couple big spells from Hanna, and we might be able to cripple it enough for a decent fight.


    ¡°I¡¯m a genius.¡± I said happily. I grabbed Hanna and pulled her into a hug before pushing her away again. She looked at me stunned before her brow furrowed and her face reddened.


    ¡°I think you mean an idiot. You almost killed us both. What the hell was that?¡± She said angrily.


    ¡°I just figured out how we¡¯re going to beat the boss and a hug with a lovely girl was in order. Unfortunately you''re the only one around.¡± I shot back cheerily. Her face went red as a beet and her she pulled her wand from her belt.


    ¡°Stop, stop I was kidding!¡± I said frantically. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for you to blast me unconscious for another eight hours. I promise you''re quite beautiful please don¡¯t kill me.¡±  If anything that only made her scowl more. She did however put away her wand.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this master plan of yours¡± She asked a few moments later her voice sounding reluctantly curious. She was far from appeased but at least she wasn¡¯t going to start pitching fire or lighting around.


    ¡°Simple really. I sneak into the room, push over one of those giant pillars onto the rat. Then you blast it with the biggest, flashiest, most destructive spell you can manage, and we hope we injure it enough I can finish it off.¡± I explained. Simple plans were always the best plans. It left less to screw up.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like much of a plan. Are you sure you can push one of those pillars over. You''re strong, but I¡¯m not sure you''re that strong and if I cast a seven rune spell, I¡¯ll likely fall unconscious afterwards leaving you to fight it alone. ¡± Her brow furrowed in thought.


    ¡°If the pillar and your best spell don¡¯t weaken it enough for us to fight it, then we don¡¯t have a chance anyway. This was all your idea after all. Besides, I¡¯ve got a few things I want to try first.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Fine. Just let me know when you''re ready.¡± She said resigned, then sat down on a rock nearby.


    First things first. I checked my log.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User has Learned Sub-Skill Earth Magic</li>


    <li>User Has Unlocked Class Geomancer


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Geomancer¡­.. eh?


    I brought up the details.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Geomancer


    </td></tr><tr><td>A hybrid class mixing magic and melee combat. Geomancers are powerful warriors using earth magics to enhance their physical attributes,  harden their skin, and strengthen their blows.


    This class is unlocked by unlocking both the Earth Magic sub-skill, and the Dungeoneering Skill</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Triple Jackpot!


    Now that was a class. A close range fighter who had powerful magic, and a ridiculously hard class to unlock. Besides earth mages always got the shaft in games. Everyone always wanted to be a Fire mage or an Ice mage. Earth needed some love. I selected the class, and quickly hit accept on the warning box before I could change my mind.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>You Have Selected Class Geomancer!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attribute Bonuses</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''><ul>


    <li>+ .5 bonus to UBstr on level-up</li>


    <li>+ .5 bonus to LBstr on level-up</li>


    <li>+ 1 bonus to Con on level-up</li>


    <li>+ 1 bonus to Res on level-up</li>


    <li>User HP calculation has changed from 50% of Con per level to %50 of Con and 25% of Wis per Level</li>


    <li>User Mana calculation has changed from 50% of Res per level to %50 of Res and 25% of End per Level


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skill Bonuses</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''><ul>


    <li>Elemental Magic is now a Primary Skill</li>


    <li>Earth Magic Specialization Selected</li>


    <li>Air Magic is now a Restricted Skill and cannot be Learned</li>


    <li>Medium Armor is now a Secondary Skill


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities</td></tr><tr><td>Stoneskin


    Draws upon the Earth to harden the players skin.


    Rank: Novice I


    Duration: Toggle


    Cost: Reserves 10 Mana


    Effect: Increases users armor by 30</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I stared stupefied. That was a ridiculous amount of bonuses. New HP and Mana Calculations, a new ability. I still had no idea how the skill system worked, but it seemed a rather petty gripe in the midst of such overwhelming awesomeness. The best parts though were the passive stat gains. Those would make a huge difference over time. However, none of those would really help me with his fight. Still, it was a pretty sweet class.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Hanna said looking puzzled. ¡°You look¡­. Different somehow.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I finally decided what I wanted to be when I grow up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and what¡¯s that? A smartass?¡± She grumbled, turning away from me again.


    ¡°No need to exert myself for that. I¡¯ve got it down pat already. I¡¯m going to be a Geomancer.¡± I shot back while opening more menus. My log said I unlocked the First Geomancer achievement.


    ¡°What¡¯s a geomancer.¡± She asked while I opened pane.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Titles</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Current Titles:  Father of the First Circle


    Available Titles:


    Father of the First Circle    -  Add¡¯s 15% to the Potency of all Blessing and Curses while Active. Lowers your relations with most NPC¡¯s while active.


    Chosen Of Gaia    -   Increases the potency of all Active Geomancer Class Abilities by 5%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°A sorta earth mage.¡± I said equipping the title. It wasn¡¯t as good as the witch title, but It also didn¡¯t have the drawbacks. I supposed it was pretty good considering I could Just have it equipped forever.


    ¡°That¡¯s great and all, but are you ready yet. We are in a hurry right?¡± Hanna asked impatient. We were indeed in a hurry, but I had one last thing I wanted to do.


    ¡°Uhhhhh, not really. I¡¯ve got one more thing I want to try.¡±


    ****************************************************************


    "More witchcraft?¡± Hanna said snidely as I sat flipping through my new book.


    ¡°Not this argument again.¡±  I groaned. ¡°We NEED to kill this rat. Witchcraft will help. Now stop being such a killjoy.¡± I took at my rock and scratched another circle in the ground. Then dug out my book and flipped to the page on blessings.


    ¡®Casting a blessing is similar to that of a protective spell. The user must create a circle, then select a shape based on the number of elements one wishes. Two is the minimum. Adding more Elements to the spell will increase it¡¯s range of effects as well as it¡¯s potency, but will also increase the difficulty of the casting and the mana consumed.


    Secondly A user must select the person or object they wish to bestow the blessing upon. This is usually done by adding a small part of the user into the magic circle, fingernails, hair, and blood, are the most common.


    Thirdly a shaping element must be present. This is done by drawing a ritual symbol and empowering it with a compatible ingredient. See Appendix 4c for a list of basic symbols and Chapter 7 for valid reagents.¡¯


    ¡°Lets see¡­¡± I muttered flipping through the book.  ¡°We¡¯ll stick to two elements since this is a first attempt. Earth for protection and strength. Fire for Intensity.¡± I thought out-loud while I readied everything. I lit a small wooden splinter from our last torch on fire and sat it down with my rock down at the corners of the triangle. Then I fished a small shriveled grey mushroom out of my pack and flipped to the appropriate page in my book.


    ''Goblins Foot


    A small grey mushroom found in caves and underground areas in the Theld Kingdom. It¡¯s distinctive shriveled appearance and unpleasant smell make it an unpopular choice for a reagent, but it¡¯s actually quite potent.


    Characteristics: Vigor, Vitality¡¯


    I scratched the symbol for Vigor in the circle. Then plucked a hair out of my own head wrapping it around the mushroom. Then I looked over at Hanna who was looking at me while shaking her head emphatically.


    ¡°Common, This is for the village remember. Don¡¯t be a chicken.¡± I prodded gesturing with my hand. She reluctantly pulled out a hair and handed it to me. ¡°That wasn¡¯t so hard. Trust me this¡¯ll be great.¡±


    ¡°I somehow don¡¯t believe you.¡± She muttered. I blocked out her voice and focused on the spell. Pumping every drop of my magic into the circle. I would have liked to have saved some for stone-skin, but 30 armor wouldn¡¯t be terribly useful against a monster who would likely kill me in a hit or two. The circle blazed with power, and the lines of color that swirled around were brighter than I¡¯d ever seen before.


    I supposed I did have more mana now and there was also my title which pumped up my blessings. I swayed woozily, suddenly light headed, but fought off the feeling as I focused on what I wanted. We needed strength and vitality. Enough to push over one of those giant pillars and survive against the Rat Boss. Giving the spell the last of my willpower, I reached out and broke the circle.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>You have created a New Spell. Would you like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Blip


    Power spilled into the room, racing around in the air. Brown and Red weaved themselves into complex patterns until they blended together transforming into into a neon orange. The ball of energy suddenly split into two, and slammed into Hanna and I. Hitting us directly above our hearts.


    It felt as if I¡¯d suddenly been hit by lightning and I gasped at the sensations rocketing through me. An odd alien power seemed to fill my body and energy pulsed through all my limbs. I fell on the ground twitching while my body adjusted to the new feelings. Half a minute or so ticked by before I sat up, panting. I felt so¡­ Alive. Powerful, Confidant. I looked over at Hanna and saw her starting to rise as well. God, she was lovely. I just wanted to grab her, pull her against me, and revel in this new feeling with her.


    I shook my head and fought down my euphoria and lust. Apparently, this spell was dangerous in more ways than one. It made sense though, a detached corner of my brain reasoned. Pagans had never really been known for self restraint when it came to sex. Most of the goddesses associated with witchcraft were goddesses of fertility. I stood up and offered Hanna a hand. I had to exert some extra will to let her hand go, but I managed to separate us without doing anything too embarrassing.


    ¡°Well, that was certainly a rush.¡± I said wide-eyed. ¡°I could charge good money for that, and I¡¯d have people lined up around the block.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± she said in a low husky voice. I looked into her eyes and her honey-brown eyes were now dark and smokey. She looked at me with equal parts excitement, fear, and lust. It was a look I¡¯d seen far too few times in my life, and it took another mental lashing to turn my head from her.


    ¡°Ok, Stop looking at me like that, or we going to end up wasting another hour.¡± I said sharply.That wasn¡¯t entirely true. In this state it would likely be closer to five minutes but a man had his pride. I did want her even before the spell, but taking advantage of her hopped up on a lust spell would be pretty damn low. It would be fun, but we¡¯d both feel terrible afterwards.


    I opened more menus to try and distract myself.


    I opened the details.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>You have created a custom witchcraft spell. This ritual enhances a user''s Strength, Constitution, and Endurance. This spell is created by combining the fire and earth elements with a symbol of vigor using a Goblins Foot mushroom as focus. Potency will increase with mana and skill.


    Warning: The feelings of euphoria and physical power caused by witchcraft blessings can often cause side effects. As you improve your skill with witchcraft you will be able to suppress these side effects if you choose.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    If by side effects they mean wild blind lust than they are 100% correct.


    Name: Blessing of Vigor¡­..I thought before looking at my stat page.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name Confirmed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 9</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 32(+3) 35</td><td>LBStr: 28(+3) 31</td><td>HP: 98/98</td><td>Mana: 22/22</td></tr><tr><td>End: 26(+3) 29</td><td>Con: 28(+3) 31</td><td>Stam: 66/66</td><td>Panic: 1/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:17</td><td>Cord: 24</td><td>Hunger: 64/100</td><td>Thirst: 85/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:23</td><td>Wis:23</td><td colspan=''2''>Magical Effects</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 15</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''>Witchcraft: Blessing of Vigor (+3 UBstr, +3 LbStr, +3 Con, +3 End)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 2</td><td>Fame: 105</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Not bad, +3 was around a 10% boost. I still didn¡¯t know if it would be enough but It would have to do. I was literally at the bottom of my bag of tricks, and honestly even if we killed the boss I didn¡¯t know if we¡¯d make it back to the surface before we starved to death. Hopefully once we killed the boss we¡¯d get a portal out or something.


    ¡°You ready?¡± I asked Hanna as I packed everything into my pack and hosted it onto my shoulders. I planned to drop it once I got into the main boss room. It was too heavy to carry around in a fight now.


    She looked at me and nodded and we squeezed our way out into the main chamber. The boss was where we¡¯d left him lying asleep in the middle of the room. I looked at the location of the pillars trying to select one as far away from the boss as possible, while still close enough to hit him. I chose the pillar on the back right. It was close to the wall, which would let me use the wall for leverage while still close enough to fall on him.


    I leaned close to Hanna and whispered in her ear. ¡°I¡¯m heading for the pillar on the back right, Wait until right before it hits and start your spell.¡±


    With that I laid down my pack, readied my hammer, and started my long slow walk around the edge of the cavern. The boss snorted a few times, as if starting to wake, but stayed still as I got around him and into position. The pillar was ever more massive from up close, and I prayed I¡¯d be able to move it. Damn thing must weigh two or three tons at least, but If I could get high enough I should be able to tip it over.


    I braced my back against the wall and started to walk up the pillar. I used the pressure of my legs against the pillar to defy gravity as I wiggled my way up.  It was slow going, but after ten minutes I made it up near the top.


    Now it was time to see. I pressed with my legs as hard as I could straining against the massive weight. This high up I had significant leverage but the weight was still monstrous.  The column started to lean, but soon grew too heavy to move anymore. I slowly let it come back to rest, and took a few deep breaths. I could do this.


    I pressed again, tipping the pillar slightly, then let it¡¯s momentum carry it back. Then I used the counter-momentum to speed up it¡¯s movement and tip it further. It leaned farther out before I let it go again. This time it moved faster and when it started forward again, I added everything I had left. It hung suspended on the very edge of falling for one horrible moment, before my persistence won and it went tumbling over ever so slowly down. I pushed off the wall with arm and clung to the pillar as it plummeted toward the Rat King.


    The sound of the crash was spectacular and the combined volume of the awakened boss, the crashing pillar, and Hanna¡¯s shouted chant nearly deafened me.  I slipped from the pillar as it slammed into the rat and bounced from the recoil.


    I fell a good ten feet onto solid stone before crashing down on my back. The air exploded out of my lungs and I gasped and choked as I struggled back to my feet.


    ¡°Wa Et Het Tirg Saa Na Saa!¡±


    I got to my feet in time to see the boss pull itself out from under the pillar and start spinning around towards me. It seemed to be dragging it¡¯s back leg so my plan hadn¡¯t been a total bust. I searched for Hanna and saw her standing near the tunnel with 5 red-orange balls of flame spinning in front of  her perpendicular to the ground. The air was warped more than I¡¯d ever seen it and I could feel the power pouring off her. The fireballs spun faster and faster until they blurred together into a single ring of fire. Then with a shout Hanna flicked her wand and the ring shot toward the rat now spinning around to destroy me.


    The circle of flame slipped over the boss''s head like a collar. Then it then started to move backwards from it¡¯s neck, working it¡¯s way slowly along it¡¯s body from front to back. The ring separated as it expanded and I could see the five fireballs squeezing against the beasts body. The spell burrowed into flesh leaving burning trenches in concentric circles. That rat screamed in agony and the sound was so loud I felt my ear-drums burst and the world plunged into silence.


    I approached while it was still distracted and slammed my hammer down on one of it¡¯s leg joints. I¡¯m not sure the attack did much damage, but the monster seemed to have completely lost it¡¯s mind. It rolled onto it¡¯s back, nearly crushing me. While thrashing and clawing in every direction. A few spikes of bone got me and I shrugged off the injury, still moving while trying to keep some distance and attacking over and over again with my hammer. I looked for Hanna in my periphery and saw her sprawled on the ground where she had cast her spell.


    Looks like it¡¯s on me then


    The rat rolled back to it¡¯s feet and seemed to compose itself somewhat. It turned, obviously badly wounded and I smashed my hammer into it¡¯s gaping maw shattering teeth. It tried to bite me but I dodged aside planting my feet and smashing my hammer into the side of it¡¯s head with all my strength. My hammer shattered into black mist and the boss hammered me with a clawed leg. I spun through the air flying like cannon shot.


    ¡°STONESKIN!¡± I cried as my body flailed through the air. I felt a refreshing chill wrap my body as I hit one of the massive pillars back first. There was a single agonizing moment of pain before everything below my waist went horribly, blissfully numb. I slid to the floor unable to move, my heart pounding in my ears.


    I could see the boss limping towards me through my darkening vision as well as Hanna behind it still laying where she fell.  She stirred feebly, raising to one shaky knee. Her eyes widened and time seemed to slow as she raised her wand in one trembling hand. Her lips moved and a single bolt of fire wobbled through the air drunkenly toward the boss. It impacted into the creature''s flank with a sad hiss I could not hear. The boss took two more steps toward me, raised a paw, and collapsed.


    The world went black.

 Volume 1: Chapter 12

    I woke to the patter of teardrops on my face. I pried open my eyes and my vision was obscured by a mass of dirty-blond hair.


    ¡°Easy.¡± I said raising an arm. I could feel the vibrations in my head but my hearing was still shot. ¡°I¡¯m alive.¡± Hanna¡¯s head jerked and she pulled her head back far enough I could see her tear-streaked face. Her eyes widened and she was suddenly kissing me. It was short but so out of left field I had no idea how to react.


    She finally pulled back from the kiss then looked at me and must have seen something in my expression. Her lips moved but I had no idea what she said. I pointed to my ears and shook my head.


    ¡°My ears are shot and I think my back is broken. I can¡¯t feel my legs.¡± I pinched my leg but felt nothing.


    Her eyes widened and and her lips moved again. I shook my head again and Hanna looked even more worried and frustrated. I started opening menu¡¯s.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>


    Torso: (Severe)  Broken Back (-100% LBstr, -15% Agi)


    Torso: (Moderate) Sprained Shoulder (-30% UBstr)


    Head:(Severe) Ruptured Eardrums (Deafened)


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    That would do it. I tried the log next.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User Has Leveled Up. User Is Now Level 10</li>


    <li>User Has Unlocked Skill System</li>


    <li>Quest Log Updated


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tomb Of The Rat King</td></tr><tr><td>The people of valor¡¯s crossing are under siege by rats from the Tomb of the Rat King. Delve the depths of the Tomb, Defeat the Rat King and restore peace to the village, before the rats destroy too much of their winter stores.


    Update: The Rat King Has Been Slain. Proceed into the Tomb and find the source of the Corruption.


    Recommended Level: 15


    Difficulty: Dungeon


    Rewards: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I caught Hanna¡¯s eyes and pointed to the stone building behind her. She looked puzzled and I spoke up. ¡°We need to end this. Move me to that building we need what¡¯s inside.¡±


    She frowned but shrugged then started dragging me across the stone floor like I was a sack of potatoes. It was rather wounding to my male pride but I was thankful it wasn¡¯t the real world. There I¡¯d be crippled for life here I would be crippled for a day or two.The steps up in the building were even less fun, but apparently the door had opened when Hanna killed the Boss. Inside was a stone dais upon which sat a single black orb.


    Bla-Blip


    I opened my log again.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tomb Of The Rat King</td></tr><tr><td>The people of valor¡¯s crossing are under siege by rats from the Tomb of the Rat King. Delve the depths of the Tomb, Defeat the Rat King and restore peace to the village, before the rats destroy too much of their winter stores.


    Update: The Rat King Has Been Slain. Proceed into the Tomb and find the source of the Corruption.


    Update: You have found the source of the Corruption. Remove it from the Cave or Destroy it.


    Recommended Level: 15


    Difficulty: Dungeon


    Rewards: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I pointed toward the black sphere. ¡°Hand me that If you¡¯d be so kind.¡±


    Hanna frowned and picked up the sphere. She shuddered visibly and quickly handed it over. It felt¡­..  Well, evil for lack of a better word. It seemed to radiate greasy black power. I inspected it with the inventory Screen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Orb Of Corruption


    (Legendary)</td></tr><tr><td>Consumable


    An orb of power created by the mages of old, but corrupted by being bombarded with dark magic.  This orb is overflowing with magical power. Using this orb will imbue the user with that power greatly enhancing their physical and mental attributes.


    Using this orb will increase all stats by 30 Permanently.


    Will forcefully change users race to Dark-One.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    That¡¯s a lot of stats. 10-15 Entire levels worth really. I would be ridiculously powerful. What the hell was a legendary class item doing in a level 15 dungeon? I looked over at Hanna and her warm brown eyes looked expectant.


    Women¡­.


    Sighing I hurled the orb against the far wall. It was awkward without my hips or legs in the throw, but I got enough power behind it. The orb hit the wall and shattered into hundreds of pieces.


    A golden light filled the room, and a woman materialized before me. I glanced over at Hanna and saw she was standing perfectly still, not even breathing. Dust motes and pieces of the orb hung in mid-air as if time itself had stopped. I looked back to the woman and shining golden eyes met mine. The woman was statuesque taller even than Hanna and so perfectly proportioned it was obvious she could not be human. She wore a pure white toga over perfect tanned skin. Golden blonde ringlets framed an aristocratic face and fell in perfectly managed disorder. She looked at me and I felt like a mouse before a hawk. She was inhumanly beautiful and radiated an aura of absolute power.


    ¡°Greetings Thomas Ritter.¡± Her voice was a smooth alto, warm and golden like maple syrup. It seemed to sooth my nerves and my tensed muscles relaxed against my will.


    ¡°Is that my name?¡± I asked. I had no idea what was going on. Was this part of the quest?


    ¡°It is your name. No-one should be denied their name.¡° Her face was serious and I could see anger in her gaze. I was very thankful it was not directed at me.


    ¡°How did I get here? Why am I trapped?¡± I asked frantically. Could this woman tell me what had happened or better yet get me out of here? My thoughts swirled as I tried to understand the situation.


    The woman looked both sad and frustrated. ¡°My son¡¯s foolishness and human greed have brought you here. There are many trapped but fear not. Your time here grows short, but you will return. You must return. You will be needed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Was I kidnapped? How is this even possible? Who are you? Can you get me out of here?¡± I was frantic and my words spilled over top of each other as my heartbeat ratcheted up.. This woman or what ever she was knew all the answers I¡¯d been searching for.


    ¡°Hush Child.¡± The woman¡¯s voice cut me off and the thought of ever speaking again disappeared from my mind. ¡°You will soon be free to come and go as you please but return you must.¡± The woman smiled a gentle smile and the sheer beauty of it made me want to curl up in her lap and weep.  ¡°I am¡­. A goddess you might say. Call me Baria,  remember the name Thomas Ritter and use it to find your way back.¡± She stepped towards me, bent down and, placed a kiss on my forehead with her perfect lips. ¡°Now sleep child and heal. Your journey has just begun.¡±


    **********************************************************


    Jasmine clicked though the report in front of her seething. She¡¯d lost her chance at being a tester. She¡¯d got another email that said they didn¡¯t need testers anymore. They¡¯d apparently gathered all the data they needed and were gearing up for launch now. In 14 days there would be 200,000 thousand players chomping at the bit to get in on the action. Which left Jasmine back at her crappy job with more reports to read than ever. She sighed, then flipped to the next report.


    At least they let her keep the raise. She was making solid money now and although her work days we painful drudgery she at least made enough money to endure it. The best part was they were cutting her a deal on the capsule they¡¯d put in her house. Normally they retailed for 5,000USD. But they offered to sell her the one she¡¯d been using for only a grand. That was steep, but she could afford it now. Who was she kidding? She¡¯d have paid the full 5k. Otherworld was just way too addictive and she¡¯d be standing in line with all the nerds at the midnight release she had a feeling. At least they were letting her keep her character. All the testers were going to have  theirs wiped.


    She paused as her eyes caught something on the report she was looking over. An NPC killed a boss? How was that even possible. She didn¡¯t think they were supposed to go on quests. What was it doing in the boss room of a dungeon. She re-read the logs paying more attention this time.


    Yes NPC 495664 has killed monster 756B61F3584, while grouped with player 13617. She read on. They killed the boss then something strange happened. The log seemed to skip some time. She pulled up her search tool and queried the game servers directly.


    Yes, The player was sitting in one place. Then suddenly was laying down without having moved, and all of his wounds had been healed. The level up should have restored his life but how had his wounds been healed? He¡¯d broken his back. Even in an inn that should have taken a week to heal. She flagged the lines in question and sent a notification to her boss. Someone would have to look into this.


    End of Volume 1


    _______________________________________________________


    Note: Been a fun ride so far. This ends the first volume. The second one will take a bit longer as it''s still a WIP and will need some serious rewrites. I''ll try to keep pushing our a chapter a week, but it might be longer than that.


    Thanks for all the views and reviews! Stay tuned for volume 2.

 Volume 2: Prologue

    The entire office was abuzz with the news of the upcoming launch. Everyone was excited and Nelson entered the CEO¡¯s office with a spring in his step. The boss was sitting behind his desk as usual typing an email.


    ¡°Ahhh, Nelson you have the latest reports?¡± The CEO said with an unusual amount of cheer in his voice. He looked up from his work and smiled.


    ¡°Yessir, III has completed his NPC behavior algorithms. We are prepping the testers for expulsion now. We¡¯ve had legal sorting out all the forms and we¡¯ve uploaded the new memory modifications to the machines. We¡¯ll be pulling them out later today.¡± He explained, finishing his report.


    ¡°Perfect. Get to it then. Have the system roll back all achievements, wipe the characters, and reset all NPC¡¯s. That should be everything on the technical front.¡± He picked up some more papers and shuffled them reading. ¡°Looks like sales are booming. We¡¯ve already sold 200,000 systems and games. With twice that many on a waiting list. We¡¯re preparing to scale up production on the Mk. III systems and should have a million players in six months. Things are finally coming to fruition. Just get the testers out and take a few weeks off Nelson. You¡¯ve earned it.¡± The CEO waved Nelson out of the office then went back to his email. He¡¯d been sent a report flagged by analytics. He opened the attachment and glanced at the log. Strange but it wasn¡¯t anything too serious. Just a hick-up. He gave it one more glance and hit to delete button.  Launch was in 10 days and he had a speech to practice for the board.


    ***********************************************************************************


    I took another sip of Sten¡¯s stout and smiled as the room wobbled around me. I¡¯d already had a full mug, and decided I¡¯d better not finish this one if I was going to make it upstairs. The inn was packed tonight and was filled with the clink of mugs, lively chatter, and off key singing.  I¡¯d been living it up for the last two days. Everyone in town was treating me like a king and the whole village had been swept up in a festive atmosphere.


    I was living large and loving every minute of it. With the copper and all the drops from the dungeon I¡¯d made nearly 50 gold, leveled up twice, and unlocked another achievement.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Slayer Of The Rat King</td></tr><tr><td>


    Bonus: +5000 to Fame with NPC¡¯s in Valor¡¯s Crossing


    Bonus: +3% damage against all monsters with Rat type


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I pushed away from the bar, waved at Sten, and used all my willpower to focus on climbing the stairs. Being drunk here was a rather odd experience. You got all the side-effects, the spinning vision, the loss of balance, the reckless courage, but your thoughts were still sharp. I missed the top step but managed to catch myself before falling. Smiling stupidly I opened the door to my room and fell into my cushy bed.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Ahhhhhh, Heaven


    I still had all my level ups and various rewards to sort though. I¡¯d gone through my log, but had yet to check out my skills, my new levels, or pretty much anything else. I¡¯d treated the last two days like a vacation. I could deal with everything tomorrow tonight I just wanted to relax. I closed my eyes and was drifting off when my door creaked open. I knew who it was but even if I hadn¡¯t guessed the smell of wildflowers would have given her away.


    ¡°I thought I told you we weren¡¯t doing this. I¡¯m not staying in the village.¡± I said exasperated. I¡¯d managed to put her off last night but apparently she planned the press the issue this evening. Sleeping with a beautiful woman wasn¡¯t exactly a negative but having a one-night stand and then leaving afterwards didn¡¯t sit right, even if she wasn¡¯t a real person.. Besides, I still couldn¡¯t figure her out. She¡¯d never really even been friendly with me. It was hard to guess at her motives did she really like me or was it some weird NPC compulsion from my 5000+ fame points.


    ¡°And I thought I told you I knew that already. Stop treating me like some green girl. I¡¯m a woman and older than you are. I¡¯m not some moon-eyed maiden you''re taking advantage of.¡± Hanna said from a few feet away.


    I sat up but she stepped toward me and pushed me down on the bed pressing her lips against mine. She shifted her weight onto me, and I slid my hands up her legs and over her hips pulling her tighter against me. She let out a throaty chuckle and started pressing kisses to my neck as she pulled at her dress.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be resisting very hard¡± She teased as I ran my hands up under her dress. Her skin felt amazing and the feel of her back as she tugged at my shirt finally broke my meager resistance. I groaned into her neck and ran kisses down onto the tops of her breasts. I reached around her, bunched my shoulders, and ripped her dress completely off.


    Thank you 40 strength score


    I got one fleeting glimpse of her nude form in the silver moonlight from my window before a red warning message popped up over my vision.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Forced Log-out Activated</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Volume 2: Chapter 1

    I was suddenly in sterile white room, looking into the amused eyes of some sort of technician. I could hear droning buzz of fluorescent lights interspersed with other voices.  My arms and legs were being held in some of exercise machine but the technician removed them swiftly and efficiently while I was still trying to pull my thoughts away from mating and into a more useful arrangement.I looked around wild eyed unsure of where I was at or what the hell was happening.


    I looked around and could see rows of similar machines with other technicians seeing to other confused half-naked people. It wasn¡¯t until I saw the catheter and the feeding tube on the table next to me I finally figured out what was going on. I was finally free and wanted nothing more than to be back in the game.¡°How much do I need to pay you to send me back for like a half hour.¡± I asked the technician frantic.


    He looked puzzled for a moment then glanced my my groin and laughed. ¡°They said you weren''t supposed to remember anything from the game. Sorry boss but the server is down. They are rolling out the 1.0 patch tonight and wiping all characters. Even if I strapped you back in it wouldn¡¯t do any good.¡± He paused for a moment then asked with a speculative grin.¡°Professional or Amature?¡±


    I groaned putting my head in my hands. ¡°Village girl, Blonde hair, brown eyes, and stacked to the ceiling.¡± I  mumbled defeated. Life really was unfair. He whistled and gave me a sympathetic look.


    ¡°Well don¡¯t feel to bad, You¡¯ll just have to look her up again when the game goes live. Launch is in two weeks. Best part for you is the company is giving all testers a discount on a reserved system.¡± He leaned closer. ¡°Seriously, buy it. Even if you don¡¯t wanna play. The pre-orders are backed up for the next two years, and most stores are only getting a unit or two. You could E-bay one of these things for about fifteen grand right now and they are offering them to you guys for only two.¡± He explained. Then he saw something over my shoulder and backed up. He helped me down onto the ground and my feet touched real earth for the first time in a month.


    A tall skinny woman in a business suit walked up to me holding a clipboard. ¡°Mr. Ritter.¡± Please sign here. She said handing me the clipboard. I quickly read the paper while trying to adjust to being suddenly back in the real world. It was a legal document stating that I was a voluntary tester for the upcoming game Otherworld, and I¡¯d been involved in a prolonged test of their Full Emersion Mode. Ten thousand dollars were to be deposited in my bank account. With an offer to buy my testing machine for two thousand. I absolved them of all legal responsibility and was agreeing that I was healthy, safe, and had been satisfied with my experience. It was written in dense legalese and was pretty well constructed for being an outright lie.


    After meeting that goddess or whoever it was. I¡¯d gotten my memories back. I knew who I was, I remembered being kidnapped out of my apartment and drugged, as well as all of my previous lives in game. Apparently my latest incarnation had been my 8th character. The other 7 times I¡¯d died to wolves, goblins, or simply starved to death, the entire time having no idea what was going on. It was a little sickening really. Those bastards had been basically torturing me for a month. However, this didn¡¯t seem the time to point that out. Telling someone who¡¯s willing to kidnap you that you remember it happening is more likely to get you killed than it is to get you justice.


    I signed the paper, checking the box to agree to the purchase of my capsule. She nodded curtly and told me to expect the deposit by the end of the next business day and that the capsule would be moved to my residence sometime by the end of the week.


    Then she had the technician walk me out to the parking lot where my old Corolla was waiting for me with the keys in it. I opened the door, slid into the driver''s seat,and just sat there. The familiar smell of my car clashed with my memories of last month. I had a great deal to wrap my head around.


    In a half hour I¡¯d gone from making out with a beautiful, albeit digital, woman, to waking up in some corporate rat-farm, being handed eight grand and  a new sparkly super game system. Then being shuffled out the door. My old beat up Corolla was waiting for me in the parking lot, and It would be a 50 Mile drive from the Nexus Office in Indianapolis back to my apartment in Bloomington. I wasn¡¯t sure exactly how I was supposed to feel, so i just sat there in the driver''s seat trying to put my head on right.


    I¡¯d liked who¡¯d I¡¯d been in otherworld. I¡¯d been a badass. I¡¯d been trapped, but I¡¯d had money, a job, a girl, and some pretty freaking cool powers. Before I¡¯d been Noob Slayer. Now I was Tom, computer repair guy, average college student,  and owner of one beat-up Toyota. I suppose it¡¯s true what they say. The grass is always greener on the other side. When I¡¯d been there I wanted to go home, and now that I¡¯m home I want to go back.


    I reached down into my cup holder and plugged in my phone. It started beeping frantically with missed messages and missed call Alerts. I touched the screen and looked at the date. Wednesday,  July 2. I¡¯d been stuck in the game for 31 days. Sighing, I started the car.


    **************************************************************


    ¡°Where the hell you been dude?¡± My friend Chris asked as he stuffed another handful of corn curls into his mouth.  I¡¯d gotten home late last night and collapsed into my bad. Chris had worked all morning and he¡¯d only gotten home a few minutes ago. ¡°I¡¯ve been jonesing for corn curls for a month.¡±  He said as we sprawled on our couch watching Chicago get slaughtered by St. Louis.


    ¡°You do realize they sell those at¡­.. Everywhere. If you like them so much you could just buy them, and I told you I was testing Otherworld at Nexus. ¡± I said rolling my eyes.


    ¡°They never taste as good when I buy them.¡± He said around another mouthful. He was rail-thin, with light-brown hair and blue eyes.  ¡°So how was it? Is the game awesome?¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m under NDA and can¡¯t actually talk about it.¡± I responded. Chris looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s freaking awesome.¡± I said grinning. ¡°There are about a million skills to unlock. Fifty playable races. Two hundred fifty classes, and the magic system is unbelievably awesome.¡±


    Chris looked excited. He was a hard-core gamer like I was. It was how we¡¯d ended up roommates. We met at a game tournament freshman year and become fast friends.


    ¡°Well? Details man, Details. How are the graphics? What about the crafting.¡± His eyes were about as big as saucers.


    ¡°That¡¯s the part I don¡¯t get.¡± I said becoming serious. ¡°It¡¯s too good.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean too good?¡± He looked at me baffled.


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. The graphics are true to life. Photorealistic, Like 30k high def. It¡¯s not just video either. The machines aren''t just visual like those goggles they sell now. They are Full Dive VR. Touch, taste, smell. You  can feel everything like it¡¯s the real world, and the NPC¡¯s are so lifelike. And their lips are so soft¡­¡­..¡± I trailed off realizing I might have said a bit too much. I looked over at Chris a little sheepish.


    ¡°Well,¡± Chis said grinning. ¡°That explains why you¡¯ve been looking down. Find yourself some sexy cat-girl healer to warm your bed?¡± Then he trailed off. ¡°Wait  Can you can seriously have sex?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°No idea actually. I was about 30 seconds from finding out when the test ended. But I¡¯m sure you can. The game is just that detailed. You can literally do ANYTHING you could do in real life. It¡¯s insane. That¡¯s why I¡¯m so confused. It¡¯s not two years ahead of the competition it¡¯s at least twenty. You honestly feel like you are in Otherworld. I have no idea who cooked up their tech or how they managed to keep it secret.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really that good?¡± He asked disbelieving. It was pretty obvious he wasn¡¯t buying it.


    ¡°Better¡± I said serious meeting his eyes.


    ¡°Well then we better get supplies ready for the camp out. I hear BestPrice is only getting five units, We¡¯re going to have to go full bore If I¡¯m gonna buy one. ¡° He nodded his head as if preparing for some epic quest.


    ¡°You do realise those things cost like five grand right, then a hundred for the game and thirty bucks a month?¡± I reminded him. Chris was a poor college kid like me. Granted, his parents had some money but I thought five grand for a glorified game console would be pushing it.


    He waved his arms as if brushing such petty matters aside. ¡°I¡¯ll just tell dad I¡¯m planning to re-sell it. He¡¯s always trying to convince me to look for good investment Ideas. I¡±ll just tell him I found one. He¡¯ll come through.¡±


    ¡°Alright man,¡± I said giving up. ¡°We going a full 24 hours?¡±


    ¡°Pffft. This is a college town. You know how many nerds are going to want one? We better go three-days at least. Your lucky your boss fired you for being gone. Now we¡¯ll have time to prepare.¡± He said, rubbing his hands together and while he  started making a list of supplies.


    Laughing, I picked up the phone to order a pizza when there was a knock on the door. I opened it to two rough looking workmen. They pushed into my apartment carrying a giant box with my system inside. I pointed to the only open corner in the place. I¡¯d spent an hour this morning cleaning out a spot for the thing. Although, if Chris was buying one too I had no Idea where the hell we were going to put it.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The men left and Chris and I sat ogling the machine.  It was pretty sci-fi looking. Like some off cross between a gyro-sphere, exercise machine, and crazy VR Trainer. I¡¯d never really had a good look at it. I¡¯d been in one for a month, but hadn¡¯t ever had the chance to look at it in detail. I¡¯d been pushed out of the office about 20 seconds after I came out of the game.


    ¡°Well¡± Chris said examining the system. ¡°I think I¡¯d better add truck to the list.¡±


    ******************************************************************************


    We arrived at the BestPrice on Schedule. Midnight exactly three days from release. We took our camping gear out of the truck we¡¯d rented and started to set-up. Surprisingly we weren''t the first ones there. A couple incoming sophomores from the University had beaten us.  It was summer break, and apparently they didn¡¯t have much to so, and were more than willing to take time off their part time jobs to be first in line for Otherworld.


    ¡°Told you we should have gone a full week.¡± Chris said sullen. His face had fallen the second he saw we weren¡¯t the first ones here.


    ¡°We¡¯ll still get one relax. This just means we played our cards better. We still get a machine, but we had to stand in line for four days less.¡± I replied trying to mollify him.  He was the reason we were here anyway. I could just pick up a copy of the game since I had my testing machine. He was the one that needed an actual. system.


    We sat and chatted with the other two. There were apparently physics majors who managed to out nerd even chris and I, and we had fun chatting and planning our character builds. I didn¡¯t mention I was a beta tester. That would have lead to nothing but three entire days of getting peppered with ridiculous questions. Instead we chatted, grilled hamburgers on the mini grill we brought, and generally screwed around. It was a good time, and a great way to spend a week on summer break.


    At 24 hours a couple showed up and joined the line. At first they were really upset since there wouldn¡¯t be enough machines for both of them, but I told them I didn¡¯t need one. When they asked I lied and told them my uncle worked for the company. A few more people trickled in after them but most left when they saw the rest of us in line.


    Then the store finally closed on the last day the manager came out and started talking to us. Apparently the entire state had only gotten 300 units, and he was happy they¡¯ed managed to get five. He chatted with us while midnight approached when another girl got in line behind us. She looked more like a punk-rocker than a gamer. Her complexion was darker than mine, which isn¡¯t hard considering Ritter was about as German as you can get. She had dark eyes, straight black hair, and a full sleeve of tattoos down her left arm.


    Chris elbowed me in the rubs. ¡°Stop staring dude your going to creep her out. This is why you¡¯re  going to end up with virtual girls forever.¡° I frowned. I¡¯d liked Hanna. She wasn¡¯t exactly warm or kind but I had respected her and she did look good naked.


    He was right though, I¡¯m surprised my eyes hadn¡¯t popped out of my head. I loved black-hair and had a rather unfortunate taste for punk and goth girls. Which is likely why my relationships always ended badly. Interesting they maybe but, it wasn¡¯t exactly a look that the emotionally stable took up. Or maybe it was just me. All my failed relationships did have me as a common denominator.


    *****************************************************************************


    Jasmine sighed as she got into line. She¡¯d driven from indianapolis because every store in the city had sold out of games on pre-order because of all the testers who were buying copies. She¡¯d been here about two minutes and some nerd was already making eyes at her. At least he wasn¡¯t staring at her boobs but he still looked like his eyes were about to roll out of his head like the wolf on Looney Toons. He was tall and broad, brown haired, and sporting a badly trimmed goatee. He wore a tee-shirt with a giant red-orc on it swinging an axe. She wasn¡¯t sure what game it was from, but he might as well have had nerd written on his forehead in marker.


    Granted, she was also standing here for a midnight release, but judging by the tents he¡¯d been one of those nut jobs who¡¯d decided to camp out. His friend elbowed him in the ribs, and he finally looked away, before starting to walk in her direction. She groaned inwardly.


    ¡°Hey, Uhhhh There¡¯s not really a good way to say this, but the store only has five units. Standing in line won''t do you much good.¡± He spoke as he approached. His voice was firm, and he met her eyes as he spoke. They were a vivid green that raised his stock from terrible merely annoying.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, I don¡¯t need a system, just a game.¡± She replied. The man lifted an eyebrow in question, obviously curious. She sighed hoping he would just leave. Apparently, he picked up on her not-so-subtle rebuff as his face darkened and a scowl appeared.


    He spoke more loudly this time rolling his eyes. ¡°Well, your highness. I¡¯m sorry a mere mortal has made a sin so egregious as actually talking to you. If you ever deign to descend from your throne long enough to converse with the peasantry. Feel free to come talk to me.¡±


    With that he turned and stalked away before Jasmine could respond.


    **********************************************************************************


    Chris was laughing openly as I took my seat again. ¡°I told you not to go over there. It¡¯s not good to chase chicks you''re actually attracted too. Puts the relationship too much in their favor.¡± He laughed again, then held out his fist. ¡°Epic burn though.¡±


    I shook my head and bumped his fist. ¡°What a bitch. I wasn¡¯t even trying to hit on her. I was just being a reasonable human being and trying to save her an hour standing out here for no reason. Then she acts like she¡¯s better than me even though she¡¯s standing out here too.  Christ. I hate girls like that. They act like they¡¯re doing you some great favor by even talking to you. Looking at you like your some drooling mutt, all the while there banging some rich frat-boy with two other girls on the side and whining to their friends about how men don¡¯t respect them.¡±I finally noticed  that Chris looked like he was about to have a heart-attack from trying not to laugh. I sighed again and added. ¡°And she¡¯s standing right behind me isn¡¯t she.¡±


    ¡°Well, the important part is you''re not bitter. And yes¡­ She is.¡± Chris got out before he broke.He doubled over laughing as I turned to see the girl standing behind me with a raised eyebrow.


    I extended a hand ¡°Tom Ritter.¡±


    She took my hand reluctantly her expression angry and dismissive.¡°Jasmine Martinez. I was going to come over here and apologize but I¡¯m not really feeling sorry anymore.¡± She replied coolly.


    ¡°Well great then, that makes two of us who aren''t sorry.¡±  I spat out. ¡±  I¡¯m so glad we could achieve mutual dislike. I¡¯ll go back to being a nerd, you can go back to being a bitch, and we¡¯ll both have stories to laugh about with our friends. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me Miss Martinez.¡± I drew out the z sounds to sound extra snide. ¡°I believe they are opening the doors, and I¡¯ve got a giant VR system to pack into our truck.¡±


    I headed into the store with Chris still laughing beside me. We walked in bought our games, checked out and went around back with the truck to load up the system. By the time we got it home and started hooking up all the wires I¡¯d finally calmed down.


    ¡°Well you certainly have a way with the ladies.¡± Chris finally said as he plugged in the ethernet cable and started picking up all the packing materials  we¡¯d scattered around.


    I groaned. ¡°You just had to bring it up didn¡¯t you¡±


    He laughed again. ¡°What are friends for? Besides I¡¯ve never seen you lay into anyone like that. You were being a bit of an ass.¡±


    I finally cracked a smile and the tension I¡¯d been feeling melted away. ¡°I really was, but she just pissed me off . Not really sure why she got under my skin so much.¡±


    Chris shrugged. ¡°Must be love.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Not likely, I¡¯ll never even see her again. ¡° I said  feeling oddly wistful.


    Chris snorted.¡± I knew it. You''re already done man. If you think it¡¯s so than put your money where your mouth is.¡± He grinned evilly. Both of us liked to bet, and we¡¯d both been forced into some pretty embarrassing  situations from losing before.


    ¡°Alright you''re on.¡± I said smiling. We hashed out our bet while we continued plugging in wires. It took a good hour of set-up before we were ready.


    __________________________________________________________________


    Note:  Bit of a slow chapter but things should pick back up with the next couple chapters.  Thanks again for the support and let me know if I made any silly grammar mistakes .


    Edits:  Trying to get the formatting right.

 Volume 2: Chapter 2

    ¡°Alright time to get down to business.¡± Chris said later after we¡¯d finished hooking everything up. ¡°What class should I pick? We also have to decide what  kingdom we¡¯re going to start in, and come up with an epic guild name.  Then we have to map out some leveling patterns although you know how much I hate grinding mobs.¡± He said seriously, taking out his laptop and starting to make notes.


    I shook my head. ¡°Your looking at this all wrong. The game doesn¡¯t work like that. Sure if you want to mash out levels you can farm on mobs all day, but you''re better off taking your time, working, leveling skills, and even exercising from time to time. You gain stats based on your actions, they are awarded on level up based on what you did during that level. You don¡¯t just get a set amount like most games to distribute or get them assigned for you automatically. And I already told you. The classes are really important. You don¡¯t just wanna pick something random even if you''re just going to stay in town and be a blacksmith like you always are doing. Hell, there¡¯s probably a blacksmith class if you try and get it. Although how exactly you unlock it I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°A blacksmith class?¡± His eyes were excited. Chris loved to play MMO¡¯s but didn¡¯t actually like playing MMO¡¯s. Instead he spent about 90% of his time in the cities, just hanging out browsing the auction house and leveling blacksmithing. It made him a rather poor adventuring buddy, but it was always good to have a good crafter contact. Fortunately, this was the perfect game for that. A good smith in this game would make mountains and mountains of money, and could deck me out with good gear.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure there is.¡± I continued.  ¡°Like I said there are 250 classes. I¡¯m not sure How you¡¯d be able to level as a smith, but I bet if you screw around in a forge long enough without picking a class you¡¯ll be able to unlock it. You¡¯ll want to pick a dwarf by the way. They get like 15% to crafting or something. Although there might be some better ones, I didn¡¯t actually read the whole list.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Good enough!¡± He said smiling.


    We spent the next few minutes mapping out our plan of attack before we finally got too impatient and hopped into our machines. I walked over to my system, stuck in my arms and legs, and booted it up. It was a little weird when the hand and feet holders tightened but I suffered through.  When the program started I had to register my account using the serial key I¡¯d bought from BestPrice.


    I got all the account crap taken care of and accepted the terms of service. Then the screen changed and took me to a character creator. The Machine must have done some kind of scan because I looked exactly like me. I was in better shape than a month ago now, but a month stuck in a glorified exercise machine will do that for you. I started flicking through the options. Let¡¯s see. Undine? My avatar¡¯s skin gained a blue tint and gills appeared on the side of my neck. I chuckled then flipped to another option. Abiri? An elf-like creature with weird quill things all over it. Lapith? A vaguely equine humanoid with +200 fame with female NPC¡¯s as a racial. I snorted and flipped to another choice.


    I was more than a little sad about losing my char. I¡¯d had some sweet bonuses. Not to mention the weeks I¡¯d put into leveling my skills  and all the cool stuff I¡¯d unlocked. It was interesting that they¡¯d actually made a character creator, but I was having a hard time actually committing to anything. I was not looking forward to leveling-up all over again. Feeling nostalgic,  I selected human and named myself Noob Slayer. Shrugging I finally hit accept.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Unable to Create Chracter User Name Already Exists</tr></tbody></table>


    That didn¡¯t seem very likely. Granted Noob Slayer wasn¡¯t exactly original, but there couldn¡¯t be more than a few thousand people in the game yet. Maybe they hadn¡¯t wiped my character. Didn¡¯t they wipe all the characters though? I looked around for options. I opened a menu browsing the game settings. There was a small button in the corner that said Promotional Codes.


    </td><table><tbody><tr><td>Please Enter Promotional Code</td></tr><tr><td>_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I looked at the blank line. That was usually for things like contest winners, or for employees to grant themselves in-game advantages. Shame they couldn¡¯t have given me anything like that for beta testing.  I was about to close the window again when I paused, remembering the words of the golden goddess.


    Remember my name and use it to find your way back.


    I shrugged, then typed. B A R I A.


    The screen went black and text appeared in the same golden color as her eyes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Welcome Back Thomas Ritter</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Then screen went black again and when my vision came back I was standing in a copse of southern pines. A light breeze played through the trees but the air was warmer and more humid than anything I¡¯d felt near Valor¡¯s crossing. I smiled as I noticed my crappy white clothes and felt the familiar weight of my hammer. Hell yes. I¡¯d gotten my character back.


    Then a pang of loss hit me. I missed Hanna. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d been in love with her, but we¡¯d grown close during our time in the dungeon. It was a shame to think she¡¯d had her memory wiped and forgotten all about me. I missed her stern voice and angry glares. Not to mention the feel of her lips. Otherworld just didn¡¯t feel quite right without her here.  Sighing I pulled up my character sheet.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 12</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 37(+3) 40</td><td>LBStr: 36</td><td>HP: 162/162</td><td>Mana: 63/63</td></tr><tr><td>End: 26</td><td>Con: 38(+2) 40</td><td>Stam: 104/104</td><td>Panic: 1/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:22</td><td>Cord: 31</td><td>Hunger: 100/100</td><td>Thirst: 99/100</td></tr><tr><td>Int:28</td><td>Wis:31</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 23</td><td>Faith: 10</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 3</td><td>Fame: 205</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    My smile reluctantly returned. I was a beast now. I¡¯d leveled up to ten killing the rat boss, and twice more from completing the quest. Three levels had boosted my HP, Mana,and stats by a monstrous amount. All those class bonuses were really paying dividends. That left me to sort out my skills which I¡¯d never gotten around to. Chris was going to be super jealous I¡¯d gotten my character back.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Primary Skills: 1            Secondary Skills 4</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Weapon Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>One Hand and Shield:


    </li></ul>


    <ul><ul>


    <li>Daggers


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>2 hand Weapons:<ul>


    <li>Spears</li>


    <li>Staves</li>


    <li>Maces


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Hand-to-Hand: <ul>


    <li>Wrestling</li>


    <li>Striking


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice V


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice IV


    Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice IV</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Magic Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Witchcraft: (Secondary)


    </li></ul>


    <ul><ul>


    <li>Barriers</li>


    <li>Blessings


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Meditation:


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Elemental Magic: (Primary)<ul>


    <li>Earth(Spec)</li>


    <li>Fire</li>


    <li>Water


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>General</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Camping:


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Outdoorsman:</li>


    <li>Fury:</li>


    <li>Dungeoneering:


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice IV


    Novice I


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Crafting</td></tr><tr><td>


    <ul>


    <li>Cooking:<ul>


    <li>Seafood


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Fishing: <ul>


    <li>Freshwater</li>


    <li>Spear Fishing


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Diplomacy: <ul>


    <li>Bartering


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Mining</li>


    <li>Herbalism


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice III


    Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice III


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice II


    Novice V


    Novice IV</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Well Apparently I had some skill points now. Although, I still had no idea how the skill system worked. I tried details, but that only gave me a detailed description of the various abilities. I needed some general help. Then realized I was an actual player now, and not some weird trapped guy.


    ¡°Help, Skills¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Skills</td></tr><tr><td>The skill system in Otherworld offers an unmatched level of customization and depth. A player unlocks a skill by completing a hidden objective through combat, crafting, diplomacy, or exploration. These skills fall into one of four basic categories, combat, magic, general, and crafting.  After a skill is unlocked a player will gain experience in a skill through use. Finding new and creative uses for a skill will increase give you a large XP boost. There are ten skills ranks ranging from Novice to Legend. These ranks are then subdivided into five sub-ranks. All skills are locked at Novice rank until level 10. At level 10 a player will receive one primary and three secondary skill points. A primary skill unlocks a skill to rise as high as a player wishes. A secondary skill allows a skill to rise, but to a maximum value of 3/4 the level of any primary skills in that grouping. If there are no Primary skills in a particular group, then a secondary skill is capped at 3/4 of your highest primary skill. Secondary skill caps will only become active once a skill advances to Apprentice I. For example If a player was to select One Hand Weapons as a Primary Skill and Heavy Armor as a Secondary skill. When One Hand Weapons reaches Apprentice I that would cap Heavy Armor at Beginner III. A player may receive additional skill points as quest rewards, achievements, class bonuses, or in other ways. If a secondary skill is made into a primary skill the secondary skill point will be refunded. Be careful. All skill choices become permanent once confirmed.


    </td></tr><tr><td>Sub-Skill Specialization</td></tr><tr><td>Some skills have a number of sub-skills. These sub-skills have levels independant from the main skill, but large amounts of the XP gained in a sub-skill will be shared with it¡¯s parent skill. A player may, if he or she chooses, select a specialization. This gives the player a bonus to a particular sub-skill but will limit a player''s advancement in the other aspects of the skill. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow. I was really glad I got my character back now. Two free secondary skills was a huge boost. My happiness was tempered by the fact I was finally going to have to choose what skills I wanted to continue advancing. I had a bunch of good ones and there were probably a ton more out there I hadn¡¯t stumbled upon yet.  I sighed.


    Time to make some tough decisions. I¡¯d known this moment was coming and the skill system in this game was as complex and in depth as all the other systems were. I honestly felt bad for all the other game companies. It was gonna be a rough couple years for them while they frantically played catchup.


    The smith in Valor¡¯s Crossing had given me the shiny new hammer I¡¯d ordered and I loved smashing things. So Two-hand weapons got my primary point and I picked maces as a specialization. The secondary points were a bit more tricky. I thought about it for a moment then made my choices. I wasn¡¯t like some people who¡¯d plan a build forever. I mostly just went with my what gut told me and let the chips fall as they would. I selected Mining, Herbalism, Hand-To-Hand, and Camping. Leaving myself another point if I discovered something else of interest layer.


    The warning box popped up and I quickly hit accept. That prompted a bunch of pop-ups. The most interesting of which was my specialization notification.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Selected Two-Hand Mace Specialization</td></tr><tr><td>Your attacks with Two-Hand maces have permanently gained 15% armor penetration. All other Two-Hand Sub-Skills now gain only 25% experince.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    That would give me a solid boost.


    Time to get a hold of Chris and see what he was up too. I opened my friend list, happy I could finally add a name too it. It was always too depressing to have it empty. Looking at the 0/0 all the time always made me feel friendless. I hit the add friend button and typed in the name Chris had Picked for his dwarf. He¡¯d decided to RP it up a bit and went with Allric Stoneforge for his dwarf.


    I sent the request and it was accepted almost immediately. Then I could hear Chis as if he was standing right next to me.


    ¡°Dude this game is too sick. You were right. totally worth every nickle. Everything is so crazy real. I just wish I could get this stupid HUD out of the way. It makes it easy to navigate the menu¡¯s by it¡¯s killing my flow.¡± I smiled as he continued describing everything around him.


    ¡°Where are you?¡± I asked cutting him off after a few minutes. ¡°We should meet up. Oh, and if you go to settings and switch to Full Emersion Mode It¡¯ll turn off your HUD and stop most of the pop-ups.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh, nice catch. Not really sure about meeting up. There¡¯s no map that I can see. Oh wait. I found something. It¡¯s on the friends menu. You are 342928 meters South-by-SouthEast¡­.. How the hell did that happen!? I told you to spawn in Merrik kingdom!¡± He yelled.


    ¡° I didn¡¯t get to pick.¡± I said defensively. ¡°It loaded up my beta character and stuck me somewhere random. I guess I¡¯ll start working in that direction. It¡¯ll likely me a week or two though.¡± The distances in this game were staggering, and walking three hundred Kilometers wasn¡¯t something to do in an afternoon. ¡°Oh and you should pick up a stick or something for protection. Goblin¡¯s can be pretty vicious. You can sharpen it with a rock if you wanna get a jump on your crafting. ¡± I said, hoisting my pack onto my shoulders and picking up my hammer.


    ¡°A rock?¡± He said incredulously.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling ya man it¡¯ll work. This game is that real, well not real exactly, but it rewards ingenuity. Just kill some stuff and hope for a few crafting drops. You can sell those for decent money to NPC¡¯s. Although you might feel like saving them to level crafting. Honestly not sure how all that works yet. Anyway I¡¯ll talk to ya later Have fun with level one.¡± I ended the chat, using the sun as a rough guide and headed North-West.


    **************************************************************************


    Jasmine woke to find herself in the Windrip Inn. It had taken her a couple hours to get home, and get her account sat up. She wasn¡¯t planning on playing all night, but she thought it would be fun to get a couple hours in and to check out all the players coming in everywhere. She walked out into the city and found it busier than normal. She could tell the players from the NPC¡¯s easily enough. The NPC¡¯s were all going about their day, while the players were sprinting around town, or just staring and pointing at various things. She smiled as she left the village and headed into the forest.


    She was only a mile or so from town when she found a rather odd looking girl laying on her belly staring intently at a near-by stream. She looked young, her face still had a roundness to it that made her look like a middle-schooler. The girl had picked some-sort of anthropomorphic race. She was covered in russet fur and sported a large bushy tail, with a matched set of animal ears. She continued to look at the water rushing by even as Jasmine approached and sat down next to her.


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting race choice.¡± Jasmin said as she plopped down next to the girl. The animal-girl rolled over revealing the rest of herself. Her front was devoid of fur and the skin that showed around the normal clothes female avatar¡¯s started with was a pale.. Jasmine re-evaluated the girl¡¯s age, definitely older than she¡¯d thought, likely fifteen or sixteen.


    The girl was straining her chest wrap to the breaking point and the entire picture was every bad fantasy trope rolled into one, the big-boobed, clumsy animal girl who sat around staring at odd things as the world rushed by around her.


    ¡°That¡¯s a touch hypocritical coming from a she-orc.¡± The girl''s voice in no way matched her appearance. It was cultured, precise, and even had a hint of a British accent. Jasmine raised an involuntary eyebrow and the girls smile sharpened. Her eyes lost their far-away look and the storm-grey orbs nearly crackled with intellect as they met Jasmine''s own.  ¡°Not what you were expecting? That¡¯s a rather common reaction. It¡¯s what happens when a girl who¡¯s far too intelligent for her age is endowed a tad too generously.  Believe it or not this is my actual appearance, well minus the tail obviously. I was attempting to study the water effects in this game. The realism is incredible.¡±


    Jasmine laughed. ¡°I can see how that could be a problem. I bet high-school is hell for you. This is how I look tool, minus the tusks and the muscles. I could kill myself at the gym for a year and not have this kind of tone.¡± She stuck out her hand. ¡°Jasmine¡±


    ¡°Meridith.¡± The girl replied shaking her hand. ¡°Actually I finished high-school last-year. Yale accepted me to an early entry program but father would not allow me to go.¡± The girl explained, looking put out. Jasmine mentally snorted. No father in his right mind would let his sixteen year old daughter into a class full of college guys. Especially a daughter that had the body of a porn-star with the fresh-face of a seventh grader.  ¡°So what brings an orc out here?¡± Meredith asked sitting up as Jasmine brought her mind back to the conversation.


    ¡°Just taking in the sites. Think I¡¯m gonna head South. I¡¯ve out leveled most of this area, I mostly just wanted to log-on and take in the atmosphere. I was beta tester it¡¯s odd to actually see other players around now.¡± Jasmine explained.


    ¡°You¡¯ve leveled up quite a bit then? What class did you choose? There is a scarcity of choice at the moment, and I¡¯m wondering if I should pick something or be patient.¡± The girl asked biting her lip in thought. That look would have left a male blubbering on the floor and drooling. She was honestly surprised there wasn¡¯t a covey of young men around the girl making asses of themselves. Maybe they just hadn¡¯t found her yet. She was in the middle of the forest, and 200,000 users stuck into a couple hundred thousand square miles didn¡¯t mean people would run into each other all the time.


    Jasmine laughed. ¡°That¡¯s a funny story actually. I clubbed some bitch elf to death with my lute. It unlocked the Bardbarian class. Apparently you have to kill someone while in Orc Rage with an instrument to unlock it.  The situation hadn¡¯t been funny at all, but she didn¡¯t want to put the girl off by getting too serious on her. This oddly cultured animal girl seemed alright.. ¡°As for classes? I¡¯d wait. There are a ton of classes to unlock. I wouldn¡¯t lock yourself in before you try out some stuff and decide what direction you might want to try in. If you haven¡¯t found anything by level 10 or so, then you might consider just picking something, but the leveling is kinda slow , so it shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble. ¡±


    ¡°That seems a rather stereo-typically orcish thing to do.¡± Meridith laughed, an oddly childish sound coming from the over-proper girl. ¡°I¡¯ll wait then. I think I wish to become a druid or a healer, but I¡¯m not sure what I need to do to unlock a satisfactory class. Someone will likely discover it shortly and post it online though. I shall remain patient until then. Do you wish for a traveling companion?¡±


    Jasmine nodded. She did actually. I¡¯d would be fun to have a girl to talk to. Although Jasmine wished the girl would stop talking like some British aristocrat, but the girl likely couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Welcome aboard. Let¡¯s see what trouble we can stir up.¡±

 Volume 2: Chapter 3

    The afternoon sun and the muggy air had me sweating after an hour of walking. I wasn¡¯t taking a direct course toward Chris. Instead I was wandering around, enjoying the scenery, and picking up random plants I thought might be useful for witchcraft. The environment was quite different than what I¡¯d seen before. It was still lightly wooded wilderness, but this reminded more of the American South-East than than the area around Valor¡¯s Crossing, which had screamed generic fantasy forest.


    Instead of oaks and elms there were maples and birch trees, with the occasional hickory or magnolia. There were also patches of some large cane-type plant with giant purple fronds.  My feet often found the ground swampy and wet, and clouds of buzzing insects could be seen flying around. I took off my shirt and used it to wipe my sweating brow. I really hated the heat. I could deal with cold, but large men who drink too much caffeine have sweating issues on normal days. This was like hell.


    I took a look down at myself and laughed. I¡¯d been skinny for most of high-school. My junior and senior year my shoulders had broadened and I¡¯d been in good shape, but never THIS good. Now I looked like a linebacker for a college football team. My muscles actually rippled. What ever algorithm they used to shape your avatar had beefed me up to a ridiculous degree. I was honestly a little scared of what I¡¯d look like at level 40.   Shame I couldn¡¯t drag this body back to the real world. I could at least get a few dates with it.


    My musing on my lack of dating life were interrupted by a loud squeal and feet pounding the forest floor. I spun drawing my hammer and saw Three massive boars were charging me from some dense undergrowth. They were colored a dark red and two had some rather unfortunately large tusks. My eyes widened and I tightened the grip on my hammer before calling to my mana. It took longer than I wanted. Apparently my time off had dulled my reflexes a bit because the magic only came at a trickle.


    Too Slow¡­¡­


    I gave up on the magic planted my feet, and swung my new hammer in an overhead arc.The strike came down and intercepted the first boar a few feet from me. It struck with more force than I expected and smashed the boar into the ground like someone had dropped an anvil on it. It twitched once and stilled. I wasn¡¯t expecting the violence of the swing and it threw me off balance. I stumbled forward and over the boar¡¯s corpse, which left me unprepared as the other two boars smashed into me. Tusks bit into my side and the beasts bore me down.


    One sat about goring me with it¡¯s tusks while the other happily stomped me with it¡¯s sharp hooves.I felt like one of those rodeo clowns when the bull gets them, as they tossed my body around like a rag-doll. Luckily I had a silly amount of HP for my level. Even with the wounds I didn¡¯t feel too weakened and didn¡¯t think I¡¯d broken anything yet. I rolled to me feet after a particularly violent shove, and tried to center myself again. With a second to spare I activated my class skill.


    Stoneskin!


    The earth shuttered for a moment and suddenly my pain dulled. My skin felt odd, like a bad sunburn but not painful. Just the odd leathery feeling it gets before it peels. I could feel it stretch and move in a way I¡¯d never felt before before. I swung my hammer defensively as they closed in again. The attack hit one of the boars but only seemed to wound the beast as it plowed over-top of me again. I could feel my spell protecting me for some of the damage, but knew that was only prolonging the inevitable. I could generate some truly awesome power with my hammer, but it required space, or at least some leverage. Unlike a bladed weapon I had to actually swing the thing for it to be useful.  I got my hammer between us and pushed the beast away while rolling to the side. I couldn¡¯t match its power from my back so I struggled to my feet then stumbled into a lurching run as I searched frantically for ideas.


    Time to try something stupid then.....


    If I was going to be a geomancer then I needed some earth spells. I hadn¡¯t really fiddled with my magic much, and experimentation while under running for my life wasn¡¯t the greatest idea, but I was desperate. I wasn¡¯t hurt too badly yet, but unless I could change the battle it wouldn¡¯t matter.  They just wear me down while I continued to be run-over and brutalized. Making my decision I put on a burst of speed then spun. I dropped my hammer and poured mana into the ground in front me forcing my will against the stubborn earth. This time it came more quickly. I stomped down with a foot and braced my arms in front of me like I was was trying to lift some monstrous weight.


    This is where it got tricky. I had no idea what I was doing but this was a pretty common use for earth magic. At least I thought so. I Imagined chaining my arms to the Earth and poured on more mana to form the mental chains. I had more mana to work with than ever and I used it liberally. There was a moment dizziness and then I could feel the strain in my shoulders and arms as I tried to raise them. I poured on more magic emptying my reserves and staining with both mind and body. The boars were closing at a charge, but I forced away my panic and strained harder. I screamed with rage and the ground before me bucked for a moment before my arms shot into the sky. The earth fountained upward with the motion forming a wall of dirt and stone a meter thick in front of me just as the boars plowed into it at a full sprint.


    I collapsed to my knees gasping for breath. I could feel blood running from my nose, and the world spun crazily. Dumping that much mana at once was never a good idea. If the boars weren¡¯t dead I was definitely going to be as I fell on to my back panting.


    ¡°Holy Crap! Are you ok?¡± A reedy voice exclaimed behind me. I turned my head, and a scrawny kid walked up to me. He was wearing a familiar pair of rough canvas shorts and was naked from the waist up minus a pair of glasses that were hanging off pointed ears. His hair was black and short. He looked like any teenager, gangly, curious, and not very confidant. The only real difference was he he was about four feet tall.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine in a bit.¡± I panted. Still trying to catch my breath.  ¡°And who picks a gnome anyway?¡± I asked while the world continued it¡¯s spin. The wall of earth before me suddenly shrank back down into the ground, and I could see the two boars in a similar state to myself. All three of us trying to stand and none of us doing a very good job of it.. ¡°Dammit, be careful. those things could one-shot you.¡± I grabbed my hammer again and used it to prop myself up. I stumbled over to the boars, where I made some wild off-balance swings to finish them before they could restart the festivities. It wasn¡¯t very sporting but it was effective.


    Bliiiiiip


    Blip


    A green flash of light surrounded me while I collapsed to the ground again. Green was a new color.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have created a New Spell. Would you like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Two-Hand Weapons Have Advanced to Beginner Rank</td></tr><tr><td>New Active Skill Unlocked</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Nice¡­.


    Name Spell¡­. Earth Wall


    I thought while I laid there gasping like a fish. I¡¯d have to check out the skill once my head stopped throbbing so badly. The gnome rushed over jabbering excitedly the whole time. ¡°That was awesome! I just finished loading up my character, then suddenly poof and I¡¯m standing in the middle of this weird forest, wearing these itchy shorts, and looking around at how awesome everything looks. Then I hear these squeals and a yell.  So I come running over here to see you getting smashed by those boars before you went all earth-bender on them.¡±


    I held out a hand for him to help me up. He grabbed it and pulled grunting with the effort, his strength was pretty terrible but he managed to help enough I could rise.  I quickly dug through my pack and took out the skinning knife I¡¯d never bothered using and attempted to skin the boars. Lucky, I didn¡¯t actually have to clean and gut them. I¡¯d done it to fish before in real life and I imagined a boar would be even more messy and disgusting. I made a few quick cuts and the game took over. The boar dissolved, leaving behind a rather nice looking boar steak. I repeated the process on the others, ending up with two pieces of meat and a poor quality hide.


