《Chaos Wave》 Some quick information about The World of The Divine Adventure System information: In ''The Divine Adventure'' players start as a level one character with forty total statistic points to add to the default randomized statistics and the ability to select any three skills. At each level, you will get one stat and one skill points in addition to a maximum bonus of ten points from constitution and intelligence in a one to ten ratio on the natural score without skill and equipment modifiers. From levels one to fifty you will be able to equip five skills. After that, you can equip a maximum of ten skills. Starting at Level 50 you can learn ''Classes'' which are highly advanced combination skills, allowing you to not need the skills for the class equipped while you have the Class equipped. Classes level up as you gain experience while they are equipped, and go to a maximum of level of 20. Deities are normally inaccessible to those below Level 75 due to the difficulty of the quests involved to raise the Rank of your Deity branch and the individual skills allotted by the Deity you have joined. By playing The Divine Adventure in FSDS you accept the probability of Digitization. The Divine Adventure is not affiliated with any of the current Governments of Earth. The Human Lands of The Divine Adventure: Fros''bik (Ice Plains) - The home of the Frost Coliseum and where 25% of the Players start. Gran''igui (Forest Kingdom) - A temperate zone where herbs and potions are common. 65% of all players start here. Kiblin''ko (Mountain Kingdom) - A rough zone where taking the wrong path can lead you into an area where monsters are much much stronger than you are. 10% of players start here. The Lands of Allied Races have not been unlocked, thus preventing players from creating characters as anything other than a human. Defining Statistics: Strength (STR): Increases Physical Damage and Carrying Capacity. Effects the percentage of damage you can parry. Dexterity (DEX): Increases Physical Speed, Accuracy, and Technique Points available. Effects the percentage of chance to parry. Increases chance of success with crafting. Constitution (CON): Increases Maximum Health, available Bonus Stat Points per level (1:10), and Physical Resistance, Increases resistance to poisons and available stamina. Increases amount of HP Regenerated. Intelligence (INT): Increases Magical Damage and available Skill Points per level (1:10). Increases chance of success with crafting new recipes. Willpower (WLP): Increases Magical Resistance and Magic Points available. Increases amount of MP Regenerated. Spirit (SPR): Increases the effect of Divine Abilities, Luck, Drop rates (Cannot apply points until one has selected a Patron Deity) Levels vs Grades Normal Monsters can have a Level or a Grade. After a combination of time or player kills, a monster can change from a Overworld Mob into a Miniboss. This transformation occurs after 1 week or 7 player kills. Each player kill shortens the time to upgrade by 24 hours. The highest a Normal monster can obtain is Grade 6, which is equivalent to 64 times the power of the original monster, and has a chance of dropping a Mythic status item. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Boss Monsters have both a Level which determines their maximum health value, but a Grade which determines their stats. Only the most powerful of bosses (Gods, Dragons, and Arch-Demons) can reach Grade 7 and have a chance of dropping the Divine rarity of loot. Example on Level-> Grade Scaling: Level 5 Grade 1 (Level 10) 7 days / 7 kills Grade 2 (Level 20) +10 days / +10 kills Grade 3 (Level 40) +14 days / +14 kills Grade 4 (Level 80) +20 days / +20 kills Grade 5 (Level 160) +30 days / +30 kills (Max for most mobs) Grade 6 (Level 320) +60 days / +60 kills (Dragons, Angels, Demons) Grade 7 (Level 640) +90 days / +90 kills (Elder Dragons, Arch-angels, Arch-demons, Gods) Rarity Items, Skills, Classes, and Quests all have a Rarity. The color of the background determines the rarity. Grey - Ordinary Silver - Rare Blue - Meticulous Green - Unique Yellow - Epic Orange - Legendary Red - Mythic Gold - Divine Cash Shop This is an in-game menu that you attach to your out-of-game bank account. The amount of goodies in the Cash Shop changes weekly, other than the standard bonuses likes extra stats, skill points, in-game gold, etc. Items in the Cash Shop have a chance of dropping off Grade 4+ monsters. Players can use real life money to purchase extra statistics, skill points, and gold. Players can only buy a million gold each month, at a rate of twenty gold to a dollar. A player can donate up to 20,000,000 gold to a Guild in a single month. You may also buy real life money at a rate of $1 to 25 gold. Statistics and skills are limited to one point per stat other than Spirit, and one skill points each day, for ten dollars each. You can buy bonus skill slots (max 5) for fifty dollars each. Players can also buy Skill Manuscripts starting at $20. These Skill Manuscripts are used to learn a new skill which is not common in the area. To learn a skill from a manuscript, you still must have a skill point available to put into the initial level. Example of Cash Shop Exclusive Items: Equip-Swap - When used swaps all currently equipped gear for another preselected gear set. Can only be used in battle. Cooldown: 1 minute Cost: $15 Insta-Cast - When used the next spell is cast automatically without need to prepare or cooldown. Cost: $25 Wishing Star - Can only be used after killing a monster. Opens the Loot Table, and lets you select 1 item from the list and obtain it. Cost: $100 Volume 1 - Prologue & Chapter 1 - Goodbye Reaper! ¡°I''m sorry, but there''s nothing we can do.¡± Don''t you hate those hypocritical words coming from a doctor? If you''re thinking I''m terminal, well, congratulations, you''re right. My doctors diagnosed me as terminal about six months ago, with another two months to go. Of course, I''m not an idiot, I know that there are options outside of medicine, especially since the FSDS (Full Sensation Dive System) Wars that took place twenty years back. Humanity nearly wiped itself out, before they settled down and the true wars went ''Virtual''¡­ ''Virtual'' Warfare turned out to be so much more brutal, with the ability to respawn, they didn''t care how many times a soldier was killed. Of course, the truth is, that as soon a Full Sensation was achieved, many of those Virtual worlds became way too real¡­ Especially once Richard Alonzo Albeque, the ''Father of True Artificial Intelligence'' developed his Artificial Intelligence Quest and Non-Player Character System and uploaded it for anyone to put into their games. He may have been found dead on the floor of his office the day after, but he got the last laugh, as every game with AIQNPC in it has an NPC named after him, with full intelligence and reactions. When confronted by an administrator of a game made with his system he''d laugh and challenge them, ¡°You really think I''d put my children out there for anyone to use without adding in a protective measure?¡± Of course, once AIQNPC was uploaded, it started spreading to already developed games, and players were slowly losing the ability to log out, their consciousnesses now stuck in the new worlds, their bodies having vanished from the FSVR bays. With these now Digitized Players, the worlds started to separate and become unique and special. Digitized players were able to interact with any character logged into that game, despite if they were initially on different servers, and could not be logged out or deleted by Administration of games. These players have achieved the ultimate goal of the rich and famous: Immortality. With Immortality available to any who could convince themselves that the new body and world were the ones they were meant to be in, development of FSDS games skyrocketed, along with the fact that ten years later, one of the Digitized Players, Atreya the Dawnbirth, a Level 500 Catgirl, managed to pull off something believed to be impossible: creating a portal from her ''Virtual'' World back to Earth. The more Digitized Players in a game, the stronger that World and its Laws became, granting true power to the Deities of those worlds. After that event, governments stopped preventing citizens from become ''Digitized Natives'' on various games, and only the various Religions of Earth were openly against Digitization and taking the Right of the Creator unto themselves. August 4, 2055 So, seeing as I had two months remaining, I figured I''d spend two weeks researching the next world I would go to. I''d need one of those newer worlds, as all the older ones had already separated enough to be their own realities. If I was going to be Immortal, then I would need a world where I could do more than just kill monsters and mobs every single day. I would need a young world, rich in lore and potential, so that I could have the freedom to grow into what I wanted. I would need a world with laws of magic as well as technology so that I could truly live the dream. Of course, I would also need to make sure it wasn''t on the list of the government''s property. ''We can''t help you,'' is a laugh. Stupid hypocritical doctors. They know that digitization could save me, but they refuse to list it as an option, mainly because the government doesn''t want people to actively seek out immortality. The forums for those seeking out digitization suggest that this is because the governments lose the ability to tax the digital players unless they buy land in the game, or use the in-game service to transfer game money to real money. ''What about your family?'' you''re probably thinking right now if you are reading this transcript. Well, as far as my family goes, I was an only child of two rich parents. My mother digitized herself when I was ten, because she didn''t want to have to deal with the arranged marriage. My father, after that incident, spent a lot of money hiring people to ''protect'' her in the game she went digital in. He then followed her when I turned eighteen to try to win her heart. I''m alone. I''ve been alone for over ten years, and now I''m running out of time. My money can''t buy a cure for me, in this world anyway. However, I can set it up so I can take my money with me. After a week of searching I found ''The Divine Adventure'', a game that came out the year prior. It had battle, fishing, gathering, crafting, mini-games, monster taming, the ability to change one''s race after reaching a certain level (unless the race you want to change goes through an Extinction Event) and the ability to transfer my real world money into the game, but only for a fraction of its real value, and on a timed payment system. I could also use the money to buy myself some really nice goodies like the ''Wishing Star'' item that lets me open up a freshly killed enemy''s loot table and take any one item I want. I went into in-depth calculations, researching skills, and plotting my character at Level 51 in a month''s time. I''d end up being one of the most impervious knights in the game, considering that the standard ''Knight'' class information was commonly available. There was also rumors of Death Knight and Paladin superior classes. August 18, 2055 Log in Identification: Aurian Limsoli Accessing Client: The Divine Adventure Server Status: Online Note: By playing TDA in FSDS you accept the risk of Digitization. Current Player Count: approximately 6,000,000 Current Digitized Player Count: 1,000,000 Current Bank Funds: $84,385,801.23 Selected Monthly Deduction: $1,800 Current Races available to Players: Human. Humans gets no Racial Bonus on leveling stats, but they get the option to retry Randomization of their starting stats up to three times. Rolling Stats. An image of three six-sided dice roll across the screen for each statistic other than Spirit which gets two ten-sided dice. The screen glitches just as the Spirit dice land on what looks like 00 and 1, but when the screen comes back up it shows 00 and 0. STR 4 DEX 5 CON 3 INT 3 WLP 5 SPR 100. A system alert pop-up appears: CONGRATULATIONS! You are the first character to successfully attain a 100 Spirit on your starting roll. Your starting statistics have changed to: STR 40 DEX 40 CON 50 INT 50 WLP 40 SPR 100. You have lost all additional stat points to distribute. You have gained 100 gold! You have obtained skill: Luck''s Admiration! You have learned the abilities Lucky Strike and Lucky Star! Luck''s Admiration (Passive) Skill Level 1 Mythic Lady Luck has looked your way! +5% Chance to obtain rare loot +1% Chance to Evade +1% Chance to Crit Access to Ability: Lucky Strike Access to Ability: Lucky Star Inability to bind to a Deity other than Lady Luck until Level 100. This skill is Soulbound and cannot be removed or taught to another. Lucky Strike This ability can be used once per day for each level of Luck''s Admiration Either call out ''Lucky Strike'' or give a fervent prayer to Lady Luck to activate. This attack will either deal Critical Damage or add a random Debuff to the target. Lucky Star Cost: 50 MP x Level of Luck''s Admiration Call out ''Lucky Star'' while the target is selected to activate. This spell grants a 1 hour duration of the Passive bonuses from Luck''s Admiration to another player. You gain 10% of the EXP of monsters killed by the effected player. After clearing it another system message appeared. Please select your starting city Fros''bik (Ice Plains) Gran''igui (Forest Kingdom) Kiblin''ko (Mountain Kingdom) I had done my research, and I knew most that the majority of players started off in the Forest Kingdom, where herbs and potions were the most prevalent for healing with a whopping half the game population starting there. The Ice Plains were also heavily populated as that was where the Frost Coliseum, where players could fight other players or monsters for prizes was. The Mountain Kingdom had the smallest starting percentage, and the highest amount of complaints from players due to the fact that if you take the wrong path on the mountain, you can easily end up against monsters way out of your level range. I reviewed my new starting stats and selected Kiblin''ko, the Mountain Stronghold as my starting city. The lights went out, and then slowly came back up. I was laying down on my back, staring up at the sky, the sound of wind rustling against stone towers came to my ears. As I sat up, I looked around and the level of detail was amazing. The depth of color, which I hadn''t seen since childhood, was rich and realistic. I could even smell stew cooking in the barracks outside this starting room. I could definitely become entranced by this world. I opened my console and checked my current situation. Name: ________________ HP: 300/300 MP: 240/240 TP: 240/240 STR: 40 DEX: 40 CON: 50 INT: 50 WLP: 40 SPR: 100 Deity [None] Class [None] Skills: Luck''s Admiration [1] None None None None Reserve Skills: None Money: CC: 0 SC: 0 GC: 100 PC: 0 MC: 0 Items: [None] So, other than my starting statistics, extra gold, and bonus skill, I was just like any other starting player. I walked to the door of the room I awoke in, and open it, looking out into a barracks of soldiers. As I step out of the room, a knight approaches me and asks me my name. "My name is Hidden," I answer, always having loved joke names. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Hidden,¡± he responds. ¡°As you are new here, the kingdom has granted you the free choice of 3 skills and 5 gold to outfit yourself on your adventures.¡± ¡°Thank you. As for the skills¡­ I would like to have Concentration, Fire Magic, and Long Sword Proficiency.¡± A System message appears confirming my choice of skills. Concentration (Passive) Skill Level 1 The holder of this skill is less likely to be interrupted in a cast, and can cast while moving. +5% chance to not be interrupted when hit with an attack Fire Magic Skill Level 1 You have learned the arts of Pyromancy, the ability to control fire. Access to Spell: Fireball Longsword Proficiency (Passive) Skill Level 1 You have gained the ability to equip a Longsword. You can continue to equip a sword even if it is outside your Class Parameters. Fireball The weakest form of Fire Magic. You only have access to this spell while you have the Fire Magic Skill equipped. Cost: 5 MP x Fire Magic Skill Level Inflicts Fire damage equal to 50%-150% INT Stat Excellent¡­ now that I have my starting skills, I head to the armory where I purchase a steel longsword for three gold, and some padded leather light armor to cover the standard in game clothing I received for another gold. I look around the Fortress a bit, before heading out on the mountain path to the east, which leads to the low level areas. Steel Longsword Left Hand / Right Hand / Two Handed Weight: 4 lb Length: 45 inches Requires Strength 10 Durability 40/40 Damage 15-20 / 30-40 Padded Leather Armor (Light) Body Weight: 3lb Requires Strength 5 Durability 40/40 AC +5 I saw a rabbit and highlighted it. ''Adult Rabbit - Grade 1'' What the¡­ I thought the enemies had levels not grades¡­? I open the in-game wiki, which all players have access to, and check it for the information. Monsters- When you come across monsters in the wilds of The Divine Adventure, it will either show up with a Level or a Grade. A monster with a Status ''Grade 1'' is twice as powerful as a monster of with a Level. As monsters kill players or age they go from Level to Grade, and with each increase in Grade it doubles in power from the previous Grade. Example: A Level 10 Orc could have 50 HP, at Grade 1 that doubles to 100, and Grade 2, to 200. Along with it''s HP, its stats also double, as does the grade of its loot. Boss Monsters- A Boss Monster will contain a Level and a Grade. The Grade is used to determine its Stats and Loot. Ah, so that''s what happened. Well, a Grade 1 Adult Rabbit shouldn''t be too difficult. I activated Fireball and cast it at the rabbit. Your Fireball does 45 damage to the Adult Rabbit. The Adult Rabbit suddenly turned and charged. I cast another Fireball. Your Fireball does 55 damage. You have defeated the Adult Rabbit! You have gained Experience Points! I check my status and I had gained a full half level! I walked over to the smoldering rabbit, which was already vaporizing into a tiny little treasure icon, and crouched down to click the Loot box that appeared. Inside was 15 Copper Coins, and a Lucky Rabbit''s Foot Talisman! I put the Copper Coins into my money pouch and inspect the Talisman, which has a silver background, indicating it is a Rare Item. Lucky Rabbit''s Foot Talisman Rare Weight: 0.5 lb Durability 10/10 +5% Chance to obtain rare loot +1% Chance to Crit After inspecting it, I hang it around my neck, equipping it as a Talisman. In this game, there are eight different rarities of items, skills and quests, and each is determined by the color of items background. As I was busy thinking about the rarity of my new talisman, I heard someone cry out from the woods to my right. Without thinking, I ran into the woods, arriving just as a player was killed by a Grade 2 Boar! The Boar was at half health, and I immediately cast Fireball! Your Fireball has inflicted 70 damage to Boar. I cast again as the boar starts charging at me. Your Fireball has inflicted 65 damage to the Boar. I dive to the side as I unsheathe my sword and swing, calling ''Lucky Strike!'' to activate the ability. My sword passes through the boar''s left foreleg as I successfully manage to dodge his charge, cutting off the leg entirely. You have dealt 32 damage to the Boar. The Boar is now crippled (Speed -25%). I cast another Fireball as it starts to get up from where it collapsed at the sudden lack of a foreleg, blood flowing from the stump. Your Fireball has inflicted 75 damage. You have defeated the Boar. You have gained Experience Points! A system message pops up. Congratulations! You have gained a level! Congratulations! You have gained a level! Congratulations! You have gained a level! Congratulations! You have gained a level! Current Level: 5. Stat Points available: 24 Skill Points available: 24 Maximum Skill Level: 15 You have killed a monster considerably more powerful than your level! You have received the title: ''Monstrous''. You didn''t take any damage from the monster you just killed! Reward Upgaded! You have received the title: ''Lucky Bastard!'' Enemies will now drop twice as much loot for your party as any others. I go over and loot the Boar, obtaining 20 silver pieces, an ordinary class Boar''s Hide, a rare class Boar''s Tusk, and a green background item called ''Tusk Whistle''. I check my Experience to next level and I''m sitting at 85%! After obtaining the items, I go and inspect the grave marker left by the dead player. ''His name was Rockenroll? Interesting¡­'' I thought. Inside the loot menu was a money pouch with 10 gold and 25 silver, and a silver background bracelet called ''Bracelet of Invigoration''. Bracelet of Invigoration Bracelet Crafted - Rare +1% HP Regeneration +1% MP Regeneration +1% TP Regeneration I move them both to my bag, and return to the Fortress. I see the player who was just killed by the boar and go up to him. He was about five-eight, with sandy blonde hair, steel gray eyes, a slightly flat nose, and the start of a goatee. ¡°Excuse me, I believe you dropped these,¡± and open a trade window with his money pouch and I offered him back his bracelet. The other player was stunned speechless as he looked over me in my new player gear, but accepted the trade, taking his money and bracelet back. A system message popped up: Congratulations! You have returned all items dropped by another player from their recent death! Reward: Your death marker is upgraded from a wooden cross to a stone marker and will last six hours instead of three. ¡°You managed to kill the boar? What are you, a pure strength build?¡± he asked. ¡°Actually, I''m primarily a magic user. You remember those old-school RPGs from back in the late twentieth century? My favorite one of them was called Final Fantasy, and it had this awesome character that was a swordsman and a magic user. I mean, sure, he couldn''t cast the top tier magics, or equip the heavy armor, but he was the most well rounded of them all,¡± I answer him. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You realize that you could have just kept my stuff as your own, since there was no way I would have known who you were or gotten back there in time to retrieve it, don''t you?¡± ¡°Yes, but that wouldn''t have been honest, and I just started the game. I don''t want to be a dishonest player, at least not until I''m forced into the position. Also, I just got a grave upgrade for having returned your items. It seems the system AI thought to reward me for good behavior. Speaking of the boar, however, I got this odd Tusk Whistle from the Boar as well¡­¡± I pull out the Whistle and show it to him for him to inspect. Tusk Whistle - Grade 2 Totem Unique Weight: 0.1 lb Allows you to summon a Boar - Grade 2 pet. Max Level: 50 Can upgrade to battle mount ''Dwarven Battle Boar - Grade 2'' available at Level 25. Class up at max for increased Grade. The man whistles softly, ¡°That is truly a rare drop. Normally, it won''t drop unless the enemy is Grade 3 or higher, and at that point it''s still just a standard boar whistle, and nobody wants to fight something equivalent to level 80 this close to the starting city¡­ Do you have the Tamer skill?¡± ¡°No, do you know where I can acquire it? Having something that handy sounds great. I gained four levels from that Boar, so I''ve got some skill points to use!¡± ¡°Sure, follow me! I''ll show you where the Player Bazaar is. You know purchasing skills off a player is a way to gain an extra skill point, which is why many players with twenty skill levels in a skill are willing to train others. Most won''t even charge you gold, since it''s like a mini-level up!¡± ¡°What about when a skill evolves? Surely you can''t skip the starting skill, and learn the advanced one.¡± ¡°You''re right, if someone evolves the skill into an upgraded form, you can still teach the original skill at master level, so the advanced skills users will charge gold for their training.¡± ¡°A Master Level trainer only requires a single skill point to learn from, where as the regular trainers require two, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct, which is why the masters charge gold in addition. Say, why does it say your name is Hidden? I''ve never seen that status before.¡± ¡°It''s not a status¡­ After two of my name choices being taken, I said I''d be called Hidden, and it went through. So Hidden is my name now.¡± ¡°Now? You intend to Digitize?¡± ¡°Yes, of course, why?¡± ¡°I wouldn''t spread the information that you''re digitizing yourself around¡­ There are many who try to abuse the Digitized players¡­ Especially in a remote area like this. You need to keep your status as a Digitized or soon-to-be Digi hidden,¡± he explains with a chuckle at using my character name as a pun. ¡°I see¡­ I see, yes, that would be true. Thank you for warning me. Shall we go to the Bazaar?¡± He nods and leads me there, explaining more about the different skills and the way they can skill up. While most of this information is widely available and already known by the majority of players, it is very nice of him to give this information to a new player. After buying the Tamer skill from a player with twenty levels in it, I frown and look back to my stats. Tamer Skill Level 1 The bearer of this skill can Capture and Summon pets from Wild Monsters. Access to Ability: Capture Access to Ability: Summon (Living Monster ? Pet) +1% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill. Capture The ability to capture a weakened monster and put it in a summon totem. Totems can be sold or traded to other players. Capturing a monster prevents you from acquiring EXP. Summon (Living Monster - Pet) The ability to summon a monster from a Totem. The Summoned monster starts at the level one and maxes out at the level of the Tamer skill. Monsters destroyed in battle return to their Totems, lose all experience at current level and cannot be summoned back for 24 hours. Name: Hidden Level: 5 [85%] HP: 300/300 MP: 230/240 TP: 240/240 Avaliable Stats: 24 STR: 40 DEX: 40 CON: 50 INT: 50 WLP: 40 SPR: 100 Deity: [None] Class: [None] Available Skill Points: 22 Skills: Luck''s Admiration [1] Concentration [1] Fire Magic [1] Longsword Proficiency [1] Tamer [1] Reserve Skills: [None] Abilities: Lucky Strike Lucky Stars Fireball Capture Summon (Living Monster - Pet) Passive Bonuses: Double Loot Drop for Party +10% Chance to obtain rare loot +5% Chance to not be interrupted when casting +2% Chance to Crit +1% Chance to Evade +1% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill Achievements: Monstrous Lucky Bastard Money: CC: 15 SC: 20 GC: 101 PC: 0 MC: 0 Equipped Items: Steel Longsword Padded Leather Armor (Light) Lucky Rabbit''s Foot Inventory: Boar Hide Boar''s Tusk Tusk Whistle - Grade 2 ¡°So¡­ The Whistle has ''Grade 2'' next to it, does that mean that my summoned monster will be treated as 4 times the power of the normal monster?¡± The skill trainer, a young man with jet black hair falling to his waist and bright blue eyes, blinks and his mouth drops open. Rockenroll laughs, ¡°what did you do to get such good luck? Yes, the effect of Grade works on pets, but they cannot increase in grade. A Grade 2 whistle is extremely rare, as most people won''t use Capture on anything with a Grade, wanting the greater experience and loot that a Grade allows.¡± ¡°I''ll buy it from you! How about $300? $500? Alright, alright, $1000!¡± the Tamer begs, making me blink. ¡°I''m sorry, but I don''t intend to actually sell it. I was planning on using this Boar to help me level up¡­¡± I answer him. I leave with Rockenroll, who just shakes his head. ¡°So, for a level 5 character, you should have, what, 4 more skill points? Wait, you said you''re a mage, so would that be 10 skill points?¡± ¡°I''m sorry, but¡­¡± I sigh, ¡°I really shouldn''t answer that sort of question, should I? At least, not somewhere so public. Say, Rockenroll, I appreciate the help, but why are you being so nice to me?¡± ¡°Ah, well, my guild is looking for recruits¡­ and you returned a lot of hard work to me, when you could have kept it. This bracelet in particular was crafted by my wife...¡± ¡°I see¡­ she wouldn''t have have been happy if you had returned without it. I guess this shows that good deeds can be rewarded.¡± ¡°It does indeed. So, will you come with me to my guild? It''s getting dark out, and you don''t want to be in the mountains alone at night.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ what''s the name of the guild?¡± ¡°Dwarven Theorum.¡± ¡°So you''ve found where the dwarves are hidden?¡± ¡°Not exactly. We figure they''re probably deep in the mountain cave system, and most of our members have been dwarves in other games.¡± ¡°Ah. Dwarves are always the best craftsmen, which is why I started out here, hoping to find the dwarven homeland so I could easily acquire the most powerful and rare gear.¡± ¡°So, you''ll join?¡± ¡°If your Guildmaster will have me, yes.