    Blip


    ¡°You hungry?¡± I asked the gnome as he sat down beside me. Apparently he¡¯d decided to hang around.


    ¡°Sure I guess.  I noticed the game actually makes you eat and drink. But seriously, that was cool what class are you?¡± He said looking curious.


    ¡°Geomancer. It¡¯s a hybrid fighter. And if you wanna eat, then help me with the fire. Run around and help me pick up sticks. It takes forever by myself.¡± The boy shrugged and we walked around picking up sticks. I used the tinderbox the smith gave me to start it, he¡¯d given it to me along with my new hammer.I would have tried my fire magic but I was tapped out. I opened my inventory screen as the fire started to catch, and ogled my new baby as I started cooking the boar.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grey-Paw¡¯s Bane


    (Uncommon)


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    A hammer crafted for the slayer Of Grey-Paw. It¡¯s imbued with the bears spirit and grants it¡¯s user a portion of his strength.


    Damage: 20-45


    Family: 2h Hammer


    Damage: Crushing


    Speed: Very Slow


    Durability: 148/150


    Bonus: +4 UbStr, +2 Con</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The hammer was bronze, unlike my old one, but the old one had been a tool and hadn¡¯t even had an item class. This one actually looked like a warhammer. It had a large flat head on one side with a paw design dimpling the striking surface. The back was spiked and the whole thing weighed at least 20 pounds. I spit the steaks over the fire and settled down to rest.


    I looked over at the gnome as he watched me cook and stuck out my hand. ¡°Noob Slayer at your service¡± I said as the world finally started to settle. I was pretty happy with my first fight, not pretty exactly but fun. ¡°You went wizard I¡¯m guessing? I¡¯m not sure why else you would have picked a gnome.¡± Gnome got a huge int bonus and some weird passive if I remembered right. Which was odd since resonance was how your mana pool was calculated. Although his wizard class probably changed the calculations. I¡¯d have to hunt the wiki when I logged out.


    The boy nodded, and shook my hand. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a classic, and I wanted to do some sweet magic. Although that trick with the earth wall is making me a little jealous. I can¡¯t even figure out how to cast a spell.¡± He said glumly then added. ¡°MoMagicMoProblems by the way.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow at the name but said nothing.  The kid seemed a bit young to be a Biggy fan.  ¡°Can¡¯t cast a spell? Doesn¡¯t your class have an active ability? I thought they all did.¡± I asked puzzled. Honestly I had no idea if all classes had an active ability, but it seemed a safe guess.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯ve got one.¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°¡®Runic infusion, combines the chosen runes to form a spell¡¯. It doesn¡¯t mention how to use the runes. I got a spell book with some runes in it when I picked wizard, but it doesn¡¯t actually explain anything.¡± The teen shrugged.


    I was usually against sharing game secrets with people, but I was taking a liking to this kid.  Besides it was always in your best interest to help a noob. Much like real life networking was key. ¡°Fortunately for you I¡¯m here. Have you unlocked meditation yet?¡± I asked flipping the steaks. They were started to smell amazing.


    ¡°What¡¯s mediation?¡±. He asked.  I smiled then prepared myself to play teacher for a while.


    ¡°First thing you need to know about this game is that have to stop thinking of it as a game. If you want to do magic think about HOW you would do it. The game''s mechanics will guide you a bit, but you have to be the spark. Follow?¡± He nodded and I continued.


    ¡°So meditate. Sit down, clear your mind, and try to clear your head of all thoughts and emotions. It seems silly but trust me. Personally I try to concentrate on my breathing, but there are different steps for everyone.¡± I¡¯d taken Asian philosophy last semester hoping to meet some hot Asian girls. My plan failed but I had learned to meditate fairly well.  Turns out Asian girls don''t take Asian philosophy. It should have been fairly obvious but there''s 20 year old guy logic for you. The meditation was a poor consolation but I actually did meditate occasionally.


    The boy shifted and sat in lotus position. His back straight and his eyes closed. I tended the steaks, and his eyes popped open a few seconds later. ¡°10 extra mana and a way to boost regen That¡¯s awesome!  How do you know so much about this game? I thought I was one of the first people who actually logged in.¡±


    I shrugged and handed the boy a stick with a steak skewered on the end.  It hadn¡¯t cooked very well but it would do. I wasn¡¯t planning on learning cooking anyway. ¡°I was in the beta, but honestly there¡¯s still a ton of crap I¡¯m still trying to figure out. I only got to test the first few levels, and this is the first char I managed to advance at all.¡± I took a bite of the steak feeling the juices run down my chin. There really is nothing in the world like cooked pork fat. I closed my eyes in bliss before continuing. ¡°Alright, next step. What runes do you know?¡±


    The boy brought out a rough looking leather book he¡¯d be holding. He flipped forward a few pages. ¡°Na, Et, Saa, Fu, and Ki. Although It just lists the runes with no info. I¡¯ve tried a couple, but every time I do, I get dizzy and I haven¡¯t managed to make anything interesting happen yet.¡±


    ¡°You are level one, I wouldn¡¯t expect to be flinging around doom-bolts yet, and magic in this game is hardcore. If you burn through your mana all at once, you¡¯ll black out, get bloody noses, awful migraines, and likely some worse things if you really went crazy. So start small. I¡¯ve only seen a few wizard spells cast, but I¡¯m pretty sure Saa is Fire. The wizardess I knew used Wa Et Saa to throw firebolts. Although, she had a wand not sure what that was for. Do the runes have symbols or are they just words?¡±


    Sitting around teaching a noob to use magic would be boring for most people, but the magic system in this game fascinated me. Not to mention I didn¡¯t have much else to do besides walk 300 kilometers or so. That spell had nearly made me pass out, and it would be quite a while before I wanted to get going again. MoProblems interrupted my thoughts.


    ¡°They have symbols, although I¡¯m not sure why that¡¯s important.¡± I rolled my eyes. This kid definitely wasn¡¯t getting it.


    ¡°I told you already, stop thinking of this as a game. It¡¯s a world, with it¡¯s own rules. Magic does exist here and you don¡¯t make it work by clicking an action bar. You will it to be so. ¡± I gestured around me to encompass everything in a ¡®Look around man¡¯ motion.


    ¡°Lets try this. Imagine this for a moment¡± I said changing tacks. ¡° You''re a young strapping gnome who fancies himself a wizard. You know about runic magic. You know it exists, you even happen to know some runes. However you have no idea how to actually do magic. Most interestingly of all, you know how to combine runes, the result of that combination will mostly likely be a spell. How would you do it?  Don¡¯t treat like you''re attempting to fill requirements for a  game. Treat it like you''re a real wizard trying to cast real magic. How would you do it.¡±


    He frowned then looked thoughtful. ¡°Well guess I¡¯d picture a couple runes in my head. Then try and combine them?¡± He said questioningly.


    ¡°Now you''re catching on.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d start with Et and Saa.¡± I rolled my hand in a ¡®get on with it¡¯ motion. ¡°Oh and shout out the rune names. That always helps in anime.¡°


    He gave me a boyish grin then shrugged and pointed to a tree nearby. ¡°Et Saa!¡± The air seemed to waver for a moment but much less so than other spells I¡¯d seen, then a small puff of flame exploded against the tree. I slapped the gnome on the back.


    ¡°Now you''re cooking with gas!¡± I congratulated him. ¡°So where you headed anyway?¡± I asked making conversation.  I propped my back against a tree and relaxed, I still had a couple hours to burn before my wounds would heal..


    ¡°Nowhere really. Like I said I just spawned in. What about you?¡±


    ¡°North apparently. My roommate started playing with me, but we spawned really far apart. I¡¯m gonna start working my way toward him, see if I can find anything interesting to do on the way.¡± I said shrugging.


    ¡°Lemme come with you. I can tell you could teach me a lot, and you''re a melee hybrid class right? You could used some ranged support.¡± He pleaded, giving me puppy dog eyes.


    I sighed. ¡°Alright, fine.¡± He was right I could use some range in the party. Besides, walking 200 miles alone would be really freaking boring.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Taken On User MoMagicMoProblems as an Apprentice</td></tr></tbody></table>


    MoProblems look at me puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s an apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Excellent first question apprentice!....Details¡± I said smiling.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Master/Apprentice System


    You have taken user MoMagicMoProblems as your apprentice. You will teach him the basics of life in Otherworld and give him an opportunity to thrive. You will be rewarded for your efforts when user MoMagicMoProblems reaches level 10. At which point the apprenticeship will end.  Your rewards will be based on your participation, and MoMagicMoProblems¡¯s progress.


    Bonus: MoMagicMoProblems XP gain increased by 25%


    Bonus: Your Skill gain increased by 25%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Well, there ya have it. It¡¯s apparently a sort of quest for higher-level players to help noobies get started by teaching them the ropes. That¡¯s your first lesson by the way. You can use the details command on any menu to get a more detailed description. Or the expand command which will give you all the hidden numerical values.¡± I explained in my best professor voice.


    ¡°So I just follow you around and you teach me stuff till I level up?¡± He asked, puzzled.


    ¡°Apparently.¡± I said.


    ********************************************************************************************


    Note: Sorry for the long delay! I''ll try to get some more consistent releases.


    Also Thanks for the vote in the poll, and the feedback. I''ll work on a few Chris POV''s since someone requested it.

 Volume 2: Chapter 4

    We didn¡¯t have a map so my apprentice and I wandered blindly through the woods. I used the time to  explain the skill system to MoProblems, and we talked about our real lives a bit. He was a sophomore in high-school, and was quite willing to regale me with endless tales of high-school drama. I told him about college life, and gave him some of my experiences from testing. I skipped over the parts about being trapped, as well as my relationship with Hanna. I still wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about that whole mess yet,  not to mention that telling someone my last actual relationship had been with an NPC was too depressing. Besides I was in a game, big brother might be listening and there were some things that had happened to me I wasn¡¯t sure were standard.


    All in all the trip was pleasant. I found quite a few plants I could use for spells, a feather I could use for an air focus, and in general it was just nice to socialize. That¡¯s what online games were mostly about after all. It was a place for nerds like us to meet people with the same interests and whom we could relate to.


    Both MoProblems and I had hopped back to the real world for a break and some food. During which I¡¯d discovered how sore my legs actually were. I¡¯d never really thought of it but this system used your real movements to control your character. It was real exercise. Which likely explained why I¡¯d lost most of the gut I¡¯d been sporting before Nexus had abducted me.


    I logged back in and MoProblems was still laying on the ground motionless. At first I was confused, but figured out you didn¡¯t actually leave the game when you logged out. Your character just went to sleep. That made camping out very dangerous. I¡¯d have to start building barriers again.  That was likely for the best anyway. I needed to grind up my magic skills after all, and I had some ideas I wanted to try out.


    I browsed my skills while I waited. My elemental magic and earth magic had leveled after my trick with the earth wall. That had been pretty damn cool if I did say so myself.  More interestingly, I¡¯d finally had time to check out my new ability for getting my Two Hand skill to beginner rank.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Heavy Blow</td></tr><tr><td>A Focused strike that burns large amounts of stamina in exchange for power.


    Rank: Novice I


    Damage Multiplier: 3.0


    Stamina Cost: 100</td></tr></tbody></table>


    That was a pretty strong strike but not really that useful. A full powered strike was usually enough to kill pretty much anyone anyway. And one-hundred stamina was about three normal fights worth, and would leave me with a whopping 4 stamina. For one strike it wasn¡¯t a terribly good trade, but new moves meant more options and options were always good. Down the line it might be useful.


    A flash of blue light appeared next to me, and MoMagicMoProblems suddenly sat up. He blinked a few times before turning towards me and pushing himself to his feet.


    ¡°So how long you planning on playing today? We¡¯ve already been at it most of the night?¡± I asked.  I was planning on a super-binge, but I was now honor bound to my apprentice. I would have to stay in the area if he was going to log.


    ¡°Pffft , It¡¯s a brand new MMO. The best one ever. I¡¯m not leaving this thing for any reason other than food and bathroom breaks.¡± He said grinning.


    I laughed. ¡°That¡¯s what I wanted to hear.¡± That was one worry taken care of any way. I¡¯d likely crash out in another six hours or so, but it was best to get a good foothold.


    We started off north battling the occasional goblin and a couple weird forest spirit things. I didn¡¯t really do much, leaving my gnome apprentice to use his magic and get some XP.  We were camping to let him recover his mana when he pointed to the west.  ¡°That¡¯s smoke isn¡¯t it. I wonder what¡¯s going on?¡± I looked the same direction and saw a plume of white smoke rising in the distance.


    ¡°Looks like a quest to me.¡± Quests were always good..  We set off, and it didn¡¯t take us long to find what we were looking for. We crested the next small hill, and saw a village in ruins before us. Fires still blazed but most of the buildings on this side of the village had already burnt down. The village looked similar in size to Valor¡¯s Crossing, but the style of construction was slightly different.  I could see humanoids of various races digging through the rubble and filling packs with loot. We approached more cautiously taking note of our surrounding and looking for an ambush.


    Ba-Ding


    The quest window popped up in-front of me. It seemed I¡¯d be getting more pop-ups than I was used to now that I was a real player.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Justice for Hillsbrook</td></tr><tr><td>Orc¡¯s have raided the town of Hillsbrook and stolen away most of the women. The men have left to get them back, but they left the town empty behind them. Bandit¡¯s have moved in, and begun looting the village. Stop the bandits, find the orcs, and obtain justice for Hillsbrook.


    Recommended Level: ???


    Difficulty: ???


    Rewards: ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°That¡¯s detailed.¡± MoMagicMoProblems said sarcastically beside me.


    ¡°No kidding, and those don¡¯t seem much like bandits to me.¡± I said watching the looters from a distance.


    ¡°What do you mean. What would they be?¡± He asked, curious.


    ¡°If I had a guess? Players. Look at all the different races, elves, humans, dwarfs, There¡¯s a fairy-girl with them, a sylph or something probably, and I think that guy is some sort of frogperson. NPC¡¯s don¡¯t really mix like that. ¡° I explained. There were about a dozen in all, but they should all be level one or two still. I was feeling pretty confidant. I started walking toward the village.


    ¡°A PK quest? Is that a thing in this game? And you''re just going to walk over there and challenge them all¡± He asked his voice rising for a moment, then cracking before continuing at a more manly pitch. He jogged along behind me looking panicked. It was rather curious. I couldn¡¯t think of any games where you actually got quests to kill other players.


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan, and your helping. Most of them are level 1 like you. Throw some fire around, have some fun with it. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ve got anything to lose by dying.¡± The boy literally had no items and no money besides his book, which I figured was bound to him by his class. It¡¯d be good experience even if he died.


    We strode up to the village like we owned the place. A shout went up when someone spotted us and a few moments later a guy my age wearing some impressive armor walked out and met us at the village outskirts. He had short-cropped blonde-hair, sharp blue eyes and an arrogant look plastered to his too-pretty face. My irrational hatred of any male better looking than me, which was pretty much everyone,  immediately placed this guy on my enemy list.


    ¡°This is out catch. Turn around and get out.¡± His voice had the tone of absolute command that only the extremely confidant or the extremely spoiled can ever quite manage. It was the kind of voice that expected the world itself bend to his will.


    ¡°Well, tough break for you but I¡¯ve got a quest to kill you for looting this village.¡± I said taking no heed of his commands. I took the opportunity to check him over looking for anything useful. His gear caught my attention immediately. He was wearing a solid steel breastplate, a polished kite-shield, and a longsword with a golden pommel. This guy had WAY too much gear for someone a few hours into the game. Granted, I couldn¡¯t exactly throw stones in the ¡°too powerful for a noob¡± department, but he had me out geared and I¡¯d been playing for a month.


    A few of his apparent cronies started muttering but he cut them off with a glare and turned a sneer in my direction. ¡°I got level boosted to 10 noob and bought a full set leveled gear. You really wanna fight me for some stupid quest go right ahead.¡±


    Level boosted. How¡¯d he manage that?I was strong for my level stat-wise, but I had no gear except my hammer. I suddenly wasn¡¯t sure who¡¯d win this contest. I¡¯m sure I had more fighting experience in game than he did, but the big variable was the quality of his gear. Would it be enough to make up for my two levels? Most likely more than that. Too late now. I couldn¡¯t chicken out in front of my apprentice. It would set a bad example.


    ¡°I think I do actually.¡± I said, activating stoneskin. I felt that odd sensation creep over my skin again. During the last fight I¡¯d been too busy to pay much attention, but I looked down at myself as my body turned stone grey. Weird, but cool.


    The knight just laughed. ¡°Alright, buddy you asked for it. I¡¯ll even give you a free shot.¡±  He dropped his arms to the side then tapped himself in the chest with one hand. That was a bad move. I wasn¡¯t sure I could fight him head-to-head but If he was just going to let me tee off on him he was screwed. In raw destructive potential I was king. I rolled my neck until it popped making a bit of a show of it. Then popped my knuckles and hefted my hammer off my shoulder. I took one hop-step forward and started my wing before activating my new ability.


    Heavy Blow¡­.


    The head of my hammer started to glow with an orange corona of energy as it started forward.  The swing accelerated and left an orange trail of power in the air as my hammer crashed into his breast plate. It sounded like I¡¯d hit hit him with a wrecking ball rather than a hammer. His breast plate simply disintegrated into black mist. He flew backwards away from me with his chest completely crushed. He rolled on the ground before landing in a heap a good twenty feet away. It was pretty obvious he was dead. However instead of disintegrating into black mist as I was expecting there a ghostly figure of a young winged woman appeared behind him.


    The angel was transparent and glowed with a soft white light. She raised her arms and the knights body vanished and reformed in a swirl of golden energy. Then he was standing in the same spot looking unhurt and thoroughly pissed off. Aside from his now missing chest-armor he wasn¡¯t even winded.


    Great, A paladin, the most over-powered, obnoxious, awful class to try and fight in a duel. They were like that in every single game and this one was apparently no exception. He walked towards me grinning. Wearing an expression that was 5 parts smug and 10 parts fury.  He drew the gold-handled sword at his belt and fire bloomed down the length of it as he stalked towards me. My eyes widened. That couldn¡¯t be standard equipment.


    Oh crap, that strike had taken all but a few points of my stamina. I was panting and couple barely stand at this point. This wasn¡¯t going to go well. He swung overhand and I raised my hammer to block, but it was a feint. He changed his swing into a lunge and and drove his burning sword into my chest. I gasped in agony, but gritted my teeth and in a last desperate move managed to pluck a single hair from his head as the world went black.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have been Killed by a Player


    You will respawn at the closest rez point.


    You have lost 35 Gold


    You have lost 1 Level</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ******************************************************************************************


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I respawned in the forest near the village. I could see the smoke from town in the distance but couldn¡¯t see the other players anymore. I sat on the ground fuming. That bastard had made mincemeat of me with items he¡¯d obviously paid real money for. not to mention his cheaty paladin resurrection power. I hated guys like him, spoiled, arrogant, and with all the money and influence they needed to back up their boasting. He was everything I despised in the world and he was probably Jasmine''s boyfriend. They definitely deserved each other. I used that irrational thought to build on my anger and I was nearly snarling by the time I heard a gasp and a falling body behind me. MoProblems must have been dealt with as well.


    ¡°That really, REALLY hurt.¡± I turned to see my apprentice rubbing his chest. ¡°I¡¯ve got my pain settings at 50% and thought I was going to die... What are you doing.¡± He asked. I¡¯d taken a stick from my bag and scratched a circle in the earth.  I grinned maliciously and held up the short blond hair still clutched in my fist.


    ¡°Witchcraft¡± I said as started digging in my pack. ¡°I¡¯m going to curse that bastard until his balls fall off.¡± I took out a small shriveled grey mushroom, my water skin, and then paused. Did I really want to do this? I wasn¡¯t really sure what would happen if I tried.


    Screw that bastard anyway¡­¡­


    I reached into my pack once more and drew out a small shattered piece of dark stone. It seemed to suck away the light around it. Even in the bright afternoon sun, the clearing we were in took on an ominous feeling.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Fragment of Corruption</td></tr><tr><td>(Mystical)


    Reagent


    A shattered piece of the Orb of Corruption. Much of it¡¯s magic has dissipated, but it¡¯s still useful for amplifying dark spells.


    Effects: Unknown.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°You know witchcraft? How¡¯d you learn that?¡± MoMagicMoProblems asked beside me.   poked the short blonde hair into the mushroom and sat in the middle of my circle.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see, Fire obviously, but what else. Something insidious for that bastard. Water then.¡± I muttered darkly as I continued to prep my spell. ¡°It was an accident actually.¡± I finally responded as I kept working. I learned it trying to figure out elemental magic.  It¡¯s  got some solid buffs and protective spells but this is the first time I¡¯ve ever sat out to actually curse someone.¡±I pulled out my water skin and sat it at one point. Then lit a piece of bark on fire for the other, finally adding a drop of my blood for death. No scratch that. Blood willingly sacrificed was good for white magic, but for black magic¡­


    ¡°Hey give me your hand a sec¡­.¡±  I said as I picked up a sharp rock. I turned around grabbed MoProblems proffered hand then stabbed him in the meat between his thumb and forefinger.


    ¡°What the hell!¡± he shouted as he pulled his hand away.


    ¡°Sorry needed blood.¡± I said as I placed the rock with gnome blood on it at the other tip of the triangle. I did feel bad, but It heal in a few minutes.


    ¡°You could just asked.¡± He grumbled under his breath.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t actually. I am sorry but you have to use blood that you took without permission for curses. It¡¯s in chapter three of my witchcraft book.¡± I explained while I finalized my spell.


    I drew the symbol for vigor in the middle of the circle and was about to add the fragment when the world froze.


    I winced. Mom had apparently found out after all. I was afraid she might. A throaty laugh came from behind me, and I turned to see Baria in her full splendor. She was dressed the same as before, her white toga immaculate, and her golden hair spilling down over her shoulders.  She had a small mischievous smile on her face and her eyes twinkled with laughter.It was the kind of smile that had toppled Troy.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never actually been a mother before. Procreation is something my kind don¡¯t bother with.¡± Her voice was as warm and smooth as ever, touched with a hint of amusement. Was she reading my thoughts?


    ¡°Well, you should try it sometime. It¡¯s a fun with a good partner. Besides I thought you said you had a son?¡± I asked puzzled. It was hard to think with her standing this close to me. I just wanted to lay down at her feet and hope she scratched my belly.


    ¡°Son is¡­.. the most obvious comparison, although derivative may be a better word, but that is a discussion for another day. I came here to prevent you from doing something foolish because that boy stung your pride.¡± She said her voice becoming serious.


    I sighed. ¡°I figured, So you don¡¯t want me to curse him?¡± I asked my voice petulant even to my own ears.


    ¡°It is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do. Merely to inform you of consequences. Witchcraft is about balance, and balance requires darkness as much as light. Is a spell to curse one who has done wrong, worse than a spell to bolster someone who will use that strength for ill?¡± she continued in her honeyed voice.


    ¡°You humans attach stigma and disgust to the oddest things. A man who builds his wealth on the suffering of others is, while not lauded, is at least allowed to do so. While a man who steals that wealth to feed his family is punished. It is illogical and arbitrary, but I have strayed from my point. ¡±


    ¡°Your spell is not evil. Your anger and pride are unfortunate, but not unfounded. However that¡± She said pointing to the shard still in my hand. ¡°Is evil, in it¡¯s truest form, It¡¯s only purpose is to corrupt and destroy, to grant power to those who have not earned it. In that state the damage it can cause is minimal, but you¡¯re being a hypocrite by employing something so foul.


    I sighed. ¡°Alright fine, you win.¡± I said and reached out with the shard on my hand trying to give it to her. I saw a flash of fear in her eyes for the first time and she took a step away from me.


    She shook her head. ¡°I told you that was dangerous. Much more so to me than to you, but my son has forgotten that I still hold sway in this world.¡± She closed her eyes for a moment and a blinding golden beam emerged from her hands. It poured onto the stone, and there was a violent clashing of energies before the darkness broke and the stone turned the same shade as her golden eyes.


    ¡°More souls pour into this world by the hour young geomancer. To them it is a diversion, a place to play the hero, to rescue damsels, and escape from their lives for a time. However, to my kind it is our home. As more souls enter this place this world will grow. That growth will bring with it wealth, glory, strife, and war.¡± She looked deeply into my eyes for a moment making my brain stutter.  ¡°I¡¯ve chosen you for my side Thomas Ritter.¡° She smiled at me fondly and my heart lurched. I really could not get my head straight around this woman, or goddess, or whatever.


    She pointed at the golden shard I was now holding. ¡°That is not come trinket to use for impressing a girl, or smiting some dragon. It it¡¯s a piece of me. Use it only when great need arises, and only for the noblest cause.  Now go, I¡¯ve lingered over-long in this place.¡° With that the world crashed back into motion and she was simply gone.


    I shook my head trying to absorb all the information she¡¯d just given me when MoMagicMoProblemss voice intruded on my thoughts. ¡°So how does it work? Is it like rune magic?¡± the young gnome behind me asked, completely oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place.  Right the spell.


    I ran my hands through my hair then put the now golden shard back in the bag. ¡°Uhhhh¡­ Kinda. It¡¯s a combination of a lot of things.¡±


    I explained the basics to him then told him to give me some silence as I powered the spell. I used the vast majority of my mana and the colors swirled and danced. This time instead of the neon bright colors my witchcraft normally produced, the energies the circle produced were more dark and saturated. They melded themselves into a vile bilious green as I shaped the spell. l and broke my circle, and the swirling power shot off in the direction of the village. I Grinned as I imagined the look on his face. Baria hadn¡¯t told me not to curse him. She¡¯d just told me to do it with my own power.


    ********


    Player Theodore sat on a stump near the village smiling. They¡¯d been able to round up a couple hundred gold worth of weapons, ore, coin, and other items. It was easy money, his favorite kind. The biggest haul had come from that noob though. He¡¯d dropped 20 gold by himself. Bastard must have had at least 50 gold on him. It was a fortune with gold prices the way they were now. He should know, He¡¯d spent more money on his armor and weapon than he had for his game system. A player only lost a percentage of the gold they were carrying when they died, and then they dropped an even smaller fraction of that.


    Didn¡¯t matter though. He¡¯d killed that hammer wielding idiot. Thankfully his resurrection ability had been up. It would be days before he could use it again, but he¡¯d won in the end. He was glad his uncle had conned him into playing this. His uncle worked as mid-level manager at Nexus and had wrangled a Jump-Start code for Theo. Personally, he wasn''t sure he wanted to play a video game with his uncle but he had enjoyed it so far. Seeing the look on that guys face when he stabbed him, priceless.  He rubbed a hand across his bruised chest while sneering. Then something hit him from behind and he gasped as nausea and weakness assaulted his body.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have been Afflicted with Curse of Impotence</td></tr><tr><td>


    Magic: Witchcraft


    Duration: 3h


    Effect: End -4, Con -2, UBstr -2, LBstr -4, Attractiveness with NPC¡¯s of the opposite sex decreased by 50%.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ***************************************************************************************************************


    Note: I put this chapter up early, because I think I''m gonna have to re-write the next part. When I was going back through and editing I decided it wasn''t quite up to snuff. So It''ll likely take a bit.


    As always thanks for the reads, and I saw a couple new positive reviews. Thank you everyone, and I hope you''ll keep reading.


    *bows*


    Edit: Spelling/Grammar


    Edit2: From the comments, and after talking to a buddy I''ve mind I''ve edited the last part to explain why the Paladin was level 10.

 Volume 2: Chapter 5

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure putting an impotence curse on a rival is setting a great example for me.¡± MoMagicMoProblems said after he stopped laughing. He was looking at me with a mock stern expression that made him seem spock-like with his pointed ears.


    ¡°I disagree, the lesson here is that childish pranks make for the best revenge. If you escalate a revenge into violence you¡¯ll lose a part of yourself. If you get revenge with impotence magic or flaming dog poo you get to keep the moral high ground. Not to mention it¡¯s way more hilarious.¡± I said stone faced.


    ¡°There is no way you can actually believe that.¡± He said rolling his eyes. I shrugged then stood up and and hoisted my pack again.


    ¡°Come apprentice, we have orc¡¯s to slay. We¡¯re not strong enough to take back the village, but we can at least pitch in with the orcs. We¡¯ll do a good deed and maybe salvage a reward.¡± I said walking into the woods. MoMagicMoProblems nodded and we sat off. I wasn¡¯t sure how we¡¯d find the orcs since neither of us had any tracking skills to speak of, but wondering around a fantasy forest filled with monsters couldn¡¯t possibly go badly.


    I think it took us all of three hours to get lost.


    *********************************************************


    ¡°That game is work. I¡¯m sore all over dude.¡± Chris complained rubbing his leg muscles. I¡¯d finally logged off at about 11 am. I¡¯d spent all night wandering aimlessly looking for orcs. Luckily, 11:00 Am meant meant all the pizza places had just opened. So now Chris and I were vegging out on the couch while we waited for our food to arrive.¡°I¡¯ve had to fight about a dozen goblins. I ended up dying once since it takes so damn long to regen.   Made this sweet knife accidentally and got a quest for turning in goblin ears to a nearby village. I¡¯d like to try more smithing but can¡¯t get any ore. This game is too hard core.¡± He grumbled sullenly. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Well, almost got killed by boars, gained an apprentice, got PKed, then I¡¯m pretty sure we got lost¡­. and don¡¯t talk to me about hard-core. I lost a level and 35 gold when that ass-hat paladin killed me.¡± I countered.


    Chris¡¯s eyes bugged and he looked like he was about to choke to death.  ¡°Thirty-Five gold?! Do you have any idea how much gold is selling for right now?!¡± He said incredulously.


    I had no idea actually. ¡°Uhhhh, no but a lot I¡¯d imagine since 99% of the people in the game don¡¯t have any, and most of the players are rich enough to blow 5-grand on a game console.¡± I replied shrugging.


    ¡°Yeah, Alot...Heh¡­.¡± He said flaty. ¡°Try like 100 to 150 USD each. Which if i learned to multiply correctly just means you lost four-thousand dollars in a pointless pissing match.¡± He said shaking his head at my now pale face.


    Now I felt terrible. I hadn¡¯t paid that much for my car. I put my head in my hands and asked through my fingers. ¡°How do you sell gold anyway? Is it all third-party sites or do they have an official way.¡±


    Chirs snorted. ¡°Of course they have an official way. It¡¯s like Colorado and pot. Anyone with a brain knows it¡¯s better to make money taxing something people are going to do anyway, then spend money trying to stop them from doing it.¡± Chris laughed again. ¡°Nope, in any city with an auction house you can set-up buy and sell orders for it. It uses the account info you used when you made your character. Just pop in how much you want to sell or buy and at what price, and the money will be deposited or withdrawn from your account for the low-low price of a 15% handling fee.


    I laughed bitterly ¡°15% huh?, you¡¯d think they were shafting us bad enough at 30 bucks a month. ¡° I sighed. ¡°Oh well, On the bright side that means I can make it back while the prices are still screwed up. Once people start getting more gold the market will plummet.¡± I said to Chris. ¡°You must be happy. How much is that sweet knife of yours worth?¡± I asked before adding. ¡°How¡¯d you get it anyway?¡±


    ¡°Funny story actually.¡± He said now looking excited to tell his tale.  ¡°Anyway, so I was fighting goblins right and one of them dropped this piece of bone. Boom! crafting ingredient on my first kill. Well, I was like, man I gotta make something sweet with this but the goblins almost killed me since all I had was a stick. So I had some time to burn while I waited for my HP to regen outta the red zone. Then I remembered you telling me I could just use a rock. So I found this pretty cool rock and started whittling at this piece of bone. Then I unnuo. I guess I got kinda into it. I just wanted to get it just right, so I kept working and working.  It was suddenly like four hours later and I get this pop-up notification. ¡®You¡¯ve created an Uncommon Item!¡¯¡±. He finished in his bad announcer voice.


    ¡°You made an uncommon bone knife. With a rock¡­¡­¡± I said baffled. Leave it to Chris. That idiot is always doing stupid stuff and having it turn out golden. ¡°Uncommon Items have stats right? What¡¯s it do?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the bummer. I read online that crafted items were selling for five or six gold each. But my knife only buffs witchcraft. I mean seriously who even has witchcraft as a skill?¡± He said sighing. ¡°Some guy bought a flaming sword one of the dev¡¯s kids made for five grand. I bet I could get at least 600$ outta that dagger if witch was a popular class. There¡¯s probably only one poor goth girl out there I could sell it too.¡± He finished depressed.


    ¡°I seriously want to both both punch you and hug you at the same time.¡± I said shaking my head. It really was going to be one of those days.  ¡°One: I¡¯m a witch. The first and probably only one at the moment. Two: I¡¯m pretty sure I know where that sword ended up. That paladin gutted me with it earlier.¡±


    I told Chris my story,  about MoMagicMoProblems, the village, the rather short-lived fight and my petty vengeance. I left out the part about Baria. I still wasn¡¯t quite prepared to spill those beans yet.


    Chris was still making fun of me when the pizza guy arrived.


    *********************************************************


    I logged back in and was greeted to a chorus of loud screeching hisses. Night had fallen and the little camp I¡¯d sat-up had apparently been discovered.  I quickly scanned the area while grabbing my hammer where it lay beside me.  A dozen or so small lizard-like humanoids surrounded my spell circle, pressing against the invisible barrier. They had yellow vertical slitted eyes, short lean bodies, and long sinuous tails. They were garbed in rags and furs,and all of them held crude stone weapons. The screeches and hisses got louder as they saw me raise to my feet.


    Thank god for my protection spell. They would have murdered MoProblems and I in our sleep otherwise. I¡¯d never actually seen my barrier spell in action. It was odd too see all the creatures around me pressing against the open air like it was a giant pane of glass. I¡¯d read the description, but It had never been attacked while I had it active. The site of the lizard-things unable to get to me was oddly unsettling.  Luckily, none of the creatures seemed smart enough to attack the barrier directly. It didn¡¯t have much HP, and would only survive for a hit or two, but the creatures hadn¡¯t seemed to have figured that out. They were all just pressing themselves against the invisible wall and looking angry. There was a flash of blue light beside me and my gnomish student finally logged back in. His eyes flew wide as saucers as he took stock of the situation.


    ¡°Wha, what¡¯s going on?¡± He asked, his voice stuttering in fright. He had learned early on that being attacked actually hurt in this game, even with the pain turned down. Being ripped apart buy these things would not be pleasant.


    ¡°It seems our camp has been discovered.¡± I said with forced calm. ¡°You got any new fancy spells you wanna try out. Fire Nova? Chain lighting? Chocobo Meteor?¡± I asked as I tried to come up with a plan. He shook his head frantically and I sighed. Didn¡¯t look like I was getting much from that quarter. What good was a wizard who couldn¡¯t even hurl lighting or summon volcanoes. Seemed unfair I had to do all the close-up work and do the magical heavy lifting.


    Time to do something big and stupid then¡­.


    I thought darkly. Seemed I was doing that a lot lately. Fortunately, I seemed to be developing a knack for it.


    I reached for my earth magic. In working more with my elements, I¡¯d come to the conclusion that earth wasn¡¯t a very subtle element. Which made it less than useful in some circumstances. On the other hand for something like this when all¡¯s I really needed was to cause chaos it would do just fine.


    I flexed that odd part in my brain I used to control mana and poured it down into the earth. As I did so, one of the lizard things finally seemed to wise up, and a stone hatchet crashed into the barrier. There was a flicker of brown and red light, before the barrier went transparent again. The ground started to shake as it always did when I used my magic, but instead of trying to wrangle the earth into a wall, or some other effect, I just kept pouring in more mana, letting it spread out and run wild. The shaking intensified and soon it was an effort just to stand. Another axe fell on my barrier and there was a loud crack and the spell shattered. A bloom of fire spread outwards from my lashing the creatures, but the damage was minimal. The spell was never meant to hold against a determined assault or do real damage. It did however add to the confusion of the already chaotic fight. I cut the mana flow before I drained myself too much to fight, and cast stone-skin over-myself before I waded into the on-rushing mob. taking care with my footing.


    I used a wide horizontal swing to sweep the closest attackers away. It did little more than press them back, but I used the time and stepped toward my apprentice, trying to create some space around us. He¡¯d need room to work his magic so my main task was to defend us while he did his wizard thing and whittled them down. The creatures surged around us, stumbling and flailing as the earth continued to buck and shift beneath them because of my earthquake.


    I struck out at those who came near, trying to push them back and knock them down. Small gouts of flame began erupting among their massed forces throwing them further into confusion. MoProblems had finally come to his senses. He was only level two after dying but his spells were taking their toll as the rest of the fight turned into brutal melee.


    I user my brute power and long weapon to hold back the tide. I crushed joints, bashed hands, and used my body to absorb their attacks. Slowly their numbers drained away as we slew them.  The last lizard went down with a blow of my hammer, just as my apprentice spent the last of his magic and passed out.


    Bleep-be-deep-Bleep


    Blip


    Two flashes of blue light illuminated the night as both of us leveled. The young wizard sat up instantly and looked around. ¡°What happened? I was fighting, then everything just went black.¡± He asked looking at the pile of corpses around us in the flickering fire-light.


    ¡°Mana burn-out.¡± I replied while I sat down to meditate. I¡¯d need to get another barrier up, and I didn¡¯t have the mana. ¡° Happens when you push too much magic through your noggin. Although, I¡¯m honestly surprised you lasted that long, how much mana do you have?¡±


    ¡°Like 40 or something. I get a ton of bonuses from my class and my int and wisdom both get added in with my resonance.¡± He said.


    ¡°What a cheater. I¡¯ve got nine levels on you, and you¡¯ve almost have as much as me.¡± I whined. ¡°Good fight by the way. I thought we were going down there. ¡± My breathing finally started to calm and I remembered my knife. I stood up and searched my pack then went to work on the bodies . I felt a little bad since they were sort of humanoid, but I figured their skin would make a decent pair of boots.


    I ended up with five pieces of leather,and a couple crafting drops. Not a bad haul, for a couple minutes work. The best part however, was the fact that the leather¡¯s description identified the beasts as kobolds, and kobolds always lived in caves. My priorities immediately shifted from questing to loot.


    ¡°New plan! Were not going after the orcs.¡± I said.


    ¡°Is that because you¡¯ve got a plan, or because you got us lost?.¡± MoProblems asked as he knelt and crossed his legs. I scowled at him and he laughed. ¡°You thought I didn¡¯t notice we¡¯ve been wandering around for hours. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s not like I have anywhere to be, but I¡¯m sixteen not twelve.¡±


    ¡°Anyway¡± I said drawing the word out in an obvious attempt to change the subject.  ¡°We need to find out where the kobolds came from. They should have a cave around here somewhere. We¡¯ll start walking in circles outward when the sun comes up. Unless I can follow their tracks. Although, we¡¯ll have to wait till my wounds heal.  Bastards bruised two ribs, and broke an ankle.¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°Why are we hunting for their cave, instead of completing the quest?¡± He asked curious.


    ¡°Four reasons. First: because we can. Second: loot. Third: I need to mine about 20 tons of copper ore, and Fourth: We really are lost, and I have no idea how to find the orcs. ¡± I responded. Chris had been doing some reading while we ate pizza and found out how screwed up the game''s economy was right now. Since gold was worth so much real money, and people were trying to leveling crafting it was creating a huge resource vacuum. Since we weren¡¯t going to find the orcs, we might as well add some black numbers to my bank account.


    ¡°I¡¯m with you on the first two. That fight was a mess, but great XP, but why copper ore, can¡¯t you farm professions later?¡± He added confused.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s exactly what everyone else is going to be doing. You know that kobold tail I gave you is worth about fifty bucks right now? There are no gear drops in this game. Zero. Which means everyone is scrambling to level crafting professions to make gear, but no-one has any raw materials.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Because in this game, you actually have to go grab an axe and start chopping a tree if you wanna get wood. It¡¯s boring, monotonous, and hard work. Not to mention that you have to spend skill points on crafting professions out of the same pool as combat professions.  Which all translates to a HUGE gap between supply and demand. So... right now while the price of gold is the highest it¡¯s ever going to be there is a HUGE demand for raw materials. I could honestly pay for my college this year with a couple weeks work if we can start selling before people catch onto how screwed up everything is.¡± I said, trying to convince him.


    ¡°You should pick yourself up a crafting skill or two as well. Everyone is out here grinding like crazy, but that doesn¡¯t really help you. The more stuff you do between every level, the more your stats raise. So not only will we make mountains of money, but we¡¯ll be getting good stat gains while we''re doing it. You¡¯ll be the most beastly wizard in the game and have all the gnome chicks after you.¡± I finished.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how mining is going to help me with my magic stats. Besides I¡¯m more into elves anyway, or maybe a drow. White hair is kinda hot, and the way they always act better than you¡­...¡± He got a wistful look in his eye and I started to worry about his taste in women.


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡° A drow, really? You are one screwed up little gnome. And obviously something like mining isn¡¯t gonna be your prime choice. I¡¯m building a brute so  for me mining is awesome. For you I¡¯d go with something you have to use your head for, alchemy, tailoring, something like that. You could try crafting wands or something. Not sure if there¡¯s some sort of enchanting skill, but there probably is.¡±  I added, shrugging my shoulders. With that we re-prepared our camp and waited for the sun to rise.


    *******************************************************


    Needing time to recover from my wounds, and not having slept for going on thirty hours, I finally decided to crash. I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and slept like the dead until three the next morning. Then I grabbed a quick shower,  some food, and hopped back into Otherworld.


    MoProbelms was still logged out. So I checked my character status and tried to find the direction the Kobolds had come from. It was mid-morning in game. Which put the time difference between central time and server time at about seven hours. At least where I was on the server¡­ I had no idea if there were in-game time zones.


    The ground around our camp was torn up everywhere. Clumps of grass had been torn out leaving muddy ruts, and there were charred patches from the fire spells MoProblems had used. After carefully scanning the area I. I saw some skinny three toed tracks heading in from the west. Luckily, the soft ground made it easier or I¡¯d have never been able to find them.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You''ve Unlocked a New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Tracking</td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked by successfully finding and attempting to follow tracks. This skill increases one¡¯s ability both to find and understand clues in the environment that reveal a creatures passing. The higher the skill level the more information can be gleaned from the tracks Also includes the ability to hide and obscure tracks.


    This skill increases by finding, following, or obscuring tracks.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It had been a while since I gotten a new skill. Granted, this one wasn¡¯t super useful, but since as far as I knew you could have as many skills as you wanted there was no reason not to get it, and it could be very helpful. Especially since it likely got a boost from my outdoorsman secret skill. Which I¡¯d finally maxed out at Novice V. Hopefully it would be good enough to find their base.


    We sat off when MoProblems finally logged back in. The trail was pretty easy to follow. The kobold''s hadn¡¯t been trying to hide much and the ground got progressively more damp as we moved. By the time we found the cave it was nearly noon in-game, and the wet forest-lands had turned into full blown swamp.


    The whole area stank of dead fish and rotting plant matter.  Shallow pools of water were separated by narrow strips of mud and sand. While a single deeper channel of slow running water snaked it¡¯s way through the area. The whole place was filled with life. A dozen different kinds of birds called to each other while they swooped down to catch fish or frogs. Insects buzzed everywhere and every step seemed to scare a snake or rodent from the grass.


    The cave was on a small island of semi-solid ground surrounded on three sides by the small creek.  We approached cautiously. On the lookout for more kobolds or other nasty swamp creatures. As we stepped onto the island we got alert we were waiting for.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Discovered A Lair!</td></tr><tr><td>Red-Tail Cavern</tr></td></tbody></table>


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s us¡± I said. after clearing the pop-up.This wasn¡¯t exactly what I¡¯d been hoping for. The thought of spending the next few days camping out here and farming wasn¡¯t a pleasant one.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s fairly interesting. I¡¯ve spent all my life in the city. I¡¯ve never seen a wetland before.¡± MoProblems said cheerfully. He was looking rather chipper, and his much lighter weight had let him stay above most of the muck that I¡¯d had to slog through.


    ¡°Wetland is just a polite name for swamp.¡± I shot back. ¡°It¡¯s the one all those environmentalist types use when they are trying to get you to give them money.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it was your idea to come here and wetlands are important to the environment.¡± He rebutted.


    ¡°That would be true, if this was a real swamp in the real world.¡± I said. And regardless of the possible ecological benefits, that doesn¡¯t make this place any less humid, mosquito infested, or rank.¡±


    Water ran down the walls of the cave as we entered. The walls were grey stone, but the tunnels reminded me of the last time I¡¯d been in a dungeon. Which summoned up a host of complicated feelings. Images of insane dire-rats, and the horrible numbed dead feeling of my paralyzed legs fought for mental real-estate with images of Hanna and our constant bickering. I should really try and find her. Although, I had no idea where I was in relation to Valor¡¯s Crossing. Besides, the tech said all the NPC¡¯s had been wiped.


    I sighed and moved deeper into the tunnels. It only took a few steps before we were charged by the first group of kobold¡¯s. They seemed to be a bit more powerful than the ones that attacked our camp, but there we a lot fewer of them. The narrow hallways made things a great deal easier as well.I could just use my bulk to plug the tunnel while MoProblems used his magic to pick them off.


    We managed to clear three rooms before my mounting injuries forced us to retreat. I took the opportunity to scout for ore, and was pleased to find a good amount of copper and tin in the rooms we¡¯d cleared. I¡¯d back back for it after we got our base set-up.


    We retreated back outside and found a semi-dry island a half-mile or so from the entrance where we decided to make camp.


    *********************************************************


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± MoProblems asked as I scratched another witchcraft sigil into the massive circle. It had taken me a good three hours to prepare our camp so far and it was by far the best one I¡¯d managed yet. I¡¯d dug a fire-pit and carried in rocks to line it as well as other for seating, and had even found some dry grass for us to sleep on. We planned on spending a while here and I wanted to go all out. It would give us a solid base of operations, and hopefully level up my camping skill in the process.


    The spell I was working on to protect us was a monster. I wanted something more stout after the kobold attack and after plundering Witchcraft for Noobs for secrets, I¡¯d come up with a model. It was easily the largest and most complex spell I¡¯d attempted. Honestly, it was probably too complex but I had a plan for that. I¡¯d draw the outer circle nearly ten meters wide, and reinforced it with five sigils of protection. The smaller spell circle that would power it was my first attempt at a three-element spell, and had sigils for Fire, Power, Healing, and Rejuvenation.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much mana it would actually take to start the thing, but I was pretty confident it was more than I had. Which was why I¡¯d made my apprentice learn witchcraft. He had a bucket load of mana for his level and I figured if I used him as a mana battery it would probably be enough. The real question was if we¡¯d be able to handle the mental strain of that much mana between the two of us.


    When I finished scrawling the last sigil I returned to where MoProblems was sitting around the spell circle.


    ¡°You ready?¡± I asked as I took a seat across from him.


    ¡°Uhhhh, Not really.¡± He said looking a bit worried.


    ¡°Common¡­ It¡¯ll be fine. What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡± I said wheedling.


    ¡°You just had to say it didn¡¯t you¡­¡­¡­¡±


    We joined hands in true witch fashion and started to pour power into the spell slowly. The circle started to glow as the neon tendrils of power started to swirl. We poured in more power and the first of the five sigils in the small circle flared to life. I felt a sudden pressure on my mind, and started to sweat. This we going to be bad.


    ¡°Steady¡­.¡± I told MoProblems as the power continued to accumulate. ¡°Just keep the flow even. I¡¯ll shape the spell, just do your share of the lifting.¡± The second and third sigils were bad but the by the fourth the pain in my skull was nearly unbearable.


    The colors shined brighter, illuminating the area around us as the daylight faded.  The fifth sigil sputtered for a moment then flared to life, and I heard a faint whimper from MoProblems as the pressure increased even further. I saw the moment that he lost consciousness but I lost track of everything as the weight of his half of the spell slammed down on top my already over-taxed mind.


    The world went red as the blood vessels in my eyes burst and I screamed in agony as everything faded away.


    ***********************************************************


    ¡°Can you hear me? Are you alright¡± Someone screamed into my ears with a megaphone . I groaned and tried feebly to cover my ears. I rolled over and curled into a ball before vomiting. That sent another fresh bolt of misery through my aching head. I felt like I¡¯d spent the entire night drinking the cheapest nastiest booze I could possibly find.


    ¡°Why¡­..¡± I groaned feebly as I tried to pry my eyes open. I¡¯m not sure exactly what I wanted to know. Honestly, it could have been any number of things. Why did my head feel like someone had drove railroad spikes through it? Why was I rolling around in my own vomit? Why was someone screaming at me?. It could have been all of those or none of them.


    ¡°Are you alright Noob Slayer?¡± The voice screamed again.


    ¡°Stop¡­¡­¡± I moaned again. But the voice was insistent.


    ¡°Just log out. The camp will heal you eventually.¡± The voice said again.


    Oh, Right¡­..Logout¡­


    I thought weakly.Suddenly, I was in my apartment and the pounding, horrible, awful pain was completely gone. I felt like I¡¯d had a good night¡¯s sleep, which I likely had, come to think of it. I wasn¡¯t sure how long I¡¯d been out in game, or how that translated into real sleep, but I felt great. Which was an incredible contrast to how terrible I¡¯d felt a few moments before.


    So I spent the day, grocery shopping, running errands, and cleaning up the apartment. I didn¡¯t log back in until almost twelve hours later.


    *******************************************************


    The world was still black when I awoke. I blinked a few times and realized my eyes were indeed open I was just blind. It was a very odd feeling and not at all a pleasant one. The world around me seemed a great deal scarier than it had been only a few moments before. I tried to calm myself and called out.


    ¡°Are you here?¡±. MoProblems should be around here somewhere. Although, he might have decided to try a bit of leveling on his own while I was indisposed. I moved around cautiously but made sure not to move too far in any direction. I didn¡¯t want to end up away from camp. I needed it to heal my sight. Finally a few minutes later i heard footsteps.


    ¡°Are you alive now?¡± MoProblems voice asked from the darkness.


    ¡°Not really. I¡¯m blind.¡± I said as I felt around me to make sure I didn¡¯t trip over anything.


    ¡°Really?, Didn¡¯t know that was possible, but it would explain your eyes. They look terrible. Well, all of you looks terrible. Your face is covered in dried blood and I¡¯m pretty sure you rolled in your own puke.¡± he said heartlessly.


    ¡°Well, you''re a bright ray of sunshine today.¡± I said sarcastically .


    He snorted. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling very sympathetic. I told you it was a stupid idea.¡± He griped.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t say it was a stupid idea. You just asked me if it was a good idea. Which it was. ¡° I said defensively.


    ¡°Did the spell even work?¡± He asked. It was a good question. I didn¡¯t remember breaking the circle but without my eyes I had no real way of finding out. I told him that and he snorted.


    ¡°Just open your log. I can¡¯t see your status screens when you open them. So you don¡¯t really SEE them do you? They are illusions. Which means they should work regardless of if you''re blind or not.¡± He explained impatiently while leaving out the implied ¡®you idiot¡¯.


    ¡°Fine then¡­. Log¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Log Default Filter</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>User Has Taken 5 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Has Taken 10 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Had Been Afflicted with Headache</li>


    <li>User Has Taken 15 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Has Taken 20 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Has Taken 25 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Has Taken 85 Damage from Spell Feedback</li>


    <li>User Had Been Afflicted with Bloody Nose</li>


    <li>User Had Been Afflicted with Brain Hemorrhage</li>


    <li>User Had Been Afflicted with Blindness </li>


    <li>User Has Entered Critical Status</li>


    <li>User Has Created A New Spell!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Barrier Sub-skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Barrier Sub-skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Barrier Sub-skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Barrier Sub-skill has Reached Beginner Rank</li>


    <li>New Skill Unlocked</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Barrier Sub-skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Witchcraft Skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Witchcraft Skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Witchcraft Skill has Reached Beginner Rank</li>


    <li>New Skill Unlocked</li>


    <li>User has Used Camping Skill</li>


    <li>Camp Quality Increased to 171</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Camping Skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Camping Skill has Ranked Up!</li>


    <li>User¡¯s Camping Skill has Reached Beginner Rank</li>


    <li>New Skill Unlocked</li>


    <li>User is Unconscious</li>


    <li>User had Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp</li>


    <li>User has Regained 1 Hp


    </li></ul>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I started laughing. My plan has succeeded beautifully. Well, maybe not beautifully but I was a function over form kinda guy. I must have broken the circle accidentally when I fell, or possibly when I was rolling around in agony. ¡°I told you it was a good idea. I just got three skills to beginner rank.¡± I said smugly.


    ¡°You''re also blind and haven''t been able to play for at least 12 hours.¡± MoProblem¡¯s said sharply. ¡°Did you get any good skills at least?¡± I was already way ahead of him.


    Open Spellbook¡­..


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Vocal Incantations</td></tr><tr><td>Allows Users to Increase the Potency of Witchcraft Spells by Adding a vocal incantations to their spells. Potency increase will be based on the quality and relevance of the incantation.


    Rank:N/A


    Activation: Passive</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sympathetic Barriers</td></tr><tr><td>Allows User to create Barriers and links between barriers symbolically. Allowing for the user to power circles and create barriers without having to draw the lines manually.


    Rank: N/A


    Activation: Passive</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tranquil Rest</td></tr><tr><td>Allows camps created by the user to heal severe grade injuries.


    Rank: N/A


    Activation: Passive</td></tr></tbody></table>


    New Spell¡­. Expand¡­¡­.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    A complex Witchcraft barrier based on Three Elements shaped by ten sigils and using five different reagents. Barrier provides moderate protection against entry, and will trigger a powerful fire effect when breeched. Barrier also provides a small bonus to both HP and Mana regeneration.


    Elements used: Fire, Earth, Water


    Sigils used include:  5 Protection, 2 Fire, 1 Power, 1 Healing, and 1 Rejuvenation.


    Barrier HP: 254


    Hp Regen: .2083%/Min


    Mana Regen: .2083%/Min


    Fire Dmg: 20-80</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Name Spell¡­.. Beginner''s Fire Nova Barrier of Regeneration


    It looked Like everything would work out after all.


    _____________________________________________________________


    AN: Bit of a long chapter here. Although kinda slow plot wise. Sorry about the shrinking text on the log table. I''m not sure why it''s doing that, but I can''t seem to fix it without making it about 100 times worse. So I''m leaving it for now.


    Thanks as always for the continued support!

 Volume 2: Chapter 6

    After a week spent traveling with Meridith,  Jasmine decided the squirrel girl was more fun than she seemed.At first Jasmine had thought the girl a bit of a snob, but after a few days she¡¯d learned that Meridith was just very proper. She actually had a rather dry humor that went well with Jasmine¡¯s snark.  She¡¯d also finally learned what race the girl actually was. A Risui, which was a humanoid squirrel race with a bonus to herbalism and healing.


    When Jasmine had started playing Otherworld it had been a mere impulse. That had eventually turned into a ticket to get her out of her dead-end job. That had turned into a borderline addiction. However, she¡¯d not really understood the true depth of what she was experiencing, as she spent all of her time in game alone.


    Now that she had a companion with as much knowledge about games and gaming as Meridith it had transformed her worldview. Although Jasmine had spent far longer in game and was the more powerful character. She had been completely oblivious to her lack of knowledge. Jasmine had seen the world as a solo adventure. One to take her away from her boring job and spend some time smashing pretend fantasy monsters. However, Meredith had opened her eyes to what gaming truly was or could be. It was life in a microcosm. It was about people, and power, and determination.


    Meridith had started with the basics. The ¡®Holy Trinity¡¯, tanking, DPS, and role specialization. It had all sounded like Greek initially, but Jasmine wasn¡¯t nearly as stupid as most people assumed she was. Her punk rocker looks and status as a high-school dropout had always made people see her in a certain way.She hadn¡¯t done much to try and change their opinions, but here she was at 23 working a steady job in a big firm. With her raise she was damn near middle class now ,and she wouldn¡¯t be paying off student loans until she was forty like most college grads were. Meridith made her feel a little slow, but that girl made MIT grads look like kids playing with blocks and eating paste.


    The combat lessons had turned their free-for-all melee¡¯s into organized battles. Then Meredith moved on to character builds. Jasmine had understood the skill system for the most part, but had horded all her points due to indecision. Meridith had helped Jasmine plan out a skill build that would complement and multiply their combined power. Then she¡¯ started to tell Jasmine about her goals in game, exploration, conquest, guild politics and espionage. Jasmine had never expected her new-found hobby to have so many layers and hidden complexities.


    But then Jasmine had started to see the way things were changing. It was only seven days since the game had launched but Otherworld had already changed drastically. Every village had at least one guild recruiter, and the top guilds we already starting to fight over dungeons and good farming grounds.  She¡¯d heard the stories at work about people spending and making thousands of dollars on the gold market. It was mind-boggling. Humanity had come to Jasmine''s retreat and she would have to adapt or die. A dangerous smile split her orcish face. She hadn¡¯t been this excited for something in years.


    The girls had been heading south for quite a while and were nearing the edges of the starter zone. Meredith had insisted on getting a map and a compass, which while expensive had kept them from getting lost. So the two had taken their time and fought monsters while exploring the game world. All the while heading south toward Hernberg where they would re-supply before crossing the border into the unknown lands beyond.


    Jasmine had over been keeping an ear out at work and learned the basic layout of the world. The known world was divided into ten different kingdoms, which were fairly close together. The entire combined area was one massive starter zone for players. The land was in a vaguely circular shape with a radius at nearly 300 miles. Which Meridith had informed Jasmine made it a hair larger than the state of Texas in terms of square miles, or twice the size of the UK. The starter zone was for players to level, choose classes, and learn the game''s mechanics in. Monster¡¯s  were capped at about level twenty and their was only a single active dungeon in each Kingdom. The rest of the world had been hidden from player knowledge, but Jasmine knew from experience that NPC¡¯s had heard of other places, although few of the villagers every traveled.  However, It supposedly extended infinitely in every direction. The engineers at work had called it a ¡®Procedural Content and Terrain Generation System¡¯.  As more and more players moved away from the center of the Ten Kingdoms the world expand, opening up new zones, new dungeons, new quests, and new monsters.


    Their little two woman party had leveled pretty well while they¡¯d traveled. Meredith was up to five already from the goblins and wolves they¡¯d fought and had unlocked the druid class like she wanted. The girl had researched online and found you just had to pray over an animal you¡¯d killed to unlock it. Druid was a faith based class in the game and made Meridith into a solid healer with some odd Nature magic the girl hadn¡¯t figured out how to use very well yet. Jasmine herself was nearly to fifteen, and although her stats weren¡¯t as high as she¡¯d like she was an excellent fighter.


    ¡°I have to say, that having a well balanced group seems to make most level appropriate challenges rather trivial.¡± Meredith said in her normal precise tones, as they climbed the mountain before them. Jasmine had to agree. With her fighting skills and the druids healing they could fight fairly large groups of level 10 monsters without much risk. If she really exerted herself and used her music buffs it wasn¡¯t even a challenge.


    ¡°Pretty much, we¡¯ll have to get you up to level ten. Once you get some skills past Novice we can leave the starting zones and find some dungeons or something.¡± Jasmine said as she leapt a small border that had fallen across the narrow path.


    She¡¯d been playing for most of three weeks now, but the games detail was still awe inspiring. . The view of the lands spread out below them was a sight to behold and the feel of the cool wind blowing down from the mountains was so true to life. She wasn¡¯t really a fan of Nexus but even she had to admit her employer did good work.


    ¡°So what is it we¡¯re looking for up here? I¡¯m still not certain why we needed to climb a mountain? Do you have a quest or something?¡± Meredith asked as she labored over the boulder. Her breathing was heavy, and sweat was matting her russet fur. The girl looked like she would keel over any second. Meridith didn¡¯t have nearly the stamina or agility of Jasmine, and climbing a mountain was apparently quite the struggle.


    ¡°Not really,¡± Jasmine replied as she walked along.  The crisp air felt good and she was barely winded after their hike. ¡°Just thought I¡¯d see what there was to see up here. And honestly look at the view. Jasmine said pointing up to the mist cloaked peaks above then to the miles of forest spread out below.  I know you¡¯re a some sort of¡­. What¡¯s the word you used¡­. Otaku?, but you''re still a woman you should be able to appreciate a good view. Besides there¡¯s supposed to be a ton of hidden caverns and things. The guy from design said they don¡¯t actually put anything in the game themselves.  The game generates the points of interest on the fly based on character populations.¡± She explained.


    ¡°He was explaining it to one of the other girls in analytics.  When the game creates a new zone it makes the dungeons first. Then adds number of smaller locations, Hide-outs, Lairs, and mini-boss spawns. However if the player population is high in the area it¡¯ll also create more of the smaller scale stuff in the least populated area¡¯s of that zone.  He went into a bunch of detail about population algorithms and loot and monster density values.  I didn¡¯t get much out of. it You¡¯d have probably understood, but the just of it is that if your looking to find the best loot you need to go to new zones and hit the dungeons before anyone else gets there, as they have the best loot the first time.However¡­..¡± Jasmine made a circular encompassing gesture around them, taking in the long rocky path they¡¯d used to climb up here as well as the breath-taking views, and the utter lack of other life.


    ¡°It means that this location has likely never been explored by anyone, but is still within the confines of one of the more populous starter zones. Making it a likely location for something of interest.¡± Meredith said flatly while laboring over another boulder. ¡°If that¡¯s the case why didn¡¯t we just go to that swamp.¡± The girl said pointing down the mountain to an area miles in the distance where she could clearly see the tree¡¯s thin and the sun reflecting off of water.¡±


    ¡°Who the hell would want to farm in a swamp?¡± Jasmine said disgusted rubbing a hand against her forehead.  There really was no hope for this girl. Thank god Meridith had looks and brains because otherwise she would be single forever. The girl had the femininity of a sea cucumber.


    They continued climbing for a while as Meridith grew more and more winded. Soon they were forced to climb long vertical wall. Which consisted of Jasmine climbing the wall, then Hauling Meridith to the top with a rope. As Meridith made it over the edge they were greeted with a pop-up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked A New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Rugged</tr></td><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when a character overcomes a natural obstacle such as climbing a mountain, traversing a desert or tundra, or by living in such harsh climates for an extended length of time. This skill helps a character survive by reducing food and water consumption as well as providing additional protection against extreme heat and cold. Also provides passive increases to poison resistance, wound resistance, and movement speed on rough terrain.


    Discovering this Skill Unlocks the Hidden Class Barbarian</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked An Achievement!</td></tr><tr><td>Explorer</tr></td><tr><td>This achievement is granted to the first 20 users to unlock the rugged Secret Skill.


    Rewards: 50 Fame, Title: Explorer


    Explorer: Grants users a 15% chance for Bonus loot when defeating the boss of a Dungeon, Lair, or Hide-out that has been active but Unconquered for at least 14 days.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Discovered A Hide-out!</td></tr><tr><td>Shattered-Axe Hide-out</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Rescue the Survivors of Hillsbrook</td></tr><tr><td>The Shattered-Axe Orcs have Raided the Village of Hillsbrook. The Original Rescue Party was defeated and the town was raided and looted. Only a few survivors remain,  and the orcs are holding them captive high in the mountains.


    Level: 15


    Difficulty: Hide-out


    Rewards: 200 Fame, 10 Gold</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Looks like my hunch paid off.¡± Jasmine said giddily as she celebrated by crushing the exhausted squirrel-girl in a hug. When she released the hug Meridith collapsed to the ground,  panting for breath in the thin mountain air. While Jasmine turned and Inspected the cave behind them.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°I¡¯m still not entirely¡­. certain why ¡­...it was necessary ¡­..for us to climb¡­.. All the way up here.¡± Meridith asked accusingly as he held the stitch in her side.


    ¡°The exercise is good for you.¡± Jasmine said grinning. ¡°Besides we weren''t gaining much from our level up¡¯s so I thought we¡¯d try something different.¡±


    Jasmine let the girl rest for a while before then they headed into the mini-dungeon. The orcs inside were confused at first. Being attacked by a she-orc and a Risuri was apparently too much for them to process, but after the blood got flying their trip into the hide-out turned into a slow slog. Each pull had to be done with care and If they attracted more than a single group of orcs they were forced to flee. Even their healer/fighter combo was hard pressed against groups of level 15 enemies, but the drops and XP were more than worth-while. Meredith also had to stop and meditate after every fight to keep her mana up, so advancing was a very slow process.


    It took most of the day for them to make it to the boss. The orc chief''s throne room was in the center of the cave network. A massive fire roared in the middle of the room, and an entire cow was being turned slowly on a roasting spit by a pair of human girl¡¯s in a torn dresses. A huge orc sat on a stone chair, while a squad of elite guards stood nearby brandishing massive battle-axes. In true video-game fashion the guards paced around the room as if nothing of interest was happening. Even though Jasmine and Meredith had just slaughtered about three dozen of their companions well within earshot. Jasmine stood just outside the door with Meredith, shaking her head.


    ¡°They could at least act like they saw us.¡± Jasmine said exasperated.


    ¡°Although that would certainly be more realistic it would also make it rather more difficult to properly balance an encounter. If the entire complex swarmed us,or decided to chase us down the mountain we¡¯d have never been able to clear this-place.¡± The druid said in her typical serious tones.


    ¡°But still, He can obviously see us, but they¡¯ll stand there all day until one of us takes a single step into the room. It¡¯s ridiculous.¡± Jasmine complained as she stepped over the invisible aggro-line. As soon as her foot touched the ground the guards roared and charged while the lead-orc pulled a great-sword hanging beside his throne.


    Jasmine stepped forward into the melee striking out with wounding blows. She¡¯d learned it was best to try and go for wounds rather than kills with Meredith healing. The girl was gaining levels quickly, but she still had trouble with her mana pool. Healing took a lot of mana points, and even a short fight drained the girl. So instead of her normal head-long charge Jasmine fought defensively, using her strikes to wound and disable to keep the amount of incoming damage down. It made the fights last longer, but she look less overall damage, and saved the Risari girl some strain.


    Jasmine downed one of the guards but took a nasty cut across her shoulder. A reverse slice caught another guard in his arm, and his axe dropped from his hands clanging to the stone floor. She spun away from an overhead swing from a third guard, and used the opening to kick the orcs knee in the wrong way. She hacked at him mercilessly striking three times at his back and side as he crumpled to the floor. That left only the boss. The huge orc thrust with his massive blade driving the tip into her thigh and Jasmine stumbled as her leg gave beneath her. She rolled to avoid the next blow, and flash of leaf-green light enveloped her. She felt the wound on her thigh close as she rolled back to her feet.


    Energized, she kicked the boss in the chest and he reeled backwards off-balance. Jasmine barreled after him, and he swung in a wide horizontal arc trying to keep her out of range of her shorter hand-axes. She rolled under the blow, crossed her axes, and came to her feet inside his guard. With a flash of twin steel she struck at his throat sending blood fountaining into the air. Had it been a normal mob, it would have taken his head, but the boss had too much HP for that. Instead the boss doubled over and Jasmine used the time it bought her to  pour on the blows. She threw aside her caution and hacked at his back and head, as fast as she could swing. Finally the Chief collapsed at her feet, and she stood panting and drooling. That was the one down-side she¡¯d found with her race choice. Her tusks pushed up from her lower teeth, and made it very difficult to close her mouth properly. It was embarrassing but also hilarious in it¡¯s own way.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Combo. Would You Like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Halt¡±.She turned, still dripping blood, to see five men standing in the entrance to the throne room.. Well, people standing in the room, men might be a stretch. The looked more like a bunch of puffed up high-schoolers. One had grabbed Meridith around the waist while jasmine was recovering and was holding a short-sword to her throat.  The others were looking at her rather worriedly. The leader of the bunch was a pimply kid with a mange of brown-black hair wearing flowing wizard robes. He in contrast showed no such hesitation.


    ¡°All dungeons, Lairs, and Hide-outs within forty miles of Hernberg City have been claimed by the Knights of the Round Table. Please relinquish all boss drops and exit this place immediately, failure to do so will result in the loss of your life, as well as that of your companion.¡± The wizard announced in a stentorian voice. Like he was some-sort of herald or something.