¡± ¡°You do know you''ll have to disclose your stats and skills to the guild, if he accepts you, right?¡± ¡°I will? Well, if I must. Just promise not to call me a cheater?¡± ¡°It''s impossible to cheat in this game. The AI blocks all third-party access, and penalizes anyone who attempts to do a work-around.¡± ¡°So, is that a yes?¡± He sighs. ¡°Yeah, it''s a yes.¡± Rockenroll lead me to a large stone house in the upper district of the Fortress. The house was absolutely massive, compared to those around it. There was a huge emblem on the front of the building of a broad shouldered bearded man with a huge ax behind him. ¡°Well, the other thing would have been a giant tankard of ale, if you wanted authenticity for the dwarves,¡± I laugh. ¡°That''s what everyone says,¡± Rockenroll replies. ¡°I think the boss did that on purpose.¡± He opened the door and called out, ¡°hey Boss! I''m home and I brought a recruit!¡± A rough, burly man standing about six feet tall enters the room, with a huge ax on his shoulder, and a bushy red beard down to his the middle of his torso. ¡°Rockenroll, you''re late. How many times do I have to tell you to report yourself back here as soon as you''ve been killed? You''re far too ambitious to hunt alone.¡± ¡°Ahh, boss¡­ I only lost 10% experience...¡± ¡°And your money and likely another item! You''re costing the Guild far too much with your lackadaisical attitude!¡± ¡°But boss¡­ I didn''t lose my money in the end today! I''ve got a strong recruit for us right here!¡± ¡°A strong recruit? What level is he?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Five, I think. But he''s incredibly lucky!¡± While we had been on the way over to the guild, I had worked out how I would distribute my new stat and skill points, and so I opened up my menus and quickly did so. First, I distributed ten points to Constitution, ten points to Intelligence, and four points to Willpower. What occurred with my skills surprised me most. HP: 360/360 MP: 264/264 Luck''s Admiration (Passive) Skill Level 10 +10% Chance to obtain rare loot +5% Chance to Evade +5% Chance to Crit +5% Experience Boost Lucky Strike The attack with either inflict Critical Damage, or a DoT with a Debuff. Lucky Star MP Cost reduced! Cost: 25 x Level of Luck''s Admiration Duration increased to 3 hours. Tamer (Passive) Skill Level 10 +10% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill. Fire Magic Skill Level 5 Fireball Inflicts Fire damage equal to 60%-170% INT Stat I walked up to the guildmaster and offered my hand. ¡°Greetings, my name is Hidden. Rockenroll here has been kind enough to help me, this being my first day in the game. I would be honored if you would at least consider letting me join.¡± The guildmaster smirks, and shakes my hand as I get a request pop-up asking me to let ''Oathshield'' see my status panel. ¡°I''m not a cheater. I just got extremely lucky,¡± I tell him as I accept his request. ¡°What is this ability, Luck''s Admiration? I have never seen it before. Wait, is that a MYTHIC Rarity?¡± ¡°Well, sir, I received it on character creation for getting a 100 on Spirit...¡± ¡°Passive boosts¡­ +15% rare loot¡­ +10% Totems¡­. +6% Crit¡­ +5% to Evade, Experience, and Cast interruption prevention¡­ Double Loot Drop!? Yes, yes. You can definitely join our Guild. Hidden, you say? Well, my name is Oathshield, and this will be a fantastic relationship!¡± I received an invitation to join the Guild, and a friend request from both Rockenroll and Oathshield, all of which I accepted right away. ¡°I am honored to be a member. I intend fully to find the Dwarven Homeland. Would you believe that the map of this area is quite similar when viewed from above to the lands around Mythril Hall in The Forgotten Realms? ¡°I know most people avoid facing off against monsters above Grade 2, unless they are in a huge party, but then they lose most of the potential experience and loot. My guess is that we will likely have to fight our way through at least one cave of Grade 4 or above monsters to find the Homeland.¡± Oathshield''s eyebrow twitched violently. ¡°Well¡­ it seems that someone has come to the conclusions it has taken many of our strongest players months to figure out.¡± ¡°So that''s why you told me not to call you a cheater,¡± Rockenroll whistled. ¡°40, 40, 60, 60, 44, 100!? WTF? How the hell did that happen? Nobody''s ever had a 100 Spirit until after they''ve had a deity for a year!¡± ¡°Well, I was planning on rerolling, what with nothing above a ten being rolled, but then the 2 ten-sided dice landed on 100, and I got started with 40, 40, 50, 50, 40, 100, 100 gold, and the Mythic Luck''s Admiration Skill. I burned a Grade 1 Adult Rabbit first, which netted me my Lucky Rabbit''s Foot talisman, which nearly doubled my Luck''s Admiration passives at level 1. ¡°My second kill was the Grade 2 Boar that got Rockenroll¡­ I got four levels from that Boar, which allowed me to increase my constitution, intelligence, and willpower. I know with all my bonus stats I should probably be considered closer to Level 20...¡± ¡°I see, I see. So you returned his dropped money and items and got an introduction to the guild. You truly are a lucky person! Just so you know, the guild has a policy that you need to earn a minimum of 50 gold a week in order to remain a member.¡± ¡°I see, I see. That''s fair, since your average player level is much higher, and you have a bank to deposit money in so its not lost when killed.¡± ¡°Aye, that''s true. Well, we''ll take you to somewhere you can level up fast.¡± ¡°Thank you. I''ll want to level up my Grade 2 Boar as well...¡± ¡°Well its no doubt you do, with ten ranks of Taming! A Boar like that¡­ it may even upgrade to a Battle Mount if you get it to Level 50!¡± ¡°Wait, wouldn''t I then need Riding skill in order to use it?¡± ¡°Only if you wanted to ride it. You would need to get Tamer upgraded to Trainer, which happens at Skill Level 50, in order to Summon it, and it has to be leveled up again, although a Battle Mount can be armored, and it would retain its Grade. A Trainer can summon both a Battle Mount and a Pet at the same time. Of course, you can also unlock the Special Skill ''Zoologist'' if you get Trainer and Analyze to 50, which unlocks the ''Bestiary'' menu even when in Reserve.¡± ¡°Special Skill? A Skill usable while in Reserve? That''s insane¡­ There was no information of those on the wikis...¡± ¡°The system prohibits publication of Special Skills, Secret Skills, and Soulbound Skills, as well as limiting the information on the majority of Class Skills, and Combo Skills. It''s true, that you would assume that the AI in charge of the game would want us to have the most information available, but the truth is that it wants you to work with others to discover everything.¡± ¡°I see, that makes sense. Just like with the fact that it doesn''t list where to find the other races, it''s a test of how we humans act and what we''re willing to do, and if we can put together the information. I''m planning on getting the Literature skill, which I heard few people get, which will allow me to read the books in the Library, which might have hidden information. If I skill it up high enough, I may even find the connection we need.¡± ¡°What sort of hidden information are you talking about?¡± ¡°Well, the message was posted by the Administrator, and said that the Literature skill could be used to acquire information about hidden dungeons, secret treasures, unique lost skills, and that there are ways to evolve the skill so you can learn to read behind the intent of the document''s writer, to see if its a true lead or a false one¡­ Although they said that not all false leads are in fact false entirely, and that there are always more hidden in the open than players would believe.¡± ¡°Wait, that''s a direct message from the AI Administrator about the Literature skill? You are sure that their exact wording was ''always more hidden in the open than players would believe''?¡± ¡°Absolutely, why?¡± ¡°Because I think one of the NPCs in this town may actually be a Dwarf in disguise then.¡± ¡°Well, being the Mountain Kingdom, I''d be surprised if there weren''t some. Dwarves are exceptionally long lived, but we''re immortal here, so we''ll be living just as long, if not longer than them. I''ll make sure to pick up Literature on the next level. Along with Intelligence Up and Concentration, they can combine into the Scholar skill.¡± Oathshield coughs hard. ¡°S...Scholar? Isn''t that said to be a prerequisite for the Legendary rarity Sage Class?¡± ¡°So the little bit of information I found said. I spent two weeks in deep research on this game before I started. I just wanted to make sure I could get as much information as possible. A lot of the ''useless'' passive skills will actually rank up nicely, and as soon as I hit Level 50, I''ll be able to use a full ten abilities outside my created and equipped Class. I had previously made a theoretical build before I ended up with my super stats.¡± ¡°Anyways, here''s the key to your room, go up to the second floor, third door on the right. You can go out hunting with Rockenroll in the morning. Try to keep the pup alive.¡± ¡°As you command, General Oathshield,¡± I clapped my fist to my chest and bow. I entered my new bedchamber, and looked around, seeing a chest for my spare items, a pouch to put my spare money in, a twin-sized bed, and a closet for clothing. ''So this is what a normal person has to put up with living in? Ugh... I''ll have to upgrade it soon, or I''ll never be able to stay here.'' I put the boar''s hide into chest, and laid the longsword on top of the chest. I dropped the padded armor on top of the chest, and laid down on the bed to go to sleep, the internal ability of the game putting me right to sleep. Volume 1 - Chapter 2 - Trials and Dangers As dawn rose, the system automatically woke me up, and I climbed out of bed, well rested and eager to go. I donned my armor and belted on my sword, before heading down to the main room, where Rockenroll is being chastised by a gorgeous young woman with long brown hair, what must be a D sized rack, and the tiniest waist I had ever seen. I highlighted her and saw her name was ¡°Lanalass¡± and her level was 17, the minimum required for reaching the maximum skill levels. ¡°Ma''am, it is an honor to meet such a beautiful woman,¡± I said as I bowed deeply. ¡°So, you''re the man who saved my husband from the boss''s wrath and kept him and me in the guild,¡± she responded and hugged me tightly. ¡°I just hit level 50 goldsmith last night. I''ll teach you for free when you get a spare skill point.¡± Spare skill point? Oh, that''s right, I remembered already subscribing for the first month of bonus stats and skill points when I connected my bank account during the system identification. I opened up my status page, and yes, while I had slept, they took effect. I pulled up the Cash Shop interface, and quickly bought the maximum bonus five equip skill slots that I could, deducting another $250 from my account. ¡°I would love to learn Goldsmithing. I happened to subscribe for a month''s worth of the bought bonuses when I signed up, so I do have an extra skill point right now.¡± She beamed beautifully, ¡°well then, here, I''ll take that skill point off your hands!¡± I confirmed learning the Goldsmith skill, and smiled at the system alert informing me that I could now craft jewelry, once I have the proper items and materials, a link to the wiki, and another to the cash shop for an in depth guide to Goldsmithing including recipes and where to find materials. I dismissed it, and looked at Rockenroll, selecting him, and sending him a party invite as I also send his wife a friend request. ¡°Rockenroll, you''re the one who''s been around these areas, so where can we go to find some good experience?¡± ¡°We could try a goblin cave, but that''s if you are really confident you can keep up.¡± Rockenroll has Joined your party! Hidden Level 5 HP: 366/366 MP: 270/270 TP: 246/246 Rockenroll Level 30 HP: 270/270 MP: 60/60 TP: 180/180 ¡°By the great bearded father of dwarves you truly are a lucky bastard,¡± Rockenroll grunts. ¡°Hold on a second, the Cash Shop icon is flashing.¡± ¡°Yeah, it does that when the system adds a new item to it. Most of us can''t afford the items in there, so we opened up the settings and disabled notifications,¡± Rockenroll mutters. I opened up the Cash Shop and gasped. The new item seemed too good to be true. The Ultimate Bag of Holding Mythic Inventory Space: Unlimited (Internal Size: 1 Universe) This bag weighs 0.1 lbs per item inside, no matter how much the item weighs outside of it. +1 Strength per item placed inside Cost: $2,500 Item Binds on Equip. Time remaining for purchases: 5 minutes ¡°I¡­ I can''t believe this item can exist¡­ It''s too good¡­ I''d even consider that an acceptable and even reasonable price. This is my new life after all, so I gotta do it¡­¡± I quickly buy one for myself, Oathshield, Rockenroll, and Lanalass, watching my bank account drop by a whopping ten grand! I quickly send a message to Oathshield, asking him to come down. He comes down the stairs, and he''s wearing a bunny pajama suit, like the one in A Christmas Story. ¡°You''ll shoot your eye out!¡± I can''t help but call out, which makes him burst out laughing. ¡°So, what did ye call me downstairs for at this hour?¡± he grins down at me. ¡°Well, there was a limited time five minute sale going on in the Cash Shop¡­ Seeing as I''m new to the guild and you three are the only ones on my friends list, I figured it was worth it...¡± I said as I pulled out the 3 extra bags, and hand them over. ¡°What¡­ How can...¡± Rockenroll is astounded. Oathshield is completely flabbergasted as he informs us, ¡°the news stream mentioned this item last week¡­ a Level 250 Paladin got it for slaying a Level 400 Grade 7 Crystal Dragon, the last boss in the Crystal Cavern raid, and even then, he only got it because he used a Wishing Star he got off the Level 380 Grade 5 Ice Dragon, the first boss of that raid. The screenshot of the Loot list shows it as a 0.0001% Chance to drop off that Level 400 Dragon...¡± ¡°You really spent $7,500 on us? How rich are you?¡± Lanalas inquires after checking her own Cash Shop interface. I flinch, knowing that most people wouldn''t have been able to afford one bag in a single month, let alone two, and I gave away three plus kept one for myself. Well, I had worked out an answer to this question. "Money cannot buy happiness, and as I plan on becoming a permanent resident of this reality, Money can only really be used to make life easier... I''d honestly rather not think about how much I just spent on an impulse..." "With this item, we can loot the world..." Rockenroll murmurs. "With this item, you''ll end up killing yourself twice as often," Oathshield grumbles. "Since you''ve given him this item, he''s your responsibility now, Hidden. There''s a Goblin Cave, about level 30 for the first floor, that you might go and level up in. Take some potions with you, and make sure you keep that fool alive. See you back here in four days." "Sweet, alright. Anyone gotten to the bottom of the cave yet?" "You ain''t ready for the bottom of the cave. The boss is a level 110 Goblin Chieftain, usually Grade 3, because most people kill him before he can hit Grade 4." "Alright, thanks. We''ll go spend some time leveling up and drag back all the loot to sell or use in crafting." From the Guild Treasury, I was issued with a high quality crafted longsword and Hunter''s Light Armor for level 25, in addition to 30 healing potions, which I put all of them into my new Bag of Holding, as well as the Boar''s Tusk crafter material I still had on me. Rockenroll and I exit the fortress to the north, and I can''t help but take a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the fresh mountain air. "So, we''re going to kill everything we come across on the way to the cave, hoping for me to level up enough to be able to equip the new items I had grabbed from the Guild," I inform him as I lift the Tusk Whistle to my lips and blow, summoning the Level 1 Grade 2 Boar Pet. As we walked, I adjusted the pet to receive a whopping 30% of my experience points. As we turned onto the path to the mountain, we came across a level five stag, which I ordered the boar to attack, while I charged forward, casting fireball and preparing to hack off the horns, which are a rare crafter material since they don''t drop, and have to be cut off the living creature. I successfully managed to cut off both horns as the boar finally killed the stag, which turned into a tiny loot box with a few coppers and a pair of deer pelts. For the next half hour, we slaughtered every mob on the way, until I dinged Level 6 and the pet had nearly reached level 3. I now had seven stat and seven skill points available, so I immediately put three points in constitution, three points in intelligence, and one point in willpower, and dumped all seven skill points into Luck''s Admiration, which only had a small boost to my passives. By the time we got to the main divergence fork, I had dinged level seven, distributing six points into constitution, making it so that at level eight I would have another bonus stat point, and put the remaining point into willpower. I put all seven skill points into Tamer, boosting my ability to get a new totem by another seven points! My boar had also hit level four. The left path continued on with level five to ten monsters, but the right path had level twenty to twenty-five. "Want to take the right hand path, to speed up the leveling?" "Sure, if you think you can handle it with your low armor level. You better keep your boar back for a bit though, since it will likely die easily." "True enough... If only one of us had healing magic, we wouldn''t have to waste the Healing Potions if either of us gets hurt badly." "Well, there are Skill Manuals you can buy in the Cash Shop... but I can''t afford it, and you need an available skill point in order to learn it. They cost like $20, and are able to be used to learn the skill listed on them. Of course, you see how little MP I have, so it wouldn''t do me any good either way." "I didn''t realize... let me check, hold on a second." I pull up the Cash Shop and look through the Skill Manuals. "Let''s see... there''s Healing magic, Blood magic, ah, there''s a Literature manuscript too. And yeah, you were correct, the skill manuals are $20 each." I quickly bought the three of them, always having loved the Drain spell in older games. "Oh, yes, sweet... Intelligence Up and Creature Analysis are also listed!" I bought them both as well, not caring that he knew I just spent $100. "Now you just need to level up again so you can learn them, right?" "Yeah, and I''ll be able to do that if we kill a couple of those mobs from the right fork, instead of an hour on the left." I looked towards the forest and moved close, casting a fireball at the Level 20 ''Mountain Bandit'' NPC. I quickly cast it again and again, as the Boar charge, watching the mob''s health bar drop with each hit. The bandit made it to me and I slashed with my sword, calling out ''Lucky Strike!''. My sword moved of its own accord through the Bandit''s neck, a fountain of blood spraying as his head rolled off his neck. A System Message pops up. Congratulations! You have gained a Level. Current Level: 9 Stat points available: 16 Skill points available: 14 Max Skill Level: 27 Congratulations! You have successfully beheaded an enemy! You have gained the title: Executioner This title grants you a passive boost to Dexterity for each enemy you behead Current Count: 1 "So! I just gained 2 levels off that fight!" I quickly opened up the inventory and used all five manuscripts I had purchased. You have learned the skill: Healing Magic Skill Level 1 Rare Healing magic is uncommon among normal folks, but a deadly necessity for adventurers! Access to Spell: Cure (Light) You have learned the skill: Blood Magic Skill Level 1 Rare Users of Blood Magic are often deemed Vampires by the people of the realm, although they are not Vampires or undead usually. Access to spell: Drain (HP) You have gained the skill: Intelligence Up (Passive) Skill Level 1 Rare This equipped skill passively boosts the intelligence of the holder. Intelligence +2% You have gained the skill: Creature Analysis Skill Level 1 Rare This ability allows you to see more detailed information about your enemy. Access to Ability: Analyze You have gained the skill: Literature (Passive) Skill Level 1 Rare This equipped skill passively allows a character to read the in-game manuscripts, tomes, and scrolls that contain the lore of this world. You have learned the Spell: Cure (Light) Cost: 5 MP per level of Healing Magic skill This spell allows a player to heal another character in The Divine Adventure. Effect: Heals target for 25%-50% of your Intelligence. You have learned the Spell: Drain (HP) Cost: 5 MP per level of Blood Magic skill This spell allows you to drain a living target of HP, restoring your own in the process. Effect: Inflicts damage equal to 40%-80% of your Intelligence to target, restoring equal amount in health. You have learned the Ability: Analyze Timer: Once per minute To activate either call out ''Analyze!'' or focus your thoughts on finding out the secrets of a target. Reveals hidden information about a target, the higher the skill level, the greater the amount of information is available. Currently reveals Current and maximum HP, MP, and TP. With the addition of these new abilities, I upgrade both my new spells by four skill levels each, and then the Tamer ability by one point. Cure (Light) and Drain (HP) both gain a boost of 5% on the minimum heal and damage, putting them at 30% and 45% respectively. I put ten points into constitution and the remaining six points into my intelligence, raising it to a whopping eighty constitution and seventy intelligence before the 2% buff from Intelligence Up adds 1 more point. "Well, now I feel so much more powerful... I think I can take on the world. Shall we continue onward?" While I''d been busy handling my new skill points and stat points, Rockenroll had looted the dead body, placing everything, again, in his own ultimate bag of holding. "I''ll now gain nine Stat points and eight skill points each level. I love this! This is more than a game, especially if I want to be here for good." I adjusted some of my settings, and upped the pet''s experience to a whopping half of my own. I would need to be careful with my new spells and abilities, but I couldn''t help wanting to get more Executioner counts to boost my dexterity. "So, here''s the question... do we want to try to clear out all the enemies in this area in front of us before we go down meet the goblins? There must be a bandit lair and a miniboss with loot and experience." "That sounds good. I''m already close to leveling up, off the free exp you''ve been giving me. Say, thanks for helping me with the boss yesterday, and this morning..." "Don''t worry about it. Hmmm... I think once I get to a hundred constitution and intelligence, I''ll be holding off leveling up until we''re done with everything. It isn''t wise to assign stats and skills in a battle high." "That''s actually quite responsible... You wouldn''t believe how many of the top tier players have had to purchase back bonus points, which overall reduced their maximum potential due to the automatic reduction of bonus stat and skill points taken from them." "What I''ll probably do is use skill points on my passive skills and Tamer so that I can get some use out of them... Let''s go!" We rush down the fork, and I use fireball as my primary attack, normally draining an enemy down to about five or ten percent health remaining before giving the coup''de''grace with my sword, every so often completely managing to cut off a head without having to use another Lucky Strike. After about twenty enemies, the boar has leveled twice, and I level up as well. I didn''t bother applying the stats yet, deciding to hold off until I hit level eleven and could apply a full ten points. We kept going, working down the path, and into a small wooded area, where I found a path that lead to a cabin, surrounded by twenty bandits, with a Level 35 - Grade 2 Minotaur sitting on the steps! I used Fireball to pull a pair of bandits, quickly killing them off with the help of Rockenroll and my boar. I hit level 11 just as we killed the last of the bandits. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I distributed ten points into Constitution, and eight points into Intelligence. I upped Luck''s Admiration to twenty, Tamer to twenty, and put the remaining points into Concentration, raising it to level twelve. Luck''s Admiration (Passive) Skill Level 20 Mythic +15% Rare Loot drop +15% Experience +15% Crit Chance +10% Evade Chance Loot Grade +1 Ability Lucky Strike Upgraded Ability Lucky Stars Upgraded Lucky Strike The attack will now inflict a Critical and a Debuff, a DoT and a Debuff, or a Critical and a Dot. 10% chance of inflicting all three. Lucky Stars MP Cost Reduced! Cost: 10 times Luck''s Admiration''s Skill Level Bonus Experience upgraded to 20% Concentration (Passive) Skill Level 12 +10% chance to not be interrupted when hit Can continue a cast after being hit without restarting cast time - does not work on High, Super, or Epic Spells. Tamer (Passive) Skill Level 20 +20% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem''. I whistled softly as I examined my stats and buffs. "It''s a good thing when you level up your stats, it automatically refills them to maximum for HP and MP... I want you to focus on cutting off his horns, and pulling out his nose ring. Before we go in, let me give you a buff, and then let me regen my MP. I have a feeling those horns are going to be high quality crafting materials, and your wife will want them." "So what will you be doing?" "I''ll be burning the boss, and healing my boar as it tanks for us..." I cast Lucky Stars on Rockenroll and watched as his eyes bugged out at the new buff on his screen. "How can that be real?" "It''s the passive boosts of my Mythic skill, granted to another. I get 20% of the Experience you get. If this minotaur is out here, then who''s in the cabin? Hopefully, we will have time to restore HP and MP after the fight before we have to face what''s inside." Once my MP was full again, I cast a pair of fireballs before sicking the boar on the minotaur. Each Fireball did about 2% damage, and the boar''s charge did 5%. This was good, we could seriously do this! I unsheathed my sword and charged forward alongside Rockenroll, casting three fireballs as I closed the distance. I leaped up and activated Lucky Strike, slamming the sword right through the minotaur''s leftside horn, and dragging the blade down its skull. Critical hit, item drop, and a debuff from the blood flowing into the eye of the minotaur! I activated another Fireball, as I backed off. The minotaur attacked the boar, doing 10% damage to it. I activated Lucky Strike while I was behind the Minotaur, and my sword cuts deep into the back of knee, severing tendons, causing it to collapse to its knee with a bellow of pain and loss of another 5% damage. I cast Cure (Light) on my boar, bringing it back up to about 75% health, and attack the other horn, using both hands ont he longsword and putting all my power behind it, managing a crit without using Lucky Strike, and severing the horn from his head. The minotaur roars and swings around with an arm, hitting me hard with a crit, and sending me sprawling, gasping for breath. I dropped down to 65% health from the single hit! As I got up, I started casting Cure (Light) and healed myself back up to 70%. As I was focusing on healing myself, the minotaur had managed to stagger towards me. I dived under its swing, and activated Lucky Strike again, slicing out its other leg, dropping it down to both knees. With his strength blown completely out of proportion to anything else thanks to us storing nearly every piece of enemy loot in his ultimate bag of holding, Rockenroll rushes in and grabs the minotaur''s nose ring and rips it out, dropping the minotaur''s health down to ten percent, dropping it to hands and knees and putting it in the stunned status for ten seconds. I line up my two handed sword blow with the back of the minotaur''s neck and use Lucky Strike a last time, beheading the beast. As the minotaur dissolves into a loot box, Rockenroll bags the nose ring and the horns while I notice that I''ve received a few system messages. Congratulations! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 13 Maximum Skill Level: 39 Stat Points Available: 20 Skill Points Available: 16 Congratulations! You have given a boss the Coup''de''grace! Your Executioner status is now Elite Executioner! Elite Executioners gain Strength as well as Dexterity! Bosses you Execute will grant Triple Loot! Bonus! Bosses you Execute leave their heads behind as Trophies! You have received the title: Trophy Hunter Now you can mount your trophies for display in a personal room, home, guild, or castle! You may also collect Trophies of any standard animal with your Elite Executioner skill. I look at the minotaur''s head, which has new horns and a new ring, and swear softly, then I check the loot chest. Inside is thirty gold, three epic rarity minotaur hides, and a pair of epic rarity Grade 4 minotaur horn totems! I quickly put all the items into my ultimate bag of holding, adding another five points to my strength, distribute ten points into my constitution, two points to my intelligence, and the remaining eight points into my willpower to refill my MP. "Why is the head still here?" "Because it''s now a Trophy, according to the system message I received. That''s also why it isn''t letting you pick it up," I answer as I grab it and shove it in the bag of holding. "Let me put these points into Tamer real fast, then we''ll be ready to go into the building." Tamer (Passive) Skill Level 36 Your pets get a bonus 10% experience that isn''t subtracted from your experience. You no longer suffer a penalty to Totem drop rate while in a party. The door is not locked, and opens without a noise. I look inside the cabin and am astonished to see a party of three level 15 players bound and being held hostage by a Level 40 - Grade 5 Bandit Chief! I look at the players then the chief who laughs. "So, more spoiled humans from another world have come to my parlor..." "Listen, Chief, I''m sorry, but could you please let those three go, with their weapons and armor?" "Bah, you be a fool if you think I won''t kill them. I''m nearly to Grade Six! And if I kill them, they''ll just respawn here anyways. They figured they''d camp in my cabin, and not pay me rent?" "What do you want for their release then?" "Give me a hundred gold for the three of them, and I''ll consider it!" "A full hundred gold is a bit pricey for three level fifteen players. How about fifty gold?" "Ye be wastin'' me time, boy? Perhaps ye wish to join ''em..." "How about we take this outside?" "Eh? Ye'' seriously wish te fight me?" "Why not? I''m pretty sure I can win." "If ye lose, I''ll be takin'' all yer items and leaving you bound with the rest of them!" "Deal." I grin as I back out the cabin and down the stairs. My boar has already killed a freshly respawned bandit, as has Rockenroll. The Bandit Leader frowns as he sees my two assistants and shrugs. "Just more loot for the takin''..." He leaps down the steps and charges at me, swinging his dagger, only to trip on a root as I dodge. my boar rams his chest as I use Lucky strike, digging deep into the arm, cutting tendons, and making his fingers go limp, dropping his dagger. Rockenroll runs up and crits a fist to his gut, knocking the wind out of the bandit as he was planting his feet, just as I was slicing the back of his legs to hinder movement speed. Two fireballs, and my pet used its special ability, it''s tusk ripping open the bandit''s stomach. I went for the Executioner, using another Lucky Strike, and the bandit''s head rolls off his shoulders. I''m breathing hard as the bandit''s body dissolves into a loot chest. I blink at my interface and see that my boar and Rockenroll are both down to about thirty percent health, and I''m at forty percent! I don''t recall getting hit in this battle, but I must have... I rapidly cast Cure on Rockenroll and the boar, and cast a couple of myself as well, and once we''re all above 80%, I read the level up message and shook my head as I dismissed it. I applied ten of my stat points to intelligence, and the leftover point to Willpower. As for the nine skill points, I pumped them into Concentration, raising my inability to be interrupted to a whopping 15%! Inside the Loot Box was seventy gold, a prisoner''s key, a legendary rarity armor, a pair of legendary rarity cloaks, and an epic rarity dagger! There was also a pair of skill manuals for Thievery and a pair for Stealth! The Bandit Lord''s Armor (Light) Body Legendary 4 lbs Requires Level 30 Requires Strength 20 Requires Dexterity 30 Durability 80/80 AC +55 Dexterity +20 Grants access to the Thief Skill if not learned or +2 Skill Levels Grants access to the Lockpick Skill if not learned or +2 Skill Levels Grants access to the Stealth Skill if not learned or +2 Skill Levels Grants access to the Dagger Proficiency Skill if not learned or +2 Skill Levels The Bandit Lord''s Cloak Clothing Legendary 2 lbs Requires Level 20 Requires Strength 10 Requires Dexterity 25 Durability 20/20 Grants access to the Low Light Vision Skill if not learned or +2 Skill Levels Prevents people from inspecting your status. While your hood is up, hides your identity. The Mountain King''s Cloak Clothing Legendary 2 lbs Requires Level 40 Requires Strength 30 Requires Constitution 50 Durability 20/20 +300 Health +50% Fire Resistance +20% Chance of crafting Unique+ Rarity +5 Skill Levels to Blacksmith +5 Skill Levels to Goldsmith Mageslayer Left-Hand / Right Hand Epic 2 lbs Requires Level 30 Requires Dexterity 40 Requires Skill: Dagger Proficiency Skill Level 20 Durability 40/40 Damage 35-40 Access to Ability Silencer Access to Ability Gutripper +20% chance of silencing an opponent for 30 seconds preventing vocalized casting I let out a soft whistle and put all eight items, and the bandit chief trophy into my bag, and picked up the prisoner''s key, holding it in my hand as I climbed the stairs into the cabin, and unlocked the prisoners. "It''s a good thing the system hasn''t implemented a Satiety set yet, otherwise I''m sure the bandit chief would have starved you and deprived you of water." I went to the chest beside the cot and opened it, whistling softly as I saw the gold and jewelry. Rockenroll looks at the party of three and shakes his head. "We''ll help you get to the place where the low level fork meets up just short of the goblin cave, but you three need to head back to the Fortress. Your guild has been plastering the city with fliers asking about you." The three captives whimper and flinch closer to each other. From all the blood in the area, I could see that they had been killed multiple times in this place. In the corner of my vision, there''s an icon marking this as an Adult Zone, meaning that mature content was allowed in this zone, with or without the consent of all parties in the zone. The way the girl in the group flinched from my gaze upon her and tried to hide behind the other two answered that she had indeed been abused. "I thought that Adult Zones were supposed to be Safe Zones..." "They are, but you heard that Bandit Chief. I think he is a self-aware AI, which has its own consciousness and can ignore game commands and can do whatever they please. There were warnings about self-aware AIs that went out a few years ago in other games... To think the first one we come across is a villain in this one." "So these three set their respawn zone as here, because they had planned on being safe when they resurrected, only to have the Chief burst in on them in the middle of the night and used them as a personal grade grinder in order to get his Grade up so high?" "Yes, and that minotaur too, it seems." At the mention of the minotaur, the girl whimpers and curls into a tight ball. I look over at the bed and notice the cuffs for the first time. Now that''s just wrong... a player should never have to suffer at the hands of NPCs. I reach into my bag and pull out my Trophies. "I beheaded those that wronged you. Let us take you back to town, where you can be safe..." Both of the men stand up, staring at the heads I''m holding. "H...How...?" "Special Title. You''ve gotta earn your trophies," I inform them as I put the heads back in the bag. "Now, I''m claiming the gold and jewelry for my Guild, but if your weapons and armor are still around, we''ll return them to you. Is that alright?" "He put our gear in that Cabinet...", he points to the wardrobe across the room, and I go over to it, while Rockenroll moved to the chest with the unexpected loot. Inside the wardrobe is two full sets of iron armor, a set of chainmail, two steel longswords, two kite shields, and two shortswords. I pull them out, and toss them to former prisoners. There are cries of surprise from outside, as my boar kills a freshly respawned bandit and I watch it gain a level on my interface. "We''ve got some interesting loot here, Hidden. Apparently, as the bandit''s leader''s grade increased, so did the coffer he had in here. There''s a full map of this section of the mountains, including markings for the caves that are one-off lairs, and markings for which are entrances to dungeons. There''s also a mark for a Raid... It looks like that AI made us a really useful map. It''s even marked for how many floors are in a dungeon and each floor''s max level." "Well, I think the boss can forgive us for not staying out the full time, if we come back with this loot. I really love that Boar of mine. I can''t wait for him to turn into a riding mount so I can use one of my new Totems..." The three former prisoners have finished donning their gear. "So, do we take them back through the bandit fork, or are we going to where the forks meet up by the goblin cave and take them up the low level fork?" "I say we take them back the shorter path, straight through bandit territory. my little Boar is having a field day with the bandits as they respawn. He''s not even losing that much health." "Well, he is a Grade 2, after all. You''d expect him to do well since he''s equivalent to a level forty by now." "Then we''ll definitely take them through the Bandit Fork, killing any that try to get in our way while you and I protect them. We''ll get them back to town before nightfall then, if only just." Volume 1 - Chapter 3 - The Machinations of the Divine On the way back, I ended up gaining two levels, the first one I distributed ten points into intelligence, making it a full hundred before bonuses, maxing out my bonus skill points for the next level, and I put the remaining point into will power to increase my MP by another six. For the ten skill points, I maxed Tamer out at Skill Level 45, which boosted my pet''s experience to a fifteen percent bonus, then I put the remaining one point in concentration, which didn''t seem to do anything to the skill. When I hit level sixteen just as we got to the fork, I sighed and decided not to worry about distributing until we got back to the Guild. I''d also managed to execute another bandit on the way back, raising my total of executions to eight. We rush back towards town, ignoring all the lower level animal mobs, and manage to make it to the Fortress with the sun still above the horizon. Rockenroll and I see the three to their guild, the ''Mountain Sabers'', where we are introduced to Lionol, the guildmaster. "Thank you very much for finding our people and escorting them home... If I might ask, may we speak in private?" I nod and he leads the two of us to a back room, which he closes the door. "So, what was the trouble that these three got themselves in? Why does my daughter flinch away from the gaze of a man other than her two bodyguards?" "Well, sir," I sighed, knowing this was going to go over poorly. I''m sorry to say this, but your daughter and her bodyguards were being held by a Bandit Chief boss who is self-aware. He captured them in the cabin down the bandit path, and used them as his own personal grade enhancer... and he had a minotaur sub-boss with him. From what I could tell, your daughter, and maybe the two men with her, were brutally assaulted more than once. In addition to the Prison Collers that were around their necks and staked into the floor, there were shackles on the bed. I don''t believe those are normal in-game items for a Safe Zone." "They WHAT!?" "Calm down, please... The system probably has control of the rogue AI now that it''s been killed, so it probably won''t happen again," I said, a lie if what Rockenroll told me was true, but I had to test the man''s knowledge, I couldn''t help it. "Anyways, I would recommend we post a Fortress-wide notice to not set ones bind point in that former safe cabin anymore, as it seems the enemy NPCs have moved into there." "By the gods, you''d think the game would keep the players safe," Lionol muttered. "Speaking of the gods, this is a rather small world, with very limited divine presence at the moment. I mean, according to the forums, most people aren''t even bound to a Deity, so that means the AIs that control the gods, or the spiritual incarnations of the gods themselves, have very limited control over what can and cannot happen here. It''s pretty much anything goes with this world at the moment. People need to be careful, and we need to actively plan to keep smoking him until the AI makes him move from the cabin area." "You can leave that to me and my clan, We''ll go have some revenge in the morning. Oh, and for your reward... Here," he grunts as he pulls out a pouch and tosses it on the table between them. I clicked the loot list of the pouch, and see it contains two thousand gold coins, five Scribe skill scrolls, two Riding skill scrolls, two Trap skill scrolls, and a Lockpicking skill scroll. "Thank you, these skills will help us greatly in the Dwarven Theorum. However, we cannot accept the Gold. You will need the gold yourselves," I say as I select the scrolls and click ''Take'', leaving the gold in the pouch. "Dwarven Theorum? I thought you guys were a joke, but I better change that theory. Do you really think the dwarves are in the area?" "I started my character here hoping just that, and by slaying that Grade 5 Bandit Chief, I might have my answer already." I pull out The Mountain King''s Cloak for him to see and inspect before putting it back in my bag. "I can''t ask you to sell it to me, as that is a priceless item for one hunting the Mountain Folk. I wish you and your guild well. We appreciate your assistance with retrieving our lost members." Lionol shakes my and Rockenroll''s hands, then escorts us out of his guild, and we make our way back to our own guild hall. "Why did you not accept the gold?" Rockenroll asks me as we walk down the alley. "Because accepting the gold would have been greedy on top of the skills they offered. While most people wouldn''t have minded taking it all, I''m not most people. Basically, what he offered us was $100 in gold, which if we cashed out to the real world, we''d only $80 of. The skills were the more valuable of the items, at $10 each. Basically, I took the $200 in skills for the guild and left them with a third of the reward to build comradery, since we will eventually need help," I explained. "Since we did the job, I''m going to tell the boss that you''re getting one of each of the skill scrolls, other than the lockpicking which I''m taking." "That sounds fair to me," Rockenroll says as he opens the guild door. "WHAT SOUNDS FAIR TO YOU?" booms Oathshield. "I ORDERED YE BOTH NOT TO COME BACK FOR FOUR DAYS!" I rubbed my ear. "Ouch, turn down the bass boss. We''re back because of unforeseen circumstances, which you''ll probably be happy to hear about. Also, our trip wasn''t in vain. We saved those three missing players from Mountain Sabers. You need to hear the story, and see our loot!" I pulled out the Mountain King''s Cloak again, but this time, I actually hold it out to Oathshield, who takes it reverently. I then pull out the rest of the loot, before pulling out my Trophies. "How in the high hells did ye get to keep their heads!?" "That''s the most surprising thing about all this loot? Look at the Totems for Luck''s sake! Two Grade 4 Minotaur Totems! They say you must be Trainer Level 20 or above to use!" There''s a thud as Oathshield hits the floor, having actually fainted! I blinked in surprise, having not realized people could faint in the game, but since Oathshield is digitized this isn''t a game for him, and it does make sense. I ran over and knelt beside him, gently slapping his face to bring him around. "Wha-what...? What happened?" "Well, you just fainted, when I told you about my Minotaur Totems..." "And we hadn''t even hit the best part of the loot yet, Guildmaster," Rockenroll chuckled as he pulled out the map, which indeed did list the location of the Home Under the Mountain. "In the loot chest of the bandit boss, we found this AI drawn map. It contains the locations of various dungeons and one-off caves, listing their levels and current loot age. It also shows the path needed to find the dwarven homeland!" Oathshield staggered and glared at me, as if all of this was my fault. "So... This new player joins the game... And then he brings us no end of trouble. I want a full report!" "Well, I remembered reading on the forums that there were very rare crafting materials that had to be harvested off living monsters, and that if you faced a humanoid monster with a weapon, and could disarm them, you could claim the disarmed item, since NPCs cannot ''Bind'' on Equip like we do. Thanks to this fact, we have hundreds of rare crafting items, a pair of Grade 3 Minotaur Horns each marked as an epic quality craft item, various low level daggers, knives, and swords... We''ve got some legendary quality armor and cloaks, which I was planning on using the Mountain King''s Cloak as a gift to the Dwarves when we get there... "Anyways, the cash came to 7,800 Copper, 5,200 Silver, and 2,800 Gold. We also have the Minotaur''s Nosering which is a Legendary Rarity. Rockenroll makes a great monk with the unlimited boost for his strength with the Ultimate Bag. It also allows him a much greater chance to break off the crafting materials as they are immune to armor negation. What is the bag reading at right now? +487!? Damn... Let me see that nose ring." Minotaur''s Nose Ring Upgrade Legendary Requires: Craft Skill 50 Requires: Equip Level Requirement 50+ +100 Strength +100 Constitution +50 AC Access to skill: Rage Well! It was even better than the forum post I saw had suggested! Of course, it could be an amazing boost for any piece of gear once I hit level 50 to be able to use it. I quickly pocketed it and put all the skill scrolls on the table. "So, we got a bunch of skill scrolls from everything we did. I''m keeping once of each. That leaves four scribes, and one each of stealth, thievery, riding, and trap skills. I checked over the map, and it looks like we''ll have to go through the Goblin Caves you were sending me into for leveling purposes, and find its path into the lower mines, so I''ll need to learn Mining skill as well." "I''ll teach you that," Oathshield grunted. "I''m already Level 50 in it." "How many people do we want to bring though?" Oathshield looked around the room. "How about a full party of five? You, Rockenroll, myself, Helmstriker, and Foambeard. We''ll leave in the morning. If we encounter those bastard bandits, we''ll genocide them on the way through." "Who are Helmstriker and Foambeard?" "The other two who started this guild with me. We''re all Level 80 or higher." "That''s good... it looks like the lower tunnels is full of Level fifty mobs, who likely have reached the maximum time grade of three... so hopefully we can manage to take on Level 400 mobs as a group of five..." "Foambeard is highly proficient with healing magic. He''s leveled it to 50." "Alright, so let''s call it a night... I really need to get cleaned up and sleep." "Night Hidden, sleep well. We leave at noon tomorrow, and camp tomorrow night at the ''Safe Spot'' that the bandit chief was using. we''ll chain him up if we keeps respawning." And with a plan made, I headed upstairs to my room, dumped my gear on the floor, performed a quick wash with the steaming rose-scented water for washing, and then hit the bed, falling asleep immediately. The next morning, I wake up at about three in the morning to an incessant beeping. Apparently, I received a system message some time in the middle of the night. You have been watched by the Lady of Luck. You have been observed by the Grim Reaper. Lady Luck has an offer for you. Will you view it? Yes / No I rub my face and groan softly, thinking this has to be a joke of some sort. I do owe Luck for the statistics and ability, but really? What an obscure message and time to send it. My log shows it as having arrived five minutes ago, in the middle of the damn night! It does mention the Grim Reaper though, so I sigh and pull on my ''free'' starting clothes before I click the ''Yes'' button. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! It''s a good thing that I got dressed, as the world goes dark, vanishing around me, and there''s a soft ''thump'' of my feet hitting the ground right before my vision comes back, and oh my! I''m suddenly in a temple of pale marble and glistening onyx inlays. As I look around, I see that it''s much more than a simple temple, but a divine casino! From where I am standing, I can see slot machines, blackjack tables, poker tables, a roulette wheel... and an absolutely stunning young woman making her way to me, wearing of all things, a female version of the Mad Hatter outfit from Alice in Wonderland! "Greetings, Aurian Limsoli. My name is Dealer, please follow me, her divine ladyship should not be kept waiting," the woman introduces herself to me with a doff her cap and a bow. She''s my height, with long brunette ringlets framing her face and flowing down her back. Her eyes, however, are very catlike with their refractive green coloring. She puts the cap back on, and turns around, revealing she has a tail, and with the cap on, I can easily make out her feline ears! "How do you know that name...? Nobody in this world outside the Administration should know it!" She turned back around and frowned at me, crossing her arms and tapping her lip. "Lady Luck is one of the few deities who still exist on Earth. You wouldn''t believe how much energy she gets from that dying planet! Of course, with the creation of Virtual Worlds, the resources aren''t being drawn from the planet anymore and are allowing it to start recovering, so the planet and the current human race on it might now be completely dead... "Anyways, to answer your question, Lady Luck has always had an eye on you, as you had a bet with her in your former life. You see, in your life before that of Aurian Limsoli, you had been a street tough, lucky as all hell, but just a street tough. Your soul was created in an experiment to see how much one''s financial situation impacted the overall happiness of a person." "So I''m an artificial soul?" "No, there is no such thing as an Artificial soul. Come, follow me, and I''ll let the Lady and the Reaper explain." "I''d... rather not see the Reaper, as I don''t think I''ve gone Digital yet..." "Oh, you''ve been Digital since you rolled your stats, don''t you remember the screen glitch? We digitized you then. You''re in perfect health, and Immortal. The Grim Reaper is kinda your grandfather anyways, so you should really hear him out." "You''re purposefully trying to confuse me, aren''t you? It''s a relief to know I''m digital though..." I follow her through the Casino Temple, and blink as I see screens showing Arena combat from multiple different games and realities. "So, what, are we outside time and space?" "Welcome to the Temple of Luck and Casino of the Undying. Did having all the money one could ever hope to spend make you happy? No, I know it didn''t... We''re sorry about your biological parents having left you. Luck didn''t foresee that happening." "Can we please not bring up my old life anymore? I mean, I''m truly grateful that Lady Luck has helped me as much as she has, but..." "But you want a challenge, yes? That''s one of the reasons why she''s summoned you, her Son." She opens a huge door that suddenly appeared in front of us, and motions me in. Inside, is a huge round table, with at least 64 chairs around it, and stairs to climb on top of it. Each of the chairs is occupied by either an obvious incarnation of a god, or someone who looks like they''d make a great match for the description of some of them. She leads me up the stairs to the center of the table, where an absolutely stunning blonde woman in an elegant crimson ball gown is arguing with a man who looks exactly like a soulless corporate lawyer. You know the type, tailored business suit, frozen facial features, and eyes so dull it makes one wonder if they really are alive. "My Son is certainly up to the test! You''ve been watching him these last few life cycles. Even though he didn''t know a damned thing about himself, he gave life his all and proved that money does not make one happy in and of itself!" the gorgeous goddess called out. "Bah, you''re a blind fool!" one of the Dwarven gods yelled back at her. "No, I say let him take the test to see if he has grown powerful enough to join the ranks of the Children of Gods. If he fails, he''s now Immortal, and so will just respawn on his new home world," the soulless looking man says as he pulls out a scythe. "Wow... so Death really is an attorney?" I can''t help but ask, which makes all the other gods burst out laughing. He turns around and grins, his form shifting to that of the robed skeleton, before changing to other various known incarnations of ''Death'', then settling back on the attorney. "Yes, I am." "So, what''s this Test?" "Get 100 Levels in your current game without dying or cheating. Either that or discover two racial homelands. You''re not the only Godling in that game we made... Thor''s little boy, Raijin, hacked his rig for the initial set up, granting himself a ''default'' roll of 18 in each attribute and 99 in Spirit. I''ve smote him twice, once at Level 99 and again at Level 189. He''s quickly approaching Level 270, and of course Thor over there can''t help but give his son easy tests for his Divine Ranks." I scratch my jaw and frown. "So, I have to either rescue two races or gain a hundred levels without dying or cheating. If Luck is my mother, who''s my father?" "I am," Death responded instantly. "We had a bet going to see if a child of Luck and Death could be a productive part of the ecosystem. Most of these fools think you''ll fail." "So I''ve got two mega deities as my parents? Well, does that mean I have to choose one of you for my ''Religion'' status?" Luck smirks quite evily, "No son, if you want to have quests from both of us, you''ll be allowed since we did create you." Suddenly an aura of black and silver flows from Death as a gold and mythril colored one flowed from Luck, both auras coil around me and sink in to my being. My vision goes black as my HP, MP, and TP all plummet down to 10%, making me stagger and drop to my knees. A series of system messages pops up. Congratulations! You have received Deity: Lady Luck! Congratulations! You have received Deity: Death! Deity: Lady Luck Rank: 1 (Noob) Luck''s Admiration Skill +5 Levels Changes Lucky Strike from Daily Allotment to 10 TP Cost Changes Lucky Stars to effect Party, instead of single Player. Grants Access to Ability: Lucky Wish Removes Deity Restrictions and allows instruction of Luck''s Admiration. Deity: Death Rank: 1 (Noob) Grants Access to Skill: Necromancy Grants Access to Skill: Shield of Bones Grants Access to Skill: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe Necromancy - Skill Level 1 Epic The ability to control the dead Access to Ability: Summon (Undead Monster - Pet) Unlocks Item Drop: Captured Soul Summon (Undead Monster - Pet) 50 MP + Level of Captured Soul Grip Captured Soul and call out ''RAISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!'' Raises the monster whose soul is contained in the Captured Soul item. You may control 1 Undead Monster at a time. Shield of Bones - Skill Level 1 Epic Enhanced protection from beyond the grave. Access to Ability: Shield of Bones Shield of Bones 10 MP x Level of Shield of Bones Incantation: Protect me, Fallen Ones! A barrier of bones forms around you and then becomes invisible Absorbs 25 damage for each level of Shield of Bones Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe Meticulous The ability and training to use a Scythe and special Scythe combination attacks in battle! No longer will you need to turn a plowshare into a sword to fight! Can equip a Scythe as main weapon even if it isn''t a default weapon for your Class. Lucky Wish Mythic For 1000 Gold, you can open the loot list of a monster you or someone in your party has slain and take any item of your choosing. Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Purge the Mountains Slaughter 100 Bandits Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Weapon: Scythe (Rank 1) Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Critical Luck Perform 100 Critical Attacks Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Talisman: Lucky Dice (Rank 1) "Go now, son and make us proud! I am allowed to set Raijin up to die one more time. Make us proud and join the Godling Squad before he does!" The world goes black. "WAKE UP, HIDDEN!" Oathshield roars from outside the door to my room, startling me awake on the floor of my room in the guild. I open up my eyes and find another system message! Due to the hard work of the last day the following skills have increased on their own accord: Fire Magic - Skill Level 8 Longsword Proficiency - Skill Level 5 Intelligence Up - Skill Level 2 Creature Analysis - Skill Level 5 Longsword Proficiency (Passive) +1% Damage when using a Longsword single handed +5% Damage when using a Longsword two-handed. Intelligence Up (Passive) Intelligence +3% After Clearing it, another message pops up! The truth has been told! You are a Godling!? Effect: Doubles the bonus for your Titles! Oh my! Well, that will certainly help me on my course of staying alive! Oathshield pounds on my door and roars my name again. "Hold on! I''ll be down in a minute!" I glance at the time on my interface and whistle. After my parents ''blessing'' me, it turns out I slept another six hours! I quickly got dressed in my armor and headed downstairs. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And that is where I am in writing the story right now. I''ll continue to work hard, but don''t expect a post other than his Current Stats as of finishing this chapter for a few days. Thank you all for the encouragement to keep going, and I hope you are enjoying the story! Hiddens Stats Panel (End of Chapter 3) Name: Hidden Level: 16 [50%] HP: 606/606 MP: 348/348 TP: 348/348 Avaliable Stats: 11 STR: 42 + 60 DEX: 42 + 16 CON: 101 INT: 101 + 3 WLP: 58 SPR: 100 Deity: Lady Luck [1] Luck''s Admiration [25] Deity: Death [1] Necromancy [1] Shield of Bones [1] Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe [1] Class: [None] Available Skill Points: 3 Skills: Concentration [22] Fire Magic [8] Longsword Proficiency [5] Tamer [48] Healing Magic [5] Blood Magic [5] Intelligence Up [2] Creature Analysis [5] Literature [1] [None] Reserve Skills: Goldsmith [1] Stealth [1] Traps [1] Thievery [1] Lockpick [1] Riding [1] Mining [1] Abilities: Lucky Strike Lucky Stars Lucky Wish Fireball Capture Summon (Living Monster - Pet) Summon (Undead Monster - Pet) Shield of Bones Cure (Light) Drain (HP) Analyze Reserve Abilities: Stealth Disarm Trap Pickpocket Lockpick Passive Bonuses: Party Penalty on Totem Drop Rate Disabled Double Loot Drop for party (Doubled) Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.Triple Loot on Boss Execution (Doubled) Boss Trophy on Boss Execution Dexterity +2 per Execution Strength +2 per Execution Strength +1 per item in UBH Can resume cast after being interrupted (H/S/E Spells not included) Intelligence +3% Loot Grade +1 +20% Chance to obtain rare loot +15% Chance to not be interrupted when casting +20% Chance to Crit +10% Chance to Evade +15% Experience Boost +20% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill +15% Pet Experience +1% Single Handed Longsword Damage +5% Two-handed Longsword Damage Titles: Monstrous Lucky Bastard Elite Executioner Trophy Hunter Godling Money: $84,373,901.23 CC: 45 SC: 58 GC: 201 PC: 0 MC: 0 Equipped Items: Steel Longsword Padded Leather Armor (Light) Lucky Rabbit''s Foot Inventory: Tusk Whistle - Grade 2 Ultimate Bag of Holding -Reinforced Steel Longsword -Hunter''s Light Armor -Healing Potion x30 -Boar''s Tusk -Stag Horn x2 -Deer Pelt x2 -Minotaur Trophy -Bandit Chief Trophy -Minotaur Hide x3 (Epic) -Minotaur Horn Totem - Grade 3 x2 (Epic) Volume 1 - Chapter 4 - Bandits and Crits I head down stairs and am surprised by the sight of six other members of the guild gathered around the table where we left the map last night. "What the hell happened to you, Pup?" Oathshield asks as he points at my arm, which is covered with an odd tattoo I hadn''t really noticed yet. As I focus on the tattoo, it seems to look like dancing scythes and dice! ''I thought that had been a dream... guess not...'' runs through my head as I shrug. "Who knows... I had an odd dream last night and I woke up on the floor and this was there..." "Looks like a Deity Mark, declaring your god, but a noob like you couldn''t have a Deity, as most don''t accept players under Level 75," an extremely wide, red and white bearded man grumbles. "I''m Foambeard, it''s nice to meet the person who just secured our names in history." "Aye..." a tall man with a gleaming silver helmet concurs. "I wouldn''t doubt him getting a Deity Mark this early," Oathshield grunts. "He''s got the Luck of the Lady herserlf as far as loot goes." ''Should I tell them? It could lead to problems if I don''t... but will they really trust me if I come out and say it?'' I bite my lip and shake my head before going to the table. A chime rings over the entire game, and a system alert pops up. System Alert! RAIJIN the Son of Thor (Level 269) has been slain by Kaiserrot the Dracolich on the Plane of Terror! Raijin has been drained to Level 250 for his Respawn in Gran''igui. All fear the wrath of the Son of Thor! "Well, looks like Dad really did a number on Raijin this time... losing nineteen levels on a single death?" I mutter out loud. "I sure hope Raijin doesn''t find out I''m a Godling with the same leveling mission as him..." Rockenroll glances at me almost a look of terror crossing his face. ''Shit, did I just say that out loud!? Damn it...'' "So, what''s the plan? We''re gonna go find the dwarves and establish a cleared route for trade allowing players to change to dwarven characters, right?" "Aye!" Oathshield, Foambeard, and Helmstriker all announce. I check the new Sale information on the cash shop and whistle softly. Hooded Cloak of the Reaper Clothing Divine 2 lbs Requires Deity: Death Indestructible Prevents the HP of the wearer from dropping below 1 unless the killing strike is a Critical hit. When the Hood is raised, emits Aura of Terror, with an 60% chance of driving enemies away and a 15% chance to completely paralyze them. Paralysis chance raises with each Rank in Death. Binds on Purchase Cost: $25,000 Coin of the Savior Artifact Divine 0.5 lb Requires Deity: Lady Luck Flip the coin in the air and call it. If your call is correct, HP of your entire party is restored to maximum, raising any characters in your party that are dead and restoring lost experience. Can only be used once per day for each Rank in Lady Luck. Binds on Purchase Cost: $25,000 I quickly purchase them, and store them in my Ultimate Bag of Holding, since they are divine trump cards purpose made by my parents for me. I don''t want to let people know about yet. If things go wrong, I can always pull them out later to use. As soon as I purchased them, however, they vanished from the store, almost as if they were a sale for my eyes only! This, of course made me smile. "So, we''ve got a dedicated healer, a dedicated tank, and three dedicated dps?" I asked as I was going through my skills, blinking as I realized I suddenly had an open slot. I opened up the Cash Shop and inspected the available skills, wondering what would be useful, before I shake my head and close it, moving ''Trap'' skill from the reserve to the equipped, and raise it by three skill levels, to increase my chance of detecting traps by 5%, as well as disarming them when I find them. "Aye. I''m the tank, Foambeard is the Healer, Helmstriker, yerself, and Rockenroll are DPS. We shouldn''t need any more, considerin'' your pig," Oathbeard grumbled. "Alright, so let''s do this! Let''s go break the dwarves free and unlock the first bonus race in the game!" With a cheer, we all got ready and left the Guild Hall to well wishes from the rest of the guild. When we get to the fork, Oathshield sets up the party invites. Oathshield has invited you to join his party! Join / Decline Of course I join, and what I saw stunned me. Oathshield Level 105 HP: 1,200/1,200 MP: 300/300 TP: 840/840 Foambeard Level 115 HP: 600/600 MP: 900/900 TP: 120/120 Helmstriker Level 112 HP: 840/840 MP: 300/300 TP: 1,020/1,020 Rockenroll Level 33 HP: 360/360 MP: 90/90 TP: 180/180 Hidden Level 16 HP: 606/606 MP: 348/348 TP: 348/348 Pet: Porky (Hidden) Level 13 - Grade 2 HP: 450/450 MP: 120/120 TP: 600/600 "WHAT THE HELL!?" Foambeard and Helmstriker roar at the same time upon my and Porky''s joining the party. "That''s nothing... just let Hidden do any final killing blows on a boss. We''ll get triple loot if he chops their head off!" Rockenroll encourages. "So, we should have no problems going down the harder fork. Let''s let Hidden and Porky level up by letting them kill everything. We''ll just stand back and enjoy the show, healing them when, or if they need it," Oathshield informs the group. I kill a few bandits before one of them drops a ''Captured Soul of a Bandit - Level 23'', which makes all four of them cross their arms and look at me for me to explain myself since none of them could pick it up, even with Oathshield having it set to Lootmaster. "Remember how I said I had a bad nightmare last night... well, it wasn''t really a nightmare..." I open up my status panel and click ''Share'', showing everyone in the party my two deity paths. "I''ve got a quest from Death to kill a hundred bandits, and a quest from Lady Luck to critical a hundred times..." "What''s this ''Godling'' Title?" Foambeard asks. "Apparently, my first incarnation was created by Lady Luck and Death, making me their son. I''ve also got a ''Divine Challenge'' to join the ''Godling Squad'' and unlock even more power. I have to level up a hundred times without dying or cheating... or I have to find two different races and bring them to the point of merging with society." I reach into my bag and pull out the cloak, equipping it, but leaving the hood down. The cloak is a rich velvety material, and a black so dark it almost feels like it could feed on the light given off by a soul, and not just the light of the sun. I also reach in and pull out the coin. "I figured since you can see my financial status, you know I''m loaded. My parents intervened this morning, putting up two items in the Cash shop for me to purchase, which I did..." "Are you allowed to teach the skills from your divine branches?" Helmstriker inquires. "Most deities allow it, but you can only test. You have over twenty ranks in Luck''s Admiration. Select it and see if you have an ''Instruct Pupil'' listed under it." I check, and sigh when I see the ''Instruct Pupil'' button greyed out. I check the ones from Death, and they are the same. "It''s greyed out, says I need a minimum of 5 Deity Ranks to be able to instruct. As are the skills from Death." "Well, at least they are letting you teach. So, what are your starting out quests to rank up your Deity branches?" Oathshield wonders. "For Death, I have to kill a hundred bandits, and for Lady Luck, I need to Crit a hundred times." "Then let''s get to your farming!" After another five bandits, I get another captured soul, and both my boar and I level up. I don''t bother with the stat points, but I put the last two points into Tamer, which then asks me if I would like to spend a point and upgrade Tamer to Trainer, and I select yes. Trainer - Skill Level 1 The bearer of this skill can Capture and Summon pets from Wild Monsters, as well as summoning Battle Mounts. Access to Ability: Capture Access to Ability: Summon (Living Monster - Pet) Access to Ability: Summon (Living Monster - Mount) +5% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill. +1% Experience to Pet +1% Experience to Mount I quickly pump the last eight points into the skill, raising the Totem chance to 21% and the experience bonuses to 9%. I grin as after I''m done with the skill points, I charge forward and work on aiming for Critical damage spots, and we spend the next two hours genociding the bandits and working towards the cabin, which is still surrounded by them. In the course of those two hours, I leveled up twice, and Porky gained three! Of course, since we were part of a party, Rockenroll and the rest got free experience, allowing Rockenroll to go up a level. I sigh as we see the cabin and open my stat panel. I had lost count of the number of executions I had managed, but I whistle softly as I see that I''ve managed to lop off a total of thirty-six heads! "So, I''ve got twenty-two skill points and forty-four stat points to distribute. I need ten more bandits and one more critical..." I look at Oathshield for some suggestion on his part. "You said you wanted to be able to take those bosses on alone, so I''d recommend putting at least nine points into Shield of Bones, making it worth two hundred fifty damage absorbtion. Then I''d put the remaining thirteen points into Luck''s Admiration and see what happens." "Well, you guys will keep me alive if I need help, right?" "Of course we will, but you said you wanted to try your hand at the level 35 minotaur and the level 40 chief on your own." I nod and do as he suggests. Luck''s Admiration - Skill Level 38 +25% Chance on Rare Loot +20% Experience Gain +20% Chance to Crit +15% Chance to Evade Ability Lucky Strike Upgraded Lucky Strike The attack now has a 30% chance of inflicting all three effects. Shield of Bones - Skill Level 10 Absorbs 30 points damage for each level of Shield of Bones. When struck with a Physical Attack, has a 10% chance of inflicting 5% of the absorbed damage back at the attacker. I whistle softly. "That is some major changes... Not only did it change the amount of damage absorbed per level, it added a chance to counterattack with it." I rush forward and kill a bandit, using Lucky Strike to cleanly slice open his gut before he knew what was happening, he falls to the ground, trying to keep his internal organs inside as I use it again to lop off his head, getting a message that I completed the Quest from Lady Luck, increasing my rank, and placing the Divine Talisman ''Lucky Dice'' in my bag. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Critical Luck II Perform 150 Debuff-inflicting attacks Reward: Rank Upgrade, Lucky Dice Upgrade I pull out the ''Lucky Dice'' and look at their stats before equipping it in the second Talisman slot, since I am not going to wear earrings. Lucky Dice - Rank 1 Divine Talisman Divine Weight: 2lb Requires: Deity: Lady Luck Indestructible +5% Chance on Rare Loot +5% Chance to Crit +5% Experience Binds on Equip ''Excellent! Thank''s Mom!'' I think whole heartedly for the first time in a long time. I quickly cut down the other eight bandits outside the cabin before I toss a fireball at the Minotaur, getting it to charge at me. I have the boar charge in, and I duck to the side using Lucky Strike on the minotaur, my sword hamstrings it, cutting its speed by a whopping 30%. I manage to barely avoid a counter attack and move behind it, swinging for the horn as Porky rams the minotaur in the gut, making it stagger. Thankfully, with all my various buffs, my strength is over a hundred, which is the key for letting one rip the ring out from a minotaur''s nose and remove the majority of its power, and I grab the ring, activating Lucky Strike again. As I jerk the ring out of the nose, I hear a sick tearing sound and a huge bellow of pain. I look back, and gag, seeing that I''d actually ripped the majority of the minotaur''s nose off along with the ring! Porky slams into the minotaur again, killing it, triggering him to level up and myself as well. Congratulations! You have gained a level. Current Level: 20 Stat points available: 55 Skill points available: 11 Achievement: No Longer a Noob (Reached Level 20) Reward: PVP Unlocked. Achivement Upgrade! You are within the top 50 players to reach Level 20 without a single death. Current Count: 28. Achievement: NEVER a Noob! Reward: You now gain twice as many Stat and Skill points each level (Currently: 22 Stat, 22 Skill) Warning! Administration Limiter Activated! Due to the effect of ''Godling'' doubling the reward from ''NEVER a Noob!'' AI is Limiting the bonus. You will only receive 30 stat and 30 skill points per level. The remaining 14 stat and 14 skill points are added to your Donation Allotment and can be donated to other players, but not more than their Constitution or Intelligence modifiers per day. Access to Administration Control: Donation Access to Karma Store Donation Administration Control Access to the Donation Menu Access to the Stat Donation Tab Access to the Skill Donation Tab For each point you donate, you gain 1 Karma Credit. Karma Store Allows you to redeem Karma Credits for various buffs. It''s a good thing the Bandit Chief isn''t in sight, as I stand there, dumbfounded reading these messages as they popped up. I shake my head to clear it of the messages as I hear the porch creak under the weight of the Chief as he launches himself at me. I twist slightly, making him miss where he was aiming, but still taking a lot of damage in the process. Swearing softly at myself for my idiocy, I renew the Shield of Bones, and parry his next few strikes as Porky attacks him, trying to draw aggro to itself. I manage to counter attack with a Lucky Strike, making the bandit drop his dagger. I keep attacking and parrying, using Lucky Strike few attacks. The chief manages to stun Porky, but in return, my Lucky Strike actually cuts his leg off at the knee. Porky recovers and rips open the Chief''s stomach with his tusk, and a final Lucky Strike to the back of his neck lops off his head, which faces with the rest of the body as I get a pair of system messages, and a level up notification. Trophy Already Obtained. Quest Completed! You have successfully cleansed the mountain of a hundred bandits. May they forever fear your name. Reward: Deity Death Rank Up, Divine Weapon: The Reaper''s Scythe Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Purge the Mountains II Slaughter 150 Goblins with The Reaper''s Scythe Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Weapon Upgrade Congratulations! You have gained a Level. Current Level: 21 Stat points available: 85 Donatable Stat Points: 14 Skill points avialable: 41 Donatable Skill Points: 14 The Reaper''s Scythe - Rank 1 Divine Weapon (One-handed / Two-handed) Divine Weight: 10 lbs Length 72 inches (staff) / 36 inches (blade) Requires: Deity: Death Requires: Strength 40 Requires: Dexterity 40 Indestructible Damage 35-50 (Spear One-handed) Damage 40-50 (Staff Two-handed) Damage 60-70 (Scythe Two-handed) Damage 60-70 (Spear Two-handed) +10% chance to automatically kill on Crit +10% Captured Soul drop rate Blade can be locked at 90 or 180 degrees for Scythe or Spear mode, or stored for use as staff. Binds on Equip I collapsed to the steps, letting out a long, slow breath after the adrenaline of that battle flows out of me. When I look up, I see the other four of our party approaching. "Well, that last one was a bit tough. Porky''s down to 25% life, and I''m about 75%. Oh, and Death wants me to start using a scythe when we enter the Goblin caves. I need to kill a hundred and fifty with this," I say as I pull out the scythe and equip it, letting them see it in all its glory. "That... is so... cool!" Helmstriker exclaims as he checks its stats. "And it''ll grow as you rank up!? Awesome!" "Let''s examine the loot from the minotaur and the chief..." "Oh, we already did. Nothing nearly as cool as what you had gotten from the last time you guys killed them, but I see you got another minotaur horn and a second nose ring. The only cool thing was that both of them dropped Captured Souls, Level 35 and 40," Oathshield answers. I quickly go and retrieve both souls and store them away, before pulling out the lower level bandit souls and crush the glowing jewels they resemble, a little pouch appearing under the dust, automatically sucking it in, preventing me from losing any. Each crushed jewel releases a soft wailing as they are freed from the jewel. Afterwards, I inspect the pouch. Pouch of Soul Dust Meticulous Contains the dust from destroyed Captured Soul jewels, which can be used in alchemy and other crafting to make items of Epic quality and above. Current Dust count: 1 lb I whistle softly, and look over my status panel, blinking as I remembered that I''d just hit level 21! "Uh... I''ve got something I think you guys need to know about... It''s why the bandit chief almost managed to crit me at the start of the battle..." I then explained what had happened with hitting level twenty and the System Limiter kicking in, along with the limits on my ''donation'' of free points for others. "That''s why Raijin''s allies are always so much stronger than everyone else!" Foambeard exclaimed, followed by various curses about Raijin, his parentage, and his guild. "Well, we might be able to level the playing field. I doubt his friends lost the donated points when Raijin lost those nineteen levels... I''ll handle my new skill points after we sleep... Let''s go inside." I recast Shield of Bones before starting to open the door. I noticed a wire and quickly pull the door shut, jumping to the side as a heavy crossbow launches a steel quarrel into and piercing through the door, all the way to its feathers. "Thank goodness for the Detect Trap passive ability..." I groan. I crouch down, open the door, and cut the wire, jerking the door shut, as a pair of other crossbows shoot the door as well with solid steel quarrels, with dark, poisoned tips. "Okay, I think we''re ready to go in." "The nose ring, are the stats the same?" Oathshield inquires. I check the nose ring and nod. "So, we''ll rip the ring out every time he respawns, and have a great bonus. He''ll respawn in... half an hour, with the chief in forty-five minutes, or at least, that''s from when they were killed." "Does everyone have the minimum hundred strength after all boosts to be able to rip the nose ring out?" I asked. "I''m afraid, I do not. I''ve only got a strength of ninety-two," Foambeard, our healer answered. "Alright... hold on, let me see if I can figure out this new menu of mine..." I pulled up the Donation menu, and clicked on the Stats tab. Donatable Points: Fourteen. I then selected Foambeard and I blinked as it allowed me to actually see his base stats and gear bonuses, along with a plus sign beside his each of stat for me to increase it! Foambeard Level 115 Daily Maximum: 10 Donated Today: 0 STR 92 + 0 = 92 DEX 10 + 10 = 20 CON 100 + 0 = 100 INT 100 + 25 = 125 WLP 105 + 95 = 200 SPR 85 + 10 = 95 I quickly tap the plus sign next to Strength eight times, raising the value to a hundred, then I tap it two more times, just to make sure he''s beyond the hundred required for ripping out the nose ring. I smile as he blinks in shock. I sigh as I cannot donate any more to him, so I click on Rockenroll and donate the remaining four points into his Constitution. "Okay, so Foambeard now has 102 Strength, which is above the listed limit to pull out the ring. It''s getting dark. I say we take shifts, and farm the minotaur for nose rings and horns, while we make the bandit chief understand that trapping players is not a good way to make his day." Oathshield laughs, "Aye... I guess we can let you take over, since we wouldn''t be out here if not for you." "If Lionnel and his guild show up, let him take over the kills, just keep up the horns and nose rings." I enter the cabin and remove the stationary crossbows, as well as removing the steel quarrels from the door before going to the chest and disarming the level 1 poison trap and opening it. Inside the chest was about ten gold, and a bracer. Bracer of Deflection Bracelet (Left / Right) Rare +10% chance to parry +10% chance to evade +5% chance to parry projectiles I chuckle and equip it, before sitting down against the wall. "Rockenroll, every time the bandit leader dies, check the chest for more loot. I need to think about these skill points, and figure out where I should distribute them to... We should keep two people awake per shift. We''ll do three hour rotations, and I''ll take the middle and last one." With that said, I opened up the wiki, and started researching my new skills before taking a nap for my shift of minotaur and bandit killing. Volume 1 - Chapter 5 - The Lucky Executioner I woke up after a two hour nap, and decide to distribute my points before my shift. I pull up my Stat panel, and pump forty-three points my willpower up to a hundred and one, to match my constitution and intelligence base scores, giving me a massive six hundred six MP. After that, I frown. Normally, people at my level cannot place points into spirit, but since I have a deity, I should be able to, shouldn''t I? I smile as I add twenty-five points into my spirit. I then put the remaining sixteen points into my constitution, allowing me to take another ninety-six damage before I die. Now that I''ve applied my stat points, I pull up my skill panel. Forty-one points to spend... On the wiki, I saw that Shield of Bone would upgrade to Armor of Bone at level fifty, but I''m not sure if I want to upgrade it to that yet. I could also upgrade Trainer to fifty, but that would be a bit premature too, as I don''t have the other skills to make the Beastmaster Skill. I take twelve points and max out Luck''s Admiration. Luck''s Admiration (Passive) - Level Max +30% Rare Loot Rate +2 Loot Grade +30% Experience Gain +30% Chance to Crit +25% Chance to Evade Ability: Lucky Strike 50% Chance to inflict Critical, Debuff, and DoT. Spell: Lucky Stars 250 MP - Apply Passive boosts to all party members for 12 hours Ability: Lucky Wish 750 Gold - Open Loot List of most recent kill and select any item. Would you like to upgrade Luck''s Admiration to Luck''s Blessing? Requires: Deity Lady Luck Rank 2+ Cost: 1 Skill Point Yes/No I whistled softly, and clicked yes. Luck''s Blessing (Passive) - Level 1 Divine +10% Rare Loot (Party) +10% Experience Gain (Party) +10% Chance to Crit (Party) +5% Chance to Evade (Party) -5% Enemy Crit Rate (Party) Ability Upgrade: Lucky Strike -> Lucky Strike II Spell Upgrade: Lucky Stars -> Luck''s Star Ability Rollover: Lucky Wish Lucky Strike II Use: same as Lucky Strike Cost: 10TP Inflicts a Crit and Debuff, Crit and DoT, or Debuff and Dot. 50% chance of inflicting all three, 10% chance of inflicting multiple debuffs. Luck''s Star Use: Select a party member (including Self) and incant ''You are the Star'' Cost: 200 MP Duration: 1 hour Adds the passive bonuses from Luck''s Admiration - Max to the current target. +30% Rare Loot +2 Loot Grade +30% Experience +30% Chance to Crit +25% Chance to Evade My jaw fell open. I just lost a lot of my big buffs, but now I have a party wide buff, and I can reclaim the passive bonus from the Max level Luck''s admiration at the same time. Not to mention Lucky Wish remained at 750 gold cost, instead of a full thousand. I look at my skill panel, and notice I still have twenty-eight points to spend. I shake my head and raise the effect of Blood Magic by fifteen levels, and Intelligence up by thirteen. I receive a notification of a new Spell created by Blood Magic, and that Intelligence Up now gives a 10% bonus and an additional Skill point at level up. Blood Magic - Skill Level 20 Drain (HP) has been maxed out. Access to Spell: Drain (MP) Drain (HP) Cost: 50 MP Effect: Syphons HP from target equaling 75-100% Intelligence. 