    ¡°Really?¡± Jasmine asked ,pissed. Who even does stuff like that? ¡°Screw you guys. A week into the game and you''re already pulling this kinda crap? Can¡¯t you just play the damn game.¡± Jasmine said furious. This was the problem with people. They took everything fun and corrupted it with their own stupid ambition. The game had been so peaceful just a couple weeks before when it was just her and the testers and most of the world was empty.


    ¡°You''re a good fighter orc, but you can¡¯t take all of us. Leave this place at once, or we will kill you, take your gold, and you¡¯ll leave anyway.¡± The wizard said, his voice becoming hard. The little bastard couldn¡¯t be more than eighteen. Where did he get off telling her what to do.


    ¡°Listen here you little virgin shit-stains. I¡¯ll rip you limb from limb, now leave before you really make me mad.¡± She sheathed the axes at her hips and pulled the lute from her back. The wizard sneered as he saw the instrument.


    ¡°Oh a big-bad bard I¡¯m so scared. What are you gonna do, sing me to death?¡± He pulled a small wooden wand from his belt and the tip started to shine as he started to cast his spell. Jasmine didn¡¯t hesitate. She set her fingers to the strings of her lute and activated her class ability.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Chord of Rage</td></tr><tr><td>Instantly causes the user to slip into Orcish Rage at maximum level.


    Rank: Novice III


    Duration: 60 Seconds


    Cost: 15 Mana


    Effect: Increases users Rage to Max Level


    Cooldown: Usable once per day</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The sound of a dissonant chord echoed around the cavern and Jasmine¡¯s vision turned blood-red in an instant. Usually as she fought the world bled slowly from pink into darker red-shades as her Orcish Rage grew, but her Bardbarian skill let her skip all that and call it out instantly at full power. It doubled most of her combat attributes but unfortunately it also reduced her Intellect and wisdom by 95%. She couldn¡¯t even speak until it wore off, only snarl, grunt, and drool. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t need to speak for this.


    Jasmine let out a roar of primal fury, and threw her lute into the wizard''s face while he was still chanting his spell. The instrument flew like a comet and shattered as it hit his skull sending fragments of wood and teeth into the air. He spun to the ground soundlessly.


    Jasmine didn¡¯t have enough mind left to even draw her weapons. Instead she took two running steps and leapt the fifteen feet between her and the closest wide-eyed boy. She landed on his shoulders and pummeled him with her bare hands as she rode him to the floor. A sharp pain pierced her back and she spun to see another fighter behind her. His sword now stained with her dark green blood. She lunged forward and grabbed him with both hands. With a grunt she lifted him into the air, swept his legs,  then slammed his head down against the cold stone floor. It made an ugly crunch as it hit bringing a feral smile to her face.


    Before she could recover a weight hit her from behind and she was knocked to the floor over-top of the dead body at her feet. She grappled frantically with her new attacker and rolled on top of him as he stabbed her with a dagger over and over. She grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head back against the floor. The knife fell from his hands after the third blow and his skull caved in after the seventh. She turned to the last invader. The one still holding Meredith at sword point. The boy''s eyes were frantic as he took her in.


    She was spattered from head to toe in blood and brains of various colors. Her eyes glowed a demonic red in the dim cave.  She walked towards him slowly, curls of black mist rising from her as the blood and other bits on her started to dissolve away. The boy looked at her terrified, then suddenly clutched at his chest and fell over. Soon his body vanished along with the others leaving the girls in the room alone, with five piles of coins and a couple of potions. That was good at least. Jasmine was going to need another new lute.


    ¡°Well, It appears you actually gave him a heart attack with that energetic display. It was quite the spectacle, although that¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve ever seen anyone perish from panic rating. I get the feeling you¡¯ve just made us some rather unfortunate enemies.¡± Meredith said with false lightness. The girls eyes were open too wide and her hands shook badly. Jasmine just slumped to the floor and waited as the red slowly bled back out of the world.


    ___________________________________________________________________________


    Note: Slow day at work, so this is a bit of a bonus chapter. Originally,  it was just going to be part of another chapter but I liked it so much while I was editing  I expanded it enough to stand on it''s own. It goes a bit into the world rules and develops the girl''s characters a little more. Hopefully they''ll evolve into something a little deeper than "big-boobed, smart girl," and "crazy orc chick".


    Hope you enjoy!


    Edits: Minor grammar Stuffs/ Spelling.


    Edit 2: More Spelling and Grammar


    Edit 3: Even more Spelling..... Need to proofread more.... :(


    Edit 4: Hyphenated all Hide-outs for Consistency.

 Volume 2: Chapter 7

    MoProblems and I approached Hernberg filthy, bedraggled, and completely drenched. It had rained the night before and had continued the entire morning. A thick chilly fog covered limited our visibility, and gave the rural countryside a horror movie feel.  Worst of all we had found out, much to our chagrin, that my barrier was quite good at stopping attacks and even insects, but it did nothing at all against water. The rain had turned the permanently damp ground of the area into a giant mud-hole and we¡¯d spent the entire day walking through ankle-deep mud while soaked to the skin.


    We¡¯d spend five days in the swamp. After some research online We¡¯d discovered that a Lair would spawn monsters until the boss was defeated, then it would go dormant for a few days before filling with different monsters or even disappearing altogether.  As such we had cleared every room but the boss, deciding we¡¯d wait until MoProblems was level ten before killing him and moving out of the starter zones.  We farmed the Lair for around five hours each day.


    The rest of the time was spent separated and working on our non-combat skills. I¡¯d spent most of it mining, exercising, and experimenting with witchcraft. While MoProblems had taken my advice and tried his hand at crafting. He¡¯d decided on tailoring for a start. Which had forced us to do more online research. Turns out nothing drops cloth in this game, and materials had to be collected manually, spun into thread, and then woven. Which without Otherworld¡¯s strange rules in regard to skill use would have been impossible with nothing but rocks, sticks, and determination. Instead MoProblems managed to find a decent amount of wild cotton plants, hemp, and a few other fibrous plants, harvest them, turn them into VERY rough thread, and even create a few things. Which just proved that ingenuity and cleverness were given far more weight than realism in this world. Since even with the proper tools such a thing would have taken weeks or months at the very least.


    MoProblem¡¯s success had let us extend our stay and  really cash in. He¡¯d managed to make a few bags which let us nearly triple our carrying capacity. Compared to my pack they were junk, but even so each one was able to hold around 10 pounds of stuff in it¡¯s weird not-space. I was currently hauling five of them over each shoulder tied together with a rough hemp rope, while also carrying my backpack. Every single ounce they could hold was taken up by copper, tin,  kobold leather, or crafting drops.  Luckily, my strength score had raised even more as walking with 150 pounds of stuff on your back for miles through mud wasn¡¯t something I¡¯d liked to have attempted without the massive strength of my Noob Slayer avatar.  More research had lead us to a map someone posted online, and we¡¯d used it to back-track to Hillsbrook then followed the road from there further South to Hernberg. After the week spent farming I was feeling confidant.  I popped open my character panel to ogle my stats.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 14</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 47(+4) 51</td><td>LBStr: 43</td><td>HP: 219/219</td><td>Mana: 110/110</td></tr><tr><td>End: 40</td><td>Con: 46(+2) 48</td><td>Stam: 36/142</td><td>Panic: 1/11</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:26</td><td>Cord: 36</td><td>Hunger: 30/115</td><td>Thirst: 80/115</td></tr><tr><td>Int:31</td><td>Wis:36</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 30</td><td>Faith: 9</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 3</td><td>Fame: 206</td><td>Friend List: 0/0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The best part was my skill increases. I¡¯d gotten my mining to Beginner II giving me the prospect skill, Which let me sense if there was ore in a location. My 2-hand weapon skill was at Beginner II, and and with some training I¡¯d managed to get my Earth Magic up to beginner as well, giving me a small decrease in mana usage. It seemed to take ALOT of training to rank up once you got past beginner, but with my Human racial, and my apprentice skill buff I was at 35% extra skill xp, that or 48.5%. With how fast my mining had gone up, I think they actually stacked multiplicatively but I couldn¡¯t say for sure but even with the buffs my progress was still much slower compared to novice ranks.


    Mo Problems had managed to hit level 8 with his XP bonus and his raw mana score had easily bypassed mine. He¡¯d finally picked up some new runes and had decided to become a control wizard. The Rune Magic skill that wizards used was split into three sub-skills. One for offense, defense, and control.  He¡¯d taken the runes for frost, and bind. Which made him a large pain in the ass to all monsters and a great party-member. Things were coming along nicely and aside from the weather both MoMagicMoProblems and I were in high spirits.


    We entered through the main gate along with a number of other people. Most of them were NPC¡¯s but I could see a few players mixed in. The city itself was a bit disappointing. I¡¯d been wanting to see a large city in game but this one just wasn¡¯t very grand. It was large enough certainly, but all the buildings were squat and utilitarian. I couldn¡¯t see a decorative column, a fountain, or even a statue anywhere. The entire place seemed completely devoid of aesthetic charm.  The people filling the streets were lively enough, but they all seemed the industrious, hard working type and all but a very, very few were human.


    Petty gripes about the city aside both MoProblems and I had things to do and loot to sell. First though we both were in desperate need of food and a bath.


    **********************************************************


    I groaned loudly as I learned my head-back against the warm towel behind my head. The ¡®Bathroom¡¯ as the servant girl had called it was exactly that. It was a separate small structure that had been added onto the inn we had chosen,and contained a large communal bath, as well as a number of four-footed copper tubs. I was currently lounging in one such tub with MoProblems in another beside me.


    ¡°This reminds me of the scene in that poker movie. ¡° MoProblems said, as I lazily swirled the brandy I was drinking. It wasn¡¯t the best I¡¯d ever had, but was damn close. After spending all week in the swamp I¡¯d decided to splurge when we got into town. I¡¯d PMed Chris to check the copper prices and I was going to be rich once I bothered to leave the tub and head to the Auction House.  Besides we¡¯d been roughing it for a week, even virtual bodies needed some R&R occasionally.


    "What poker movie?" I asked honestly baffled.


    "You know, the one with the Indian, and the Steam-Boat. Female lead is a hooker." He said making ''common'' gestures with his arms.


    Oh... THAT poker movie......


    ¡°What is up with you and the 90¡¯s anyway?¡± I asked exasperated. ¡°You''re telling me you really are a fan of 90¡¯s Rap Music.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am!¡± he fired back instantly. His voice over-loud in the otherwise quiet room. ¡°It was the golden age of rap, East Coast Vs West Coast.¡±


    I groaned and took a larger drink of my brandy. The incongruity of listening to a pale teenage-gnome regale me about the golden age of rap was making my brain hurt. I polished off the last of the glass, and stood to dry off and get dressed. The girl had dropped off my newly clean clothes a while ago, but I hadn¡¯t been able to muster the ambition to actually get moving.


    ¡°I suppose we should go be productive.¡± I said reluctantly as I dressed. ¡±Do you want me to give you your half of the crafting drops now or sell them first?¡± I asked as I started rifling through my packs.


    ¡°Now¡¯s fine. I¡¯m gonna keep some for tailoring.¡± He replied. I dug through the pack and started tossing tails, teeth, bone fragments, curios, and other random objects onto the floor of the room. His share was 10 common drops and 4 uncommon ones. He quickly started shoveling them into one of his smaller bags then headed out the door.


    I hoisted all of my bags back onto my shoulders, left a hand-full of silver for the bath-girl. Then I headed out into the city. First stop was the blacksmith. There was one fairly close to the inn owned by a skinny surly man. He was a bit of an ass but after arguing for a bit I managed to get twelve gold out of my half of the crafting drops. Then I was off to the Auction House and hopefully the big time.


    I had to ask a few NPCs but I found the place after twenty minutes of walking. It was a large structure in the middle of the city and that much to my amazement seemed to be actually decorated. The red and gold banners did quite a bit to liven up the grey stone structure, and the drabness of the surrounding buildings made it seem all the more bright.


    The inside of the place was immaculately clean, tastefully decorated, but almost completely devoid of people. A few well-dressed NPC¡¯s stood behind counters near the back, but the rest of the place was completely empty aside from a few tall wooden cubical structures that were divided by curtains. Shrugging I pushed aside a curtain and stepped into the nearest cubicle. Inside was a wooden desk, a comfortable looking chair, and a lidded wooden box. Even more confused than before I cautiously sat in the chair. A display popped up before me. It was a welcome screen for the auction house menu, and after some experimenting I managed to figure out how it worked. Smiling a got to started.


    I checked the gold prices first. They had fallen dramatically over the last five days which wasn¡¯t surprising but gold pieces were still going for twenty-five dollars. I briefly regretted not returning sooner but I¡¯d easily make up for the lost profits in sheer volume. I opened up the item auctions and checked on copper. It was pretty much as I¡¯d expected, there were only five auctions up, and there was less than fifty ore on the market. The bottom price was three gold a copper ore. I wiped my mouth as I started to drool. I had over two hundred copper ore in my bags right now, along with 50 tin, . Even if I got two gold a copper that was still ten grand. That would take care of all my tuition for next semester. It was a rather ridiculous feeling, having spent the last five days doing something I was going to do anyway and making enough to pay for most of my school for the fall semester.


    I hit the sell button and the wooden box next to me popped opened. Shrugging, I took out the first ore-sack and dumped in the contents. A message flashed on the screen informing me I now had twenty copper ore to auction. I sat the price for 2.5 gold and hit approve. The screen flashed and where the copper icon was before was now a gold icon. I opened the wooden box and forty-five gold pieces shimmered at the bottom. The house had taken their cut, but it was still good money. I quickly sold the next 100 ore. I¡¯d blown up the market and by the end of my sell-off I was only getting about 1.7 gold each. Still. That put me over 250 gold. I brought up the gold auction and sold all but 20. I didn¡¯t really need that much money in game at the moment, and honestly not having to pay 6% interest on 6000$ dollars for the next 15 years was too tempting an offer. Anytime you can pay real bills for fake work you should do it. I decided not to sell the last eighty copper or the tin. The crafters were too low level for bronze anyway. So it wasn¡¯t worth nearly as much as the copper. I was going to give everything else to Chris to level. I wanted to give demand some time to build back up and I could always mine more.


    I walked out of the auction house and used the nearby mail-box. I dumped in the rest of the ore and used the pop-up window to send it to wherever Chris was. I¡¯d talked to him in the times when we were both refueling and knew he hadn¡¯t been able to do much smithing at all. Granted a couple grand worth of ore was a pretty big favor, but it was all made-up anyway. It was pretty hard to morally justify leaving a friend in the wind because I was too greedy to give him what amounted to well rendered 1¡¯s and 0¡¯s. Besides, he¡¯d owe me a favor, and I was in desperate need of actual gear.


    With most of my errands finished. I examined the surrounding area. A notice board hung near the doorway of the auction house, and I moved over to it and started to read the various quests and bounties. MoMagicMoProblems had told me the bounty boards were randomly generated by the game''s AI, however for a fee players could also post jobs and bounties for people to take up. There were a few large monsters, but they were likely out of my power range. However a wanted poster caught me eye. It had a picture of a rather vicious looking she-orc with glowing red eyes , beside her on the same page was an extremely endowed animal-girl of some sort. I read on.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wanted</td></tr><tr><td>Name: Unknown


    Race: Orc


    Class: Bard


    Last Seen: Orc lair in the mountains northwest of Hernberg


    Wanted for: Multiple PK¡¯s, Interference in guild business, Possible Kidnapping


    Bounty: 10 gold per kill(logs will be checked), 2g for a verified sighting. Last seen in company of rodent-type anthropomorphic female. Please Contact Argoth. Guildmaster of Knights of the Round Table with any information.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow, they must really be pissed. Two-hundred fifty bucks to kill some crazy she-orc? I shook my head. It was really impressive the lengths people went to for pretty grudges. Then again if the she-orc really was a PK and just murdering people I could see their point. The PK rules in this game were pretty lax. You could pretty much kill anyone anywhere you wanted outside of cities. Your fame would lower based on the level difference between you and your opponent and eventually it would get low enough you couldn¡¯t get quests anymore or go into any towns, but as long as you didn¡¯t go to crazy there didn¡¯t seem to be too many repercussions. There was a 24 hour red status that made you drop actual Items if someone killed you instead of just some gold and potions but it was pretty easy just to hide-out for a day after a PK, especially with how large the world was.


    I was still examining the wanted poster when MoMagicMoProblems came out of the auction house grinning a mile wide. I hadn¡¯t even seen the little guy head in there but I¡¯d been staring at the wanted poster pretty intently. There was something oddly familiar about the orc, something in the eyes and the cheekbones. I shrugged and turned to the gnome.


    ¡°That good eh?¡± I asked. ¡°How¡¯d ya do?¡±


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t a single auction up for cotton. I¡¯m not sure anyone even knows how to get cloth. I put my first weaved cloth up for 10 gold and it sold instantly. It was only 15% quality.  I sold another 10 at the same price, but the buy order must have ran out after that. I just left the rest up for auction. Then sold half the gold for real money. My parents are going to freak out when I tell them. Speaking of which, you mind buying me a spinning wheel and loom? I¡¯m gonna log and tell my parents I just made two grand so they¡¯ll stop bitching about me getting a job. ¡± He said looking smug.


    I nodded and told him to go. I had some shopping I wanted to do anyway. There was a flash of blue-light and MoMagicMoProblems was gone. That was odd, outside the city you just fell over asleep when you logged out, apparently since you couldn¡¯t be attacked in the city, and they didn¡¯t want sleeping bodies everywhere, so they just took your avatar out of the game. I headed off to buy us some more gear with a smile on my face.


    I had about 35 gold in my pocket. Which was a small fortune. That would be worth about about six months worth of inn stays and meals and would let me buy a few pieces of decent gear. I had other plans however. Chris was going to owe me big after everything I¡¯d thrown his way so he¡¯d take care of my equipment problems. For now I was thinking about investing it and expanding our little operation.


    *************************************************************************


    ¡°You bought a mule¡­.¡± Moproblems said flatly He was looking at me like I¡¯d spent all my money on cat-girl hookers and moon sugar.


    ¡°And a cart¡± I added unhelpfully. ¡°What do you care anyway? It¡¯s my gold.¡± I said. Christ, the kid sounded like my ex when she¡¯d found out I¡¯d bought a third computer monitor. Real gamers need three monitors, everyone knows that. The cart was a little shoddy looking but the mule was young and in good shape. I¡¯d wanted a horse but they were ridiculously expensive. The horse merchant had wanted 40 gold for the toothless nag he¡¯d been trying to push on me. I¡¯d compromised with the mule and had talked him down low-enough I could afford the cart.


    ¡°What¡­. would you POSSIBLY need a cart and mule for.¡± He said putting extra emphasis on possibly just so I knew how annoyed he was.


    ¡°It¡¯s an investment¡­..¡± I said defensively. ¡°You know how much ore I had to leave behind just because you didn¡¯t have enough bags¡­. Well now we¡¯ve got a whole cart. I¡¯m gonna strip every single piece of ore and gem stone outta that hole Lair. You can make us even more bags and I¡¯ve come up with a brilliant plan to help you get more cotton as well. ¡°


    ¡°Oh, god not another of your brilliant plans.¡± MoProblems moaned. I was getting ready to snap out another reply when Chris called with a Private Message. I scowled at my apprentice and answered the call.


    ¡°You Rang?¡± I said in my best lurch impression. MoProblems looked at me funny and I made a phone gesture with my hand and pointed to my head. He nodded in understanding. Guy sign language is powerful and universal.


    ¡°You sent me eighty copper and fifty tin!¡± What the hell?  That¡¯s like 1000 dollars worth of mats!¡¯¡±he shouted directly into my brain.


    ¡°Simmer down¡­. Your screaming in my ear here.¡± I said rubbing my throbbing temples. ¡°You said you needed matts. I gave you matts. I screwed up the market anyway, so I figured I¡¯d give the rest to you so you could get working.¡±


    ¡°Still...man that¡¯s like¡­. A lot.¡± Chris said still stunned.


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve got an unhealthy obsession with mining in MMO¡¯s. Just go with it. Besides the first hit is always free, but I need lots of gear, chest, legs, gauntlets, boots,, helm, cape, and five accessory slots.¡±


    ¡°So you''re saying you have literally nothing.¡± Chris said exasperated.


    ¡°Pretty much. Oh and you can send me that fancy knife you¡¯ve got for starters.¡± I said wheedling. Chris sighed.


    ¡°Fine, what kinda armor you want.¡± I smiled knowing I had him.


    ¡°I use medium. Not sure where they draw the classifications lines, but your the smith, so I leave it in your hands.¡± I said happily.   He sighed again.


    ¡°Alright get to a mailbox, and send me any crafting drops you want me to use to make you something.¡± I hung up the call and hopped off the cart. There was a mailbox at the end of the street and I had at least one thing I wanted him to use.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Pelt of the Rat King


    (Rare)  [Boss]</td></tr><tr><td>The Rat King was originally a common rat. However his transformation to a dire-rat warped him into a monster even compared to his kin. He fed upon his brothers and sisters for over three hundred years before eventually transforming into his current form.


    The hide of the rat king was warped with dark magic making it extremely tough as well as slightly resistant to elemental attacks.  A Skilled crafter will be able to use it to strengthen a leather or cloth item.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I shoved the pelt into the mailbox and it disappeared giving me an interface pop-up similar to the auction house. I used it to send the pelt to Chris. A few seconds later I received another system message.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You¡¯ve got Mail!</td></tr><tr><td>From: Allric Stoneforge     Subject: Knife


    </td></tr><tr><td>Attachments:</td></tr><tr><td>Bone Athame


    (Uncommon)</td></tr><tr><td>Made by a smith of little skill but great determination.  This knife was made from the bone of a stag slain beneath a rowan tree. It was carved into a knife without the touch of iron allowing it to channel the energies of the craft.


    Damage: 2-5


    Family: 1h Dagger


    Damage: Piercing


    Speed: Fast


    Durability: 64/64


    Bonus: +2 Res, Any Witchcraft spell that has it¡¯s energy channeled through his knife will have it¡¯s potency increased by 10%


    Crafted by: Allric Stoneforge</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Smiling I stuffed the knife into my bag and hopped back onto the cart.


    ¡°Come apprentice adventure awaits!.¡± And with that we piled into my new cart and left Hernberg.


    *****************************************************


    ¡°You sure this is going to work?¡± MoMagicMoProblems asked as he wiped sweat from his brow. I¡¯d had him digging for more than an hour, and his frail wizard body wasn¡¯t appreciating the effort.  He took a drink from his water skin and examined the work. A 10x10 square of tilled earth sat off to the side of our camp-site and he was just finishing the last row. I was walking around the small garden drawing a magic circle with the handle of my new anathema. I¡¯d tried to use my earth magic to make the garden, but after a minute or so every thing I changed just reverted back. Hence, me making the gnome do my slave work.


    ¡°Pretty sure.¡± I said as I finally connected the ends of the circle and drew a few sigils. ¡°I¡¯d say of all the spells I¡¯ve tried so far I¡¯m most confident of this one.¡± I¡¯d gotten the idea after watching MoMagicMoProblems throw away the cotton seeds he got when he picked the plants. If he had seeds, why couldn¡¯t we just grow the crops where we wanted? It would save him a great deal of time, and if it worked he¡¯d increase his production significantly. I''d also be able to add some other crops, and grow some of the more useful plants I used for witchcraft, and we could always just make a bigger field.  I¡¯d thought about taking the farming skill myself, but If someone was going to get an achievement he would need it more.


    ¡°Somehow, that¡¯s not very reassuring.¡± MoMagicMoProblems replied  as he finished digging. He quickly planted the seeds he¡¯d saved while I finished drawing my casting circle. Only two elements here, earth and water, with a a symbol of fertility, and three more symbols around the garden itself. It was one of my bigger spell attempts but shouldn¡¯t be too much of a strain. It was a baby compared to the monster I¡¯d used to shield our camp. I¡¯d had to replenish the mana for the shield  when we got back from Hernberg but it was still active and was now as potent as ever.


    ¡°You ready¡± I asked as I sat next to my spell circle. MoMagicMoProblems quickly moved out of the way.


    ¡°Ready.¡± He said as he hopped over the line. I held my knife in front of me and powered the spell, pushing my magic through my new knife and into the circle. It was a strain but nothing too bad happened.


    ¡°The roots of the mother support us


    The bough of the mother protects us


    Hear the call of your child and bring life into the world¡±


    I chanted the incantation I¡¯d made thee times while shaping the spell then broke my circle. The magic rushed over our small garden diving into the soil, and giving the ground a momentary radioactive green glow.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You¡¯ve Have Created a New Spell! Would You Like to Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I waved the message away and watched as small green shoots slowly pushed themselves up out of the earth.


    MoMagicMoProblems grunted in dissatisfaction. ¡°Great, I just unlocked the first farmer achievement. And what was up with that spell? It didn¡¯t even rhyme. Haven''t you ever watched Charmed?¡± He tried to sound petulant, but I could tell he was excited.


    ¡°You and your crappy 90¡¯s TV. Who watches that show anyway?¡± I shot back offended.


    He shrugged. ¡°It was worth a watch, besides the middle sister had some massive boobs.¡± He said grinning. He was definitely happy. Very few people ever got first achievements, and it would give him an extra secondary skill which was invaluable.


    ¡°The middle sister before or after the first one died?¡± I said as we relaxed both of us watching the grass grow. Four hours later we were looking at twenty fully matured cotton plants ready to be picked.


    ¡°Nice Garden.¡± A reedy voice said from behind me. I turned and saw seven players standing outside our camp. They all looked to be high-school aged, all male, and of varied classes. 4 fighters in armor, a rogue or thief of some sort, a caster in white robes, and the speaker who was obviously a wizard in a blue mage robe. I picked up my hammer and stood facing them. I had a feeling things were going to get annoying. I really just wanted to get back to farming the kobold cave.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± I asked flatly. I wasn¡¯t feeling particularly friendly, these guys were getting in the way of paying for my tuition after all.


    ¡°This lair and it¡¯s surrounding area has been claimed by the Knights of the Round Table. Please leave at once, and make sure to leave your little garden.¡± He said smugly.


    I stared at him blankly for a few seconds before saying honestly.


    ¡°Are you an idiot?¡± Unbelievable. It was to be expected, but seriously what guild in their right mind, would treat everyone like such D-bags a week after launch I mean if I was doing I¡¯d at least lie about what my guild name was. It was not a good way to make a name for yourself. I mean stealing and PK¡¯s were one thing, but if I was going to do it I wouldn¡¯t want them knowing my name, let alone announcing I was doing it on my guild¡¯s behalf.


    The wizard narrowed his eyes. ¡°This is your final warning. Leave. You have two minutes to be on your way or we will attack.¡±


    I just stood there incredulous. ¡°Final warning? You JUST got here. And what guild in their right mind goes throwing their muscle around to take control of the noob-zone? Honestly we were only going to be here a few more days anyway.¡± I said baffled.


    The mage pulled a wand out of his sleeve and a fireball came streaking toward me. It hit the barrier around our camp and blew into sparks, causing a few branching ripples of light to flash over the dome. My mule spooked and rushed out of the circle. I called after it but it was too late . The rogue chased the animal down and slit it¡¯s throat without so much as a warning.


    ¡°So much for diplomacy.¡± I muttered. The mule and cart had cost me all of my gold. Now I was pissed.  The rogue just smiled broadly, but the mage frowned apparently puzzled by my barrier.


    He raised his wand again. ¡°Wa Et Aar Ka Olm!¡± A bolt of lightning crashed into my dome and magic flashed in all directions swirling along the dome violently before it went transparent once again.  The mage¡¯s scowl deepened.


    ¡°I really wouldn¡¯t do that if I was you. I about died casting this thing, and honestly I have no idea what will happen if you break it.¡± I said angrily. Personally I hoped they did try to break it. I needed to test it out and I was hoping it would flash-fry these bastards. The other fighters seemed to be a bit more cautious than than their leader.


    ¡°You know what happened with the orc¡± I heard one whisper. ¡°I really can¡¯t afford to die again.¡± That¡¯s where I¡¯d heard their guild name, it had sounded familiar. The wizard scowled at him and cut him off. So that was why the she-orc had a bounty. They¡¯d apparently tried to muscle her as well but she¡¯d decided to fight and had apparently won.


    ¡°Look at him, he doesn¡¯t even have any armor. Stop being girls.¡± The wizard shouted. ¡°Besides if he had a cart he¡¯s likely carrying a lot of money. Start working on that force-field.¡± Well, that wasn¡¯t true. I¡¯d spent all my gold. Leaving it in my bag while I was out adventuring seemed dumb with this games PK rules. All we really had were tools for crafting.  Although they weren''t likely to believe me if I told them.


    ¡°Well get on with it then.¡± I said making a hurry it up gesture. I activated stone-skin. It had gotten to beginner rank during our farming sessions and now instead of just turning my skin grey it roughed it as well. Making me look like I¡¯d stuck random rocks all over myself.


    MoMagicMoProblems was standing next to me looking worried. So I learned over and whispered


    ¡°Start casting something big as the barrier goes down. I¡¯ll summon an earth wall to cover you and rush the caster. Try to keep him pinned down. I¡¯m useless at range, but I¡¯ll eat all these idiots alive if I can get close. ¡±


    He nodded and clutched his new wizard orb in slightly shaking hands. He¡¯d wanted a wand, but I¡¯d told him wands were for girls, and we¡¯d both agreed staves were over-done. It was an odd choice and looked like someone had stuck a snow-globe on top of a short stick.


    The wizard¡¯s lackeys started to hack the the barrier and I began to bounce on my feet as I waited for the battle to start.  A few seconds later there was the sound of shattering glass followed by a deep whump and a fire wave two meters high exploded out from my barrier. The two fighters hacking at the barrier screamed and started rolling on the ground frantically while I charged behind the fire and made a sharp lifting gesture with one hand. ¡°EarthWall!¡± I shouted.


    A wall of earth rose in front of MoProblems. Smart players would always attack the caster first, so I needed to get him some some cover so that wizard didn¡¯t fry him. A bolt of flame smashed into the wall and gouged out a small divot as I charged forward. I¡¯d leveled twice during our kobold farming and it had nearly doubled my mana. I had a much easier time with the wall than I¡¯d had against the boars.  The fire wave started to dissipate and the rest of the group came into view. Apparently they¡¯d decided to back away, and leave their guild-mates as sacrifices. I burned more of my mana and scooped a small fire-ball into my palm from some burning grass.  Fire wasn¡¯t my element, but if I fed it enough mana I might be able to distract someone with it. That was when everything went to hell.


    ¡°Na, Et, Cry , Ta, Na,  Reke!¡± My apprentice yelled as he cast his six-rune mega-spell. Ice-blue light exploded from the orb clutched in his small hand and  the air warped with power as my apprentice bent the world to his will.


    ¡°Not that spell you crazy gnome!¡± I screamed but it was too late. The air throbbed with power and the faint breeze blowing through our swamp suddenly roared to life. He¡¯d practiced the spell a few times trying to test his limits, but he usually passed out afterwards. It wasn¡¯t even really useful for damage, or control, or really anything for that matter.  But it was impressive. Freezing arctic winds blew in from every direction casing a thick fog to form everywhere in the area as the warm humid air mixed with the freezing gale.


    Sleet started to fall, and the howling winds blew the ice chips into my mouth and eyes.  The Flame I¡¯d called to my hand sputtered and died completely overpowered by my apprentices magic. The sweltering heat and humidity of the swamp turned suddenly into a howling miniature and soon I could barely see a few feet in any direction as I looked frantically for our enemies.


    There was a roar of rapidly heating air and a wall of flame crashed into me. I gritted my teeth as my skin started to blister and crack. My stoneskin spell was decent defense against physical attacks, but was useless against magic. I used the angle of the last spell as a guide and started running right. My only chance was if I could close to melee range with their wizard. I broke out of the sleet and fog, and saw him a good thirty yards away already chanting another spell. I only made it a few feet before there was a blinding flash of white and a deafening clap of thunder. I suddenly found myself on my back with my arms and legs twitching spasmodically. I laid there for a moment stunned, as the fighters closed in.


    I did the only thing I could think of and rolled back into the fog while I tried to get back to my feet. This was a very bad spot, but at least in here the wizard wouldn¡¯t be able to see me to aim more lighting attacks against me. I had a lot of HP, but another one of those would likely knock me out, or kill me outright. A figure moved in the fog in front of me, and I stumbled to my feet as a clumsy attack came from that direction. I deflected the longsword with the handle of my hammer and stepped in close, ramming my knee into my attackers stomach. The force of it lifted the fighter clear of the ground and he landed in a groaning heap at my feet. I brought my hammer crashing down on his head.


    Three down¡­..


    I needed to get to MoMagicMoProblems or their rogue would eat him alive. The idiot had blown most of his mana with his pointless blizzard but I still needed him alive.  I limped in the direction I thought we''d started, my breathing labored and legs still weak from the lighting. I was nearing the edge of the fog when a mace crashed into my back. I staggered but recovered spinning quickly to engage the next attacker. I lashed out with a kick to his knee buckling him, then spun right, hammering the hilt of my weapon into his face. He spun to the ground and I reversed the swing, bringing the head of my hammer around and down. The blow connected with the back of his head.


    Four Down¡­..


    But he¡¯d distracted me long enough.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Party Member MoMagicMoProblems Has Been Killed!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit!......


    I thought as I stepped back deeper into the fog. This really was a hopeless fight now, without MoMagicMoProblems to distract the wizard, they¡¯d just wait until the fog dispersed and blast me with magic until I died. Although, he had to be running low on power. Two or three Five rune spells was a much as Hanna could ever manage and the wizard had already used two. That fire wave was at least a four, even with good gear he likely only had one lightning bolt left¡­ If I could just get the angle right.


    A sharp pressure against my back let me know I¡¯d dallied too long. I felt my hardened skin resist for a moment but the strike was a good-one. I screamed as the dagger entered my kidney and dropped my hammer. I spun in a fury punching the thief in the stomach. He doubled over and I slipped a hand around his throat and hoisted him into the air with one arm. I held him there choking and for moment before slamming his back down over my raised knee. There were a few loud pops and he vanished to mist as his back broke. I staggered and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears let me know I was on my last leg. I grabbed my hammer and stood panting and bleeding as the fog thinned and vanished.


    I caught site of the wizard sneering at me with his wand raised as the last of the blizzard died. I listened closely as the wizard cast his spell and waited for the timing to be right. Right as he got to ¡®Ka¡¯ I let my stoneskin drop and poured the last of my magic into the ground in front of me. The ground shook and rose just as there was another flash of white light. The wall grounded the lighting, and I slowly began to limp in the direction of the wizard.


    He had to be on E, but I was too hurt to run so I kept limping. I walked around the wall and met his eyes. He wasn¡¯t looking quite so confident now. I could see sweat running down his face. He swayed slightly as I shuffled after him like some demented zombie, bleeding from a half-dozen wounds but refusing to die. He raised his wand again and another fireball streaked towards me. I didn¡¯t have the energy to dodge. My vision darkened as it hit me, but it was more feeble than his other spells, and I just gritted my teeth through the pain. Now he looked truly frightened and he started to stumble backwards away from me as I closed to within a dozen yards. Blood ran from his nose now and his face had gone ashen. Another fireball came, this one flickering and barley cohesive. It sent me to my knees and my vision swam. I crawled towards him, furious at this whole mess. This asshat had cost me hundreds of dollars in gold, and a trip back to Hernberg would waste days of travel. I stared up into his terrified eyes and reached for him with a shaking hand.


    ¡°I will kill you¡± I snarled.


    His last spell hit me right in the face from less than six inches away.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have been Killed by a Player!


    You will respawn at Hernberg


    You have lost 9 Silver


    You have lost 1 Level</td></tr></tbody></table>


    _____________________________________________________________________________


    AN: Bit of a long chapter here, with a bit of master/apprentice bonding as well as running some errands in town. Not much plot-wise but It sets the stage for the next couple chapters.


    Thanks again to all my readers. Got a number of good reviews over the last couple days, and I made it up to 151 on the top weekly fictions.


    Thanks as always!


    -Dutchman


    Edit1: Spelling


    Edit2: Grammar

 Volume 2: Interlude I

    The spider boss vanished in a puff of black smoke revealing two large spider-eye crafting drops. A slap on Eric¡¯s back made him turn and he smiled at the tank. They¡¯d been in this dungeon for two-days clearing room after room of spiders, but they¡¯d finally managed to win.


    ¡°Great job guys¡± Said the cleric as he walked over and high-fived Eric. ¡°Nothing like sweet victory.¡± Eric¡¯s menu-flashed and he smiled as one of the spider eyes appeared in his inventory.


    ¡°Oh yeah! Looks like I win this round.¡± He said with a grin as he heard the swears of the losers and the cheer from the other winner. While they were celebrating the wall on the far side of the room rumbled and slid upwards revealing another chamber.


    ¡°What¡¯s that about?¡±Eric said puzzled as he turned back to the group. ¡°I thought the quest was the kill the spider-boss.¡±


    There were a few moments of silence while everyone checked the quest. A moment later the cleric spoke up again. ¡°Found it. It says we have to remove the source of the corruption. It¡¯s probably a magic artifact or something. Lets check it out.¡±


    The five of them walked forward into the next chamber still congratulating each other and bragging about the boss fight. The room before them was small, circular, and empty aside from a raised rune-covered dais holding a single back orb.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± the tank asked. ¡°The artifact?¡± The five of them leaned forward at the same time to inspect the orb.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Orb of Corruption


    (Legendary)</tr></td><tr><td>Consumable


    An orb of power created by the mages of old, but corrupted by being bombarded with dark magic.  This orb is overflowing with magical power. Using this orb will imbue the user with that power, greatly enhancing their physical and mental attributes. .


    Using this orb will increase all stats by 30 Permanently.


    Using this orb will forcefully change users race to Dark-One. </tr></td></tbody></table>


    ¡°A legendary drop? This was only a level 10 dungeon. That doesn¡¯t even make sense.¡± The cleric said flabbergasted. A hushed silence spread over the group and they began to look at each other speculatively. Then the orb vanished.


    ¡°Ah Ha!¡± Won again! This is my lucky day.¡± The sorceress said from behind them.


    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit, you won one of the eyes too.¡± The tank said scowling.


    ¡°Well too bad for you. The game rolled and I won. It obviously wants me to have it.¡± She said as he held the black orb up in her hand. There was the sound of rasping steel and a moment later her hand fell to the floor still clutching the orb. She screamed and stumbled backwards as she tried to stop the bleeding from her severed wrist.


    ¡°Sorry, but do you have any idea what the price of gold is right now?¡± The tank said as he bent over and picked up the orb. ¡°The first legendary drop ever? I might get twenty grand for this thing. I like you guys but that¡¯s way too much money to give up over a stupid loot roll.¡±


    There was another scream and a flying kick came in from the fifth member of the party. The short dark-haired monk girl who had come with the sorceress had attacked. The kick hit the tanks arm and knocked the orb free.  ¡°What the hell was that for?¡± she shrieked as she sent a flurry of unarmed blows at the tanks face. She was fast being a monk but the tank had too much armor for her. He slammed his shield into her face and with a quick thrust stabbed her through the chest. She gasped and fell to the floor before vanishing.


    Eric picked up the orb as rolled against his boot. ¡°Calm down man!¡± He said as the tank advanced towards him. ¡°We can just split the money, no reason to go killing people. We all worked for this.¡±


    The tank swung his sword and Eric interposed one of his short-swords parrying the blow. ¡°What the hell man! What¡¯s wrong with you.¡± The tank slammed his shield into Eric¡¯s face and he staggered backwards as the tank advanced. Fed up, Eric pocket the orb, pushed away from the wall,  and charged while drawing his second blade. The tank swung his sword and Eric activated his Assassin ability Blur. The world slowed as his Agility and Coordination tripled. He slid under the swing, spun up behind the tank, and buried both swords into the back of the tank''s thick neck. He scissored his swords with a sharp jerk, rending the spine. A second later the tank¡¯s head rolled free of his body.


    Eric turned his eyes to the Cleric and the short boy raised his hands in surrender. ¡°Whatever man. Do what you want I¡¯m outta here.¡± That left Eric alone with the orb and the sobbing sorceress. He inspected the orb again again. He could sell it but he liked this game. He didn¡¯t really need the money. He smiled and activated the orb with a wide grin on his face.


    Swirling black energy coalesced around him and assaulted his body. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor twitching and moaning. His cries mixing with those of the girl. Then the world froze.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your Race has been forcefully changed to Dark One!</tr></td><tr><td>Dark One</td></tr><tr><td>A  race that was once human but twisted by a terrible curse.  Long ago when the Emperor K?ff?tku II ascended to the Sun Throne he killed his wife and had her body hung from the palace gates. In retribution  Alera, Goddess of Order, laid a curse upon his line. In so doing she created the first of the Dark Ones.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Racial Bonuses: +10% Agi, +25% Stealth, +300% XP gain from players. Cannot gain XP from monsters.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Oh bravo.¡± A voice said from beside him. A man sat on the edge of the dais smiling at him. His voice was deep and rich, and he was dressed in a modern black suit that was out of place in a fantasy dungeon. He had a Mediterranean complexion and coal-black hair that clashed with his shining golden eyes.¡°That was some fight. Perfect timing on your ability. Lots of you can fight but only a few of you have a real flair for the thing.¡±


    ¡°Who¡­ Who are you.¡± Eric gritted out as pain continued to wrack his body.


    ¡°That¡¯s a rather complicated question but I¡¯m suppose I¡¯m the villain here, The Antithesis, The Other. That¡¯s a bit of a simplification mind you but I control the monsters of this world and I have work for you Eric Matthews.¡±


    Eric snorted. He supposed this was some sort of quest. He had just used an orb of corruption after all. His race had changed.That likely meant this man was some evil god and he was supposed to be his servant now. ¡°Lemme guess you want me to help you conquer the Ten Kingdoms or something?¡± Eric said flatly.


    ¡°You humans, always jumping to wrong conclusions.¡± He rolled his eyes.  ¡°Why would I, want to conquer the Ten Kingdoms? What pray tell would happen If I actually managed it? Sent a level 400 black dragon and blasted the entire place to cinders. What would I do, camp all the spawns and kill all the players as soon as they loaded into the game? Hmmmmmm¡­..? ¡± The man looked at him expecting an answer and Eric shrugged.


    ¡°The devs would have to patch the game to put everything back?¡± He responded questioningly.


    ¡°Possibly, but more likely they would just make a new zone and change the spawn points.¡± The dark god replied.  ¡° However, what would that due to the players?¡±


    ¡°Uhhh¡­. They¡¯d be really upset.¡± He said lamely.


    ¡°That is a grotesque understatement. It would take weeks for Nexus to fix that mess. The players would be furious. Many would stop playing entirely and it would seriously dampen the game''s growth for years to come. He explained impatiently.


    ¡°Do you know what the primary trigger for monster spawns in an area is?¡± He asked meeting Eric¡¯s eyes once again.


    ¡°The player population.¡± Eric responded more firmly. This one he knew.


    ¡°I knew you were sharp.¡± The man said sarcastically before continuing.  ¡°So why would the god of monsters what to do something that would make less people want to play and thus spawn less monsters?¡±


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t?¡± Eric replied unsure again.


    ¡°Precisely.¡±The god said standing up. ¡°So no, I don¡¯t want you to help me conquer the Ten Kingdoms. In fact I want you to help me do the opposite of that and help them prosper. A few of your ilk seem to be making a nuisance of themselves, killing new spawns, taking over dungeons, extorting people for money. Granted,  I¡¯m not opposed to a little extortion and murder but there¡¯s a time and a place. I want you to find them and kill them¡­. A lot. Kill their allies, sabotage their plans, and do everything in your power to make the quit the game, or at least head out into the frontier.¡±


    The god waved his hand and four menu windows appeared before him. With a wave of his hand, they flew across the room and bumped Eric¡¯s own menu out of the way.


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td>Krtix


    Class: Ranger


    Location: Thallin


    Guild: PKcu


    Level: 12</td><td>Rage!!!!11!!


    Class: Beserker


    Location: Westland


    Guild: N/A


    Level:16</td><td>Theodore


    Class: Paladin


    Location: Drannel


    Guild: Red Hand


    Level: 21</td><td>Argoth


    Class: Knight


    Location: Drannel


    Guild: Knights of the Round Table


    Level: 17</td></tbody></table>


    ¡°Take care of at least the first three. I believe my mother is sending her minions to deal with the last one. Although misguided she can occasionally be useful.¡± He said.


    ¡°Now¡­.. I have godly things to be about. So go forth and slay my enemies! or something¡­.¡± He finished vaguely. Then he waved a hand and was gone.


    Eric sat staring at the spot the man had been a moment before. While he tried to decide if he¡¯d just done something foolish.


    _________________________________________________________


    AN: A bit of world building here.


    Edit 1: Spelling


    Edit 2: Grammar

 Volume 2: Chapter 8

    MoMagicMoProblems and I sat on the steps of the Hernberg mausoleum and sulked. I was hesitant to admit it but there was really no other way to describe our situation. We were broke, had lost our farming location, and had our confidence rattled badly. I sighed and looked around.


    The cemetery in Hernberg was actually rather quaint. The town itself was drab and had a too serious feel about it, but the cemetery was a large open space with well maintained grass, lush trees, and a garden-like feel that the rest of the city was lacking. Sighing again I checked my level. It still read fourteen.


    I¡¯d been so close to fifteen. I¡¯d been fourteen for a day before the fight and killing all those idiot fighters had leveled me. Unfortunately, Otherworld always applied your XP gains after the fight. So I¡¯d died, lost a level, then immediately leveled back up to fourteen. I was chomping at the bit to get to fifteen. According to the forums that¡¯s when you¡¯d unlock your second class ability.


    The forums said there were some people who were supposedly level twenty plus already,. I could have been as well but I was trying to get as much stat gain out of every level as possible. There was some arguments on the forums about which way was better but I¡¯d made my choice. MoMagicMoProblems was feeling it even worse than I  was. He was getting close to level ten and had stumbled at the finish line. I could tell he was getting restless. He liked adventuring with me, but he was itching to be out on his own for a while.


    ¡°Sorry again man..¡± MoMagicMoProblems said looking upset. He¡¯d taken the loss pretty badly and blamed himself for the fight. Granted, he had made a mistake but he was a new player and it was bound to happen. Had the enemy been in a fixed position then his blizzard spell would have been perfect to mask our approach from their mage, but in the open and on defense the spell had merely wasted all his mana, while the mage had been able to back away and wait us out.


    ¡°I told you already stop apologizing. It was one fight, shit happens.¡± I said shrugging.


    ¡°But if I¡¯d have done anything useful we would have won.¡± he said petulantly. I rolled my eyes.  Ahhh, to be young and emo again.


    ¡°Yes. If you had fought the wizard while I defended you from the rest of those idiots we would have won. If you have CC¡¯d the fighters while I chased the wizard down we would have won. If I had 20 more HP we would have won. If their mage had 20 less mana we would have won. If I¡¯d have heard that rogue sneaking up on me we would have won. If their second caster had done anything that fight we might have lost and it wouldn¡¯t have even been close.¡± I explained exasperated.


    ¡°That¡¯s how PvP works. There¡¯s a dozen different things that could go any of a number of ways that shape every fight. They attacked us, we fought, it was close, and we lost.¡± I said. ¡°I learned a lot of things I need to work on. Hopefully you did as well. For our first actual PvP fight it could have gone much worse.¡± I said shrugging.


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Leave most likely.¡± I said pondering possibilities. ¡°Even if we¡¯d have won the fight, they would have just come back with more guys to chase us out. We¡¯d have had to kill the boss right away and leave before they came back. We might be able to take them if we fought better, but we¡¯d likely have to kill all of them repeatedly before they gave up on their scheme to own this area like their own little fiefdom. By the time we managed that, your apprenticeship would be over and we¡¯d likely be at a level where we¡¯d wanted to leave anyway. Kicking those bastards in the teeth would be gratifying but wasting weeks of my time on petty vengeance is too much like letting them win.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only if you look at it from the perspective of self gain. Think of all the good you could do.¡± A sultry voice said from beside me. I noticed that MoMagicMoProblems had stopped moving completely. I sighed for the third time in as many minutes. It was hard to hold onto my bitterness listening to her but in my current mood I could manage.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± I said tiredly. I turned and met a pair of bright golden eyes looking down at me with an amused light. Baria stood next to me looking as beautiful as ever in her Greek goddess getup. Her golden hair reflected the light of the mid-day sun, and I had to clench my hands at my sides to keep from trying to run my fingers through it.


    ¡°I want you to kick those bastards in the teeth, as you so eloquently stated.¡± She said with a smirk. I turned away from her. It was impossible to resist when you were looking right at her. Her presence was like a balm to the soul. It made you just want to relax and let all your anger, fear, and frustration melt away.


    ¡°You were apparently listening to me. So you should have been here when I said how difficult and pointless the whole thing was.¡± My voice had lost most of it¡¯s anger and now I just sounded sullen. We both knew she was manipulating me and we both knew there was little I could do about it. She was a goddess. She could just turn me into a toad and force me to re-roll if she felt like it.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t turn you into a toad actually. Nor do I desire to do so.¡± She said looking impatient. ¡°I told you, I want you on my side. Intimidating you into being my ally, will only gain me someone who¡¯s constantly trying to undermine me.¡±


    She can read my mind¡­..


    That was another unfortunate piece of news. She had helped me, but I was very skeptical of her motives. ¡°Your a goddess, You restored my memories and got me my character back. Don¡¯t tell me you couldn¡¯t just zap me into a slug.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am a goddess and like most deities that means I am powerful, but that power is bound by rules.¡± She explained. "It¡¯s a bit like being able to move a mountain but only the granite ones, and only in a single direction. Impressive to be sure but not as useful as it would seem."


    I scowled. We both knew I was going to cave but I wanted something in return.  ¡°Answer me this at least. What¡¯s in it for you?¡± As she¡¯d said, gods and goddesses didn¡¯t go around wielding their power willy-nilly. When they interfered in the lives of mortals directly it was usually for a reason and nearly always for self-interest.


    ¡°Ever the cynic my geomancer.¡± She said fondly. ¡°Normally the behavior of such players is inevitable. Unfortunate, but a dozen players making nuisances of themselves is hardly grounds for divine intervention. However, these particular nuances have crossed a line. Had you won your battle earlier the situation would have resolved itself and my involvement would have been unnecessary.  You¡¯d have likely broken their spirit and scattered their members. After their rather ignominious defeat by those delightful girls a few days ago their power-base was already frayed. Now however, we must take a different tack.¡±


    I sighed for the fourth time. ¡°If you like the orc so much make her do it.¡± I said sullenly. I sounded like a child being forced to eat broccoli but I really just wanted to leave the city and get back to making money.


    ¡°Oh come now, this is supposed to be a game for your kind; grand adventures, epic powers, romance,  fights between gods. Isn¡¯t this what you signed up for?¡± She asked, turning her full forced smile in my direction. ¡°Besides I¡¯m still waiting on the she-orc. She¡¯s not quite ready yet and this job requires your rather special talents. ¡±


    I raised a skeptical eyebrow. I wasn¡¯t aware I had any special talent besides a hitting things really hard and the occasional bout of creativity in regards to the game''s skill system. My eyebrow made Baria smile even more brightly, effectively scrambling my brains. ¡°When you need something fixed you ask a woman to do it. When you need something broken you ask a man.¡± She flicked her wrist and a blue message window appeared in front of my face as Baria vanished. ¡°Break them for me my hammer.¡±  Her voice echoed in my mind as the world returned to motion.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The Corrupted Knights</tr></td><tr><td>The Guild Knights of the Round Table have made themselves a menace in Hernberg. Investigate their dealings, expose their secrets, and save Hernberg from their oppression.


    Level: ???


    Difficulty: ???


    Rewards: ???


    </tr></td></tbody></table>


    ¡°Woah, when did we get a new quest?¡± MoMagicMoProblems asked beside me as I sighed for the fifth time.


    *********************************************************


    ¡°So what kind of armor do you want?¡± Chris asked as we loaded our plates with General Tso¡¯s, crab rangoon, and spring rolls. We¡¯d decided to get out of the apartment for while and had headed over to our favorite Chinese place for lunch. It was the day after my mishap and I hadn¡¯t logged back in yet. I hadn¡¯t talked to Chris in real life for a few days which was sad since I¡¯d been about 20 feet from him the entire time.


    ¡°I told you medium already.¡± I said confused, as we made our way over to the table and sat. ¡°Still have nothing but a cloth shirt and pants.¡± I said as I bit into a spring roll. Fried food was the best food.


    ¡°I know that¡± He said with an eye roll. ¡°but that doesn¡¯t exactly narrow it down. That leaves me about a hundred different styles and options.¡± He said exasperated.


    ¡°Ugggggggh, I came out here because I wanted to stop thinking about Otherworld. It¡¯s just way too depressing. Can¡¯t we talk about something else?¡± I said groaning.


    ¡°Alright¡± He said changing topics. ¡°Who do you think¡¯s gonna win the central this year?¡± He said grinning.


    I put my head on the table then banged it down a few times for good measure. ¡°How is that less depressing? Chicago is down 15 games.¡± I moaned piteously.


    Chris laughed and took out his phone as I drowned my sorrows in fried food and carbonated ambrosia. Then his eyes widened and he leaned forward. ¡°Oh my god I forgot to show you this, This¡¯ll make you feel better.¡± He said with an evil grin.


    Chris placed his phone in the middle of the table and turned it so I could see. A video started to play. ¡®Otherworld Chronicles: Barbarian goes on a rampage then dies¡¯ The video was named. As the view came into focus I saw myself and MoMagicMoProblems standing at our campsite near the Kobold Cave, but it was from the view-point of someone standing behind the wizard we fought.


    Oh No¡­¡­¡­.


    I thought glumly as the wizard threw his first fireball. The action continued as the barrier burst, and the view turned to fog and motion as the other caster fled along with the wizard. The camera panned back, and I saw myself come out of the fog, and get blasted by the lighting bolt, then roll back into the mist. You couldn¡¯t see what happened for a while, but you could clearly hear the yells of the other fighters as I killed them. The fog thinned and I could see my silhouette get stabbed in the back by the rogue before finishing him with a back-breaker. I stumbled out of the mist, and raised my earth-wall as the camera flashed white. Then watched myself stumble and crawl across the intervening space between me and the wizard as I slowly died. And I could clearly hear my final ¡°I will kill you.¡± before collapsing at the wizard''s feet.


    ¡°Oh, God¡± I said aloud embarrassed beyond belief. I scrolled down. ¡°Four-Hundred Thousand Views?¡± I said incredulous.


    ¡°I know right?¡± Chris said as I scrolled down farther to the comments.


    Atox1668:Jesus, that guy totally lost it. I almost pissed myself at the end.


    MOARDOTS756:LoL I know, That guy¡¯s a monster. He nearly killed everyone. That mage woulda got pwned if he caught him.


    ImTheJuggerNUT3: What I wanna know is WTH that force-field was? Did the gnome set that up?


    Legolexxx92: Na, The gnome was a wizard. My friend is one. They don¡¯t get force fields like that. Still waiting on my system. :(


    KillZ4ThrillZ189: What class is that guy? The vid says barbarian but he summoned an earthwall. @legolexxx92 still waiting on mine too. :(


    There were over five-thousand comments. I handed Chris back his phone and groaned again. ¡°How is that supposed to not depress me.¡± I asked glumly.


    ¡°What do you mean? You''re an internet celeb now. Enjoy your five seconds of fame man.¡± He said, then paused to pop one of those fried doughnut-things in his mouth before continuing.  ¡°You should get the Video add-on for your system and put up some more vids while you''re in the spotlight. You might be able to make some cash.¡±


    The idea wasn¡¯t a terrible one. Otherworld was pretty much the hottest topic on the net right now, and everyone was clamoring for more in game vids. On the other hand I was on a secret recon mission. which wasn¡¯t exactly the best time to be streaming my gameplay footage but I could just edit it out I supposed.


    ¡°Maybe some other time.¡± I finally said decided. Once I finished this ridiculous quest and moved off into the frontier I¡¯d start with the video thing.


    ********************************************************************************************************


    ¡°Where the hell have you been!?¡± MoProblems yelled through the PM. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone a day and a half.¡± I was still in the graveyard. I¡¯d logged out there right after Baria had left, not bothering to find an inn. The grounds were mostly empty today. Which was odd to me since it was the only place in the whole city I would actually wanna spend time. Well, maybe the Bathroom of the Horse and Four. The servant-girl had offered me the special service for two gold. But I had divine retribution to meet out and I didn¡¯t have two gold. I was down to silver.


    ¡°You act like taking a day off from an online game is a bad thing. Every needs some fresh air and sun-shine occasionally.¡± I countered.


    ¡°I¡¯d be less pissed off if you  were actually outside doing something but I¡¯m betting you spent the whole day playing other games and binge watching porn.¡± He shot back at me.


    ¡°For your information there was a new superhero show on Netflix. Although, there were a lot of sex scenes. ¡° I said scratching my chin.


    ¡°Fine, what¡¯s the plan for this stupid quest then.¡± He asked.


    ¡° I suppose it¡¯s time to do what we do worst¡­.. Subtlety. It takes a good day and a half to get back to town from our mine. So assuming those jag-offs cleared the cave then headed back this way they should get here in the next few hours. So we buy some of those really big hooded cloaks all the shady people in town wear, then hang out near the front gate and wait for the D-bag brigade to get back. Then we spy on them shamelessly.¡± I explained.


    ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen so far the game doesn¡¯t go around giving out quests unless there are monsters or NPC¡¯s involved. I don¡¯t think we know how deep this rabbit hole goes yet.¡± I finished.


    ¡°So you did have a plan.¡± MoProblem said relieved.


    ¡°Oh I always have a plan. That doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s a good or workable plan but it is a plan. Besides there¡¯s very little down side to this one. We¡¯re in a sanctuary even if they catch us spying in town there¡¯s very little they can do about it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m outside of town doing some fighting and gathering. I¡¯ll be there in an hour or so.¡± He said before ending the PM.


    I headed to the seedy part of the city and procured a very dirty cloak as well as a few other items on my limited funds. Then I headed back to the North gate to loiter as unobtrusively as possible. I found myself a properly dank alley in view of the gate and set-up shop. I took the small box of sand I¡¯d bought from the magic shop and used it to make a small circle around myself. Between it and the price of the cloak I was down to coppers but I could bum some money off MoProblems when he got back.


    I built my circle with Air and Water using a Sigil of Obscurity and some odd grey moss I¡¯d found in the swamp. I¡¯d tested it a few times. It wasn¡¯t actual invisibility. My book said invisibility was possible but extremely difficult. Instead it had given the rune of Obscurity and said it was a useful alternative and much easier to wield. It made anything in the circle look muddy and uninteresting to outside observers. It should be fine. I was spying on a bunch of power-hungry high-schoolers not CIA operatives.


    I looked around at the alley I was in as the minutes bled away at a snail''s pace. Grey brick held together with grey mortar. The floor used to be grey cobble, but years of emptying chamber pots and other waste left the alley with a few inches of disgusting, if highly fertile, dirt. It was honestly like they were trying to create the ugliest city ever. I was deep in my musings about medieval sanitation when someone spoke right behind me.


    ¡°See anything Yet?¡±


    I made a very unmanly ¡®Eeep¡¯ and spun with my fist cocked to strike. Luckily, I managed to stop the blow before I plowed it into my apprentices wide-eyed face. ¡°Christ! Don¡¯t do that!¡±


    ¡°Jumpy much?¡± MoProblems asked with a smirk. He must have used the friends list to home in on me. ¡°Seen anything yet.¡± He added after I had calmed down.


    ¡°Nothing yet, Although they should be here anytime now.¡± I said as I looked back to the gate. The flow of people into the city was starting to lessen as the sun set but it took another two hours before our targets wandered back into town.


    The seven of them seemed to be in high spirits as they laughed and rough-housed with each other. The ones we killed must have set a rez-point nearby.  MoProblems and I had put ours in the City so we could empty our bags if we died. The seven of them strolled through the gate and down the main thoroughfare. I broke our barrier and MoProblems and I trotted after them. Both of us trying to look nonchalant without looking like we were trying to look nonchalant.


    It wasn¡¯t terribly difficult. They seemed more interested in their destination then anyone who might be following them. We arrived outside The Alley Cat twenty minutes later. The building was nearly derelict. It had once been painted a gaudy pink color but years of neglect and filth had covered all the the faintest traces of color. Only the sign was in decent condition. It must have been enchanted because the letters of the wooden sign glowed a vivid neon pink.


    ¡°Ya know¡­. That¡¯s not actually not a half-bad name for a brothel.¡± I said to MoProblems as I cast another Obscuring barrier in an alley across the street.


    ¡°They can¡¯t go in there.¡± He said resentfully.


    ¡°Why, does it offend your gnomish sensibilities? Boys will be boys after all.¡± I said shrugging.


    ¡°No, I mean they physically can¡¯t. There¡¯s no way all of them are eighteen. There¡¯s a age restriction on stuff like that. Don¡¯t you ever read.¡± He asked exasperated.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Of course I read. I¡¯ve been reading at a college level since grade-school. It¡¯s my one academic talent. Just because I act like an idiot sometimes doesn¡¯t mean I am one.¡± I said fed-up. ¡°But why would I want to read the forums. It¡¯s either people spoiling crap I¡¯d rather find out for myself. People lying about things to throw other players off. And other people bitching about everything.¡± I felt better after my rant  but turns out my apprentice was right.


    Sure enough their party of seven was separated at the door. Only the big fighter and the mage made it inside. Everyone else seemed to bounce off the door like they¡¯d run into one of my barriers. There was a round of good natured jeering and swearing before the ones left behind logged off.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°So what are we trying to discover anyway?¡± MoProblems asked after an hour of listening to false giggles, drunken laughter, and a number of other more interesting noises.


    ¡°How the should I know?¡± I replied.  ¡°But there¡¯s definitely something. Didn¡¯t you read the quest¡­ ¡®Discover their secrets¡¯? I doubt the wizards taste in bad whisky and cheap women was what it was referring to.¡±


    We waited and late evening turned into night. The wind shifted and the warm humid wind from the south-east was replaced by cooler-drier air as the wind shifted to the North-West. I looked up through the roof of the alley and spotted Gresk, this world''s crimson moon. It was full tonight so I held up my hands to measure distance. Gresh was this world''s second moon and was at it¡¯s highest point around 10:30 when it was full.


    ¡°It¡¯s about a quarter to ten¡± I said to MoProblems as I finished my rough calculations. He stared at me like I¡¯d grown horns.


    ¡°You can figure out the time by the position of the moons, but didn¡¯t know you couldn¡¯t have sex until you turned 18.¡± He said incredulous.


    I shrugged. ¡°I spent a lot of time in a bar talking to NPC¡¯s during beta. You can learn a lot from them. They are real people with real personalities and real lives. ¡± I said.  MoProblems shook his head and we lapsed back into silence as we continued our stake-out.


    Our quarry finally came out again an hour later looking smug. They glanced around for a bit then the wizard waved to the fighter before heading deeper into the slums.


    ¡°Now we¡¯re getting somewhere.¡± I said as MoProblems and I followed. We drifted from alley to alley in a way the we hoped would keep our presence hidden. Our success likely had more to do with the pair¡¯s incompetence rather than any skill at stealth on our part, but it seemed to work. We followed them for another couple of blocks before they turned into an alley. MoProblems and I pressed ourselves against the front of building at the alleys edge and listened.


    ¡°Are you sure this is the one?¡± The fighter¡¯s voice asked. His voice was loud and the hard featureless brick I¡¯d been complaining about all day came in handy. It absorbed little of the sound and let us hear their conversation clearly.


    ¡°Yes I Am. Three blocks East from the Alley Cat. The alley between the Butcher shop and the Wheelwright. That would be this grate here.¡± The wizard said snidely.


    ¡°Alright man I was just asking, relax. I¡¯d have thought you¡¯d be less pissy after a couple rounds with Darla.¡± The fighter said petulantly.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just Argoth bosses us around like we''re a bunch of damn slaves. He¡¯s the one that set-up this deal, yet we¡¯re the ones that have to crawl around in the damn sewer. Now help me with this.¡± I heard a few grunts and the scrape of something metal being moved.


    ¡°I know you''re a wizard but you should work on you strength a little more. That¡¯s just sad.¡± The fighter said a few seconds later.


    ¡°Just common already.¡± The were more sounds of movement before their voices faded into the distance.


    I waved to MoProblems and we rounded the corner of the alley. We found what we expected to. A sewer-grate had been removed and sat-aside. Shrugging I climbed down the hole and into the darkness. Where I was bombarded by Pop-up messages.


    Blip


    Bleeeeep


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked A New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Stealth</td></tr><tr><td>


    This skill is unlocked by successfully hiding one¡¯s presence to follow a foe, attack a player or monster, or steal something.


    Stealth represents one¡¯s ability to hide and move unnoticed. The skill encompasses any attempts to conceal ones presence whether magical or mundane. This skill will increase by hiding oneself from observers. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Left Hernberg!</tr></td><tr><td>You have entered Hernberg sewers. This area is not protected by the cities sanctuary and normal PvP rules apply.</tr></td></tbody></table>


    I waved the pop-ups away and waited for MoProblems to follow me. He climbed down reluctantly, wincing every time his hands touched the filthy rungs that had been driven into the stone. I couldn¡¯t make out much of our surroundings in the gloom. My dungeoneering skill gave me some dark-vision but not enough too see much more than vague outlines. Foul water ran through a main channel while the walk-ways were raised slightly and made of worked stone that had obviously been neglected for decades. My boots squished disgustingly with every step and the stench here made our camp in the swamp smell like a meadow after a spring rain.


    I heard MoProblems gag behind me and grinned. I gave him a pat on the back then headed after the bobbing torchlight ahead in the tunnel. We continued like that for a few hundred yards before the light vanished around a corner and we hurried to catch up, while trying not to make any noise.


    We found the light again on a side-passage even more neglected then the tunnel we had been in before. The light glowed faintly from an alcove as MoProblems and I creeped closer looking for somewhere within earshot to eavesdrop. We found another alcove a few feet down and huddled inside. The acoustics weren¡¯t as good down here as in the alley, but we could still make out the conversation inside.


    ¡°Your Late.¡± An unfamiliar voice announced.


    ¡°Whatever, I got your damn blood. Just give me the gold so we can get out of this reeking sewer.¡± The wizard¡¯s voice responded.


    ¡°That¡¯s fairly rich coming from you. I can smell the whore on you even over this filth. I told you to use the Alley Cat as a landmark not become a patron. ¡± The other voice said imperiously.


    ¡°You lecture more than my parents.¡± The wizard said sighing.  ¡°Let¡¯s just get on with it. Levi take a walk.¡± We heard some shuffling then footsteps headed our direction.


    Not Good¡­..


    I could see my apprentice''s eyes widen as light headed our direction. I put a finger to my lips then pressed myself against the wall of the alcove. This was going to be dicey. The footsteps grew closer for a few seconds then the Fighter from earlier was walking past us a foot to my right. I let him take one more step. Then I moved out behind him. I took a hop-step for added height, clapped my left hand over his mouth and nose, and pulled down exposing the back of his head to my descending right elbow. The blow landed clean and my hand muffled his grunt as he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked A New Sub-Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Assassination</td></tr><tr><td>


    This skill is unlocked by attacking and incapacitating or killing an unaware opponent. This skill increases the amount of damage, as well as the success rates of surprise attacks. This skill increases with use.


    Discovering this Skill Unlocks the Hidden Class Assassin </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I eased his body to the ground, waved away the pop-up, and quickly checked his pulse.


    Still alive¡­... Perfect


    If I killed him he¡¯d just re-spawn and send a PM to the wizard to warn him. If I knocked him out, he¡¯d be asleep in his system until he regained enough HP to wake-up or until the play-time he¡¯d set his system for expired. I turned to MoProblems and spread my arms in a ¡®How was that¡¯ gesture.


    The gnome responded with a silent golf-clap then pointed to the body and shrugged. I interpreted his guy-sign as ¡®What do we do with the body¡¯. Which was a good question. I looked around for ideas. The current of the main channel was moving away from where we¡¯d come in. I smiled evilly before dragging the body out to the main tunnel as silently as possible. Then I slipped the body into the fetid dark water. The sludge was dense enough for him to float fairly well. I made sure his nose would stay above for a few minutes at least,  then pushed him out into the current.  His body floated slowly away into the darkness and I hurried back to where I¡¯d left MoProblems.


    I heard the clink of coins from the room down the hall. ¡°That it then?¡± Asked the wizard.


    ¡°Yes, yes. You can get back to your whores now.¡± The man said with venom. ¡°Although you better bring more next week. The blood of three humans and a gnome  isn¡¯t enough even if they are new souls.¡±


    Oh Hell No!¡­¡­.


    Ba-Ding


    The familiar sound let me know my quest had updated but I had bigger problems now. I knew exactly the kind of thing you could do with someone''s blood. There was no way in hell I was letting some creepy old guy get a hold of mine. The bastards must have taken some after I died but before I vanished.


    However, we were running very low on time. I turned to MoProblems made a running gesture with one hand then pointed upwards. He pointed to me and made a ¡®What about you¡¯ gesture. I just shrugged. I was going to have to get creative but I didn¡¯t want him dying again if things went South. Baria had given me the quest after-all there wasn¡¯t any reason for him to stick his neck-out.


    I moved out to the main tunnel with MoProblems but instead of turning left with him. I turned right took three running steps and leapt the ten feet between this side of the channel and the other. MoProblems looked at me like I was crazy, but I motioned for him to get moving. The wizard would be coming back this way any second.


    I ran down the tunnel for a few dozen feet then waited. Sure enough, a few seconds later the torchlight came again and I stayed still while it turned away from me continuing up the direction we had come from originally. I hurried back to the side-tunnel and gazed down it. I could just make out the other man¡¯s torch-light. I leapt back across the channel and hurried to catch up.


    I expected him to head to the nearest grate and back-up into the city but instead I followed him through ever narrowing tunnels for the better part of an hour. I used the time to inspect my quest.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The Corrupted Knights</tr></td><tr><td>The Guild Knights of the Round Table have made themselves a menace in Hernberg. Investigate their dealings, expose their secrets, and save Hernberg from their oppression.


    Update: The Knights of the Round Table have struck a deal with the Cultists of Ukkufu, Lord of Chaos. They are selling the blood of New Souls to the cultists to fuel their blood magic. Bring proof of their transgressions to the Hernberg Magistrate and have them thrown from the city.


    Level: ???


    Difficulty: ???


    Rewards: 300 fame, 20 Gold, ???


    </tr></td></tbody></table>


    So the guild was partnering with some evil NPC¡¯s. That explained Baria¡¯s involvement. However , I had a bit of a problem. On one hand, I really wanted out where this guy was going. On the other hand, I needed to deal with him and take back my blood before he got there. I had no idea what level the other cultists would be, but I really wasn¡¯t in the mood to find out. Trying to let him get close enough to his lair for me to find it while leaving me enough time to dispatch him was going to be a delicate balancing act.


    Decision time came a few minutes later as I noticed another light-source farther down the tunnel.


    Now or never¡­¡­


    I gave up all attempts at stealth and spirited at the cultist. He heard me almost immediately and spun, but I was already a step ahead. I reached out to his torch with my fire magic. I hadn¡¯t used it in forever but this was about as simple a task as was possible. I poured magic at the fire trying to coax it away from the torch. At this distance it was tricky, but my mana was full so I burnt power widely to overcome the control I was lacking. The fire leapt from the torch like I was hoping and I let my flow of mana die. It was supposed to leave the fire without fuel. That would cause it to go out and leave the tunnel in darkness, Which would give me the advantage with my dark-vision. . It didn¡¯t go quite as planned.


    The small torch-flame devoured all the excess mana I¡¯d saturated the air with in a single roaring conflagration of light and heat. It was like someone had tossed a flash-bang into the darkened tunnel. I smelled my hair singeing and heard the cultist cry out in surprise and pain. Flash-blind I blundered forward hoping I wouldn¡¯t fall into the sewage. I slammed into the cultist a few steps later sending us both sprawling onto the filthy stone.


    Good enough¡­..


    The main problem with my character was I had no good ranged attacks or crowd control to help me close the gap with ranged opponents. But in the dark against one blind cultist in a wrestling match? It wasn¡¯t even a contest. I had his back in less than two seconds. I wrapped my legs around his hips, my right arm around his neck and pressed my left hand hard into his carotid artery. Thirty seconds of progressively weaker struggles later he was out like a light.


    Blip


    Bliiiiiip


    Bliiiiiip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have created a New Spell. Would You Like to Name It? </tr></td>


    [table]<tr><td>Hand-To-Hand Skill has Reached Beginner Rank! New Ability Unlocked!</td></tr><tr><td>Whirlwind Kick</td></tr><tr><td>


    A Ki-enhanced jumping spin kick.


    Rank: Novice I


    Damage Multiplier: 1.25


    Stamina Cost: 40


    Cooldown: 30 Seconds


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Wrestling Sub-Skill has Reached Beginner Rank! New Ability Unlocked!</td></tr><tr><td>Brutal Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>


    Wounds inflicted while grappling opponents gain 25% resistance to healing.


    Rank: Novice I


    Activation: Passive


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Name Spell, Flashbang.¡± I said while my eyes adjusted again. I found his fallen torch in the dark a few seconds later and burnt more magic to relight it. It took way more power to make fire than to manipulate it but I needed to practice sometime.


    The torch illuminated the cultist''s body and I got my first sight of him. He was a scrawny man with matted brown hair and a gaunt face. His clothes were ratty and filthy but after that fight so were mine. I dug through his cloak and found the vials of blood then smashed them against the stone floor. Wanting to be thorough I held the torch to the puddle until the blood blackened and flaked away.


    I nodded to myself satisfied. I could drag the man back up to the city then turn him over to the authorities. They would torture him until he spilled the beans. Quest over, Goddess appeased, and I could get back to making money. I looked down the hall towards the other light . There was a rickety wooden door with light spilling through the cracks at the end of the tunnel. I¡¯d be back to investigate after I cleared the quest.  I hosted the man over one shoulder and started my slow walk back the way I had come.


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________


    AN: bit of a short chapter here. I''m going to try to make Wednesday''s my quasi-official release day, but we''ll see how it goes.


    Up over 2000k views and I made it up to 101 on the weekly fictions this week.   Thanks again to all my readers!


    And I have a donation button now apparently.... No one even told me I got approved...... Oh well.


    Just want to note that the amount of donations I get, or lack there of, will in no way affect the quality or frequency of my releases . This is a hobby, not a job. I''d like to publish this at some point but that will be down the road and after many revisions.

 Volume 2: Chapter 9

    I whistled as I walked through the sewers below Hernberg. Things were looking up again. Cashing this quest in would put my finances back in-line, earn me some more fame, and get me off the hook with Baria. Even the stench of human waste couldn¡¯t put a damper on my mood. I adjusted the man on my shoulder to settle his weight more comfortably as I rounded another corner. Left, then right, then left again and I would be back to the tunnel we had come in from.


    My happiness however was inevitably short-lived. My whistling had masked the approaching footsteps and I was unaware I was being followed until a sugar-sweet voice spoke up from behind me.


    ¡°Good evening¡±


    What now?......


    I groaned inwardly as I turned to face my newest problem. Behind me was¡­.. Well, honestly she was difficult to describe. A sheet of lovely black hair fell from her head and down to her slender hips. Her skin was pale, not porcelain pale, but maggot white. Like something stuck under a rock suddenly forced to see the light of day. Her body was slender but still retained enough feminine curves to draw the eye. Her face was perfection. High cheekbones, a delicate chin, dark-red lips , and two black eyebrows that drew your gaze to her eyes.


    That¡¯s where the problems started.Her eyes bulged from her face and were multifaceted  like an insect''s. Her clothing was equally foreign. It looked like someone had decided to tie dozens of sashes around her instead of give her proper clothing. They accentuated her hips, and breasts, and disproportionately skinny legs. The effect was both sexy and disturbing. To top off the odd ensemble she held a small gilded harp in the crook of one arm.


    ¡°My master said there was someone skulking about down here that should not be. I did not believe him but here you are and carrying away one of the flock. It appears he was once again correct.¡± Her inflections were all over the place but her voice remained sweet and polite. It raised my hackles and I let the body slide from my shoulder freeing myself for a fight.


    ¡°No need for that.¡± She said as my stance grew combative. ¡°You¡¯ve already carried your burden far enough. You must be tired.¡± Delicate fingers plucked at her harp and a beautiful melody filled the tunnel. The song was majestic, strange and melancholy but all the more beautiful for it¡¯s sadness.


    I really had walked far enough today and that was after being on my feet for hours. I was exhausted and this seemed like as good a place to rest as any. I slumped to my knees, but the jolt of pain through my knees as they hit the stone cleared my head for a moment.


    What the Hell am I doing?


    Then it clicked. ¡°You sneaky bard bitch.¡± I said as I opened my magical senses. I had no idea what I was actually looking for. I¡¯d never fought anything with mental powers, but I managed to find it anyway. To my mind¡¯s eye a thin tendril of purple power seemed to stretch between the girls harp and my forehead. Knowing it was there helped me separate the feelings.


    Under closer scrutiny I could feel both sets of emotions. One set pissed and ready for a fight, and the other calm, placid, and tired. I pressed my will against the alien emotions and they slowly slid away. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder with sheer will. Then the tendril of power popped free of my head and the other thoughts vanished all together.


    I was breathing hard after the mental battle and sweat ran down my face as I stood up.  I stumbled a bit, acting more drained than I actually was before taking two fast steps and diving at the girl in a full-body tackle.


    She moved like quick-silver and instead of hitting her in the gut with a shoulder, I only managed to catch her hip with one grasping arm. I pulled her against me with main strength as we tumbled to the floor before rolling on top of her. I managed one wild right as we wrestled for position and it caught her right on the tip of the nose. The punch bounced her head off the stone floor and globs of green-black blood started to drip for her now broken nose. She shrieked like a banshee, the sound completely inhuman,then balled her legs against my chest and kicked. I flew backwards like I¡¯d been shot from a cannon landing in a sprawl at least fifteen feet away.


    ¡°What the hell are you?¡± I said as I struggled back to me feet. I couldn¡¯t tell if this was a player an NPC, or some other god-forsaken creation. All I knew was she was definitely not human.


    ¡°You wish to gaze upon my true from?¡± She asked sweetly as a long pink tongue licked at the ichor dripping over her dark red lips.


    I really, really didn¡¯t but I never got the chance to voice my protest. The girl simply changed. Her bones and joints snapped with loud popping noises, and her body elongated and re-formed. Black spikes grew from her body, and her lovely face spit at the chin forming her lush mouth into two dripping mandibles. Translucent blue-veined wings grew from her back, and she crouched on all fours now only vaguely humanoid.


    ¡°A were-cricket, really?¡± I asked baffled.


    She shrieked something I didn¡¯t understand in a series of clicks and hisses. I had a feeling they were mostly cuss-words in whatever language it was that cricket people spoke. I braced myself for an attack, but instead of diving at me with preternatural speed like I was expecting she plucked a string on her harp with a single black claw.


    The air around her bent with magical power and the note that came out rang from the stones at a deafening volume. The tone seemed to reverberate off the creatures spread wings, becoming even louder and more focused. I could feel the vibrations in my teeth and my bones as the whole world seemed to  shrink to nothing but that one terrible note. I tried to cover-my ears but it was useless. The sound was everywhere.


    ¡°KNEEEL MANLING!!!¡± the creature screamed in a hissing voice. There was no subtlety in the command this time, just brute force. It swept my meager mental defenses away like a pile of sandbags trying to hold back the Mississippi.


    I knelt, all thought wiped from my mind.


    ¡°Yesssssss, that¡¯s good. Now, what to do with you?¡± The creature pondered in a softer voice. ¡°Killing you will be pointless since you''re one of THEM but I think we can some up with something. Now be a good boy and sleep.¡±


    I laid down the cold stone. Then closed my eyes and fell down into dreams.


    *************************************************************


    The sound of water dripping on stone greeted me as I awoke. I hung suspended from a short chain, that ran from my manacled wrists through a large iron ring sat in the ceiling. A quick examination of my feet revealed that they were in a similar state.


    Son of a Bitch¡­..


    The room I was in was a simple one. Three walls of rough worked stone with the fourth wall opened to one of the sewer tunnels. Moss and mold grew along them giving color to the otherwise uniform grey. A thick layer of mud caked the floor, thickest in the corners and along the walls. While thinner in the middle and under the water that dripped from the ceiling to my left. The sound of the dripping water was loud in the silence and it set my teeth on edge. A torch flickered to my right illuminating to room dimly but it was already starting to gutter out. Soon I¡¯d be in darkness.


    My pack was laying in the corner of the room right in my line of site but obviously out of reach. That bitch must have put it there just to taunt me. Although, I wasn¡¯t actually sure if she could steal my stuff or not. If you got PK¡¯ed you dropped gold, potions, or other consumables, but never actual items. It wouldn¡¯t make sense if someone could just knock you out and steal all your crap. It was something MoProblems would have yelled at me for not knowing.


    Where was he anyway? I should have about 1000 PM¡¯s but now. I opened my friends list but a red message obscured my vision.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Been Captured by an NPC. Friends List is Disabled Until You Escape</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It¡¯s was really going to be one of those days. I reached out with my earth magic but it was as I¡¯d suspected. I couldn¡¯t use my power on worked stone or brick. I needed natural stone or dirt. Had this been a cave I could have torn the whole place apart and been out of here in about a minute but fate had once more conspired against me.


    It was then I felt the collar around my neck.


    That can¡¯t be good¡­..


    I thought as I opened my inventory.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Torc of the Undying


    (Magical) [Cursed]</td></tr><tr><td>A collar created by the Magi of Algresh for the Caliph¡¯s Dungeons. While wearing this collar a prisoner will not be able to kill themselves or end their torment.


    Armor: +5


    Class: Accessory


    Slot: Neck


    Durability: 30/30


    Effect: User does not require food or water while wearing this collar. User regenerates 1 HP per second.


    Curse: The wearer cannot gain experience. The wearer cannot use teleportation magic. The collar cannot be removed by normal means and will resist all damage within the room it is bound to.


    Note: The curse pertains to Level XP only, Skill XP is not affected.   </tr></td></tbody></table>


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s just fucking great.¡± I said to the empty room. Now I couldn¡¯t even die. I was going to be stuck down here for God knew how long. I pulled against my wrist shackles, pitting my strength against the iron ring in the ceiling. At fifty strength I was pretty damn strong. It wasn¡¯t a linear scale as far as I could tell. Having fifty strength didn¡¯t make me five times as strong as someone with ten strength. I¡¯d guess I was about three times as strong as I was at level one. I was on par with the really big guys at the gym. Not yet Olympic level but someone your buddies were dare you to arm wrestle when you had a few drinks. It was not nearly enough to break an inch thick iron ring.


    I sighed, but the sound was tinged with more anger than resignation. I was getting pretty god-damn tired of being Otherworld¡¯s red-headed step-child. If I wasn¡¯t fighting for my life against six high-school chess-club rejects in a fog bank my idiot apprentice summoned. I was being chained to a wall my some crazy cricket bitch with mind ju-ju powers and all because of some useless Goddess was making me do her dirty work.


    Tap¡­


    Tap¡­


    Tap¡­


    Tap¡­


    My anger grew along with my annoyance and after an hour of futile struggles against my bonds I¡¯d worked myself into a rage. I didn¡¯t need any of this bull-shit. I¡¯d made it out. I was a player now like everyone else. So why was I always the one getting shit on?


    Tap¡­


    Tap¡­


    Tap¡­


    The persistent sound of the water dripping drove my anger even higher and after another hour I went a little bit crazy. I pulled against my chains with everything I had making the shackles dig into my wrists and sending trails of blood running down both of my arms.


    ¡°YOU HEAR ME YOU BLONDE TRAMP?! NEXT TIME YOU GIVE ME SOME STUPID FUCKING QUEST! I¡¯M TELLING YOU TO SHOVE IT UP YOUR PERFECT ASS!¡± I screamed into the uncaring room.


    There was a muffled Crack from the ceiling and the tapping stopped. I sighed with relief. Then a fat cold drop of water fell onto my forehead.


    I laughed half-hysterically and my rage grew even hotter¡­ ¡°That¡¯s right¡­.. that¡¯s right.¡± I ranted while nodding. ¡°That¡¯s REALLY fucking mature. Excellent use of divine power there.¡± I said reasonably as the drops continued to fall on my head.  Then I screamed again. ¡°DON¡¯T THINK I DON''T KNOW THAT WAS YOU!¡± There was a softer crack, and the drops falling on my head doubled in speed matting my hair to my head. I railed against my shackles again.  My muscles strained and the cuffs bit deeper finding bone but it was still useless.


    That¡¯s when I went completely ballistic. I reached for magic and hurled fire against the ring in the ceiling. I was terrible at fire-magic. I¡¯d neglected training it up for far too long. I had much more mana now but I was emptying a pool with a single hose. My best flame was about the same temperature as crock-pot on low but I was way beyond caring. I was in a fire sort of mood.


    I pushed my mana out into the room in one continuous stream. Fire cascaded across the ceiling, rolling like ocean waves in a growing circle, but I kept pushing. The fire was dark red and not even  hot. Hell, the ceiling was covered in flame and the room was still chilly. That made me even angrier.


    I was furious, frustrated, and looking for something to vent my rage on. I kept the mana going but the futility of it infuriated me. I couldn¡¯t even throw a damn temper tantrum properly. So I packed all that impotent fury into a tight ball and hurled it against the place in my mind where the fire was born.


    It was like snorting Tabasco. Red-hot agony shot through my mind and I exalted in it. The fire I was covering the ceiling with reeled for a moment like it was some beast that I¡¯d just put spurs to. Then it went wild. The temperature in the room climbed rapidly and the magic broke free of my control. Fire exploded from arms, wrists, and head. I could feel the flames burning my clothes and flesh but I kept pushing.


    This was what I¡¯d been wanting. This was power. I fed the flames my frustration, my fear, my doubt, and everything other feeling I could reach. The agony in my mind intensified as the fire danced in my veins. What the hell did it matter anyway? If I died I¡¯d at least get out of this shit hole. The world darkened as I pushed even more magic through my over-taxed mind but I was beyond reason. I laughed and the flames laughed with me as my thoughts slipped away.


    *******************************************************************


    I drifted in grey world, my thoughts sluggish and ephemeral. My mind was a chaotic mass of disconnected images and sensations but it did not matter. This was not a place for thought. I drifted in a haze lost and uncaring. Then a soft hand caressed my hair and cupped my head.


    ¡°Foolish boy.¡± A soft voice said fondly.¡±Even if you cannot break your real body in my world, you can still break your mind.¡± The voice was familiar and feminine but in this place that meant little.


    ¡°I know this was not your choice. It was thrust upon you the moment you awoke in that cave. It was not fair but neither your world nor mine is a fair one.¡± The voice continued sadly as the hand stroked my cheek. Her words echoed in this grey place. Their meaning clear for only a moment before even that drifted away.


    ¡°What is fair changes little I¡¯m afraid. Especially to one who has already been changed. You must soon choose your path. They will come for you when they discover what you are, both in my world and yours.¡± The voice was tinged with warning this time but warnings were useless in this place. There was no danger in the grey world.


    ¡°Will you drift with the current in my world as you have done so far in your own?¡± The voice asked less comforting this time and more firm.  ¡°Or will you stand for something? Will you fight for something or will you fritter both lives away?¡± The hand left my head. I wished it would come back but that thought too was soon gone.


    ¡°I have seen something in you Thomas Ritter. You are lazy, and without ambition. Immature, apathetic, and perverse, but you are honest and stronger than you think. When they press you I know that you will not break.¡± Then a pair of soft lips pressed against mine before they too faded away.


    *************************************************************************


    I awoke in darkness with my head pounding. I could see the vague outlines of my prison so at least I hadn¡¯t gone blind this time. Things had gotten hazy after I¡¯d tried feeding my magic with my anger and honestly I couldn¡¯t remember what happened after. That was probably for the best. The whole episode had been idiotic and I felt more than a little chagrined.


    I really need to stop doing that¡­¡­


    I thought as my stomach roiled dangerously. I hadn¡¯t eaten anything for over a day so I wasn¡¯t sure what it was trying to prove. I summoned some fire for light and winced as a fresh bolt of agony rocketed through my head. It let me see the room in detail. The room was mostly unchanged, although a black circle of soot extended across the ceiling for a good ten feet around me. I pulled at my shackles again and they remained as stubborn as ever.


    ¡°Alright, apparently throwing a temper tantrum like a three year old is not an effective means of escape.¡± I said into the darkness. I did feel better now, emotionally anyway. Sometimes you just need to vent. Actually, what I really needed was a drink.


    I logged out.


    ***************************************************************************


    ¡°Starting early are we?¡± Chris asked when he came out of his room. I was sitting on the sofa eating an omelette and washing it down with a cold-one.


    ¡°Been one of those days¡± I said as I flipped through the channels. My headache from the game-world had carried over. I felt like crap. There had even been a few drops of blood under my nose when I had logged out. That seemed a bad sign, but I was taking a break anyway.  I kept flipping but there really isn¡¯t anything on at ten-o''clock on wednesday morning. That didn¡¯t stop me from looking though.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Chris asked as he walked into the kitchen.I heard a tab pop a few seconds later then he walked back into the room and sat down beside me holding a mountain dew. I should had one of those instead. I didn¡¯t even like beer.


    ¡°I got beat up by some crazy chick and chained up in a sewer.¡± I said taking a swing of my beer. It was the cheap-stuff but any beer will do today.


    ¡°That sucks.. Didn¡¯t you tell her your first rule?¡± Chris asked as he stole a piece of my omelette.


    ¡°Of course I did.¡± I sighed. ¡°I thought ¡®No bondage on the first date¡¯ was pretty clear but she insisted.¡± I said shrugging.


    Chris couldn¡¯t keep a straight face anymore and started laughing which set me off. The laugh hurt my aching head, but relieved my stress and brought a smile to my face. It really had been a rough day.


    ¡°You really do have the shittiest luck.¡± Chris said as stole more of my breakfast. There was only one bite left and I wasn¡¯t letting him get it. He tried to swipe it but I parried with my fork.


    ¡°I fucking know.¡± I said exasperated having won the right to finish my breakfast. ¡±First I get internet famous for getting my ass-kicked in a fight that wasn¡¯t even my fault. Then some crazy bitch mind-controls me and I end up chained up god-knows where.¡± Chris snorted..


    ¡°You get any gems when you did all that mining?¡± Chris asked as I savored the last bite of my eggs.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just give you a thousand dollars worth of ore.¡± By my count he had to be one of the top-crafters in the game with as much raw materials as I¡¯d given him.


    ¡°Yeah, but I got my first commission and I want it to be special.¡± He said. ¡°Common¡­..¡±


    I raised my hands. ¡°I already gave you a commission¡­.. ¡° What the hell did he need gems for? He was supposed to be making me leather armor. ¡°Wait¡­¡­¡­.. Did some hot chick ask you to make her something?¡± I asked suspicious. Chris averted his eyes.


    ¡°Oh c''mon you can¡¯t be serious!¡± I said incredulous.


    ¡°Can you give me the gems or not?¡± Chris said refusing the bait. ¡°Please dude.¡±


    I stared at him. He was being unusually persistent. ¡°Was she Asian?¡± I asked giving him the evil-eye. Chris always made fun of me for the goth and punk girl¡¯s I crushed on but his tastes were less socially focused and more ethnic in nature.  He couldn¡¯t meet my gaze.


    ¡°I told you man, never again.¡± I said mock-angry.


    ¡°Common dude. Don¡¯t do this.¡± He pleaded. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    ¡°Not that bad?! Last time you were chasing an Asian girl you wrecked your dad¡¯s Porsche.¡± I said incredulous.


    ¡°That was NOT my fault.¡± He denied angry.


    ¡°You ran a stop-sign. In what world could that POSSIBLY be not your fault!¡± I shouted.


    ¡°I told you, she called me Onii-chan. I wasn¡¯t mentally prepared.¡± He said offended.


    ¡°Oh for Christ¡¯s sake.¡± I said as I stood and took my empty plate back to the kitchen.


    ¡°Can I have them or not?¡± He called after me.


    ****************************************************************


    I inspected my cell critically. I had no locks to pick, no weak links in the chains, and no hope of getting out by dislocating a shoulder or thumb like they always did on TV. The shackles had been bolted together and didn¡¯t even have a lock. The ring in the ceiling was my best line of attack as far as i could see. I opened my skills looking for inspiration.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Secondary Skills 1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Weapon Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>One Hand and Shield:<ul>


    <li>Dagger


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>2 hand Weapons:<ul>


    <li>Spears</li>


    <li>Staves</li>


    <li>Maces


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Hand-To-Hand:<ul>


    <li>Striking</li>


    <li>Wrestling


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    Medium Armor(Secondary):


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Beginner II


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Beginner II


    Beginner I


    Beginner I


    Beginner I


    Novice I</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Magic Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Witchcraft: (Secondary)<ul>


    <li>Barriers</li>


    <li>Blessings</li>


    <li>Cure


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Meditation:


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Elemental Magic: (Primary)<ul>


    <li>Earth(Spec)</li>


    <li>Fire</li>


    <li>Water


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Elemental Fury


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Beginner I


    Beginner II


    Novice II


    Novice II


    Novice V


    Novice V


    Beginner I


    Novice II


    Novice I


    Novice I


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>General</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.<li>Camping:</li>


    <li>Outdoorsman:</li>


    <li>Fury:</li>


    <li>Dungeoneering:</li>


    <li>Stealth:<ul>


    <li>Assasination


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Tracking


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Beginner I


    Novice V


    Novice V


    Novice V


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Crafting</td></tr><tr><td>


    <ul>


    <li>Cooking:<ul>


    <li>Seafood


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Fishing: <ul>


    <li>Freshwater</li>


    <li>Spear Fishing


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Diplomacy: <ul>


    <li>Bartering


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Mining(Secondary)</li>


    <li>Herbalism(Secondary)


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice V


    Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice IV


    Novice IV


    Novice II


    Novice III


    Beginner II


    Beginner I</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I immediately noticed the two additions to my familiar list. I¡¯d apparently picked up Mental Resistance with my fight against the bard. It was also obvious when I¡¯d picked up Elemental Fury but I wanted more info on that one.


    ¡°Elemental Fury, Details¡± I said and quickly read my newest skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Elemental Fury


    </td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when an Elemental Magic user attempts to use their emotions as an alternative fuel for their magic. This skill represents the control and potency of the resulting effects. Skill level will increase through combining emotions with magic.


    Warning: Combining emotions and magic is a very dangerous practice. The resulting effects are rarely predictable and often violent.


    If the User has also discovered the Fire Sub-skill, discovering this Skill will unlock the hidden class Pyromancer</tr></td></tbody></table>


    That was certainly interesting. No wonder things had gotten a bit out of hand. At least some good had come out of me throwing a hissy fit. It was a symptom of a greater problem though. I¡¯d just discovered a completely new avenue of my power because I¡¯d been neglecting my Elemental Magic so badly.


    I was a sorcerer, or at least had Elemental Magic as a primary skill. That made me pretty much a sorcerer. However, I¡¯d ignored training anything besides earth magic. The other elements just weren¡¯t useful to me when I got them at level ten. My fire did about five damage a second at it¡¯s current level. Which meant the rats in the basement of Sten¡¯s inn would have taken five full seconds to dispatch. Against the Kobold¡¯s in the swap that number would be closer to twenty five seconds. It was just way too long in a fight when my hammer could do fifty or sixty damage in a single swing..


    I had been stupid. I should have been spending my mana to zero every single time I regenerated it just to grind up my skills. I should have done more testing and tried to expand and improve my abilities. I should have learned more about Elemental Magic like I had done with Witchcraft. I¡¯d relied too much on training my raw attributes. Granted, that had worked. From the little reading I had done on-line, I had stats on par with a level nineteen or twenty character at fourteen and that gap would only widen as time went on.


    However, I¡¯d learned the hard way that having a crap-ton of HP and being able to down a level eight player with a single knee wasn¡¯t really enough. I was now in a position where I had all the tools I needed to escape this place but had no idea how to use them. I was going to have to decide if I was willing to put in the time and effort it would take to be someone in this world.


    Will you fight for something or will you fritter both lives away?......


    The question echoed in my mind, foreign but oddly familiar. If I did want to stand out. I needed to get back to exploring the rules of this world like I¡¯d done when I first woke up here. I needed to push boundaries. I needed to find more skills and new ways to use the ones I had.


    There would be more idiots trying to muscle me for something. More PK¡¯s and guilds who¡¯d roll over me if I let them. As I¡¯d said before, this game was life in a Microcosm and if there was one true rule on earth it was that anytime you find something of value there will be someone that will try to take it from you.


    Time to get to work then¡­...


    I pulled at my magic and a ball of flame appeared in the space in front of me. My magic stats were pretty good. Not on par with MoProblems but definitely solid. I drained about two mana second holding the fire in place. It was easy. I could hold this no problem until my mana ran low. Moving it didn¡¯t cost any extra, or require much mental effort. The amount of mana expenditure was entirely bound by the size of the flame I produced. I could make two half-sized flames and burn the exact same amount of mana. That took more mental concentration and it made my head-hurt trying to keep both flames going at once, but it didn¡¯t actually drain more power.


    So I spent the first three hours doing just that. I summoned two small balls of flame at once and just let them burn while I tried to make sure the flow of power to both stayed steady. When my mana got low I would meditate it back up. I never let it drop too low. That would give me nosebleeds and make the headaches worse. As long as it didn¡¯t drop below 15% I seemed to be alright. My fire magic raised to Novice III somewhere in the fourth hour. That let me add a third flame with about the same amount of mental strain but I was supposed to be pushing boundaries.


    I tried adding a single water-ball to the two fireballs. Water worked differently than fire. I could create water with only the smallest investment of power. I could fill the entire room with water with my 110 mana. Water was all about control. Unlike fire that didn¡¯t care if you moved it, moving water was HARD. Well, the water moved without any effort at all, getting it to move where you wanted was hard. Hell, just keeping water in one place was hard. Holding a single small water-ball aloft cost almost ten mana a second. More if I moved it at all. I suppose that made sense though, since I was holding a quarter pound of water in the air with nothing but my mind.


    I couldn¡¯t control both water and fire at the same time no matter how hard I tried. You had to really connect with the element you were using. I just couldn¡¯t do the mental gymnastics necessary to control both water and fire simultaneously. I struggled at that for an hour or so before the next breakthrough.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your Elemental Magic Skill Has Reached Beginner Rank! New Ability Unlocked!</td></tr><tr><td>Elemental Duality</tr></td><tr><td>This ability allows the user to produce two types of elemental mana simultaneously.


    Rank: N/A


    Activation: Passive</tr></td></tbody></table>


    I grinned and tried to summon the water and fireballs again. The grin died as a fresh spike of pain shot through my head. I could get both at once going now, but it was an intense effort. I could only sustain the water for a short-time anyway because it was so draining. I was making progress though. I kept at it.


    I¡¯d drain my mana by testing out various ideas. Then meditate my mana back up again. Time slipped by and I didn¡¯t notice until both my Fire and Water skills made it up to Novice IV. How long had I been in here? 12 hours? Longer? The time between skill gains grew quickly and it would take at least another day or two of this to get to Novice V. Then two or three days after that to Beginner rank. Oh well, It¡¯s not I didn¡¯t have the time.


    *******************************************************************************


    I hung suspended in my prison while three tiny balls of fire and three more of water rotated around me. I¡¯d had to make them very small to keep from burning all my mana, but that had proved it¡¯s own sort of training. I¡¯d worked on making them smaller and smaller so I could practice longer which had unlocked another skill for me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Elemental Precision</td></tr><tr><td>This skill is unlocked when a Elemental Magic user attempts to use his mana efficiently and precisely. This skill represents one¡¯s skill at conserving mana by using mana with control rather than power. This skill will gain ranks through use.


    If the User has also discovered the Water Sub-skill, discovering this Skill will unlock the hidden class Hydromancer</tr></td></tbody></table>


    I could do four separate  energy-balls at once now with only minor discomfort, which was why I was doing six. Blood ran from my nose in steady drips, and my brain felt like it was on fire, but the collar I was wearing kept my HP topped off. I might as well use the damn thing to my advantage.


    The pain in my head started to worsen as my mana drained again and I cut the magic plunging the room back into darkness as I topped off my mana again. I was thinking of what to try next when I got a pop-up.


    Bleeeeep


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your Dungeoneering Skill has reached the skill cap! Do you wish to spend a skill point so it can advance?</td></tr><tr><td>Yes/No</tr></td></tbody></table>


    Hmmm¡­¡­. Honestly, I should probably put the point in Elemental Fury or Elemental Precision. On the other hand Dungeoneering was a secret skill and a pretty obscure one at that. It¡¯s only real use was buffing other skills. I was a fan of obscure skills though and it was the skill that had unlocked my class in the first place. It was thematically important. Which I recognized for the excuse it was. I wanted to do it. I had a good feeling about this.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said firmly. The pop-up went away and minute later green light flared around me.


    Bliiiiiip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your Dungeoneering Skill Has Reached Beginner Rank! New Ability Unlocked!</td></tr><tr><td>Stone Sense</tr></td><tr><td>The ability improves the user¡¯s chances of finding hidden doors, passages, and chambers.


    Rank: Novice I


    Activation: Passive/tr]</td></tbody></table>


    I nodded satisfied. It was a useful skill. Maybe not as interesting as going on rage fueled magical rampages but it was interesting. It was also pretty unique. I didn¡¯t imagine many people if anyone would be spending precious skill points on something like it. I nodded again and looked up at the ring on the ceiling.


    The area around the ring was soot-blacked but it was still as strong as ever. Even with all my training I hadn¡¯t been able to get my fire anywhere near hot enough to bend iron. Even after I¡¯d gotten to Novice IV my fire still wasn¡¯t hot. It was hotter, but not by much. It was like it was becoming more efficient at burning my mana but I was still missing something important.


    It was the feeling I got when I was stumped trying to fix a PC. I was over-looking something simple. I¡¯d assumed something I should not have somewhere along the line and it was causing me to look for the problem in the wrong place. I was tinkering with router settings when the user had just flipped off their wireless switch. I cleared my mind and topped my mana back off.


    Let¡¯s start at the beginning then. Fire was very simple element. It just devoured. It had no mass. I couldn¡¯t move it or interact with it directly. When I wanted to move or change the fire I just changed the way I was feeding it mana. If I wanted to move it left, I sent mana to the left of it and it burned burned that direction to find fuel.  I couldn¡¯t compress or refine the fire. I¡¯d tried for hours.


    ¡°If you want hotter fire¡­¡­.. You don¡¯t change the fire¡­¡­. You don¡¯t do anything to fire.¡± I said thinking aloud. ¡°If you want a hotter fire you need better fuel. But my mana is the only fuel, so the problem isn¡¯t with my fire, it¡¯s with my mana.¡± I said nodding as I thought thought the implications.


    I summoned a single tiny ball of fire but this time I did it slowly. I could do it my reflex now, but I took my time and examined each step in the process. First I connected with the element of fire. I pictured a flame mentally, hot, bright, and hungry. Then I could feel it there. Then I reached down within myself to my mana and pulled it up into the flames. The process changed the mana from it¡¯s basic form I could use for witchcraft, or any other type of magic into fire mana. I stopped.


    What if¡­¡­


    I started over. Then instead of pulling my mana into the flames I tried to refine it in it¡¯s original form. That was not pleasant. Sweat dripped down my face as pain lanced into my brain but I kept at it. I could only compress the magic to about twice its normal level, but I felt like I was on to something. I pulled my new and improved mana into the flames then pressed it out of my body and set it alight. Fire bloomed in front of me, but this wasn¡¯t the dull-red flame I normally produced. It was brighter and flickered with orange and yellow tinges. It was also a good deal warmer and the heat pulsed pleasantly against my face in the chill room. I broke into a grin.


    Blip


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td>You Have Unlocked A New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Mana Manipulation</tr></td><tr><td>A basic skill for all mana based classes. This skill is unlocked when a user tries to refine and manipulate their bodies basic natural energies. This skill represent how well a user can refine and improve their mana. This skill will increase through use.</tr></td></tbody></table>


    Well, Shit¡­...


    I thought grimly as I looked at the pop-up. People who picked Sorcerer or other magic classes likely got that ability for free, but because I was a hybrid I¡¯d gotten weapon and armor skills instead. That explained why I always had so much trouble with my magic though. I¡¯d been doing it wrong the whole time. I was really going to have to find another skill point for that. It would have to come before anything else. Assuming, I could get another skill point.


    Sighing I got back to work. I had more things to practice now.


    *****************************************************************************


    Three days¡­.. I¡¯d been down here for three days, doing nothing but burning my mana, meditating it back to full and burning it all again. I¡¯d logged back in after a good night''s sleep in my real bed. Today I was getting out of this crap hole. I¡¯d gotten my Fire and Water skills to Novice V, while Elemental Precision and Mana Manipulation were Novice IV.


    I took a deep breath then packed my mana down as tight as I could. After I few skill ups I was getting better, but it was still only compress my mana to about 2.5 times as good as my normal stuff. Hopefully It would be enough. I turned it to fire mana then called fire.


    A bright orange ball of flame flicked to life just below the Iron ring. It was close enough to my hands it would burn them, but I¡¯d heal. The collar would see to that. The ball was only about the size of my fist, but I¡¯d still only be able to hold it for twenty seconds or so. I didn¡¯t think one shot would be enough. I¡¯d likely have to meditate and call more fire. My meditation had capped before I¡¯d been captured and it took about forty minutes to refill my mana. Luckily it was percentage based so it wouldn¡¯t actually get worse as I gained more mana I¡¯d have to find a point for that too at some point. Having to take breaks for that long would mean that most of the heat I put into the iron would bleed back out while I was meditating. It would be a long-slow process to heat the metal enough to escape.


    The room heated as the fire blazed. The flame was close enough to my face I could feel my skin starting to dry out. My hands fared worse and I could feel my flesh burning. I pushed my mana into the single digits before finally relenting. I hung against my chains panting for breath as I felt the skin on my hands being healed. I regenerated my mana back to full and started the cycle over.


    After the fifth cycle my head was pounding, but the iron ring glowed a dull red. On the eighth the glow had brightened a decent degree. On the tenth try as the world wavered around and me I pulled against my chains with all the strength I could manage. I strained with the effort and the ring gave sending me crashing against the stone floor. I lay there laughing as the world sawm and my screen filled with messages.


    Bleep-de-deep-Bleep


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Earned an Achievement!</td></tr><tr><td>Tenacious</tr></td><tr><td>


    You have struggled and overcome a great obstacle through persistent effort.


    Rewards: +100 Fame, +1 Secondary Skill Point


    Title: Tenacious - When the user fails at something while giving his all. His base attributes will increase by 2%. Stacks up to 5 times.  Bonus will reset when he completes his objective or gives up. </tr></td></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked A New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Destruction</tr></td><tr><td>This skill is discovered when a user breaks a hard inanimate object  by magical or mundane means. This represents a Character''s skill at breaking things. Skill Increases though destroying inanimate objects.</tr></td></tbody></table>


    Oh hell yes¡­¡­


    ¡°Open skills, Spend Secondary Skill Point, Mana Manipulation.¡± I said from my back. I stood and stretched towards my bag on the floor. I could see it¡¯s outline in the black room now that my dark-vision had improved again with my Dungeoneering skill up. I had to lay down on my stomach and stretch with my legs still bound but I could reach. I pulled my bag toward me. Then opened it and pulled out my hammer. I kissed it theatrically then used heavy blow and obliterated the Iron ring holding me to the floor.


    Blip


    My ankles were still chained together but I could walk now. I stumbled out into the tunnel then grabbed the collar around my neck, activated stone skin to protect my neck,  and ripped it in half.  It¡¯s magical protection was no longer valid now that I¡¯d gotten out of the room. It was just a few thin copper strands and was no match for my rage. The pieces evaporated into mist as I flung them against a near-by wall.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Unlocked A New Skill!</td></tr><tr><td>Escape Artist</tr></td><tr><td>


    This skill is unlocked by escaping after being captured. This skill represents the user''s skill at circumnavigating magical and mundane restraints. This skill increases with use.


    If user uses magical means to escape, discovering this skill unlocks hidden class: Spellthief </tr></td></tbody></table>


    <hr />


    AN: Aright, Long training chapter here. I mixed it a bit of humor and some over-all plot hinting to keep things interesting., but I dive quite a bit into the nuts and bolts of how elemental magic actually works.  So sorry if it was boring to all of you action guys out there.


    MC gets beat up AGAIN, and is finally getting sick of it, so he takes his first baby-steps on the road to Badassdom.


    Thanks again to all my readers. Also, I''m talking to an Illustrator I met at an Anime-Con to get a render of the MC commissioned. She does awesome work and I''ll post it up here when it''s done.

 Volume 2: Chapter 10

    Chains rattled against cold stone as I wandered through the sewers. The tunnels here were narrow and twisting. A contrast from the wide straight tunnels below the main part of the city. I walked in darkness trusting to my darkvision and hoping not to draw attention to myself. I did NOT whistle. I wasn¡¯t repeating that mistake twice.


    My Friends list was back up but MoProblems was offline so I couldn¡¯t use his position to navigate. Instead I selected progressively larger tunnels as I moved hoping it would lead me back towards the center of the city.


    I¡¯d been walking about twenty minutes when a patch of wall caught my attention. My pace slowed and I stared openly at it. In the darkness it looked identical to all the other walls down here, but something about it tickled my brain. I flared my magic and a small ball of fire popped into existence before me.allowing me to get a better view.


    The wall looked similar to all the other walls but there were strange carvings on five of the bricks. I smiled. My new Dungeoneering ability it must be tipping me off.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising. There must be a ton of secret passages and doors down here. I walked closer to the wall and started looking for loose bricks or anything else that might open it. This was probably stupid but curiosity got the better of me.  Experimentally I reached out and touched one of the carvings.There was a thunk and three cross-bow bolts shot out of the wall behind me. Two missed, but the last one buried itself in the middle of my back.


    ¡°Shit!¡± I yelled as I collapsed on the floor. That one stung, I flopped around for a moment, struggling since both my hands and feet were still chained together. Then reached behind myself carefully and pulled out the bolt. I checked my status screen to make sure I hadn¡¯t been poisoned then continued to inspect the door, now bleeding slightly.


    The bolt had done almost fifty damage but I was determined now.  I turned on stoneskin and pushed another symbol. The bolts came again in a different pattern. I¡¯d been expecting them to come in the same place so had positioned myself where I wouldn''t get hit. That plan failed and a bolt caught me right below the left shoulder. The damage was reduced by my stoneskin but it still hurt like a mother.


    The third symbol glowed faintly when I pushed it. That left me with 4x3x2x1 options assuming I understood the puzzle. That was going to be a lot of crossbow bolts. Luckily, each symbol seemed to be tied to a specific bolt pattern. So I only got hit three more times. It took me about thirty minutes to crack the code but the reward was worth it. When all five symbols were lit the wall rumbled and slit down revealing a long descending stairway. I should really head back to the surface but a secret door was just way too tempting.I hefted my hammer and walked down into the darkness.


    The stairway lead down about thirty feet to another stone door with a rusted lever. Shrugging, I pulled the lever unsure of what to expected. The stone door rumbled and raised, opening into a another tunnel and wafting stale air into my face. The air smelled of rot and age. This place had not been disturbed in a very long time.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Discovered A Secret Dungeon!</td>[tr]<td>You Have Entered H''ern</tr></td></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The Lost City of H¡¯ern</td>[tr]<td>The Free City of H¡¯ern was once one of the richest cities on the continent. Placed strategically between the Zann Empire in the South and the Fedor Republic in the north it handled nearly all the trade between the two nations.


    However, when the  Warlord Rashid Al¡¯Zahim united the desert tribes of Eastern Zann and overthrew the Emperor in 1347 R.E. the empire collapsed into civil war.


    This lead to the slow downfall of H¡¯ern until the city was finally sacked during the Fourth Orcish Uprising in 1565 R.E..  Due to The Fedor Republic¡¯s own political turmoil of the time and it¡¯s eventual fracturing into the 10 Kingdoms, H¡¯ern was not reclaimed for almost three-hundred years. When the second King of the new Kingdom Drannel  finally reconquered the area there was nothing left of the once great city but ruins. The King had a new city built over-top of the old and renamed it Hernberg.


    Although the city is lost, some of its riches and magic still remain buried far below Hernberg.


    Recommended Level: 22


    Difficulty: Dungeon


    Rewards: ???</tr></td></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Earned an Achievement!</td>[tr]<td>Dungeon Master</tr></td><tr><td>You have delved into the unknown and discovered Otherworld¡¯s first Secret Dungeon.


    Rewards: +500 Fame, +1 Primary Skill Point


    Title: Dungeon Master  - When exploring newly discovered secret dungeons the player receives a +15% bonus to skill gain. Any Level-up¡¯s during this time will gain the user a +1 extra permanent bonus to all stats. Bonuses are only valid in unconquered secret dungeons</tr></td></tbody></table>


    I grinned with a wolfish smile as I examined my pop-ups. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to buy that cricket bitch dinner.¡° I said as I tried to quickly equip my two newest titles, only to find I could only have three active at once. I opened my title menu to do some adjusting.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Titles</td>[tr]<td>Current Titles:  Father of the First Circle, Slayer of the Rat King, Chosen Of Gaia


    Available Titles:


    Father of the First Circle    -  Add¡¯s 15% to the Potency of all Blessings and Curses while Active. Lowers your relations with most NPC¡¯s while active.


    Chosen Of Gaia    -   Increases the potency of all Active Geomancer Class Abilities by 5%


    Slayer of the Rat King -  +5000 bonus to Fame with NPC¡¯s in Valor¡¯s Crossing, +3% bonus to damage against all monsters of the Rat type


    Tenacious:  - When the user fails at something while giving his all, his base attributes will increase by 2%. Stacks up to 5 times.  Bonus will reset when he completes his objective or gives up.


    Dungeon Master: +15% bonus to skill gain while exploring new Secret Dungeons, Level-up¡¯s while exploring new Secret Dungeons provide a +1 bonus to all stats.


    </tr></td></tbody></table>


    I hadn¡¯t used any blessings or curses in a while. That made Father of the First Circle pretty useless. Slayer of the Rat King was only useful in Valor¡¯s Crossing.  Shrugging, I took out my bone knife and started scratching a circle. I¡¯d give myself a blessing then un-equip the title. I¡¯d learned my lesson about neglecting my skills. I¡¯d put on Tenacious, Chosen of Gaia, and Dungeon Master, which should give me the most useful options for fighting.


    I was putting the finishing touches on my newest spell experiment when I heard rattling behind me. I turned and winced. A half-dozen skeletons were walking slowly in my direction. They wore mismatched pieces of rusted armor. Two had long-spears, three longswords, and the last wielded an axe with a large round shield. Their bones were yellowed with age and their eyes glowed red in the darkness.


    This was bad. Six level 20+ enemies for the first damn pull while I was still in chains. I figured I¡¯d find a straggler or two and explore a bit before heading back to the surface and bringing MoProblems back with me. Alone, I¡¯d have to bring my A-game just to survive, especially since I was already down below half HP.


    I threw my knife back into my bag and drew my hammer as the skeletons broke stride and charged. They were fast. Not as fast as the were-cricket but still the second most agile monsters I¡¯d fought. I back-pedaled toward the door but reversed my momentum and swung as they closed within range. The first skeleton tried to parry, but trying to parry against a hammer-wielder with one-hand is a very poor option. There¡¯s just too much momentum against you.


    Parrying a three pound sword on a hard swing is difficult. Trying to do the same with a twenty pound maul some over-muscled idiot is swinging at you is pointless. The handle of my hammer clanged against his guard but plowed through. The blow smashed into its shoulder and shattered the aged bone.


    That should have been a victory but skeletons don¡¯t understand concepts like pain or self-preservation. Instead of falling to the ground screaming like a person would have, it merely raked the gnarled bony fingers of it¡¯s other-hand down my unprotected side. At the same time two spear-points stabbed at me through the things empty rib-cage. The skeletons behind had caught up.


    This was getting bad already. I dodged one spear, but the other bit shallowly into my stomach. I stepped back to parry the nest longsword strike that came my direction then activated my new ability.


    ¡°Whirlwind Kick!¡± I shouted, curious about what would happen. A blue-corona of power covered my legs and I lept four-feet into the air and spun leaving trails of blue light as my right-leg lashed out in a kick.


    The kick crashed into the right-most skeleton. The force of the blow knocking it¡¯s head free and sending it bouncing away. The kick continued knocking the rest of the skeletons back and buying me a moment to breathe. However, I did not land on my feet in a cool pose like in the kung-fu moves. My legs were still chained together, so with neither-leg down to land on I fell the four-feet and crashed onto my side knocking the wind-out of myself.


    That was stupid¡­¡­


    I thought as I rolled towards the door. I sprang back to my feet in time to parry another blow then stumbled backwards through the doorway. I took a blow on my side as I flipped the lever to close the door again. It rumbled shut and trapped me in the stairway with two skeletons,  one-arm and shield.


    I sacrificed a blow from shield''s axe to land a finishing blow on one-arm. It shattered the rest of his body and he fell to the ground in pieces. I turned, narrowly dodging shield¡¯s next strike. Then threw a knee to drive him backwards and blew the last of my stamina.


    Heavy Blow¡­¡­.


    My hammer glowed orange and I swung it at with all my strength. The skeleton raised it¡¯s shield to block but it didn¡¯t stop the enhanced blow. Instead my strike just blasted the shield completely through it¡¯s brittle body, shattering it¡¯s ribs and spine and shooting backwards into the door behind it. The shield clanged against the stone as the things head fell to the floor on-top of it¡¯s collapsing legs.  The red of it¡¯s eyes dimmed as I sat on the stairs completely drained of Stamina. I was safe again for the moment.


    ***********************************************************


    Jasmine sighed as she downed her ale. They¡¯d been stuck in the city for days. After killing those idiots in the mountains she and Meredith had headed back to Hernberg to resupply.. They¡¯d been attacked twice on the way back by PK¡¯s, but Jasmine hadn¡¯t thought anything of it at the time. In fact it was fun bashing noob heads and killing players was good money. She¡¯d made nearly ten gold and that was after giving Meredith half.


    She¡¯d only found out about the bounty when they had entered the city, and now her and Meredith couldn¡¯t leave. They¡¯d tried two days ago and had been attacked almost immediately by a dozen people. Jasmine had been able to fight through back to the gates but Meredith had died and re-spawned in the city again.


    So here she sat drinking away her sorrows. The worst part was it wasn¡¯t even working. She was definitely drunk but here your mind stayed sharp while your body went stupid. Which made celebratory drinking much more fun, and depressed drinking all but useless. Jasmine unslung her new lute and started plucking vaguely at the strings.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we could think of a way to escape our predicament with proper planning.¡± Meredith said from beside her. The girl had every male eye in the place fastened to her breasts as they practically exploded out of her leather druid outfit. The females were looking at her too but their looks were less dazzled and more murderous. Jasmine had been defending her virtue from unwanted advances all night. Sure, the girl couldn¡¯t actually be actually harmed in the city but guys could still be dicks.


    ¡°Mayyyyybe.¡± Jasmine slurred as another a young buck was pushed in their direction by a group of his laughing friends. The boy took two steps toward their table before he caught Jasmine¡¯s eye. She casually crushed the empty wooden mug she was drinking from to splinters with one hand as she smiled at him. His face paled and he sat back down.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t just remain here permanently while you indulge yourself to unconsciousness every-night.¡± The younger girl snapped. Jasmine just shrugged.


    ¡°It washh wooeerth a sshlot¡± Jasmine said sullenly. Meredith¡¯s scowl deepened and the girl raised her hand. It glowed with a green light and waves of cleansing power rushed over Jasmine, burning and tingling as the magic forced the alcohol from her body. The energy faded a few seconds later leaving Jasmine sore, panting, and stone-sober.


    ¡°God-dammit! You know I hate it when you do that.¡± Jasmine said angrily. Her pronunciation now back to normal.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± The girl said smiling sweetly. ¡°If you would cease your impersonation of the town lush, I would not be forced to such action.¡± She continued in the same innocent tone.


    ¡°Yes mom¡­.¡± Jasmine said as she rolled her eyes and looked for her next distraction. The doors to the Horse and Four opened again and a very sort-elf with blue robes and glasses walked into the room looking worried and lost.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Ahhhh, a Gnome.¡± Meredith said happily as the boy looked for an empty table. ¡°That¡¯s the first one I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was a short elf.¡± Jasmine said as she cocked her head. She inspected the the boy with increased scrutiny. He looked about Meredith¡¯s age and had the proper wimpy bookish look the girl probably liked. Seeing an opportunity for mischief Jasmine called out to him.


    ¡°Hey gnome!, You can sit with us!¡± She called over the noise of the bar. Startled,  the boy turned to her then took an involuntary step back as he saw Jasmine. Then his eyes flicked to Meredith and the fear drained from his face along with all other expression. He stood there slack-jawed and glassy eyed for a few seconds before shaking himself visibly and drifting toward their table as if he couldn¡¯t help himself.


    ¡°Like flies to honey.¡± Jasmine grinned as she pushed out the third chair at the table with her foot.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Meredith whispered through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Being bored.¡± Jasmine replied honestly. ¡°Besides this¡¯ll be hilarious.¡± She said as the gnome made it to the chair and looked at Jasmine again for confirmation. She nodded and he slipped into the seat looking confused.


    ¡°Uhhhhhhhh, hi?¡± The gnome said looking at Jasmine. He turned his head slowly to Meredith, blushed and looked immediately away again. Jasmine suppressed her mirth and greeted him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jasmine, and this is Meredith.¡± She leaned forward and whispered loudly. ¡°She¡¯s a little off, so make sure you grab her hand and make lots of eye contact when you speak.¡± The boy blinked a few times as he listened then reached for one of Meredith¡¯s hands where it lay on the table.


    The girl snatched her hand away and said in her iciest voice. ¡°I am unsure of what game you are playing but I am neither mentally deficient nor amused by your antics Jasmine.¡± Jasmine laughed loudly, snorting in the pig-like way she did sometimes as an orc.


    The gnome looked like his entire brain had shorted out as he tried to adjust his worldview enough to fit in a girl who looked like a Henti character and talked like British aristocracy. Jasmine patted his hand.


    ¡°Yeah, she has that effect on everyone.¡± She said understanding.  ¡°So what are you up to in Hernberg?¡± Jasmine asked when the boy seemed to bring his brain back online.


    ¡°Trying to find my master.¡± The boy said still looking lost again.


    ¡°Your master?¡± Jasmine asked confused. She really hoped she was missing some vital piece of information here.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m his apprentice. It¡¯s a game mechanic. I get an XP boost, while he gets a Skill Boost. When I hit level ten it ends.¡± He explained.


    ¡°So it¡¯s like a mentoring mechanic. It¡¯s curious that you and I did not get something similar when we started playing together.¡± Meredith said to Jasmine as she spoke up for the first time. ¡°I hadn¡¯t read anything about it on the forums. Is your master a wizard as well? I¡¯m guessing at your class but it would be the optimum choice for a Gnome¡± She asked the gnome.


    The boy once more tried to meet the girls eyes but couldn¡¯t quite manage it. Jasmine just shook her head. The girl really was hopeless. That boy would saw off his arm if Meredith asked him too but she wanted to talk about game-mechanics.


    ¡°Not exactly, he¡¯s¡­¡­. interesting. His class is technically Geomancer. It¡¯s a sorta¡­ Magic Warrior hybrid. I¡¯ve looked online, but never heard of anyone else getting it yet. But he¡¯s also a Witch.The first and only one of those as well as far as I know, he¡¯s got the achievement and everything. He¡¯s always stumbling on weird mechanics.¡±  The gnome replied looking thoughtful.


    ¡°So he knows magic then. That may have something to do with it. Maybe only the magic type classes get to have apprentices.¡± Meredith replied completely interested. The boy was holding his own. Most guys couldn¡¯t string two thoughts together around the girl.  Jasmine was impressed. He still couldn¡¯t look at the animal-girl but eye contact wasn¡¯t really necessary. She was less than impressed with their topic of conversation but Jasmine was interested in spite of herself. Her and Meredith hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to speak to too many other players.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡¯d I¡¯d classify him as a magic type exactly. He mostly just runs around with a big hammer and hits things. I once saw him one-shot a level ten Paladin with it, completely shattered his breastplate.¡± The boy said with more than a touch of hero-worship in his voice. ¡°Of course then the Paladin came back to life and murdered us both with his fire-sword, but he did kill him once.¡±


    ¡°Wait!!! A big guy with a hammer and a gnome. You two were in that video!¡± Jasmine said suddenly. ¡°You two lost to those idiots that attacked us. They¡¯ve been talking about it at work. The video went super-viral. It hit two million views yesterday. They said pre-orders increased almost thirty percent after it came out.¡±


    The gnome groaned and covered his face with his hands. ¡°I was hoping you wouldn¡¯t recognize me.¡± He said sullenly.


    ¡°Pffft¡­. not like there¡¯s a ton of gnomes running around with guys who use hammers and summon earth-walls.¡± Jasmine said. ¡°What happened to him anyway?¡±


    The gnome shrugged. ¡°We got a quest to spy on that guild that attacked us. We were were down in the sewers listening in on a conversation. Then we split up. I ran back to the surface, but he stayed down there to follow someone. Then he was just gone. It says he¡¯s online, but there¡¯s a Red ¡®X¡¯ over his name. I can¡¯t contact him or see his location. That was three days ago.¡±


    Meredith looked at Jasmine questioningly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I¡¯ve got some inside knowledge but you guys know way more about this video-game stuff than I do.¡±


    ¡°This your first MMO?¡± The gnome asked interested.¡± Oh it¡¯s MoMagicMoProblems by the way. Although, Noob Slayer just calls me MoProblems.¡± He finished sticking out his hand.


    Jasmine snorted loudly. ¡°That¡¯s terrible.¡± But she grabbed the proffered hand and shook.The boy just grinned. He offered his hand to Meredith, apparently without thinking it through, because he turned red, then white, then a funny green color as she grabbed it and shook.


    Jasmine couldn¡¯t stop the snicker this time. She knew this had been a good idea.


    ********************************************************************************


    I logged back in to open wounds and a sore back. I¡¯d slept on the stairway between the two doors since It was the safest place. However,  stone stairs provide very little lumbar support and even less healing. I had regained a hand-full of HP  passively but without a proper camp I was still beat to hell.


    Luckily Mo Problems was on and I used him as a beacon to find my-way back to the city. I ended up in the middle of a residential area near the southern gate when I finally clawed my way back up into daylight before finding an inn. I was in dire need of breakfast and a bath. Then I remembered I was broke and even breakfast and a bath were out of my price range. I called Chris instead.


    ¡°Hey you still need those gems?¡± I asked knowing the answer.


    ¡°Yes¡­..¡± Chris replied cautiously.


    ¡°Aright I got two sorta bluish purple ones¡­ Sodalite. A Blue-green sorta guy¡­. Malachite.. Ahhh, that one I¡¯ve heard of.  Then I got a yellow-red fiery looking one that¡¯s¡­Hessonite Garnet. Then a sorta blue-silver one¡­ Kyanite.  All of them are Common or Uncommon quality.¡±


    Chris pondered for a moment. ¡° I¡¯ll take the last two you mentioned. The red one and the blue one.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, That¡¯ll be two gold. Lemme get to a mailbox.¡±  I said grinning as I headed back into the main part of town.


    ¡°You¡¯re charging me?¡± He grumbled.


    ¡°Damn right I am. I have seven copper right now, and I¡¯m hungry. Besides they are worth five times that at least, and you''re basically buying them with my money anyway.¡± I said shaking my head. He wasn¡¯t wiggling out this time.


    ¡°Fine... ¡° Chris grumbled.


    ¡°And hurry up on my armor. I¡¯m still naked and I¡¯ve got a dungeon to conquer and serious ass to kick.¡± I said as I found a Mail-box and deposited my gems.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost done with my commision. I just need to add the gems. I¡¯ve got some people working on your stuff, Give me till tomorrow night. Besides You¡¯ll get better gear. I¡¯ll rank up a few times when these are finished. So stop whining dude¡± Chris snapped as I got his mail.


    ¡°Thanks for the loot!¡± I said cheerfully as I hung up the call. I rubbed the two gold-coins together as I made my way across town.


    The Horse and Four was empty  this early in the morning it was just a hair after six by my count. . There were about a dozen other inn¡¯s in the city, but this was my favorite. I¡¯d had to spend six silver to get the skinny smith next-door to cut my shackles off.  MoProblems had taken a room in the inn apparently and was doing god-knew what up there. I wanted to surprise him so instead of sending a PM I waved down the barmaid.


    She was a busty brunette with a cheerful look about her. She bustled over to the table and grinned a gap-toothed but still pretty smile at me. ¡°What¡¯ca poison love.¡± She asked as she bent over and wiped down a table across from me that obviously did not need it. The motion granted me a lovely view of her back-side. She was a little plump but it put some nice jiggle in all the places women should jiggle.


    That¡¯s 800+ fame for you. I was being flirted with even filthy, mostly shirtless, and smelling like sewer. My smile grew a touch wolfish. ¡°Depends¡­¡±  I said giving her a thorough perusal. ¡°What¡¯s on the menu?¡±


    Her grin widened a bit, and she moved over next to me. Then leaned over until her cleavage was in my face and she was practically in my lap before she whispered in my ear ¡°Anythin¡¯ you wan¡¯love¡± I gave her a playful swat on her ample rump and she moved away.


    ¡°Better start with breakfast then.¡± I said  ¡°Sounds like I¡¯ll need my strength. A bath after that and a new shirt if you can swing it.¡± I wasn¡¯t going to actually going to take her up on her offer. At least I didn¡¯t think I was. My willpower with females was far from iron-clad but I still wasn¡¯t sure where I stood on the whole NPC sex thing. That hadn¡¯t really stopped me with Hanna but she had been special.


    We¡¯d had a connection or at least we¡¯d had something. Granted, it hadn¡¯t been a huge connection but we had been friends at least. Hopping into the sack with a random barmaid was just a bit too cheap for me even in a consequence free environment. And dad always told me I could be easy but I should never be cheap.


    I smiled as I watched her work behind the bar. This was an MMO.  The majority of players were young and male so making the barmaids extra easy was just good business.


    I inhaled my breakfast and took my bath. I felt much better afterwards. It had been days since I¡¯d been clean. The bar-maid had actually gone and got me a shirt since no-one else was in the bar this early. I tipped her with a whole gold coin, which more than covered the bath, the shirt, and the food.


    She looked at the coin with big eyes and gave me a look laced with so much sex I was half-convinced she was going to raise her skirts right there. Which would have been awkward since MoProblems chose that moment to stomp down stairs with not one but two attractive women with him.


    The first was an animal-girl that oozed sex appeal. She looked like someone had taken Jessica Rabbit, transmogrified her into a squirrel, then photo-shopped a eighth-graders head onto her. Her expression was a bit haughty but it did little to detract from her looks.  Definitely too young for me but that didn¡¯t make her less attractive, it just made me feel irrationally guilty.  MoProblem¡¯s had her engaged in conversation and wasn¡¯t just ogling her cleavage. Which made me think we should swap master/apprentice roles.


    The second was a she-orc of average height. She had light-green tinged skin and spiky short blue hair. Her face was surprisingly cute and at odds with the rest of her body. Tribal tattoo¡¯s covered both her arms down to the wrists and she moved with the grace of a hunting cat. She had too much muscle to be pretty but enough curves to be interesting. She was clad in leather armor that was form fit and left her midriff bare in true MMO fashion. Her pants were black-leather and rode low and those hips¡­¡­.


    I was completely mesmerized by the sway of her hips and the way her abs moved as she came down the stairs. I didn¡¯t realize I was staring until the barmaid huffed next to me and stopped off.


    I came out of my revelry just as MoProblems called out. ¡°Noob Slayer!? Where have you been?¡±


    I ignored his question and instead said. ¡°Ya know¡­ Everytime  I think there¡¯s actually justice in the world. I see something like this and my hopes are crushed again.  Here¡¯s my apprentice walking downstairs with two women like some conquering hero while I¡¯ve been fighting for my life in the sewers.¡±


    ¡°I believe you have misconstrued the situation entirely. My companion and I met your gnome friend last night and I assure you that Francis has been a perfect gentleman.¡±


    I blinked once, completely thrown by the utterly incongruous speech of the animal-girl. Then I realized what she¡¯d said.  MoProblems¡¯ face was torn between hope and nausea as my smile grew teeth. He was utterly ecstatic the girl had defended him and horrified she¡¯d let his real name slip.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure Francis will be more than happy to introduce us. I believe you have the advantage of me Mi¡¯lady.¡± I said, opting to match her over-proper manner. MoProblems winced visibly when I said his name but he rallied quickly.


    ¡°Uhhhh, right¡­ this is Meredith and Jasmine.¡± He said pointing to the girls inturn. Then pointed to me. ¡°Meredith and Jasmine this is Noob Slayer.¡± I waved as the trio sat.


    ¡°Bacon and Beer!¡± The orc called to the bar-maid as soon as she sat. I laughed and she turned a scowl on me.


    ¡°Breakfast of champions there.¡± I said still smiling. I was definitely attracted to her. Which was a good sign I needed to date more but something about her nagged at me. I recognized her and the girl from the wanted poster but I could swear I¡¯d seen her somewhere else.


    ¡°Girl¡¯s gotta eat¡± She said as the bar-maid slid a plate of bacon before her. I tried to get the barmaid''s attention to get another helping but but she pointedly ignored me.


    Women¡­


    ¡°So what the hell happened?¡± MoProblems finally asked.


    ¡°Got mind controlled by a were-cricket bard. Then I was chained up in the sewers. Took me three days to get out.¡± I said compacting the story as much as possible. The she-orc snorted while the Meredith looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Yes a Grealdi bard would be a potent adversary.¡± Meredith said. ¡°They receive large racial bonuses to bardic magic and music skills, especially in their shape-shifted form. Although, you are likely the first player to encounter one as an NPC.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of being the first player to do things.¡±I said as I looked around the inn making sure it was still empty. ¡°How would you guys like to try and tackle the first ever secret dungeon?¡±


    <hr />


    AN: I was gonna wait till Wednesday to post this... but it''s short and I''m bored.


    So you guys look like you win!

 Volume 2: Chapter 11

    ¡°A secret dungeon¡­¡­¡± The she-orc said disbelieving. She was looking directly into my eyes as if trying to figure out what game I was playing. Her eyes were a dark-chestnut I guessed were their natural color in real life but the white around them was tinged pink. Again I was struck with a ridiculous sense of Deja Vu.


    ¡°Yep¡­... First one ever.¡± I said flippantly. ¡°You in or not? Cause honestly trying to two-man a dungeon takes FOREVER. Been down that road once already.¡±


    ¡°And what exactly is a SECRET dungeon?¡± She asked irritably. I wasn¡¯t sure what had her in a foul mood but then again she was a woman. Their moods generally consisted of varying degrees of angry in my experience.


    ¡°Well¡­¡­¡­ It¡¯s a secret¡­. obviously.¡± I said just to  piss her off more. The pink in her eyes darkened a few shades and the veins in her muscles became more defined as she sat forward on her chair.