50% chance to ignore resistance. Drain (MP) Cost: 0 Effect: Syphons MP from target equaling 15%-20% Intelligence. Excellent, I can bypass the Limiter with this! I get up and brush off my pants, and peek outside the door, seeing Oathshield having pinned the bandit on the ground with his boot, his axe raised above his head. I quickly cast ''Luck''s Star'' before informing him of how to get Elite Executioner and Trophy Hunter. "Chop his head off, that''s how you get the Elite Executioner title and the ability to collect trophies," I tell him, and he adjusts the swing of his axe to do just that, rolling the bandit chief''s head from his neck. "Excellent! Now that''s a fantastic way to increase strength and dexterity! It''s amazing what new players come across," he chuckles. "Also, that''s an amazing buff you just gave me. Luck''s Star? Well now... The bastard''s loot is treated as Grade 3! Amazing!" "So, I upgraded Luck''s Admiration into Luck''s Blessing, which, while decreasing my personal buffs, changed the buffs into party-wide passives, and upped Lucky Stars from a party-wide spread of Luck''s Admiration''s passives to an application of those maxed out passives on a single target." "So you''ve decided not to hide your info from us? That''s wise. It''s always good to have friends who know what you need. Just so you know, you''re not the only rich member in the Guild... Foambeard and Helmstriker are also millionaires, and I... well, I was a billionaire before my wife divorced me and the company I owned kicked me out and kept her... I''ve got a few million still, but we need to be careful so we don''t make those who aren''t rich in funds but rich in love and happiness leave us. Let me guess, you spent a cool fifty grand on the cloak and the coin, right?" "Yes, how''d you know?" "Well, you should be grateful for Helmstriker interrupting you, as Rockenroll was starting to look jealous. He and his wife were facing life in prison for crimes someone else did, and their lawyer decided the best place for them would be here since there was no way they would have been able to convince the jury, the planted evidence was that strong." "I see... I hope I did the right thing by donating four points of constitution to Rockenroll. I was just trying to help him, but I don''t want him angry with me. When we get back, I was planning to donate a maximum of his wife''s bonuses to her, so she could continue a little more growth on skills as well as stats..." "Mind giving me five skill points? I''d love to have some spare ones, since I just got Thievery and Lockpicking scrolls off the bandit chief." "I don''t mind at all. I''ve got fourteen points to distribute at the moment, after all." I bring up the Donate menu, click the Donate Skills tab, and select Oathshield. I frown softly. "I can donate Raw Skill Points, but I can also see all your skills, and increase them if I want. Amazing..." I quickly swapped back over to the Stats tab, and nod slightly. "Okay, so I just missed it then. Wow, donating Raw points grants me two Karma Credits each instead of the one I get for manually selecting a stat and increasing it..." I move over to the Skill Tab, and give Oathshield the max of ten of my fourteen donatable skill points, smiling softly as I see my Karma counter go up to thirty-four. "Is that a torch I see?" I ask Oathshield as I point towards the trail into the clearing. As Oathshield studies it, it becomes apparent that Lionol''s group is arriving. "Okay, so looks like we can hand watches over to them, or are we going to keep priority on the minotaurs?" Lionol waves as he approaches. "So, you guys came out already? I can''t wait for the bandit chief to respawn... I intend to skin the bastard alive," he states coldly. "You do know anything you do to the chief, the AI in charge of the game will know what you do and may start altering other NPCs to use methods like you plan to use, don''t you?" I ask him. "Do you really want to teach them how to torture us more?" "So what do you suggest then? Keep killing him and looting his corpse? How will that teach him anything?" "It will pressure him to move back to his old camping site and away from Player zones. On the other hand, we could always drag him back to the Fort and ask the King to put him in chains. This isn''t a normal game character... he''s self aware, and torturing him will just encourage him to do the same once we leave him alone. What we need to do is make him realize that there will always be penalties when he messes with Players like us." "Alright, alright, I get your point... you''re right of course, we can''t evolve them to become even more violent towards players..." "So, if I might suggest, we''ll let you handle the bandit chief, and you can get his loot, but we get the minotaur and its loot. We''ll share the low level bandits." We shake on it, and I show them to the treasure coffer, which refills with each spawn of the bandit chief. Thanks to the Loot Upgrade I gave to Oathshield, it was completely full, and I have Oathshield take the contents. Over the course of the next three hours, I finish my Divine Quest from Lady Luck, and can''t help but smile. Lucky Dice - Rank 2 Divine Talisman Divine Weight: 2lb Requires: Deity: Lady Luck Indestructible +10% Chance on Rare Loot +10% Chance to Crit +10% Experience +10% Chance of Doubling Loot Binds on Equip Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Critical Luck III Obtain all three effects with Lucky Strike 500 times. Reward: Rank Upgrade, Lucky Dice Upgrade, New Skill: Unlucky Foes I''d also increased my level twice in the last three hours, so I sit on the steps and pull up my Status panel and blink as I see that it''s already past midnight and my prepurchased bonus was applied. Rockenroll, or one of Lionol''s crew was taking all the items that dropped, so my ultimate bag of holding didn''t have much stuff in it at the moment. I look at Rockenroll and pull up the Donate panel. I donate the allowable seven stat and four skill points I can to him, maxing out his day''s donation until he gets a higher constitution or intelligence modifier. I put another twenty-five points into spirit, because I noticed I was criting more, as well as succeding with the aimed debilitation attacks more frequently. The remaining thirty-five points got split fifteen to dexterity and ten each to constitution and willpower. So, with having sixty-three skill points to distribute, I decide to max out Luck''s Blessing with forty-nine points. Luck''s Blessing - Skill Level MAX +50% Rare Loot (Party) +50% Experience Gain (Party) +50% Chance to Crit (Party) +25% Chance to Evade (Party) -25% Enemy Crit Rate (Party) Loot Grade +2 (Party) Ability Upgrade: Lucky Strike II -> Lucky Strike III Spell Upgrade: Luck''s Star -> Luck''s Star II Cost Reduction: Lucky Wish Cost Reduced to 100 Gold Lucky Strike III Use: Same as Lucky Strike / Lucky Strike II Cost: 5 TP Inflicts a Crit, a Debuff, and a DoT. 50% chance of inflicting multiple debuffs. Enemies killed with Lucky Strike drop Triple Loot and Double experience. Luck''s Star II Use: Incant ''You are the Star'' Cost: 100 MP Duration: 6 hours Adds the passive bonuses from Luck''s Admiration - Max to each member of the party (including pets and mounts). +30% Rare Loot +2 Loot Grade +30% Experience +30% Chance to Crit +25% Chance to Evade I whistle softly, and decide to hold onto the remaining fourteen points until I can max out another skill next level. I cast Luck''s Star II, and then use Lucky Strike III on a bandit, cutting off its leg at the knee and watching its health bar drop to twenty-five percent from a single strike. I use Lucky Strike III to take his head, hitting a whopping fifty on the Execution Count. You have completed the Secret Quest: Apprentice Executioner! You''ve successfully Executed 50 enemies! Reward: +1 Level, Executions earn you 50% bonus Experience! Do you wish to accept the Secret Quest: Executioner''s Training? Yes / No Of course I clicked yes! Who wouldn''t click yes on a free quest like this? Quest Alert! You have accepted a Secret Quest: Quest: Executioner''s Training Raise your Execution Total to 100 within 48 hours. Reward: +1 Level, Unknown Bonus Penalty for Failure: -1 Level, Loss of Apprentice Executioner Bonus System Alert! A Notice to All Players! A Player has just accepted a Secret Quest with a Time Limit! A Player has just accepted a Secret Quest with a Penalty! From this point onward, Quests may list Time Limits, and failure to complete quests in timely fashion can affect the rewards. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. System Alert! The Administration appreciates your willingness to help expand the game, and as such offers you another challenge and bonus. Will you accept the challenge? Accepting the Challenge does not prevent you from accepting the bonus. Bonus: +10 to all stats, +10 skill points Challenge: Complete the Quest ''Executioner Training'' in half the time given. Reward: Doubles the Reward Penalty: Doubles the Penalty So it looks like the game is effected by what players do in game as well as how they do it, other than the additional races. Of course, I accept the challenge. Congratulations! Due to your hard work progressing the System, you have been rewarded with +10 to all stats (including Spirit) and +10 skill points! Keep up the hard work! I lick my lips at all the bonuses piling up. At this rate, I just couldn''t believe the bonuses I was obtaining. Surely, I will have to give up somthing eventually... But this is neither here nor there. I roam further from the rest of the two groups, and remain active for the next four hours, until the sun rises at six in the morning. I''m panting, exhausted from the efforts I just put in. I stagger back into the clearing just as the bandit chief is trying to flee. "Lucky Strike!" I call out, and the scythe slices his head completely off, killing him in a single hit. I''ve minimized all my messages for the last four hours, only paying attention to my HP and TP bars. I kneel next to the chief, and try to pull up his Loot list, only to find that he was automatically looted. Captured Soul - Bandit Chief Level 40 - Grade 5 (x2) Mageslayer (x2) The Bandit Lord''s Brigandine The Bandit Lord''s Gauntlets The Bandit Lord''s Boots The Bandit Lord''s Greaves The Bandit Lord''s Chain Coif Skill Scroll - Pickpocket (x2) Skill Scroll - Stealth (x2) Skill Scroll - Lockpick (x2) Skill Scroll - Traps (x2) Skill Scroll - Tamer (x2) Skill Scroll - Dagger Profiency (x2) Skill Scroll - Thrown Weapon Profiency (x2) Skill Scroll - Evasion (x2) Skill Scroll - Speed Up (x2) Skill Scroll - Nightvision Skill Scroll - Gold Sense 350 Silver 117 Gold I groan as I stagger over to Oathshield with everything in my own inventory. I pull up the inventory and see that the reason I''m staggering is because I''m in ''Overload'', and that my level is a whopping 35, as well as Porky''s level being 40! I open up the minimized announcements. Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe has Leveled up. Current Skill Level: 10 Divine Quest Completed: Critical Luck III Divine Quest Completed: Critical Luck IV Title Awarded: Bandit Killer (Kill 100 bandits) Effect: Increases damage against Bandits by 25% Title Upgrade: Bandit Slayer (Kill 250 bandits) Effect: Increases damage against Bandits by 50% Title Awarded: Hidden Attacker (Attacked 250 enemies before they saw you) Effect: +25% damage on Sneak Attacks Achievement: Single Hit Execution Effect: Your Constitution is increased by +1 for every Execution Count. Secret Quest Completed: Executioner Training. Would you like turn in the quest? Yes/No I dump about two thousand pounds of random bandit loot into Oathshield''s ultimate bag of holding, and sigh softly. "Damn, money may have next to no weight, but it isn''t actually weightless..." "So, where have you been these last four hours?" "Hunting bandits for divine quests and executions. You enjoy the free buffs and experience?" He burst out laughing. "Rockenroll has leveled up three times off your free experience wagon." "Good. I''m about to turn in a quest, which had a forty-eight hour timelimit, and I just completed it with the chief as he tried to run away." I click ''Yes'' on the quest and smile. Reward: +2 Levels, Skill: Executioner''s Aura Time Remaining: 43h Bonus Reward: +3 Levels Title: Speed Executioner Effect: Your Spirit is increased by +1 for every Execution count. The experience gain from Apprentice Executioner is doubled. Divine Quest Completed! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Critical Luck V Complete a Timed Quest with at least three quarters the initial timer remaining. Reward: Deity Rank Up, Lucky Dice Rank Max, Divine Skill: Lucky Crafter Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Critical Luck VI Inflict a total of 1,000 Critical Hits (Current Count: 875) Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Skill: Skill Reset I pull up information on my three new skills. Lucky Crafter - Skill Level 1 Divine Boosts success rate of crafting Unique, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic gear by 10% Unlucky Foes (Passive) - Skill Level 1 Divine All enemies on your aggro table suffer a 5% reduction to stats, and a 10% chance to stumble or lose concentration. Executioner''s Aura (Passive) - Skill Level 2 Epic Enemies have a 10% chance of being paralyzed for 6 seconds by terror upon meeting your eyes. I quickly use the Evasion, Speed Up, Nightvision, and Gold Sense skills from my bag, then look at Oathshield. "I''ve got over five hundred skill points to distribute..." "Good, better get to work on it." I whistle softly and increase Shield of Bones to fifty, then spend another point upgrading it to Armor of Bones. I put forty-nine more points into Nightvision, and then spend a point upgrading it to Dark Vision, which I then max out. I max out my Concentration, and both Blood Magic and Necromancy. I decide to max out the Traps skill for another forty-six points. Literature, Creature Analysis, and Unlucky Foes also get maxed out. I increase Intelligence Up to Rank thirty, review my points, and smile. I still have eighty-two. I take half of them, and max out Trainer, scratching behind Porky''s ear. I look down at the Scythe in my hands and laugh, pumping the Scythe Proficiency to maximum as well. One skill point remaining. I''m fine with that. Dark Vision (Passive) - Skill Level MAX You suffer no penalty in low light or complete darkness to your ability to see. In low light, after sixty yards, you will see things in greyscale. In complete darkness, you will see everything in greyscale. This skill is still in effect while in Reserve. Armor of Bones - Skill Level 1 Use: Automatic Refresh: 30 minutes Armor Class +100 Absorbs up to 1,500 damage When attacked, has a 10% chance to inflict the same amount of damage to attacker. Concentration (Passive) - Skill Level MAX +90% chance when hit of not being interrupted when casting This skill is still in effect while in Reserve. Blood Magic - Skill Level MAX Drain (MP) has been maxed out. Access to Spell: Drain (TP) Access to Ability: Conversion Drain (MP) Cost: 0MP Syphons between 50-75% INT value worth of MP per cast. Drain (TP) Cost: 10 MP Syphons between 50-75% INT value worth of TP per cast. Conversion Allows you to convert HP, MP, or TP into another value. Necromancy - Skill Level MAX +25% chance of Captured Soul collection. No longer suffer Party Penalty for Captured Soul drop. No longer limited in number of controlled Undead. No longer limited in number of raised Undead. Undead Neutrality (Undead cannot attack you first). Access to Spell: Control (Undead) Control (Undead) Cost: Target''s Level x 5 MP 50% Spirit chance of taking permanent control of undead target. Traps (Passive) - Skill Level MAX Can disable any trap you see. Can detect any trap within 100 yards, regardless of seeing it. Can create traps of any complexity, as long as the blueprint and materials are sound. This skill is still in effect while in Reserve. Literature (Passive) - Skill Level MAX You can read any and all languages. You can judge the accuracy of the information you read. This skill is still in effect while in Reserve. Creature Analysis (Passive) - Skill Level MAX You can see all stats of any target. You can see all relationship status of any target. You can see all Informational info of any target. This skill is still in effect while in Reserve. Unlucky Foes (Passive) - Skill Level MAX All enemies on your aggro table suffer a 75% chance to stumble or lose concentration and a 25% loss of stats. All enemies on your aggro table suffer debuffs for twice as long as normal. All humanoid enemies suffer a 40% chance to drop their weapon in combat. Intelligence Up (Passive) - Skill Level 30 Intelligence +15% +3 Skill Points every Level Trainer (Passive) - Skill Level MAX +25% Chance of Totem Drop No longer suffer Party Penalty for Totem drop Summon (Living Creature - Pet) Grade +1 Summon (Living Creature - Mount) Grade +1 +25% Pet Experience +25% Mount Experience Can summon 2 Living Creature - Pet class monsters at once. Exotic Weapon Proficiency - Scythe - Skill Level MAX +50% Scythe Damage +25% Staff Damage +25% Spear Damage +50% Captured Soul drop rate Can use Scythe one-handed with no penalty. Lucky Dice - Rank MAX Divine Talisman Divine Weight: 2lb Requires: Deity: Lady Luck Indestructible Automatically Loots your kills. +25% Chance on Rare Loot +25% Chance to Crit +25% Experience +20% Double Loot +10% Spirit (Base) Binds on Equip I drop concentration, creature analysis, literature, and trap skills into Reserve, and move evasion, speed up, executioner''s aura, and gold sense up into their places. I take the available stats and pump forty into Spirit, raising its base value to two hundred, raise strength and dexterity to a hundred each and sit back, realizing I still had three hundred eight-one points to spend. I raise my base constitution, intelligence and willpower to two hundred, then my spirit by another one hundred fifty points. I decide to leave the last three points for my next level. "Almost ready to go?" Oathshield asks me. I glance at the clock, and realize with a shock I had just spend the better part of two hours on upgrading my skills and stats! "Sure. Those goblins won''t know what hit them!" ------------------------------------------------ Author''s Notes: Sorry it took this long to get it out. After I do some work on my PC, I''ll be installing the Amazon Kindle apps to be able to publish with their Kindle Direct Publishing. This is the end of Volume 1 Part 1. Volume 1 Part 2 will likely be Chapters 6-11, at which point I''ll be releasing Volume 1 in its entirety as well as Volume 1 Part 2. I know there''s a LOT of technical skill stuff near the end of the chapter, and I''ve been considering cutting it out for the most part. Anyways, for those who are reading this, I would like to thank you very much. For those who are wondering about ''Critical Luck IV'' it was Automatically accepted as a Divine Quest, and its requirement was automatically completed which was ''Complete a total of 250 or more Consecutive Critical Hits''. With the fact that every Execution completely refilled his TP, he was able to do the 500 Critical, DoT, and Debuff and the 250+ Consecutive Crits at the same time. For those wondering, Armor of Bone will be able to be upgraded at level 50, provided he has hit Rank 3 (by killing 150 goblins with the scythe). Upon Evolving, Armor of Bone will become ''Fortress of Bones''. For all those who are hating how OP he is, don''t worry, I''ve got plans other than his ''Rival'' Godlings. I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever Yuletide seasonal holiday you celebrate. Chapter 6 will likely be posted around Christmas or shortly thereafter. Feel free to leave a comment on your opinion if I should remove the Skill Updates list. Hiddens Stats Panel (End of Chapter 5, Volume 1 - Part 1) Name: Hidden Level: 37 [15%] HP: 2400/2400 MP: 1200/1200 TP: 1800/1800 Avaliable Stats: 3 Donatable Stats: 259 STR: 100 + 45 + 200 DEX: 100 + 200 CON: 200 + 200 INT: 200 + 30 WLP: 200 SPR: 350 + 35 + 200 Deity: Lady Luck [5] Luck''s Blessing [MAX] Unlucky Foes [MAX] Lucky Crafter [1] Deity: Death [2] Necromancy [MAX] Armor of Bones [1] Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe [MAX] Class: [None] Available Skills: 1 Donatable Skills: 266 Skills: Gold Sense [1] Fire Magic [8] Longsword Proficiency [5] Trainer [MAX] Healing Magic [5] Blood Magic [MAX] Intelligence Up [30] Executioner''s Aura [2] Evasion [1] Speed Up [1] Reserve Skills: Goldsmith [1] Stealth [1] Thievery [1] Lockpick [1] Riding [1] Mining [1] Dark Vision [MAX] Creature Analysis [MAX] Literature [MAX] Traps [MAX] Concentration [MAX] Abilities: Donate Stat Donate Skill Lucky Strike III Luck''s Star II Lucky Wish Fireball Capture Summon (Living Monster - Pet) Summon (Living Monster - Mount) Summon (Undead Monster - Pet) Control (Undead Monster - Pet) Armor of Bones (Automatic) Cure (Light) Drain (HP) Drain (MP) Drain (TP) Conversion Analyze Disarm Trap Reserve Abilities: Craft - Jewelry Stealth Pickpocket Lockpick Dig Passive Bonuses: Auto-Loot Dark Vision Automatically Detect Traps (300 yards) Disabled Party Penalty: Totem Disabled Party Penalty: Captured Soul Double Loot Drop (Party - Doubled) Triple Loot on Boss Execution (Doubled) Boss Trophy on Boss Execution Dexterity +2 per Execution Strength +2 per Execution Constitution +2 per Execution Spirit +2 per Execution +200% Experience per Execution +100% Damage against Bandits +50% Sneak Attack damage Strength +1 per item in UBH This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Can resume cast after being interrupted (H/S/E Spells not included) Intelligence (Base) +15% +3 Skill Point each level Spirit (Base) +10% +50% Rare Loot (Party) +50% Experience Gain (Party) +50% Chance to Crit (Party) +25% Chance to Evade (Party) -25% Enemy Crit Rate (Party) Loot Grade +2 (Party) +30% Chance to obtain rare loot +90% Chance to not be interrupted when casting +10% Chance to Parry +10% Chance to Evade +5% Chance to Parry (Projectile) +26% Chance to Crit +25% Experience Gain +20% On Doubling Loot +25% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill Pet Grade +1 Mount Grade +1 +25% Pet Experience +25% Mount Experience +1% Single Handed Longsword Damage +5% Two-handed Longsword Damage +50% Scythe Damage +25% Spear Damage +25% Staff Damage Titles: Monstrous Lucky Bastard Apprentice Executioner Elite Executioner Execution Count: 100 Trophy Hunter Trophy Count: 2 Godling No Longer a Noob NEVER a Noob! (LIMITED) Bandit Slayer Hidden Attacker Single Hit Execution Money: $84,323,901.23 CC: 80,789 SC: 15,983 GC: 3,101 PC: 0 MC: 0 KC: 144 Equipped Items: The Reaper''s Scythe - Rank 1 Steel Longsword Padded Leather Armor (Light) Hooded Cloak of the Reaper Lucky Rabbit''s Foot Lucky Dice - Rank MAX Bracer of Deflection Inventory: Tusk Whistle - Grade 2 Captured Soul of the Bandit Chief - Level 40 Grade 5 x2 Captured Soul of the Bandit (Various Levels) x25 Captured Soul of the Minotaur - Level 35 Grade 3 x2 Pouch of Soul Dust Ultimate Bag of Holding -Reinforced Steel Longsword -Hunter''s Light Armor -Healing Potion x30 -Boar''s Tusk -Stag Horn x2 -Deer Pelt x2 -Minotaur Trophy -Bandit Chief Trophy -Minotaur Hide x3 (Epic) -Minotaur Horn Totem - Grade 3 x2 (Epic) -Coin of the Savior Volume 1 - Chapter 6 - The Repaer of Goblin Souls We killed a few bandits on the way to the goblin caves. I even impressed Foambeard and Helmstriker by managing to cut a bandit down in a single blow, the scythe''s blade slipping between ribs, and cutting apart his heart, which earned me a new System Message. Congratulations! You''ve successfully killed a creature in a single blow by destroying its heart! Title: Heartbreaker Damage dealt to an enemy heart is 3x as potent as normal damage. It will also inflict a crippling Debuff and DoT. You are within the first hundred to obtain this title! Current Count: 1 Upgraded Title: Heartrender By focusing upon a target and expending TP, you can see where it''s heart is! Godling bonus: Focusing on a target to find its heart doesn''t exhaust TP! "Wow... killing it with a single blow to the heart earned me a pair of titles... First one hundred players to kill an enemy by destroying its heart in a single strike get both the Heartbreaker and Heartrender titles, which increase damage and let you see where the enemy''s heart is." "Excellent information. Thank you!" Oathbeard grins. We keep on going, and they too manage to do heart attacks on the bandits we pass on the way through the forest to the cave system. After an hour of traveling, we''ve all gotten the titles, and see the caves about five hundred yards ahead of us. System Alert! An ingame event has begun! The Goblin King''s gathered all the tribes to him at this location! For the next week, this Dungeon is the home of all goblins. Tread lightly, lest you be crushed under the weight of their numbers. Quest Alert! Mythic Quest: Goblincide Difficulty Level: Dracolich (Some monsters are over 50 levels higher than your party) Kill 5,000 goblins, 1,000 Goblin Warriors, 500 Goblin Mages, 100 Goblin Priests, 50 Goblin Chiefs, and the Goblin King Reward: Deity Rank Increase(s), Increased relationship status with Dwarves, Increased relationship status with Drow. Goblins as a PLAYER RACE. A player in your party belongs to the Religion of Death. This quest cannot be declined. Time Limit: 7 days Penalty: Loss of 3 Levels, Decreased relationship status with Dwarves, Decreased relationship status with Drow, Increased relationship status with Goblins. GLOBAL SYSTEM ALERT! A Group of players from the Guild "Dwarven Theorum" led by the player "Hidden" have accepted the Mythic Quest: Goblincide! If they succeed, players will be able to create Goblin Characters! REGIONAL SYSTEM ALERT! To arms, Players of Kiblin''ko! Head to the Goblin Caves and assist the members of "Dwarven Theorum" wrack up their Goblin Kills! For every Goblin killed by a member of someone other than "Dwarven Theorum", the system will reward you with 1 Gold. Every Goblin you kill will count towards the count that the "Dwarven Theorum" needs to complete their quest! "Well!" Foambeard grunts. "As if we need the help of the people of Kiblin''ko... It''s do or die time!" He then starts chanting a rapid series of spells, having obviously hit a macro. Suddenly, I see a new buff I had not seen in this game and had assumed wouldn''t be available for some time from now. Haste - Increases a player''s movement and attack speed by 25%! Duration: 60 minutes Expedited Haste - Increases the effect of Haste to 75%! Duration: 45 minutes Afterburner - Doubles the effect of Expedited Haste! Duration: 30 minutes With an evil grin, I charge forward, slicing the heads off three goblins in three seconds, increasing my execution count by another three, and leveling up. I max out Intelligence Up, raising the Intelligence boost to 25% and granting me a bonus of five skill points at level up, then I put the remaining fourteen points into Speed Up, increasing my movement and attack speed by 5%. I quickly cast Luck''s Star II, refreshing the mega buff on us. "Last one to a hundred kills buys the ale when we''re done!" I call over my shoulder and charge into the cave, swinging my scythe viciously, becoming a blur of movement, my boar charging behind me. I smile to myself as I hear some of my favorite heavy metal music while I''m in rapid combat in the cave, wondering if it''s just my immagination, or if Dungeons have access to our favorite musics and play them while we''re inside as background music, being louder the closer we are to enemies. After finishing Nightwish''s "Angels Fall First" album, I find myself panting, in overload, the Haste spells having worn off, and being on the verge of overload until I dump all non-equipped or active gear into my Ultimate Bag of Holding. I open up my menu and click on the Auto-Loot setting and smile as I adjust it to automatically place loot in the magical bag instead of my standard inventory. I blink in shock as the Buff from the bag reads as ??? on my Stat Panel now, then I blink in shock at seeing I''m Level 45, and Porky''s hit Level 50. My Goblin Kill count is at 152, and I''ve gotten a total of 147 Executions with 48 heart-shots. Porky''s interface is blinking, asking to be evolved into the Grade 5 Dwarven Battle Boar mount. I confirm and smile as he vanishes back into the Tusk Whistle, and it becomes a Battlehorn of the Battle Boar - Grade 5. I pull up the group chat, and ask everyone to gather at the boss chamber. I sit next to the door, and pull up my skill menu. I max out the Speed Up, which then asks to upgrade to Enhanced Speed, which I confirm and max out, then I max out Evasion, and get a Skill Combine confirmation message. The skills Evasion and Enhanced Speed can combine to form: Hyper Speed. Cost: 1 Skill point (Places Enhanced Speed and Evasion in Sub-skill Slots for Hyper Speed). I pay the skill point and smile as I then max out Hyper Speed. I frown at Executioner''s Aura and decide to max it out to see what would happen, as well as raising Fire Magic to twenty and Gold sense to two. Hyper Speed (Passive) - Skill Level MAX Increases movement and attack speed by 75% Increases chance to Evade by 50% Godling Bonus: Doubles Movement and attack speed bonus to 150% Executioner Bonus: Ignores Enemy AC when at full speed. Heartrender Bonus: Increases chance of Auto-kill by 30% Executioner''s Aura (Passive) - Skill Level MAX Warning: Automatically aggros any monster within 120 yards Enemies have a 95% chance of being paralyzed by Terror for [Execution Count] seconds upon looking at you. Bosses have a 25% chance to shrug off Paralysis after half of the time. Fire Magic - Skill Level 20 Fireball has been maxed out Access to Spell: Firewall Maximized Fireball Cost: 50 MP Inflicts Fire Damage equal to 75%-150% Intelligence. 25% chance to ignore resistance. Firewall Cost: 100 MP Creates wall of flames that does 60-125% Intelligence damage every 3 seconds to any who are in it. Gold Sense (Passive) - Skill Level 2 Increases rare drop rate by .2% Increases chance of getting rare minerals when Mining by 2% I pull up the system alerts and chuckle. Quest Completed! You have successfully cleansed the mountains of a hundred fifty goblins. May they forever fear your name. Reward: Deity Death Rank Up, Divine Weapon Upgrade Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Feed the Reaper I Crush 100 Captured Souls into powder and pour the Soul Dust on the scythe. Reward: Deity Death Rank Upgrade, Divine Weapon Upgrade, Divine Skill: Vampiric Weapon, +1 Level I look at my Captured souls and smile. Not counting the Bandit Chief and the Minotaur souls, I have over a hundred. I proceed to grind them into Soul Dust, the Pouch of Soul Dust reaching a whopping five pounds before I pour it slowly onto the scythe blade, which glows and absorbs the dust, runes forming upon the blade as the dust is sucked into it. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Quest Completed! You have successfully enhanced your Divine Artifact! Reward: Deity Death Rank Upgrade, Divine Weapon Upgrade, Divine Skill: Vampiric Weapon, +1 Level Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Feed the Reaper II Complete a total of 150 Executions and 100 Heart-shots Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Weapon Upgraded, Divine Skill: Deathbolt I whistle softly as I gain another thirty stat and thirty-five skill points, and then examine my Scythe. The Reaper''s Scythe - Rank 3 Divine Weapon (One-handed / Two-handed) Divine Weight: 10 lbs Length 72 inches (Staff) / 42 inches (blade) Requires: Deity: Death Requires: Strength 50 Requires: Dexterity 50 Indestructible Damage 50-75 (Spear One-handed) Damage 55-75 (Staff Two-handed) Damage 75-100 (Scythe Two-handed) Damage 75-100 (Spear Two-handed) +20% Chance to Auto-kill on Crit +20% Captured Soul drop rate +5% Damage dealt absorbed as HP +2% Damage dealt absorbed as MP +2% Damage dealt absorbed as TP Blade can be locked at 90 or 180 degrees for Scythe or Spear mode, or stored for use as Staff. Binds on Equip I smile and stroke the half of the scythe lovingly. This is becoming an extremely potent weapon. I pull up my stat menu and put a hundred points in dexterity and a hundred in strength, and another fifty into spirit. I decide to leave the leftover twenty-three points for later. I look up as I hear hear the others enter the room. "Hey, Oathshield, why have I been hearing one of my favorite battle musics while I''ve been fighting in this dungeon?" "From what I can tell, each player hears their favorite music style inside a dungeon, with the volume scaling with the fights. I guess it is one this game''s personalized features. It did require us to connect our music collections to the Dive system before we could enter after all." "Ah, okay, I was hoping I wasn''t imagining it. So, I''ve gotten my kills, and I''ve upgraded my weapon... shall we enter the Floor Boss room? Foambeard, are you able to refresh the speed buffs?" With an evil grin, Foambeard does so, and I shove the boss room door open. We march into the huge circular room, which is full of fifty Goblin Warriors, ten Goblin Mages, five Goblin Shamans, two Goblin Priests, and a five-foot tall Goblin Chief! "PREPARE TO DIE, HUMANS!" the Goblin Chief bellows in gutteral common before he and all the other enemies lay eyes on me due to the ultimate aggro effect of Executioner''s Aura, causing them to freeze for the one hundred forty-seven seconds of Execution Count. I smirk and leap past the warriors, heading right for the casters. I consciously make aimed strikes at the hearts of the mages, and in fifteen seconds, I''ve taken down all ten mages from heart-shots. Thanks to the massive speedboost from Foambeard, I''m leaving a blurred trail in my wake. I chop off the heads of the goblin shamans, and perform heart-shots on the two priests, killing them all in pure flurry of strokes and fountain of blood. After seventy seconds, the Goblin Chief starts to twitch, trying to break free of the hold of my aura. With all the casters dead, I charge the chief, trailing the Scythe behind me as I leap onto his shoulders at my maximum speed, I call out Lucky Strike as I push off, dragging the scythe directly up under his armpit, to sever his arm off of him. Spinning in midair, I call out Lucky Strike again, bring the Scythe down with all my might to sever his other arm, then watching his health plummeting, I spin quickly and call Lucky Strike again with an aimed strike at the neck, lopping off his head, and sending a huge fountain of blood into the sky. I drop to a knee, panting softly as I look at my TP, which has just refilled. Ten of the fifty warriors are dead by the time I make it back to my feet from using so much speed and quick kills. I jog towards where the Warriors are just starting to recover from the effects of my Aura and turning to face me, allowing my allies to crit them from behind while I go for heart-shots. I manage to kill another twenty with heart-shots while the last twenty are brought down by my party. Congratulations! You have defeated your first Dungeon Floor! The mobs on this floor respawn every thirty minutes. The bosses of this floor respawn every hour. System Alert! You have defeated a Dungeon Boss chamber without your party receiving any damage! Each member of the party receives the following title: Dungeon Master (Enemies show up as red dots on your mini-map while you are in a dungeon!) Congratulations! Your party is within the top hundred players to receive this title! Current count: 25 Reward upgrade: Dungeon King (Enemies (and traps) will now show up on your minimap! Godling Bonus! The effect of Dungeon King now reveals the entire map of the dungeon, including where hidden treasure troves are! I drop to my ass in the middle of the blood-drenched chamber, panting softly as I recover from the usage of my speed. "Care to explain how we managed to slaughter our way through an entire Clan Elite group without taking any damage?" Oathbeard asks me. "Executioner''s Aura... My reward for getting a hundred executions," I answer. "I maxed it out, and it has the effect of paralyzing the enemies for up to the length of seconds as head''s I''ve taken. Hey, I gained three levels and now I only need one exp for level fifty!" I take forty-nine skill points and max out Vampiric Weapon, which makes me smile at the stats it gives. Vampiric Weapon (Passive) - Level MAX +50% Damage dealt restored as HP +25% Damage dealt restored as MP +25% Damage dealt restored as TP +10% Damage dealt gained as Experience ''Sweet... I get experience for dealing damage now!'' runs through my mind as I blink in surprise at the list of the upgraded Vampiric Weapon abilities. "Guys, I think I just became practically immortal..." I share the status of Vampiric Weapon with them. "And at Fifth Rank of Death I can teach it!" "You can teach it...? But why is yours so high? Because it''s a Divine Skill?" Rockenroll muttered. "Probably. You might not end up with it that strong, but only time will tell. I need another twenty hearts to increase in Death." I toss the Goblin Chief''s head into my ultimate bag of holding and glance at my Skill List. Ninety-one Skill Points. I decide to hold off on increasing anything else until after I unlock Class Options at level fifty. "Well, let''s go down to the next floor. One experience point away from Level Fifty!" I cheer myself up as I head to the exit of the boss chamber, and start down the ramp heading down deeper into the caves. --------------------------------------- Author''s Note: Sorry this chapter seems a bit shorter than the others. I haven''t had time to get the first 5 chapters formatted to be able to publish on KDP, but I hope I can get it ready for the 1st of January. While typing up the end of this chapter, I realized that the plan I had for the effects of the Valedictorian bonus in the next chapter was too OP with Godling taken into account, which is why you can see that in this chapter, I had the Godling Bonus edit other titles. Also, he did get the ''Goblin Killer'' status for 100 dead goblins, it will upgrade to Goblin Slayer at 250, which is when he''ll actually notice it. What do you think about the Goblincide Quest? Think they''ll make it? Volume 1 - Chapter 7 - Class Valedictorians The moment I get down to the bottom of the ramp, my minimap pops up with ten enemies, both a little bit down each of the two branching corridors, five down each. I dash off into the left corridor and kill all five with powerful heart-strikes, raising me to Level fifty and ten percent. CONGRATULATIONS! You have gained a Level! Current Level 50! Current Available Stats: 143 Current Donatable Stats: 440 Current Available Skills: 126 Current Donatable Skills: 446 You have successfully completed the first 50 Levels! Title Acquired: Trained in Combat Effect: Access to Classes, +5 Equipped Skill Slots Godling Bonus: +1 Class Slot, +5 Equipped Skill Slots! Achievement Upgrade! You have successfully completed the first 50 Levels WITHOUT DYING ONCE! Title Upgraded: Combat Valedictorian Effect: You learn skills by 2 levels at a time! Godling Bonus: All Currently learned skills Double their level (Up to MAX), all new skills start at Level 2! GLOBAL SYSTEM ALERT! The world of The Divine Adventure has a new Combat Valedictorian! All fear the growth of these fifteen players! Class Alert! Would you like to learn the Necromancer Class? Required: Necromancy Level 40 Required: Blood Magic Level 30 Required: Concentration Level 20 Cost: 1 Point Class Alert! Would you like to learn the Firemaster Class? Required: Fire Magic Level 40 Required: Intelligence Up Level 30 Required: Concentration Level 20 Cost: 1 Point I quickly learn both classes, which automatically equip as I have room in my equipped classes slots for two classes at once. I whistle softly as I review them. Necromancer Class - Class Level 2 Mythic +2% bonus to all subskills of this class. +1% bonus to damage caused by Undead Pets Access to Skill: Grasp of the Dead Firemaster Class - Class Level 2 Unique +2% bonus to Fire Magic Damage Access to Skill: Imbue Grasp of the Dead - Skill Level 2 Cost: 10 MP 15% chance to immobilize target with undead hands for 5 seconds. Imbue - Skill Level 2 Can apply magic to an equipped weapon. Enchanted weapon duration varies from [Skill Level] Minutes to eternal. I can''t help but have an evil grin as I pump twenty-four points into Imbue, maxing it out. Imbue - Skill Level MAX Can apply magic to any weapon or armor, raising attack bonuses and defensive values. Can apply the effect multiple times with differing magics. Enchanted Weapon duration varies from 3 hours to eternal. Enchanted Armor duration varies from 3 hours to eternal. I smile and max out Fire magic with five points, granting me access to ''Inferno'', the top tier fire spell. I then pull out my Scythe, and try to imbue it with the power of Inferno. The blade glows bright white hot, and I can see steam rising from it as new runes form. CONGRATULATIONS! Your Imbuing of ''The Reaper''s Scythe - Rank 3'' has added a permanent INFERNO BLADE enchantment. +300 Fire Damage, 85% chance to ignite attacked creature dealing another +300 Fire Damage over 6 seconds. WARNING! You have altered the properties of a Divine Weapon with a permanent enhancement. Your Deity may not be pleased. Your Deity has been informed. CONGRATULATIONS! Your deity has decided to REWARD your permanent enhancement of the Reaper''s Scythe! Reward: +2 Ranks in Deity: Death, +2 Ranks Divine-Weapon ''The Reaper''s Scythe'', +50 Spirit, +5 Levels, Access to Skill: Greek Fire, Altering of Inferno Blade enchantment: Greek Inferno Blade The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame - Rank 5 Divine Weapon (One-handed / Two-handed) Divine Weight: 12 lbs Length 78 inches (Staff) / 48 inches (blade) Requires: Deity: Death Requires: Strength 75 Requires: Dexterity 75 Indestructible Damage 75-100 (Spear One-handed) Damage 75-100 (Staff Two-handed) Damage 115-150 (Scythe Two-handed) Damage 100-125 (Spear Two-handed) Damage 450 Greek Fire (Non-elemental) 90% chance to ignite attacked creature for 3 hours doing 200 damage every three seconds +30% Chance to Auto-kill on Crit +30% Captured Soul drop rate +10% Damage dealt absorbed as HP +5% Damage dealt absorbed as MP +5% Damage dealt absorbed as TP Blade can be locked at 90 or 180 degrees for Scythe or Spear mode, or stored for use as a Staff. Can double as a Torch in Scythe or Spear mode. The light of Greek Fire prevents Stealth. Binds on Equip Greek Fire - Skill Level 2 This green fire cannot be put out by normal means, and even burns underwater. All is revealed by Greek Fire. Access to Spell - Greek Fire (Small) Greek Fire - Small Cost: 500 MP Creates a small fireball that sticks to target and spreads. Burns for 1 hour, dealing 50 HP damage every three seconds. I look up and see that the blade of my scythe is coated in pure green fire. The other members of my party just stare at me in shock. I move the scythe quickly and it leaves a green trail of the fire in the air behind it! "Well, Dad was pleased when my ''Imbue'' usage made a permanent enchantment on the Scythe. He awarded me two ranks, five levels, two extra ranks of the weapon, and access to the Greek Fire skill..." "So, you''re able to teach us Vampiric Weapon now?" Rockenroll smirks as I approach them slowly. "Yeah... you all want it? Take Luck''s Admiration too, you''ve all leveled up at least once, and have at least two free skill points..." I proceed to give all five of them the two skills, adding another ten skill points to my pile. ''Excellent, another twenty skill levels! I''ll be the most kick ass godly user of magic this game has ever seen by the time I hit Raijin''s level!'' goes through my mind. I have two hundred and eighty skill points, alowing me to level up eleven skills to maximum and have sixteen skill points remaining. I proceed to max out Mining, Riding, Lockpick, Thievery, Stealth, Grasp of the Dead, Greek Fire, and Armor of Bones before I do anything else. I also upgrade Armor of Bones into Fortress of Bones and max it out. I review my skill points, and smile. I still have sixty-three. I take twenty of them, and max out Healing Magic, and another twenty-three on Gold Sense, which triggers a prompt asking if I want to purchase the ''Thief Class''. Class Alert! Would you like to purchase the Thief Class? Required: Thievery 40 Required: Stealth 30 Required: Lockpick 20 Required: Traps 10 Cost: 1 Point "Can I purchase classes at any time after I''ve made them available?" I ask Oathshield. "Yes, once you have mastered the requirements, you can unlock it at any time. Is there a specific Class you''ve unlocked?" he answered me. "I just unlocked Thief Class, but not purchased it," I tell him, then inform him of the requirements. "It''ll probably be Unique or above... And it will likely grant access to dagger and shortsword proficiencies, as well as light armor." "Armor Proficiency... I see... So, if I were to get the ''Heavy Armor'' Proficiency, do you think I could learn that Mythic Rarity ''Death Knight'' class? It would certainly fit, with the fact that I''m Death''s son and in his Religious ranks..." "Sounds reasonable, but it may take more than just the heavy armor proficiency and the Necromancer class... You''ll just have to figure out what the requirements are as we go..." "Alright, so... Foambeard, teach me that Haste spell and its Buffs!" I spend 3 skill points to get ''Speed Magic'', ''Enhanced Magic'', and ''Remove Limit'' skills. I smile evily and ask them to just remain in the main section while I ripped everything apart, since I didn''t want to accidentally scratch them with my scythe. I then took off at a blur down the corridor, and ran along the wall when I cornered, I quickly got the hang of moving at this speed, and proceeded to clear out the goblin mobs on the map, making a full circuit of the dungeon in under ten minutes, having eliminated over two hundred more goblins and received the ''Goblin Slayer'' status, a notification of two ranks up in Luck, and a rank up in Death. When I returned to the party, steam was coming off my gear from the amount of friction I had generated, and I have to kneel and cool down. During this time, I check my status, and smile. another five levels, Deathbolt skill from Dad, and Lucky Loot skill from Mom. Seriously? More loot luck? I check both Execution and Heart Count, and smile. I''m nearing two hundred on each! I have one hundred ninety-eight executions and one hundred ninety-four heart strikes. I take four hundred of my stat points, and boost my Intellect by it, smiling as I see the power of my magic damage soaring out of control. I take forty-eight skill points and max out both Deathbolt and Lucky Loot, grinning like a maniac. I then take another seventy-two points and max out the Speed Magic, Enahcned Magic, and Remove Limit skills, leaving me with seventy-two points. I confirm learning the Combined Magic skill ''Time Magic'' and max it out. I max out my Necromancer Class, and take twenty points and put them into Longsword Proficiency to max it out as well, leaving me with three skill points. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Lucky Loot - Skill Level MAX Legendary All loot durability is restored to maximum. All loot magical charages are restored to maximum. +100% chance of Double Loot +50% chance on Triple Loot +40% chance on turning all coins dropped by enemies to Mythril +30% chance on turning all metal objects into Mythril +30% chance on turning all cloth objects into Alicorn Cloth Deathbolt - Skill Level MAX Mythic Cost: 1000 TP Inflicts (Spirit + Intellect) x Skill Level damage to target. If target is killed, restores 50% of used TP. Enemies killed with Deathbolt are immediately raised as Undead Pets (No Captured Soul crystal required). Speed Magic - Skill Level MAX Unique Access to Spell: ''Haste'' maximized Access to Spell: ''Slow'' maximized Access to Spell: ''Freeze'' maximized Enhanced Magic - Skill Level MAX Epic Enhances the power of all Magic spells, doubling their potency without increasing MP. Remove Limit - Skill Level MAX Legendary You are without limits. Your Stat points can exceed 999 base (new maximum base: 9,999) Your spell and skill effects are doubled. Time Magic - Skill Level MAX Mythic The True form of Speed Magic. The Effects of Speed Magic are magnified tenfold. Necromancer Class - Class Level MAX Mythic +50% bonus to all subskills of this class. +25% bonus to damage caused by Undead Pets. Raised monsters retain ALL of their Skills. Access to Skill: Grasp of the Dead Access to Skill: Weapon Proficiency: Staff Access to Skill: Armor Proficiency: Robes Access to Skill: Bone Shield -> Armor of Bones -> Fortress of Bones Access to Skill: Lich Access to Skill: Intelligence Up Access to Skill: Night Vision -> Dark Vision Access to Skill: Vampiric Weapon Access to Skill: Enhanced Magic Lich - Skill Level 2 +2% chance to learn a skill from a dead creature. Fortress of Bones - Skill Level MAX Cost: None Recast: 5 Minutes Applies an absorbing field of bones around self and party every five minutes. Absorbed amount of damage equals (Intellect + Spirit) x either Skill Level or (Skill Level + Class Level) if a Class with this skill is equipped. Lasts until destroyed. I''m extremely pleased with the new build, and laugh as everyone jumps when Fortress of Bones cools down, and envelops us all in our own little ''castles''. "Shall we go see what clan we will face in the Boss Chamber? I''d actually like to try doing this boss room solo, if you don''t mind... I have a quest from Death to do an entire bossroom solo to level up my Death Rank again... And Mother wants me to get another another fifty critical hits..." I mutter as I quickly exit the group. I open up the Cash Shop and buy a Mythic Elixir of Experience Boost plus forty percent for one hour, which cost me a whopping five thousand dollars, then I discarded my light armor and bought the mythic rarity ''Robe of the Damned'' for another fifty thousand dollars. The Robe of the Damned Body Mythic 3 lb Requires Level 50 Requires Intellect 100 Requires Willpower 100 Requires Class: Necromancer Durability 50/50 AC +100 Grants 1 skill point for every enemy your Undead Pet kills. Grants immunity to blood magic I pop the cork, and down the experience elixir, then push open the door, letting the rest of the party see that before me awaits an even larger clan than the first room. There are two hundred small goblin ''grunts'' on the walls, surrounding a hundred goblin warriors, who are protecting fifty goblin mages. The mages are gathered around a ''Goblin Archmage - Level 100 Grade 3'', then there are fifty goblin priests, and fifty goblin shaman all surrounding the Goblin Chief, ''Klikito - Level 150 Grade 4'', quite the big wig! Upon my entering the chamber, there''s a huge war cry which suddenly stops as all the goblins are frozen by my Executioner''s Aura. I use Deathbolt on a Goblin Mage, a Goblin Priest, and a Goblin Shaman, killing all three, and instantly ressurecting them as my pets and they start attacking those frozen around them. I cut my way through instantly dying goblin warriors, incinerating them with a single strike of the The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame. I manage another twenty each heart-shots and executions before I make it to the Archmage who is trying to throw off my aura, but fails. I take his head in a Lucky Strike critical, then head towards the Chief who is still struggling against the Aura, and does manage to break it before I use a Large Greek Fireball on him, and charge forward. His shrieks of terror and pain continue as he tries to put himself out, his HP dropping quickly as he flails around, catching his priests and shamans on fire, the fire spreading viciously. I plant my foot on his back, pinning him down, and slice off his head when he hits five percent life. I turn around, and blink as I see the fires spreading from goblin to goblin, ignoring my three zombies, who are casting their spells and curses, which mow down the majority of the goblins on the walls and start on the warriors. With my TP having been refilled by Executions, I use Deathbolt three more times, on Goblin Warriors this time, then wade back into the see of fire. The goblins are starting to come around now, my aura wearing off, and they are flailing and screaming, begging for mercy in their goblin tongue. I execute another shaman, and use the refreshed TP on three more deathbolts, repeating this until I have a total of twenty-four pets. I then sat down, and relaxed, letting the experience and skill points roll in. I sighed softly as I ended up with sixteen levels, a new Title ''Immortal One'', and an extra two hundred skill points by the time the doors opened again, revealing myself and my twenty-four pets. At that point, I got a message saying Death approved of the way I handled the challenge, and confirming completion of the task. I acquired Rank 8 in death, Rank 7 on my weapon, and a new skill ''Deathwave'', which seemed to be an AoE version of Deathbolt! Title Acquired: Immortal One - By surviving for seventy-five consecutive Levels, you have become one of the Immortals. Immortal Characters have a 25% chance of immediate ressurection without loss of experience upon being killed. Godling Bonus - You will immediately ressurect without loss of experience 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time you will suffer an experience loss proportional to the difference in levels between yourself and the creature you were fighting. Deathwave - Skill Level 2 Cost: 2000 TP Inflicts AoE damage equal to 25% of Intelligence in a circle around self until stopped by a wall or reaches Spirit feet in distance from caster. Has a 5% chance of raising any creature killed by this effect. Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Army of the Dead I Raise a total of 50 Undead. Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Armor: Crown of the Dead (Rank 1) From the Archmage I had killed, I obtained scrolls with Earth, and Dark magic skills, the Chief gave me a Constitution Up, and Strength Up skill scrolls, meanwhile one of the priests had dropped a Scrying magic skill scroll. While the doors were creaking open, I quickly pulled up the Thief Class, and learned it, as well as maxing it out for a total of twenty-five points, making me smile at all the different skills it automatically gave me. Seeing as Thief was just a ''Rare'' class, it didn''t provide nearly as interesting or as many buffs as Necromancer had. I quickly learned the five skills from the scrolls, maxing them out as well, and smiling as I received a pop up offering me ''Durable Body'', which I purchased and maxed. I spent twenty-four points each in all five of the Thief''s Class skills, which triggered pop ups for ''Agile Body'' and ''Blademaster Class'', which cost me another fifty skill points, which net me another three new skills. I decided to max out Firemaster to see what it would add to the cookpot. Indeed, it added two new skills for me to use: Willpower Up and Quench. I maxed out Lich, Willpower Up, and Quench, as well as my Robe armor proficiency. As soon as Willpower Up was maxed, a pop up asked to purchase ''Agile Mind'' and ''Armored Mind'', which I spent another fifty points maxing out. Last thing I did for the moment was max out Deathwave, raising the damage done by a lot, and making it an even chance of raising the killed monster as a pet. For the stat points, I took four hundred, and increased my Willpower, then I spent another hundred into my Constitution. I was really enjoying the way this life was turning out. ----------- Author''s Note: I''m very sorry with how long this chapter has taken to get posted, but I''ve been busy with work (as well as other things in life) and my mind keeps throwing things up for the start of book 2 and nearing the end of book 1. It''s looking like Book 1 will be more than the initially planned 11-12 chapters, and closer to 15 or 16. I''ve decided to put off publishing Chaos Wave Book 1 in parts, and only publish the finished book. Thank you very much for your support and I hope that everyone''s days are going well. Volume 1 - Chapter 8 - The Goblin Conclave The doors to the boss room opened slowly as I got to my feet from distributing my points. Of my various zombies, I''m left with about eighteen, which surprised everyone as they entered. I looked up as they entered and smiled, "So, now I''m to form the Army of the Dead for the Crown of the Dead..." "Seriously?" Rockenroll asked. "You''ve seriously gotta raise an army of the dead for a piece of headgear?" "Well, it is divine rarity headgear from my father..." "Well, that makes sense then." We descended from the boss chamber onto the lowest floor of the Goblin Caverns, and find two huge doors before us. Inspecting it reads: Warning! Time Exclusive Raid: The Goblin Conclave! This Raid is available every 180 days for 5 days. Current Difficulty: Unfathomable Monsters Levels exceed yours by more than Twenty-five! Raid Monsters are five times stronger than their Overworld Counterparts. A notice poped up informing me that I if I wish to enter this Raid, I must do so alone, while others may form up to four parties of six to complete it. "Looks like this is where we part ways. It''s telling me I have to go in alone... Other people can go into the Raid in group sets of twenty-four, where as I have to go alone." Oathshield sighed and noded before answering, "If that''s how it must be... We''ll go back and gather a full Raid Team and follow behind after you, just to make sure you keep yourself alive. Once inside a Raid, you cannot leave until either you die or it is completed. Don''t forget to check all the side areas for loot, as until this instance is first completed, every thing will give excellent loot. Be careful in there, and raise your Army as fast as possible." "Alright, I''ll do my best. When I exit, I will likely be Level 100 or above." "Do your best, boy!" I walk over to the door with my zombies, and touch it, bringing up the prompt for my entry, and I accept. The doors open, revealing a swirling void which sucked me in and the pop up "Entering: The Goblin Conclave". When the world stopped swirling, and the lights came up, I was in a huge chamber surrounded by his zombies, with five different tunnels off it. The tunnels are marked 1, 3, 5, 4, 2 and there are gates sealing off all but the one with 1 over it. "Alright, so it looks like I have to do them in numerical order..." I took out the Souls for the Bandit Chief, Minotaur, and the various bandits, summoning them and raising his Undead party to fifty-four undead. Quest Completed! You have successfully Raised an army of 50 Zombies! Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Armor: Crown of the Dead (Rank 1) Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Army of the Dead II Raise a total of 250 Undead. Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Armor: Crown of the Dead Upgrade Crown of the Dead - Rank 1 Head Weight: 4 lbs Requires Intelligence 100 Requires Necromancy Skill Level 25 Durability: Indestructible +50 Intelligence +10% Chance on Auto-raise +5% Resistance to Darkness and Blood Magic After my MP had recharged fully, I started down the first tunnel, and traveled for about fifteen minutes before I came to a huge cavern, filled with about five hundred goblins, all above my level. I ran forward, and leaped into the air, activating ''Deathwave'' at the top of my arch, which caused me to hover and pulse, before a huge wave of black lightning crackled off himself and bombarded the goblins. About fifty goblins died, and half of them raised as zombies, I sliced off a goblin''s head, and activated Deathwave again, killing off far more, and raising them. After about a half hour, I''ve cleared room and have about three hundred Zombies. Quest Completed! You have successfully Raised an army of 250 Zombies! Reward: Rank Upgrade, Crown of the Dead Rank Upgrade Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Army of the Dead III Raise a total of 500 Undead. Reward: Rank Upgrade, Divine Armor: Crown of the Dead Upgrade, New Death Ability: Spirit Devourer Crown of the Dead - Rank 2 Head Weight: 4 lbs Requires Intelligence 100 Requires Necromancy Skill Level 25 Durability: Indestructible +75 Intelligence +15% Chance on Auto-raise +10% Resistance to Darkness and Blood Magic I whistled softly as I had gained another five levels from that one room. Then again, I am getting the experience equivalent for twenty-four players. I continued onward, and found myself in a room with another clan chief, more mages, priests, warriors, and even a new goblin I hadn''t seen before, the Goblin Scout, with two short swords. Overall, there were about a thousand goblins among them. As I entered the chamber, the doors slammed shut behind me, blocking off my zombies! "Well, that''s one way to try to trap me, except I''m the son of Luck... I''m the son of Death. You have no chance!" With that roar, I charged forward, triggering Deathwave, then Deathbolt on a priest and another Deathwave. In a matter of seconds, half their starting force was dead, and another hundred zombies rose from their place. I started swinging my scythe, attacking viciously, aiming for beheadings, and triggering Deathwave after Deathwave while dancing with my scythe, moving around and beheading an archer here, a priest there. By the time Executioner''s Aura has worn off, there''s only maybe fifty goblins left alive in the entire chamber, as my Deathwave has damaged all of them with each pulse. I quickly release a double blast of Deathwave, which tears the remaining enemies apart. I smile as almost three in four of the enemies killed by Deathwave have risen as my minions, giving me a grand total of over a thousand undead. Quest Completed! You have successfully Raised an army of 500 Undead! Reward: Rank Upgrade, Crown of the Dead Rank Upgrade, Skill: Spirit Devourer Quest Completed! You have successfully Raised an army of 1000 Undead! Reward: Rank Upgrade, Crown of the Dead Rank Upgrade, The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame Upgrade, Skill: Soul Absorption Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Death Quest: Divine Incarnation Reach Level 100 without Dying Reward: Rank MAX, Divine Armor: Crown of the Dead MAX, Divine Weapon: The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame MAX Quest Completed! Inflict a total of 1,000 Critical Hits Reward: Rank Upgrade, Skill: Skill Reset Quest Completed! Inflict a total of 1,500 Critical Hits Reward: Rank Upgrade, Skill: Coin Toss Quest Completed! Trigger Additional Effects of a Skill 200 times Reward: Rank Upgrade, Skill: Bonus Trigger Quest Completed! Trigger Additional Effects of a Skill 500 times Reward: Rank Upgrade, Skill: Stat Gamble Quest Alert! You have been assigned a Divine Quest! Deity: Lady Luck Quest: Divine Incarnation Reach Level 100 without Dying Reward: Rank MAX, Divine Blessing: +500 to all Stats CONGRATULATIONS! You have gained a Level! You have gained a Level! You have gained a Level! ... You have gained a Level! Current Level: 90! You have 443 Available Stat Points! You have 930 Dontatable Stat Points! You have 694 Available Skill Points! You have 936 Donatable Skill Points! You have unlocked Automatic Macro Triggering! Before I even look at what the new Skills do, I take my available skill points and max out every single skill on my sheet, even the crafting ones, which only costs me 288 of my 694 Skill Points, then I look at my new skills. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Skill Reset - Skill Level MAX Cost: 1 Skill Point Reset all skills to lowest level and gain Skill Points equal to the total level of all the skills reduced. -Note At this Level you may also spend 1 Skill Point to reset a party member''s skills and have them regain the Skill Points for Redistribution Coin Toss - Skill Level MAX Cost: 1000 TP + 1000 MP + 100 Gold Pull out a Gold Coin and flip it in the air. Brings forth one (or more) of the following Random Abilities: Invulnerable Barrier, Gold CRUSH, Gold Wave, Gold Rain, Midas Blast, Mithril Blast Bonus Trigger - Skill Level MAX Increases chance of triggering of additional effects of Skills and Abilities to 99.9% Stat Gamble - Skill Level MAX Cost: 1000 HP + 1000 TP + 1000 MP Cooldown: 12 Hours Adds a random amount between 10% and 500% of your Total Spirit to All Stats for 1 minute. Spirit Devourer - Skill Level MAX Cost: 2000 TP + 2000 MP Automatically kills all mobs within 50 yards as long as their grade-adjusted level is not higher than your total Spirit. Soul Absorption - Skill Level MAX Cost: 1 Captured Soul + 500 TP Absorb 25% of the Soul''s Experience Points 10% Chance to absorb 1 Skill or increase an already learned skill to the next Level Godling Notice: Remember, you only have Even Numbered Levels kids! Invulnerable Barrier Creates a dome barrier of golden energy around you, protecting you from all attacks for 30 seconds. Gold Crush Tossed Coin spins into the air, and then becomes a giant Golden disc that falls, applying 5x Spirit damage to those it falls on. Gold Wave Tossed Coin multiplies and crashes down in a Wave within 5 yards, applying 100-250% Spirit damage to those hit by each coin. Gold Rain Tossed Coin multiplies and crashes down in a Rainfall in 5 yards, applying 100-250% Spirit damage to those hit by each coin. Midas Blast Turns everything within 25 yards to solid Gold (automatically kills all mobs with grade-adjusted level under your Spirit). Mithril Blast Turns everything within 10 yards to solid Mithril (automatically kills all mobs with grade-adjusted level under your Spirit). Crown of the Dead - Rank 4 Head Weight: 4 lbs Requires Intelligence 100 Requires Necromancy Skill Level 25 Durability: Indestructible +100 Intelligence +25% Chance on Auto-raise +15% Resistance to Darkness and Blood Magic +15% Power to Darkness, Blood, and Necromancy Spells Soulbound The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame - Rank 8 Divine Weapon (One-handed / Two-handed) Divine Weight: 12 lbs Length 78 inches (Staff) / 48 inches (blade) Requires: Deity: Death Requires: Strength 75 Requires: Dexterity 75 Indestructible Damage 150-200 (Spear One-handed) Damage 150-200 (Staff Two-handed) Damage 300-400 (Scythe Two-handed) Damage 225-300 (Spear Two-handed) Damage 750 Greek Fire (Non-elemental) 90% chance to ignite attacked creature for 3 hours doing 200 damage every three seconds +40% Chance to Auto-kill on Crit +35% Captured Soul drop rate +25% Chance on Auto-raise +25% Damage dealt absorbed as HP +15% Damage dealt absorbed as MP +15% Damage dealt absorbed as TP Blade can be locked at 90 or 180 degrees for Scythe or Spear mode, or stored for use as a Staff. Can double as a Torch in Scythe or Spear mode. The light of Greek Fire prevents Stealth. Soulbound I whistled softly and felt an almost psychotic smile spreading across my face, especially as I was surrounded by almost a thousand undead. I looked up my Status page, and put a hundred points each in Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Spirit. I looked at it again and laughed. Name: Hidden Level: 90 [85%] HP: 5880/5880 MP: 4320/4320 TP: 5160/5160 Avaliable Stats: 43 Donatable Stats: 930 STR: 300+60+???+500 DEX: 300+60+500 CON: 400+80+500 INT: 600+120+100 WLP: 600+120 SPR: 550+55+500 I nodded and motioned for my zombies to follow me as I made my way back to the main split. Paths two, three, and four all had the same sort of setup, with varrying amounts of goblins from two hundred fifty to five hundred in each corridor. Finally, I approached the final corridor, which turned out to have three different chambers, each with two clans, followed by a huge room, almost as big as a football stadium, filled with goblins and at the center was the King, a Level 200 - Grade 4 giant red monstrosity! As I rested outside the Conclave, I had over 1,500 undead behind me, as I had tested out Lucky Coin in one of the rooms, and ended up turning all the enemies into Gold and Mithril statues, which cost me the experience and loot from it. Due to the lack of experience from that room, I ended up at Level 99 with 85% filled to next level right outside the Goblin King''s lair. I marched into the Coliseum with my army of the undead, the Goblin King''s aura negating my Executioner''s Aura, protecting the damned monsters from being scared helpless. "You dead fool! We kill your undead and eat you!" the Goblin King roared at me. "Oh, you''re a sentient monster? This will be fun. Let''s see if you can handle me!" I activated ''Stat Gambit'', and saw a % spinner appear, and it landed on 500%, which turned to +5,525 to each stat for a full minute, which started ticking down. I leaped forward as I activated Coin Toss, which unleashed the Golden Disc, as well as both a Gold Wave and a Gold Rain, raining down and killing about three hundred goblins, and with the boosts from Crown of the Dead and Grim Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame, at least 200 of them rose back from the dead and turned on their fellows. As I landed amongst a different patch of goblins, I triggered Deathwave, melting the flesh right off another hundred, running forward and leaping again, I activated Deathwave again, and targeted the king with Deathbolt, dropping him down to 30% health with a single attack! I charged him, and with a swipe of my scythe in a deadly spin chopped right through his neck with my immensely boosted strength, pumping out another Deathwave, killing his Elite Guards and raising them all! The minute ran out, and I suddenly staggered and collapsed to a knee, suddenly feeling a lot weaker and slower, as well as dizzy. The Guards made a shield wall around me, allowing me to get myself back into control. When I was back on my feet, I unleashed a Deathwave, and then a Coin Toss, which put up an Invulnerable Barrier and Midas Blast. After another half hour of fighting, and I received a notification message. CONGRATULATIONS! FIRST KILL - THE GOBLIN CONCLAVE! ---- Author''s Note: I''m sorry for this chapter being shorter than I wanted it to be, as well as having taken far too long for it to be written and released. I''ve been busy with work, and I''ve also been working with other authors to try to improve the quality of the LitRPG products available on Amazon, and what will be coming out in the future. As for my story, I''ll try to get it out more frequently, but I can''t make any promises on timelines. I can let you know that I''ve got great plans for the rest of this book, as well as the start of Book 2... Thank you very much for reading this, and I hope you''re not angry about how slow it''s coming out. Volume 1 - Chapter 9 - Mining for Dwarves Alright, I''m very sorry for the fact that it has taken me so very long to post this chapter. Let''s just say that I''ve had issues with a self-regenerating Writer''s Block, which has finally started to become somewhat gelatinous, allowing thoughts by. Anyways, here''s the chapter. Enjoy! ---------------------------- Title Awarded: First Goblin Reaper You have gained a Level! Current Level: 105! You have 493 Available Stat Points! You have 1140 Dontatable Stat Points! You have 786 Available Skill Points! You have 1146 Donatable Skill Points! Quest Completed! Reach Level 100 without Dying Reward: Divinity, MAX Rank of both Death and Luck Deities, MAX rank of Crown of the Dead and Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame Divinity - Every time you level up, you get +10 to all stats in addition to Available Stat points. Upon Learning a skill it is automatically at MAX rank. Crown of the Dead - Rank MAX Head Weight: 4 lbs Requires Intelligence 100 Requires Necromancy Skill Level 25 Indestructible +200 Intelligence +50% Chance on Auto-raise +35% Resistance to Darkness and Blood Magic +25% Power to Darkness, Blood, and Necromancy Spells Soulbound The Reaper''s Scythe of Primal Flame - Rank MAX Divine Weapon (One-handed / Two-handed) Divine Weight: 12 lbs Length 78 inches (Staff) / 48 inches (blade) Requires: Strength 150 Requires: Dexterity 100 Indestructible Damage 400-450 (Spear One-handed) Damage 400-450 (Staff Two-handed) Damage 750-1000 (Scythe Two-handed) Damage 500-750 (Spear Two-handed) Damage 1500 Greek Fire (Non-elemental) +99% chance to ignite attacked creature for 3 hours doing 200 damage every three seconds +80% Chance to Auto-kill on Crit +55% Captured Soul drop rate +35% Chance on Auto-raise +35% Damage dealt absorbed as HP +25% Damage dealt absorbed as MP +25% Damage dealt absorbed as TP Blade can be locked at 90 or 180 degrees for Scythe or Spear mode, or stored for use as a Staff. Can double as a Torch in Scythe or Spear mode. The light of Greek Fire prevents Stealth. Soulbound Quest Completed! You have successfully cleared out the Goblins! Relationship with the Dwarves raised from ''Dislike'' to ''Neutral'' Relationship with the Drow raised from ''Eliminate on Sight'' to ''Unwelcome'' Fame +1,000 Guild Reputation +500 Reputation with all Good Deities increased from ''Neutral'' to ''Favorable'' Reputation with all Evil Deities decreased from ''Neutral'' to ''Dislike'' Goblins are now available as a Player Race! All members of Dwarven Theorum gain 10 levels! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 115! You have 793 Available Stat Points! You have 1280 Dontatable Stat Points! You have 1086 Available Skill Points! You have 1286 Donatable Skill Points! You have been granted the Skill: Reap You have been granted the Skill: Karma Usage You have been granted the Skill: Personal Teleport Reap - Skill (Passive) Level MAX +500% damage to all enemies when equipped with a Sickle or Scythe. Karma Usage - Skill Level MAX Allows you to expend your Karma Credits for attack. Attacks that drain Karma can cut even the Gods. Personal Teleport - Skill Level MAX Cost: 500 MP Allows you to teleport yourself and your belongings to another town you''ve already visited. WARNING! Upon death, your current body will not be able to be reformed. If you die, you will be fully incarnated as a Deity, and lose easy access to the world. You are the fifth Godling to succeed in unlocking your personal divinity. As such, you will receive +100 to each stat. As the system messages finished scrolling past, he sighed and looked around, blinking at finding himself infront of the Raid entrance again, the sound of mining picks slamming into the rock, digging a tunnel towards where the Underland Tunnels connect to the Dwarven Network. They''ve clearly been busy working on the tunnel since I entered the Goblin Conclave over fifteen hours ago, and they''ve done amazingly well in that time. ¡°Well, guys, I¡¯m officially a Godling, and when I die, I¡¯ll be incarnated as a Deity of this ¡®game¡¯. Looks like you guys have been busy while I was becoming death incarnate. Let me help,¡± I hold up my hand and smirk as I use the Scythe as a pick, burning through the wall and melting the stone, making everyone else back up to avoid the horrible stench created from the liquefied stone. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.There¡¯s a bunch of coughing and swearing behind me as they also laugh up a storm about my making such a stench. ¡°Damn it boy, if you¡¯re gonna befoul the air like that, at least give us some warning,¡± Oathshield bellows with a laugh. ¡°Understandable, just thought we¡¯d like to get through this today, rather than in a week or more,¡± I called back to him as I kept working. ¡°Nah, we ain¡¯t in a hurry, so grab a pick for yer minin¡¯, no need to melt the ore we may get with that heat!¡± ¡°Ahhhh... so that¡¯s the purpose. We¡¯ve got the food, I take it?¡± ¡°Yup! We¡¯ve got it all sorted!¡± *** Over the course of the next weeks, I passed out bonus attributes and skill points to the party while we worked each day, growing my Karma Point count. It took about two and a half weeks for us to get through the wall and tunnel into the main tunnel system. You have discovered Underworld Tunnel Network Alpha. As the first players who have entered this area you gain: +50 Fame +2% Experience for all Clan Members Underworld Tunnel Explorer Title ¡°So! There were rumors of Clan Bonuses for finding new areas, and we all got the title of ¡®Underworld Tunnel Explorer¡¯ it seems,¡± Oathshield stated. ¡°According to the map I got from the Bandit Chief, we need to head ... that way,¡± I said, pointing off to the right. ¡°From there, it should be about ten miles, which if we hike it, we could do before evening. Man, I love these augmented reality settings that lets us have a clock in our vision when we want it.¡± We headed down the tunnel, encountering some minor underworld monsters, including a single dimension distorting cavern rat the size of a small horse! It was a named mob, Ric¡¯hioli, Level 218 Grade 4. When we saw the cavern rat, we all backed away slowly, and they looked at me. I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll go clear it out...¡± I walked forward, swinging the scythe into its scythe mode. I raised my other hand, and hit it twice with Deathbolt, watching it fall down to almost ten percent health remaining, stunning it thanks to the massive amount of instant damage. I then charged forward and Executed it with the scythe. Everyone gained two levels from the kill, and I actually got a totem of the Distortion Rat King - Grade 4. Ever since I had hit two hundred and fifty Executions, the bonus to my stats refused to climb further, having maxed out at a basic +500 to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Spirit. I looked around after killing Ric¡¯hioli, and saw a glimmering portal in the corner of the cave. ¡°Guys, we need to avoid the far corner, and keep an eye on it as we pass by this cave. There is a Portal in the far corner, but I don¡¯t know where it goes, but I get a very, very bad feeling from it. We should mark it down on the map and report it to the Dwarves when we get to their city,¡± I call to them as I gesture for them to follow me through the cave. After two more hours, we ended up in a mineshaft, as we could see glimmers of silvery metal coursing through the walls. We could now start hearing the echoing ¡®tink¡¯ of picks hitting the walls from further down the tunnel or one of the many, many side passages. About another hour later, we came across a Dwarven guard unit. ATTENTION ALL PLAYERS! THE DWARVES HAVE BEEN FOUND! The Dwarven Theorum has just discovered the home of the Dwarves, and will shortly begin building Relationship between Players and Dwarves, unlocking them as a Playable Race. ALL MEMBERS OF THE DWARVEN THEORUM ARE IMMUNE TO PVP DURING NEGOTIATIONS. ¡°Greetings, honorable dwarves. We would like to speak with your king and the council. We have gifts and desire to set up trade between humans and dwarves,¡± Oathshield steps forward, bowing deeply. ¡°Ach, ye be Oathshield of the Guild known as ¡®Dwarven Theorum?¡¯ We have received word of you from the Tavernmaster, Rolak Stonefist. He has said you and yours are trustworthy. We welcome thee to Our Home. Attention! You have received access to the Undermountain Halls. Attention! You have received access to the Undermountain Mines. Attention! You have received access to the Undermountain Smithy. Attention! You have received access to the Undermountain Tavern. Attention! You have received access to the Undermountain Throne. ¡°Rolak Stonefist, the Tavernmaster? So I was right, thinking he was of Dwarven blood!¡± ¡°Aye, ye were!¡± Volume 1 - Chapter 10 - Madness in the Depths A squad of dwarven knights march up from the castle. One of the heavily armored dwarves moves up to Oathshield. ¡°Greetings, Oathshield and members of ¡®Dwarven Theorum¡¯! The King wishes to see you and your Guild!¡± An hour later, we¡¯d made our way through the city and to the castle. It was truly an amazing sight to behold. The Dwarven City had somehow managed to either find, or carve out, an enormous cavern under the mountain for their clan. There were bearded faces everywhere, even the women had beards, as was traditional with the dwarven race. ¡°That¡¯s an amazing display of detail the designers put into this place. And to think, for five years outside, nobody¡¯s found it...¡± I stated. ¡°That¡¯s how things go with these Hidden Gems, or were they called Easter Eggs?¡± Rockenroll replied. ¡°Quiet, both of ye! We¡¯re about to have an audience with their king!¡± Oathshield growled at us, making us both blush and laugh. ¡°Sir! Yes, Sir!¡± Rockenroll and I both respond at the same time, which makes the other two burst out laughing. We all stop and straighten our clothes before we are shown into the Throne Room, which is richly decorated with marble statues, golden and mythril armor, and other forms of expensive taste. My eyes were drawn to the King, who was sitting on a throne made of purified mythril! About a dozen yards from the throne, we lined up and went down on a knee, bowing our heads in respect. ¡°Welcome to my kingdom, members of the Dwarven Theorum. You Wanderers might be able to help us with an issue with are having. There is a monster in the deep tunnels of one of our mines, which is causing madness and making my subjects disappear. Since it is said that a Wanderer, when killed, will return to the last Church or Barracks they visited, I will grant access to both our Church and our Barracks for you. I request that you send ONE member of your team to investigate the source of these disappearances and eliminate it if possible. If a single Wanderer cannot eliminate it alone, the rest of you should go and assist,¡± the king stated as he watched them. ¡°The one I would like you to send on this mission is him!¡± The king pointed directly at me. ¡°I will accept this mission,¡± I responded solemnly. Attention! You have gained access to the Undermountain Barracks. Attention! You have gained access to Undermountain Church. Quest Accepted! Explore the Depths of the Dwarven Mining Tunnels, locate and eliminate the Mindflayer. Reward: Increased Reputation with the Dwarves. Failure: Banishment from the Undermountain for the entire Guild. Time Remaining: 00:23:59:59... 00:23:59:58... I blinked in shock as I saw that I had less than twenty-four hours to locate and kill a Mindflayer, an Ilifiad. One of the Cthulu-esque races of the World! ¡°I must leave immediately, Your Majesty. The Tunnels are vast, and I have little time apparently.¡± ¡°On your way then! I¡¯ll continue to speak with the rest of your party!¡± With that dismissal, I hurried out of the Throne Room, and ran towards the tunnel, trusting my minimap to guide me. *** ¡°Display quest timer!¡± I called out as I ran through the tunnels. Time remaining: 00:20:01:01... 00:20:01:00... 00:20:00:59... It¡¯s been four hours, and I just barely have finished one of eight tunnels. Once I got to the tunnels, the Minimap just put a ? with a giant circle around the entire area. The guards and miners were no help, as they have not entered the tunnels in the last week. It doesn¡¯t help that as I run through these empty mining tunnels I am being attacked by ¡®Undermountain Mine Rat¡¯ and ¡®Undermountain Slime¡¯, both of which, while easy to deal with slow me down when they show up in packs. ¡°I hope I don¡¯t fail this quest... It would be highly embarrassing if the son of Luck and Death can¡¯t find a Mindflayer in a Mine and kill it...¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°Why must you find and kill it?¡± a voice asked from right behind me. ¡°Because the Dwarven King issued me a quest to. That¡¯s how we Wanderers work, you know. We get quests, we kill things, we get rewarded,¡± I answered without turning around, knowing its not actually there. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What if I told you the Dwarves were the ones invading our lands?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry, but driving them out with madness and kidnapping isn¡¯t going to work. One of you Squids will have to die, and if you want to send an envoy to the Dwarven King asking for them to back out of your area, that¡¯s your choice. If you keep trying this Madness and Missing stuff, it isn¡¯t going to end well. You could always show ¡®remorse¡¯ by allowing those who you have taken to return home. I¡¯m sure a lot of them have family that misses them.¡± ¡°... An interesting proposal, but you are doomed to failure, madness, and slavery. I doubt your mind can hold up against our mental attacks, since it was so very easy to find you and enter your mind.¡± I closed my eyes and focused on the connection, and smirked as I started down that tunnel. ¡°Well, fine by me, if you think you can handle me... I am a full fledged Godling, after all.¡± ¡°A Godling? You are nothing. The mighty one will be summoned with the blood of these mountain midgets!¡± I sighed and shook my head as I made my way deeper and deeper down the tunnels. Hours pass, and the tunnel I¡¯m following just keeps going deeper! ¡°Display Quest Timer!¡± Time remaining: 00:08:05:00... 00:08:04:59... ??:??:??:??... 10:10:10:10... 09:09:09:09... My eyes go wide and I pull out the scythe, snarling softly. Damn it, how did it sneak up on me, and how is it messing with my Timer? Or it is messing with my perception of the timer? I closed my eyes and listened, hearing fabric moving and brushing along the wall. I start to spin slowly, holding the scythe out. ¡°Death Wave!¡± As I spin while emitting it, I hear a chime. Congratulations! You have developed the Skill: Death Spiral! Death Spiral - Skill Level MAX Sends out Death Waves in all directions, any enemies hit have the following debuffs inflicted: Berserk, Fury, Hate, Despair. Berserk: Cannot cast spells, Attack power +10% Fury: Cannot use skills, Attack power +10% Hate: Must attack the one who inflicted this status effect. Despair: Has no hope of success, -50% Attack damage, -50% all stats. The walls shake and rumble as the Spiral slices into them. The waves bounce further and further, and with each rediretected bounce pushes the ends further down the corridors. An army of rats, slimes, miniature elementals, and other creatures start rushing towards me from down the various side branches, meanwhile a Mindflayer over ten feet tall appears along the wall, and charges me with its fists raised. It was very easy to dodge the Mindflayer¡¯s exagerated movements, and take him apart. I made sure to use ¡®Execution¡¯ for the finishing blow so that I would have his giant head as a trophy to give to the King to turn in as completion of my quest. Suddenly, a second and third Mindflayer emerge from various tunnels along with the army of rats and slimes. I use ¡®Death Spiral¡¯ followed up by ¡®Death Wave¡¯. The majority of the rats killed by the wave rise up as zombies and turn on the others, killing them off. As soon as I finished off the other two squids, a Quest Notification popped up. Quest Alert! You have discovered that there is more than one Mindflayer in the tunnels, and the one you talked to informed you that they intend to summon a Mighty One. Prevent this summoning or destroy the Mighty One. Reward: Alliance with the Dwarves, Dwarves unlocked as a Playable Race. Failure: Banishment from the Dwarves (Solo). Time remaining until Summoning: 00:05:00:00... 00:04:59:59... 00:04:59:58... I swore loudly and blinked as I noticed my minimap able to guide me again. I charged off deeper into the mine.