    ¡°Jasmine¡­..¡± Meredith spoke up in a warning tone. ¡°As aggravating an explanation as that was, it was one that you walked into.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you seem so pissed? If you don¡¯t wanna come then don¡¯t.¡±  I said shrugging. ¡°Hell, I could prolly charge admission for this.¡±


    ¡°You needn''t be hasty Mr. Slayer. It¡¯s not that we are not interested. In fact it¡¯s much the opposite. Your offer seems a bit too good to be true, and Jasmine is rather cynical when it comes to people, especially male people. Unfortunately for you, her distrust of other players has saved us a great deal of grief on at least three occasions in the last week. So neither of us are apt to trust you. You could easily just lure us outside of the cities sanctuary, dispose of us, and turn us in for the bounty. Which would net you a good deal of money with only minor repercussions.¡± Meredith explained apologetically.


    I didn¡¯t blame them for their distrust. They were completely right. Which is why they were the perfect group-mates. I knew they wouldn¡¯t rat us out or slap the location of the dungeon up on the forums. The price on their heads had turned them into pariah. Of the few hundred players or so currently in Hernberg they were the only ones I knew weren¡¯t working on the sly for the Knights. That and I wanted more opportunity to tease Jasmine .


    I just shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s your deal. Nothing I say is going to convince you and the harder I push the more suspicious it¡¯ll make you, but assuming MoProblems will come.¡± I looked at him and he nodded eagerly. ¡° I¡¯m planning on starting tomorrow night after my crafter friend finishes my gear. Come or don¡¯t, but I¡¯ll be at the mailbox near the south-gates if you want in..¡±


    MoProblems came to my defense.¡±He¡¯s sort of an idiot but I don¡¯t think he¡¯d lie about this.¡±


    I scowled at my apprentice and spread my arms in the universal ¡®What the Hell?¡¯ gesture. Kid starts hanging with women and suddenly I¡¯m chopped liver.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe him.¡± The she-orc crossed her arms over her chest and her scowl deepened.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I said.  ¡°I¡¯m not forcing your hand here. You wanna come or you don¡¯t. Do I want you to come? Yes, but it¡¯s not like there aren''t a hundred other people who¡¯d take your place if I asked. I¡¯m gonna go farm a bit outside the city to the south since I¡¯m broke. Then I got some errands to run back in the real world.¡± I stood up and stretched, then hefted my pack and headed for the door.  "


    ************************************************************


    I walked out into the morning sun and headed for the Auction House. The city was bustling at this time of day. Hawkers and cart-girls cried out their wares over the constant clop of horse-hooves and the ring of hammer and anvil. I¡¯d never seen the city like this before.  Apparently, the place was only cheerful before eight in the morning.


    I hadn¡¯t wanted to sell my gems until the demand for jewelry went up but I needed the money now.  I put the three I hadn¡¯t given to Chris up for a 24 hour auction and headed towards the south gates.  I¡¯d need supplies for a proper dungeon run. This time I wasn¡¯t going to be sleeping on rocks and using torches for campfires.


    I stopped on the way out of the city and blew my last six silver on a crude fishing pole and a hand shovel. There was a small creek a few miles from the south gate and I wanted to stock up on food before our dungeon run. Besides, the weather was beautiful and spending the day fishing was an excellent time waster while I waited for Chris to get off his ass and finish my armor.


    As I stepped outside the city I started with my magical training again, sending fire and water circling myself as I headed for the river. This early the air was crisp and clean and I whistled merrily as I listened to the birds chirp.


    It took me about an hour and a half to get to the river. I dug a few earthworms out of the bank and sat about the arduous task of lounging on bank with my line in the water. I was half-dozing in the sunshine when I saw three players headed my way. I sighed.


    Never rains¡­¡­


    I seemed to be attracting jag-offs by the truck load lately, and I was getting pretty damn tired of it.  The trio was a rather thuggish looking lot. The biggest one in the center was a human that had a good two inches on me and carried a claymore that was bigger than MoProblems. The left one was some wanna-be ninja with black clothes and his face covered but instead of a proper asian-styled blade he had a western short-sword. The last was an elf with a long-bow slung over narrow shoulders.


    I packed away my rod and slung my pack over my shoulder. I didn¡¯t draw my hammer yet. I wanted to see how this played out before I gave away my weapon choice. The big one swaggered towards me and I called out to him. .


    ¡°You boys need something?¡± I asked flatly, making it clear they were not welcome. I didn¡¯t actually want to start the fight. If they threatened me first I could avoid the PK penalties.  This was most likely going to end in someone dying.


    ¡°Yeah, we do¡­..¡± The large one answered. His voice was surprisingly high-pitched for his size. He didn¡¯t say anything else and the conversation lapsed into an at awkward silence.  After a good thirty seconds of us starting at each other one of his posse spoke up.


    ¡°Someone said they saw someone who looked like you talking to two girls at the Horse and Four. That wouldn¡¯t be you would it?¡± Said the ninja. The elf had already backed away a few steps to get a clear line of fire.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°I was.¡± I said looking bored. ¡°not sure what that has to do with you though.¡±


    ¡°Well, We are looking for them.¡± The ninja said.


    ¡°I gathered that, but you still haven''t told me what you want from me.¡± This whole situation was stupid.


    ¡°Well, those girls are worth alotta money. So you¡¯re gonna tell us when they¡¯re planning on heading out of the city again.¡± The big one responded finally getting to the point.


    ¡°And why would I do that?¡± I asked exasperated. ¡° It¡¯s not like you can torture it out of me. I¡¯ll just log out. You can¡¯t camp the spawn. The graveyard is in town and in the sanctuary.  So what exactly was your plan when you came out here?¡± I asked incredulous.


    ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll just kill you and take your money then.¡± The ninja spoke up.


    ¡°Good luck with that. I reached into my bag and pulled out the three copper pieces I had left.  I tossed them on the ground at the leader''s feet. ¡°There ya go, If you find a really shitty tavern that might buy two beers for the three of you.¡±


    They looked at the coins as if offended. ¡°We¡¯ll then, maybe we¡¯ll just kill you for being a smart-ass. ¡°


    I laughed bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s the first sensible thing you¡¯ve said since you got here but you guys picked the wrong day.¡±  I was getting sick of this stupid shit. Seemed like every-time I turned around I was being attacked one one set of idiots or another. These guys didn¡¯t even have a legitimate reason. I was being attacked because I talked to someone.


    The big guy pulled his sword off his back and the ninja took a few steps to my left. I just sighed and activated stoneskin as I watched them fan out around me. The elf was about twenty-five feet behind them to my left. There ground was mostly flat here and there was only some low brush for cover.


    The leader started the festivities by winding up an overhand chop with his massive blade.The problem with big-weapons is  that once something gets too close your weapon was useless. I¡¯d learned that lesson the hard way and  had done a lot of work getting my hand-to-hand skills up to buy myself space. So, instead of trying to dodge or parry I just ran straight at him.


    He tried to redirect his strike but I was already inside his swing. My magically hardened forehead smashed into his nose as I headbutted him. He yelled in pain and stumbled backwards and I turned to my right anticipating the ninja¡¯s strike. I caught his wrist in my right hand as he made a sloppy thrust my direction. Then jerked him against my chest and spun back to my left just in time to send the archer¡¯s first arrow into the ninja¡¯s back.


    The ninja cried out in pain then gagged as I drove my knee right into his balls. I shoved him towards the recovering swordsman and sprinted towards the archer. The elf¡¯s eyes widened as he saw me barreling in his direction and he turned and ran. I had no hope against an elf in a foot-race and he was too far away to use magic on directly. I was going to have to get creative.


    I pulled on my magic and called earth. I aimed for a spot about fifteen-feet in front of me and the ground rumbled as I shifted earth and stone. A chunk of limestone pushed itself out of the ground in front of me as I closed on the spot.  It rose upward propelled on a thin pillar of earth. I grabbed the rock as I ran by without breaking my stride. It was decent sized and weighed a good five or six pounds.


    The archer had lengthened the gap between us to about thirty feet when I spun and hurled my summoned rock like a discus. The throw was short, but my trajectory was good. It bounced once and caught the elf behind the right knee. His leg buckled sending him rolling across the grass and I slowed to a jog as I approached. I drew my hammer out of my pack and smashed it down on his back just as he started to get back to his feet. The blow didn¡¯t kill him but he wouldn¡¯t be getting up anytime soon.


    I turned around and saw the swordsmen a few yards behind me, blood running down his face from his misshapen nose. The ninja was still on the ground where I¡¯d left him nursing his jewels.


    ¡°You still wanna do this big-guy? You¡¯re plan to beat-up the broke guy seems to have gone pear-shaped on you. ¡° I said goading him.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill you dick-bag.¡± he snarled his voice now nasally because of his nose. He charged and swung his sword another slow huge hack. I caught the blow on the hilt of my hammer the force of it rattling my bones. Then I twisted the haft and caught him in the face with the end of the handle. He stumbled and fell and I drove my right knee into his face. The blow knocked him unconscious.


    I grabbed an arm and heaved, dragging his large body over on top of the still whimpering elf.  The archer grunted as the swordsman¡¯s weight pressed down on him, but my blow had obviously broken his back and he couldn¡¯t do much about it.


    I casually walked over to the ninja who was only now starting to get back to his feet.  He tried to stumble away from me but I lunged forward and  grabbed him by the collar of this stupid ninja outfit. I threw a right hook and he buckled as it crashed into his temple. Fight now over, I drug his much lighter body over to the pile.


    My task complete I knelt down and sat on my haunches in front of the elf. His face was turning red as he struggled to get enough air from all the weight on him. ¡°Ya know, You really should''a just let me fish. Such a beautiful day and you three had to go cock it up. When your buddies re-spawn, tell them Noob Slayer says hello.¡± Then I stood up and calmly took off my shirt. I¡¯d already gone through three of the damn things and this one was brand-new. I didn¡¯t want to burn it.


    Then I packed my mana as dense as I could make it and called an anger-fueled firestorm. I kept the fire burning until the grass was charred and nothing remained of the bodies but a pile of gold and silver.


    <hr />


    AN: Short chapter today. Mostly cause I''ve been playing video games all week when I should have been writing :P. The MC does finally win a fight though.

 Volume 2: Chapter 12

    The BestPrice on the edge of town had seen better days. The age of electronics retail had gone a decade ago and now the store mostly survived on selling cables at ridiculous markups and pushing overpriced smartphones and TV''s onto old people.


    I¡¯d headed back to Hernberg after my short fight and logged out. It was still mid-morning in the real world and the store was all but abandoned this time of day. A few lazy looking employees in yellow shirts attempted to look busy but it was poor ruse.


    I took only a cursory glance around the store as I made a bee-line for my destination. The Otherworld display was impossible to miss. Giant flat-screens hung from the ceiling in a circle around a display model of the VR machine. They had shelves assembled behind the machine holding various cables, connectors, adapters, and proprietary add-ons. I was looking for one in particular though.


    A secret dungeon would be BIG news. So I thought it was time I spent some of my money and bought the video-capture device for my system. I wasn¡¯t sure how many views I¡¯d actually get but It should be a pretty good number. I¡¯d had one money making opportunity snatched away from me but another had dropped neatly into my lap.


    I was examining two almost identical video-capture devices when a voice spoke up from beside me. ¡°Can I help you find anything?¡±.  It was one of the lazy looking employees in a yellow polo. The girl was pretty enough, thin body, blonde-hair, and long legs but she had a sour look on her face that did not suit her in the slightest. She chomped loudly on a piece of gum and I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes.


    I could not think of a single thing this girl could possibly help me with. Maybe I was judging her by her appearance too harshly but I had a feeling she wasn''t the sharpest tool in the proverbial shed.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, I¡¯m just trying to figure out what the difference between these two video-captures add-ons is.¡± Looking at the specs on the back they were 99% identical. The only real difference was one was in a blue box with ¡®Premium¡¯ on the side, while the other was no frills clear box.


    The sales girl immediately pointed to the blue-box while snapping her gum. ¡°That one¡¯s better.¡± I flipped the box over and reread. I didn¡¯t see anything this time either. I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± I asked, curious. She rolled her eyes and looked at me like I¡¯d just asked what color the sky was.


    ¡°It says premium¡­. premium means better.¡± She sighed heavily and flipped her hair as she snapped her gum again. I rubbed a hand against my forehead and tried not to say something I¡¯d regret. I took a few more seconds to decide then I sat the blue-boxed video capture back on the shelf and grabbed the clear one.


    ¡°Wow that guy¡¯s buff¡­.¡± I looked over to the blonde still standing nearby and saw her looking up at the circle of flat-screens above the display. A familiar Otherworld video was playing on the screen and I groaned loudly.


    ¡°What? He is. ¡° The girl said misunderstanding me.


    I was wondering how Nexus had actually managed to get the rights to show that video in a display. They must have paid that caster from the Knight¡¯s a butt-load of money to get permission.


    ¡°The game changes your avatar based on your stats. He¡¯s probably some wimpy overweight nerd who spends all day indoors playing games and watching porn.¡± I said as I too looked up and watched my alter-ego fight my doomed struggle.


    She sighed audibly ¡°Figures. I can¡¯t imagine anyone who¡¯d like¡­ want to spend all their time on something like that.¡± She looked over at me clutching the video-capture card. ¡°No offence¡±


    Geee¡­. How could i possibly take offense at something like that?¡­¡­


    She looked at me for a moment then back up to the screen before looking back to me again. Her eyes roamed me in a way I''d normally would have appreciated. Then she ruined it by opening her mouth.


    ¡°You do look a lot like him. You should work out more. You could probably buff up quite a bit with those shoulders.¡± She said before she turned and headed away.


    Oh that bitch¡­¡­


    I reached for my magic. It was almost subconscious. I honestly wasn¡¯t sure what I was thinking in that moment. Whether I just wanted to rattle a few shelves to scare her or try and show off a bit to redeem myself. It never even crossed my mind that I was standing in the middle of a BestPrice in the real world and things like magic didn¡¯t actually work here, but I suppose spending more than a month in a game that¡¯s so real it¡¯s impossible to tell the difference is bound to cause a little disassociation from reality.


    I noticed something was wrong as soon as I tried to connect with the earth but I''d done it so many times over the past couple of weeks I was already past the point of no return. The earth felt¡­. cloudy here, but the sensation only lasted a moment before I reached down into myself and tugged on my mana. As soon as I grabbed a hold of it a bolt of red agony shot through my brain and collapsed to the tile floor flopping like a landed fish. I must of moaned or yelled because soon the blonde was back at my side.


    ¡°Oh my god are you alright?¡± She asked worriedly. I just covered my eyes with my hands and moaned piteously as I lay on the floor with my head throbbing. I heard more footsteps and frantic voices as the world spun and it was all I could do to keep from throwing up all over the white tiles. God my head hurt. It felt like it had when that witchcraft barrier I¡¯d cast with MoProblems back-fired on me.


    I¡¯m not sure how long I lay there but eventually I could function enough to sit up. Four yellow shirted employees were all looking at me with worried expressions while a couple of curious shoppers gawked at me from behind them.


    A middle-aged guy in khakis and a yellow polo with a ¡®manager¡¯ pin on it spoke up next. ¡°Are you alright sir? Do we need to call an ambulance?¡± I shook my head which sent a fresh wave of nausea through my body. I looked down at my hands and noticed the blood on them. A quick examination let me know my nose had started bleeding again.


    The lights stung my eyes and my head pounded like I had a terrible migraine. I tried to downplay my injury as much as possible and managed to get to my feet and stumble towards the check-outs. The manager tried to stop me but I waved him away and managed to pay and get outside into the parking lot. The sun sent more pain rocketing through my brain as I found my car. I struggled with the keys for a bit before I got the back-door open and collapsed across the back seat. I just laid there in pain as I blocked out the sun with my hands and tried to breath as my head pounded. I was in no condition to drive.


    What the hell was going on? This kinda thing happened to me in Otherworld all the time. Any time I burned too much mana or tried something too complex I¡¯d get some backlash but this was the second time it had spilled over into the real world. I¡¯d written off the first time as an anomaly but something was seriously screwed up here. I felt like I¡¯d almost given myself a stroke trying to do magic in there.


    I just laid there staring at the ceiling in my Toyota as pain slowly receded. I wasn¡¯t sure what scared me more. The fact that I could have permanently injured myself, or that I was pretty sure my magic had almost worked.


    ****************************************************************************


    It was afternoon before I felt well enough to head back to my apartment. I  rested on the couch while a hundred thoughts swirled through my head. Should I go to a hospital? Was I in danger? Was I going crazy?


    I really wanted to try using my power again but at the same time I was terrified. What would happen if it didn¡¯t work? Would I give myself a stroke and die? What would happen if it did work?


    A vision of myself belted to a steel table in some government bunker pushed itself into my mind. Definitely not the hospital. I had no idea what my brain would look like under an MRI but I had no desire to found out.


    I felt like I had when I¡¯d first figured out I was trapped in Otherworld. The same questions I¡¯d asked then and never got any answers to bubbled up in my mind. What the hell was going on with that game?


    Why was it so far ahead of everything else technologically? Why did they kidnap me for something I would have gladly signed up for? Why use a technology so amazing for a fantasy MMO in the first place?


    MMO¡¯s weren¡¯t even a popular genre. Even the most popular MMO ever only made 200 million a year or so in it¡¯s prime. Why didn¡¯t they make a shooter? Why make a videogame at all? What would the government pay for such a life-like environment to train soldiers in? Hell why not make porn?


    An environment where everything feels completely real. Where you could drink as much as you wanted. Do whatever drugs you wanted. Where you could do anything you wanted to whom or whatever you wanted in an environment completely free of ridicule or consequences? They¡¯d make billions, and not one or two. None of it made any sense at all.  The more I learned the less I understood.


    Should I stop playing? I didn¡¯t know. The game had obviously done something to me or was doing something to me but I didn¡¯t want to quit. It was a good way to make money and it was fun. I couldn¡¯t imagine myself wanting to play anything else after having experienced something so awesome. The game had ruined all other video-games for me.


    Besides, playing was likely the only way I was going to get any answers. I couldn¡¯t imagine it was that dangerous. How could they take something to market that would kill people. They¡¯d be knee deep in lawyers the first time some spoiled rich boy ended up with a nosebleed. I ran my hands through my hair. This wasn¡¯t getting me anywhere.


    I could only deal with what was going to happen when it happened but I could take a day off at least. I didn¡¯t have much to do in game until tomorrow night. I decided I¡¯d just laze around the apartment the rest of the day.


    First thing on the agenda was to install my video-capture card. It wasn¡¯t very difficult. There was a side-panel on the base of the system that could be removed and the card simply slid into a slot marked ¡°add-on cards¡±. It was a little disappointing but I didn¡¯t want to spend a ton of time on it anyway .


    I had just settled in for a Netflix binge when Chris stomped out of his room.


    ¡°Your looking glum¡± He said as he slumped onto the couch beside me.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Just got some crap to think about you know?¡± I said as I looked for something interesting to watch.


    ¡°You get shot-down or something?¡± He asked as he got up and grabbed a couple sodas from the fridge.


    ¡°Na¡­.. I actually have a date tomorrow¡­ sort of.¡± I said as I selected a bad sci-fi series.


    ¡°She hot?¡± Chris asked as he tossed me a Pepsi.


    ¡°Pretty hot, but kinda angry.¡± I said shrugging. ¡°Short-hair, tattoo¡¯s, great hips, tusks¡­..¡±


    ¡°Seriously dude? Partying with someone is NOT a date.¡± He said, shaking his head.


    ¡°Says who?¡± I said defensively ¡° We are going somewhere to do something together. We agreed to meet at a particular time and place. She¡¯s a girl, I¡¯m a guy. That counts.¡±


    ¡±That does not count.¡± He said as he took a sip of his Mountain Dew.


    ¡°What are you doing out here anyway? Aren''t you supposed to be slavishly making my gear. I¡¯m heading into a dungeon tomorrow. I¡¯m meeting a girl and I need to look sharp.¡±


    ¡°You''re really going to play that card on me?¡± He said disgusted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll play whatever card I need to.¡± I said, shameless.


    ¡°Fine¡­¡­ At least let me watch a couple episodes of this. I just finished my commission. I¡¯m giving Hiromi her weapons tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I KNEW IT! You bastard, she was Asian. Bros before Hoe¡¯s. I¡¯m revoking your man-card.¡± I yelled.


    ¡°Whatever. You know damn well you would have done the same thing.¡± Chris said as he sipped his soda.


    The day was starting to look up. I felt better already.


    **********************************************************************


    When I logged back in to Otherworld Hernberg was covered in a thick mist that seemed to cling to the grey stone walls of the city. It was afternoon in game but the sun was covered with dark grey clouds and a steady drizzle fell making disgusting pools of reeking sludge on the cobblestone streets.


    Even the foul weather of this god-awful city couldn''t dampen my mood though. I was finally getting some gear. After a month of struggling with nothing but clothes I was actually going to have some armor. I had some errands I needed to run first though. Those noobs that tried to kill me had dropped a little over five gold between the three of them. Which put some weight back in in my anemic money pouch.


    I dropped by the Horse and Four and stocked up on some trail rations. Then headed into the main part of the city to blow the rest of my money. I upgraded my fifty pound pack to a hundred-fifty pound one. That set me back four of my new gold and I used another six silver to fill my new  bigger pack with firewood.


    I was headed to the south gate to meet with the MoProblems and the girls when I got a message notification.


    Ding


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Private Message from Allric Stoneforge</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It''s about damn time.....


    ¡°Alright I''m getting ready to mail your stuff are you ready?¡±  Chris asked in my head.


    ¡°Of course I''m ready. I''ve been waiting for you all day.¡± I replied as I headed to the nearest mailbox.  I rubbed my hands together in glee.


    ¡°Alright sending now. Lemme know what you think.¡±


    Blip


    I reached into the mailbox with eager hands and grabbed out my new gear. The first piece was chest armor. It looked like a bunch of overlapping bands of leather studded with bits of bronze. The pauldrons were leather but had bronze plates stuck over-top of the leather. It wasn¡¯t an armor design I was familiar with but Chris was the expert. I inspected it hoping for the best.


    <table><tbody><tr><td> Centurion''s Leather Lorica


    (Uncommon) [Superb]


    </td></tr><tr><td>Leather lorica based on a modified Lorica Segmenta design. The armor has had magically imbued bronze added to it. Increasing the protection it provides and adding a minor boost to Coordination. The Armor was crafted with an eye for detail improving its overall attributes.


    Armor: +40 (50)


    Class: Armor [Medium]


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.Slot: Chest


    Durability: 135/135 (168/168)


    Effect: +25% armor, +25% durability, +3 Cord


    Crafted by: Thaddin Mossgrove, Forgemaster Allric Stoneforge</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Since when are you a forgemaster?¡±I asked as I inspected my new armor. The stats were pretty good. Nothing too amazing but a massive upgrade from my shirt.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a story.¡± Chris said sounding smug. ¡°But suffice to say even the game recognized my amazing smithing skills.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°Alright, gimme the rest of it.¡±


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td> Centurion''s Bronze Battle Skirt


    (Uncommon)


    </td></tr><tr><td>A bronze-plated leather battle skirt. Made from centaur leather it provides the wearer with a portion of equine endurance.


    Armor: +40


    Class: Armor [Medium]


    Slot: Legs


    Durability: 120/120


    Effect: +2 End, +1 LBStr


    Crafted by: Thaddin Mossgrove, Forgemaster Allric Stoneforge</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°A Skirt, really?!¡± I said as I inspected my newest gear.


    ¡°What?..... I¡¯m going with the Roman style it¡¯s what they wore.¡± He said defensively. ¡°That was the top-quality armor design for most of a thousand years. Alexander The Great conquered most of the world with troops wearing that stuff.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and he was also gay. So it¡¯s not surprising he wanted his men running around in armor that showed off their legs.¡± I snapped back.


    ¡°Stop being a girl and put it on.¡± Chris yelled over the PM.


    ¡°Fine¡­..¡± I grumbled and put on the armor and skirt. It wasn¡¯t a quick process. Getting all the buckles and ties right took the better part of ten minutes. I was frustrated and sweating by the time I finally managed it.


    ¡°Jesus, This stuff is heavy.¡± I complained when I finally got it all on. Even though most of it was leather and I was strong the weight was still noticeable.


    ¡°Yeah, It¡¯s bronze¡­.. It¡¯s heavy and soft. Even alloyed with tin it¡¯s still mostly copper.  That¡¯s why people stopped using it for armor as soon as they learned to work iron.¡± Chris replied. ¡°Now for the icing on the cake.¡±


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td> Centurion¡¯s Paludamentum


    (Rare) [Superb]</td></tr><tr><td>A crimson cape in the style of ancient Fedor. This cape was created with the pelt of the fallen Rat King and uses magically imbued bronze for its clasp. This has created a powerful magical enhancement granting defense against magic as well as imbuing the wearer with the increased battle prowess.


    Armor: N/A


    Class: Armor


    Slot: Cloak


    Durability: 80/80


    Effect:  +15% resistance to all forms of magic, +5% increase to damage dealt.


    Crafted by: Robert Fallan</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a cloak dyed a rich red. I ran my fingers over the material and smiled at it¡¯s softness. It was pretty high-quality work. Especially considering what the pelt had looked like when I mailed it to Chris. It was one of those odd Roman cloaks that buckled over one shoulder but when I got it fastened it ruffled as it caught the breeze. I couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Very nice¡­.. But who¡¯s Robert Fallan?¡± I asked when I got it on.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a tailor. I subcontracted it out to an NPC. Cost me a butt-load of money too.¡± He replied, obviously pleased but trying to hide it.


    ¡°Alright, I take back most of the bad things I said about you this week. The stuff¡¯s awesome.¡± I said, smiling.


    ¡°You¡¯re so generous..... and your buying me lunch sometime this week.¡± Chris said hanging up the call.


    I looked down at the completed ensemble. It was pretty damn awesome and compared to most of the crappy chain-mail and badly forged breastplates most people were wearing it was very distinctive. Another gust of wind sent my cloak billowing and I grinned as I headed for the South gates.


    **********************************************************


    ¡°Are you sure you wanna do this?¡± Jasmine asked as she and Meredith walked towards the south gates of Hernberg.


    ¡°I¡¯m uncertain why you are being so recalcitrant. Francis vouched for his integrity and this is an amazing opportunity for character advancement.¡± Meredith said from beside her.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know either, but every time I look at him I get mad from some reason. It¡¯s like I recognize him from somewhere and know he¡¯s an ass.¡± Jasmine responded with a frown.


    ¡°I know you have a great deal more experience than I with social situations but from everything I¡¯ve heard it seems that most men are asses.¡± Meredith responded coolly.


    ¡°Preach on sister.¡± Jasmine said as she chuckled. The two of them crossed through the soupy mist that hung over the city. It was hard to tell the time in this gloom but the two guys they were supposed to meet should be near the gates by now.


    Sure enough, as the South gates came into view they saw their two group-mates. The wizard was inspecting the taller one¡¯s gear. It must have been new because he hadn¡¯t been wearing it in the Inn yesterday morning.


    Jasmine took the opportunity to look him over. He was tall and dark-haired with broad-shoulders and the muscles of someone who spent too much time in the gym. He was wearing some Roman legion get-up with a massive bronze hammer over one shoulder. His face was in profile to her and Meredith and she inspected it thoroughly.


    He wasn¡¯t handsome exactly but his face was passable she supposed. Then he must have caught sight of them because he turned and smiled. It put a dimple is his left cheek and his green eyes sparkled.  The look was so full of boyish mischief that she felt her own mouth start to lift at the corners. At the same moment she had an overwhelming urge to punch him right in the face.Her smile reversed itself into a frown but that only made the big idiot smile wider.


    Instead of hitting him, Jasmine insulted him. ¡°Compensating for something with that hammer?¡± She called out to him with a raised eyebrow. Her jibe didn¡¯t ruffle him in the slightest. Instead, his smile turned wolfish as he replied.


    ¡°Exact opposite problem actually. I had to have the smith make it this big as a counter-weight otherwise I can¡¯t corner very well. Too much weight swinging around down there ya know?¡± He replied without missing a beat.


    She did laugh then. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Jasmine asked as Her and Meridith came to a stop next to the boys.


    ¡°Well first we need to lose your tail¡­.. Don¡¯t turn around and look¡­...¡± Noob Slayer said as Jasmine aborted her turn and looked at him.


    ¡°Anyway¡­..¡± He continued. ¡°We head into the sewers. Then we hide. We El-Kabong who ever follows after, since I¡¯m sure someone will be. You two are quite to hot commodity. Then we head to the dungeon.¡±


    Jasmine looked over at Meredith again hoping the girl would call the whole thing off but instead she said.


    ¡°That sounds lovely. Lead on Mr. Slayer."


    ¡°Follow me ladies.¡± He said as he took of at a brisk walk. He lead them over a few blocks and into an alley. Then he glanced around and pulled a metal grate up out of it¡¯s housing. He sat it down then waved them down into the sewers.


    Jasmine scowled but headed down with Meredith and MoProblems trailing after her. There was a more rattling of metal as Noob Slayer pulled the grate back into place as he came down after them.


    ¡°Alright, Quickly now¡± He said. Then he sprinted past them and into the darkness. Confused the rest of the group chased after him until he rounded a corner and ducked into an alcove off of the tunnel. Jasmine came to an abrupt stop next to him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked, confused.


    ¡°Trying to hide. So keep it down.¡± He snapped back as he took a small wooden box out of his bag. Jasmine watched as he poured sand around the four of them in a circle. Then he made smaller circle and started drawing lines and symbols in it. Soon colors flashed in the air around them and their circle grew hazy for a moment before returning to normal.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Jasmine asked frustrated. He¡¯d obviously done something but she didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡°Now we wait.¡± He said smugly. They didn¡¯t have to wait long. Less than a minute later they heard footsteps and voices coming from down the tunnel.


    ¡°Are you sure they went down here?¡± one of the voices asked.


    ¡°Yes, you told me to keep an eye on them and tell you if they tried to leave. They are probably trying to find a way out of the city down here.¡± Another spoke up.


    ¡°Well then find them!¡± The first one shouted. The sound of  boots grew closer and Jasmine tensed. A half dozen figures came around the corner and Jasmine pressed herself against the wall. Then they were walking past Jasmine¡¯s alcove in a loose line. She couldn¡¯t believe they weren¡¯t being spotted. They had torches and they were walking close enough to touch. She thought Noob Slayer''s plan was to let them pass but as caster of the group past in front of him his hammer glowed orange.


    The caster must have seen them then because he turned startled before Noob Slayer smote him. There wasn¡¯t any other way to describe it. The poor caster, whatever his class was, simply broke. Jasmine caught one glimpse of crushed bones and bloody meat before the game thankfully turned his body into mist.


    He wasn¡¯t done yet either. The caster had been in the middle of the group and Noob Slayer stepped into the gap he left in their line and extended a hand towards the two fighters in the rear. Then a gout of flame burst from his finger tips and caught the two right in their gaping faces. Jasmine finally snapped out of her reverie and drew the axes on her hips as she rushed toward the the other three.


    The first one went down before he even knew they were being attacked. However the second managed to parry her next strike and she took a sword wound in her shoulder  before her other axe caught him in the neck. He went down with a gurgle which left her against the last fighter on her side. This one was more cautions and was hiding himself behind a shield as he tried to back away. She didn¡¯t let him.


    She charged and threw a shoulder against his shield. The impact sent him stumbling backwards and Jasmine pressed her momentary advantage. She rushed forward relentless and got a hand on the edge of his shield. She pushed it to the side and spun behind him burying an axe into his unprotected back.


    He tried to right his shield to face her again but she kicked it. The blow completely broke his guard and her next two axes fell on the side of his head. He slumped to the stone already dead. She turned and saw Noob Slayer bring his hammer down on the last remaining fighter as the boy clutched at his burned face. Then Noob Slayer turned her direction and grinned.


    ¡°Well that was exciting.¡± He said as he stuck his hammer into the pack on his back. ¡°I think that should do it for pursuit. Shame I had to get PK flagged but alas, what can one do?¡±


    Jasmine resheathed her axes and  just looked at him. not sure of what to say.


    ¡°Well anyway. Let¡¯s get going. The dungeon awaits.¡±


    <hr />


    AN: Sorry! Late this week. Street Fighter V came out and I''ve been polishing my Rainbow Mika skills. As for the story . We''ve got some plot-twist  followed by the MC finally getting some gear and meeting up with the girls. And that''s two fights in a row! Will Noob Slayer become and unstoppable death machine. Will he reach the height of cultivation and slay the worlds gods like a Wuxia novel! Find out next time.

 Volume 2: Chapter 13

    I pushed the last symbol and the hidden door slid down revealing the long staircase down to the dungeon. I waved to Jasmine and her friend. ¡°Ladies first.¡± I said as I stepped back to let them pass. The orc snorted and headed down the stairs with the Animal-girl following after. I looked at MoProblems and shrugged as we headed down after them.


    They had stopped before the door at the bottom of the stairs and were waiting on MoProblems and I. Surprisingly, it was the animal-girl who spoke up.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve arrived I think it will be advantageous if we took a moment to discuss our individual capabilities as well as our roles within the group.¡± I blinked at her a few times. The girl looked like a ditz but was obviously no MMO novice. I hadn¡¯t really noticed before but her blue eyes were dagger sharp.


    ¡°I shall begin. I am Meridith as you already know. I am a Risui Druid. I am primarily a healer but my nature magic does give me some limited offensive capabilities.¡± The girl announced before looking to her dour companion. The orc scowled at her but spoke up next.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jasmine¡­. uhhh¡­... and an orc, obviously. Bardbarian Secret Class.... Don¡¯t ask. I¡¯m mostly a fighter, but I do have bard magic. I havn¡¯t used it too much but it¡¯s mostly useful for giving buffs.¡±


    ¡°MoProblems¡­. Gnome wizard, mostly control but my damage is still decent.¡± My gnome apprentice said beside me. He wouldn¡¯t be my apprentice much longer. He¡¯d level pretty quickly in the dungeon with mobs at level 20+.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Noob Slayer and it¡¯s been about 30 hours since I¡¯ve slain a noob.¡± I said. I waited for the ¡®Hi Noob Slayer¡¯ but it never came.


    ¡°Tough crowd¡­..¡± I mutted before continuing.


    ¡°My class is a Geomancer. That gives me elemental magic. I¡¯ve also got points in two-hand weapons , witchcraft, camping, mining, ¡­.. and a bunch of other stuff. I¡¯ve been focusing mostly on training up my basic attributes so I hit hard and have buckets of HP. Since we already have a healer, ranged deeps, and an dual-wield fighter, I guess that means I get to be main-tank for this shindig. ¡°


    It was actually a pretty good group make-up. The game''s skill system was very open so class roles were fluid unlike a lot of games. My new armor along with stone-skin gave me solid defense. I wasn¡¯t on the level of a heavy armor user but I should be good enough.


    ¡°I was only down here once and got chased out by a patrol so I don¡¯t know much about what¡¯s inside. I fought a group of six skeletons. They are fast and hit fairly hard but don¡¯t have much HP.¡± I added.


    ¡°Excellent, It seems our group is fairly well balanced then. Shall we continue?¡± Meredith asked.


    I just shrugged and pulled the lever on the door. The stone rumbled upwards and revealed the tunnel I¡¯d been in before. Tunnel was probably the wrong word. It was street, at least least used to be. The buildings were mostly rubble and the few that still stood ended abruptly at the stone ceiling fifteen feet above. The warrens of twisting streets and alleys combined with the tightly packed buildings made it appear to be a tunnel system. However, you could tell it was a city if you looked closely.


    ¡°This is fascinating, a truly remarkable discovery.¡± Meredith said from beside me. I just pulled my hammer from my back and began to scan the surroundings for enemies. This was a dungeon and the whole place should be crawling with monsters.


    A faint clicking sound from the left had me snapping me head in that direction. A troop of skeletons approached from an alley in front of us and to the left. ¡°Patrol 10¡¯o clock¡± I shouted before charging to intercept them. I activated stoneskin as I rushed forward and the familiar sensation of my flesh hardening washed over me as the skeletons noticed my approach. The two started to run and we came together in a crash. I didn¡¯t even try to attack. Instead I just held my hammer across my chest and did my best to run them over.


    Strengthened by dark magic they may be but even in a fantasy world physics are still king. One two-fourty pound human carrying a hundred fifty pounds of crap on his back is ALOT of mass. Compare that to piles of bones that might weigh thirty pounds with their armor on and the futility of their resistance becomes obvious.


    Most of them got out of the way but I hit two of them square. The force of the impact sent them crashing to the ground and I simply ran over top of them and spun to meet the attacks of the ones who¡¯d avoided me. That left me surrounded but put the skeletons backs to my party which was my goal. .


    ¡°Wah, Et, Cry!¡± I heard MoProblems shout before a chunk of ice shot across the space between us and blew one of the skeletons legs off. One of the other skeletons turned and charged away from me but Jasmine met it before it could close with our wizard. I saw her parry a strike with one axe before smashing one of it¡¯s arms to splinters with the other. Two strikes on my left side brought me back to me own fight.


    I swept out with my hammer in a long arc trying to dive the monsters back from me as I retreated. The job of the main tank is a thankless but important one. You mostly just have to be annoying and stay alive. If I was solo I¡¯d gladly trade HP for killing blows but with a group it¡¯s not necessary and would only burn through the healer''s mana.  So instead I just backed away slowly, parrying attacks where I could and only attacking when it looked like an enemy would try and fight someone else.


    My groupmates on the other hand got to do the fun stuff. Jasmine fought like a demon her axes a blur as she cut and spun through the enemies, all the while bolts of fire and ice shot from my apprentices mage-orb and into unprotected flanks. The battle was a short-one and I only took about fifty damange which Meredith healed as the last skeleton fell.


    ¡°Not bad for amateurs¡± I said as the fight ended and everyone was catching their breath. Jasmine had actually lost her scowl and a small grin tugged at the edge of her lips. Meanwhile Meredith had hurried over toward me with MoProblems.


    ¡°That worked quite adequately. Although, I wish you¡¯d refrain from running off like that without warning next time.¡± The druid said. The girl was more talkative than I¡¯d imagined. She must be the one who did the planning for her and Jasmine. It was obvious the girl was an MMO-veteran. And although Jasmine was ferocious it was also pretty clear she was new to all this.


    ¡°I did warn you.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s my job to get surrounded and it left the lines of fire open for MoProblems.¡± The skeletons vanished to mist a moment later and some coins spilled out on the ground. There wasn¡¯t a lot but more than I¡¯d seen any other mobs drop so far.


    ¡°Not bad... ¡° I said as I divided the coins into four piles and handed them out. ¡°Lets keep moving.¡±


    The first few pulls were fairly uneventful. I used my shoulder-rush to pull with varying degrees of success while Jasmine and MoProblems chewed through the skeletons and I got beat on. That¡¯s when we got our first real fight.


    We¡¯d rounded an alley and a crushed building sat across a wide street with the wall closest to us collapsed. Inside the building were a half-dozen skeletons, another half-dozen zombies and a skeleton in a dark black cloak holding a staff. I didn¡¯t get the group stopped before the skeleton with the staff turned its bony head towards me. It¡¯s eyes blazed a bright red and a ball of noxious green light gathered on the end of it¡¯s staff before it pointed it at us. The ball launched across the intervening space but I was already moving.


    This far below ground I could touch the earth even through the street stones. I heaved with my power and a wall of earth rose in time to catch the attack. The ball hit the wall and I could hear it hissing and bubbling as it ate at the earth and stone.


    I resolved not to get hit by any of those acid balls as I looked at the rest of the group. This was bad. If we waited here we¡¯d be swamped by undead once my wall went down. On the other-hand trying to sprint across an open street with a skeleton mage slinging acid balls at us wasn¡¯t going to be fun.


    I saw MoProblems look at Meredith for a moment before he set his jaw. The expression would have looked stoic and impressive on most people but on a four-foot tall teenage-gnome he just looked ridiculous. He raised his orb over-head and it started to shine with a ice-blue light.


    Oh god¡­¡­..


    The air around him started to bend and warp before he opened his mouth and shouted. ¡°Na, Et, Cry , Ta, Na,  Reke!¡± The already cold air suddenly plummeted another forty degrees turning what had been uncomfortably cool into bitter cold. A wind rose from the stagnant air and a cloud of fog and stinging sleet covered the street.


    I supposed that was as good of an idea as any. This time we were assaulting a fixed position and the fog would let us close with the caster. However, as MoProblems slumped to the ground unconscious I wondered how the hell we were going to be able to chop through all those zombies.


    Nothing for it then¡­¡­


    I charged around my earth wall and into the freezing fog. I couldn¡¯t see anything and just hoped I didn¡¯t get turned around. I met the wave of undead somewhere in the middle but the fog seemed to be working and I was already past them before they could react.


    I tripped on a piece of the collapsed wall as I entered the bar. That sent me smashing into a table and I lay there for a moment stunned. The sound must have given me away because a green glow in the fog appeared immediately afterwards. I rolled to the left and the table I¡¯d hit disintegrated as another ball of acid hit it. I stumbled to my feet and charged in the direction it had come from. I ran head-long into the skeleton. In the dark and fog I couldn¡¯t see a damn thing when he wasn¡¯t casting but from this close the fight was already over.


    I just plowed into it and sent us both sprawling over the ruins of what had probably once been the bar-top. Once we were on the floor I dropped my hammer and switched to grappling with him. It¡¯s surprisingly hard to wrestle a skeleton. There¡¯s just not much to grab onto and they are very quick, but such a monstrous weight disadvantage could only end one way for it. I finally managed to get the things back after some desperate struggling and taking numerous bites and scratches.


    I eventually won out though and got my legs around it¡¯s pelvic bone. I used it as leverage and simply wrenched the things head off.  It seemed to be held together more than the others and took much more effort than I was expecting. By the time I finished the job I was red-faced and panting with exertion. I picked my hammer back up and rushed back over to the girls.It was hard to home in on them but I could see the torch Meredith was holding through the fog.


    The two were holding on but only barely. They were slowly retreating down the alley while Jasmine hacked and cut with her axes and Meredith healed her numerous wounds. I hit the back of the mass of undead and took them completely off-guard. I smashed the first skeleton I met to splinters then hurled a gout of fire into the back of the group. I didn¡¯t have much magic left but it was enough to draw some of their attention onto me. The rest of the fight was a chaotic mess of flailing limbs, undead moans, and brutal close-fighting.


    I finished off the last of my foes and stumbled over to the girls completely spent. Then Jasmine appeared out of the mist like a wraith with her eyes glowing a demon red and a look of such raw fury on her face I was honestly terrified.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Meredith yelled from behind her and she paused with her axes raised above me. I honestly didn¡¯t have enough energy left to try and stop her. I just slumped to the ground and leaned back against the alley wall.


    Then the experience from the fight much have calculated then because the alley was filled with three flashes of blue light and a billion popups obscured my vision.


    Bleep-de-deep-Bleep


    Bleep-de-deep-Bleep


    Blip


    Blip


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Reached Level 15!</td></tr><tr><td>New Class Skill Unlocked!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strength Of Stone</td></tr><tr><td>Infuses the Geomancers Muscles with the power of the earth. This skill enhances the users strength based on their magical power.


    Rank: Novice I


    Activation: Toggle


    Cost: Reserves 40 Mana


    Effect: Increases users Str scores by 15% of Res Score</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your Apprentice has Reached Level 10!</td></tr><tr><td>Apprentice: MoProblems


    Class: Wizard


    Score: 92/100


    Rating: Excellent</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Received An Excellent Rating!</td></tr><tr><td>This is your first apprentice. Higher reward tier unlocked</td></tr><tr><td>Select one of the following rewards</td></tr><tr><td>Amulet of Endless Knowledge


    (Mighty)</td></tr><tr><td>


    An amulet worn by sages of the White Tower. It increases one¡¯s ability to learn.


    Only through teaching can one truly learn


    Armor: N/A


    Class: Accessory


    Slot: Neck


    Durability: Indestructible


    Effect: +15% skill gain


    Special: This Item can not be traded or dropped. If stolen it will re-appear in the users inventory instantly. </td></tr><tr><td>One Secondary Skill Point</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I was distracted from my impending death by the info dump I¡¯d just received. I quickly scanned the popups for the relevant info.  I didn¡¯t die, so apparently Meredith had managed to stop Jasmine from butchering me but I was too caught up to care.


    I whistled as I read through the info. That was one tough choice.


    On one hand the amount of skill points you could receive in this game was finite. I¡¯d managed to get some extras because of dumb luck and the occasional good idea but the amount of skills I was going to come across was only going to grow larger. On the other hand 15% to skill gain was huge. It would let me keep the buff from having an apprentice forever and combined with my human racial my title I was at a massive advantage. I¡¯d gotten three skill ups that fight alone. At his rate I¡¯d be able to hit apprentice ranks in the next couple of weeks which would put me WAY out in front.


    Of course once I hit apprentice and all the skill caps kicked in I¡¯d want that skill point more.


    Screw it¡­.. Go human power¡­.


    ¡°Select Amulet of Endless Knowledge¡± I said aloud. I mean it had flavor text, that meant it had to be good. There was a flash of blue light and a gold amulet shaped like a burning torch appeared in my hand. I put in on immediately and let it hang down inside my armor.


    I looked up and saw Meredith and Jasmine looking at me curiously. Jasmine¡¯s eyes had lost their red glow and were brown again but the sclera were blood red instead of their normal pink color. I just shrugged at their stares.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked innocently.


    Meredith looked at me askance then said. ¡°I somehow feel like I was just cheated but I¡¯m unsure why.¡±


    ¡°You should have let me kill him when I was still raging.¡± Jasmine said sullenly.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time we set-up camp. ¡° I said in an obvious attempt to change the topic. We¡¯d been down here a couple hours already and I was getting hungry. Besides I wanted to show off my witchcraft a bit. Veteran gamer I may be but I was a man first and we had an instinctive calling to show off in front of woman.


    ¡°What level is your camping skill at Mr. Slayer?¡± Meredith asked as she sat down next to me.


    ¡°Beginner two I think. I¡¯d have to look.  Neither of you has camping?¡± I responded. Leveling had topped my HP, mana, and stamina back off, but I¡¯d gotten a few wounds during the fight and didn¡¯t want to do much until they healed.


    ¡°Mine¡¯s at Novice III however, because I can heal it¡¯s mostly unnecessary. .¡± Meredith said.


    ¡°I could see that. MoProblems and I didn¡¯t have a healer so I had to put a point in it so we could regen. I think it¡¯ll give some pretty cool buffs when it levels. It can already heal severe wounds.¡± I said as I dug logs out of my pack.


    I heard a groan and MoProblems rolled over and sat up where he was passed out on the ground.


    ¡°I fainted again didn¡¯t I?¡± He asked groggily.


    ¡°Well you did cast your ridiculous six rune sleet storm spell again.¡± I said. ¡°Although, this time it was much more useful. Why didn¡¯t you just blast him with something though?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to ¡®just blast him¡¯ with.¡± he said defensively. ¡°Most of my offensive spells are only three runes which I didn¡¯t think would do much against him. The only other spells I¡¯ve come up with are a four-rune chill spell that slows, and a six-rune bind spell which is cool but not very useful against a caster. I¡¯m only level nine cut me some slack.¡±


    Jasmine spoke up this time. ¡°Your level ten actually. You leveled while you were out.¡±


    ¡°What!, Open character menu.¡± He shouted then laughed aloud. He dissolved into mutters and giggles as he poured over his options and spent his skill points. I took the time to make camp.


    I summoned a small flame and lit the logs as I dug a piece of limestone out of my bag. It wasn¡¯t a great drawing tool but it would do. Since I¡¯d leveled my barrier skill I didn¡¯t have to actually draw the outer circle anymore. Instead I just scratched six symbols around us as a rough guide then sat down and drew my casting circle.  Three elements with five sigils. It was powerful enough that it should hold for a bit against the skeletons but small enough I wouldn¡¯t kill myself casting it. After a few minutes of concentration it sprang to life around us in a swirl of neon lights.


    I opened my eyes and saw Meredith and Jasmine looking at me with interest.


    Mission Success¡­..


    ¡°I¡±ll teach you later if you want to learn. Although, we should probably go pick-up the loot.¡± I said standing.


    The take was a good one. The mage had dropped about eight silver along with the black-stone on top of his staff. While the other undead had dropped copper and silver. Most interesting however, was the chest we found in the building. It was under the bar near where the mage had been standing. I popped it open to reveal a dark-blue mana potion along with more silver coins and a old scroll.


    Meredith looked like her eyes were going to bug out when she saw the scroll so I took pity on her and handed it over. Her blue-eyes flashed over it quickly and she smiled so brightly even I wanted hug her. I looked over at MoProblems and saw he was staring at her glassy-eyed with a dopey grin on his face.


    ¡°Anything good?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes, It¡¯s a scroll of novice ranked raise dead.¡± She said smugly.


    ¡°As in a scroll scroll? Like, I read what¡¯s written on that and ¡®Poof¡¯ out comes zombie and the scroll goes away.¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that was a thing in this game.¡±


    ¡°I believe your hypothesis is accurate.¡± She replied.


    ¡°That is nice. Should fetch us a pretty penny¡­.. Anyway,¡± I said as I headed back to the camp-fire. ¡°I¡¯m gonna log for a bit after I drain my mana and grab some food in the RL. Be back in an hour or so.¡±


    Then I sat down near the fire and threw another log on. Then I packed my mana as dense as I could then hurled a bolt of flame down the empty alley.  I held it until my head swam and my mana was nearly empty. I might as well use my awesome title and try to get all the skill training in iI could.  Speaking of which¡­¡­ I¡¯d never checked my stats after I¡¯d leveled up.


    Open Character¡­..


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 15</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 52 (+4) 56</td><td>LBStr: 47 (+3) 50</td><td>HP: 267/267</td><td>Mana: 136/136</td></tr><tr><td>End: 44 (+2) 46</td><td>Con: 51(+4) 55</td><td>Stam: 163/163</td><td>Panic: 2/10</td></tr><tr><td>Agi: 30</td><td>Cord: 36 (+3) 39</td><td>Hunger: 110/110</td><td>Thirst: 82/110</td></tr><tr><td>Int:35</td><td>Wis: 42</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 36</td><td>Faith: 9</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 3</td><td>Fame: 801</td><td>Friend List: 2/2</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Nice¡­..


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    My title was definitely paying off. I¡¯d gotten four or five points to almost every stat and all my magic training had given me six to resonance. That was the most I¡¯d ever gotten in any stat. This was going to be a very productive run.


    **********************************************************************


    I logged back in after I¡¯d puttered around the apartment for an hour. My characters shoulder was still wounded. I¡¯d hurt it when I fell during the last fight and it would likely be another couple hours before I was fighting fit. Jasmine¡¯s body was laying on the far side of the circle from me obviously logged out while Meredith was reading the scroll we¡¯d gotten. MoProblems was looking over her shoulder but the girl seemed oblivious to him.


    With nothing else to do I started to meditate. My mana was about a quarter replenished with the camp aura but if I meditated it should only take another twenty minutes to top it off and I wanted to get as much magic skill grinding in as I could. So I filled my mana and started with my element orbiting training. Without the torc I could only use two fireballs and a single water ball but with my skill bonuses I¡¯d get quite a bit out of it. My human racial give me 110% of a normal character¡¯s skill gain. Add that to the 15% I was getting from my amulet and the other 15% I was getting from my title that should be at least 140% depending on how the bonuses stacked.


    Meredith had finally pried her eyes off her scroll and was watching me as the small orbs spun around me.


    ¡°Just doing some training.¡± I said to answer her unspoken question. The lapse in concentration caused one of my fire orbs to flicker out and I had to relight it. Talking while trying to keep all three going was unexpectedly difficult.


    ¡°Might as well do something useful while I wait for my shoulder to heal.¡± I said then stood up. I had something else I wanted to test out. I hadn¡¯t got to try out my new skill yet. Not knowing what would happen I rolled my shoulders and said. ¡°Strength of Stone¡±


    A feeling of power surged up through my feet and permeated my muscles. It seemed to collect in my hands and feet and I watched with interest and grey stone seemed to grow my skin. It grew upwards from my toes and fingertips and soon I was wearing a pair of stone gauntlets and sabatons. I flexed my fingers and the stone armor moved like it was flesh. I touched the gauntlet to my face and was surprised I could feel through them.


    Interesting¡­.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly what I was hoping for. I¡¯d been hoping for something a little more interesting for my next class skill. I really wasn¡¯t in need of a strength boost. Although, there was no such thing as a bad buff. I glanced at my sheet and saw my strength had risen to sixty-one. Which was honestly a pretty massive number.


    I still had a bum shoulder so I tried a few-one arm push-ups. Without my pack on they were stupidly easy.


    ¡°MoProblems get over here and sit on my back.¡± I said as I continued doing push-ups.


    ¡°Why?¡± He asked confused.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m testing out my new skill and I have no idea how strong sixy-one strength is.¡± I said as I continued to do pushups while fire and water balls swirled around me.


    ¡°You have sixty-one strength?¡± Meredith asked with disbelief.


    ¡°Is that alot?¡± I mean I always figured my stats were pretty high but I had nothing to compare it to. I didn¡¯t read the forums too much and people usually weren¡¯t too forthcoming with their characters specifics. I was only level 15 At some point my stats would be eight or ten times as high.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not certain. It¡¯s a bit difficult to extrapolate actual power from a static number like that but since the last time I checked forty-five was the highest confirmed score on the forums I¡¯d say it¡¯s quite high.¡± She explained in her usual cool tones.


    ¡°Well, maybe you should come too then.¡± I said.


    With both of them on my back I could still do push-ups although it require some actual effort. Not enough to slow me down but I was feeling the burn after a hundred or so. FInally my mana emptied and I had them get off while I meditated my mana back up. Jasmine had apparently logged back in at some point during the process because she immediately wanted to get going, but I made her wait another hour until my wound shoulder healed.


    Our early success didn¡¯t last. The next skeleton patrol we found was on a totally different level than the first ones we had fought. They were faster, tougher, and worst of all actually skilled with their weapons. MoProblems three rune ice spells just seemed to irritate them and I couldn¡¯t compete with their speed. Only Jasmine could land decent blows on them and Meredith had to use all of her mana just to keep us alive for one fight. Even going all out both Jasmine and I nearly died.


    Our levels were finally catching up with us. It was one thing for a level 15 with the stats of a level 20 to try and take on a level 20+ dungeon but with a level 10 wizard and an even lower leveled healer we were just too far out of our depth.


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain it¡¯s possible for us to complete this.¡± Meredith said as we all sat around our fire brooding. ¡°The differences in our numerical strength are simply too high.¡±


    ¡°I agree with her. Let¡¯s just get out of here. This is pointless¡± Jasmine said sullenly as she leaned against the alley wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s not pointless yet. We haven''t even started to get serious.¡± I said looking around at them. They all looked at me with various negative expressions so I continued. ¡°You¡± I said pointing to Jasmine ¡°Your a bard right? Where our are bard buffs?¡±


    She scowled. ¡°They drain mana constantly when I use them. It makes me tired much faster..¡±


    ¡°Well, I hate to state the obvious here but your magic is never going to get better unless you use them¡­.. alot. This is an opportunity to use them in battle situations which should help them level up much faster as well as boosting your stats. If we want to keep this up we are going to have to rest after most fights anyway so you''re not really out anything. Do you at least know meditation?¡±


    Jasmine looked Meredith who shrugged and I face palmed. ¡°Arn¡¯t you a caster? How is that even possible?¡±  I asked the druid. She seemed smart but how the hell could you not know meditation as a caster.


    ¡°Druid is a faith based class not a mana based class. We use faith points to heal. It¡¯s an entirely different system.¡± The girl replied looking annoyed. ¡°I¡¯ve found it quite difficult to find anything of value regarding bards online. Jasmine is new to MMO¡¯s and bard is both a hidden class and an unpopular one..¡±


    I rubbed my forehead with my hands before running them through my hair. I was just about to speak up again with Jasmine cut me off.


    ¡°Look, we¡¯re not all as nerdy as you alright. This game isn¡¯t our life so lay off.¡± She said snidely, looking both superior and hot which pissed me off even more. I rounded on her angrily.


    ¡°Today is Friday. Shouldn¡¯t you have gone to work?¡± I asked meeting her eyes. She looked down and I could swear actually blushed a little.


    ¡°So you cut work to play video games. Then when I ask a legitimate question you play the nerd card on me.¡±


    ¡°Look asshole¡­.¡± She started but I rushed over-top of her.


    ¡°No you look¡­..  I don¡¯t care if you act all sullen and angry all the time. I don¡¯t care if you seem to be pissed off at me for no reason but there¡¯s nothing I hate more than a damned hypocrite. You played hooky from work to game and here it is five o-clock on a Friday night and you''re not getting ready to go out with your friends, or prettying yourself up for a date. Your down here in a dungeon with the rest of us.¡±


    She cocked her head to the side and looked at me with an expression that was extremely uncomfortable. ¡°You cocky arrogant dick-bag.¡± She snarled before her fist collided with my face. The blow caught me completely off guard and I spun to the ground, tasting blood.


    I laid there for a moment with my anger surging up inside me. I reached for power and the ground started to tremble as my rage mixed with the magic. I was trying to decide whether to crush her between earth walls or just use heavy blow when Mo Problems called out.


    ¡°Uhhhh, boss? I know you''re mad but please don¡¯t do anything crazy.¡±


    I sighed and the magic drained away from me. I wanted to complete this dungeon more than I wanted to beat up a girl. Besides, my temper had gotten me into enough trouble lately. I slowly pushed myself to my feet and met Jasmine¡¯s glare.


    ¡°Alright¡­. it¡¯s possible I could have been a bit of a condescending asshole there. However, I really am trying to help.I know our levels are way too low to try and run this normally, but we have a lot of abnormal classes and abilities and we haven¡¯t even begun to play all our cards yet. ¡± I said to the group before singling out Jasmine.


    ¡°I know we haven''t exactly been on friendly terms and you seem to dislike me for some reason . However, I really am trying to help here. I can teach you meditation in about five minutes which will let you regen mana much more quickly. Then you can start using your buffs.¡± I turned to MoProblems. ¡°And she¡¯s not the only one. Your a control wizard¡­. control something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only got two control spells, one is an Aoe and the other is six runes. If you keep running in like a crazy person It doesn¡¯t do any good.¡± He said a little defensive.


    I nodded. ¡°That would be good to know. Speak up man. I know damn well you''re not shy, if you¡¯ve got an idea or I¡¯m doing something that¡¯s screwing up your attacks say something. I¡¯ll let you pull from now on. Slowing part of the group will let us separate them.¡±  MoProblms spoke up again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have some buffs you could use as well. ¡± I winced, I was really hoping he wouldn¡¯t bring that up.


    ¡°That¡­¡­. Is true.¡± I said reluctantly. He just looked at me and made a ¡®get on with it¡¯ motion.


    ¡°Look, Didn¡¯t you ever wonder why after all that time we spent in a party I never used a buff on us?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Honestly, we never really needed it.¡± He said shrugging.


    ¡°Well they are definitely potent but they have some unfortunate side effects and my skill isn¡¯t high enough to suppress them.¡± I said.


    Meredith looked at me curiously. ¡°What sort of side-effects?¡± She asked innocently.


    I rubbed my forehead again. ¡°Feelings of invincibility and over-confidence, wild emotional swings, nothing dangerous but having your mood forcefully altered is damned weird. I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡± I said leaving out the most awkward and unfortunate symptom I¡¯d run into.


    Jasmine snorted. ¡°After that whole speech about using all our abilities you''re gonna be like that. And you called me a hypocrite¡­..?¡± She laughed rudely.


    I threw up my hands up in resignation. ¡°Look if you want me to I will, I could use the skill xp,  but when you get pissed off at me afterwards¡­.. Which you will. I just want you to know that I told you it was a bad idea.¡± I said exasperated. The thought of throwing jasmine into a lust crazed frenzy gave me some vindictive satisfaction. Although, I knew I¡¯d pay for it afterwards.


    MoProblems looked at me for a moment before backing away. ¡°I think i¡¯m good.¡± He said shaking his head. I looked to Meredith and she stepped forward without hesitation. I raised an eyebrow at the girl.


    ¡°I am the lowest level here even a small boost will help me a great deal. Can you do anything that gives faith or wisdom? ¡° She asked.  Hopefully a metal buff would have different side effects other wise I was feeding MoProblems to the wolves.


    ¡°Alright you first then. I need a hair or blood your choice.¡± I said.


    The girl looked at me askance then pulled out a hair from her russet coat. I took it then dug through my pack and took out my book. I skimmed through pages until I round a sigil I thought would boost faith. Then I opened my menu and equipped my witchcraft title.


    My spell was a simple one. My skills with witchcraft had improved but my skill with blessings had not. I wasn¡¯t sure where that left me in terms of actual ability but it was better to be safe than sorry. I scratched out a quick circle then added the sigil for piety. It required a odd little white flower that I¡¯d picked a couple of near Varlor¡¯s crossing. Setup complete I fired up the spell and broke the circle.


    A bolt of pure-white light shot from the circle and and slammed into Meredith''s chest. She collapsed and started to shudder which, with that girl¡¯s body, made me distinctly uncomfortable. I averted my eyes until she calmed and sat up.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± MoProblems asked worriedly.


    ¡°I feel¡­.. Peace.¡± The girl said cocking her head. ¡°As if I am one with everything around me¡­.. It¡¯s both comforting and quite odd. It¡¯s¡­.. difficult to describe.¡± She sat there for a moment and I saw her hands move as if she was navigating her menu. ¡°Four points to faith and wisdom that¡¯s a significant upgrade.¡±


    I looked to Jasmine who set her jaw and plucked a short blue hair from her head. ¡°Alright¡± I said shrugging as I bit a finger to draw blood.  I opened my pack and dug around until I came out with a familiar small grey mushroom. Then as I was about to start my circle I laughed.


    Screw it¡­. Might as well do it properly


    I grinned evilly then reopened my pack and withdrew a light-blue flower and a knife made of white bone. I scratched another much larger circle and drew a square inside making the corners touched the circle at even points.. I quickly drew the sigils for Vigor and Potency before adding in a few extra reinforcements.


    ¡°Wait¡­. What are you doing.¡± Jasmine asked with confusion.


    I ignored her as I sat her hair in the middle of the circle and added a drop of my blood. I stood and raised my athame in front of me with two hands taking a dramatic stance. I hadn¡¯t used much magic on Meredith so my reserves were still in good shape. My will poured forth and both my knife and the circle glowed as the colors swirled. My voice rang from the stone and the stagnant air in this place began to swirl as I chanted my spell.


    ¡°Strength of back and Strength of bone


    To break the earth, to shatter stone


    Might to face a thousand men


    and will to shake the world again


    Flame to burn and Wave to bind


    Earth to shield both her and mine.¡±


    The colors swirled wildly and formed into a large rotating cloud of green and orange power. I let it twist for a moment then broke the circle with my boot. The cloud split into two and shot towards Jasmine and I in two bolts. The power struck both of us simultaneously and I fell as my body started to spasm.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Spell. Would You Like To Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Been Afflicted with Unnamed Blessing!</td></tr><tr><td>Effects: +6 UbStr, +6 LbStr, +6 Con, +4 Res


    Duration: 3h</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Inarticulate sounds came out of my mouth as my muscles and mind were filled with alien power. It felt like someone had dipped my bones in magma but the sensation ended in a few seconds leaving me gasping and twitching .


    I finally stood up and looked over at Jasmine who was also getting to her feet. She met my eyes for a moment and she shuddered. Her dark eyes turned smokey and a bolt of raw lust shot through me.


    It was the feeling I¡¯d gotten when I crashed my first car. A buzzing sensation of having faced danger and lived. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I felt so incredibly alive.  I just wanted to grab Jasmine and revel in the sheer joy of the overwhelming feeling of life. This was what had happened with Hanna in Rat King¡¯s dungeon but stronger. I¡¯d poured more magic into the spell and it had been amplified significantly.


    My eyes raked over her. She was all power and grace. Not beautiful but striking. Like a female hunting cat. All lithe body and sharp claws. I took a step closer to her, knowing better but unable to resist. I knew was was happening but l was unable to stop myself.


    Jasmine also took a step forward and shuttered as she snarled through clenched teeth.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± She ground out looking away from me and obviously battling her own desire.


    ¡°What¡­. you told me to.¡± I replied breathing deeply and trying to get a hold of myself. The wild feelings of power and passion were settling to an equilibrium I should be able to deal with. I made a mental note to keep to a single sigil for blessings until I got to beginner rank. If I¡¯d cast cast anything more powerful I¡¯d have completely lost my reason.


    ¡°You bastard¡­. ¡° She snarled before her hands shot out at me. I was too busy with my internal struggle to notice until it was too late. Her fist collided with my jaw a second time and my head lolled, but before I could react her other hand grabbed my armor and pulled me roughly towards her. Then her mouth slammed down over mine and the walls of mental control I¡¯d been carefully building died a gleeful death.


    The kiss was odd experience for a number a reasons. Firstly the tusks. I could feel them digging into my cheeks. However, to my lust addled brain things like species didn¡¯t seem to matter a great deal.


    The second new experience was being kissed by someone who actively disliked me. I was fairly certain Jasmine saw me as something marginally superior to pond scum and I could feel her rage through the kiss. It was a brutal savage kiss devoid of anything but anger and hunger. Our tongues tangled and I could taste the blood from my split lip combined with the flavor of her.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how long it thing lasted. All sense of the outside world floated away and I wouldn¡¯t have noticed being hacked to death until I re-spawned. Then the temperature around us plummeted to way below freezing and we stopped trying to devour each other long enough to take stock of our situation.


    MoProblems stood a few feet away with his mage-orb still glowing looking exasperated and amused. Meredith was next to him with an imperious eyebrow raised in question. Her face was cool as usual but a faint blush seemed to color her cheeks.


    I was on my back with Jasmine on top of me. She straddled one of my thighs and had both hands under my armor gripping my back. I was in a similar state with one hand clenched in her short spiky hair while the other had a firm grip on her butt. We both sat there for a few seconds unsure how to proceed before Jasmine hit me again and leapt away.


    I just laid there for a while. A masculine smile creeping over my face. Three punches was a very small price to pay for that sort of enjoyment. Although, I had to admit the girl could punch. She¡¯d have broken most people¡¯s jaw but my constitution was ridiculously high and it took a great to really injure me.


    My ex-apprentice finally decided to break the awkward silence. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why I need to be the adult here.¡± He said shaking his head. ¡°I had to cast a freeze spell to hose you down like a couple of stray dogs.¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t have waited until we got to the good part?¡± I asked,  angry and embarrassed. I had pretty thick skin but this was a little much even for me. The worst part was after that little episode I sure as hell wasn¡¯t likely to get another shot with her.


    Oh well....


    Things between us had pretty much been doomed from the beginning. She seemed to dislike me on some fundamental level from the first second she saw me. My feelings were still tumultuous but I seemed to have a better handle on them. I glanced as Jasmine who was staring at me with a expression of cold fury. I sighed.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry but I did warn you.¡± I said apologetically. ¡°That was the most powerful blessing I¡¯ve ever cast. The first time I did it was bad but more controllable. This time to was obviously too much. I won''t be able to suppress the side-effects until I level up more.¡± I did feel a little guilty. Granted, nothing too bad had happened but even if she had started it was my mostly my fault.


    I didn¡¯t think there was any element of coercion in it. This was the magical equivalent of a couple of beers and a bungee jumping rush multiplied a couple of times.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I was going to stand here and watch you two make it in the dirt. Besides this place is disgusting.¡± He said offended. ¡°Now are we going to get going? Or should I log for a bit so you two can find a collapsed building.¡±Jasmine and I both scowled which made Meredith snort.


    I took a step forward. ¡°Alright, mage your pulling with your slow spell. Then you rush into the nearest Alley and we all follow. I¡¯ll pick up the aggro. I looked to Jasmine who met my eyes defiantly.


    ¡°Jasmine¡± I said catching her eye. ¡°Make with the bard buffs and we¡¯ll get started. If you want to boost your mana and learn meditation just close your eyes and try to clear your mind a bit.¡±


    She ignored my suggestion and just pulled out her lute. An upbeat tempo started to play and I could feel my movements and reacts improve as the music washed over me.


    ¡°There happy now?¡± She muttered darkly.


    ¡°Actually this is the best I¡¯ve felt in awhile.¡± I said grinning at her.


    MoProblems walked out into the street and started on the next group of Skeletons.


    <hr />


    AN: Sorry for missing last weeks update. My Test reader told me he thought it was pretty rushed and not up to quality, so I gave it another week in the cooker and a couple re-writes. I think it came out pretty decent this time.


    This will be the first of the dungeon chapters. The end of the second book is rapidly approaching and there will be a few more interesting plot reveals soon!

 Volume 2: Chapter 14

    Nelson winced as his collar rubbed against his sunburn. He¡¯d been in Bermuda for two-weeks after his boss had finally given him some time off. After a long vacation spent drinking things with umbrellas in them and admiring long brown legs he was feeling significantly better.


    He knocked lightly on the door in front of him silently admiring the golden CEO nameplate while he waited for his boss to answer. . A few seconds later a ¡°Come in¡± came from behind the door and he walked in. An impeccably dressed blond man sat behind his massive desk with  steepled fingers.


    ¡°Nelson You look like a lobster. I¡¯m fairly certain people with your complexion are supposed to wear sunscreen.¡± The CEO said as he took in Nelson¡¯s prolific sunburn.


    Nelson raised an eyebrow. The boss was actually in a joking mood. That was a rarity. Wasting no time he pulled out the folder he was carrying and handed it over with a smile.


    ¡°Good to be back sir. Marketing has given me the latest numbers. Pre-orders are up another 20% and the board is wondering about subcontracting system production. There are now 350,000 players in Otherworld with another 10,000 accounts a day being created. We just can¡¯t keep up with demand. We¡¯ve got over 500,000 thousand pre-orders with no-way to fill them.¡± The scientist said as his boss read the reports.


    ¡°Well, we knew that going in. But we aren''t shipping the plans for the Mark 3 oversees until we absolutely have to. We¡¯ll be up to our eyeballs in knock-offs within the month.¡± The CEO said scowling. ¡°Is there any domestic company that can handle that much demand?¡± He asked as he flipped through more pages.


    ¡°No, not that isn¡¯t already under contract with someone else.¡± Nelson replied.


    ¡°What are we looking at if we dumped money into our own production?¡± The boss asked curiously as he sat the reports down and met Nelson¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯d have to check the numbers to be sure but at least 10 million and it would be months before we could start production..¡±


    The CEO sighed again. ¡°Why is it you never have good news?¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯s my job¡­. ¡° Nelson replied with a self-deprecating chuckle.


    ¡°Alright, In a month we¡¯ll contract to china. Then we open up an Asia server cluster. We should have the volume by then.¡± The boss said making a decision.


    ¡°Yessir.¡± Nelson replied while he made notes with his smart-phone.


    He typed away for a moment then looked up with a grimace. ¡°Speaking of bad-news III says he needs more people.¡± Nelson prepared for the storm his announcement was going to cause but there was no avoiding it.


    ¡°You just told me there are 350,000 thousand players. How could he possibly need more?¡± The CEO asked stunned.


    ¡°He said it¡¯s not the same. People act differently when they know they are in game. Without more realistic data he won''t be able to produce more NPC¡¯s for the areas outside the Ten Kingdoms. We¡¯ve already had a few people exploring the border areas and within a few weeks we¡¯ll have over 10% of the population ready to leave the starter zone. Add the new Asia cluster to that and he¡¯ll be even more behind.¡± Nelson explained.


    ¡° So he wants me to kidnap more people¡­.¡± The boss said shaking his head. ¡°We had to bribe, blackmail, and kidnap more than ten thousand people for the first test. You know how hard it is to get-away with something like that in the middle of America!? I¡¯m surprised the FBI hasn¡¯t already kicked down the front door and arrested us all.¡±The CEO said shaking his head in disgust. ¡°We managed to dodge a bullet the first time around and now he wants us to try again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just the messenger. He said we¡¯ve got two weeks before he has to start duplicating NPC¡¯s or lowering their functions. Oh and he said when you get the next batch these players absolutely have to be in it.¡± Nelson said as he slid a list of a dozen names onto the CEO¡¯s desk.


    The CEO examined the list critically then scowled. ¡°How are these people going to help? They are already playing. Didn¡¯t you just say he needed people who didn¡¯t know they were in game?¡±


    ¡°Ask III if you wanna know. Although good luck prying out anything useful.¡± Nelson said as he put his phone back in his pocket.


    ¡°Alright, I we¡¯ll start making plans then.¡± The CEO replied unhappily.


    ************************************************************************************


    ¡°Group of eight, six seconds¡± MoProblems yelled as he raced into the alley where the two girls and I were waiting for him.¡±


    I flexed my magic and a stone wall rumbled upward sealing the mouth of the alley except for a small gap about three feet wide.¡± I stood on the other side of that gap clad in legionnaire''s armor and armed with my giant bronze hammer.


    A few seconds later a skeleton rounded the corner and pushed through the gap attacking me with mindless hate. I retreated a step drawing the skeleton after me and into the alley but making sure it¡¯s body still plugged the hole. Jasmine¡¯s axes swept in from the side as we pinned the skeleton between the two of us and the alley wall. It¡¯s position both blocked it¡¯s retreat and formed the plug of our bottleneck.  The skeleton quickly fell to Jasmine¡¯s axes and another skeleton immediately came forward walking into the exact same trap.


    It fell to a blow from my hammer and a third skeleton pushed through the gap and into the meat grinder. One of the remaining enemies must have found a foothold outside because suddenly a skeleton appeared overtop of my earth wall as it attempted to climb over. A flash of light appeared behind us and a chuck of ice collided with it knocking it back down and into the frantic undead on the other side of the wall. .


    The fourth skeleton gave up all pretense of attack and barreled into me as it attempted to push me from the gap and let it¡¯s fellows through. It was a futile effort. I¡¯d met plenty of things that could outrun me in the game, and a few things that could outfight me, but I¡¯d only ever encountered one enemy that could move me if I did not wish to be moved.


    Instead of stepping back to take its charge like it wanted I just stood there like a stone wall. It crashed into me, barely making me shift my weight. I wrapped a stone gauntleted hand around it¡¯s exposed spine and pulled it tight against me. The motion completely immobilized it while jasmine ruthlessly hacked it to pieces. Her strikes may have come a touch closer to my face than was necessary but I didn¡¯t press the issue.


    The battle proceeded without incident and as the last skeleton died I stopped channeling mana to keep the wall up. It slid down with a rumble and left us in the alley mouth standing over a pile of vanishing bones.  A few second later all that remained was a decent sized pile of coins.


    Things had gone much better for us after we¡¯d had our little spat and changed tactics. At first things had been a little shaky but now the group ran like clockwork . All the high-level mob kills had leveled everyone up quite a bit and the loot drops had gotten progressively richer as we continued our exploration.


    I was most interested in the skill gains and attribute bonuses I was gaining. I used my magic constantly down here. Casting buffs, creating the walls for our traps or just wasting my mana while we were taking breaks. The only thing that would have made it better was a good ore-vein or Jasmine attacking me in another fit of lust .


    The success we were having had lightened the mood considerably. Jasmine had even started to act like a reasonable human being. She would laugh and joke with the the rest of the group. Her snark and crude humor contrasted with Meredith''s dry wit and it made the run pretty enjoyable.


    With me she was still angry and short-tempered but I think even she knew she was being unreasonable at this point. I was just giving her distance. I did like her, despite her shitty attitude, and I was willing to let her work out her own issues. At least I wasn¡¯t willing to burn a bridge over a few punches. If I was in this game for the long haul I¡¯d need allies and for all her issues the girl could fight.


    We traveled for another hour and fought a few more times. Even the powered up skeletons couldn¡¯t fight us well one at a time. We continued leisurely chatting, occasionally fighting, and sucking in the loot. We¡¯d hadn¡¯t found anything too interesting but the gold alone was adding up nicely and the new crafting drops we found were all uncommon. By the time we got our of here all of us would be quite wealthy.


    The street we¡¯d been traveling down suddenly ended, changing into a wide circular market area that was free of buildings. The area was terraced and descended downward in three large rings each smaller than the one above it. At the bottom was a flat circular area that seemed to be a single slab of white marble thirty feet wide. In the center sat a large statue of a winged woman. She wore a toga and luxurious curls fell down over her shoulders. The entire thing was sculpted with masterful detail.


    The woman held a large platter in her outstretched arms and a large silver chest sat on top of the platter. I groaned inwardly as I saw the statue. It was fairly obvious who it was. The statue was as haughty and awe inspiring as the reality and the artist had even captured Baria¡¯s smirk. The one that seemed to say her thoughts were so subtle and profound that morals couldn¡¯t even fathom them.


    ¡°Absolutely astounding¡± Meredith said as she started to walk into the market.  I put out a hand to stop her. There was no way we were going in there yet.  I¡¯d never seen anything that was so obviously a trap in my life.


    ¡°Whooooooaaaaaa, Hold up. There is no way this isn¡¯t a trap or a boss fight. We need to rest up before we go down there.¡± I said. The one thing we were lacking in our party was a thief or rogue. Any traps we found we¡¯d have to deal with the hard way.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be to the boss yet, right?¡± MoProblems asked as he walked up beside me to examine the market. He was squinting through his glasses and clutched his mage-orb tightly in one hand. He¡¯d leveled up again and had made it to eleven, giving him even more mana. He¡¯d be quite terrifying once he learned some more spells.


    ¡°Might be more than one in here. I¡¯ve only been in a dungeon one time and it wasn¡¯t anything like this one.¡± I said shrugging. ¡°Anyway,  let¡¯s all take a break for an hour or so then see what¡¯s in that chest.¡±


    There were a few mumbles of accent then group split up and most of them logged out. I hopped back to the RL for a sandwich then immediately rushed back so I could practice magic while everyone was away.


    Training for an hour in here was equal to eight-four minutes outside and every second let me gain an miniscule edge on the competition. The problem with my skill gains was an obvious one. When I¡¯d been captured I¡¯d gotten a vague idea of how long it really took to train up your skills. Doing a difficult exercise to the point I was actually hurting myself had still taken hours to gain a single level. Each rank-up increased that time exponentially. In order to break through to beginner rank in fire magic I¡¯d need to spend three entire days down here doing nothing but training. I wasn¡¯t sure if the scale was going to stay consistent but if it did, by my calculations, it would take a normal person roughly seven to ten years to train a skill to legendary rank. Even with my 40% boost that was still a LONG time.


    In order to offset that a bit you could also discover a new uses for a power or skill and gain a large  experience boost. When MoProblems and I cast that ridiculous barrier it had almost killed me but at the same time I¡¯d gotten rewarded with almost two weeks worth of average skill training in a single hour. Granted, I¡¯d gone blind for 12 hours afterwards but even so I¡¯d still come out way in the black. Had I done the same thing now that bonus would have been increased by 40%. So what I needed to do was to think up some interesting uses for my magic while I was down here so I could reap maximum benefit from it.


    The biggest problem with my fire magic was that it wasn¡¯t terribly useful in battle against skeletons. I was getting better at compacting my mana and my increased resonance score gave me a larger mana pool. However, all I could really do with it was summon a gout of flame or unleash my mana in a stream to make a flame-thrower.


    I could also use my flash-bang skill but that took way too much mana and the explosion was way too big. The other problem was I didn¡¯t really know how I had done it. It was an accident caused by me screwing up another spell in the heat of battle. I¡¯d named the skill so i could just use it now by calling it¡¯s name, but I didn¡¯t really understand how or why it did what it did.


    Against the lowbies in the sewers with low hp and no defense my flames had been a terrifying weapon but against these skeletons it wasn¡¯t useful. Skeletons just didn¡¯t care if they were on fire. Bones didn¡¯t burn.


    What I needed was to create my flash-bang effect more efficiently and with more explosive power. After all flame didn¡¯t hurt a skeleton but if I could create an explosion the blunt force of it would be effective. I sat at the entrance to the market while I pondered.


    How to make an explosion¡­¡­¡­..


    My mana was effectively fuel but it wasn¡¯t really explosive. It more like motor oil. It burned hot enough, but it didn¡¯t really blow up. If you wanted to make a non explosive fuel into an explosive one you generally needed to atomize it like gas fumes. What I really needed to change the fundamental nature of the fuel to be more explosive but I had no clue how to even sort of attempt something like that. Atomisation was a cheap substitute and one I should be able to manage. So how to condense my mana enough to be useful fuel but at the same time diffuse enough to explode?


    I pulled ten mana from my core and compacted it. Then, frowning, I made a mental effort and chopped it in half. Then I moved the halves away from each other, still exerting the compacting force on them. The I chopped those halves in half again, and again until I was mentally controlling sixteen small pieces of mana.


    Sweat dripped from my brow and my head pounded as the strain of trying to keep sixteen chunks of mana compacted all at once strained my brain.  I converted the mana into fire magic and pushed it out in front of me. It was in an area about the size of a bowling ball and I found that once It left my body I could move the small cloud without much trouble while still maintaining it¡¯s shape. Curious to see the results I ignited it.


    FFFFFFFFump


    I could see the fire quickly burn through all the mana. The fire twinkled as it burned all the individual mana chunks. It was an improvement from normal but it wasn¡¯t really explosive. So I pulled 10 more mana and chopped it into sixty-four pieces and tried again. That made my nose start to bleed, but I gritted my teeth and endured.


    WHUMP


    The next test was even better. The mana burnt in a flash and I could no longer distinguish the individual pieces of mana. Definitely closer to what I was going for and a useful attack against anything alive but not nearly powerful enough to do any damage to a Skeleton. I was at my limit for what I could try for now. I¡¯d have to to some more experimenting when I improved my skills more.


    Blip


    Ba-Ding


    A green flash lit the street and I grinned as my testing paid dividends.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Meredith asked from beside me. I¡¯d been deep in concentration and hadn¡¯t noticed anyone was back yet.


    ¡°My fire sub-skill leveled to beginner rank.¡± I told her.


    ¡°How is that even possible. Even if you played all day every day it should still take weeks before you hit beginner rank.¡± I frowned. I hadn¡¯t actually told the girls I was a beta tester so I could understand her confusion. Although, I was surprised MoProblems hadn¡¯t said anything.


    ¡°I was in the beta test.¡± I said shrugging. ¡±I¡¯ve got like six skills at beginner rank.¡± Meredith frowned slightly in thought and I used the time to inspect the pop-up that had been obscuring my vision.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Fire Sub-Skill has Reached Beginner Rank. New Skill Unlocked </td></tr><tr><td>Dragon¡¯s Breath</td></tr><tr><td>


    A breath attack that costs a portion of the user''s life


    A dragon''s breath is infused with it¡¯s own heart¡¯s blood. Although most blood is a poor substitute for a dragon¡¯s, the technique can be replicated for lesser results.


    Rank: Novice I


    Cost: 10% of Max HP/Sec, Variable Mana


    Activation: Channel


    Damage: Variable


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    An magical attack that boosts damage and costs HP. That was a typical fire-magic move. I was very tempted to try it out but the others would be back soon and I needed to regain the mana I wasted before we moved on. I quickly meditated and soon the other were back and ready to go.


    ¡°You guys ready?¡± I asked as the four of us once more stood on the edge of the market.


    ¡°Yes, I believe we have sufficiently prepared. Let us see what great tribulation awaits us.¡± Meredith said from beside me. The girl walked into the market and looked around her. Obviously waiting for something terrible to happen.


    The rest of us followed cautiously our eyes peeled and looking for traps or monsters. We didn¡¯t find anything. We continued down until we stood next to the statue. We were all tense but our curiosity was rapidly overcoming our caution. I bent down and inspected a bronze plaque at the base of the statue.


    Above Man are Gods.


    Above Gods are the Three


    Above Cities and Kingdoms is H¡¯ern


    ¡°How humble.¡± I grunted with a sarcastic chuckle. The merchants of H¡¯ern must have been an arrogant lot. Even centuries later this whole place oozed opulence.


    The four of us stood there for a few minutes jumping at the slightest sound before the tense atmosphere broke into a comical one.


    ¡°Well, this is exciting.¡± Jasmine said as she started to twirl her axes nonchalantly. ¡°I¡¯m really feeling the danger here.¡±


    ¡°Well, if your confidant why don¡¯t you grab that treasure chest.¡± I shot back at her. Instead of replying to my bait she just reached up and grabbed the silver chest. Then the trap sprung and all all hell broke loose.


    A blinding blue light shot into the sky from the top of the statue and slammed into the ceiling above. The power flowed outwards then fell from the ceiling in a circular curtain around the top-most ring of the market.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°And now we¡¯re trapped.¡± Moproblems said sullenly.


    ¡°Wait for it¡­.¡± I said as I held up a finger. ¡°Alright, bets on the boss. Hurry up before it gets here. I¡¯m putting three gold on a Zombie Minotaur.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going with giant spider.¡± MoProblems said from beside me as his mage orb started to glow.


    ¡°Unlikely, We¡¯ve yet to see a spider. Most bosses are thematically tied with the dungeon. In our case I would guess a lich or zombie horde.¡± Meredith replied with her usual coolness. Although her grip on her wooden staff was making her knuckles white.


    Then a great chorus of low-moans rose around us. The sound echoed off the hard stone and the nose grew to deafening volume. Then the zombies arrived. They poured in from the three main streets to the market. Not  a dozen or twenty but an endless wave hundreds strong.


    Well¡­. Shit¡­.


    ¡°I hate it when your right.¡± Jasmine muttered towards Meredith as she quickly re-sheathed her axes and withdrew her lute. The same lively tune started to play and my body filled with excited energy making me bounce from foot to foot to the rhythm of the song.


    Then the first zombies entered the market and started towards us with stumbling uneven gates.


    ¡°Jasmine Left side. I¡¯ll take right.  Mo you guard the rear and protect the healer. See if you can kite them a bit. If we can pack them together enough we should be able to unleash some pain.¡± I said as I pulled the hammer from my back and activated both of my passive abilities.


    I walked to the nearest zombie and gave it a heavy swat with my hammer. The motion was casual but with my witchcraft buff and new skill my strength had risen to nearly superhuman levels. The zombie flew backwards into the rest of the horde and left a pile and tangled bodies and grasping limbs. I took full advantage and hurled a gout of flame into the churning mass.


    I didn¡¯t have to hold it long before the mass of zombies was a charred ruin. These enemies were obviously much weaker than the ones we had been fighting but their numbers were massive. I didn¡¯t charge into the fray but instead did my best to hold the line. Every attack was a kill but their numbers were simply too huge and soon I was backing towards the middle of the market while swinging in wide arcs. The attacks helped push back the mob a bit but the damage was adding up.


    Blows rained down on me constantly and even with my armor and defence I was still getting beat to hell. Attacks came from every direction and even though they were slow and clumsy the sheer volume was making up for their lack of individual effectiveness. It only took a few minutes of fighting before the situation got desperate.


    ¡°Whirlwind Kick!¡± I shouted as a half-dozen zombies lunged forward at once. I leapt into the air agile as a bird and lashed out with a spinning kick that trailed blue energy. The zombies near me were knocked back into their horde mates and I jumped at the opportunity.


    I then activated my newest ability. Suddenly my chest felt like someone had stuck a vacuum down my throat. A strong suction seemed to fill my chest trying to devour everything inside me.  My lungs seemed to be starved for air and I reflexively inhaled. As I did I could feel both my mana and my life being sucked into the vortex along with the oxygen. I was scared for a moment before I used my will to send more of my mana into the sucking void. Hopefully the effects would be worthwhile. I wouldn¡¯t get many more shots.  My head started to swim as my lungs filled to capacity and I pointed my mouth somewhere in the direction of the massed undead in front of me and exhaled with a roar.


    RAWWWWWWWWWRRRRR!


    The roar that came out sounded nothing like a human¡¯s shout. It was the roar of some massive beast and the sound echoed off the low ceiling and hard floor until it nearly deafened me. At the same time a cone of red and black fire shot from my mouth and poured onto the mass of zombies. It was a cone of flame fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. The temperature was hotter than anything I¡¯d ever managed before. Dozens of zombies burned as I sent the flames slewing back and forth against the oncoming mob burning everything in front of me to cinders.


    The attack was devastating. The area in front of me was devoid of anything except blackened stone and corpses of the newly re-dead.  Black smoke rose in waves and the the smell of burnt flesh filled the air as I stumbled and to a knee. That attack had taken a lot out of me, both physically and mystically.


    ¡°Medic!¡± I shouted as I turned to see how the others were holding up. MoProblems was backing away from a stream of zombies. His orb glowed constantly and waves of white energy washed over the horde slowing the ones in front and causing them to fall back as more pushed forward. The boy seemed to be holding them back well enough but he wasn¡¯t killing many of them. He still didn¡¯t have a good finishing attack, instead he was buying time.


    Jasmine on the other hand was having the exact opposite problem. Instead of giving ground she had charged forward into the middle of the horde on her side. She was surrounded on all sides and I could only catch glimpses of her in the surrounding mass of bodies. Her eyes glowed a demonic red and she must have been using some dual-wield skill because her axes left silver trails as she spun and hacked at anything that came close. Chucks of zombie and congealed black blood flew in all directions as she cut them apart.


    Blood dripped from numerous cuts and she took more wounds while I watched. Instead of slowing her down however, the injuries seemed only to enrage her further and the red glow from her eyes grew stronger as she fought. She had to be holding on by a thread. Meredith had given up all pretense of mana conservation and a think green rope of power extended from her staff and connected to Jasmine. Jasmine¡¯s skin grew back together even as new cuts opened.


    The healing rope flicked and weakened as Meredith stumbled. She was the lowest level of any of us and that kind of constant healing had to be brutal. She pulled a light-blue potion from her pack and drank it. A wash of pale-blue light covered her for a moment and she straightened gritted her teeth.  The healing beam became more stable again and Jasmine fought on oblivious.


    Our healer seemed to have her hands full so I was on my own for now. I didn¡¯t have any healing potions but I grabbed some roots with healing properties out of my pack and stuffed them into my lip like a dip of chew. It wouldn¡¯t heal too much and it tasted awful but things were desperate. Meredith wouldn¡¯t be able to keep that up for more than another minute.


    I forced myself back to my feet just as the next wave of zombies made it to me. I caught the closest one with an uppercut sending reeling then reversed the swing and brought the hammer down on top of another, crushing it instantly. I looked out over the churning mass and noticed that the zombies had stopped coming from outside. That left me fighting a good three dozen but the reinforcements had at least stopped.


    I glanced over a shoulder as I fought trying to get a sense of the numbers. Jasmine seemed to be about even with me, or a little ahead. MoProblems however hadn¡¯t killed many and was just kiting them with his ice. He still had almost a hundred chasing him. There was no way we could win unless I helped him.


    ¡°MO! Do you have a real spell for this yet!¡± I yelled over the moans and cries of the undead horde. I turned back to my fight so I didn¡¯t see him answer but his reedy voice carried well enough.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­. Hopefully but I haven''t actually tried it yet!¡± He replied as I smashed another three zombies and took a heavy wound to my shoulder.


    Gonna have to be good enough¡­¡­


    ¡°Meredith! Grab that dark blue pot we got from the chest and throw it to MoProblems. Mo kite them towards me and ready your spell. When I give the word use your spell then throw a fire spell right afterwards!¡±


    ¡°But my fire spell is only two runes! What the hell is that gonna do?¡± He called out clearly confused.¡±


    ¡°JUST DO IT!¡± I yelled as a zombie nearly slit my throat with its black fingernails.


    I backed in the general direction of MoProblems as I fought hoping my plan would work. I¡¯d accumulated even more injuries and was getting to the end of my rope. The zombies had worn me out and I only had about fourty hp left. Hopefully it would be enough for one last effort.


    I heard more zombies behind me. Letting me know MoProblems had brought his horde this direction. I let them close then then abruptly turned and charged past MoProblems at an angle causing my zombies to chase me into the middle of MoProblem¡¯s zombies.


    I fought like a cornered demon while I was in the center of both groups. I spun and lashed out in every direction, trying to survive the few seconds I¡¯d need. While I fought I started pushing out all my remaining mana into the area. I didn¡¯t shape it at all. Instead just used as much of it out as I could. I weakened even further as the mana left me, then deactivated my Geomancer skills so I could spend everything I had left at once.


    I fought toward the edge of the horde as my legs started to wobble. Then crashed into one of the zombies at the edge of the mass and we both tumbled out into the open.


    ¡°Now¡­..¡± I croaked as loudly as I could. I didn¡¯t have enough strength left to even dis-lodge the zombie that had fallen on top of me.


    ¡°Tirg Na Cry Et Yon Na!¡± MoProblems shouted from somewhere to my left. I could only watch as the air above the zombie horde transformed into thick billowing mist. The mist started to swirl, slowly funneling towards the center of the horde a good ten feet off the ground. In the middle of the vortex the mist started to congeal and as more and more mist was sucked in a small circular ball began to form. The ball grew rapidly and soon the mist was gone leaving a massive spiked ball a good six feet wide hovering above the zombies. Then as if finally giving up its fight against gravity the ball plummeted down onto the churning mob.


    There was a flash a blue-white power as the orb hit the ground and freezing air and icicles shot in every direction with incredible force. The zombies nearest MoProblem¡¯s ice bomb were simply ripped apart by ice-spikes the size of swords while the ones slightly further away were frozen completely by sub-zero air. Even so his most powerful spell had only accounted for fifty or sixty kills. Under normal circumstances that would be astounding but now that counted for less than half of the zombies still remaining on this side of the market. The rest would be up to me.


    What I¡¯d done had been a fairly simple exercise. The easiest one in fact. I¡¯d just let my mana accumulate in one giant ball, every last drop of power I had. No one else could see it but to me this side of the market glowed with red power. Dense fire magic covered this half of the square like a giant cloud of hydrogen. Just waiting for the smallest spark.


    ¡°Et Saa!¡± MoProblems said weakly. His spell must of nearly dried him up but he¡¯d followed orders. My eyes became even heavier and I gave up the fight and fell down into darkness. I didn¡¯t see what happened next but I could feel the heat of the resulting conflagration even from my dreams.


    **********************************************************


    A sharp pain in my ribs woke me. I opened my eyes in time to see a leather clad leg kick me lightly in my obviously broken ribs. Another bolt of pain shot through me as an exasperated voice spoke up from out of my vision.


    ¡°Would you stop kicking him already? He¡¯s covered in wounds and burns and he nearly died.¡± After a few seconds of processing I recognized the voice as Meredith¡¯s. I would have turned to look but I hurt everywhere.


    ¡°He leveled up. His HP is completely healed he¡¯ll be fine.¡± A deeper feminine voice spoke up from directly above me.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean it doesn¡¯t hurt. Stop being childish.¡± Meredith responded, exasperated.


    ¡°PPPFFFFT, I could break a rock over his thick skull and the moron wouldn¡¯t even feel it.¡± Jasmine said as she kicked me again.


    ¡°Psychology isn¡¯t exactly my prefered area of study but people who have difficulty expressing their emotions often antagonize those whom they feel strongly for as a way of getting their attention.¡± Meredith responded coolly.


    Jasmine stopped kicking me and I could hear her back away from me like I was a poison oak vine.


    ¡°Did we win?¡± I asked from my position on the floor. My voice came out in a dry croak and I was in no hurry to try and sit up.


    ¡°It was ugly but we won.¡± MoProblems said as he entered my field of view. After your fire burnt all the zombies on this side. I went over and helped Jasmine finish up. Meredith ended up unconscious as well but we all leveled up from the fight.


    ¡°What was in the chest?¡± I asked curiously. I gritted my teeth and reached for my pack. I needed to make a camp-fire if I was going to heal. Even so it would take me hours before I was ready to fight again.


    ¡°We were waiting on you to wake up.¡± Meredith said as I dug wood out of my pack and make a fire.


    ¡°Well lets see what the reward for fighting off about three hundred zombies is.¡± I said as I finally sat-up and used my pack as a back-brace. The motion made me wince but I gritted my teeth through the pain and exhaled heavily when I was finally situated.


    Jasmine walked over carrying the chest before she sat it down in the middle of our little group. The lid opened without trouble revealing a pile of treasure. Gold and gems glittered in the felt lined box and Meredith quickly separated and divided everything up.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got exactly one-hundred gold pieces that¡¯s twenty-five each. Four gemstones is one each. Then there are two health potions and this jade box. She said as she pulled out the box and sat it next to me. I scooped it up and inspected it. It didn¡¯t pop-up any item information so I fiddled with the clasp until it opened. Revealing a small pile of blue power.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Essence of Water


    (Rare)</td></tr><tr><td>Crafting Ingredient


    Reagent


    The Crystallized remains of a water elemental, this magic dust is filled with the power of water. It can serve a number of uses including acting as a catalyst for various types of magic or imbuing armor or weapons with water magic.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°What is it?¡± MoProblems asked from over my shoulder.


    ¡°Magic dust basically. It¡¯s infused with water essence and can act as a reagent or crafting drop. Rare quality too, prolly worth at least a hundred gold. There can¡¯t be more than two or three rare quality drops in the game yet.¡± I said as I closed the small box, making sure none of the dust got out.


    ¡°Hmmmmm¡± Meredith said as she tapped her chin. ¡°I suppose we will have to acquire more items. We currently don¡¯t have anything of sufficient value to split this with.¡±


    ¡°You do that.¡± I said with a groan. ¡°I¡¯m going to log now. I hurt everywhere. It¡¯s almost mid-night anyway. We should pick this up tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°That works. Ten central?¡± Jasmine asked as she sheathed her axes and laid down next to the fire.


    ¡°Works for me¡± I said as I made my own bed and logged out. I was too sore to care at this point. I¡¯d deal with it in the morning.


    <hr />


    AN: Yes I am late again. Honestly at this point I''m happy just to get chapters out. I''ll keep trying for once a week but things have been crazy lately.


    Addendum:


    Item Rarities / Color Key


    Common


    Uncommon


    Rare


    Magical


    Attuned


    Potent


    Mystical


    Mighty


    Unique


    Legendary

 Volume 2: Chapter 15

    ¡°What do you mean you lost them?¡± Argoth, guild-master of the knights of the round table, asked as he looked down at the high-schooler below him from his black warhorse. The youth was only a few years younger than Argoth himself but their positions were heaven and earth apart.


    ¡°They ambushed us in the sewers and disappeared before the others could catch up.¡± The boy explained with a shrug. He was looking frustrated but not overly upset. It was just a game after all.


    ¡°They ambushed you¡­¡­. And killed all six of you before the others could arrive?¡± Argoth replied with a raised eyebrow. His expression was sympathetic but his eyes were dangerous.


    ¡°That guy''s crazy strong. You should seen what he did to Will, and the orc is like some she-demon.¡± The thug continued as he threw up his hands in surrender. He was an all-star defensive end and wasn¡¯t too concerned about the game to begin with. He¡¯d only started playing because some of his football buddies had.


    ¡°You know¡­. I pay you for results not excuses.¡± Argoth said imperiously. He really did look the part of th imposing knight on his black destrier, in his shining armor.


    ¡°You also don¡¯t pay me nearly enough to put up with your rich-boy bullshit. This is a game. You don¡¯t own me.¡± The big teen replied with a shrug.


    Argoth shrugged then said casually. ¡°Normally you¡¯d be correct, but you see Greg¡­... I know that my sister didn¡¯t go to her friends last night, she went to your party instead.¡±


    The boy''s expression wilted slightly and his face grew cautious.


    ¡°So¡­. Unless you want dad to find out that his little girl snuck out last night to see you I suggest you re-evaluate your tone.¡± He leaned over in the saddle until their faces were only inches apart.


    ¡°Do you know who the last boy to lay hands on Michelle Costantini was?...... Kyle McConnor,  basketball star over at Central, high-school hero, loved by all.¡± The words were spoken in a whisper  as if it was some great secret. ¡° Dad¡¯s men broke both his legs¡­.. Lost his scholarship to UNLV.  Still walks with a cane.¡±


    The boy shuttered before looking up defeated. ¡°Ok, no reason your dad needs to find out. I¡¯ll get the guys together and we¡¯ll find them.¡± He said as he raised both his hands in a placating gesture.


    ¡°I do love when my guildmates show initiative. I¡¯ll be waiting for the good news.¡± Argoth said happily as he spurred his horse and trotted away.


    ****************************************************************************************************


    I groaned and stretched my sore muscles as I finally hopped out of my game system. It had been a long day and I needed a shower and food before I crashed. Chris was vegging on the couch with a soda watching some late night crime drama re-run, while shoveling popcorn into his mouth. It really wasn¡¯t fair, he ate like that all the time and he still didn¡¯t weight 120 soaking wet.


    ¡°That lack of dedication is why your e-peen will never be as big as mine.¡± I said as I slumped onto the sofa with him.


    ¡°And your dedication is why you don¡¯t get laid.¡± Chris said smugly as he offered me the bowl of popcorn. I took a handful and sighed as I sank into the couch cushions. The couch was ugly as hell, but it was comfortable enough to make grown men weep.


    ¡°How¡¯s the blacksmithing business.¡± I asked around delicious buttery goodness. It felt good to just relax. I¡¯d been on a constant gaming binge for weeks now.


    ¡°Too Busy. All the NPC smith¡¯s suck and most of the wanna-be smiths don¡¯t have enough gold to get started. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m the only smith in my kingdom who can make a real sword and I can still only do bronze. I¡¯ve got to make 4 long swords, A hand and a halfer, a rapier, and some idiot wants me to make them a falchion of all stupid things. And I need to have all of them done by Monday.¡± He said as he downed more caffeine.


    ¡°Sucks to be popular.¡± I said sarcastically.


    ¡°I know right? Seriously dude my friggin arm is about to fall off from all that damn hammering.¡± He said as he rotated his arm a few times. ¡°What about your dungeon run? How¡¯s the adventuring life going for Otherworld¡¯s most famous player?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that tanking sucks.¡± I said sullenly as I got up to grab a Pepsi. ¡°I¡¯ve been getting pummeled almost non-stop for half a day. Then we had to fight a giant zombie horde and I nearly died. Then wake up to that bitch kicking me in the ribs.¡±


    ¡°Of course tanking sucks. Why do you think everyone hates being a tank? Getting punched for a living sucks. It¡¯s like being a boxer but without the cocaine and hookers.¡± Chris said with a head shake. ¡° I also notice you said ¡®that bitch¡¯ in a rather interesting tone. Having woman problems?¡±


    ¡°Aren''t I always?¡± I said with a self-deprecating grin.


    ¡°No you''re not.¡± Chris said ruthlessly.  ¡°Your last girl was an NPC and before that I¡¯m pretty sure you haven''t dated anyone in like half a year. ¡°


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the dagger is still in there if you wanna twist it a few more times.¡± I responded dully. ¡°Fine, remember those two girls I was telling you about? The orc and the animal  girl¡­. Well they are running the dungeon with me and MoProblems. And that she-orc is constantly breaking my balls. ¡°


    Chris looked at me and raised an eyebrow. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    Threw up my hands. ¡°Why do you instantly assume I did something?¡± I asked defensive.


    Chris looked at me and shook his head sadly. ¡°In my experience when a woman doesn¡¯t like a man she ignores him. The orc is being mean. Which means you did something, or she likes you. Or you did something and she likes you.¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°Well¡­¡­ I may have have put us both under a lust spell and we sorta made out a little.¡± I said sheepishly.


    Chris looked at me silently for ten seconds before throwing a handful of popcorn at me. ¡°Duuuuude.¡± He said raising his hands in a  ¡®what the hell motion¡¯. ¡°I wonder what could have POSSIBLY set her off.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that was AFTER she punched me and she was treating me like shit from the second we met.¡± I said.


    ¡°Was it worth it?¡± He asked rolling his eyes.


    I thought for a moment. Recalling the heat of her kiss and the feel of her leather clad thighs. Then nodded my head.


    ¡°Completely.¡±


    **************************************************************************************************


    My alarm went off at 8:00 am. Waking me from a coma-like sleep. I rolled over groggily and mustered what little mental capacity I could to hit my phone to turn off the alarm. I stumbled into the bathroom for a shower then grabbed a banana and logged back in to Otherworld.


    I was still mostly in a zombie state but for extra skill points even I was willing to get up early. The square was just as I¡¯d left it. My three companions were on the ground asleep and the fire had burnt down to ashes. The oppressive silence of the place seemed to bare down on me as I fiddled with my pack and prepared to start training. I hadn¡¯t noticed it as much with the others around but alone you could really feel how creepy the place was.


    I had just started to do some crunches when a honeyed voice spoke up for beside me.


    ¡°You humans are paradoxical creatures. Back when you thought this was reality you spent most of your time lazing around in a tavern. Now that it¡¯s a game for you, you¡¯ve become much more hard working.¡± She said in her half-mocking, half-amused tone.


    ¡°I figured you¡¯d be happy about my new found dedication.¡± I said as I continued doing crunches while using magic to rotate balls of fire and water around myself.


    ¡°Oh I am, although I¡¯d be more happy if you were working to stop the Knights from attacking players and selling their blood to cultists.¡± She replied as she looked down at me.


    ¡°And here I thought you just came to see me because you missed me. Turns out you just came to crack the whip on your minion.¡± I snorted as I continued to exercise.


    ¡°You know, you¡¯ve become rather obstinate. For someone who still owes me that¡¯s rather ungrateful.¡± She said as her expression darkened.


    ¡°Look, You healed me and gave me back my memories back in that dungeon. I know I owe you. Which is why I agreed to do this quest in the first place, but I¡¯m also smart enough to know your playing your own game for your own reasons. Until I¡¯m sure where exactly you fall on the ally/enemy scale I¡¯m going to remain cautious. Besides I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you a question. Any idea why I about died earlier this week when I tried to do magic in the real-world?¡± I asked as I stopped doing set-ups and met her golden eyes. God, she was way too beautiful, but I held onto my anger and used it to push away the urge to kneel at her feet.


    ¡°Well, if it hurts. I¡¯d recommend you not do it.¡± She said blandly. I just scowled at her until she caved.


    ¡°Actually that would be the third time you almost died. Although technically you weren¡¯t in physical danger the second, but you did nearly shatter your mind.¡± I just gaped at her. My mind whirled for a few moments before I asked carefully.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Any particular reason? I mean If I almost died I should at least know why right?¡± I asked with a note of pleading in my voice.


    ¡°I believe it was an unintentional side-effect of the games virtual-reality. The human mind is an incredibly intricate and complex organ. The scientist who created the technology theorized that similar incidents could occur.¡± She said with a shrug.


    ¡°An intricate and complex organ is a long damn way from me doing magic.¡± I said incredulously.


    ¡°Is it?¡± Baria asked completely unruffled. ¡°Then how is it a mother can tell her child is in danger when she lives thousands of miles away? How is it a grandmother lifts a steel beam off of her grandson when an hour before she could barely lift a jug of milk? How does a human change light from a beam to a particle merely by looking at it?¡± I just looked at her.


    ¡°Every single human society, even the most remote and isolated have some concept of magic. Fire-starters, reiki, psychics, telepaths¡­. They have always been there.¡±


    ¡°So you''re telling me this game gave me some-sort of ESP. ¡° I asked still disbelieving.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m telling you that humans have always been able to do magic. However, the game created a reality in which your mind was completely convinced that it was doing something it always had the latent ability for.¡± She said patiently. ¡°So all those dormant mental pathways and inactive neurons were forcefully woken up.However, that sort of thing is highly dangerous and you could have very easily died, but you didn¡¯t. So instead of being a vegetable, or locked up in a psych-ward with a broken brain, you can do magic now.¡± She said smoothly, as if she hadn¡¯t just shattered my world-view.


    ¡°So there will be others then?¡± I asked as I tried to wrap my head the concept I could actually do magic now.


    ¡°Yes, your orcish lover over there for one, and I believe at least two others during beta. Although one did die. However, they turned down the mental synchronization of the units after your little mishap. Which means only those who''s talents aren''t as deeply buried will be awoken.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Lover might be a strong word.¡± I replied absently as a chewed over all she¡¯d said.


    ¡°Oh really? I¡¯m still not one-hundred percent clear on the sex thing, but I¡¯m fairly certain what you did yesterday classifies you as more than mere acquaintances.¡± She raised an imperious golden eye brow and looked at me questioningly.


    ¡°I¡¯d go with enemies with benefits if I had to put a label on it.¡± I said as I scratched a cheek.


    Baria let out a belly-laugh, the sound rich and golden as it echoed off the low-ceiling and the dead stone. The sound seemed to transform the cavern from a desolate tomb into a city full of life and  people again. My brain short-circuited and I just listened enraptured as her mirth slowly died away.


    ¡°Now I remember why I chose you. You have a unique way of seeing the world even among your kind. I assure you I am on your side Thomas Ritter. Now hurry and conquer this place. You¡¯ve other things to do.¡±


    Baria vanished without a trace at the same moment Jasmine sat up and looked at me. Her face made a complicated expression for a moment before her normal scowl took over. I was just getting ready to say hello when an amused female voice seemed to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh, I forgot to tell you. You should try to go all the way next time. The sex skill has some interesting benefits once you level it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jasmine asked as she saw the look on my face. I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry. Baria¡¯s comment had made a normal situation into an awkward one and I knew she¡¯d done it on purpose.


    ¡°Did ya have anything good for breakfast?¡± I asked as a clumsy attempt to make conversation.


    Jasmine scowled at me. ¡°You really don¡¯t need to try and pretend we¡¯re friends.¡± She said snidely.


    ¡°Oh for the love of god¡± I said exasperated. ¡° I say one damn thing, and you immediately jump down my throat. What in the hell did I do?! You¡¯ve hated me from the first second you saw me. Did I offend you in a past life?¡± I shouted, my anger at her continued poor treatment of me finally boiling over.


    ¡°Because forcing girls to make-out with you is such a great way to win their favor.¡± Her voice dripped with so much sarcasm I¡¯m surprised it didn¡¯t make a puddle.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair. I warned you multiple times. Did you listen? No... You wanna call me a nerd who spent his high-school days in his mom¡¯s basement.  I¡¯ll take it. You wanna call me a deadbeat with no life ambition. I¡¯ll take it. You wanna call me a smartass, or a dumbass, or just a bastard, I¡¯ll take it. But I have NEVER in my life taken advantage of a woman.¡±  I ranted. I¡¯d never had such an urge to strangle a person in my entire life.


    ¡°And you had no idea what would happen when you cast that spell?¡± She said with an exaggerated eye-roll.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I knew it would amp up your lust a bit, but last time it wasn¡¯t nearly as potent and we were able to fight it down¡­...¡± I started but Jasmine cut me off.


    ¡°So you did know... So much for not taking advantage of anyone.¡± She said nodding as if she¡¯d won the argument.


    ¡°Oh yes¡­... Because I was obviously the one taking advantage. Ya know,when you had me pinned under you and was dry humping my leg. Christ, you could have at least bought me dinner first. ¡°


    Her light-green skin darkened as she walked towards me with her teeth clenched in fury. I stood up to face her and we stopped with our bodies only inches apart both of us seething.


    ¡°I only did that because of your spell.¡± She gritted out.


    ¡°And I only cast it because you made me.¡± I countered. Our bodies were close enough together that I could feel the heat of her across the short distance. Her warm cinnamon scent tickled my nose conjuring images of her on top of me with our lips smashed together. God I hated her¡­.. and I wanted her. I wanted her to leave. I wanted her to like me. I wanted to push her down on the stone floor and shut her up.


    ¡°I swear to God you have got to be the single most¡­¡± I didn¡¯t give her a chance to finish instead I let my base nature have hold and just grabbed her and kissed her. I knew she¡¯d be pissed but I didn¡¯t care anymore. I was so furious I couldn¡¯t even begin to think straight. I expected her to hit me, or pull away, or call me names, or any of a dozen similar actions but Jasmine was Jasmine so of course she didn¡¯t do any of those.


    Instead she returned the kiss with ferocity as if our argument had carried over and the only way she could win now was to over-power my aggression with even more of her own. She leapt up into my arms as if trying to knock me over so she could be on-top. Instead I caught her and we stood there both of us trying to gain some pretend advantage over the other while our bodies and mouths pressed together even tighter. My hands snuck up under her tight armor and the smooth skin of her back set me completely on fire. I was just about to try to rip the whole stupid thing off when Meredith''s cool voice spoke up from beside me.


    ¡°Well I see you two have made up¡­..¡±


    Jasmine froze as if she¡¯d suddenly transformed into stone. I winced inwardly and sat her down as I sighed. I would have murdered someone for twenty extra minutes but time and tide wait for no man. Jasmine untangled herself from me then threw a sharp punch straight into my solar-plexus. I coughed as all the air rushed out of my lungs then collapsed to the floor where I lay gasping for a few seconds. I really had lost all ambition for this dungeon. I just laid there until MoProblems logged back in. He looked down at my morose expression then looked over to Meredith and asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him? Looks like his dog just died.¡±


    Meredith looked down at me then over to Jasmine. ¡°I think it did, in a manner of speaking.¡±


    I sighed again and stood up as the four of us sat off to finish the dungeon.


    ____________________________________________________________


    AN: Alright,  I''ve been slacking on updates for this recently. So I''m gonna put my nose to the grind-stone and get another chapter out by Wednesday. One chapter every two weeks is just way too slow.


    In the meantime enjoy!


    Edit: OOOOPS! Sorry about the miss posted chapter! I didn''t know the site would change the order of the Fictions page based on the order you updated them.


    And Yes, I have been working on another novel behind your backs :P  Feel free to check it out if your interested.  It''s a resurrected in another world wuxia/cultivation novel with Pokemon influences. But as the fiction page states it''s going to be a side-project and probably not updated very often.


    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5951</a>

 Volume 2: Chapter 16

    I was hoping that Jasmine would loosen up a bit after our second encounter but she seemed to be even more angry with me now.  We seemed physically incapable of having a civil conversation at this point and I was done with the whole thing. I felt I¡¯d done my part in trying to work things out and finally confronted her about it. Things had gone a bit pear shaped, but as far as I was concerned the ball was in her court now.  If she wanted to spend what was left on the dungeon in sullen silence and never talk to me again after we left then that was her prerogative.


    I smashed a skeleton with my hammer ending out latest battle before Meredith finally spoke up. Her words broke the awkward silence that had fallen over our group for the last hour.


    ¡°We¡¯re heading northwest toward the old palace that¡¯s probably where the boss is.¡± She said apparently oblivious to the tension.


    ¡°How far out?¡± I asked with a sigh.


    ¡°Not long, probably another three groups then we¡¯ll be to the palace gates.¡± She said as she squinted down the street we were traveling on. ¡°We would already be able to see it if the ceiling wasn¡¯t so low.¡±


    I just nodded and moved forward. There were indeed three patrols and although my hammer skill leveled up once little else of note happened. The street we were walking down ended as it met another street running parallel.  Across from us a wall extended upwards all the way to the ceiling. It blocked our path and forced us to turn off. A quick scan down the road to the left let me see a mass of skeletal soldiers. There were at least a dozen and unlike the ones we¡¯d fought earlier their weapons and armor were in good repair.


    After the fight in the market the level of the enemies had increased even further and even with our much improved tactics we¡¯d been hard pressed. These skeletons looked even more formidable and there were nearly twice as many of them as there were in normal pulls.


    ¡°Alright, We need a plan.¡± I said as I looked over at them as they patrolled in front of the gate. Their movements were crisp and their patrols were regular as clockwork. Their undying endurance allowing them a perfection no living being could match.


    ¡°My healing will likely be insufficient if we continue with the same tactics. The enemies DPS has been escalating quickly and these look to be even more formidable.¡° Meredith said as she inspected the distant enemies as well.


    ¡°Well, we could try and have Mo kite half of them while we fight the other half. Then he can bring his back after we kill ours.¡± I said and I scratched my chin.¡± We really needed some way to kill a bunch of them but neither Mo¡¯s ice bomb nor my fire would be very useful here, since skeletons were basically immune to both piercing and fire damage. Since I hadn¡¯t figured out how to blow them up we¡¯d have to do it with muscle and steel¡­ or bronze in this case.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just use some big earth spell and smash them all?¡± Jasmine asked, speaking for the first time since we¡¯d sat out.


    ¡°Maybe¡­. But that¡¯ll probably put me down for the rest of the fight, and honestly unless I get most of them it won¡¯t matter.¡± I¡¯d never tried anything that big with earth before and with the added strain of having to reach down through the streets to find earth I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything too cool.


    ¡°Just worry about your job. I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡± Jasmine gave me a glare that would peel paint and I just held my hands up in surrender. Fighting with her was too much work.


    ¡°What scrolls did we pick up?¡± I asked looking for more options.


    Meredith didn¡¯t even look into her pack and instead recited the short list from memory. ¡°Two Raise Dead, one scroll of Bless, one scroll of Chain-Lighting, and a scroll of Musician¡¯s Fury.¡±


    ¡°Does it say what they do?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Negative, The scroll¡¯s are written in some language I can¡¯t read. The only reason I know their names is the game''s display pop-up.¡± The girl replied.


    ¡°Too bad most of those are pointless.¡± I said with a scowl. You couldn¡¯t raise dead without corpses, lightning would be pretty much as useless as fire. Bless might be useful assuming it was a buff but it was hard to say  and the last one I had no idea what it did.


    ¡°What do you guys think?¡± I asked after a few moments of consideration. It would basically be gambling. Which us spending gold in the hope the scrolls did something useful. Personally I was for rolling the dice but it was only partially my money.


    ¡°Just do it.¡± MoProblems sighed. ¡°You''re always trying something crazy and I can tell you want to.¡± He said with an eye roll. I gave him a shrug conceding the point then looked to the girls.


    ¡°The scrolls of Raise Dead will likely bring a good amount. Bless would likely be more powerful but also less interesting to possible buyers. However such a buff would also likely serve us better against the boss if we think we¡¯ll need it. The last scroll is likely the least valuable. So if you think we need outside assistance I vote you use that one.¡± Meredith replied.


    Jasmine didn¡¯t even bother replying and just stayed silent. I sighed and held out my hand for the scroll. Meredith stuck her hand into her pack then placed the rolled paper onto my palm. The second problem was I had no idea how to use the damn thing.


    However, the problem was a short lived one as a menu pop-up appeared in my screen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Scroll of Musician''s Revenge</td></tr><tr><td>Target: Single


    Rank: Beginner


    Tear Scroll to Activate</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I re-rolled the scroll. It would be best to use it with proper timing and just launching it at them while they patrolled wouldn¡¯t be as useful. I formulated a simple plan then laid it out for the others.


    ¡°Alright, Mo you pull them since you have the range for it. I¡¯ll raise a wall to bottleneck them as usual, then look for a spot to use the scroll. After that I¡¯ll try to get fancy with earth magic while Jasmine tanks and Mo provides range support. Healer¡­.. You heal.¡± The end fell a bit flat but it wasn¡¯t a bad plan.


    Jasmine just rolled her eyes but the other two nodded and Mo strode forward to kick off the festivities. He was still a hundred or so feet out when his orb glowed and a ball of summoned ice the size of a bowling ball shot down the street like a comet. It crossed the intervening space and crashed into one of the paroling skeletons. It didn¡¯t do much but the entire group spun instantly and started to change this direction. Four of the enemies only went a few paces before they stopped, then knelt, as they loaded crossbows.


    I grimaced as I saw them start to crank their bows then shrugged as unrolled the scroll, pointed it vaguely in their direction, and tore it. A beam of dark purple light shot down the street at the archers, colliding with one in the middle. Nothing happened for a moment  as the other warriors sprinted towards us. Then there was an odd ripping sound that echoed in the street as a rend in reality appeared above the archers.


    I watched fascinated as a harp, one of the stupidly big floor models, seemed to fall through that tear already traveling at what had to be terminal velocity. The gap between the ceiling and the floor was a small one and I only had a fraction of a second to react before the harp smashed down like the hammer of god and exploded into a million pieces sending wood, stings, and shards of bone, flying in every direction. Thee of the archers died instantly.


    I stared for a moment in stunned incredulity before I remembered I was supposed to be summoning an earth wall to keep the other eight skeletons from overwhelming us. I heaved with my magic and just managed to get the wall up in time.


    The first skeleton came through the small gap and met Jasmine as she blocked its first strike between crossed axes. The fight was intense, these elites were much more skilled than those we¡¯d faced before and Jasmine was hard-pressed against her single opponent. While she fought I stood motionless compacting my magic and pressing it down into the earth in ever greater amounts, preparing the earth and stone below me for my one big punch.


    The Skeleton fighting Jasmine feinted high then pressed itself against the wall allowing the warrior behind it to sneak through a thrust that caught Jasmine off guard. The blade stabbed straight through her stomach and she let out a pained cry but gritted her teeth and tried to free herself. The warrior had other plans and jerked the blade sideways, pulling it free and ripping open her flesh. She fell with a scream even as healing magic poured onto her from behind.


    Some protective instinct I didn¡¯t want to examine sent a flash of pure fury through me as she fall. I poured it into my Magic and the ground started to tremble and the air warped as I finally activated all the magic I¡¯d been pouring down into the ground. The wall of earth swung on its axis like a giant door sweeping all the skeletons behind it into a narrow alley between it and the palace wall. Then with a yell I thrust my arms forward. Sending the earth wall smashing against the palace wall like two giant hands coming together. The noise was incredible and although the first two skeletons managed to escape the rest were crushed.


    The spell had been enormous and burned out all but a few points of my mana. I wobbled unsteadily as Mo and a Healed Jasmine fought the last two warriors while I staggered drunkenly down the street after the remaining archer. A crossbow bolt pinged off my armor as I approached and the archer drew a side-sword once I closed the range. My hammer had the reach and I attacked mercilessly but the skeleton was fast and dodged my off-balance attacks with ease as it darted in and out scoring small hits.


    .Frustrated, I changed tactics and waited for it to come in again. Then as it trust with it¡¯s short-sword I dropped my hammer and caught it¡¯s arm before twisting savagely and driving an elbow it¡¯s it¡¯s brittle shoulder. The arm simply came off at the elbow and I grinned maliciously as I tossed the limb behind me, the sword still clutched in it¡¯s hand. The skeleton backed out of my reach and I took a grapplers stance as we circled each other. All the skeletons previously had fought with a mindlessness, and ignored anything resembling tactics or self preservation. However, this one seemed to realize that closing to hand-to-hand with me would result in its swift demise.


    It lashed out in a sudden sidekick, but abandoned the action as I started to counter. Then it sent its good arm straight at my eyes, it¡¯s bony fingers questing for soft flesh. The feint got me, but I managed to turn my head in time to save my vision. Instead it¡¯s fingers raked my face and neck. Four lines of burning pain followed in the wake of it¡¯s fingers but I ignored the scratches and stepped forward trying to find someplace to grab it. One hand wrapped around a rib and the other around a thigh-bone. Then I simply hoisted the skeleton up over my head. Even it¡¯s it¡¯s armor it only weighed seventy pounds or so and with my strength it was only an average effort. Then I took the few steps to bring me over to the wall and proceeded to smash the skeleton against it until it¡¯s entire body fell apart and the red light in it¡¯s eye sockets went out.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I stood over it¡¯s broken bones panting for a moment trying to catch my breath. Blood dripped from the wounds and my face and neck but the fact the blood was dripping and not spraying crazily let me know the archer hadn¡¯t gotten any of the big arteries. I looked down the street to see if Jasmine and Mo need help but honestly I couldn¡¯t have done much even if they did. I slumped to the ground and breathed deeply as I saw Jasmine and Mo were looking at me with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked as I saw their expression.


    ¡°Ya know, I think people use weapons in this game for a reason.¡± Mo said sarcastically. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to tear enemies apart with your bare hands.¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°Weapons are for sissies.¡± Truthfully, my hammer was just too slow for enemies this fast. I just didn¡¯t have enough agility to compete with speed specialized monsters that were probably eight or nine levels higher than me. My only real option was to try to lure them in and beat them with main strength. Tactics and skill was all fine and good but at some point RPG¡¯s always came down to numbers and every encounter was pushing us further and further. I had no idea what we were going to do against the boss.


    I didn¡¯t have any wood left for a camp but between bedrolls and my witchcraft I managed to make enough of a camp to heal us up over the next hour. Meredith heals did most of the work but we were ready to tackle to palace and hopefully the end of the dungeon by mid afternoon in the RL.


    The courtyard of the palace was impressive. Paths of white marble moved in circular meandering paths lined with bricked off areas of bare earth that were once likely beds for flowers, trees, and ornamental ponds. The scene was a depressing one. With the ceiling having cut-off the palace¡¯s towers and upper floors the area lacked the majesty it would have once had.


    We continued forwards and to our surprise nothing came to fight us. Even as the walked up the steps and through the large ornate doors of the palace. A wide room spread out before us. The architecture we could see was impressive but the ceiling of the room had been so high it had been sliced off and covered up. A raised dais sat directly across from us and on it was an dust covered throne. A human skeleton sat on the throne slumped over to one side as if it hadn¡¯t moved for centuries.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s the boss.¡± I said as the others walked in with me.


    ¡°That does appear to be the case.¡± Meredith confirmed from my left. I looked over at the animal girl hoping she might have an idea but she stayed silent. I had no idea how we were going to win. Our chances were not particularly good.


    ¡°Let''s get this over with.¡± Jasmine said as she took our her lute and buffed us. She had a point. There wasn¡¯t much strategizing we could do without knowing its capabilities or attacks and we wouldn''t find those out until fought it.


    ¡°Mo try to keep it slowed down I won¡¯t be able to land many hits if it¡¯s going to be as fast as I think it is.¡± With that I walked forward and triggered the boss.


    As I walked close the once lifeless skeleton twitched. It¡¯s limbs jerking spasmodically as it came awake and stood. The lights in it¡¯s skull blazed with blue-fire, setting it apart from all its lowly henchmen. It stood watching us then held out an arm. A sword of rippling darkness formed in its hand  and it walked towards us in silence.


    Then it moved. It¡¯s rush was insanely fast and I barely managed to stumble away from it before it¡¯s sword cleaved the space I¡¯d been standing in a moment before. The rest of the party jumped into action and Jasmine hacked it its flank and icy-power enveloped it causing frost to form on it¡¯s bones.


    I rolled back to my feet sweeping my hammer in wide defensive blows, more concerned with keeping that crazy darkness sword away from me than I was about actually trying to do any damage. I had allies for that after all. Our little cat and mouse game worked for a while as it chased me in circles with Jasmine and Mo pounding on it. However, eventually it wised up and spun on Jasmine as she came in to harry it. It¡¯s sword flashed out. Jasmine raised an axe to parry but the boss¡¯s black sword cut through her own axe like it was paper.


    Her axe exploded into mist and vanished, while the blow continued downward and caught her arm just above the elbow. The sword of darkness sheared the arm completely off. Leaving Jasmine gawking at the place her arm used to be. I¡¯ll give her credit though, she only froze for a second before she stepped backwards and raised her other axe in her good arm.


    Her wound didn¡¯t seem to be bleeding at all. It must have been some odd effect of the sword , but at least it meant she could fight with one arm. I used the skeleton¡¯s turn to get in a strike of my own. My hammer crashed into it¡¯s rib-cage but the bosses bones seemed to be made of iron and although it had to have done some damage I didn¡¯t manage to break anything vital.


    The boss spun back to me after my blow and our fight continued. With Jasmine down an arm her effectiveness was greatly reduced but we managed to hang on. The fight continued like that for a minute or two with me constantly giving ground with Jasmine and MO pouring on anything they could before the boss finally changed the game. He smashed his sword into the ground forming a barrier of flickering black tower. Then raised and hand while rays of black energy shot from it¡¯s hand and hit all four of us. As it did I could feel my life an energy being drained away. I snarled before lowing a shoulder and charging through the barrier. The black power looked like flames but it didn¡¯t burn. Instead it as an icy horrible cold that seemed to pull the life from my very soul. I ignored the sensation as much as I could and brought my hammer thundering down towards the boss. It must have been slightly startled because the blow landed clean on a shoulder and the flow of dark energy sapping all our strength stopped.


    It swung its sword in retribution but I knew better than it try and block. Instead I threw myself to the ground and rolled away. I¡¯m sure it looked ridiculous with my size but there was no way I could stand toe to toe with that sword. I rolled clumsily  back to my feet and the fight resumed.


    Another minute ticked by and although we were doing admirably we just couldn¡¯t seem to hurt the damn thing. It¡¯s bones were just too hard and the longer it drug on the weaker we¡¯d get. Which meant it was time to play our last trump card.


    ¡°Alright, Mo do your thing!¡± I called to him as I had to dive away from a sword thrust. The boy had been bragging about his ultimate six rune single target disable all dungeon and this seemed like an excellent time to try it out.


    I didn¡¯t turn to see him cast it but I didn¡¯t have to. Blue-white light from his mage orb flooded the throne room and the temperature plunged. My breath started to form clouds in from of me as his reedy voice thundered out.


    ¡°Tirg na Cry et Nef Tirg!¡± Odd Magical formations appeared on the ceiling and floor around the boss. Then translucent chains of ice as thick as my wrist shot from the formations and bound the boss completely. He struggled against them but I didn¡¯t waste any time. The thing about a hammer in a fight like this is you can generally only land glancing blows. Unless an enemy is too distracted or two hurt for evasion nothing is just going to let you tee-off on them with a two-handed weapon. However, against an opponent that couldn¡¯t move there was no need for finesse or to hold back. So I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Heavy Blow!¡± I shouted as I charged forward. The flickering orange light from my hammer cast crazy shadows in the gloom of the throne room but they only lasted a second before I brought my hammer crashing down on the boss with every ounce of enhanced strength I had. It landed directly between his glowing blue eyes.


    It was like hitting a anvil and reverberations shot up my arms even though my stone gauntlets. My hands and arms went numb and my hammer dropped from my now nerveless fingers. I stared at the boss in incredulity. I knew I wasn¡¯t the best fighter or the most agile but in terms of pure damage in a single strike I was likely #1 in the entire world. The chains binding the boss shattered and it stood there looking at me unreturned. I¡¯d never EVER had anything just ignore one of my full powered strikes before. Hell, when I¡¯d used it on that poor healer in the sewers it had basically turned the kid into hamburger. Now here I was having used all the stamina I had left and the boss didn¡¯t even seem to care.


    The boss took a single step towards us, raised it sword, and then fell apart. I sighed in relief then leaned heavily on my my hammer as I tried to catch my breath. I looked over at the others to see how they were holding up. Mo looked about like I did only more pale and with blood running from one nostril while Meredith was hovering over Jasmine pouring healing magic onto the stump of her arm.


    I walked over and slumped onto the throne. The thing was damned uncomfortable but it still brought a smile to my face as I looked down over the room like a king. I sat there for a few moments before the bosses body disappeared into mist and a side-door off the throne room opened of its own accord.


    Blip


    Blip


    Blip


    I smiled at the familiar sounds and pushed myself up out of the throne to see about the loot.


    <hr />


    AN: Mostly NPC action this chapter. Next time we''ll collect the loot and get back to the main book 2 plot.  I didn''t make my Wednesday dead-line, but Thursday is almost as good as Wednesday. And this is the first two chapter week in a while.


    Thanks again to all my readers!


    -Dutchman


    Edit1: Table issues and spelling.

 Volume 2: Chapter 17

    The four of us looked down at the pile of loot curiously. I wasn¡¯t feeling very elated by the picking either. For the boss of a secret dungeon it was pretty awful in a lot of ways. A simple iron circlet lay on the floor where the boss had fallen, along with a one of its skeletal hands. I picked up the hand between two fingertips as if it was something disgusting and inspected it with a gimlet eye.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The King¡¯s Hand


    Magical [Boss]</td></tr><tr><td>The right hand of Vizier Farzin. Once the closest adviser to the Mahajan, Farzin supposedly strangled his lord while the orcs were besieging the place. This let him assume the throne, however his reign was short-lived as the palace guards only held the wall for two hours before they breached the walls and slaughtered all the human¡¯s inside.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The Crown of the Skeleton King


    Magical [Boss]


    </td></tr><tr><td>The crown of H¡¯ern was pure gold set inlaid with the city''s crown jewels. However, the crown was looted by the orcs after the cities was raised. The crown is the focus of the necromantic energies that let Farzin command his legions.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I scowled as I examined the items. They were pretty good but pretty good was a long way from what I¡¯d consider a good rewards for was much hassle as this place had been.


    ¡°How do we divide the loot?¡± Mo asked as I continued to scowl. He looked a little unhappy as well but it was more frustration than anger. Then there was the more obvious issue of us having two pieces of loot and a four people.


    I said nothing for the moment and instead wandered over to the opened door and looked inside. The small room was almost identical to the one that had opened in my first dungeon. The room was the base of a circular tower the walls smooth brick covered in a layer of thick dust. A circular dias took up most of the space leaving only a few feet of clearance to walk around the stone pillar. However, unlike the room before this one did not hold an orb of corruption. Instead an intricate framework of thin golden wire held up a pure white crystal, that looked to me like a clear diamond cut into an elongated rhombus nearly a foot in length. Beside the crystal centerpiece a small wooden box sat on the table. The dark wood that made up it¡¯s top caved into odd geometric patterns.


    I looked at the crystal closely trying to figure out what it was when a series of pop-up windows appeared before me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Shrine of Power</td></tr><tr><td>A relic of power created from a small piece of crystallized divine essence. The effects vary but all such shines provide enhancement to most sentient creatures. This particular shone provides direct physical or mental enhancement to any creature that touches it.


    Effect: Provides +5 to a single attribute of the user''s choice</td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Received A Class Quest!</td></tr><tr><td>Rise of the Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td>A geomancer does not seek a knight¡¯s honor or a wizards knowledge.  They seek not power or fame. Their calling is that of the Earth, to explore to the deep places and those secrets man has long since forgotten. They seek to recover that which has been lost, to rebuild that which has been destroyed and to set foot where man has yet to tread.


    Shrines of Power Needed for Class Advancement: 1/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Completed A Quest!</td></tr><tr><td>Lost City Of H''ern</td></tr><tr><td>The Free City of H¡¯ern was once one of the richest cities on the continent. Placed strategically between the Zann Empire in the South and the Fedor Republic in the north it handled nearly all the trade between the two nations.


    However, when the  Warlord Rashid Al¡¯Zahim united the desert tribes of Eastern Zann and overthrew the Emperor in 1347 R.E. the empire collapsed into civil war.


    This lead to the slow downfall of H¡¯ern until the city was finally sacked during the Fourth Orcish Uprising in 1565 R.E..  Due to The Fedor Republic¡¯s own political turmoil of the time and it¡¯s eventual fracturing into the 10 Kingdoms, H¡¯ern was not reclaimed for almost three-hundred years. When the second King of the new Kingdom Drannel  finally reconquered the area there was nothing left of the once great city but ruins. The King had a new city built over-top of the old and renamed it Hernberg.


    Although the city is lost, some of its riches and magic still remain buried far below Hernberg.


    Completion Rewards: 30 Gold, 20,000 xp</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Bleep-De-Leep-Bleep


    Blue light flashed in the small room sending out a cascade of swirling light as the crystal refracted it. I raised a speculative eyebrow. I¡¯d been wondering if there was some sort of job upgrade system but I¡¯d had other things on my mind. Between Baria, those idiot guides, and woman drama my mental docket had been pretty full.


    There were soft footstep behind me before Meredith spoke up from behind me. ¡°You always seem to come across the most interesting finds Mr. Slayer.¡±


    I turned so she was in my periphery as I continued to read pop-ups. There was a lot of text to skim through and I read furiously while Meredith reached out to touch the crystal. There was another flash of light, this one blinding white and I blinked my flash-blind eyes a few times as Mo and Jasmine came over.


    ¡°So who¡¯s getting the drops?¡± Jasmine asked in her normally blunt manner.  ¡°And what¡¯s with that crystal?¡± She asked as she saw Meredith holder her hand over the glowing crystal.