Author''s Note: This chapter is just under 1,500 words. Sorry it''s short, but the next chapter is a BIG BOSS FIGHT, and the first real problem the Main Character has ever had. I plan on writing it out over the next week or so, and hope to have it ready by the end of the month. Thanks again for reading! Volume 1 - Chapter 11 - Cthulu in Your Cup I ignored everything as I followed my minimap to the location where the sacrifice is going to be held. The time remaining is under an hour when I make it there, but I manage to arrive, where eight Mindflayer Priests are chanting as they draw the memories and emotions from the minds of the drow, dwarves, gnomes, and animals they have captured, with five minutes left on the count down. I cut down the priests, but the countdown immediately goes to all zero as the last priest fell. The cauldron on the altar bubbled and boiled over, rocked, tilted, and spilled out the fluids onto the cavern floor. Congratulations! You have saved the bodies of the prisoners! Can you save their minds? Defeat the Mighty One! As I was reading the prompt that appeared, the puddle of liquid rose into the air, and formed a ring eighty feet in diameter. ¡°Oh fuck... This is going to hurt!¡± Out of the ring, an enormous Mindflayer, emerges. This giant must have been at least seventy feet tall, with a seventy-five foot tall staff! How the hell was I supposed to fight something this big? As I was staring at it, it moved with insane speed and hit me with the butt of its staff, sending me flying and crashing into the wall of this enormous cavern, the stone cracking around me. I swore as I noticed all my defensive buffs had been broken with that single hit, and I even lost ten percent of my heath on top of it! ¡°Okay, you just made it personal. I¡¯m sorry, but now you will have to die. I can no longer forgive your trespass and assault. I hope you are prepared to die, for I shall take no pity on you!¡± My speech only caused the damn thing to laugh at me! Seriously!? ¡°PUNY MORTAL! YOU DARE TO CHALLENGE A GOD!¡± ¡°You are but a minor god of madness! Do you really think you can kill a Godling born of Luck of Death!?¡± As I was taunting him, I was also watching my buffs spin up on my bar, restoring themselves. During the time we had been working on mining the damned wall in the goblin tunnel, I had figured out how to set up a macro to restore my buffs, either for when they expire naturally or when I receive damage enough to break through them. I showed him my scythe. ¡°I shall bathe my Primordial Fire in your blood!¡± He moved towards me, and I did indeed find out that the old statement of ¡®the bigger they are, the harder they fall¡¯ was very true. I could barely scratch his skin with the blade of the scythe. I swore and donated all my donatable points into the Guild Pool, skyrocketing my Karma Points up. I spent a hundred to coat the blade and this time, it cut instead of scraping! I backhanded his incoming staff blow, sending him off balance thanks to the huge boost in strength from my bottomless bag of holding and Executioner status. I attacked where I thought he was, but my blade went straight through his skin and he vanished like a puff of smoke! Damn it, of course, he¡¯s a Mindflayer type. I can¡¯t rely on my normal senses... I pulled up the Cash Shop, and quickly purchased scrolls of ¡®Mind Guard¡¯, ¡®Regeneration¡¯, and ¡®Sense: Killing Intent¡¯. As soon as they materialized, I activated them, making them crumble into dust. Mind Guard (Passive) Skill Level MAX Rare Your mind is protected by against outside influence by barriers as strong as Diamond Willpower +300% Immunity to Illusion and Psychic Tricks Regeneration Skill Level MAX Legendary You have learned how to passively increase your own body¡¯s regenerative process. When activated, your Health Regeneration increases by 500% and your MP and TP regeneration decreases by 25% Sense: Killing Intent (Passive) Skill Level MAX Rare You can now sense when something wants to kill you or someone you are protecting. You can now SEE the Aura of any being with intent to cause you or yours harm. With these three skills, I should have evened the fight between this giant monster and myself. I opened my eyes, and found his staff coming down at me from an overhand chop, making me put my full speed to jumping out of the way of the five-foot thick staff! The rock receives a huge crack where he hits, and I roll to absorb the shockwave. I immediately countered with a pair of Deathbolts at him, and check his Analyze Status. Ali¡¯ia¡¯oi¡¯ack¡¯rhu¡¯gha Minor Cthulu Level 400 - Grade 7 Health 6,800,000 / 7,000,000 This minor deity of insanity has been summoned through the failure of the Mindflayer Priests to finish their ritual with the sacrifice of the Prisoners. If they had succeeded, you would have faced a Greater Madness God. I blinked in shock, and shook my head. At least I had proven I can damage him. If it can be damaged, it can be killed! A cold smile came to my face. ¡°Not looking so good there, Ali! At this rate, I¡¯ll kill you before you can even break my spell barriers again!¡± Of course, as I taunted him, I had begun circling around him. I ordered my undead rats from the mines to attack him. Of course, I knew the rats were only going to be a minor hindrance, but I was hoping to use them to build up a greater Primordial Flame attack. In fact, it worked. I managed to charge and condense five thousand MP worth of Primordial Flame into a tiny ball, which I launched at his face. The staff came down, and crushed a rat, just barely missing the tennis ball sized orb of green fire, which kept on track, and slammed into his eye, making him screech as it then exploded, taking off half of his tentacles, coating his entire face in green fire, and burning the left side of his face completely to the bone. The fires continuing to burn as he roared and thrashed around in obvious pain, killing the remnants of my zombie rats in his thrashing. Ali¡¯ia¡¯oi¡¯ack¡¯rhu¡¯gha Minor Cthulu Level 400 - Grade 7 Health 1,750,00 / 7,000,000 Skill Activate: Regeneration Skill Activate: Mind Control (300m) Skill Activate: Mind Burst Skill Activate: Mind Crush Skill Activate: Mind Absorption Skill Activate: Psychic Spear ¡°Oh fuck...¡± I muttered as I barely managed to dodge a lance made of psychic energy, and then had to dodge around it again. I ran over to his body, where he is laying on the ground, panting, trying to regenerate the damage that happened. I dodge, and he cries in pain as his Psychic Spear slams into the side of his own skull, which I had been running towards. Thankfully, I was immune to his direct mind attacks thanks to the Mind Guard skill I had bought. As I charged forward, a large group of mindflayers from their nearby city all came over in lock-step, making me sweat as I realized that the monster I was fighting was going to feed on them to refuel his regeneration! I dodged another Psychic Spear and leaped up onto the skull portion of the boss. I dove through the empty eye socket, and landed on the brain, screaming as I swung wildly with my scythe. I had not fully considered what I was doing when I jumped on a BRAIN of a madness demon... The Brain grew tentacles and attacked me! Meanwhile, the boss started to regenerate all the damage I was doing thanks to absorbing the mindflayers whom he had summoned with his Mind Control ability. The boss started to stand up and walk towards the city, intent on restoring himself to full health, and I managed to snag a part of the skull so I wasn¡¯t just sliding around inside him. I watched my MP ticking upward towards maximum. If there was going to be any way out of this situation, it would need to be done soon, especially if I wanted to spare the mindflayers in the city whom might be interested in peace. The likelihood of peace was small, considering they were the ones who summoned this beast of a divine class monster, but did that really mean he should let this monster kill them? He took another look at the warehouse sized brain, and his scythe. ¡°I¡¯ll have to use multiple Death Spirals in order to try to cut through this thing...¡± I tried to cut through the brain with my scythe and blinked in shock as it dented in and sprung back, pushing my scythe back. ¡°Shit, that thing¡¯s resilient.¡± I dodged a tentacle that was attacking towards me from the brain! ¡°Fuck! The brain has its own tentacles!?¡± I dodged around the wild strikes as I attacked the brain again. I grunted as one wrapped around me. I resulted to a Deathbolt to sever the tentacle, which made a huge shriek echo from the boss I was inside, and deafened me for a full minute! I sighed weakly as I started to channel my power into the attack I was building up, pulling in my MP, TP, and even the special Karma Points, knowing Karmic damage was my best shot at damaging this creature. ¡°KARMIC SPIRAL!¡± I swung the scythe in a large spiral as I watched waves of flickering black and white waves come off my scythe, bouncing off the inside of the skull, and slicing cleanly into the grey matter in front of him. The roar of pain from the Minor Cthulu renewed my deafened status, as well as inflicted some actual physical damage upon me, but not very much. Ali¡¯is¡¯oi¡¯ack¡¯rhu¡¯gha fell to its knees, and started draining all the minds within the mindflayer city to try to restore its own health and power. I looked at my current KP, and sighed weakly. ¡°Well, at least its being used for a good cause...¡± I drained all of my KP and channeled it through a Deathbolt directly at the center of the brain. ¡°KARMA BURST!¡± The light of the bolt was so vast, I ended up receiving the ¡®Blind¡¯ debuff for a full 2 minutes! Meanwhile, I could feel the world tilt, drop, and bounce as the skull cracked into the ground. When my sight returned, I pushed my way through the brain, and found that it had burned the brain away from a large, glowing golden energy core. I inspected it. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Supreme Summoning Core Core Mythic Weight: 10 lbs This core is the focal point of great power. It can be used in either crafting or summoning to bring forth the greatest result. Required Crafting Skill Level: MAX Required Summoning Skill Level: MAX I quickly put the core into my Bag, and watched as several other pop-ups appeared. Congratulations! You are the first player to have defeated a Minor Deity! You have acquired the title: Godslayer! Title: Godslayer - You are no longer able to be affected by the attacking powers of gods. +10% damage against Deity class creatures. Congratulations! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 117! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 118! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 119! You have gained a Level! Current Level: 120! ... You have gained a Level! Current Level: 135! You have 1393 Available Stat Points! You have 266 Dontatable Stat Points! You have 1683 Available Skill Points! You have 266 Donatable Skill Points! ¡°Okay, so now to find a way out of this damned squid,¡± I muttered as I looked around. ¡°Probably the nose or mouth would be the best, unless I can find the ear...¡±
Hidden''s Stats Spoiler : Name: Hidden Level: 135 [30%] HP: 7560/7560 MP: 6000/6000 TP: 6840/6840 Avaliable Stats: 1693 Donatable Stats: 266 STR: 450 + 90 + 100 + ??? + 500 DEX: 450 + 90 + 100 + 500 CON: 550 + 110 + 100 + 500 INT: 750 + 150 + 100 + 200 WLP: 750 + 150 + 100 SPR: 700 + 70 + 100 + 500 Deity: Lady Luck [MAX] Luck''s Blessing [MAX] Unlucky Foes [MAX] Lucky Crafter [MAX] Lucky Loot [MAX] Skill Reset [MAX] Coin Toss [MAX] Bonus Trigger [MAX] Stat Gamble [MAX] Deity: Death [MAX] Necromancy [MAX] Fortress of Bones [MAX] Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Scythe [MAX] Vampiric Weapon [MAX] Greek Fire [MAX] Deathbolt [MAX] Deathwave [MAX] Spirit Devourer [MAX] Soul Absorption [MAX] Deity: Self [??] Death Spiral [MAX] Reap [MAX] Personal Teleport [MAX] Karma Usage [MAX] Class: Necromancer [MAX] -Necromancy [MAX] -Blood Magic [MAX] -Concentration [MAX] -Grasp of the Dead [MAX] -Weapon Proficiency: Staff [MAX] -Armor Proficiency: Robes [MAX] -Fortress of Bones [MAX] -Lich [MAX] -Intelligence Up [MAX] -Dark Vision [MAX] -Vampiric Weapon [MAX] -Enhanced Magic [MAX] Class: Firemaster [MAX] -Fire Magic [MAX] -Armored Mind [MAX] --Concentration [MAX] --Willpower Up [MAX] -Intelligence Up [MAX] -Imbue [MAX] -Enhanced Magic [MAX] -Armor Proficiency: Robes [MAX] -Weapon Proficiency: Staff [MAX] -Quench [MAX] Unequipped Classes: Thief [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Dagger [MAX] Stealth [MAX] Thievery [MAX] Lockpicking [MAX] Traps [MAX] Armor Proficiency: Light [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Short Sword [MAX] Sneak Attack [MAX] Gold Sense [MAX] Dexterity Up [MAX] Blademaster [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Dagger [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Shortsword [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Longsword [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Greatsword [MAX] Armor Proficiency: Light [MAX] Armor Proficiency: Medium [MAX] Armor Proficiency: Heavy [MAX] Durable Body [MAX] -Strength Up [MAX] -Constitution Up [MAX] Agile Body [MAX] -Dexterity Up [MAX] -Evasion [MAX] Agile Mind [MAX] -Intelligence Up [MAX] -Willpower Up [MAX] Available Skills: 1086 Donatable Skills: 1286 Skills: Gold Sense [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Longsword [MAX] Trainer [MAX] Healing Magic [MAX] Executioner''s Aura [MAX] Hyper Speed [MAX] Evasion [MAX] Enhanced Speed [MAX] Goldsmith [MAX] Stealth [MAX] Thievery [MAX] Lockpick [MAX] Mind Guard [MAX] Regenration [MAX] Sense: Killing Intent [MAX] Riding [MAX] Creature Analysis [MAX] Literature [MAX] Remove Limit [MAX] Time Magic [MAX] Speed Magic [MAX] Enhanced Magic [MAX] Dexterity Up [MAX] Armor Proficiency: Light [MAX] Reserve Skills: Mining [MAX] Sneak Attack [MAX] Traps [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Shortsword [MAX] Weapon Proficiency: Dagger [MAX] Earth Magic [MAX] Dark Magic [MAX] Scrying Magic [MAX] Durable Body [MAX] Strength Up [MAX] Constitution Up [MAX] Agile Body [MAX] Dexterity Up [MAX] Evasion [MAX] Abilities: Donate Stat Donate Skill Lucky Strike III Luck''s Star II Lucky Wish Deathbolt Deathwave Deathspiral Fireball Fire Wall Vaporize Inferno Greek Fire (Small) Greek Fire Wall Greek Fire (Large) Capture Summon (Living Monster - Pet) Summon (Living Monster - Mount) Summon (Undead Monster - Pet) Control (Undead Monster - Pet) Fortress of Bones (Automatic) Cure (Light) Cure (Poison) Cure (Medium) Cure (Large) Cure (Full) Panacea Drain (HP) Drain (MP) Drain (TP) Conversion Analyze Disarm Trap Build Trap Craft - Jewelry Stealth Pickpocket Lockpick Dig Reserve Abilities: [None] Passive Bonuses: Auto-Loot Auto-Ressurect (50%) AUto-Map Dungeons (Loot, Traps, and Mobs) Dark Vision Automatically Detect Traps (300 yards) Disabled Party Penalty: Totem Disabled Party Penalty: Captured Soul Double Loot Drop (Party - Doubled) Triple Loot on Boss Execution (Doubled) Boss Trophy on Boss Execution Dexterity +2 per Execution Strength +2 per Execution Constitution +2 per Execution Spirit +2 per Execution +200% Experience per Execution +100% Damage against Bandits +50% Sneak Attack damage 6x Damage on Heart Attacks Heart Sight Skills Start at Level 2 Skills increase by 2 Levels per point Strength +1 per item in UBH Can resume cast after being interrupted (H/S/E Spells not included) Intelligence (Base) +20% Constitution (Base) +20% Strength (Base) +20% Dexterity (Base) +20% Willpower (Base) +20% +5 Stat Points each level +5 Skill Point each level Spirit (Base) +10% +50% Rare Loot (Party) +50% Experience Gain (Party) +50% Chance to Crit (Party) +25% Chance to Evade (Party) -25% Enemy Crit Rate (Party) Loot Grade +2 (Party) +30% Chance to obtain rare loot +90% Chance to not be interrupted when casting +10% Chance to Parry +10% Chance to Evade +5% Chance to Parry (Projectile) +26% Chance to Crit +25% Experience Gain +120% On Double Loot +50% on Triple Loot +40% chance on all Looted coins turning to Mythril +30% chance on turning all metal dropped to Mythril +30% chance on turning all cloth dropped to Alicorn Cloth +25% Chance to acquire monster ''Totem'' on kill Pet Grade +1 Mount Grade +1 +25% Pet Experience +25% Mount Experience +50% Single Handed Longsword Damage +75% Two-handed Longsword Damage +50% Scythe Damage +25% Spear Damage +25% Staff Damage +50% Damage dealt restored as HP +25% Damage dealt restored as MP +25% Damage dealt restored as TP +10% Damage dealt gained as Experience Titles: Monstrous Lucky Bastard Apprentice Executioner Elite Executioner Execution Count: 250 Trophy Hunter Trophy Count: 5 Godling Godslayer 1st Goblin Reaper No Longer a Noob NEVER a Noob! (LIMITED) Bandit Slayer Goblin Killer Hidden Attacker Single Hit Execution Heartbreaker Heart-shot Counts: 214 Heartrender Dungeon Master Dungeon King Trained in Combat Combat Valedictorian Immortal One Divine One Money: $84,260,901.23 CC: 243,788 SC: 325,580 GC: 15,532 PC: 1,500,000 MC: 1,380,029 KC: 0
Author''s Note: There were many ways I could have written this battle, but I think this served the best way. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Volume 1 - Chapter 12 - Grand Rewards Part 3 - Rage and Chaos Of the greatest dangers in the world are two powers, that of Rage and Chaos. Chapter 12 - Grand Rewards When I finished climbing out of the dead mindflayer deity''s ear, the body vanished in a burst of smoke, pixels, and a plethora of one of the most iconic fanfares in gaming history. I couldn''t help but smile as I watched the smoke and pixels swirl and collapse in upon themselves into the form of a large treasure chest. "Well, this is interesting... I end up getting even more goodies upon exiting the dead god?" A smile crossed his face as he shook his head and just shoved the treasure chest into the Ultimate Bag of Holding. "We''ll sort that out later. I need to see if those mentally drained offerings are still alive... and if they are, I need to help them get home." He turned towards the pavilion that the summoning had occured at and slowly made his way back there, limping at first from the strain he had put on his body, but as the timer on the various debuffs he had been forcing himself to ignore ended, his body healed itself and he was able to take full and graceful strides as he arrived. He looked over the dead mindflayers he had killed and sighs, shaking his head. "Damn squid-heads. Why can''t they just let peace have a chance, even if it is under the rule of someone else?" he grumbled and then went over to the prisoners, inspecting them closely this time. There are twenty-four humanoid prisoners, all of which were starting to stir and wake up. Of the twenty-four, there were fifteen dwarves, seven gnomes, and a pair of gorgeous dark elven ladies in stunning spidersilk gowns which radiated magic. If I didn''t know better, I would have said that they had been Heads of their Houses. Proving themselves to have been the strongest of the bunch, the drow ladies are the first to awaken from their slumber as I am going through the Cash Shop, and choose to quickly purchase the ''Divine Dallah''s Discounters'', a pair of lockpicks blessed by one of the many gods and goddesses in control of the thieves of the multiverse. Divine Dallah''s Discounters Lockpicks Divine Weight: 1 lb Unbreakable Requires: Divine Blessing from Dallah or Personal Divinity Requires: Lockpicking Skill 45 Requires: Dexterity 100 Lockpick speed +100% Lockpick silence +100% Likelyhood of Success +50% If held by someone without the requirements, -100 Health per second until released. I started in on unlocking the drow women''s chains, beginning with their ankles. "Can you understand Common?" I ask them while I work, only to receive blank looks back. I sighed and puchased the Drow Language skill book and immediately used it. "Can you understand me now?" The ladies nodded. "I''m going to release you. Are you able to make it home on your own? I expect the mindflayers are a bit busy getting their minds back from their dead deity." They nodded again and left as soon as I had them completely free, taking off with that traditional elven grace. Afterwards, I quickly freed the dwarves and gnomes and proceeded to lead them out of the Mindflayer cavern and through the mines back to the Dwarven Halls, where we arrived with a large cheer of the gathered citizens and guards. The dwarves and gnomes were shown to their homes and an inn while I was taken before the King. "Your majesty," I started, "it is with great concern that I inform you of the information I obtained and the events that have occurred this day." "Speak, young Godling. Let us know of the threats to our lands," the Dwarven King answered. So I told the tale of encountering the three mindflayers in the mining tunnels, and the fact that the quest automatically updated to rescue the captives. I then went on to encountering the mindflayers summoning a deity, interrupting the ritual, and killing the result of their ritual. To prove my statement true, I removed the generated chest from my Bag, as well as showing off the Core I removed from the middle of the monster''s brain to kill it. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "If your majesty would summon the rest of my Guild, I think that opening these rewards should include all of them." "Aye, since ye did this on their behalf, they should indeed be here. Guards, fetch the rest of the Dwarven Theorum!" the King agreed, summoning them. The Guard looked at the chest with envy, considering it was as big as he himself was! After about a half hour of waiting, the guards lead Oathshield and the rest of our original crew in, and I can see the gleam of greed in Oathshield''s eyes as he gazes at the Core in my hand. I tossed the core to him and chuckle as he juggles it before craddling it close like a baby. I then open up the treasure chest and look inside. In the chest was well over a thousand gold, a lot of beautiful jewels, plenty of high quality materials for a tailor, a large grapling hook attached to what appears a short rope of supreme quality, and a trophy in the image of the Mindslayer deity I killed. I reached in and picked up the grapling hook, only to receive a huge fanfare as I pulled it out. Hero''s Indestructable Grappler Artifact - Legendary - Elven Origin 15 Lbs Rope can be increased or decreased by infusing it with mana. Maximum Length: 1,000 feet. This Grappler was once owned by an Elven Hero who was known for his gadgetry, stupidity of going unarmored, and his sword-and-board style. All of the Players in the room burst into laughter at the description. The King just sighed and shook his head. "Elven trinkets from an Illithid deity..." "Well, there were two drow ladies, but I let them return home on their own. Your majesty, if I may ask, can you please confirm the quest complete?" "Oh, aye, aye, thank ye for fulfilling your promise," the King chuckled. Quest Completed! You have diligently purged the Dwarven Mines of the mindflayers who were in the area, followed them back to their home, and wiped out the majority of their priesthood and population along with their summoned deity! Reward: Dwarven Reputation Maxed, Dwarves unlocked as a Player Race! ATTENTION ALL PLAYERS! The Dwarven Theorum has unlocked Dwarves as a Player Race. All current players wishing to change their races to Dwarves must submit a request within the next 48 hours. All players who change to dwarves will be teleported to the Undermountain Home. ATTENTION ALL PLAYERS! Oathshield is the first player to switch to a Dwarf!
AN: Sorry for taking so long to give this update. I have already finished the majority of the Epilogue, as well as developing the Game System behind the world the Chaos Wave will be imprisoned on which will be the Primary World for the majority of the rest of the series. I have also started on the Prologue for Volume 2, and almost completely finished it. There are about 5 Chapters remaining in this Volume, and then I will need to decide between fleshing it out or immediately moving into writing Volume 2. If you want to give me your opinion on the Timeline / Rules I''ve worked out, that''s up to you, but I decided to attach a link below to them for those who are interested in the World Building elements... Chaos Wave System Rules for Volume 2 and Beyond. Volume 1 - Chapter 13 - Celebrations and Theft "Ach, ye shall all do me the honor of feasting with me tonight! As an additional reward, the Guild shall be given land to build a new home here!" The king declared. We were then escorted out of the throne room. "Oathshield, take the chest and find us a new base. Then we will start to figure out a way to get the rest of the guild here," I told him, and he nodded. "Honestly, boy, thank ye for all ye''ve done for our Guild," Oathshield said emotionally. "Without ye, we''d never be here now." "While that is true, you would eventually have made it here, I''m sure." "Eventually, but that would probably have been about ten years from now. What can we do for you?" "Well, it would be extremely rude if I asked you to build a shrine to me using the Core. What I want you to do is use the Core to build the Guild House, and put a small shrine to me in the basement, since I am a minor god, and the son of Luck and Death. I''ll try to do my best to help all of you." "It will be as you have requested. With the Core, we will have a Castle as our Guild home!" That statement was met with the other three members cheering. *** We arrived at the location the King had granted us to build what we would. I took the Summoning Core, and with permissions granted by Oathshield, I brought up the Guild Interface, and selected Constructions. I designed a glorious castle, with golem guards, workshops, hundreds of player bedrooms, dozens of storage and vaults. I also purchased hundreds of NPCs, spending well over a hundred Mythril on the castle in addition to the Core. Afterwards, I went to the primary vault and emptied my Bag of Holding into it, along with all my coins, and all but $500,000 of my personal funds. I summoned ten of the NPC servants I had summoned, and ordered them to sort the loot and distribute the crafting materials to the various appropriate workshop storages before heading up to check out the bedroom I had assigned to myself. I laid down and closed my eyes, falling deep asleep. *** When I opened my eyes, I was inside the Afterlife Casino again, and Luck and Death were both there to greet me for my success. I blinked in shock as I recognized the Ilithid behind them, who toasted me with a goblet. "Welcome, son! You have done what everyone hoped you would. Sadly, the omniverse is starting to run low on Chaos energy to be converted. I''ve got a request for you, boy. You''ll know what to do when the time comes, but here, take this," Death stated as he pulled off his own cloak and put it around my shoulders, revealing a pale but handsome man. "I''m sorry, but we''ve gotta send you back to your body for your celebration. Don''t be angry with us, okay?" The world went dark again. *** At the Feast, the Dwarven King decreed a chapel to be built in my honor, which I tried to decline, and settled on allowing him to make it a church. The story of my defeat of the Ilithid deity was told twice before the main course, a giant roasted boar, was served. There were countless nobles and smiths at the feast, along with the warriors, knights, and priests. A bard started singing about an ancient war between the dwarves and the drow. As I listened, I felt myself shudder as I realized that letting those two drow ladies go may not have been the best thing for my future. I just sighed and shook my head. "Nothing is ever easy, is it?" *Why should life be easy?* a soft, sensuous and feminine voice whispers into his mind. "Who are you?" *Why should I answer that?* "Because you obviously have a message for me, or you wouldn''t have contacted me." *My mistress informed me that it is only appropriate to say ''thank you'' after you''ve robbed someone''s vaults while they weren''t home.* Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I jumped to my feet and snarled at my Guild, "We''ve just been robbed!" *Awww is the baby god angry? Good. The Spider Queen wishes to speak with you! Chase me, and meet with her.* I froze in shock. "Oh, fuck no! I am not having anything to do with that crazy drow goddess! They can take the loot, it can easily be replaced!" A long burbling laugh echoed in his mind before fading off while he slumped back into the chair sighing depressively. I pulled up the Guild menu and inspected it. All the guardians were to respawn in an hour, as well as all of the NPCs. The crafting warehouses were all still stocked with their materials, but the Vault door is marked as needing repairs and the Vault reads as Empty. "Damn it... We had so much money stored in there..." "What happened?" Oathshield asked. "We were just robbed by the Drow," I responded sadly. "They tried to get me to rush off after them, but there''s no way in hell I want anything to do with their evil goddess who sent them to steal from us." "I see... Well, what was taken was primarily your money. If you wish our help getting it back, we will help, but if you want to drop it, we''ll ignore it," Oathshield stated. *** When we got back Guild Hall, the servant and guards had finished respawning and were starting to clean up the place. For the most part, the place wasn''t damaged, just bloodstains and shattered golems, along with the damaged vault doors. In the center of the Vault was a summoning circle made with the blood of the NPC servants along with the majority of their bodies, which were torn asunder and spread out to increase the gore factor. The members of the guild swore softly as they saw the damage done to the vault door and the horror their servants had been put through. Rockenroll looked at me. "We need to pay them back for this, even if you are fine with them having stolen your money," he growled. "What do you want to do? They''re going to be a lot tougher than the goblins, and I refuse to talk to their Godddess," I responded. "We''ll gather the guild, and you''ll help us increase our levels to the point where we can stand against them!" "Rockenroll, are you honestly serious? Their generic troops are probably closer to level 80 in stats, even if they are level 50!" Rockenroll paled slightly and shook his head. "We can''t let them get away with attacking us and there not being a reprisal..." Oathshield stepped up to them and nodded. "I agree with Rockenroll. I would appreciate all the aide you are willing to give us, Hidden. You don''t need to fight them, but we will need your help to increase our levels..." "As you wish, Oathshield," I bowed my head. "I agree, they crossed the line with this display..."
AN: Okay, so for those of you who read my other fiction, From Paladin to Pawn, you know that I have put that story into Hiatus while I finish up Volume 1 of this story and then Flesh it out for the updated Amazon release. Right now, I''m struggling to actually write the last few chapters of this volume, since I''ve been absorbed in working out the Game and World System for Volume 2 and beyond. Volume 2 will be the story of a modern-day style Earth planet changing with the introduction of the Game System. Volume 3 will probably focus upon The First Wave, and will likely have the same MC as Volume 2. For those of you who are steadily following this story, it''s only got a few more chapters remaining until the epilogue, which I''ve already written, unless something makes me change the way it comes through. Thank you very much for reading my work, Justin "Johnist" Johanson Author