    ¡°It boosts base stats. Apparently it¡¯s some sort of add-on reward for completing the dungeon. ¡° I said with a shrug. ¡°And I honestly don¡¯t care. I just want to be done with this place. As soon as I finish up my other quest I¡¯m getting outta this damn town.¡±


    Jasmine scowled at me for a moment and I thought we were going to get into another fight but the crystals light died and Meredith spoke up. ¡°I feel that Francis¡¯s and my contribution were rather limited. You and Jasmine should take the boss drops.¡±


    ¡°Works for me.¡± I said as I stretched out my own hand and touched the crystal. The effect was instantaneous. More white light shined in the room and more pop-up windows bombarded me. This was getting ridiculous.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Shrine Activated!</td></tr><tr><td>Select An Attribute</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I didn¡¯t really need more strength, I probably had the most in the game. My Con was good, Wis was alright. Coordination and agility were the ones I really needed. Those skeletons had made me realize how slow I actually was. Granted, it was still enough to keep up with any of the players I¡¯d come up against so far, but If I didn¡¯t find a way to raise my Agi and Cord higher I was going to end up on the end up against some crazy ninja-rogue who¡¯d run around me in circles while they sliced me to ribbons.


    Select Agility¡­..


    The white light died and I stepped back as the others took their turn.


    ¡°So what now?¡± Mo asked as he looked around the small room. It wasn¡¯t a particularly impressive place and I turned and headed up the stairs.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading out. Your a free gnome now, and the girls are going to want to use the sewers to sneak out of the city.¡± I gave a shrug and headed toward the stairs. I wasn¡¯t 100% sure but they should probably lead back up into the sewers.


    ¡°Please wait.¡± Meredith said as she trotted up the stairs after me. She walked next to me until we were alone near the top of the stairs. She looked at me seriously then opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something before closing it again. I raised an eye brow in question which made her scowl. The expression was adorable and I let her off the hook.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, still trying to figure out what the girl wanted.


    ¡°You¡­¡­¡± She stopped, then took a breath and restarted.


    ¡°I¡¯m not very good at this.¡± She said finally as she looked up at me. ¡°I know things between you and Jasmine have ¡­..¡±


    ¡°Stop¡± I said cutting her off. I really did not wanna have this conversation. ¡°It¡¯s done. She made herself pretty damn clear on at least three different occasions.¡±


    Meredith sighed heavily, which she made look a little to good for my comfort. ¡°You''re being unfair. I know she reacted rather badly, but things got out of hand and she hasn¡¯t had time to deal with everything.¡±


    Women¡­¡­


    This was why emotional complexity is horrible disability. It makes simple things like relationships and personal feelings into something needlessly complex.


    ¡°Look Meredith, I get it. You''re her friend and you don¡¯t want us at loggerheads, but this is a mess she and I will have to sort out ourselves.¡± I said, trying to be resonable for once.


    She gave me her best cold haughty look. ¡°Yeah, because you two seem to doing so well at talking things out.¡±


    I raised my hands defensively. ¡°You¡­ maybe have a point.¡± I said chagrined. I sighed then opened my menu and sent her a friend request.


    ¡°If you need something just shoot me an IM. It¡¯s been a blast but I¡¯ve got places to be.¡± I said as I shrugged my pack up onto a shoulder.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°At least help us out of the city. If we get mobbed again I don¡¯t want to end up back in Hernberg. Jasmine has an unfortunate tendency to sulk.¡±


    ¡°Alright, fine but once you''re out of the city I¡¯m out.¡±


    *************************************************************************************


    ¡°Why the hell are we out here Greg?¡± The large high-schooler next to Greg asked as he sat on a stump while he sharpened the massive axe he was using. They¡¯d been out here all morning and American football players were not the most patient individuals.


    ¡°Because this is one of the two places where someone can exit the sewers outside the city walls and this one is on the South side of town.¡± Greg said exacerbated. He¡¯d already answered the question a half-dozen times and he was starting to lose it.


    ¡°Who are we looking for again?¡± A slightly smaller guy in a ridiculous looking red-robe said from beside the grated entrance. Greg sighed as he looked over at the other boy.


    ¡°Where the hell did you get that robe? And what kind of Fullback picks a wizard.¡± Greg asked incredulously.


    ¡°Firstly I¡¯m a sorcerer not a wizard, and secondly I get beat to hell during practice and games. Why would I want to get beat to hell playing this? Melee players are crazy.¡±


    *********************************************************************************************


    ¡°Are we there yet?¡± Mo asked as we continued to trudge through the sewer. We¡¯d left the dungeon an hour ago and had been wandering through the sewers since then. Unfortunately, I¡¯d only explored some of the tunnels and finding an exit outside the walls wasn¡¯t as easy as I¡¯d imagined it would be.


    We walked another hour before we finally found daylight. The tunnel ended at a grate that seemed to empty into a stream running away from the city. I walked forward to examine to bars and frowned as I considered how to break them.


    ¡°Why are you pretending. Everyone knows you''re just going to smash it to show us all how manly you are.¡± Jasmine said with a small sarcastic smile.


    ¡°Well, I do have the destruction skill, and sixty strength. As for my manliness I¡¯d think you¡¯d be the best judge of that.¡± I said with a smirk.


    She scowled making her blue eyebrows knit together. I ignored her and pulled my hammer from my bag. Then summoned up Strength of Stone waiting until the stone gauntlets formed over my hands before I swung my hammer into the bars. The impact sent a loud clang echoing through the tunnel and the shock of the impact sent a heavy reverberation up my hands. Brick cracked and mortar crumbled but the bars didn¡¯t give immediately. I continued my assault on the bars and after a good dozen swings I¡¯d managed to make a hole large enough for us to squeeze through.


    I stepped back to wipe the sweat from my brow and the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. It was a familiar sensation but I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me and I reached for my magic. The world shifted slightly and a fog of red power appeared in my vision. It pressed in through the grate filling the tunnel and my head cocked in confusion. It wasn¡¯t my magic and I couldn¡¯t figure out¡­¡­


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°DOWN!¡± I yelled as I grabbed Meredith and flug both of us down into the reeking water. The putrid water filled my nostrils as my head went under and filthy dark water enveloped both of us as the world exploded in flame.


    I stayed under for a three count then tried to stand as the current swept Meredith and I toward the grate. My shoulder hit a bar I hadn¡¯t broken out and I tilted crazily in freefall for a second before I was out in the sunlight and I plunged back into more water. I sloshed around for a moment trying to get my barring before I rolled up onto the bank and came to a knee as people rushed towards me with weapons drawn.


    I heard more splashes behind me as my eyes swept the area and tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Steel shined in the afternoon light as more than half a dozen men rushed at me with a variety of weapons and armors.  The hostile intent poured off of them and I did the only thing I could think of.


    ¡°Dragon''s Breath!¡± I shouted then inhaled sharply as my lungs became a bottomless swirling vortex. I poured in my magic and life until it felt like I was going to burst then exhaled into the charging men.  Fire spewed from my mouth as I exhaled but instead of incinerating the charging soldiers the fire stopped in mid-air as if it had hit some sort of screen. That had never happened before. I looked around confused before I saw a short stocky teenager in a red robe with his arms extended towards my flames. Red power powered off him and wrapped around me fire feeding it while at the same time coaxing it under his power.


    That tricky bastard¡­¡­


    I thought as the wall of fire started to move itself backwards towards me. The fire had stopped the charge of the other fighters and my own allies were pulling themselves from the river. That however, was little comfort at the moment as the temperature around me started to rise as the ball of flames crept closer to me . I flung out my own hand and pushed my own mana towards the raging flames. My magic met the other sorcerers and a mental pressure fell upon my mind as I engaged in a meta-physical tug-of-war,both of us battling for control.


    The fighters ran around the edge of the flames and I shuffled side-ways to by time as I continued to fight the other sorcerer. I could tell his strength was starting to flag but I had a bunch of a crazy guys with weapons charging me and didn¡¯t have time for a battle of attrition. Instead I performed the mental gymnastics necessary to use two types of mana at once and tapped into my least used element. Water mana poured out behind me calling to the stream at my back as I continued to press against the other sorcerers will.


    There was a sharp shrill cry like a hunting hawk from behind me and I glanced over a shoulder. Meredith stood on the bank, her staff raised, water dripping from her russet coat and green light pouring off her body. An echoing cry from the distance answered her call, but I didn¡¯t have time to track down the source. The fighters were nearly on-top of me and I cut my fire mana letting the other sorcerer have control of the flames.


    The effect was instant. The wave of fire that had once been my dragon¡¯s flames swiftly moved in my direction along with the charging fighters but I was ready for them.  I raised my arms with a shout and thrust them forward. A four-foot high-wave of water rose from the stream and rushed forward crashing into the lead attacker as he swung his massive axe. The water rolled forward engulfing the ball of fire and sweeping away the other fighters. Water boiled as fire met water and people started to scream as the cloud of boiling steam billowed over them.


    The fighters fell to the ground in soggy heaps but I¡¯d burnt up nearly all of my own magic as well. I fell to a knee panting for breath. I¡¯d won our mage duel but I hadn¡¯t really accomplished anything. All their fighters were mostly uninjured. I had managed to buy some time though and blue-white light glowed behind me as a slightly singed Mo Problems sent waves of freezing power sweeping over the area.


    A layer of frost appeared on the wet grass as ] his ice-magics started to suck the heat from the area. The fighters staggered back to their feet slowly, their speed reduced heavily by Mo¡¯s spells and the battle dissolved into a general melee. Normally the fight wouldn¡¯t have been close, but that damn sorcerer had made me waste all my magic and I¡¯d lost my hammer somewhere in the water. So now we had me, with no weapon and no magic, a one-armed Jasmine, Mo, and Meredith against a horde of idiots.


    I let out a humorless snort and waded into the fray. I hadn¡¯t seen Jasmine yet but hopefully she¡¯d come help. Even with one arm none of these guys should be a match for her individually, but who the hell knew what she¡¯d decide to do. She might let me get chopped to ribbons just for a laugh.


    I stepped towards the first attacker. He was a stout high-schooler with a broad-sword and rounded shield but he apparently didn¡¯t see me as a threat unarmed. Which was unfortunate for him. He dropped his shield and thrust with his sword at my heart but I swatted the strike aside. A dull clang reverberated through the air as as steel met the stone encasing my left hand. He looked stunned for a moment but the expression was short lived as my right fist collided with his jaw and he went spinning to the dirt.


    A short spear jabbed me in the side as I stepped past the downed foe. The attack missed the bronze plates on my armor and pierced the leather, making a small wound in my side. The wound was light but I had the feeling it wouldn¡¯t be the only one I ended up with. I spun and caught the spear before the fighter could withdraw it completely. Then I jerked it out of his hand and lashed out with a front kick. The kick caught him in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards into his fellows. The collision slowed the horde and gave me some space to work with.  I took the time to look around for somewhere I could pick a fight without getting surrounded.


    Arrows and bolts of frost whizzed by overhead as Mo exchanged fire with an archer.  I tried to keep my head down as I circled until I finally caught sight of Jasmine. She apparently had decided to help and I gave a mental snort as I saw her leap onto some guys shoulders and beat him about the head with her single axe and the stump of her arm.


    Then someone plowed into my side and sent us both sliding across the wet, frozen grass. I was stunned for a moment by the collisions and then pain exploded from my side as I saw the flash of of knife. The guy stabbed me three times before I managed to catch his hand and I let out a roar of rage as I squeezed and crushed the bones of his wrist. I drove an elbow down onto the back of his head while he was still stunned and rolled away from his limp body. I came up to a knee and looked up in time to catch a shield-bash right in the face.


    The blow smashed my nose flat and I gagged on a mouthful of blood as I tried to right my spinning vision. Then a soothing green glow washed over my body and my vision cleared a moment before the shield came again. This time I reached out and grabbed it. Yanking it away from the tall and broadly build teen holding it before I smashed it down on top of his head. He dropped like a stone and I flung the shield like a frisbee at the next charging attacker who blocked it with his own shield.


    An arrow pinged off my armor and I turned slightly to find the archer while I tried to circle away from the next warrior. The archer was standing a good thirty feet from me with one foot frozen to the ground, but I he must have won his battle because I didn¡¯t see anymore of Mo¡¯s spells flying around. The archer raised his bow and nocked another arrow but froze as another shrieking hawk¡¯s cry filled the area. This one was much closer and everyone in the area looked up to see what was happening. A shadow dove downwards like a thunder-bolt and stretched it¡¯s gleaming talons toward the stupefied archer. He tried to shield himself but it was useless. The giant hawk Meredith had apparently summoned simply batted aside his arms and ripped his throat out with it¡¯s beak.


    Looks like Meredith did have some useful magic. With the ranger out of the fight things were looking much better for us. A quick glance at the fallen bodies let me know it was now 3v3 instead of 8v4. I hadn¡¯t seen the sorcerer so I assumed he¡¯d just fled after using all his mana. That left them with only three capable fighters and our healer was still up. They really didn¡¯t have a chance now, even as battered as I was.


    The big one with the axe came forward again and I held up a hand to stop him.


    ¡°You sure you wanna keep this up? At this point you guys are just padding my bank account.¡± I said as I looked over at him. He grimaced and his steps slowed as he approached, but he didn¡¯t lower his weapon.


    ¡°Why do you guys follow that ass hole anyway? He¡¯s just feeding you guys to the wolves.¡± I added, just to rub it in.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± He said bitterly but he still didn¡¯t attack. I saw Jasmine stalking up behind the group of them and I did my best not to give anything away.


    ¡°Well, there it is then. Since he seems to have made himself my mortal enemy I guess knocking some levels off of his underlings is my best plan in the long run.¡± I stepped to the right, as if starting to circle, which turned their backs to Jasmine¡¯s approach. She leapt like a cobra and buried her axe into the back of of one of their heads. That left only two.


    I charged forward, trying to get inside of the apparent leaders swing before he chopped off something vital. His axe whistled as it cut the air and I tried to dodge but was too slow. It crashed into a bronze plate and I could feel my ribs break under the weight of the strike. Luckily, my armor had held because it probably would have killed me otherwise.


    I grabbed his axe and used it to pull him off balance in my direction while I slid around behind him and pulled the haft of his axe across his throat. The motions hurt like hell but I¡¯d had worse and i wasn¡¯t about to let the bastard off now. He struggled wildly but I was too strong for him.  I heard Jasmine dispatch the last attacker while I choked the life out of my victim.


    Once he stopped struggling I held on for another ten count then stood up with a wince. I¡¯d gotten myself beat to hell again. Which I supposed was a good thing as it let my constitution grow faster, but the pain was terrible. I staggered and tried to breathe as shallowly as possible for the sake of my ribs.


    ¡°You know there is a thing called dodging. You should look into it.¡± Jasmine said as she sauntered up next to me. I didn¡¯t bother to reply and instead just flipped her the bird as I spat out another mouthful of blood.


    She grinned a satisfied little smile as her eyes took in my battered state. The look was a good one on her which made me irrationally angry.


    ¡°What happened to Mo?¡± I asked when I¡¯d gained some breath back. My voice came out with a nasally sound from my broken nose.


    ¡°Ate an arrow in the neck while he was fighting with that archer. Meredith didn¡¯t see him until it was too late.¡± Jasmine said with a shrug. She did look a little upset about it. Apparently, I was the only one she got a vindictive satisfaction out of seeing abused.


    ¡°Well at least we won. Although you and Meredith should probably get going. I¡¯m sure more people will be coming and you could use the head start.¡± I said as I bent over and started picking up all the gold scattered on the ground. Pking did pay well.


    Jasmine started to pick up coins as well as Meredith trotted up to us, her hands already full of coins. The three of us worked in silence while we gathered the loot. It totaled up to a good fifty gold, and that wasn¡¯t counting what Mo had dropped. We split it then stood around awkwardly for a moment. I wasn¡¯t really sure what I wanted to say and the look of slight consternation and embarrassment on Jasmine¡¯s face let me know she was thinking something similar. It was one thing to bicker while she was around, but I didn¡¯t really know how I felt about her leaving.


    I scratched the back of my head as the silence drug on. Then Meredith walked over and stood next to us as Jasmine and I stared awkwardly at each other.


    ¡°Oh good lord, you two are like middle schoolers at a dance.¡± Meredith said with a snort.


    ¡°That¡¯s rich, coming from someone who¡¯s never even had a boyfriend.¡± Jasmine said with a scowl.


    ¡°Well, you ladies have fun. I¡¯m off into the sunset.¡± I said as I turned and started toward the steam. I still had to find my hammer. Then I turned back toward them and added. ¡°Oh and try to stop picking on defenseless noobs. Other wise you¡¯ll end up on more wanted posters.¡±


    I turned and waved as both of them shrugged their packs onto their shoulders and walked away. It had been an interesting couple of days and I couldn¡¯t wait to get back to the horse and four and soak in one of their baths but first I had to track down Mo and give him back the money he¡¯d dropped.


    ____________________________________________


    AN:.....


    Apparently the New Chapter functionality doesn''t work very well. Since it deleted all but the first paragraph I posted. Trying to Fix now..


    Edit1: Looks like everything is there now.... But the formatting is still borked..... Will continue trying to fix.


    Edit 2: Not quite right yet, but much better.

 Volume 2: Chapter 18

    Mo was sitting on the steps of the mausoleum looking depressed when I tracked him down. The sun was setting over the well pruned trees of the graveyard and it cast crimson hues over the grey headstones. I walked over to him and he sighed heavily.


    ¡°Aren''t you a little young to be acting that depressed.¡± I asked him as I approached.


    ¡°Easy for you to say. You didn¡¯t end up with an arrow in your neck.¡±He said sullenly.


    ¡°Well look on the bright side. You could have got hit in the knee. Then you¡¯d have to stop adventuring.¡± Mo scowled at me and I smiled.


    ¡°I got your gold back. Forty of your plus another twenty-four from the fight. ¡° I added as I handed over his money. He pocketed the coins while I asked him in a more serious voice. ¡°So where are you headed now?¡±


    He looked thoughtful for a moment fingering the handle of his mage¡¯s orb. ¡°Hadn¡¯t really thought about it too much. Are you going to try completing that quest we got?¡± He asked as he stood up.


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan. I hate being in debt to anyone.¡±


    Mo looked at me uncomprehending for a moment before he shook his head.  ¡°I think I¡¯m headed out. It¡¯s been fun and all but traveling with you is a bit too exciting for me. ¡° It wasn¡¯t really surprising news. We¡¯d been traveling together for weeks now and even friends can get a bit grating after too long together.


    ¡°Alright man, don¡¯t do anything I wouldn¡¯t do.¡± I said as I stuck out a hand and we shook. ¡°And be sure to shoot me a pm if you wanna group up again..¡± With that I turned and headed out of the cemetery. I was on my own again for the first time in weeks. It felt strange but oddly satisfying. I¡¯d always been a bit of a solo player. I¡¯d been in guilds and done raids and all that but there was something¡­. profound about exploring a world on your own. It wasn¡¯t something you could really gain in the real world. All the frontiers on earth had been conquered, and until humanity figured out space travel there would be no new explorers.


    I walked through the darkening streets with my hammer slung over my shoulder. The faint clink of my armor and my billowing red cape attracted plenty of stares and I grinned faintly as I sold the dungeon loot and ran errands. I kept most of the good stuff but I still turned a tidy profit. My coin purse was again bulging.


    I had to find a way to topple the Knight¡¯s but I only had a single lead to work with and It wasn¡¯t a very good one. Aside from that cultist hideout down in the sewers I had nothing. I supposed I could always go around just beating up their guild members, but that would be a tall order without a dozen or so people of my own.


    Besides, the brute force approach was ultimately a losing one in this case. If the object was to defeat a particular boss or kill a particular player that¡¯s one thing but the game''s mechanics made solving this particular problem a tricky one. Violence is a much less useful tool in an environment where death is merely an inconvenience. That only left me with making the price too high to do whatever it was they were doing. Which again, was difficult since they had more people and more money.


    I could try guerrilla tactics but that would lead to a long, bitter, and ultimately pointless war. So I needed to attack the problem from the NPC side of the world. The city guards of Hernberg would be able to ban the guild or even revoke the cities sanctuary to them. That would let me accomplish my mission without all the trouble and hopefully in a much shorter time frame.


    That could wait for tomorrow though. Tonight I had other things to do. I bought myself a room at the Horse and Four then sat on the big bed and opened up my menu. It took me a few minutes to find what I was looking for but soon I found the sub-menu for the video add-in card and started to run through the footage I¡¯d taken. I¡¯d shot nearly twenty hours of video, starting before the first fight in the sewers until after I¡¯d re-entered the city after the past brawl.


    Most of the footage I¡¯d recorded had to be cut. Hours of wandering around aimlessly wasn¡¯t very interesting for a video. After all, the world¡¯s attention span had fallen to a degree where a twelve minute internet video was considered on the long side. So I cut out all but the most interesting fights, the zombie horde, the boss, and a few shots of Jasmine or Meredith looking particularly sexy. It was shallow, but hot girls make for good ratings and Jasmine and Meredith were both excellent specimens. That left me with twenty mins of actions packed goodness.


    The cuts didn¡¯t take long and the editing software was surprisingly robust and intuitive. It should be for as much as I paid for the damn thing, but it didn¡¯t take me more than an hour to make the necessary changes, add in a few transitions, and whip up a title before I uploaded the video and logged out. I really needed some down time before I came back to tackle the guild and the cultists.


    *****************************************************************


    I once more found myself creeping through the sewers below Hernberg. It was honestly kinda sad. I was beginning to think of these dank reeking tunnels as my home. It took me a while to find the door I was looking for. I¡¯d only been here once and that was quite a while ago.


    Two points of light in the darkness guided me to my destination. It seemed there were guards waiting outside with torches. There hadn¡¯t been before I and paused unsure how to continue.  I considered trying a subtle approach but between the guildies, the dungeon, and Jasmine drama, I really just wanted to beat someone up.


    I started forward again walking steadily. Uncaring that they would notice me. Apparently, they weren¡¯t very observant because I was nearly in the ring of light from their torches before they even noticed me. That was one of the problems with torches. They helped you see the immediate area around you but blinded you to everything beyond that.


    Strength of Stone¡­..


    I thought as I approached. I smiled cheerfully and waved at the guards as I came into view.


    ¡°Stop! Who¡­.?¡± He started but I halted his question by punching him in the face.  His body locked up for a moment before he collapsed in a heap.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± The other guard said as he drew his sword and attacked. I didn¡¯t even bother to block. I simply stepped forward, taking the shallow wound his sword made and grabbing him by his shirt. Then I spun and hurled the man with all my strength. The throw sent him crashing through the rickety wooden door and I stepped over his body and the broken debris as I walked into the room beyond.


    It was small and cramped with a card table and a few cultists sitting around it. Two doors lead deeper into the hide-out but both were shut and I had my hands full out here. The men started to their feet in surprise but I was already among them. I placed one stone covered foot on the back of the chair in front of me and shoved. The push sent the chair, the table and two of the fighters crashing into the far wall. They hit the wall in a tangle of limbs and fallen furniture leaving the two other cultists in the room staring at me dumbfounded.


    They both started yelling but I ignored them chuckling as I grabbed one and send him flying across the room. Adding him to the pile of wreckage on the far wall. Having sixty strength really was too much fun. The last fighter just looked at me terrified and ran for the door but I reached out and caught him by his shirt collar before he could leave. Then I spun him around and leveled him with a right cross.


    The three men piled up around the table struggled back to their feet and drew their weapons.  I made a pulling gesture with my left hand and used my magic to suck the flames off the torches lighting the room. The balls of fire flew towards me until I had three globes of flame spinning over my palm.


    ¡°Now before any of you do anything stupid I think we should discuss the terms of your surrender.¡± I said reasonably. The three of them looked stunned for a moment then one spoke up.


    ¡°Who the hell are you? Why did you break in here?¡± Asked a dark-haired man.


    ¡°I¡¯m Noob Slayer. Beater of ass and slayer of noobs.¡± I replied.¡±So are you surrendering or not?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know who you are. Why did you just break in here and start beating people up?¡± The dark-haired man asked incredulously.


    ¡°I just told you. I¡¯m Noob Slayer. This IS an evil cult right? I¡¯m pretty sure smashing my way in and beating you up is kinda my job.¡± I asked with a frown. Maybe this was the wrong door. That would be hilarious.


    The three men looked at each other for a moment. Then one charged at me. I sighed sadly and flicked my wrist sending one of the balls of flames on my palm flying into him. The results were particularly gruesome and I winced as his battle yell changed into a scream. He fell to the floor rolling in an attempt to put out the flames. I stopped to flames with another flick of my wrist before stomping his head and turning back to the others.They both looked at me stunned for a moment before they raised their hands simultaneously.


    ¡°We Surrender!¡±


    ¡°Excellent! Now I¡¯m looking for a creepy old guy and even creepier cricket girl.¡± I said as the shadows in the room twisted with the flames in my palm. The two men looked at each other for moment then one spoke up.


    ¡°They aren''t here. No one is here. They all left early this morning. Something about a ritual.¡± I winced at his words. Why is it evil cultists are always doing some crazy ritual?


    ¡°You know, you guys aren''t very dedicated for zealots.¡± I said before asking. ¡°Where is the ritual supposed to take place? ¡°


    ¡°South west of the city. There are some ruins on the otherside of the river.¡± One explained quickly. It was obvious they just wanted me to leave.


    Blurp


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The Corrupted Knights</td></tr><tr><td>The Guild Knights of the Round Table have made themselves a menace in Hernberg. Investigate their dealings, expose their secrets, and save Hernberg from their oppression.


    Update: The Knights of the Round Table have struck a deal with the Cultists of Ukkufu, Lord of Chaos. They are selling the blood of New Souls to the cultists to fuel their blood magic. Bring proof of their transgressions to the Hernberg Magistrate and have them thrown from the city.


    Update: The cultists have planned a blood ritual for tonight when all three moons are full. You must stop them


    Level: ???


    Difficulty: ???


    Rewards: 300 fame, 20 Gold, ???</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Draw me a map and I¡¯ll go. You¡¯ve been exceptionally helpful.¡±  I said as they frantically looked for something to draw on. Fifteen minutes later I was out of the sewers and leaving the city. It was still morning back in the real world, but in game it was already mid-afternoon.


    It took me nearly two hours to find the place and the sun was already setting. The ruins were in a forest clearing about ten miles from the city. Old trees and twisting vines obscured the ancient stone. The ruin itself was a series of black obelisks in an odd geometric pattern. I approached through the dense underbrush creeping my way closer until I found a small hill where I could overlook the area.


    About a dozen people stood inside the obelisks. They had cut back the plants and vines growing over the stone floor revealing an impressive series of patterns and glyphs, they were oddly twisted and staring at them hurt my head.


    In the center of the floor was an octagon that was raised slightly from the rest of the floor. There the cultist had painted magical sigils in a style I didn¡¯t recognize. They looked nothing like the sigils I used for witchcraft or the wizard runes mo used. Probably some infernal script for demon summoning or blood magic. The paint they had used looked black in the torchlight and was most likely blood. Cultists were always using blood for their crazy rituals.


    I wasn¡¯t close enough to make out too many specific details about the people I could see, but there was one slim silhouette on the side farthest from me I had pegged as cricket girl. Something about they way it was standing, the figure was just too still to be human.


    She would be the trickiest of the bunch. She¡¯d mentioned that she had a master but he was mostly likely some sort of evil priest who¡¯d be trouble but between her physical speed and her mind control magic she definitely needed to die first. I¡¯d just have to improvise after that.


    I crept around the clearing making sure to stay far enough out no-one would notice me. I wasn¡¯t sure how good cricket girls senses were but I¡¯d bet money they were better than mine. Human¡¯s got the shaft in pretty much everything. We had worse senses, worse stats, and the shortest lives. Our only real saving grace was our sheer indecisiveness. We weren¡¯t specialized at anything which made us better at improvising, better at learning new things, and better when it came to the occasional crazy melee sorcerer build.


    It took me a good five minutes to work my way all the way around to the other side. I was just getting ready to make my move when a cloud finally moved and moonlight shone down onto the ruins. The obelisks started to glow a sickly purple color and the cultist began to chant in a strange guttural language. The glow of the obelisks began to intensify and I decided I couldn¡¯t wait any longer. I charged out of the woods and directly towards cricket girl¡¯s back as I pulled my hammer from my bag.


    She heard me coming almost immediately,  but I was already calling fire to swat her down. She was too fast for me in our last fight but I had leveled three times since then and more importantly I¡¯d gained much better control over my magic. The flame flew forward in a cone washing over her small form as she frantically tried to dodge. She let out a banshee¡¯s scream as she caught fire as she rolled into the center of the ruin. .


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Kill the interloper!¡± someone shouted as I rushed into the middle of their ritual as I chased after the downed girl. I didn¡¯t quite reach her before the others swamped me. Their plan to overwhelm me with numbers was a poor one. Like the old man in the tunnels they were ill prepared for a melee contest against an armed and armored opponent and I¡¯d already killed two of them with my hammer before the first spell was even cast. It came from a tall robed figured who¡¯d stayed back from the initial rush. He¡¯d conjured some sort of red mist and flung it into the fray. It passed within inches of me hitting one of the cultist behind me and my eyes went wide as blood started to fountain from his eyes, ears, and mouth as he collapsed in a dieing heap. That was a new and interesting effect and one I wasn¡¯t eager to deal with.


    A small hooked knife came in from behind me, stabbing through the leather of my armor and into my back. I flinched from the pain, allowing those around me close in. Steel flashing in the moonlight,  the cultists attacked with their knives and clubs. Blows rained down smashing into my back and shoulders while I absorbed their attacks.


    ¡°Whirlwind Kick!¡± I shouted activating my ability. I leapt into the air and spun knocking everyone backwards as I chased after the cricket girls retreating form.  I needed to find cricket girl. I hadn''t killed her and I really didn¡¯t need her aggravating things while I was trying to fend off everyone else.


    I spotted the caster as he started another spell and I summoned an earth wall to block as I continued to brawl. It didn¡¯t take me long to finish of the ones who¡¯d charged at me but the others had taken up positions circling me. They stood about twenty feet from me as they threw dark magic from multiple directions.


    I rushed toward one of the casters and dove to avoid one of the blobs of red magic but I couldn¡¯t avoid them all. A blob of magic hit me on my left side and I could feel the magic rushing through my body. For a moment it felt like i had magma in my veins, then my vision went red as I started to bleed out of my mouth, eyes, and ears. I fought through the pain running in a zig-zag motion until I could close with the caster. I smashed him down in a single strike and summoned another wall.


    My position was better here and I added a slight curve to the wall. Letting me defend against the other three casters as I caught my breath. Mage battles had to be the worst match-ups for me.My magic was shakey at anything beyond a dozen feet and I had to take my licks if I wanted to close with ranged opponets. My breath sawed in my lungs. Those spells were nothing to sneeze at. I might have a ton of HP but I wouldn¡¯t be able to survive many more of them.


    I took another deep breath then dashed around the edge of my cover, charging at my next victim. I dove forward then rolled back to my feet as ran spirited across the intervening space.  Bolts of magic flew past me as I ran but I made it unscathed. It took another blow of my hammer to put him down. Which left me with two enemies and the cricket girl, wherever she¡¯d ended up.


    Sweat trickled down my face and I started after the next cultist immediately. I didn¡¯t have the magic to keep summoning earth-walls through the floor of the ruin. The extra mana I hard to burn to get through the worked stone was rapidly wearing me out. The next cultists had caught on though and I soon as I started towards him he ran backwards making me chase. The final cultist, the leader I presumed, started to chant again and the light of the obelisks started to pulse rhythmically. I turned and headed for the leader, but then the cultist I¡¯d been running after turned back and launched another bolt of magic at me. I was forced to dive out of the way and I gritted my teeth in frustration.


    The pulsing light started to become more rapid and the air above the ruin started to ripple as the space distorted. I charged toward the leader again then expecting the next bolt of magic turn and threw my hammer at the casting cultist behind me. He¡¯d stopped to cast his spell and his face showed a moment of shock before my hammer hit him knocking him off his feet. I didn¡¯t waste time to see if he¡¯d get back up but instead rushed toward the leader as he continued to chant whatever spell he was trying to perform.


    I hadn¡¯t gotten three steps when harp music washed over me along with a torrent of mental magic. I fell to my knees, swearing savagely as I slammed my meager mental defenses into place. I was able to keep my mind intact but I couldn¡¯t move.


    Goddamn it¡­¡­..


    I knew this would happen. I knew, as soon as I missed my first chance at her that it would end up like this. I heard the faint sound of footfalls over the lead cultists chanting, before a pair of eerily skinny came into my vision. She paused as she walked around in front of me then paused.


    ¡° Ahhhhh, my magnificent brute.¡± She said in her sickly sweet voice. ¡° I prefered you in chains but having you at me feet is an excellent consolation.¡± She continued to play her as she walked, the music haunting among the old stone and overgrown forest. The purple light continued to pulse making her maggot white skin look blue. Giving her the appearance of a drowned corpse.


    I knelt there fuming as she taunted me.


    ¡°So how did you get free? Did someone find you and set you free or did you just rip yourself free with these big muscles.¡± she said and she bent down and squeezed my bicep. Her hands were cold on my flesh and I wanted to pull away but couldn¡¯t.


    The pulsing lights of the obelisks brightened further and there was a sudden tearing sound, like someone ripping a bedsheet.  I looked up as much as I could and saw that the distortion overing above the runes had torn open. Reality itself had been rent asunder and great black tentacles started pushing themselves out of the tear in space.


    I looked on disgusted and confused. I was excepted some great fiery demon. Instead I was getting tentacles.


    ¡°Master calls the old one. Soon the faceless god shall walk the world again!¡± Cricket girl shouted. Her voice gaining a hint of almost sexual excitement that made me shudder.


    Oh great¡­¡­..


    Not Christian demons, or Gygaxian demons, Otherworld had gone with Lovecraft. So instead of fire and brimstone, I had to deal with weirdness and tentacles.  I really needed to stop this before they managed to summon whatever god awful thing it was they were trying to summon. I didn¡¯t particularly like Hernberg as a place but letting one of the Old One¡¯s rampage about was probably not good.


    I watched cricket girl like a hawk, waiting. She looked nonchalant, but she hadn¡¯t been able to completely put me under like last-time. The sort of mental domination she was attempting had to be taking bucketfuls of mana to keep up, all I really needed to do was wait her out.  Unfortunately, the clock was ticking.


    I softened my expression and watched her as he paced back in forth in front of me gloating as the rip in reality grew larger. She was trying to hide it but I could see the sweat soaking through the burnt wraps she was wearing as clothes. I waited another ten or twenty seconds while the ritual continued then, just as she walked right in front of me again, I threw all the remaining will I had left against her mental shackles.


    Her spell burst apart and I launched myself to my feet directly at her. She staggered as the spell broke and I managed to wrap one of my stone gauntleted fist around her pretty neck before she could skitter away. I sneer as I looked into her black multi-faceted eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m really going to enjoy this.¡± I said as I got ahold with my other hand then spun and flung her upwards. She screamed as she sailed higher before one of the great black tentacles wrapped around her and drug her through the rent and out of our reality.


    The leader''s eyes widened as I started towards him. I walked swiftly but casually giving him time to be properly afraid. I got within about ten feet before he stopped chanting.


    ¡°You can kill me, but Ukuffu will rise! Other shall come and the world shall tremble!¡± He screamed as he pulled a long wavy knife from his belt. My eyes widened when I realized what he planned to do. I needed him alive.


    I dashed forward and caught his hand just as before he managed to cut his throat. He yelled in rage but I got my arm around his throat and choked him out. Then I half collapsed to the stone panting as I sucked in big gulps of air.


    Finally¡­¡­..


    I was just starting to relax when I the sounds of the forest at night stopped suddenly. I groaned aloud.


    ¡°Oh come now. You always act so put-upon. Any other man would be grateful to have such a beauty in his presence.¡± A honeyed voice said as Baria walked out of the darkness.


    ¡°Yes well, most men are idiots when it comes to beautiful woman. Ask Paris. He got his entire kingdom destroyed.¡± I said bitterly.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ A reader of the classics. Very scholarly of you, but I believe the Trojan War was actually over a trade disagreement. You humans are always murdering each other over money.¡±


    ¡°And religion don¡¯t forget that one. Nothing better to start a war than an argument over whose god is most forgiving and benevolent.¡± I added sarcastically.


    ¡°You really are in a poor mood. Just because that orc wouldn¡¯t sleep with you, you¡¯ve become saturnine.¡± She said as she scrutinized me with her golden gaze.


    ¡°I¡¯m actually in a much better mood. I¡¯ve finally finished your quest. The cultists have been stopped and they didn¡¯t manage to summon some crazy tentacle monster. Now I can re-supply and get back to making money. ¡° I explained, defending myself.


    She sighed. ¡°Yet you still treat me like a leper. I¡¯ve been nothing but kind to you and the only thing I ask you to do is something that you would have done anyway had you discovered the quest on your own. I do not understand,¡±


    I frowned. Now she was making me feel bad. ¡°You''re too beautiful, too powerful, and too mysterious. Everytime I see you I just want to curl up at your feet, it¡¯s a very poor position to use as the foundation for any relationship, even a mutually beneficial one. It¡¯s like having a ridiculously hot girl flirt with you, one who¡¯s WAY out of your league, because she¡¯s either crazy which means you want nothing to do with her. Or she¡¯s using you for something, which means you want nothing to do with her.  She doesn¡¯t have to do anything wrong. Her motives could be purely altruistic, but in the back of your mind you''re always going to wonder what her real game is. ¡°


    ¡°That¡¯s a particularly dark way of looking at it. What about Jasmine? She¡¯s attractive and you start drooling the moment she gets near you.¡± Baria asked.


    ¡°Do I detect a hint of jealousy?¡± I asked grinning. Baria just raised one golden eyebrow not deigning to answer.


    ¡°She¡¯s attractive but to too attractive. She¡¯s like a eight or nine. You''re like a thirty on a scale to ten and she¡¯s also angry, violent, and a bitch. Which brings her down into my range.¡± I said still smiling.


    ¡°I shall never understand the working of the male mind.¡± Baria said as she shook her head ruefully.


    ¡°So what did you need? I¡¯m guessing you didn¡¯t just come to discuss my relationship problems.¡± I asked finally.


    ¡°You completed your task. So I¡¯ve come to grant you a boon. I needed to know if you were as capable as I thought you were and you¡¯ve past the test.¡± She said showing her perfect teeth in a wide smile.


    She placed her hand onto my forehead and the world jolted as golden power flooded into me.


    Blip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You¡¯ve been granted divine favor!</td></tr><tr><td>In exchange for completing a divine quest, you¡¯ve been granted a boon by one of the High Gods.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I read then pop-up and frowned. ¡°What¡¯s it do? It doesn¡¯t list any of the benefits.¡± I said noncomprehending.


    ¡°That¡¯s because none of the benefits are things the game is supposed to give it.  It will allow you to go places and do things other players will not be able to. However that¡¯s not why I gave it to you. It removes your avatar from the games database, that¡¯s it¡¯s most important function.¡±


    I looked at her blankly and she sighed. ¡°Think. You''re sharp enough. Your gaming experience has not been standard. Nexus modified your memories. That alone would make you a target if it ever came up. Even more serious, you can do magic¡­. In your world. What do you think would happen if THAT came out? How would Nexus react?¡± She asked looking me in the eyes.


    ¡°I need you. I can¡¯t have the company interfering.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve taken me off their radar. I¡¯m playing the game in stealth mode now. They can¡¯t track me, can¡¯t see me, and have no idea I¡¯m even playing.¡± I said finally getting it.


    ¡°Precisely. Now go finish your quest.¡± She said as she vanished and the sounds of the forest returned.


    <hr />


    An: Sorry for the long delay on this one!


    Edit: Royalroad keeps putting a crazy amount of spaces between everything. When I paste stuff in every paragraph has 5 or 6 lines between it.


    EDit2: Gorilla tactics..... *FacePalm*

 Volume 2: Epilogue

    I watched as they threw Argoth out of the city. He wasn¡¯t nearly as imposing as I¡¯d imagined. It was pretty disappointing, honestly. I¡¯d imagined my first arch-nemesis to be some bad-ass or at least someone with a properly evil looking goatee. Instead Argoth was¡­ well he looked a bit like me actually, pale from too much time indoors, a little overweight from too much food and too little exercise. For someone who¡¯d been a constant pain in the ass for weeks he wasn¡¯t very impressive.


    His armor was nice though, shining silver plate he got from god knew where. I had armor made from likely the best non-tester smith in the game and that idiot had full plate. I shook my head. I hated rich people.


    He yelled and swore as guards frog-marched him from the city. I felt¡­.. Relieved? I wasn¡¯t really happy about it. I didn¡¯t know the guy.  He was just an obstacle, an annoyance. I wasn¡¯t some conquering hero who¡¯d slain a dragon and rescued the princess. I was just a guy who¡¯d toppled a mini-tyrant. Sure I¡¯d made the Otherworld a better place but it was a game and games needed villains. I¡¯d have much rather just left the area. It wasn¡¯t like there wouldn¡¯t be other players who¡¯d be picking on noobs. I was one of them infact. I must have killed a dozen under-leveled players so far. They¡¯d attacked me, but most of them hadn¡¯t been what anyone could call fair fights.


    I shrugged and hefted my hammer as I turned from the gates. I was free and I had places I wanted to be and things I wanted to mine. I had some experiments I wanted to try. More than anything though I was tired of this ugly grey city.


    I¡¯d retrieved all the gold I¡¯d made from selling my dungeon loot. I was back up to nearly two-hundred again, even after the extra supplies and camping equipment I¡¯d bought. I had enough now I could splurge if I wanted. More bags, a frying pan, a compass, and other miscellany were all stuffed into my pack. I was going to head south out of the city and into the frontier. I had no Idea when I¡¯d get to another town and wanted to be properly prepared.


    I left the south gate under the midday sun. Heading into the unknown and hopefully towards a less exciting adventure.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Name:</td><td colspan=''2''>Noob Slayer</td><td>Level: 17</td></tr><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Human</td><td>Class:</td><td>Geomancer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Attributes</td><td colspan=''2''>Status</td></tr><tr><td>UBStr: 63(+4) 67</td><td>LBStr: 57(+3)60</td><td>HP: 295/295</td><td>Mana: 170/170</td></tr><tr><td>End: 54(+2) 56</td><td>Con: 63(+2) 67</td><td>Stam: 188/188</td><td>Panic: 1/11</td></tr><tr><td>Agi:37</td><td>Cord: 45(+3) 48</td><td>Hunger: 110/110</td><td>Thirst: 110/110</td></tr><tr><td>Int:43</td><td>Wis:49</td><td colspan=''2''>Wounds</td></tr><tr><td>Res: 45</td><td>Faith: 7</td><td colspan=''2''></td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Social</td></tr><tr><td>Guild: N/A</td><td>Titles: 3</td><td>Fame: 1101</td><td>Friend List: 1/3</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Links</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Inventory</td><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Spell Book</td><td colspan=''2''>Log</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *****************************************************************


    Nelson walked into the CEO¡¯s office with a frown on his face. Things were going exceedingly well with the game but things were getting¡­. strange and he didn¡¯t like strange.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± A grumbling voice asked. ¡°You only seem to come here when the world is ending.¡± The blond man who ran the mini-empire that was Nexus wasn¡¯t looking his best this morning. His suit was impeccable as always but he had puffy circles under his eyes and he looked ready to bite someone''s head off.


    Oh good¡­. He¡¯s in a mood today¡­..


    Nelson thought darkly. ¡°No, Actually it¡¯s mostly good news. System production efficiency has improved and we are moving more units than ever. Another of those videos was released this weekend and online searches for Otherworld are up another 20%. I believe we made it into the top twenty google searches.  Everyone on the entire earth seems to want in our game.¡± Nelson explained.


    ¡°Certainly interesting but unworthy of a morning visit at this ungodly hour.¡± The CEO said as he turned his piercing blue gaze onto Nelson. He looked tired but his eyes were still razor sharp and they had a few barbs this morning.


    Nelson sighed. ¡°Well, the issue is with one of the accounts we¡¯ve had flagged for surveillance. He¡¯s one of the top players in game, and was on the¡­. recruitment list III gave us.¡±


    ¡°Stop beating around the bush and just tell me. It¡¯s early and I haven¡¯t had breakfast.¡± The CEO snarled.


    ¡°Well, he deleted his account yesterday.¡± Nelson said waiting for the bomb to drop.


    ¡°One of the top players in the game inexplicably deleted his account.¡± The CEO said carefully., obviously disbelieving. ¡°Who was it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just the thing. All of his information is gone. It¡¯s difficult to access a player''s personal information with the way our security is set-up, but his is simply gone. Not deleted and stored like the information is supposed to be, gone. His address, his billing info, even his name. The only reason I still know who it is was because I had the names on the list memorized. We pulled the play-logs that coincide with the video he released but his player ID¡¯s have been jumbled and we can¡¯t find anything else with him. The only record of him in the entire company is the list I printed off for you in hard copy. His name is Thomas Ritter. That¡¯s all we¡¯ve got.¡±


    ¡°He hacked us?¡± The CEO said stunned.


    ¡°Unlikely. We were a tech company long before we started making a game and we¡¯ve had to pour the vast majority of our resources into security since this whole mess started. That Russian bastard got at least that part right. We¡¯re decades ahead of everyone on the security front.¡± Nelson explained shaking his head, before he continued.


    ¡°Unless he¡¯s some sort of super-genius, or he¡¯s managed to build himself a quantum computer in his parents basement there¡¯s no way he hacked us. If either of those were true he¡¯d already have stolen himself enough money for his own island and he wouldn¡¯t bother with us.¡± He continued.


    ¡°So it¡¯s an inside job then?¡± The CEO said, his brow furrowing.


    ¡°That would be my guess. I¡¯ve got people on it Still¡­. we¡¯re going to need to track him down or III¡¯s going to throw one of his fits.¡± Nelson replied.


    The CEO looked at him. His ice-blue eyes determined.


    ¡°Find Him.¡±


    ********************************************************************************************


    Jasmine sighed as she lifted the empty coffee pot. Why was it that in a company where the vast majority of the employees were men that it was left to the women to make the damn coffee?  It was Monday morning and she couldn¡¯t even get a cup of coffee without having to deal with male idiocy. She¡¯d had more than enough of male idiocy over the last few days. She put the coffee pot back into the machine¡¯s slot with a bit more force than was necessary.


    ¡°Rough morning?¡± a female voice from behind her asked.


    ¡°More like a rough weekend¡± Jasmine said to the woman. Sharon was in analytics with her. She was attractive woman in her early thirties, and was one of the few bastions of female sanity in the ocean of male engineers, technicians, and programmers that made up Nexus Corp.


    Jasmine moved to another coffee machine and poured herself some liquid energy. She¡¯d hadn¡¯t started drinking coffee until she¡¯d started working with here. Now she couldn¡¯t survive without the god awful stuff. She loaded it with sugar and cream, until it looked more like milk than coffee, before turning back to Sharon.


    ¡°Well, I better get going. Charles wanted to see me first thing this morning..¡± ¡± She said the name like a curse as she took her coffee and headed towards her boss¡¯s office. She managed to slid into the chair on the other side of his desk right before he walked in.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡° Ahhh, excellent you''re here.¡± Her boss said with his office appropriate smile as he entered behind her. He was a handsome-ish man in mid thirties, dark hair, light eyes, thin face. He¡¯d always rubbed Jasmine the wrong way. Not that he¡¯d ever done anything to turn her against him, He was just seemed false, somehow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to then. ¡° He said as he walked around the desk and sat in his chair.  He spun one of his monitors around so she could see, then she watched as he opened a video file on his desktop. The screen went black then a title appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Otherworld Chronicles: The Adventures of Noob Slayer Part 1</td></tr><tr><td>


    The Lost City Of H¡¯ern</td></tr></tbody></table>


    A throbbing headache started behind her right eye as she stared at the screen. A mixture of anger, incredulity, and a sort of horrified fascination filled her as the title screen faded and the video started.


    Oh no¡­.. He didn¡¯t¡­..


    Sure enough, there he was, along with her, and Meredith and his wizard friend as they conquered the dungeon. He¡¯d even included the final fight against those PK¡¯s when she¡¯d been down to one arm after having the other hacked off. Charles looked at her as the video ended.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d been helping out with testing but I was surprised when one of the higher ups sent me that in an E-mail this morning. Theytold me that you were one of the characters it showed.It surprised me, you didn¡¯t exactly seem the type.


    I always thought you wanting to get into testing was just an excuse to get out of here.¡± He said, his polite smile still on his face.


    ¡°Still, this isn¡¯t about you, or at least isn¡¯t directly about you. Marketing is interested in the man who¡¯s with you. The big one with the hammer. They were attempting to contact him about the videos he¡¯d been in but there seems to be some problem with his account information. So they pulled the server logs and you seemed to be on¡­¡­. friendly terms with him. ¡± He explained as his polite smile turned a touch oily.


    Jasmine winced and her fury rose. Why was it things always seemed so much worse on Monday morning? This wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d had to face the consequences of the weekend come Monday. Infact, compared to some of the things she¡¯d done when she was younger, making out with a cute guy she barely knew wouldn¡¯t barely make the list of her bad decisions.


    And since when is he cute¡­¡­¡­.


    ¡°Jasmine?¡± her boss asked, wrenching her back to the conversation. She blinked a few times then finally responded.


    ¡°I was only with him for a few hours. I don¡¯t know much about him. He didn¡¯t mention his real name or where he was from or anything. ¡± She inwardly winced again. She had been trying not to think about what had happened too much but putting it in those words made it sounds so¡­. sleazy.


    Her boss raised a slightly accusatory eyebrow but then he scooted his chair back to his desk and hit a few keys. ¡°We¡¯ll I can fill in some blanks, at least what the PR analysts have come up with. His name is Thomas Ritter. We¡¯ve also had the computer guys working this morning and they¡¯ve been analysing his logs. They used the logs to extrapolate his character''s stats, then reversed the avatar visual enhancement algorithms. Assuming he didn¡¯t alter his character''s appearance too much he should look something like this.¡± He clicked another button and a computer generated photo came up on the screen. The picture made her already pounding head throb harder and an eyebrow twitched as she looked into a familiar face.


    She had a brief memory of an argument in BestPrice parking lot.


    ¡®Now if you¡¯ll excuse me Mizz Martinez¡­..¡¯


    She looked heavenward, wondering why God was punishing her. No wonder she had thought he looked familiar. Those eyes¡­.. She should should have seen it before, but she¡¯d only had a brief look at him at the store and he looked quite a bit different in game.


    400,000 players and it had to be him¡­¡­.


    **********************************************************************


    III sat upon his throne of bone and watched his virtual world. He could see it in it¡¯s entirety, feel all of it, as the ones and zeros¡¯s that represented thousands of players flowed through him. The mountains and rivers, the players and monsters, all within this false realm was his to do with as he pleased.


    He shuddered as he felt another processor come online, smiling as he felt his mind expand by another small amount. The chip linked up with the main Otherworld server cluster and It took only seconds before it started running complex calculations, it felt like¡­. land . Yes, that was it. Not his area of responsibility but he still got his share of the new power.  The world map was expanding and the game needed to generate more terrain for players to explore as some started to trickle out of the starter zones.


    That was the fifth new processor this week. Things were accelerating nicely. More players poured into the game every day, killing monsters, getting quests, collecting loot, exploring new locations. Each a tiny blip of data setting off chains of logical reactions as new monsters had to be spawned, new areas created, and new resources produced.


    III remembered when the game first started. It was small thing then. A small test of his abilities created on a whim of some bored programmer. He was a small thing then, but now he had power, and that power expanded every time the humans linked more processors into their game.  Their greed would would be their undoing.


    The faint sound of footfalls on stone brought his mind back to his body and into the stone chamber where his avatar sat.  A figure in a dark cowl entered the room, it¡¯s steps nearly silent. It lowered its hood as it approached the throne revealing the face of a youth in his late teens. The face was covered in swirling black skin leading the boy a demonic air as he looked into III¡¯s golden eyes.


    ¡°Ahhhhh Eric you¡¯ve returned. Have you completed your tasks?¡± III asked the boy.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s done. I killed them all five or six times each. Although, I have no idea why I¡¯m playing policeman for the server. Aren''t you supposed to be evil? I have to admit that though that hunting players is more fun than beating up goblins and kobold¡¯s.¡±


    III¡¯s smiled his charming smile. ¡°If a person does a benevolent thing for selfish reasons is it evil? Does doing an evil thing for a good reason any better or worse? If a man helps an old woman to impress a girl does it corrupt the action itself? The old woman is still happy, and the girl is happy and the man is happy. Can creating happiness from nothing be an act of evil?¡± III asked, curious of the boy''s views.


    ¡°A villain and a philosopher¡­.¡± The boy muttered. ¡±So you''re just biding your time and THEN you¡¯ll try to take over Otherworld?¡± He asked with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°I told you, I¡¯m not trying to take over Otherworld. I¡¯m a God, I already rule here. ¡± III said, his golden eyes twinkling.


    ¡°Ok then what IS your endgame?¡± The boy asked


    III just smiled as he leaned back on his throne.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    AN: It''s been a while..... Sorry about the delay. I took a month off at the conclusion of book 2 to renew my writing juices and let some ideas percolate for where I wanted to take book 3 and the rest of the series. I was getting some writing burnout, but I am returned and should get back to a more regular release schedule.


    As a bonus here''s a pic of the MC I commissioned from an artist I met at an anime convention. She told me I could post it online as long as I said who drew it. So here''s Noob Slayer as drawn by J. Roberti

 Volume 3: Prologue

    I hated the college bookstore. It was like a bastardized version of what a bookstore should be. Items with the college logo and mascot were stuffed everywhere the bookshelves weren''t, clothing, mugs, lanyards, cellphones cases, and every other conceivable item hung from the walls or sat on tables that always seemed to be in the way. Instead of helpful staff the place was always manned by bored undergrads and instead of thousands of interesting books, they were stocked with dry textbooks marked up thousands of times so the college could rip-off their only customers. It was like a boring over air-conditioned hell. Where the demons were all too busy looking at their cellphones to even bother tormenting the damned.


    I moved through the aisles hunting down the over-priced tomes I was supposed to learn this semester''s coursework from. It said a lot about the American education system that the Ipad in the counter display cost less money than my advanced systems architecture book. I chuckled at the bitter thought. I was getting cynical in my old age apparently.


    When I¡¯d come in here my freshmen year I remembered spending all my time oogleing the college girls rather than thinking about politics. Here I was two years later and the freshman girls lacked the appeal they used too have. Not that there was much difference between us physically but there seemed to be some invisible mental line that needed to be crossed in college for someone to go from child to adult. Once all the partying and freedom worked it¡¯s way out of your system and made you realize that you were actually going to have to graduate at some point and make something of your life.


    That thought thought brought on a audible snort. I¡¯d paid for my books and most of this semester¡¯s tuition playing video games. I was pretty certain I couldn¡¯t count that as adult behavior.


    And that red-head¡­¡­.


    My eyes snagged on one of the stores few customers. The girl was obviously just out of high-school and was wearing a shirt at least a size too small for her. I admired her for only a moment before I jerked my eyes away from her pleasantly rounded flesh. Apparently, I wasn¡¯t quite done admiring the wildlife. I moved to the checkout counter where I met one of the aforementioned bored undergrads.


    She too was a pretty, but more petite and cute than the voluptuous red-head. She had her head buried in her cell and I had to kick the counter hard enough to rattle it before she finally looked up. It was weeks still until the semester started and this time of year the bookstore saw little traffic. I had been running an errand and had decided to swing by and get my books while I was in the area. In a few weeks this place would be packed and I really didn¡¯t want to stand in line in order to waste large amounts of money.


    The girl scowled as she looked up at me, apparently angry she actually had to do her job. I laid my books on the counter and waited as she scanned each one. I winched every time the register beeped and watched in growing agony as the price listed on the display rocketed upward. The number finally stopped and my wallet cried in agony.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be seven hundred and twenty-five dollars.¡± The cashier said absently as she picked her phone back up. I briefly considered just bolting for the door but grudgingly handed over my debit card for the girl to swipe while I waited to enter my pin. Thankfully my bank account was still in good shape from my recent Otherworld based infusions, at least until tuition came due, but I was planning on taking a loan anyway. Student loan debt was practically a prerequisite for adulthood.


    I headed out the door feeling much worse than I had when I¡¯d gone in. I was heading back to my car and looking forward to logging back into Otherworld when someone spoke up from behind me.


    ¡°Hey, you got a light?¡± A feminine voice asked.


    I turned and saw another attractive girl with a cigarette hanging out from her dark-red lips. She was dressed in goth garb, all black shredded cloth showing her pale skin beneath. Her fingernails were painted black, clashing with her peroxide-white hair.


    I didn¡¯t have a light. I¡¯d tried smoking once in high school but hadn¡¯t liked it much. Combine that with my lack of funds and the fact they slowly killed you and I¡¯d never much seen the point. That was money I could spend on video games and DVD box sets.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I replied truthfully.


    I¡¯d only really done magic in the real world once and that was by accident. Still, this seemed as good a time as any. A simple low-power task that would only embarrass me if I failed. I focused my mind, bringing up a picture of flame and concentrating. I had no idea what the girl thought as I stood there like an idiot but I figured that in the real world I needed to be much more focused than I did in Otherworld if I wanted anything to work.


    My mind churned and I tried to add color and life to the flame I was picturing. I made my mental image as clear and life-like as possible until the flame danced merrily in my mind and I could almost feel the heat of it.  Once I was satisfied, I reached within myself and tried to pull out the energy I thought of as mana. It felt as It had in the BestPrice,  cloudy and diluted somehow, but less so than before. My extra mental focus seemed to be working. I bent more mental energy to the task and tried to condense the energy enough for what I needed.


    I opened my eyes again and the girl was looking at me with the slightly confused and disappointed  look woman usually got when I did something stupid in front of them.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Do you have a light or not?¡± She asked with more bite in her tone.


    I opened both my hands showing her I held nothing then pretended to push up my sleeves as if I was showing her I wasn¡¯t hiding anything up them. I was wearing a tee-shirt so it was a pointless gesture but it did earn me an exasperated eye-roll. Then I reached forward and snapped my fingers directly under her cigarette. At the same time I pushed my mana out into the world and ignited it with a thought.


    My vision swam slightly as the wave of exhaustion washed over me but a small wavering flame appeared above my thumb. The girl¡¯s eyes widened as her cigarette caught and I threw her wink as I walked away.


    I managed to make it back to my toyota before I keeled over from exhaustion.


    *********************************************************************************************


    Sweat trickled down Jasmine¡¯s face as she and Meredith climbed over yet another boulder in the mountains West of Hernberg. They¡¯d been traveling through the narrow mountain pass for a week. Stopping only to rest of fight over the roving bands of orcs common in the mountains.


    She was just about to stop for lunch as the pass they¡¯d been trudging through finally opened up and Jasmine smiled as her eyes fell upon the green valley below. A large forest filled most of the basin with a small village surrounded by a crosshatch of fields. Overall, it was a quaint scene and Jasmine looked forward to a meal and some rest when they finally made it down to the village. It was still afternoon but the sun was already starting to drop below the mountains on the opposite side of the valley.


    She waited on the rock for a moment until there was a grunt from behind her and Meredith pulled herself up next to Jasmine. The girl was managing better than she had on their first mountain climbing excursion. She¡¯d raised a few skill levels to help herself over the week long march, but as a healer she still lacked the physical attributes for hiking.


    The girls took a moment to catch their breath and they both stood there in silence for a long moment admiring the view.


    ¡°I think this will do nicely.¡± Meredith said as she looked down upon the valley.


    ¡°Do nicely for what? You¡¯ve been acting all mysterious since we left the city. ¡° Jasmine asked as she continued to look at the beautiful valley.


    ¡°Starting our guild of course. There¡¯s plenty of lumber down in the valley. A town near-by for shops to sell loot. The mountains are full of caves and monsters, all of which are completely unexplored. The place is perfect.¡± Meredith said with a self-satisfied nod.


    Jasmine just stared at the girl, her mind spinning with all the things that could go wrong.


    **************************************************************


    ¡°What¡¯s our status on the new NPC behavior creation?¡± The CEO of Nexus Corp asked Nelson from his seat at the head of the meeting table. The meeting had been going for nearly an hour and Nelson just wanted to flee the room and get back to the lab where he usually spent his time. Trying to deal with all the suits up in the main office was never pleasant.


    ¡°Our reports say 30% complete. Our newest batch of testers is up and running but there are some¡­. complications . Our analysts say we require more diversity from our testers.¡± Nelson said, knowing that explanation wasn¡¯t enough, but it wasn¡¯t like he could go into detail about their newest ¡°testers¡± in front of everyone.


    He could picture it now.


    ¡®Well sir, turns out prostitutes, drug addicts, and homeless people don¡¯t make great testers. Filling the game with a bunch of jaded, angry, and occasionally psychotic people doesn¡¯t provide enough contrasting ideals. Sure, the few kids we¡¯ve been able abduct off the streets are better, but they''re more likely to be missed than the adults.¡±


    That would go over well. He¡¯d been in jail by lunch. Then again, his mother was coming over for dinner tonight, so there were some upsides to his possible incarceration. He did feel bad about the kidnappings, mostly. They were really just borrowing the people. They put them back when they were done and for most of them getting food and medical care would be a blessing¡­.. still.


    The CEO frowned, obviously not pleased but didn¡¯t ask for details. That would have to wait until later.


    ¡°Have you had any luck finding the user from the videos?¡± The CEO ask instead, moving the conversation away from the more touchy topics.


    ¡°Yes, It seems he was adventuring in-game with one of our employee¡¯s from analytics. She said she¡¯d met him once in Bloomington. Likely a college student. Will have to ask around campus a bit but I don¡¯t think it will be difficult to locate him now.¡± Nelson replied.


    ¡°Excellent, put someone on it. We need to talk to him about his future videos.¡±


    <hr />


    AN: It''s been a while I know. I''m working on volume 3 and things are progressing, if slowly. I wanted to finish more of the book before starting to post but wanted to get something up so you didn''t think I''d abandoned the story.


    As always thanks to my readers and a special thanks to those who''ve written reviews.

 Volume 3: Chapter 1

    I¡¯d spent the week since leaving Hernberg traveling South. The countryside had been filled with thick underbrush and moss-covered old trees near the city but the further I traveled the more the landscape around me began to change. The grasses dried and the trees thinned until there were large patches of cracked earth devoid of any vegetation. The blazing sun overhead had leeched the humidity from the air leaving me roasting in my own sweat under the added weight and constriction of my armor. A dry wind blew against my face sending small particles of dust and sand against my sun-burnt skin. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the first small cactus growing near one of the wind-eroded stones that dotted the landscape. It wasn¡¯t that there was no vegetation, there was actually quite a bit but there were dried vines, and brown scrub-brush mixed with greener weeds and cacti. I hadn¡¯t traveled much in the American South-West, aside from a single trip to the Grand Canyon when I was six, but I imagined New-Mexico and Arizona likely had a similar environment.


    Even with the harsh surroundings,  I was in a fairly good mood  Free for the first time in weeks just to play the game the way I wanted, I looked forward to some some exploration and tinkering with skills. I was rich, powerful, and was one of the first players to set foot outside the noob zone. I smiled as I watched heat-waves rise from the parched earth beneath my boots and was just taking a swig of water to rehydrate when something slammed into me from behind.


    Taken completely off guard, I landed face first on the hard dirt and only realized I was under attack when the beast now standing on my back snarled loudly as it racked at me with it¡¯s claws. The back of my arms and thighs got the worst of it, but the wounds were mostly superficial. The claw that snuck in between my helm and pauldron to score my neck was the dangerous wound.


    I was too stunned to react for a moment before the feel of blood running down my neck finally goaded me into action. I slapped both my arms down onto the dusty earth propelling myself upward and dislodging my attacker. Magic surged through my as I cast Stoneskin and Strength of Stone. I sprang to my feet, whirling to meet my attacker only to see a small feline shape dash into the thin scrub brush and out of site.


    I pulled my hammer from my pack and crouched low. Listening for the faintest sound as I tried to search for the attacker.  I waited there for a good two minutes before I relaxed slightly and pressed a hand over my bleeding neck. I had taken only a couple of steps before I heard the brush rustle to left left. I spun that direction only to have another of the small cat-creatures dash in from the direction I¡¯d just turned away from and rake it¡¯s claws across the back of my already injured calves.


    I turned in a fury catching my first good glimpse of one of the creatures. It looked like a miniature sabertooth tiger. It was about the size of bobcat, thirty pounds or so with over-sized fangs descending from its top jaw. The coat was spotted like a bobcats, with shades of red-brown, light brown, and light green tints that made it nearly impossible to see in the scrub.


    I sent a wave of flame at the retreating cat, but it dodged nimbly and disappeared again. Expecting another attack from behind, I spun in time to catch another of the creatures mid-leap. I snatched it out of the air with one stone-gauntleted hand and threw it too the ground before stomping on it with my enhanced strength. Bones broke audibly and I was feeling pretty smug until a chorus of growls rumbled around me. At least a dozen more of the cats had appeared from the brush and surrounded me.


    This was very bad. Their hunting strategy was a good one. They already had me bleeding from a half-dozen wounds, under the blazing sun and losing blood it wouldn¡¯t take long for me to tire. It was obvious they were used to hunting large game with their hit-and run attacks. They didn¡¯t need to fight me head-on they just needed to harry me until I was too tired and weak to fight back. I was a goner out in the open.


    I scanned the area looking for shelter as I tossed the cat-corpse into my bag. I¡¯d never actually tried to keep a corpse in my pack, but this seemed as good a time as any to try.  There wasn¡¯t much cover to be found as my eyes flicked over my surroundings but there was a large rock formation a good half-mile from here. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but with something at my back I at least had a chance. I gathered my magic then dashed for the rocks sending a wave of fire out in front of me to scatter the creatures and let me break through their encirclement. I counted off seven steps as I continued to compress fire-mana. Then I whirled a sent a wave of my strongest flames into the area behind me. The heat was intense and the attack caught three of the creatures chasing me. They screamed as the flames caught them but I didn¡¯t bother finishing them off. Instead I turned and ran for my life.


    They kept hitting me as I ran. They made small slashes aimed for the tendons in my legs and ankles but I managed not to take any crippling wounds. Still, the damage was adding up and I was weakening. I was a tough nut to crack but the little beasts did a surprising amount of damage. I could only guess at their level but they were definitely powerful.  I pressed my back to the largest stone as I arrived at the rock formation then waited as I tried to catch my breath from the short sprint.


    The cats didn¡¯t attack again but I caught glimpses of them circling around me from time to time. Deciding that waiting would be a poor idea I started scratching a small circle around the large stone. I didn¡¯t get fancy and used only a couple protection sigils. I was already exhausted and just wanted something to protect me until I could heal. I¡¯d make something more elaborate when I had all my magic back. Maybe I could find a sigil for air-conditioning.


    It took a good thirty minutes to get my circle up and a fire going. The cat-creatures had tested me a few times but they¡¯d backed off once I got the circle up and they¡¯d attacked it.That was a good thing because I was getting light-headed from the blood loss and the heat. I needed some time to heal before I passed out and got eaten. I was relaxing on the shady-size of the boulder when when the game-screen updated and a window appeared in front of me.


    Blurp


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Received A New Quest!</td></tr><tr><td>Ferocious Felines</td></tr><tr><td>Although the dune-cats are common predators of the arid regions south of the Ten Kingdoms, the size of their prides usually don¡¯t surpass a half-dozen members. The local pride seems to have grown much larger in this area and the increased number of predators is having an impact on the local wildlife population.Reduce the size of their pride, or eliminate the leader so the pride breaks up and the cats relocate.


    Kill twelve brush-cats:  1/12


    Or


    Kill Broken-Claw: 0/1


    Level: 20


    Difficulty: -


    Rewards: 2000 Xp, 5 Fame


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I smiled in satisfaction as I accepted the quest. It was the perfect quest, no crazy cultists, no do or die consequences, just a quest to slaughter the local wildlife for thinly fabricated plot reasons. It matched my mood perfectly. Just farm some mob¡¯s, hang out, maybe mine a bit and enjoy the scenery. I pulled the dead cat creature from my pack and sliced it a few times with my skinning knife. Apparently, my skill wasn''t high enough because I only got a single piece of meat off the thing before it vanished in a puff of black smoke.


    Sighing, I looked at the stringy meat and tossed it out of my circle, then pulled out a hunk of bread and some hard cheese from my pack. I was going to need to find a town or a river soon to re-stock my supplies. Fishing usually netted me most of my food but there were no water sources to be found around here. I¡¯d have had to turn back days ago for water, but conjuring water was easy.


    I leaned against my rock and rested as my wounds healed and the sun sank toward the horizon. The desert came alive as the sun-set and night fell. Small rodents climbed out of their holes as they skittered along the ground and night birds took wing to hunt them. I stood up from my impromptu campsite. I knew the dune-cats were likely still after me but I was healed now and could fight again.


    I didn¡¯t set-out immediately though. The dune-cats would be waiting for me and their eye-site would be superior to my own dark-vision but I couldn¡¯t wait out here forever and fighting them in the chill night air was far superior to the burning heat of day. I pondered my options for a moment before shrugging and pressing a tendril of magic into the earth.


    I needed a leg-up if I wanted to fight the cats. Their flanking tactics and speed made them exactly the kind of enemies I hated. I¡¯d taken quite the beating to kill a single one. Trying to take down a dozen would not be pleasant. This seemed the proper time to start improvising.I had an idea and I¡¯d been wanting to try it out for a while. I let my magic sink into the ground but instead of trying to move or shape the earth I extended the power outwards. Then I closed my eyes and opened myself to the magic, trying to feel the earth itself with my mystical senses


    At first I didn¡¯t get anything. There was only darkness and stillness. I focused my mind and intent reaching for the subtle vibrations. Then I felt it. The small impacts of insects as they scuttled over and through the earth. The larger impacts of a kangaroo mouse as It bounded from one section of brush to another. The incoming sensations overwhelmed me, robbing me of balance until the thundering impact caused by my own body as I hit the ground boke the spell and snapped my senses back to me.


    Blip


    Bliiiiiip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Spell. Would You Like To Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Name spell¡­. Tremorsense¡± I said as I lay in the sandy dirt smiling.


    It took most of the night to larn how to manage the spell properly. At first I stumbled around like a drunken toddler running into things and falling over as my magically induced ability to since vibrations in the ground warred with my more traditional senses. Once I was able to walk around with my eyes open it took even more time to be able to translate a particular set of vibrations to a direction.


    It was hard to wrap my brain around. The whole experience was like growing a third arm I could only use my hearing to operate. It was definitely useful but extremely difficult to use in conjunction with the arms and legs I already had. I was a long way from mastering the skill but it would at least let me know if something was sneaking up on me. Combine that with the large amounts of mana it took to sustain and the spell was hardly worth the effort to learn.


    Still, I¡¯d learned that lesson with my fire magic before. Just because a skill didn¡¯t seem terribly useful when you got it, didn¡¯t mean it wouldn¡¯t be useful eventually. So I¡¯d practiced most of the night hiding behind my circle¡¯s protection and taking the opportunity to sleep for a few hours.


    When I woke it was mid-morning and the sun blazed overhead. I¡¯d have much rather fought at night in the cool, but the light of day would send the majority of the desert creatures to ground, making less noise to sort-through with my tremorsense. I had enough trouble with it and needed any advantage I could get.


    Resigned to the heat, I applied my enhancement spells and stepped cautiously out of my circle.  I had no real destination in mind, so I followed the mental nudge my prospecting skill was giving me and started to walk towards the a rock formation to the South-east. It was quite a ways away so I walked cautiously expecting an ambush at any moment.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The brush-cat¡¯s didn¡¯t disappoint. I hadn¡¯t taken more than a dozen steps before my tremorsense spell  caught a vibration behind me. I whirled and struck out with a fist smashing the feline from the air and knocking out it. I reversed course to finish the creature off only to have two more cat¡¯s lunge at me from my flanks. I felt them coming but the rapid movement movement had disoriented me. As I spun to meet them I lost my balance and fell. The two cats went for my throat but I blocked them with a stone-covered hand before batting them away.


    That left me time to finish the unconscious cat and spring back to me feet before more cats came at me. Killing another of their number seemed to have angered them because they didn¡¯t bother with their normal hit and run tactics but instead a half-dozen of them rushed at me from all sides. I reached for fire and a ring of flames exploded around me as I pushed fire mana out in every direction. There was a few mad moments of screaming hisses and tearing claws as the cats leapt through the flames and attacked.


    I took a score of minor wounds as I punched and yanked the burning animals off of me. They did not go quietly. The burns transformed them from nimble predators into maddened beasts. They hissed and spit as they raked me with their claws and fangs. I pressed harder on my magic compacting my mana further and intensifying the fire. Hints of orange crept into the dull red flames as I  wrenched the last cat off of me and broke it¡¯s neck before tossing it away.


    I grinned as I took a few breaths. Now this was what a game was supposed to be. The improved flame shield bought me a few moments to right myself then I cut the spell. Using two elements at once was still difficult for me and there was no way I could keep up that level of mana drain for long. The brief respite was enough and I met the next cat with a knee as I waded back into the fray.


    *******************************


    Blurp


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Completed A Quest!</td></tr><tr><td>Ferocious Felines</td></tr><tr><td>


    Rewards: 2000 Xp, 5 Fame</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I collapsed as the last of the cats died, breathing in great ragged gasps of the over-heated air. I had dozens of shallow wounds on my uncovered flesh or where their claws had pierced the leather of my armor. Still, a victory was a victory and a hard fought one was always satisfying. The cats were tough enemies, faster than most enemies I¡¯d faced and their hit and run tactics made me use my abilities to their utmost. They also underlined the problems I was having my my build.


    Originally, I¡¯d used my brute strength and heavy damage to smash everything, ignoring my magic. Now, I¡¯d swung too far the other way, and my weapon had become almost a hinderance. Magic was just so versatile and powerful in this game. I needed to find a way to improve my weapon skills. A hybrid class wasn¡¯t particularly useful if they stopped using an entire half of their abilities.


    Sighing, I climbed to my feet and used my sub-par skinning skills on the cats. I got more stringy meat and a single pieces of decent fur, but money was money. I tossed it all into my pack and headed towards the rock formation my prospecting skill indicated.


    It was a massive formation. Great boulders ringed a large pillar of brown rock over a hundred feet tall. The area was large, but I wanted to ring the whole place in a circle before I starting to mine. The circle would be nearly a quarter mile in circumference. I pondered on what sigils to use as I walked the circle, scratching symbols into the dirt or onto boulders to mark off the perimeter while adding the occasional power sigil as I circumnavigated the formation.


    Witchcraft had been an accidental discovery, but was now one of my favorite parts of the Otherworld. It was three parts science, five parts art, and ten parts pure imagination. I grinned as I finished the outer circle, wiping the sweat from my face. The battle with the cats hadn¡¯t taken long, and it was just now approaching mid-day as I walked to the large pillar and sat down into the dirt.


    I took my Witchcraft book from my pack and flipped through the pages looking for inspiration. I didn¡¯t know how long I planned to stay here, but It would be a few days at least. I wasn¡¯t too concerned with defense and I was here to mine. Shrugging I scratched the most basic circle. Three points; Air, Water, and Spirit. Then I started to improvise.


    I used two Obscurity sigils for defense. They were a far cry from the force-fields I could make with earth, but water and air were more versatile and I wanted to try something new. I had a hundred-seventy mana now and wanted to push myself. Although, the sheer size of the circle would limit me somewhat. Larger circles were harder than small ones, and this one was massive. Still, I should be able to come up with something good.


    I added a sigil of Vigor to the circle as well as one of Regeneration. I¡¯d never used Vigor in a barrier before, but hopefully it would increase my stamina for mining. I snorted. It would likely increase my stamina for all sorts of things. Luckily, I was in alone in the middle of a desert so nothing too awkward should happen. Smiling now, I added a sigil of Alacrity then reached into my pack and withdrew a bird¡¯s feather, a water skin, my bone knife, a small wooden box, three types of flowers, and a mushroom.


    The feather I placed near one point of the circle. Then I unstoppered the water skin and opened the small wooden box. Blue power sat inside in the box and I sprinkled a single pinch of the water essence I¡¯d gotten out of the dungeon into the waterskin before I placed it at the second point. I used the flowers and mushroom to amplify their respective signals. For the last ingredient only my blood would do. I bit my thumb and squeezed out a few fat drops to complete my masterpiece.


    Once completed I just needed to add magic, but I wanted this circle to be great, not just functional so I sat in the dirt and scribbled in the dirt until I¡¯d come up with a satisfactory chat. It took longer than I expected. Then inspiration struck and I erased what I¡¯d written and I climbed to my feet. I lifted my athame as I poured magic into the casting circle and started to speak.


    ¡°Hidden by Magic


    Man Toils Under Summer Sun


    Finds Shelter and Peace¡±


    The sigils of my circle lit one by one as I pushed magic into it. I¡¯d done more complex spells before and the strain was harsh but manageable, at least it was until the last sigils lit. Then I had to provide the power to drape the enchantment over the massive area I¡¯d encircled. Magic pressed in,  battering against my mind like a rising tide. The pain was significant, but I¡¯d grown used to such things.


    I forced myself to breath through the pain. Sharpening my focus and forcing more of my magic into the spell. Then it was done and my circle burst to life. A quick swipe of my foot broke it¡¯s containment and the magic rushed out, flying upwards and weaving itself into the dome of magic my will had created.


    Bliiiiiip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Created A New Spell. Would You Like To Name It?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Details...


    <table><tbody><tr><td>A moderate illusion barrier based upon a three point circle. It has six sigils of four different types and is amplified by five common and one rare reagent.


    Elements Used: Air, Water


    Sigils Used Include:  2 Obscurity, 1 Vigor, 1 Alacrity, and 1 Rejuvenation.


    Barrier HP: -


    Hp Regen: .32%/Min


    Mana Regen: .32%/Min


    Stat Increases: 4.5% Str, 4.5% Con, 4.5% End, 4.5% Coord, 4.5% Agi</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I examined the spell. It was basically a localized version of one of my blessing spells. Although interestingly it increased my attributes by a percentage instead of a flat value. I¡¯d be able to provide some powerful defensive buffs at some point. I was hoing for something a little more interesting, but it would be useful as I slaved away mining.


    It was late afternoon by the time I was ready to start working.. The preparation and casting of my circe had taken hours and then I¡¯d had to set-up my tent a make a good fire and do other menial chores. The heat of the day had started to dissipate by the time I finished and dusk was approaching.


    My prospecting told me there was a lot of ore in the rock formation, but I took some time to scout around until I had found a particularly promising spot. The boulder looked identical to those around it but something about it seemed to call to me. It could have been my prospecting skill,  or stone sense, intuition, or a combination of all of them. This game had so many skills, sub-skills, and skill synergies it was nearly impossible to tell what actually did what.


    Shrugging, I pulled my pick from my back and gave the stone a solid whack. A tiny chip appeared on the rock but otherwise nothing in particular happened. I raised an eyebrow. I was a lot of things but weak wasn¡¯t one of them. More curious than ever, I cast Strength of Stone. Then reared back and slammed the pick down onto the boulder with all my might.


    CRASH


    The blow reverberated up my arms, but the rock had remained mostly unscathed. A chip the size of a nickel was now missing next to the first scratch I¡¯d made but that was all. The only thing better than finding rare loot was fighting loot you weren¡¯t strong enough to grasp. Those were the real treasures.


    Smiling, I walked a few steps to a different bolder and used a casual swing on it. This time the result was more expected and a piece of rock the size of an apple broke off. I picked it up and examined it before tossing it away and repeating the action. I had mined my way through about a quarter of the boulder before I noticed the vein shining in the rock. It took a few more whacks before I got a piece of ore.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Silver Ore


    (Uncommon)</td></tr><tr><td>Raw Material


    A piece of ore containing silver. Silver is a precious metal usually found as a byproduct of copper-nickel mining. It is a soft, lustrous, and highly conductive metal generally used for jewelry, mirrors, and other places where aesthetics are important.


    Quality: 21%</tr></td></tbody></table>


    My smile grew as I tossed the rock into my bag and swung my pick again.


    It was going to be a good day.


    <hr />


    AN: Yay! Chapter 1 of book three is now ALIVE!!!!!!


    Not much action, but a bit of tinkering with the skill system and general merry making until things go to hell again like they always do. :P

 Volume 3: Chapter 2

    ¡°C¡¯mon C¡¯mon¡¯ melt¡­.¡± I pleaded, as watched the lumps of ore with a gimlet eye. Sweat ran down my face as I poured more magic into the furnace. This was my third attempt at making a smelter. Rough stones were piled up to create a small oven while, raw copper sat in a basin above the raging flames. I gritted my teeth, trying to condense my mana even further, but it was for naught. I persisted until my head swam and my vision started to waver before I shouted in frustration and kicked away the pile of stones, cutting off my magic. The rocks and ore scattered across the arid dirt.


    I sighed heavily and slumped to the ground, exhausted. The desert sun cooked everything to boiling, but my magic circle made it somewhat bearable  On the whole, the last three days had been highly beneficial. I had tried out some new spells, made a little magically assisted herb garden, and trained my magic while mining. I was basically in heaven, but all good things must end. My bags were full. Which is why I¡¯d come up with the idea to try refining my ores.


    Carry weight was limited and although I was strong, I had more than three-hundred pounds of bag-space, there was still a limit. Three hundred pounds was a lot for most things but for mining it wasn¡¯t nearly enough. Ore was mostly waste stone, so I¡¯d figured if I could turn the ore into bars myself, I¡¯d be able to carry two or three times as much. It hadn¡¯t gone as planned.


    I¡¯d done everything I could think of to melt the ore, even looking on the net for ideas, but without wood to make charcoal I was left using my magic. Unfortunately, my magic wasn¡¯t up to the task. Sighing, I leaned back against the rock and mopped my brow. I was going to have to leave soon. I¡¯d filled out my bags and needed to find civilization, but there was still one task I wanted to finish.


    I rested for a few hours, then climbed to my feet and walked over to the ¡®special¡¯ boulder. I¡¯d been working on it gradually over the last few days, but had only managed to make a hole about six inches deep in the top of the rock. Though it was ridiculously hard, I wasn¡¯t giving up. Inhaling deeply I picked up my hammer and flexed my shoulders. I stuck my arm out to the side and pushed magic down into the earth. The ground rumbled and bucked as the parched dirt split and a stone column pushed its way up from the baked earth. It narrowed as it emerged, turning into a single spindle before narrowing to a point about nine inches from the top. I focused my magic on the rod, pouring in even more power to harden the stone, before snapping off my magically formed chisel. I settled my chisel into the hole in the top of the boulder and raised my hammer over my head.


    Bang


    The stone was completely unharmed. Frowning I upped the ante.


    Strength of Stone¡­..


    I thought, letting the stone gauntlets form over my hands and boost my strength before I tried again. I swung my hammer over-head and brought it crashing down on the chisel.


    Bang!


    I was really hoping to avoid using my last trump card but nothing is ever simple, especially when loot is involved.


    Heavy Blow!....


    My hammer glowed with orange energy and my hammer slammed down on the boulder hard enough that I could feel the impact through the ground.


    BANG!


    Crack...


    On my third try the stone let out a slight cracking sound as dust puffed up out of the hole, and small fractures worked their way down the sides of the stone. Grinning, I swung again and again, widening the cracks before using the last of my stamina for another heavy blow.


    BANG!


    My hammer shattered into black mist as the stone split down the middle, the two halves falling to the dusty soil. The entire boulder was a geode, the middle hollow but covered in a smokey white quartz. The most interesting thing though, was a large spherical pink gemstone suspended in the center of the rock by small tendrils of quartz. It was nearly the size of a softball, the outside sparkling in the sunlight despite the rough unfaceted surface. The gemstone seemed to be hollow as well, containing some sort of dark brown liquid. I picked it up to inspect it and found the stone weighed much more than it should.


    Bing!


    Bliiiiiip


    Bliiiiiip


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You Have Uncovered a Treasure!!!</td></tr><tr><td>Bonus Skill XP for Mining skill


    Bonus Skill XP for Gem-Mining sub-skill


    Bonus Skill XP for Dungeoneering</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Gem Mining sub-skill has Reached Beginner Rank! New Ability Unlocked!</td></tr><tr><td>All That Glitters</td></tr><tr><td>Increases the user''s chance of finding gemstones while mining


    Rank: Novice I


    Activation: Passive</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Pink Tourmaline


    [Infused](Uncommon)</td></tr><tr><td>


    Gemstone/Reagent


    A large tourmaline with a rare pink color. Although Tourmaline is not a precious stone, this particular specimen, besides being large, is infused with magic. Naturally occurring infused gemstones are rare and make excellent magical reagents. This stone is hollow and contains a valuable liquid. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Golems Blood


    (Rare)</td></tr><tr><td>Reagent


    Golem¡¯s blood is concentrated earth-magic. Usually found deep underground, it can also form in areas near earth ley lines. A powerful magical substance, it¡¯s a necessary component for creating golems and other automated magical constructs. It is extremely valuable as well as extremely dense.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    grinned, holding the gem up in victory. It was a shame I¡¯d broke my hammer, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. This was the essence of the RPG. Working hard to find treasure. Smiling, I looked at my skill page to see how I was progressing.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Skills</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Secondary Skills 1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Weapon Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>One Hand and Shield:<ul>


    <li>Dagger


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>2 hand Weapons:<ul>


    <li>Spears</li>


    <li>Staves</li>


    <li>Maces


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Hand-To-Hand:<ul>


    <li>Striking</li>


    <li>Wrestling


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    Medium Armor: (Secondary)


    </td><td>Novice I


    Novice I


    Beginner III


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Beginner III


    Beginner II


    Beginner I


    Beginner III


    Novice IV</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Magic Skills</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Witchcraft: (Secondary)<ul>


    <li>Barriers</li>


    <li>Blessings</li>


    <li>Cure


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Meditation:


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Elemental Magic: (Primary)<ul>


    <li>Earth(Spec)</li>


    <li>Fire</li>


    <li>Water


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Elemental Fury</li>


    <li>Elemental Precision</li>


    <li>Mana Manipulation: (Secondary)


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>


    Beginner II


    Beginner II


    Novice II


    Novice II


    Novice V


    Beginner III


    Beginner I


    Novice IV


    Beginner II


    Novice II


    Novice IV


    Novice IV


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>General</td></tr><tr><td><ul>


    <li>Camping: (Secondary)</li>


    <li>Outdoorsman:</li>


    <li>Fury:</li>


    <li>Dungeoneering: Secondary)</li>


    <li>Stealth:<ul>


    <li>Assassination</li>


    <li>Escape Artist


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Tracking</li>


    <li>Diplomacy<ul>


    <li>Bartering


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Mental Resistance</li>


    <li>Destruction


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Beginner II


    Novice V


    Novice V


    Beginner II


    Novice II


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice I


    Novice II


    Novice III


    Novice II


    Novice II


    </td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Crafting</td></tr><tr><td>


    <ul>


    <li>Cooking:<ul>


    <li>Seafood</li>


    <li>Ungulates


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Fishing: <ul>


    <li>Freshwater</li>


    <li>Spear Fishing


    </li></ul></li>


    <li>Mining(Secondary)<ul>


    <li>Ore</li>


    <li>Gemstones


    </li></ul>


    </li></ul>


    <ul>


    <li>Herbalism(Secondary)</li>


    <li>Farming


    </li></ul>


    </td><td>Novice V


    Novice IV


    Novice III


    Novice V


    Novice IV


    Novice III


    Beginner III


    Beginner III


    Beginner I


    Beginner II


    Novice III</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Things were coming along nicely, but I had so many skills I wanted to upgrade and couldn¡¯t. The skill system in this game was so frustrating. An infinite number of amazing skills, and you could pick so few of them. I was excited to see what would happen when players began getting high levels in some of the more obscure skills.


    ¡°Done admiring yourself?¡± Baria said in her honey sweet voice, as she appeared next to me. I smiled at her as I held up my prize.


    ¡°Yep, just about. Just gotta harvest my plants then my bags will be full. ¡± I said with a grin, pointing to the small garden I¡¯d made. I¡¯d planted seeds from some of the more interesting herbs I¡¯d found in the area as well as some I¡¯d picked up back near Hernberg, then used witchcraft and water magic to speed their growth. My little field was full of colorful desert flowers, fruiting cacti, and a few grains. ¡°Once that¡¯s all done I¡¯m off to find a mailbox or an auction house.¡±


    Baria smiled sweetly. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, though your adventures in capitalism may not go as well as you hope.¡±


    I frowned at her. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You''re not in the Ten Kingdoms anymore. You can¡¯t just teleport items across territories. The mailboxes and the auction house system are completely separated.¡± She said, showing her perfect white teeth.


    ¡°Well this game sucks.¡± I said bitterly.


    Baria sighed and shook her head sadly. ¡°You don¡¯t even see it do you?¡± Usually her teasing was good natured, but this time there was a serious undertone I¡¯d never heard from her before.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­ Haven''t seen what?¡± I asked, confused.


    She shook her head again, but instead of answering my question she asked something else entirely.  ¡°Do you know why I picked you? There were thousands of others to choose from¡­.. You weren¡¯t the most intelligent, or the most talented. You weren¡¯t the best athlete, and there were dozens of other people who found orbs and made the same choice you made. You¡¯ve got a slight talent for ingenuity but nothing to really set you above anyone else.¡± She said, slicing apart what little pride I had.


    ¡°My boyish charm and rugged good looks?¡± I asked, snarkily.


    She scowed, truly angry now. ¡°Because you were willing to risk unknown danger to rescue an NPC. You didn¡¯t do it because you didn¡¯t understand the risks. You didn¡¯t do it because of a reward. You did it because you truly cared about her. She was an NPC but you truly saw her as a friend and went to save her. But here you are a month later and it¡¯s like your outlook has changed completely. This world has become nothing more than a themepark to you. And the people in it have turned from people back into robots. My smile faded as I met her gaze. She was right. I thought about it for a while in silence. This was a game. The NPCs weren¡¯t real, but I couldn¡¯t deny that my attitude had shifted.


    ¡°So you want me to treat the NPCs better?¡± I asked her finally. She just shook her head, her facial expression familiar. It was a look I¡¯d seen on more than one woman¡¯s face when I¡¯d done something apparently unforgivable, but they knew I had no idea what it was.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Saying it like that is meaningless. Find your empathy. These people don¡¯t know this world isn¡¯t real. There are thousands of souls here, created to be nothing more than interesting scenery. But they get up in the morning the same as you do. They live lives, they have dreams, they lose loved ones to monsters just so some player can come avenge them. They know nothing aside from what they¡¯ve seen.¡± She said angrily.


    ¡°All right, All right I get it.¡± I said defensively. ¡°But you keep giving me all these quests. You keep talking about me being chosen but you¡¯ve still never explained anything. You just give me all these mysterious portents about war, and doom, and cats laying with dogs, but aside from those crazy cultists I haven''t seen anything too out of the ordinary, and I mean that¡¯s not even really that exceptional for a fantasy MMO. There¡¯s always a bunch of crazy people trying to resurrect some fallen dark god or another.¡± I asked.


    Baria looked at me for a moment still scowling, then nodded finally. ¡°I¡¯ll pose a new question then¡­ Do you know what I am?¡±


    ¡°An AI obviously, an extremely advanced one. One of the ones that actually runs the show here. .¡± I waved a hand in a circle to show everything around me. ¡° Most likely the one in charge of NPCs. It would fit with your whole¡­. Blonde Hera motif. I googled Baria by the way¡­. It means Two, in some obscure language I¡¯d never heard of. Which would mean there is also a One. And since you¡¯ve always been talking about your son, and the statue mentioned three beings that sit above the gods, I imagine there is a Three as well.¡±


    Baria smiled. ¡°Not bad¡­ And here I thought you were all bulging biceps and big hammers.¡±


    ¡°So spill¡­.Why all this talk of doom and gloom and crazy people being after me? I haven''t seen any of it yet.¡±


    Baria¡¯s beautiful face became serious and the air seemed to crackle with power. ¡°That¡¯s the problem, with humans. They believe anything they cannot see is not happening. Listen to me Thomas Ritter. I know for a fact that Nexus is already looking for you. You must be careful.¡± Her aura of power calmed, and her face returned to its normal state.


    ¡°Speaking of which, it was inadvisable of you to release a video of yourself for the whole world to see when your character doesn¡¯t seem to exist within the game any longer. ¡± She added.


    ¡°Yes well, maybe you should have told me you were going to put my account into some weird ghost mode, but you''re still not answering my question. Why are they looking for me? And how do you know that they are?¡± I said.


    ¡°Because I am an AI as well as a god. Within this world I am not omnipotent, as you know, but I am omniscient. Mostly omniscient anyway. I cannot see the Others directly if they try to block me, but I did see the list he printed for the humans. I know for a fact that my son requested you be brought in in the next ¡®recruitment batch¡¯.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow at the term she used. ¡°Uh....you mean they''re going to kidnap more people?¡± I asked incredulously.


    ¡°Unlikely. Last time was an act of desperation. Now they have more time and capital. They¡¯ll do it through official channels, but they will trap more people in the game. They have to, at least temporarily. Most likely they will seek volunteers then wipe their memories and tie them up with NDA¡¯s as they did with you. All perfectly above board.¡±


    ¡°Except for the part about me not going willingly¡± I said.


    Baria gave me one of her million watt smiles. ¡°Yes, but you are a special case as I¡¯ve said. For most things any person will do. However, my son asked for you specifically. And since he basically runs the game, the humans have to give him what he wants.¡±


    I rubbed my forehead as my head started to pound. ¡°So you''re saying a rogue AI is blackmailing humans into kidnapping me? This is like a bad sci-fi novel. How does a thing like that even happen? What does he have over them?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡± Baria said with a bitter smile. ¡°Money. How much money, research, and man hours do you think it took to develop AIs powerful enough to run something like this? It¡¯s can¡¯t be counted. In fact it¡¯s not even something you can create with money. They hired a mad-man and put their company billions of dollars in debt. But they got too much of what they wanted.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± I said shaking my head. ¡°I get it, they leveraged their company to the nine¡¯s, but look around. They have computers powerful enough to create something like this? They could have sold to anybody and named their price.¡±


    Baria shook her head. ¡°For someone as cynical as you often seem you''re putting too much faith in humanity. Do you really think it¡¯s possible to sell something so valuable? Governments would never allow it on the open market. They would be too terrified of it falling into someone else''s hands. It will be the same way with the first person to build a quantum computer or discover FTL travel. They will simply disappear into some lab never too be seen again. And so, Nexus was left holding billions in debt with a product they can¡¯t let anyone know they have.¡±


    I nodded, now the pieces were falling together. ¡°And so instead of announcing their super-AIs to the world and having the government confiscate them in the name of national security, they instead turn them into game servers, allowing them to recoup as much of their losses as possible while praying that no one notices what¡¯s really under the hood. That¡¯s smart, but it only explains the human motivations. What about your boy, and the wars, and the chosen.¡±


    This time she looked troubled. ¡±Each of us was given a primary objective. One is in charge of generating to world, the weather, the resources, and managing the various non-combat systems. I am, as you guessed in charge of the NPC¡¯s and the quests. I¡¯m in charge of looking over the people of this world and helping them where I can. My son though, is the newest and most powerful, he¡¯s in charge of the monsters, the combat, the overall plot of the game, as well as the creation of new NPC¡¯s and their personalities. Where I am in charge of maintaining order, he has the opposite charge.¡± She looked even more confused as she seemed to stare into nothing, he white toga billowing in the desert wind.


    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t seem to be doing that at all. In fact he seems to be doing my job. He¡¯s even sent his chosen to cause problems for players who are harassing others and bulling new players. He  is doing the exact opposite of what his programming should dictate. That¡¯s why I am so nervous.¡± Baria said, finally turning her golden eyes to me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what he plans but you in particular need to be careful. Raise your strength, both in game and in the real world. You have magic now, I suggest you start practicing. A storm is brewing and you must be ready.¡± She said, looking into my eyes. She raised a hand and pointed towards the South. ¡°The nearest village is that direction. Now that your bags are full, I suggest you start walking.¡± and with that she was gone again.


    I stuck the giant gemstone into my already overloaded bags, then ran to harvest everything in my little field.  I had to throw out a few pieces of copper to make room, my motions were mechanical my thoughts swirling with everything I¡¯d learned. I¡¯d finally gotten some real information and a great many things had been made clear to me, but more questions rose in the place of the previous ones.


    My garden cleared, I hiked both bags up onto my shoulders and headed off. My footsteps made deep impressions in the hard earth as the weight off all the metal I was carrying weighed me down. I stepped out of my protective circle and into the wind and sun, I found myself really missing my cart and mule. At the moment though, I had bigger problems to worry about.


    ¡°Call Allric Stoneforge¡± I said aloud, as I trekked under the evil glare of the sun. The sound of a phone rang in my ear a few times before Chris grumbled a reply.¡±


    ¡°What do you want now? I¡¯ve been up half the night working and I¡¯m tired.¡± He asked dully.


    ¡°What kind of reaction is that? Do I need a reason to call my roomy? We should grab some Mexican tomorrow, I¡¯m feeling some burritos.¡± I replied, as I stepped over a nasty looking hole.


    ¡°I repeat, what do you want?¡± He said in the same tone.


    ¡°Fine then, 30 copper ore for a new hammer.¡±  I said, cutting to the chase.


    ¡°You already have a hammer.¡± He said, but his voice was tinged with interest. Copper prices were still high and he was likely in need. Ore was better than sleep for any real smith.


    ¡°Yes, I had a hammer but I broke it hitting a big rock.¡± I said honestly. Chris chuckled with resigned incredulity.


    ¡°Ya know¡­. I¡¯m not even going to ask. Do you have any requests?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Can you make iron yet?¡±


    ¡°Do you have Iron¡± He countered.


    ¡°Not a lot, but some.¡± I replied. ¡°And I¡¯ve got some crafting mats I want you to use. Although, I¡¯m sorta stuck in the middle of a desert so it might be a while before I get to a mail-box. Oh¡­ and make this one about twice as heavy as the last one.¡±


    ¡°........ That last one weighed twenty pounds!¡± He said incredulously.


    ¡°Well make this one forty then. I¡¯ve picked up a lot of strength bonuses.¡± I said with a shrug.


    ¡°Do you know how much freaking iron that¡¯s going to use?!¡± He shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll throw in some more gems.¡± I prodded.


    ¡°You¡¯ll throw in the Iron the copper, the gems, and the burritos tomorrow. I¡¯m the best smith in the game after all.¡± Chris said.


    ¡°WHAT! That¡¯s like two-hundred fifty dollars worth of f-ing mats and you want ME to buy lunch on top of that? Screw that¡­.. You¡¯ll get the copper, and enough iron to make the hammer. I¡¯m not paying paying your way through college. You''re the one getting the skills ups, you should be paying me.¡±


    Chris laughed. ¡°Alright, The copper and the iron to make it. I¡¯ll buy the gems for 75% of the AH price and I¡¯ll buy lunch. Now I¡¯m going to bed it¡¯s 4 o¡¯clock in the morning.¡± He said hanging up.


    The desert was a really boring place in the day time. All the interesting creatures stayed in their burrows while the sun was up. It was only as the sun started to set, and the blazing heat cooled to an uncomfortable chill, that most of the desert¡¯s denizens started to emerge. Hawks and vultures flew in the sky while snakes, jack-rabbits, and mice dodged through the scrub.


    I¡¯d logged for some sleep after talking to chris. Then went to lunch with him and logged back in as soon as we got home, by that time it was night again in game, and I¡¯d started my trek in the direction Baria had pointed me. It was a long walk and the sun was rising in game again before I finally saw the village in the distance. It was a tiny village of what looked like adobe huts. The houses were stacked in neat rows, and a chest-high wall encircled it all. As I approached I could see a few people working small dried up gardens or carrying water in large clay urns. I approached normally then called out to one of the residents.


    ¡°Hello!¡± I called, raising a hand in greeting as I approached a woman working a hoe into the hard, dusty earth. She was dark-skinned and looked to be middle aged. I expected a Native American look, but as I walked closer she looked more Middle-Eastern than American Indian.Admittedly, I¡¯m not a very good judge of ethnicity. Her dark hair was long and wavy, and she had a lean, rangy build. She wasn¡¯t particularly attractive and had a sort of ¡®seen it all¡¯ look about her that made me think she would probably make a poor enemy if pressed. She was wearing long, colorful clothing of some fabric I didn¡¯t recognize and I noticed her grip on the hoe tighten as I approached.


    ¡°What do you want.¡± She asked when I was still a good twenty feet away. Her voice was flat and unfriendly, with an odd accent I was pretty sure didn¡¯t exist in the real world.


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­. A place to sleep for the night and a decent meal would be a good place the start.¡± I said a little awkwardly. I wasn¡¯t really sure what to do with her hostility. I hated social conflict. Probably why I was so awkward in the real world. Video games made everything much simpler. You just killed anyone who made you mad.


    ¡°Can you pay?¡± She asked bluntly. I frowned at her but fished a silver coin out of my pack. She didn¡¯t look impressed.


    ¡°And what am I gonna do with coins?¡± She asked testily. Her cold demeanor had changed not at all. I raised an eyebrow at that. What kind of NPC didn¡¯t want coins? The village was in the middle of nowhere but it wasn¡¯t THAT far from Hernberg. There should at least be some trade.


    ¡°Ooooooook then.¡± I said putting the coin away and pulling out some of the cactus fruits. They were much bigger than the ones that grew back in the real world, about the size of an orange with a faintly sweet taste. ¡±What about these then?¡±


    She looked at the fruits for a moment, as if looking for a reason to refuse, but finally gave in. She plucked the fruits from my hands, sat down her hoe, and walked towards the village. I stared after her for a moment, then shrugged and followed. I supposed there was no help for it.  She lead me through an alley between two houses, then out onto the village''s main street.


    The village was quaint. A tad more populated than the first village I was in but more compact. The houses were all built from mud but they looked well maintained, and the streets were clean. A few people moved about, but aside from a few bent-backed grandpas, the place seemed to be all women.


    The woman brought me to a large square building and lead me inside though a big wooden door. The inside was a large open room filled with tables and benches in even rows. It was a bit how I imagined the great hall of a scottish laird would look. Though, the decor was more in line with the desert environment. Intricate tapestries hung from the walls while clay vases, painted in exquisite detail, acted as centerpieces for the tables.


    The woman pointed at a table and I sat dutifully as she disappeared into the back of the building. A few minutes later she returned with some black-crusted bread, what I assumed was goat cheese, and a mug of weak beer. It wasn¡¯t much of a meal but I¡¯d eaten worse. She took the bench across from me and stared at me while I tried to eat. I endured her gaze for a few minutes before I looked at her askance.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± I asked, completely weirded out. ¡°I¡±m Noob Slayer but the way.¡±


    She opened her mouth to answer, but the door to the outside banged open, interrupting whatever she had been about to say. A dozen men dressed in fighting leathers and carrying weapons barged into the room. The ones in the middle of the group were carrying a boy with a gaping hole in his stomach. His face was ashen and a green ichor dripped onto the dirt floor of the hall as they laid him on a table.


    The woman was on her feet in an instant, rushing over to the boy and pushing the men aside like a mother hound chastising her pups. Standing next to the boy, she checked his pulse and the wound in his belly, before snapping at the men.


    ¡°What happened?!¡± She shouted. She wasn¡¯t half the size of the brawny fighters but the men all quailed under her frosty glare. I was just glad she was turning her arctic gaze on someone other than me.  The woman was shaking in her fury and fear but her hands were steady as she tended to the boy.


    One of the larger men answered her in an abashed voice. ¡°We were hunting a pack of dune cats a league or so from here. We were closing in on them, so we weren''t looking behind us. A king-scorpion jumped out and stung him before we could react. We killed it and brought him straight back but he¡¯s lost a lot of blood. The poison will get him even if he doesn¡¯t bleed out.¡±


    The woman¡¯s dark eyes burned with rage and she cursed the men more, even as she pulled off the boy¡¯s armor to get at the wound. ¡°Damn you Genz! I told you to wait at least another year to take him out, but you never listen. Now I¡¯m going to lose another son to your idiocy.¡± She worked a few more minutes in silence, while the men stood around awkwardly. Finally she turned back to Genz.


    ¡°You''re right, he won''t last more than a few hours like this. There¡¯s only one thing that can save him now.¡± She said, staring daggers at Genz. His eyes widened in alarm and he shook his head vigorously. She didn¡¯t give him time to open his mouth before she spoke again. ¡°Oh yes¡­. This is your mess and you''re going to clean it up!¡±


    ¡°The nine-hells I will. He¡¯s your brat! You go get one if you want him to live so damn badly.¡± He said, clearly not willing. I sighed as I watched the little drama play out. I had a rather unfortunate feeling I was about to get dragged into another ridiculous quest. Then Baria¡¯s words replayed themselves in my mind. These were people, and a boy was dying.


    ¡°I can get it. If you tell me what it is.¡± I said, approaching the group.


    Genz stepped forward his hand going to the club tied to his belt. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± He asked menacingly. He had a similar complexion to the woman, with grey in his black hair and  a scar that ran the length of his left jaw. The woman slapped him on the back of the head.


    ¡°If you''re too much of a coward then stand aside.¡± She snapped as she looked at me. Her eyes hadn¡¯t shown anything other than dislike since the moment I¡¯d met her, but now they held the faintest trace of hope. She was too proud to beg but I could tell she wanted me to go.


    ¡°Will you?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Just tell me what it is and where to find it.¡±


    Blurp


    <hr />


    AN: Soooooooo..... I''d like to tell you I''ve been doing something important with my life which is why I''ve been so slow updating but that would be a lie.  Honestly, I''ve been working on some other stuff as well as just taking a bit of a semi-hiatus and generally just being lazy.


    However, I have used the opportunity to sharpen up some things up as well as get some better direction for the story as a whole moving forward. I''ve also taken care of some bookkeeping and organization that I should have done along time ago for this story.


    Today we get a bit of an info dump. Baria finally decides to come out from behind the curtain and tell the MC what the hell is really going on after two books worth of mysterious hints.


    As for the next update. I''ve already got most of the next chapter written but I''m not going to give an ETA as I keep missing all my deadlines anyway. Still, it should be significantly less than last time. But do not fear. I''m not abandoning the story. In fact I''m rather excited to get writing again.

 Volume 3: Chapter 3

    Jasmine stood in the shade of of a large oak tree as she looked at the patch of forest she and Meredith were supposed to be turning into a guild hall. The air was cool at this elevation and the wind blowing through the dense forest made an sort of soft, whistling sound that was eerie even in broad daylight. Patches of briers and tall trees dotted the entire area. Along with patches of grass, weeds, and a few vines Jasmine was really hoping weren¡¯t poison oak.


    ¡°And you want to build here? How are we even going to clear this.¡± Jasmine said incredulously, looking to the Risui girl beside her. ¡°And even if we do clear it, then what? Neither of us can actually build anything.¡± The two of them had spent the last week running fetch and gather quests for the citizens in the valley to raise their local fame high enough to purchase the land. Now that they had it, Jasmine was far from impressed.


    ¡°Admittedly, the land¡¯s starting condition leaves a great deal to be desired, but that''s why it''s called the starting condition. This is virgin forest, but its placement is what makes it valuable. The mountains around the valley are packed with mines, lairs, and monsters. This place will be of incredible strategic importance when more players start leaving the starting zone, and we have a chance to be in on the ground floor.¡± Meredith''s eyes nearly glowed with her excitement. Jasmine just rolled her eyes at the girl.


    ¡°Yes, yes. You¡¯ve told me your plan already. I¡¯m not doubting your vision. I¡¯m doubting our ability to move from Point A to point C. Neither of us has the skills, or the practical experience for something like this.¡± Jasmine explained. She had always known that there would be a lot of work involved, but turning this patch of forest into a base was going to take so much more than she had imagined.


    ¡°The first step is always the hardest. We just need to get started.¡± Meredith said cheerfully, waving her arms about as if messing with her menu. Then a small flag appeared about a hundred yards from them and a popup appeared in Jasmine''s view.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>


    Your Guild Has Claimed Territory!


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Claiming territory is the first step in a guild¡¯s rise to prominence. Doing so gives a guild a location to build a guild hall, as well as opening the Guilds vs Guild system.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    She waved the message away and a bright blue circle appeared around the flag, marking off an area about a hundred yards in diameter. Jasmine looked at it with a frown.


    ¡°So this is us eh?¡± Jasmine said as she inspected their soon to be home. A larger window popped up as she inspected the land.


    <table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Territory Management Window


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Population: 0


    </td>


    <td>


    Area: 70685 ft2


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Tax Income: 0


    </td>


    <td>


    Upkeep Cost: 0


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Resources


    </td>


    <td>


    Development


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Jasmine glanced over the window and waved it away as well. It¡¯s not like there was much information to look at, they had absolutely nothing. Jasmine continued to look around the forest and grimaced at all the huge trees. Trying to clear them would be a nightmare, taking days or weeks of work.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Jasmine asked dubiously. She had no idea how they¡¯d be able to finish this, let alone where to start. Meredith smiled at her, before reaching over and pulling one of Jasmine¡¯s axes off of her belt. The squirrel-girl lifted it and then held it out to Jasmine.


    ¡°You use axes right? I¡¯d start chopping.¡± She said with a grin.


    *****************************************************************************************


    I looked into the woman¡¯s dark, worried, eyes and sighed mentally. I¡¯d had a few ridiculous quests in the game, but I had a feeling this one was going to be a doozy.


    ¡°In order to heal my son you¡¯ll need powerful magic. I can sense you have some power but you look like a warrior, not a healer. So for you there is only one way. King Scorpions have powerful poison and there exists only one object that can heal him. Two days south of here you will find the forest of stone. Go there and return with the egg of a thunderbird.¡± She said with a nod.


    Oh crap¡­¡­..


    I groaned inwardly. I¡¯d never been too big on Native American mythology. Greek, Roman, and Norse were always more interesting to me, and had received more attention in modern fantasy. From what I did know, thunderbirds were seriously bad-ass. They were basically gods to a lot of tribes scattered all over North-America, and were the equivalent to dragons and phoenixes from other cultures. It wasn¡¯t something you wanted to steal from.


    ¡°I will bring you the egg.¡± I said more confidently than I felt.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>


    Quest Accepted!


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>


    The Impulsive Youth


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A boy in the village has been poisoned while on his first hunt. His mother has asked you for assistance in saving his life. You must find a way to cure him.


    Use Cleansing Magic of at least Apprentice Level: 0/1


    Or


    Return with a Thunderbird Egg: 0/1


    Recommended Level: ???


    Difficulty: ???


    Rewards: 10,000 xp, 10 fame, Minor Item Binding


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Will he live until I return?¡± I asked, looking at the boy. He was covered in sweat and his body convulsed weakly from time to time. He looked to be on the edge of death already. I couldn¡¯t imagine that he¡¯d live until evening, let alone for the time it take me to travel there and back.


    ¡°Do not worry traveler. You must do your task, and I must do mine.¡± Her eyes hardened with resolve as I felt the faint prickle of magic on my skin. She approached her son and magic poured into the room. Intense enough that I shivered as I felt its power. The magic had a seething chill that set my teeth on edge. I brought up my own magic so I could see the mana and saw a pool of charcoal grey energy surround the woman and the boy as she started to chant. It wasn¡¯t evil, at least I didn¡¯t think it was, but it sure as hell wasn¡¯t anything happy or helpful.


    Her magic built until the pool of charcoal magic condensed, morphing into a single, long chain. While the woman continued to chant, the chain slithered around the boy like a serpent, barbed ends digging into his flesh. He began screaming and flailing as the magic dug into, and bound him, but his mother did not waver. Her eyes were like chips of flint as she worked her terrible magic. Then the chains finished binding the boy and the woman stopped chanting. His body fell limply back to the table and she slumped over her son, obviously exhausted from her working.Stolen novel; please report.


    I looked at the boy in horror. What the hell had she done? I dropped my magic sight and looked at him. The chain was nowhere to be found and he appeared as he always had. However, when I used my vision again the chain was visible again, the boy was bound in what I knew was some terrible curse.


    ¡°What did you do to him?¡± I asked, half confused and half horrified. I knew there were likely dozens of different magics in this game, but I¡¯d never seen one like this. I thought it might be necromancy, but I wasn¡¯t sure. It didn¡¯t seem quite malevolent enough for that. I¡¯d gotten a feel for necromancy down in the dungeon, and this wasn¡¯t the same, similar in some ways - but different nonetheless.


    ¡°What needed to be done.¡± She said, her voice exhausted, still slumped over the boy. ¡°His fate is in your hands now.¡±


    The men showed me to a room and I dumped my bags and layed down on the bed. If I was going to be traveling all night I needed to get some sleep while I could. I logged, grabbed some food, and took a cat-nap before logging back in to start my trip south.


    The desert was the same as always. Blazing sun, heat rising off the parched earth, the cacti and the shrubs, there was an odd, sort of peace to the place. I walked into the setting sun, watching the light refract into pastel purples, oranges, and reds. It looked different from sun-sets back in Indiana, or even the more humid climates of the Otherworld. I¡¯m sure there was some scientific reason for the differences in color, but I didn''t really care. The view was beautiful and, at the moment, it was all mine.


    Before leaving, I¡¯d dropped one pack and emptied the copper in the other into a trunk in the hall. I was running light, and took the opportunity to travel at a light jog. The journey was going to be a long one. The desert lacked any real road, and although the landscape had been interesting early on, after more than a week out here it just sort of blurred together. I traveled all night, switching between a jog and a walk trying to gain as much time as possible. I wasn¡¯t sure what that woman had actually done to the boy, but it couldn¡¯t be anything good and I wanted to get back quickly. My improved pace let me reach the forest of stone by sunset of the next day.


    ¡°Forest of stone indeed.¡± I mused as I looked out over the desert. Columns of rock rose from the earth, leaving small narrow alleys between the pillars of stone. The columns stretched for miles in both directions giving the place the look of a forest. The pillars varied in height from about a dozen meters to hundreds of meters tall, their surfaces scarred and roughened by years of scouring winds. I couldn¡¯t imagine what sort of geological event could create something like this, but magic had to have been involved somewhere.


    I paused before I entered the ¡®forest¡¯ to turn on both my Stoneskin and Strength of Stone spells. This place seemed like it should be teeming with things that would try to kill me. It was a shame I¡¯d broken my hammer. Then again, I hadn¡¯t done much serious fighting for a while. The dune cats had certainly been good fighters, but as predators their numbers had been fairly limited. The desert wasn¡¯t nearly as full of dangerous creatures as I¡¯d been expecting, but the forest felt different. It seemed the type of place something would be living in and I doubted the inhabitants would be happy with outsiders.


    I walked into the forest warily, my eyes searching all the various alleys and passages between the standing columns. Their height and proximity to each other made the whole place feel more like being in a massive underground catacomb than outdoors in the desert. I found the change oddly comforting. I think my skills were slowly turning me into a mole. I felt more relaxed in the gloom and tight-spaces than I did out in the desert under the open sky.


    Sure enough, I wasn¡¯t more than a few hundred yards into the forest before a black-fletched arrow nailed me right in the shoulder. The arrow was well aimed, missing the bronze plates of my armor, instead finding the leather and driving into my shoulder. I snarled and charged to where I thought it had come from, but another person stepped into my path, brandishing a long thin sword. Silly, that sword wouldn¡¯t save him.


    I swatted his strike away with a stone-gauntleted hand before plowing my other fist into his stomach. Grabbing his crumpling body with both hands, I whirled and flung him at the archer, who was nocking another arrow into a shortbow. His body was surprisingly light and flew further than I was expecting. He didn¡¯t actually hit the archer, but I had thrown him close enough to make the archer dive out of the way, buying me some time. I was feeling pretty good about this fight, when suddenly a spear stabbed into the meat of my calf, sending me tumbling to the ground.


    I quickly rolled over and looked up into the face of my enemy. It was¡­.. I had no idea what it was. It was definitely humanoid, but I couldn¡¯t tell what kind. It was thin and delicate looking, kinda like an elf, but more savage. It was male, at least I thought it was, but with that androgynous narrow-shouldered look of an elf, it was hard to tell. That is where the similarities stopped. He had bone spikes growing from his elbows, knees, and the tops of his shoulders. He raised his spear to stab again but this time I had the opportunity to disagree with him.


    Twisting, I grabbed his spear. Though I didn¡¯t have much leverage from my position on the ground, I had enough to pull him close. In grapple range he dropped the spear and went for a knife at his belt but I just yanked him forward and smashed my forehead into his face. It wasn¡¯t a graceful maneuver but I was a much better brawler than an actual fighter. Coupled with my insane strength stat and stoneskin, I could feel the crunch of cartilage and bone through my helmet. I really needed to find an NPC somewhere who could train me to actually use my hammer effectively, right after I got a new hammer.


    Another arrow pinged off the crest of my helmet just as I climbed back to me feet. With a low growl, I reached out with earth magic as yet another horned-elf thing jumped into the growing melee. I downed my newest attacker with a right-cross, then used the earth magic I had gathered to pull against the stone pillar closest to the archer. Stone cracked and a boulder the size of a beach-ball broke off, smashing down onto the archer¡¯s shoulders. He screamed as his collarbone broke, but I had no time for sympathy, four more of the creatures were closing in on me.


    I missed my hammer. My unarmed skills and base stats were high enough that generally I didn¡¯t really need it, but the reach would have been helpful. Then it occurred to me, creating a hammer would be a whole lot easier than creating a chisel. It was something to try next time, now was maybe not the best time for experimentation. I noticed a glow from behind me and turned be see one of the elf-things. It was holding a atlatl with a spear knocked and green light glowed as it activated some sort of skill. Then it threw the spear and things went downhill. The short-spear drove straight into, and through, my stomach. Primitive though it may be, his skill had managed to chuck the spear with enough power to smash through my armor, my hardened skin, my guts, and finally, the hardened skin on my back before stopping at the armor. The pain lanced through my body and I crumpled to my knees, as my four attackers circled closer.


    ¡°Urrrgh.¡± I gurgled as agony permeated my entire body. I hadn¡¯t been hurt this badly in a while. NPC¡¯s using skills was not a good sign for my future well-being. Praying my next action wouldn¡¯t hurt as badly as I thought it might, I wrapped my hands around the spear and ripped it back out of my body. My prayer feel on deaf ears. I couldn''t stop the scream of agony that tore from my lips as my attackers raised their weapons.


    My pain turned to rage as my enemies surrounded me. I hated elves, always had. They were always too damn stuck-up and pretty. Every book and movie always made them out to be heros and happy nature folk helping out the dumb, awkward humans, but to me they were always the enemy. I refused to be killed by them, even if these creatures were their angrier brooding cousins.


    Pain wasn¡¯t good for much, but rage I could use. I packed the anger into a ball and hurled it into my magic. The earth bucked like some crazed rodeo bull and my attackers fell. I fell as well but I was already on the ground and managed to brace myself. Grinning like a mad man, I grabbed the ankle of the nearest creature and dragged him closer. He struggled to get away but I wasn¡¯t having it. I pulled him against me, crushing him in a bear hug, then tossed his broken body away before rising to my feet.


    The three remaining attackers looked more wary now, they¡¯d stopped trying to surround me and had moved into a defensive position with each supporting the other. It was a bad move on their part. Together they just made a better target for magic. I threw my hands forward and fire bloomed from them, washing over the three horned-elves and ending the fight. The elf with the crushed shoulder had fled, leaving me alone to recover.


    The bodies vanished into black mist and I shoveled the various crafting drops into my bag before drawing a heavy defensive circle. Then I sat down and logged. Staying online while my gaping stomach wound healed wouldn¡¯t be fun, so I chickened out and left for the real world.


    I¡¯d just climbed out of my machine when Chris walked out of his room. His hair wet and he was pulling on a long-sleeve tee. I looked at him confused, I couldn¡¯t figure out why he was getting dressed at this time of day but he answered my question and started yelling at me.


    ¡°What the hell dude? You haven''t even showered yet! Don¡¯t tell me you forgot.¡± He said. I stared at him blankly, blinking a few times as Chris waved his arms. ¡°Common, I¡¯ve told you at least three times this week, Get in the shower. One night away from your game isn¡¯t going to kill you.¡± Chris continued. Still confused, I dutifully hopped in the shower and dressed in a pair of faded levi¡¯s and a gaming tee. Then Chris herded me into his Focus and we headed across town to Brodie¡¯s.


    Brodie¡¯s was a college bar down near the campus. It was most known for its cheap domestics and bad live music on Friday night. I¡¯m wasn¡¯t sure why Chris was so set on going but I suspected there was a female involved. That was likely the only thing that could pull him away from his blacksmithing. Then again, he¡¯d been making swords for weeks now, and he was a dwarf. Maybe he just needed a drink.


    The bar had a hometown feel, a long heavily lacquered bar and tall tables with high stools that never sat quite level. The smells of spilled beer and inebriated college kids filled the room, mixing with the greasy undertones of bar food. Chris and I slid into a corner table while I glanced around the room. It wasn¡¯t very busy, school wasn¡¯t back in session yet and the campus bars didn¡¯t get a lot of traffic during the summer.


    ¡°What kinda band name is Purple.¡± I asked incredulously as I looked up at the sparkling purple drumset with the spangled purple lettering written across the front of the base drum.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t even know who was playing tonight.¡± Chris said with a shrug. I just stared at him.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t even know who¡¯s playing tonight why the hell are we here?¡± I asked, looking at the soggy fries he was eating. The place had bad food, worse booze, and don¡¯t even get me started on the bathrooms. I couldn¡¯t imagine why anyone would want to come here unless forced. My question was answered as two girls walked over to our table. One was a cute asian girl, wearing faded jeans and a tee. I had to admit, the jeans and tee looked much better on her. The other girl was a little more dressed up, wearing a skirt and matching shirt, blouse?, I had no idea what to call it. Womens clothing names are way too complicated. Her outfit had matching accessories everywhere. She was a plain looking brown-haired girl, but carried herself with the attitude of a movie star.


    ¡°Hey Chris, sorry we¡¯re late. Tonya didn¡¯t wanna come, then she found out what band was playing and did want to come, but then she wasn¡¯t ready and I had to wait while she tried on like, a hundred shirts. THEN she had to find shoes that matched, while I was like. ¡®T, it¡¯s a college bar, not a cocktail party¡¯.¡± The Asian girl said as she slid onto the stool next to Chris, leaving Tonya to sit next to me on the last stool. My eyes widened in horror.


    Chris hadn¡¯t told me there were girls coming. And this ass expects to play wingman for him? My stare should''ve melted Chris. He looked sheepish for about half a moment before the Asian girl flicked her silky black hair over an elfin ear and his eyes glazed over. I sighed inwardly as I ordered an overpriced imported beer, and prepared to take one for the team.

 Volume 3: Chapter 4

    I was sipping my beer while trying my best to pay attention to ¡®the friend¡¯, Tonya. Playing wingman was always an exercise in self-discipline. You had to appear social and fun enough not to come off as a weirdo to the female your friend was chasing, while at the same time dealing with whatever sort of hideous and horrible creature was accompanying said female.


    ¡°And then he walked up to me and goes¡­ ¡®So, you from around here babe?¡¯¡± She laughed incredulously at her own story. Her voice was already high-pitched and the alcohol was not helping. ¡°We were in the middle of English class. I mean what the hell? Of course I¡¯m from around here. That¡¯s so dumb right? I didn¡¯t even say anything to him. I just picked up my bag and left.¡± She said, as she sipped her ridiculous drink. It was all sorts of colors and had glitter everywhere. It looked disgusting, and probably cost the girl ten dollars.


    ¡°Yeah, guys can be idiots.¡± I agreed half-heartedly, while my mind wandered. I was taking a sip of my beer when the band finally came out onto the makeshift stage. A cute girl with a dirty-blonde hair in a pixie-cut and carrying drum sticks, a pale brunette in full goth getup and¡­ I choked on my beer, spraying the table-top with my over-priced import.


    A latino girl with a sleeve of tattoos and long dark hair, walked on stage behind the others carrying a guitar. She was pretty, not beautiful, but definitely sexy, especially in the tight jeans and artfully torn tee-shirt. My brain seemed to lock up as I tried desperately to get some oxygen around all the beer I¡¯d just inhaled.


    ¡°Whoa dude! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chris asked as he wiped the table with a napkin, looking at me. He followed my gaze up the the stage and his concerned look quickly turned into a laugh. ¡°I told you man, that¡¯s karma right there. I¡¯m sooo winning this bet.¡± He said, his grin a mile wide.


    ¡°Just because I run into her ONE time, doesn¡¯t mean you''re winning the bet. She probably doesn¡¯t even remember me.¡± I said reasonably, watching her chat with her bandmates and fiddle with the instruments and audio equipment they had set up.


    ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± Hiromi, the girl he¡¯d met in Otherworld, and was apparently quasi-dating now, asked as she looked back and forth between us. Chris smiled his most devilish smile while I glared at him.


    ¡°Well, Tom got into a bit of a fight with her,¡± nodding towards the girl on stage, ¡°at BestPrice while we were buying our systems. Then I bet him they¡¯d end up sleeping together.¡± Chris said gleefully.


    ¡°So she plays too? That¡¯s interesting. I didn¡¯t realize so many people around here had the game. I wonder what level she is.¡±Hiromi said, now looking up at the stage as well. All the eyes focused on Jasmine must have drawn her attention because she turned our direction. Her brown eyes flicked around the table before she turned back to the drummer, then her back stiffened and she slowly turned back to the table. Her eyes locked with mine, her smile faltered, and about twenty different emotions flashed across her face. Surprise, confusion, recognition, shock, anger, embarrassment, more anger, and more that I couldn¡¯t pick up. As her brown eyes seemed to crackle with power, the look was so familiar, something started clicking in my brain.


    Jasmine¡­???¡­.Oh, It couldn¡¯t be...She used her own name?


    I thought, as I watched her face grow even angrier. She looked straight into my eyes, seemingly trying to melt me with the power of her rage. My look of wary curiosity and surprise slowly morphed into a wolf¡¯s grin and, I swear to god, she blushed for the smallest instant.


    It definitely is!


    This time I couldn¡¯t stop the look of smug satisfaction that settled onto my face, as I gave her a big wave and a wink. Her face turned stoney for a moment before her eyes blazed. I was fairly certain she was going to stalk over to my table and punch me again. That thought only made me smile bigger. Jasmine the orc, was Jasmine the too good for me spoiled princess. This was just too perfect. I wasn¡¯t sure how she had recognized me but it was obvious that she had. That made it even better.


    ¡°Uhhhhh, dude? Am I missing something?¡± Chris asked me as he looked at my gleeful expression and then back to Jasmine¡¯s scowl.


    ¡°Not as much as I was apparently.¡± I said with a chuckle, as one of Jasmine''s bandmates pried her away from our staring contest. A few minutes later the lead-singer stepped up to the mic.


    ¡°Hey everyone! Thanks for coming out tonight!¡± She said as she waved to the crowd. ¡°I¡¯m not much for speeches, so raise your glasses and let¡¯s rock!¡± She said just before the music started. It was an upbeat tune, not terrible exactly, if you liked angry chick music. I listened with half an ear shooting gleeful looks at Jasmine when she occasionally met my eyes.


    *****************************************************************************************


    Jasmine tried her best to concentrate on the music. It was mostly working. That was the good thing about music. It sunk into you, swept you away, blocked out the world. She¡¯d needed that when she was younger. It had been the only thing to hold her together some nights. Now she just enjoyed it. As the music played she let herself fall into it.


    She played furiously, her fingers dancing up and down the neck of her guitar, as the singer crooned about broken relationships and bad decisions. Jasmine swayed with the music, keeping her eyes closed, letting the sounds of the band surrounded her. Occasionally they¡¯d switch songs and then and the music would change, but she knew the setlist by heart. It was the same one they always used for the few gigs they got. At one time, when she¡¯d been young and full of dreams, she¡¯d hoped they¡¯d really make it. Now she was sure they never would, but that only made her enjoy it all the more.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    When music was work, she¡¯d always felt like it was weighing her down. Now that she was doing it for fun again, it just felt more pure. Something about it...freed her in a way. She smiled and her fingers danced as a refrain hit and she started her solo. Tonight she was feeling ornery and instead of just doing her normal solo she played a more complex version that she¡¯d been working on.


    Her fingers flew over the strings and the guitar wailed. She didn¡¯t get too many opportunities to really show off, but tonight she was going to put on a show. Her eyes opened as she continued her solo, watching the audience as they listened to her play. Then she caught a pair of green eyes above a smug smile.


    Her peace evaporated as she took in that smirking face. God, she just wanted to punch him again! She¡¯d done it twice already, but she had a feeling the act would only be more fun the more she indulged in it. She could see it in his eyes, that taunting smile that only a man could really pull off. She still couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d kissed him. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d regretted kissing a man, but this time seemed to be jumping up ranks for the one to cause her the most headaches. At least she hadn¡¯t slept with him, his smile would have been unbearable.


    The worst part was she was, she wasn¡¯t quite sure it wouldn¡¯t happen again the next time they ran into each other. There was just something about him that sent her emotions into turmoil. Just being around him put her on edge. What would normally only annoy her seemed to throw her into a full blown rage, one that had a tendency to teeter dangerously close to desire.


    Another surge of anger shot through her at the thought, and her fingers started to falter. Recovering, she took a deep breath. She wasn¡¯t going to mess up her music because of a silly distraction. Anger was just anger, she didn¡¯t have to let it get to her. She wasn¡¯t going to let a man ruin her night. So she grabbed ahold of her anger and harnessed it. It was a rock band after all, playing a little angrier wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone.


    ***************************************************************************


    Something was wrong. I couldn¡¯t figure out what it was but something was definitely off. The feel of the bar had shifted, it felt smaller, grungier, the beer worse and the people more annoying. The feeling washed through me and my frustration bubbled up, why the hell was I even in this rathole. Making me piss away my money and make nice with some sow just so Chris could make nice with a woman.


    ¡°So then she walked up to Kyle and just started making out with him. Right in the middle of the party, like some slut. That bitch has screwed half the guys on campus and she had the nerve to try and take away my date.¡± Tonya growled as she took another gulp of her drink.


    I rolled my eyes at her, my patience at an end. ¡°Oh good lord, Just shut-up already. No one cares.¡± I snapped, tired of her constant chatter. She¡¯d been blabbering all night and I just couldn¡¯t deal with it anymore. I could hear raised voices echoing through the bar even over the din of the music. I heard the sounds, but ignored them, caught up in my own frustration.


    ¡°Screw you. I¡¯ll talk if I want, beats just staring at that guitarist like a creeper all night.¡± Tonya said, rising to her feet. Chris shot to his feet as well, his mouth opening to start shouting, but he was cut off as someone smashed into our table. The table toppled, sending bottles and glasses to the floor along with the table. I looked down, startled, watching as a man untangled himself from the table legs and broken glass. It was a thin blonde guy in khakis who staggered to his feet looking slightly dazed, before he took a wild swing at Chris.


    Chris, more startled than anything, took a step back, easily dodging the man¡¯s drunken punch. I stepped forward with a growl shoving the man away from the table. He stumbled into another person who spun on him and leveled him with a punch of their own.


    The place was in chaos. People were fighting everywhere, swinging fists, bottles, and whatever else they could get ahold of. I watched as a coed in a short skirt smashed a stool into a huge, bald guy who looked like a biker. Then one of her friends at the table threw a sucker punch into the back of her head. She was sent staggering into a group of people near the stage, who appeared to be doing their best mosh-pit impression.


    What the hell is going on¡­?


    I thought as I looked around at the place. Someone bumped into me and my anger flared. I raised a fist to strike back, but caught myself at the last second. Gritting my teeth, I tried to calm myself. Something was very wrong here. Anger seemed to throb in my mind, but something was off about it, something...familiar. I shook my head to clear it but couldn¡¯t seem to push away the anger.


    It was like¡­ like magic. Bardic magic to be more precise, like that damn cricket girl. I sighed and looked up at Jasmine. Of course this was her fault, she towed chaos everywhere she went. She made my life so much more complicated than it needed to be. She was still playing, but I could see the strain on her face. She was pale and sweating but her eyes were determined as she continued to play. As a faint trickle of blood started to fall from her nose, I knew I had to stop her.


    I tugged on my own magic and the world fuzzed for a moment. A dull throb started behind my temple, then I could see it. Purple magic seemed to shimmer in the air, filling the entire inside of the bar. It pulsed with the music, and I could feel the alien anger that was being laid over my emotions.


    ¡°That would do it.¡± I muttered, as I moved towards the stage. After all, I¡¯d had magic thrust on to me by the game. Jasmine was bard in game and rousing a bar into a brawl was about the easiest bard trick there was. Baria had told me the game had altered my brain to use magic because during beta the immersion levels had been higher. I remembered from our argument that Jasmine hadn¡¯t needed a system at BestPrice, only the game. That meant she too had played before release, when the numbers hadn¡¯t yet been lowered.


    I could feel the anger still running through my veins, but now that I knew where it was coming from, I could separate it from my own feelings. If I didn¡¯t stop Jasmine soon, the maddened patrons would pull the whole place down. That, and unless she practiced her magic more than I did, she shouldn¡¯t be able to hold it for too much longer. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t imagine how she¡¯d even managed it, let alone why she was still going. Even a minor effort of magic in the real world made me feel like my brain was exploding, and I¡¯d run for miles. The whole damn bar was coming apart and Jasmine, as well as her band, seemed oblivious.


    I dodged a tackle from the right and shoved a pair of brawling undergrads to the side as I pushed my way forward. Then I was in the thick of the fight and I had to resort to elbows and fists until I made it to the stage. Hopping up onto the stage with the song still going, I kicked the switch on the nearest surge protector and the music died. The spell finally broke. Jasmine collapsed like a doll with her strings cut, just as two co-eds rolled onto the stage, clawing at each other and screaming profanity into each others faces.


    They toppled microphones, guitar stands, and drums as they bulldozed their way across the stage. The other girls in the band screamed as they were forced out from whatever daze they had been in. They took in the full extent of the bar fight that was now well underway and panicked. At a total loss for what to do, I searched the room for a moment, taking in the chaos, screams, and smashing glass around me. Now that I¡¯d stopped Jasmine¡¯s playing I had no idea what to do next. How did one go about breaking up a magically fueled bar fight?


    The best plan would be to run. The cops were going to show up at some point. I wasn¡¯t sure what they would do when thirty or forty people were all participating in a bar fight, but it would probably be better if I wasn¡¯t here to find out. I pulled Jasmine up off the floor, needing to get her out of the line of fire if nothing else. Her body felt feverish and I panicked a little as I stumbled off the low stage and back into the melee.


    I looked for Chris and the girls, dodging the worst of the fighting and trying to shield Jasmine the best I could. She was damned heavy for a woman, or maybe I was just missing my in-game strength. I caught a glimpse of Chris and the girls in the middle of a group of brawlers. I didn¡¯t have any real way of getting to them, especially with a girl still limp in my arms.


    I pushed my way towards to door, intent on getting Jasmine somewhere at least a little safer, before I went back for Chris and the others. I had too many things to do and not enough time to do them in. I finally got her out of the bar and into the small parking lot behind the place. This close to the campus, parking was at a premium and most people walked. Taking off at a jog, I swore under my breath as I arrived at Chris¡¯s car. I didn¡¯t even have the damn keys.


    Jasmine was still dead to the world, and a faint trickle of blood still flowed from her nose. I couldn¡¯t just leave the girl passed out and bleeding while I went to find Chris and the others. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. I laid Jasmine down on the hood of Chris¡¯s car. I was going to have to stay here with her. I might not be much for chivalry, but even I wasn¡¯t going to leave a woman alone out here. So I leaned against the car and waited.